home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The World of Computer Software
/
The World of Computer Software.iso
/
cp-80j.zip
/
CMDPOST.MA_
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-10-10
|
75KB
|
2,773 lines
______________________________________________________________________
Command Post
User's Guide
Wilson WindowWare, Inc.
2701 California Ave SW ste 212
Seattle, WA 98116
Orders: (800) 762-8383
Support: (206) 937-9335
Fax: (206) 935-7129
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Copyright (c) 1988-1992 by Morrie Wilson.
All rights reserved.
No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording, for any purpose without the express written
permission of Wilson WindowWare, Inc. Information in this document
is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment by Wilson WindowWare, Inc.
The software described herein is furnished under a license agreement.
It is against the law to copy this software under any circumstances
except as provided by the license agreement.
U.S. Government Restricted Rights
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to
restrictions as set forth in subdivision (b)(3)(ii) of the Rights in
Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 252.227-7013.
Contractor/manufacturer is Wilson WindowWare, Inc./2701 California Ave
SW /ste 212/Seattle, WA 98116
Trademarks
Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
Windows, Word for Windows, and Excel are trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
WinBatch, Command Post, and File Commander are trademarks of Wilson
WindowWare, Inc.
______________________________________________________________________
ii
______________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
CONTENTS iii
INTRODUCTION iv
System Requirements iv
About This Manual v
Notational Conventions v
Acknowledgements v
GETTING STARTED 1
USING COMMAND POST 2
Starting Command Post 2
The Command Post Window 3
Additional Command Post Windows 3
Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts 4
About the Menu Files 10
Command-line Parameters 12
Replacing the Task Manager 13
Control Menu 15
File Menu 16
Dir Menu 21
View Menu 22
Main Menu 25
COMMAND POST FUNCTIONS 29
Introduction 29
Function List 29
DirExist 30
DiskHide 31
DiskReset 32
DiskUpdate 33
FileHilite 34
IntControl 35
MsgTextGet 37
OtherDir 38
OtherUpdate 39
Refresh 40
SetDisplay 41
______________________________________________________________________
iii
______________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Command Post helps you end some of the drudgery of day-to-day tasks
when working in Microsoft Windows.
How many times have you tired of changing drives, moving through two
subdirectories, finding an executable file from among 43 other
filenames, double clicking on it, selecting File/Open, then searching
for another directory in the listbox because your document happens to
be in a different directory than the program! With Command Post you
can automate that knowledge of where to move around the disk, which
directories to go to, which files you want to work on, what size you
prefer your window to be, and so on.
With almost two hundred functions and commands, Command Post can:
. Run Windows and DOS programs.
. Send keystrokes directly to applications.
. Rearrange, resize, hide, and close windows.
. Run programs either concurrently or sequentially.
. Display information to the user in various formats.
. Prompt the user for any needed input.
. Present scrollable file and directory lists.
. Copy, move, delete, and rename files.
. Read and write files directly.
. Copy text to and from the Clipboard.
. Perform string and arithmetic operations.
. Make branching decisions based upon numerous factors.
And much, much more.
System Requirements
Command Post requires an IBM PC or compatible with a minimum of 2
megabytes of RAM, running Microsoft Windows version 3.0 or higher.
______________________________________________________________________
iv
______________________________________________________________________
About This Manual
Command Post is an application which uses our Windows Interface
Language (WIL). Please refer to the WIL Reference Manual for an
introduction to WIL, as well as for complete documentation of the many
functions available in WIL (and, therefore, in Command Post).
This User's Guide includes only topics and functions which are
exclusive to Command Post or which behave differently in Command Post,
as well as additions and changes that have been made since the WIL
Reference Manual went to press.
Note: Command Post is a menu file based implementation of WIL.
Notational Conventions
Throughout this manual, we use the following conventions to
distinguish elements of text:
ALL-CAPS
Used for filenames.
Boldface
Used for important points, programs, function names, and parts of
syntax that must appear as shown.
system
Used for items in menus and dialogs, as they appear to the user.
Small fixed-width
Used for WIL sample code.
Italics
Used for emphasis, and to liven up the documentation just a bit.
Acknowledgements
Command Post software developed by Morrie Wilson.
Documentation written by Richard Merit.
______________________________________________________________________
v
______________________________________________________________________
GETTING
STARTED
Command Post is quite easy to install. You will find an appropriate
diskette in your Command Post package. Take the diskette and insert
it into your floppy drive. The Command Post installation program is
itself a Windows application, so make sure Windows is running.
From Program Manager, double-click on the File Manager icon. When
File Manager starts, click on the A: or B: drive icon, depending on
which floppy drive contains the Command Post diskette. A directory
tree will appear for the Command Post diskette. You should see a root
directory icon. Double-click on this icon and a list of filenames
will appear. Find the filename WSETUP.EXE and double-click on it.
Follow whatever instructions WSETUP gives you.
WSETUP will copy or create the necessary files in a directory of your
choice.
______________________________________________________________________
1
______________________________________________________________________
USING
COMMAND POST
Starting Command Post
There are several ways you can start Command Post:
1. From Program Manager, by double-clicking on the Command Post icon
in the Command Post program group.
2. From File Manager, by changing to the directory where you
installed Command Post and double-clicking on CMDPOST.EXE.
3. By selecting Run from the File menu of either Program Manager or
File Manager, and typing in "CMDPOST.EXE".
4. Automatically when Windows starts up, by adding "CMDPOST.EXE" to
the "RUN=" line in the [Windows] section of your WIN.INI file.
Alternatively, in Windows 3.1 or higher, you can copy or move the
Command Post icon from the Command Post program group to the
StartUp program group in Program Manager (please refer to your
Windows manual for more information on this procedure).
5. By making Command Post your Windows shell. Edit the "Shell="
line in the [Boot] section of your SYSTEM.INI file as follows:
Shell=CMDPOST.EXE
Save the file and restart Windows. Command Post will now be your
shell. If you had been loading any programs automatically upon
Windows startup, you will either want to add them to the
initialization (AUTOEXEC) section of your CMDUSER.CPM menu file (see
the sample CMDUSER.CPM file for an example of this), or else
configure Command Post to process the RUN= and LOAD= lines of your
WIN.INI file by selecting Auto Run= and Load= Options from the
Command Post File menu, under Preferences.
______________________________________________________________________
2
______________________________________________________________________
The Command Post Window
At the very top of the Command Post window is the title bar. At the
left end of the title bar is a little box which is called the Control
menu (also known as the System menu). Below the title bar are the
pull-down menus, all of which are fully-customizable. Beneath the
menus are a series of drive icons, one for each available drive on
your system, with the icon for the currently-logged drive highlighted.
To the right of the drive icons is a text string showing the name of
the current directory. Below that, and filling up most of the Command
Post window, is a list of the subdirectories and files contained in
the current directory (by default, hidden and system files are not
listed, but this can be changed by selecting Preferences from the File
menu). If there are more files than will fit in the display at one
time, then a horizontal scroll bar will appear at the bottom of the
window, allowing you to scroll through the file display.
Additional Command Post Windows
You can run up to four separate instances of Command Post at any one
time. Each copy of Command Post has its own set of menus and its own
file display, and (at least by default) has a unique window title.
You can have each Command Post window display a different directory,
which makes it convenient to perform file management operations.
Select Preferences from the File menu to modify the default Command
Post window positions and/or window titles (registered version only).
______________________________________________________________________
3
______________________________________________________________________
Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts
The table on the next two pages shows the keyboard and mouse shortcuts
which can be used to navigate through your directories, and to select
and run files:
______________________________________________________________________
4
______________________________________________________________________
Action Mouse Keyboard
****** ***** ********
Click on drive Type Ctrl +
Select a Drive icon with the desired drive
left button. letter.
Doubleclick on
Open another drive icon with
Cmd Post window the left
on a different button.
drive
Click on Use arrow keys
Select a File desired to place
filename with selection box
left button. over desired
file.
OR: Press
first letter of
filename to
move selection
box to next
file with that
letter.
______________________________________________________________________
5
______________________________________________________________________
Action Mouse Keyboard
****** ***** ********
Click on Press the Shift
Select additional key while
Additional filenames with dragginf
Files the left button selection box
while pressing over a range of
the Shift key. filenames.
OR: Click on Press the Ctrl
additional key while
filenames with moving
the right selection box
button. over filenames
you don't want
OR: Drag mouse to select.
over a group of
additional
filenames with
the right
button pressed.
Press the Space
Toggle the Bar.
Highlight on
Current File
Press the Home
Move to Top of key.
Dir List
OR: Press
Ctrl-Home if
you want the
currently-
selected
file(s) to
remain
highlighted.
______________________________________________________________________
6
______________________________________________________________________
Action Mouse Keyboard
****** ***** ********
Press the End
Move to End of key.
Dir List
OR: Press
Ctrl-End if you
want the
currently-
selected
file(s) to
remain
highlighted.
Press Shift-
Select from Home.
Current File to
Top of List
Press Shift-
Select from End.
Current File to
End of List
Press the Home
Select All key, then press
Files Shift-End.
Doubleclick on
Select or desired file
De-select All name with the
Files w/Same right button.
Extension as a
Certain File
______________________________________________________________________
7
______________________________________________________________________
Action Mouse Keyboard
****** ***** ********
Doubleclick on Place selection
Change to a desired subdir- box over
subdirectory ectory with the desired
left button. directory and
press Enter.
Click on Press the
Change to the desired Backspace key.
Parent directory in
Directory the current OR: Place
path string selection box
(next to the over the two
drive icons) dots (..) at
with the left the top of the
button. dir list and
press Enter.
OR:
Doubleclick on
the two dots
(..) at the top
of the dir
list.
Doubleclick on Place selection
Run a Program desired .EXE box over
filename. desired program
or datafile and
OR: press Enter.
Doubleclick on
datafile name
if it has an
[extensions]
association in
WIN.INI
______________________________________________________________________
8
______________________________________________________________________
Action Mouse Keyboard
****** ***** ********
Same as running Same as running
Run a Program a program, a program,
as an Icon except press except press
the Shift key Shift+Enter.
while clicking
the filename.
Same as running Same as running
Run a Program a program, a program,
Maximized except press except press
the Ctrl key Ctrl+Enter.
while clicking
the filename.
______________________________________________________________________
9
______________________________________________________________________
About the Menu Files
All the pull-down menus, with the exception of the Control menu, are
completely configurable and are defined in menu files, which have an
extension of CPM. Command Post allows you to specify from one to 10
separate menu files. The names of these menu files are specified in
the [CmdPost] section of the WWW-PROD.INI file. We include four CPM
files, which the setup program places in WWW-PROD.INI as follows:
Menu0=CMDPOST1.CPM
Menu1=CMDPOST2.CPM
Menu2=CMDUSER.CPM
Menu3=CMDGROUP.CPM
You are free to edit or replace these files with ones of your own (but
read the section which follows), or to add additional menu files
(i.e., Menu4 through Menu9). Each of these menu files is independent,
and is edited individually (refer to the WIL Reference Manual for
information on menu file structure). A single menu file can contain
one top-level menu item, or it can contain many such menu items. When
the menu files are loaded upon startup, they are essentially appended
together to form a single unified menu structure. The reason for
having multiple menu files is to make Command Post more modular, and
to make it easier to edit the menu files with editors like Notepad
which cannot handle large files.
The following menu files are shipped with Command Post:
CMDPOST1.CPM
CMDPOST2.CPM
These two menu files contain the core menu items for file and
directory management, configuration of the Command Post display
window, execution of common applications, and general housekeeping.
We do not recommend that beginning users make major modifications to
these files until they are comfortable with the use of the WIL
language (as discussed in the WIL Reference Manual). Even advanced
users should consider the fact that the default versions of these
files get revised as new features are added to the language (and as
bugs are found in the existing menus), and if you wish to take
advantage of this you will need to reconcile your changes with ours
(the Command Post setup program will always give you the choice of
whether or not to replace your copies of CMDPOST1.CPM and CMDPOST2.CPM
with the default ones shipped with the program).
The items contained in these two menu files are described in detail in
the section titled Command Post Default Menus, below.
______________________________________________________________________
10
______________________________________________________________________
CMDUSER.CPM
This menu file contains a number of sample menu items for you to use.
Feel free to customize it in any way you wish (the setup program will
never overwrite your CMDUSER.CPM file). Many of the menu items in
this file contain comments to help you follow along. At the top of
this file is an initialization, or AUTOEXEC, section: this is where
you can put any programs that you want to be run automatically when
Command Post starts up, or any commands that you want to be executed
upon startup.
CMDGROUP.CPM
This menu file contains one top-level menu item, titled "Groups". As
shipped, the Groups menu contains a single item: Rebuild Menu from
ProgMan Grps. Selecting this item causes Command Post to read your
Program Manager program group (.GRP) files and convert them to Command
Post menu items, which it adds to the Groups menu. You can select
Rebuild Menu from ProgMan Grps as often as you wish; each time you do,
it will rebuild the entire Groups menu.
______________________________________________________________________
11
______________________________________________________________________
Command-line Parameters
Normally, when you start up Command Post, it loads the menu files
listed as Menu0 through Menu9 in the [CmdPost] section of
WWW-PROD.INI. However, if you wish, you can run Command Post and
specify the name of an alternate CPM file as a command-line parameter.
For example:
CMDPOST mystuff.cpm
This will cause Command Post (either the first instance or a secondary
instance of Command Post) to start up using MYSTUFF.CPM as its menu
file, and will not load any of the menus specified in WWW-PROD.INI.
You can also specify the name of an application (or a data file which
has been associated with an application) on the Command Post command
line, such as:
CMDPOST calendar.exe
This will cause Command Post to start up (with its normal menus) and
load the Windows Calendar program automatically. If you have made
Command Post your Windows shell, then you can run Windows with a
command line parameter, such as:
WIN calendar.exe
Which will also cause Command Post to load Calendar automatically on
startup.
______________________________________________________________________
12
______________________________________________________________________
Replacing the Task Manager
Windows uses a special program called the Task Manager (TASKMAN.EXE).
The Task Manager is invoked whenever you do any of the following:
1. Press Ctrl-Esc.
2. Select Switch To... from the system menu of any application.
3. Doubleclick on the screen background with the mouse.
The Task Manager supplied with Windows brings up a dialog box which
lets you choose which window to go to.
Command Post gives you most of Task Manager's functionality. For this
reason, you may wish to have Command Post act as your task manager,
replacing TASKMAN.EXE. The procedure for doing this depends on the
version of Windows you are using. Under Windows 3.0, it is as
follows:
1. Rename Microsoft's TASKMAN.EXE to something different, such as
TASKMANG.EXE.
2. Copy TASKMANR.EXE from the TASKMAN subdirectory (this
subdirectory was created under the directory where you chose to
install Command Post) to your Windows directory.
3. Rename TASKMANR.EXE to TASKMAN.EXE.
Under Windows 3.1 or higher, you can use the above method, or you can:
1. Copy TASKMAN.EXE from the TASKMAN subdirectory (this subdirectory
was created under the directory where you chose to install
Command Post) to your Windows directory.
2. Edit the "TASKMAN.EXE=" line in the [Boot] section of your
SYSTEM.INI file to read as follows:
TASKMAN.EXE=TASKMANR.EXE
3. Restart Windows.
After that, invoking Task Manager (using any of the methods listed
above) will simply cause Windows to switch to Command Post.
Windows' Task Manager has one feature that Command Post lacks: in some
instances it lets you shut down otherwise recalcitrant programs with
the End Task button. For this reason, you may want to make Windows'
Task Manager available as a Command Post menu item:
&Utilities
&Task Manager
Run ("Taskmang.exe", "")
______________________________________________________________________
13
______________________________________________________________________
Limitations
Command Post supports a maximum of 100 hotkeys per window.
______________________________________________________________________
14
______________________________________________________________________
COMMAND POST
DEFAULT MENUS
Control Menu
************
The Control Menu (also known as the System Menu) is the little box in
the upper left hand corner of the Command Post window, to the left of
the title bar. It is the only menu in Command Post which cannot be
customized by the user. In addition to the standard menu items which
are common to all Windows applications (Restore, Move, Size, Minimize,
Maximize, Close, and Switch To...), you will find the following:
Enter License Info
(Appears only on shareware copies of Command Post.)
Use this selection to enter your license number and ID when you
register your copy of Command Post. Registering brings you wonderful
benefits:
o Gets rid of that pesky reminder window that comes up every time you
start the program.
o Entitles you to one hour free telephone support for 90 days.
o Gets you the latest version of Command Post.
o Gets you your own printed copy of the documentation.
o Encourages the authors of this program to continue bringing you new
and better products instead of breaking down and getting a real job.
Reload Menu
This is the selection you must choose after making changes to an
active menu file in order to enable the changes.
About Command Post...
Displays copyright, version, and license information.
Terminate Windows
This menu item ends your Windows session.
(the second column)
The right-hand column of entries contains the names of all the open
application windows. You can switch to one of these programs by
doubleclicking on its title, or pressing the number which appears to
the left of the title, or selecting the title and pressing Enter.
______________________________________________________________________
15
______________________________________________________________________
File Menu
*********
Run...
Load...
These selections launch a program. Run... starts it as a "normal"
window, i.e. not full-screen. Load... starts the program as an icon.
In either case a dialog box is displayed asking you for the name of
the file you want to start. Whichever file is currently highlighted
in the directory listing is the default.
Browse
This menu item runs the Command Post Browser program to view the
selected file. See the documentation for Browser in Appendix C of the
WIL Reference Manual, or use the on-line help built into Browser.
Edit...
Allows you to edit the selected file. The default editor is Notepad,
but you can change this by selecting Editor Options from the File
menu, under Preferences.
Copy...
This menu item lets you copy the selected files to another filename,
directory, or drive. If you have more than one Command Post window
open, the default destination is the second-most recently accessed
Command Post window. If you have only one Command Post window open, a
dialog box is displayed for you to specify the destination pathname;
the default is the most recently-used copy or move destination, or the
current directory if this is the first copy or move operation that has
taken place.
______________________________________________________________________
16
______________________________________________________________________
Move/Rename...
This selection lets you rename the selected files to another name, or
to move them to another directory or drive. If you are moving files,
and have more than one Command Post window open, the default
destination is the second-most recently accessed Command Post window.
If you have only one Command Post window open, a dialog box is
displayed for you to specify the destination pathname; the default is
the most recently-used copy or move destination, or the current
directory if this is the first copy or move operation that has taken
place.
You can move and rename files in the same process.
Delete File...
This menu item lets you delete the selected files. A dialog box will
appear to confirm you really want to delete them.
Print...
This copies the selected file to any standard (non-PostScript)
printer. The first time you select this item, it prompts you for the
device to print to, and stores that information for future use. If
you ever wish to change this, select Reset Assorted Options from the
File menu, under Preferences.
This command is meant to be used with text files only; it doesn't
attempt to format the file or otherwise interpret it.
File Info
This menu item displays a message box showing the name, size, date,
time, and attributes of the selected file(s), as well as showing how
much space is taken up by the selected files.
Freespace on Local Drives
This menu displays a message box showing you how much space is
available on your hard drives. The totals are given both in kilobytes
and using a (rudimentary) bar graph.
Exit Windows
This menu item ends your Windows session.
Find file
On DOS Path
This prompts you for a file name, and looks for it in each directory
on your DOS path. If successful, it displays a dialog box giving you
the opportunity to change to the directory where the first occurrence
of the file was found. Wildcards may not be used in the file name.
This operation takes no more than a few seconds.
______________________________________________________________________
17
______________________________________________________________________
On Current Drive
This prompts you for a file specification, which may contain
wildcards, and looks for all occurrences of it on the current drive.
If successful, it displays a box containing a list of all files that
were found which matched the specification, and if you select one of
the files in the list it will change to the directory where the file
is located.
This can be a very long operation, especially on a large hard drive.
Hilite Files
Unhilite Files
These menu items are used to highlight or unhighlight all files in a
directory which match a particular file specification (By Name) or
which have a particular file attribute (By Attribute). They display a
dialog box allowing you to enter either a wildcarded file
specification (which defaults to all files with the same extension as
the currently-selected file) or a file attribute (which defaults to
files with the Archive attribute set.
File Attributes
Displays a dialog box allowing you to change the attributes of either
the current file (View/Modify current file) or all selected files
(Change hilited files).
Floppy Space
Displays a message box showing you how much space is taken up by the
selected files and how much free space is available on your floppy
drives (either A: or B:).
This is especially useful when you are preparing to copy files to a
floppy disk and want to know if you have enough space to receive the
files.
Network
(These menu items are available only if you are running on a network.)
Connect Drive to Net
This menu item allows you to browse from a list of available network
directories, and connects the selected directory to an available local
drive letter.
Disconnect
This menu item displays a list of local drive letters which are
connected to network directories, and disconnects the drive you
select.
______________________________________________________________________
18
______________________________________________________________________
Net Dialog
This menu item displays the network's dialog box. The functions which
are available from the dialog depend on the capabilities of your
network.
Preferences
These menu items allow you to change various Command Post options:
Show System/Hidden Files
Controls whether hidden and system files are listed in the Command
Post file display. By default, such files are not displayed.
Save CmdPost Window Positions
Saves the positions of the currently-open Command Post window(s) for
future use by the window-sizing logic which automatically positions
all Command Post windows on open and close.
Auto Run= and Load= Options
Controls whether the programs listed on the "Run=" and "Load=" lines
in the WIN.INI file are run automatically when Command Post starts up.
This can be useful if you frequently switch between Command Post and
another shell, such as Program Manager. By default, Command Post does
not run programs listed in WIN.INI on startup.
CmdPost Window Titles
Allows you to specify the window titles for each of the four possible
Command Post windows.
View Menu Startup Options
Controls whether the settings you make on the View menu are saved and
used as the default settings when Command Post starts up in the
future.
Editor Options
Allows you to specify an editor to be used by the File/Edit menu item.
By default, Notepad is used.
File Refresh
Controls whether the Command Post file display is automatically
updated after a program is run. By default, this option is on.
Default DoubleClick Program
Allows you to specify which executable program should be run when you
try to launch a data file whose extension is not listed in the
[Extensions] section of WIN.INI.
______________________________________________________________________
19
______________________________________________________________________
Reset Assorted Options
This menu item lets you reset the stored information about the types
of floppy drives you have installed, the port to which your text
printer is connected, and the directory where you keep your wallpaper
files. The next time you select a menu item which makes use of this
information, you will be prompted to re-enter it.
This is useful after making changes to your system configuration.
Extensions...
Windows gives you the ability to double-click on a data filename and
automatically run a program with it based on the data file's
extension. For instance, you can doubleclick on a .CRD file and the
Cardfile program will start up and load the file you chose. The
"association" between .CRD files and the Cardfile program is stored in
the [Extensions] section of the WIN.INI file.
The File/Extensions... menu displays a dialog box allowing you to add
or change the association between the selected file's extension and a
program. If you change the association line, the new relationship
will be recorded in the WIN.INI file. This is more convenient than
having to bring up Notepad and edit WIN.INI in order to change the
association.
The next time you doubleclick on that file (or any other file with the
same extension), the associated program will be run with it.
______________________________________________________________________
20
______________________________________________________________________
Dir Menu
********
Create Directory...
This menu item lets you create a subdirectory under the current
directory.
Rename Directory...
This menu item lets you rename the currently-selected subdirectory.
Kill Directory
This menu item deletes the selected subdirectory(s), if it is empty.
Change Directory...
This selection changes the current directory to one that you specify.
You can also change directories by doubleclicking on a subdirectory
name, clicking on the pathname above the file listing, or pressing
backspace to go back up to the parent directory.
Nuke ENTIRE file/dir structure
This menu item deletes all selected files and directories, as well as
any files and subdirectories contained in the selected directory(s).
It will display several warning messages before beginning the
operation, but once it has started it does not prompt for confirmation
of individual files.
Warning: This operation can permanently delete a great deal of data in
a relatively short period of time. Make sure you know what you are
doing.
Duplicate ENTIRE file/dir structure
This menu item copies the selected directory (including any files and
subdirectories it contains) to a different location. It will prompt
you for the name of the target (destination) directory before it
begins. The source (original) directory and files are left untouched.
Move ENTIRE file/dir structure
This menu item moves the selected directory (including any files and
subdirectories it contains) to a different location. It will prompt
you for the name of the target (destination) directory before it
begins. The source (original) directory and files are deleted.
Warning: Use this option with care.
______________________________________________________________________
21
______________________________________________________________________
Size of ENTIRE file/dir structure
This menu item calculates the total size of all selected files and
directories, as well as any files and subdirectories contained in the
selected directory(s).
Format Diskette...
This selection formats a diskette in one of your floppy drives by
calling the MS-DOS Format program.
The first time you choose Format Diskette... after installing Command
Post, you are asked what kind of floppy drives your system has.
Command Post saves this information in the WIN.INI file for the next
time you choose Format Diskette... . If your hardware changes, you
can reset this information by selecting Reset Assorted Options from
the File menu, under Preferences.
Directory Tree
When you select this menu item, a window is displayed which
graphically shows the directory structure of the current drive. You
can scroll through the structure, and then click on the directory you
want to change to.
If you have two Command Post windows open, then clicking on a
directory in the Tree with the left mouse button (or pressing the
Enter key) causes the left-most Command Post window to change to the
selected directory, and clicking on a directory in the Tree with the
right mouse button (or pressing Shift-Enter) causes the right-most
Command Post window to change to the selected directory.
If you have only one Command Post window open, then clicking on a
directory in the Tree with the left mouse button (or pressing the
Enter key) causes the Command Post window to change to the selected
directory, and clicking on a directory in the Tree with the right
mouse button (or pressing Shift-Enter) causes a second Command Post
window to open with the selected directory displayed.
View Menu
*********
Short
Long
These selections control how much information is displayed for the
files in the Command Post window. View/Short displays only the
filenames, while View/Long also displays the size, the date/time
modified, and the file attributes.
______________________________________________________________________
22
______________________________________________________________________
All
Partial...
Programs
These selections determine which filenames are shown. All displays
all files in the current directory. Partial... displays a dialog box
where you specify one or more wildcarded filenames to show. Programs
shows only those files with an extension of .BAT, .COM, .EXE, or .PIF.
By Name
By Date
By Size
By Kind
Unsorted
These selections specify how to sort the files in the display. The
default is to sort by Name. Sorting by Date shows the most-recently
modified files before the older ones. Sorting by Size shows the
largest files first. Sorting by Kind displays the files by their
extensions. Unsorted produces a list in the same order as you would
get from a dir listing in MSDOS.
If you have the file display set to View/Long, then whichever column
is being sorted on is displayed in a bold font.
Window Arranging
1 Stack
2 Arrange
3 Arrange in Rows
4 Arrange in Columns
5 (w/o CP) Stack
6 (w/o CP) Arrange
7 (w/o CP) Arrange in Rows
8 (w/o CP) Arrange in Cols
The right column of the View menu contains the window arranging
functions. There are four ways Command Post can arrange application
windows on the screen for you:
Selections 5 through 8 are the same as 1 through 4, except that the
Command Post window is minimized.
When you specify Arrange in Rows and you have more than four open
windows, or if you specify Arrange in Columns and there are more than
three open windows, Command Post will revert to Arrange.
Change Wallpaper
This menu item replaces the current background Wallpaper with a new
Wallpaper (BMP) file of your choice.
______________________________________________________________________
23
______________________________________________________________________
Blank Screen Now!
This menu item immediately activates the Windows 3.1 screen saver that
you have configured through the Desktop section of Control Panel.
______________________________________________________________________
24
______________________________________________________________________
Main Menu
*********
Command Post (More Windows)
This menu item opens a second, third, or fourth Command Post window.
This way you can view more than one directory at a time. Also, when
you choose File/Copy... or File/Rename/Move..., the destination
pathname defaults to the "other" Command Post's directory.
Command Post (Show All Windows)
This menu item repositions all open Command Post windows to their
default coordinates, which you can change by selecting Save CmdPost
Window Positions from the File menu, under Preferences.
Control Panel
This selection runs the Windows Control Panel.
Clipboard
This menu item runs the Windows Clipboard viewer.
DOS Prompt
This selection runs COMMAND.COM to enable you to work in DOS directly.
You can press ALT+ESC to switch back and forth between Windows and
DOS, and when you are through using the command-line interface you
type "exit" from the DOS prompt to return to Windows.
Run "Managers"
Program Manager
This selection runs the Windows Program Manager.
File Manager
This selection invokes the Windows File Manager.
Print Manager
This selection runs Windows Print Manager.
Edit Configurations
Edit CmdPost menus
This menu item displays a listbox containing all the .CPM files in the
Command Post directory, and launches Notepad with the file you select.
______________________________________________________________________
25
______________________________________________________________________
After you edit a Command Post menu file, you can either select Reload
Menu from Command Post's control menu to have the changes take effect
immediately, or you can wait for the menus to be reloaded
automatically the next time you make a selection from the menu.
However, in the latter case you will get a message telling you to re-
select the menu item.
Load WIL Help File
This menu item runs Windows Help with the WIL help file (WIL.HLP) that
is included with Command Post. This gives you a fairly complete
reference to all the Windows Interface Language (WIL) functions and
statements.
Edit INI files
This menu item lists all the .INI files in the Windows directory, and
allows you to select one to be modified. It then lists all the
sections contained in the desired file, and after you select a section
it lists all the lines contained in that section, and, finally, after
you select a line, it allows you to edit that individual line.
This provides a (relatively) safe way for inexperienced users to make
changes to Windows INI files.
Note: This menu item cannot be used to edit the "Device=" lines which
appear in the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file.
Run System Configuration Editor
This selection runs the Windows System Editor. The System Editor
allows you to edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, and
SYSTEM.INI files.
Run Windows Setup
This menu item runs the Windows Setup program. This lets you review
your current Windows setup configuration and change it if necessary.
______________________________________________________________________
26
______________________________________________________________________
Restart Windows
This menu item gives you the following three options:
NO! Wait
This option doesn't do anything (other than display a brief
message).
Really! Doit!
This option restarts Windows, just as if you were to exit Windows
and then manually start it up again from DOS.
Reboot! this machine
This option performs a complete warm boot of the computer, just
like pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del twice. It only works under Windows 3.1
or higher; under Windows 3.0, it simply restarts Windows.
Warning: Use this option with care.
PIF Edit...
This menu item lets you edit a Windows PIF file using the PIF Editor.
If the currently-selected file is a PIF file, then the PIF Editor will
be launched with that file. Otherwise, the menu item will display a
listbox containing all the .PIF files in the current directory, and
will launch the PIF Editor with the file you select. However, if
there are no PIF files in the current directory, then the menu item
will attempt to locate your PIF directory (by searching for
_DEFAULT.PIF), and will list the PIF files in that directory.
Note: You can force this menu item to list files in your PIF directory
(instead of the current directory) by holding down the Shift key while
selecting PIF Edit... from the menu.
System Information
This selection shows a message box containing numerous pieces of
interesting information about your Windows system configuration.
Interactive WIL
The items on this menu item allow you to interactively enter Command
Post commands, and to recall previously-entered commands without
having to re-type them. This is sometimes known as a "command stack":
______________________________________________________________________
27
______________________________________________________________________
Execute WIL Function
Allows you to interactively enter a Command Post function or command.
The return value of the function will be displayed in a message box.
Execute a Previous Entry
Allows you to select and re-use a previous entry from the command
stack.
Flush Previous Entries
Allows you to clear all entries from the command stack.
______________________________________________________________________
28
______________________________________________________________________
COMMAND POST
FUNCTIONS
Introduction
This section includes only those additional Command Post functions
which do not appear in the WIL Reference Manual. The WIL Reference
Manual is your primary reference to the functions available in Command
Post.
Note: The functions listed under the See Also headings may be
documented either in this User's Guide or in the WIL Reference Manual.
Function List
DirExist ([d:]path)
Determines if a directory exists.
DiskHide (drive-list)
Hides disk drives from display.
DiskReset ( )
Re-examines available disk drives.
DiskUpdate ( )
Updates drive icon display.
FileHilite (file-masks, mode)
Highlights or unhighlights files in file display.
IntControl (request#, p1, p2, p3, p4)
Internal control functions.
MsgTextGet (window-name)
Returns the contents of a Windows message box.
OtherDir ( )
Finds the directory where another copy of Command Post is running,
if any.
OtherUpdate ( )
Updates another Command Post directory display.
SetDisplay (detail, sort-by, masks)
Controls the display of files in the Command Post window.
______________________________________________________________________
29
______________________________________________________________________
DirExist
Determines if a directory exists.
Syntax:
DirExist ([d:]path)
Parameters:
(s) [d:]pathdirectory name, with optional drive.
Returns:
(i) @TRUE if the directory exists;
@FALSE if it doesn't exist.
You can use this function to determine whether a specified drive is
valid by checking for the existence of the root directory on that
drive.
Examples:
wpdir = "c:\wp"
If DirExist(wpdir) == @FALSE Then DirMake(wpdir)
DirChange(wpdir)
:top
drive = AskLine("Run Excel", "Enter a drive letter", "")
If drive == "" Then Exit
drive = StrSub(drive, 1, 1)
If DirExist("%drive%:\") == @FALSE Then Goto top
NetAddCon("\\userapps\excel", "", drive)
See Also:
DirChange, DirMake, DirRemove, DirRename, FileExist
______________________________________________________________________
30
______________________________________________________________________
DiskHide
Hides disk drives from display.
Syntax:
DiskHide (drive-list)
Parameters:
(s) drive-list string of drives to hide (non-delimited).
Returns:
(i) always 1.
This function causes the drive letters specified in drive-list to be
removed from the disk drive icon display.
Example:
DiskHide("STUVW")
See Also:
DiskReset, DiskUpdate
______________________________________________________________________
31
______________________________________________________________________
DiskReset
Re-examines available disk drives.
Syntax:
DiskReset ( )
Parameters:
(none)
Returns:
(i) always 0.
Examines disk drives on system, and adds any new drives found to the
display of drive icons. If an existing drive was hidden with the
DiskHide function, it will no longer be hidden (unlike the DiskUpdate
function).
Example:
DiskReset()
See Also:
DiskHide, DiskUpdate
______________________________________________________________________
32
______________________________________________________________________
DiskUpdate
Updates drive icon display.
Syntax:
DiskUpdate ( )
Parameters:
(none)
Returns:
(i) always 0.
Examines disk drives on system, and adds any new drives found to the
display of drive icons. If an existing drive was hidden with the
DiskHide function, it will remain hidden (unlike the DiskReset
function).
Example:
DiskUpdate()
See Also:
DiskHide, DiskReset
______________________________________________________________________
33
______________________________________________________________________
FileHilite
Highlights or unhighlights files in file display.
Syntax:
FileHilite (file-masks, mode)
Parameters:
(s) file-masks one or more file specifications, which may be
wildcarded.
(i) mode @TRUE Highlight matching files.
@FALSE Unhighlight matching files.
Returns:
(i) total number of files highlighted or unhighlighted.
This function causes one or more groups of files in the file display
window to be highlighted (selected) or unhighlighted (de-selected).
This is useful to select files for an operation such as FileCopy, or
just to spotlight certain files in a directory.
Multiple file specifications must be space-delimited.
Examples:
FileHilite("*.ZIP *.LZH *.ARC", @TRUE)
FileHilite("OLD*.ZIP", @FALSE)
See Also:
CurrentFile, FileExtension
______________________________________________________________________
34
______________________________________________________________________
IntControl
Internal control functions.
Syntax:
IntControl (request#, p1, p2, p3, p4)
Parameters:
(i) request# specifies which sub-function is to be performed (see
below).
(s) p1 - p4 parameters which may be required by the function (see
below).
Returns:
(s) varies (see below).
Short for Internal Control, a special function that permits numerous
internal operations. The first parameter of IntControl defines
exactly what the function does, the other parameters are possible
arguments to the function.
Refer to the WIL Reference Manual for information on other sub-
functions.
IntControl (2, 0, 0, 0, 0)
Returns the number of Command Post windows currently open.
IntControl (3, 0, 0, 0, 0)
Writes the positions of each open Command Post window to the
WWW-PROD.INI file, using the WinPositionXY format.
IntControl (6, 0, 0, 0, 0)
Positions all open Command Post windows, based on the information in
the WWW-PROD.INI file.
______________________________________________________________________
35
______________________________________________________________________
(IntControl continued)
IntControl (9, p1, 0, 0, 0)
Controls Command Post window resizing.
P1 Meaning
0 Resize automagically on open and close (default)
1 disable resize on window close
2 disable resize on window open
3 disable resize on open and close
IntControl (11, p1, 0, 0, 0)
Used to tell Command Post that it is (or is not) a shell, contrary to
what it really is. That is, if it is really a shell, you can disable
the shell-like characteristics, or if it is not a shell, enable its
shell characteristics. However, if you are using Windows 3.1 or
higher, and Command Post is your Windows shell, it is generally
recommended that you do not use this function to tell it otherwise.
P1 Meaning
0 Play standard app
1 Play shell
______________________________________________________________________
36
______________________________________________________________________
MsgTextGet
Returns the contents of a Windows message box.
Syntax:
MsgTextGet (window-name)
Parameters:
(s) window-name full title of the message box window.
Returns:
(s) contents of the message box.
This function returns the text contents of a standard Windows message
box. "Window-name" must be the full title of the message box window,
and is case-sensitive.
Note: This function will not work with the types of message boxes
created by most WIL functions, since they are not standard Windows
message boxes.
Example:
msg = MsgTextGet("Microsoft Word")
If msg == "Search text not found" Then SendKey("~")
______________________________________________________________________
37
______________________________________________________________________
OtherDir
Finds the directory where another copy of Command Post is running, if
any.
Syntax:
OtherDir ( )
Parameters:
(none)
Returns:
(s) the directory of the second-most recently used Command
Post window. The current window is considered the most
recently used window.
Use this command to determine the directory of the second-most-
recently-used Command Post window. Useful in setting up copy and move
operations between two instances of Command Post.
Example:
a = DirGet()
b = OtherDir()
Message("Directory of this CmdPost window is", a)
Message("Directory of the other CmdPost window is", b)
Drop(a, b)
See Also:
DirGet, DirHome, OtherUpdate
______________________________________________________________________
38
______________________________________________________________________
OtherUpdate
Updates other Command Post directory displays.
Syntax:
OtherUpdate ( )
Parameters:
(none)
Returns:
(i) @TRUE if another copy of Command Post was found to
update;
@FALSE if this is the only copy running.
This command updates the file displays of any other open Command Post
windows. This is useful if your menu item changes a directory; i.e.
if a file or directory is created, moved, renamed, or deleted.
OtherUpdate helps ensure the other Command Post display(s) immediately
reflect the change the user caused from this copy.
Example:
FileCopy("myfile.txt", OtherDir(), @FALSE)
OtherUpdate()
See Also:
OtherDir, Refresh, SetDisplay
______________________________________________________________________
39
______________________________________________________________________
Refresh
Updates file window display.
Syntax:
Refresh (request#)
Parameters:
(i) request# see below.
Returns:
(i) always 1.
This function updates the files being displayed in the Command Post
window, as well as the drive icons that are displayed. It is useful
after running an application (such as a DOS program) which creates,
deletes, or renames a file in the directory being viewed, or connects
to (or disconnects from) a network server, and you wish the changes to
be reflected in the Command Post window.
Specifying a request# of 0 causes only the active Command Post window
to be updated, and specifying a request# of 1 causes all Command Post
windows to be updated.
Refresh(0) is the same as SetDisplay("", "", ""), and Refresh(1) is
the same as OtherUpdate().
Note: This command does not take effect until the WIL program has
completed, regardless of where the command may appear in the program.
Example:
Run("pkunzip.exe", CurrentFile())
Refresh(0)
See Also:
OtherUpdate, Reload, SetDisplay
______________________________________________________________________
40
______________________________________________________________________
SetDisplay
Controls the display of files in the Command Post window.
Syntax:
SetDisplay (detail, sort-by, masks)
Parameters:
(s) detail level of detail. Use "SHORT", "LONG", or "NONE".
(s) sort-by how to sort the filenames. Use "NAME", "KIND", "SIZE",
"DATE" or "UNSORTED".
(s) masks list of masks for file display.
Returns:
(i) @TRUE if valid options were specified;
@FALSE if invalid.
Use this function to change and/or update the file display.
If "detail" is set to "SHORT", only file names and extensions will be
displayed. If it is set to "LONG", file sizes, times, and attributes
will be displayed as well. If it is set to "NONE", there will not be
any file display at all; this is useful for security reasons, to
prevent users from executing unwanted programs.
Any of the fields may be null. If a field is null the previous
setting is used. This command will alter the file display Parameters,
and then re-read all the files and update the display.
A special form of this function, SetDisplay ("","",""), will update
the file display without changing any of the previously set
parameters. This is necessary after changing directories if you want
the new directory to be shown, and is useful after running programs
which create or delete files.
By default, hidden and system files are not displayed. This can be
changed by setting "SysHide=Yes" in the [CmdPost] section of
WWW-PROD.INI.
______________________________________________________________________
41
______________________________________________________________________
(SetDisplay continued)]
Note: SetDisplay does not take effect until the current WIL program
has completed, regardless of where the command may appear in the
program.
Example:
Windows &SDK
&Show SDK Development Files
SetDisplay("", "", "*.ICO *.CUR *.BMP *.DLG *.H")
See Also:
OtherUpdate, Refresh
______________________________________________________________________
42
