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Text File | 1994-10-12 | 20KB | 524 lines

                                  JP Software

                           4OS2 Update Documentation

                        Version 2.5 -- October 12, 1994

   [Copyright 1992 - 1994, JP Software Inc., All Rights Reserved.
   Published by JP Software Inc., P.O. Box 1470, E. Arlington, MA 02174
   USA, [phone].  4OS2, 4OS2/16, and 4OS2/32 are trademarks and 4DOS
   is a registered trademark of JP Software Inc.  OS/2 is a trademark of
   IBM Corporation.  Other product and company names are trademarks of
   their respective owners.]


   There are dozens of new features in this latest release of 4OS2!  Check
   through this file for a comprehensive list of what's changed since
   version 2.0.

   This file does not explain how to use the new features.  Be sure to
   check the Reference Manual or online help for complete details on each
   feature.

   Some of the descriptions below may be more detailed than you need; if
   you aren't using a feature, feel free to skip to the next item.  If you
   are new to 4OS2 with version 2.5, you can skip this file entirely, and
   begin with the 4OS2 Introduction and Installation Guide.

   This file is divided into the following sections:

          General Features and Enhancements
          Startup, Initialization, and 4OS2.INI
          Command Line Editing and History
          Aliases
          Command Changes and Enhancements
          Variables and Variable Functions
          Technical and Compatibility Enhancements
          Bugs Fixed

   Major new features and those which affect most users are marked with
   "**" in the lists below.  Other items discuss smaller or more technical
   changes.

   This file is formatted at 58 lines per page, and contains form feeds and
   page footers.  It can be viewed with a file viewer such as the 4OS2 LIST
   command, or printed on most PC printers using the command:

                  copy updat20.doc prn

   Printing it with a program that formats the pages is not likely to work
   due to the formatting included in the file.

                                                               (10/94-2.5A)



   4OS2 2.5  [10-12-94]           UPDAT25.DOC                        page 1



                             4OS2 2.5 Change List


   General Features and Enhancements
   ---------------------------------

   => **  The maximum file description length (set with the DescriptionMax
          directive in the .INI file) has been increased to 511 characters.

   => **  Colors can now be specified as either digits (0-15) or the color
          name, i.e. "COLOR 15 on 1" for bright white on blue.  This should
          help those who are running out of room for ColorDir
          specifications.  The colors are:

              0:  Black               8:   Gray
              1:  Blue                9:   Bright blue
              2:  Green               10:  Bright green
              3:  Cyan                11:  Bright cyan
              4:  Red                 12:  Bright red
              5:  Magenta             13:  Bright magenta
              6:  Brown               14:  Yellow
              7:  White               15:  Bright white

   =>     @ATTRIB and the /A:xxx switches on all commands will ignore
          underlines in the attribute string, for example "/A:R_S" is a
          valid switch for the commands which support /A.  This allows you
          to use the results returned by @ATTRIB in a command or another
          call to @ATTRIB.

   =>     Added more complete support for decimal and negative numbers in
          DO and IF / IFF comparisons.

   =>     Wildcard matching supports "[]" to mean "match only if nothing's
          there."  This is useful for things like:

                  dir /i"[]" *.btm

          to display only the .BTM files that do NOT have a description.

   =>     Date and time ranges have a new option to select the "Last
          Access" (a) or "Created" (c) fields on HPFS and NTFS drives.  For
          example, to select files last accessed yesterday and today:

                  /[da-1]

   =>     PATH searching uses only semicolons and commas as possible path
          delimiters (formerly it also accepted spaces and tabs).  This
          helps to avoid problems with unquoted HPFS long names in the
          PATH.





   4OS2 2.5  [10-12-94]           UPDAT25.DOC                        page 2


   Startup, Initialization, and 4OS2.INI
   -------------------------------------

   =>     There is a new startup switch, /LD, to force a local directory
          history.

   =>     There are a number of new .INI file directives:

              DescriptionName = File:  Filename to use for file
              descriptions, defaults to DESCRIPT.ION.  This is intended
              primarily for BBS sysops who want to use FILES.BBS for file
              descriptions.

              DirHistory = nnnn (256):  Size of the directory history in
              bytes, from 128 to 2048.

              EvalMax = nnnn (8):  Maximum number of digits after the
              decimal point in values returned by @EVAL (0-8).

              EvalMin = nnnn (0):  Minimum number of digits after the
              decimal point in values returned by @EVAL (0-8).  EvalMin
              will be ignored if it is larger than EvalMax.

              LocalDirHistory = [Yes|No]:  Sets local or global directory
              history.  The default is Yes for 4DOS, No for 4OS2 and
              4DOS/NT.

   =>     PMWIN.DLL and PMSHAPI.DLL are no longer required to load 4OS2.
          This will make it easier to create bootable floppy disks using
          4OS2.


   Command Line Editing and History
   --------------------------------

   => **  Directory histories are inherited, and can be global, like
          aliases and command history (also see the new LocalDirHistory
          directive in 4OS2.INI).

   => **  A Ctrl-Enter while scrolling through command history at the
          prompt will now copy the line to the end of the history list,
          even if you don't alter it.  This allows you to force lines to
          the end of the list for easier recall.

   =>     You can prefix a command with either @* or *@ to both disable
          aliases and prevent the command from being stored in the history
          (previously only @* was supported).


   Aliases and Batch Files
   -----------------------




   4OS2 2.5  [10-12-94]           UPDAT25.DOC                        page 3


   => **  Errors in batch files display the batch file name and the line
          number where the error occurred.  The first line in the file is
          numbered 1.

   =>     Added ESC as a synonym for R(est) when you're single-stepping
          through batch files with SETDOS /Y1.


   Command Changes and Enhancements
   --------------------------------

   => **  ATTRIB, COPY, DEL, DESCRIBE, LIST, MOVE, REN, and TYPE all
          support the /A:[[-]rhsda] switch (using same syntax as in DIR).
          This allows you to process files in a variety of ways based on
          their attributes.

   =>     ?:  If you use arguments with a "?" command, it will prompt for
          whether to execute another command.

   =>     DIR has several changes:

              * Summary totals for files and directories are now listed
              separately.

              * /B strips trailing spaces to avoid extra characters in
              redirected output files.

              * /E and /L will change the case of NTFS and HPFS filenames.

              * /T will no longer suppress the display of descriptions;
              instead, descriptions will be displayed after the attributes.

   =>     DRAWBOX supports BRIght FILL colors.

   => **  FFIND is a new command for quickly finding files or text within
          files.  It can search anything from a single directory to all the
          disks on your system in a single command, supports wildcards in
          the search text, and offers a range of options to customize the
          search.

   =>     FOR has a new /H switch to skip the "." and ".." directory
          entries in a wildcard scan.

   =>     INKEY and INPUT have two new switches.  /X skips printing a CR/LF
          after echoing the key or line typed by the user; /D allows only
          digits (0-9) in the input.

   =>     INPUT has a new /N switch to disable the display color specified
          by InputColor in the .INI file, and use the default display
          colors.

   => **  LIST supports several new options:



   4OS2 2.5  [10-12-94]           UPDAT25.DOC                        page 4


              * Wildcards can be used in text search strings.  For example
              you can use "to*day" as a search string to find the next line
              with "to" followed by "day" later on the same line, or
              "[14]01" to find the next line containing either "101" or
              "401".  You can disable wildcard searches by prefixing the
              search string with a single backquote [`].

              * Pressing "B" (for "back") displays the previous file.  You
              can go all the way back to the first file.

              * The file description (if any) is displayed in the "Info"
              box brought up with the "I" key.

              * The "G" (goto) command in hex mode prompts for a hex offset
              rather than a line number.

              * The P(rint) option asks if you want to print the entire
              file or the current page only.

   =>     LOG displays the log file name if you don't enter any arguments.

   =>     MOVE has two new switches:  /M only moves files with the archive
          attribute bit set; /V checks that the data is physically
          accessible after the MOVE (like COPY /V).  Also MOVE is slightly
          faster in cases where the target file already exists.

   =>     ON ERROR will no longer display the error message before
          executing the specified command.

   =>     PROMPT has two new prompt characters, $m and $M, to display the
          time in hours and minutes only.  $m displays in 24-hour format;
          $M uses the default country format.  These are similar to $t and
          $T, but do not display seconds.

   =>     REM can create an empty file with the syntax "REM > file";
          previously this did not work if there was a space after "REM".

   => **  SELECT has three enhancements:

              * The L key will call LIST with the current highlighted
              filename.  This allows you to view a file before deciding
              whether to select it.  Exiting LIST will return you to the
              saved position in SELECT.

              * The left and right cursor keys will scroll descriptions
              which are longer than the current screen width.

              * The new /H switch will hide the "." and ".." directory
              entries.

   =>     SETDOS has three changes:




   4OS2 2.5  [10-12-94]           UPDAT25.DOC                        page 5


              * /B can be used in a batch file to change the bright/blink
              bit.  Previously the bright / blink state was only toggled
              when the prompt was displayed.

              * The new /Fx.y switch sets the minimum and maximum decimal
              precision in @EVAL.  Also see @EVAL and the new EvalMax and
              EvalMin directives in the .INI file.

              * You can disable all cursor shape changes normally made by
              the command processor by setting either of the /S arguments
              to -1.  This is primarily intended for those with laptops who
              have other programs controlling the cursor shape.

   =>     TEE has been rewritten and is much faster.


   Variables and Variable Functions
   --------------------------------

   Enhancements to Existing Variable Functions:

   =>     @ATTRIB:  If you only specify the filename, @ATTRIB will now
          return the attributes for that file.  The format is the same as
          that for the ATTRIB and DIR commands: a five-character string of
          the form "RHSAD", with any non-existing attribute bits replaced
          by an underline (e.g. R__A_).

   => **  @EVAL now supports integer exponentiation with the "**" operator,
          and decimal precision and rounding.  You can set the precision
          for a single calculation with the construct
          %@EVAL[expression=x.y], where "x" specifies the minimum number of
          decimal digits in the result, and "y" specifies the maximum.  To
          set the default precision for all calculations see SETDOS /F and
          the EvalMin and EvalMax directives in the .INI file.

   =>     @FILEOPEN has a third parameter; the new syntax is
          %@FILEOPEN[filename,read|write|append[,b|t]], where "b" means
          open in binary mode, and "t" means open in text mode.  Text mode
          (the default) should be used to transfer text data with @FILEREAD
          (without a read "length", see below) and @FILEWRITE.  Binary mode
          should be used to transfer binary data with @FILEREAD (with a
          read "length") and @FILEWRITEB.

   =>     @FILEREAD has an optional second parameter to set the number of
          bytes to read.  The new syntax is @FILEREAD[n[,length]].  If the
          length is not given the next line is read, as in the previous
          version.

   =>     @FILES, @FINDFIRST and @FINDNEXT now accept a dash [-] in the
          attribute list.  The dash reverses the meaning of the following
          attribute, for example "-d" means to include all entries except
          subdirectories.



   4OS2 2.5  [10-12-94]           UPDAT25.DOC                        page 6


   => **  @FINDFIRST / @FINDNEXT have several changes:

              * Include lists are now supported.

              * The filename passed to @FINDNEXT is ignored, and the name
              passed to the last @FINDFIRST is used instead.

              * The "." and ".." directories are no longer returned by
              these functions.

              * You must call the new @FINDCLOSE function (see below) after
              the last time @FINDNEXT is called to avoid running out of
              directory search handles.

   => **  @WORD has an optional new first argument; the new syntax is
          @WORD[["xxx"],n,string], where "xxx" specifies the delimiters you
          wish to use.  To include a double quote ["] within the delimiter
          string, preface it with an escape character.


   New Variable Functions:

   =>     @COMMA[n]:  Inserts commas (or the "thousands separator"
          character for your country ID) into a numeric string.

   =>     @FILESEEKL[handle,line]:  Seeks to the specified line, allowing
          you to do a subsequent @FILEREAD[] without having to loop through
          the lines first.

   =>     @FILEWRITEB[handle,length,string]:  Writes the specified string
          to the file; does not append a trailing CR/LF.

   =>     @FINDCLOSE[filename]:  Closes the search handle opened by
          @FINDFIRST.  Must be used after the last time @FINDNEXT is called
          to avoid leaving a directory search handle open.

   =>     @FORMAT[[-][n][.n],string]:  Formats a string by padding or
          truncating it to a specified length, with right or left
          justification.

   =>     @IF[condition,true,false]:  Returns the "true" parameter if the
          condition is true, or the "false" parameter if it is false.  The
          conditions are the same as those for the IF command.  For
          example, %@IF[2==2,Correct!,Oops!] will return "Correct!".

   =>     @MAKEAGE[date[,time]]:  Returns a number in the same format as
          the %@FILEAGE function.  This allows you to compare the age of a
          file to a specific date, for example:

                  if %@fileage[file1] lt %@makeage[10-1-94,12:00] echo Old!





   4OS2 2.5  [10-12-94]           UPDAT25.DOC                        page 7


   =>     %@REXX[expression] calls the REXX interpreter to execute the
          expression, returning the result.  If you precede the expression
          with an "=" sign, @REXX will parse the expression and do variable
          expansion, but will not execute it.  In this case the expanded
          value is returned, for example "%@REXX[=date()]" returns "1 June
          1994".

   =>     @TIMER[n]:  Returns the current split time for the specified
          timer started with the TIMER command.  "n" can be 1, 2, or 3.

   =>     @WORDS[["xxx"],string]:  Returns the number of words in the
          specified string.  The optional first argument is a list of
          delimiters as in @WORD (see above).


   New Internal Variables:

   =>     _BATCHLINE:  Returns the current line number in the current batch
          file.  The first line is numbered one.

   =>     _BATCHNAME:  Returns the full path name of the current batch
          file.

   =>     _DNAME:  Returns the name of the description file.  The default
          is DESCRIPT.ION; the name can be changed with the DescriptionName
          directive in the .INI file.

   =>     _KBHIT:  Returns 1 if a keystroke is waiting in the keyboard
          buffer; 0 if not.

   =>     _PIPE:  Returns 1 if the current process is running inside a
          pipe; 0 if not.


   Technical and Compatibility Enhancements
   ----------------------------------------

   =>     F1 will now skip past a leading "*" or "@" on the command line
          when looking for the command name.  This allows you to use
          context-sensitive help even when the command is prefaced with "*"
          or "@".

   =>     Improved support for applications which start a REXX file and
          make 4OS2 calls from within the REXX file.

   =>     Modified 4OS2/32 to work around problems with DIR, SELECT, and
          related functions under PC-NFS and the ZipStream and TVFS
          installable file systems.

   =>     Worked around some problems in PC-NFS which caused trouble with
          filename completion on NFS drives.




   4OS2 2.5  [10-12-94]           UPDAT25.DOC                        page 8


   Bugs Fixed
   ----------

   =>     An INKEY /K would disable a wait (/W) once a key had been hit,
          regardless of whether the key was in the /K list.

   =>     Batch file line prompting (SETDOS /Y1 and the new ? "xxx"
          command) would prompt even if you were using a pipe and were
          unable to respond.  Now it only prompts if input is coming from
          the console.

   =>     Fixed a problem with multiple nested .AND.'s and .OR.'s in an IF
          / IFF statement.

   =>     SET /R and ALIAS /R line continuation did not always work
          properly.

   =>     CHCP was not displaying the code page information properly under
          4OS2/32.

   =>     COPY was deleting the target file if the source file had extended
          attributes and the target file system didn't support them.  COPY
          now displays an error message but retains the target file,
          without its EAs.

   =>     COPY had several glitches when copying to and from named pipes.

   =>     DETACH now handles redirection (|, <, >) and conditional commands
          (&&, ||) properly.

   =>     LIST had trouble when piping a large file to LIST /S.
























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