Cream of the Crop 1/Cream of the Crop 1.iso/UTILITY/BCU100.ARJ/DOSUTIL.DOC

Text File | 1991-12-12 | 10KB | 173 lines

DOSUTIL.DOC
Copyright (c) 1991 by R.P.McCormick
                      79 Rye Street
                      Broad Brook, CT 06016

USING DOS UTILITIES:

The following is an attempt to answer some of the questions I have
received from various users. Since explicit information is contained
here, Advanced users are excused. This is intended to be very basic.

When you obtain a new utility program for your computer, two related
questions arise: 1. How to run it, and 2. Where to put it.

1. There are several ways you can run the program.

   A. If the program is in the "current directory", typing the program's
      name runs the program. (see notes 1 & 2)
      In this case, you do not need to add any prefix to the program name
      to run it. For an imaginary program called "PROG", just type
      "PROG" followed by a <CR> (see note 3).

   B. If the program is in a directory other than the current one, that
      is, if it is not in the same directory the prompt shows (note 1)
      you may need to type the program's full name, which could include
      the drive prefix and directory name(s) in front of the program's name.
      Example: If you have placed the program in a directory called
      "newstuff" on a floppy in the A: drive, and you were currently
      anywhere on the C: drive, you would type the full program name
      as "A:\NEWSTUFF\PROG", then <CR>.

   C. Since this is somewhat awkward, it is generally worth the trouble
      to learn how to make it easier. One very small step in this direction
      would be to "go" to drive A: ( Type "A:" <CR> ), and then change
      the current directory on the A: drive to the directory the program
      is in by using the DOS command "CD". For example, to get to the top
      level while in any directory on the A: drive, type "A:\" <CR>. The
      backslash tells DOS to go to the top level. Then "CD NEWSTUFF" <CR>
      takes you to the directory containing the program. You can always
      do a "DIR" <CR> to verify that it is there. Then, if you want to
      use the program from anywhere on the C: drive, you do not need
      to use the full program name. Only the drive prefix needs to be
      added. Example: "A:PROG" <CR> will run it.

2.    The best place to put utilities.

   A. Copying the program to the C: drive is another small but worthwhile
      step. You could put the new program at the top level of the hard
      drive as follows: Go to the directory on A: where the program is,
      and type "copy prog.exe c:\" <CR>. The backslash directs the program
      to c:'s top level. The reason for doing this is that now, the program
      is accessible from anywhere on the system by typing only the program
      name, with no prefixes nor directory names.

   B. Placing a large number of utility programs at the top level eventually
      gets messy. My personal preference, which I learned from other more
      experienced people is to create a separate directory to contain all
      my utility programs. I call mine UTILS. I also have a directory
      where I keep all the batches. That is, files with the .BAT suffix.
      This I call BATCH. It is easy to create these by using the DOS "MD"
      or "make directory" command. Go to the top level using "CD\", then
      "MD UTILS" <CR>. After moving (see note 7) the programs into the
      UTILS directory, they will no longer respond to your typing the
      program name without including the directory name as a prefix.
      That is, you would have to type "C:\UTILS\PROG" <CR> to guarantee
      that the program will run from anywhere on your system.
      So there is one other thing that has to be done. That is, you must
      add the directory name "C:\UTILS" to the DOS "PATH". (see note 5)
      after that is done, you will not have to type the drive nor
      directory name again.



Many programs allow you to enter a question mark or the letter "H" to see
a help file instead of running the program. You should read the help file
and any .DOC or README files supplied before running the program.

NOTES:
1. Most computers will display the current directory's name as part of the
   prompt. Example: C:\ identifies the "root" or top level directory, while
   C:\DOS means your current directory is called "DOS". I loosely refer to
   this as "being at" the DOS directory. Unfortunately, this feature is not
   built in to all computers. Some merely show what drive you are on.
   Possibly the most useful DOS command is "DIR". Typing DIR <CR>
   (see note 3) will tell you what directory you are in. (Note 4 discusses
   how to make the prompt tell you where you are at.)

2. All programs have a suffix, typically .EXE, .COM, .BAS, or .BAT.
   So, the example program would be typically listed as "PROG.EXE".

3. By <CR>, I mean to hit the "Enter" key or "Return" key or whatever
   it is called on your computer. CR stands for Carriage Return.

4. To make the DOS prompt include the name of the current directory,
   include the following statement in your "AUTOEXEC.BAT" file.
   PROMPT = $p$g
   See note 6 about editing this file.

5. To add a directory name to DOS "PATH":
   A: If there is no "PATH" statement in AUTOEXEC.BAT add the following:
      PATH = C:\UTILS;C:\BATCH
   B: If there is an existing "PATH" statement in AUTOEXEC.BAT, you can
      add to it, as long as the total length of the line does not exceed
      127 characters. If the present statement reads "PATH = C:\DOS" for
      example, change it to read PATH = "C:\DOS;C:\UTILS;C:\BATCH".
      Note the use of the semicolon to separate the names.

6. Modifying the AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
   A. First thing is to look at the existing file. "Go" to the top level
      of the C: drive and use the DOS command "TYPE". You enter
      "TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT" <CR>. There is the possibility that there is
      no such file. If this is the case, creating one from scratch is
      not all that difficult. (See 6C.) On the other hand,

   B. Editing the AUTOEXEC.BAT file can be risky. It is run each time you
      "boot up" the computer. If you mess up this file, things may look
      very unfamiliar and operate strangely until it is straightened out.
      What you need is a good Text Editor. One that operates on ASCII text
      files. WordPerfect is no good for this. It puts all kinds of extra
      codes in the file. I find that trying to use the tools DOS gives you
      is both difficult and cumbersome. I don't know how to use the editor
      they give you. "EDLIN" is it? I would not try to use EDLIN to edit
      a file. It is possible, but I can't really encourage you to do so.
      A couple of editors which I have tried are the Norton Editor,
      Borland's Turbo Pascal editor, and Borland's Turbo C editor.
      They are all no-nonsense editors which can be used to edit
      AUTOEXEC.BAT. What I use is called PC-WRITE which is available
      as shareware through most bulletin boards, or you can write them at
      Quicksoft, 219 First Ave. N. #224, Seattle, WA 98109. They also have
      a smaller version called PC-WRITE LITE which I have never used, but
      have seen highly recommended by people who write for a living.
      You may want to have a friend help you with the editing if you don't
      feel comfortable with it. One possibility is to copy your existing
      AUTOEXEC.BAT to a floppy and have someone at the office or school
      edit it for you.

   C. If there is no file called AUTOEXEC.BAT on your computer, you may
      want to create one containing the PROMPT and PATH statements
      mentioned above. This can be done using available DOS tools.
      But before doing that, do a "DIR" <CR> both to verify that you
      are "at" the top level on the C: drive, and that there is no file
      by that name listed. DOS will give no warning that you are
      destroying the original file when you do the following.

      At the C:\> prompt, type
      "COPY CON: AUTOEXEC.BAT" <CR>
      "PROMPT = $p$g" <CR>
      "PATH = C:\UTILS;C:\BATCH" <CR>
      <CTRL> "z" <CR>

      That last statement means to hold down the "Ctrl" key then press
      and release the "z" key, then release the "Ctrl" key.
      You can view the file you just created using the "TYPE" command.
      You may want to practice the above on a different named file
      to make sure you are doing it right, after which you could
      rename the file from whatever it was to AUTOEXEC.BAT using
      the DOS command "REN" or rename. Example: If the file was called
      "TESTFILE" you would enter "REN TESTFILE AUTOEXEC.BAT" <CR>.
      The statements you entered in AUTOEXEC.BAT do not take effect until
      the next time the computer is "booted". You can hit these 3 keys
      simultaneously to reboot: <Alt> <Ctrl> <Delete>. Or use the "reset"
      button found on some computers, or shut off the power, wait about
      5 seconds, then turn it back on.


7.    There is no DOS "MOVE" command. When you copy a file, for example
      by typing "COPY PROG.EXE C:\UTILS" <CR>, you leave a copy behind.
      To "MOVE" a file you then delete the file at the source. You
      probably do not want to delete the file on the floppy, but if
      you are trying to "clean up" the top level of the C: drive, you
      would type "DEL C:\PROG.EXE" <CR> to erase the file at that
      location.