In addition to the volumes written on OS/2 (see the "Publications" section of OS/2 CONNECT, as well as the documentation accompanying the product), there is a lot of reference information available to you on-line:
HELP INDEX - providing a list of subjects to chose from. GENERAL HELP - explaining the purpose and function of the application. USING HELP - help for help. KEYS HELP - explains how the various keys are used. ABOUT - optional. Normally used to display the author or vendor of the program. Other optional Help pull-down-choices may also be displayed.
If you have a color monitor, add the following statement to your CONFIG.SYS file:
SET PROMPT=$e[31;40m$e[1m[$p]$e[0mThis will give you a more colorful command prompt (red).
For a green prompt, try:
SET PROMPT=$e[32;40m$e[1m[$P]$e[0m
Edit your CONFIG.SYS file so that:
SET DIRCMD=/O:GN
Edit your CONFIG.SYS file so that:
SET SCUSEPRETTYCLOCK=ONThis produces an attractive clock (black background with green numbers).
Edit your CONFIG.SYS file so that:
SET KILLFEATUREENABLED=ONReboot the computer, then press the CONTROL key and click on the Window List icon in the Warp Center using the left mouse-button. This will display all of the active processes and allows you to kill processes if you so desire.
Add the following statement to your CONFIG.SYS file to enable automatic pull-down menus from the WarpCenter (a la Win95):
SET MENUSFOLLOWPOINTER=ON
Reboot the computer and you're ready.
Tired of re-arranging the icons in your folder? Simply open the "Properties/Settings" for the folder (right mouse button); Go to the "Sort" tab; and select/click on the option "Always maintain sort order." You can also assign the "Default sort attribute" (Name, Type, Size, etc.).
Can't figure out how to minimize your window to the desktop as opposed to the viewer? Go to the "System Setup" folder (normally located in the "OS/2 System" folder), and launch the "System" program. This will display a notebook with various settings. Go to the tab marked "Window." On that page there will be three radio buttons used to define "Minimize window behavior." You can elect to "Hide window," "Minimize window to viewer" (default setting), or "Minimize window to desktop" (click on this).
The "System" notebook also contains a variety of other settings that should be of interest to you.
For the Enhanced Editor (EPM.EXE), it is possible to record a stream of characters and then play it back later. This is a sort of cut and paste feature of the Enhanced Editor.
Steps:
1. Press Cntl + R 2. Begin typing your text (as much as you want) when completed... 3. Press Cntl + R (your text is now saved) 4. Position the cursor anywhere you wish to insert the text and press Cntl + T.Note: This will not negate the use of the Shift/Insert-Delete functions.
The Warp Center and LaunchPad are great for a one-click launching of programs, but were you aware that you can modify the desktop's "settings" (as invoked by the right mouse button on a desktop focus) to include frequently used programs? To do so, select the desktop's "Properties/Settings" which will invoke a notebook of "Desktop - Properties/Settings." Go to the "Menu" tab on the notebook. Press the "Create another" pushbutton, and a pop-up "Menu Item Settings" dialog will appear. In the field marked "Menu item name," enter the name of the application, and; in the field marked "Program/Name," enter the name of the program. For example:
Menu item name: Enhanced Editor Program/Name: EPM.EXEAnother way to do this is to 'drag and drop' an icon (using the right mouse button) into the "Actions on menu" field shown.
After closing the notebook, click on the right mouse button again and you will see your program added to the list. You can add to the list as much as you like. Using the same approach, you can also modify existing program settings or delete them from the list as desired. Can't remember the exact drive/directory location of the program? Use the "Find program" pushbutton on the "Menu Item Settings" dialog to locate it.
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Saving a few basic OS/2 files can save you considerable trouble later on in the event of computer failure. As a preventative measure, backup the following files to either a diskette or another drive (preferably on another machine, such as a file server):
To assure the backup is performed routinely, put COPY commands in your STARTUP.CMD file. Each time you boot-up the computer (each day for example), your files will be automatically copied to another drive.
I have used the following trick countless times with OS/2 Warp 3.0 for restoring the desktop when the OS2SYS.INI and the OS2.INI files disappear for no reason. These commands entered in a utility disk boot command line or a boot time Alt+F1 command line will rebuild these INI files to restore the desktop exactly the way it was before losing the two files. With modern OS/2 (Warp 4 or Warp 3 with a FixPak) these files maybe in a different directory.
The commands:
Tip courtesy of Mike Rivard (mrivard@ibm.net)
OS/2 provides the means to UNDELETE files at the OS/2 command line (a little known trick that many users overlook). To do this, you must first edit the CONFIG.SYS file which comes with a DELDIR statement that is REMarked out (commented out), thereby disabling it; such as:
REM SET DELDIR=C:\DELETE,512;D:\DELETE,512;E:\DELETE,512;Simply remove the "REM" statement, so that it now appears as:
SET DELDIR=C:\DELETE,512;D:\DELETE,512;E:\DELETE,512;Next, create a DELETE directory (MD DELETE) on each drive that you want to use this feature on. In the example above, drives C, D, and E are listed.
Instructions: After you have deleted a file (by accident or by purpose), simply go to the OS/2 command line (window or full screen) and the directory where the file was deleted and type the UNDELETE command; for example:
C:\UNDELETE (file name)The computer will then prompt you to confirm your undelete of the file. For more information on this feature, type at the OS/2 command line: HELP UNDELETE
Have you ever wanted an OS/2 window to be sized to a certain dimension (height and width) upon launch (start)? Or have you ever wanted to have the window maximized or positioned to a certain area on the screen at time of launch? The secret to this is the SHIFT key.
To size an OS/2 window, launch the window then hold the shift key down; use the mouse sizing frame to size the window, then release the shift key. The next time you launch an OS/2 window it will be sized accordingly.
To maximize the window, perform the same type of operation: launch the OS/2 window, hold the shift key down, maximize the window, and release the shift key. To position the maximized window: hold the shift key down, click on the title-bar and drag the window to where you want it positioned, then release the shift key.
If your desktop becomes cluttered and you can't easily see and access the WarpCenter (due to windows covering it), to bring it foreground, simply double-click on any "free" space on the OS/2 desktop.
Submitted by Melvin Klassen
To concatenate a set of files (add one file to another and another, etc.), go to the OS/2 command line (full screen or window) and use the COPY command along with the plus (+) and equal (=) operators to string files together. For example:
COPY FILE_1.TXT + FILE_2.TXT + FILE_3.TXT = FILE_4.TXT
In the example above, the first three files will remain unchanged. The last file (FILE_4.TXT) can either be a new file (created by the command) or an existing file that is appended.
Sometimes a program's software installation routine will place certain "read only" files on your fixed disk. Afterwards you may wish to delete or edit such files. However, because they have the "read only" attribute assigned to them you cannot do so. How do you overcome this problem? Use the ATTRIB command from the OS/2 command prompt; for example:
ATTRIB -R (file name)This command removes the "read only" attribute from the file. You can now edit or delete the file accordingly. To re-assign the "read only" attribute, use the following command:
ATTRIB +R (file name)WARNING! Use extreme care in using this command. OS/2 itself makes extensive use of "read only" files. Use this command only when you are sure of the file you wish to change.
A convenient technique for performing the copy/paste functions with nothing more than the two mouse buttons:
Using the left mouse button, select text or graphic then tap the right mouse button. This copies the selected text or graphic to the clipboard.
Position the cursor accordingly with the right mouse button and tap the left button. This then performs a paste from the clipboard.
This technique works for most text/graphic windows in native OS/2 programs, including the EPM Enhanced Editor, DeScribe, Lotus Word Pro & Freelance, Netscape, or in an OS/2 Window or Full Screen. Surprisingly, it does not work in the OS/2 System Editor
Submitted by Clive W. Humble via Terry Kemp in Australia.
We all understand basic OS/2 and DOS commands, such as DIR, COPY, MOVE, RENAME, etc., but here are some other useful OS/2 commands that are often overlooked:
This represents FixPak 9 under OS/2 Warp 4.0