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shroom.doc - readme file for Shell Room Utility
Copyright (C) Davis Augustine 1990, 1991. All rights reserved.
Last Modified: 22jun91. Version 1.6c
Files
-----
SHROOM.COM - The program.
SHROOM.DOC - This documentation file.
Description
-----------
SHROOM is a utility that gives a DOS application's shells more
room. It does this by intercepting the shell operation,
swapping out the application program, freeing up the memory,
and then performing the shell operation. It also
intercepts the exit from the shell, so that it can swap
the application back in before returning to it. The program
is none the wiser.
Features
--------
o Easy to use.
o Detects swap file overflow (disk full) and asks whether you want
to abort back to the application or continue with a partial swap.
o Detects TSR loading and unloading during the shell. Frees
the TSR's resources and puts a warning message.
o Small resident size (about 6k). Frees nearly all of the memory.
o Allows you to increase COMMAND.COM's environment size.
o Works with all major DOS applications.
o Fully user specifiable swap file path. Ie., you can put
it on a virtual disk.
o Swaps allocated memory only, avoiding unnecessary writes
and reads of free memory.
o Intelligent command line parsing. Searches DOS's PATH
for program to load, allows passing of args to the program.
Automatically tries .COM and .EXE extensions if not
specified by user.
o Verbose mode for inquisitive users.
o Quiet mode for apathetic users.
o Uses DOS "make temp file" facility to prevent network clashes.
Installation and Operation
--------------------------
o To install, just copy SHROOM.COM into a directory in your PATH
or the directory from which you will run the application.
o For help, use the question mark switch, eg. "shroom -?".
o To load, just type the normal command used to invoke the
application, with "shroom " prepended. Eg, if the application
is called "edit", then you would use the command "shroom edit".
Arguments are passed to the application just as before, so eg.
you can say "shroom edit letter.doc".
o To shell out, use whatever shell command is provided by the
application. You will see a message from Shroom saying that it
is swapping the program out, after which the normal shell prompt
and actions will appear. When you exit the shell, you will
again see the "swapping" message from Shroom and then be
deposited back into the application as usual.
Help Screen - Displayed by the "-?" switch:
-------------------------------------------
Usage: shroom [-?hLnpqv] [-e #] [-s path] [-t targets] [-z #] prog [args]
-?h : print this help message
-L : display shareware license
-n : display program notes
-p : proceed (without asking) with partial swap if disk full
-q : quiet mode - display error messages only
-v : verbose mode - provide running commentary
-e # : set ERRORLEVEL returned if unable to load prog (default = 254)
-s path : specify DRIVE:DIR in which to create swap file
-t targs : specify which shell programs cause swapping
-z # : specify environment size for COMMAND.COM
prog : application program to execute
args : command line to pass to the application
Example: shroom -p -e 99 -s E:\ -z 800 wp letter
Notes Screen - Displayed by the "-n" switch:
--------------------------------------------
********** NOTES **********
PROGRAM LOADING:
The application must be a .EXE or .COM file. You can leave off the
file extension and Shroom will try to find a matching .COM or .EXE file.
Shroom searches for the application program first in the current directory,
then in Shroom's home directory, and finally in the directories of the
PATH environment string.
SHROOM SWITCHES AND ARGUMENTS:
All text surrounded by square brackets, as in "[-hLn]", is optional.
Switches can be given in any order, and can be in upper or lower case,
and may be separated by spaces (or not). The space between a switch and
its argument is optional, ie. you can say "-z800" or "-z 800".
TARGET LIST:
Shroom checks the name of the shell program against this list and does
not swap if it is not in the list. The list can contain multiple program
names separated by commas. It can be an asterisk (-t *) if you want Shroom
to swap for all shell programs. The default target list is COMMAND.COM.
You would normally only use the -t option if your system uses a shell other
than DOS's COMMAND.COM. For instance, your CONFIG.SYS might have the line:
"SHELL=C:\WOWSHELL.COM" in it.
ENVIRONMENT SIZE:
Many people have run into the following problem: you type the command
"SET MYVAR=WHATEVER" and get back the message "Out of environment space."
This occurs when a TSR is loaded or while a .BAT file is running. You get
around this by adding a line like "SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:2000" to your
CONFIG.SYS file, thus increasing the minimum environment space to 2000
bytes. However, when you shell out from an application and then run a
.BAT file, you find that the environment size has again been restricted
and the CONFIG.SYS line has no effect.
What you need is the amazing new "-z #" switch from Shroom. It causes
Shroom to append the string " /E:#" to COMMAND.COM's command line, thus
setting the desired minimum environment space for the new shell. Note that
in DOS 3.0 and earlier versions, # is the size in paragraphs. In later
versions it is in bytes.
EXIT RETURN CODES:
Shroom exits immediately if it cannot load the application, returning
an ERRORLEVEL of 254, unless you have changed the value with the "-e errlevel"
switch. If it can load the application, then it exits when the application
does, and returns the application's exit code.
APPLICATIONS THAT DO "BACKGROUND PROCESSING":
You may have a communications package which allows you to initiate a
file transfer and then shell out to do other things. This will probably
not work if the package was Shroom'ed, because the application is actually
unloaded from memory (and from the interrupt vector table) during the
shell. The background processing code will not be there anymore!
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
Shroom is processor (8086, 286, 386, etc) independent. It does not do
any floating point. It doesn't care about or use expanded or extended
memory (a future version will be able to swap to extended mem). It works
with DOS Extender (eg. Pharlap) based applications. It may work in the
Windows, Desqview and other pseudo or real multi-tasking environments, but
you're basically on your own (caveat sharer).
Shareware License - Displayed by the "-L" switch:
-------------------------------------------------
********** SHROOM SHAREWARE LICENSE **********
This is a copyrighted software work which is distributed as shareware.
Under this license agreement you are granted the right to use Shroom
on all machines and environments that it supports. You are also
free (and encouraged) to pass copies of this shareware on to others
as long as it is not for payment and not bundled with anything else
that is for payment.
To become a registered user and receive immediate notice of updates,
please send a registration fee by check or money order of $25 to:
Davis Augustine
P.O. Box 390178
Cambridge, MA. 02139
Commercial distribution licenses, source code and customized versions
are also available at reasonable rates. Please write to the above address
or send me email at CompuServe id 72230,3053. I would also appreciate any
comments, questions, suggestions or bug reports. This release of Shroom
can currently be found in CompuServe forums WPSGA, lib 9, and IBMSYS, lib 3.
----------------------
| REVISION HISTORY |
----------------------
Changes in v1.6c (22jun91)
--------------------------
Get default target list from the COMSPEC environment string. So, if
you use a shell other than COMMAND.COM, Shroom will automatically recognize
it. (Thanks to user MB)
Fix problem in 1.6b, where swapping may have not been done with
some applications. Was failing to handle lowercase shell names correctly.
Changes in v1.6b (14jun91)
--------------------------
Only swap out specified shell programs. Default list is COMMAND.COM.
Add -t switch to specify others. (Thanks to user LH)
Add -z switch to allow increasing the environment space of
COMMAND.COM. (Thanks to user DM)
The -v switch as part of its verbosity shows the shell program being
executed and its command line.
Changes in v1.5d (3may91)
--------------------------
Search for the application in Shroom's home directory, too.
(Thanks to user CS)
Changes in v1.5c (26apr91)
--------------------------
Fix a bug in 1.5b, when checking for unswappable blocks. Caused
some applications to swap zero bytes. (Thanks to user JG)
Mention CompuServe home library in license.
Changes in v1.5b (29mar91)
--------------------------
Fix a bug in swapping. Leave alone any high blocks that are
allocated by TSR's. This caused shells to hang when Shroom was used
with some software (such as QCache). (Thanks to user RM)
Changes in v1.5a (24mar91)
--------------------------
Add -q switch for quiet mode. Suppresses the "SHROOM: swapping..."
messages but still lets error messages through.
Add -p switch to force partial swaps. If Shroom is unable to
swap all of the application out, it normally asks you whether you want
to proceed with the shell or return to the application. With the -p
switch, it always proceeds with the shell without asking you.
Add -e errorlevel switch to allow you to specify the exit value
returned by Shroom if it is unable to load the application. This allows
you to choose a value which does not conflict with those returned by
your other applications. This feature is only useful to those who make
serious use of "if ERRORLEVEL..." statements in DOS batch files.
(Thanks to user WB)
Add -n switch to show program notes, and add more information
to the notes. There is now a help screen (-h), a shareware license
screen (-l) and a notes screen (-n).
Properly delete the temporary swap file when the user aborts
the shell on disk full error (ie. when you pick 'A' to return to the
application). In previous versions of Shroom, the file was never
deleted, thus leaving temporary files with names like "0A982331" lying
around.
Changes in v1.4d (14mar91)
--------------------------
Shroom returns the ERRORLEVEL of the application program which
was executed. If the application fails to execute, then Shroom returns
an ERRORLEVEL of 2. Previously, Shroom always returned ERRORLEVEL 0
if the application was successfully executed.