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HISTORY.TXT
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1994-02-24
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HISTORY FILE FOR WCL
--------------------
Version 7.00 (February 1994)
----------------------------
This is a major update which presents a number of new features that
have been under development for a long time.
New Features
------------
1. Emulation of DOSKEY's scrolling through a list of past commands
by pressing the arrow keys. The UP and LEFT arrow keys (and Ctrl-Z)
scroll UP the list, while the DOWN and RIGHT arrow keys (and Ctrl-X)
scroll DOWN the list.
The commands can then be executed, or edited, using the BACK-SPACE
only.
This feature can be turned on or off by a new setting "EMULATE-DOSKEY"
in WCL.INI. It can also be turned on or off temporarily by using
a new command "DOSKEY" (ie, "DOSKEY ON", or "DOSKEY OFF").
A known problem with this feature is that sometimes you may have to press
an arrow key twice, before you get the scroll. This does not happen
when you use Ctrl-Z or Ctrl-X. I have so far been unable to find a way
of remedying this situation. If this bothers you, then you should use
Ctrl-Z to scroll up, and Ctrl-X to scroll down.
2. Assigning commands to FUNCTION KEYS (F1 to F9, and F11 to F12),
and the CONTROL KEY + AN ALPHABET (CTRL-A to CTRL-Y, but MINUS
CTRL-C, CTRL-G, CTRL-H, CTRL-M, CTRL-T, and CTRL-X - these are
reserved).
The commands have to be assigned manually in KEYS.WCL.
Any command can be assigned to any of these keys, and any entry is
executed literally, EXACTLY as it appears in KEYS.WCL.
Of all the function keys, only F1 and F3 are preset, but they can
be changed.
"F1=HELP" - invokes the on-line help
"F3=*" - an asterisk fetches the last command (like F3 in DOS)
None of the CTRL key combinations is preset.
This feature is disabled if the EMULATE-DOSKEY setting (above) is
turned off.
A known problem with this feature is that sometimes you may have to press
a function key twice, before the command is executed. I have so far been
unable to find a way of remedying this situation.
3. The number of commands kept in the command line history has been
increased from 20 to 30. Only the first 20 will be displayed when
you type "LIST" or "!" - but you can access all 30 with the DOSKEY
scrolling emulation.
4. With regard to the way WCL runs external programs, some users have
complained about the fact that WCL sometimes changes to the directory
in which the executable for the program was found, before running it.
This feature exists for many reasons (partly to do with Windows
itself), but it can be circumvented. I have decided to keep that
feature as the default, but to permit users to circumvent it.
This is implemented when the user types "DO" before the name of the
program to be executed. This is explained in more detail below.
You can dispense with having to type "DO" all the time by setting
the "DO=" line in WCL.INI to "1", or "ON" (i.e., "DO=1"). With this
setting, WCL will behave as if you have typed "DO" before the name
of *every* program that you want to execute. This setting is NEW
(with version 7.0), and is disabled by default.
Note that turning on this setting may cause some programs not to
work properly by virtue of not being able to locate their own data
files. Thus it may be better to leave this setting disabled, and
to use the "DO" command on a case-by-case basis.
5. Also with regard to the way WCL runs DOS programs, some users have
complained about the fact that WCL sometimes closes the DOS window
before they can read the output from the window. This is actually
a function of Windows, not WCL. However, I have provided an effective
(if inelegant) way to bypass this. This is implemented when the user
types "SPAWN" before the name of the program to be executed.
When you do this, WCL puts everything that appears after "SPAWN" into
a batch file, and executes the file. When the file has finished
executing, you are invited to press ENTER to return to WCL.
New Commands:
-------------
1. "RENAMEWIN" - to change the title of the main window of any active
process (by using its process ID number)
2. "KILLPROG" - to terminate any active process (using its process ID)
3. "LISTWINS" - to present a list of the currently active processes, and
their process ID numbers (so that you can supply the
correct ID number to RENAMEWIN or KILLPROG.
4. "DOSKEY" - to enable or disable DOSKEY EMULATION and FUNCTION KEY
support.
"DOSKEY ON" - enables DOSKEY emulation
"DOSKEY OFF" - disables DOSKEY emulation
This does NOT change the setting in WCL.INI and is active
for the current WCL session only.
5. "DO" - if this is typed before the name of an external program
then WCL will remain in the current directory while
running that program, and will not change to the program's
directory as it sometimes does.
The only use of this command is as a prefix to whatever
you would normally have typed. Thus if you would normally
type;
"PKUNZIP WINCMD*.ZIP"
you would now type;
"DO PKUNZIP WINCMD*.ZIP"
Most people will never need this command, but it is there
anyway.
6. "SPAWN" - this is explained above. If it is typed before the name of
a DOS program that is to be executed, WCL keeps the dos
window open after the program has executed, until you press
a key. NOTE: do NOT use this command to run Windows programs.
It will most certainly NOT work.
With this command, you can also get WCL to execute the
COMMAND.COM version of internal DOS commands (eg DIR,
PATH, SET, COPY) - instead of the WCL version.
e.g.
"DIR *.DOC" - this will execute WCL's own DIR command
but;
"SPAWN DIR *.DOC" - this will execute the COMMAND.COM
version of DIR, in a separate DOS window.
NOTE:
-----
From version 7.00 onwards, I will no longer be bundling the ASCII file
WCL.TXT with this package. It has become too large, and is superfluous,
since all the information therein can be found in the on-line help. The
file has been replaced in the package with WCL.SUM - a plain ASCII file
which is just an alphabetical list of the WCL internal commands. Note
that the file does not elaborate on the commands. It only LISTS them.
Full information on each command can be found in the on-line help.
Version 6.50 (January 1994)
---------------------------
Two new commands added.
1. "SYSDIR" : this command changes to the Windows (or Win-OS/2)
SYSTEM directoy, where ever it is.
2. "WINDIR" : this command changes to the Windows (or Win-OS/2)
directory.
Version 6.40 (January 1994)
---------------------------
1. New parameter "/DELETE" added to the "SEEK" command. This is useful
for getting rid of files of a particular specification. The deletion
takes place in the current directory tree only. If you want to use it
to delete a file spefication through out the whole drive, you have to
run this from the ROOT directory. Use this parameter with care! You
are only given ONE warning.
eg
SEEK *.BAK /DELETE
This will seek for all files with a *.BAK extension, in the CURRENT
directory tree, and delete any matching ones.
If the file specification is "*.*", the /DELETE parameter will NOT be
accepted.
2. The search engine for the SEEK command has been improved. Users should
see slightly increased performance.
3. Some internal re-structuring has been undertaken, to enhance
compatibility with OS/2 v2.1 and Windows NT.
4. Excess baggage due to an attempt to support Windows 3.0 has been removed.
This program will still work under Windows 3.0, but certain commands will
not work. Thus, if you still have Windows 3.0, then sorry. I have to
assume that everyone has now moved on to Windows 3.1, or WFWG 3.11
Version 6.30 (December 1993)
----------------------------
1. New feature - aliases for commands - or "command aliases", added. Up till
now, aliases have been available only for directories. Now you can have
an alias for any command, up to a MAXIMUM of 30 aliases. This requires a
new "[commands]" section in WCL.INI. Unlike the directory aliases which
require WCL.INI to be read each time, command aliases are loaded into
memory only ONCE - when WCL is loaded. Thereafter, they are processed
from memory, until you exit the current WCL session. This makes the
feature as fast as internal WCL commands. This feature is a bit like the
UNIX "alias" feature.
One restriction is that the whole line on which the alias exists
cannot be more than 79 characters in length.
Examples;
[commands]
SYSDIR=DIR C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
CWCL=CD C:\WCL
Note that the command aliases are evaluated *before* internal and
external commands.
2. New command "NEWCOMMAND" introduced. This command is for the purpose
of creating a new command alias (see above), without having to edit
WCL.INI manually. This command inserts the new alias into WCL.INI, and
retains it in memory for use during the current session.
Syntax
NEWCOMMAND <Alias Name> <Command>
Examples;
NEWCOMMAND BACKIT COPY *.DOC A:\
NEWCOMMAND CT COPYTREE
3. New command "LISTCOMMANDS" introduced. This produces a list of the
first 20 command aliases.
4. New command "HOME" added. This command changes to the WCL home
directory.
Version 6.20 (November 1993)
----------------------------
1. New command "COPYTREE" added. This copies a filespec in a
directory tree to another location, re-creating the directory
tree in the destination drive/directory. It is a bit like the
DOS "XCOPY /S" command. There are some restrictions with this
command.
2. Fixed a number of minor bugs.
3. The .TXT file WCL.TXT has become too big for the Windows NOTEPAD
to handle. From this version onward, when you type "HELP2" or "H2"
or "??" then WCL.TXT will be loaded into the Windows WRITE program,
and NOT the Windows NOTEPAD as in earlier versions.
4. In view of (3) above, I am seriously considering leaving WCL.TXT out
of the documentation.
5. This program is getting bigger!
Version 6.10 (November 1993)
----------------------------
Fixed a bug in the search engine used for the SEEK, DIR /S and the
DELTREE commands.
Version 6.00 (October 1993)
---------------------------
This is a major update.
1. New command "COLOR" introduced as an easy means of setting the
foreground and background colors, and the wallpaper, respectively.
The command inserts the supplied parameters into WCL.INI.
e.g., "COLOR blue gray gray"
2. New command "GETCOLOR" introduced. This allows the user to see the
current color settings in WCL.INI, without using an editor to
view the INI file.
3. New command "CLS" introduced. This clears the screen, and the contents
of any scroll back buffer.
4. A host of minor bugs have been fixed.
5. Due to popular demand, a new command "DELTREE" has been implemented.
This command attempts to delete ALL the files in a given diretory
tree. This includes all the files in that directory, and in its
subdirectories. It then attempts to erase all the subdirectories
in that directory tree.
NOTE: I have implemented this command against my better judgment,
because users demanded it. In my opinion, it is best left
well alone. If anybody proceeds to use it, I am not responsible
for any loss of data that may ensue.
Because of the drastic nature of what DELTREE does, I have
imposed some limitations;
1. You will be asked to confirm TWICE that you wish to proceed.
2. You must supply the name of a valid directory to the
command. Just typing "DELTREE" will be rejected. You
need to type something like "DELTREE D:\JUNKMAIL"
3. The command will reject any attempt to apply it to
the ROOT directory of any drive.
e.g., "DELTREE \"
or "DELTREE C:\"
these will NOT be accepted.
4. If there is any problem with deleting any file at all, then
the process will abort.
Version 5.10 (October 1993)
---------------------------
1. A new switch "/S" is added to the "DIR" command. This lists files
in the directory tree, which match the supplied filespecs.
Note that the files listed by this switch are NOT sorted at all.
Note also that this switch CANNOT be used with any other switch
that begins with a "/".
Version 5.07 (October 1993)
---------------------------
1. Users can now set both the text and background colors. This
involves three new settings in WCL.INI;
[a] TEXT-COLOR=
[b] TEXT-BACKGROUND=
[c] WALLPAPER=
See WCL.TXT or the help file for full details.
Version 5.06 (October 1993)
---------------------------
1. Bug that caused text not to appear in the BIGWCL window on some
systems was fixed.
2. Other minor bugs fixed.
3. You can now insert a space after your prompt by adding a hash
("#") to the end of the prompt (e.g., "PROMPT Hello:#" - this
will cause a space to be inserted after the "Hello:". Do not
use the hash with "$P$G".
4. Cosmetic changes made to the "DEL" command.
5. New installation program. This is now optional.
6. Default setting of the BIGWCL main window now set to provide a
scroll back buffer.
Version 5.05 (October 1993)
---------------------------
The "SEEK" command has been rewritten. It now works by locating
all the files that match the filespecs, searching through the
whole drive. It can now accept wildcard characters.
Version 5.00 (October 1993)
---------------------------
1. A new executable (BIGWCL.EXE) is added to the package. This is
basically the same program as WCL.EXE, but with some differences;
[a] the main window is big
[b] the output from commands (such as DIR, COPY, TYPE) is in the
main window, instead of in popup windows (as WCL.EXE does)
[c] the executable does not require the library file WCLDLL.EXE
[d] the introduction of BIGWCL.EXE has resulted in some more
entries being added to the WCL.INI file, to cater for the
screen co-ordinates of the BIGWCL main window. Apart from
these new entries, BIGWCL.EXE uses the entries in the WCL.INI
file in the same way as WCL.EXE
[e] BIGWCL.EXE is probably faster than WCL.EXE for most commands,
but uses more memory.
I expect users to use either WCL.EXE or BIGWCL.EXE as their WCL
program, since they do more or less the same thing. However, there is
no reason why the user cannot use both of them.
2. New switches (/O[E,S,D] /L /W) are added to the DIR command, to
increase compatibility with the DOS DIR command. The /W switch is
only implemented in BIGWCL.EXE. The /O parameter is for changing the
order in which the files are sorted. Type "DIR /?" to see the options
available.
Version 4.61 (October 1993)
---------------------------
Fixed a bug involving copying files with the read-only attribute,
from a write-protected disk.
Version 4.60 (October 1993)
---------------------------
1. Parameters can now be passed to programs called in WCL batch files,
just like in DOS. Up to 3 parameters can be passed to a program,
through the use of "%" (e.g., %1 %2 %3).
2. Some minor bugs were fixed
3. Program efficiency has been improved. First, memory usage has
decreased by about 40kb. This has been achieved by certain
optimizations, and static linking of routines that were formerly
called from a supplied DLL. Secondly, many operations are now
marginally faster.
Version 4.50 (June 1993)
------------------------
This is the first general release. The program has before now been
released only to a few people, mainly friends and acquaintances.
(c) 1994, Dr. A. Olowofoyeku
268 Horwood,
Newcastle,
Staffs ST5 5BQ
ENGLAND.
E-mail:
laa12@keele.ac.uk
chief@mep.com