CHANGE is now being shipped with a utility called CHGINST.
This program allows you to re configure the defaults of the
most commonly used (but not all) switches to suit your own
specific needs. To use CHGINST just run it from the command
line. It will search for CHANGE in the current directory and
along the DOS PATH. If change cannot be found it will stop
and suggest the following:
Either move CHANGE into the same directory with CHGINST,
move CHANGE into a directory along your DOS PATH, or invoke
CHGINST with the name of the directory that CHANGE is in as
a parameter.
Example: Example: Example:
CHANGE is in C:\UTILS and CHGINST is in C:\ use
CHGINST -> if C:\UTILS is in your PATH,
CHGINST C:\UTILS -> if C:\UTILS is NOT in your PATH.
Note: Note: Note:
CHGINST DOES depend on CHANGE being called CHANGE.EXE!
______________________________ General command line handling: ______________________________ General command line handling: ______________________________ General command line handling:
Switches are placed anywhere on the command line except
within quoted strings. Switches may be abbreviated to the
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smallest unique string among the switches the program
supports. The absolute minimum number of characters required
for each of the switches is indicated by the uppercase part
of the switch names on the help screen. Everything on the
command line is converted to uppercase unless surrounded by
quotes. Both double (") and single (') quotes are
supported. If you need imbedded special characters or spaces
in a parameter surround it with quotes. Text containing
single quotes may be surrounded by double quotes, and text
containing single quotes may be surrounded by double quotes.
Non printable characters may be placed into the quoted
strings on the command line or in indirect files (discussed
below) using the following syntax: #nnn or ^a where 'nnn' is
the Decimal ASCII code for the desired character and 'a' is
'@'..'Z' corresponding to ^@ through ^Z.
DOS Notes: DOS Notes: DOS Notes:
1.DOS has a gotcha for strings like "Contains 4 spaces '
'". It will convert the 4 spaces to a single space
before CHANGE gets control. This is only a problem for
parameters entered on the command line. Indirect files
handle this situation correctly. CHANGE also supports
an enviroment string 'CMDLINE=' if it is present as a
source for it's command line. This permits 4DOS users
to automatically avoid this problem. It also allows
them to support up to 255 characters on the command
line.
2.If your string(s) contain the DOS re-direction
operators '<' '>' or '|' then you MUST enclose the
string in DOUBLE QUOTES! Double Quotes will prevent DOS
from using them for redirection of the standard
input/output files.
Examples: Examples: Examples:
#007 - Is the ASCII BEL Character.
^G - also the ASCII BEL character.
5#0075 - would be converted to 5's surrounding a BEL.
x#7x - would be converted to x's surrounding a BEL.
The leading zeros are required in ex. 1&3 to keep the other
numbers from confusing CHANGE. They may be omitted when
there is only one way to interpret the data. These special
characters ( '#' and '^' ) may appear in your data as long
as they are unambiguous. When in doubt, use two of the
special characters to get one. See the examples below.
Normally the DOS command line supports parameters up to 128
bytes. Indirect parameter files may be used for changes that
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either require more than 128 bytes of input OR for CHANGEs
that may be used again in the future. The total size of the
