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OS/2 Help File
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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. About 4OS2 Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
4OS2 On-line Documentation (Version 1.11, 3/93)
Text by Rex Conn and Tom Rawson, originally converted to OS/2 format by Matthew
J. Palcic.
Copyright 1992, 1993, Rex Conn and JP Software Inc., All Rights Reserved. 4OS2
is a trademark and 4DOS is a registered trademark of JP Software Inc. OS/2 is
a registered trademark of IBM Corporation. Other product and company names are
trademarks of their respective owners.
This online help system for 4OS2 covers all 4OS2 features and internal
commands. It includes reference information to assist you in using 4OS2 and
developing batch files; however it does not include all of the details which
are included in the printed 4OS2 and 4DOS manuals.
The help system is fully indexed and cross-indexed. It is also
context-sensitive; if you press F1 with a command already on the 4OS2 command
line, the help system will display help for that command. If the line is blank
when you press F1, the help topic index is displayed.
You can obtain "quick help" for any 4OS2 command directly on your 4OS2 screen
or window (without starting VIEW or switching back to the desktop) by entering
the command at the prompt followed by a /?. The quick help displays the syntax,
purpose, and switches for the command.
3/93-1.11A
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Using 4OS2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This section includes information on:
Differences between 4DOS and 4OS2
16 and 32 bit versions of 4OS2
Command line editing keys
Internal variables
Variable functions
Redirection
Command grouping
Wildcards
Shared alias and history lists
4OS2.INI
See the individual topics for details.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1. 4OS2 and 4DOS ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Most 4DOS commands and features work the same way in 4OS2. However if you're
an experienced 4DOS user or want to use the same batch files and aliases in
both 4OS2 and 4DOS, there are some differences between 4DOS and 4OS2 you should
be aware of. Those differences are listed here.
(Several items below list elements of 4DOS which are not available under 4OS2.
In all cases these items have been removed from 4OS2 because they are specific
to DOS or for other similar reasons are not relevant or cannot be implemented
under OS/2.)
* The default command separator is ^ in 4DOS; in 4OS2 it is & (for
compatibility with CMD.EXE). You can change it in 4OS2.INI or with the
SETDOS /C command.
* The default escape separator is (Control-X) in 4DOS; in 4OS2 it is ^
(for compatibility with CMD.EXE). You can change it in 4OS2.INI or
with the SETDOS /E command.
* The alias and variable parameter syntax is %n& in 4DOS; in 4OS2 it is
%n$ (because & is normally used in 4OS2 as the command separator). You
can change it with the ParameterChar directive in 4OS2.INI or with the
SETDOS /P command.
* The following 4DOS commands do not exist in 4OS2:
BREAK KEYSTACK SWAPPING
CTTY LOADHIGH / LH TRUENAME
* The following 4DOS internal variables and variable functions do not
exist in 4OS2:
%_ALIAS %@EMS[] %@REMOVABLE[]
%_DV %@EXTENDED[] %@TRUENAME[]
%_ENV %@LPT[] %@XMS[]
%_WIN
* New internal variables and variable functions available only in 4OS2
include:
%_PID %_SID %@EXETYPE[]
%_PPID %_PTYPE %@FSTYPE[]
Also the %_VIDEO internal variable returns some additional values in
4OS2. See 4OS2 Internal Variables and 4OS2 Variable Functions for more
information.
* The following 4DOS.INI directives cannot be used in 4OS2.INI:
Alias Environment ReserveTPA
ANSI FineSwap StackSize
AutoExecPath FullINT2E Swapping
ChangeTitle HelpOptions SwapReopen
CopyEA HelpPath UMBEnvironment
DiskReset LineInput UMBLoad
DRSets MessageServer UniqueSwapName
DVCleanup NetwareNames
EnvFree Reduce
(The alias list size and environment size are set automatically by
4OS2; other directives refer to features which are not relevant under
OS/2.)
* New directives available in 4OS2.INI which are not available in
4DOS.INI include:
LocalAliases LocalHistory WindowState
See 4OS2.INI for more information.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.2. 16 and 32 Bit Versions of 4OS2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
4OS2 comes in two versions: 32-bit (4OS2/32) and 16-bit (4OS2/16). 4OS2/16
runs under OS/2 1.2, 1.3, 2.0, and above. 4OS2/32 runs only under OS/2 2.0 and
above. If you use OS/2 version 2, you will find that 4OS2/32 offers a few
improvements and runs a bit faster than 4OS2/16.
Caution: 4OS2/32 requires OS/2 2.0 with at least the XR06055 CSD (the "Service
Pack") installed. 4OS2/32 will not work properly with earlier versions of OS/2
(it will behave erratically, and some commands will not work at all). 4OS2/32
will work properly on later versions of OS/2, including the "2.01" and "2.1"
beta versions and subsequent releases.
If you are unsure of what version of OS/2 you are running, and you have JP
Software's 4DOS, start a 4DOS session and enter the command VER /R. Check the
displayed OS/2 Revision level. This value must be 427 or greater for 4OS2/32
to work properly under OS/2 2.0.
In this file, features which are available only in 4OS2/32 are marked with the
legend "4OS2/32 only". If you don't see this legend, you can assume that the
feature you are reading about is available in both versions.
For details on differences between 4OS2/32 and the 4OS2/16 see the following
topics in this file:
Shared alias and history lists
DEL command (/F switch)
MEMORY command
START command (/DOS switch)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3. Editing the Command Line ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The 4OS2 command line offers full editing, and can also display the command
history in a window (see below). The command line accepts up to 1023
characters.
The following keys have special meaning when entered at the command line (the
caret ^ means press the Ctrl key together with the specified key):
Move the cursor left one character.
Move the cursor right one character.
Recall the previous command from the history list, or match
a partial command entry with a history list entry.
Recall the next command from the history list, or match a
partial command entry with a history list entry.
^ Move the cursor left one word.
^ Move the cursor right one word.
Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the line.
^Home Delete from the beginning of the line to the character
preceding the cursor.
End Move the cursor to the end of the line.
^End Delete from the cursor to the end of the line.
Ins Toggle between insert and overstrike mode.
Del Delete the character at the cursor.
Backspace Delete the character to the left of the cursor.
Enter Execute the command.
Esc Erase the entire line.
^L Delete the word to the left of the cursor.
^R or ^Backspace Delete the word to the right of the cursor.
^C Abort the command.
^D Delete the history list entry, and erase the line.
^E Go to the last entry in the history list.
^K Save the command to the history list without executing it,
and erase the line.
F1 Call the on-line help.
F3 Fill in the rest of the line (beyond any characters that
have already been typed) from the last line in the history.
Tab (or F9), Shift-Tab (or F8), F10 A Tab will scan the
filename (which may include the wildcard characters at or
immediately to the left of the cursor position, and replaces
it with the first matching filename. Pressing Tab again
replaces it with the next matching filename; pressing F10
appends the next matching filename at the current cursor
position. Pressing Shift-Tab will retrieve the previous
matching filename. If you don't enter a filename, Tab
defaults to *.*. If you don't enter an extension, Tab
appends a .*.
PgUp Popup a history window, showing those commands that match
characters already entered on the command line.
^PgUp Popup a directory window, showing those directories recently
changed to with the CD, CDD, and PUSHD commands.
Alt-255 (Hold down the Alt key and enter 255 on the numeric keypad.)
Accept the next character "as-is" from the keyboard and
enter it on the command line. This allows you to enter
characters normally interpreted as editing keys (for
example, Esc). To enter the Alt-255 character itself into
the line, you must type it twice.
^ (caret) "Escape" the next character (the default escape character
for 4OS2 and CMD.EXE is the caret ^; it can be changed in
4OS2 with the SETDOS command or in the 4OS2.INI file). The
escape character forces the parser to ignore any special
meaning of the next character (for example, redirection
characters). Note that 4OS2 will not recognize the escape
character inside double quotes (for compatibility with
CMD.EXE).
Escaping the following characters will insert the specified
control code:
b bell (ASCII 7)
e escape (ASCII 27)
f form feed (ASCII 12)
n line feed (ASCII 10)
r carriage return (ASCII 13)
t tab (ASCII 9)
The following keys have special meaning when entered from inside the popup
history and directory windows. The history list in a window is not circular
as it is at the command line; scrolling and paging stop at the beginning or
end of the history list.
Move the highlight up one line.
Move the highlight down one line.
PgUp Move up one page.
PgDn Move down one page.
Home Move to the first line in the list.
End Move to the last line in the list.
Enter Execute the highlighted command (history window) or change to
the highlighted directory (directory window).
^Enter Close the window and move the highlighted command to the
prompt for editing (history window only).
Esc Close the window and return to the previous command line at
the prompt.
^C Close the window, abort any partially entered command line,
and redisplay the prompt.
Most of the command line and popup window keys, as well as the popup window
location and size, can be redefined in the 4OS2.INI initialization file.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4. 4OS2 Internal Variables ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Environment variables are referenced in a command by starting the variable name
with a percent sign (%). (If you want to enter a percent sign without
referring to a variable, use two percent signs (%%).) An environment variable
name is terminated by either another percent sign, or by an invalid character
(see below). To pass a variable name (instead of the value) to a command (for
example, in INKEY or INPUT), you must precede it with two percent signs.
Environment variable names may be composed of any alphanumeric character, plus
the underscore (_), and $ characters. In addition to the standard variable
name characters, you can force 4OS2 to accept any sequence of characters as a
valid variable name by enclosing them in square brackets. For example, %[AB##1]
refers to an environment variable named AB##1.
Batch file variables are only active inside a batch file. They are referenced
as %0 to %127, and expand to the matching argument on the command line that
started the batch file. The parameter %n$ is a special case, and expands to
all arguments in the command line tail, starting at argument number n. If n is
not specified, it defaults to 1 (so %$ will expand to all arguments in the
command line tail).
There are some variable names that have special meanings in 4OS2. Only CDPATH,
CMDLINE, and PATH are actually stored in the environment; the remainder are
internal to 4OS2, and cannot be viewed or modified with SET or ESET. (The
internal variable names are checked after variable expansion, so they can be
overridden by creating an environment variable of the same name.)
The 4OS2 internal variables are:
%# returns the number of command line arguments in a batch file.
%? returns the exit code of the previous external command.
%_? returns the exit code of the previous internal command. (Save this
value immediately; it is overwritten by the next internal command.)
%+ returns the current command separator. See the CommandSep directive in
4OS2.INI or the SETDOS /C command for more details.
%= returns the current 4OS2 escape character. See the EscapeChar
directive in 4OS2.INI or the SETDOS /E command for more details.
%CDPATH tells 4OS2 where to search for directories names specified by a CD
or CDD command. 4OS2 will append the specified directory name to each
directory in CDPATH and attempt to change to that directory. If you
have already have a CDPATH environment variable, you can use %_CDPATH
instead for the directory search.
%CMDLINE is the fully expanded 1023-character command line for the external
command. You can access it from an external program by searching the
environment.
%COLORDIR is the "directory colorization" variable. See DIR for details on
the COLORDIR format.
%PATH tells 4OS2 where to search for executable files: .COM, .EXE, .BTM,
and .CMD (and .BAT in OS/2 2.0), in that order, not found in the
current directory. Some applications also use the PATH variable to
find their files.
%_4VER returns the 4OS2 version number (for example, 1.1).
%_ANSI is 1 if ANSI is active (4OS2 always enables ANSI).
%_BATCH is the current batch nesting level (0 if not in a batch file).
%_BG is a string containing the screen background color at the current
cursor position.
%_BOOT returns the boot disk (for example, C).
%_CODEPAGE is the current code page number.
%_COLUMN is the current cursor column.
%_COLUMNS is the current number of screen columns.
%_CPU is the cpu type (286, 386, or 486).
%_CWD is the current directory in the format d:\pathname.
%_CWDS has the same value as CWD, except it ensures the pathname ends in a
backslash (\).
%_CWP is the current directory in the format \pathname.
%_CWPS has the same value as CWP, except it ensures the pathname ends in a
backslash (\).
%_DATE contains the current system date, in the format mm-dd-yy (U.S.),
dd-mm-yy (Europe), or yy-mm-dd (Japan).
%_DISK is the current disk (for example, C).
%_DOS is the operating system type (DOS or OS2). This is useful if you
have .BTM files running in both modes.
%_DOSVER is the current OS/2 version (for example, 2.0).
%_DOW is the current day (Mon, Tue, Wed, etc.).
%_FG is a string containing the screen foreground color at the current
cursor position.
%_LASTDISK returns the last disk on the system (A: - Z:).
%_MONITOR is the monitor type (MONO or COLOR).
%_MOUSE returns 1 if a mouse is installed.
%_NDP is the coprocessor type (0 - no coprocessor; 287 - 80287; 387 - 80387
or 80486).
%_PID is the process ID for 4OS2.
%_PPID is the parent process ID (for the process that started 4OS2).
%_PTYPE is the process type (FS - full screen; AVIO - Windowed; PM -
Presentation manager; DT - detached).
%_ROW is the current cursor row.
%_ROWS is the current number of screen rows.
%_SHELL is the current shell nesting level for that session. The first
copy of 4OS2 started in a session is shell 0.
%_SID is the session ID.
%_TIME contains the current system time in the format hh:mm:ss. The
separator character may vary depending upon your country information.
%_TRANSIENT returns a 1 if the current shell is transient (started with a
/C).
%_VIDEO is the video card type (MONO, CGA, EGA, VGA, XGA, 8514, or IA/A).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.5. 4OS2 Variable Functions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Variable Functions are pseudo-variables that take one or more arguments (which
can themselves be environment variables or variable functions), and return a
value. The variable function name must be preceded by an %@ (%@eval, %@len,
etc.). All variable functions must have square brackets enclosing their
argument(s).
Some functions return the number of bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes based on a
b|k|m argument:
b bytes
k bytes / 1000
K kilobytes (bytes / 1024)
m bytes / 1,000,000
M megabytes (bytes / 1,048,576)
With such functions, you can append a c after the b|k|m character to return
the value with the proper thousands delimiter every three characters. For
example, if MYFILE.DAT is 62,374 bytes long, then:
%@filesize[myfile.dat,b] returns 62374
%@filesize[myfile.dat,bc] returns 62,374
Note that values with commas in them can not be used when performing numeric
comparisons with the IF command.
The 4OS2 variable functions are:
%@ALIAS[name] returns the alias argument for the specified name.
%@ASCII[c] returns the ASCII value of the specified character.
%@ATTRIB[filename,attrib] returns a 1 if the specified file has the
matching attribute(s). The attributes (other than N) can be combined;
ATTRIB will only return a 1 if _all_ the attributes match. The
attributes are:
N Normal (no attribute bits set)
R Read-only
H Hidden
S System
D Directory
A Archive
%@CHAR[n] returns the character for the specified ASCII value.
%@DATE[mm/dd/yy] returns the number of days since 1/1/80 for the specified
date. DATE will use the date format mandated by your country code
(dd/mm/yy in Europe; yy/mm/dd in Japan).
%@DESCRIPT[filename] returns the file's description.
%@DEVICE[name] returns a 1 if the specified name is a character device.
%@DISKFREE[d:,b|k|m[c]] returns the free disk space for the specified
drive, in bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes.
%@DISKTOTAL[d:,b|k|m[c]] returns the total disk space for the specified
drive, in bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes.
%@DISKUSED[d:,b|k|m[c]] returns the disk space used on the specified drive,
in bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes.
%@DOSMEM[b|k|m[c]] returns the size of the largest free OS/2 memory block
in bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes. Due to OS/2's virtual memory
system, this value is only a general reflection of available memory and
not a precise statement of the RAM available for applications.
%@EVAL[expression] evaluates an arithmetic expression. It supports
addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/), and
modulo (%%). The expression can contain environment variables,
including other variable functions. EVAL supports commas and decimal
places; the maximum size is 16.8 (16 integer and 8 decimal places).
EVAL strips leading and trailing zeros from the result.
%@EXEC[command] executes the command and returns its exit code. The
command can be an alias, an internal 4OS2 command, or an external
program or batch file. This is a back door entry to 4OS2 command
processing -- use with caution!
%@EXETYPE[filename] returns the file's program type:
UNKNOWN Unknown type
FS Full-screen OS/2
AVIO Windowable OS/2
PM Presentation manager OS/2
DOS MS-DOS (OS/2 2.0 only)
WIN Windows 3 (OS/2 2.0 only)
%@EXT[filename] returns the file extension (without a leading period).
%@FILEDATE[filename] returns the last modification date for the file, in
the default country format (mm-dd-yy for US).
%@FILESIZE[filename,b|k|m[c]] returns the size of the file in bytes,
kilobytes, or megabytes, or -1 if the file doesn't exist.
%@FILETIME[filename] returns the last modification time for the file, in
hh:mm format.
%@FULL[filename] returns the fully qualified path name.
%@FSTYPE[d:] returns the drive's file system type (for example, FAT or
HPFS).
%@INDEX[string1,string2] returns the position of string2 within string1, or
-1 if string2 is not found. The first position in string1 is 0.
%@INT[n] returns the integer part of "n". See %@EVAL.
%@LABEL[d:] returns the volume label of the specified disk.
%@LEN[string] returns the length of the string.
%@LINE[filename,n] returns line "n" from the specified file. If you
specify "CON" for the filename, it will read from standard input.
%@LINES[filename] returns the number of lines in the specified file, base
0. If there are no lines, it returns -1.
%@LOWER[string] returns the string converted to lower case.
%@MAKEDATE[n] returns the date given the number of days since 1/1/80.
%@MAKETIME[n] returns the time given the number of seconds since midnight.
%@NAME[filename] returns the filename only (no path or extension).
%@PATH[filename] returns the path only (including the trailing backslash).
%@READSCR[row,column,length] returns the text on the screen at the
specified row and column, for the specified length.
%@READY[d:] returns a 1 if the specified drive is ready.
%@REMOTE[d:] returns a 1 if the specified drive is remote (LAN).
%@REMOVABLE[d:] returns a 1 if the specified drive has removable media
(floppy, CD_ROM, etc.).
%@SEARCH[filename] searches for an executable file using the PATH
environment variable, appending the extension if one wasn't specified.
%@SELECT[filename,top,left,bottom,right,title] displays the file as a popup
selection list. If you press Enter, it returns the string highlighted
by the selection bar; if you press Esc it returns an empty string. If
you specify "CON" for the filename, it will read from standard input.
%@SUBSTR[string,start,length] returns a substring, starting at the position
"start" and continuing for "length" characters. If the length is
negative, the start is relative to the right side. If the length isn't
specified, SUBSTR will return the remainder of the string. For
example, %@SUBSTR[%_time,0,2] gets the current time and extracts the
hour. If the string includes commas it must be quoted with double
quotes or single back-quotes (" or `).
%@TIME[hh:mm:ss] returns the number of seconds since midnight for the
specified time. The time must be in 24-hour format.
%@UNIQUE[d:\path] returns a unique filename in the specified drive and
path.
%@UPPER[string] returns the string converted to upper case.
%@WORD[n,string] returns the "nth" word in the string (base 0). If "n" is
negative, WORD starts from the end and counts backwards.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.6. Redirection and Piping ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Redirection
OS/2 assumes input comes from the keyboard and output goes to the display. The
keyboard is referred to as standard input, and the display is referred to as
standard output. You can change the default standard input and standard output
by using the < and > symbols on the command line. 4OS2 also allows you to
redirect the standard error by appending an & character.
To get standard input from a file instead of the keyboard:
< filename
To redirect standard output to a file:
> filename
To redirect standard output and standard error to a file:
>& filename
To redirect standard error only to a file:
>&> filename
To append standard output or standard error to a file, use >> in place of the
first >. If NOCLOBBER is set, the file must exist before it can be appended to
(unless overridden by a !). Otherwise, 4OS2 will create the file.
4OS2 also supports the OS/2 CMD.EXE syntax:
n>file
and
n>&m
where n and m are digits from 0 to 9. You may not put any spaces between the n
and the >, or between the & and the m in the second form. The digits represent
file handles: 0, 1, and 2 are predefined by OS/2 as standard input, standard
output, and standard error respectively; 3 through 9 can be defined by
applications.
The n>file syntax redirects output from handle n to a file. The n>&m syntax
redirects handle n to the same location as the previously assigned handle m.
In many cases you can perform the same operations by using 4OS2's enhanced
redirection features. See the 4OS2 manual for more information on these
options.
Piping
Piping makes the standard output of one command the standard input for a second
command. To send the standard output of "cmd1" to the standard input of
"cmd2":
cmd1 | cmd2
To send the standard output and standard error of "cmd1" to the standard input
of "cmd2":
cmd1 |& cmd2
Unlike 4DOS, which creates a temporary file for pipes, 4OS2 connects a pipe
directly to a secondary process; both processes execute simultaneously.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.7. Command Grouping ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Command grouping allows you to logically group a set of commands together by
enclosing them with parentheses. For example, this grouping:
(global /iq echo %_cwd) > dirlist
allows you to redirect all output from GLOBAL to the specified file. The
following command will take the output of DIR and TYPE, sort the whole mess,
and save it in the file AZ:
(dir *.com & type autoexec.bat) | sort > AZ
To group commands, the first character of the command must begin with a ( Note
that if you have a closing parenthesis ) in a filename, you'll need to escape
it with the 4OS2 escape character (^) to keep 4OS2 from assuming it's the end
of the command group.
You can also use command grouping to split commands over several lines. For
example:
for %x in (*.c) do (
echo %x
dir *.c
)
If you enter a command group on the command line without a closing parenthesis,
4OS2 will prompt you with More? for the remainder of the line.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.8. Wildcards ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Wildcards let you specify a file or group of files by typing a partial
filename. Most internal commands accept filenames with wildcards anywhere a
full filename can be used. 4OS2 recognizes 3 wildcard types: asterisk *,
question mark ?, and square brackets [ ]. You can combine various wildcard
types in a single filename. Note that the 4OS2 wildcard extensions may not be
interpreted properly by external programs, so when passing file names to
external programs you should use the traditional wildcard syntax.
A * in a filename means "any zero or more characters in this position." You
can use both leading and trailing asterisks. For example, to get a directory of
all files beginning with "ab":
dir ab*.*
To get a directory of all files with an "ab" anywhere in the filename:
dir *ab*.*
A ? matches any single filename character. A ? doesn't require that a
character exist if it's at the end of the filename or extension.
A set of characters in brackets [ ] acts like a ? (match any single character),
but allows you to specify or exclude specific characters. If you specify one
or more characters in the brackets (e.g. [abc]), the specification will only
match files whose names have one of the listed characters in the corresponding
position. For example, to get a directory of all files whose names have either
a "p" or "q" as the first letter:
dir [pq]*.*
Two characters with a dash (-) between them represent a range of characters,
and will match any character within the range (including the beginning and end
characters). For example, to get a directory of all files with names beginning
with a number from 1 to 6, or the letters "a" or "b", and ending with a "9":
dir [1-6ab]*9.*
If you enter a ! as the first character following the left bracket, the test is
reversed (only match names that do not have the listed characters in the
corresponding position). For example, to get a directory of all files with
names of two characters or more that begin with an "a" and do not have a digit
as the second character:
dir a[!0-9]*.*
The special wildcard construct [?] will match any character (like ?) but will
require that the character exist, even at the end of a filename or extension.
For example, if you have the files XYZ.DAT and XY.DAT in the current directory,
then:
dir xy?.dat will display both file names
dir xy[?].dat will display only XYZ.DAT
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.9. Shared Alias and History Lists ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
By default, 4OS2 will use the same history list and alias list in all sessions
and in both primary and secondary 4OS2 shells. It keeps these lists in shared
memory segments. This means that the aliases that you define in one session
will be available immediately in copies of 4OS2 that are running in other
sessions. In addition, the history list is updated in all 4OS2 sessions
whenever you type a command at any 4OS2 prompt.
If you want to start a 4OS2 shell or session with unique alias and history
lists, use the LocalAlias and / or LocalHistory Initialization Directives in
4DOS.INI. Using the 4OS2.INI directive is the best choice if you want to have
separate alias and history lists for all 4OS2 sessions. You can also place
these directives on the command line if you want to create a separate list just
for one particular session or shell.
The memory segments that contain the shared history and alias lists are
retained as long as there is at least one copy of 4OS2 running that supports
shared lists. When all such copies of 4OS2 end, the shared history and alias
lists are discarded.
A utility program called SHRALIAS.EXE is included on the 4OS2 distribution
diskette. It will keep these lists open until your computer is rebooted. To
use this program, include the following line in your STARTUP.CMD, 4START, or
4OS2 session startup batch file:
[d:\path\]shralias
Once SHRALIAS is started, it will remain active until your computer is turned
off or rebooted, even if the session from which it was started is terminated.
To deactivate SHRALIAS, enter this command at any 4OS2 prompt:
[d:\path\]shralias /u
If you are using 4OS2/16 (see 16 and 32 bit versions of 4OS2), the SHRALIAS
program is in the file SHRALS16.EXE on the distribution disk. If you are using
4OS2/32, SHRRALIAS is in the file SHRALS32.EXE. These files are renamed
automatically to SHRALIAS.EXE during installation from diskettes. If you have
a downloaded copy of 4OS2 the proper copy is in the ZIP file you downloaded,
and is already named SHRALIAS.EXE (see the README.DOC file which came with your
downloaded copy for details). You must use the correct version of SHRALIAS for
the version of 4OS2 you are running. The 16-bit SHRALIAS program will not keep
shared alias and history lists open for 4OS2/32, and SHRALS32 will not do so
for 4OS2/16.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.10. 4OS2 Initialization File (4OS2.INI) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The 4OS2.INI file is an ASCII file containing directives to control the
configuration of 4OS2 in primary and secondary shells. Blank lines are ignored
and can be used to separate groups of directives. You can place comments in
the file by beginning a line with a semicolon (;). You can also place comments
at the end of any line except one containing a text string value by entering at
least one space or tab after the value, a semicolon, and your comment.
The file has two sections, identified by a name in square brackets on a line by
itself. The section names are:
[Primary] Directives in this section will be used when 4OS2 is
running as the primary shell (i.e., when a session is
started).
[Secondary] Directives in this section are used in secondary shells
only (i.e., a second invocation of 4OS2 within the same
session), and override any corresponding primary shell
settings.
Lines before a section name are used in both primary and secondary shells.
When 4OS2 is loaded, whether as the primary or secondary shell, it first
checks for an "@d:\path\inifile" option on the command line (you can set this
option in the Parameters field of the Settings notebook for any icon that
starts a 4OS2 session). If this option is found 4OS2 looks for the specified
file, and skips the search for the default 4OS2.INI file.
If no INI file name is specified on the command line, 4OS2 looks for 4OS2.INI
in the same directory as 4OS2 itself, then in the root directory of the system
boot drive.
Directives in 4OS2.INI are divided into four types:
Initialization directives
Configuration directives
Color directives
Key mapping directives
See the individual topics for details.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.10.1. Initialization Directives ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
These directives control how 4OS2 starts and where it looks for its files.
4StartPath= Path: Sets the drive and directory where 4OS2 will look for the
4START and 4EXIT batch files.
History= nnnn (1024): Sets the history list size (in bytes). The range is
512 to 8192 bytes.
LocalAliases= Yes | NO: "Yes" tells 4OS2 to create a local alias list for
this session. "No" causes 4OS2 to use the global alias list shared by all
sessions.
LocalHistory= Yes | NO: "Yes" tells 4OS2 to create a local history list for
this session. "No" causes 4OS2 to use the global history list shared by
all sessions.
LogName= File (none): Sets the log file name and/or path. If only a path is
given, 4OS2 will use the default log file name (4OS2LOG). Using LogName
does not turn logging on, you must still use LOG ON to do so.
NextINIFile= File (none): Full path and name must be specified. All
subsequent shells will read the specified INI file, and ignore any
[Secondary] section in the original 4OS2.INI. Allows workstation users to
shift 4OS2.INI to a network drive for secondary shells.
PauseOnError= YES | No: "Yes" tells 4OS2 to pause with the message "Error in
4OS2.INI, press any key to continue processing" after displaying any error
message related to a specific line in the 4OS2.INI file. "No" continues
processing with no pause after an error message is displayed.
WindowState= STANDARD | Maximize | Minimize: Switches the 4OS2 window to a
maximized or minimized state at startup. Ignored in full-screen sessions.
"Standard" means leave the window wherever OS/2 puts it.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.10.2. Configuration Directives ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
These directives control the way that 4OS2 operates. Some can be changed with
the SETDOS command while 4OS2 is running.
AmPm= Yes | NO | Auto: Sets the time display mode. Yes displays times in
12-hour format (e.g. in DIR and SELECT). The default of No gives 24-hour
time displays. Auto sets the time display mode according to the current
country code.
BatchEcho= YES | No: Sets the default batch ECHO mode. Also see SETDOS /V.
BeepFreq= nnnn (440): Sets the default BEEP command frequency in Hz. To
disable all 4OS2 error beeps set this or BeepLength to 0;
BeepLength= nnnn (2): Sets the default BEEP length in system clock ticks
(approximately 1/18 of a second per tick).
CursorIns= nnnn (100): Sets the percentage of the character cell filled by
the 4OS2 cursor in insert mode. Also see SETDOS /S.
CursorOver= nnnn (10): Sets the percentage of the character cell filled by
the 4OS2 cursor in overtype mode. Also see SETDOS /S.
CommandSep= c (&): This is the character used to separate multiple commands
on the same line. Also see SETDOS /C.
DescriptionMax= nnnn (40): Sets the maximum file description length accepted
by DESCRIBE; the range is 20 - 120 characters.
EditMode= Insert | OVERSTRIKE: Lets you start the command line editor in
either insert or overstrike mode. Also see SETDOS /M.
EscapeChar= c (^): Sets the character used to suppress the normal meaning of
the following character. Also see SETDOS /E.
HelpBook= String (4OS2+CMDREF): Tells the internal 4OS2 help command (F1 or
HELP) which .INF files to use. Filenames are separated by a +. Files
should be in one of the directories specified by the BOOKSHELF environment
variable.
HistMin= nnnn (0): Sets the minimum command length to save in the history
list. 0 saves all commands, 300 disables all history saves.
HistWinColor= Color: Sets the default colors for the command line history
window.
HistWinHeight= nn (10): Sets the height of the command line history window in
lines, including the border.
HistWinLeft= nn (50): Sets the horizontal position of the left side of the
command line history window. The left edge of the screen is 0.
HistWinTop= nn (0): Sets the vertical position of the top of the command line
history window. The top of the screen is 0.
HistWinWidth= nn (30): Sets the width of the command line history window in
characters, including the border.
NoClobber= Yes | NO: If set to Yes, prevents standard output redirection from
overwriting an existing file, and requires the output file already exist
for append redirection. Also see SETDOS /N.
ParameterChar= c ($): Sets the character used to specify all or all remaining
command line arguments (e.g. %$ or %2$). The default is $ in 4OS2 and & in
4DOS. Also see SETDOS /P.
ScreenRows= nnnn: Sets the number of screen rows used by the video display.
Normally, 4OS2 detects the screen size automatically, but if you have a
non-standard display you may need to set it explicitly. Also see SETDOS
/R.
UpperCase= Yes | NO: "Yes" specifies filenames should be displayed in the
traditional upper-case by internal commands like COPY and DIR. "No"
allows the normal 4OS2 lower-case style. Also see SETDOS /U.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.10.3. Color Directives ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
These directives control the colors that 4OS2 uses for its displays. The color
format is:
[BRIght] [BLInk] fg ON bg [BORder bc]
Where fg is the foreground color, bg is the background color, and bc is the
border color. The color names are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
The color names and the keywords BRIGHT, BLINK, and BORDER can be shortened to
three letters.
ColorDir= ext1 ext2 ...:colora;ext3 ext4 ... :colorb ... (none): Sets the
directory colors. The format is the same as that used for the COLORDIR
environment variable (see 4OS2 Internal Variables).
ListColors= Color: Sets the colors used by the LIST and SELECT commands.
StdColors= Color: Sets the standard colors to be used when CLS is used
without a color specification, and for LIST and SELECT if ListColors is
not used.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.10.4. Key Mapping Directives ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The directives in this group allow you to change the keys used for 4OS2 command
line editing and other internal functions. They take effect only inside 4OS2
itself and do not affect other programs (including the help system). 4OS2
processes all command line editing key assignments before looking for keystroke
aliases. For example, if you assign Shift-F1 to HELP and also assign Shift-F1
to a key alias, the key alias will be ignored. (Use the "Normal" directives --
NormalKey, NormalEditKey, etc. -- to disable the preassigned function for a key
so it can be used for a keystroke alias.)
There are three pre-mapped keys: Tab and Shift-Tab (mapped to NextFile and
PrevFile respectively) and Ctrl-Bksp (mapped to DelWordRight). If you need to
clear out these assignments so you can assign Tab, Shift-Tab, or Ctrl-Bksp to a
keystroke alias, use the ClearKeyMap directive described at the end of this
section.
The format for a key name is: [Prefix-]Keyname. The prefix and key name must
be separated by a dash. The prefix can be left out, or it can be any of the
following:
Alt followed by A - Z, 0 - 9, F1 - F12, or Bksp
Ctrl followed by A - Z, F1 - F12, Bksp, Enter,
Left, Right, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Ins, or Del
Shift followed by F1 - F12 or Tab.
The possible key names are:
A - Z Esc Up PgUp
0 - 9 Bksp Down PgDn
F1 - F12 Tab Left Home
Ins Enter Right End
Del
General Input Keys
These directives are effective whenever 4OS2 requests input from the keyboard,
including command line editing and the DESCRIBE, ESET, INPUT, LIST, and SELECT
commands. (Scrolling through the command history list is controlled by NextHist
and PrevHist (see below), not by the Up and Down directives below.)
Backspace= Key (Bksp): Deletes the character to the left of the cursor.
BeginLine= Key (Home): Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.
Del = Key (Del): Deletes the character at the cursor.
DelToBeginning= Key (Ctrl-Home): Deletes from the cursor to the start of the
line.
DelToEnd= Key (Ctrl-End): Deletes from the cursor to the end of the line.
DelWordLeft= Key (Ctrl-L): Deletes the word to the left of the cursor.
DelWordRight= Key (Ctrl-R, Ctrl-Bksp): Deletes the word to the right of the
cursor. See ClearKeyMap at the end of this section if you need to remove
the mapping of Ctrl-Bksp to DelWordRight.
Down= Key (Down): Scrolls the display down one line in LIST; moves the cursor
down one line in SELECT and in the command history window.
EndLine= Key (End): Moves the cursor to the end of the line.
EraseLine= Key (Esc): Deletes the entire line.
ExecLine= Key (Enter): Executes or accepts a line.
Ins = Key (Ins): Toggles insert / overstrike mode during line editing.
Left= Key (Left): Moves the cursor left one character; moves the display left
8 columns in LIST.
NormalKey= Key (none): Deassigns a general input key in order to disable the
usual meaning of the key within 4OS2 and / or make it available for
keystroke aliases. This will cause 4OS2 to treat the keystroke as a
"normal" key with no special function.
Right= Key (Right): Moves the cursor right one character; scrolls the display
right 8 columns in LIST.
Up = Key (Up): Scrolls the display up one line in LIST; moves the cursor up
one line in SELECT and in the command history window.
WordLeft= Key (Ctrl-Left): Moves the cursor left one word; scrolls the
display left 40 columns in LIST.
WordRight= Key (Ctrl-Right): Moves the cursor right one word; scrolls the
display right 40 columns in LIST.
Command Line Editing Keys
The following directives apply only to command line editing (see Command Line
Editing). They are only effective at the 4OS2 prompt.
AddFile= Key (F10): Keeps the current filename completion entry and inserts
the next matching name.
CommandEscape= Key (Alt-255): Allows direct entry of a keystroke that would
normally be interpreted as an editor command.
DelHistory= Key (Ctrl-D): Deletes the displayed history list entry and
displays the previous entry.
EndHistory= Key (Ctrl-E): Displays the last history list entry.
Help= Key (F1): Invokes the 4OS2 HELP facility.
NextFile= Key (F9, Tab): Gets the next matching filename. See ClearKeyMap at
the end of this section if you need to remove the mapping of Tab to
NextFile.
NextHistory= Key (Down): Recalls the next command from the command history.
NormalEditKey= Key (none): Deassigns a command line editing key in order to
disable the usual meaning of the key while editing a command line and / or
make it available for keystroke aliases. This will cause 4OS2 to treat
the keystroke as a "normal" key with no special function.
PrevFile= Key (F8, Shift-Tab): Gets the previous matching filename. See
ClearKeyMap at the end of this section if you need to remove the mapping
of Shift-Tab to PrevFile.
PrevHistory= Key (Up): Recalls the previous command from the command history.
SaveHistory= Key (Ctrl-K): Saves the command line in the history list without
executing it.
History Window Keys
HistWinBegin= Key (Ctrl-PgUp): Moves to the first line of the history when in
the history window.
HistWinEdit= Key (Ctrl-Enter): Moves a line from the history window to the
prompt for editing.
HistWinEnd= Key (Ctrl-PgDn): Moves to the last line of the history when in
the history window.
HistWinExec= Key (Enter): Executes the selected line in the history window.
HistWinOpen= Key (PgUp): Brings up the history window while at the command
line.
NormalHWinKey= Key (none): Deassigns a history window key in order to disable
the usual meaning of the key within the history window. This will cause
4OS2 to treat the keystroke as a "normal" key with no special function.
LIST Keys
These directives control the keystrokes used within the LIST command.
ListFind= Key (F): Prompts and searches for a string.
ListHighBit= Key (H): Toggles LIST's "strip high bit" option, which can aid
in displaying files from certain word processors.
ListNext= Key (N): Finds the next matching string.
ListPrint= Key (P): Prints the file on LPT1.
ListWrap= Key (W): Toggles LIST's wrap option on and off. The wrap option
wraps text at the right margin.
NormalListKey= Key (none): Deassigns a LIST key in order to disable the usual
meaning of the key within LIST. This will cause 4OS2 to treat the
keystroke as a "normal" key with no special function.
ClearKeyMap Directive
This directive allows you to start with an empty key map.
ClearKeyMap: Clears all current key mappings. ClearKeyMap is a special
directive which has no value or "=" after it. Use ClearKeyMap if you want
to make one of the keys in 4OS2's default map (Tab, Shift-Tab, or
Ctrl-Bksp) available for a keystroke alias; or in the [Secondary] section
to clear key mappings inherited from the primary shell. ClearKeyMap should
appear before any other key mapping directives. If you only need to clear
some of the default mappings, use ClearKeyMap, then recreate the mappings
you want to retain (e.g. with "Tab=NextFile", etc.).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.10.5. Example ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The following example gives you an idea of the types of things that can be done
with the 4OS2.INI file. The comments on each directive explain what it does.
History = 1024 ; set history size
BatchEcho = No ; default is ECHO OFF
EditMode = Insert ; editor in insert mode
CursorO = 100 ; overstrike cursor 100%
CursorI = 10 ; insert cursor 10%
ListFind = S ; use "S" to search in LIST
ListNext = A ; use "A" to search again in LIST
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. 4OS2 Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The 4OS2 commands are described in detail in this section. The commands are
arranged alphabetically, and each includes examples to help you learn to use
the commands.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.1. 4OS2 - 4OS2 command processor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (External OS/2)
[[d:]path]4OS2 [/C /K /L /Q /S][@inifile][command ...]
PURPOSE
Start a new copy of the 4OS2 command processor.
COMMENTS
4OS2 replaces CMD.EXE, the default command processor provided with OS/2. The
4OS2 options are:
/C Execute the command following the /C, and automatically
return to the previous command processor.
/K Execute the command following the /K, but do not return to
the previous command processor. 4OS2 defaults to /K if /C is
not specified.
/LA Use local alias list. 4OS2 normally shares its alias list
across all sessions; specifying /LA shares it only among
processes in the same session.
/LH Use local history list. 4OS2 normally shares its history
list across all sessions; specifying /LH shares it only among
processes in the same session.
/Q Don't echo redirected standard input.
/S Don't install a ^C signal handler.
@inifile The 4OS2.INI file specification.
command The command to execute.
EXAMPLE
Start 4OS2 with local alias and history lists, using the 4OS2.INI file in
D:\4OS2:
4OS2 @D:\4OS2\4OS2.INI /LA /LH
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2. ? - Display internal commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
?
PURPOSE
Display the internal commands. Commands disabled with SETDOS /I will not be
displayed.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.3. ALIAS - Display / set aliases ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
ALIAS [/P] [/R [d:][path]filename...] [name[=][value]]
PURPOSE
Load or display the alias list, or define name as a substitute for value.
COMMENTS
Aliases are useful as a means of executing a complex series of commands with a
few keystrokes. Aliases can also be used as very fast in-memory batch files,
and will run much faster than disk-based batch files.
4OS2 supports two types of aliases; command aliases (where the alias is
substituted for the first argument on the command line), and "keystroke
aliases", where the command line editor will immediately substitute the alias
when the key is pressed.
Keystroke alias names are composed of an @ followed by the key name. You can
add a carriage return to a key alias by ending the alias with a ^^r (^ is the
4OS2 escape character) if defined at the command line or in a batch file, or ^r
if defined in an ALIAS /R file. The valid key names are the same as those
listed in the section on Key Names in Extended Key Codes.
If you only specify "name", ALIAS displays the current alias value for "name".
Otherwise, ALIAS assigns the command(s) in "value" to "name". "Name" can now be
used as if it were a built-in or external command. If you don't specify any
arguments, ALIAS displays the current alias list.
"Name" is limited to no more than 80 characters, and "value" to no more than
255 characters.
The ALIAS options are:
/P Pause after displaying each page and wait for a key to be pressed.
/R Load an alias list from a file. This is much faster than loading
aliases from a batch file. The file is in the same format as the
ALIAS display, so ALIAS /R can accept as input a file generated by
redirecting ALIAS output. You can add comments to an alias file by
starting the comment line with a colon (:).
For example, the following commands will save the aliases to a file, and then
reload them from that file:
alias > alist
alias /r alist
(You can load aliases from multiple files by listing all the filenames after
the /R.)
When defining aliases at the command line, back quotes must be used around the
alias arguments that contain multiple commands or variable references (%2,
%2$, etc.) to prevent premature expansion. Back quotes should NOT be used
when defining aliases in a file to be read with ALIAS /R.
Aliases may be nested; i.e., an alias can refer to another alias, but they
cannot refer back to themselves (a=b=a). You can stop alias expansion by
prefacing the alias with an asterisk (*). This also allows an alias to refer
to a command of the same name (see below for an example).
Alias names can be truncated by including an asterisk (*) in the name.
To edit an alias, use ESET; to remove an alias, use UNALIAS.
For more information on aliases (including the use of variables), see the
Aliases section in the printed manual, and the sample file ALIASES distributed
with 4OS2.
See also ESET and UNALIAS.
EXAMPLES
Define D as an alias for DIR /AP:
alias d dir /ap
Rename the LIST command to DISPLAY, and alias LIST to an external program:
alias display *list
alias list c:\util\list.com
The following examples show the use of alias arguments:
alias zap `erase %$ & chkdsk & dir /w`
alias reverse `echo %5 %4 %3 %2 %1`
The following keystroke alias will insert a "dir /2 /v /p " on the command
line when the Alt-F1 key is pressed:
alias @Alt-F1 `dir /2 /v /p `
The same alias set up to execute immediately when Alt-F1 is pressed.
alias @Alt-F1 `dir /2 /v /p^r`
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.4. ATTRIB - Display / set file attributes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
ATTRIB [/D /P /Q /S -|+[AHRS]] [d:][path]filename...
PURPOSE
Change the file or subdirectory attributes.
COMMENTS
The ATTRIB options are:
/D Also modify subdirectory attributes
/P Pause after displaying each page
/Q Quiet mode - don't display filenames
/S Modify files in the current directory and its subdirectories
+A Set the archive attribute
-A Clear the archive attribute
+H Set the hidden attribute
-H Clear the hidden attribute
+R Set the read-only attribute
-R Clear the read-only attribute
+S Set the system file attribute
-S Clear the system file attribute
If you don't specify the /D option, ATTRIB only modifies file attributes. If
you don't specify any attributes to change, ATTRIB displays the current file
attributes. You can also display the file attributes using the /T option in
DIR.
ATTRIB will preserve the previous file attributes and change only the
specified attributes. New attribute values are allowed between filenames;
otherwise ATTRIB uses the same attributes specified for the previous file(s).
You cannot modify the directory or volume label attributes.
EXAMPLES
Set the read-only and hidden attributes for the file MEMO:
attrib +rh memo
Set the archive attribute (file has been modified) for MEMO and change
TEXT.COM to system and not modified:
attrib +a memo +s -a test.com
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.5. BEEP - Beep the speaker ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
BEEP [frequency [duration] ...]
PURPOSE
Beep the speaker.
COMMENTS
BEEP is normally used in batch files to signal that an operation has been
completed, or that the computer needs attention (for example, to change disks).
Because BEEP allows you to specify the frequency and duration, you can use it
to play simple music. You can specify multiple frequency and duration pairs on
the command line.
The frequency is specified in Hertz, and the duration in 1/18th second
intervals. No sound will be generated for frequencies less than 37 Hz,
allowing you to insert short delays. The default value for frequency is 440
Hz; the default value for duration is 2.
The following table gives the frequency values for a five octave range (middle
C is 262 Hz):
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Γòæ C Γöé 131 Γöé 262 Γöé 523 Γöé 1046 Γöé 2093 Γòæ
Γòæ C#/Db Γöé 139 Γöé 277 Γöé 554 Γöé 1108 Γöé 2217 Γòæ
Γòæ D Γöé 147 Γöé 294 Γöé 587 Γöé 1175 Γöé 2349 Γòæ
Γòæ D#/Eb Γöé 156 Γöé 311 Γöé 622 Γöé 1244 Γöé 2489 Γòæ
Γòæ E Γöé 165 Γöé 330 Γöé 659 Γöé 1318 Γöé 2637 Γòæ
Γòæ F Γöé 175 Γöé 349 Γöé 698 Γöé 1397 Γöé 2794 Γòæ
Γòæ F#/Gb Γöé 185 Γöé 370 Γöé 740 Γöé 1480 Γöé 2960 Γòæ
Γòæ G Γöé 196 Γöé 392 Γöé 784 Γöé 1568 Γöé 3136 Γòæ
Γòæ G#/Ab Γöé 208 Γöé 415 Γöé 831 Γöé 1662 Γöé 3322 Γòæ
Γòæ A Γöé 220 Γöé 440 Γöé 880 Γöé 1760 Γöé 3520 Γòæ
Γòæ A#/Bb Γöé 233 Γöé 466 Γöé 932 Γöé 1866 Γöé 3729 Γòæ
Γòæ B Γöé 248 Γöé 494 Γöé 988 Γöé 1973 Γöé 3951 Γòæ
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EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment runs the program DEMO, plays a few notes, and
waits for you to press a key:
demo
beep 440 4 587 2 1040 6
pause Finished with the demo - press a key to continue
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.6. CALL - Call a batch file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
CALL [d:][path]filename
PURPOSE
Call a secondary batch file.
COMMENTS
CALL allows batch files to call other batch files (batch file nesting) without
invoking a secondary copy of the command processor. The calling batch file is
suspended while the called batch file runs. When the called batch file
finishes, the calling batch file resumes execution at the next command. If you
execute a batch file from another batch file without using CALL, the first
batch file is terminated before the second one starts.
The current ECHO state will be inherited by a called batch file.
See also CANCEL and QUIT.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment compares an input line to "wp" and calls a
secondary batch file if it matches:
input Enter your choice: %%option
if "%option" == "wp" call wp
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.7. CANCEL - Quit all batch files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
CANCEL [value]
PURPOSE
Terminate batch processing.
COMMENTS
The CANCEL command will end all batch file processing, regardless of the batch
nesting level. (Use QUIT to end a nested batch file and return to the previous
batch file.) If you enter a value, CANCEL will set the ERRORLEVEL to that
value. The value also affects the internal variable %_?, and the conditional
command separators && and ||.
You can CANCEL at any point in a batch file.
See also CALL and QUIT.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment compares an input line to "end" and
terminates all batch file processing if it matches:
input Enter your choice: %%option
if "%option" == "end" cancel
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.8. CD or CHDIR - Change directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
CD [[d:][pathname]
CHDIR [[d:][pathname]
PURPOSE
Display or change the current directory.
COMMENTS
Entering CD with no argument or only a drive name will display the current
directory. Entering CD and a pathname will change the current directory.
If CD can't change to the specified directory, it will look for the CDPATH (or
_CDPATH) environment variable. CD will append the specified directory name to
each directory in CDPATH and attempt to change to that directory, until the
first match or the end of the CDPATH argument.
The previous directory is saved on each CD, and you can switch back to it with
"CD -". You can switch between two directories by repeatedly entering "CD -".
Note that the saved directory is the same for both CD and CDD.
You can change directories by pressing ^PgUp at the prompt, which will display
a popup window of the most recent directory changes; you can select a directory
and switch to it by pressing Enter.
You can change to the parent directory with "CD ..". You can also go up one
additional directory level with each additional ".". For example, "CD ...."
will go up three directory levels.
Every disk drive on the system has its own current directory. Specifying both
a drive and a directory in the CD command will change the current directory on
the specified drive, but will not change the default drive. Use CDD to change
both the drive and directory.
See also %CDPATH, CDD, and PUSHD.
EXAMPLES
Change to the subdirectory C:\FINANCE\MYFILES:
cd \finance\myfiles
Change the default directory on drive A:
cd a:\utility
Set the CDPATH environment variable and then CD to a directory called DOCS (CD
will first attempt to change to DOCS in the current directory, then C:\DOCS,
then C:\OS\DOCS, etc.):
set cdpath=c:\;c:\os;c:\util;c:\wp
cd docs
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.9. CDD - Change disk and directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
CDD [d:]pathname
PURPOSE
Change the current disk drive and directory.
COMMENTS
CDD is similar to CD, except it can also change the default disk drive.
To start at the root directory, start the pathname with a backslash (\). To
start at the parent directory, start the pathname with two periods (..). All
other pathnames start at the current directory.
If CDD can't change to the specified directory, it will look for the CDPATH (or
_CDPATH) environment variable. CDD will append the specified directory name to
each directory in CDPATH and attempt to change to that directory, until the
first match or the end of the CDPATH argument.
The previous directory is saved on each CDD, and you can switch back to it with
"CDD -". You can switch between two directories by repeatedly entering "CDD
-". Note that the saved directory is the same for both CDD and CD.
You can change directories by pressing ^PgUp at the prompt, which will display
a popup window of the most recent directory changes; you can select a directory
and switch to it by pressing Enter.
You can change to the parent directory with "CD ..". You can also go up one
additional directory level with each additional ".". For example, "CD ...."
will go up three directory levels.
See also %CDPATH, CD and PUSHD.
EXAMPLES
Change to the subdirectory C:\WP:
cdd c:\wp
Set the CDPATH environment variable and then CDD to a directory called DOCS
(CDD will first attempt to change to DOCS in the current directory, then
C:\DOCS, then C:\OS\DOCS, etc.):
set cdpath=c:\;c:\os;c:\util;c:\wp
cdd docs
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.10. CHCP - Change code page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
CHCP [n]
PURPOSE
Display or change the current system code page.
COMMENTS
Code page switching allows you to select different character sets for language
support.
Before using CHCP, you must have DEVINFO= and CODEPAGE= statements in
CONFIG.SYS for the specified code page.
CHCP accepts one of the two prepared system code pages. An error message is
displayed if a code page is selected that has not been prepared.
Entering CHCP with no argument displays the active code page.
The code pages supported by OS/2 are:
437 United States
850 Multilingual (Latin I)
852 Slavic (Latin II)
860 Portuguese
863 Canadian-French
865 Nordic
See your OS/2 manual for more information on CHCP and code page switching.
EXAMPLES
Display the current code page:
chcp
Set the code page to multilingual:
chcp 850
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.11. CLS - Clear screen ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
CLS [[bright] [blink] fg ON bg [BORDER fg]]
PURPOSE
Clear the video display, optionally to the specified colors.
COMMENTS
CLS clears the display and moves the cursor to the upper left corner. fg is
the foreground color, bg the background color. Only the first three characters
of the color name and attributes ("bright" and "blink") are required. You can
set the default colors in the 4OS2.INI file.
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
CLS is normally used in batch files to clear the screen before displaying text.
See also COLOR and 4OS2.INI Color Directives.
EXAMPLES
Clear the display:
cls
Clear the display to a blue background, and set white characters as the new
default:
cls white on blue
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.12. COLOR - Set screen colors ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
COLOR [[bright] [blink] fg ON bg [BORDER fg]]
PURPOSE
Set the screen display colors.
COMMENTS
fg is the foreground color, bg the background color. Only the first three
characters of the color name and attributes ("bright" and "blink") are
required.
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also CLS.
EXAMPLE
Set the default screen colors to bright white text on a blue background:
color bright white on blue
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.13. COPY - Copy files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
COPY [d:][path]filename[+]...[/A /B] [[d:][path]filename]
[/A /B /C /F /M /N /P /Q /R /S /U /V]
PURPOSE
Copy or append one or more files.
COMMENTS
4OS2 allows you to copy several unrelated files to a target directory with a
single COPY command. If there are two or more arguments on the command line,
COPY assumes the last argument is the target. If there is only one argument,
the target is assumed to be the current directory.
The plus (+) tells COPY to append two or more files to a single target file.
If you don't specify a target, COPY will append each subsequent file to the
first file.
If you specify more than one source file, and the target is NOT a directory,
COPY will automatically append the files to the target.
The /A(SCII) or /B(inary) options apply to the preceding filename and to all
subsequent filenames on the command line until the filename preceding another
/A or /B, if any. All other options apply to all filenames on the command
line.
The COPY options are:
/A If used with a source filename, COPY will copy the file up to, but
not including, the first ^Z character in the file. If you use /A
with a target filename, COPY will add a ^Z to the end of the file.
COPY defaults to /A when appending files.
/B If used with a source filename, COPY will copy the entire file.
Using /B with a target filename prevents COPY from appending a ^Z
to the target file. COPY defaults to /B for normal file copies.
/C Copy only those files where the target exists and is older than the
source (see /U).
/F Fail the copy if the source file has extended attributes and the
target file system doesn't support extended attributes.
/H Copy hidden and system files too.
/M Copy only those files with the archive bit set (see also ATTRIB).
The archive bit will NOT be cleared after copying.
/N Do everything except actually perform the copy (for testing what
the result of the COPY would be).
/P Confirm each file copy (Y or N). An N response will skip that
particular file.
/Q Don't display filenames as they are copied.
/R Prompt before overwriting an existing file.
/S Copy subdirectories - the target must be a directory (COPY will
create it if it doesn't exist). COPY will copy each subdirectory
to a matching subdirectory of the target.
/U Copy only those source files that are newer than a matching target
file, or where a matching target file doesn't exist (see /C).
/V Verify each disk write. This is the same as executing the VERIFY
ON command, but is only active during the COPY.
See also MOVE.
EXAMPLES
Copy the files MEMO1 and PROJECT8.WKS to the root directory on drive A:
copy memo1 project8.wks a:\
Append the files MEMO1, MEMO2, and MEMO3 and store the result in BIGMEMO:
copy memo1+memo2+memo3 bigmemo
Copy only those files in the root directory on drive A that are newer than the
matching files in the current directory, or that don't exist in the current
directory:
copy /u a:\*.* c:\*.*
Copy files from the root directory on drive A to the current directory, but
prompt before overwriting existing files:
copy /r a:\*.*
Copy a downloadable font file to the printer in binary mode:
copy myfont.dat lpt1: /b
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.14. DATE - Set or display date ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DATE [mm-dd-yy]
PURPOSE
Display and (optionally) change the system date.
COMMENTS
If you don't enter any parameters, DATE will display the current system date
and time, and prompt for the new date. Press ENTER if you don't wish to change
the date, otherwise enter the new date.
The format for the date entry depends on the country code defined in CONFIG.SYS
or by the CHCP command. The default format is U.S. (mm-dd-yy). The European
format is dd-mm-yy; the Japanese is yy-mm-dd.
The parameters for the DATE command are:
mm Month (1 - 12)
dd Day (1 - 31)
yy Year (80 - 199 or 1980 - 2099)
You can use hyphens, slashes, or periods to separate the month, day, and year
entries.
See also TIME.
EXAMPLES
Enter the date from the command line:
date 12/25/89
To be prompted for the date:
date
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.15. DEL or ERASE - Delete files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DEL [/F /N /P /Q /S /X /Y /Z] [d:][path]filename...
ERASE [/F /N /P /Q /S /X /Y /Z] [d:][path]filename...
PURPOSE
Erase the specified file(s) from the disk.
COMMENTS
The DEL options are:
/F [4OS2/32 only] Delete the specified file(s) without making copies
in the DELDIR directory. Caution: Using DEL /F will make the
deleted files unrecoverable!
/N Do everything except actually delete the file(s) (for testing what
the result of a DEL would be).
/P Confirm file deletion for each file.
/Q Don't display filenames as they are deleted.
/S Delete matching files in the subdirectories.
/X Remove empty subdirectories after deleting (use with /S).
/Y The reverse of /P - it assumes a Y response to everything,
including deleting an entire subdirectory. Use with caution!
/Z Delete all files, including read-only, hidden and system files.
If you enter a subdirectory name, or a filename composed only of wildcards,
DEL asks for confirmation (Y or N), unless you specified the /Y(es) option. If
you respond with a Y, DEL will delete all the files in that subdirectory
(except for hidden, system, and read-only files).
If you do not use the /Q(uiet) option, DEL displays a count of files deleted,
and the total space freed by the deletions.
To improve performance, DEL calculates the space freed by comparing space
available on the drive before and after the deletions, rather than checking
the size of each file. Therefore, if other programs are allocating or
deallocating disk space while a DEL command is in process, the figure for
space freed may reflect the results of those other operations as well as those
of the DEL command itself.
If DEL finds that free space on your drive has decreased or remained the same
after the deletions, the space freed is not displayed. This may happen if
other programs are modifying the disk while DEL is running, or if you have
enabled DELDIR to save deleted files for recovery (see your OS/2 documentation
for information on DELDIR).
EXAMPLES
Erase all the files in the current directory with a .BAK or .PRN extension:
del *.bak *.prn
Delete the entire subdirectory tree starting with C:\UTIL, including hidden
and read-only files, without further prompting (use with caution!):
del /sxyz c:\util
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.16. DELAY - Pause for specified time ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DELAY [seconds]
PURPOSE
Pause for a specified period of time.
COMMENTS
DELAY is useful in batch file loops while waiting for a condition to occur. The
default value is one second.
If you need a shorter delay, use BEEP with a frequency < 37 Hz.
You can cancel a DELAY loop by pressing ^C.
See also BEEP.
EXAMPLE
Wait for 10 seconds:
delay 10
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.17. DESCRIBE - Describe files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DESCRIBE [d:][path]filename... ["description"]
PURPOSE
Create, modify, or delete file and subdirectory descriptions.
COMMENTS
DESCRIBE adds descriptions to filenames and subdirectories. The descriptions
will be displayed when using DIR with the default single column option, or when
using SELECT. If you're using 4OS2 on an HPFS volume, descriptions will only
be displayed if you use the DIR or SELECT /Z (FAT format) option. The default
maximum description length is 40 characters; if you have a screen capable of
displaying more than 80 columns, you can increase the maximum description
length with the 4OS2.INI DescriptionMax option.
File descriptions allow you to identify your files in much more meaningful ways
than an eight character filename.
You can enter a description on the command line by entering the filename
followed by the description enclosed in quotes. Using wildcards and/or
multiple filenames with a description on the command line will give all
matching files the same description.
Descriptions are stored in each directory in a hidden file called DESCRIPT.ION.
Use the ATTRIB command to "unhide" this file if you need to copy or delete it.
The description file is modified appropriately whenever you perform an internal
command (such as COPY, DEL, MOVE, or RENAME), but not if you use an external
command (such as REPLACE or XCOPY).
See also DIR and SELECT.
EXAMPLES
Create a description for the file MEMO.TXT interactively:
describe memo.txt
Create the same description in a single command:
describe memo.txt "Memo to Bob about party"
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.18. DETACH - Start detached process ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DETACH [d:][command ...]
PURPOSE
Start OS/2 commands in detached mode.
COMMENTS
A command started with DETACH cannot use the keyboard, mouse, or video display.
You can redirect standard I/O to other devices if necessary.
4OS2 always detaches another copy of 4OS2.EXE to execute the command. This
allows you to deatch any type of command including an alias, internal command,
external command, or batch file.
The entire command line after DETACH is passed to the detached process. If you
place multiple commands on the line after DETACH, all those commands will be
run by the detached copy of 4OS2. The current copy of 4OS2 will continue with
the first command on the next line.
EXAMPLES
Detach a CHKDSK command and redirect its output to the file CHECK.DAT:
detach chkdsk >& check.dat
Detach CHKDSK commands for drives C and D, redirecting the output of each to
the file CHECK.DAT in the root directory of the corresponding drive:
detach chkdsk c: >& c:\check.dat & chkdsk d: >& d:\check.dat
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.19. DIR - Display directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DIR [/1 /2 /4 /A[:-rhsda] /B /C /D /F /J /K /L /M /N /O:-deginrsu
/P /S /T[:acw] /U /V /W /Z] [[d:][path]filename...]
PURPOSE
Display information about files and subdirectories.
COMMENTS
DIR displays information about the files and subdirectories in the specified
directory. Depending upon the options specified, DIR can show the filename,
file attributes, size, date and time of the most recent change to the file, and
the file description.
For files on HPFS drives, the /T:acw switch can be used to specify whether to
display the date and time of last access, file creation, or last write.
The DIR options are:
/1 Single column display - display the filename, size, date, time,
and description. This is the default.
/2 Two column display - display the filename, size, date, and
time.
/4 Four column display - display the filename and size, in
K(ilobytes) or M(egabytes).
/A Display only those files that have the specified attribute set.
A /A with no attributes will display all files, including
hidden and system files. Preceding the attribute character
with a '-' will display those files that do not have that
attribute set. Attributes can also be combined. The
attributes are:
R Read only
H Hidden
S System
D Directory
A Archive
/B Suppress header line and summaries, and display file or
subdirectory names only, in a single column (useful when
redirecting output to a file or another program).
/C Display FAT filenames in upper case (like CMD.EXE). See also
SETDOS /U.
/D Disable directory colorization.
/F Display fully expanded filenames (including drive & path) in
one column.
/J Justify filenames (same format as CMD.EXE).
/K Suppress the header display.
/L Display FAT filenames in lower case. This option will not
convert extended ASCII characters to lower case.
/M Suppress the footer display.
/N Display a FAT volume in HPFS format.
/O Sort order; any combination of the following options:
- Reverse the sort order for the next option
a Sort by ASCII value rather than numeric value
d Sort by date and time (oldest first; also see /T:acw
below)
e Sort by extension
g Group subdirectories together
i Sort by the file description
n Sort by the filename (this is the default)
r Reverse the sort order for all options
s Sort by size
u Unsorted
/P Pause after each screen page and wait for a key to be pressed
(useful for displaying long directory listings).
/S Display contents of the current directory and all of its
subdirectories. DIR will only display headers and summaries
for those directories with matching filenames.
/T Display the filenames and attributes only (see ATTRIB), in the
format RHSA, where:
R Read only
H Hidden
S System
A Archive
When displaying attributes, DIR cannot display file
descriptions.
/T:acw Select the date and time used for file date / time displays
and date / time sorts on HPFS drives. This option is ignored
for FAT drives. Use any one of the following options:
a Use date and time of last access
c Use date and time of creation
w Use date and time of last write
If /T is used without a date / time type (:acw) after it, 4OS2
will display the file attributes (see /T above).
/U Display summary only (number of files & bytes used; both actual
file size and the disk space used).
/V Display filenames sorted vertically rather than horizontally
(with the /2, /4, or /W option).
/W Wide display - display the filenames only, horizontally across
the screen (5 columns on an 80-character display).
/Z Display an HPFS volume in FAT format. Filenames longer than 12
characters will be truncated.
DIR allows wildcard characters in the filename. If you don't specify a
filename, DIR defaults to *.* (display all files and subdirectories in the
current directory).
If you append filenames with a ; (an "include list"), DIR will display the
matching filenames in a single directory listing. Only the first file in an
include list can have a path.
You can display the subdirectories and files in color by setting the COLORDIR
variable. The format for COLORDIR is:
ext [...]:[bright][blink] fg [ON bg]; ...
where "ext" is the file extension, or one of the following file attributes:
DIRS - directory
RDONLY - read-only file
HIDDEN - hidden file
SYSTEM - system file
ARCHIVE - file modified since last backup
For example, to display the .COM and .EXE files in red, the .C and .ASM files
in bright cyan, and the read-only files in blinking green:
set colordir=com exe:red; c asm:bright cyan; rdonly:blink green
If you don't select a background color, DIR will use the current screen
background color.
If a country code was defined in the CONFIG.SYS file or by the CHCP command,
DIR will display the date in the format for that country. The default date
format is U.S. (mm-dd-yy).
Options on the command line apply only to the filenames that follow the
option, except that options at the end of the line apply to the preceding
filename only. This allows you to specify several options for a group of
files, and retains compatibility with CMD.EXE when a single filename is
specified.
See also DESCRIBE and SELECT.
EXAMPLES
Display the .WKS files, and then the .WK1 files in the current directory:
dir *.wks *.wk1
Display the .WKS and .WK1 files together (an "include list"):
dir *.wks;*.wk1
Display the files on drive C, including hidden and system files, pausing after
each page:
dir /a/sp c:\*.*
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.20. DIRS - Display directory stack ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DIRS
PURPOSE
Display the current directory stack.
COMMENTS
DIRS displays the directory stack used by PUSHD and POPD, oldest entries first.
The stack holds 255 characters (about 10 to 20 entries).
See also PUSHD and POPD.
EXAMPLE
Change directories and then display the directory stack:
pushd c:\database
pushd d:\wordp\memos
dirs
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.21. DPATH - Display / set data search path ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DPATH [[d:]path][[;[d:]path]...]]
DPATH ;
PURPOSE
Tells applications where to search for their files.
COMMENTS
If you enter DPATH with no parameters, 4OS2 displays the current search path.
If you enter DPATH and a semicolon (;), 4OS2 clears the search path.
You can edit an existing DPATH with the ESET command.
EXAMPLES
The following DPATH command directs applications to search for their data files
in the following order: the current directory, the root directory on drive C,
the OS2 subdirectory on drive C, and the UTIL subdirectory on drive C:
dpath c:\;c:\os2;c:\util
Display the current DPATH:
dpath
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.22. DRAWBOX - Draw a box ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DRAWBOX ulrow ulcol lrrow lrcol style [bright][blink] fg ON bg
[FILL bgfill] [SHADOW]
PURPOSE
Draw a box on the screen.
COMMENTS
DRAWBOX is useful for creating attractive screen displays in batch files.
DRAWBOX detects other lines and boxes on the display, and creates the
appropriate connector characters when possible (not all types of lines can be
connected with the available characters).
The row and column numbering is zero-based, so on a standard 25 line by 80
column display, valid rows are 0 - 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
The DRAWBOX parameters are:
ulrow Row for upper left corner
ulcol Column for upper left corner
lrrow Row for lower right corner
lrcol Column for lower right corner
style Box drawing style:
0 no line drawing characters (box is drawn with blanks)
1 single line
2 double line
3 single line on top and bottom, double on sides
4 double line on top and bottom, single on sides
fg Foreground character color
bg Background character color
bgfill Background fill color (for the inside of the box)
SHADOW Include a transparent drop shadow
Only the first three characters of the color name and attributes ("bright" and
"blink") are required.
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also DRAWHLINE and DRAWVLINE.
EXAMPLE
Draw a single line box around the entire screen with bright white lines on a
blue background:
drawbox 0 0 24 79 1 bright white on blue fill blue
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.23. DRAWHLINE - Draw horizontal line ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DRAWHLINE row column length style [bright] [blink] fg ON bg
PURPOSE
Draw a horizontal line on the screen.
COMMENTS
DRAWHLINE is useful for creating attractive screen displays in batch files.
DRAWHLINE detects other lines and boxes on the display, and creates the
appropriate connector characters when possible (not all types of lines can be
connected with the available characters).
The row and column numbering is zero-based, so on a standard 25 line by 80
column display, valid rows are 0 - 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
The DRAWHLINE parameters are:
row Start row
column Start column
length Length of line
style Line drawing style:
1 Single line
2 Double line
fg Foreground character color
bg Background character color
Only the first three characters of the color name and attributes ("bright" and
"blink") are required.
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also DRAWBOX, DRAWVLINE and SCRPUT.
EXAMPLE
Draw a double line along the top row of the display with green characters on a
blue background:
drawhline 0 0 79 2 green on blue
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.24. DRAWVLINE - Draw vertical line ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
DRAWVLINE row column length style [bright] [blink] fg ON bg
PURPOSE
Draw a vertical line on the screen.
COMMENTS
DRAWVLINE is useful for creating attractive screen displays in batch files.
DRAWVLINE detects other lines and boxes on the display, and creates the
appropriate connector characters when possible (not all types of lines can be
connected with the available characters).
The row and column numbering is zero-based, so on a standard 25 line by 80
column display, valid rows are 0 - 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
The DRAWVLINE parameters are:
row Start row
column Start column
length Length of line
style Line drawing style:
1 Single line
2 Double line
fg Foreground character color
bg Background character color
Only the first three characters of the color name and attributes ("bright" and
"blink") are required.
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also DRAWBOX, DRAWHLINE, and VSCRPUT.
EXAMPLE
Draw a double line along the left margin of the display with bright red
characters on a black background:
drawvline 0 0 24 2 bright red on black
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.25. ECHO - Display a message ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
ECHO [on | off | message]
PURPOSE
Display the echo status, enable or disable batch file or command line echoing,
or display a message.
COMMENTS
ECHO defaults to ON in batch files. To prevent a line from being echoed,
preface it with the @ symbol. You can default to ECHO OFF by setting the
SETDOS /V option to 0. (Setting SETDOS /V to 2 will echo all lines, regardless
of the echo state or @ symbols.) The current ECHO state is inherited by called
batch files.
ECHO defaults to OFF during keyboard input. If you set ECHO ON from the
command line, the fully parsed and expanded commands (including aliases and
variables) will be displayed before they are executed. The keyboard ECHO state
is independent of the batch file ECHO state; changing ECHO in a batch file has
no effect on the display at the command prompt, and vice versa.
If no arguments are entered, ECHO displays the current echo state.
ECHO commands in a batch file will send messages to the screen while the batch
file executes, even if ECHO is set OFF. You cannot use the command separator
character or the redirection symbols (|><) in an ECHO message, unless you
enclose them in quotes or precede them with the escape character. If you want
to echo a blank line, enter:
echo.
See also ECHOS, SETDOS, SCREEN, SCRPUT, TEXT and VSCRPUT.
EXAMPLES
Enable command line echoing:
echo on
Display a message in a batch file:
echo Processing your print files...
Turn off batch file echoing, without displaying the ECHO command itself:
@echo off
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.26. ECHOS - Display a message with no CR/LF ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
ECHOS message
PURPOSE
Display a message, without printing a trailing CR/LF.
COMMENTS
ECHOS is useful for outputting text when you don't want ECHO to add a carriage
return / linefeed pair (for example, when redirecting control sequences to a
printer). You cannot use the command separator character or the redirection
symbols (|><) in an ECHOS message, unless you enclose them in quotes or precede
them with the escape character.
See also ECHO.
EXAMPLE
Send a control sequence (an Esc+H) to the printer.
echos ^eH > lpt1:
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.27. ENDLOCAL - Restore saved environment ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
ENDLOCAL
PURPOSE
Restore the saved disk drive, directory, aliases, and environment.
COMMENTS
ENDLOCAL restores the disk drive, directory, aliases, and environment variables
saved by the previous SETLOCAL command. SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL can only be used
in batch files, not in aliases.
See also SETLOCAL.
EXAMPLE
This batch file fragment saves the aliases, environment, drive, and current
working directory, changes the drive and directory, modifies some environment
variables, runs the program TEST1, and then restores the original values:
setlocal
cdd d:\test
set path=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util
set lib=d:\lib
test1
endlocal
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.28. ESET - Edit variable or alias ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
ESET [/A] varname...
PURPOSE
Edit environment variables and/or aliases.
COMMENTS
ESET allows you to edit your environment variables and aliases using the line
editing commands. The cursor will be positioned at the first character of the
variable or alias.
The ESET options are:
/A Assume the argument is an alias. This allows you to edit an alias
with the same name as an environment variable.
ESET will search for environment variables first, and then aliases.
Environment variable and alias names are limited to 80 characters, and their
arguments to 255 characters.
See also Editing the Command Line, ALIAS, UNALIAS, SET, and UNSET.
EXAMPLES
Edit the executable file search path:
eset path
Create and then edit an alias:
alias d dir /djp
eset d
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.29. EXCEPT - Exclude files from command ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
EXCEPT ([d:][path]filename...) command
PURPOSE
Perform a command, except on the file(s) specified.
COMMENTS
EXCEPT provides a means of executing a command on a group of files and/or
subdirectories, except those enclosed within the parentheses.
The command can be an internal command or alias, an external command, or a
batch file.
You may use wildcard characters in a filename.
When using filename completion (TAB or F9) to get the filenames inside the
parentheses, type a space after the open parenthesis before entering a partial
filename or pressing TAB. Otherwise the command line editor will treat the open
parenthesis as the first character of the filename to be completed.
EXCEPT prevents operations on the specified file(s) by setting the hidden
attribute, performing the command, and then clearing the hidden attribute. If
EXCEPT is aborted in an unusual way, you may need to use the ATTRIB command to
"unhide" (-H) the file(s).
EXCEPT will not work with programs or commands that ignore the hidden
attribute.
See also ATTRIB.
EXAMPLE
Erase all but the files beginning with MEMO and those ending in .WKS:
except (memo*.* *.wks) del *.*
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.30. EXIT - Exit secondary processor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
EXIT [value]
PURPOSE
Exit the current command processor.
COMMENTS
Some application programs will start a secondary copy of the command processor
to allow you execute commands. To return to the application again, type EXIT.
If you EXIT from a primary command processor, you will be returned to PM.
If you specify a value, EXIT will return that value to the parent process.
EXAMPLE
Return to the parent process:
exit
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.31. FOR - Repeat a command ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
FOR [/A[:-RHSDA]] %%var IN (set) [DO] command
PURPOSE
Repeat a command for several variables.
COMMENTS
FOR sets var sequentially to each member of (set), and then evaluates and
executes command for every argument in (set). If an argument in (set) contains
wildcard characters, var will be set sequentially to each matching filename on
the disk. If a filename in (set) begins with an @, var will be set
sequentially to each line in the file. You can nest multiple FOR statements.
The only option for FOR is:
/A Retrieve only those files with the specified attribute. A /A with
no attributes will retrieve all files, including hidden and system
files, and subdirectories. Preceding the attribute character with
a '-' will retrieve those files that DON'T have that attribute set.
Attributes can also be combined. The attributes are:
R Read only
H Hidden
S System
D Directory
A Archive
The command can be an internal command or alias, an external command, or a
batch file.
In CMD.EXE you must use a single % for the variable name from the command
line, and %% when in a batch file. 4OS2 will accept either % or %% in either
case.
CMD.EXE requires the variable name to be a single character; 4OS2 supports
variable names up to 80 characters.
CMD.EXE requires the word DO on the command line; it is optional in 4OS2.
EXAMPLES
The following example compiles the C programs in the current directory that
have a "2" or a "3" somewhere in their name:
for %a in (*2*.c *3*.c) do cl %a ;
The following example uses variable functions to delete the .BAK files for
which a corresponding .TXT file exists in the current directory:
for %a in (*.txt) if exist %@name[%a].bak del %@name[%a].bak
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.32. FREE - Display disk utilization ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
FREE [d:] ...
PURPOSE
Display the total disk space, total bytes used, and total bytes free on the
specified (or default) drive(s).
COMMENTS
FREE provides the same disk information as the external command CHKDSK, but
without the wait.
EXAMPLE
Display the status of drives A, B, and C:
free a: b: c:
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.33. GLOBAL - Execute command in all subdirectories ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
GLOBAL [/H /I /P /Q] command
PURPOSE
Execute a command in the current directory and its subdirectories.
COMMENTS
GLOBAL performs the specified command first in the current directory, and then
in every subdirectory under the current directory.
The command can be an internal command or alias, an external command, or a
batch file.
The GLOBAL options are:
/H Process hidden subdirectories.
/I Ignore exit codes. If this option is not specified, GLOBAL will
terminate if the command returns a non-zero exit code.
/P Prompt for a Y/N whether to execute the command in each directory.
/Q Do not display the directory names as each directory is accessed.
EXAMPLE
Copy the files in every directory on drive A to the directory C:\TEMP:
cd a:\ & global copy a:*.* c:\temp
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.34. GOSUB - Call batch subroutine ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
GOSUB label
PURPOSE
Call a subroutine in a batch file.
COMMENTS
GOSUB calls the specified label as a subroutine. The subroutine must end with
a RETURN statement. After the RETURN, the batch file continues with the
command following the GOSUB command.
GOSUB searches for the label starting at the first line of the batch file. If
the label doesn't exist, the batch file is terminated with the error message
"Label not found."
The label must begin with a colon (:), and appear by itself on the line. GOSUB
ignores case differences when matching labels.
See also GOTO and RETURN.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment calls a subroutine that displays the
directory and returns:
echo Calling a subroutine
gosub subr1
echo Returned from the subroutine
quit
:subr1
dir /hw
return
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.35. GOTO - Jump to batch label ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
GOTO [/I] label
PURPOSE
Continue batch file processing at the line following the label.
COMMENTS
GOTO changes the current position in the batch file to the line immediately
following the label.
The search for the label starts at the first line of the batch file. If the
label doesn't exist, the batch file is terminated with the error message "Label
not found."
The label must begin with a colon (:), and appear by itself on the line. GOTO
ignores case differences when matching labels.
A GOTO will cancel all IFF nesting, unless you specify the /I option.
See also GOSUB.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment checks for the existence of the file
CONFIG.SYS. If CONFIG.SYS exists, GOTO jumps to C_EXISTS and copies all the
files from the current directory to the root directory on A. If CONFIG.SYS
doesn't exist, the batch file prints an error message and exits.
if exist config.sys goto C_EXISTS
echo CONFIG.SYS doesn't exist - exiting
quit
:c_exists
copy *.* a:\
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.36. HELP - Display 4OS2 online help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
HELP [command]
PURPOSE
Display the 4OS2 help file.
COMMENTS
HELP uses the PM VIEW.EXE program to display help for 4OS2 (4OS2.INF) and OS/2
in general (CMDREF.INF). You can change the default .INF files with the
HelpBook directive in 4OS2.INI.
EXAMPLES
Display the HELP table of contents:
help
Display help for the DIR command:
help dir
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.37. HISTORY - Display / set command history ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
HISTORY [/A command] [/F /P] [/R [d:][path]filename]
PURPOSE
Display, read, or clear the history list.
COMMENTS
If no parameters are entered, HISTORY displays the current history list.
The HISTORY options are:
/A Add the specified command to the history list.
/F Clear the command history list.
/P Prompt for a key after displaying each page.
/R Read the command history from the specified file. You can save the
history list by redirecting the output of HISTORY to a file.
The number of commands saved in the history list depends on the length of each
command line. The history list size can be specified at startup from 256 to
8192 characters. The default size is 1024 characters.
You can disable saving commands to the history list, or specify a minimum
command line length to save, with the HistMin directive in 4OS2.INI.
EXAMPLES
Display the history list:
history
Clear the history entries:
history /f
Save the history list to the file HISTFILE, and then read it in again:
history > histfile
history /r histfile
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.38. IF - Conditional command execution ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
IF [NOT] condition [.AND. | .OR. | .XOR. [NOT] ...] command
PURPOSE
Allow conditional execution of commands.
COMMENTS
IF first tests the given condition. If the condition is true, IF executes the
specified command, otherwise the command will be ignored. If you use the NOT
option, the command is executed only when the condition is false. IF
statements can be nested.
The command can be an internal command or alias, an external command, or a
batch file.
For the string tests, case differences are ignored. When comparing strings,
you should enclose them in double quotes (see examples). The use of double
quotes reduces problems when the strings being compared contain characters that
may have another meaning to the parser. If the strings begin with a digit, IF
will do a numeric comparison. Otherwise, IF does an ASCII comparison.
The .AND., .OR., and .XOR. tests allow you to combine tests in an IF statement.
The expressions are scanned from left to right.
The condition can be any of the following:
string1 == string2 or string1 EQ string2
If string1 is equal to string2, the condition is true.
string1 != string2 or string1 NE string2
If string1 is not equal to string2, the condition is true.
string1 LT string2
If string1 is < string2, the condition is true.
string1 LE string2
If string1 is <= string2, the condition is true.
string1 GE string2
If string1 is >= string2, the condition is true.
string1 GT string2
If string1 is > string2, the condition is true.
In the tests below, the term "condition" refers to one of the relational
operators described for the string tests above (==, EQ, NE, LT, etc.).
ERRORLEVEL [condition] number
Test the exit code of the preceding external program. If no relational
operator (EQ, GT, etc.) is specified, the default is GE. NOTE: Not all
programs return an explicit exit code. In those cases, the behavior of
ERRORLEVEL is undefined.
EXIST [d:][path]filename
If the file exists, the condition is true. You can use wildcard
characters in the filename, in which case the condition is true if any
file matching the wildcards exists.
ISALIAS aliasname
If the specified name is an alias, the condition is true.
ISDIR [d:]path
If the subdirectory exists, the condition is true.
ISINTERNAL command
If the specified command is an internal command, the condition is true.
ISLABEL labelname
If the specified label exists in the current batch file, the condition
is true.
See also IFF.
EXAMPLES
Test for the presence of A:\JAN.DOC and copy it to the root directory on drive
C if it exists:
if exist a:\jan.doc copy a:\jan.doc c:\
This batch file fragment tests for a string value:
if "%cmd" == "wp" goto wordproc
if "%cmd" NE "graphics" goto badentry
Test for more than 500K of free disk space on drive A:
if %@diskfree[a:] gt 500 echo More than 500K free
Run the program MONOPROG if the monitor type is monochrome:
if %_monitor == mono monoprog
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.39. IFF - Conditional command execution ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
IFF [NOT] condition [.AND. | .OR. | .XOR. [NOT] ...]
THEN & ... & ELSE[[IFF] ... THEN] & ... & ENDIFF
PURPOSE
Allow IF/THEN/ELSE conditional execution of commands.
COMMENTS
IFF first tests the given condition. If the condition is true, IFF executes
the specified command(s) until the next ELSE, ELSEIFF, or ENDIFF; otherwise the
command(s) will be ignored and parsing will continue at the next ELSE, ELSEIFF,
or ENDIFF. If you use the NOT option, commands are executed only when the
condition is false. IFF statements can be nested up to 15 levels deep.
The .AND., .OR., and .XOR. tests allow you to combine tests in an IFF
statement. The expressions are scanned from left to right; each new .AND.,
.OR., or .XOR. tests the combination of all preceding tests.
The command can be an internal command or alias, an external command, or a
batch file.
If you do a GOTO inside an IFF, GOTO assumes you are jumping outside the IFF
statement. You cannot GOTO another part of the same IFF, or inside another IFF
statement.
See the IF command for a list of the tests available.
EXAMPLES
The following batch file fragment tests the monitor type (monochrome or color),
and sets the appropriate colors and prompt:
iff %_monitor == color then
color bright white on blue & cls
prompt=$e[s$e[1;1f$e[41;1;37m$e[K Path: $p$e[u$e[44;37m$n$g
else
prompt=$e[s$e[1;1f$e[0;7m$e[K Path: $p$e[u$e[0m$n$g
endiff
The following alias checks to see if the argument is a subdirectory. If so,
the alias deletes the subdirectory's files and removes it (enter this on one
line):
alias zap `iff isdir %1 then & del /s/x/z %1 & else &
echo Not a directory! & endiff`
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.40. INKEY - Enter environment variable ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
INKEY [/K"..." /Wn] [text] %%varname
PURPOSE
Get a single keystroke environment variable from standard input.
COMMENTS
You can optionally display prompt text before the variable name.
The INKEY options are:
/K The allowable keystrokes, enclosed in double quotes. If you want
to read a control or function key, you must enclose it in square
brackets (for example, /K"ab[F1][F10]"). The valid key names are
the same as those listed in the section on Key Mapping Directives
in KEYCODES.
/W Timeout period, where "n" is the number of seconds to wait for a
response. If no keystroke is entered by the end of the timeout
period, INKEY returns with the variable unchanged. You can specify
/W0 to check if a keystroke is waiting, and return immediately.
ASCII values from 1 to 255 are stored as a character. Extended characters
(for example, function keys & cursor keys) are stored as a string in decimal
format, with a leading @ (for example, the F1 key is stored as @59). The
ENTER character is a special case; it is stored as its scan code (@28). See
KEYCODES for the common extended keystrokes.
INKEY and INPUT are normally used as batch file commands, allowing you great
flexibility in entering or changing batch variables.
If you press ^C or ^BREAK while INKEY is waiting for a key, execution of an
alias will be terminated, and execution of a batch file will be suspended
while you are prompted whether to cancel the batch job.
See also INPUT.
EXAMPLES
Prompt for a number and store it in the variable NUM:
inkey /K"123456789" Enter a number from 1 to 9: %%num
The following batch file fragment waits up to 10 seconds for a character, then
tests to see if a "Y" was entered:
set net=N
inkey /w10 Do you want to load the network (Y/N)? %%net
if "%net"=="Y" goto load_net
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.41. INPUT - Enter environment variable ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
INPUT [/Wn] [text] %%varname
PURPOSE
Enter an environment variable from the standard input.
COMMENTS
You can optionally display prompt text before the variable name.
The only INPUT option is:
/W Specify a timeout period, where "n" is the number of seconds to
wait for a response. If no keystroke is entered by the end of the
timeout period, INPUT returns with the variable unchanged. If you
enter a key before the timeout period, INPUT will wait indefinitely
for the remainder of the line. You can specify /W0 to check if a
key is already in the buffer, and return immediately.
All characters entered up to, but not including, the carriage return are
stored in the variable.
INPUT and INKEY are normally used as batch file commands, allowing you great
flexibility in entering or changing batch variables.
See also INKEY.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment prompts for a string and stores it in the
variable FNAME:
input Enter the file name: %%fname
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.42. KEYS - Display command history ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
KEYS [ON | OFF | LIST]
PURPOSE
Display the history list, or enable / disable the command line editing keys.
COMMENTS
4OS2 includes this command for compatibility with CMD.EXE; for 4OS2 you should
normally use the HISTORY command instead.
KEYS OFF will disable the command history and force 4OS2 to read input a line
at a time (normally input is processed one character at a time). Applications
which intercept line input intended for the command processor may not work
properly unless you use KEYS OFF to switch to line input mode before starting
the application (such applications are very rare). KEYS ON will reenable the
command history and return input to the usual character by character method.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.43. LIST - Display files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
LIST [/H /S /W] [d:][path]filename...
PURPOSE
Display a file with forward and backward paging and scrolling.
COMMENTS
LIST provides a much faster and more flexible way to view a file than TYPE,
without the overhead of using a text editor.
The LIST options are:
/H Strip the high bit from each character before displaying. This
is useful when displaying files created by some word processors
that turn on the high bit for formatting purposes.
/S Read from the standard input rather than a file. This allows you
to redirect command output and view it with LIST.
/W Wrap the text at the right margin. This option is useful when
displaying non-text files.
LIST uses the cursor pad to scroll through the file. The LIST commands are
(the caret ^ means press the Ctrl key together with the specified key):
HOME Display the first page of the file
END Display the last page of the file
PgUp Scroll back one page
PgDn Scroll forwards one page
Esc Exit the current file
^C Quit LIST
Scroll up one line
Scroll down one line
Scroll left 8 columns
Scroll right 8 columns
^ Scroll left 40 columns
^ Scroll right 40 columns
F1 Call the on-line help
F Prompt and search for a string (case is ignored)
H Toggle the "strip high bit" (/H) option
N Find next matching string (case is ignored). LIST saves the
search string, so you can LIST multiple files and search for the
same string by pressing N in each file.
P Print the file on LPT1
W Toggle the "line wrap" (/W) option
LIST is normally only useful for displaying ASCII text files; executable files
(.COM and .EXE) and many data files will be unreadable due to the presence of
non-alphanumeric characters.
See also TYPE.
EXAMPLES
Display the file MEMO.DOC:
list memo.doc
Display the output from a DIR command:
dir | list /s
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.44. LOADBTM - Change batch file mode ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
LOADBTM [on | off]
PURPOSE
Switch a batch file to or from .BTM mode.
COMMENTS
LOADBTM switches a batch file (.CMD or .BTM) to and from .BTM mode. If no
argument is given, it displays the current LOADBTM status.
.BTM mode runs from two to five times faster than normal batch mode, but should
not be used for self-modifying batch files.
LOADBTM can only be used within a .CMD or .BTM file.
See the 4OS2 / 4DOS manual for more information on .BTM files.
EXAMPLE
The following .CMD batch file fragment tests if 4OS2 is the current command
processor; if so, it switches to BTM mode:
Rem The initial default state is LOADBTM OFF
if "%@eval[2+2]" == "4" loadbtm on
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.45. LOG - Log commands to file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
LOG [/W [d:]pathname] [ON | OFF | "text"]
PURPOSE
Save a log of commands to a disk file.
COMMENTS
The default 4OS2 LOG filename is 4OS2LOG in the root directory of the boot
drive. The LOG status and log filename will be passed to secondary shells.
Entering LOG with no parameters displays the log status (ON or OFF). Entering
LOG with text writes the text to the log file, even if LOG is set OFF. This
allows you to enter headers in the log file.
You can specify a different filename with the /W(rite) option. /W
automatically enables command logging.
The commands are stored in the log file as they are executed, after performing
any alias or variable expansion.
The LOG file format looks like:
[mm/dd/yy hh:mm:ss] command.
EXAMPLES
Display the LOG status:
log
Enable command logging:
log on
Enable command logging to the file C:\LOG\LOGFILE and insert a header:
log /w c:\log\logfile
log "Started work on the database system"
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.46. MD or MKDIR - Create subdirectory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
MD [d:]pathname...
MKDIR [d:]pathname...
PURPOSE
Create subdirectories.
COMMENTS
To start at the root directory, start the pathname with a backslash (\). To
start at the parent directory, start the pathname with two periods (..). All
other pathnames start at the current directory.
See also RD.
EXAMPLE
Create a subdirectory called MYDIR in the root directory:
md \mydir
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.47. MEMORY - Display system memory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
MEMORY
PURPOSE
Display the system RAM status.
COMMENTS
MEMORY displays the size of the largest free block of RAM, the size of the OS/2
swap file, the total and free environment space, the total and free alias list
space, and the total command history space. Swap file size is displayed only
if the swap file is located in the \OS2\SYSTEM directory on the boot drive
(this is the default location).
OS/2 provides virtual memory and swaps applications to disk as needed. This
makes the size of the largest available free block of RAM as reported by MEMORY
only a general reflection of available memory resources, and not a precise
statement of the amount of RAM available for applications.
In 4OS2/32 only, MEMORY also displays the size of physical and resident RAM.
EXAMPLE
Display your RAM totals:
memory
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.48. MOVE - Move files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
MOVE [d:][path]filename... [d:][path][filename]
[/C /D /H /N /P /Q /R /S /U]
PURPOSE
Move files to other directories and drives.
COMMENTS
The MOVE command moves the specified file(s) to the last filename specified,
which is designated as the target. If the target already exists, it is deleted
when the file is moved. You cannot move a file to itself.
If there is more than one source file specification, the target must be a
directory, and the files are moved to the directory with their original
filenames. If the target is not a directory, MOVE will display an error
message and exit.
Use caution when using MOVE commands with commands like SELECT. If multiple
files are selected and the target is not a subdirectory, each file will be
moved in turn to the target, overwriting the previous file. The net result is
that all files but the last will be deleted. If SELECT is invoked using square
brackets instead of parentheses, the MOVE will be done in a single command and
MOVE will detect the error.
The MOVE options are:
/C Move only files that exist in the target directory, and where the
source file is newer than the target.
/D The target must be a directory. If it doesn't exist, you will be
prompted whether to create it.
/H Move all files, including hidden & system.
/N Do everything except actually move the file(s) (for testing what
the result of a MOVE would be).
/P Prompt for a Y or N response to confirm each move.
/Q Don't display filenames as they are moved.
/R Prompt for a Y or N response before overwriting an existing file.
/S Move an entire subdirectory tree to another location. The target
directories will be created if they don't exist (except for the
first target, which must already exist). MOVE will remove empty
subdirectories after the move.
/U Move only those files that either don't exist in the target
directory, or where the source file is newer than the target.
MOVE first attempts to rename the file(s). If that fails (the target is on a
different drive, or the target already exists), MOVE will copy the file(s) and
then delete the originals. If MOVE cannot delete the original (for example, a
read-only file), it will display an error message, but the target file is
still created.
See also COPY and REN.
EXAMPLES
Move some files to a different directory:
move *.wks *.txt c:\finance\myfiles
Move all the files in the current directory to A:\, prompting before
overwriting any existing files:
move /r *.* a:\
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.49. PATH - Set executable file search path ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
PATH [[d:]path][[;[d:]path]...]]
PATH ;
PURPOSE
Tells 4OS2 where to search for executable and batch files not in the current
directory.
COMMENTS
When searching for an external command (.COM, .EXE, .BTM, and .CMD, in that
order), 4OS2 searches the current directory first, then the directories you
specify in the PATH, in the order you list them. The directory names are
separated by semicolons (;).
In OS/2 2.0, 4OS2 will also search for MS-DOS .BAT files (following .CMD in the
search order), for compatibility with CMD.EXE.
If you enter PATH with no parameters, PATH displays the current search path.
If you enter PATH and a semicolon (;), PATH clears the search path and will
search only the current directory (this is the default at system startup).
If you specify an invalid directory, 4OS2 will skip that directory and continue
searching with the next directory in the path.
If you have a directory '.' in the PATH, 4OS2 will not search the current
directory first, but will wait to do so until it reaches that point in the
PATH.
Some applications also use the PATH variable to search for their files.
You can edit an existing path with the ESET command.
EXAMPLES
The following PATH command sets the search path to the following order: the
current directory, the root directory on drive C, the OS2 subdirectory on drive
C, and the UTIL subdirectory on drive C:
path c:\;c:\os2;c:\util
Display the current search path:
path
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.50. PAUSE - Wait for keystroke ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
PAUSE [message]
PURPOSE
Suspend alias or batch file execution.
COMMENTS
A PAUSE command will suspend execution, giving you the opportunity to perform
activities such as changing disks, turning on the printer, etc.
PAUSE waits for any key (except ^C or ^BREAK) to be pressed and then continues
executing. If a prompt message is specified, PAUSE will display the message
and wait for a keystroke. Otherwise, PAUSE will prompt:
Press a key when ready...
If you press a ^C or ^BREAK while PAUSE is waiting for a key, execution of an
alias will be terminated, and execution of a batch file will be suspended while
you are prompted whether to cancel the batch file.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment prompts the user before erasing files:
pause ^C aborts, any other key erases the .LST files:
erase *.lst
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.51. POPD - Restore saved directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
POPD [*]
PURPOSE
Change to the disk drive and directory at the top of the directory stack.
COMMENTS
POPD restores the disk and directory saved using PUSHD (most recent first).
The * option clears the directory stack, without changing the current drive and
directory.
Use the DIRS command to display the directory stack.
See also DIRS and PUSHD.
EXAMPLES
Save and change your disk drive with PUSHD, and then restore it:
pushd d:\database\test
popd
Clear the directory stack:
popd *
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.52. PROMPT - Change command prompt ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
PROMPT [text]
PURPOSE
Change the command line prompt.
COMMENTS
If you enter PROMPT with no parameters, PROMPT sets the prompt on drives A and
B to $n$g (display current disk only), and on all other drives to $p$g (display
current disk and directory).
The prompt text can contain special strings of the form $?, where ? is one of
the following:
b The | character
c The open parenthesis (
D Current date, in the format: Fri Dec 25, 1992
d Current date, in the format: Fri 12-25-92
e The ASCII ESC character (decimal 27)
f The close parenthesis )
g The > character
h BACKSPACE over the previous character
i The default OS/2 line 0 prompt
l The < character
n Default drive letter
P Current disk and directory (upper case)
p Current disk and directory (lower case)
q The = character
r The numeric exit code returned by the last external command
s The space character
t Current time, in the format hh:mm:ss
v OS/2 version number, in the format: 2.0
Xd: Current disk and directory (upper case) where d: is the drive
specification
xd: Current disk and directory (lower case) where d: is the drive
specification
z Display the current shell nesting level (you must be running 4OS2 as
the primary shell in swapping mode). The primary command processor
is 0.
$ The $ character
_ CR/LF (go to beginning of new line)
You can embed any environment variable, internal variable, or variable
function in your PROMPT string to view system status or resources. When
defining the PROMPT to include variables of this type, use two % signs before
the variable name, or enclose the prompt string in back-quotes [`] (if you
don't, the prompt display will show the value the variable had when the prompt
was defined, not the value at the moment the prompt is displayed). For
example, to show free RAM to the left of the standard $p$g prompt:
prompt [%%@dosmem[K]K] $p$g
or
prompt `[%@dosmem[K]K] $p$g`
See 4OS2 Internal Variables and 4OS2 Variable Functions for lists of the
available variables and functions.
See also ANSI.
EXAMPLE
Set the prompt to the current date and time:
prompt $d $t $g
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.53. PUSHD - Save & change directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
PUSHD [[d:]pathname]
PURPOSE
Save the current disk and directory.
COMMENTS
PUSHD saves the current directory on the directory stack, and if a pathname is
specified on the command line, changes the disk drive and directory. The
directory stack can hold up to 255 characters (about 10 to 20 entries). If you
exceed the directory stack size, the oldest directory is removed before adding
the current directory.
The saved directory is restored on a "last in, first out" basis by the POPD
command. The directory stack can be displayed with the DIRS command.
See also DIRS and POPD.
EXAMPLE
Save the current directory and change to C:\WORDP\MEMOS:
pushd c:\wordp\memos
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.54. QUIT - Quit batch file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
QUIT [value]
PURPOSE
Terminate the current batch file.
COMMENTS
You can QUIT at any point in a batch file, not just the end. If you QUIT a
batch file called from another batch file, you will be returned to the previous
file at the command following the original call. To end all batch file
processing, use CANCEL. If you specify a value, QUIT will set the ERRORLEVEL
to that value. The value also affects the internal variable %_?, and the
conditional command separators && and ||.
You can also use QUIT in an alias. If you QUIT an alias while inside a batch
file, QUIT will end both the alias and the batch file.
See also CANCEL.
EXAMPLE
Check to see if the user entered "quit" and exit if true:
input Enter your choice: %%option
if "%option" == "quit" quit
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.55. RD or RMDIR - Remove subdirectory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
RD [d:]path...
RMDIR [d:]path...
PURPOSE
Remove one or more directories.
COMMENTS
Before removing a subdirectory, you must delete all the files and
subdirectories (and their files) in that directory (including any hidden or
read-only files).
You can use wildcard characters in the directory names.
You cannot remove the root directory (\), the current directory (.), or the
parent directory (..).
See also MD.
EXAMPLE
Remove the subdirectory MEMOS from the directory WP on the current drive:
rmdir \wp\memos
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.56. REBOOT - Reboot system ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
REBOOT [/V]
PURPOSE
Reboot the system.
COMMENTS
The only option for REBOOT is:
/V Prompt for confirmation (Y or N) before rebooting.
REBOOT shuts down the file systems before rebooting the system, to allow the
disk caches to finish writing any cached data.
EXAMPLE
The following command prompts you to verify the reboot:
reboot /v
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.57. REM - Batch file comment ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
REM [comment]
PURPOSE
Put a comment in a batch file.
COMMENTS
If ECHO is ON, or the SETDOS /V option is set, REM will echo the comment.
Otherwise, REM will ignore it. If you don't want to echo the line, preface REM
with the @ character. (Setting SETDOS /V to 2 will echo all lines, regardless
of the echo state or @ symbols.) The current ECHO state is inherited by called
batch files.
Enter your comment following the REM, separated by a space or tab. Comments can
be up to 295 characters. Everything following a REM will be ignored, including
quote characters, the redirection symbols (|><) and the command separator
character. An alternate way to put a comment in a batch file is to begin the
line with a colon (:). The line will be interpreted as a label and ignored.
(Make sure you don't have any actual labels beginning with the same word!)
Batch file comments are useful for documenting the purpose for a batch file and
the procedures used.
EXAMPLE
Enter comments in a batch file:
rem This batch file provides a menu-based system
rem for accessing the rem word processing utilities.
rem Clear the screen and get a selection
cls
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.58. REN or RENAME - Rename files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
REN [/N /P /Q] [d:][path]filename... [d:][path]filename
RENAME [/N /P /Q] [d:][path]filename... [d:][path]filename
PURPOSE
Rename files or subdirectories.
COMMENTS
The last filename is the new name; preceding names are the files or directories
to be renamed. You can use wildcard characters in the filenames. The new
filename must not already exist. You cannot rename a subdirectory to a new
path!
The REN options are:
/N Do everything except actually rename the file(s) (for testing what
the result of a REN would be).
/P Confirm each rename (Y or N).
/Q Don't display filenames as they are renamed.
REN in CMD.EXE only allows a path to be specified with the first file name;
the path for the target is always the same as the source. 4OS2 allows you to
optionally select the target path, renaming the source file to a new directory
on the same disk drive. If you don't specify a path for the target, REN will
assume a "CMD.EXE compatible RENAME" and will rename the source file to the
new name without moving it to another directory.
If you want to rename to a different drive, use MOVE.
See also MOVE.
EXAMPLES
Rename the file MEMO.TXT to OFFICE.TXT:
ren memo.txt office.txt
Rename the directory \WORDPROC to \WP:
ren \wordproc \wp
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.59. RETURN - Return from batch subroutine ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
RETURN
PURPOSE
Return from a GOSUB (subroutine) call in a batch file.
COMMENTS
The RETURN command returns from a GOSUB call to the command following the
original GOSUB.
See also GOSUB.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment calls a subroutine that displays the current
directory:
echo Calling a subroutine
gosub subr1
echo Returned from the subroutine
quit
:subr1
dir /hw
return
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.60. SCREEN - Position cursor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
SCREEN row column [message]
PURPOSE
Position the cursor on the screen, and optionally display a message.
COMMENTS
The row and column numbering is zero-based, so on a standard 25 line by 80
column display, valid rows are 0 - 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
SCREEN does not change the default screen colors. To display text in specific
colors, use SCRPUT.
SCREEN checks for a valid row and column, and displays an error message if
either value is out of range.
See also ECHO, SCRPUT, TEXT, and VSCRPUT.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment displays a menu:
@echo off
cls
screen 3 10 Select a number from 1 to 4:
screen 6 20 1 - Word Processing
screen 7 20 2 - Spreadsheet
screen 8 20 3 - Telecommunications
screen 9 20 4 - Quit
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.61. SCRPUT - Display text in color ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
SCRPUT row column [bright] [blink] fg ON bg text
PURPOSE
Display text in color.
COMMENTS
The row and column numbering is zero-based, so on a standard 25 line by 80
column display, valid rows are 0 - 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
SCRPUT is similar to SCREEN, but allows you to specify the display colors, and
writes directly to the screen.
The parameters are:
row Start row
column Start column
fg Foreground character color
bg Background character color
text The text to display
Only the first three characters of the color name and attributes ("bright" and
"blink") are required.
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also ECHO, SCREEN, TEXT, and VSCRPUT.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment displays a menu in color:
@echo off & cls white on blue
scrput 3 10 bri white on blue Select a number from 1 to 4:
scrput 6 20 bri red on blue 1 - Word Processing
scrput 7 20 bri yellow on blue 2 - Spreadsheet
scrput 8 20 bri green on blue 3 - Telecommunications
scrput 9 20 bri magenta on blue 4 - Quit
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.62. SELECT - Select files for command ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
SELECT [/A[:-rhsda] /C /D /O:-deginrsu /Z] command ([path]filename)
PURPOSE
Execute a command on the specified files.
COMMENTS
SELECT allows you to select command line file arguments by marking the files
using a full-screen "point-and-shoot" display. SELECT substitutes the selected
files for the argument enclosed in parentheses, and executes the command for
each marked file. If you specify multiple arguments in the parentheses, SELECT
will display the matching files for the first argument, prompt you to mark the
files, execute the command for each marked file, and then continue the same
procedure with the next argument.
The SELECT options are:
/A Display only those files that have the specified attribute set.
Preceding the attribute character with a '-' will display those
files that DON'T have that attribute set. Attributes can also be
combined. The attributes are:
R Read only
H Hidden
S System
D Directory
A Archive
/C Display filenames in upper case.
/D Disable directory colorization.
/O Sort sequence, where ? can be any combination of the following:
- Reverse the sort order for the next option
a Sort by ASCII value rather than numeric value
d Sort by date and time (oldest first)
e Sort by extension
g Group subdirectories together
i Sort by the file description
n Sort by the filename (this is the default)
r Reverse the sort order for all options
s Sort by size
u Unsorted
/Z Display HPFS volumes in FAT format, including file descriptions and
truncating filenames to 11 characters.
If you append filenames with a ; (an "include list"), SELECT will display the
matching filenames in a single listing. Only the first filename in an include
list can have a path.
You can display the file and subdirectory names in color by setting the
COLORDIR variable. The format for COLORDIR is:
ext [...]:[bright][blink] fg [ON bg]; ...
where "ext" is the file extension, or one of the following file attributes:
DIRS - directory
RDONLY - read-only file
HIDDEN - hidden file
SYSTEM - system file
ARCHIVE - file modified since last backup
For example, to display the .COM and .EXE files in red, the .C and .ASM files
in bright cyan, and the read-only files in blinking green:
set colordir=com exe:red; c asm:bright cyan; rdonly:blink green
If you don't select a background color, SELECT will use the current screen
background color.
If you enclose the arguments in square brackets [ ] rather than parentheses,
SELECT will insert all of the arguments into the command line and only execute
the command once. You must be careful not to exceed the maximum line length
(1023 characters).
SELECT uses the cursor up, cursor down, PgUp, and PgDn keys to scroll through
the files matching the argument(s). Use the + key to select a file, and the -
key to unselect a file. The * key will reverse all of the current marks
(excluding subdirectories), and the / key will unmark everything. After
marking the files, press ENTER to execute the command. You can select a single
file by moving the scroll bar to the filename and pressing ENTER.
To cancel the SELECT command, type an Escape, ^C, or ^BREAK.
EXAMPLES
Select from the files in the current directory with the extension .COM, and
then from the files with the extension .EXE to copy to the root directory on
drive A:
select copy (*.com *.exe) a:\
Select and run an executable program (.COM or .EXE) from files in the C:\UTIL
directory (an "include list"):
select (c:\util\*.com;*.exe)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.63. SET - Display / set environment variables ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
SET [/P] [/R [d:][path]filename...] [variable=[value]]
PURPOSE
Display, create, modify, or delete environment variables.
COMMENTS
Entering SET with no variable or value displays the entire environment. If you
don't enter a value, SET will display the value of that variable. Otherwise,
the variable and value are placed in the environment. If the variable already
exists, its old contents are replaced by the new value. Variable names are
limited to a maximum of 80 characters, and the value to a maximum of 255
characters. The variable names are shifted to upper case before being stored
in the environment; the value is stored exactly as entered.
The SET options are:
/P Pause after displaying a page of environment entries. Press ^C to
quit, or any other key to display the next page.
/R Read environment variables from a file. This is much faster than
loading variables in a batch file. The file is in the same format
as the SET display, so SET /R can accept as input a file generated
by redirecting SET output.
For example, the following commands will save the environment variables to a
file, and then reload them from that file:
set > varlist
set /r varlist
You can load variables from multiple files by listing the filenames
individually after the /R.
You can add comments to a variable file by starting the comment line with a
colon (:).
You can remove multiple environment variables with the UNSET command, and edit
environment variables with the ESET command.
See also ESET and UNSET.
EXAMPLES
Display the current environment:
set
Add a variable to the environment:
set mine=c:\finance\myfiles
Remove a variable from the environment:
set mine=
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.64. SETDOS - Display / set configuration options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
SETDOS [/C? /E? /I+|-command /M? /P? /N? /R? /S?:? /U? /V?]
PURPOSE
Display or set 4OS2 configuration options.
COMMENTS
Most of these options can also be set in 4OS2.INI. The name of the
corresponding 4OS2.INI directive for each option, if any, is listed in square
brackets [ ] at the end of the description for the option. Use SETDOS rather
than 4OS2.INI when you need to make temporary changes.
The SETDOS options are:
/C The COMPOUND option sets the character used for separating multiple
commands on the same line. The default character is the ampersand
(&). You cannot use any of the redirection characters (|><), or
the whitespace characters (blank, tab, comma, semicolon, or equal)
as the command separator. [CommandSep]
/E The ESCAPE option sets the character used to suppress the normal
meaning of the following character. Any character following the
escape character will be passed unmodified to the command line.
The default escape character is the caret (^). You cannot use any
of the redirection characters (|><) or the whitespace characters
(blank, tab, comma, semicolon, or equal) as the escape character.
[EscapeChar]
/I The INTERNAL option allows you to disable or enable internal 4OS2
commands. To disable a command, precede the command name with a
minus (-). To reenable a command, precede it with a plus (+).
/M The MODE option controls the line editing mode. The default is
overstrike mode (/M0). If MODE is set to 1, the default is insert
mode. [EditMode]
/N The NOCLOBBER option controls output redirection. If NOCLOBBER is
set to 1, existing files may not be destroyed by output
redirection, and when appending with >>, the output file must
exist. NOCLOBBER can be overridden with the ! character. The
default value is 0. [NoClobber]
/P The PARAMETER option sets the character used to specify argument
lists in alias and variable expansion. The default character is $
(in 4DOS it is &). [ParameterChar]
/R The ROWS option determines the number of screen rows used by the
video display. Normally 4OS2 detects the screen size, but if you
have a non-standard display you may need to set it explicitly. The
ROWS option does not affect screen scrolling (that is controlled by
your video BIOS and OS/2); it is used only for LIST, SELECT, the
paged output options (i.e., TYPE /P), and error checking in the
screen output commands. [ScreenRows]
/S The SHAPE option sets the default cursor shape. The format is
/So:i, where "o" is the cursor size for overstrike mode, and "i"
the cursor size for insert mode. The size is entered as a
percentage of the total character cell size. The default values
are 10:100 (a thin underscore cursor for overstrike mode, and a
block cursor for insert mode). Because of the way video BIOSes
remap the cursor, you may not get a smooth progression in the
cursor size from 0 - 100%. To disable the cursor, use /S0:0.
[CursorOver, CursorIns]
/U The UPPER option controls the way filenames are displayed for the
internal commands (COPY, DIR, etc.). If UPPER is 1, filenames will
be displayed in upper case. The default is /U0 (filenames will be
displayed in lower case). [UpperCase]
/V The VERBOSE option controls command echoing in batch files. If
VERBOSE is set to 0, batch files will NOT be echoed unless ECHO is
set ON. The default is 1 (batch file commands WILL be echoed). If
VERBOSE is set to 2, all batch file lines will be echoed, including
those prefaced by a '@', and when ECHO is OFF. [BatchEcho]
EXAMPLES
Change the COMPOUND character to a ~ (tilde):
setdos /c~
Change MODE to insert, VERBOSE to off, and set NOCLOBBER on:
setdos /m1 /v0 /n1
Disable the internal LIST command:
setdos /i-list
Change the the PARAMETER character to an &, the COMPOUND character to a ^, and
the ESCAPE character to a (ctrl-X), so that 4OS2 syntax matches that used in
4DOS. Note the ^ escape characters used before the new parameter and compound
characters. These prevent the new characters from being given their old
meanings within the SETDOS command; for example, without them the & would be
taken as the end of the SETDOS command.
setdos /p^& /c^^ /e
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.65. SETLOCAL - Save environment ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
SETLOCAL
PURPOSE
Save a copy of the current disk drive, directory, aliases, and environment
variables.
COMMENTS
SETLOCAL is used in batch files to save the disk drive, directory, aliases, and
environment variables to a reserved block of memory. You can then change their
values, and later restore the original values with ENDLOCAL. You cannot use
SETLOCAL in an alias.
SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL are not nestable within the same batch file. However, you
can have multiple SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL pairs within a batch file, and nested
batch files can each have their own SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL. An ENDLOCAL will be
automatically performed at the end of a batch file.
Note that if you invoke a batch from another without using CALL, the first
batch file is implicitly terminated, and an automatic ENDLOCAL performed. The
second batch file will inherit the drive, directory, aliases, and environment
variables as they were prior to the SETLOCAL.
See also ENDLOCAL.
EXAMPLE
This batch file fragment saves the disk drive, directory, aliases, and
environment variables, changes the disk and directory, modifies some variables,
runs a program, and then restores the original values:
setlocal
cdd d:\test & set path=c:\;c:\os;c:\util & set lib=d:\lib
rem run some program here
endlocal
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.66. SHIFT - Shift batch arguments ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
SHIFT [n]
PURPOSE
Allow the use of more than 10 variables in a batch file.
COMMENT
SHIFT is provided for compatibility with CMD.EXE, which only supports 10
parameters (%0 through %9); 4OS2 supports 128 (%0 to %127), so you may not need
to use SHIFT for batch files running exclusively under 4OS2.
SHIFT moves each batch file parameter n positions (i.e., if n is 1, then %1
becomes %0, %2 becomes %1, etc.). The default value for n is 1. You can also
reverse a SHIFT by giving a negative value for n (i.e., if n is -1, the former
value for %0 is restored, %1 becomes %1, %1 becomes %2, etc.).
SHIFT also affects the %$ (command line tail) and %# (number of command
arguments) batch variables.
EXAMPLES
Create a batch file called TEST.BTM:
echo %1 %2 %3 %4
shift
echo %1 %2 %3 %4
shift 2
echo %1 %2 %3 %4
shift -1
echo %1 %2 %3 %4
Executing TEST.BTM with the arguments "zero one two three four five six"
produces the following results:
zero one two three
one two three four
three four five six
two three four five
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.67. START - Start new session ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
START ["title"] [/B[G] /C /DOS[=filename] /F[G] /FS /I /ICON=name
/INV /K /L /MAX /MIN /N /PGM /PM /POS=x,y,x1,y1 /WAIT /WIN]
[command ...]
PURPOSE
Start a program in a new OS/2 session.
COMMENTS
Entering START with no program name starts another 4OS2 session.
START determines the application type automatically and starts it in the
appropriate mode (full-screen, windowed, or PM). If the program is a DOS app
or Windows 3.x app, 4OS2 will either return an error message (in OS/2 1.3), or
start the program in a VDM (in OS/2 2.0).
You cannot start a batch file (.CMD or .BTM) with /PM; use /FS or /WIN.
The START options are:
"title" Specify the title to appear on the title bar and in the PM task
list. The title must be enclosed in double quotes and cannot
exceed 60 characters. If you don't specify a title, the
program name is used.
/B[G] Start as a background session.
/C Start the application in a 4OS2 session, and end the session
when the application finishes.
/DOS (OS/2 2.0 only) Start a foreground DOS session.
/DOS=filename[4OS2/32 only] Start a foreground DOS session with DOS
settings from the specified file. Each line in the file should
have a name, an equal sign (=), and a value. The names are
those shown in OS/2's standard DOS Settings dialog box, for
example:
DOS_BREAK=ON
DOS_LASTDRIVE=N
DOS_RMSIZE=640
Note that the valid settings can depend on what device drivers
you have loaded on your system, and DOS settings that are valid
on one system may not be valid on another. Some
experimentation may be required, as DOS settings often are not
documented by IBM or device driver manufacturers.
START will use the default DOS parameters for any options that
aren't specified in the settings file. You can add comments to
the file by beginning the line with a colon (:).
/F[G] Start the session in the foreground. The default is to start
in the background, unless you specify /DOS, /FS, /WIN, or /PM.
/FS Start a foreground full-screen session.
/I Inherit the environment specified by the SET statements in
CONFIG.SYS, rather than the current 4OS2 environment.
/ICON Use the specified icon file.
/INV Start the session as invisible (no icon; only accessible
through the Task Manager or Window List).
/K Start the application in a 4OS2 session, and keep the session
when the application finishes. This is the default for all
non-PM applications.
/L Start 4OS2 with local alias and history lists.
/MAX Start the session maximized.
/MIN Start the session minimized.
/N Start the program directly without using 4OS2.EXE. The command
cannot be a batch file or internal command. This is the
default value for PM applications.
/PGM The next argument is the program name, not a session name.
/PM Start a foreground PM application.
/POS Specify the start position (x,y), and the window size (x1,y1)
in pels (the lower left corner is 0,0).
/WAIT Start the session as a child session, and wait for it to end
before continuing.
/WIN Start a foreground windowed session.
If you specify a session type incompatible with the program (for example, a
/PM with a .CMD file), START will start the session in the default mode for
that program.
See also DETACH
EXAMPLES
Start a full-screen 4OS2 session:
start /fs
Start 4DOS in a windowed DOS session (OS/2 2.0 only):
start /dos /win 4DOS.COM
(The "4DOS.COM" in this example is optional. 4OS2 will start 4DOS
automatically if no program name is given in a START /DOS command and 4DOS is
your default DOS command processor.)
Start CHKDSK in a minimized background window session, without using 4OS2, and
with the title "Analyzing the disk":
start "Analyzing the disk" /bg /min /win /n chkdsk
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.68. TEE - Tee pipe fitting ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
TEE [/A] [d:][path]filename...
PURPOSE
Copy standard input to standard output, and save a copy in the specified
file(s).
COMMENTS
The only option for TEE is:
/A Append output to the file(s) rather than overwriting it.
If you are typing at the keyboard, enter a ^Z to terminate the input.
TEE is often used to save the intermediate output of a pipe.
See also Y.
EXAMPLE
Search the file DOC for any lines containing the string "486", make a copy of
the matching lines in 4.DAT, and write them to the output file 486.DAT:
find "486" doc | tee 4.dat | sort > 486.dat
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.69. TEXT - Display text block ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
TEXT
.
.
.
ENDTEXT
PURPOSE
Display a block of text in a batch file.
COMMENTS
The TEXT command is useful for displaying menus or multiple-line messages. TEXT
will display subsequent lines in the text until terminated by ENDTEXT. Both
TEXT and ENDTEXT must be entered as the only command on that line.
You can change screen colors by inserting ANSI escape sequences into the text
block.
If the output of TEXT is redirected, all lines in the text block will be
written to the specified output file, and not to the screen.
See also ECHO, SCREEN, SCRPUT, and VSCRPUT.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment displays a simple menu:
@echo off & cls & screen 2 0
text
Enter one of the following:
1 - Spreadsheet
2 - Word Processing
3 - DOS Utilities
Enter your selection:
endtext
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.70. TIME - Set/Display time ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
TIME [hh:mm:ss]
PURPOSE
Display or set the current system time.
COMMENTS
If you don't enter any parameters, TIME will display the current system time
and prompt you for a new time. Press ENTER if you don't wish to change the
time, otherwise enter the new time.
The parameters for the TIME command are:
hh Hour (0 - 23)
mm Minute (0 - 59)
ss Second (0 - 59)
TIME defaults to 24-hour format; you can optionally enter the time in 12-hour
format by appending an "am" or "pm".
Whenever you create or modify a file, the system time is recorded in the
directory entry.
See also DATE, and TIMER.
EXAMPLES
Enter the time (9:30 am):
time 9:30
To be prompted for the time:
time
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.71. TIMER - System stopwatch ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
TIMER [/1 /2 /3 /S] [ON]
PURPOSE
System stopwatch.
COMMENTS
The TIMER command turns an internal stopwatch on and off. The first time you
run TIMER, the stopwatch starts. When you run TIMER again, the stopwatch stops
and the elapsed time is displayed. There are three timers available (1, 2, and
3), so you can time multiple overlapping events. The default timer is #1.
The options for TIMER are:
ON Force the timer to restart
/1 Use timer #1
/2 Use timer #2
/3 Use timer #3
/S Display split time without stopping the timer
TIMER is particularly useful for timing events in batch files.
The smallest interval TIMER can measure 0.03 seconds; the largest interval is
23:59:59.99.
See also TIME.
EXAMPLES
Start or stop the timer:
timer
Display a split time:
timer /s
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.72. TYPE - Display files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
TYPE [/L /P] [d:][pathname]filename...
PURPOSE
Display the contents of the specified file(s).
COMMENTS
The TYPE command displays a file. Press ^S to suspend the display, and any
character key to continue the display.
The TYPE options are:
/L Print line numbers preceding each line of text.
/P Pause after each page. Press ^C to quit, or any other key to
display the next page.
TYPE is normally only useful for displaying ASCII text files; executable files
(.COM and .EXE) and many data files will be unreadable due to the presence of
non-alphanumeric characters.
You will probably find LIST to be more useful for displaying files.
See also LIST.
EXAMPLE
Display the files MEMO1 and MEMO2, pausing at the end of each page:
type /p memo1 memo2
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.73. UNALIAS - Remove aliases ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
UNALIAS [/Q] alias...
UNALIAS *
PURPOSE
Remove aliases from the alias list.
COMMENTS
UNALIAS also accepts the wildcard character * to delete all aliases.
The only option for UNALIAS is:
/Q Don't display an error message if the alias doesn't exist.
See also ALIAS and ESET.
EXAMPLES
Remove the alias DDIR:
unalias ddir
Remove the aliases DDIR and ZAP:
unalias ddir zap
Remove all the aliases:
unalias *
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.74. UNSET - Remove environment variables ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
UNSET [/Q] name...
UNSET *
PURPOSE
Remove variables from the environment.
COMMENTS
UNSET also accepts the wildcard character * to delete all environment
variables. Use caution with UNSET *; many programs are dependent on
environment variables. (4OS2 relies on PATH and COMSPEC.)
The only option for UNSET is:
/Q Don't display an error message if the environment variable doesn't
exist.
UNSET is often used in conjunction with SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL in order to clear
the environment of variables that may cause problems for some applications.
See also ESET and SET.
EXAMPLES
Remove the variable CMDLINE:
unset cmdline
Remove the variables CMDLINE and PATH:
unset cmdline path
Remove all the environment variables:
unset *
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.75. VER - Display 4OS2 and OS/2 versions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
VER [/R]
PURPOSE
Display the current 4OS2 and OS/2 versions.
COMMENTS
The 4OS2 and OS/2 versions consist of a one digit major version number, a
period, and a one or two digit minor version number.
The only option for VER is:
/R Display the OS/2 and 4OS2 revision levels.
EXAMPLE
Get the current version of 4OS2 and OS/2:
ver
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.76. VERIFY - Set disk write verification ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
VERIFY [on | off]
PURPOSE
Display, enable, or disable disk write verification.
COMMENTS
When VERIFY is ON, the system will verify that no error occurred during each
disk write operation. It does NOT compare the data actually written to the
disk. VERIFY will remain ON until you set it OFF.
Entering VERIFY with no parameters will display the current VERIFY state.
Verification will slow your disk write operations slightly.
At system startup, VERIFY is OFF.
EXAMPLES
Check the current verify status:
verify
Enable disk write verification:
verify on
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.77. VOL - Display volume labels ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
VOL [d:] ...
PURPOSE
Display the disk volume label(s).
COMMENTS
If you don't enter a drive name, VOL displays the disk label and the volume
serial number for the current drive.
If the disk doesn't have a volume name, VOL will report it as "unlabeled."
Volume labels can be created, changed or deleted with the LABEL command.
EXAMPLE
Display the disk labels for drives A and B:
vol a: b:
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.78. VSCRPUT - Write vertical text ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
VSCRPUT row column [bright] [blink] fg ON bg text
PURPOSE
Display text in color in a vertical column.
COMMENTS
The row and column numbering is zero-based, so on a standard 25 row by 80
column display, valid rows are 0 - 24 and valid columns are 0 - 79.
VSCRPUT works like SCRPUT, but writes the text vertically.
The parameters are:
row Start row
column Start column
fg Foreground character color
bg Background character color
text The text to display
Only the first three characters of the color name and attributes ("bright" and
"blink") are required.
The available colors are:
Black Blue Green Red
Magenta Cyan Yellow White
See also ECHO, SCREEN, SCRPUT, and TEXT.
EXAMPLE
The following batch file fragment displays an X and Y axis and labels them:
drawhline 20 10 40 1 bright white on blue
drawvline 2 10 18 1 bright white on blue
scrput 21 20 bright red on blue X axis
vcrput 8 9 bright red on blue Y axis
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.79. WINDOW - Set the window title and state ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
WINDOW ["title"] MINimize | MAXimize | REStore
PURPOSE
Change the title and / or state of the current 4OS2 window.
COMMENTS
WINDOW works only in windowed OS/2 sessions.
The minimize, maximize, and restore parameters may be abbreviated by their
first three letters.
The window options (other than "title") are equivalent to the similarly named
options on the system menu (the menu which appears when you click on the box in
the top left corner of a window).
The parameters are:
"title" Change the window title. Setting the title at the command
prompt changes it permanently (or until WINDOW "title" is
used to change it again); setting it in a batch file
changes it only for the duration of the batch file.
MINimize Minimize the 4OS2 window.
MAXimize Maximize the 4OS2 window.
REStore Restore the 4OS2 window to its "normal" size (the size
before it was minimized or maximized).
EXAMPLE
This batch file fragment minimizes the current window, performs some
operations, then restores the window to its original size (not maximized or
minimized):
window minimize
dir
memory
window restore
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.80. Y - Y pipe fitting ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SYNTAX (Internal 4OS2)
Y [d:][path]filename...
PURPOSE
Copy standard input to standard output, and then copy the specified file(s) to
standard output.
COMMENTS
Standard input from the console is terminated by a ^Z.
See also TEE.
EXAMPLE
Get text from standard input, append the files MEMO1 and MEMO2 to it, and send
the output to MEMOS:
y memo1 memo2 > memos
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. 4OS2 Reference tables ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This section includes an ASCII character table, an ANSI command reference, and
a list of the keycodes used by INKEY.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. ASCII table ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Control Characters
Dec Hex Chr Nam Ctl Γöé Dec Hex Chr Nam Ctl
--- --- --- --- --- Γöé --- --- --- --- ---
000 00 NUL ^@ Γöé 016 10 DLE ^P
001 01 SOH ^A Γöé 017 11 DC1 ^Q
002 02 STX ^B Γöé 018 12 DC2 ^R
003 03 ETX ^C Γöé 019 13 DC3 ^S
004 04 EOT ^D Γöé 020 14 DC4 ^T
005 05 ENQ ^E Γöé 021 15 NAK ^U
006 06 ACK ^F Γöé 022 16 SYN ^V
007 07 BEL ^G Γöé 023 17 ETB ^W
008 08 BS ^H Γöé 024 18 CAN ^X
009 09 HT ^I Γöé 025 19 EM ^Y
010 0A LF ^J Γöé 026 1A SUB ^Z
011 0B VT ^K Γöé 027 1B ESC ^[
012 0C FF ^L Γöé 028 1C FS ^\
013 0D CR ^M Γöé 029 1D GS ^]
014 0E SO ^N Γöé 030 1E RS ^^
015 0F SI ^O Γöé 031 1F US ^_
Punctuation, Digits, Upper Case
Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr
--- --- --- Γöé --- --- --- Γöé --- --- --- Γöé --- --- ---
032 20 Γöé 048 30 0 Γöé 064 40 @ Γöé 080 50 P
033 21 ! Γöé 049 31 1 Γöé 065 41 A Γöé 081 51 Q
034 22 " Γöé 050 32 2 Γöé 066 42 B Γöé 082 52 R
035 23 # Γöé 051 33 3 Γöé 067 43 C Γöé 083 53 S
036 24 $ Γöé 052 34 4 Γöé 068 44 D Γöé 084 54 T
037 25 % Γöé 053 35 5 Γöé 069 45 E Γöé 085 55 U
038 26 & Γöé 054 36 6 Γöé 070 46 F Γöé 086 56 V
039 27 ' Γöé 055 37 7 Γöé 071 47 G Γöé 087 57 W
040 28 ( Γöé 056 38 8 Γöé 072 48 H Γöé 088 58 X
041 29 ) Γöé 057 39 9 Γöé 073 49 I Γöé 089 59 Y
042 2A * Γöé 058 3A : Γöé 074 4A J Γöé 090 5A Z
043 2B + Γöé 059 3B ; Γöé 075 4B K Γöé 091 5B [
044 2C , Γöé 060 3C < Γöé 076 4C L Γöé 092 5C \
045 2D - Γöé 061 3D = Γöé 077 4D M Γöé 093 5D ]
046 2E . Γöé 062 3E > Γöé 078 4E N Γöé 094 5E ^
047 2F / Γöé 063 3F ? Γöé 079 4F O Γöé 095 5F _
Lower Case, Miscellaneous
Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr
--- --- --- Γöé --- --- ---
096 60 ` Γöé 112 70 p
097 61 a Γöé 113 71 q
098 62 b Γöé 114 72 r
099 63 c Γöé 115 73 s
100 64 d Γöé 116 74 t
101 65 e Γöé 117 75 u
102 66 f Γöé 118 76 v
103 67 g Γöé 119 77 w
104 68 h Γöé 120 78 x
105 69 i Γöé 121 79 y
106 6A j Γöé 122 7A z
107 6B k Γöé 123 7B {
108 6C l Γöé 124 7C |
109 6D m Γöé 125 7D }
110 6E n Γöé 126 7E ~
111 6F o Γöé 127 7F
International; Graphics Characters 1
Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr
--- --- --- Γöé --- --- --- Γöé --- --- --- Γöé --- --- ---
128 80 А │ 144 90 Р │ 160 A0 а │ 176 B0 ░
129 81 Б │ 145 91 С │ 161 A1 б │ 177 B1 ▒
130 82 В │ 146 92 Т │ 162 A2 в │ 178 B2 ▓
131 83 Г │ 147 93 У │ 163 A3 г │ 179 B3 │
132 84 Д │ 148 94 Ф │ 164 A4 д │ 180 B4 ┤
133 85 Е │ 149 95 Х │ 165 A5 е │ 181 B5 ╡
134 86 Ж │ 150 96 Ц │ 166 A6 ж │ 182 B6 ╢
135 87 З │ 151 97 Ч │ 167 A7 з │ 183 B7 ╖
136 88 И │ 152 98 Ш │ 168 A8 и │ 184 B8 ╕
137 89 Й │ 153 99 Щ │ 169 A9 й │ 185 B9 ╣
138 8A К │ 154 9A Ъ │ 170 AA к │ 186 BA ║
139 8B Л │ 155 9B Ы │ 171 AB л │ 187 BB ╗
140 8C М │ 156 9C Ь │ 172 AC м │ 188 BC ╝
141 8D Н │ 157 9D Э │ 173 AD н │ 189 BD ╜
142 8E О │ 158 9E Ю │ 174 AE о │ 190 BE ╛
143 8F П │ 159 9F Я │ 175 AF п │ 191 BF ┐
Graphics Characters 2; Symbols
Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr Γöé Dec Hex Chr
--- --- --- Γöé --- --- --- Γöé --- --- --- Γöé --- --- ---
192 C0 └ │ 208 D0 ╨ │ 224 E0 р │ 240 F0 Ё
193 C1 ┴ │ 209 D1 ╤ │ 225 E1 с │ 241 F1 ё
194 C2 ┬ │ 210 D2 ╥ │ 226 E2 т │ 242 F2 Є
195 C3 ├ │ 211 D3 ╙ │ 227 E3 у │ 243 F3 є
196 C4 ─ │ 212 D4 ╘ │ 228 E4 ф │ 244 F4 Ї
197 C5 ┼ │ 213 D5 ╒ │ 229 E5 х │ 245 F5 ї
198 C6 ╞ │ 214 D6 ╓ │ 230 E6 ц │ 246 F6 Ў
199 C7 ╟ │ 215 D7 ╫ │ 231 E7 ч │ 247 F7 ў
200 C8 ╚ │ 216 D8 ╪ │ 232 E8 ш │ 248 F8 °
201 C9 ╔ │ 217 D9 ┘ │ 233 E9 щ │ 249 F9 ∙
202 CA ╩ │ 218 DA ┌ │ 234 EA ъ │ 250 FA ·
203 CB ╦ │ 219 DB █ │ 235 EB ы │ 251 FB √
204 CC ╠ │ 220 DC ▄ │ 236 EC ь │ 252 FC №
205 CD ═ │ 221 DD ▌ │ 237 ED э │ 253 FD ¤
206 CE ╬ │ 222 DE ▐ │ 238 EE ю │ 254 FE ■
207 CF ╧ │ 223 DF ▀ │ 239 EF я │ 255 FF
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.2. ANSI reference ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This section is a quick-reference to commonly-used ANSI commands. This
information is generally applicable to OS/2 and the DOS ANSI drivers.
An ANSI command string consists of three parts:
ESC[ The ASCII character ESC, followed by a left bracket. These
two characters must be present in all ANSI strings.
parameters Optional parameters for the command. If there are multiple
parameters they are separated by semicolons (;).
cmd A single-letter command. The case of the letter IS
meaningful.
For example, to position the cursor to row 7, column 12 the ANSI command is:
ESC[7;12H
To transmit ANSI commands to the screen with 4OS2, you should use the ECHO
command. The ESC character can be generated by inserting it into the string
directly (if you are putting the string in a batch file and your editor will
insert such a character), or by using the internal "escape" character (the
4OS2 default escape character is the caret ^) followed by a lower-case "e".
You can also include ANSI commands in your prompt, using $e to transmit the
ESC character. You can NOT use PROMPT to transmit ANSI commands to the screen
from a batch file.
Commands
ESC[rowsA Cursor up
ESC[rowsB Cursor down
ESC[colsC Cursor right
ESC[colsD Cursor left
ESC[row;colH Set cursor position (top left is row 1, column 1)
ESC[2J Clear screen
ESC[K Clear from cursor to end of line
ESC[row;colf Set cursor position, same as "H" command
ESC[=modeh Set display mode; see table of mode values below
ESC[=model Set display mode; see table of mode values below
ESC[attr;attr;...m Set display attributes; see table of attribute
values below
ESC[key;string;...p Substitute "string" for the specified key; see key
substitutions section below
ESC[s Save cursor position (may not be nested)
ESC[u Restore cursor position after a save
Display Attributes
0 All attributes off (normal white on black)
1 High intensity (bold)
2 Normal intensity
4 Underline (usually effective only on monochrome displays)
5 Blinking
7 Reverse Video
8 Invisible
30-37 Set the foreground color:
30=Black 31=Red 32=Green 33=Yellow
34=Blue 35=Magenta 36=Cyan 37=White
40-47 Set the background color, same values as above but substitute 40
for 30 etc.
Settings are cumulative, so (for example) to set a bright red foreground,
first set all attributes off, then set red, then bold:
echo ^e[0;31;1m
Display Modes
0 Text 40x25 monochrome
1 Text 40x25 color
2 Text 80x25 monochrome
3 Text 80x25 color
4 Graphics 320x200 4-color
5 Graphics 320x200 4-color
6 Graphics 640x200 2-color
7 (cursor wrap kludge)
Mode 7 is an unfortunate kludge; Setting mode 7 with an "h" command tells ANSI
to wrap text to the next line when it passes the end of a line; setting mode 7
with an "l" (lower-case L) command tells ANSI not to wrap text. For all other
modes the "h" and "l" commands are equivalent.
Key Substitutions
The key substitutions ("p") command causes ANSI to substitute the text in
"string" when the specified key is pressed. The key code can be a single
character in quotes, a numeric ASCII value, or an extended code for a non
ASCII key (e.g. function or cursor keys) in the form 0;n, where n is the scan
code for the key.
The string to be substituted can be a single character or character string in
quotes, a numeric ASCII value, or an extended key code.
For a list of numeric ASCII values, see ASCII.
To clear a key substitution, "substitute" the original key for itself (see
examples).
Examples
Clear the display attributes, then set the display to bright cyan on blue, and
clear the screen:
echo ^e[0;44;36;1m^e[2J
Substitute "dir"<cr> for F4:
echo ^e[0;62;"dir";13p
Undo the above substitution:
echo ^e[0;62;0;62p
Set up a prompt that saves the cursor position, displays the 4OS2 shell level,
date, and time on the top line in bright white on magenta, and then restores
the cursor position and sets the color to bright cyan on blue, and displays
the standard prompt:
prompt $e[s$e[1;1f$e[0;45;37;1m$e[K($z) $d $t$e[u$e[0;44;36;1m$p$g
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3. Extended Key Codes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Key Names
The format for a key name in a 4OS2 command or directive is: [Prefix-]Keyname.
The prefix and key name must be separated by a dash. The prefix can be left
out, or it can be any of the following:
Alt followed by A - Z, 0 - 9, F1 - F12, or Bksp
Ctrl followed by A - Z, F1 - F12, Bksp, Enter,
Left, Right, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Ins, or Del
Shift followed by F1 - F12 or Tab
The possible key names are:
A - Z Esc Up PgUp
0 - 9 Bksp Down PgDn
F1 - F12 Tab Left Home
Ins Enter Right End
Del
The following table lists the common extended key codes used by INKEY:
F1 @59 Alt-F1 @104 Ctrl-F1 @94 Shift-F1 @84
F2 @60 Alt-F2 @105 Ctrl-F2 @95 Shift-F2 @85
F3 @61 Alt-F3 @106 Ctrl-F3 @96 Shift-F3 @86
F4 @62 Alt-F4 @107 Ctrl-F4 @97 Shift-F4 @87
F5 @63 Alt-F5 @108 Ctrl-F5 @98 Shift-F5 @88
F6 @64 Alt-F6 @109 Ctrl-F6 @99 Shift-F6 @89
F7 @65 Alt-F7 @110 Ctrl-F7 @100 Shift-F7 @90
F8 @66 Alt-F8 @111 Ctrl-F8 @101 Shift-F8 @91
F9 @67 Alt-F9 @112 Ctrl-F9 @102 Shift-F9 @92
F10 @68 Alt-F10 @113 Ctrl-F10 @103 Shift-F10 @93
Home @71 Up @72 PgUp @73
Left @75 Right @77
End @79 Down @80 PgDn @81
Ins @82 Del @83
Ctrl-Home @119 Ctrl-PgUp @132
Ctrl-Left @115 Ctrl-Right @116
Ctrl-End @117 Ctrl-PgDn @118
Ctrl-A 1 Ctrl-N 14
Ctrl-B 2 Ctrl-O 15
Ctrl-C 3 Ctrl-P 16
Ctrl-D 4 Ctrl-Q 17
Ctrl-E 5 Ctrl-R 18
Ctrl-F 6 Ctrl-S 19
Ctrl-G 7 Ctrl-T 20
Ctrl-H 8 Ctrl-U 21
Ctrl-I 9 Ctrl-V 22
Ctrl-J 10 Ctrl-W 23
Ctrl-K 11 Ctrl-X 24
Ctrl-L 12 Ctrl-Y 25
Ctrl-M 13 Ctrl-Z 26
Alt-A @30 Alt-N @49 Alt-1 @120
Alt-B @48 Alt-O @24 Alt-2 @121
Alt-C @46 Alt-P @25 Alt-3 @122
Alt-D @32 Alt-Q @16 Alt-4 @123
Alt-E @18 Alt-R @19 Alt-5 @124
Alt-F @33 Alt-S @31 Alt-6 @125
Alt-G @34 Alt-T @20 Alt-7 @126
Alt-H @35 Alt-U @22 Alt-8 @127
Alt-I @23 Alt-V @47 Alt-9 @128
Alt-J @36 Alt-W @17 Alt-0 @129
Alt-K @37 Alt-X @45
Alt-L @38 Alt-Y @21
Alt-M @50 Alt-Z @44