OS/2 Shareware BBS: 8 Other/08-Other.zip/pmcmd.zip/MANUAL.INF

OS/2 Help File | 1994-09-28 | 22KB | 538 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This is the user manual for Lignum PMCMD - a PM interface to OS/2 2.x command
shells. This program is shareware. You can freely distribute this program, and
you can use it for the three week testing time before deciding if you want to
purchase a license. The instructions how to purchase Lignum PMCMD v1.1 are
given in this manual and in the file ORDER.FRM which is distributed with the
program.

Lignum PMCMD is not itself a command shell, actually. Lignum PMCMD, hereafter
PMCMD, can be best described as an asyncronous "front-end" to  command shells.
By this we mean that the input and output (and errors) of command shells are
directed through PMCMD instead the normal "command window".

PMCMD offers, amongst other features, good ways to use mouse to copy and cut
and paste and to manipulate files and execute commands - and it allows most of
those things to be done by using pop-up menus which can be got by clicking the
right button of the mouse (this is assuming that your mouse is set as a right
handed one). The reason why PMCMD has been written is that the lack of the
features provided by PMCMD was a great source of despair and frustration when
we used the "OS/2 Window" to do our command-line oriented work.

In other words, Lignum PMCMD is to help us command-line users to get out as
much as possible from our OS/2 2.x machines by providing several ways to make
things easier.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Using Lignum PMCMD ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this section we will briefly outline how PMCMD is used.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.1. Installing and starting PMCMD ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In order to get PMCMD working right you have to have the following files in
your package:

o ADDICON.CMD - a program to add icons to other programs.

o EXERC2.CMD - a necessary .CMD-file.

o EXERC3.CMD - a necessary .CMD-file.

o INSTPMCM.CMD - the installation program.

o LIGPMCMD.EXE - the actual program.

o LIGPMCMD.DLL - a necessary library.

o LIGPMCMD.ICO - the icon for the program.

o LIGNUMDL.DLL - a necessary library.

o LIGNUMEX.EXE - a necessary executable.

o VPMBAS20.DLL - a necessary library.

o VPMRES.DLL - a necessary library.

o VPMVM20.DLL - a necessary library.

o MANUAL.INF - the manual in .INF form.

o README.1ST - important information.

o ORDER.FRM - the order form.

o LD.CMD - an example .CMD file.

The installation of the program is done by unpacking all the files to the
target directory and typing INSTPMCM. The installation program creates an
object to the desktop and the program can be started by simply double-clicking
that object.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.2. Parameters to LIGPMCMD.EXE ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The actual command-line interface program requires at least one parameter and
accepts a few other command line parameters. Only one parameter is obligatory.
With the other parameters it is possible to tune the behavior of LIGPMCMD.EXE
according to your taste and your machine. Note that the best way to give those
parameters to PMCMD is to use the parameters-field of the Lignum PMCMD v1.1
-object created to the desktop.

The possible parameters are:

o -D<drive:directory>

o -W<milliseconds>

o -B<characters>

o -E<editor name>

o -N

o -R

o -C<color number>

o -G<color number>

o -F<font number>

of which only -D must be given.

The parameter -D is used to define the PMCMD home directory. It will be set by
the installation program and it can be


-Dc:\ligpmcmd
and note that there is no space between the drive letter and the parameter
speficier.

Parameters -W and -B are used to tune PMCMD according to your system. The value
for the parameter -W is used to set the obligatory idle-time during which PMCMD
allows other programs to take over. A smaller value may help if you have a slow
machine. The value for the parameter -B defines the size of the character block
read from the command shell and is a number. These parameters are optional.

If you do want to change the default editor used by PMCMD, then you can do it
by using the parameter -E. If you want to use Emacs as your default editor,
then use the parameter -Eemacsclient.exe. This parameter is optional.

It is possible to tune the characters and colors according to your personal
taste. The parameter -C sets the color of the background, and the default color
is number -47 (as a command line setting -C-47). The parameter -G sets the
color of the fonts. The colors resulting from other values may vary depending
on your driver. The parameter -F sets the default font. The default font is
number 16, but you can change the font by name and then find out the
corresponding number. These parameters are optional. The font changing dialog
provided by the system does not have program wide effects and does not show if
you chose the "show options" from the control window.

Although PMCMD is principally designed to be used as an interface to CMD.EXE,
it is possible to use PMCMD as an interface to other command shells. The
default behavior of PMCMD is to try to remove echoed lines, and this function
may not be required if you use alternative shells. By giving the parameter -N
you can tell PMCMD not to try to remove echoed characters. Note that
alternative shells must be started from CMD.EXE. This parameter is optional.

A new feature in this version is its ability to remember the positions and
sizes of the windows. The information is saved in a file which is named
WINPOS.DAT and that file is located in the PMCMD home directory. By giving the
option -R it is possible to turn this feature off. If a window gets lost or
something similar happens, that can be survived by closing PMCMD, deleting
WINPOS.DAT file and restarting PMCMD.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.3. The control window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The first window to open after you have double-clicked the Lignum PMCMD v1.1
object is the control window. That window is titled as "Lignum PMCMD v1.1". The
window provides three push buttons: New, Manage, and Quit. By pressing New you
can create a new session which acts as the actual interface to CMD.EXE. Manage
lets you to do several management functions to open sessions, and Quit closes
PMCMD. There are keyboard shortcuts to the same functions.

Manage allows you to clear the buffer of a session (or all sessions), change
focus to a session, or close a session (or all sessions). By pressing the
Manage button you will get a specific list-window from which you can choose the
session to be manipulated. By pressing the right mouse-botton you can get a
pop-up menu which allows you to choose a function. All the management functions
are available from keyboard and pull-down menus also.

The pull-down manus provide a variety of functions, most of which can be easily
find out by experimenting with their behavior. In the Options menu there are
choices for setting the fonts and colors used. From the Color choice it is
possible to choose the target of the color by selecting backgroung or
foreground at first and then by selecting the color. From the Color by number
it is possible to set colors not listed in the Color menu. The same is true for
the font choices also.

Starting PMCMD takes a much longer time than starting a new session. Hence it
might be a good idea not to exit the program if that is not required.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4. Session windows ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

A session window is the actual interface. You can have at most four sessions
open at once. It is not possible to have more than one PMCMD running
simultaneously.

A session window is actually an editor window which reads characters from a
command shell and sends lines to that shell. Session window sends complete
lines, not single characters. The line is sent to the command processor after
you press Enter or Ctrl-Enter.

There is no limit to the size of the text buffer (or actually there is because
PM is not very good when handling very big buffers). The buffer is cleared only
when clearing is requested by the user.

Session windows handle some special characters. Please look at the file
BACKSP.CMD and try it.

The Home-key moves the cursor to the position to which you are supposed to type
input. Similarly the prompt tries to resist if it is being deleted by the
backspace command (it may be unsuccessful because PMCMD may get confused about
the input events). The Esc-character deletes the typed line.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4.1. File menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The file menu allows you to open new sessions, open files for editing, save the
contents of the command buffer and print the contents of the buffer.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4.2. Edit menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The edit menu allows you to perform many editing tasks. Almost all those tasks
can be performed by using keyboard short-cuts. Some of those tasks (and more)
are present in the pup-up menu associated with the text buffer.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4.3. Command menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The command menu implements the most interesting features. The available
choices are:

o Do It lets you to paint text from the session window and execute it as a
  command.

o Detach process lets you to detach a process from the current directory. The
  program name and its parameters are prompted before starting the process.

o Start process lets you to start a process from the current directory. The
  program name and its parameters are prompted before starting the process.

o PM command practically equals START /C <your command line>. PM command
  command is given instead of pressing Enter. This is especially useful if you
  want to start PM programs or programs which require the VIO-interface to be
  available.

o Repeat repeats the last typed command line and sends it to the command
  processor. It does not do PM command again if the last command was started by
  that.

o Expand filename lets you to expand the last typed word. This allows all legal
  (those understood by CMD.EXE) combinations of drive and directory
  specifications. Note that if the filename expands to a directory, then it
  will have \ as its last character. If you want to cd to that directory, then
  you have to remove that \ before pressing Enter. If the filename cannot be
  expanded (matching names do not exist or it is not unambiguous), you will see
  a very short display of *-characters at the top of the window. The filename
  must be separated by spaces from characters which do not belong to the
  filename.

o Break execution allows you to throw away the current command processor
  associated with the session and start a new one. This command tries to close
  the console window associated with the current session. The closing may take
  a quite long time because the PM message queue seems to hang. Answer yes to
  the questions about closing the console window. If focus does not return to
  the session sindow, then try pressing Enter a couple of times. In the case of
  stuck programs and Break execution not helping, you have to kill the command
  processor by selecting the Console -window associated with the session and
  kill that window if it is possible.

o Get console window brings the console window associated with the session to
  the top and moves the focus to it. The recommended way to get rid of the
  console window is to press the Alt-key down, release it and then press the
  N-key.

o Cycle filenames can be used to cycle through all possible completions of a
  filename. The completion buffer is created during the exacution of the Expand
  filename command.

o Complete command works like F1 in a OS/2 Window.

o Clear all clears the text buffer of the current session.

There are obvious keyboard shortcuts to all other commands but Clear all.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4.4. Focus menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The focus menu allows you to change focus from one session to another or to the
control window. There are keyboard shortcuts for all possibilities.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.4.5. Pop-up menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The pop-up menu appears when you click the right button of your mouse (if your
mouse settings are default). In the pop-up menu there are several alternatives:

o Open It allows you to open the file associated with the text you have painted
  by using mouse. This is useful if you want to read a specific file after
  issuing the dir-command. The file is supposed to be in the current directory.

o Copy, Cut, and Paste are the normal editing functions.

o Copy+Append is a shortcut for painting some text, copying it, moving the
  cursor to the end of the buffer and pasting the text. This is very convenient
  when giving paramers to various commands.

o Do It, Start It, and Detach It enable you to perform those tasks for the text
  you have painted.

o Again lets you to perform a search again.

o Edit includes an editing submenu.

We recommand that you try how the pop-up menu works in order to find the best
ways to use it.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2.5. The editor window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The default editor is a very simple one. It allows only the basic operations to
be performed. In order to use a better editor use the -E parameter to specify
the editor.

The default editor is, however, very fast to start because it is a part of
PMCMD. Hence it can be sometimes much more convenient than bigger editors which
are slower to start.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. What will not work with PMCMD? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Due to the nature of PMCMD, there are several things to be considered when
determining the suitability of PMCMD for a specific task.

Principally every program which does write and read to/from standard streams
will work. This includes most of the command line programs, both commercial and
free.

All software writers out there, please make sure that your programs have an
option to make it to work with standard streams only.

There are programs which do not work with PMCMD, mostly because they suppose
direct VIO input/output. Those programs include:

o IBM's TCP/IP telnet and ftp do not work because they do not like redirecting
  at all. We think that this is not a good feature, those programs should work
  with redirecting.

o Procs.exe and some other free or shareware programs require VIO input. Some
  of them, like procs.exe, have an option to set that requirement off.

o More and similar paging commands do not work. There is no need to use those,
  though. You can just type the file or open it.

o In addition to the VIO-interface related things, remember that the prompt of
  the command shell you use must be the OS/2 2.x default prompt. In other case
  several PMCMD commands or features will not work.

This PMCMD version should work with the so-called "Performance Beta" or "Warp".


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Problems and other nice things to know ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here are some practical hints how to survive some of the most common problems.

A program which requires a VIO-interface can be survived. By using the Get
console window it is possible to get hold of the VIO-interface associated with
the session. In order to get rid of the console window the easiest way is to
press the Alt-key down, release it and then press the N-key.

Here is a list of some other problems and useful hints.

o If PMCMD cannot expand the filename, make sure that your prompt is the OS/2
  2.x default prompt. Note that the character in paths must be \.

o If PMCMD complains about a runtime error, you should try to use PMCMD as
  nothing had happened and close and restart PMCMD if the error appears again
  or PMCMD does not work.

o If PMCMD does not work, make sure that you have a license or that there has
  been less than 21 days after the installation.

o The errors do not always appear in their right place. This is because PMCMD
  may get confused about the actual order in which it should show output and
  errors.

o Programs like yaos which do require specific characters to be given in order
  to enable it to expand a filename or something will not work. This is because
  PMCMD sends output only after you have pressed Enter. In other words, PMCMD
  sends complete lines. This is not, however, a problem in most cases.

o DIR may not work right in every case. We do not know the reason for this
  problem, but we have included a command file named LD.CMD which you can use
  instead of the normal DIR command.

o The default PMCMD editor starts so fast that it might be a good idea to have
  it as the dafault and start bigger editors only when their functionality is
  required.

o There are some commands which cause additional echo of the input line. This
  may not look very good, but it does not make anything to work wrong. We have
  not yet been able to fix this problem.

o Sometimes the Sessions list window which pops up when you press the manage
  button from the control window uses wrong fonts. Most of the fonts work OK,
  but some do not. We do not yet know why.

o Use the font selection facility provided by the options menu of the  control
  window. There are some problems with the other method.

o If a new session seems not to start normally, it may be caused by a hanging
  program. You can survive that by closing the possibly hanging console window
  and then reopening that session window.

o The OS/2 command line command CLS does not work.

o Sometimes PMCMD may hang. In order to survive that, please use a PD program
  to get the process number of ligpmcmd.exe and kill it by using another PD
  program. You should be able to get such programs from the same place from
  which you got PMCMD. We have not yet been able to determine the reason for
  that hanging.

There may be other problems also, but we think that the above ones are the most
common and should enable you to find possible workarounds for other ones.

If you find other problems, please send us email or surface mail.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Liability and other legal stuff ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

THIS SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO
PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR
IMPLIED.  BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH
THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS
OFFERED.  GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE
THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT.  THE USER MUST
ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM.  ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL
BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. How to get a license? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

You can get a license by paying 20 USD to Lignum Oy.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1. Ordering information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

You can purchase a license by using one of the following alternatives. Those
possibilities are:

 1. Buy a license by using the CompuServe shareware registrations service. If
    you do not find Lignum PMCMD v1.1 from the compuserve shareware
    registration list, please look for PMCMD v1.0 because the price is the
    same. Please note that you have to send an email message with the filled
    order form even if you have paid for the license by using the CompuServe
    service. Just write "Paid through CompuServe" to the comments field. You
    can, also, ask a friend of yours to pay and ask him to send the email
    message with your name as the owner of the license.

 2. Send us cash.

 3. Send us a cheque which we can cash in a Finnish bank.

 4. Pay directly to our Finnish bank account. If you can do this, please send
    us email/mail and ask our bank account number.

We would prefer the CIS alternative or you paying directly to our account, but
paying directly to our bank account may not be easy for people living outside
Finland.

Filling out your name, address, and phone number (and your fax number if you
have one) is a requirement. The installation identification number is required
in order to enable us to send the license number to you.

Send the license purchase form to us by

o Paying the license through CompuServe and sending email to 100343,1736 at
  CompuServe.

o Sending a filled copy of the registration form with the money or a cheque
  (remember to check that we can cash your cheque if you send one) to the
  address:
   Lignum Oy
   SepДnkatu 43 A 4
   80100 Joensuu
   Finland
Please register the letter if you decide to send cash.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2. Upgrades and license numbers ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 If you have bought a license, then your license will be OK for future
versions.  By using the migrate license -option from the Options -menu (from
the control window) you can migrate your license number to new installations
after a system crash.  After purchasing a license you can get help from us by
using email. We will answer to surface mail also, but that is a much slower
approach.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Platforms and hardware requirements ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This program exists only under OS/2 2.x operating system. Because PMCMD heavily
utilizes OS/2 2.x specific features, it would not be an easy task to port PMCMD
to any other system.

If you have networking installed on your machines (especially TCP/IP), it is
recommended that you should have more than 8 MB of RAM in order to run PMCMD
and other programs easily. We recommend 16 MB RAM in any case, but without
networking you should be able to use PMCMD and other programs in 8 MB.

If your machine is a slow one (a 16MHz 386SX, for example) you should not try
to open and close sessions very fast because PMCMD may get confused and be
unable to connect to command shells properly.

The scrolling speed of sessions windows depends mainly on the used graphics
card and its drivers.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Features added after v1.0 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This version, v1.1, includes several new features added after the v1.0
release.  Bug corrections and improvements in version 1.1:

 1. Home brings the prompt to the place to which the user is supposed to type
    text, not to the beginning of the line.

 2. The prompt (or other text) after which users are supposed to type text
    tries to resist the backspace key. For some reason this does not work
    before the program has been used and restarted several times.

 3. Pressing Enter or Ctrl-Enter in the middle of the line does not insert CrLf
    to that place. Cursor is moved to the end of the line and CrLf is inserted
    after that.

 4. Esc deletes the characters typed by the user. Now works like in OS/2
    Window.

 5. F4 works like F1 in OS/2 Window.

 6. F2 allows the user to cycle through the possible completions of a filename.

 7. There is a keyboard shortcut which brings the VIO-window of the session to
    the top and moves the focus to that window.

 8. The color selection option has been improved. Now it is possible to change
    the color of text and backgroung. Colors can be identified by number or by
    name.

 9. The manual has changed, but it is not yet good.