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BLKOS2.DOC FOR BETA VERSION 0.7 May 17, 1993. KUTEK/OMNIBUS SYSTEMS PO BOX 261 FORKED RIVER, NJ 08731-0261 This material is copyright(c) C>BLACK,B.STONE,KUTEK 1992,1993 all rights reserved-. THIS IS A PRELIMINARY BETA VERSION .It MAY NOT BE BUNDLED OR SOLD. YOU MAY UPLOAD THIS PACKAGE TO OTHER CONTACT POINTS AS LONG AS NO FEE IS CHARGED FOR ACCESS to the files outside of normal subscriptions to those contact points. You may modify this code for your own use but YOU MAY NOT UPLOAD modifications as part of this package.ONLY the authors are authorized to distribute modifications to this package. REGISTRATION FOR INDIVIDUALS IN NON-ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT: The registration for BLKOS2 is a one time fee of $3.00(three) US for this and all future versions which is to help defray the cost of obtaining OS2 development tools so that we can offer some of the best priced os2 SW around.We have VERY radical ideas concerning SW pricing which we KNOW users will like. CONTACT KUTEK FOR USE IN ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS. FEATURES: ---REXX INTERPRET function with command line editing and history ---expanded history functions ---expanded command line editing functions ---file name completion ---run any command or program on selectable groups of objects ---global and local object searches(across entire system) and operations ---manipulate the WPS directly from the command line to open filelist views of folders, start objects or open settings views. ---attribute selector allows locating files on basis of date ,file attribute, time or size in a very flexible way ---full alias facility that gives hot key like access to your entire system.Both named and key aliases are supported. ---use all constucts of os2 batch language, os2 commands, external commands or functions and all rexx constucts within a single rexx alias. ---recursive directory delete, quick dir change and dir stack functions. ---manage files using a text based search mode that simplfies finding what you want anywhere on your system. ADDITIONAL FEATURES COMING VERY SOON the object configurator is an integral part of BLKOS2 that allows the easy configuration of os2, win or dos sessions. It can immediately create or modify objects without the necessity of writing rexx wps scripts and it creates a database of your objects so that they can be recreated at any time on any os2 equipped system.The presence of BLKOS2 on the target system is NOT required for the object recreation process. The OBJECT CONFIGURATOR will soon be integrated into blkos2 and released when tested.There is no additional fee for registered individual users of BLKOS2. It is also our plan to integrate the capabilities gained through Dave Boll's RXU10 rexx utility package into blkos2(esp making it multithreaded). ****READ THE UTILITY .CMD FILES THEMSELVES FOR INFO ON THE UTILITIES***** d.cmd dd.cmd and in.cmd BACK UP YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE USING THIS PROGRAM!!! WE WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DATA LOSS OR OTHER DAMAGE TO YOUR SYSTEM- THOUGH OUR TESTING DEMONSTRATES THAT IT IS SAFE,USE AT YOUR OWN RISK !!!!!! the pgm runs as a shell on top of the command line ,intercepts keystrokes and performs specified actions . The prgram has a full alias facility which can use OS2 , os2 batch(CMD), or REXX commands freely in combination in your aliases.There are no limits on the size of an alias.BLKOS2 also allows various flexible search and run functions as well as control over the WPS from the command line. You need to have some knowledge of rexx in order to use blkos2 most effectively-refer to the online rexx docs. INSTALLATION: You must have REXX installed on your os2 system. Blackstone requires the rexx updates in any of the following forms: rexx20.zip, the service pak, or os2 2.1 The rexxutil functions will be automatically loaded if they are not active. Modify the pather variable(in CAPS) at the top of the BLKOS2.CMD file to specify the locaton of blackstone's auxiliary work files .keeping all of the blackstone files in one dir is a good idea. Place blkos2's directory in your dpath and path statements. Create an os2 session object(windowed or FS,FS is faster,windowed is more flexible) and place the following in the parameter line: /k blkos2.cmd. use 25 line video mode.You'll have to live with our ansi choices for the time being-make sure ansi is ON.The menus are intentionally minimalist. You can also change the runworkplace = CMD.exe to runworkplace=<path>BLKOS2.cmd and it will load automatically in all of your OS2 sessions as the shell. add the following line to your STARTUP.CMD: del pather\history\* /n replacing pather with it's setting and enclosing the above in single quotes if your STARTUP.CMD is a REXX file. It is advisable to use a session hotkey facility such as QWIKSWCH to switch easily between windows. Modify the limtt var for the desired number of lines in the command history buffer and set the logon parameter to 1 if you want the log to be active as default-you can switch it on or off at any time from the keyboard.see below.Note that only those commands or input issued directly through BLKOS2 appear in the log. SETTING THE PROMPT COLOR: in the configure block the prpt variable sets the prompt color.Use standard ansi foreground color designators ie:31 -> red,32 -> green,33 -> yellow, 34-> blu,35->mag,36->cyan,37->white SETTING THE SKIP VARIABLE: slow drives like cdroms can really bog down a global search and by setting the skip variable in the configure block (at the top of the blkos2.cmd file )you can exclude such drives from global searches. the skip variable is a space delimited string of drive specs in single quotes EXAMPLE to exclude drives c x and w set SKIP='C: X: W:' quotes,colons,spaces, and capitalization REQUIRED SETTING HOW BLKOS2 DOES IT'S SEARCHES IN THE SELECTOR: BLKOS2 is set up to search the entirety of the current drive if no drive or directory is entered in a select term(see below). If you prefer that it only search the current directory and below thus giving a smaller pick list display then set TOTDRV=0 in the configure block at the top of the BLKOS2.CMD file.HITTING ALT-S AT ANY TIME FROM THE MAIN PROMPT FLIPS THE SEARCH MODE PLACING THE BLKOS2 WINDOW: Keep the"collapsed" window as a strip sized window at the bottom- you can immediatly go to maximized by hitting ALT and ENTER in sequence.This will allow you to easily see a WPS file list that BLKOS2 brings up-they do not come to the front of the os2 session window. Fixate the window size by left clicking on the title bar once while holding down shift. EXITING BLKOS2 WITHOUT CLOSING THE OS2 SESSION: Blkos2 can be exited at any time by typing exit on the command line and invoking the rexx interpret function(see below.). The session will remain open at the OS2 default command processor prompt. SPECIAL KEYS FROM THE MAIN PROMPT: ALT-S: switches the search mode(entire drive or current dir and below) F1: brings up help F2- STARTS ALIAS CREATION MODE -just follow the on screen instructions. aliases can be saved to a permanent MASTER.ALS file found in blackstones dir and they will automatiaclly be reloaded when it is restarted.Aliases can be of any length and any rexx or cmd contruct can be used in them. external OS2 functions are used via a call statement within quotes as in rexx.You do not use the comment to specify that you are using rexx, just type in your instructions. The parameter variables are x.2 x.3.x.4.....x.n.These refer to parameters on the command line when the alias is issued as in %X parameters except that you can have an arbitrary number of them without using shift.NOTE: YOU START WITH x.2 FOR THE FIRST PARAMETER,x.3 FOR THE SECOND etc-THE x's MUST BE LOWER CASE. If you are having trouble running an OS2 instruction,try putting it in quotes(not it's variables) or using the call statement(in quotes) Note: reusing an alias key erases the original. You can create key or character aliases.The alias creation process will call epm as it's editor.key aliases only have a number as an identifier so you need to input the key combination into the comment so that you'll remember it. Follow the instructions after pressing F2 to complete alias creation/activation. F3-- reloads the permanent aliases from the master.als file. some sample aliases are included.Sometimes the comments are not displayed correctly when using the F4 function,exit the F4 function by hitting ESC and then hit press F3 a couple of times. F4--displays a selector list for the active aliases.use as a reference of what is currently active or start an alias directly by highlighting it and pressing enter. curently,aliases that require parameters must be started from the command line . F5--brings the line constructed with the selector to the command line for further editing before execution.Press F5 BEFORE enter or CTRL-F1 when using the selector from the main prompt.This is useful for adding eg a file name to a long dir path found with the selector. F6--rename an alias in the master file-type the alias key and then hit F6; follow on screen instructions F7--remove an alias from memory-input the alias key and then hit F7 F8--remove an alias from the master file -input the alias key and hit F8 NOTE: for key aliases you input the hexx number you see on the alias list in the first column in the above 3 functions. F9--places a command from the history box onto the command line for editing F10-places whatever is on the command line into the history buffer. useful if you forget to do something and don't want to retype what has already been entered. F11--char string search in file list. after placing a search string on the CL hit F11 before hitting enter.This searches through a drive's filelist for any occurrences of the search string and displays in a pick list. This is different than the normal file search in that it is doing a TEXT search of the FILELIST for ANY occurences ANYWHERE of the specified pattern.The 2 styles of search should allow you to find almost anything quickly and easily.When used without the attribute function this applies to all search terms on the command line. To specify its use only for certain terms see attribute select below. F12- starts a utility called keyhex which gives the hex representation for the next key pressed after F12.single byte chars are 2 digits and double are 4. observe the key alias funtion to see how they can be used.Also refer to the master select statement in the program body. THE INTERPRET REXX FUNCTION: ALT - ~(the key above tab and to the left of one) hit this after typing in a short one line rexx pgm to have it immedately interpreted and run. this is like the rexxtry command but better as you have history and line editing available.separate statements that would appear on different lines in a normal rexx pgm by semicolons.A do loop must be a complete do loop on a single line-it cannot span multiple line entries Example: type s=sysfiletree('c:\',stem,bs);do i=1 to stem.0;say stem.i;end and hit alt - ~. the rexx file listing for the c drive will display. Use ALT-~ to try out rexx commands or to verify syntax , usage, or function. THE SELECTOR FUNCTION: The selector function allows you to operate on groups of files with a single command, or to operate on a file or dir whose name is only partially specified or whose location is unknown. you do not issue a separate command in blkos2 for filename completion or the select function.Type your command and preface any item with a [ for the select to be activated. If you know that a variable refers to a dir then put a [ at the end of it and only dirs will be searched for/displayed for that variable/pattern. example type copy [c:co [d:ab[ to select and complete and copy c:\low\higher\higherstill\conflagration.exe to the directory d:\top\lower\lowerstill\stilllower\absolutezero chose from the displayed list. all commands and aliases can use this feature. SELECTOR LIST CONTROLS: left arrow- tag entry and move scroll bar downward right arrow-untag highlighted entry up arrow-move scrollbar up down arrow-scrollbar down page up-previous page page down-next page CTRL-up arrow: tags all entries CTRL-down arrow-untags all entries CTRL left arrow:scroll file list left CTRL-right arrow:scroll file list right HOME AND END-go to the beginning or end of the displayed select list respectively ALT left arrow- flips tags a selected file listing will appear green. THE WHERE FUNCTION: a [ BEFORE a filespec alone on the command linel is the WHERE function or SELECT TO RUN- function -highlight an entry and hit enter if an exe and that pgm will run, or use it to locate a file to route to the command line a [ AFTER a filespec will search only for Directories matching the pattern EXAMPLE [f:cm displays all files in current dir and below starting with the letters "cm". example: [*.sys displays all SYS files example:[ba[ searches for directories beginning with letters "ba" example:[ba*.cmd searches for all CMD files beginning with the letters ba Searches are not case sensitive. THE GLOBAL SYSTEM WIDE WHERE FUNCTION: the [[ (two unshifted brackets-> key to right of p) before a term or filespec is the ALL DRIVE GLOBAL SEARCH/SELECT this will search all of your available hard drives for files matching the input pattern,as above and is used in the same way as the [ example:[[*.exe lists all executables on your entire system. DO NOT LEAVE A SPACE BETWEEN THE BRACKETS AND THE FILE SPEC IN THE ABOVE. A line at the command prompt can have any number of terms to complete or select BUT ONLY ONE TERM CAN HAVE MULTIPLE SELECTIONS. EXAMPLE: copy [*.cmd [[xcv[ select EITHER multiple .cmds OR multiple dirs starting with letters xcv BUT NOT BOTH.In the first case multiple files are copied to one dir; in the second case one file is copied to multiple dirs. One line can have ANY number of filename complete searches as long as only one term has multiple selections. GENERATING A "LIST OF FILES" FILE FOR INPUT TO A COMMAND THAT USES SUCH: some programs accept a file name for a file that contains a list of file specs upon which that program should operate.When available generating such a list is desirable rather than using select to run the pgm or command multiple times as the setup time for the pgm/command is not repeatedly incurred.Any term on which you can use select can be made to generate a unique file list for that term and the filename and path is automatically passed to the command. The following is the command format for one such pgm-PKZIP from the pkzip docs: PKZIP Usage: PKZIP (-b[path]) (options) zipfile (@list) (files..) note the @list term. let us assume we want to select files from the c:\ directory to be placed in a zip file named Zippy.Note that the special character @ is required to specify to pkzip which term is the listfile name.This is the BLKOS2 command line specification. <command/pgm name> ]<special character >[<search pattern EXAMPLE: pkzip -r -p -ex zippy ]@[c:* choose from the select list and then press enter and the command or pgm will be activated with the proper input list. NOTE:even if the pgm does not require a special character the ] is necessary to activate the list generate function. Multiple terms on the command line can have unique lists. example doodad ]&[*.exe /c /d ]%[com is entirely legal, a list is generated for each selected terms and passed to the command. The list generator is usable at any time select alone or in combination with attribute select(see below) is appropriate. NOTE: the file lists generated are not deleted to avoid waiting while the delete occurs. This is relatively unimporatnt as the lists are usually small in size and the file names are used repeatedly so they are always being cyled at each use. In any case all of the list files are erased at boot.You can also wite an alias to delete these if they bother you.When blkos2 is made multithreaded using the RXU10 function package this issue will disappear as the delete will be done in the background. RECURSIVE SELECT WITHOUT ENTERING THE MENU: when you know that you want to operate on all files(or dirs) in a particular place then you can bypass the selector menu by using the following yet still have all those files or directories processed. To process all files files matching the file spec in the specified dirs and below append [[ to the end of the file spec.To process all dirs matching the spec and below append \[[ to the end of the dir spec. EXAMPLE: we want to erase all *.exe files from c:\os2 and all sub dirs immediately without the pick list. type del [c:os2\*.exe[[ EXAMPLE: we want to view the dir list for all dirs in c:\os2.NOTE:we can do this directly with dir /s but this illustrates how \[[ functions and is used with pgms that don't have /s switches ie that don't recurse into sub dirs. dir [:os2\[[ AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT LONG FILE NAMES: Blkos2 will handle long file names in all operations except as a search critria. That is, -> copy ["i want a bug fixer" is ILLEGAL. This is relatively unimportant for searching since generally a fragment of the first word will find the object.Once a long file name is found by the selector it is wrapped in quotes and correctly passed to the command line. Long file names in quotes on the cl that are not part of a select term are treated as a single word and are always correctly passed to a command. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE to use the ? WILDCARD IN PLACE OF SPACES AND THE SELECT FUNCTION CAN THEN BE USED IN THE NORMAL WAY. thus copy [i?want?a?bug? is LEGAL->note: no quotes. THE ATTRIBUTE FUNCTIONS: TERMINOLOGY: ATTRIBUTE as used herein refers to any of these file characteristics:date, time; file attributes(archive, readonly, hidden, directory, system) and the file size. The ATTRIBUTE SELECTOR is a filter function that lets you easily specify selection criteria of the above attributes in the select list. Files which match the selection criteria are displayed in the select list. It is like a bandpass filter where the upper and lower limits are independently settable , and there is additionally an equality function and a band reject function. FORMAT OF THE DISPLAYED INFO: when in the attribute mode the time date field of the select list is in sorting format as follows 93/04/01/13/10 which corresponds to year(last 2 digits)/month/day/hour(24hour format)/minute. FORMAT OF THE INPUT INFO: DATES are input as 930401 (6digits) corresponding in this case to April 1,1993 TIMES are input as 2110 (4 digits) coressponding to 9:10 PM or 0820 corresponding to 8:20 AM SIZES are 7 digit decimal numbers FILE ATTRIBUTES:the letters a,d,h,r,s for archive,directory,hidden, readonly,system respectively. SELECTING WITH ATTRIBUTE SPECIFICATION: type your command line using any select terms as usual.Instead of hitting Enter, press CTRL and F1 simultaneously. The following menu appears: SEARCH PATTERN co ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║Date (low): (high): ║ ║Time (low): (high): ║ ║Size (low): (high): ║ ║──────────────────────────────────────-║ ║Attributes: ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ IMMEDIATELY hit tab to bring the cursor to the first date field or shift tab to start at the attributes field KEY CONTROL: TAB:moves forward through the menu Shift-TAB: moves backwards through the menu delete, <-, ->, backdelete are all active. You activate a search criteria by placing an entry in the appropriate field using the above described date time size attribute formats. 1)entries in the low fields activate the greater/later than function. 2)entries in the high field activate the less/earlier than function. 3)entries in both fields activate the range("bandpass") function. 4)an entry in the low field followed by an '=' activates the equal function. 5)Entries in both high and low fields with the low field entry suffixed by an uncapitalized 'i' activates the 'EVERYTHING BUT'("band reject"){i for inverse} function. 6)activate the "strict earlier than" function by inputting a low date suffixed by an 'e' and a low time. see below for definition of this function. 7)activate the "strict later than " function by inputting a low date suffixed by an 'l'(ell) and a low date. see below. 8)File attributes:attributes are input as a single string of letters such as "adh". searches on this criteria come in 2 varieties.Inputting any , singly or in combination, of a,d,h,r,s activates a search for files with at least that attribute/attribute combination.suffixing the string with a '/m' initiates the MATCH attribute function-ONLY files with EXACTLY those attributes are displayed. EXAMPLE: we want to find all .exe files on drive C created between 01/01/93 and 04/01/93, and between the hours of 3PM and 9PM having a size of less than 500k and having only the readonly file attribute(match). Start this search by typing [c:*.exe and hit CTRL-F1.Hit tab and fill in the input list as follows: SEARCH PATTERN *.exe <<-- note: this line only displays the search pattern-no input here. ╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║Date (low):930101 (high):930401 ║ ║Time (low):1500 (high):2100 ║ ║Size (low): (high):500000 ║ ║───────────────────────────────────────║ ║Attributes: r/m ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝ press enter to start the search and the select list will appear in a few seconds. A NOTE ABOUT THE ENDPOINTS:in the range select the relations are greater than or equal to, and less than or equal to.The 'everything but' function is a simple logical inversion of those functions and thus the endpoints are not included(ie the = is lost). IMPORTANT NOTE: specifying a low date and a low time alone does NOT give you a pure "later than" function such as all files created after 4pm ,04/10/93, Rather, it gives all files created on this and all subsequent days which were made later than the hour 4PM on each of those days.Use the strict later/earlier than functions to perform this type of search.(see above) INITIATING TERM BY TERM F11 TYPE SEARCHES: as mentioned above, if you press f11 without entering the attribute function then ALL selects on the Command line use the F11 style search. To choose F11 searches for specific terms enter the attribute selector after composing the command line(press CTRL-F1 instead of Enter),press f11 for terms you want the f11 search for while at the attribute menu for that term and hit enter-do this also if you enter attribute criteria. NOTE: you can always move on from the attribute input list menu by presing enter even if no fields have been filled-this will then result in a normal non attribute selector function, with f11 type search if it was pressed for that term. WORKPLACE SHELL FROM THE COMMAND LINE: ALT-ENTER-- from either selector or command line will open a WPS folder filelist( FULL PATH ON CL IS NECESSARY ) or start a PGM OBJECT. to use from cl-input path of folder or pgm (including extension for pgms to start) and hit ALT ENTER.THE window will not come to the foreground if an exe-program objects are started minimized. -chose from os2 tasklist.Note there is nothing we can do about this-it is a characteristic of the rexxutil function used to start the object. Append a SPACE and an s (uncapitalized) TO THE DIR/FILESPEC to open the settings view(the book) for the selected objects.You can open as many file lists or setting views at one time as you desire. EXAMPLE: f:\os s hit ALT- ENTER opens os2 settings view EXAMPLE: [*.exe select and hit alt- enter starts the chosen pgm(s) EXAMPLE: [c:os and select opens the wps filelist for C:\OS2 you can also press alt enter first and then enter alone after selecting for the same effect.Multiple selections to start pgms or open folders can be made from the selector pick list.Tag all items you want opened and hit alt-enter. EXAMPLE: <objid> and alt enter starts object objid.NOTE: THE OBJECT ID MUST BE SURROUNDED BY BRACKETS AS SHOWN;OBJECT IDs ARE ALSO CASE SENSITIVE. EXAMPLE: <WP_START> and alt enter opens the startup folder EXAMPLE <WP_START> s and alt enter opens the startup folder settings view. CURSOR FUNCTIONS generally standard except that SHIFT-TAB is a true back tab of 8 spaces-tabs do not insert spaces. generally the cursor movement keys are congruent with the OS2 command line cursor movement/ editing keys and the 4OS2 key functions with minor diffrerences in the ctrl key usage as below. ALT-INS switches the type mode until the next time alt ins is issued. Used to go from insert to overstrike or vice versa CURSOR MOVEMENT AND EDITING KEYS: ctrl ->: move right one word ctrl <-: move left one word ctrl home: letters on CL from beginning to cursor position are deleted ctrl end: letters on command line from cursor position to end are deleted alt <-: deletes previous word -4os2 style alt->: deletes next word -4os2 style all other keys(arrows,home, end, page up,page down,delete,backspace) are standard HISTORY FUNCTIONS: The computer will beep when the latest entry in the history list is brought to the command line-this way you know that you have cycled through the entire history list. PAGE UP at the command line brings up the history list.The list is set for 1000 LINES.Actually you can set it to ANY size you want. scroll and select as in the selector.NOTE: in general all windows in BLKOS2 will function the same way and use the same keys. UP ARROW from the command line recalls the history directly to the command line without displaying the history list box.. placing a letter or two on the CL and calling history will list only those commands that match the typed pattern;This works for both the UP ARROW and PAGE UP keys.The commands are listed in LIFO order. ESC key exits most functions. **************MISC FUNCTION KEYS:****************** QUICKLY SWITCHING DIRECTORIES AND THE DIRECTORY "STACK": Actually it's not a stack so much as a history list of dirs. To go immediately from directory A to directory B and have dir A placed in the directory history for immediate recall type B's full path on the command line and hit CTRL and-DOWN ARROW) simultaneously.You will immediately be in B and dir A will be in the DIR HISTORY list.To recall a directory(ie move back to it) you hit CTRL and UP ARROW ONCE.To see subsequent directories in the history list you continue hitting the up arrow alone until you reach the dir you want and then hit enter to go there, or escape to abort. NOTE: you MUST hit ALT- right arrow to get a dir into the history list -they are never placed there automatically. ENTER-- initiates action on file/pgm higlighted in select list or starts a highlighted exe or initiates a command line action. CTRL-ENTER-allows a statement on the CL to be interpreted as an os2 command rather than an alias of the same name(key) EXAMPLE: dir on cl followed by ctrl-enter gives an os2 dir listing rather than eg activating an alias named 'dir'. CTRL-TAB ---QUICK FILENAME COMPLETION: hitting CTRL-TAB after a filespec fragment is typed will present in sequence complete filespec matches to the pattern immediately to the left of the cursor FROM THE CURRENT directory.Useful anywhere on the command line. example: type dir o and hit CTRL- TAB to generate the line DIR C:\OS2. form of the filespec is the same as for selector, no [ are used. CTRL-F2: switches the log to file function on or off.When set on, all commands from all blkos2 sessions are logged to a file in the pather\history directory named blk.log. The entries are in the folllowing format: <session id number> <time> <date> <command> to find out what the session id is for a session type(while in that session) say idd and hit ALT -`(the rexx interpret function). The number displayed is the session id You can set the logging function default on or off by setting the variable logon in the configure block at the top of the blkos2.cmd file to 1 or 0 respectively.It is recommended that you set this on and activate os2 undelete so that you can recover anything you might accidentally lose or until you are comfortable with the safety of BLKOS2. GENERAL INFO: file specs are in the form X:filename.ext- wildcards allowed.names are completed by the select function .Generallythe first \ is not used in blkos2 functions. example: copy [c:os2\mdos\vcdrom.sys see the sample master.als for parameter usage note parameter index is +1 above what a % parm would be eg %1 would be x.2 so the first parameter used is x.2 NOTE:ALIASES IN THIS SHELL CANNOT BE CALLED BY OTHER PROGRAMS OR BATCH FILES, but they can refer to themselves. USE OF SAMPLE ALIASES: NOTE: ALIASES ARE CASE SENSITIVE. t alias ALARM.CMD is a simple chron program that will issue an alarm or start a pgm or issue a command at a set time--resolution of the timer is about +-20 seconds-this alias starts ALARM.CMD t <time> < command> <parms> example t 123800 start /c /b pkzip zip c:\os2\*.* starts zip process at 12:38:00 PM +-20 sec SHOW alias ---lists the lines of an alias on the screen show <alias key> EXAMPLE show show e alias e ( [ )filename(fragment)> starts epm to edit a(perhaps SELECTed) file d alias d <dir name fragment> auto dir name complete qd.cmd example d wi to switche to \os2\mdos\winos2 directory DO NOT USE D.CMD WITH THE SELECTOR use CDD below. refr alias- to start online rexx reference refc alias to start command reference put alias ALT-p- to write a comment to an object 's ea's- this will be seen in the comment field in the object's settings book.Use GET.CMD to view the comments or look at them in the settings view notebook. This function will be integrated into the selector list for easy use- the comments will be viewable directly in the selector object listing. rec(ursive) alias: works just like 4os2 global-command operateds on current directory and all subs. EXAMPLE: rec copy *.exe c:\exes copies all *.exe files in the current dir and all sub dirs to c:\exes. cdd alias: input a full path to the dir you want to switch to or use the selector example cdd c:\os2\mdos cdd [c:md and select as usual. u5 alias: usage U5 <zip path and name> or U5{ [[ or [ }<zip spearch spec> for the selector. this is a quick 'n dirty facility for easily unarchiving all your archived dls to quickly view or test/use the pgms therein. It handles arc , zip, arj,self extracting exe,and lhz files from one facility and with one command line. all you enter is the archive file path and name and U5 does the rest.the file is copied to a sub directory created in the dir where the archive is located, the files are unarchived therein, an option to start a dos session is presented-if you say no(type n) then the os2 session is available(blkos2 is started as the command proc) and a wps directory list is opened.When you have finished working with the archive type exit at the command line and hit enter . the temporary dir and all files therein are removed and the wps folder list is closed. Note that if you have a session set to the path of that temporary fiolder then the folder itself will not be removed.The folder is named the same as the archive file minus it's extension. this alias must have dd.cmd and the archivers available to it(place the archivers in your path-use os2 versions where available such as info zip for pkzip). You need to edit U5.CMD so that the dearchiver's names match those on YOUR system. lines with /?******?/ denote those you must edit-make sure the command line is appropriate for the archiver versions you are using. U5.CMD can also be used stand alone in the WPS as a drag and drop dearchiver. attach an icon and just drop an archive on it to unarchive as above-a commandline session is automatically started. NOTE ON DD.CMD AND U5: there is apparently a bug in os2 that sometimes causes a dir to be non deleteable.Check that you have no sessions pointing to this undeleteable folder-if you do then it is probably not the os2 bug stopping you. If there are no such sessions then the dir will be removable on the next reboot- just use dd.cmd to get rid of it. We know this is an OS2 bug because not even RD will delete such a "stuck" folder. lst ([)<file spec> display a (perhaps selected) text or binary file on the screen.hit x to exit, and u to move to previous page, any other key to go to the next page. cl <no parameters> You must have KILLEM.EXE in your path-this cmd closes ALL open sessions of any type. alt-z: this alias opens a desktop folder or standard OS2 object without having to capitalize or bracket the object id or type the WP_ prefix.Works on those os2 objects with objid of form <WP_START> example: type start and hit alt-z to open the <WP_START>(startup) folder. type dalarm to start <WP_ALARM>. see the ini.rc file in the \os2 for the standard os2 object ids for the applets etc. fo: format a disk. usage fo <drive spec> examle fo a: If the shell dies history and temporary aliases ARE SAVED for each session and a restart reloads that session's history and temporary aliases.You may or may not be able to issue a CTRL- C to a program or command to stop it -doing it with zip will stop the zip process,trying to stop a dir command will kill the shell-in general .CMD files are stoppable. ALL HISTORY AND TEMPORARY ALIASES ARE PERMANENTLY LOST ON A REBOOT.IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THESE THEN DO NOT MODIFY YOUR STARTUP.CMD FILE AS INSTRUCTED ABOVE. PLEASE PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO MEMORY USAGE IN THE SESSIONS WHERE BLKOS2 IS RUNNING>USE OS2MEMU- we are interested in whether there is unreasonable growth in use of memory. SPECIAL NOTE: there is a bug in OS2 rexx that does not allow the release of memory committed to a so called stem variable.The drop function nor any other nulling operation will release this memory.For this reason the session may show a large memory usage after a global search. Until IBM fixes rexx the only thing to do to get the memory back is to shut and then restart the blkos2 session.This is the best that can be done without IBM fixing this bug in rexx .It affects all OS2 REXX pgms that never terminate or do so infrequently.BLKOS@ uses the same stem variables in it's operation and once maxed out will not get any larger in memory. In any case use of BLKOS2 for most operations reults in memory usage generally under 500 KB. PLEASE ROUTE (RECEIVER ONLY) ANY COMMENTS TO CHARLENE BLACK at ->18 ON RIME (RELAYNET) or contact us via US mail at the abocve address. DEVELOPMENT IS CONTINUING AND ADDITIONAL FEATURES ARE PLANNED-Send suggestions for features-we'll add them for you.planned additional features include global history,multithreading using the rxu10 functions, the absolutely essential colorized directories,sorting, a directory size calculator. and others..BLKOS2 is used by us on a daily basis and has been found to be very free of bugs thus far. The object configurator will be sent later when it has been integrated into Blackstone.If you would like the current ,still very useful standalone pgm, send C>BLACK a note. We hope that this program makes life at the OS2 command line simpler and more convenient for you. Thank You for Testing BLACKSTONE. CHARLENE BLACK BILL STONE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTs: VERY SPECIAL THANKS to our BETA TESTERS who shall for the time being go unnamed, for their support and suggestions. Thanks to Ken Arway for the BLKOS2 icon design. /****REXX RULES !!!!***/ This material is copyright(c) C>BLACK,B.STONE,KUTEK 1992,1993 all rights reserved.