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BCMD Copyright (c) 1993-1994 Thomas G. Hanlin III =-------------------------------------------------= The Better Command Utilities, version 2.0 The Better Command Utilities, or BCMD, is a set of commands which provide improved replacements for existing DOS commands (like DIR and COPY) and many entirely new commands as well. BCMD may be used instead of, or along with, existing DOS commands. BCMD offers many improvements over the default DOS commands. These include multiple file specifications on a single command line, exception filespecs, directory colorization, 132-column support, test modes, support for file descriptions and other goodies. Help is built into each command and will be displayed if you use the /? switch. The BCMD collection is copyrighted. It may be distributed only under the following conditions: All BCMD files must be distributed together as a unit. No files may be altered, added, or deleted from this unit. YOU USE BCMD ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. It works for me on the computers I've tried it on. I can't guarantee it will do the same for you. BCMD is not free software. If you find this evaluation copy suited to your needs, send in your registration. The ORDER.FRM file gives complete ordering information. Table of Contents page 2 Overview and Legal Info ................................... 1 General Notes ............................................. 3 BCHOICE (batch input) ..................................... 4 BCOPY (copy file) ......................................... 5 BDEL (delete file) ........................................ 6 BDIR (file directory) ..................................... 7 BEEP (sound effects)....................................... 8 BMD (make directory) ...................................... 9 BRD (remove directory) .................................... 9 BREN (rename file) ....................................... 10 BTYPE (display file) ..................................... 11 CAL (calendar) ........................................... 11 CALC (calculator) ........................................ 12 CAPSLOCK (Caps Lock setting) ............................. 12 COLOR (set display colors) ............................... 13 DESCRIBE (describe file) ................................. 14 ECHOS (echo w/o CR/LF) ................................... 15 FREE (show disk space) ................................... 15 KEYSPEED (set keyboard speed) ............................ 16 LOCASE (lowercase filter) ................................ 16 LOCATE (set cursor position) ............................. 17 LTRIM (left trim filter) ................................. 17 NUMLOCK (Num Lock setting) ............................... 18 ONESPACE (one space filter) .............................. 18 TYME (time and date) ..................................... 19 UNANSI (remove ANSI filter) .............................. 19 UNCPM (remove Ctrl-Z EOFs) ............................... 20 UPCASE (uppercase filter) ................................ 21 General Notes page 3 The BCMD utilities which act as replacements for existing DOS commands are given names which start with "B" to differentiate them from the corresponding DOS command. These include: BCHOICE, BCOPY, BDEL, BDIR, BMD, BRD, BREN, BTYPE These commands act much like the DOS commands they're based on, by default. You can customize them with additional capabilities using command-line options and/or environment variables. Like DOS, BCMD will normally display filenames in uppercase. You can change this to lowercase for all of the BCMD utilities by setting a BCMD environment variable: SET BCMD=/L Place that SET line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you'd like to install it automatically whenever you start your computer. If you don't want the status reporting that most BCMD commands give you as a matter of course, you can also turn it off with the BCMD environment variable, using the /Q (quiet) switch. Individual BCMD commands will often have their own environment variables so you can customize them to your preferences. These will be discussed in the documentation for each command. Some BCMD commands support color. For color support to work, you must have an ANSI driver (such as ANSI.SYS) installed. See your DOS manual for details on ANSI if BCMD displays odd characters instead of color. BCMD file descriptions are maintained in a format compatible with the 4DOS and NDOS command shells. BCMD disk access remains to be optimized. Some commands in some configurations will be noticeably slow on floppy drives. BCHOICE page 4 The CHOICE command debuted in MS-DOS 6.0, when Microsoft finally noticed that interactive batch files might be handy. It is a flexible input command that allows you to specify a list of valid responses and a timeout in case no one is present. The BCHOICE command works the same way, but for any DOS version. Syntax: BCHOICE {options} {text} Options: /C[:]keys keys to accept /N no prompt /S case sensitive /T[:]c,nnnn default answer, seconds to wait for answer If you do not specify which keys to accept, YN will be assumed. You may choose a default answer and the amount of time to wait for an answer (0-9999 seconds). The result is returned via the DOS error level: 1 for the first key listed, 2 for the second, etc; 0 if ^C or Break is pressed; 255 if syntax error. The text prompt should be enclosed in quotation marks for best results. Otherwise, the text may be altered in various ways by the command-line parser. Example: BCHOICE /T:N,4 "Shall we play a game " This example displays: Shall we play a game [Y,N]? ...and waits for up to four seconds for an answer, assuming "N" if no key is pressed. BCOPY page 5 The BCOPY command is similar to the DOS command, COPY. It is a pure file-to-file copy command, however. It does not support devices or append operations. Unlike the DOS command it replaces, BCOPY can accept multiple source and destination files, can copy hidden, read-only, and system files, accepts exception specifications, and allows prompting for confirmation before copying or before overwriting existing files. When specifying multiple source or destination files, enclose them in parentheses so BCOPY can tell which is which. Syntax: BCOPY {options} [source(s)] [dest(s)] {/E [exception(s)]} Options: /E copy everything EXCEPT for the following files /H copy hidden, read-only, and system files too /L display filenames in lowercase /N don't actually copy anything (for testing BCOPY) /P prompt for confirmation before copying each file /Q quiet: don't display filenames or summary /R prompt before overwriting existing files /Y assume YES to all requests for confirmation The following parameters may be set as defaults for BCOPY by setting the BCOPY environment variable: /H /L /P /Q /R /Y Example: BCOPY (A: B:) C:\MISC The above example copies all files on both A: and B: drives to the directory C:\MISC. Example: BCOPY *.* A: /E *.LTR *.TXT The above example copies all files in the current directory to drive A:, except for files that end in .LTR or .TXT. BDEL page 6 The BDEL command is similar to the DOS command, DEL (or ERASE). Unlike the DOS command it replaces, BDEL can accept multiple file specs, can delete hidden, read-only, and system files, accepts exception specifications, and can recurse through an entire directory tree. Syntax: BDEL {options} [file(s)] {/E [exception file(s)]} Options: /E delete everything EXCEPT for the following files /H delete hidden, read-only, and system files too /L display filenames in lowercase /N don't actually delete anything (for testing BDEL) /P prompt for confirmation before deleting each file /Q quiet: don't display filenames or summary /S recurse through subdirectories /Y assume YES to all requests for confirmation The following parameters may be set as defaults for BDEL by setting the BDEL environment variable: /H /L /P /Q /Y Example: BDEL A: B: /E *.EXE The above example deletes all files on both A: and B: drives, except for files ending in .EXE. Example: BDEL /H /P *.* The above example deletes all files in the current directory, including hidden, read-only, and system files. It asks for confirmation before deleting each file. Example: BDEL /S C:\*.BAK The above example deletes all files in every directory on the C: drive which end in the extension .BAK. BDIR page 7 The BDIR command is similar to the DOS command, DIR. Unlike the DOS command it replaces, BDIR can accept multiple file specs, can colorize its listing, supports 132 columns, allows descriptions to be tagged onto files, can show file attributes, and is highly configurable. Syntax: BDIR {options} {file(s)} {/E [exception file(s)]} Options: /A attributes (any of ADHRS: Arc Dir Hid R/O Sys) /B bare list: filenames only, single column /D don't show dot directories ("." and "..") /E dir of everything EXCEPT for the following files /K suppress header (pathname, etc) /L display filenames in lowercase /M suppress footer (totals, etc) /O sorting order (any of DGNS: Date GroupDirs Name Size) /P prompt to continue at end of each full screen /S recurse through subdirectories /T display file attributes /U display only summary info /W wide list: filenames only, multiple columns /X extra wide output (132-column mode) /Y display file descriptions /Z colorize (defaults may be changed with COLORDIR vbl) The following parameters may be set as defaults for BDIR by setting the BDIR environment variable: /A /D /K /L /M /O /P /T /X /Y /Z Example: BDIR /Z /Y /OGN The above example displays all files in the current directory, colorized, with descriptions (if any). Subdirectories are grouped before files, and it is sorted in alphabetical order. The COLORDIR environment variable can be used to change the /Z option's colors. You may set colors based on file extensions and file attributes (attributes take precedence): SET COLORDIR=[extlist]:[color] {; [extlist]:[color]} {etc} An "extlist" is a list of extensions or attributes, separated by spaces. Attributes are ARCHIVE, DIRS, SYSTEM, HIDDEN, RDONLY. Colors are the same as for the COLOR command, but background colors are not allowed. Example: SET COLORDIR=DOC TXT:BLUE;DIRS:BRIGHT GREEN;BAS:RED The above example makes .DOC and .TXT files blue, directories bright green, and .BAS files red. BEEP page 8 The BEEP command provides simple sound effects through the PC speaker. Syntax: BEEP {frequency duration} The frequency is specified in Hertz (cycles per second). The duration is given in 1/18th seconds. No sound will be generated for frequencies below 20, allowing you to use this as a delay command as well. If no parameters are specified, a 440 Hz tone will sound for 2 eighteenths of a second. You may specify multiple frequency/duration pairs on the same line. Note Frequency (highest octave) ===== ========= A 3520 A#,B- 3714 B 3952 C 4186 C#,D- 4434 D 4698 D#,E- 4978 E 5274 F 5588 F#,G- 5920 G 6272 G#,A- 6644 You can drop down an octave by halving the frequency for a given note. A "#" suffix indicates a sharp, and "-" a flat note. BMCD page 9 The BMCD command combines the functions of the DOS commands, MD (or MKDIR) and CD (or CHDIR): It creates a directory and makes it the current default directory. BMCD can accept multiple directory specifications. Syntax: BMCD [directory] {directory} {etc} Example: BMCD A:\GAME B:\DOC The above example creates the subdirectories A:\GAME and B:\DOC, and makes them the default subdirectories for drives A: and B:, respectively. The BMD command is similar to the DOS command, MD (or MKDIR). Unlike the DOS command it replaces, BMD can accept multiple directory specifications. Syntax: BMD [directory] {directory} {etc} Example: BMD ONE TWO The above example creates the subdirectories ONE and TWO. BRD The BRD command is similar to the DOS command, RD (or RMDIR). Unlike the DOS command it replaces, BRD can accept multiple directory specifications. Syntax: BRD [directory] {directory} {etc} Example: BRD ONE TWO The above example removes the subdirectories ONE and TWO. BREN page 10 The BREN command is similar to the DOS command, REN (or RENAME). Unlike the DOS command it replaces, BREN can accept multiple source files, accepts full paths for both source and destination filespecs, allows renaming from one drive to another, can rename hidden, read-only, and system files, allows overwriting existing files, accepts exception specifications, and allows prompting for confirmation before renaming or before overwriting existing files. When specifying multiple source files, the source files must be enclosed in parentheses, and the destination must be a directory rather than a filespec. By default, the rename will fail if the destination file already exists. You can override this with /R (add /Y if you don't want to confirm each overwrite yourself). Syntax: BREN {options} [source(s)] [destination] {/E [exception(s)]} Options: /E rename everything EXCEPT for the following files /H rename hidden, read-only, and system files too /L display filenames in lowercase /N don't actually rename anything (for testing BREN) /P prompt for confirmation before renaming each file /Q quiet: don't display filenames or summary /R prompt before overwriting existing files /Y assume YES to all requests for confirmation The following parameters may be set as defaults for BREN by setting the BREN environment variable: /H /L /P /Q /R /Y Example: BREN (A: B:) C:\MISC /E *.TXT The above example moves all files on both A: and B: drives to the directory C:\MISC, except for files ending in .TXT. The rename is not done for files that already exist in C:\MISC. Example: BREN /R /Y *.BAK \BACKUP The above example moves all .BAK files from the current directory to the \BACKUP directory, overwriting any existing files by the same name. BTYPE page 11 The BTYPE command is similar to the DOS command, TYPE. Unlike the DOS command it replaces, BTYPE provides pagination. Syntax: BTYPE {options} [file(s)] Options: /P prompt to continue at end of each full screen CAL The CAL command displays a calendar. If no parameters are given, the calendar is for the current month and year. Month and/or year values can be specified as well. Syntax: CAL {month} {year} If the month is specified, it must be spelled out. It may be abbreviated to as few as three characters (JAN, FEB, etc). You may enter either two digits or four digits for the year. If two digits are used, the 21st century will be assumed for 0-9, or the 20th century otherwise. The calendar program accepts a year range of 1900-2078. CALC page 12 The CALC command is a calculator. Syntax: CALC expression Expressions may use the following operators: + add - subtract * multiply / divide ^ raise to a power ** raise to a power (alternate form) Parentheses may be used to override the default algebraic precedence, which is: negation, raise to power, multiply and divide, add and subtract. Example: CALC 19.95 * 1.05 + 3 CAPSLOCK The CAPSLOCK command lets you get or set the Caps Lock state. Syntax: CAPSLOCK {ON or OFF} The current Caps Lock state is displayed if you do not give a parameter. Otherwise, Caps Lock is set as you request. COLOR page 13 The COLOR command allows you to set the display colors. An ANSI driver must be installed for it to function. Syntax: COLOR {BRIGHT} {BLINKING} foregroundcolor {ON backgroundcolor} Colors: BLACK BLUE GREEN RED MAGENTA CYAN YELLOW WHITE Color parameters may be shortened to as little as three characters each. BROWN may be used instead of YELLOW (on most displays, the "normal" color appears brown, and the "bright" version of the same color appears yellow). Example: COLOR BRIGHT WHITE ON RED The above example sets the foreground color to bright white, and the background color to red. A shorter version of the same thing might look like this: COLOR BRI WHI ON RED DESCRIBE page 14 The DESCRIBE command allows you to attach a description to a file or subdirectory name. This description will be shown when you use the BDIR directory command. It is also compatible with the 4DOS and NDOS command shells, and will be shown by the DIR command provided with those shells. Descriptions may be up to 120 characters, although the part of the description that is shown depends on the BDIR parameters. It is 31-37 characters in 80-column mode, depending on whether file attributes are also being shown. In 132-column mode, up to 81 characters of the file description are displayed. Descriptions are kept in a hidden file named DESCRIPT.ION. They are automatically maintained by BCMD file utilities (BDEL, BREN, BCOPY, etc) and other software that is aware of descriptions (4DOS, NDOS, etc). Descriptions may not be properly updated if you do file handling with other software. Syntax: DESCRIBE {options} [file(s)] {/E [except file(s)]} {"desc"} Options: /E describe everything EXCEPT for the following files /L display filenames in lowercase /Q quiet: don't display filenames or summary The description may be included on the DESCRIBE command line, or you may leave it off-- in which case, you will be prompted for a description for each of the selected files. Example: DESCRIBE BCMD.DOC "Documentation for BCMD utilities" In the above example, the file BCMD.DOC will be tagged with the description "Documentation for BCMD utilities" (without the quotation marks). Example: DESCRIBE *.DOC In the above example, the DESCRIBE command will ask you for a description for each of the .DOC files in the current directory. ECHOS page 15 The ECHOS command is for use in batch files. It displays text like the ECHO command, but without moving to the next line. This makes it easy to display multiple items on the same line. In order for this to be effective, the batch ECHO state must be turned off so that the batch commands aren't shown. Syntax: ECHOS message Example: ECHO OFF ECHOS This is ECHOS a test This example displays: This is a test FREE The FREE command shows the amount of disk space available and the amount used. Syntax: FREE {drive{:}} {drive{:}} {etc} If no drive specs are given, stats for the current drive will be shown. One or more drives may be specified. A colon (":") may, optionally, be placed after each drive letter. Example: FREE C: D: KEYSPEED page 16 The KEYSPEED command sets the keyboard repeat rate. It will not work on 8088 PCs. The default keyboard repeat rate is quite sluggish, and you'll be amazed at how much more responsive your machine is with faster settings! You can also reduce responsiveness in order to make the keyboard more manageable for young children, etc. Syntax: KEYSPEED delay repeatrate The starting delay may be 0-3, and is 2 by default. The repeat rate may be 0-31, and is 10 by default. In both cases, settings of zero are fastest. Example: KEYSPEED 0 0 The above example sets the keyboard repeat as fast as possible. Example: KEYSPEED 2 10 The above example restores the default keyboard repeat rate. LOCASE The LOCASE filter converts text to lowercase. It works only with ASCII characters, so it does not fully support international character sets. Filters are used in conjunction with redirection or piping. They accept an incoming stream of text, modify it, and pass it on. Example: LOCASE <BCMD.NEW The above example converts the BCMD.NEW file to lowercase and displays the results. Example: BDIR | LOCASE The above example converts the output of the BDIR command to lowercase and displays the results. LOCATE page 17 The LOCATE command sets the cursor position. It is intended for use primarily in designing displays for batch files. An ANSI driver, such as ANSI.SYS, must be installed. Syntax: LOCATE row column Cursor coordinates are based on (1,1), which is the upper left corner of the display. A typical display has rows 1-25 and columns 1-80. Example: LOCATE 5 1 The above example positions the cursor on the first column of the fifth row of the screen. LTRIM The LTRIM filter removes blanks from the left side of each line of text. Blanks are construed as space or tab characters. Filters are used in conjunction with redirection or piping. They accept an incoming stream of text, modify it, and pass it on. Example: LTRIM <BCMD.NEW The above example trims blanks from the left side of each line of the BCMD.NEW file and displays the results. Example: BDIR | LTRIM The above example trims blanks from the left side of each line of the output of the BDIR command and displays the results. NUMLOCK page 18 The NUMLOCK command lets you get or set the Num Lock state. Syntax: NUMLOCK {ON or OFF} The current Num Lock state is displayed if you do not give a parameter. Otherwise, Num Lock is set as you request. ONESPACE The ONESPACE filter converts multiple spaces in a line of text to single spaces. Filters are used in conjunction with redirection or piping. They accept an incoming stream of text, modify it, and pass it on. Example: ONESPACE <BCMD.NEW The above example takes each line of the file BCMD.NEW, converts sequences of two or more spaces to one space, and displays the results. Example: BDIR | ONESPACE The above example takes the output of the BDIR command, converts sequences of two or more spaces in a line to a single space, and displays the results. TYME page 19 The TYME command displays the current time and date in a readily understandable format. Syntax: TYME The output of TYME looks like this: It is 11:11 am on Saturday, August 14, 1993. UNANSI The UNANSI filter removes ANSI sequences from text. This can be useful in cleaning up text that was captured from a BBS and removing colors from BDIR output if color is on by default, and so on. Filters are used in conjunction with redirection or piping. They accept an incoming stream of text, modify it, and pass it on. Example: UNANSI <CAPTURE.BBS The above example removes all ANSI sequences from the file CAPTURE.BBS and displays the results. Example: BDIR | UNANSI The above example removes ANSI sequences from the output of the BDIR command and displays the results. UNCPM page 20 The UNCPM command removes control-Z characters from the end of files. This is normally used only on text files. The old CP/M operating system did not keep track of the exact size of files, so the end of text files was normally marked with a control-Z character. This carried over into the early days of MS-DOS, which was designed to make the transition from CP/M as easy as possible. Unfortunately, some programs still use Ctrl-Z as an end-of-file marker, even though MS-DOS keeps track of exact file sizes. This can lead to trouble. If there happens to be a Ctrl-Z embedded in a file which is handled by a CP/M-style program, the file will be truncated at the Ctrl-Z. This can quite readily occur if an editor adds a Ctrl-Z to the end of a file which is subsequently appended to by a program which doesn't expect CP/M terminators, for example. The UNCPM utility helps avoid such errors. Syntax: UNCPM {options} [file(s)] {/E [exception file(s)]} Options: /E UnCPM everything EXCEPT for the following files /H UnCPM hidden, read-only, and system files too /L display filenames in lowercase /N don't actually UnCPM anything (for testing UNCPM) /P prompt for confirmation before UnCPMing each file /Q quiet: don't display filenames or summary /S recurse through subdirectories /Y assume YES to all requests for confirmation Example: UNCPM *.TXT *.DOC The above example removes Ctrl-Z terminators from all files ending in .TXT and .DOC in the current directory. UPCASE page 21 The UPCASE filter converts text to uppercase. It works only with ASCII characters, so it does not fully support international character sets. Filters are used in conjunction with redirection or piping. They accept an incoming stream of text, modify it, and pass it on. Example: UPCASE <BCMD.NEW The above example converts the BCMD.NEW file to uppercase and displays the results. Example: BDIR | UPCASE The above example converts the output of the BDIR command to uppercase and displays the results.