home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
Text File | 1992-07-18 | 98.4 KB | 2,286 lines |
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- WINDOW ON DOS
-
-
-
- CONFIGURATION
-
-
-
- USER MANUAL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- *
- * *
- * *
- * * The
- * *
- * * Binary
- * *
- * * Toolshed
- * *
- * *
- * ****** *
- * * *
- * * * Version 1.21
- * * * July 2, 1992
- * * *
- * * *
- ******** *
-
-
-
-
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
-
- 1.0 INTRODUCTION.....................................................1
-
- 2.0 Program Environment..............................................3
- 2.1 System Requirements..............................................3
- 2.2 Installation.....................................................3
- 2.3 Startup..........................................................3
-
- 3.0 OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW.............................................6
-
- 4.0 Configuration Files and the Main Menu............................8
-
- 5.0 Configure Option : Command Line Arguments.......................10
-
- 6.0 Configure Option : Select Color.................................11
- 6.1 Main Color Menu.................................................11
- 6.2 Change Color Settings...........................................12
-
- 7.0 Configure Option : Sort Order Formats...........................14
-
- 8.0 Configure Option : Display Formats..............................16
-
- 9.0 Configure Option : Key-Bindings.................................18
- 9.1 Key Binding Edit/Insertion/Deletion.............................18
- 9.2 Key Binding Fields..............................................19
- 9.2.1 Key Binding Edit Menu.........................................19
- 9.2.2 Key-Binding Field - Label.....................................19
- 9.2.3 Key-Binding Field - Match List String.........................19
- 9.2.4 Key-Binding Field - Keystroke.................................20
- 9.2.5 Key-Binding Field - Command Set...............................21
- 9.2.6 Key-Binding Field - Help Text.................................21
- 9.2.7 Key-Binding Field - Flags.....................................21
- 9.3 Command Line Contents : DOS and Intrinsic Commands..............27
- 9.3.1 Basics........................................................27
- 9.3.2 File Variables................................................27
- 9.3.3 Edit Control Instructions.....................................28
- 9.3.4 Command Processing............................................29
- 9.3.5 Intrinsic tbx Command.........................................29
- 9.3.6 Intrinsic t*x Command.........................................30
-
- 10.0 Configure Option : Command Overrides...........................32
- 10.1 Basics.........................................................32
- 10.2 Override Flags.................................................33
- 10.3 Factory Default Command Overrides..............................34
-
- 11.0 Configure Option : Quick Lines.................................36
-
- 12.0 Configure Option : Default-DOS-Command.........................38
-
- 13.0 Configure Option : ToolBOX Banner..............................39
-
-
- APPENDIX A : TBOXCFG COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS.........................40
-
- APPENDIX B : INTRINSIC COMMAND SUMMARY..............................41
-
- APPENDIX C : SORT FORMAT SPECIFICATION..............................44
-
- APPENDIX D : DISPLAY FORMAT SPECIFICATION...........................45
-
- APPENDIX E : COMMAND LINE VARIABLES.................................46
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 1
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- 1.0 INTRODUCTION
-
- Almost every aspect of ToolBOX is capable of being changed to suit your
- personal needs. ToolBOX is primarily a platform that can be configured
- to suit whatever is required. If you refer to a ToolBOX help screen
- you'll notice the first section describes Basic Operations - essentially
- the cursor keys and <SPACE> for selection. These are the only commands
- that are unchangeable. The balance contains commands that were
- configured using lower level ToolBOX capabilities, in the same way as
- can be accomplished through this TBOXCFG program. The configuration
- capability extends beyond just the commands. You can change the colors,
- alter the directory display formats or sort rules, initialize ToolBOX's
- startup settings, enter text for the banner line, and so on.
-
- This manual documents not only the procedures necessary to perform the
- configuration process itself, but also the intrinsic commands that can
- be used within ToolBOX.
-
- The configuration process generates a data file containing the
- configured data - among other things the color selections, formatting
- and sorting rules, and the command sets bound to various keystrokes.
- This data file can then be used by ToolBOX to initialize itself to
- something other than the factory default settings.
-
- Command definition and configuration can occur at a number of different
- levels within ToolBOX. For example:
-
- QUICK COMMANDS. These can be defined directly within ToolBOX or
- within the TBOXCFG program. If defined within ToolBOX, they are
- effectively deleted when exiting to DOS. Those defined through
- the TBOXCFG program are permanent. The commands themselves are
- equivalent in either case.
-
- KEYSTROKE ASSIGNMENTS. Command sets can only be assigned to
- keystroke keys in the TBOXCFG program.
-
- INFERRED BATCH FILES. This facility is "configured" external to
- both programs, by the creation and editing of the composed-
- /referenced batch files. However, the facility itself is
- created through the TBOXCFG program. The inferred batch
- facility is much more general than that implied by the ToolBOX
- program implementation. The filenames used, the keystrokes, and
- the parameters passed are all established by the TBOXCFG
- program.
-
- Which technique is most applicable is left to the individual user and
- their environment.
-
- This manual describes how the various features are configured. Refer to
- the ToolBOX User Manual for a description of how these affect the
- operation of the ToolBOX program. TBOXCFG shares many features and
- conventions with the ToolBOX program. Refer to the General Product
- Overview and ToolBOX User Manuals for documentation conventions, basic
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 2
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- operation with cursor keys, popup menus, and so on.
-
- While the primary purpose of TBOXCFG is to create configuration files
- for ToolBOX, these files can also be used by VIEW and TREE. These
- programs simply extract the portions of the configuration file that they
- can use; typically the colors, default command line arguments, and the
- banner line.
-
- Refer to the General Product Overview Manual for examples of practical
- applications of these capabilities.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 3
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 2.0 Program Environment
-
- 2.1 System Requirements
-
- The requirements are the same as for ToolBOX. The program will run with
- any Version of DOS and any type of monitor and card.
-
-
-
- 2.2 Installation
-
- Just ensure TBOXCFG is in the current directory or on the PATH.
-
- Unless directed elsewhere, all configuration files are accessed from the
- current directory.
-
-
- 2.3 Startup
-
- Like ToolBOX, TBOXCFG's operational aspects can be adjusted at the time
- the program is started by entering arguments in any of three ways:
-
- o on the DOS command line following the program name.
-
- o by a DOS SET command for the "BTS" environment variable.
-
- o saved in the TBOXCFG.EXE executable file by the BTSPATCH
- program.
-
- These are listed in order of decreasing precedence.
-
- All of the arguments are optional, and assume appropriate values if not
- provided. The video (-V) and color (-C) arguments are identical to
- those used for ToolBOX.
-
-
- SELECT VIDEO OUTPUT FORM:
-
- -V[b m s c e v] [25 43 50]
-
- Set video mode and/or number of screen lines.
-
- b use BIOS output routines.
-
- m assume monochrome text (MDA) video card.
-
- c, e, or v
- assume color graphics (CGA, EGA, or VGA) video card.
- All 3 settings have the same effect.
-
- s assume CGA graphics video card and do processing to
- remove snow on screen.
-
- 25 assume 25 visible lines of text.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 4
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 43 assume EGA/VGA card and use the 43 line by 80 column
- mode.
-
- 50 assume VGA card and use the 50 line by 80 column mode.
-
-
- DEFAULT COLOR SELECTION:
-
- -C[m c g]
-
- Selects one of the predefined color tables.
-
- m monochrome text displays.
-
- c color displays.
-
- g gray scale displays, for LCD or monochrome monitors
- using color video cards.
-
-
- SELECT EXECUTION ASPECTS:
-
- -X [a#] [fF]
-
- The eXecution subarguments are:
-
- a# select permitted audible tones. Add the numbers for the
- particular sounds you wish to hear.
-
- 1 border violations. Short beeps for attempts to
- cursor beyond screen borders.
-
- 2 syntax. Brief chirp made when ToolBOX is unable
- to understand a keyboard request. Typically an
- unexpected character was entered.
-
- 4 error. Longer warble made when a requested
- operation could not be carried out.
-
- The default is a7 - all sounds are enabled (1+2+4).
-
-
- f / F
- allows Flashing colors in the color selection options
- when enabled (F). See Section 6.
-
-
- FILE SPECIFICATION FOR CONFIGURATION FILE :
-
- [d:][path]filename[.cfg]
-
- Identifies the initial configuration file. If no path is
- specified the current directory is assumed. If no extension is
- provided, ".CFG" is assumed. If this argument is omitted the
- initial settings are those of the ToolBOX factory defaults.
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 5
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- The default argument list for TBOXCFG is:
-
- -xa7f
-
- The video and color options default to suit the current environment, and
- there is no default configuration filename.
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 6
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 3.0 OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW
-
- TBOXCFG is structured to enable you to modify each of the nine groups of
- configurable data for the ToolBOX program:
-
- o default command line arguments
- o color attributes
- o directory sort order rules
- o directory display format
- o keybindings with command sets
- o command overrides
- o quick lines
- o default execution line
- o screen banner field
-
- On startup, a copyright screen is displayed. Entering any key will
- cancel this screen before the normal 20 second duration expires.
-
- From here on the configuration program operates through a series of
- cascading menus. Figure 3/1 illustrates one such set of menus.
-
-
- ┌───────────────────────── ToolBOX Configuration ──────────────────────┐
- │ │
- │ ╔════════════════╗ │
- │ ┌────────────────────────┐ ║ Tue Jly 14/92 ║ │
- │ │Load configuration file │ ║ 11:43:38 ║ │
- │ │Configure │ ║ ---------- ║ │
- │ │Save┌────────────────────────┐ ╚════════════════╝ │
- │ │eXit│command line Parameters │ │
- │ └────│select Colors │ │
- │ │Sort order formats │ │
- │ │display Formats │ │
- │ │Keybindings │ │
- │ │command Overrides │ │
- │ │Quick lines │ │
- │ │Default DOS command │ │
- │ │tbox┌─────────────┐ │ │
- │ └────│Flags │─────┘ │
- │ │Command line │ │
- │ └─────────────┘ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────── F1 for HELP ──────────┘
-
- Figure 3/1 Example ToolBOX Screen Showing Default DOS Command
- Configuration
-
-
- The two upper boxes are always on the screen. The box in the upper
- right hand corner shows the time and the currently open configuration
- file - if there is one. The upper left box is effectively the main menu
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 7
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- from which all others are generated. In the example "Configure" was
- selected from the main menu which in turn produces the next box showing
- the possible configurable options. From this menu the "Default DOS
- Command" was selected which in turn shows the options within this topic.
-
- Most of the basic operational functions resemble those in ToolBOX.
- Within menus, use the cursor keys to move to the desired option and then
- select it with <RETURN>. Alternatively, one can select an option by
- entering the letter that is highlighted on the desired option line.
-
- Use <ESC> to back-out of the current menu. In some cases <ESC> can also
- be used to cancel data that has been changed. For example for windows
- where text is being entered, entering <ESC> will essentially cancel the
- new text and leave the original text intact.
-
- Again <F1> can always be used to obtain Help information. Within
- TBOXCFG this help text is context sensitive (i.e.: relates to your
- current activity).
-
- Many operations generate text-entry windows through which text line(s)
- can be entered. For these the cursor keys as well as <DEL>, <INS>, and
- <BACKSPACE> behave as one would expect. Note that single line text-
- entry windows typically can accept wider lines than that shown on the
- screen. Continue to enter text and the window will scroll horizontally
- in jumps of 10 characters. When a text line is full an audio tone will
- sound, since excess text does not wrap down. Entering <RETURN> in the
- middle causes lines to be split while <DEL>eleting the return at the end
- of a line will cause the consecutive lines to be concatenated providing
- there is room for both lines. To save the entered text enter <F10> or
- use <RETURN> on the last physical line.
-
- For other situations which require special keys, the keys are specific-
- ally identified on the screen. For example <F10> is used to close text
- entry windows while <RIGHT> and <CTRL RIGHT> are used to scroll through
- the color selections.
-
- It should be noted that most of the data entered, is not, or cannot be,
- validated when entered into the TBOXCFG program. This checking must be
- deferred until the configuration file is actually used by the ToolBOX
- program.
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 8
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 4.0 Configuration Files and the Main Menu
-
- Obviously the intent of TBOXCFG is to modify and create configuration
- data and place this information into a configuration file. Ultimately
- this file will be used by ToolBOX to modify its behavior.
-
- Unless specified as a command line argument, TBOXCFG starts up without a
- default configuration file. At this point the effective configuration
- data (i.e. the settings available for modification) is equivalent to the
- factory settings used by ToolBOX if no configuration file is used. That
- is, the natural settings as described throughout the ToolBOX User
- Manual.
-
- The currently active configuration file is shown in the box in the upper
- right below the time. If none is currently active the name field is
- filled with "--------" to indicate the default is being used.
- Configuration files by default have an extension of "CFG" although
- anything can be used.
-
- The main menu allows the user to read, start modifications, or write
- configuration files.
-
- The four options with the main menu are:
-
- Load configuration file
-
- This requests that a new configuration file be read. This is
- equivalent to specifying the configuration file as an
- argument on the startup command line.
-
- When the option is selected a text entry window appears for
- entering the desired pathname. If an existing configuration
- file is already open, its name appears as the starting
- default in the text window. Enter the new name as desired.
- If no path is provided, the current directory is assumed. If
- no extension is given, "CFG" is assumed. To specify that no
- extension be used, terminate the pathname with a ".".
-
- If the specified file cannot be found, the existing
- configuration data is left unchanged, and an error window is
- generated. If the file is found, the new data is read in and
- completely replaces the existing settings. Nothing from the
- previous configuration is preserved when reading in a new
- file.
-
- Configure
-
- This selection brings up a sub-menu containing the nine
- configurable areas. The options, and Sections in which they
- are documented in this manual are:
-
- command line Arguments Section 5
- select Color Section 6
- Sort order formats Section 7
- display Formats Section 8
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 9
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- Keybindings Section 9
- command Overrides Section 10
- Quick lines Section 11
- Default DOS command Section 12
- ToolBOX Banner Section 13
-
- Each option in turn brings up further sub-menus as needed for
- its function. The documentation within each referenced
- section assumes each of the options have been selected from
- the Configure menu.
-
- All of the configuration options operate on the in-memory
- representation of the settings. If you decide that you do
- not want to retain the changes that have been made, then
- simply don't save the configuration file at the end of the
- session. Many of the individual configuration options have
- explicit facilities to cancel changes. Again, these are
- changes to the in-memory version. The disk file version is
- never modified until the Save configuration file menu.
-
-
- Save configuration file
-
- This requests that the current configuration data be saved to
- a disk file. Like the equivalent read option, this brings up
- a text entry window for the pathname for the new config-
- uration data; pre-initialized to the currently open config-
- uration pathname if there is one. Again if a path is not
- explicitly stated then the current directory is assumed. A
- "CFG" extension is assumed if none is specified.
-
- As a precaution, if the configuration file existed
- previously, then the old file is renamed with a "BAK"
- extension. To recover the old contents just refer to the
- "BAK" version directly or copy the "BAK" file over the newer
- undesired file.
-
-
- eXit
-
- Requests that the TBOXCFG program be terminated. Entering
- <ESC> within this menu is equivalent to the eXit option.
-
- If changes have been made to the configuration data since the
- last save, the user will be given one last opportunity to
- either return to the program so the changes can be saved or
- to exit the program and abandon the changes.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 10
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 5.0 Configure Option : Command Line Arguments
-
- Use this option to enter text that is equivalent to what would be
- entered on the ToolBOX program startup command line. Up to 72
- characters can be entered into the text-entry window. The initial
- default is no text. Enter <ESC> to cancel any changes and revert to the
- prior setting. Enter <F10> to save the changes.
-
- The only difference between arguments entered here and those entered on
- the ToolBOX command line, established by the BTS set variable, or
- created in the TBOX program by BTSPATCH, relates to the precedence in
- which they are evaluated when multiple conflicting settings are
- specified. Which of the methods is used depends on the desired
- permanence, whether the ToolBOX program or configuration file are to be
- shared among multiple users or purposes, and so on.
-
- The TBOXCFG program does not check the validity of any of the text that
- is entered. This is deferred until the associated configuration file is
- actually referenced by the ToolBOX program.
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 11
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 6.0 Configure Option : Select Color
-
- 6.1 Main Color Menu
-
- This option allows changes to the foreground and background color
- attributes for each of the three color tables: for color, monochrome,
- and grayscale monitors. Each table consists of fourteen separate pairs
- of values corresponding to the foreground/background colors for various
- regions of the ToolBOX screens.
-
- In this section the term color is used as if we were always using the
- color table. Obviously for the grayscale table this actually
- corresponds to an intensity level of a given "color" while for
- monochrome screens these same attributes control bold and underline.
-
- The main color menu is used to manipulate the color tables as a whole.
- The four selectable options are:
-
- Change colors
-
- Moves to the menu where the individual color changes can be
- made to the current color table. Refer to Section 6.2 for
- details.
-
- Restore Defaults
-
- Restores the factory default settings for the current color
- table. If you wish to restore the original settings for the
- current configuration, exit this menu and re-read the
- configuration file.
-
- Pick color table
-
- Invokes a menu to select one of the three color tables
- (color, monochrome, or grayscale) as the current table. A
- diamond appears beside the currently selected table. This
- current table is referenced by the Change color and Restore
- defaults options.
-
- The initial table setting corresponds to the color table
- requested for the TBOXCFG program itself. Configuring any
- table other than the one corresponding to the current monitor
- type is questionable since the attributes cannot be properly
- displayed.
-
- caNcel changes
-
- Ignore all changes made to any table since this menu was last
- entered.
-
- No mechanism exists for changing the colors for the TBOXCFG program
- itself.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 12
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 6.2 Change Color Settings
-
- There are fourteen color fields used within ToolBOX. As shown in Figure
- 6/1, the color change screen has two separate windows. The box on the
- left is a help screen showing the expected keys and the topic associated
- with each of the 14 fields - labeled A through N. The box on the right
- shows a simulated series of menu boxes to illustrate how these color
- changes actually appear.
-
- ┌───────────────────────── ToolBOX Configuration ──────────────────────┐
- │ ┌──── Sample Color Table ────┐ │
- │ │ │ │
- │ ┌──────────────────────────────┐ │ ┌─[A] Directory Box────────┐ │ │
- │ │<> for foreground color│ │ │┌─[B] Dir Box - Selected─┐│ │ │
- │ │<CTRL > for background color│ │ ││[C] normal .fil ││ │ │
- │ │──────────────────────────────│ │ ││[D] cursor .fil ││ │ │
- │ │[A] Dir Normal Box │ │ ││[] selected.fil ││ │ │
- │ │[B] Dir Selected Box │ │ ││[F] curs-sel.fil ││ │ │
- │ │[C] Dir: normal text │ │ │└────────────────────────┘│ │ │
- │ │[D] Dir: cursor text │ │ │[G] Cmd> [H] Entered text │ │ │
- │ │[E] Dir: selected text │ │ └──────────────────────────┘ │ │
- │ │[F] Dir: selected & cursor │ │ │ │
- │ │[G] Kbd cmd prefix │ │ ┌─[I] Menu Box─────────────┐ │ │
- │ │[H] Kbd entered text │ │ │[J] Normal entry │ │ │
- │ │[I] Menu Box │ │ │[K] Selected entry │ │ │
- │ │[J] Menu: normal │ │ │[L] Select Char │ │ │
- │ │[K] Menu: selected │ │ └──────────────────────────┘ │ │
- │ │[L] Menu: select char │ │ │ │
- │ │[M] Help Box │ │ ┌─[M] Help Box─────────────┐ │ │
- │ │[N] Help: text │ │ │[N] Help text │ │ │
- │ └──────────────────────────────┘ │ └──────────────────────────┘ │ │
- │ │ │ │
- │ └──────────────────────────────┘ │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────── F1 for HELP ──────────┘
-
- Figure 6/1 Example Screen for Changing Colors
-
-
- For example, the upper box in the right window simulates the main
- ToolBOX screen. The labeled fields represent the color for:
-
- [A] the outer box when ToolBOX is in DIRECTORY mode.
- [B] the outer box when ToolBOX is in SELECT mode (the normal case)
- [C] normal files in the directory display.
- [D] the file in the display that coincides with the cursor.
- [E] a selected file in the display.
- [F] a selected file in the display that coincides with the cursor.
- [G] the "CMD>" prefix for the keyboard command line at the bottom
- of the ToolBOX screen.
- [H] the text portion of the keyboard command line.
-
- The simulated boxes will give a feeling for how the screen will
- ultimately appear.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 13
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- To change a color:
-
- 1) select one of the 14 color fields by using the <UP> and <DOWN>
- cursor keys. The current field is identified by the flashing
- diamond in the simulated screen on the right.
-
- 2) change the foreground color by using the <LEFT> and <RIGHT>
- cursor keys to cycle through the 16 possibilities. Each change
- is reflected in the simulated screen. All video modes have 16
- settings, although for monochrome mode many of these are
- duplicates.
-
- 3) change the background color by using the <CTRL LEFT> and <CTRL
- RIGHT> keys to cycle through the 8 possibilities. An
- additional 8 flashing background settings can be made available
- through the -xF command line argument described in Section 2.3.
- Normally these are disabled as they aren't typically used and
- increase the effort required to cycle through the settings.
-
- 4) when the foreground and background colors for the field are set
- correctly, either return to step 1 for other fields or enter
- <ESC> to return to the parent Main Color menu.
-
- If you wish to cancel the color changes that have been made, then use
- the Cancel option in the parent Main Color Menu.
-
- Color selection is a matter of personal choice. Our extensive Graphics
- Art department here at The Binary Toolshed won't feel slighted in the
- least that you have chosen to ignore the default colors that they spent
- countless hours selecting.
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 14
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 7.0 Configure Option : Sort Order Formats
-
- Through this option you can identify 8 separate sets of sort rules.
- Each can then be referenced from within ToolBOX by the -s# command line
- argument, the sort option sub-menu of the ToolBOX popup menu, or the /s#
- parameter on the intrinsic dir command line.
-
- ┌──────────────────────── ToolBOX Configuration ──────────────────────┐
- │ │
- │ ╔════════════════╗ │
- │ ┌────────────────────────┐ ║ Tue Jly 14/92 ║ │
- │ │Load configuration file │ ║ 09:52:58 ║ │
- │ │Configure │ ║ ---------- ║ │
- │ │Save┌────────────────────────┐ ╚════════════════╝ │
- │ │eXit│command line Parameters │ │
- │ └────│select Colors │ │
- │ │Sort order formats │ │
- │ │disp┌──────────────────┐│ │
- │ │Key │eXtension-name ││ │
- │ │comm│Date┌──Sort Description and Format─┐ │
- │ │Quic│Size│eXtension-name │ │
- │ │Defa│dOs │xn │ │
- │ │tbox│Name└────────────── F10 To Save ───┘ │
- │ └────│extension-daTe │┘ │
- │ │extension-siZe │ │
- │ │Reverse-date-name │ │
- │ └──────────────────┘ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────── F1 for HELP ─────────┘
-
- Figure 7/1 Example TBOXCFG Screen Illustrating Sort Option
-
- As shown in Figure 7/1, the first window presented is a list of the 8
- existing sort settings. Enter the highlighted letter (or cursor to the
- option and enter <RETURN>) to select the one you wish to edit or
- replace. This brings up a text-entry window with two lines. The first
- line is to be used as the sort description or label field, while the
- second is for the sort specification.
-
- The sort description is used for the label on the parent menu as well as
- the popup sort selection menu within the ToolBOX program. The name may
- contain up to 30 characters. The first capital letter (if any) will be
- used as the highlight letter for the fast menu selection. The second
- and subsequent capitals have no special effect. If multiple labels
- share the same first capital letter, only the first will be used for the
- fast selection.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 15
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- The second line containing the sort specification is composed of a
- series of code letters identifying the sort rules:
-
- x extension - alphabetical order
- n name - alphabetical order
- d date - oldest first
- s size - smallest first
- r reverse order
-
- Case is not significant. If no letter is specified, the directory
- entries are left unsorted in the natural DOS order. If more than one
- code letter is specified, the second and subsequent are used to resolve
- ties that remain from the previous sorts. The reverse order request is
- done at the end after all other sort procedures have been performed.
-
- For example, the specification:
-
- nxr
-
- requests that the primary sort be an alphabetical sort based on the 8
- character filename. For multiples entries with the same 8 character
- name (i.e. ties), resolve the tie by sorting alphabetically on the 3
- character extension. On completion of all this, reverse the order of
- the entire directory.
-
- Within a ToolBOX directory display the current directory, ".", always
- remains as the first entry.
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 16
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 8.0 Configure Option : Display Formats
-
- This option is similar to the sort option except that it establishes 8
- separate display format specifications for the ToolBOX directory file
- entries. As shown in Figure 8/1 the item selection and the two line
- text entry window for inputting the label and format specification are
- also the same.
-
- ┌───────────────────────── ToolBOX Configuration ──────────────────────┐
- │ │
- │ ╔════════════════╗ │
- │ ┌────────────────────────┐ ║ Tue Jly 14/92 ║ │
- │ │Load configuration file │ ║ 01:58:10 ║ │
- │ │Configure │ ║ ---------- ║ │
- │ │Save┌────────────────────────┐ ╚════════════════╝ │
- │ │eXit│command line Parameters │ │
- │ └────│select Colors │ │
- │ │Sort order formats │ │
- │ │display Formats │ │
- │ │Key ┌──────────────────┐│ │
- │ │comm│Master ││ │
- │ │Quic│filename-Size ││ │
- │ │Defa│filename-Date ││ │
- │ │tbox│File┌───Dir Description and Format─┐ │
- │ └────│Name│filename-Date │ │
- │ │mAst│/n.x D │ │
- │ │siZe└────────────── F10 To Save ───┘ │
- │ │filename-sizE (B) │ │
- │ └──────────────────┘ │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ │
- └─────────────────────────────────────────────── F1 for HELP ──────────┘
-
- Figure 8/1 Example TBOXCFG Screen Illustrating Display Format Option
-
-
- The display format specification is composed of a number of single
- character codes:
-
- D ddMmmyy date string
- d 2 char day
- m 2 char month
- y 2 char year
- M 3 char Month
- t hh:mm time field
-
- n 8 character name
- x 3 character extension
-
- C 8 character file size byte count,
- or " <DIR> " if a directory
- c 8 character file size byte count,
- or " " if a directory
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 17
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- s if file is selected, otherwise " "
-
- \ file status: displays as "\" if a directory, otherwise " "
- / file status: displays file attribute status character,
- in decreasing priority:
- "s" system
- "h" hidden
- "r" read-only
- "\" subdirectory
- " " none
-
- "literal string" any text
-
- These characters can be combined in any order to create the desired
- display format. Characters that do not correspond to any of the format
- characters are treated literally; for example spaces or periods can be
- used to separate fields. Alternatively, literal text can be entered
- directly by enclosing it in quotation marks.
-
- The format characters are essentially self explanatory. Various
- date/time combinations are identified through D d m y M and T. Filename
- components are specified through n and x. The s field is an alternative
- mechanism to using color highlight to identify selected display entries.
- The \ and / produce single character file status characters, where \
- just identifies the entry as a directory, while / also shows applicable
- system, hidden and read-only file attributes.
-
- ToolBOX will adjust the number of file columns within the directory
- display according to the effective width of the formatted specification.
- A minimum of two spaces is inserted between each pair of columns. There
- is no indication within the TBOXCFG program of how the formatted text
- will appear or of the number of columns.
-
- As an example, the default master display label and format specification
- are (quotes are added for presentation purposes):
-
- "Master"
- "\n.xC D t"
-
- which displays as two columns, each of which appears as:
-
- " FILENAME.EXT 2,345 14Jly92 09:29"
-
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 18
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 9.0 Configure Option : Key-Bindings
-
- 9.1 Key Binding Edit/Insertion/Deletion
-
- Keybindings are used to associate a set of operations with a keyboard
- key. These associated items include:
-
- o text label - used to recognize the keybinding within the
- TBOXCFG program.
- o optional file matchlist specification needed for activation.
- o keystroke character needed for activation.
- o command set containing command lines to be processed - both DOS
- and ToolBOX intrinsic commands.
- o help text.
- o flags - for updating directory display on completion, or
- pausing, and so on.
-
- Selecting the Key Binding option from the Configure menu, produces a
- window with a list of the labels for the existing keybindings. The
- menus within this option allow you to add, delete, or edit items in the
- list. To perform one of these update operations, cursor to the desired
- keybinding label and enter <RETURN>. The next menu options are:
-
- Edit
-
- Initiates changes to the existing settings for the
- keybinding. Refer to section 9.2 for the options available.
-
- Insert before
-
- Adds a new entry before the current keybinding. Refer to
- Section 9.2 for the options available.
-
- Append after
-
- Adds a new entry after the current keybinding. Refer to
- Section 9.2 for the options available.
-
- Cut
-
- Deletes the current keybinding. The deleted entry is
- temporarily retained and can be used in subsequent paste
- operations. These Cut and Paste combinations can be used to
- duplicate or move entries.
-
- Paste after
-
- Inserts a copy of the most recent Cut operation after the
- current keybinding.
-
- The order of the entries in the list is significant. ToolBOX will stop
- at the first entry that satisfies the keystroke and file match
- requirements. For example, if you wish to associate a keybinding with
- an alphabetic key, it must be placed before the keyboard command line
- binding that matches all ASCII keystroke characters.
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 19
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- 9.2 Key Binding Fields
-
- 9.2.1 Key Binding Edit Menu
-
- The keybinding edit menu allows individual access to each of the 6
- fields plus an edit cancel option:
-
- Label
- Matchlist
- Keystroke
- Command text
- Help text
- Flags
- Cancel changes
-
- During the edit operations, changes are made to a copy of the actual
- keybinding. No changes are saved until <ESC> is used to exit from the
- edit menu. To exit from the menu and ignore whatever changes were made
- to the fields, use the Cancel changes option.
-
- If the edit menu was reached from the Insert or Append options, then
- each field is initialized with the default settings.
-
-
- 9.2.2 Key-Binding Field - Label
-
- The label field is used in the menu list of defined keybindings. This
- is the only keybinding field that is used for the TBOXCFG program rather
- than ToolBOX itself.
-
- Up to 32 characters can be entered to describe the keybinding.
-
-
- 9.2.3 Key-Binding Field - Match List String
-
- The matchlist is the optional file match specification(s) that must
- correspond to the selected file(s) before ToolBOX will invoke the
- keybinding. If not supplied, the binding will be selected solely on the
- keystroke specification.
-
- As per the standard matchlist definition, the list can contain one or
- more filematch specifications. Each filematch specification can contain
- the * or ? wildcards, and be preceded with !. The ! designates that
- files matching this specification should be removed from the list of
- files selected by prior specifications.
-
- The default setting is the absence of a specification. This designates
- that keybinding is to be selected solely on the keystroke value and is
- independent of whether or not files are selected.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 20
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 9.2.4 Key-Binding Field - Keystroke
-
- The keystroke is the keyboard character that must be matched for ToolBOX
- to invoke the keybinding.
-
- When the option is selected, a list of all possible keystrokes is shown.
- Select the desired entry, either by cursoring to it or by directly
- entering the keystroke. Most of the keystrokes are straight forward,
- simply representing the valid combinations of the normal keys along with
- the <SHIFT>, <CTRL>, and <ALT> keys. However, a few special conditions
- should be noted:
-
- o characters that are not available include:
-
- . the alphabetic keys (without CTRL or ALT)
-
- . the ToolBOX basic operation keys: cursor keys, <PG UP>,
- <PG DN>, <HOME>, <END>, <ESC>, and <SPACE>
-
- o as <RETURN> is used in the menu selection process, you must
- cursor to it to select its entry.
-
- o the only special allowance made for the 101 key AT keyboards are
- that the <+> and <-> keys are distinguished from the equivalent
- keys on the main part of the keyboard. The <F11> and <F12> keys
- are not supported.
-
- o for keys that may not be available on all keyboards, the key
- label in the menu is enclosed in [brackets]. Use the direct
- menu select mechanism to test if they have the desired effect.
- This applies to such characters as <CTRL RETURN> which may not
- be supported by your BIOS or the mid <keypad 5> which may not
- physically exist on your keyboard. Refer to the General Product
- Overview Manual for alternate keystrokes for these keys.
-
- o with three exceptions, all the keys correspond to single
- keystrokes (with one of more shift states). The three
- exceptions provide a mechanism to group common keys together.
- The keystroke for these can be assumed to be matched if any of
- the keys within the group are entered. The labels for the three
- groups are:
-
- ASCII Group contains the standard 95 printable charact-
- ters available through the main portion of the
- keyboard. Includes the upper and lower case
- alphabetics, numeric, and punctuation characters.
-
- ALT LETTER The 26 alphabetic keys when used in conjunction
- with the ALT key.
-
- CTRL LETTER The 26 alphabetic keys when used in conjunction
- with the CTRL key.
-
- There is no default keystroke selection.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 21
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 9.2.5 Key-Binding Field - Command Set
-
- The Command Set field represents the individual instructions that are to
- be processed when the keybinding is invoked. The command lines can be
- either DOS commands or ToolBOX intrinsics. Rules for the available
- commands and their contents are provided in Section 9.3.
-
- Each command set may contain up to 40 lines of up to 68 characters each.
- The lines can contain any valid CTRL character variable. TBOXCFG does
- not check the validity of the entered command lines. The command set
- lines can be viewed from within the ToolBOX program through the extended
- help facility, <ALT F1>.
-
-
- 9.2.6 Key-Binding Field - Help Text
-
- The help text entered here is displayed when the <F1> help key is used
- within ToolBOX. This help text for the configured keybindings is
- displayed after the explanations for the basic ToolBOX operations.
-
- As for the command lines, you may enter up to 40 lines of up to 68
- characters each. The convention employed for the factory default
- commands is a single line for each consisting of:
-
- o 8 characters for the match string or " --- " if not
- applicable.
-
- o 12 characters for the keystroke match.
-
- o up to 48 characters of explanation.
-
- Note this is only a convention used to ensure the presentation is
- consistent. The help text can span any number of lines, even zero, and
- employ any formatting that may be desirable.
-
-
- 9.2.7 Key-Binding Field - Flags
-
- The Flags menu sets the state for seven different aspects of executing a
- keybinding. These are primarily used to optimize the screen transitions
- from the ToolBOX directory display to the program (or DOS) screen and
- then back. Each keybinding will have different requirements in terms of
- video modes that must be initialized, file updates that must be
- integrated into the display, pause and error processing requirements,
- and so on. The flag settings can be used to ensure that the transitions
- are done as quickly and as smoothly as possible.
-
- As each of the seven flag settings is selected, a submenu appears
- showing the available options. The current setting is prefixed with a
- character. To change the setting, cursor to the desired option and enter
- <RETURN> or <SPACE>. Figure 9/1 illustrates one of these menus - for
- setting error condition options.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 22
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- ┌───────────────────────── ToolBOX Configuration ──────────────────────┐
- │ │
- │ ╔════════════════╗ │
- │ ┌────────────────────────┐ ║ Tue Jly 14/92 ║ │
- │ │Load configuration file │ ║ 11:47:51 ║ │
- │ │Configure┌───────────────────────────────┐ ║ ---------- ║ │
- │ │Save┌────│Select all ent┌───────────────────────┐╚════════════════╝ │
- │ │eXit│comm│Select current│Switch to DOS window │ │
- │ └────│sele│Sele┌─────────│Tell DOS of Video Lines│ │
- │ │Sort│Exec│Edit │Display data │ │
- │ │disp│Star│Inse┌────│sUbdirectory │ │
- │ │Key │Star│Appe│Labe│Pause on completion │ │
- │ │comm│KBD>│Cut │Matc│On error │ │
- │ │Quic│DELE│Past│Keys│Embe┌───────┐ │ │
- │ │Defa│KBD>└────│Comm│sKip│ Abort │ │ │
- │ │tbox│KILLDIR │Help└────│Ignore│──────────┘ │
- │ └────│PRINT │Flags └───────┘ │ │
- │ │QUICK EXI│Cancel ch │ │ │
- │ │KBD> RENA└───────────────┘ │ │
- │ │Shell to DOS │ │
- │ │TREE directory │ │
- │ │VIEW File │ │
- │ └───────────────────────────────┘ │
- │ │
- └──────────────────────────────────────────────── F1 for HELP ─────────┘
-
- Figure 9/1 Example Menu Showing Possible Change To The On-Error Flags
-
-
- Each of the eight flag settings covers a particular aspect of processing
- a keybinding. These settings along with their sub-menu options are
- (defaults shown prefixed with ):
-
- Switch to DOS window
-
-
- Controls whether, before the command is executed, ToolBOX
- should retain it's own directory display or switch to the
- screen for DOS command lines. The setting has no effect in
- split screen mode.
-
- Inhibit switch Stay with the ToolBOX directory
- display. This should only be used
- for commands which generate no
- output to the screen or produce full
- screen output (that is where
- switching to the DOS screen would be
- immediately replaced anyway).
-
- Switch and save Restore the DOS screen before
- executing the command, and upon
- completion record the updated screen
- state so that it can be used for the
- next opportunity. Switching to DOS
- not only restores the screen
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 23
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- characters but also the number of
- video lines. This may be
- significant to some programs.
-
- switch, Don't save As above except that the updated DOS
- screen is essentially ignored on
- completion. This is useful for full
- screen programs which require the
- initial DOS screen line settings.
-
-
-
- Tell DOS of video lines
-
- Determines whether DOS should be specifically told there are
- only 25 lines available in the split screen area. As
- explained in the ToolBOX manual for the TBOX -xT command line
- argument, under some combinations and versions of the
- ANSI.SYS driver and DOS, it may be possible to have DOS
- restricted to the 25 line split screen area, yet have
- applications use the full 43 or 50 line screen. This flag
- and the command line argument setting are combined before the
- command is carried out - i.e. as long as either is set to YES
- DOS is told of the 25 line restriction. This setting has no
- effect if not in split screen mode.
-
- No Do not tell DOS. Assumes DOS
- (usually V3.x or 4 with ANSI.SYS) is
- self limited to the 25 line split
- screen area.
-
- Yes Tell DOS (and therefore all other
- programs that default to the current
- screen settings) that only 25 lines
- are available in the split screen
- area.
-
-
-
- Display data
-
- This setting is used to optimize, where possible, the
- processing required to update the directory display after a
- keybinding is processed. A complete update requires that all
- the files in the directory be re-examined to detect possible
- changes. This file data must then be sorted and reformatted
- for presentation purposes. Elimination of any of these steps
- (and especially the re-reading of the directory) helps
- eliminate unnecessary delays.
-
-
- New data File or directory changes occurred.
- Re-read the directory and update the
- display accordingly.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 24
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- Re-sort File data didn't change. Just re-
- sort it.
-
- re-Sort and format File data didn't change, but sort
- criteria or format rules did.
- Therefore use the existing file data
- but reformat and re-sort it before
- displaying.
-
- New data if change ToolBOX can make a SIMPLISTIC test
- for file changes by checking for
- changes in the disk space
- utilization before and after
- execution of the keybinding.
- Depending on whether changes were
- detected, this option completes as
- per the "New data" or "No changes"
- options.
-
- It must be emphasized that while the
- test is much faster than re-reading
- the entire directory, it is far from
- foolproof. Do not use this option
- if you cannot afford to have the
- display be slightly out-of-date
- occasionally.
-
- Assume BTS errorlevel
- Most Binary Toolshed programs return
- an error level indicator which
- identifies whether changes have
- occurred (refer to the General
- Product Overview Manual for
- specifics). This option tells
- ToolBOX to examine this error level
- indicator to determine whatever
- display updates are warranted.
-
- No change There are no changes to the files
- involved in the current ToolBOX
- directory display, therefore no
- update is required.
-
-
- subDirectory
-
- This setting identifies whether the matchlist specification
- in the keybinding pertains to files and/or subdirectories.
-
- No Match files only.
-
- Yes Match subdirectories only.
-
- Optional Match files and subdirectories.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 25
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- Pause on completion
-
- Identifies whether, on completion of processing the
- keybinding command set, ToolBOX should pause and display the
- resultant DOS screen or revert immediately to the ToolBOX
- directory display. This setting has no effect in split
- screen mode or if the PAUSE flag within ToolBOX itself is set
- to YES (see ToolBOX popup menu options or <ALT F2> in the
- ToolBOX User Manual).
-
- If what is desired is to actually pause after each command
- (and not just preserve DOS screens that would have otherwise
- been replaced), then specifically insert the DOS PAUSE
- command within the command set.
-
-
- after Each command If a single keystroke involves
- keybindings for a number of selected
- files, then ToolBOX will pause after
- the execution phase has completed
- for each command set for each
- selected file. Any-key will cause
- the process to resume, however,
- <CTRL c> can be used to abort the
- remaining operations.
-
- after All selected As above, except ToolBOX pauses once
- and once only at the completion of
- all keybindings for the current
- keystroke. The PAUSE flag set
- through the TBOX -xP command line
- argument or the ToolBOX popup menu
- sets this setting for all
- keybindings.
-
- Never Revert immediately to the ToolBOX
- directory display - do not pause.
-
-
- On-error
-
- Specifies what should be done when external programs return a
- non-zero errorlevel value. The error setting is generally
- not applicable. The errorlevel value is only available from
- programs that are invoked directly; with explicit .exe or
- .com extensions (for other programs, ToolBOX runs them
- indirectly through COMMAND.COM which discards the program
- errorlevel value). Also the convention for errorlevel values
- is not consistently followed by all programs. Judicious
- caution is warranted.
-
- Abort Stop processing immediately. The
- audible alarm for execution errors
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 26
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- is also issued.
-
- Ignore No attention is paid to the
- errorlevel value returned from
- executed programs.
-
-
- Embeddable
-
- Indicates to ToolBOX if this keybinding should be allowed to
- be processed if the associated keystroke is entered when
- ToolBOX is in the keyboard command line mode. As explained
- for "External Command Access" in Section 9.3.2 of the ToolBOX
- User Manual, as a simple guideline, any command can be used
- as long as it does not change the current directory,
- reference the currently selected files, or conflict with
- characters used for editing the command lines or with those
- used for command line variables. The commands that can be
- used include those that alter the number of screen lines,
- change the split screen status, change the display sort and
- format settings, toggle ToolBOX/DOS views etc.
-
-
- No Do not process if the keystroke is
- entered in the middle of a keyboard
- command line.
-
- Yes Process the keybinding. Use caution
- here.
-
-
- sKip to cursor
-
- Specifies a special command which is intended to be processed
- once and once only, and on the file at the current cursor
- position. The normal procedure is to execute the keybinding
- once for each selected file.
-
- No Process with normal sequencing
- through selected files.
-
- Yes Process as if the file at the cursor
- were the only selected file. That
- is, perform the processing and then
- stop. This is primarily used for
- the file selection commands
- themselves (e.g. <ALT space> ) where
- the already selected files should
- not be processed.
-
-
- While these settings may require several repetitions before the optimum
- states can be found, there is almost always a way to eliminate unneces-
- sary screen updates or transitions.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 27
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
-
-
- 9.3 Command Line Contents : DOS and Intrinsic Commands
-
- 9.3.1 Basics
-
- This section describes the commands that can be used within the command
- line portion of a keybinding (see Section 9.2.5).
-
- The lines can be either DOS commands or ToolBOX intrinsics. Intrinsics
- are the commands that are processed directly by ToolBOX. DOS and
- intrinsic command lines can be combined in any order to comprise a
- command set.
-
- The same rules apply here as for entering keyboard command lines within
- ToolBOX.
-
- For DOS commands avoid using SET and its derivatives - PROMPT and PATH.
- DOS commands/functions that are specific to batch files such as GOTO and
- labels are also not available. Avoid commands which install a resident
- TSR segment.
-
- The basic intrinsic commands (cd, dir, del, killdir, and sel) are
- described in the ToolBOX User Manual. This manual describes two
- additional intrinsics: tbx, and t*x. While they can be entered through
- the keyboard command line, they are intended for use within the
- keybinding command sets. These are oriented toward system setup and
- configuration operations.
-
-
-
- 9.3.2 File Variables
-
- Command lines, whether DOS or intrinsics, can contain variables which
- relate to files selected within the directory display. The effective
- text is substituted for the variable when the command line is executed.
- Each variable is created by a <CTRL letter> sequence, and is displayed
- as letter. For example <CTRL f> is shown as f.
-
- The available variables are:
-
- <CTRL d> display drive letter.
- <CTRL p> display path.
- <CTRL n> 1 to 8 character file name.
- <CTRL x> 0 to 3 character extension.
-
- <CTRL f> minimized pathname, i.e. sufficient information to
- uniquely reference the selected file from the current
- directory.
-
- <CTRL D> current drive letter.
- <CTRL P> current path.
-
- <CTRL c> last character from keyboard.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 28
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- The display drive letter can also be entered as a relative drive:
-
- [+-!]d for the drive that is next, previous, or adjacent in
- the direction of the direction flag. The resultant
- value will always wrap around within the valid range.
- For example, the command line:
-
- +d:
-
- can be used to cycle through all the valid drives on
- your system.
-
- To create this sequence, enter <CTRL d>, then cursor
- back and insert the direction character before the d.
-
-
-
- 9.3.3 Edit Control Instructions
-
- Text for the keyboard command lines (see "t*x p" in Section 9.3.6) can
- contain embedded instructions which control the edit operation during
- the initial presentation of the keyboard command. These instructions
- are coded as a single letter enclosed in angle brackets. The four
- supported instructions, which can be inserted anywhere in the command
- text, are:
-
- <c> set the cursor position to the current location
-
- <i> start the edit operation in insert-mode
-
- <o> start the edit operation in overstrike-mode
-
- <m> mark the start (or end) of a DefaultText field. The
- text will be displayed in reverse video. If the
- initially entered character is non-printable (such as
- <RETURN>), then the DefaultText will be converted to
- normal text. If, however, the initial character is
- printable, the marked text will be deleted and
- replaced with the newly entered character. The cursor
- will be positioned following this character in insert-
- mode. Only one such field may exist in a command
- line. The field continues to the end-of-line if the
- end mark is not supplied.
-
- As an example, the following is a possible version of the rename command
- which suggests the new filename have the same name but a "NEW"
- extension. Entering any text will overwrite this extension.
-
- t*x p rename f n.<m>new<m>
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 29
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 9.3.4 Command Processing
-
- Section 9.3.6 describes the "t*x p command-line" command which preloads
- the command-line text into the keyboard command line. The parameters/-
- variables for this command are evaluated twice. Once when the command
- is initially processed and brought into the keyboard command line, and a
- second time when <RETURN> is ultimately entered.
-
- When the variables are processed by ToolBOX, the sequence is
- translated to a single . This facility can be used to ensure that the
- variables are expanded at the proper time.
-
- If the variable is to be replaced with the selected file name at the
- time the command line is brought into the keyboard buffer, then use one
- . If multiple files are selected, only the first will be processed.
- It is the keyboard command line that would be reprocessed for each
- selected file, but since this command line is now static and unchanging,
- there is no need to repeat after the first pass.
-
- If the variable is to be replaced at the time the <RETURN> is entered
- (and repeated for each additional selected file), then use two prefix
- characters when placing the variable in the command set for the key
- binding. This displays as one in the keyboard command line.
-
- To produce consecutive diamonds ( ), either enter two consecutive
- valid CTRL characters such as <CTRL f> and then manually delete the
- first letter, or enter <ALT 0><ALT 0><ALT 4> twice using the numeric
- keypad. When using the keypad technique, ensure that NUMLOCK is off and
- that you release the ALT key after <ALT 4>.
-
-
-
- 9.3.5 Intrinsic tbx Command
-
- The intrinsic command tbx is used to implement a number of housekeeping
- operations. While intended to be executed transparently through
- bindings to specific keys, they may be entered manually through the
- keyboard command line.
-
- All commands contain a single letter descriptor followed by additional
- parameters as required. These commands are:
-
- tbx d o switch the screen to the DOS window.
-
- tbx h # o initiate ToolBOX help, where # is 1 or 2. 1
- selects basic command descriptions, 2 adds the
- actual command set text for each key binding.
- The key binding can be used to change the help
- descriptions for the configurable commands
- contained in the middle section of the help text.
- The factory default configuration uses single
- line descriptions for each keybinding, but this
- need not be the case.
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 30
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- tbx p o toggle the current PAUSE status. When ON,
- ToolBOX will pause at the DOS screen just before
- returning to the ToolBOX directory display. The
- default is OFF, although this can be changed
- through the TBOX -xP command line argument. The
- setting can also be examined and changed through
- the ToolBOX popup menu. This setting has no
- effect in split screen mode.
-
- tbx r ## o change screen rows to ##, where ## must be one of
- 25, 43, or 50. The original DOS setting will be
- used for any other values. No check is made for
- consistency with the current video card.
-
- tbx t o toggle the current DIRECTION status. The
- direction state is used by <TAB>, and <SHIFT
- SPACE>. This state can be examined and changed
- through the ToolBOX popup menu.
-
- tbx w o toggle between ToolBOX SELECT and DIRECTORY
- state.
-
- tbx N o change directories to the next entry in the
- directory stack; i.e. move to the next oldest.
- The directory stack is a list (to a 500 character
- limit) of the previous directories entered and
- the file at the cursor on exit from each.
-
- tbx P o change directories to the previous entry in the
- directory stack; i.e. move to the next newest.
-
- tbx x o conditional exit, prompt first to ensure user
- wants to exit.
-
- tbx X o unconditional exit. Exit immediately.
-
-
-
- 9.3.6 Intrinsic t*x Command
-
- The t*x command is similar to the tbx intrinsic command described in the
- previous section. The notable difference being these are only to be
- initiated from command sets bound to specific keys. Manually entering
- these commands through the keyboard command line could cause unpredict-
- able results. Refer to the default command configurations for practical
- examples of how these commands are employed.
-
- t*x p [command-line-text]
- o start the keyboard command, initializing with all
- trailing text on the t*x p command line.
-
- t*x l o start the keyboard command, initializing with
- text from the most recent command stack entry.
- The command stack is used to retain the latest
- keyboard command lines, up to a 500 character
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 31
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- limit.
-
- t*x C o assign current directory to quick-command x (x is
- assumed to be the next character received through
- the keyboard). Quick-commands are limited to a
- total of 500 characters. They can be viewed and
- invoked through the popup menu.
-
- t*x D o delete quick-command x (again x is assumed to be
- the next character received through the
- keyboard).
-
- t*x K o add the current keyboard command line as quick-
- command x (x is assumed to be the next character
- received through the keyboard). The keyboard
- command line is cleared on receipt of the x
- label.
-
- t*x X o execute quick-command x (x is assumed to be the
- next character received through the keyboard).
- The quick-command text is treated in the same
- manner as if it were entered through the keyboard
- command line.
-
- t*x f progname.ext [param1] [param2] . . .
- o if it can be found in the current directory or on
- the PATH, then invoke the progname.ext program
- and pass it the parameters param1, param2, etc.
- If the progname.ext file cannot be located, a
- default command line is performed, see Section
- 12. The extension must be explicitly stated.
-
- t*x x progname.ext [param2] [param3] . . .
- o equivalent to the above t*x f command, except
- that if progname.ext is not found, ToolBOX simply
- beeps.
-
- t*x s o toggle DOS split screen. Beeps if EGA or VGA
- video card not available. If in 25 line mode,
- also automatically shifts to 43 (EGA) or 50 (VGA)
- line mode.
-
- t*x w o initiate the popup menu window. This permits
- viewing or changes for quick commands, sort
- procedures, display formats, and pause and target
- direction states.
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 32
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 10.0 Configure Option : Command Overrides
-
- 10.1 Basics
-
- The command override facility makes it possible to identify and then
- make appropriate adjustments for specific commands entered on the
- ToolBOX keyboard command line. These adjustments are essentially
- equivalent to the flag settings available for the keybindings - for
- switching to the DOS screen, pausing, refreshing the directory display,
- and so on.
-
- Configuration for the command is similar to the keybinding facility.
- When selected from the Configure Menu, a list of the existing command
- override names is presented. Cursor to the desired entry and enter
- <RETURN>.
-
- This brings up a menu to select an update option:
-
- Edit
-
- Initiate changes to the existing settings for the command
- override.
-
-
- Insert
-
- Add a new entry before the current override command. Flags
- are initialized to the default settings. There is no
- significance to the order of the entries.
-
-
- Paste before
-
- Insert a copy of the most recent Cut operation before the
- current command override.
-
-
- Cut
-
- Delete the current override command. The deleted entry is
- temporarily retained and can be used in subsequent paste
- operations. These Cut and Paste combinations can be used to
- duplicate or move entries.
-
-
- The order of the override entries is not significant. With the Edit and
- Insert options, a secondary menu is generated for the update itself.
- Its options are:
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 33
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- Program Name
-
- Enter the filename for which the override is to apply. Case
- is significant, path is not allowed, and the extension is
- optional. As for intrinsic commands, the match will only
- occur if the name is entered in the ToolBOX in all upper or
- all lower case. The match is performed with the name portion
- only. The extension is provided to optimize the execution
- phase, such that if it didn't exist already, it is appended
- when a match occurs. As for any program invocation, if the
- .exe or .com extension is known, then ToolBOX is capable of
- executing it directly without the inefficiency of using the
- intermediate COMMAND.COM. The filename entered is also used
- for display purposes in the original selection list.
-
- Flags
-
- There are 6 separate flag settings. Five are similar to
- those for the keybinding flags and one is unique. These are
- described in Section 10.2.
-
- Cancel Changes
-
- All changes are made to a copy of the data which is not
- incorporated until <ESC> is entered to exit from this menu.
- If the Cancel Changes option is used, any changes made to the
- override command are ignored.
-
- If you wish to bypass the override function within ToolBOX when entering
- keyboard commands, then enter the name in mixed case.
-
-
- 10.2 Override Flags
-
- The flags are similar to those used for the keybindings. In fact five
- settings are identical. Refer to Section 9.2 for a detailed description
- of the settings for:
-
-
- Switch to DOS window
-
- Controls transitions between DOS and ToolBOX screens; both
- before and after executing the overridden command.
-
- Tell DOS of lines
-
- Inform DOS of whether it must restrict itself to 25 lines for
- split screen usage.
-
- Display data
-
- Optimizes data updates for ToolBOX directory display follow-
- ing the over-ridden command.
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 34
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- Pause on completion
-
- Indicates whether a pause should occur following the command
- before reverting to the ToolBOX directory display.
-
- On-error
-
- Specifies what should be done when the override command
- returns a non-zero errorlevel value.
-
-
- The keybinding flags for Subdirectory, Embeddable, and Skip-to-cursor
- are not applicable for command overrides.
-
- The one new flag setting for command overrides relates to the handling
- of memory for the over-ridden program. This is not necessary for the
- keybindings as the "@" prefix to request the swap can be placed on the
- individual command lines in the command set. The swap setting controls
- whether or not the swap is made, but not where. The TBOX -M command
- line argument determines if swap operations use disk or EMS for storage,
- and the default setting that determines if all external programs are
- swapped or not.
-
- sWap out ToolBOX
-
- Use swap default
-
- Essentially indicates that no action be taken. The
- default established by the -M command line argument
- should apply for this command as for any command,
- whether from a keyboard command or a keybinding command
- set.
-
- Never swap
-
- Overrides the -M command line argument to inhibit the
- swap operation when the override command is executed.
-
- Always swap
-
- Essentially inserts the "@" prefix in front of the
- over-ridden command to ensure that it is swapped.
-
-
-
- 10.3 Factory Default Command Overrides
-
- The default configuration contains command overrides for two types of
- common commands, for DOS and for Binary Toolshed Utilities.
-
- The overrides for the DOS commands serve two functions. For commands
- such as type, or chkdsk which generate output for the screen, the over-
- ride is used to ensure a pause occurs after the command is executed and
- before reverting to the directory display. For other commands such as
- cls, the override tells DOS to not bother re-reading the directory. DOS
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 35
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- commands such as copy and diskcopy command are not included in the
- default override settings, although these can easily be added to ensure
- ToolBOX pauses after the commands issue their results.
-
- The overrides for the Binary Toolshed Utilities take advantage of the
- known characteristics of these programs. For the utilities that
- generate output (dirs, drives, onpath, and wi), the flags are set to
- ensure a pause occurs. The full screen utilities (tree, and view) are
- configured to take advantage of the ToolBOX screen settings. All
- utilities are configured to use the BTS errorlevel value.
-
- The override list can easily be extended to incorporate all of the
- programs used within your environment. Pause settings, screen transit-
- ions, directory updates, memory utilization, and so on can all be
- optimized for your most commonly used programs.
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 36
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 11.0 Configure Option : Quick Lines
-
- Quicklines are an alternative method for executing command lines,
- whether DOS or intrinsics. Unlike keybindings, quicklines:
-
- o contain one and only one command line.
-
- o have no associated flag settings or match strings.
-
- o are executed once only and are independent of any selected
- files.
-
- o can be configured from the ToolBOX program as well as through
- the TBOXCFG program.
-
- o are executed within the ToolBOX program from the popup menu or
- through a two character sequence consisting of the quick command
- introducer character (nominally ') and a unique single character
- label.
-
-
- The configuration for quick commands is similar to the override command.
- When selected from the Configure Menu, a list of the existing quick
- commands is presented. Each entry consists of the alphabetic label and
- the quickline itself. Cursor to the desired entry and enter <RETURN>.
-
- This brings up a menu to select an update option:
-
- Edit
-
- Initiate changes to the existing settings for the quick
- command.
-
-
- Insert
-
- Add a new entry before the current quickline. There is no
- significance to the order of the entries. If two accident-
- ally have the same label, only the first has any effect.
-
-
- Delete
-
- Deletes the current quickline command. There is no paste
- option provided for quicklines.
-
-
- With the Edit and Insert options, an additional two line text entry
- window is generated for the update itself. The two lines are for the
- quicklabel and the quickline respectively.
-
- Anything after the first character of the label line is ignored. The
- label can be any alphanumeric character. Case is significant.
-
- The quickline can contain any DOS or intrinsic command that is valid for
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 37
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- the keyboard command line or a key binding. The same rules apply for
- command line variables except that the variables reference the file at
- the cursor position rather than selected files. Quicklines will be
- processed once and once only - not once for for each selected file as
- would occur for keybindings. Quick commands defined through the TBOXCFG
- program are identical and indistinguishable from those added dynamically
- with the ToolBOX program.
-
- There is a 500 character limit for all quick lines.
-
- There are no factory default quick commands defined.
-
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 38
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 12.0 Configure Option : Default-DOS-Command
-
- The default-DOS-command is the command line invoked when the "t*x f"
- (see Section 9.3.6) command is unable to locate an applicable file to
- execute.
-
- Within ToolBOX, "t*x f" is used for the deferred batch file facility.
- The command line is used when the batch filename composed from the
- extension of the selected file cannot be found. The factory default
- default-DOS-command is to use view to display the selected file, that is
-
- view f
-
- This can be altered to use any other display program or viewer.
-
-
- Selecting this option from the Configure menu produces a sub-menu with
- choices for either the command line or flag settings.
-
- Selecting the Command option produces a text entry window. Enter the
- single line default command containing up to 68 characters.
-
- The Flags option introduces the same five settings that are used for the
- key bindings. Refer to Section 9.2 for a detailed description of the
- flag setting options for:
-
- Switch to DOS window
-
- Tell DOS of video lines
-
- Display data
-
- Pause on completion
-
- On-error
-
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 39
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- 13.0 Configure Option : ToolBOX Banner
-
- Normally the text in the upper left corner of the ToolBOX display shows
- the "The Binary Toolshed". This is the ToolBOX banner that can be
- changed to any desired string.
-
- Selecting this option from the Configure menu produces a text entry
- window. Enter any string of up to 32 characters.
-
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 40
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- APPENDIX A : TBOXCFG COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS
-
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG [d:][path]cfgname[.cfg]
- -V [b m s c e v] [25 43 50] -C[m c g]
- -X [a#] [fF]
-
-
- where :
-
-
- [d:][path]cfgname[.cfg]
- configuration file to be edited
-
-
- -Video[bIOS|mONOCHROME|sNOW|cGA|eGA|vGA] [25LINES|43LINES|50LINES]
-
- -Color[mONOCHROME|cOLOR|gRAYSCALE]
-
- -eXecute
- a# permitted audio tones for different errors:
- 1 (border) + 2 (syntax) + 4 (execution)
- f / F enable Flashing color
-
-
- NOTE :
-
- o all fields are optional
-
- o default is
-
- -v25 -Xa7f
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 41
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- APPENDIX B : INTRINSIC COMMAND SUMMARY
-
-
- INTRINSIC COMMANDS
- ──────────────────
-
-
-
- Update directory display.
-
- dir [d:][path][matchlist] [/s[ + - ! ]#] [/f[ + - ! ]#]
-
- Change directory.
-
- [cd] [d:][path]
-
- Delete selected files.
-
- del [d:][path]matchlist
-
- Delete selected directories and contents.
-
- killdir [d:]path
-
- Select files.
-
- sel [ @ + - ] matchlist
-
- Switch to the DOS window.
-
- tbx d
-
- Initiate Help (1=basic help, 2=extended command set).
-
- tbx h #
-
- Toggle current PAUSE status.
-
- tbx p
-
- Set number of screen lines (25, 43, or 50 - otherwise the
- DOS setting).
-
- tbx r ##
-
- Toggle current DIRECTION status.
-
- tbx t
-
- Toggle between ToolBOX SELECT and DIRECTORY state.
-
- tbx w
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 42
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- Change directories to the next entry in the directory
- stack.
-
- tbx N
-
- Change directories to the previous entry in the
- directory stack.
-
- tbx P
-
- Conditional exit (Use verification window).
-
- tbx x
-
- Unconditional exit.
-
- tbx X
-
- Invoke program if locatable, else use default command
- line.
-
- t*x f progname.ext [param1] [param2] . . .
-
- Start the keyboard command with newest command stack
- entry.
-
- t*x l
-
- Start keyboard command with text provided.
-
- t*x p [command-line-text]
-
- Toggle DOS split screen.
-
- t*x s
-
- Initiate the popup menu window.
-
- t*x w
-
- Invoke program if locatable, else sound(error).
-
- t*x x progname.ext [param1] [param2] . . .
-
- Assign current directory to quick command, get label x from
- keyboard.
-
- t*x C
-
- Delete quick command, get x from keyboard.
-
- t*x D
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 43
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- Add the current keyboard command line as quick command,
- get x from the keyboard.
-
- t*x K
-
- Execute quick command, get x from keyboard.
-
- t*x X
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 44
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- APPENDIX C : SORT FORMAT SPECIFICATION
-
-
- d date
- n name
- x extension
- s size
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 45
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- APPENDIX D : DISPLAY FORMAT SPECIFICATION
-
-
- D ddMmmyy date string
- t hh:mm time string
- d 2 char day xx
- m 2 char month
- y 2 char year
- M 3 char Month
-
- n 8 character name
- C 8 character byte count " <DIR> " if a directory
- c 8 character byte count " " if a directory
- x 3 character extension
-
- \\ status " " or "\" if a directory
- / status in decreasing priority "s", "h", "r", "\"
-
- S "" if file selected, else " "
-
- "literal strings" preserved as given
-
-
-
-
- TBOXCFG User Manual Page 46
- ____________________________________________________________________________
-
-
- APPENDIX E : COMMAND LINE VARIABLES
-
-
- Basic file oriented variables:
-
- <CTRL d> display drive
-
- <CTRL p> display path
-
- <CTRL n> 8 character file name
-
- <CTRL x> 3 character extension
-
- <CTRL D> current drive letter
-
- <CTRL P> current path
-
- <CTRL f> minimized filename
-
-
- Additional variables (as displayed):
-
- [ + - ! ]d biased display drive
-
- c last character from keyboard
-
- single literal character
-
-
- Edit Control Instructions
-
-
- <c> set cursor position
-
- <i> set insert mode
-
- <o> set overstrike mode
-
- <m> mark start (or end) of default-text region
-
-
-