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4DOS Version 2.0 4DOS Version 2.0 A PC-DOS / MS-DOS Command Processor A PC-DOS / MS-DOS Command Processor Written by: Rex C. Conn Tom Rawson Distributed by: J.P. Software P.O. Box 1470 E. Arlington, MA 02174 _______ ____|__ | (tm) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Program and Documentation Copyright (c) 1988, 1989 Rex C. Conn and J.P. Software. All rights reserved. Portions Copyright (c) 1987, 1988 Microsoft Corporation. Published by: J.P. Software: P.O. Box 1470 E. Arlington, MA 02174 (617) 646-3975 Electronic mail to: CompuServe 73577,243 BIX "trawson" PC-DOS, PC, PC XT, PC AT, and PS/2 are trademarks of IBM Corporation. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. 1-2-3 is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. dBASE is a trademark of Ashton Tate. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to Dave Lemire, Chris Rousseau and the beta testers for their invaluable suggestions and debugging help, and to Lorna Howard for the manual design, layout, and editing. 4DOS is written in Microsoft C 5.1 and assembly language. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS _________________ Introduction i Introduction Registration Information ii 4DOS License Agreement iii Limited Warranty v Order Form vii Technical Support ix ASP x 4DOS Features 1 4DOS Features Installation 8 Installation Automatic Installation 10 Manual Installation 10 Configuring 4DOS 12 Using 4DOS with DESQView 13 Compatibility Notes 14 Using 4DOS 15 Using 4DOS Starting 4DOS 15 Command Line Editing 16 Command History & Recall 17 Multiple Commands 18 Conditional Commands 19 Escape Characters 19 Command Echoing 20 Argument Quoting 20 Aliases 20 Keystack 22 Environment Variables 23 I/O Redirection 25 Command Reference Guide 27 Command Reference Guide ? 29 ALIAS 30 ATTRIB 32 BEEP 33 BREAK 34 CALL 35 CANCEL 36 CD / CHDIR 37 CDD 38 CHCP 39 CLS 40 COPY 41 DATE 42 DEL / ERASE 43 DESCRIBE 44 DIR 45 DIRS 47 ECHO 48 ENDLOCAL 49 ESET 50 EXCEPT 51 EXIT 52 FOR 53 FREE 54 GLOBAL 55 GOSUB 56 GOTO 57 HELP 58 HISTORY 59 IF 60 INKEY 62 INPUT 63 KEYSTACK 64 LIST 65 MD / MKDIR 66 MEMORY 67 MOVE 68 PATH 69 PAUSE 70 POPD 71 PROMPT 72 PUSHD 73 QUIT 74 RD / RMDIR 75 REM 76 REN / RENAME 77 RETURN 78 SCREEN 79 SELECT 80 SET 81 SETDOS 82 SETLOCAL 84 SHIFT 85 TEE 86 TEXT 87 TIME 88 TIMER 89 TYPE 90 UNALIAS 91 VER 92 VERIFY 93 VOL 94 Y 95 Appendices Appendices A Error messages 96 B ANSI commands 102 C Extended key codes 105 Index 106 Index Introduction Introduction Welcome, and thanks for trying 4DOS! 4DOS is designed to help you get the most out of your IBM PC or compatible system. It replaces COMMAND.COM, the command interpreter that comes with all versions of MS-DOS and PC-DOS. You'll find 4DOS provides a wide variety of capabilities COMMAND.COM can't, ranging from a vastly enhanced DIR command, to point-and-shoot file selection for any command, to the ability to completely redefine your system's commands. Yet 4DOS is fully compatible with COMMAND.COM. 4DOS is a "DOS shell" (a program that gives you access to DOS functions and commands), but it's unlike most DOS shells on the market. Virtually all of these shells are designed to isolate the novice user from the DOS command line. 4DOS, on the other hand, is intended to make DOS easier to use and to make you more productive while working at the command line. It provides enhancements to most of the DOS commands, as well as over 30 new commands. These improvements make 4DOS a much richer and more powerful environment to work in than COMMAND.COM, without sacrificing the compatibility, flexibility, and control you get from working at the command line. If you're tired of the limitations of COMMAND.COM, you'll love 4DOS! 4DOS is distributed as shareware, which means if you've _________ downloaded it from a bulletin board or obtained it from a friend, you can try it out before you decide whether you'd like to keep it. Like all shareware, if you do decide to keep 4DOS, you must pay a registration fee. The following pages include registration information, the 4DOS license agreement and registration form, and information on technical support for 4DOS, and on the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). 4DOS Reference Manual i Registration Information Registration Information 4DOS is a copyrighted program protected by both U.S. and international copyright law. You are authorized to use it without charge for a limited period of time under the terms of the 4DOS license agreement. After this time is up, you must register and pay for 4DOS to continue using it. This method of distribution is known as shareware. It _________ allows you to determine whether 4DOS meets your needs before you pay for it. The registration fee for a single copy of 4DOS is $50. Payment of this fee entitles you to: ∙ A disk with the latest version of 4DOS, registered to you. ∙ A version of 4DOS optimized for 80286/80386 processors. ∙ One copy of the printed and bound 4DOS manual. ∙ An upgrade to the next version of 4DOS for free, and reduced rates on future upgrades. ∙ Technical support via electronic mail or telephone. If you prefer, you may register for $35 and receive only the disk and notices of future upgrades. Network, site, and corporate licenses are also available; contact J.P. Software for more information. 4DOS Reference Manual ii 4DOS License Agreement 4DOS License Agreement (1) The 4DOS program and all other programs and documentation distributed or shipped with it are copyrighted works protected by U.S. and international copyright law. In the rest of this document, this collection of programs is referred to simply as "4DOS". You are granted a license to use your copy of 4DOS only under the terms and conditions specified in this license agreement. (2) 4DOS is a commercial software package. It is not not free, and it is not in the public domain. It is not distributed as shareware, which means that before you pay shareware _________ for the package, you may try it and see if you want to continue using it. You may use 4DOS free for a trial period of up to 21 days. If you wish to continue using 4DOS after that period, you must pay a registration fee. If you choose not to pay the registration fee, you must stop using 4DOS and remove it from your computer, though you are still free to keep copies and pass them along to others. (3) You may use your copy of 4DOS on a single computer. You may also install it on a computer attached to a network, or remove it from one computer and install it on a different one, provided there is no possibility that a single copy of 4DOS will be used on more than one computer at a time. Network, site, and corporate licenses are available from J.P. Software. (4) You may copy 4DOS for backup purposes, and you may give copies of the unregistered version to other unregistered individuals, which they may also use and copy under the terms of this agreement. If you copy the unregistered version of 4DOS for others, you must include all of the all files distributed with it. (5) You may NOT give, sell, or otherwise transfer copies of the registered version of 4DOS to any other person for registered any reason. However, you may transfer ownership of your registered copy to another person, provided that when you do so, you stop using 4DOS and remove it from your computer, and notify J.P. Software of the new owner. (6) You may NOT distribute 4DOS other than through individual copies of the unregistered version passed to unregistered friends and associates for their individual use. Specifically, you may not place 4DOS or any part of the 4DOS package in any user group or commercial library without express written permission from J.P. Software, and 4DOS Reference Manual iii you may not distribute for a fee, or in any way sell copies of 4DOS or any part of the 4DOS package. (7) 4DOS is a powerful program. While we have attempted to build in reasonable safeguards, if you do not use 4DOS properly you may destroy files or cause other damage to your computer software and data. You assume full You assume full responsibility for the selection and use of 4DOS to achieve responsibility for the selection and use of 4DOS to achieve your intended results; in no event shall J.P. Software be your intended results; in no event shall J.P. Software be responsible for any damages whatsoever due to errors in responsible for any damages whatsoever due to errors in usage or your failure to read, understand, or follow usage or your failure to read, understand, or follow instructions in the documentation. J.P. Software limits instructions in the documentation. its warranty to replacement of a defective program diskette or manual. (8) Like all useful computer software, 4DOS may contain errors in programs or documentation. If you find such an error or are otherwise dissatisfied with a registered copy of 4DOS, you may return the entire package at any time up to one year after purchase for a full refund of your original registration fee; such a refund shall be your sole remedy for any program error(s). J.P. Software shall not be liable for any other costs incurred by you due to such errors. (9) If you do not agree with these terms and conditions, you do not have permission from the copyright holder(s) to use 4DOS, and you must stop using it and remove it from your computer. (10) Any use or distribution of 4DOS which violates this license agreement will be considered a copyright violation, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. 4DOS Reference Manual iv Limited Warranty Limited Warranty J.P. Software warrants that the 4DOS diskette and manual distributed to registered users are fit for the purpose for which they are intended. J.P. Software will replace or refund the purchase price of the diskette and/or manual and/or any other parts or components of 4DOS found to be defective or not able to be used for the purpose for which they are intended, if such defect is the fault of J.P. Software and not the result of misuse or abuse, and if the defective items are returned to J.P. Software within the warranty period of one year. J.P. Software makes no other warranties, express or implied, and J.P. Software's warranty is expressly limited to the cost of replacement of any defective diskette or other part. 4DOS Reference Manual v Registration Form Return to: J.P. Software P.O. Box 1470 E. Arlington, MA 02174 4DOS Version 2.0 Quantity Price Disk, manual, and next update ($50.00) _______ _______ Disk only ($35.00) _______ _______ Subtotal _______ _______ Sales tax (MA only, 5%) _______ Shipping outside US ($5) _______ Total enclosed _______ Please specify 5.25 _____ or 3.5 _____ diskette. Credit card orders (MasterCard / VISA ONLY): Card Number _____________________ Expires _______ Signature _____________________ Credit card customers may also order by phone by calling (617) 646-3975 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern time, or by EMAIL. Check here to have us contact you about multi-system licenses ___ Terms: All payments must be in U.S. funds. All credit card charges will be authorized; credit cards are not charged until your order is shipped. Personal checks may be subject to bank clearance delay before shipment. Name _______________________________________________ Company _______________________________________________ Address _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Phone _____________________ I have read and agree to abide by the 4DOS license agreement: (Signature) ________________________________________ Where did you get 4DOS?__________________________________ Please use the back of this page for any comments or suggestions. 4DOS Reference Manual vi Technical Support Technical Support Technical support for 4DOS is available to registered users ONLY! If you are not a registered user, we will provided limited assistance to help you get 4DOS installed if you contact us via electronic mail (see below). If you are a registered user, you can contact J.P. Software for support at the following electronic addresses: CompuServe: Easyplex to 73577,243 BIX: Mail to "trawson" Or we can be reached via U.S. Mail at: J.P. Software P.O. Box 1470 E. Arlington, MA 02174 We strongly prefer support via electronic mail, as it allows correspondence at convenient times regardless of time zones and work schedules, and it provides a record of the communication. However, telephone support is also provided to those users who do not have a modem or an account on one of the electronic mail systems listed above. You can call us at (617) 646-3975 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern time. We will respond to telephone messages as quickly as possible, but may require 48 hours or more depending on the workload and the timing of your call. 4DOS Reference Manual vii Association of Shareware Professionals Association of Shareware Professionals The authors and publisher of 4DOS are members of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), an organization formed in April 1987 to strengthen the future of shareware as an alternative to commercial software. Its members, all of whom are programmers who subscribe to a code of ethics, are committed to the concept of shareware as a method of marketing. The ASP's Standards for its members and their shareware products are: Programming Standards Programming Standards The program meets the ASP's definition of "shareware" (i.e., it is not a commercial demo with a major feature disabled, nor a time-limited program). The program has been thoroughly tested by the author and should not be harmful to other files or hardware if used properly. Documentation Standards Documentation Standards Sufficient documentation is provided to allow the average user to try all the major functions of the program. Any discussion of the shareware concept and of registration requirements is done in a professional and positive manner. Support Standards Support Standards The member will respond to people who send registration payments, as promised in the program's documentation. At a minimum, the member will acknowledge receipt of all payments. The member will establish a procedure for users to report, and have acknowledged, matters such as bug reports, and will describe such means in the documentation accompanying all versions of the programs. The author will respond to written bug reports from registered users when the user provides a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Known incompatibilities with other software or hardware and major or unusual program limitations are noted in the documentation that comes with the shareware (evaluation) program. 4DOS Reference Manual viii ASP Ombudsman Information ASP Ombudsman Information This program is produced by members of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at: ASP Ombudsman P.O. Box 5786 Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via Easyplex electronic mail to the ASP Ombudsman, Compuserve ID number 70475,1071. 4DOS Reference Manual ix 4DOS Features 4DOS Features 4DOS is a complete replacement for COMMAND.COM, the command processor provided with MS-DOS or PC-DOS. (References in this manual to MS-DOS also apply to PC-DOS.) 4DOS is compatible with MS-DOS and COMMAND.COM, and adds many enhancements and new commands, including: Minimal Memory Usage Minimal Memory Usage 4DOS has a swapping option that requires less than 5K of your precious RAM for its resident portion, and can use either EMS memory or disk for swapping its transient portion. On-line Help On-line Help 4DOS provides help for all of its internal commands, as well as the MS-DOS external commands. Command Line Editing Command Line Editing 4DOS provides command line editing, including insert and delete, and full cursor key support. 4DOS also offers interactive expansion of wildcard filenames on the command line. Command History Command History 4DOS lets you view, search, modify, and reexecute your previous commands. The commands are saved in memory, and can be recalled with the cursor keys. The command history list size is user-defined, from 512 to 8192 characters. Flexible File Wildcards Flexible File Wildcards 4DOS offers more flexible wildcards than COMMAND.COM. For example, you can display all the files that have a "2" anywhere in their filename by entering: dir *2*.* dir *2*.* 4DOS Reference Manual 1 File Descriptions File Descriptions 4DOS allows you to give descriptions (up to 40 characters) to each of your files. The descriptions will be displayed with the filenames when you use the DIR or SELECT commands. Multiple Commands on a Single Line Multiple Commands on a Single Line You can enter several commands on a line by separating them with a ^ (caret), or other user-defined character. ^ Expanded and Editable Environment Expanded and Editable Environment 4DOS provides an environment size from 512 to 32000 bytes (user defined). You can interactively edit environment entries with the ESET command. Environment Variables Environment Variables Environment variables allow you to associate a string of characters with a variable name, substituting that string when the name is used. 4DOS provides a number of predefined variables, including system date and time, current directory, and default disk. Aliases Aliases Aliases allow you to rename or reconfigure commands (for example, to pass default parameters to a command, or to give MS-DOS the look and feel of a different operating system); or to define a new command as a combination of several other commands. Aliases support batch file-like arguments (%1, %2, etc.) and environment variables, so when combined with the multiple commands feature, they act as very fast batch files. Expanded Command Line Expanded Command Line 4DOS expands the MS-DOS command input line from 127 to 255 characters for internal commands. Because MS-DOS truncates the command line for external commands to 127 characters, 4DOS makes the full command line available through the CMDLINE environment variable. 4DOS Reference Manual 2 Conditional Commands Conditional Commands 4DOS includes two new command line operators: || (OR) and || && (AND). They allow you to control the execution of && subsequent commands based on the result of the previous command. Additional Redirection Options Additional Redirection Options In addition to redirection of standard input and standard output, 4DOS supports redirection of standard error, and the option to prevent overwriting existing files. 4DOS also provides UNIX-like TEE and Y pipes. EGA/VGA Support EGA/VGA Support 4DOS supports Monochrome, CGA, EGA and VGA displays with any number of lines and columns per screen. Networks Networks 4DOS supports MS-DOS compatible networks. 4DOS Reference Manual 3 New and Enhanced Commands New and Enhanced Commands 4DOS provides many new internal commands, and new options for existing commands. Most 4DOS commands can take multiple arguments. For example, you can delete several files with a single DEL command: del *.bak test.wks oldfile.txt del *.bak test.wks oldfile.txt You can also copy several files with a single COPY command (the target directory here is a:\): a:\ copy *.wks memo.doc *.c a:\ copy *.wks memo.doc *.c a:\ The following list is intended to give you a sampling of the new commands. See the Command Reference Guide for full details. ALIAS / UNALIAS ALIAS / UNALIAS Define aliases for commonly used commands, allowing you to execute a complex series of commands with a few keystrokes. ATTRIB ATTRIB Display or change the file attributes (read-only, hidden, system, and archive) for the specified files and/or directories. CDD CDD Change the default drive and directory. DESCRIBE DESCRIBE Add 40-character descriptions to filenames. The descriptions are displayed using DIR and SELECT. DIR DIR Display the disk directory with a wide variety of options, including 1, 2, or 5 column display; sorted by name, extension, size, or date/time; display subdirectories; display file attributes; and display subtotals only. ESET ESET Interactively edit environment variables and aliases. 4DOS Reference Manual 4 EXCEPT EXCEPT Execute a command except on the specified file(s). FREE FREE Display the total and free disk space. GLOBAL GLOBAL Execute a command in the current directory and all of its subdirectories. HELP HELP Display a pop-up help window for 4DOS internal commands and MS-DOS external commands. HISTORY HISTORY Display or clear the command history list. LIST LIST Display a file on the screen. LIST provides forward and backward paging, vertical and horizontal scrolling, and text search. MEMORY MEMORY Display the amount of total and available RAM, expanded and extended memory, and environment space. MOVE MOVE Move files between directories and/or drives. PUSHD / POPD / DIRS PUSHD / POPD / DIRS Use a "directory stack" to change directories, perform some work, and then return to the original directory. RENAME RENAME In addition to renaming files, 4DOS also allows you to rename files to another directory, and to rename directories. SELECT SELECT Perform a command on selected files (using point-and- shoot selection). 4DOS Reference Manual 5 SETDOS SETDOS Configure the 4DOS internal parameters, including the default line editing mode (insert or overstrike), the default batch echo mode, the compound command character, and the escape character. TEE TEE A "pipe fitting" that copies standard input to standard output, and saves a copy in the specified file(s). TIMER TIMER A system stopwatch for timing events. Y Y A "pipe fitting" that copies standard input to standard output, and then copies the specified file(s) to standard output. 4DOS Reference Manual 6 Enhanced Batch Processor Enhanced Batch Processor The batch processor in 4DOS is compatible with batch files written for COMMAND.COM, and includes several new and enhanced commands to make batch file programming easier and more powerful, including: CALL CALL Execute nested batch files without loading a secondary copy of the command processor. CANCEL CANCEL Terminate nested batch file processing. GOSUB / RETURN GOSUB / RETURN Call subroutines within a batch file. IF IF Several new comparison tests, and ignores case in the string tests. INPUT / INKEY INPUT / INKEY Input variables from the keyboard while in a batch file. KEYSTACK KEYSTACK Send keystrokes to a program, as if entered from the keyboard. QUIT QUIT Exit the current batch file. SCREEN SCREEN Position the cursor and (optionally) display some text. SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL Define a local environment within a batch file, saving the original environment, disk, and directory, and restoring them when finished. SHIFT SHIFT Optionally specify how many positions to shift, including reverse SHIFTs. TEXT / ENDTEXT TEXT / ENDTEXT Display a block of text. 4DOS Reference Manual 7 Installation Installation 4DOS is written for the IBM PC, PC/XT, PC/AT, PS/2 (all models), and compatibles. It requires MS-DOS 2 or above (MS- DOS 3 or above is recommended), and uses a total of about 54K of memory (4K resident when using the swapping version of 4DOS). The following files are included on your distribution disk: INSTALL.BAT* The automatic installation batch file. INSTALL.BAT 4DOS.COM The 4DOS shell loader for expanded memory (EMS) 4DOS.COM or disk swapping. 4DOS88.EXE Replaces COMMAND.COM as your default MS-DOS 4DOS88.EXE command processor on any PC compatible system. 4DOS286.EXE* A version of 4DOS for 80286 and 80386 4DOS286.EXE* processors. 4DOS286.EXE is smaller and faster than 4DOS88.EXE. ANSI.SYS Replaces the standard MS-DOS ANSI driver. ANSI.SYS It includes more ANSI command sequences, EGA/VGA support, and runs 20% to 50% faster. KEYSTACK.SYS This device driver provides the support for the KEYSTACK.SYS 4DOS KEYSTACK command. HELP.EXE This is the on-line help program for 4DOS. HELP.EXE It provides help for all of the internal 4DOS commands, and for the external MS-DOS commands. DOS.HLP The text file for HELP.EXE. DOS.HLP FIXSTACK.EXE A utility for fixing the "stack overflow" FIXSTACK.EXE problems some programs experience when using a large environment. FIXSTACK.DOC Documentation file for FIXSTACK.EXE FIXSTACK.DOC 4DOS Reference Manual 8 ALIASES.BAT Sample predefined 4DOS aliases. ALIASES.BAT 4D-PIF.DVP DESQview 2.01 .PIF file for 4DOS. 4D-PIF.DVP README.DOC Last-minute revisions and bug reports. README.DOC * These files are included only with the registered version of 4DOS. 4DOS Reference Manual 9 Automatic Installation Automatic Installation If you have a registered copy of 4DOS, insert the 4DOS System ___________ Disk in drive A, and type: ____ a:install a:install INSTALL will prompt you for your desired configuration, copy the necessary files to your boot disk, save your existing CONFIG.SYS file and create a modified version. Reboot your system to start 4DOS. NOTE: You may want to edit the new CONFIG.SYS if you have an unusual configuration, or if you want to modify the default values. Manual Installation Manual Installation If you have an unregistered copy of 4DOS, or if you prefer to install 4DOS manually, you will need to copy 4DOS88.EXE (or 4DOS286.EXE), 4DOS.COM, KEYSTACK.SYS, ANSI.SYS, DOS.HLP, and HELP.EXE to your boot disk. If you prefer, you can use any compatible version of ANSI.SYS. The following commands should be included in your CONFIG.SYS file: device=ansi.sys device=ansi.sys device=keystack.sys device=keystack.sys There are two ways to load 4DOS. The memory resident version requires about 55K, and is recommended for floppy disk systems without EMS memory, or those without serious memory constraints. The swapping version can swap itself to and from EMS memory or disk when running an application, and requires less than 5K of DOS memory. 4DOS Reference Manual 10 Manual Installation - Swapping Manual Installation - Swapping To install the swapping version of 4DOS with MS-DOS Version 3 or above, add the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file: shell=c:\4dos.com /S:E /p shell=c:\4dos.com /S:E /p If you are using MS-DOS Version 2.x, add the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file: shell=c:\command.com /c c:\4dos /p shell=c:\command.com /c c:\4dos /p If you are installing 4DOS onto a floppy disk, replace "C:" with "A:". 4DOS.COM determines the processor type automatically, and loads 4DOS286 on 80286 or 80386 processors. If 4DOS can't find 4DOS286, or if your processor is an 8086 or 8088, 4DOS loads 4DOS88. There are several startup options for 4DOS: /I:nn The interrupt number 4DOS uses to communicate with /I:nn 4DOS88 (or 4DOS286); nn can be any number from 60 __ to 66 (hex). The default is the first available interrupt starting at 60. /L:d:path Tells 4DOS where to find 4DOS88 (or 4DOS286). The /L:d:path default is the root directory on the boot drive. /S:E Swap to EMS memory (default). /S:E /S:D Swap to disk (creates a swap file called /S:D 4DOSSWAP.@@@ in the root directory of the boot drive). If 4DOS attempts a swap to EMS, and the EMS driver is not present or sufficient EMS memory cannot be allocated, 4DOS will use disk swapping. If 4DOS can't create the swap file, it will load 4DOS88 (or 4DOS286) with swapping disabled. 4DOS will display the interrupt and type of swapping being used. 4DOS Reference Manual 11 Manual Installation - Memory Resident Manual Installation - Memory Resident To install the memory resident version with MS-DOS Version 3 or above, copy 4DOS88.EXE (or 4DOS286.EXE) to your boot disk, and add the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file for 8086 or 8088 based machines: shell=c:\4dos88.exe /p shell=c:\4dos88.exe /p or for 80286 or 80386 based machines: shell=c:\4dos286.exe /p shell=c:\4dos286.exe /p If you are using MS-DOS Version 2.x, add the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file: shell=c:\command.com /c c:\4dos88 /p shell=c:\command.com /c c:\4dos88 /p or for 80286 or 80386 based machines: shell=c:\command.com /c c:\4dos286 /p shell=c:\command.com /c c:\4dos286 /p Configuring 4DOS Configuring 4DOS There are four startup options for 4DOS (these options should follow 4DOS.EXE on the "shell=" line in CONFIG.SYS): /H=n Set the history size, where n is the size of the /H=n _ history list. (The default value is 1024 characters, the range is 512-8192 characters.) /E=n Set the environment size, where n is the size of the /E=n _ environment. (The default value is 1024 characters, the range is 512-32000 characters.) /P Load 4DOS permanently, and run AUTOEXEC.BAT. /P 4DOS will NOT run AUTOEXEC.BAT without a /P. /C cmd Load a transient copy of 4DOS, and execute cmd. /C cmd ___ 4DOS will not attempt to process any startup options after a /C. 4DOS Reference Manual 12 Using 4DOS with DESQview Using 4DOS with DESQview We have included a .PIF file (4D-PIF.DVP) for using 4DOS with Quarterdeck's DESQview multitasking and windowing system. This file was created under DESQview Version 2.01. You will have to use the Add a Program option to add 4DOS to your _____________ DESQview Open Window menu. To do this, select the Add a Program option, then press the "O" key (for Other Program) and _____________ fill in the drive and directory where 4DOS is located in the space for "Path." Press ENTER, mark 4DOS using the space bar, and press ENTER again. For more details, see pages 60 - 61 of the DESQview Version 2.01 manual. You must use DESQview's Change a Program option before opening ________________ a 4DOS window, to set the proper program name, parameters, and startup directory. The field values in the .PIF file should be considered as examples only. You may also need to adjust the memory size allocated to 4DOS, depending on what you want to do in the 4DOS window. The 4D-PIF.DVP file invokes a startup batch file, DVSTART. The commands in this file will be executed each time a 4DOS window is opened. 4DOS Reference Manual 13 Compatibility Notes Compatibility Notes We have tested 4DOS extensively in a variety of environments, including 8088, 8086, V20, V30, 80286, and 80386 processors; as a replacement for COMMAND.COM and as a shell run under COMMAND.COM; in the MS-DOS compatibility box of OS/2; and on networks. If you find what appears to be a compatibility problem with 4DOS, please contact us. We will do our best to fix it, or if necessary we will refund your registration fee. There is an incompatibility between 4DOS and versions 2.5 or earlier of the programs MARK, FMARK, and RELEASE, which are part of the shareware package TSRCOM.ARC from TurboPower Software. The problem has been fixed in Version 2.6 of TSRCOM, included with your registered copy of 4DOS. 4DOS stores both aliases and environment variables in the environment. If you have a large environment (> 1K), this can cause stack problems with some programs. Many compilers (such as Microsoft C) save the environment in the stack when the program starts. The default program stack size is usually 2K; when combined with a large user environment (see the /E startup option in INSTALLATION), this will generate a "Stack Overflow" error message. We have included a program (FIXSTACK.EXE) to patch these programs. We recommend increasing the default program stack size by at least the size of the environment. 4DOS Reference Manual 14 Using 4DOS Using 4DOS This section briefly reviews 4DOS features, and provides some examples of how 4DOS can help improve your productivity, and make your computer easier to use. It only covers a few of the many ways 4DOS can be used, but it should help you start thinking about the possibilities. Starting 4DOS Starting 4DOS Whenever 4DOS is loaded, it searches the boot directory for the file 4START.BAT, and executes it if found. If 4DOS is started with the /P option, it will then execute AUTOEXEC.BAT. Because 4START.BAT is always executed at startup, it provides a convenient place to put the 4DOS configuration commands (for example, SETDOS parameters) that would otherwise not be set when executing a secondary copy of 4DOS. (For example, from a program shelling to MS-DOS.) (See the Command Reference Guide for more information on SETDOS.) When setting up 4START.BAT and AUTOEXEC.BAT, we recommend you break up the work to be done into smaller batch files. In particular, if you put the path, aliases, and environment variables into separate batch files and use CALL to invoke them, you can edit and reinvoke them later without having to reboot the system. 4DOS Reference Manual 15 Command Line Editing Command Line Editing 4DOS provides a 255 character command line, with full editing capability. The following keys have special meanings (the caret ^ means press the Control key together with with the ^ specified key): Left Arrow Move the cursor left one character. Left Arrow Right Arrow Move the cursor right one character. Right Arrow Up Arrow Recall the previous command from the history Up Arrow list, or match a partial command entry with a history list entry (see Command History and Recall). Down Arrow Recall the next command from the history list, Down Arrow or match a partial command entry with a history list entry (see Command History and Recall). ^Left Arrow Move the cursor left one word. ^Left Arrow ^Right Arrow Move the cursor right one word. ^Right Arrow Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the line. Home ^Home Delete from the beginning of the line to the ^Home character preceding the cursor. End Move the cursor to the end of the line. End ^End Delete from the cursor to the end of the line. ^End Ins Toggle between insert and overstrike mode. Ins Del Delete the character at the cursor. Del Backspace Delete the character to the left of the cursor. Backspace CR or LF Execute the command. CR LF Esc Erase the entire line. Esc ^C Abort the command. ^C ^K Save the command to the history list without ^K executing it, and erase the line. F1 Call the on-line help (HELP.EXE). F1 F9 and F10 Scan the filename (which may include the MS-DOS F9 F10 wildcard characters * and ?) at or immediately to the left of the cursor position, and replace it with the first matching filename. Press F9 again to replace it with the next matching filename. Press F10 to append the next matching filename at the current cursor position. If you don't enter a filename, F9 will default to *.*. If you don't enter an *.* extension, F9 will append a .*. .* Anything else Enter that character at the cursor position. 4DOS Reference Manual 16 Command History and Recall Command History and Recall 4DOS saves each command into a command history list as it is entered, allowing you to display, recall, search, and modify previous commands. The history list size is determined by the /H parameter at startup time (see INSTALLATION). The history is a circular list; when the history list is full, 4DOS discards the oldest command before adding the newest. The command history can be displayed or cleared with the HISTORY command. The /H option in SETDOS allows you to enable or disable the history saves, and to specify a minimum length to save. (See the Command Reference Guide for more information on HISTORY and SETDOS.) The simplest use of the command history is to repeat commands exactly. For example, you might enter the command: dir /2p b:*.wks b:*.doc dir /2p b:*.wks b:*.doc and then you move some files to or from the B drive. When you're through, you want to repeat the DIR command. Just use the up-arrow to scan back through the history list; when the DIR command appears, press ENTER to reexecute it. After you've found the command, you can also edit it before pressing ENTER. This provides a simple means of executing a series of commands that differ only slightly from each other. Another powerful feature is command completion, which searches __________________ the command history for the last command that begins with the characters you entered. In the above example, you can quickly recall the DIR command by typing DI, and pressing the up arrow. 4DOS will display the most recent command in the history list that begins with DI. Pressing the up arrow again will display the next most recent match. Typing DI and pressing the down arrow key instead would search for the oldest matching command in the history list. 4DOS will beep if there are no matching commands. 4DOS Reference Manual 17 4DOS also provides filename completion. For example, suppose ___________________ you want to copy a file. You remember that the name starts with AU, but you can't remember the rest. Enter: __ copy au* copy au* and press the F9 key. The first filename that starts with AU __ will be inserted in the command line. If it's the right file, simply complete your command. If it's not, press F9 again to substitute the next matching filename. The F10 key saves the current filename, and then appends the next matching filename to the command line. 4DOS will beep when there are no more matching filenames. Multiple Commands Multiple Commands You may enter multiple commands on a single line. The default command separator is a caret (^). For example, the following command displays a directory and then copies files to the root directory on drive A: dir *.bat ^ copy *.bat a:\ dir *.bat ^ copy *.bat a:\ The command separator character can be changed by setting the COMPOUND variable (see the SETDOS command in the Command Reference Guide). 4DOS Reference Manual 18 Conditional Commands Conditional Commands When an internal or external command finishes, it returns a result, called the exit code. The conditional commands allow you to perform tasks based upon the previous command's exit code. (See also the IF ERRORLEVEL command in the Command Reference Guide.) If two commands are separated by && (AND), the second command && will be executed only if the first returns an exit code of 0. If two commands are separated by || (OR), the second command || will be executed only if the first returns a non-zero exit code. NOTE: All 4DOS internal commands set an exit code, but not all external programs do. Conditional command behavior will be unpredictable for programs that don't explicitly return an exit code. For example, if the BACKUP operation fails, the files will not be erased: backup c:\ a: /s && global erase *.bak *.lst backup c:\ a: /s && global erase *.bak *.lst If the BACKUP operation fails, then ECHO will display a message: backup c:\ a: /s || echo Error in the backup! backup c:\ a: /s || echo Error in the backup! Escape Character Escape Character 4DOS has a user-definable escape character. The default is ^X, but another character can be used by setting the ESCAPE ^X variable (see the SETDOS command in the Command Reference Guide). 4DOS assumes special meanings when these characters follow the escape character on the command line: b backspace b e the ASCII ESC character (27 decimal) e f formfeed f n linefeed n r carriage return r Any other character preceded by the escape character is copied directly to the command line and the escape character is removed. This allows you to suppress the normal interpretation of special characters (such as ?, *, /, \, |, `, >, <, and &). 4DOS Reference Manual 19 Command Echoing Command Echoing Like COMMAND.COM, 4DOS defaults to ECHO ON in batch files. To prevent a line from being echoed, preface it with the @ symbol. You can tell 4DOS to default to ECHO OFF by setting the variable VERBOSE to 0 (see the SETDOS command in the Command Reference Guide). 4DOS also offers command echoing during keyboard input. If ECHO is ON, the fully parsed and expanded command line (including alias and variable expansion) will be displayed before it is executed. Argument Quoting Argument Quoting 4DOS normally parses command line arguments by searching for white space (tabs, blanks, and commas). Command line arguments enclosed in back quotes (`) or double quotes (") may ` " contain white space. No special processing (alias or variable expansion, and I/O redirection) will be performed on expressions enclosed in quotes, with the exception that variable expansion WILL be performed inside double quotes. 4DOS will strip back quotes from the command line before executing the command. Double quotes will be passed through to the command. Aliases Aliases Much of the power of 4DOS comes together when using aliases. An alias is a new name for a command or combination of commands. Aliases are defined with the ALIAS command, and removed with the UNALIAS command. Aliases may be nested; i.e., an alias can refer to another alias, but they cannot refer back to themselves. The alias name is limited to no more than 80 characters, and the alias argument to no more than 255 characters. (See the Command Reference Guide for more information on ALIAS and UNALIAS.) Aliases are expanded before the command line is broken up for multiple commands, redirection, and conditional commands. 4DOS Reference Manual 20 The simplest type of alias is to give a new name to an existing command. For example: alias up cd .. alias up cd .. defines the alias UP to mean "change to the parent directory". __ Aliases can also create a customized version of a command. For example, the 4DOS DIR command allows a directory to be sorted in various ways. The alias: alias de dir /oe /p alias de dir /oe /p defines the alias DE to mean "sort the directory by extension, __ pausing after each page." Aliases can also be used to execute multiple commands; when used this way they act like very fast, in-memory batch files. For example, the alias: alias w `pushd c:\wp ^ wp %1^ popd` alias w `pushd c:\wp ^ wp %1^ popd` defines the alias W to mean "save the current directory, _ change to the WP directory on C, run the WP program using the first argument on the command line as a filename, and when finished, restore the original directory." The back quotes are required to tell 4DOS this is a single alias with three commands, rather than three commands on a single line (see Multiple Commands). Alias definitions can include replaceable parameters, like those in batch files. Alias parameters are referenced as %1 to %127, and expand to the matching command line argument. The parameter %& is a special case, and expands to the remainder of the command line following the alias name. If an alias includes replaceable parameters, unreferenced command line arguments and parameters with no matching command line argument will be deleted during alias expansion. If an alias has no replaceable parameters, the command line arguments will be appended to the alias. The distribution disk includes a sample batch file (ALIASES.BAT) which demonstrates a number of useful predefined aliases. See the ALIAS command in the Command Reference Guide for more information on aliases. 4DOS Reference Manual 21 Keystack Keystack The KEYSTACK command can be used in aliases and batch files to feed keystrokes to application programs. The most common use of KEYSTACK is to have a program take certain actions when it starts. For example, when the alias (this should be entered on one line): alias 321 `keystack 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 "/fr" 0 "%1" alias 321 `keystack 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 "/fr" 0 "%1" 13 ^ 123` 13 ^ 123` is executed as: 321 February 321 February it loads Lotus 1-2-3, skips the startup screens, and loads the spreadsheet FEBRUARY.WK1. ____________ KEYSTACK can store up to 255 characters; enough keystrokes to cause a program to do an entire operation and exit. For example, the following alias DRPT will run a dBASE report ____ called TIMEREP in the directory DATA (this should be entered _______ ____ on one line): alias drpt `pushd c:\data ^ keystack "use times index times" 13 "report form timerep to print" 13 "quit" 13 ^ dbase ^ popd` See the Command Reference Guide for more information on KEYSTACK. KEYSTACK.SYS is a small device driver invoked in your CONFIG.SYS file (see INSTALLATION) and used to support the KEYSTACK command. You must have KEYSTACK.SYS installed to use the KEYSTACK command. 4DOS Reference Manual 22 Environment Variables Environment Variables Environment variables are defined with the SET command. (See the Command Reference Guide for more information on SET.) Environment variables are expanded before the command line is broken up for multiple commands, redirection, and conditional commands, but after alias expansion has been done. Variables are referenced in a command by prefacing the variable name with a percent sign (%). Two percent signs in a row (%%) signify a percent sign character. To pass a variable name (instead of the value) to a command (for example, FOR or INPUT), you must precede it with two percent signs. Environment variable names may be composed of any alphanumeric character, plus the underscore character (_). For example: c:\> set start=c:\wordproc\myfiles\memos set start=c:\wordproc\myfiles\memos c:\> dir /w %start dir /w %start Directory of c:\wordproc\myfiles\memos\*.* memo1105.txt boardmtg.txt 49,134 bytes in 2 files 3,653,632 bytes free There are some variable names that have special meanings in 4DOS: PATH tells 4DOS where to search for executable files (.COM, PATH ____ .EXE and .BAT) not in the current directory. Some ____ ____ applications also use the PATH variable to find their files. CMDLINE is the fully expanded 255-character command line. CMDLINE You can access it from an external program by searching the environment. DOSVER is the current MS-DOS version (for example, 3.1). DOSVER DISK is the current disk (for example, C). DISK 4DOS Reference Manual 23 CWD is the current directory in the format d:\pathname CWD ___________ CWDS has the same value as CWD, except it ensures the CWDS CWD pathname ends in a backslash (\). DATE contains the current system date, in the format mm-dd- DATE ______ yy (for the U.S.), dd-mm-yy (Europe), or yy-mm-dd __ ________ ________ (Japan). TIME contains the current system time in the format TIME hh:mm:ss. ________ 4DOS Reference Manual 24 I/O Redirection I/O Redirection MS-DOS assumes input comes from the keyboard and output goes to the display. The keyboard is referred to as the standard input, and the display is referred to as the standard output. You can change the default standard input and standard output by using the < and > symbols on the command line. 4DOS also < > allows you to redirect the standard error by appending the & & character. Normally, when redirecting standard output, if the specified file doesn't exist, it is created; if it exists, it is overwritten, and the previous contents are lost. If the variable NOCLOBBER is set (see the SETDOS command in the Command Reference Guide), an error message will be displayed if the file already exists. For example, to get standard input from a file instead of the keyboard, append: < filename < filename to the command line. To redirect standard output to a file: > filename > filename To redirect standard output to a file, overriding the NOCLOBBER setting: >! filename >! filename To redirect standard output and standard error to a file: >& filename >& filename To redirect standard output and standard error to a file, overriding the NOCLOBBER setting: >&! filename >&! filename To append standard output to a file, use >> in place of >. If >> > NOCLOBBER is set, the file must exist before it can be appended to (unless overridden by a !). Otherwise, 4DOS will ! create the file. 4DOS Reference Manual 25 Pipes allow you to send the output of one command to the input of another command, by separating the commands with the vertical bar (|). 4DOS will perform the commands in order | from left to right. For example, to use the standard output of command1 as the ________ standard input of command2: ________ command1 | command2 command1 | command2 To use the standard output and standard error of command1 as ________ the standard input of command2: ________ command1 |& command2 command1 |& command2 4DOS also provides TEE and Y "pipe fittings" (see the Command Reference Guide for more information on TEE and Y). 4DOS Reference Manual 26 Command Reference Guide Command Reference Guide 4DOS has more than 60 internal commands. Some are the same as, or improvements of, those in COMMAND.COM. The remainder are new commands. These commands are equivalent to those in COMMAND.COM: BREAK CD CHCP CHDIR CLS DATE EXIT FOR GOTO TIME VER VERIFY These commands are enhanced: COPY DEL DIR ERASE ECHO ERASE MD MKDIR PATH PAUSE PROMPT RD REM REN RENAME RMDIR SET SHIFT TYPE VOL These commands are new: ? ALIAS ATTRIB BEEP CALL CANCEL CDD DESCRIBE DIRS ENDLOCAL ESET EXCEPT FREE GLOBAL GOSUB HISTORY INKEY INPUT KEYSTACK LIST MEMORY MOVE POPD PUSHD QUIT RETURN SCREEN SELECT SETDOS SETLOCAL TEE TEXT TIMER UNALIAS Y 4DOS Reference Manual 27 Command Syntax Command Syntax Words in uppercase are keywords and must be entered. Words in lowercase are variables. The expression d: represents a disk drive specification. d: __ (This can be A:, B:, C:, etc.). Words or letters in brackets ([ ]) are optional and are not required to be entered. A vertical bar (|) separating words means enter one word or the other, but not both. A letter preceded by a / is a switch. Switches are used to enable or disable the various command options. An ellipsis (...) means additional arguments are allowed, but not required. In the examples in the printed manual, characters in bold type bold represent input from the user. Characters in normal type represent 4DOS prompts or responses. 4DOS Reference Manual 28 ? ? Syntax: ? ? Purpose: Display the 4DOS commands. Comments: ? will display the 4DOS internal commands. For help with the internal 4DOS and external DOS commands, use the HELP command. Example: Display the internal commands: c:\> ? ? ? ALIAS ATTRIB BEEP BREAK CALL CANCEL CD CDD CHCP CHDIR CLS COPY DATE DEL DESCRIBE DIR DIRS ECHO ENDLOCAL ERASE ESET EXCEPT EXIT FOR FREE GLOBAL GOSUB GOTO HISTORY IF INKEY INPUT KEYSTACK LIST MD MEMORY MKDIR MOVE PATH PAUSE POPD PROMPT PUSHD QUIT RD REM REN RENAME RETURN RMDIR SCREEN SELECT SET SETDOS SETLOCAL SHIFT TEE TEXT TIME TIMER TYPE UNALIAS VER VERIFY VOL Y 4DOS Reference Manual 29 ALIAS ALIAS Syntax: ALIAS [arg1 arg2] ALIAS [arg1 arg2] Purpose: Display the alias list, or define arg1 as a ____ substitute for arg2. ____ Comments: If you don't specify any arguments, ALIAS displays the current alias list. If you only specify arg1, ____ ALIAS displays the current alias value for arg1. ____ Otherwise, ALIAS assigns the command(s) in arg2 to ____ arg1. Arg1 can now be used as if it were a built-in or ____ ____ external command. Aliases may be nested; i.e., an alias can refer to another alias, but they cannot refer back to themselves (a=b=a). The alias name is limited to no more than 80 characters, and the alias argument to no more than 255 characters. Arg2 may contain environment variables or additional ____ aliases. Alias definitions can include replaceable parameters, like those in batch files. Alias parameters are referenced as %1 to %127, and expand to the matching command line argument. The parameter %& expands to the remainder of the command line following the alias name. If an alias includes replaceable parameters, unreferenced command line arguments and parameters with no matching command line argument will be deleted during alias expansion. If an alias has no replaceable parameters, the command line arguments will be appended to the alias. Aliases are useful as a means of executing a complex series of commands with a few keystrokes. Aliases can also be used as in memory batch files, and will run much faster than disk-based batch files. To remove an alias, use the UNALIAS command. Example: Define D as an alias for DIR /AP: _ _______ c:\> alias d dir /ap alias d dir /ap 4DOS Reference Manual 30 Display the current alias(es): c:\> alias alias d=dir /AP The following example creates a new command WHEREIS _______ that searches a disk for matching files and subdirectories: c:\> alias whereis dir /dp alias whereis dir /dp The following example is an "in-memory batch file" that erases the backup files, and then displays the directory (the back-quotes are necessary to prevent 4DOS from processing the command separator ^): c:\> alias zap `del *.bak ^ dir /w` alias zap `del *.bak ^ dir /w` The following examples show the use of alias arguments: c:\> alias zap `erase %& ^ chkdsk ^ dir /w` alias zap `erase %& ^ chkdsk ^ dir /w` c:\> zap *.bak *.lst zap *.bak *.lst This expands to: erase *.bak *.lst ^ chkdsk ^ dir /w c:\> alias reverse `echo %5 %4 %3 %2 %1` alias reverse `echo %5 %4 %3 %2 %1` c:\> reverse one two three four five reverse one two three four five This expands to: echo five four three two one 4DOS Reference Manual 31 ATTRIB ATTRIB Syntax: ATTRIB [-|+[AHRS]] [d:][path]filename... ATTRIB [-|+[AHRS]] [d:][path]filename... Purpose: Change the file attributes. Comments: +A Set the archive attribute -A Clear the archive attribute +H Set the hidden attribute -H Clear the hidden attribute +R Set the read-only attribute (write-protected) -R Clear the read-only attribute +S Set the system file attribute -S Clear the system file attribute New attribute values are allowed between file names; otherwise the file is set to the same attributes as defined for the previous file(s). You cannot modify the directory or volume label attributes. You can display the file attributes using the /A option in DIR. Example: Change the file MEMO to read-only and hidden: ____ c:\> attrib +rh memo attrib +rh memo Set the archive attribute (file has been modified) for MEMO, and change TEST.COM to system and not ____ ________ modified: c:\> attrib +a memo +s -a test.com attrib +a memo +s -a test.com 4DOS Reference Manual 32 BEEP BEEP Syntax: BEEP BEEP Purpose: Beep the speaker. Comments: BEEP is normally used in batch files to signal that an operation has been completed, or that the computer needs attention (for example, to change disks). Example: The following batch file fragment runs the program DEMO, beeps, and waits for you to press a key: ____ demo beep pause Finished with the demo - hit a key... 4DOS Reference Manual 33 BREAK BREAK Syntax: BREAK [on | off] BREAK [on | off] Purpose: Display, enable, or disable ^C / ^BREAK checking. Comments: BREAK turns the ^C / ^BREAK checking on or off. If no argument is given, it displays the current BREAK status. If BREAK is off, MS-DOS will only check for a ^C during screen, keyboard, serial port, or printer I/O operations. Many programs don't use the MS-DOS functions to access the screen and keyboard, and it can be difficult to break out of them with BREAK off. If BREAK is on, MS-DOS will check for a ^C or ^BREAK during any MS-DOS operation (including disk access). BREAK defaults to OFF. You can change the default BREAK setting by adding the following line to your CONFIG.SYS file: BREAK=ON BREAK=ON Example: Check the current BREAK status: c:\> break break BREAK is OFF Enable ^C checking in all MS-DOS calls: c:\> break on break on 4DOS Reference Manual 34 CALL CALL Syntax: CALL [d:][path]filename CALL [d:][path]filename Purpose: Call a secondary batch file. Comments: CALL allows batch files to call other batch files (batch file nesting) without invoking a secondary copy of the command processor. 4DOS supports batch file nesting up to 5 levels deep. The calling batch file is suspended while the called batch file runs. When the called batch file finishes, the calling batch file resumes execution at the next command. See also CANCEL and QUIT. Example: The following batch file fragment compares an input line to "wp" and calls a secondary batch file if it matches: input Enter your choice: %%option if "%option" == "wp" call wp.bat 4DOS Reference Manual 35 CANCEL CANCEL Syntax: CANCEL CANCEL Purpose: Terminate batch file processing. Comments: The CANCEL command will end all batch file processing, regardless of the batch nesting level. (Use QUIT to end a nested batch file and return to the previous batch file.) You can CANCEL at any point in a batch file. See also CALL and QUIT. Example: The following batch file fragment compares an input line to "end" and terminates all batch file processing if it matches: input Enter your choice: %%option if "%option" == "end" cancel 4DOS Reference Manual 36 CD / CHDIR CD / CHDIR Syntax: CD [d:][pathname] CD [d:][pathname] or CHDIR [d:][pathname] CHDIR [d:][pathname] Purpose: Display or change the current directory. Comments: Entering CD with no argument or only a disk drive name will display the current directory. Entering CD and a pathname will change the current directory. Every disk drive on the system has its own current directory. Specifying both a drive and a directory in the CD command will change the current directory on the specified drive, but will not change the default drive. Use CDD to change both the drive and directory. To start at the root directory, start the pathname with a backslash (\). To start at the parent directory, start the pathname with two periods (..). All other pathnames start at the current directory. MS-DOS will not accept directory names longer than 64 characters. See also CDD. Example: Change to the subdirectory C:\FINANCE\MYFILES: __________________ c:\> cd \finance\myfiles cd \finance\myfiles c:\finance\myfiles> Change the default directory on drive A: c:\> cd a:\utility cd a:\utility 4DOS Reference Manual 37 CDD CDD Syntax: CDD [d:]pathname CDD [d:]pathname Purpose: Change the current disk drive and directory. Comments: CDD is similar to CD, except it can also change the default disk drive. See also CD. Example: Change from the root directory on drive A to the subdirectory C:\WP: _____ a:\> cdd c:\wp cdd c:\wp c:\wp> 4DOS Reference Manual 38 CHCP CHCP Syntax: CHCP [n] CHCP [n] Purpose: Display or change the current system code page. Comments: Code page switching allows you to select different character sets for language support. To use code page switching, you must have an EGA or VGA board, and MS- DOS 3.3 or above. Before using CHCP, you must load the device drivers (in CONFIG.SYS); make sure the information file (COUNTRY.SYS) is available; load national language support (using the NLSFUNC command); and prepare the specified code page for the devices (using the MODE command with the CODEPAGE PREPARE option). CHCP accepts one of the two prepared system code pages. An error message is displayed if a code page is selected that has not been prepared for the system. Entering CHCP with no arguments displays the active code page. See your MS-DOS manual for more information on CHCP. Example: Display the current code page: c:\> chcp chcp Active code page: 437 Set the code page to multilingual: c:\> chcp 850 chcp 850 4DOS Reference Manual 39 CLS CLS Syntax: CLS CLS Purpose: Clear the video display. Comments: CLS clears the display and moves the cursor to the upper left corner. CLS is normally used in batch files to clear the screen before displaying text (see ECHO, SCREEN, and TEXT). CLS uses the Clear Screen command in ANSI. You must have an ANSI driver defined in your CONFIG.SYS file for CLS to work (see INSTALLATION). Example: Clear the display: c:\> cls cls 4DOS Reference Manual 40 COPY COPY Syntax: COPY [/PV] [d:][path]filename[+]... [[d:][path]filename] COPY [/PV] [d:][path]filename[+]... [[d:][path]filename] Purpose: Copy or append one or more files. Comments: Unlike COMMAND.COM, 4DOS allows you to copy several unrelated files to a target directory with a single COPY command. If there are two or more arguments on the command line, COPY assumes the last argument is the target. If there is only one argument, the target is assumed to be the current directory. The /P(rompt) option prompts you to confirm each file copy (Y or N). An N response will skip that particular file. The /V(erify) option verifies each disk write. This is the same as executing the VERIFY ON command, but is only active during the COPY command. The plus (+) tells 4DOS to append two or more files + to a single target file. If you don't specify a target, COPY will append each subsequent file to the first file. If you specify more than one source file, and the target is NOT a directory, COPY will automatically append the files to the target. You cannot copy a file to itself. COPY in 4DOS does not support the /A and /B options of COPY in COMMAND.COM. Example: Copy the files MEMO1, PROJECT8.WKS, and UPDATE.BAT _____ ____________ __________ to the root directory on drive A: c:\> copy memo1 project8.wks update.bat a:\ copy memo1 project8.wks update.bat a:\ Append the files MEMO1, MEMO2, and MEMO3, and store _____ _____ _____ the result in BIGMEMO: _______ c:\> copy memo1+memo2+memo3 bigmemo copy memo1+memo2+memo3 bigmemo 4DOS Reference Manual 41 DATE DATE Syntax: DATE [mm-dd-yy] DATE [mm-dd-yy] Purpose: Display and (optionally) change the system date. Comments: If you don't enter any parameters, DATE will display the current system date and time, and prompt for the new date. Press ENTER if you don't wish to change the date, otherwise enter the new date. The parameters for the DATE command are: mm (month) = 1 - 12 __ dd (day) = 1 - 31 __ yy (year) = 80 - 199 (1980 - 2099) __ You can use hyphens, slashes, or periods to separate the month, day, and year entries. The format for the date entry depends on the country code defined in the CONFIG.SYS file or by the CHCP command. The default format is U.S. (mm-dd-yy). The European format is dd-mm-yy; the Japanese is yy-mm-dd. See also TIME. Example: Enter the date from the command line: c:\> date 12/25/89 date 12/25/89 To be prompted for the date: c:\> date date Mon Dec 25, 1989 9:30:06 Enter new date (mm-dd-yy): 4DOS Reference Manual 42 DEL / ERASE DEL / ERASE Syntax: DEL [/P] [d:][path]filename... DEL [/P] [d:][path]filename... or ERASE [/P] [d:][path]filename... ERASE [/P] [d:][path]filename... Purpose: Erase the specified file(s) from the disk. Comments: If the /P(rompt) option is specified, 4DOS will prompt you to enter a Y or N to confirm each file deletion. If you enter a subdirectory name, or a filename composed only of wildcards (* and ?), DEL asks for confirmation (Y or N). If you respond with a Y, DEL will delete all the files in that subdirectory (except hidden and read-only files). Example: Erase all the files in the current directory with a .BAK or .PRN extension: ____ ____ c:\> del *.bak *.prn del *.bak *.prn Confirm the deletion of all the files in the current directory with a .WKS extension: ____ c:\> del /P *.wks del /P *.wks Delete JAN88.WKS (Y/N)? n Delete FEB87.WKS (Y/N)? y Delete DEC87.WKS (Y/N)? y 4DOS Reference Manual 43 DESCRIBE DESCRIBE Syntax: DESCRIBE [d:][path]filename... DESCRIBE [d:][path]filename... Purpose: Create, modify, or delete file descriptions. Comments: DESCRIBE adds descriptions (up to 40 characters) to MS-DOS filenames. The descriptions will be displayed when using DIR with the default single column option, or when using SELECT. File descriptions allow you to identify your files in much more meaningful ways than MS-DOS allows in an eight character filename. Descriptions are stored in each directory in a hidden file called DESCRIPT.ION. Use the ATTRIB command to "unhide" this file if you need to copy or delete it. Descriptions are not copied when you do a COPY, MOVE, or RENAME. Example: Create a description for the file MEMO.TXT: ________ c:\> describe memo.txt describe memo.txt Describe "memo.txt" : Memo to Bob about party Memo to Bob about party 4DOS Reference Manual 44 DIR DIR Syntax: DIR [/[12ADFHJPQSWX] [Oetzur]] [[d:][path]filename...] DIR [/[12ADFHJPQSWX] [Oetzur]] [[d:][path]filename...] Purpose: Display information about files and subdirectories. Comments: DIR displays information about the files and subdirectories in the specified directory. Depending upon the options specified, DIR can show the filename, file attributes, size, date and time of the most recent change to the file, and the file description. DIR allows wildcard characters (* and ?) in the filename. If you don't specify a filename, DIR defaults to *.* (display all files and subdirectories in the current directory). If a country code was defined in the CONFIG.SYS file or by the CHCP command, DIR will display the date in the format for that country. The default date format is U.S. (mm-dd-yy). The DIR options are: 1 Single column display - display the filename, 1 size, date, time, and description. This is the default. 2 Two column display - display the filename, size, 2 date, and time. A Display the filenames and attributes only (see A ATTRIB), in the format RHSA, where: R read-only R H hidden H S system S A archive A D Display the contents of the current directory and D all of its subdirectories. F Display files only (no subdirectories). F H Display all files, including hidden and system H files. J Justify the output (same output as COMMAND.COM) J 4DOS Reference Manual 45 O? Sort sequence, where ? can be any combination of O? the following options: e sort by extension e t sort by time, oldest first t z sort by size z u unsorted (same as COMMAND.COM) u r reverse the normal sort order r The default sort is by filename. P Pause after each screen page and wait for a key P to be pressed (useful for displaying long directory listings). Q Suppress the header line and summaries, and Q display file or subdirectory names only, in a single column (useful when redirecting output to another program). S Display summary only (number of files & bytes S used). W Wide display - display the filenames only, W horizontally across the screen. X Display directories only. X See also DESCRIBE. Example: Display the .WKS files, and then the .PRN files in ____ ____ the current directory: c:\> dir *.wks *.prn dir *.wks *.prn Display the files in the current directory, sorted by time (most recent first): c:\> dir /otr *.* dir /otr *.* Display all the files on drive C, including hidden and system files, pausing after each page: c:\> dir /dhp c:\*.* dir /dhp c:\*.* 4DOS Reference Manual 46 DIRS DIRS Syntax: DIRS DIRS Purpose: Display the current directory stack. Comments: DIRS displays the directory stack used by PUSHD and POPD (most recent entries first). The directory stack holds up to 255 characters (about 10 to 20 entries). See also PUSHD and POPD. Example: Change directories and then display the directory stack: c:\> pushd c:\database pushd c:\database c:\database> pushd d:\wordp\memos pushd d:\wordp\memos d:\wordp\memos> dirs dirs c:\database c:\ 4DOS Reference Manual 47 ECHO ECHO Syntax: ECHO [on | off | message] ECHO [on | off | message] Purpose: Display the echo status, enable or disable batch file or command line echoing, or display a message. Comments: 4DOS defaults to ECHO ON in batch files. To prevent a line from being echoed, preface it with the @ symbol. You can tell 4DOS to default to ECHO OFF by setting the variable VERBOSE to 0 (see SETDOS). 4DOS defaults to ECHO OFF during keyboard input. If you set ECHO ON from the command line, 4DOS will display the fully parsed and expanded commands (including aliases and variables) before they are executed. If no arguments are entered, ECHO displays the current echo status (ON or OFF). ECHO commands in a batch file will send messages to the screen while the batch file executes, even if ECHO is set OFF. You cannot use the command separator character or the 4DOS redirection symbols (|, >, or <) in an ECHO message, unless you enclose them in quotes or precede them with the escape character. See also SCREEN, SETDOS, and TEXT. Example: Enable command line echoing: c:\> echo on echo on Display a message in a batch file: echo Processing your print files... Turn off batch file echoing, without displaying the ECHO command itself: @echo off 4DOS Reference Manual 48 ENDLOCAL ENDLOCAL Syntax: ENDLOCAL ENDLOCAL Purpose: Restore the saved disk drive, directory, and environment. Comment: ENDLOCAL restores the disk drive, directory, and environment saved by the previous SETLOCAL command. SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL can only be used in batch files. See also SETLOCAL. Example: This batch file fragment saves the environment, drive, and current working directory, changes the drive and directory, modifies some environment variables, runs a program, and then restores the original values: setlocal cdd d:\test set path=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util set lib=d:\lib rem run some program here endlocal 4DOS Reference Manual 49 ESET ESET Syntax: ESET varname... ESET varname... Purpose: Edit environment variables and/or aliases. Comments: ESET allows you to edit your environment variables and aliases using the 4DOS line editing commands (see the Command Line Editing section in USING 4DOS). The cursor will be positioned at the first character of the variable or alias. ESET will search for environment variables first, and then aliases. 4DOS limits environment variable and alias names to 80 characters, and their arguments to 255 characters. See also ALIAS and SET. Example: Edit the default MS-DOS executable file search path: c:\> eset path eset path path=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util _ Create and then edit an alias: c:\> alias d dir /djp alias d dir /djp c:\> eset d eset d d=dir /djp _ 4DOS Reference Manual 50 EXCEPT EXCEPT Syntax: EXCEPT ([d:][path]filename...) command [args...] EXCEPT ([d:][path]filename...) command [args...] Purpose: Perform a command, except on the file(s) specified. Comments: EXCEPT provides a means of executing a command on a group of files and/or subdirectories, except those enclosed within the parentheses. You may use the MS-DOS wildcard characters (? and *) in a filename. EXCEPT prevents operations on the specified file(s) by setting the hidden attribute, performing the command, and then clearing the hidden attribute. If EXCEPT is aborted in an unusual way, you may need to use the ATTRIB command to "unhide" (-H) the file(s). EXCEPT will not work with programs or commands that ignore the hidden attribute. See also ATTRIB. Example: Erase all but the files beginning with MEMO and ____ those ending in .WKS: ____ c:\> except (memo*.* *.wks) erase *.* except (memo*.* *.wks) erase *.* Copy all the files and subdirectories except those in C:\MSC and C:\DOS on drive C to drive D: ______ ______ c:\> except (c:\msc c:\dos) xcopy c:\*.* d:\ /s except (c:\msc c:\dos) xcopy c:\*.* d:\ /s 4DOS Reference Manual 51 EXIT EXIT Syntax: EXIT EXIT Purpose: Return from a secondary command processor. Comments: Some application programs will start a secondary copy of the command processor to allow you to execute MS-DOS commands. To return to the application again, type EXIT. You cannot EXIT from the primary command processor. 4DOS Reference Manual 52 FOR FOR Syntax: FOR %%var IN (set) DO command ... Syntax: FOR %%var IN (set) DO command ... Purpose: Repeat a command for several variables. Comments: 4DOS sets var sequentially to each member of (set), ___ _____ and then evaluates and executes command for every _______ argument in (set). If one of the arguments in (set) _____ _____ contains MS-DOS wildcard characters (* and ?), var will ___ be set sequentially to each matching filename on the disk. You must use two percent signs (%%) before the variable name to prevent 4DOS from expanding the variable on the command line before it is passed to FOR. Example: The following example compiles the C programs in the current directory that have a "2" or a "3" somewhere in their name: c:\msc> for %%a in (*2*.c *3*.c) do cl %%a for %%a in (*2*.c *3*.c) do cl %%a 4DOS Reference Manual 53 FREE FREE Syntax: FREE [d:]... FREE [d:]... Purpose: Display the total and free disk space on the specified (or default) drive(s). Comments: FREE provides the same disk information as CHKDSK, but without the wait. See also MEMORY. Example: Display the status of the current drive: c:\> free Volume in drive C: is DEVELOPMENT 30,203,904 bytes total disk space 14,331,904 bytes free Display the status of drives A, B, and C: c:\> free a: b: c: Volume in drive A: is unlabeled 1,213,952 bytes total disk space 487,424 bytes free Volume in drive B: is WORKSHEETS 362,496 bytes total disk space 237,568 bytes free Volume in drive C: is DEVELOPMENT 30,203,904 bytes total disk space 14,331,904 bytes free 4DOS Reference Manual 54 GLOBAL GLOBAL Syntax: GLOBAL command [args] GLOBAL command [args] Purpose: Execute a command in the current directory and its subdirectories. Comments: GLOBAL performs the command first in the current directory, and then in each of its subdirectories. The command cannot be an alias. GLOBAL will terminate if the command returns a non- zero exit code. Example: Erase all the files with a .BAK extension in every ____ directory on C: c:\> global erase c:\*.bak global erase c:\*.bak Copy the files in every directory on drive A to the directory C:\TEMP : _______ a:\> global copy *.* c:\temp global copy *.* c:\temp 4DOS Reference Manual 55 GOSUB GOSUB Syntax: GOSUB label GOSUB label Purpose: Call a subroutine in a batch file. Comments: GOSUB calls the specified label as a subroutine. The subroutine must end with a RETURN statement. After the RETURN, 4DOS will continue processing on the line following the GOSUB. If you don't enter a label, or the label doesn't exist, the batch file is terminated with the error message "Label not found." The line with the label must begin with a colon (:). 4DOS ignores case differences when matching labels. GOSUBS may be nested up to 5 levels deep. See also GOTO and RETURN. Example: The following batch file fragment calls a subroutine which displays the directory and returns: echo Calling a subroutine gosub subr1 echo Returned from the subroutine quit :subr1 dir /hw return 4DOS Reference Manual 56 GOTO GOTO Syntax: GOTO label GOTO label Purpose: Continue batch file processing at the line following the label. Comments: GOTO jumps to the line immediately following the label. If you don't enter a label, or the label doesn't exist, the batch file is terminated with the error message "Label not found." The line with the label must begin with a colon (:). 4DOS ignores case differences when matching labels. See also GOSUB. Example: The following batch file fragment checks for the existence of the file CONFIG.SYS. If the file exists, 4DOS jumps to C_EXISTS and copies all the files from the current directory to the root directory on A. If CONFIG.SYS doesn't exist, 4DOS prints an error message and exits. if exist config.sys goto C_EXISTS echo CONFIG.SYS doesn't exist - exiting. quit :C_EXISTS copy *.* a:\ 4DOS Reference Manual 57 HELP HELP Syntax: HELP [topic] HELP [topic] Purpose: Provide help for 4DOS and MS-DOS commands. Comments: The HELP command displays the proper syntax and a brief description of 4DOS and MS-DOS commands. You can also call HELP by pressing F1 at the command line. If you enter HELP with no topic, HELP will display all the commands it can help you with. Select a topic using the cursor keys and press ENTER. For help on a specific command, enter HELP followed by the command name. DOS.HLP must be in the current directory or one of the directories specified in the PATH environment variable. HELP is an external command. Example: Display and select from all the available help topics: c:\> help help For help on COPY: c:\> help copy help copy 4DOS Reference Manual 58 HISTORY HISTORY Syntax: HISTORY [/F] HISTORY [/F] Purpose: Display or clear the history list. Comments: If no parameters are entered, HISTORY will display the current history list. The /F(ree) option clears the command history list. The number of commands saved in the history list depends on the length of each command line. The history list size can be specified at startup from 512 to 8192 characters (see INSTALLATION). The default size is 1024 characters. You can disable saving commands to the history list, or specify a minimum command line length to save, with the SETDOS /H command. See also SETDOS. Example: Display the history list: c:\> history history Clear the history entries: c:\> history /f history /f 4DOS Reference Manual 59 IF IF Syntax: IF [NOT] condition command IF [NOT] condition command Purpose: Allow conditional execution of commands. Comments: 4DOS first tests the given condition. If the condition is true, 4DOS executes the specified command, otherwise the command will be ignored. If you use the NOT option, the command is executed only when the condition is false. For the string tests, case differences are ignored. The condition can be any of the following: string1 == string2 == string1 EQ string2 EQ If string1 is equal to string2, the condition _______ _______ is true. string1 NE string2 NE If string1 is not equal to string2, the _______ _______ condition is true. string1 LT string2 LT If string1 is < string2, the condition is true. _______ _______ string1 LE string2 LE If string1 is <= string2, the condition is _______ _______ true. string1 GE string2 GE If string1 is >= string2, the condition is _______ _______ true. string1 GT string2 GT If string1 is > string2, the condition is true. _______ _______ ERRORLEVEL n ERRORLEVEL If the preceding program returns an exit code greater than or equal to n, the condition is true. _ NOTE: Not all programs return an explicit exit code. In those cases, the behavior of ERRORLEVEL is undefined. 4DOS Reference Manual 60 EXIST [d:][path]filename EXIST If the file exists, the condition is true. You can use wildcard characters (* and ?) in the filename. ISDIR [d:]path ISDIR If the subdirectory exists, the condition is true. Example: Test for the presence of A:\JAN.DOC, and copy it to __________ the root directory on drive C if it exists: c:\> if exist a:\jan.doc copy a:\jan.doc c:\ if exist a:\jan.doc copy a:\jan.doc c:\ This batch file fragment tests for a string value: input "Enter your selection : " %%cmd if "%cmd" == "WP" goto wordproc if "%cmd" NE "GRAPHICS" goto badentry 4DOS Reference Manual 61 INKEY INKEY Syntax: INKEY [text] %%varname INKEY [text] %%varname Purpose: Enter a single keystroke environment variable from the standard input. Comments: You can optionally display some prompt text before the variable name. ASCII values from 1 to 255 are stored as a character. Extended characters (for example, function keys and cursor keys) are stored as a string in decimal format, with a leading @ (for example, the F1 key is stored as @59). This is the same format used by the KEYSTACK command. INKEY and INPUT are normally used as batch file commands, allowing you great flexibility in entering or changing batch variables. See Appendix C for a list of the extended key codes. See also INPUT. Example: The following batch file fragment prompts for a character and stores it in the variable NUM: ___ inkey Enter a number from 1 to 9: %%num 4DOS Reference Manual 62 INPUT INPUT Syntax: INPUT [text] %%varname INPUT [text] %%varname Purpose: Enter an environment variable from the standard input. Comments: You can optionally display some prompt text before the variable name. All characters entered up to, but not including, the carriage return are stored in the variable. INPUT and INKEY are normally used as batch file commands, allowing you great flexibility in entering or changing batch variables. See also INKEY. Example: The following batch file fragment prompts for a string and stores it in the variable FNAME: _____ input Enter the file name: %%fname 4DOS Reference Manual 63 KEYSTACK KEYSTACK Syntax: KEYSTACK ["abc"] [nn] [@nn] KEYSTACK ["abc"] [nn] [@nn] Purpose: Feed keystrokes to a program from a batch file or alias. Comments: Characters entered within double quotes ("abc") will be stored "as is" in the keyboard buffer. Numbers (nn) __ not enclosed in quotes are ASCII decimal codes (e.g., 13 (ENTER), or 27 (ESCAPE)). The number 0 is a special case; it is used with programs that flush the keyboard buffer (it tells the program the buffer is clear, so subsequent keystrokes will be accepted normally). Numbers preceded by @ are extended keyboard codes generated by the Alt key, cursor pad keys, and the Function keys (e.g., @59 is the F1 function key). See Appendix C for a list of the extended key codes. You can store a maximum of 255 characters. Each time KEYSTACK is executed, it will clear any remaining keystrokes stored by a previous KEYSTACK. You may need to experiment a bit with your programs to find the proper sequence of keystrokes. Programs that bypass MS-DOS and the BIOS for keyboard input will not work with KEYSTACK. KEYSTACK requires the device driver KEYSTACK.SYS be loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file (see INSTALLATION). Example: The following batch file starts Lotus 1-2-3 and loads the file specified on the command line: pushd c:\123 keystack 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 "/FR" 0 "%1" 13 123 popd The same command defined as an alias (enter this on one line): alias 321 `pushd c:\123 ^ keystack 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 0 13 "/FR" 0 "%1" 13 ^ 123 ^ popd` 4DOS Reference Manual 64 LIST LIST Syntax: LIST [d:][path]filename... LIST [d:][path]filename... Purpose: Display a file with forward and backward paging and scrolling. Comments: LIST provides a much faster and more flexible way to view a file than TYPE, without the overhead of using a text editor. LIST can handle any size file. The PgUp key moves you back one page; the PgDn key moves you forward one page. The Home key displays the first page of the file, the End key the last page. The up arrow scrolls back one line, the down arrow forward one line. The left arrow key moves the display left 8 characters at a time, and the right arrow key moves the display right 8 characters at a time. The F1 key will search for a text string; the F2 key will find the next matching text string (case differences are ignored). The Esc key will exit the current file; the ^C or ^BREAK keys will exit LIST. LIST is normally only useful for displaying ASCII text files; executable files (.COM and .EXE) and many data files will be unreadable due to the presence of non-alphanumeric characters. See also TYPE. Example: Display the file MEMO.DOC: ________ c:\> list memo.doc list memo.doc 4DOS Reference Manual 65 MD / MKDIR MD / MKDIR Syntax: MD [d:]pathname... MD [d:]pathname... or MKDIR [d:]pathname... MKDIR [d:]pathname... Purpose: Create subdirectories. Comments: To start at the root directory, start the pathname with a backslash (\). To start at the parent directory, start the pathname with two periods (..). All other pathnames start at the current directory. The longest allowable path in MS-DOS from the root directory to any subdirectory is 64 characters (including backslashes). See also RD. Example: Create a subdirectory called MYDIR in the root _____ directory: c:\> md \mydir md \mydir Create a subdirectory called DIRTWO in the current ______ directory: c:\mydir> md dirtwo md dirtwo 4DOS Reference Manual 66 MEMORY MEMORY Syntax: MEMORY MEMORY Purpose: Display the system RAM status. Comments: MEMORY displays the total RAM, the free RAM (available to applications programs after loading MS- DOS, device drivers, 4DOS itself, and RAM resident programs); the total and free expanded memory, extended memory (for 80286 and 80386 machines); and the total and free environment space. Example: Display your RAM totals: c:\> memory 655,360 bytes total RAM 534,464 bytes free 524,288 bytes total EXPANDED memory 524,288 bytes free 2,097,152 bytes total EXTENDED memory 1,024 bytes total ENVIRONMENT 763 bytes free 4DOS Reference Manual 67 MOVE MOVE Syntax: MOVE [/P] [d:][path]filename... [d:][path]filename MOVE [/P] [d:][path]filename... [d:][path]filename Purpose: Move files to other directories and drives. Comments: The MOVE command moves the specified file(s) to the last filename specified, which is designated as the target. If the target already exists, it is deleted when the file is moved. You cannot move a file to itself. If there is more than one source file specification, the target must be a directory, and the files are moved to the directory with their original filenames. If the target is not a directory, MOVE will display an error message and exit. The /P(rompt) option will prompt you for a Y or N response to confirm each move. MOVE first attempts to rename the file(s). If that fails (the target is on a different drive, or the target already exists), MOVE will copy the file(s) and then delete the originals. See also COPY and RENAME. Example: Move some files to a different directory: c:\> move *.wks *.txt c:\finance\myfiles move *.wks *.txt c:\finance\myfiles 4DOS Reference Manual 68 PATH PATH Syntax: PATH [[d:]path;[d:]path...]] PATH [[d:]path;[d:]path...]] Purpose: Tells 4DOS where to search for executable and batch files not in the current directory. Comments: When searching for an external command (.COM, .EXE, and .BAT), 4DOS searches the current directory first, then the directories you specify in the order you list them. The directory names are separated by semicolons (;). If you enter PATH with no parameters, 4DOS displays the current search path. If you enter PATH and a semicolon, 4DOS clears the search path and will search only the current directory (this is the default at system startup). If you specify an invalid directory, 4DOS will skip that directory and continue searching with the next directory in the path. Some applications use the PATH variable to search for their files. You can edit the path with the ESET command. Example: The following PATH command directs 4DOS to search for an executable file in the following order: the current directory, the root directory on C, the DOS subdirectory on C, and the UTIL subdirectory on C: c:\> path c:\;c:\dos;c:\util path c:\;c:\dos;c:\util Display the current search path: c:\> path path c:\;c:\dos;c:\util 4DOS Reference Manual 69 PAUSE PAUSE Syntax: PAUSE [message] PAUSE [message] Purpose: Suspend alias or batch file execution. Comments: A PAUSE command in a batch file will suspend execution, giving you the opportunity to perform activities such as changing disks, turning on the printer, etc. PAUSE waits for any key (except ^C or ^BREAK) to be pressed and then continues executing the batch file. If a prompt message is specified, 4DOS will display the message and wait for a keystroke. Otherwise, 4DOS will prompt: Strike a key when ready... Strike a key when ready... If you press ^C or ^BREAK while executing a batch file, 4DOS will prompt: Cancel batch job (Y/N)? Cancel batch job (Y/N)? This gives you a way to quit a batch file at an intermediate point. If you are nesting batch files (see CALL), a Y response will return you to the calling batch file. Example: The following batch file fragment prompts the user before erasing files: pause ^C aborts, any other key erases the .LST files erase *.lst 4DOS Reference Manual 70 POPD POPD Syntax: POPD [*] POPD [*] Purpose: Change to the disk drive and directory at the top of the directory stack. Comments: POPD restores the disk drive and directory saved using PUSHD (most recent first). The * option clears the directory stack, without changing the current drive and directory. Use the DIRS command to display the directory stack. See also DIRS and PUSHD. Example: Save and change your disk drive and directory with PUSHD, and then restore it: c:\> pushd d:\database\test pushd d:\database\test d:\database\test> pushd c:\wordp\memos pushd c:\wordp\memos c:\wordp\memos> pushd a:\123 pushd a:\123 a:\123> popd popd c:\wordp\memos> popd popd d:\database\test> popd popd c:\> Clear the directory stack: c:\> popd * popd * 4DOS Reference Manual 71 PROMPT PROMPT Syntax: PROMPT [text] PROMPT [text] Purpose: Change the 4DOS command line prompt. Comments: If you enter PROMPT with no arguments, 4DOS sets the prompt to $p$g (display current disk and directory). The prompt text can contain special strings of the form $?, where ? is one of the following: a The & character b The | character c The open parenthesis ( d Current date, in the format Sun Jan 1, 1989 e The ASCII ESC character (decimal 27) f The close parenthesis ) g The > character h BACKSPACE over the previous character l The < character n Default drive letter p Current disk and directory q The = character s The space character t Current time, in the format hh:mm:ss v MS-DOS version number, in the format 3.10 _ CR/LF (go to beginning of new line) $ The $ character Example: Set the prompt to the current date and time: c:\> prompt $d $t $g prompt $d $t $g Mon Dec 25, 1989 18:29:19 > Set the prompt using ANSI escape sequences (see Appendix B) to display the date, time, and path on the top line (this should be entered on one line): c:\> prompt $e[s$e[1;1f$e[37;1;41m$e[K $d $sTime: prompt $e[s$e[1;1f$e[37;1;41m$e[K $d $sTime: $t$h$h$h $sPath: $p$e[u$e[0;32m$n$g $t$h$h$h $sPath: $p$e[u$e[0;32m$n$g 4DOS Reference Manual 72 PUSHD PUSHD Syntax: PUSHD [d:]pathname PUSHD [d:]pathname Purpose: Save the current disk drive and directory. Comments: PUSHD saves the current directory on the directory stack, and changes the disk drive and directory. The directory stack can hold up to 255 characters (about 10 to 20 entries). The saved directory is restored on a "last in, first out" basis by the POPD command. The directory stack can be displayed with the DIRS command. See also DIRS and POPD. Example: Save the current directory and change to C:\WORDP\MEMOS: ______________ c:\> pushd \wordp\memos pushd \wordp\memos c:\wordp\memos> 4DOS Reference Manual 73 QUIT QUIT Syntax: QUIT QUIT Purpose: Terminate the current batch file. Comments: You can QUIT at any point in a batch file, not just at the end. If you QUIT a batch file called from another batch file, you will be returned to the previous file at the line following the original call. To end all batch file processing, use CANCEL. See also CANCEL. Example: This batch file fragment checks to see if the user entered "quit" and exits if true. Otherwise, it calls two subroutines and then exits. input Enter your choice : %%option if "%option" == "quit" quit rem Perform the option processing gosub firstroutine gosub secondroutine quit 4DOS Reference Manual 74 RD / RMDIR RD / RMDIR Syntax: RD [d:]path... RD [d:]path... or RMDIR [d:]path... RMDIR [d:]path... Purpose: Remove one or more subdirectories. Comments: Before removing a subdirectory, you must delete all the files and subdirectories (and their files) in that directory (including any hidden or read-only files). You can use the MS-DOS wildcard characters (* and ?) in the directory names. You cannot remove the root directory (\), the current directory (.), or the parent directory (..). See also MD. Example: Remove the subdirectory MEMOS from the subdirectory _____ WP: __ c:\> rmdir \wp\memos rmdir \wp\memos 4DOS Reference Manual 75 REM REM Syntax: REM [comment] REM [comment] Purpose: Put a comment in a batch file. Comments: If ECHO is ON, or the variable VERBOSE (see the SETDOS command) is set, 4DOS will echo the comment. Otherwise, 4DOS will ignore it. If you don't want to echo the line, preface REM with the @ character. Enter your comment following the REM, separated by a space or tab. Comments can be up to 255 characters. 4DOS will ignore everything following a REM, including the redirection symbols (>, <, and |) and the command separator character. Batch file comments are useful for documenting the purpose for a batch file and the procedures used. Example: Enter comments in a batch file: rem This batch file provides a rem menu-based system for accessing rem the word processing utilities. rem Clear the screen and get selection cls 4DOS Reference Manual 76 REN / RENAME REN / RENAME Syntax: REN [/P] [d:][path]filename... [d:][path]filename REN [/P] [d:][path]filename... [d:][path]filename or RENAME [/P] [d:][path]filename... [d:][path]filename RENAME [/P] [d:][path]filename... [d:][path]filename Purpose: Rename files or directories. Comments: The last filename is the new name; the preceding names are the files or directories to be renamed. You can use the wildcard characters (? and *) in the filenames. The new filename must not already exist. If the /P(rompt) option is specified, 4DOS will prompt you to enter Y or N to confirm each rename. 4DOS allows you to rename files to a new directory on the same disk drive. If you want to rename to a different drive, use the MOVE command. NOTE: You cannot rename a subdirectory to a new path! See also MOVE. Example: Rename the file MEMO.TXT to OFFICE.TXT: ________ __________ c:\> rename memo.txt office.txt rename memo.txt office.txt Rename the file MEMO.TXT to another directory: ________ c:\> rename memo.txt c:\wp\memos\memo.txt rename memo.txt c:\wp\memos\memo.txt Rename the directory \WORDPROC to \WP: _________ ___ c:\> rename \wordproc \wp rename \wordproc \wp Rename two files to another directory: c:\> rename f12.wks f37.wks c:\wks\ffiles rename f12.wks f37.wks c:\wks\ffiles 4DOS Reference Manual 77 RETURN RETURN Syntax: RETURN RETURN Purpose: Return from a GOSUB (subroutine) call in a batch file. Comments: The RETURN command returns from a GOSUB call to the line following the original GOSUB. See also GOSUB. Example: The following batch file fragment calls a subroutine which displays the current directory: echo Calling a subroutine gosub subr1 echo Returned from the subroutine quit :subr1 dir /hw return 4DOS Reference Manual 78 SCREEN SCREEN Syntax: SCREEN row column [message] SCREEN row column [message] Purpose: Position the cursor on the screen, and optionally display a message. Comments: SCREEN allows you to create attractive batch file screen displays. See also ECHO and TEXT. Example: The following batch file fragment displays a menu: @echo off cls screen 3 10 Select a number from 1 to 4: screen 6 20 1 - Word Processing screen 7 20 2 - Spreadsheet screen 8 20 3 - Telecommunications screen 9 20 4 - Quit 4DOS Reference Manual 79 SELECT SELECT Syntax: SELECT [/Oertuz] command ([d:][path]filename...)... SELECT [/Oertuz] command ([d:][path]filename...)... Purpose: Execute a command on the specified files. Comments: SELECT allows you to select command line file arguments by marking the directory entries using a full-screen "point-and-shoot" display. SELECT substitutes the selected files for the argument enclosed in parentheses, and executes the command for each marked file. If you specify multiple arguments in the parentheses, SELECT will display the matching files for the first argument, prompt you to mark the files, execute the command for each marked file, and then continue the same procedure with the next argument. SELECT uses the up arrow, down arrow, PgUp, and PgDn keys to scroll through the files matching the argument(s). Use the + key to select a file, and the - key to unselect a file. The * key will select all of the files (excluding subdirectories). After marking the files, press ENTER to execute the command. You can select a single file by moving the scroll bar to the filename and pressing ENTER. To cancel the SELECT command, type an Escape, ^C, or ^BREAK. The /O option determines the sort order for the directory display (the default sort is by filename): e sort by extension e t sort by time (oldest first) t z sort by size z u unsorted u r reverse the sort order r Example: Select from the files in the current directory with the extension .COM, and then from the files with the ____ extension .EXE to copy to the root directory on drive ____ A: c:\> select copy (*.com *.exe) a:\ select copy (*.com *.exe) a:\ 4DOS Reference Manual 80 SET SET Syntax: SET [variable[=][value]] SET [variable[=][value]] Purpose: Display, create, modify, or delete environment variables. Comments: Entering SET with no variable or value displays the ________ _____ environment. If you don't enter a value, SET will _____ remove the variable from the environment. Otherwise, ________ the variable and the value are placed in the ________ _____ environment. If the variable already exists, its old ________ contents are replaced by the new value. 4DOS limits _____ the variable name to a maximum of 80 characters, and ________ the value to a maximum of 255 characters. _____ SET only affects the environment of the current command processor. If you EXIT to a parent command processor, the original environment will be unchanged. The size of the environment is specified by the /E parameter at startup. The default size is 1024 characters. You can edit environment variables with the ESET command. See also ESET. Example: Display the current environment: c:\> set set COMSPEC=C:\4DOS.COM PATH=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util Add a variable to the environment: c:\> set mine=c:\finance\myfiles set mine=c:\finance\myfiles c:\> set set COMSPEC=C:\4DOS.COM PATH=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util MINE=c:\finance\myfiles Remove a variable from the environment: c:\> set mine set mine 4DOS Reference Manual 81 SETDOS SETDOS Syntax: SETDOS [/C? /E? /H? /M? /N? /V?] SETDOS [/C? /E? /H? /M? /N? /V?] Purpose: Display or set 4DOS configuration variables. Comments: SETDOS allows you to customize 4DOS to your personal tastes. You would normally define the SETDOS variables in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or 4START.BAT file. The SETDOS options are: C The COMPOUND argument is the character used for C separating multiple commands on the same line. The default character is the caret (^). You cannot use any of the redirection characters (<, >, and |) as the command separator. E The ESCAPE argument is the character used to E suppress the normal meaning of the following character. Any character preceded by the escape character will be passed unmodified to the command line. The default escape character is ^X. You cannot use any of the redirection characters (<, >, and |) as the escape character. H The HISTORY variable determines the minimum H command size to save. Any command line whose length is less than this value will not be saved to the history list. Setting /H to 256 will disable all history saves; setting it to 0 will save everything. The default value is 0. M The MODE variable controls the line editing mode. M 4DOS defaults to overstrike mode (0). If MODE is set to 1, the default is insert mode. N The NOCLOBBER variable controls output N redirection. If NOCLOBBER is set to 1, then existing files may not be destroyed by output redirection, and when appending with >>, the output file must exist. NOCLOBBER can be overridden with the ! character (see the section on redirection in USING 4DOS). The default value is 0. 4DOS Reference Manual 82 V The VERBOSE variable controls command echoing in V batch files. If VERBOSE is set to 0, batch files will NOT echo their input unless they set ECHO ON. VERBOSE defaults to 1 (that is, batch files WILL echo input). Example: Change the COMPOUND character to a ~ (tilde): c:\> setdos /c~ setdos /c~ Change MODE to insert, VERBOSE to off, and set NOCLOBBER on: c:\> setdos /m1 /v0 /n1 setdos /m1 /v0 /n1 4DOS Reference Manual 83 SETLOCAL SETLOCAL Syntax: SETLOCAL SETLOCAL Purpose: Save a copy of the current disk drive, directory, and environment. Comments: SETLOCAL is used in batch files to save the disk drive, directory, environment variables, and aliases to a reserved block of memory. You can then change their values, and later restore the original values with ENDLOCAL. SETLOCAL and ENDLOCAL are not nestable within the same batch file. However, you can have multiple SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL pairs within a batch file, and nested batch files can each have their own SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL. You cannot use SETLOCAL / ENDLOCAL in an alias. See also ENDLOCAL. Example: This batch file fragment saves the disk drive, directory, and environment, changes the disk and directory, modifies some variables, deletes all the aliases, runs a program, and then restores the original values: setlocal cdd d:\test set path=c:\;c:\dos;c:\util set lib=d:\lib unalias * rem run some program here endlocal 4DOS Reference Manual 84 SHIFT SHIFT Syntax: SHIFT [n] SHIFT [n] Purpose: Allow the use of more than 10 variables in a batch file. Comment: SHIFT is provided for compatibility with COMMAND.COM. COMMAND.COM supports only 10 parameters (%0 through %9); 4DOS supports 128 parameters (%0 to %127), so you may not need to use SHIFT for batch files running exclusively under 4DOS. SHIFT moves each of the batch file parameters n _ positions (i.e., %1 becomes %0, %2 becomes %1, etc.). The default value for n is 1. You can also reverse a _ SHIFT, by giving a negative value for n (i.e., if n is _ _ -1, the former value for %0 is restored, %0 becomes %1, %1 becomes %2, etc.). Example: Create a batch file called TEST.BAT: ________ echo %1 %2 %3 %4 shift echo %1 %2 %3 %4 shift 2 echo %1 %2 %3 %4 shift -1 echo %1 %2 %3 %4 Executing TEST.BAT produces the following results: ________ c:\> test zero one two three four five six test zero one two three four five six zero one two three one two three four three four five six two three four five 4DOS Reference Manual 85 TEE TEE Syntax: TEE [/A] [d:][path]filename... TEE [/A] [d:][path]filename... Purpose: Copy standard input to standard output, and save a copy in the specified file(s). Comments: The /A option causes the output to be appended to the file(s) rather than overwriting it. If you are typing at the keyboard, you need to enter a ^Z to terminate the input. TEE is often used to save the intermediate output of a pipe. See also Y. Example: Search the file DOC for any lines containing the ___ string "4DOS", make a copy of the matching lines in 4.DAT, sort the lines, and write them to the output _____ file 4DOS.DAT: ________ c:\> find "4DOS" doc | tee 4.dat | sort > 4dos.dat find "4DOS" doc | tee 4.dat | sort > 4dos.dat 4DOS Reference Manual 86 TEXT TEXT Syntax: TEXT TEXT . . . . . . ENDTEXT ENDTEXT Purpose: Display a block of text in a batch file. Comments: The TEXT command is useful for displaying menus or multiple line messages. TEXT will display subsequent lines in the batch file until terminated by ENDTEXT. You can change screen colors by inserting an ANSI escape sequence (see Appendix B). See also ECHO and SCREEN. Example: The following batch file fragment displays a simple menu: @echo off cls screen 2 0 test Enter one of the following: 1 - Spreadsheet 2 - Word Processing 3 - DOS Utilities Enter your selection : endtext 4DOS Reference Manual 87 TIME TIME Syntax: TIME [hh[:mm[:ss]]] TIME [hh[:mm[:ss]]] Purpose: Display or set the current system time. Comments: If you don't enter any parameters, TIME will display the current system time and prompt you for a new time. Press ENTER if you don't wish to change the time, otherwise enter the new time. The parameters for the TIME command are: hh (hour) = 0 - 23 __ mm (minute) = 0 - 59 __ ss (second) = 0 - 59 __ Whenever you create or modify a file, the system time is recorded in the directory entry. Example: Enter the time (9:30 am): c:\> time 9:30 time 9:30 To be prompted for the time: c:\> time time Mon Dec 25, 1989 9:30:10 New time (hh:mm:ss): 4DOS Reference Manual 88 TIMER TIMER Syntax: TIMER TIMER Purpose: System stopwatch. Comments: The TIMER command turns the system stopwatch on and off. The first time you run TIMER, the stopwatch starts. When you run TIMER again, the stopwatch stops and the elapsed time is displayed. TIMER is particularly useful for timing events in batch files. The smallest interval TIMER can measure is .06 seconds; the largest interval is 23:59:59.99. Example: Start the timer: c:\> timer timer Timer on Stop the timer: c:\> timer timer Elapsed time: 0:00:08.06 4DOS Reference Manual 89 TYPE TYPE Syntax: TYPE [/LP] [d:][pathname]filename... TYPE [/LP] [d:][pathname]filename... Purpose: Display the contents of the specified file(s). Comments: The TYPE command displays a file. Press ^S to suspend the display, and any character key to continue the display. The /L option prints line numbers preceding each line of text. The /P option will pause after each page. Press ^C to quit, or any other key to display the next page. TYPE is normally only useful for displaying ASCII text files; executable files (.COM & .EXE) and many data files will be unreadable due to the presence of non-alphanumeric characters. You will probably find LIST to be more useful for displaying files. See also LIST. Example: Display the files MEMO1 and MEMO2, pausing at the _____ _____ end of each page: c:\> type /p memo1 memo2 type /p memo1 memo2 4DOS Reference Manual 90 UNALIAS UNALIAS Syntax: UNALIAS alias... UNALIAS alias... or UNALIAS * UNALIAS * Purpose: Remove aliases from the alias list. Comments: UNALIAS also accepts the wildcard character * to delete all aliases. See also ALIAS and ESET. Example: Remove the alias DDIR: ____ c:\> unalias ddir unalias ddir Remove the aliases DDIR and ZAP: ____ ___ c:\> unalias ddir zap unalias ddir zap Remove all the aliases: c:\> unalias * unalias * 4DOS Reference Manual 91 VER VER Syntax: VER VER Purpose: Display the current 4DOS and MS-DOS versions. Comments: The 4DOS and MS-DOS versions consist of a one digit major version number, a period, and a two digit minor version number. Example: Get the current version of 4DOS and MS-DOS: c:\> ver ver 4DOS 2.0 DOS 3.31 4DOS Reference Manual 92 VERIFY VERIFY Syntax: VERIFY [on | off] VERIFY [on | off] Purpose: Display, enable, or disable disk write verification. Comments: When VERIFY is ON, MS-DOS will verify each disk write to ensure the data has been written correctly. VERIFY will remain ON until you set it OFF. Entering VERIFY with no parameters will display the current VERIFY state. Verification will slow your disk write operations slightly. At system startup, VERIFY is OFF. Example: Check the current verify status: c:\> verify verify VERIFY is OFF Enable disk write verification: c:\> verify on verify on 4DOS Reference Manual 93 VOL VOL Syntax: VOL [d:]... VOL [d:]... Purpose: Display the disk volume label(s). Comments: If you don't enter a drive name, VOL will assume the current disk drive. If the disk doesn't have a volume name, VOL will report it as "unlabeled." Volume labels can be created, changed or deleted with the MS-DOS LABEL command. Example: Display the label for the default disk: c:\> vol vol Volume in drive C: is MYHARDDISK Display the disk labels for drives A and B: c:\> vol a: b: vol a: b: Volume in drive A: is unlabeled Volume in drive B: is BACKUP_2 4DOS Reference Manual 94 Y Y Syntax: Y [d:][path]filename... Y [d:][path]filename... Purpose: Copy standard input to standard output, and then copy the specified file(s) to standard output. Comments: Standard input from the console is terminated by a ^Z. See also TEE. Example: Get text from standard input, append the files MEMO1 _____ and MEMO2 to it, and send the output to MEMOS: _____ _____ c:\> y memo1 memo2 > memos y memo1 memo2 > memos 4DOS Reference Manual 95 APPENDIX A - 4DOS and MS-DOS Error Messages APPENDIX A - 4DOS and MS-DOS Error Messages Access denied Access denied You tried to erase or write to a read-only protected file, to rename a file or directory to an existing name, or to remove a directory with files still in it. Alias loop Alias loop An alias refers back to itself. (i.e., a = b = a), or aliases are nested more than 16 deep. Correct your alias list. Bad disk unit Bad disk unit Generally caused by a disk drive failure. Try the diagnostic tests. Bad environment Bad environment The MS-DOS environment has a bad structure. Reboot the system. Can't copy file to itself Can't copy file to itself 4DOS will not permit you to COPY or MOVE a file to itself. Unlike COMMAND.COM, 4DOS does full path and filename expansion before copying to ensure that files aren't inadvertently destroyed. Can't create Can't create 4DOS can't create the specified file. The disk may be full or write protected, the file already exists and is read-only, or the root directory is full. Can't delete Can't delete 4DOS can't delete the specified file or directory. The disk is probably write protected. Can't get directory Can't get directory 4DOS can't read the specified directory. The disk drive is probably not ready. 4DOS Reference Manual 96 Can't make directory entry Can't make directory entry 4DOS can't create the filename in the directory. This is usually caused by a full root directory. Create a subdirectory and move some of the files to it. Can't open Can't open 4DOS can't open the specified file. Check your disk directory. Can't remove current directory Can't remove current directory 4DOS can't delete your current directory. Change to the parent directory and try again. Command line too long Command line too long The command line exceeded 255 characters in length while 4DOS was doing alias and variable expansion. Data error Data error MS-DOS can't read or write properly to the device. Directory stack empty Directory stack empty POPD or DIRS can't find any entries in the directory stack. Directory stack full Directory stack full The current directory stack size plus the size of the new entry exceeds 255 characters. Use POPD to remove entries. Disk is write protected Disk is write protected The disk cannot be written to. Check the disk and remove the write-protect tab if necessary. Drive not ready--close door Drive not ready--close door The floppy disk drive door is open. Close the door and try again. 4DOS Reference Manual 97 Error reading Error reading MS-DOS experienced an I/O error when reading from a device. This is usually caused by a bad disk, a device not ready, or a hardware error. Error writing Error writing MS-DOS experienced an I/O error when writing to a device. This is usually caused by a full disk, a bad disk, a device not ready, or a hardware error. Exceeded nesting limit Exceeded nesting limit You have attempted to nest batch files more than 5 levels deep, or you have attempted more than 5 nested GOSUBS in a single batch file. File Allocation Table bad File Allocation Table bad MS-DOS can't access the FAT on the specified disk. This can be caused by a bad disk or a hardware error. File exists File exists The requested output file already exists, and 4DOS won't overwrite it. File not found File not found 4DOS couldn't find the specified file. Check your disk directory. General failure General failure This is usually a hardware problem, particularly a disk drive failure. Try to correct the problem or reboot and try again. Internal DOS error Internal DOS error MS-DOS encountered an internal bug and failed. Reboot the system. Invalid date Invalid date An invalid date was entered. Check the syntax and reenter. 4DOS Reference Manual 98 Invalid drive Invalid drive A bad or non-existent disk drive was specified. Invalid option Invalid option 4DOS didn't recognize the specified option. Check the syntax and reenter. Invalid path Invalid path The specified path does not exist. Check the disk specification and/or spelling. Invalid time Invalid time An invalid time was entered. Check the syntax and reenter. Label not found Label not found A GOTO or GOSUB command referred to a non-existent label. Check your batch file. Memory destroyed Memory destroyed The MS-DOS memory control blocks have been corrupted. Reboot the system. Missing ENDTEXT Missing ENDTEXT A TEXT command is missing the matching ENDTEXT command. Check your batch file. Missing GOSUB Missing GOSUB 4DOS cannot perform the RETURN command in a batch file. Either you tried to do a RETURN without a GOSUB, or your batch file has been corrupted. No aliases defined No aliases defined No aliases were found in the environment. 4DOS Reference Manual 99 No closing quote or parenthesis No closing quote or parenthesis 4DOS couldn't find a second matching quote (either ` or "), or the closing parenthesis on the command line. No environment space No environment space 4DOS has run out of environment space. The environment is used for storing both environment variables and the alias list. Edit the SHELL command in the CONFIG.SYS file to increase the environment size. Change the /E parameter to read: /E:n /E:n where n is a number from 512 to 32000), and reboot the machine _ (See INSTALLATION). Non-DOS disk Non-DOS disk MS-DOS can't read the disk. Either the disk is bad, or it has been formatted by a different operating system. Reformat it as an MS-DOS disk. Not an alias Not an alias The specified argument is not in the 4DOS alias list. Not in environment Not in environment The specified argument is not in the environment. Not ready Not ready The specified device can't be accessed. Not same device Not same device This error usually appears in RENAME. You cannot rename a file to a different disk drive. 4DOS Reference Manual 100 Out of memory Out of memory MS-DOS or 4DOS had insufficient free memory to execute the last command. Out of paper Out of paper MS-DOS detected an out-of-paper condition on one of the parallel printers (LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3). Check your printer and add paper if necessary. Read error Read error MS-DOS disk read error; usually caused by a bad disk or a non- DOS disk. Sector not found Sector not found BIOS disk error; usually caused by a bad disk or a non-DOS disk. Seek error Seek error MS-DOS can't seek to the proper location on the disk. This is generally caused by a bad disk or drive. Syntax error Syntax error A command was entered with the improper format. Too many open files Too many open files MS-DOS has run out of file handles. Try setting FILES=20 or more in the CONFIG.SYS file. Unknown command Unknown command A command was entered that 4DOS didn't recognize and couldn't find in the current search path. Check the spelling or PATH specification. Write error Write error MS-DOS disk error; usually caused by a bad disk or a non-DOS disk. 4DOS Reference Manual 101 APPENDIX B - ANSI.SYS COMMANDS APPENDIX B - ANSI.SYS COMMANDS The ANSI.SYS provided with 4DOS is a replacement for the standard ANSI driver provided on your MS-DOS disk. It includes more ANSI command sequences, EGA and VGA support, and runs 20% to 50% faster. ANSI.SYS provides functions to position the cursor, change the screen display, erase part or all of the screen, and assign key functions. ESC[#;#f ESC[#;#f or or ESC[#;#H CURSOR POSITION ESC[#;#H Moves the cursor to the specified position. The first parameter is the row and the second parameter is the column. The default values are 1. ESC[#A CURSOR UP ESC[#A Moves the cursor up the number of rows specified, or until it reaches the top of the screen. The default value for # is 1. ESC[#B CURSOR DOWN ESC[#B Moves the cursor down the number of rows specified, or until it reaches the bottom of the screen. The default value for # is 1. ESC[#C CURSOR FORWARD ESC[#C Moves the cursor right the number of columns specified, or until it reaches the right margin. The default value for # is 1. ESC[#D CURSOR BACKWARD ESC[#D Moves the cursor left the number of columns specified, or until it reaches the left margin. the default value for # is 1. ESC[#J CLEAR SCREEN ESC[#J This sequence clears part or all of the display. If # is 1, it clears from home (upper left corner) to the cursor position. If # is 2, it clears the entire screen and moves the cursor to the upper left corner. The default value for # is 2. 4DOS Reference Manual 102 ESC[#K CLEAR IN LINE ESC[#K This sequence clears part or all of the current line. If # is 0, it clears from the cursor to the end of the line. If # is 1, it clears from the start of the line to the cursor. If # is 2, it clears the entire line. The default value for # is 0. ESC[6n DEVICE STATUS REPORT ESC[6n This sequence sends a cursor position report. ESC[s SAVE CURSOR POSITION ESC[s Saves the current cursor position internally. You can restore the saved position with the RESTORE CURSOR POSITION (ESC[u) command. ESC[u RESTORE CURSOR POSITION ESC[u Restores the cursor to the position saved with the SAVE CURSOR POSITION command. ESC[=#h SET MODE ESC[=#h Sets the video mode, where # is: 0 40 x 25 B&W 1 40 x 25 Color 2 80 x 25 B&W 3 80 x 25 Color 4 320 x 200 Color (graphics) 5 320 x 200 B&W (graphics) 6 640 x 200 B&W (graphics) 7 Enable wrap at end of line. ESC[=#i RESET MODE ESC[=#i The parameters are the same as SET MODE, except if # is 7, wrap is disabled (characters past the end of line are discarded). 4DOS Reference Manual 103 ESC[#;...#m SET GRAPHICS RENDITION ESC[#;...#m Sets the character display attribute. All subsequent characters will be displayed with the specified attribute until the attribute is redefined. 0 All attributes off (white on black) 1 Bold 4 Underline (monochrome display) 5 Blink 7 Inverse video 8 Invisible 30 Black foreground 31 Red foreground 32 Green foreground 33 Yellow foreground 34 Blue foreground 35 Magenta foreground 36 Cyan foreground 37 White foreground 40 Black background 41 Red background 42 Green background 43 Yellow background 44 Blue background 45 Magenta background 46 Cyan background 47 White background ESC[#;"string";...#p ESC[#;"string";...#p or or ESC[#;#;...#p KEYBOARD REASSIGNMENT ESC[#;#;...#p The first # is the ASCII code being reassigned. The remaining numbers or strings define the keystrokes to be generated when the key is intercepted. If the first # is a 0, the second # defines an extended ASCII code. 4DOS Reference Manual 104 Appendix C - Key Codes Appendix C - Key Codes Here are some of the extended key codes for the INKEY and KEYSTACK commands (see the Command Reference Guide): F1 - @59 Alt-F1 - @104 Ctl-F1 - @94 Shift-F1 - @84 F2 - @60 Alt-F2 - @105 Ctl-F2 - @95 Shift-F2 - @85 F3 - @61 Alt-F3 - @106 Ctl-F3 - @96 Shift-F3 - @86 F4 - @62 Alt-F4 - @107 Ctl-F4 - @97 Shift-F4 - @87 F5 - @63 Alt-F5 - @108 Ctl-F5 - @98 Shift-F5 - @88 F6 - @64 Alt-F6 - @109 Ctl-F6 - @99 Shift-F6 - @89 F7 - @65 Alt-F7 - @110 Ctl-F7 - @100 Shift-F7 - @90 F8 - @66 Alt-F8 - @111 Ctl-F8 - @101 Shift-F8 - @91 F9 - @67 Alt-F9 - @112 Ctl-F9 - @102 Shift-F9 - @92 F10 - @68 Alt-F10 - @113 Ctl-F10- @103 Shift-F10 - @93 Home @71 Up @72 PgUp @73 Left @75 Right @77 End @79 Down @80 PgDn @81 Insert @82 Del @83 Ctl-Left @115 Ctl-Right @116 Ctl-End @117 Ctl-PgDn @118 Ctl-PgUp @132 Ctl-Home @119 4DOS Reference Manual 105 Index Index 4D-PIF.DVP 9 Command 4DOS.EXE 8 completion 17 4DOS88.EXE 8 echoing 20 4DOS286.EXE 8 history and recall 17 4DOSSWAP.@@@ 11 line 2 4START.BAT 15, 82 line arguments 20 line editing 16 ? 29 processor 51 separator 18, 82 ALIAS 20, 30 syntax 28 Alias parameters 21, 30 Comment 76 Aliases 2, 20, 50, 84, 91 COMPOUND 18, 82 ALIASES.BAT 9, 21 Conditional commands 3, 19 AND 19 Conditional execution 60 ANSI.SYS 8, 10, 102 CONFIG.SYS 10 Append 41 Configuration variables 82 Argument Quoting 20 COPY 41 ATTRIB 32 Country code 42 Attributes 32, 45 Current directory 37 AUTOEXEC.BAT 12, 15 Cursor 79 CWD 24 Batch file 7 CWDS 24 echoing 48 nesting 35 DATE 24, 42 parameters 85 DEL 43 BEEP 33 DESCRIBE 44 BREAK 34 DESCRIPT.ION 44 Descriptions 2 CALL 35 DESQView 13 CANCEL 36, 73 DIR 45 CD 37 Directory stack 47, 73 CDD 38 DIRS 47 CHCP 39 DISK 23 CHDIR 37 Disk space 54 CLS 40 Disk write verification 93 CMDLINE 23 DOS.HLP 8 Code page 39 DOSVER 23 Colon 56, 57 ECHO 20, 48, 83 4DOS Reference Manual 106 Editing 16 History size 12 EMS 11 ENDLOCAL 49, 84 I/O Redirection 25 ENDTEXT 87 IF 60 Environment INKEY 62, 105 size 2, 12 INPUT 63 space 67 INSTALL 10 variables 2, 23, 50, INSTALL.BAT 8 62, 63, 81, 84 Installation 8 EQ 60 Interrupt 11 ERASE 43 ISDIR 61 Error Messages 96 ERRORLEVEL 19, 60 Key Codes 105 ESCAPE 19, 82 KEYSTACK 8, 22, 64, 105 Escape character 19, 82 KEYSTACK.SYS 8, 10, 22, 64 ESET 50 EXCEPT 51 Label 56, 57, 94 EXIST 61 Language support 39 EXIT 52 LE 60 Exit code 19 Line editing mode 82 Expanded memory 67 LIST 65 Extended key codes 62, 105 LT 60 Extended memory 67 MARK 14 F9 and F10 16, 18 MD 66 File MEMORY 67 attributes 32, 45 MKDIR 66 descriptions 2, 44, 45 MODE 82 Filename completion 18 MOVE 68 FOR 53 Multiple arguments 4 FREE 54 Multiple Commands 2, 18 GE 60 NE 60 GLOBAL 55 NOCLOBBER 25, 82 GOSUB 56, 78 GOTO 57 OR 19 GT 60 PATH 23, 66, 69 HELP 58 PAUSE 70 HELP.EXE 8 Pipes 26, 86 HISTORY 59, 82 POPD 71 History list 17, 59 PROMPT 72 4DOS Reference Manual 107 PUSHD 72 UNALIAS 20, 30, 91 Using 4DOS 15 QUIT 73 Quotes 20 VER 92 VERBOSE 20, 48, 76, 83 RAM 67 VERIFY 41, 93 RD 75 Version number 92 README.DOC 9 VOL 94 Redirection 3, 82 Volume label 94 RELEASE 14 REM 76 Wildcards 1 REN 77 RENAME 77 Y 95 RETURN 56, 78 RMDIR 75 Root directory 66 SCREEN 79 SELECT 80 SET 23, 81 SETDOS 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 48, 76, 82 SETLOCAL 49, 84 SHIFT 85 Stack Overflow 14 Standard error 24 input 25, 86, 95 output 25, 86, 95 Starting 4DOS 15 Startup options 12 Stopwatch 89 Subroutine 56, 78 TEE 86 TEXT 87 TIME 24, 88 TIMER 89 TSRCOM 14 TYPE 4DOS Reference Manual 108