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EZOS2 PURPOSE The purpose of this program is make OS2 and DOS easier to use. EZOS enhances existing commands and adds new commands. There is a HELP command if a summary of available commands is needed. If you enter a command that is not a part of this program, it will be passed to OS2 for execution. If you have ever been frustrated with the need to use uppercase characters such as the colon ":" and asterisk "*" in OS2 commands, EZOS will help. If you think it would be easier to type DB to get a directory listing for drive B: instead of typing DIR B:, then EZOS may be what you are looking for. If you think you should be able to use the function keys to enter data of your choice, you will want to try EZOS. When you get a directory listing, do you ever want to know how much space the files use on the disk? EZOS does all this and more. I have spent a lot of time trying to make OS2 and DOS easier to use. EZOS is the result. It gives you shorter commands with no uppercase characters required. This makes typing easier. I have added commands to do the things OS2 forgot, like moving files between directories, checking file dates before doing a copy, etc. EZOS is a family application, so it will also run under DOS or in the DOS compatibility session of OS/2 as well as in protected mode. I hope you find EZOS as helpful as I have. If you think this program will be useful to you, please send a small donation ($10?) to Pam Chambers, 313 Red River Trail, Irving TX 75063. Thank you. REQUIREMENTS EZOS has been tested on the following systems: IBM PC/AT, IBM convertible, and IBM PS/2 under both OS/2, DOS, and Windows, as well as on other brands of PC. EXECUTION To execute EZOS, enter EZOS, followed by a command, data, and switches, as required. COMMAND LINE EDITOR EZOS contains a very convenient editor for the command line. If you make a typing error, you can move the cursor along the command line to make the correction character by character with the left and right arrow keys or word by word with the Ctrl-arrow key combination. The delete key will remove the character at the cursor location from the command line, while the insert key will allow you to enter new characters at the cursor location. You will see a block cursor while in INSERT mode. The HOME key moves the cursor to the start of the line, while the END key moves it to the end. You can delete the characters from the cursor position to the end of the line with the CTRL-END combination. There is a buffer for the last 16 commands. By using the up arrow key, you can move backward through this buffer, while the down arrow key moves you forward. If you are working through the buffer sequentially, to avoid having to hit both the up and down arrow keys to get the next buffered command, the 5 key on the numeric pad (protected mode only) or the PgUp key will recall the next command in the buffer. As the commands are displayed, you can use the other keys to edit the command. FUNCTION KEYS Function keys can be used to make command typing easier. Keys F1-F12 and shifted F1-F12 are associated with text strings as defined in the environment. For example, to set key F1 to the string "CD C:\PROGRAMS" you enter the command "SET F1=CD C:\PROGRAMS" before starting EZOS. Use SET SF1=xxx for the shifted F keys. To get trailing blanks included with the string, end the string with an apostrophe ('). For example, to get the string "EDIT " associated with the F6 key, enter the command SET F6=EDIT '. If that does not look neat enough, you can also enter it as SET F6='EDIT '. An apostrophe will not be included as part of the string unless there are two of them together in the environment string (''). (That was the only way I could figure out to get trailing blanks in the strings!) You can also include the return key as part of the string. This is done by adding the character ALT+1 at the end of the string. When the specified F key is pressed, the string will be typed, followed by the enter key. For example, to associate the F1 key with the command CD C:\PROGRAMS(enter), enter the following command "SET F1=CD C:\PROGRAMS". (Alt+1 displays as the happy face.) EZOS will then type the string and hit the enter key for you when you press the F1 key. It is also possible to concatenate commands. Since you can't enter the '&' sign into the environment except from CONFIG.SYS in OS/2, you can use ALT+2 to do this. If you want to execute the commands "C: enter" and "CD \PROGRAMS enter" with the F1 key, enter "SET F1=C: CD \PROGRAMS " at the DOS prompt. Hitting the F1 key will enter both commands. (Again, the happy faces are ALT+1 and ALT+2.) Another use for this capability is with Windows or the Presentation Manager. In the command line field of the program properties box, you can enter several commands this way without the need for many small BAT or CMD files, and PIF files with Windows, that waste a lot of disk space. If you are using CONFIG.SYS to set the environment, you can also use the & sign to concatenate the commands. This looks a little nicer when using the SET command to display the environment settings. Remember that all of these environment parameters must be set BEFORE EZOS is started. If you are using Windows, the Presentation Manager, or the DOS 4 Shell command, you may want to use environment parameters in the commands that are executed when a menu item or icon is selected, but these systems do not provide this capability. For example, I keep a diary by month. Each month, I set F12 to "EZEDIT month.DAT" where month is the current month, and SF12 to "EZEDIT lastmonth.DAT" where lastmonth is the name of the previous month. I never care what the name of the file is, I just hit F12 for this month's data or SF12 for last month's data. Under the program manager of Windows, I wanted an icon for the current month and previous month's diary. There was no way to do this without changing the program properties every month. The solution was to add the commands DOFx and DOSFx to EZOS, where x is the key that you have set up in the environment (F1-12 or SF1-12). Now, I set up the Windows program properties for the current month to be a simple "EZOS DOF12" and for the previous month to "EZOS DOSF12". As I change the environment each month, the file I edit with my Windows icon selection is automatically changed also. NEW COMMANDS The new commands require only one or two letters to be entered. For example, if you want to list the directory of default drive A: with OS2, you enter "DIR". With the EZOS program active, just enter "F" for a compressed alphabetical file listing or "D" for an alphabetical listing that is not compressed. With OS2, to list the directory of drive B: you enter"DIR B:". When using EZOS program, it is only necessary to enter either "FB" or "DB" depending on the format of the display you prefer. In other words, for drives A: through Z:, it is only necessary to enter the command followed by the drive letter. The file listing commands give either a compressed (F) or normal (D) directory listing, but file names are sorted alphabetically. The files can also be sorted by date or size if the the /D or /S switch is appended to the command. The amount of disk space used by the files is displayed, as well as the disk free space. The space used display makes it much easier to tell if files you want to copy will fit into the free space on another diskette. If you use the NAME command to add additional identifying text to the diskette, it is included in the directory listing also. The SETCODE command is very useful for making BAT or CMD files that contain menus. You can display a menu with numbered item and then call EZOS. EZOS will prompt for the selection, and exit setting the ERRORLEVEL to the binary value of the number entered. This allows you to make a single BAT or CMD file that will show the menu, accept the input, and then execute the selected function. The REMOVE command, combined with the enhancements to the COPY command, can make it much easier to live with a hard disk by greatly speeding up the backup process. ENHANCED COMMANDS While a few of the commands are similar to the normal OS2 external commands, locating them in a single program eliminates the need to carry copies of several different programs on all of your diskettes. There are many enhancements to the OS2 commands of COPY, RENAME, and DELETE. If you delete or rename files, the name of each file is displayed as the file is changed. This helps you to see the effect of the command while you can still recover from a mistake. Please read the description of each command for more detail. There are several enhancements to OS2 command processing. Many commands will prompt for action if you use the /Q flag. In addition the /Date switch causes the COPY command to replace a file on the target disk only if the source file has a more recent creation date. By combining the /Date switch with the /Backup switch for example, it is easy to copy a file to a diskette only if it will be updating an older copy of the same file. ONE FINGER TYPING To avoid having to type the uppercase colon ":" and asterisk "*", the command line is scanned for the ";" and "-" which are changed to the ":" and "*" respectively before command execution begins. This generally makes one finger typing possible. If you do not want this alteration of the command to occur, for example if executing a program the looks for the ";" in the command line, append the /A flag to the command and the alteration will be cancelled. The alteration process stops if a comma is encountered while scanning the command line. This is because the comma generally means that the scan has reached the data portion of the command, which often should not be changed. Hopefully, this will reduce the need to use the /A switch. USE WITH HARD DISK EZOS makes a hard disk much easier to backup and restore than the standard OS2 commands. If you build a batch file called BYE.CMD that you run at the end of the day that looks like this: CD C:\ EZOS REPEAT LOG B: /E/P/D you will be able to capture all the files that were changed today before you turn the computer off. This will copy all changed files to their corresponding subdirectory on drive B:. This will take about one minute to run. If you fill the diskette in drive B:, EZOS will ask you for a new diskette and will then continue the copy process. If you have previously backed up the hard disk to diskettes. It is easy to completely restore the hard disk. You will first copy all of the files back to the proper subdirectories from the backup floppies, then run a batch file called UPDATE.CMD which looks like this: B: EZOS REPEAT COPY B:*.* C: /P/E/D C: Again, this will copy all of the files from drive B: to their original subdirectory on drive C:. If you have filled several diskettes with the BYE procedure, it will be necessary to repeat this for each of them. By doing this, you can greatly reduce the need for time consuming backups of the complete hard disk. This leaves only one area uncovered; that of how to handle files that were removed from the hard disk, but which remain in the backup diskettes. The REMOVE command handles that. Before deleting the file from the hard disk, copy it to the same directory in a floppy disk used for just this purpose. Use the command: COPY filename.ext A: /P to copy the file to the same subdirectory on the floppy. Then make a batch file called CLEANUP.CMD that looks like this: A: EZOS REPEAT REMOVE A:*.* C: /E/P C: This will remove all files from the C: disk that have the same name as the files on the A: disk. By following this procedure, it is easy to make quick backups of a hard disk by copying only changed files daily. They are then easily restored if necessary, and deleted files are automatically removed. SESSION IDENTIFICATION EZOS will begin the prompt line with a text string so that the different windows can be identified. The string defined by the environment parameter EZOSID is used. To display the message "WINDOWA" at the start of the command prompt, enter the command "SET EZOSID=WINDOWA" before starting EZOS. LINES ON DISPLAY You can control the number of lines on the screen either with the environment parameter EZROWS=x, or the command SETROWS x. The number of lines that will be displayed on directory lists will equal x, then the display will pause, unless the /X option was specified on the command. It is necessary to do it this way instead of letting the program determine the display size dynamically because the OS/2 call that tells the screen characteristics uses so much memory during the BIND process that the program would no longer work under DOS! COMMAND SUMMARY A summary of available commands follows. The uppercase letters are required. It is permissible to enter the complete word, but is unnecessary. The switches used by each command are also listed. Normal OS2 documentation conventions are used for other optional parameters. This section includes both the syntax and a description of the logic behind how each command works. Unless noted otherwise, a full path can be entered where a [d:] is shown. NOTE: the switches must follow the other parameters on the command line. BALL[ON]/[OFF] /C Turn on a spinning ball in the prompt to tell if the system is hung and to amaze your friends. (Protected mode only). If the environment parameter EZBALL is set to anything, the ball will be turned on automatically. BEEP /C/E Sound the speaker. Useful to alert the operator during the execution of batch files. COPY [d:]source_filename[.ext] [d:]target_filename[.ext] /A/B/C/D/E/H/L/N/P/Q/T/W/X Copy source file to target file. This command was included to get the ability to use the switches as aids to file backup, and to get the list of file names as files are copied. The COPY command first builds a list of source files based on the specified name, including wildcards. As this list is built, only files with an alteration date matching the system date are included if /T was specified. It is possible to concatenate multiple files in the same directory by typing a + followed by the next file name, etc. There must be no spaces between the filenames and the + signs: COPY FILE1+FILE2+FILE3 TARGETFILE as an example. The first file can contain a path specification, but the additional filenames must be in the same directory. The output file is then opened. At this time the /B, /D and /N flags are tested. Finally, if /Q was specified, the user is prompted. This means that only eligible files will generate a prompt and be copied. If the target diskette runs out of space, the user will be asked if another drive or diskette should be used to hold the rest of the data. There is also an option to cancel the copy operation at this point, or to skip the file presently being copied. This is an easy way to copy all but very large files, for example. NOTE: if /Q was specified and the target diskette runs out of space while a file is being copied, the out of space message will be issued. The copy operation will continue with the next file if a new target is not requested. This is because some of the remaining files to be copied may be small enough to fit in the available space on the target diskette. If /P was specified, the files will be copied into the same subdirectory on the target device that contained them on the source device. The subdirectory will be created if it does not already exist. This makes it easier to backup and restore hard disk drives as you do not need to keep track of what files belong in what directories. The /T switch has an additional function. If the command is entered in the form /T=mm-dd-yy, only files with dates equal to or greater that the specified date will be copied. This makes it possible to copy only files changed this month to another disk, for example. D [d:][fname][.ext] /A/C/D/E/F/H/O/L/S/T This command gives an alphabetically sorted directory list. The drive identifier can be combined with the command to speed typing. DA gives the directory listing for drive A:, DB for drive B:, DC for drive C:, through drive Z:. The directory list produced with this command contains the the diskette name and label if any, the path, and the file list sorted alphabetically in two columns, including the file name, file size, and the file creation date/time. The space used by the selected files is shown, along with the free space on the disk. If /S is specified, the list is sorted by file size; /D causes the list to be sorted by date. The screen display pauses when the screen is full. If you do not want the display to pause, add a "/X" to the command. This is useful if you are just REPEATing through directories looking for empty directories, etc. DELete [d:]filename[.ext] /A/C/E/L/Q/T Delete the specified file. This command is included to get the function of the switches and the list of files that are being deleted. The names of the files are displayed as they are deleted. If /T was specified, the date of each file is checked to see if it matches the system date or is later than the date specified with /T=mm-dd-yy in the command. If is does not match, it is not deleted. If /Q was specified, the user is prompted before each file is deleted. If you want to delete all files in a group of directories using the REPEAT command, and do not want to have to reply Y to the "Are you sure you want to delete all files" messages, append a /! to the command and these messages will be suspended. DIRSIZE [d:][path] /C/E/L DIRSIZE tells you the number of bytes, files and subdirectories contained in the specified path and lists the largest and smallest files. The number of 1.4 Mb diskettes that will be required to hold these files is also listed. (The space for the directories and unused space at the end of the files' last cluster is included in this calculation.) DOFx and DOSFx where x represents F1-12 or SF1-12 ie, DOF4 or DOSF4 EZOS will execute the command in the environment that you have set previously with the "SET Fx=command" or the "SET SFx=command" DOS command. This is useful as a command with variable data in the Windows or PM environments to save changing the program properties every time you want to use new data. Only one command can be executed this way. Command chaining will not work. If you must chain command, set up several fkeys in the environment and pass them to EZOS as a chain, ie.: the program properties might be EZOS DOF12 & EZOS DOF4 & Q. DUMP [d:][path]filename[.ext] [d:][path][filename] /A/C/E/F/L/Q/T Displays the contents of the selected file in both hex and ASCII format in blocks of 128 bytes. Wildcards can be used in the input file specification. The output is displayed on the screen unless /L sends it to the printer or unless an output file is specified. Using an output file makes it convenient to use a program to find data within the dump. The output file name must not contain wildcards. If multiple files are dumped to a file, the output will be stored in the output file in the order the input files are encountered. EXIT no parameters /C End EZOS and return to normal DOS. EZEDIT [filename] This is a small, quick and dirty editor for times when you want to look at a file or find text in a file without taking the time to load your more powerful edit or browse program. The size of the file you can edit is only limited by the memory available to the program, however, the buffer is allocated when the file is loaded. Extra space (10K) is reserved for additions, etc. but if you try to append a large file, this amount will be inadequate. Then it is time to use your real editor! The functions of the function keys are listed at the bottom of the screen. F1 toggles between a description of the normal or shifted functions. To search for a text string from the current location to the end of the file, hit ESC and you will be prompted for the string to be located. F9 repeats the search. To search for a string from the current position in the file to the top, hit CF1 (Ctrl and F1) and you will be prompted for the string. CF9 repeats the search. This is kind of neat, because you can go up and down in the file just by hitting F9, and pushing the Ctrl key to change direction as needed. The search object is remembered across files, so you can exit one file, edit another, and continue searching for the same string. Hitting ENTER while the name of a file is hilited in the FLIST directory list will start EZEDIT with the hilited file. For compatibility with an old editor that I use, there are ALT key aliases for some of the function keys. They are listed in the table below. KEY ALIAS FUNCTION F1 Page through keys list at bottom of screen F2 Save the file F3 Quit the program F4 Change text string - you will be prompted for old and new text F5 Insert line toggle - enter insert line mode. New lines entered when ENTER is hit. Text is indented to starting position of previous line. Help line put F5 data in upper case to indicated insert line mode. F6 Delete current line. F7 Change case of character under cursor F8 Alt-C Copy marked line or block F9 Repeat search down F10 Alt-L Mark a line or block Shift + F key SF1 Load a new file SF2 Change name of file SF3 Append a file to end SF4 Repeat the change started with F4 SF5 Go to a specific line SF6 Undelete a line (buffer holds 6 non-blank lines) SF7 Undo - restore changes to line if cursor has NOT been moved to another line SF8 Alt-M Move marked lines SF9 Alt-D Delete marked lines - can not be undeleted SF10 Alt-U Unmark marked lines Ctrl + F key CF1 Search up in file CF2 Print file on LPT1 CF3 Transpose characters - changes the to the if the cursor is on the e CF4 Alt-S Split line at cursor CF5 Alt-J Join lines - cursor must be at line end, so hit END key to be sure it is CF6 Set printer. When using a spooler, the P6, P8, PDS, etc. commands don't work as the spooler discards the setup codes as a separate data file. CF6 includes code for 6 lpi, 8 lpi, 8 lpi and and 132 cols, or 6 lpi with double strike enabled for high quality letters, at start of printout so spooler won't mess up printer settings CF9 Repeat search up CF10 Runs internal test of line tables There are also a couple of alt key functions that enter strings I use a lot. They are mentioned here just so you won't think you are crazy if you accidentally hit them. The are alt + b, f, and g. Finally, the Alt-x combo lets you enter hex codes into the file. Enter Alt-x, and you will be prompted for the hex value, which is entered by holding the Alt key and entering the number on the numeric key pad. F [d:][fname][.ext] /A/C/D/E/F/H/O/L/S/T/X This command gives an alphabetically sorted directory list. The drive identifier can be combined with the command to speed typing. FA gives the directory listing for drive A:, FB for drive B:, FC for drive C:, through drive Z:. The directory list produced with this command is a compressed list containing the diskette name and label if any, the path, and the file list sorted alphabetically in four columns, including the file size. The space used by the selected files is shown, along with the free space on the disk. If /S is specified, the list is sorted by file size. /D causes the list to be sorted by date. The screen display pauses when the screen is full. If you do not want the display to pause, add a "/X" to the command. This is useful if you are just REPEATing through directories looking for empty directories, etc. FLIST [d:][fname][.ext] /A/C/D/E/H/S/T FLIST is a full screen file manager menu. The current entry is shown with a highlight bar, which is moved with the up and down arrow keys, the PgUp and PgDn keys, and the Home and End keys. FLIST is ended by pressing the ESC key. The available commands are listed in a message box at the right side of the screen. Prompts are displayed just below the menu box. Files can be marked for the copying, deleting, and moving functions by hitting the space bar when the file is highlighted. Hitting the space bar a second time will unselect the file. If the highlight bar is on a subdirectory, hitting the enter key will change to that directory and display its files. If the highlight bar is on a file, the internal quick and dirty editor (see EZEDIT for more information) will activated so that you can browse, and make minor changes to it. If you hit the F12 key, the BROWSE program, as defined by the environment parameter "EZBROWSE=" will be called to browse it. Pressing the F1 key will move up one level in the directory chain, to the parent directory which will then be displayed in the same sort order the original directory. Pressing F2 will copy the highlighted file or selected files to the drive and directory you enter in response to a prompt. If the target diskette runs out of space, you will be given the opportunity to change the diskette and continue the copy operation. If you want to copy into the same directory on the target as on the source, as you can do using the /P switch with the COPY command, then just enter the drive letter followed by an equal sign ( ie. B=) when prompted for the target. EZOS2 will fill in the path name for you. Pressing F3 will rename the highlighted file or directory. You will be prompted to enter the new file name. NOTE: The list of files is not resorted until one of the sort keys is pressed. Pressing F4 will move the highlighted file or selected files to a new directory on the same drive. You will be prompted to enter the new directory name. Pressing F5 calls your EDIT program. The EDIT program that is called is defined by the environment parameter "EZEDIT=". F6 toggles the CONFIRM message for deleting files with the F2 key. Its status is displayed in the message box. If set off, files will be deleted as soon as the SF2 key is pressed. Keys F7-F10 define the sort order for the file list. Pressing SHIFT+F1 allows you to select a new drive. It is only necessary to type the letter of the new drive and hit enter. Pressing SHIFT+F2 will delete the highlighted file or selected files. If the file is an empty subdirectory, it will be deleted. If CONFIRM is ON, set with F6, a confirmation message will be displayed before the file is erased. If you have selected a large number of files to delete and forgot to turn CONFIRM off, answering A, for ACCEPT, will cancel the confirmation option. A shift key combination was chosen to make it harder to accidentally delete files. SHIFT+F3 and SHIFT+F4 will hide and unhide the selected file or files. SHIFT+F6 will unmark or unselect all selected files. SHIFT+F7 will mark or select all selected files. SHIFT+F8 loads another copy of EZOS2 into memory to print the highlighted file. Hitting SF9 will pass the name of the highlighted file to the system for execution if it is a .COM, .EXE, .BAT, or .CMD file. If you want to pass command line parameters to the program, first use key Shift+F10. This will prompt you to enter the parameters (80 characters max) to pass to the program. This makes it possible to pass the same parameters to many programs, running them one after the other with the SF9 key. Pressing SHIFT+F10 gives you a prompt to "enter parms". These are the command line parameters that are passed to a program that is executed by pressing the F11 key. Pressing the left or right arrow keys will display the next page of the menu to be displayed. The environment parameters EZEDIT and EZBROWSE are limited to 30 characters. NOTE: the length is not checked. If you use longer names for your EDIT and BROWSE programs, you will have unpredictable errors. Help /C/E/L Displays the help screens. HIDE [d:]fname[.ext] /C/E/L/Q/T Turn the hidden attribute for this file on. Use UNHIDE to reset it. This is useful to hide files and subdirectories. LOCATE [d:]fname /C/E/H/L/T search drive d; for the specified files. LOG [d:] /C/E/L/Q/T This command copies all files created or changed today to the specified drive. This command is equivalent to the command "COPY *.* [d:] /D/T/P". If the target drive has a subdirectory with the same name as the current subdirectory on the default drive (the source), that subdirectory is used to receive the data. For example, you are working in the ASMDISK directory on drive C: and type LOG D:. If there is a directory called ASMDISK on drive D:, the files changed today will be copied into D:\ASMDISK unless there is already a current copy of the files there. The directory will be created if it does not exist. MAPdisk [d:] /C/E/F/H/L Map the directory structure of drive [d:]. MOVE [d:][source_path]source_file_name[.ext] [d:][target_path] /A/C/E/L/Q/T/X MOVE moves the source file from the specified directory and puts it into the target directory. If the source directory is not specified, the file is assumed to be in the current directory. If the target directory is not specified, the file is moved to the current directory. If the /T switch is specified, only files with alteration dates matching the current system date are moved. If /Q was specified, files are not moved until after the user responds to a prompt. NONUMLK /C/E This turns the NumLock key off. This is useful on the enhanced PC keyboards that boot up in NumLock mode. P [d:]fname[.ext] /C/E/F/T/X This command prints the specified files on the printer device (LPT1:). If the /F switch is used, a form feed is sent to the printer after each file is printed. The file name can include wildcards. PDS no parameters /C/E Sets the IBM graphics printer to double strike mode. P3/6/8 no parameters /C/E P3 sets the IBM graphics printer to 3 lines/inch, 30 lines/page (double space); P6 selects 6 lines/inch, 60 lines/page (single space); and p8 selects 8 lines/inch, 80 lines/page. P132 and PP132 no parameters /C/E Sets the IBM graphics printer to compressed print mode, 8 lines/inch. P132 also sets the printer to 80 lines/page. P132 should be used for unformatted documents, while PP132 should be used for documents that are already formatted to fit on pages. PTINY and PPTINY no parameters /C/E Sets the IBM graphics printer to 15 lines per inch, 132 columns. PTINY also sets the printer to space across the page perfs for unformatted files. PTINY should be used with unformatted files, while PPTINY is for use with files that include the required form feeds. Quit no parameters /C End EZOS and return to normal DOS. REMOVE [d:]filename[.ext] [d:] /E/N/P/Q/X/L/T This command can be used to REMOVE files from drives or subdirectories in two different ways. Example 1: You have a large program subdirectory (C:\PROGRAMS) which contains all of the programs that you normally use. You have received an update to one of the software packages and wish to remove the files associated with the older version. These files are scattered throughout the subdirectory and will take quite some time to identify and delete individually. The REMOVE command can help with this problem. Put the distribution disk for the old version in drive A:. Make the program directory the current directory on drive C: (CD C:\PROGRAMS). Then enter the command "REMOVE A:*.* C:" (without the quotes, of course). This will tell EZOS to build a list of all of the files in the directory of drive A:, and then delete any file from drive C: with the same file name and extension. If you want to add an extra margin of safety, add "/Q" to the command. Before each file is deleted, you will be prompted with the file's name and asked if you want to remove it or not. Example 2: You have two diskettes, or a diskette and subdirectory, etc. that should contain the same files. A directory listing of the fist disk shows 185 files, while the second contains only 183 files. You want to identify and remove the two extra files without deleting and recopying all 183 files. REMOVE with the /N option can help here. The command "REMOVE A:*.* C: /N" will tell EZDOS to read the directory of drive A:. It will then check drive C: to see if each of the files found on drive A: are also contained in its directory. Any file that is NOT in the drive C: directory will be removed from A:. The /Q option can be used for a prompt before the file is removed for added safety. REName [d:]present_name[.ext [d:]new_name[.ext] /A/C/D/E/T/Q/X/L Change the name of a file to a new name. This command is included to get the convenience of the switches and the display of file names as they are changed. If /D is specified, only subdirectories in the current directory will be renamed. Only one level can be renamed at a time as the rename function can not handle a path specification. REPeat COMMAND /E This will tell EZOS to execute the specified COMMAND in the current directory and then to repeat it in all of its subdirectories. To copy an entire disk to another, preserving the directory structure, it is only necessary to get to the root directory on the source disk and enter the command, "REPEAT COPY *.* d: /P" where d: is the target disk. Normal /switches will be passed to the other commands. If /E is specified, EZDOS will exit after the COMMAND has been executed in all appropriate directories. SEARCH fname [search string] /C/E/H/M/T/L Search the specified files for the string enclosed in brackets. Case is ignored unless /M is specified. SETCODE /C This command is causes EZOS to set a user selected error code before exiting. This is useful as a way to put menus into batch files. The menus can contain a list of numbered items. EZOS is then called with this command. The user is prompted for a selection which can be one or two numeric digits. When exiting, EZOS sets the return code to the selected value. The selection can then be tested using the ERRORLEVEL parameter in the batch file. For example, if you want to adjust the size of the print spooler buffer to different sizes when you boot, you might add the following to the AUTOEXEC file: :SELECT ECHO SELECT PRINT BUFFER SIZE ECHO 1. 20K ECHO 2. 32K EZ SETCODE IF ERRORLEVEL==2 GOTO B32 IF ERRORLEVEL==1 GOTO B20 GOTO SELECT The routines at B20 and B32 would have the necessary commands to establish the proper buffer. SETROWS x Tell EZOS to use x rows on the screen for directory displays. Status no parameters /C/E/F/L Displays the function key text strings (first 20 characters only), and various system statistics. T [d:]fname[.ext] /C/E/T This command is similar to the DOS TYPE command, except that is allows the use of wildcards in the file specification. All of the files specified are typed on the console (CON) device. UNHIDE [d:]fname[.ext] /C/E/L/Q/T Turn the hidden attribute for this file off. Use HIDE to turn it on. This is useful to hide files and subdirectories. TIMEON/TIMEOFF no parameters /C/E Include/exclude the current time in the system prompt. In a protected mode OS/2 session, the time is updated every 10 seconds. This frequency keeps the time reasonably current without noticeably slowing down other programs. WAIT minutes:seconds /C/E/T This command causes EZOS to wait the specified time before issuing a new command prompt. This can be useful when you need a short duration timer, for example when sending commands to another machine on a network. If /T is added to the command, EZOS will make some noise so that you will be aware that the timer has expired. This can really be annoying if you are driving a remote computer, though, which is why it is optional. However, it means that you can run EZOS in a background session as an alarm clock. WIPEDIR [d:][path] /C/E Removes all empty subdirectories from the current directory, or specified directory, and all lower directories. WIPEDISK d: Removes all files and directories from the selected drive. A drive must be specified. A confirmation prompt will be issued to be sure you are wiping out the desired drive. This is a dangerous command - be careful with it! Hidden and read-only files will not be erased. Xeq command /A/C/E Forces this command to be passed to DOS for execution. This is a way to use the DOS COPY command to copy files between subdirectories for example. SWITCHES There are several switches that enhance the program's operation. They are as follows. /A Suppress the translation of ';' to ':' and '-' to '*'. This is necessary when running programs like the assembler that require the ';' character in their command line. /B When copying files, /B puts the copy command in BACKUP mode, copying only files that already have versions on the target diskette. /C CLEAR the screen before displaying any output, also treated as a command. /D D stands for DATE or DIRECTORY. COPY: file creation dates are compared and if there is a file on the target diskette with the same name, it is only replaced if it has an older date than the input file. F or D: the list of files is sorted by creation/alteration date. RENAME: when using the /D switch with the RENAME command, EZOS will rename subdirectories contained in the current directory instead of renaming files. /E END the program after this command. This allows you to use EZOS functions from within a .BAT file. Using the EZOS COPY or REMOVE commands in a BAT file is an example of this. /F Send FORM FEED to printer after this command. /H F or D: Include HIDDEN files in sorted directory listing. COPY: hidden files will be copied and marked as hidden files on the target disk. DELETE: delete the hidden files as well as normal files. /L Route output to PRINTER (LPT1:) instead of display. This is useful for making hard copies of directory listings. /M Match must be exact for text search; don't ignore case. /N This is the reverse of the /Backup switch. The input file is copied only if there is NOT a version of the source already on the target diskette. /O For directory listings (F or D commands), leave files in original DOS order. /P follow PATH. When doing a COPY or REMOVE, /P forces the files to be copied into or removed from the same directory on the target drive that they were in on the source drive. If this directory does not exist for copy, it will be created. This is a good way to restore files without having to keep track of what directory the files belong in. /Q QUERY operator for action when copying files. If you have many files with the .BAS extension on a diskette you can type COPY *.BAS B:*.* /Q and you will get a display of each file name and "COPY Y/N" as a prompt, allowing you to selectively copy the files without remembering and entering each file name. The /Q switch also works with the RENAME, DELETE, and REMOVE commands. If you get tired answering a Y to each prompt, enter an A for ACCEPT, and the operation will continue without issuing any more query messages. /S Sort file in directory listing by SIZE. /T Use files altered or created TODAY only. To COPY, RENAME, MOVE or DELETE files that were made or changed today, add the /T option to the command. For example, to copy all .BAS files that were altered today from drive C: to drive A:, enter the command "COPY C:*.BAS A: /T". This makes it easy to keep current backup copies of your data files without needing to copy them individually. The /T switch has an additional function with the COPY, DELETE, REMOVE, HIDE, UNHIDE, DUMP, D, F, and RENAME commands. If the command is entered in the form /T=mm-dd-yy, only files with dates equal to or greater than the specified date will be copied, deleted, or renamed. This makes it possible to copy only files changed this month to another disk, for example. When used with the WAIT command, /T tells EZOS to play a brief tune after the delay has expired. This allows you to use the wait command in a background session as an alarm clock. /W Wipeout target disk. This is a very dangerous but helpful switch. If you are backing up a drive or directory to diskettes that have been used before, adding /W to the copy command will erase all files and remove all directories from the target drive before copying the specified files to it. NOTE: hidden and read-only files will not be erased. When the copy command is started, and each time you replace a filled target diskette with a new diskette, you will be prompted to confirm that you really want to wipeout the target diskette. If you are in the middle of the copy operation and are reinserting an already filled diskette to try to fit a small file onto it, answering N(o) to the prompt will preserve the data already copied to the diskette. /X Exclude the file count message after a COPY, RENAME, MOVE, REMOVE, or DELETE. This makes BAT/CMD files run with no visible messages if you turn ECHO OFF. Also tells directory routines (D and F commands) not to pause when the screen is full.