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D V C O M M A N D E R _________________________________________________________________ DV Commander version 1.2 A command-line utility for DESQview by: William E. Allen Copyright, 1989 by William E. Allen P.O. Box 834, Howell, Michigan 48843 DV Commander version 1.2 by William E. Allen [70150,547] Copyright 1989 by William E. Allen, PO Box 834, Howell, MI 48843 SHAREWARE DV Commander version 1.2, is Shareware. If you find this program valuable and useful, please consider registering it by sending $15.00 to William E. Allen P.O. Box 834 Howell, Michigan 48843. DISTRIBUTION The DV Commander program and auxiliary files are copyrighted, but you are hereby granted permission to make and distribute copies for personal, non-commercial use. Use them yourself, give copies to friends and co-workers, or distribute them for a cost-based fee (of $10.00 or less) as part of a user's group or bulletin board service. If you wish to distribute these programs in connection with any other product, or for use in commercial applications, please contact me for a license agreement. All of the files that make up this product must be distribute together, in an UNMODIFIED form. The files you should have on the diskette, or in the archive are: DVCOMAND.EXE The executable program file DVCOMAND.DOC This documentation DVCOMAND.REG A registration form: COPY DVCOMAND.REG PRN $$-PIF.DVP Example autostart DVP file QM-PIF.DVP Example DVP: executes DVCOMAND Menu DVUTIL DVUTIL.MNU Example menu file started by QM-PIF.DVP QT-PIF.DVP Example DVP: executes DVCOMAND Start TPC TPC.DVP Example DVP started by QT-PIF.DVP TPC.BAT Example batch invoked by TPC.DVP TRADEMARKS DESQview, DESQ, and DESQview API are trademarks of Quarterdeck Office Systems. INTRODUCTION DV Commander is, like a command-line version of your DESQview {DESQ} key (usually your Alt key). From the DOS command line, it can do many of the things you would normally do by tapping the {DESQ} key. Among DV Commander's features are: * Open a list of windows automatically * Start a window with prompting for parameters and directory * Submenu facility * Beep for a specified frequency and duration (useful in a background batch file to signal success or failure) * Hide or unhide (Show) a window * Set the window Frame on or off * Set Justify mode on or off * Wait for a specified amount of time * Resize and position a window * Make a window background or foreground * Name mail boxes and check for a named mail box (useful for making sure a program is started only once) and more. GETTING STARTED To use DV Commander, just copy the file DVCOMAND.EXE to your hard disk. DV Commander is easiest to use when it is in a subdirectory that is included in your PATH, but you can specify the full path when you invoke DV Commander if its directory is not in your PATH. Once installed, type DVCOMAND HELP to see a one-screen overview of its commands. Press any key to clear the screen and return to your DOS prompt after you have finished reading the help. DV Commander COMMANDS The format of the DV Commander command line is: DVCOMAND COMMAND <required> [optional] /switches The first word following DVCOMAND is the COMMAND. Some commands have required parameters, some have optional parameters, and some have both. Required parameters are represented in <angle brackets> and optional parameters are represented in [square brackets]. There are also a couple of switches that can be used with any command. Here are the DV Commander commands. The format of each command is shown, followed by a detailed description. Commands can be entered in upper or lower case, but upper case letters, at the beginning of the command names, are used here to show the shortest abbreviation allowed for each command. An ellipsis is used to show when parameters can be repeated. Open <dvp file name> [,nn] [,H] ... Use the Open command to automatically open one or more windows. You can optionally specify an amount of time to wait before opening the next window, and you can specify that the window be hidden after it is opened. This command is useful to open a default set of windows every time you start DESQview. To do this, set up a DVP using Change a Program so that the program name starts with some characters that will cause it to be placed at the beginning of your Open menu. Then simply press your Enter Key twice after DESQview starts and the DESQview menu is displayed. I use "$$AutoStart Apps" as the program name. Set the program to "DVCOMAND.EXE" and put "OPEN ..." on the parameters line. See the example $$-PIF.DVP file on the DV Commander release disk (or archive). Of course you can use the DESQview LEARN facility to establish your default windows too, but the LEARN facility takes some global memory, and doesn't give you the option NOT to start your default windows. Required Parameters: <dvp file name> is the name of the DESQview Program Information File. Specify the full path for the file if it is not in the current directory. If the DVP file name follows the standard DESQview convention of xx-PIF.DVP, where xx is the unique 2 letter code used on the Open Program menu, you need specify only the first two letters. Optional Parameters: [,nn] is a number of 1/10th seconds to wait after opening the window before continuing to process the command line. nn can be a number in the range 1 through 3276. A value of 1 will delay for one tenth of a second, while 3276 will delay for nearly 55 minutes. [,H] indicates that the window should be hidden after it is opened. Examples: DVCOMAND Open BR,50,H DA,H DO This example will first open BR-PIF.DVP (Brief Text editor), allow it to run in the foreground for 5 seconds, then hide it. Next, DA, the DESQview companions date book, will be opened and hidden, and finally DO, a full screen DOS shell, will be opened and left as the foreground task. Start <dvp file name> [d:\path] [parameters] The Start command will start (open) a single DVP giving you the opportunity to specify, or be prompted for, the path and parameters to be used. If both of the optional command-line parameters, [d:\path] and [parameters], are given, the DVP will be started using the specified values. If either is missing, the following window will open allowing you to supply the information. +------------------------------------------------------------+ | Directory C:\TP\WORK | | | | Parameters WIZBANG | | | | F1 Run F3 Save & Run Esc Quit | +------------------------------------------------------------+ Change the Directory and Parameters fields and press F1 to start the DVP with the new values, or press F3 to save the new values into the DVP and then start it. You can press ESCape to quit without saving the new information, or starting the DVP. The DVP file you start with this command would not usually be one that you keep on your Open Window menu, and need not follow the DESQview DVP file name conventions. Use Change a Program to create the DVP and give it some dummy value, such as XX for the Keys to Use on Open Menu question. Test it, using the normal DESQview Open Window menu using any values you like for the Directory and Parameters questions. When you are satisfied that it is correct, rename it to another name (or copy it to another directory), and use Delete a Program to remove it from the DESQview Open Window menu. Required Parameters: <dvp file name> is the name of the DESQview Program Information File. Specify the full path for the file if it is not in the current directory. If the DVP file name follows the standard DESQview convention of xx-PIF.DVP, where xx is the unique 2 letter code used on the Open Program menu, you need specify only the first two letters. Optional Parameters: [d:\path] is the drive and path to be the default when your program is started. [parameters] are any parameters you want to pass to your program when it runs. If you wish to pass any of the following: Space, Tab, Equals sign, Comma, or Semicolon in your parameters, enclose the entire string in double quotes "Like This". NOTE: The optional parameters are positional. If [parameters] is specified then [d:\path] must be specified as well. Examples: DVCOMAND Start TPC This example will start TPC.DVP after prompting for [d:\path] and [parameters]. The TPC.DVP, in this example, is setup as follows: ============================================================ Change a Program Program Name......: TP Command-Line compiler Keys to Use on Open Menu: XX Memory Size (in K): 376 ------------------------------------------------------------ Program...: C:\DV\TPC.BAT Parameters: WIZBANG Directory.: C:\TP\WORK ------------------------------------------------------------ Options: Writes text directly to screen.......: [N] Displays graphics information........: [N] Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [N] Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2)..........: [N] Requires floppy diskette.............: [N] Press F1 for advanced options Press <- when you are DONE ============================================================ This DVP invokes a batch file, TPC.BAT, to do Turbo Pascal compiles in the background. TPC.BAT looks like this: @echo off cls C:\DV\DVCOMAND Hide C:\TP\TPC %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 if errorlevel 1 goto Error C:\DV\DVCOMAND Beep 990,2 0,1 990,3 /Q exit :Error C:\DV\DVCOMAND Beep 330,4 180,12 /Q C:\DV\DVCOMAND Resize 1 1 23 78 /Q pause exit Menu <mnu file name> The Menu command lets you extend the DESQview Open Window menu giving it sub menu capabilities. Required Parameters: <mnu file name> is the only parameter. It is the name of your menu file and may contain a path. The file extension will be assumed to be .MNU if omitted. Each line in the file will represent one item on your sub menu. Use any pure ASCII text editor to create your menu. Each line in your menu file can have up to four parameters. The first two are required and the last two are optional. The parameters are: <menu text> <dvp file name> [d:\path] [parameters] <menu text> is the text that will be displayed on the menu. It should be enclosed in double quotes if it contains any of the following characters: Space, Tab, Equals sign, Comma, or Semicolon. The first upper case letter or digit found in the string will be highlighted and used as the selector character. You may also select an item from the menu using the cursor keys or your mouse. <dvp file name> is the name of the DESQview Program Information File. Specify the full path for the file if it is not in the current directory. If the DVP file name follows the standard DESQview convention of xx-PIF.DVP, where xx is the unique 2 letter code used on the Open Program menu, you need specify only the first two letters. [d:\path] is the drive and path to be the default when your program is started. [parameters] are any parameters you want to pass to your program when it runs. If you wish to pass any of the following: Space, Tab, Equals sign, Comma, or Semicolon in your parameters, enclose the entire string in double quotes "Like This". Examples: DVCOMAND Menu DVUTIL This command will use a file named DVUTIL.MNU to display a sub menu. DVUTIL.MNU is an ASCII text file as follows: "C Calculator" CA "D Datebook" DA "M Memory Status" MS "P Palette" PL "S Setup" SE The first item on each line is the text to display in the menu. The items are enclosed in double quotes because they contain spaces. There is room on the menu to display up to 22 characters. Create the DVP files you invoke with your sub menus using Change a Program as you usually would. Test them using your DESQview Open Window Menu. When you are sure the DVP's work properly, move them to another directory and use Delete a Program to remove them from your DESQview Open Window Menu. To invoke your sub menu using the DV Commander program, setup a DESQview Program Information File as follows: ============================================================ Change a Program Program Name......: Menu DVUTIL Keys to Use on Open Menu: QM Memory Size (in K): 64 ------------------------------------------------------------ Program...: DVCOMAND.EXE Parameters: Menu DVMENU Directory.: C:\DV ------------------------------------------------------------ Options: Writes text directly to screen.......: [N] Displays graphics information........: [N] Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [N] Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2)..........: [N] Requires floppy diskette.............: [N] Press F1 for advanced options Press <- when you are DONE ============================================================ Change a Program Advanced Options System Memory (in K)..: 1 Max Program Memory Size....: ___ Script Buffer Size....: 0 Max Expanded Memory Size...: ___ Text Pages: 1 Graph Pages: 0 Init Mode: ___ Ints: 00 to FF ------------------------------------------------------------ Window Position: Max Height: 25 Starting Height: 0 Starting Row...: 0 Max Width.: 80 Starting Width.: 0 Starting Column: 80 ------------------------------------------------------------ Shared Program Pathname..: Data......: ------------------------------------------------------------ Close on exit.........: [Y] Uses its own colors.......: [N] Allow Close Window....: [Y] Runs in background .......: [ ] Uses math coproc......: [N] Keyboard conflict (0-4)...: [0] Share CPU when FG.....: [Y] Share EGA.................: [Y] Can be swapped out....: [ ] Protection level (0-3)....: [0] Press F1 for standard options Press <- when you are DONE ============================================================ Beep [freq] , [duration] ... /R=n Use the Beep command to generate a tone of the specified fre- quency and duration. The frequency is given in Hertz and the duration is in clock ticks (approximately 18 per second). This command is useful in a batch file that is running in the background to signal success or failure. The advantage to using this DESQview specific program rather than another utility, like Nortons BE, is that DV Commander uses the DESQview API to create the sounds and is not dependent upon the timing of the machine. Optional Parameters: [freq] is the frequency in Hertz. The default is 900hz. [duration] is the number of clock ticks to generate the sound. There are 18.2 clock ticks per second. The default is 7. Switches: /R=n n specifies the number of times to repeat all of the tones given on the command line. Examples: DVCOMAND Beep 900,1 600,1 /R=10 This example produces a 900 Hertz tone for one clock tick (1/18th of a second) and then a 600 Hertz tone for one clock tick. The entire sequence is repeated 10 times. The result sounds like a telephone ringing. Hide (no parameters) The Hide command will cause the window where it is executed to be hidden. The task will continue to execute if it is allow to to run in the background. Examples: DVCOMAND Hide SHow (no parameters) SHow is the opposite of the Hide command. It will unhide the window in which it is executed. This will not make the window suddenly pop up on top of the foreground window, but it will make it visible in the background if there are no other windows covering it. Examples: DVCOMAND SHow Frame ON | OFF The Frame command lets you turn the frame on and off for a window. Examples: DVCOMAND Frame off This example will remove the frame from the window where it is executed. To restore the frame type: DVCOMAND Frame on Justify ON | OFF The Justify command lets you set automatic justification mode on or off for a window. Normally, with justify mode on, DESQview will automatically scroll your window to keep the hardware cursor visible. If you set justify mode off, DESQview will not scroll your window. Examples: DVCOMAND Justify off FOreonly ON | OFF The FOreonly command lets you select whether the window will run only when it is in the foreground, or if it will continue to run when it is switched into the background. The default for a given window is specified in its DVP. Examples: DVCOMAND FOreonly on This example will set the window so it runs only when it is in the foreground. To allow it to run in the background type: DVCOMAND FOreonly off Name <mail box name> The Name command assigns a name to the default mailbox associa- ted with the window where it is executed. This is handy when used in conjunction with the /ONLYIF and /NOTIF command line switches (defined later) to keep from opening a particular window more than once. Required Parameters: <mail box name> is a name to assign to the default mail box. Examples: DVCOMAND Name Fred In this example DV Commander will attempt to name the default mailbox "Fred". If there is already a mailbox with the same name, DV Commander will display an error message and terminate with an error code of 1. The error code can be tested in a batch file: DVCOMAND Name Fred if errorlevel 1 exit rem continue with batch file... SUspend (no parameters) Use the SUspend command to hide a window and suspend it so that it does not continue to execute in the background. Examples: DVCOMAND SUspend Resize <row>, <col>, <length>, <width> The Resize command is used to change the location and size of a window. Required Parameters: <row> The top row where the window will start. The number can be in the range 0 through 25 which will allow you to position part or all of the window off of the physical screen! <col> The left-most column where the window will start. It can be in the range 0 through 80 and can also result in part of the window being positioned off of the physical screen. <length> is the new length of the window. <width> is the new width of the window. Examples: DVCOMAND Resize 4,17,20,60 Wait [10th secs] The Wait command will suspend the window where it is executed for the specified amount of time. Optional Parameters: [10th secs] The amount of time to wait. The default is 10 which is one second. Goback (no parameters) The Goback command will make the window where it is executed the bottommost in the system. If the window is the foreground window, the next window in the list becomes the foreground window. Examples: DVCOMAND Goback GOFore (no parameters) The GOFore command will make the window where it is executed the foreground window. Use this command with caution as it may disrupt the window currently running in the foreground. Examples: DVCOMAND GOFore Top (no parameters) This command will make a window the top most window within an application. This is of little value since any task that has multiple windows associated with it would have to be DESQview specific anyway. Examples: DVCOMAND Top TOPSys (no parameters) The TOPSys command makes the window where it is executed the topmost window in the system. This should only be used when a background application has to report something to the user but does not want to become the foreground window. Examples: DVCOMAND TOPSys COMMAND LINE SWITCHES /Q Use the "Quiet" switch to supress the signon message and error message windows. Most errors will still generate messages when this switch is in effect, but they will simply be displayed on the console rather than pop up in a DESQview error window. /ONLYIF=<mail box name> With this switch in effect the DV Commander command will only be execute if <mail box name> exists. /NOTIF=<mail box name> This switch will prevent the DV Commander command from being executed if <mail box name> exists. You can use this in conjunction with the Name command to prevent a window from being opened more than once. /R=n This switch is used only with the Beep command. The number, n, specifies the number of times the tones on the command line are to be repeated. See the Beep command for more information. SOME OTHER INFORMATION * If you wish to use the DV Commander Open command to open a DVP name in the current directory that begins with a digit, (e.g. 4D for 4DOS) you will need to preface it with ".\" This is because the DV Commander command parser will treat the digit as a delay parameter rather than a DVP file name. Using the form ".\4D" (without the quotes) references the DVP in the current directory and works around the problem. Perhaps the next version will be a little smarter! * I have another program in the works called DVPEDIT. As its name implies, DVPEDIT is, like Change a Program, an editor for DESQview Program Information Files. But, unlike CP, DVPEDIT can edit DVPs with any filename and in any directory (the extension must still be DVP). And, DVPEDIT does not alter your DESQview Open Window menu in any way. This makes it an ideal companion to DV Commander. DVPEDIT is also beneficial because it comfortably combines both the standard and advanced options screens of Change a Program into a single easy to edit screen. Those who choose to register DV Commander will receive DVPEDIT automatically when it is available. Please send comments to: Bill Allen, CompuServe ID [70150,547], or at P.O. Box 834, Howell, Michigan 48843. Thank You.