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4DOS Update Documentation Version 4.0 -- November 1, 1991 Version 4.0 is a major new release and many parts of 4DOS have changed. The list below summarizes these changes for version 3.0 through 3.03 users; users who are new to 4DOS with version 4.0 can skip this information. This file is a summary list only, it doesn't explain how to use new features and enhancements. For more details on items which are relat- ed to a specific command, see that command's entry in the command reference section of the manual. For other items, look up the subject the item discusses in the manuals's table of contents or index to find more information. Some of the descriptions below may be more detailed than you need; if you aren't using the feature described, feel free to skip through to the next item! Items in this file marked with "**" are changes that occurred after the manual went to press. These items are more fully documented in the MANMOD.DOC file and in the ASCII (on-disk) manual, but are not documented in the printed manual. Installation and Configuration ------------------------------ 4DOS is now a single file, 4DOS.COM. The old structure of separate 4DOS.COM and 4DOS88.EXE / 4DOS286.EXE files has been eliminated. There is a wide variety of new startup options for 4DOS, ranging from the simple to the highly technical. Most of the startup switches that used to go on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS or in the 4DSHELL environment variable have been eliminated, and 4DOS config- uration is now controlled through the new 4DOS.INI file, for both primary and secondary shells. Those switches which still work for DOS compatibility reasons (such as /E: for environment size) can also be set through 4DOS.INI. If you install 4DOS manually or have a complex configuration, you should read about 4DOS.INI in the manual before modifying your SHELL= line to load version 4.0! See Chapter 6 for more details. The following summary lists version 3 startup switches and the corresponding 4DOS.INI directive for version 4.0. Switches marked with a "*" are still available in version 4.0, in order to maintain compatibility with DOS. 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 1 Ver. 3 Switch Function 4DOS.INI Directive ------------- ------------------- ------------------ /A:nnnn Set alias list size Alias = nnnn /C* Execute one command none /E:nnnn* Set environment size Environment = nnnn /E:nnnnU Load environment high UMBEnvironment = Yes /H:nnnn Set history list size History = nnnn /L:path Set EXE file location none, not needed /P* Load permanently none /R Disable reduced swap Reduce = No /S:type Set swap type Swapping = swap type /U Load 4DOS high UMBLoad = Yes /V (Used with Windows) none, automatic The KEYSTACK.SYS device driver is no longer used. It has been replaced by KSTACK.COM, a TSR (memory-resident program), normally loaded from AUTOEXEC.BAT (or with INSTALL= in CONFIG.SYS). The /P switch is now set automatically when 4DOS is loaded as the true primary shell via a SHELL= statement in CONFIG.SYS. 4DOS now supports the COMMAND.COM syntax for specifying a COMSPEC directory in the SHELL statement. See "Setting up CONFIG.SYS". However (see next item) ... Under MS-DOS and PC-DOS you probably won't need to set the COMSPEC directory on the SHELL= line or in AUTOEXEC. 4DOS sets it automat- ically in most cases, provided that you specify the full path for 4DOS.COM in the name you use on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS. If you use DR-DOS automatic determination of the COMSPEC directory will NOT work, so you will have to set the directory yourself on the SHELL= line. (Thanks to Hans Salvisberg, author of BOOT.SYS, for the technical information needed to implement the automatic COMSPEC directory feature!). See "Setting up CONFIG.SYS". 4DOS can now load its resident portion and / or the master environ- ment into DOS 5 UMBs. DOS 5 UMBs are used automatically if they are available and if UMB access is requested with the UMBLoad or UMBEnvironment directive in 4DOS.INI. Swapping is now controlled by the Swapping directive in 4DOS.INI. You can use this directive to set up any sequence of swapping at- tempts you like (for example, you can tell 4DOS to try EMS, then your RAM disk, then XMS, then the hard disk). If no Swapping di- rective is used the default is to try EMS, then XMS, then the root directory of the boot drive if it is drive C: or higher. 4DOS will no longer attempt to swap to drive A: or B: by default (though you can tell it to if you want to). If all of these methods fail, 4DOS will load resident. Most SETDOS settings can be initialized in the 4DOS.INI file. SETDOS settings are now inherited automatically in secondary 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 2 shells, so you no longer need to put a SETDOS command into the 4START file to get the right settings in secondary shells. The LOG state and log file name are now inherited by secondary shells, and may be set at boot time using the LogName directive in 4DOS.INI. For BBS operators, the /F startup switch (or the CritFail directive in 4DOS.INI) generates an automatic "fail" response to all critical errors. General Features ---------------- The PATH search is now faster by 50 - 100% depending on where the file is found in the path. Secondary shells now require only about 1.7K of resident space (down from about 2.8K in version 3.03). The primary shell require- ment is still 3K or less under most circumstances. Description file processing has been sped up substantially, and should generate much less network traffic than before. Directory displays in DIR and SELECT can now be colorized based on file extension or attributes. See "COLORDIR". "Include lists" which allow you to specify multiple files with a single path were only available for the DIR and SELECT commands in 4DOS 3.03. In version 4.0 they have been extended to all 4DOS file processing commands, and the separator character has been changed to a semicolon. For example, the command: copy d:\data\*.dat;*.txt a: will copy the .DAT and .TXT files from D:\DATA to drive A:. See "Include Lists". Wildcards have been enhanced so that you can specify lists or rang- es of characters to include or exclude. For example [abf-h]*.* means all files whose names begin with a, b, f, g, or h. See "Wildcards". 4DOS now performs variable expansion on the prompt string, so any environment variable, internal variable, or variable function can be put into the prompt and displayed. When 4DOS exits from a shell it looks for and executes a 4EXIT.BAT or 4EXIT.BTM file (like the 4START file). This can be used to save history or perform other actions. 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 3 All upper case conversions (SETDOS /C1, DIR /C, @UPPER, etc.) now support international characters. Executable extensions will now support internal commands, and they no longer require the full path name of an executable file. Also, executable extensions now support wildcards, including the new extended wildcards. For example, to set the program for all exten- sions starting with WK to 123: set .wk?=d:\123\123.com A "." can now be used in the PATH to delay the search of the cur- rent directory. Command grouping (originally an OS/2 feature) has been added to 4DOS. This allows you to use parentheses to group commands logi- cally. This is a powerful feature, especially when used with the "prefix" commands like EXCEPT, FOR, GLOBAL, and SELECT. 4DOS now supports Microsoft's command processor based message pro- cessing scheme for DOS external commands. If you enter a DOS ex- ternal command with a bad argument (eg DEBUG XYZZY) in DOS 4 or above you will now get a real error message (eg "File not found") instead of a numerical message ("Extended error 2"). This feature adds about 200 bytes to the resident size of 4DOS, and can be dis- abled with the "MessageServer = No" directive in 4DOS.INI. At the Command Line ------------------- The command history can now be viewed and executed from a popup window as well as at the command line. "Automatic directory changes" let you change to a directory by typing its name followed by a backslash. 4DOS HELP System ---------------- The help system has been extensively revised. It now supports line by line scrolling, and scrolling and paging with the mouse follow industry standard conventions. The mouse can be used more easily to perform most help navigation functions. The help text has been updated and expanded to cover all new 4DOS features as well as MS-DOS 5 external commands. Help is now context sensitive. If you press F1 from the command line, 4DOS will try to find help for the first command on the line. 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 4 If there is no help for that command, you will be put into the main HELP menu. The help program has been renamed 4HELP.EXE to avoid conflicts with other HELP.EXE programs. This program is run when F1 is pressed at the command line or when the HELP command is executed. The help text file is now 4DOS.HLP (for those with a utility disk, the ASCII text file is 4DOS.TXT). The 4HELP, 4HELPF, and 4HELPC environment variables have been removed and replaced by the 4DOS.INI directives HelpPath and HelpOptions. The new HELP system is not compatible with the version 3.0 HELP system; if you have modified the version 3.0 HELP text you must purchase a version 4.0 Utility Disk and recompile your help text to use it with 4DOS 4.0 HELP. HELPCFG now supports a /M switch to force it to run in monochrome mode and adjust the monochrome HELP colors, even on color systems. Also the HELPCFG exit keys have been changed to conform to general usage standards. I/O Redirection --------------- Added a new environment variable for directing where to create the temporary pipe files in 4DOS. 4DOS will first look for the envi- ronment variable TEMP4DOS; if it doesn't find it it will look for the (DOS 5 standard) TEMP variable; if it doesn't find that pipes will be created in the root directory of the boot disk. Pipe names are now unique for each shell, to avoid conflicts when running pipes in different partitions under a multitasker. Environment Variables, Internal Variables, and Variable Functions ----------------------------------------------------------------- There are many new environment variables, internal variables, and variable functions -- far too many to list here! This section just mentions a few highlights; see the manual for full details. New environment variables used by 4DOS include CDPATH, COLORDIR, and TEMP4DOS. The old TMP has been changed to TEMP for DOS 5 com- patibility. The old 4DSHELL variable has been eliminated, its functions are now provided by 4DOS.INI. One new variable (_CDPATH, as opposed to CDPATH) is described in MANMOD.DOC, but is not in the printed manual. New internal variables let you access a broad range of information on system status and configuration. Some didn't make it into the 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 5 manual: see the beginning of this file for information on _BOOT, _LASTDISK, _MOUSE, and _TRANSIENT. In addition a very large number of variable functions have been added providing a wide array of new functions -- everything from available memory and disk space to menuing. A few of these func- tions didn't make it into the printed manual, so see the ASCII manual or MANMOD.DOC for information on @ALIAS, @DEVICE, @LINES, @MAKEDATE, @MAKETIME, @READSCR, and @SELECT, and some changes to @LINE, @SUBSTR, and @WORD. Environment variable expansion will now handle nested variables in the form %[%var] (or even %[%[%var]]!). There are some enhancements to specific variables and functions: _DATE and _TIME: Return a leading zero if the first number in the date or time string is less than 10. @EVAL: Now supports decimal places! Numbers can have up to 16 digits to the left of the decimal point and 8 to the right. Also %@EVAL now accepts commas in numbers. @LINE: Now returns "**EOF**" at the end of the file. Also @LINE can now get its input from STDIN if you specify "con" as the filename**. @SUBSTR: The last argument (the length of the string) is now optional; it will default to the remainder of the string**. @WORD: Now allows you to return words from the end of the string**. For example %@word[-0,now is the time] returns "time", %@word[-2,now is the time] returns "is". Aliases ------- The command line can now grow to up to 512 bytes while an alias is being executed. The alias definition itself is still limited to 255 bytes. "Key aliases" allow you to assign aliases to function keys and most Alt and Ctrl keys. See "Keystroke aliases". QUIT can now be used in aliases. Batch Files ----------- 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 6 GOSUB now saves the IFF state, so you can use IFF within subrou- tines without interfering with an IFF in the calling section of the batch file. .BAT files have been sped up significantly, especially when execut- ing internal commands (this speed increase applies only to .BAT files, not to .BTM files which are already much faster). Command Changes --------------- This section describes changes to 4DOS commands and new commands, but only briefly. It is intended to alert you to areas where your use of 4DOS commands may need to be changed, not to provide a comprehensive description. See the manual for full details. ATTRIB: Added two new switches: /Q (quiet) and /S (process cur- rent directory and its subdirectories). CANCEL: Now accepts an optional argument to set the ERRORLEVEL. CD and CDD: These commands now use the CDPATH environment variable to find the subdirectory to change to. This allows changing to a subdirectory without typing its full path name. Also, CD and CDD now save the previous directory, and allow you to switch back to it with "CD -" or "CDD -". CLS and COLOR: Can now set the screen border color, and will set colors with or without ANSI loaded. If ANSI is not loaded, the colors will not be "sticky" -- you may lose them when you run an application. COPY: New switches include /C (copy changed files only), /H (copy hidden files), /N (do nothing, just test results of copy), and /S (copy files from the current directory and its subdirectories). /Q (quiet) now turns off the display of the number of files copied. If you copy a file and the target file has a description but the source doesn't, 4DOS will now preserve the target description; this allows you to update files without losing the descriptions. A full destination disk during a COPY will now give an informative mes- sage, and stop the copy. COPY now preserves Hidden and System attributes (but not Read Only) when creating the target file. DEL: New switches include /N (do nothing, just test results of DEL), /S (delete files from the current directory and its subdirec- tories), /X (remove empty subdirectories), and /Z (allow deletion of hidden, system, and read-only files). If you have a large num- ber of files to delete you can increase deletion speed dramatically if you use the /Q switch and do NOT use 4DOS's extended wildcards in the file name. 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 7 DIR: (See additional section below on switch changes). Directory displays can now be colorized with COLORDIR. Free space displays will be correct even on JOINed, SUBSTed, or ASSIGNed drives in DOS 3.1 and above. File description handling has been sped up signifi- cantly. Directory names are displayed in square brackets [] for DOS 5 compatibility. If an argument begins with "\\", 4DOS will assume it's a network reference and will not try to get the volume label or disk space for that drive, to avoid network errors. DIR Switches: Many switches have been changed for DOS 5 compati- bility; a summary is below. DIR now supports the DOS 5 sort order switches (/O:[-degns]), as well as the original 4DOS switches (/O:[-eirtuz]). The new /O:a option sorts the directory in stan- dard ASCII order rather than sorting filenames containing numbers in the default numerical order. A byproduct of the switch changes is that the /A:xxxx and /O:xxxx switches CANNOT be followed by another parameter without an intervening slash. For example, you used to be able to say DIR /OEP to display the directory in exten- sion order with pauses. You must now use DIR /OE/P. Old Switch Function New Switch ---------- ---------------------- ---------- /1 Single column no change /2 Two columns no change /4 Four columns no change /A Display attributes /T /C Upper case no change /D Scan subdirectories /S /F Display files only /A:-d /H Display all files /A /J Justify file names no change /N Reset DIR options no change /O Sort order see above /P Pause at end of screen no change /Q Display file names only /B /S Display summary only /U /V Sort vertically no change /W Wide display no change /X Display directories only /A:d New Disable colorization /D** New Display full path names /F New Suppress header /K New Lower case /L New Suppress footer /M DRAWBOX: Added a new "shadow" option to create a transparent drop shadow for the box. ECHOS: This is a new command which works just like an ECHO, but doesn't print a CR/LF at the end of a line. It's useful when redi- recting output to a printer or other device. 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 8 ESET: The new /M switch makes the change to the master environ- ment, not the local one. EXIT can now accept and return a result code (error level) to the program that started a secondary shell. FOR: The set to be processed can now be read from a file. The new /A: switch allows selection of files for processing based on at- tributes, using the same syntax as DIR /A**. GLOBAL: Added switches /H (process hidden directories) and /P (prompt before executing the command in each directory)**. GOTO: Added a /I switch which tells 4DOS to NOT cancel IFF pro- cessing. (Use only if you know EXACTLY what you're doing, and don't attempt to jump outside of the IFF or into a different IFF or IFF nesting level!) HISTORY: Two switches were added: /A adds a command to the histo- ry list; /P pauses after displaying each page of the history. IF and IFF: Most of the old tests for system resources (EMS, XMS, DISKFREE, etc.) have been moved to variable functions to make the information available throughout 4DOS rather than just in IF and IFF. You will need to edit your batch files or aliases if you used these tests in IF or IFF commands (see below). New conditional operators .AND., .OR., and .XOR. have been added. Some new tests have been added: ISINTERNAL tests if a string matches the name of an internal command; ISLABEL tests if a label exists in the current batch file**. Old IF / IFF test New Variable or Variable Function ----------------- --------------------------------- MONITOR %_MONITOR VIDEO %_VIDEO ATTRIB %@ATTRIB[filename,attrib] DISKFREE %@DISKFREE[d:,b|k|m] DOSMEM %@DOSMEM[b|k|m] EMS %@EMS[b|k|m] EXTENDED %@EXTENDED[b|k|m] FILESIZE %@FILESIZE[filename,b|k|m] XMS %@XMS[b|k|m] INKEY: The new /K switch specifies the permissible keystrokes**. KEYSTACK: Key names can be entered mnemonically, and delays can now be included in the keystroke sequence. The KEYSTACK.SYS device driver has been removed and replaced by a TSR, KSTACK.COM. LH: New command added to support DOS 5's load high capability. 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 9 LIST: Now saves your position on a search or a print, and returns you to it after the print or an unsuccessful search. You can now toggle the high bit (/H) and line wrap (/W) flags from inside LIST, and /W(rap) now affects the P(rint) option. LOADHIGH: New command added to support DOS 5's load high capabili- ty. LOG: The LOG state and file name are now inherited by secondary shells. The log file name and/or path can be set with the LogName directive in 4DOS.INI** (using LogName does not turn logging on, you must still use LOG ON to do so). MOVE: New switches include /C (move changed files only), /D (re- quire that the destination be a directory), /H (move hidden files), /N (do nothing, just test results of move), and /S (move files from the current directory and its subdirectories). /Q (quiet) now turns off the display of the number of files copied. If you move a file and the target file has a description but the source doesn't, 4DOS will now preserve the target description; this allows you to update files without losing the descriptions. A full destination disk during a MOVE will now give an informative message, and stop the move. PROMPT: Environment variables, internal variables, and variable functions can now be used from within the prompt, allowing you to include a wide variety of values in your prompt text. QUIT: Now accepts an optional argument to set the ERRORLEVEL. REBOOT: This is a new command which does a warm or cold boot, with an optional verification prompt. You need to test it on your sys- tem as some reboot methods do not work on all systems or with all other software. REN has two new switches: /N (do nothing, just test results of rename); /S (allow subdirectory renames). Subdirectory renames are now disabled if wildcards are used in the old name, to avoid inad- vertent renaming of directories; you can enable them with /S. SELECT: There are some new switches and switch changes: /A se- lects files based on attribute (see DIR), /C displays in upper case, /D disables directory colorization**, and /O has the same changes as in DIR. A "*" now reverses the marks on all files, rather than simply marking all files -- for example, if you mark 3 files and then press '*' SELECT will unmark those three files and mark all the others. You can now unmark all of the marked files with a '/'. SET: The new /M switch makes the change to the master environment, not the local one. The syntax has been changed to match COMMAND.COM: you MUST enter an '=' in a SET statement, and you may 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 10 now put whitespace in the variable name or the argument. Also, if you enter SET VARNAME with nothing else on the line SET will now display the value of the variable, rather than removing it from the environment as it used to. To remove an environment variable, you must add the "=" sign to the end (e.g. SET VARNAME=), or use UNSET. Also note that, because whitespace in environment variable names and values is now preserved, batch files with lines like "SET MYVAR = MYVALUE" may not work unless they are changed to elim- inate the extra spaces. Under 4DOS 3.03 this example would set "MYVAR" to "MYVALUE; under 4DOS 4.0 it will set "MYVAR " to " MYVALUE". SETDOS: The /A option can now be set to tell 4DOS that ANSI is not loaded (/A2). The /H option has been removed; the minimum length of a command to save can be set with the HistMin option in 4DOS.INI. The /S option now uses percentages, not line counts, to set the cursor shape for insert and overstrike modes. The /V op- tion can now be set to echo everything, even if echo is off (/V2)**. SWAPPING: Now displays the current swapping type (EMS, XMS, Disk, or None) as well as the swapping state. TIMER: There are now three timers available, selected with /1, /2, or /3. TIMER ON can be used to force a reset of the timer regard- less of the current state. TRUENAME: This is a new command which displays the true name of a file, even on ASSIGNed, JOINed, or SUBSTed drives. UNSET: The new /M switch makes the change to the master environ- ment, not the local one. VER: The new /R switch displays the DOS revision level and loca- tion of the DOS kernel (DOS 5 only)**. VSCRPUT: This is a new command which has the same parameters as SCRPUT, but displays the string vertically. Technical Changes ----------------- These changes are primarily of interest to programmers and others interested in "how 4DOS works". Most users do not need to read this information. New programming interfaces are included in version 4.0; see Appen- dix C of the manual for details. These include a new KEYSTACK interface, installable commands, and extended information in the DESCRIPT.ION file. 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 11 Full support for INT 2E is now provided. See the "Appendix C" section of this file for details. 4DOS now reserves all available DOS RAM while it is running at the prompt. This space is freed as needed for BTM files, DIR, LIST, SELECT, etc., and is always freed when starting an application. This mimics COMMAND.COM; we have implemented it to get around some odd behavior with loading certain networks or TSRs which depend on this approach. 4DOS now detects a version mismatch with a previous shell and dis- ables alias and history inheritance and reduced swapping if one is found. 4DOS now supports third-party INT 24 (critical error) handlers like 4DOS24H, and will no longer disable them when an unruly TSR unloads. The 4DOS transient portion is now 100% dynamically relocatable. This means if you have a TSR that grabs a block from the end of DOS memory, 4DOS will dynamically relocate itself below the TSR when it swaps in after the TSR goes resident. The only thing you can't do is load such a TSR with swapping off, then turn swapping back on. If you do the results will not be good. Reduced swapping is now enabled all the time. Starting a secondary shell under DESQView, or when alias or environment space is expand- ed, etc., will no longer result in a full-sized swap area. The only way to get a full-sized swap area in a secondary shell is to force it with the Reduce = NO directive in 4DOS.INI, or to load one version of 4DOS on top of another. The maximum internal line size in 4DOS has been increased from 255 to 512 characters. The maximum command line length is still 255, but the increase in the internal buffer will allow you to have more complex aliases, variables, and command groups. 4DOS will now "short-circuit" attempts by certain programs to do a "4DOS /C 4DOS" (ie load 4DOS and tell it to load itself again) when shelling to DOS. When this occurs 4DOS will only be loaded once. COMPATIBILITY CHANGES --------------------- This section gives a quick overview of changes to 4DOS 4.0 to enhance compatibility with other software. For details on any specific pack- age see APPNOTES.DOC. ANSI: 4DOS has improved ANSI detection and now will usually cor- rectly detect whether ANSI is loaded regardless of whether ANSI or DOS is loaded high or low. If you have problems with ANSI detec- 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 12 tion use SETDOS /A or the ANSI directive in 4DOS.INI to tell 4DOS whether ANSI is installed. APPEND: 4DOS sets APPEND's /PATH:OFF flag if using DOS 4 or DOS 5. This will eliminate any attempt by APPEND to extend its searches in a way that interferes with 4DOS file access and file descriptions. DESQview: A Close Window command from within 4DOS will now release all resources (XMS, EMS, UMB, swap file, shell number, interrupts) owned by 4DOS before the window is closed, just as if you typed EXIT. 4DOS only performs this cleanup if you are actually in 4DOS when you issue the Close Window command. If you are in an applica- tion the cleanup will not occur. DR-DOS: Several changes have been made for DR-DOS compatibility including access to 4DOS extended wildcards, and use of DR-DOS passwords (the ";" must be doubled on certain commands for this to work). Novell Netware: Numerous changes have been made to improve Netware compatibility, especially with 4DOS redirection and batch files. Novell has also fixed bugs which would cause environment variables to be destroyed when logging in to the network under 4DOS. Also, you can now swap secondary shells to a network drive using the SwapReopen dircetive in 4DOS.INI. Windows: 4DOS now detects Windows 3 and configures itself accord- ingly. At startup you will get a message: "4DOS running under Windows 3 in [Win3 mode]". There will be no message if you aren't running under Win3. Memory allocation in Win3 is now automatic, hence there is no need for the old /V switch. 4DOS 4.0 [11-1-91] UPDATE40.DOC page 13