ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 …eeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)/ProfitPress-MegaCDROM2.B6I/UTILITY/KEYBOARD/CMDED2E5.ZIP/CMDEDIT.DOC

Text File | 1991-07-14 | 15.3 KB | 297 lines

UTILITIES
Ashok P. Nadkarni
PC Magazine
Vol. 9, No. 16
CMDEDIT V2.0
plus extensions by David Abbott at version 5,  including /c,k,l,n,o,t,w & z
and additional documentation.
( David Abbott -> [e-mail] as at July 1991)


Purpose: A TSR utility that supplies full editing features to the DOS
         interface; stacks commands and drive/directory pairs for
         recall; supports definable symbols and variables, and
         programmable function-key definitions and macros; provides
         optional autocompletion of commands and filenames; and enables
         changing drives and directories simultaneously.

Format:  CMDEDIT [/r] [/i] [/c] [/k] [/t] [/w] [/g] [/n] [/o] [/z] [/u]
         [/p X] [/l N0] [/d N1] [/m N2] [/b N3] [/s N4] [/ffilename]

Remarks: CMDEDIT can be entered at the DOS prompt, but is normally installed
         through the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  Its optional parameters at
         installation are:
                /r Auto recall mode (default off)
                /i Use insert mode (default over-type)
                /c Swap cursor type used in insert and over-type modes
                /k Use ESC key for filename completion (in addition to TAB)
                /t Disable all macro and symbol translation (default enabled)
                /w Use alternate error message display
                /g Use silent mode (default beeps on error)
                /n No existence check (default checks for previous install)
                /o Do not install - (default will install if not already)
                /z Disable CMDEDIT (default enabled)
                /p Set the ignore macro character (default X is ;)
                /l Minimum command length to store in buffer (default N0 is 0)
                /d DOS command stack buffer (default N1 is 512 bytes)
                /m Macro buffer size (default N2 is 512 bytes)
                /b Symbol buffer size (default N3 is 512 bytes)
                /s Directory Stack size (default N4 is 256 bytes)
                /f Initialization file to read at start-up (default none)
         In addition,  CMDEDIT can be disabled and removed from memory with /u.

     The CMDEDIT Ctrl-key editing actions are:

        ^F or Right-Arrow       Cursor forward (character).
        ^B or Left-Arrow        Cursor backward (character)
        ^Right-Arrow            Cursor forward (word)
        ^LeftArrow              Cursor backward (word)
        ^E or End               Cursor to end of line.
        ^A or Home              Cursor to start of line.
        ^D or Del               Delete character at the cursor.
        ^H or Backspace         Delete previous character
        ^W                      Delete word at right of cursor.
        ^L                      Deletes word at left of cursor.
        ^[ or ESC               Erase entire command line (unless /k option
                                specified on start-up: then same as TAB below).
        ^K                      Delete from cursor to end of line
        ^X                      Delete from cursor to start of line
        ^O                      Delete from cursor to EOL and
                                execute line.
        ^G                      Erase entire line but keep in stack.
        ^^ (Ctrl-6)             Execute line, but do not store or
                                display (for passwords).
        INS                     Toggle insert/over-type modes.
        ^I or TAB               Expand partial filename or
                                directory name (adds\) if possible.
        ^J                      Replace variables with values.
        ^Q                      Place succeeding Ctrl-key on
                                line as literal instead of command
        ^T                      Equivalent to the /t command line toggle.
        ^Z                      Put end-of-file marker on line.

        Commands given at the DOS prompt can be recalled from their buffer
using the Up-Arrow (^U) or Dn-Arrow (^N) keys.  Commands beginning with one
or more user-typed letters can be recalled with ^R or ^V.  In auto-recall
mode, activated either with the /r switch or toggled by ^Y, a command stack
search is made as each letter is typed in.  Note that command lines shorter
than the minimum number of characters specified with the /l switch are not
stored on the stack.

        The PUSHD d:\path command changes to and stacks a drive/directory pair.
If at least one pair has been pushed into this buffer, entering PUSHD without
parameters toggles between the current and stored pairs.  POPD changes to and
removes a stacked drive/directory pair, and the CHD d:\path command allows
changing to a drive and directory simultaneously without affecting the stack.

        The DEFS symbol string command allows abbreviating a long command (the
string) with one or more characters (the symbol).  By using F1...F0 (for F10)
and SF1...SF0 as the symbol values, the function and shifted function keys can
be programmed to output strings on the command line.  If these strings end in
the @ character they will be executed, as well.  To be expanded into its
defined string, a symbol must be the first word on the command line.  Before
being passed to DOS or to an application the command line is scanned
recursively, so one symbol can define another.

         Multi-line command macros are created by issuing the DEFM macro-name
command.  Each line is terminated by hitting Enter, and the macro is terminated
with the ENDM command.  Macro command lines may contain parameters, which are
designated by %n (n is a numeral from 1-9).  Parameters are processed much as
in DOS batch files (see article text).  Macros support DOS batch file commands
such as ECHO, PAUSE, IF, and FOR; see text for restrictions.  Embedded spaces
and tabs in macro command line arguments must be enclosed in pairs of quotes
(").  Macros cannot be nested, and one macro can call another only from the
last line before ENDM.

         Macros and symbols also support the use of string variables, which
must be enclosed within % signs.  See the article text for how these are
processed.  Macros and symbols may be deleted by name with the DELM and DELS
commands, respectively, and the respective CMDEDIT buffers can be cleared and
reset with the RSTHIST, RSTSYM, RSTDIR, and RSTMAC commands.

         Instructions for preparing an initialization file to load
regularly-used macros and symbols via the /f parameter option are presented in
a side-bar to the main article.




                               ADDITIONAL NOTES:


The CMDSTAT command lists the current macro and symbol definitions.

        ^BREAK                  terminates a running macro.
        ^C                      terminates the current command in a macro, but
                                execution continues with the next command.
(This assumes a running application does not take over these keys)

You can define the macro ignore character to be a space.  To do this,  however,
you must put it in quotes.  i.e. use  CMDEDIT /p" "

The following switches can be used to toggle or change options after CMDEDIT
has been installed:  /c /g /i /l /o /p /r /t /w and /z.
For example,  to toggle macro and symbol expansion off/on,  use  CMDEDIT /t.

The /t and /z switches were added for the benefit of some programs which have
an interactive command input mode in which CMDEDIT is still active.  In these
cases,  symbol expansion is probably not desired as it could conflict with
the other program's own commands.  Auto-recall mode can also lead to similar
problems.  In some cases,  the regular history facility may also interfere,
in which case you should use /z to disable CMDEDIT completely.
     When these problems are known to occur it is probably a good idea to call
the application from a batch file which first calls CMDEDIT with "/o /t" or
"/o /z".  The batch file could then re-enable CMDEDIT with an identical line
once the application exits.

The /w switch causes error messages to be displayed without being encased in
"*** CMDEDIT :   ......    Any ongoing macro aborted! ***".  In addition,  the
command line which caused the error is left displayed on the screen.

The /o switch is useful when changing CMDEDIT options from a batch file.  If
CMDEDIT had not previously been installed,  the new invocation would normally
make itself resident;  /o prevents this.

The /n switch disables the normal existence check which CMDEDIT performs to
find an already resident incarnation.  This switch forces the current
invocation to remain resident (even if CMDEDIT is already resident).  The
switch should only be used if CMDEDIT incorrectly detects the presence of a
resident incarnation.  WARNING:  PROBLEMS MAY OCCUR IF CMDEDIT IS RUN
AGAIN TO CHANGE INSTALLED OPTIONS,  AS THE INCARNATION CHANGED MAY IN FACT BE
THE SPURIOUS DETECTION.  See also BUGS.

In initialisation files,  lines beginning with a minus (-) are comments.  Blank
lines are ignored unless they are part of a macro definition.  The file can
contain macro and symbol definitions using such commands as DEFS, DEFM, ENDM
etc., as well as the commands PUSHD, POPD and CHD.  It must not contain
any other commands,  or CMDEDIT will display an error message and exit.  The
format of the commands in the file is the same as if you typed them in from
the keyboard (but see also Bugs below).  e.g. The following is a short example
definition file:

defs d dir/w
defm home
chd c:\
endm home

Note that the ENDM command is followed by the macro name it terminates. This is
optional,  as CMDEDIT ignores all following characters on a line whose first
word is ENDM.

When defining macros and symbols, keep in mind the important differences in the
way command line arguments are handled.  With a symbol, the rest of the command
line is appended to the definition string when it is executed.  A macro on the
other hand uses the %n parameters like DOS batch files.  Thus the following are
essentially equivalent:

defs d dir/w

and

defm d
dir/w %1 %2 %3 %4 %5
endm

but without the %n's,  the macro definition would ignore any command line
arguments.


                                VERSION HISTORY:

Extensions by D. Abbott - v1 and v2: Never released

Extensions by D. Abbott - v3 (Jan 14, 1991):  This version is identical to
that published as CMDEDIT v2.0,  with the exception of the /c, /l, /w, /o, /t
& /z switches added by David Abbott (DFA), Nov/Dec 1990. If these switches are
not used,  CMDEDIT will function like the original except for the ^T command,
which previously did not exist.  The resident size of the modified version is
only about 128 bytes larger than the original.
  A bug in the installation code that resulted in false reports of an already
resident version has also been partially fixed.  See below.

Extensions by D. Abbott - v4 (May 11, 1991):  Added the /k switch for the
benefit of those used to the Unix C-shell 'filec' filename completion (which
uses the ESC key rather than TAB).

Extensions by D. Abbott - v5 (July 14, 1991):  Added the /n switch to counter
installation problems in some situations where CMDEDIT incorrectly detects
that it is already installed.  Added instructions for running CMDEDIT with
Windows 3.0 (see BUGS below).


                                     BUGS:

CMDEDIT will abort with an error if a CTRL-Z end of file character is at the
end of a command file,  unless that line is a comment.  Since most editors put
an EOF character at the end of a file,  you should always make the first
character on the very last line of a command file a minus sign.  Make sure you
don't hit return at the end of the last line!

If CMDEDIT is un-installed with /u,  and then run again,  it sometimes reports
that it is already installed.  The original version was worse than this,  in
that on some machines it would report that it had already been installed when
run for the first time.  If you encounter either of these problems,  use
the /n switch to force an initial installation,  but be aware that later
changing installed options is then dangerous as the first incarnation in memory
is always detected and hence changed, and this may be the spurious detection.

CMDEDIT cannot detect that it has already been loaded if it was loaded into
high memory by a utility such as QEMM-386.  This means calling CMDEDIT again to
alter an option will instead result in a new copy being installed (unless /o is
specified,  in which case nothing at all will happen).  Some switches,  such as
/r and /t,  have control key equivalents,  and these can be used instead.  If
you want the ability to change other options after CMDEDIT is loaded, don't put
it in high memory.

CMDEDIT can sometimes upset the behaviour of programs which have a command
input mode in which DOS editing keys,  and therefore CMDEDIT,  are still
active.  I have seen such a program which takes one or two letter commands,
and normally won't let you type any more.  CMDEDIT does let you type more, but
then gives a "line too long" error.  This could potentially corrupt the display
of a program not expecting it.  If this occurs,  use the /z toggle to disable
CMDEDIT before starting your program.

WINDOWS 3.0:
   If loaded prior to starting Windows,  CMDEDIT becomes unstable when running
more than one DOS session.  This can sometimes result in Windows terminating a
DOS session with a system integrity violation message as soon as a key is
struck!  There is a work around to this bug,  the trick being to un-install
CMDEDIT prior to loading Windows,  and then install it when you open each DOS
shell.  This can be done from batch files as follows:

First,  start Windows with a batch file similar to the example below (perhaps
called WIN.BAT):

     @echo off
     cmdedit /u
     c:\windows\win %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
     cmdedit

This batch file assumes CMDEDIT was the last TSR loaded into conventional
memory.  Now when you open a DOS session do not just load COMMAND.COM.
Instead change the properties of your DOS icon to run the following batch file
(I call this winauto.bat):

     @echo off
     cmdedit /n
     c:\command /e:1024

You can customise this as you please.  I actually call a batch file to start
CMDEDIT with a number of switches and an initialisation file.  The /n switch
is used here because I have found that on some occasions when closing a DOS
session and immediately opening another,  CMDEDIT incorrectly reports that it
is already installed.  You should however read the notes regarding /n before
using this switch.
     The last line of WINAUTO.BAT prevents the session terminating and
returning to the program manager at the end of the batch file (the /e:1024 is
simply my preferred environment size).  Note that in WINAOUTO.BAT it is quite
OK to load cmdedit into high memory using DOS 5 or QEMM or some other loadhi
utility (assuming you will not be changing the CMDEDIT installed options in
the DOS session).  You must not load CMDEDIT into high memory before starting
Windows,  however,  since then it cannot be un-installed.
     As an aside,  notice that the procedure documented above can be extended
to include disabling/enabling if a DOS screen saver if you use one.  You
should not have a DOS screen save running prior to starting Windows,  but it
is fine to start one in a DOS session (so long as the session does not run in
the background).