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------------------------- | | | | | | | V M i X 3 8 6 | | | | for | | | | MSDOS Environments | | | | | | | | Multiuser Operating | | Supervisor | | | | for the | | | | I B M PC / XT / AT | | | | | | Version 2.6X | | | | Technical Reference | ------------------------- By J. Anthony Borras Commercial Software Associates Post Office Box 36 Corona del Mar, California 92625 (714) 720-1214 IBM PC/XT/AT are trademarks of the IBM Corp. This manual was written by: Commercial Software Associates Post Office Box 36 Corona del Mar, California 92625 COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright (c) 1991 by: J. Anthony Borras All rights reserved No part of this program or related documentation may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded, or thereby translated into any language, without the prior written permission of the publisher. You may only make a copy of the program for backup purposes. LIMITED SHAREWARE LICENSE VMiX 386 may be copied for others to tryout, subject to the following copying restrictions specified by this time limited license: All copies distributed to others must include a copy of the Copyright Notice, the Limited Shareware License, Disclaimer of All Warranties and Liabilities, and Liabilities, and the Software License Agreement. Disclaimer of All Warranties and Liabilities Commercial Software (ComSoft) Associates makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to this manual or to the software described there in, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. VMiX 386 is sold or licensed `as is', and is for use by the original purchaser only, except as expanded by the Limited Shareware License described above. The entire risk, as to the quality and performance, of the VMiX experimental system is with the buyer. In the event of loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused by the VMiX 386 program, the buyer (and not ComSoft, its distributors, or its retailers) assumes the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction and any incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect in the software or its use, even if ComSoft has been advised of the possibility of such damages. SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT The party, agrees that they will use the software entitled `VMiX 386' exclusively for their private use in their own personal system, not to exceed 3 CPU's. The party agrees that all copies of the VMiX 386 software package are the property of Commercial Software Associates, Westwood California and that all copies will display the original copyright. The party agrees that the location of all copies will be reported to Commercial Software Associates upon written demand. The licensee agrees to fill out and mail this registration form and license within 30 days of the start of the try- out period specified by the Limited Shareware License shown above. Support will be provided to registered licensees only. The party agrees that unauthorized use under this agreement will cause great damage to the licensor, Commercial Soft- ware Associates. --------------------------------------- | | | | | CONTENTS | | | | | | --------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION Page Copyright Notice ................... 3 Software License Agreement ......... 4 Table of Contents .................. 5 Quick Overview .................... 7 The Shell Commands ................. 1- 1 Command 1 - debug 1- 2 Command 2 - rshell 1- 3 Command 3 - remote 1- 4 Command 4 - swap 1- 6 Command 5 - chprio 1- 7 Command 6 - exec 1- 8 Command 7 - dosjob 1-10 Command 8 - spawn 1-11 Command 9 - kill 1-13 Command 10 - quit 1-14 The Debugger Commands .............. 2- 1 Command 1 - assign 2- 2 Command 2 - deassign 2- 6 Command 3 - init 2- 7 Command 4 - examine 2- 8 Command 5 - set 2- 9 The Utilities ...................... 3- 2 Utility 1 - ps 3- 3 Utility 2 - dstat 3- 4 Utility 3 - dpath 3- 5 Utility 4 - loadup 3- 6 Utility 5 - outside 3- 7 Utility 6 - monitor 3- 8 Utility 7 - vsetup (.ini) 3-10 Utility 8 - vt 3-13 Utility 9 - vw 3-15 --------------------------------------- | | | | | FIGURES: | | | | | | --------------------------------------- FIGURE DESCRIPTION Page Fig. 1 Default Channel Assignments 1- 4 2 Object type name definitions 2- 2 3 Terminal Emulations Supported 2- 9 4 Valid Baud Rates 2-10 5 Color Keys 2-12 6 Color Codes 2-13 7 Window Sizing Coordinates 2-14 QUICK OVERVIEW * VMiX provides the services of a multiuser operating system supervisor. The VMiX kernel ties tightly between the host operating system I/O services and the user applications. The goal of the VMiX kernel is to arbitrate the use of system resources by individual tasks, in an environment providing up to 16 megabytes of physical memory and virtualized devices. * The console screen can be automatically partitioned into up to four windows, for a total of 4 tasks executing from the console. The active task controls and responds to the console keyboard. The active task can be switched, at any time, by pressing the hot key, Shift-Tab. In 386 mode, you can have fully virtualized foregrounds, so each can be divided into up to four windows or you can have full screen foregrounds ('dosjob -W') independent from partitioned foregrounds. * VMiX does not need to operate in protected mode to multitask. Hence, it can be used in 8088 PCs. In 80286 mode, VMiX will use protected mode only during task swapping. In 80386 mode, VMiX operates in protected mode at all times. System services are provided in SYSGATE.ASM to execute your own functions in protected mode. * REMOTE permits a user to call a remote PC running VMiX, and teleoperate, as if he were at the console of the remote PC. Useful for remote customer support of application programs, offsite login and operations. VMiX terminal drivers provide full CGA text mode emulation at a COMM port and will redirect direct video writes when in 386 mode. * Multiple BASIC or GWBASIC interpreter sessions are supported. Programs that write directly to video memory will also operate from a COMM port when using VMiX in 386 mode. In non-386 computers you need to use a remote host utility like 'Remote Console'tm in conjunction with VMiX. 'Remote Console'tm is a product of Louis Wheeler (805) 481-5687. * Supports a maximum of five users (only because of COMM port limitations), each with multiple processes up to a maximum of 8 total. * SPAWN or '&' permits a script of VMiX shell commands to be submitted to a background process executing the VMiX shell. This allows for background jobs like compiling or printing by a concurrent child process. * DOSJOB permits keyboard interactive applications to be partitioned and managed as concurrent video display tasks. The -W option allows a new task to use virtualized video memory for their own separate display screen. Their display screen can be toggled to and from the foreground display. * VMiX supports graphics in CGA, MCGA, EGA, or VGA video modes. Loadable fonts and up to 80 line displays (with VMiX font type 1). * As explained in the manual, there are (5) five ways to execute a DOS command, .BAT file, .COM file, or .EXE program: with 'exec' (now optional), with a command line trailing '&', with 'spawn -c ???? ...', with the 'dosjob [-W]' command, or (the easiest way) by pressing Shift-Enter at the end of your command line. When VMiX starts, unless you issued an 'exec -m<size in Kbytes>' at the command line, VMiX will use memory partitions of 224Kb for (8088/80286) programs or partitions of 576Kb in 386/486 processors. * Command line driven multitasking (default). Optional pull-down menus user shell. Optional VMiX.INI configuration file. * A remote session facility for linking two or more VMiX hosts. Remote user access passwords. Remote user program scripts. * Console operator status line 'set video -s' * Built-in debugger 'debug' 'monitor -f' 'monitor -r' * Memory manager and memory mapper 'monitor -m' 'monitor -p' 'examine mcb' 'examine memory' * A TSR load-hi utility for 386 mode. * User specified windows at either the console or VT-100 COMM terminal, with direct video write support. * Assembly and High Level Language interface. Interrupt 15h VMiX System Services. C O M S O F T VMiX 386 PART ONE VMiX 386 REFERENCE THE SHELL COMMANDS The Shell Commands page 1-1 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: debug ____ OUTLINE: _______ Purpose: To invoke the VMiX debugger shell. _______ This token is now obsolete, since all the debug commands can be invoked without the 'debug' prefix (from the Root Shell). DESCRIPTION: ___________ debug is a root shell token. This command has 6 sub-tokens: set, init, examine, assign, deassign, and quit. 'debug', by itself, invokes the VMiX debugger shell. The debugger shell prompt is '- __________'. Once in the debugger shell, all the debug sub-tokens become first level tokens and you do not have to preceed them with the token 'debug'. VMiX accepts numeric input in two forms, decimal or hexadecimal. To enter hexadecimal numbers, preceede the number with the characters '0x'. To return to the root shell, from the debugger use the token 'quit'. NOTE: All six debugger sub-tokens can be used from the root shell level, whether you precede them with the token 'debug', or not. If used with the prefix 'debug', you will moved to the debugger shell when the current command completes. Without the prefix, you will remain at the root shell level. The Shell Commands page 1-2 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: rshell ____ OUTLINE: _______ Purpose: To start a new VMiX/DOS command shell. _______ DESCRIPTION: ___________ 'rshell' is intended for use with the 'dosjob' command. When used with 'dosjob', a new process will be started and an rshell will be used as the command interpreter, in other words a new VMiX shell will be started. The 'quit' command will close the shell and terminate the process. When 'rshell' is used as a command, by itself, a new nested shell will be started under the current VMiX shell. The 'quit' command will cause a return to the previous shell. You would use this command in VMiX.INI under the [remote startup] Section, if you wished to have passwords checked during a remote login (See VSETUP.EXE). The Shell Commands page 1-3 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: remote ____ OUTLINE: _______ -a " toggles global polling ON/OFF" -c " sets remote console channel" -i " toggles fast RS232 ON/OFF" -l " sets terminal login channel" -x " toggles remote logins ON/OFF" Purpose: To control your PC's remote serial capabilities via a _______ modem or terminal connection. DESCRIPTION: ___________ Normally, VMiX only polls the channel specified with the 'remote -l' command or the 'set remote -l' command for new user logins. The default channel is 1, equivalent to COM1. Other tasks can be currently using other channels, this command only affects which channel is currently being listened to for new user logins. The 'remote -a' command is equivalent to the 'set remote -a' command it tells VMiX to listen on all ports. This slows the scheduler, so it is not the default. The root shell command 'remote -c' will terminate VMiX, but it first assigns STDIO to the channel specified after the -c switch. Therefore, MS-DOS resumes at the device associated with the channel. This command is different from the command 'set remote -c', which relocates the console but does not terminate VMiX. Pressing <Ctrl> F from the terminal, followed by a <Ctrl> Z, will effect an emergency return to the console video and keyboard. The correct way to return is to use the 'assign' to PROCESS command and assign the process channel 0. The 'remote -i' command is used to toggle RS-232 communications between polled or interrupt driven I/O. When you 'set baud' for a COMM channel above 9600 Baud, the serial port associated with the channel will be automatically programmed for interrupt driven I/O. However, you must toggle interrupts TRUE, with this command, if you want a baud rate below 19200 to use interrupts. In the few cases where you might want to use this command, you must use it BEFORE you 'set baud'. The 'remote -l' command is equivalent to the 'set remote -l' command. Both set the currently polled channel for new logins. Use 'examine status' to display the current assignment. The Shell Commands page 1-4 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 The 'remote -x' command is equivalent to the 'set remote -x' command. They act as a toggle to disable or enable all logins. The default state is logins enabled. Use 'examine status' to display the current state. DEFAULT CHANNEL ASSIGNMENTS: 0 CONSOLE 1 COM1 serial port 2 COM2 serial port 3 COM3 serial port 4 COM4 serial port 5 LPT1 printer device Example batch file to start VMiX and go remote to COM1. If the terminal type is to be a VT-100, then the batch file would contain the command line: vm_boot set terminal -t4 / remote -c1 While in REMOTE mode, FUNCTION KEY emulation can be toggled by pressing the <Ctrl> F keys (one beep) from the terminal's keyboard. Note that the digit (numbers) keys on the terminal's keyboard will now act as [F0] through [F9] keys. The [Ins], [Del], and [End] keys can now be invoked by pressing ^I, ^D, and ^E respectively. The terminal's arrow keys and [Home] key will simulate these keys and the terminal's <Shift> key will act as the IBM PC's <Alt> key (See Figure 3). Press ^F a second time (two beeps) to return to numeric keys. Refer to the 'set baud' command for information about setting the baud rate for remote channels. The Shell Commands page 1-5 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: swap ____ OUTLINE: _______ Purpose: To swap a task to/from extended memory. _______ DESCRIPTION: ___________ This is the VMiX task switcher function. It will move a task to and from extended memory. When a task is in extended memory it will be inactive until swapped back by the user. If you have toggled the swapper with the 'set system -s' command, then the VMiX scheduler will regularly move the task down to conventional memory for a timeslice of the computer and swap it back to let other tasks execute. The command syntax is: swap [ process id ] If a process is in low memory, it will be swapped to extended memory. If the process is already swapped, then it will be moved back to low memory and resume execution. Swapped processes will not normally execute, and will stay suspended until they are swapped again to low memory. To allow swapped tasks to also execute, (less frequently than in-memory tasks) use the command 'set system -s' to inform the scheduler to include swapped tasks. The default is no time-slice scheduling for swapped tasks. The Shell Commands page 1-6 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: chprio ____ OUTLINE: _______ Purpose: To change the executing priority of a VMiX process. _______ DESCRIPTION: ___________ All VMiX processes are assigned a default base priority of 7, at start-up. Priorities are adjusted constantly by the scheduler. They dynamically change within the range 2 through the assigned base maximum for the process. When you use the command 'chprio', you set the base maximum priority a process is allowed to float to. VMiX uses this float, for example, to 'up' the priority of a process, when the keyboard is used. Task switching, also adjusts the current priority. A process with a base priority of 14 will execute twice as fast as another at priority 7, all other things being equal. A process with priority 1 will not execute at all. It will sleep until you 'up' the priority above 1, with 'chprio'. VMiX priorities range from a high of 31 to a low of 0. The scheduler always chooses the process with the highest current priority. The scheduler round robin's processes with the same priority. After a task executes for its timeslice duration, its current priority is dropped by 1, to allow other lower priority tasks to execute. When the priority drops to 2, the priority of the process is reset to the base maximum. The token 'chprio' is used to change the base and current priority of any process to a new value. The effect of the command is to set the base maximum priority for the process and at the same time make the current priority equal to the specified base. The command syntax is: chprio [ pid [ / priority ] ] where, pid is the process id of the target process, and priority is a value between 0 - 31. If only chprio is entered, then the shell will prompt for the two arguments. The default pid, if you only press <ENTER>, is the current process id The default priority is the base priority of the target process. The Shell Commands page 1-7 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: exec ____ OUTLINE: _______ -m " sets transient program memory partition size: (0 - 1024K)" Purpose: To execute a valid MS-DOS file or command or to set _______ the program partition size in kilobytes. DESCRIPTION: ___________ This command provides a direct but limited interface to MS-DOS. The 'exec' token can be used (with no switches) to execute any MS-DOS command string from within a VMiX root shell. The main purpose of exec is to execute an MS-DOS file. It can be invoked by itself or in conjunction with the spawn token. 'exec' is normally not explicitly used from a VMiX shell, since VMiX passes commands it does not recognize to MS-DOS. However, in case of a name conflict between a VMiX comand and an MS-DOS command, you would need to use 'exec' explicitly. Example: 'exec set' or 'exec debug.com'. The command syntax is: exec [ MS-DOS command ] The utility of 'exec' for invoking executable images from within a VMiX process is limited because 'exec' uses the MS-DOS command.com loader. The MS-DOS loader makes assumptions about memory allocation, which do not conform to a multiuser environment like VMiX. In non-386 mode, two or more VMiX processes can use the 'exec' command to access MS-DOS provided that: a) All transient program memory has not been previously grabbed by a program (.COM programs will do this, as well as some .EXE program). The -m switch is used with the 'exec' command to control the amount of memory that .COM or .EXE programs will be allowed to grab. The amount of memory made available to individual programs, is refered to as the partition size. The command syntax is: exec -m [ max. Kbytes ] where, the number of Kbytes specified sets the partition size and limits the amount of memory that a program can allocate. The Shell Commands page 1-8 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 Example: 'exec -m128<ENTER>', will limit programs to a maximum of 128 kilobytes. b) MS-DOS is not busy with a nested function call beyond the initial 'exec' call from VMiX. If another VMiX process has also invoked MS-DOS services that have not completed, then VMiX will wait for MS-DOS to say that it can handle another request. When VMiX encounters this situation, it will print a message: The Shell Commands page 1-9 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: dosjob ____ OUTLINE: _______ -W " gives process the full screen" Purpose: To execute an MS-DOS command, and/or a series of VMiX _______ shell commands, in full screen or automatic window. DESCRIPTION: ___________ 'dosjob' spawns a child process that executes a string of commands, input immediately following, and on the same line as the 'dosjob' token. This command provides the main interface to multitasking and MS-DOS. The main purpose of 'dosjob' is to execute an MS-DOS file or command. It can also be invoked in conjunction with other VMiX shell commands. For example, a 'dosjob', can include another 'dosjob' command in its job string. The difference between 'dosjob' and 'exec', is twofold. 'dosjob' will start a new process to execute the job string, while 'exec' will use the current process. Second, 'dosjob', (without the -W option) will open a new window for the process, while 'exec' will use the bounds of the current shell process. The command syntax is: dosjob [-W] [ MS-DOS command ] [ / [ command ] /... ] NOTE: 'dosjob' essentially performs an 'assign' of a new SRCSINK channel to the console, followed by a 'set video -W' and a 'spawn' of a new child process, to execute the input command string. NOTE: There is a direct keyboard combination to invoke a 'dosjob'. Pressing Shift-Enter or Shift-Shift-Enter, will start a new task, just as if you had typed 'dosjob'. The Shift-Enter is used, instead of just the Enter key, after typing a command. If both Shift toggles are pressed when the Enter key is hit, the new task will use the full screen. If only one Shift is held down, the task will start in a new window. The Shell Commands page 1-10 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: spawn ____ OUTLINE: _______ -c " sets spawn I/O channel and shell script" Purpose: To dispatch a background task to be performed _______ independently and concurrently with everything else. DESCRIPTION: ___________ 'spawn' creates a new child process, owned by the invoking shell. The channel specified immediately after the -c switch becomes the STDIO channel for the new process. After the channel number, a script of VMiX shell commands can be entered. Multiple commands are input, separated by a valid VMiX delimiter ('/' ',' tab or space). The command syntax is: spawn -c???? [ [ command ] /... ] A way to implement EMAIL in your system, is to have a user spawn an exec job to somebody else's channel, where the 'exec' merely types a newly created text message file: spawn -c1 / exec type b:\news\myfile.txt A more elegant way is to assign a new channel to the device COM1 or COM?, so that we can create a window without disturbing the user. If a window is created on the user's own channel, then we have modified his environment from our side. By using 'dstat -a', we can determine the port # to use to talk with our target user. In VMiX, ports refers to physical devices, and channels are logical connections to those devices. Assume we determined that he is using COM1. From the debugger shell, we first enable system messages, to see what channel number VMiX will allocate during our 'assign' command: set system -m (enables manager msgs.) then we grab a channel, assign srcsink 1 (the 1 requests COM1, if you prefer to be prompted, just type 'assign') assume that we were informed that channel 6 was assigned, then: The Shell Commands page 1-11 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 now we 'spawn' to channel 6, spawn -c6 / set video -w1 40 10 79 / type b:\news\myfile.txt This created a 10 x 40 window (via channel 6) at the top right corner of his display. In the example above, the command 'set video -W' could have been used, in place of our manual 'set video -w....' . Still, a better EMAIL system could be written using the VMiX API System Services listed in sysgate.asm. The Shell Commands page 1-12 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: kill ____ OUTLINE: _______ Purpose: To terminate the execution of an image (.EXE or .COM) _______ from a process other than the owner. If the target process shell is not executing an image, then the process is killed. DESCRIPTION: ___________ 'kill' allows a hard terminate of a process or image to be commanded from another process. This command has two levels of action. If the target process shell is executing an image started by a previous exec call, then that image is terminated via an MS-DOS INT 20h system call. If no image is being executed then 'kill' will terminate the target process. The command syntax is: kill [ process id ] The utility 'PS.EXE', will list all active (pid's) process id's. SECURITY: The kill command will normally not allow a user to ________ terminate another user's process. Only root or the 'su' superuser has the access priviledge to terminate all/any. A regular user can only terminate his own spawned processes. The Shell Commands page 1-13 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: quit ____ OUTLINE: _______ Purpose: To terminate the shell and exit. _______ DESCRIPTION: ___________ 'quit' decrements a process's shell level (number of nested shells) by one and returns to the previous shell, if any. The root shell is VMiX's top shell for any given user process If this command is invoked at the root shell level, the user process is ended. Normally, the first process started at the console has root privilege. If the process has privilege and is also the root VMiX process, then VMiX is also terminated. In other words, if you are at the first VMiX shell you type 'quit' to end VMiX and return to DOS, otherwise 'quit' will just terminate the current shell or process. The Shell Commands page 1-14 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 PART TWO VMiX 386 REFERENCE THE DEBUGGER COMMANDS The Debugger Commands page 2-1 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: assign ____ OUTLINE: _______ 'assign' allocates a VMiX channel to an owner UID (universal id) and assigns a VMiX object to the channel. 'assign' allocates extended memory. 'assign gdt' allocates a VMiX 386 global descriptor table entry, returning a new segment selector for either code or data. DESCRIPTION: ___________ VMiX CHANNEL MANAGER OVERVIEW _____________________________ The function of the channel manager is usually transparent to the user, but experienced users can make use of the low level interface and manipulate channels directly. The VMiX input/output system consists of I/O objects and I/O channels. All VMiX objects are assigned an universal identifier or UID, including processes. The 'assign' command is provided to establish connections between objects by assigning channels that link the connection, usually to an external port number. These assigned channels can then be referenced by other VMiX commands. The basic VMiX objects consist of the following: OBJECT TYPE NAME DEFINITIONS PROCESS type is a process SRCSINK type is a tty terminal CHRSINK...type is a printer DSKFILE type is a file MEMORY type is a memory block BLKSINK type is a disk drive MANAGER type is an obj manager or driver MAILBOX type is a mailbox DATLINK type is a data link PORTS these are external resources like serial COMM ports or LPT printer ports (they are sequentially numbered starting at 0). The Debugger Commands page 2-2 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 Internally, objects are assigned a numeric identifier or UID. These can be listed by the utility 'DSTAT.EXE'. Channel numbers are assigned sequentially on a first use basis. Deassigned or free channel numbers are reused. 'assign' can be used to allocate extended memory, to establish channels to external ports, and to assign channels to processes. The general syntax for the 'assign' command is: assign [ client UID / process id ] [ object type ] [ target port / channel id ] where, UID is the identification of the new owner for the channel. Note: if the owner is to be a process, the PID is equivalent to the UID of the process. If client process id is omitted, it defaults to the current process. The object type is one of the 9 type names described above. The complete name must be typed, in upper or lower case. Ports available for use with SRCSINK type objects (terminals): 0 The Root Console 1 COM1: 2 COM2: 3 COM3: 4 COM4: Ports available for use with CHRSINK type objects (printers): 1 LPT1: 2 LPT2: This command syntax creates a channel by linking it to a port: If object type is SCRSINK, then the third argument is a COMM port (0-4), where 0 refers to the console and 1 - 4 are serial ports. If object type is CHRSINK, then the third argument is an LPT port (1-2). This command syntax assigns a previously created channel to a running process: If object type is PROCESS, then the third argument is a previously assigned channel id. The Debugger Commands page 2-3 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 You can use the 'assign process' syntax to assign a new STDIO channel to your executing process. The original STDIO channel of the process will remain available for restoring the process back to its original state. You must repeat the 'assign', and give the process its old channel id. The general syntax for the 'assign process' command is: assign [ client process id ] PROCESS [ channel id to assign ] If client process id is omitted, it defaults to the current process. The new channel you assign must already exist. You can reassign a process standard I/O (keyboard and video) to the console, to a COMM port, or to a printer type channel. For example, to redirect process #1 (use PS.EXE to get the process id) to COM2 (channel #2), you would type: assign 1 PROCESS 2 Again, VMiX will prompt you for any arguments missing after the 'assign' command, except for the first argument which is an optional argument. This command syntax assigns an extended memory block: If object type is MEMORY, then the third argument is a block size in bytes, to assign to the channel. The size will be rounded-up to the nearest 64k block. Only extended memory can be allocated by this command. The extended memory pool can be listed with the utility 'MONITOR.EXE -p'. NOTE: To be informed, on the screen, of the channel assigned by this command, use the debugger command 'set system -m' to enable channel manager messages, before the assign. NOTE: When assigning a channel to a SRCSINK that is going to be used for logins, the UID identifing the new owner of the channel must be set to 0, to indicate the UID of the scheduler, (example, 'assign 0 srcsink 1'). The Debugger Commands page 2-4 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 Assigning 386 Global Descriptors: The command syntax is: assign gdt [ access [ / size ] [ / segment ] ] where, access is usually entered as the word 'code', if the segment is a code segment or as the word 'data', if the access byte of the gdt descriptor is to be set to data segment access rights. The user can also enter a decimal or hexadecimal value, if he wishes to override the default access rights value that VMiX uses for its segments. The parameters can be entered in hexadecimal, using the format 0x???? (example, 'assign gdt 0x9B 10 0xF000' or 'assign gdt code 10 0xF000'). size is the size that the segment is to have, specified as the number of 512 Byte pages. segment is the segment address in physical memory that the selector is to translate to, when loaded onto a segment register. If mamager messages are enabled, this command will return a new selector id. The Debugger Commands page 2-5 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: deassign ____ OUTLINE: _______ 'deassign' deallocates a VMiX channel. 'deassign gdt' deallocates a VMiX gdt selector. 'deassign mem' deallocates a VMiX extended memory block. DESCRIPTION: ___________ The command syntax is: deassign [ channel ] where, channel specifies the channel number to deassign. This can be a dangerous command to execute, since STDIO to the root console (channel 0) could be deassigned, freezing the console. If no other shell is running, there is no way to assign the STDIO to the root console again. NOTE: To be informed, on the screen, of the channel and IO Request Packets (IRP) deassigned by this command, use the debugger shell command 'set system -m' to enable channel manager messages, before the 'deassign'. The command syntax is: deassign gdt [ selector ] where, selector is the gdt selector returned by an 'assign gdt'. The command syntax is: deassign mem [ page ] where, page is the extended memory page to return to the free memory pool. The memory was previously assigned with the 'assign' command. The extended memory pages can be listed with the utility 'MONITOR.EXE -p'. The Debugger Commands page 2-6 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: init OUTLINE: comm -c " sets communications: chan, baud, parity, word, stop" print -p " inits parallel port: chan" DESCRIPTION: ___________ (See 'set baud'.) The Debugger Commands page 2-7 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: examine ____ OUTLINE: _______ mcb " displays information on the MS-DOS memory control blocks" memory " displays or modifies memory" status " displays system configuration" DESCRIPTION: ___________ The Debugger Commands page 2-8 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: set ____ OUTLINE: _______ This is the basic configuration function. There are several keywords that can be given after the 'set' token to further specify the area for configuration. baud -c " sets communications: chan, baud, parity, word, stop" dos -f " toggles DOS process file inherit ON/OFF" -n " sets DOS INT21 function maximum nesting level" -p " sets DOS current process PSP: nuPSP(seg)" -s " sets DOS virtual size: nusize (4Kb blocks)" font -t " sets font type: (0 - 3)" pool -a " adjusts program memory: MCB(seg), nusize(para)" -m " sets program partition size: (0 - 1024K)" -o " sets program memory owner: MCB(seg), nuPSP(seg)" process -b " sets process shell buffer size: (0 - 127)" -e " toggles environment protection ON/OFF" -h " toggles hardware priviledge ON/OFF" -s " toggles system priviledge ON/OFF" -w " sets preemption I/O wait cycles: count" remote -a " toggles global polling ON/OFF" -c " sets remote console channel" -i " toggles fast RS232 ON/OFF" -l " sets terminal login channel" -x " toggles remote logins ON/OFF" system -c " toggles cursor emulation ON/OFF" -d " sets duration of task slice: tickcnt - 1" -m " toggles operator messages ON/OFF" -s " toggles swapper ON/OFF" -t " toggles scheduler ON/OFF" -v " toggles maximum DOS size ON/OFF" -w " sets shutdown wait delay: seconds" terminal -t " sets terminal type: (0 - 9)" The Debugger Commands page 2-9 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 video -c " sets video background/foreground colors" -C " sets window background/foreground colors" -m " sets video mode: (0 - 18)" -p " sets video page: (0 - 3)" -s " toggles status display ON/OFF" -w " sets window size: row0, col0, row1, col1" -W " auto partitions task windows (Shift-Tab toggles kbd)" DESCRIPTION: ___________ VMiX SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS __________________________ set baud A valid channel (normally equivalent to a COMM port 1 to 4) must be given after the -c switch. The command syntax is: set baud -c [ channel id ] [ baud rate ] [,] [ parity ] [,] [ word size ] [,] [ stop bits ] VALID BAUD RATES 300 [ same as 30 ] 1200 [ same as 12, 120 ] 2400 [ same as 24, 240 ] 4800 [ same as 48, 480 ] 9600 [ same as 96, 960 ] (Default Baud Rate) 19200 [ same as 192, 1920 ] (Always interrupt driven) 38400 [ same as 384, 3840 ] (Always interrupt driven) 115200 [ same as 115, 1152 ] (Always interrupt driven) All parameters, except the channel number and the Baud Rate are optional. There can only be one channel at a baud rate above 9600, at any one time. To set a different channel to a high baud rate, you must first close (reset) the current interrupt driven channel by using the command 'set baud -c????' (where ???? is the channel id). Note that no new baud rate is specified. After this command completes, you may set baud, specifying a new channel. VMiX INT 14h - Driver Note: When programming to the BIOS INT 14h Serial Service, VMiX uses the BIOS codes for: 110 Baud as the code for 19200 Baud 150 Baud as the code for 38400 Baud 600 Baud as the code for 115200 Baud The Debugger Commands page 2-10 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 set terminal The 'set terminal -t' command is used to specify one of 7 terminal emulations available at the VMiX serial ports . Depending what you have connected as a user station to one of the host ports, you might need to select a different emulation than the default ANSI. TERMINAL EMULATIONS SUPPORTED -t0 = TELEVIDEO 910/920 -t1 = ADM3A -t2 = VT-52 -t3 = ZENITH H19 -t4 = VT-100 -t5 = Ansi (Default terminal emulation) -t9 = tty VMiX MEMORY ___________ set pool The -m switch can be used to control the amount of memory .COM or .EXE programs can grab. This command is equivalent to 'exec -m'. The command syntax is: set pool -m [ max. K bytes ] The -a switch is provided with the 'set pool' command, to allow for the release of memory previously allocated by MS-DOS or to change the size of an MS-DOS memory control block. This option can also be used to increase or decrease a VMiX memory control block, and hence the number of pages of memory in the conventional memory pool. The function depends on whether the segement address passed is for an MS-DOS MCB, or a VMiX MCB. In the later case, the paged memory pool is affected. This can be a dangerous option. To help in determining the arguments for this switch, use the command 'examine mcb'. It will list the memory control block chain, in low memory. The command syntax is: set pool -a [ MCB address [ / nusize ] ] where, the segment address of the MCB and nusize must be specified only in hexadecimal format. (example, 'set pool -a 26F0 / AF8). The Debugger Commands page 2-11 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 The -o switch is provided to allow for the change of ownership of memory previously allocated by MS-DOS. The command syntax is: set pool -o [ MCB address [ / nuPSP ] ] VMiX SCREEN COLOR SELECTION ___________________________ Alphanumeric Text Modes: The command syntax is: set video -c [ color code ] set video -C [ color code ] The color code is a 2 digit hexadecimal number of the form: 0xBF where, B is the background color key and F is the foreground color key, selected fron the table below. To use this method, the color code argument must be entered in hexadecimal format. Because the argument is in hexadecimal, it must be preceeded by an '0x'. COLOR KEYS B BACKGROUNDS F FOREGROUNDS 0 black 0 black 8 gray 1 blue 1 blue 9 lt. blue 2 green 2 green A lt. green 3 cyan 3 cyan B lt. cyan 4 red 4 red C lt. red 5 magenta 5 magenta D lt. mag 6 brown 6 brown E yellow 7 white 7 white F brt white Graphics Modes: The command syntax is: set video -c [ color code ] set video -C [ color code ] The color code is a decimal or hexadecimal number which represents the pixels on(1) or off(0) binary patterns on the screen. See the color code table given below. The Debugger Commands page 2-12 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 COLOR CODES DECIMAL HEXADECIMAL 0 0x00 00000000 black 85 0x55 01010101 gray 170 0xAA 10101010 gray 255 0xFF 11111111 white VMiX CONSOLE STATUS LINE _______________________ set video -s " toggles status display ON/OFF" The VMiX status line displays at the bottom of the console display, when enabled with the command 'set video -s' from the Root Shell. You should enable the status line BEFORE other tasks are started. If the status line is enabled after other windows are running, the screen for those tasks might not display the correct number of program lines. The status line displays: the time the current console VIO channel and task name the current console video mode the keyboard toggle keys [Ins] [Num Lock] [Caps Lock] [Scroll Lock] VMiX WINDOW SIZING __________________ set video -w " sets root window size: y0, x0, y1, x1" The -w switch is used to specify the bounds of a new root window. A root window is where all user dialog with the operating system takes place. The Debugger Commands page 2-13 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 0 -------------------------------------------------------- | VMiX.386 2.6X Copyright ComSoft, Inc.1991| |--------------------------------------------------------| | | | | r | TOP left corner | | *---------------------------- | Y o | |y,x | | | | WINDOW | | w | | | | | | y,x| | | ----------------------------* | | BOTTOM right corner | | | | | 24 -------------------------------------------------------- 0 column 79 X The command syntax is: set video -w [ [ top row ] [ , top col ] [ , bot row ] [ , bot col ] ] VMiX AUTO SCREEN PARTITIONING _____________________________ set video -W, " auto partitions task windows (Shift-Tab moves kbd between windows)" Supports multitasking from the console (up to 4 windows). Note that the 'W' must be typed in upper-case, to distinguish it from the manual Size Window command, described above. The command syntax is: set video -W This command is sensitive to the number of channels that have been assigned to COM0, the console. It uses this count to determine the number of windows to divide the screen. The 'set video -W' command, is intended to work in cunjunction with the 'assign' command. The purpose is to split the screen to accomodate a new channel assigned for a console task, yet to be spawned. The Debugger Commands page 2-14 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 The nominal set of commands needed to manually start a background/windowed task at the console is: 'set system -m' will enable operator messages 'assign srcsink 0' will grab a new console (device 0) channel and display its id # ???? 'spawn -c???? set video -W / exec .....' will spawn a new background task to channel ?? assigned and partition the screen (press Shift-Tab to move the keyboard to the new task The above sequence can be replaced by the simpler to use, single command: 'dosjob .....' where ..... is the same user job string input with spawn, above. 'dosjob set video -W / exec .....' The Debugger Commands page 2-15 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 PART THREE VMiX 386 REFERENCE THE UTILITIES The Utilities page 3-1 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 VMiX includes 8 utility programs: PS.EXE DSTAT.EXE DPATH.EXE LOADUP.EXE OUTSIDE.EXE MONITOR.EXE VT.EXE VW.EXE These programs assist VMiX users and are described below. Note that you do not need to be in a VMiX shell to execute one of the utilities. VMiX only needs to be resident. You may shell out of a word processing program running under VMiX and execute a utility from DOS. The Utilities page 3-2 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: ps.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ ps " displays all processes status" DESCRIPTION: ___________ This utility displays a list of all currently active processes. Information on the job being executed, the current priority and assigned STDIO channel are listed. The Utilities page 3-3 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: dstat.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ dstat " displays all VMiX objects and channel information" -a " selects only assigned objects" -r " selects only free objects" DESCRIPTION: ___________ This utility display the object id's of VMiX objects, the type of object and assigned channels. If no channel is assigned, then -1 is displayed. The scheduler (process id 0) owns free objects and channels. If a channel is associated with a COMM port, dstat will also display the current baud rate setting for the channel. The Utilities page 3-4 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: dpath.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ dpath " sets directory search PATH for data files" -v " sets verbose mode (default)" -q " sets quiet mode" -r " allows data read only" -w " allows data read/write (default)" -h " displays help" DESCRIPTION: ___________ DPATH is a public domain utility, modified to work with VMiX. This utility is similar to the MS-DOS command 'append' and lets you specify a path for DOS to use when searching for program data files (See DPATH.DOC). VMiX allows independent default disk drives for separate tasks (or shells) but only one default directory per drive. You will need to use DPATH when running multiple applications on the same drive which require different default directories. You use DPATH the same way you use the MS-DOS command PATH to specify the search path for executables. The Utilities page 3-5 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: loadup.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ loadup " VMiX loadhi utility to place TSRs above 640Kb" DESCRIPTION: ___________ This utility can be executed from inside VMiX to load a TSR to upper memory above segment C000h. (386 Mode Only!) The loaded TSR will be visible only to the process that started it, since each VMiX task is virtually mapped to a separate virtual first megabyte. This means that you can have different (or the same) TSRs active for each partition. VMiX is compatible with XMS drivers, like HIMEM.SYS. However, VMiX will not work with other 80386 virtual memory managers, like EMM386.SYS, QEMM.SYS or 386MAX.SYS Since you can not use another extended memory manager when using VMiX, this utility has been provided to move TSRs to upper memory. The command syntax is: LOADUP [/help] [/segment=] [/size=] filespec We recommend that you do the first TSR load with /size=128 (number of 1Kb blocks) and reduce the size if LOADUP reports memory unavailable. For subsequent TSR loads, invoke LOADUP with /size=0, since the upper memory block has already being assigned, but not necessarily all used. New TSRs will look for unused memory within the upper memory block assigned in the first LOADUP. When you first invoke LOADUP, you want to specify a size equal to the largest contiguous space available above your video ROM area (depending on your HDisk controller and other installed adapters, this area size is usually between 64 and 128 kilobytes). If no size is given, LOADUP looks for 64 Kbytes in upper memory to load the TSR. The second, third, etc. time a TSR is loaded, you should specify a size of 0 (or if known, the actual size required by the TSR). If you know what you are doing, this utility will also allow you to specify the segment location (i.e., /segment=D000). If your TSRs requires less than 64 Kbytes, then 'LOADUP filespec' will work fine without any arguments. The Utilities page 3-6 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: outside.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ outside " MS-DOS shelling utility for bulletin board software executing under VMiX" -c " selects the COMM port channel for the remote outside shell" DESCRIPTION: ___________ Bulletin Board software usually allows you to install a program to execute when the SysOp desires to shell out to DOS to perform some maintenance. This utility allows you to shell to DOS, when running the BBS software under VMiX. 'Outside' will spawn a new task for the DOS shell, independent of the BBS task. -c1 shell to DOS on COM1 (default) -c2 shell to DOS on COM2 -c3 shell to DOS on COM3 -c4 shell to DOS on COM4 The Utilities page 3-7 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: monitor.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ monitor " utility monitors process or system" -f " displays information on any open files on the system" -m " displays a memory map of the first megabyte of address space" -p " displays information on the VMiX paged memory pools in conventional and extended memory" -r " monitors process registers continuously: process id" DESCRIPTION: ___________ The command syntax is: monitor [ -f ] [ -m ] [ -p ] [ -r ] [ process id ] If all switches are omitted, the process block of any specified process will be displayed. If no process id is given, you will be asked to supply one; if none is supplied, the default is the current process. When the '-r' switch is included before the process id, the process registers will be continuously monitored until the 'Esc' or the Ctrl Break key is pressed. While in the register viewing mode, pressing Ctrl S will put the process being viewed to sleep. Pressing Ctrl Q will wake the process. While in the register viewing mode, pressing the 'M' key will allow you to examine and/or modify memory locations. The address format is: segment [ : offset ] [ = byte ] where, the '= byte' is optional, for example: hex address? 550A displays segment 550A:0 hex address? 550A:100 displays segment 550A:100 hex address? 550A:100 = FF sets byte at 550A:100 to FF The 'examine memory' command does the equivalent from the VMiX shell. The Utilities page 3-8 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 'monitor -f' allows all open files on a VMiX system to be globally monitored. Open files will be listed and revised until the 'Esc' key is pressed. 'monitor -m' displays a map of the first one megabyte of memory space. The screen displays memory in 1Kbyte (1024) blocks. If the block is in use by the system, then it is marked by a '$' or a solid black block, in graphics mode. If the block is in use by VMiX, then it is marked by a 'V' or a gray shaded block. Memory control blocks are distinguished by an '=' or a small solid black block with border, in graphics mode. Memory not in use is indicated by an '.' or a small solid white block with border. The Utilities page 3-9 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: vsetup.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ vsetup "Utility executed at startup to process the VMiX configuration file, VMiX.INI DESCRIPTION: ___________ VMiX.INI is a text autoconfigure file that allows startup scripts, remote login passwords, and remote login scripts to be specified by the VMiX system administrator. This flexible configuration file assists you in: A) configuring VMiX startup - VMiX or DOS commands that get executed automatically, after you start the VM_BOOT.EXE program. B) entering passwords - up to 8 character long passwords used to provide controlled access to a VMiX system that has been configured to accept remote callers with the 'set remote -l' command. C) specifying user programs to autostart after a remote caller has logged-in via a COMM port. The configuration file is optional and it works in cunjunction with the VSETUP.EXE utility. This utility is normally invoked in two ways: 1. in the VMiX startup command line To ensure that VSETUP.EXE can always find VMiX.INI, the best way to start VMiX is with a full filespec and path for VM_BOOT.EXE, ie., C:\VMiX\VM_BOOT VSETUP (from the VMiX directory) then, you can change directories, and reset paths and VSETUP will always find VMiX.INI (during remote logins). 2. appended to the end of a 'set remote -l' command (for example: set remote -l2 vsetup). 'set remote -l????' by itself, without VSETUP.EXE restores the default VMiX shell (where access passwords are not checked). The Utilities page 3-10 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 VMiX.INI Configuration File Format __________________________________ File type: ASCII text Comment Symbol: ; (everything after an ';' anywhere in a line is a comment) Sections: Three Labled Sections ;START [access passwords] . ;Multiple text passwords that will be . ;encrypted the first time VSETUP processes . ;this file. . . [remote startup] . ;A single line that can include multiple ;commands, executed only at remote loggin. [startup] . ;Multiple lines that can include multiple . ;commands per line, executed only at VMiX . ;startup. . ;It is better to use a single line per . ;'dosjob' command. For other commands, . ;concatenate as many as possible on a single . ;(each line is sequentially processed by . ;a new VMiX process). . ;END A self-documented sample VMiX.INI file is included as a template for you to make your own configuration file. VMiX.INI Configuration File Processing ______________________________________ VSETUP.EXE is the only utility that reads the .INI file. This utility currently performs 3 functions: 1) If it finds an [access passwords] Section in VMiX.INI, it backups the file to VMiX.BAK and encrypts the text passwords, changing the Section name to [encrpt passwords]. Remove the unencrypted file VMiX.BAK from your hard disk, so that the original passwords remain secret to all other users. You can copy VMiX.BAK back to VMiX.INI when you need to change the text password list. The Utilities page 3-11 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 2) If invoked during startup, it will execute multiple command lines given in the [startup] Section. This is an alternative to typing all startup commands in the VM_BOOT command line. (System Startup Options, however, can ONLY be given at the command line, since VSETUP runs after VM_BOOT is started. 3) If invoked during a COMM port access, (you must have issued a 'set remote -l???? vsetup' command) it will prompt for an access password and match it against the encrypted list in VMiX.INI. After verifying access, it will dispatch the single command line listed under the [remote startup] Section. (The single line can have multiple commands, separated by a '/'). The Utilities page 3-12 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: vt.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ vt " utility to login to a remote VMiX host" DESCRIPTION: ___________ VT can be used to connect to other VMiX hosts from a local shell. Essentially VT is a remote utility to serially link together two different VMiX hosts (115.2 Kbaud maximum). This utility form the basis for a VMiX distributed system in a network of two or more VMiX systems. VT will start a remote session with the second computer via the COMM port currently specified by 'set remote -l ????' (you can determine the current setting with the 'examine status' command). You can then execute from host-1 any program on host-2. To set up a single remote session from host-1 connected to host-2 use the following: host-1 host-2 set remote -l1 set remote -l1 (COM1 for both) do vt.exe - (Request host-2 session) login -(host-2 asks for session name) (you are in) To set up dual links (one VT session on host-1 running on host-2, and another VT session on host-2 running on host-1 use the following: host-1 host-2 set remote -l1 set remote -l1 (COM1 for both) do vt.exe - (host-2 session) login - (session name) press Shift-Tab - (switch to Root) set remote -l2 set remote -l2 (COM2 for both) - do vt.exe (host-1 session) - login (enter name) press Shift-Tab - (return to VT) NOTE: To activate (and transmit to the remote host) the IBM function key equivalents (like Alt-X, PgUp, up-arrow, F3, etc.) you must toggle IBM emulation by pressing Ctrl-F. Then the application in the VT window will respond to the special keys (See Figure 3). The Utilities page 3-13 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 You will need to press Ctrl-F again to disable IBM emulation, after the special keys are used so that the keyboard Shift key will act correctly (this is a side effect of assuming that you could be at a terminal with no IBM special keys to press). NOTE: If you have started a VT session and type 'set baud -c1 2400', you will be setting the remote computer send baud rate, you will need to press Shift-Tab and switch to a local session to perform the same command for your local computer, so that both sides sync at the new baud rate. To quit VT.EXE press Alt-Z. This will terminate the VT program, but will not quit the remote session. You should 'quit' the remote session first (by typing 'quit'), before pressing Alt-Z. The Utilities page 3-14 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 NAME: vw.exe ____ OUTLINE: _______ vw " VMiX pull-down menus utility" -i " interactive keyboard mode" DESCRIPTION: ___________ VW can be used to start other programs or to set VMiX options. VW is an easy to use multiple thread environment. The menu bar displays five user menus: 'Commands' are a simulation of the tokens normally available from the VMiX shell. 'Memory' allows you to partition memory and configure memory utilization. 'Process' provides new task start-up and process maintenance. 'Examine' displays status information and resource utilization information. 'Options' is where most configuration choices reside. Move to the desired menu by pressing the right or left arrow keys. Select a menu by pressing the down arrow key, by pressing ENTER, or by typing the CAPITALIZED letter of the menu name. Select a pull-down menu option by first moving to the desired item with the down or up arrow keys and press ENTER to execute the option. Pull-down options that display a '->' indicate an additional pull-down menu, reachable by pressing ENTER or the right-arrow key. To exit from the vw utility or a pull-down menu press the 'Esc' key. When using VW from a remote PC, while running a remote console software product, you must tell VW to run in interactive mode with the command line option: 'VW.EXE -i'. In this mode, VW will not allow the scheduler to set it to sleep, when there is no input/output activity. VW asks for a video page or video mode when starting a new VMiX shell or MS-DOS shell with FULL screen (use only page 0, when in 386 mode). VW will respond to the [Home] key by repainting the menu bar. On non-386 computers, switching to tasks in different video pages or modes will sometimes not restore the VW menu bar on return to VW, so press [Home] to redisplay. The Utilities page 3-15 C O M S O F T VMiX 386 Windows are usually displayed automatically, when a new process is started. With VW you can size a custom window from the Options Menu. The 'Resize window' command will ask for the top-left and bottom-right coordinates, as shown above (Row and Column), for the new window. The Utilities page 3-16