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- 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES v5.12 Page -1-
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- 15th April 1992
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- CONTENTS
- --------
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- Limit of liability.............................................2
- License information............................................2
- Files included in the 4DOS/DOS Batch Utilities.................3
- Use of each program............................................4
- COMPACT.....................................................4
- SQZ.BTM.....................................................4
- GETCH.......................................................5
- TIMEBOOT....................................................6
- TIMEDASK....................................................6
- TIMEDMSG....................................................7
- History........................................................7
- About 4DDBU....................................................8
- Acknowledgments................................................8
- @PA
-
-
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- 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES v5.12 User Manual Page -2-
-
-
- LIMIT OF LIABILITY
-
- These utilities are distributed as-is. The author disclaims all
- warranties, expressed or implied. The author will assume no
- liability for damages either from the direct use of this product
- or as a consequence of the use of this product. Further, the
- author reserves the right to revise this publication and to make
- changes from time to time in the content hereof without
- obligation of the author to notify any person or organisation of
- such revision or changes.
-
- These utilities were originally distributed with the RECON
- (formerly REBOOT) suite of programs. As they don't depend on the
- RECON program in any way, they have now been released separately.
-
-
- LICENSE INFORMATION
-
- These utilities are the copyrighted property of Peter Ogden. You
- are granted a limited license to use, copy, and distribute these
- programs provided the following conditions are met:
-
- A. Copying and distribution fees may not exceed fifteen (15)
- Australian dollars.
-
- B. The utilities may only be distributed in their original
- unmodified state.
-
- This software is distributed under the user supported software
- concept. Though copyrighted, you are encouraged to copy and
- distribute this program to others. If you like this product and
- find it useful, a registration fee of twenty (20) Australian
- dollars (includes free registration of RECON) is required for
- continued use. A twelve month instant update plan is available
- (new versions mailed to you as soon as they are complete) for an
- additional AUD$ 25.00. Site licenses are available at a reduced
- rate (contact the author).
-
- The user supported software concept (also known as 'shareware')
- is an attempt to provide quality software at low cost. Both the
- user and author benefit from this plan. The user will benefit by
- being able to "test drive" software thoroughly before purchasing
- it. The author benefits by being able to enter the commercial
- software market while avoiding the high cost of commercial
- distribution.
-
- This concept helps many independent authors and small companies
- that would otherwise be discouraged from developing and promoting
- their ideas. It can only work with your support. If you obtain a
- @PA
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- 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES v5.12 User Manual Page -3-
-
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- user supported program from a friend and you are still using it
- after a few weeks, then it is obviously worth something to you,
- and a contribution should be sent.
-
- For further information and registration, please send
- correspondence to:
-
- Peter Ogden
- C/- ESB Consultancy
- P.O. Box 2259,
- Boulder,.
- Western Australia, 6432
-
- Fax: +61-90-93-2220
-
- or, for information, bug reports, or suggestions (not
- registration) Netmail at 3:690/643.5 (FidoNet).
-
- The latest version of RECON and 4DDBU are available for free
- download from ESB Consultancy's BBS: Algorithms Anonymous (24
- Hours) on +61-90-93-3145.
-
-
- FILES INCLUDED IN THE 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES
-
- 4DDBU.DOC This document.
-
- COMPACT.EXE Program that removes duplicates from a 4DOS
- history file.
-
- GETCH.EXE Program for displaying a supplied question on
- screen requiring a single character reply.
- Returns a DOS errorlevel dependent on the
- answer.
-
- REGISTER.FRM Registration form.
-
- SQZ.BTM 4DOS Batch To Memory (BTM) program that removes
- the duplicate entries from the in memory copy
- of the command history.
-
- TIMEBOOT.EXE Program (for AT compatibles only) to reboot the
- computer automatically at a given time.
-
- TIMEDASK.EXE Program for displaying a user supplied question
- on screen (requiring a single character
- answer), returning a DOS error level depending
- on the answer (for use with batch files). The
- question remains on screen for a default of 15
- seconds (changeable).
- @PA
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-
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- 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES v5.12 User Manual Page -4-
-
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- TIMEDMSG.EXE Program for displaying a user supplied message
- on screen that may be cleared with a press of a
- key or will time out after a short delay.
-
-
- USE OF EACH PROGRAM
-
- COMPACT:
-
- This program is only of use to users of 4DOS v3.0 or greater (if
- you have not heard of 4DOS, see the note below). COMPACT removes
- duplicates from a 4DOS command history file. This type of file is
- created by typing the following on the 4DOS command line:
-
- HISTORY > FILENAME.EXT
-
- This creates a file named FILENAME.EXT containing the complete
- list of commands entered since the start of 4DOS up to the
- maximum memory size allocated to the 4DOS History. As this is a
- complete list there are bound to be a few duplicated commands
- where you have entered the command again rather than scrolling
- back through the previous commands in the history.
-
- COMPACT will remove these duplicates so that you may reload your
- compacted history file from disk (with the HISTORY /R option -
- see the 4DOS documentation). This compacted history results in
- faster searches through the history for the desired commands.
-
- COMPACT can handle a history file up to 8K in size, with lines of
- up to 255 characters, and a maximum of 4096 lines.
-
- Type "COMPACT /?" (without the quotes) to get a short explanation
- of how to use COMPACT.
-
- Note: 4DOS is a shareware replacement (by J.P. Software) for the
- MS/PC-DOS COMMAND.COM. It enhances the existing commands,
- adds more than 40 new commands, scrollable command history,
- and heaps more. If you work with DOS at the command line or
- write complex batch files, you should be using it! 4DOS is
- available on good BBS's all over the world.
-
- SQZ.BTM:
-
- SQZ.BTM is a batch to memory file that will remove duplicates
- from the "in memory" history. This 4DOS Batch To Memory (BTM)
- program is an example of how COMPACT might be used. Note: SQZ.BTM
- creates a temporary file (__HIST.TMP) during the process, and
- deletes it after completion.
- @PA
-
-
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- 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES v5.12 User Manual Page -5-
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- Another use for a compacted history file is to pre-load the
- history during the AUTOEXEC.BAT to have frequently used commands
- available via command history.
-
- GETCH:
-
- This program will optionally display a line of text that requires
- a single character answer. This allows batch files to have user
- interaction while running. The program returns a DOS error level
- which is the same as the ascii code of the uppercase equivalent
- of the key pressed. This error level can then be used in a batch
- "if errorlevel" statement to control flow while running.
-
- e.g. GETCH Do you wish to run SCAN on C:? (Y//N)
- displays: Do you wish to run SCAN on C: (Y/N)
-
- As is shown above, to use the switch characters / or - in the
- text, two consecutive switch characters must be used. GETCH waits
- for a key to be pressed, the errorlevel returned is the ascii
- value of the uppercase equivalent of the key (i.e. y = Y = 89, n
- = N = 78).
-
- GETCH has three options: /F - Flush keyboard, /P - Pop-up window,
- and /W - sound Warning. The flush keyboard option removes any
- keystrokes entered prior to the execution of GETCH to prevent
- accidental activation. The warning option sounds a beep when the
- text is written to the screen to draw the users attention. The
- Pop-up option displays a pop-up window in the centre of the
- screen in the default colours of white on red. If you wish to
- change the default colours of the window text and frame, set the
- DOS environment variables TextAttr and FrameAttr to the colours
- required in the following format: ForeColourOnBackColour (no
- spaces). For example:
-
- SET TextAttr=YellowOnBlue
- SET FrameAttr=LtGreenOnMagenta
-
- The available colours are:
-
- Low intensity:
- Black, Blue, Green, Cyan, Red, Magenta, Brown, LtGrey
- (or LtGray).
-
- Hi intensity:
- DkGrey (or DkGray), LtBlue, LtGreen, LtCyan, LtRed (or
- Pink), LtMagenta, Yellow, White.
-
- If you want flashing characters, use a hi intensity colour for
- the background. Alternate spellings for grey are provided for, as
- @PA
-
-
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- 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES v5.12 User Manual Page -6-
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- is Pink allowed for LtRed. This method is used for all of the
- 4DDBU utilities with pop-up window options.
-
- Type "GETCH" (alone, without the quotes) to get a short
- explanation of how to use GETCH.
-
- TIMEBOOT:
-
- This program will set the computer to automatically reboot itself
- at a given time. This is a very simple program that sets the
- alarm function of the AT Real Time Clock to activate the BIOS
- boot sequence.
-
- This program is not a TSR, no memory is reserved, and no
- processing time is taken from the cpu. To disable a previously
- set timed boot, type:
-
- TIMEBOOT OFF
-
- Type "TIMEBOOT /?" (without the quotes) to get a short
- explanation of how to use TIMEBOOT.
-
- NOTE: This version of TIMEBOOT is for AT compatible computers
- only (it uses the alarm function of the built in clock).
-
- TIMEDASK:
-
- This program allows the user to display a question that requires
- a single character answer (for use in batch programs). The
- program returns an DOS error level which is the same as the ascii
- code of the uppercase equivalent of the key pressed, or if the
- user does not answer within 15 seconds (or a value set with the
- DOS environment variable DELAY down to a minimum of 5.0 seconds,
- maximum of approximately 3600.8 seconds), the program will time
- out, returning a default error level of 0. The question entered
- will flash after 10 seconds, and time out after 15 seconds. See
- GETCH for an example. Type "TIMEDASK" (alone, without the quotes)
- to get a short explanation of how to use TIMEDASK.
-
- TIMEDASK has four options: /B - Beep count down, /F - Flush
- keyboard, /P - Pop-up window, and /W - Sound Warning. The beep
- option beeps approximately once per second for the last five
- seconds of the timed ask, to draw the users attention. The flush
- keyboard option removes any keystrokes entered prior to the
- execution of TIMEDASK to prevent accidental activation. The
- Pop-up option displays a pop-up window in the centre of the
- screen in the default colours of white on red. See GETCH for an
- explanation of how to change the default colours. The warning
- option sounds a beep when the text is written to the screen to
- draw the users attention.
- @PA
-
-
-
- 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES v5.12 User Manual Page -7-
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- TIMEDMSG:
-
- This program allows the user to simply display a message that may
- be cleared by pressing a key, or if left, will clear after a
- delay (default is 10 seconds, though may be changed by setting
- the DOS environment variable DELAY to the value required in
- seconds, up to a maximum of approximately 3600.8 seconds). The
- program returns an DOS error level of 0 if the message is allowed
- to time out, or 1 if a key was pressed to clear it. Type
- "TIMEDMSG" (without the quotes) to get a short explanation of how
- to use TIMEDMSG.
-
- TIMEDMSG has three options: /F - Flush keyboard, /P - Pop-up
- window, and /W - Sound Warning. The flush keyboard option removes
- any keystrokes entered prior to the execution of TIMEDMSG to
- prevent accidental activation. The Pop-up option displays a
- pop-up window in the centre of the screen in the default colours
- of white on red. See GETCH for an explanation of how to change
- the default colours. The warning option sounds a beep when the
- text is written to the screen to draw the users attention.
-
-
- HISTORY
-
- v4.01 : (and earlier) These utilities (with the exception of
- GETCH) were previously a part of a suite of 4DOS/DOS
- utilities by the name of REBOOT. As these utilities stand
- alone from REBOOT and the size of the compressed files
- was becoming large, it has been decided to distribute
- these separately.
-
- v4.02 : New program added: GETCH. Similar in function to
- TIMEDASK, except GETCH will wait indefinitely for a users
- reply.
- Minor optimisation performed on all utilities.
-
- v5.00 : GETCH now has two new options: /F and /W.
- TIMEDASK now has three new options: /B, /F, and /W.
- All programs are now DESQview compatible.
- Further optimisation performed on all utilities.
-
- v5.10 : New program added: TIMEDMSG. Similar in function to
- TIMEDASK, except only displays a message.
- New option added to TIMEDASK, and GETCH: /P.
- Delay now variable in TIMEDASK and TIMEDMSG.
-
- v5.11 : Bug fix for CGA/Mono screen disappearing (wrong mode
- set).
- @PA
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-
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- 4DOS/DOS BATCH UTILITIES v5.12 User Manual Page -8-
-
-
- v5.12 : Bug fix for TIMEDASK and GETCH not correctly returning
- errorlevels.
- Low level routines updated.
-
-
- ABOUT 4DDBU
-
- For those that are interested, the 4DDBU suite was written using
- Turbo Pascal 6.0 and Turbo Assembler 2.0 with the assistance of
- Turbo Debugger and Turbo Profiler. The unit libraries were
- written by Glenn Crouch and Peter Ogden. The author would like to
- thank Glenn Crouch and Jason Cowie (beta tester extraordinaire)
- for their patience and thoroughness in beta testing the 4DDBU and
- REBOOT/RECON programs.
-
-
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
-
- 4DOS is copyright Rex Conn & J.P. Software.
- DESQview is copyright Quarterdeck Office Systems.
- MS-DOS is copyright Microsoft.
- Turbo Pascal and Turbo Assembler are copyright Borland.
-
-
- ---***---
- @PA
