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Chapter 6. X-DOS Command Reference Introduction This chapter contains a detailed explanation of the functions and features of all the X-DOS internal and external commands. Though X-DOS is command compatible with MS-DOS, many of the commands in X-DOS have been considerably enhanced, supporting switches not available in MS-DOS with many being accessed from user friendly menus. For this reason, in order to get the most out of the powerful features offered by X-DOS, we suggest you read the detailed explanation of the commands you most frequently use in order to better understand these additional features. In the explanation of each command a number of headings appear which are explained below: Purpose: A brief description of the general function of the command. Type: The command type, (i.e. external, or internal to COMMAND.COM or MAX.COM). Syntax: The syntax (format) to be used when typing the command at the command line. Where: A description of the items listed under Syntax. Remarks: Special features or points that should be noted when using this command. Examples: Examples of usages of the command. 6-1 The ADDPATH Command Purpose: This command adds a temporary path to the end of the current search path which is defined by the PATH command. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: ADDPATH [d:][path]directory;[d:][path]directory[;(...)] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the directory you want to add to the current search path. directory - is the name of the directory to add to the current search path. ;(...) - shows that you can add several paths, each separated with a semicolon. Remarks: The ADDPATH command adds the path to one or more directories at the end of the current search path. This addition to the search path is only active until you reboot your computer. To make permanent changes to the search path you must use the PATH command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT configuration file. Examples: Suppose that you have a current search path like this: C:\DOS;C:\BUSINESS If you have a directory C:\DOS\UTIL in which you store your utilities files and you want to temporarily add the UTIL path you could type: ADDPATH C:\DOS\UTIL Your current search path will now look like this: C:\DOS;C:\BUSINESS;C:\DOS\UTIL The C:\DOS\UTIL path will remain active until you reboot your computer. 6-2 The ALIAS Command Purpose: This command allows you to define aliases for commands and redefine the function keys on your keyboard. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: ALIAS [d:][path][filename]orALIAS alias=commandorALIAS mPFn=command Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file which holds your alias definitions. filename - is the name of the file which holds your permanent alias definitions. alias= - is a temporary alias you want to define. This alias definition is lost when you reboot your computer. command - is the command, including any parameters, that you want to assign to a temporary alias or function key definition. ~mPFn= - is the function key you temporarily want to redefine. The tild (~) indicates a function key translation. The 'm' is optional and must be substituted with an A to specify the [Alt] key, a C to specify the [Ctrl] key, or an S to specify the [Shift] key. The 'n' must be substituted with the number of the function key you are redefining, from 1 to 10. Remarks: You cannot redefine the [F3] function key alone (it is fixed as repeat the last command as in MS-DOS) but it can be redefined in combination with the <>, , or <> keys. Also, the [F11] and F[12] function keys cannot be redefined since most BIOSs do not return any code when those keys are typed. Examples: If you want to assign the command to run your favourite Word Processor to the key combination [Shift] [F2], you can type at the command line the command : ALIAS SPF2=WORDPROC.EXE Note that if you want to use the function keys, the statement FKEY=ON must appear in your CONFIG.SYS 6-3 file. 6-4 The APPEND Command Purpose: This command allows your programs to locate non- executable files such as overlay files, data files, and configuration files in other directories than the default directory. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: APPEND [d:][path][directory];[(...)] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the directory you want to include in the search for non-executable files. directory - is the directory you want to include in the search for non-executable files. ;(...) - shows that you can include several directories, each separated by a semicolon. Remarks: The PATH command searches only for files with the .EXE, .COM and .BAT filename extensions. You can use the APPEND command to extend the search path to non executable files. Examples: Suppose you have your favourite Word Processor in the directory C:\WORDPROC and it uses the file WORDPROC.INI in that directory, but you wish to access WORDPROC.EXE from anywhere, you would type the command : APPEND C:\WORDPROC 6-5 The ATTRIB Command Purpose: This command lets you display or modify the Archive, System, Hidden, and Read-Only file attributes. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: ATTRIB [d:][path][filespec] [+A / -A] [+S / -S] [+H / -H] [+R / -R] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the files you want to display or change attributes on. filespec - is the file or range of files to display or change attributes on. + - turns the specified attribute ON. - - turns the specified attribute OFF. A - indicates the Archive file attribute. S - indicates the System file attribute. H - indicates the Hidden file attribute. R - indicates the Read-Only file attribute. Remarks: If ATTRIB is used with a file specification but no attribute switches, ATTRIB shows all the attributes for the spcified files. The wildcards '?' and '*' can be used with the ATTRIB command to modify more than one file. Examples: Suppose you want to make the X-DOS.SYS file read- write and non hidden, you would type the command : ATTRIB -R-H X-DOS.SYS 6-6 The BACKUP (XBACK) Command Purpose: Backup is the default alias that is assigned to the XBACK program for compatibility reasons. Thus there is no program on your X-DOS diskette called BACKUP, the actual command name being XBACK. Please refer to Chapter 10. for full details on using the BACKUP (XBACK) program. This command can make backups of data on your hard disk onto diskettes to reduce the possibility of data loss. You should make a backup of your hard disk data on a regular basis. Files that are backed up with the BACKUP command are stored in a special format and must be restored again with the X-DOS RESTORE command. Syntax: XBACK [d1:] [d2:] [/switches] Running in manual mode or BACKUP d1:[path1][filespec] d2: [/switches] Running in automatic backup mode or RESTORE d3: d4:[path2][filespec2] [/switches] Running in automatic restore mode Where: d1: - is the hard disk drive which contains the file you want to backup. d2: - is the floppy drive to which you want to backup to. path1 - is the path to the files you want to backup on hard disk drive d1:. filespec1 - is the range of files you want to backup. d3: - is the floppy drive from which you want to restore files. d4: - is the hard disk drive onto which you want to restore files. path2 - is the path to the directory you want to restore files to on the hard disk drive. filespec2 - is the range of files you want to restore from the backup set. 6-7 The BOOT Command Purpose: This command reboots your computer. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: BOOT Remarks: The BOOT command is a 'warm' boot and does not completely reinitialize your computer. It is the equivalent of typing [CTRL][ALT][DEL]. 6-8 The BREAK Command Purpose: This command changes or displays the [Ctrl] C and [Ctrl] Break checking mode. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: BREAK [ON | OFF] Where: ON - specifies that BREAK mode will be turned ON. OFF - specifies that BREAK mode will be turned OFF. Remarks: When this command is used with no parameters, the current state of the BREAK will be displayed. When you set the BREAK to ON, X-DOS will check for a [CTRL] C or [CTRL][BREAK] every time it is called, and will terminate the application if a break key has been pressed. If the BREAK state is OFF, X-DOS checks for the break key only when performing IO operations to the keyboard, the screen and the COM and LPT ports. 6-9 The CACHE Command Purpose: This command can be used to enable or disable the internal X-DOS cache once it is installed. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: CACHE [ON | OFF] Where: ON - turns on the internal X-DOS cache when it has previously been turned off with the CACHE OFF command. OFF - turns off the internal X-DOS cache, temporarily disabling it. Remarks: You may wish to disable the cache when running special disk programs such as defragmenters. This can easily be done by typing the CACHE=OFF command directly from the command line avoiding the need to edit the CONFIG.SYS file. After completing your disk operations you can then re-enable the cache with the CACHE=ON command. 6-10 The CD (CHDIR) Command Purpose: This command changes the default directory to another directory. You can change directory without entering any path to the directory, and you can even use wildcards in the directory specification. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: CD [d:][path][directory] Where: d: - is the optional drive on which you want to change default directory. You will still remain in the default directory on the current drive. path - is the optional path to the directory to which you want to change. directory - is the directory you want to change to. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the directory specification. Remarks: If you do not specify a path, CD will display a TREE of the drive specified or the default drive if no drive is specified. You do not need to specify a full path to access a subdirectory. If CD cannot find it as it is typed, it will search for it in the whole drive. You can specify wildcards such as '?' or '*' to search for a subdirectory, CD will stop at the first one that matches your specification. Examples: Suppose you want to change to the directory UTIL, which can be accessed as C:\DOS\TOOLS\UTIL in your drive, you can type the command: CD UTIL or CD UT* from anywhere in the current drive. Note that if you have two directories with the same name on your disk, you should input the full path with the CD command. Note that each time you use the CD command, references to the directories you access are stored in a special buffer, allowing you to use the POPD command to recall any directory you have accessed. 6-11 The CDD Command Purpose: This command changes both the default drive and directory to another drive and directory. You can change directory without entering any path to the directory, and you can even use wildcards in the directory specification. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: CDD [d:][path][directory] Where: d: - is the optional drive on which the directory you want to change to is located. path - is the optional path to the directory to which you want to change. directory - is the directory you want to change to. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the directory specification. Remarks: See the CD command. 6-12 The CHGDATE Command Purpose: This command allows you to change the time stamp and date stamp of a file or range of files. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: CHGDATE [d:][path]filespec [/T HH:MM] [/D MM-DD-YY] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file or range of files you want to change time and/or date stamp on. filespec - is the file or range of files to change time and/or date stamp on. /T HH:MM - enters a new time stamp in the form HH:MM where HH denotes hours in 24 hour format and MM denotes minutes. /D MM-DD-YY - enters a new date stamp in the form MM- DD-YY where MM denotes the month, DD denotes the day, and YY denotes the last two digits of the year. Remarks: If you do not specify switches for date and time, the current time and/or date will be used instead. Examples: If you change the date and time of all the files with a .COM extension in the DOS directory to a certain date you would type the command: CHGDATE C:\DOS\*.COM /T 12:00 /D 01-01-91 6-13 The CHKDSK Command Purpose This command analyzes directories, files, and cluster allocation on hard disks and diskettes. CHKDSK provides information on disk usage and can optionally check a disk for bad sectors, mark them as bad, and try to save any data allocated to the cluster in which the bad sector is located. CHKDSK can also display repeated files on your disk. Type: External Command Syntax: CHKDSK [d:] [/F] [/R] Where: d: - is the drive to analyze. /F - makes CHKDSK attempt to correct any errors encountered in the file allocation table and/or the files on the analyzed drive. /R - displays all repeated filenames on the drive you are analyzing. Remarks: The CHKDSK command allows you to analyze the integrity of data structures on a drive. It checks to make sure that the amount of disk space allocated to each file matches the size recorded for it in its directory, and that there are no portions of files still allocated on the disk with no directory entries for them. If you do not specify the /F switch when executing CHKDSK, it displays any file and/or directory errors but it will not correct the errors. If you do not specify a drive for CHKDSK it automatically checks the default drive. After checking and possibly correcting any file and/or directory errors, it displays a map of the disk usage of the drive. You can check the entire drive for bad sector by pressing 'C' when the disk map is displayed. If you do not wish to check for the sectors, press any other key and CHKDSK will display statistics for the drive you are analyzing. 6-14 The CLS Command Purpose: This command clears the screen and returns the cursor to the upper left hand corner of your screen. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: CLS Remarks: Some application programs might reset your screen color to a different color than the default. To reset the colors, type the CLS command. 6-15 The COMMAND Command Purpose: This command executes an additional copy of the COMMAND.COM command processor. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: COMMAND [/P] [/C string] [/E:xxxx] Where: /P - keeps the new copy of the command processor in memory. /C string - passes a command to the new copy of the command processor and returns to the old command processor. /E:xxxx - sets the environment size for the new copy of the command processor in bytes. It must be a value between 160 and 9,999. Remarks: You can use COMMAND /C to load a second batch file from a first batch file and then return to the original batch file when the second batch file exits. You can also use COMMAND /C to pass parameters to another batch files. With X-DOS, you can CALL other batch files, essentially using them as subroutines. This simplifies the use of calling other batch files and does not necessitate the loading of an additional command processor. 6-16 The COMP Command Purpose This command compares the contents of two files or two sets of files. It will display any differences in both hexadecimal and ASCII formats. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: COMP [d:][path][filespec1] [d:][path][filespec2] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the files to compare. The drive and path can be different for the two files or set of files. filespec1 - is the name of the first file to compare. Use the '?' and '*' wildcards to compare two sets of files. filespec2 - is the name of the second file or set of files to compare. You can also specify wildcards for filespec2. Remarks: The COMP command compares the contents of two files or two sets of files byte by byte. You can compare files that reside in the same directory, or the two files or file sets can reside in different directories and drives. If you do not specify a filespec for the first set of files to compare, COMP automatically assumes that you want to compare all the files in the specified directory (*.*). If you furthermore leave out a path for the first set of files, you must, as a minimum, specify which drive the first file set resides on and COMP will then assume that the first set of files to compare are all the files present in the default directory of your specified drive. Examples: If you want to compare the file TEST1.EXE with the file TEST2.EXE in the default directory, you only need to type: COMP TEST1.EXE TEST2.EXE 6-17 The COPY Command Purpose: This command copies files, creates text files, sends binary files to a printer, and combines several files into one. Even though not as powerful and fast as the XCOPY command, COPY has features which are not available in XCOPY. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: COPY [d:][path][filespec1] [d:][path]filespec2 (Normal Copying) or COPY CON [d:][path]filename (Creating a Text File) or COPY printfile port [/B] (Printing Files) or COPY file1+file2+(...) [dest-file] [/B] (Combining Files) Where: d:path - is the drive and path of the filespec to copy (source) or the filespec to copy to (destination). The drive and path specification for source and destination do not have to be the same. filespec1 - is the file or range of files to copy. The filespec can include the wildcards '?' and '*'. filespec2 - is the destination name(s) of the copied files. The destination filespec can also include wildcards. CON - takes the input from the keyboard. Used to create text files. filename - is the name of the text file to create with COPY CON. printfile - is the name of the file to send to the printer. port - is any legal output device such as PRN, LPT1,LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4 or AUX. /B - copies a binary file to the printer by ignoring any ^Z (end-of-file) characters in the file. The /B 6-18 switch also allows you to combine several binary files into one binary file. file1, file2 - are names of files to combine into one file. + - is the combine symbol used by COPY. (...) - shows that you can combine several files at a time. dest-file - is the optional name of the file into which the contents of the source files is written. If you do not specify a destination file, the contents is written to file1, overwriting the previous contents. Remarks: If you need to copy a lot of files, you should rather use the XCOPY command. Examples: If you want to copy the file MYFILE.TXT to another filename, MYFILE2, in the default directory you should type: COPY MYFILE.TXT MYFILE2.TXT If you want to copy all files in the default directory with the extension *.EXE to the root directory of the B: drive, you should type: COPY *.EXE B:\ You may find it useful to combine the contents of two or more files into one file. To combine multiple files into one file you must separate all source files with a plus (+) sign. If the files you wish to combine are binary files, you will have to specify the /B switch so that COPY does not end the combining of files after it encounters the first ^Z (end-of- file) character. To copy the contents of the three files FILE1.TXT, FILE2.TXT, and FILE3.TXT to a file which you wish to call NEWFILE.DOC, you should type: COPY FILE1.TXT+FILE2.TXT+FILE3.TXT NEWFILE.DOC 6-19 The CTTY Command Purpose: This command changes the way X-DOS handles the standard input and output and can be used to select other device drivers to input DOS commands. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: CTTY devicename Where: devicename - is AUX, COM1, COM2, COM3 or COM4 to set a new console; CON to restore control to the screen and the keyboard; NULL to disable the keyboard and screen. Remarks: CTTY NULL is often used to turn the monitor and keyboard off while certain processes are executing. The NULL bucket is used to inhibit messages displayed from certain commands. The CURSOR Command Purpose: This command turns the cursor ON or OFF which can be useful in batch files. Also, some programs may exit and leave you with the wrong type of cursor or no cursor at all. The CURSOR command can restore your cursor back to normal again. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: CURSOR [ON | OFF] Where: ON - Turns ON the cursor. OFF - turns OFF the cursor. Remarks: The CURSOR command is handy when used in batch files. If you run a batch file menu system you may not wish to display the cursor on the screen. If you insert a CURSOR OFF command in your batch file, it will turn off the cursor. Remember to insert the CURSOR ON command before exiting the user to the command line or the cursor will remain turned off. Examples: To turn off the cursor, type : CURSOR OFF 6-20 The DATE Command Purpose: This command displays the current date according to the system clock and allows you to reset the date. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: DATE [MM-DD-YY] Where: MM - is the number of the month (leading zeros are optional). DD - is the day of the month (leading zeros are optional). YY - are the last two digits of the year. You can specify all four digits for the year if you wish. Remarks: If you execute the DATE command without any parameters it displays the current date according to the system clock. If you want to reset the date you must specify the current month, day, and year as parameters. When setting the date, you should be aware that the format of the DATE command is dependent on the setting of the COUNTRY statement in the CONFIG.SYS file. Examples: You can display the current date by typing: DATE The date is displayed similar to this: Current date is Wed 4-11-1990 If a COUNTRY statement is not defined or if it is set to 001 (US standard) in your CONFIG.SYS file, you can set the date to the 1st of February 1991 with the DATE command by typing: DATE 02-01-91 The DEBUG Command Purpose: This command provides you with a flexible environment which is especially useful for testing, modifying, viewing, and creating executable programs (.EXE and .COM files) and binary files and manipulating or modifying any disk data. Type: External Command Syntax: DEBUG [d:][path][filename [parameters]] 6-21 Where: d:path - is the drive and path to a file you want to load into DEBUG. filename - is the name of the file to load into DEBUG. parameters - are any parameters needed by the file you are loading into DEBUG. Remarks: Please refer to Chapter 11. in this manual for full details on using the DEBUG program. 6-22 The DECODE Command Purpose: This command decrypts the contents of a file or range of files that have previously been encrypted with the ENCODE command. A file can only be decrypted correctly if you use the same password that was used to encrypt the file. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: DECODE [d1:][path1]filespec1 [d2:][path2][filespec2] Where: d1:path1 - is the drive and path to the file(s) you want to decrypt. filespec1 - is the name of the file(s) you want to decrypt. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. d2:path2 - is the drive and path to the destination of the decrypted file(s). filespec2 - is the optional name(s) you want to give the file(s) after they have been decrypted. Remarks When executing DECODE, you will be prompted for a password. The password must be equal to or less than 20 characters and will be used in the decryption algorithm. If you do not specify a name for the decrypted file, DECODE automatically creates a file called FILE.PWD with the decrypted information. There is no limit to the size of the file you want to encrypt. Example We assume that you have a database file, TOPSEC, which has been encrypted with the ENCODE command. You now want to decrypt the TOPSEC file and you know that the password used to encrypt the file is SECRET. To decrypt the file TOPSEC with the password SECRET and give the decrypted file the name PUBLIC.DBF, type: DECODE TOPSEC PUBLIC.DBF When DECODE prompts you for the password, type SECRET. The contents of the file is decrypted and copied to a file called PUBLIC.DBF. The original encrypted file, SECRET, will still be present. 6-23 The DEL Command Purpose: This command deletes a file or range of files which you no longer need. Any files deleted with the DEL command can easily be recovered with the UNDEL command. If you want to ensure that the file(s) you are deleting cannot be recovered, use the WIPEFILE command to delete them. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: DEL [d:][path]filespec Where: d:path - is the drive and path from which to delete files. filespec - is the file or range of files to delete. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the filespec. Remarks: DEL supports the wildcard characters `?' and `*'. This allows for the deletion of groups of files when required. Be very careful when you use wildcards to delete multiple files since it is easy to accidentally delete important files this way. The DEL command will not delete files with the Read- Only, System, and/or Hidden attributes set. Examples: You can delete all files in the default directory by typing: DEL *.* If you want to delete all files with the extension .BAK in the root directory of your A: drive and you are currently on the C: drive, you can type: DEL A:\*.BAK If you are in the root directory on the C: drive and you want to delete all files with the first six letters 1990DT in the C:\LASTYEAR directory, you should type: DEL \LASTYEAR\1990DT*.* If you want to delete the full contents of a directory, X-DOS will prompt you for confirmation before proceeding. Unlike the WIPEFILE command, DEL does not delete the 6-24 file entirely. Rather, the sectors used by the erased files are simply made available for use by subsequently written files. Until these sectors are used, the files can be recovered using the X-DOS UNDEL command. If you want to ensure that deleted files cannot be recovered, use the WIPEFILE command. 6-25 The DIR Command Purpose: This command displays a file or list of files in a directory. Several available switches and different colors for different file groups makes the DIR command both very powerful and at the same time easy to use. Preferred switch settings can be set as default in the system environment with the SET command. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: DIR [d:][path][filespec] [/switches] Where: d:path - is the drive and path you want to display files from. filespec - is the range of files you want to display. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the filespec. Available Switches: /A - displays files including their file attributes. /B - sorts the files by filesize before displaying them. /D - sorts the files according to the date and time stamp before displaying them. /F - sorts the files in alphabetic filename order before displaying them. /N - displays the files in directory order (no sort performed). /S - includes hidden files in the directory output. Remarks: The DIR command has many switches which allow you to tailor the output that you need. If you run the DIR command with no specifications or switches you will get a two-column display of the default directory's files, sorted by filename extension. The output for each file consists of the filename, the extension, the size, and the time and date the file was last written to disk. To enhance the directory list, DIR will display files in different colors, according to the filename extension. Since different users may have different favorite DIR outputs, it is possible to set your preferred DIR output in the environment with the SET DIR=/switches command. Alternatively you can set your favorite DIR switches using the X-DOS INSTALL program as detailed in chapters 4 and 5. 6-26 DIR will stop automatically at the end of each page. So you do not need a /P switch (unlike the SDIR command) to stop the display. Examples: If you want to display all files with a .BAT file extension in the BATCH directory on your C: drive, you can type: DIR C:\BATCH\*.BAT If you wish the directory display to be the same as the DOS standard, you can use the SDIR command or type the EMULATE ON statement. Note that the X-DOS DIR command also works with the redirection character. 6-27 The DISKCOMP Command Purpose: This command compares the contents of two diskettes of equal density and displays detailed information about any differences. Type: External Command Syntax: DISKCOMP d1: [d2:] [/1] [/8] Where: d1: - is the floppy drive which holds the first diskette to compare. d2: - is the floppy drive which holds the second diskette to compare. If you leave out d2:, DISKCOMP automatically assumes d1: for both diskettes and you will have to swap diskettes one or more times. /1 - forces DISKCOMP to compare only the first side of each diskette. This way you can compare the contents of a 180K and 360K diskette. /8 - forces DISKCOMP to compare only 8 sectors per track of each diskette. This way you can compare the contents of a 320K diskette with a 360K diskette. If you include both the /1 and the /8 switches, you can also compare the contents of a 160K and 360K diskette. Remarks: DISKCOMP will attempt to read the content of the source diskette in conventional, XMS memorys, expanded memory or hard disk if there is not enough memory. Therefore, even for large capacity diskettes, there is no need to change diskette. Note that DISKCOMP can only accept diskettes of the same density. Examples: To compare the content of two 360K diskettes in the same physical drive, type the command : DISKCOMP A: A: 6-28 The DISKCOPY Command Purpose: This command makes an image copy of a diskette onto another diskette of the same density. The destination diskette does not need to be formatted. Type: External Command Syntax: DISKCOMP d1: [d2:] [/1] [/8] Where: d1: - is the floppy drive which holds the source diskette to make an image copy from. d2: - is the floppy drive that contains the destination diskette which will hold the image copy. If you leave out d2:, DISKCOPY automatically assumes d1: for both diskettes and you will have to swap diskettes one or more times. /1 - forces DISKCOPY to make an image copy of only the first side of each diskette. This way you can make and image copy from a 360K diskette onto a 180K diskette. /8 - forces DISKCOPY to make an image copy of a 360K diskette and only use the first 8 sectors per track. This provides you with a way to make an image copy of a 360K diskette onto a 320K diskette. If you include both the /1 and the /8 switches, you can also make an image copy of a 360K diskette onto a 160K diskette. Remarks: DISKCOPY will attempt to read the contents of the source diskette in conventional, XMS memory, expanded memory or hard disk if there is not enough memory. Therefore, even for large capacity diskettes, there is no need to change diskettes. If the target diskette is not formatted, DISKCOPY will prompt you to format it. Examples: To copy the contents of a 1.2 Mb diskette in the A: drive to a blank 1.2 Mb diskette in the B: drive, type the following command : DISKCOPY A: B: 6-29 The ED Command Purpose: Full-screen editor with advanced features to create, display, and edit ASCII files. Use ED to create batch files and other simple text files. Type: External Command Syntax: ED [d:][path][filename] [/W] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file you want to load into ED. filename - is the name of the file you want to load into ED. /W - enables you to edit files in "Wordstar format". Remarks: Please refer to Chapter 9. for a detailed explanation of how to use ED. 6-30 The EMULATE Command Purpose: This command allows you to substitute the STYPE and SDIR commands (detailed later in this manual) for the TYPE and DIR commands. The STYPE and SDIR commands emulate the look of the MS-DOS TYPE and DIR commands. This may be useful if you require a high degree of compatibility with other disk operating systems. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: EMULATE ON | OFF Where: ON - makes X-DOS emulate the TYPE and DIR similar to the one available in MS-DOS. OFF - turns OFF emulation and comes back to X-DOS DIR and TYPE commands. 6-31 Remarks: The EMULATE command renames the STYPE and SDIR commands to TYPE and DIR so that you can use these commands the same way as their counterparts in MS- DOS. With EMULATE ON when you do a DIR command, the directory of files will appear on your screen exactly as in MS-DOS. Some application programs may use these commands through DOS gateways. Therefore, if you experience problems running an application program, you should try to run the EMULATE command before running the application program, like this: EMULATE ON If the application command uses TYPE or DIR during execution, it will use the STYPE and SDIR commands instead of the more powerful TYPE and DIR commands, which cannot be accessed again before EMULATE is set to OFF. To re-install the normal TYPE and DIR commands, you should type: EMULATE OFF Note that for compatibility reasons, in batch files EMULATE is set as ON. 6-32 The ENCODE Command Purpose: This command encrypts the contents of a file, rendering it unreadable to anyone who does not know the chosen password. Encrypted files must be decrypted with the DECODE command, using the same password. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: ENCODE [d1:][path1]filespec1 [d2:][path2][filespec2] Where: d1:path1 - is the drive and path to the file(s) you want to encrypt. filespec1 - is the name of the file(s) you want to encrypt. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. d2:path2 - is the drive and path to the destination of the encrypted file(s). filespec2 - is the optional name(s) you want to give the file(s) after they have been encrypted. Remarks: When executing ENCODE, you will be prompted for a password. The password must be equal to or less than 20 characters long and will be used in the encryption algorithm. If you do not specify a name for the encrypted file, ENCODE automatically creates a file called FILE.PWD with the encrypted information. There is no limitation to the size of the file you want to encrypt. Examples: To encrypt the file SECRET.TXT you will run the command ENCODE SECRET.TXT SECRET.PWD When ENCODE prompts you for the password, enter your personal password and type [ENTER]. ENCODE will generate the file SECRET.PWD. Note that the original file is still available and you should delete this file to ensure that no-one can read its contents. Oh, and one more thing. Don't forget the password! 6-33 The EXIT Command Purpose: This command terminates the current command processor's session. It is mostly used when a local copy of COMMAND.COM has been invoked from an application program. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: EXIT Remarks: The EXIT command is most frequently used when a local copy of COMMAND.COM has been invoked from an application program, when you issue a GATEWAY to the DOS for instance. Typing the EXIT command will return you to the previous application, and remove the local copy of the Command Processor from the memory. 6-34 The FDISK Command Purpose: This command can help you low-level format and partition hard disks. It can also password protect hard disk partitions and make them read-only. Type: External Command Syntax: FDISK Remarks: FDISK is a menu-driven utility which allows you to perform the following tasks: * Low-level format MFM and RLL hard disks. * Enter bad track information on your hard disk. * Manage two hard disks. * Set up eight partitions on two hard disks with four partitions on each hard disk. * Create partitions up to 512 megabytes in size. * Make partitions Read-Only. * Password protect partitions. * Activate a partition. * Delete any existing partitions. * Display hard disk related data FDISK is used to initialize and write partition data onto a new hard disk, or a hard disk which you want to prepare again, before the FORMAT command is used. Prior to creating any partitions on a new hard disk you may have to low-level format it. Once the media is low-level formatted, you can create one or more partitions, and finally you can run the FORMAT command to prepare the partition(s) for data. You may not need to low-level format a hard disk more than once in the disk's lifetime unless you experience problems with the disk. FDISK can be used to manipulate existing partitions that you have created with X-DOS. You can change the size of a partition, create a new partition, or delete an old partition. Whenever you create a partition or change the size of an existing partition, you need to reformat the affected partition(s). Make sure that you do not use FDISK to modify a partition that contains valuable data, since the data will be lost. X-DOS allows you to create and access partitions up to 512 megabytes in size. X-DOS also lets you boot from partitions up to 512 megabytes. Please be aware that if you use X-DOS's FDISK to create one or more partitions larger than 32 megabytes, you may not be able to access the partitions larger than 32 megabytes with other disk operating systems. 6-35 One of the very powerful features of FDISK is its ability to make one or more partitions Read-Only to prevent accidental deletion or modification of data. Another feature is the ability to create high security partitions with password protection. Without the password(s) no-one will be able to access the partition(s) you set up with password protection. FDISK has on line help facility by pressing the F1 key. How to use FDISK When you run FDISK, it displays a screen with one menu and two information windows. Before the main display of FDISK, you may see a message saying that FDISK encountered an Error Reading/Writing to your hard disk. If your hard disk has not been previously formatted, you should disregard this message and press any key to go to the main menu. The upper left window on the screen is the FDISK main menu and all main options are available from this menu. On the right of that screen, FDISK will show the the current hard disk configuration of your system. In case you have two hard disks, FDISK will first show the hardware information of your primary hard disk. The main menu gives you six options to choose from, as detailed below. Hard Disk Operation In this menu, you can perform two tasks: * Switch to another hard disk for installation if you have more than one hard disk installed in your computer. * Enter bad tracks, set the interleave, and low level format a hard disk. The low level format necessitates explanation since its operation is risky and fairly technical. While you may want to change partition sizes and partition information more than once, you normally only need to low level format a hard disk once. If you choose this option, FDISK will ask you if you want to input bad tracks. Normally when you buy a new hard disk, it either has a sticker attached to the drive or comes with a separate pice of paper containing information about the bad tracks of the disk. Allmost all hard disks contain bad tracks when they leave the factory and to ensure that you do not write data to a bad track, you have the possibility to enter the bad tracks menually. Bad tracks are allways identified by a combination of Cylinder and Head. FDISK expects you to enter both values in the bad track window. When you are finished to enter all the bad tracks, type [ESC] to return to the previous menu. FDISK also expects you to enter the interleave factor of the drive. FDISK prompts you with 5 choices of interleave factors. The interleave factor defines how many rotation s of the disk it takes to read a complete disk track. And interleave of 1 to 1 means that a complete track is read in one rotation while it takes 3 rotations to read a complete track if the interleave 6-36 factor is set to 3 to 1. You should consult the menual of your hard disk controller to find out which interleave to select. If you cannot find any information about the recommended interleave factor, you may choose factor 4 to 1 for older 8088 or 8086 computers, and factor 3 to 1 or 2 to 1 for faster computers. Once you have specified the interleave factor, FDISK will prompt you with a menu to continue the low level format operation or aborting it. If you answer Yes, FDISK will warn you for the last time about the consequences of proceeding with the low level formatting. Read it carefully and if you are still sure that you want to proceed with the low level formatting, then press a key. If not, simply press [ESC] to return to the main menu. Create Partition Use this menu item to add partitions to the currently selected hard disk. You can have up to 4 partitions on each hard disk when installed with FDISK, altough X-DOS recognises up to 16 partitions installed with other partition tools like DiskManager or Speedstor. If all the cylinders of the disk have already been allocated, FDISK will display an error message. If you want to change the size of a partition, you must first remove it by using the Remove Partition function. Note here that removing a partition will make it impossible to access again. Active Partition Use this menu to tell X-DOS which partition you should boot from. This gives you the ability to have multiple operating systems on your hard disk. You could for instance have X-DOS on one partition, MS-DOS and UNIX on others. In order to boot with X- DOS, unlike UNIX, you must specify here the boot partition. Also make sure you choose a bootable partition on which you have the X-DOS system or on which you plan to install X-DOS. As an advice, choose the first partition as your boot partition. Remove Partition With this menu, you can remove any partition declaration in your partition record. Please note that the X-DOS FDISK utility let you remove partitions even if they are not DOS partition. You are allowed to remove a UNIX partition if it exists. You must be very carefull when using this option, since removing partition makes it unrecoverable. If the partition you wish to remove has been password protected, you must remove the password first. Partition access This is an interesting security feature of X-DOS and you should read it carefully since it is not available on other DOS. With this menu, you can assign safety precautions to any of your partition wish are either X-DOS or normal DOS partitions. When choosing this menu, a sub menu will appear and present you with 4 new options : The Read-Write option is the default option for X-DOS partitions. 6-37 Is simply means that you can both red and write data from and to the hard disk. The Read-Only option prevents data from being written to the disk. It is especially useful if you allow other people to access data which does not change on a regular basis. You will of course have to copy the information first to the partition, with the Read-Write attribute set, before you change it to Read-Only. The Add Password option let you specify a password up to eight characters long for the password you have selected. If you choose to put a password to any of your DOS partitions, you will be prompted for a password at boot time for each of the protected partitions. If you fail 3 times to input a correct password or wait more than 20 seconds without typing anything, the system will boot normally but you will not be able to access the drive for which a password has been set. Attempting to access the drive by changing drive at the DOS prompt will result in an the error message : Drive Invalid. If you decide to protect a disk partition, you should make sure not to forget the password. The Remove Password option enables you to remove a previously assigned password to a partition. For security reasons, you must first retype the correct password before you can remove it. Exit FDISK When you have finished preparing your hard disk or changing any partition information, choose the Exit option. FDISK will warn you in some cases that it needs to reboot the system since some modifications have been made to it. 6-38 The FIND Command Purpose: This command searches for a specific text string in a file or range of files and displays any occurrences of the text pattern. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: FIND "string" [d:][path]filespec [/C] [/S] Where: string - can be any combination of ASCII characters up to 64 characters long. d:path - is the drive and path of the filespec to search through. filespec - is the file or range of files which are searched by FIND. You can include the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. /C - makes FIND perform a non case sensitive search. /S - makes FIND include sub-directories in the search. Remarks: FIND will search for any combination of ASCII characters as defined in the string in all files that match the filespec you enter. You must enclose the ASCII string in quotation marks. The filespec can contain the wildcards `*' and `?' to extend the search to multiple files. FIND will list the filename, the line number within the file and the line of text which contains the string for every matching string within the given filespec. As a default the search is performed in the default directory with case sensitivity. FIND has two switches to extend its use, /C and /S. The /C switch will force FIND to make the search non case sensitive. The /S switch will allow FIND to search for a matching string in all files matching the filespec in the default directory including all sub-directories of that directory. Example: If you want to find all occurrences of the word "message" in a file named MAN.DOC you should type: FIND "message" MAN.DOC 6-39 6-40 The FORMAT Command Purpose: This command prepares a hard disk or diskette for use by X-DOS. You have safe format and quick format modes available besides the normal, destructive formatting. Type: External Command Syntax: FORMAT d: [/switches] Where: d: - is the drive you want to prepare for use by X- DOS. Available Switches: /1 or /180 - will only format side one of a diskette. /3 or /720 - will format a 720K diskette in a higher density floppy drive. /4 or /360 - will format a 360K diskette in a higher density floppy drive. /8 or /320 - will format a 360K diskette 8 sectors per track, giving it a total capacity of 320K. /1/8 or /160 - will format a 360K diskette to a capacity of 160K. /K - will perform a safe format of a hard disk by saving only the FAT table and directory table in a temporarily safe place. /Q - will perform a quick format which only erases the FAT table and directory table on the hard disk or diskette. /R - will attempt to recover all files on a hard disk which has previously been formatted with the /K (safe format) switch enabled. Remarks: FORMAT is used to do the basic preparation of a diskette or hard disk for use by the operating system. It is the equivalent of drawing writing guidelines on a blank sheet of paper, to make it possible to write evenly across the paper. Since disk operating systems rely so heavily on the use of external media such as diskettes and hard disks, it is required to have a FORMAT program that addresses all of the configurations of diskettes and hard disks utilized by computers that might run the X-DOS operating system. X-DOS currently works with 6-41 160K, 180K, 320K, 360K, 720K, 1.2M, and 1.44M diskettes, in both 5 1/4" and 3 1/2" configurations, and any hard disk partitions up to 512 megabytes. The X-DOS format command has a safety feature which will allow you to save the data on the disk if the appropriate switch is turned on. You can activate the FORMAT with the /K switch. Or you can set the FORMAT=/K in the environment. When formatting a hard disk, this will save the FAT table and the root directory for later recovery if needed. Examples: If you want to format a 360K diskette in a 1.2Mb diskette drive, type the command : FORMAT A: /4 6-42 The FORMFEED Command Purpose: This command sends a formfeed command to a printer connected to the PRN printer port. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: FORMFEED Remarks: This command is very useful when used with some laser printers, as they leave one page in the machine, if the last page of a printout did not fill up with text. When you print on continuous paper on a dot matrix printer and the last page of your printout does not fill up with text, you can use FORMFEED to advance the paper to the top of the next page. Examples: If you want to eject the last page in your laser printer, type the command : FORMFEED 6-43 The INSTALL Command Purpose: This command copies X-DOS onto a hard disk or set of diskettes and helps you to set up a range of configuration parameters. If you are setting up X-DOS on top of another operating system, INSTALL ensures that the destination drive will boot with X-DOS without you having to reformat the drive. Type: External to COMMAND.COM Syntax: INSTALL [d:] Where: d: - is the optional drive on which you want to install X-DOS. Please refer to Chapter 4., Installing X-DOS, for more details. 6-44 The JOIN Command Purpose: This command assigns a drive to a specific path on another drive. Type: Internal Command Syntax: JOIN d1: d2:\directory or JOIN d1: /D Where: d1: - is the drive letter to be joined to another drive. d2: - is the drive letter of the drive on which drive d1: is joined. path - is the path to the directory on drive d2: which drive d1: is joined to. directory - is the directory on drive d2: which drive d1: is joined to. /D - is a switch that disables the joining of drive d1: and returns it to normal state. Remarks Once a drive is joined it cannot be accessed unless the JOIN d:/D is activated or the PC is rebooted. If no parameters are given on the command line, JOIN will display the currently joined drive. You can specify one directory from the root to join a drive. If the name of the directory already exists, it becomes unavailable until JOIN is active. 6-45 The KEYB Command Purpose: This command lets you install one of the 16 foreign keyboard layouts. Type: External Command Syntax: KEYB xx Where: xx = BL to install the Belgian keyboard layout. CA to install the Canadian/French keyboard layout. DK to install the Danish keyboard layout. DU to install the Dutch keyboard layout. FR to install the French keyboard layout. GR to install the German keyboard layout. IT to install the Italian keyboard layout. LA to install the Latin American keyboard layout. NW to install the Norwegian keyboard layout. PO to install the Portuguese keyboard layout. SP to install the Spanish keyboard layout. SW to install the Swedish keyboard layout. CH to install the Swiss keyboard layout. UK to install the United Kingdom keyboard layout. Remarks: KEYB re-assigns the layout of the keyboard for various foreign keyboards. KEYB should be included in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you wish to use a keyboard layout other than the United States default. When KEYB has been activated from the command line, you can always switch between the United States keyboard layout with the [Ctrl][Alt][F1] hot key and your chosen foreign keyboard layout with the [Ctrl][Alt][F2] hot key. As an added feature, you have instant access to a symbols keyboard by pressing the [Ctrl][Alt][F3] hot key. You can then use the keys on the keyboard to type mathematical symbols and the numeric keypad for line and box drawing. In the symbols mode you can switch between two sets of symbolic characters including single line and double line drawing characters by holding the [Shift] key down. [Ctrl][Alt][K] will call up a layout display of the currently selected keyboard layout. Pressing the 6-46 [Shift] key will show the Upper-case key definitions, pressing the [Alt] key will show the available keys when pressing the [Alt] key at the command line and pressing the [Shift] keys will show the available keys when pressing the [Alt][Shift] keys at the command line. Not all keyboard layouts support definitions with the [Alt] key and the [Alt][Shift] keys. Examples: If you want to install the French keyboard driver on your computer, you should type: KEYB FR 6-47 The LABEL Command Purpose: This command lets you assign a volume label to a diskette or a partition on a hard disk to identify the disk(ette). Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: LABEL [d:][labelname] Where: d: - is the drive you want to give a volume label. labelname - is the volume label that will be assigned to the drive. Remarks: LABEL will overwrite any existing volume label that has previously been assigned to the disk(ette).If no drive is specified when running LABEL, the default drive will automatically be assumed. If labelname is not specified when running LABEL, you will be prompted for a volume label. A volume label can be no longer than 11 characters long and can include spaces. Examples: If you want to put the volume label "X-DOS 5-0" on the default drive, type the command: LABEL X-DOS 5-0 6-48 The LOADFIX Command Purpose: This command ensures that a program is loaded above the first 64K of conventional memory. It may be necessary to use this command if the error message "Packed file corrupted" appears if you are running X- DOS in HMA. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: LOADFIX [d:][path]filename[program parameters] Where: [d:][path]] - is the drive and path where the program is located. filename - is the name of the program it is wished to run [program paramters] - are any switches or parameters used when running the program Example: To ensure that a program named APPLICAT.EXE in the MISC directory on the C: drive is loaded above 64K you would type: LOADFIX C:\MISC\APPLICAT.EXE 6-49 The LOCK Command Purpose: This command prevents access to a partition on a hard disk. This partition must have been programmed by the FDISK utility to be password protected. You can access a locked partition again with the UNLOCK command. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: LOCK d: Where: d: - is the drive letter for the hard disk partition you wish to lock so that a password is required to access it again. Remarks: You cannot lock a partition on the default drive. 6-50 The MAPMEM (MEM) Command Purpose: This command lets you display detailed information about memory usage and available memory in your computer. A list of memory resident programs is also displayed. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: MAPMEM Remarks: MAPMEM has many useful purposes but one of the most valuable is its ability to tell you which programs are currently resident in memory. The MAPMEM display is split into two windows. The upper window gives you information on the conventional memory, DOS and data memory usage, expanded memory, and extended memory in your computer and tells you how much of each kind of memory is still available for your use. The lower window displays information on any programs currently resident in memory as well as the interrupt vectors hooked to these programs. 6-51 The MD (MKDIR) Command Purpose: This command creates new sub-directories on your diskettes and hard disk(s). Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: MD [d:][path]directory Where: d:path - is the drive and path where you want to create a new sub-directory. directory - is the name of the sub-directory you want to create. Remarks: The MD command is used to create new sub-directories. You have to specify a name for the new sub-directory which is different from any existing file or sub- directory in the directory where you want to create the new sub-directory. You cannot create a sub- directory to a non-existing directory. For example, MD cannot create the sub-directory \FINANCE\REPORTS if the \FINANCE directory does not already exist. The root directory is automatically created when a disk(ette) is formatted and must always be present on a hard disk or diskette. You can create directories in the root directory and you can create directories in a directory of the root directory. Directories below the root directory are called sub-directories. Examples: If you want to create a sub-directory called NEWDIR in the root directory on your default drive you should type: MD \NEWDIR 6-52 The MODE Command Purpose: This command lets you control peripheral devices such as parallel printers, serial printers, graphics adapters, and keyboard speed from either the command line or from a full-screen display. The full screen display provides an easy menu driven environment for executing the MODE functions. In the full screen mode support for setting the cursor shape is also provided. MODE also supports laptop displays from the command line. The current settings of the MODE command are stored in the file MODE.CFG for later retrieval and editing. Type: External Command Syntax: MODE [parameters] Remarks: When you type MODE with no parameters, you get a full screen display command, from which all functions available at the command line are available in a more user friendly manner. There are six different formats of the MODE command from the command line. Parallel Printer Mode - MODE LPT#[:] [CPL] [LPI] LPT# Parallel printer port number #. # can have a value from 1 to 3. CPL Characters Per Line. CPL can be set to either 80 or 132 characters per line. LPI Lines Per Inch. LPI can be set to either 6 or 8 lines per inch. Redirect Parallel Printer - MODE LPT#=COM# LPT# The parallel printer port to redirect. # can have a value from 1 to 3. COM# The serial communications port to redirect the parallel printer output to. # can have a value from 1 to 4. Communication Mode - MODE COM#[:]=bps[,parity] [,databit] [.stopbits] COM# Serial communications port number #. # can have a value from 1 to 4. =bps Sets the transmission speed. Valid transmission speeds are : 6-53 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400 (default), 4800 or 9600. ,parity Sets the parity check. Valid entries are : N for No parity (default), E for Even parity or O for Odd parity. ,databits Sets the number of bits per character.Valid entries are 7 or 8 (default) bits per character. ,stopbits Set the number of bits ending a character. Valid entries are 1 or 2 (default) Stop bits. Video Mode Video Sets the video mode. Valid video modes from the command line are : 40, 80, BW40, BW80, CO40, CO80, MONO, EGA or VGA. Keyboard speed mode MODE KBx x is F for Fast keyboard response, M for medium, S for Slow. Laptop Mode - MODE LAPTOP LAPTOP translates color attributes into black and white which makes them more easily visible on laptop displays. From the command line, you can only specify one peripheral change at a time. So if you want to change the parameters for both the video display and one of the communication port, you will have to issue the MODE command twice. Examples: To set the parameters for the serial communications port to COM1, 9600 bps, No parity, 7 databits, ans 1 stopbit; to redirect the output for the parallel printer LPT1 to the serial port COM1; to set the video adapter into the 43 line mode (EGA mode); to set the keyboard response to Fast ┼ from the command line, you should issue the following four commands : MODE COM1:9600,N,7,1MODE LPT1=COM1MODE EGAMODE KBF If you have configured your PC with the MODE command, you can automatically retrieve all the MODE parameters by typing MODE AUTO at the command line. The MODE settings you configure are saved in a file called MODE.CFG. You should not delete this file, and note that this file cannot be edited directly but only by using the MODE command. 6-54 The MORE Command Purpose: The MORE command can be used to display one screen of output at a time. The MORE command reads input from a pipe or redirected file and displays one screen of information at a time. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax 1: MORE[d:][path]filename Syntax 2: command-name | MORE Where: - is the redirection character [d:] - is the drive on which the file is situated [path] - is the directory in which the file is situated filename - is the name of the file it is wished to display command-name - is the name of the command to be issued | - is the pipe character Remarks: A filename must be specified as the source if you use the redirection character (). If you use the pipe (|) you can use commands such as DIR, TYPE, SORT etc. Note that you should set the TEMP environment variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file before using a pipe for redirection. Examples: If you have a very long file called LONGFILE.TXT which you wish to view on your monitor one screen at a time you may use either of the following commands to redirect the file through the MORE command to display the file one screen at a time: MORE LONGFILE.TXT or TYPE LONGFILE.TXT | MORE The MORE command will display the first screen of text and prompt you with the following message: Press any key to continue When you have finished viewing the contents of each screen, press 6-55 any key to view the next screen. 6-56 The NEWVER Command Purpose: This command changes the DOS version that X-DOS should emulate. As default X-DOS emulates a DOS version of 3.3. Changing version number is only necessary if you should need to run a program which cannot run under DOS 3.3. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: NEWVER y.x Where: y - is the major version number. x - is the minor version number. Remarks: The current version number of X-DOS is 5.0 but X-DOS emulates a version number of 3.3. This means that programs running under X-DOS will believe that X-DOS has a version number of 3.3 instead of 5.0. The reason for this is the fact that certain programs expect to find a specific version number and will not run if they do not find the expected operating system version number. Examples: If you want to change the internal version number of X-DOS to 3.2 type : NEWVER 3.2 This will cause the X-DOS VER command to display: X-DOS Disk Operating System 5.0, emulating version number 3.20 6-57 The PATH Command Purpose: This command lets you define a list of directories in which X-DOS will look for executable files if it cannot find the file you are trying to execute in the default directory. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: PATH [d:][path][directory][;(...)] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the directory to include in the search path. directory - is the name of the directory to include in the search path. ;(...) - shows that you can define multiple search paths by separating the different search paths with a semicolon. Remarks: The PATH command allows you to tell X-DOS to search through a list of sub-directories when it you are trying to run an executable file which is not located in the default directory. The list of directories that you specify should include both drive and path so that you can reach the directories from any drive. When you have defined a search path with the PATH command and run an executable file or batch file, X- DOS will first search for it in the default directory. If it cannot be found there, X-DOS looks for the executable file or batch file in each directory listed in the path search. If you run the PATH command without any parameters, PATH displays the currently defined search path.To ensure that you do not need to enter a search path every time you boot your computer, you should include the PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You should always put the search paths to the directories of your most used programs and batch files in the front of the PATH statement since this will reduce the seek time on your drive(s) for executable files and batch files. X-DOS looks through the PATH list from beginning to end until it encounters a matching filename with an extension of .EXE, .COM, or .BAT. Also remember to leave at least a path to the \DOS directory for X-DOS to find utilities. Examples: If you want X-DOS to search for executable programs and batch files in the \DOS and \DOS\UTIL sub- 6-58 directories on your C: drive, you can set up the proper search path by typing: PATH C:\DOS;C:\DOS\UTIL 6-59 The POPD Command Purpose: This command lets you quickly change to a directory that you have previously been in. X-DOS continuously keeps a list of the directories you change to with the CD and CDD commands and the POPD command can directly access any of them. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: POPD [nn] [*] Where: nn - is the current number of the previous directory you want to change to. If you run POPD without any parameters it will change to the previous directory. * - makes POPD display a list of the directories you have previously been in. Each directory has an assigned number which you can use to change to a particular directory. Remarks: X-DOS keeps a list of every directory, including drive and path, you change to with the CD and CDD commands. You can use this list of previous directories to change directly to almost any previous directory immediately with the POPD command. X-DOS has allocated 196 bytes of memory to store previous directories in and this amount of memory is enough to hold 10 to 15 previous directories. You can always display a list of the directories you can change to with POPD by typing: POPD * If you execute the above command on your computer, your directory list is going to reflect the directories you was previously in. The first directory in your list, which has the number (01) allocated to it, is the directory you was in just before changing to the default directory. You can change to the previous directory you was in one of two ways. You can type: POPD 1 Alternatively, you can just type: POPD 6-60 The PRINT Command Purpose: This command prints ASCII text files to any standard output device.The PRINT command is memory resident and prints in the background while you can continue working on something else. Type: External Command Syntax: PRINT [d:][path][filespec] [output] [switch] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file or range of files you want to print. filespec - is the file or range of files to print. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. output - is the standard output device the file(s) are sent to. It can be one of the following: PRN, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4 or AUX. Switches: /A - makes PRINT abort the current print job. If there are other files in the print queue, the next one will be processed. If you want to abort the current print job and also clear all files in the print queue, you have to clear the queue with the /E switch before aborting the current print job. /D - displays a list of the files in the print queue. /E - removes any files from the print queue. /I - toggles the extended character set ON or OFF. Default setting is OFF which means that text graphics characters are translated into printable ASCII characters while all other the remaining extended characters are discarded. /T - puts a header followed by two blank lines on every printed page. Furthermore, a formfeed is issued at the end of every print job. Remarks: PRINT is a memory resident program which facilitates printing from the X-DOS environment. To print out a range of files, use wildcard characters when specifying the filespec for PRINT. A print queue is automatically set up, containing all the files currently being printed. As many as 25 files can reside in the print queue at any time. PRINT can send the output to any of the standard 6-61 output devices PRN, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4 and AUX by specifying the output device after the filespec. If no output device is specified, PRINT uses the default setting of PRN. Examples: If you want to print all files in the BUSINESS directory with the first four letters "MAIL" and you want to put a header on the top of each page and make each file print on the top of a new page, you should type: PRINT \BUSINESS\MAIL*.* /T 6-62 The PROMPT Command Purpose: This command allows you to customize the X-DOS prompt. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: PROMPT [string] Where: string - can be any valid prompt string consisting of normal characters or metacharacters. Metacharacters are defined below. Metacharacters: $1 - specifies white as the prompt color. $2 - specifies black as the prompt color. $3 - specifies light blue as the prompt color. $4 - specifies cyan as the prompt color. $5 - specifies green as the prompt color. $6 - specifies light magenta as the prompt color. $7 - specifies light red as the prompt color. $8 - specifies light cyan as the prompt color. $9 - specifies light green as the prompt color. $$ - displays a dollar sign ($) as part of the prompt. $_ - makes a Carriage-return/Linefeed as part of the prompt. $B - displays a vertical bar (|) as part of the prompt. $D - displays the current system date as part of the prompt. $E - makes the Escape character (ASCII 27) part of the prompt. $G - displays a greater-than sign (>>) as part of the prompt. $H - makes a destructive backspace as part of the prompt. $L - displays a less-than sign (<<) as part of the prompt. $N - displays the default drive as part of the prompt. $P - displays the default path as part of the prompt. $Q - displays an equal sign (=) as part of the prompt. $T - displays the current system time as part of the prompt. $V - displays the version of X-DOS as part of the prompt. Remarks: X-DOS allows you to change the command line prompt, which is always displayed when X-DOS is ready to accept a command from the command line. By default, this prompt consists of the current drive and path followed by a vertical bar and a line feed, like this: C:\DOS|_ If you execute the PROMPT command without any parameters, PROMPT creates a prompt which is similar to the default prompt of other disk operating systems for personal computers. This prompt only consists of a drive letter followed by a greater-than (>>) sign. 6-63 The PROMPT command lets you change the default prompt in a variety of ways. Above you have a list of available metacharacters which have a special function with the PROMPT command. A metacharacter must always be preceded by a dollar ($) sign or PROMPT will interpret it as a normal character.You can mix metacharacters and normal characters in any way, creating a wide variety of interesting prompts. PROMPT does not distinguish between upper and lower-case metacharacters. If you have a color monitor, you can use the metacharacters $1 to $9 to customize the colors of your prompt. You can include several colors in the prompt. The default X-DOS prompt is $7$P$B$_$8, and you can change this according to your taste. Examples: If you want a more traditional PROMPT style, type the command PROMPT $P$G 6-64 The RD (RMDIR) Command Purpose: This command allows you to remove directories from a hard disk or diskette. You must ensure that a directory you want to remove is empty before you can remove it. You cannot remove the root directory. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: RD [d:][path]directory Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the directory you want to remove. directory - is the name of the directory you want to remove. Remarks: The directory you want to remove must be empty before it can be removed. The "." and ".." entries which you will normally see in any directory with the DIR and SDIR commands are not file or directory entries. You cannot delete them and they do not prevent the RD command from deleting a directory. You cannot remove directories that have hidden files or directories in them, so if you have trouble removing a directory, you should execute the DIR command with the /S switch in the directory you want to remove to see if any hidden files or directories exist. If you specify a path to the sub-directory you want to remove, the sub-directory at the end of the specified path will be the sub-directory that will be removed. Examples: If you are currently in the root directory of the C: drive and you want to remove the C:\OLDDIR directory, you should type: RD OLDDIR The REN (RENAME) Command Purpose: This command lets you to change the name of a file or range of files. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: REN [d:][path]filespec1 filespec2 Where: d:path - is the drive and path that holds the file(s) 6-65 to be renamed. filespec1 - is the file or range of files you want to rename. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. filespec2 - is the destination filespec of the file(s) you are renaming. Remarks: You cannot rename a file to a filename which already exists as a file or directory in the directory where you are renaming a file or group of files. Examples: If you have a range of files in the default directory with the extension .TXT which you want to give the extension .DOC, you should type: REN *.TXT *.DOC 6-66 The RENDIR Command Purpose: This command lets you change the name of a directory. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: RENDIR [d:][path]oldname newname Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the directory you want to rename. oldname - is the current name of the directory you want to rename. newname - is the name you want to give the directory. Remarks: The directory you want to rename does not have to be empty but you cannot rename the directory you are currently in.You cannot give a directory a new name which already exists as a filename or sub-directory in the directory which contains the directory you want to rename. Examples: If you want to rename the BUDGET90 directory which is a sub-directory of the C:\BUSINESS directory and give it the name BUDGET91, you should type: RENDIR C:\BUSINESS\BUDGET90 BUDGET91 6-67 The RESTORE Command Purpose: Restores files which was previously backed up onto diskettes from a hard disk with the BACKUP (XBACK) command. RESTORE is an alias that runs the XBACK command in automatic restoring mode. Remarks: See Chapter 10. for full details on the BACKUP (XBACK) command. 6-68 The RSETCAPS Command Purpose: This command toggles the CapsLock light on your keyboard and gets it back in synchronization with the keyboard, should they for some reason get out of synchronization. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: RSETCAPS 6-69 The RSETNUM Command Purpose: This command toggles the NumLock light on your keyboard and gets it back in synchronization with the keyboard, should they for some reason get out of synchronization. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: RSETNUM 6-70 The SDIR Command Purpose: This command displays the contents of a directory. The SDIR command is compatible with the DIR command from other disk operating systems and has only been implemented for compatibility reasons. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: SDIR [d:][path][filespec] [/P] [/W] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file or range of files you want to display. filespec - is the file or range of files you want to display. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. /P - pauses the file display after each screen and requires you to press a key to continue scrolling. /W - displays the file list in a 4-column display with only the filename shown. Remarks: SDIR is the TTY counterpart to the much more powerful X-DOS command DIR. SDIR is always resident in memory just like the DIR command but SDIR does not perform any kind of sorting of the files and directories and it does not use colors. To pause the output to the screen, you can press the [Ctrl]-S keys or the [Pause] key if your keyboard has one. Continue the scrolling by pressing any key. Alternatively you can specify the /P switch to automatically stop the scrolling after each screen of filenames. Since the features of SDIR are limited we suggest you only use it in cases where you need absolute compatibility with the DIR command from MS-DOS. The SDIR command can be renamed as DIR either by an alias or by having the emulate flag set to ON by typing EMULATE ON at the command line. Examples: If you want to display the contents of the default directory, you should type: SDIR 6-71 The SET Command Purpose: Displays or writes information to the X-DOS environment. Any information in the environment is made available to all programs. Some of the X-DOS commands takes advantage of the environment by reading the user's preferred switch settings. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: SET [name=[parameter]] Where: name= - is the name of a variable you want to set up or clear from the environment. parameter - is a list of any parameters assigned to the name= variable. Remarks: If you execute the SET command without any parameters, SET displays the current environment settings. You will see a range of variables of the form: Variable=value and SET will also display the number of bytes used by the environment and the amount of free environment space. Many software application packages use environment instead of a disk file to hold configuration information. Batch files may also use the environment area to store temporary information. SET also displays the number of bytes of your environment and how much is left. Any aliases used are also stored in the environment but can only be displayed by typing the ALIAS command. Examples: If you want to insert a variable, "TEMP=Testing", in the environment you can do so by typing: SET TEMP=Testing If you later want to release the space used by this declaration, type: SET TEMP= and the variable TEMP will be removed from the environment. 6-72 The SETUP Command Purpose: This command can be used to set the CMOS configuration on 80286, 80386, and 80486 based computers. If your computer has its own setup program, you should use it instead of the X-DOS SETUP command. Type: External Command Syntax: SETUP Remarks: SETUP is totally menu driven and is therefore very easy to use. You should only use SETUP when reconfiguring your hardware or when you want to correct the internal clock (the internal clock keeps track of the current time and date). Your computer will always tell you if the contents of your computer's CMOS RAM is different from the actual computer configuration (except for time and date). During start-up you might be prompted with the following type of error message: CMOS configuration error. Press "F1" to RESUME. When you encounter an error message like this, press the "F1" key to boot your computer. Since SETUP is an external command you must make sure that X-DOS can find it. A SETUP program has been included in X-DOS in case X- DOS is stored in ROM, in which case the BIOS SETUP program is normally removed because of limitations on memory space. 6-73 The SHARE Command Purpose: Installs file sharing and locking in a network environment. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: [d:][path] SHARE [/F:space][/L:locks] Where: d:path - specifies the drive and path containing the SHARE command file if it is not in the current directory of the default drive. /F : - space allocates the file space (in bytes) for the area X-DOS uses to record file sharing information. Each file opened requires enough space for the full filename (including extension) plus 11 bytes. The total space required is the sum of the space used by all open files. The default value is 2048 bytes. /L: - locks allocates the number of locks you want to allow. The default value is 20 locks. Remarks: The SHARE command is only used when operating in a network environment and has no application on stand alone systems. In a network, the SHARE command governs the sharing of files by several users. In X- DOS, the sharing mechanism is embedded in the kernel and the SHARE.EXE file simply allocates the necessary memory for the SHARE file table and the locks buffer. Example: SHARE Loads file sharing with the default values for the /F and /L switches. 6-74 The SORT Command Purpose: The SORT command reads data from a file, sorts the records, and writes the data to another file. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: SORT : [d:][path]filename1[d:][path]filename2 [/nn][/C][/R] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file you want to sort the contents of Filename1 does not have to reside in the same directory as the directory of the sorted file. filename1 - is the name of the file you want to sort the contents of. filename2 - is the name of the file which will contain the sorted output of filename1. /nn - specifies the column at which the sorting is performed. /C - is used to turn case-sensitive sort ON. /R - forces SORT to sort the data of filename1 in reverse order. Remarks: The sort order is in ascending ASCII character sequence. You may supply the /R parameter to reverse the sort order. The /C option may be added to cause SORT to treat the sort field as case sensitive data. That is, lower- case letters are treated as different from their upper-case counterparts. You can sort the contents of a file at any column by specifying the /nn parameter for the column position. If /nn is omitted, the column sort begins from the first column and for a length of 12 characters. 6-75 The STYPE Command Purpose: This command displays the contents of a text file as TTY output to the screen. The STYPE command is compatible with the TYPE command from other disk operating systems and has only been implemented for compatibility reasons. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: STYPE [d:][path]filename Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file you want to display the contents of. filename - is the name of the file you want to display the contents of. Remarks: The STYPE command is the TTY counterpart to the much more powerful X-DOS TYPE command. STYPE displays the contents of any text file on your screen as a continuous, scrolling display. You can temporarily pause the screen output by pressing the [Ctrl]-S hot key or the [Pause] key, if your keyboard has one. Continue scrolling the contents of the text file by pressing any key on your keyboard. If you attempt to display the contents of a program file or any other binary file you will see several unusual characters on your screen and you will most likely hear beep sounds from your computer's speaker. If you wish to display the contents of such a file you should use the X-DOS TYPE command.If X-DOS encounters a TYPE command in a batch file, it automatically uses the STYPE command instead of the TYPE command for compatibility with MS-DOS. If you wish to extend the compatibility to other cases than batch files you can use the EMULATE command to temporarily rename the STYPE command to TYPE. Since the features of STYPE are limited, we suggest you only use in cases where you need absolute compatibility with the TYPE command from MS-DOS. Examples: You have a text file, LETTER.DAT, in the default directory. To display the contents of this file as TTY output to the screen you should type: STYPE LETTER.DAT If you want to display the contents of the NEWS.TXT text file in the \DOCUMENT directory of the B: drive, you should type: 6-76 STYPE B:\DOCUMENT\NEWS.TXT 6-77 The SUBST Command Purpose: Assigns a drive letter to another drive and/or directory name for easy reference. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: SUBST [d1: d2:\path\directory] or SUBST d1: /D Where: d1: - is the drive letter you want to substitute with a path. d2: - is the drive of the path you want substituted with a drive letter. path - is the path to the directory on drive d2: which you want substituted with a drive letter. directory - is the directory on drive d2: which you want substituted with a drive letter. /D - is a switch that disables the substituted drive. Remarks: The SUBST command lets you set up drive letters to reference sub-directories on other drives for easy reference. If you execute the SUBST command without any parameters, you will get a list of the directories that are currently substituted and their associated drive letters. d2 must be a drive name that is not currently allocated. However, space for it must have been reserved by setting the last drive value in the CONFIG.SYS file to a drive name higher or equal to d2. Examples: If you have a directory, C:\BUSINESS\LETTERS, which you would like to be able to reference as drive D:, type : SUBST D: C:\BUSINESS\LETTERS You can now use the D: drive letter instead of the full directory name to access files in it. 6-78 The SYS Command Purpose: This command transfers the X-DOS system files to any formatted diskette or hard disk and makes it bootable. The SYS command can transfer X-DOS onto any formatted disk(ette) even if it already contains data or another disk operating system. Type: External Command Syntax: SYS [d1:] d2: Where: d1: - is the source drive from which SYS should read the system files which are copied onto the destination drive. d2: - is the destination drive which will be made bootable with the X-DOS system files. Remarks: The SYS command copies the X-DOS system files onto a hard disk or diskette so that X-DOS may be booted from that disk(ette). SYS installs the boot record and copies the X-DOS.SYS, COMMAND.COM, and MAX.COM files onto the destination disk(ette). Since the X-DOS system file X-DOS.SYS can reside anywhere on a bootable disk(ette), X-DOS can be installed on a hard disk or diskette that already contains data and/or the system files from another disk operating system. The SYS command is so flexible that it prompts you if you want to retain the old system files on a disk(ette) if SYS finds the disk(ette) already contains another disk operating system. If you choose to keep the old system files, you can always re- install the previous operating system again by the using the SYS command from the operating system you were using. In case you were using MS-DOS, you will have to copy manually the COMMAND.COM file.Please be aware that SYS will not install X-DOS on a computer, it only makes a hard disk or diskette bootable. If you want to install X-DOS onto a hard disk or diskette, use the INSTALL program. 6-79 The TIME Command Purpose: Displays or changes the system time of your computer. If you change the system time, it is automatically recorded in your computer's CMOS configuration, if available. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: TIME [HH:MM:SS] Where: HH - is the hour in 24 hour format (leading zeros required). MM - are the minutes (leading zeros required). SS - are the seconds (leading zeros required). Remarks: The TIME command has two uses. If you execute the TIME command without any parameters it displays the current time according to the system time. To reset the time you must, as a minimum, specify the hour as a parameter but you will normally specify the hour and the minutes. Seconds may be entered as parameters too. For computers based on the 80286, 80386, or i486 CPUs the TIME command can be used to reset the time stored in the CMOS configuration area. Examples: You can specify the current time by typing: TIME. The time is displayed similar to this: Current time is 10:31:26.50 If you want to reset the time to 8:34 a.m., just type: TIME 8:34 6-80 The TREE Command Purpose: Displays a tree-structured outline of the directories on a diskette or hard disk partition. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: TREE [d:] Where: d: - is the drive on which you want to display the directory structure. Remarks: The TREE command displays a good representation of the relationship between the different directories on your disk(ette). If the list of directories cannot be displayed on one full screen, you can use the [Ctrl]- S hot key or the [Pause] key, if your keyboard has one, to temporarily stop the scrolling of directories. To continue the scrolling press any key such as the [Enter] key. Examples: If you wish to display the directories on your C: drive you should type. TREE C: 6-81 The TYPE Command Purpose: This command can display the contents of any text file or binary file and it lets you scroll in the displayed file. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: TYPE [d:][path]filename [/W] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file you want to display the contents of. filename - is the name of the file you want to display the contents of. /W - allows you to display files in "Wordstar format". Remarks: Unlike the STYPE command, TYPE allows you to move around in the displayed file. The following keys are used to move around in the displayed file: Key Assignments * Up arrow moves the display up one line in the displayed file. * Down arrow moves the display down one line in the displayed file. * Right arrow moves the display seven characters to the right. * Left arrow moves the display to the leftmost column of the displayed file. The [Left] arrow key only has a function when you have previously moved the display to the right with the [Right] arrow key. * Home moves to the beginning of the displayed file and displays the first screen of file contents. * End moves to the end of the displayed file and displays the last screen of file contents. * PgUp displays the previous screen of file contents. * PgDn displays the next screen of file contents. * Esc exits the TYPE command Note that if TYPE is used with a redirector to a peripheral (such as PRN), the TYPE command will perform an STYPE command instead and will write the contents to the output file. Examples: If you want to display the contents of the CONFIG.SYS file on your C: drive, type the command : TYPE C:\CONFIG.SYS 6-82 The UNDEL Command Purpose: This command recovers files that have been accidentally deleted. To ensure a safe file recovery, you must undelete a file as soon as possible after it has been deleted or we cannot guarantee recovery. You cannot recover files that have been deleted with the WIPEFILE command. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: UNDEL [filespec] Where: filespec - is the file or range of files you want to undelete. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. Remarks: If you delete a file or range of files, you can use the UNDEL command to undelete the files again. You will have to be in the same directory as the deleted files was previously in since UNDEL only looks in the default directory for files to undelete. If you used the WIPEFILE command to delete the file(s) with, you will be able to undelete the files but the file contents is totally destroyed. It is important that you undelete the file(s) before you write data to the disk. Otherwise your deleted file(s) might be overwritten by the new data. The UNDEL command works in two ways: 1. You can undelete a specific file or range of files by specifying a filespec as a parameter with the UNDEL command. In this case UNDEL looks in the default directory and tries to see if it can match any deleted files with the specified filespec. 2. You can run UNDEL without any parameters in which case UNDEL will let you undelete all files in the default directory that can be undeleted. UNDEL will display each file that can be recovered one after another. You will have to confirm that you want to undelete each file and you must also type in the first character of the filename for each file that you want to undelete. The character that you specify does not have to be the same as the first letter of the filename before the file was deleted. Examples: We assume that you just deleted a range of files and suddenly realized that one of the deleted files, IMPORTNT.DOC, contained important information which you certainly did not intend to delete. You should immediately use the UNDEL command to recover the file before writing any data to the disk(ette). To 6-83 undelete the IMPORTNT.DOC file change to the directory in which it was located and type: UNDEL *.DOC UNDEL will display the information relative to a file ?MPORTNT.DOC You will need to specify the first letter I to UNDEL then confirm the undelete of that file before leaving the UNDEL command. 6-84 The UNLOCK Command Purpose: This command lets you access a partition that has been password protected. Password protection can be programmed using the FDISK utility. You will need to use UNLOCK if you booted your computer without specifying the password for the partition you want to access or if you locked the partition with the LOCK command. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: UNLOCK d: [password] Where: d: - is the drive letter for the hard disk partition you want to unlock so you can access it again. password - is the password required to gain access to the locked partition. If you do not specify the password, you will be prompted for it and the password will not be echoed. Examples: If you wish to unlock the D: drive and wish the password not be displayed, type: UNLOCK D: 6-85 The VER Command Purpose: This command displays the X-DOS version number and the version number that X-DOS currently emulates. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: VER Remarks: X-DOS refers to the single digit to the left of the period as the major version number and the pair of digits to the right of the period as the minor version number. Some programs check for the version number before executing and will not execute with certain version numbers. You can change the version number that X-DOS thinks it is by using the NEWVER command. The current version number of X-DOS is version 5.0 and X-DOS emulates a version number 3.3 as default. 6-86 The VERIFY Command Purpose: This command turns verification of disk writes ON or OFF. When VERIFY is ON, X-DOS checks to see if data written to the disk can be read again without errors. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: VERIFY [ON | OFF] Where: ON - turns verification of disk writes ON. OFF - turns verification of disk writes OFF. Remarks: When VERIFY is set to on it ensures that data is written to a disk(ette) without errors. If data is not successfully written to the disk an error message is displayed. As default VERIFY is turned off. 6-87 The VIRUSCHK Command Purpose: This command allows you to protect your files against a hostile virus program. A computer virus often attaches itself to existing, executable files on your hard disk and diskettes and may at some point destroy the integrity of your data. Type: External Command Syntax: VIRUSCHK [d:][path][filename] [/switch] Where: d:path - is the drive and path to the file you want to include in, or delete from, the list of files that are checked for a possible virus. filename - is the name of the file to include in, or delete from, the list of files that are checked for a possible virus. Switches: /A - adds a file to the virus checking list. /D - deletes a file from the virus checking list. /L - displays a list of the files that are currently monitored by VIRUSCHK for a possible virus. Remarks: A computer related virus is a program which is written specifically for the purpose of destroying the integrity of files on a disk. Viruses often attach themselves to an existing file so that the user is not likely to discover the infection of the computer system until it is too late. The VIRUSCHK command checks the time and date stamp, the file size, and performs a CRC check on the files that are monitored. You can include any files you wish to protect against an infection in the monitored file list. Keep in mind, however, that the virus checker in X-DOS only warns you if it discovers changes in the monitored files. It cannot eliminate a virus from a disk, it only detects the presence of a possible virus in the monitored files. If VIRUSCHK encounters changes in any of the files that it is monitoring when you run it, you will get a warning message similar to this: Possible virus on file:d:\path\filename.ext followed by one of the following error specifications: File not found 6-88 VIRUSCHK cannot find the file on the disk in the directory you specified when you added the file to the checking list. If you have deleted or removed the file on purpose, you should also delete it from the virus checklist. Otherwise you will get the same error message every time you run VIRUSCHK. Date & time of file has changed The date and time stamp on the file, which indicates the last date the file has been modified, has changed. Length of file has changed VIRUSCHK has detected that the length of the file has changed. Do not run programs which you know have changed size. CRC calculation on file different VIRUSCHK performs a CRC checksum test on each monitored file. If this checksum changes, you will get this error message. Note that you cannot have the VIRUSHCK command check its own binary file. You can add up to 256 files to be monitored by VIRUSCHK which should be enough for most users. You will probably only want to include the files that are very common to personal computers like external X-DOS commands. Examples: If you want the FDISK.EXE file, which we assume is located in the C:\DOS directory, to be monitored for a possible virus by VIRUSCHK, you should type the following command at the command line: VIRUSCHK C:\DOS\FDISK.EXE /A 6-89 The VOL Command Purpose: This command displays the volume label of a diskette or hard disk partition. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: VOL [d:] Where: d: - is the drive you want to display the volume label of. Remarks: The FORMAT /V or LABEL programs can be used to install a volume label on a diskette or partition of a hard disk. This volume label can then be used to distinguish different hard disk partitions and diskettes. You can always display the volume label of a hard disk or diskette with the VOL command. The DIR and XSHELL commands also displays the volume label. Examples: We assume that your default drive is the C: drive and you want to display the volume label of the diskette in the A: drive. You can do this by typing: VOL A: 6-90 The WHEREIS Command Purpose: This command searches through all directories on a drive for a file or range of files. Type: Internal to MAX.COM Syntax: WHEREIS [d:][filespec] Where: d: - is the drive on which you want to search for files. filespec - is the file or range of files you want to search for. You can include the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. Remarks: The WHEREIS command is very useful in situations where you are looking for one or more specific files and you cannot remember where they are located. As long as you can remember the filename or part of the filename for the file(s) you want to locate, the WHEREIS command can find the file(s) for you in no time at all. When you execute WHEREIS it will display the drive and directory of each file it finds that matches the filespec. It displays the size and time and date stamps along with each matching filename. Examples: If you want to display all files which matches the filespec *.DOC on your default drive you should type: WHEREIS *.DOC 6-91 The WIPEFILE Command Purpose: This command deletes a file or range of files so they cannot be recovered again. You should only use this command to delete files that you are certain that you will not have any further use of and which you want to ensure cannot be recovered by anybody else. Type: Internal to COMMAND.COM Syntax: WIPEFILE [d:][path]filespec Where: d:path - is the drive and path which holds the file or range of files you want to delete and make unrecoverable. filespec - is the file or range of files you want to delete. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. Remarks: WIPEFILE overwrites the area on the disk which is allocated to the file(s) you are deleting so that these file(s) will not be recoverable again. This provides you with a way of ensuring that nobody will be able to recover your "sensitive" data when you delete it. Files deleted with the DEL command can easily be recovered which provides you with a safety net in case you accidentally delete files. Therefore, you should only use the WIPEFILE command to delete files which are NOT intended to be recovered again. Examples: If you want to delete all files in the default directory and make sure that nobody will be able to undelete them again you can do so by typing: WIPEFILE *.* 6-92 The XCOPY Command Purpose: This command will copy or move any files and directories, including sub-directories, to another drive and/or directory. Several switches give you a variety of options concerning which files/directories should be copied and the way they are copied. Type: External Command Syntax: XCOPY [d1:][path1]filespec1 [d2:][path2][filespec2] [/switches] or XCOPY [d1:][path1]filespec1 device [/switches] Where: d1:path1 - is the drive and path to the source files your are copying. filespec1 - is the file or range of files you are copying. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. d2:path2 - is the drive and path to the destination of the copied files. filespec2 - is the name you want to give the copied files. You can use the '?' and '*' wildcards in the file specification. device - is the name of the standard output device to copy files to. You can specify PRN, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4 or AUX. Switches: /A - copies only files with the Archive attribute set. /C - lets you pick files to copy from a list of displayed files. /D - date - copies files modified on or after the specified date. The date must be entered in the same format as when you change the date with the DATE command. /E - includes all sub-directories to the directory which contains the source files that are being copied. Empty sub-directories are also copied. /I - includes any hidden files matching filespec1. /M - copies files with the Archive attribute set and resets it after the files are copied. Used for 6-93 backing up files. /N - copies only files that are new to the destination directory. /P - prompts for each file before copying it. /Q - asks for confirmation before copying if a file already exists in the destination directory. /R - deletes the contents of the destination directory before copying the files. /S - includes all sub-directories to the directory which contains the source files that are being copied. Empty sub-directories are not copied. /T - moves files from the source directory to the destination directory. The files are deleted from the source directory after they are copied. /V - turns ON verification of disk writes when copying files. This ensures that the copied files can be read from the disk again. /W - prompts you to press a key before starting to copy. /Z - copies files from several diskettes. XCOPY will prompt you to insert a new diskette when all files have been copied from the current diskette. Remarks: The source filespec (including drive and path) is listed before the destination filespec (including drive and path). The filespec can consist of any legal filename including the wildcards `?' and `*'. XCOPY will assume you want to keep the original filename(s) if no filespec is specified for the destination of the copied files. Switches XCOPY gives you a range of possibilities concerning which files to copy and the way these files are copied. There are (15) fifteen different switches to choose from. Since the individual often has a standard way of copying files, XCOPY can use the SET command of X-DOS to recognize one or more switches which are to be used every time XCOPY is invoked. The format of SET is as follows: SET XCOPY=/switch1/switch2/(...) Following is an in-depth description on all of the available 6-94 XCOPY switches: A - By specifying this switch you tell XCOPY to copy only the files, satisfying the source filespec, which have the Archive bit attribute set. If you are using the XCOPY command for backing up files, you can use this switch to ensure that you are only copying the files that have changed since the last time you made a backup. To use XCOPY properly for backup purposes you will have to use the /M switch. C - The /C switch makes XCOPY display a list of all files that match the source filespec and lets you select which files to copy. Use the [Up] and [Down] arrow keys to scroll back and forth in the list. Highlight a file and press [ENTER] to select that file. If the contents of the displayed directory can not fit in the window, you can use the [Down] arrow key to access the rest of the files. If you make a wrong file selection you can use the [ENTER] key to delete the file from the list. When you have selected all the files you want to copy, you can press the [F5] function key to begin copying the selected files to the destination directory. D - This switch tells XCOPY to delete any existing files in the destination directory before copying the files from the source directory to the destination directory. You will be prompted for a confirmation before XCOPY goes ahead and delete the files. XCOPY will not delete any files in the destination directory which have the Read-Only, System, and/or Hidden attributes set. H - If you run the XCOPY command with the /H switch, XCOPY displays a help screen, describing the command line syntax and explaining the available switches. This help screen will also be displayed if you use XCOPY with wrong parameters. I - Use the /I switch to include hidden files which match the source filespec in the selection of files being copied. M - With the /M switch you have an easy way of backing up files. This switch makes XCOPY copy only files with the Archive attribute set and after the files have been copied, the Archive attribute of the file is reset. This way, XCOPY can keep track of which file has been previously backed up so that it only copies files that have been modified. N - With this option enabled, XCOPY will only copy the files which are new to the destination directory. A file is new if it does not exist in the destination directory or if the time and date stamp on an existing, matching filename is prior to that of the source file. P - This switch makes XCOPY display a message on the screen for each file and you will have to acknowledge the copying of the 6-95 file. S - with the /S switch enabled, XCOPY will copy all the files and sub-directories from the source directory to the destination directory. If the source sub-directories do not exist in the destination directory, XCOPY will automatically create them. T - With the /T switch you have an easy way to move files from one directory to another directory. With this switch set, XCOPY first copies the files, matching the source filespec, to the destination directory. Then it deletes the source files, matching the source filespec, in the source directory. Hence, the files will seem to have been moved from one location to another location in one step even though XCOPY performs the moving in two steps. V - Use the /V switch to copy files from several diskettes to another destination, such as a directory on a hard disk. XCOPY will automatically prompt you to change diskettes when it has copied all of the files, matching the source filespec, from the current diskette to the destination. When you have copied files from the last diskette and XCOPY prompts you to insert a new diskette, you can press the [Esc] key to terminate the XCOPY command. Copying to a device You can copy to devices as well as to files, so XCOPY filespec COM1 [Enter] sends the contents of the specified file(s) to the COM1 port. XCOPY filespec PRN will print it on the parallel printer attached to the LPT1 printer port. XCOPY can copy to the following devices: PRN, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4 and AUX. Examples: You can copy all files matching the *.TXT filespec from the default directory to the C:\BUSINESS\LETTERS directory by typing: XCOPY *.TXT C:\BUSINESS\LETTERS 6-96