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4DOS, 4OS2, and 4NT understand
all of the commands you may already know and add to them. Their
purpose is to make the command line friendlier, easier to use,
and much more powerful and versatile without requiring you to
use or learn a new program, a new set of commands, or a new style
of work.
Built-In Commands
4DOS, 4OS2, and 4NT support
every command you already know, add to the features of each command,
and also add dozens of new commands. For example, the traditional
DIR command, which displays a list of files, has about 8 options.
The DIR command in JPS products has most of the same options plus
almost 20 more. With the enhanced DIR command, you can:
* Display a list of files in
1, 2, 4, or 5 columns with the commands:
c:\> dir
c:\> dir /2
c:\> dir /4
c:\> dir /w
* Use colors to indicate different kinds of files, display file descriptions (text to remind you of the contents of a file) along with file names, and sort files according to several different criteria.
* Display hidden and system files, along with normal files. For
example, this command displays all of the files in the current
directory, whether they are
"hidden" or not:
c:\> dir /a
* Display files of one type
or of several types together. For example, this command lists
all .TXT, .DOC, and .ASC files in the current directory:
c:\> dir *.txt;*.doc;*.asc
* Display files from a single
directory, from one part of the directory tree, from a single
drive, or from several drives.
* Use wildcards to display
all file names that start with the letter "A", end with
the letter "A", or have an "A" anywhere in
the name:
c:\> dir a*
c:\> dir *a
c:\> dir *a*
* If you use Windows 95/98
or Windows NT, you can view either "long" file names,
"short" file names, or both. That's just an example
of some of the enhancements we have added to one command. 4DOS,
4OS2, and 4NT have added enhancements to virtually every command
you've used before and include dozens of new commands as well.
You don't have to learn to use them all, but you will find many
commands and enhancements that will make your computer more powerful
and easier to use. For example:
* COLOR lets you set the default colors to use on your display:
c:\> color bright white on blue
Additional features let you customize the colors you want to use
for parts of the display, for input and output, and for specific
kinds of files.
* LIST displays the contents
of files in text or hexadecimal mode, lets you search a file,
and can print either an entire file or a single page from a
file:
c:\> list readme.txt
* FFIND searches for files
based on their names and their contents. For example, to find
all files on drive C: with the string "now" somewhere
within their
names:
c:\> ffind /s *now*
To find all .TXT files in the current directory which contain
the string "then" somewhere in the file:
c:\> ffind /t"then" *.txt
* SELECT lets you pick the
files you want to work with from a full-screen, "point and
shoot" display. This command, for example, lets you select
files from the current directory to copy to the floppy in drive
A:
c:\> select copy (*.*) a:
* EXCEPT lets you work with
all of the files in a directory except those that you want to
exclude. It is something like wildcards in reverse. (A related
feature, "exclude" ranges, also works like reverse wildcards,
and can be used to exclude files from any internal command.) This
command copies all files from the current directory to drive A:
except backup (.BAK and .BK!) files:
c:\> except (*.bak;*.bk!) copy *.* a:
The Command Line
4DOS, 4OS2, and 4NT are much
more than just a collection of commands. They include a number
of features which make the command line easier to use:
* Interactive help appears
whenever you ask for it and also any time you use a command incorrectly.
Type:
c:\> help
when you need help. You can also press F1 to view the help Table
of Contents. If you have typed part of a command, F1 displays
help on the first word on
the command line.
* The command line works like
a single-line word processor. You can edit any part of the line
at any time before you press Enter to execute it or Esc to
erase it. You can move the cursor left and right by a single character,
a single word, or jump to the beginning or end of the line. You
can delete, insert, or type over characters anywhere on the command
line.
* 4DOS, 4OS2, and 4NT keep
track of each command you execute. You can display past commands,
execute them again, or make changes before you execute them. The
past commands can appear on the command line (if you
press -), or in a pop-up window (if you press PgUp).
* If you don't want to type
a complete file name as part of a command, you don't have to.
Just type part of the name and then press the Tab key: a matching
file or directory name will appear on the command line. Press
the Tab key again to see the next matching file. To choose from
all matching files in a pop-up window, press F7 or Ctrl-Tab. The
ability to complete filenames easily can be
invaluable on a drive with long filenames - all you have to do
is type part of a lengthy file or directory name and press Tab.
The command interpreter fills in the rest.
* 4DOS, 4OS2, and 4NT keep
track of each directory you have visited. There are many ways
to return to previous directories; perhaps the easiest is to press
Ctrl-PgUp to view past directories in a pop-up window. Select
the directory you want, press Enter, and you will immediately
change to that directory, even if it is on a different drive.
Color-Coded Directories
The DIR command can display each file name and the associated
file information in a different color, depending on the file's
extension. To choose the display colors, you must either use the
SET command to create an environment variable called COLORDIR,
or use the Commands page of the OPTION dialogs or a text editor
to set the ColorDir directive in your .INI file. If you do not
use the COLORDIR variable or the ColorDir directive, DIR will
use the default screen colors for all files.
If you use both the COLORDIR
variable and the ColorDir directive, the environment variable
will override the settings in your .INI file. You may find it
useful to use the COLORDIR variable for experimenting, then to
set permanent directory colors with the ColorDir directive.
The format for both the COLORDIR environment variable and the
ColorDir directive in the .INI file is:
ext ... :ColorName; ...
where "ext" is a file extension (which may include wildcards) or one of the following file types:
DIRS Directories
RDONLY Read-only files
HIDDEN Hidden files
SYSTEM System files
ARCHIVE Files modified since the last backup
and "ColorName" is any valid color name (see Colors and Color Names).
Unlike most color specifications, the background portion of the color name may be omitted for directory colors. If you don't specify a background color, DIR will use the current screen background color.
For example, to display the .COM and .EXE files in red on the current background, the .C and .ASM files in bright cyan on the current background, and the read-only files in blinking green on white (this should be entered on one line):
[c:\] set colordir=com exe:red; c asm:bright cyan; rdonly:blink green on white
Extended wildcards can be used in directory color specifications. For example, to display .BAK, .BAX, and .BAC files in red:
[c:\] set colordir=BA[KXC]:red
Photo below shows Colordir setted on @Macarlo's NT 4 SP5 IDE
Copr. 1999 JP Software Inc. 4DOS, 4OS2, 4NT Install Guide
CONTACT AUTHOR
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