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Text File | 1990-10-19 | 30KB | 504 lines

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── C T S H E L L . D O C v1.14 Oct 19, 1990 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PURPOSE CTSHELL is a directory manager and a program launcher. It was designed to be used in programming classes that its author teaches, to make it simple for students to get to the right place to work on a lab assignment. Its utility is not limited to the classroom, however. It can be used for day-to-day computing, including program development, communication, and more. IT DOESN'T... Something that CTSHELL *doesn't do* is even more important than what it does──CTSHELL doesn't get in your way! When you're using CTSHELL, you can type DOS commands just as if you were out at the ordinary DOS prompt. You can take advantage of everything CTSHELL has to offer without giving up much of anything in exchange. XMS/EMS/DISK SWAPPING. In fact, CTSHELL uses a sophisticated swapping method that lets it take full advantage of your EMS or XMS memory, and it swaps to disk on computers that have neither. That means all but a few K of your available RAM is free to run big programs from CTSHELL. OFF TO A You can get a quick idea what CTSHELL is all about QUICK START by starting it up in a directory that has a configuration file for it (more about the .CFG file later...). If you've unZipped the original archive in a temporary directory, go ahead and start the program with the command, C:\> CTSHELL MOVING AROUND. You can move around the listing of files with the up and down arrow keys, and the left and right arrow keys will provide access to the menus at the top of the screen. FILE TAGGING. Tagging is provided by the first four function keys, as the little reminder window shows you, and there are almost as many operations that can be performed on tagged files as there are for individual ones. DIRECT DOS COMMANDS. Notice that you can enter a command normally. You can even change drives or do a CD command to a different directory, and CTSHELL will realize what you did. It will automatically update its screen for the new directory. If you perform any operation that changes information on the current screen, CTSHELL will sense that automatically and update the screen. Later sections of this document provide greater insight into CTSHELL's capabilities. You'll surely want to modify the CTSHELL.CFG file to customize it according to your own needs and tastes. MODIFYING ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ CTSHELL.CFG │ Note: This overview is kept brief, because │ │ nearly all you need to know about modifying │ │ CTSHELL.CFG is explained in the file itself. │ │ It is suggested that you print or display a │ │ copy of that file while you look this over. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ CTSHELL is a very configurable program, and relies heavily on the entries that you make in CTSHELL.CFG. The copy that you started with has some suggested entries (including a set of colors that I personally like). Use the comments in the file to guide you in setting it up as you like. BRACKETS AND BRACES. Note that all the entries that are meaningful to CTSHELL are enclosed inside braces or brackets. Thus, everything outside those symbols is considered to be comments. Words inside brackets, such as [colors] tell CTSHELL where the major sections of the config file are, and entries inside braces, such as {program.exe} provide the values and settings that it needs. MULTIPLE CONFIGS. CTSHELL is designed to read a configuration file name from the command line when it is started, and to use the configuration path pointed at by the CTSHELL environment variable if no configuration file name is given at startup. If it *still* doesn't have a file name to use, it will default to CTSHELL.CFG in the current directory. That means that CTSHELL may always be started so that it uses your choice of config files. You may want to create one specially for use in program development, another one especially for communications, another for word processing, etc. You might want to set up different config files for different people who use a computer. Each user could have his or her own paths and programs easily available. However, most users will probably find it convenient to use a single copy of CTSHELL.CFG that is described by the CTSHELL environment variable. You can set this environment variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file with a statement like this: SET CTSHELL=C:\pathname\filename.ext For example, if the configuration file were kept in the C:\BIN directory, and named CTSHELL.CFG, that SET command might look like this: SET CTSHELL=C:\BIN\CTSHELL.CFG The program could then be started from anywhere and it would load its configuration properly from the specified file. COLOR OPTIONS. The first nine entries in the configuration file are for color choices. CTSHELL uses your specifications for the colors displayed on the screen. All colors are given in hexadecimal numbers, with the first (higher) digit specifying the background, and the second (lower) digit specifying the foreground. On all color monitors more recent than CGA, CTSHELL can use all 16 colors in both the background and the foreground. With CGA monitors, you can use the 8 ordinary colors in both the background and foreground, and the bright colors only in the foreground. Digit Color Digit Color ────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 Black 8 Bright Black 1 Blue 9 Bright Blue 2 Green A Bright Green 3 Cyan B Bright Cyan 4 Red C Bright Red 5 Magenta D Bright Magenta 6 Yellow E Bright Yellow 7 White F Bright White POINT-'n'-SHOOT PROGRAMS. The next series of entries tell CTSHELL what programs you use for day-to-day activities. There are several that are so commonly used that we can assign values to them and put them into a menu for easy access. Everyone uses an editor, for example. Most all programmers use at least one compiler and a MAKE utility. This Point-'n'-Shoot section establishes what those programs will be. One thing they all have in common is that they all use the current (or tagged) file(s) as a command-line argument automatically. As the comments in the CTSHELL.CFG file show, you can provide a directory to change to and/or a program to run. Either may be empty. Note that CTSHELL calls your default command processor, the one that your COMSPEC environment variable defines. Thus, if you are using a command processor like 4DOS that provides aliases, you may feel free to use those aliases as commands in your CTSHELL.CFG file. If you need to provide a runtime parameter for your program, you may use a switch option like: {ASK:ZIP File Name?} That will cause CTSHELL to pause before executing the program to prompt you for a "ZIP File Name". DIRECTORIES/TASKS. Following the color settings and program assignments, you can provide up to 20 entries that specify tasks you want to be able to pick out of a menu. Each set of entries describes what you would like to show up in the menu, where to go before starting the task, and what program to run once you get there, as well as some flags and options. If you want to change to a directory but not execute a program once you get there, just leave the brackets for the program name empty. If you want to execute a program without first changing to another location, leave the brackets for the path name empty. That will satisfy CTSHELL's need to see an entry, but also will let it know not to take any action. If you need prompted for an optional switch, you may use {ASK: ... } in this section as well. TAKING A Once you have CTSHELL.CFG modified appropriately, SECOND LOOK you're ready to try out everything it has to offer. Notice that you can move up and down through the listed file names with the up and down arrow keys. Touch-typists may appreciate that <Ctrl-E> duplicates the up arrow, and <Ctrl-X> duplicates the down arrow. DOS OPERATIONS. CTSHELL improves on many common DOS operations. Its File Move function moves directory information without copying and deleting the file contents, so long as the source and destination are on the same drive. If they are on different drives, it copies, then deletes the source. CTSHELL's File Copy function dynamically allocates a copy buffer the same size as the file being copied, provided there's room in the data segment. Thus, CTSHELL copies large files in approximately 40K chunks, instead of DOS's default 4K size. CTSHELL displays files in lowercase letters, as is the default for 4DOS, instead of the uppercase that DOS uses in its DIR listings. Directory names are displayed in uppercase. CTSHELL contains its own DOS critical error handler, so its display is not disrupted by the occasional "Abort, Retry, Ignore" that may happen when you try to access an empty floppy drive. You're given a chance to fix the problem and continue, or exit back to DOS to handle it there. PRESSING <ENTER>. If you press <Enter> while on a file, one of a number of things might happen: (1) if it is a .COM, .EXE, or .BAT file it will be executed, (2) if it is a file for which one of your Point-'n'-Shoot programs has reserved the extension, that program (such as an editor) will be started up using it as an argument, (3) otherwise, if it is a directory, CTSHELL will change to that directory for you. Note that the special name .. represents the parent of the current directory. THE DELETE KEY. Because it often happens that we need to delete a single file, CTSHELL uses the <Del> key to delete the current file (the one that the cursor bar is currently highlighting). So that a file is not deleted accidentally, CTSHELL will beep and ask you to press the key a second time. Pressing any key other than <Del> for the confirmation aborts the deletion. TAGGING FILES. If you begin tagging files, you'll see that the number of bytes that are tagged is displayed on a special little pop-up. As more files are tagged or untagged, this is adjusted. When no files are tagged, the pop-up disappears. The first five function keys can be used to toggle the tag condition for a single file, tag all the files, untag all the files, invert the tags, and tag files by name. You can tag all the source files, copy them to a floppy disk, then invert the tags and copy all the others somewhere else. USING THE MOUSE. The mouse can be used to access the menus in the customary way, and it has various effects elsewhere on the screen. For example, the scroll bar on the right can be used with the mouse to scroll through the list of files in the manner that has become conventional. There is a list of the function keys that are implemented in CTSHELL. Clicking on an item from that list has the same effect as pressing the respective function key. Clicking the left button once on a file entry makes that the current file. If you double-click on a file entry, it means the same thing as pressing <Enter> for that file (see above). If you click the right button on a file entry, it will tag or untag that file. THE ALT KEY. You might expect that the <Alt> key, when used with a letter that begins a menu name, might open that menu as well. It does. If you've opened an menu and decide not to do anything with it, press <Esc> to close it. EXITING. When a menu is not open, pressing <Esc> will exit from CTSHELL. So will <Alt-X>, and there's a menu entry that will work as well. I just HATE it when I can't figure a way out of a program. CTSHELL MENUS CURRENT FILE. This menu contains the Point-'n'-Shoot entries for the current file. Selecting one applies that operation to the file that is currently highlighted. This menu always offers the built-in features of CTSHELL, such as changing file attributes, copying, deleting, moving, renaming, etc. In addition, it will contain entries for all the Point-'n'-Shoot options you establish in your CTSHELL.CFG file. TAGGED FILES. The provided features are the same as for the current file, except for renaming. In addition, this menu will list all the Point-'n'-Shoot options that you've specified will work with multiple files. DIRECTORIES/TASKS. From the section of the same name in your CTSHELL.CFG file, this is the menu that lets you move easily to the place where you want to work on a project, and start the program that you need when you get there. In the classroom, this is useful for listing the various lab projects. At home, it's useful for transferring email, running an offline reader, starting a compiler environment, and much more. PROGRAM. This provides a DOS SHELL for those times when you really prefer to use the regular command line. That will allow you to use the command repeat feature of your command processor, if it has such a feature. In addition, there are two options that will take you directly to your LIB directory and to your INCLUDE directory. For these to work well, the environment variables that define these two must contain a single path each. There's an option to exit from CTSHELL in this menu. Note that of no menu is open you can also exit with <Esc> or with <Alt-X>. UTILITY. CTSHELL offers a CHKDSK option (it uses the ordinary CHKDSK.COM from DOS) and it will format floppy disks a bit more conveniently than the regular DOS format. If you have DOS 3.0 or better, you can select a no-frills format (no prompt for volume name, no prompt for format again), or you can select a complete format option. To format a single disk quickly, the first option is preferred. To format a stack of disks, you'll want to select the second. To make it safer for classroom use, CTSHELL does not offer a direct menu selection for formatting hard drives. However, there's nothing to prevent you from typing in a FORMAT C: command if you really want to. TO BE VERY I realize that there are some additional functions HONEST that might make CTSHELL more useful. My first design consideration was to produce the most utility from the smallest size program. CTSHELL is less than 50K, and swaps in such a way as to be the equivalent of about 5K. My second consideration was to make this a quick job. I wanted something to take the place of the DOS 4.0 SHELL, not something to take the place of DesqView or Windows. CTSHELL was written in a few days using Microsoft C6.0. (A version was also compiled using Turbo C++, but that was always about 15% to 20% larger from the same source code.) When time permits, CTSHELL v2.0 will add command-line editing (a la CED and DOSEDIT). Synonyms (aliases) are not planned, as CTSHELL calls the default command processor. Those using CED, DOSEDIT or 4DOS should find that their aliases are not affected adversely by CTSHELL. Suggestions from those of you who use CTSHELL for additional features you'd like to see would be appreciated. OWNERSHIP AND CTSHELL and its accompanying documents are COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 1990 Jerry Houston and Computer Training, All Rights Reserved. Those who agree to the terms and conditions stated below are welcome to use it for any personal purpose. Note that Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation, and Desqview is a trademark of Quarterdeck. TERMS AND Neither the author nor Computer Training warrants CONDITIONS that CTSHELL will do anything, or that it won't do anything. Users assume full responsibility for their use of, misuse of, abuse of, or inability to use, the program. You are free to use CTSHELL personally, and to pass it along to others, provided that you distribute an intact set of files containing: CTSHELL.EXE - executable program file CTSHELL.CFG - example configuration file CTSHELL.DOC - this document Anyone who is interested in using CTSHELL for any commercial purpose must first obtain written permission from the author. SPECIAL NOTE ...is due to Marty Del Vecchio for his excellent OF THANKS swap() function. Without it, CTSHELL would not have been available in this XMS/EMS swapping version this soon. Other C programmers who would like to add this capability to your programs can find it in the public domain and downloadable from many BBS systems. The version used here was 3.0, and it was packaged as SWAP300.ZIP. VERSIONS v1.00 Original concept, distribution stopped almost at once to implement additional features and do further testing. v1.10 First real release, 10/14/90. v1.11 minor bug-fix, 10/15/90. ■ Linked directory list was not properly freed, making it possible to run out of room for it during a long session. ■ Added display of remaining space in the list. v1.12 features added, 10/16/90. ■ File copy was not preserving time and date. ■ Now displays current disk free space. ■ If mouse is clicked on function key label, that function is invoked. ■ Speeded up mouse processing. ■ Extended mouse double-click interval from 6 clock ticks to 8. ■ Modified file copy to allow specifying a destination file OR directory instead of just a destination directory--now works just like DOS copy in that respect. ■ Improved handling of extensions for invoking Point-'n'-Shoot programs. Now doesn't confuse .COM with .C and try to edit it. ■ Now uses Marty Del Vecchio's v3.0 of swap() (previous versions used v2.01). v1.13 features added, 10/18/90. ■ Modified menu process routine for more intuitive movement of cursor bar. ■ Added <F5> to tag files by name. Uses standard DOS wildcard characters ? and *. ■ Added <F6> to return to original home directory if an application program changes the current path. ■ Added <F7> to load a configuration file. Defaults to CTSHELL environment variable path if a new path is not supplied. Makes it easier to modify the config file and reload it quickly. v1.14 minor bug-fix, 10/19/09. ■ Fixed a minor bug that selected files with no extensions when *.ext was specified as a wildcard name. Now selects files with no extension only when *. is used. ■ Wasn't updating screen after changing the attributes of a bunch of tagged files. Was updating next time the screen was refreshed. THE AUTHOR JERRY HOUSTON ────── Computer Training 7016 NE 137th ST Kirkland, WA 98034 Jerry may be contacted on his Wildcat BBS system, called Programmer's Resource. Phone numbers are (206) 823-2831 and 823-1917. ProgRes BBS relays selected conferences from the Intelec, SmartNet, and WestNet BBS networks.