China DOS Union

4DOS Commands

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All right, today the command to introduce is -TYPE.
TYPE in 4DOS has two parameters: /P and /L.
/P : display one page at a time.
/L : when displaying, add line numbers to each line of the text file.
What you need to note is the format; it must be as follows:
TYPE /LP filename
That is, you must enter the parameters before the filename, otherwise the parameters will be ineffective.
Everyone try it out. Next time I'll introduce the enhanced version of TYPE in 4DOS: LIST.
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Last time I introduced TYPE; this time I'll introduce LIST - this is the enhanced TYPE, unique to 4DOS.
Like TYPE, LIST is mainly used to read ASCII files. (Chinese works too.) But it provides an environment similar
to word processing. Aside from not being able to edit text, it really is much more convenient when reading text files.
It has three parameters:

/H : strip high-bit characters; more useful when reading some text files with file-format data.
/S : instead of searching the file for display content, perform LIST on standard output. Here's an example:
DIR | LIST /S
Running the command this way lets you view DIR output with LIST.
/W : wrap at the right margin. More useful when viewing non-text files.

The parameters mentioned above are not commonly used. If you want to use LIST to read a text file, just type
LIST filename
and that's enough. I'm not very clear on the parameters listed above myself and don't really know how to use them well,
so if anyone knows, please share some experience.
After entering list, all usable keys will be shown on the top line of the screen. They are roughly the ones used in
word processors, like PGUP, PGDN, HOME, END, and so on. Some comparatively special keys are:
F : find the specified string.
N : find the next string matching the search condition.
P : print.
LIST is much better to use than TYPE. Those who use 4DOS, don't forget this function.

4DOS has a special function: it can record every command entered by the User. Does the
computer at your home often get messed around with by your younger brothers and sisters when you're not there?
Does the computer at your company often get messed with while you're away,
and after you get off work does someone steal data from it, or delete or alter data?

Don't be happy too soon. 4DOS cannot prevent these actions, because it is only an enhanced
version of COMMAND.COM. But it can record all commands and save them to a file, letting you know what commands
the User (including yourself) has entered, and also record the date and time at that moment,
so that you can keep track of the situation at any time.

Command name: LOG
Command format: LOG filename | ON | OFF | text]
Function: record commands entered and save them to a file.
If no save filename is specified, 4DOS will save it as the default 4DOSLOG in the root directory
of the boot disk. If no parameter is added, it only shows whether LOG is currently enabled.
If a piece of text is added, then when LOG is ON, a piece of text can be added
to the LOG FILE
(when entering a COMMAND there is an 8-character limit, so here you can add annotations).
When LOG is OFF, a header description can be added at the beginning of the LOG FILE
(so that this record file can be categorized and archived).
Record format: command

Execution example: C>LOG
LOG is OFF
This means the recording function is currently not enabled.

C>LOG ON (OFF)
This means the recording function is enabled (disabled) immediately from this point on.

C>LOG /W C:\LOG\LOGFILE
Specify that the recording function be enabled and that it must be saved as LOGFILE in C:\LOG.

C>LOG "Start work on the database system"
Add the text inside "...." to the current position in the LOG FILE or to the beginning of the file.

Author's example: AUTO.BTM : .
.
.
/* Log Active */ ALIAS LA LOG ON
/* Log Delete */ ALIAS LD DEL D:\TEMP\GOD.LOG > NUL
/* Log Edit */ ALIAS LE LIST D:\TEMP\GOD.LOG
/* Log Off */ ALIAS LO LOG OFF
.
.
.
/* how to log */ LOG /W D:\TEMP\GOD.LOG

Notes: actions inside packaged software (such as PC Tools)
will not be recorded, but every command in a Batch file will still
be recorded. Always pay attention to disk space, so the LOG FILE does not grow wildly and cause insufficient disk space.
For other matters, press F1 and check for yourself.

First, let's make sure of 4DOS's compatibility:

Hardware: PC, PC XT, PC AT/386, PS/2, and compatible models are all fully compatible.
System: PC-DOS, MS-DOS, and Chinese system are all compatible.
Network: MS-DOS Compatible networks including 3Com 3+, Novell Netware are all compatible.
Software: Lotus, dBase, DESQview, QEMM, Windows.... and so on are all compatible.

Since compatibility is not a problem, then what about the usage environment?

4DOS can be said to be the first software to support XMS. Although Intel had already defined the XMS specification in '88,
up to now 4DOS is the first released software to support XMS. When 4DOS is loaded at boot time, it first looks for
HMA (High Memory Area), then EMS; if neither is found, it will automatically Swap to disk. In terms of memory,
it has already reached an automatically optimized memory-resident method that saves the most space. All functions and commands are built in.
Frankly speaking, even if you get rid of COMMAND.COM in the boot system and rename 4DOS.COM to COMMAND.COM, there is no problem.

So it can be used directly then, right?

BIN-BON! Correct, if your requirements for your system are that low, then yes, you can indeed use it just like that. But
since 4DOS is so powerful, of course it lets the User set some parameters to make it more flexible. The following is the explanation:
uppercase indicates parts that cannot be changed; lowercase means do as the User likes (but not excessively):

First, add SHELL = d:\path\4DOS.COM in CONFIG.SYS, so when the computer boots it does not
look for COMMAND.COM, and instead uses 4DOS.COM directly as COMMAND.COM.

Parameters: /A:n the size of ALIAS. ALIAS is equivalent to DOS BATCH files, and when executed it is the highest-priority
item to be executed. It is all loaded into Memory first and then executed. The default value is 1024 (bytes,
and the following are all in bytes). If you set many ALIASes, n should also be increased accordingly. ALIASes
beyond the limit will not be loaded. n must be between 256 - 32000.

/E the size of the environment. n is between 256 - 32000. There are two usages:
/E:n directly set the size; the default value is 512.
/E+n if the environment becomes insufficient during use, secondary environment space can be added for use. The default value
is 128, and n must use 128 as the unit, such as 256, 512, 1024..

/H:n the size of the command editing space. 4DOS can recall entered commands for editing. The larger the space,
the more it remembers. The default value is 1024. n is between 512-8192. Newer commands will
push out older ones. You can use the up/down keys to look them up, or use F3 to repeat the previous command after
the current cursor position. After recalling it, you can edit it with Insert or Delete.

/U Swap 4DOS into UMB (Upper Memory Block). If you use a memory manager such as QEMM,
adding this parameter guarantees no conflict, because 4DOS does
the SWAP by itself rather than relying on the manager to SWAP.

/P 4DOS uses the default SWAP method; all variables not otherwise specified are set to their default values.

Example: SHELL=C:\4DOS.COM /A:1024 /E:1024U /H:1024 /P /U

Also : because this is not a book, and time and space are limited, not all parameters are introduced, only the generally common variables.

Next, add SET COMSPEC=d:\path\4DOS.COM in AUTOEXEC.BAT; that's better. When setting PATH,
it is best to put C:\; first. Also remember to include the paths where 4ODS's HELP.EXE and DOS.HLP are located, and
they should have priority over the DOS 5.0 path, otherwise when you press F1 what appears will not be 4DOS but DOS 5.0 HELP.

Speaking of HELP, the HELP function in 4DOS is quite good. Users who have read 4DOS.DOC may as well use F1 to get
a clearer look at 4DOS's functions.

With that, your 4DOS can now be used conveniently and with peace of mind.

Thanks, very detailed.

Some things still have their uses. Thanks.