China DOS Union

Since quite a few people are still rather vague about how to write the 4DOS.INI file, I spent
some time translating this thing, hoping it will be helpful to everyone. Of course the translation is not very good; in some
places it is quite a “literal translation” approach, and may not read very smoothly, so please forgive me.

When quoting it, please indicate the source. If there are any errors, please also notify me. Thanks.

┌────────┐
│ 4DOS.INI Format │
└────────┘

The 4DOS.INI file is an ASCII file, containing directives that directly control 4DOS, in the primary
and secondary shells. Blank lines will be ignored, and may be used to separate groups of direct
settings. You can place comments in this file by starting a line with a semicolon. You can also
place comments at the end of any line, except one containing a text string value, by entering
at least one SPACE or tab after the value, a semicolon, and your comment.

This file has two sections, identified by square brackets. The section names are:

: When 4DOS runs as the primary shell, the directives set in
this section will be used.

: When 4DOS is used only as a secondary shell, the directives set
in this section, and override any corresponding primary shell settings.

Lines before each section may be used for both primary and secondary shells.


┌────────┐
│ 4DOS.INI Location │
└────────┘

When 4DOS loads as the primary shell, it looks for:

* In the "SHELL=" line in config.sys, the "@d:\path\inifile " option.

* The file 4DOS.INI in the COMSPEC directory (the directory where 4DOS.COM is stored).

* The file 4DOS.INI in the root directory of the boot disk.

When 4DOS is a secondary shell, it reprocesses this file, using the one given to the primary
shell (if that file contains a section), then processes any
"@d:\path\inifile" option on the secondary shell command line. You can OVERRUN
reprocessing the primary shell file in secondary shells, using the following direct
INIFILE (see below, Advanced Directives).



┌──────────┐
│ Initial Directives │
└──────────┘


The directives in this section control how 4DOS starts, and where it looks for its own
files.

4StartPath = Path:
Sets the disk and directory where 4DOS will look for the 4Start and 4EXIT batch files (please
see -StartUP- in 4HELP).

Alias = nnnn (1024):
Sets the alias list size (in bytes). The range is 256 to 32000 bytes.

AutoExecPath = Path:
Sets the path used to find AUTOEXEC.BAT, if 4DOS is the primary shell with the /P option.
Its default value is the root directory of the boot disk.

EnvFree = nnnn (128):
Sets the minimum amount of free environment space (in bytes). That will be used by secondary
shells. The range is 128 to 32000 bytes.

Environment = nnnn (512):
Sets the environment size (in bytes). The range is 256 to 32000 bytes.

HelpOptions = :
Sets the default options for the 4DOS help system.
/M Use monochrome on color displays.
/S0 Run the mouse at half the default speed.
/S2 Run the mouse at twice the default speed.
/S4 Run the mouse at four times the default speed.
/X Disable mouse support.

HelpPath = Path:
When F1 is pressed or the help command is used, sets the path used to find the file 4HELP.EXE.
If this directive is not used, 4DOS will search the current directory and every directory in PATH.

History = nnnn (1024):
Sets the history list size (in bytes). The range is 512 to 8192 bytes.

LogName = file (none):
Sets the Log file name and path. If only a path is given here, 4DOS will use the default log
file name (4DOSLOG). Using LogName does not turn logging on; you must use
LOG ON to enable it.

PauseOnError = YES | No:
"Yes" tells 4DOS to pause at this message: "Error in 4DOS.INI, press any key
to continue processing" (Error in the 4DOS.INI file, press any key to continue processing.
) This is used to display any error messages about particular command lines in 4DOS.INI. "No"
continues processing, and after the error message is displayed it still is not displayed.

Swapping = Swap type ...:
Sets the 4DOS memory swapping types. As the primary shell, memory swapping normally
requires about 96K EMS memory, or 92K XMS memory or disk space. Secondary
shells normally require 32K EMS, or 24K of XMS or disk space.

The memory swapping types can be:

EMS: 4DOS will swap to EMS expanded memory, if it is available.

XMS: 4DOS will swap to XMS extended memory, if it is available.

d:\path: 4DOS will create the swap file on the specified disk and directory.
This file will be called 4DOSSWAP.NNN. "NNN" is the shell level number.

None: Do not do memory swapping. This temporary portion of 4DOS will always remain in memory.
Compared with the other memory swapping types, this will reduce the memory
space available to applications by about 90K.

You may specify multiple swapping types. 4DOS tries to SWAP in the order they are listed.
The default swapping specification is:

Swapping = EMS, XMS, x:\, None

"x" is the boot disk (when used as the primary shell) or the COMSPEC disk (when used as a
secondary shell).

UMBEnvironment = Yes | NO:
"Yes" loads the primary environment into UMB (upper memory block), if it is available.

UMBLoad = Yes | NO:
"Yes" loads the resident portion of 4DOS into UMB (upper memory block), if it is available.

┌────────┐
│ Color Directives │
└────────┘


These directives control the colors 4DOS uses for the display. The color format is:

fg ON bg

fg is the foreground color, bg is the background color, and bc is the border color. The color names are:

Black (black) Blue (blue) Green (green) Red (red)
Magenta(magenta) Cyan (cyan) Yellow (yellow) White(white)

Color names and the keywords BRIght, BLInk, and BORder
may be shortened to three letters.

ColorDir = ext1 ext2 ...:colora;ext3 ext4 ... :colorb ... (none):
Sets the directory colors. The format is the same as used in the COLORDIR environment variable (see -VARS-).

ListColor = Color:
Sets the colors used by the LIST and SELECT commands.

StdColor = Color:
Sets the standard color, used when the CLS command is used without specifying a color,
or used in LIST and SELECT when ListColor is not set.


┌──────────┐
│ Keyboard Mapping Directives │
└──────────┘

The directives in this section allow you to change the command-line editing keys
and other internal function keys used by 4DOS. Their effect is only on 4DOS itself, and does not affect other
programs (including the help system). 4DOS processes all command-line editing keys
specified before looking for key aliases (ALIAS). For example, if you specify Shift-F1 as help, and also
specify Shift-F1 mapped to a key alias, the key alias will be ignored.

There are three pre-mapped keys: Tab and Shift-Tab (mapped respectively to next
file and previous file), and Ctrl-Bksp (mapped to DelWordRight). If
you need to clear these assignments, you can assign Tab, Shift-Tab, or Ctrl-Bksp
to a key alias, using the ClearKeyMap directive. A detailed description is
below under Advanced Directives.

For correct keyboard names and CODE information, see -KEY-.

General input keys
──────

These directives are effective whenever 4DOS asks for keyboard input, including command-line
editing and the DESCRIBE, ESET, INPUT, LIST, and SELECT commands. (Scrolling
in the command history list is controlled by NextHist and PrevHist (see below), not
by the Up and Down directives.)

Backspace = key (Bksp):
Deletes the character to the left of the cursor.

BeginLine = key (Home):
Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.

Del = key (Del):
Deletes the character at the cursor.

DelToBegin = key (Ctrl-Home):
Deletes the characters from the cursor to the beginning of the line.

DelToEnd = key (Ctrl-End):
Deletes the characters from the cursor to the end of the line.

DelWordLeft = key (Ctrl-L):
Deletes the word to the left of the cursor.

DelWordRight = key (Ctrl-R, Ctrl-Bksp):
Deletes the word to the right of the cursor. See ClearkeyMap under Advanced Directives below
if you need to remove the Ctrl-Bksp mapping function.

Down = key (Down):
Scrolls the display to the next line in LIST. Moves the cursor down one line in SELECT and in the command
history window.

EndLine = key (End):
Moves the cursor to the end of the line.

DelLine = key (Esc):
Deletes the entire line.

ExecLine = key (Enter):
Executes or accepts this line.

Ins = key (Ins):
Toggles insert / overwrite mode during line editing.

Left = key (Left):
Moves the cursor left one character; moves the display left 8 columns in LIST.

Normalkey = key (none):
Unassigns a general input key, in order to cancel the key’s available meaning in 4DOS or make it available
for a key alias. This will cause 4DOS to treat the key as a "normal" key with no special
function.

Right = key (Right):
Moves the cursor right one character; scrolls the display right 8 columns in LIST.

Up = key (Up):
Scrolls the display up one line in LIST; moves the cursor up one line in SELECT and the command history
window.

WordLeft = key (Ctrl-Left):
Moves the cursor left one word; moves the display left 40 columns in LIST.

WordRight = key (Ctrl-Right):
Moves the cursor right one word; scrolls the display right 40 columns in LIST.
Command-line editing keys
──────

The following directives apply only to command-line editing (see -EDITING-). They
are effective only at the 4DOS prompt.

AddFile = key (F10):
Saves the current filename completion input and inserts the next matching filename.

CommandEscape = key (Alt-255):
Allows direct input of keys that would normally be interpreted as editor commands.

DelHistory = key (Ctrl-D):
Deletes the displayed history list entry, and displays the previous entry.

EndHistory = key (Ctrl-E):
Displays the last history list entry.

Help = key (F1):
Starts the 4DOS help tool.

NextFile = key (F9, Tab):
Gets the next matching filename. See ClearkeyMap under Advanced Directives below
if you need to remove the Tab mapping function.

NextHistory = key (Down):
Recalls the next command from the command history.

NormalEditKey = key (none):
Unassigns a command-line editing key, in order to use the usual meaning of this key when editing the command line,
or for use as a key alias. This will cause 4DOS to treat this key as a "normal" key
with no special function.

PrevFile = key (F8, Shift-Tab):
Gets the previous matching filename. See ClearKeyMap under Advanced Directives if you
need to remove the Shift-Tab mapping function.

PrevHistory = key (Up):
Recalls the previous command from the command history.

SaveHistory = key (Ctrl-K):
Saves the command line into the history list without executing it.

History window keys
─────

HistWinBegin = key (Ctrl-PgUp):
Moves to the first line of the history when in the history window.

HistWinDel = key (Ctrl-D):
Deletes the selected line from the history window.

HistWinEdit = key (Ctrl-Enter):
Moves a line from the history window to the DOS command editing line.

HistWinEnd = key (Ctrl-PgDn):
Moves to the last line of the history when in the history window.

HistWinExec = key (Enter):
Executes the selected line in the history window.

HistWinOpen = key (PgUp):
Brings up the history window when on the command line.

NormalHWinKey = key (none):
Unassigns a history window key, to cancel the keyboard’s usual meaning in the history window. This will cause
4DOS to treat the key as a "normal" key with no special function.


List keys
───

These directives control the keys used in the LIST command.

ListFind= key (F):
Prompts and searches for a string.

ListHighBit = key (H):
Toggles the LIST "strip high bit" option, which can help with displaying files from certain
word processors.

ListNext = key (N):
Finds the next matching string.

ListPrint = key (P):
Prints the file to LPT1.

ListWrap = key (W):
Toggles the LIST wrap option on and off. The wrap option reflows text at the right margin.

NormalListKey = key (none):
Unassigns a LIST listing key to cancel the usual meaning in LIST. This will cause 4DOS
to treat the key as a "normal" key with no special function.

┌────────┐
│ Advanced Directives │
└────────┘

These directives are used for compatibility with particular products, for uncommon configurations, or for diagnosing
problems. They are not required under other circumstances.

ChangeTitle = YES | No:
Determines whether 4DOS changes the OS/2 meeting title when executing external programs from an OS/2
2.0 DOS meeting.

ClearKeyMap:
Clears all current key mappings. Clear key mapping is a special directive; it has no value or
"=" after it. Use ClearKeyMap if you want to make a key with a 4DOS default
mapping (Tab, Shift-Tab, or Ctrl-Bksp) available for a key alias (ALIAS),
or to clear key mappings in the section inherited from the primary shell. .Clear key
mapping must appear before any other key mapping directive. If you only need to clear
some default mappings, use ClearKeyMap, then recreate the mappings you want to keep
(such as "Tab=NextFile", etc.).

CopyEA = YES | No:
Determines whether the 4DOS copy and move commands try to copy extended attributes when executing
in an OS/2 1.x or 2.0 DOS meeting.

CritFail = Yes | NO:
This is the same as /F on the SHELL= line in CONFIG.SYS. It intercepts DOS critical
errors and reports back a failure message. It is not recommended for normal use, because you will have no
chance to retry on a critical error, and correct the problem that caused it.

DiskReset = Yes | NO:
Enables or disables disk reset after COPY MOVE and RENAME, and before DIR.
Set to Yes if you have problems with disk change detection, on cached or non-standard floppy
drives or with network software, when it incorrectly reads and writes data to disk.

DRSets = YES | No:
Sets 4DOS to normally restore environment variable settings in the DR-DOS CONFIG.SYS file.
Set DRSets to No to disable this feature.

DVCleanup = YES | No:
Does not disable 4DOS’s DESQView close-window Clearup code, and re-enables the Quit
choice in the DESQView menu when at the 4DOS prompt. This will prevent 4DOS from cleaning
up certain resources if you close the 4DOS window from the DESQView menu.

FineSwap = Yes | NO:
"Yes" enables "fine-grained" checking during disk memory swapping. Used only for diagnosing
uncommon memory swapping problems.

FullINT2E = Yes | NO:
Enables full support for COMMAND.COM "backdoor" (interrupt 2E). Effective only when
the primary shell is loaded via the SHELL= command in CONFIG.SYS. See manual
Appendix C for details; information is also in APPNOTES.DOC when a program needs this option.

Inherit = YES | No:
Set to "No" to disable inheritance of aliases and history list in secondary shells.

MessageServer = YES | No:
Enables or disables the "Message server", used to restore error message text from DOS external
commands, such as DISKCOPY and FORMAT.

NetwareNames = Yes | NO:
Set Yes to include a string in the resident portion of 4DOS that can be found when Netware is loaded.
On Netware systems, Netwarenames must be set to Yes, to avoid errors during LOGIN
caused by damaged environment variables.

NextINIFile = file:
This filename must specify the full path. All later shells will read the specified INI
file, and ignore any section in the original 4DOS.INI. Allows workstation
users to move 4DOS.INI to a network disk for secondary shells.

Reduce = YES | No:
Set to "No" to disable the smaller memory swapping size used by secondary SHELLs.
Used only to diagnose uncommon memory swapping problems.

ReserveTPA = YES | No:
Set to "No" to prevent 4DOS from reserving memory for its temporary portion when at the command-line
prompt. Used only to diagnose uncommon TSR or memory swapping problems.

StackSize= nnnn (3584):
Sets the 4DOS internal stack size. The range is 3584 to 8192.

SwapReopen = Yes | NO:
Set to "Yes" to enable reopening of the 4DOS memory swap file if it is closed by another
program. This is required when swapping 4DOS to a Novell Netware disk. Under all
environments, it is used only for diagnostic purposes.

UniqueSwapName = Yes | No:
Set Yes to change the disk swap file name from 4DOSSWAP.nnn to a unique
file name generated by 4DOS. This is only needed when using disk swapping with COMMAND.COM as the primary
shell, or in an OS/2 2.0 DOS meeting. The default is Yes in an OS/2 2.0 DOS
meeting and elsewhere.

┌───┐
│ Example │
└───┘
The following examples give you some IDEA of what you can set in 4DOS.INI. The comments on each directive
are used to explain what they do.

Swap = xms, h:\, c:\
; Try XMS, then RAM disk,
; then the root directory of C:.
Environment = 1792 ; Set environment size
Alias = 6144 ; Set alias size
History = 1024 ; Set history size
UmbEnv=Y ; Primary environment in UMB
BatchEcho = No ; Default is ECHO OFF
EditMode = insert ; Editor in insert mode
CursorO = 100 ; Overwrite cursor 100%
CursorI = 10 ; Insert cursor 10%