[net.micro.pc] Conch version 1.10

rsellens@watdcsu.UUCP (Rick Sellens - Mech. Eng.) (10/18/85)

Conch is an improved command shell for MS-DOS. Version 1.01 of the
program was posted to net.micro.pc a while ago. Version 1.10 is now
ready. It fixes a few bugs as noted below, and adds a simple Un*x
like ! feature. Please send me mail if you would like a copy of the
uuencoded binary. I will either mail it, or if there is sufficient demand
I will post it to the net.

Thanks to everyone for all the interest in Conch.


Notes on the Upgrade to Version 1.10
------------------------------------

The pending buffer will now maintain it's integrity during the addition
of a new vdev, rdev or alias. (Sorry, a minor oversight)

The command search routines now match DOS 3.0 + searching conventions
as I understand them.  If a command is provided with an extension,
Conch will look only for a command with that extension.  If the
command name is prefixed with a drive letter, Conch will look first
in the default directory of the specified drive and then down the
search path, if any.  If the command name is prefixed with a path
(anything containing a / or a \), Conch will search only the path
specified on the command line.

The critical error handling routine (.....error.... Abort, Retry, Ignore?)
was potentially flakey. This is now fixed. When a critical error abort
occurs you are returned to the Conch command line, rather than the DOS
command line.

For those with Un*x reflexes, Conch now checks for a command starting
with a ! and substitutes for it the most recent command that matches the
characters following the !. i.e. !cc will execute the most recent command
that starts with the letters "cc".



Rick Sellens
UUCP:     watmath!watdcsu!rsellens
CSNET:    rsellens%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet
ARPA:     rsellens%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa
Physical: 372A Churchill Court, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada  N2L 6B4

tang@Shasta.ARPA (10/22/85)

> 
> 
> Conch is an improved command shell for MS-DOS. Version 1.01 of the
> program was posted to net.micro.pc a while ago. Version 1.10 is now
> ready. It fixes a few bugs as noted below, and adds a simple Un*x
> like ! feature. Please send me mail if you would like a copy of the
> uuencoded binary. I will either mail it, or if there is sufficient demand
> I will post it to the net.
> 

Yes, please post it to the net, or send me a copy through e-mail.
Thank in advance.

-mkt

E-Mail Address : tang@su-shasta.arpa

rsellens@watdcsu.UUCP (Rick Sellens - Mech. Eng.) (10/22/85)

> I will either mail it, or if there is sufficient demand I will post
> it to the net.

There has been a strong demand, so I am posting version 1.10 to the
net. (I guess this demand means that those cheques will be just
rolling in -- Please remember, Conch is shareware, not public domain.)

The rest of this file contains the READ_ME file for version 1.10 as
well as the initialization file for Conch. The initialization file
should be copied to a file named CONCHRC.
There are two other files that should be coming by. One is the 
uuencoded binary, the other a plain vanilla manual that you can just 
dump out on any ASCII printer.

Thanks to everyone for all the interest in Conch.

Rick Sellens
UUCP:     watmath!watdcsu!rsellens
CSNET:    rsellens%watdcsu@waterloo.csnet
ARPA:     rsellens%watdcsu%waterloo.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa
Physical: 372A Churchill Court, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada  N2L 6B4

-------- cut here --- start of READ_ME file ----------------------
This diskette contains the shareware program Conch, an enhanced command
shell for IBM PCs and compatibles running MS-DOS. The file DOCS.TEX
contains the text of the Conch user's manual. It is composed in the 
form of source for Donald Knuth's TeX typesetting program. If you do
not have access to the TeX program, you can:

	- get a photocopy of the manual from the manual belonging to the
	  person who gave you the copy of this program.

	- print out the DOCS.PLN file on any 80 column ASCII printer. It
	  is a copy of the manual with the formatting commands removed.
	  The output won't be as pretty, but that's life. To print out
	  the manual, use the command "copy docs.pln prn".

	- Buy a copy of the program from the author for $35. It will 
	  come with a hard copy of the manual.

The program is provided with a range of buffer and stack sizes ranging
from small (CONCH.EXE) to extremely large (CONCH4.EXE).  The programs will
use between 42K (CONCH.EXE) and 92K (CONCH4.EXE) of the memory available
in your machine.  This will reduce the amount available for running other
programs in.

The minimum requirements to run Conch are an IBM PC (or equivalent) with
either a colour graphics card or monochrome card, 1 diskette drive and
sufficient memory to hold both Conch and the largest application program
to run under it. Naturally, more memory and a hard drive will make life
more pleasant.

The following files should appear on your diskette, showing the same
sizes and dates.


READ_ME                                      This file
CONCH    EXE    32256  10-15-85   9:39p      The program in different sizes
CONCH1   EXE    34304  10-15-85   9:40p             |
CONCH2   EXE    35328  10-15-85   9:42p             |
CONCH3   EXE    38400  10-15-85   9:44p             |
CONCH4   EXE    42496  10-15-85   9:46p             |
CONCHRC           526  10-15-85   8:31p      A sample initialization file
DOCS     TEX    45243   9-17-85   9:08p      Documentation (TeX Input)
DOCS     PLN    35485   9-24-85   9:34p      Documentation (Plain ASCII)

If you have purchased the source code to the program, the diskette will
also contain these files in the subdirectory SOURCE. Please remember 
that the source code is not shareware, and that you have agreed not to
distribute the source code to any third parties.

BUF_SIZE H         25   9-11-85   9:45p
RSH      H       2000   9-25-85   9:23p
RSH      C      23521  10-10-85   9:09p
RSH_BUFF C      13211  10-05-85  12:06p
RSH_ETC  C      11560  10-10-85   8:54p
REDIR    C       9140   6-23-85   9:03p
PIPENAME C       1156   8-22-85   9:34p
JOHN     C       8834  10-07-85  11:43p
ANS_IO   C       3831   6-23-85   8:40p
LINEDIT  C       4691   5-26-85   5:45p
GETKEY   C       1028   4-02-85   2:06a
GETKEY   H        277   6-13-85   9:15p
MAKE     BAT      223  10-15-85   8:45p
SETJMP   A        783  10-09-85   9:49p

These are the source code files which require the DeSmet C compiler
to convert into executable code. The batch file MAKE.BAT contains
the commands necessary to perform the compilation and linking. Note
that the files pcio.o and exec.o are required from the DeSmet package.








Notes on the Minor Upgrade from V1.00 to V1.01
----------------------------------------------

The exit command will now work, even when included as part of a compound
command group.

Previously, if a token was composed of only a virtual device, any 
trailing backslash was removed so that things like "cd test:" would
be evaluated properly. It now removes trailing slashes as well to be
compatible with either switchar setting.

Previously, if a command expanded to something starting with "command /c"
the shell would move up a line before execution. This was done because
the command.com supplied with DOS versions before 3.1 would throw in
an extra newline when invoked this way. This made it prettier, but now
the command.com in DOS 3.1 does not have the extra newline, so the
first line of output will overwrite the command line --- ugly. This
has been fixed by a test for DOS version number. In any case, if you
want to stop conch from moving up a line, set your aliases to produce
a specific reference to command.com, rather than letting conch search
the path. i.e. use
        alias dir c:\command /c dir
rather than
        alias dir command /c dir


Notes on the Upgrade to Version 1.10
------------------------------------

The pending buffer will now maintain it's integrity during the addition
of a new vdev, rdev or alias. (Sorry, a minor oversight)

The command search routines now match DOS 3.0 + searching conventions
as I understand them.  If a command is provided with an extension,
Conch will look only for a command with that extension.  If the
command name is prefixed with a drive letter, Conch will look first
in the default directory of the specified drive and then down the
search path, if any.  If the command name is prefixed with a path
(anything containing a / or a \), Conch will search only the path
specified on the command line.

The critical error handling routine (.....error.... Abort, Retry, Ignore?)
was potentially flakey. This is now fixed. When a critical error abort
occurs you are returned to the Conch command line, rather than the DOS
command line.

For those with Un*x reflexes, Conch now checks for a command starting
with a ! and substitutes for it the most recent command that matches the
characters following the !. i.e. !cc will execute the most recent command
that starts with the letters "cc".












-------- cut here --- start of CONCHRC initialization file -------------
alias	break		command /c break
alias	cls			command /c cls
alias	copy		command /c copy
alias	date		command /c date
alias	del			command /c del
alias	dir			command /c dir
alias	erase		del
alias	md			command /c md
alias	mkdir		md
alias	path		command /c path
alias	rd			command /c rd
alias	ren			rename
alias	rename		command /c rename
alias	rmdir		rd
alias	time		command /c time
alias	type		command /c type
alias	ver			command /c ver
alias	verify		command /c verify
alias	vol			command /c vol

rdev	con
rdev	com1
rdev	com2
rdev	aux
rdev	prn

vdev	temp		\
-------end of CONCHRC initialization file ----------------------

oleg@birtch.UUCP (Oleg Kiselev x268) (10/22/85)

> 
> 
> Conch is an improved command shell for MS-DOS. Version 1.01 of the
> program was posted to net.micro.pc a while ago. Version 1.10 is now
> ready. It fixes a few bugs as noted below, and adds a simple Un*x
> like ! feature. Please send me mail if you would like a copy of the
> uuencoded binary. I will either mail it, or if there is sufficient demand
> I will post it to the net.
> 
By all means POST it! There will be too many of us wanting a copy!

-- 
DISCLAMER: The above are the opinions of a type V demon who took posession of
me as a result of a failed AD&D summoning spell. Send flames to /dev/Gehenna.
----------------------------------+ With deep indifference,
"I disbelieve an army of invisible|                       Oleg Kiselev.
 mind-flayers!"                   |...!trwrb!felix!birtch!oleg
"OK. They are *still* not there." |...!{ihnp4|randvax}!ucla-cs!uclapic!oac6!oleg

dmt@mtgzz.UUCP (d.m.tutelman) (10/23/85)

Yes, please post Conch.
adTHANKSvance

			Dave Tutelman
			Physical - AT&T Information Systems
				200 Laurel Avenue
				Middletown, NJ 07748
			Logical  - ...ihnp4!mtuxo!mtgzz!dmt
			Audible  - (201)-957-5535
---------------------------------------------------------------