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| Hi Newbies! Congratulations! |
| |
| You made the first important step in understanding SvarDOS. You found |
| the Quick instruction manual for SvarDOS! |
| Many of the reported commands also work in Windows and - with |
| restrictions - in Linux and Mac OS so that this manual also helps you |
| to understand the basics of all these OSes. |
| |
| CHAPTER ONE: |
| |
| Let's start: |
| |
| You are at C:\ and have no idea what to do? |
| Simply enter: |
| "ver" (help is "ver /h") and SvarDOS shows you the version number of |
| the Kernel and the Shell (command.com). |
| As a next try: |
| "dir" or "dir /p" or "dir /w" or "dir /?" |
| What happens? This command shows the content of the current "dir"ectory |
| (folder) where you actually are. Depending on which option you have |
| chosen you see it without sort order, page wise, in lines or you see |
| the help to this command which offers much more options. You can do this |
| in each folder where you are. The help should be available via: |
| "command /?" e.g. "dir /?" or in some cases |
| "command -h" or |
| "command --help" |
| for each executable ("*.exe") file so that it is not necessary to open |
| the manual for each command. This was step 01. |
| |
| As you started in C:\ you should see among others: |
| "kernel.sys", |
| "autoexec.bat", |
| "config.sys" and maybe |
| "command.com" (SvarDOS command.com is different to FreeDOS!). |
| The kernel is, what it's name says: the kernel. Without it, the |
| OS will not boot. You will hear about "autoexec.bat" and "config.sys" |
| later. |
| "command.com" is a very important file. Inside it there are a lot of |
| commands that can be executed by simply typing the command's name. |
| As they are inside command.com you will not find external .exe files and |
| it is recommended to know the names of the important ones by heart. |
| As most of these commands also exist in Windows it is not a wasted time |
| to know the most important ones of them. |
| "dir" with its options is one of them. Other important commands inside |
| command.com are: |
| "cls", "cd", "copy", "del", "echo", "md", "path", "rd" "ren", "set", |
| "ver" and much more. |
| It makes really sense to keep at least the mentioned commands in mind as |
| Windows command line (yes, it still exists!) also uses them and Linux |
| also uses commands with other names that do in about the same job. |
| This was step 02. |
| |
| Now type: |
| "cls" + ENTER |
| and you will see that it clears the screen. |
| Type: |
| "md TESTDIR" + ENTER and then |
| "dir" + ENTER |
| and you will see that a new "dir"ectory (folder) "TESTDIR" has been |
| created. You will see that a directory shows a sharp click |
| "<TESTDIR>" ("dir") as attachment or the name in square brackets like |
| "[TESTDIR]" ("dir /w") depending on which option you used. |
| Files show an extension with max 3 characters and - depending on the |
| option you have chosen at "dir" - the size and the creation date of the |
| file. You created your first folder!!! |
| Now type: |
| "cd TESTDIR" + ENTER |
| and you suddenly are in the folder |
| "C:\TESTDIR". Typing |
| "dir" shows you two symbols: |
| "." and "..". |
| "." means "current directory" whereas |
| ".." means "there exist directories closer to C:\". Means: with |
| "cd FOLDERXX" (FOLDERXX is your foldername) you come into the folder. |
| With: |
| "cd .." you come back one folder closer to C:\. |
| Within a folder you can create another folder, e.g. "SUBDIR1" by |
| typing: |
| "md SUBDIR1" when you are inside "C:\TESTDIR". With the |
| "cd SUBDIR1" you get in, with |
| "cd .." you get out. If you want to move back to "C:\" directly you |
| can enter: |
| "cd \" or "cd C:\". |
| This works with all existing directories and you can crossjump to |
| other folders (e.g.: cd C:\SVARDOS\DOC"). |
| You see that it is simple to move through the hard disk with a few |
| commands! This was step 03. |
| |
| Well, such were the times before graphical user interfaces! But it still |
| works on modern systems, maybe the commands change a little. |
| OK, now we have created a folder: |
| "TESTDIR" and a subfolder: |
| "SUBDIR1" |
| inside. Nobody wants to give folders such a name. After one week nobody |
| remembers what it was good for. Please keep in mind that SvarDOS like |
| all other DOSes only supports 8.3 which means that the maximum length |
| is 8 characters for the file name and 3 characters for ending, e.g. |
| "filename.txt". The ending says something what the file is good for. |
| File and folder names are unique in a directory. But you can use the same |
| filename with another ending, e.g.: |
| "filename.doc" in the same folder. They can also be used in another |
| folder. |
| Folders must not be longer than 8 characters. As the folder names are |
| nonsense we want to delete the EMPTY folders again. Very simple: You go |
| to the subfolder that is most far away from: |
| "C:\" in this case: |
| "C:\TESTDIR\SUBDIR1", check if it is empty, (Which command? - correct: |
| "dir", more later), go back to: |
| "C:\TESTDIR" (Which command? - correct: "cd ..") and then |
| "rd SUBDIR1". Check if "TESTDIR" is empty and then go back to: |
| "C:\" and enter: |
| "rd TESTDIR". Your test directories have gone to NIRVANA! |
| In case that there were files inside one of the folders you have to |
| delete or move them first. Depending on if you want to delete ALL files |
| (dangerous!) or only a special file you can enter: |
| "del *.*" (*.* = wildcard = ALL!) or: |
| "del filename.ext". |
| You can also use: |
| "*.txt" for ALL text files or "blah*.*" |
| for all files starting with "blah". For deleting directories you have |
| to move out of the EMPTY folder first, otherwise you would cut the tree |
| you are sitting on. So "del" is used for deleting one or more files and |
| "rd" for removing EMPTY directories. |
| This was step 04. |
| |
| You want to keep the folders "TESTDIR" and "SUBDIR1" because important |
| files are inside but don't like the folder name? No problem, rename the |
| folders so that you can keep them in mind. |
| As you have deleted these folders at the end of step 04, you can now |
| check if you kept in mind how you created them. Eeehhmmm? You got it? |
| If yes, goto: |
| "C:\" (Which command? - correct: cd \ or cd C:\) and enter: |
| "ren TESTDIR URGENT" then go to "C:\URGENT" (I am sure you now know |
| the command) and enter: |
| "ren SUBDIR1 CONTRACT". Now you should have the folders |
| "C:\URGENT\CONTRACT" instead of "C:\TESTDIR\SUBDIR". |
| Let's create a file now. You can use the external SvarDOS command: |
| "sved" or another editor to do so. |
| SVED works very simple but a little different than modern editors |
| like e.g. Windows Notepad. Simply type: "sved", the UI opens, type the |
| "ESC" button - and you get a choice "Open file", "Save", "Save as..." |
| Close file", "Change EOL" (=end of line in DOS or Linux style) and "Quit". |
| You can also run "sved", type a text and save via "ESC". |
| Even for a Newbie it should simple to understand. But this can be done by |
| everyone. Are we everyone? NO! We test "ECHO"! What will it do? I am sure |
| you already heard what happens if you enter: |
| "echo Hello World!" If not, check. Simply type it. |
| Now we do not send the result to the monitor but into a file. |
| "echo Hello World! > C:\URGENT\CONTRACT\world.txt". |
| You can put a second sentence inside by typing: |
| "echo I am fine! How are you? >> C:\URGENT\CONTRACT\world.txt." |
| ">>" adds the text in a new line. |
| You created your first simple text file, guess, where you can find it? |
| And how to open it with the "sved" command? Of course, very simple. In |
| Windows you can open it by searching the file in a folder and double- |
| clicking on the filename. The corresponding program opens automatically. |
| In SvarDOS you do nothing else, but vice-versa: |
| "sved C:\URGENT\CONTRACT\world.txt" |
| Means: You say: use program "sved" and open the file "world.txt" in this |
| or that folder. |
| If this should not work, type: |
| "C:\SVARDOS\sved C:\URGENT\CONTRACT\world.txt" |
| This was step 05. |
| |
| With the command: |
| "copy" you can do exactly what the name says. Basic rule: |
| You copy a file from source to target, remember where world.txt is now. |
| "copy C:\URGENT\CONTRACT\world.txt C:\URGENT" and you have the document |
| twice. Instead of "world.txt" you can also use wildcards, e.g.: |
| "*.txt" or "world*.*" or "*.*". |
| Instead of copying you can move files from one position to another one |
| with the EXTERNAL (not in command.com) command: |
| "move". Also, basic rule: |
| Move the file from source to target, e.g.: |
| "move C:\URGENT\CONTRACT\world.txt C:\URGENT\test2.txt |
| |
| Fantastic! Do you want to know more about this great OS? |
| Then do not miss the second chapter of Newbie! Take a short break now! |
| This was step 06. |
| |
| |
| CHAPTER TWO: |
| |
| You survived chapter one of the Newbies help? And you are still |
| interested in SvarDOS? Great! |
| |
| Maybe you tried to execute some commands in Newbie01 and they did not |
| work? There appeared a message: command or filename not found? You are |
| too stupid why this happened? What did you make wrong? Nothing! Every- |
| thing is correct! |
| The reason why this happens is very simple: Without certain commands |
| that will follow later, SvarDOS can only execute commands that are in |
| your current folder. For example, sved is at: |
| "C:\SVARDOS\" whereas you are at "C:\". SvarDOS looks at "C:\" and |
| does not find "sved.com". So it simply says: I do not know this command, |
| I have no idea where to find it. |
| To fix this and a lot of other things SvarDOS uses two files that |
| are at "C:\". They are named: |
| "config.sys" and "autoexec.bat". |
| The files are written in standard text format so that it is very simple |
| to modify them to your needs by using the (guess which command?): |
| "sved" command, e.g.: |
| "sved C:\config.sys" or sved "C:\autoexec.bat" |
| "config.sys" is the first file and loaded by the kernel. |
| By using it you can simply load drivers that are needed to enhance the |
| abilities of SvarDOS. For example you can install "himemx" and "emm386" |
| (not in SvarDOS!) which allow to use more than 640 KiB RAM, load the |
| basic CD-ROM driver, modify screen size (restricted), country settings, |
| create a menu where you can choose if you want to start with these or |
| those drivers depending on your current needs. One important thing you |
| should do in config.sys is to load "command.com" and its ENVIRONMENT |
| to be permanent which has a lot of benefits. But that's going to far |
| here. |
| This was step 07, one of the most important. |
| |
| When "config.sys" is loaded the next important file, "command.com" will |
| be loaded (depending on the settings you made in config.sys, e.g.: |
| "SHELL=C:\command.com /E:512 /P=C:\autoexec.bat". |
| You can use others shells instead of command.com, but this one is |
| delivered with SvarCOM. |
| "/P" says which autoexec.bat SvarDOS should use to start. With |
| "/E" you can define the size of the ENVIRONMENT which is very |
| helpful as already mentioned on the top of this text. |
| |
| "autoexec.bat" is a so called batch file. It is read and interpreted |
| line by line. So you can tell SvarDOS that it should change the country |
| settings and codepages, load a keyboard driver, a mouse driver, the |
| second part of the CD-ROM driver or start a special program / game / |
| whatever automatically. |
| With the command: |
| "set" that is built in command.com you can create variables that fill |
| up the mentioned ENVIRONMENT, for example with: |
| "set TEMP=C:\TEMP" (folder for temporary files) |
| "set DOSDIR=C:\SVARDOS" (%DOSDIR% now means: C:\SVARDOS) |
| "set NLSPATH =C:\%DOSDIR%\NLS" (uses "DOSDIR" -> C:\SVARDOS\NLS) |
| "set TZ=UTC" (for timezone settings) or |
| "set LANG=DE" (for language settings) or |
| "set OS_VERSION=1.3" and so on. |
| To load them automatically, you can write the commands above into |
| autoexec.bat. |
| SvarDOS writes these settings into the ENVIRONMENT as variables and keeps |
| them as long as it is running. You can add other variables later, but |
| please do not use a name that already exists. The command: |
| "set" without options lists all existing variables, |
| "set variable=" deletes a variable. |
| Example: |
| "echo The current version of SvarDOS is: %OS_VERSION%" . |
| shows: |
| "The current version of SvarDOS is 1.3" ." |
| There are more things that can be used by autoexec.bat, but this leads |
| too far for a basic introduction. |
| But now you know how you can modify your SvarDOS OS to work with it. |
| I hope I was able to help you with this basic information. Of course, |
| I could tell you much more, but this is only a first step into SvarDOS. |
| The last step 08 is done! |
| |
| Thank you for reading! |
| |
| Willi Spiegl |