DOSCMD(OPCSDEFS) Optical Printer Control System DOSCMD(OPCSDEFS) NAME doscmd - define DOS commands that dont need the ! prefix USAGE doscmd [command] EXAMPLES doscmd dir # 'dir' command doesnt need the '!' prefix doscmd man # 'man' command doscmd -clear # clears all 'doscmd' definitions (K2.02+) DESCRIPTION This command allows execution of commonly used DOS commands within OPCS without the need for using the '!' prefix. Assuming 'doscmd dir' has been defined, you can then type 'dir' or 'dir *.run' or 'dir *.run /w' without needing the '!' prefix. When the command you defined is invoked from OPCS, all arguments to the right of the command up to the end of line are passed as arguments to the DOS command. Comment characters ('#') can be used: dir *.run /w | more # comment text can appear here In the above example, 'dir *.run /w | more' is passed to DOS, and the comment character and text will be ignored. The -clear option clears all previous doscmd definitions. LIMITS The user may define up to 30 such commands, each command having a 10 character limit. The command itself should be in the current directory or in the execution PATH if it is an 'EXE' or 'COM' program. Refer to your DOS manual for setting execution paths. GOTCHYAS This command can seem really nice at first, but it does have drawbacks. o RUN scripts containing commands that are really DOSCMD definitions will fail on other OPCS systems that don't have the same DOSCMD definitions. For portability, use the ! prefix instead of assuming DOSCMD's have been defined. o ALL arguments to the right of the DOS command will be passed as arguments for the command. This means you cannot 'stack' other DOS or OPCS commands on the same line. If you really need to stack commands after a DOS command, use "!" instead. HISTORY The -clear option was added in K2.02 SEE ALSO !(OPCS) - execute a dos command RUNCMD(OPCSDEFS) - define your own OPCS command as a RUN script ORIGIN Gregory Ercolano, Los Feliz California 04/08/91