ADDBUFFERS DRIVE / A, BUFFERS / N The Amiga's floppy disk drive are not fast at the best of times; though the situation has improved with the advent of FFS (Fast Filing System) and directory catching. ADDBUFFERS allocates a small amount of RAM to act as a sector cache or buffer. Since the buffers are one sector long, 22 buffers are enough to store a complete track which should suffice. To gain the greatest benefit from ADDBUFFERS it should be included very early in the Startup-sequence. See Menu: Questions & Answers To find out what a Startup-sequence is if you don't know already. EXAMPLES:- 1>AddBuffer DF0: 1>AddBuffer DF0: 15 ___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________SHELL WINDOW__________________________________ 1>Addbuffers DF0: DF0: has 20 buffers ___________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. ALIAS NAME, STRING / F Alias a short name to an AmigaDOS command. Alias can be used just like normal AmigaDOS commands and your favourite ones should be defined in S:Shell-Startup. ( For the people who don't know what is a Shell-Startup, Go into the Question & Answers menu. EXAMPLES:- 1>Alias D dir ___________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________Shell Window___________________________________ 1>Alias d dir 1>D ram: ___________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. ASK PROMPT / A Gets a "yes" or "no" response from a user in a script file. A "y" answer sets the warn flag: anything else clears it. ASK can be used from the command line but this is a little pointless. A script is a file you make with an text editor like ED, you would type something like this in your text editor. EXAMPLE FOR A SCRIPT ONLY:- ASK "Do you wish to continue Y/N?" IF WARN ECHO "OK, here we go..." ELSE ECHO "OK, I'll stop here." ENDIF ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________Shell Window____________________________ 1>Execute s/Asking Do you wish to continue Y/N? ;(Answer y for Yes) OK, here we go.... 1>Execute S/Asking Do you wish to continue Y/N? ;(Answer n for No) OK, I'll stop here. ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. ASSIGN NAME, TARGET / M One of the most useful Shell commands for hard disk users is Assign. Many games and quite a few utilities do not work from a hard disk without it. The command is used to set up a global name. When a program asks for a disk (to get some information from it) the Assign command steps in and says "That floppy disk is available on the hard drive". However, you won't necessarily want to edit the Startup-Sequence to put your Assign in. For one thing the Startup-sequence tends to grow alarmingly as you assign various disks. For another Commodore actually check for a file called User-Startup, which is where you are supposed to put your Assigns commands (Keeps them all in the same place, you see.). If you want to run a program automatically when your Amiga boots, you can also put the program name in the Startup-sequence or User-Startup. However most programs will do this anyway if you just drag their icons to the WBStartup drawer. Occasionally you will find a program that has to be run from the Startup-sequence, but this is quit rare and is getting rarer. EXAMPLE:- 1>Assign DiskName: DH0:Pathname Diskname is the name of the floppy disk, while pathname is where the contents of the floppy are stored on disk. So say you wanted to use LearnDOS from a draw called AmigaDOS on a hard disk called HD0, you would need one assign (because the program looks for some files in a draw called H-DOS) in most cases you would Assign the name of the draw name like:- Assign AmigaDOS: HD0:AmigaDOS but in this case the Amiga needs to no where the draw called H-DOS is, so it can get the files which AmigaDOS needs. THE EXAMPLE IN THE SHELL WINDOW IS ONLY IF YOU HAVE HARDDRIVE. 1>MakeDir DH0:AmigaDOS 1>Assign H-DOS: DH0:AmigaDOS/H-DOS ___________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________Shell Window________________________________ 1>MakeDir Ram:NewDraw 1>Assign NewDraw: Ram:NewDraw 1>Dir Ram: ___________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. AVAIL CHIP / S, FAST / S , TOTAL / S , FLUSH / S The Available count shows how much memory is free for use - this is tied to the largest count which shows the biggest contiguous block of free memory. Maximum (total) shows the amount of memory fitted and in use shows how much is physically in use at the time. EXAMPLE:- 1>AVAIL CHIP 1>AVAIL ___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Shell Window_________________________________ 1>AVAIL CHIP 938784 1>AVAIL Type Available In-Use Maximum Largest Chip 939144 1156984 2096128 907088 Fast 0 0 0 0 Total 939144 1156984 2096128 907088 ___________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. AmigaDOS I have put this disk together to get the beginners started with AmigaDOS, It is intended only for the beginners. I have tried to make it as easy as possible with step by step instructions, and in a jargon-free manner, and with text you can read without straining your eyes. With every Command there are examples to go with them, some commands are used only in scripts, so i have also put a few scripts on the disk for you to try out. The shell window were you type all your commands in is error- proof, I have full control over the shell window, when you type a command out you will get a prompt, the prompt is universal. It just means whatever follow it should be typed in at the keyboard.e.g. The Prompt ----> Type this?>amigados< 1> You type in everything between the > < in this example you would type AmigaDOS it has got to be typed exactly the same, because that's what shell is all about, everything has to be typed in exactly right down to a space other wise you will get an ERROR. Talking about ERRORS if you type something in the shell window and if you type something wrong, mis-spelled or missed a space out I will give you this message e.g. Type incorrect? Press the left mouse to try again? you press the left mouse button to have another go. I must point out, with me having full control over what you type in you can not delete anything you should not e.g. If you have a HardDrive you will not delete anything from it or add anything to it. In my examples, I only use the Ram: and the disk drive built into your machine which is DF0: If you have a printer, there is also a print utility which you can print out any of the instructions on a command you wish a printout. I will explain how to use it as we go along. Enough of the introduction shall we get started, Click your left mouse button at the bottom of the screen to begin... CD DIR / A AmigaDOS operates under a system of directories and CD stands for Change Directory, keeping it simple, Change directory is used to move around the system Directories (Draws). Used without arguments it returns the current CD. EXAMPLES:- 1>CD 1>CD SYS: 1>CD DF0: 1>CD Utilities ___________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Shell Window_________________________________ 1>CD SYS: 1>CD devs: ___________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. COMMAND ARGUMENTS. The AmigaDOS jargon is quit extensive and unavoidably complex - so when in doubt just try the examples: most are more explanatory than read of text. Command Arguments. All AmigaDOS commands can be made to generate their command templates by entering the command followed by a question mark. For instance: 1>Rename ? FROM/A/M,TO=AS/A,QUIET/S: / A Argument is required and must be supplied. / F Final. Must be last argument on line. / K Keyword. Must be entered with the parameter. / M Multiple. One or more arguments may be supplied. / N Number. A numeric value is expected. / S Switch. Function is active if supplied. COPY FROM / M, TO / A, ALL / S, QUIET/ S Makes a Copy of any File, from one place to another e.g... Form one Directory (draw) to another Directory (draw) or from one Disk to another Disk, it can do much more than simply copy a file from one place to another. But for a beginner this is the basic format. ALL = Copies all files in the directory. QUIET = You will not see anything on the screen. EXAMPLES:- 1>Copy DF0:AmigaDOS to RAM: 1>Copy DF0:c/type to RAM: 1>Copy L: to RAM: All 1>Copy L: to RAM: All Quiet ___________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________Shell Window________________________________ 1>Copy sys:c/type to RAM: 1>Copy L to RAM:l ALL 1>Dir Ram: ___________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. DATE DAY, DATE, TIME The Amiga normally has two clocks - a battery-backed hardware unit, the other implemented in software. The purpose of DATE is to display or set the internal software clock; DATE can also send the current date and time to the date stamp of a named file. It should be noted also, that since the date sets only the software clock, any changes will not be retained after switching off. (note times are in 24 hour clock). EXAMPLES:- 1>Date 19:00:30 1>Date 20-Mar-94 1>Date Date=22-Mar-94 Time=21:50:00 ___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________Shell Window__________________________________ 1>Date 1>Date 21:50:00 1>Date 20-Mar-94 1>Date Date=22-Mar-94 Time=21:50:00 ___________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. DELETE FILE / M /A , ALL / S, QUIET / S This command MUST be used with care since it removes files from disks beyond retrieval and a simple mistake in the command line will delete everything. For our example we will delete a file and a Directory which we will copy to ram: with the command copy. EXAMPLES:- 1>Delete RAM:port-handler 1>Delete Ram:l All 1>Delete Ram:l All Quiet ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________Shell Window____________________________ 1>Copy df0:l to Ram: All Quiet 1>Delete Ram:l/port-handler 1>Delete Ram:l All ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. DIR Dir Dir is one of the most used commands in AmigaDOS - not altogether surprising considering it is the main way to find out a disk's contents. Displays the sorted contents of Disk or a directory (Draw) and one of the most used in AmigaDOS. EXAMPLES:- ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________Shell Window____________________________ 1>Dir Ram: 1>Dir sys:Devs ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. DISKCHANGE DEVICE/A The Amiga normally reads a disk as soon as it is inserted in the drive, however under certain circumstances it is necessary to re-read a disk so the system is aware of changes. Typically this command is used to inform Workbench when disk's volume label (name of the disk) has been changed with ReLabel. Example:- 1>DiskChange DF0: ; Tell AmigaDOS about the new disk. ________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________Shell Window_______________________________ 1>DiskChange DF0: ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. DISKCOPY FROM / A, TO / A, NAME / K, NOVERIFY / S Duplicate an entire disk. This command is very important if you want to save yourself from a lot of heartache and misery - disks go wrong, It's just life. DiskCopy performs a track-by-track copy between one or two disk drives and can format a disk in the process. The NOVERIFY switch turns write verification off. Device DF0: is the Disk Drive built into your Amiga Device DF1: is an extra Disk Drive called external Disk Drive. EXAMPLES:- 1>DiskCopy From DF0: To DF0: 1>DiskCopy From DF0: To DF1: 1>DiskCopy From DF1: To DF0: ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Shell Window______________________________ 1>DISKCOPY From DF0: To DF0: ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. ECHO / M, NOLINE / S, FIRST / K / M, LEN / K / N. TO / K Display text on an output deceive. Echo is like the PRINT command in BASIC. It sends a string of characters to the current output device - (output device is a window like the shell window). EXAMPLES:- 1>Echo "Hello There" 1>Echo "1234567890" First=5 1>Echo "1234567890" Len=5 ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________Shell Window_____________________________ Hello There ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. ED FROM/A FILENAME ED is one of the editors supplied with the Amiga, and you use this to make a script. A script is made of AmigaDOS commands. See Questions & Answers on Scripts. Examples:- ED sys:s/Asking If you try this to close, press the right mouse and from the menu choose quit. ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________Shell Window_____________________________ 1>ED sys:s/Asking ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. ELSE ELSE can only be used from inside a script file. It is supplied as an optional part of the IF...ENDIF construct. If the IF part fails, control jumps to the ELSE part and executes from there until an ENDIF is reached. The command takes no arguments and is meaningless outside an IF...ENDIF. In nested IF...ELSE...ENDIF constructs, ELSE ties to the latest IF encountered. EXAMPLE:- See REQUESTCHOICE END OF SUBJECT. ENDCLI This command is used to terminate the current Shell. EXAMPLE:- 1>Endcli END OF SUBJECT. ENDIF ENDIF is the terminator for an IF...ENDIF or IF...ELSE...ENDIF construct and closes the last IF encountered. It may only be used in script files and is meaningless without at least one IF to tie to. EXAMPLE:- SEE IF END OF SUBJECT. ENDSHELL EndShell will end the currently opened Shell window. EXAMPLE:- 1>EndShell ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________Shell Window____________________________ Don't type anything. ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. ENDSKIP ENDSKIP can be used to terminate a Skip block and is only used inside script files. When the command is encountered the WARN condition flag is set which can be tested for using IF. EXAMPLE:- SEE RequestChoice END OF SUBJECT. EVAL VALUE 1/ A, OP, VALUE 2/ M This command can be used from the Shell to perform simple arithmetic or within scripts to make loop counters and so no. EXAMPLES:- 1>Eval 2 + 2 1>Eval 2 + 2 * 4 * 8 ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________Shell Window_____________________________ 1>Eval 2 + 2 1>Eval 2 + 2 * 4 * 8 ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. EXECUTE FILE / A This command is used to execute any AmigaDOS script file - a text file of AmigaDOS instructions constructed as a program. Many commands only work in scripts or work better from them. This is a very simple command to use. All you do is supply the path and name. EXAMPLES:- 1>Execute sys:s/Asking ________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________Shell Window_______________________________ 1>EXECUTE s/Asking ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. FORMAT DEVICE = DRIVE / K / A, NAME / K / A, OFS / S, FFS / S, NOICONS This command is used to prepare a new floppy disk for use with the Amiga. NOICONS tells Format not to copy the Trashcan Drawer and its icon from the Workbench disk. EXAMPLES:- 1>Format DRIVE DF0: NAME NewDisk NOICONS ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________Shell Window_____________________________ 1>Format Drive DF0: Name NewDisk NOICONS ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. IF NOT/S, WARN/S, EXISTS/K This is the heart and sole of the script languages conditions testing; the head of the IF...ELSE...ENDIF construct. If can only be used in scripts and is meaningless if used on its own. EXAMPLE:- For this example i have wrote a small script file out, using ED e.g. 1>Ed S/Asking ________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________Script______________________________________ ASK "Do you wish to continue Y/n?" IF WARN ECHO "OK, here we go...." ELSE ECHO "Ok, I'll stop here." endif ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________Shell Window_____________________________ 1>Execute S/Asking ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. INFO DEVICE This command is used to retrieve information on all available filing system devices. EXAMPLE:- 1>INFO DF0: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________Shell Window____________________________ 1>INFO DF0: Unit Size Used Free Full Errs Status Name DF0: 837K 1557 201 89% 0 Read Only LearnDOS Volumes available: LearnDOS [Mounted] ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. INSTALL DRIVE / A, NOBOOT / A, CHECK /S The main use of this command is to prepare boot disks. These are ordinary, formatted disks, made special in that they have a customised bootblock at track 0 side 0 block 1 and 2. When the Amiga is reset it check the boot sector to see if a valid boot machine starts. If not, the disk animation reappears and the machine completely refuses to do anything until a valid boot disk is inserted. To install a new disk simply supply the device (Drive) (DF0: or DF1:) EXAMPLES:- 1>Install DF0: 1>Install DF1: You can remove the bootblock to disable booting like this:- 1>Install DF0: NOBOOT The bootblock can be checked like this:- 1>Install DF0: CHECK _________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________Shell Window____________________________ 1>INSTALL DF0: CHECK Appears to be 2.0 OFS bootblock ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. LAB This command is part of the script languages SKIP...LAB...ENDSKIP construct and is meaningless outside a script file. It defines a label (hence LABEL) where the SKIP is to jump to. EXAMPLE:- See REQUESTCHOICE LIST Basically it lists complete file information in an unsorted list like this. EXAMPLE:- 1>List Ram: ________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________Shell Window__________________________ 1>List Ram: ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. LOADWB Simply this command loads and activities the workbench. EXAMPLE:- 1>LoadWb END OF SUBJECT. LOCK DRIVE / A, ON / S, OFS / S, PASSKEY Use this to write protection on any Disks or hard disk or hard partition. A four letter password may also be supplied. EXAMPLES:- 1>Lock DH0: ON 1>Lock DH0: Use Password like this:- 1>Lock DH0: ON ABCD 1>Lock DH0: OFF Passkey=ABCD END OF SUBJECT. MakeDir NAME / M This command is the AmigaDOS level version of New Drawer (although it dose not create an icon). It is possible to create several new directories in one go including sub-directories. EXAMPLES:- 1>MakeDir Ram:NewDraw 1>MakeDir Ram:NewDraw/Draw ________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Shell Window______________________________ 1>MakeDir Ram:NewDraw 1>Dir RAM: ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. NEWSHELL WINDOW, FROM Opens a new Shell window. EXAMPLE:- 1>NewShell Options can be any mixture of the following. Auto:- The window will only open when some output is sent to it. Backdrop:- The Window is opened as a backdrop behind all other windows on the screen. The title bar and close gadgets are not available in spite of any other active setting. NoBorder:- The window is opened without left and bottom borders. This option is most useful combined with the Backdrop option. NoDrag:- The windows title bar is available but it cannot be moved around the display. 1>NewShell Window=con:0/200/640/100/Testing 1>NewShell Window=con:0/200/640/100/Testing/Noborder/Nodrag If you try this to close the window type ENDCLI ________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________Shell Window___________________________ 1>NewShell Window=con:0/200/640/100/Testing ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. PATH PATH/N This command can be used to check the current paths or add new ones. The path are a list of directories which will be search when you enter a command from the Shell. The command is located by name and the first occurrence found in the list will be executed. If no matching name is located an error (-----: not found) will be generated. EXAMPLE:- 1>Path ________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________Shell Window___________________________ 1>Path ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. PROMPT This command is used to alter the default prompt and is best added to the Shell-startup file. You can make the prompt anything you want although it can be reset back to it's default value by entering the command without an argument. The following codes have a special meaning: %R Insert the last return code (RC). %S Insert the current path read by CD. %N Insert the current CLI number. The default prompt is constructed thus:- Prompt %N.%S> EXAMPLE:- 1>Prompt "Your next command Please>" I'm keeping full control of the Shell window so we won't try this one. (Sorry) END OF SUBJECT. RELABEL DRIVE/A, NAME/A This command may be used to change any disks name from AmigaDOS. EXAMPLE:- 1>ReLabel 1:Relabel Drive DF0: Name MyDisk END OF SUBJECT. RENAME FROM/A/M, TO = AS/A, QUIET/S This is a simple command for renaming files and directories. And that, in a nutshell is it. EXAMPLE:- 1>Rename sys:Test MyTest ____________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________Shell Window_______________________________ 1>Copy sys:test to Ram: 1>Rename test mytest 1>Dir Ram: ____________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. RequestChoice TITLE/A This command was introduced for AmigaDOS3 and is one of the useful additions to the system. It presents an interactive system file requester and returns a number indicating which gadget has been pressed. The command finds all sort of uses in scripts where Ask is far too limiting. the following script shows this:- Example:- 1>Execute s/Choice _____________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________Script_______________________________________ Lab Start RequestChoice >env:YesNo "" "Testing:-*nClick No?" "No" If $YesNo EQ "1" Skip start Back endif if $YesNo EQ "0" RequestChoice >env:YesNo "" "Testing:-*nIf*nLab*nSkip*nEndIf*nEndSkip*n*n Click No to EndSkip?" "Yes" "No" ;All one line If $YesNo EQ "1" Skip start Back if $YesNo EQ "0" endskip endif endif ____________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ _________________________Shell Window_________________________________ 1>Execute s/Choice ______________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. RESIDENT NAME, FILE This command should be used to store commonly used commands in the C: If you Resident some of the commands from your disk you will not need the disk to call the command. Example:- 1>Resident c/Dir END OF SUBJECT. RUN COMMAND/F This command is used to start a commands as background processes, in other words a process that dose not take over the current console window. If this command is used in a script it will Run Command or Program but the script will carry on and not wait until the Command or Program has finished. EXAMPLE:- 1>Run c/Dir END OF SUBJECT. SEARCH FROM/M, SEARCH/A, ALL/S This command will look for the text string that you specify in all the files in a directory. EXAMPLE:- 1>Search DF0:s/ "Startup-sequence" file all END OF SUBJECT. SETDATE FILE/A When you create or modify a file or directory, AmigaDOS changes its datestamp. You use this command to change the stamp on any file or directory. EXAMPLE:- 1>Setdate Ram:NewDraw Today 1>Setdate Ram:NewDraw Monday 12:00 END OF SUBJECT. Shell Keyboard Short-Cuts. Cursor Key Ctrl Sequence Action. Up None Back one line of history Down None Forward one line of history Left None Back one character Right None Forward on letter Shift-Down None Clear line Shift-Up None Search History Shift-Left Ctrl-A Start of line Shift-Right Ctrl-Z End of Line Back-space None Delete character left None Ctrl-W Delete word left None Ctrl-C About current command None Ctrl-D About current script› _________________________________________ To use Search History type in a letter and then Shift-Up and everything with that starts with that letter will pop up. ---------------------------------------- SKIP This command is only for use in scripts. It is a form of the GOTO statement found in almost all high-level languages. Of course, since there are no lines numbers in scripts, the command jumps to a label defined by LAB. Example:- See REQUESTCHOICE END OF SUBJECT. Hello and Welcome to AmigaDOS Tutorial. The first thing I will do is explain about these two windows. They are both easy to use. I will explain this window you are reading this text from, When you are reading the text and come to the bottom of the window there is more text to read it you will have to use your mouse and the left mouse button, There is a scroll bar at the right of the window and at the bottom of the scroll bar you will see to arrows one pointing up and the other pointing down, DO THIS NOW >> Get hole of your mouse and move the mouse pointer to the arrow pointing down and click the left mouse button a couple of times. Every time you get to the bottom of the text press the down arrow a couple of times to read more text. Press the arrow again? If you press and hold the left mouse button down the text will keep scrolling until you leave go of the left mouse button or until you reach the end of the text as you are pressing the left mouse button down you will notice a small box moving down. If you press the up arrow you will move the text down so you can read the text again, and the small box will move up. Now for the bottom window this window is your shell window, to use this you must move the mouse pointer into the window to highlight the window, you will notice the windows borders change to orange, when the window is highlighted you can start to type in your commands. Also to read more text in the top window you must move the mouse pointer in the top window to highlight the top window SO DON'T FORGET TO USE THE TOP WINDOW OR BOTTOM WINDOW YOU MUST MOVE THE MOUSE POINTER IN THE WINDOW. Right back on the subject of the bottom screen the Shell window, this is were you type all AMIGADOS Commands in. If you type a command in the bottom window and if the writing scroll`s of and you can not read it, move your mouse pointer over to the two small boxes on the top left of the Shell window the second box in is called the zoom gadget click on this and the window will zoom out and fill the hole screen and over this text window to get back just click the zoom gadget again. Try this out now, move your mouse pointer to the bottom screen the shell window and click on the zoom gadget that`s the second small box on the shell window and when the screen zoom`s out move the pointer to zoom gadget and click it again so it go`s back to a small window again and you will be able to read the text on this window. The Prompt ----> 1> The prompt is universal. It just means whatever follow it should be typed in at the keyboard. That's what AmigaDOS is all about- leaving behind the "buttons" approach and discovering how to communicate with a computer from a keyboard. Right, I hope you know how to use the windows now? If not press the up arrow on the right and scroll the text back up to the top and read through again. If you thing you know how to use the windows read on. How to Print a Command. ----------------------- If you are reading a command and you want to print it out for a quick reference go in the Project Menu and select Print, a window will open and at the top of the window you will see the word File with a magnify class next to it click on this with the left mouse button and a file requester will pop up and in the file requester you will see a list of commands with .Doc on the end. Use the scroll bar on the right of the file requester to scroll through the list of commands, when you see the command you want to print out click on it a couple of times with your left mouse button. This will take you back to the print window, If you want to print another command just click on the magnify class next to the word file and choice another command and then just click print. To get back to AmigaDOS Tutorial click on the exit box. Printer Setup. -------------- If for some reason the Print program dose not work use Printer Setup, It's in the Project menu. I won't go into how to use this program because if you have a printer you will know how to use it. How to Learn all the commands. ------------------------------ To Learn all the Dos Commands make sure this window is highlighted, again by moving the mouse pointer in top window and click the left mouse button, NOW press and hold the right mouse button and you will see MENU at the top of the screen like this:- Project ( A to I ) ( L to W ) Question & Answers Keeping the right mouse button pressed move the mouse pointer over one of them and a menu will drop down with the DOS Commands showing, move the pointer to the Command you want to Learn and it will jump to that Page telling you all about that Command and examples for you to type in as you learn them, because i think this is the best way to learn by experimenting with them. Please remember I have put this program together with the thorough of a complete beginner who has never really clicked on the Shell icon form the Workbench and now they want to learn more about the computer other than playing games, not for advice user. Typing a command in. -------------------- If you want to put your hand at trying out a command you are reading, go in the Project menu and select 'Try this Command?' and you will be Prompt'ed in the Shell window what to type in. When you select 'try this Command?' it will show you the command you are reading at the time. Some of the commands and Q-A there are no examples to try out, if you try to select 'Try this Command?' it will be disabled, if you select a command and there is an example it will automatically enable it self so you can try that command out. DON'T FORGET TO MOVE YOU MOUSE POINTER INTO THE WINDOW YOU ARE WORKING IN. E.G.. If reading the text in the top window move the mouse into the top window and if you are working in the shell window move the mouse into that window. A prompt will pop up in the Shell Window e.g. Type this?>amigados< >1 You can't go wrong just type what ever is between the > < if you type it in wrong, You can have another go or another.......... Examples. --------- Examples are there only as examples you only type in what ever is in the shell window, the one I've drawn under the text you are going to be reading. However you can print or jot the examples down and try them out in any other shell window. A lot more. ----------- There is a lot more you can do with Shell DOS, but with this disk, It will get any beginner started with Shell DOS. Press the right mouse button and have fun. TYPE FROM/A This is a useful command that can display the contents of any readable file. Example:- 1>Type sys:s/Asking ______________________________________________________________________ _________________________Shell Window_________________________________ 1>Type s/Asking ______________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. UNALIAS NAME This command dose exactly the opposite to ALIAS - that is it removes an alias definition from Shells alias list. EXAMPLE:- 1>Alias D Dir 1>Unalias D ________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________Shell Window___________________________ 1>Alias D Dir 1>UnAilas D ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. VERSION This command is normally used to retrieve the version number of the Workbench and Kickstart in use. EXAMPLE:- 1>Version ________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________Shell Window___________________________ 1>Version ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. WAIT /N SEC = SECS/S, MIN = MINS/S, UNTIL/K Wait will cause a script or the shell window to wait a specified amount of time or until a designated time. EXAMPLE:- 1>Wait 3 SECS 1>Wait 30 MINS 1>Wait until 12:30 ________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________Shell Window___________________________ 1>Wait 5 SECS ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. WHY When a command fails to work what's the first thing that goes through your mind? OK, the second... WHY? That's exactly what this command dose - it tells you more about WHY a command failed. EXAMPLE:- 1>Why ________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________Shell Window___________________________ 1>Delete Ram:ABC 1>Why ________________________________________________________________________ END OF SUBJECT. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Collecting Shell. Q/ How do i access Shell? A/ Insert your Workbench disk into the drive, switch on your Amiga and wait for the Workbench to load. When all disk activity has creased, double click on the workbench disk icon. This will display a window full of icons on your screen. Double click on the system draw and in the top lefthand corner of the screen there should be an icon labelled Shell. Double click on this and a window should appear on the Workbench screen containing a cursor and the following: 1. SYS> This is the Shell prompt, and is basically Shells way of saying "OK, you've activated me, now what do you want me to do". If you now type Dir you should get a directory of the Workbench disk. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Disk Formatting. Q/ Why do disks need to be formatted? A/ When you buy a blank disk, it is not intended for exclusive use by your Amiga - it could be used by any other computer with a 3.5 inch disk drive, such as an Apple Macintosh or PC. In order to use a disk on your Amiga it must first be converted into a format the Amiga understands. Questions - Answers. -------------------- DiskCopy Q/ How do i copy everything on a disk to my HardDrive? A/ Try typing this in:- 1>Copy DF0:#? SYS: All Questions - Answers. -------------------- Drop Shell. Q/ Can I drop straight down into Shell instead of having to wait for Workbench to load? A/ yep, just press [CTRL] 'D' together. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Execute command. Q/ Can i execute a command from the Workbench?. A/ Yes under WorkBench 2 or 3 it is not necessary to open a shell window to execute an AmigaDOS command. All you have to do is use the 'Execute Command' entry in the WorkBench menu. The hotkey for this command is Amiga & E held down simultaneously. You can type any command you like into the gadget which appears on screen, and if there is any resulting output window will be opened to display it. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Extra Drives. Q/ I keep seeing extra floppy drives for sale. Is this because the one in my machine is unreliable. A/ No, but many people feel that one is not enough. This is vary true if you don't have a hard drive. You can add up to three extra floppy drives to the A1200, but usually one extra is enough. Disk drives, You can get one about £50 pounds UK, and they make such a difference. Some games will detect an extra disk drive and use it, so it does benefit gameplayers as well as those who like to dabble with AmigaDOS. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Install. Q/ How do I install a disk with only one disk drive? I tried typing 'Install df0:' from the Shell, but a requester appeared asking me to insert the workbench disk. When I did so, I got an error message saying that the disk is write-protected. Is there a way to make it realise that I want to install my own disk and not the WorkBench one? A/ There are two ways around this annoying problem. The first is to put your WorkBench disk in the drive and type: 1>Install > The Amiga will respond with a list of the possible options and wait for you to type in those you require. At this point, take out the WorkBench disk and put in the one you want to install. When the drive light has gone off, type:- 1>DF0: And press RETURN. Your own disk will then be installed. The alternative is to copy the install program from C directory of the WorkBench on to your RAM disk, using the command:- 1>Copy DF0:c/install Ram: You can then insert your own disk and install it immediately with:- 1>Install DF0: It is a good idea, if you have enough memory, to copy those AmigaDOS commands that you use the most into Ram disk. It can save you an awful lot of disk swapping. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Making a self - booting disk. Q/ Can you explain how i can make a self - booting disk? A/ I was reading a mag (I won't say which one) the other day, on just the subject basically it told you, to make a self-booting disk you have to Format a new disk ;Format a newdisk Install your disk ;Put a bootblock on the disk MakeDir YourDisk:S ;Call your self-booting disk YourDisk MakeDir YourDisk:C MakeDir YourDisk:DEVS MakeDir YourDisk:LIBS MakeDir YourDisk:L And then make a script file called 'Startup-Sequence' and in that script is something like this:- Echo "This is a Auto-booting disk" Assign T: Ram: Assign ENV: Ram: LoadWB Endcli >NIL: And that's it, next month i will tell you how to put the commands on the disk to make it complete. Which make's me laghth, I know they what you to buy the mag next month but for the sake of coping 4 commands to your disk which will only take another paragraph or two, just makes me laghth. Also I know a lot of people have got a extra drive but what if you have not? I will go through with you and make a Auto-Booting disk. To make a simple disk that will boot the workbench, using just one drive you will have copy some files to Ram:- I have put a script together to do this for you, looking like this:- Copy sys:c/LoadWB to Ram: Copy sys:c/EndCli to Ram: Copy sys:c/MakeDir to Ram: Copy sys:c/format to Ram: Copy sys:c/copy to Ram: Copy sys:c/install to Ram: Copy sys:libs/icon.library to Ram: All you have to do is run the script with:- 1>Execute s/copyfiles Now change the CD to Ram: 1>CD Ram: Type the next eight lines in exactly one after the other (Please don't type in the ( 1> ) this is the prompt, you type everything after this. Put your NewDisk in DF0: 1>Format Drive DF0: Name NewDisk 1>Install df0: 1>MakeDir S: 1>MakeDir C: 1>MakeDir LIBS: 1>Copy Ram:LoadWB to NewDisk:c 1>Copy Ram:EndCli to NewDisk:c 1>Copy Ram:icon.library to NewDisk:libs Next, you'll have to create a 'StartUp-Sequence' file. This file, which must be located in the S directory, is a script file that is executed by AmigaDOS when you first boot your Amiga. Put AmigaDOS disk in Drive Df0: and type in:- 1>CD DF0: 1>Ed NewDisk:s/startup-sequence When ED is running type the next five lines exactly, When you have typed the five lines in, Press the ESC, x and the RETURN key, you will be asked to put NewDisk: your the drive, put your new disk in the drive and it will save your startup-sequence script to your newdisk in the S: directory. Echo "This is a Auto-booting disk" Assign T: Ram: Assign ENV: Ram: LoadWB Endcli >NIL: And that's all There is to it. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Not a DOS Disk. Q/ When I put my fabulous game disk into my Amiga a little picture comes up on the Workbench and underneath it says 'DF0:NDOS'. What on earth is going on? A/ The dike you have put into your drive can be read by Amiga, but it is not in a format AmigaDOS can understand. This often happens with games disks because they are copy-protected, which involves a custom bootblock to tell your computer how to access the data. Because the Amiga can't access the data through Workbench this makes it much harder to copy the disk and means that nasty people don't make copies and give them away to their friends. To run these disks you must boot up on them directly, not through Workbench. Questions - Answers. -------------------- P.D Software. Q/ What is PD? A/ One of the things that has made the Amiga the popular machine it is today is the large amount of Public Domain software available. Everything from ray-tracing programs to rave tracks is available for only a couple of pounds. Public Domain (PD) is a pretty general term, but what it basically means is that the authors of a disk have decided to make it widely available by specifying that anybody can copy the disk, as long as only small sum of money changes hands. If you've bought a PD disk from a PD company, you are free to make as many copies as you like for your friends or family. Although PD is a general term, there are several specific types of PD. If a program is 'Freeware', you can distribute and use it as much as you like with no restrictions. If a program is 'Shareware', you distribute it as much as you like, but if you use it regularly, you should send a certain sum to the programmer. Usually, he'll supply you with a newer or upgraded version of the disk in return. The other common type is 'Licenseware', where the author has granted permission for one or several PD companies to distribute the program, in return for a percentage of the profits. You aren't allowed to pass these programs on, but they still shouldn't cost you more than a fiver. So where do you get all these lovely programs from? Check the pages of Amiga Format or CU Amiga (mags), which contain adverts from the many companies who specialise in PD. These range from on person copying disks in their bedroom to professional companies with offices and full-time staff, but any good PD company should be willing to help you get hold of the program you need. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Print a File. Q/ How do i Print a file I typed in using ed out form Shell window? A/ If your printer is uses Parallel Port than type this:- 1>Copy S/yourfile to PRT: On the other hand if your printer uses Serial Port type this:- 1>Copy S/yourfile to SER: By the way if you want to use your Shell window as a type writer type this in:- 1>Copy * to PRT: or 1>Copy * to SER: To make it stop press the Ctrl down and then c, Then RETURN a couple of times to get your prompt back. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Saving a file. Q/ I am trying to save a file to a disk, but i keep getting a message coming up saying 'Disk is write protected'. What is going on? A/ Simple. The write-protect tab on the disk is open, which means you can't put anything else on the disk. There is a hole in the top right-hand corner of every 3.5-inch disk. When you can see through the hole. the disk is write-protected and you cannot change any of the information on that disk, although it is still possible to read information from it. To un-protect a disk simply slide the black plastic tab over until it clicks into place and covers the hole. Beware that many disks are write-protected for a reason, though, such as original programs disks, games and important data disks. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Saving Data. Q/ When saving data to a disk i occasionally get a 'No disk in drive DF0:' message. When I click 'Retry' everything continues as usual, but why does this happen? A/ The Amiga only checks for a disk in the drive about once a second. As soon as it finds one it takes about another second or two to read the information from the disk so that AmigaDOS knows exactly what kind of disk it is. If you insert a disk and try to save data to it before the Amiga has recognized it as a valid device (a proper Amiga disk) the system will display this message. Nothing bad has happened, but try to be a bit more patient in future. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Shell-startup. Q/ What is the Shell-Startup A/ The Shell-Startup is a script in your S: Directory (Draw), When you use the command newshell this script is Execute so for example your shell-startup could be something like this:- ________________________________________________________________________ __________________________Shell-startup_________________________________ alias 0 cd dh0: alias 1 cd dh1: alias d0 cd df0: alias d1 cd df1: alias r cd ram: alias exit endcli alias d dir alias ex execute prompt "Your next command please>" ________________________________________________________________________ Questions - Answers. -------------------- Shelling out. Q/ Just what is the point of using Shell instead of Workbench? A/ Although many of the functions of shell are common to Workbench, Shell is a more powerful system that enables you to do things Workbench can't handle. For example, using Shell you could copy every file starting with the letter 'T' in all directories to a sub-directory called Backup, and give all the files an extension name. That is just not possible with Workbench. Another example: copying a file is easy enough using Workbench, but what if you want to copy several hundred files. It would take ages with Workbench, but Shell provides a useful operation called Pattern Matching or Wildcard useage. This enables you to specify a group of files based around a selection criteria by using the characters # and ?. So if you had a disk in DF0: with files on it called Pic1, Pic2, Pic3, and Letter1, Letter2, Letter3, you might use #? like this:- copy DF0: #? DF1: This copies all files on DF0: to another disk (DF1:). Copy DF0: Pic #? This instructs Shell to copy all files beginning with the word Pic, and so all three Pic files would be copied. Copy DF0: #?2 This copies the files containing the number 2, so Pic2 and Letter2 are copied. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Speech Q/ My friend had an Amiga and it could do speech just by typing things into a little window. How do i do that on mine? A/ You don't. The speech handler was removed from Workbench 3. If you get hold of the speak-Handler and the Say command from any PD Library, it will work on the Workbench 3. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Startup-Sequence. Q/ What is a Startup-sequence? A/ Simply, A startup-sequence is a script full of AmigaDOS commands and it belongs in the S: Directory (Draw). Every time you load the Workbench Disk it looks for this script and it Executes it to set up the Workbench. A Startup-sequence is on most disks but the commands in the script veray, it all depends on what you want the disk to do. Questions - Answers. -------------------- What's the DOS. Q/ What is AmigaDOS? A/ AmigaDOS stands for Amiga Disk Operating System. A strange name because it isn't the Amiga's operating system! It has its critics (quite a few of them) because it is nervously difficult to get into. Learning to use AmigaDos is a little like learning a programming language, itcan be daunting at first but once you've cracked it you'll find a whole new world opens out to front of you. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Write Protected. Q/ I am trying to save a file to a disk, but I keep getting a message coming up saying 'Disk is Write protected '. What is going on? A/ Simple. The write-project tab on the disk is open, which means you can't put anything else on the disk. There is a hole in the top right-hand corner of every 3.5-inch disk. When you can see through the hole, the disk is write-protected and you cannot change any of the information on that disk, although it is still possible to read information from it. To un-protect a disk simply slide the black plastic tab over until it clicks into place and covers the hole. Beware that many are write- protected for a reason, though, such as original program disks, games and important data disks. Questions - Answers. -------------------- Write the script. Q/ What is a script file? A/ A script file is best thought of as a program that you write yourself that uses Shell commands as its instructions. It's a bit like programming in BASIC with each line containing a command that performs a specific instruction. AmigaDOS scripts enable you to carry out complex tasks simply by entering a single command. For example, if you wanted to transfer several important files from a number of different directories to disk every evening, instead of copying each file individually, you could write a script file that contained all necessary copy commands. Then, by using the Execute command to run your script, the files would be transferred in one go.