doskey(CMD) 19 June 1992 doskey(CMD) Name doskey - recall MS-DOS commands, edit command lines, and create macros Syntax doskey [/reinstall] [/bufsize=size] [/macros] [/history] [/insert|/overstrike] [macroname=[text]] To start the doskey program and use the default settings, use the follow- ing syntax: doskey Description The doskey program is a terminate-and-stay-resident program. You can use doskey to customize and automate MS-DOS command lines. When installed, doskey occupies about 3 kilobytes of resident memory. Parameter macroname=[text] Creates a macro that carries out one or more MS-DOS com- mands (a doskey macro). macroname specifies the name you want to assign to the macro. text specifies the commands you want to record. Switches /reinstall Installs a new copy of the doskey program, even if one is already installed. In the latter case, the /reinstall switch also clears the buffer. /bufsize=size Specifies the size of the buffer in which doskey stores commands and doskey macros. The default size is 512 bytes. The minimum buffer size is 256 bytes. /macros Displays a list of all doskey macros. You can use a redirection symbol (>) with the /macros switch to redirect the list to a file. You can abbreviate the /macros switch as /m. /history Displays a list of all commands stored in memory. You can use a redirection symbol (>) with the /history switch to redirect the list to a file. You can abbreviate the /his- tory switch as /h. /insert|/overstrike Specifies whether new text you type is to replace old text. If you use the /insert switch, new text that you type on a line is inserted into old text (as if you had pressed the Ins key). If you use the /overstrike switch, new text replaces old text. The default setting is /overstrike. Notes Recalling a command To recall a command, you can use any of the following keys after loading doskey into memory: Up Arrow Recalls the MS-DOS command you used before the one dis- played. Down Arrow Recalls the MS-DOS command you used after the one dis- played. PgUp Recalls the oldest MS-DOS command you used in the current session. PgDn Recalls the most recent MS-DOS command you used. Editing the command line With the doskey program, you can edit the current command line. The fol- lowing list describes the doskey editing keys and their functions: Left Arrow Moves the cursor back one character. Right Arrow Moves the cursor forward one character. CtrlLeft Arrow Moves the cursor back one word. CtrlRight Arrow Moves the cursor forward one word. Home Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line. End Moves the cursor to the end of the line. Esc Clears the command from the display. F1 Copies one character from the template to the MS-DOS com- mand line. (The template is a memory buffer that holds the last command you typed.) F2 Searches forward in the template for the next key you type after pressing F2. doskey inserts the text from the tem- plate up to but not including the character you specify. F3 Copies the remainder of the template to the command line. doskey begins copying characters from the position in the template that corresponds to the position indicated by the cursor on the command line. F4 Deletes characters, beginning with the first character in the template, up to a character you specify. To use this editing key, you press F4 and type a character. doskey deletes up to, but not including, that character. F5 Copies the current command into the template and clears the command line. F6 Places an end-of-file character (CtrlZ) at the end of the current command line. F7 Displays all commands stored in memory, with their associ- ated numbers. doskey assigns these numbers sequentially, beginning with 1 for the first (oldest) command stored in memory. AltF7 Deletes all commands stored in memory. F8 Searches memory for a command that you want doskey to dis- play. To use this editing key, type the first character, or the first few characters, of the command you want doskey to search for and then press F8. doskey displays the most recent command that begins with the text you typed. Press F8 repeatedly to cycle through all the commands that start with the characters you specified. F9 Prompts you for a command number and displays the command associated with the number you specify. To display all the numbers and their associated commands, press F7. AltF11 Deletes all macro definitions. Specifying a default insert mode If you press the Ins key, you can type text on the doskey command line in the middle of old text without replacing the old text. However, once you press Esc, doskey returns your keyboard to replace mode. You must press Ins again to return to insert mode. The /insert switch puts your keyboard in insert mode each time you press Esc. Your keyboard effectively remains in insert mode until you use the /overstrike switch. You can temporarily return to replace mode by press- ing the Ins key; but once you press Esc, doskey returns your keyboard to insert mode. The cursor changes shape when you use the Ins key to change from one mode to the other. Creating a macro You can use the doskey program to create macros that carry out one or more MS-DOS commands. You can use the following special characters to control command opera- tions when defining a macro: $G or $g Redirects output. Use either of these special characters to send output to a device or a file instead of to the screen. This character is equivalent to the redirection symbol for output (>). $G$G or $g$g Appends output to the end of a file. Use either of these special double characters to append output to an existing file rather than replace the data in the file. These dou- ble characters are equivalent to the ``append'' redirection symbol for output (>>). $L or $l Redirects input. Use either of these special characters to read input from a device or a file instead of from the key- board. This character is equivalent to the redirection symbol for input (<). $B or $b Sends macro output to a command. Using one of these spe- cial characters is equivalent to using the pipe (|) on a command line. $T or $t Separates commands. Use either of these special characters to separate commands when you are creating macros or typing commands on the doskey command line. $$ Specifies the dollar-sign character ($). $1 through $9 Represent any command-line information you want to specify when you run the macro. The special characters $1 through $9 are batch parameters, which make it possible for you to use different data on the command line each time you run the macro. The $1 character in a doskey command is similar to the %1 character in a batch program. $* Represents all the command-line information you want to specify when you type the macro name. The special charac- ter $* is a replaceable parameter that is similar to the batch parameters $1 through $9, with one important differ- ence. Here, everything you type on the command line after the macro name is substituted for the $* in the macro. For example, to create a macro that performs a quick and unconditional format of a disk, type the following command: doskey qf=format $1 /q /u For information about quick and unconditional formatting, see the format(CMD) command. You can use the doskey command in a batch program to create a macro. Running a macro To run a macro, type the macro name starting at the first position on the command line. If the macro was defined with $* or any of the batch pa- rameters $1 through $9, use a space to separate parameters. You could run the qf macro created in the previous example to format a disk in drive A quickly and unconditionally. To do so, you would type the following command: qf a: You cannot run a macro from a batch program. Creating a macro with the same name as an MS-DOS command You might want to create a macro that has the same name as an MS-DOS com- mand. This can be useful, for example, if you always use a certain com- mand with specific switches. To specify whether you want to run the macro or the MS-DOS command, follow these guidelines: + To run the macro, begin typing the macro name immediately after the command prompt, with no space between the prompt and the command name. + To carry out the command, insert one or more spaces between the com- mand prompt and the command name. Deleting a macro To delete a macro type the following command: doskey macroname= Examples The /macros and /history switches are useful for creating batch programs to save macros and commands. For example, to create a batch program named MACINIT.BAT that includes all doskey macros, type the following command: doskey /macros > macinit.bat To use the MACINIT.BAT file, edit it to include the doskey command at the beginning of each macro line. To create a batch program named TMP.BAT that contains recently used com- mands, type the following command: doskey /history > tmp.bat To define a macro with multiple commands, use $t to separate commands, as follows: doskey tx=cd\temp$tdir/w $* In the preceding example, the tx macro changes the current directory to TEMP and then displays a directory listing, using the wide display for- mat. You can use $* at the end of the macro to append other switches to the dir command when you run tx. The following macro uses a batch parameter for a new directory name. The macro first creates a new directory and then changes to it from the current directory. doskey mc=md $1$tcd $1 To use the preceding macro to create and change to a directory named BOOKS, you type the following: mc books To create a macro that uses batch parameters for moving a file or group of files, type the following command: doskey mv=copy $1 $2 $t del $1