D V C O M M A N D E R






_________________________________________________________________



DV Commander version 1.8

A command-line utility for DESQview

by: William E. Allen






Copyright, 1989-92 by William E. Allen

P.O. Box 834, Howell, Michigan 48843























TABLE OF CONTENTS


SHAREWARE .................................................. 1

DISTRIBUTION ............................................... 1

TRADEMARKS ................................................. 1

INTRODUCTION ............................................... 2

GETTING STARTED ............................................ 2

DVC COMMANDS ............................................... 3
Beep [freq] , [duration] ... /R=n ........................ 3
Desq ......................... 4
DIsable ... .................................. 5
ENable ... ................................... 6
Execute [ options ] [ program params ] ... 6
FOreonly ON | OFF ........................................ 9
Frame ON | OFF .......................................... 10
Goback (no parameters) .................................. 10
GOFore (no parameters) .................................. 10
Hide (no parameters) .................................... 10
Justify ON | OFF [row, col] ............................ 10
Menu ..................................... 11
Name ..................................... 14
Open [,nn] [,H] ... ...................... 15
Resize , , , .................. 16
SHow (no parameters) .................................... 16
Spawn [d:\path] [params] [title] [exec] [memo .. 17
STart .......................................... 18
SUspend (no parameters) ................................. 19
Top (no parameters) ..................................... 20
TOPSys (no parameters) .................................. 20
Wait [10th secs] ........................................ 20

APPENDIX A - COMMAND LINE SWITCHES ......................... 21

APPENDIX B - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ........................ 22



SHAREWARE




SHAREWARE

DV Commander is Shareware. If you find this program valuable and
useful, please register it by sending $15.00 + $1.00 S&H to
William E. Allen P.O. Box 834 Howell, Michigan 48843. Overseas
orders please include $5.00 S&H.

Registered users will receive a companion program, DVP Editor.
See the last page of this guide for more information about DVP
Editor.


DISTRIBUTION

The DV Commander program and auxiliary files are copyrighted, but
you are hereby granted permission to make and distribute copies
for personal, non-commercial use. Use them yourself, give copies
to friends and co-workers, or distribute them for a cost-based
fee (of $10.00 or less) as part of a user's group or bulletin
board service. If you wish to distribute these programs in
connection with any other product, or for use in commercial
applications, please contact me for a license agreement. All of
the files that make up this product must be distribute together,
in an UNMODIFIED form.

The files you should have on the diskette, or in the archive are:

DVC.EXE The executable program file
DVC.DOC This documentation
DVC.REG A registration form: COPY DVC.REG PRN

EXECUTE.DVP Template DVP file for the Execute command

$$-PIF.DVP Example autostart DVP file
DV-PIF.DVP Example DVP: executes DVC Menu DVUTIL
DVUTIL.MNU Example menu file started by DV-PIF.DVP
ST-PIF.DVP Example DVP: executes DVC Start TPC
TPC.DVP Example DVP started by ST-PIF.DVP
TPC.BAT Example batch invoked by TPC.DVP

WHATSNEW.TXT What's new and changed in version 1.7


TRADEMARKS

DESQview, DESQ, and DESQview API are trademarks of Quarterdeck
Office Systems. 4DOS is a trademark of Rex Conn & J.P. Software.








DV Commander User Guide 1



INTRODUCTION



INTRODUCTION

DV Commander is like a command-line version of your DESQview
{DESQ} key (usually your Alt key). From the DOS command line it
can do many of the things you would normally do by tapping the
{DESQ} key.

Among DV Commander's features are:

* DESQview Submenu facility

* Spawn a new task

* Execute commands directly from the DESQview menus

* Open a list of windows automatically

* Start a window with prompting for parameters and directory

* Beep for a specified frequency and duration (useful in a
background batch file to signal success or failure)

* Hide or unhide (Show) a window

* Set the window Frame on or off

* Set Justify mode on or off

* Wait for a specified amount of time

* Resize and position a window

* Make a window background or foreground

* Name mail boxes and check for a named mail box (useful for
making sure a program is started only once)

and more.


GETTING STARTED

To install DV Commander, just copy the files DVC.EXE and
EXECUTE.DVP to your hard disk. DV Commander is easiest to use
when it is in a subdirectory that is included in your PATH, but
you can specify the full path when you invoke DV Commander if its
directory is not in your PATH.

Once installed, type DVC HELP to see a one-screen overview of its
commands.






2 DV Commander User Guide



DVC COMMANDS




DVC COMMANDS

The format of the DV Commander command line is:

DVC COMMAND [optional] /switches

The first word following DVC is the COMMAND. Some commands have
required parameters, some have optional parameters, and some have
both. Required parameters are represented in and
optional parameters are represented in [square brackets]. There
are also a couple of switches that can be used with any command.

Here are the DV Commander commands. The format of each command is
shown, followed by a detailed description. Commands can be
entered in upper or lower case, but upper case letters, at the
beginning of the command names, are used here to show the
shortest abbreviation allowed for each command. An ellipsis is
used to show when parameters can be repeated.


Beep [freq] , [duration] ... /R=n

Use the Beep command to generate a tone of the specified fre-
quency and duration. The frequency is given in Hertz and the
duration is in clock ticks (approximately 18 per second).

This command is useful in a batch file that is running in the
background to signal success or failure. The advantage to using
this DESQview specific program rather than another utility, like
Nortons BE, is that DV Commander uses the DESQview API to create
the sounds and is not dependent upon the timing of the machine.

Optional Parameters:

[freq] is the frequency in Hertz. The default is 900hz.

[duration] is the number of clock ticks to generate the sound.
There are 18.2 clock ticks per second. The default is 7.

Switches:

/R=n n specifies the number of times to repeat all of the tones
given on the command line.

Examples:

DVC Beep 900,1 600,1 /R=10

This example produces a 900 Hertz tone for one clock tick and
then a 600 Hertz tone for one clock tick. The entire sequence is
repeated 10 times. The result sounds like a telephone ringing.




DV Commander User Guide 3



Desq



Desq

The Desq command stacks keystrokes that open the DESQview main
menu and execute commands from it. You can use this command, for
example, to set the DESQview video options, or to use the
DESQview menus to change colors. You can also use this command to
cause DESQview to switch to another window.

Required Parameters:

are the letters and special
characters you use to select various options from the DESQview
menus. The meta commands let you enter the keys you need to use
with the DESQview menus that you would not ordinarily be able to
type on the command line. The 7 meta commands are:

$U Up arrow key
$D Down arrow key
$L Left arrow key
$R Right arrow key
$T Tab key
$B Backtab key
$E Enter Key

Blank spaces are removed from the command line so you can enter
them freely for clarity.

Examples:

DVC Desq R C $D$D $E

This example uses the Rearrange Change colors menu to change the
background color to blue. It would be the same as opening the
DESQview main menu {DESQ}, then pressing R to display the
Rearrange menu, then pressing C to display the Change colors
menu, and then pressing the down arrow twice ($D$D), and finally
pressing the enter key ($E).

DVC Desq 4

This example will switch to window number 4. You could also use:
DVC Desq S4

DVC Desq R V 2 $E

This example uses the Rearrange Video options menu to switch your
VGA monitor into 30 line text mode.

DVC Desq Q Y

Be careful! This example will shut DESQview down completely!

Note: The DVC Desq command uses the BIOS Keyboard Services
function 5 to stack the keystrokes that DESQview will read. This



4 DV Commander User Guide



Desq




function is not supported by IBM BIOS's dated prior to 11/15/85
and may not be supported by all clones.


DIsable ...

The DIsable command will let you disable certain parts of the
DESQview menu system. This can be helpful in a turnkey system
where you might want to restrict access to some, or all, of
DESQview's menus.

Also see the Enable command.

Required Parameters:

is one of the following:

Desqviewmenu Remove access to the main DESQview menu

Switchmenu Remove access to the Switch menu

Openmenu Remove access to the Open menu

Quitmenu Remove access to the Quit menu

You may specify one or more menu types to disable. If you disable
the DESQview Menu you will no longer have access to any of the
DESQview menus. i.e. Taping the {DESQ} key will do nothing.

Note: You can abbreviate the menu names to the first character if
you like.

Examples:

DVC DIsable Quitmenu

This example will disable access to the DESQview Quit menu. If
you tap your {DESQ} key you will notice the Q is no longer
avilable.

DVC DI D
MYGAME
DVC EN D

This example might be used in a batch file to execute a game, or
other program, without access to any of the DESQview menus. The
Enable command is used to re-enable the DESQview menus after the
game ends.

This sequence may be desirable for two reasons. 1. So the game
player doesn't accidentally switch to some other window and
unknowingly blast some keystrokes, intended for the game, into
the masterpiece document you've been working on all day, and 2.



DV Commander User Guide 5



DIsable ...



So the game can use the {DESQ} (Alt) key for its own purposes.


ENable ...

Use the ENable command to enable certain parts of the DESQview
menu system that were previously disabled by the DIsable command.

Required Parameters:

is one of the following:

Desqviewmenu Allow access to the main DESQview menu

Switchmenu Allow access to the Switch menu

Openmenu Allow access to the Open menu

Quitmenu Allow access to the Quit menu

Note: You can abbreviate the menu names to the first character if
you like.

Examples:

DVC ENable Quitmenu

This example will allow access to the DESQview Quit menu assuming
it had previously been disabled. If you press your {DESQ} key you
will notice the Q is once again available.


Execute [ options ] [ program params ]

Use the Execute command to run any program you like in its own
DESQview window. The program you specify is executed in the
current directory and you can pass parameters just as you would
if you were to run it from a DOS command prompt.

DV Commander uses a special DVP file, called EXECUTE.DVP, as a
template to execute your program. It loads a copy of EXECUTE.DVP
and inserts the specified program name and the current directory.
Then it uses the DESQview API to execute the program. There is an
EXECUTE.DVP included with this package that should be fine for
most people. The EXECUTE.DVP file must reside in the same direc-
tory as DVC.EXE, usually C:\DV.

There are several options you can put in the Execute command line
proceeding the program name to override some of the defaults
in EXECUTE.DVP, including the DVP file itself. See [ options ]
below for details.

You can edit EXECUTE.DVP to change the default settings either
with the standard DESQview Change a Program, or, if you've reg-



6 DV Commander User Guide



Execute [ options ] [ program params ]




istered DV Commander, with the DVP Editor. In order to use CP to
edit EXECUTE.DVP you will have to rename it temporarily to some-
thing that CP can handle, such as EX-PIF.DVP, then use Add a
Program to add it to your Open menu. The DVP Editor can simply
edit the file directly.


Required Parameters:

is the name of executable program you want to
run. You can specify it exactly as you would if you were running
the program from your DOS command line.


Optional Parameters:

[ program params ] are any command-line parameters you would
normally pass to the program you are executing.

[ options ] are used to override some of the items specified in
the DVP file template, EXECUTE.DVP.

/D: DEFAULT: EXECUTE.DVP

Specifies the template file to be used instead of EXECUTE.DVP.

/V+ or /V- DEFAULT: from template DVP

Specifies whether Virtualize Text and Graphics are on (/V+ or /V)
or off (/V-). Note: You must be using DESQview/386 for Virtual-
ization to have any effect.

/H+ or /H- DEFAULT: from template DVP

By specifying /H+ (or /H) your program will be started hidden in
the background. Note: This feature requires DESQview 2.26 or
later.

/B+ or /B- DEFAULT: from template DVP

Specifies whether or not your program should be allowed to
execute in the background.

/C+ or /C- DEFAULT: from template DVP

Lets you override the Close on Exit option of your template DVP.
Normally Close on Exit would be on in your template DVP. You
would want to override it by specifying /C- when executing a
batch file. If you don't, the window would close after the first
command in the batch file completed.

/W+ or /W- DEFAULT: from template DVP




DV Commander User Guide 7



Execute [ options ] [ program params ]



Lets you override the Writes Directly to Screen option of your
template DVP.

/M:[,maxmem] DEFAULT: from template DVP

Lets you override the memory requirements. If you specify only
the first number it is use both for the minimum and maximum mem-
ory for the program. As in the DVP, the memory is specified in k
bytes.

/P: DEFAULT: the current directory

Normally your program is executed in the current directory. This
option lets you specify another directory path in which to start
your program. If you use this option, make sure the program you
are trying to execute will be found from the specified directory.

/R:, , <# rows>, <# columns>
DEFAULT: from template DVP

This option lets you specify the starting position and size of
the window.


Examples:

DVC Execute xcopy *.* a:

This example will execute the DOS XCOPY command to copy all the
files from the current directory to drive A:

DVC E /H xcopy *.* a:

As in the previous example this will execute the DOS XCOPY com-
mand to copy all the files from the current directory to drive
A:. In addition, the /H option will cause it to execute while
hidden in the background.

DVC E /D:c:\dv\bd xcopy *.* a:

In this example the execute command will use the DVP file spec-
ified in the /D option to start the xcopy program. Since the DVP
file name is exactly two characters (not counting the path), the
name will be automatically expanded to the standard DESQview DVP
file name of: BD-PIF.DVP.

DVC E /P:c:\util xcopy *.* a:

This example uses the /P option to execute the xcopy program from
the C:\UTIL directory.

Here are the defaults in EXECUTE.DVP supplied with DV Commander:

Memory:



8 DV Commander User Guide



Execute [ options ] [ program params ]




Minimum 256k Maximum 640k
System 6k EMS 65535k

Execute blank
Parms blank
Directory blank

Window:
Maximum Lth 25 Wth 80
Starting Row 0 Col 0 Lth 25 Wth 80

Writes text directly to screen Yes
Virtualize Text Yes Graphics Yes
Pages for Text 1 Graphics 1

Com Ports (00=No,01,02,FF=Both) 00
Close on exit Yes
Allow Close Window command Yes
Uses math coprocessor No
Share CPU when foreground Yes
Can be swapped out Yes

Uses its own colors Yes
Runs in background Yes
Keyboard conflict (0..F) 0
Share EGA when FG Zoomed Yes
Protection level (0..3) 0
Script Buffer size 0
Initial mode FF
Requires floppy diskette No
Start Hidden No Pause count 0
Swap interrupts 00 through FF


FOreonly ON | OFF

The FOreonly command lets you select whether the window will run
only when it is in the foreground, or if it will continue to run
when it is switched into the background. The default for a given
window is specified in its DVP.

Examples:

DVC FOreonly ON

This example will set the window so it runs only when it is in
the foreground. To allow it to run in the background type:

DVC FOreonly OFF






DV Commander User Guide 9



Frame ON | OFF



Frame ON | OFF

The Frame command lets you turn the frame on and off for a
window.

Examples:

DVC Frame OFF

This example will remove the frame from the window where it is
executed. To restore the frame type:

DVC Frame ON


Goback (no parameters)

The Goback command will make the window where it is executed the
bottommost in the system. If the window is the foreground window,
the next window in the list becomes the foreground window.

Examples:

DVC Goback



GOFore (no parameters)

The GOFore command will make the window where it is executed the
foreground window. Use this command with caution because it may
disrupt the window currently running in the foreground.

Examples:

DVC GOFore


Hide (no parameters)

The Hide command will cause the window where it is executed to be
hidden. The task will continue to execute if it is allow to to
run in the background.

Examples:

DVC Hide


Justify ON | OFF [row, col]

The Justify command lets you set automatic justification mode on
or off for a window. Normally, with justify mode on, DESQview
will automatically scroll your window to keep the hardware cursor



10 DV Commander User Guide



Justify ON | OFF [row, col]




visible. If you set justify mode off, DESQview will not scroll
your window.

Optional Parameters:

[row, col] The row and column of the upper left corner of the
window.

Examples:

DVC Justify OFF 2,2

Turn justify mode off and position the window so row 2 column 2
are visible in the upper left corner of the DESQview window.


Menu

The Menu command is DV Commander's most popular feature. It lets
you extend the DESQview Open Window menu with unlimited sub menu
capabilities.

Required Parameters:

is the only parameter. It is the name of your
menu file and may contain a path. The file extension of .MNU will
be assumed if omitted. Each line in the file represents one item
on your sub menu. Use any pure ASCII text editor to create your
menu. Each line in your menu file has the following format.

[d:\path] [params] [title] [exec] [mem]

is the text that will be displayed on the menu. It
should be enclosed in double quotes if it contains any of the
following characters: Space, Tab, Equals sign, Comma, or
Semicolon. The first upper case letter or digit found in the
string will be highlighted and used as the selector character.

Optionally there is a special form of the description you can use
to make the selector character appear on the far right of the
description like DESQview's own menus. For example the menu line:

"D=DESQview Datebook" DA

would display in the menu as:

DESQview Datebook D

The selector character is the first character followed by the
equals sign (=) in the second position of the description string.

is the name of the DESQview Program Information File.
Specify the full path for the file if it is not in the current



DV Commander User Guide 11



Menu



directory. If the DVP file name follows the standard DESQview
convention of xx-PIF.DVP, where xx is the unique 2 letter code
used on the Open Program menu, you need specify only the first
two letters.

[d:\path] is the drive and path you want to be the default when
your program is started.

[params] are any program parameters you want to pass to your
program when it runs. If you wish to pass any of the following:
Space, Tab, Equals sign, Comma, or Semicolon in your parameters,
enclose the entire string in double quotes "Like This".

[title] will override the default program name specified in the
DVP. It may be a string of up to 30 characters and must be
enclosed in double quotes if it contains any of the special
characters mentioned above.

[exec] will override the program/execute parameter in the DVP
file.

[memory] overrides the minimum and maximum memory require- ments
specified in the DVP file.

NOTE: The optional parameters, [d:\path] [params] [title] [exec]
and [memory], are positional and they can not be omitted except
on the right. You can use an asterisk (*) to hold the place of
any parameter you do not want to specify.

For example say you wanted to modify only the amount of memory
allocated to the program to 128k and leave all the other
parameters alone you would use a line in your menu file something
like:

"D=DESQview Datebook" DA * * * * 128

where the four asterisks hold the places of the: DIRECTORY,
PROGRAM PARAMETERS, TITLE, and EXECUTE parameters.

Special Commands:

%menu "Applications Menu"

This special command allows you to give a name to the menu. If
omitted, the title from the DVP used to execute the DVC MENU
command is used as the menu title.

%separator

Use this special command to include a separator line on your
menu like the ones used used in the DESQview menus.

Examples:




12 DV Commander User Guide



Menu




DVC Menu DVUTIL

This command will display a sub menu defined in the file
DVUTIL.MNU. DVUTIL.MNU is an ASCII text file as follows:

%menu "DV Utilities"
"E=Memory Status" MS
"S=DESQview Setup" SE
"P=DESQview Palette" PL
%separator
"C=DESQview Calculator" CA
"D=DESQview Datebook" DA
"L=DESQview Link" DL
"N=DESQview Note Pad" DN
%separator
"M=Manifest" MFT
"W=QD White Papers" QWhite

The first item on each line is the description to display in the
menu. The items are enclosed in double quotes because they
contain spaces and/or other special characters. There is room on
the menu to display up to 22 characters.

Since the description is of the special form, with the selector
letter in the first position followed by an equals sign, the menu
will be displayed in the DESQview-style with the selector
characters on the far right:

+--------------------------+
| DV Utilities |
| |
| Memory Status E |
| DESQview Setup S |
| DESQview Palette P |
|--------------------------|
| DESQview Calculator C |
| DESQview Datebook D |
| DESQview Link L |
| DESQview Note Pad N |
|--------------------------|
| Manifest M |
| QD White Papers W |
+--------------------------+

You can create the DVP files you invoke with your sub menus using
Change a Program as you usually would. Test them using your
DESQview Open Window Menu. When you are sure the DVP's work
properly, move them to another directory and use Delete a Program
to remove them from your DESQview Open Window Menu.

NOTE: Registered users can use the DVP Editor to create and
modify the DVP which is much easier than using Change A Program.




DV Commander User Guide 13



Menu



To invoke your sub menu using the DV Commander program, setup a
DESQview Program Information File as follows:

============================================================
Change a Program

Program Name......: Menu DVUTIL

Keys to Use on Open Menu: DV Memory Size (in K): 128
------------------------------------------------------------
Program...: DVC.EXE
Parameters: Menu DVMENU
Directory.: C:\DV
------------------------------------------------------------
Options:
Writes text directly to screen.......: [N]
Displays graphics information........: [N]
Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [N]
Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2)..........: [N]
Requires floppy diskette.............: [N]

Press F1 for advanced options Press <- when you are DONE
============================================================
Change a Program Advanced Options

System Memory (in K)..: 1 Max Program Memory Size....: ___
Script Buffer Size....: 0 Max Expanded Memory Size...: ___
Text Pages: 1 Graph Pages: 0 Init Mode: ___ Ints: 00 to FF
------------------------------------------------------------
Window Position:
Max Height: 25 Starting Height: 1 Starting Row...: 0
Max Width.: 80 Starting Width.: 1 Starting Column: 79
------------------------------------------------------------
Shared Program
Pathname..:
Data......:
------------------------------------------------------------
Close on exit.........: [Y] Uses its own colors.......: [N]
Allow Close Window....: [Y] Runs in background .......: [ ]
Uses math coproc......: [N] Keyboard conflict (0-4)...: [0]
Share CPU when FG.....: [Y] Share EGA.................: [Y]
Can be swapped out....: [ ] Protection level (0-3)....: [0]

Press F1 for standard options Press <- when you are DONE
============================================================

Name

The Name command assigns a name to the default mailbox associa-
ted with the window where it is executed. This is handy when used
in conjunction with the /ONLYIF and /NOTIF command line switches
(defined later) to keep from opening a particular window more
than once.




14 DV Commander User Guide



Name




Required Parameters:

is a name to assign to the default mail box.

Examples:

DVC Name Fred

In this example DV Commander will attempt to name the default
mailbox "Fred". If there is already a mailbox with the same name,
DV Commander will display an error message and terminate with an
error code of 1. The error code can be tested in a batch file:

DVC Name Fred
if errorlevel 1 exit
rem continue with batch file...


Open [,nn] [,H] ...

Use the Open command to automatically open one or more windows.
You can optionally specify an amount of time to wait before
opening the next window, and you can specify that the window be
hidden after it is opened.

This command is useful to open a default set of windows every
time you start DESQview. To do this, set up a DVP using Change a
Program so that the program name starts with some characters that
will cause it to be placed at the beginning of your Open menu.
Then simply press your Enter Key twice after DESQview starts and
the DESQview menu is displayed. I use "$$AutoStart Apps" as the
program name. Set the program to "DVC.EXE" and put "OPEN ..." on
the parameters line. See the example $$-PIF.DVP file on the DV
Commander release disk (or archive).

Of course you can use the DESQview LEARN facility to establish
your default windows too, but the LEARN facility takes some
global memory, and doesn't give you the option NOT to start your
default windows.

Required Parameters:

is the name of the DESQview Program Information
File. Specify the full path for the file if it is not in the
current directory. If the DVP file name follows the standard
DESQview convention of xx-PIF.DVP, where xx is the unique 2
letter code used on the Open Program menu, you need specify only
the first two letters.

Optional Parameters:

[,nn] is a number of 1/10th seconds to wait after opening the
window before continuing to process the command line. nn can be a



DV Commander User Guide 15



Open [,nn] [,H] ...



number in the range 1 through 3276. A value of 1 will delay for
one tenth of a second, while 3276 will delay for nearly 55
minutes.

[,H] indicates that the window should be hidden after it is
opened.

Examples:

DVC Open BR,50,H DA,H DO

This example will first open BR-PIF.DVP (Brief Text editor),
allow it to run in the foreground for 5 seconds, then hide it.
Next, DA, the DESQview companions date book, will be opened and
hidden, and finally DO, a full screen DOS shell, will be opened
and left as the foreground task.

Resize , , ,

The Resize command is used to change the location and size of a
window.

Required Parameters:

The top row where the window will start. The number can be
in the range 0 through 25 which will allow you to position part
or all of the window off of the physical screen!

The left-most column where the window will start. It can be
in the range 0 through 80 and can also result in part of the
window being positioned off of the physical screen.

is the new length of the window.

is the new width of the window.

Examples:

DVC Resize 4,17,20,60


SHow (no parameters)

SHow is the opposite of the Hide command. It will unhide the
window in which it is executed. This will not make the window
suddenly pop up on top of the foreground window, but it will make
it visible in the background if there are no other windows
covering it.

Examples:

DVC SHow




16 DV Commander User Guide



Spawn [d:\path] [params] [title] [exec] [memory]




Spawn [d:\path] [params] [title] [exec] [memory]

The Spawn command will open a single DESQview window and allow
you to optionally override certain DVP file parameters.

Required Parameters:

is the name of the DESQview Program Information File.
Specify the full path for the file if it is not in the current
directory. If the DVP file name follows the standard DESQview
convention of xx-PIF.DVP, where xx is the unique 2 letter code
used on the Open Program menu, you need specify only the first
two letters.

NOTE: The DVP file you start with this command need not be one
that you keep on your Open Window menu, and need not follow the
DESQview DVP file name conventions.

Optional Parameters:

[d:\path] is the drive and path to be the default when your
program is started. It will override the drive and path specified
in the DVP file.

[params] are any program parameters you want to pass to your
program when it runs. If you wish to pass any of the following:
Space, Tab, Equals sign, Comma, or Semicolon in your parameters,
enclose the entire string in double quotes "Like This".

[title] if given will override the default program name specified
in the DVP. It may be a string of up to 30 characters and must be
enclosed in double quotes if it contains any of the special
characters mentioned above.

[exec] will override the program/execute parameter in the DVP
file.

[memory] overrides the minimum and maximum memory requirements
specified in the DVP file.

NOTE: The optional parameters, [d:\path] [params] [title] [exec]
and [memory], are positional and they can not be omitted except
on the right. You can use an asterisk (*) to hold the place of
any parameter you do not want to specify.

Examples:

DVC SPAWN XYZ * * * * 256

This example will Spawn XYZ.DVP and modify the amount of memory
allocated to the program to 256k. All the other parameters
specified in XYZ.DVP would be left as is.




DV Commander User Guide 17



Spawn [d:\path] [params] [title] [exec] [memory]



The four asterisks hold the places of the: DIRECTORY, PROGRAM
PARAMETERS, TITLE, and EXECUTE parameters.


STart

The STart command will open a single DVP after prompting you for,
the path and parameters to be used.

A window like this will prompt you to supply the path and
parameters.

+------------------------------------------------------------+
| Directory C:\TP\WORK |
| |
| Parameters WIZBANG |
| |
| F2 Save & Run F3 Run Esc Quit |
+------------------------------------------------------------+

Change the Directory and Parameters fields and press F3 to start
the DVP with the new values, or press F2 to save the new values
into the DVP and then start it. You can press ESCape to quit
without saving the new information, or starting the DVP.

The DVP file you start with this command would not usually be one
that you keep on your Open Window menu, and need not follow the
DESQview DVP file name conventions. Use Change A Program to
create the DVP and give it some dummy value, such as XX for the
Keys to Use on Open Menu question. Test it, using the normal
DESQview Open Window menu using any values you like for the
Directory and Parameters questions. When you are satisfied that
it is correct, rename it to another name (or copy it to another
directory), and use Delete a Program to remove it from the
DESQview Open Window menu.

NOTE: Registered users can use the DVP Editor to create and
modify the DVP which is much easier than using Change A Program.

Required Parameters:

is the name of the DESQview Program Information File.
Specify the full path for the file if it is not in the current
directory. If the DVP file name follows the standard DESQview
convention of xx-PIF.DVP, where xx is the unique 2 letter code
used on the Open Program menu, you need specify only the first
two letters.

Examples:

DVC STart TPC

This example will start TPC.DVP after prompting for the drive and
directory and the program parameters. The TPC.DVP, in this



18 DV Commander User Guide



STart




example, is setup as follows:

============================================================
Change a Program

Program Name......: TP Command-Line compiler

Keys to Use on Open Menu: XX Memory Size (in K): 512
------------------------------------------------------------
Program...: C:\DV\TPC.BAT
Parameters: WIZBANG
Directory.: C:\TP\WORK
------------------------------------------------------------
Options:
Writes text directly to screen.......: [N]
Displays graphics information........: [N]
Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [N]
Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2)..........: [N]
Requires floppy diskette.............: [N]

Press F1 for advanced options Press <- when you are DONE
============================================================


This DVP invokes a batch file, TPC.BAT, to do a Turbo Pascal
compile in the background. TPC.BAT looks like this:

@echo off
cls
DVC Hide
C:\TP\TPC %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
if errorlevel 1 goto Error
DVC Beep 990,2 0,1 990,3
exit

:Error
DVC Beep 330,4 180,12
DVC Resize 1 1 23 78
pause
exit

SUspend (no parameters)

Use the SUspend command to hide a window and suspend it so that
it does not continue to execute in the background.

Examples:

DVC SUspend






DV Commander User Guide 19



Top (no parameters)



Top (no parameters)

This command will make a window the top most window within an
application. This is of little value since any task that has
multiple windows associated with it would have to be DESQview
specific anyway.

Examples:

DVC Top



TOPSys (no parameters)

The TOPSys command makes the window where it is executed the
topmost window in the system. This should only be used when a
background application has to report something to the user but
does not want to become the foreground window.

Examples:

DVC TOPSys


Wait [10th secs]

The Wait command will suspend the window where it is executed for
the specified amount of time.

Optional Parameters:

[10th secs] The amount of time to wait. The default is 10 which
is one second.






















20 DV Commander User Guide



APPENDIX A - COMMAND LINE SWITCHES




APPENDIX A - COMMAND LINE SWITCHES

/C=hh

This command line switch lets you specify the color that DV
Commander will use. hh is the hex attribute for the color you
want DVC to use. It defaults to /C=07. You must set USES ITS OWN
COLORS to Yes if you specify this switch.


/Q

Use the "Quiet" switch to supress and error message windows. Most
errors will still generate messages when this switch is in
effect, but they will simply be displayed on the console rather
than pop up in a DESQview error window.


/ONLYIF=

With this switch in effect the DV Commander command will only be
execute if exists.


/NOTIF=

This switch will prevent the DV Commander command from being
executed if exists. You can use this in
conjunction with the Name command to prevent a window from being
opened more than once.


/R=n

This switch is used only with the Beep command. The number, n,
specifies the number of times the tones on the command line are
to be repeated. See the Beep command for more information.


/M- or /NOM

Use this switch to prevent the mouse from being initialized. You
can also specify /M+ to force the mouse to be use when it
normally would not be. See Appendix B for more details.











DV Commander User Guide 21



APPENDIX B - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION



APPENDIX B - ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

* DV Commander has a companion program called DVP Editor. Like
Change a Program, DVP Editor is an editor for your DESQview
Program Information Files. But, unlike CP, DVPEDIT can edit
DVPs with any filename and in any directory. And, DVPEDIT does
not alter your DESQview Open Window menu in any way. This makes
it the ideal companion for DV Commander. DVPEDIT also combines
both the standard and advanced options screens of Change a
Program into a single easy to edit screen, complete with
context-sensitive help for every question.

When you register DV Commander, you will receive a diskette
containing the latest versions of DVC and DVPEDIT with printed
documentation for both programs.

Among DVP Editor's features are:

* All questions are on one screen
* True context-sensitive help
* Edit options that are not on CP screen
* Edit several DVPs in one invocation
* File names not restricted to ??-PIF.DVP
* Edit DVPs on any drive and/or directory
* Edit DVPs that are not on the DESQview Open menu
* No ambiguities (i.e. no blank questions)
* Runs outside of DESQview if desired
* Ideal companion to DV Commander
* Free to registered DV Commander users


* DV Commander will use a Microsoft compatible mouse if You have
your mouse driver loaded and you have the DVP file that starts
DVC.EXE set to either virtualize text when using DESQview/386
or you have Writes Directly to screen set to yes, or both.
(The supplied example DVP's have Virtualize Text=Yes).

The reason: Even though DV Commander does NOT write directly
to the screen, and DOES NOT need to be virtualized, the mouse
does. DV Commander checks to see if it is getting direct
access to the screen buffer and only initializes the mouse
driver if so. I found that I got "mouse droppings" when I did
not do this.


* If you wish to use the DV Commander Open command to open a DVP
name in the current directory that begins with a digit, (e.g.
4D for 4DOS) you will need to preface it with ".\" This is
because the command parser for the Open command will treat the
digit as a delay parameter rather than a DVP file name. Using
the form ".\4D" (without the quotes) references the DVP in the
current directory and works around the problem.




22 DV Commander User Guide