ANSI.COM
Command

Michael J. Mefford
1989 No. 2 (Utilities)


Purpose:A memory-resident utility that enables selectable use of the
extended screen and keyboard control sequences that normally require loading the
ANSI.SYS device driver. Unlike ANSI.SYS, ANSI.COM supports all video modes,
permits sizing and clearing the key-assignment buffer, and provides high-speed
screen updating.

Format:ANSI [FAST | SLOW][ON | OFF][/B nnn][/C][/U]

Remarks:ANSI.COM may be installed either at the DOS prompt or through an
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. It will not load itself if ANSI.SYS has already been loaded
as part of a CONFIG.SYS file. ANSI.COM will not load multiple copies of itself,
so its command name may be invoked repeatedly in the same session to change
user-selectable parameters.

Upon loading, ANSI defaults to the FAST and ON status parameters. For
use with IBM CGA video cards (where direct screen writes produce "snow") or with
some screen capture software, the SLOW (screen writing via the BIOS, as with
ANSI.SYS) status option may be selected. Entering ANSI OFF disables recognition
of the ANSI control codes.

The ANSI.COM key assignment buffer defaults to a size of 200 bytes. The
buffer may be increased to as much as 60K or decreased to 0 bytes by entering
ANSI with the /B switch and the desired number of bytes as nnn. Resizing the
buffer after initial installation requires deinstallation, which may be
accomplished using the /U switch. Current key assignments are lost if the
buffer is resized. The buffer can be cleared without resizing by invoking ANSI
with the /C switch.

The full command set of IBM-ANSI control sequences is printed in the
original article and in the DOS Technical Reference manual. This information
can also be downloaded from PC Magnet.

Available for downloading from PC MagNet (see the ANSI by Modem
sidebar), ANSI.COM is already compiled and ready to run. ANSI.BAS will
automatically create ANSI.COM when run once in BASIC. To create ANSI.COM from
the ANSI.ASM source code requires use of a macro assembler (IBM or Microsoft,
Version 2 or later) and the following commands:

MASM ANSI;
LINK ANSI;
EXE2BIN ANSI ANSI.COM;