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ANARKEY
User Manual
Version 4.0
Anarchy: A state of being without rulers
Anarkey: A state of being without keystrokes
Steven Calwas
Moderne Software
P.O. Box 3638
Santa Clara, CA 95055-3638
(408)247-0509
Copyright (C) 1988-1991
by Steven Calwas
All rights reserved
Anarkey User Manual
Published by: Moderne Software
P.O. Box 3638
Santa Clara, CA 95055-3638
(408)247-0509
Copyright (C) 1991 by Steven Calwas
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the Publisher.
WARRANTY
THE ANARKEY PRODUCT IS LICENSED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY
OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,
PERFORMANCE, OR OTHERWISE. ALL WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY
DISCLAIMED. BY USING THE ANARKEY PRODUCT, YOU AGREE THAT
NEITHER STEVEN CALWAS NOR MODERNE SOFTWARE NOR ANY OFFICERS,
DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, SHAREHOLDERS, AFFILIATES, OWNERS, OR
ANY OTHER RELATED PARTIES WILL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD
PARTY FOR ANY USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) OR PERFORMANCE OF
THIS PRODUCT, OR FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER WHETHER BASED ON
CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE EVEN IF WE ARE NOTIFIED OF SUCH
POSSIBILITY IN ADVANCE. (SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE
EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES, SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.)
Chapter 1
Introduction and Tutorial
Anarkey is an intelligent command-line editor for DOS. With
Anarkey, complete input lines can be entered with two or
three keystrokes. Anarkey is intelligent because there is
no need to tell it what you want to enter on the command
line; simply press the
what you want and does it for you.
Anarkey knows what you want and gives it to you!
Here is a list of the main operations Anarkey provides.
* Line-edit features comparable to those found in word
processors
* Ability to save input lines for later retrieval
* Three methods to retrieve saved command lines
1) Sequentially walk through the list of saved
commands
2) Line completion where you enter a portion of the
line and Anarkey completes the remainder for you
3) Pop-up window which lists all saved commands.
Supports a mouse.
* A text substitution capability called an AKA (also
referred to as an "alias" or "synonym"). The Convert
program is included in the Anarkey package to translate the
alias and synonym definitions of other editors to Anarkey's
format. AKAs can even be executed from a batch file.
* Enter multiple commands on a single input line
* A 255-character input line
* Comprehensive filename completion
* Environment variable editing
* Use expanded memory
* Display a non-blinking cursor
* Pop-up windows with built-in mouse support to retrieve
saved commands, complete filenames and edit environment
variables
* Configurable key assignments
* A MegaKey which analyzes the input line, determines the
type of Anarkey operation you want and does it for you
automatically. The MegaKey is what makes Anarkey an
intelligent command-line editor.
* Write the list of saved commands and AKAs to a disk file
for future restoration
* Comprehensive UNIX switchar support
* Pop-up help window with configurable help text
* Full-support for enhanced 101/102-key keyboards
* Pop-up windows offer your choice between two mouse
interfaces
* Special support for the 386 Enhanced Mode of Microsoft
Windows 3.0
* And much more!
Anarkey is written entirely in assembly language for maximum
efficiency in memory usage and execution speed. When
installed in its default configuration, Anarkey uses about
11K of memory. If expanded memory is available, Anarkey
requires only 1K of conventional memory.
Installation
To install Anarkey onto your system, copy all files from the
distribution disk to your hard disk. If you do not have a
hard disk, copy the ANARKEY.COM program onto your boot disk.
Anarkey makes significant use of the Anarkmd program. To
guarantee that Anarkey work properly at all times, place the
ANARKMD.EXE file in a directory specified in the PATH
environment variable.
To run Anarkey, execute the ANARKEY.COM program from either
the DOS prompt or your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Since you will
probably want Anarkey active whenever you are using your
computer, executing Anarkey from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file makes
the most sense.
When run, Anarkey installs itself into the DOS environment
and terminates, but stays resident. A default configuration
is used, but can be modified via command-line options.
Anarkey options are described in Chapter 11. For the
remainder of this tutorial, we assume the default
configuration is in effect.
Once resident, Anarkey handles all input requests for the
following situations:
* The DOS command line
* Redirected input
* DEBUG, SYMDEB, EDLIN and several third-party programs
* All DOS sessions running under Windows 3.0 in 386 enhanced
mode
Notice that Anarkey does not process lines executed from a
batch file. However, the Anarkmd program described in
Chapter 16 provides an indirect method to support batch
files. For now, we will postpone that topic.
The remainder of this chapter is a tutorial on using
Anarkey's basic features. It is intended for people who
want to get started with Anarkey immediately. Subsequent
chapters describe all of Anarkey's functions in complete
detail.
Quick-Start Tutorial
Anarkey supplies a multitude of functions which transforms
the dreary and tedious task of entering DOS commands into a
quick and enjoyable process. It is not necessary to
understand all of Anarkey's powers before using it. This
tutorial gets you started using the basic Anarkey features
immediately. As you become familiar with these functions,
additional information can be found in subsequent chapters
of the manual.
First, install Anarkey by executing the ANARKEY.COM program.
This causes a sign-on message to appear, after which Anarkey
installs itself and terminates. You will be sitting at a
new and empty command prompt where everything appears
normal, however, Anarkey's features are now available for
your use.
The first Anarkey feature we will learn is its line-editing
capability. Anarkey lets you place the cursor anywhere
within the input line and enter or delete characters. If
you have ever used a word processor, Anarkey's line-editing
feature will already be familiar.
To demonstrate, enter the following line at the command
prompt. The underscore character represents the cursor
position.
echo Anarchy knows what you want_
The word "Anarchy" can be changed to "Anarkey" by pressing
the
the letter 'c' in "Anarchy." Notice that moving the cursor
within the line does not modify the line in any way.
Similar to the
cursor toward the right,
the line's first character and
end of the line. The input line with the repositioned
cursor now looks like this.
echo Anarchy knows what you want
When a character is typed, it is either inserted into the
line or it overwrites the current character. When a
character is inserted, any characters to the right of the
cursor are shifted to make room for the new character. When
a character is overwritten, the new character replaces the
character at the cursor position; no shift occurs.
Whether a character is inserted or overwritten depends upon
Anarkey's input mode. When in insert mode, typed characters
are inserted into the line; in overwrite mode, character are
overwritten. When first installed, Anarkey is in insert
mode.
You can toggle between insert and overwrite modes by
pressing . Notice the cursor shape changes depending
upon the current mode. The insert-mode cursor is an
underscore while overwrite mode uses a block cursor.
Get back into insert mode and type the two characters "ke."
Anarkey inserts them into the line so that it now looks like
that shown below. Notice the cursor has remained under the
letter 'c'.
echo Anarkechy knows what you want
Characters are easily deleted from lines using any of
several functions. The
above the cursor and shifts any trailing characters to fill
the vacated space. The
character to the left of the cursor and moves the cursor
left one space. The
Press the
in our sample line. The final edited line looks like this.
echo Anarkey knows what you want
Press the
Anarkey saves all executed lines. You can view all the
lines Anarkey has saved by pressing
following lines and press
saved them.
dir *.*
type read.me
dir \*.bat
Once a line has been saved, it can be retrieved so you won't
have to retype it. Pressing the
"walks" you through the list of saved lines. Once
retrieved, a line can be edited using the line-edit
functions.
You can display a full-screen window containing the list of
the saved commands by pressing
ANARKMD.EXE is stored somewhere along your PATH variable
before doing this.) Notice that one line in the window is
highlighted in reverse video. This line is called the
current line. Pressing the
lines in the window the current line. If the entire list
cannot fit in the window, the
the window's contents. If a mouse is installed, it can also
be used to change the current line and scroll the window's
contents. Pressing the
line. When a line is selected, the window closes and the
chosen line is entered onto the input line.
Perhaps the fastest way to retrieve a command is to use
Anarkey's command completion feature. Start with an empty
command line and enter the first character of the line you
wish to retrieve. Then press the
the MegaKey). Anarkey searches the list of saved commands
until it finds one that starts with the same character you
entered. The remainder of the line is then copied onto the
input line. You can try this yourself by entering the 'e'
from our sample input line and pressing
retrieves the remainder of the saved "echo" command and
enters it on the input line. If by some chance Anarkey
completed the line in some undesired manner (in other words,
it did not retrieve the desired line), simply press the
Besides completing commands, the
directory and file names. When you press
intelligent enough to know whether you want to retrieve a
command, as previously described, or complete a file name
and it acts appropriately.
As an example of completing a directory name, say we wish to
enter the command "cd\global." Type the following
characters on the input line and press
cd\g_
Assuming a directory named "global" existed, Anarkey
completes it for us. Similar to command completion, Anarkey
uses the first character of the name when searching for a
completion. Thus, it would look for a directory starting
with the letter 'g.' If more than one directory began with
a 'g,' Anarkey may select the "wrong" name. If so, simply
press
completions.
So far, all our examples show you entering only the first
character of the item to complete. However, you can enter
as many characters as you wish. Often a single character is
all that will be needed for Anarkey to complete the rest.
However, staying with our directory-completion example, say
a large number of directories happened to begin with the
letter 'g.' Cycling through them all may take more
keystrokes than simply typing the name in manually.
Instead, enter additional characters on the input line to
narrow Anarkey's search to a smaller number of possible
completions. For example, if "gl" is entered on the sample
input line, Anarkey searches only for directories that begin
with the letters "gl." This technique can also be used for
command completions and all the other completion operations
Anarkey provides.
Besides completing directory names, Anarkey also completes
the names of programs and other file types. When completing
a program name which is to be executed, Anarkey does not
enter the file extension (.BAT, .EXE or .COM) on the input
line, just as you would not enter it if typing the name
yourself.
Anarkey can easily retrieve the setting of an environment
variable for you. First type the "SET" command followed one
or more characters of the variable's name. Then press
setting on the input line. You can then edit the setting,
for instance, by adding a new directory to the PATH. (You
don't need to type the SET command to retrieve the PATH or
PROMPT settings, but Anarkey cannot complete their names for
you if you don't. Check Chapter 8 for further details on
this topic.)
You may have noticed that much of this tutorial kept
repeating a single lesson. That lesson was: If you want to
enter something on the input line, press the
Anarkey figures out what you want and does it automatically.
In other words, Anarkey knows what you want and gives it to
you. This capability is what makes Anarkey an intelligent
command-line editor.
Using the basic features outlined in this tutorial, you can
begin to use Anarkey productively right now. But be aware
this section barely touched the surface of Anarkey's full
capabilities. Much more is available and is as easy to
learn and use as the functions just described. If you are
interested, complete details are provided in the forthcoming
chapters.
Chapter 2
The Pop-Up Help Window
Anarkey adds many new features to the standard DOS command
prompt. When you are first learning Anarkey, the provided
functions and key assignments will not yet be committed to
memory. Even after you become comfortable with Anarkey,
there will probably be some operations that you will use
only occasionally and whose keystrokes you will not
immediately remember. To assist you during these times,
Anarkey supports a pop-up help window which lists all of the
supported functions and their respective key assignments.
The help window can be popped-up by pressing
command prompt. Before you pop-up the window, make sure the
Anarkmd program (in the file ANARKMD.EXE) is in either the
current directory or a directory specified in the PATH
environment variable. After pressing the help key, a
full-screen window will be displayed containing a list of
Anarkey functions and their current key assignments.
Note: The reason Anarkmd must be in the current directory or
along the PATH is because it actually performs the entire
pop-up window operation. Anarkey simply executes Anarkmd,
telling it to display the help window. But all this is
performed automatically in the background and you do not
need to worry about it.
The information displayed in the window is actually read
from a standard text file just before the window pops up.
By reading and displaying a separate text file, Anarkey
saves precious DOS memory by not keeping the help
information resident. It also provides great flexibility in
the content and format of the displayed help information.
In other words, you can modify the help text file to your
heart's desire, even include help information about other
programs if you wish. The only restrictions that apply are:
(1) the file cannot exceed 65,000 characters in size and (2)
the file may not contain more than 1000 lines of text.
Since a text file must be loaded to gather the help
information, Anarkey must be informed of the help file's
name. Anarkey first looks for the file name in an
environment variable called "HELP@." If HELP@ is defined,
it should specify the drive, directory and filename of the
help file. For example,
SET HELP@=c:\anarkey\anarkey.hlp
If HELP@ is not defined, Anarkey assumes the helpfile's name
is ANARKEY.SUM and will attempt to locate a file with that
name. ANARKEY.SUM is a text file distributed with Anarkey
which contains a list of Anarkey functions and their default
key assignments. ANARKEY.SUM can also be updated by
Anarked, the Anarkey Keystroke Editor, if you modify any of
the default key assignments. Anarked is explained in
Chapter 13.
Depending upon which version of DOS you are running, Anarkey
will search for the ANARKEY.SUM file in two locations.
First, if running under DOS version 3.0 or later, Anarkey
searches for ANARKEY.SUM in the same directory in which
Anarkmd is located, also called the home directory. Under
versions of DOS prior to 3.0, Anarkey does not check this
location.
If the ANARKEY.SUM file is still not found, Anarkey looks
for it in the current directory.
These search steps and the order in which they are performed
are outlined below:
1) File specified in HELP@ environment variable
2) ANARKEY.SUM in Anarkmd home directory (DOS 3.0+
only)
3) ANARKEY.SUM in current directory
If all attempts to locate the help file fail, Anarkey
displays an error message ("Help file not found") and ends
the help operation. Otherwise, the help file is loaded and
displayed in the pop-up window.
With the help window displayed, the following keystrokes are
recognized and acted upon:
line
one line
page
one page
In addition to keystroke input, if a mouse is installed on
the computer, it can be used to scroll through the help
window. Anarkey supports the Microsoft and any
Microsoft-compatible mouse.
With the mouse installed, a separate mouse cursor is
displayed in the middle of the window in the form of a solid
block character. By moving the mouse, the mouse cursor can
be moved anywhere on the screen.
Scrolling operations are performed with the mouse by moving
the mouse cursor to specific locations in the window and
clicking (pressing and releasing) the left mouse button.
For example, you can position the mouse cursor anywhere over
the "Press F1 for help" message in the upper right corner of
the window and click the left mouse button. This will have
the same effect as pressing
additional help screen. Pressing either mouse button will
clear this secondary help window.
On the far right edge of the help window is a scroll bar.
The scroll bar is actually composed of four separate
sections. At the very top of the bar is a single-character
up-arrow. To scroll the window contents up one line,
position the mouse cursor on this arrow and click the mouse
button. A down-arrow is located at the very bottom of the
scroll bar. Click on it to scroll the window contents down
one line. The remainder of the scroll bar is divided into
two equal halves. Click on the top half to scroll the
window up one page; click on the bottom half to scroll down
one page. You can also press and hold the mouse button with
the mouse cursor positioned at any of these locations.
Doing so is the same as repeatedly clicking on the item.
To clear the help window, click the right mouse button.
After exiting the help screen, you will be returned to the
DOS command prompt. Any characters entered at the prompt
when the help window was popped-up will still exist.
The mouse movements described in this chapter are also
applicable to the other pop-up windows that Anarkey
supports. These other windows are discussed in future
chapters.
Anarkey also supports an alternative mouse interface in case
you don't like the interface described in this chapter. The
alternative mouse interface is described in Appendix I.
Chapter 3
Editing the Command Line
Anarkey provides line editing functions commonly found in
word processing programs. These functions include general
editing, cursor movement, character deletion and character
retrieval features.
One note of interest should be mentioned here. Most of the
keystroke assignments listed in the remainder of this manual
are configurable. If you don't like some default key
assignment, Anarked, the Anarkey Keystroke Utility, can be
used to reassign it to a key more to your liking. Anarked
is described in detail in Chapter 13. Refer to it for
complete details. In this manual, only the default key
assignments will be mentioned.
General Editing
Pressing the
usually means that the line is passed to the command
processor for execution. The entire line is always
accepted, regardless of the cursor's position in the line.
Before Anarkey passes the line to the command processor, it
performs some checks and optional processing on the line
itself. For example, Anarkey will break the line into
separate commands. (You will see shortly that Anarkey
allows you to specify multiple commands on a single input
line.)
It also checks the length of each command to verify that its
length is within the allowable range. If a command is too
long, Anarkey does not accept the input line. Instead, it
positions the cursor under the first character that extends
beyond the length limit and allows you to modify the line
further. After the line's length has been adjusted, you can
press
Anarkey supports two input modes: insert and overwrite.
When editing in insert mode, typed characters are inserted
into the input line; any characters to the right of the
inserted character are shifted right to make room. In
overwrite mode, typed characters write over any existing
character at the cursor position; no shifting of characters
occurs as in insert mode.
The key toggles Anarkey between these two input modes.
By default, Anarkey begins in insert mode. If you prefer
Anarkey to start in overwrite mode, you can specify the -I
option on the Anarkey command line when it is installed.
Refer to Chapter 11 for more information on Anarkey
command-line options.
The current input mode is indicated by the cursor's shape.
The power-up input mode uses an underscore cursor; the
alternate mode uses a block cursor. For example, if Anarkey
begins in its default insert mode, the cursor is an
underscore whenever insert mode is active. On the other
hand, if you use the -I option to change the power-up mode
to overwrite then an underscore cursor is used whenever
Anarkey is in overwrite mode. The relationship between
input mode and cursor shape is further illustrated in the
following table:
Power-up mode = Insert (default and -II option)
Insert mode cursor = Underscore
Overwrite mode cursor = Block
Power-up mode = Overwrite (-IO option)
Insert mode cursor = Block
Overwrite mode cursor = Underscore
If you prefer that Anarkey never alter the cursor's shape,
install it with the -C option. Anarkey can also display a
non-blinking cursor if the -CN option is used. And if the
normal underscore cursor does not show up well on your
monitor, use the -CT option to use a thick underscore
cursor. Refer to Chapter 11 for details on these and other
options.
Anarkey remains in a particular input mode until it is
explicitly told to toggle to the other mode via a press of
the key. However, you may prefer that Anarkey always
begin a new input line in a particular mode. Anarkey can be
forced into a particular input mode at the start of each new
line by including the -I option on the installation command
line. Again, refer to Chapter 11 for complete details.
As you will quickly learn, Anarkey supports a lot of
features. Many of these features are invoked by pressing a
key. Situations may occur where you wish to enter a certain
key onto the input line, but pressing the key instead
executes an Anarkey function. For example, say you wish to
enter an ANSI escape sequence onto the input line. As you
may know, this would entail typing an
followed by several other characters. However, pressing
line (as will be described shortly). Is there a way to
bypass Anarkey's key processing and enter a keystroke
directly onto the input line?
The answer to the above question is "yes" and you do it by
immediately preceding the key by pressing
pressed immediately after
the input line. Therefore, to enter an
line, press
Anarkey to enter the next keystroke "unmodified," in other
words, to skip any interpretation it would normally perform
on the key. If you want to enter a
simply press
In summary, the general editing keystrokes discussed in this
section were:
Toggle input mode
Moving the Cursor
Anarkey allows the cursor to be placed anywhere on the input
line. Thus, you can move the cursor to the beginning or
middle of a line and modify just a few characters without
backspacing and deleting any trailing portion.
The cursor is positioned within the line by cursor-movement
keystrokes. Each cursor-movement keystroke is outlined and
described in the following table.
None of the cursor-movement keys alter the contents of the
input line. After the cursor is positioned to its desired
location, additional modifications, such as inserting or
deleting characters, can be performed.
Deleting Characters
Anarkey also supports functions to remove one or more
characters from an input line. They are all listed in the
table below.
If Anarkey is in insert mode, removal of a character causes
any trailing characters on the line to shift over to fill
the vacated space.
The cursor position moves whenever the
keys are pressed.
character and
empty line. All the other character-deletion keys have no
effect on the cursor position.
Retrieving Characters
One of Anarkey's strongest features is its ability to
retrieve command lines previously entered. That topic is
discussed in detail in the next chapter. In addition to
that powerful new feature, Anarkey also supports two of the
original DOS functions that retrieve individual characters
and an enhanced version of one of those functions. These
three operations are listed in the following table.
and accept line
The
offered in the original DOS editing functions.
an enhanced version of
the input line following the character retrieval operation.
Summary
The following line-editing functions were described in this
chapter.
Toggle input mode
and accept line
Chapter 4
The History Buffer
Anarkey saves all entered input lines in a storage area
called the history buffer. Keystroke functions are provided
to retrieve lines from the buffer, saving you from having to
type them again. This is one of Anarkey's most powerful
features. Also provided are functions to manuever through
the buffer and control which lines get saved in it. Each of
these operations are discussed in this chapter.
When Anarkey is first installed, the history buffer is
empty. When the first input line is accepted (i.e. you
press
Subsequent input lines are stored in the buffer, one after
the other, from the top of the buffer to the bottom. Empty
lines are not saved in the history buffer. Lines composed
of multiple commands are stored in the history buffer as a
single line. (Entering multiple commands on a line is
discussed in Chapter 7.)
A history buffer with several lines stored in it is depicted
below.
rem This is line one
rem This is line two
rem Here is the third line
rem This is the last line in the buffer
When the history buffer is full and you enter a new input
line, the line stored at the top of the history buffer is
removed to make room for the new line. You can think of
this action as being similar to lines scrolling off the top
of a display screen.
The number of lines the history buffer can hold depends upon
the line length and the buffer size. By default, the
history buffer will hold 500 characters. However, this can
be configured to any value from 255 to 50,000 via the -H
command-line option. (Refer to Chapter 11 for details.)
The lines stored in the history buffer can be viewed at any
time by pressing
starting with the first line in the buffer and proceeding
down to the last line. When an entire screen's worth of
lines has been displayed, output pauses. You can press any
key to display the next screenful of lines.
If you prefer to view the history buffer from the bottom to
the top (that is, from the newest line to the oldest), press
the
order in which lines are displayed is from the last line in
the buffer up to the first.
Line Retrieval
At any given time, one line in the history buffer is
designated as the current buffer line or CBL. The CBL is a
very important concept for you to understand. By moving the
CBL through the history buffer, in other words, by making a
different buffer line the current line, is one method
Anarkey provides to retrieve lines from the buffer.
The following diagram depicts a sample history buffer with
the CBL "pointing" to the last line in the buffer. The last
line in the history buffer is always a blank line. When you
begin entering a new line, the CBL is always set to the
last, empty line in the buffer.
copy *.* a:
dir a:
del *.txt
md temp
CBL ->
You can move the CBL, in other words, make a different
buffer line current, by pressing the
keys. If the CBL is at the last line in the buffer and the
the buffer. Similarly, with the CBL at the first line in
the buffer, pressing
empty buffer line.
Moving the CBL is extremely useful. When you move the CBL,
the new current buffer line is retrieved from the history
buffer and entered onto the input line. Any characters that
existed on the input line at the time of the
keypress are erased prior to retrieving the buffer line.
For example, pressing the
status shown above, moves the CBL up to the previous line
("md temp"), retrieves that line from the buffer and places
it on the input line. The new buffer status with updated
CBL is shown in the following diagram.
copy *.* a:
dir a:
del *.txt
CBL -> md temp
The
sequentially walk through the entire buffer. Once the
desired line is retrieved from the buffer, you can use any
of Anarkey's line-editing functions to modify the line
before accepting it.
After retrieving a line, if you immediately accept it by
pressing
location in the history buffer down to the end of the
buffer. This action prevents the buffer from being filled
with a bunch of duplicate lines.
To demonstrate the move operation, assume the CBL has been
positioned in the history buffer as shown in the following
diagram.
copy *.* a:
CBL -> dir a:
del *.txt
md temp
With the "dir a:" command retrieved,
pressed to accept the line unmodified. This causes the CBL
to be moved to the end of the buffer. At the next input
prompt, the new buffer status will be that shown below.
copy *.* a:
del *.txt
md temp
dir a:
CBL ->
Notice the "dir a:" command was moved from its old location
in the buffer down to the end.
If you prefer that Anarkey maintain a complete log of the
commands you execute in the exact order in which they are
entered, you can turn off this move operation by specifying
the -F option when installing Anarkey. Refer to Chapter 12
for further details.
Situations may occur where you wish to retrieve two or more
lines stored consecutively in the history buffer. For
example, after retrieving the "dir a:" command as we've just
done, say we also want to retrieve the line that followed it
in the buffer, "del *.txt." Of course, we can use the
and
there existed a large number of lines in the history buffer,
it may take a long time to get to the line we want. There
is an easier way.
Anarkey maintains an internal record of the buffer position
of the last retrieved line. The CBL can be moved to this
saved position by pressing the
to the next line in the buffer also retrieves that line and
enters it onto the input line. Thus, continuing with our
previous example, after pressing
will be that shown below.
copy *.* a:
CBL -> del *.txt
md temp
dir a:
The effect is as though you had repeatedly pressed the
key to move the CBL, however, by using
have entered far fewer keystrokes.
The CBL can be restored to this saved position only one time
per input line. Subsequent
to pressing the
Line Completion
In actual practice, the number of lines stored in the
history buffer can be quite large. Having to walk past each
line sequentially in order to get to the desired one can be
more work than retyping it.
For such cases, Anarkey provides a command completion
function. Simply type one or more characters on the input
line and press the
search the history buffer for a saved command that starts
with the same character(s). When it finds one, Anarkey
retrieves the line and enters it on the input line, in
effect completing the command for you. If the completed
command is not the one you want, press
again and Anarkey will pick up where it left off and
continue the search.
When Anarkey searches for a command completion, it always
begins the search at the CBL and works up toward the top of
the buffer. When it finds a completion, it sets the CBL to
the matching line and retrieves the line. If the top of the
buffer is reached without finding a completion (or all the
completions have been retrieved), Anarkey beeps the speaker
and sets the CBL to the bottom of the buffer. Pressing
at this point will begin the completion operation again,
cycling through the history buffer another time.
If the command completion operation is invoked with an empty
input line, Anarkey will retrieve the previous buffer line.
This is identical to pressing the
As an example of how command completion works, assume the
following history buffer:
copy *.* a:
del *.txt
md temp
cd temp
dir a:
xcopy a: b:
mode mono
CBL ->
Say we wish to retrieve the "del *.txt" command using
command completion. Enter into an empty input line the
single character "d" and press
will search from the CBL toward the top of the buffer until
it discovers a line that starts with the letter "d." When
it finds the line "dir a:" it will stop searching, set the
CBL to the line and retrieve it by entering it on the input
line. The buffer status is now that shown in the diagram
below.
copy *.* a:
del *.txt
md temp
cd temp
CBL -> dir a:
xcopy a: b:
mode mono
However, we did not want the "dir a:" command. Therefore,
press the
search. This time it finds the "del *.txt" command and
retrieves it, completing the desired command for us. We can
now edit the line further or simply accept it by pressing
copy *.* a:
CBL -> del *.txt
md temp
cd temp
dir a:
xcopy a: b:
mode mono
Alternatively, we could have entered the first two
characters of the desired command, "de," before beginning
the search. If we had, Anarkey would never have matched the
"dir a:" command and, instead would have gone right to the
line we wanted.
At any time during a command completion operation, you can
add more characters to the input line to narrow the search.
Assume that after entering the single character "d" in our
example and found an undesired completion, we realized there
were a large number of lines stored in the buffer that began
with that letter. Rather than retrieve each one, simply
enter one or more additional characters onto the input line.
The command completion operation does not move the cursor
position, therefore, the cursor will still be after the
initial "d" we entered. Type one or more characters onto
the line and continue the search by pressing
will narrow down the number of matching completions and
retrieve the desired line sooner. In most cases, entering
from one to three characters will be enough to narrow the
number of completions to a very small number, allowing quick
retrieval.
The command completion function has a close cousin. The
as
immediately accepted. If you are positive the line you wish
completed will be the first (or next) one Anarkey will find,
pressing
the retrieved line will already be executing when you
realize your error. The
really fly when working at the command prompt, executing
long and complicated lines with a minimal number of
keystrokes. Just be careful you don't crash and burn.
The History-Buffer Window
If neither walking through the history buffer nor command
completion are to your liking, Anarkey provides yet another
method to retrieve lines from the history buffer. Press
that contains all the lines stored in the buffer. If one or
more characters are on the input line when you press the
key, the window will contain only those lines from the
buffer that could be used to complete the remainder of the
line.
Note: Before you pop-up the history-buffer window, be sure
the Anarkmd program is available in either the current
directory or a directory specified along the PATH
environment variable. Anarkey actually executes Anarkmd
which then displays the pop-up window. This saves a large
amount of memory since the code to process the window is not
required to be resident.
From the history-buffer window, you can scroll through the
buffer, select a line to retrieve or combine multiple
commands to form a single line to enter on the input line.
Each of these operations will be described, but if you ever
need a reminder, you can always press the
display a help window of recognized keystrokes.
If the history buffer contains more lines than will fit in a
single window, you can scroll through the buffer by using
the keyboard or a mouse. Navigating through the buffer
window is identical to scrolling through the pop-up help
window described in Chapter 2. Refer back to it if you need
to refresh your memory on this topic.
One line in the history buffer window is always displayed in
reverse video (i.e. black characters on a white background).
This is the current line. By using the
keys, you can make the previous or next line in the window
the current line. Press the
retrieve the current line. The pop-up window will clear and
the selected line will be entered onto the input line. A
line can be selected with the mouse by placing the mouse
cursor anywhere on the line and clicking the left button.
If the left mouse button is double-clicked (clicked twice in
rapid succession) the line is selected and immediately
executed.
The pop-up history buffer window provides one function not
found in other Anarkey windows. That function is the
ability to combine two or more lines together to form a
single line. This single line can then be entered onto the
input line automatically. Combining lines saves you from
having to retrieve each one individually; a single retrieval
operation is all that's required.
Entering multiple commands on a line is discussed in detail
in Chapter 7. However, to understand how they are
constructed in the pop-up history window, all you need to
know now is that each command must be separated by a
semicolon(;). For example, the following input line is
composed of two commands, "cd \temp" and "dir."
cd \temp;dir
When combining lines in the history buffer window, the
semicolon character is placed in the line for you
automatically.
The process of combining lines entails selecting a line from
the window. However, before you press
mouse button to make the selection, press and hold the
pop-up.
The line construction window consists of one field area
which contains the combined lines you have selected up to
that point. Additionally, there are four buttons along the
bottom of the window.
Each action that may be performed in the line construction
window is represented by one of the buttons. To perform an
action, you select or push its associated button. At all
times, one button is displayed with a double-line frame.
This is the current button. Press the
arrow key to make the next button current. Press
current. To push a button and perform its associated
action, make it the current button and press
mouse can also be used to push a button by placing the mouse
cursor over it and clicking the left button. Each button
also has a hot-key character which is displayed in
highlighted video. You can press a button's hot-key to
select or push the button. If you ever need to be reminded
of these keystrokes, press
context-sensitive help window.
The Abort button terminates the line construction operation.
Any combined line created up to that point will be cleared
and control will return to the history buffer window.
The Continue button returns control back to the history
buffer window. From here, you can select an additional line
to append to the line being constructed. To append a line
to the previously-selected lines, be sure to press
Pressing
the
combined line.
The Accept and Edit button accepts the constructed line.
All windows will clear and the line will be entered onto the
input line for your editing edification.
The Accept and Execute button is identical to Accept and
Edit except the line is executed immediately. Pushing the
Accept and Execute button is the same as pressing Accept and
Edit followed by
Miscellaneous Operations
In addition to retrieving lines from the history buffer,
Anarkey provides several miscellaneous functions which
effect the buffer.
To store a line in the history buffer without executing it,
accept the line by pressing
function is only available at the DOS prompt and not in the
history buffer window; in the window,
line-construction operation.
Individual lines can be removed from the history buffer by
first retrieving the line and then pressing
effect, the current buffer line (CBL) is deleted from the
buffer. When this occurs, the CBL will move to the next
line in the buffer which is then retrieved and entered onto
the input line. Thus,
delete a group of consecutive lines from the buffer.
The entire history buffer can be cleared by pressing
Finally, the contents of the history buffer can be written
to an ASCII text file by pressing
program, discussed in Chapter 14, can then read this file to
refill the buffer at a later time. This function is useful
for carrying over the history buffer contents from one
computer session to another.
When you press
written to a file called ANARKEY.LOG located in the root
directory of the current drive. If the file cannot be
written because of a full disk, Anarkey beeps. If you
prefer the file be written to a different location or under
another name, use the Anarkmd program to create the file.
Refer to Chapter 16 for details on Anarkmd operation.
Summary
The line-retrieval functions discussed in this chapter are
among Anarkey's biggest strengths. If you take the time to
become comfortable with them, you will be rewarded with a
significant time savings.
In summary, the functions and keystrokes discussed in this
chapter are listed below.
retrieved line
execute
history buffer
Chapter 5
Anarkey AKAs
There exist certain commands which you probably execute with
great regularity. The retrieval operations discussed in the
previous chapter are extremely useful in reducing the number
of times you have to type such lines. In addition to
retrieval functions, Anarkey provides another powerful
feature called an AKA (pronounced "a-k-a").
AKAs provide a text-substitution capability to Anarkey. You
can assign a long string of characters to a short character
string of one or two characters. Then when you enter the
short string on the input line, Anarkey will replace it with
the long string. This text substitution occurs after the
line has been accepted, but before it has been executed,
therefore, the substitution is transparent to the user.
If you are familiar with another command-line editor, an
Anarkey AKA is analogous to what is sometimes referred to as
an alias or synonym. "AKA" is an acronym for
"Also-Known-As" and "AnarKey Alias."
In Anarkey's default configuration, AKAs are not supported.
This saves DOS memory because none of the code needed to
process AKAs remains resident. If you wish to use Anarkey's
AKA feature, you must specify the -A option when Anarkey is
installed. Immediately following the -A option, specify the
amount of memory Anarkey should reserve to store your AKAs.
For example, to store 200 characters of AKAs, install
Anarkey with the option -A200. The -A option is also
described in Chapter 11 of this manual.
Defining an AKA
An AKA is composed of two parts: an AKA word and a
substitution string. In most cases, the AKA word will be
short and the substitution string fairly long or
complicated. When you type the AKA word onto an input line
and accept the line, Anarkey replaces the word with its
substitution string.
AKAs can be defined on the DOS command line or via the Load
program. (Load is discussed in Chapter 14.) The syntax for
both methods is identical and is shown below.
:AKA_word substitution_string
A colon(:) character marks the start of an AKA definition
and AKA word. AKA words are not case sensitive; "word" is
equivalent to "WORD." The first space or
marks the end of the AKA word. The remainder of the line is
the substitution string.
If the definition's AKA word is identical to an existing
AKA, the existing AKA is replaced with the new definition.
A definition's substitution string can include multiple
commands, provided each command is separated by a
semicolon(;). Entering multiple commands per line is
documented in Chapter 7.
Anarkey performs a length check on each command specified in
the substitution string. If any single command exceeds 127
characters, Anarkey will refuse to accept the definition.
It will beep and position the cursor beneath the first
character that exceeds the limit.
AKAs cannot be nested. In other words, if the substitution
string contains the AKA word from another definition (that
is, the AKA word is "nested" in the substitution string),
when Anarkey performs the substitution operation, the nested
AKA word is not replaced.
The following line defines an AKA called "home" and a
substitution string of "cd \mydir."
:home cd \mydir
If you enter the above AKA definition onto the input line
and press
area. If there is not enough room to save the definition,
Anarkey beeps.
To use an AKA, simply enter its AKA word onto the input
line. Using our example, typing "home" and
execute the command "cd \mydir."
It is important when entering AKAs that they be specified in
the command-portion of the line. The substitution operation
is only performed on commands and program names and not on
program arguments or parameters. This is illustrated in the
following two input lines.
>home Executes "cd \mydir"
>cd home Executes "cd home," not "cd cd \mydir"
Any arguments following the AKA on the input line are
appended to the substituted sting. For example, take the
following AKA definition.
:d dir
Now if you enter "d *.exe" on the input line, Anarkey will
expand it to "dir *.exe" before execution. Notice that the
"*.exe" argument was appended to the substitution string.
Viewing AKAs
The list of defined AKAs can be viewed at any time by
pressing
until the screen is full. Press any key to see the next
screen's worth of AKAs. At the end of the displayed list,
Anarkey will output the amount of space still available to
store further AKA definitions.
If AKAs have not been enabled via the -A command-line
option, the
The Anarkmd program also supports saving AKA definitions to
a disk file suitable for processing by the Load program.
This allows you to save your AKA definitions between
computer sessions. The Anarkmd program is discussed in
Chapter 16. Load is explained in Chapter 14.
Undefining an AKA
To undefine an AKA, simply specify the AKA word preceded by
a colon(:). Do not specify a substitution string. For
example, to undefine our sample AKA, enter the following
line.
:home
Additionally, every AKA can be undefined in one fell swoop
by pressing
area so that no AKAs are defined.
Parameter Fields
All the AKAs shown so far are simple text substitutions
where the AKA word is directly replaced by the substitution
string. However, substitution strings may contain something
called a parameter field. A parameter field is a special
type of designation in the substitution string. Parameter
fields are specified by a leading percent sign(%) followed
by a single-digit number from 1 through 9. For example, %1,
%2, %6 and %9 are all valid parameter fields. The following
is an AKA definition that uses parameter fields.
:test echo %1 %2 %3
When Anarkey is processing an AKA and performing text
substitution (that is, after you have entered and accepted a
line), a parameter field is replaced with the corresponding
argument taken from the input line. For example, the %1
parameter field is replaced with the AKA's first argument,
%2 with the second and so on.
Given our sample AKA above, entering the input line "test
one two three" would result in the command "echo one two
three" being executed. The %1 parameter field in the
substitution string is replaced with the first argument to
"test," that is, "one." The other two parameter fields and
arguments are handled in the same manner.
Now suppose we redefined our "test" AKA to the following.
:test echo %3 %2 %1
Entering the same "test one two three" line would result in
the execution of the command "echo three two one." Notice
the %3 parameter field was substituted with the third
argument to "test," %2 with the second argument and %1 with
the first.
If a substitution string contains a parameter field, but the
input line has no corresponding argument, the parameter
field is replaced with an empty string. In other words, the
parameter field is deleted. Thus, given the previous "test"
AKA, the input line "test one" would execute "echo one."
Notice that since there is no second or third argument, the
%2 and %3 parameter fields are ignored.
Conversely, if the AKA definition contains a parameter
field, but the input line includes additional arguments, the
extra arguments are ignored. Thus, a line of "test one two
three four" converts to "echo three two one" and the extra
"four" argument is ignored. Notice that this is different
than if there were no parameter fields specified in the
definition. Recall that without parameter fields, all
arguments are appended to the end of the substitution string.
Parameter fields provide the advantage of being able to
position an argument in a specific place within the
substitution string. They can be used to create fairly
powerful AKAs which approach the functionality of batch
files, but execute much faster.
Here is an example of an AKA definition that copies files to
a specified drive. The AKA accepts multiple drive
specifications and each can include the DOS wildcard
characters. The syntax of the AKA is:
MCOPY drive file_spec [file_spec ...]
For example, you can enter "mcopy a: *.doc test.* *.com."
The result will be that all files matching the *.doc, test.*
and *.com specifications will be copied to the A: drive.
Here is the AKA definition for this command.
:mcopy for %f in (%2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9) do copy %f %1
As you can see, the substitution string uses the DOS "for"
command. If you are unfamiliar with this command, refer to
your DOS manual for details. The "for" command is usually
used in batch files, however, it can be used on the command
line as well.
When the input line "mcopy a: *.doc test.* *.com" is
entered, the executed line after substitution is shown below.
for %f in (*.doc test.* *.com) do copy %f a:
When DOS executes the "for" command, the effect will be the
same as executing the three commands "copy *.doc a:," "copy
test.* a:" and "copy *.com a:."
Summary
In summary, this chapter documented how to work with AKAs
and the following keystroke operation.
Chapter 6
Filename Completion
The average input line often includes a filename. Many
times the filename is prefaced by a path specification. And
all input lines include a program or command to execute.
Because these items are entered so often, Anarkey provides
functions to complete them for you automatically. These
completion operations are similar in concept to the line
completion functions discussed in Chapter 4. As you
continue to learn Anarkey, it will become clear that
entering most items on an input line requires only that you
type one or two characters of the item and then let Anarkey
do the rest.
Completing Names
Anarkey divides the completion of filenames into two
categories: directory names and all other files. The group
"all other files" includes programs and "normal" files, such
as text or data files; in other words, anything that is not
a directory. Although completing a directory name isn't
much different from completing a filename, there are some
minor differences. These differences will be noted where
applicable. Unless stated otherwise, all operations
described in the remainder of this chapter apply to name
completions of all types.
To complete a directory name, press
complete the name of any other type of file, press
narrow down the list of possible completions. For example,
if the cursor followed the letter "d," Anarkey would
complete the name using only those files starting with the
letter "d." The case of the letters is not important. If
no or a blank character precedes the cursor, Anarkey will
match all files in the category (directory or otherwise).
If Anarkey finds an existing file that could complete the
filename, it enters it onto the input line. The cursor
position remains unchanged. If the completed name is not
the one you desire, press the appropriate completion key
again and Anarkey will cycle through the list of possible
completions.
Once Anarkey has completed the filename, the cursor will
still be at its original position, that is, somewhere in the
middle of the completed name. If you need to enter
additional characters after the filename, the cursor will
have to be moved. This can be accomplished by pressing the
simply type them in! Anarkey will automatically move the
cursor to the first position beyond the completed name if
the first keystroke after a name completion is one of the
following:
Space Backslash(\) Colon(:)
Slash(/) Input redirection(<) Semicolon(;)
Asterisk(*) Output redirection(>) Equal sign(=)
Plus sign(+) Question mark(?) Pipe character(|)
Comma(,) Dash(-)(only if -U active)
After moving the cursor, the typed character is entered onto
the input line.
Note that the dash(-) character moves the cursor only if the
-U option was specified on the Anarkey installation line.
The -U option controls Anarkey's interpretation of the
slash(/) and dash(-) characters as a path separator and
switch (or option) specifier, respectively. This topic is
discussed in detail in Chapter 10 so don't worry about it
for now.
If any other character beside those listed above is typed
following a completion operation, the character in entered
onto the input line at the current cursor position. This is
useful in case you begin a completion operation only to
discover there is a large number of possible completions.
For example, you start completing all the files that start
with the letter "c," but suddenly remember 75 files start
with a "c." Rather then cycle through them all until you
hit upon the desired file, you can enter additional
characters to narrow the completion possibilities down.
When Anarkey completes the name of a program file, it does
not include the file's extension when it enters the name on
the input line. Program names must have the file extension
BAT, COM or EXE.
When Anarkey searches for the completion to a "normal"
filename, in other words, any file other than a program or
directory, it ignores files with certain extensions. A file
using one of the following extensions will not be completed
by Anarkey.
.$$$ .BAK .BIN .COM
.EXE .TMP .HEX .LIB
.OBJ .OVR .SYS
These extensions are ignored because the files which use
them are rarely entered on input lines. Anarkey attempts to
save you the trouble of cycling through these undesired
files by ignoring them. If you prefer that Anarkey not
ignore files using the above extensions, you can specify the
-X\ option on the installation command line. Also, you can
add additional extensions to the ignored list via the -X
option. Complete details will be covered in Chapter 11.
Pop-Up Filename Completion Window
A pop-up window that contains the entire list of completions
can be displayed by pressing
types, directories and others, are displayed in the window.
From this window you can scroll through the list and select
the desired filename using the keyboard or a mouse. The
file-completion window is identical to the history-buffer
window in the way scrolling and selection are performed.
Refer to the discussion of the history-buffer window in
Chapter 4 or press the
window displayed to refresh your memory on the supported
operations.
Summary
The following operations and their assigned keystrokes were
discussed in this chapter.
Chapter 7
Multiple Commands per Line
In plain, vanilla DOS, you are allowed to enter only one
command per input line. With Anarkey, multiple commands can
be included on a single input line. Using multiple commands
will reduce the number of line retrieval operations
performed. More importantly, multiple commands are
extremely useful for AKA definitions. An AKA that uses
multiple commands is like a miniature batch file.
Entering Multiple-Command Lines
Multiple commands are separated on the input line by a
semicolon(;). When a line is accepted, Anarkey breaks it
into separate commands and passes each one to the command
processor for execution. The semicolon separators are
"eaten" by Anarkey and are not passed as part of the command.
The following are examples of input lines that contain
multiple commands.
cd \temp;dir
md \newdir;cd \newdir;copy \olddir\*.* \newdir
edit letter.doc;print letter.doc
There are two situations where the semicolon character is
not interpreted as a command separator: (1) the semicolon is
the very last character on the input line and (2) any
semicolon used in a PATH, PROMPT or SET command.
If you wish to include a semicolon in a command, specify two
consecutive semicolons. Anarkey will convert them to a
single semicolon character before passing the command along
for execution.
The following input lines use semicolon characters as part
of the command rather than as separators.
masm anarkey;
path=c:\dos;d:\global;c:\masm
prnt doc1.txt;;doc2.txt
Multiple commands can be disabled on a per-line or permanent
basis. With multiple commands disabled, the semicolon
character is never interpreted as a command separator. To
disable multiple commands on the current input line, press
multiple commands for the entire Anarkey session. (However,
note that multiple commands are still allowed in AKA
definitions, even with the -O option.)
Length Considerations
Anarkey input lines can be up to 255 characters in length.
However, individual commands within the line are restricted
to the maximum length specified by the command processor in
service. The standard DOS COMMAND.COM program prohibits
commands composed of more than 127 characters.
If you attempt to accept an input line that contains a
command whose length exceeds the maximum allowed by the
command processor, Anarkey will beep and position the cursor
beneath the first character that exceeds the limit.
You can also have Anarkey check the length of your commands
before you accept the line by pressing
commands exceed the maximum, the cursor will be positioned
at the first character beyond the limit. Anarkey will do
nothing if all commands in the line are within bounds.
Miscellaneous Considerations
There are a few minor characteristics of multiple-command
lines that must be mentioned.
First, if the Load program (discussed in Chapter 14) is
included on a multiple-command input line, it must be the
last command in the line. Any commands following Load will
not be executed.
Second, many programs allow you to temporarily exit the
program and shell to DOS. Normally, Anarkey would process
the input line while in this temporary DOS shell. However,
if the program that was temporarily exited was invoked from
a multiple-command line, Anarkey will disable itself while
in the DOS shell. This is done to prevent any subsequent
commands in the original input line from being executed
while in the temporary shell. The following input line
illustrates this situation.
cd \work;progname;cd \home
Imagine you were to temporarily shell to DOS while executing
"progname." If Anarkey was active, it would execute the
next command in the line, "cd \home." However, that command
should not really be executed until "progname" has
completed. To achieve this, Anarkey disables itself while
the temporary DOS shell is in effect. Once "progname"
terminates, Anarkey automatically enables itself and
executes "cd \home."
Note the automatic disabling is only performed when
processing multiple-command lines. Normally, Anarkey is
active when temporarily exiting a program to DOS.
Summary
In summary, this chapter described the functions assigned to
the following keys.
line
Chapter 8
Editing Environment Variables
In addition to retrieving past lines from the history
buffer, Anarkey can retrieve environment variables and enter
their values onto the input line. Once retrieved, the value
can be modified using the standard editing facilities. This
is particularly useful for those times when you need to add
a new directory to the end of the PATH setting.
To retrieve the value of an environment variable, enter the
"SET" command followed by at least one space and then zero
or more characters of the desired variable's name. Then
press the
of the name are entered, Anarkey searches for an environment
variable to complete the name. You can cycle through all
matching completions by repeatedly pressing
cycles through all the defined environment variables.
When an environment variable is retrieved, its complete name
is entered on the input line followed by an equal sign and
its value. The cursor is positioned beneath the first
character after the equal sign.
Normally, the PATH and PROMPT environment variables do not
require that they be preceded by the SET command. Anarkey
will still retrieve the values of PATH and PROMPT even if
they are not in an explicit SET command. However, their
complete variable names must be entered on the input line
before pressing
the names of PATH and PROMPT if they are not preceded by the
SET command.
For example, enter the following input line and press
to retrieve the value of the PATH variable. (The underscore
represents the cursor position.)
>path_
Pop-Up Environment Window
A full-screen pop-up window containing an alphabetized list
of all environment variables can be displayed by pressing
windows, Anarkmd actually performs the window operation, so
be sure the Anarkmd program is in either the current
directory or a directory along the PATH.
The environment window is similar to the other windows
discussed to this point. The current variable is displayed
in reverse video. Other variables in the list can be made
current by using the
variables are defined than can fit in one window, the window
can be scrolled using the keyboard or mouse. Selecting a
variable for retrieval is performed by making the variable
current and pressing
select the desired variable. If you need help on using the
environment window, press
context-sensitive help screen. Refer to Chapter 4 and the
discussion of the history-buffer window for complete details
about the recognized window keystrokes and mouse actions.
Summary
In summary, the environment variable functions and
keystrokes described in this chapter are listed below.
Chapter 9
The MegaKey and MenuKey
Throughout this manual, you have learned about many
keystrokes that invoke individual Anarkey functions. In
this chapter, you will learn two new keystrokes which
combine the operations of several of those functions. The
MegaKey and MenuKey are two of Anarkey's most potent
strengths. With these two simple keys, you gain access to
all of Anarkey's completion, line-retrieval and window
functions.
The MegaKey
In the previous chapters, you learned about several separate
Anarkey functions which retrieve and complete items on input
lines. Each of those functions and their assigned
keystrokes are listed below.
buffer