Re: F5--and everything went black...

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from "Patricia M. Godfrey"
 on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:09:35 -0400


> Well, originally, it did have a lot of erroneous stuff in it, having
> been copied from a 9x system (e.g., path=c:\windows\command, which
> doesn't exist in NT/W@K/XP). But I kept paring down and remming out,
> and was finally left with this:
>
> cd h:\xy4
> H:
> editor

Why are you doing any of this? You create a Shortcut, you set
in Properties the "Working directory" to H:\XY4, and it launches
H:\XY4\EDITOR.EXE. BATfiles are totally unnecessary. If you
want to launch something extra (like Tame), you go into the
Shortcut Properties ==> General ==> Advanced, and you create a
special AUTOEXEC.NT (name it AUTOXY.NT or something) that
launches programs in this session only. And Finito.

> And yes, I recall you told me that the login command (H:) and the Cd
> H: one can be combined, but I didn't have my posts over there at the
> time to look it up.

When you ain't got nothing, you still have the command line:
 CD /?
Quote:
CD [/D] [drive:][path]
Use the /D switch to change current drive in addition to
changing current directory for a drive.

> HOW, please, do you determine which DVM will launch a DOS app? I
> cannot even find commad.com on that XP box.

The system determines it. EDITOR.EXE is an old 16-bit program,
so it gets COMMAND.COM automatically, assuming you use a
Shortcut per above. And trust me: you've got COMMAND.COM
(aren't these things ALWAYS in the System directory, on every
Win32 box since whenever? in NT, usually it's
[BootDrive]:\WINDOWS(orWINNT)\system32). Vista has COMMAND.COM.
 DIR C:\COMMAND.COM /S

If you want to force COMMAND.COM, you use the usual DOS method:
 COMMAND.COM /C d:\path\EDITOR.EXE

> if a batch file calls an application, the application
> opens and STAYS open until it is closed by its own internal close
> command (in Xy, Quit) Not so in W2K/XP (and, I'm assuming, NT): a
> batch file runs and that's it. IF it calls an app, the app opens and
> closes again, instanter.

That is sheer nonsense. What good would a BATfile be if it
didn't run commands? I write and use a zillion of them, and
none of them behave like that. Misinformation and baloney.

> The problem is that I don't know all the
> commands/parameters of NT batch language

What means "NT batch language"? It's the same old language,
works the same as before. About the only useful thing that's
different is a couple of tweaks to FOR...IN...DO (which, I
suspect, you're not using).

Just do it by the book. Make the shortcut and click on it -- no
bloody batch commands. If it still doesn't work, then possibly
you have a missing system file or something. It's also possible
that XyWrite is crashing very quickly. Is this a new machine,
off the shelf? Did some IT guy disable the DOS subsystem? Can
you start Xy4 manually? Can you start any DOS programs manually?

I recommend using command.com (vs cmd.exe) because the
Properties offer you more of what you need to run an old DOS
program. If you want to force CMD.EXE to be the command
processor, go here:
 http://xywrite.org/msg01980.htm

-----------------------------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
-----------------------------