Discussion Group - Force command Users

[Omega-TI]

Many of us have been around a while and used DOS'es on multiple machines over the decades.  Some of you guys are old enough to remember CP/M, others had stints with things like TRSDOS and other third party variants for the TRS-80's, ProDOS for the Apple, Sparta DOS for the Atari, then of course MS/DOS variants like 3.11.

 

The question arises, what were your favorite DOS commands and add on utilities that you used within the DOS environment the most?  Some of us use EDIT40 and EDIT80, as our editor of choice in Force Command, but I'm sure there are other programs some of you use and others you would like.  But thinking back, what would you still want or need and actually use in our new DOS?

 

In trying to be realistic, I'm not suggesting grandiose programs like a TI version of Pablo Draw for our ANSI screens within Force Command, but rather modest programs that we could use.

 

[dgrissom]

I am using EDIT40 to edit the Force Command batch/scripts.  This requires that you exit and reenter the F/C environment.  There is nothing wrong with the edit program.   I just forget what I am trying to edit half of the time.

 

In a perfect world, it would be nice to use a simple editor that you could pass the filename to (or create a new file), edit, and save the file.  It would be easier to edit and test.

 

Note: I would not want an "edlin"  ?

 

I know that it is a big stretch based on the available memory resources. 

 

In the old days, I used to be able to cobb together short batch files with the DOS "copy con "file.bat" as well.

Also, I've brought up redirection in the past (i.e.  dir >> filelist (file). or dir >> printer.

 

With all that said, the software is already very usable and I've enjoyed using it!  I can totally live with what's available!

 

Finally, the last feature, I've thought about is for TIPI's only.  F/C without a cartridge through TI BASIC.

 

Jedimatt, please don't take the last seriously.  However, wouldn't be cool to take a TIPI/32K and a plain console and amaze your friends, family, and other computer users?  ?

 

[Omega-TI]

When you say exit & re-enter Force Command... are you not using the auto-booting version?  The reason why I ask is that upon exiting a program or doing a reset, you should automatically be back in Force Command without doing anything, which gives it a seamless feel.

 

Yes, passing the filename would be sweet.  Someday it might even be possible if some sort of 'standard' is set within the TI community reserving a few bytes in a specific location, or maybe a file that stores information to be used between programs.  With many of us using the SD card on our TIPI's one more small file would never be noticed.

 

Do you mean putting a TIPI/32K in the top area of the console, hiding the entire thing?

 

 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Omega-TI
Didn't want to make a whole new message.

[Omega-TI]

@jedimatt42 does not currently want to add anything to Force Command until he cleans things up a bit, so I did not want to post this in his thread, but I thought a discussion on this topic might be interesting:   Is the time almost here for a "CONFIG.SYS" file for Force Command? (Assuming the author would be willing of course.)

 

Some commands may always be a given or settings that the user chooses never to alter, so do not belong cluttering up the AUTOCMD file.

For example, some people are running SAMS cards on their machines, at some time in the future it may be possible to adjust the settings for use within Force Command.

 

At some point in the future Force Command may be able to count cycles between key presses.  If this was possible, it might be possible to set up functions/operations if a specific time limit was reached for example...

 

If greater than 5 minutes of no activity BLANK screen or PERFORM a specific command.
If greater than 60 minutes of no activity TIPIHALT (granted only useful for TI powered TIPI's)

If Greater than 65 minutes SHUTDOWN TI. (yeah I know, I know  a modified console power supply would be required, yeah, another future dream of mine).

 

I'm sure with the various hardware setups and requirements of the many varied TI'ers out there, Force Command could be able to fill the needs of even more varied users.  Since this IS a discussion forum, what would you like to see or add to a CONFIG.SYS?

[+retroclouds]

Why not just poll pi.clock and trigger actions from there?

[dgrissom]

On 7/1/2020 at 11:51 PM, Omega-TI said:

When you say exit & re-enter Force Command... are you not using the auto-booting version?  The reason why I ask is that upon exiting a program or doing a reset, you should automatically be back in Force Command without doing anything, which gives it a seamless feel.

 

Yes, passing the filename would be sweet.  Someday it might even be possible if some sort of 'standard' is set within the TI community reserving a few bytes in a specific location, or maybe a file that stores information to be used between programs.  With many of us using the SD card on our TIPI's one more small file would never be noticed.

 

Do you mean putting a TIPI/32K in the top area of the console, hiding the entire thing?

 

 

I can run EDIT40 from within force command to a batch call i.e. "ED"  this runs a load EDIT40.  This causes the program to exit the F/C environment and allows me to open a file etc.  When I exit EDIT40, I return to the TI Screen and can re-select FORCE COMMAND FROM the menu.   This restarts F/C and  re-runs AUTOCMD.  All this to edit one line on a BATCH file.  This system is infinitely better than what I had available before the TIPI and F/C.  At my age, I simply lose my chain of thought during this process and forget what I was going to edit. ?

 

What I was inferring was not a hardware change to my TIPI/32K.  It would be neat to not have any carts in the machine and strictly run from TI-BASIC a command.  For example:  CALL TIPI("FORCE") and you are in the environment.  No FinalGrom99 needed*.

That is the ultimate portability from a hardware perspective.  A simple console and speech synthesizer does it all.  

Again,  it is not at all necessary, just a weird thought!

 

DG

 

*Of course, I would lose most of my great cartridge based software and I am not sure if I would enjoy it...