DOSEDIT User's Guide
                              ====================

                         Jack Gersbach, Burlington, Vt.


     DOSEDIT is a VM style editor for dos commands lifted out of DOS 1.86.
     It can be used with DOS 1.1 and 2.0.


                          CORRECTIONS AND ENHANCEMENTS
                          ----------------------------

     Suggestions for additions or changes are welcome.


                                  INSTALLATION
                                  ------------

     Download and copy DOSEDIT.COM onto a diskette.

     Type dosedit at the dos prompt and it will install itself as a
     resident extension to dos. If you wish to set up an aliase list, type:

          DOSEDIT filespec

     The file contains a list of aliases and replacement phrases as
     described below.


               OPERATIONAL DESCRIPTION - SPECIAL DOS EDITING KEYS
               --------------------------------------------------

     The DOS editing keys are different than the standard dos keys and are
     more natural for the average user. The function keys on the left side
     of the keyboard are not used.

     The information below summarizes the functions of the new editing
     keys.

     Right arrow:    Advances the cursor one character position.
     Left arrow:     Backs up the cursor one character position.
     Ctrl-Right:     Advances the cursor to the next word.
     Ctrl-Left:      Backs up the cursor to the previous word.
     LeftShift-tab:  Backs up the cursor to the previous tab position.
     RightShift-tab: Advances the cursor to the next tab position.
     Home:           Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.
     End:            Moves the cursor to the end of the line.
     Del:            Erases the character at the cursor position.
     Back Space:     Erases the character to left of the cursor.
     Esc:            Erases the entire line.
     Ctrl-Home:      Erases from the beginning of the line to the cursor.
     Ctrl-end:       Erases from the cursor to the end of the line.
     Up arrow:       Recalls the previous instruction from the stack.
     Down arrow:     Recalls the following instruction from the stack.
     Ctrl-PgUp:      Clears the current stack of all entries.
     Ctrl-PgDn:      Erases the currently displayed stack entry.
     Ins:            Toggles the insert mode. If active, cursor size changes.
     Ctrl-A:         Displays aliase list when under dos control.
     Ctrl-Z:         End of file marker (1AH). Replaces the F6 key.

     F1 thru F10:    Not used.

     The insert mode is automatically turned off with Enter or Esc.

     Two circular stacks of 256 bytes each stores all new or edited
     commands that are entered from the keyboard.

     One stack serves the dos command mode and the other serves calls from
     external commands and application programs. These programs must use
     Dos function call 0AH to access dosedit and the command stack.

     Dosedit traps the command.com buffer segment and dedicates one stack
     to it and the other for all other buffers. It is recommended that
     DOSEDIT be loaded lower (earlier) than any other resident dos
     extension that calls the dos editor (function call 0AH).

     After executing a command, the stack pointer is set between the
     current command and the next one. The previous command can then be
     recalled by pressing the up arrow. If the current command is new, it
     is placed at the end of the stack and the stack pointer points between
     the last command and the first one entered. The 1st command will be
     lost if the stack has filled up and wrapped around to the beginning.

     The currently displayed command line is executed when enter is
     pressed. The cursor may be at any position in the line when enter or
     the up/down arrow keys are pressed.

     If the calling program passes a line of text in it's buffer, it can be
     displayed and edited by pressing the End key. DOS will reshow the
     buffer contents if there is a carriage return character at the end of
     the text as indicated by the 2nd byte of the buffer.

     The interface description for function call 0AH applies in all
     respects.


                                    ALIASES
                                    -------

     Aliases may be defined in a separate file that DOSEDIT will read when
     it is installed. Refer to "installing dosedit", above.

     The form of the file is:

     Alias1 replacement phrase
     Alias2 replacement phrase
        .
        .
        .
     AliasN replacement phrase
     EOF


     Each line must end with a carriage return - line feed combination. The
     file must end with an EOF mark of 1AH. If the aliase file is
     unacceptable to dosedit, an error message is displayed and dosedit
     will not be installed. Aliases may be displayed by pressing the "A"
     key while holding down the Ctrl key.

     This is the standard text file format produced by text editors such as
     Edlin, The Personal Editor, etc. Aliases must be limited to 8
     characters and may include any character that is legal in a file name.

     The replacement phrase may be any length but could cause overflow of
     command's text buffer at the time of substitution. If this happens, a
     message is displayed and a nul string is returned by dosedit. Aliases
     are only active while in the dos command mode. The replacement string
     is never displayed but is returned to command.com in the command text
     buffer.

     When an alias is used on a command line, it must be the first word of
     the line although a drive specifier may preceed it. For example, if
     fmt is an alias for format, C:fmt will cause dos to assume that
     format.com will be found on drive C.







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