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diff --git a/usr.bin/vim/doc/vim_dos.txt b/usr.bin/vim/doc/vim_dos.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..6e1ba5b8bcd --- /dev/null +++ b/usr.bin/vim/doc/vim_dos.txt @@ -0,0 +1,240 @@ +*vim_dos.txt* For Vim version 4.2. Last modification: 1996 June 13 + +This file contains the particularities for the MS-DOS version of Vim. + +There are Three versions of Vim that can be used with MS-DOS machines: + +16-bit version Can be used on any MS-DOS system, only uses up to + 640 Kbyte of memory. Also runs on OS/2, Windows 95, and NT. +32-bit version Requires 386 processor and a DPMI driver, uses all + available memory. Supports long file names where available. +Win32 version Requires Windows 95 or Windows NT, uses all available + memory, supports long file names, etc. See |vim_w32.txt| + +It is recommended to use the 32-bit or Win32 version. Although the 16-bit +version is able to edit very big files, it quickly runs out of memory when +making big changes. Disabling undo helps: ":set ul=-1". The screen updating +of the 16-bit version is the fastest of the three on DOS or Windows 95; on +Windows NT, the Win32 version is just as fast. + +For the 32-bit version, you may need a DPMI driver when running in MS-DOS. If +you are running Windows or installed a clever memory manager, it will probably +run already. If you get the message "No DPMI", you need to install a DPMI +driver. Such a driver is included with the executable. The latest version of +"CWSDPMI.ZIP" can be obtained from: "ftp.neosoft.com:pub/users/s/sandmann". + +Known problems: +- When using smartdrive (MS-DOS 6.x) with write-behind caching, it is possible + that Vim will try to create a swap file on a read-only file system (e.g. + write protected floppy). You will then be given the message + "A serious disk error has occurred .., Retry (r)? " There is nothing + you can do but unprotect the floppy or switch off the computer. Even + CTRL-ALT-DEL will not get you out of this. This is really a problem of + smartdrive, not Vim. Smartdrive works fine otherwise. If this bothers you, + don't use the write-behind caching. +- The 16 bits MS-DOS version can only have about 10 files open (in a window or + hidden) at one time. With more files you will get error messages when + trying to read or write a file, and for filter commands. +- The 32 bits MS-DOS version runs out of file descriptors when using a command + like ":r!ls"; Vim crashes after about five to twelve tries. + +Using backslashes in file names can be a problem. Vi halves the number of +backslashes for some commands. Vim is a bit more tolerant and backslashes +are not removed from a file name, so ":e c:\foo\bar" works as expected. But +when a backslash is used before a special character (space, comma, backslash, +etc.), it is removed. Use slashes to avoid problems: ":e c:/foo/bar" works +fine. Vim will replace the slashes with backslashes internally, to avoid +problems with some MS-DOS programs. + +The default output method for the screen is to use bios calls. This will work +right away on most systems. You do not need ansi.sys. You can use ":mode" to +set the current screen mode. See vim_ref.txt, section 20.3 |:mode|. + +You can set the color used in five modes with nine termcap options. Which of +the five modes is used for which action depends on the 'highlight' ('hl') +option. See vim_ref.txt |'highlight'|. + + ":set t_mr=^V^[\|xxm" start of invert mode + ":set t_md=^V^[\|xxm" start of bold mode + ":set t_me=^V^[\|xxm" back to normal text + + ":set t_so=^V^[\|xxm" start of standout mode + ":set t_se=^V^[\|xxm" back to normal text + + ":set t_us=^V^[\|xxm" start of underline mode + ":set t_ue=^V^[\|xxm" back to normal text + + ":set t_ZH=^V^[\|xxm" start of italics mode + ":set t_ZR=^V^[\|xxm" back to normal text + +^V is CTRL-V +^[ is <Esc> +xx must be replaced with a decimal code: The foreground color number and + background color number added together: + +COLOR FOREGROUND BACKGROUND +black 0 0 +blue 1 16 +green 2 32 +cyan 3 48 +red 4 64 +magenta 5 80 +brown 6 96 +lighgray 7 112 +darkgray 8 +lightblue 9 +lightgreen 10 +lighcyan 11 +lightred 12 +lighmagenta 13 +yellow 14 +white 15 +blink 128 + +When you use 0, the color is reset to the one used when you started Vim. This +is the default for t_me. The default for t_mr is black on grey, 0 + 112 = 112. +The default for t_md is white on cyan, 15 + 48 = 63. The default for t_so is +white on blue, 15 + 16 = 31. These colors were chosen, because they also look +good when using an inverted display. But you can change them as you like. + +The termcap codes that are translated into bios calls are: + t_cl <Esc>|J clear screen + t_ce <Esc>|K clear to end of line + t_al <Esc>|L insert line + t_dl <Esc>|M delete line + t_cm <Esc>|{row};{col}H position cursor + t_cs <Esc>|{row};{row}r set scrolling region + t_.. <Esc>|attrm set character attribute + +If you set these with the ":set" command, don't forget to put a backslash +before the '|', otherwise it will be recognized as the end of the command. + +If you want to use another output method (e.g., when using a terminal on a COM +port), set the terminal name to "pcansi". You can change the termcap options +when needed (see chapter 20 of vim_ref.txt |terminal_options|). Note that the +normal IBM ansi.sys does not support all the codes of the builtin pcansi +terminal. If you use ansi.sys, you will need to delete the termcap entries +t_al and t_dl with + ":set t_al= t_dl=". +Otherwise, the screen will not be updated correctly. It is better to use +nansi.sys, nnansi.sys, or the like instead of ansi.sys. + +If you want to use Vim on a terminal connected to a COM: port, reset the +'bioskey' option. Otherwise the commands will be read from the PC keyboard. +CTRL-C and CTRL-P may not work correctly with 'bioskey' reset. + +If the "tx" (textmode) option is set (which is the default), Vim will accept +a single <NL> or a <CR><NL> pair for end-of-line. When writing a file, Vim +will use <CR><NL>. Thus, if you edit a file and write it, <NL> is replaced +with <CR><NL>. If the "tx" option is not set, the single <NL> will be used +for end-of-line. A <CR> will be shown as ^M. You can use Vim to replace +<NL> with <CR><NL> by reading in any mode and writing in text mode (":se +tx"). You can use Vim to replace <CR><NL> with <NL> by reading in text mode +and writing in non-text mode (":se notx"). 'textmode' is set automatically +when 'textauto' is on (which is the default), so you don't really have to +worry about what you are doing. + |'textmode'| |'textauto'| + +If you want to edit a script file or a binary file, you should reset the +'textmode' and 'textauto' options before loading the file. Script files and +binary files may contain single <NL> characters which would be replaced with +<CR><NL>. You can reset 'textmode' and 'textauto' automatically by starting +Vim with the "-b" (binary) option. + +You should set the environment variable "VIM" to the directory where the Vim +documentation files are. If "VIM" is used but not defined, "HOME" is tried +too. + +If the HOME environment variable is not set, the value "C:/" is used as a +default. + +The default help filename is "$VIM\vim_help.txt". If the environment variable +$VIM is not defined or the file is not found, the DOS search path is used to +search for the file "vim_help.txt". If you do not want to put "vim_help.txt" +in your search path, use the command ":set helpfile=pathname" to tell Vim +where the help file is. |'helpfile'| + +Vim will look for initializations in eight places. The first that is found +is used and the others are ignored. The order is + - The environment variable VIMINIT + - The file "$VIM/_vimrc" + - The file "$HOME/_vimrc" + - The file "$VIM/.vimrc" + - The file "$HOME/.vimrc" + - The environment variable EXINIT + - The file "$VIM/_exrc" + - The file "$HOME/_exrc" + +The ":cd" command recognizes the drive specifier and changes the current +drive. Use ":cd c:" to make drive C the active drive. Use ":cd d:\dos" to go +to the directory "dos" in the root of drive D. |:cd| + +Use CTRL-break instead of CTRL-C to interrupt searches. The CTRL-C is not +detected until a key is read. + +Use CTRL-arrow-left and CTRL-arrow-right instead of SHIFT-arrow-left and +SHIFT-arrow-right. The arrow-up and arrow-down cannot be used with SHIFT or +CTRL. + +Temporary files (for filtering) are put in the current directory. + +The default for the sh (shell) option is "command". If COMSPEC is defined it +is used instead. External commands are started with "command /c +<command_name>". Typing CTRL-Z starts a new command shell. Return to Vim with +"exit". + +MS-DOS allows for only one filename extension. Therefore, when appending an +extension, the '.' in the original filename is replaced with a '_', the name +is truncated to 8 characters, and the new extension (e.g., ".swp") is +appended. Two examples: "test.c" becomes "test_c.bak", "thisisat.est" +becomes "thisisat.bak". To reduce these problems, the default for +'backupext' is "~" instead of ".bak". The backup file for "thisisat.est" +then becomes "thisisat.es~". The 'shortname' option is not available, +because it would always be set. + +If the 32-bit DOS version is run on Windows 95 or Windows NT, it can use long +filenames, as can the Win32 version. + +The MS-DOS binary was compiled with Borland-C++ version 4.0, using +makefile.bcc. Other compilers should also work. Use makefile.dos for +Turbo-C 2.0. Use makefile.bcc for other Borland compilers, also Turbo-C++ +3.0 (with small changes). If you get all kinds of strange error messages +when compiling, try adding <CR> characters at the end of each line. This can +be done with the addcr program: "make addcr". This will compile addcr.c to +addcr.exe and then execute the addcr.bat file. Sometimes this fails. In +that case, execute the addcr.bat file from the DOS prompt. + + +The "spawno" library by Ralf Brown was used in order to free memory when Vim +starts a shell or other external command. Only about 200 bytes are taken from +conventional memory. When recompiling get the spawno library from Simtel, +directory "msdos/c". It is called something like "spwno413.zip". Or remove +the library from the makefile. + +A swap file is used to store most of the text. You should be able to edit +very large files. However, memory is used for undo and other things. If you +delete a lot of text, you can still run out of memory in the 16-bit version. + +In the 16-bit version the line length is limited to about 32000 characters. +When reading a file the lines are automatically split. But editing a line +in such a way that it becomes too long may give unexpected results. + +If Vim gives an "Out of memory" warning, you should stop editing. The result +of further editing actions is unpredictable. Setting 'undolevels' to 0 saves +some memory. Running the maze macros on a big maze is guaranteed to run out +of memory, because each change is remembered for undo. In this case set +'undolevels' to a negative number. This will switch off undo completely. + +In the 32-bit version, extended memory is used to avoid these problems. + +About using Vim to edit a symbolically linked file on a Unix NFS file server: +When writing the file, Vim does not "write through" the symlink. Instead, it +deletes the symbolic link and creates a new file in its place. + On Unix, Vim is prepared for links (symbolic or hard). A backup copy of +the original file is made and then the original file is overwritten. This +assures that all properties of the file remain the same. On non-Unix systems, +the original file is renamed and a new file is written. Only the protection +bits are set like the original file. However, this doesn't work properly when +working on an NFS-mounted file system where links and other things exist. The +only way to fix this in the current version is not making a backup file, by +":set nobackup nowritebackup" |'writebackup'| |