DOS

Command

DOS -- Enter DOS Emulation mode.

Synopsis

DOS

Description

The DOS command switches XRPi's command interpreter into "DOS mode", allowing local and remote sysops to use familiar DOS commands to maintain the system without taking it off line.

In this mode, XRPi's normal command prompt is replaced by a DOS-style $P$G prompt showing the current drive and directory, and only the PZTDOS commands are understood.

The initial directory is always the one containing XRPi. It does not "remember" the last-used directory between sessions.

As this mode is intended for system administration, the full directory path is shown. But write access is defined by the privileges applying to XRPi. If run as root, it has full access.

The operator must use the EXIT command to return to normal command mode.

PZTDOS sessions automatically close upon disconnection.

The following commands are available in DOS emulation mode:

CD Change Directory
COPY Copy File(s)
DEL Delete File(s)
DF Enquire Disk Free Space
DIR Directory of Files
EDIT Create / Edit a Text File
EXIT Exit DOS Emulator
MD Make Directory
MOVE Move File(s)
REN Rename File(s)
RMDIR Remove Directory
TYPE Display Text File

Portability

PZTDOS accepts both the MSDOS backslash (\) and the UNIX forward slash (/) pathname separator characters, and they may be freely mixed. But the prompt always displays the path using the forward slash.

As in MSDOS and UNIX, when specifying pathnames, a single dot (.) represents the current directory, and a double dot represents the parent directory. Thus a command such as "CD ../FRED" would change to directory FRED, which is located off the current directory's parent.

Unlike XR16/32, PZTDOS in XRPi does not support "drive letters", and pathnames (but not commands) are case-sensitive.

Notes

PZTDOS is fully multitasking, i.e. normal router operation continues while PZTDOS mode is operating.

PZTDOS is a vestige of a bygone age, where the OS would only support a single foreground application. Without PZTDOS, it would have been necessary either to "shell to DOS", or to stop XROUTER altogether, in order to perform file-system tasks. Nowadays, such tasks are easily performed on a multi- tasking OS, and PZTDOS has little relevance. It is included in XRPi only because it never got removed when XROUTER was ported from DOS.

It was originally designed for "8.3" DOS style filenames, and therefore may not properly handle all the quirks of long file names. If the developers receive enough feedback in support of PZTDOS it will be updated. If not, it might be deleted.

Availability

Sysop-only.