Tandy 1000 MS-DOS User manual

•
•

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE AND LICENSE OF TANDY COMPUTER EQUIPMENT AND
SOFTWARE PURCHASED FROM RADIO SHACK COMPANY-OWNED COMPUTER CENTERS. RETAIL
STORES AND RADIO SHACK FRANCHISEES OR DEALERS AT THEIR AUTHORIZED LOCATIONS
LIMITED WARRANTY
CUSTOMER OBLIGATIONS
A CUSTOMER assumes full responsibility that this computer hardware purchased (the Equipment) and any
copies of software Included with the Equipment or licensed separately (the 'Software) meefs fhe spec,t,cat,ons
capacity. capab",tles versatll:ty. and other requllements at CUSTOMER
CUSTOMER assumes full responsibility for the condition and effecf,veness of the operatmg environment 10 which
the Equipment and Software are to function. and for ItS msfallatlon
II. LIMITED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF SALE
A For a pellod of nmety (90) calendar days froID the date of the Radio Shack sales document received upon
purchase of the Equipment RADIO SHACK warrants to the ollglnal CUSTOMER that fhe Equipment and the
medium upon which fhe Software IS stored IS tree from manufactullng defects. This warranty is only applicable
to purchases of Tandy Equipment by the original customer from Radio Shack company-owned computer
centers. retail stores, and Radio Shack franchisees and dealers at their authorized locations. The warranty IS
vOid It the Equipment or Software has been sublected to Improper or abnormal If a manulactullng defect IS
discovered dUling the stated warranty pellod the defective Equlpmenl must returned to a Radio Shack
Computer Center. a Radio Shack retarl store. a partlClpatmg Radio Shack tranchlSee or a partlClpatmg Radio Shack
dealer for repall along with a copy of the sales document or lease agreement The oliglOal CUSTOMERS sale and
excluSive remedy In the event of a defect IS limited to the correction of the delect by repall replacement or
refund of the purchase pllce at RADIO SHACKS elecflon and sale expense RADIO SHACK has no obligation to
replace or repair expendable Items
RADIO SHACK makes no warranty as to the design capability. capacity or sUitability lor use of the Software
except as provided 10 thIS paragraph Software IS licensed on an AS IS baSis. wllhout warranty The ollglnar
CUSTOMERS excluSive remedy 10 the event of a Soltware manufactullng defect IS ItS repall or replacement
wlthm thllty (30) calendar days of the date of the Radio Shack sales document received upon license of the
Software. The defectIVe Software shall be returned to a Radio Shack Computer Center. a Radio Shack retarl store
a partlclpatiOg Radio Shack franchISee or Radio Shack dealer along with the sales document
Except as provided herem no employee. agent. franchisee, dealer or other person IS authorIZed to give any
warranties of any nature on behalf of RADIO SHACK
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED HEREIN. RADIO SHACK MAKES NO EXPRESS WARRANTIES. AND ANY tMPLIED
WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS LIMITED IN ITS DURATION
TO THE DURATION OF THE WRITIEN LIMITED WARRANTIES SET FORTH HEREIN.
Some states do not allow l'm!lallons on how long an Implied warranty lasts. so the above Ilmltatlon(s) may not
apply to CUSTOMER
III. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
A EXCEPT AS PROVIDED HEREIN. RADIO SHACK SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY TO CUSTOMER
DR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY WITH RESPECT TO ANY LIABILITY, LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED OR
ALLEGED TO BE CAUSED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY BY "EQUIPMENT" OR "SOFTWARE" SOLD, LEASED.
LICENSED DR FURNISHED BY RADIO SHACK. INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY INTERRUPTION OF
SERVICE, LOSS OF BUSINESS DR ANTICIPATORY PROFITS OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM
THE USE DR OPERATION OF THE "EQUIPMENT" OR "SOFTWARE." IN NO EVENT SHALL RADIO SHACK BE
LIABLE FOR LOSS OF PROFITS. DR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL. OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF
ANY BREACH OF THIS WARRANTY DR IN ANY MANNER ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THE SALE.
LEASE. LICENSE, USE DR ANTICIPATED USE OF THE "EQUIPMENT" OR "SOFTWARE."
NOTWITHSTANDING THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND WARRANTIES, RADIO SHACK'S LIABILITY HEREUNDER FOR
DAMAGES INCURRED BY CUSTOMER OR OTHERS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY CUSTOMER FOR
THE PARTICULAR "EQUIPMENT" OR "SOFTWARE" INVOLVED.
RADIO SHACK shall not be lrable for any damages caused by delay 10 dellvellng or furnIShing Equlpmenf and or
Software
No action allSing out of any clarmed breach of IhlS Warranfy or transactions under this Warranty may be brought
more than two (2) years after the cause 01 action has accrued or more than four (4) years after the date of the
Radio Shack sales document lor the EqUipment or Software whichever fllst occurs
Some states do not allow the limitation or exclUSion of Incidental or consequentral damages so the above
Ilmltatlon(s) or excluslon(s) may not apply to CUSTDMER
IV. SOFTWARE LICENSE
RADIO SHACK granfs to CUSTOMER a non-exclUSive. paid-up license to use the TANDY Software on one computer
subject to the follOWing proVIsions
A Except as otherwISe proVided 10 thiS Sottware License. applicable copyllghl laws shall apply to the Software
B Title to the medium on which the Software IS recorded (cassefte and or dISkette) or stored (ROM) IS transterred to
CUSTOMER. but not title to the Sottware
CUSTOMER may use Software on a multiuser or network system only If either. the Software IS expressly labeled
to be for use on a mulfluser or network sysfern or one copy of thIS software IS purchased lor each node or
terminal on which Software IS to be used SimUltaneously
CUSTOMER shall not use. make. manulacfure. or reproduce copies of Software except tor use on one computer
and as IS specifically proVided 10 thIS Software license Customer IS expressly prohlb!ted tram dlSassembllOg the
Software
CUSTOMER IS permlfted to make additional copies of the Software only for backup or archival purposes or If
additional copies are reqUired In the operation of one computer With the Software. but only to the exfent the
Software allows a backup copy to be made. However. for TRSDDS Software. CUSTOMER IS permlfted to make a
limited number of additional copies for CUSTDMERS own use
CUSTOMER may resell or dlStlibute unmodified copies of the Software provided CUSTDMER has purchased one
copy 01 the Software lor each one sold or dlStlibuted. The provISions of thIS Software license shall also be
applicable to third parties recelvlOg copies at the Software tram CUSTOMER
G. All copyllght notices shall be retarned on all copies of the Software
V. APPLICABILITY OF WARRANTY
A The terms and conditions of thIS Warranty are applicable as between RADID SHACK and CUSTOMER to either a
sale of fhe Equlpmenf and or Software license to CUSTOMER or fa a transaction whereby Radio Shack sells or
conveys such EqUipment to athlld party for lease to CUSTOMER
The Ilmlfaflons at lrabilify and Warranty prOVISions herein shall mure to the benefit of RADIO SHACK. the author.
owner and or licensor of the Software and any manufacturer of the EqUipment sold by Radio Shack
VI. STATE LAW RIGHTS
The warranties granted herein give the original CUSTOMER specific legal rights. and the original CUSTOMER may
have other lights which vary from state to sfate 686

TANDY 1000
MS-DOS
REFERENCE
MANUAL

Tandy 1000 EX/SX BIOS Compatibility Software: ©1984,
1985, 1986 Tandy Corporation and Phoenix Software
Associates, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
MS-DOS": Verso 2.11 Software: ©1981, 1982, 1983 Micro-
soft Corporation. Licensed to Tandy Corporation. All
Rights Reserved.
MS-DOS'" Verso 3.2 Software: @1981, 1986 Microsoft Cor-
poration. Licensed to Tandy Corporation. All Rights
Reserved.
GW'M-BASIC
Verso 2.02 Software: ©1982, 1984 Microsoft
Corporation. Licensed to Tandy Corporation. All
Rights
Reserved.
GW'M-BASIC
Verso 3.20 Software: ©1983, 1984, 1985,
1986 Microsoft Corporation. Licensed to Tandy Corpora-
tion. All
Rights Reserved.
All portions of
this software are copyrighted and are the
proprietary and trade secret information of Tandy Corpo-
ration and/or its licensor. Use, reproduction, or publication
of
any portion of this material without the prior written
authorization of Tandy Corporation is strictly prohibited.
Tandy 1000 MS -DOS Refereru:e Manual:
©1986 Tandy Corporation.
All
Rights Reserved.
Reproduction or use,
without express written permission
from Tandy Corporation and/or
its licensor, of any portion
of
this manual is prohibited. While reasonable efforts have
been taken in the preparation of this manual to assure its
accuracy, Tandy Corporation assumes no liability result-
ing from any errors in or omissions from this manual, or
from
the use of the information contained herein.
Tandy and Radio Shack are registered trademarks of
Tandy Corporation.
Microsoft, MS,
and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation.
GW is a
trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
IBM is a
registered trademark of International Business
Machines Corporation.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

ABOUT THIS MANUAL
MS-DOS® is an extremely powerful computer managing tool and
has numerous commands and options. If you are abeginner,
don't
let this worry you. MS-DOS is not difficult to use.
This section provides information that greatly facilitates your
use of the MS-DOS commands listed in Part 1. Be sure to read
it before going on to Part 2.
This manual helps you make immediate use of MS-DOS's func-
tions.
Part 1describes how to begin using the operating system's
commands
and editing features as well as the organization of
directories
and files.
Part 2 begins by giving you specific instructions on how to inter-
pret and use command references. The command references
which follow provide the syntax, parameters, special instructions,
and examples of use for each of the MS-DOS commands.
The MS-DOS powerful line editor, EDLIN, is described in detail,
and with numerous examples, in Part 3. Your understanding of
the special features in this section will greatly increase the
advantages of MS-DOS and save you time.
Part 4is for assembly language programmers. It describes the
functions of the MS-DOS Linker. LINK is used to produce
machine language code from assembler or compiler object
modules.
The MS-DOS DEBUG
program provides for the testing of execut-
able object files
and lets you alter the contents of afile or regis-
ter.
The use of DEBUG functions and commands is described in
Part 5.
The
use of MS-DOS is greatly facilitated by its descriptive error
messages. The error messages you might encounter when using
any of the MS-DOS functions are listed in Part 6.
The CONFIG.syS file, described in Appendix B, lets MS-DOS
install device-specific drivers as part of the system start-up.
With CONFIG.SYS you can establish the number of buffers and
files, install a printer driver and set other parameters as part of
the system boot process.

CONTENTS
Part 1. Introduction
1 How to Use MS-DOS. .............................. 1
Entering a Command. .............................. 1
Executing a Program. .............................. 1
Editing and Special Keys 1
The Control
Keys. .................................. 3
2Organization of Information 5
The File
System. ................................... 5
The Root Directory ................................. 6
Filenames ......................................... 6
Extensions 6
Examples ofFilenames ......................... 7
Wild
Cards 8
Pathnames ........................................ 8
Device Names ...................................... 9
Directories 9
Creating Directories ,12
Deleting Directories 13
The
Current Drive 14
The
Current Directory ,14
Home Directories ,16
Anonymous Directory Names ,17
3 Redirecting Commands............................ 19
Input And Output ,19
Filters 20
Command
Piping ,20
4
Batch Files , 21
Executing Several Commands. .................... .. 21
The Batch File , 21
Executing a Batch File 22
Summary of the Batch File Process ,23
The Autoexec.bat
File. ....................... .. 24
Batch Files With Replaceable Parameters. ..... .. 24
Creating a Batch File With Replaceable
Parameters 25
Executing a Batch File With Replaceable
Parameters 25
Sample Use of Replaceable
Parameters. ........ .. 26
Reminders
about Batch Files ,27
III

Contents
Part 2. MS-DOS Commands
5MS-DOS Commands 29
Quick Reference
To MS-DOS Commands. ........... .. 30
How
to Use the Command Reference 33
Command Structure and Syntax ................... .. 34
Organization of MS-DOS Commands " .. 35
The Use of Special Type 35
Synonymous Keywords ............................
.. 36
6 Command Reference............................... 37
Part 3. EDLIN
7 The Line Editor (EDLIN). ........................ .. 189
Function Keys 189
8 Editing Commands 191
The Template 191
Display
and Change 191
Overtype and Insert 192
Saving in the Template 192
Deleting 193
9 Editing Files 195
Creating aFile 195
Inserting Text ............................... .. 196
Saving Your Files 196
Editing an Existing File 197
Using
the Special EDLIN Editing Keys 197
10 EDLIN Command Reference 205
Command Format and Rules 205
Command Summary 207
Command Parameters 207
Part 4. MS-LINK
11 Linking Object Modules 235
Basic Information 235
System Requirements 235
Linking Object Modules and Producing a Run File .. .. 236
Resolving
External References 236
Producing a List File 236
The VM.TMP (Temporary) File 237
Definitions 237
Command Prompts 239
iv

Contents
Command Characters 241
Linker Switches 242
Starting the Linker 244
Sample
Link Session. ............................. .. 246
12 LINK Technical Reference. ...................... .. 249
Definitions 249
How
the Linker Combines and Arranges Segments . . .. 250
How
the Linker Assigns Addresses. .................. 253
Relocation
Fixups 254
MS-LIB
The Library Manager 256
Order of Operations 256
Running MS-LIB 257
Command Characters 260
Part 5. DEBUG
13 The DEBUG Utility 263
DEBUG
Commands 264
Command Summary 265
Command
Parameters 265
Part 6. Messages
14 Problems and Error Messages 293
MS-DOS
Error Messages 293
Device
Error Messages. ............................. 293
Command
Error Messages 297
EDLIN
Error Messages 305
Linker Error Messages 308
DEBUG
Error Messages 310
Part 7. Appendices
AASCII
and Scan Codes ,311
BConfiguring Your
System 321
C
Installable Device Drivers 331
D
Hard Disk Setup 343
Glossary ...........................................345
Index 351
v

Chapter 1
HOW TO USE MS-DOS
If an error occurs while your computer is under the control of
MS-DOS,
the screen displays one of the error messages listed in
Part 6.
Other error messages come from application programs. Check
the instructions of those programs for explanations.
Entering a Command
You can enter acommand whenever the screen displays the sys-
tem prompt. The command may have a maximum of 127 charac-
ters, including
any combination of uppercase or lowercase letters.
End each command by pressing [ENTER I. For example, type:
cIs [ENTER I
and MS-DOS executes the CLS command, which clears the
screen and displays the system prompt.
Executing a Program
You can also execute a program (such as the BASIC language
application supplied on your system diskette) at the system
prompt. If an entry is not arecognized command, MS-DOS com-
pares it with the program names in the current directory. If it
finds a match, MS-DOS loads and runs the program. Otherwise,
the screen displays an error message. For example, type:
bas i c I ENTER 1
to load BASIC.
Editing and Special Keys
Although you must be exact when entering commands, MS-DOS
makes correcting mistyped entries easy. Rather than having to
retype an entire command due to one error, MS-DOS provides
several special
editing functions.
You can also use these same editing functions to change apre-
vious command
and reuse it.
1

Chapter 1 / How to Use MS-DOS
-_._-------------_ .. _ .. _----------
Before entering a command. If you catch a mistake before you
have pressed
the I ENTER Ikey, you can use one of the following keys
to correct
the mistake:
• I BACKSPACE I- moves the cursor one space to the left and
erases the last character. You can then retype the
character or characters.
• COO -voids the command line and lets you start
over.
After entering a command. If you type in your command
without errors, pressing [ENTER Icauses the command to be exe-
cuted. After execution, or
if you made an error, you have the fol-
lowing options:
•Reexecute
the same command. To do so, type [IT]
I ENTER I·
• Edit the line and reexecute the command.
•
Change the command or parameters and execute the
new line.
To edit or change aline, you can use the MS-DOS special edit
keys and functions. Some functions you 'can perform are:
•
Insert letters or words
•Delete
letters or words
•Copy to aspecified
character
•Delete to aspecified character
•Replace aline
•Copy characters
•
Void aline
These
editing features are also available in the MS-DOS file
editing program, EDLIN. EDLIN also offers these features:
•Append lines
•
List text
• Search text
• Transfer text
Information on editing both commands and files is presented in
Part 3. You should study Part 3thoroughly.
2

Chapter 1 / How to Use MS-DOS
The Control Keys
In addition to editing functions, MS-DOS provides a number of
control keys. Acontrol key affects acommand or command line.
The keys
are listed below.
Note: When you type acontrol character, press the
second key while holding down the first.
Keys
I CTRL I CIJ
I SHIFT II PRINT I
I PRINT I, I CTRL I1]],
or [CTRL I [[)
I BACKSPACE Ior
[ CTRL I [[]
I CTRL I QJ
I HOLD Ior
[CTRL I []]
(ESC I
Function
stops execution of acommand.
sends
everything currently displayed on the
screen to the line printer.
sends
all output to the line printer, as well as
to the screen. Press again to stop the function.
removes
the last character from the command
line
and erases the character from the screen.
causes aline end and carriage return but does
not send
the line to be executed or processed.
You can continue to add to the command line
before
pressing I ENTER Ito terminate input.
halts scrolling. Press I HOLD Ior I CTRL I(]J to
resume scrolling.
voids
the current line and clears the command
line buffer. It then outputs a backslash (\),
carriage return, and line feed. The template, a
storage area that contains the last MS-DOS
command you used, is not affected.
Although
the system prompt is not displayed, the system
is ready for acommand.
3

tv radio news
Chapter 2
ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
The MS-DOS system for organizing information, text, and pro-
grams on disk is efficient and easy to use. You can rename, copy,
erase, filter, and edit files.
The File System
Groups of files can be collected into directories, much as you
would
use afile cabinet drawer to collect all the file folders per-
taining to a particular subject. These directories, in turn, can be
collected into
larger directories.
It is important to remember this multilevel organization when
working
with MS-DOS files and directories. It lets you build
downward,
branching out as you go. In effect, you create an
upside-down tree of files and directories.
Each user on the system can organize material into separate
groups that are easy to locate and manage.
Here is asimplified diagram of atypical MS-DOS disk.
ROOT (\)
rl ----r-I ----I----,I------r---.."
USER PAYROLL ADS format.eom find.exe dlskeopy.eom
~ ~ rh
JAN MIKE DEPT1 DEPT2
r--1 ~ ~
MEMOS job1 a-m n-z a-m n-z
~
staff mgrs
Note: In this manual, directory names are in upper-
case
and filenames are in lowercase. This is to help
you
distinguish between directories and files. With
MS-DOS, you can type all names in uppercase, lower-
case, or
any combination of the two.
5

Chapter 2 / Organization Of Infornwtion
The Root Directory
Originally your MS-DOS system disk has only one directory, the
root directory, which contains all external command files. This
directory is the root from which the rest of the disk's file system
grows. The shorthand notation for aroot directory is abackward
slash (\). (Type 7on the numeric keypad with the lJ'lliMi@{) key
off.)
In the sample disk diagram on the previous page, three directo-
ries (USER, PAYROLL,
and ADS) have been created directly in
the root directory. (This root directory also contains the For-
mat.com, Find.exe,
and Diskcopy.com files.) Further, the USER
and PAYROLL directories each contain subdirectories (MIKE,
DEPTl, and DEPT2). Finally, the MIKE subdirectory contains a
MEMOS subdirectory. All
but one of the directories on the sam-
ple disk
contain files.
Filenames
Each file has a name that can be a maximum of eight charac-
ters long. You can use letters, numbers and some symbols.
Allowable characters are:
•Uppercase letters: (A-Z)
•Lowercase letters: (a-z)
•Decimal digits: (0-9)
•Symbols: $&#
o/t:. ' ( ) - ((L ' { } , !
Do not include more than eight characters in afilename. MS-
DOS
truncates the filename to the first eight characters. For
example, MS-DOS
truncates both Accountsl and Accounts2 to
accounts. Because two files
(that are in the same directory) can-
not have
the same name, MS-DOS overwrites and destroys the
old file.
Extensions
You can use an extension to provide additional information on a
file. Always precede extensions
with aperiod ( . ); they can be a
maximum of three characters long. Do not include more than
three characters. If you do, MS-DOS truncates the extension to
the first three characters.
6

Chapter 2 / Organization Of Information
Extensions such as .new, .irs, and .pay let you create files that
have the same name (but different extensions) or they can help
you divide files into categories.
You can also use an extension to indicate file type, such as the
following:
.bas
for
BASIC programs
.txt
for
ASCII text
.dat
for
Data files
.obj for
Object code
.rel
for
Relocatable code
.src
for
Source code
If you add the extension .dat to afile named invntory, the file-
spec becomes:
invntory.dat
Note: Once you include an extension in afilename,
you
must use it whenever you specify the file.
Examples of Filenames
Some legal filenames are:
rawdata2
REPORTS
X.x
proJect%.txt
PROG1 . ba5
SAMFILE
2AR.dat
The examples below are illegal filenames:
.DATA
open ordr
*' isn't alegal character for names
the period can be used only to separate the file-
name and extension
a
name cannot contain aspace
7

Chapter 2 / Organization Of Information
Wild Cards
MS-DOS lets you use these shorthand notations in filenames and
extensions:
?The question mark indicates that any character can
occupy that position.
*The asterisk indicates that any character can occupy
that position or the remaining positions in afilename
or extension.
Wild
card examples and the results you can expect are given
below.
You type:
test?run.exe
test*.exe
MS-DOS finds:
All files in one directory that
begin with test, have any
character next, followed by
run with the extension .exe.
The files above plus all files
in one directory that begin
with test and have the
extension .exe.
Examples:
test1run.exe
test3run.exe
test.exe
testall.exe
test1.exe
oldfile.*
Pathnames
All files named oldfile (in one old f i 1e . bas
directory), regardless of their old f i 1e . ex e
extensions. old f i 1e . txt
Because directories are organized in amultilevel fashion, MS-
DOS needs exact directions or
path names to find files. A path-
name is a list of directories and filenames from the root direc-
tory down to
the file you want to access. Each path name can
have a maximum of 63 characters.
Refer to
the previous MS-DOS disk diagram. To access the Radio
file, tell MS-DOS
the path to follow from the root directory to
the file, separating the branches with backslashes. For instance,
to display
the contents of the Radio file, type:
tyPe \ ads \ r a d i 0I ENTER I
8