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1 *os_msdos.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2005 Mar 29
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4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
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5
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6
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7 *msdos* *ms-dos* *MSDOS* *MS-DOS*
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8 This file contains the particularities for the MS-DOS version of Vim.
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9
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10 1. Two versions for MS-DOS |msdos-versions|
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11 2. Known problems |msdos-problems|
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12 3. Long file names |msdos-longfname|
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13 4. Termcap codes |msdos-termcap|
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14 5. Shifted arrow keys |msdos-arrows|
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15 6. Filename extensions |msdos-fname-extensions|
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16 7. Memory usage and limitations |msdos-limitations|
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17 8. Symbolically linked files |msdos-linked-files|
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18 9. Copy/paste in a dos box |msdos-copy-paste|
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19
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20 Additionally, there are a number of common Win32 and DOS items:
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21 File locations |dos-locations|
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22 Using backslashes |dos-backslash|
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23 Standard mappings |dos-standard-mappings|
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24 Screen output and colors |dos-colors|
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25 File formats |dos-file-formats|
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26 :cd command |dos-:cd|
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27 Interrupting |dos-CTRL-Break|
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28 Temp files |dos-temp-files|
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29 Shell option default |dos-shell|
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30
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31 For compiling Vim see src/INSTALL.pc. *msdos-compiling*
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32
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33 ==============================================================================
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34 1. Two versions for MS-DOS *msdos-versions*
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35
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36 There are two versions of Vim that can be used with MS-DOS machines:
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37
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38 *dos16*
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39 Dos16 version Can be used on any MS-DOS system, only uses up to 640 Kbyte of
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40 memory. Also runs on OS/2, Windows 95, and NT. Excludes some
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41 Vim-specific features (autocommands, syntax highlighting,
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42 etc.). Recommended for use on pre-386 machines.
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43 *dos32*
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44 Dos32 version Requires 386 processor and a |DPMI| driver, uses all
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45 available memory. Supports long file names and the Windows
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46 clipboard, but NOT on Windows NT. Recommended for MS-DOS,
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47 Windows 3.1 and Windows 95.
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48
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49 There are also two versions that run under Windows:
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50 Win32 version Requires Windows 95 or Windows NT, uses all available
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51 memory, supports long file names, etc. Has some problems on
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52 Windows 95. Recommended for Windows NT. See |os_win32.txt|
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53 Win32 GUI Requirements like the Win32 version, but runs in its own
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54 window, instead of a console. Has scrollbars, menu, etc.
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55 Recommended for Windows 95 and Windows NT. See |gui-w32|.
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56
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57 It is recommended to use the Dos32 or Win32 version. Although the Dos16
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58 version is able to edit very big files, it quickly runs out of memory when
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59 making big changes. Disabling undo helps: ":set ul=-1". The screen updating
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60 of the Dos16 version is the fastest of the three on DOS or Windows 95; on
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61 Windows NT, the Win32 version is just as fast.
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62
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63 *DPMI*
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64 For the Dos32 version, you may need a DPMI driver when running in MS-DOS. If
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65 you are running Windows or installed a clever memory manager, it will probably
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66 work already. If you get the message "No DPMI", you need to install a DPMI
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67 driver. Such a driver is included with the executable in CSDPMI4B.ZIP. Run
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68 "cwsdpmi" just before starting Vim each time. Or you might want to include
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69 "cwsdpmi -p" in your autoexec.bat to make it resident. The latest version of
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70 "CSDPMI*.ZIP" can be obtained from: "ftp.neosoft.com:pub/users/s/sandmann".
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71
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72 *minimal-features*
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73 The 16 bit DOS version has been compiled with minimal features. Check the
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74 |+feature-list| which ones are included (marked with a "T").
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75 You can include more features by editing feature.h and recompiling.
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76
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77 ==============================================================================
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78 2. Known problems *msdos-problems*
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79
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80 When using smartdrive (MS-DOS 6.x) with write-behind caching, it is possible
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81 that Vim will try to create a swap file on a read-only file system (e.g.
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82 write protected floppy). You will then be given the message >
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83 A serious disk error has occurred .., Retry (r)?
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84 There is nothing you can do but unprotect the floppy or switch off the
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85 computer. Even CTRL-ALT-DEL will not get you out of this. This is really a
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86 problem of smartdrive, not Vim. Smartdrive works fine otherwise. If this
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87 bothers you, don't use the write-behind caching.
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88
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89 Vim can't read swap files that have been opened already, unless the "share"
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90 command has been used. If you see stray warnings for existing swap files,
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91 include the "share" command in your config.sys or autoexec.bat (see your MSDOS
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92 documentation).
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93
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94 The Dos16 version can only have about 10 files open (in a window or hidden) at
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95 one time. With more files you will get error messages when trying to read or
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96 write a file, and for filter commands. Or Vim runs out of memory, and random
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97 problems may result.
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98
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99 The Dos32 version cannot have an unlimited number of files open at any one
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100 time. The limit depends on the setting of FILES in your CONFIG.SYS. This
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101 defaults to 15; if you need to edit a lot of files, you should increase this.
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102 If you do not set FILES high enough, you can get strange errors, and shell
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103 commands may cause a crash!
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104
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105 The Dos32 version can work with long file names. When doing file name
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106 completion, matches for the short file name will also be found. But this will
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107 result in the corresponding long file name. For example, if you have the long
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108 file name "this_is_a_test" with the short file name "this_i~1", the command
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109 ":e *1" will start editing "this_is_a_test".
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110
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111 When using the Dos32 version and you run into problems with DPMI support,
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112 check if there is a program in your config.sys that eats resources. One
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113 program known to cause this problem is "netx", which says "NetWare v. 3.26
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114 Workstation shell". Replace it with version 3.32 to fix the problem.
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115
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116 The Dos32 version will parse its arguments to handle quotation. This is good
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117 to edit a file with spaces in its name, for example: >
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118 vim "program files\accessories\ppp.scp"
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119 A side effect is that single quotes are removed. Insert a backslash to avoid
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120 that. For example, to edit the file "fi'le.txt": >
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121 vim fi\'le.txt
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122
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123 ==============================================================================
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124 3. Long file names *msdos-longfname*
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125
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126 If the Dos32 version is run on Windows 95, it can use long file names. It
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127 will work by default. If you want to disable this, use this setting:
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128 set LFN=N
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129 You can put this in your autoexec.bat file.
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130
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131 Note: If you have installed DJGPP on your machine, you probably have a
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132 "djgpp.env" file, which contains "LFN=n". You need to use "LFN=Y" to switch
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133 on using long file names then.
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134
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135 ==============================================================================
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136 4. Termcap codes *msdos-termcap*
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137
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138 If you want to use another output method (e.g., when using a terminal on a COM
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139 port), set the terminal name to "pcansi". You can change the termcap options
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140 when needed (see |terminal-options|). Note that the
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141 normal IBM ansi.sys does not support all the codes of the builtin pcansi
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142 terminal. If you use ansi.sys, you will need to delete the termcap entries
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143 t_al and t_dl with >
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144 :set t_al= t_dl=
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145 Otherwise, the screen will not be updated correctly. It is better to use
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146 nansi.sys, nnansi.sys, or the like instead of ansi.sys.
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147
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148 If you want to use Vim on a terminal connected to a COM: port, reset the
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149 'bioskey' option. Otherwise the commands will be read from the PC keyboard.
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150 CTRL-C and CTRL-P may not work correctly with 'bioskey' reset.
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151
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152 ==============================================================================
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153 5. Shifted arrow keys *msdos-arrows*
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154
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155 Use CTRL-arrow-left and CTRL-arrow-right instead of SHIFT-arrow-left and
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156 SHIFT-arrow-right. The arrow-up and arrow-down cannot be used with SHIFT or
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157 CTRL.
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158
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159 ==============================================================================
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160 6. Filename extensions *msdos-fname-extensions*
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161
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162 MS-DOS allows for only one file name extension. Therefore, when appending an
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163 extension, the '.' in the original file name is replaced with a '_', the name
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164 is truncated to 8 characters, and the new extension (e.g., ".swp") is
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165 appended. Two examples: "test.c" becomes "test_c.bak", "thisisat.est"
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166 becomes "thisisat.bak". To reduce these problems, the default for
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167 'backupext' is "~" instead of ".bak". The backup file for "thisisat.est"
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168 then becomes "thisisat.es~". The 'shortname' option is not available,
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169 because it would always be set.
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170
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171 ==============================================================================
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172 7. Memory usage and limitations *msdos-limitations*
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173
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174 A swap file is used to store most of the text. You should be able to edit
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175 very large files. However, memory is used for undo and other things. If you
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176 delete a lot of text, you can still run out of memory in the Dos16 version.
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177
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178 If Vim gives an "Out of memory" warning, you should stop editing. The result
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179 of further editing actions is unpredictable. Setting 'undolevels' to 0 saves
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180 some memory. Running the maze macros on a big maze is guaranteed to run out
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181 of memory, because each change is remembered for undo. In this case set
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182 'undolevels' to a negative number. This will switch off undo completely.
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183
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184 *msdos-clipboard-limits*
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185 In the Dos32 version, extended memory is used to avoid these problems.
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186 However, if you are using the clipboard, you can still run into memory
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187 limitations because the Windows clipboard can only communicate with Vim using
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188 Dos memory. This means that the largest amount of text that can be sent to
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189 or received from the Windows clipboard is limited by how much free Dos memory
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190 is available on your system.
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191
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192 You can usually maximize the amount of available Dos memory by adding the
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193 following lines to Dos's "config.sys" file: >
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194
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195 DOS=HIGH,UMB
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196 DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\himem.sys
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197 DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\emm386.exe RAM
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198
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199 Modifying config.sys in this way will also help to make more memory available
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200 for the Dos16 version, if you are using that.
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201
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202 In the Dos16 version the line length is limited to about 32000 characters.
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203 When reading a file the lines are automatically split. But editing a line
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204 in such a way that it becomes too long may give unexpected results.
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205
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206 ==============================================================================
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207 8. Symbolically linked files *msdos-linked-files*
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208
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209 When using Vim to edit a symbolically linked file on a unix NFS file server,
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210 you may run into problems. When writing the file, Vim does not "write
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211 through" the symlink. Instead, it deletes the symbolic link and creates a new
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212 file in its place.
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213
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214 On Unix, Vim is prepared for links (symbolic or hard). A backup copy of the
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215 original file is made and then the original file is overwritten. This assures
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216 that all properties of the file remain the same. On non-Unix systems, the
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217 original file is renamed and a new file is written. Only the protection bits
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218 are set like the original file. However, this doesn't work properly when
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219 working on an NFS-mounted file system where links and other things exist. The
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220 only way to fix this in the current version is not making a backup file, by
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221 ":set nobackup nowritebackup" |'writebackup'|
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222
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223 A similar problem occurs when mounting a Unix filesystem through Samba or a
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224 similar system. When Vim creates a new file it will get the default user ID
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225 for the mounted file system. This may be different from the original user ID.
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226 To avoid this set the 'backupcopy' option to "yes".
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227
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228 ==============================================================================
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229 9. Copy/paste in a dos box *msdos-copy-paste*
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230
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231 *E450* *E451* *E452* *E453* *E454*
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232 The 32 bit version can copy/paste from/to the Windows clipboard directly. Use
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233 the "* register. Large amounts of text can be copied this way, but it must be
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234 possible to allocate memory for it, see |msdos-clipboard-limits|. When moving
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235 text from one Vim to another, the type of the selection
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236 (characterwise/linewise/blockwise) is passed on.
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237
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238 In other versions, the following can be used.
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239
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240 (posted to comp.editors by John Velman <velman@igate1.hac.com>)
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241
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242 How to copy/paste text from/to vim in a dos box:
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243
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244 1) To get VIM to run in a window, instead of full screen, press alt+enter.
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245 This toggles back and forth between full screen and a dos window.
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246 NOTE: In Windows 95 you must have the property "Fast Pasting" unchecked!
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247 In the properties dialog box for the MS-DOS window, go to "MS-DOS
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248 Prompt/Misc/Fast pasting" and make sure that it is NOT checked.
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249 To make this permanent, change the properties for
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250 "\windows\system\conagent.exe" (from Philip Nelson, unverified).
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251
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252 2) To paste something _into_ Vim, put Vim in insert mode.
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253
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236
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254 3) Put the text you want to paste on the windows clipboard.
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255
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236
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256 4) Click the control box in the upper left of the Vim window. (This looks
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257 like a big minus sign.) If you don't want to use the mouse, you can get
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258 this with alt+spacebar.
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236
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259 5) On the resulting dropdown menu choose "Edit".
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260 6) On the child dropdown menu choose "Paste".
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261
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262 To copy something from the Vim window to the clipboard,
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263
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264 1) Select the control box to get the control drop down menu.
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265 2) Select "Edit".
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266 3) Select "Mark".
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267 4) Using either the keys or the mouse, select the part of the Vim window that
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268 you want to copy. To use the keys, use the arrow keys, and hold down shift
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269 to extend the selection.
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270 5) When you've completed your selection, press 'enter'. The selection
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271 is now in the windows clipboard. By the way, this can be any
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272 rectangular selection, for example columns 4-25 in rows 7-10. It can
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273 include anything in the VIM window: the output of a :!dir, for
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274 example.
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275
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276 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
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