Windows Command Line (WCL) v7.40 has just been released to various 
Internet ftp sites by the author. The file to look for is wincmd74.zip.

There have been more than 100 internal enhancements to WCL. Immediately
below is a list of some of the new features in version 7.40. This is
followed by a brief introduction to WCL.

Changes/New Features:

1. The scroll bars in the WCL window ("small" version) have been
   removed. The title bar can optionally be removed. Thus this
   window can be as small as one might want.

2. New support for the US date format

3. A new entry - "DIRCMD" in WCL.INI. Any switch which is valid
   for the DIR command can be put in this setting. Such switches
   will automatically be applied to all DIR commands.

4. A new configuration program (WCLCFG.EXE). This saves having
   to make changes to the WCL.INI file manually.

5. Support for more parameters for the "PROMPT" command.

6. Both the ENCODE and DECODE commands can now handle Unix format
   UUencoded files.

7. An interface has been provided to WCL to allow Windows
   programmers to add user extensions to the internal command
   set.

8. Increase in the maximum number of COMMAND ALIASES to 40.

9. Increase in the maximum number of lines in WCL batch files
   (.CBF files) from 30 to 150.

10. Support for a limited subset of the Unix FOREACH command -
    for operations involving multiple files.

11. A limited subset of the GREP command has been introduced -
    to search for strings inside a text file.

12. The "TYPE" command (to display the contents of a file) can
    now take wilcards (eg TYPE *.TXT).

13. The "REN" command has been revamped in many ways.

    [a] It can now be used to rename files and directories whose
        names are regarded as illegal by DOS (eg because they
        have spaces in their names). In such cases, enclose the
        SOURCE file name in quotes - eg REN "FRED DY" FREDDY

    [b] It can now take wildcards - but you MUST use the
        wildcards in both the SOURCE and TARGET file names

14. A new command "DU" (for "disk usage") has been introduced.
    This command tells you how much disk space is occupied by the
    files in a directory (and all its subdirectories), without
    going through a directory listing.

15. A new switch for the "DIR" command has been introduced. This
    is "/Q" - for "quick" display. When this switch is used, the
    default behaviour of pausing for a keypress after each screen
    is overridden.

16. A new command "REPLACE" has been introduced. This is for
    searching for a string in an ASCII file, and replacing all
    occurences of that string with another one.

17. New support for associating file extensions with an
    application.

18. New support for filename completion.

19. New support for automatic directory changing ("implied CD").

20. A new command "WMCLOSE" has been introduced. This command
    shuts WCL down, without any question. This command is for
    users who have complained about being asked whether they
    really want to quit. .

    It is also useful for closing down WCL from a non-interactive
    batch file.

21. A number of bugs have been fixed.

Introduction

The Windows Command Line Processor (WCL) is a Shareware program that
presents a fully featured DOS-like command line interface for Microsoft's
Windows 3.1 and IBM's Win-OS/2.

WCL basically simulates the DOS "C:> prompt", but from within Windows or
Win-OS/2. The WCL main Window is a small, unobtrusive window (about 50
characters wide and 4 lines deep) which defaults to the top left corner of
the screen, but which can be moved at will. The window occupies very litte
screen space, meaning that most of the rest of the screen is visible.
Version 5.00 introduced a new executable "BIGWCL.EXE". This is a version
of WCL in which the main window is of full size, and all output is
directed to the main window. This is an almost exact imitation of the
"MSDOS prompt", but within a full Windows program.

WCL ensures that you do not need to open a DOS shell, or the File Manager,
just to perform operations like file copying, directory listing, file
deletions, changing file attributes, etc., etc. WCL, being a full Windows
program, offers all the benefits of Windows which will otherwise be lost
in a DOS shell, and uses far less memory than a DOS shell. But if you do
want to open a DOS shell, you can still do so from WCL by typing "SHELL",
or "DOS".

You can run Windows and DOS programs by typing their names and pressing
<ENTER>, just as you would do at the DOS command line. If you are running
OS/2 version 2.1, then you can also run OS/2 programs from within WCL.
Program files with the extension .COM, ..EXE, .BAT and .PIF can also be
run from WCL.

WCL also supports most of the internal DOS commands (e.g., COPY, DIR, CD,
MD, RD, DEL, REN, etc.), and some external DOS commands (e.g., ATTRIB,
PRINT, etc.) through built-in technology. In addition to these, there are
several commands internal to WCL, and several extra features which are
fully documented in the on-line help.

Additionally, WCL has a number of internal commands of its own, all
designed to make Windows easier to use for the command line aficionado.
There are commands like SEEK, COPYTREE, and DELTREE. There is a TYPE-WRITE
command that turns your PC into an electric typewriter for line-by-line
output to a line printer, etc.

Other features include UUencode, UUdecode, UNZIP, Filename  Completion,
Implied CD, Directory Aliases, Command Aliases,  assignment of commands to
Function Keys, Doskey emulation, batch file operation within Windows, full
command-line editing, a  FOREACH command, support for file extensions in
WIN.INI, and an  interface for programmers to hook into the WCL system and
extend  the internal command set.

WCL can replace the Program Manager as your Windows or Win-OS/2 Shell. When
WCL is used as the Windows shell, it offers many extra facilities which
can be turned on or off in the initialization file WCL.INI. Among these
extra features are:

[a] saving the state of your Windows desktop when you quit
    WCL, and restoring it to exactly the same state when you
    next run Windows. This way, you can leave all your
    favourite Windows programs running when you quit Windows
    through WCL, and next time you run Windows, they will all
    be loaded automatically.
   
[b] backing up your WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files each time
    Windows is started. This can save you from the deeds of
    some badly behaved programs that mess up with the Windows
    INI files. Two backup copies are made of each of these
    files - the penultimate version, and the ante-penultimate
    version.

BATCH FILES

WCL supports batch file processing within Windows. Any file with the
extension .CBF is treated as a WCL batch file, and can contain any mixture
of program files and WCL internal commands. In most cases, you can just
rename your DOS batch files to files with a .CBF extension, and WCL will
treat them as Windows batch files.

A further feature of the batch file processing of WCL is support for a
Windows "AUTOEXEC" batch file. WCL will execute any set of commands found
in a WCL batch file with the name AUTOEXEC.CBF every time WCL is run.

Dr. Abimbola Olowofoyeku ( The African Chief)
Keele University         ( and The Great Elephant)
England

Email: laa12@keele.ac.uk
       chief@mep.com

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