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Mail Archives: opendos/1998/10/13/09:08:31

Message-Id: <4.1.19981013150719.009472d0@bbs-ce.uab.es>
X-Sender: Guti AT mail DOT qsystems DOT es
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.1
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 15:08:10 +0200
To: opendos AT delorie DOT com
From: Guti <guti AT qsystems DOT es>
Subject: Suggestions for DR-DOS [Updated 13-10-98]
Mime-Version: 1.0
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by delorie.com id JAA31672
Reply-To: opendos AT delorie DOT com

  I propose to collect all the suggestions for DR-DOS of the users of this
mailing list, and regulary report them to dosbeta AT calderauk DOT com and to
dos DOT support AT caldera DOT com for improving this product.

  The list will look like this (of course completed with your suggestions)
and each suggestion would include the e-mail of the author.

  I sincerely think that will increase the feedback between the users of
DR-DOS and Caldera, making this way a better product.


         SUGGESTIONS
	    þ Include in each new release a file called WHATSNEW.TXT with
              the history of improvements, bugs fixed, ... for every part
              of DR DOS (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ Implementation of the SERIAL command for allowing the user
              to change or view the serial number of his disks 
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ FASTOPEN and DOSKEY (HISTORY) should be out of the kernel,
              this way users that do not use it, will not have an 
              overhead in the system. An the one who want to use them,
              can load them in any moment (like in MS-DOS and PC-DOS)
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).
            
	    þ Support for Windows 9x VFAT (good work with the betas of
              long file name, but still not finished) and FAT32. (Also
              Windows NT HPFS?) (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

	    þ Rename the programs called in DR-DOS 6 as xxxMAX to xxxMgr
              (Eg: TaskManager, MemoryManager, ViewManager). 
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ What about ViewMax in DR-DOS 7 based in GEM Desktop 
              that was shipped in previous versions? 
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ Include the 'Starting Caldera DR DOS...' message using
              color 10 (Caldera Green) like in Mathias Paul IBMBIO.COM;
              it makes my prefered DOS different compared with the 
              others... and was very nice. (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

	    þ Have you seen PTS-DOS (www.phystechsoft.com)? It has nice features that 
              could be implemented in DR DOS. For instance, pressing 
              Ctrl-Alt-Del, automatically flush all the buffers, and performs 
              a quick reboot (similar to those available in QEMM). It is very
              useful in most cases. Also the support for the key SysReq
	      included in it is great. Anyway PTS-DOS has a very interesting
              features that could be included in DR-DOS. (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ Try to compress DR DOS files using PKLITE 2.01 (or later)
              and do not use the old PKLITE 1.50 nor PKLITE 1.15; this will
              reduce the size of the files and the decompression time. Also
	      there are some files that could be compressed with PKLITE,
	      but there actually uncompressed. (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ IBMBIO.COM can be packed using packers like COMPACK 5.1,
              will be a good idea to distribute it packed (for minimizing
              disk space). (Also could this solve the problem that Mathias
              Paul comments about its size?). I have it packed with COMPACK
              5.1, and now IBMBIO.COM ocuppies 19K. If you decide to do that
              the dual decompression routined could be removed. Also if you
              decide to use it in IBMBIO.COM, what about using it for all
              the COM/EXE/SYS files? (It has a better ratio that PKLITE,
              and a fastest decompression speed). Check out COMPACK at
              ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/msdos/mirrors/stuba/pc/pack.     
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ Probably you will get more speed if compile your C/C++
              source code with a newer Borland C/C++ compiler (Eg. version
              4.52) and not with Borland C/C++ 2.0 (althought the file size
              and the memory requeriments will be increased, this is not
              important because the resident parts of DR DOS are written in
              assembly). Also this assembly part, assembled with Borland
              Turbo Assembler 5, and its SMART directive, will produce 
              fastest and smaller code.(guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ Multiple configuration files (CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT)
              should be supported with compatibility against MS DOS and 
              PC DOS. (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ DISKCOPY, and DISKCOMP may use XMS, EMS, or disk and 
              so avoid changing disks when coping or comparing from/to the
              same drive (also aplyable to COPY, MOVE, XCOPY).
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ HIMEM.SYS ocuppies a lot of memory compared with the
              version shiped int MS DOS 6.22 and in PC DOS 7.0 (about 4
              times more). Try to reduce its size in memory. The easy way 
              is reducing and removing the innecessary text messages
              (the startup message: 'HIMEM.SYS 2.32' should be removed,
              so some bytes will be saved, and a prettiest look will be
              obtained). (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ EMM386.EXE is very unstable, and hangs the system 
              frequently. (What about releasing some versions of EMM386
              for beta testing?). (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ Some processes are still a bit slow (reads from disk, memory 
              alocation) compared with their competitors. Please spend some
              time optimizing it. (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ Improve the method for searching in the help overlay of
              COMMAND.COM, so this file can be compressed with PKLITE too.
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ Support for the european 'Euro' currency, like in PC DOS.
              Here are their details:

  PC DOS provides support for the new Eurocurrency symbol defined by
  the European Community as part of the European Monetary Union (EMU).
  The symbol is provided in code page 850 at offset 0xD5.  You can
  invoke the symbol through the keyboard by using the same AltGr or
  AltCar + character key sequence that is used for many other
  country-specific symbols (the AltGr and AltCar keys are the same as
  the right-hand Alt key).  For additional information, see the
  "Multiple Characters on a Key" section in the PC DOS 7 Keyboards and
  Code Pages book which is sold separately.  The table below shows the
  particular key sequence for each country supported.

  The symbol comes in 8x8, 8x14 and 8x16 pixel resolutions in code page
  850 in both the EGA.CPI and EGAX.CPI code page information files, and
  in 8x16 pixel resolution in code page 850 in the ISO.CPI file.  These
  CPI files are specified in the MODE command that is placed in the
  AUTOEXEC.BAT file by SETUP.

	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

	    þ PASSWORD command should include a warning for preventing the
              protection of itself with a password (doing that, the password
              could not be removed unless you have it in a disk). 
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es)

	    þ Renaming DR-DOS system files from IBMBIO.COM and IBMBDOS.COM to
              DRBIOS.COM and DRBDOS.COM for avoiding problems with installed
              PC-DOS, and be more coherent with DR-DOS philosophy (like in
              version 6). (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

	    þ The same with NWCACHE, NWCDEX, ... should be DRCACHE, DRCDEX,
              this will increase the homogenity with the new DRMOUSE.
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ TaskMgr should implement multitasking for 8086+ and not only
              task switching. Anyway it should be optimized in speed and 
              memory consumed. 

	    þ Related with above, what about including the old DesqView 
              2.70 from Quarterdeck? (www.qdeck.com) (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

	    þ Internal commands like DIR, COPY, when invoking help with
              the /? switch should include the two lines of the top like 
              the external commands. The example above is taken from the
              external command FORMAT.COM

              FORMAT R2.07    Disk/diskette format program
              Copyright (c) 1988,1998 Caldera, Inc.  All rights reserved.

              and look more or less like:

	      DIR R7.03       Directory listing utility.
              Copyright (c) 1988,1998 Caldera, Inc.  All rights reserved.

	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ DIR command should have the "standard" options used by the
              MS DOS, PC DOS and 4DOS DIR command; specially the /S
              command for subdirectory search.
              (here is a redirected output from the 4DOS DIR help).
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es)

              Display information about files and subdirectories.

              DIR [/1 /2 /4 /A[[:][-]rhsda] /B /C[HP] /D /E /F /H /I"text"
              /J /K /L /M /O[[:][-]acdeginrsu] /P /R /S /T[:acw] /U /V /W
              /X /Z] [file...]

              file:  The file, directory, or list of files or directories
                     to display.

              /1 (one column)             /L(ower case)
              /2 (two columns)            /M (suppress footer)
              /4 (four columns)           /N(ormal display)
              /A(ttribute select)         /O(rder)
              /B(are)                     /P(ause)
              /C[HP] (Compression)        /R (disable wRap)
              /D(isable colour)           /S(ubdirectories)
              /E (use upper case)         /T (aTtribute)
              /F(ull path)                /U (sUmmary information)
              /H(ide dots)                /V(ertical sort)
              /I (descriptions)           /W(ide)
              /J(ustify names)            /X (display short names)
              /K (suppress header)        /Z (use FAT format)

            þ Include in DR DOS the great 2M utility (from Ciriaco
              Garc¡a de Celis -Grupo Universitario de Valladolid-) it will
              be a good idea; specially if DR DOS FORMAT command could
              handle 2M disks. (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ What about including newer STACKER (Eg. version 4.10) and
              not STACKER 3.10? (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ What about distributing in the same DR DOS package the 4DOS
            command interpreter from JP Software? (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

            þ What about including a ZIP file picker (similar to the used
              in DJGPP www.delorie.com) for downloading only the wanted or
              updated files? Also is very interesting to distribute DR-DOS 
              files in a ZIP file with no installation program for fast
              and easy updates. (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

	    þ A status of DR-DOS column will be very nice, explaining where 
              are you working, who is working ... In this chapter you should 
              inclue previews/alpha versions of the files. 
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

	    þ A great adverticement/offer using e-mail or standard mail to
              the most important publications (Byte, PC-Magazine, PC-World, 
              ...) informing them that a new version is released, and 
              granting permission for including it in a CD or disks.
              (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).

	    þ Like seen in DR-DOS 6.0, TaskMgr should include a clipboard,
              (ya830 AT victoria DOT tc DOT ca).

	    þ An EDIT that is small enough to stick on a rescue diskette though.  
	      You can still have a good sub-100Kb editor. It also could implement
	      optional modules that would be load only when needed (and if they
	      are present), like font redefinition, additional text-mode 
              resolutions, ... (physmsa AT cantua DOT canterbury DOT ac DOT nz).  


            þ And finally the magic suggestion more speed, less memory
              requeriments and more features (impossible?). 
	      (guti AT bbs-ce DOT uab DOT es).


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