The Rolling Stone Essays - Control Characters, DOS Memory Management

The Rolling Stone ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft Windows 95 README for MS-DOS Device Drivers August 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1995 This document provides complementary or late-breaking information to supplement the Microsoft Windows 95 documentation. ------------------------ How to Use This Document ------------------------ To view Msdosdrv.txt on screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window. To print Msdosdrv.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor, then use the Print command on the File menu. In syntax lines, except where noted, lowercase text signifies replaceable parameters and uppercase text must be typed as it appears. NOTE: The Config.txt file contains more Help for MS-DOS commands. Also you can type the name of the command at the command prompt, followed by a slash and question mark (/?). For example: CHKDSK /? -------- CONTENTS ANSI.SYS DBLBUFF.SYS DISPLAY.SYS DRVSPACE.SYS, DBLSPACE.SYS EGA.SYS EMM386.EXE HIMEM.SYS RAMDRIVE.SYS SETVER.EXE -------- ANSI.SYS ========= Note: In this section, uppercase letters in syntax and ANSI escape sequences indicate text you must type exactly as it appears. Defines functions that change display graphics, control cursor movement, and reassign keys. The ANSI.SYS device driver supports ANSI terminal emulation of escape sequences to control your system's screen and keyboard. An ANSI escape sequence is a sequence of ASCII characters, the first two of which are the escape character (1Bh) and the left-bracket character (5Bh). The character or characters following the escape and left-bracket characters specify an alphanumeric code that controls a keyboard or display function. ANSI escape sequences distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters; for example,A and a have completely different meanings. This device driver must be loaded by a DEVICE or DEVICEHIGH command in your CONFIG.SYS file. Syntax DEVICE=[drive:][path]ANSI.SYS [/X] [/K] [/R] Parameter [drive:][path] Specifies the location of the ANSI.SYS file. Switches /X Remaps extended keys independently on 101-key keyboards. /K Causes ANSI.SYS to treat a 101-key keyboard like an 84-key keyboard. This is equivalent to the command SWITCHES=/K. If you usually use the SWITCHES=/K command, you will need to use the /K switch with ANSI.SYS. /R Adjusts line scrolling to improve readability when ANSI.SYS is used with screen-reading programs (which make computers more accessible to people with disabilities). Parameters used in ANSI escape sequences: Pn Numeric parameter. Specifies a decimal number. Ps Selective parameter. Specifies a decimal number that you use to select a function. You can specify more than one function by separating the parameters with semicolons (;). PL Line parameter. Specifies a decimal number that represents one of the lines on your display or on another device. Pc Column parameter. Specifies a decimal number that represents one of the columns on your screen or on another device. ANSI escape sequences for cursor movement, graphics, and keyboard settings: In the following list of ANSI escape sequences, the abbreviation ESC represents the ASCII escape character 27 (1Bh), which appears at the beginning of each escape sequence. ESC[PL;PcH Cursor Position: Moves the cursor to the specified position (coordinates). If you do not specify a position, the cursor moves to the home position--the upper-left corner of the screen (line 0, column 0). This escape sequence works the same way as the following Cursor Position escape sequence. ESC[PL;Pcf Cursor Position: Works the same way as the preceding Cursor Position escape sequence. ESC[PnA Cursor Up: Moves the cursor up by the specified number of lines without changing columns. If the cursor is already on the top line, ANSI.SYS ignores this sequence. ESC[PnB Cursor Down: Moves the cursor down by the specified number of lines without changing columns. If the cursor is already on the bottom line, ANSI.SYS ignores this sequence. ESC[PnC Cursor Forward: Moves the cursor forward by the specified number of columns without changing lines. If the cursor is already in the rightmost column, ANSI.SYS ignores this sequence. ESC[PnD Cursor Backward: Moves the cursor back by the specified number of columns without changing lines. If the cursor is already in the leftmost column, ANSI.SYS ignores this sequence. ESC[s Save Cursor Position: Saves the current cursor position. You can move the cursor to the saved cursor position by using the Restore Cursor Position sequence. ESC[u Restore Cursor Position: Returns the cursor to the position stored by the Save Cursor Position sequence. ESC[2J Erase Display: Clears the screen and moves the cursor to the home position (line 0, column 0). ESC[K Erase Line: Clears all characters from the cursor position to the end of the line (including the character at the cursor position). ESC[Ps;...;Psm Set Graphics Mode: Calls the graphics functions specified by the following values. These specified functions remain active until the next occurrence of this escape sequence. Graphics mode changes the colors and attributes of text (such as bold and underline) displayed on the screen. Text attributes 0 All attributes off 1 Bold on 4 Underscore (on monochrome display adapter only) 5 Blink on 7 Reverse video on 8 Concealed on Foreground colors 30 Black 31 Red 32 Green 33 Yellow 34 Blue 35 Magenta 36 Cyan 37 White Background colors 40 Black 41 Red 42 Green 43 Yellow 44 Blue 45 Magenta 46 Cyan 47 White Parameters 30 through 47