Comprehensive List of MS-DOS 4.x "User's Guide" Doc Errs
PSS ID Number: Q101147
Article last modified on 11-01-1993
PSS database name: O_MSDOS

4.00 4.01

MS-DOS


--------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft MS-DOS operating system versions 4.0 and 4.01
--------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

This article contains information on the documentation errors in the
"Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide and User's Reference" for versions 4.0
and 4.01.

The following topics are covered:

 - Access Denied
 - COMMAND.COM Search Directory in CONFIG.SYS
 - Cursor Key Functionality
 - MODE Command Cannot Change the Default Printer
 - Undocumented Error Message Returned from ATTRIB
 - KEYB Code for Denmark
 - Installing MS-DOS 4.0 and 4.01
 - FIND Command /f Parameter
 - IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO, MS-DOS Batch File Example
 - Install Disk Not Write Protected
 - FASTOPEN Syntax
 - MS-DOS: SMARTDrive Cache Size Range
 - MS-DOS Version 4.x Format /S
 - EDLIN List Command More Robust Than Documentation States
 - EDLIN /B Option
 - KEY.EXE Argument to INSTALL
 - TYPE Command Does Not Support /P Switch

MORE INFORMATION
================

Access Denied
-------------

On page 337 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference," the
description of the error message "Access Denied" is incorrectly
documented as follows:

   Access Denied
   [Attrib][Find][Print][Replace][Xcopy]
   You tried to replace a write-protected, read-only, or locked file.

The description should read as follows:

   Access Denied
   [Attrib][Find][Print][Replace][Xcopy]
   You tried to replace a read-only or locked file.

When a disk is write protected, the following message is displayed:

   Write protect error writing drive X
   Abort, Retry, Fail?

COMMAND.COM Search Directory in CONFIG.SYS
------------------------------------------

The "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference" incorrectly documents setting
of the COMSPEC variable with the CONFIG.SYS "SHELL=" command. On pages
294-295 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference" for version 4.x,
the documentation states that the SHELL= command will set the COMSPEC
variable to the drive, path, and filename specified on the SHELL=
command line.

The COMSPEC environment variable is actually set by the MS-DOS command
interpreter, COMMAND.COM, based on its command-line parameters. This
is documented correctly in the entry for COMMAND.COM.

You can load the initial copy of COMMAND.COM from the DOS subdirectory
on drive C with the following statement in the CONFIG.SYS file:

   SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /p

However, this statement does NOT set the COMSPEC variable to
C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM. The COMSPEC variable is set to the default of
C:\COMMAND.COM. Problems may arise later if C:\COMMAND.COM does not
exist, and the resident portion of COMMAND.COM needs to reload the
transient portion.

To properly set the COMSPEC variable, add a line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT
file that sets the COMSPEC variable to the proper location, as follows:

   SET COMSPEC=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM

Cursor Key Functionality
------------------------

The documentation on the functionality of the cursor keys is incorrect
on page 9 in the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide" for Microsoft MS-DOS
versions 4.0 and 4.01.

The documentation incorrectly states:

   To move the cursor to the left or right without deleting any
   characters, you must use the direction keys. Direction keys move the
   cursor right, left, up, and down. They do not affect the characters
   that are displayed.

However, when you use the arrow keys at the MS-DOS command prompt, the
arrow keys to delete characters.

NOTE: The last command entered on the command line is saved in a
buffer. You can use the RIGHT ARROW key to bring a character at a time
back on the command line from the last command. You can also use the
F3 key to bring back the entire last command. You can use the arrow
keys and the INSERT and DEL keys to edit the last entered command;
however, once you press the ENTER key, the new command is entered into
the buffer and the old command is erased from the buffer. After you
run a large program, the transient portion of COMMAND.COM is reloaded.
When this transient portion is reloaded, the buffer is cleared and no
longer contains your last entered command.

MODE Command Cannot Change the Default Printer
----------------------------------------------

In the documentation for the MODE command on page 95 of the "Microsoft
MS-DOS User's Reference," the following is incorrectly stated (in the
paragraph following the second square bullet):

   In this form, MODE can also be used to select a parallel
   printer other than the one attached to LPT1 for use as the
   default printer.

The MODE command can be used to set the configuration of parallel
printer ports other than the default port (LPT1). However, the MODE
command will not change the default printer device (PRN) to another
LPT device. PRN is assigned to LPT1 at boot time.

Undocumented Error Message Returned from ATTRIB
-----------------------------------------------

The documentation for the "File not found" error message on page 362
of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference" for MS-DOS versions 4.0 and
4.01 does not include [Attrib] as one of the possible commands that
may return this message.

If you use the ATTRIB command to try to remove read-only privileges
from the file NOTTHERE.EXE using the following

   attrib -r c:\notthere.exe

and the file does not exist in the specified path, you will receive
the following error message:

   FILE NOT FOUND - C:\NOTTHERE.EXE

KEYB Code for Denmark
---------------------

The KEYB country code for Denmark is incorrectly documented as "df" on
Page 87 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference" for the MS-DOS
versions 4.0 and 4.01. The correct country code for Denmark is "dk."

For more information on the syntax for KEYB, see pages 87-89 of the
"Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference". For more information on code
pages see Appendix E in the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference."

Installing MS-DOS 4.0 and 4.01
------------------------------

Page 24 in the "Microsoft MS-DOS 4.0 User's Guide" incorrectly states
the following:

   For a 360-kilobyte drive, the working disks are labeled

      Startup
      Working 1
      Working 2
      Working 3
      Shell

   Of these five disks, only Startup will start MS-DOS.

This information is incorrect. The Startup, Working 1, and Working 3
disks all can be used to boot your computer.

The Working 3 Disk is a bootable disk only because the installation
routine for installing MS-DOS to floppy disks incorrectly copies the
Install Disk onto the Working 3 Disk. The installation routine should
have copied the Operating 2 Disk onto the Working 3 Disk. Since the
installation routine copies the Install Disk onto the Working 3 Disk,
you will have two disks, Working 1 and Working 3, that both contain
the utilities from the Install Disk. None of the newly created floppy
disks contains all the utilities contained on the Operating 2 Disk.

To correct this problem and still keep your Working 3 Disk bootable:

1. Format your Working 3 Disk using the /S switch, as follows:

      format a: /s

2. Copy all the MS-DOS utilities from the Select Disk, except the
   files SELECT.DAT and SELECT.EXE, to the Working 3 Disk.

To correct this problem and make your Working 3 Disk non-bootable,
DISKCOPY the Operating 2 Disk to the Working 3 Disk.

FIND Command /f Parameter
-------------------------

Microsoft has confirmed that there is an error in both the "Microsoft
MS-DOS User's Reference" on Page 76, and in the README.TXT file
included with MS-DOS version 4.x. The TREE command /f parameter should
include a colon. If you don't include a colon, the TREE command gives
you a syntax error.

The FIND ".exe" parameter in the example should also be in uppercase
letters. If the parameter is in lowercase letters, no .EXE files are
found because MS-DOS converts all filenames to uppercase.

Specifying the parameter as ".EXE" will cause the example to work
correctly. This error occurs in the "MS-DOS User's Reference" for
version 4.0, but it is corrected in the README.TXT file included with
MS-DOS version 4.0.

The complete, correct example is as follows:

   tree /f: | find ".EXE"

IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO, MS-DOS Batch File Example
-----------------------------------------------

Microsoft has confirmed that the batch file example using the
<IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO> statement is incorrect on pages 158 and 160 of
the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference."

The <IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO END> statement in the "User's Guide" should
be changed to <IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END>.

The statement <IF ERRORLEVEL n GOTO Label> will GOTO the Label if the
exit code is greater than or equal to n.

According to this logic, the <IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO END> statement in
the example on the pages 158 to 160 will always jump to the ":end"
label and bypass the error message, no matter what the exit code
(error level) is. Therefore, the <IF ERRORLEVEL 0 GOTO END> statement
in the "User's Guide" should be <IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END> to work
as desired.

The batch file should be changed to read as follows:

   :begin
   echo off
   format a: /s
   if not errorlevel 1 goto END
   echo an error occurred during formatting.
   :END
   echo end of batch file.

Note that a successful termination of the FORMAT command in the above
batch file returns an exit code (error level) of 0 (zero).

Install Disk Not Write Protected
--------------------------------

The Welcome section (page VII) of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide"
for versions 4.x incorrectly states that the Install disks in both
5.25-inch and 3.5-inch versions are write protected.

FASTOPEN Syntax
---------------

The syntax section of the documentation for FASTOPEN located on page
69 in the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference" is incorrect. The
following documentation is in the manual:

    FASTOPEN [drive:[=n][...]] /X

    or

    FASTOPEN [drive:[=(n,m)][...]] /X

    or

    FASTOPEN [drive:[=([n],m)][...]] /X

This documentation should be:

    FASTOPEN [drive:[=n]] [...] [/X]

    or

    FASTOPEN [drive:[=([n],m)] [...]] [/X]

The changed lines reflect the following information:

 - The /X switch is optional, as in the examples, and should be
   enclosed in braces.

 - Any additional drives should be separated from the first drive by
   at least one space.

 - The second expression is a redundant subset of the third
   expression.

MS-DOS: SMARTDrive Cache Size Range
-----------------------------------

The upper limit of the SMARTDrive cache is not specified in the
"Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference" for versions 4.x.

The cache size for SMARTDRV.SYS is in kilobytes. The minimum value is
128 (128K), and the maximum value is 8192 (8 megabytes). If this size
is not explicitly specified on the SMARTDrive command line, the
default value is 256 (256K).

MS-DOS Version 4.x Format /S
----------------------------

On pages 77-78 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference," the
following statement concerning the /S option of FORMAT.COM is
incorrect:

   The newly formatted disk must be 1.2 megabytes or greater in size;
   otherwise, format rejects the command

The system files can be transferred to any disk size that FORMAT.COM
supports.

EDLIN List Command More Robust Than Documentation States
--------------------------------------------------------

The L (List) command of EDLIN does not behave consistently with the
documentation on page 194 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference."
The manual states that if the L command is used and is not preceded
with a line number, EDLIN displays 23 lines (beginning with the 11
lines before the current line).

MS-DOS EDLIN version 4.x queries MS-DOS for the current number of
video lines. Earlier releases of this utility use a fixed number of
lines, expecting a 25-line video display.

EDLIN /B Option
---------------

Page 184 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference" incorrectly states
that the EDLIN /B option allows EDLIN to edit files that have multiple
CTRL+Z (end-of-file [EOF]) characters in them. This is not the case;
EDLIN stops reading a file after the first CTRL+Z character.

KEY.EXE Argument to INSTALL
---------------------------

On page 292 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference," the INSTALL
command is documented with the filename parameter selection of
KEY.EXE. This filename is listed incorrectly -- it should be listed as
KEYB.EXE.

TYPE Command Does Not Support /P Switch
---------------------------------------

Page 34 of the "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Reference" discusses using the
/P switch with the TYPE command to pause after one screen. This is
incorrect; TYPE does not support the /P switch.

Additional reference words: 4.00 4.01 noupd no600 docerr doc err
documentation error errors docerrs

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.