What's New

NEW VERSION OVERVIEW -  Take Command 9.02

Added an optional "Command Input" docking window.  This window sends commands to the active tab window.  It will eventually have (nearly) all of the actions available at the TCC command line, which will then be usable by *any* app, not just TCC. (This is not limited to entering something at the command prompt; you can feed strings anywhere a console app is expecting input.) You can scroll up to previous lines, edit, and reexecute them. You also have tab completion, full undo/redo (up to 31 levels), drag & drop, mouse or keyboard selection, and argument substitution.

Added filename completion .INI options to the TCMD "Windows" configuration tab.  (These options control filename completion in the "Command Input" window.)

Because of confusion over the TCMD current directory when "Start Folder" is not set (notably with filename completion in the Command Input window), TCMD now changes the folder & list view at startup to the current directory of the TCMD process.  If you want it to appear somewhere else (for example, in Vista the previous default was "c:\users\username") you'll need to set it either in "Start Folder" or the shortcut properties.

TCC will display quick help for its internal commands in the help area of the TCMD status bar when you enter a command name and a trailing space on the TCC command line or in the "Command Input" window.  You can move the mouse over the status bar to get the full usage help.

The tab toolbar will now wrap to a second line if the buttons won't fit on one line.

Added Visual Studio 2008 style to Themes.

You can right-click on the status bar to enable/disable individual fields.  (The corresponding fields have been removed from the "Configure Take Command / Windows" dialog.)

Added tooltips to the status bar panes.

The transparency slider on the status bar has been enhanced to make fine adjustments easier.

Various minor bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Help file updates.

NEW VERSION OVERVIEW -  Take Command 9.01

Take Command now has full German and French translations for the menus and dialogs.

Added "Edit/Debug" button to the TCMD toolbar.  This button will open the TCC batch debugger in a new TCC tab window.

Added full instance support in TCMD (up to 10 TCMD sessions) for TCC tab windows.  (A TCC tab window will now (only) communicate with its parent TCMD session, not any other active TCMD sessions.)

The communication between TCMD and TCC (i.e., for things like %_tctab, %_tcfolder, etc.) is now about 50% faster.

Take Command now supports entering hidden sharenames (i.e., sharenames ending in $) in the toolbar Folders Directory combo box.

Regular Expressions - updated the Onigiruma RE library to 5.9.1.  (Additional back reference options and bug fixes.)

Added "Find Files/Text" dialog (from Take Command v8) to the Edit menu.  This dialog searches for files (or text in files) with a variety of options (including regular expression searches).

Added two new options to the TCMD Edit menu (and right-click context menu in the tab windows).  These options will work with any application running in a TCMD tab window.

Insert Directory - displays the Windows shell folder selection dialog & puts the selected name on the command line.

Insert Filename - displays the Windows "get file" dialog and puts the selected name on the command line.

The TCMD Tabs / Run dialog has a new option to start the app with admin privileges (Vista and 2008).  (This will invoke the Windows UAC dialog.)

The TCMD "Options / Configure Take Command / Tabs" dialog has a new "Run as Administrator" option for the startup tabs.

Added Left and Right options for the TCMD tab locations ("Options / Configure Take Command / Tabs").

Added an additional option to the TCC "Advanced" tab:

       Expand Pseudovariables - if set, TCC will expand the %= and %+ pseudovariables.  (You can disable this option if you're looking for maximum CMD.EXE compatibility.)

Added "Configure TCC" to the Take Command Options menu.  Note that this will display and change the TCC options in the .INI file used by TCMD; it will *NOT* display or change

     options in active TCC windows.

Added "-" as an internal alias for "CDD -".

FFIND - added a new option:

       /W - invoke the "Find Files" dialog.  (This option cannot be used in combination with any other options.)

@FILEWRITEB - changed to return the number of bytes written.

@FINDFIRST - added support for file exclusion ranges.

Various performance enhancements.

Help file updates.

NEW VERSION OVERVIEW -  Take Command 9.0

This new version of Take Command incorporates three of our products (Take Command, 4NT, and TCI) into a single product with a new interface.  4NT (now renamed TCC) can still be run separately from Take Command for those users who don't want to use the new GUI, or who need to invoke a non-interactive command processor from batch or make files.

This is a summary of the compatibility fixes and new features.  For complete details, see the appropriate topics in this help file.

FEATURE LIST:

Take Command now supports multiple tabbed windows.

The maximum command line size has been increased to 65,535 characters.

The maximum single command size has been increased to 32,767 characters.

The maximum single argument size has been increased to 4,095 characters.

The maximum filename size has been increased to 4,095 characters.

The maximum number of command arguments has been increased to 4096.

Take Command now supports mouse select / copy screen regions

The commands that use /P (DIR, ALIAS, SET, etc.) will now overwrite the page prompt when they display the next line.

Added support for FTP access where the user does not have access to the root directory.

Added regular expression support to FTP / IFTP.  The syntax for IFTP is:

       "ftp:::regex"

FTP.CFG now supports multiple users/passwords for a single FTP site.  You need to add an "alias" (enclosed in parentheses) for the ftp site following the name in the ftp.cfg file.  For example:

       jpsoft.com (jpadmin) Bob AdminPassword

       jpsoft.com (jppublic) anonymous Bob@jpsoft.com

You can then access the server as "ftp://jpadmin" or "ftp://jppublic".

If an IFTP connection times out or is otherwise disconnected from the server, TCC will automatically reconnect (to the most recent directory) if you attempt an IFTP operation.

Removed full-screen support in TCC (4NT).

Directory aliases can now also be a single numeric character.  For example:

       alias 1:=c:\program files

Tweaked the parser a bit to better handle filenames with embedded back quotes.

If you try to reference a network disk that has become disconnected, Take Command will automatically try to reset the connection.

The password entries in the option dialogs (Email and Firewall) now display dots rather than showing the password in clear text.  (It is still saved in the TCMD.INI file in clear text.)

Added support for key mapping the Alt punctuation keys `-=[]\;',./  (for example: Alt-. ).  Note that you cannot combine these key definitions with the Ctrl and/or Shift keys (Windows does not generate keystrokes for those key combinations).

The default TCC (4NT) .INI file name has changed from 4NT.INI to TCMD.INI.  (You can still override the name on the TCC command line.)

Dropped the Spanish language dll (I haven't been able to find anybody to do the string translations).

Startup Options:

Added a new startup switch:

       /I[ips]

               /Ii - don't load default .INI file

               /Ip - don't load plugins

               /Is - don't execute TCSTART

.INI directives:

DirJunctions=YES|no - display symbolic links in DIR and PDIR.

DirHistFile=file - load directory history at startup & save it at shutdown.

ErrorColors - display error messages (written to STDERR) in a different color.

MSAAMenu=yes|NO - If you're using a screen reader that has problems with the new Take Command detachable menu, set MSAAMenu to YES.

PrevArgument=Key  Keystroke to recall the last argument from the previous command line (see Command Line Editing).  The default is Ctrl-P.

UpdateIni=YES|no - option to allow or disallow changes to the .INI.

CDDWinColors, PopupWinColors - have been removed (obsolete).

PopupWinBegin, PopupWinEnd - have been removed (obsolete).

ScrollUp, ScrollDown, ScrollPgUp, ScrollPgDn - have been removed (obsolete).

ListColors, ListboxBarColors, ListInverseColors, SelectColors, SelectStatBarColors - have been removed from the OPTION dialog.

SaveDirCase - has been removed.  (It now always defaults to preserving the directory case.)

Command Line Editing:

The command history and directory history popup windows have a toolbar which allows you to edit, remove, or move the history entries.

The popup windows in TCC (4NT) are now GUI (like Take Command) rather than character mode.

A Ctrl-0 through Ctrl-9 will insert the matching argument from the previous command line.  For example:

       c:\> echo now is the time for all good men

A Ctrl-0 will insert "echo" at the current cursor position; a Ctrl-4 will insert "time", etc.

A Ctrl-P will insert the last argument from the previous command line.

New Commands:

DEFER - execute a command line after the batch file exits.  The syntax is:

       DEFER command

EVENTMONITOR - Monitor event logs.  The syntax is:

EVENTMONITOR [/C name] [server name /S"source" /T"type" /D"description" n command]

/C(ancel)        /S"source"

/D"description"        /T"type"

FIREWIREMONITOR - monitor FireWire connections and execute a command when a device is connected or disconnected.  The syntax is:

   firewiremonitor [/C name] [name CONNECTED | DISCONNECTED n command...]

/C - cancel monitoring the FireWire device.  If no name is provided, cancels all FireWire monitoring.

name - device name.  The device name can either be the device ID name or the "friendly" name.  The name can include wildcards.

n - number of repetitions (or "FOREVER")    

FOLDERMONITOR - Monitor folder and/or file creation, modification, and deletion.  The syntax is:

       FOLDERMONITOR [/C name] [/S name /I"file" /E"file" CREATED DELETED MODIFIED RENAMED n command]

/C(ancel)                /I(include)

/E(xclude)                /S(ubdirectories)

LOADMEDIA - like EJECTMEDIA, but closes the drive door.

NETMONITOR - monitor network connections and execute a command when a network is connected or disconnected.  The syntax is:

       NETMONITOR [/C name] [name CONNECTED | DISCONNECTED n command...]

               name - network name ("LAN" for local network, "WAN" for dialup, or (wireless) network name.

               /C - cancel monitoring the network.  If no name is provided, cancels all network monitoring.

               n - number of repetitions (or "FOREVER")    

PROCESSMONITOR - monitor processes and execute a command when a process is started or ended.  The syntax is:

       PROCESSMONITOR [/C name] [name STARTED | PAUSED | STOPPED n command...]

               name - the full process pathname (may include wildcards).

               /C - cancel monitoring the specified process.  If no name is provided, cancels all process monitoring.

               n - number of repetitions (or "FOREVER")

SERVICEMONITOR - monitor Windows services and execute a command when a service is started, paused, or stopped.  The syntax is:

       SERVICEMONITOR [/C name] [name STARTED | PAUSED | STOPPED n command...]

               name - the service name (may include wildcards).

               /C - cancel monitoring the specified service.  If no name is provided, cancels all service monitoring.

               n - number of repetitions (or "FOREVER")

SERVICES - display, stop, or start system services.  The syntax is:

       SERVICES [/P /R /S] [name ...]

               The name is the service name, not the display name.  name can contain wildcards.

               /P(ause) after each page

               /R(un) the specified service(s)

               /S(top) the specified service(s)

TASKDIALOG - Display a Windows Vista Task Dialog (requires Vista or later).  The syntax is:

       TASKDIALOG [/I /S /W] buttontype "title" "instruction" [text]

/I(nformation icon)

/S(top icon)

/W(arning icon)

TCFILTER - Display or set the filter for the Take Command list view. The syntax is:

TCFILTER [/C filter]

/C(lear filter)

TCTOOLBAR - changed the syntax from Take Command 8.0.

USBMONITOR - monitor USB connections and execute a command when a device is connected or disconnected.  The syntax is:

           USBMONITOR [/C name] [name CONNECTED | DISCONNECTED n command...]

name - device name.  The device name can either be the device ID name or the "friendly" name.  The name can include wildcards.

/C - cancel monitoring the USB device.  If no name is provided, cancels all USB monitoring.

n - number of repetitions (or "FOREVER")    

Commands:

ACTIVATE - added two new options:

       DISABLE - disable the specified window (no keyboard or mouse input)

       ENABLE - enable the specified window

ACTIVATE - RESTORE now supports restoring any app from the system tray.

ASSOC - now ignores remarks (lines prefixed with ":") in files read with /R.

CDD - Added several new options:

       /NJ -skip junctions when indexing subdirectories.

       /Sn - limit the directory recursion depth when indexing subdirectories.

       /T - also change the TCMD Folders and List View directory.

       /TO - only change the Take Command Folders and List View directory

COPY - added several new options:

/LD - When used with /S, if the source is a symbolic or hard link to a directory, COPY will create a copy of the link in the target directory instead of copying the subdirectory tree.

/MD - create the target directory if it doesn't exist.  (Note that you *must* either terminate the target directory name with a trailing \ or specify a filename component; otherwise COPY cannot tell what you want for the directory and what you want for the filename!)

/ND - skip hidden subdirectories when used with /S

/NJ - skip junctions when used with /S

COPY - the /G (percent copied) option now also tells you the remaining time (with local, network, ftp, ftps, iftp, iftps, and tftp copies).

COPY - the /V(erify) option when combined with the /G (percent copied) option now also tells you the remaining time (with local, network, ftp, ftps, iftp, iftps, and tftp copies).

COPY - added support for connected web folder names in non-English environments.  (For example, in French Windows uses "_fichiers" instead of ".files".)

DEL - added new options:

/B - if DEL can't delete the file (i.e., access denied) it will schedule it to be deleted at the next reboot.

/ND - skip hidden subdirectories when used with /S

/NF - don't display "bytes freed" summary

/NJ - skip junctions when used with /S

DIR - added option to skip junctions (/NJ) when used with /S.

DIR - added option to skip hidden subdirectories (/ND) when used with /S.

DIR - added option to display file times in UTC.  The syntax is:

       /T:[ACW][U]

       For example to display the last write time in UTC:

       dir /t:wu

DIR - added option (/NF) to suppress "bytes free" display.

DO - added option to skip junctions (/NJ) when used with /S.

DO - added option to skip hidden subdirectories (/ND) when used with /S.

DO - added an option to specify the start directory (primarily for use with /S).  The syntax is:

       /D"directoryname"

DO - the UNTIL DATETIME syntax now supports either YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format.

FTYPE - now ignores remarks (lines prefixed with ":") in files read with /R.

IF ISFILE - supports wildcards with FTP files.

LIST - /X will now display 32 bytes per row if the screen column width is >= 144.

LIST - added a new option (/XS) to display spaces rather than periods for non-printable characters when in hex mode.  You can also toggle between spaces & periods with the 'S' key while displaying a file in hex mode.

LIST - added a new option (/U) which displays a ruler on the second line of the display.

LIST - the various popup windows (search, goto, etc.) are now GUI windows rather than character mode windows.

LOG - you can now specify up to four different log names:

The command log (default name TCCommandLog).

The history log (default name TCHistoryLog).

The error log (default name TCErrorLog).

The "log all output" (default name TCLogAll).

(The logs can also be combined into common log names if desired with the LOG /W filename option.)

MKLINK - now copies an existing description to the link.

MKLNK - now copies an existing description to the link.

MOVE - added new options:

/B - if MOVE can't move the file (i.e., access denied) it will schedule it to be moved at the next reboot.

/LD - When used with /S, if the source is a symbolic or hard link to a directory, MOVE will create the link in the target directory instead of moving the subdirectory tree.

/MD - create the target directory if it doesn't exist.  (Note that you *must* either terminate the target directory name with a trailing \ or specify a filename component; otherwise MOVE cannot tell what you want for the directory and what you want for the filename!)

/ND - skip hidden subdirectories when used with /S

/NJ - skip junctions when used with /S

MOVE - the /G (percent moved) option now also tells you the remaining time (with local, network, ftp, ftps, iftp, iftps, and tftp copies).

MOVE - the /V(erify) option when combined with the /G (percent moved) option now also tells you the remaining time (with local, network, ftp, ftps, iftp, iftps, and tftp copies).

ON - added several new tests:

       ON CLOSE - invoked when the Take Command tab is closed.

       ON LOGOFF - invoked when the user logs off.

       ON SHUTDOWN - invoked when the system is shut down.

       ON LBUTTON - invoked when the left mouse button is clicked.

       ON MBUTTON - invoked when the middle mouse button is clicked.

       ON RBUTTON - invoked when the right mouse button is clicked.

OPTION - The OPTION dialogs have been redone.  With the exception of the debugging and key directives, all of the .INI directives are now configurable from OPTION.

OSD - added an option (/C) to close an existing OSD display.  (Note that this will only close the most recent OSD; if you have multiple OSDs running you cannot select which one to close!)

OSD - added support for multiple lines of text.

OSD - now expands tabs (^t).

OSD - now accepts leading whitespace if the string is enclosed in single back quotes.

OSD - added an option (/V) for vertical display.

PDIR - added option to skip junctions (/NJ) when used with /S.

PDIR - added option to skip hidden subdirectories (/ND) when used with /S.

PDIR - added option to display file times in UTC.  See DIR for the syntax.

PLAYSOUND - added two new options:

       /M - mute

       /U - unmute

PUSHD - now sets ERRORLEVEL (for compatibility with CMD.EXE).

QUERYBOX - added new option:

       /POS=top,left - set the dialog position.  (The default is to center the QUERYBOX dialog within the TCC / TCMD window.)

REN - added new options:

/B - if REN can't rename the file (i.e., access denied) it will schedule it to be renamed at the next reboot.

/MD - create the target directory if it doesn't exist.  (Note that you *must* either terminate the target directory name with a trailing \ or specify a filename component; otherwise REN cannot tell what you want for the directory and what you want for the filename.)

SETDOS - added new argument for /X:

       /X-A - disable user-defined functions

       /X+A - enable user-defined functions

SENDMAIL - added support for multiple /H (header) arguments.

START - if you specify * as the password for /RUNAS, START will prompt you to enter the password.  (Useful when you don't want to put the password in a batch file.)

START - added support for alternate Windows shells when using the "start c:\directory" syntax (which normally invokes an Explorer shell starting in the specified directory).

START - added new options:

/MONITOR=n - start the process on a specific monitor (1 - n).  (Note that this will only work with apps that do not try to position their window at startup.)

       /TAB - start the process in a new Take Command tab window.

START - removed the /CM option.

SYNC - added option to skip junctions (/NJ) when used with /S.

SYNC - added option to skip hidden subdirectories (/ND) when used with /S.

SYNC - the /G (percent copied) option now also tells you the remaining time (with local, network, ftp, ftps, iftp, iftps, and tftp copies).

TASKLIST - now adds a * after the PID of the current process.

TOUCH - added UTC time option to the /D /T switches.  The syntax is:

       /D:[ACW][U]

       /T:[ACW][U]

TREE - added option to skip junctions (/NJ) when used with /S.

UNALIAS - added option to preserve the specified aliases on a wildcard UNALIAS (i.e., "UNALIAS *" or "UNALIAS A*").  The syntax is:

       unalias (aliasname1 aliasname2) *

UNFUNCTION - added option to preserve the specified variables on a wildcard UNFUNCTION.  See UNALIAS for details.

UNSET - added option to preserve the specified variables on a wildcard UNSET.  See UNALIAS for details.

WINDOW - removed the FS and WIN options.

Environment Variables:

TCMD creates two environment variables that can be queried by its child tab window processes:

       TCMD - the full pathname of the Take Command executable

       TCMDVER - the version & build number (i.e., 9.00.103).

Internal Variables:

_ADMIN - returns 1 if the current process is running as an administrator.

_CONSOLEPIDS - returns a space-delimited list of the PIDs of all processes attached to this console.

_MONITORS - returns the number of monitors.

_PARENT - returns the name of the parent process.

_SELECTED - not supported in v9.

_SHORTCUT - full pathname of the shortcut file that started this process (or an empty string if it wasn't started by a shortcut).

_TCFOLDER - returns the selected folder in the Folders window if in a Take Command tab window.

_TCTAB - returns 1 if TCC is in a Take Command tab window.

_UTCTIME - returns the current time in UTC.

_UTCDATE - returns the current UTC date.

_UTCISODATE - returns the current UTC date in ISO format (yyyy-mm-dd).

_UTCDATETIME - returns the current date and time in UTC.

_UTCHOUR - current UTC hour.

_UTCMINUTE - current UTC minute.

_UTCSECOND - current UTC second.

_VXPIXELS - virtual screen (multiple monitor) horizontal size in pixels.

_VYPIXELS - virtual screen (multiple monitor) vertical size in pixels.

Variable Functions:

@EVAL - added large number support.  The maximum number size is now 20,000 digits (10,000 digits to the left of the decimal and 10,000 decimal places).  If you want to use more than the default decimal values you'll need to change your EvalMax directive or use the "=x.y" format in @EVAL.  (Note that this should also

eliminate the rounding errors sometimes seen in floating point calculations in previous versions.)

@FILEAGE - will display the age in UTC if you append a "u" to the second argument.

@FILEDATE- will display the date in UTC if you append a "u" to the second argument.

@FILEREADB[n,length] - new function to return bytes from a file as a string of numeric ASCII values.

@FILES - added a new optional argument to scan the specified directory and its subdirectories.  The syntax is:

       %@files[/S[n] ...]

       For example, to return the number of *.EXE files in the \Windows directory and all its subdirectories:

       %@files[/s \windows\*.exe]

@FILESIZE - added optional range support.  See the @FILE syntax for details.

@FILESIZE - added a new optional argument to scan the specified directory and its subdirectories.  The syntax is:

       %@filesize[/S[n] ...]

       For example, to return the size of all of the *.EXE files in the \Windows directory and all its subdirectories:

       %@filesize[/s \windows\*.exe]

@FILETIME - will display the time in UTC if you append a "u" to the second argument.

@FILEWRITEB - if the length argument is -1, @FILEWRITEB will read the string argument as a series of ASCII values in decimal or hex to write to the file.  For example:

       echo %@filewriteb[%file,-1,0xe0 0xF2 0xA9]

@FORMATNC - new function; like @FORMATN, but inserts thousands separators.

@FSTYPE - added support for UNC names.

@GETFOLDER - added optional second argument to set the text displayed above the tree list.  For example:

       echo %@getfolder[c:\windows,Browse the Windows Directories]

@ISPROC - new function which returns 1 if the specified process ID is an active process.

@REGTYPE - returns the registry variable type.

@REGSET - now allows setting REG_MULTI_SZ.

@SERVER - return information about the specified server.  The syntax is:

       @server[machinename,info]

       where "info" is the type of information you want.  The types are:

Name - return the server name

Comment - return the server comment

Version - the OS version (major version + minor version).

Users - the number of users who can attempt to log on the server.

Disconnect - the auto-disconnect time, in minutes.

Hidden - returns 1 if the server is hidden, 0 if it is visible

UserPath - the path to user directories

Type - return the type of the server.  This is a combination of the following flags (you can use the .AND. operator in IF / IFF to test individual flags):

@SHFOLDER - returns Windows folder locations (which vary in different versions of Windows and if the user has altered the defaults).  The syntax is:

       @SHFOLDER[n]

       Where "n" is:

@UNIQUE - added optional second argument to specify the prefix to use for the filename (Windows will only use the first three characters).

@XMLPATH - removed and replaced with the following (more powerful) XML functions.

@XMLCLOSE - close an XML file previously opened by @XMLOPEN.  The syntax is:

       @XMLCLOSE[]

@XMLOPEN - open an XML file for use by @XMLXPATH and/or @XMLNODES.  The syntax is:

       @XMLOPEN[filename]

@XMLNODES - return the number of nodes (children) for the specified path in an XML file.  The syntax is:

@XMLOPEN[["filename"],path]

If you don't specify a filename (which *must* be in double quotes), @XMLNODES will use the XML file previously opened by @XMLOPEN.

@XMLXPATH - XML XPath query.  (See the XML XPath docs for details on XPath syntax.)  The syntax is:

       @XMLXPATH[["filename"],path]

If you don't specify a filename (which *must* be in double quotes), @XMLXPATH will use the XML file previously opened by @XMLOPEN.