The original MS version of DOSKEY doesn't do that. Only the enhanced DOSKEY packaged with CDU DOS 7.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2023-11-19, 13:19:

The original MS version of DOSKEY doesn't do that. Only the enhanced DOSKEY packaged with CDU DOS 7.

Sorry, I was not clear enough. That's the version of DOS I'm using. Here are the checksums of my DOSKEY.COM:

1  CRC-32: 3b1d7f49
2     MD5: d1f4f39e6c079a072acc43c12f0becec
3   SHA-1: 32291ac397de7bf30331b3bb1f1d3855edaccbea
4 SHA-256: 55586d8dca1f3de8c95236a6f056b69323ac481ba08a5d7770efc3d029023c1a

4 647 bytes, modified 2003-10-22 10:10:14.

The disk image it came from has this:

1  CRC-32: 5296601c
2     MD5: e251849abfef735d659a280be0706c86
3   SHA-1: 7daaf83aa6bcc1bb7e4cc523ae93f56dfd160af4
4 SHA-256: 5b4244e7116acb1aeaba1ebc027e32836e111a7869adddc9bdd384bf53670793

1 474 560 bytes, modified ‎1996-12-25 ‏‎01:32:00.

It runs in overwrite mode by default. When run with the -i parameter (or I hit the insert key), the cursor becomes the tall one.

So I think you might be mistaken here. Or are we misunderstanding each other? Perhaps there is a more up to date version than the above then? I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to where I got the above one.

The recent version of the enhanced DOSKEY with the source code can be downloaded here: http://paulhoule.com/doskey/

Still, it doesn't get the normal cursor when in insert mode, but you can make the changes to the source code to fix that and assemble it with JWASM.

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-11-19, 14:26:

The recent version of the enhanced DOSKEY with the source code can be downloaded here: http://paulhoule.com/doskey/

Still, it doesn't get the normal cursor when in insert mode, but you can make the changes to the source code to fix that and assemble it with JWASM.

That's a great tip! I've tried that version before and noticed it behaves the same, yes. It has a larger memory footprint, but it might be worth it if I can modify it.

I'm afraid my understanding of assembler is pretty limited though. 😁

Which do you think would be easier to modify? That insert is the new overwite (and vice versa), or to switch the look of the cursor for the two modes? I'm thinking the latter maybe. Either would be fine for me.

InterClaw wrote on 2023-11-19, 17:38:

That's a great tip! I've tried that version before and noticed it behaves the same, yes. It has a larger memory footprint, but i […]
Show full quote

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-11-19, 14:26:

The recent version of the enhanced DOSKEY with the source code can be downloaded here: http://paulhoule.com/doskey/

Still, it doesn't get the normal cursor when in insert mode, but you can make the changes to the source code to fix that and assemble it with JWASM.

That's a great tip! I've tried that version before and noticed it behaves the same, yes. It has a larger memory footprint, but it might be worth it if I can modify it.

I'm afraid my understanding of assembler is pretty limited though. 😁

Which do you think would be easier to modify? That insert is the new overwite (and vice versa), or to switch the look of the cursor for the two modes? I'm thinking the latter maybe. Either would be fine for me.

Switching the look of the cursor between the modes is easier, I have just built a version that does exactly that to make life easier. The change is done in the dkres.asm file in the InitInsertMode procedure.

Add the -I command line switch and you're good to go. 😁

InterClaw wrote on 2023-11-19, 13:54:

So I think you might be mistaken here.

Yeah, I was actually thinking of the IBM version packaged with PC-DOS sorry

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-11-19, 18:43:

Switching the look of the cursor between the modes is easier, I have just built a version that does exactly that to make life easier. The change is done in the dkres.asm file in the InitInsertMode procedure.

Add the -I command line switch and you're good to go. 😁

That's awesome! Thank you! I compared the .asm file to the original and saw your negation there basically. 😀 I had a feeling it was that file, but had no idea about the syntax.

The only downside with this version I guess is that each mode is still hardcoded to a particular look...

maxtherabbit wrote on 2023-11-19, 21:21:

Yeah, I was actually thinking of the IBM version packaged with PC-DOS sorry

... so it was with great interest I now also tried the PC-DOS 2000 version. This one even has a slightly smaller footprint than the MS-DOS version. The mode it is started in dynamically gets the standard cursor and the other mode (when hitting the insert key) gets the tall cursor. That's nice, but it does have some limitations this version:
- It does not have tab autocompletion.
- Parameters have to be written out with slashes and the full word, e.g. /insert. No short versions or dashes here.
- It has no unload routine.
It was nice to try it though. 😀

InterClaw wrote on 2023-11-20, 04:02:

Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-11-19, 18:43:

Switching the look of the cursor between the modes is easier, I have just built a version that does exactly that to make life easier. The change is done in the dkres.asm file in the InitInsertMode procedure.

Add the -I command line switch and you're good to go. 😁

That's awesome! Thank you! I compared the .asm file to the original and saw your negation there basically. 😀 I had a feeling it was that file, but had no idea about the syntax.

The only downside with this version I guess is that each mode is still hardcoded to a particular look...

You're welcome!

That was the quickest solution. A new command line switch can be added to toggle the cursor visualization but doubt that you will need it and I'm not a fan of insert mode getting a taller cursor in the DOS prompt as well.

InterClaw wrote on 2023-11-20, 04:02:

- It does not have tab autocompletion.
- Parameters have to be written out with slashes and the full word, e.g. /insert. No short versions or dashes here.

none of the original versions have tab auto complete, only the aftermarket "enhanced" DOSKEY, so I don't really think it's fair to call that a limitation

regarding the command line argument, who cares? isn't everyone loading it in AUTOEXEC.BAT anyway

My DOSKEY.COM is 15,495 bytes long, and if loaded with /INSERT switch, then the insert mode will have the default cursor and the overstrike mode will have the tall one.

I think it's the original Win98 SE DOSKey...

maxtherabbit wrote on 2023-11-20, 14:43:

regarding the command line argument, who cares? isn't everyone loading it in AUTOEXEC.BAT anyway

For sure! I was just motivating myself to run this modded version taking up more memory. 😀 I do believe it's worth it.

dr_st wrote on 2023-11-20, 22:42:

My DOSKEY.COM is 15,495 bytes long, and if loaded with /INSERT switch, then the insert mode will have the default cursor and the overstrike mode will have the tall one.

I think it's the original Win98 SE DOSKey...

Ah, okay. And that version was replaced by Enhanced DOSKEY then maybe for the CDU install version.

It seems to me that the version of DOSKEY.COM that comes with MS-DOS 7.10 (CDU) is an earlier version of Enhanced DOSKEY circa 2005(?) when they were about 4k in size, but not [significantly] contributed to by Wengier yet then.

Today, version 2.8 is much larger and therefore naturally takes up more memory when it's running.

Most of the contributions from Wengier were around LFN support and increasing the default buffer size was among of them. The earlier versions can be still downloaded but the first one with the source code available is version 2.0.