Version 0.60 released - github.com/cookertron/TEDIT

• Multi-document support (up to 8 ) - shortcut keys ALT+<n> to select
• Document selection side panel accessible via F1
• Projects added to support opening multiple documents
• Shell to DOS added in the File menu - in combination SHROOM (see igully's post above) can free up memory if tight
• Added missing keyboard shortcuts
• File selection dialog issues patched
• Various other bugs (see changelog)

Please give it a whirl and let me know your thoughts.

Very busy atm so only did a very quick test. Multi-doc edit works nicely. Thanks. Some issues:

• Starting editor like: tedit 1.txt 2.txt only opens the first file. It should open all files given on the command line (until max of course).
• Starting editor like: tedit test.prj opens this file but I expected it would open the files in the project. Opening the project inside the editor works fine btw.
• Quiting TEDIT and just pressing Y or N does not do anything (as a shortcut)

Just gave a quick test to v0.60.

Nothing to say, but thank you!

Hi, guys,
I quickly compiled the new multi-file TEDIT version 0.60.0 from the source (I only change default TABs value to 4 and one string as reminder, that this is a customized version) and tested it in DOSBox. I was skeptical about the multi-file edit option, but it seems to work fine 😀

One buggy thing, that I noticed in DOSBox (and DOSBox-X as well), is related to the new DOS prompt option: after return from DOS prompt back into TEDIT, the mouse stops responding and the mouse cursor disappears. Still I haven't tested latest TEDIT version on a real hardware, so I'm not sure if this problem appears only in DOSBox and DOSBox-X emulators.

I can't get how to use SHROOM with software products supporting start of a new DOS command interpreter instance. Probably Ignacio could give a brief explanation.

Thank you!

aVd wrote on 2026-03-30, 10:47:

Hi, guys, I quickly compiled the new multi-file TEDIT version 0.60.0 from the source (I only change default TABs value to 4 and […]
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Hi, guys,
I quickly compiled the new multi-file TEDIT version 0.60.0 from the source (I only change default TABs value to 4 and one string as reminder, that this is a customized version) and tested it in DOSBox. I was skeptical about the multi-file edit option, but it seems to work fine 😀

One buggy thing, that I noticed in DOSBox (and DOSBox-X as well), is related to the new DOS prompt option: after return from DOS prompt into TEDIT, the mouse stops responding and the mouse cursor disappears. Still I haven't tested latest TEDIT version on a real hardware, so I'm not sure if this problem appears only in DOSBox and DOSBox-X emulators.

I can't get how to use SHROOM with software products supporting start of a new DOS command interpreter instance. Probably Ignacio could give a brief explanation.

Thank you!

I can replicate that bug and will look into it. As well as the mouse disappearing the hardware cursor appears in the top left corner too. It maybe that everything needs to be re-initialised after exiting from DOS.

I've not tried it myself but to use SHROOM you use it like this "SHROOM TEDIT <filename.txt>"

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-03-29, 21:09:

Very busy atm so only did a very quick test. Multi-doc edit works nicely. Thanks. Some issues: […]
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Very busy atm so only did a very quick test. Multi-doc edit works nicely. Thanks. Some issues:

• Starting editor like: tedit 1.txt 2.txt only opens the first file. It should open all files given on the command line (until max of course).
• Starting editor like: tedit test.prj opens this file but I expected it would open the files in the project. Opening the project inside the editor works fine btw.
• Quiting TEDIT and just pressing Y or N does not do anything (as a shortcut)

Thanks for the heads up. I'm looking into extending TEDIT's command-line arguments.

cookertron wrote on 2026-03-30, 15:14:

I can replicate that bug and will look into it. As well as the mouse disappearing the hardware cursor appears in the top left corner too. It maybe that everything needs to be re-initialised after exiting from DOS.

I've not tried it myself but to use SHROOM you use it like this "SHROOM TEDIT <filename.txt>"

Hi, @cookertron,
I thought, that the mouse is also reinitialized (just like the display text mode) after the command interpreter instance is terminated. But probably I'm mislead by quick scrolling through CHANGELOG.MD file.

So, basically SHROOM is something like software wrapper instead of a TSR program. I thought, that I have to put it somehow into CONFIG.SYS 😁 Thanks for the clarification!

P.S. This is a quote from CHANGELOG.MD for the latest TEDIT version 0.60.0:

On return: restores SS:SP, resets video mode 3, reinitializes mouse driver, triggers full TUI screen redraw

Hmm. Seems like the mouse driver reinitialization is not enough for DOSBox and DOSBox-X emulators.

aVd wrote on 2026-03-30, 15:29:

Hi, @cookertron, I thought, that the mouse is also reinitialized (just like the display text mode) after the command interpreter […]
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cookertron wrote on 2026-03-30, 15:14:

I can replicate that bug and will look into it. As well as the mouse disappearing the hardware cursor appears in the top left corner too. It maybe that everything needs to be re-initialised after exiting from DOS.

I've not tried it myself but to use SHROOM you use it like this "SHROOM TEDIT <filename.txt>"

Hi, @cookertron,
I thought, that the mouse is also reinitialized (just like the display text mode) after the command interpreter instance is terminated. But probably I'm mislead by quick scrolling through CHANGELOG.MD file.

So, basically SHROOM is something like software wrapper instead of a TSR program. I thought, that I have to put it somehow into CONFIG.SYS 😁 Thanks for the clarification!

It is a TSR. Basically it intercept the INT 21h function 4Bh call, dumps the program and allocated memory to a swap file, frees the memory and then executes COMMAND.COM. When the user exits DOS, SHROOM reloads the swap back into memory and jumps back into it. The program is none the wiser.

I'm still looking into the mouse disappearing trick. I'll let you know my findings.

cookertron wrote on 2026-03-30, 15:44:

It is a TSR. Basically it intercept the INT 21h function 4Bh call, dumps the program and allocated memory to a swap file, frees the memory and then executes COMMAND.COM. When the user exits DOS, SHROOM reloads the swap back into memory and jumps back into it. The program is none the wiser.

I'm still looking into the mouse disappearing trick. I'll let you know my findings.

I just tested "SHROOM TEDIT" command in DOSBox and it "swaps" about 220KB in a temporary file when command prompt is invoked from within TEDIT, effectively freeing almost the same amount of conventional memory with the new COMMAND.COM instance. But this combination of "SHROOM + software invoking COMMAND.COM" is inconvenient. I don't see how to start SHROOM as a TSR, so there will be no need to type on every TEDIT start "SHROOM TEDIT ...".

Also, @Yoghoo's suggestion for couple of file names (currently up to eight different files) to be opened from command line is valid.

But why only eight opened files with keyboard shortcuts from <Alt> + <1> to <Alt> + <8>? If a swap-file is used for non active opened files, we may have up to ten files opened with ten keyboard shortcuts <Alt> + <1> ... <Alt> + <9> and <Alt> + <0> 😉

And one more final note. <Tab> key is working as expected in dialog boxes (like in file opening dialog box), but <Shift> + <Tab> combo for reversed field switching does not.

aVd wrote on 2026-03-30, 16:27:

But why only eight opened files with keyboard shortcuts from <Alt> + <1> to <Alt> + <8>? If a swap-file is used for non active opened files, we may have up to ten files opened with ten keyboard shortcuts <Alt> + <1> ... <Alt> + <9> and <Alt> + <0> 😉

TEDIT 0.61 (not released) supports up to 20 files now (see attachment)! However I'm running out of space and need to find ways to reduce the binary size - it's close to 65k which is the limit for a COM file. I could add support to output EXE files in Agent86 but I feel that would spoil the fun. Having said that, adding multi-document args in the command-line will add more bytes, as will SHFT+TAB, as will loading project files from the command-line, as will re-initialising everything after dropping out of DOS (possibly). So things are looking a bit desperate here.

cookertron wrote on 2026-03-30, 17:25:

TEDIT 0.61 (not released) supports up to 20 files now (see attachment)! However I'm running out of space and need to find ways to reduce the binary size - it's close to 65k which is the limit for a COM file. I could add support to output EXE files in Agent86 but I feel that would spoil the fun. Having said that, adding multi-document args in the command-line will add more bytes, as will SHFT+TAB, as will loading project files from the command-line, as will re-initialising everything after dropping out of DOS (possibly). So things are looking a bit desperate here.

Yep, the 65280 bytes limit for the DOS com-executables is there. I even wonder how you managed to add more new functionalities after the version 0.57.0. Twenty files opened for editing sounds very good, but ten files still seems pretty fine to me.

I don't see any problem, if the new multi-file edit version of TEDIT switch to 16-bit MZ executable format 😉

If you don't mind, I would suggest something. I still like the old single-file edit version 0.57.0 (if I don't mess the numbers). It only lacks the keyboard shortcuts for "Open..." and "Save as...". Please, could you add them and <Shift> + <Tab> combo (in open file dialog box) for the completion of the single-file TEDIT version - let's say version 0.57.1 or why not 1.0, if no more bugs are reported? You could start a brand new feature rich multi-file TEDIT (16-bit DOS exe-file) project with another name - for example MTEDIT from Multi-Text EDITor. Just sharing some thoughts.

Thanks!

I've managed to free up 25,000 bytes so let's keep going 💪

I'll see if I can get the fixes done today and get a release out.

cookertron wrote on 2026-03-31, 09:26:

I've managed to free up 25,000 bytes so let's keep going 💪

I'll see if I can get the fixes done today and get a release out.

Hi, @cookertron,
This is a great achievement and now you'll have enough "room" to implement some new features in the newest multi-file version 😀

Thank you!

P.S.

aVd wrote on 2026-03-30, 18:06:

I still like the old single-file edit version 0.57.0 (if I don't mess the numbers). It only lacks the keyboard shortcuts for "Open..." and "Save as...".

Well, I made myself a new old single-file edit TEDIT version 0.57.1 with <Ctrl>+<O> (for "Open...") and <Ctrl>+<Shift>+<S> (for "Save as...") keyboard shortcuts + 4 default tab spaces. Now the "File" menu looks like this:

If someone wants to try it, I'm attaching it with the modified source code and the compiled com-executable:

I don't know the original FOSS license, so "Public domain" seems Ok to me.

EDIT: Thanks to @cookertron, the latest update for the 0.57.x variant of TEDIT is here.

Release v0.63
** If compiling from source you will need to upgrade Agent86 to version 0.21 ** Binaries available for Win and Linux here: www.github.com/cookertron/agent86
Fixes & Features:

• SHFT+TAB to backtrack through dialog elements
• Increased the number of switchable documents from 8 to 20. Uses ALT+n to switch between 1-10, ALT+SHFT+n to switch between 11-20
• Open multiple docs from the command-line: \> TEDIT the.txt quick.asm brown.cpp fox.h"
• Open project files from the command-line: \> TEDIT myproj.prj
• Reduced binary size from 64,986 bytes to 39,789 bytes (now 40,530 bytes after fixes & features)
• Fixed mouse and hardware corruption after returning from Shelling to DOS
• Fixed document switching shortcut keys not working while side panel open
• Dead code removal

Just did a quick test but there are some major bugs when running it in Dosbox-X with 4DOS.

When going to the dos shell I can't get back. See screenshot when I just did a dos shell. Typing exit resets the screen but I stay on the command prompt. Also is it correct that it takes 202KB memory when going to the dos shell (with only 2 small files open)?

Second bug is when opening multiple files. The first time it shows a corrupt screen. See the second screenshot. Sometimes it works but more often it's not. Corruption is sometimes also different. Also happens when opening a project with multiple files btw.

Hi, just briefly tested v0.63

Shelling to DOS causes in my system a JEMMEX exception.
Previous version v0.60 did not present this issue.

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-03-31, 21:28:

Just did a quick test but there are some major bugs when running it in Dosbox-X with 4DOS.

Second bug is when opening multiple files. The first time it shows a corrupt screen. See the second screenshot. Sometimes it works but more often it's not. Corruption is sometimes also different. Also happens when opening a project with multiple files btw.

WOW! 4DOS absolutely hammers TEDIT - I don't think there's a single working feature in it. I'll look into though thanks for sharing.

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-03-31, 21:28:

Also is it correct that it takes 202KB memory when going to the dos shell (with only 2 small files open)?

Yes, that's unavoidable. The memory footprint is pretty much the same if you have 2 files or 20 files. It's the piece table, add buffer, undo/redo, copy and paste - all of it. These buffers don't pop into existence dynamically they're created on program initialisation. You can use SHROOM to dump the TEDIT's program and allocated memory to disk when Shelling to DOS if memory is a constrain.

igully wrote on 2026-03-31, 21:30:

Hi, just briefly tested v0.63

Shelling to DOS causes in my system a JEMMEX exception.
Previous version v0.60 did not present this issue.

Working on this now. Hopefully a quick patch. Thanks for finding the bug 😎

Version 0.64.0 Fixes:

• Shell-to-DOS Jemmex crash fix
• BSS-to-segment migration: Moved shadow_buf (4 KB) and doc_table (3 KB) to separately-allocated DOS segments via INT 21h/48h, reclaiming 7 KB from the 64 KB COM segment

cookertron wrote on 2026-04-01, 14:48:

Version 0.64.0 Fixes: […]
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Version 0.64.0 Fixes:

• Shell-to-DOS Jemmex crash fix
• BSS-to-segment migration: Moved shadow_buf (4 KB) and doc_table (3 KB) to separately-allocated DOS segments via INT 21h/48h, reclaiming 7 KB from the 64 KB COM segment

This version does not work at all for me (with or without adding a file name on the command line). I see only the mouse and nothing else.

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-04-01, 15:23:

cookertron wrote on 2026-04-01, 14:48:

Version 0.64.0 Fixes: […]
Show full quote

Version 0.64.0 Fixes:

• Shell-to-DOS Jemmex crash fix
• BSS-to-segment migration: Moved shadow_buf (4 KB) and doc_table (3 KB) to separately-allocated DOS segments via INT 21h/48h, reclaiming 7 KB from the 64 KB COM segment

This version does not work at all for me (with or without adding a file name on the command line). I see only the mouse and nothing else.

Yes, I'm still working on the 4DOS issue. There are a number of factors that might be the problem. I'll keep you updated.

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-04-01, 15:23:

cookertron wrote on 2026-04-01, 14:48:

Version 0.64.0 Fixes: […]
Show full quote

Version 0.64.0 Fixes:

• Shell-to-DOS Jemmex crash fix
• BSS-to-segment migration: Moved shadow_buf (4 KB) and doc_table (3 KB) to separately-allocated DOS segments via INT 21h/48h, reclaiming 7 KB from the 64 KB COM segment

This version does not work at all for me (with or without adding a file name on the command line). I see only the mouse and nothing else.

FIXED and released!

Version 0.64 now works with 4DOS. All tests pass!
The issue was that 4DOS doesn't clear memory when allocating it out so the buffers contained garage data which corrupted specific tests. A better explanation is in the changelog if you're interested .😎

NOW, here's a question for everyone... how would you feel about a DOSBox-X host shared clipboard? This means you can copy text from the host system (Win/Linux) directly into TEDIT and vice versa. I'd love to hear your opinions.