DOS(C) XENIX System V DOS(C)
Name
dos: doscat, doscp, dosdir, dosformat, dosmkdir, dosls,
dosrm, dosrmdir - Access to and manipulation of DOS files.
Syntax
doscat [ -r | -m ] file ...
doscp [ -r | -m ] file1 file2
doscp [ -r | -m ] file ... directory
dosdir directory ...
dosformat [ -fqv ] drive
dosls directory ...
dosmkdir directory ...
dosrm file ...
dosrmdir directory ...
Description
The dos commands provide access to the files and directories
on MS-DOS floppy disks and on a DOS partition of a hard
disk. Note that in order to use these commands on a DOS
partition of a hard disk, the partition must be bootable,
although not active.
The dos commands perform the following actions:
doscat Copies one or more DOS files to the standard
output. If -r is given, the files are copied
without newline conversions. If -m is given,
the files are copied with newline conversions
(see ``Conversions'' below).
doscp Copies files between a DOS disk and a
filesystem. If file1 and file2 are given, file1
is copied to file2. If a directory is given,
one or more files are copied to that directory.
If -r is given, the files are copied without
newline conversions. If -m is given, the files
are copied with newline conversions (see
``Conversions'' below).
dosdir Lists DOS files in the standard DOS style
directory format.
dosformat Creates a DOS 2.0 formatted diskette. The drive
may be specified in either DOS drive convention,
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DOS(C) XENIX System V DOS(C)
using the default file /etc/default/msdos, or
using the special file name. dosformat cannot
be used to format a hard disk. The -f option
suppresses the interactive feature. The -q
(quiet) option is used to suppress information
normally displayed during dosformat . The -q
option does not suppress the interactive
feature. The -v option prompts the user for a
volume label after the diskette has been
formatted. The maximum size of the volume label
is 11 characters.
dosls Lists DOS directories and files in a format
(see ls(C)).
dosrm Removes files from a DOS disk.
dosmkdir Creates a directory on a DOS disk.
dosrmdir Deletes directories from a DOS disk.
The file and directory arguments for DOS files and
directories have the form:
device:name
where device is a
pathname for the special device file containing the DOS
disk, and name is a pathname to a file or directory on the
DOS disk. The two components are separated by a colon (:).
For example, the argument:
/dev/fd0:/src/file.asm
specifies the DOS file, file.asm, in the directory, /src, on
the disk in the device file /dev/fd0. Note that slashes
(and not backslashes) are used as filename separators for
DOS pathnames. Arguments without a device: are assumed to
be
files.
For convenience, the user configurable default file,
/etc/default/msdos, can define DOS drive names to be used in
place of the special device file pathnames. It can contain,
for example, lines with the following format:
A=/dev/fd0
C=/dev/hd0d
D=/dev/hd1d
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DOS(C) XENIX System V DOS(C)
The drive letter ``A'' may be used in place of special
device file pathname /dev/fd0 when referencing DOS files
(see ``Examples'' below). The drive letters ``C'' or ``D''
refer to the DOS partition on the first or second hard
disk.
The commands operate on the following kinds of disks:
DOS partitions on a hard disk
5 1/4 inch DOS
3 1/2 inch DOS
8, 9, 15, or 18 sectors per track
40 or 80 tracks per side
1 or 2 sides
DOS versions 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0
Conversions
In the case of doscp, certain conversions are performed when
copying a file. Filenames with a basename longer than
eight characters are truncated. Filename extensions (the
part of the name following separating period) longer than
three characters are truncated. For example, the file
123456789.12345 becomes 12345678.123. A message informs the
user that the name has been changed and the altered name is
displayed. Filenames containing illegal DOS characters are
stripped when writing to the MS-DOS format. A message
informs the user that characters have been removed and
displays the name as written.
All DOS text files use a carriage-return/linefeed
combination, CR-LF , to indicate a newline.
files use a single newline LF character. When the doscat
and doscp commands transfer DOS text files to the
filesystem, they automatically strip the CR. When text
files are transferred to DOS , the commands insert a CR
before each LF character.
Under some circumstances the automatic newline conversions
do not occur. The -m option may be used to ensure the
newline conversion. The -r option can be used to override
the automatic conversion and force the command to perform a
true byte copy regardless of file type.
Examples
doscat /dev/fd0:/docs/memo.txt
doscat /tmp/f1 /tmp/f2 /dev/fd0:/src/file.asm
dosdir /dev/fd0:/src
dosdir A:/src A:/dev
doscp A:autoexec.bat /u/naomib/test.txt
doscp /u/naomib/test.txt A:test.txt
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DOS(C) XENIX System V DOS(C)
dosformat /dev/fd0
dosls /dev/fd0:/src
dosls B:
dosmkdir /dev/fd0:/usr/docs
dosrm /dev/fd0:/docs/memo.txt
dosrm A:/docs/memo1.txt
dosrmdir /dev/fd0:/usr/docs
Files
/etc/default/msdos Default information
/dev/fd* Floppy disk devices
/dev/hd* Hard disk devices
See Also
assign(C), dtype(C), mkfs(ADM) and ``Using DOS and OS/2'' in
the System Administrator's Guide
Notes
Using the DOS utilities, is not possible to refer to DOS
files with wild card specifications. The programs mentioned
above cooperate among themselves so no two programs will
access the same DOS disk. Only one process will access a
given DOS disk at any time, while other processes wait. If
a process has to wait too long, it displays the error
message, ``can't seize a device,'' and exits with an exit
code of 1.
You cannot use the dosformat command to format device A:
because it is aliased to /dev/install, which cannot be
formatted. Use /dev/rfd0/ instead.
The following hard disk devices:
/dev/hd0d
/dev/rhd0d
/dev/hd1d
/dev/rhd1d
are similar to /dev/hd0a in that the disk driver determines
which partition is the DOS partition and uses that as hd?d.
This means that software using the DOS partition does not
need to know which partition is DOS.
The Development System supports the creation of DOS
executable files, using cc (CP). Refer to the C User's
Guide and C Library Guide for more information on using your
system to create programs suitable for DOS systems.
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All of the DOS utilities leave temporary files in /tmp.
These files are automatically removed when the system is
rebooted. They can also be manually removed.
You must have DOS 3.3 or earlier. Extended DOS partitions
are not supported.
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