"Bill Stewart" <llib.traw***@yrautromhcnerf.moc> wrote in message
news:u$q9flM1JHA.1420@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> EditVar/EditV32/EditV64 and Choose/Choose32/Choose64 v2.0
>
> Home page: http://www.westmesatech.com/editv.html
>
> EditVar/EditV32/Editv64 and Choose/Choose32/Choose64 are command-line
> tools designed to allow for user input in shell scripts (AKA batch files).
> There are three .exe files for each program: DOS, Win32, and Win64.
>
> EditVar works by obtaining the contents of an environment variable and
> presenting it for interactive editing. If you make any changes to the
> variable's contents and press Enter, EditVar writes the changed variable
> to the parent environment of the program that started it (typically
> Cmd.exe). EditV32 requires Windows NT 4.0 or later; for Windows 9x/Me, use
> the MS-DOS version.
>
> EditVar is similar to the Cmd.exe Set /p command in Windows 2000 and
> later, but it may be preferable for the following reasons:
>
> * It allows you to edit a variable, not just set one.
> * It can limit the length of the typed variable.
> * It can mask the typed input for simple password security.
> * It can limit typed input to numbers only.
> * It offers a timeout feature (useful when a script needs to run
> unattended).
> * It can automatically "escape" reserved shell characters in variables it
> creates.
> * It provides useful exit codes: For example, an exit code of 4 means that
> the user pressed Ctrl-C to abort.
> * It comes with an MS-DOS version that works in Windows 9x/Me as well as
> on MS-DOS boot media.
>
> Choose is similar to the Microsoft Choice tool, but it has more features.
> Here are some reasons why it might be preferable to Choice:
>
> * It doesn't beep when the user makes an invalid choice.
> * It offers a "default key" feature, which lets a user press Enter to
> select a default choice.
> * It comes with a DOS version (useful for MS-DOS boot media).
> * The Win32 version's timeout feature doesn't get confused when you run
> multiple instances in separate console windows (this was a problem with
> earlier Win32 console versions of Microsoft's Choice tool).
> * It can suppress the display of the user's choice.
> * It offers a "line input" mode where the user must press Enter after
> making a choice.
>
> What's new?
>
> Version 2.0 includes 64-bit Windows versions.
>
> --
> Bill Stewart

"Tim Meddick" <timmedd***@gawab.com> wrote in message
news:OxwAlIN1JHA.3988@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Very interesting!......
>
>
> ==
>
>
>
> Cheers,    Tim Meddick,    Peckham, London.    :-)
>
>
> "Bill Stewart" <llib.traw***@yrautromhcnerf.moc> wrote in message
> news:u$q9flM1JHA.1420@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> EditVar/EditV32/EditV64 and Choose/Choose32/Choose64 v2.0
>>
>> Home page: http://www.westmesatech.com/editv.html
>>
>> EditVar/EditV32/Editv64 and Choose/Choose32/Choose64 are command-line
>> tools designed to allow for user input in shell scripts (AKA batch
>> files). There are three .exe files for each program: DOS, Win32, and
>> Win64.
>>
>> EditVar works by obtaining the contents of an environment variable and
>> presenting it for interactive editing. If you make any changes to the
>> variable's contents and press Enter, EditVar writes the changed variable
>> to the parent environment of the program that started it (typically
>> Cmd.exe). EditV32 requires Windows NT 4.0 or later; for Windows 9x/Me,
>> use the MS-DOS version.
>>
>> EditVar is similar to the Cmd.exe Set /p command in Windows 2000 and
>> later, but it may be preferable for the following reasons:
>>
>> * It allows you to edit a variable, not just set one.
>> * It can limit the length of the typed variable.
>> * It can mask the typed input for simple password security.
>> * It can limit typed input to numbers only.
>> * It offers a timeout feature (useful when a script needs to run
>> unattended).
>> * It can automatically "escape" reserved shell characters in variables it
>> creates.
>> * It provides useful exit codes: For example, an exit code of 4 means
>> that the user pressed Ctrl-C to abort.
>> * It comes with an MS-DOS version that works in Windows 9x/Me as well as
>> on MS-DOS boot media.
>>
>> Choose is similar to the Microsoft Choice tool, but it has more features.
>> Here are some reasons why it might be preferable to Choice:
>>
>> * It doesn't beep when the user makes an invalid choice.
>> * It offers a "default key" feature, which lets a user press Enter to
>> select a default choice.
>> * It comes with a DOS version (useful for MS-DOS boot media).
>> * The Win32 version's timeout feature doesn't get confused when you run
>> multiple instances in separate console windows (this was a problem with
>> earlier Win32 console versions of Microsoft's Choice tool).
>> * It can suppress the display of the user's choice.
>> * It offers a "line input" mode where the user must press Enter after
>> making a choice.
>>
>> What's new?
>>
>> Version 2.0 includes 64-bit Windows versions.
>>
>> --
>> Bill Stewart
>
>

"Al Dunbar" <aland***@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eXd6puR1JHA.3304@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Ditto.
>
> I ran across a DOS-only *.com utility somewhere long ago (in the pre-NT
> era) that accepted input into an environment variable whose name was
> hardcoded. I adapted it to accept a variable name parameter:
>
>    CIAO varname=prompt
>
> and included a few other optional features like masking the input as typed
> and outputting arbitrary string with CRLF suppression. Bing written in
> assembler it was tiny (about 1K IIRC). I used it lots and finally toasted
> it when I found I was no longer working in DOS. Shortly thereafter I
> kicked myself as a practical application presented itself in our
> environment! Workaround was to open a text file in a tiny .com text
> editor, but it was way uuuugly. So ugly I gave up on it, so now I'll try
> it with Bill's utility. Way to go.
>
> /Al
>
> "Tim Meddick" <timmedd***@gawab.com> wrote in message
> news:OxwAlIN1JHA.3988@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> Very interesting!......
>>
>>
>> ==
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers,    Tim Meddick,    Peckham, London.    :-)
>>
>>
>> "Bill Stewart" <llib.traw***@yrautromhcnerf.moc> wrote in message
>> news:u$q9flM1JHA.1420@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>> EditVar/EditV32/EditV64 and Choose/Choose32/Choose64 v2.0
>>>
>>> Home page: http://www.westmesatech.com/editv.html
>>>
>>> EditVar/EditV32/Editv64 and Choose/Choose32/Choose64 are command-line
>>> tools designed to allow for user input in shell scripts (AKA batch
>>> files). There are three .exe files for each program: DOS, Win32, and
>>> Win64.
>>>
>>> EditVar works by obtaining the contents of an environment variable and
>>> presenting it for interactive editing. If you make any changes to the
>>> variable's contents and press Enter, EditVar writes the changed variable
>>> to the parent environment of the program that started it (typically
>>> Cmd.exe). EditV32 requires Windows NT 4.0 or later; for Windows 9x/Me,
>>> use the MS-DOS version.
>>>
>>> EditVar is similar to the Cmd.exe Set /p command in Windows 2000 and
>>> later, but it may be preferable for the following reasons:
>>>
>>> * It allows you to edit a variable, not just set one.
>>> * It can limit the length of the typed variable.
>>> * It can mask the typed input for simple password security.
>>> * It can limit typed input to numbers only.
>>> * It offers a timeout feature (useful when a script needs to run
>>> unattended).
>>> * It can automatically "escape" reserved shell characters in variables
>>> it creates.
>>> * It provides useful exit codes: For example, an exit code of 4 means
>>> that the user pressed Ctrl-C to abort.
>>> * It comes with an MS-DOS version that works in Windows 9x/Me as well as
>>> on MS-DOS boot media.
>>>
>>> Choose is similar to the Microsoft Choice tool, but it has more
>>> features. Here are some reasons why it might be preferable to Choice:
>>>
>>> * It doesn't beep when the user makes an invalid choice.
>>> * It offers a "default key" feature, which lets a user press Enter to
>>> select a default choice.
>>> * It comes with a DOS version (useful for MS-DOS boot media).
>>> * The Win32 version's timeout feature doesn't get confused when you run
>>> multiple instances in separate console windows (this was a problem with
>>> earlier Win32 console versions of Microsoft's Choice tool).
>>> * It can suppress the display of the user's choice.
>>> * It offers a "line input" mode where the user must press Enter after
>>> making a choice.
>>>
>>> What's new?
>>>
>>> Version 2.0 includes 64-bit Windows versions.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Bill Stewart
>>
>>
>
>

> I ran across a DOS-only *.com utility somewhere long ago (in the pre-NT era)
> that accepted input into an environment variable whose name was hardcoded. I
> adapted it to accept a variable name parameter:
>
>     CIAO varname=prompt
>
> and included a few other optional features like masking the input as typed
> and outputting arbitrary string with CRLF suppression. Bing written in
> assembler it was tiny (about 1K IIRC). I used it lots and finally toasted it
> when I found I was no longer working in DOS. Shortly thereafter I kicked
> myself as a practical application presented itself in our environment!
> Workaround was to open a text file in a tiny .com text editor, but it was
> way uuuugly. So ugly I gave up on it, so now I'll try it with Bill's
> utility. Way to go.

"Bill Stewart" <llib.traw***@yrautromhcnerf.moc> wrote in message
news:OG%23%23Y0k2JHA.5772@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Al Dunbar wrote:
>
>> I ran across a DOS-only *.com utility somewhere long ago (in the pre-NT
>> era) that accepted input into an environment variable whose name was
>> hardcoded. I adapted it to accept a variable name parameter:
>>
>>     CIAO varname=prompt
>>
>> and included a few other optional features like masking the input as
>> typed and outputting arbitrary string with CRLF suppression. Bing written
>> in assembler it was tiny (about 1K IIRC). I used it lots and finally
>> toasted it when I found I was no longer working in DOS. Shortly
>> thereafter I kicked myself as a practical application presented itself in
>> our environment! Workaround was to open a text file in a tiny .com text
>> editor, but it was way uuuugly. So ugly I gave up on it, so now I'll try
>> it with Bill's utility. Way to go.
>
> Thanks!

"Al Dunbar" <aland***@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eN81TCy2JHA.1716@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
> "Bill Stewart" <llib.traw***@yrautromhcnerf.moc> wrote in message
> news:OG%23%23Y0k2JHA.5772@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Al Dunbar wrote:
>>
>>> I ran across a DOS-only *.com utility somewhere long ago (in the pre-NT
>>> era) that accepted input into an environment variable whose name was
>>> hardcoded. I adapted it to accept a variable name parameter:
>>>
>>>     CIAO varname=prompt
>>>
>>> and included a few other optional features like masking the input as
>>> typed and outputting arbitrary string with CRLF suppression. Bing
>>> written in assembler it was tiny (about 1K IIRC). I used it lots and
>>> finally toasted it when I found I was no longer working in DOS. Shortly
>>> thereafter I kicked myself as a practical application presented itself
>>> in our environment! Workaround was to open a text file in a tiny .com
>>> text editor, but it was way uuuugly. So ugly I gave up on it, so now
>>> I'll try it with Bill's utility. Way to go.
>>
>> Thanks!
>
> You're welcome.
>