MODE

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Environment Commands

Description

Command Syntax

1. Changes the active code page
2. Configures the printer
3. Configures serial ports
4. Displays info on various devices
5. Configures the display
6. Configures the keyboard repeat rate and delay
7. Redirects the printer

Changing Codepage

MODE device codepage prepare=((yyy )filename)

To select a codepage and make it active

MODE device codepage select=yyy

To restore a previously selected codepage

MODE device codepage refresh

To display information on the current codepage status for a particular device:

MODE device codepage [/stat[us]]

• device can be CON (the screen & keyboard), PRN (the printer), LPT1 (Parallel port #1), LPT2 (Parallel port #2)  or LPT3 (Parallel port #3)
• yyy is the codepage number. This can be 437 (US English), 850 (multilingual), 860 (Portugese), 863 (French Canadian) or 865 (Nordic)
• filename is the name of the file containing code page info. This can be as follows:

Configuring Printer

MODE LPTn[:][c][,[l][,p]]

or

MODE LPTn[:] [cols=c] [lines=l] [retry=r]

• n is the parallel port number to which the printer is attached
• c specifies the number of characters per line (columns) to print. This can be either 80 or 132
• l specifies the number of lines per inch to print. This can be either 6 or 8
• p (DOS 3.3 and earlier) causes DOS to continually retry sending output when the printer is not ready
• r (DOS 4+) specifies the action DOS should take if the printer is not ready. This can be either e (return error), b (return busy), r (return ready), or none (to take no action)

Configuring Serial Port

MODE COMn[:]b[[,p[,d][,s[,p]]]]

or (DOS 4+)

MODE COMn[:] [baud=b] [parity=p] [data=d] [stop=s] [retry=r]

• n is the serial port number (from 1 to 4)
• b is the baud rate. It can be 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600 or 19200.
• p specifies the parity (error checking). It can be n (none), o (odd), or e (even). DOS 4+ also includes m (mark) or s (space)
• d is the number of data bits. It can be 7 or 8; also 5 or 6 in DOS 4+
• s is the number of stop bits. This can be 1 or 2, or also 1.5 in DOS 4+
• p (DOS 3.3 and earlier) causes DOS to continually retry sending output when the serial port is not ready
• r (DOS 4+) specifies the action DOS should take if the serial port is not ready. This can be either e (return error), b (return busy), r (return ready), or none (to take no action)

Device Status

MODE [device] [/sta[tus]]

• device is the name of the device for which you want status info. If you miss this out, DOS lists all devices.
• /sta[tus] is not necessary unless you want the status of a redirected parallel port

Configuring Display

MODE [adaptor][,n]

or

MODE CON[:] [col=c] [lines=n]

To select a display and shift the image with CGA graphics

MODE [adaptor][, shift[,t]]

• adaptor can be one of the following:

 

Display type	adaptor parameter
Monochrome	mono
Colour/graphics 40 column	40
Colour/graphics 80 column	80
Colour/graphics 40 column, colour disabled	bw40
Colour/graphics 80 column, colour disabled	bw80
Colour/graphics 40 column, colour enabled	co40
Colour/graphics 80 column, colour enabled	co80

• n specifies the number of lines on the display. This can be 25, 43 (EGA) or 50 (VGA). (DOS 4+)
• c specifies the number of columns on the display. This can be either 40 or 80
• shift specifies the amount by which to shift the display to the left or right (CGA only). This can be a number up to 40 and must end with l (to shift ro the left) or r (to shift to the right)
• t displays a test pattern

Configuring keyboard repeat rate

MODE CON[:] [rate=r delay=d]

• r is the number of characters per second. This can range from 2 to 32 characters per second
• d is the delay in quarters of a second. This can be 1, 2, 3, or 4

Redirecting Printer

MODE LPTn[:]=COMm[:]

• n is the parallel port to redirect from
• m is the serial port to redirect to.

Comments

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Printed from the NukeSoft MS-DOS Reference. Copyright © 1995 - 2006 Marcus Houlden