ConEmu Integration / Advantages over PyCmd?

4UX

Oct 6, 2014
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0
Hi all,

having used 4DOS back in Windows 9x days, I recently found out that 4NT is still worked on, names TCC/LE these days. (I've seen that there is a huge GUI version of it but I'm not even slightly interested.)

I've been using ConEmu with the PyCmd command interpreter for the past few months. I really wonder if there's a way to use TCC/LE from within ConEmu - and does anyone of you have experiences with PyCmd and can tell me if switching to TCC/LE is worth the effort at all? I "only" need a better filename completion and stored command history over cmd.

Thanks in advance!
 
May 20, 2008
12,165
133
Syracuse, NY, USA
The GUI version also comes with TCC (now at version 16) which is much more powerful than TCC/LE (stuck at version 13). TCC works in ConEmu. I imagine TCC/LE does also.

If you're using ConEmu (a GUI wpapper for console apps) you might like TCMD (a GUI wrapper for console apps). In my opinion, TCMD is much better.
 
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4UX

Oct 6, 2014
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I don't even know Vince.

JPSoft should really provide TCC as a separate product IMO.
 
May 20, 2008
12,165
133
Syracuse, NY, USA
Aren't you the guy who used to rant about "inverted trackballs"? Or am I thinking of someone else?
I don't know if I ranted. If you're remembering that I dislike mice and like trackballs, you're right-on. I love (and use) the old Logitech Trackman Marble (3-button, no wheel, probably time to look for a couple more on eBay). As for pointing device vs. keyboard, they each have their place. I'm still nursing 4 Gateway 2000 "Anykey" keyboards.
 
May 26, 2008
550
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The only thing I use TCMD for is to give me a tabbed interface for my console apps (TCC, cmd, PowerShell). I also use toolbar buttons to quickly launch said console apps; enjoy the simpler selection, copying, and pasting of console text; and the increased font options. I don't use any of its other GUI elements (Explorer trees, immediate command window, etc.)

Personally I think just those few features of TCMD make its purchase worthwhile since you also get the latest TCC.
 
Jun 7, 2008
101
5
I think ConEmu allows you to define multiple startup tabs. You can use it with TCC/LE and PyCmd ... and CMD.EXE too, if you like ... at the same time.
Which is what I do here. Aside from CMD and TCC-LE, I have Win32 ports of bash, tcsh, and zsh among other things.

ConEmu is a currently maintained alternative to the open source product I used to use - Console (http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/) Console was my tabbed console manager of choice under WinXP, because I could also run console mode MSDOS apps in it, and had a few I still used. (For Win64, I use a DOSBOX fork called vDOS to run 16 bit DOS apps.) Console hasn't been actively developed/maintained for a while, though what is available works.

ComEmu is under active development, and can check for and download new versions automatically. (I just got a new alpha a moment ago.)
_____
Dennis
 
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Charles Dye

Super Moderator
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May 20, 2008
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Which is what I do here. Aside from CMD and TCC-LE, I have Win32 ports of bash, tcsh, and zsh among other things.

ConEmu is a currently maintained alternative to the open source product I used to use - Console (http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/) Console was my tabbed console manager of choice under WinXP, because I could also run console mode MSDOS apps in it, and had a few I still used. (For Win64, I use a DOSBOX fork called vDOS to run 16 bit DOS apps.) Console hasn't been actively developed/maintained for a while, though what is available works.

ComEmu is under active development, and can check for and download new versions automatically. (I just got a new alpha a moment ago.)

I find Take Command to be faster and more stable, but ConEmu does incorporate some really neat ideas, and some of them play well with TCC. For example, you can extend colored directories with italics and boldface: http://www.jpsoft.com/forums/threads/colordir-in-the-latest-conemu.4911/
 
Jun 7, 2008
101
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And for those who must use CMD.EXE for whatever reason, but want some enhancements, Clink (http://mridgers.github.io/clink/) is worth a look. It uses a Win32 port of the Gnu readline library, and offers bash-style command editing and completion, aliases, and scripting in Lua. I use it here in a CMD tab in ConEmu.
_____
Dennis
 
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Jun 7, 2008
101
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... but then again, you could use PyCmd instead.
I could, and if I did more than glance at Python occasionally, I might. Since I don't, Clink is a better fit.

The other addon I sometimes use in CMD is Jason Hood's Ansicon. It's an open source Win32/64 equivalent of ANSI.SYS. See http://adoxa.altervista.org/ansicon/

It works in TCC-LE, too, but not in a ConEmu tab. ConEmu blocks the injection into the process.
_____
Dennis
 
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May 20, 2008
12,165
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Syracuse, NY, USA
With my own injection program, I can inject the ANSI dll into CMD while it's running in ConEmu. I don't have TCC/LE but I'd bet it works there also.
upload_2014-10-22_15-40-4.png
 

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Jun 7, 2008
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With my own injection program, I can inject the ANSI dll into CMD while it's running in ConEmu. I don't have TCC/LE but I'd bet it works there also.
The issue here is ConEmu blocking it, so it likely would work in TCC-LE.

Any chance of getting your injection program?
_____
Dennis
 
May 20, 2008
12,165
133
Syracuse, NY, USA
As far as I know, LE has ANSI built-in (v10 did). Enable it via OPTION ... Windows ... ANSI colors. And LE supports plugins. I have a TCC plugin version of ansicon too.
 
Jun 7, 2008
101
5
Yeah, you're right. I'd forgotten about that.

My main use for ANSI is a fancy PROMPT string that paints an inverse video status bar at the top of the screen with various embedded information, and leaves it there while the normal prompt appears at each line below. (Under 4DOS in MS-DOS, I embedded built-in variables for things like current memory and disk space in the status line. I'm updating the notion for Win7 Pro.) That appears to work in TCC-LE once OPTION has been used to turn on ANSI support.

Since TCC-LE has it as a built-in and works in ConEmu, no need for an injection routine. CMD is another matter.
_____
Dennis
 
May 20, 2008
12,165
133
Syracuse, NY, USA
Wait a minute. ConEmu itself does ANSI. Here's a pic of ConEmu running CMD. It shows CMD with a colored prompt and the command output shows that the ANSICON DLL is not loaded (nor is any other provider of ANSI colors).
upload_2014-10-22_21-58-13.png
 
Jun 7, 2008
101
5
There is a font charset setting for ANSI, but it's not clear that other ANSI escape sequences like save cursor position, restore cursor position, and clear to end of line are supported.

I'll have to experiment a bit.
_____
Dennis