The command line works like a single-line word processor, allowing you to edit any part of the command at any time before you press Enter to execute it (or Esc to erase it).

 

The command line as typed (before alias and variable expansion) can contain up to a maximum of 65,535 characters. See Command Line Length Limits.

 

You can use the following editing keys (among others) when you are typing a command (the words Ctrl and Shift mean to press the Ctrl or Shift key together with the other key named). The keystrokes listed here are the default values; the keys can be edited with the OPTION / Keyboard dialog.

 

Cursor Movement Keys:

 

 

 

Insert and Delete Keys:

 

 

 

Highlighting:

 

 

 

Execution:

 

 

 

Tab Completion:

 

 

 

 

Command and Directory History:

 

 

 

Miscellaneous:

 

 

 

To highlight text on the command line use the mouse or hold down the Shift key and use any of the cursor movement keys listed above. You can select a complete word by placing the cursor anywhere in the word and double-clicking with the mouse. Once you have selected or highlighted text on the command line, any new text you type will replace the highlighted text. If you press Bksp or Del while there is text highlighted on the command line, the highlighted text will be deleted.

 

TCC does not turn off the selection if you use the left or right cursor keys (or Shift-Left, Shift-Right, Shift-Ctrl-Left, or Shift-Ctrl-Right). So selection (marking) from the keyboard (Shift-Left / Shift-Right) allows you to go back to the selection (inside the selection or immediately before or after) and resize it with Shift-Left / Shift-Right) again.

 

While you are working at the prompt you can use the clipboard to copy text between TCC and other applications (see Highlighting and Copying Text for additional details). You can also use Drag and Drop to paste a filename from another application onto the command line.

 

Most of the command line editing capabilities are also available when you are prompted for a line of input. For example, you can use the command line editing keys when DESCRIBE prompts for a file description, when INPUT prompts for input from an alias or batch file, or when LIST prompts you for a search string.

 

If you want your input at the command line to be in a different color, see the Windows tab of the configuration dialogs.

 

TCC will prompt for additional command line text when you include the escape character as the very last character of a typed command line. (The default escape character is the caret "^".) For example:

 

echo The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy ^

More? sleeping dog. > alphabet

 

You can recall the previous command and substitute a string using the !str1!str2! syntax. For example, to recall the previous command and substitute str2 for str1:

 

echo foo

!echo!dir!

 

will execute the command "dir foo".

 

Sometimes you may want to enter one of the command line editing keystrokes on the command line instead of performing the key's usual action. For example, suppose you have a program that requires a Ctrl-R character on its command line. Normally you couldn't type this keystroke at the prompt, because it would be interpreted as a "Delete word right" command. To get around this problem, use the special keystroke Alt-255. You enter Alt-255 by holding down the Alt key while you type 0255 on the numeric keypad, then releasing the Alt key. This forces TCC to interpret the next keystroke literally and place it on the command line, ignoring any special meaning it would normally have as a command line editing or history keystroke. You can use Alt-255 to suppress the normal meaning of command line editing keystrokes even if they have been reassigned with key mapping directives, and Alt-255 itself can be reassigned with the CommandEscape configuration option.

 

Alternative Keyboard Input Method:

 

The method mentioned above for Alt-255 can be used to generate other characters. You must use the number keys on the numeric keypad, not the row of keys at the top of your keyboard. When this Alt + keypad approach is used in a Unicode environment, TCC will assume that a 3-digit decimal value means an ASCII character, while a 4-digit decimal value mean a Unicode glyph. Make sure that your hardware, character set, code page and font all support the desired combination. Use caution with this method if you plan on manipulating the generated character in other Windows components. See the section on ASCII, Key Codes and ANSI X3.64 Commands for some additional information.