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:
Directive |
Default |
Description |
Left |
Left |
Move the cursor left one character on the input line |
Right |
Right |
Move the cursor right one character on the input line |
WordLeft |
Ctrl-Left |
Move the cursor left one word |
WordRight |
Ctrl-Right |
Move the cursor right one word |
BeginLine |
Home |
Move the cursor to the start of the line |
EndLine |
End |
Move the cursor to the end of the line |
ArgLeft |
Alt-Shift-Left |
Move the cursor left to the previous argument |
ArgRight |
Alt-Shift-Right |
Move the cursor right to the next argument |
Insert and Delete Keys:
Directive |
Default |
Description |
Ins |
Ins |
Toggle insert / overstrike mode |
Del |
Del |
Delete the character at the cursor |
Backspace |
Backspace |
Delete the character to the left of the cursor |
DelWordLeft |
Ctrl-L |
Delete the word to the left of the cursor |
DelWordRight |
Ctrl-R |
Delete the word to the right of the cursor |
DelArgLeft |
Ctrl-Alt-L |
Delete the argument to the left of the cursor |
DelArgRight |
Ctrl-Alt-R |
Delete the argument to the right of the cursor |
DelToBeginning |
Ctrl-Home |
Delete from the cursor to the start of the line |
DelToEnd |
Ctrl-End |
Delete from the cursor to the end of the line |
EraseLine |
Esc |
Delete the entire line |
Paste |
Ctrl-V or Shift-Ins |
Paste line from clipboard |
Ctrl-Shift-V |
Insert a " & " between lines of a multiline paste |
|
Argument0 |
Ctrl-0 |
Get argument 0 from previous command line |
Argument1 |
Ctrl-1 |
Get argument 1 from previous command line |
Argument2 |
Ctrl-2 |
Get argument 2 from previous command line |
Argument3 |
Ctrl-3 |
Get argument 3 from previous command line |
Argument4 |
Ctrl-4 |
Get argument 4 from previous command line |
Argument5 |
Ctrl-5 |
Get argument 5 from previous command line |
Argument6 |
Ctrl-6 |
Get argument 6 from previous command line |
Argument7 |
Ctrl-7 |
Get argument 7 from previous command line |
Argument8 |
Ctrl-8 |
Get argument 8 from previous command line |
Argument9 |
Ctrl-9 |
Get argument 9 from previous command line |
Redo |
Alt-Y |
Redo the last Undo |
Undo |
Alt-Z |
Undo the last edit |
PrevArgument |
Ctrl-B |
Recall the last argument from the previous command line |
Highlighting:
Directive |
Default |
Description |
SelectFromHome |
Shift-Home |
Mark from the beginning of the line to the cursor |
SelectLeft |
Shift-Left |
Add the character on the left to the selection |
SelectRight |
Shift-Right |
Add the character on the right to the selection |
SelectToEnd |
Shift-End |
Mark from the cursor to the end of the line |
SelectWordLeft |
Ctrl-Shift-Left |
Add the word on the left to the selection) |
SelectWordRight |
Ctrl-Shift-Right |
Add the word on the right to the selection |
Copy |
Ctrl-Y |
Copy the highlighted text to the clipboard |
Copy |
Ctrl-C |
Copy the highlighted text to the clipboard (if anything is highlighted); otherwise cancel the command |
Execution:
Directive |
Default |
Description |
|
ExecLine |
Enter |
Execute or accept a line |
|
LineToEnd |
Ctrl-Enter |
Copy the current command line to the end of the history list, then execute it |
|
fCtrl-C or Ctrl-Break |
Cancel the command line without saving it in the history list |
||
Tab Completion:
Directive |
Default |
Description |
NextFile |
Tab or F9 |
Get the next matching filename during tab completion |
AddFile |
F10 |
Keep tab completion entry and add another |
DirectoryCompletion |
Shift-F6 |
Toggle between the default files + directories filename completion, and directories only |
FileBrowse |
F5 |
Display the Windows file browse dialog |
FolderBrowse |
Alt-F5 |
Display the Windows folder browse dialog |
LFNToggle |
Ctrl-A |
Toggle tab completion between long filename and short filename modes on LFN drives |
OriginalFile |
Alt-F9 |
Restore the original filename |
PATHCompletion |
Ctrl-F6 |
Toggle between completing files found in the local directory, and completing them in the local directory + all of the directories in PATH |
PopFile |
F7 or Ctrl-Tab |
Open the tab completion window |
PrevFile |
F8 or Shift-Tab |
Get the previous matching filename |
RepeatFile |
F12 |
Repeat the previous matching filename |
Command and Directory History:
Directive |
Default |
Description |
HistWinOpen |
PgUp |
Open the command history popup window |
DirWinOpen |
F6 |
Open the directory history popup window |
EndHistory |
Ctrl-E |
Display the last entry in the history list |
LastHistory |
F3 |
Return the last history entry |
DelHistory |
Ctrl-D |
Delete the current history list entry and display the previous entry |
SaveHistory |
Ctrl-K |
Save the command line in the command history list without executing it |
NextHistory |
Down |
Get the next command from the command history |
NextDirHistory |
Shift-PgDn |
Get the next directory from the directory history |
PrevDirHistory |
Shift-PgUp |
Get the previous directory from the directory history |
PrevHistory |
Up |
Get the previous command from the command history |
PrintHistory |
Ctrl-P |
Print the command history |
Miscellaneous:
Directive |
Default |
Description |
Help |
F1 |
Display the Help topic for the current command |
HelpWord |
Ctrl-F1 |
Display the Help topic for the word at the cursor |
ParentDirectory |
Ctrl-Shift-Up |
Change to the parent directory |
AliasExpand |
Ctrl-W |
Expand all aliases on the command line |
VariableExpand |
Ctrl-X |
Expand variables on the entire command line |
VariableExpandWord |
Ctrl-Shift-X |
Expand variables for the current word |
CommandDialog |
Alt-F2 |
Display the command dialog for the first argument on the command line |
CommandEscape |
Alt-255 |
Do not interpret the next keystroke as a command line editing key |
Regex |
Ctrl-F7 |
Display the regular expression analyzer dialog |
SingleStep |
Ctrl-F5 |
Toggle batch debugger single-stepping |
FontMax |
Ctrl-Plus |
Increase the console font size |
FontMin |
Ctrl-Minus |
Reduce the console font size |
ConsoleHeightMax |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Down |
Increase the console window height |
ConsoleHeightMax |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Up |
Decrease the console window height |
ConsoleWidthMax |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Right |
Increase the console window width |
ConsoleWidthMin |
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Left |
Reduce the console window width |
MoveConsoleDown |
Alt-Win-Down |
Move the console window down |
MoveConsoleUp |
Alt-Win-Up |
Move the console window up |
MoveConsoleLeft |
Alt-Win-Left |
Move the console window left |
MoveConsoleRight |
Alt-Win-Right |
Move the console window right |
RepeatArgument |
Shift-F12 |
Repeat the previous command line argument |
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.
