Running DOS Software from the Command-Line
Recently, I’ve been working on a command-line utility that uses PCjs machines to run DOS software on modern operating systems, and it’s called, aptly enough, pc.js.
Let’s run through a few examples. All you need to get started is:
- Install Node and NPM
- Clone the pcjs repository (eg,
git clone https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs.git) - CD into
pcjsand runnpm install
For the examples below, I’m using Ubuntu Linux (hence the $ prompt), but I’ve also tested pc.js on macOS and Windows. If you run into issues, take a look at the pc.js page on the PCjs website.
I also recommend adding the “pcjs/tools/pc” and “pcjs/tools/diskimage” directories to your PATH, so that you can run pc.js and diskimage.js from any location. Alternatively, you can always use relative paths, like I’ve used in the examples.
The first example is a simple use case that doesn’t involve any disks, just running some BASIC commands from the original IBM PC’s built-in BASIC interpreter.
$ cd tools/pc
$ pc.js ibm5150 --nofloppy
Press CTRL-D to enter command mode, CTRL-C to terminate pc.js
1LIST 2RUN← 3LOAD" 4SAVE" 5CONT← 6,"LPT1 7TRON← 8TROFF← 9KEY 0SCREEN
The IBM Personal Computer Basic
Version C1.00 Copyright IBM Corp 1981
61404 Bytes free
Ok
print 2+2
4
Ok
10 for i=1 to 10:print "hello world";i:next i
list
10 FOR I=1 TO 10:PRINT "hello world";I:NEXT I
Ok
run
hello world 1
hello world 2
hello world 3
hello world 4
hello world 5
hello world 6
hello world 7
hello world 8
hello world 9
hello world 10
Ok
So what just happened? BASICally, pc.js started an IBM PC Model 5150 with ROM BASIC, routing all text output to your terminal window and converting all text input into IBM PC keyboard presses, providing a reasonably seamless experience. That first line of output:
1LIST 2RUN← 3LOAD" 4SAVE" 5CONT← 6,"LPT1 7TRON← 8TROFF← 9KEY 0SCREEN
is a list of supported function keys that would normally appear on the bottom (25th) row of an IBM PC monitor, but pc.js makes no attempt to render characters at specific screen locations – it simply outputs characters in the same order that the machine displays them.
As for the Press CTRL-D to enter command mode message at the beginning, pc.js is just letting you know that CTRL-D will allow you to stop the machine and enter what it calls “command mode”. If the machine also includes the PCjs debugger, command mode gives you access to all PCjs debugger commands, too.
From command mode, you can also press CTRL-C to terminate pc.js (or use the “quit” command). If you’re not in command mode, then CTRL-C just does whatever it’s supposed to do inside the machine. To exit command mode and continue running the machine, use the “g” (go) command.
Getting back to the first example above, let’s press CTRL-D for the pc.js command mode prompt, and then use the quit command to get back to the operating system prompt.
stopped (1027856675 cycles, 215793 ms, 4763160 hz)
AX=0000 BX=003A CX=0008 DX=008A SP=F9E8 BP=00A0 SI=0074 DI=0075
SS=0060 DS=0040 ES=0060 PS=F046 V0 D0 I0 T0 S0 Z1 A0 P1 C0
&F000:E850 74F3 JZ E845 (romBIOS+0x0845)
>> help
pc.js commands:
cd [directory]
build [command]
load [machine] or [drive] [search options]
quit
type "?" for a list of debugger commands (eg, "g" to continue running)
>> quit
$
Now let’s dive into a much more interesting example. Imagine we have small collection of DOS files and programs that we’d like to run. There’s a PCjs hard disk image we can use for this demonstration, so let’s download and extract it using the PCjs diskimage.js utility:
$ ../diskimage/diskimage.js --disk https://harddisks.pcjs.org/pcx86/10mb/MSDOS320-C400.json --extract
DiskImage v3.00
Copyright © 2012-2023 Jeff Parsons <Jeff@pcjs.org>
Options: --disk https://harddisks.pcjs.org/pcx86/10mb/MSDOS320-C400.json --extract
processing: MSDOS320-C400 (10653696 bytes, checksum 3014829503, hash none)
extracting: CONFIG.SYS
extracting: COMMAND.COM
extracting: AUTOEXEC.BAT
extracting: DOS/ANSI.SYS
extracting: DOS/APPEND.COM
extracting: DOS/ASSIGN.COM
extracting: DOS/ATTRIB.EXE
extracting: DOS/CHKDSK.EXE
...
All the files and folders are extracted into a directory with the same name as the disk image, so let’s change to that directory now:
$ cd MSDOS320-C400
$ ls
AUTOEXEC.BAT COMMAND.COM CONFIG.SYS DOS PUZZLED TMP TOOLS
$
To run a program from that folder, such as the DOS CHKDSK utility, just run pc.js with name of the program, including any arguments it might need:
$ ../pc.js chkdsk
Press CTRL-D to enter command mode, CTRL-C to terminate pc.js
C>ECHO OFF
Volume PCJS created Sep 27, 1989 3:00a
10592256 bytes total disk space
77824 bytes in 6 hidden files
86016 bytes in 21 directories
4341760 bytes in 244 user files
6086656 bytes available on disk
655360 bytes total memory
588672 bytes free
C:\>
If the DOS command you want to run includes wildcards (eg, DIR *.*), put it in quotes to prevent your shell from expanding them:
$ ../pc.js "dir *.*"
Press CTRL-D to enter command mode, CTRL-C to terminate pc.js
C>ECHO OFF
Volume in drive C is PCJS
Directory of C:\
AUTOEXEC BAT 193 7-15-23 9:44a
CONFIG SYS 58 1-01-80 12:03a
DOS <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
PUZZLED <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
TMP <DIR> 1-01-80 12:13a
TOOLS <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
6 File(s) 6086656 bytes free
C:\>
This collection of files also includes a Microsoft C Compiler, so we can try compiling and running some C demo programs:
C:\>cd tools
C:\TOOLS>dir
Volume in drive C is PCJS
Directory of C:\TOOLS
. <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
.. <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
BIN <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
BINB <DIR> 1-01-80 12:11a
C4BIN <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
C4CV <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
C4DEMO <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
C4INC <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
C4LIB <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
C4START <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
C4WIN <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
MASM4 <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
TOOLS DIS 944 9-27-86 11:33a
TOOLS INI 2725 1-01-80 12:06a
Z TXT 72235 11-05-86 10:53a
15 File(s) 6086656 bytes free
C:\TOOLS>cd c4demo
C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO>dir
Volume in drive C is PCJS
Directory of C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO
. <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
.. <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
DEMO C 419 6-27-86 4:00a
SIEVE C 788 6-27-86 4:00a
4 File(s) 6086656 bytes free
C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO>cl demo.c
Microsoft (R) C Compiler Version 4.00
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1984, 1985, 1986. All rights reserved.
demo.c
Microsoft (R) Overlay Linker Version 3.51
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986. All rights reserved.
Object Modules [.OBJ]: DEMO.OBJ
Run File [DEMO.EXE]: DEMO.EXE/NOI
List File [NUL.MAP]: NUL
Libraries [.LIB]: ;
C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO>demo
C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO\DEMO.EXE
COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM
PROMPT=$P$G
PATH=C:\;C:\TOOLS\C4BIN;C:\TOOLS\MASM4;C:\TOOLS\BIN;C:\TOOLS\BINB;C:\DOS
INCLUDE=C:\TOOLS\C4INC
LIB=C:\TOOLS\C4LIB
TMP=C:\TMP
USER=C:\TOOLS
C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO>cl sieve.c
Microsoft (R) C Compiler Version 4.00
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1984, 1985, 1986. All rights reserved.
sieve.c
Microsoft (R) Overlay Linker Version 3.51
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986. All rights reserved.
Object Modules [.OBJ]: SIEVE.OBJ
Run File [SIEVE.EXE]: SIEVE.EXE/NOI
List File [NUL.MAP]: NUL
Libraries [.LIB]: ;
C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO>sieve
150 iterations: 1027 primes
C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO>dir
Volume in drive C is PCJS
Directory of C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO
. <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
.. <DIR> 7-15-23 9:23a
DEMO C 419 6-27-86 4:00a
SIEVE C 788 6-27-86 4:00a
DEMO OBJ 391 7-15-23 9:50a
DEMO EXE 6402 7-15-23 9:50a
SIEVE OBJ 494 7-15-23 9:50a
SIEVE EXE 14662 7-15-23 9:50a
8 File(s) 6053888 bytes free
C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO>return
$
That last command, return, runs a special program that pc.js automatically includes with the machine, to gracefully return to your own operating system.
And, if you take a peek inside the folder that corresponds to C:\TOOLS\C4DEMO, you’ll see that all the files created by the Microsoft C Compiler, such as DEMO.EXE and SIEVE.EXE have been preserved:
$ ls -l TOOLS/C4DEMO
total 40
-rw-rw-r-- 1 419 Jun 27 1986 DEMO.C
-rw-rw-r-- 1 6402 Jul 15 09:50 DEMO.EXE
-rw-rw-r-- 1 391 Jul 15 09:50 DEMO.OBJ
-rw-rw-r-- 1 788 Jun 27 1986 SIEVE.C
-rw-rw-r-- 1 14662 Jul 15 09:50 SIEVE.EXE
-rw-rw-r-- 1 494 Jul 15 09:50 SIEVE.OBJ
Whenever you run pc.js with a DOS command or program name, it automatically builds a 10Mb hard disk image containing all the files and folder from your current directory, and runs that command or program. And whenever you terminate pc.js, it automatically creates/deletes/updates any files in your current directory that were modified on the 10Mb hard disk.
Loading Diskettes
pc.js includes another special program with the machine, load, which makes it easy for you to load any diskette image from the PCjs diskette library into your machine. The syntax of the load command is:
load [drive] [search options]
Let’s say we want to load “PC-SIG Library Disk #1234” into the machine’s A: drive. Start pc.js with any DOS command to automatically build and start a machine (I used the DOS ver command this time) and then type load a: pc-sig 1234 to load the matching diskette into drive A:
$ ../pc.js ver
Press CTRL-D to enter command mode, CTRL-C to terminate pc.js
C>ECHO OFF
MS-DOS Version 3.20
C:\>load a: pc-sig 1234
loading "PC-SIG Library Disk #1234" in drive A:
C:\>dir a:
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
CHINA HTX 8561 7-30-89 1:00p
CHINAVOC HTX 2927 7-17-88 12:05p
FILE1234 TXT 2480 11-30-89 4:19p
FIRST HTX 405 9-16-89 2:39a
GO BAT 15 9-17-89 11:34a
GO HTX 511 9-17-89 11:33a
HELLO EXE 8949 1-23-88 12:18p
HYTDOC EXE 35282 10-01-89 12:59p
HYTDOC HTF 35245 10-01-89 12:59p
HYTDOC HTX 34936 9-17-89 11:18a
HYTEST EXE 33528 10-01-89 12:58p
HYTEXT EXE 42172 10-01-89 1:32p
HYTFAST EXE 15753 10-01-89 12:57p
LOG COM 10894 3-05-89 12:05p
LOG DOC 920 11-03-88 5:06p
MSDOS HTX 16129 6-17-88 7:55p
PLANETS HTS 6248 3-31-89 8:10p
README 6596 9-28-89 8:55p
VERSION 2246 9-16-89 11:15p
19 File(s) 48128 bytes free
If your search criteria matches more than one diskette in the library, a numbered list of matches is displayed, and then you can load the desired diskette by number:
C:\>load a: pc-sig #123
1: PC-SIG Library Disk #1230
2: PC-SIG Library Disk #1231
3: PC-SIG Library Disk #1232
4: PC-SIG Library Disk #1233
5: PC-SIG Library Disk #1234
6: PC-SIG Library Disk #1235
7: PC-SIG Library Disk #1236
8: PC-SIG Library Disk #1237
9: PC-SIG Library Disk #1238
10: PC-SIG Library Disk #1239
enter "load a: #" to load diskette by number
C:\>load a: 6
loading "PC-SIG Library Disk #1235" in drive A:
C:\>dir a:
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
EDBEGIN HLP 24539 6-19-89 12:04p
EDQUICK HLP 37793 6-19-89 12:04p
FILEMAN COM 932 4-01-86 11:24p
GETYN COM 806 9-25-89 5:18p
GO BAT 12 5-18-86 8:32p
MANUAL1 CRN 30164 11-07-88 10:49p
MANUAL2 CRN 122155 11-07-88 10:50p
PRINTMAN COM 913 10-26-88 6:23a
QUICK-OR DER 1021 5-04-89 4:23p
READ ME 1001 9-29-89 12:48p
REFENCE DIR 1249 9-29-89 12:50p
STORY 1148 12-24-86 11:11a
TYPEMAN COM 947 10-28-88 3:38a
WORDS EXE 16536 10-02-86 9:41p
WORDS MAS 110428 9-19-89 6:41p
WORDS NUL 12 10-26-88 11:10a
WORKUTIL BAT 5086 9-25-89 4:30p
17 File(s) 1024 bytes free
You can also search for files by filename. For example, if you want to find and load a diskette with a program containing ARC in the name, use the --file search option. You can even use regular expressions, but you will need to quote them if you use any characters (such as |) that are also parsed by the DOS command interpreter:
C:\>load a: -file "arc\.(com|exe)"
1: ARC.EXE 32128 1979-11-30 "PC-SIG Library Disk #4198"
2: ARC.EXE 29824 1985-08-22 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0539"
3: ARC.EXE 32051 1986-01-31 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0976"
4: ARC.EXE 32429 1986-02-05 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0685"
5: ARC.EXE 32256 1986-02-21 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0612"
6: ARC.EXE 32181 1986-03-05 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0417"
7: ARC.EXE 32512 1986-04-08 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0879"
8: ARC.EXE 32384 1986-06-15 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0666"
9: CONVARC.EXE 5056 1989-07-24 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1571"
10: DARC.EXE 34429 1990-06-09 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1861"
11: DEARC.COM 10240 1986-12-28 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0148"
12: EIGHTARC.COM 51968 1989-06-21 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1574"
13: ELECARC.EXE 97669 1990-05-15 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2219"
14: EPARC.COM 26316 1990-01-19 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1082"
15: HELPARC.EXE 267704 1991-08-05 "Norton Utilities 6.01 (Utility 4)"
16: ICONARC.EXE 16944 1991-08-05 "Norton Utilities 6.01 (Install)"
17: LHARC.EXE 27498 1989-03-04 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1550"
18: LHARC.EXE 30470 1989-05-04 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2018"
19: LHARC.EXE 31256 1989-05-31 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1948"
20: LHARC.EXE 30912 1990-03-28 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1927"
21: LHARC.EXE 20874 1990-06-15 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1145"
22: LHARC.EXE 30440 1990-07-28 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2729"
23: LHARC.EXE 20874 1990-08-07 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2322"
24: LHARC.EXE 20475 1990-08-08 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2597"
25: NDOSARC.EXE 39190 1991-08-05 "Norton Utilities 6.01 (Utility 5)"
26: OBJUNARC.EXE 125440 1993-08-13 "OBJASM 2.0 (Bin)"
27: PASARC.EXE 102889 1990-05-10 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2221"
28: PGMSARC.EXE 120567 1990-07-24 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1481"
29: PKARC.COM 16440 1986-10-23 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0386"
30: PKARC.COM 17456 1986-12-15 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1138"
31: PKXARC.COM 9984 1986-09-12 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0599"
32: PKXARC.COM 10318 1986-10-23 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0386"
33: PKXARC.COM 11482 1986-12-15 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0651"
34: PKXARC.COM 12242 1987-03-01 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1080"
35: PKXARC.COM 12242 1987-04-27 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1564"
36: PKXARC.COM 10368 1987-08-25 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2388"
37: PKXARC.COM 11648 1987-10-08 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1138"
38: PKXARC.COM 12288 1988-02-19 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1063"
39: PKXARC.COM 9296 1990-03-26 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2822"
40: PKXARC.EXE 15126 1988-06-01 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1206"
41: POSIARC.EXE 133618 1990-05-15 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2219"
42: QUOTARC.EXE 226289 1990-01-26 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1575"
43: RINGARC.EXE 84235 1989-12-29 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1293"
44: SANDARC.EXE 188632 1992-12-02 "PC-SIG Library Disk #3555"
45: SHZIPARC.EXE 256492 1990-12-26 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2614"
46: SMITHARC.EXE 305210 1992-06-28 "PC-SIG Library Disk #3125"
47: SPORTARC.EXE 36592 1992-09-30 "PC-SIG Library Disk #3454"
48: TD1ARC.EXE 247060 1989-12-31 "PC-SIG Library Disk #1353"
49: UNARC.COM 12242 1987-04-27 "PC-SIG Library Disk #3008"
50: XARC.COM 12242 1987-04-27 "PC-SIG Library Disk #2096"
51: XARC.COM 11482 1987-06-17 "PC-SIG Library Disk #3494"
52: XXSRARC.EXE 275219 1992-09-18 "PC-SIG Library Disk #3222"
enter "load a: #" to load diskette by number
To help you zero in on the particular ARC program you’re interested in, pc.js initially lists only unique instances of each file. Let’s say you’re only interested in files named ARC.EXE, and you want to load a diskette with the version of ARC.EXE dated 1985-08-22, so you type load a: 2:
C:\>load a: 2
1: ARC.EXE 29824 1985-08-22 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0539"
2: ARC.EXE 29824 1985-08-22 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0420"
3: ARC.EXE 29824 1985-08-22 "PC-SIG Library Disk #0568"
enter "load a: #" to load diskette by number
multiple disks with identical file (use "load a: 1" to load original selection)
At this point, pc.js shows you all the other disks (if any) with the same exact file. The other files may not have the same date or even the same name, but they will all have the same contents. Your original selection is always listed first. In this example, we’re going to load the second disk, named “PC-SIG Library Disk #0420”:
C:\>load a: 2
loading "PC-SIG Library Disk #0420" in drive A:
C:\>dir a:
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
BACKSTAT EXE 13312 1-17-85 2:20p
GCOPY2 EXE 14592 3-15-85 3:18p
GCOPY2 TXT 2048 3-15-85 3:18p
L6 COM 3072 4-09-85 9:41a
LC COM 1280 12-07-84 1:10p
LF COM 512 6-08-84 3:20p
LQTYPE COM 12160 4-01-85 11:14a
UNDEL COM 2176 3-19-85 6:57a
UNSQ COM 8064 3-17-85 2:53p
FILTERS LBR 41600 4-04-85 10:16a
FILTERS TXT 507 4-04-85 6:03p
VIEWDISK EXE 16384 3-15-85 8:36a
VIEWDISK DOC 4736 3-15-85 8:38a
COPYPC COM 1792 4-25-85 1:52p
COPYPC DOC 1920 4-25-85 1:52p
SORT-IT COM 17280 4-03-85 10:17a
SORT-IT DOC 1024 4-03-85 10:18a
NIB EXE 48412 5-02-85 4:42p
LOCK COM 384 8-22-85 12:51a
UNLOCK COM 384 8-22-85 12:51a
UN-LOCK DOC 2432 8-22-85 12:52a
ARC EXE 29824 8-22-85 12:50a
ARC DOC 10880 5-06-85 10:14a
FCOMPARE EXE 12288 5-02-85 12:03a
FCOMPARE C 13056 5-02-85 12:03a
FCOMPARE DOC 2304 5-02-85 12:03a
SEARCH COM 640 5-08-85 6:58p
SEARCH DOC 2048 5-08-85 6:58p
READONLY COM 128 6-03-85 10:15p
READONLY DOC 256 6-03-85 10:15p
READWRIT COM 128 6-03-85 10:15p
READWRIT DOC 128 6-03-85 10:15p
DISKUNSQ COM 3712 6-04-85 12:19p
DISKSQ COM 3584 6-04-85 12:20p
TREED COM 1920 5-10-85 9:37p
TCOUNT COM 17273 7-29-85 9:30a
TCOUNT DOC 7168 7-28-85 8:05a
FILES420 TXT 2088 4-12-86 5:50p
LU DOC 6144 3-25-84 1:50a
LU EXE 22528 3-25-84 1:48a
40 File(s) 16384 bytes free
Any files you’re interested in can be copied to the machine’s C: drive, and when you type return, those files should be automatically transferred to your current directory.
More To Come
There’s a lot more to cover with the new pc.js utility, which is still a “work-in-progress”, but hopefully this is enough to get the ball rolling.
Only text-based “standard I/O” DOS programs are usable in this environment, so if you run a program that switches to graphics mode or writes directly to video memory, don’t expect to see anything.
There are currently no options to change the default drive type (10Mb) but it is possible to specify alternate machine configurations and alternate operating systems to install on the drive. Run pc.js --help from the command-line for some quick guidance, and check the PC.js page for more detailed information – both will be updated as the utility evolves.
Jeff Parsons
Jul 15, 2023
from Hacker News https://ift.tt/h3QPnaB
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