DSTLaunch Online Manual - Using DSTLaunch

This section is currently under construction.

Once you have DSTLaunch installed and running you will be presented with a toolbar that contains a combo box, this combo box is the heart of the user interface. From this 'command line' you can execute pretty much anything.

There are four centeral areas on the Tool Bar as follows:

Area	Function
Current Working Directory	This area will display the current directory that you are in, all commands run from the Command Line area will be executed in this directory. The Current Working Directory (CWD) can be changed with the CD command.
Version	This simply tells you what version of DSTLaunch you are currently running.
Command Line	This is the main part of the program, this is where you enter commands to be executed.
Execute Button	This button runs the command that you have currently typed into the Command Line area.

The Command Line

The Command Line has three basic items that can be entered in it:

1 - a directory name
2 - a program name
3 - a command

When you enter a directory name DSTLaunch will open a browse window for you to that directory.

When you enter a program, that program is executed.

Enterning a command will proceed to execute the command.

However there are several other options that you can use to make your life a little easier:

- aliases
- enviroment variables

Aliases

Aliases are a simple way of executing long or complex commands that you use often. For example, I often use an editor called The Programmers File Editor. The executable is called pfe32.exe and is in a directory on my drive d: called \w32apps\pfe.

If I want to execute this command from the DSTLaunch command line, I would have to type in:

d:\w32apps\pfe\pfe32.exe

However, by adding an alias like so:

alias pfe d:\w32apps\pfe\pfe32.exe

I can now execute PFE by simply typing pfe at the DSTLaunch Command Line.

As you can see this adds a great amount of flexibility to DSTLaunch. You can also nest alias ( alias in an alias ).

Environment Variables

Another powerful option avaliable at the command line is the ability to include environment variables in commands ( alias, paths, or programs ).

For example you could make an alias of:

alias dos %COMSPEC%

Now whenever you run dos from the DSTLaunch command line, the current command interpeter will be run.

The Keyboard

DSTLaunch using the keyboard much like any app, here are a list of 'special' keys and what they do:

Key	Description
[ESC]	Clears the contents of the Command Line.
[TAB]	Guesses as the most probable command based on the portion of the command that you have already typed.
[RETURN]/[ENTER]	Executes the current command in the Command Line window.

The Mouse

There is not much use for the mouse in DSTLaunch, however there are a few things that you can do with it.

Right clicking on DSTLaunch ( but not the Command Line ) will bring up the following menu:

Menu Item	Description
Go...	Executes whatever has been typed into the Comamnd line.
Config	Opens the configuration screen for DSTLaunch.
About	Opens the about box for DSTLaunch.
Exit	Closes DSTLaunch.
The Rest	The rest of the items on this menu depend on what is in the Command Line. If the command line is empty then the last five commands will appear here. If there is a command or partial command in the Command Line then the five closest matches will be here.