Width of Command Prompt (DOS) EDIT Window ??

[Guest]

Hello;

I've been trying for sometime now to adjust the width of the command prompt
Edit window without success. (MS-DOS Editor Version 2.0.026, Win XP Home).

I could only reduce the width of the edit window by, for example, manually
dragging the right or left sides of the window inward, but not outward to
increase the width !! The same for the height of the Edit window. It could
only be reduced by dragging the upper or lower edge inward !!

By Right-clicking the title bar (the one above the command prompt menu bar)
on the Edit window, a dropdown sub menue appears with a number of options
including "Defaults" and "Properties".
Selecting "Defaults" displays:
.......Console Windows Properties :: Layout tab
..........................Screen Buffer Size
......................................Width 100
.....................................Height 300
...............................Window Size
...................................Width 100
....................................Height 40

and selecting "Properties" displays:
.......Command Prompt Properties :: Layout tab
........................Screen Buffer Size
......................................Width 80
.....................................Height 43
............................Window Size
..................................Width 80
.................................Height 43

The above values correspond to the Command Prompt-Edit window of: width ~
14.5 cm and height ~ 14 cm, on a 17" monitor.

I've tried numerous values & combinations for the above display dimensions
without achieving the desired results.

Q.: How can I increase the current width of the Edit window by, say, 1 inch
(2.5 cm or so?? ... so that I may be able to review the contents of the Edit
window without repeatedly moving the cursor to the end/start of each line ??

Thank you kindly for your help.

 

[RobertVA]

Hello;

I've been trying for sometime now to adjust the width of the command prompt
Edit window without success. (MS-DOS Editor Version 2.0.026, Win XP Home).

I could only reduce the width of the edit window by, for example, manually
dragging the right or left sides of the window inward, but not outward to
increase the width !! The same for the height of the Edit window. It could
only be reduced by dragging the upper or lower edge inward !!

By Right-clicking the title bar (the one above the command prompt menu bar)
on the Edit window, a dropdown sub menue appears with a number of options
including "Defaults" and "Properties".
Selecting "Defaults" displays:
......Console Windows Properties :: Layout tab
.........................Screen Buffer Size
.....................................Width 100
....................................Height 300
..............................Window Size
..................................Width 100
...................................Height 40

and selecting "Properties" displays:
......Command Prompt Properties :: Layout tab
.......................Screen Buffer Size
.....................................Width 80
....................................Height 43
...........................Window Size
.................................Width 80
................................Height 43

The above values correspond to the Command Prompt-Edit window of: width ~
14.5 cm and height ~ 14 cm, on a 17" monitor.

I've tried numerous values & combinations for the above display dimensions
without achieving the desired results.

Q.: How can I increase the current width of the Edit window by, say, 1 inch
(2.5 cm or so?? ... so that I may be able to review the contents of the Edit
window without repeatedly moving the cursor to the end/start of each line ??

Thank you kindly for your help.

Wouldn't do any good anyway, since the application is coded for 80
columns. This is one situation where the mock GUI is actually a
handicap, since it has to bypass the computer's BIOS console text code.
You really shouldn't expect such sophistication from a DOS 5.0
application that is something like 15 years old. If you want more
characters on a line try Notepad.

 

[mhc]

Wouldn't do any good anyway, since the application is coded for 80
columns. This is one situation where the mock GUI is actually a
handicap, since it has to bypass the computer's BIOS console text
code. You really shouldn't expect such sophistication from a DOS 5.0
application that is something like 15 years old. If you want more
characters on a line try Notepad.

-----------

The MS-DOS editor shipped with Windows XP is MUCH faster than Notepad
for find/replace operations, so I can understand why someone would want
to use it.

If you set up the command prompt to run in a window, you can adjust the
width of the screen with the MODE command. For example:

MODE CON COLS=100

will make the screen wider. Remember, DOS is character-based, so
measurements such as centimeters and pixels mean absolutely nothing.

Another way to use more of the screen is to select a different screen
font and use a larger font size. Again, since DOS is character-based,
you MUST use a fixed-pitch font such as Lucida Console.

Hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

Hello;

I probably mis-spoke ... my apologies!

My question was not related to how many characters per line one can have in
a DOS application, but rather how one can change the physical dimensions of
the Command Prompt - Edit window.

I fully understand that the dimensions of the Edit window in cm/inch mean
nothing, but I thought by providing such info. together with the "Defaults"
and "Properties" values, you (the experts) would be able to determine why I
could not increase the current width of the Edit window, so that I may be
able to view more of the displayed line without moving the cursor to the end
of the line and back again!

Where would I enter the command ??:
.....MODE CON COLS = 100

At the prompt?? and Is it a Global adjustment or Local one for a specific
Dos application ??

Thank you.

 

[mhc]

Hello;

I probably mis-spoke ... my apologies!

My question was not related to how many characters per line one can
have in a DOS application, but rather how one can change the physical
dimensions of the Command Prompt - Edit window.

I fully understand that the dimensions of the Edit window in cm/inch
mean nothing, but I thought by providing such info. together with the
"Defaults" and "Properties" values, you (the experts) would be able
to determine why I could not increase the current width of the Edit
window, so that I may be able to view more of the displayed line
without moving the cursor to the end of the line and back again!

Where would I enter the command ??:
....MODE CON COLS = 100

At the prompt?? and Is it a Global adjustment or Local one for a
specific Dos application ??

Thank you.



:

--

You would type in the MODE command at the command prompt. But it will
be required every time you start the CMD.EXE application. For a listing
of available MODE commands, type MODE /? at the command prompt.

You can adjust the global row/column settings through the registry, and
the change will be permanent. You will need to know the (long) user
number that Windows has assigned to your account, it will be something
like S-1-5-21-62528899-249784358-1063493457-1004. Then go to the
following registry key:

HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-(lots of numbers)\Console

and change the value WindowSize to reflect, in hexadecimal, the number
of rows and columns you want. If yours is currently 80x43, the value
should be listed as 002B0050. Change it to 002B0064 for a 100x43 screen.

 

[seth]

or you could modify your command prompt shortcut to use the /k switch
your command line in your shortcut would read:

%SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe /k mode con cols=100

 

[Guest]

mhc, seth;

a) Either typing the command:
MODE CON COLS=100
or
b) modifying the command line in the command prompt shortcut to read:

%SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe /k mode con cols=100

would ONLY change the width of the Command Prompt window, which, as you
know, could easily be adjusted via the "Command Prompt" Properties in its
sub-menu, with no problem!

The defficulty is related to the Command Prompt - Edit window. Neither of
the above a) or b) had any effect on the width of the Edit window. The
latter appears to be stuck at 80x43 and would not budge, either for the
Current Window Only, or for the Short Cut that Started This Window.

Any suggestions ? Thank you.

 

[seth]

it must be hardcoded to use an 80 column width
ms-dos editor is 11 years old, i can't see getting around that
if i try to manually change the column width with edit running it doesn't
work
seems to be the same behaviour with edlin

 

[Guest]

Hello;

I agree! ... It's likely that the width of the Command Prompt - Edit window
is hardwired in the DOS Editor to 80 columns, and it's not worth the effort
to adjust it, if any, since it's an inconvenience rather than a problem!!

Thank you all.

 

[Howard Purcel]

edlin strikes again, ewww... and i remember how to use it, ewww

i found the window size will change if you change the font size in the
property sheet, you are still stuck with 80 columns

i just prefer using some commands like "MODE 132" (or "mode 2000" if you
really like that bottom scrollbar) at the command prompt, instead of setting
the environmental, unless you really want it to stay that way.

on the other hand, you could always use it full screened

 

[Uwe Sieber]

I fully understand that the dimensions of the Edit window in cm/inch mean
nothing, but I thought by providing such info. together with the "Defaults"
and "Properties" values, you (the experts) would be able to determine why I
could not increase the current width of the Edit window, so that I may be
able to view more of the displayed line without moving the cursor to the end
of the line and back again!

Because the MS-DOS EDIT is 'hardwired' to 80 chars per line.
No chance to change that. Why are you using an MS-DOS editor
at all?


Uwe