FileC 2.0
Filename Completion for DOS
by Mike Morearty

(For the latest version of this program, go to http://www.morearty.com/filec)

Quick Start

This program works on Windows 95/95/ME. It does not work on any recent versions of Windows. Similar capabilities are built into more recent operating systems; see instructions here.

To install FileC, download it into a directory that's in your path (such as C:\Windows), and then add a line to either C:\Autoexec.bat (for Win95/98) or C:\Windows\Command\Cmdinit.bat (for WinME) which runs it, e.g. C:\Windows\filec.  For a list of options, type filec -? (most useful options are -\ to append a backslash to directory names, and -Q to display a list of matching filenames if what you typed matches more than one name).

FileC does filename completion -- at the DOS command-line prompt (when running under Win95/Win98/WinME), you can type the first few characters of a filename, and then press the Tab key; FileC will fill in the rest of the name. To get a list of all files which match the characters you've typed so far, type Ctrl-D.

For example, let's say you've typed this:

C:\Windows>cd \pro_

At this point, press the Tab key.  Now the line becomes:

C:\Windows>cd "\Program Files_

The complete filename (or in this case, directory name) has been filled in.  Notice also that a quotation mark was inserted since this directory name contains a space, and that the lower-case "p" has been changed to an upper-case "P".  (Tip: The command prompt does not require a closing quotation mark at the very end of a command.  In the above example, you could just hit Return, and the "cd" command would execute successfully.)

Or, if there is more than one filename in the root directory that begins with the letters pro, you would hear a short beep.  To see a list of matching files, type Ctrl-D.  Then you'll see something like this:

C:\Windows>cd \pro
Program Files\  Projects\
C:\Windows>cd \pro_

Matching directory names will have a trailing backslash, as shown.  Also, notice that FileC has restored the command-line as you typed it, so that you can continue typing.  In the above example, you would probably type a "g" (for Program Files) and a "j" (for Projects), and then press the Tab key again.

As mentioned above, if you want this directory listing to automatically show up every time a filename can't be completed, invoke FileC with the -Q command line option.

Ignoring Certain Extensions

There are certain filenames that you seldom access directly on the command line, and these are almost always recognizable by their extension. For example, files that end in .bak are almost never accessed, because they are backup files. You may have several files in a directory with the same base name but different extensions; for example, if you are a programmer, you may have file.cpp, file.bak, file.obj, and file.exe all the same directory. In this case, file.cpp is the only one whose name you type frequently.

To get around this difficulty, FileC ignores filenames that have certain extensions. By default, all files that have the following extensions are ignored when looking for a matching filename:

.exe .com .bak .obj .ilk .idb .pdb .ncb .opt .$$$ .class

There is an exception: if, for example, file.exe is the only file that matches the letters typed, then that filename will be filled in, even though it has one of the disallowed extensions.

Also, you can easily change the list of extensions that are ignored. To do this, before installing FileC, set the environment variable FIGNORE. For example:

C:\>set FIGNORE=.exe .com .bak .tmp .old

Upper and lower case distinctions are not important. Wildcards are not allowed.

Note: Although FileC does not constantly monitor the FIGNORE variable (that is, changing FIGNORE will not instantly change FileC's behavior), you can update the FIGNORE list at any time (without taking up more memory) by simply running FileC a second time. The program will inform you that it is already installed and that it has updated the filename extension list. If the FIGNORE variable is not set when you run FileC a second time, the filename extension list will be restored to the default list.

The Disable Key, Alt-F10

Note that filename completion is automatically turned on again after you hit Return, so Alt-F10 only affects the current line of input.

To avoid conflicts with the TSRs you use, you can change FileC's filename completion keys. See "Changing the Key Bindings" (below).

Changing the Key Bindings

You may want to change the keystrokes that are used to invoke FileC (Tab and Ctrl-D). To change these key bindings, you can use the configuration program, FileCKey. (Just type fileckey to run it; the program is self-explanatory.)

Not only will this program allow you to change the Filename Completion key (normally Tab) and the Directory key (normally Ctrl-D), but it will also let you assign a "Change From" key and a "Change To" key. For example, you can assign Ctrl-U to the "Change From" key, and Escape to the "Change To" key. Then, whenever you type Ctrl-U at the command line, DOS will think you typed Escape. This can be useful if you want to assign Escape as your filename completion key, but your version of DOS recognizes no key other than Escape to erase the currently entered text.

This key translation will only be done while you are typing on the command line -- it will not be done when you are running a program.

You can also specify a "Disable" key with the FileCKey program. This key, which is Alt-F10 by default, allows you to temporarily disable filename completion.

Options

FileC has the following command-line options (which can be specified in either upper or lower case):

Version History

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