How to make DOS look even more like Unix

One of the other problems that I ran into when trying to make my DOS prompt behave more like my Unix systems was how to invoke my carefully crafted macros every time I opened a new DOS command window. When I put the commands to change my prompt and invoke my macros in a batch file and then ensured that this batch file was on my search path, I could reduce the effort that I had to make to running the batch file every time I opened a command prompt. I've since learned that it is possible to have my batch file invoked automatically whenever I open a DOS window (i.e., run cmd.exe). So, in this week's column, we're going to examine how this can be done.

To quickly review how I captured and then restored my macros in the first place, recall that I created my macros with the doskey command and then stored them in a text file by using the doskey /m command and redirecting the output to a file:

>doskey /m > C:\batfiles\macros.txt

I then created a batch file which both changed my prompt (setting it to "> " with the DOS command "prompt=$G$S") and activated my macros with the command "doskey /macrofile=C:\batfiles\macros.txt".

> type \batfiles\customize.bat
@echo off
:: set up macros and custom prompt

doskey /macrofile=C:\batfiles\macros.txt
prompt $G$S

To effect the changes in my prompt and available macros, I then had to run my batch file every time I opened a DOS command window. I would open a window and then type "customize" (NOTE: To run a batch file, you type its file name without the .bat file extension). So now, I want this all to happen without my having to remember to type "customize".

Before we get started, however, we first have to decide whether we want our macros to be invoked only for a particular individual or for everyone who uses the system. Most PCs are used solely or predominantly by a single individual. I dare say that this is why they are referred to as "personal" computers. But, if you're working on a shared system, you may want to make your system changes so that everyone can use them.

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