Windows Command Prompt Replacement

Startup

Startup configuration options let you change how PromptPal behaves when it is launched.

Default Directory
This defines the directory that PromptPal will use when you open a new tab. It may also be the directory that PromptPal starts in when it is launched (though this depends on other settings - see below). It's best to choose a directory that is always accessible - i.e. avoid paths to removable media drives.

Starting Directory / Tabs
PromptPal defaults to opening with a single tab, at the default directory (see above). If you prefer, you can make PromptPal open with a "working set" of named tabs. Each tab will open at its own starting directory.

Single Window Mode
When this setting is enabled, any operation that would normally create a new PromptPal window will instead create a new tab in the current window - if one exists.

Preferences

Preferences include a mixture of settings that control PromptPal's appearance and editing behavior.

Command Info Bar
You can change the font and font size used by PromptPal's command information bar.

Main Window - Appearance
You can change the background color, text color, font, font size and bold setting for PromptPal's main window.

Main Window - Editing
Settings in this group affect editing behavior within PromptPal only - the Taskbar band has its own, much restricted set of editing functions.

• Treat unrecognized commands like the Run... box
  This causes PromptPal to handle unrecognized commands itself, rather than passing them through Microsoft's command processor. This makes it possible to launch a greater range of Windows apps and utilities directly from the command line.
• Copy plain text only
  With this setting enabled, use of the Copy command within PromptPal will put only plain text on the clipboard. If you disable this setting, copied text will retain its color, font and style when pasted into rich editing applications such as WordPad and MS Word.
• Up/Down arrow keys navigate command history
  This is ON by default, allowing you to tap the UP arrow key to quickly select the most recent command. Tapping the UP arrow key again takes you further back through PromptPal's stored command history, while the DOWN arrow key navigates in the opposite direction. If you turn this setting off, you will be able to use the UP/DOWN arrow keys to move the caret vertically within the editing area.
• Return/Enter selects from auto-complete list
  PromptPal presents various popup lists to aid you while you're editing a command. By default, hitting the RETURN or ENTER key while a list item is selected indicates your intention to use that item in your command. The text is copied to the current line, and the popup window closes, but the command line is not executed until you hit RETURN again. (If no popup is present then a single tap of the RETURN key will execute the command line, as expected). If you do not like this behavior, you can turn this setting OFF. Now, hitting the RETURN/ENTER key immediately executes the command line you have so far entered, regardless of whether a popup list is present or not. To choose an item from a popup list, you must now use either the TAB key (or SPACE key if enabled - see below), or the mouse - the RETURN key only means "execute what I've typed".
• Space bar selects from auto-complete list
  This setting determines whether the SPACE bar takes the current selection from a popup auto-complete list or not. The default for this setting is disabled, meaning that hitting the space bar when a popup list is present simply closes the list and appends a space to your command line. If you enable this setting then the space bar will take the currently selected auto-complete item and insert it into your command line, along with a space character.
• Autocomplete popup for commands
  Untick this to disable the popup list at the start of the command line.
• Autocomplete popup for switches
  Untick this to disable the popup list when you start typing a command switch
• Autocomplete popup for paths
  Untick this to disable the popup list when you are typing a path (triggered by backslash key).
• Include directories in path auto-complete
  When this setting is enabled (the default) and you're typing a path, PromptPal will actively search for matching directories and include them the path auto-complete list.
• Include files in path auto-complete
  When this setting is enabled (the default) and you're typing a path, PromptPal will actively search for matching files and include them the path auto-complete list.
• Use new-style Browse For Folders
  This applies to the "Insert Directory" command, which summons the Windows folder browsing dialog. On recent operating systems, Windows actually has two versions of this dialog. The older version, which is the default used by PromptPal, is a little primitive but opens very quickly and is particularly keyboard-friendly. The newer version is altogether more polished - it's resizable and has a "Make new folder" button. It's also a little slower to open and is more suited to heavy mouse users. The choice is yours...
• Browse for Folders edit has initial focus
  Regardless of the type of folder-browsing dialog in use, this setting tries to force initial input focus into the dialog's edit box. On some systems, the dialog usually comes up with input focus on the drive "tree" if this setting is not enabled.
• Scroll-Lock key prevents output auto-scroll
  When this is enabled (default: disabled), the Scroll Lock key on your keyboard stops PromptPal automatically scrolling to the end when new command output arrives. Note that when PromptPal is in dual-pane mode, only the Output pane is affected.

Miscellaneous
Some more settings that apply to the PromptPal application:

• Always show tabs
  Ordinarily the row of tabs is hidden if there is only one tab, and displayed when more tabs are created. If you enable this setting, the tab row will be shown all the time.
• Use wizard when adding new command information
  By default, PromptPal uses a step-by-step "wizard" when you extend its list of recognized commands. If you regularly add new commands you may prefer to skip the wizard and go directly to command information editing screen.
• Default starting directory
  When PromptPal is launched without any overriding parameters, it opens with the current directory set to the path listed here. By default, this is the path of the directory in which PromptPal resides. You can change this directory to any path you like, but to avoid any warnings at startup it's best to use a path that is always valid (e.g. avoid paths within removable drives).

Taskbar Band
All settings in here apply to the Taskbar Band only.

• Treat unrecognized commands like the Run... box
  This setting allows you to use the Taskbar band to launch Windows programs directly, much like the Run... box in the Start menu. With this enabled, only programs that are on PromptPal's list of command-line utilities will be launched in a new PromptPal window. That means you can:
  
  - type a URL into the band to automatically launch your default browser at that site
  - quickly open Explorer at common folders using standard shortcuts such as %SYSTEMROOT%, %TEMP%, %PROGRAMFILES%, %USERPROFILE% etc.
  - easily launch common utilities such as Notepad, Regedit etc.
  
  If you do not like this behavior you can disable this setting, causing all commands to be routed through the PromptPal application.
• Execute new list selection automatically
  This setting defaults to "off". If you enable it, any command you select from the band's popup history list will be executed immediately - you won't have to click the "Go" button or hit return. It's a welcome finger-saver if you run the exact same set of commands on a regular basis.
• Show "Go" Button
  The band now has an optional "Go" button - similar to that found in Internet Explorer. Pressing this button executes the current command. The Go button is principally for people who favor the mouse over the keyboard - if you don't need it, you can turn this option off and regain the Taskbar space it occupies.
• "Go" Button Base Color
  The default color for the Go button is similar to that found in Internet Explorer 6, and works well with the default themes that ship with Windows XP. If your computer uses a radically different color scheme or display theme, you can choose a more suitable color.
• Minimum Band Width
  In order to ensure that the band is a reasonable width when it is shown for the very first time, a minimum size has been set. The size is expressed in vertical scrollbar widths, so the exact initial size will vary according to the display properties of your computer. If you wish to be able to make the band smaller, you can change this value. This setting only affects the minimum size of the band - you can always make the band larger by stretching it's gripper with your mouse - though you may have to unlock your taskbar first (right-click on taskbar, toggle "Lock the taskbar" to the off state).

Command History

View the current command history held by PromptPal. You can delete commands you'd like to remove, and change the number of commands that the history is capable of storing. You can also mark certain commands as "favorites".

Maximum Size
Each time a command is used, it is placed on the history. The history has a finite size, and when this limit is exceeded, the least recently used command(s) are automatically removed.

Favorites
You can mark certain commands in the history as favorites. Such commands will stay in the history even if you don't use them for a long time. This is particularly useful for hard-to-remember command lines that are only used infrequently but are a pain to reconstruct!

Another advantage of favorite commands is that they are shown in their own sub-menu in both PromptPal (Commands->Favorites) and the taskbar band (right-click->Favorites).

Clear history at the end of each session
In its default configuration, PromptPal stores the command history on disk, and shares it between all open PromptPal windows and the taskbar band. For security/privacy reasons you may wish to disable this behavior by ticking the setting "Clear history at the end of each session". If you do so, the command history will no longer be held on disk.

Path History

View the current path history held by PromptPal. Paths are harvested from commands you've entered in the past, and presented during editing when you type "\".

You can delete paths you'd like to remove, and change the number of paths that the history is capable of storing.

In its default configuration, PromptPal stores the path history on disk, and shares it between all open PromptPal windows and the taskbar band. For security/privacy reasons you may wish to disable this behavior by ticking the setting "Clear history at the end of each session". If you do so, the path history will no longer be held on disk.

Don't Show THis Again

Occasionally PromptPal displays informative messages - e.g. to confirm successful saving of a text file. Most of these message screens have a checkbox titled "Don't show this again" - when ticked, PromptPal will refrain from displaying that particular message again. Under certain circumstances, you may wish to allow these messages to be shown once more, and that's what this page is for.

The list shows all messages that are currently suppressed. To enable a message to be shown again, simply select it in the list and hit the Delete button.

[More PromptPal Features]