Refresh plugin for Take Command
Version 1.0.1 2023-10-13
Charles Dye
Purpose:
This plugin is intended to work around sporadic issues with Take Command’s
tab window not being updated. It adds a new hotkey,
F5, to refresh the current tab window. It also
provides one new command, REFRESHOPTS,
to display or change plugin settings; and replaces one internal command,
CLS.
Installation:
To use this plugin, copy Refresh.dll to some
known location on your hard drive. (If you are still using the 32-bit version of
Take Command, take Refresh-x86.dll instead of
PlugIn.dll.) Load the .DLL file with a
PLUGIN /L command, for example:
plugin /l c:\bin\tcmd\test\refresh.dll
If you copy these files to a subdirectory named PlugIns within your Take Command program directory, the plugin will be loaded automatically when TCC starts.
Plugin Features:
New command: REFRESHOPTS
Syntax Note:
The syntax definitions in the following text use these conventions for clarity:
BOLD CODE | indicates text which must be typed exactly as shown. |
CODE | indicates optional text, which may be typed as shown or omitted. |
| Bold italic | names a required argument; a value must be supplied. |
| Regular italic | names an optional argument. |
| ellipsis… | after an argument means that more than one may be given. |
Plugin Commands:
REFRESHOPTS — Display and
change plugin settings.
Syntax:
REFRESHOPTS /B:n /C:color /D /H:n /K:key /L /R /S /T:n /W:n
/B:n | enable the error beep; 0 disables, 1 enables | 1 |
/C:color | specify the hatch color (as a W3C color name) | CadetBlue |
/D | restore the original default plugin settings | |
/H:n | hook the CLS command; 0 disables, 1 enables | 1 |
/K:key | set the hotkey | F5 |
/L | list all supported hotkeys to stdout | |
/R | restore saved settings from the registry | |
/S | save settings to the registry as the new defaults | |
/T:n | set the hatch time (for the F5 key); 0 disables it | 100 |
/W:n | set the hatch time (for the CLS command); 0 disables it | 0 |
/K:key
lets you change the hotkey used to refresh the tab window. The default is
F5. To see a list of all supported hotkeys, type
REFRESHOPTS /L.
/C:color
sets the color for the hatch pattern that is briefly displayed when you press
F5. The color is a W3C color name, not
the more familiar (and smaller) set of TCC colors. Alternatively, you can
specify the color in RGB format as #RRGGBB,
where RR, GG, and
BB are two-digit hexadecimal values. The default
is CadetBlue.
/T:n sets
the duration of the hatch pattern shown when you press F5. The
value is in milliseconds; the range is 0 to 1000. A value of 0 disables the
hatch. The default is 100.
/W:n works
the same as /T, but for the CLS
command. The default is 0; CLS does not show the hatch by default.
/H:n
controls whether this plugin intercepts the CLS command.
/H:1 causes the plugin to substitute its own
CLS for TCC’s. /H:0 disables the plugin
command, re-exposing TCC’s internal CLS.
/B:n
enables or disables the error beep if you press the hotkey and the plugin
cannot identify the tab window. (This will happen, for example, if you press
F5 while TCC is running in a standalone console window.) 0 disables
the error beep, and 1 enables it.
/S saves the current settings to the
registry as the new defaults. These settings will be loaded automatically
when you load this plugin in the future.
/D restores the original default
plugin settings, documented in the third column of the table above.
/R reloads any settings previously
saved to the registry with /S. Note that /D and
/R are mutually exclusive.
/L dumps a list of supported hotkeys
to standard output. Don’t combine /L with any other
options; it’s just a simpleminded info dump.
refreshopts /k:alt-R /t:75 /c:DarkSeaGreen /s
CLS — Clear the tab window, and
optionally specify new screen colors.
Syntax:
CLS /C /S fg ON bg
/C | clear the entire buffer, not just the visible part |
/S | scroll to preserve as much text as possible |
fg ON bg | specify new screen colors |
This command is intended to be compatible with TCC’s internal
CLS command, but it also forces a redraw of the Take Command tab
window.
To change colors, you must give both the foreground and background colors;
the word ON is required. Color specifications use the usual TCC
names for the CGA palette. Only the first three letters of each word are
required; for example, “bright magenta” may be written as
“bri mag”.
| Black | Bright Black | ||
| Blue | Bright Blue | ||
| Green | Bright Green | ||
| Cyan | Bright Cyan | ||
| Red | Bright Red | ||
| Magenta | Bright Magenta | ||
| Yellow | Bright Yellow | ||
| White | Bright White |
If you change the screen colors, you should use /C so your new
colors will fill the entire buffer, not just the visible part.
cls /c bri whi on blu
New Hotkey:
F5 — Refreshes the Take Command tab window.
When you press F5, the plugin will briefly display a ‘hatch’
pattern in the tab window, then force a redraw of the tab’s contents.
The hatch pattern is for cosmetic and troubleshooting purposes only. It is
not required; you can disable it with
REFRESHOPTS /T:0. You can also
use REFRESHOPTS to change the hatch color and duration, or to
set a different hotkey.
If the plugin cannot find a Take Command tab window, it will beep. You can
disable this error beep with REFRESHOPTS /B:0.
This feature does not rely on backdoor communication between TCC and Take Command; it should work in TCC/LE in a tab window.
W3C Color Names:
REFRESHOPTS uses W3C color names,
not the much shorter list of CGA colors familiar from most TCC commands and
functions. Here is a list of the W3C color names supported by this plugin,
with their equivalent values. Names containing “gray” may be
spelled using “grey” if you prefer.
| AliceBlue | 0xF0F8FF | LightSalmon | 0xFFA07A | ||
| AntiqueWhite | 0xFAEBD7 | LightSeaGreen | 0x20B2AA | ||
| Aqua | 0x00FFFF | LightSkyBlue | 0x87CEFA | ||
| Aquamarine | 0x7FFFD4 | LightSlateGray | 0x778899 | ||
| Azure | 0xF0FFFF | LightSteelBlue | 0xB0C4DE | ||
| Beige | 0xF5F5DC | LightYellow | 0xFFFFE0 | ||
| Bisque | 0xFFE4C4 | Lime | 0x00FF00 | ||
| Black | 0x000000 | LimeGreen | 0x32CD32 | ||
| BlanchedAlmond | 0xFFEBCD | Linen | 0xFAF0E6 | ||
| Blue | 0x0000FF | Magenta | 0xFF00FF | ||
| BlueViolet | 0x8A2BE2 | Maroon | 0x800000 | ||
| Brown | 0xA52A2A | MediumAquaMarine | 0x66CDAA | ||
| BurlyWood | 0xDEB887 | MediumBlue | 0x0000CD | ||
| CadetBlue | 0x5F9EA0 | MediumOrchid | 0xBA55D3 | ||
| Chartreuse | 0x7FFF00 | MediumPurple | 0x9370DB | ||
| Chocolate | 0xD2691E | MediumSeaGreen | 0x3CB371 | ||
| Coral | 0xFF7F50 | MediumSlateBlue | 0x7B68EE | ||
| CornflowerBlue | 0x6495ED | MediumSpringGreen | 0x00FA9A | ||
| Cornsilk | 0xFFF8DC | MediumTurquoise | 0x48D1CC | ||
| Crimson | 0xDC143C | MediumVioletRed | 0xC71585 | ||
| Cyan | 0x00FFFF | MidnightBlue | 0x191970 | ||
| DarkBlue | 0x00008B | MintCream | 0xF5FFFA | ||
| DarkCyan | 0x008B8B | MistyRose | 0xFFE4E1 | ||
| DarkGoldenrod | 0xB8860B | Moccasin | 0xFFE4B5 | ||
| DarkGray | 0xA9A9A9 | NavajoWhite | 0xFFDEAD | ||
| DarkGreen | 0x006400 | Navy | 0x000080 | ||
| DarkKhaki | 0xBDB76B | OldLace | 0xFDF5E6 | ||
| DarkMagenta | 0x8B008B | Olive | 0x808000 | ||
| DarkOliveGreen | 0x556B2F | OliveDrab | 0x6B8E23 | ||
| DarkOrange | 0xFF8C00 | Orange | 0xFFA500 | ||
| DarkOrchid | 0x9932CC | OrangeRed | 0xFF4500 | ||
| DarkRed | 0x8B0000 | Orchid | 0xDA70D6 | ||
| DarkSalmon | 0xE9967A | PaleGoldenrod | 0xEEE8AA | ||
| DarkSeaGreen | 0x8FBC8F | PaleGreen | 0x98FB98 | ||
| DarkSlateBlue | 0x483D8B | PaleTurquoise | 0xAFEEEE | ||
| DarkSlateGray | 0x2F4F4F | PaleVioletRed | 0xDB7093 | ||
| DarkTurquoise | 0x00CED1 | PapayaWhip | 0xFFEFD5 | ||
| DarkViolet | 0x9400D3 | PeachPuff | 0xFFDAB9 | ||
| DeepPink | 0xFF1493 | Peru | 0xCD853F | ||
| DeepSkyBlue | 0x00BFFF | Pink | 0xFFC0CB | ||
| DimGray | 0x696969 | Plum | 0xDDA0DD | ||
| DodgerBlue | 0x1E90FF | PowderBlue | 0xB0E0E6 | ||
| FireBrick | 0xB22222 | Purple | 0x800080 | ||
| FloralWhite | 0xFFFAF0 | Red | 0xFF0000 | ||
| ForestGreen | 0x228B22 | RosyBrown | 0xBC8F8F | ||
| Fuchsia | 0xFF00FF | RoyalBlue | 0x4169E1 | ||
| Gainsboro | 0xDCDCDC | SaddleBrown | 0x8B4513 | ||
| GhostWhite | 0xF8F8FF | Salmon | 0xFA8072 | ||
| Gold | 0xFFD700 | SandyBrown | 0xF4A460 | ||
| Goldenrod | 0xDAA520 | SeaGreen | 0x2E8B57 | ||
| Gray | 0x808080 | Seashell | 0xFFF5EE | ||
| Green | 0x008000 | Sienna | 0xA0522D | ||
| GreenYellow | 0xADFF2F | Silver | 0xC0C0C0 | ||
| Honeydew | 0xF0FFF0 | SkyBlue | 0x87CEEB | ||
| Hotpink | 0xFF69B4 | SlateBlue | 0x6A5ACD | ||
| IndianRed | 0xCD5C5C | SlateGray | 0x708090 | ||
| Indigo | 0x4B0082 | Snow | 0xFFFAFA | ||
| Ivory | 0xFFFFF0 | SpringGreen | 0x00FF7F | ||
| Khaki | 0xF0E68C | SteelBlue | 0x4682B4 | ||
| Lavender | 0xE6E6FA | Tan | 0xD2B48C | ||
| LavenderBlush | 0xFFF0F5 | Teal | 0x008080 | ||
| LawnGreen | 0x7CFC00 | Thistle | 0xD8BFD8 | ||
| LemonChiffon | 0xFFFACD | Tomato | 0xFF6347 | ||
| LightBlue | 0xADD8E6 | Turquoise | 0x40E0D0 | ||
| LightCoral | 0xF08080 | Violet | 0xEE82EE | ||
| LightCyan | 0xE0FFFF | Wheat | 0xF5DEB3 | ||
| LightGoldenrodYellow | 0xFAFAD2 | White | 0xFFFFFF | ||
| LightGray | 0xD3D3D3 | WhiteSmoke | 0xF5F5F5 | ||
| LightGreen | 0x90EE90 | Yellow | 0xFFFF00 | ||
| LightPink | 0xFFB6C1 | YellowGreen | 0x9ACD32 |
Startup Message:
This plugin displays an informational line when it initializes. The
message will be suppressed in transient or pipe shells. You can disable it
for all shells by defining an environment variable named NOLOADMSG,
for example:
set /e /u noloadmsg=1
Changes:
| Version: | Date: | Changes: |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0.1.1 | 2023-10-13 | Updated the plugin’s web address. |
| 1.0.1 | 2023-07-28 | Updated to the current version of HotKeys.cpp. Moved the arg parser out to ParseArgs.cpp. |
| 1.0.0 | 2021-07-08 | First release. |
Status and Licensing:
This plugin is © Copyright 2023, Charles Dye. Unaltered copies of the binary and documentation files may be freely distributed without restriction. I make no guarantee and give no warranty for its operation. If you find a problem, you can report it in the JP Software support forum.
Download:
You can download the current version of the plugin from http://charlesdye.net/dl/refresh.zip.