ClearKey plugin for Take Command / TCC / TCC/LE
beta version 0.99.2 2024-10-04
Charles Dye
Purpose:
This plugin adds a hotkey to clear the console buffer without losing the current command line.
(In fact the screen is not really cleared; it is scrolled to move the prompt to the top of the window. Unless you are very close to the bottom of the buffer, no text will be lost.)
Installation:
To use this plugin, copy ClearKey.dll to some
known location on your hard drive. (If you are still using the 32-bit version
of Take Command, take ClearKey-x86.dll instead of
ClearKey.dll.) Load the .DLL file with a
PLUGIN /L command, for example:
plugin /l c:\bin\tcmd\test\clearkey.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:
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. |
New Command:
CLEARKEY — View or set plugin options.
Syntax:
CLEARKEY /D /L /Q /R /S hotkey
/D | restore the default plugin settings |
/L | list all supported hotkeys |
/Q | quietly |
/R | restore saved settings from the registry |
/S | save the current settings to the registry |
| hotkey | specify a new key |
Some examples of valid hotkeys are Alt-L, Ctrl-L, Ctrl-Home, and Ctrl-Alt-PgUp. The default is Alt-L.
• Note: Many of the hotkeys you can set are already used by Take Command, TCC, or Windows itself. If you select a new hotkey and pressing it doesn’t work or causes unexpected things to happen, try reverting to the default value. If that works as expected, then the hotkey you tried is already taken; try a different one.
/D restores the original plugin
settings; /R restores the settings saved to the registry, if
any. You cannot combine the two. /S saves the current settings
to the registry as the new defaults; they will be used automatically the next
time you load this plugin.
/L displays a list of all the
hotkeys which this plugin supports. You cannot combine /L with
any other option.
New Hotkey:
You can change the key assignment with CLEARKEY
hotkey.
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
Status and Licensing:
Consider this beta software. It may well have issues. Try it at your own risk. If you find a problem, you can report it in the JP Software support forum.
ClearKey is currently licensed only for testing purposes. I may make binaries and source code available under some free license once I consider it ready for use.
Download:
You can download the current version of the plugin from https://charlesdye.net/dl/clearkey.zip.