Command History and Recall

Command History Keys: 

        ^               Recall the previous (or most recent) command, or 
                        the most recent command that matches a partial 
                        command line. 
        v               Recall the next (or oldest) command, or the oldest 
                        command that matches a partial command line. 
        F3              Fill in the rest of the command line from the 
                        previous command, beginning at the current cursor 
                        position. 
        Ctrl-D          Delete the currently displayed history list entry, 
                        erase the command line, and display the previous 
                        (matching) history list entry. 
        Ctrl-E          Display the last entry in the history list. 
        Ctrl-K          Save the current command line in the history list 
                        without executing it, and then clear the command 
                        line. 
        Ctrl-Enter      Copy the current command line to the end of the 
                        history list even it has not been altered, then 
                        execute it. 
        @               As the first character in a line:  Do not save the 
                        current line in the history list when it is 
                        executed, and do not store it in the CMDLINE 
                        environment variable. 
 
 Use the ^ key repeatedly to scan back through the history list.  When the 
 desired command appears, press Enter to execute it again.  After you have 
 found a command, you can edit it before pressing Enter. 

 The history list is normally "circular".  If you move to the last command 
 in the list and then press the down arrow one more time, you'll see the 
 first command in the list.  Similarly, if you move to the first command 
 in the list and then press the up arrow one more time, you'll see the 
 last command in the list.  You can disable this feature and make command 
 history recall stop at the beginning or end of the list by turning off 
 the History Wrap selection on the Command Line 1 page of the OPTION 
 dialogs, or setting Histwrap to No in the .INI file. 

 You can search the command history list to find a previous command 
 quickly using command completion.  Just enter the first few characters of 
 the command you want to find and press ^. You only need to enter enough 
 characters to identify the command that you want to find.  If you press 
 the ^ key a second time, you will see the previous command that matches. 
  The system will beep if there are no matching commands.  The search 
 process stops as soon as you type one of the editing keys, whether or not 
 the line is changed.  At that point, the line you're viewing becomes the 
 new line to match if you press ^ again. 

 You can specify the size of the command history list with the OPTION 
 command, or with the History directive in the .INI file.  When the list 
 is full, the oldest commands are discarded to make room for new ones. 
  You can also use the HistMin directive in the .INI file to enable or 
 disable history saves and to specify the shortest command line that will 
 be saved. 

 You can prevent any command line from being saved in the history by 
 beginning it with an at sign [@]. 

 When you execute a command from the history, that command remains in the 
 history list in its original position.  The command is not copied to the 
 end of the list (unless you modify it).  If you want each command to be 
 copied or moved to the end of the list when it is re- executed, set 
 HistCopy or HistMove to Yes in CMD.INI. If you select either of these 
 options, the list entry identified as "current" (the entry from which 
 commands are retrieved when you press ^) is also adjusted to refer to the 
 end of the history list after each recalled command is executed. 

 Local and Global Command History 

 The command history can be stored in either a "local" or "global" list. 

 With a local command history list, any changes made to the history will 
 only affect the current copy of CMD.EXE.  They will not be visible in 
 other shells, or other sessions. 

 With a global command history list, all copies of CMD.EXE will share the 
 same command history, and any changes made to the history in one copy 
 will affect all other copies.  Global lists are the default for CMD.EXE. 

 You can control the type of command history on the Startup page of the 
 OPTION dialogs, with the LocalHistory directive in the .INI file, or with 
 the /L and /LH options of the START command. 

 There is no fixed rule for deciding whether to use a local or global 
 command history list.  Depending on your work style, you may find it most 
 convenient to use one type, or a mixture of types in different sessions 
 or shells.  We recommend that you start with the default setting, then 
 modify it if you find a situation where the default is not convenient. 

 If you select a global history list for CMD.EXE you can share the history 
 among all copies of CMD.EXE running in any session.  When you close all 
 CMD.EXE sessions, the memory for the global history list is released, and 
 a new, empty history list is created the next time you start CMD.EXE. 

 If you want the history list to be retained in memory even when no 
 command processor session is running, execute the SHRALIAS command, which 
 loads a program to perform this service for the global command history, 
 directory history, and alias lists. 

 Whenever you start a secondary shell which uses a local history list, it 
 inherits a copy of the command history from the previous shell.  However, 
 any changes to the history made in the secondary shell will affect only 
 that shell.  If you want changes made in a secondary shell to affect the 
 previous shell, use a global history list in both shells.