# Virtual Command Files

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A-Shell startup command line commands can also be assembled into a virtual command file, consisting of multiple commands separated by '\\n'. For example:

ashw32.exe -e LOG BAS:\\n:T\\nJOBALC\\nTIME\\nEL -CFG

The above command line (after the -e) is equivalent to the following command file:

:R            ; (this is automatic)

LOG BAS:

:T

JOBALC

TIME

EL -CFG



Note that the \\n is case sensitive (must be lower). Also note that if using this technique under a Unix shell, you will need to 'escape' the backslashes by preceding them with a backslash, i.e.:

ashell -e LOG BAS:\\\\n:T\\\\nJOBALC\\\\nTIME\\\\nEL -CFG

**Notes**

A-Shell attempts to analyze whether any \\n characters occur in something that looks like a filespec. If so, it treats the \\n as literal; else it treats it as a line break. For example:

xcall HOSTEX,"\$ASHELL log ashtst:\\nvue c:\\notes \\nsize c:\\notes.txt"

The above command line contains 4 \\n sequences. The first and third are considered not part of filespecs and thus are converted to line breaks. The second and fourth, which are contained in the token c:\\notes.txt, which is interpreted as a filespec because it starts with what could be a drive letter.

Note the following tricks and considerations when trying to get "\\n" to be treated as a line break:

•	If you want to follow a filespec with "\\n", precede it by a space, as we did in the example above for the "\\n" following "vue c:\\notes". A trailing or leading space does not usually interfere with the interpretation of a filespec, so that shouldn't cause a problem. Without the space, in the example above, "c:\\notes\\nsize" would have been considered a single filespec.

•	Quoting the filespec doesn't help, since the quotes are generally removed by the shell or other command line parser before we get to the code that looks for "\\n".

•	A token is considered to be a filespec if it starts with \\\\ or with a letter followed by a colon.