SCOUG OS/2 For You - October 1998

SOMEWHERE IN CYBERSPACE --- Understanding the CONFIG.SYS file is a quest no mortal man should pursue.  Still, we're OS/2 users --- we're far beyond being mortal.  Here are a couple of utility programs that will describe the contents of your specific CONFIG.SYS, and perhaps pass along a trick or two for a quick CONFIG.SYS "tuneup".  With the goal of maximizing speed and mileage, let's put OS/2 up on the rack and get started.

Tyra/2 is an easy-to-use OS/2 CONFIG.SYS editor.  Rather than having to edit lines of cryptic text, all of the statements are displayed as notebook pages, organized in a logical format.

The way Tyra/2 handles the sequencing of drivers is straightforward.  There are tabs for both BASEDEV and DEVICE drivers, and you can move them around, add new ones, delete ones you don't want or REM out those that you want to keep from executing.  Even for an experienced CONFIG.SYS hacker like me, Tyra/2 makes life a lot easier.

LIBPATH, PATH and DPATH are handled in a similar fashion.  You're given a list of the individual directories in the path, and you can rearrange them easily, add new ones or delete the ones you don't want.

OS/2 and DOS settings each have their own pages, and there are pages for the SET and RUN commands.  There's also a FILESYSTEMS tab for your HPFS and FAT drives, plus a CDFS selection for your CD-ROM drives.

One of my favorite tools in Tyra/2 is its "Path Checking" which searches your LIBPATH, PATH, DPATH, HELP, BOOKSHELF and CLASSPATH settings for invalid paths.  That's handy when you've been installing and deleting software for a while, and want to clean things up a bit.

The Tyra/2 zip file is 545 KB, and takes up 965 KB when unzipped.  Tyra/2 requires a VX-REXX DLL named VROBJ.DLL, which is about a 402 KB download and takes up 902 KB when unzipped.  Unzip the files into the same directory and run the INSTALL program.  The trial period, for unregistered copies, is 31 days.

To uninstall Tyra/2, simply delete the Tyra/2 files and the desktop object.

Tyra/2 is $25 shareware and takes up 1.9 MB of disk space.

Config Info is a handy CONFIG.SYS tune-up utility that does something that Tyra/2 does not.  Config Info explains each of the entries in your CONFIG.SYS file.

After starting Config Info, I first clicked on the PROTSHELL= line which was visible in the Config Info window.  An immediate explanation of PROTSHELL appeared in the Information Window, explaining that PROTSHELL specifies the protect mode shell and giving a lot of detail about it.

Next I randomly scrolled down and clicked on PRINTMONBUFSIZE.  Again, a complete description appeared along with syntax and default values.

"This is fun," I said.

I then tried COUNTRY=, SET BOOKSHELF= and SET HOSTNAME=.  The first two also gave lengthy descriptions, while the last one was accurate but a bit cryptic.  And on a few of the lines, such as SET DMIPATH=, Config Info simply returned a "Sorry, no information available" message.

Still, Config Info is a valuable tool.  It doesn't just explain the keyword on a line, such as BASEDEV or SET.  It also looks at what you're actually doing, and then explains the specific BASEDEV driver or thing that you're setting.  (No wonder that the library file containing the definitions, OS2CFG15.DAT, is 155 KB.)

And along with all this, there is a very nice button bar across the top of the Config Info page with a variety of selections.  If you're a power user, be sure to check out the one titled "Obscure config.sys commands" for some CONFIG.SYS lines you never even imagined would exist.  (There's one called OBJECTSNOOZETIME, with a typically Config Info well-written description.)

CFGINFO6.ZIP is a 186 KB download, and VROBJ21D is 402 KB.  CFGINFO6.ZIP unzips to 452 KB, and the unzipped files include the executable, CNFGINFO.EXE at 203 KB, and several README files.  Config Info, just like Tyra/2, requires VROBJ.DLL.  Be sure to read the READMEs, and make sure you read the proper one -- README.TXT -- since there are several others included in the zip file which don't pertain to Config Info.  VROBJ21D is discussed above under Tyra/2.

To uninstall Config Info, just delete the files.

Config Info is freeware and takes up 1.4 MB of disk space.