DOS ain't dead

DOSBox-X 0.83.19 has been released recently. Designing to be a cross-platform DOS emulator, it is the goal of DOSBox-X to cover essentially everything in the DOS scene, and also intends to implement accurate emulation, accurate enough to help make new DOS developments possible with confidence the program will run properly on actual DOS systems.

DOSBox-X provides official DOS versions in addition to other platforms. Despite a short delay, by now you can download both the latest HX-DOS and LOADLIN DOS packages for DOSBox-X 0.83.19 from the DOSBox-X project homepage:

https://dosbox-x.com/

There are quite a lot of new features and other improvements in this latest version, and you can find the release notes for this version (containing the change history) here:

* https://dosbox-x.com/release-0.83.19.html

Both HX-DOS and LOADLIN DOS package are self-contained so that you can simply unzip the file and type DOSBOX-X to run in DOS. It is confirmed to work in DOS, and read the included README.TXT file for more information. The printing function is also supported in the HX-DOS package in this version.

I was wondering if anyone has plans on updating the Configuration Tool in DOSBox-X. The one that's there now leaves a lot to be desired. First of all, it's sort of "ugly" with pop-up windows being the same color and design as the background which makes it hard to see. The "ugliness" is not a big deal, though.

The main problem with it is that in many/most of the configuration items there is simply a box to fill in some text but the Configuration Tool doesn't provide any indication as to what valid values can be entered. You need to laboriously search through the documentation to try and figure out what values might be appropriate. Instead of text boxes in which anything can be entered, I think there should be pull-down menus with all the possibilities listed. There should also probably be a help screen for each item (F1) that provides a description of what the item does and why you might want to select a specific value.

Also note that if DOSBox_X used a command-line interface (like QEMU, e.g.) the way you provide help to the user would be different. But, since DOSBox_X provides a GUI interface, it should be "up to snuff".

My two cents, for what it's worth.

Hi bretjohn,

Thanks for your suggestion. I agree that it is helpful to have a drop-down menu in the Configuration Tool to let users select only the valid values, but I want to mention that DOSBox-X's Configuration Tool already has a help screen which provides a description of each item in the selected section, and the valid values for each of them. You will see the help screen when you click the "Help" button in the bottom (to the left of "OK" and "Cancel" buttons). So it already achieves most of what you suggested.

In addition to the Configuration Tool interface, DOSBox-X does also provides a command-line interface for providing help. For example, the command config -help machine shows the help information for the "machine" config option.

Hope this helps.

> I was wondering if anyone has plans on updating the Configuration Tool in
> DOSBox-X. The one that's there now leaves a lot to be desired. First of
> all, it's sort of "ugly" with pop-up windows being the same color and
> design as the background which makes it hard to see. The "ugliness" is not
> a big deal, though.
>
> The main problem with it is that in many/most of the configuration items
> there is simply a box to fill in some text but the Configuration Tool
> doesn't provide any indication as to what valid values can be entered. You
> need to laboriously search through the documentation to try and figure out
> what values might be appropriate. Instead of text boxes in which anything
> can be entered, I think there should be pull-down menus with all the
> possibilities listed. There should also probably be a help screen for each
> item (F1) that provides a description of what the item does and why you
> might want to select a specific value.
>
> Also note that if DOSBox_X used a command-line interface (like QEMU, e.g.)
> the way you provide help to the user would be different. But, since
> DOSBox_X provides a GUI interface, it should be "up to snuff".
>
> My two cents, for what it's worth.

It's almost overwhelming how much it supports. Just FYI, "keyb us 853" really saves some grief. Thanks for your efforts.

> It's almost overwhelming how much it supports. Just FYI, "keyb us 853"
> really saves some grief. Thanks for your efforts.

Please explain why. Just typing this command converts to a USA keyboard layout?

> Please explain why. Just typing this command converts to a USA keyboard
> layout?

Yes. For whatever reason, "keyb us" by itself doesn't work. Default is some other keyboard layout (British??), which means much harder (for me) to mount a suitable subdirectory.

> > Please explain why. Just typing this command converts to a USA keyboard
> > layout?
>
> Yes. For whatever reason, "keyb us" by itself doesn't work. Default is some
> other keyboard layout (British??), which means much harder (for me) to
> mount a suitable subdirectory.

Yes, I found the default keyboard layout to be some sort of European non-qwerty layout as well. It's good to know that there is a command which will give a traditional 103-key USA layout. I had not figured out how to do this before your post above.

I have tried to fix the said U.S. keyboard layout issue in the latest code. Can you try the updated DOSBox-X.exe binary below and see if it works for you:

* dosboxhx.zip

Thank you, it works perfectly (the HX.DOS build). Now I have to learn how to use all these new features you've made available on DOS :D I didn't have much time recently but now I'm gonna play around with it.

Thanks.

---
DOS isn't about why. It's about why not.

> I have tried to fix the said U.S. keyboard layout issue in the latest code.
> Can you try the updated DOSBox-X.exe binary below and see if it works for
> you:
>
> * dosboxhx.zip

Yes, this binary works fine by default.

> > I have tried to fix the said U.S. keyboard layout issue in the latest
> code.
> > Can you try the updated DOSBox-X.exe binary below and see if it works
> for
> > you:
> >
> > * dosboxhx.zip
>
> Yes, this binary works fine by default.

Glad to hear your confirmation that it works by default. The upcoming DOSBox-X release will include this change so that it should work by default too.

The Configuration Tool in DOSBox-X will see noticeable improvements in the upcoming 0.83.21 version. For options with a limited number of values, there will be now a dialog box which allows you to select a value from a list of options and then automatically fill the value in the box when you click “OK”. Also, more options will be applied immediately when you save the settings. Hopefully these improve its usability a lot.

> I was wondering if anyone has plans on updating the Configuration Tool in
> DOSBox-X. The one that's there now leaves a lot to be desired. First of
> all, it's sort of "ugly" with pop-up windows being the same color and
> design as the background which makes it hard to see. The "ugliness" is not
> a big deal, though.