Text Viewers for DOS

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NOTES: LIST and Less are feature packed. ViewS is too, and has a personality. A good small LIST-like viewer is View86 (9.4K). Peruse can run as a TSR. An excellent tiny text viewer and MORE replacement is Browse.


GENERAL TEXT VIEWERS


LIST- Text file viewer.
DrLIST- Special LIST version for CTTY and ANSI files.

LIST * * * * * is the yardstick by which all text viewers are measured and represents one of the most popular shareware programs ever produced for DOS. LIST can view files of nearly unlimited size and possesses many display, search, and filtering options. List can read multiple files or wildcards from the command line allowing you to browse through a series of files. List can also be used as a MORE replacement using the /s switch. User preferences can be "cloned" (saved)- you can customize LIST to suit your specific needs. Three versions of LIST are included and vary in size (11K, 12K, 27K), features, and file size handling. The "plus" version adds a directory viewer, some file management capabilities and mouse support. Author: Vern Buerg.

DrLIST is a customized, older version of LIST that reads files containing ansi color codes (e.g., captured BBS screens, other files containing ansi escape sequences.). ANSI files will look like jibberish in a normal text file viewer. ANSI translation is fine, but scrolling through an ANSI document is not always a smooth experience. No mouse support. DRLIST can be used by a remote computer via the CTTY or BBS DOORS facility. DrLIST is now included with LIST.

Shareware status: The LISTand DrLIST packages are shareware, but the somewhat ambiguous language tends toward donationware: Docs: "If you are using LIST and find it of value, your gift in any amount ($20 suggested) will be greatly appreciated. Program screen: "If you find LIST of value, you may register it for $37 and receive disk and manual." (my emphasis).

See the WHATSNEW file for version changes.

download list93A.zip (112K, includes DrList).



less- File pager / viewer and MORE replacement.

* * * * * [added 1995 updated 11-07-99]

LESS is like MORE- the pager program that comes with DOS which allows you to pause and page through multiple screens of output. less is a popular DOS port of a native UNIX program. Unlike MORE, less allows the user to scroll either up or down the output. You can also search for text and go to specific line numbers. less can also read files like a normal text viewer. less rivals or exceeds the capabilities of the more user-friendly LIST in some areas - but some options may be unintelligible to the novice. No mouse support. No directory / file browsing feature.

"Prior to v332, versions of less for DOS did not allow use of regular expressions in searching for a pattern in text (but Mark Lord's independently coded v177 does); only literal strings would be accepted. Version 332b does support regular expression searches and may be a bit faster and more stable than version 321. Finally, less is one of the few viewers (the only?) that can correctly interpret backspace text sequences like: B^HBO^HOL^HD^HD BOLD^H^H^H^H____ as bold and underline, and display them on-screen using different colors for bold and underline. This was how old printers did bold and underline: by backspacing over letters and inserting overstrikes or underline characters. This is still supported by virtually every printer in use today. less can also interpret other codes that indicate bold, underline, standout, etc. These codes are either intended as signals to different types of terminals (e.g., wyse, vt100, --) or are part of the ever growing enhanced markup languages for e-mail (e.g., enriched text)." (Thanks to Howard Schwartz for helpful comments).

Available versions: There are significant differences among various releases of less- several versions are listed below. Mark Lord's older v177 executable is much smaller (35K) than later versions.

11-04-99: v346 released. See Mark Nudelman's less page for latest info, bugs, etc..


ViewS- Text file viewer with automatic smooth scrolling.

* * * * 1/2 [updated 04-15-99]

ViewS is a breath of fresh air in the arena of text file viewers. It seems to have a dual personality: part arcade game and part serious application. But ViewS is a superior text file viewer. What is immediately apparent on first inspection is the smooth scrolling built into ViewS. The mouse almost acts like a joystick accelerator. Move the mouse down a little and the text starts scrolling by at a slow pace. Move the mouse a greater distance and the scrolling speed smoothly accelerates. I could write several paragraphs extolling the artistic design of this simple app- but will limit myself to listing it's strengths as a text file viewer. EXE size= about 95K.

Author: Tobias Winkler (1998); Home Page.

Features:

  1. Reads files of any size (up to 2GB).
  2. Start-up is extremely fast.
  3. Can read from standard input.
  4. Case sensitive and insensitive text searching and marking. Can write marked text to file.
  5. Has a high bit filter option and can automatically detect binary files.
  6. Many configuration options. Numerous display and navigation control options.
  7. VESA-textmode support.
  8. Can save last file position on exit.
  9. Character set conversion, customizable.
  10. Color attribute menu for choosing special syntax highlighting (e.g., ASM, TP, FIDO)
  11. Like READ, ViewS comes packaged with a separate program (Vtxt2Exe) that can convert a text file into executable (*.exe) format. Original file size must be smaller than 64K. Unlike READMAKE, VTXT2EXE also compresses the executable into a file not much larger than the original text file.

Limitations:

  1. Requires VGA.
  2. No directory / file browsing feature.
  3. Can only pass a single file on command line.
  4. Configuration involves compiling an ascii file into binary form. (Compiler supplied). This design feature pays off in quicker start-up.

download views200.zip ( release version, 185K)
or most recent beta, http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Sector/5552/vs201b6.zip (11-98; >v200..bug fixes, proper operation in DOS windows, etc...)


READ- Another text file viewer.

* * * [updated 07-05-99]

READ is a file viewer that has seen some major improvements over the years. While still not as slick or versatile as LIST, it is a very good viewer and can handle files up to about 800K. Unlike LIST "Plus", there is no directory viewer. Read can accept wildcards on the command line, allowing you to view several files in sequence. Scrolling seems a bit jerky. READ is mouse compatible, and different color schemes are possible. This package also comes with READY which can handle files of unlimited size but lacks some of READ's features (e.g., no mouse support). EXE size= ~110K.

Also included is ReadMake, a program which can make any text file a self executing program (e.g., if you want to distribute a text document without worrying about an appropriate viewing application). READMAKE does not compress the self-executable file which is often significantly larger than the original text file. From Bruce Guthrie/ Wayne Software.

Version history: see Wayne Software

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/2414/read908.zip (360K)


HLIST- Graphics mode text viewer can also read files in ZIP archives.

* * *

HLIST (no relation to LIST) is a text file viewer with two unique characteristics: 1) it runs in graphics mode and 2) it can display text files packed in zip archives (PkUnzip required). Although lacking many of the features present in LIST and ViewS, I prefer to use HLIST for reading e-texts compressed in Zip files. The mouse compatible, graphics-mode interface doesn't affect the appearance of text which still displays as the wonderful and readable DOS font. The graphical component of the interface consists of navigation and other command buttons- as well as a graphic directory browser. EXE size=25K. Notes: HLIST won't run in a windowed DOS box.

Shareware status note: HLIST 1.5 is "free shareware." The shareware status of this program may seem confusing- please read the docs. The enhanced version of HLIST (v. 2.0) can be ordered for 20 US dollars.

Quick list of features....

Uploaded to my web space.

download hlist15.zip (30K)


CVIEW- Fast text file viewer with file browser, no search.

* * *

This basic text file viewer is distinguished by its extremely fast scrolling speed and a pop-up directory browser. CVIEW is mouse compatible and handles large files. It may be too fast - mouse scrolling is difficult to control on a fast computer (scrolling with keys offers more control). If run without parameters, CVIEW pops up a list of files in the current directory. Scroll the list and highlight a file to view. Unfortunately, CVIEW lacks additional enhancements (e.g., no text searching); Documentation sparse. EXE size= 36K.

Doesn't appear to be widely distributed on the Net. Author: Thomas Jaeger. (1994)

download CVIEW300.zip (38K)


Peruse (2)- Text viewer with TSR option.

* * * [added 7-3-98]

Peruse is an older yet still capable text viewing package distinguished by a TSR option. When loaded as a TSR, Peruse uses about 7K conventional memory while inactive (can swap out to disk, XMS, or EMS). Other features:

Limitations:

Author: Falk Data Systems (1991)

download perus111.zip (274K) link adjusted 05-01-99


TEXT VIEWERS for PROGRAMMERS

Also see: ViewS


1. PASVIEW- Text viewer with PASCAL syntax highlighting.
2. CVIEW (2)- Text viewer with C/C++ syntax highlighting.

* * * *

Note: On fast Pentiums you will need to patch the exes using bp7pat.

CVIEW and PASVIEW are two German text viewers with the added ability to highlight C/C++ (CVIEW) or Pascal (PASVIEW) syntax. The common interface is German- but easy to navigate. While intended for use with Norton Commander, these viewers work fine alone, or as helper apps for any file manager supporting extension associations. It appears that these viewers can load files as large as available conventional memory.

Other features: Highlighting colors are modifiable, adjustable tab-width, ANSI/ASCII conversion, text search, and show control characters option. Settings can be saved. Mouse support and screen saver. Online help. No documentation. Author: Bert Schönwälder. Germany. (1995)

download cview.zip (17K)
download pasview.zip (18K)


3. QVIEW- Text viewer for programmers (Text/Hex/ASM).

* * * * * [added 12-97; updated 10-25-98]

Qview is a very capable and polished text viewer that caters to the assembly language programmer- but it also functions as an excellent general purpose text viewer. Extensive capabilities, including editing when used in HEX, ASM modes- and now (v2.69+) text mode editing too. Includes a comprehensive, easy-to-use configuration utility. EXE size= 56K. Requires: 386+. Author: Alexandr Gazko. Home Page. Russia. (1999)

General features culled from the docs..

  1. Unlimited size file viewing in txt/hex/asm modes: TV,HV,AV.
  2. LineFeed autodetect feature and on-fly change (TV).
  3. Line wrapping.
  4. Ascii/Hex [sub]string search with masking and case sensitive ability.
  5. Ascii/Hex [sub]string search and replace.
  6. 9 bookmarks for each view mode.
  7. Context-dependent help system.
  8. Load files from command line or the integrated directory browser.
  9. Supported video modes: 80x25, 80x30, 132x25, 132x30 etc.
  10. Mouse support.
  11. Tuned for multitasking environments.

Features for assembler programmers:

New in v2.69 (6-98): Text mode editing now supported....See documentation for other changes.

download qview269.rar (155K)
You'll need a RAR unpacker to extract files in this package.

Also check for partial updates here:
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/sac/utilprog/qv*.rar (or qv*.zip) latest: qv28003.rar (3-99)


SMALL / TINY TEXT VIEWERS


Browse- Tiny text file viewer and MORE substitute with mouse support.

* * * * * [added 6-23-98]

Browse is a wonderfully simple 1K text file viewer and MORE replacement packaged with the PMENUE menu program. Unlike MORE Browse allows scrolling both backward and forward through output. Supports mouse scrolling and handles large files gracefully. Spacebar scrolls text line-by-line; arrow, Home/ End/ PgUp /PgDn navigation keys supported. Very quick. Max line length is 2Kb. No search text function. A superb example of efficient program design.

Author: Horst Schaeffer, Germany. (1997). Suggested by Lars-Erik Sandberg.

download Pmenue23.zip (18K)


FMORE- Fast MORE clone uses direct video output.

unrated [added 07-27-99]

This program is simply a faster, drop-in replacment of the DOS MORE command. You'll notice a marked speed increase in screen writes. Author: Bob Ferguson, Netherlands (1994).

download fmore12.zip (6K)


View86- 9.4K text viewer with dual file display, no mouse support.

* * * *

Included with the Tree86 file manager, this older text viewer packs quite a few features into 9.4K. I especially like the easy split window/ dual file viewing feature. Handles large files. Can accept multiple files on command line. No mouse support or configuration options; color display. Features listed on help screen:

Download: See Tree86 Lite file manager.


TEXT to EXE CONVERTERS

Also see: ReadMake and Vtxt2Exe


1. XDOC- Converts text file into executable viewer.

* * * [added 8-26-98]

XDOC is a text to EXE converter that offers some potential advantages over ReadMake:

  1. Xdoc can convert source text files as large as available conventional memory (i.e.., should convert a 500K source file if you have 500K free conv. mem). ReadMake can convert larger files (1600 lines max?) but....
  2. XDOC adds minimal (<10K) executable code to the source file and...
  3. Because the EXE produced by xdoc doesn't contain an overlay like those of ReadMake EXE's, you can use any exe packer to compress the resulting exe into a distribution file much smaller than the source.
  4. Documents compiled with XDOC may be distributed without a license fee (includes commercial use).

As a quick test, an XDOC-generated EXE was compressed with APACK; the final EXE was less than half the size of the original text file:

PROGRAM...SOURCE TEXT....EXE......PACKED....% SOURCE SIZE 
XDOC ........348K........356K......140K..........40......
ReadMake.....348K........489K......n/a .........140...... 
*n/a: not compressable or not effectively compressed with 
any freeware exe-packer I'm aware of.     

Limitations:

Author: JauMing Tseng (1998)

download xdoc127.zip (36K)


2. DRC- Create menu-based viewer for text files.

unrated [added 7-27-98]

DRC converts a source text file into an executable viewing application that can be accessed via a multilayered menu structure. Multi-language support. Unlike simple TXT2EXE converters, DRC requires insertion of formatting codes within source files.

Developed prior to the HTML era.

Author: David Harris, New Zealand (1993). Suggested by Greg Head.

download drc21.zip (265K)


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