Microsoft KB Archive/48642

Word: Available Command-Line Switches, Environment Variables

PSS ID Number: Q48642 Article last modified on 11-02-1994

1.15 2.00 2.01 3.00 3.10 3.11 4.00 5.00

MS-DOS

SUMMARY

The following is a list of command-line parameters, or switches, (Numbers 1-11) and environment variables (Numbers 12-20) supported by different Word versions. The command-line switches are entered proceeded by a forward slash (/) after typing WORD. The environment variables statements can be entered at the DOS prompt before starting Word, or placed in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

Switch Description Version Numbers —— ———– —————

/b Number of page buffers 5.00 /c Character (text) mode 2.x 3.x 4.00 /g Graphics mode 3.x 4.00 /h 43-line mode 2.x 3.x 4.00 /k Enhanced keyboard 3.x 4.00 5.00 /l Load last document 2.x 3.x 4.00 5.00 /m Monochrome mode 1.15 2.x 4.00 /n Novell network support 5.00 /x Disable expanded memory 5.00 /y Line scrolling as in 4.00 5.00 /z Line scrolling as in 5.00 5.00

CGA=TRUE 4.00 EGA=TRUE 4.00 EGAFONT=TRUE 4.00 HERCGB102=TRUE 4.00 MSWNET=d: T3100=TRUE 4.00 TMP=d: 5.00 VGA=TRUE 4.00

MORE INFORMATION

1. /bN – This switch, where N is an integer, instructs Word to use N page buffers of 512 bytes each of expanded memory. Word uses less if enough memory is not available, and uses a maximum of about 1500 buffers. The minimum number of buffers that can be specified is 4. A large number of buffers causes a larger portion of the documents to be loaded in memory, and therefore minimizes the disk accesses and improves the speed of most operations. On the other hand, it leaves less memory for these operations and might cause insufficient memory situations more often.

2. /c – This switch starts Word in 25-line text mode.

3. /g – This switch starts Word in graphics mode on displays for which graphics mode is available.

4. /h – This switch starts Word in a smaller character size to display more lines of text. This option is only effective for video cards and monitors that can display high resolution.

5. /k – This switch causes 101-key keyboards to behave similarly to an original PC keyboard. This switch effectively disables the separate cursor control keys. For example, if NUM LOCK is on and the arrow keys on the cursor pad are pressed, you see numbers on the screen. This remapping allows some memory-resident programs to run better with Word. You cannot use the F11 and F12 keys. This switch is recognized by the Learn program in Word 5.00, and if Word is started with the /k switch, it passes this parameter to Learn when Learn is invoked from within Word.

6. /l – This switch brings up the last document that was worked on in the last session of Word.

7. /m – This switch was introduced in Version 1.15. If you have both a color graphics monitor and a monochrome adapter in your PC, Word 1.15 and 2.x automatically use the color graphics monitor. If you want to use the monochrome monitor instead, you can start with the /m switch. This does not apply to Word 3.x. Type MODE MONO instead. With Versions 1.15 and 2.x, there are complications with the /m switch if the monochrome card is a Hercules card. In Word 4.00, if you have an EGA card with 64K of memory and an Enhanced Color Display monitor, /m starts Word in high-resolution monochrome mode.

8. /n – This switch is necessary to start Word 5.00 on a Novell network. Otherwise, the network does not allow Word to properly search for necessary files.

9. /x – This switch disables use of expanded memory in Word 5.00.

10. /y – This switch causes line scrolling to behave as it did in Word 4.00: when you reach the end of the last line on the screen, Word scrolls up half a window.

11. /z – This switch causes line scrolling to behave as it does by default in Word 5.00: when you reach the end of the last line on the screen, Word scrolls up only one line.

12. CGA=TRUE – Word 4.00 may not detect a less than 100 percent compatible; this indicates the display is compatible with IBM CGA 640 x 200.

13. EGA=TRUE – Word 4.00 may not detect a less than 100 percent compatible; this indicates the display is compatible with IBM EGA 640 x 350.

14. EGAFONT=TRUE – Many Zenith 248 computers must use this undocumented switch in Word 4.00 because of a Zenith EGA ROM BIOS problem.

15. HERCGB102=TRUE – Word 4.00 may not detect a Hercules GB102 card; this indicates the display is GB102 720 x 350.

16. MSWNET=d:– When run on a network, Word 5.00 looks for and saves the user’s individual files in the local drive/directory to which this variable points.

17. OLIVETTI=TRUE – Word 4.00 may not detect an AT&T 6300 or Olivetti card; this indicates the display is Olivetti 640 x 400.

18. T3100=TRUE – Word 4.00 may not detect a Toshiba T3100 card; this indicates the display is a T3100 640 x 400.

19. TMP=d:– Word 4.00 or 5.00 can use this variable to redirect the main temporary file to another location (either to free up space in the program directory, or to speed up Word’s operation if pointed to a RAM drive).

20. VGA=TRUE – Word 4.00 may not detect a less than 100 percent compatible; this says the display is compatible with IBM VGA 640 x

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