GEM.CNF

The  below information is with regard to AES 4.0, and not
necessarily AES 4.1. Some of the information contained in
this  document  is based upon details from  Modern  Atari
System Software (MASS).

Variables

The  following variables can be set in the GEM.CNF  file,
the  variable names must be all upper case and the =  and
the  value  must  be  concatenated  with  no  intervening
spaces.  If  a  particular variable is set,  the  default
value will be used.

AE_FONTID=      The  font ID of the font which is  to  be
                used  as the system font; if this is  not
                specified  the  default system  font  (1)
                will be used.
AE_PNTSIZE=     The point size of the font which is to be
                used  as the system font; of this is  not
                specified the default point size (13)  is
                used.
AE_SREDRAW=     The  AES  normally  sends  a  full-screen
                redraw  message when a GEM program starts
                up (calls appl_init); if this variable is
                set  to  zero  then this message  is  not
                sent.
AE_TREDRAW=     The  AES  normally  sends  a  full-screen
                redraw   message  when  a   GEM   program
                finishes  (calls  appl_exit);   if   this
                variable is set to zero then this message
                is not sent.


Commands

The  following commands can be used in the GEM.CNF  file,
command names must be all lower case with a single  space
between any command and its argument:

run cmd                      execute a program
setenv name=val              set environment variable


Environmental Variables

The  following environment variables, which  can  be  set
either  in the MINT.CNF or the GEM.CNF file, are used  by
the AES to control its behavior:

ACCEXT         a  comma-separated list of extension which
               are to be considered accessories
ACCPATH        a   comma-separated  list  of  directories
               which will be searched for accessories  at
               startup  time. When an accessory is  found
               in  a given directory, that directory will
               be  the accessory’s default directory when
               it  starts. The root directory of the boot
               device  is always searched in addition  to
               any directories appearing in ACCPATH
DESKCOPY       the full pathname of the program which  is
               run  by the Desktop for file copies, moves
               and  renames; a discussion of the  command
               tail passed by the Desktop is shown below.
DESKFMT        the full pathname of the program which  is
               run  by  the  Desktop for disk copies  and
               formats; a discussion of the command  tail
               passed by the Desktop is shown below.
GEMEXT         a comma-separated list of extensions which
               are to be considered GEM programs.
PATH           a   comma-separated  list  of  directories
               which  will be searched for programs  when
               shel_write is called in mode 0, 1 or 3. In
               addition,  shel_find  and  rsrc_load  will
               look  in all directories in this path when
               searching for files.
SHPRINT        the full pathname of the program which  is
               run by the Desktop for printing files; the
               pathname  of  the file to  be  printed  is
               passed in the command tail to the program.
SHSHOW         the full pathname of the program which  is
               run  by the Desktop for showing files; the
               pathname  of  the file to be displayed  is
               passed in the command tail to the program.
TOSEXT         a comma-separated list of extensions which
               are to be considered TOS programs.
TOSRUN         when starting a program the AES looks  for
               the   environment  variable  TOSRUN  which
               should  contain the full  path  of  a  TOS
               handler  program, to which  the  AES  will
               pass the TOS program name into the command
               tail.
SHELL          the full pathname of the program which  is
               run  by  the AES as the desktop. (undoc’ed
               in MASS - but it works)

When  launching  the  program  specified  by  DESKFMT,  a
command tail of the form shown below is used, if a format
operation is required:

-f A:

If  a  disk-copy operation is being performed the command
tail is of the form:

-c A: B:

indicating a copy from the disk in drive A: to drive B:

When  launching  the  program specified  by  DESKCOPY,  a
command tail of the form shown below is used, if  a  copy
operation is required:

-c [-options...] [files names ...] [destination path]

for a file deletion:

-d [-options...] [file names...]

for a file move:

-m [-options...] [file names...] [destination path]

The following option letters may also be generated by the
Desktop to indicate the current Desktop preferences:

File copy          -A                  Yes
confirmation       -B                  No

File deletion      -C                  Yes
confirmation       -D                  No
File overwrite     -E                  Yes
confirmation       -F                  No
Destination        -R                  
renaming