Does anyone know of a recycle bin for DOS, or if there is a way to do it with batch files?

Bill

you would have to rewrite the way COMMAND.COM handles the "del" command. instead of deleting the file have it move the file instead. the only problem is that "move", i think, is a seperate file so a batch and rewrite would have to be performed. is it possible, yes, but it would take a lot of work.

[edit] sorry, upon further research, i found that move is an internal command for dos version 6.0 and later. thus, a simple rewrite of the del command would probably be suffencient.[/edit]

you could rather install you own handler of DOS delete file function (on int 21h i think). I am sure command.com uses it too, and also all things like norton commander or DOS navigator don't use command.com to delete files i quess.

why have something like a recycle bin in DOS?
first of all it sucks (i use shift+del in win), second if you make a misstake you can use "undelete"..

Doesn't DOS just rename a file instead of delete it when you delete it ?
I mean, in a DOS delete, the data is not destroyed & the record of the file in FAT? remains the same, the only thing that is changed is the first character of the basename? It's changed to a dollar $ or something isn't it?
AND if that's the case, a DOS program like undelete could be made & run. Something like a file manager, Norton Command type, that shows the undeleted files in a directory, or lists them on a dir tree thingie?
The only thing is that, once a DOS file is deleted/renamed it's data can be overwritten & there fore it is ruined.

thats excatly what i mean by "undelete" (it already exists a program like that Bitdog, it comes with most DOS versions)...
the undelete programs shows the files even thou DOS has given it a nonvalid start character..
all deleted files gets a ? instead of the first char.
it's the same in Windows, only it does not have any "undelete" program.

/ Christoffer

OK, so some one could write an INT 21h file handler proc that does not overwrite deleted files that are just renamed ?basename.ext
Then, a TSR program that is a file manager. (It could overwrite the INT 21h when it's loaded.) There are a few INT 21h file procs and maybe some more? like BIOS INT 13h or 25h, or Win98 INT 71h?.
Sounds a little complicated, but it's possible? Maybe an INT 21h hook
that checks for the proper function/subfunction in AH/AL = AX
then reroute IP to the new file handling trash bin proc. ????????
Well, it's just some thoughts anyway..........

dos delete and windos delete changes the file's first character to deleted file signature, clusters used by file are freed up, so if you copy a file on the disk you have the chance to overwrite the deleted file's contents, if you start windos, it will probably mill all deleted files on your disk, because of the intensive swapping, undelete whould have a really little effectiveness in this case. under dos, if you immediately change your mind after deletion, you have great chance of succeccfully undeleting the files.

overall:
you might think twice before deleting a file - this is the best solution, and always back up everything valuable.

It's been done before, so it's certainly possible. I even think there might be some source out there for doing it... and yes, "undelete" is not a good replacement, for the reasons Matrix mentioned.

Bubach: whether "recycle bin" sucks or not is up to each individual and his usage patterns, you can't make generalizations like that. I use shift+del in windows too 99% of the time, but when I don't, I am happy about recycle bin. And I'm sure a lot of "regular" users are happy about it too.

DOS (fat file system) uses the character code 0xe5 to signify that the file has been deleted.

? is what undelete shows as the first character, but 0xE5 is actually used. If you wanted your filename to start with 0xE5 (which is used in the Japanese character set) make 0x05 instead, and any programs should change it to 0xE5 instead. Yeah, I also use SHIFT-DEL in Windows, but it does the same thing as DOS DEL does- so I have been able to go into DOS and undelete things just the same (not in NTFS drives, of course). If you want to really delete a file, so nobody can get at it, you'll need to download a third-party program - of which many exist that are free.