Appendix C
Dictionary of Special Characters and Operators |
This appendix describes the special characters and operators that you can use in commands and scripts.
Each special character and operator appears in Table C-1, which includes very brief descriptions,
and in the dictionary itself, which has more complete descriptions. The table and the dictionary show
the characters and operators in functional groups. Both the table and the dictionary list the
functional groups in this order:
• arithmetic operators
• command terminators
• delimiters
• logical operators
• makefile characters
• menu characters
• miscellaneous characters
• number prefixes
• redirection characters
• regular and selection expression characters
• wildcard characters
To get information on a character or operator, first look it up in Table C-1. Each character has a
line in the table, like this one:
§ Option-6 Current selection
The line shows the character, the special keystroke used to type it (if any), and its meaning.
If the information in Table C-1 is not enough to answer your questions, you can turn to its page in the dictionary for more information and examples showing how to use the character.
Note that some special characters have more than one meaning and that some characters,
such as !~, are combinations of two or more characters.
Table C-1: The MPW Shell special characters and operators
|
Character
|
Keystroke
|
Meaning
|
|
Arithmetic Operators
|
|
+
|
|
Addition
|
|
÷
|
Option-/
|
Division
|
|
DIV
|
|
Division
|
|
MOD
|
|
Modulus
|
|
%
|
|
Modulus
|
|
*
|
|
Multiplication
|
|
-
|
|
Subtraction, sign change
|
|
Command Terminators
|
|
||
|
|
If not successful, do . . .
|
|
&&
|
|
If successful, do . . .
|
|
;
|
|
Join commands on one line
|
|
Delimiters
|
|
" "
|
|
Enclose a literal string (with exceptions)
|
|
' '
|
|
Enclose a literal string (no exceptions)
|
|
( )
|
|
Group commands or expressions
|
|
` `
|
|
Pass output to another command
|
|
`` ``
|
|
Pass output, saving quotation marks
|
|
\ \
|
|
Search backward
|
|
/ /
|
|
Search forward
|
|
« »
|
Option-\,
Option-Shift-\
|
Specify a repetition
|
|
[ ]
|
|
Specify a scan set
|
|
{ }
|
|
Enclose a variable
|
|
{{ }}
|
|
Enclose a variable, saving quotation marks
|
|
Logical Operators
|
|
&
|
|
Bitwise AND
|
|
~
|
|
Bitwise NOT
|
|
|
|
|
Bitwise OR
|
|
^
|
|
Bitwise XOR
|
|
+=
|
|
Increment a variable
|
|
-=
|
|
Decrement a variable
|
|
==
|
|
Equal to (strings, numbers, and variables)
|
|
=~
|
|
Equivalent to (patterns)
|
|
>
|
|
Greater than
|
|
>=
|
|
Greater than or equal to
|
|
≥
|
Option-. (period)
|
Greater than or equal to
|
|
<
|
|
Less than
|
|
<=
|
|
Less than or equal to
|
|
≤
|
Option-, (comma)
|
Less than or equal to
|
|
&&
|
|
Logical AND
|
|
AND
|
|
Logical AND
|
|
!
|
|
Logical NOT
|
|
¬
|
Option-L
|
Logical NOT
|
|
NOT
|
|
Logical NOT
|
|
||
|
|
Logical OR
|
|
OR
|
|
Logical OR
|
|
!=
|
|
Not equal to (strings, numbers, and variables)
|
|
< >
|
|
Not equal to (strings, numbers, and variables)
|
|
≠
|
Option-=
|
Not equal to (strings, numbers, and variables
|
|
!~
|
|
Not equivalent to (patterns)
|
|
<<
|
|
Shift left
|
|
>>
|
|
Shift right
|
|
Makefile Characters
|
|
ƒ
|
Option-F
|
Depends on
|
|
ƒƒ
|
Option-F
|
Depends on, with own build commands
|
|
Menu Characters
|
|
-
|
|
Add a separator to a menu
|
|
/c
|
|
Assign the keystroke c to a menu item
|
|
(
|
|
Disable a menu item
|
|
!c
|
|
Mark a menu item with a character
|
|
^n
|
|
Mark a menu item with an icon
|
|
<c
|
|
Set the character style of a menu item
|
|
Miscellaneous Characters
|
|
∂
|
Option-D
|
Change the meaning of the next character
|
|
#
|
|
Comment
|
|
:
|
|
Separate parts of a pathname
|
|
…
|
Option-;
|
Start Commando
|
|
Number Prefixes
|
|
0b
|
|
Binary number
|
|
$
|
|
Hexadecimal number
|
|
0x
|
|
Hexadecimal number
|
|
0
|
|
Octal number
|
|
Redirection Characters
|
|
|
|
|
Pipe output
|
|
∑
|
Option-W
|
Redirect all output and append
|
|
∑∑
|
Option-W
|
Redirect all output and replace
|
|
≥≥
|
Option-. (period)
|
Redirect error messages and append
|
|
≥
|
Option-. (period)
|
Redirect error messages and replace
|
|
<
|
|
Redirect standard input
|
|
>>
|
|
Redirect standard output and append
|
|
>
|
|
Redirect standard output and replace
|
|
Regular and Selection Expression Characters
|
|
•
|
Option-8
|
Beginning of file, beginning of line
|
|
§
|
Option-6
|
Current selection
|
|
∞
|
Option-5
|
End of file, end of line
|
|
:
|
|
Everything between two selections
|
|
¡n
|
Option-1
|
Move backward
|
|
!n
|
|
Move forward
|
|
¬
|
Option-L
|
Not in the following list
|
|
+
|
|
One or more occurrences
|
|
∆
|
Option-J
|
Place insertion point
|
|
-
|
|
Specify a range of characters
|
|
®
|
Option-R
|
Tag an expression
|
|
*
|
|
Zero or more occurrences
|
|
Wildcard Characters
|
|
?
|
|
Match any character
|
|
≈
|
Option-X
|
Match any string
|
|
Copyright Apple Computer, Inc. 1993-2000
Last Updated July 2000
|
|
