Shell3a V1.23 ============= Copyright (c) Nick Murray 1995 Introduction ------------ Shell3a is a command line shell for the Psion Series 3a. This is the second general release. Highlights: command aliasing command history relative pathnames (. ..) wildcards (e.g. cp *.bat a:\bat) output redirection to a file (e.g. ls > ls.out) use of cursor keys to scan the command history support for external commands Commands: alias, bg, cat, cd, chmod, cls, cp, date, df, echo, edit, eval, exec, history, ls, man, mkdir, more, mv, od, pause, ps, pwd, rehash, rescan, rename, rm, rmdir, set, unalias, ver, which More detailed information is contained within the program's help system. The help system is based on Tom Dolbilin's OPL Help System, so if you've already installed this you won't need sys$help.opo. Installation ------------ (1) Copy the SHELL3A.OPA to \APP\SHELL3A.OPA on A: B: or M: (2) Copy the AUTOEXEC.BAT to the root directory \ on A: B: or M: (3) Install SHELL3A.OPA onto the desktop using PSION-I [the rest of the installation can be performed using the shell] (4) Create a directory \BIN and copy all the .OPO files into it. (5) Create a directory \HLP and copy all the .HLP files into it. Customisations (usually set in AUTOEXEC.BAT) -------------- (1) PATH - This is the list of directories in which the shell will look for .BAT and .OPO files. For speed, each time the PATH is changed (or explicitly with the REHASH command), a list of OPO and BAT files is stored. The commands stored in the PATH are accessed without the .BAT or .OPO suffix. .OPO and .BAT files can be executed if they aren't in the PATH by giving their full path (Note that any OPO modules must adhere to the specifications set out in the PROGRAM.TXT document. To run OPOs not written for use with this shell, use the EXEC command). SYS$HELP.OPO must be in one of the directories of the PATH. (2) HELPPATH - The directory in which the help files are stored. If help is invoked on a command, eg. mycom, that isn't built into the shell a help file 'MYCOM.HLP' is searched for in the directory. This allows help to be provided for user-supplied commands. Other files included: Readme.txt - this file Autoexec.bat - sample setup file Dos.bat - a file containing aliases more familiar to MS-DOS users. You can either add these to the autoexec.bat file or simply type 'dos' from within the shell providing the file is in the search path. Program.txt - Details of how to write external modules. More.opo, Od.opo, Chmod.opo, Ps.opo - external modules. More.hlp, Od.hlp, Chmod.hlp, Ps.hlp, Shell3a.hlp - help files. Rm.opl - example source of an external module Sys$help.opo, Hcp.opo - Tom Dolbilin's OPL Help System New features in this version ---------------------------- - Items in the command history are accessed using the up/down cursor keys - The key brings up the main help menu. - Support for external modules and hence user-expansion of the capabilities of the shell. Changes between V1.23 and V1.02 ------------------------------- - The comment string in .BAT files is now '#' - The Mac 3-link can now be used. Pathnames and device names with spaces have to be quoted, eg. cd "rem::Hard Disk:". - The PATH is no longer searched each time a command that doesn't match a built-in is found. Instead a list of .OPO of .BAT files found in the path is stored and searched. This means external .OPO modules are executed with little noticable delay. Members of the list are accessed WITHOUT the suffix .BAT or .OPO. - Separate current directory for each device. Because of this all possible devices are scanned when theprogram starts. If devices are added the command 'rescan' must be used to recognize the new device. Note the rescan command has the side-effect of resetting the current working directory. - 'df' without arguments show a summary of all devices Bugs, suggestions, etc. ----------------------- I can be reached via email at nmurray@csd.abdn.ac.uk Disclaimer ---------- The author of this software is not responsible for any damage due to use of this program. This software is provided without warranty of any kind. Copyright --------- Last and by no means least, this program is NOT public domain and I retain the copyright. However provided you don't make money from it this program is freely distributable.