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1.3_INFO
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1.3_Shell
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1985-11-27
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USING THE NEW 1.3 CLI SHELL AND NEWCON:
######################################################################
Another big improvement in 1.3 is the existence of the SHELL, a
term that describes software that wraps itself around the CLI to give
more features, as described below. Note that you start up a new SHELL
by either double-clicking on the SHELL icon, or by entering NEWSHELL in
the CLI (See NEW_COMMANDS). In order to take advantage of the features
of the SHELL, you must MOUNT NEWCON: (the new CONSOLE HANDLER) and make
SHELL-SEG in the L directory RESIDENT (as happens in 1.3's default
startup-sequence). If you don't make SHELL-SEG resident, you'll get a
new CLI window rather than a new SHELL, and if NEWCON: has not been
MOUNTed then NEWSHELL will use the old CON: window.
FEATURES OF THE NEW SHELL
* COMMAND LINE EDITING - if you make a typing mistake or change
your mind while typing, rather than deleting all you've typed, you can
use the ARROW keys to move back over the line, make your correction and
hit RETURN. SHIFT-LEFT_ARROW (or CTRL-A) and SHIFT-RIGHT_ARROW (or
CTRL-Z) will take you to the beginning or end of the line in one jump.
Other editing commands are:
- The DEL key: deletes the character to the right of cursor
- The BACKSPACE key: delete the character to the left of cursor
- CTRL-K : delete from the cursor to the end of the line
- CTRL-U : delete from the cursor to the start of the line
- CTRL-X : delete the entire line
- CTRL-W : move cursor to the next tab stop
* HISTORY - Another very useful feature which allows you to recall
previous commands used. Just use the UP arrow to recall previous
commands one at a time, which can then be re-used or edited then used.
To find a specific command, type the first part of the line and then
press SHIFT and the UP arrow (or CTRL-R). Having moved up with the UP
arrow key, you can then move back down with the DOWN arrow key. Or you
can move straight to the bottom of the history of commands by pressing
both SHIFT and DOWN arrow (or CTRL-B) - you'll then have a blank line
ready for a command.
* ALIAS - Another useful feature which lets you make shortcuts for
yourself with commonly used CLI commands. The format is:
ALIAS <alias_name> <string>
where <alias_name> is the short form you give and which you'll use in
future; <string> is the full text of the command. For example
ALIAS L1 "list df1:"
will let you simply type L1 whenever you want to get a listing of df1:.
You can use an ALIAS as part of your command line - if you entered
ALIAS d1 "dir df1:"
and then entered
d1 opt a
the system would understand
dir df1: opt a
To be able to substitute filenames in an alias, include SQUARE
BRACKETS ([]) in the alias. E.g.
ALIAS DA "dir [] opt a"
will allow you to substitute any drive name or directory, as follows:
DA df1:
will be read by the system as
DIR DF1: OPT A
OTHER FEATURES:
- Typing ALIAS by itself lists all the current aliases
- Remove an ALIAS by typing ALIAS <alias_name> only
- Note that aliases are linked specifically to particular SHELLs,
so if you create a new SHELL, your previous ALIASES won't
operate. But since the Batch File s:Shell-Startup is
automatically executed each time you open a new SHELL with the
NEWSHELL command, you can edit that Batch File to add your
frequently used ALIASES.
- If you create a Batch File which does some frequently used
function you can use the PROTECT command to set the SCRIPT BIT
on that file (see the description of the PROTECT command). Then
the SHELL will execute that file as an EXECUTE batch file
instead of as a command, and if you make the EXECUTE command
RESIDENT (see description), and put the S directory where you
keep Batch Files in the COMMAND PATH with the PATH command, you
can rapidly execute all kinds of Batch Files. You can also use
the ALIAS feature to give a short alias to the entire "EXECUTE
MYBatchFile" command.
* REDIRECTION - Apart from the usual redirection capabilities,
using the symbols "<" and ">" (without quotes, e.g. dir > prt: opt a),
there is a further form using ">>", which APPENDS further information
to an existing file. So entering
dir > ram:DirTest
dir >> ram:DirTest c:
will first create a directory listing of the current directory under
the name DIRTEST in RAM, and the next line will add the full listing of
the C directory of the system disk to the bottom of that file.
OTHER SHELLS AVAILABLE
* WSHELL
Written by Bill Hawes, the man responsible for CONMAN (which is almost
a shell in itself, and available as shareware on the Fish disks) this
shell includes Conman 1.3, and provides the features mentioned above
along with:
Command aliases and abbreviations
Extended Prompt string/window title options
Concurrent Piping (ie the output of one process automatically
becomes the input of the next, & so on)
Transparent support for REXX-language Macros
Fixes the AmigaDOS Execute() function
It is designed to run with Conman, TxED, REXX, and the AmigaDOS
Replacement Project commands.
* TSHELL
More like a clone of the various UNIX shells, it adapts that style to
the Amiga, and provides Unix-type filenames, with a syntax similar to C
and a lot of powerful features useful for C programmers in particular.
Available for US$50 from: Metran Technology, P O Box 890, West Oneonta,
NY 13861 USA
Anyone who's using the CLI regularly is wasting a lot of time and
effort if not using a shell such as those above, or perhaps CONMAN or
CSH, another Public Domain shell by Matt Dillon which quite a lot of
people swear by.
######################### END OF 1.3_SHELL ###########################