home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
By Popular Request 2.0
/
By Popular Request 2.0 (Arsenal Computer).ISO
/
amiga_1
/
amytutrl.lha
/
Part4
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-06-13
|
27KB
|
514 lines
And now, guess what?! It's time for some more of that neat CLI stuff!!
Oh please Mr. BenchMaster, can we have Assign first??
Sorry kids, like desert, you'll have to finish your plates before we get
to the good stuff, and that means every last byte!
Okay, I'm just going to skip through the c directory; most of the commands
just kind of do one thing so don't need much additional comment.
AddBuffers-keep it until you get FaccII
Assign-sorry, next section
Break-Will stop some tasks that otherwise don't have an off command.
CD-sorry, next section too
Copy-makes a copy of a file where you specify, with a different name if you
so further specify. Use "all" to copy all directories and files
Date-shows or sets date
Delete-deletes specified file unless "all" is used, then deletes specified
directory and all files/subdirectories within
Dir-shows specified directory's contents. "Dir opt a" for total Dir
DiskDoctor-for recovering deleted files or files from a damaged disk
Echo-for printing out text in a CLI window
Ed-the text editor
Else, If, EndIf-next section
EndCLI-closes CLI window; doesn't close if you've Run certain programs still
in operation, Runback might/should fix this
Execute-a "Run" for scriptfiles, if I may be so bold
FailAt-We're keeping it around as a sentimental reminder of what our
startup-sequence USED to look like
Fault-translates error message number into semi-English
Info-already covered. You can get a better one off the BBS's
Install-to make a formatted disk bootable
Join-combines textfiles. Use "Join (file1) (file2) AS (file3)"
List-lists bytes in dir, to be replaced with DL, which will go into
directories in depth, giving you the full byteage
LoadWB-loads up the Workbench screen
MakeDir-makes a new directory, but not the icon for it. For the .info file
you have to copy over (and rename) another drawer icon, or make up
a new one in IconEd
NewCLI-it differs from the CLI command that was in the System drawer in only
one way, but you can play with them. Both can have their window size
changed with NewZap
Path-mentioned throughout the tutorial
Prompt-changes the ">" sign for your CLI. Could have some use
Quit-never found it to do much
Rename-renames files as well as moves them. Learn this guy as well as Copy
Run-for tools/programs
SetClock-for setting the internal and system clocks
Sort-alphabetizes textfiles. Use "Sort (file1) TO (file2)"
Stack-you won't need this until you get into animations but I left it in
just in case some graphics hack you've downloaded wants it. If so,
there'll be numbers in the STACK box in the icon's Info window
Status-gives you general status of CLI tasks. Like Info, there are better
ones around but I find this one adequate
Type-went into the dumper as soon as you got Less
Version-left in just in case somebody/something wants it
Wait-holds up CLI process for requested number of secs/mins
Why-like Fault, gives you feedback on error. Use right after boo-boo
Okay, that's it for these clowns.
Assign, Info, List and Status are the four commands you type alone into
the CLI to see the current condition of the system. Use them.
*
Well, I fibbed. This is the next section and we're NOT going to go
over those other commands just yet. Aw-w, gee Uncle BenchMaster, c'mon,
just one little Assign, pretty-please???
Well, okay. Geez, I'm such a sucker for you brats. Now, remember when I
said we'd wipe out the fonts dir, get all the space back and still have
access to the fonts? Here's how: We'll make a fresh fonts dir on a blank
disk and Assign fonts over to that disk, so when Notepad or whatever goes
looking for fonts, there they'll be. Put a freshly formatted disk in df1
and rename it FontDisk. Type "MakeDir df1:fonts", and you should have a
fonts dir on FontDisk. If you still have all the fonts in your Workbench
directory, type "Copy fonts df1:fonts all". If you've already blasted them,
boot up your Workbench 1.2 and copy them over. Now to run Notepad with
df1's fonts, somewhere before you start up Notepad you need to Assign the
fonts over to df1, which you can do a number of ways.
- You can just put "Assign fonts: df1:fonts" in your st-seq but then
FontDisk always has to be in df1 when you're booting up or it stops.
- A variation on the above would be to put a
If exists df1:fonts
Assign fonts: df1:fonts
endif
in the st-seq so it can see if df1:fonts is there or not. One hitch
with this is that unless FontDisk is in df1 during boot-up you'll STILL
have to Assign them over before using the Notepad. Also, you could have
some ol' game disk with a font dir on it in df1 by mistake and things would
really mixt up get.
- You could, of course, just type "Assign fonts: df1:fonts" in a CLI
before using the Notepad every time. Personally, I can't even imagine it.
- You could write a scriptfile saying nothing but "Assign fonts: df1:
fonts", call it, say, "fo" (for fonts), and go "f fo" before firing up the
Notepad. But then, of course, you still have to remember to do it.
- You could use Xicon and run that same scriptfile from an icon,
located, say, right next to the Notepad icon and that would do it for you.
- Or, of course, you could do it the right way. I've given you enough
clues in these pages to let you piece it together for yourself.
Clue: It's run but not run.
*
A few mentions on the new programs you've downloaded/are downloading..
The basic gang:
Conman - Only makes the CLI about 2000% times easier to use. Use -q -t in
your st-seq. The F2 and F10 keys are great.
Lace - It still has a few bugs. The perfect Lace would remember where the
windows were when you go back to Interlace
Less - Allows you to Ed with "v". Use "g" and "G" for top & bottom of page.
This is the only program I can think of that uses "hot keys", meaning
you don't have to hit the Return. Rename it as Type.
PrefCh - Can also be used for different printer set-ups.
Mackie - Must be RunBack'd in st-seq. You can make it do different things
but I like it straight up (NewCLI). It's especially handy when
you've got the DU and a bunch of windows open and you just want a
CLI window for a second..hit Commodore-Esc, bang, up pops the
window, you do your thing, slap an "e" in there (for EndCLI) and
you're back to where you were, without a bunch of window-shuffling.
Runback - Always/usually use instead of Run in a scriptfile (like st-seq).
Select - Can also be used at any time in a scriptfile by giving it different
options. My favorite Prefs color scheme for it is (Interlace)
000/677/000/707, SavePref'd as "system-configuration".
Xicon201 - I confess I only use this as a basic Workbench tool to run
scriptfiles with..the doc with it mentions lots of options.
Others:
Arc - Always, always include a zzenpad.foo file (300-500 bytes) with every
file you re-arc. The BenchMaster decrees it be so. Supposedly these
newer types of compressors don't need padding at the end, but since
it's the ONLY thing we can do, we've just got to. Most of the prob-
lems you'll have with corrupt files will probably be due to nothing
more than good ol' phone line interference. More on that later.
Pkax - This is only a de-arc'er, but it just blows the doors off Arc, time-
wise. For what it's worth, I have never had a program de-arc with
Arc and not with Pkax. On the same subject, I've heard the Arc
people are all bent out of shape because of Pkax and are threatening
to encode the Arc'd file so ONLY Arc will be able to de-arc it. If
that's the stupidest thing you've ever heard of, join the club.
DL - Rename it List2, use List for JUST a directory, List2 -R -s (dir) for
in-depth look. Has to be capital "R". Maybe I missed something (I
just now looked again..), but it just seems absurd that the Commodore
command List doesn't look in a directory's sub-directories as well,
thus giving you the total byteage for that directory. Oh well. I
MUST have missed something. DL, by the way, has a little bug; it adds
a day or two onto the write date of the file. Hey, details, details.
DU-VI - See that gap in between the two screens? I kept thinking, gee, what
a blow-it, you think he would have noticed! Then, while fumbling
about one day moving the right window out of the way so I could get
to the Bench icon, I realized, oops, wasn't a blow-it at all! I
was just kind of keeping my icons over on the right 'cause that's
where they'd always been, but obviously you can Snapshot them where-
ever you want..so now I have my Ram and Workbench icons under that
gap, so I can get to them when the DU's up.
If there's any "bug" with DU-VI it's that it has its own Type
program built-in, and you can't use Type (Less, renamed as Type)
which is really a drag, Less being so much better. Put "Run Ed" in
the Edit requester instead of just "Ed", so you can still use the
DU. To "refresh" a directory, click in the lower box behind the
directory's name, and then Return.
Blitzfonts - Not necessary, just one of those programs where once you get
used to it you notice it immediately when it's gone. Use
Runback in st-seq. If you need byte space it's one of the
first to go.
Zoomlens - For just a simple tool this can get pretty surreal. I mean,
you always wondered what infinity looked like, right?
PlayBeep - I love this guy. Gets rid of that nasty screen flash and substi-
tutes whatever little IFF sound file you wish. There's a great
"ow.snd" off a similar program called SetBeep you should try.
*
Let's go over CD for a sec just to make sure you're familiar with it. If
there's any command on the disk that's "ours", CD is it. Basically, it
means you, meaning your fingers, meaning the keyboard, meaning where the
commands being typed on the screen are coming from. You can CD onto any
device and into any directory. Type "CD Ram:" and you're in Ram. How do
you know? Type "CD" and it'll tell ya. If you type "Dir" then you'll be
shown what's in "your" directory and/or device. Type "CD df0:System",
then type "Dir". Dir will show you what's in the directory you've CD'd to.
You don't have to CD to a directory to find out what's in it, of course.
Type "CD df0:", then type "CD" and it should spit the Bench's name back at
you. Type "Dir" and there's the stuff on the "surface" of the disk. Then
type "Dir System" and there's the System stuff. You already know this
stuff? Great, no problem.
CD can save us a bunch of keystrokes if we're writing a scriptfile and
have to copy or rename or whatever a bunch of files buried deep in some
directory. Let's say we've got a disk with nothing but IFF pictures on
it, a whole bunch of them, all in separate directories. We want to write a
file that when we Execute it it will copy just certain pics to Ram. So first
we "Ed X/pics1", which will create a new scriptfile called "pics1" located
in the directory X. The pics we want to copy to Ram are in a directory on
df1 called Modern, inside a directory called Art, inside a directory called
Pics, inside a directory called Graphics. Since this is already confusing
enough, we'll just call the pics 1,2,3,4 and 5. Using Ed, we'd write
Copy df1:Graphics/Pics/Art/Modern/1 Ram:
Copy df1:Graphics/Pics/Art/Modern/2 Ram:
Copy df1:Graphics/Pics/Art/Modern/3 Ram:
Copy df1:Graphics/Pics/Art/Modern/4 Ram:
Copy df1:Graphics/Pics/Art/Modern/5 Ram:
Whew! With the CD command, we can do this:
CD df1:Graphics/Pics/Art/Modern
Copy 1 Ram:
Copy 2 Ram:
Copy 3 Ram:
Copy 4 Ram:
Copy 5 Ram:
See that? It put us into the Modern dir and then when we said to Copy
(or Rename or whatever) a file, the computer knew just where to find it, as
it was right there "alongside" us. We have to CD into most directories
where programs and games and their associated files are kept for the same
reason. The computer can only "be" in one spot at a time (not speaking
about multi-tasking) and CD tells it where to go & us where we are.
*
As you've noticed, I've been playing pretty fast and loose with the words
"directory" and "drawer", and not by accident. You might as well get used
to them meaning (approximately) the same thing, kind of like that program/
tool/utility business. I'm tending to just use them as the occasion fits;
you put things into drawers but you dir a directory, yes? What you have to
realize, and yes it comes as a surprise, is that there are "purists" out
there who completely disdain the entire Workbench environment, windows, icons
and all. Perhaps "elitists" is the word. Irregardless, it's just another
word for "old-fashioned". You'll find after a few months the keyboard and
mouse blending together very nicely; there are certain functions that
naturally fall into the CLI's domain and certain ones that just cry out for
a cute icon. And right in the middle of it all is big 'ol DU.
And as long as we're talking about putting the knock on friendly ol'
Workbench, you'll also hear our DOS being put down here and there, but not
to fret; just take a glance at an MS/DOS book (IBM language) sometime and
you'll quickly see there's no comparison. We're talking about two completely
different things. Ours is just perfect for what we want to do, proven by
asking the question "Just what commands are we MISSING, anyways?" The only
command "missing" is a "Move" command, as Rename won't move something to a
different device. But they didn't include one although they certainly could
have, and I've never seen one on a BBS, so I guess that's just The Way It's
Supposed To Be. Conversely, it's probably why the DU was invented.
Revised Edition note: I finally DID find one, "Move2.4". THANK you.
And one other thing: You'll hear mention of "bugs" in AmigaDOS. The "Arp.
library" are the "fixed" versions. I've never had a command NOT work, given
everything else was in place, so frankly I don't have the foggiest idea what
they're talking about. Unless you know better, I would call substituting
our commands with the Arp.library "looking for trouble".
I kinda feel the same way about the "Shell" program you'll hear some
people raving about. It's huge, byte-wise, claims to replace your c
commands but doesn't really, and by the time you add this complicated
program to "simplify" things, you're less than breaking even.
*
One of the nicer things about the WorkBench environment is being able to
take icons and "store" them on the WorkBench screen, enabling us to close
the window and make some space, yet still having them a double-click away.
*
If you haven't downloaded Conman yet, you're really missing the boat. I
guarantee it'll be one of your best buddies ever. I give it my highest
praise: It should have been included with the original software. I'd even
settle for that tool dir on the Extras/Basic disk. Which, yes, we'll get to
eventually. Don't hold your breath, though, there's not much on it for us
of the computerati illiterae.
*
Figured out that deal with Notepad and the fonts yet?
*
There are two great keyboard commands that as far as I know aren't
documented anywhere, probably a 1.2 upgrade. I read about them in a
letter to AmigaWorld..what can I say? They're Commodore-N and Commodore-M.
They flip you back and forth between screens, two much-used commands. If a
program, like gShow, mentions "toggle", that's possibly what it means. To
be fair, I think I did see them buried in one of the books eventually, but
in some obscure context. They should have been highlighted in Chapter Four.
*
You're probably getting a handle on Path, that elusive rascal. Path shows
the computer where directories are so it can find tools when you command it
to. One thing you have to remember about Path is that it only leads to the
dir you name, even if it has to go through a couple of directories to do it.
The directories it goes through to get to yours are not in the path unless
specifically named. I'm not sure if this makes sense or not; I haven't been
in a situation where I wanted to make sure something DIDN'T have a path for
it or to it. Now that I've said that I'm sure one will arise. Just Path
everything that has a tool in it that you might want and be done with it.
*
Okay...NOW we'll do Assign. Nothing to it, really. Simply Assign
anything to what you want and that's it!
*
Now I'd like to say a few words about the program Xicon. It's one of the
more integral programs on your download list, meaning that it touches a lot
of areas of the computer. I'm not going to call it a subroutine, though,
as it only works when called upon, like any tool, whereas Mackie and
FaccII and the like are "always" running in the background, and that's
easily proved by quitting the programs and watching the memory they were
using come back. Some subroutines, like Conman and Newfont, don't have off
switches, so once they're run the memory's gone. That, again, is where
Select comes into play, which makes it so important. What's that? You
thought the section on Assign was kind of skimpy? Are you sure?? Look,
I'll make you a deal: YOU solve the Notepad/fonts puzzle and I'll give you
another whole paragraph on Assign..fair enough? Now put this down and get
busy, gol'dang it!
*
Generally, the proper proceedure for using Xicon is this: (I elaborate on
this program because the doc is kinda big. That doesn't make sense, but
that's what I'm doing)
Let's say we want to run a program, any program, say, Notepad for
instance. The only hitch is that on the Bench we've only got some lonesome
ol' Topaz 11 kickin' around the fonts drawer, all the good stuff's on
FontDisk. We haul out Ed and write up a scriptfile for Xicon to run. We
type "Ed Utilities/Notepad!", note that the exclamation mark differs it from
the program "Notepad". You can use any name, "Note.Pad" for all I care,
just so long as it's not the actual program's name. So our scriptfile
looks like this:
Assign fonts: df1:fonts
CD df0:Utilities
Notepad
Assign fonts: df0:fonts
First we assigned the fonts directory over to the one on df1, so when
Notepad went looking for "fonts", it was re-directed to the fonts dir on df1.
Then we ran the Notepad program, but we didn't Run it, that's the deal. If
we'd Run it the scriptfile would have continued, the fonts dir would have
been reassigned to df0 and Notepad wouldn't have found them. This way they
stay on df1 until the Notepad program is ended, allowing the scriptfile to
continue. This is an elemental part of the whole Amiga scheme so make sure
you understand it. Did I call it a "puzzle"? Excuse me.
So you've got your file written, Esc-X, Return to save it. By the way, I
CD'd into the Utilities directory before running the Notepad because Xicon
likes you to CD into the directory. It wasn't essential; you'll use Xicon a
lot and discover its workings. The next step is to change the Notepad
icon from a tool to a project, as Xicon needs a project icon to run from. If
you don't have IconType or IconLab yet (where have you BEEN?), haul out good
ol' IconEd, load up a project icon and the Notepad icon and do the switch.
Save it as "df0:Utilities/Notepad!" (the .info is added automatically) to
match our (!) scriptfile.
Close IconEd, open the Utilities drawer and there our icon should be.
Double-click it just to watch the error message and make a fool of yourself,
then activate the icon and pull down the Info menu. Activate the Default
Tool box with the mouse then type in "df0:c/Xicon", hit Return, then SAVE
the Info. Ready for the big moment? Double-click the icon, things should
scratch around for a while then up Notepad should pop. Check the fonts to
make sure they're loaded. Quit the program, the fonts should re-assign
themselves to df0, and that's that. You find out what things are currently
assigned to by typing "Assign". The box Xicon popped up is VERY valuable
when getting a scriptfile running as that's your feedback window, which,
hopefully, will tell you if something's screwing up. Like if you didn't have
FontDisk in df1 and the Assign failed, it'll tell you. After the program's
running smooth, re-open the Info window for the icon, click the ADD box then
the Tool Types box and type in MODE=nowindow That'll keep the window from
opening. It also one of the few times capitals count; any command in the
Tool Types box is ALWAYS capitalized, far as I know. If you have the older
version of Xicon you'll type in MODE=closewindow.
An improvement in the scriptfile would be to say
Assign fonts: FontDisk:fonts
to make sure the Assign seeks out the disk by name, in which case you'll get
a requester if Fontdisk isn't in one of the drives.
Xicon, remember, is only for running scriptfiles from the Workbench. You
could always rename that Notepad! script to "n", put it in the s dir, and as
fast as your fingers could type "f n", you'd be on your way. Given how
small, byte-wise, a scriptfile is, you could have both. Yes, but I hear
you ask, as long as you have to open Utilities to get to the CLI, why not
just punch Notepad! as long as you're there? Well, that, my friend, is
because you don't have a handy little CLI window or two pop open down at
the bottom of your Bench during boot-up for just such an occasion.
But you will, you will...
*
The thing to understand about Assign is that it's not complicated, al-
though it seems kind of hairy because we're dealing with device names and
some of our major directories and such. What it really is is kind of a
ChangeName command;
ChangeName (oldname) to (newname)
If we mention the fonts dir to the computer, it's thinking "df0:fonts", so
in Notepad's case we:
ChangeNamed "df0:fonts" to "df1:fonts".
or
Assign fonts: df1:fonts
There might be the odd occasion where we'd want to have the libs dir in
Ram for speed and/or lack of disk access. Something like:
Makedir Ram:libs
Copy libs Ram:libs all
Assign libs: Ram:libs
Then when some program goes seeking a lib, the libs dir has had it's name
changed to "Ram:libs" and the program seeks it there. AND real quickly, we
notice. AND without disk access, we re-notice.
With my hard drive I boot up with a regular Workbench, but at some point in
the st-seq I assign most of the Workbench dirs over to the dirs on the hard
drive. If you "Dir devs" the computer is thinking "Df0:devs", so in the
st-seq I:
Assign devs: dh0:devs
Assign libs: dh0:libs
Assign s: dh0:s
etc
So now if I "Dir devs" the computer thinks "dh0:devs". I "ChangeNamed"
"(assumed df0):devs" to "dh0:devs".
Occasionally some program will suddenly put up a requester saying something
like "Please Insert Disk So-And-So", so at some point in your scriptfile
you'd "Assign So-And-So: df0:Gamedir" or whatever dir you've got the program
in. Some programs have their own fonts or whatever they want to use, so you
put the fonts in their own little dir in Gamedir, then "Assign fonts: df0:
gamedir/fonts", so when the program looks for "fonts", it's re-directed to
"df0:gamedir/fonts".
Try "Assign X: df0:Clock". Type "X:" and you get the Clock. Gee, saved
you a whole three key strokes!
Goof around with Assign for awhile until you feel comfortable with it..you
can't hurt anything and you can always re-boot if you lose it.
*
A few words on If, EndIf and Else. Unless you want to get cute and start
using all the sub-commands that go along with these three, things are pretty
straightforward. Take a glance in one of the DOS books if you forget the
correct format. Basically, it just checks to see if a file or directory is
there, or not there, and then does something, or not. The something it
does can be a whole string of commands or nothing. Ditto if the file
isn't there. The reason that mess is in the startup-sequence is just
in case some idiot renames either the System or Utilities directories, in
which case the Path command would fail. That's not so bad; if the Path
command fails the scriptfile continues to execute. With a different command,
like Assign, it grinds to a halt, so the commands CAN be important.
*
Some real homework for you: Admittedly, the Notepad/fonts "puzzle" wasn't
much of one, so here's a problem that will, hopefully, make you do a little
creative thinking. I mentioned it above but you probably haven't tried it
yet. It was the placing the Ram icon behind the gap between the DU's
windows. You can't just Snapshot it there like you can the Workbench one,
because it just saves the information in Ram, which goes bye-bye when you
re-boot. Your homework is this:
Upon booting up, you should have a custom, NOT default, Ram icon in the
spot where the DU's gap will be. Its window has to open just where you want
it to. Extra credit will be given if you Dir Ram after booting up and it's
empty! The new icon's there and working, but there's no "disk.info" file in
Ram. You have until the end of the tutorial to solve this mighty poser.
*