**************************************************************************** * I'll make this documentation short n' sweet so you can either start * * using these utilities immediately or delete them without further effort. * **************************************************************************** -=> NOTICE! All these programs were written for the CLI only! <=- Three of these programs (do, setup, shutdown) are quick n' dirty (tm) programs I wrote to make my life ents. | PIPE specifier. The output from the command on the left becomes the input to the command on the right. The current SHELL implimentation uses temporary files to store the data. !! execute the previously executed command. !nn (nn is a number). Insert the history command numbered n (see the HISTORY command) !partial search backwards through the history list for a command which looks the same as 'partial', and execute it. # Enter comment. The rest of the line is discarded (note: \# will, of course, overide the comment character's special meaning) ^search^replace a '^' at the beginning of the line indicates history replacement. The first occurance of 'search' in the previous command is changed to 'replace', and the command executed. SHELL COMMANDS The first argument is the command-name... if it doesn't exist in the list below and isn't an alias, it is assumed to be an external (disk) command. AUTOMATIC SOURCING may be accomplished by naming shell scripts with a .sh suffix. Thus, if you say 'stuff' and the file 'stuff.sh' exists in your current or C: directory, it will be SOURCED with any arguments you have placed in the $_passed variable. EXCEPTION_PROCESSING if no _except variable exists, any command which fails causes the rest of the line to abort as if an ABORTLINE had been executed. If the _except variable exists, it is of the form: "nnn;commands..." where nnn is some value representing the minimum return code required to cause an error. Whenever a command returns a code which is larger or equal to nnn, the commands in _except are executed before anything. WHEN _except EXISTS, THE COMMAND LINE DOES NOT ABORT AUTOMATICALLY. Thus, if you want the current line being executed to be aborted, the last command in _except should be an "abortline". exception handling is disabled while in the exception handling routine (thus you can't get into any infinite loops this way). Thus if _except = ";", return codes are completely ignored. example: set _except "20;abortline" ABORTLINE or just 'abort'. Causes the rest of the line to be aborted. Used in conjunction with exception handling. % echo a;abort;echo b a HELP simply displays all the available commands. The commands are displayed in search-order. That is, if you give a partial name the first command that matches that name in this list is the one executed. Generally, you should specify enough of a command so that it is completely unique. QUIT EXIT RETURN [n] quit my SHELL (awww!). End, El-Zappo, Kapow. Done, Finis. If you use RETURN and are on the top source level, the shell exits with the optional return code. (see RETURN below) SET SET name SET name string The first method lists all current variable settings. The second method lists the setting for that particular variable, or creates the variable if it doesn't exist (to "") The last method sets a variable to a string. see the section on special _ variables down below UNSrn searching. Yes, you can use wildcards in your '$value's. I use the '*' to replace any SINGLE character. Yeah, maybe I should've used '?', but I might fix that next version (if enough interest is generated). For example, "$8*4e" will match $08(any value)4e, and "$1a**ff" will match $1a(any value)(any value)ff. DiskSearch will return in what block and at what hex value it found $value. Instead of searching for a value, you can simply dump whatever's on blocks [start] to [end] by using a filename instead of a hex value. Note that DiskSearch parses the command line really stupid-like, so anything that doesn't start with a '$' is a filename. Again, sorry. You can then do whatever you like with the file produced. If, for example, a file is "hidden" on a disk, you can find where it starts and where it ends (using DiskX perhaps, or searching for a $3f3/$3f2 pattern) and then use DiskSearch to dump those blocks to a file that you can fiddle with to your heart's content. [start] and [end] are optional, although if you want an [end], you HAVE TO also supply a [start]. These are the blocks that the program will search in/dump to a file. Default values are [0] and [1759], the limits of normal 3 1/2" Amiga disks. Note this program will not work with any other type of disk drive, 5 1/4" or hard or otherwise. Real limited, but if people want an expanded version, I'll try to make it more "worldly." The usefulness of DiskSearch is only limited by your imagination. I used it (and originally wrote it for) looking in a disk-based game (no helpful filenames to DIR) for where it decrements the number of lives you had (a SUBQ.W #1,
command) and eliminating it. The process went really fast with the '*' wildcarding. =========================================================================== That should do it. If you have any comments/questions/suggestions/ flames/etc., I can be reached at any of the following addresses: Arthur Johnson Jr. -=> {uiucuxc, hoptoad, petsd}!peora!rtmvax!bilver!alj -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=> alj@bilver.UUCP -=> PLink: DUNG -=> GEnie: A.JOHNSONJR - or - Arthur Johnson Jr. 225 Montego Bay Court Merritt Island, FL 32953 (407) 277-0548 P.S. I apologize for the state of this documentation. Usually I manage to be a little more explanatory and clear, but for some reason it's harder to tell people what a real simple program does than for a long and involved one. Strange but true. P.S.S. Now that I have these programs out o' my hair, look for ShowFont version 3.3 in the next couple of weeks with bug fixes and new features.