COMMAND ENTRY User Commands
DESCRIPTION
Once you have successfully logged into the Command Console you will be
prompted at the
command line for a command. A
command consists of a
command name followed by any number of parameters and options each separated
by a space. Commands may be entered in either upper or lower case. The
specific syntax varies from command to command and the
HELP command can be,
well, helpful.
Under JANOS, options are prefixed by the dash '-' character and are each
specified by a single character. For example the command LS -L uses the 'L'
option to provide a long (verbose) format when listing files (the purpose of the
LS command). There are only a couple of exceptions to the single character
option rule. The -? option solicits a brief explanation of the syntax, options
and aliases for most commands. The HELP System offers much more detail.
Options may be grouped after the dash prefix or each provided separately with
their own dash prefix. Generally options may appear in any order and even
before or after parameters such as file names. If an option is defining an
optional parameter that parameter MUST follow the option group specifying
the option. You can experiment to get a feel for the flexibility here.
While you are at the mercy of the terminal client used to access the command
console you can fully edit the line as you enter it. The backspace and delete
keys are available. As these two keys function slightly differently between
Windows and Linux based systems JANOS will attempt to figure out the proper
usage for you.
You can use RIGHT and LEFT cursor movement to move throughout the line and
either insert or overwrite characters. The Insert key (Ins) will toggle
between insert and over-strike modes. The End key will reposition you after
the last character in the line. Similarly the HOME key will move you to the
beginning of the line. The escape key (Esc) can be used to erase any previous
content on the line should you wish to start over.
Commands are executed using the ENTER key. Note that you do not need to be
at the end of a line to execute it.
COMMAND HISTORY
As commands are entered they are recorded in the command history. This history
is specific to the user account and remains persistent from one command
session to another. Up to 200 commands are recorded. You view and search this
list using the
HIST command.
You may scroll through the recent command history using the UP and DOWN
cursor movement. In this fashion you may locate a previous command and, if
necessary, edit it before re-executing it.
The
TAB feature can assist with locating a previously entered command. You
can start typing a command then use TAB to scroll through previous line
entries sharing the initial characters that you have entered. You may edit
and execute any appropriate line. Note that the TAB auto-fill feature changes
mode once you have typed beyond the command name.
FOREIGN CHARACTER SUPPORT (UTF-8)
The JNIOR supports foreign character sets through Unicode and UTF-8
encoding. UTF-8 is a variable-length character encoding standard that
permits characters to be represented by integers in a range large enough
to support Unicode. As such a single character may be encoded in as many
as 4 bytes.
We continue to enhance your ability to specify Unicode not only from the
command line but also within application programs and scripting.
JANOS uniquely offers the CTRL-U Unicode accent toggle during command and
text entry. This simply allows you to enter a
base character such as the
letter 'e' and then to use Ctrl-U repeatedly afterwards to cycle through
the known forms of accenting the may be applied to that base character. With
this shortcut you may quickly utilize accenting as would be appropriate
for your locale.
Beginning with JANOS v2.5 the system should be fully compatible with the
presence of UTF-8 characters in all file and folder names.
SEE ALSO
HELP Topics:
HIST,
HELP,
HISTORY
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