A2osX/.Docs/Shell Developers Guide.md

A2osX Shell Developers Guide

Updated December 1, 2019

One of the most significant parts of A2osX is its shell which can perform both interactive and scripted tasks. Using the interactive part of the shell, you can perform many common and complex tasks using both built-in (native or internal to shell) and external (BIN or executable) commands. Internal commands include CD (change directory), MD (make directory), PWD, DATE, etc. External commands include CP (copy), RM (remove), CAT (display file contents), TELNET, etc. It is even possible to create and execute short scripts right on the interactive command line (these are run once and not saved like true scripts) such as:

FOR FILE IN `LS -C CT*`; CAT ${FILE}; NEXT

In this example, the system will generate a list of files found in the current directory which match the CT* wild card and perform the CAT operation on each. The semicolons act as line separators allowing you to type in multiple commands, or short scripts on a single line.

This Developers Guide will cover the basic operation of the interactive shell, the internal shell commands and creation of complex scripts that can be run by the shell. For information on external commands consult the A2osX Command Guide.

About the A2osX Shell (SH)

The default A2osX Shell ./BIN/SH is an external command program like many others included with A2osX. It is probably the most complex and capable, as suggested by its size compared to other commands (7K vs 1K for TELNET). It is the primary tool for interacting with the A2osX system. The SH shell is based loosely on the Linux BASH shell, to the extent possible on an 8-bit machine. Alternative shells are planned for the future and will be announced as they become available.

As the primary mechanism for working with A2osX, the shell (SH) is launched automatically when you log into A2osX. In the case where no ./ETC/PASSWD file is present, A2osX automatically logs you in as the ROOT user. When a user login occurs and SH is launched, it looks for a file called PROFILE in the users HOME directory and if found, executes that script. The information below on writing scripts applies to PROFILE script files.

Interacting with the Shell

To interact with the A2osX shell, you type commands at the prompt, which ends with a $ character. The prompt usually includes your current working directory such as /FULLBOOT/ROOT/$. You can change the prompt by changing the $PS1 variable (see below). At the $ prompt you can enter any of the valid internal shell commands, an external program file name or a script file name. For external programs and scripts, A2osX will search in the directories specified in the $PATH variable and then in the current directory.

Special Keys

While entering commands at the A2osX shell prompt, you can use the following special keys to edit the command line:

Key	Usage
DELETE	Deletes character to left of cursor and moves cursor/rest of line to the left
Control-C	Erases entire command line
Control-D	Exits Shell and if the top most Shell logs you out of your session
Control-Z	Deletes character under the cursor
Up Arrow	Displays previous command from history. Multiple Up Arrows scrolls progressively through history
Down Arrow	Displays next command from history. Multiple Down Arrows scrolls progressively through history
Left Arrow	Moves cursor to the left to edit current command
Right Arrow	Moves cursor to the right to edit current command

In addition to the editing keys above, you can use the following special keys while running scripts or executing commands:

Key	Usage
Control-C	Interrupts running command or script
Open Apple-0	Switches you to the console display
Open Apple-1 to 4	Switches you to Virtual Terminals 1 through 4 if so configured

Internal Commands

The A2osX Shell contains an advanced set of internal commands. Several of these commands are typically used interactively (at the $ prompt) while others are typically used in scripts. Technically all of these commands can be used both interactively or in scripts, though many really only show their power in scripts you develop or run.

Whether in scripts or typed in at the interactive Shell prompt ($), most commands support, or even require, one or more <arguments> and/or <options>. Commands typically use <values> as their <arguments> and <switches> as their <options>, however in some cases you may use <expressions> or <conditions>. A full command line may be in the form of

command \<switch\> \<value\> \<switch\> argument argument   or
command \[ <\condition\> \]

where in the first nomenclature a command performs an action with or on the objects passed as <arguments>, modifying its behavior (the action it performs) based on <switches> if present. For example in the case of LS -L /MYVOL the command is LS, the option or switch is -L and the argument (target of the operation) is /MYVOL, which in this case the command would print a long listing of the root directory fo the ProDOS volume named /MYVOL. The second nomenclature is used with the logic/control commands IF and WHILE where a <condition> is evaluated and the result is processed by the command to effect program flow.

A note on command line structure for internal and external commands: When passing a command a series of arguments, you must include a space between each argument. In addition, if a command has an option that requires an argument, there must also be a space between the option and its argument. For example, when using the READ command which has the -S -P and -N options, the -P and -N options both require an argument so the full use of the command would be READ -S -N 3 -P "My Prompt" AVAR. Do not use -N3 as you might in Linux or DOS as you will generate a Syntax Error and the command will fail to execute. Also note, for many commands the order of the arguments is important (i.e. CP sourcefile destfile, order critical), however the order of Options is not. READ -S -N 3 -P "MyPrompt" AVAR is the same as **READ -P "MyPrompt" AVAR -S -N 3 ** as well as READ -S AVAR -N 3 -P "MyPrompt". What is critical here is that you must have a number immediately after -N and a string after -P which will be the prompt.

Arguments

As briefly discussed above, almost all commands take and most even require an argument which affects the command's behavior. For example the SLEEP command requires that you pass it an argument that indicates the amount of time to SLEEP. Arguments come in many forms; each of these is discussed here.

<conditions>

The shell features a lot of built-in checks and comparisons called <conditions> throughout this guide. This particular form of an argument is used exclusively by the IF and WHILE commands where the <condition> is evaluated and result is used to control program flow with in the defined IF-ELSE-FI or WHILE-LOOP block. All conditions must be encloded with in brackets []. In addition to the capabilities found in the extensive list of checks and comparisons listed below, conditional execution can be enhanced by negating with an ! in front of a condition and/or compounding with AND and OR between two or more conditions. The following scripts show examples of the possible conditions can use while writing your own scripts.

Note: The examples below make use of the ; directive which allows you to put multiple statements on one line. So for example

IF [ condition ] ; ECHO result ; ELSE ; ECHO message ; FI

Is the same as

IF [ condition ]
	ECHO result
ELSE
	ECHO message
FI

The single line notation allows these sample scripts to be significantly shorter; their operation is not affected. Also note, you are not limited to a single command line between the IF/ELSE/FI statements. See the documentation of the IF command for more information.

The shell includes several "checks" that can be used to easily determine if certain <conditions> are true or false. The format of a check is [ -CHECK <value> ] where -CHECK is one -D (is a directory), -E (is a directory or a file), -F (is a file), -I (is an integer), -N (is a null), -X (is a defined function) or -Z (is not null) and where <value> is a variable or literal on which to perform the check. This script demonstrates the usage of these "Check" Conditions.

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   IF [ -CHECK <value> ] Examples
#
#	Echo "Found" if their is a subdirectory TEST is in the current directory
#	If TEST is not present, or is present but a file, this Check would fail
IF [ -D TEST ] ; ECHO "Found" ; FI
#	If -D using a variable
SET FNAME = "TEST" ; IF [ -D $FNAME ] ; ECHO "Found" ; FI
#	Echo "Found" if a file or a subdirectory named TEST is in the current directory
IF [ -E TEST ] ; ECHO "Found" ; FI
#	Echo "Found" if the file PROFILE is in the top most directory of the volume MYVOL
#   IF PROFILE were a directory name and not a file, this Check would fail
IF [ -F /MYVOL/PROFILE ] ; ECHO "Found" ; FI
#	Echo "True" if the <value> is an Integer
SET ABC = 123 ; IF [ -I $ABC ] ; ECHO "True" ; FI	# Would Echo True
SET ABC = "Hello" ; IF [ -I $ABC ] ; ECHO "True" ; FI	# False no Echo
IF [ -I 123.456 ] ; ECHO "True" ; ELSE ; ECHO "False" ; FI	# Echo False
#	Note the next two -N and -Z are in affect opposites of each other ![ -N ] = [ -Z ]
#	Echo "True" if the variable is not empty (non-null)
SET ABC = "Hello" ; IF [ -N $ABC ] ; ECHO "True" ; FI	# True
#	Echo "True" if a function named MYFUNC has been defined
#	See the section on functions for more information on this check
IF [ -X MYFUNC ] ; ECHO "True" ; FI					# False
#	Echo "True" if the variable is empty/does not exist (null)
SET ABC =  ; IF [ -Z $ABC ] ; ECHO "True" ; FI		# True
SET ABC = "Hello" ; IF [ -Z $ABC ] ; ECHO "True" ; FI	# False

This script demonstrates the usage of the various String evaluation Conditions. They are equals (=), not equals (!=), less than (.<), less than or equal (<=), greater than (.>) and greater than or equal (>=).

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   IF [ String <comparator> String ] <conditions> Examples
#
SET A = "ABC"
SET B = "DEF"
IF [ $A  = $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# False - BYE
IF [ $A != $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# True  - HI
IF [ $A .< $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# True  - HI
IF [ $A <= $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# True  - HI
IF [ $A .> $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# False - BYE
IF [ $A >= $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# False - BYE

Note if you set A = 123 and B = "DEF" and do those tests you will get an error on some of the tests since one of the variables is an integer and both variables should be strings.

This script demonstrates the usage of the various Integer evaluation Conditions. They are equals (-eq), not equals (-ne), less than (-lt), less than or equal (-le), greater than (-gt) and greater than or equal (-ge).

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   IF [ Int32 <comparator> Int32 ] <conditions> Examples
#
SET A = 123
SET B = 456
IF [ $A -eq  $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# False - BYE
IF [ $A -ne  $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# True  - HI
IF [ $A -lt  $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# True  - HI
IF [ $A -le  $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# True  - HI
IF [ $A -gt  $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# False - BYE
IF [ $A -ge  $B ] ; ECHO HI ; ELSE ; ECHO BYE ; FI		# False - BYE

Note if you set A = 123 and B = "Hello" and do those tests you will get an error since one of the variables is string and both variables must be integers.

To help simplify scripts in some cases, you can modify any of the above <conditions> by preceding it with an exclamation (!) or NOT symbol. For instance you might have a script that creates a temporary file that normally would be stored in ${ROOT}TMP/. Before attempting to create a file in this directory you might check to see if it exists and if not create it. This script would do that:

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   Check for TMP and create if missing
#
IF [ -D ${ROOT}/TMP ]
ELSE
	MD ${ROOT}/TMP
FI

Notice that the work being done here is in the ELSE block, or when the check fails. You may find it better to use the NOT (!) modifier and write the script this way:

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   Check for TMP and create if missing
#
IF ![ -D ${ROOT}/TMP ]
	MD ${ROOT}/TMP
FI

You can further extend <conditions> by building complex evaluations that consist of multiple check or comparison <conditions> joined by AND and/or OR. The following are examples using AND and OR.

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   IF <conditions> with AND and OR Examples
#
SET A = 123
SET B = 456
# With AND you can test 2 or more things at once
IF [ $A -eq 123 ] AND [ $B -eq 456 ]
	ECHO HI
ELSE
	ECHO BYE
FI			# True  - HI
# Test that 3 conditions are ALL true
IF [ $A -eq 123 ] AND [ $B -eq 456 ] AND [ $C = "Your Name" ]
	ECHO HI
ELSE
	ECHO BYE
FI			# False - BYE  (because 3rd condition not met)
# With OR you can test if either condition is met 
IF [ $A -eq 123 ] OR [ $B -eq 456 ]
	ECHO HI
ELSE
	ECHO BYE
FI			# True  - HI
IF [ $A -eq 999 ] OR [ $B -eq 456 ]
	ECHO HI
ELSE
	ECHO BYE
FI			# True  - HI	(2nd condition is met)

When using multiple of these joiners with a single command such as IF, care should be made in the structuring of your <condition> statements. The shell processes command lines linearly from left to right and is very binary in nature. Consider first a math example of SET A = 1 + 2 * 3 - 4 * 8 + 2 / 2, the result placed into A is 42 (process the calculations like a calculator would, one at a time, there is no precedence). When evaluating a set of <conditions>, the shell processes them one at a time the same way and when it encounters an AND or an OR it evaluates the current "state" to determine if it should return a result or continue to evaluate the conditions ont he line. Let us say you have 4 conditions, A, B, C and D (each one represents something like [ -d adir ]), and you are doing something like IF A AND B OR C AND D. The Shell will determine a result for A (for example that [ -d adir]) and then it sees "AND", at that moment if A is false all processing ends there because it does not matter what else is on the command line (The IF fails). Now assume A and B are both true and it gets to that OR, again processing stops be cause there is already a true case on one side of the OR (The IF succeeds). As you can see, its easy to predict the behavior of constructs like IF A and B and C and D (all must be true) as well as IF A or B or C (any one need be true), but complex IF A or B and C or D and E need to be tested that they perform as you imagined. Once mastered though, you will see that when structured correctly you can perform very complex <condition> sets. Say you wanted to do IF ( A and B ) or C, realizing there is no actual groupings (parens) in conditions, if you simply structure your if as IF C OR A AND B, it will have the effect you wanted. There is an example of complex compound conditions that you can run and even modify to test different patterns/structures of complex conditions. It can be found at ANDORTESTS.

<expression>

The A2osX shell contains an expression evaluator that can perform simple integer math operations using the + - * / and MOD operators. Expressions are a form of an argument used by only a handful of commands, most notably SET (to store the result of the expression into a variable) and CASE/SWITCH.

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   Shell Expressions Example
#
SET A = 123
SET B = 10
SET C = A + B		# 133
SET C = A - B		# 113
SET C = A * B		# 1230
SET C = A / B		# 12
SET C = A MOD B		# 3
SET C = 100 * 2 / 4 + 2 / 13 * 4 	# 16

<op>

<Op> are operators, the simple integer math functions that can be performed in the shell. They are a special kind of argument used only in <Expressions>, see above. The valid <Ops> are + (addition) - (subtraction) * (multiplication) / (division) and MOD. See the script above in the <expression> section for examples of <ops>.

<switch>

A switch is a special type of argument to internal and external commands that changes the behavior of that command. For instance, the standard ECHO command ends its output with a carriage return (ASCII 13), adding the -N switch to ECHO (i.e. ECHO -N "Hello") will cause ECHO to omit the CR. All switches begin with hyphen (-) and are immediately followed by a valid single character (in the case of ECHO -N is the only valid switch) and then a space (or carriage return if the end of the line). There should be no space between the hyphen (-) and the switch character, and if the switch itself requires an argument, then switch must be followed by a space and then the argument for that switch (see the READ command for an example). Please make sure you read the note at the start of this section regarding command line structure and the ordering of arguments, in particular with switches that themselves require arguments.

<value>

Values are the simplest of arguments, usually a string or an integer, which may be presented literally or in the form of a variable.

Please note, that the shell does string substitution when processing <values>. This is done when the shell finds a variable within the string (a set of characters that begin with a $). For example if you had a variable called $BOOTVOL that is set to "/MYVOL/" and you passed a command the <value> "${BOOTVOL}AFILE" would get expanded to "/MYVOL/AFILE". Notice the use of braces {} surrounding the variable name, they are needed here otherwise the SHELL would look for the variable $BOOTVOLAFILE. See the script below for the ECHO command for more examples of values that contain variables.

AND

[ <\expression\> ] AND [ <\expression\> ]...

The AND reserved word is used to join 2 or more conditions together to create complex logic statements. See <condition> section above for more information on AND and examples of its usage. In addition, look at ANDORDEMO, a complete script using AND and OR.

BREAK

BREAK

The BREAK command is used to exit or end a block of statements that were optionally executed for a particular CASE as part of a SWITCH script block. See the CASE command below for more information and example of using BREAK.

CALL

CALL function [\<argument\>]...

The CALL command is used to execute and previously defined and loaded function. When calling a function with the CALL command, you may pass one or more arguments which the function can use as part of its execution. See the FUNCTION command below for more information on creating and calling functions including examples.

CASE

CASE <expression>

The CASE command is used at the start of a block of statements to be optionally executed based on the evaluation of <expression> as part of a SWITCH script block. See the CASE command below for more information and example of using BREAK.

CD

CD <value>

The CD command is used to change the current working directory. You must supply the CD command a valid relative or absolute path. Examples of relative paths include SUBDIR1 (a sub-directory in the current directory), ../SUBDIR2 (a sub-directory in the parent of the current directory), and SUBDIR1/SUBDIR3 ( a sub-directory in the sub-directory SUBDIR1 of the current directory). An absolute path always begins with a / and includes the volume name of the disk drive to which change the current working directory such as /MYVOL1/VAR/LOGS (the sub-directory LOGS in the directory VAR on the disk with a volume label of MYVOL1).

DATE

DATE [<expression>]

The DATE command outputs the current date and time. A supported clock card is needed to return accurate DATE and TIME values. DATE accepts an optional <expression> that should be a string that can contain any text as well as the following format options:

• %a : Abbreviated weekday name : Thu
• %A : Full weekday name : Thursday
• %b : Abbreviated month name : Aug
• %B : Full month name : August
• %d : Day of the month, zero-padded (01-31)
• %H : Hour in 24h format (00-23) 14
• %I : Hour in 12h format (01-12) 02
• %m : Month as a decimal number (01-12) 08
• %M : Minute (00-59) 55
• %p : AM or PM designation PM
• %S : Second (00-61) 02
• %w : Weekday as a decimal number with Sunday as 0 (0-6)
• %y : Year, last two digits (00-99)
• %Y : Year four digits 2001

The following script highlights sample <expressions> you can pass the DATE command.

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   DATE Command Examples
#
DATE						' Wednesday, November 20 2019 22:53:00
DATE "Time: %I:%M %p"		' Time: 10:53 PM
DATE "Today is %A %B %d %Y"	' Today is Wednesday November 20 2019
DATE "%b-%d-%y"				' Nov-20-19

DEFAULT

DEFAULT

The DEFAULT commands is used to select the block of commands to execute for the Default Case for the SWITCH command. Structured appropriately, the commands after the DEFAULT keyword are executed when no other CASE was valid. See the section on CASE and SWITCH for more information and complete examples for creating your own SWITCH execution blocks.

ECHO

ECHO [-N] <value>...

The ECHO command is used to print to an output device, by default the screen. The ECHO command optional switch -N causes ECHO to suppress output of the carriage return that normally occurs. Technically the format of the ECHO command is ECHO [-N] [<value> ...]. This means that the ECHO command can be followed by the optional switch -N and one or more optional <values>. In the case of ECHO, it is these <values> that are output by the command. Here, values are separated by spaces, so you can do ECHO $A HELLO $B and echo will output the value stored in the variable A and then the world HELLO and then the value stored in B. Please see <values> for more information on how values are processed, especially in the handling of variables ($VAR) contained in a <value>.

A word about values, command lines and spaces: ECHO Hello World is not the same as ECHO "Hello World". In the first case ECHO treats Hello and World as separate values and in the second, "Hello World" as one value. Since ECHO takes multiple values, you might not notice the difference, but in the case of IF [ $A = "Hello World" ] if you omitted the quotes you would get a syntax error because the = operator only accepts one value on each side. In addition, when not enclosed in quotes, extra spaces are removed so ECHO Hello        World would be output as Hello World as ECHO would treat Hello and World as values and output value space value.

In addition to the usual variable substitution that occurs with <values> (see <value> above), the ECHO command performs some special character substitutions while sending output to the screen or terminal. If placed inside a value like a string, ECHO will automatically substitute a backspace for the sequence \b, substitute an escape for \e, clear the screen for \f, send a newline for \n, send a \ for \\ and send a % for \%. The \e (escape) code is useful for sending VT100 escape sequences to the screen/terminal (see the VT100 example script). The \\ and \% are necessary to send those chars to the screen since normally those characters are interpreted as special command line arguments. There is also a special \xHH option, that will send explicitly the char represented by the HEX value HH to the output device (screen or file).

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   ECHO Command Examples
#
ECHO Hello    World		'Hello World	#Note SH treats as 2 <values>
ECHO "Hello    World"   	'Hello    World
ECHO \f				'Clears Screen
ECHO "\fHello"			'Clears Screen puts Hello on first line
ECHO "\n\nHello'		'Sends to Carraige Returns then Hello to output
SET A$ = HELLO
ECHO A$				'HELLO
ECHO "$A, How are you?"		'HELLO, How are you?
ECHO "$AB, fine!"		', fine!		#Note AB is not defined
ECHO "${A}B, fine!"		'HELLOB, fine!	#Brackets ensure A substitution
ECHO "123\b\b456"		'1456			#two backspaces (\b) over the 23
ECHO -N "\xFF\xFF" > afile	'Create file called afile and put exactly the
				'bytes Hex FF and Hex FF into it.

ELSE

ELSE

The ELSE command is used to add an optional branch to an IF block. See the IF command below for more information and examples of using ELSE as part of IF program blocks.

END

END

The END command is used at the end of a SWITCH script block. See the SWITCH command below for more information and example of using END as part of SWITCH.

EXIT

EXIT [int32]

The EXIT command is used to immediately end the processing of a script or function. EXIT accepts an optional argument that sets the return code ($?) which may be checked by a calling script. If no argument is provided the return code is set to 0 (No Error). The following script demonstrating the use of the EXIT command can be found in the EXAMPLES folder.

#!/BIN/SH
#
#   EXIT Command Examples
#
# This example shows the use of EXIT from a function with a return code
#
FUNCTION DIVIDE
{
	IF ![ -I $A ] AND ![ -I $B ]
		# Error not vars not integers
		EXIT 3
	FI
	IF [ $B -EQ 0 ]
		# Error Zero Divisor
		EXIT 7
	FI 
	SET $3 = $A / $B
}
READ -P "\nEnter a number: " $A
READ -P "\nAnother number: " $B
CALL DIVIDE $A $B C
SWITCH $?
	CASE 0
		ECHO "\n$A divided by $B is $C\n"
		BREAK
	CASE 3
		ECHO "\nError: Input not Integers\n"
		BREAK
	CASE 7
		ECHO "\nError: Divide by Zero Prohibitied\n"
		BREAK
END

Besides the EXIT command, the example above also demonstrates how to check that input is a number rather then a string (-I), using newlines (\n) to properly format the screen (the READ command leaves the cursor on the line of input), and passing a variable name to a function (this is a clever way to get return values from commands).

FI

FI

The FI command is used at the end of an IF script block. See the IF command below for more information and example of using FI as part of IF.

FUNCTION

FUNCTION function_name
{ 
	\<body\>
}

if you SET -F, it will discard ALL previously learned FUNC in the current SH context if . FUNCS1 file add 3 then . FUNCS2 file add 2 all 5 are available until an set -X is met if you launch . MYFILE1, the code within MYFILE1 can CALL all 5 functions but MYFILE1 (wthout dot) will run in a separate SH process, so no access to the 5 functions known by parent SH functions bodies are stored in AUX ram so you can put around 30k of code in AUX ram then do a short MYFILE1 that calls a lot of FUNC in AUX FUNCs recursion is allowed (until you explode the stack!)

CORE.STACK.MAX = 128....so each CALL consumes about 7 bytes of stack (return Ctx/Ptr, ArgVC,hArgV and CALL keywordID)

IF

IF [ <\expression\> ]...

LOOP

LOOP

The LOOP command is used at the end of a WHILE script block. See the WHILE command below for more information and example of using LOOP as part of WHILE.

MD

MD <value>

MD path or relative path
Create a directory |

NOHUP

NOHUP <value> [&]

| NOHUP | Working | Start a process with PPID=PS0 (Daemon) |

OR

[ <\expression\> ] OR [ <\expression\> ]...

The OR reserved word is used to join 2 or more conditions together to create complex logic statements. See <condition> section above for more information on OR and examples of its usage. In addition, look at ANDORTESTS, a complete script using OR.

PAUSE

PAUSE

The PAUSE commands halts the execution of a script until the user pressing the return key.

POPD

| POPD | Working | Restore previously saved working directory |

PUSHD

PUSHD [ <value> ]

Save actual working directory
PUSHD <dir> do also a CD to <dir>

PWD

PWD

the PWD command prints the current working directory. You can change the working directory with the CD command or with the POPD command is a working directory has been previously PUSHD.

RD

RD <value>

Delete an empty directory

READ

READ [ -S ] [ -P <value> ] [ -N int32 ] <variable>

The READ command allows you to accept input from the user which can be used or evaluated in other commands. For instance you can use the READ command to get the name of a file to copy, ask the user for confirmation (Proceed?) and evaluate their response with an IF command, etc. READ has several powerful options including: Prompt, Suppress and NumChars. In all cases you must specify a variable in which to place the results of the READ command.

#!/BIN/SH
#READ Command Examples
#    Get Input from User and Store in Variable $A
READ A
#    Display a prompt, Get Input and Store in $A
READ -P "Enter your name: " A
#    Display a prompt, Get Suppressed Input and Store in $A
#    The suppress option will keep any input from appearing but you can
#    edit normally and $A will be correct.
READ -S -P "Enter your name: " A
#    Display a prompt, Get Input limited to 8 characters and Store in $A
READ -N 1 -P "Enter your name: " A
#    Display a prompt, Get Input limited to 1 characters and Store in $A
#	 Special case of -N option.  As soon as the user types any character
#    input will be ended and the single character will be stored in $A.
#	 The user does NOT need to press return to accept the input.
READ -N 1 -P "Proceed (Y/N): " A
#    Get Input limited to 1 key press and Store the ASCII value of the key in $A
#	 Special case of -N option.  As soon as the user types any key, input will
#    be ended and the single key code will be stored in $A as an Integer.
#	 This can be used to capture/process special keys like TAB, Arrows and DEL.
READ -N 0 A

REN

REN <value> <value>

The REN command allows you to Rename a single file, directory or Volume. It does not support wild cards. While REN and MV may seem similar, they are very different commands and you should use each for its intended purpose. In the case of REN, it changes the name of an item (Vol, Dir, File) in place; the item itself is not changed. For those familiar with ProDOS file systems, REN changes the entry of an item in the CATALOG. MV on the other hand actually copies files (and removes the original) to move them. Obviously REN is more efficient at RENaming an item in its current location, whereas MV could be used to change the location of a file (MV it from one directory or even volume to another). Yes you can use MV MYFILE NEWFILE to do the same thing as REN MYFILE NEWFILE, but since a copy must occur, it will be slower and you will have to have sufficient disk space free to make this copy.

#!/BIN/SH
#REN Command Examples
#    REName a Volume
#	 Note How you need to use a full volume name as the Original Name and
#	 the new name must not be proceeded by a slash (/).  The following
#	 will rename the volume /MYVOL to NEWVOL.
REN /MYVOL NEWVOL
#    REName a Directory in the current working directory ($PWD)
REN ADIR NEWDIR
#    REName a Directory in another relative directory
#	 In this example, the directory ADIR in SUBDIR will be renamed.
#	 Notice that the new name does not contain a path.
REN SUBDIR/ADIR NEWDIR
#    REName a Directory using a full path
#	 This example renames the dir MYDIR found in /FULLBOOT/TMP to YOURDIR.
REN /FULLBOOT/TMP/MYDIR YOURDIR
#	 REName File Examples
#	 REName a file in the current directory
REN MYFILE NEWFILENAME
#	 REName a file in a relative (the parent) directory
REN ../MYFILE NEWFILENAME
#	 REName a file using a full path
REN /FULLBOOT/TMP/MYFILE NEWFILENAME

SET

The SET command is used to set or clear the value of variables as well as to set or clear flags that change the behavior of the shell (SH) especially when running scripts.

Variables

The most simplistic form of set is SET var = value such as SET myVar = 6, where the shell will create a new variable called MyVar and in this case make it an Interger (32-bit) and set its value to 6.

Shell Flags

There are a number of flags, or settings, for the shell that affect its behavior. While these may be set interactively at the prompt ($), they have the most impact on scripts. These flags/settings are: -C (Control-C break mode), -E (Error printing mode), -F ( Function Clear), and -X (Debug Mode).

Control-C Break Mode

This mode, set by the -C flag option of SET, allows you to change the shells behavior when a user presses Control-C (Break Key) while executing scripts. Normally, when a script is running, the shell will stop execution of the script when the user presses Control-C (Break). If Break Mode is set, then this will not occur. This mode can be useful in scripts where it is important that the entire script is processed. For example, if you modified a user's PROFILE file to always execute a particular application when the user logged in, then by putting SET -C at the top of the PROFILE script, you can ensure that the user cannot exit the PROFILE script before the application is run.

Error Printing Mode

This mode, set by the -E flag option of SET, allows you to change the shells behavior while executing scripts. Normally the shell only outputs when it encounters a specific output command like ECHO or runs an external command (i.e. LS) that creates its out output. It does not output to the screen the script itself during execution.

Clear Functions

SET -F is really more of a command, then a setting, and in this case, SET -F instructs the shell to forget or clear all functions from memory previously defined by FUNCTION commands. Please see the FUNCTION section for more information on creating, using and clearing functions in the shell.

Debug Mode

This mode, set by the -X flag option of SET, allows you to change the shells behavior while executing scripts. Normally the shell only outputs when it encounters a specific output command like ECHO or runs an external command (i.e. LS) that creates its own output. It does not output to the screen the script itself during execution. The -X changes this behavior. When Debug Mode is set, the shell with echo to the screen each command line in a script as it is being executed. These lines are proceeded by a > symbol to denote it is part of debug output. If you are trying to debug a script, you can place one or more SET -X commands in your script to turn debug output on and off.

A clever trick for using SET -X for short scripts. At the prompt ($), type SET -X to turn on Debug mode. Then, run your script by using the dot calling convention (. myscript). This will run the script in the current environment (the one with Debug Mode set). Remember, that when you run a script normally (myscript), no dot then space then script name, the shell creates an all new environment to run that script and all modes/flags/settings are set to their defaults (off).

SHIFT

SHIFT

Remove $1 from cmd line

SLEEP

SLEEP	int32

Wait 1/10 sec

SWITCH

SWITCH <expression>

The CASE command is used at the start of a block of statements to be optionally executed based on the evaluation of <expression> as part of a SWITCH script block. See the CASE command below for more information and example of using BREAK.

The SWITCH statement is used at the start of a multiway program flow control block statement. The SWITCH statement is really a different form of the IF statement that is a significant improvement over using IF with many nested ELSE ; IF blocks. SWITCH provides an easy way to dispatch execution to different parts of code based on the value of the expression. Switch is a control statement that allows a value to change control of execution.

WHILE

WHILE <condition>

Redirection

Token	Status	Comment
.	Working	use same env
&	Working	start proc
|	Working	pipe
<	Working	StdIn redirection
>	Working	StdOut redirection
>>	Working	Append StdOut
1>>	Working
1>	Working
2>>	Working	StdErr redirection
2>	Working

Writing Scripts

Calling other scripts calling scripts with . (dot space) before script name from within a script loading functions this way

Variables

As seen throughout this guide, scripts are very useful for automating many repetitive tasks. To get the most out of scripts, you are likely going to want input from the user or gather existing data stored in your file system and then use this to control program flow. To do this, you are likely going to want to use variables to store and process the data your script relies on. This section will provide you with the information you need to get the most out of your own, as well as system provided, variables.

All variables have names, starting with xxx, can be any length, but longer is not better. They are case sensitive so AVAR, Avar, aVar, and avar are actually 4 different variables. There are only two kinds of variables internally, strings and integers.

Variable overflow strings and ints Ints only no real num it just ignore

The 32-bit int data type can hold integer values in the range of −2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647. If you add to or subtract from INTs that would cause a RANGE error, you actually get a result that wraps around the range, so if you add 1 to 2,147,483,647 you will get −2,147,483,648.

Strings can be up to 255 characters in length. Note, like INTs, if you try to store more then 255 chars in a string, you get the same wraparound affect where the first 255 chars are tossed out the string is set to the remaining chars, so if you concatenate 3 strings of 100 chars the resulting string will be the last 45 chars of the 3rd original string.

Special Variables

$BOOT $DRV $LIB $PATH $PS1 $ROOT $TERM

Name	Status	Comment
$0	Working	Command Full Path
$1-$9	Working	Arg[n]
$*	Working	All Args
$#	Working	Arg Count
$?	Working	Return Code
$@	Working	Parent PID
	Working	PID
$!	Working	Child PID
$UID	Working	PS Owner UID
$PWD	Working	Working Directory

note : '$VAR' does NOT expand Variable

Advanced Display Techniques

A2osX provides advanced screen handling capabilities for the Apple console (keyboard/screen) as well as terminals connected directly (via Super Serial Cards) or remotely (via Telnet using a supported network card and the TELNETD server daemon). These features are based on the VT100 Terminal definition and scripts you develop can pass VT100 codes (via the ECHO command) to enhance the appearance of your scripts. In addition to VT100 codes, ECHO has been augmented with some short codes to perform the more common and to help display special characters. The examples below will help you understand what is possible with ECHO. For a fuller listing of the available VT100 Terminal Codes, consult the A2osX Terminal Codes Guide.

#!/BIN/SH
#	ECHO / Advanced Display Techniques Examples
#	Note codes are CASE SENSITVE.  \F is not the same as \f
#   Clear the Screen (\f)
ECHO \f
#   Clear the Screen and Display text in the top left corner
ECHO "\fThis line will appear on the first line of your Apple"
#	ECHO on a line byself will create a blank line (moving the cursor down one line)
#	Multiple ECHOs in a row, will skip multiple lines.  The \n shortcode makes this easier.
#	This example is the same as ECHO; ECHO; ECHO "HELLO"; ECHO; ECHO; ECHO "WORLD"
ECHO "\n\nHELLO\n\nWORLD"
#	Backspace shortcode \b moves the cursor one space to the left.
#	This example would print ABEF on the screen.  The two \b overwrite the CD.
ECHO "ABCD\b\bEF"
#	Turn Inverse on: \e[7m		off: \e[0m
#	This example HELLO INVERSE WORLD with the word INVERSE in inverse.
ECHO "HELLO \e[7mINVERSE\e[0m WORLD"
#	Print a backslash (\).  Since \ is a special character, you need a way to print it.
ECHO "\\"
#	Print a percent (%).  Since % is a special character, you need a way to print it.
ECHO "\%"
#	Supress Newline (-N).  ECHO -N allows you to print multiple things on the same line
#	This code segment will print ONE TWO THREE all on one line.
ECHO -N ONE
ECHO -N TWO
ECHO -N THREE
#	Move cursor to beginning of current line (\r)
#	This example will print WORLD HELLO, note spaces.
ECHO "      HELLO\rWORLD"
#	Scroll Screen Down 1 Line (\eM)
ECHO \eM
#	Scroll the Screen Up 1 Line (\eD)
ECHO \eD
#	Clear Screen VT100 Code alternative, same as \f (\ec)
ECHO \ec
#	Move cursor to [x,y] \e[x;yH
#	Move cursor to row 5 and col 15 and print I AM HERE
ECHO "\e[05;15HI AM HERE"
#	Move to home position [0,0] (\e[H)
ECHO \e[H
#	Clear from cursor to end of line (\e[K)
ECHO \e[K
#	Clear from cursor to beginning of line (\e[1K)
ECHO \e[1K
#	Clear line (\e[2K)
ECHO \e[2K
#	Clear line 15
ECHO \e[15;01H\e[2K

###Examples

In addition to the scripts in this document, there are many example scripts included with A2osX which can be found on the A2osX repository on GitHub. Besides the EXAMPLES folder, you may also want to look at the scripts in the TESTS, MAKE and ADMIN folders. The scripts in the TESTS folder are used to test the various commands of A2osX with each release. The MAKE folder contains scripts used to make the published disk images for A2osX. The ADMIN folder contains scripts that are in the development stage that one day might be used to help administer an A2osX installation. All of these are good for learning the capabilities available to the script developer.

License

A2osX is licensed under the GNU General Pulic License.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

The full A2osX license can be found Here.

Copyright

Copyright 2015 - 2019, Remy Gibert and the A2osX contributors.