ogilvie@utah-cs.UUCP (John Ogilvie) (11/29/83)
The command interpreter on the Lilith machine, which runs Modula-2, uses long names in connection with string recognition. So, for example, if I type "dir" and wait a second or two, the system fills in the rest to give "directory". I then hit <cr> and I'm off and running. In this way, I don't have to remember a lot of bizarre abbreviations like "grep" and "cat". Moreover, if I mistakenly type "rem" and wait for the rest of "remove", nothing happens. This reminds me that I'm not working with UNIX, so I type "del" and the system completes the command, "delete", for me. It is true that you can learn all the short commands, "~r filename" for instance to insert a file into the letter you're mailing, but why not make life easy on yourself? The method above is a sort of menu/command-language, where you type characters instead of choosing entries in a menu, and still get the feedback from the system, and needn't wait long. Incidentally, the Lilith also uses a bit-mapped display. The menus used in the text editor, for instance, take no appreciable time to appear. (No, I'm not on a commission or a mission). John Ogilvie (utah-cs)
ccc@cwruecmp.UUCP (Case Computer Club) (11/30/83)
------------------ I have one problem with your solution. A second or two is a LONG time! I have come to expect computers to be relatively fast, and for a system to come back several seconds later with the result seems ridiculous. If we want long command names, there is always command completion ala TOPS-20 or a modified c-shell. Carl Fongheiser decvax!cwruecmp!ccc (Usenet) ccc@Case (CSnet) ccc.Case@Rand-relay (ARPAnet)