brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (03/25/84)
Those of us who have been supporting keyword=value options have not been (to my knowledge) advocating stuff like flag=yes and flag=no to replace -flag. The syntax specifications I posted some time ago allow both keyword=value and +keyword or -keyword for boolean options. Furthermore, I also want to clarify that an option syntax that allows long option names usually includes an abbreviator that lets you type the option in its shortest unambiguous form. Thus +Verbose can be type as "+v" on the command line if it is unambiguous. This allows the user to type things quickly if he knows what he's doing, and at the same time allows shell scripts to be written in a more readable fashion. I've been using unix a great deal for several years, and I still have to look up options on commands I don't use frequently, It's even worse when the option letters change on commands like ps and ls when you switch from 4.2 to SIII as I do frequently. It's really not a pain to have to type +a +b +c instead of +abc or -abc. The space bar is the easiest character to hit, and your finger is already on the plus. Anyway, commands with long option strings that are done a lot are almost always done from shell aliases, scripts or makefiles. You type new options most often when you are unfamiliar with them, and that's when mnemonic devices are most useful. -- Brad Templeton - Waterloo, Ontario (519) 886-7304
rpw3@fortune.UUCP (03/27/84)
#R:looking:-14100:fortune:29300006:000:2004
fortune!rpw3 Mar 26 22:11:00 1984
As far as remembering WHAT the possible options are, one of the niceties
of TOPS-10 SCAN was that certain switches were built into the scanner,
particularly /HELP and /HELP:SWITCHES. The former printed the help file
(if available) or a short in-core help string, and the latter dumped the
contents of the scanners parse table. /HELP:SWITCHES was ALWAYS a no-op
as far as running the program, so you didn't have to worry about the
program starting to work on you or going silent. (Type "cat" and wait
for a "usage" message... ;-} ) You would get something like:
$ cat -help=opt
Options are: spacecrunch, unbuffered, visible
Builtin: help, verbose, datesave
$
The "builtins" are those options that are supplied by default in every
program in the scanner itself. They are not necessary IMPLEMENTED in the
scanner (except "help"), but the user knows that they will get parsed
correctly.
And then of course there is Tenex/TOPS-20, which allows a question mark
ANYWHERE, and it prints out all possible choices and lets you continue
typing. It works whether you type the question mark on a command, an option,
or on a filename. (To get a list of all commands, just type a "?" to a prompt!)
While some don't like that general style, it CAN certainly be done under UNIX,
as evidenced by the version of C-shell (called "ncsh"?) which is floating
around the UNIX community (orig. Ken Greer, HP) which implements the full
Twenex command recognition/completion. (To clarify what follows, typed-in
characters are in uppercase, though in real life they are lower):
% CA<?> where <?> is your "query" character
cal camera cat
% caT C<?>
carny core cu.log
% cat cU<!> where <!> is your "completion" char
cat cu.log (actually overtypes the <!>)
...contents of cu.log ...
%
We have lots of history to guide us, if we listen.
Rob Warnock
UUCP: {sri-unix,amd70,hpda,harpo,ihnp4,allegra}!fortune!rpw3
DDD: (415)595-8444
USPS: Fortune Systems Corp, 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, CA 94065robert@erix.UUCP (Robert Virding) (03/29/84)
Here, here! A TOP-20 style user interface with recognition, completion and help is just what UNIX needs. The recognition and completion of file name should be implemented via system calls so that it could be used from within inter- active programs as well. Something like this, and a more uniform way of specifying options and flags would greatly help in making UNIX more acceptable to the "real world" (and of course to TOPS-20 freaks). Robert Virding
hans@log-hb.UUCP (Hans Albertsson) (03/29/84)
[] A TWENEX style command recognizer? Please, someone find KG and make him post it! If there's one thing I dream at night about, recognition/completion is IT! Hans Albertsson hans@log-hb