heymann@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Jurgen Heymann) (01/15/91)
Hi.
[ I haven't read this news group in a long time. When this posting is all
obsolete, can you point me to the 'solution'? thanks ...]
Is there a Norton Commander like unix shell somewhere? If not, is anyone
interested and motivated in building one? Maybe we then should have a
discussion about desired features as well? If there is no "visual shell"
out there yet (I'm not aware of any), I want to suggest an effort to
make/get/... one in the discussion below.
Considering the capabilities of the terminfo DB, it seems odd that we
don't have a more screen oriented version of the ksh yet. Of course this
is not that easy on Unix than on DOS, but it seems well feasible. Let's
call the new shell the vsh ("visual shell").
Some ideas:
- Just as in the norton commander, the command line should always be there
and any normally typed command should not be affected by the vsh.
- Have a 'files window' which shows the files of the current directory.
(or more general: a display window with a 'input function': "ls -CF"
for example).
- Using an appropriately programmable terminal emulator one can define
Esc sequences for F-key prefix, menu prefix and any other special input/
selection operation (one might also use the 8-bit char set, but must
terminal emulators use the alt-chars for local functions; also, the
shell should of course work on real tty's).
This can give us a menu line at the top of the screen, and a F-key line
at the bottom.
- Of course all the menu's and F-key definitions should be user
extensible. This means that the user can e.g. define a little window
showing his current env, or the set -o (ksh options) and allowing them
to be changed.
- Monitoring: If one has jobs running in the background, a window should
pop up always showing the current status of these jobs.
- The shell should have a general "escape" mechanism as follows: A
user definable Esc sequence can cause an shell script (associated with
that seq.) to be executed. Now imagine the following: We have a terminal
emulator that allows to (re)define Fkeys etc., and that supports a mouse
with a menu facility. This mouse support can (in addition to the
classical pop-up, pull-down and all other great menus) put the current
(mouse) cursor position into the input buffer, and e.g. the word under
the cursor etc.
Using this combination (emulator with mouse support and the vsh) in a
smart way, the possibilities are truly great (much more than the Norton
Commander): help calls for a keyword/name for programming (e.g. C in
vi), reuse output from the screen, mouse support for vi (or better
choices of editors), ....
What do you think? Is it worth it? (or : has someone already done it?).
Considering the fact that most of us poor programmers spent most of their
time with the shell and vi, any improvement in user interface and then
performance is definitely worth while.
Comments, suggestions, pointers/references?
This was cross-posted to comp.unix.shell and comp.unix.programmer. Please
direct all follow-ups to comp.unix.shell.
I'll summarize any direct mail to me later to the net.
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Jurgen Heymann heymann@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM
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Jurgen Heymann heymann@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COMc-stumpf@steer.sdsu.edu (Robert Stumpf) (01/16/91)
In article <760@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM> heymann@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Jurgen Heymann) writes: >Is there a Norton Commander like unix shell somewhere? If not, is anyone >interested and motivated in building one? Maybe we then should have a >discussion about desired features as well? If there is no "visual shell" >out there yet (I'm not aware of any), I want to suggest an effort to >make/get/... one in the discussion below. There already exists such a program. It is called "vsh" for "Visual Shell", and AT&T has written (or the rights to) the program. I seem to remember that this program was a bit "buggy" and had some difficulty working with various systems architectures. Can anyone out there verify/confirm this? *spock*
edw@sequent.UUCP (Ed Wright) (01/16/91)
In article <760@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM> heymann@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Jurgen Heymann) writes: % %Hi. % % [ I haven't read this news group in a long time. When this posting is all % obsolete, can you point me to the 'solution'? thanks ...] % %Is there a Norton Commander like unix shell somewhere? If not, is anyone %interested and motivated in building one? Maybe we then should have a %discussion about desired features as well? If there is no "visual shell" %out there yet (I'm not aware of any), I want to suggest an effort to %make/get/... one in the discussion below. % How about vsh We had it at zehntel on our xenix boxes. Wasn't perfect, but was kind of nice. Ed -- >>>>>> decwrl--\ I'd quit my job but >>>>>>>> tek--->----sequent !edw>/dev/null :-):-):-) its the only place >>>>>> uunet--/ I get any sleep
dag@fciva.FRANKLIN.COM (Daniel A. Graifer) (01/16/91)
In article <760@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM> heymann@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Jurgen Heymann) writes: >Is there a Norton Commander like unix shell somewhere? How about.... Norton Commander! Norton now has a unix version of their shell and utilities that has been much discussed in comp.unix.sysv386. I don't know what other platforms it has been ported to. I haven't tried it myself, but it got mostly positive revues there. Dan -- Daniel A. Graifer Coastal Capital Funding Corp. Sr. Vice President, Financial Systems 7900 Westpark Dr. Suite A-130 (703)821-3244 McLean, VA 22102 uunet!fciva!dag fciva.FRANKCAP.COM!dag@uunet.uu.net
mike (Michael Stefanik) (01/18/91)
In article <760@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM> cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM!heymann (Jurgen Heymann) writes: > >Is there a Norton Commander like unix shell somewhere? If not, is anyone >interested and motivated in building one? Maybe we then should have a >discussion about desired features as well? If there is no "visual shell" >out there yet (I'm not aware of any), I want to suggest an effort to >make/get/... one in the discussion below. Although I personally bristle at the very *thought* of Pete Norton's stuff running under UNIX, there is indeed a version slated for XENIX, and I'm sure that other UNIX flavors will be targeted. Although I have nothing against my neighboring Santa Monican, I really *won't* be holding my breath ... -- Michael Stefanik, Systems Engineer (JOAT), Briareus Corporation UUCP: ...!uunet!bria!mike -- technoignorami (tek'no-ig'no-ram`i) a group of individuals that are constantly found to be saying things like "Well, it works on my DOS machine ..."
craig@jido.ingr.com (Craig Presson) (01/19/91)
In article <578@fciva.FRANKLIN.COM>, dag@fciva.FRANKLIN.COM (Daniel A. Graifer) writes: |> In article <760@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM> heymann@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Jurgen Heymann) writes: |> >Is there a Norton Commander like unix shell somewhere? |> Looking Glass, by Visix. -- ****************************************************** ** Craig Presson pressonc@ingr.com ** ** Intergraph Corporation MS CR1104 ** ** Huntsville, AL 35894-0001 (205) 730-6176 ** ** FAX: (205) 730-6011 ** ******************************************************
jb3o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jon Allen Boone) (01/19/91)
A while back (bout a month or so) I got a flyer from Peter Norton Industries (is that the name?) talking all about their product - so I'd guess that it's already out. Anyway, they seemed to indicate that I could send it in and get it right away - too bad I threw the flyer away :( -=> iain <=-
guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris) (01/21/91)
>The "Unerase" is implemented with a driver that is STREAMS based.
Really? I doubt that the way that it turns calls such as "unlink()" or
"creat()" that destroy file information into calls that save the old
version of the information is STREAMS-based; from what some person
involved in implementing it said in a posting, it operates at the File
System Switch level.