VSH(C) XENIX System V VSH(C)
Name
vsh - menu driven visual shell
Syntax
vsh
Description
vsh is a highly interactive, visually oriented shell which
eases many XENIX activities. The vsh features both standard
and customizable XENIX command menus and on-line help. The
vsh displays information and menus in windows on the screen.
To enter vsh, simply enter:
vsh
from a shell prompt. vsh can also be made a user's default
shell by changing their shell entry in /etc/passwd (the last
colon-separated field). Help is available from all menus by
typing the question mark character.
The very last line of the screen is a status line. The
status line displays the current pathname, the date, time
and operating system name. If you have new mail, the status
line will indicate so. Above the status line is the message
line, which displays messages, error or otherwise, from vsh.
A command menu is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
The standard menu contains a range of commonly used XENIX
commands. Above the command menu is the output window.
This window contains a scrolling display of the output from
commands. This window is not visible at start-up, but is
displayed while running certain commands such as `='.
In the top of the screen is a window with a listing of the
current working directory. To alter the size of this
window, use the Window command from the main command menu.
Items in the listing window may be selected using standard
key commands (q.v.). Two special key commands are used with
the listing window. The equals sign `=' (`SHOW') key,
displays the contents of the currently selected file or
directory. The minus sign `-' (`GOAWAY') key, returns you
to the listing window.
Commands may be invoked in one of two ways. A command can
be selected by pressing the first letter of its name.
Alternatively, press the space bar. Each time the space bar
is pressed, the next menu item is highlighted. This
highlighting indicates that the command has been selected.
Backspace moves to the previous selection.
Once a command is selected, press the return key. A menu is
displayed which gives the valid arguments for the particular
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command. The default choice is shown in parentheses, e.g.:
recursive: Yes (No)
To send the output to another program, you may enter a
vertical bar in the ``output:'' field of the commands' menu.
When the menu is filled in, press RETURN to start the
command.
Main Menu Commands
The following menu options are available from the standard
main menu. Certain sub-commands are available under the
Options selection. These are described in the next section.
Copy Copy a file to a new file. Copy the contents of a
directory to a new directory.
Delete
Delete a file or directory.
Edit Invoke an editor for a file. Default is the visual
editor vi(C).
Help Get help on diverse topics. A menu is displayed at the
bottom of the screen of available help topics.
Mail Send or read XENIX mail.
Name Rename a directory or file.
Options
Perform various commands. See OPTIONS section.
Print
Print file or files on systems' lineprinter.
Quit Quit the visual shell.
Run Run a specified XENIX command or applications program.
View View a specified file or directory listing. This file
or directory listing will be displayed in the upper
window. Use the vsh scrolling commands to move around
(see KEY COMMANDS Section).
Window
Reset upper window `redraw' characteristics and height.
Options Subcommand
The Options selection on the main menu has several important
commands grouped under the selections Directory, Filesystem,
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Output, and Permissions. These are as follows:
Directory
Make Make a directory under current working directory.
Usage
Display disk usage by number of blocks in current
working directory.
Filesystem
Create
Create a filesystem.
FilesCheck
Check file system consistency.
Mount
Mount a file system on a specified mount-point.
SpaceFree
Report number of disk blocks available on all or some
mounted file systems.
Unmount
Unmount specified file system if it is not currently
busy.
Output
VShell
Echo vsh commands in output window (default).
XENIX
Echo actual XENIX commands in output window. For
instance, if running ``Options Filesystem FilesCheck'',
the command fsck will be displayed in the output window
if ``Options Output Xenix'' is set.
Permissions
Change permissions on a file or directory.
Key Commands
The following keyboard commands allow editing of menus and
fields, and give access to various vsh features.
<Ctrl-E>
Move the cursor up one line.
<Ctrl-X>
Move the cursor down one line.
<Ctrl-S>
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Move the cursor left one character.
<Ctrl-D>
Move the cursor right one character.
<Ctrl-R><Ctrl-E>
Scroll page up.
<Ctrl-R><Ctrl-X>
Scroll page down.
<Ctrl-R><Ctrl-S>
Scroll page left.
<Ctrl-R><Ctrl-D>
Scroll page right.
<Ctrl-Q>
Home. Go to start of menu.
<Ctrl-Z>
End. Go to the end of menu.
<Ctrl-C>
Cancel. Stop present operation and return to the main
command menu.
<RETURN>
Start the present command.
<TAB>, <Ctrl-I>, or <Ctrl-A>
Move to and select entire contents of next field in
command line.
<SPACE>
Select next item in menu.
<BACKSPACE> or <Ctrl-H>
Select previous menu item. In editing command lists,
deletes character. Replacement text may then be typed.
<Ctrl-Y> or <DEL>
Delete selected character.
<Ctrl-L>
Move to next character to right of current cursor
position.
<Ctrl-K>
Move to next character to left of current cursor
position.
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<Ctrl-P>
Move to next word to right of current cursor position.
<Ctrl-O>
Move to next word to left of current cursor position.
? Help. Request information about the selected command
or command in progress at the time of the request.
= Show. Display sub-directory listings and text files in
directory listings. Display submenus for commands in
main menu.
- Goaway. Return listing window to current or parent
directory after a show command.
@ Display the Modify menu.
! Redraw the screen.
| Display filter menu.
Files
menu.def standard menu definition file.
.mnu extension for customized command
menus.
/usr/lib/vsh/VSHELL.HPP help file
/usr/lib/vsh/VSHELL.HPT yet another help file
Notes
The use of wildcard characters (*,[,], and ?) to specify
file names is not supported by vsh. (Wildcard characters
are discussed in the Tutorial.)
The swtch character is reset by vsh. It is not possible to
switch to the session manager, shl(C), while running vsh.
It is necessary to run vsh as superuser and select ``help''
in order to initialize the help files. If this is not done,
help is not available.
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