NAME

FORMAT

DESCRIPTION

Control characters are designated below as ^X, which means: CTRL+X. The "~" in file names means "home directory".

Functional Keys

f0...f9

for F10, F1...F9 keys

kl, kr, ku, kd

for left, right, up, down arrow keys respectively

kh, kH, kP, kN

for home screen, screen end, page up, page down, respectively

kI

insert mode

kD

delete character

For terminals without an additional keyboard, it is possible to enter commands by control characters or <Esc> X sequence.

Here is the Commands Table:

 Command Key                     Alternative
 (PC key)        VT-220          input
 -------------------------------------
 F1              -1-             ESC 1
 F2              -2-             ESC 2
 F3              -3-             ESC 3
 F4              -4-             ESC 4
 F5              -5-             ESC 5
 F6              -6-             ESC 6
 F7              -7-             ESC 7
 F8              -8-             ESC 8
 F9              -9-             ESC 9
 F10             -0-             ESC 0
 arrow up        up              ESC u
 arrow down      down            ESC d
 arrow left      left            ESC l
 arrow right     right           ESC r
 Home            Home            ESC h
 End             End             ESC e
 PgUp            PrevPage        ESC p
 PgDn            NextPage        ESC n
 Ins             Ins             ^T
 Del             Del             ^G

Note that for some devices (for example, PC AT console) F1-F10 keys are used, while for others - keys 1-9, 0 of the additional keyboard.

Command Canceling and Exit from Deco

 Do you want to exit from DECO commander?
 Yes No Shell

Yes (exit), No (no exit), and Shell (run csh) should be selected by the arrow keys and the RETURN key (ENTER for IBM PC). If Shell is selected, you have to input the exit command in order to return to DECO.

Getting Help

Deco Windows and Operation Modes

System commands are executed from DECO in the same manner, as from the usual interpreter sh or csh (see below, Running UNIX Commands). DECO calls for the csh interpreter to execute commands. The single restriction is that SHELL is restarted each time, so variable values, aliases, jobs, etc. are not memorized. Initially, DECO is set to the screen mode, where panels, status line (in the upper part of the screen, which includes the names of machine, user, terminal and current time), and hint line (in the lower part of the screen) are displayed. In this mode, all DECO commands are executed (F1 - F10 and others). After a DECO command is over, DECO remains in the command input mode. No panels and prompts are displayed in this mode (for faster operation). In this mode, only system commands are executed, as well as some DECO commands, such as ^B (operation with History commands journal). Once an empty command (Return) is entered, DECO returns to the screen mode, and panels are displayed. In some cases, DECO can move to the screen mode without highlighting the panels (for example, calling for History from the non-screen mode). During operations with different menus, DECO moves to the menu mode. In this case, the commands listed in the menu are executed, arrows move the cursor along the menu, F10 means always "Cancel the MENU mode".

Executing Unix Commands

System commands executed are memorized in the History. You can call for History from the DECO main menu, as well as by the ^B command. In History, arrows move the cursor along the commands, the ^J command serves to insert the current file name into the command line, Return - to insert the current file name and execute the command.

The EDIT mode serves to correct the command line. This mode is characterized by the fact that a directory name is not italicized in DECO panels. The ^P command turns this mode on and off. In EDIT, arrows move the cursor along the command line and across History. Commands Del or ^G delete characters under the cursor.

Command ^V serves for quoting non-printable characters. Next symbol, following this command, will be inserted into command line.

File Types

space

regular file

*

executable file

/

directory

&

inaccessible directory

$

character device

#

block device

=

FIFO file

~

symbolic link

@

inaccessible symbolic link

!

named socket

Handling Selected Files

Ins or ^T

Toggle selection of current file

+

Select group of files according to the pattern

-

Unselect group of files according to the pattern

If there are no selected files, the current file is used in the command.

Entering Menu

The menu's structure is given below. Many commands can be called for without panel mode, the corresponding keys are given in the right column:

 Left /
	 Brief
	 Long
	 Full
	 Status                  ^L
	 Align extensions
	 Sort by name
	 Extension
	 Time
	 Size
	 Unsorted
	 Reverse
	 Sort by type
	 Re-read                 ^R
	 Pattern
 Files /
	 Help                    F1
	 User menu               F2
	 View                    F3
	 Edit                    F4
	 Copy                    F5
	 Link
	 Symlink
	 Rename/move             F6
	 Make directory          F7
	 Delete                  F8
	 Select group            +
	 Unselect group          -
	 Quit                    F10
 Commands /
	 Run subshell
	 Compare directories
	 Find file               ^K
	 History                 ^B
	 Home directory          ^\
	 Root directory          ^_
	 Redraw screen           ^]
	 Menu file edit
	 Extensions file edit
 Options /
	 Switch panels           ^I
	 Swap panels             ^U
	 Full screen             ^F
	 Double width            ^W
	 Command line mode       ^P
	 Show hidden files
	 Viewer...
	 Editor...
	 Shell...
	 Save setup
 Right /
	 Brief
	 Long
	 Full
	 Status                  ^L
	 Align extensions
	 Sort by name
	 Extension
	 Time
	 Size
	 Unsorted
	 Reverse
	 Sort by type
	 Re-read                 ^R
	 Pattern

Commands from the menu are described in detail below.

Customizing Panels

The next group of commands manages sorting of file names inside window. Files are sorted by type (directory, block device, etc.) and inside each type - by some parameter (name, extension, size, modification time). Commands Sort by name, Extension, Time, Size choose mode of sorting by parameter. Command Unsorted turns off parameter sorting mode. Command Sort by type turns off sorting by file type. Command Reverse sets reverse sorting mode.

The command Re-read re-reads the directory. The command Pattern sets a pattern of "visible" filenames. The pattern is set according to the usual UNIX rules of handling filenames: ? means "any symbol", * means "any number of any symbols", [symbols] - "any of these symbols", ^ in the first position - "every file not matching the pattern". See `File Patterns' for more detail. For example, the pattern "^*.[bo]" means "not to show object and backup files".

Handling Files

Help - F1

Get help.

User menu - F2

Enter user-defined menu.

View - F3

View the contents of the current file. The built-in facility is used by default. Using the command Options/Viewer, you can set the name of an external utility, e.g., ``more''. The command `Options/Save setup' saves the set-up.

Edit - F4

Edit the current file. The built-in editor is used by default. Using the Options/Editor command, you can set the name of an external editor, e.g., ``vi'', and, by means of the command Options/Save, you can store it for future recalling.

Copy - F5

Copy the current or selected files.

Rename/move - F6

Move the files or the directory.

Make directory - F7

Create a new directory.

Delete - F8

Delete the files or the directory.

Link

Make a reference to the file.

Symlink

Make a symbolic reference to the file.

Select group - +

Select group of files.

Unselect group - -

Unselect group of files.

Other Commands

Run subshell

Temporary exit into system shell (cshell). The exit command returns you to DECO.

Compare directories

Compare the left and right directories. Files, which are different, are selected.

Find file

Place the cursor onto the file by its name.

History

Enter the command history menu. Select the command and press Return or ^M to execute it. Pressing LineFeed or ^J, you can insert the command into the command line and re-edit it.

Home directory

Return to the home directory.

Root directory

Return to the root directory (/).

Redraw screen

Redraw the screen.

Menu file edit

Edit user menu file.

Extensions file edit

Edit extension file.

Adjusting Modes

Switch panels

Move to the opposite panel.

Swap panels

Swap panels on the screen

Full screen

Adjust the panels' height to the full-screen size

Double width

Adjust the panels' width to the full-screen size

Command line mode

Switch the command line editing mode on and off. In this mode, the arrows move only along the command line.

Show hidden files

Hide files, whose names begin with dot.

Viewer

Sets an external viewer utility to go through the files

Editor

Sets a new external editor utility

Shell

Choose one of system command interpreters, /bin/sh or /bin/csh.

Save setup

Saves the settings in the file ~/.decoini. When DECO is started up, the files ~/.decoini, or /usr/local/lib/deco/initfile, or /usr/lib/deco/initfile are read.

Built-in Commands

cd

chdir

Go to home directory.

cd dirname

chdir dirname

Go to specified directory.

set name value

setenv name value

Set value of global variable.

unset name

unsetenv name

Delete global variable.

env

printenv

Print list of global variables.

pwd

Print current directory name.

exit

Exit from DECO.

Built-in Editor Commands

Arrows

Move cursor through the file.

Printable characters

Insert characters into the text.

Del

Delete the character under the cursor.

BackSpace

Delete the character to the left of the cursor.

^Y

Delete the current line.

^K

Delete the text starting from the cursor till the end of line.

Save - F2

Save the file.

Raw - F3

Switch the displaying characters with codes greater than 127.

Top - F5

Go to the beginning of the file.

Bottom - F6

Go to the end of the file.

Search - F7

Text/binary search.

Home - F8

Go to the beginning of the screen.

Spaces - F9

Switch on/off the space and tabulation displaying mode. Spaces are designated by dim points, and tabulations - by dim underlines.

Quit - F10

Exit the editor.

User Menus

 # Comments
 <character>    <description of command>
		<command>
 <character>    <description of command>
		<command>
 . . .

The character is either a Roman letter, or a digit, or a name of the functional keys F1- F10. If you press the key, a command of the menu is executed. The command may include macros like %X which are replaced in the following way:

 %f     name of current file
 %b     name of current file without extension
 %t     list of selected files
 %d     name of current catalogue
 %c     full name of current catalogue
 %h     full name of home catalogue
 %u     name of user
 %g     name of group of users
 %%     symbol '%'

Command can begin with the following control symbols:

-

Remain in the panel mode after execution.

@

Don't append this command to command history.

!

Interpret command string as file name and read user menu from this file. Using this feature you can implement submenus.

Here is an example of the user menu file:

 F1     Main menu
	!%h/.menu
 F2     Default menu
	!/usr/lib/deco/menu
 w      Count lines of source code
	wc *.h *.c
 b      Remove bak files
	-@rm -f *.b *.b
 d      Show my processes
	ps -fu %u
 s      Synchronize disks
	-@sync

Executing Files

If the file ~/.deco is not found, file /usr/local/lib/deco/profile, or /usr/lib/deco/profile is being read.

The file, in which operations are described by name, has the following structure:

 # Comments
 <pattern 1> <pattern 2>...<pattern N>
	<command>
 <pattern 1> <pattern 2>...<pattern N>
	<command>
 . . .

The command can include macros (see User's menu).

An example of the file ~/.deco:

 .menu .deco .cshrc .login *.c *.h
       re %f
 *.b
       rm %f
 Makefile makefile *.mk
       make -f %f
 core
       adb
 *.o
       nm %f | more
 *.a
       ar tv %f | more

File name patterns

*

Arbitrary symbol sequence. It can be empty.

?

Arbitrary symbol.

[abcx-y]

Arbitrary symbol from the selected set.

[^abcx-y]

Arbitrary symbol outside the set.

^

If placed at the beginning of pattern, this metasymbol negates the meaning of pattern.

FILES

Files of modes and initial settings.

.menu
~/.menu
/usr/local/lib/deco/menu
/usr/lib/deco/menu

Menu description files.

~/.deco
/usr/local/lib/deco/profile
/usr/lib/deco/profile

Files for describing of operations by name.

NOTES

REFERENCES