Thank you for taking the time to look at this piece of software called 'geoSHELL'. I spent a great deal of time creating this and will continue to develop more and more useful commands for geoSHELL. New commands can be added to this system by simply copying them to your disks.
Feel free to pass this demo around for others to see. If you would like to order the complete geoSHELL package in it's entirety, including a nicely printed 70 page manual, plus be eligible for follow-on support of the product, send a check or money order to:
Maurice Randall
P.O. Box 606
Charlotte MI 48813
Ph: (517) 543-5202
The cost of geoSHELL is $24.95. This price includes shipping to anywhere in the USA. Foreign orders, please add $5.00 to cover additional shipping and handling charges. A special Canadian price is $19.95 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling.
This demo has certain features disabled naturally, but you will find many of the features still very usable. It will at least give you a fairly good idea of what the program is like. Normally geoSHELL installs itself, so that when you run an application and then exit it, you would return to geoSHELL instead of the DeskTop. That particular feature has been disabled. The 'type' command has been left intact. Try that one out on any type of text file, whether it be a GeoWrite file or a text file created with any other word processor, even ones outside of GEOS. The 'type' command can distinguish between ascii and petascii files or even files that are stored as screencode. Just enter type followed by a filename to view that file.
Read the rest of this file to find out a little more about geoSHELL and then give the program a try.
What is geoSHELL? geoSHELL is a user interface that is used exclusively with the GEOS operating system on a Commodore 64 or 128. Much like the DeskTop, geoSHELL can perform most of the functions that a GEOS user needs for managing disk files. Unlike the DeskTop, however, geoSHELL is almost entirely text-based, rather than using icons and pull-down menus. This does not mean that icons and menus cannot be used, however. Therefore, the initial appearance of geoSHELL leads one to believe that it is not user-friendly. However, once you become familiar with it, you will find yourself getting around in GEOS to be much faster and easier.
geoSHELL recognizes a number of commands that the user may type on the keyboard. As an example, simply type the command 'dir' and hit 'RETURN' if you wish to view a directory of the disk. The commands that geoSHELL recognizes are easy to remember and easy to type as there are no complicated series of commas, colons, parentheses, or slashes to remember. If a command requires a parameter to follow it, just remember to include one space between the command and it's parameter.
geoSHELL loads faster than the DeskTop for various reasons. It doesn't have to load in the icons and display them whenever opening a disk or flipping to another directory page. In fact, geoSHELL doesn't even read a disk directory until it is told to do so. This allows you to insert a different disk into the drive at any time. With the DeskTop, you always have to open the disk whenever inserting a new one.
geoSHELL allows you to find a file on the disk faster than the DeskTop can because you simply type in the filename and hit RETURN and geoSHELL will load and run the file for you. If it is not found on the active drive, then any other drive that is on your system will be searched as well. With the DeskTop, you have to search through each page of files until you find the one you want and then double-click on it's icon. This is OK if the desired icon is already displayed on the screen, but if you have to search your other drive, it takes a few moments. Unfortunately, some of us computer users no longer have the patience we once had.
Now, don't get me wrong, the DeskTop is a very good piece of software. It has an abundance of features and is very easy to comprehend and use. It was well-written and has very few bad points. But the GEOS world has been without any form of interface that gets the user more on an even level with his machine. Now, there is geoSHELL. You now have added capabilities all built into one piece of software, that, coupled with your favorite icon-type interface (such as the DeskTop), makes working with GEOS much more enjoyable.
geoSHELL may also be referred to
geoSHELL may also be referred to as a CLI, or 'command line interface'. But once you start using geoSHELL, you will find that it is much friendlier than most any other CLI for any type of computer. You will find yourself becoming accustomed to it's use very quickly. Just think in terms of the DeskTop when you are issuing a command in geoSHELL, and you will understand what you wish to accomplish and what is taking place.
Like any other application in GEOS, the first thing you need to do to run geoSHELL is to simply click on it's icon from the DeskTop. Within a few moments, geoSHELL will be loaded and displayed on your screen. It's as simple as that. geoSHELL is now in command of your machine instead of the DeskTop. If you wish to return to the DeskTop, simply click on the 'close' button at the upper right corner of the geoSHELL window.
With geoSHELL running, you are now in a different type of user environment. geoSHELL is waiting, with it's cursor blinking, for you to begin typing in commands. Just in front of the cursor is a letter representing the drive that is the currently active drive. Try entering the command 'dir', which is short for 'directory'. Be sure to hit RETURN after typing the three letters. What you will see now is a directory listing of all of the files that are contained on the disk. While the DeskTop displays the files a page at a time with eight files to a page, geoSHELL will scroll through the whole directory all at once. This is much like you would do it from Basic, using a dos wedge command.
Now, if you should see a particular application or desk-accessory that you would like to try loading, simply enter the name of the file and hit RETURN. If you already know the name of the file you would like to load, you don't even have to look for it in the directory. Just enter the name and geoSHELL will find it for you. If it is not on the active drive, then geoSHELL will search the other drives for it and load and run it from the drive it is found on. This feature saves a lot of time that you would normally spend searching through the DeskTop pages for the program that you need.
@Entering Commands
Once you have geoSHELL on the screen, you will need to know a few rules that you must follow in order to use it's many features. Fortunately, geoSHELL is a very friendly user-interface and there is very little to remember. These rules apply mainly to how you enter a command or a series of commands.
Of course, to enter a command, you just type it in and hit the RETURN key. Once the RETURN key is struck, geoSHELL will analyze your input and perform the function that you desire. Some commands are simple ones that are entered all by themselves and some require you to add a parameter to them. Then there are some that work with or without a parameter. For instance, if you enter the command 'date', geoSHELL will respond by displaying the current date that is set in the GEOS kernal. If you enter 'date' along with a parameter that 'date' recognizes, then geoSHELL will set the date to the one that you specified in the parameter.
Whenever you enter a command followed by a parameter, you must put exactly just one space between the command and parameter. All the comman
Whenever you enter a command followed by a parameter, you must put exactly just one space between the command and parameter. All the commands expect to find their parameters exactly one space after the command.
Here's an example:
run photo manager
It is obvious as to what will happen when you hit RETURN after entering the above line. After analyzing the line, geoSHELL will search the drives for the photo manager and if it finds it, it will load and run it for you. Now, if you had placed two spaces between 'run' and 'photo manager', geoSHELL would have looked for a file that begins with a space and would not have found the one you were looking for. One thing is good, you don't have to enclose the filename inside quotation marks like you do from Basic.
Another little trick that can save some typing when entering a 'resident' command is you are allowed to use a shorter version of the command. In fact, geoSHELL will recognize anything from the first three characters up to the entire spelling of the command. This means that you can use the command 'dir' or you can use the command 'directory'. Also, 'direc' will perform the same function. This only applies to the commands that are resident in the computer. Any command that resides on the disk, the transient commands, must be typed in full.
@Using Multiple Commands
geoSHELL allows you to enter more than one command on a line. Just make sure to put at least one space between each command. You could put more than one space between commands if you like, the extra spaces are ignored. It is between a command and it's parameter that you must remember to put just one space. You are allowed to enter as many commands on one line as will fit. geoSHELL will execute each command in the order that they are placed.
Now, when you type in a command that requires a parameter that is not necessarily of a fixed length such as in the case of a filename, geoSHELL needs a way to know where the end of the parameter is. A terminator is used to end any command that uses a variable length parameter. This terminator is the 'up-arrow' (^). You will find the key for it just to the left of the RESTORE key. Here is our previous example with a second command following it:
run photo manager^ date
In this case, the desk accessory called 'photo manager' will run and after returning to geoSHELL, you will be given the current date. If you failed to place the terminator in this example, geoSHELL would have looked for a file called 'photo manager da'. Since a filename can never exceed 16 characters, the 'te' would have been ignored and your whole line entered would be wasted. You wouldn't hurt anything by making this mistake, other than waiting while geoSHELL makes a quick search for a non-existant file. geoSHELL will respond with 'photo manager da Not Available'. geoSHELL is smart, but it can't read your mind entirely.
So, don't forget to use the up-arrow terminator at the end of any variable length para
So, don't forget to use the up-arrow terminator at the end of any variable length parameter if you are following it with another command on the same line. If you are only entering one command on a line or if this command is the last one on a line, then the terminator is not needed. The end of your input is also a terminator.
These terminators are also used in your startup files and exec files.
geoSHELL supports the use of 'hotkeys'. Th
geoSHELL supports the use of 'hotkeys'. These hotkeys are comprised of any two keys on the keyboard that can produce a character. What they do is load and run an application or desk accessory or a data file along with it's parent application. For instance, just enter wr and hit return to load and run GeoWrite. You can define your own hotkeys with the 'hotkey' and 'savekeys' commands. The following is a list of predefined hotkeys as supplied with geoSHELL.
wr "GEOWRITE"
co "CONFIGURE"
tg "TEXT GRABBER"
sp "GEOSPELL"
fi "GEOFILE"
ca "GEOCALC"
pa "GEOPAINT"
as "GEOASSEMBLER"
li "GEOLINKER"
pu "GEOPUBLISH"
db "GEODEBUGGER"
ba "GEOBASIC"
ac "alarm clock"
pd "PAINT DRIVERS"
pm "photo manager"
tm "text manager"
np "note pad"
cl "calculator"
me "GEOMERGE"
la "GEOLASER"
gg "GRAPHICS GRABBER"
dx "geoDex"
cd "calendar"
ie "Icon Editor"
bj "blackjack"
st "Startup"
pr "preference mgr"
Here is a quick look at all of the available commands that are used in geoSHELL. The commands are listed in alphabetical order with a very brief description and one or two examples if needed. It is also mentioned whether the command is a resident command or a transient command. In the case of transient commands, there are internal and external transients. An internal transient is stored on disk within the geoSHELL file itself. An external transient is stored on disk within it's own separate file. A resident command is loaded into memory when geoSHELL is loaded.
Any command marked with an asterisk has been disabled in this demo version of geoSHELL.
@a:, b:, c:, or d:
(resident)
Activate a drive.
@always
(resident)
Used only in a startup file. Commands following it are executed always.
@atype
(internal transient)
View an ASCII text file.
Example: atype filename
@backpatt
(external transient)
Change the background pattern. Valid parameter is 0-31.
Example: backpatt 14
@basic
(resident)
Exit GEOS and return to Basic.
@catalog
(resident)
This is the same as 'directory'.
@cdir
(resident)
View a directory according to a time parameter.
Example: cdirExample: cdir 0623p
Example: cdir 102292
(resident)
Clear the geoSHELL window.
@color80
(external transient)
Set the colors on the 128's 80 column color mode.
@custom
(internal transient)
Save certain settings to make them your defaults.
@date
(resident)
Display the current date or set the date.
Example: date
Example: date 102392
@dcopy
(internal transient)
A whole disk copier
Example: dcopy b
@ddate
(resident)
Causes directories to display filenames with the date and time.
@defkey
(internal transient)
Load the default function key definitions.
@delete
(resident)
Delete a file on the active drive.
@directory
(resident)
Display a directory with
@defkey
(internal transient)
Load the default function key definitions.
@delete
(resident)
Delete a file on the active drive.
@directory
(resident)
Display a directory with or without wildcards.
Example: dir
Example: dir G*
@dtype
(resident)
Causes directories to display filenames with the filetype and size.
@echo
(resident)
Echo a message to the screen.
Example: echo This message to the screen^
(resident)
Ends a startup or exec file
@exec
(internal transient)
Execute a file of commands.
This would be a file created with GeoWrite containing valid geoSHELL commands.
Example: exec filename
@exit
(resident)
Return to the DeskTop.
@fastdir
(resident)
Causes directories to display just the filenames.
@fcopy
(internal transient)
A filecopier.
Example: fcopy b filename
@format
(external transient)
Format a disk in the current drive.
Example: format diskname
@geos
(resident)
Make a disk a GEOS disk.
@getkey
(external transient)
Wait for a keypress in a startup or exec file, and then process the input.
@help
(external transient)
Display a help screen from a file called 'helpfile'.
Example: help
Example: help subject
@hotkey
(external transient)
Define your hotkey settings or display the current ones. Works in conjunction with 'savekeys'.
Example: hotkey
Example: hotkey pa=GEOPAINT
@info
(internal transient)
Display various bits of info about a file.
Example: info filename
@input
(resident)
Display the name of the current input driver.
@insert
(resident)
Insert a string of characters at the current cursor position.
@instal
@input
(resident)
Display the name of the current input driver.
@insert
(resident)
Insert a string of characters at the current cursor position.
@install
(internal transient)
Install a printer or input driver.
Example: install 128 COMM 1351(a)
Example: install NX1000
(resident)
Display the function key definitions.
@key1
(resident)
Redefine a function key. Also use key2, key3, etc. CMDR/UP-ARROW required as a terminator when other commands follow.
Example: key3 insert fcopy b |
@learn
(external transient)
Create a disk driver command such as 'install41.64'.
This command is needed to create a driver for using four drives with geoSHELL.
Example: learn b
@load
(resident)
Load a transient command into memory without executing it.
Example: load backpatt
@mono
(resident)
Switch the 128 to monochrome mode.
@onboot
(resident)
Used only in a startup file. Commands that follow will execute only during initial bootup.
@output
(resident)
Display the filename of the current printer driver.
@path
(external transient)
Define your path partition or display the current one.
This let's geoSHELL reside on just one partition on a CMD device, instead of each and every partition.
Example: path
Example: path h2
@pconf
(external transient)
Define your printer settings for the '@P' command, or display the current ones.
Example: pconf
Example: pconf 47ya
@print
(resident)
Print a data file.
Example: print filename
@ptype
(resident)
Display a PETASCII text file.
Example: ptype filename
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
@remove
(external transient)
Remove a drive from the system.
Example: remove d
@rename
(resident)
Rename a file. This works only on the active drive.
Example: ren newfilename=oldfilename
(resident)
Switch the 128's 80 column screen into multi-color mode.
(resident)
Load and run a file.
Example: run filename
Example: run file*
(resident)
Switches the 128 to 40 column mode.
(resident)
Switches the 128 to 80 column mode.
@savekeys
(external transient)
Save your new hotkey settings to the geoSHELL file on the current drive.
@slowdir
(resident)
Causes directories to display filenames plus additional info.
@startup
(resident)
Execute a startup file.
Example: startup
Example: startup 5
@status
(resident)
Display the drives that are currently online.
@stype
(resident)
Display a text file that is stored in Commodore screencode.
Example: stype filename
@swap
(internal transient)
Swap drives.
Example: swap ac
@switch
(resident)
Switch the 128 back and forth between 40 and 80 columns.
@time
(resident)
Display the time or set the time.
Example: time
Example: time 0834a
@type
(internal transient)
Display any type of text file.
Example: type filename
@wait
(resident)
This works only in a startup file. It waits for the user to hit any key.
(.txt)