DECO(1)DECO(1)NAMEdeco - visual shell for UNIX
FORMATdeco [directory]
DESCRIPTION
DECO, or Demos Commander, is a visual interface for the UNIX operating
system, developed by the motives of the widely known Norton Commander.
Control characters are designated below as ^X, which means: CTRL+X. The
"~" in file names means "home directory".
Functional Keys
DECO is adjusted to the type of terminal by means of the termcap termi‐
nal description file. While in operation, DECO uses 10 functional keys
F1-F10. To determine the 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
In any state of DECO, press F10 to reset and cancel the current menu.
If DECO is in the usual mode (system command input), F10 calls for an
exit from the DECO menu:
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
F1 provides you with a built-in help message. Press F10 to return to
DECO.
Deco Windows and Operation Modes
Usually, DECO shows two panels (right and left ones), two directories
are displayed there. One of these panels is the current one, where all
the operations take place (the name of this panel is printed in ital‐
ics). The second panel is used to point out the place to copy, move or
link files, as well as to present information about the current direc‐
tory (see the ^L command). The TAB command (Tab or ^I key) serves as a
fast way to select another panel as the current one, the key ^U is used
to swap panels on the screen.
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 restric‐
tion 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 pan‐
els 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
DECO is usually set to the screen mode when you can use arrows to
travel across the directory and select files, as well as form a command
line by entering characters. You can add the names of the current and
selected files to the end of the command line by the LineFeed or ^J
commands. Using ^E and ^X commands, it is possible to move along the
History, i.e. to "recall" previously executed commands. To erase the
command line, use the ^Y command.
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 His‐
tory, 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 charac‐
terized 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
DECO differs regular, special files and directories. Type of file is
marked to the left of file name by character tag. There are following
file tags:
space regular file
* executable file
/ directory
& inaccessible directory
$ character device
# block device
= FIFO file
~ symbolic link
@ inaccessible symbolic link
! named socket
Handling Selected Files
Selected files are used to set filenames for commands. Only regular
files can be selected. To select the files (and to cancel the selec‐
tion), the following commands can be used:
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 com‐
mand.
Entering Menu
F9 brings you to the MENU mode. To execute the command, select the
desired command and press Return.
The menu's structure is given below. Many commands can be called for
without panel mode, the corresponding keys are given in the right col‐
umn:
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
LEFT and RIGHT sections are used to alter states of the left and right
panels, respectively. The commands Brief, Long, Full set different lev‐
els of detailization of information about files. The command Status
turns the status panel on and off, this panel is situated in the oppo‐
site panel. Command Align extensions switches mode of flushing file
name extensions to the right margin.
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
The FILES section is intended for operating files. Most commands of
this section are placed on the functional keyboard. Copy, link, and
move commands use another panel to show the place to copy, move or link
files to by default.
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
The Commands section includes various 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 differ‐
ent, 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
The Options section serves to set and save DECO operation 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
The following commands are available in the built-in editor:
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 under‐
lines.
Quit - F10
Exit the editor.
User Menus
DECO has a possibility to create menus defined by the user. The Command
F2 reads the file .menu, which includes the description of the menu. If
the file .menu is not found, the file ~/.menu, or
/usr/local/lib/deco/menu, or /usr/lib/deco/menu is being read. The menu
description file has the following structure:
# 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 command line is empty when Return or ^M is pressed in the panel
mode, and the current file is the directory, DECO moves to this direc‐
tory. If the current file is an executable one, it is executed. If the
current file is a usual regular one, then the command that corresponds
its name is executed. The command is described in the file ~/.deco.
This allows the user to fulfill operations for each file, which depend
on the name of this file, e.g., to start the C compiler for the files
named *.c, to start the make utility for the file Makefile, etc.
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
Patterns of filenames can include the following metasymbols:
* 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
~/.decoini
/usr/local/lib/deco/initfile
/usr/lib/deco/initfile
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
If the screen display is distorted, you can restore it by the command
^].
REFERENCES
csh (1), termcap (5)
DECO(1)
