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H-Net Magazine Vol 1 Issue 1 File 16
H-NET H-NET H-NET H-NET H-NET H-NET H-NET H
N N
E ** H-Net Magazine ** E
T T
H Volume One, Issue 1, File #16 of 20 H
N N
E UNIX-HELP conf on UNAXCESS BBS, JANET E
T T
H-NET H-NET H-NET H-NET H-NET H-NET H-NET H
DETAILS : Unaxcess BBS - JANET address - 0000121100
UNAXCESS is a bbs that is run by Bradford University on the JANET (Joint
Academic) NETwork. Although it is very strictly run and you need to be a
student to gain access I did not find it much of a problem. They also have
a strict policy of no hacking chat - but with UNIX and VAX help conferences
I was still interested in it!! hehehe. Another interesting feature of the BBS
is it's chat mode 'T' from the main menu - about 8 lines I think.
Plenty of people seem to be slagging off JANET as boring these days - they are
usually the people who havent bothered to have a good look around - I mean
the La Palma Observatory hack was quite funny!! hehee
Message 277 (of 292, 28 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Saturday, 7 April, 1990 - 5:27 PM
From: JOB
To: ANDIE
Subject: WhiteChapel Mg1
In-Reply-To: 263, 210
a maintenance floppy? Is that a special utils disk then?
hmm.. we don't have that.
Do you know anyone with an MG1?
cheers, Jason.
--
Replied-to-by: ANDIE
19:55 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 285 (of 292, 27 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Monday, 9 April, 1990 - 1:33 PM
From: ANDIE
To: JOB
Subject: WhiteChapel Mg1
In-Reply-To: 277, 263, 210
Yes. To make a new one, you need to "cd /usr/wcw; ./mkmflp"
but seeing as your usr partition is broken, this isn't much help.
I'm in the process of acquiring some Whitechapel spares...One of the broken
beasts is a MG-1. If I can generate a maintenace floppy from one, I'll let you
know.
--Andie.
19:44 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 264 (of 292, 26 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 29 March, 1990 - 10:39 PM
From: FRED
To: DYLAN
Subject: cd...
In-Reply-To: 261, 260, 259, 257, 256, 252
Or you could get a C proggy to call a shell script, but that would be slower,
possibly more interesting?
Fred.
--
Replied-to-by: DYLAN
19:35 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 265 (of 292, 25 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Friday, 30 March, 1990 - 3:49 AM
From: DYLAN
To: FRED
Subject: cd...
In-Reply-To: 264, 261, 260, 259, 257, 256, 252
But that wouldn't work.
Dylan.
19:31 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 266 (of 292, 24 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Friday, 30 March, 1990 - 10:21 AM
From: DISCO MAN
Subject: changing directory in a c program
The whole idea of changing the directory in a c program is so that
I can write for example
chdir("/user/compsci/cs_bsc/evansmp/application");
...
output = fopen("outfile");
input = fopen("infile");
rename ("infile","infile%");
without having to put the complete path name in every file reference,
and ensuring that the program will do what it should do whatever the
pwd of its parent process is.
Prehaps more useful is
#define APPLICATION_DIR "/usr/compsci/cs_bsc/evansmp/application"
...
chdir(APPLICATION_DIR);
--More [YD]-- 19:20 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (?
for help) N
Message 267 (of 292, 23 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Wednesday, 4 April, 1990 - 9:13 PM
From: PC PLOD
Subject: re: cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. ....
Have we all flogged 'cd' to death now PLEASE??
--
Replied-to-by: DYLAN
19:15 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 268 (of 292, 22 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 12:20 AM
From: DYLAN
To: PC PLOD
Subject: re: cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. cd.. ....
In-Reply-To: 267
Well actually, we could go on at great length if you really wanted us to....
Dylan.
19:09 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 269 (of 292, 21 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 6:17 AM
From: DYLAN
Subject: lisp
I need a lisp interpreter which will compile + run on System V, specifically
a Xenix machine? Anyone got one.
Dylan.
--
Replied-to-by: LORRY
19:03 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 270 (of 292, 20 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 12:24 PM
From: LORRY
To: DYLAN
Subject: lisp
In-Reply-To: 269
Think there's one on Tardis but anyway, jpd could be the man to ask.
--
Replied-to-by: DYLAN
18:57 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 276 (of 292, 19 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 7:26 PM
From: DYLAN
To: LORRY
Subject: lisp
In-Reply-To: 270, 269
I already have, and am waiting in anticiaption of his answer sweetnes.
Dylan.
18:55 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 271 (of 292, 18 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 5:55 PM
From: CHRIS2
Subject: File creation
As a non Unix expert can anyone help me with this one?
I want to put something into .profile so that when I sign on a test will
be carried out to see if a certain file exists. If it doesn't then I want to
6create a new directory in /tmp/mysignon
--
Replied-to-by: CYBERMAN
--
Replied-to-by: BLADERUNNER
18:50 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 272 (of 292, 17 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 6:02 PM
From: CHRIS2
Subject: File creation
please e-mail your repiles regarding my previous fiule
creation question to C.Dennison@uk.ac.newcastle
Many thanks Chris2
18:48 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 273 (of 292, 16 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 6:15 PM
From: CYBERMAN
To: CHRIS2
Subject: File creation
In-Reply-To: 271
Try this
if [ -f file ]
then
mkdir /tmp/mysignon/whatever
fi
Or, if the file has to both exist and be non-zero in length
use
if [ -s file ]
Square brackets execute the command test, I think the above is more
readable, but you can also write these as below (see test manual page)
--More (85%) [YNDQ]--
if test -f file
then
....
Hope this helps,
--- Malcolm
18:44 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 274 (of 292, 15 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 6:48 PM
From: BLADERUNNER
To: CHRIS2
Subject: File creation
In-Reply-To: 271
Ummm..how about something like this:
if test -s FILEYOUWANTTESTED then
mkdir /tmp/mysigno
fi
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>BLADERUNNER>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
--
Replied-to-by: BLADERUNNER
18:29 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 275 (of 292, 14 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 5 April, 1990 - 6:51 PM
From: BLADERUNNER
To: BLADERUNNER
Subject: File creation
In-Reply-To: 274, 271
Whoops! Looks like Cyberman's already answered it!! :-)
18:25 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 278 (of 292, 13 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Saturday, 7 April, 1990 - 6:54 PM
From: TANIA
To: OLORIN
Subject: background login
In-Reply-To: 233, 228, 223
hmm.. I think you're kinda getting mixed up over the way subshells exist in
unix if you're talking like that... there's no way in unix that a child
process can set the enviromnet (or anything else) of its parent (see `man tset`
for a quote like "if a process could set the environment of its parent, none of
this nonsense would be necessary in the first place")
whoever it was said about 'alias a alias' making all the lines using the alias
'a' go back to the start of the file -- uh, nono; the alias has been set up in
the shell process, hash tables and all that jazz; it doesnt need to go back
read the file in again. How could it re-read stdin, eh?
there's various things that make .cshrc initialisation slow; I can't remember
all the reasons I realised and cut down on in my .cshrc...
evaluating ~<username> is very slow, but ~ on its own is fast.
in tcsh, whenever you set path, it recreates its hash table (maybe in csh too)
so don't do
set path = ( /bin /usr/bin /usr/ucb /usr/local /gnu/bin )
set path = ( $path ~/bin/sun3 ~/bin/scripts /cs/share/bin )
set path = ( $path /more/funky/stuff /loadsa/paths/for/interesting/things )
... do it all in one line, escaping newlines.
also, if your path setup uses eg ../bin/`arch`/ or something several times, or
indeed if you use any program more than once to get the same result, evaluate
it once and put it in a variable.
keep checking it and cutting out anything you dont really use; I for one often
make up wierd and wonderful aliases to do complex tasks without needing any
further thought (what's that?) and then never use them again.
Put all the esoteric ones in a separate file and make an alias (gasp!) to
--More (83%) [YNDQ]--
source that file -- many logins are just short ones that don't need all that
trash (check printer queue; mail someone/check mail; whatever)
Er, kickoff time... see y'later.
Don't worry, be happy.
~Tania ----# Aaarrrggghhh what am I doing here anyway I've got a project to
finish!!!
Fish!
bye!
--
Replied-to-by: CYBERMAN
--
Replied-to-by: OLORIN
17:58 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 279 (of 292, 12 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Saturday, 7 April, 1990 - 8:30 PM
From: CYBERMAN
To: TANIA
Subject: background login
In-Reply-To: 278, 233, 228, 223
Ssh startup is LOADS faster than csh, because you can get it to
declare aliases as extern, i.e. expanded when called the first time.
Means you can have as many wierd aliases as you like.
Doesnt help with csh though, does it..
Setting paths, i find it best to do it like thius..
set lpath = ( ~/bin /usr/local/bin ~/bin/X11 )
set path = ( . $lpath /usr/bin /usr/ucb /bin /etc /usr/etc )
Except thatI usually put . at the end
Also, if you replace less common aliases with scripts, startup is faster.
--More (83%) [YNDQ]--
The main problem with csh startup however, is its size... Its just too big.
If you can get it, try ssh, or a ksh
--- MAlcolm
17:48 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 280 (of 292, 11 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Sunday, 8 April, 1990 - 4:24 PM
From: OLORIN
To: TANIA
Subject: background login
In-Reply-To: 278, 233, 228, 223
What I meant was to simulate alias with shell scripts . It tends to be a lot
more flexible than the brain-dead alias facilities of csh. Trouble is then
theres the delay of spawning another shell :-(
--
Replied-to-by: FIZZ
--
Replied-to-by: CYBERMAN
17:43 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 281 (of 292, 10 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Sunday, 8 April, 1990 - 5:15 PM
From: FIZZ
To: OLORIN
Subject: background login
In-Reply-To: 280, 278, 233, 228, 223
> ...spawning another shell
I thought Unixy peeps always forked other processes... hohum! :-)
+F.
--
Replied-to-by: OLORIN
17:40 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 282 (of 292, 9 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Sunday, 8 April, 1990 - 5:44 PM
From: OLORIN
To: FIZZ
Subject: background login
In-Reply-To: 281, 280, 278, 233, 228, 223
Well if you're getting picky :-)
fork()/exec() 'ing another shell . Happy now ?
--
Replied-to-by: FIZZ
17:37 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 283 (of 292, 8 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Sunday, 8 April, 1990 - 7:41 PM
From: FIZZ
To: OLORIN
Subject: background login
In-Reply-To: 282, 281, 280, 278, 233, 228, 223
Yep, ta! :-)
Wouldn't like people to get the impression we used VMS now would we? :->
+F.
17:29 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 284 (of 292, 7 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Monday, 9 April, 1990 - 12:30 AM
From: CYBERMAN
To: OLORIN
Subject: background login
In-Reply-To: 280, 278, 233, 228, 223
If you make teh first line of your script
#!\bin\csh -f
(slashes should be forward ones, but that key isnt workking :-( )
It shouldd start csh without reading aliases etc, check the manual page
for csh options.
Better still, write your scripts in Bournne shell, as its smaller it'll
start faster - and for scripts its generally regarded as a better shell.
For Bourne shell startup use
#!\bin\sh
--More (89%) [YNDQ]--
as the first linne (same problem with slashes)
--- Malcolm
17:11 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Checkpointing...
Message 286 (of 292, 6 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Monday, 9 April, 1990 - 8:03 PM
From: ALIEN
Subject: UNIX shells
can anyone give me a rundown of the various shells available for UNIX
and the (dis)/advantages of them?
Alien
--
Replied-to-by: KEI
17:01 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 287 (of 292, 5 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Monday, 9 April, 1990 - 10:15 PM
From: KEI
To: ALIEN
Subject: UNIX shells
In-Reply-To: 286
Okay, speaking as a dedicated VMS person, I'm probably the wrong person to
answer this, but here goes!! One of the earliest shells was the Bourne shell
(written by Bourne), which should be found in /bin (i.e. /bin/sh). This is the
standard shell (well, sort of). It is small, fast and limited (no command
recall, line editing or sttff like that). Next on the scene was the C shell
(/bin/csh) this is meant to have a c-like syntax, making it easy for C
programmers to write shell scripts. It has rudimentary line-editing, using
commands like !! to recall the previous command !a to recal the last command
st`rting with a and various more complicated stuff. A recent arrival (ish) is
the korn shell (/bin/ksh) this is big but offers lots of facilities. There is
line-editing using EMACS or vi keystrokes. Aliases are available in csh and
ksh, these enable you to alias (for example) x to be cat, so when you type x
the shell replaces it with cat which it then executes. That's an overview ...
the logout approaches!!
--More (83%) [YNDQ]--
A couple of other shells I have heard of but not used are vsh (a visual
shell)and a shell written by those nice people at the free software foundation
(GNU) which I think is called bash.
Ian
--
Replied-to-by: PEBBLE
16:38 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 288 (of 292, 4 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Monday, 9 April, 1990 - 10:28 PM
From: PEBBLE
To: KEI
Subject: UNIX shells
In-Reply-To: 287, 286
There's also one I've heard of called `ash', which is intended to run with
`atty' (an `alternative termininal driver', which does line-editing etc.).
Bash (the FSF's Bourne Again Shell) is sort of a greatest upper bound (!) of
/bin/sh and csh - it has a superset of sh syntax, line-editing a la emacs, and
csh's job control and history substitution.
I've also heard of tcsh, which is sort of a modified csh (as ksh is a modified
Bourne shell).
I think that's more than enough, don't you? :)
--
Replied-to-by: PSYCHO
16:33 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 289 (of 292, 3 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Monday, 9 April, 1990 - 10:33 PM
From: PSYCHO
To: PEBBLE
Subject: UNIX shells
In-Reply-To: 288, 287, 286
It is enough after I mention ssh (available on tardis).... 8-)
psycho....
--
Replied-to-by: FORD PREFECT
16:28 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 290 (of 292, 2 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Tuesday, 10 April, 1990 - 9:23 AM
From: FORD PREFECT
To: PSYCHO
Subject: UNIX shells
In-Reply-To: 289, 288, 287, 286
On the subject of ssh.. I just happen to have the Man page here in front of me!
NAME
ssh - a portable Unix shell
SYNOPSIS
ssh [ [-fP-]-bcefiklnrstuvxzBCDEFHIJKLMNPRSTUX ][ arg ...]
DESCRIPTION
Summary
Ssh is a shell originally based on the Bourne shell sh with additions
inspired from the C-shell csh and the Korn shell ksh.
Ssh is intended to be totally compatible with sh and the settings of
--More (71%) [YNDQ]--
various flags permits use of the additional features. In particular,
the -T flag acts as a toggle for switching between full
sh-compatibility and full ssh. etc....
I hope this is of some use!
Ford Prefect
16:18 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 291 (of 292, 1 more unread) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Thursday, 19 April, 1990 - 5:27 PM
From: DISCO MAN
Subject: problem with bash
Does anyone know how to get bash, (GNU's Bourne Again Shell) to compile
on a Sequent Symetry S27. I can get it to work fine on a sun sparcstation,
but not on the sequent.
16:18 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) N
Message 292 (of 292) in UNIX-HELP:
Date: Friday, 20 April, 1990 - 7:43 PM
From: DARKANGEL
Subject: Inter Process Communication
Firstly, many thanks to Olorin for the socket information, but ...
while developing the socket-using program (and it's really getting hair-raising
now!) how can you safely exit, e.g. on an external request (kill process!)
dropping the socket you were using. Where I'm at the (Sequent Symmetry S29 I
think - running DYNIX something or other - great effects can be had from simple
calls to fork()!) system complains when my program keels over - I have to wait
a while for the 'Socket already in use' messages to stop!
DarkAngel!
16:17 [UNIX-HELP] Reading (? for help) X
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