Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!rpi!leah!wfh58
From: wfh58@leah.Albany.Edu (William F. Hammond)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Input history (Was Re: Pipes)
Summary: not just "shell commands" (and can it be saved?)
Message-ID: <3156@leah.Albany.Edu>
Date: 13 Jun 90 01:39:58 GMT
References: <12391@cbmvax.commodore.com> <1990Jun7.215928.3826@cbnewsm.att.com>
   <5795@sugar.hackercorp.com> <1990Jun9.062243.24641@cbnewsm.att.com>
   <MWM.90Jun12140219@raven.pa.dec.com>
Reply-To: wfh58@leah.albany.edu.UUCP (William F. Hammond)
Organization: Dept of Math & Stat, SUNYA, Albany, NY
Lines: 39

In article <MWM.90Jun12140219@raven.pa.dec.com> mwm@raven.pa.dec.com
   (Mike (Real Amigas have keyboard garages) Meyer) writes:
>In article <1990Jun9.062243.24641@cbnewsm.att.com> nsw@cbnewsm.att.com
   (Neil Weinstock) writes:
>
>  BTW, one problem with this approach is that the terminal driver doesn't know
>  the difference between a shell command and any other random keyboard input.
>  This screws up the history mechanism somewhat, since one would usually
>  prefer the shell history to include only shell commands.
>
>One might, but I wouldn't. Of course, I don't want a "shell history";
>I want an "input history". That way, I get access to the everything I
>typed, and not just that which is saved by a some specific subsystem.
>It also means I get a consistent history mechanism for all CLI-based
>programs.

I think Bill Hawes' "ConMan" is very nice in this regard.  For example, if
I'm trying to work out a TxEd (tm) macro in that editor's command window,
which comes up "ConMan" if "ConMan" is installed, it's very nice to be able
to recall past lines.  Even more I can create a temporary small "script"
by stepping through the history there.  Compare this, for example, with
the editor "ex" under UNIX (tm).  If I mistype an involved command -- or
want to repeat one without change, I've got to re-type the whole thing
(even though my shell provides a command line history).  Moreover, "ConMan"'s
history can be *saved* to a file or *loaded* from a file (useful for
debugging scripts).

>
>Of course, I also want to be able to select input from all text output
>into the CLI, but that's a different problem.
>
>	<mike
> . . .
                             -- Bill
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William F. Hammond                   Dept. of Mathematics & Statistics
518-442-4625                         SUNYA, Albany, NY 12222
wfh58@leah.albany.edu                wfh58@albnyvms.bitnet
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