CS/CE 218 Lecture -*-Outline-*-

* Command Syntax and Documentation

advert: basic way to issue commands and find out what commands to issue...
	where to get help

** Command invocation

*** ideals for commands
	format of commands should be simple and regular
			(rules don't have many exceptions)

	Q: What evidence of simplicity and regularity is there in the command
		syntax described in section 2.5?

*** argument separators
	blanks (or tabs) separate arguments
		what do you have to do to include spaces in an argument?
	newline (return) tells shell to do it.

	Q: Would it be better to use commas to separate arguments?
		this would allow spaces to be significant, but ...

	Note: the ` (grave accent) is not the same as a ' (single quote)
		file names no longer limited to 14 characters

	Q: In the description of filenames on page 22,
		what does "in practice" mean?  Is it a rule, or guideline?

	Note: option letters not usually separated by blanks from letters
		as on page 22.  Why not?

	Q: Is there any reliable way to distinguish the kinds of arguments
		to a command simply by looking at them?

** Shell special characters
	Q: Why would the shell need to use special characters to signal
			end of file and interrupts?

	Q: Would it be better for the shell to manage paging output instead
		of using ^S and ^Q?  Why?

** Manual pages

	Q: What would the synopsis for "who" look like, based on the examples
		given in the book?

*** options
	Q: How many letters are in an option?
		What are the advantages/disadvantages of that?

	What does [ x ] mean?
		What does [-xyz] mean in an option list?
			could one use -xy?
			what about -?
			what about -xx?
		Would it be better to write {[-x]|[-y]|[-z]|[-xy]|[-yx]|...}?

	If the synopsis says
		foo [options] file
	does that mean
		foo o file
	is legal?

*** dot dot dot (...)
	What does "file ..." mean?
		What does [file] ... mean?
		Would the ... ever be used for the options?

*** cross references

	Q: what kind of cross reference exists for the on-line manual?
		the SEE ALSO section

	Q: is the permuted index to the manual on-line?
		No, but you can use man -k to get the same effect (almost)