1WINDOW(1) General Commands Manual WINDOW(1)
2
6 window - window environment
7
9 window [ -t ] [ -f ] [ -d ] [ -e escape-char ] [ -c command ]
10
12 Window implements a window environment on ASCII terminals.
13 A window is a rectangular portion of the physical terminal screen asso‐
15 ciated with a set of processes. Its size and position can be changed
16 by the user at any time. Processes communicate with their window in
17 the same way they normally interact with a terminal--through their
18 standard input, output, and diagnostic file descriptors. The window
19 program handles the details of redirecting input an output to and from
20 the windows. At any one time, only one window can receive input from
21 the keyboard, but all windows can simultaneously send output to the
22 display.
23 Windows can overlap and are framed as necessary. Each window is named
25 by one of the digits ``1'' to ``9''. This one character identifier, as
26 well as a user definable label string, are displayed with the window on
27 the top edge of its frame. A window can be designated to be in the
28 foreground, in which case it will always be on top of all normal, non-
29 foreground windows, and can be covered only by other foreground win‐
30 dows. A window need not be completely within the edges of the terminal
31 screen. Thus a large window (possibly larger than the screen) may be
32 positioned to show only a portion of its full size.
33 Each window has a cursor and a set of control functions. Most intelli‐
35 gent terminal operations such as line and character deletion and inser‐
36 tion are supported. Display modes such as underlining and reverse
37 video are available if they are supported by the terminal. In addi‐
38 tion, similar to terminals with multiple pages of memory, each window
39 has a text buffer which can have more lines than the window itself.
40
42 When window starts up, the commands (see long commands below) contained
43 in the file .windowrc in the user's home directory are executed. If it
44 does not exist, two equal sized windows spanning the terminal screen
45 are created by default.
46 The command line options are
48 -t Turn on terse mode (see terse command below).
50 -f Fast. Don't perform any startup action.
52 -d Ignore .windowrc and create the two default windows instead.
54 -e escape-char
56 Set the escape character to escape-char. Escape-char can be a
57 single character, or in the form ^X where X is any character,
58 meaning control-X.
59 -c command
61 Execute the string command as a long command (see below) before
62 doing anything else.
63
65 With each newly created window, a shell program is spawned with its
66 process environment tailored to that window. Its standard input, out‐
67 put, and diagnostic file descriptors are bound to one end of either a
68 pseudo-terminal (pty (4)) or a UNIX domain socket (socketpair (4)). If
69 a pseudo-terminal is used, then its special characters and modes (see
70 stty (1)) are copied from the physical terminal. A termcap (5) entry
71 tailored to this window is created and passed as environment (environ
72 (5)) variable TERMCAP. The termcap entry contains the window's size
73 and characteristics as well as information from the physical terminal,
74 such as the existence of underline, reverse video, and other display
75 modes, and the codes produced by the terminal's function keys, if any.
76 In addition, the window size attributes of the pseudo-terminal are set
77 to reflect the size of this window, and updated whenever it is changed
78 by the user. In particular, the editor vi (1) uses this information to
79 redraw its display.
80
82 During normal execution, window can be in one of two states: conversa‐
83 tion mode and command mode. In conversation mode, the terminal's real
84 cursor is placed at the cursor position of a particular window--called
85 the current window--and input from the keyboard is sent to the process
86 in that window. The current window is always on top of all other win‐
87 dows, except those in foreground. In addition, it is set apart by
88 highlighting its identifier and label in reverse video.
89 Typing window's escape character (normally ^P) in conversation mode
91 switches it into command mode. In command mode, the top line of the
92 terminal screen becomes the command prompt window, and window inter‐
93 prets input from the keyboard as commands to manipulate windows.
94 There are two types of commands: short commands are usually one or two
96 key strokes; long commands are strings either typed by the user in the
97 command window (see the ``:'' command below), or read from a file (see
98 source below).
99
101 Below, # represents one of the digits ``1'' to ``9'' corresponding to
102 the windows 1 to 9. ^X means control-X, where X is any character. In
103 particular, ^^ is control-^. Escape is the escape key, or ^[.
104 # Select window # as the current window and return to conversation
106 mode.
107 %# Select window # but stay in command mode.
109 ^^ Select the previous window and return to conversation mode.
111 This is useful for toggling between two windows.
112 escape Return to conversation mode.
114 ^P Return to conversation mode and write ^P to the current window.
116 Thus, typing two ^P's in conversation mode sends one to the cur‐
117 rent window. If the window escape is changed to some other
118 character, that character takes the place of ^P here.
119 ? List a short summary of commands.
121 ^L Redraw the screen.
123 q Exit window. Confirmation is requested.
125 ^Z Suspend window.
127 w Create a new window. The user is prompted for the positions of
129 the upper left and lower right corners of the window. The cur‐
130 sor is placed on the screen and the keys ``h'', ``j'', ``k'',
131 and ``l'' move the cursor left, down, up, and right, respec‐
132 tively. The keys ``H'', ``J'', ``K'', and ``L'' move the cursor
133 to the respective limits of the screen. Typing a number before
134 the movement keys repeats the movement that number of times.
135 Return enters the cursor position as the upper left corner of
136 the window. The lower right corner is entered in the same man‐
137 ner. During this process, the placement of the new window is
138 indicated by a rectangular box drawn on the screen, correspond‐
139 ing to where the new window will be framed. Typing escape at
140 any point cancels this command.
141 This window becomes the current window, and is given the first
143 available ID. The default buffer size is used (see nline com‐
144 mand below).
145 Only fully visible windows can be created this way.
147 c# Close window #. The process in the window is sent the hangup
149 signal (see kill (1)). Csh (1) should handle this signal cor‐
150 rectly and cause no problems.
151 m# Move window # to another location. A box in the shape of the
153 window is drawn on the screen to indicate the new position of
154 the window, and the same keys as those for the w command are
155 used to position the box. The window can be moved partially
156 off-screen.
157 M# Move window # to its previous position.
159 s# Change the size of window #. The user is prompted to enter the
161 new lower right corner of the window. A box is drawn to indi‐
162 cate the new window size. The same keys used in w and m are
163 used to enter the position.
164 S# Change window # to its previous size.
166 ^Y Scroll the current window up by one line.
168 ^E Scroll the current window down by one line.
170 ^U Scroll the current window up by half the window size.
172 ^D Scroll the current window down by half the window size.
174 ^B Scroll the current window up by the full window size.
176 ^F Scroll the current window down by the full window size.
178 h Move the cursor of the current window left by one column.
180 j Move the cursor of the current window down by one line.
182 k Move the cursor of the current window up by one line.
184 l Move the cursor of the current window right by one column.
186 ^S Stop output in the current window.
188 ^Q Start output in the current window.
190 : Enter a line to be executed as long commands. Normal line edit‐
192 ing characters (erase character, erase word, erase line) are
193 supported.
194
196 Long commands are a sequence of statements parsed much like a program‐
197 ming language, with a syntax similar to that of C. Numeric and string
198 expressions and variables are supported, as well as conditional state‐
199 ments.
200 There are two data types: string and number. A string is a sequence of
202 letters or digits beginning with a letter. ``_'' and ``.'' are consid‐
203 ered letters. Alternately, non-alphanumeric characters can be included
204 in strings by quoting them in ``"'' or escaping them with ``\''. In
205 addition, the ``\'' sequences of C are supported, both inside and out‐
206 side quotes (e.g., ``\n'' is a new line, ``\r'' a carriage return).
207 For example, these are legal strings: abcde01234, "&#$^*&#", ab"$#"cd,
208 ab\$\#cd, "/usr/ucb/window".
209 A number is an integer value in one of three forms: a decimal number,
211 an octal number preceded by ``0'', or a hexadecimal number preceded by
212 ``0x'' or ``0X''. The natural machine integer size is used (i.e., the
213 signed integer type of the C compiler). As in C, a non-zero number
214 represents a boolean true.
215 The character ``#'' begins a comment which terminates at the end of the
217 line.
218 A statement is either a conditional or an expression. Expression
220 statements are terminated with a new line or ``;''. To continue an
221 expression on the next line, terminate the first line with ``\''.
222
224 Window has a single control structure: the fully bracketed if statement
225 in the form
226 if <expr> then
227 <statement>
228 . . .
229 elsif <expr> then
230 <statement>
231 . . .
232 else
233 <statement>
234 . . .
235 endif
236 The else and elsif parts are optional, and the latter can be repeated
237 any number of times. <Expr> must be numeric.
238
240 Expressions in window are similar to those in the C language, with most
241 C operators supported on numeric operands. In addition, some are over‐
242 loaded to operate on strings.
243 When an expression is used as a statement, its value is discarded after
245 evaluation. Therefore, only expressions with side effects (assignments
246 and function calls) are useful as statements.
247 Single valued (no arrays) variables are supported, of both numeric and
249 string values. Some variables are predefined. They are listed below.
250 The operators in order of increasing precedence:
252 <expr1> = <expr2>
254 Assignment. The variable of name <expr1>, which must be string
255 valued, is assigned the result of <expr2>. Returns the value of
256 <expr2>.
257 <expr1> ? <expr2> : <expr3>
259 Returns the value of <expr2> if <expr1> evaluates true (non-zero
260 numeric value); returns the value of <expr3> otherwise. Only
261 one of <expr2> and <expr3> is evaluated. <Expr1> must be
262 numeric.
263 <expr1> || <expr2>
265 Logical or. Numeric values only. Short circuit evaluation is
266 supported (i.e., if <expr1> evaluates true, then <expr2> is not
267 evaluated).
268 <expr1> && <expr2>
270 Logical and with short circuit evaluation. Numeric values only.
271 <expr1> | <expr2>
273 Bitwise or. Numeric values only.
274 <expr1> ^ <expr2>
276 Bitwise exclusive or. Numeric values only.
277 <expr1> & <expr2>
279 Bitwise and. Numeric values only.
280 <expr1> == <expr2>, <expr1> != <expr2>
282 Comparison (equal and not equal, respectively). The boolean
283 result (either 1 or 0) of the comparison is returned. The oper‐
284 ands can be numeric or string valued. One string operand forces
285 the other to be converted to a string in necessary.
286 <expr1> < <expr2>, <expr1> > <expr2>, <expr1> <= <expr2>, <expr1> >=
288 <expr2>
289 Less than, greater than, less than or equal to, greater than or
290 equal to. Both numeric and string values, with automatic con‐
291 version as above.
292 <expr1> << <expr2>, <expr1> >> <expr2>
294 If both operands are numbers, <expr1> is bit shifted left (or
295 right) by <expr2> bits. If <expr1> is a string, then its first
296 (or last) <expr2> characters are returns (if <expr2> is also a
297 string, then its length is used in place of its value).
298 <expr1> + <expr2>, <expr1> - <expr2>
300 Addition and subtraction on numbers. For ``+'', if one argument
301 is a string, then the other is converted to a string, and the
302 result is the concatenation of the two strings.
303 <expr1> * <expr2>, <expr1> / <expr2>, <expr1> % <expr2>
305 Multiplication, division, modulo. Numbers only.
306 -<expr>, ~<expr>, !<expr>, $<expr>, $?<expr>
308 The first three are unary minus, bitwise complement and logical
309 complement on numbers only. The operator, ``$'', takes <expr>
310 and returns the value of the variable of that name. If <expr>
311 is numeric with value n and it appears within an alias macro
312 (see below), then it refers to the nth argument of the alias
313 invocation. ``$?'' tests for the existence of the variable
314 <expr>, and returns 1 if it exists or 0 otherwise.
315 <expr>(<arglist>)
317 Function call. <Expr> must be a string that is the unique pre‐
318 fix of the name of a builtin window function or the full name of
319 a user defined alias macro. In the case of a builtin function,
320 <arglist> can be in one of two forms:
321 <expr1>, <expr2>, . . .
322 argname1 = <expr1>, argname2 = <expr2>, . . .
323 The two forms can in fact be intermixed, but the result is
324 unpredictable. Most arguments can be omitted; default values
325 will be supplied for them. The argnames can be unique prefixes
326 of the the argument names. The commas separating arguments are
327 used only to disambiguate, and can usually be omitted.
328 Only the first argument form is valid for user defined aliases.
330 Aliases are defined using the alias builtin function (see
331 below). Arguments are accessed via a variant of the variable
332 mechanism (see ``$'' operator above).
333 Most functions return value, but some are used for side effect
335 only and so must be used as statements. When a function or an
336 alias is used as a statement, the parenthesis surrounding the
337 argument list may be omitted. Aliases return no value.
338
340 The arguments are listed by name in their natural order. Optional
341 arguments are in square brackets (``[ ]''). Arguments that have no
342 names are in angle brackets (``<>'').
343 alias([<string>], [<string-list>])
345 If no argument is given, all currently defined alias macros are
346 listed. Otherwise, <string> is defined as an alias, with expan‐
347 sion <string-list>. The previous definition of <string>, if
348 any, is returned. Default for <string-list> is no change.
349 close(<window-list>)
351 Close the windows specified in <window-list>. If <window-list>
352 is the word all, than all windows are closed. No value is
353 returned.
354 cursormodes([modes])
356 Set the window cursor to modes. Modes is the bitwise or of the
357 mode bits defined as the variables m_ul (underline), m_rev
358 (reverse video), m_blk (blinking), and m_grp (graphics, terminal
359 dependent). Return value is the previous modes. Default is no
360 change. For example, cursor($m_rev|$m_blk) sets the window cur‐
361 sors to blinking reverse video.
362 echo([window], [<string-list>])
364 Write the list of strings, <string-list>, to window, separated
365 by spaces and terminated with a new line. The strings are only
366 displayed in the window, the processes in the window are not
367 involved (see write below). No value is returned. Default is
368 the current window.
369 escape([escapec])
371 Set the escape character to escape-char. Returns the old escape
372 character as a one character string. Default is no change.
373 Escapec can be a string of a single character, or in the form
374 ^X, meaning control-X.
375 foreground([window], [flag])
377 Move window in or out of foreground. Flag can be one of on,
378 off, yes, no, true, or false, with obvious meanings, or it can
379 be a numeric expression, in which case a non-zero value is true.
380 Returns the old foreground flag as a number. Default for window
381 is the current window, default for flag is no change.
382 label([window], [label])
384 Set the label of window to label. Returns the old label as a
385 string. Default for window is the current window, default for
386 label is no change. To turn off a label, set it to an empty
387 string ("").
388 list() No arguments. List the identifiers and labels of all windows.
390 No value is returned.
391 nline([nline])
393 Set the default buffer size to nline. Initially, it is 48
394 lines. Returns the old default buffer size. Default is no
395 change. Using a very large buffer can slow the program down
396 considerably.
397 select([window])
399 Make window the current window. The previous current window is
400 returned. Default is no change.
401 shell([<string-list>])
403 Set the default window shell program to <string-list>. Returns
404 the first string in the old shell setting. Default is no
405 change. Initially, the default shell is taken from the environ‐
406 ment variable SHELL.
407 source(filename)
409 Read and execute the long commands in filename. Returns -1 if
410 the file cannot be read, 0 otherwise.
411 terse([flag])
413 Set terse mode to flag. In terse mode, the command window stays
414 hidden even in command mode, and errors are reported by sounding
415 the terminal's bell. Flag can take on the same values as in
416 foreground above. Returns the old terse flag. Default is no
417 change.
418 unalias(alias)
420 Undefine alias. Returns -1 if alias does not exist, 0 other‐
421 wise.
422 unset(variable)
424 Undefine variable. Returns -1 if variable does not exist, 0
425 otherwise.
426 variables()
428 No arguments. List all variables. No value is returned.
429 window([row], [column], [nrow], [ncol], [nline], [frame],
431 [pty], [mapnl], [shell])
432 Open a window with upper left corner at row, column and size
433 nrow, ncol. If nline is specified, then that many lines are
434 allocated for the text buffer. Otherwise, the default buffer
435 size is used. Default values for row, column, nrow, and ncol
436 are, respectively, the upper, left-most, lower, or right-most
437 extremes of the screen. Frame, pty, and mapnl are flag values
438 interpreted in the same way as the argument to foreground (see
439 above); they mean, respectively, put a frame around this window
440 (default true), allocate pseudo-terminal for this window rather
441 than socketpair (default true), and map new line characters in
442 this window to carriage return and line feed (default true if
443 socketpair is used, false otherwise). Shell is a list of
444 strings that will be used as the shell program to place in the
445 window (default is the program specified by shell, see below).
446 The created window's identifier is returned as a number.
447 write([window], [<string-list>])
449 Send the list of strings, <string-list>, to window, separated by
450 spaces but not terminated with a new line. The strings are
451 actually given to the window as input. No value is returned.
452 Default is the current window.
453
455 These variables are for information only. Redefining them does not
456 affect the internal operation of window.
457 baud The baud rate as a number between 50 and 38400.
459 modes The display modes (reverse video, underline, blinking, graphics)
461 supported by the physical terminal. The value of modes is the
462 bitwise or of some of the one bit values, m_blk, m_grp, m_rev,
463 and m_ul (see below). These values are useful in setting the
464 window cursors' modes (see cursormodes above).
465 m_blk The blinking mode bit.
467 m_grp The graphics mode bit (not very useful).
469 m_rev The reverse video mode bit.
471 m_ul The underline mode bit.
473 ncol The number of columns on the physical screen.
475 nrow The number of rows on the physical screen.
477 term The terminal type. The standard name, found in the second name
479 field of the terminal's TERMCAP entry, is used.
480
482 ~/.windowrc startup command file.
483 /dev/[pt]ty[pq]?pseudo-terminal devices.
484
486 Should be self explanatory.
487
4894.3 Berkeley Distribution May 12, 1986 WINDOW(1)