VSH(1) SysV VSH(1)
NAME
vsh - visual shell
SYNOPSIS
vsh [-option . . .]
DESCRIPTION
vsh is an interactive command and menu-based UNIX shell. vsh has the
following functions:
file browser
vsh allows you to move through the file system, displaying lists
lists of files in each directory. You can customize the file
listings. Available options include vertical or dense display
format, display or non-display of descriptive file icons, inclusion
or exclusion of links and hidden objects, and various file sorting
methods.
file manager
vsh allows you to create new files and directories, copy and move
files between directories, delete files and directories, and set
file attributes.
system manager
vsh supports setting environment variables and controlling
processes.
command launcher
vsh features both built-in and customizable command menus, as well
as command-line entry of both UNIX and Aegis commands.
The visual shell (vsh) has three main components: the menu bar, the
directory pathname and file count; and the display area.
The menu bar at the top contains the built-in and user-defined menus.
The built-in menus are File, Edit, View, Options, System, and Help, as
explained below. You can add menus by selecting User Command Menus under
the System menu, or by using the vsh startup file (select Startup File
under the main Help menu bar option).
File Actions
such as changing directories, opening files, selecting and de-
selecting objects, but not actions that change the contents of
directories.
Edit Actions
such as copying, moving, deleting files and directories; changing
their attributes; creating new directories, links, and text files.
View Controls how the vsh window appears and how the information about
the current working directory is displayed; also lets you display or
hide the scrollbars.
Options
Contains information about how commands are executed.
System
Lets you set environment variables, control processes, execute
commands, and make new menu entries.
Help Gives you a general introduction to the vsh, to the resources
(colors, display options, etc.) that you can set, to moving around
in and using the directory display area.
The current working directory pathname is below the menu bar. You can
double click with the left mouse button anywhere in the pathname to go
directly to an upper level of the directory. (To the right of pathname
are two numbers, the first the number of currently selected objects, the
second the total number of objects in the directory.)
Below the current directory pathname is the directory display area
(occasionally called DDA), which displays the objects in the current
working directory (according to the format specified in the View menu's
Format selection). Icons distinguish the types of objects:
Icon Object Type
page text file
lightning executable file
folder directory
chain link
terminal character device
disk pack block device
workstation network node
question mark bad file
Dialogue box buttons
When you make certain selections, a "dialog box" will appear to ask you
for more information. The most common pushbuttons that you'll see in
dialog boxes are:
OK Accepts whatever changes you've made. (The dialog box stays open so
you can make more changes.)
Close
Closes the dialog box.
Cancel
Resets (ignores) any changes you've made. The settings and text
fields will be the same as when you entered the dialog box.
Default
Sets the buttons or text fields to their default condition -- in
other words, ignores any changes you've made since the dialog box
popped up, as well as any changes that you've previously made to its
settings.
Help Displays Help text to explain your options for certain dialog boxes.
Note that most menu entries ending in "..." will have help
associated with them. If the entries don't have these three dots,
their action takes effect immediately.
Editing text input fields
When you enter text into a text input field, you'll see that the location
cursor moves along with your text. You can relocate this cursor by using
the left or right arrow keys. You can change what you've entered by
using:
<BACKSPACE>
To delete characters to the left of the cursor.
<DELETE>
To delete individual characters to the right of the cursor.
<RETURN>
To delete all characters to the right of the cursor.
Click and Sweep
To type over a group of characters, position the mouse cursor, hold
down the left mouse button, and sweep across the letters you want to
delete. They will be replaced by what you type next.
Accelerator keys
Some keys take effect regardless of your cursor's location or the
current menu. These include
<BACKSPACE>
To move up one level in the directory tree to the "parent" of your
current directory.
<SHIFT><BACKSPACE>
To change to your home directory.
OPTIONS
The following command-line options are supported:
-ddb filename
Used to specify an alternate vsh.ddb file. Default is
/usr/X11/lib/ddb/vsh.ddb.
-ver[sion]
Prints the version number and exits.
-start[up] filename
Used to specify a startup file for user command arguments. Default
is $HOME/.vshrc.
-sh[ell] shell_name
Specify a shell. vsh will execute all commands in the shell's
command set. Default is $SHELL. If $SHELL does not exist, the
default is /bin/ksh.
-sys[type] system_name
Selects bsd4.3 or sys5.3 environment. Only affects the process
control listing format.
-geometry <width>x<height>{+-}<xoffset>{+-}<yoffset>
Specifies the initial size and location of the window.
-display displayname
Specifies the name of the node where the vsh window appears.
-name | -instanceName name
Specifies the application name under which resources are to be
obtained. Default is vsh.
-windowName name
Specifies the name for the window. The name is displayed in the top
border.
-iconName name
Specifies the name for the icon. This name is displayed below the
icon.
-xrm resource_string
Used for passing a resource string. The string must be enclosed in
double quotes.
-font | fn fontname
Specifies the font for menu text.
RESOURCES
vsh accepts the following X resources. They can be defined in a resource
file, typically ~/.Xresources or ~/.Xdefaults. The full names of the
resources and their allowed values are listed below. The defaults are
noted in parentheses. When a resource (such as *.sort) accepts a number
of values, the first value shown is the default. Resource values within
brackets (<>) require an appropriate value.
vsh.accent_look.background: <color>
vsh.accent_look.foreground: <color>
vsh.main_look.background: <color>
vsh.main_look.foreground: <color>
vsh.graphics_look.background: <color>
vsh.graphics_look.foreground: <color>
vsh.dda.font: <font name>
vsh.foreground_exec.font: <font name>
vsh.view.directory_information.Dense: on | off
vsh.view.directory_information.dense.icon: on | off (on)
vsh.view.directory_information.dense.show_hidden: on | off (off)
vsh.view.directory_information.dense.show_links: on | off (off)
vsh.view.directory_information.dense.sort: obj_type
| natural_order
| alphabetical
| extension
| file_size
| dtm
vsh.view.directory_information.Vertical: on | off
vsh.view.directory_information.vertical.icon: on | off (on)
vsh.view.directory_information.vertical.show_hidden: on | off (off)
vsh.view.directory_information.vertical.show_links: on | off (off)
vsh.view.directory_information.vertical.show_dates: on | off (off)
vsh.view.directory_information.vertical.show_long: on | off (on)
vsh.view.directory_information.vertical.sort: obj_type
| natural_order
| alphabetical
| extension
| file_size
| dtm
vsh.view.horizontal_scroll_bar: on | off (off)
vsh.view.vertical_scroll_bar: on | off (on)
vsh.options.open_operations.edit_ascii_file: <editor string>
vsh.options.copy.copy_link: on | off (on)
vsh.options.copy.change_names_overwritten: on | off (off)
vsh.options.copy.no_prompt_on_overwrite: on | off (off)
vsh.options.copy.delete_when_unlocked: on | off (off)
vsh.options.copy.preserve_dtm: on | off (off)
vsh.options.copy.retain_source_acls: on | off (off)
vsh.options.copy.copy_as_typed_file: on | off (off)
vsh.options.move.prompt_on_overwrites: on | off (on)
vsh.options.move.prompt_on_protected: on | off (off)
vsh.options.move.prompt_on_each: on | off (off)
vsh.options.delete.force_if_owner: on | off (off)
vsh.options.delete.recursive: on | off (on)
vsh.options.delete.delete_when_unlocked: on | off (off)
vsh.options.delete.prompt: nonempty_directories
| each_object
| first_object
| no_prompts
All of the fields in all of the dialog boxes in the View and Options
menus can be set from the resources file. (The *.view.* resources
correspond to dialog box fields under the View menu, the *.options.* to
those under the Options menu.)
If The last field (attribute) of a resource begins with an uppercase
letter, it is a class resource that lets you set a number of controls
with one resource statement. For instance, the types of files displayed
can be changed by setting the resource for
directory_information.vertical.
You could set these to show hidden files (usually those with names
starting with a period) by including the following line in your
~/.Xresources file:
vsh.view.directory_information.vertical.show_hidden: on
You could set all the vertical resources "on" (to use icons, to show all
hidden objects, links, dates, and to use the "long" display format) by
specifying the class Vertical, as in the line
vsh.view.directory_information.Vertical: on
or, more simply, by specifying a wildcard:
vsh*Vertical: on
FILES
$HOME/.vshrc
vsh startup file
/usr/X11/lib/system.vshrc
Default startup file; read if $HOME/.vshrc does not exist.
SEE ALSO
vsh (4)
startup file format