dse(1M) — ADMINISTRATOR COMMANDS
NAME
dse − slice disks and make file systems
SYNOPSIS
dse [−c] [−e] [−r] [−E] [−p] [−F] [−t template-file] file-name
DESCRIPTION
dse allows an administrator to easily slice disks and create file systems. A significant amount of on-line help information is available within dse so refer to the program for more information.
The file-name argument specifies a regular file or the full disk slice of a raw disk device to be used for input and output if the −t option is not used and for output when the −t option is used. At a minimum, the information about the full disk slice must be present from the input file or device. If the input file is a regular file then it must contain slice information in the output format of prtvtoc(1M). If the −t option is used and the input and output files are different and the output file is not a device then the output file will be truncated or created as necessary.
The −r option specifies that dse will run in read-only mode. No changes may be made.
The −E option places dse in expert mode. When this option is specified, invalid key presses will cause beeps instead of warning messages (interactive mode only), slices may be deleted without asking when file systems are present in them, file systems may be erased without a preparatory warning message first, ripple change operations do not display a preparatory explanation (interactive mode only), and joining slices that do not contain file system will occur without asking (interactive mode only).
The −F option allows the start and size fields of the full disk slice to be edited. This is a very dangerous option and should only be used when absolutely necessary.
The −p option will cause dse to output a Volume Table of Contents (VTOC) contained in the input file in the output format of prtvtoc(1M). The −p option may not be used in combination with the −t or −c option.
The −t option specifies that the template-file argument is to be used for input. The template-file may be a file or a device.
The −c option places dse in command mode. Normally, dse is used in its interactive mode, which makes use of the cursor addressing capabilities of the users input/output device. In command mode, dse functions as a simple line driven slice editor, accepting commands, one per line, from the standard input and outputing the results to the standard output. This mode is useful for running automated scripts or slicing disks when it is impossible to use the interactive mode. It should only be used when necessary. The −e option is used in conjunction with the −c option to specify command mode commands to dse. Up to 16 commands may be entered (each prefixed by a −e option) and they will executed in the order they are entered (left to right).
KEY BINDINGS
The interactive mode of dse uses a subset of the vi(1) commands for cursor movement with a few emacs commands added in. The following movement commands are interpreted by dse:
| Command | Movement |
| b | previous field |
| B | previous field |
| h | previous field |
| ^B | previous field |
| w | next field/character |
| W | next field/character |
| l | next field/character |
| ^F | next field/character |
| TAB | next field/character |
| SPACE | next field/character |
| j | field below |
| ^N | field below |
| k | field above |
| ^K | field above |
| ^P | field above |
| 0 | beginning of line |
| ^ (carat) | beginning of line |
| ^A | beginning of line |
| + | beginning of next line |
| CR | beginning of next line |
| - | beginning of previous line |
| H | beginning of first line |
| M | beginning of middle line |
| L | beginning of last line |
| $ | end of line |
| ^E | end of line |
dse uses a subset of the vi(1) commands for editing. The following editing commands are interpreted by dse:
| Command | Action |
| E | erase file system |
| C | create slice |
| dd | delete slice |
| dw | delete field |
| x | delete character / toggle field |
| cw | change field |
| R | ripple change / toggle field |
| r | replace character / toggle field |
| J | join current and next physical slice |
| P | join current and previous physical slice |
| T | truncate disk |
| U | map of un-allocated space |
| u | undo last command |
| ^Z | suspend (only if job control enabled) |
| :e! | start over with original input (all changes lost) |
| :q! | exit with no changes saved |
| ZZ | write and quit |
| :wq | write and quit |
| :x | write and quit |
All of the commands available in command mode (documented below), except help and show are available by hitting a ’:’ (colon) key followed by the command using its command mode syntax.
COMMAND MODE COMMANDS
The command mode of dse supports the following commands:
Lines beginning with a # will be treated as comment lines.
The help command is used to obtain help about dse. If used without an argument, a list of the valid commands, each with a brief description will be output. If an argument is provided, it is assumed that it is the name of one of the valid commands and help specific to that command will be output.
The show command is used to output specific information as specified by its argument.
The exit command causes dse to exit, saving any changes that were made first and creating the file systems that were specified.
The quit command causes dse to exit provided no changes have been made.
The quit! command causes dse to exit. No changes are saved and no file systems will be created.
The create-slice command specifies how a slice should be created.
The delete-slice command specifies that the argument slice should be deleted.
The erase-fs command specifies that the argument slice should have any file system contained in it to be erased.
The set command specifies that the argument fields should be set to the specified values associated with the argument slice.
The join-next command specifies that the argument slice should be joined with the next physically continuous slice.
The join-prev command specifies that the argument slice should be joined with the previous physically continuous slice.
The truncate command specifies that the argument slice and all slices physically following the argument slice are to be deleted.
The restart command causes dse to restore the VTOC and file system information to the way it was when dse was entered.
NOTES
dse will allow itself to be suspended only if the shell that started it, either directly or indirectly, supports job control.
When using dse via xterm, it is possible to select a font which may not support the characters necessary to display the borders around the pop up messages in interactive mode. If this occurs, select a different font or use the default font.