*----------------------------------------* => | Interactive Command Editor for VAX/VMS | <= *----------------------------------------* | IIIII | | III CCCC EEEE | | III C C E E | | III * C * EEEEE | | III C E | | III C C E E | | IIIII CCCC EEEE | *----------------------------------------* => | Interactive Command Editor for VAX/VMS | <= *----------------------------------------* Page 2 |I|c|e| Interactive Command Editor RELEASE NOTES Release 1.0-1 Copyright (c) 1982, Western Electric Co. |I|c|e| Release Notes (Release 1.0) Page 3 |I|c|e| - Interactive Command Editor RELEASE NOTES Release 1.0 December 3rd, 1982 Copyright (c) 1982, Western Electric Co. INSTALLATION If you received your copy of ICE on a floppy distribution you can use VMSUPDATE to install it. Otherwise, proceed as described below: ICE expects to be run from an area defined by the system-wide logical name USR: (something like ASSIGN/SYSTEM sys$sysdevice:[UTILITY] USR) (wherever you put your non_DEC user programs) + Define a SYSTEM logical name USR to point to ICE + Put ICE.EXE,ICEDITOR.COM,ICEUSER.GDE and ICEBEWARE.BWR(this file) in USR + Install USR:ICE.EXE with qualifiers /OPEN/HEADER_RESIDENT/SHARE + Insert ICEDITOR.HLP in sys$help:HELPLIB.HLB + Put ICE.HLP in sys$help (on-line help for ICE) + Define a system-wide command "ICE:==@USR:ICEDITOR" so users can invoke ICE FEATURES and RESTRICTIONS o ICE prompts you with a regular DCL-style prompt ($ ). Since ICE is quite responsive and will allow almost all DCL features, you needn't even know that its around (UNTIL you want to recall a command!). o DCL commands that require arguments or parameters WILL NOT prompt you for any missing values. Instead, you will receive a warning message from DCL (insufficient parameters); however you can recall the command with the key and fill in the missing value(s); or put the whole command ON ONE LINE in subsequent commands. (This situation occurs due to a restriction in DCL, not ICE.) o ICE can only save and restore DCL commands; it will not work on commands sent to any other images. Even if DCL were to prompt you for missing values or parameters, those would not be saved by ICE, since it wouldn't be active at the time. o ICE will only work with the DCL command line interpreter. It will not function under MCR. o Continuation line support is handled by ICE and works as follows: o ICE will accept up to 76 characters on any single command line. Use the continuation character "-" to extend the command line to another line. If ICE sees a "-" character at the end of a |I|c|e| Release Notes (Release 1.0) Page 4 line, it will re-prompt you for additional text on the next line. Also, ICE will automatically prompt you on the next line when your command overflows the current line length (76 characters). o Command continuation is supported on up to 10 lines. After the 10th line, your current multi-line command is automatically sent to DCL. o ICE stores each line of a multi-line command as a separate command on its "stack". You may re-submit multi-line commands to DCL while you are positioned anywhere within that command in EDIT mode. You may input up to 126 characters (total of first line + all continuation lines). If you exceed this limit, you will receive a warning message (Command line too long; please edit:) and you will be placed in EDIT mode where you can trim the command as necessary to be re-submitted to DCL. (When DEC fixes the BUG in LIB$DO_COMMAND, this restriction will be lifted and commands may extend up to 132 characters in length.) o If you attempt to type more than 76 characters on any one line while in EDIT mode you will get a warning message (Command line full, can't add character) from ICE. You must then trim the command before re-submitting it to DCL. o You may modify existing commands in EDIT mode to make them multi-line. ICE will place you at the next command position when this happens so that you can edit additional parts of the new command. You will receive a message (Continuation line forced from edit mode:) showing that you have chosen to create a continued command from existing commands. o You MAY NOT edit continuation lines to make them NON-continuous. If you attempt this, ICE will restore the continuation status of that line. o In EDIT mode, if you delete an entire recalled command, you will remain in EDIT mode until you either enter another command or abort the edit with or another edit command. (A BELL will remind you that you cannot submit a NULL command to DCL.) o ICE will convert all tabs to blanks and all multiple blanks to single blanks in both COMMAND and EDIT modes (similar to DCL parsing). If a blank or tab is entered in EDIT mode, only a non-blank or tab character will be accepted as the next character. (A BELL will remind you if you try to enter more than one sequential blank.) You should use the CTRL/F and keys to move past the blank if you need to add text that begins with a blank. |I|c|e| Release Notes (Release 1.0) Page 5 o ICE will save up to 22 DCL commands. The commands are saved in a direct- access file - SYS$LOGIN:COMMANDS.ICE. When you stop ICE, you have the option of keeping this command file for later use. THE DEFAULT IS TO DELETE THE FILE. If kept, the file will be re-used the next time ICE is invoked. ***WARNING*** If you have multiple users in the same directory, each user should have the logical name SYS$LOGIN re-assigned to a unique sub-directory to prevent conflicts between several ICE users. If you fail to do this, several users can wind up using each others command file and have unexpected commands saved! Also, when they exit ICE, ICE may not delete the proper version of the file. o ICE will not store a command on its "STACK" if it has already been saved at any previous place. This prevents storing multiple copies of the same DCL command line. (Note that ICE is CASE sensitive; it treats upper and lower case as different characters). What this all means is that you should wind up with up to 22 UNIQUE saved commands! The only exception to this rule is for commands that are continued on multiple lines; THOSE COMMANDS WILL ALWAYS BE STORED. o Typing CTRL/C or CTRL/Y will NOT cause ICE to exit. The proper way to exit is to type STOP or EXIT!! CTRL/C or CTRL/Y will perform its usual function, i.e., interrupt the execution of a running image (if there is one) and return control to ICE. o Since ICE actually runs "on top of DCL", its use precludes the use of the DEBUG or CONTINUE command. You should exit ICE if you need to use these DCL commands. o ICE uses a process logical name "ICE_ACTIVE" to determine if it is active. If you exit ICE without using a STOP or EXIT command (which shouldn't happen), you will not be able to re-invoke ICE without first deassigning it. o ICE has been designed to work only on VT52 or VT100 type terminals (VT100, VT101,102,132, etc.) It will work even on DEC-compatible terminals without KEYPADS, as we used only keyboard control keys in ICE edit mode. o VT100 type terminals should have the characteristic "AUTO-REPEAT" set to "ON" so that you can move to the beginning of a command line rapidly by merely holding down the key. |I|c|e| Release Notes (Release 1.0) Page 6 ** NOTE ** Since the CTRL/E key is used in ICE, you cannot have a VT100 "ANSWERBACK" message stored. (Both CTRL/BREAK and CTRL/E send the answer-back message on a VT100 type terminal). CAVEAT We feel that the small number of limitations and slight DCL response loss is MORE than offset by the ability to EDIT and re-submit previous DCL commands with ICE. Please read the users guide in USR:ICEUSER.GDE The biggest obstacle to overcome with ICE is simply remembering that it is there, READY TO HELP! Force of habit usually will cause you to UNCONSCIOUSLY re-type commands that were either wrong or need to be re-submitted. ** ONCE YOU REMEMBER TO USE ICE, WE THINK YOU WILL BE HOOKED ** Stuart Renes Manard Stewart Western Electric Co.