HELP DIRED (Unix Only) Aaron Sloman May 1990
Modified 20 Jun 2008
In VED
<ENTER> dired [-flags ...] [<file|pattern>]
<ENTER> qdired [-flags ...] [<file|pattern>]
In Pop-11
dired [-flags ...] [<file|pattern>]
(Do <ENTER> g to display table of contents. See HELP * DIRED.SHORT for
a summary of facilities.)
-- Introduction -------------------------------------------------------
The "dired" facility in VED provides a collection of commands that are
used
(a) to read in names of files in a directory or matching a pattern,
or
(b) to perform some action on the file or pattern indicated by the
current line of the VED buffer (which may have been produced by
dired).
Actions that can be invoked via dired include deleting, copying,
renaming, searching for a specified string, reading a file into VED,
getting a directory listing into VED, compiling a file named on the
current line etc.
This VED dired facility is loosely modelled on the Emacs "dired"
facility, but with a number of changes to suit the POPLOG environment,
and with a mechanism for autoloading user extensions.
The "qdired" version is like "dired" but quits the current VED file.
The options offered by dired and qdired are described below.
CONTENTS - (Use <ENTER> g to access required sections)
-- Introduction
-- Getting started
-- Flags, file names and patterns
-- <ENTER> qdired [<flags>] [<arguments>]
-- <ENTER> dired [ <filename|pattern> ]
-- Controlling insertion in dired file: dired_current_file
-- <ENTER> dired -l [ <filename|pattern> ]
-- <ENTER> dired -d [-l??] [<filename|pattern>]
-- <ENTER> dired -w (WRITEABLE)
-- <ENTER> dired -r (READ ONLY)
-- <ENTER> dired [-wv or -vw] [<filename>]
-- <ENTER> dired [-rv or -vr] [<filename>]
-- <ENTER> dired -/ <search string>
-- <ENTER> dired -r/ <search string>
-- <ENTER> dired -w/ <search string>
-- <ENTER> dired -rm [<filename>]
-- <ENTER> dired -rm-r [<filename>]
-- <ENTER> dired -rmdir [<filename>]
-- <ENTER> dired -mv <new filename>
-- <ENTER> dired -mvd <new filename>
-- <ENTER> dired -cp <new filename>
-- <ENTER> dired -cpd <new filename>
-- <ENTER> dired -dcd
-- <ENTER> -chmod
-- <ENTER> -chmod rwxr-x---x
-- <ENTER> -chmod 751
-- <ENTER> dired -peek [ <filename>]
-- <ENTER> dired -load [ <filename>]
-- <ENTER> dired -$ <shell command>
-- <ENTER> dired -grep <string>
-- <ENTER> dired -??
-- <ENTER> dired -?
-- Global variable: dired_current_file
-- Extending dired: dired_action
-- Example: defining a new "flag"
-- Using the REDO VED key
-- The macro dired
-- Defining additional key sequences-- Getting started ----------------------------------------------------
The best way to get a taste of how it works is to get a directory
listing of your current directory, then browse using the REDO key.
To get the initial directory listing
<ENTER> dired * (or <ENTER> dired . )
This produces a temporary VED file with a list of files in the current
directory. Sub-directories are indicted by "DIR".
(Note: If you wish to see files whose names start with "." then do
<ENTER> dired .*
or
<ENTER> dired .??*
The latter will not include the directories "." and "..".)
After the above <ENTER> dired commands, the command line will have
changed to 'dired -'. Move the cursor to any of the file names listed
and simply press the REDO key. If the file is a directory then a
directory listing for that directory will be provided, otherwise the
file itself will be read into VED.
In a subdirectory listing the same options are available, i.e. to
read in files or get listings of lower level directories. The full
path names relative to the original specification will always be
indicated, so that they are available as arguments to future dired
commands, as described below.
If after "expanding" a sub-directory in this way you wish to remove
the list of files do the following (to "delete current directory"):
<ENTER> dired -dcd
This will remove the file names from the listing (but will not alter
the files themselves.)
In this way it is easy to browse through a whole directory tree
using <ENTER> dired commands.
Additional options for performing various actions on files, such as
renaming, copying or deleting them, are given below. Moreover, the
options available can be extended, and the extensions can be made
autoloadable, as explained below.
-- Flags, file names and patterns -------------------------------------
The dired (or qdired) command is followed by zero or more flags (strings
starting with '-'). The flags determine what action is to be performed
on the argument, e.g. give directory information about it, read it into
VED, delete it, rename it, etc.
E.g.
<ENTER> dired -rm
will delete the file whose name is at the right of the current line.
In addition to flags, arguments which may be file names or patterns,
may be given on the command line or in the VED buffer or both.
E.g.
<ENTER> dired -rm foo/baz/grum
will delete (rm) the file with the given name.
When only one filename or directory name argument is required, it can
either be given on the command line, or in the VED buffer, on the
current line, either in the form of a file name or a pattern using
wild-cards, e.g. '*' or '?' as permitted in VMS or Unix.
E.g.
<ENTER> dired -d a*
Will produce a list of directories in the current directory whose
names begin with "a".
Some commands, e.g. 'dired -mv' (rename) use both the name in the VED
buffer AND a file name on the command line, as explained below.
E.g.
<ENTER> dired -mvd foo
will take the file that is at the right of the current line and rename
it as "foo" while keeping its directory unchanged. So the -mvd flag
requires two arguments, one from the current line in the VED buffer and
one on the command line.
Other commands e.g. 'dired -chmod' (show or change access mode) require
the file name to be taken from the VED buffer, and if an argument is
given on the command line it is used for other purposes (e.g. to specify
the new mode).
At most one file name or pattern can occur per line in the VED buffer.
It is taken to be the rightmost portion of text on the line delimited by
a space. E.g. on the line below the file is 'adm/courses'
-rw-r--r-- 1 aarons 2718 Oct 11 02:25 adm/courses
Anything at all can occur to the left of the file name, as long as there
is at least one tab or space delimiting the file name.
File names in the buffer can include wild cards, in which case dired
will normally produce a directory listing. Otherwise it will act (in the
appropriate way) on the individual file or directory.
E.g.
<ENTER> dired
given when the rightmost portion of the current line of VED is foo/a*
will produce a listing of all the files whose names match the pattern
'foo/a*'
-- <ENTER> qdired [<flags>] [<arguments>] -----------------------------
Wherever dired can be used in the forms listed below, qdired can be used
instead. The only difference is that qdired will quit the current file
before performing the action required.
However, the command is not equivalent to ved_q <> ved_dired since
ved_qdired usually has to read a file name from the current VED buffer
before it quits it.
The main dired commands now follow.
-- <ENTER> dired [ <filename|pattern> ] -------------------------------
Examine directory or file or set of files. If it's neither a
directory nor a pattern then dired invokes VED on the file named,
or taken from the VED buffer. Otherwise produce a directory list in
a temporary file.
More precisely, when no flag is given, the action depends on the
argument. If there is no argument on the command line it is taken from
the VED buffer.
When the argument specifying a pattern or filename is taken from the
current VED buffer, and the buffer was produced by -ved_dired- then
the expanded information is inserted into the same buffer, unless
the global variable -dired_current_file- is false. The default value
is -true-
o If the argument is a directory its contents are listed in a temporary
file. Names of sub-directories are preceded by "DIR".
o If it is a pattern with wild cards, then the names of files matching
the pattern are read into a temporary file, with directories indicated
as above.
o If the argument is neither a directory nor a pattern then VED is
invoked on it, and the file read in if it exists, otherwise an error
message is given.
Note that the "empty" flag '-' is treated as equivalent to no flag.
Whether the file read in has -vedwriteable- set true or not, i.e.
whether it is read in unprotected or protected (like HELP files) will
depend on the value of -dired_protect_files-. The value of this is
switched by commands described below including the characters
`w` - make files writeable
`r` - make files read only (i.e. non-writeable)
-- Controlling insertion in dired file: dired_current_file ------------
When dired is invoked with a directory name or pattern already in a file
previously produced by dired, then by default the new information
requested will be spliced into the same file. E.g. if the file
contains the line
DIR admin
Then the command <ENTER> dired (or ved_dired invoked via a key
sequence), will produce something like this.
DIR admin
DIRED:- dired admin/*
DIR admin/adv
admin/annual.rep
admin/budget
DIR admin/courses
admin/equipment
admin/grants
DIR admin/syllabus
admin/visitors
ENDDIRED
with the new bit indicated by DIRED and ENDDIRED. If the command given
is "<ENTER> dired -l" then the format between DIRED and ENDDIRED is as
for the Unix command "ls -l". (The new bit is not indented, because
browsing with dired can produce quite long file names.)
To prevent the insertion of the text in the same file and cause it to be
inserted in a new temporary VED file, assign -false- to the variable
-ved_current_file-.
I.e. in your vedinit.p file do
vars dired_current_file = false;
Alternatively you can change it interactively with
<ENTER> set dired_current_file
(See HELP * VED_SET)
-- <ENTER> dired -l [ <filename|pattern> ] ----------------------------
Make a directory listing in a temporary non-writeable file.
"-l" makes it a verbose listing in the format of Unix 'ls'.
All the standard additional flags that work with "ls -l" are available,
e.g. <ENTER> dired -ltg will show group ownership and list the files in
reverse chronological order.
If no filename or pattern is given, dired assumes that the current line
in the VED buffer ends with a file name or directory name.
To get a listing of all the files in the current directory use one of
<ENTER> dired *
<ENTER> dired .
<ENTER> dired -l *
or, to list the files latest first:
<ENTER> dired -lt *
-- <ENTER> dired -d [-l??] [<filename|pattern>] -----------------------
As <ENTER> dired, or <ENTER> dired -l, but include only directories
in the listing.
-- <ENTER> dired -w (WRITEABLE) -----------------------------------
Make -dired_protect_files- false, so that thereafter new files
read in by dired are WRITEABLE (i.e. -vedwriteable- is true)
until another command, e.g. -r, sets -dired_protect_files- false.
-- <ENTER> dired -r (READ ONLY) -----------------------------------
Make -dired_protect_files- true, so that thereafter new files
read in become Read Only (i.e. -vedwriteable- is false), until
over-ridden by a command containing `w`, e.g. -w or -wv or -w/
-- <ENTER> dired [-wv or -vw] [<filename>] ----------------------------
Invokes VED on the file named, or else on the file named on the
current line in the VED buffer. Whatever the state of
-dired_protect_files-, the file is writeable.
(-vw is equivalent to -wv)
-- <ENTER> dired [-rv or -vr] [<filename>] ----------------------------
Like -wv but make the file read only. (-vr is equivalent to -rv)
-- <ENTER> dired -/ <search string> -----------------------------------
Invokes VED on the file name in the current line and searches for
the first occurrence of the search string (which may contain
patterns). Whether the files are writeable or not depends on the
current value of -dired_protect_files. See -r, -w, -v.
-- <ENTER> dired -r/ <search string> ------------------------------------- <ENTER> dired -w/ <search string> -----------------------------------
These are like dired -/ except that 'r' gets the file in read-only
mode, and 'w' mkes it writeable.
-- <ENTER> dired -rm [<filename>] -------------------------------------
Starts by asking for confirmation that the file is to be deleted.
Removes the file specified, or if none is given the file named
on the current line, after checking. The file name is marked as
removed in the directory. If the file is a directory this uses
'rmdir', after checking. Marks the file as deleted in the current
buffer. (see also -rm-r and -rmdir)
-- <ENTER> dired -rm-r [<filename>] ----------------------------------
Removes files recursively, like unix 'rm -r'
-- <ENTER> dired -rmdir [<filename>] ----------------------------------
Removes the directory specified
-- <ENTER> dired -mv <new filename> -----------------------------------
Moves (i.e. renames) the file named on the current VED line to the
new name specified, after checking. The file is marked as having
been moved or renamed. If the <new filename> refers to a directory
then the file is moved to that directory. This command asks for
confirmation before proceeding.
-- <ENTER> dired -mvd <new filename> ----------------------------------
This is like dired -mv, except that the new file name is not a full
path name, and the file is renamed in the same directory. Can be
used to move a file to a sub-directory of its existing directory by
giving a relative pathname on the command line.
E.g. if the current ved line ends with: foo/baz/grum/file
Then "<ENTER> dired -mvd new" renames it as foo/baz/grum/new
and "<ENTER> dired -mvd sub/new" renames it as foo/baz/grum/sub/new
The last form will work only if the directory foo/baz/grum/sub
already exists.
-- <ENTER> dired -cp <new filename> -----------------------------------
Copies the file named on the current line to the new name specified,
after checking. The file is marked as having been copied. If the
<new filename> refers to a directory then the file is copied to that
directory. This command asks for confirmation before proceeding.
-- <ENTER> dired -cpd <new filename> ----------------------------------
This is exactly like "dired -mvd" except that it copies instead of
moving or renaming the file.
Put another way, it is like "dired -cp" except that if copies the
file to a new name in the same directory as the existing file. See
example given for "dired -mvd"
-- <ENTER> dired -dcd -------------------------------------------------
This "delete currend directory" command works on the listing
produced by a dired command to "expand" a directory in a dired
listing. The expanded directory listing will start with "DIRED"
and end with "ENDDIRED". The "dired -dcd" command will delete all
the lines between these two brackets. It will NOT affect any files
on disk, only the dired listing in the current VED buffer. This
makes it possible temporarily to add a sub-directory listing, then
remove it easily.
If the current directory has sub-directories that have been
listed, they will also be removed. I.e. when the procedure searches
back for DIRED or forward for ENDDIRED it skips matching pairs found
on the way. For details SHOWLIB * DIRED_DCD
-- <ENTER> -chmod -----------------------------------------------------
Displays protection of file on current VED line.
The display, shown on the status line is in format for changing the
protection. See next two options.
-- <ENTER> -chmod rwxr-x---x -------------------------------------------- <ENTER> -chmod 751 -------------------------------------------------
Alter protection of file on current VED line. In the second format
the number is interpreted as in Octal. See Unix 'man chmod'.
-- <ENTER> dired -peek [ <filename>] ----------------------------------
Creates a temporary VED buffer and reads in a window full of the
file specified, or the file named on the current line. The amount
read in is specified by * vedstartwindow . This makes it possible
to examine a long file briefly before deciding what to do about it.
Peek gives you a small menu of options, e.g. Show more, VED the file,
quit it, delete it, leave the fragment in VED, etc.
-- <ENTER> dired -load [ <filename>] ----------------------------------
Compiles the file given as argument, or if there isn't one, compiles
the file whose name is at the right of the current VED buffer. The
compiler used is based on the file extension. For details
SHOWLIB * DIRED_LOAD
-- <ENTER> dired -$ <shell command> -----------------------------------
Calls -sysobey- with the shell command, except that the file name
taken from the current line in VED is substituted wherever '%'
occurs in the shell command. E.g. to change the protection on the
file on the current line in VED to -rw-r--r-- do:
<ENTER> dired -$ chmod 644 %
Any output goes into a temporary file. Don't run interactive
commands. (See also TEACH * VEDEXPAND)
-- <ENTER> dired -grep <string> ---------------------------------------
Calls grep with the given <string> as its first argument and the
file name on current line as second argument, except that if it is
the name of a directory "/*" is appended. E.g. put the cursor on
the next line and do '<ENTER> dired -grep block'
$usepop/pop/lib/lib
This will print out all lines of files in the library that include
the string 'block'.
-- <ENTER> dired -?? --------------------------------------------------
Displays this help file
-- <ENTER> dired -? ---------------------------------------------------
Displays a shorter help file.
-- Global variable: dired_current_file --------------------------------
This defaults to -true- but can be set false. If it is false then
-ved_dired- always creates a new temporary file for information about
directories or files. If it is -true- then where possible the
information will be spliced into the current file, provided that it
is a directory listing file produced by -ved_dired-.
-- Extending dired: dired_action --------------------------------------
There are two ways of extending ved_dired. One is to define a procedure
whose name starts with 'dired_' and the other is to use the property
-dired_action- to associate a dired "flag" i.e. a string starting with
'-' with a procedure.
A command "<ENTER> dired -foo ...." will invoke a procedure P if
either
(a) the property dired_action associates the flag '-foo' with P.
or
(b) the procedure's name is "dired_foo"
Option (a) is tried first.
Either way the procedure must take four arguments. of four arguments:
define P(Flag, Arg1, Arg2, Arg3)
Flag is whatever flag was typed after "dired" on the command line,
e.g. '-rm', '-ls' '-r/' etc.
Arg1 is the main argument which may have come from the command line
or the VED buffer.
Arg2 is a file name taken from the VED buffer unless Arg1 has
already come from the VED buffer, in which case Arg2 is false.
Arg3 is set true if procedure is called from ved_qdired, not
ved_dired. In that case it can be assumed that the original
file was quit after the file name had been taken from the
current line (if necessary). I.e. if it is true then proc must
not assume that it runs in the original file.
Often such procedures will ignore some or all of of Flag, Arg2 and
Arg3.
-- Example: defining a new "flag" -------------------------------------
For example, here is a procedure that invokes VED on a file then goes
to the end of the file. It is to be associated with the flag '-end'.
define dired_end(flag,file,dummy,dummy);
;;; flag is the string that invoked the procedure, e.g. '-end'
;;; file is the filename to be used, taken either from the
;;; command line or the VED buffer. The third argument is not
;;; used.
lvars flag, file, dummy;
if readable(file) then
edit(file);
vedendfile();
else
vederror('NO SUCH FILE as ' >< file)
endif
enddefine;
This procedure can be invoked by
<ENTER> dired -end
If you wish to make it invoked by
<ENTER> dired -e
associate the procedure (or its name) with the flag thus:
"dired_end" -> dired_action('-e');
Storing the name of the procedure in the property rather than the
procedure allows the procedure to be recompiled, or temporarily altered,
without having to store the new version in dired_action.
Thereafter
<ENTER> dired -e foo
Will take you to the end of file foo
<ENTER> dired -e
Will take you to the end of the file listed on the
current line of VED buffer.
-- Using the REDO VED key ---------------------------------------------
When browsing directories it is common to use the REDO key to get a new
directory listing for a sub-directory or to read in a file that is not a
directory.
Some dired commands replace the command line with 'dired -' so that it
is then easy to go to command line to add to the "flag".
-- The macro dired ----------------------------------------------------
The Pop-11 macro can be used to invoke dired. For example, typing, to
Pop-11 the command
dired -d foo/baz/*
will produce a VED file showing all the directories in the directory
foo/baz - if there are any. Otherwise it prints a message and exits.
-- Defining additional key sequences ----------------------------------
The following key sequences used to be defined by default, but since
20 Jun 2008 this is no longer the case. Commands to define them are
below:
CTRL-x CTRL-z
This is equivalent to calling ved_dired() (= <ENTER> dired)
The effect will depend on the current line in VED buffer.
Use the following in your vedinit.p file to define that:
vedsetkey('\^X\^Z', procedure;
dlocal vedcommand = nullstring;
ved_dired();
endprocedure);
CTRL-x CTRL-d
This is equivalent to typing <ENTER> dired -
It leaves the cursor on the status line, so that you can complete
the command and press RETURN.
Use the following in your vedinit.p file to define that:
vedsetkey('\^X\^D',vedenter<>vedinsertstring(%default_command%));
CTRL-x CTRL-x
This is equivalent to <ENTER> qdired
It invokes dired on the file (or directory) indicated by the current
line of the current VED buffer, but first quits that buffer, so that
the new file is read in its place. This is useful when you have used
dired to get a directory listing and are interested only in one of
the entries, and therefore do not wish to return to this listing.
Use the following in your vedinit.p file to define that:
vedsetkey('\^X\^X', procedure;
dlocal vedcommand = nullstring;
ved_qdired();
endprocedure);
The key sequences should be defined only after you have either run dired
or given the command
uses ved_dired;
--- C.unix/help/dired
--- Copyright University of Sussex 2008. All rights reserved. ----------