199 lines
6.5 KiB
HTML
199 lines
6.5 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<title>Dired Program Issue 14</title>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY >
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more lovable!</I>"
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<IMG ALIGN=MIDDLE SRC="../gx/heart.gif">
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<center>
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<H2>The Cracraft and Lijewski DIRED Programs</H2>
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<H4>By Grant B. Gustafson
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<a href="mailto:gustafso@math.utah.edu">gustafso@math.utah.edu</A></H4>
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</center>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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The directory navigator and program launcher called "DIRED"
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in the original incarnations of EMACS has two stand-alone
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Unix clones. Mike Lijewski's "dired" 2.2 is written in C++
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(1996). The original "dired" was written in C by Stuart
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Cracraft (1980), available as version 3.05 (1997).
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<P>
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Historically, shortly after emacs "dired" appeared in the
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TECO implementation, a stand-alone version was written by
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Stuart Cracraft (1980). The emacs version and the C version
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have not kept up with one another.
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<P>
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Lijewski wrote "dired" in 1990, while at Cornell University
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Theory Center, without any knowledge of Cracraft's "dired".
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The Theory Center ran on IBM VM/CMS, under which there is a
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utility call "file manager". This program manages the flat
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VM/CMS file system and represents the main user interface
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into files. The creation of "dired" eased the transition
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from VM/CMS to Unix.
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<P>
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Lijewski's "dired" has the advantage of hindsight and C++
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program development so it promises to be written in modern
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syntax and very maintainable. Cracraft's "dired" was
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rewritten in 1996 in ANSI C. It suffers with flaws in both
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design and readability, but the features are there.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<center><H3>
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Common features of Cracraft's and Lijewski's "dired"
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</H3> </center>
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<ul>
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<li>Copy current file
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<li>Hard link current file to another file.
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<li>Symbolic link current file to another file.
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<li>Unzip current file (gunzip).
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<li>Zip current file (gzip).
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<li>Rename current file.
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<li>Display help.
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<li>Cursor up one.
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<li>Cursor down one.
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<li>Back one page.
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<li>Forward one page.
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<li>Go to first file.
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<li>Go to last file.
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<li>Do shell command /w filename substitution.
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<li>Search forward for file matching regular expression.
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<li>Search reverse for file matching regular expression.
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<li>Launch EDITOR on a file or DIRED on a directory.
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<li>Recognize new window size and refresh screen.
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<li>Delete current file
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<li>Prompt for and edit a directory.
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<li>Change the mode of the current file.
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<li>Launch PAGER on this file.
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<li>Sort the file list.
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<li>Print file contents.
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<li>Reload directory.
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<li>Abort DIRED.
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<li>Suspend DIRED.
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<li>Exit immediately.
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<li>Setup by command line, resource file or environment variable.
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</ul>
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Minor differences exist in the implementation of these
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features. Cracraft's dired supports split screen.
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Lijewski's dired supports scrolling by half-page. Deletes
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in Cracraft's dired are done in batch whereas Lijewski's
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dired does them immediately.
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<P>
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Curiously, the common features of the two direds also
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account for the most often used dired commands.
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<P>
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The differences between Lijewski's "dired" and Cracraft's
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"dired" in 1997 appear below. Many features commonly exist
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in both versions, so only the superficial differences are
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discussed. Strengths and weaknesses of each are also
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listed.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<center><H3>
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Unique features of Lijewski's "dired"
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</H3> </center>
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<ul>
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<li>Compress current file.
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<li>Uncompress current file.
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<li>Change the group of the current file.
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<li>View only files matching a regular expression.
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</ul>
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Strengths:
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<ul>
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<li>Excellent for persons with minimal Unix knowledge.
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<li>Has a full complement of basic commands for file maintenance.
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<li>Key configuration in resource file "~/.diredrc".
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</ul>
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Weaknesses:
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<ul>
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<li>Does file maintenance one file at a time with prompts.
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<li>Fixed full screen format.
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<li>No ANSI colorization to match color-ls.
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</ul>
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<P><HR> <P>
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<center><H3>
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Unique features of Cracraft's Dired 3.05
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</H3> </center>
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<ul>
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<li>Manual page display, DIRED 3.05 in detail.
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<li>Key Tutor. Describe key. Execute key.
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<li>Tag files for later processing.
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<li>Dynamic format setup for the screen and shell commands.
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<li>Toggle colorization of file names (4 color tables).
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<li>Undo search and page move.
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<li>Bookmarks.
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<li>Abort or suspend DIRED and PUSHD to the displayed directory.
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<li>Groff current file as a manual page.
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<li>Type current text or binary file on terminal with pause.
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<li>Write the formatted file list to a unique file in /tmp.
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<li>Aliased shell commands, interactive or in resource ~/.diredset.
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<li>Setup for shell commands attached to internal variables.
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</ul>
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Strengths:
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<ul>
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<li>Favors use by seasoned Unix people.
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<li>Configurable screen format.
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<li>Keys are fixed to give uniformity across different hosts.
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</ul>
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Weaknesses:
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<ul>
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<li>Key configuration is compiled into "dired" and can't be changed.
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</ul>
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<P><HR> <P>
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<center><H3>
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Misfeatures of both versions of "dired"
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</H3> </center>
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<P>
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The program tends to be used for browsing and deleting
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files; users find the other features too obtuse for daily
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use. Too many commands. Its hard to remember what key does
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which command.
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<P><HR> <P>
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<center><H3>
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How to Get Dired
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</H3> </center>
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<P>
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Find dired305.zip at <a href="http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/">
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http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/</a>. Or email to
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<a href="mailto: gustafson@math.utah.edu">gustafson@math.utah.edu</a>
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for location of recent version.
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<P>
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Find Lijewski's c++ dired by sending email to
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<a href="mailto: lijewski@mothra.lbl.gov">lijewski@mothra.lbl.gov</a>
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for location of the recent version. If you want to see it on sunsite,
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then let Mike hear about it!
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1997, Grant B. Gustafson <BR>
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Published in Issue 14 of the Linux Gazette</H5></center>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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