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                   Features of the mj_shell command line

To make the mj_shell program easier to use, several features are available
during interactive sessions.  These features include:

  * Multi-line commands
  * Convenient keystrokes and command history
  * Command completion
  * The pager and the editor

This document discusses how commands are typed.  To see what commands are 
available, read the "help commands" and "help admin_commands" documents.


Multi-line commands
-------------------

There are two ways to type a command that takes up more than one line.
The first way is to end each line of the command, except the last,
with a backslash, '\'.  The second way is to use a here document.
Please see "help command_parser" and "help here_document" for more
information about these two approaches to multi-line commands.


Convenient keystrokes and command history
-----------------------------------------

When you start mj_shell, you will see a message which indicates which
library is being used to for the keystroke and history features.  There
are three possible libraries:  Stub, Perl, and Gnu.  The Stub library
has no special features.  The Perl and Gnu libraries both support 
the keystroke and history features.  

The history list keeps track of the commands you have used previously
during the same session.  With the Perl and Gnu libraries, it is possible
to use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to move within the history
list.

Some of the common keystrokes are listed here, which are supported by the 
Perl library and the Gnu library.  A leading "C" means to hold down 
the control key while typing the second key.  Similarly, "M" stands for
the meta key.  These bindings are from the "emacs" keymap; there is also a 
"vi" keymap with different key bindings.

C-_             Undo any changes to the current line.
C-a             Move to the beginning of the line.
C-b             Move backward one character.
C-c             Terminate the program.
C-d             Delete one character forward.
C-e             Move to the end of the line.
C-f             Move forward one character.
C-h             Delete one character backward.
C-k             Delete all characters forward.
C-l             Clear the screen.
C-n             Move to the next history item.
C-p             Move to the previous history item.
C-t             Transpose the current and previous characters.
C-u             Clear the command line.
C-w             Delete one word backward.
M-b             Move backward one word.
M-d             Delete one word forward.
M-f             Move forward one word.
M-t             Transpose the current and previous words.
TAB             Command completion (see below).

It is possible for you to do additional customization with the ".inputrc"
file in your home directory.  With the Perl library, if the "EDITOR" 
environment variable includes the string "vi", you will automatically
be given the "vi" keymap.  To use the "emacs" keymap instead, add the 
following line to your .inputrc file:

  set editing-mode emacs


Command completion
------------------

If you press the TAB key while typing a command, the mj_shell program
will attempt to complete part of the command for you.  There are
three times that completion is available:

  * When you are typing a command name.
  * When you are typing a list name.
  * When you are typing a setting name with the configdef, configset,
    or configshow command.

If there is more than one possible completion, a list of all completions
will be shown.


The pager and the editor
------------------------

Some commands, such as the help command, usually show information that 
takes up more than one page.  To view the output in a pager program
like "more" or "less," use the following command:

  default display pager

On some occasions, you may want to change the output of a command and 
use it to issue new commands.  For example, if you use the who command
to see the list of subscribers, you could add "unsubscribe" commands
before those addresses you want to remove from the list.  To cause
the mj_shell program to process your changes, use this command:

  default display editor

(This feature is used automatically with the configedit, faq-edit, 
get-edit, info-edit, and intro-edit commands.)

The pager or editor can be turned off with the following command:

  default display


A note on the libraries
-----------------------

If the mj_shell program is using the Stub library, your system
administrators should consider installing the Term::ReadLine::Gnu or
Term::ReadLine::Perl library.   These libraries are available from any
CPAN archive (visit http://www.cpan.org/ for more details.)  Once one of
these libraries is installed at your site, the mj_shell program will
begin to use it automatically.

See Also:
   help admin
   help command_parser
   help configedit
   help default
   help faq
   help get
   help here_document
   help info
   help intro
   help mj_shell
   help overview

This is the "command_line" help document for 
Majordomo 2, version 0.1200401130.

For a list of all help documents, send the following command:
   help topics
in the body of a message to mj2@smoe.org.

For assistance, please contact the smoe.org administrators.

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