top-scripts

2023-07-01T15:01:00.006+02:00

Linux commands for WinOS

In a package below you will find a lot of linux commands compioled as exe files. You can put them anywhere on the system you want, and run from batch window

Download below:

LINUX-UNIX.zip

BASH TETRIS

2011-01-05T14:37:00.001+01:00

This one is a pure bash tetris game.
Surprisingly working beyond all expectations.

#!/bin/bash
# Tetris Game 
# 10.21.2003 xhchen 
# http://read.pudn.com/downloads99/sourcecode/game/404711/tetris.sh__.htm
# Copyright (C) xhchen
#color definition 
cRed=1 
cGreen=2 
cYellow=3 
cBlue=4 
cFuchsia=5 
cCyan=6 
cWhite=7 
colorTable=($cRed $cGreen $cYellow $cBlue $cFuchsia $cCyan $cWhite) 
#size & position 
iLeft=3 
iTop=2 
((iTrayLeft = iLeft + 2)) 
((iTrayTop = iTop + 1)) 
((iTrayWidth = 10)) 
((iTrayHeight = 15)) 
#style definition 
cBorder=$cGreen 
cScore=$cFuchsia 
cScoreValue=$cCyan 
#control signal 
sigRotate=25 
sigLeft=26 
sigRight=27 
sigDown=28 
sigAllDown=29 
sigExit=30 
#boxes
box0=(0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1) 
box1=(0 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 3) 
box2=(0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 0) 
box3=(0 1 0 2 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 1) 
box4=(0 1 0 2 1 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 0 1 1 1 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 2) 
box5=(0 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 2 1 0 1 1 1 2) 
box6=(0 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 2) 
box=(${box0[@]} ${box1[@]} ${box2[@]} ${box3[@]} ${box4[@]} ${box5[@]} ${box6[@]}) 
countBox=(1 2 2 2 4 4 4 ) 
offsetBox=(0 1 3 5 7 11 15) 
#score
iScoreEachLevel=50   #be greater than 7 
#Runtime data 
sig=0 
iScore=0 
iLevel=0 
boxNew=()         #new box 
cBoxNew=0         #new box color 
iBoxNewType=0     #new box type 
iBoxNewRotate=0   #new box rotate degree 
boxCur=()         #current box 
cBoxCur=0         #current box color 
iBoxCurType=0     #current box type 
iBoxCurRotate=0   #current box rotate degree 
boxCurX=-1        #current X position 
boxCurY=-1        #current Y position 
iMap=() 
for ((i = 0; i < iTrayHeight * iTrayWidth; i++)); do iMap[$i]=-1; done 
RunAsKeyReceiver() { 
   local pidDisplayer key aKey sig cESC sTTY 
   pidDisplayer=$1 
   aKey=(0 0 0) 
   cESC=`echo -ne "\033"` 
   cSpace=`echo -ne "\040"` 
   sTTY=`stty -g` 
    
   trap "MyExit;" INT TERM 
   trap "MyExitNoSub;" $sigExit 
    
   echo -ne "\033[?25l" 
   while : 
   do 
      read -s -n 1 key 
      aKey[0]=${aKey[1]} 
      aKey[1]=${aKey[2]} 
      aKey[2]=$key 
      sig=0 
      if [[ $key == $cESC && ${aKey[1]} == $cESC ]] 
      then 
         MyExit 
      elif [[ ${aKey[0]} == $cESC && ${aKey[1]} == "[" ]] 
      then 
         if [[ $key == "A" ]]; then sig=$sigRotate 
         elif [[ $key == "B" ]]; then sig=$sigDown 
         elif [[ $key == "D" ]]; then sig=$sigLeft 
         elif [[ $key == "C" ]]; then sig=$sigRight 
         fi 
      elif [[ $key == "W" || $key == "w" ]]; then sig=$sigRotate 
      elif [[ $key == "S" || $key == "s" ]]; then sig=$sigDown 
      elif [[ $key == "A" || $key == "a" ]]; then sig=$sigLeft 
      elif [[ $key == "D" || $key == "d" ]]; then sig=$sigRight 
      elif [[ "[$key]" == "[]" ]]; then sig=$sigAllDown 
      elif [[ $key == "Q" || $key == "q" ]] 
      then 
         MyExit 
      fi 
      if [[ $sig != 0 ]] 
      then 
         kill -$sig $pidDisplayer 
      fi 
   done 
} 
MyExitNoSub(){ 
   local y 
   stty $sTTY 
   ((y = iTop + iTrayHeight + 4)) 
   echo -e "\033[?25h\033[${y};0H" 
   exit 
} 
MyExit(){ 
   kill -$sigExit $pidDisplayer 
   MyExitNoSub 
} 
RunAsDisplayer(){ 
   local sigThis 
   InitDraw 
   trap "sig=$sigRotate;" $sigRotate 
   trap "sig=$sigLeft;" $sigLeft 
   trap "sig=$sigRight;" $sigRight 
   trap "sig=$sigDown;" $sigDown 
   trap "sig=$sigAllDown;" $sigAllDown 
   trap "ShowExit;" $sigExit 
   while :
   do 
      for ((i = 0; i < 21 - iLevel; i++)) 
      do 
         usleep 20000 
         sigThis=$sig 
         sig=0 
         if ((sigThis == sigRotate)); then BoxRotate; 
         elif ((sigThis == sigLeft)); then BoxLeft; 
         elif ((sigThis == sigRight)); then BoxRight; 
         elif ((sigThis == sigDown)); then BoxDown; 
         elif ((sigThis == sigAllDown)); then BoxAllDown; 
         fi 
      done 
      #kill -$sigDown $$ 
      BoxDown 
   done 
} 
BoxMove(){
   local j i x y xTest yTest 
   yTest=$1 
   xTest=$2 
   for ((j = 0; j < 8; j += 2)) 
   do 
      ((i = j + 1)) 
      ((y = ${boxCur[$j]} + yTest)) 
      ((x = ${boxCur[$i]} + xTest)) 
      if (( y < 0 || y >= iTrayHeight || x < 0 || x >= iTrayWidth)) 
      then 
         return 1 
      fi 
      if ((${iMap[y * iTrayWidth + x]} != -1 )) 
      then 
         return 1 
      fi 
   done 
   return 0; 
} 
Box2Map(){ 
   local j i x y xp yp line 
   for ((j = 0; j < 8; j += 2)) 
   do 
      ((i = j + 1)) 
      ((y = ${boxCur[$j]} + boxCurY)) 
      ((x = ${boxCur[$i]} + boxCurX)) 
      ((i = y * iTrayWidth + x)) 
      iMap[$i]=$cBoxCur 
   done 
   line=0 
   for ((j = 0; j < iTrayWidth * iTrayHeight; j += iTrayWidth)) 
   do 
      for ((i = j + iTrayWidth - 1; i >= j; i--)) 
      do 
         if ((${iMap[$i]} == -1)); then break; fi 
      done 
      if ((i >= j)); then continue; fi 
    
      ((line++))    
      for ((i = j - 1; i >= 0; i--)) 
      do 
         ((x = i + iTrayWidth)) 
         iMap[$x]=${iMap[$i]} 
      done 
      for ((i = 0; i < iTrayWidth; i++)) 
      do 
         iMap[$i]=-1 
      done 
   done 
   if ((line == 0)); then return; fi 
   ((x = iLeft + iTrayWidth * 2 + 7)) 
   ((y = iTop + 11)) 
   ((iScore += line * 2 - 1)) 
   echo -ne "\033[1m\033[3${cScoreValue}m\033[${y};${x}H${iScore}         " 
   if ((iScore % iScoreEachLevel < line * 2 - 1)) 
   then 
      if ((iLevel < 20)) 
      then 
         ((iLevel++)) 
         ((y = iTop + 14)) 
         echo -ne "\033[3${cScoreValue}m\033[${y};${x}H${iLevel}        " 
      fi 
   fi 
   echo -ne "\033[0m" 
   for ((y = 0; y < iTrayHeight; y++)) 
   do 
      ((yp = y + iTrayTop + 1)) 
      ((xp = iTrayLeft + 1)) 
      ((i = y * iTrayWidth)) 
      echo -ne "\033[${yp};${xp}H" 
      for ((x = 0; x < iTrayWidth; x++)) 
      do 
         ((j = i + x)) 
         if ((${iMap[$j]} == -1)) 
         then 
            echo -ne "  " 
         else 
            echo -ne "\033[1m\033[7m\033[3${iMap[$j]}m\033[4${iMap[$j]}m\040\040\033[0m" 
         fi 
      done 
   done 
} 
BoxDown(){ 
   local y s 
   ((y = boxCurY + 1)) 
   if BoxMove $y $boxCurX 
   then 
      s="`DrawCurBox 0`" 
      ((boxCurY = y)) 
      s="$s`DrawCurBox 1`" 
      echo -ne $s 
   else 
      Box2Map 
      RandomBox 
   fi 
} 
BoxLeft(){ 
   local x s 
   ((x = boxCurX - 1)) 
   if BoxMove $boxCurY $x 
   then 
      s=`DrawCurBox 0` 
      ((boxCurX = x)) 
      s=$s`DrawCurBox 1` 
      echo -ne $s 
   fi 
} 
BoxRight(){ 
   local x s 
   ((x = boxCurX + 1)) 
   if BoxMove $boxCurY $x 
   then 
      s=`DrawCurBox 0` 
      ((boxCurX = x)) 
      s=$s`DrawCurBox 1` 
      echo -ne $s 
   fi 
} 
BoxAllDown(){ 
   local k j i x y iDown s 
   iDown=$iTrayHeight 
   for ((j = 0; j < 8; j += 2)) 
   do 
      ((i = j + 1)) 
      ((y = ${boxCur[$j]} + boxCurY)) 
      ((x = ${boxCur[$i]} + boxCurX)) 
      for ((k = y + 1; k < iTrayHeight; k++)) 
      do 
         ((i = k * iTrayWidth + x)) 
         if (( ${iMap[$i]} != -1)); then break; fi 
      done 
      ((k -= y + 1)) 
      if (( $iDown > $k )); then iDown=$k; fi 
   done 
   s=`DrawCurBox 0` 
   ((boxCurY += iDown)) 
   s=$s`DrawCurBox 1` 
   echo -ne $s 
   Box2Map 
   RandomBox 
} 
BoxRotate(){ 
   local iCount iTestRotate boxTest j i s 
   iCount=${countBox[$iBoxCurType]} 
   ((iTestRotate = iBoxCurRotate + 1)) 
   if ((iTestRotate >= iCount)) 
   then 
      ((iTestRotate = 0)) 
   fi 
   for ((j = 0, i = (${offsetBox[$iBoxCurType]} + $iTestRotate) * 8; j < 8; j++, i++)) 
   do 
      boxTest[$j]=${boxCur[$j]} 
      boxCur[$j]=${box[$i]} 
   done 
   if BoxMove $boxCurY $boxCurX 
   then 
      for ((j = 0; j < 8; j++)) 
      do 
         boxCur[$j]=${boxTest[$j]} 
      done 
      s=`DrawCurBox 0` 
      for ((j = 0, i = (${offsetBox[$iBoxCurType]} + $iTestRotate) * 8; j < 8; j++, i++)) 
      do 
         boxCur[$j]=${box[$i]} 
      done 
      s=$s`DrawCurBox 1` 
      echo -ne $s 
      iBoxCurRotate=$iTestRotate 
   else 
      for ((j = 0; j < 8; j++)) 
      do 
         boxCur[$j]=${boxTest[$j]} 
      done 
   fi 
} 
DrawCurBox(){ 
   local i j t bDraw sBox s 
   bDraw=$1 
   s="" 
   if (( bDraw == 0 )) 
   then 
      sBox="\040\040" 
   else 
      sBox="\040\040" 
      s=$s"\033[1m\033[7m\033[3${cBoxCur}m\033[4${cBoxCur}m"       
   fi 
   for ((j = 0; j < 8; j += 2)) 
   do 
      ((i = iTrayTop + 1 + ${boxCur[$j]} + boxCurY)) 
      ((t = iTrayLeft + 1 + 2 * (boxCurX + ${boxCur[$j + 1]}))) 
      s=$s"\033[${i};${t}H${sBox}" 
   done 
   s=$s"\033[0m" 
   echo -n $s 
} 
RandomBox(){ 
   local i j t 
   #change current box 
   iBoxCurType=${iBoxNewType} 
   iBoxCurRotate=${iBoxNewRotate} 
   cBoxCur=${cBoxNew} 
   for ((j = 0; j < ${#boxNew[@]}; j++)) 
   do 
      boxCur[$j]=${boxNew[$j]} 
   done 
   if (( ${#boxCur[@]} == 8 )) 
   then 
      #calculate current box's starting position 
      for ((j = 0, t = 4; j < 8; j += 2)) 
      do 
         if ((${boxCur[$j]} < t)); then t=${boxCur[$j]}; fi 
      done 
      ((boxCurY = -t)) 
      for ((j = 1, i = -4, t = 20; j < 8; j += 2)) 
      do 
         if ((${boxCur[$j]} > i)); then i=${boxCur[$j]}; fi 
         if ((${boxCur[$j]} < t)); then t=${boxCur[$j]}; fi 
      done 
      ((boxCurX = (iTrayWidth - 1 - i - t) / 2)) 
      echo -ne `DrawCurBox 1` 
      if ! BoxMove $boxCurY $boxCurX 
      then 
         kill -$sigExit ${PPID} 
         ShowExit 
      fi 
   fi 
   #clear old box 
   for ((j = 0; j < 4; j++)) 
   do 
      ((i = iTop + 1 + j)) 
      ((t = iLeft + 2 * iTrayWidth + 7)) 
      echo -ne "\033[${i};${t}H        " 
   done 
   #get a random new box 
   ((iBoxNewType = RANDOM % ${#offsetBox[@]})) 
   ((iBoxNewRotate = RANDOM % ${countBox[$iBoxNewType]})) 
   for ((j = 0, i = (${offsetBox[$iBoxNewType]} + $iBoxNewRotate) * 8; j < 8; j++, i++)) 
   do 
      boxNew[$j]=${box[$i]}; 
   done 
   ((cBoxNew = ${colorTable[RANDOM % ${#colorTable[@]}]})) 
   #display new box 
   echo -ne "\033[1m\033[7m\033[3${cBoxNew}m\033[4${cBoxNew}m" 
   for ((j = 0; j < 8; j += 2)) 
   do 
      ((i = iTop + 1 + ${boxNew[$j]})) 
      ((t = iLeft + 2 * iTrayWidth + 7 + 2 * ${boxNew[$j + 1]})) 
      echo -ne "\033[${i};${t}H\040\040" 
   done 
   echo -ne "\033[0m" 
} 
InitDraw(){ 
   clear 
   RandomBox 
   RandomBox 
   local i t1 t2 t3 
   #draw border 
   echo -ne "\033[1m" 
   echo -ne "\033[3${cBorder}m\033[4${cBorder}m" 
   ((t2 = iLeft + 1)) 
   ((t3 = iLeft + iTrayWidth * 2 + 3)) 
   for ((i = 0; i < iTrayHeight; i++)) 
   do 
      ((t1 = i + iTop + 2)) 
      echo -ne "\033[${t1};${t2}H\040\040" 
      echo -ne "\033[${t1};${t3}H\040\040" 
   done 
   ((t2 = iTop + iTrayHeight + 2)) 
   for ((i = 0; i < iTrayWidth + 2; i++)) 
   do 
      ((t1 = i * 2 + iLeft + 1)) 
      echo -ne "\033[${iTrayTop};${t1}H\040\040" 
      echo -ne "\033[${t2};${t1}H\040\040" 
   done 
   echo -ne "\033[0m" 
   #draw score & level prompt 
   echo -ne "\033[1m" 
   ((t1 = iLeft + iTrayWidth * 2 + 7)) 
   ((t2 = iTop + 10)) 
   echo -ne "\033[3${cScore}m\033[${t2};${t1}HScore" 
   ((t2 = iTop + 11)) 
   echo -ne "\033[3${cScoreValue}m\033[${t2};${t1}H${iScore}" 
   ((t2 = iTop + 13)) 
   echo -ne "\033[3${cScore}m\033[${t2};${t1}HLevel" 
   ((t2 = iTop + 14)) 
   echo -ne "\033[3${cScoreValue}m\033[${t2};${t1}H${iLevel}" 
   echo -ne "\033[0m" 
} 
ShowExit(){ 
   local y 
   ((y = iTrayHeight + iTrayTop + 3)) 
   echo -e "\033[${y};0HGameOver!\033[0m" 
   exit 
} 
#Start from here. 
if [[ $1 != "--go" ]] 
then 
  $0 --go& 
  RunAsKeyReceiver $! 
  exit 
else 
   RunAsDisplayer 
   exit 
fi

BASH GAMES: Bash Invaders

2011-01-05T14:23:00.009+01:00

Below is the script I have found when trying to manage asynchronous call under bash.
Use J K L keys to navigate and shoot.


#!/bin/bash
if [[ $1 != "" ]]
then
cat << END
BashInvaders!
by Vidar 'koala_man' Holen
www.vidarholen.net

Originally an entry in the #linux.no 1KiB compo (thus the ugly source)
This is a pre-trim version with colors and proper tmp files. All bash. 
Released under the GNU General Public License.

Control your ship with J and L, shoot with K. 
Quit with Q or sigint.

Requires mktemp and sleep with fractions. 

END
exit 0
fi

tput civis

cd /tmp
e=echo
c=clear
r=return
E="$e -ne "
A=$E\\033[
m() { $A$2\;$1\H
}
f() { $A\1\;3$2\m
}

trap z=SigInt SIGINT
 g() {
 $e ${K[$(($2*8+$1))]}
}
 s() {
 K[$(($2*8+$1))]=$3
}
 u() {
 [ $T = 0 ] && $r 0
 m $S $((--T))
 $E `f 3`"."
 x=$((S-Y))
 y=$((T-Z))
 [ $((y%3)) = 0 -a $((x%6)) -lt 4 ] || $r 0
 : $((y/=3)) $((x/=6))
 [ "`g $x $y`" = 1 -a $x -le $o -a $x -ge $n -a $y -le $q -a $y -ge 0 ] || $r 0
 [ $Q = 1 ] && z="You win!"
 s $x $y 0 
 : $((Q--))
 T=0
 $r 1
}
 a() {
 w n +
 w o - 
 h 
}
 w() {
 d=0
 for (( I=0; I<=q; I++ )) {
  [ `g $(($1)) $I` = 1 ] && D=1
 }
 [ $D = 0 ] && : $(($1$2=1)) 
}
 h() {
for (( I=q; I>=0; I--)) {
for (( J=n; J<=o; J++)) {
   [ `g $J $I` = 1 ] && q=$I &&  $r
  }
 }
 }
 
 j() { 
 while read -n 1 S >/dev/null 2>&1
do
$e $S > $M
done
}

G=`mktemp`
L=`mktemp`
M=`mktemp`
N=`mktemp`
X=40
n=0
o=7
q=2
T=0
Y=2
Z=2
U=2
W=0
for (( Q=0; Q<24; Q++)) { 
 K[$Q]=1
}

j 0<&0 &
B=$!

until [ "$z" ]
do
 : $((W++)) 
 if [ -f $M ] 
 then
  i=$(<$M)
  rm $M
  case "$i" in
   q) z="Quit" ;;
   j) X=$(($X-3)) ;;
   l) X=$(($X+3)) ;;
   k) [ $T = 0 ] && S=$((X+1)) && T=22 
   ;;
  esac
 fi
 rm $N  
 exec > $N
for (( J=0; J<=q; J++)) { 
  for (( I=n; I<=o; I++)) { 
   [ `g $I $J` = 1 ] && m $((I*6+Y)) $((J*3+Z)) && $e `f 4`/00\\
  }
 }
 m $X 23
 $e `f 2`"/|\\"
 [ $T != 0 ] && u  
 a
 m 0 0
 exec > `tty`
$c
cat $N
sleep .1
[ $((W%2)) = 0 ] && : $((Y+=U)) && if [ $((Y+n*6)) -lt 2 -o $((Y+o*6)) -gt 75 ] 
then 
: $((U=-U))  $((Z+=2))
[ $((Z+q*3)) -le 20 ] || z="You lose!"
fi
done

$c
$e $z
rm $G $L $M $N $F &> /dev/null
kill $B

SHELL COMMANDS

2011-01-04T10:38:00.004+01:00

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The most common UNIX / Linux commands
with examples (by om8000@gmail.com):


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cal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ display a calendar
Dispaly calender for a current month	cal
Dispaly calender for a current year	cal 2008
Display calendar dates for the whole years	cal -y
Display julian dates (number of days from 1 to 365)	cal -j
Display a calendar	cal -1
Display a calendar with one month before and one in the future	cal -3
Display a calendar for a particular month year	cal 9 2008
for detailed options see:	man cal

finger _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ user info lookup program
For detailed options see:	man finger
If you have Lnternet access, get latest kernel info:	finger @finger.kernel.org

clear _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ clear the terminal screen
clear screen if possible	clear -or- ctrl+r

write _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ send a message to another user
Write message to user1	write user2
Write message back to user root	write root #(This way two way communication is established (simple chat).)

<><> </></>

wall _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ send a message to all connected users
Send a administrative message to all users:	wall "Server will bew rebooted in 5 minutes"
Someone can also redirect message from a file	wall < admin.msg

talk _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Talk client for one-on-one Internet chatting
For detailed options see:	man talk
Potentially dangerous! Requires talk server to be running! To talk to another user, just try:	talk user2

mesg _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ control write access to your terminal
For detailed options see:	man mesg
Allow other people to send you messages to the console	mesg y
Do not allow other users to send you messages using write or wall	mesg n

mkdir _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ create a directory
For detailed options see:	man mkdir
Create two directories simultaneously	mkdir dir1 dir2
Create directory g1 inside existing directory r1 in the current directory:	mkdir r1/d1
Create complete subdirectory structure at once	mkdir -p /tmp/d1/d2/d3
Create directory path d1/d2/d3 underneath the current directory and set permissions on directory diamond to read-only for all users (a=r):	mkdir -p -m "a=r" d1/d2/d3 mkdir -p -m 444 d1/d1/d3
Creating many directories using curly braces expansion	mkdir -p /work/junk/{one,two,three,four}

cd _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ change the working directory
Go to home directory	cd cd ~
Go to previous directory	cd -
Go to dir, execute command and return to current dir	(cd dir && command)
Change working directory and if successfull, execute listing	cd /tmp && ls
Enter to directory '/ home'	cd /home
Go back one level	cd ..
Go back two levels	cd ../..
for detailed options see:	man cd

exit _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ cause normal process termination
For detailed options see:	man exit
Exit with a true value:	exit 0
Exit with a false value:	exit 1
Some error codes:	A file to be executed was found, but it was not an executable utility: 126 A utility to be executed was not found: 127 A command was interrupted by a signal: 128

cp _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ copy files and directories
Create fast backup of a file	cp /etc/fstab{,.bak}
Copy a file to another location	cp /tmp/f1 /var/tmp/f2
Make an archive copy of entire directory:	cp -a /opt /tmp
To create a zero-length file, using cp:	cp /dev/null /tmp/file
Copy a directory within the current work directory and preserve attributes	cp -a -p /tmp/dir1 .
Backing up a directory preserving ownerships, permissions and links, to another partition to hard disk, do:	cp -a /dir-to-backup -or- cp -dpR /dir-to-backup
Copy all files of a directory within the current work directory	cp dir/* .
for detailed options see:	man cp

ln _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ make hard/soft links between files
For detailed options see:	man ln
Creating soft links:	ln -s /etc /var/tmp/etc NOTE: Soft links are usefull for linking among different partitions. Hard links will only work on the same partition/filesystem. Reason for that are inodes which have different i-numbers on different filesystems, so filename can not point to them.
Create a physical link to file	ln file1 lnk1
The following command creates fl1 and fl2 in destination_dir, which are linked back to the original files fl1 and fl2. If files on destination already exist, they will be removed.	ln -f fl1 fl2 destination_dir

who _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ show who is logged in
For detailed options see:	man who
Get inf oabout logged in users	who
Show who is logged on, and print: time of last system boot, dead processes, system login processes, active processes spawned by init, current runlevel, last system clock change	who -a
Get detailed info with times and processes	who --all
Give me info only about me	who am I -or- who am i -and also see whoami-
Get runlevel and date using who:	who -r

<><> </></>

od _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ dump files in octal and other formats
For detailed options see:	man od
Simple octal output	od /etc/passwd
Write hexadecimal bytes and the corresponding octal values to the standard output in blocks of 16 bytes in one line	od -tx1oC /etc/passwd
The following commands write one line each of the types character, signed decimal integer, and float, in the order given, transforming 100 bytes of data starting from fifteenth byte offset in the file file1:	od -j14 -N100 -tc -tdfF /etc/passwd
Write one line each of the types unsigned integer, named character, and long double, with the offsets written in hexadecimal and forcing a write	od -v -Ax -tuafL /etc/passwd
Creating random nubers from urandom device	od -An -N2 -tu < /dev/urandom

nautilus _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Nautilus is a file manager for GNOME.
start file explorer style	nautilus --browser
Samba browser -- basically "Network Neighborhood"	nautilus smb:///
Font browser. Click on font to see stuff.	nautilus fonts:///
Access the top of My Computer	nautilus computer:///
Access network shares	nautilus network:///
preparation for burning to CD	nautilus burn:///
Displays a whole bunch of themes. You can change your	theme from here nautilus themes:///
browse certain directory	nautilus file:///etc/

less _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A text file browser similar to more
For detailed options see:	man less
See start of some file:	less /tmp/bigfile pgUp/pgDn # browse more q # exit less command
Try less with line numbering	less -N /etc/passwd
Switch to vi edit mode using less	while scrolling file with less, just press: v

rmdir _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ remove empty directories
For detailed options see:	man rmdir
To remove empty directory with a prompt for verification:	rmdir -i directory
To remove as much as possible of a path, of empty directories type:	rmdir -p component1/component2/dir
To remove directory including files:	rm -r /tmp/subdir1

strings _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ show printable characters in binary files
For detailed options see:	man strings
Remove ^M andall other control chars within the file	strings filename.ext > newfile.ext

pwd _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ return working directory name
Print cuurent working directory example	pwd
Print cuurent working directory disregarding symbolic link	pwd -P

whoami _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ print effective userid
For detailed options see:	man whoami
Give me my username:	whoami

logout _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Logout of a login shell
For detailed options see:	man logout
Leaving session	logout

xlock _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Locks the local X display
To lock X session	xlock
Lock the screen with a different screensaver	xlock -mode forest
show all possible options on xlock	xlock --help

vlock _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Virtual Console lock program vlock
To lock current console or terminal	vlock
To lock all physical consoles	vlock -a

ls _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ list directory contents
Perform long listing and mark executable files with asterisk	ls -bCAFl
get ls to do thousands grouping appropriate to locale	BLOCK_SIZE=\'1 ls -l
Print colored output	ls --color
List files with full detailed creation time	ls --full-time -t
Show files, last changed - last	ls -lahtr
List files by date.	ls -lrt
Show size of the files and directories ordered by size	ls -lSr \|more
List files and directories and mark them like: add asterisk for executables and slash for directories:	ls -F
List directories only at the current path:	ls -d */
Use -d switch to list all hidden files and directories at the current path:	ls -d .*
Show file attributes and ownership	ls -la /tmp/file1
Show files with hidden characters in names	ls -b /tmp/*
Show files info node numbes	ls -la -i /tmp
Show human readable file sizes	ls -lah /tmp
Counting files and subdirs in directory	ls -l \|wc -l
To list files sorted by size:	ls -Sl
Revers sort all files by size	ls -laSr
Find all files containing ls in their names	ls -lR \| grep ps
View files of directory	ls
View files of directory	ls -F
Show details of files and directory	ls -l
Show hidden files	ls -a
Knowing inode number of files	ls -ail
Show files and directory containing numbers	ls [0-9]
List biggest files in the current directory last	ls -lShr
list without owners info	ls -lg *
multicolumn output into file	ls -C
give me sorted listing	ls -Slh /
for detailed options see:	man ls

mv _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ move (rename) files
For detailed options see:	man mv
Rename a file in the current directory:	mv old-filename new-filename
Rename a directory in the current directory:	mv old-dirname new-dirname
Rename a file in the current directory whose name starts with a nonprinting control character or a character that is special to the shell, such as - and * (extra care may be required depending on the situation):	mv ./bad-filename new-filename mv ./?bad-filename new-filename mv ./*bad-filename new-filename
Move directory sourcedir and its contents to a new location (targetdir) in the file system (upon completion, a subdirectory named sourcedir resides in directory targetdir):	mv sourcedir targetdir
Move all files and directories (including links) in the current directory to a new location underneath targetdir:	mv * targetdir
Move all files and directories (including links) in sourcedir to a new location underneath targetdir (sourcedir and targetdir are in separate directory paths):	mv sourcedir/* targetdir
results with the original files a and b residing in the directory d in the current directory.	mv a b c mv c d

more _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ file perusal filter for crt viewing
For detailed options see:	man more
Display file contents page by page	more /tmp/bigfile
Display contents of all files in the current directory:	more *
Switch to vi edit mode using more while scrolling file contents using more, just press:	v
To preview nroff output, use a command resembling:	nroff -mm +2 doc.n \| more -s
If the file contains tables, use:	tbl file \| nroff -mm \| col \| more -s
To display file stuff in a fifteen line-window and convert multiple adjacent blank lines into a single blank line:	more -s -n 15 stuff
To examine each file with its last screenful:	more -p G file1 file2
To examine each file starting with line 100 in the current position (third line, so line 98 is the first line written):	more -p 100g file1 file2
To examine the file that contains the tagstring tag with line 30 in the current position:	more -t tag -p 30g
The -p allows arbitrary commands to be executed at the start of each file.	more -p G file1 file2
Examine each file starting with its last screenful.	more -p 100 file1 file2
Examine each file starting with line 100 in the current position (usually the third line, so line 98 would be the first line written).	more -p /100 file1 file2

<><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></> <><> </></>

cat _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ concatenate and print files
catenate is an obscure word meaning "to connect in a series"
Number row of a file	cat -n file1
Join splitted files into one single binary or txt	cat xaa xab xac >prog.bin -or- cat x* >prog.bin
To create a zero-length file, using cat:	cat /dev/null > file
Get all contetnts from a file	cat /tmp/file1
Display a file	at ch1
Combine files	cat ch1 ch2 ch3 > all
Append to a file	cat note5 >> notes
Create file at terminal. To exit, enter EOF (Ctrl-D).	cat > temp1
Create file at terminal. To exit, enter STOP.	cat > temp2 << STOP
The following prints ^I for all the occurrences of tab character in file1	cat -t file1
To suppress error messages about files that do not exist, use:	cat -s file1 file2 file3 > file
To view non-printable characters in file2, use:	cat -v file2
general syntax to manipulate a text of a file, and write result to a new file	cat file1 \| command( sed, grep, awk, grep, etc...) > result.txt
see all characters in a file (also strange ones and from dos ...)	cat -vet textfile
join contetnt from files with command output Command below will show contetnts of header_file first, then result of w command and after that contetnts of footer_file	w\|cat header_file - footer_file
for detailed options see:	man cat

rm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ remove files or directories
For detailed options see:	man rm
Create a safe remove command: On your system you should put this one into /etc/profile to make it available for all users. See also function command. Good think: Instead of removing files and dirs for real, you will save them into .Trash directory. This function should also prevent all features of rm -rf to stop a real damage. To rum a real rm command, you will need to use a full path otherwise you will never remove files for real.	function rm { mkdir ~/.Trash 2>/dev/null mv $@ ~/.Trash 2>/dev/null }
Remove files with a prompt for verification:	rm -i file1 file2
Remove all the files in a directory:	rm -i mydirectory/*
Remove a file in the current directory whose name starts with - or * or some other character that is special to the shell:	rm ./-filename rm \*filename
Remove a file in the current directory whose name starts with some strange (usually nonprinting, invisible) character:	rm -i filename
A powerful and dangerous command to remove a nonempty directory is:	rm -rf dir_name
WARNING, DANGEROUS - FOR TESTING PURPOSES ONLY!!! Remove a whole system while it is running!	# /bin/rm -rf /*
Delete file called 'file1'	rm -f file1
Delete directory called 'dir1'	rmdir dir1
Remove a directory called 'dir1' and contents recursively	rm -rf dir1
Remove two directories and their contents recursively	rm -rf dir1 dir2
Destroy a whole linux server, all settings and programs (DANGEROUS):	#rm -rf /*

info _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A stand-alone TTY-based reader for GNU texinfo
For detailed options see:	man info
For detailed options see:	man pinfo
show top-level dir menu	info
For detailed options see:	man info
info emacs	start at emacs node from top-level dir
info emacs buffers	start at buffers node within emacs manual
start at node with emacs' command line options	info --show-options emacs
show file ./foo.info, not searching dir	info -f ./foo.info

top _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ display top CPU processes
For detailed options see:	man top
For better tool also try:	htop
top is text mode process table explorer	will show: cpu, memory, swap utilization, load avg and uptime will not show: cpu info, system info, platform type ...
Show processes status every second and operate top interactivelly	top sort processes by memory M sort processes by CPU P show all CPUs 1 exit top q
show processess status every two seconds and run only three times	top -d2 -n3
create output that is suitable for saving into a file	top -d10 -n100 >/tmp/top.txt
Monitor process identifier (PID) 2233 and 4455, you type:	top -p 2233,4455
Monitor processes by root user only	top -u root
Monitor processes by UID 0 only:	top -U 0

fg _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ run jobs in the foreground
For detailed options see:	man fg
Call a job that is suspended or is running in background to the foreground	ls -lahR / & jobs fg %1

bg _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ run jobs in the background
To push a running process to the background freeze it first: ctrl+z this will produce %1 job identifier	bg %1
for detailed options see:	man bg

gnome-system-monitor _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Simple process monitor
task manager for gnome, supports process management, load overviev, disk usage status	gnome-system-monitor
top like graphical application. To start it and manipulate processes:	gnome-system-monitor (use mouse right click to access possible options on processes)
little bug if gnome-system-monitor does not start:	killall -9 dbus-daemon dbus-launch gnome-system-monitor

pstree _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ display a tree of processes
For detailed options see:	man pstree
Show process tree structure	pstree
on other unix-es	ptree
show as much as possible infos	pstree -aAclpuZ
show tree with processes numbers	pstree -p

chmod _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ change file access permissions
There are three permissions for files and directories. Set permissions:	reading (r) write (w) execute (x) for: users (u) group (g) others (o) chmod ugo+rwx directory1
Remove permits reading (r), write (w) and (x) access to users group (g) and others (o)	chmod go-rwx directory1
There are aditiona three special parmissions available for files and directories:	STICKY 1000 SGID 2000 SUID 4000
A classic way to change permissions for user : read, write, execute for group : read, execute for others: read	chmod 754 /tmp/myprog
But what you really performed is:	chmod 0754 /tmp/myprog
Access permissions table Permissions has a slightly different but significant meaning on files or directories.	+------+-----------+-------------------+---------------------------------+ \| mode \| notation \| file: \| directory \| +------\|-----------\|-------------------+---------------------------------+ \| 1000 \|---------T \| save txt attr: \| link permissions: allow user to \| \| \| \| \| operate on his own files only \| +------\|-----------\|-------------------+---------------------------------+ \| 2000 \|------S--- \| set Group ID: \| set Group ID: usable for samba. \| \| \| \| \| file sharing among users. \| +------\|-----------\|-------------------+---------------------------------+ \| 4000 \| \| set User ID: \| set User ID: \| \| \|---S------ \| usable for suid \| \| \| \| \| programs (passwd) \| \| +------\|-----------\|-------------------+---------------------------------+ \| 1 \| --x \| execute \| browse \| +------\|-----------\|-------------------+---------------------------------+ \| 2 \| r-- \| read. \| list contents \| +------\|-----------\|-------------------+---------------------------------+ \| 4 \| -w- \| write. \| create file \| +------+-----------+-------------------+---------------------------------+
Add execute-by-user permission to file:	chmod u+x /tmp/testprog
Either of the following will assign read/write/execute permission by owner r/x permission by group, and x-only permission by others to file:	chmod 751 /tmp/testprog chmod u=rwx,g=rx,o=x file
Any one of the following will assign r-only permission to file for everyone	chmod =r /tmp/testprog chmod 444 /tmp/testprog chmod a-wx,a+r /tmp/testprog
The following makes the executable setuid, assigns read/write/execute permission by owner, and assigns r/x permission by group and others	chmod 4755 /tmp/testprog
Deny write permission to others:	chmod o-w file
Make a file executable by everybody:	chmod a+x file
Assign read and execute permission to everybody, and set the set-user-ID bit:	chmod a=rx,u+s file
Assign read and write permission to the file owner, and read permission to everybody else:	chmod u=rw,go=r file
Set SUID bit on a binary file - the user that running that file gets same privileges as owner	chmod u+s /bin/file1
Disable SUID bit on a binary file	chmod u-s /bin/file1
Set SGID bit on a directory - similar to SUID but for directory	chmod g+s /home/public
Disable SGID bit on a directory	chmod g-s /home/public
Set STIKY bit on a directory - allows files deletion only to legitimate owners	chmod o+t /home/public
Disable STIKY bit on a directory	chmod o-t /home/public
for detailed options see:	man chmod

date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ print or set the system date and time
Show system date and time:	date
Show UTC time:	date -u
Set date and tim in more human readable way:	date -s "Sat Nov 3 18:59:04 2008"
Convert number of seconds since the epoch to a date:	date --date '1970-01-01 UTC 1234567890 seconds'
What day does xmas fall on, this year:	date --date='20 Oct' +%A
What date is it this thursday:	date -d thu
Set system date and time:	date 072315302007 # mmddHHMMyyyy
To set the system clock forward by two minutes:	date --set='+2 minutes'
What time is it on West coast of US (use tzselect to find TZ):	TZ=':America/Los_Angeles' date
Print custom formatted date:	date +%m-%d-%Y
To print the date of the day before yesterday:	date --date='2 days ago'
To print the date of the day three months and one day hence:	date --date='3 months 1 day'
To print the day of year of Christmas in the current year:	date --date='25 Dec' +%j
Display date of the current or next Wednesday:	date -d Wed
Give me file creation date:.	date -r /tmp/file1
Show yesterday's date:	echo $(date +%Y-%m-%d -d '-1 day')
for detailed options see:	man date
To print a date without the leading zero for one-digit days of the month, you can use the (GNU extension) `-' flag to suppress the padding altogether:	date -d 1may '+%B %-d
To print the current date and time in the format required by many non-GNU ver.s of `date' when setting the system clock:	date +%m%d%H%M%Y.%S

echo _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ display a line of text
For detailed options see:	man echo
To clear console of gibberish (eg. after cat of a tar.gz file) go to another virtual console and type in:	echo -e '\017' > /dev/tty1
Print many variable fields in a single line:	listing=$(ls -la /) echo $listing
Print values from variable "as is"	listing=$(ls -la /);echo "$listing"
Base conver. (hex to dec) ((shell arithmetic expansion))	echo $((0x2dec))
Base math calcualtions	echo $((10+20))
Create an empty file using echo	echo > /tmp/new_file1

Print a short beep	echo -e "\a"
Start printing on position "two tabs" from start of the line	echo -en "\t \t"
Make cursor invisible	echo -en "\033[?25l"
Make cursor visible again	echo -en "\033[?12l\033[?25h"
Switch terminal to DRAW mode	echo -en "\033(0"
Switch terminal back to WRITE mode	echo -en "\033(B"
Mark text	echo -en "\033[7m"
Unmark text	echo -en "\033[27m"
Reset screen	echo -en "\033c"
Simple counter with suppressing newlines	for NUM in $(seq 1 100) do echo -e "\r $NUM \c" usleep 100000 done
Painting text	echo -e "\033[44;37;5m ME \033[0m COOL"
Clear screen but preserver prompt position	echo -e "\033[2J"
Clear all keyboard LEDs	echo -e "\033[0q"
Set "Scroll Lock" LED	echo -e "\033[1q"
Set "Num Lock" LED	echo -e "\033[2q"
Set Caps Lock LED	echo -e "\033[3q"
beep	echo -en "\x07"
Colors	0 reset all attributes to their defaults 1 set bold 2 set half-bright (simulated with color on a color display) 4 set underscore (simulated with color on a color display) 5 set blink 7 set reverse video 22 set normal intensity 24 underline off 25 blink off 27 reverse video off 30 set black foreground 31 set red foreground 32 set green foreground 33 set brown foreground 34 set blue foreground 35 set magenta foreground 36 set cyan foreground 37 set white foreground 38 set underscore on, set default foreground color 39 set underscore off, set default foreground color 40 set black background 41 set red background 42 set green background 43 set brown background 44 set blue background 45 set magenta background 46 set cyan background 47 set white background 49 set default background color

kill _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ signal a process
For detailed options see:	man kill
See for all available signals that can be used with kill	man 7 signal
Force closure of the process and finish it	kill -9 ID_Process
Force a process to reload configuration	kill -1 ID_Process
Reload syslog service using kill command	kill SIGINT $(cat /var/run/syslogd.pid) kill -2 syslogd
Simulate killall command (kill all httpd processes)	kill $(ps -ef \| grep httpd \| awk '{print $2}')
Terminate process many different ways	kill -s SIGKILL 1234 kill -s KILL 1234 kill -s 9 1234 kill -SIGKILL 1234 kill -KILL 1234 kill -9 1234
Show all possible signals	kill -l
IMPORTANT SGNALS TABLE	0 SIGNULL Null Check access to pid 1 SIGHUP Hangup Terminate; can be trapped 2 SIGINT Interrupt Terminate; can be trapped 3 SIGQUIT Quit Terminate with core dump; can be trapped 9 SIGKILL Kill Forced termination; cannot be trapped 15 SIGTERM Terminate Terminate; can be trapped 24 SIGSTOP Stop Pause the process; cannot be trapped 25 SIGTSTP Terminal stop Pause the process; can be trapped 26 SIGCONT Continue Run a stopped process

killall _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ kill processes by name
For detailed options see:	man killall
also see:	pkill
Kill all similar processes by name (if custom sh script runs of of control)	killall -9 bash sh

konqueror _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Web browser, file manager, ..
Faster browsing	In KDE 3.2, a little-known but useful option has been added to speed up your web browsing experience. Start the KDE Control Center and choose System > KDE performance from the sidebar. You can now select to preload Konqueror instances. Effectively, this means that Konqueror is run on startup, but kept hidden until you try to use it.
Starting konqueror in kiosk mode:	konqueror --profile KIOSK https://localhost:10000
define profile KIOSK:	vi /root/.kde/share/apps/konqueror/profiles/KIOSK [Main Window Settings] MenuBar=Disabled [Main Window Settings Toolbar Speech Toolbar] Hidden=true [Main Window Settings Toolbar bookmarkToolBar] Hidden=true [Main Window Settings Toolbar extraToolBar] Hidden=true [Main Window Settings Toolbar locationToolBar] Hidden=true [Main Window Settings Toolbar mainToolBar] Hidden=true [Main Window Settings Toolbar mainMenu] Hidden=true [Profile] FullScreen=false Name=KIOSK RootItem=Tabs0 Tabs0_Children=ViewT0 Tabs0_activeChildIndex=0 ViewT0_LinkedView=false ViewT0_LockedLocation=false ViewT0_PassiveMode=false ViewT0_ServiceName=khtml ViewT0_ServiceType=text/html ViewT0_ToggleView=false ViewT0_URL=about:blank XMLUIFile=konqueror-kiosk.rc

man _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ display system doc
For detailed options see:	man man
biggest man pages collections on web	http://man.cx http://www.die.net/doc/linux/man/
show man on ls command	man ls
list all available man pages on the system	man -k [aeiou]\|sort\|uniq
Get manual pages that start with man (similar to whatis)	man -f man
To get a plain text ver. of a man page, without backspaces and underscores, try	man find \| col -b > find.txt
How to write man pages	http://www.cs.hmc.edu/qref/writing_man_pages.html
Get a custom breaked lines from man pages output:	unset LANG (echo ".nr LL 18.i"; zcat '/usr/share/man/man8/yum.8.gz')\| gtbl \| nroff -mandoc \|col -b
Make man pages immune to local codepage set: /etc/man.config:	NROFF /usr/bin/groff -Tlatin1 -mandoc NEQN /usr/bin/geqn -Tlatin1
Where are the GNU Reference Manuals?	http://www.gnu.org/manual/manual.html http://en.tldp.org/ http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ http://www.linuxcommand.org/superman_pages.php
If man pages are formatting incorrectly with PuTTY, try editing	the "/etc/man.config" file with the following changes: NROFF /usr/bin/groff -Tlatin1 -mandoc NEQN /usr/bin/geqn -Tlatin1
Creating a Manpage	As root you can copy the following to /usr/local/man/man1/examples.1 which will give you a manpage for examples: .\" Manpage for examples. .\" Contact om8000@hotmail.com to correct errors or omissions. .TH man 1 "examples" .SH NAME examples \- man page for examples .SH SYNOPSIS examples .SH DESCRIPTION collection of linux and open source tips. .SH OPTIONS no options. .SH SEE ALSO ls(1), ps(8) .SH BUGS No known bugs at this time. .SH AUTHOR oTo (om8000@hotmail.com )
man pages sections	1 user commands, general commands 2 system calls 3 library functions, Subroutines 4 special files 5 file formats 6 games and demos 7 macros and conventions 8 administration and privileged commands 9 kernel interfce L math library functions N tcl functions
also see command below for fast simple man page generation:	txt2tags
man2ps - requires postscript installed	man -t manpage > manpage.ps

mount _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ connect filesystems
For detailed options see:	man mount
Show mounted filesystems on the system (and align output)	mount mount \| column -t
Mount the cdrom image at /mnt/dir (read only)	mount -o loop cdrom.iso /mnt/dir
Mount a windows share	mount -t smbfs -o fmask=666,guest //windows_box/share /mnt/share
Mount a windows network share	mount -t smbfs -o username=user,password=pass //WinClient/share /mnt/share
Mounting iso image file	mount -o loop /tmp/test.iso /mnt
Mounting a /proc filesystem easy way:	mount /proc
hard way (if easy one fails):	mount -n -t proc proc /proc
Mountan iso image file:	mount -o loop -t iso9660 /img.iso /mnt
Make iso image auto mount at boot time: Put the following into /etc/fstab	/img.iso /mnt iso9660 ro,loop 0 0
Remount readonly filesystem:	mount -o remount,rw /
Mount ext2 formatteed floppy	mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy
Mount a floppy disk	mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy
Mount a cdrom / dvdrom	mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Mount a cdrw / dvdrom	mount /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrecorder
Mount a cdrw / dvdrom	mount /dev/hdb /mnt/cdrecorder
Mount a file or iso image	mount -o loop file.iso /mnt/cdrom
Mount a WIN FAT32 file system	mount -t vfat /dev/hda5 /mnt/hda5
Mount a usb pen-drive or flash-drive	mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usbdisk
Mounting old outdated zip drives If ZIP drive has been recognised by the kernel ... (dmesg)	modprobe ide-floppy mount /dev/hdaN /mnt/floppy

mkpasswd _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ generate new random password
For detailed options see:	man mkpasswd
Creating random password example:	mkpasswd -l 9 -d 2 -C 3

passwd _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ setting/changing passwords
For detailed options see:	man passwd
Show all /etc/passwd users command prompt:	~< tab >< tab >
Change password for the current user:	passwd
Lock an account as root user (insert '!!' in password place):	passwd -l user1
Change password for another user (as root):	passwd user1
Remove user password:	passwd -d user1
Lost password:	Log in to Single user mode. At the LILO boot prompt type in : linux 1 init=/bin/sh root=/dev/hdaN mount rw (where N is the number of your root partition). Then change the password for root with the command: passwd

umount _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ disconnect filesystems
For detailed options see:	man umount
Umount mounted filesystem	umount /mnt/cdrom
Run umount without writing the file /etc/mtab - useful when the file is read-only or the hard disk is full	umount -n /mnt/hda2

vi _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ visual interactive
vi cheat sheet	vi Cheat Sheet :--------------------------------------------------: :-----------------: \| COMMAND MODE \| \| \| \| \| \| \| \| :--------[coomand mode to edit mode]---------: \| \| \| \| \| I i [] a A \|--+--+--> EDIT MODE \| \| `--------------------------------------------´ \| \| text typing \| \| \| \| \| \| \| cut, copy, paste join lines cursor move \| \| \| \| \| :---------------: :----: :------------: \| \| \| \| \| \| dd yy p \| \| J \| \| 1G \| \| \| back to \| \| `---------------´ `----´ \| k \| \| \| command \| \| \| ^ h [] l $ \| \| \| mode \| \| delete char,word save+exit \| j \| \| \| \| \| \| :--------------: :-------: \| G \| \| \| [ESC] \| \| \| x X dw \| \| ZZ \| `------------´ \| \| \| \| \| `--------------´ `-------´ <-+--+--------´ \| \| onetime \| \| \| \| ex mode search, repeat undo,redo \| \| \| \| :----: :----------------: :--------: \| \| \| \| \| : \| \| / n \| \| u . \| \| \| \| \| `----´ `----------------´ `--------´ \| \| \| \| \| ^ \| \| \| `-----\|---------------------------------\|----------´ `-----------------´ \| \| :-----\|---------------------------------\|----------: \| EX MODE \| \| \| :----+------: \| \| search & replace \| [esc] \| \| \| :-----------------: \| [enter] \| \| \| \| :%s /old/new/g \| `-----------´ \| \| `-----------------´ \| \| \| \| change settings save, exit \| \| :-------------: :-------------------------: \| \| \| :set ... \| \| :w :w! :q :q! :wq :x \| \| \| `-------------´ `-------------------------´ \| \| \| `--------------------------------------------------´

vi _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ visual interactive

vi cheat sheet


    vi Cheat Sheet
    :--------------------------------------------------:  :-----------------:
    | COMMAND MODE                                     |  |                 |
    |                                                  |  |                 |
    |  :--------[coomand mode to edit mode]---------:  |  |                 |
    |  |        I          i [] a         A         |--+--+--> EDIT MODE    |
    |  `--------------------------------------------´  |  |    text typing  |
    |                                                  |  |        |        |
    |  cut, copy, paste    join lines  cursor move     |  |        |        |
    |  :---------------:   :----:      :------------:  |  |        |        |
    |  | dd  yy    p   |   | J  |      |     1G     |  |  |     back to     |
    |  `---------------´   `----´      |     k      |  |  |     command     |
    |                                  | ^ h [] l $ |  |  |     mode        |
    |  delete char,word    save+exit   |      j     |  |  |        |        |
    |  :--------------:    :-------:   |      G     |  |  |      [ESC]      |
    |  | x    X    dw |    |  ZZ   |   `------------´  |  |        |        |
    |  `--------------´    `-------´                 <-+--+--------´        |
    |                                   onetime        |  |                 |
    |  ex mode   search, repeat         undo,redo      |  |                 |
    |  :----:    :----------------:     :--------:     |  |                 |
    |  | :  |    |  /    n        |     | u  .   |     |  |                 |
    |  `----´    `----------------´     `--------´     |  |                 |
    |     |                                 ^          |  |                 |
    `-----|---------------------------------|----------´  `-----------------´
          |                                 |
    :-----|---------------------------------|----------:
    | EX MODE                               |          |
    |                                  :----+------:   |
    |  search & replace                |  [esc]    |   |
    |  :-----------------:             |  [enter]  |   |
    |  | :%s /old/new/g  |             `-----------´   |
    |  `-----------------´                             |
    |                                                  |
    |  change settings    save, exit                   |
    |  :-------------:    :-------------------------:  |
    |  | :set ...    |    | :w :w! :q :q! :wq :x    |  |
    |  `-------------´    `-------------------------´  |
    |                                                  |
    `--------------------------------------------------´

wc _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ print the number of newlines, words, and bytes in files
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webmin _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A web-based administration interface for Unix systems.
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whereis _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command
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which _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ shows the full path of (shell) commands
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while _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Execute script repeatedly as long as a condition is met
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X _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ graphical - GUI server
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xmms _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ an audio player for X
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Xorg _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X11R6 X server
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yast _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Yet another Setup Tool control panel for SuSE
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zcat _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ expand and concatenate data
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alias _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ define or display aliases
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awk _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ pattern scanning and processing language
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cut _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ remove sections from each line of files
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do _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ if loop/case construct keyword
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done _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ end of do loop
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dhclient _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Client
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egrep _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ print lines matching a pattern
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else _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ conditional operator
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expand _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ convert tabs to spaces
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export _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ set the export attribute for variables
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expr _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ evaluate expressions
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fgrep _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ print lines matching a pattern
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fi _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ end of if-loop/condition construct
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file _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Figure out what is in an archive file
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find _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ search for files in a directory hierarchy
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fmt _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ simple optimal text formatter
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for _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ loop construct
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gnome _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The Gnome desktop
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gnome-control-center _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ control panel for Gnome
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gnome-sound-properties _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ sound configurator
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grep _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ print lines matching a pattern
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gtv _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ MP3 and video (MPEG-1) player with GTK+ GUI
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gunzip _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ compress or expand files
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gzip _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ compress or expand files
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head _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ output the first part of files
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if _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ use a Perl module if a condition holds
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ifconfig _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ configure a network interface
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init _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ process control initialization
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jobs _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ display status of jobs in the current session
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join _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ join lines of two files on a common field
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kcontrol _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ kde Control center
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kde _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ KDE Desktop environment
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kmix _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ audio mixer for KDE
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kpm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Process manager for KDE
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let _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ bash built-in commands, see bash(1)
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locate _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ find files by name
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neat _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ network configurator
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neat-tui _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ tui network configurator
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nice _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ run a program with modified scheduling priority
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nl _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ number lines of files
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noatun _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ music player for KDE
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paste _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ merge lines of files
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pr _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ convert text files for printing
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ps _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ report a snapshot of the current processes
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read _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ read a line from standard input
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renice _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ alter priority of running processes
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rpm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a perl only implementaion of a RPM header reader
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sed _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ stream editor for filtering and transforming text
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shift _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ shift positional parameters
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sort _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Sorting and merging lists
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source _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Evaluate a file or resource as a Tcl script
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startix _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ starting X server from console
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stat _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ show detailed information on file attributes
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switchdesk _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ GUI and TUI mode interface for choosing desktop environment
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system-config-display _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ GUI configuring the X Window System display
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system-config-network _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The GUI of the NEtwork Adminstration Tool
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system-config-network-tui _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The NEtwork Adminstration Tool
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system-config-printer _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A printer administration tool
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system-config-soundcard _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ GUI for detecting and configuring soundcards
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tac _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ concatenate and print files in reverse
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tail _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ output the last part of files
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tar _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The GNU version of the tar archiving utility
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tee _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ read from standard input and write to standard output and files
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telinit _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ process control initialization
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test _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ provides a simple framework for writing test scripts
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then _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ conditional if loop construct
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tr _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ translate or delete characters
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true _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ do nothing, successfully
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type _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ write a description of command type
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unexpand _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ convert spaces to tabs
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updatedb _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ update database for whatis command
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The power of echo command: Bash console drawing methods and some usefull tput-like functions

2011-01-03T11:09:00.002+01:00

Have you ever try to write some fancy output that will knock off your co-workers?
Yes you will say, no problem, but have you used Bash to do that?
Have you ever tried to do some menus and graphics under bash?
Yes you will say again, 'dialog' is the right choice for such a task.
But I am very stubborn and I want pure Bash, no external programs, but still some menus and graphics,
and if possible no external programs at all.
And I want at least so much capabilities to be able to build a simple boxes with some colored text.
Is it possible?
Well if you tried to do you homework, you definitely came to some
death end, because bash manual page is not very explanatory on that issue.
But I want to have some old-style text-mode graphics, menus and perhaps message boxes.
And I want to be able to put text where-ever I want on my console.
You would be surprised if I tell you, that most of that can be done with a simple 'echo'
command which is also Bash-builtin.

How I did it

A few years ago my boss tried to convince me that curses library is the only
possible option to produce something fancy on my terminal. But once I opened RedHat's
/etc/init.d/functions file and extracted option for positioning characters at
the current line but at the custom column. I thought - if this is possible, what
else can be done with this nice echo command?
My next step was to run RedHat Setup program and redirect it to an ordinary text file.
That one took me some time. What I've got was a bunch of unreadable characters
that should be responsible for drawing something to the screen. But how? I was confused
for many months. No documentation available or I just did not know how to search for it.
Then I played around with different options the way I deleted part by part of 'garbage' file
produced with some tui aplication outputs and I found out how to switch between
writing and drawing mode at the command line. That one was a real break on my
path of creating some simple pure Bash menu lines.
At the end I redirected some ncurses programs to an empty file and observed what happened.
I ofcource tried many other combinations that work on some terminals, but below is
my result, that should work on most terminal emulators used today.
So, yes you will also need terminal emulator, that supports codes below.
I tested all that stuff on putty and at the Linux console.

Step by step

Right here before you are some not very self-explanatory,
small and usefull functions.
But do not worry, I will explain everything to you.
I will also show you step by step, how you can make those
functions usefull for fancy bash programming.

The Power of echo command

We will start with a simple echo.
Echo can be as powerfull as you can't even imagine.
Just use it with an 'escape' character and extended
option and it will print for you allmost anything.
This 'echo' commad is also bash internal, builtin.
So things just could not get any better.

Creating Custom ESCAPE character

It is mentioned in many manual pages but I did not understood the meaning
of it at he beginning. With the simple words: to make
some characters behave special way, you should put an ESC character infront
of them. ESC character is a single character that takes two places. So it
is impossible just to enter it over keyboard. This is known 'echo' feature and
makes echo a very powerfull command.

echo -en "\033"

Creating Custom Function CLEAR

For start we need a clean screen to work on.
Replacement for 'tput clear' can be simply performed
just by executing 'clear' command.
But I want to be sure just to use bash internals.
So I created a simple echo command, that produces screen erasing.
Escape character in combination with 'c' character will do the work for us.

echo -en "\033c"

Creating Custom Function CIVIS

To create programs with a more realistic look, sometimes it
is nice to hide cursor character.
Replacement for 'tput civis' is reverse engineered.
I typed tput civis and redirected an output to an ordinary text file.
Then I looked inside using vi editor. And here it is.
It will hide your cursor just as good as a real 'tput civis'.

echo -en "\033[?25l"

Creating Custom Function CNORM

Replacement for 'tput cnorm' was created with the same method as command above.
Its function is to make cursor visiible again.

echo -en "\033[?12l\033[?25h"

Creating Custom Function TPUT

Replacement for 'tput cup' should put your cursor anywhere on your terminal.
This can be also easily performed using syntax: echo -en "\033[10:10H".
But since I want to be able to specify my own x and y coordinates I am using
positional parameters ${1} and ${2} which will save my custom console input
and transform it into something usefull.

echo -en "\033[${1};${2}H"

Custom Function COLPUT

RedHat function for column put. This one was hacked from RedHat functions file.
Function is responsible for start writing at the exact position on the current
line without calculating in which line is cursor currently positioned. RedHat
is using it to display services statuses at startup process.

echo -en "\033[${1}G"

Custom Function MARK

Replacement for 'tput smso' should reverse background color around typed text.
I found it the way I simply tested all numbers from 0 to 50. Some were very
interesting but this was the only one more or less working on most terminal
emulators.

echo -en "\033[7m"

Custom Function UNMARK

Replacement for 'tput rmso' that returns selected text back to
normal is created as easily as previous function.
All you need to change is background color back to default (27m).
The code below will do the trick:

echo -en "\033[27m"

Custom Function DRAW

This one along with function DRAW I discovered trying out a bunch of code, that RedHat's
'setup' creates when output is redirected into a file.
When I was seeking for a decend background coloring piece, some garbage came to my screen.
I did not realise at first what this is good for and I thougt it is some console bug.
But after short test it became clear to me that this garbage is actually simple line
drawing and will be very usefull. To be sure to work also on other linux distributions with
some different terminal settings, some RedHat's black magic '%@' is needed. This
will load default console font with special characters that you will need to draw
lines. If not done so, small case characters could be interpreted wrongly. So now we need
to combine 'font switching' and 'draw' mode as two separated commands. I tried to combine
them into one, and so can you, but sometimes the result is not satisfactory.

echo -en "\033%@";echo -en "\033(0"

Custom Function WRITE

When I found 'drawing' mode I also wanted a simple 'return to writing' mode.
Painfull testing method followed.
I tried all letters and numbers and I succeeded!
A very short code below will switch from so called 'garbaged' console back to normal.

echo -en "\033(B"

Custom Function BLUE

To be short I just named it blue.
But it can be easily turned into some other background color.
Search for string 44m and replace it with some of strings listed below.
Result should be impressive.
If not, your terminal does not support this kind of coloring.
What I did is actually very simple.
I reset screen (\033c), I set white color for font and
blue for background ([37;44m) and at the end
I want to apply all of this to the whole screen not only
to my current row ([J).
Select the following codes: 40m for black, 41m for red,
42m for dark green, 43m for light green, 44m for blue,
45m for pink, 46m for green and 47m for gray.

echo -en "\033c\033[1;44m\033[J"

Putting it all together

Here is an example of how to create a true bash functions.
To be always ready, put those function (or the ones you need)
to the start of your every bash script.
This way you will fasten your fancy Bash coding.

ESC(){ echo -en "\033";}                            # escape character
 CLEAR(){ echo -en "\033c";}                           # the same as 'tput clear'
 CIVIS(){ echo -en "\033[?25l";}                       # the same as 'tput civis'
 CNORM(){ echo -en "\033[?12l\033[?25h";}              # the same as 'tput cnorm'
  TPUT(){ echo -en "\033[${1};${2}H";}                 # the same as 'tput cup'
COLPUT(){ echo -en "\033[${1}G";}                      # put text in the same line as the specified column
  MARK(){ echo -en "\033[7m";}                         # the same as 'tput smso'
UNMARK(){ echo -en "\033[27m";}                        # the same as 'tput rmso'
  DRAW(){ echo -en "\033%@";echo -en "\033(0";}        # switch to 'garbage' mode
 WRITE(){ echo -en "\033(B";}                          # return to normal mode from 'garbage' on the screen
  BLUE(){ echo -en "\033c\033[0;1m\033[37;44m\033[J";} # reset screen, set background to blue and font to white

Some real life examples using functions above

Now you have all those functions but you still do not know
how to use them? Let me start with some nice examples and
show you some nice tricks.

Box with a simple progress indicator

EXECUTING IN PROGRESS: /

Example shown above can be used in any program that will
take some time to execute.
Code will perform the following tasks:

clear screen (optional)
paint screen (optional)
hide cursor
enable drawing mode
draw fancy box
put text into box
put progress indicator into box
create mechanizm to be able to stop execution
make some space for real program execution
enable writing mode again
put rotating sign always at the same place on the screen
stop screen activity and return the cursor back to visible mode

If you start your code from putty, you should get result similar to the one above.
You will be able to observe rotating cursor for about five seconds. As you can see
there is not too much of code needed (only 42 lines). Give special attention to the
line with a 'trap' command. This one is needed to prevent our script getting
out of control. When you press ctrl+c or some other interrupt combination, 'trap'
will also delete controlling file '/tmp/.waiting' and force subscript to stop.

As you can see a lot of 'q' and some other characters are used. Those characters
will draw some lines inside "drawing" mode for you. To see other characters, switch
to drawing mode and try them out:

Only small case characters will draw something for you.
But if you press large case character it will just present itself as a normal character.
Since screen that looks like a garbage can cause a little panic with you. To be sure, that
you have everything under control, just type 'reset' and it will normalize screen for you again.

Characters shown above should be supported by most terminal emulators. But on some terminals
you will also be able to to get more "drawing" characters to your screen. This way you will also
make your program more terminal dependable. So just try to stick with characters shown above.

Next two articles:

Some fancy and usefull screensavers for system administrators.

Creating fancy pure Bash selection tui-mode menu methods.

echo -en "\033%@";echo -en "\033(0"

Q ─   W ┬   T ├   Z ≥ 

U ┤   A ▒   F °   G ±

J ┘   K ┐   L ┌   Y ≤

X │   V ┴   N ┼   M └

#!/bin/bash
 CLEAR(){ echo -en "\033c";}                            # Predefined functions
 CIVIS(){ echo -en "\033[?25l";}                        # (see description above)
 CNORM(){ echo -en "\033[?12l\033[?25h";}               #
  TPUT(){ echo -en "\033[${1};${2}H";}                  #
  DRAW(){ echo -en "\033%@";echo -en "\033(0";}         #
 WRITE(){ echo -en "\033(B";}                           #
  BLUE(){ echo -en "\033c\033[0;1m\033[37;44m\033[J";}  #

   touch /tmp/.waiting                                  # create an empty control file
   trap "rm -rf /tmp/.waiting;exit 2" 1 2 3 15          # catch interrupt keys (like ctrl+c)

   P1(){ echo -n  '|';}                                 # function P1 (for progress)
   P2(){ echo -n  '/';}                                 #          P2
   P3(){ echo -n '-';}                                  #          P3
   P4(){ echo  -n '\';}                                 #          P4

   CLEAR                                                # clear screen
   BLUE                                                 # make background blue and font white
   CIVIS                                                # hide cursor

   echo -e ""                                           # empty line
   echo -e ""                                           # empty line again

   DRAW                                                 # switch to drawing mode
   echo -e "  lqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqk"         # draw box lines
   echo -e "  x                              x"         #
   echo -e "  x EXECUTING IN PROGRES:        x"         # use large case, since small ones
   echo -e "  x                              x"         # are now used used for drawings
   echo -e "  mqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqj"         #
   WRITE                                                # switch back to normal text input mode

   i=0                                                  # set variable 'i'
   while [ -f /tmp/.waiting ]                           # while file exist
   do                                                   # 
    i=$((++$i))                                         # increase variable i by one each time
     TPUT 5 30 ;P$i                                     # put one of P1, P2, P3 or P4 to exact position

     if [ "$i" = "4" ]; then                            # make sure that variable 'i' will never
        unset i                                         # increase over 4
     fi                                                 #

    usleep 100000                                       # 0.1 second sleep (microsleep)
   done &                                               # fork a subprocess and execute it in background

   # some operation here                                # customize for your needs (put some custom commands)

   sleep 5                                              # sleep for another 5 seconds
   rm -rf /tmp/.waiting                                 # remove control file and stop execution

   TPUT 10 10                                           # put cursor out of the box to another place
   echo ""                                              # make an empty line
   CNORM                                                # Normalize cursor view

Creating fancy pure Bash tui-mode selection menu methods

2011-01-03T10:58:00.002+01:00

Are you bored of just text running over your terminal?
Bash, simple as it is, also enables you creating tui-mode menus!
When I tried to do that five or six years ago it was a real nightmare.
Well I am not promise you heaven, but I can promise you pretty much nice and usable selection menu.
It is not easy to build a menu under Bash, because it lacks a lot of functions that some advanced languages have.
In addition everybody will try to discourage you: "Use ncurses or dialog - it is the only way".
Well if I look back, they were all correct - it is much faster, shorter, easier but I still wanted pure Bash!
Now you will ask: "Why is that? It is easy just to use some library and create menus!"
But I have at least two reasons for that:

- I want my programs to be fancy but not depend on some external libraries

- Sometimes it is hard to install or even compile all libraries you need, especially on some tiny Linux distributions
To be able to do some eye-candy programming under Bash, you will need to use some functions that almost look like a binary code.
There is nothing very complicated down there, you just be sure to type down all that code correctly.
If you are looking for detailed explanation on functions below, please see a Linux Journal article
'The power of echo command: Bash console drawing methods and some useful tput-like functions'.

Some 'strange' functions

Put functions below (or the ones you need) to the beginning of your bash script and you are ready to move forward.

#!/bin/bash
e='echo -en'                                     # shortened echo command variable
   ESC=$( $e "\033")                             # variable containing escaped value 
 CLEAR(){ $e "\033c";}                           # clear screen
 CIVIS(){ $e "\033[?25l";}                       # hide cursor
 CNORM(){ $e "\033[?12l\033[?25h";}              # show cursor
  TPUT(){ $e "\033[${1};${2}H";}                 # terminal put (x and y position)
COLPUT(){ $e "\033[${1}G";}                      # put text in the same line as the specified column
  MARK(){ $e "\033[7m";}                         # select current line text
UNMARK(){ $e "\033[27m";}                        # normalize current line text
  DRAW(){ $e "\033%@";echo -en "\033(0";}        # switch to 'garbage' mode to be able to draw
 WRITE(){ $e "\033(B";}                          # return to normal (reset)
  BLUE(){ $e "\033c\033[0;1m\033[37;44m\033[J";} # clear screen, set background to blue and font to white

The challenge

Not to make things very complicated, I would like just a simple script that responds to arrow-keys.
But how to convince arrows to produce some actions at the Bash console?
Those are keys responsible for moving around the screen (mostly just back and forward).
So I created a simple experiment: if I just type 'read' at the Bash command prompt and press 'enter', cursor will wait for me to enter some input.
If I type some letters, they will appear as normal characters.
But if I press one of the arrow-keys, I will get more than one character for each arrow-key pressed:

up:     ^[[A
down:   ^[[B
left:   ^[[D
right:  ^[[C

Things are not getting any easier when you find out that first two characters '^[' are actually a single character that represents ESCAPE.
How to intercept that?

How to complicate simple things

Until I did not know 'read' command better I found on the Internet many articles that tried to get a single characters from pressed arrow-keys.
The most wild idea which turned into my humble experiment is using 'dd' command instead of 'read' which is able to intercept a single character if you define it correctly of course.
So my main problem as I found later was how to catch or display 'ESCAPE' character.
Along with 'dd' command you do not have to use 'read' as well.
So on the Internet I've got an idea, just to let all characters to try show up when certain key is pressed but intercept them as a stream.
Take a look below.
The price of universality is complexity.
Not acceptable for a beginner at all!
Also not too functional.
This was just crazy!
At least 23 lines to intercept a single key?
To make characters 'capturing' and actions function properly, you also need to adjust stty - terminal line settings.
And this is different for different terminals on different operating systems!
You can try this script, but complexity in compare to result will just not impress you.
And it is slow!
It is even nicer if you run such script in a loop.
If you then press a down or up arrow-key, script will put all your continuous actions
into queue and it will run your menu as long as many key pressed actions were executed.
Not too usable you need to agree.

#!/bin/bash
# constructed by oTo
# mentioned just to respond to one arrow-key (up or down) and exit
# and to work on different UNIX systems
ESC=$(echo -en "\033")
                                 ####### for LINUX and AIX this is the same
                                 sttyvar="stty -echo  cbreak"
if [ "`uname`" = "HP-UX" ]; then sttyvar="stty  echo -icanon"; fi
if [ "`uname`" = "SunOS" ]; then sttyvar="stty -echo  icanon"; fi

GetKey(){                                                               # type dd, wait for input and...
    first=`dd bs=1 count=1 2>/dev/null`; case "$first" in $ESC)         # intercept first character
   second=`dd bs=1 count=1 2>/dev/null`; case "$second" in '['|'0'|'O') # intercept second one (different for some consoles)
    third=`dd bs=1 count=1 2>/dev/null`; case "$third" in               # intercept the third character in a string
                        A|OA) first=UP;;                                # decision for up
                        B|OB) first=DN;;                                # decision for down arrow-keys
                          *) first="$first$second$third";; esac;;       # all the other combinations send to eternity ;)
                          *) first="$first$second";;
esac ;; esac; echo "$first";}
ARROW(){ stty -echo cbreak;Key=`GetKey`
           case "$Key" in
               UP) echo "UP";;                                          # on key up print UP
               DN) echo "DN";;                                          # on key down print DN
                *) echo "`echo \"$Key\" | dd  2>/dev/null`";;           # ignore the rest
           esac;}
cursor=$(ARROW)
reset                                                                   # screen reset is required or you will notice
     if [[ "$cursor" = "UP" ]]; then echo UP; fi                        # some confused behavior after script ends.
     if [[ "$cursor" = "DN" ]]; then echo DN; fi

Can you do it shorter?

Yes I can! Here you have shortened version.
It will do the same but if you put it into a loop, you will not be able to get out.
Even a 'trap' command will not save you!
You will also notice some strange behaviour this way.
After every loop-run, shell will add some aditional spaces in front of our predefined output.
So this one is not usable for our needs.
But you can play with it and perhaps construct a game that responds to cursor movements?

stty_state=`stty -g`
  stty raw
  stty -echo
  keycode=`dd bs=1 count=1 2>/dev/null`
  keycode=`dd bs=1 count=1 2>/dev/null`
  keycode=`dd bs=1 count=1 2>/dev/null`
  if [ "$keycode" = "A" ];then echo up;fi
  if [ "$keycode" = "B" ];then echo dn;fi

Simplified arrow-keys reader engine using advanced 'read' options

Command 'read' which is Bash internal, also hides some goodies inside.
But I didn't know that at the beginning.
It
is not just able to read some value into some variable - it can also read-in certain amount of characters from input.
If -n is supplied it reads 'n' characters from supplied input into variable and stops reading
If -s is specified, operation will be done quietly even if input comes from the terminal.
Those additional functionalities of 'read' command can drastically simplify our script.
Especially if you know how to serve ESCAPE characters properly.
Yes 'properly'!.
As you can see below 'ESC' is not a function but a variable that already contains an escaped value.
If 'ESC' would be a function, it would start executing when program would already expect a value.
And you - as I was - would just observe strange behavior not knowing what is going wrong.
Below is simplified Bash script, that will display to you which arrow-key was pressed.
Simplicity also has some drawbacks.
Command 'read' can respond slow and you will produce some garbage on the screen.
It might also not respond on other terminals or UNIX system the way you will expect.
Script as simple as it is, enables you to continuously press arrow-keys and get an info on each pressed key.
Well, anyway we have some progress now don't we? In only 9 lines!
But this is just a beginning.

#!/bin/bash
ESC=$(echo -en "\033")                     # define ESC
while :;do                                 # infinite loop
read -s -n3 key 2>/dev/null >&2            # read quietly three characters of served input
  if [ "$key" = "$ESC[A" ];then echo up;fi # if A is the result, print up
  if [ "$key" = "$ESC[B" ];then echo dn;fi #    B                      dn
  if [ "$key" = "$ESC[C" ];then echo ri;fi #    C                      ri
  if [ "$key" = "$ESC[D" ];then echo le;fi #    D                      le
done

What's next?

We can handle our cursor/arrow-keys now but where is the menu?
Well here it is.
Yes I know, it looks more like an ugly tree than a fancy program.
It contains no real programming clarity.
The only thing that makes it worth trying is 55 lines.
I just did not have a heart to serve you with a hundred lines or more and take away from you all enthusiasm before you even start.
So program is optimized to smallest lines number not to greater readability.
This way perhaps you will try to make some improvements.

#/bin/bash
       E='echo -e';e='echo -en';trap "R;exit" 2
     ESC=$( $e "\033")
    TPUT(){ $e "\033[${1};${2}H";}
   CLEAR(){ $e "\033c";}
   CIVIS(){ $e "\033[?25l";}
    DRAW(){ $e "\033%@\033(0";}
   WRITE(){ $e "\033(B";}
    MARK(){ $e "\033[7m";}
  UNMARK(){ $e "\033[27m";}
    BLUE(){ $e "\033c\033[H\033[J\033[37;44m\033[J";};BLUE
       C(){ CLEAR;BLUE;}
    HEAD(){ MARK;TPUT 1 4
            $E "BASH SELECTION MENU                       ";UNMARK
            DRAW
            for each in $(seq 1 9);do
             $E "   x                                        x"
            done;WRITE;}
            i=0; CLEAR; CIVIS;NULL=/dev/null
    FOOT(){ MARK;TPUT 11 4
            printf "ENTER=SELECT, UP/DN=NEXT OPTION           ";UNMARK;}
   ARROW(){ read -s -n3 key 2>/dev/null >&2
            if [[ $key = $ESC[A ]];then echo up;fi
            if [[ $key = $ESC[B ]];then echo dn;fi;}
POSITION(){ if [[ $cur = up ]];then ((i--));fi
            if [[ $cur = dn ]];then ((i++));fi
            if [[ i -lt 0   ]];then i=$LM;fi
            if [[ i -gt $LM ]];then i=0;fi;}
 REFRESH(){ after=$((i+1)); before=$((i-1))
            if [[ $before -lt 0  ]];then before=$LM;fi
            if [[ $after -gt $LM ]];then after=0;fi
            if [[ $j -lt $i      ]];then UNMARK;M$before;else UNMARK;M$after;fi
            if [[ $after -eq 0   ]] || [[ $before -eq $LM ]];then
            UNMARK; M$before; M$after;fi;j=$i;UNMARK;M$before;M$after;}
      M0(){ TPUT 3 20; $e "Option0";}
      M1(){ TPUT 4 20; $e "Option1";}
      M2(){ TPUT 5 20; $e "Option2";}
      M3(){ TPUT 6 20; $e "Option3";}
      M4(){ TPUT 7 20; $e "Option4";}
      M5(){ TPUT 8 20; $e "ABOUT  ";}
      M6(){ TPUT 9 20; $e "EXIT   ";}
     LM=6    #Last Menu number
    MENU(){ for each in $(seq 0 $LM);do M${each};done;}
    INIT(){ BLUE;HEAD;FOOT;MENU;}
      SC(){ REFRESH;MARK;$S;cur=`ARROW`;}
      ES(){ MARK;$e "\nENTER = main menu ";$b;read;INIT;};INIT
while [[ "$O" != " " ]]; do case $i in
      0) S=M0;SC;if [[ $cur = "" ]];then C;$e "o0:\n$(w        )\n";ES;fi;;
      1) S=M1;SC;if [[ $cur = "" ]];then C;$e "o1:\n$(ifconfig )\n";ES;fi;;
      2) S=M2;SC;if [[ $cur = "" ]];then C;$e "o2:\n$(df -h    )\n";ES;fi;;
      3) S=M3;SC;if [[ $cur = "" ]];then C;$e "o3:\n$(route -n )\n";ES;fi;;
      4) S=M4;SC;if [[ $cur = "" ]];then C;$e "o4:\n$(date     )\n";ES;fi;;
      5) S=M5;SC;if [[ $cur = "" ]];then C;$e "o5:\n$($e by oTo)\n";ES;fi;;
      6) S=M6;SC;if [[ $cur = "" ]];then C;exit 0;fi;;
esac;POSITION;done

Let me also explain some crucial sections/function that I've used.

Function HEAD

To have at least some minimal frame around your menu, custom function HEAD will draw a header and side lines.
It will not give you an exact frame, because it will took me a few more lines of "empty coding".
You will get left and right border. As you already noticed some commands are separated with too much spaces.
Those spaces are responsible for your program layout.
So adjust them the way you like.

Function FOOT

To have frame closed, we need to add also something at the bottom.
There should be short usage description as you can see it from a picture below.
In both cases MARK and UNMARK custom functions are used to reverse background and foreground colors.
So you do not need too much 'drawing'.

Function POSITION

This function locates and manages menu selection positions.
Without this one you will get an error when cursor keys will be pressed too many times.
Instead of that, this function gives you a nice rotating effect.
When you come to the end of menus you can press down arrow-key one more time and you will be returned to the start.
The same applies if you go from another direction.

Function REFRESH

To prevent too much refreshing, I constructed a simple hack that will refresh only menus at the neighbors positions.
Without that full screen might need to be refreshed for each your action. What it actually does is the following:
for every pressed up or down arrow-key, it 'repaints' menu options this way: sets normal layout for options in front
and after selected option, paints selected option with the inverted color scheme.

'while' loop

At the end of script, you will find numbered lines, where can you put your commands or even functions.
If you will use custom functions, they need to be defined at the start of this script.
Or you can also call them from another file this way (also at the beginning of menu script):

. /path/to/functions-file

'Dot' should be separated from 'slash'. This way you will call all custom settings into current environment.
What you can expect if you typed all lines as you should is something similar to the picture below.
You will not see border around your program as presented on the picture, you will see border disappear under header and footer.
So I challenge you to try to create the exact look as you can see below.

BASH SELECTION MENU

Option0

Option1

Option2

Option3

Option4

ABOUT

EXIT

ENTER=SELECT, UP/DN=NEXT OPTION

How to expand it?

If you need to add more menu options or perhaps take some of them away, you need to adjust some variables.
This is not nice I admit but it is doable.
First you need to find lines that start with M0, M1, ...
Those lines describe menu values.
Add a line here, increase a 'TPUT' line number, and enter custom description.
Adjust 'LM' variable, which is just a number of all menus.
Under 'while' loop add an aditional line nad adjust starting number '0-5)' and 'M0-5' number.
If you will add too much options, you will also need to adjust 'HEAD' and 'FOOT' options for 'TPUT'.
And this is it.

Conclusion

I do not expect you to say: "What a great script!"
I am expecting you to improve it, make it even shorter and faster and more usable.
Perhaps you can try with arrays?
Surprise me and surprise yourself.
If you will have troubles, try to use complicated 'dd' engine, which will assure you to be multi-system compatible.
But I sincerely hope you will survive with the simple version.