The shell is the traditional interface to UNIX workstations. It is a window in which you type IRIX commands, and it is identical in structure to other windows. You can start additional shells by choosing Open Unix Shell from the Desktop toolchest. The shell window appears. Its fixtures look like those on other windows, but inside the body is a prompt (often a # or % sign) and a square cursor. See Figure A-1.

Figure A-1. A Shell Window

Move the cursor inside the window. Notice that the title bar highlights and the small green rectangle becomes solid. This indicates that the window is active; you can begin typing commands.

This section provides information on pathnames and background processes.

Table A-1 lists the IRIX commands discussed in this chapter and provides a quick summary and example for each.

Certain special characters act as shortcuts.Table A-2 contains a list of these characters and an explanation of their use.

The title bar of a Directory View window lists the name of the directory whose contents it displays. When you are typing commands in a shell window, you use the pwd command to find out the name of the directory in which you are located. pwd stands for print working directory, or loosely translated, “Where am I?”

The IRIX shell responds with a pathname.

cd is the IRIX command for changing from one directory to another. To use it:

ls is the IRIX command for opening and displaying the contents of a directory. To use the ls command:

IRIX can give you a more informative listing when you use an option with the ls command.

dirview is the IRIX command to open a Directory View window. Directory View windows display the contents of a directory graphically. To use the dirview command:

mkdir is the IRIX command for making a new directory. The following example shows how to make a new directory called sub in your home directory.

cp is the IRIX command for copying files and directories. The following example shows how to to copy a file called oldfile.

This command means “copy oldfile from my current working directory into a file named oldfile.copy in my current working directory.” To place the copy in a different directory, add a pathname before the new file name.

See “Copying Files or Directories” in Chapter 4 to learn how to copy files using the graphical interface.

ln is the IRIX command for creating linked copies. A linked copy lets you create different names for one file. Suppose you have a file named images in /usr/people/joe. You work in /usr/people/joe/movies quite frequently and want to easily access the images file.

See “Making a Referenced Copy of an Icon” in Chapter 4 to learn how to make linked copies using the IRIX Interactive Desktop.

mv is the IRIX command for renaming and moving files and directories.

To rename a file using the mv command:

To move oldfile from /usr/people/joe to /usr/tmp:

See “Renaming Files and Directories” in Chapter 4 to learn how to rename files using the graphical interface; see “Moving and Copying Files and Directories” in Chapter 4 to learn how to move files using the graphical interface.

rm is the IRIX command for deleting files. You type rm followed by the name of the file you want to delete. For example, to delete a file named oldfile:

See “Removing Files and Reference Icons” in Chapter 4 to learn how to delete files using the Remove command.

rmdir is the IRIX command for deleting an empty directory; an option to the rm command lets you delete a directory and all of the files it contains.

To delete an empty directory:

To delete a directory and all of the files it contains:

You can easily print from your IRIS workstation using the graphical tools and menu commands. This section describes an alternative — printing using the lp command and checking the status of a print request using the lpstat command.

lp -dprinter2 images 

chmod is the IRIX command you use to change permission settings for a file. You can specify Read (r), Write (w), and Execute (x) permissions for the file's owner (u), the group (g), and others (o).

You type chmod followed by the permission setting information followed by the file name whose settings you are changing. The permission setting information has several parts. You specify:

For example, suppose you have a file named images that everyone can read, write, and execute. You decide you want to prevent all others from writing and executing the file.

See “Changing Permissions” in Chapter 9 to find out about an easy-to-use interface for changing permissions.

By default, your IRIS workstation contains online man pages that have information on all IRIX commands. For example, to access a man page for the ls command: