McIDAS User's Guide
Version 2017.2

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Entering Commands

The command line editing keys, command entering protocols, and methods of recalling previously-entered commands are described below.

Editing Keys

Listed below are the command line editing keys available with the default McIDAS command input editor. See the EDITMODE command for other available editors.

Key Function
Home moves the cursor to the beginning of the line
End moves the cursor to the end of the line
Insert toggles the insert typing mode
Delete deletes the character over the cursor
Backspace deletes the character to the left of the cursor
Right/Left arrows moves the cursor one character to the right or left
Tab, Shift Tab moves the cursor one parameter to the right or left
Enter runs the command; if the text frame's bottom line is not displayed, Enter forces the display to the bottom showing the echoed command
Esc erases the command from the command line and places the cursor at the front of the line
Alt ? displays an abbreviated help for the current command in the command line
& and ^ recalls a command if the command line is empty or contains a command recalled with & or ^; the & recalls the previous command from a circular recall list; ^ scans the recall list in the opposite direction; the recall list consists of the number specified with the -ih flag in the .mcidasrc file; see Recalling Commands below for additional ways to recall commands for editing

NOTE: The Home, End, right/left arrows, Ins and Del keys on the numeric keypad do not work.

Command Protocols

Use the following protocols when entering McIDAS commands.

Recalling Commands

As described in Editing Keys above, the & and ^ keys can be used to recall previously-entered commands from a buffer containing the commands entered via the command line during the current McIDAS session. Those commands, as well as commands entered during previous sessions and entered through the McIDAS-X GUI are also available in the file MCCMDHIST.TXT. In the file, each new McIDAS session is indicated with the line Starting a new McIDAS session on <date and time>. The number of commands stored in the file is equal to the value set in the -ih flag in the .mcidasrc file. You can access the commands in MCCMDHIST.TXT for recall and editing through the Command History GUI under the main GUI window's List menu or through the SEE command or a text editor for cutting and pasting.


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