# Command Line Manual

## Introduction

### Command Line

Shows Command Line.

The Command Line provides a command line that you can use within any panel on the desktop.

Command Line contains the following interactive elements:

Entry field

- You can enter commands, macros, and programs in the entry field.

Browser button — the bullet

- You can use the Browser button to look through your file system for programs. A solid-circle icon identifies the Browser button.

History button — the down arrow

- You can use the History button to recall previous commands. A down-arrow icon identifies the History button.

### Features

History list of previously executed commands

- You can execute commands directly from the history list display. You can also cycle the history list contents through the entry field to display and then execute a command. A vertical scrollbar appears when more than 20 commands are in the history list. See command-line-histlist for more information.

History-based auto completion function

- Command Line uses the history-based auto completion function to complete commands in the entry field. This function compares the contents of the entry field with the history list. If Command Line finds a match then the applet completes the command. See the note in command-line-histlist for more information.

User-requestable command completion function

- This command completion function compares character strings in the entry field with commands in the user path. The command completion function is useful if you do not know the exact character sequence or spelling of a command. After you type the first few letters of the command name, press the Tab key. If Command Line recognizes the character sequence as unique, then the applet completes the command name. See command-line-run for more information.

Macro facility

- The macro facility provides up to 99 shortcut commands. In addition to predefined commands you can create your own commands for use with Command Line. See command-line-macros for more information.

### To Add Command Line to a Panel

To add Command Line to a panel, right-click on the panel, then choose Add to Panel. Select Command Line in the Add to the panel dialogue, then click OK.

## Running Commands

### To Run a Command From the Entry Field

To run a command from the entry field, perform the following steps:

1. Type the command in the entry field.

   To instruct Command Line to try to complete the command name, press the Tab key.

2. Type the command-line options, if any, in the entry field.

3. Press Return.

If the command you entered could not be run, the computer will emit a single warning beep and the applet will indicate the command could not be run by showing a question mark (?) before the command. Check that you specified the command correctly. Clicking on the command line will cause the question mark to automatically disappear.

If the auto completion option is selected, Command Line searches for a match in the history list during steps 1 and 2. See command-line-histauto for more information.

### History-based auto completion

You can enable or disable this option under the Preferences menu in the General tab under Auto Completion. Select Enable history-based auto completion to instruct Command Line to compare the entry field with the history list, and complete commands when there is a match.

If the auto completion option is selected, Command Line searches for a match in the history list during steps 1 and 2 in command-line-run. If there is a match in the history list, Command Line completes the command. To accept the command, press Return. If you do not want to accept the command, type more characters in the entry field.

### To Run a Program From Your File System

Click on the Browser button to display the file system, then double-click on the program you want to run.

You can use Command Line to run scripts, execute commands, or run other programs from your file system.

### To Run a Previous Command, Macro, or Program From the History List

You can run a previously executed command, macro, or program from the history list in one of the following ways:

- Click on the History button to display the history list. Click on a history list item to run the command, macro, or program that you require.

- Click on the entry field, then use the keyboard up and down arrows to cycle through the history list. Press Return to run a specific command, macro, or program when the history list item you want is displayed in the entry field.

#### History-based auto completion

You can enable or disable this option under the Preferences menu in the General tab under Auto Completion. Select Enable history-based auto completion to instruct Command Line to compare the entry field with the history list, and complete commands when there is a match.

## Using Shortcuts or Macros

The macro facility provides up to 99 shortcut commands. In addition to predefined commands you can create your own commands for use with Command Line.

### To Run a Macro From the Entry Field

To run a macro that is defined in the Command Linecommand-line-prefs-2 list, type the macro in the entry field, then press Return.

The command-line-histauto function also works for macros.

The following list shows some examples of Command Line macros:

`http://` or `www.` | Anything starting with `http://` or `www.` will be treated as a URL and loaded in your web browser.
`ftp://` or `ftp.` | Anything starting `ftp://` or `ftp.` will be treated as a URL and loaded in your default FTP software.
`dictionary:` | Use `dictionary:` to look up a word using GNOME Dictionary.
`google:` | Use `google:` to search for something using the Google search engine.
`av:` | Use `av:` to search for something using the Altavista search engine.
`yahoo:` | Use the `yahoo:` macro to search for things using the Yahoo search engine.
`fm:` | Use `fm:` to search for packages in the Freshmeat package database.

### Customising Your Macros

#### Configuring Macros

Configuring Macros

This tabbed section contains a list of macros that you can use with Command Line. The list contains the following information:

- A list of UNIX regular expressions in the Pattern column.

  A regular expression is a pattern of characters or numbers that you use to match strings. See the `regex` man page for further information on how to construct a regular expression.

- A list of commands in the Command column.

  A command executes if the corresponding pattern successfully matches the text that you type into the entry field. The macros are commands that can take parameters parsed by the regular expression.

To add a new macro, click on the Add Macro button. To delete a macro, select the macro, then click on the Delete Macro button.

## Customising the Appearance

### Preferences

Preferences Dialogue
To configure the appearance of Command Line, right-click on an area of the applet outside the interactive elements, then choose Preferences and select the General tab.

To move Command Line:

- Select Show handle to attach a handle to the edge of the applet. You can use the handle to drag the Command Line display to any location on your desktop.

To add a border:

- Select this option to show a frame around the Command Line.

To change the width:

- Use the Width . . . pixels spin box to specify the applet width.

To adjust the colour theme:

- - Select Use default theme colours to use the colours from the default GNOME theme.

  - Click on the Command line foreground button to select a colour for the command line text. This button is unavailable if the Use default theme colours check box is selected.

  - Click on the Command line background button to select a colour for the entry field background. This button is unavailable if the Use default theme colours check box is selected.