GNU Interactive Tools

A Set of Interactive Programs

Edition 2.9, for GIT version 4.3.20

March 2000

by Tudor Hulubei and Andrei Pitis

"Politehnica" University of Bucharest

Romania

Introduction

GIT is a set of interactive tools. It contains an extensible file system browser, an ascii/hex file viewer, a process viewer/killer and some other related utilities and shell scripts. It can be used to increase the speed and efficiency of most of the daily tasks such as copying and moving files and directories, invoking editors, compressing and uncompressing files, creating and expanding archives, compiling programs, sending mail, etc. It looks nice, has colors (if the standard ANSI color sequences are supported) and is user-friendly.

GIT runs on a wide variety of UNIX systems because it uses the GNU Autoconf package to get system specific information. Please refer to the PLATFORMS file included in the standard distribution for a detailed list of systems on which GIT has been tested.

One of the main advantages of GIT is its flexibility. It is not limited to a given set of commands. The configuration file can be easily enhanced, allowing the user to add new commands or file operations, depending on its needs or preferences.

GIT also provides a shell like command prompt, just to make sure that the entire power of the UNIX shell commands is still there.

Distributing GNU Interactive Tools

GIT is "free software"; this means that everyone is free to use it and free to redistribute it on certain conditions. GIT is not in the public domain; it is copyrighted and there are restrictions on its distribution, but these restrictions are designed to permit everything that a good cooperating citizen would want to do. What is not allowed is to try to prevent others from further sharing any version of GIT that they might get from you. The precise conditions are found in the GNU General Public License that comes with GIT and also appears following this section.

The easiest way to get a copy of GIT is from someone else who has it. You need not ask for our permission to do so, or tell any one else; just copy it. If you have access to the Internet, you can get the latest distribution version of GIT from host `ftp.gnu.org' using anonymous login. See the file `/pub/gnu/GETTING.GNU.SOFTWARE' on that host to find out about your options for copying and which files to use.

You may also receive GNU Interactive Tools when you buy a computer. Computer manufacturers are free to distribute copies on the same terms that apply to everyone else. These terms require them to give you the full sources, including whatever changes they may have made, and to permit you to redistribute the GNU Interactive Tools received from them under the usual terms of the General Public License. In other words, the program must be free for you when you get it, not just free for the manufacturer.

Using GNU Interactive Tools

The GIT package contains three interactive programs and a few additional utilities. Here there is a description of each of them.

The GIT file system browser

git is a file system browser with some shell like features designed to make your work much easier and much efficient. It displays one or two panels, each one containing a file system directory. You can browse the directory tree with the usual cursor keys, pressing ENTER when you want to enter or leave a directory and TAB when you want to change the panels.

Under the two panels there is a shell like input line which you can use to type normal shell commands. The input line can handle an unlimited number of characters and keeps a history of typed commands (using the GNU history library).

Under the input line there is a status bar. You can see there the status of the currently executed command, the warnings and errors and you will be prompted if a decision has to be taken.

Key binding conventions

git now follows a new, easy to remember, scheme to bind commands on keys. This is only a convention, if you define new key bindings you may, or may not follow it.

All the file commands start with ^C. This prefix can be followed by some modifiers, in order to affect the default behavior of the given command. These modifiers are b and r.

b - this modifier specifies that the command will run in background:

	^CM = CHMOD; chmod %s{New mode of %i: ,%m} %i;;;;y

defines a command that changes the current selected files mode in foreground, while

	^CbM = B-CHMOD; chmod %s{New mode of %i: ,%m} %i&;;;;y

defines a background command that does the same thing.

r - this modifier specifies that the command will be run recursively:

	^CrM = R-CHMOD; chmod -R %s{New mode of %i: ,} %i;;;;y

defines a command that recursively changes the mode of the selected entries.

The b and r modifiers can be combined, the resulting command running recursively and in background:

	^CbrM = B-R-CHMOD; chmod -R %s{New mode of %i: ,} %i&;;;;y

You should also note that for some commands (like gzip) there is no need for a non-recursive version. Running gzip recursively on files is harmless. If there is a directory between these files, gzip will recursively compress that directory, so you can use the same key binding for recursively and non-recursively compressing. In fact, it is a matter of selecting files or directories.

Unfortunately, we can't run chmod recursively trying to change the mode of all the files in a directory to 0644 because that directory might contain subdirectories and removing the execution permission from them is a bad idea. So, in this case, we need separate commands.

Command line

This is a brief description of the command line arguments.

-h print this help message -v print the version number -i print the installation directory -c use ANSI colors -b don't use ANSI colors -l don't use the last screen character -p output final path at exit

The -p option can be used to make git force bash (assuming that you're using it as your shell) chdir to the last directory git was in before quitting. In order to do this, you need to invoke git using this function (put it into your .profile):

function g
{
    git -p $ 3> /tmp/git.p.$$

    if test -s /tmp/git.p.$$; then
	if test -d "`cat /tmp/git.p.$$`"; then
	    cd "`cat /tmp/git.p.$$`"
	else
	    cd
	fi
    fi

    rm -f /tmp/git.p.$$
}

This will not work if you suspend git. Nothing bad will happen, just the chdir will not be performed.

Panel modes

git has three major modes of displaying the panels. In the first (default) mode, two panels are displayed, each one using half of the screen. In the second mode, only one panel uses the entire screen. In the third mode, only the status bar and the input line are displayed, both panels being hidden.

Briefly, a panel can use the entire screen or just half of it. Even when a panel is hidden, it still exists.

Users can switch between these three major modes as needed:

^X 0

Enlarges the other panel to use the entire screen.  It also changes the
minor mode to `Enable all'.  The current panel will become
invisible (`enlarge-other-panel').

^X 1

Enlarges the current panel to use the entire screen.  It also changes
the minor mode to `Enable all'.  The other panel will become
invisible (`enlarge-panel').

^X 2

Switches back to the two panel mode (`two-panel-mode').

^O, ESC o

Switches to the tty mode (no panels on the screen) (`tty-mode').

Basically a panel displays the files and directories in a directory. You can optionally specify some additional information about each entry (file, directory, ...) to be displayed (a minor mode).

When using the full screen mode, all the minor modes here can be used. In half screen mode, the `panel-enable-all' mode is not available.

These are the panel minor modes:

ESC d o

Display the entry owner and group (`panel-enable-owner-group').

ESC d d

Display the entry date and time (`panel-enable-date-time').

ESC d s

Display the entry size (`panel-enable-size').

ESC d m

Display the entry mode (`panel-enable-mode').

ESC d f

Display the entry full name (`panel-enable-full-name').

ESC d a

Display the entire information about file (`panel-enable-all').
This mode is only available if the panel has been enlarged to use the
entire screen with `enlarge-panel' or `enlarge-other-panel'
(`panel-enable-all').

There is also another way to change the panel minor modes:

^], ^[]

Switches to the next panel minor mode (`panel-enable-next-mode').

Sorting methods

Entries in a panel can be sorted in different ways. These are the available options:

ESC s n

Display the panel entries sorted by their names
(`panel-sort-by-name').

ESC s e

Display the panel entries sorted by their extensions
(`panel-sort-by-extension').

ESC s s

Display the panel entries sorted by their sizes
(`panel-sort-by-size').

ESC s d

Display the panel entries sorted by their `last modified' stamps
(`panel-sort-by-date').

ESC s m

Display the panel entries sorted by their modes
(`panel-sort-by-mode').

ESC s o i

Display the panel entries sorted by their owner ids
(`panel-sort-by-owner-id').

ESC s g i

Display the panel entries sorted by their group ids
(`panel-sort-by-group-id').

ESC s o n

Display the panel entries sorted by their owner names
(`panel-sort-by-owner-name').

ESC s g n

Display the panel entries sorted by their group names
(`panel-sort-by-group-name').

There is also another way to change the sort method:

ESC s u

Switch to the next panel sort method (`panel-sort-next-method').

Moving the cursor in the panel

Moving the cursor in the panel is very easy. If your keyboard has arrows, use them. If the arrow keys don't work (it might be due to a badly configured TERM environment variable), you can use the Emacs commands bindings as well.

UP, ^P

Move the cursor vertically up one entry (`previous-line').

DOWN, ^N

Move the cursor vertically down one entry (`next-line').

HOME, ESC <

Move the cursor on the first entry in the panel
(`beginning-of-panel').

END, ESC >

Move the cursor on the last entry in the panel (`end-of-panel').

PGUP, ESC v

Move the cursor vertically down one page (`scroll-down').

PGDOWN, ^V

Move the cursor vertically down one page (`scroll-up').

ESC g

Scroll the panel entries to the left (`horizontal-scroll-left').

ESC j

Scroll the panel entries to the right (`horizontal-scroll-right').

^X P

In order to optimize the screen output, you can modify the scroll step
(`set-scroll-step').  This is the number of lines to try scrolling
a panel when the cursor moves out.  The `StartupScrollStep'
specifies the initial scroll step, but using `set-scroll-step' you
can dynamically change it.

TAB, ^I, ^X o

Move the cursor in the other panel (`other-panel').

^X P

Switch the two panels.  This command works even when git is not
in the `two panels' mode (`switch-panels').

Selecting files

INS, ^T, ^X \, ^\

Toggle the `selected' flag of the current entry
(`select-entry').

^C s

Select (marks) all the files matching at least one pattern from a space
separated list of shell patterns.  Spaces and \s are allowed in the
patterns but they have to be escaped with a \.  The user will be
prompted for a pattern to match against
(`select-files-matching-pattern').

^C u

Unselect (unmarks) all the files matching at least one pattern from a
space separated list of shell patterns.  Spaces and \s are allowed in
the patterns but they have to be escaped with a \.  The user will be
prompted for a pattern to match against
(`unselect-files-matching-pattern').

ESC +

Select (marks) all the files having the same extension as the current
file.  If the current file name doesn't have an extension or starts with
a dot, no files are selected (`select-extension').

ESC -

Unselect (unmarks) all the files having the same extension as the
current file.  If the current file name doesn't have an extension or
starts with a dot, no files are unselected (`unselect-extension').

See section Selecting files matching patterns, for additional ways of selecting and unselecting files.

Incremental searching files in a panel

Users sometime need to search a file in a panel, especially when the panel contains a big number of entries. For that reason git provides an incremental search feature. Using forward and backward incremental search, files can be very easy located. Wrapped incremental search is also provided.

^S, ^Xs

Incremental search forward a file name in the current panel
(`isearch-forward').  Pressing ^S or ^Xs again will
force git to go to the next entry that matches the current
isearched string.  When the end of the panel is reached, the isearch is
restarted from its beginning.

^R, ^Xr

Incremental search backward a file name in the current panel
(`isearch-backward').  Pressing ^R or ^Xr again will
force git to go to the next entry that matches the current
isearched string.  When the beginning of the panel is reached, the
isearch is restarted from its end.

Using the input line

The input line is one of the main methods used by git to interact with the user. All the answers the user should give in order to perform some operation and all the shell like commands are built using it. So here is a description of all the basic editing operations that the `input line' provides. They are very much inspired from Emacs, so Emacs users should have no problem using them.

Inserting Text

Typing characters is the most usual way of inserting text into the input line. Key sequences starting with printable ascii characters are not allowed in git so typing a for example results in inserting a at the current point position. Of course, there are some other ways of inserting text into the command line and here there is a description of most of them.

ESC RET

Copy the current entry name into the input line at the current point
position (`entry-to-input-line').

ESC ESC RET

Copy the other panel path into the input line at the current point
position (`other-path-to-input-line').

^X ^I

Copy the names of all the selected entries into the input line at the
current point position (`selected-entries-to-input-line').

Moving Point

^B, LEFT

Move the point backward one character (`backward-char').

^F, RIGHT

Move the point forward one character (`forward-char').

ESC b

Move the point one word backward (`backward-word').

ESC f

Move the point one word forward (`forward-word').

^A

Move the cursor at the beginning of the input line (`beginning-of-line').

^E

Move the cursor at the end of the input line (`end-of-line').

Deleting and killing text

DEL, ^D

Delete the character under the cursor (`delete-char').

^H, BKSPC

Delete the character before the cursor (`backward-delete-char').

ESC BKSPC

Delete backward one word (`backward-kill-word').

ESC d

Delete forward one word (`kill-word').

ESC k

Delete the entire line (`kill-line').

^U

Delete all the characters between the beginning of the input line and
the point (`kill-to-beginning-of-line').

^K

Delete all the characters between the point and the end of the input
line (`kill-to-end-of-line').

ESC SPC

Delete all the spaces around the point, leaving only one space
(`just-one-space').

ESC \

Delete all the spaces around the point
(`delete-horizontal-space').

^W

Save the region between the point and the mark into the kill "ring" and
then kills it (`kill-region').  Note that there is no real
kill-ring here.  The so-called kill-ring has only one entry.

ESC w

Save the region between the point and the mark without killing it
(`kill-ring-save').

Case conversion of words.

ESC l

Convert the following word to lower case, moving over.
(`downcase-word').

ESC u

Convert the following word to upper case, moving over.
(`upcase-word').

ESC c

Capitalize the following word, moving over.
(`capitalize-word').

Reusing recent input line arguments

A separate history is kept for both built-in and user-defined commands. If you call a command that you have used before, you can re-edit a previously entered string in order to minimize the amount of characters needed to be typed for the new one. There is no limit on the number of strings that can be kept in the history.

ESC p

Walk backward through the history of previously entered strings
(`previous-history-element').

ESC n

Walk forward through the history of previously entered strings
(`next-history-element').

Commands to set the mark

^SPC

Set the mark at the current point position (`set-mark').

^X ^X

Exchange the current point position with the mark one
(`exchange-point-and-mark').

Reinserting recently killed text

^Y

Reinsert a previously killed text at the current point position
(`yank').

Selecting files matching patterns

If the very first character in the input line is a `+', what comes after it is considered a (space separated) list of shell patterns, and all the files that match at least one pattern from that list will be marked as selected. An empty list of shell patterns (i.e. the `+' by itself) will cause all the files to be selected.

If the very first character in the input line is a `-', the space separated list of shell patterns that follows is used to unselect files. An empty list of shell patterns (i.e. the `-' by itself) will cause all the selected files to be unselected.

Finally, if the first and only character in the input line is a `*', then all the selected files will become unselected, and all the unselected files will become selected.

File operations

Copying Files

F5, ESC 5, ^C C

Copy the currently selected entries to the user supplied path
(`copy').

^C b C

Copy the currently selected entries to the user supplied path.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-COPY').

Moving Files

F6, ESC 6, ^C T

Move the currently selected entries to the user supplied path
(`move').

^C b T

Move the currently selected entries to the user supplied path.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-MOVE').

Creating Files

The easiest way to create a new file is to start an editor passing the file name as an argument. Most editors will try to create the file if the file doesn't exist. See section Editing Files, for more information.

Deleting Files

F8, ESC 8, ^C D

Delete the currently selected entries (`delete').

^C b D

Delete the currently selected entries.  The operation is performed in
background (`B-DELETE').

Linking Files

^C H

Create a hard link from the current files to a user supplied file
name (`LINK').

^C b H

Create a hard link from the current files to a user supplied file name
(`B-LINK').  The action is performed in background.

^C S

Create a symbolic link from the current files to a user supplied file
name (`SYMLINK').

^C b S

Create a symbolic link from the current files to a user supplied file
name (`B-SYMLINK').  The action is performed in background.

Renaming Files

^C R

Rename the current file or directory with the user supplied name
(`RENAME').

^C b R

Rename the current file or directory with the user supplied name.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-RENAME').

^C n d

Change the name of all the selected entries to lowercase.
(`name-downcase').

^C n u

Change the name of all the selected entries to uppercase.
(`name-upcase').

Splitting files into smaller parts

^C /

Split the current file into several smaller files of a given size and
named based on a given prefix (`SPLIT').

^C b /

Split the current file into several smaller files of a given size and
named based on a given prefix.  The operation is performed in background
(`B-SPLIT').

Packing files into the minimum number of bins

^C ~

Pack the files into the smallest number of bins.  This is an
approximation - the problem is NP-complete and no known algorithm can
guarantee a solution better than `(11/9) * OPTIMAL + 4'.

To make things even worst, it is generally difficult to figure out the
file system block size for the target bin.  Asking the user is not a
good idea either.  `git' currently assumes a file system block size
of 1Kb.  Moreover, for large file, there is no portable way to predict
how many blocks the file system implementation will require for indirect
blocks, directories, etc.  So keep in mind that this is only an
aproximation.

Bin packing can be useful when you want to put a bunch of files on
floppies or zip disks and you want to optimize things a little bit
(`bin-packing').

`git' assumes that you want to pack all the files in the current
directory - if there is any selected file in that directory it will be
unselected first.  Then `git' will ask for a bin size, and select
the files that should go in the first bin.  You are supposed to place
those files in the first bin (e.g. a tar archive), remove them from the
current directory, then run `bin-packing' again, to obtain the list
of the files that should go into the second bin, etc.

Changing a file's mode, owner and group

^C M

Change the mode of the currently selected entries (`CHMOD').

^C b M

Change the mode of the currently selected entries.  The operation is
performed in background (`B-CHMOD').

^C r M

Recursively change the modes of the selected entries if one of them is a
directory (`R-CHMOD').

^C b r M

Recursively change the modes of the selected entries if one of them is a
directory.  The operation is performed in background (`B-R-CHMOD').

^C O

Change the owner of the currently selected entries (`CHOWN').

^C b O

Change the owner of the currently selected entries.  The operation is
performed in background (`B-CHOWN').

^C r O

Recursively change the owners of the selected entries if one of them is
a directory (`R-CHOWN').

^C b r O

Recursively change the owners of the selected entries if one of them is
a directory.  The operation is performed in background
(`B-R-CHOWN').

^C G

Change the group of the currently selected entries (`CHGRP').

^C b G

Change the group of the currently selected entries.  The operation is
performed in background (`B-CHGRP').

^C r G

Recursively change the groups of the selected entries if one of them is
a directory (`R-CHGRP').

^C b r G

Recursively change the groups of the selected entries if one of them is
a directory.  The operation is performed in background
(`B-R-CHGRP').

Editing Files

F4, ESC 4

Call the default editor with the current file name as an argument
(`EDIT').

^X e

Call the default editor with the selected entry names as arguments
(`MULTIPLE-EDIT').

^X ^F

Create a new file by calling the default editor with the user supplied
file name as an argument (`FILE-CREATE').

^X 4 a

Call the default editor in order to edit the `ChangeLog' file
(`CHANGE-LOG').

The default editor can be specified using the EDITOR or GIT_EDITOR environment variables. See section Environment Variables, for more information.

Viewing Files

F3, ESC 3

Call the default viewer (gitview) with the current file name as
argument (`VIEW').

^X v

Call the default pager (more) with the currently selected entry
names as arguments (`MULTIPLE-VIEW').

Compressing Files

^C z

Compress the currently selected entries with gzip
(`COMPRESS').

^C b z

Compress the currently selected entries with gzip.  The operation
is performed in background (`B-COMPRESS').

^C Z

Uncompress the currently selected entries with gunzip
(`UNCOMPRESS').

^C b Z

Uncompress the currently selected entries with gunzip.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-UNCOMPRESS').

^C f Z

Uncompress the currently selected entries with gunzip
(`F-UNCOMPRESS').  Force uncompression of links.

^C b f Z

Uncompress the currently selected entries with gunzip.  Force
uncompression of links.  The operation is performed in background
(`BF-UNCOMPRESS').

^C .

Compress the currently selected entries with bzip2
(`BZIP2-COMPRESS').

^C b .

Compress the currently selected entries with bzip2.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-BZIP2-COMPRESS').

^C o

Uncompress the currently selected entries with bunzip2
(`BZIP2-UNCOMPRESS').

^C b o

Uncompress the currently selected entries with bunzip2.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-BZIP2-UNCOMPRESS').

Encoding Files

^C e

Encode the currently selected file (`UUENCODE').

^C b e

Encode the currently selected file.  The operation is performed in
background (`B-UUENCODE').

^C E

Decode the currently selected file (`UUDECODE').

^C b E

Decode the currently selected file.  The operation is performed in
background (`B-UUDECODE').

^C k

Encode the currently selected file using mpack (`MIME-PACK').

^C b k

Encode the currently selected file using mpack.  The operation is
performed in background (`B-MIME-PACK').

^C K

Decode the currently selected file using munpack (`MIME-UNPACK').

^C b K

Decode the currently selected file using munpack.  The operation is
performed in background (`B-MIME-UNPACK').

Encrypting Files

^C p

Encrypt (using pgp) the current file (`ENCRYPT').

^C P

Decrypt (using pgp) the current file (`DECRYPT').

Comparing Files

^C =

Compare (using diff) the current ASCII file with the other
panel's current file (`DIFF').  If both entries are directories, a
recursive diff is performed.

^C ESC =

Compare (using diff) the current ASCII file with its latest
backup.  The latest backup is the file having the same name and a '~' at
the end (`LAST-BACKUP-DIFF').

^C B

Compare the current file with the other panel current file.  A binary
comparison is performed (`compare').

Spell Checking Files

^X I

Run the ispell command with the current file name as an
argument.

Printing Files

^C j

Print the selected files via lpr to the user specified printer or
to the default one if no lpr options are given (`PRINT-JOB').

^C J

Print the list of active printing jobs via lpq.  The default
printer is queried if no lpq options are given
(`PRINT-JOB-LIST').

Wiping Files

^C W

Call gitwipe to wipe the selected files.  Asks for confirmation
before actually wiping them in order to avoid errors (`WIPE').

See section The GIT wipe file utility, for more information.

Searching Files

ESC %

Searche files on the file system, starting from the current directory
(`FIND').

ESC &

Use 'locate' to search files on the file system, starting from the
current directory (`LOCATE').

^X w

Locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command
(`WHEREIS').

^X W

Locate a command; display its pathname or alias (`WHICH').

Managing tar based archive files

^C a

Create a tar archive containing all the currently selected
entries (`TAR').

^C b a

Create a tar archive containing all the currently selected
entries.  The operation is performed in background (`B-TAR').

^C x

Create a compressed tar archive containing the current entry,
provided it is a directory (`TAR-COMPRESS').

^C b x

Create a compressed tar archive containing the current entry,
provided it is directory.  The operation is performed in background
(`B-TAR-COMPRESS').

^C -

Create a bzip2 compressed tar archive containing the current
entry, provided it is a directory (`TAR-BZIP2').

^C b -

Create a bzip2 compressed tar archive containing the current
entry, provided it is a directory.  The operation is performed in
background (`B-TAR-BZIP2').

^C X

Expand the selected archives into the current directory.  The utility
used is selected based on the extension of the file
(`GENERIC-UNPACK').

^C b X

Expand the selected archives into the current directory.  The utility
used is based on the extension of the file.  The operation is performed
in background (`B-GENERIC-UNPACK').

^C V

Expand the selected archives into an user supplied current directory.
The utility used is selected based on the extension of the file
(`GENERIC-UNPACK-INTO').

^C b V

Expand the selected archives into an user supplied directory.  The
utility used is based on the extension of the file.  The operation is
performed in background (`B-GENERIC-UNPACK-INTO').

Installing and Uninstalling RPM packages

Red Hat Linux Distributions use a very powerful package manager called rpm. It is used whenever you need to install/remove/upgrade/etc a software package. The packages used by rpm use the extension `.rpm'. git provides default key bindings for some of the basic operations rpm can perform on packages: install, uninstall, upgrade and query.

^C I

Install the rpm package pointed by the cursor
(`RPM-INSTALL').

^C b I

Install the rpm package pointed by the cursor
(`B-RPM-INSTALL').  The operation is performed in background.

^C i

Uninstall the rpm package pointed by the cursor
(`RPM-UNINSTALL').

^C b i

Uninstall the rpm package pointed by the cursor
(`B-RPM-UNINSTALL').  The operation is performed in background.

^C N

Upgrade the rpm package pointed by the cursor
(`RPM-UPGRADE').

^C b N

Upgrade the rpm package pointed by the cursor
(`B-RPM-UPGRADE').  The operation is performed in background.

^C q

Query the rpm package manager (`RPM-QUERY').  The default
options used are `-qil'.  See the rpm manual page for
more details on using rpm.

File Types

^C t

Print the type of a file using the file utility
(`FILE-TYPE').

Accessing MSDOS Files

^C m d, ^C m ^D

Change the current MSDOS directory to a given directory
(`MTOOLS-CHDIR').

^C m P

Put the currently selected files on a MSDOS floppy
(`MTOOLS-PUT').

^C b m P

Put the currently selected files on a MSDOS floppy
(`B-MTOOLS-PUT').  The operation is performed in background.

^C m G

Get some files from a MSDOS floppy and put them in a given
directory (`MTOOLS-GET').

^C b m G

Get some files from a MSDOS floppy and put them in a given
directory (`B-MTOOLS-GET').  The operation is performed in
background.

^C m D

Delete files from a MSDOS floppy (`MTOOLS-DELETE').

^C b m D

Delete files from a MSDOS floppy (`B-MTOOLS-DELETE').  The
operation is performed in background.

^C m L

List files and directories on a MSDOS floppy (`MTOOLS-DIR').

^C m F

Format a MSDOS floppy (`MTOOLS-FORMAT').

^C b m F

Format a MSDOS floppy (`B-MTOOLS-FORMAT').  The operation is
performed in background.

^C m M

Create a directory on a MSDOS floppy (`MTOOLS-MKDIR').

^C b m M

Create a directory on a MSDOS floppy (`B-MTOOLS-MKDIR').
The operation is performed in background.

^C m K

Remove a directory from a MSDOS floppy (`MTOOLS-RMDIR').
All the files and subdirectories in that directory are removed as well.

^C b m K

Remove a directory from a MSDOS floppy (`B-MTOOLS-RMDIR').
All the files and subdirectories in that directory are removed as well.
The operation is performed in background.

^C m R

Rename a file or directory on a MSDOS floppy
(`MTOOLS-RENAME').

^C b m R

Rename a file or directory on a MSDOS floppy
(`B-MTOOLS-RENAME').  The operation is performed in background.

^C m T

Display the contents of a file located on a MSDOS floppy
(`MTOOLS-TYPE').

A different action for each file type

Many files on UNIX systems have one or more extensions specifying their types. For example, a file that ends in `.c' is a file containing a C program, while a file ending in `.tar.gz' is a tar archive compressed with the gzip utility. Having a default action for each file type, binded on the same key, seems to be a good idea because you can use that key to obtain type specific information about a file or to process it in some type specific way much easier. The GIT package contains a script called gitaction that is used to detect the current file type and perform a type specific action. See section The GIT per file type action script, for more information.

F2, ESC 2, ^X a

Perform an action on the current file, depending on its type
(`FILE-ACTION').

Directory operations

Creating directories

F7, ESC 7, ^X M

Create a new subdirectory in the current directory with the user
supplied name (`make-directory').

Copying directories

F5 (for directories), ESC 5 (for directories), ^C C (for directories)

Copy the currently selected entries to the user supplied path
(`copy').

^C b C (for directories)

Copy the currently selected entries to the user supplied path.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-COPY').

Deleting directories

F8 (for subdirectories), ESC 8 (for directories), ^C D (for subdirectories)

Delete the currently selected entries (`delete').

^C b D (for directories)

Delete the currently selected entries.  The operation is performed in
background (`B-DELETE').

Moving directories

F6 (for directories), ESC 6 (for directories), ^C T (for directories)

Move the currently selected entries to the user supplied path
(`move').

^C b T (for directories)

Move the currently selected entries to the user supplied path.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-MOVE').

Renaming directories

^C R (for directories)

Rename the current file or directory with the user supplied name
(`RENAME').

^C b R (for directories)

Rename the current file or directory with the user supplied name.  The
operation is performed in background (`B-RENAME').

Comparing Directories

^C c q

Quickly compare the files in the left panel with the files in the right
one.  Only the file names, sizes and time stamps are considered in the
comparison.

^C c t

Compare the files in the left panel with the files in the right one.
The contents of each file in the current panel will be compared against
the contents of its couterpart (if any) from the other panel.

^C f d

Recursively compare (using diff -r -q) the current directory with
the other panel's current directory (`FAST-DIFF').  Print on
standard output the names of the files that differ.

^C d

Compare (using diff) the current directory with the other panel
current directory.  For successful operation, both panels should contain
the same directory (`DIR-DIFF').

^C b d

Compare (using diff) the current directory with the other panel
current directory.  For successful operation, both panels should contain
the same directory.  The operation is performed in background
(`DIR-DIFF').

Summarize directory usage

^C U

Display the output of the du -s command on the status line
(`DIRECTORY-USAGE').

Changing directories

^X d, ^X ^D

Change the current working directory.  The user is asked for a new
directory name and the new directory is added to the directory history
(`change-directory').

See section Directory History, for more information.

ESC a c

Change the current directory of the current panel to the directory of
the other panel (`adapt-current-directory').

ESC a o

Change the current directory of the other panel to the directory of the
current panel (`adapt-other-directory').

Directory History

Users usually work on a limited set of subdirectories. Providing a fast method of switching between a number of intensively used directories is a good idea and git has a set of builtin commands for doing it.

Usually new directories are added to the directory history when the `change-directory' built-in command is used. git also adds the current directory to the history list when started, when the directory history is reseted and when a command having a non empty `new-dir' field successfully completes its execution. See section The new-dir field, for more information.

^X ^N

Go to the next directory in the history (`next-directory').

^X ^P

Go to the previous directory in the history
(`previous-directory').

^X ^R

Reset the entire directory history.  As explained above, the current
directory becomes the only directory in the history
(`reset-directory-history').

Hot Keys

git provides default key bindings for switching to a number of important directories as "/", "..", "$HOME", etc.

ESC /

Go to the `/' directory (`ROOT-DIR').

ESC .

Go to the `..' directory (`up-one-dir').

ESC h

Go to the `~' ($HOME) directory (`HOME-DIR').

ESC i

Go to the `/usr/include' directory (`INCLUDE-DIR').

ESC ESC 1

Go to the `/mnt/fd0' directory (`FIRST-FLOPPY-DIR').

ESC ESC 2

Go to the `/mnt/fd1' directory (`SECOND-FLOPPY-DIR').

Compiling programs

F9, ESC 9, ^X m

Run the make command in the current directory.  Use -k as the
default option (`MAKE').

^X b m

Run the make command in background in the current directory
(`B-MAKE').

See section The GIT per file type action script, for more information.

Sending/receiving ascii/binary mail

^C 2 a

Send the current current ascii file by mail to an user supplied email
address (`ASCII-MAIL').

^C b 2 a

The same as `ASCII-MAIL', the only difference being that the
command runs in background (`B-ASCII-MAIL').

^C 2 b

Send the current current binary file by mail to an user supplied list of
email addresses.  The file is uuencoded first (`BINARY-MAIL').

^C b 2 b

The same as `BINARY-MAIL', the only difference being that the
command runs in background (`B-BINARY-MAIL').

^C 2 m

Send the current current binary file by mail to an user supplied list of
email addresses.  The file is encoded with mpack first
(`MIME-MAIL').

^C b 2 m

The same as `MIME-MAIL', the only difference being that the command
runs in background (`B-MIME-MAIL').

ESC x r m

Run the emacs -f rmail command.  This will start the Emacs's
`rmail' function so that you can read your mail (`READ-MAIL').

Starting a sub-shell

^X z

Call a sub-shell as specified by the $GIT_SHELL environment
variable (`SUB-SHELL').

See section Environment Variables, for more information.

Using grep and recursive grep

^X g

Search using grep all the selected files for a given pattern
(`GREP').

^X g

Search recursively using gitrgrep all the user specified files
and directories for a given pattern (`RECURSIVE-GREP').

See section The GIT recursive grep script, for more information.

Locking your console

Having a lock feature might be a good idea and, since not all the UNIX systems provide one, git tries to get around the problem ...

^X p

Prompt the user for a password and locks the console until the same
password is reinserted (`lock').

Refreshing the screen contents

Sometimes your screen needs to be refreshed. Just think about what happens when somebody wants to talk with you and the talk daemon writes something like this

Message from Talk_Daemon@galei.cs.vu.nl at 12:15 ...
talk: connection requested by andrei@galei.cs.vu.nl.
talk: respond with:  talk andrei@galei.cs.vu.nl

on your screen. And sometimes you might also want to re-read the current directories. git provides a built-in command for refreshing the screen contents.

^L

Re-read the directories contents and refresh the screen (`refresh').

Reseting your terminal

^X ^L

Call reset in order to reset the terminal to its default
settings (`TTY-RESET').

Mounting/unmounting file systems

People dealing with lots of files usually need to save/restore/copy files from/to other file systems. In order to be more efficient, git provides a set of key bindings for mounting and unmounting file systems. See section The GIT mount utility, for more information.

The default key bindings set has been designed to work under Linux, but it can be easily changed for other UNIX systems with different device names. Reading the configuration file `.gitrc.common' should be enough. See section Hot Keys, for more information.

As a convention, the `/mnt' directory is used to store an empty subdirectory for each mountable file system. Each file system is actually mounted in its counterpart `/mnt' subdirectory. Try to follow this convention since the gitmount script is heavily based on it. See section Customizing GNU Interactive Tools, for more information.

ESC m a

Call mount(1) in order to mount the first floppy
(`/dev/fd0') in the `/mnt/fd0' directory (`MOUNT-A').

ESC m b

Call mount(1) in order to mount the second floppy
(`/dev/fd1') in the `/mnt/fd1' directory (`MOUNT-B').

ESC m c

Call mount(1) in order to mount the cdrom
(`/dev/cdrom') in the `/mnt/cdrom' directory (`MOUNT-CDROM').

ESC m f

Call mount(1) in order to mount the first floppy
(`/dev/fd0') in the `/mnt/floppy' directory (`MOUNT-FLOPPY').

ESC m z

Call mount(1) in order to mount the zip drive
(`/dev/zip') in the `/mnt/zip' directory (`MOUNT-ZIP').

ESC m j

Call mount(1) in order to mount the jaz drive
(`/dev/jaz') in the `/mnt/jaz' directory (`MOUNT-JAZ').

ESC m t

Call mount(1) in order to mount the file systems corresponding to
the selected subdirectories.  For example, if you are in the `/mnt'
directory and the `cdrom' and `zip' subdirectories are
selected, the cdrom and the zip disk will be mounted (`MOUNT-THESE').

ESC r a

Call umount(1) in order to remove (unmount) the first floppy
(`/dev/fd0') (`UMOUNT-A').

ESC r b

Call umount(1) in order to remove (unmount) the second floppy
(`/dev/fd1') (`UMOUNT-B').

ESC r c

Call umount(1) in order to remove (unmount) the cdrom
(`/dev/cdrom') (`UMOUNT-CDROM').

findex UMOUNT-CDROM

ESC r f

Call umount(1) in order to remove (unmount) the first floppy
(`/dev/fd0') (`UMOUNT-FLOPPY').

ESC r z

Call umount(1) in order to remove (unmount) the zip drive
(`/dev/zip') (`UMOUNT-ZIP').

ESC r j

Call umount(1) in order to remove (unmount) the jaz drive
(`/dev/jaz') (`UMOUNT-JAZ').

ESC r t

Call umount(1) in order to remove (unmount) the file systems
mounted into the selected subdirectories.  For example, if the current
directory is `/mnt' and the `cdrom' and `zip'
subdirectories are selected, the cdrom and the zip disk will be
unmounted (`UMOUNT-THESE').

Getting some useful system information

^X T

Call date(1) in order to display the current time/date
(`DATE').

ESC S f

Call finger(1) in order to display information about local and
remote users  (`FINGER').

ESC S m

Call mount(1) in order to display a list of the currently
mounted file systems (`MOUNTED-FILE-SYSTEMS').

ESC S q

Call quota(1) in order to display a user file system disk quota
and quota (`QUOTA').

ESC S s

Call df(1) in order to get the status of the currently mounted
file systems (`DISK-FREE-SPACE').

ESC S u

Call users(1) in order to get the name of the currently logged in
users (`USERS').

ESC S v

Call $GIT_VMSTAT(1) in order to get the current virtual memory
status.  This is very system dependent, Linux uses free,
other systems use vmstat, so the $GIT_VMSTAT variable is
used to deal with this (`VIRTUAL-MEMORY-STATUS').

See section Environment Variables, for more information.

ESC S w

Call who(1) in order to find out who is on the system
(`WHO').

How to look at the environment variables

^X E

Call env(1) in order to display the current environment
(`ENV').

^X H

Call xhost(1) in order to add/remove hosts names to the list
allowed to make connection to the X server (`XHOST').

Viewing/killing processes

There are at least two kinds of ps(1) utilities. One that accepts (more or less) combinations of the 'a', 'u', and 'x' flags and another that accepts combinations of 'e', 'f' and 'l' flags. Since is quite difficult to test which one works fine on a given UNIX system, git provides key bindings for both of them. Anyway, if your ps(1) fails to accept the predefined combinations, please take a look in its manual and then modify the `.gitrc.TERM' file as needed.

Since the number of possible combinations of flags in the ps command line is quite big and *very* system dependent, there is no real reason to display them all here. We are only interested in giving you a starting point in your search through the `.gitrc.TERM' file.

Note also that you can display a list of processes using ps(1) or browse through a list of them (killing as needed) using gitps. As a convention, we have used the same key sequence for a given set of ps(1) flags for both ps(1) and gitps, the only difference being that ps(1) keys end in an uppercase letter. See section The GIT process viewer/killer, for more information.

Under Linux it is possible to see a tree of processes using pstree(1).

Here there are the default key bindings for the 'e', 'f' and 'l' ps(1) flags combinations:

ESC P b, ESC P c, ESC P e

Call gitps or ps(1) in order to browse through or display
a list of currently running processes (`GITPS', `PS').

... and the default key bindings for the 'a', 'u' and 'x' ps(1) flags combinations:

ESC P a, ESC P l, ESC P u ESC P x, ESC P y

Call gitps or ps(1) in order to browse through or display
a list of currently running processes (`GITPS', `PS').

ESC P T

Call pstree(1) in order to displat the tree of currently running
processes (`PSTREE').

^X k

Call kill(1) in order to kill a user specified process with a
given signal (`KILL').

Synchronizing the file systems

^X S

Call sync(1) in order to synchronize all the file systems
(`SYNC').

Reading the documentation

^X q

Read a manual page.  The user is prompted for its name (`MAN').

F1, ESC 1, ^X i

Read an info documentation.  The user is prompted for the documentation
name (`INFO').

^X h

Read the html documentation using the viewer specified in
GIT_BROWSER, or with lynx if GIT_BROWSER is not set
(`HTML').

Exiting GNU Interactive Tools

F10, ESC 0, ^X ^C, ^X c

Exit GNU Interactive Tools (`exit').

The GIT process viewer/killer

gitps is an interactive process viewer/killer. It calls internally the ps(1) utility. This is a brief description of the command line arguments.

Running gitps it is self explanatory. Use the arrows, PageUp, PageDown, Home, End, ^N, ^P, ^V, ESC v, Space and Backspace to move in the list, ^L to refresh it, Enter to change the default signal and F10, q or ^X ^C to leave.

You can change these keys, just read the GITPS-Setup, GITPS-Color, GITPS-Monochrome and GITPS-Keys sections in the configuration files `.gitrc.TERM'.

The GIT ASCII/HEX file viewer

gitview is an ASCII/HEX file viewer. Use the arrows, PageUp, PageDown, Home, End, ^N, ^P, ^V, ESC v, Space and Backspace to move in the file, ^L to refresh the screen and F10, q or ^X ^C to leave.

You can change these keys, just read the GITVIEW-Setup, GITVIEW-Color, GITVIEW-Monochrome and GITVIEW-Keys sections in the configuration files `.gitrc.TERM'.

Here is a brief description of the command line arguments:

-h print this help message -v print the version number -i print the installation directory -c use ANSI colors -b don't use ANSI colors -l don't use the last screen character

The GIT key sequences display utility

gitkeys is a program that displays the key sequence sent by the pressed key. This is the key sequence received by GIT tools, so this program is useful when setting up the `.gitrc.TERM' configuration files.

The GIT wipe file utility

gitwipe is an utility for wiping files. It overwrites the file contents with a random sequence of numbers and then calls `sync'().

Note that gitwipe does *not* remove the wiped file since (under Linux at least) the `sync'() system call might return before actually writing the new file contents to disk. Removing the file might be dangerous because some file systems can detect that the blocks in the removed wiped file are no longer used and never write them back to disk in order to improve performance. It is up to you to remove the file(s) at a later moment.

The GIT mount utility

gitmount is a script that allows you to mount a list of block devices (specified in the command line), without specifying the file system type. With a command like `gitmount fd0 cdrom' the first floppy will be mounted in `/mnt/fd0' and the cdrom will be mounted in `/mnt/cdrom'. Make sure your `/etc/fstab' settings are correct.

You don't need to know the file system type anymore. If you want to use gitmount with the block device `/dev/xxx' then the directory `/mnt/xxx' is created if it doesn't exist. gitmount will attempt to create the necessary directories, but root permissions might be required.

The GIT per file type action script

gitaction is a script that executes a different action for each file type specified. It is called by the git program when pressing F2, ESC 2 or ^Xa.

The first parameter is the current directory name and the second one is the file name to be matched against the default patterns. The matching is done using the shell 'case' statement.

If you press F2, ESC 2 or ^Xa on a `*.c' file, git will compile it, if you press F2, ESC 2 or ^Xa on a `*.tar.gz' file, git will list the tar archive contents, if you press the same keys on a `*.gz' file, git will display its uncompressed contents on the screen, etc ...

If you want to find out what the default action for each file type is (or if you want to modify it), just read/modify the gitaction script. If no pattern is found, the file is displayed using more.

If you press F2, ESC 2 or ^Xa on a `*.gif' file or `*.jpg' file and you have the zgv utility installed, you will be able to see it. If you want to change the gif/jpeg viewer, all you need to do is to change its name in the gitaction script.

Also, you can add a .gitaction shell script in your home directory and/or in any other directory. Before trying to match a file name, gitaction will attempt to execute ./.gitaction. If that one fails to match the file name against its patterns, it backs up to $HOME/.gitaction. When this one fails too the patterns in gitaction are tried. For an example of how to write .gitaction scripts take a look at the .gitaction shell script provided as part of the distribution and installed in the `$(prefix)/bin' directory.

Unified archive unpacking

gitunpack is a shell script that accepts a directory and a set of archives as its command line parameters, and then attempts to unpack those archives in the given directory, selecting the utility used to unpack the archives based on the archive extensions.

The GIT recursive grep script

gitrgrep is a very small script that calls grep recursively. It accepts grep like options / parameters, the only difference being that file specifications should be quoted:

	gitrgrep main '*.c'

or

	gitrgrep errno '*.c *.h'

gitregrep and gitrfgrep are recursive versions of the egrep and fgrep programs.

Customizing GNU Interactive Tools

Environment Variables

The configuration files use shell environment variables to call the shell, editor, mail reader, html viewer, compress and virtual memory status utility. That means that if you set GIT_SHELL, GIT_EDITOR, GIT_RMAIL, GIT_BROWSER, or GIT_VMSTAT to some value, that value will be used instead of the default one. The defaults are:

	GIT_SHELL='/bin/sh'
	GIT_EDITOR='vi'
	GIT_RMAIL='emacs -f rmail'
	GIT_PAGER='more'
	GIT_VMSTAT='free'
	GIT_BROWSER='lynx'

If SHELL is defined, GIT_SHELL will be set to that value. If EDITOR is defined, GIT_EDITOR will be set to that value. If you want to change the default settings, put something like this into your `.profile':

	export GIT_SHELL='/usr/local/bin/bash'
	export GIT_EDITOR='emacs'
	export GIT_RMAIL='elm'
	export GIT_PAGER='less'
	export GIT_VMSTAT='vmstat'
	export GIT_BROWSER='netscape'

Configuration Files

There is one configuration file per terminal type in GIT. The configuration file(s) reside in the user's home directory or (the default versions) in the directory `$(prefix)/lib' (usually `/usr/local/lib').

Their generic name is `.gitrc.TERM'. GIT allows each terminal type to have its own configuration file (TERM is the value of the TERM environment variable (e.g `vt102'); for the Linux console the configuration file is `.gitrc.console').

Since most of the key bindings are common to all the terminal types, a configuration file called `.gitrc.common' is parsed before parsing the normal `.gitrc.TERM' configuration file, the later one defining only those keys that are terminal specific. However, if a key binding is redefined in the `.gitrc.TERM' file, that binding will be used.

If the GIT package have been compiled without passing the `--enable-terminfo' option to the configure script and your system has a huge `termcap' database (`/etc/termcap'), you can copy the termcap definition(s) of your terminal(s) in a file called, lets say `.termcap' and put it in your home directory. After that, set your TERMCAP environment variable to point to it. You should add something like this to your `.profile':

TERMCAP=`/home/mike/.termcap'

The interactive programs in the GIT package can run without such a file, but on systems with huge `termcap' databases, copying the definitions of the most used terminals in a local `.termcap' file will lead to a faster start.

The `.gitrc.TERM' it is first time searched in the home directory then, if not found, in the directory `$(prefix)/lib' (usually `/usr/local/lib'). The configuration file is structured on sections, each section containing variables in the following format:

	`variable-name' = `first-field';`second-field'; ...

After the `variable-name' at least one space or tab is required. All characters after a `#' are ignored and if you comment a section name, the whole section is ignored.

Section names are enclosed in rectangular brackets (`[' and `]'). Note that this manual don't include them while refering to section names.

The GIT package contains three major programs: git, gitps and gitview. Each one has its own sections in the configuration files. There is also a global setup section called `Setup' that is used by all these programs.

Writing key sequences

GIT contains three interactive programs. Their names are: git (this is the file system browser), gitps (this is the process viewer/killer and gitview (this is the ASCII/HEX file viewer). Each one of these programs has its own set of key bindings.

The convention used in describing key bindings are very simple. Here there are some examples that will help you to understand them. The corresponding Emacs conventions will help you even more.

^A means keeping the Ctrl key down and pressing the a key (C-a).

The ESC character is represented as ^[ so that you can use the meta character (M- ) where available (or the ESC key):

^[a corresponds to M-a (pressing the ESC key and then a).

The ^ character is represented as ^^.

The backspace character is represented as ^_.

The Ctrl-SPACE character (C-SPC) is represented as ^$.

The space (SPC) character is represented as ^@.

Note that the key bindings notation described here is only used in the configuration files. For the sake of readability this manual uses ESC for the ESC key, SPC for the SPACE key and RET for the RETURN (ENTER) key.

The global setup section

In this section the variables have only one field.

`AnsiColors'

This variable should be set to `ON' if the terminal supports standard `ANSI' color sequences. Otherwise it should be `OFF'. If `AnsiColors' is `ON', `GITxxx-Color' sections will be used in the configuration files `.gitrc.TERM'. Otherwise, GIT interactive programs will use the `GITxxx-Monochrome' sections.

`UseLastScreenChar'

This variable is used for terminals that can't write on the last character of the screen without scrolling the entire screen. If your terminal has no problem writing there (Linux console, vt100, vt102, xterm, ...) set it to `ON'. Otherwise (hpterm), it should be `OFF'.

`StartupScrollStep'

This variable specifies the scroll step initial value for both panels.

git Sections

git Setup

In this section the variables have only one field.

`StartupFileDisplayMode'

This variable specifies the file specific information displayed at startup. It can be any of `OwnerGroup', `DateTime', `Size', `Mode' or `FullName'. Its value initially affects both panels but it can be changed separately afterward.

`StartupFileSortMethod'

This variable specifies the startup sort method. It can be any of `Name', `Extension', `Size', `Date', `Mode', `OwnerId', `GroupId', `OwnerName' or `GroupName'. Its value initially affects both panels but it can be changed separately afterward.

`ConfirmOnExit'

If this variable is `ON', the user is prompted for confirmation at exit.

`HistoryFile'

This variable specifies the history file name. The default value is `~/.githistory'.

`InfoDisplay'

If this variable is `OFF', auxiliary file informations are not displayed. This can be useful if you are using a very slow terminal.

`LeadingDotMatch'

If this variable is `OFF' when matching files for select-files-matching-pattern / unselect-files-matching-pattern then the leading '.' in the file name is matched only explicitly.

`TypeSensitivity'

If this variable is `OFF', colors are not used when displaying files. Normally, the information in the `GIT-FTI' section is used to display files with different colors, depending on their types. Note that `TypeSensitivity' is automatically set to `OFF' when `AnsiColors' is `OFF'. See section Setting up colors for different file types, for mor information.

`NormalModeHelp' `CommandLineModeHelp'

These variables describe the status bar contents for each git mode when no errors occurred. git can display on the status bar a help string and/or some system information (system type, hostname, machine type and the current date) using escape characters:

	\s      ->      the system type
	\h      ->      the host name
	\m      ->      the machine type
	\d      ->      the current date

See section Panel modes, for more information.

Using git on colors displays

In this sections the variables have only one field.

These section allows you to customize the colors of git. Reading the `.gitrc.TERM' configuration file is self explanatory.

Using git on monochrome displays

In this sections the variables have only one field.

These section allows you to customize the appearance of git on monochrome displays. Reading the `.gitrc.TERM' configuration file is self explanatory.

Defining keys

These section describes the actions git takes when a specified key is pressed. A variable can have up to 6 fields separated by ';'. Each line in this section looks like:

`key-sequence' = `command-name';`formatted-command';`new-dir';
	       `save-screen';`pause';`hide'

Note that you can't continue the variable fields description on the next line.

The key-sequence field

`key-sequence' is the key sequence associated with the given command. You can use any key sequence that doesn't start with an ascii character (0x20 to 0x7e).

Symbolic key names (F0, F1, F2, ... F10, UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT, INS, DEL, HOME, END, PGUP and PGDOWN) can be used instead of the key sequence. If some keys don't have a `termcap'/ `terminfo' description (like the F11/F12 keys on the Linux console) you can specify the key sequence in the usual way.

The command-name field

`command-name' is a command generic name. Even if it is not always used, the `command-name' must be present (if a command is associated with a `key-sequence'). If it is not, no action will be taken when pressing `key-sequence'.

There are two types of commands in git: built-in commands and user defined commands. If the `command-name' section contains a built-in command specification, the other fields are ignored.

Note that by convention built-in command names contain only lower case letters while user defined command names contain only upper case letters.

The formatted-command field

- `formatted-command' is a shell command which can contain some scanf like format specifiers. They are used to get the current entry name, owner, group, mode, etc.

Note that using uppercase `format specifiers' you will be able to access the other panel path, file and directory names, etc.

These are the available `format specifiers':

The %s format specifier

The format of %s is: %s{question,default_answer}.

When git encounters a %s in the `formatted-command' it asks the user the question `question' whose default answer is `default_answer' and replaces the `%s{ , }' with the user's answer. Both `question' and `default_answer' can contain any other `format specifiers' except %s.

Note that there should be no spaces between %s and '{'.

The %f format specifier

git will replace %f with the current directory entry name only if it is a file (not a directory).

The %d format specifier

git will replace %d with the current directory entry name only if it is a directory (not a file).

The %l format specifier

git will replace %l with the current directory entry name only if it is a symbolic link with no target.

The %t format specifier

git will replace %t with the current directory entry name only if it is a named pipe.

The %z format specifier

git will replace %z with the current directory entry name only if it is a socket.

The %a format specifier

git will always replace %a with the current directory entry name.

The %m format specifier

git will always replace %m with the current file mode.

The %g format specifier

git will always replace %g with the current file group.

The %o format specifier

git will always replace %o with the current file owner.

The %p format specifier

git will always replace %p with the current panel path.

The %b format specifier

git will always replace %b with the current panel directory name.

The %i format specifier

git will always replace %i with all the current panel selected entry names.

The %? format specifier

The format of %? is: %?{confirmation}.

git uses this format specifier only to ask for confirmation before expanding / executing the current command. The `confirmation' string is displayed and, if the user doesn't confirm, the command is aborted. Otherwise, %?{confirmation} expands to a null string and the command is expanded / executed normally.

The new-dir field

If the `formatted-command' successfully exits (exit code = 0) or it has no body and this field is present then `new-dir' will become the current panel directory.

The character '~' used at the beginning of the `new-dir' field is replaced by the user's home directory.

The save-screen field

This field is a character (usually 'y' or 'n') that tells git to save ('y') or not to save ('n') the terminal's screen after executing the `formatted-command'. Saving the screen is not necessary while editing or viewing a file because the information left after the editor or the viewer exits is not important. Saving the screen means that that screen will be restored before the execution of the next command. Currently this field is used only if you are working as a super user under Linux on a virtual console. Its default value is 'y'.

The pause field

Users may wish to read some commands's results before repainting the panels. If this field is present git will wait for a key to be pressed before restoring the panels. Its default value is 'n'.

The hide field

Some commands that don't displaying any useful information if successfully complete their execution: mount, chmod, chown, chgrp, sync ... and, if an error occurs, a line or two are sent to stderr. If this option is 'y', the stdout and stderr will be redirected to some files (`git.1.pid' and `git.2.pid', where pid is git's pid) and only if the command's exit code is not 0, the `git.2.pid' file will be displayed, line by line, onto the status bar. This way the panels will not be deleted and then repainted and the command appears to be built-in. `git.1.pid' and `git.2.pid' are created in the temporary directory specified in the TMPDIR environment variable (or "/tmp" if TMPDIR is not defined). The default value of the hide field is 'n'.

Setting up colors for different file types

This sections contains entries of the form:

`pattern' = `foreground'; `background'; `brightness'

where `pattern' is a file name matching pattern, `foreground', `background' and `brightness' are the color specification to be used when a file whose name match the given `pattern' is displayed in a panel. Colors can be turned off using the `TypeSensitivity' variable in the `GIT-Setup' seection.

gitps Sections

gitps Setup

In this section the variables have only one field.

`Help'

This variable describe gitps's status bar contents.

Using gitps on color displays

In this sections the variables have only one field.

These section allows you to customize the colors of gitps. Reading the `.gitrc.TERM' configuration file is self explanatory.

Using gitps on monochrome displays

In this sections the variables have only one field.

These section allows you to customize the appearance of gitps on monochrome displays. Reading the `.gitrc.TERM' configuration file is self explanatory.

Defining keys

gitview Sections

gitview Setup

In this section the variables have only one field.

`Help'

This variable describe gitps's status bar contents.

Using gitview on color displays

In this sections the variables have only one field.

These section allows you to customize the colors of gitview. Reading the `.gitrc.TERM' configuration file is self explanatory.

Using gitview on monochrome displays

In this sections the variables have only one field.

These section allows you to customize the appearance of gitview on monochrome displays. Reading the `.gitrc.TERM' configuration file is self explanatory.

Defining keys

GNU Interactive Tools limitations

Background commands (& terminated)can be specified in the configuration file but their result (stdout and stderr redirection), will be overwritten by the result of newer commands and, if an error occurs, it will not be seen.

When git is compiled for Linux, the default built-in color descriptions are for color monitors, so you can't (decently) run git on a b/w monitor without the `.gitrc.TERM' file correctly configured. `.gitrc.TERM' should be configured with `AnsiColors' = OFF.

Job support is implemented only in git.

Due to the fact that the ';' character is used as a field separator in the configuration files, you can't write something like that in the `.gitrc.TERM' files:

^AAA = SHOW-USERS-AND-GROUPS; more /etc/passwd; more /etc/group

because 'more /etc/group' will be considered as a directory to switch to. You must write a small script instead:

#! /bin/sh

more /etc/passwd more /etc/group

Supposing the script name is show_ug, the `.gitrc.TERM' line will look like this:

^AAA = SHOW-USERS-AND-GROUPS; show_ug

There is no support for appearance modes on magic-cookie terminals.