Open System Services Porting Guide (G06.24+, H06.03+)

Interoperating Between User Environments
Open System Services Porting Guide—520573-006
4-7
Factors Affecting Shell Operation
Functions are similar to scripts, but without the overhead of searching the file system
for the script file. A function provides the ability to use the command-line parameters
from its invocation and to use any built-in or program. The currently defined functions
can be listed using the typeset -f command.
The following are examples of aliases and functions you can use in the OSS
environment:
stty Settings
The stty command allows you to specify terminal-control character values such as
backspace, linebreak, and End-of-File. The control character values can be printed
using the stty -a command. The following are sample stty commands:
stty eof ^D sets the End-of-File (EOF) control character to Ctrl-D.
stty erase ^H sets the erase character or backspace control character to Ctrl-H.
Line and History Editing
The OSS shell provides two command-line editing modes: escape activated and fc
(FIX command) activated. The following paragraphs describe editing command lines
and history files. For a tutorial-style discussion of editing command lines and history
files, refer to the Open System Services User’s Guide.
VISUAL or EDITOR Variables
When you press the Escape key, the built-in, shell command edit mode is activated.
The editor used is vi, emacs, or GNU emacs (gmacs). In this editing mode, either the
current command or a command from the history file can be edited and then executed.
You can activate this facility either by setting one of the vi, emacs, or gmacs options
with the set command, or by setting the VISUAL or EDITOR variables.
Alias or Function Description
alias h=history
Establishes the h alias for the command
history.
alias rename= ’mv’
Establishes an alias, specifying rename as
a new name for the mv command.
function ll {ls -l $@ ;} Establishes the ll function, which
produces a long listing for the files
specified in the command line.
function lm {ls -l $@ | more ;} Establishes the lm function, which
produces a long listing for files specified in
the command line and directs output to the
more command.
Note. The OSS shell has a default setting for the stty End-of-File (EOF) value of ^Y. On
most UNIX systems, the default value is ^D.