General Paranoyaxc Console

Console

Console/W32Console is a simple console/shell for WinCE. It can be linked to other programs for console io or used stand-alone as a simple command-line interface.

News

Mon Sep 24 2001: HPC builds now support GNU readline. You must set
TERM to wince and copy the termcap file to $UNIXROOTDIR/etc.  Set
TERMCAP to the full path of the termcap file.  You must download
celib.dll 3.04 or greater. External commands can be declared to be
pipeable, which means they are run with popen() and dont open a new
console. External commands dont need x anymore. The order of x/y in
the cm cap has been changed. Builtins must be declared as builtin,
else they wont work.

Features and Limitations

  • Works on all WinCE devices.
  • Simple shell commands.
  • Can be linked to other programs.
  • Simple vt100/ansi-like escapes.
  • Can execute simple batchfiles, no conditionals.
  • No pipes-lines or redirection.

    Screenshots

    Options

    -f batchfilenameExecute script.

    Commands

    Arguments with whitespace (i.e. filenames) must be enclosed in double-quotes. Some commands support globbing when wildcards are entered.
    The following list might be incomplete. Check the README that comes with console. Commands that usually are external (rm,mv,cp,ls,...) must now be declared as builtin in $HOME/.console when the builtin should be used.

    cd [dir]Change to diretory, HOME by default.
    cp src destCopy file.
    dirList diretory.
    echo stringPrint string.
    envList environment.
    exitExit console.
    lsList files.
    mkdir dirnameMake diretory.
    more filenameShow filename.
    mv src destMove file.
    pwdPrint current directory.
    quitExit console.
    rm patternRemove files.
    rmdir dirnameRemove directory.
    setenv varname valueSet environment variable.
    start commandlineExecute commandline and do not wait.
    x commandlineExecute commandline and wait.
    builtin cmd1 cmd2 ...Declare builtin.
    pipeable cmd1 cmd2 ...Declare pipeable.

    Note that external programs must be started with 'x' or 'start'. Not needed since console 1.2 anymore.

    There might be better implementations of some commands in the file-utils archive.

    Installation

  • Get celib.dll 3.04 or greater and copy to windows directory.
  • Unpack archive on your pc and copy files to the device.
  • Create registry entries.
  • Edit $HOME/.console and add builtin/pipeable lines. See w32console.txt that comes with the archive.

    Registry

    The key HKLM\Environment must be created in the registry. Some values must be entered there. You can get a registry editor from Microsoft's Powertoys for WinCE.

    All entries must be string values. Paths can contain forward-slashes.

    The follwing variables are used:

    UNIXROOTDIRDirectory containing standard Unix files/directories, like 'etc', 'dev'.
    PATHSearchpath for the process creating functions. Paths are seperated by semicolon.
    HOMEHome diretory.
    ROWS/COLSRows and columns for console window. Must be string values.
    CONSOLEFONTSIZEFontsize for console.
    PWDUsed for passing the parent pwd to child processes. Very bad.
    TMP/TEMP/TEMPDIR Direcory for temp files.
    TERM Terminal. Set to wince.
    TERMCAPPath to the termcap file.

    Problems

  • Scrolling glitches when ROWS is too large or not set.
  • External programs open their own console, so you don't see the output in the shell.

    Future

  • Provide command for creating links.
  • Port a real shell.

    Downloads

    Sources Download

    Links

    PocketConsole A WinNT-like console for PocketPCs with SDK by Rainer Urian

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