ADVSH(1) User Commands ADVSH(1)
NAME
advsh - the adventure shell.
DESCRIPTION
You are suddenly thrown into the jungles of a UNIX file sys-
tem, with only your wits to help you. You must search
through torturous directories, and battle the UNIX operating
system, all for no apparent goal.
You start out as a novice hacker and work your way up to
system god as you find danger and excitement in the land of
UNIX. Each directory may contain magic items and/or files
and other passageways (directories). You should get (pick
up) the magic items you find, as they do many helpful
things, but beware of the deadly ``Wand of Emacs.''
OPTIONS
-f (fast) Start up the shell as quickly as possible, and
don't source the ~/.advshrc file.
MAGIC ITEMS
? (scroll) Scrolls are good for identifying things and
manipulating them, but there are some fun ones in there
also. Use read [scroll] to use one.
! (potion) Potions are good for increasing strength (so
you can carry more) and seeing invisible things, but
there are some nasties too. Use quaff [potion] to use
one.
/ (wand) Wands are good for teleporting and executing
commands, but there are also some other surprises. Use
zap [wand] to use one.
Use pick up [magic item] to get an item lying in a direc-
tory, or drop to remove an item from your pack. Inventory
lists the items you are carrying. Use allows you to access
the properties of items or files. You must be carrying an
item (or wielding it) to use it in any way.
Magic Item Categories:
No Magic - Not too incredibly useful
Teleportation - Teleport (cd) to any directory.
Manipulation - Execute any commands.
Identification - Identify a magic item.
See Invisible - See invisible ('.') files.
Memory Loss - Forget what you are carrying.
Blindness - You are covered by a cloak of darkness.
Gain Strength - Allow you to carry more in your pack.
Lose Strength - Decrease carrying ability.
Enter Emacs - Throws you into an Emacs pit.
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ADVSH(1) User Commands ADVSH(1)
Hidden Devices - Execute a command in the background.
Enchant File - Make a file usable even if not owner.
There is at least a potion, wand, or scroll, for each
category. Some categories have two of the magic types (a
few even have all three).
PASSAGES [directories]
You may enter any passageway that has not been locked by
another player. Use look to see the contents of the room,
or and adjacent one, and move to enter an adjacent direc-
tory. Note: you can (logically) only move or look into an
adjacent directory, you must have a scroll (or wand) of
Teleportation To jump to an unconnected `room.' The only
exception is that you can jump back to your home directory
with home or xyzzy.
FILES
Files may be picked up and carried, assuming you have the
strength. You may then use any file you are carrying, and
you own. To make better use of a file, you should wield it
and then you can hit other files, etc. You must own a file,
or it must be enchanted for you to wield it. To get rid of
a file, you can destroy (remove) it.
MISCELANEOUS
Ash parses the input lines very much like csh(1) does, but
is slightly less complete. For example, the only quotes
recognized are the `double-quote' marks ("). There is no
`back-quote' (`) facility for in-line command execution.
The csh(1) built-in commands, alias, unalias, set, and unset
are also provided, and work just as they do in the shell,
with one notable exception. Set syntax is "set <var>
string(s)" (note space and no equals sign). This is done to
rationalize the alias/set syntax.
There are, also, history substitutions, (courtesy of Wendell
Baker), this history mechanism works as in csh(1) with
Files may be picked up and carried, assuming you have the
strength. You may then use any file you are carrying, and
you own. To make better use of a file, you should wield it
and then you can hit other files, etc. You must own a file,
or it must be enchanted for you to wield it. To get rid of
a file, you can destroy (remove) it.
MISCELANEOUS
Ash parses the input lines very much like csh(1) does, but
is slightly less complete. For example, the only quotes
recognized are the `double-quote' marks ("). There is no
`back-quote' (`) facility for in-line command execution.
The csh(1) built-in commands, alias, unalias, set, and unset
are also provided, and work just as they do in the shell,
with one notable exception. Set syntax is "set <var>
string(s)" (note space and no equals sign). This is done to
rationalize the alias/set syntax.
There are, also, history substitutions, (courtesy of Wendell
Baker), this history mechanism works as in csh(1) with
`exclam' (!) and `caret' (^) having their usual functions.
The metacharacters `tilde' (~), used to represent your (or
another user's) home directory; and `dollar' ($), to intro-
duce a variable name, are used in the same way as in csh(1).
The special meaning of any magic character may be escaped by
a backslash (\).
If a file named .advshrc exists in your home directory, the
commands it contains will be executed before the shell
starts interactive execution, (unless the -f flag has been
given). Any line starting with a `hash mark' (#) is taken
as a comment (ignored). This is useful for comments in your
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ADVSH(1) User Commands ADVSH(1)
~/.advshrc file, while setting up aliases, and variables.
Note: this comment convention works only when reading the
~/.cshrc file; the `hash-marks' are taken literally when
typed interactively. The source command exits, as in the
shell, to execute the commands in another file as if they
were typed at the terminal as input.
There is also an (intentionally) limited job control facil-
ity; commands can be executed in the background if one has a
wand (or scroll) of Hidden Devices. For foregrounding, the
`percent-sign' (%) conventions of csh(1) are followed.
The help command will print out a (very) short help message.
Refer to this manual page for most questions.
VARIABLES
There are some special shell variables used by the shell to
control some of it's actions. For example, ``prompt'' is
the string printed when the shell is ready for commands, and
``mail'' is used as the file to check for new mail. The
variable ``name'' is used for identifying the user; use it
to reinforce your ego, (e.g. ``John "Unix God" Coker'').
The ``name'' variable is put into the environment as
``NAME,'' with the default being your login name. The
``history'' variable contains the number of history lines to
save, (the default is 20).
AUTHOR
John Coker -- a real live unix god. :-)
BUGS
If there were any, I'd be the first to tell you ...
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