15 Mar
2020
15 Mar
'20
2:25 a.m.
John P. Linderman wrote in
<CAC0cEp-dL2iPikiGvaQ_s9_6AS=mFO4RvbT423fNJ3gQiLdthQ(a)mail.gmail.com>:
|Here's a command I wrote long ago using a different way to deal with \
|options:
|
| isee
|Usage: isee format file ...
| Display specified inode information for files passed as arguments.
| Items of the form ``%X'' in format will be replaced for these X:
|dev inode ino mode nlink uid gid rdev size atime
|mtime ctime now filename
| Parenthesized printf-style format specifications can follow a %
| to override the default format for the various items.
| %filename is the name of the current file argument.
| %now is the time (in seconds) when the command started running.
| The other items are from the stat structure.
|
| Example: isee "%(40s)filename: %mtime %mode" /dev/null
| Show file modification time and mode of /dev/null
|
|inode is just a synonym for ino.
|
|Instead of a kazillion options, the %-stat-field items identify what \
|you want to see and the printf-style formats identify how you want \
|them shown. Someone in the Murray Hill library added strftime
|formats for date fields, a fine addition, in my view. Adding readable \
|user and group names rather than numerical ids would be worth considering. \
|Maybe having a "rwx"-style form for mode. Sorting can be
|done by piping the output through sort. Don't get hung up on shortcomings \
|of the command, just consider how a few familiar concepts and pipes \
|can be combined to provide a large number of options.
When i switched to FreeBSD around 2001, the handbook was on the
CDs i had, and i stumbled upon a very impressive assembler
example. It is still there[1], at least in parts(?). Coming from
C64, then DOS/4DOS and <2 years Linux, aka kid games,
grey-industry, MS and xeyes background, i read
[1] https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/developers-handbook/x86-f…
Personally, I like to keep it simple. Something either is
a number, so I process it. Or it is not a number, so I discard
it. I do not like the computer complaining about me typing in an
extra character when it is obvious that it is an extra
character. Duh!
Plus, it allows me to break up the monotony of computing and
type in a query instead of just a number:
What is the best pinhole diameter for the
focal length of 150?
There is no reason for the computer to spit out a number of complaints:
Syntax error: What
Syntax error: is
Syntax error: the
Syntax error: best
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Secondly, I like the # character to denote the start of
a comment which extends to the end of the line. This does not
take too much effort to code, and lets me treat input files for
my software as executable scripts.
and it was like being warped from Chaplin's Modern Times to a rich
man's California style living! And that in assembler!!
% pinhole
Computer,
What size pinhole do I need for the focal length of 150?
150 490 306 362 2930 12
Hmmm... How about 160?
160 506 316 362 3125 12
Let's make it 155, please.
155 498 311 362 3027 12
Ah, let's try 157...
157 501 313 362 3066 12
156?
156 500 312 362 3047 12
That's it! Perfect! Thank you very much!
^D
Nonetheless: i never managed to create Hippie-proof programs in
real life.
--steffen
|
|Der Kragenbaer, The moon bear,
|der holt sich munter he cheerfully and one by one
|einen nach dem anderen runter wa.ks himself off
|(By Robert Gernhardt)