1337fury/42_minishell

Simple Unix shell implementation developed as part of the curriculum at 42. It provides a command-line interface that allows users to execute commands, launch programs, and perform various operations in a shell environment.

42 Minishell

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Features
• Installation
• Usage
• Command Syntax
• Built-in Commands
• File Redirection
• Pipeline
• Environment Variables
• Signal Handling
• Error Handling

Introduction

42 Minishell is a simple Unix shell implementation developed as part of the curriculum at 42. It provides a command-line interface that allows users to execute commands, launch programs, and perform various operations in a shell environment.

The primary goal of this project is to gain a deeper understanding of how shells work by implementing key features and functionalities found in popular Unix shells such as bash or zsh.

Features

• Command execution and program launching.
• Support for built-in commands.
• Execution of external commands.
• File redirection for input/output.
• Pipeline execution.
• Background command execution.
• Environment variable management.
• Signal handling for interrupt and termination signals.
• Error handling and error messages.

Installation

To use 42 Minishell, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository to your local machine:

   git clone https://github.com/1337fury/42_minishell.git

2. Change into the project directory:

   cd 42_minishell

3. Build the minishell binary using the provided Makefile:

   make

   This will compile the source code and generate the minishell executable.

4. Run the minishell:

   ./minishell

   Now you can start using the minishell!

Usage

Once you have started the minishell, you can enter commands to execute and interact with the shell environment.

$ ls -l
$ echo "Hello, world!"
$ cd /path/to/directory
$ pwd

Use the exit command to exit the minishell.

$ exit

Command Syntax

The command syntax in 42 Minishell generally follows the syntax of most Unix shells. A command typically consists of the command name followed by arguments and options.

command [arguments...] [options...]

Some commands may have additional syntax rules, which are explained in the corresponding sections below.

Built-in Commands

42 Minishell supports several built-in commands:

• echo - Display a line of text.
• cd - Change the working directory.
• pwd - Print the current working directory.
• export - Set environment variables.
• unset - Unset environment variables.
• env - List all environment variables.
• exit - Exit the minishell.

File Redirection

42 Minishell supports file redirection for input and output. You can redirect the standard input or output of a command to a file.

The following redirection operators are supported:

• < - Redirect standard input from a file.
• > - Redirect standard output to a file (overwriting the file if it exists).
• >> - Redirect standard output to a file (appending to the file if it exists).

Pipeline

42 Minishell allows you to connect multiple commands together in a pipeline, where the output of one command serves as the input to the next command.

To create a pipeline, use the | (pipe) operator:

$ command1 | command2 | command3

Environment Variables

42 Minishell allows you to manage environment variables. You can set, unset, and list environment variables using the built-in commands export, unset, and env, respectively.

Signal Handling

42 Minishell provides basic signal handling. It can handle interrupt (SIGINT) and termination (SIGQUIT) signals, allowing you to gracefully terminate running commands.

Error Handling

42 Minishell performs error handling and displays appropriate error messages when encountering errors such as command not found, syntax errors, file not found, and others.