NAME
myshell - a simple shell that supports backgrounding of processes
SYNOPSIS
myshell
myshell [batch file]
DESCRIPTION
myshell is a simple shell. It supports a number of built in commands as
well as the ability to background processes. It can also process batch
scripts when the filename to the batch file is passed to myshell as an
argument.
Argument list processing
The first argument to the shell is the filename of a batch file. All
other arguments are ignored. This batch file is just a plain text
file that has one command per line for the shell to process.
Commands
myshell supports a number of built in commands:
cd <directory> - Changes the current working directory to
<directory>. If <directory> is not present then the current
working directory is printed to the screen.
clr - Clears the screen.
dir <directory> - Lists the contents of <directory>. If
<directory> is not specified then the current directory is used.
echo <comment> - Displays <comment> to the screen followed by a
newline.
help - Displays the user manual for myshell.
pause - Pauses operation of the shell until 'Enter' is pressed.
quit - Quits the shell.
All other commands are assumed to be external programs and will
attempt to execute them.
Features
myshell supports the ability to process batch files. The batch files
are assumed to be plain text with one command per line. myshell will
terminate when the end of the file is reached.
myshell also supports the ability to background external processes.
This can be accomplished by adding an ampersand, '&', to the end of
a non-built in command. Backgrounding a process will bring you to
the shell prompt immediately while the process runs in the background.