UNIX-CLI

Overview

This project involves implementing a set of commands for file manipulation and creating a custom command-line interpreter. The project is structured with specific requirements and constraints to challenge and improve comprehension of low-level system calls to the Linux operating system and process management.

Features

File manipulation commands:

• Show file contents
• Copy files
• Append contents of one file to another
• Count lines in a file
• Delete files
• Display filesystem information for a file
• List files and directories in a specified or current directory

Custom command-line interpreter:

• Read and execute user-entered commands
• Indicate readiness with "%" symbol
• Execute commands using process execution primitives
• Suspend interpreter until command completion
• Support sequential execution of multiple commands
• Terminate interpreter with a special command

Compilation

To compile, run the make command. This command will compile both the custom commands and the command-line interpreter (CLI) together. Alternatively, if you wish to compile only the CLI, you can execute make cli. Similarly, to compile only the custom commands, use make commands.

# Compile both the CLI and custom commands
make

# Compile only the CLI
make cli

# Compile only the custom commands
make commands

Upon successful compilation, the compiled program and the different commands will be placed inside the build folder for easy access and execution.

Usage

1. Add to PATH: Ensure that the folder containing the compiled commands is added to your system's PATH variable. This step allows the system to recognize and execute the custom commands. You can achieve this by appending the directory path to your PATH variable in your shell configuration file (e.g., ~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.zshrc).
2. Launch UNIX-CLI: Once the directory is added to the PATH, launch the UNIX-CLI executable file located inside the build folder. You'll be greeted with a command-line interface similar to the standard Bash shell, denoted by the "%" symbol indicating readiness for command input.
3. Enjoy: Enjoy the functionality of UNIX-CLI for file manipulation and command execution.

Commands

Some of the available commands include:

• acrescenta - allows you to append content from one file to another.
• apaga - allows you to delete a file.
• conta - allows you to count the number of lines in a file.
• copia - allows you to copy a file.
• informa - gives information about a file.
• lista - lists all files and directories under a given (or current by default) directory
• mostra - displays content of a file.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the project has been a valuable learning experience, providing hands-on exploration of low-level system calls and process management in the Linux environment. Through the implementation of essential file manipulation commands and a custom command-line interpreter, we have gained a deeper understanding of how the operating system interacts with files and processes.

By working on features such as displaying file contents, copying, appending, counting lines, and deleting files, we have honed my skills in file system operations and learned about the underlying mechanisms involved. The development of the custom command-line interpreter has further reinforced our understanding of command execution and process management.