well folks,

i am looking to implement CLI (command line interface) s/w for bunch of set/get commands in linux. more like cisco cli.

any design hints?..or better, any free or reference source code?

thanks
roswel

CLI as opposed to GUI?

bash is a CLI shell.

Are you in Gnome or KDE and wanting to go to command line? Just open a "terminal" or "console" this will give you shell (CLI) prompt.

well, we need cisco-like CLI for our embedded linux box. For 100 or so set/get/config commands. these cmds are written by respective developers. But, need CLI framework to hold them together. so tab completion, etc can done.

The shells (ksh at least and I think bash) do tab completion.

Just did a test with bash. Typed first two letters (ks) of a command and it showed me all the commands that start with ks. Did same thingk with rm and it did same. Is that what you're looking for?

There is a "set" built into shells - you need to do "man bash" (or "man ksh" if using ksh) for details.

Not familiar with the Cisco CLI so can't compare. It may be however that Cisco CLI is using embedded Linux - a lot of folks do.

Also be aware of the PATH variable. It tells your shell WHERE to find the scripts/commands. You can type echo $PATH to see what it is currently set to. The different elements are separated by colon so a $PATH displaying /bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin would search for a command in each of those directories and use the first one found.

To add to existing PATH if your scripts/commands are in say /usr/local/ciscoset you simply type:

PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/ciscoset

The resulting echo $PATH (assuming you had the path seen earlier) would then show:
/bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/ciscoset

You can determine where it will find a given command by typing:
which command # For bash
whence command # For ksh

If it shows you a directory to the command it found it in PATH. If it shows no directory then it is a built in of the shell. (Example "echo" is a built in but there is also an "echo" binary command - sometimes you want to use the latter so its important to make sure you type the path when using it.)

Another option could be using something like dialog for a curses based environment.


Håkan

thanks for your detailed replys.