A dir Question

In the Task window, how do I use dir to go up one directory? In windows or linux it would be dir .. I’ve looked for this but can’t find it.

Thanks in advance.

how do I use dir to go up one directory?

Dir ^

I’ve looked for this but can’t find it.

Yeah, just looked in the User Guide and it didn’t leap out.

Edit. Maybe we need fresh eyes looking at these things and pointing out failings in the first use documentation.

Dir ^

Yep, makes perfect sense. More importantly it works. Thanks.

What is your question? ;-)
*Dir set the aktiv directory. You can also do a [Shift] + Drag&Drop the folder you will have aktiv to the taskwindow… after type *Dir
*Cat shows the content

What is your question?

He wanted to move from a directory to the parent directory "DIR ^ " does that.
Equivalent in DOS (or Linux) “CD ..”

As BBC Micro users many are familiar with the command line stuff, newer users don’t know. For my part I’m not sure where in the documentation this kind of thing is covered, if at all.

For my part I’m not sure where in the documentation this kind of thing is covered, if at all.

It isn’t. Just searched the User Guide for ‘^’ and there were seven matches.

• 3 mentioning filename restrictions and characters not to use.
• 1 about raising to the power of.
• 2 that look like Edit search wildcards.

I’m going from thumbnails on my phone. At any rate, nothing about filesystem navigation in the command line.

He wanted to move from a directory to the parent directory "DIR ^ " does that.
Equivalent in DOS (or Linux) “CD ..”

I know this. It was not a real question (you ignore my smily). Only a rhetorical question.
I need a opener for the additional info. I found it was the right place
Sorry for this.

I need a opener for the additional info.

AOL mode: “Me too”

Or I could have just launched into the next line which was a comment on our apparent lack of documentation for command line stuff. I know the OS is heavily GUI, but the command line is handy and we don’t appear to have a handy resource to point people at…

…documentation…

Is a problem and it is a bigger problem if you are a not a “English” person.

I have all my German Manuals (A5000, Risc PC, Photodesk…) and this helps.

For the command line there was any good article in the GAG News (German Archimedes Group). If any people has a interest, maybe Herbert translate.

The use of ^ for parent directory is PRM Chapter 27 Fileswitch in the paragraph headed Filenames, p 2-10 in my paper copy.

I figured that ^ would be described in the PRMs, but that isn’t exactly go-to documentation for end users – we want to educate, not traumatise. ;-)

I think there are numerous parts of the command line that might do with some sort of user level documentation, like how the path system works (why / <App $Dir> works and you don’t need to wade around the file structure to start an app that has already been ‘seen’, how you can list all the commands to a file with help . { > $.allcmnds }, how you can run a program giving it a file on, say RAMdisc without switching to RAMFS first, or how you can create a path var so you can refer to your files more easily (like Docs:bank20150101.

RISC OS is heavily GUI oriented, but the command line exists and has uses, even if it’s just a few Obey files shortcuts to pin on the pinboard…

The use of ^ for parent directory is PRM Chapter 27 Fileswitch in the paragraph headed Filenames, p 2-10 in my paper copy.

Which is really handy if you don’t have a copy (I do as it happens) and I was referring to the problems that new users might have.

I forgot earlier to point out to Mark that *H. is rather useful, as is looking at any of the response lines and doing h. response e.g. h. commands
No help for this specific instance, but *H. UP might be useful

RISC OS is heavily GUI oriented, but the command line exists and has uses, even if it’s just a few Obey files shortcuts to pin on the pinboard…

I think it desirable that a new User Guide address itself to newcomers to RISC OS as they are today, rather than as they were in the early days of Acorn. Most of my computing experience has been with RISC OS so I am perhaps least qualified to make suggestions. The RISC OS CLI has always been a neglected topic – BASIC, the wimp, even assembly language programming, have been more popular topics for exposition. The CLI is very old-fashioned; the fact that so many users can do so much with only superficial knowledge of it is a sort of compliment to the GUI.

It would be good to have a central repository of examples and handy tricks with the CLI. Perhaps the User Guide should have, perhaps as appendices, sections for the DOS user and for the Unix user, to explain how best to adapt to what RISC OS does provide.

The old User Guide has at least three mentions of ^ with respect to filenames, but they are all in a list of characters which should not be included. ;-)

That is not very helpful, so maybe those would be the places to mention what it can be used for, along with $ & % which do get mentioned elswhere, and @ which I don’t think does.

*Up

==> Help on keyword Up
*Up moves the current directory up the directory structure by the specified number of levels.
Syntax: *Up [<levels>]
*

I wonder if the User Guide should include *Commands at all.
It seems to list most if not all, but the examples are minimal, to be understandable commands like *copy need a number of examples

I wonder if the User Guide should include *Commands at all.
It seems to list most if not all, but the examples are minimal, to be understandable commands like *copy need a number of examples

I kept a copy of the Master manual for its coverage of these, IIRC.

I like it when a simple question creates a lively discussion.

Thanks for up and cat as well.