FLIN(1) FLIN(1)
13-Jul-95
NAME
flin - Flin's a Learners Interface to 'Nix Systems.
SYNOPSIS
flin [-hV] [-d delimiter] [-e escape]
DESCRIPTION
flin loads menu file and displays it. The menu is made up of any
combination of token structures seperated by line breaks.
OPTIONS
-h Print a help message and usage information.
-V Print version information and compile-time defaults.
-d delimiter
Set the delimiter character to delimiter.
-e escape
Set the escape character to escape.
-c comment
Set the comment character to comment.
menu file
Load menu from menu file.
FILE FORMAT
Note: I will be using `:' as the token delimiter, `\' as the escape
character, and `#' as the comment character throughout this document.
Flin files are made up of a series of token structures and directives.
There is a limit of one token structure or directive per line.
Lines beginning with `#' will be ignored by flin.
Characters preceded by `\' will be treated literally by flin.
Directives
Directives tell flin how to interperet text. Currently flin only
understands the Menu directive. Directives may not be nested.
Menu name
Starts a menu named name, all following lines will be
interpereted as token structures until EndMenu is read.
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FLIN(1) FLIN(1)
13-Jul-95
Token Structures
Token structures are enclosed within a Menu directive, with one
structure per line. A token structure is made up of at least two
fields separated by delimiters. The last field must end with a
delimiter. The format of the token structure is:
Token:Name:Args:
Where Token is the type of item to display, Name is the name of the
item, and Args is the argument field. Not all tokens require the
argument field, see the Tokens section for details.
Tokens
Title
Title inserts a non-selectable title line in the menu.
Title:Name:
Nop Nop inserts a non-selectable line in the menu, when blank
will display a line.
Nop:Name:
or
Nop::
SubMenu
SubMenu creates a link to another menu named in the Args
field.
SubMenu:Name:Args:
Exec Exec executes the Args field.
Exec:Name:Args:
Args Args executes the Args field with user inputted command-line
arguments. The optional Prompt field contains the prompt
for the dialog box. Use with care! If you use this
improperly, you could open up a big security whole on your
system.
Args:Name:Args:Prompt:
Exit Exit exits the current menu, returning to the previous menu.
If Exit is executed in the first menu loaded Flin will quit.
Exit:Name:
Quit Exits flin.
Quit:Name:
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FLIN(1) FLIN(1)
13-Jul-95
EXAMPLE MENU
Here is an example menu (comment character is `#', delimiter is `:'):
#
# test.menu - A sample menu for `flin'
# to try it out type:
# flin test.menu
#
# Startup Menu
Menu Main
Title:Main Menu:
Nop::
SubMenu:File Utitities:File-Util:
SubMenu:Surf the 'Net:InterNet:
Exit:Logout:
EndMenu
# File utilities
Menu File-Util
Title:File Menu:
Nop::
Exec:Directory listing:ls -F:
Exit:Back to Main Menu:
EndMenu
# Net `Surfing'
Menu InterNet
Title:Internet:
Nop::
Exec:CyberMail:pine:
Nop:Anything's cooler if you prepend it with `cyber':
Exec:Telnet:telnet:
Exec:Ftp:ftp:
Exit:Back to Main Menu:
EndMenu
BUGS
No! No! Never! Yes. A bit. She has got a wart.
AUTHOR
Brian Cully (shmit@kublai.com)
- 3 - Formatted: November 5, 2025
