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 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.





                                    - 1 -         Formatted:  April 25, 2024






 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:



                                    - 2 -         Formatted:  April 25, 2024






 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:  April 25, 2024