commit b0032a44ba01dcdf49f5040242a668329ed8cb6e from: Marcel Rodrigues date: Thu Dec 04 18:00:40 2014 UTC Add explanation of basic concepts. commit - ec43194bb3f6e4b91cdecc3e9d355014fb378397 commit + b0032a44ba01dcdf49f5040242a668329ed8cb6e blob - d36747e47ab2eb15856ea6da5ad9f73f13631b50 blob + c8be716c622c020d9ddd502249f1ae6be0cc078d --- rover.1 +++ rover.1 @@ -16,6 +16,51 @@ print help message and exit .TP \fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR print program version and exit +.SH CONCEPTS +.SS TABS +.PP +Rover is operated via a tabbed interface. At any given moment, one (and only +one) tab is visible on the screen. There are always ten tabs in total, numbered +from 0 to 9. The number of the tab currently visible is shown on the top right +corner of the screen. To view a different tab, one just needs to press its +corresponding number. Each tab has a \fBcurrent working directory\fR (\fBCWD\fR) +associated to it, also shown on the top of the screen. The \fBCWD\fR of the +visible tab is changed as the user navigates through the file system. +.PP +It's also possible to set the \fBCWD\fR of tabs at Rover start-up by passing the +desired paths as command-line arguments. The tab number 0 always starts at +\fB$HOME\fR. If more than nine directories are specified, only the first nine +are used for tabs 1\-9 and the rest is ignored. Tabs for which an invalid path +were assigned will also start at \fB$HOME\fR. Remaining tabs not specified on +the command line start at the current working directory of the parent process. +.SS ENTRIES +.PP +An \fBentry\fR is anything that may be found inside a directory in some file +system: a file, a directory, a link, a socket, a FIFO, etc. In its most basic +usage, Rover will gather the list of entries in a given directory and present +them on the screen, one per line. +.PP +There will always be one (and only one) highlighted entry visible. This is both +the \fBcursor\fR location and the current \fBselection\fR. The highlighting +moves as the user navigates the entry list with cursor commands. Simple +operations, like entering a subdirectory or renaming a file, are done by first +selecting the relevant entry and them using the appropriate command (see the +\fBCOMMANDS\fR section). For commands that operate on more than one entry at +once (batch commands), selection is not sufficient, since it's not possible to +select more than one entry. Batch commands are performed on marked entries. +.SS MARKS +.PP +For some file operations, it is convenient to first \fBmark\fR all entries that +are to be processed, so that the appropriate command only needs to be issued +once. For such purpose, Rover allows an arbitrary number of entries to be +marked, with the limitation that they must be all in the same directory. +.PP +Unlike simple selection, the effect of marks is not constrained by visibility. +This is so one can mark a number of entries in some directory, navigate to other +directory, and then finally issue a copy or move command. Moreover, marks are +shared over all tabs. This allows one to mark some entries in one tab that is +pointed to the "source" directory of the operation and then issue the command on +another tab that is pointed to the "destination" directory. .SH COMMANDS .TP .B q @@ -99,10 +144,4 @@ to do so by user commands. existing files while copying/moving marked entries. Please be careful to not accidentally lose your data. .PP -There are always exactly 10 tabs open, numbered from 0 to 9. The tab number 0 -always start at \fB$HOME\fR. If more than nine directories are specified, only the -first nine are used for tabs 1\-9 and the rest is ignored. Tabs for which an -invalid path were assigned will also start at \fB$HOME\fR. Remaining tabs not -specified on the command line start at the current working directory. -.PP Rover homepage: .