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Re: documenting Unix command lines; more than one line
Subject:Re: documenting Unix command lines; more than one line From:Alexia Prendergast <alexiap -at- SEAGATESOFTWARE -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 9 Sep 1997 12:38:51 -0400
Yes, I'm aware of that -- but that wasn't the original question.
The question was how to format one line that the user enters
at once, not break it up into several lines for the user to enter
one-at-a-time. (At least, that was my understanding, but I could
very well have misunderstood ;-)
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Sabahat Ashraf [SMTP:sabahat_ashraf -at- MENTORG -dot- COM]
>Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 1997 12:35 PM
>To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject: Re: documenting Unix command lines; more than one line
>
>On Sep 9, 11:38am, Alexia Prendergast wrote:
>> Subject: Re: documenting Unix command lines; more than one line
>> I wouldn't do this -- I'd end with a user trying to enter the backslash
>> as part of the command.
>
>What Bernice is preventing by adding the backslash is the eventuality that
>some
>user [and you know there will be one out there] that, given the indented
>multi-line command, will try to enter the first line of the command and then
>try to press "Enter" and hope to enter the next line. The backslash is the
>correct way to enter a command on multiple lines at a Unix prompt. And if you
>are writing for Unix "power users" [to be p.c.], that is certainly the way to
>go.
>
>Sabahat.
>
>> I usually indent the wrap-around lines.
>>
>> A.
>>
>> --
>> Alexia Prendergast
>> Senior Technical Writer
>> Seagate Software
>> mailto:alexiap -at- sems -dot- com
>>
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >To indicate that a UNIX command (or any other procedural command for that
>> >matter) is continued on the next line you use a backslash at the end of
>>the
>> >line.
>> >
>> >Example:
>> >
>> >> Gds [-envf <GDS_ENV_FILE>] [-strmf <GDS_STREAM_FILE>] \
>> > [-strmlib <GDS_LIBRARY_NAME>]
>
>
>--
>Sabahat_Ashraf -at- MentorG -dot- com
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
> "... of course, I am way out of line."
> -- Jay Leno
>
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