hpux softkeys man page on unix.com

softkeys(4) Kernel Interfaces Manual softkeys(4)

NAME
softkeys - keysh softkey file format

BACKGROUND
softkey information is stored in the form of a softkey node hierarchy. The top level of this hierarchy represents the softkey commands
themselves; lower levels represent various command options and parameters.

The softkey labels form a into this softkey node hierarchy through which the user can view and select nodes. A node is eligible if it was:

o Enabled by default and has not been subsequently disabled by the selection of some sibling node, or

o Disabled by default, has not been subsequently disabled by the selection of some sibling node, but has been subsequently enabled
by the selection of some sibling node.

When a softkey node is selected, it can enable or disable any of its siblings as appropriate. A new window into the softkey node hierarchy
is then computed as follows:

o If the selected node was not a leaf node, its eligible children are displayed;

o Otherwise, if the node still has eligible siblings remaining, they are redisplayed;

o Otherwise, if the node's parent still has eligible siblings remaining, they are redisplayed, and so on, moving up the node hier-
archy.

This process of node display and selection continues until the user has entered a complete command.

At that point, performs the associated with each of the selected softkey nodes. These editrules create the HP-UX command that is fed to
the shell for execution.

SOFTKEY FILE FORMAT
Each softkey file contains one or more softkey definitions, each of which is represented as a sub-hierarchy of

There are two basic types of softkey nodes:

"Options" show up on softkey labels
and insert literal text into the command-line when selected. Examples are command and option names.

``Strings'' (or ``parameters'')
show up on softkey labels but do not insert text into the command-line when selected; rather, they display a hint
message. The user must then type the desired text into the command-line. Examples are file and user names.

Note that the keyword can be used as a synonym for the keyword

The basic softkey node definition is composed of the following components:

attribute
.
.
.

Where softkey is the softkey node name from which the command-line text and softkey label are derived. If necessary, a single plus sign
within softkey can be used to force hyphenation of the softkey label at a syllable boundary.

If a softkey node has an associated sub-menu, its trailing is replaced with a list of child nodes as follows:

softkey node
.
.
.

Each softkey node can have the following optional attribute fields:

Selecting this node will disable
count softkey nodes to the right of this one - default is 0.

Selecting this softkey will enable
count softkey nodes to the right of this one - default is 0.

This node is only active for filters or commands, respectively - default
is either.

This node is only active when
is running on a Motorola (MC680x0) or precision (PA-RISC) processor, respectively - default is either.

This node starts out disabled and must be enabled to be used - default is
to start out enabled.

The command will be entered automatically when this node is selected.

The editrule for this node.

An editrule to be executed
after all other editrules associated with this softkey command - only one cleanuprule is allowed per soft-
key command.

The one line hint for this node - only valid for ``string'' softkey nodes.

The help for this node (may be more than one line).

The one-line error message to display if this node is not selected.

Arguments are as follows:

count A signed integer, the word or the word

editrule An editrule (described below).

helptext help enclosed in quotes (also described below).

string An arbitrary string enclosed in quotes. Note that within quotes, escapes the next character as when using awk(1).

A typical backup softkey node definition resembles:

softkey literal]

where literal is the literal text string to program the terminal function key with (if different than softkey).

An unquoted hash-mark character in a softkey file delimits a comment to the end of the line.

Softkey Command Translation
To translate softkey commands into HP-UX commands, executes the editrules associated with each softkey selected by the user. These
editrules create a via an editing language. This translated word list is then passed to the shell for execution.

For a simple translation, this list might resemble:

+--------+ +---------+ +---------+
| ls | | -l | | *.c |
| +-----+ +-----+ |
+--------+ +---------+ +---------+
word[0] word[1] word[2]

Every time an editrule is invoked, the special constants and are defined to the index of the last word in the list (``2'' in this example)
and the would-be-next word in the list (``3'' in this example), respectively. In addition, the constant is set equal to the user input for
the softkey (e.g., for the softkey corresponding to the file name in this example).

Note that automatically casts numbers and strings back and forth as necessary to carry out editrules. Also, variables are cleared only
before the first editrule associated with a softkey command. All assigned variables are available to subsequent editrules.

Editrules
An editrule is a list of edit statements enclosed in curly-braces (i.e., and

An edit statement is:

o an expression followed by a
o an statement, or
o a word allocation statement.

Expressions
A simple expression can be any of:

variable single letter from a to z
number unsigned integer
string enclosed in quotes
char enclosed in quotes

see above
see above
see above

boolean flag
boolean flag
boolean flag
boolean flag

see above

Simple expressions can be combined with any of:

single-character substring
multiple-character substring

addition
subtraction
multiplication
division
modulus
concatenation
negation

equality
inequality
greater than or equal
less than or equal
greater than
less than
logical and
logical or
logical not

grouping

The following functions are also supported and return the indicated results:

number of characters in string
index of first char in string, or -1
index of last char in string, or -1
string without leading/trailing blanks
number in hex with leading
number in octal with leading

Assignments can be done with any of:

simple assignment
add and assign
subtract and assign
multiply and assign
divide and assign
modulus and assign
concatenate and assign

if Statement
The statement is similar to the full-block mode statement in awk, and is structured as follows:

edit statement
.
.
.
edit statement
.
.
.

Where the part is optional. If number is non-zero, the first block of edit statements is executed. Otherwise, if the second block of edit
statements is present, it is executed.

Word Allocation Statements
Word allocation statements include the following:

Insert string as a new word in the word list immediately before

Insert string as a new word in the word list immediately after the last word in the word list. Equivalent to

Append string to the last word in the word list if that word already begins with a dash. Otherwise, a dash
is inserted as a new word in the word list immediately after the last word in the word list and string
is appended to that.

Delete from the word list.

Helptext
Each softkey node can have an associated to be displayed upon a user request for help. This helptext is formatted on-the-fly and presented
to the user through the preferred pager.

The helptext format is an nroff-like language, supporting a subset of the man(5) macros used to write standard HP-UX manual entries. In
particular, this subset includes:

Begin mode. Display text as-is, preserving new-lines and spaces, until a

Resume mode. Display text with words filled onto each output line, attempting to utilize 90% of the screen
width. (This is the default mode.)

Force a in the current output line. Display subsequent text on the next line.

Force a break and then display a single blank line (a vertical

Force a break, display a single blank line, and then begin a new
with no indent.

Force a break, display a single blank line, and then display the specified tag, then begin a new with the specified
indent.

Begin a new (similar to except no blank line is displayed).

Note that these macros are recognized in the input helptext, not just at the beginning of a line. Also, all macro arguments even if they
consist of nothing more than a quoted empty string.

EXAMPLES
For a custom command (see cd(1)):

softkey cd
editrule { append("cd"); }
{
softkey keysh-src disable all
editrule { append("~/keysh/src"); }
;
softkey keysh-test disable all
editrule { append("~/keysh/test"); }
;
softkey keysh-doc disable all
editrule { append("~/keysh/doc"); }
;
softkey demo disable all
editrule { append("~/demo"); }
;
softkey tmp disable all
editrule { append("/tmp"); }
;
string <dir> disable all
editrule { append(argument); }
required "Enter the name of the directory to move to."
;
}

For other examples, refer to the file

AUTHOR
was developed by HP and AT&T.

FILES
user softkey definitions file

standard softkey definitions file

hpux man page for softkeys