Managing command submission in a multiple-window environment

This paper describes a combined command processor and user interface to the window management facilities provided on a UNIX-based, multi-window, single-user graphical workstation. The program, called Minit, maintains a list of entered commands in the form of a visual menu, and commands can be re-executed by selecting them with the puck and cursor. The visual nature of the history list makes possible a number of facilities which would be impractical with a glass-teletype interface. Lists of useful commands can be stored in files and loaded into the menu when needed. Incorrect commands can be edited and re-executed, and unwanted commands can be removed from the list, thus keeping it to a manageable size. Only a single history is maintained for all windows, and an old command can be re-executed in any existing, or a newly created, window. The program is also unusual in that it combines command submission with window, or screen, management. Minit has proved extremely useful in a project environment where the rate of command submission is high and often repetitious.