🚀 go-pugleaf

| Why? Just make each directory in $PATH a menu, and the applications in
| it menu entries. They can then be used just like the applications in
| the shell window, except you have to pick them up off the menu. This
| lets the experienced user get to all the Unix commands they want.

I don't know about you, but my path is
set path=(~/bin /ai/bin /usr/local /usr/new /usr/ucb /usr/bin /bin \
           /usr/hosts /u7/path/server/bin /usr/new/mh .)

And I wouldn't dare estimate how many programs there are in there...

I'd rather go for a paned window shell, with one pane giving you a modified
file selection dialog.  Selecting a program to run could be done by simulating
a "executables" dictionary, with a flat structure that would reflect the path.
I would propose modifying the file selection dialog so that it would
incrementally restrict the highlighted candidate file names as you type ANY
file name (thereby giving you your position in the tree and an indication
that the name you are typing is unambiguous).

When a program is selected the shell pops up a form where I can fill in the
options and get help for each of them (what a weird idea...). (Typing is an
option, and a pane contains a local file selection window, as above). You can
execute the form when done or simply close it.  In either case, the form
becomes an icon, available for future editing, reinvocation, or inclusion in
pipes.  Saving icons for frequently used set-ups gives you aliasing.

But even typing "macdraw" in a Unix window on a big screen Mac would be
heavenly...

--

Jean-Francois Lamy
AI Group, Dept of Computer Science     CSNet: lamy@ai.toronto.edu
University of Toronto		       EAN:   lamy@ai.toronto.cdn
Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1A4	       UUCP:  lamy@utai.uucp