tiny-term

WIP - a super basic terminal emulator-ish script for norns

• inspiration: "shell" from hid-demo by @okyeron
• one step closer to making norns my ideal cyber deck

tiny-term is a simple terminal emulator-ish script for norns

• the script opens with a prompt $ and blinking cursor _

• input from keyboard displays after the prompt > cd home/we/dust_

• pressing enter will execute the command.

• the display will show the executed command and the resulting output

  • pwd -> /home/we/dust/audio

• the display can be scrolled using e2

• you can access the history using the up and down arrow keys

• k2 clears the screen

• there is currently very basic error handling, and no special key support

• typical terminal applications will not be able to run ie: text editors, file managers, etc.

  • most of these should throw an error message to prevent execution/prevent crashes, but i'm sure the blocked command list will grow with further testing

features:

• can run most shell commands that don't require user interaction and don't rely on specific terminal features.
• some you are able to run:
  • File and directory operations: ls, pwd, cd, cp, mv, rm, mkdir, rmdir, etc.
  • Text processing: cat, more, less, head, tail, grep, sed, awk, etc.
  • System information: date, uptime, who, uname, etc.
  • Network operations: ping, netstat, curl, wget, etc. (note: if you run ping be sure to set the count flag to one ping -c 1 8.8.8.8 tiny-term can not handle outputs that build upon themselves
  • Process management: ps, kill, top, etc. (note: top is a terminal-based program, but it can be used in batch mode, which doesn't require a terminal. For example, top -b -n 1 runs top in batch mode and exits after one iteration.)
• commands that you won't be able to run include terminal-based programs that require user interaction or rely on specific terminal features. Disallowed commands: vi/vim, nano, less, more, htop, top (in interactive mode), ssh, tmux, clear, etc.

to-do:

• modifier keys
• custom help response
• left right arrow key = cursor movement
• delete key functionality
• investigate sometimes funky backspace = adds strings??

archive:

• add command history (up and down keys) - need to rethink movement keys or just use e2 for scroll
• k2 clear screen
• up arrow recall last command -- implement real command history next
• add more disallowed applications
• handle "TERM environment variable not set." lock-up
• add textwrap to command input
• scroll to top of output when command is run
• scroll to cursor when typing next command (if output is too long to show cursor on first page)
• work on output formatting
• working prototype

log:

• 2024-02-23
  • first draft
  • able to move around through directories, and execute basic commands
  • added prompt display and cursor
• 2024-02-24
  • scroll to prompt when entering a new command (helps when in a long block of output text)
  • scroll to top of output after command is run (no longer have to scroll to beginning)
  • tried to find a way around getting terminal-based apps (ie: vi, top, less, etc) to work, but options are sliiiim
    • lua has a luaposix library, but not sure if its worth the hassle.
  • screen / format tweaks
• 2024-02-27
  • added "disallowed_commands" - terminal apps that require a proper terminal environment to work. solved lockup issue when one of these tried to run.
  • worked on cursor positioning - still needs some tweaking though
  • added up arrow to recall last ran command - extend to proper command history next
  • added clear screen key k2
• 2024-02-28
  • got command history mostly worked out