mgt-helper(1)

NAME

mgt-helper - Shell extender program for Multi Gnome Termi

nal.

SYNOPSIS

mgt-helper  [-D,-r  RC_FILE,-T,-H,-V,-W,-WT,-A URL_ACTION]
[--usage, --help] [-h, --history EXTENSION]  [-u,  --url-handler,
--http-handler]  [-f,  --ftp-handler] [-m, --mailto-handler] [-F,
--file-handler]  [-x,  --execute  COMMAND  [,COMMAND...]]    [-U,
--user-guide] [-s, --ssh COMMAND] [-S, --su] [-g, --google] [-lg,
--lin-google] [-l, --lookup [WORD]] [-d, --debug COMMAND]

DESCRIPTION

mgt-helper is a Bash script meant to be used in conjunc

tion with multi-gnome-terminal to extend multi-gnome-terminal's

usefulness in a shell environment.

The script contains a number subroutines that can be in

voked from within multi-gnome-terminal's "Edit Commands" or "Key

bindings" features. These subroutines are essentially indepen

dent of each other, and are not intended to be used in conjunc

tion with each other.

Some of these subroutines are provided as a unique way of

accomplishing some task that would be difficult to do otherwise.

While others are provided merely as a convenience to show off an

interesting idea or feature.

GENERAL OPTIONS

These options must come first on the command line. More

than one of these may be used at a time, and can be combined with

the COMMAND OPTIONS listed below.

-D Turn on verbose mode, which writes some debugging

type info to screen and to /tmp/mgt-helper.debug.

-r RC_FILE

Parse RC_FILE after other config files have been

parsed, and over-ride any previously defined values.

-T Force a full Tab (useful if the default config us

es a split).

-H Force a horizontally split Tab.

-V Force a vertically split Tab.

-W Force a "New Window" instead of Tab or split.

-WT Force a "New Window" with start-up Tabs for the

current Class instead of Tab or split.

-A URL_ACTION

Force URL_ACTION as the action that

multi-gnome-terminal will take to perform this command: e.g.

--add-tab. Actions may be combined within reason: e.g. --add-tab

--tclass myclass. Do not use the -x option, since this will be

invoked by one of the COMMAND OPTIONS listed below. Quote to pro

tect any white space.

COMMAND OPTIONS

Use only one of these at a time.

--usage, --help

Show all command line options with brief explana

tion, and then exit.

-h, --history EXTENSION

Force a user defined, custom Bash history file for

this terminal's shell, where EXTENSION is a user-defined, unique

string. This probably only works with bash right now. Use with

"Edit Commands".

-u, --url-handler, --http-handler

For use as the GNOME HTTP URL/Document Handler.

This will need to be set up in GNOME and will open a new Tab with

a text browser. Example from ~/.gnome/Gnome: http-show=mgt-helper

-u "%s". All URL Handlers only work on Linux at this time.

-f, --ftp-handler

For use as the GNOME FTP URL/Document Handler.

This will need to be set up in GNOME and will open a new Tab with

a FTP client . Example from ~/.gnome/Gnome: http-show=mgt-helper

-f "%s".

-m, --mailto-handler

For use as the GNOME mailto URL/Document Handler.

This will need to be set up in GNOME and will open a new Tab with

a email client (MUA). Example from ~/.gnome/Gnome: http-show=mgt

helper -m "%s".

-F, --file-handler

For use as the GNOME File URL/Document Handler.

This will need to be set up in GNOME and will open a new Tab with

a file manager or other pertinent information. Example from

~/.gnome/Gnome: http-show=mgt-helper -F "%s".

-x, --execute COMMAND [,COMMAND...]

Have the shell execute the command(s), rather than

multi-gnome-terminal. This allows for much more complex commands

to be run from Edit Commands. See EXAMPLES section below.

-U, --user-guide

Open the User's Guide in a text browser. Use with

Edit Commands, or can be run direct from a shell prompt.

-s, --ssh [ssh args] HOST [command]

Use mgt-helper as a ssh wrapper. This is probably

only useful where the sshd daemon may be running as another user,

and thus breaks our GNOME URL Handling tricks. Use with Edit Com

mands, if needed (ie if URL Handlers don't work properly).

-S, --su

Use mgt-helper as a su wrapper. Su'ing can break

URL Handling. Use with Edit Commands, if needed (ie if URL Han

dlers don't work properly).

-g, --google

Search google.com/linux. Provided as a convenience

feature only. Use with Edit Commands.

-lg, --lin-google

Search google. Provided as a convenience feature

only. Use with Edit Commands.

-l, --lookup [WORD]

Look up a word in an on-line dictionary. This will

use the 'dict' command if availalbe, otherwise the Merriam Web

ster on-line dictionary is used. Provided as a convenience fea

ture only. If WORD is omitted, then user is prompted for word to

look up.

-d, --debug CMD_TO_DEBUG [args]

A troubleshooting aid to capture error output from

shell commands (NOT MGT internals) that might vanish quickly oth

erwise. Any command that fails due to an error, or does not pro

vide a means of preventing immediate exit of the spawned shell,

will cause the terminal or Tab to close quickly, and the error

message (if any) is thus lost. This is useful for trapping those

situations. Use with Edit Commands.

--showall

This just dumps all variables from the bash envi

ronment to STDOUT, and also writes the same to

/tmp/mgt-helper.debug as a troubleshooting aid.

CONFIGURATION

There are a number of variables that can be defined to al

ter mgt-helper's behavior and set preferences. These are all

listed in the script itself, though some may be commented out.

It is highly recommended that such user or site prefer

ences be put in another file. This can be /etc/mgt-helper.rc for

site-wide preferences, or $HOME/.mgt-helper.rc for individual us

er preferences. Both of these files are checked by mgt-helper

automatically, with the latter taking precedence.

In addition, since these configuration files will be

sourced by Bash, any other variables or manipulation of the Bash

environment, can be added at your discretion. For instance, you

could set Bash's TMOUT variable, and even base this action condi

tionally on other environment factors, or the contents of the

command line. Or you could check the command line contents, see

if a url handler is being invoked, then check the URL itself, and

alter the default handler dynamically based on certain condi

tions. For instance, use Mozilla for https sites, and w3m for

http sites. Many possibilities.

GNOME DOCUMENT (URL) HANDLERS

This feature is provided so that text based applications

may be used with multi-gnome-terminal. Presumably so that such

documents can be opened in a split terminal or Tab.

This is basically a feature of GNOME that allows user de

fined applications for different "document" types.

multi-gnome-terminal has extended this feature considerably, mak

ing it more useful. Typically, these apps are intended to be GUI

apps like Nautilus. To change this behavior, you will first have

to set mgt-helper with the appropriate command line option (e.g.

-u) as the Handler for GNOME. This can be done through the GNOME

menu interface, or by directly editing $HOME/.gnome/Gnome with a

text editor (carefully!). Secondly, be aware now that any GNOME

application that may access this feature, will be using

mgt-helper as the application of choice, even if it is some other

application altogether (which won't work at all). This means that

there must be alternate handlers set up for such situtations,

preferably in either $HOME/.mgt-helper.rc or /etc/mgt-helper.rc.

Defaults are provided, but probably won't work on some systems.

See the script for appropriate variable names.

ENVIRONMENT

Since mgt-helper is Bash script, it is influenced by, and

can be manipulated with, any of the various Bash variables, com

mands and expressions.

EXAMPLES

The following examples are what go in the "Command" field

of "Edit Commands".

Create a custom Bash history file for this terminal:

mgt-helper -h my_project

This will create and use a file named $HOME/.bash_histroy

my_project any time this terminal or Tab is opened.

Using mgt-helper as a ssh wrapper for URL handling:

mgt-helper -s some_host

Executing complex shell commands from "Edit Commands":

mgt-helper -x export TMOUT=300 ; bash --login

mgt-helper -x ps aux | less

mgt-helper -x netstat -taun | less

FILES

/usr/bin/mgt-helper
$HOME/.mgt-helper.rc
/usr/bin/multi-gnome-terminal /usr/sbin/mgt-pty-helper

BUGS

Not well tested, so probably yes, maybe numerous.

Not tested with any shells other than Bash, and most com

mands probably only work with Bash.

Some commands will only work on Linux at this time. No

tably, any of the URL Handling stuff.

AUTHORS

Cristiano De Michele is the creator and author of

multi-gnome-terminal. mgt-helper was written by Hal Burgiss and

Cristiano De Michele.

SEE ALSO

multi-gnome-terminal(1), bash(1)

See the User's Guide for a complete explanation of Multi

Gnome-Terminal's features and usage, and a more complete explana

tion of mgt-helper's features.

BUGS AND FEATURE REQUESTS

Please use the tracking system at http://multignome

term.sourceforge.net to report bugs, request features, etc.

Bug Reports:

http://sourceforge.net/track

er/?atid=411232&group_id=34480&func=browse

Feature Requests:

http://sourceforge.net/track

er/?atid=411235&group_id=34480&func=browse

Patches:

http://sourceforge.net/track

er/?atid=411234&group_id=34480&func=browse

Mailing Lists:

http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=34480

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Cristiano De Michele and Hal Bur

giss

mgt-helper is free software; you can redistribute it

and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public Li

cense as published by the Free Software Foundation; either ver

sion 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be

useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied war

ranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

See the GNU General Public License for more details, which is

available from the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 59 Temple Place

- Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public

License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Soft

ware Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA

02111-1307 USA.

17 July 2002

MGT-HELPER(1)