skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: A structured command history for UNIX using a parallel distributed processing model

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6024701· OSTI ID:6024701

This thesis investigates the use of a structured history to assist users in recalling previously entered complex UNIX commands. A structured history is a database of commands that were previously entered. Two models are presented: the first model uses a conventional database and the second model uses a parallel distributed processing system. The conventional database system can recall commands by pattern matching based on command name, pattern matching on command options, frequency of use, and relative time. A simple prototype, created using the Emacs environment, was useful in recalling previously entered UNIX commands. The parallel distributed processing system stores UNIX commands by decomposing them into two character sequences called bigrams. A prototype implementation used a two layer network, in which each unit represents a bigram. The implementation showed features such as spelling correction and associated command recall. The ability to recall a list of commands satisfying a particular criteria is among the advantages of a structured history. 19 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
6024701
Report Number(s):
UCRL-53919; ON: DE89012297
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (M.S.). Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Thesis. Submitted to the Univ. of California, Davis
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English