Declined Syntax help and command suggestion through popups

[mikuki]

Take Command is one of the most feature filled program of its kind out there and that it is continuously updated is impressive. PromptPal, compared against Take Command in this blog post quite a while ago, has features that i find really useful in getting to know more about various commands and their options command suggestion and syntax help. here's an example of how it is done in PromptPal:

Command suggestion

Syntax help

i know Take Command has the commands and its options at the bottom:

where a user can mouse over them and see what the various options do but, in my view, having them popup where the cursor is means that a user doesn't have to move their hand from the keyboard to their mouse to get help for a certain command and its options.

i hope this is something that can be implemented in future versions of Take Command because then, it can be used by command consolle beginners as a powerful tool to learn the various commands and their options.

 

[Alpengreis]

Unfortunately the the help in the bottom bar is not complete - and there is probably no chance that this will change (discussed already, you could search for it).

The way to go is after you typed a command press <F1> to see the FULL help OR type "command /=" (example: type /=) - where available - to call the command dialog with full options. If you type "command /?" you will see the same incomplete options like in bottom bar.

 

[mikuki]

i appreciate your response, i've tried searching for the discussions on the help in the bottom bar and cannot seem to find it, could you please link me to it ?

very interesting suggestions, Thank you. i especially like the "/=" option, very nice! opening full help through F1 is great but it would be even better if we could access some of the information found in the help through popups as we type. so, for example, if we type: "cd /" a popup menu like that found in PrompPal would show up with this information from the help:

/= Display the CD command dialog to help you set the command line options. The /= option can be anywhere on the line; additional options will set the appropriate fields in the command dialog.

/D Changes the current drive as well as directory. This option is included only for compatibility with the same option available in some versions of CMD. In most cases you should use CDD, which performs the same function.

/N Skips the standard extended directory search when the directory is not found. This option is useful in batch files to force an error (rather than an extended search) if a directory is not found.

/R Change to the target of the reparse point (hard or symbolic link).

/X Don't save the current directory to the Directory History list..

enabling the user to see what each option does.

Thank you again for replying to the thread, your suggestions will be a big help going forward.

 

[Joe Caverly]

Not all of the threads, but a few where people have wanted more detailed help at the command line.

Ref: User-created extended help (probably in a text file): DIRHISTORY /?x
Ref: Detailed help at the TCC command prompt
Ref: Brief syntax for %@variable functions on TCMD status bar

Joe

 

[mikuki]

Thank you for the links. reading through them and looking at the dates they were posted i can see why you said that chances of implementation were slim. at least we can hope that things have changed since then and that the developers are open to this suggestion.

 

[rconn]

It will not happen. The issue here is that some of the commands have so many options that they would take multiple pages to display them all -- which would make the feature useless at the command line.

 

[mikuki]

It will not happen. The issue here is that some of the commands have so many options that they would take multiple pages to display them all -- which would make the feature useless at the command line.

appreciate you jumping in. the point about options is taken, but couldn't these options be made scrollable like we see in the PromptPal screenshot:

https://imgur.com/KxfdDKy

. a user would also be able to narrow down the suggestions that popup once they've started to type in a flag that they are interested in. like, for example, when they type in: shutdown /s the options available will be cut down to /s and /sg which is manageable.

Thank you again for adding your views to this request.

 

[rconn]

All those options are already available in a scrolling popup format -- it's the help file. Just press F1.

 

[Charles Dye]

Just to point out: Rex is already providing three different help formats, all of which must be maintained separately: the /? quick-help and popup help text; the e-writer and web help text; and the command dialogs. The /? quick-help text kind of needs to fit in a single console screen. So if you want the popup help text to be multipage, that makes a fourth format.

 

[mikuki]

All those options are already available in a scrolling popup format -- it's the help file. Just press F1.

Thank you for the suggestion, though not exactly as seen in PrompPal it will have to do.

Just to point out: Rex is already providing three different help formats, all of which must be maintained separately: the /? quick-help and popup help text; the e-writer and web help text; and the command dialogs. The /? quick-help text kind of needs to fit in a single console screen. So if you want the popup help text to be multipage, that makes a fourth format.

your point is noted and it is true supporting that many help formats would get old, what i had in mind was part help and part scripting assistance like we see in Visual Studio Code's IntelliSense feature:

the popups would help new users learn DOS commands and its various options while typing them in at the command prompt, while experienced users would benefit from being able to quickly select desired options from a popup menu like we see in IntelliSense and PromptPal.

 

[Charles Dye]

I'm not saying that it's a bad idea, and I apologize if I gave that impression. It just isn't something I would expect Rex to put more time into, considering the number of different help formats he's already maintaining.

But if you have a clear idea of how it might work better and how to implement it, TCC's plugin interface lets you (A) intercept keystrokes at the command line, (B) modify the current command line at will, and (C) do just about anything else you know how to do, including creating your own windows.

 

[mikuki]

I'm not saying that it's a bad idea, and I apologize if I gave that impression. It just isn't something I would expect Rex to put more time into, considering the number of different help formats he's already maintaining.

But if you have a clear idea of how it might work better and how to implement it, TCC's plugin interface lets you (A) intercept keystrokes at the command line, (B) modify the current command line at will, and (C) do just about anything else you know how to do, including creating your own windows.

no worries, i did not get that impression from your post therefore there is no need to apologize.

unfortunately, i'm not a developer and so developing plugins is out of my reach. i can only hope that someone with the same idea and the required skills will take this feature up and implement it through the plugin system you mentioned.

Thank you for your replies, i appreciate your views/suggestions.