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sorokine edited this page Dec 16, 2012 · 7 revisions

iTerm2 features for GRASS GIS

I want to implement a few new features in iTerm2 that would be useful when running GRASS GIS from it. GRASS GIS is an advanced OSS geographic information system that I found most effective when used from the command line. Below is the list of features that I am thinking about:

  1. man page view for current command by hot key
  • scroll down man page to the first argument on the command line, hot key to scroll to the next argument match
  1. "start menu" for infrequently used and sophisticated command-line utilities (for GRASS)
  • hierarchical (raster, vector, image, etc.)
  • with instant search
  1. command history in toolbelt
  • option to jump to the output of a specific command in the terminal
  • option to delete a command from history with its corresponding output in terminal
  • option to save command output into a file with corresponding metadata (command line, env. variables, cwd, exit status, name of core file, time when run, comment/documentation, etc.)
  1. function to open Finder window for pwd (or other environment variable)
  • sync Finder with directory changes in the shell
  1. "duplicate" tab -- open new terminal in the same directory and with the same environment as the current tab
  2. status bar with some useful information like status of the current process (configurable)
  3. advanced editor for the command buffer (based on scintilla?)
  • syntax highlighting
  • multiline edit
  • indenting for compound statements (loops, conditionals)
  1. viewer for environment variables with possibility to delete/edit/create variables
  2. a tools for constructing a command line from the definitions of its options and command-line arguments
  3. ability to work with programs other than shells (e.g., psql)
  4. ability to interpret input of some common shell commands and take appropriate action, e.g., clicking on the image file name in ls output will open it in preview
  5. autocomplete should be interfaced with GUI
  • use case: if a program wants input as a lat/lon pair then iTerm should popup a window with a map
  1. an option for instant notification of program completion
  • use case: I start a long fsck and flip "Notify" button on the terminal, after fsck completes I get an audible or twitable alarm
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