Need shell command "menu" or "list" app (Solved with Cheat)

[Moat]

Just an idea I had... seems like it'd be terribly handy for newb-ish end users like me, as a place to collect handy terminal commands, and also might aid in becoming more familiar with the CLI, too...

Imagine a button in the tray/taskbar. Left-click the button, and up pops a simple menu of useful, common commands. Hovering over entries could pop-up a simple description bubble. Clicking on the entry could either copy the command to the clipboard - ready for pasting into a terminal or shellscript - or alternately open a terminal with the command already entered (or both choices - via either a L or R click).

Maybe include in the primary pop-up menu a separate "Edit" entry (or button) that would, say, open the text (?) file where the entries and their descriptions are located - for easy editing/adding/removing.

I have run across so many numerous, super-handy commands following threads around here and elsewhere... but I can never remember any of 'em by the time the need arises, as my use of the CLI is so infrequent. I've attempted saving such handy commands into a text doc in the past, but that inevitably ends up getting lost in the morass of typical system clutter (and my own dwindling memory capacity... ) .

Having a permanent, dedicated button for something like that on the taskbar would be a fantastic reference, and extremely handy, useful - I'm thinkin'.

I can't be the first one to think of this... does anyone know if/where a little application like this might exist?

Bob

[L18L]

3 things come to my mind

1. console ; type some letters e.g. get and then press tab key twice.

2. look into your file $HOME/.history

3. use findnrun (only for apps dregistered in /usr/share/applications)

Enjoy

[Flash]

This isn't convenient, but you can get a full list of commands that Puppy recognizes if you

• 1. Open a console window
  2. Maximize the window
  3. Hit the Tab key twice, then the Y key.
  4. The Enter key will list the ones that don't show.

You can copy the list from the console window and paste it into Geany or a word processor. After that, you're on your own.

[Moat]

Thanks, guys - these tips could keep me more than occupied for quite some time.

1. console ; type some letters e.g. get and then press tab key twice.

Neat! Tab key twice really cuts to the chase.

2. look into your file $HOME/.history

Thanks - I had no idea the console history was being saved. This could come in quite handy (it's /root/.bash_history in my Precise). I'll have to start entering useful commands that I run across, just so they end up here - for future reference.

After that, you're on your own.

No kidding... 1777 entries!

A dozen or two of the most likely used, is about what I'm shooting for. Actually, now that I think about it... a unique, expanding-tree (regular) menu entry - using .desktop files in /usr/share/applications - might be a possible way to do it. Likely a bit clumsy/tedious way to go about it (having to create a separate .desktop file for each terminal command), but I'll have to give that a shot when I get the time.

Oh, us lazy "mousers"...

Bob

[WillM]

Hi Moat,
This may be of interest to you.
https://github.com/chrisallenlane/cheat
This requires Python; and Pip for the installation. I assume you have Python. To get pip run this command.

Code: Select all

wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py

Then run this command in the directory where get-pip.py is located, probably you Home directory.

Code: Select all

python get-pip.py

That installs Pip. Then run this to install Cheat.

Code: Select all

pip install docopt pygments cheat

[Moat]

Thanks, WillM - I'll give this a shot in a few days (too danged busy ATM...) and report back. "Cheat" appears to be a good solution!

Thanks, all ~

Bob

[Moat]

@ WillM -

Your install instructions are spot-on - looks like cheat will do quite nicely. Using just a simple text file for creating custom "cheat-sheets"... too easy!

Good stuff... thanks again,

Bob