The command line

Introduction

The command line is used to enter URIs and commands. These are covered in here, but if you need help with what's available while you're using Rogallo, you can always request help by entering ? in the command line, or calling on the Help command (bound to F1 by default).

URIs

If you wish to type in a location to visit, the command line is where you do this. What you type will depend on the protocol you're working with. Generally they will be:

Gemini: gemini://example.com/
Gopher: gopher://example.com/
Finger: finger://example.com/davep
Files: file:///path/to/file.txt

If an entered value isn't obviously a URI, and isn't a known command or alias, it is treated as follows:

If it is a path to an existing file in the local file system, that file will be turned into a URI and an attempt will be made to open it.
If it is a path to an existing directory in the local file system, that directory will be opened in a file-opening dialog, allowing you to browse for and select a file to view.
Otherwise, it will be turned into a gemini:// URL and will be processed as such.

So, in most cases, if you enter example.com, it will be opened as gemini://example.com/.

Commands

Commands start with a !. The commands include:

!about_this_page: Show information about the current page
!add_location_to_bookmarks: Add the current location to the bookmarks
!backward: Move backward through history
!change_command_line_location: Swap the position of the command line between top and bottom
!clear_cache: Clear the cache for all content
!copy_document_to_clipboard: Copy the current document to the clipboard
!copy_location_to_clipboard: Copy the current location to the clipboard.
!finger <user>@<host>: Perform user information lookups with the finger protocol
!forward: Move forward through history
!go_home: Go to the home page
!go_to_parent: Go to the parent directory
!go_to_root: Go to the root directory
!help: Show the help screen
!jump_to_command_line: Jump to the command line
!jump_to_document: Jump to the document viewer
!jump_to_sidebar: Jump to the sidebar
!open_file: Open a file in the local filesystem
!quit: Quit the application
!reload: Reload the current document
!search_bookmarks: Search the bookmarks for a location
!search_history: Search the history for a location
!set_home_to_current_location: Set the home page to the current location
!set_home: Set the home page to a specific location
!stripe_links: Toggle the striping of links in the document viewer
!theme: Change the application theme
!toggle_ansi_escape_sequence_handling: Toggle the handling of ANSI escape sequences in text content
!toggle_bookmarks_manager: Toggle the display of the bookmarks viewer
!toggle_cosy_link_numbers: Toggle the position of link numbers when they're being displayed
!toggle_emoji_removal: Toggle the removal of emoji from text content
!toggle_history_manager: Toggle the display of the history viewer
!toggle_link_numbers: Toggle the display of link numbers in the document viewer
!toggle_view: Toggle between rendered and source view of the document

Aliases

Rogallo supports a simple form of aliases for its command line. Primarily they're useful for defining things such as performing searches using popular Gemini and Gopher search engines. Aliases are defined in the configuration file, like this:

"aliases": {
    "fg": "gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/v2/vs?{q}",
    "gp": "gemini://gemi.dev/cgi-bin/wp.cgi/search?{q}",
    "ken": "gemini://kennedy.gemi.dev/search?{q}",
    "tlgs": "gemini://tlgs.one/search?{q}"
}

Aliases can include template variables ({q}, {qp}, {r}) that are dynamically replaced by any text typed after the alias name. For example, if you enter:

ken this is a test search

ken is matched as the alias, and the template variable in the alias definition is replaced using the trailing query string.

The available template variables are:

{q} - The URL-quoted query string (spaces become %20).
{qp} - The URL-quoted query string using pluses for spaces (spaces become +).
{r} - The raw, unquoted query string.

Given the example above, the template variables expand as follows:

{q} -> this%20is%20a%20test%20search
{qp} -> this+is+a+test+search
{r} -> this is a test search

While the default set of aliases all expand into URIs, which perform searches with search engines, this isn't the only application. For example, if you preferred to type whois rather than !finger to call on a finger server, you could have:

"whois": "!finger {r}"

History and completion

Rogallo's command line has a simple history system. As you type commands, they are recorded in the command line history and are kept available between sessions. You can use the Up and Down keys to navigate through the command history.

The command line also has a simple suggested completion system too. If you type in some text that is the start of a previously-entered input, or matches known commands, etc, a dimmed completion will be suggested. Press Right to accept the suggestion.