Command Line Interfaces and Text-based Shells
The original Amiga CLI (Command Line Interface) had some basic editing capabilities, command templates, and other features such as ANSI compatibility and color selection. In AmigaOS 1.3, the program evolved into a complete text-based shell called AmigaShell.
Third-party developers created improved shells because implementing a new command line interface into Amiga only required replacing the original Console-Handler standard command line device driver (or "handler" in Amiga technical language). This program controlled text-based interfaces into Amiga. The most famous Amiga replacement for the original Console-Handler was KingCON (also known as its "virtual device" name added with semicolon "KingCON:").
Some well-known shells from other platforms were ported to Amiga. These included Bash(Bourne Again SHell), CSH (C-Shell), and ZSH (Z-Shell). The shells taken from Unix and Linux were adapted into Amiga and improved with its peculiar capabilities and functions.
The MorphOS Shell is an example of Z-Shell mixed with the KingCON console handler. It originated as a Unix-like shell, and is provided with all the features expected from such a component: AmigaDOS commands (more than 100 commands, most of which are Unix-like), local and global variables, command substitution, command redirection, named and unnamed pipes, history, programmable menus, multiple shells in a window, ANSI compatibility, color selection, and so on. It also includes all the necessary commands for scripting.
Read more about this topic: Amiga Support And Maintenance Software
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