A path that gives the full information for locating a file, including the volume or device name, any subdirectories, and the file name.
Alternative names for AmigaDOS commands. An alias can be used to abbreviate frequently used commands or replace standard command names with different names.
A filename, option, or other kind of information passed along with the command name on a command line. Also known as a parameter.
To identify a path to a directory or file under an additional name. This defines logical devices used by the operating system, such as C: where AmigaDOS stores command files, or S: where scripts are stored.
A process that does not open its own window for input or output and does not take over the parent Shell.
An area on a disk or PCMCIA card that contains boot code for the system to read when booting. The presence of a valid boot block on a disk or card makes it bootable.
An area in RAM used for temporary data storage for disk or serial input/output or by some other operations.
A storage area consisting of very fast RAM chips. It serves as a buffer between a fat CPU chip and a slower system memory. Built into systems with bigger processors.
The part of the system RAM that the Amiga custom chips can access. All video and sound data is stored here.
A list containing the most recently issued command lines. These command lines can be recalled, edited, and reissued.
A Shell's current location in the directory structure, used as the default directory in which commands operate.
The highlighted window that accepts input from the keyboard. A Shell window is current when it is opened.
The small rectangular highlighted box that indicates the positions in the current file at which the next character will appear.
Hardware feature present on 68030 and 68040 microprocessors that substantially speeds memory access.
Characters that define the beginning and ending of an argument string. For example, in the ED text editor, ", /, \, !, :, +, and % are valid delimiters.
To separate a program from the process in which it was invoked so that the process' Shell window can close before the program is finished.
A string of control characters, normally introduced by the Escape character. You can control the window format and font style with escape sequences.
In the ED text editor, commands consisting of one or two characters that can be grouped together, introduced by the Esc key.
A sequence of characters beginning with a period, such as .info, added to the end of a filename to identify the type of file.
Part of the system RAM to which custom chips do not have access. Since only the CPU and some peripheral devices have access to Fast RAM, it is considerably faster to use.
Used in MEmacs to find the beginning and end of a program nest structure. Fence characters can be parentheses, brackets, braces, or angle brackets.
A part of the operating system that defines how information is stored on storage devices. This includes file headers, data sectors, subdirectory headers, and bitmaps that indicate which sectors on a disk are already occupied and which are free.
A type of memory in the 68020, 68030, and 68040 microprocessors that allows instructions to execute more quickly.
A mode of the DIR command that stops after each name in a directory listing to display a question mark at which commands controlling the listing can be entered.