Using COHERENT -- Overview
For an ordinary user -- that is, one who neither administers the COHERENT
system nor writes programs for it -- using COHERENT mainly involves issuing
commands to the COHERENT system.
The Lexicon entry commands names every command that comes with the COHERENT
system. The commands are grouped by function. You should look carefully
at the shell commands -- that is, the commands that work closely with the
shell to help you control the execution of other commands. What other
groups you study will depend on just what you want to do with your COHERENT
system.
Pay particular attention to the Lexicon entries for the commands sh, ksh,
and vsh. These introduce the shells -- that is, the programs with which you
can issue commands to COHERENT. Each has its own syntax; ksh and sh in
fact implement fully flown programming languages on their own.
vsh is a visual shell, and is especially useful to beginners. It uses a
visual interface and drop-down menus to make it easy for you to issue
commands without having to remember convoluted command syntax. The Lexicon
entry for vsh describes it, and how you can customize it for yourself.
The Lexicon entry for MS-DOS compares COHERENT with MS-DOS, and describes
how they differ. It also gives a table of COHERENT equivalents to commonly
used MS-DOS commands. If you are used to using MS-DOS, you should find
this useful.
The follow commands help you to find information about your system:
apropos
 This command searches the description of each Lexicon article for a
 keyword that you enter. In this way, you can quickly find which
 articles discuss a given topic, such as ``printer'' or ``modem''.
help This command displays a brief summary of each Lexicon article, by
 name.
man This command displays Lexicon articles on your screen, by name.
The following three articles introduce files that are stored in your home
directory. By modifying these files, you can customize your COHERENT
account to suit your tastes:
.kshrc
 Script $HOME/.kshrc configures the Korn shell to suit your tastes.
 You will need to edit this file if you decide to use the Korn shell.
.lastlogin
 File $HOME/.lastlogin records the date and time you last logged in to
 your COHERENT system.
.profile
 Script $HOME/.profile holds commands that are executed when a given
 user logs in to your COHERENT system.
The following Lexicon entries hold technical information that you probably
will find useful:
block
 This defines the size of a ``block'' on a mass-storage device.
compression
 This introduces the subject of compression, and the programs with
 which you can compress and de-compress files. It also gives a table
 that describes how to de-compress files based on their default
 suffices.
environmental variables
 This article lists the commonly used environmental variables that are
 described in the Lexicon. These variables control many of the
 behaviors of the COHERENT system.
Lexicon
 This describes the format of the printed COHERENT manual. It also
 summarizes changes made to on-line Lexicon pages (the ones that you
 view via the command man) since the manual was last printed.
man This summarizes the man macros that are used by the text-formatter
 nroff.
ms This summarizes the ms macros that are used by the text-formatter
 nroff.
Finally, the following Lexicon entries define technical terms that are used
in this manual:
 caveat utilitor
 daemon
 directory
 file
 filter
 i-node
 named pipe
 pipe
 process
 root
 sticky bit
 superuser
 wildcards
For pointers on where to look for information on how to install and modify
peripheral devices on your system, such as the keyboard, the hard disk, or
a CD-ROM drive, see the Lexicon entry Administering COHERENT.
See Also
Administering COHERENT,
COHERENT,
Programming COHERENT

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness