                           Concept : Command Syntax

The Empire Shell (command interpreter) expects input in the form:
   [##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ARG2 ...
VERB is any one of the command words in command list (map, move, info, etc).

The  number  of  ARGs  varies from command to command.  In most cases the ARGs
need not be supplied on the command line; any that are not  supplied  will  be
obtained by prompting.  The exception to this rule are those that are enclosed
in [square brackets] in the command list.  The presence of these ARGs  changes
the way the command is carried out.

Certain  basic argument types recur often and are abbreviated in the following
ways.

<CNUM/CNAME> ::= either a country number or a country name

                           Concept : Command Syntax

<ITEM> ::= any one, (or unambiguous abbreviation), of:
                    xloc  x coordinate
                    yloc  y coordinate
                   owner  owner of the sector
                  oldown  original owner of captured sector
                     des  sector designation
                 newtype  new sector designation
              efficiency  efficiency
                    work  work/loyalty
                mobility  mobility units
                minerals  sector contents
                ocontent  oil content
                pcontent  oil content
               fertility  food fertility
         uranium content  uranium
               civilians  civilians
                military  military
                      uw  uncompensated workers
   uncompensated workers  uncompensated workers
                  shells  number of shells

                           Concept : Command Syntax

                    guns  number of guns
               petroleum  amount of petrol
                iron ore  amount of iron ore
             dust (gold)  amount of gold dust
            bars of gold  number of gold bars
                    food  quantity of food
                     oil  amount of crude oil
                     rad  amount of radioactive materials
                     lcm  light construction materials
                     hcm  heavy construction materials
                distpath  distribution path
              s_delivery  product delivery routes (shells)
              g_delivery  gun delivery routes
              p_delivery  petroleum delivery routes
              i_delivery  iron ore delivery routes
              d_delivery  gold dust delivery routes
              b_delivery  gold bar delivery routes
              f_delivery  food delivery routes
              o_delivery  oil delivery routes
              r_delivery  radioactive material delivery routes

                           Concept : Command Syntax

              l_delivery  lcm delivery routes
              h_delivery  hcm delivery routes
              u_delivery  uncompensated worker delivery routes
                  s_dist  product distribution thresholds (shells)
                  g_dist  guns distribution thresholds
                  p_dist  petroleum distribution thresholds
                  i_dist  iron ore distribution thresholds
                  d_dist  gold dust distribution thresholds
                  b_dist  gold bar distribution thresholds
                  f_dist  food distribution thresholds
                  o_dist  oil distribution thresholds
                  r_dist  radioactive material distribution thresholds
                  l_dist  lcm distribution thresholds
                  h_dist  hcm distribution thresholds
                  u_dist  uncompensated worker distribution thresholds
   Note that some of these properties  have  less  than  useful  values.   For
   instance  the  value  of  distpath is not generally meaningful but zero (0)
   indicates no distribution path.
<LOAN> ::= loan number
<SECT> ::= sector coordinates in the form: x,y

                           Concept : Command Syntax

<SECTS> ::= sector(s) in the form:

         lox:hix,loy:hiy ?cond&cond&...

   lox, hix, loy, hiy are coordinates bounding the rectangular area to be con-
   sidered

   cond is a condition of the form:

         <VALUE><OPERATOR><VALUE>

   <VALUE> is either an <ITEM>, as above, a number in the range 0 to 65536, or
   a sector designation, (m for mine, c for capital, etc),
   <OPERATOR> can be any one of:
   <  less than
   =  equal
   >  greater than
   #  not equal

                           Concept : Command Syntax

   Thus mob=100, ore#0, 7=guns, civ#mil, des=b are examples of legitimate con-
   ditions, (note lack of embedded spaces), and
      [##:##] Command: census -3:3,-3:3 ?des=+&gun=5&mil>civ
   will  list  all  highways  within 3 of your capital with exactly 5 guns and
   more military than civilians.

   Similarly,
      [##:##] Command: deliver f -9:9,-9:9 ?f_del=0
   will allow you to set up food  delivery  in  all  the  sectors  that  don't
   already have food delivery.

   Note  that  hix,  hiy,  and  ?cond  are  all  optional.   Also,  the entire
   lox:hix,loy:hiy section may be replaced by either #,  #0,  #1,  #2,  or  #3
   which  refer  to  the  four  realms that you can define.  (See info realm.)
   Note that # and #0 are equivalent.
<SHIP> ::= one ship number
<FLEET> ::= fleet designation, which may be  a  list  of  ships  separated  by
   slashes  (`/'),  a  fleet letter, the character tilde (`~') which means all
   ships not in a specific fleet, or a rectangular sector area.
<SHIP/FLEET> ::= either a single ship number or a fleet designation.

                           Concept : Command Syntax

   Note that <FLEET> specifications may have an optional ?cond&cond...   argu-
   ment like that used for <SECTS> arguments.  For instance:
      [##:##] Command: ship ~ ?des=d&mil>5
   will  list all destroyers that have more than 5 military which are not cur-
   rently in any fleet.

   The output from commands may also be sent to a file or another  process  by
   utilizing these alternate syntaxes:

      [##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ... > FILE
   which sends the output to the file FILE.

      [##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ... >> FILE
   which appends the output to the file FILE.

      [##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ... >! FILE
   which  sends  the  output  to  the  file  FILE, replacing the file it if it
   already exists.

                           Concept : Command Syntax

      [##:##] Command: VERB ARG ... | PROGRAM [ARGS...]
   which send the output of the command to the program PROGRAM  with  optional
   arguments  ARGS.   This  is  most useful when PROGRAM is some type of pager
   like more(1) or less(1).

   The Empire shell also recognizes a few control characters:

        _n_a_m_e  _m_e_a_n_i_n_g
   interrupt  Abort command and return to Empire command level
        quit  Exit Empire
         EOT  Exit Empire

   See also : realm, command

