Working with Remote Files

The easiest way to get started is to use the editing tools you are already familiar with on your native system. If you are feeling overwhelmed with the new tools we have been learning then I recommend this approach at first so that you can concentrate more on writing good programs.

1. Follow the instructions to mount your ECE filebox.
2. You should see your remote files and directories in your local system’s file manager. Create and edit files as you would if they were local.
   • Be sure to use a text editor such as notepad on Windows or TextEdit on OS X. You may also choose to use an IDE such as VisualStudio or XCode, but take care to just use the editing features: don’t create a project and don’t compile your code from within the IDE (at least at first).
3. Once you save changes you should see the same files with the same contents when you are connected to your shell account using the Unix filesystem commands (cd, ls, cat, etc.)

Working with Files on the Shell

There are two very popular text editors for Unix based systems: vim and emacs. Both are insalled on the ece2524 server and you can start either by typing their respective name and pressing ‘Enter’. The nano text editor is also installed, which is generally considered simpler than vim or emacs, but if you’re going to take the time to learn a new interface anyway pick one of the big players will get you futher in less time.

vim

The easiest way to get started learning vim is to run the tutor program

$ vimtutor

and follow along. For now, the main things you need to know are:

• vim starts in COMMAND mode.
• From COMMAND mode you can opena file by typing :o followed by the file name and then pressing Enter.
• From COMMAND mode you can enter INSERT mode by pressing ‘i’. You can use this mode to enter and edit text.
• From INSERT mode you can enter COMMAND mode by pressing Escape
• From COMMAND mode you can save by typing :w and Enter
• From COMMAND mode you can save an quit by typing :wq and pressing Enter

emacs

Rather than having separate operating modes Emacs allows you to access various editing commands and features using modifier keys. The key combinations as

• C-x meaning press Ctrl and x at the same time and
• M-x meaning press the “Meta” key and x at the same time (the “Meta” key is usually Alt on today’s keyboards).

When a letter comes after a command sequence without a - it means press it separately:

• C-x f means “Press Ctrl and x at the same time, release both keys and press f”. This will open a prompt in the mini-buffer at the bottom of the screen to enter a file name to open or create. Press Enter after type the name of the file to open and start editing it.
• C-x s will save the file displayed in the current buffer (whatever you’re looking at)
• C-x c will quit emacs

There are many online guides for learning more emacs, try starting wtih Beginner’s Guide to Emacs.

One more important tip: If you find yourself “stuck” insome command which is expecting you to type something in the mini-buffer at the bottom of the screen, but you aren’t sure what to do and don’t know how you got into that command in the first place just press C-g. C-g will always cancel the current command. Sometimes you may need to press it more than once to get back to a regular editing environment.