Task Selection window
    
    
	Task Selection window
	 
	
	  This Task Selection entry box has two main functions:
	
- If a task is entered without any special character
	    (e.g., *, or ?) then a match is attempted on the taskname
	    which was entered. 
	     - If a perfect match between
		  the entered string, and a taskname for an FTOOL is
		  found, then the code will 
		attempt to launch this task as explained below. 
	       
-  If no perfect match is found between the input string
		and the known tasks, then the code will
		attempt to execute the command in a system shell, under
		the assumption that the user is attempting to execute a
		command which exists in the user's path which is NOT an
		FTOOL, e.g. "ls". Note that all output from the
		executed command will go to an
		"Output
		  Log" (which can be viewed) and the name of the
		executed command will be entered into the 
		"Executed tasks"
		window just as it would for a valid FTOOL. If the user
		wishes to view the output from a command all
		that is necessary is to select it from the executed
		tasks list displayed in the "Executed tasks"
		window. All output from the command will appear 
		in the displayed "Output Log".
	    
 
	   
- If special characters are used
	    in the entered string, 
	    i.e., * for a wild card to match
	      any character or number of characters, or 
	     ? to match any one character, then a 
	    global search is activated which searches all known FTOOLS
	    as well as their one-line descriptions for matches to the
	    input pattern. If any matches are found, than all matches
	    are displayed in the "flaunch" window's listbox which
	    display's "TASKS". This allows the user to then examine each
	    tool to find the one that best suits his need. Thus if the
	    user were to input
	
	If the name given matchs a known ftools
	    task, e.g.: 
	
	 
	
	
- What happens next depends upon which Ftool was
	    entered. If the 
	    Ftools is truly an Ftool, i.e., one with an independent
	    parameter file (like saextrct), then a 
	    Parameter Editing Window 
	    is displayed for the task entered. However, if the
	    Ftools entered is 
	    actually a Perl script (like chantrans), or a Tcl script (like
	    fv) then an Interactive Window
	    is spawned in which the command 
	    is run. This allows the user to interact with the command
	    which was spawned. Actually, ANY command can be executed this
	    way.  
	
	
	
	If wildcards are used,
	e.g.:
	
	
	- Then the code performs a global search upon the input
	    string, in the example the user entered "*hist*" which means
	    that they want 
	    to see all tools in which the pattern "hist" appears in their
	    name, or in their one-line description which is available. 
	   
- Once this search is performed, the results are displayed
	    in the original "flaunch" window
	    so that the user can now (by using the mouse) examine each
	    tool for the desired behavior.
	
 
	- We see that the first three tools listed, i.e.,
	    sishist, f2dhisto, and fhisto, contain the desired pattern
	    "hist" in their name. 
	   
- The remaining three tools listed (sisclean, fim2lst, and
	    fcurve) have the desired pattern in their one-line
	    description. (We can see this from the one-line description
	    given for the selected tool, fcurve, at the bottom of the
	    display window. 
	
	
	
	If single character wildcards are
	    used, e.g.:
	
	
	- Then the code performs a global search upon the input
	    string, in the example the user entered "?curve" which means
	    that they want 
	    to see all tools in which the pattern "_curve" appears in their
	    name, or in their one-line description which is
	    available. That is to say that any word having 6
	    characters in which the last 5 are "curve" would match
	    this input.
	   
- Once this search is performed, the results are displayed
	    in the original "flaunch" window
	    so that the user can now (by using the mouse to select
	    each tool - only a single click of Button-1) examine each
	    tool for the desired behavior. Once a tool is selected it
	    can be "launched" either via a double click of Button-1 on
	    the desired item, or selecting the "Go" button to "launch"
	    the "high-lighted" tool. 
	
 
	- We see that there are only two matches to this
	    pattern, lcurve and fcurve, both ftools. 
	   
-  There are no other tools in which the pattern
	    "_curve" appears in their one-line help.
	
	  
	  INDEX
	
	Brian
	    K. Elza 
	
	
Last modified: Mon Jul 28 14:49:20 EDT