WS - walk file system structure, executing commands.

Syntax:

ws [Pathname=]catalog ["command"]* [option]*

+Access             +CHange
+CReate             (+|-)CaTalogs (-)
(+|-)Files (+)      (+|-)NonStructured (+)
(+|-)Privilege (-)  (+|-)Query (-)
(+|-)ReLative (-)   (+|-)ReMoveable (+)
(+|-)SUppress (-)   (+|-)Stop (+)
(+|-)Verbose (-)    Before=date
Levels=number (1)   Mode=Linked|Random (both)
Pathname=catalog (current catalog)
PathnameChar=c (&)  Since=date
Time=hh:mm

Examples:

ws
ws >filelist levels=10
ws /fred >fredfiles levels=1
ws "access mf &,delete" +verb pn=/me
ws "access mc &,modify/idallen/" "cata &*" +ct -stop
ws 'echo "% is there!"' 'time' pathc=%
ws "l & +type +file -content"

Options:

"command"|'command': is the command string to be executed on each pathname matched by WS. Several separate strings may be given to WS. If not supplied, WS simply echoes the matched pathnames.
[Pathname=]catalog: gives the starting catalog for the "walk". If not supplied, this defaults to your current catalog. The identifier "Pathname=" is optional.
+Access: uses the date of last access when selecting files by date.
Before=date: only selects files with dates before "date".
+CaTalogs: performs the given command(s) on catalogs.
-CaTalogs: does not perform the command(s) on catalogs. You may not specify both -CaTalogs and -Files.
+CHange: uses the date of last change when selecting files by date.
+CReate: uses the date of creation when selecting files by date.
+Files: performs the given command(s) on files.
-Files: does not perform the command(s) on files. You may not specify both -CaTalogs and -Files.
Levels=number: gives the depth to walk down while matching pathnames. "number" defaults to 1, but may be set from 0 to 12. Values below or above this range get set to 0 or 12, respectively. Level=0 means WS does nothing.
Mode=Linked: selects only the linked (sequential) files under a catalog.
Mode=Random: selects only the random files under a catalog.
-NonStructured: ignores "nonstructured removeable files" such as catalogued tapes.
PathnameChar=c: replaces the character "c" by the current pathname matched by WS whenever "c" is found in a command string. "c" defaults to "&", but may be set to anything.
+Privilege: lets a LODS user walk a catalog structure even if you do not have execute permissions on the structure.
+Query: displays the current pathname and waits for input. If you type "y", WS executes the command(s) on the current pathname. If you type "x", WS terminates. If you type anything else, WS does nothing with this pathname and moves to the next. If you use +Query with +Verbose, WS displays the whole expanded command instead of just the pathname.
+ReLative: expands pathnames relative to the supplied pathname. In other words, WS does not include the supplied pathname in the generated names. You could use this for copying catalogs where you only want the substructure paths. (Note that WS normally expands pathnames relative to your current catalog.)
-ReMoveable: ignores catalogs and files on structured removeable devices.
Since=date: uses only files with dates after "date".
-Stop: does not stop if an executing program aborts or terminates with an error. By default, WS quits if the command(s) it is executing encounter an error.
+SUppress: suppresses a spurious "new-line" (line-feed) before output. +SUppress can make prettier output when you are using non-standard commands.
Time=HH:MM: may be used with +CHange. Use Since= or Before= to specify a date, and Time= to specify a time on that date. Time= can only be used with +CHange since FMS does not keep time of day for creation or last access.
+Verbose: echoes each expanded command line as it is sent to the system to be executed. If you use both +Verbose and -Query, WS displays the whole set of expanded pathnames before executing any command(s).

Description:

WS "walks" through a catalog structure, executing one or more commands on each file and/or subcatalog in the catalog. More precisely, WS executes the given TSS commands one at a time, substituting the currently matched name in the given catalog into each command. Options may be used to control the depth to which WS walks the file system tree and to control whether the TSS commands are to be executed for file names, catalog names, or both. At sites where WS is installed as a privileged command, you may walk any catalog where you have execute permission. If WS is not installed as a privileged command, you can only walk catalogs under CMDLIB, LIBRARY, and your own userid.

If you do not specify any commands, WS simply displays the pathnames in the catalog. You may redirect this output into a file to get a list of files under a catalog.

WS checks for errors after each command. If an abort occurs in one of the first command strings, WS won't execute any of the remaining command strings unless you specify -Stop.