MK_CMDS(1)

💖 MK_CMDS 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because we're talking about mk_cmds — the error table compiler from the General Commands Manual. yes it's a whole thing and yes you're gonna slay it 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

mk_cmds file

like that's it. one little file argument and we're off 🦋

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so what does mk_cmds actually do, you ask? it takes a table that lists command names plus their associated help messages, and it turns that whole vibe into a C source file that's suitable for use with the ss(3) library. it's giving compiler, it's giving translator, it's giving main character energy ✨

lowkey important: the source file name must end with a suffix of .ct. no .ct, no deal, bestie 🙈

the file is made up of a declaration that supplies the name of the command table:

command_table name

...and then it's followed by entries that look exactly like this:

[ request | unimplemented ] name, " string "[, abbrev]...;

and then a final

end

to indicate the end of the table. periodt. 👑

so after all that, a C source file is generated, and you should compile and link it with the object files use the ss library. (that's literally what the page says, i'm not making it up 🫶)

also!! a # in the source file is treated as a comment character, and all the remaining text to the end of the source line gets ignored. so go off with your comments, they will not be perceived 💀

😭 BUGS 😭

ok so here's the tea and it's a little messy. since the original mk_cmds uses a very simple parser based on yacc(1), and this current version of mk_cmds uses an awk/sed combination of scripts, its error recovery leaves much to be desired. not me exposing the whole thing but fr fr, that's what it says 🌈

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

• ss (3) — go read it, bestie, iykyk 📖

and that's the whole page, diva. this absolute icon came to you courtesy of E2FSPROGS, dated 2003, and no cap it's still out here doing its thing. mwah 💖✨🎀