mumsh: A Mini Shell Written in C

Documentation

This project is originated from a course project in VE482 Operating System @UM-SJTU Joint Institute. In general, a mini shell called mumsh is implemented with programming language C for Unix-like machine.

Change Log

For VE482 course project version, see Releases: VE482 Project 1 or Branches: VE482.

• [2022/2/19] Add feature: Command history auto-completion with smart search

• [2022/2/15] Add feature: Tab-triggered hint and auto-completion

• [2022/2/13] Add feature: Left & right cursor switch and dynamic insert & delete

• [2022/2/12] Add feature: Dynamic current path prompt in prefix

• Future upgrade list:

  1. Handle print overflow regarding terminal size
  2. CTRL-D keyboard capture and interruption
  3. Show Git status in prefix
  4. Auto translate ~ to home path in parser

Functionalities

mumsh supports some basic shell functionalities including:

• Tab-triggered hint and auto-completion
• Command history auto-completion with smart search
• Incomplete input waiting
• Syntax error handling
• Quotation mark parsing
• Internal commands exit/pwd/cd/jobs
• I/O redirection under bash style syntax
• Arbitrarily-deep pipes running in parallel
• CTRL-C interruption
• Background jobs

In this README, the following content will be included:

0. What files are related to mumsh
1. How to build and run mumsh
2. How to play with mumsh
3. How to implement mumsh

0. Files related to mumsh

We have 4 kinds of files in this project:

• README
  • It's strongly adviced to read README.md before running mumsh or reading source code, since it may give us more sense of what mumsh is doing in each stage.
• C Source files: (in executing order)
  • mumsh.c: where main read/parse/execute loop of mumsh locates
  • io.c: handle reading command line input of mumsh
  • hinter.c: input interface with tab-triggered hint and auto-completion
  • parser.c: parse user input into formatted commands for coming execution
  • process.c: execute commands in child process according to specifications
• C header files: (hierarchy from top to bottom)
  • mumsh.h
  • io.h
  • hinter.h
  • parser.h
  • process.h: store global variables regarding process
  • data.h: store extern global variables regarding read/parse/execute loop
• makefile
  • used for quick build and clean of executable files

1. Build and Run mumsh

mumsh is only available on Unix-like machine, as some libraries are not avaiable in Windows.

• build: $ make
• run: $ ./mumsh

If everything is normal, we can see in the terminal mumsh $ , which indicates that mumsh is up and running, waiting for our input.

2. Play with mumsh

Once mumsh is up and running, we can start inputting some commands such as ls or pwd to test the basic functionalities if you have already been familiar to shell.

Of course, mumsh is only a product of a course project supporting basic functions, and yet to be improved. For its detailed ability, please check the following sections.

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2.1 Overall mumsh Grammar in Backus-­Naur Form

cmd [argv]* [| cmd [argv]* ]* [[> filename][< filename][>> filename]]* [&]

Seems abstract and maybe get a little bit confused? Let me explain a little more.

The input of mumsh can be made up of 4 components:

• command and argument: cmd, argv
• redirector and filename: <, >, >>, filename
• pipe indicator: |
• background job indicator: &

2.1.1 Command and Argument

• cmd is a must, or mumsh will raise error: missing program
• argv is optional, we can choose to call a command with arguments or not.

2.1.2 Redirector and Filename

• <, >, >> is optional, but we should input redirector along with filename
  • if any <, >, |, & instead of filename follows, mumsh will raise error: syntax error near unexpected token ...
  • if no character follows, mumsh will prompt us to keep input in newline
• > and >> can't exist in the same command, or mumsh will raise error: duplicated output redirection

2.1.3 Pipe Indicator

• | is optional, but we should input | after one command and followed by another command
  • if no command before |, mumsh will raise error: missing program
  • if no character after |, mumsh will prompt us to keep input in newline
• | is incompatible with having > or >> before it, and having < after it
  • if > or >> comes before |, mumsh will raise error: duplicated output redirection
  • if < comes after |, mumsh will raise error: duplicated input redirection

2.1.4 Background Job Indicator

• & is optional, but we should only input & at the end of input, or mumsh will ignore the character(s) after & is detected.

Now, we have our components of input to play with, and we can try it out in mumsh by assembling them into a whole input. As long as mumsh doesn't raise an error, our input syntax is valid, even though this input may give no output.

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2.2 Simple Commands

• mumsh built-in commands
  • exit: exit mumsh
  • pwd: print working directory
  • cd: change working directory
  • jobs: print background jobs status
• executable commands (call other programs to do certain jobs)
  • ls: call program /bin/ls, which print files in current working directory
  • bash: call shell /bin/bash, which is also a shell like mumsh but with more powerful capabilities
  • we can input ls /bin to see more executable commands

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2.3 I/0 Redirection (support bash style syntax)

• Input redirection

  • < filename: read from file named filename, or raise error if no filename exists

• Output redirection

  • > filename: overwrite if file named filename exists or create new file named filename
  • >> filename: append if file named filename exists or create new file named filename

• support bash style syntax

  • An arbitrary amount of space can exist between redirection symbols and arguments, starting from zero.
  • The redirection symbol can take place anywhere in the command.
  • for example: <1.txt>3.txt cat 2.txt 4.txt

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2.4 Pipe

• takes output of one command as input of another command
  • basic pipe syntax: echo 123 | grep 1
• mumsh support parallel execution: all piped commands run in parallel
  • for example: sleep 1 | sleep 1 | sleep 1 only takes 1 second to finish instead of 3 seconds
• mumsh support arbitrarily deep “cascade pipes”
  • for example: echo hello world | grep h | grep h | ... | grep h

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2.5 CTRL-C

• interrupt all executing commands in foreground with CTRL-C

• cases:

  • clear user input and prompt new line

    mumsh $ echo ^C
    mumsh $

  • interrupt single executing command

    mumsh $ sleep 10
    ^C
    mumsh $

  • interrupt multiple executing commands

    mumsh $ sleep 10 | sleep 10 | sleep 10
    ^C
    mumsh $

  • CTRL-C don't interrupt background jobs

    mumsh $ sleep 10 &
    [1] sleep 10 &
    mumsh $ ^C
    mumsh $ jobs
    [1] running sleep 10 &
    mumsh $

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2.6 CTRL-D

• if mumsh has no user input, CTRL-D will exit mumsh

  mumsh $ exit
  $

• if mumsh has user input, do nothing

  mumsh $ echo ^D

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2.7 Quotes

• mumsh takes any character between " or ' as ordinary character without special meaning.

  mumsh $ echo hello "| grep 'h' > 1.txt"
  hello | grep 'h' > 1.txt
  mumsh $

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2.8 Background Jobs

• If & is added at the end of user input, mumsh will run jobs in background instead of waiting for execution to be done.

• Command jobs can keep track on every background jobs, no matter a job is done or running

• mumsh support pipe in background jobs

  mumsh $ sleep 10 &
  [1] sleep 10 &
  mumsh $ sleep 1 | sleep 1 | sleep 1 &
  [2] sleep 1 | sleep 1 | sleep 1 &
  mumsh $ jobs
  [1] running sleep 10 &
  [2] done sleep 1 | sleep 1 | sleep 1 &
  mumsh $

• mumsh support command formatting

  mumsh $ <'i'n   c"a"t|   cat   |ech'o'  "he"llo>out  world!&
  [1] cat < in | cat | echo hello world! > out &
  mumsh $ jobs
  [1] done cat < in | cat | echo hello world! > out &
  mumsh $

3. Implement mumsh Step by Step

In this section, we will go through the construction of mumsh step by step, giving us a general concept of how this shell work. This section is intended for helping beginners (just as me a week ago) grab some basic concept for implementing a shell.

However, some contents such as detailed data structure and marginal logic will be neglected. And the demo code is used for our better understanding instead of doing copy and paste. As a result, the grammar is not strictly follow the C standard. For more detail, we can read the source code directly. It's strongly recommended to understand the concept before doing any coding.

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3.1 Main Read/Parse/Execute Loop

As we all know, a shell is a computer program which exposes an operating system's services to a human user or other program. It repeatedly takes commands from the keyboard, gives them to the operating system to perform and deliver corresponding output.

As a result, the first step for us is to have a main loop, repeatedly doing 4 things:

1. prompt mumsh $
2. read user input
3. parse input into commands
4. execute the commands

 int main(){
   while(1){
     printf("mumsh $ ");
     read_user_input();
     parser(); // let's call it parser, who parses user input into commands
     execute_cmds();
   }
 }

Now we have the basic structure of a shell, but you may notice that it runs forever. As a result, we need a exit-checking funtion in the main loop. If users want to exit the shell, they can just input the command exit and that's it, our shell just exit.

Assume we've already parsed user input into command cmd (we will talk about how to do implement simple parser with Finite State Machinein Section 3.5, we have

void check_cmd_exit(){
   if (strcmp(cmd, "exit") == 0) exit(0);
}

int main(){
  while(1){
    printf("mumsh $ ");
    read_user_input();
    parser();
    check_cmd_exit(); // if user input "exit", exit here
    execute_cmds();
  }
}

3.1.1 A Question Remains

You may argue that this exit-checking funtion can be in the part of execute_cmds(). Of course we can do that, but personally I perfer put it in the main loop. And the reason for this is exactly what makes the most important part: how is a command executed in the shell?

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3.2 Execute a Command: fork() and execvp() System Calls

3.2.1 What is a System Call?

First, what is a system call? In Linux manual page, it writes

"The system call is the fundamental interface between an application and the Linux kernel."

Basically, if we want our computer program requests a service from the kernal of the operating system, we use system call.

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3.2.2 Execute a Command in a Right Way

Just to recap, when we input ls in shell, the shell calls the program /bin/ls. More precisely, the shell asks the kernal of the operating system to execute the program /bin/ls.

To do so, we have to use execvp(), which is a system call under the library <unistd.h>, and it "replaces the current process image with a new process image". When execvp() is executed, the program file given by the first argument will be loaded into the caller's address space and over-write the program there.

For example, once the program we call (e.g. /bin/ls) starts its execution, the original program in the caller's address space (mumsh) is gone and is replaced by the new program (/bin/ls). Here "gone" means our mumsh just somehow vanished, the only program left is /bin/ls. Once /bin/ls finishes its jobs, nothing will be left.

Apparently, this should never happen for a shell to run normally. We still need our shell up and running! As a result, we use another system call: fork().

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3.2.3 What is a Process and Why fork() before execvp()

But before getting into fork(), let's first talk about process.

In Linux, a process is any active (running) instance of a program. But what is a program? Well, technically, a program is any executable file held in storage on your machine.

Aforementioned execvp() system call just replace one program with another in a process, but it doesn't create a new process to make both programs execute at the same time. And here comes the fork() system call.

The fork() system call "creates a new process by duplicating the calling process. The new process is referred to as the child process. The calling process is referred to as the parent process." In this case, if we execute /bin/ls in child process, our mumsh process won't vanish.

Now, we have everything prepared:

1. use fork() system call to create a child process
2. use execvp() system call to execute the program in child process

For more detailed documentations, we can check Linux manual page.

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3.2.3.1 Reference: fork() System Call

fork() - create a child process

Description

• creates a new process by duplicating the calling process

  #include <unistd.h>
  pid_t fork(void);

Return value

• On success
  • the PID of the child process is returned in the parent
  • 0 is returned in the child
• On failure
  • -1 is returned in the parent
  • no child process is created
  • errno is set to indicate the error

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3.2.3.2 Reference: execvp() System Call

execvp - execute a filename

Description

• replaces the current process image with a new process image

  #include <unistd.h>
  int execvp(const char *file, char *const argv[]);

Arguments

• file: pointer point to the filename associated with the file being executed
• argv: an array of pointers to null-terminated strings that represent the argument list available to the new program Return value
• On success: no return
• On failure
  • return -1 if an error has occurred
  • errno is set to indicate the error

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3.2.4 Basic Construction of fork() and execvp()

Following the documents, we now can construct the basic fork and execute structure.

void execute_cmds(){
  pid_t pid = fork(); // fork() system call
  // child and parent process reach here
  if (pid == 0) {
    // child process starts here
    execvp(cmd, argv); // execvp() system call
    // child process won't reach here!
  } else {
  // parent process jumps here
  }
}

You may ask why the child process can't procceed after execvp(), and that's because execvp() system call have a unique feature: it never return if no error occurs. Basically, it

• replace the program of caller (duplicated instance mumsh) on child process created by fork() with any program we call
• the program we call is up and running in that child process
• the child process terminated as the program finishes its execution

Now that the child process is gone, of course child process will never run the code after execvp(). What only left is the parent process mumsh.

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3.3 Built-in Commands

Still remember there's a question left in 3.1.1? Why do I put check_cmd_exit() outside of execute_cmds() in main loop? That's because exit is a built-in command.

void check_cmd_exit(){
  if (strcmp(cmd, "exit") == 0) {
    exit(0); // exit the parent process
  }
}

int main(){
  while(1){
    read_user_input();
    parser();
    check_cmd_exit(); // if user input "exit", exit here
    execute_cmds();
  }
}

For normal commands like ls and pwd, our shell execute commands by calling other programs, which happens in the child process after we fork(). However, our exit is a built-in command which we implement ourselves!

Obviously, exit should happen in parent process, because we want to exit mumsh once and for all instead of shutting down a duplicated instance of mumsh running in child process.

Similarly, we can implement command cd (change working directory) as built-in command in parent process. If we accidentally run cd in child process, we change working directory for child mumsh instead of parent mumsh. In that case, nothing changes after child process is exited.

void check_cmd_cd(){
  if (strcmp(cmd, "cd") == 0) {
    chdir(argv); // chdir() system call
  }
}

int main(){
  while(1){
    read_user_input();
    parser();
    check_cmd_exit();
    check_cmd_cd(); // if user input "cd", change working directory here
    execute_cmds();
  }
}

To be clear, built-in commands are not equal or related to commands run in parent process, they are totally separate things. Here built-in commands are just oppsite to commands that call other programs.

For example, We can still make our built-in commands like pwd running in child process, and it has 2 advantages:

• firstly pwd doesn't tamper with parent process: it just print something and that's it. Putting it in child process doesn't change its output.
• and secondly, if pwd runs in the child process, we can do more fancy operations such as making it parts of a pipe or making it a background job.

void check_cmd_pwd(){
  if (strcmp(cmd, "pwd") == 0) {
    getcwd(buffer, BUFFER_SIZE); // getcwd() system call
    printf("%s\n", buffer);
    exit(0); // in child process now, don't forget to exit!
  }
}

void execute_cmds(){
  pid_t pid = fork();
  if (pid == 0) {
    check_cmd_pwd(); // if user input "pwd", print working directory here
    execvp(cmd, argv);
  }
}

Until now, the basic structure of mumsh has been constructed.

void check_cmd_cd(){
  if (strcmp(cmd, "cd") == 0) {
    chdir(argv); // chdir() system call
  }
}

void check_cmd_exit(){
  if (strcmp(cmd, "exit") == 0) {
    exit(0); // exit parent process
  }
}

void check_cmd_pwd(){
  if (strcmp(cmd, "pwd") == 0) {
    getcwd(buffer, BUFFER_SIZE); // getcwd() system call
    printf("%s\n", buffer);
    exit(0); // exit child process
  }
}

void execute_cmds(){
  pid_t pid = fork(); // fork() system call
  if (pid == 0) { // child process
    check_cmd_pwd();
    execvp(cmd, argv); // execvp() system call
  }
}

int main(){
  while(1){
    read_user_input();
    parser();
    check_cmd_exit();
    check_cmd_cd();
    execute_cmds();
  }
}

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3.4 Monitor Our Children: waitpid() System Call

However, there's one more thing to do after we create a child process and run a program on it, which is, monitoring our child process.

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3.4.1 A Simple Metaphor

To be a qualified parent in real world, we should take care of our children. Let's say we have a child playing badminton on the field, we as parent, have simply 3 choices:

1. do nothing and wait for the child until he is done
2. do our own stuff and pick the child up after he is done
3. do our own stuff and leave the child alone forever

In this metaphor, the child is a child process, the parent is mumsh parent process, and playing badminton is execution of a program. The 3 choices are correspondingly:

1. parent process is blocked to wait the child process to exit
2. parent process is unblocked and wait the child process to exit sometime in future
3. parent process is unblocked and don't give a sh*t about the status of child process

Apparently, our mumsh is a caring parent, so we should choose option 1 or 2.

In both options, we say the child process is reaped by the parent process, and the only difference is we wait blockingly or not when the child process is executing.

To make us a good parent, waitpid() system call is needed.

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3.4.2 Reference: waitpid() System Call

waitpid() - wait for process to change state

Description

• Suspends execution of the calling thread until a child specified by pid argument has changed state

  #include <sys/wait.h>
  pid_t waitpid(pid_t pid, int *wstatus, int options);

Arguments

• pid
  • > 0: wait for the child whose process ID is equal to the value of pid
  • 0: wait for any child process whose process group ID is equal to that of the calling process at the time of the call to waitpid()
  • -1: wait for any child process
  • < -1: wait for any child process whose process group ID is equal to the absolute value of pid
• wstatus: int pointer pointing to the int that stores status information
• options
  • 0: by default, waits only for terminated children
  • WNOHANG: return immediately if no child has exited
  • WUNTRACED: also return if a child has stopped
  • ...

Return value

• On success
  • the PID of the child process is returned in the parent
  • 0 is returned in the child
• On failure
  • -1 is returned in the parent
  • no child process is created
  • errno is set to indicate the error

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3.4.3 Reaping Child Process Blockingly

Following the document, with waitpid system call and WUNTRACED argument, we now can construct the complete fork-execute-wait structure.

void execute_cmds(){
  pid_t pid = fork(); // fork() system call
  if (pid == 0) { // child process
    check_cmd_pwd();
    execvp(cmd, argv); // execvp() system call
  }
  // parent wait here until child exit or interrupted
  waitpid(pid, NULL, WUNTRACED);
}

Tips: command sleep is useful to observe blocking. Try sleep 5 for sleeping 5 seconds!

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3.4.4 Reaping Child Process Unblockingly

Similarly, with waitpid system call and WNOHANG argument, if a child died, its pid will be returned, and if nothing died, then 0 will be returned. In both case, waitpid will run and return immediately instead of waiting blockingly.

In mumsh, mumsh will try to reap all background processes within function reap_background_jobs() once users trigger a next input by pressing ENTER or interrupt with CTRL-C. For more details regarding background jobs handling, please refer to Section 3.6. The sample code is given as followed:

void reap_background_jobs(){
  // try to reap all background processes no matter running or done
  for (size_t i = 0; i < background_jobs_count; i++){
    waitpid(-1, NULL, WNOHANG); // reap only dead child process
  }
}

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3.5 Simple Parser via Finite State machine

In Section 3.2, we assumed that we already parsed user input into command cmd and execute. Now, it's time for us to implement a parser for real!

(If you are currently a VE482 student, I suggest you to start early on milestone 1 and put more attentions on parser. Without a properly-organized parser, you would suffer a lot from refactoring your code in the future milestones)

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3.5.0 A Simple Test for Brain-parsing Commands

The command formats are mentioned in Section 2.1, please check first if you are not familar with the concept.

Task:

1. Given a simple command below, please describe in what ways our brain is parsing the commands

   echo hello < 1.in world > 1.out &

2. Given a cascade command below, please describe in what ways your brain is parsing

   echo hello world | cat | cat | cat | grep hello

3. Given a complicated command below, please describe in what ways our brain is parsing

   "echo" hello'  <  "'world'"  |  'cat  >  '3.out'

Please think for yourself first and then check whether it matches the following strategies:

1. Searching for keywords >,<, then check the first cluster after it
2. Searching for whitespace to separate arguments in left and right
3. Searching for | to separate commands in left and right
4. Searching for ",' and another quotes close to each other

Unfortunately, if you choose any of the strategy listed above, you might be on a wrong track.

Our brain indeed works fast on identifying keywords like <,>,| or separating arguments by whitespace in the middle, however, they might have no meaning in a command.

For example,

• echo hello ">" 1.out < 1.in just print hello > 1.out on the screen instead of doing output redirection
• echo "hello' 'world" only print one argument hello' 'world instead of hello and world

As a result, it doesn't work if we are trying to match something in the middle of a command, at least for supporting quotes. And here comes our savior: Finite State Machine.

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3.5.1 What is a Finite State Machine?

(If you are a JI student, you should be familiar with FSM at least in VE270!)

According to Google searching results, A Finite State Machine, or FSM, is

a computation model that can be used to simulate sequential logic, or, in other words, to represent and control execution flow. Finite State Machines can be used to model problems in many fields, including mathematics, artificial intelligence, games or linguistics.

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3.5.2 How is a Finite State Machine in mumsh Parser?

From above descriptions, the most important term is simulate sequential logic, which means, we start from the leftmost character and read one by one to the rightmost character.

For above command echo hello ">" 1.out < 1.in, please follow the steps:

1. we read in e and we write on paper: we have e
2. we read in c and we write on paper: we have ec
3. we read in h and we write on paper: we have ech
4. we read in o and we write on paper: we have echo

Here comes the critical part,

5. we read in white space, and we say: "Nice! echo is the first argument".

But wait, some critical questions comes:

• How do you know the echo is the whole string?
• Can we have white space in a command? Perhaps the first command is something like echo twice?
• How do you know the echo is the argument?
• Can echo be a redirection filename?

The answer is obvious, we haven't meet ', " and >, >>, < yet. If I have implemented a built-in command, which is called echo twice, then user should input "echo twice" in command line instead of echo twice, otherwise, twice will be treated as argument and echo will be treat as command. If echo is filename, then we must have meet a redirector.

For now, we can conclude some useful knowledge

• every character including whitespace is an ordinary character without special meaning between quotes
• whitespace indicate the end of a argument outside of quotes
• If we don't meet a redirector, then the string is an argument.

(The command to parse: echo hello ">" 1.out < 1.in)

Back to step 5, our question is solved, echo indeed is the first argument. As we keep moving, similarly, we can find

6. hello is the second argument.

After that, we read a double quote ", with above knowledge, you say:" Aha! I meet a double quote, let's just keep reading every characters until I meet another double quote"". As a result, we know

7. a single char > as the third argument

As we keep moving, since no "true" redirector has been meet, we know

8. 1.out is the fourth argument

Suddenly, we read in a < and you say:" Aha! Last two quotes are matched! We are outside of quotation marks." As a result,

9. < is a sign of input redirection.

According to the grammars, we need a filename to perform redirection. So you take a note on the paper: "I need a filename." Now, whatever we read in next is a filename instead of a argument. Then, we find 1.in, and we know

10. 1.in is a filename for input redirection.

Finally, we read in \n, which is the newline inputted by pressing ENTER in keyboard, indicating our parsing process comes to an end... or... maybe not?! Consider following cases, what if the command is imcomplete:

• The quotation marks are not closed? e.g. echo "hello
• No filename after < or > outside the quotes? e.g. echo hello >
• No argument after | outside the quotes? e.g. echo hello |

Or what if... we have a rookie user who is messing up with our input with wrong grammar:

• Syntax error: e.g. echo > <
• Duplicated output direction: e.g. echo > out | cat
• Missing program: e.g. | cat
• ......

Actually, the answer to the questions are all hiden in FSM. For FSM, we have different states to jump from one another according to the condition. Here condition is defined by the character we meet now, and states are defined as different roles toward a character. Once we find some unexpected behaviors which are not defined in our FSM, then we raise an error.

For reference, the following FSM defines states and state transitions of a simple strong parser.

You may notice that the pipe mark | and background jobs indicator & are absent in the above FSM. But once we figure this methodology out, it's nothing big deal but adding a few state transitions.

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3.5.3 Implement FSM with Code

Commonly, we can use while loop together with switch case to switch states of FSM. However, for mumsh, we use for loop with if else branch to switch conditions. Both of the implementation can serve the needs of a FSM parser.

(Considering code reuse, the source code of mumsh is a little bit different from the following demo structure.)

extern char user_input[BUFFER_SIZE];

void parser(){
  for (size_t i = 0; i < BUFFER_SIZE; i++) {
    if (FSM.in_quotation){
      if (user_input[i] == '\''){
        // do something and switch state
      } else if (user_input[i] == '\"'){
        // do something and switch state
      } else {
        // do something and switch state
      }
    } else {
      if (user_input[i] == ' '){
        // do something and switch state
      } else if (user_input[i] == '<'){
        // do something and switch state
      } else if (user_input[i] == '>'){
        // do something and switch state
      } else if (user_input[i] == '|'){
        // do something and switch state
      } else if (user_input[i] == '\''){
        // do something and switch state
      } else if (user_input[i] == '\"'){
        // do something and switch state
      } else if (user_input[i] == '&'){
        // do something and switch state
      } else {
        // do something and switch state
      }
    }
  }
}

In mumsh, we keep the state and condition information in a parser struct, which is used as a local variable in parser():

typedef struct parser {
  size_t buffer_len;        // char buffer length
  int is_src;               // input redirection state
  int is_dest;              // output redirection state
  int is_pipe;              // in pipe condition indicator
  int in_single_quote;      // in single quote condition indicator
  int in_double_quote;      // in double quote condition indicator
  char buffer[BUFFER_SIZE]; // char buffer
} parser_t;

In mumsh, we save the command-related information in a cmd struct, which is used as an external global variable in various such as execute_cmds() and check_cmd_xx() :

typedef struct token {
  size_t argc;                // argument count
  char* argv[TOKEN_SIZE];     // argument list
} token_t;

typedef struct cmd {
  size_t cnt;                 // command count
  int background;             // background job indicator
  int read_file;              // input redirection indicator
  int write_file;             // output redirection indicator
  int append_file;            // append mode indicator
  char src[BUFFER_SIZE];      // input redirection filename
  char dest[BUFFER_SIZE];     // output redirection filename
  token_t cmds[COMMAND_SIZE]; // command list
} cmd_t;

extern cmd_t cmd;

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3.6 Background Jobs Handling

In Section 3.4.4, we briefly talk about the mechanism of reaping background process, which is trying to reap all background processes within function reap_background_jobs() once users trigger a next input by pressing ENTER or interrupt with CTRL-C.

To implement built-in command jobs, we have to design a more reasonable data structure to:

• store the input commands ended with &
• store whether a background process is running or done

Also, this data structure should be flexible in size, because in this project, all the previous background jobs status should be printed out by jobs command. And here comes our job table, implemented by struct job, which type name is job_t.

#define JOBS_CAPACITY 1024 // job table capacity

typedef struct job {
  size_t bg_cnt;      // number of processes running in background
  size_t job_cnt;     // number of all background processes
  size_t table_size;  // size of job table
  size_t* stat_table; // status of a background command
  pid_t** pid_table;  // table of all background process ID
  char** cmd_table;   // table of all formatted background command
} job_t;

For example, in the following cases,

mumsh $ sleep 10 | sleep 10 &
[1] sleep 10 | sleep 10 &
mumsh $ sleep 1 &
[2] sleep 1 &
mumsh $ jobs
[1] running sleep 10 | sleep 10 &
[2] done sleep 1 &

• bg_cnt = 2

• job_cnt = 3

• table_size = 2

• stat_table

  index	status
  [1]	running
  [2]	done

• pid_table

  index	pid	pid
  [1]	88100	88101
  [2]	88102

• cmd_table

  Index	Command
  [1]	sleep 10 | sleep 10 &
  [2]	sleep 1 &

With this job table data structure, we can easily handle the background jobs.

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3.7 Redirection and Pipe

In this section, we are going to build the redirection and pipe using dup2() and pipe() system call.

The nature of redirection and pipe is actually the same: the direction of input and output stream are changed:

1. With a redirection, the stdin or stdout changes to a file
2. With a pipe, the stdout of the former command becomes the stdin of the latter command.

To do this, we should first get familiar with file desciptor.

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3.7.1 File Desciptor

According to Wikipedia,

A file descriptor (FD) is a unique identifier (handle) for a file or other input/output resource. File descriptors typically have non-negative integer values, with negative values being reserved to indicate "no value" or error conditions.

For each process, 3 standard file descriptors are given, corresponding to the 3 standard streams:

Integer value	Name	<unistd.h> symbolic constant	<stdio.h> file stream
0	Standard input	STDIN_FILENO	stdin
1	Standard output	STDOUT_FILENO	stdout
2	Standard error	STDERR_FILENO	stderr

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3.7.2 Redirection using dup2() System Call

With the knowledge of file desciptor, what if we adjust the original file desciptor so that it now refers to a new open file?

For example, if we change stdout file desciptor to let it represent a specified file, the output stream will be redirected to this specified file instead of stdout, and that's how dup2() system call works.

dup2() - duplicate a file descriptor

Description

• The dup2() system call allocates a new file descriptor newfd that refers to the same open file description as the descriptor oldfd

  #include <unistd.h>
  int dup2(int oldfd, int newfd);

Arguments

• newfd: new file descriptor to be allocated
• oldfd: old file descriptor to be referred

Return value

• On success: return the new file descriptor
• On failure
  • -1 is returned
  • errno is set to indicate the error

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3.7.3 Create a pipe using pipe() System Call

For the pipe, the case is a little bit more complicated. We can't just dup2(STDIN_FILENO, STDOUT_FILENO), because it works only for one process, and it makes no sense making my output to my input.

As a result, we need something serving as an "intermediate" between two processes for data transfer. Here comes the pipe and pipe() system call.

pipe() - create pipe

Description

• pipe() creates a pipe, a unidirectional data channel that can be used for interprocess communication
• Data written to the write end of the pipe is buffered by the kernel until it is read from the read end of the pipe.

  #include <unistd.h>
  int pipe(int pipefd[2]);

Arguments

• The array pipefd is used to return two file descriptors referring to the ends of the pipe:
  • pipefd[0] refers to the read end of the pipe
  • pipefd[1] refers to the write end of the pipe

Return value

• On success: zero is returned
• On failure
  • -1 is returned
  • errno is set to indicate the error
  • pipefd is left unchanged

The rest of the coding is really simple:

1. First, we create an array storing file descriptor for each process

   int pipe_fd[PROCESS_SIZE][2];  // store pipe file descriptor for piping

2. Second, for each process, connect the previous and next with pipe:

• For the left pipe i-1:
  • Close the wirte end
  • adjust stdin to the read end
• For the right pipe i
  • close the read end
  • adjust stdout to the write end.

Below is the sketch and code for better understanding.

[process i-1] -> {write end <- pipe i-1 -> read end} <- [process i] -> {write end <- pipe i -> read end} <- [process i+1] -> ...

#define READ_END 0
#define WRITE_END 1

// pipe at the left of the current command
close(pipe_fd[i - 1][READ_END]);
dup2(pipe_fd[i - 1][READ_END], STDIN_FILENO);

// pipe at the right of the current command
close(pipe_fd[i][READ_END]);
dup2(pipe_fd[i][READ_END], STDOUT_FILENO);