Command entry bar for terminal

This seems like such a silly question, but ...

I was wondering if there was a terminal program (or a way to make this happen in Terminal.app) where you would enter the terminal commands at the BOTTOM of the screen, say in a separate input field or text box, as opposed to starting at the top of the screen, then working your way down as you enter your commands and the output of those commands are fulfilled.

Possible?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

-Andre
KC0MMY

I think I understand what you want. If I have it correctly, you want your prompt at the bottom of the bash window. If so, you can add the following to your .bash_profile to achieve this: It's not perfect - if you clear the screen, the prompt returns to the top. It's a start though.

There is dterm in the Appstore.
Mac App Store - DTerm

It is meant to be used with the Finder.

vansmith:

Not EXACTLY what I was looking for, but it DOES work. Thanks!

IvanLasston: Really not what I was looking for. HOWEVER, I'll keep the app on my system as it does look like it would be useful for other things. So, thanks for pointing the link out to me.

The only thing that would make this BETTER, is if I could still see the cursor and the command that I'm typing while scrolling back on the screen. So, another words, whether I'm scrolling up or down on the screen, the cursor and the current command(s) that I'm typing in would stay at the bottom of the screen.

-Andre

What is your ultimate goal here? As commands execute - the output goes above as you say. Other than when you first start a terminal - your prompt will stay at the bottom as you say. Do you want to be able to operate on previous commands off of some other output? Why do you need to see a command when looking at an output? Do you have an example of a use model?

One thing you could do is use | and tee to put your outputs into a file - and use a terminal to view that file. Something like
That will scroll the last parts of foo.txt as it gets appended via tee or pipe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tee_(command)

IvanLasston:

Ultimately, what I'm trying to do is control a TNC via terminal. I'm a ham radio operator and am using a PK-232 MBX, which is capable of using multiple digital "modes" over the air.

Since TimeWave, the manufacturer of the modem, doesn't make a program for Mac OS X (at least not that I'm aware of), I've just decided to use the terminal.

So, what I would LIKE to do is ... I guess essentially a window with the output taking up the majority of the screen, and then having another text box-like field to enter the commands.

I used a similar product in Windows called WinPack that had a setup like this, but I'd rather not boot up into my Windows VM, if possible. Here's a sample shot of what it looks like:



I know there are other programs out there that would eliminate the need for what I want to do, but it eliminates the use of the TNC, which is NOT what I want to do. it's a pretty robust piece of equipment, and I'd rather have the modem do the work as opposed to the machine. It's easier for me just to type in a couple of commands to switch modes as opposed to going to menus, drop downs, et cetera.

I DO use the TNC in windows, but mainly for automated tasks, which requires very little user intervention on my part.

I hope I've made things a bit clearer ... but probably not, eh?

Thanks for your help, guys!

-Andre

Now, something like oTerminal in the App store might work IF I could use it with a USB-Serial adapter, which doesn't appear to be possible.

Okay. I FOUND a program that suits my needs. It's called CoolTerm, and is compatible with Lion. It's a free program and seems to have exactly what I need and more. Here's the link:

Roger Meier's Freeware

Scroll down to CoolTerm and you can download the program for Mac, Windows or Linux.

My ONLY problem upon initial testing is that I cannot, for whatever reason, pass the Control-D command to my TNC, which stops it from transmitting. It's probably just a setting in the program, but I'm not sure. I'll do some more research and play around with it. It certainly fits the bill.