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doc/Commands.md: add and improve sections about command syntax

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Pragmatic Software 2020-05-31 18:12:59 -07:00
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<!-- md-toc-begin -->
* [Command interpreter](#command-interpreter)
* [Command invocation](#command-invocation)
* [Addressing output to users](#addressing-output-to-users)
* [Inline invocation](#inline-invocation)
* [Chaining](#chaining)
* [Piping](#piping)
* [Substitution](#substitution)
* [Chaining](#chaining)
* [Variables](#variables)
* [Inline invocation](#inline-invocation)
* [Background processing](#background-processing)
* [Types of commands](#types-of-commands)
* [Built-in commands](#built-in-commands)
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## Command interpreter
PBot has a powerful command interpreter with useful functionality.
### Command invocation
There are a number of ways to invoke commands with PBot.
The syntax of PBot's commands largely follow Unix/POSIX conventions.
A single command's syntax is:
<keyword> [arguments]
`<keyword>` is one token containing no whitespace, and is required as denoted by the angle brackets.
`[arguments]` is a list of tokens which can be quoted to contain whitespace, and is optional as denoted by the square brackets.
We will refer to this as `<command>` throughout this documentation.
The most straight-forward way to invoke a command is:
<bot trigger> <command>
`<bot trigger>` is the bot's trigger sequence, defined in the `general.trigger` registry setting
(defined to be the exclamation mark by default).
Example:
<pragma-> !echo hi
<PBot> hi
You can also prefix or postfix address PBot by its nickname:
<bot nick> <command>
<command> <bot nick>
Examples:
<pragma-> PBot: hello
<PBot> Hi there, pragma-
<pragma-> bye, PBot
<PBot> Good-bye, pragma-
### Addressing output to users
There are a number of ways to address command output to users.
You can use the `tell` keyword:
tell <nickname> (about|the) <command>
Examples:
<pragma-> !tell dave about echo Testing
<PBot> dave: Testing
<pragma-> !tell mike the time
<PBot> It's Sun 31 May 2020 06:03:08 PM PDT in Los Angeles.
You can use the `give` keyword:
give <nickname> <command>
Examples:
<pragma-> !give dave echo Testing
<PBot> dave: Testing
<pragma-> !give mike time
<PBot> It's Sun 31 May 2020 06:03:08 PM PDT in Los Angeles.
You can use [#inline-invocation](inline invocation), as well -- see the next section.
### Inline invocation
You can invoke up to three commands inlined within a message. If the message
is addressed to a nick, the output will also be addressed to them.
The syntax for inline invocation is:
[nickname:] [text] <bot trigger>{ <command> } [text]
`[nickname:]` may optionally be prefixed to the message to address the command output to them.
`[text]` is optional message text that is ignored.
`<bot trigger>` is the bot's command trigger; which defaults to the exclamation mark (!).
`<command>` is the command to invoke.
Example:
<pragma-> newuser13: Check the !{version} and the !{help} documentation.
<PBot> newuser13: PBot version 2696 2020-01-04
<PBot> newuser13: To learn all about me, see https://github.com/pragma-/pbot/tree/master/doc
### Chaining
You can execute multiple commands sequentially as one command.
The syntax for chaining is:
<command> ;;; <command> [...]
Example:
<pragma-> !echo Test! ;;; me smiles. ;;; version
<PBot> Test! * PBot smiles. PBot version 2696 2020-01-04
### Piping
You can pipe output from one command as input into another command, indefinitely.
The syntax for piping is:
<command> | { <command> } [...]
Example:
<pragma-> !echo hello world | {sed s/world/everybody/} | {uc}
<PBot> HELLO EVERYBODY
@ -124,17 +235,21 @@ You can pipe output from one command as input into another command, indefinitely
You can insert the output from another command at any point within a command. This
substitutes the command with its output at the point where the command was used.
The syntax for substitution is:
<command &{ <command> } >
Example:
<pragma-> !echo This is &{echo a demonstration} of command substitution
<PBot> This is a demonstration of command substitution
For example, suppose you want to make a Google Image Search command. The naive
way would be to simply do:
Suppose you want to make a Google Image Search command. The naive way would be to simply do:
<pragma-> !factadd img /call echo https://google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=$args
Unfortuately this would not support queries containing spaces or certain symbols. But
never fear! We can use command substitution and the `uri_escape` function from the
`func` command.
Unfortuately this would not support queries containing spaces or certain symbols. To fix this,
We can use command substitution and the `uri_escape` function from the `func` command.
Note that you must escape the command substitution to insert it literally into the
factoid otherwise it will be expanded first.
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<pragma-> !img spaces & stuff
<PBot> https://google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=spaces%20%26%20stuff
### Chaining
You can execute multiple commands sequentially as one command.
<pragma-> !echo Test! ;;; me smiles. ;;; version
<PBot> Test! * PBot smiles. PBot version 2696 2020-01-04
### Variables
You can use factoids as variables and interpolate them within commands.
@ -164,14 +273,6 @@ combine their effects.
<pragma-> !echo $greeting:uc
<PBot> HELLO, WORLD
### Inline invocation
You can invoke up to three commands inlined within a message. If the message
is addressed to a nick, the output will also be addressed to them.
<pragma-> newuser13: Check the !{version} and the !{help} documentation.
<PBot> newuser13: PBot version 2696 2020-01-04
<PBot> newuser13: To learn all about me, see https://github.com/pragma-/pbot/tree/master/doc
### Background processing
Any command can be flagged to be executed as a background process. For example, suppose you
make a Plugin that has a command that may potentially take a long time to complete, which could

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<!-- md-toc-begin -->
* [Commands](Commands.md#commands)
* [Command interpreter](Commands.md#command-interpreter)
* [Command invocation](Commands.md#command-invocation)
* [Addressing output to users](Commands.md#addressing-output-to-users)
* [Inline invocation](Commands.md#inline-invocation)
* [Chaining](Commands.md#chaining)
* [Piping](Commands.md#piping)
* [Substitution](Commands.md#substitution)
* [Chaining](Commands.md#chaining)
* [Variables](Commands.md#variables)
* [Inline invocation](Commands.md#inline-invocation)
* [Background processing](Commands.md#background-processing)
* [Types of commands](Commands.md#types-of-commands)
* [Built-in commands](Commands.md#built-in-commands)