Description
Part A
This assignment helps you learn about processes and basic process management in a shell. You are asked to write a simple shell program
called minish. This shell must work as follows. When you start your mini shell, it prints the following prompt and waits for a command
from user.
minish>
From here onwards, you should be able to execute and control any binary executable just as you would in a normal shell. For instance
minish> Command
[ OUTPUT OF COMMAND SHOWN HERE ]
minish>
Additionally, your shell should be able to do the following:
1. Execute commands with multiple arguments. For example:
minish> Command arg1 arg2 arg3
2. Execute commands in either foreground or background mode. In foreground mode, the shell just waits for the command to
complete before displaying the shell prompt again (as in the above example). For background mode, a command (say Command
1) is executed with an ampersand & suffix. The shell prints the process ID of the backgrounded process and immediately prints the
prompt to accept and execute the next command (say Command2), even as Command1 continues executing in the background.
For example:
minish> Command1 &
Process print_process_id_1_here in background mode
minish> Command2
[OUTPUT OF Command1 AND Command2 MAY INTERLEAVE IN ARBITRARY ORDER]
3. Maintain multiple processes running in background mode simultaneously. For example:
minish> Command1 &
Process print_process_id_1_here in background mode
minish> Command2 &
Process print_process_id_2_here in background mode
minish> Command3 &
Process print_process_id_3_here in background mode
minish>
[OUTPUT OF Command1, Command2, AND Command3 MAY INTERLEAVE IN ARBITRARY ORDER]
4. Redirect the input of a command from a file. For example:
minish> Command < input_file
Redirect the output of a command to a file. For example:
minish> Command > output_file
Part B
5. Implement command filters, i.e., redirect the stdout of one command to stdin of another using pipes. For example:
minish> ls -l | wc -l
minish> cat somefile | grep somestring | less
https://oscourse.github.io/hw2.html 2/3
Ideally, your shell should be able to handle any number of filter components.
6. Terminate a foreground process by pressing [Ctrl-C]. Your shell must not get killed; only the process running in foreground mode
must terminate. If executing a chain of filters (as in the above example), all processes in the filter chain must terminate.
7. Kill a process in background using the kill command.
minish> kill give_process_id_here
8. Be able to execute any feasible combinations of filters and file I/O redirection.
9. The exit command should terminate your shell. Clean up any orphan processes as your shell exits.
Do Nots:
DO NOT use any special wrapper libraries or classes to borrow the basic functionality required in this assignment. If in doubt, ask
the instructor first BEFORE doing so.
DO NOT use the system(…) syscall to execute the programs in your shell directly.
DO NOT write five or six different programs, one for each feature. Write one single program that includes all the above features.
You do not need to implement any scripting functionalities.
You do not need to implement wild character expansions such as *,?,[0-9], etc.
Hints:
Build and test one featur at a time.
Use Github to save and track changes to your code. Make backup copies of partially working versions of your code. This way, if
you irreparably mess up your code, then you can at least roll back to your last backup copy.
First design your data structures and code-structure before you begin coding each feature. Anticipate specific problems you will
face.
Check out man page for the following, which might be useful:
fork()
execv() and execl() (which one should you use?)
waitpid()
dup2() (for stdin/stdout redirection)
pipe()
open()
close()
fileno()
kill()
killpg()
setsid()
getgrp()
getpgid()
tcsetpgrp()
Grading Guidelines
This is how we will grade your assignment during the demo. So please prioritize your work accordingly.
5 – README, Makefile, Compilation without errors
5 – Executing a command with no arguments in foreground
5 – Executing a command with multiple arguments in foreground
5 – Executing a single command in background
10 – Executing multiple commands in background simultaneously
10 – Input redirection from file: Executing a single command that takes standard input (stdin) from a file
10 – Output redirection to file: Executing a single command that sends standard output (stdout) to a file
10 – Terminating a foreground process using Ctrl+C without killing the shell
10 – Terminate a background process using kill command
30 – Filters
10 – Be able to execute filter chain with two components
20 – Be able to execute filter chain of arbitrary length
9/20/2018 Mini Shell
https://oscourse.github.io/hw2.html 3/3
20 – Combinations
10 – Executing a filter chain while redirecting input of the first command and/or output of the last command
10 – Terminating a chain of filters
10 – Error Handling
For example, you should handle all errors returned by ALL systems calls used in your
program. Also check for other common error conditions in your program.
But don’t go overboard with error checking.
We will not try to intentionally break your code with bad
input that may be irrelevant to the assignment’s goals.
Total = 130
