Table of Contents
Command Shells (User Guide)
A command shell is the Synchronet component that draws the BBS's menus and prompts and decides what each key you press does. Every Synchronet user runs a command shell once they've logged on; the shell determines the entire post-logon look-and-feel.
This page is the user-facing index of shells. For the sysop / configuration perspective, see command_shell.
Stock shells shipped with Synchronet
- Synchronet Classic (
default.js) — emulates the Synchronet v1 user interface; the default for most BBSes - Synchronet Novice / Simple (
simple.bin) — simplified interface for beginners - WWIV Clone (
wwiv.bin) - PCBoard Clone (
pcboard.bin) - Wildcat! Clone (
wildcat.bin) - MajorBBS Clone (
major.bin) - Renegade Clone (
renegade.bin) - Oblivion/2 Clone (
obv-2.bin) - Deuce's Lightbar Shell (
lbshell.js) - Simulated MS-DOS (
sdos.bin)
A BBS may also run a third-party or custom shell that isn't listed here. Ask your sysop, or check shell.bin / shell.js in their distribution.
Switching shells
If the BBS makes more than one shell available to you, you can pick which shell to use from the User Settings menu — itself separate from the shell, so you reach it via whatever key your current shell binds to it. In Classic, that's D from the Main prompt. The BBS remembers your choice across sessions.
If only one shell is available — or if your account is restricted to a specific shell — you won't see a chooser.
Which shell am I using?
- Classic shows
Main:andFile:prompts and the standard Synchronet menus. - Wildcat / PCBoard / Renegade / WWIV / MajorBBS / Oblivion-2 clones each present prompts and menus that match those classic BBS programs. If the BBS feels like a non-Synchronet system you remember, you're probably in one of those.
- Lightbar (lbshell) uses arrow-key navigation across highlighted menu items rather than letter commands.
- Simple / Novice presents a simplified, more guided interface.
- sdos simulates an MS-DOS prompt — you type things like
DIR,CD MAIL, etc.
What's the same across every shell?
Some things don't change no matter which shell you're using, because Synchronet itself (or a separate menu) handles them rather than the shell:
- Control-key commands — Ctrl-S, Ctrl-Q, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-U, Ctrl-P, Ctrl-K, Ctrl-T
- Ctrl-A text attribute codes in messages and display files
- Login happens before the shell starts
- The message editor is separate from the shell — internal (line editor) or external (your choice)
- User Settings menu is separate from the shell (the shell binds a key to invoke it)
- Mail, Message bases, Chat, User listings are typically separate sections — the shell opens them, but their layouts and prompts are their own
See Also
- Baja — language used by most stock shells
