3 vps \- interactive process tree viewer
9 \fBvps\fR is a perl script which provides a terminal\-based interactive view of
10 all process, in a tree\-structured format. That is, the processes are listed
11 in parent\-child order, with children indented below their parents. \fBvps\fR
12 also provides for signalling selected process, and for displaying process
13 environment variables, and open files.
15 The basic display is separated into a top area, where the process tree is
16 displayed. and a bottom three lines, where additional details on the currently
17 selected process is displayed.
19 The top area includes the tree structure, the process id, and the short name of
20 the process without arguments. A full command and arguments (subject to fit
21 within the window) can be displayed below by selecting a process. To the right
22 of tree structure the following columns are displayed: the process owner (bold
23 if changed), the start time, the memory usage, and the state.
25 The bottom area of the selected process shows on the first line the current
26 processes' command and arguments. The next line shows the process I.D., the
27 termainal, the user and group, the memory and resident memory. The third line
28 shows the process start time, the elapsed time (not currently working under
29 OS X), and the system time and percentage used.
31 The top region is scrollable if the entire process tree does not fit. The
32 separator between the top and bottom sections works as a scrollbar, displaying
33 what portion of the scrollable area is currently being viewed.
43 \fBvps\fR uses vi\-style commands, with some emacs\-style additions.
45 Many operations involve switching the top display to view some other
46 information (environment variables, open files, help, or a list of signals).
47 The top view is still controlled with the same characters. To return to the
48 main view, press "q". In the Signal view, once you have selected the desired
49 signal, press "S" to send that signal to the current process.
51 Cursor Motion Commands:
54 Move cursor down one line
57 Move cursor up one line
60 Move cursor down one screen
63 Move cursor up one screen
68 (cursor remains on same line if possible)
71 Scroll screen downwards
73 (cursor remains on same line if possible)
81 Rebuild list of processes and redisplay
84 Update data displayed for current process
87 Show environment variables for current process
90 Show open files for current process
95 Send a signal to current process
101 Enter a process ID, and press return to set current process
106 Enter a string to search forwards for, and press return
108 (searches program, arguments, user, and group)
111 Same as "/" but searches backwards
117 Use narrower indent in tree\-structured display
120 Use wider indent in tree\-structured display
126 \fBvps\fR is almost exclusively used by the author on xterms. It is written to be
127 terminal independent, but does have xterm\-specific enhancements. Other
128 terminals (or their termcap descriptions) may not provide adequate support to
131 Code modifications are possible, but the code is very crufty, having been
132 drafted together from different pieces of old projects. Some of the terminal
133 display functions seem to have support for HP, Dec, and other operating
134 systems, but this is largely cruft, not actual support.
138 written by Thomas A. Fine
141 written by Tim Yang, based on the online vps readme
144 Copyright \(co 2007 Thomas A. Fine
146 Freely redistributable in whole or in part, provided the author's credit is
149 http://hea\-www.harvard.edu/~fine/Tech/vps.html