The Minishell project is a challenge within the 42 School curriculum aimed at deepening students' understanding of shell scripting, process management, and Unix system calls in C. The goal is to create a simple shell that can execute commands, manage processes, and handle input/output redirections, similar to a basic Unix shell.
The task was to implement a simple shell program that can:
- Parse and execute basic shell commands.
- Handle input/output redirections (
<,>). - Implement pipes (
|) for inter-process communication. - Manage environment variables and their usage within commands.
- Support command history and basic line-editing capabilities.
Key objectives included:
- Designing a robust parser to interpret and execute user commands, handling various edge cases and error scenarios.
- Implementing key shell functionalities such as process management, piping, and redirection.
- Ensuring compliance with standard shell behavior, particularly in handling environment variables and built-in commands like
cd,echo,pwd,export,unset, andexit.
- Full Shell Implementation: Successfully created a functional shell that supports execution of commands, pipelines, and I/O redirection, replicating the core functionalities of a Unix shell.
- Robust Parsing and Error Handling: Developed a parser capable of handling complex command structures, with comprehensive error detection and handling to ensure stability.
- Process and Signal Management: Implemented effective process management and signal handling, ensuring smooth operation and responsiveness, even during interrupt signals (e.g.,
Ctrl+C,Ctrl+D).
To install the Project, follow these steps:
- Clone the repository:
git clone git@github.com:jakobsitory/03_minishell_42CC.git - Navigate to the project directory:
cd 03_minishell_42CC - Build the project:
make
Once compiled, you can start the shell by running:
./minishellExample Commands
ls -l | grep minishell > output.txt
cat < output.txt
export PATH=$PATH:/my/custom/path
echo $PATH