1 06/06/80: blip
 2 
 3 Syntax:  blip time {-control_args} {blip_strings}
 4 
 5 
 6 Function: This command types a "blip", a short character string,
 7 on the console every few seconds of cpu time used by the user's
 8 process.  This is very useful for monitoring the progress of
 9 commands that require a lot of cpu time to complete.  Both the
10 time between blips and the type of "blip" may be specified by the
11 user.  A sequence of different "blips" that are to be cycled
12 through may also be specified by the user.  Blips will be typed
13 out until the blip_off command is given.
14 
15 
16 Arguments:
17 time
18    is the increment, in seconds of virtual CPU time, which will elapse
19    between blips. It is a floating point quantity. This time is adhered
20    to exactly; that is, if, during a period of time, 50 blips are
21    printed, it indicates that 50 times the interval of CPU time has
22    been used.
23 blip_strings
24    are up to 20 separate strings which will be cycled through; each one
25    will be printed as the interval of CPU time elapses. The control
26    arguments and blip strings are positional; that is, each blip string
27    will be affected only by control arguments which precede it. If no
28    blip strings are specified, the digits "0" through "9" will be the
29    ten blip strings to be cycled through.
30 
31 
32 Control arguments:
33 -red
34    surround following blip strings with red and black ribbon shifts
35    when printing. (DEFAULT)
36 -black, -bl
37    do not print ribbon shifts.
38 -nla, -nl
39    follow each of the succeeding blip strings with a newline when
40    printing.
41 -nlb
42    precede each of the succeeding blip strings with a newline when
43    printing.
44 -nnl
45    do not add any newlines when printing blip strings. (DEFAULT)
46 
47 
48 Notes:
49 The blips are output on the user_i/o switch, so that they will always
50 be printed on the console, even during a file_output. The first blip
51 will be printed while the blip command is executing.
52 
53 The blip command costs approximately 50 milliseconds of CPU time per
54 blip; it also has a non-negligible cost in paging, but the exact cost
55 will depend on the current state of the process and the system.