ULTRIX The Big Gray Book: The Next Step with ULTRIX

This document, "The Big Gray Book: The Next Step with ULTRIX," is an intermediate-level user manual for the ULTRIX operating system (Version 4.0 or higher), published by Digital Equipment Corporation in June 1990.

Aimed at users who already have some foundational experience with ULTRIX (building upon "The Little Gray Book: An ULTRIX Primer"), it introduces more advanced and frequently used tools and commands. The manual emphasizes a "toolbox" philosophy, promoting the use of specialized, interoperable utilities, often coupled via pipelines, for efficient task completion.

The document is organized into three main parts and two appendices:

• Part I: Text Manipulation – Covers the use of regular expressions, line-oriented editors (such as ed, ex, and sed), and pattern-matching utilities (grep, awk, tbl).
• Part II: Communication with Other Users – Details the mail system, introduces the MH Message-Handling System, and explains interactive communication commands (write, talk, mesg).
• Part III: Other Commands and the Shell – Describes calculator utilities (bc and dc) and provides a comprehensive guide to C shell scripting, including variables, control structures, and error handling.
• Appendices – Offer practical examples of how to use ULTRIX tools and provide tips and tricks for addressing common system difficulties.

In essence, it serves as a guide for users looking to deepen their proficiency with the ULTRIX operating system and its powerful command-line tools.