Genter allows you to enter new marks into a grades file.
genter [-m mark1 -m mark2 ...] [selection options] [sort options] files
Genter presumes that you have just finished marking, with a pile of student work sitting in front of you -- or possibly more than one pile, since genter allows you to enter more than one mark in one run.
If you left out the -m option, genter begins by asking you which marks are to be entered. When that has been settled, genter begins to display on the screen each student's record, one by one. The cursor is positioned at the beginning of the field for the first mark to be entered. When the RETURN key is pressed, the value typed replaces what was previously in the student's record, and the cursor moves to the beginning of the next field to be entered. If only one mark is being entered, this of course means that every time RETURN is pressed, the next student's record is displayed with the cursor at the field to be entered.
You can move back to a previous field by pressing control-B (for "back"), control-U (for "up"), or control-K (for vi users). This accepts the mark you have been entering (as if it were RETURN) and moves back to the previous field in the same student record, or, if you were positioned at the first field being entered in the current record, to the previous student record.
Also, because grades files are simple character files, you can correct typing errors by using a text editor on the file. If there are too many errors for this to be convenient, you can interrupt genter with whatever interrupt signal your terminal is set up for -- usually control-C or DELETE. This returns the file to its original state, so you can start over again.
Marks entered may contain any printable characters you like, but if what you type is not acceptable as the contents of a proper grades file, it will be rejected the next time you read the file. Consequently, it is advisable to check the file with glint after completing the entry process.
Genter does not allow you to enter a mark longer than five characters, because that is the limit for ordinary output from the display program gpr. If you want something longer, use your text editor.
Notice that you can use the selection options to control which student records genter queries you about. Probably the most useful selection option will be -d: omit students who seem to have dropped the course.
This is the most fragile of all the grading programs. It is built on an old-fashioned set of Unix terminal-handling calls, and is certainly not portable to any other system. It should be replaced with something more modern.
Genter is very similar to the old grading program enter, but notice that the name has changed. There are two major differences: