Inheriting aliases inside UNIX /usr/bin/script

Question

The UNIX "/usr/bin/script" command will create a running transcript of your shell session (see "man script" for more info).

However, when inside a script instance, it seems to forget the parent shell's env vars, aliases, etc.

The following example demonstrates how the "ll" alias I define is ignored inside "script":

zsh> mkdir temp
zsh> cd temp

zsh> alias "ll=ls -alF"

zsh> ll
total 24
drwxr-xr-x   2 me   mygroup    4096 Feb 18 13:32 ./
drwxr-xr-x  28 me   mygroup    8192 Feb 18 13:32 ../

zsh> script a.out
Script started, file is a.out

$ ll

zsh: command not found: ll

$ exit
Script done, file is a.out

zsh> ll
total 32
drwxr-xr-x   2 me   mygroup    4096 Feb 18 13:32 ./
drwxr-xr-x  28 me   mygroup    8192 Feb 18 13:32 ../
-rw-r--r--   1 me   mygroup     182 Feb 18 13:32 a.out

So, how can I get the "script" process to inherit the env settings from the parent shell?

[EDIT:] Okay, env vars are not forgotten. Just the aliases. Re-sourcing the .profile or something would work... but how can I make that happen automatically?

Answer 1

It works OK when I start it under bash. Maybe there's something in your zsh configuration that's mucking it up, or it's not sourcing your zsh's startup files. You could try: script -c zsh

Which may force it to start a new zsh shell and have it source your zsh config files.

Answer 2

An alias isn't an environment variable. You could source your .profile or where ever you set up the alias. Also take a look at the $SHELL environment variable.

The script command isn't terribly complicated. It wouldn't be too difficult to replicate and make it work the way you expect.