Menu
I am trying to use aliases in a non-interactive bash shell. I have defined my aliases in ~/.bashrc and I have set the variable BASH_ENV=~/startUpFile. The contents of the startUpFile are source ~/.bashrc.
I can see that my aliases are recognized, when I execute the alias command. However, if I try to use an alias defined in ~/.bashrc, Bash can't recognized it. It gives me the unknown command error.
With the TCSH shell it is pretty easy to do this because the ~/.cshrc file is always read.
Any ideas how I can do this with a Bash shell?
639
Bash Alias allows to aggregate multiple functions into a single command and also it avoids repetitive or large commands into a simple shortcut command.
A Bash alias is essentially nothing more than a keyboard shortcut, an abbreviation, a means of avoiding typing a long command sequence. If, for example, we include alias lm="ls -l | more" in the ~/. bashrc file, then each lm [1] typed at the command-line will automatically be replaced by a ls -l | more.
Please note that the alias command is built into a various shells including ksh, tcsh/csh, ash, bash and others.
An interactive shell reads commands from user input on a tty. Among other things, such a shell reads startup files on activation, displays a prompt, and enables job control by default. The user can interact with the shell. A shell running a script is always a non-interactive shell.
The command shopt -s expand_aliases will allow alias expansion in non-interactive shells.
75
.bashrc is only processed by interactive shells.
In addition, aliases are not expanded when the shell is not interactive, unless the expand_aliases shell option is set using shopt. Unless, of course, POSIX mode is invoked by calling the shell with the name sh instead of bash.
People who use aliases a lot often source their .bashrc at the end of their profile so that the aliases are there even for non-interactive shells. This might not be the best way, but it is pretty common.
It's things like this that lead me to believe that in the 21st century we should abandon shell scripts in favor of a full-blown language like Python. It's a lot more predictable.
29
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
