~/.shrc tips

JuvenalUrbino

Time for another thread about using sh(1) as an interactive shell. I thought about this while claining up my configuration file. Did you recently revised yours? Any good tip or convenient function to share? Please share them below!

Without dwelling further, here's my *~/.shrc *. Feedback highly appreciated

# Source global definitions
if [ -f /etc/shrc ]; then
    . /etc/shrc
fi
	
# parse whatever follows in
# interactive mode only
case "$-" in
	*i*) 
	#--- general settings --- 
	# 755 file perms
	umask 022
	# no core dumps
	ulimit -c 0
	# initialize terminal
	eval `tset -m ansi:ansi -m $TERM:\${TERM:-ansi} -s -Q`
	# don't get fancy if we have a dumb terminal
	[ $TERM = 'dumb' ] && return 0
	# control flow bindings
	stty hupcl ixon ixoff -parity
	stty erase "^H" kill "^U" intr "^C" eof "^D"
	# If job control is enabled, set the suspend character
	# to (control-z):
	case $- in
	  *m*) stty susp '^z'
	  ;;
	esac 
	# colums and tab stops
	#stty cols 80
	tabs -8
	#--- shell options ---	
	# vi mode
	set -o vi
	# don't overwrite files with “>"
	set -o noclobber
	# PS command substitions
	set -o promptcmds
	# print pwd when changed 
	set -o cdprint
	# export variables
	set -o allexport
	# filename completions 
	set -o tabcomplete
	# disable nounset
	set +u 
	#--- limits (pub unix only)
	# # files < 512mb
	# ulimit -f 512000
	# # max 250 file descriptors
	# ulimit -S -n 250
	# # max 50 processes
	# ulimit -S -p 50
	# # softlimit 250mb virtual memory
	# ulimit -S -v 250000
	#--- environmental variables ---
	#- (also set ENV="$HOME/.shrc" inside ~/.profile) 
	# host
	hup(){ (read pid; kill -HUP $pid) </var/run/$1.pid; }
	case "$-" in *i*)
	    if /bin/test -z "${HOST}"; then
	        HOST="$(hostname)"
	    fi
	;;
	esac  
	# shell
	SHELL=/bin/sh
	# PS1
	PS1="`hostname | sed 's/\..*//'`"
	   case `id -u` in
	     0) PS1="${PS1}:~ # ";;
	     *) PS1="${PS1}:~ $ ";;
	   esac
	# PS2
	PS2='>> '
	# history settings
	if [ -d ~/.history ]; then
	  HISTFILE=~/.history/hist.$(tty | sed 's;.*/;;')
          trap 'rm -f $HISTFILE' EXIT
	else
	  HISTFILE=~/.history
	fi
	HISTSIZE=1000000
	# editline settings
	EDITRC="$HOME/.editrc" 
	# path
	if [ `id -u` = 0 ]; then
		PATH=/usr/pkg/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:$PATH
	 else
		PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R7/bin:/usr/pkg/bin:/usr/local/bin
		PATH=$PATH:/usr/games:/usr/pkg/java/openjdk8/bin:$HOME/.bin
	fi
	# pager settings
	LESS="-ci -P \spacebar\:page ahead b\:page back /\:search ahead \?\:search back h\:help q\:quit"
	# use most?
	#if [ -x /usr/pkg/bin/most ]; then
	#   PAGER='/usr/pkg/bin/most -ds'; export PAGER
	#   else
	#    PAGER="less"; export PAGER
	#fi
	PAGER=less
	LESSOPEN="|lesspipe.sh %s"
	LESSCLOSE="lessclose.sh %s %s"
	# colored output (other BSDs) 
	CLICOLOR=yes
	if [ "$TERM" = cons25 ]; then
		LSCOLORS="AxHxcxdxhxefgxAHahBxbx"
	  else
		LSCOLORS="hxHxcxdxAxefgxAHahBxbx"
	fi
	# encoding
	LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
	LC_CTYPE="en_US.UTF-8"
	CONFIG_CHARSET=UTF-8
	# user settings
	USER=$(id -un)
	UID=$(id -u)
	GROUP=$(id -ng $USER)
	TZ="Europe/Rome"
	CDPATH=.:$HOME:/usr/pkg
	MAIL=/var/mail/${LOGNAME}
	MAILCHECK=1
	PAPERSIZE=A4                                                                                                                 

	BLOCKSIZE=1m 
	GZIP=-9
	GREP_OPTIONS='-d skip'
	TERM=xterm-256color
	EDITOR=vi
	VISUAL=${EDITOR}
	COLORTERM=${TERM}
	XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/tmp/${LOGNAME}
	TMPDIR=/tmp/${LOGNAME}
	BROWSER=lynx
	NNTPSERVER="news://tilde.pink"
	CVS_RSH=ssh
	#--- shell functions ---
	# read config
	r() {
		exec $SHELL $HOME/.shrc
	}
	# verbose folder listing
	dir() {
		ls -l | awk '{ if ( substr($1,1,1)== "d") {print}}'
	}
	# make dir and go to it 
	md() {
		command mkdir -p $1 && cd $1
	}
	# save to dir stack
	pushd() {
	       dirname=$1
	       cd ${dirname:?"Missing directory name."}
	       DIRSTACK="$PWD ${DIRSTACK:-$OLDPWD}"
	       printf "$DIRSTACK"
	}
	# change wkrd to top of dir stack
	popd() {
	       DIRSTACK=${DIRSTACK#* }
	       cd ${DIRSTACK%% *}
	       printf "$PWD"
	}
        q () {
	       printf '%s' "$d" | sed -Ee "s/'/'\\\\''/g; 1s/^/'/; \$s/\$/'/"
	}
        # change dir interectively
	# courtesy of @rvp at UnitedBSD
	ch ()
	{
		local arg dirs d i
	
	# short-circuit
	if [ $# -eq 0 ]
	then	cd
		return
	fi

	arg="$1"
	for d in $(printf '%s' "$arg" | sed -Ee 's/[^/]+/&*/g')
	do	test -d "$d" || continue
		dirs="$dirs $(q $d)"
	done

	eval "set -- $dirs"

	# no match
	if [ $# -eq 0 ]
	then	printf 1>&2 '%s: %s: no match\n' "$0" "$arg"
		return 1
	fi

	# single match
	if [ $# -eq 1 ]
	then	cd "$1"
		return
	fi

	# multiple matches
	i=0
	for d
	do	i=$((i + 1))
		printf '%d) %s\n' "$i" "$d"
	done
	printf '%s\n? ' '-----'
	read num

	# do nothing if no number
	if [ "$num" = "" ]
	then	return 0
	fi

	# invalid number
	if [ "$num" -lt 1 -o "$num" -gt $# ]
	then	printf 1>&2 '%s: %s: bad number\n' "$0" "$num"
		return 1
	fi

	eval "cd \"\${$num}\""
   }
	# show history	
	h() { 
		fc -l 1 | sort | uniq; 
	} 
	# clear buffer
	empty() { 
		echo $'\e[3J'; 
	}
        # remove wrkdir, if empty
	rd() {
		dir=$PWD
		cd ..
		if command rmdir "$dir" 2>/dev/null; then
		 echo 'Removed empty directory:' $dir
		else
		 cd "$dir"
		 echo 'Directory is not empty:'
		 ls -A
		fi
		unset dir
	}
	# remove backup files in the wrkdir
	clean() {
		find . -name \( -name "*.old" -o -name "*.bak" \) -exec rm :{} \;
		find . -size 0 -exec rm {} \;
	}
	# send SIGKILL
	stop() { 
		kill -9 "${@:-%%}"; 
	}
        # show pid
	pid() {
		 ps -e | grep $@ | cut -d" " -f1;
	}	 
	# move to a dotfile	
	dot() { 
		for file in "$@"; 
		  do mv -iv "$file" ."$file"; 
	    done 
	}
        # backup files	
	bck() { 
		for file in "$@"; 
		  do cp -iv "$file" "$file".bak; 
		done 
	}
	# launch tmux
	tm() {
		if (( $# )); then
		  tmux has-session -t "$*" && tmux attach -t "$*" || tmux new-session -s "$*"
		else
		  tmux attach || tmux new-session -s default
		fi
	}
	# export tmux session 
	tmup() {
		[ -n $TMUX ] && export $(tmux showenv | grep --color=never '^[^-]' | xargs)
	}
	#--- aliases ---	
	alias t='task'
	alias tf='task -f'
	alias tn='task | head -n 1'
	alias pu='ps -fu $USER'
	alias j='jobs'
	alias 1='fg %1'
	alias 2='fg %2'
	alias 3='fg %3'
	alias m='$PAGER'
	alias lv='ls -laFo'
	alias l='ls -l'
	alias la='ls -aF'
	alias g='egrep -i'
	alias lgrep="ls | egrep -i "
	alias llgrep="ls -l | egrep -i "
	alias cdl='cd $* && ls'
	alias cp='cp -ip'
	alias mv='mv -iv'
	alias rm='rm -i'
	alias ls='ls -F'
	alias df='df -hk'
	alias du='du -hk'
	alias rsz='eval $(resize)'
	alias cls='tput clear'
	alias sane='stty sane'
	alias realpath='readlink -f'
	alias cal='cal -3'
	alias dos2unix="tr -d '\r'"
	#--- login scripts (for remote shell) 
	# mailbox notifications
	if [ -x /usr/bin/biff ]; then
	 biff y 2> /dev/null
	fi
	# give a fortune cookie and the current date/time on login
	[ -x /usr/games/fortune ] && /usr/games/fortune -aes
	echo ''
	# display current date
	echo ''; echo -n 'To days date is: '; date
	# lauch tmux by default
	if command -v tmux &> /dev/null && [ -z "$TMUX" ]; then
          tmux attach -t default || tmux new -s default
	fi
	;;
*)
;;
esac

pfr

JuvenalUrbino
ch function not working for me. What exactly is it supposed to do?

pfr

JuvenalUrbino
So you dont think it really matters? I mean, my alias list is long, but creating functions would use more lines of code. Plus, so far my alias's serve their purpose so no point complicating things.. I suppose.

Anyway, I do have a question related to this section:

JuvenalUrbino

#--- shell options ---	
        # vi mode
 	set -o vi
 	# don't overwrite files with “>"
 	set -o noclobber
 	# PS command substitions
 	set -o promptcmds
 	# print pwd when changed 
 	set -o cdprint
 	# export variables
 	set -o allexport
 	# filename completions 
 	set -o tabcomplete
 	# disable nounset
 	set +u

Mind explaining what these do?

set -o vi vs set -o emacs
I have it set to emacs. Why? I dont know.. I initially copied my .shrc from @pin and never gave it another thought. However, I dont use (or know how to use) emacs so should I change it to vi or can I simply set it to use vim ?

# don't overwrite files with “>"
set -o noclobber

Does this disble the use of writing to files witn > or does it simply add text to the existing file without overwriting what's in there?

pfr

Thanks for sharing. That ch function does look neat, will have to try that.

The only one I have that is worth sharing this nice little compressed file extractor function. I cannot tell you where I found it, but I came accross it somewhere on GitHub a little while ago and it has been nice not having to remember all the different tar commands.

# ARCHIVE EXTRACTION
# usage: ex <file>
ex ()
{
  if [ -f $1 ] ; then
    case $1 in
      *.tar.bz2)    tar xjf $1    ;;
      *.tar.gz)     tar xzf $1    ;;
      *.tar.xz)     tar xf $1     ;;
      *.tar)        tar xf $1     ;;
      *.tar.zst)    uzstd $1      ;;
      *.bz2)        bunzip2 $1    ;;
      *.rar)        unrar x $1    ;;
      *.gz)         gunzip $1     ;;
      *.tbz2)       tar xjf $1    ;;
      *.tgz)        tar xzf $1    ;;
      *.zip)        unzip $1      ;;
      *.Z)          uncompress $1 ;;
      *.7z)         7z x $1       ;;
      *.deb)        ar x $1       ;;
      *)    echo "'$1' cannot be extracted via ex()" ;;
    esac
  else
    echo "'$1' is not a valid file"
  fi
}

JuvenalUrbino

pfr I have a similar script to extract stuff, but having it in shrc is probably more convenient (I tend to miss transferring scripts across systems). Thanks a lot!

gspapp

pfr i have also seen it in my default manjaro .bashrc

JuvenalUrbino

Since we're here, my old ~/.tcshrc from my FreeBSD days. File is dated 2016 indeed:

umask 002

alias df   df -H
alias h    history 25
alias j    jobs -l
alias ls   ls -FG
alias la   ls -aF
alias lf   ls -FA
alias ll   ls -lAF
alias libressl /usr/local/bin/openssl
if ( -x /usr/local/bin/vim ) then
        alias vi        vim
endif


switch ($tty)
  case "ttyv*":
    alias precmd /usr/sbin/kbdcontrol -r fast
endsw


if ($tty =~ ttyv*) then
	setenv    BROWSER       w3m
else
        setenv    BROWSER       uzbl-tabbed
	
setenv    EDITOR           vim
endif

bindkey "\e[3~" delete-char
bindkey "\e[1~" beginning-of-line


if ($?prompt) then
   


   set autoexpand
   set colorcat
   set filec
   set ignoreof
   set autocorrect
   set nobeep
   set filec
   set rmstart
   set correct    = cmd
   set grey    = "%{\033[1;30m%}"
   set red    = "%{\033[1;31m%}"
   set green    = "%{\033[1;32m%}"
   set yellow    = "%{\033[1;33m%}"
   set blue    = "%{\033[1;34m%}"
   set magenta    = "%{\033[1;35m%}"
   set cyan    = "%{\033[1;36m%}"
   set white    = "%{\033[1;37m%}"
   set end    = "%{\033[0m%}"
   set histfile = "$HOME/.history"
   set savehist = (5000 merge)
   set history = (5000 "%h %D-%W-%Y %T %R\n")   


complete {,un}alias     'p/1/a/' 'p/2/c/'
complete {c,push,pop}d  'C/*/d/'
complete exec           'p/1/c/'
complete man            'C/*/c/'
complete {where,which}  'C/*/c/'
complete {,un}set       'p/1/s/'
complete {,un}setenv    'C/*/e/'
complete printenv       'C/*/e/'
complete bindkey        'p/1/b/'
complete fg             'c/%/j/'
complete kill           'c/%/j/' 'c/-/S/'
complete chgrp          'p/1/g/'
complete chown          'p/1/u/'
complete limit          'C/*/l/'
complete find           'p/1/d/' 'n/-user/u/' 'n/-group/g/'
complete service        'n@*@`ls /etc/rc.d /usr/local/etc/rc.d | sed -e "/:/d"`@'
complete pkill          'n@*@`ps -a -x -c -o command="" | sort | uniq`@'
complete pkg_delete     'c/-/(i v D n p d f G x X r)/' \
    			'n@*@`ls /var/db/pkg`@'
complete portmaster     'c/-/(C G H K B b g n t v w f i D d m x P PP)/' \
                    	'n@*@`ls /var/db/pkg`@'
complete portupgrade    'c/-/(A b B c C D e f F i k l L m M n N o O p P PP q r R s S u v w W x y)/' \
                   	        'n@*@`ls /var/db/pkg`@'

complete make           'n@*@`make -pn | sed -n -E "/^[#_.\/[:blank:]]+/d; /=/d; s/[[:blank:]]*:.*//gp;"`@'
complete git \
  'p/1/(add commit rm status diff push pull)/' \
  'n@diff@`git status -s | sed -n "/^ M/ s,^ M ,,p"`@' \
  'n@add@`git status -s | sed -n "/^??/ s,^?? ,,p"`@' \
  'n@commit@`git status -s | sed -n "/^[A ]/ s,^...,,p" ; echo .`@' \
  'n@push@`git remote`@'


complete cd \
  'p/1/d/'

complete chown \
  'p/1/u/'

complete complete \
  'p/1/X/'

complete dd \
  'c/[io]f=/f/ n/*/"(if of ibs obs bs skip seek count)"/='

complete doas \
  'p@1@`sed "s,.*cmd *\([^ ]*\).*,\1," /usr/local/etc/doas.conf`@'

complete find \
  'n/-fstype/"(nfs 4.2)"/' 'n/-name/f/' \
  'n/-type/(c b d f p l s)/' \
  'n/-user/u/ n/-group/g/' \
  'n/-exec/c/' 'n/-ok/c/' \
  'n/-cpio/f/' \
  'n/-ncpio/f/' \
  'n/-newer/f/' \
  'c/-/(fstype name perm prune type user nouser group nogroup size inum atime mtime ctime exec \
    ok print ls cpio ncpio newer xdev depth daystart follow maxdepth mindepth noleaf version \
    anewer cnewer amin cmin mmin true false uid gid ilname iname ipath iregex links lname empty path \
    regex used xtype fprint fprint0 fprintf print0 printf not a and o or)/' \
  'n/*/d/'

complete gpart \
  'p/1/(add backup bootcode commit create delete destroy modify recover resize restore set show undo unset)/' \
  'n/add/x:-t type [-a alignment] [-b start] [-s size] [-i index] [-l label] -f flags geom/' \
  'n/backup/x:geom/' \
  'n/bootcode/x:[-b bootcode] [-p partcode -i index] [-f flags] geom/' \
  'n/commit/x:geom/' \
  'n/create/x:-s scheme [-n entries] [-f flags] provider/' \
  'n/delete/x:-i index [-f flags] geom/' \
  'n/destroy/x:[-F] [-f flags] geom/' \
  'n/modify/x:-i index [-l label] [-t type] [-f flags] geom/' \
  'n/recover/x:[-f flags] geom/' \
  'n/resize/x:-i index [-a alignment] [-s size] [-f flags] geom/' \
  'n/restore/x:[-lF] [-f flags] provider [...]/' \
  'n/set/x:-a attrib -i index [-f flags] geom/' \
  'n/show/x:[-l | -r] [-p] [geom ...]/' \
  'n/undo/x:geom/' \
  'n/unset/x:-a attrib -i index [-f flags] geom/'

complete grep \
  'c/-*A/x:<#_lines_after>/' \
  'c/-*B/x:<#_lines_before>/' \
  'c/--/(extended-regexp fixed-regexp basic-regexp regexp file ignore-case word-regexp line-regexp \
    no-messages revert-match version help byte-offset line-number with-filename no-filename quiet silent \
    text directories recursive files-without-match files-with-matches count before-context after-context \
    context binary unix-byte-offsets)/' \
  'c/-/(A a B b C c d E e F f G H h i L l n q r s U u V v w x)/' \
  'p/1/x:<limited_regular_expression>/ N/-*e/f/' \
  'n/-*e/x:<limited_regular_expression>/' \
  'n/-*f/f/' \
  'n/*/f/'

complete herbstclient \
  'p/*/`set cmd="${COMMAND_LINE}x"; \
    set cmd=( ${cmd:s,herbstclient,,} ); \
    set cmd_nr=${#cmd} ; \
    @ cmd_nr-- ; \
    herbstclient complete_shell ${cmd_nr} ${COMMAND_LINE:s,herbstclient,,}`/'

complete ifconfig \
  'p@1@`ifconfig -l`@' \
  'n/*/(range phase link netmask mtu vlandev vlan metric mediaopt down delete broadcast arp debug)/' \
  'c/%/j/' \
  'n/*/`ps -ax | awk '"'"'{print $1}'"'"'`/'

complete kill \
  'c/-/S/' \
  'c/%/j/' \
  'n/*/`ps -ax | awk '"'"'{print $1}'"'"'`/'

complete killall \
  'c/-/S/' \
  'c/%/j/' \
  'n/*/`ps -ax | awk '"'"'{print $5}'"'"'`/'

complete kldload \
  'n@*@`ls -1 /boot/modules/ /boot/kernel/ | awk -F/ \$NF\ \~\ \".ko\"\ \{sub\(\/\.ko\/,\"\",\$NF\)\;print\ \$NF\}`@'

complete kldunload \
  'n@*@`kldstat | awk \{sub\(\/\.ko\/,\"\",\$NF\)\;print\ \$NF\} | grep -v Name`@'

complete localc \
  'p/*/f:*.{xls,xlsx}/'

complete lowriter \
  'p/*/f:*.{doc,docx}/'

complete make \
  'p@1@`make -V.ALLTARGETS`@'

complete man \
  'C@*@`find ${mandir} -type f -name \*.gz | sed "s,.*/,, ; s,\.[^\.]*\.gz,,"`@'

complete mupdf \
  "p/*/f:*.pdf}/"

complete pdflatex \
  'p/*/f:*.tex/'

complete service \
  'c/-/(e l r v)/' \
  'p/1/`service -l`/' \
  'n/*/(start stop reload restart status rcvar onestart onestop)/'

complete sysctl \
  'n/*/`sysctl -Na`/'

complete tmux \
  'n/*/(attach detach has kill-server kill-session lsc lscm ls lockc locks new refresh rename showmsgs source start suspendc switchc)/'

set _task_date="modified.after:2016-01-01"
complete task \
  'c/pri:/(L M H)/' \
  'c/project:/`task ${_task_date} _unique project`/' \
  'n/[0-9]*/(annotate edit modify done)/' \
  'p/2-/(project pri due)/:/' \
  'p/1/`echo add list ; task _unique id`/'

complete unrar \
  'p/*/f:*.rar/'

complete unzip \
  'p/*/f:*.zip/'

complete which \
  'C/*/c/'


alias _comp_pkgs 'pkg info -q'
alias _comp_pkg_info '_comp_pkgs | xargs echo --list-files --pkg-message --comment --dependencies --required-by --size'
alias _comp_pkg_install 'sqlite3 /var/db/pkg/repo-FreeBSD.sqlite "select name from packages;"'

complete pkg \
  'p/1/(annotate autoremove delete info install iv rquery ri rv rw query search uv ur which)/' \
  'n/info/`_comp_pkg_info`/' \
  'N/info/`_comp_pkgs`/' \
  'n/delete/`_comp_pkgs`/' \
  'n/install/`_comp_pkg_install`/' \
  'n/rv/`pkg rquery "%n" | uniq`/' \
  'n/ri/`pkg rquery "%n" | uniq`/' \
  'n/rw/`pkg rquery "%n" | uniq`/' \
   


   if ($tty =~ ttyv*) then

       if ( $USER == root ) then
           set prompt = "\n${blue}%~ ${red}%N@%m: \n>>>${end} "
       else
           set prompt = "\n${red}%~ ${blue}%m: \n>>>${end} "
       endif

   else

       if ( $USER == root ) then
           set prompt = "\n${blue}%~ ${red}%N@%m: \nâ±â±â±${end} "
       else
           set prompt = "\n${red}%~ ${green}%N@%m: \nâ±â±â±${end} "
       endif

   endif

   unset grey red green yellow blue magenta cyan white end
   

   if (-f ~/.colors) then
	alias ls 'ls-F'
	set listflags='ha'
	set color
	setenv LS_COLORS `awk '! /^#|^$|\t/ {printf $1"="$2":"}' ~/.colors`
  endif
 
   

   
   if ( $?tcsh ) then
           bindkey "^[Od"       backward-word       # rxvt
           bindkey "^[Oc"       forward-word       # rxvt
           bindkey   "\e[2~"       overwrite-mode
           bindkey   "\e[3~"       delete-char
           bindkey   "\e[1;5C"   forward-word
           bindkey   "\e[1;5D"   backward-word
           bindkey   "\e[5~"       history-search-backward
           bindkey   "\e[6~"       history-search-forward
           bindkey   "^W"       backward-delete-word
	   bindkey   "\e[3~"     delete-char
	   bindkey   "\e[1~"      beginning-of-line
	   


   endif
 
endif

JuvenalUrbino

pfr you need to also include the q() function above. Code is from @rvp, as I mentioned in the file. See BSD Tips and Tricks thread

pfr

JuvenalUrbino you need to also include the q() function above

Cool, that got it working.

I was curious about shell functions a while back but then forgot about it. I had planned to turn all my alieses into functions. I just didn't have the time to really delve into it and it was (still is) a little over my head.

JuvenalUrbino

pfr

pfr I had planned to turn all my alieses into functions

I think they serve different purposes. Aliases are often used to replace standard commands for interactive use and are not expanded in non-interactive shells; moreover they can be easily undone with unalias

nia

pfr The fine sh(1) manual 😉

   Command Line Editing
     When sh is being used interactively from a terminal, the current command
     and the command history (see fc in the Built-ins section) can be edited
     using emacs-mode or vi-mode command-line editing.  The command ‘set -o
     emacs’ (or -E option) enables emacs-mode editing.  The command ‘set -o
     vi’ (or -V option) enables vi-mode editing and places the current shell
     process into vi insert mode.  (See the Argument List Processing section
     above.)

     The vi-mode uses commands similar to a subset of those described in the
     vi(1) man page.  With vi-mode enabled, sh can be switched between insert
     mode and command mode.  It's similar to vi: pressing the ⟨ESC⟩ key will
     throw you into vi command mode.  Pressing the ⟨return⟩ key while in
     command mode will pass the line to the shell.

     The emacs-mode uses commands similar to a subset available in the emacs
     editor.  With emacs-mode enabled, special keys can be used to modify the
     text in the buffer using the· control key.

     sh uses the editline(3) library.  See editline(7) for a list of the
     possible command bindings, and the default settings in emacs and vi
     modes.

Emacs mode mostly means it works similarly to other shell's defaults on other systems, emacs isn't a modal editor. vim wouldn't be a valid setting.

JuvenalUrbino

pfr Does this disble the use of writing to files witn > or does it simply add text to the existing file without overwriting what's in there?

Attempting to overwrite with '>' wil tell you that the file exists. This prevents unintentional overwriting while redirecting stdout to a file. You may still create files with '>' or append text to existing ones with '>>'.
I set this option tor the very same reason while I also force interactive prompting for confirn before deleting.
I am the clumsy and distracted kind of guy who would accidentallly lose important files. I learned from my mistakes.

JuvenalUrbino

pfr I have it set to emacs. Why? I dont know.. I initially copied my .shrc from @pin and never gave it another thought. However, I dont use (or know how to use) emacs so should I change it to vi or can I simply set it to use vim ?

As nia said, mode affects the way the interactive shell will respond to user's input, for it may have vi or emacs like bindings and behavior. Emacs mode is more intuitive (standard navigation with arrow keys, Delete erases backwards).

This has nothing to do with your editor of choice however and doesn't affect the way the shell parses input and scripts.

ksh93 also provides gmacs mode as a third alternative.

As the sh(1) man page suggests, you can further adjust interactive shell bindings by configuring the editline library in your ~/.editrc (NetBSD doesn't use readline, so a Linux inputrc file is not going to work).

pfr

set -o promptcmds and set -o cdprint dont seem to work for my shell...
I get... bad option

JuvenalUrbino

pfr what shell are you using? Those options are only supported by NetBSD's sh and won't work on FreeBSD's sh, dash, busybox ash. Also, as far as I remember promptcmds was introduced in NetBSD -8, so it won't be recognized on legacy systems. If you're not using command substitution in your PS1/PS2, you may as well avoid using it. cdprint on the other hand comes always in handy.
If you plan on keeping your ~/.shrc or ~/.profile unaltered across systems, for portability you can also quietly test for options to be supported and only enable them in the latter case:

( set -o cdprint 2>/dev/null ) && set -o cdprint
( set -o promptcmds 2>/dev/null ) && set -o promptcmds

pfr

JuvenalUrbino
my bad, I thought you were using ksh

It appears that tabcomplete is the default in ksh. I probably dont need promptcmds but I wouldn't mind having cdprint at least.

pfr

Rather than start a new thread... Can anyone hep me with setting a nicer prompt in ksh?

I'd like the current directory in the prompt. Dont need hostname or username.

Something like ~ $ for home and ~/Downoads $ & /usr/local $

Not sure if it's possible to replace /home/user with ~ ? I'd also still just settle for a function that runs pwd after I cd to another directory.

JuvenalUrbino

pfr Rather than start a new thread... Can anyone hep me with setting a nicer prompt in ksh?

Try with this:

   function _cd
    {
	# change directory
	dir=$1
   	arg=$2
   	if [ "$arg" ]
   	then
       	  \cd "$dir" "$arg"
   	elif [ "$dir" ]
   	then
       	  \cd "$dir"
   	else
       	  \cd
   	fi
	# set prompt
	typeset dir="${PWD:-$(command pwd -L)}"
	dir="${dir#$HOME/}"
	case $dir in
	    "$HOME")
		PS1=$(printf "\033[35m%s\033[00m \033[37m$\033[00m " "\~");;
	     /*)
		PS1=$(printf "\033[35m%s\033[00m \033[37m$\033[00m " "${PWD}");;
	    *)
		PS1=$(printf "\033[35m%s\033[00m \033[37m$\033[00m " "\~/$dir");;
	    esac
    }
    alias cd='_cd'
    eval _cd

I have set the colors of the working directory and the dollar sign to be whatever your terminal assigns to 'white' and 'magenta' respectively. Remember you can escape the alias with a backslash, so type \cd for standard cd

pfr

JuvenalUrbino
Cheers. That works well, except it still print's the full path ie. /home/user rather than ~
Another thing that factors in is that I often use zoxide instead of cd so ideally I would like to have the shell's PS1 recognise the working directory (and print it) regardless of the tool used to change directories.

Perhaps it isn't possible, but I just wondered.

rvp

pfr
EDIT: made function more robust.

My version:

# test:
#
# mkdir $'/tmp/rvp'\'$'s\n"home" dir'
# HOME="/tmp/rvp's
# \"home\" dir/////////////"
#
cd() {
	# set -x				# tron
	command cd -- "$@"

	# realpath(1) not available everywhere so,
	# turn: ///some//path///// -> /some/path
	#       / -> ///			# side-effect :(
	#
	local S="$(dirname "$PWD")/$(basename "$PWD")"
	local R="$(dirname "$HOME")/$(basename "$HOME")"
	S=$(echo "$S" | tr -s /)		# /// -> /
	R=$(echo "$R" | tr -s /)		# /// -> /

	# tack on `/' so /home/davey !~ /home/dave
	#
	if [[ "$S/" == "$R/"* ]]		# ksh(1), bash(1) ver.
	# if echo "$S/" | grep -q -- "^$R/"	# grep(1) ver.
	# if expr "$S/" : "$R/" >/dev/null	# expr(1) ver.
	then	PS1=$(printf '\033[35m%s\033[0m \033[1;37m$\033[0m ' "~${S#$R}")
	else	PS1=$(printf '\033[35m%s\033[0m \033[1;37m$\033[0m ' "$S")
	fi
	# set +x				# troff
}
cd "$PWD"

Shorter if ksh had bash's ${var/pattern/string}:

cd()
{
	command cd -- "$@"
	PS1="${PWD/#$HOME/\~}$ "
}

JuvenalUrbino

pfr Cheers. That works well, except it still print's the full path ie. /home/user rather than ~

Have you aliased cd to _cd? And executed _cd upon startup? On my side it works as expected, on ksh93 (or, to be more precise ksh2020), which I tend to use outside of NetBSD as it is the default system intrerpreter on illumos. Edit: indeed I didn't ask you what sort of ksh implementation are you on; I've never used pdksh and derivatives (oksh, mksh).
Opening a terminal:

~ $ pwd                                                                                            

/home/vincent
~ $ cd Documents
~/Documents $ cd /usr/lib
/usr/lib $ cd ..
/usr $ cd -
/usr/lib
/usr/lib $ cd ~
~ $ cd Pictures/Wallpapers
~/Pictures/Wallpapers $ cd ~/.config/mc
~/.config/mc $

By, the way, you came up with a cool suggestion. I think I'm sticking with this :3

pfr

rvp Here:

cd()
{
	builtin cd "$@"
	if [[ x"$PWD" == x"$HOME"* ]]
	then	PS1="~${PWD#$HOME}$ "
	else	PS1='$PWD$ '
	fi
}

This kind of works better than the one above... at least is recognises both versions of the ch command. Still no tilde replacing /user/dave though

pfr

JuvenalUrbino Have you aliased cd to _cd? And executed _cd upon startup?

I didn't create the alias, but I did try executing _cd which still showed the full path. I'll try again tonight and if it doesn't work I'll post my complete .shrc to see if you can identify the problem.