ZSH(1)ZSH(1)NAMEzsh - the Z shell
SYNOPSISzsh [ ± options ] [ ± o option ] ... [ -c string ] [ arg ... ]
SHELL GRAMMAR
A simple command is a sequence of optional parameter assignments
followed by blank-separated words, with optional redirections
interspersed. The first word is the command to be executed, and the
remaining words, if any, are arguments to the command. If a command
name is given, the parameter assignments modify the environment of the
command when it is executed. The value of a simple command is its exit
status, or 128 plus the signal number if terminated by a signal.
If a simple command is preceded by the word exec, it is executed in the
parent shell without forking. If preceded by command, the command word
is taken to be the name of an external command, rather than a shell
function or builtin. If preceded by noglob, filename generation is not
performed on any of the words. If preceded by a -, the command is
executed with a - prepended to its argv[0] string. If preceded by
nocorrect, spelling correction is not done on any of the words.
A pipeline is a sequence of one or more commands separated by | or |&.
|& is shorthand for 2>&1 |. The standard output of each command is
connected to the standard input of the next command in the pipeline.
The value of a pipeline is the value of the last command. If a
pipeline is preceded by a !, the value of that pipeline is the logical
NOT of the value of the last command.
If a pipeline is preceded by coproc, it is executed as a coprocess; a
two-way pipe is established between it and the parent shell. The shell
can read from or write to the coprocess by means of the >&p and <&p
redirection operators.
A sublist is a sequence of one or more pipelines separated by && or ||.
If two pipelines are separated by &&, the second pipeline is executed
only if the first is successful (returns a zero value). If two
pipelines are separated by ||, the second is executed only if the first
is unsuccessful (returns a nonzero value). Both operators have equal
precedence and are left associative.
A list is a sequence of one or more sublists separated by, and
optionally terminated by, ;, &, or a newline. Normally the shell waits
for each list to finish before executing the next one. If a list is
terminated by a &, the shell executes it in the background, and does
not wait for it to finish.
A complex command is one of the following:
for name [ in word ... ]
do list
done Expand the list of words, and set the parameter name to
each of them in turn, executing list each time. If the
in word is omitted, use the positional parameters instead
of the words.
for name [ in word ... ] ; sublist
This is a shorthand for for. Though it may cause
confusion, it is included for convenience; its use in
scripts is discouraged, unless sublist is a command of
the form { list }.
foreach name ( word ... )
list
end Another form of for.
for name in word ...
{
list
} Another form of for.
for name ( word ... ) {
list
} Another form of for.
for name ( word ... ) sublist
Another form of for.
select name [ in word ... ]
do list
done Print the set of words, each preceded by a number. If
the in word is omitted, use the positional parameters.
The PROMPT3 prompt is printed and a line is read from
standard input. If this line consists of the number of
one of the listed words, then the parameter name is set
to the word corresponding to this number. If this line
is empty, the selection list is printed again.
Otherwise, the value of the parameter name is set to
null. The contents of the line read from standard input
is saved in the parameter REPLY. list is executed for
each selection until a break or end-of-file is
encountered.
select name [ in word ] ; sublist
A short form of select.
case word in [ pattern ) list ;; ] ... esac
Execute the list associated with the first pattern that
matches word, if any. The form of the patterns is the
same as that used for filename generation. See Filename
Generation below.
case word { [ pattern ) list ;; ] ... }
Another form of case.
if list
then list
[ elif list ; then list ] ...
[ else list ]
fi The if list is executed, and, if it returns a zero exit
status, the then list is executed. Otherwise, the elif
list is executed and, if its value is zero, the then list
is executed. If each elif list returns nonzero, the else
list is executed.
if ( list ) sublist
A short form of if.
if ( list ) {
list
} elif ( list ) {
list
} ... else {
list
} An alternate form of if. The parentheses surrounding list
can be omitted if the only command in the list is a
conditional expression of the form [[ exp ]] (see below).
while list
do list
done Execute the do list as long as the while list returns a
zero exit status.
while ( list ) {
list
} An alternate form of while.
until list
do list
done Execute the do list as long as until list returns a
nonzero exit status.
repeat word
do list
done word is expanded and treated as an arithmetic expression,
which must evaluate to a number n. list is then executed
n times.
repeat word sublist
This is a short form of repeat.
( list )
Execute list in a subshell.
{ list }
Execute list.
function word [ () ] ... { list }
word ... () { list }
word ... () sublist
Define a function which is referenced by any one of word.
Normally, only one word is provided; multiple words are
usually only useful for setting traps. The body of the
function is the list between the { and }. See FUNCTIONS
below.
time [ pipeline ]
The pipeline is executed, and timing statistics are
reported on the standard error in the form specified by
the TIMEFMT parameter. If pipeline is omitted, print
statistics about the shell process and its children.
[[ exp ]]
Evaluates the conditional expression exp and return a
zero exit status if it is true. See Conditional
Expressions below for a description of exp.
RESERVED WORDS
The following words are recognized as reserved words when used as the
first word of a command unless quoted or removed using the unalias
builtin:
do done esac then elif else fi for case if while function repeat
time until exec command select coproc noglob - nocorrect foreach
end
COMMENTS
In noninteractive shells, or in interactive shells with the
INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS option set, a word beginning with the third
character of the HISTCHARS parameter (`#' by default) causes that word
and all the following characters up to a newline to be ignored.
ALIASING
Every token in the shell input is checked to see if there is an alias
defined for it. If so, it is replaced by the text of the alias if it
is in command position (if it could be the first word of a simple
command), or if the alias is global. If the text ends with a space,
the next word in the shell input is treated as though it were in
command position for purposes of alias expansion. An alias is defined
using the alias builtin; global aliases may be defined using the -g
option to that builtin.
Alias substitution is done on the shell input before any other
substitution except history substitution. Therefore, if an alias is
defined for the word foo, alias substitution may be avoided by quoting
part of the word, e.g. \foo. But there is nothing to prevent an alias
being defined for \foo as well.
QUOTING
A character may be quoted (that is, made to stand for itself) by
preceding it with a \. \ followed by a newline is ignored. All
characters enclosed between a pair of single quotes ('') are quoted,
except the first character of HISTCHARS ( `!' by default). A single
quote cannot appear within single quotes. Inside double quotes (""),
parameter and command substitution occurs, and \ quotes the characters
\, `, ", and $.
EXPANSION
Expansion is performed on the command line after it has been parsed.
The types of expansions performed are filename expansion, process
substitution, parameter expansion, command substitution, arithmetic
expansion, brace expansion, and filename generation.
Filename Expansion
Each word is checked to see if it begins with an unquoted ~. If it
does, then the word up to a / is checked to see if it matches the name
of a named directory. If so, then the ~ and the matched portion are
replaced with the value of the named directory. A ~ by itself or
followed by a / is replaced by the value of the HOME parameter. A ~
followed by a + or a - is replaced by the value of PWD or OLDPWD,
respectively.
Named directories are typically login directories for users on the
system. They may also be defined if the text after the ~ is the name
of a string shell parameter whose value begins with a /. In certain
circumstances (in prompts, for instance), when the shell prints a path,
the path is checked to see if it has a named directory as its prefix.
If so, then the prefix portion is replaced with a ~ followed by the
name of the directory. The longest match is preferred.
If a word begins with an unquoted = and the NO_EQUALS option is not
set, the remainder of the word is taken as the name of a command or
alias. If a command exists by that name, the word is replaced by the
full pathname of the command. If an alias exists by that name, the
word is replaced with the text of the alias. Otherwise the word is
checked up to a / to see if it is a number or a -. If so, the matched
portion is replaced with the nth directory in the directory stack,
where n is the number matched, or the last directory in the directory
stack if a - is matched.
Filename expansion is performed on the right hand side of a parameter
assignment, including those appearing after commands of the typeset
family. In this case, the right hand side will be treated as a colon-
separated list in the manner of PATH so that a ~ or an = following a :
is eligible for expansion. All such behavior can be disabled by
quoting the ~, the =, or the whole expression (but not simply the
colon); the NO_EQUALS option is also respected.
If the option MAGIC_EQUAL_SUBST is set, any unquoted shell argument in
the form identifier=expression becomes eligible for file expansion as
described in the previous paragraph. Quoting the first = also inhibits
this.
Process Substitution
Each command argument of the form <(list) or >(list) or =(list) is
subject to process substitution. In the case of the < or > forms, the
shell will run process list asynchronously connected to a named pipe
(FIFO). The name of this pipe will become the argument to the command.
If the form with > is selected then writing on this file will provide
input for list. If < is used, then the file passed as an argument will
be a named pipe connected to the output of the list process. For
example,
paste <(cut -f1 file1) <(cut -f3 file2) | tee >(process1)
>(process2) >/dev/null
cuts fields 1 and 3 from the files file1 and file2 respectively, pastes
the results together, and sends it to the processes process1 and
process2. Note that the file, which is passed as an argument to the
command, is a system pipe so programs that expect to lseek(2) on the
file will not work. Also note that the previous example can be more
compactly and efficiently written as:
paste <(cut -f1 file1) <(cut -f3 file2) > >(process1) >
>(process2)
The shell uses pipes instead of FIFOs to implement the latter two
process substitutions in the above example.
If = is used, then the file passed as an argument will be the name of a
temporary file containing the output of the list process. This may be
used instead of the < form for a program that expects to lseek(2) on
the input file.
Parameter Expansion
The character $ is used to introduce parameter expansions. See
PARAMETERS below for a description of parameters.
${name}
The value, if any, of the parameter name is substituted.
The braces are required if name is followed by a letter,
digit, or underscore that is not to be interpreted as
part of its name. If name is an array parameter, then
the values of each element of name is substituted, one
element per word. Otherwise, the expansion results in
one word only; no word splitting is done on the result.
${+name}
If name is the name of a set parameter `1' is
substituted, otherwise `0' is substituted.
${name:-word}
If name is set and is non-null then substitute its value;
otherwise substitute word.
${name:=word}
If name is unset or is null then set it to word; the
value of the parameter is then substituted.
${name:?word}
If name is set and is non-null, then substitute its
value; otherwise, print word and exit from the shell. If
word is omitted, then a standard message is printed.
${name:+word}
If name is set and is non-null then substitute word;
otherwise substitute nothing.
${name#pattern}
${name##pattern}
If the pattern matches the beginning of the value of
name, then substitute the value of name with the matched
portion deleted; otherwise, just substitute the value of
name. In the first form, the smallest matching pattern
is preferred; in the second form, the largest matching
pattern is preferred.
${name%pattern}
${name%%pattern}
If the pattern matches the end of the value of name, then
substitute the value of name with the matched portion
deleted; otherwise, just substitute the value of name.
In the first form, the smallest matching pattern is
preferred; in the second form, the largest matching
pattern is preferred.
${#spec}
If spec is one of the above substitutions, substitute the
length in characters of the result instead of the result
itself. If spec is an array expression, substitute the
number of elements of the result.
${^spec}
Toggle the value of the RC_EXPAND_PARAM option for the
evaluation of spec. When this option is set, array
expansions of the form foo${xx}bar, where the parameter
xx is set to (a b c), are substituted with fooabar
foobbar foocbar instead of the default fooa b cbar.
${=spec}
Toggle the value of the SH_WORD_SPLIT option for the
evaluation of spec. When this option is set, parameter
values are split into separate words using IFS as a
delimiter before substitution. This is done by default
in most other shells.
${~spec}
Toggle the value of the CSH_JUNKIE_TILDE option for the
evaluation of spec. When this option is set, any = and ~
resulting from the substitution become eligible for file
expansion.
If the colon is omitted from one of the above expressions containing a
colon, then the shell only checks whether name is set or not, not
whether it is null.
If the opening brace is directly followed by an opening parentheses the
string up to the matching closing parentheses will be taken as a list
of flags, where the following are supported:
o the resulting words will be sorted in ascending order
O the resulting words will be sorted in descending order
i if given together with o or O makes the sort be case
independent
L convert the result to all lower case
U convert the result to all upper case
C capitalize the resulting words
c if using ${#name} to count array elements, this flag
makes it count characters (as if the elements were
concatenated with spaces between them)
w like c, but works for strings and arrays and makes the
shell count words (words are strings separated by white
spaces or by the string given with the s flag)
l:expr::string1::string2:
specifies a left padding for the resulting words; each
word will be placed in a field expr characters wide
(truncated if needed), the space to the left will be
filled with string1 (concatenated as often, as needed) or
spaces if string1 is not given; if both string1 and
string2 are given, this string will be placed exactly
once directly to the left of the resulting word. Any
character (or the pairs `(...)', `{...}', `[...]', or
`<...>') can be used instead of the colon to enclose the
arguments.
r:expr::string1::string2:
like l..., but for right padding
j:string:
if SH_WORD_SPLIT is set, the resulting words will be
concatenated with this string and then split again at the
string given with the s flag; if neither j nor s are
given this will be done with spaces.
s:string:
see above
S this one and all following flags are used with the
${...#...} or ${...%...} forms; this one makes them
search substrings, too, not only beginnings or ends
I:expr:
makes them search the n'th match (if expr evaluates to n)
M include the matched portion in the result
R include the unmatched portion in the result (the rest)
B include the index of the beginning of the match in the
result
E include the index of the end of the match in the result
N include the length of the match in the result
Command Substitution
A command enclosed in parentheses preceded by a dollar sign, like so:
$(...) or quoted with grave accents: `...` is replaced with its
standard output. If the substitution is not enclosed in double quotes,
the output is broken into words using the IFS parameter. The
substitution $(cat foo) may be replaced by the equivalent but faster
$(<foo).
Arithmetic Expansion
A string of the form $[exp] is substituted with the value of the
arithmetic expression exp. See ARITHMETIC EVALUATION below.
Brace Expansion
A string of the form foo{xx,yy,zz}bar is expanded to the individual
words fooxxbar, fooyybar, and foozzbar. Left-to-right order is
preserved. This construct may be nested. Malformed brace expansion
expressions, including expressions without a comma, are left unchanged
by the shell.
An expression of the form {x-y}, where x and y are single characters,
is expanded to every character between x and y, inclusive.
Filename Generation
If a word contains an unquoted instance of one of the characters *, |,
<, [, or ?, it is regarded as a pattern for filename generation, unless
the NO_GLOB option is set. If the EXTENDED_GLOB option is set, the ^,
~ and # characters also denote a pattern; otherwise (except for an
initial ~, see Filename Expansion above) they are not treated specially
by the shell. The word is replaced with a list of sorted filenames
that match the pattern. If no matching pattern is found, the shell
gives an error message, unless the NULL_GLOB option is set, in which
case the word is deleted; or unless the NO_NOMATCH option is set, in
which case the word is left unchanged. In filename generation, the
character / must be matched explicitly; also, a . must be matched
explicitly at the beginning of a pattern or after a /, unless the
GLOB_DOTS option is set. No filename generation pattern matches the
files "." or "..". In other instances of pattern matching, the / and .
are not treated specially.
* matches any string, including the null string.
? matches any character.
[ ... ]
matches any of the enclosed characters.
[^ ... ]
matches any character except the enclosed characters. [!
... ] is the same as the above.
<x-y> matches any number in the range x to y, inclusive. If x
is omitted, the number must be less than or equal to y.
If y is omitted, the number must be greater than or equal
to x. A pattern of the form <-> or simply <> matches any
number.
^x matches anything except the pattern x.
x|y matches either x or y.
x# matches zero or more occurrences of the pattern x.
x## matches one or more occurrences of the pattern x.
Parentheses may be used for grouping. Note that the | character must
be within parentheses, so that the lexical analyzer does not think it
is a pipe character. Also note that "/" has a higher precedence than
"^"; that is:
ls ^foo/bar
will search directories in "." except "./foo" for a file named bar.
A pathname component of the form (foo/)# matches a path consisting of
zero or more directories matching the pattern foo. As a shorthand, **/
is equivalent to (*/)#. Thus:
ls (*/)#bar
or
ls **/bar
does a recursive directory search for files named bar.
If used for filename generation, a pattern may contain an exclusion
specifier. Such patterns are of the form pat1~pat2. This pattern will
generate all files matching pat1, but which do not match pat2. For
example, *.c~lex.c will match all files ending in .c, except the file
lex.c.
Patterns used for filename generation may also end in a list of
qualifiers enclosed in parentheses. The qualifiers specify which
filenames that otherwise match the given pattern will be inserted in
the argument list. A qualifier may be any one of the following:
/ directories
. plain files
@ symbolic links
= sockets
p named pipes (FIFOs)
* executable plain files (0100)
% device files (character or block special)
%b block special files
%c character special files
r readable files (0400)
w writable files (0200)
x executable files (0100)
R world-readable files (0004)
W world-writable files (0002)
X world-executable files (0001)
s setuid files (04000)
S setgid files (02000)
ddev files on the device dev
l[-|+]ct
files having a link count less than ct (-), greater than
ct (+), or is equal to ct
U files owned by the effective user id
G files owned by the effective group id
uid files owned by user id id if it is a number, if not, than
the character after the u will be used as a separator and
the string between it and the next matching separator
(`(', `[', `{', and `<' match `)', `]', `}', and `>'
respectively, any other character matches itself) will be
taken as a user name and the user id of this user will be
taken (e.g. u:foo: or u[foo] for user foo)
gid like uid but with group ids or names
a[-|+]n
files accessed within last n days (-), more than n days
ago (+), or n days ago
m[-|+]n
files modified within last n days (-), more than n days
ago (+), or n days ago
c[-|+]n
files whose inode changed within last n days (-), more
than n days ago (+), or n days ago. If any of the flags
a, m, or c is directly followed by a M, w, h, or m (e.g.
mh+5) the check is performed with months (of 30 days),
weeks, hours, or minutes instead of days, respectively.
L[+|-]n
files less than n bytes (-), more than n bytes (+), or
exactly n bytes in length.
^ negates all qualifiers following it
- toggles between making the qualifiers work on symbolic
links (the default) and the files they point to
M sets the MARK_DIRS option for the current pattern
T appends a traling qualifier mark to the file names,
analogous to the LIST_TYPES option, for the current
pattern (overrides M)
N sets the NULL_GLOB option for the current pattern
D sets the GLOB_DOTS option for the current pattern
More than one of these lists can be combined, separated by commas. The
whole list matches if at least one of the sublists matches (they are
`or'ed', the qualifiers in the sublists are `and'ed').
If a : appears in a qualifier list, the remainder of the expression in
parenthesis is interpreted as a modifier (see the subsection Modifiers
of the section HISTORY). Note that each modifier must be introduced by
a separate :. Note also that the result after modification does not
have to be an existing file. The name of any existing file can be
followed by a modifier of the form (:..) even if no filename generation
is performed.
Thus:
ls *(-/)
lists all directories and symbolic links that point to directories, and
ls *(%W)
lists all world-writable device files in the current directory, and
ls *(W,X)
lists all files in the current directory that are world-writable or
world-executable, and
echo /tmp/foo*(u0^@:t)
outputs the basename of all root-owned files beginning with the string
"foo" in /tmp, ignoring symlinks, and
ls *.*~(lex|parse).[ch](^D^l1)
lists all files having a link count of one whose names contain a dot
(but not those starting with a dot, since GLOB_DOTS is explicitly
switched off) except for lex.c, lex.h, parse.c, and parse.h. A "/" at
the end of a pattern is equivalent to "(/)".
REDIRECTION
Before a command is executed, its input and output may be redirected.
The following may appear anywhere in a simple command or may precede or
follow a complex command. Substitution occurs before word is used
except as noted below. If the result of substitution on word produces
more than one filename, redirection occurs for each separate filename
in turn.
<word Open file word as standard input.
>word Open file word as standard output. If the file does not exist
then it is created. If the file exists, and the NO_CLOBBER
option is set, this causes an error; otherwise, it is truncated
to zero length.
>! word
Same as >, except that the file is truncated to zero length if
it exists, even if NO_CLOBBER is set.
>>word Open file word as standard output. If the file exists then
output is appended to it. If the file does not exist, and the
NO_CLOBBER option is set, this causes an error; otherwise, the
file is created.
>>! word
Same as >>, except that the file is created if it does not
exist, even if NO_CLOBBER is set.
<<[-] word
The shell input is read up to a line that is the same as word,
or to an end-of-file. No parameter substitution, command
substitution or filename generation is performed on word. The
resulting document, called a here-document, becomes the standard
input. If any character of word is quoted with single or double
quotes or a \, no interpretation is placed upon the characters
of the document. Otherwise, parameter and command substitution
occurs, \ followed by a newline is removed, and \ must be used
to quote the characters \, $, `, and the first character of
word. If <<- is used, then all leading tabs are stripped from
word and from the document.
<<<word
Open a file containing word, after expansion, as standard input.
<&digit
The standard input is duplicated from file descriptor digit (see
dup(2)). Similarly for standard output using >&digit.
>&word Same as >word 2>&1.
>>&word
Same as >>word 2>&1.
<&- Close the standard input.
>&- Close the standard output.
<&p The input from the coprocess is moved to the standard input.
>&p The output to the coprocess is moved to the standard output.
If one of the above is preceded by a digit, then the file descriptor
referred to is that specified by the digit (instead of the default 0 or
1). The order in which redirections are specified is significant. The
shell evaluates each redirection in terms of the (file descriptor,
file) association at the time of evaluation. For example:
... 1>fname 2>&1
first associates file descriptor 1 with file fname. It then associates
file descriptor 2 with the file associated with file descriptor 1 (that
is, fname). If the order of redirections were reversed, file
descriptor 2 would be associated with the terminal (assuming file
descriptor 1 had been) and then file descriptor 1 would be associated
with file fname.
If the user tries to open a file descriptor for writing more than once,
the shell opens the file descriptor as a pipe to a process that copies
its input to all the specified outputs, similar to tee(1). Thus:
date >foo >bar
writes the date to two files, named "foo" and "bar". Note that a pipe
is an implicit indirection; thus
date >foo | cat
writes the date to the file "foo", and also pipes it to cat.
If the user tries to open a file descriptor for reading more than once,
the shell opens the file descriptor as a pipe to a process that copies
all the specified inputs to its output in the order specified, similar
to cat(1). Thus
sort <foo <fubar
or even
sort <f{oo,ubar}
is equivalent to "cat foo bar | sort". Similarly, you can do
echo exit 0 >> *.sh
Note that a pipe is in implicit indirection; thus
cat bar | sort <foo
is equivalent to "cat bar foo | sort" (note the order of the inputs).
If a simple command consists of one or more redirection operators and
zero or more parameter assignments, but no command name, the command
cat is assumed. Thus
< file
prints the contents of file.
If a command is followed by & and job control is not active, then the
default standard input for the command is the empty file /dev/null.
Otherwise, the environment for the execution of a command contains the
file descriptors of the invoking shell as modified by input/output
specifications.
COMMAND EXECUTION
If a command name contains no slashes, the shell attempts to locate it.
If there exists a shell function by that name, the function is invoked
as described below in FUNCTIONS. If there exists a shell builtin by
that name, the builtin is invoked.
Otherwise, the shell searches each element of path for a directory
containing an executable file by that name. If the search is
unsuccessful, the shell prints an error message and returns a nonzero
exit status.
If execution fails because the file is not in executable format, and
the file is not a directory, it is assumed to be a shell script.
/bin/sh is spawned to execute it. If the program is a file beginning
with #!, the remainder of the first line specifies an interpreter for
the program. The shell will execute the specified interpreter on
operating systems that do not handle this executable format in the
kernel.
FUNCTIONS
The function reserved word is used to define shell functions. Shell
functions are read in and stored internally. Alias names are resolved
when the function is read. Functions are executed like commands with
the arguments passed as positional parameters. (See Execution below).
Functions execute in the same process as the caller and share all files
and present working directory with the caller. A trap on EXIT set
inside a function is executed after the function completes in the
environment of the caller.
The return builtin is used to return from function calls.
Function identifiers can be listed with the functions builtin.
Functions can be undefined with the unfunction builtin.
The following functions, if defined, have special meaning to the shell:
chpwd Executed whenever the current working directory is changed.
precmd Executed before each prompt.
periodic
If the parameter PERIOD is set, this function is executed every
PERIOD seconds, just before a prompt.
TRAPxxx
If defined and non-null, this function will be executed whenever
the shell catches a signal SIGxxx, where xxx is a signal name as
specified for the kill builtin (see below). The signal number
will be passed as the first parameter to the function. In
addition, TRAPZERR is executed whenever a command has a non-zero
exit status, TRAPDEBUG is executed after each command, and
TRAPEXIT is executed when the shell exits, or when the current
function exits if defined inside a function. If a function of
this form is defined and null, the shell and processes spawned
by it will ignore SIGxxx.
JOBS
If the MONITOR option is set, an interactive shell associates a job
with each pipeline. It keeps a table of current jobs, printed by the
jobs command, and assigns them small integer numbers. When a job is
started asynchronously with &, the shell prints a line which looks
like:
[1] 1234
indicating that the job which was started asynchronously was job number
1 and had one (top-level) process, whose process id was 1234.
If you are running a job and wish to do something else you may hit the
key ^Z (control-Z) which sends a TSTP signal to the current job. The
shell will then normally indicate that the job has been `suspended',
and print another prompt. You can then manipulate the state of this
job, putting it in the background with the bg command, or run some
other commands and then eventually bring the job back into the
foreground with the foreground command fg. A ^Z takes effect
immediately and is like an interrupt in that pending output and unread
input are discarded when it is typed.
A job being run in the background will suspend if it tries to read from
the terminal. Background jobs are normally allowed to produce output,
but this can be disabled by giving the command ``stty tostop''. If you
set this tty option, then background jobs will suspend when they try to
produce output like they do when they try to read input.
There are several ways to refer to jobs in the shell. A job can be
referred to by the process id of any process of the job or by one of
the following:
%number
The job with the given number.
%string
Any job whose command line begins with string.
%?string
Any job whose command line contains string.
%% Current job.
%+ Equivalent to %%.
%- Previous job.
The shell learns immediately whenever a process changes state. It
normally informs you whenever a job becomes blocked so that no further
progress is possible. If notify is not set, it waits until just before
it prints a prompt before it informs you.
When the monitor mode is on, each background job that completes
triggers any trap set for CHLD.
When you try to leave the shell while jobs are running or suspended,
you will be warned that `You have suspended (running) jobs.' You may
use the jobs command to see what they are. If you do this or
immediately try to exit again, the shell will not warn you a second
time; the suspended jobs will be terminated, and the running jobs will
be sent a SIGHUP signal. To avoid having the shell terminate the
running jobs, either use the nohup(1) command or the disown builtin
(see below).
SIGNALS
The INT and QUIT signals for an invoked command are ignored if the
command is followed by & and the job MONITOR option is not active.
Otherwise, signals have the values inherited by the shell from its
parent (but see the TRAPxxx special function above).
HISTORY
History substitution allows you to use words from previous command
lines in the command line you are typing. This simplifies spelling
corrections and the repetition of complicated commands or arguments.
Command lines are saved in the history list, the size of which is
controlled by the HISTSIZE variable. The most recent command is
retained in any case. A history substitution begins with a ! and may
occur anywhere on the command line; history substitutions do not nest.
The ! can be escaped with \ to suppress its special meaning. Single
or double quotes will not work for this.
Input lines containing history substitutions are echoed on the terminal
after being expanded, but before any other substitutions take place or
the command gets executed.
Event Designators
An event designator is a reference to a command-line entry in the
history list.
! Start a history substitution, except when followed by a
blank, newline, =, or (.
!! Refer to the previous command. By itself, this
substitution repeats the previous command.
!n Refer to command-line n.
!-n Refer to the current command-line minus n.
!str Refer to the most recent command starting with str.
!?str[?]
Refer to the most recent command containing str.
!# Refer to the current command line typed in so far.
!{...} Insulate a history reference from adjacent characters (if
necessary).
Word Designators
A word designator indicates which word or words of a given command line
will be included in a history reference. A `:' separates the event
specification from the word designator. It can be omitted if the word
designator begins with a ^, $, *, - or %. Word designators include:
0 The first input word (command).
n The n'th argument.
^ The first argument, that is, 1.
$ The last argument.
% The word matched by (the most recent) ?str search.
x-y A range of words; -y abbreviates 0-y.
* All the arguments, or a null value if there is just one
word in the event.
x* Abbreviates x-$.
x- Like x* but omitting word $.
Note that a `%' word designator will only work when used as !%, !:%,
!?str?:% and only when used after a !? substitution. Anything else
will result in an error, although the error may not be the most obvious
one.
Modifiers
After the optional word designator, you can add a sequence of one or
more of the following modifiers, each preceded by a :. These modifiers
also work on the result of filename and parameter expansion.
h Remove a trailing pathname component, leaving the head.
r Remove a trailing suffix of the form `.xxx', leaving the
basename.
e Remove all but the suffix.
t Remove all leading pathname components, leaving the tail.
& Repeat the previous substitution.
g Apply the change to the first occurrence of a match in
each word, by prefixing the above (for example, g&).
p Print the new command but do not execute it.
q Quote the substituted words, escaping further
substitutions.
x Like q, but break into words at each blank.
l Convert the words to all lowercase.
u Convert the words to all uppercase.
f Repeats the immediately (without a colon) following
modifier until the resulting word doesn't change any
more. This one and the following four only work with
parameter and filename expansion.
F:expr:
Like f, but repeats only n times if the expression expr
evaluates to n. Any character can be used instead of the
`:', if any of `(', `[', or `{' is used as the opening
delimiter the second one has to be ')', `]', or `}'
respectively.
w Makes the immediately following modifier work on each
word in the string.
W:sep: Like w but words are considered to be the parts of the
string that are separated by sep. Any character can be
used instead of the `:', opening parentheses are handled
specially, see above.
s/l/r[/]
Substitute r for l.
Unless preceded by a g, the substitution is done only for the first
string that matches l.
The left-hand side of substitutions are not regular expressions, but
character strings. Any character can be used as the delimiter in place
of /. A backslash quotes the delimiter character. The character &, in
the right hand side, is replaced by the text from the left-hand-side.
The & can be quoted with a backslash. A null l uses the previous
string either from a l or from a contextual scan string s from !?s.
You can omit the rightmost delimiter if a newline immediately follows
r; the rightmost ? in a context scan can similarly be omitted.
By default, a history reference with no event specification refers to
the same line as the last history reference on that command line,
unless it is the first history reference in a command. In that case, a
history reference with no event specification always refers to the
previous command. However, if the option CSH_JUNKIE_HISTORY is set,
then history reference with no event specification will always refer to
the previous command. For example, !!:1 will always refer to the first
word of the previous command and !!$ will always refer to the last word
of the previous command. And with CSH_JUNKIE_HISTORY set, then !:1 and
!$ will function in the same manner as !!:1 and !!$, respectively.
However, if CSH_JUNKIE_HISTORY is unset, then !:1 and !$ will refer to
the first and last words respectively, of the last command referenced
on the current command line. However, if they are the first history
reference on the command line, then they refer to the previous command.
The character sequence ^foo^bar repeats the last command, replacing the
string "foo" with the string "bar".
If the shell encounters the character sequence !" in the input, the
history mechanism is temporarily disabled until the current list is
fully parsed. The !" is removed from the input, and any subsequent !
characters have no special significance.
A less convenient but more comprehensible form of command history
support is provided by the fc builtin (see below).
ARITHMETIC EVALUATION
An ability to perform integer arithmetic is provided with the builtin
let. Evaluations are performed using long arithmetic. Constants are
of the form [base#]n where base is a decimal number between two and
thirty-six representing the arithmetic base and n is a number in that
base (for example, `16#ff' is 255 in hexadecimal). If base is omitted
then base 10 is used. For backwards compatibility the form `[16]ff' is
also accepted.
An arithmetic expression uses nearly the same syntax, precedence, and
associativity of expressions in C. The following operators are
supported (listed in decreasing order of precedence):
+ - ! ∼ ++ --
unary plus/minus, logical NOT, complement,
{pre,post}{in,de}crement
& logical AND
^ logical XOR
| logical OR
* / % **
multiplication, division, remainder, exponentiation
+ - addition, subtraction
<< >> logical shift left, shift right
< > <= >=
comparison
== != equality and inequality
&& boolean AND
|| ^^ boolean OR, XOR
? : ternary operator
= += -= *= /= %= &= ^= |= <<= >>= &&= ||= ^^= **=
assignment
, comma operator
The operators &&, ||, &&=, and ||= are short-circuiting, and only one
of the latter two expressions in a ternary operator is evaluated. Note
the precedence of the logical AND, OR, and XOR operators.
An expression of the form #\x where x is any character gives the ascii
value of this character and an expression of the form #foo gives the
ascii value of the first character of the value of the parameter foo.
Named parameters can be referenced by name within an arithmetic
expression without using the parameter substitution syntax, but if it
is an array with a subscript the leading $ is needed.
An internal integer representation of a named parameter can be
specified with the integer builtin. Arithmetic evaluation is performed
on the value of each assignment to a named parameter declared integer
in this manner.
Since many of the arithmetic operators require quoting, an alternative
form of the let command is provided. For any command which begins with
a ((, all the characters until a matching )) are treated as a quoted
expression. More precisely, ((...)) is equivalent to let "...".
CONDITIONAL EXPRESSIONS
A conditional expression is used with the [[ compound command to test
attributes of files and to compare strings. Each expression can be
constructed from one or more of the following unary or binary
expressions:
-a file
true if file exists.
-b file
true if file exists and is a block special file.
-c file
true if file exists and is a character special file.
-d file
true if file exists and is a directory.
-e file
true if file exists.
-f file
true if file exists and is an ordinary file.
-g file
true if file exists and has its setgid bit set.
-h file
true if file exists and is a symbolic link.
-k file
true if file exists and has its sticky bit set.
-n string
true if length of string is non-zero.
-o option
true if option named option is on.
-p file
true if file exists and is a fifo special file or a pipe.
-r file
true if file exists and is readable by current process.
-s file
true if file exists and has size greater than zero.
-t fd true if file descriptor number fd is open and associated with a
terminal device. (note: fd is not optional)
-u file
true if file exists and has its setuid bit set.
-w file
true if file exists and is writable by current process.
-x file
true if file exists and is executable by current process. If
file exists and is a directory, then the current process has
permission to search in the directory.
-z string
true if length of string is zero.
-L file
true if file exists and is a symbolic link.
-O file
true if file exists and is owned by the effective user id of
this process.
-G file
true if file exists and its group matches the effective group id
of this process.
-S file
true if file exists and is a socket.
file1 -nt file2
true if file1 exists and is newer than file2.
file1 -ot file2
true if file1 exists and is older than file2.
file1 -ef file2
true if file1 and file2 exist and refer to the same file.
string = pattern
true if string matches pattern.
string != pattern
true if string does not match pattern.
string1 < string2
true if string1 comes before string2 based on ASCII value of
their characters.
string1 > string2
true if string1 comes after string2 based on ASCII value of
their characters.
exp1 -eq exp2
true if exp1 is equal to exp2.
exp1 -ne exp2
true if exp1 is not equal to exp2.
exp1 -lt exp2
true if exp1 is less than exp2.
exp1 -gt exp2
true if exp1 is greater than exp2.
exp1 -le exp2
true if exp1 is less than or equal to exp2.
exp1 -ge exp2
true if exp1 is greater than or equal to exp2.
( exp )
true if exp is true.
! exp true if exp is false.
exp1 && exp2
true if exp1 and exp2 are both true.
exp1 || exp2
true if either exp1 or exp2 is true.
In each of the above expressions, if file is of the form /dev/fd/n,
where n is an integer, then the test applied to the open file whose
descriptor number is n, even if the underlying system does not support
the /dev/fd directory.
ZSH LINE EDITOR
If the ZLE option is set (it is by default) and the shell input is
attached to the terminal, the user is allowed to edit command lines.
There are two display modes. The first, multiline mode, is the
default. It only works if the TERM parameter is set to a valid
terminal type that can move the cursor up. The second, single line
mode, is used if TERM is invalid or incapable of moving the cursor up,
or if the SINGLE_LINE_ZLE option is set. This mode is similar to ksh,
and uses no termcap sequences. If TERM is "emacs", the ZLE option will
be unset by the shell.
Bindings
Command bindings may be set using the bindkey builtin. There are two
keymaps-the main keymap and the alternate keymap. The alternate keymap
is bound to vi command mode. The main keymap is bound to emacs mode by
default. To bind the main keymap to vi insert mode, use bindkey -v.
However, if one of the VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables contain
the string vi when the shell starts up the main keymap will be bound to
vi insert mode by default.
The following is a list of all the key commands and their default
bindings in emacs and vi command mode.
Movement
vi-backward-blank-word (unbound) (B)
Move backward one word, where a word is defined as a series of
non-blank characters.
backward-char (^B ESC-[D) ()
Move backward one character.
vi-backward-char () (h)
Move backward one character, without changing lines.
backward-word (ESC-B ESC-b) (unbound)
Move to the beginning of the previous word.
emacs-backward-word
Move to the beginning of the previous word.
vi-backward-word (unbound) (b)
Move to the beginning of the previous word, vi-style.
beginning-of-line (^A) (0)
Move to the beginning of the line. If already at the beginning
of the line, move to the beginning of the previous line, if any.
vi-beginning-of-line
Move to the beginning of the line, without changing lines.
end-of-line (^E)
Move to the end of the line. If already at the end of the line,
move to the end of the next line, if any.
vi-end-of-line (unbound) ($)
Move to the end of the line.
vi-forward-blank-word (unbound) (W)
Move forward one word, where a word is defined as a series of
non-blank characters.
vi-forward-blank-word-end (unbound) (E)
Move to the end of the current word, or, if at the end of the
current word, to the end of the next word, where a word is
defined as a series of non-blank characters.
forward-char (^F ESC-[C)
Move forward one character.
vi-forward-char (unbound) (space l)
Move forward one character.
vi-find-next-char (^X^F) (f)
Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the next
occurrence of it in the line.
vi-find-next-char-skip (unbound) (t)
Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the position
just before the next occurrence of it in the line.
vi-find-prev-char (unbound) (F)
Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the previous
occurrence of it in the line.
vi-find-prev-char-skip (unbound) (T)
Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the position
just after the previous occurrence of it in the line.
vi-first-non-blank (unbound) (^)
Move to the first non-blank character in the line.
vi-forward-word (unbound) (w)
Move forward one word, vi-style.
forward-word (ESC-F ESC-f) (unbound)
Move to the beginning of the next word. The editor's idea of a
word is specified with the WORDCHARS parameter.
emacs-forward-word
Move to the end of the next word.
vi-forward-word-end (unbound) (e)
Move to the end of the next word.
vi-goto-column (ESC-|) (|)
Move to the column specified by the numeric argument.
vi-goto-mark (unbound) (`)
Move to the specified mark.
vi-goto-mark-line (unbound) (')
Move to beginning of the line containing the specified mark.
vi-repeat-find (unbound) (;)
Repeat the last vi-find command.
vi-rev-repeat-find (unbound) (,)
Repeat the last vi-find command in the opposite direction.
History
beginning-of-buffer-or-history (ESC-<)
Move to the beginning of the buffer, or if already there, move
to the first event in the history list.
beginning-of-line-hist
Move to the beginning of the line. If already at the beginning
of the buffer, move to the previous history line.
beginning-of-history
Move to the first event in the history list.
down-line-or-history (^N ESC-[B) (+ j)
Move down a line in the buffer, or if already at the bottom
line, move to the next event in the history list.
down-line-or-search
Move down a line in the buffer, or if already at the bottom
line, search forward in the history for a line beginning with
the first word in the buffer.
down-history (unbound) (^N)
Move to the next event in the history list.
history-beginning-search-backward (unbound)
Search backward in the history for a line beginning with the
current line up to the cursor. This leaves the cursor in its
original position.
end-of-buffer-or-history (ESC->)
Move to the end of the buffer, or if already there, move to the
last event in the history list.
end-of-line-hist
Move to the end of the line. If already at the end of the
buffer, move to the next history line.
end-of-history
Move to the last event in the history list.
vi-fetch-history (unbound) (G)
Fetch the history line specified by the numeric argument.
history-incremental-search-backward (^R ^Xr)
Search backward incrementally for a specified string. The
string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the beginning
of the line. A restricted set of editing functions is available
in the mini-buffer. An interrupt signal, as defined by the stty
setting, will stop the search and go back to the original line.
An undefined key will have the same effect. The supported
functions are: backward-delete-char, quoted-insert, accept-and-
hold, accept-and-infer-next-history, accept-line and accept-
line-and-down-history; magic-space just inserts a space. Any
string that is bound to an out-string (via bindkey -s) will
behave as if out-string were typed directly. Typing the binding
of history-incremental-search-backward will get the next
occurrence of the contents of the mini-buffer. Typing the
binding of history-incremental-search-forward inverts the sense
of the search. The direction of the search is indicated in the
mini-buffer. Any multi-character string that is not bound to one
of the above functions will beep and interrupt the search,
leaving the last found line in the buffer. Any single character
that is not bound to one of the above functions, or self-insert
or self-insert-unmeta, will have the same effect but the
function will be executed.
history-incremental-search-forward (^Xs)
Search forward incrementally for a specified string. The string
may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the beginning of the
line. The functions available in the mini-buffer are the same as
for history-incremental-search-backward.
history-search-backward (ESC-P ESC-p) (K)
Search backward in the history for a line beginning with the
first word in the buffer.
vi-history-search-backward (unbound) (/)
Search backward in the history for a specified string. The
string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the beginning
of the line. A restricted set of editing functions is available
in the mini-buffer. An interrupt signal, as defined by the stty
setting, will stop the search, as will a character bound to vi-
cmd-mode. The functions available in the mini-buffer are:
accept-line, backward-delete-char, vi-backward-delete-char and
quoted-insert. Any string that is bound to an out-string (via
bindkey -s) will behave as if out-string were typed directly.
Any other character that is not bound to self-insert or self-
insert-unmeta will beep and be ignored. If the function is
called from vi command mode, the bindings of vi insert mode will
be used.
history-search-forward (ESC-N ESC-n) (J)
Search forward in the history for a line beginning with the
first word in the buffer.
vi-history-search-forward (unbound) (?)
Search forward in the history for a specified string. The
string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the beginning
of the line. The functions available in the mini-buffer are the
same as for vi-history-search-backward.
infer-next-history (^X^N)
Search in the history list for a line matching the current one
and fetch the event following it.
insert-last-word (ESC-_ ESC-.)
Insert the last word from the previous history event at the
cursor position.
vi-repeat-search (unbound) (n)
Repeat the last vi history search.
vi-rev-repeat-search (unbound) (N)
Repeat the last vi history search, but in reverse.
toggle-literal-history (ESC-R ESC-r)
Toggle between literal and lexical history. The default is
lexical history unless the HISTLIT option is set.
up-line-or-history (^P ESC-[A) (- k)
Move up a line in the buffer, or if already at the top line,
move to the previous event in the history list.
up-line-or-search
Move up a line in the buffer, or if already at the top line,
search backward in the history for a line beginning with the
first word in the buffer.
up-history (unbound) (^P)
Move to the previous event in the history list.
history-beginning-search-forward (unbound)
Search forward in the history for a line beginning with the
current line up to the cursor. This leaves the cursor in its
original position.
Modifying Text
vi-add-eol (unbound) (A)
Move to the end of the line and enter insert mode.
vi-add-next (unbound) (a)
Move forward one character and enter insert mode.
backward-delete-char (^H ^?) (^?)
Delete the character behind the cursor.
vi-backward-delete-char (unbound) (X)
Delete the character behind the cursor, without changing lines.
backward-delete-word
Delete the word behind the cursor.
backward-kill-line
Kill from the beginning of the line to the cursor position.
backward-kill-word (^W ESC-^H ESC-^?)
Kill the word behind the cursor.
vi-backward-kill-word (unbound) (^W)
Kill the word behind the cursor.
capitalize-word (ESC-C ESC-c)
Capitalize the current word and move past it.
vi-change (unbound) (c)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and kill from the
cursor position to the endpoint of the movement. Then enter
insert mode. If the command is vi-change, kill the current
line.
vi-change-eol (unbound) (C)
Kill to the end of the line and enter insert mode.
vi-change-whole-line (unbound) (S s)
Kill the current line and enter insert mode.
copy-region-as-kill (ESC-W ESC-w)
Copy the area from the cursor to the mark to the kill buffer.
copy-prev-word (ESC-^_)
Duplicate the word behind the cursor.
vi-delete (unbound) (d)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and kill from the
cursor position to the endpoint of the movement. If the command
is vi-delete, kill the current line.
delete-char (unbound) (x)
Delete the character under the cursor.
vi-delete-char (unbound) (x)
Delete the character under the cursor.
delete-word (ESC-D ESC-d)
Delete the current word.
down-case-word (ESC-L ESC-l)
Convert the current word to all lowercase and move past it.
kill-word
Kill the current word.
gosmacs-transpose-chars
Exchange the two characters behind the cursor.
vi-indent (unbound) (>)
Indent a number of lines.
vi-insert (unbound) (i)
Enter insert mode.
vi-insert-bol (unbound) (I)
Move to the beginning of the line and enter insert mode.
vi-join (^X^J)
Join the current line with the next one.
kill-line (^K) (D)
Kill from the cursor to the end of the line.
vi-kill-line
Kill from the cursor to the beginning of the line.
kill-region
Kill from the cursor to the mark.
kill-buffer (^X^K) (^U)
Kill the entire buffer.
kill-whole-line (^U) (unbound)
Kill the current line.
vi-match-bracket (^X^B) (%)
Move to the bracket character (one of {}, (), or []) that
matches the one under the cursor.
vi-open-line-above (unbound) (O)
Open a line above the cursor and enter insert mode.
vi-open-line-below (unbound) (o)
Open a line below the cursor and enter insert mode.
vi-oper-swap-case
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and swap the case of
all characters from the cursor position to the endpoint of the
movement. If the movement command is vi-oper-swap-case, swap
the case of all characters on the current line.
overwrite-mode (^X^O)
Toggle between overwrite mode and insert mode.
vi-put-after (unbound) (p)
Insert the contents of the kill buffer after the cursor.
quoted-insert (^V)
Insert the next character typed into the buffer literally.
quote-line (ESC-')
Quote the current line; that is, put a ' character at the
beginning and the end, and convert all ' characters to '\''.
quote-region (ESC-")
Quote the region from the cursor to the mark.
vi-replace (unbound) (R)
Enter overwrite mode.
vi-repeat-change (unbound) (.)
Repeat the last vi mode text modification.
vi-replace-chars (unbound) (r)
Replace the character under the cursor with a character read
from the keyboard.
self-insert (printable characters)
Put a character in the buffer at the cursor position.
self-insert-unmeta (ESC-^I ESC-^J ESC-^M)
Put a character in the buffer after stripping the meta bit and
converting ^M to ^J.
vi-substitute (unbound) (s)
Substitute the next character(s).
vi-swap-case (unbound) (~)
Swap the case of the character under the cursor and move past
it.
transpose-chars (^T)
Exchange the two characters to the left of the cursor if at end
of line, else exchange the character under the cursor with the
character to the left.
transpose-words (ESC-T ESC-t)
Exchange the current word with the one before it.
vi-unindent (unbound) (<)
Unindent a number of lines.
up-case-word (ESC-U ESC-u)
Convert the current word to all caps and move past it.
yank (^Y) (P)
Insert the contents of the kill buffer at the cursor position.
yank-pop (ESC-y) (unbound)
Remove the text just yanked, rotate the kill-ring, and yank the
new top. Only works following yank or yank-pop.
vi-yank (unbound) (y)
Read a movement command from the keyboard, and copy the region
from the cursor position to the endpoint of the movement into
the kill buffer. If the command is vi-yank, copy the current
line.
vi-yank-eol (unbound) (Y)
Copy the region from the cursor position to the end of the line
into the kill buffer.
Arguments
digit-argument (ESC-0..ESC-9) (0-9)
Start a new numeric argument, or add to the current one.
neg-argument (ESC-- unbound)
Changes the sign of the following argument.
universal-argument
Multiply the argument of the next command by 4.
Completion
accept-and-menu-complete
In a menu completion, insert the current completion into the
buffer, and advance to the next possible completion.
complete-word (unbound) (\)
Attempt completion on the current word.
delete-char-or-list (^D)
Delete the character under the cursor. If the cursor is at the
end of the line, list possible completions for the current word.
execute-named-cmd (ESC-x) Read the name of a editor command and
execute it. A restricted set of editing functions is available
in the mini-buffer. An interrupt signal, as defined by the stty
setting, will abort the function. The allowed functions are:
backward-delete-char, vi-backward-delete-char, kill-region
(kills the last word), backward-kill-word, vi-backward-kill-
word, kill-whole-line, vi-kill-line, backward-kill-line, list-
choices, delete-char-or-list and accept-line. The space and tab
characters, if not bound to one of these functions, will
complete the name and then list the possibilities if the
autolist option is set.
execute-last-named-cmd (ESC-z)
Redo the last function executed with execute-named-cmd.
expand-cmd-path
Expand the current command to its full pathname.
expand-or-complete (TAB) (TAB ^X)
Attempt shell expansion on the current word. If that fails,
attempt completion.
expand-or-complete-prefix (unbound)
Attempt shell expansion on the current word upto cursor.
expand-history (ESC-space ESC-!)
Perform history expansion on the edit buffer.
expand-word (^X*)
Attempt shell expansion on the current word.
list-choices (ESC-^D) (^D =)
List possible completions for the current word.
list-expand (^Xg ^XG) (^G)
List the expansion of the current word.
magic-space
Perform history expansion and insert a space into the buffer.
This is intended to be bound to space.
menu-complete
Like complete-word, except that menu completion is used. See
the MENU_COMPLETE option below.
menu-expand-or-complete
Like expand-or-complete, except that menu completion is used.
reverse-menu-complete
See the MENU_COMPLETE option below.
Miscellaneous
accept-and-hold (ESC-A ESC-a)
Push the contents of the buffer on the buffer stack and execute
it.
accept-and-infer-next-history
Execute the contents of the buffer. Then search the history
list for a line matching the current one and push the event
following onto the buffer stack.
accept-line (^J ^M)
Execute the contents of the buffer.
accept-line-and-down-history (^O)
Execute the current line, and push the next history event on the
the buffer stack.
vi-cmd-mode (^X^V) (^[)
Enter command mode; that is, use the alternate keymap. Yes,
this is bound by default in emacs mode.
vi-caps-lock-panic (unbound) (H K)
Hang until any lowercase key is pressed. This is for vi users
without the mental capacity to keep track of their caps lock key
(like the author).
clear-screen (^L ESC-^L)
Clear the screen and redraw the prompt.
exchange-point-and-mark (^X^X)
Exchange the cursor position with the position of the mark.
get-line (ESC-G ESC-g)
Pop the top line off the buffer stack and insert it at the
cursor position.
pound-insert (unbound) (#)
If there is no # character at the beginning of the current line,
add one. If there is one, remove it. In either case, accept
the current line. The INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS option must be set
for this to have any usefulness.
push-input
Push the entire current multiline construct onto the buffer
stack and return to the top-level (PS1) prompt. If the current
parser construct is only a single line, this is exactly like
push-line. Next time the editor starts up or is popped with
get-line, the construct will be popped off the top of the buffer
stack and loaded into the editing buffer.
push-line (^Q ESC-Q ESC-q)
Push the current buffer onto the buffer stack and clear the
buffer. Next time the editor starts up, the buffer will be
popped off the top of the buffer stack and loaded into the
editing buffer.
push-line-or-edit
At the top-level (PS1) prompt, equivalent to push-line. At a
secondary (PS2) prompt, move the entire current multiline
construct into the editor buffer. The latter is equivalent to
push-input followed by get-line.
redisplay (unbound) (^R)
Redisplays the edit buffer.
send-break (^G)
Abort the current editor function, eg. execute-named-command, or
the editor itself, eg. if you are in vared. Otherwise abort the
parsing of the current line.
run-help (ESC-H ESC-h)
Push the buffer onto the buffer stack, and execute the command
"run-help cmd", where cmd is the current command. run-help is
normally aliased to man.
vi-set-buffer (unbound) (")
Specify a buffer to be used in the following command.
vi-set-mark (unbound) (m)
Set the specified mark at the cursor position.
set-mark-command (^@)
Set the mark at the cursor position.
spell-word (ESC-$ ESC-S ESC-s)
Attempt spelling correction on the current word.
undefined-key
Beep.
undo (^_ ^Xu ^X^U) (u)
Incrementally undo the last text modification.
which-command (ESC-?)
Push the buffer onto the buffer stack, and execute the command
"which-command cmd", where cmd is the current command. which-
command is normally aliased to whence.
PARAMETERS
A parameter has a name, a value, and a number of attributes. A name
may be any sequence of alphanumeric characters and _'s, or the single
characters *, @, #, ?, -, $, or !. The value may be either a scalar (a
string), an integer, or an array. To assign a scalar or integer value
to a parameter, use the typeset builtin. To assign an array value, use
set -A name value .... The value of a parameter may also be assigned
by writing:
name=value ...
If the integer attribute, -i, is set for name, the value is subject to
arithmetic evaluation.
The value of an array parameter may be assigned by writing:
name=(value ...) ...
Individual elements of an array may be selected using a subscript. A
subscript of the form [exp] selects the single element exp, where exp
is an arithmetic expression. The elements are numbered beginning with
1. A subscript of the form [*] or [@] evaluates to all elements of an
array; there is no difference between the two except when they appear
within double quotes. "$foo[*]" evaluates to "$foo[1] $foo[2] ...",
while "$foo[@]" evaluates to "$foo[1]" "$foo[2]", etc. A subscript of
the form [exp1,exp2] selects all elements in the range exp1 to exp2,
inclusive. If one of the subscripts evaluates to a negative number,
say -n, then the nth element from the end of the array is used. Thus
"$foo[-3]" is the third element from the end of the array foo, and
"$foo[1,-1]" is the same as "$foo[*]".
Subscripting may also be performed on non-array values, in which case
the subscripts specify a substring to be extracted. For example, if
FOO is set to foobar, then echo $FOO[2,5] prints ooba.
If a subscript is used on the left side of an assignment the selected
range is replaced by the expression on the right side.
If the opening bracket or the comma is directly followed by an opening
parentheses the string up to the matching closing one is considered to
be a list of flags. The flags currently understood are:
e the argument is expanded using full shell expansion first
w if the parameter subscripted is a scalar than this flag
makes subscription work on a per-word basis instead of
characters
s:string:
this gives the string that separates words (for use with
the w flag)
r if this flag is given the exp is taken as a pattern and
the result is the first matching array element, substring
or word (if the parameter is an array, if it is a scalar,
or if it is a scalar and the w flag is given,
respectively); note that this is like giving a number:
$foo[(r)??,3] and $foo[(r)??,(r)f*] work
R like r, but gives the last match
i like r, but gives the index of the match instead; this
may not be combined with a second argument
I like i, but gives the index of the last match
n:expr:
if combined with r, R, , or I, makes them give the n'th
or n'th last match (if expr evaluates to n)
Positional Parameters
Positional parameters are set by the shell on invocation, by the set
builtin, or by direct assignment. The parameter n, where n is a
number, is the nth positional parameter. The parameters *, @, and argv
are arrays containing all the positional parameters; thus argv[n], etc.
is equivalent to simply n.
Special Parameters
The following parameters are automatically set by the shell:
! The process id of the last background command invoked.
# The number of positional parameters in decimal.
ARGC Same as #.
$ The process id of this shell.
- Flags supplied to the shell on invocation or by the set
or setopt commands.
* An array containing the positional parameters.
argv Same as *.
@ Same as argv[@].
? The exit value returned by the last command.
status Same as ?.
_ The last argument of the previous command. Also, this
parameter is set in the environment of every command
executed to the full pathname of the command.
EGID The effective group id of the shell process.
EUID The effective user id of the shell process.
ERRNO The value of errno as set by the most recently failed
system call. This value is system dependent and is
intended for debugging purposes.
GID The group id of the shell process.
HOST The current hostname.
HOSTTYPE
A string corresponding to the type of the host the shell
is running on.
LINENO The line number of the current line within the current
script being executed.
OLDPWD The previous working directory.
OPTARG The value of the last option argument processed by the
getopts command.
OPTIND The index of the last option argument processed by the
getopts command.
PPID The process id of the parent of the shell.
PWD The present working directory.
RANDOM A random integer from 0 to 32767, newly generated each
time this parameter is referenced. The random number
generator can be seeded by assigning a numeric value to
RANDOM.
SECONDS
The number of seconds since shell invocation. If this
parameter is assigned a value, then the value returned
upon reference will be the value that was assigned plus
the number of seconds since the assignment.
SHLVL Incremented by one each time a new shell is started.
signals
An array containing the names of the signals.
TTY The name of the tty associated with the shell, if any.
UID The user id of the shell process.
USERNAME
LOGNAME
The username corresponding to the user id of the shell
process.
VERSION
The version number of this zsh.
The following parameters are used by the shell:
ARGV0 If exported, it's value is used as argv[0] of external
commands. Usually used in constructs like 'ARGV0=emacs
nethack'.
BAUD The baud rate of the current connection. Used by the
line editor update mechanism to compensate for a slow
terminal by delaying updates until necessary. This may
be profitably set to a lower value in some circumstances,
e.g. for slow modems dialing into a communications
server which is connected to a host via a fast link; in
this case, this variable would be set by default to the
speed of the fast link, and not the modem. This
parameter should be set to the baud rate of the slowest
part of the link for best performance. The compensation
mechanism can be turned off by setting the variable to
zero.
cdpath (CDPATH)
An array (colon-separated list) of directories specifying
the search path for the cd command.
COLUMNS
The number of columns for this terminal session. Used
for printing select lists and for the line editor.
DIRSTACKSIZE
The maximum size of the directory stack. If the stack
gets larger than this, it will be truncated
automatically. This is useful with the AUTO_PUSHD
option.
FCEDIT The default editor for the fc builtin.
fignore (FIGNORE)
An array (colon separated list) containing the suffixes
of files to be ignored during filename completion.
fpath (FPATH)
An array (colon separated list) of directories specifying
the search path for function definitions. This path is
searched when a function with the -u attribute is
referenced. If an executable file is found, then it is
read and executed in the current environment.
HISTCHARS
Three characters used by the shell's history and lexical
analysis mechanism. The first character signals the
start of a history substitution (default `!'). The
second character signals the start of a quick history
substitution (default `^'). The third character is the
comment character (default `#').
HISTFILE
The file to save the history in when an interactive shell
exits. If unset, the history is not saved.
HISTSIZE
The maximum size of the history list.
HOME The default argument for the cd command.
IFS Internal field separators, normally space, tab, and
newline, that are used to separate words which result
from command or parameter substitution and words read by
the read builtin.
KEYTIMEOUT
The time the shell waits, in hundredths of seconds, for
another key to be pressed when reading bound multi-
character sequences.
LINES The number of lines for this terminal session. Used for
printing select lists and for the line editor.
LISTMAX
In the line editor, the number of filenames to list
without asking first. If set to zero, the shell asks
only if the top of the listing would scroll off the
screen.
LITHISTSIZE
The maximum size of the literal history list (before
history expansion).
LOGCHECK
The interval in seconds between checks for login/logout
activity using the watch parameter.
MAIL If this parameter is set and mailpath is not set, the
shell looks for mail in the specified file.
MAILCHECK
The interval in seconds between checks for new mail.
mailpath (MAILPATH)
An array (colon-separated list) of filenames to check for
new mail. Each filename can be followed by a ? and a
message that will be printed. The sequence $_ in the
message will be replaced by the name of the mail file.
The default message is "You have new mail." If an element
is a directory instead of a file the shell will
recursively check every file in every subdirectory of the
element.
manpath (MANPATH)
An array (colon-separated list) whose value is not used
by the shell. The manpath array can be useful, however,
since setting it also sets MANPATH, and vice versa.
NULLCMD
The command name to assume if a redirection is specified
with no command. Defaults to cat. For sh/ksh-like
behavior, change this to :. For csh-like behavior, unset
this parameter; the shell will print an error message if
null commands are entered.
path (PATH)
An array (colon-separated list) of directories to search
for commands. When this parameter is set, each directory
is scanned and all files found are put in a hash table.
POSTEDIT
This string is output whenever the line editor exits. It
usually contains termcap strings to reset the terminal.
PROMPT The primary prompt string, printed before a command is
read; the default is "%m%# ". If the escape sequence
takes an optional integer, it should appear between the
'%' and the next character of the sequence. The
following escape sequences are recognized:
%d
%/ Present working directory ($PWD).
%~ $PWD. If it has a named directory as its prefix,
that part is replaced by a ~ followed by the name
of the directory. If it starts with $HOME, that
part is replaced by a ~.
%c
%.
%C Trailing component of $PWD. An integer may follow
the '%' to get more than one component. Unless %C
is used, tilde expansion is performed first.
!
%h
%! Current history event number
%M The full machine hostname.
%m The hostname up to the first '.'. An integer may
follow the '%' to specify how many components of
the hostname are desired.
%S (%s)
Start (stop) standout mode.
%U (%u)
Start (stop) underline mode.
%B (%b)
Start (stop) boldface mode.
%t
%@ Current time of day, in 12-hour, am/pm format.
%T Current time of day, in 24-hour format.
%* Current time of day in 24-hour format, with
seconds.
%n $USERNAME.
%w The date in day-dd format.
%W The date in mm/dd/yy format.
%D The date in yy-mm-dd format.
%D{string}
string is formatted using the strftime function.
See strftime(3) for more details, if your system
has it.
%l The line (tty) the user is logged in on.
%? The return code of the last command executed just
before the prompt.
%_ The status of the parser, i.e. the shell
constructs (like `if' and `for') that have been
started on the command line. If given an integer
number that many strings will be printed.
%E Clears to end of line.
%# A '#' if the shell is running as root, a '%' if
not. Equivalent to %(#.#.%%).
%v The value of the first element of the $psvar array
parameter. Following the '%' with an integer
gives that element of the array.
%{...%}
Include a string as a literal escape sequence.
The string within the braces should not change the
cursor position.
%(x.true-text.false-text)
Specifies a ternary expression. The character
following the x is arbitrary; the same character
is used to separate the text for the "true" result
from that for the "false" result. Both the
separator and the right parenthesis may be escaped
with a backslash. True-text and false-text may
both contain arbitrarily-nested escape sequences,
including further ternary expressions. The left
parenthesis may be preceded or followed by a
positive integer n, which defaults to zero. The
test character x may be any of the following:
c
.
~ True if the current path, with prefix
replacement, has at least n elements.
/
C True if the current absolute path has at
least n elements.
t True if the time in minutes is equal to n.
T True if the time in hours is equal to n.
d True if the day of the month is equal to n.
D True if the month is equal to n (January =
0).
w True if the day of the week is equal to n
(Sunday = 0).
? True if the exit status of the last command
was n.
# True if the effective uid of the current
process is n.
g True if the effective gid of the current
process is n.
L True if the SHLVL parameter is at least n.
S True if the SECONDS parameter is at least
n.
v True if the array psvar has at least n
elements.
_ True if at least n shell constructs were
started.
PROMPT2
The secondary prompt, printed when the shell needs more
information to complete a command. Recognizes the same
escape sequences as $PROMPT. The default is "> ".
PROMPT3
Selection prompt used within a select loop. Recognizes
the same escape sequences as $PROMPT. The default is "?#
".
PROMPT4
The execution trace prompt. Default is "+ ".
PS1
PS2
PS3
PS4 Same as PROMPT, PROMPT2, PROMPT3, and PROMPT4,
respectively.
psvar (PSVAR)
An array (colon-separated list) whose first nine values
can be used in PROMPT strings. Setting psvar also sets
PSVAR, and vice versa.
prompt Same as PROMPT.
READNULLCMD
The command name to assume if a single input redirection
is specified with no command. Defaults to more.
REPORTTIME
If nonnegative, commands whose combined user and system
execution times (measured in seconds) are greater than
this value have timing statistics printed for them.
RPROMPT
RPS1 This prompt is displayed on the right-hand side of the
screen when the primary prompt is being displayed on the
left. This does not work if the SINGLELINEZLE option is
set. Recognizes the same escape sequences as PROMPT.
SAVEHIST
The maximum number of history events to save in the
history file.
SPROMPT
The prompt used for spelling correction. The sequence %R
expands to the string which presumably needs spelling
correction, and %r expands to the proposed correction.
All other PROMPT escapes are also allowed.
STTY If this parameter is set in a command's environment, the
shell runs the stty command with the value of this
parameter as arguments in order to set up the terminal
before executing the command. The modes apply only to the
command, and are reset when it finishes or is suspended.
If the command is suspended and continued later with the
fg or wait builtins it will see the modes specified by
STTY, as if it were not suspended. This (intentionally)
does not apply if the command is continued via "kill
-CONT". STTY is ignored if the command is run in the
background, or if it is in the environment of the shell
but not explicitly assigned to in the input line. This
avoids running stty at every external command by
accidentally exporting it. Also note that STTY should
not be used for window size specifications; these will
not be local to the command.
TIMEFMT
The format of process time reports with the time keyword.
The default is "%E real %U user %S system %P %J".
Recognizes the following escape sequences:
%U CPU seconds spent in user mode.
%S CPU seconds spent in kernel mode.
%E Elapsed time in seconds.
%P The CPU percentage, computed as (%U+%S)/%E.
%W Number of times the process was swapped.
%X The average amount in (shared) text space used in
Kbytes.
%D The average amount in (unshared) data/stack space
used in Kbytes.
%K The total space used (%X+%D) in Kbytes.
%M The maximum memory the process had in use at any
time in Kbytes.
%F The number of major page faults (page needed to be
brought from disk).
%R The number of minor page faults.
%I The number of input operations.
%O The number of output operations.
%r The number of socket messages received.
%s The number of socket messages sent.
%k The number of signals received.
%w Number of voluntary context switches (waits).
%c Number of involuntary context switches.
%J The name of this job.
TMOUT If this parameter is nonzero, the shell will terminate if
a command is not entered within the specified number of
seconds after issuing a prompt.
TMPPREFIX
A pathname prefix which the shell will use for all
temporary files. Note that this should include an
initial part for the file name as well as any directory
names. The default is /tmp/zsh.
watch (WATCH)
An array (colon-separated list) of login/logout events to
report. If it contains the single word "all", then all
login/logout events are reported. If it contains the
single word "notme", then all events are reported as with
"all" except $USERNAME. An entry in this list may
consist of a username, an `@' followed by a remote
hostname, and a `%' followed by a line (tty). Any or all
of these components may be present in an entry; if a
login/logout event matches all of them, it is reported.
WATCHFMT
The format of login/logout reports if the watch parameter
is set. Default is "%n has %a %l from %m." Recognizes
the following escape sequences:
%n The name of the user that logged in/out.
%a The observed action, i.e. "logged on" or "logged
off".
%l The line (tty) the user is logged in on.
%M The full hostname of the remote host.
%m The hostname up to the first ".". If only the ip
address is available or the utmp field contains
the name of an X-windows display, the whole name
is printed.
NOTE: The %m and %M escapes will work only if there is a
host name field in the utmp on your machine.
Otherwise they are treated as ordinary strings.
%S (%s)
Start (stop) standout mode.
%U (%u)
Start (stop) underline mode.
%B (%b)
Start (stop) boldface mode.
%t
%@ The time, in 12-hour, am/pm format.
%T The time, in 24-hour format.
%w The date in day-dd format.
%W The date in mm/dd/yy format.
%D The date in yy-mm-dd format.
%(x:true-text:false-text)
Specifies a ternary expression. The character
following the x is arbitrary; the same character
is used to separate the text for the "true" result
from that for the "false" result. Both the
separator and the right parenthesis may be escaped
with a backslash. Ternary expressions may be
nested.
The test character x may be any one of l, n, m, or
M, which indicate a "true" result if the
corresponding escape sequence would return a non-
empty value; or may be a, which indicates a "true"
result if the watched user has logged in, or
"false" if he has logged out. Other characters
evaluate to neither true nor false; the entire
expression is omitted in this case.
If the result is "true", then the true-text is
formatted according to the rules above and
printed, and the false-text is skipped. If
"false", the true-text is skipped and the false-
text is formatted and printed. Either or both of
the branches may be empty, but both separators
must be present in any case.
WORDCHARS
A list of nonalphanumeric characters considered part of a
word by the line editor.
ZDOTDIR
The directory to search for shell startup files (.zshrc,
etc), if not $HOME.
OPTIONS
The following options may be set upon invocation of the shell, or with
the set or setopt builtins. They are case insensitive and underscores
are ignored, that is, "allexport" is equivalent to "A__lleXP_ort".
ALL_EXPORT (-a)
All parameters subsequently defined are automatically
exported.
ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT
If unset, key functions that list completions try to
return to the last prompt if given a numeric argument. If
set these functions try to return to the last prompt if
given no numeric argument.
ALWAYS_TO_END
If a completion with the cursor in the word was started
and it results in only one match, the cursor is placed at
the end of the word.
APPEND_HISTORY
If this is set, zsh sessions will append their history
list to the history file, rather than overwrite it. Thus,
multiple parallel zsh sessions will all have their
history lists added to the history file, in the order
they are killed.
AUTO_CD (-J)
If a command is not in the hash table, and there exists
an executable directory by that name, perform the cd
command to that directory.
AUTO_LIST (-9)
Automatically list choices on an ambiguous completion.
AUTO_MENU
Automatically use menu completion after the second
consecutive request for completion, for example by
pressing the TAB key repeatedly. This option is
overridden by MENU_COMPLETE.
AUTO_NAME_DIRS
Any parameter that is set to the absolute name of a
directory immediately becomes a name for that directory
in the usual form ~param. If this option is not set, the
parameter must be used in that form for it to become a
name (a command-line completion is sufficient for this).
AUTO_PARAM_KEYS
If a parameter name was completed and the next character
typed is one of those that have to come directly after
the name (like `}', `:', etc.) they are placed there
automatically.
AUTO_PUSHD (-N)
Make cd act like pushd.
AUTO_REMOVE_SLASH
When the last character resulting from a completion is a
slash and the next character typed is a word delimiter,
remove the slash.
AUTO_RESUME (-W)
Treat single word simple commands without redirection as
candidates for resumption of an existing job.
BG_NICE (-6)
Run all background jobs at a lower priority. This option
is set by default.
BRACE_CCL
Allow brace expansions of the form {a-zA-Z}, etc.
CDABLE_VARS (-T)
If the argument to a cd command (or an implied cd with
the AUTO_CD option set) is not a directory, and does not
begin with a slash, try to expand the expression as if it
were preceded by a ~ (see Filename Expansion above).
CHASE_LINKS (-w)
Resolve symbolic links to their true values.
COMPLETE_ALIASES
If set, aliases on the command line are not internally
substituted before completion is attempted.
COMPLETE_IN_WORD
If unset, the cursor is set to the end of the word if
completion is started. Otherwise it stays there and
completion is done from both ends.
CORRECT (-0)
Try to correct the spelling of commands.
CORRECT_ALL (-O)
Try to correct the spelling of all arguments in a line.
CSH_JUNKIE_HISTORY
A history reference without an event specifier will
always refer to the previous command.
CSH_JUNKIE_LOOPS
Allow loop bodies to take the form "list; end" instead of
"do list; done".
CSH_JUNKIE_QUOTES
Complain if a quoted expression runs off the end of a
line; prevent quoted expressions from containing
unescaped newlines.
CSH_JUNKIE_TILDE
Any unquoted = and ~ resulting from parameter
substitution are eligible for file expansion.
CSH_NULL_GLOB
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches,
delete the pattern from the argument list; do not report
an error unless all the patterns in a command have no
matches. Overrides NULLGLOB.
ERR_EXIT (-e)
If a command has a non-zero exit status, execute the ZERR
trap, if set, and exit. This is disabled while running
initialization scripts.
EXTENDED_GLOB
Treat the #, ~ and ^ characters as part of patterns for
filename generation, etc. (An initial unquoted ~ always
produces named directory expansion as in Filename
Expansion above.)
EXTENDED_HISTORY
Save beginning and ending timestamps to the history file.
The format of these timestamps is :<beginning
time>:<ending time>:<command>.
GLOB_COMPLETE
When the current word has a glob pattern, do not insert
all the words resulting from the expansion but cycle
through them like MENU_COMPLETE. If no matches are found,
a `*' is added to the end of the word or inserted at the
cursor if COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set, and expansion is
attempted again. Using patterns works not only for files
but for all completions, such as options, user names,
etc.
GLOB_DOTS (-4)
Do not require a leading . in a filename to be matched
explicitly.
HASH_CMDS
Place the location of each command in the hash table the
first time it is executed. If this option is unset, no
path hashing will be done at all.
HASH_DIRS
Whenever a command is executed, hash the directory
containing it, as well as all directories that occur
earlier in the path. Has no effect if HASH_CMDS is
unset.
HASH_LIST_ALL
Whenever a command completion is attempted, make sure the
entire command path is hashed first. This makes the
first completion slower.
HIST_IGNORE_DUPS (-h)
Do not enter command lines into the history list if they
are duplicates of the previous event.
HIST_IGNORE_SPACE (-g)
Do not enter command lines into the history list if any
command on the line begins with a blank.
HIST_LIT (-j)
Use literal (unparsed) versions of the history lines in
the editor.
HIST_NO_STORE
Remove the history (fc -l) command from the history when
invoked.
HIST_VERIFY
Whenever the user enters a line with history
substitution, don't execute the line directly; instead,
perform history substitution and reload the line into the
editing buffer.
IGNORE_BRACES (-I)
Do not perform brace expansion.
IGNORE_EOF (-7)
Do not exit on end-of-file. Require the use of exit or
logout instead.
INTERACTIVE (-i)
This is an interactive shell.
INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS (-k)
Allow comments even in interactive shells.
KSH_OPTION_PRINT
Alters the way options settings are printed.
LIST_AMBIGUOUS
If this option is set, completions are shown only if the
completions don't have a unambiguous prefix or suffix
that could be inserted in the command line.
LIST_TYPES (-X)
When listing files that are possible completions, show
the type of each file with a trailing identifying mark.
LOGIN (-l)
This is a login shell.
LONG_LIST_JOBS (-R)
List jobs in the long format by default.
MAGIC_EQUAL_SUBST
All unquoted arguments of the from identifier=expression
have file expansion performed on expression as if it were
a parameter assignment, although the argument is not
otherwise treated specially.
MAIL_WARNING (-U)
Print a warning message if a mail file has been accessed
since the shell last checked.
MARK_DIRS (-8)
Append a trailing / to all directory names resulting from
filename generation (globbing).
MENU_COMPLETE (-Y)
On an ambiguous completion, instead of listing
possibilities or beeping, insert the first match
immediately. Then when completion is requested again,
remove the first match and insert the second match, etc.
When there are no more matches, go back to the first one
again. reverse-menu-complete may be used to loop through
the list in the other direction. This option overrides
AUTO_MENU.
MONITOR (-m)
Allow job control. Set by default in interactive shells.
NO_BAD_PATTERN (-2)
If a pattern for filename generation is badly formed,
leave it unchanged in the argument list instead of
printing an error.
NO_BANG_HIST (-K)
Do not perform textual history substitution. Do not
treat the ! character specially.
NO_BEEP (-B)
Do not beep.
NO_CLOBBER (-1)
Prevents > redirection from truncating existing files.
>! may be used to truncate a file instead. Also prevents
>> from creating files. >>! may be used instead.
NO_EQUALS
Don't perform = filename substitution.
NO_EXEC (-n)
Read commands and check them for syntax errors, but do
not execute them.
NO_GLOB (-F)
Disable filename generation.
NO_FLOW_CONTROL
Disable output flow control via start/stop characters
(usually assigned to ^S/^Q) in the shell's editor.
NO_HIST_BEEP
Don't beep when an attempt is made to access a history
entry which isn't there.
NO_HUP Don't send the HUP signal to running jobs when the shell
exits.
NO_LIST_BEEP
Don't beep on an ambiguous completion.
NO_NOMATCH (-3)
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches,
leave it unchanged in the argument list instead of
printing an error. This also applies to file expansion
of an initial ~ or =.
NO_PROMPT_CR (-V)
Don't print a carriage return just before printing a
prompt in the line editor.
NO_RCS (-f)
Source only the /etc/zshenv file. Do not source the
.zshenv, /etc/zprofile, .zprofile, /etc/zshrc, .zshrc,
/etc/zlogin, .zlogin, or .zlogout files.
NO_SHORT_LOOPS
Disallow the short forms of for, select, if, and function
constructs.
NOTIFY (-5)
Report the status of background jobs immediately, rather
than waiting until just before printing a prompt.
NO_UNSET (-u)
Treat unset parameters as an error when substituting.
NULL_GLOB (-G)
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches,
delete the pattern from the argument list instead of
reporting an error. Overrides NO_NOMATCH.
NUMERIC_GLOB_SORT
If numeric filenames are matched by a filename generation
pattern, sort the filenames numerically rather than
lexicographically.
OVER_STRIKE
Start up the line editor in overstrike mode.
PATH_DIRS (-Q)
Perform a path search even on command names with slashes
in them. Thus if "/usr/local/bin" is in the user's path,
and he types "X11/xinit", the command
"/usr/local/bin/X11/xinit" will be executed (assuming it
exists). This applies to the . builtin as well as to
command execution. Commands explicitly beginning with
"./" or "../" are not subject to path search.
PRINT_EXIT_VALUE (-C)
Print the exit value of programs with non-zero exit
status.
PROMPT_SUBST
If set expressions like ${...}, $(...), and $[...] in
prompts will be expanded.
PUSHD_IGNORE_DUPS
Don't push multiple copies of the same directory onto the
directory stack.
PUSHD_MINUS
See popd below.
PUSHD_SILENT (-E)
Do not print the directory stack after pushd or popd.
PUSHD_TO_HOME (-D)
Have pushd with no arguments act like pushd $HOME.
RC_EXPAND_PARAM (-P)
See Parameter Expansion.
RC_QUOTES
Allow the character sequence '' to signify a single quote
within singly quoted strings.
REC_EXACT (-S)
In completion, recognize exact matches even if they are
ambiguous.
RM_STAR_SILENT (-H)
Do not query the user before executing "rm *" or "rm
path/*".
SHIN_STDIN (-s)
Read commands from the standard input.
SH_WORD_SPLIT (-y)
See Parameter Expansion.
SINGLE_LINE_ZLE (-M)
Use single-line command line editing instead of multi-
line.
SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK (-L)
If a line ends with a backquote, and there are an odd
number of backquotes on the line, ignore the trailing
backquote. This is useful on some keyboards where the
return key is too small, and the backquote key lies
annoyingly close to it.
VERBOSE (-v)
Print shell input lines as they are read.
XTRACE (-x)
Print commands and their arguments as they are executed.
ZLE (-Z)
Use the zsh line editor.
SHELL BUILTIN COMMANDS
. file [ arg ... ]
Read commands from file and execute them in the current shell
environment. If file does not contain a slash, or if PATH_DIRS
is set, the shell looks in the components of path to find the
directory containing file. Files in the current directory are
not read unless "." appears somewhere in path. If any arguments
arg are given, they become the positional parameters; the old
positional parameters are restored when the file is done
executing. The exit status is the exit status of the last
command executed.
: [ arg ... ]
This command only expands parameters. A zero exit code is
returned.
alias [ -grm ] [ name[=value] ] ...
With no arguments, print the list of aliases in the form
name=value on the standard output. For each name with a
corresponding value, define an alias with that value. A
trailing space in value causes the next word to be checked for
alias substitution. If the -g flag is present, define a global
alias; global aliases are expanded even if they do not occur in
command position. For each name with no value, print the value
of name, if any. If only the -g or the -r flags are given only
global or regular aliases are listed. If the -m flag is given
the arguments are taken as patterns (they should be quoted to
preserve them from being interpreted as glob patterns) and the
aliases matching these patterns are printed. The exit status is
nonzero if a name (with no value) is given for which no alias
has been defined.
autoload [ name ... ]
For each of the names (which are names of functions), create a
function marked undefined. The fpath variable will be searched
to find the actual function definition when the function is
first referenced.
bg [ job ... ]
job ... &
Put each specified job in the background, or the current job if
none is specified.
bindkey -mevd
bindkey -r in-string ...
bindkey [ -a ] in-string [ command ] ...
bindkey -s [ -a ] in-string out-string ...
The -e and -v options put the keymaps in emacs mode or vi mode
respectively; they cannot be used simultaneously. The -d option
resets all bindings to the compiled-in settings. If not used
with options -e or -v, the maps will be left in emacs mode, or
in vi mode if the VISUAL or EDITOR variables exist and contain
the string "vi". Metafied characters are bound to self-insert
by default. The -m option loads the compiled-in bindings of
these characters for the mode determined by the preceding
options, or the current mode if used alone. Any previous
bindings done by the user will be preserved. If the -r option is
given, remove any binding for each in-string. If the -s option
is not specified, bind each in-string to a specified command. If
no command is specified, print the binding of in-string if it is
bound, or return a nonzero exit code if it is not bound. If the
-s option is specified, bind each in-string to each specified
out-string. When in-string is typed, out-string will be pushed
back and treated as input to the line editor. This process is
recursive but, to avoid infinite loops, the shell will report an
error if more than 20 consecutive replacements happen. If the -a
option is specified, bind the in-strings in the alternative
keymap instead of the standard one. The alternative keymap is
used in vi command mode.
It's possible for an in-string to be bound to something and also
be the beginning of a longer bound string. In this case the
shell will wait a certain time to see if more characters are
typed and if not it will execute the binding. This timeout is
defined by the KEYTIMEOUT parameter; its default is 0.4 sec. No
timeout is done if the prefix string is not bound.
For either in-string or out-string, control characters may be
specified in the form ^X, and the backslash may be used to
introduce one of the following escape sequences:
\a bell character
\n linefeed (newline)
\b backspace
\t horizontal tab
\v vertical tab
\f form feed
\r carriage return
\e, \E escape
\NNN character code in octal
\xNN character code in hexadecimal
\M-xxx character or escape sequence with meta bit set.
The `-' after the `M' is optional.
\C-X control character. The `-' after the `C' is
optional.
In all other cases, \ escapes the following character. Delete
is written as `^?'. Note that `\M^?' and `^\M?' are not the
same.
Multi-character in-strings cannot contain the null character
("^@" or "^ "). If they appear in a bindkey command, they will
be silently translated to "\M-^@". This restriction does not
apply to out-strings, single-character in-strings and the first
character of a multi-char in-string.
break [ n ]
Exit from an enclosing for, while, until, select, or repeat
loop. If n is specified, then break n levels instead of just
one.
builtin name [ args ] ...
Executes the builtin name, with the given args.
bye Same as exit.
cd [ arg ]
cd old new
cd ±n Change the current directory. In the first form, change the
current directory to arg, or to the value of HOME if arg is not
specified. If arg is -, change to the value of OLDPWD, the
previous directory. If a directory named arg is not found in
the current directory and arg does not begin with a slash,
search each component of the shell parameter cdpath. If the
option CDABLEVARS is set, and a parameter named arg exists whose
value begins with a slash, treat its value as the directory.
The second form of cd substitutes the string new for the string
old in the name of the current directory, and tries to change to
this new directory.
The third form of cd is equivalent to popd.
chdir Same as cd.
compctl [ -cfqovbCDAIFpEjBaRGuderzNOZ ] [ -k name ]
[ -X explanation ] [ -K function ]
[ -P prefix ] [ -S suffix ]
[ -g globstring ] [ -s subststring ]
[ -H num pattern ] [ -l cmd ] [ arg ... ]
compctl flags + flags + ...
compctl flags -x pattern flags - ... -- arg ...
Control the editor's completion behavior when one of arg is the
current command. (Note that aliases are expanded before this is
determined, unless the COMPLETE_ALIASES option is set.) With
the -D flag, control default completion behavior for commands
not assigned any special behavior; with -C, control completion
when there is no current command. The remaining options specify
the type of command arguments to look for during completion. If
completion is attempted for a command with a pathname containing
slashes and no completion definition is found, the search is
retried with the last pathname component.
-c Expect command names.
-f Expect filenames and filesystem paths.
-o Expect option names.
-v Expect variable names.
-b Expect key binding names.
-A Expect array names.
-I Expect integer variable names.
-F Expect function names.
-p Expect parameter names.
-E Expect environment variable names.
-j Expect job names (the first word of the job leader's
command line, useful with the kill builtin).
-r Expect names of running jobs.
-z Expect names of suspended jobs.
-B Expect names of builtin commands.
-a Expect alias names.
-R Expect names of regular aliases.
-G Expect names of global aliases.
-u Expect user names.
-d Expect names of disabled commands.
-e Expect names of executable (and enabled) commands.
-N Expect names of scalar parameters.
-O Expect names of readonly variables.
-Z Expect names of shell special parameters.
-q If given together with a suffix (see the -S flag below)
it makes this suffix be removed if the next character
typed is a blank or does not insert anything (this is the
same rule as used for the AUTO_REMOVE_SLASH option).
-k name
Expect names taken from the elements of $name (which
should be an array). Alternatively, the argument name
itself may be a set of space- or comma-separated values
in parentheses, in which any delimiter may be escaped
with a backslash. (Example: `compctl -k "(cputime
filesize datasize stacksize coredumpsize resident
descriptors)" limit'.)
-K function
Call the given function to get the completions. The
function gets two arguments: the prefix and the suffix of
the word on which completion is tried. The function
should set the variable reply to an array containing the
completions (one completion per element); note that reply
should not be made local. From such a function the
command line can be accessed with the -c and -l flags to
the read builtin. (Example: `function whoson {
reply=(`users`); }; compctl -K whoson talk' completes
only logged-on users after `talk'.) Note that whoson must
return an array so that just "reply=`users`" is
incorrect.
-X explanation
Print the explanation string when trying completion. A
`%n' in this string is replaced by the number of matches.
-P prefix
The prefix is inserted just before the completed string;
any initial part already typed will be completed and the
whole prefix ignored for completion purposes. (Example:
`compctl -j -P "%" kill').
-S suffix
After a unique completion is found the suffix is inserted
after the completed string.
-g globstring
The globstring is expanded using filename globbing; it
should be quoted to protect it from immediate expansion.
The resulting filenames are taken as the possible
completions. Use `*(/)' instead of `*/' for directories.
The fignore special parameter is not used. More than one
pattern may be given separated by blanks. (Note that
brace expansion is not part of globbing.)
-s subststring
The substring is split into words and these words are
than expanded using all shell expansion mechanisms. The
resulting words are taken as possible completions. The
fignore special parameter is not used. Note that -g is
faster for filenames.
-H num pattern
The possible completions are taken from the last num
history lines. Only words matching pattern are taken. If
num is zero or negative the whole history is searched and
if pattern is the empty string (or '*', of course) all
words are taken.
-l cmd This option can not be combined with any other option. If
it is given it restricts the range of command line words
that are considered to be arguments. By default this
range contains all arguments without the command string.
If combined with extended completion (see below) and one
of the patterns `p[...]', `r[...]', or `R[...]' the range
is restricted to the arguments between the ones that are
specified in the brackets. After the range of arguments
is determined completion is done in it as if they were
arguments to the cmd given with this option. If this
string is empty the first word in the range is taken as
the command name for which to complete. In this case, if
the cursor is in the first word, command names are
completed. Example: `compctl -x 'r[-exec,;]' -l '' --
find' completes the arguments between `-exec' and the
following `;' (or the end of the command line if there is
no such string) as if they were specifying a command on
there own.
-U Use the whole list of possible completions, whether or
not they actually match the word on the command line.
The word typed so far will be deleted. This is most
useful with a function (-K option), which can examine the
word via the read builtin's -c and -l flags and use its
own criterion to decide what matches.
The second form specifies alternative options. First completion
is tried with the options before the first `+'. If this produces
no matches completion is tried with the flags after the `+' and
so on. If there are no flags after the last `+' this means that
default completion is tried if no matches were found.
The third form specifies extended completion for the commands
given as arg. Each pattern is examined in turn; when a match is
found, the corresponding flags, as described above for the
ordinary case, are used to generate possible completions. If no
pattern matches, the flags given before the -x are used. Note
that each pattern should be supplied as a single argument and
should be quoted to prevent expansion of metacharacters by the
shell. A pattern is built of sub-patterns separated by commas;
it matches if at least one of these sub-patterns matches (they
are `or'ed'). These sub-patterns are in turn composed of other
sub-patterns separated by white spaces which match if all of the
sub-patterns match (they are `and'ed'). An element of the
sub-patterns is of the form 'c[...][...]', where the pairs of
brackets may be repeated as often as necessary, and matches if
any of the sets of brackets match (an `or'). These elements may
be any of the following:
s[string] ...
The pattern matches if the current word on the
command line starts with one of the strings given
in brackets. The string is not removed and is not
part of the completion.
S[string] ...
Like s[string] but the string is part of the
completion.
p[from,to] ...
The pattern matches if the number of the current
word is between one of the from and to pairs. The
comma and to are optional; to defaults to the same
value as from. The numbers may be negative: -n
refers to the n'th last word on the line.
c[offset,string] ...
The pattern matches if one of the strings matches
the word offset by offset from the current word
position.
C[offset,pattern] ...
This is like c but uses pattern matching instead.
w[index,string] ...
The pattern matches if the word in position index
is equal to the corresponding string. Note that
the word count is made after alias expansion.
W[index,pattern] ...
Like w but using pattern matching instead.
n[index,string] ...
Matches if the current word contains string.
Anything up to and including the index'th
occurrence of this string will not be considered
part of the completion, but the rest will.
N[index,string] ...
Like n[index,string] but the string will be taken
as a character class (anything up to and including
the index'th occurrence of any of the characters
in string will not be considered part of the
completion).
m[min,max] ...
Matches if the total number of words lies between
min and max (inclusive).
r[str1,str2]...
Matches if the cursor is after a word with prefix
str1. If there is also a word with prefix str2 on
the command line it matches only if the cursor is
before this word.
R[str1,str2]...
Like r but using pattern matching instead.
Example:
compctl -u -x 's[+] c[-1,-f],s[-f+]' -g '~/Mail/*(:t)' \
- 's[-f],c[-1,-f]' -f -- mail
Complete users by default. After a -f with an optional space,
complete file names; if a + follows the -f, whether or not there
is a space in between, complete with the non-directory part of
files in the directory ~/Mail.
continue [ num ]
Resume the next iteration of the enclosing for, while, until,
select, or repeat loop. If n is specified, break out of n - 1
loops and resume at the nth enclosing loop.
declare [ arg ... ]
Same as typeset.
dirs [ -v ] [ arg ... ]
With no arguments, print the contents of the directory stack.
If the -v option is given, number the directories in the stack
when printing. Directories are added to this stack with the
pushd command, and removed with the cd or popd commands. If
arguments are specified, load them onto the directory stack,
replacing anything that was there, and push the current
directory onto the stack.
disable [ -m ] arg ...
Disable the builtin arg temporarily. This allows you to use an
external command with the same name as a shell builtin. Without
arguments all disabled builtins are printed, with the -m flag
the arguments are taken as patterns (should be quoted to
preserve them from being taken as glob patterns) and all
builtins matching these patterns are disabled. Actually the
same as unhash. Builtins can be enabled with the enable
command.
disown job ...
Remove the specified jobs from the job table; the shell will no
longer report their status, and will not complain if you try to
exit an interactive shell with them running or stopped.
echo [ -n ] [ arg ... ]
Write each arg on the standard output, with a space separating
each one. If the -n flag is not present, print a newline at the
end. echo recognizes the following escape sequences:
\a bell character
\b backspace
\c don't print an ending newline
\e escape
\f form feed
\n newline
\r carriage return
\t horizontal tab
\v vertical tab
\\ backslash
\0NNN character code in octal, with a maximum of three digits
after the zero; a non-octal digit terminates the number
\xNN character code in hexadecimal, with a maximum of two
digits after the `x'; a non-hexadecimal digit terminates
the number.
echotc cap [ arg ... ]
Output the termcap string corresponding to the capability cap,
with optional arguments.
enable [ -m ] arg ...
Enable the specified builtin commands, presumably disabled
earlier with disable. Without arguments the enabled builtins
are printed and with the -m flag the arguments are taken as
patterns (should be quoted) and all builtins matching these
patterns are enabled.
eval [ arg ... ]
Read the arguments as input to the shell and execute the
resulting command(s) in the current shell process.
exit [ n ]
Exit the shell with the exit code specified by n; if none is
specified, use the exit code from the last command executed. An
EOF condition will also cause the shell to exit, unless the
IGNOREEOF option is set.
export [ name[=value] ... ]
The specified names are marked for automatic export to the
environment of subsequently executed commands.
false Do nothing and return an exit code of 1.
fc [ -e ename ] [ -nlrdDfEm ] [ old=new ... ] [ first [ last ] ]
fc -ARWI [ filename ]
Select a range of commands from first to last from the history
list. The arguments first and last may be specified as a number
or as a string. A negative number is used as an offset to the
current history event number. A string specifies the most
recent event beginning with the given string. All substitutions
old=new, if any, are then performed on the commands. If the -l
flag is given, the resulting commands are listed on standard
output. If the -m flag is also given the first argument is
taken as a pattern (should be quoted) and only the history
events matching this pattern will be shown. Otherwise the
editor program ename is invoked on a file containing these
history events. If ename is not given, the value of the
parameter FCEDIT is used. If ename is "-", no editor is
invoked. When editing is complete, the edited command(s) is
executed. If first is not specified, it will be set to -1 (the
most recent event), or to -16 if the -l flag is given. If last
is not specified, it will be set to first, or to -1 if the -l
flag is given. The flag -r reverses the order of the commands
and the flag -n suppresses command numbers when listing. Also
when listing, -d prints timestamps for each command, and -f
prints full time-date stamps. Adding the -E flag causes the
dates to be printed as `dd.mm.yyyy'. With the -D flag, fc
prints elapsed times.
fc -R reads the history from the given file, fc -W writes the
history out to the given file, and fc -A appends the history out
to the given file. fc -AI (-WI) appends (writes) only those
events that are new since last incremental append (write) to the
history file. In any case the file will have no more than
SAVEHIST entries.
fg [ job ... ]
job ...
Bring the specified jobs to the foreground. If no job is
specified, use the current job.
functions [ ±tum ] [ name ... ]
Equivalent to typeset -f.
getln name ...
Read the top value from the buffer stack and put it in the shell
parameter name. Equivalent to read -zr. The flags -c, -l, -A,
-e, -E, and -n are supported, too.
getopts optstring name [ arg ... ]
Checks arg for legal options. If arg is omitted, use the
positional parameters. A valid option argument begins with a +
or a -. An argument not beginning with a + or a -, or the
argument --, ends the options. optstring contains the letters
that getopts recognizes. If a letter is followed by a `:', that
option is expected to have an argument. The options can be
separated from the argument by blanks.
Each time it is invoked, getopts places the option letter it
finds in the shell parameter name, prepended with a + when arg
begins with a +. The index of the next arg is stored in OPTIND.
The option argument, if any, is stored in OPTARG.
A leading : in optstring causes getopts to store the letter of
the invalid option in OPTARG, and to set name to `?' for an
unknown option and to `:' when a required option is missing.
Otherwise, getopts prints an error message. The exit status is
nonzero when there are no more options.
hash name path
Puts name in the command hash table, associating it with the
pathname path. Whenever name is used as a command argument, the
shell will try to execute the file given by path.
history [ -nrdDfEm ] [ first [ last ] ]
Same as fc -l.
integer [ ±lrtux ] [ name[=value] ] ...
Same as typeset -i, except that options irrelevant to integers
are not permitted.
jobs [ -lprs ] [ job ... ]
Lists information about each given job, or all jobs if job is
omitted. The -l flag lists process ids, and the -p flag lists
process groups. If the -r flag is specified only running jobs
will be listed and if the -s flag is given only stopped jobs are
shown.
kill [ -sig ] job ...
kill -l
Sends either SIGTERM or the specified signal to the given jobs
or processes. Signals are given by number or by names (with the
prefix "SIG" removed). If the signal being sent is not KILL or
CONT, then the job will be sent a CONT signal if it is stopped.
The argument job can be the process id of a job not in the job
list. In the second form, kill -l, the signal names are listed.
let arg ...
Evaluate each arg as an arithmetic expression. See ARITHMETIC
EVALUATION above for a description of arithmetic expressions.
The exit status is 0 if the value of the last expression is
nonzero, and 1 otherwise.
limit [ -h ] [ resource [ limit ] ] ...
limit -s
Limit the resource consumption of the current shell and its
children. If limit is not specified, print the current limit
placed on resource; otherwise set the limit to the specified
value. If the -h flag is given, use hard limits instead of soft
limits. If no resource is given, print all limits.
resource is one of:
cputime
Maximum CPU seconds per process.
filesize
Largest single file allowed.
datasize
Maximum data size (including stack) for each process.
stacksize
Maximum stack size for each process.
coredumpsize
Maximum size of a core dump.
resident
Maximum resident set size.
memoryuse
The same as resident.
memorylocked
Maximum amount of memory locked in RAM.
descriptors
Maximum value for a file descriptor.
openfiles
Maximum number of open files.
vmemorysize
Maximum amount of virtual memory.
Which of these resource limits are available depends on the
system. limit is a number, with an optional scaling factor, as
follows:
nh hours.
nk kilobytes. This is the default for all but cputime.
nm megabytes or minutes.
mm:ss minutes and seconds.
local [ ±LRZilrtu [n]] [ name[=value] ] ...
Same as typeset, except that the options -x and -f are not
permitted.
log List all users currently logged in who are affected by the
current setting of the watch parameter.
logout Exit the shell, if this is a login shell.
popd [ ±n ]
Removes entries from the directory stack. With no arguments,
removes the top directory from the stack, and performs a cd to
the new top directory. With an argument of the form +n, remove
the nth entry counting from the left of the list shown by the
dirs command, starting with zero, and change to that directory.
With an argument of the form -n, remove the nth entry counting
from the right. If the PUSHD_MINUS option is set, the meanings
of + and - in this context are swapped.
print [ -RnrslzpNDPoOic ] [ -un ] [ arg ... ]
With no flags or with flag -, the arguments are printed on the
standard output as described by echo, with the following
differences: the escape sequence \M-x metafies the character x
(sets the highest bit), \C-x produces a control character (\C-@
and \C-? give the characters NULL and delete) and \E is a
synonym for \e. Finally, if not in an escape sequence, \
escapes the following character and is not printed.
-R, -r ignore the escape conventions of echo. The -R option
will print all subsequent arguments and options.
-s place the results in the history list instead of on the
standard output.
-n do not add a newline to the output.
-l print the arguments separated by newlines instead of
spaces.
-N print the arguments separated and terminated by nulls.
-o print the arguments sorted in ascending order.
-O print the arguments sorted in descending order.
-i if given together with -o or -O makes them work case
independently
-c print the arguments in columns
-un print the arguments to file descriptor n.
-p print the arguments to the input of the coprocess.
-z push the arguments onto the editing buffer stack,
separated by spaces; no escape sequences are recognized.
-D treat the arguments as directory names, replacing
prefixes with ~ expressions, as appropriate.
-P recognize the same escape sequences as in the PROMPT
parameter.
pushd [ arg ]
pushd old new
pushd ±n
Change the current directory, and push the old current directory
onto the directory stack. In the first form, change the current
directory to arg. If arg is not specified, change to the second
directory on the stack (that is, exchange the top two entries),
or change to the value of HOME if the PUSHD_TO_HOME option is
set or if there is only one entry on the stack. If arg is -,
change to the value of OLDPWD, the previous directory. If a
directory named arg is not found in the current directory and
arg does not contain a slash, search each component of the shell
parameter cdpath. If the option CDABLEVARS is set, and a
parameter named arg exists whose value begins with a slash,
treat its value as the directory. If the option PUSHD_SILENT is
not set, the directory stack will be printed after a pushd is
performed.
The second form of pushd substitutes the string new for the
string old in the name of the current directory, and tries to
change to this new directory.
The third form of pushd is equivalent to popd.
pushln Equivalent to print -nZ.
pwd Equivalent to print -R $PWD.
r Equivalent to fc -e -.
read [ -rzpqAclneE ] [ -k [ num ] ] [ -un ] [ name?prompt ] [ name ...
]
Read one line and break it into fields using the characters in
IFS as separators. In raw mode, -r, a \ at the end of a line
does not signify line continuation. With the -q flag read only
one character and set name to `y' if this character was `y' or
`Y' and to `n' otherwise. If the -k flag is given read only one
(or num) characters. If the -z flag is set, read from the
editor buffer stack. The first field is assigned to the first
name, the second field to the second name, etc., with leftover
fields assigned to the last name. If the -e or the -E flag is
given, the words read are printed after the whole line is read.
If the -e flag is set, the words are not assigned to the
parameters. If the -A flag is set, the first name is taken as
the name of an array and all words are assigned to it. The -c
and -l flags are allowed only if called inside a function used
for completion (specified with the -K flag to compctl). If the
-c flag is given, the words of the current command are read. If
the -l flag is given, the whole line is assigned as a scalar.
Together with the -n flag these options give the number of the
word the cursor is on and the index of the character the cursor
is on respectively. If name is omitted then REPLY is used for
scalars and reply for arrays. If -un is specified, then input
is read from file descriptor n; if -p is specified, then input
is read from the coprocess. If the first argument contains a ?,
the remainder of this word is used as a prompt on standard error
when the shell is interactive. The exit status is 0 unless an
end-of-file is encountered.
readonly [ name[=value] ] ...
The given names are marked readonly; these names cannot be
changed by subsequent assignment.
rehash [ -f ]
Throw out the command hash table and start over. If the -f
option is set, rescan the command path immediately, instead of
rebuilding the hash table incrementally.
return [ n ]
Causes a shell function or . script to return to the invoking
script with the return status specified by n. If n is omitted
then the return status is that of the last command executed.
If return was executed from a trap, whether set by the trap
builtin or by defining a TRAPxxx function, the effect is
different for zero and non-zero return status. With zero status
(or after an implicit return at the end of the trap), the shell
will return to whatever it was previously processing; with a
non-zero status, the shell will behave as interrupted except
that the return status of the trap is retained. Note that the
signal which caused the trap is passed as the first argument, so
the statement `return $[128+$1]' will return the same status as
if the signal had not been trapped.
sched [+]hh:mm command ...
sched [ -item ]
Make an entry in the scheduled list of commands to execute. The
time may be specified in either absolute or relative time. With
no arguments, prints the list of scheduled commands. With the
argument -item, removes the given item from the list.
set [ ±options ] [ ±o option name ] ... [ -A [name] ] [ arg ] ...
Set the options for the shell and/or set the positional
parameters, or declare an array. For the meaning of the flags,
see OPTIONS above. Flags may be specified by name using the -o
option. If the -A flag is specified, name is set to an array
containing the given args; if no name is specified, all arrays
are printed. Otherwise the positional parameters are set. If no
arguments are given, then the names and values of all parameters
are printed on the standard output. If the only argument is +,
the names of all parameters are printed.
setopt [ ±options ] [ name ... ]
Set the options for the shell. All options specified either
with flags or by name are set. If no arguments are supplied,
the names of all options currently set are printed. In option
names, case is insignificant, and all underscore characters are
ignored. If the -m flag is given the arguments are taken as
patterns (should be quoted to preserve them from being
interpreted as glob patterns) and all options with names
matching these patterns are set.
shift [ n ] [ name ... ]
The positional parameters from $n+1 ... are renamed $1, where n
is an arithmetic expression that defaults to 1. If any names
are given then the arrays with these names are shifted instead
of the positional parameters.
source Same as ., except that the current directory is always searched
and is always searched first, before directories in path.
suspend [ -f ]
Suspend the execution of the shell (send it a SIGTSTP) until it
receives a SIGCONT. If the -f option is not given, complain if
this is a login shell.
test arg ...
[ arg ... ]
Like the system version of test. Added for compatibility; use
conditional expressions instead.
times Print the accumulated user and system times for the shell and
for processes run from the shell.
trap [ arg ] [ sig ] ...
arg is a command to be read and executed when the shell receives
sig. Each sig can be given as a number or as the name of a
signal. Inside the command, $1 refers to the number of the
signal which caused the trap. If arg is -, then all traps sig
are reset to their default values. If arg is the null string,
then this signal is ignored by the shell and by the commands it
invokes. If sig is ZERR then arg will be executed after each
command with a nonzero exit status. If sig is DEBUG then arg
will be executed after each command. If sig is 0 or EXIT and
the trap statement is executed inside the body of a function,
then the command arg is executed after the function completes.
If sig is 0 or EXIT and the trap statement is not executed
inside the body of a function, then the command arg is executed
when the shell terminates. The trap command with no arguments
prints a list of commands associated with each signal.
true Do nothing and return an exit code of 0.
ttyctl -fu
The -f option freezes the tty, and -u unfreezes it. When the
tty is frozen, no changes made to the tty settings by external
programs will be honored by the shell, except for changes in the
size of the screen; the shell will simply reset the settings to
their previous values as soon as each command exits or is
suspended. Thus, stty and similar programs have no effect when
the tty is frozen. Without options it reports whether the
terminal is frozen or not.
type Same as whence -v.
typeset [ ±LRZfilrtuxm [n]] [ name[=value] ] ...
Set attributes and values for shell parameters. When invoked
inside a function a new parameter is created which will be unset
when the function completes. The new parameter will not be
exported unless ALLEXPORT is set, in which case the parameter
will be exported provided no parameter of that name already
exists. The following attributes are valid:
-L Left justify and remove leading blanks from value. If n
is nonzero, it defines the width of the field; otherwise
it is determined by the width of the value of the first
assignment. When the parameter is printed, it is filled
on the right with blanks or truncated if necessary to fit
the field. Leading zeros are removed if the -Z flag is
also set.
-R Right justify and fill with leading blanks. If n is
nonzero if defines the width of the field; otherwise it
is determined by the width of the value of the first
assignment. When the parameter is printed, the field is
left filled with blanks or truncated from the end.
-Z Right justify and fill with leading zeros if the first
non-blank character is a digit and the -L flag has not
been set. If n is nonzero it defines the width of the
field; otherwise it is determined by the width of the
value of the first assignment.
-f The names refer to functions rather than parameters. No
assignments can be made, and the only other valid flags
are -t and -u. The flag -t turns on execution tracing
for this function. The flag -u causes this function to
be marked for autoloading. The fpath parameter will be
searched to find the function definition when the
function is first referenced.
-i Use an internal integer representation. If n is nonzero
it defines the output arithmetic base, otherwise it is
determined by the first assignment.
-l Convert to lower case.
-r The given names are marked readonly.
-t Tags the named parameters. Tags have no special meaning
to the shell.
-u Convert to upper case.
-x Mark for automatic export to the environment of
subsequently executed commands.
Using + rather than - causes these flags to be turned
off.
If no arguments are given but flags are specified, a list of
named parameters which have these flags set is printed. Using +
instead of - keeps their values from being printed. If no
arguments or options are given, the names and attributes of all
parameters are printed. If only the -m flag is given the
arguments are taken as patterns (should be quoted) and all
parameters or functions (with the -f flag) with matching names
are printed.
ulimit [ -Hacdflmnopstv ] [ limit ]
Set or display a resource limit. When setting a limit it will
apply to the children of the shell but not to the shell itself.
The value of limit can be a number in the unit specified below
or the value unlimited. If the H flag is given use hard limits
instead of soft limits.
-a Lists all of the current resource limits.
-c The number of 512-byte blocks on the size of core dumps.
-d The number of K-bytes on the size of the data segment.
-f The number of 512-byte blocks on the size of files
written.
-l The number of K-bytes on the size of locked-in memory.
-m The number of K-bytes on the size of physical memory.
-n The number of file descriptors.
-o The number of open files.
-p The number of processes.
-s The number of K-bytes on the size of the stack.
-t The number of CPU seconds to be used.
-v The number of K-bytes on the size of virtual memory.
umask [ mask ]
The umask is set to mask. mask can be either an octal number or
a symbolic value as described in chmod(1). If mask is omitted,
the current value is printed. Note that in the symbolic form
the permissions you specify are those which are to be allowed
(not denied) to the users specified.
unalias [ -m ] name ...
The alias definition, if any, for each name is removed. With
the -m flag the arguments are taken as patterns (should be
quoted) and all aliases with matching names are removed.
unfunction [ -m ] name ...
The function definition, if any, for each name is removed. If
the -m flag is specified the arguments are taken as patterns
(should be quoted) and all functions with matching names are
removed.
unhash [ -m ] name ...
The entry in the command hash table, if any, for each name is
removed. If the -m flag is given the arguments are taken as
patterns (should be quoted) and all entries for commands with
matching names will be removed.
unlimit [ -h ] resource ...
The resource limit for each resource is set to the hard limit.
If the -h flag is given and the shell is running as root, the
hard resource limit for each resource is removed.
unset [ -m ] name ...
Each named parameter is unset. If the -m flag is specified the
arguments are taken as patterns (should be quoted) and all
parameters with matching names are unset.
unsetopt [ ±options ] [ name ... ]
Unset the options for the shell. All options specified either
with flags or by name are unset. If the -m flag is given the
arguments are considered to be patterns (don't forget to quote
them) and all options with names matching these patterns are
unset.
vared [ -c ] [ -p prompt ] [ -r rprompt ] name
The value of the parameter name is loaded into the edit buffer,
and the line editor is invoked. When the editor exits, name is
set to the string value returned by the editor. If the -c flag
is given the parameter is created if it doesn't already exist.
If the -p flag is given the following string will be taken as
the prompt to display at the left and if the -r flag is given
the following string gives the prompt to display at the right.
wait [ job ... ]
Wait for the specified jobs or processes. If job is not given
then all currently active child processes are waited for. Each
job can be either a job specification or the process-id of a job
in the job table. The exit status from this command is that of
the job waited for.
whence [ -acpvm ] name ...
For each name, indicate how it would be interpreted if used as a
command name. The -v flag produces a more verbose report. The
-p flag does a path search for name even if it is a shell
function, alias, or reserved word. The -c flag prints the
results in a csh-like format. The -a flag does a search for all
occurrences of name throughout the command path. With the -m
flag the arguments are taken as patterns (should be quoted) and
the information is displayed for each command matching one of
these patterns.
which Same as whence -c.
INVOCATION
Commands are first read from /etc/zshenv. If the -f flag is present or
if the NO_RCS option is set within /etc/zshenv, all other
initialization files are skipped. Otherwise, commands are read from
$ZDOTDIR/.zshenv. (If ZDOTDIR is unset, HOME is used instead). If the
first character of argument zero passed to the shell is -, or if the -l
flag is present, then the shell is assumed to be a login shell, and
commands are read from /etc/zprofile and then $ZDOTDIR/.zprofile.
Then, if the shell is interactive, commands are read from /etc/zshrc
and then $ZDOTDIR/.zshrc. Finally, if the shell is a login shell,
/etc/zlogin and $ZDOTDIR/.zlogin are read.
If the -s flag is not present and an argument is given, the first
argument is taken to be the pathname of a script to execute. The
remaining arguments are assigned to the positional parameters. The
following flags are interpreted by the shell when invoked:
-c string
Read commands from string.
-s Read command from the standard input.
-i If this flag is present or the shell input and output are
attached to a terminal, this shell is interactive.
SEE ALSOsh(1), csh(1), tcsh(1), itcsh(1), rc(1), bash(1), ash(1), ksh(1),
clam(1), strftime(3).
FILES
$ZDOTDIR/.zshenv
$ZDOTDIR/.zprofile
$ZDOTDIR/.zshrc
$ZDOTDIR/.zlogin
$ZDOTDIR/.zlogout
/tmp/zsh*
/etc/zshenv
/etc/zprofile
/etc/zshrc
/etc/zlogin
AUTHOR
Paul Falstad (pf@z-code.com)
Programmable completion was implemented by Sven Wischnowsky
(oberon@cs.tu-berlin.de) and Peter Stephenson (pws@s-a.amtp.liv.ac.uk).
AVAILABILITY
The latest official release of zsh is available via anonymous ftp from
cs.ucsd.edu (132.239.51.3), in the directory pub/zsh. The beta release
of zsh 2.4 is available from carlo.phys.uva.nl (145.18.218.21), in the
directory pub/bas/zsh. This man page is current to zsh 2.4 patchlevel
306.
UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES
Known only to the recipients of the zsh mailing list, zsh-
list@sterling.com. If you run into problems, please send your
questions and patches to the mailing list. To subscribe to zsh-list,
send an email message with body "subscribe zsh-list" to the address
"Majordomo@sterling.com".
NeXT Computer, Inc. August 9, 1994 ZSH(1)
