Appendix G. A Sample .bashrc File

The ~/.bashrc file determines the behavior of interactive shells. A good look at this file can lead to a better understanding of Bash.

Emmanuel Rouat contributed the following very elaborate .bashrc file, written for a Linux system. He welcomes reader feedback on it.

Study the file carefully, and feel free to reuse code snippets and functions from it in your own .bashrc file or even in your scripts.

Example G-1. Sample .bashrc file

#===============================================================
#
# PERSONAL $HOME/.bashrc FILE for bash-2.05 (or later)
#
# This file is read (normally) by interactive shells only.
# Here is the place to define your aliases, functions and
# other interactive features like your prompt.
#
# This file was designed (originally) for Solaris.
# --> Modified for Linux.
# This bashrc file is a bit overcrowded - remember it is just
# just an example. Tailor it to your needs 
#
#===============================================================

# --> Comments added by HOWTO author.

#-----------------------------------
# Source global definitions (if any)
#-----------------------------------

if [ -f /etc/bashrc ]; then
        . /etc/bashrc   # --> Read /etc/bashrc, if present.
fi

#-------------------------------------------------------------
# Automatic setting of $DISPLAY (if not set already)
# This works for linux and solaris - your mileage may vary....
#-------------------------------------------------------------

if [ -z ${DISPLAY:=""} ]; then
    DISPLAY=$(who am i)
    DISPLAY=${DISPLAY%%\!*}
    if [ -n "$DISPLAY" ]; then
        export DISPLAY=$DISPLAY:0.0
    else
        export DISPLAY=":0.0"  # fallback
    fi
fi

#---------------
# Some settings
#---------------

set -o notify
set -o noclobber
set -o ignoreeof
set -o nounset
#set -o xtrace          # useful for debuging

shopt -s cdspell
shopt -s cdable_vars
shopt -s checkhash
shopt -s checkwinsize
shopt -s mailwarn
shopt -s sourcepath
shopt -s no_empty_cmd_completion
shopt -s histappend histreedit
shopt -s extglob        # useful for programmable completion

#-----------------------
# Greeting, motd etc...
#-----------------------

# Define some colors first:
red='\e[0;31m'
RED='\e[1;31m'
blue='\e[0;34m'
BLUE='\e[1;34m'
cyan='\e[0;36m'
CYAN='\e[1;36m'
NC='\e[0m'              # No Color
# --> Nice. Has the same effect as using "ansi.sys" in DOS.

# Looks best on a black background.....
echo -e "${CYAN}This is BASH ${RED}${BASH_VERSION%.*}${CYAN} - DISPLAY on ${RED}$DISPLAY${NC}\n"
date
if [ -x /usr/games/fortune ]; then 
    /usr/games/fortune -s     # makes our day a bit more fun.... :-)
fi

function _exit()        # function to run upon exit of shell
{
    echo -e "${RED}Hasta la vista, baby${NC}"
}
trap _exit 0

#---------------
# Shell prompt
#---------------

function fastprompt()
{
    unset PROMPT_COMMAND
    case $TERM in
        *term | rxvt )
            PS1="[\h] \W > \[\033]0;[\u@\h] \w\007\]" ;;
        *)
            PS1="[\h] \W > " ;;
    esac
}

function powerprompt()
{
    _powerprompt()
    {
        LOAD=$(uptime|sed -e "s/.*: \([^,]*\).*/\1/" -e "s/ //g")
        TIME=$(date +%H:%M)
    }

    PROMPT_COMMAND=_powerprompt
    case $TERM in
        *term | rxvt  )
            PS1="${cyan}[\$TIME \$LOAD]$NC\n[\h \#] \W > \[\033]0;[\u@\h] \w\007\]" ;;
        linux )
            PS1="${cyan}[\$TIME - \$LOAD]$NC\n[\h \#] \w > " ;;
        * )
            PS1="[\$TIME - \$LOAD]\n[\h \#] \w > " ;;
    esac
}

powerprompt     # this is the default prompt - might be slow
                # If too slow, use fastprompt instead....

#===============================================================
#
# ALIASES AND FUNCTIONS
#
# Arguably, some functions defined here are quite big
# (ie 'lowercase') but my workstation has 512Meg of RAM, so .....
# If you want to make this file smaller, these functions can
# be converted into scripts.
#
# Many functions were taken (almost) straight from the bash-2.04
# examples.
#
#===============================================================

#-------------------
# Personnal Aliases
#-------------------

alias rm='rm -i'
alias cp='cp -i'
alias mv='mv -i'
# -> Prevents accidentally clobbering files.

alias h='history'
alias j='jobs -l'
alias r='rlogin'
alias which='type -all'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias path='echo -e ${PATH//:/\\n}'
alias print='/usr/bin/lp -o nobanner -d $LPDEST'   # Assumes LPDEST is defined 
alias pjet='enscript -h -G -fCourier9 -d $LPDEST'  # Pretty-print using enscript
alias background='xv -root -quit -max -rmode 5' # put a picture in the background
alias vi='vim'
alias du='du -h'
alias df='df -kh'

# The 'ls' family (this assumes you use the GNU ls)
alias ls='ls -hF --color'	# add colors for filetype recognition
alias lx='ls -lXB'		# sort by extension
alias lk='ls -lSr'		# sort by size
alias la='ls -Al'		# show hidden files
alias lr='ls -lR'		# recursice ls
alias lt='ls -ltr'		# sort by date
alias lm='ls -al |more'		# pipe through 'more'
alias tree='tree -Cs'		# nice alternative to 'ls'


# tailoring 'less'
alias more='less'
export PAGER=less
export LESSCHARSET='latin1'
export LESSOPEN='|/usr/bin/lesspipe.sh %s 2>&-' # Use this if lesspipe.sh exists
export LESS='-i -N -w  -z-4 -g -e -M -X -F -R -P%t?f%f \
:stdin .?pb%pb\%:?lbLine %lb:?bbByte %bb:-...'

# spelling typos - highly personnal :-)
alias xs='cd'
alias vf='cd'
alias moer='more'
alias moew='more'
alias kk='ll'

#----------------
# a few fun ones
#----------------

function xtitle ()
{
    case $TERM in
        *term | rxvt)
            echo -n -e "\033]0;$*\007" ;;
        *)  ;;
    esac
}

# aliases...
alias top='xtitle Processes on $HOST && top'
alias make='xtitle Making $(basename $PWD) ; make'
alias ncftp="xtitle ncFTP ; ncftp"

# .. and functions 
function man ()
{
    xtitle The $(basename $1|tr -d .[:digit:]) manual
    man -a "$*"
}

function ll(){ ls -l "$@"| egrep "^d" ; ls -lXB "$@" 2>&-| egrep -v "^d|total "; }
function xemacs() { { command xemacs -private $* 2>&- & } && disown ;}
function te()  # wrapper around xemacs/gnuserv
{
    if [ "$(gnuclient -batch -eval t 2>&-)" == "t" ]; then
        gnuclient -q "$@";
    else
        ( xemacs "$@" & );
    fi
}

#-----------------------------------
# File & strings related functions:
#-----------------------------------

function ff() { find . -name '*'$1'*' ; }                 # find a file
function fe() { find . -name '*'$1'*' -exec $2 {} \; ; }  # find a file and run $2 on it 
function fstr() # find a string in a set of files
{
    if [ "$#" -gt 2 ]; then
        echo "Usage: fstr \"pattern\" [files] "
        return;
    fi
    SMSO=$(tput smso)
    RMSO=$(tput rmso)
    find . -type f -name "${2:-*}" -print | xargs grep -sin "$1" | \
sed "s/$1/$SMSO$1$RMSO/gI"
}

function cuttail() # cut last n lines in file, 10 by default
{
    nlines=${2:-10}
    sed -n -e :a -e "1,${nlines}!{P;N;D;};N;ba" $1
}

function lowercase()  # move filenames to lowercase
{
    for file ; do
        filename=${file##*/}
        case "$filename" in
        */*) dirname==${file%/*} ;;
        *) dirname=.;;
        esac
        nf=$(echo $filename | tr A-Z a-z)
        newname="${dirname}/${nf}"
        if [ "$nf" != "$filename" ]; then
            mv "$file" "$newname"
            echo "lowercase: $file --> $newname"
        else
            echo "lowercase: $file not changed."
        fi
    done
}

function swap()         # swap 2 filenames around
{
    local TMPFILE=tmp.$$
    mv $1 $TMPFILE
    mv $2 $1
    mv $TMPFILE $2
}

#-----------------------------------
# Process/system related functions:
#-----------------------------------

function my_ps() { ps $@ -u $USER -o pid,%cpu,%mem,bsdtime,command ; }
function pp() { my_ps f | awk '!/awk/ && $0~var' var=${1:-".*"} ; }

# This function is roughly the same as 'killall' on linux
# but has no equivalent (that I know of) on Solaris
function killps()   # kill by process name
{
    local pid pname sig="-TERM"   # default signal
    if [ "$#" -lt 1 ] || [ "$#" -gt 2 ]; then 
	echo "Usage: killps [-SIGNAL] pattern"
	return;
    fi
    if [ $# = 2 ]; then sig=$1 ; fi
    for pid in $(my_ps| awk '!/awk/ && $0~pat { print $1 }' pat=${!#} ) ; do
	pname=$(my_ps | awk '$1~var { print $5 }' var=$pid )
	if ask "Kill process $pid <$pname> with signal $sig?"
	    then kill $sig $pid
	fi
    done
}

function my_ip() # get IP adresses
{
    MY_IP=$(/sbin/ifconfig ppp0 | awk '/inet/ { print $2 } ' | sed -e s/addr://)
    MY_ISP=$(/sbin/ifconfig ppp0 | awk '/P-t-P/ { print $3 } ' | sed -e s/P-t-P://)
}

function ii()   # get current host related info
{
    echo -e "\nYou are logged on ${RED}$HOST"
    echo -e "\nAdditionnal information:$NC " ; uname -a
    echo -e "\n${RED}Users logged on:$NC " ; w -h
    echo -e "\n${RED}Current date :$NC " ; date
    echo -e "\n${RED}Machine stats :$NC " ; uptime
    echo -e "\n${RED}Memory stats :$NC " ; free
    my_ip 2>&- ;
    echo -e "\n${RED}Local IP Address :$NC" ; echo ${MY_IP:-"Not connected"}
    echo -e "\n${RED}ISP Address :$NC" ; echo ${MY_ISP:-"Not connected"}
    echo
}


# Misc utilities:

function repeat()       # repeat n times command
{
    local i max
    max=$1; shift;
    for ((i=1; i <= max ; i++)); do  # --> C-like syntax
        eval "$@";
    done
}


function ask()
{
    echo -n "$@" '[y/n] ' ; read ans
    case "$ans" in
        y*|Y*) return 0 ;;
        *) return 1 ;;
    esac
}

#=========================================================================
#
# PROGRAMMABLE COMPLETION - ONLY SINCE BASH-2.04
# (Most are taken from the bash 2.05 documentation)
# You will in fact need bash-2.05 for some features
#
#=========================================================================

if [ "${BASH_VERSION%.*}" \< "2.05" ]; then
    echo "You will need to upgrade to version 2.05 for programmable completion"
    return
fi

shopt -s extglob        # necessary
set +o nounset		# otherwise some completions will fail

complete -A hostname   rsh rcp telnet rlogin r ftp ping disk
complete -A command    nohup exec eval trace gdb
complete -A command    command type which
complete -A export     printenv
complete -A variable   export local readonly unset
complete -A enabled    builtin
complete -A alias      alias unalias
complete -A function   function
complete -A user       su mail finger

complete -A helptopic  help     # currently same as builtins
complete -A shopt      shopt
complete -A stopped -P '%' bg
complete -A job -P '%'     fg jobs disown

complete -A directory  mkdir rmdir
complete -A directory   -o default cd

complete -f -d -X '*.gz'  gzip
complete -f -d -X '*.bz2' bzip2
complete -f -o default -X '!*.gz'  gunzip
complete -f -o default -X '!*.bz2' bunzip2
complete -f -o default -X '!*.pl'  perl perl5
complete -f -o default -X '!*.ps'  gs ghostview ps2pdf ps2ascii
complete -f -o default -X '!*.dvi' dvips dvipdf xdvi dviselect dvitype
complete -f -o default -X '!*.pdf' acroread pdf2ps 
complete -f -o default -X '!*.+(pdf|ps)' gv 
complete -f -o default -X '!*.texi*' makeinfo texi2dvi texi2html texi2pdf
complete -f -o default -X '!*.tex' tex latex slitex 
complete -f -o default -X '!*.lyx' lyx 
complete -f -o default -X '!*.+(jpg|gif|xpm|png|bmp)' xv gimp
complete -f -o default -X '!*.mp3' mpg123 
complete -f -o default -X '!*.ogg' ogg123 


# This is a 'universal' completion function - it works when commands have
# a so-called 'long options' mode , ie: 'ls --all' instead of 'ls -a' 
_universal_func ()
{
    case "$2" in
	-*)	;;
	*)	return ;;
    esac

    case "$1" in
	\~*)	eval cmd=$1 ;;
	*)	cmd="$1" ;;
    esac
    COMPREPLY=( $("$cmd" --help | sed  -e '/--/!d' -e 's/.*--\([^ ]*\).*/--\1/'| \
grep ^"$2" |sort -u) )
}
complete  -o default -F _universal_func ldd wget bash id info


_make_targets ()
{
    local mdef makef gcmd cur prev i

    COMPREPLY=()
    cur=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}
    prev=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD-1]}

    # if prev argument is -f, return possible filename completions.
    # we could be a little smarter here and return matches against
    # `makefile Makefile *.mk', whatever exists
    case "$prev" in
        -*f)    COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -f $cur ) ); return 0;;
    esac

    # if we want an option, return the possible posix options
    case "$cur" in
        -)      COMPREPLY=(-e -f -i -k -n -p -q -r -S -s -t); return 0;;
    esac

    # make reads `makefile' before `Makefile'
    if [ -f makefile ]; then
        mdef=makefile
    elif [ -f Makefile ]; then
        mdef=Makefile
    else
        mdef=*.mk               # local convention
    fi

    # before we scan for targets, see if a makefile name was specified
    # with -f
    for (( i=0; i < ${#COMP_WORDS[@]}; i++ )); do
        if [[ ${COMP_WORDS[i]} == -*f ]]; then
            eval makef=${COMP_WORDS[i+1]}       # eval for tilde expansion
            break
        fi
    done

        [ -z "$makef" ] && makef=$mdef

    # if we have a partial word to complete, restrict completions to
    # matches of that word
    if [ -n "$2" ]; then gcmd='grep "^$2"' ; else gcmd=cat ; fi

    # if we don't want to use *.mk, we can take out the cat and use
    # test -f $makef and input redirection
    COMPREPLY=( $(cat $makef 2>/dev/null | awk 'BEGIN {FS=":"} /^[^.#   ][^=]*:/ {print $1}' | tr -s ' ' '\012' | sort -u | eval $gcmd ) )
}

complete -F _make_targets -X '+($*|*.[cho])' make gmake pmake

_configure_func ()
{
    case "$2" in
        -*)     ;;
        *)      return ;;
    esac

    case "$1" in
        \~*)    eval cmd=$1 ;;
        *)      cmd="$1" ;;
    esac

    COMPREPLY=( $("$cmd" --help | awk '{if ($1 ~ /--.*/) print $1}' | grep ^"$2" | sort -u) )
}

complete -F _configure_func configure

# cvs(1) completion
_cvs ()
{
    local cur prev
    COMPREPLY=()
    cur=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}
    prev=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD-1]}

    if [ $COMP_CWORD -eq 1 ] || [ "${prev:0:1}" = "-" ]; then
	COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W 'add admin checkout commit diff \
	export history import log rdiff release remove rtag status \
	tag update' $cur ))
    else
	COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -f $cur ))
    fi
    return 0
}
complete -F _cvs cvs


_killall ()
{
    local cur prev
    COMPREPLY=()
    cur=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}

    # get a list of processes (the first sed evaluation
    # takes care of swapped out processes, the second
    # takes care of getting the basename of the process)
    COMPREPLY=( $( /usr/bin/ps -u $USER -o comm  | \
        sed -e '1,1d' -e 's#[]\[]##g' -e 's#^.*/##'| \
        awk '{if ($0 ~ /^'$cur'/) print $0}' ))

    return 0
}

complete -F _killall killall killps

# Local Variables:
# mode:shell-script
# sh-shell:bash
# End: