The > symbol - UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

csb · #1 06-12-2006

Hi guys,

Im new to unix; I have a problem at hand.

Somehow at the terminal, I lost the command prompt, instead I get a ">" symbol. Anything I type in does me no good. What do you recommend?

Thank you for your help.

tayyabq8 · #2 06-12-2006

Try Delete key or Ctrl+C or Ctrl + z to come out of that command and bring your prompt back.

thestevew · #3 06-13-2006

The > is the default UNIX secondary prompt (held in the $PS2 environment variable, so you can change it for the current logon session with PS2="anythingyoulike ") and shows that the last command line was incomplete, often because of unclosed quotes
e.g.

Code:

$ print "hello
> world"
$

or you are entering a multi-line command

Code:

$ for a in x y
> do
> print $a
> done
x
y
$

To get back to normal finish the command or terminate it (control-c)

cheers

hu$h · #4 06-13-2006

try q and enter or bye and enter. it may be an FTP command prompt or somthing along thoughs lines.

hush

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