UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi!
I wanted to simplify my bash prompt, so I edited my etc/bashrc file. I thought this was the file that would override any other env files. When I opened it, I saw that the way it was setup was not what my prompt looked like, although I forget exactly what was there. But i edited it the way I wanted it

Code:

PS1="$ "

and saved it. I quit and restarted the Terminal, but my prompt hadn't changed. I looked at the environment and saw that the prompt was set entirely differently than what was originally in the /etc/bashrc file, or what I changed it to:

Code:

-bash $ env |grep PS
PS1=\s $

So I assumed it must be getting it's environmental variables from some other file. But I don't have any kind of bash files in my home dir, such as .bash_profile, (except .bash_history).
At this point I should mention that I'm using Mac OS 10.6, and the directory setup is a little different in some cases than standard unix.

My question is, where is bash ultimately getting its env variables from, and where might I find this file?

Also, is there a way to write directly to the bash environment from the terminal, such as when you add a directory to your PATH? If so, how should that look?
TIA!

---------- Post updated at 03:33 PM ---------- Previous update was at 03:26 PM ----------

Nevermind, it's the ~/.profile file.

First, type env at the prompt to find out what your environment variables are. Put the command string for how you want your prompt to appear in your .bash_profile file, be sure to export the variable and either log out and log in again, or run source .bash_profile.

HTH