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Operating Systems OS X (Apple) Don't understand the practical difference between command aliases and environmental variables Post 302964058 by scrutinizerix on Saturday 9th of January 2016 01:39:52 PM
Old 01-09-2016
Don't understand the practical difference between command aliases and environmental variables

Hey,
I'm recently learning Unix from the video course by Kevin Scoglund. I'm stuck at the moment where he goes into Environmenat variables. I have some issues with understanding what's the essential difference between EV and command aliases: for instance, by writing the command

Code:
alias ll='ls -lahG'

into .bashrc file we ensure that typing every time the shortcut ll we get the whole bunch of modifications to the original command executed whenever we type it.

ALong with that we have so called "environmental variables" (f.e., export LESS='-N') we could equal to any value ("variable") that theoretically when saved to .bashrc should trigger that command exactly as we predefined it.
According to Mr. Scoglund it should work once we launch another Terminal session by opening a new window ir by executing
Code:
source .bashrc

. However, when trying the former it fails to do so (no command found), so I have to rely on the latter which is pain in the ass typing it in every time. It should be mentioned he worked with Snow Leopard while I'm on Lion, so definitely some changes occurred here.

So:

(1) I can't execute .bashrc file commands unless I execute
Code:
source .bashrc

Is there less labourous method of doing that without
Code:
source .bashrc

in Lion?

(2) what's the point of EV since one could assign an alias to a command and the result is pretty much the same?

If I sound dumb forgive me since I was forced to skip that entire chapter about profile, login and resource files due to corrupted video file containing that part Smilie so I might have missed some points completely hence is my confusion.

Last edited by scrutinizerix; 01-10-2016 at 07:29 AM..
 

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IRSEND(1)							   User Commands							 IRSEND(1)

NAME
irsend - basic LIRC program to send infra-red commands SYNOPSIS
irsend [options] DIRECTIVE REMOTE CODE [CODE...] DESCRIPTION
Asks the lircd daemon to send one or more CIR (Consumer Infra-Red) commands. This is intended for remote control of electronic devices such as TV boxes, HiFi sets, etc. DIRECTIVE can be: SEND_ONCE - send CODE [CODE ...] once SEND_START - start repeating CODE SEND_STOP - stop repeating CODE LIST - list configured remote items SET_TRANSMITTERS - set transmitters NUM [NUM ...] SIMULATE - simulate IR event REMOTE is the name of a remote, as described in the lircd configuration file. CODE is the name of a remote control key of REMOTE, as it appears in the lircd configuration file. NUM is the transmitter number of the hardware device. For the LIST DIRECTIVE, REMOTE and/or CODE can be empty: LIST "" "" - list all configured remote names LIST REMOTE "" - list all codes of REMOTE LIST REMOTE CODE - list only CODE of REMOTE The SIMULATE command only works if it has been explicitly enabled in lircd. -h --help display usage summary -v --version display version -d --device use given lircd socket [/var/run/lirc/lircd] -a --address=host[:port] connect to lircd at this address -# --count=n send command n times EXAMPLES
irsend LIST DenonTuner "" irsend SEND_ONCE DenonTuner PROG-SCAN irsend SEND_ONCE OnkyoAmpli VOL-UP VOL-UP VOL-UP VOL-UP irsend SEND_START OnkyoAmpli VOL-DOWN ; sleep 3 irsend SEND_STOP OnkyoAmpli VOL-DOWN irsend SET_TRANSMITTERS 1 irsend SET_TRANSMITTERS 1 3 4 irsend SIMULATE "0000000000000476 00 OK TECHNISAT_ST3004S" FILES
/etc/lirc/lircd.conf Default lircd configuration file. It should contain all the remotes, their infra-red codes and the corresponding timing and wave- form details. DIAGNOSTICS
If lircd is not running (or /var/run/lirc/lircd lacks write permissions) irsend aborts with the following diagnostics: "irsend: could not connect to socket" "irsend: Connection refused" (or "Permission denied"). SEE ALSO
The documentation for lirc is maintained as html pages. They are located under html/ in the documentation directory. lircd(8), mode2(1), smode2(1), xmode2(1), irrecord(1), irw(1), http://www.lirc.org. irsend 0.9.0-pre1 October 2010 IRSEND(1)
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