UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi
I'm using Linux, in the directory /root/my
there is a.out. but when I try to run it , the
shell indicate "bash:a.out: command not found"
but I AM working in this directory. if I use
"./a.out" , it works perfectly.

can any body tell me how to do a permanent set up so that
I can use a.out instead of ./a.out?

thank you

try putting

#! /bin/sh

at the start. Don't know if it'll work but might help :-)

putting #!/bin/sh wont work because your file a.out is a binary file. if you write a c++ program for example and compile it with:
g++ file.c

g++ will output a file named 'a.out'

you have to use ./a.out to execute most programs. if you really dont want to use ./ to execute your program then you can put it in /usr/bin and make sure /usr/bin/ is in your PATH (it probably is).

You could also put ./ in your path

PATH=$PATH:./
export PATH

Try it in the shell and if it works out ok just add it
in your login script .

/Peter

however i would advise against putting ./ in your path if you are root. you want to becareful about everything you run as root anyway, so if having to type ./program name to run something that is not apart of the system maybe it will make you think twice about running something that could compromise the system.

I agree with norsk hedensk. It not very good to put ./ in your path its better to type ./command_to_exec

But if you are a windows user it could be nice

/Peter