How to change display in shell

07-16-2010

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How to change display in shell

Hi

The line for input of my shell currently looks like in the image attached. What I wanted is for the line where I input, it showed in last, the folder I'm in (in the attached images is "Documents") and not my user name "Pedro_Gordo". How do I do this?

My OS is Mac OS X 10.6.

Thanks in advance

PS: I know I asked a very basic question for which there is probably already an answer, but I don't know the terms for which to look, if you could just tell me where to look, it's good too

How to change display in shell-captura-de-ecra-2010-07-17-030946png

tirwit

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07-16-2010

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Hi.

Look for PS1 in the man page for the shell you are using (i.e. bash, ksh, etc.)

Example in Bash:

Code:

bash-3.2$[/COLOR] PS1='some long-winded command prompt string..... '
some long-winded command prompt string..... echo Hello
Hello
some long-winded command prompt string..... PS1='\W $ '
~ $ cd scripts
scripts $ cd tmp
tmp $

Here's one link I found... How to Customize your Terminal Prompt - OS X Daily

Last edited by Scott; 07-16-2010 at 10:57 PM..

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07-17-2010

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set PS1 variable like this -

PS1="$PWD !$"

This will set your prompt like this -

<path of the current dir you are in> <line number>$

e.g:
/ms/user/r/rujuraha/exercise 12$

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rujuraha

set PS1 variable like this -
PS1="$PWD !$"

There are 2 errors in the above command, first one is

1) $PWD should be included only between single quotes and not in double quotes.

2) '!$' in bash shell shows the last input char string of command line present in the history.

Better use,

Code:

export PS1='\u@\h \w\$ '

(in bash, ksh)

Code:

set prompt = "%m%/% "

(in csh)

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It worked.

But now I want it do have this prompt by default, so I added "PS1='\W $ '" to my bashrc file. However it doesn't do anything. Do I need it to put it other form in bashrc so it shows the prompt I want every time I open a shell?

What can I add to bashrc so the prompt stays like this:
[computer I'm working on, changing this if I'm working on a remote computer]: [folder I'm in (the PS1 thing)] $

tirwit

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Hi.

Not sure what you mean by:

Quote:

Originally Posted by tirwit

[computer I'm working on, changing this if I'm working on a remote computer]: [folder I'm in (the PS1 thing)] $

Your .bashrc (with the dot, that you didn't mention) is loaded from your .bash_profile

Code:

$ head -6 .bash_profile
# .bash_profile

# Get the aliases and functions
if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
	. ~/.bashrc
fi

Code:

$ grep PS1 .bashrc
PS1='\W $ '

Code:

/root # bash
~ $ cd /tmp
tmp $

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By

Quote:

[computer I'm working on, changing this if I'm working on a remote computer]: [folder I'm in (the PS1 thing)] $

I meant that in the first brackets should be the computer I'm working on, for example:
My_Macbook:~ $

And if I establish a VPN (to Paul's computer, for example), it stays:
Paul's_Macbook:~ $

Got it?

How can I open my .bash_profile to edit, since it's hidden? My OS is Snow Leopard 10.6, and my .bashrc file looks like this:

Code:

PS1='\W $'

# root
export ROOTSYS=/Users/Shared/root

export PATH=/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/Applications:$ROOTSYS/bin:/usr/local/bin

# root
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ROOTSYS/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ROOTSYS/lib:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

tirwit

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