quick directory change (bash)

talla · 02-05-2010, 09:47 AM

Hey guys,

I often use cp/mv to copy/move a file to a different directory. My directory structure is relatively deep so commands most often look like:

cp foo.bar ../../../../dir1/dir2/dir3/foo2.bar

after copying/moving I need to change directory to the target dir. Is there an easy way to change the directory to the destination of the last action / to the "last parameter" or something like that?

(of course, one can use the bash history.. but is there a more convenient way?)

Cheers,

talla

AlucardZero · 02-05-2010, 09:58 AM

edit of edit:

cd !$

(note you'd have to stop typing the destination file name)

Code:

c@wb:/tmp/a/b/c/d$ cp e /tmp
c@wb:/tmp/a/b/c/d$ cd !$
cd /tmp
c@wb:/tmp$

talla · 02-05-2010, 10:09 AM

hey!

thanks, perfectly working!

does !$ always return the last parameter?

sycamorex · 02-05-2010, 10:11 AM

If you have certain directories (deep in the directory tree) that you access REGULARLY, you could create symlinks to them in your home directory or create a series of custom variables in your .bashrc

eg. comp="/home/user/data/programs/compiled/"
torcom="/home/user/downloads/torrents/torrents_completed/"

cd $comp, cd $torcom, etc.

just a thought...There will probably be a better way of handling such situations, though.

JimBrewster · 02-05-2010, 10:13 AM

A few ways to do it, some more elegant than others:

If in X, work in two different terminals (or tabs if you're using a tabbable term program), one where pwd is the source, the other in the destination directory.

Do the same thing in emacs, each directory being a dired-d buffer.

Use shell variables, i.e.:

Code:

export OD=/path/to/your/orginal/files
export DD=/path/to/your/destination/files # optional if you just stay here...
cd $DD
cp $OD/foo.bar ./foo2.bar
# Do whatever you need to do...

EricTRA · 02-05-2010, 10:17 AM

Hello,

If you have to do a lot of directory changing you could also use pushd and popd instead of cd. So, rather than typing

Code:

cd destinationdir

use

Code:

pushd destinationdir

. Pushd remembers the directory where you were, then cds into destinationdir. You can run this on all sorts of different directories, and Bash will remember your entire trail. When you want to step backwards, just type popd to go to the previous directory.

Kind regards,

Eric

catkin · 02-05-2010, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by talla

does !$ always return the last parameter?

Yes it does. Turns out it is a Bash "History Expansion" "Word Designator". Something new every day! I'm going to have to drop that one in the conversation at tea break

Aquarius_Girl · 02-05-2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catkin

Yes it does. Turns out it is a Bash "History Expansion" "Word Designator". Something new every day! I'm going to have to drop that one in the conversation at tea break

Well thanks, that link was really nice, till now I was unaware of the power of bash

talla · 02-06-2010, 06:43 AM

thank you very much for your answers!

this forum and the cooperativeness of its members is awesome!!

Cheers,

talla