Why doesn't the script change PS1? (RedHat)

ForumJoiner · 11-30-2006, 05:16 PM

Why doesn't the following script work correctly?
The file is called test.sh, and it's in folder /test (so it's /test/test.sh)
I ran chmod +x test.sh.
The script clears the screen, but it doesn't change the PS1, nor the current folder.

I'm using:
Red Hat Release 5.0 (Hurricanne)
Kernel 2.0.32
GNU bash, version 1.14.7(1)

Code:

#! /bin/bash
PS1="\w>"          
cd "/etc"        
clear

Thank you!

1337_penguin · 11-30-2006, 05:24 PM

Hi

Firstly, there shouldn't be a space between on the first line and also after assigning PS1 you need to do "export PS1" (or you can do it one one line: export PS1="\w> "

That should work.

Hope this helps.

1337_penguin

chrism01 · 12-01-2006, 12:27 AM

Don't forget you have to use
. scriptname
or
source scriptname
otherwise it'll start a subshell and any changes will disappear when script terminates.

ForumJoiner · 12-01-2006, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrism01

Don't forget you have to use
. scriptname
or
source scriptname
otherwise it'll start a subshell and any changes will disappear when script terminates.

I didn't forget. I simply didn't know about it :-)
I made an alias "test=source /test/test.sh" and everything works perfect without changing a letter in test.sh.
Thank you so much for this tip.
By the way, it's not very clear for me when I should use "export". In my case, the PS1 changed simply by setting it, without exporting.
Is there a "default exporting" enabled somewhere?