How do I add a function to Bash?

Gag Halfrunt · 11-25-2004, 07:19 AM

Is it possible to add a function to bash-- I mean, say, making a command called 'joe' that launches Gaim, Xchat and Firefox?

What about more elaborate things, like opening a blank KWrite window and saving it as ~/diary/dd_mm_yyyy.txt?

ilikejam · 11-25-2004, 07:35 AM

Hi.

Sure,
You'll have to script these things. Put the following into an empty text file (called 'joe' if you like):

Code:

#!/bin/bash
gaim &
xchat &
firefox

then make the file executable. You can either run the script from the directory it's in with './joe' or put the file in a directory in your $PATH (~/bin is usually a safe bet) and just run 'joe'

The second example I would do as:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
touch ~/diary/`date +%d`_`date +%m`_`date +%Y`.txt
kwrite ~/diary/`date +%d`_`date +%m`_`date +%Y`.txt

again in a file made executable.

Dave

ror · 11-25-2004, 07:45 AM

careful tho, "joe" is "joe's own editor" a text editor, so be careful to name it something else if putting it in your path

(if you have joe installed

)

hw-tph · 11-25-2004, 10:54 AM

You could also use a Bash alias. Try typing this:
alias joe='gaim & xchat & firefox &'
Then simply type joe to execute the alias.

You put aliases in your ~/.bashrc so they're always accessible (if you have ~/.bashrc sourced from your ~/.bash_profile).

Håkan

Optimistic · 11-25-2004, 12:01 PM

Instead of moving the script into my path, I normally just simlink them to my path. I.e., I have a folder of Scripts in my home directory (for easy editing and transport to other machines) and when I want one installed on my system I do something like:

Code:

ln -s /home/optimistic/scripts/myscript.sh /usr/bin

Then it is just a matter of typing myscript at the command line, or in my case, I have a section of my Fluxbox menu devoted to scripts like this:

Code:

[submenu] (Scripts){}
      [exec] (myscript1) {myscript1}
      [exec] (myscript2) {myscript2}
[end]

ror · 11-25-2004, 12:05 PM

I have a scripts folder then add that folder to the path

But for binaries installed somewhere in /home I symlink to path instead of anything else.