simple .bashrc if-request modification needed

johanna · 06-27-2015, 04:39 AM

Hi guys,

I just made it and got my terminl set up (with tmux) 256 color support. While setting everything up I saw that $TERM is screen, whilst I thought I use xterm. So I had to adjust my .bashrc and added the last three lines:

Code:

 
# enable 256 colors support
if [ "$TERM" == "xterm" ]; then
  export TERM=xterm-256color
fi

if [ "$TERM" == "screen" ]; then
  export TERM=screen-256color
fi

However, I believe there must be a slicker way to do that.
I'm quite new to all of this, so I hope you can help me out.

Thanks. J.

jpollard · 06-27-2015, 06:38 AM

You could always use a case statement instead of an if.

One reason what you have may cause a problem is if you had more options... where an earlier selection would conflict with one that follows. The case statement doesn't have that problem:

Code:

# enable 256 colors support
case $TERM in
xterm)   export TERM=xterm-256color
         ;;
screen)  export TERM=screen-256color
         ;;
esac

The advantage is that only one option would be selected, and only one test. You could do the same
using an if, but it would be structured as "if... elif ... fi"

johanna · 06-27-2015, 08:06 AM

Hey jpollard,

perfect solution! I was thinking about

Code:

# enable 256 colors support
if [ "$TERM" == "xterm" ]; then
XXX=xterm
fi
if [ "$TERM" == "screen" ]; then
XXX=screen
fi

export TERM=$XXX-256color

but it is not really slicker. Your solution is really nice.
Thanks for helping me learn.

J