4.4BSD/usr/share/man/cat1/rehash.0
CSH(1) BSD Reference Manual CSH(1)
NNAAMMEE
ccsshh - a shell (command interpreter) with C-like syntax
SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
ccsshh [--bbcceeffiinnssttvvVVxxXX] [arg ...]
ccsshh [--ll]
DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
The ccsshh is a command language interpreter incorporating a history mecha-
nism (see HHiissttoorryy SSuubbssttiittuuttiioonnss), job control facilities (see JJoobbss), in-
teractive file name and user name completion (see FFiillee NNaammee CCoommpplleettiioonn),
and a C-like syntax. It is used both as an interactive login shell and a
shell script command processor.
AArrgguummeenntt lliisstt pprroocceessssiinngg
If the first argument (argument 0) to the shell is `--', then this is a
login shell. A login shell also can be specified by invoking the shell
with the `--ll' flag as the only argument.
The rest of the flag arguments are interpreted as follows:
--bb This flag forces a ``break'' from option processing, causing any
further shell arguments to be treated as non-option arguments.
The remaining arguments will not be interpreted as shell options.
This may be used to pass options to a shell script without confu-
sion or possible subterfuge. The shell will not run a set-user ID
script without this option.
--cc Commands are read from the (single) following argument which must
be present. Any remaining arguments are placed in _a_r_g_v.
--ee The shell exits if any invoked command terminates abnormally or
yields a non-zero exit status.
--ff The shell will start faster, because it will neither search for
nor execute commands from the file _._c_s_h_r_c in the invoker's home
directory.
--ii The shell is interactive and prompts for its top-level input, even
if it appears not to be a terminal. Shells are interactive with-
out this option if their inputs and outputs are terminals.
--ll The shell is a login shell (only applicable if --ll is the only flag
specified).
--nn Commands are parsed, but not executed. This aids in syntactic
checking of shell scripts.
--ss Command input is taken from the standard input.
--tt A single line of input is read and executed. A `\' may be used to
escape the newline at the end of this line and continue onto an-
other line.
--vv Causes the _v_e_r_b_o_s_e variable to be set, with the effect that com-
mand input is echoed after history substitution.
--xx Causes the _e_c_h_o variable to be set, so that commands are echoed
immediately before execution.
--VV Causes the _v_e_r_b_o_s_e variable to be set even before _._c_s_h_r_c is exe-
cuted.
--XX Is to --xx as --VV is to --vv.
After processing of flag arguments, if arguments remain but none of the
--cc, --ii, --ss, or --tt options were given, the first argument is taken as the
name of a file of commands to be executed. The shell opens this file,
and saves its name for possible resubstitution by `$0'. Since many sys-
tems use either the standard version 6 or version 7 shells whose shell
scripts are not compatible with this shell, the shell will execute such a
`standard' shell if the first character of a script is not a `#', i.e.,
if the script does not start with a comment. Remaining arguments ini-
tialize the variable _a_r_g_v.
An instance of ccsshh begins by executing commands from the file
_/_e_t_c_/_c_s_h_._c_s_h_r_c and, if this is a login shell, _/_e_t_c_/_c_s_h_._l_o_g_i_n. It then ex-
ecutes commands from _._c_s_h_r_c in the _h_o_m_e directory of the invoker, and, if
this is a login shell, the file _._l_o_g_i_n in the same location. It is typi-
cal for users on crt's to put the command ``stty crt'' in their _._l_o_g_i_n
file, and to also invoke tset(1) there.
In the normal case, the shell will begin reading commands from the termi-
nal, prompting with `% '. Processing of arguments and the use of the
shell to process files containing command scripts will be described lat-
er.
The shell repeatedly performs the following actions: a line of command
input is read and broken into _w_o_r_d_s. This sequence of words is placed on
the command history list and parsed. Finally each command in the current
line is executed.
When a login shell terminates it executes commands from the files _._l_o_g_o_u_t
in the user's _h_o_m_e directory and _/_e_t_c_/_c_s_h_._l_o_g_o_u_t.
LLeexxiiccaall ssttrruuccttuurree
The shell splits input lines into words at blanks and tabs with the fol-
lowing exceptions. The characters `&' `|' `;' `<' `>' `(' `)' form sepa-
rate words. If doubled in `&&', `||', `<<' or `>>' these pairs form sin-
gle words. These parser metacharacters may be made part of other words,
or prevented their special meaning, by preceding them with `\'. A new-
line preceded by a `\' is equivalent to a blank.
Strings enclosed in matched pairs of quotations, `'', ``' or `"', form
parts of a word; metacharacters in these strings, including blanks and
tabs, do not form separate words. These quotations have semantics to be
described later. Within pairs of `'' or `"' characters, a newline pre-
ceded by a `\' gives a true newline character.
When the shell's input is not a terminal, the character `#' introduces a
comment that continues to the end of the input line. It is prevented
this special meaning when preceded by `\' and in quotations using ``',
`'', and `"'.
CCoommmmaannddss
A simple command is a sequence of words, the first of which specifies the
command to be executed. A simple command or a sequence of simple com-
mands separated by `|' characters forms a pipeline. The output of each
command in a pipeline is connected to the input of the next. Sequences
of pipelines may be separated by `;', and are then executed sequentially.
A sequence of pipelines may be executed without immediately waiting for
it to terminate by following it with an `&'.
Any of the above may be placed in `(' `)' to form a simple command (that
may be a component of a pipeline, etc.). It is also possible to separate
pipelines with `||' or `&&' showing, as in the C language, that the sec-
ond is to be executed only if the first fails or succeeds respectively.
(See _E_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n_s.)
JJoobbss
The shell associates a _j_o_b with each pipeline. It keeps a table of cur-
rent jobs, printed by the _j_o_b_s command, and assigns them small integer
numbers. When a job is started asynchronously with `&', the shell prints
a line that looks like:
[1] 1234
showing that the job which was started asynchronously was job number 1
and had one (top-level) process, whose process id was 1234.
If you are running a job and wish to do something else you may hit the
key ^^ZZ (control-Z) which sends a STOP signal to the current job. The
shell will then normally show that the job has been `Stopped', and print
another prompt. You can then manipulate the state of this job, putting
it in the _b_a_c_k_g_r_o_u_n_d with the _b_g command, or run some other commands and
eventually bring the job back into the foreground with the _f_o_r_e_g_r_o_u_n_d
command _f_g. A ^^ZZ takes effect immediately and is like an interrupt in
that pending output and unread input are discarded when it is typed.
There is another special key ^^YY that does not generate a STOP signal un-
til a program attempts to read(2) it. This request can usefully be typed
ahead when you have prepared some commands for a job that you wish to
stop after it has read them.
A job being run in the background will stop if it tries to read from the
terminal. Background jobs are normally allowed to produce output, but
this can be disabled by giving the command ``stty tostop''. If you set
this tty option, then background jobs will stop when they try to produce
output like they do when they try to read input.
There are several ways to refer to jobs in the shell. The character `%'
introduces a job name. If you wish to refer to job number 1, you can
name it as `%1'. Just naming a job brings it to the foreground; thus
`%1' is a synonym for `fg %1', bringing job number 1 back into the fore-
ground. Similarly saying `%1 &' resumes job number 1 in the background.
Jobs can also be named by prefixes of the string typed in to start them,
if these prefixes are unambiguous, thus `%ex' would normally restart a
suspended ex(1) job, if there were only one suspended job whose name be-
gan with the string `ex'. It is also possible to say `%?string' which
specifies a job whose text contains _s_t_r_i_n_g, if there is only one such
job.
The shell maintains a notion of the current and previous jobs. In output
about jobs, the current job is marked with a `+' and the previous job
with a `-'. The abbreviation `%+' refers to the current job and `%-'
refers to the previous job. For close analogy with the syntax of the
_h_i_s_t_o_r_y mechanism (described below), `%%' is also a synonym for the cur-
rent job.
The job control mechanism requires that the stty(1) option nneeww be set. It
is an artifact from a _n_e_w implementation of the tty driver that allows
generation of interrupt characters from the keyboard to tell jobs to
stop. See stty(1) for details on setting options in the new tty driver.
SSttaattuuss rreeppoorrttiinngg
This shell learns immediately whenever a process changes state. It nor-
mally informs you whenever a job becomes blocked so that no further
progress is possible, but only just before it prints a prompt. This is
done so that it does not otherwise disturb your work. If, however, you
set the shell variable _n_o_t_i_f_y, the shell will notify you immediately of
changes of status in background jobs. There is also a shell command
_n_o_t_i_f_y that marks a single process so that its status changes will be im-
mediately reported. By default _n_o_t_i_f_y marks the current process; simply
say `notify' after starting a background job to mark it.
When you try to leave the shell while jobs are stopped, you will be
warned that `You have stopped jobs.' You may use the _j_o_b_s command to see
what they are. If you do this or immediately try to exit again, the
shell will not warn you a second time, and the suspended jobs will be
terminated.
FFiillee NNaammee CCoommpplleettiioonn
When the file name completion feature is enabled by setting the shell
variable _f_i_l_e_c (see sseett), ccsshh will interactively complete file names and
user names from unique prefixes, when they are input from the terminal
followed by the escape character (the escape key, or control-[) For exam-
ple, if the current directory looks like
DSC.OLD bin cmd lib xmpl.c
DSC.NEW chaosnet cmtest mail xmpl.o
bench class dev mbox xmpl.out
and the input is
% vi ch<escape>
ccsshh will complete the prefix ``ch'' to the only matching file name
``chaosnet'', changing the input line to
% vi chaosnet
However, given
% vi D<escape>
ccsshh will only expand the input to
% vi DSC.
and will sound the terminal bell to indicate that the expansion is incom-
plete, since there are two file names matching the prefix ``D''.
If a partial file name is followed by the end-of-file character (usually
control-D), then, instead of completing the name, ccsshh will list all file
names matching the prefix. For example, the input
% vi D<control-D>
causes all files beginning with ``D'' to be listed:
DSC.NEW DSC.OLD
while the input line remains unchanged.
The same system of escape and end-of-file can also be used to expand par-
tial user names, if the word to be completed (or listed) begins with the
character ``~''. For example, typing
cd ~ro<escape>
may produce the expansion
cd ~root
The use of the terminal bell to signal errors or multiple matches can be
inhibited by setting the variable _n_o_b_e_e_p.
Normally, all files in the particular directory are candidates for name
completion. Files with certain suffixes can be excluded from considera-
tion by setting the variable _f_i_g_n_o_r_e to the list of suffixes to be ig-
nored. Thus, if _f_i_g_n_o_r_e is set by the command
% set fignore = (.o .out)
then typing
% vi x<escape>
would result in the completion to
% vi xmpl.c
ignoring the files "xmpl.o" and "xmpl.out". However, if the only comple-
tion possible requires not ignoring these suffixes, then they are not ig-
nored. In addition, _f_i_g_n_o_r_e does not affect the listing of file names by
control-D. All files are listed regardless of their suffixes.
SSuubbssttiittuuttiioonnss
We now describe the various transformations the shell performs on the in-
put in the order in which they occur.
HHiissttoorryy ssuubbssttiittuuttiioonnss
History substitutions place words from previous command input as portions
of new commands, making it easy to repeat commands, repeat arguments of a
previous command in the current command, or fix spelling mistakes in the
previous command with little typing and a high degree of confidence.
History substitutions begin with the character `!' and may begin _a_n_y_w_h_e_r_e
in the input stream (with the proviso that they ddoo nnoott nest.) This `!'
may be preceded by a `\' to prevent its special meaning; for convenience,
an `!' is passed unchanged when it is followed by a blank, tab, newline,
`=' or `('. (History substitutions also occur when an input line begins
with `^'. This special abbreviation will be described later.) Any input
line that contains history substitution is echoed on the terminal before
it is executed as it could have been typed without history substitution.
Commands input from the terminal that consist of one or more words are
saved on the history list. The history substitutions reintroduce se-
quences of words from these saved commands into the input stream. The
size of the history list is controlled by the _h_i_s_t_o_r_y variable; the pre-
vious command is always retained, regardless of the value of the history
variable. Commands are numbered sequentially from 1.
For definiteness, consider the following output from the _h_i_s_t_o_r_y command:
9 write michael
10 ex write.c
11 cat oldwrite.c
12 diff *write.c
The commands are shown with their event numbers. It is not usually nec-
essary to use event numbers, but the current event number can be made
part of the _p_r_o_m_p_t by placing an `!' in the prompt string.
With the current event 13 we can refer to previous events by event number
`!11', relatively as in `!-2' (referring to the same event), by a prefix
of a command word as in `!d' for event 12 or `!wri' for event 9, or by a
string contained in a word in the command as in `!?mic?' also referring
to event 9. These forms, without further change, simply reintroduce the
words of the specified events, each separated by a single blank. As a
special case, `!!' refers to the previous command; thus `!!' alone is a
_r_e_d_o.
To select words from an event we can follow the event specification by a
`:' and a designator for the desired words. The words of an input line
are numbered from 0, the first (usually command) word being 0, the second
word (first argument) being 1, etc. The basic word designators are:
0 first (command) word
_n _n'th argument
^ first argument, i.e., `1'
$ last argument
% word matched by (immediately preceding) ?_s? search
_x_-_y range of words
_-_y abbreviates _`_0_-_y_'
* abbreviates `^-$', or nothing if only 1 word in event
_x_* abbreviates _`_x_-_$_'
_x_- like _`_x_*_' but omitting word `$'
The `:' separating the event specification from the word designator can
be omitted if the argument selector begins with a `^', `$', `*' `-' or
`%'. After the optional word designator can be placed a sequence of mod-
ifiers, each preceded by a `:'. The following modifiers are defined:
h Remove a trailing pathname component, leaving the head.
r Remove a trailing `.xxx' component, leaving the root name.
e Remove all but the extension `.xxx' part.
s_/_l_/_r_/ Substitute _l for _r
t Remove all leading pathname components, leaving the tail.
& Repeat the previous substitution.
g Apply the change once on each word, prefixing the above,
e.g., `g&'.
a Apply the change as many times as possible on a single
word, prefixing the above. It can be used together with `g'
to apply a substitution globally.
p Print the new command line but do not execute it.
q Quote the substituted words, preventing further substitu-
tions.
x Like q, but break into words at blanks, tabs and newlines.
Unless preceded by a `g' the change is applied only to the first modifi-
able word. With substitutions, it is an error for no word to be applica-
ble.
The left hand side of substitutions are not regular expressions in the
sense of the editors, but instead strings. Any character may be used as
the delimiter in place of `/'; a `\' quotes the delimiter into the _l and
_r strings. The character `&' in the right hand side is replaced by the
text from the left. A `\' also quotes `&'. A null _l (`//') uses the
previous string either from an _l or from a contextual scan string _s in
`!?_s\?'. The trailing delimiter in the substitution may be omitted if a
newline follows immediately as may the trailing `?' in a contextual scan.
A history reference may be given without an event specification, e.g.,
`!$'. Here, the reference is to the previous command unless a previous
history reference occurred on the same line in which case this form re-
peats the previous reference. Thus `!?foo?^ !$' gives the first and last
arguments from the command matching `?foo?'.
A special abbreviation of a history reference occurs when the first non-
blank character of an input line is a `^'. This is equivalent to `!:s^'
providing a convenient shorthand for substitutions on the text of the
previous line. Thus `^lb^lib' fixes the spelling of `lib' in the previ-
ous command. Finally, a history substitution may be surrounded with `{'
and `}' if necessary to insulate it from the characters that follow.
Thus, after `ls -ld ~paul' we might do `!{l}a' to do `ls -ld ~paula',
while `!la' would look for a command starting with `la'.
QQuuoottaattiioonnss wwiitthh '' aanndd ""
The quotation of strings by `'' and `"' can be used to prevent all or
some of the remaining substitutions. Strings enclosed in `'' are pre-
vented any further interpretation. Strings enclosed in `"' may be ex-
panded as described below.
In both cases the resulting text becomes (all or part of) a single word;
only in one special case (see _C_o_m_m_a_n_d _S_u_b_s_t_i_t_u_t_i_o_n below) does a `"'
quoted string yield parts of more than one word; `'' quoted strings never
do.
AAlliiaass ssuubbssttiittuuttiioonn
The shell maintains a list of aliases that can be established, displayed
and modified by the _a_l_i_a_s and _u_n_a_l_i_a_s commands. After a command line is
scanned, it is parsed into distinct commands and the first word of each
command, left-to-right, is checked to see if it has an alias. If it
does, then the text that is the alias for that command is reread with the
history mechanism available as though that command were the previous in-
put line. The resulting words replace the command and argument list. If
no reference is made to the history list, then the argument list is left
unchanged.
Thus if the alias for `ls' is `ls -l' the command `ls /usr' would map to
`ls -l /usr', the argument list here being undisturbed. Similarly if the
alias for `lookup' was `grep !^ /etc/passwd' then `lookup bill' would map
to `grep bill /etc/passwd'.
If an alias is found, the word transformation of the input text is per-
formed and the aliasing process begins again on the reformed input line.
Looping is prevented if the first word of the new text is the same as the
old by flagging it to prevent further aliasing. Other loops are detected
and cause an error.
Note that the mechanism allows aliases to introduce parser metasyntax.
Thus, we can `alias print 'pr \!* | lpr'' to make a command that _p_r's its
arguments to the line printer.
VVaarriiaabbllee ssuubbssttiittuuttiioonn
The shell maintains a set of variables, each of which has as value a list
of zero or more words. Some of these variables are set by the shell or
referred to by it. For instance, the _a_r_g_v variable is an image of the
shell's argument list, and words of this variable's value are referred to
in special ways.
The values of variables may be displayed and changed by using the _s_e_t and
_u_n_s_e_t commands. Of the variables referred to by the shell a number are
toggles; the shell does not care what their value is, only whether they
are set or not. For instance, the _v_e_r_b_o_s_e variable is a toggle that
causes command input to be echoed. The setting of this variable results
from the --vv command line option.
Other operations treat variables numerically. The `@' command permits
numeric calculations to be performed and the result assigned to a vari-
able. Variable values are, however, always represented as (zero or more)
strings. For the purposes of numeric operations, the null string is con-
sidered to be zero, and the second and additional words of multiword val-
ues are ignored.
After the input line is aliased and parsed, and before each command is
executed, variable substitution is performed keyed by `$' characters.
This expansion can be prevented by preceding the `$' with a `\' except
within `"'s where it _a_l_w_a_y_s occurs, and within `''s where it _n_e_v_e_r oc-
curs. Strings quoted by ``' are interpreted later (see CCoommmmaanndd
ssuubbssttiittuuttiioonn below) so `$' substitution does not occur there until later,
if at all. A `$' is passed unchanged if followed by a blank, tab, or
end-of-line.
Input/output redirections are recognized before variable expansion, and
are variable expanded separately. Otherwise, the command name and entire
argument list are expanded together. It is thus possible for the first
(command) word (to this point) to generate more than one word, the first
of which becomes the command name, and the rest of which become argu-
ments.
Unless enclosed in `"' or given the `:q' modifier the results of variable
substitution may eventually be command and filename substituted. Within
`"', a variable whose value consists of multiple words expands to a (por-
tion of) a single word, with the words of the variables value separated
by blanks. When the `:q' modifier is applied to a substitution the vari-
able will expand to multiple words with each word separated by a blank
and quoted to prevent later command or filename substitution.
The following metasequences are provided for introducing variable values
into the shell input. Except as noted, it is an error to reference a
variable that is not set.
$name
${name}
Are replaced by the words of the value of variable _n_a_m_e,
each separated by a blank. Braces insulate _n_a_m_e from fol-
lowing characters that would otherwise be part of it.
Shell variables have names consisting of up to 20 letters
and digits starting with a letter. The underscore charac-
ter is considered a letter. If _n_a_m_e is not a shell vari-
able, but is set in the environment, then that value is re-
turned (but : modifiers and the other forms given below are
not available here).
$name[selector]
${name[selector] }
May be used to select only some of the words from the value
of _n_a_m_e. The selector is subjected to `$' substitution and
may consist of a single number or two numbers separated by
a `-'. The first word of a variables value is numbered
`1'. If the first number of a range is omitted it defaults
to `1'. If the last number of a range is omitted it de-
faults to `$#name'. The selector `*' selects all words.
It is not an error for a range to be empty if the second
argument is omitted or in range.
$#name
${#name}
Gives the number of words in the variable. This is useful
for later use in a `$argv[selector]'.
$0 Substitutes the name of the file from which command input
is being read. An error occurs if the name is not known.
$number
${number}
Equivalent to `$argv[number]'.
$* Equivalent to `$argv[*]'. The modifiers `:e', `:h', `:t',
`:r', `:q' and `:x' may be applied to the substitutions
above as may `:gh', `:gt' and `:gr'. If braces `{' '}' ap-
pear in the command form then the modifiers must appear
within the braces. The current implementation allows only
one `:' modifier on each `$' expansion.
The following substitutions may not be modified with `:' modifiers.
$?name
${?name}
Substitutes the string `1' if name is set, `0' if it is
not.
$?0 Substitutes `1' if the current input filename is known, `0'
if it is not.
$$ Substitute the (decimal) process number of the (parent)
shell.
$! Substitute the (decimal) process number of the last back-
ground process started by this shell.
$< Substitutes a line from the standard input, with no further
interpretation. It can be used to read from the keyboard
in a shell script.
CCoommmmaanndd aanndd ffiilleennaammee ssuubbssttiittuuttiioonn
The remaining substitutions, command and filename substitution, are ap-
plied selectively to the arguments of builtin commands. By selectively,
we mean that portions of expressions which are not evaluated are not sub-
jected to these expansions. For commands that are not internal to the
shell, the command name is substituted separately from the argument list.
This occurs very late, after input-output redirection is performed, and
in a child of the main shell.
CCoommmmaanndd ssuubbssttiittuuttiioonn
Command substitution is shown by a command enclosed in ``'. The output
from such a command is normally broken into separate words at blanks,
tabs and newlines, with null words being discarded; this text then re-
places the original string. Within `"'s, only newlines force new words;
blanks and tabs are preserved.
In any case, the single final newline does not force a new word. Note
that it is thus possible for a command substitution to yield only part of
a word, even if the command outputs a complete line.
FFiilleennaammee ssuubbssttiittuuttiioonn
If a word contains any of the characters `*', `?', `[' or `{' or begins
with the character `~', then that word is a candidate for filename sub-
stitution, also known as `globbing'. This word is then regarded as a
pattern, and replaced with an alphabetically sorted list of file names
that match the pattern. In a list of words specifying filename substitu-
tion it is an error for no pattern to match an existing file name, but it
is not required for each pattern to match. Only the metacharacters `*',
`?' and `[' imply pattern matching, the characters `~' and `{' being more
akin to abbreviations.
In matching filenames, the character `.' at the beginning of a filename
or immediately following a `/', as well as the character `/' must be
matched explicitly. The character `*' matches any string of characters,
including the null string. The character `?' matches any single charac-
ter. The sequence `[...]' matches any one of the characters enclosed.
Within `[...]', a pair of characters separated by `-' matches any charac-
ter lexically between the two (inclusive).
The character `~' at the beginning of a filename refers to home directo-
ries. Standing alone, i.e., `~' it expands to the invokers home directo-
ry as reflected in the value of the variable _h_o_m_e. When followed by a
name consisting of letters, digits and `-' characters, the shell searches
for a user with that name and substitutes their home directory; thus
`~ken' might expand to `/usr/ken' and `~ken/chmach' to `/usr/ken/chmach'.
If the character `~' is followed by a character other than a letter or
`/' or does not appear at the beginning of a word, it is left undis-
turbed.
The metanotation `a{b,c,d}e' is a shorthand for `abe ace ade'. Left to
right order is preserved, with results of matches being sorted separately
at a low level to preserve this order. This construct may be nested.
Thus, `~source/s1/{oldls,ls}.c' expands to `/usr/source/s1/oldls.c
/usr/source/s1/ls.c' without chance of error if the home directory for
`source' is `/usr/source'. Similarly `../{memo,*box}' might expand to
`../memo ../box ../mbox'. (Note that `memo' was not sorted with the re-
sults of the match to `*box'.) As a special case `{', `}' and `{}' are
passed undisturbed.
IInnppuutt//oouuttppuutt
The standard input and the standard output of a command may be redirected
with the following syntax:
< name Open file _n_a_m_e (which is first variable, command and file-
name expanded) as the standard input.
<< word
Read the shell input up to a line that is identical to
_w_o_r_d. _W_o_r_d is not subjected to variable, filename or com-
mand substitution, and each input line is compared to _w_o_r_d
before any substitutions are done on the input line. Un-
less a quoting `\', `"', `' or ``' appears in _w_o_r_d, vari-
able and command substitution is performed on the interven-
ing lines, allowing `\' to quote `$', `\' and ``'. Com-
mands that are substituted have all blanks, tabs, and new-
lines preserved, except for the final newline which is
dropped. The resultant text is placed in an anonymous tem-
porary file that is given to the command as its standard
input.
> name
>! name
>& name
>&! name
The file _n_a_m_e is used as the standard output. If the file
does not exist then it is created; if the file exists, it
is truncated; its previous contents are lost.
If the variable _n_o_c_l_o_b_b_e_r is set, then the file must not
exist or be a character special file (e.g., a terminal or
`/dev/null') or an error results. This helps prevent acci-
dental destruction of files. Here, the `!' forms can be
used to suppress this check.
The forms involving `&' route the standard error output in-
to the specified file as well as the standard output. _N_a_m_e
is expanded in the same way as `<' input filenames are.
>> name
>>& name
>>! name
>>&! name
Uses file _n_a_m_e as the standard output; like `>' but places
output at the end of the file. If the variable _n_o_c_l_o_b_b_e_r
is set, then it is an error for the file not to exist un-
less one of the `!' forms is given. Otherwise similar to
`>'.
A command receives the environment in which the shell was invoked as mod-
ified by the input-output parameters and the presence of the command in a
pipeline. Thus, unlike some previous shells, commands run from a file of
shell commands have no access to the text of the commands by default; in-
stead they receive the original standard input of the shell. The `<<'
mechanism should be used to present inline data. This permits shell com-
mand scripts to function as components of pipelines and allows the shell
to block read its input. Note that the default standard input for a com-
mand run detached is _n_o_t modified to be the empty file _/_d_e_v_/_n_u_l_l; instead
the standard input remains as the original standard input of the shell.
If this is a terminal and if the process attempts to read from the termi-
nal, then the process will block and the user will be notified (see _J_o_b_s
above).
The standard error output may be directed through a pipe with the stan-
dard output. Simply use the form `|&' instead of just `|'.
EExxpprreessssiioonnss
Several of the builtin commands (to be described later) take expressions,
in which the operators are similar to those of C, with the same prece-
dence. These expressions appear in the @@,, _e_x_i_t, _i_f, and _w_h_i_l_e commands.
The following operators are available:
|| && | ^ & == != =~ !~ <= >= < > << >> + - * / %
! ~ ( )
Here the precedence increases to the right, `==' `!=' `=~' and `!~', `<='
`>=' `<' and `>', `<<' and `>>', `+' and `-', `*' `/' and `%' being, in
groups, at the same level. The `==' `!=' `=~' and `!~' operators compare
their arguments as strings; all others operate on numbers. The operators
`=~' and `!~' are like `!=' and `==' except that the right hand side is a
_p_a_t_t_e_r_n (containing, e.g., `*'s, `?'s and instances of `[...]') against
which the left hand operand is matched. This reduces the need for use of
the _s_w_i_t_c_h statement in shell scripts when all that is really needed is
pattern matching.
Strings that begin with `0' are considered octal numbers. Null or miss-
ing arguments are considered `0'. The result of all expressions are
strings, which represent decimal numbers. It is important to note that
no two components of an expression can appear in the same word; except
when adjacent to components of expressions that are syntactically signif-
icant to the parser (`&' `|' `<' `>' `(' `)'), they should be surrounded
by spaces.
Also available in expressions as primitive operands are command execu-
tions enclosed in `{' and `}' and file enquiries of the form --ll _n_a_m_e
where ll is one of:
r read access
w write access
x execute access
e existence
o ownership
z zero size
f plain file
d directory
The specified name is command and filename expanded and then tested to
see if it has the specified relationship to the real user. If the file
does not exist or is inaccessible then all enquiries return false, i.e.,
`0'. Command executions succeed, returning true, i.e., `1', if the com-
mand exits with status 0, otherwise they fail, returning false, i.e.,
`0'. If more detailed status information is required then the command
should be executed outside an expression and the variable _s_t_a_t_u_s exam-
ined.
CCoonnttrrooll ffllooww
The shell contains several commands that can be used to regulate the flow
of control in command files (shell scripts) and (in limited but useful
ways) from terminal input. These commands all operate by forcing the
shell to reread or skip in its input and, because of the implementation,
restrict the placement of some of the commands.
The ffoorreeaacchh, sswwiittcchh, and wwhhiillee statements, as well as the iiff--tthheenn--eellssee
form of the iiff statement require that the major keywords appear in a sin-
gle simple command on an input line as shown below.
If the shell's input is not seekable, the shell buffers up input whenever
a loop is being read and performs seeks in this internal buffer to accom-
plish the rereading implied by the loop. (To the extent that this al-
lows, backward goto's will succeed on non-seekable inputs.)
BBuuiillttiinn ccoommmmaannddss
Builtin commands are executed within the shell. If a builtin command oc-
curs as any component of a pipeline except the last then it is executed
in a subshell.
aalliiaass
aalliiaass _n_a_m_e
aalliiaass _n_a_m_e _w_o_r_d_l_i_s_t
The first form prints all aliases. The second form prints
the alias for name. The final form assigns the specified
_w_o_r_d_l_i_s_t as the alias of _n_a_m_e; _w_o_r_d_l_i_s_t is command and
filename substituted. _N_a_m_e is not allowed to be _a_l_i_a_s or
_u_n_a_l_i_a_s.
aalllloocc Shows the amount of dynamic memory acquired, broken down
into used and free memory. With an argument shows the num-
ber of free and used blocks in each size category. The
categories start at size 8 and double at each step. This
command's output may vary across system types, since sys-
tems other than the VAX may use a different memory alloca-
tor.
bbgg
bbgg %%_j_o_b _._._.
Puts the current or specified jobs into the background,
continuing them if they were stopped.
bbrreeaakk Causes execution to resume after the eenndd of the nearest en-
closing ffoorreeaacchh or wwhhiillee. The remaining commands on the
current line are executed. Multi-level breaks are thus
possible by writing them all on one line.
bbrreeaakkssww
Causes a break from a sswwiittcchh, resuming after the eennddssww.
ccaassee _l_a_b_e_l:
A label in a sswwiittcchh statement as discussed below.
ccdd
ccdd _n_a_m_e
cchhddiirr
cchhddiirr _n_a_m_e
Change the shell's working directory to directory _n_a_m_e. If
no argument is given then change to the home directory of
the user. If _n_a_m_e is not found as a subdirectory of the
current directory (and does not begin with `/', `./' or
`../'), then each component of the variable ccddppaatthh is
checked to see if it has a subdirectory _n_a_m_e. Finally, if
all else fails but _n_a_m_e is a shell variable whose value be-
gins with `/', then this is tried to see if it is a direc-
tory.
ccoonnttiinnuuee
Continue execution of the nearest enclosing wwhhiillee or
ffoorreeaacchh. The rest of the commands on the current line are
executed.
ddeeffaauulltt:
Labels the default case in a sswwiittcchh statement. The default
should come after all ccaassee labels.
ddiirrss Prints the directory stack; the top of the stack is at the
left, the first directory in the stack being the current
directory.
eecchhoo _w_o_r_d_l_i_s_t
eecchhoo --nn _w_o_r_d_l_i_s_t
The specified words are written to the shell's standard
output, separated by spaces, and terminated with a newline
unless the --nn option is specified.
eellssee
eenndd
eennddiiff
eennddssww See the description of the ffoorreeaacchh, iiff, sswwiittcchh, and wwhhiillee
statements below.
eevvaall _a_r_g _._._.
(As in sh(1).) The arguments are read as input to the
shell and the resulting command(s) executed in the context
of the current shell. This is usually used to execute com-
mands generated as the result of command or variable sub-
stitution, since parsing occurs before these substitutions.
See tset(1) for an example of using eevvaall.
eexxeecc _c_o_m_m_a_n_d
The specified command is executed in place of the current
shell.
eexxiitt
eexxiitt _(_e_x_p_r)
The shell exits either with the value of the ssttaattuuss vari-
able (first form) or with the value of the specified eexxpprr
(second form).
ffgg
ffgg %%_j_o_b _._._.
Brings the current or specified jobs into the foreground,
continuing them if they were stopped.
ffoorreeaacchh _n_a_m_e _(_w_o_r_d_l_i_s_t_)
...
eenndd The variable nnaammee is successively set to each member of
wwoorrddlliisstt and the sequence of commands between this command
and the matching eenndd are executed. (Both ffoorreeaacchh and eenndd
must appear alone on separate lines.) The builtin command
ccoonnttiinnuuee may be used to continue the loop prematurely and
the builtin command bbrreeaakk to terminate it prematurely.
When this command is read from the terminal, the loop is
read once prompting with `?' before any statements in the
loop are executed. If you make a mistake typing in a loop
at the terminal you can rub it out.
gglloobb _w_o_r_d_l_i_s_t
Like eecchhoo but no `\' escapes are recognized and words are
delimited by null characters in the output. Useful for
programs that wish to use the shell to filename expand a
list of words.
ggoottoo _w_o_r_d
The specified wwoorrdd is filename and command expanded to
yield a string of the form `label'. The shell rewinds its
input as much as possible and searches for a line of the
form `label:' possibly preceded by blanks or tabs. Execu-
tion continues after the specified line.
hhaasshhssttaatt
Print a statistics line showing how effective the internal
hash table has been at locating commands (and avoiding
eexxeecc's). An eexxeecc is attempted for each component of the
_p_a_t_h where the hash function indicates a possible hit, and
in each component that does not begin with a `/'.
hhiissttoorryy
hhiissttoorryy _n
hhiissttoorryy --rr _n
hhiissttoorryy --hh _n
Displays the history event list; if _n is given only the _n
most recent events are printed. The --rr option reverses the
order of printout to be most recent first instead of oldest
first. The --hh option causes the history list to be printed
without leading numbers. This format produces files suit-
able for sourcing using the -h option to ssoouurrccee.
iiff (_e_x_p_r command)
If the specified expression evaluates true, then the single
_c_o_m_m_a_n_d with arguments is executed. Variable substitution
on _c_o_m_m_a_n_d happens early, at the same time it does for the
rest of the iiff command. _C_o_m_m_a_n_d must be a simple command,
not a pipeline, a command list, or a parenthesized command
list. Input/output redirection occurs even if _e_x_p_r is
false, i.e., when command is nnoott executed (this is a bug).
iiff (_e_x_p_r) tthheenn
...
eellssee iiff (_e_x_p_r_2) tthheenn
...
eellssee
...
eennddiiff If the specified _e_x_p_r is true then the commands up to the
first eellssee are executed; otherwise if _e_x_p_r_2 is true then
the commands up to the second eellssee are executed, etc. Any
number of eellssee--iiff pairs are possible; only one eennddiiff is
needed. The eellssee part is likewise optional. (The words
eellssee and eennddiiff must appear at the beginning of input lines;
the iiff must appear alone on its input line or after an
eellssee.)
jjoobbss
jjoobbss --ll
Lists the active jobs; the --ll option lists process id's in
addition to the normal information.
kkiillll %%_j_o_b
kkiillll _p_i_d
kkiillll --ssiigg _p_i_d _._._.
kkiillll --ll
Sends either the TERM (terminate) signal or the specified
signal to the specified jobs or processes. Signals are ei-
ther given by number or by names (as given in
_/_u_s_r_/_i_n_c_l_u_d_e_/_s_i_g_n_a_l_._h_, stripped of the prefix ``SIG'').
The signal names are listed by ``kill -l''. There is no
default, just saying `kill' does not send a signal to the
current job. If the signal being sent is TERM (terminate)
or HUP (hangup), then the job or process will be sent a
CONT (continue) signal as well.
lliimmiitt
lliimmiitt _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e
lliimmiitt _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e _m_a_x_i_m_u_m_-_u_s_e
lliimmiitt --hh
lliimmiitt --hh _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e
lliimmiitt --hh _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e _m_a_x_i_m_u_m_-_u_s_e
Limits the consumption by the current process and each pro-
cess it creates to not individually exceed _m_a_x_i_m_u_m_-_u_s_e on
the specified _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e. If no _m_a_x_i_m_u_m_-_u_s_e is given, then
the current limit is printed; if no _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e is given, then
all limitations are given. If the --hh flag is given, the
hard limits are used instead of the current limits. The
hard limits impose a ceiling on the values of the current
limits. Only the super-user may raise the hard limits, but
a user may lower or raise the current limits within the le-
gal range.
Resources controllable currently include _c_p_u_t_i_m_e (the maxi-
mum number of cpu-seconds to be used by each process),
_f_i_l_e_s_i_z_e (the largest single file that can be created),
_d_a_t_a_s_i_z_e (the maximum growth of the data+stack region via
sbrk(2) beyond the end of the program text), _s_t_a_c_k_s_i_z_e (the
maximum size of the automatically-extended stack region),
and _c_o_r_e_d_u_m_p_s_i_z_e (the size of the largest core dump that
will be created).
The _m_a_x_i_m_u_m_-_u_s_e may be given as a (floating point or inte-
ger) number followed by a scale factor. For all limits
other than _c_p_u_t_i_m_e the default scale is `k' or `kilobytes'
(1024 bytes); a scale factor of `m' or `megabytes' may also
be used. For _c_p_u_t_i_m_e the default scale is `seconds'; a
scale factor of `m' for minutes or `h' for hours, or a time
of the form `mm:ss' giving minutes and seconds also may be
used.
For both _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e names and scale factors, unambiguous pre-
fixes of the names suffice.
llooggiinn Terminate a login shell, replacing it with an instance of
_/_b_i_n_/_l_o_g_i_n_. This is one way to log off, included for com-
patibility with sh(1).
llooggoouutt Terminate a login shell. Especially useful if iiggnnoorreeeeooff is
set.
nniiccee
nniiccee _+_n_u_m_b_e_r
nniiccee _c_o_m_m_a_n_d
nniiccee _+_n_u_m_b_e_r _c_o_m_m_a_n_d
The first form sets the scheduling priority for this shell
to 4. The second form sets the priority to the given
_n_u_m_b_e_r. The final two forms run command at priority 4 and
_n_u_m_b_e_r respectively. The greater the number, the less cpu
the process will get. The super-user may specify negative
priority by using `nice -number ...'. _C_o_m_m_a_n_d is always
executed in a sub-shell, and the restrictions placed on
commands in simple iiff statements apply.
nnoohhuupp
nnoohhuupp _c_o_m_m_a_n_d
The first form can be used in shell scripts to cause
hangups to be ignored for the remainder of the script. The
second form causes the specified command to be run with
hangups ignored. All processes detached with `&' are ef-
fectively nnoohhuupp'ed.
nnoottiiffyy
nnoottiiffyy %%_j_o_b _._._.
Causes the shell to notify the user asynchronously when the
status of the current or specified jobs change; normally
notification is presented before a prompt. This is auto-
matic if the shell variable nnoottiiffyy is set.
oonniinnttrr
oonniinnttrr --
oonniinnttrr _l_a_b_e_l
Control the action of the shell on interrupts. The first
form restores the default action of the shell on interrupts
which is to terminate shell scripts or to return to the
terminal command input level. The second form `onintr -'
causes all interrupts to be ignored. The final form causes
the shell to execute a `goto label' when an interrupt is
received or a child process terminates because it was in-
terrupted.
In any case, if the shell is running detached and inter-
rupts are being ignored, all forms of oonniinnttrr have no mean-
ing and interrupts continue to be ignored by the shell and
all invoked commands. Finally oonniinnttrr statements are ig-
nored in the system startup files where interrupts are dis-
abled (/etc/csh.cshrc, /etc/csh.login).
ppooppdd
ppooppdd _+_n
Pops the directory stack, returning to the new top directo-
ry. With an argument `+ _n' discards the _n'th entry in the
stack. The members of the directory stack are numbered
from the top starting at 0.
ppuusshhdd
ppuusshhdd _n_a_m_e
ppuusshhdd _n
With no arguments, ppuusshhdd exchanges the top two elements of
the directory stack. Given a _n_a_m_e argument, ppuusshhdd changes
to the new directory (ala ccdd) and pushes the old current
working directory (as in ccssww) onto the directory stack.
With a numeric argument, ppuusshhdd rotates the _n'th argument of
the directory stack around to be the top element and
changes to it. The members of the directory stack are num-
bered from the top starting at 0.
rreehhaasshh Causes the internal hash table of the contents of the di-
rectories in the ppaatthh variable to be recomputed. This is
needed if new commands are added to directories in the ppaatthh
while you are logged in. This should only be necessary if
you add commands to one of your own directories, or if a
systems programmer changes the contents of a system direc-
tory.
rreeppeeaatt _c_o_u_n_t _c_o_m_m_a_n_d
The specified _c_o_m_m_a_n_d which is subject to the same restric-
tions as the _c_o_m_m_a_n_d in the one line iiff statement above, is
executed _c_o_u_n_t times. I/O redirections occur exactly once,
even if _c_o_u_n_t is 0.
sseett
sseett _n_a_m_e
sseett _n_a_m_e=word
sseett _n_a_m_e_[_i_n_d_e_x_]=word
sseett _n_a_m_e=(wordlist)
The first form of the command shows the value of all shell
variables. Variables that have other than a single word as
their value print as a parenthesized word list. The second
form sets _n_a_m_e to the null string. The third form sets
_n_a_m_e to the single _w_o_r_d. The fourth form sets the _i_n_d_e_x'th
component of _n_a_m_e to _w_o_r_d; this component must already ex-
ist. The final form sets _n_a_m_e to the list of words in
_w_o_r_d_l_i_s_t. The value is always command and filename expand-
ed.
These arguments may be repeated to set multiple values in a
single set command. Note however, that variable expansion
happens for all arguments before any setting occurs.
sseetteennvv
sseetteennvv _n_a_m_e
sseetteennvv _n_a_m_e _v_a_l_u_e
The first form lists all current environment variables. It
is equivalent to printenv(1). The last form sets the value
of environment variable _n_a_m_e to be _v_a_l_u_e, a single string.
The second form sets _n_a_m_e to an empty string. The most
commonly used environment variables USER, TERM, and PATH
are automatically imported to and exported from the ccsshh
variables _u_s_e_r, _t_e_r_m, and _p_a_t_h; there is no need to use
sseetteennvv for these.
sshhiifftt
sshhiifftt _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e
The members of aarrggvv are shifted to the left, discarding
aarrggvv[1]. It is an error for aarrggvv not to be set or to have
less than one word as value. The second form performs the
same function on the specified variable.
ssoouurrccee _n_a_m_e
ssoouurrccee --hh _n_a_m_e
The shell reads commands from _n_a_m_e. SSoouurrccee commands may be
nested; if they are nested too deeply the shell may run out
of file descriptors. An error in a ssoouurrccee at any level
terminates all nested ssoouurrccee commands. Normally input dur-
ing ssoouurrccee commands is not placed on the history list; the
-h option causes the commands to be placed on the history
list without being executed.
ssttoopp
ssttoopp %%_j_o_b _._._.
Stops the current or specified jobs that are executing in
the background.
ssuussppeenndd
Causes the shell to stop in its tracks, much as if it had
been sent a stop signal with ^^ZZ. This is most often used to
stop shells started by su(1).
sswwiittcchh _(_s_t_r_i_n_g_)
ccaassee _s_t_r_1:
...
bbrreeaakkssww
...
ddeeffaauulltt:
...
bbrreeaakkssww
eennddssww Each case label is successively matched against the speci-
fied _s_t_r_i_n_g which is first command and filename expanded.
The file metacharacters `*', `?' and `[...]' may be used
in the case labels, which are variable expanded. If none
of the labels match before the `default' label is found,
then the execution begins after the default label. Each
case label and the default label must appear at the begin-
ning of a line. The command bbrreeaakkssww causes execution to
continue after the eennddssww. Otherwise control may fall
through case labels and the default label as in C. If no
label matches and there is no default, execution continues
after the eennddssww.
ttiimmee
ttiimmee _c_o_m_m_a_n_d
With no argument, a summary of time used by this shell and
its children is printed. If arguments are given the speci-
fied simple command is timed and a time summary as de-
scribed under the ttiimmee variable is printed. If necessary,
an extra shell is created to print the time statistic when
the command completes.
uummaasskk
uummaasskk _v_a_l_u_e
The file creation mask is displayed (first form) or set to
the specified value (second form). The mask is given in
octal. Common values for the mask are 002 giving all ac-
cess to the group and read and execute access to others or
022 giving all access except write access for users in the
group or others.
uunnaalliiaass _p_a_t_t_e_r_n
All aliases whose names match the specified pattern are
discarded. Thus all aliases are removed by `unalias *'.
It is not an error for nothing to be uunnaalliiaasseedd.
uunnhhaasshh Use of the internal hash table to speed location of execut-
ed programs is disabled.
uunnlliimmiitt
uunnlliimmiitt _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e
uunnlliimmiitt --hh
uunnlliimmiitt --hh _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e
Removes the limitation on _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e. If no _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e is spec-
ified, then all _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e limitations are removed. If --hh is
given, the corresponding hard limits are removed. Only the
super-user may do this.
uunnsseett _p_a_t_t_e_r_n
All variables whose names match the specified pattern are
removed. Thus all variables are removed by `unset *'; this
has noticeably distasteful side-effects. It is not an er-
ror for nothing to be uunnsseett.
uunnsseetteennvv _p_a_t_t_e_r_n
Removes all variables whose name match the specified pat-
tern from the environment. See also the sseetteennvv command
above and printenv(1).
wwaaiitt Wait for all background jobs. If the shell is interactive,
then an interrupt can disrupt the wait. After the inter-
rupt, the shell prints names and job numbers of all jobs
known to be outstanding.
wwhhiicchh _c_o_m_m_a_n_d
Displays the resolved command that will be executed by the
shell.
wwhhiillee _(_e_x_p_r_)
...
eenndd While the specified expression evaluates non-zero, the com-
mands between the wwhhiillee and the matching eenndd are evaluated.
BBrreeaakk and ccoonnttiinnuuee may be used to terminate or continue the
loop prematurely. (The wwhhiillee and eenndd must appear alone on
their input lines.) Prompting occurs here the first time
through the loop as for the ffoorreeaacchh statement if the input
is a terminal.
%%_j_o_b Brings the specified job into the foreground.
%%_j_o_b && Continues the specified job in the background.
@@
@@_n_a_m_e= expr
@@_n_a_m_e_[_i_n_d_e_x_]= expr
The first form prints the values of all the shell vari-
ables. The second form sets the specified _n_a_m_e to the val-
ue of _e_x_p_r. If the expression contains `<', `>', `&' or `|'
then at least this part of the expression must be placed
within `(' `)'. The third form assigns the value of _e_x_p_r
to the _i_n_d_e_x'th argument of _n_a_m_e. Both _n_a_m_e and its
_i_n_d_e_x'th component must already exist.
The operators `*=', `+=', etc are available as in C. The space separat-
ing the name from the assignment operator is optional. Spaces are, how-
ever, mandatory in separating components of _e_x_p_r which would otherwise be
single words.
Special postfix `++' and `--' operators increment and decrement _n_a_m_e re-
spectively, i.e., `@ i++'.
PPrree--ddeeffiinneedd aanndd eennvviirroonnmmeenntt vvaarriiaabblleess
The following variables have special meaning to the shell. Of these,
_a_r_g_v, _c_w_d_, _h_o_m_e, _p_a_t_h_, _p_r_o_m_p_t, _s_h_e_l_l and _s_t_a_t_u_s are always set by the
shell. Except for _c_w_d and _s_t_a_t_u_s, this setting occurs only at initial-
ization; these variables will not then be modified unless done explicitly
by the user.
The shell copies the environment variable USER into the variable _u_s_e_r,
TERM into _t_e_r_m, and HOME into _h_o_m_e, and copies these back into the envi-
ronment whenever the normal shell variables are reset. The environment
variable PATH is likewise handled; it is not necessary to worry about its
setting other than in the file _._c_s_h_r_c as inferior ccsshh processes will im-
port the definition of _p_a_t_h from the environment, and re-export it if you
then change it.
aarrggvv Set to the arguments to the shell, it is from this variable
that positional parameters are substituted, i.e., `$1' is re-
placed by `$argv[1]', etc.
ccddppaatthh Gives a list of alternate directories searched to find subdi-
rectories in _c_h_d_i_r commands.
ccwwdd The full pathname of the current directory.
eecchhoo Set when the --xx command line option is given. Causes each
command and its arguments to be echoed just before it is exe-
cuted. For non-builtin commands all expansions occur before
echoing. Builtin commands are echoed before command and file-
name substitution, since these substitutions are then done se-
lectively.
ffiilleecc Enable file name completion.
hhiissttcchhaarrss Can be given a string value to change the characters used in
history substitution. The first character of its value is
used as the history substitution character, replacing the de-
fault character `!'. The second character of its value re-
places the character `|^' in quick substitutions.
hhiissttffiillee Can be set to the pathname where history is going to be
saved/restored.
hhiissttoorryy Can be given a numeric value to control the size of the histo-
ry list. Any command that has been referenced in this many
events will not be discarded. Too large values of _h_i_s_t_o_r_y may
run the shell out of memory. The last executed command is al-
ways saved on the history list.
hhoommee The home directory of the invoker, initialized from the envi-
ronment. The filename expansion of `_~' refers to this vari-
able.
iiggnnoorreeeeooff If set the shell ignores end-of-file from input devices which
are terminals. This prevents shells from accidentally being
killed by control-D's.
mmaaiill The files where the shell checks for mail. This checking is
done after each command completion that will result in a
prompt, if a specified interval has elapsed. The shell says
`You have new mail.' if the file exists with an access time
not greater than its modify time.
If the first word of the value of _m_a_i_l is numeric it specifies
a different mail checking interval, in seconds, than the de-
fault, which is 10 minutes.
If multiple mail files are specified, then the shell says `New
mail in _n_a_m_e' when there is mail in the file _n_a_m_e.
nnoocclloobbbbeerr As described in the section on _i_n_p_u_t_/_o_u_t_p_u_t, restrictions are
placed on output redirection to insure that files are not ac-
cidentally destroyed, and that `>>' redirections refer to ex-
isting files.
nnoogglloobb If set, filename expansion is inhibited. This inhibition is
most useful in shell scripts that
are not dealing with filenames, or after a list of filenames
has been obtained and further expansions are not desirable.
nnoonnoommaattcchh If set, it is not an error for a filename expansion to not
match any existing files; instead the primitive pattern is re-
turned. It is still an error for the primitive pattern to be
malformed, i.e., `echo [' still gives an error.
nnoottiiffyy If set, the shell notifies asynchronously of job completions;
the default is to present job completions just before printing
a prompt.
ppaatthh Each word of the path variable specifies a directory in which
commands are to be sought for execution. A null word speci-
fies the current directory. If there is no _p_a_t_h variable then
only full path names will execute. The usual search path is
`.', `/bin' and `/usr/bin', but this may vary from system to
system. For the super-user the default search path is `/etc',
`/bin' and `/usr/bin'. A shell that is given neither the --cc
nor the --tt option will normally hash the contents of the di-
rectories in the _p_a_t_h variable after reading _._c_s_h_r_c, and each
time the _p_a_t_h variable is reset. If new commands are added to
these directories while the shell is active, it may be neces-
sary to do a rreehhaasshh or the commands may not be found.
pprroommpptt The string that is printed before each command is read from an
interactive terminal input. If a `!' appears in the string it
will be replaced by the current event number unless a preced-
ing `\' is given. Default is `% ', or `# ' for the super-
user.
ssaavveehhiisstt Is given a numeric value to control the number of entries of
the history list that are saved in ~/.history when the user
logs out. Any command that has been referenced in this many
events will be saved. During start up the shell sources
~/.history into the history list enabling history to be saved
across logins. Too large values of _s_a_v_e_h_i_s_t will slow down
the shell during start up. If _s_a_v_e_h_i_s_t is just set, the shell
will use the value of _h_i_s_t_o_r_y_.
sshheellll The file in which the shell resides. This variable is used in
forking shells to interpret files that have execute bits set,
but which are not executable by the system. (See the descrip-
tion of _N_o_n_-_b_u_i_l_t_i_n _C_o_m_m_a_n_d _E_x_e_c_u_t_i_o_n below.) Initialized to
the (system-dependent) home of the shell.
ssttaattuuss The status returned by the last command. If it terminated ab-
normally, then 0200 is added to the status. Builtin commands
that fail return exit status `1', all other builtin commands
set status to `0'.
ttiimmee Controls automatic timing of commands. If set, then any com-
mand that takes more than this many cpu seconds will cause a
line giving user, system, and real times and a utilization
percentage which is the ratio of user plus system times to re-
al time to be printed when it terminates.
vveerrbboossee Set by the --vv command line option, causes the words of each
command to be printed after history substitution.
NNoonn--bbuuiillttiinn ccoommmmaanndd eexxeeccuuttiioonn
When a command to be executed is found to not be a builtin command the
shell attempts to execute the command via execve(2). Each word in the
variable _p_a_t_h names a directory from which the shell will attempt to exe-
cute the command. If it is given neither a --cc nor a --tt option, the shell
will hash the names in these directories into an internal table so that
it will only try an eexxeecc in a directory if there is a possibility that
the command resides there. This shortcut greatly speeds command location
when many directories are present in the search path. If this mechanism
has been turned off (via uunnhhaasshh), or if the shell was given a --cc or --tt
argument, and in any case for each directory component of _p_a_t_h that does
not begin with a `/', the shell concatenates with the given command name
to form a path name of a file which it then attempts to execute.
Parenthesized commands are always executed in a subshell. Thus
(cd; pwd); pwd
prints the _h_o_m_e directory; leaving you where you were (printing this af-
ter the home directory), while
cd; pwd
leaves you in the _h_o_m_e directory. Parenthesized commands are most often
used to prevent cchhddiirr from affecting the current shell.
If the file has execute permissions but is not an executable binary to
the system, then it is assumed to be a file containing shell commands and
a new shell is spawned to read it.
If there is an aalliiaass for sshheellll then the words of the alias will be
prepended to the argument list to form the shell command. The first word
of the aalliiaass should be the full path name of the shell (e.g., `$shell').
Note that this is a special, late occurring, case of aalliiaass substitution,
and only allows words to be prepended to the argument list without
change.
SSiiggnnaall hhaannddlliinngg
The shell normally ignores _q_u_i_t signals. Jobs running detached (either
by && or the bbgg or %%...... && commands) are immune to signals generated from
the keyboard, including hangups. Other signals have the values which the
shell inherited from its parent. The shell's handling of interrupts and
terminate signals in shell scripts can be controlled by oonniinnttrr. Login
shells catch the _t_e_r_m_i_n_a_t_e signal; otherwise this signal is passed on to
children from the state in the shell's parent. Interrupts are not al-
lowed when a login shell is reading the file _._l_o_g_o_u_t.
AAUUTTHHOORR
William Joy. Job control and directory stack features first implemented
by J.E. Kulp of IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria, with different syntax than
that used now. File name completion code written by Ken Greer, HP Labs.
Eight-bit implementation Christos S. Zoulas, Cornell University.
FFIILLEESS
~/.cshrc Read at beginning of execution by each shell.
~/.login Read by login shell, after `.cshrc' at login.
~/.logout Read by login shell, at logout.
/bin/sh Standard shell, for shell scripts not starting with a `#'.
/tmp/sh* Temporary file for `<<'.
/etc/passwd Source of home directories for `~name'.
LLIIMMIITTAATTIIOONNSS
Word lengths - Words can be no longer than 1024 characters. The system
limits argument lists to 10240 characters. The number of arguments to a
command that involves filename expansion is limited to 1/6'th the number
of characters allowed in an argument list. Command substitutions may
substitute no more characters than are allowed in an argument list. To
detect looping, the shell restricts the number of aalliiaass substitutions on
a single line to 20.
SSEEEE AALLSSOO
sh(1), access(2), execve(2), fork(2), killpg(2), pipe(2),
sigvec(2), umask(2), setrlimit(2), wait(2), tty(4), a.out(5),
environ(7),
introduction to the C shell
HHIISSTTOORRYY
CCsshh appeared in 3BSD. It was a first implementation of a command language
interpreter incorporating a history mechanism (see _H_i_s_t_o_r_y
_S_u_b_s_t_i_t_u_t_i_o_n_s), job control facilities (see _J_o_b_s), interactive file name
and user name completion (see _F_i_l_e _N_a_m_e _C_o_m_p_l_e_t_i_o_n), and a C-like syntax.
There are now many shells that also have these mechanisms, plus a few
more (and maybe some bugs too), which are available through the usenet.
BBUUGGSS
When a command is restarted from a stop, the shell prints the directory
it started in if this is different from the current directory; this can
be misleading (i.e., wrong) as the job may have changed directories in-
ternally.
Shell builtin functions are not stoppable/restartable. Command sequences
of the form `a ; b ; c' are also not handled gracefully when stopping is
attempted. If you suspend `b', the shell will immediately execute `c'.
This is especially noticeable if this expansion results from an _a_l_i_a_s. It
suffices to place the sequence of commands in ()'s to force it to a sub-
shell, i.e., `( a ; b ; c )'.
Control over tty output after processes are started is primitive; perhaps
this will inspire someone to work on a good virtual terminal interface.
In a virtual terminal interface much more interesting things could be
done with output control.
Alias substitution is most often used to clumsily simulate shell proce-
dures; shell procedures should be provided instead of aliases.
Commands within loops, prompted for by `?', are not placed on the hhiissttoorryy
list. Control structure should be parsed instead of being recognized as
built-in commands. This would allow control commands to be placed any-
where, to be combined with `|', and to be used with `&' and `;' metasyn-
tax.
It should be possible to use the `:' modifiers on the output of command
substitutions.
The way the ffiilleecc facility is implemented is ugly and expensive.
4th Berkeley Distribution May 31, 1993 23