Arch Linux

Ranguvar

Member

Registered: 2008-08-12

Posts: 2,549

Multi-word aliases?

Hello,

I use bash. I'd like to alias, for example, 'sudo pacman' to be 'sudo pacman-color'. This is turning out to be harder than I thought I can alias 'spacman' to that, but I'd rather learn how to do this. Symlinking pacman to pacman-color also is not preferable.

Can one alias multi-word commands to something else?

Thanks!

finferflu

Forum Fellow

From: Manchester, UK

Registered: 2007-06-21

Posts: 1,899

Website

Re: Multi-word aliases?

If you are interested in sudo only, you can put this in your .bashrc:

alias sudo='A=`alias` sudo '

In this way your aliases will persist even when you use sudo.

Other than that, I don't know how to create multi-word aliases.

---

Have you Syued today?
Free music for free people! | Earthlings

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -- A. de Saint-Exupery

Radek

Member

From: Warsaw in Poland

Registered: 2006-08-20

Posts: 23

Website

Re: Multi-word aliases?

Why not

alias pacman=pacman-color

? I have this alias and it works fine.

---

"Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it."
Richard P. Feynman.

finferflu

Forum Fellow

From: Manchester, UK

Registered: 2007-06-21

Posts: 1,899

Website

Re: Multi-word aliases?

Because it doesn't work with sudo...
Also, I think s/he's asking this just as an example, as far as I understand s/he wants to find a way to use an alias which uses more than one word. Not sure that is possible at all.

---

Have you Syued today?
Free music for free people! | Earthlings

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." -- A. de Saint-Exupery

Ramses de Norre

Member

From: Leuven - Belgium

Registered: 2007-03-27

Posts: 1,289

Re: Multi-word aliases?

Add

alias sudo="sudo "

to make sudo work with aliases.

Ranguvar

Member

Registered: 2008-08-12

Posts: 2,549

Re: Multi-word aliases?

Thanks, finferflu! That works great.

Could you please explain why it works, though? I like learning

Ranguvar

Member

Registered: 2008-08-12

Posts: 2,549

Re: Multi-word aliases?

Anyone?

Procyon

Member

Registered: 2008-05-07

Posts: 1,819

Re: Multi-word aliases?

If the last character of the alias value is a blank, then the next command word following the alias is also checked for alias expansion.

edit: that's in man bash btw, not man alias.

Last edited by Procyon (2008-10-21 21:45:53)

Ranguvar

Member

Registered: 2008-08-12

Posts: 2,549

Re: Multi-word aliases?

Thanks Forgot to look in man bash.