 | Chapter 5 The C Shell |  |
Previously executed commands are stored in a history list. The C shell lets you access this list so you can verify commands, repeat them, or execute modified versions of them. The history built-in command displays the history list; the predefined variables histchars, history, and savehist also affect the history mechanism. Accessing the history list involves three things:
Making command substitutions (using ! and ^)
Making argument substitutions (specific words within a command)
Using modifiers to extract or replace parts of a command or word
! | Begin a history substitution |
!! | Previous command |
!N | Command number N in history list |
!-N | Nth command back from current command |
!string | Most recent command that starts with string |
!?string? | Most recent command that contains string |
!?string?% | Most recent command argument that contains string |
!$ | Last argument of previous command |
!!string | Previous command, then append string |
!N string | Command N, then append string |
!{s1}s2 | Most recent command starting with string s1, then append string s2 |
^old^new^ | Quick substitution; change string old to new in previous command; execute modified command |
The following command is assumed:
3%vi cprogs/01.c ch002 ch03
| Event Number | Command Typed | Command Executed |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | ^00^0 | vi cprogs/01.c ch02 ch03 |
| 5 | nroff !* | nroff cprogs/01.c ch02 ch03 |
| 6 | nroff !$ | nroff ch03 |
| 7 | !vi | vi cprogs/01.c ch02 ch03 |
| 8 | !6 | nroff ch03 |
| 9 | !?01 | vi cprogs/01.c ch02 ch03 |
| 10 | !{nr}.new | nroff ch03.new |
| 11 | !!|lp | nroff ch03.new | lp |
| 12 | more !?pr?% | more cprogs/01.c |
Word specifiers allow you to retrieve individual words from previous command lines. Colons may precede any word specifier. After an event number, colons are optional unless shown here.
:0 | Command name |
:n | Argument number n |
^ | First argument |
$ | Last argument |
:n-m | Arguments n through m |
-m | Words 0 through m; same as |
:n- | Arguments n through next-to-last |
:n* | Arguments n through last; same as n |
* | All arguments; same as ^-$ or 1-$ |
# | Current command line up to this point; fairly useless |
The following command is assumed:
13%cat ch01 ch02 ch03 biblio back
| Event Number | Command Typed | Command Executed |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | ls !13^ | ls ch01 |
| 15 | sort !13:* | sort ch01 ch02 ch03 biblio back |
| 16 | lp !cat:3* | lp ch03 biblio back |
| 17 | !cat:0-3 | cat ch01 ch02 ch03 |
| 18 | vi !-5:4 | vi biblio |
Command and word substitutions can be modified by one or more of these:
:p | Display command but don't execute. |
:s/old/new | Substitute string new for old, first instance only. |
:gs/old/new | Substitute string new for old, all instances. |
:& | Repeat previous substitution ( |
:g& | Repeat previous substitution, all instances. |
:q | Quote a word list. |
:x | Quote separate words. |
:r | Extract the first available pathname root. |
:gr | Extract all pathname roots. |
:e | Extract the first available pathname extension. |
:ge | Extract all pathname extensions. |
:h | Extract the first available pathname header. |
:gh | Extract all pathname headers. |
:t | Extract the first available pathname tail. |
:gt | Extract all pathname tails. |
From the table in the section "Word Substitution Examples," command number 17 is:
17%cat ch01 ch02 ch03
| Event # | Command Typed | Command Executed |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | !17:s/ch/CH/ | cat CH01 ch02 ch03 |
| 20 | !:g& | cat CH01 CH02 CH03 |
| 21 | !more:p | more cprogs/01.c (displayed only) |
| 22 | cd !$:h | cd cprogs |
| 23 | vi !mo:$:t | vi 01.c |
| 24 | grep stdio !$ | grep stdio 01.c |
| 25 | ^stdio^include stdio^:q | grep "include stdio" 01.c |
| 26 | nroff !21:t:p | nroff 01.c (is that want I wanted?) |
| 27 | !! | nroff 01.c (execute it) |
|  | |
| 5.4 Expressions |  | 5.6 Job Control |
