5.7 Invoking the Shell

The C shell command interpreter can be invoked as follows:

csh  [options]  [arguments]

csh executes commands from a terminal or a file. Options -n, -v, and -x are useful when debugging scripts.

The following list details the options:

-b

Allow the remaining command-line options to be interpreted as options to a specified command, rather than as options to csh itself.

-c

Treat the first argument as a string of commands to execute. Remaining arguments are available via the argv array.

-e

Exit if a command produces errors.

-f

Fast startup; start csh without executing .cshrc or .login.

-i

Invoke interactive shell (prompt for input).

-n

Parse commands but do not execute.

-s

Read commands from the standard input.

-t

Exit after executing one command.

-v

Display commands before executing them; expand history substitutions but don't expand other substitutions (e.g., filename, variable, and command). Same as setting verbose.

-V

Same as -v, but also display .cshrc.

-x

Display commands before executing them, but expand all substitutions. Same as setting echo. -x is often combined with -v.

-X

Same as -x, but also display .cshrc.