alias man page

User Commands                                            alias(1)



NAME
     alias, unalias - create or remove a pseudonym  or  shorthand
     for a command or series of commands

SYNOPSIS
     /usr/bin/alias [ alias-name [ = string...]]

     /usr/bin/unalias alias-name...

     /usr/bin/unalias -a

  csh
     alias [ name [def]]

     unalias pattern

  ksh
     alias [-tx] [ name [ = value]...]

     unalias name...

     unalias [-a]

DESCRIPTION
     The alias and unalias utilities create or remove a pseudonym
     or  shorthand term for a command or series of commands, with
     different  functionality  in  the  C-shell  and  Korn  shell
     environments.

  /usr/bin/alias
     The alias utility creates or redefines alias definitions  or
     writes  the values of existing alias definitions to standard
     output. An alias definition provides  a  string  value  that
     replaces a command name when it is encountered.

     An alias definition  affects  the  current  shell  execution
     environment  and the execution environments of the subshells
     of the current shell. When used as specified by  this  docu-
     ment,  the  alias definition will not affect the parent pro-
     cess of  the  current  shell  nor  any  utility  environment
     invoked by the shell.

  /usr/bin/unalias
     The unalias utility removes the definition  for  each  alias
     name  specified.  The  aliases  are removed from the current
     shell execution environment. The -a option removes all alias
     definitions from the current execution environment.

  csh
     alias assigns def to the alias name. The assigned def  is  a
     list  of words that may contain escaped history-substitution
     metasyntax. name is not allowed to be alias or  unalias.  If



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User Commands                                            alias(1)



     def  is  omitted, the alias name is displayed along with its
     current definition. If both name and def  are  omitted,  all
     aliases are displayed.

     Because of implementation restrictions, an alias  definition
     must  have been entered on a previous command line before it
     can be used.

     unalias discards aliases that match (filename  substitution)
     pattern. All aliases may be removed by `unalias *'.

  ksh
     alias with no arguments prints the list of  aliases  in  the
     form  name=value on standard output. An alias is defined for
     each name whose value is given.  A trailing space  in  value
     causes  the  next word to be checked for alias substitution.
     The -t flag is used to set and  list  tracked  aliases.  The
     value  of a tracked alias is the full pathname corresponding
     to the given name. The  value  becomes  undefined  when  the
     value  of  PATH  is  reset but the aliases remained tracked.
     Without the -t flag, for each name in the argument list  for
     which  no value is given, the name and value of the alias is
     printed. The -x flag  is  used  to  set  or  print  exported
     aliases.  An  exported alias  is defined for scripts invoked
     by name.  The exit status is non-zero if a  name  is  given,
     but no value, and no alias has been defined for the name.

     The aliases given by the list of names may be  removed  from
     the alias list with unalias.

OPTIONS
     The following option is supported by unalias:

     -a       Removes all  alias  definitions  from  the  current
              shell execution environment.



  ksh
     The following option is supported by alias:

     -t       Sets and lists tracked aliases.



OPERANDS
     The following operands are supported:

  alias
     alias-name              Write the alias definition to  stan-
                             dard output.




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User Commands                                            alias(1)



  unalias
     alias-name              The name of an alias to be removed.



     alias-name=string       Assign the value of  string  to  the
                             alias alias-name.



     If no operands are given,  all  alias  definitions  will  be
     written to standard output.

OUTPUT
     The format for displaying aliases (when no operands or  only
     name operands are specified) is:

          "%s=%s\n" name, value


     The value string will be written with appropriate quoting so
     that it is suitable for reinput to the shell.

EXAMPLES
     Example 1: Modifying a command's output

     This example specifies that the output of the ls utility  is
     columnated and more annotated:

     example% alias ls="ls -CF"

     Example 2: Repeating previous entries in the command history
     file

     This example creates a simple "redo" command to repeat  pre-
     vious entries in the command history file:

     example% alias r='fc -s'

     Example 3: Specifying a command's output options

     This example provides that the  du  utility  summarize  disk
     output in units of 1024 bytes:

     example% alias du=du -k

     Example 4: Dealing with an argument that is itself an  alias
     name

     This example sets up the nohup utility so that it  can  deal
     with an argument that is itself an alias name:




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User Commands                                            alias(1)



     example% alias nohup="nohup "

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
     See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment
     variables  that  affect  the execution of alias and unalias:
     LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.

EXIT STATUS
     The following exit values are returned:

     0        Successful completion.



  alias
     >0       One of the alias-name operands  specified  did  not
              have an alias definition, or an error occurred.



  unalias
     >0       One of the alias-name operands  specified  did  not
              represent  a  valid  alias  definition, or an error
              occurred.



ATTRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWcsu                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Interface Stability         | Standard                    |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO
     csh(1),    ksh(1),     shell_builtins(1),     attributes(5),
     environ(5), standards(5)












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