KSH(1)

💖 ksh(1) 💖

okay so this is the General Commands Manual page for KornShell, and bestie, it is long, but it's also kind of iconic? we're gonna get through it together, no cap.

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✨ NAME ✨

ksh, rksh, pfksh — KornShell, a standard/restricted command and programming language 🫶

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🌸 NOTE 🌸

so like, currently rksh and pfksh are not available on macOS / Darwin. that's it, that's the note. 💀

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

ksh [ ±abcefhiknoprstuvxBCDP ] [ -R file ] [ ±o option ] ... [ - ] [ arg ... ]

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👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

Ksh is a command and programming language that executes commands read from a terminal or a file. literally its whole job.

Rksh is a restricted version of the command interpreter ksh — it's used to set up login names and execution environments whose capabilities are more controlled than those of the standard shell. locked down, on purpose, for safety. 🔒

Rpfksh is a profile shell version of the command interpreter ksh — it's used to execute commands with the attributes specified by the user's profiles (see pfexec(1)). slay.

See Invocation below for the meaning of arguments to the shell. ✨

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🦋 Definitions 🦋

A metacharacter is one of the following characters, and yes you have to memorize the vibe:

;   &   (   )   |   <   >   new-line   space   tab

A blank is a tab or a space. a humble little guy. 🎀

An identifier is a sequence of letters, digits, or underscores starting with a letter or underscore. Identifiers are used as components of variable names.

A vname is a sequence of one or more identifiers separated by a . and optionally preceded by a .. Vnames are used as function and variable names. (dot notation, we love her 💅)

A word is a sequence of characters from the character set defined by the current locale, excluding non-quoted metacharacters.

A command is a sequence of characters in the syntax of the shell language. The shell reads each command and carries out the desired action either directly or by invoking separate utilities. 🏃‍♀️

A built-in command is a command that is carried out by the shell itself without creating a separate process. no fork, no drama, main character energy.

Some commands are built-in purely for convenience and are not documented here. so don't come for me.

Built-ins that cause side effects in the shell environment, and built-ins that are found before performing a path search (see Execution below), are documented here.

For historical reasons, some of these built-ins behave differently than other built-ins and are called special built-ins. yes, they get a whole title. 👑

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🔥 Commands 🔥

A simple-command is a list of variable assignments (see Variable Assignments below) or a sequence of blank separated words which may be preceded by a list of variable assignments (see Environment below).

The first word specifies the name of the command to be executed. Except as specified below, the remaining words are passed as arguments to the invoked command. The command name is passed as argument 0 (see exec(2)).

The value of a simple-command is its exit status:

• 0-255 if it terminates normally
• 256+signum if it terminates abnormally

(the name of the signal corresponding to the exit status can be obtained via the -l option of the kill built-in utility. handy!! 🫶)

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A pipeline is a sequence of one or more commands separated by |. The standard output of each command but the last is connected by a pipe(2) to the standard input of the next command. Each command, except possibly the last, is run as a separate process; the shell waits for the last command to terminate. ⏳

The exit status of a pipeline is the exit status of the last command unless the pipefail option is enabled.

Each pipeline can be preceded by the reserved word ! which causes the exit status of the pipeline to become 0 if the exit status of the last command is non-zero, and 1 if the exit status of the last command is 0. it's giving contrarian. 🙃

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A list is a sequence of one or more pipelines separated by ;, &, |&, &&, or ||, and optionally terminated by ;, &, or |&.

Of these five symbols, ;, &, and |& have equal precedence, which is lower than that of && and ||. The symbols && and || also have equal precedence. the hierarchy is real. 💅

• A semicolon (;) causes sequential execution of the preceding pipeline.
• An ampersand (&) causes asynchronous execution of the preceding pipeline (i.e., the shell does not wait for that pipeline to finish).
• The symbol |& causes asynchronous execution of the preceding pipeline with a two-way pipe established to the parent shell; the standard input and output of the spawned pipeline can be written to and read from by the parent shell by applying the redirection operators <& and >& with arg p to commands and by using the -p option of the built-in commands read and print described later. 🌀
• The symbol && (||) causes the list following it to be executed only if the preceding pipeline returns a zero (non-zero) value.

One or more new-lines may appear in a list instead of a semicolon, to delimit a command.

The first item of the first pipeline of a list that is a simple command not beginning with a redirection, and not occurring within a while, until, or if list, can be preceded by a semicolon. This semicolon is ignored unless the showme option is enabled as described with the set built-in below. 💫

---

A command is either a simple-command or one of the following. Unless otherwise stated, the value returned by a command is that of the last simple-command executed in the command.

🌈 for loop

for vname [ in word ... ] ;do list ;done

Each time a for command is executed, vname is set to the next word taken from the in word list. If in word ... is omitted, then the for command executes the do list once for each positional parameter that is set starting from 1 (see Parameter Expansion below). Execution ends when there are no more words in the list. 🏁

🌈 for (arithmetic)

for (( [expr1] ; [expr2] ; [expr3] )) ;do list ;done

The arithmetic expression expr1 is evaluated first (see Arithmetic evaluation below). The arithmetic expression expr2 is repeatedly evaluated until it evaluates to zero and when non-zero, list is executed and the arithmetic expression expr3 evaluated. If any expression is omitted, then it behaves as if it evaluated to 1. math but make it fashion. 🧮

🌈 select

select vname [ in word ... ] ;do list ;done

A select command prints on standard error (file descriptor 2) the set of words, each preceded by a number. If in word ... is omitted, then the positional parameters starting from 1 are used instead (see Parameter Expansion below).

The PS3 prompt is printed and a line is read from the standard input. If this line consists of the number of one of the listed words, then the value of the variable vname is set to the word corresponding to this number. If this line is empty, the selection list is printed again. Otherwise the value of the variable vname is set to null.

The contents of the line read from standard input is saved in the variable REPLY. The list is executed for each selection until a break or end-of-file is encountered.

If the REPLY variable is set to null by the execution of list, then the selection list is printed before displaying the PS3 prompt for the next selection. 👀

🌈 case

case word in [ [(]pattern [ | pattern ] ... ) list ;; ] ... esac

A case command executes the list associated with the first pattern that matches word. The form of the patterns is the same as that used for file-name generation (see File Name Generation below).

The ;; operator causes execution of case to terminate. If ;& is used in place of ;; the next subsequent list, if any, is executed. (fall-through!! spicy!! 🌶️)

🌈 if

if list ;then list [ ;elif list ;then list ] ... [ ;else list ] ;fi

The list following if is executed and, if it returns a zero exit status, the list following the first then is executed. Otherwise, the list following elif is executed and, if its value is zero, the list following the next then is executed. Failing each successive elif list, the else list is executed.

If the if list has non-zero exit status and there is no else list, then the if command returns a zero exit status. 😌

🌈 while / until

while list ;do list ;done
until list ;do list ;done

A while command repeatedly executes the while list and, if the exit status of the last command in the list is zero, executes the do list; otherwise the loop terminates.

If no commands in the do list are executed, then the while command returns a zero exit status; until may be used in place of while to negate the loop termination test. 🔁

🌈 arithmetic command

((expression))

The expression is evaluated using the rules for arithmetic evaluation described below. If the value of the arithmetic expression is non-zero, the exit status is 0, otherwise the exit status is 1. 🎯

🌈 subshell

(list)

Execute list in a separate environment.

⚠️ Note, that if two adjacent open parentheses are needed for nesting, a space must be inserted to avoid evaluation as an arithmetic command as described above. the space is load-bearing, bestie. 😭

🌈 grouping

{ list;}

list is simply executed.

⚠️ Note that unlike the metacharacters ( and ), { and } are reserved words and must occur at the beginning of a line or after a ; in order to be recognized. they're picky like that. 💅

🌈 conditional expression

[[ expression ]]

Evaluates expression and returns a zero exit status when expression is true. See Conditional Expressions below, for a description of expression. 🦋

🌈 function definition

function varname { list ;}
varname () { list ;}

Define a function which is referenced by varname. A function whose varname contains a . is called a discipline function and the portion of the varname preceding the last . must refer to an existing variable.

The body of the function is the list of commands between { and }. A function defined with the function varname syntax can also be used as an argument to the . special built-in command to get the equivalent behavior as if the varname() syntax were used to define it. (See Functions below.) 🫶

🌈 namespace

namespace varname { list ;}

Defines or uses the name space identifier and runs the commands in list in this name space. (See Name Spaces below.) 🌌

🌈 background pool

& [ name [ arg... ]  ]

Causes subsequent list commands terminated by & to be placed in the background job pool name. If name is omitted a default unnamed pool is used. Commands in a named background pool may be executed remotely. 👀

🌈 time

time [ pipeline ]

If pipeline is omitted the user and system time for the current shell and completed child processes is printed on standard error. Otherwise, pipeline is executed and the elapsed time as well as the user and system time are printed on standard error.

The TIMEFORMAT variable may be set to a format string that specifies how the timing information should be displayed. See Shell Variables below for a description of the TIMEFORMAT variable. ⏱️✨

okay so these lil reserved words only count as reserved when they're the first word of a command and they're not quoted:

if then else elif fi case esac for while until do done { } function
select time [[ ]] !

Like, first-word + unquoted = reserved behavior. Otherwise it's just a regular word, bestie. 💅

🫶 Variable Assignments 🫶

One or more variable assignments can start a simple command, or they can be arguments to the typeset, enum, export, or readonly special built-in commands, as well as to other declaration commands created as types. The syntax for an assignment is this shape:

varname=word
varname[word]=word

No space is permitted between varname and the =, or between = and word. Periodt.

varname=(assign_list)

No space is permitted between varname and the =. The variable varname is unset before the assignment. An assign_list can be one of these cuties:

• word ... — indexed array assignment.
• [word]=word ... — associative array assignment. If preceded by typeset -a this will create an indexed array instead.
• assignment ... — compound variable assignment. This creates a compound variable varname with sub-variables of the form varname.name, where name is the name portion of assignment. The value of varname will contain all the assignment elements. Additional assignments made to sub-variables of varname will also be displayed as part of the value of varname. If no assignments are specified, varname will be a compound variable allowing subsequence child elements to be defined.
• typeset [options] assignment ... — nested variable assignment. Multiple assignments can be specified by separating each of them with a ;. The previous value is unset before the assignment. Other declaration commands such as readonly, enum, and other declaration commands can be used in place of typeset.
• . filename — include the assignment commands contained in filename.

In addition, a += can be used in place of the = to signify adding to or appending to the previous value. When += is applied to an arithmetic type, word is evaluated as an arithmetic expression and added to the current value. When applied to a string variable, the value defined by word is appended to the value. For compound assignments, the previous value is not unset and the new values are appended to the current ones, provided that the types are compatible. 💖

The right hand side of a variable assignment undergoes all the expansion listed below except word splitting, brace expansion, and file name generation. When the left hand side of an assignment is a compound variable and the right hand side is the name of a compound variable, the compound variable on the right will be copied or appended to the compound variable on the left.

🎀 Comments 🎀

A word beginning with # causes that word and all the following characters up to a new-line to be ignored. Simple as that, bestie.

🦋 Aliasing 🦋

The first word of each command is replaced by the text of an alias if an alias for this word has been defined. An alias name consists of any number of characters excluding metacharacters, quoting characters, file expansion characters, parameter expansion and command substitution characters, the characters / and =. The replacement string can contain any valid shell script including the metacharacters listed above. The first word of each command in the replaced text, other than any that are in the process of being replaced, will be tested for aliases. If the last character of the alias value is a blank, then the word following the alias will also be checked for alias substitution. Aliases can be used to redefine built-in commands but cannot be used to redefine the reserved words listed above. Aliases can be created and listed with the alias command and can be removed with the unalias command.

Aliasing is performed when scripts are read, not while they are executed. Therefore, for an alias to take effect, the alias definition command has to be executed before the command which references the alias is read. Timing matters, iykyk. ⏳

The following aliases are compiled into the shell but can be unset or redefined:

autoload=′typeset -fu′
bool=′_Bool′
command=′command  ′
compound=′typeset -C′
fc=hist
float=′typeset -lE′
functions=′typeset -f′
hash=′alias -t --′
history=′hist -l′
integer=′typeset -li′
nameref=′typeset -n′
nohup=′nohup  ′
r=′hist -s′
redirect=′command exec′
source=′command .′
stop=′kill -s STOP′
suspend=′kill -s STOP "$$"′
type=′whence -v′

🌸 Tilde Substitution 🌸

After alias substitution is performed, each word is checked to see if it begins with an unquoted ~. For tilde substitution, word also refers to the word portion of parameter expansion (see Parameter Expansion below). If it does, then the word up to a / is checked to see if it matches a user name in the password database (See getpwname(3).) If a match is found, the ~ and the matched login name are replaced by the login directory of the matched user. If no match is found, the original text is left unchanged. A ~ by itself, or in front of a /, is replaced by $HOME. A ~ followed by a + or - is replaced by the value of $PWD and $OLDPWD respectively. A ~ followed by {fd} — where fd is a file descriptor number or the name of a variable whose value is a file descriptor — is replaced by a string that is the equivalent to the path name of the file or directory corresponding to this file descriptor. ✨

In addition, when expanding a variable assignment, tilde substitution is attempted when the value of the assignment begins with a ~, and when a ~ appears after a :. The : also terminates a ~ login name.

💜 Command Substitution 💜

The standard output from a command list enclosed in parentheses preceded by a dollar sign ($(list)), or in a brace group preceded by a dollar sign (${ list;}), or in a pair of grave accents ( `` ) may be used as part or all of a word; trailing new-lines are removed. In the second case, the { and } are treated as reserved words so that { must be followed by a blank and } must appear at the beginning of the line or follow a ;. In the third (obsolete) form, the string between the quotes is processed for special quoting characters before the command is executed (see Quoting below). The command substitution $(cat file) can be replaced by the equivalent but faster $(<file). The command substitution $(n<#) will expand to the current byte offset for file descriptor n. Except for the second form, the command list is run in a subshell so that no side effects are possible. For the second form, the final } will be recognized as a reserved word after any token.

⭐ Arithmetic Substitution ⭐

An arithmetic expression enclosed in double parentheses preceded by a dollar sign ($(())) is replaced by the value of the arithmetic expression within the double parentheses.

🌈 Process Substitution 🌈

Each command argument of the form <(list) or >(list) will run process list asynchronously connected to some file in /dev/fd if this directory exists, or else a fifo in a temporary directory. The name of this file will become the argument to the command. If the form with > is selected then writing on this file will provide input for list. If < is used, then the file passed as an argument will contain the output of the list process. For example:

paste <(cut -f1 file1) <(cut -f3 file2) | tee >(process1)
>(process2)

cuts fields 1 and 3 from the files file1 and file2 respectively, pastes the results together, and sends it to the processes process1 and process2, as well as putting it onto the standard output. Note that the file, which is passed as an argument to the command, is a UNIX pipe(2) so programs that expect to lseek(2) on the file will not work. 💀

Process substitution of the form <(list) can also be used with the < redirection operator which causes the output of list to be standard input or the input for whatever file descriptor is specified.

👑 Parameter Expansion 👑

A parameter is a variable, one or more digits, or any of the characters *, @, #, ?, -, $, and !. A variable is denoted by a vname. To create a variable whose vname contains a ., a variable whose vname consists of everything before the last . must already exist. A variable has a value and zero or more attributes. Variables can be assigned values and attributes by using the typeset special built-in command. The attributes supported by the shell are described later with the typeset special built-in command. Exported variables pass values and attributes to the environment.

The shell supports both indexed and associative arrays. An element of an array variable is referenced by a subscript. A subscript for an indexed array is denoted by an arithmetic expression (see Arithmetic evaluation below) between a [ and a ]. To assign values to an indexed array, use vname=(value ...) or set -A vname value .... The value of all non-negative subscripts must be in the range of 0 through 4,194,303. A negative subscript is treated as an offset from the maximum current index +1 so that -1 refers to the last element. Indexed arrays can be declared with the -a option to typeset. Indexed arrays need not be declared. Any reference to a variable with a valid subscript is legal and an array will be created if necessary. 🍓

An associative array is created with the -A option to typeset. A subscript for an associative array is denoted by a string enclosed between [ and ].

Referencing any array without a subscript is equivalent to referencing the array with subscript 0.

The value of a variable may be assigned by writing:

vname=value [ vname=value ] ...

or, when you’re assigning into an array:

vname[subscript]=value [ vname[subscript]=value ] ...

Heads up, bestie: note that no space is allowed before or after the =. That is not a vibe suggestion, it is literally the rule. 🫶

Attributes assigned by the typeset special built-in command apply to all elements of the array. An array element can be a simple variable, a compound variable or an array variable. An element of an indexed array can be either an indexed array or an associative array. An element of an associative array can also be either. To refer to an array element that is part of an array element, concatenate the subscript in brackets. For example, to refer to the foobar element of an associative array that is defined as the third element of the indexed array, use

${vname[3][foobar]}

A nameref is a variable that is a reference to another variable. A nameref is created with the -n attribute of typeset. The value of the variable at the time of the typeset command becomes the variable that will be referenced whenever the nameref variable is used. The name of a nameref cannot contain a .. When a variable or function name contains a ., and the portion of the name up to the first . matches the name of a nameref, the variable referred to is obtained by replacing the nameref portion with the name of the variable referenced by the nameref. If a nameref is used as the index of a for loop, a name reference is established for each item in the list. A nameref provides a convenient way to refer to the variable inside a function whose name is passed as an argument to a function. For example, if the name of a variable is passed as the first argument to a function, the command

typeset -n var=$1

inside the function causes references and assignments to var to be references and assignments to the variable whose name has been passed to the function.

If any of the floating point attributes, -E, -F, or -X, or the integer attribute, -i, is set for vname, then the value is subject to arithmetic evaluation as described below.

Positional parameters, parameters denoted by a number, may be assigned values with the set special built-in command. Parameter $0 is set from argument zero when the shell is invoked.

The character $ is used to introduce substitutable parameters.

---

• ${parameter} — The shell reads all the characters from ${ to the matching } as part of the same word even if it contains braces or metacharacters. The value, if any, of the parameter is substituted. The braces are required when parameter is followed by a letter, digit, or underscore that is not to be interpreted as part of its name, when the variable name contains a .. The braces are also required when a variable is subscripted unless it is part of an Arithmetic Expression or a Conditional Expression. If parameter is one or more digits then it is a positional parameter. A positional parameter of more than one digit must be enclosed in braces. If parameter is * or @, then all the positional parameters, starting with $1, are substituted (separated by a field separator character). If an array vname with last subscript *, @, or for index arrays of the form sub1 .. sub2 is used, then the value for each of the elements between sub1 and sub2 inclusive (or all elements for * and @) is substituted, separated by the first character of the value of IFS.
• ${#parameter} — If parameter is * or @, the number of positional parameters is substituted. Otherwise, the length of the value of the parameter is substituted.
• ${#vname[*]} and ${#vname[@]} — The number of elements in the array vname is substituted. 💅
• ${@vname} — Expands to the type name (See Type Variables below) or attributes of the variable referred to by vname.
• ${$parameter} — If $parameter expands to the name of a variable, this expands to the value of that variable. Otherwise, it expands to the empty string. It is undefined for special parameters.
• ${!vname} — Expands to the name of the variable referred to by vname. This will be vname except when vname is a name reference.
• ${!vname[subscript]} — Expands to name of the subscript unless subscript is *, @, or of the form sub1 .. sub2. When subscript is *, the list of array subscripts for vname is generated. For a variable that is not an array, the value is 0 if the variable is set. Otherwise it is null. When subscript is @, same as above, except that when used in double quotes, each array subscript yields a separate argument. When subscript is of the form sub1 .. sub2 it expands to the list of subscripts between sub1 and sub2 inclusive using the same quoting rules as @.
• ${!prefix*} — Expands to the names of the variables whose names begin with prefix.
• ${parameter:-word} — If parameter is set and is non-null then substitute its value; otherwise substitute word.
• ${parameter:=word} — If parameter is not set or is null then set it to word; the value of the parameter is then substituted. Positional parameters may not be assigned to in this way.
• ${parameter:?word} — If parameter is set and is non-null then substitute its value; otherwise, print word and exit from the shell (if not interactive). If word is omitted then a standard message is printed.
• ${parameter:+word} — If parameter is set and is non-null then substitute word; otherwise substitute nothing.

In the above, word is not evaluated unless it is to be used as the substituted string, so that, in the following example, pwd is executed only if d is not set or is null:

print ${d:-$(pwd)}

If the colon (:) is omitted from the above expressions, then the shell only checks whether parameter is set or not.

• ${parameter:offset:length} and ${parameter:offset} — Expands to the portion of the value of parameter starting at the character (counting from 0) determined by expanding offset as an arithmetic expression and consisting of the number of characters determined by the arithmetic expression defined by length. In the second form, the remainder of the value is used. A negative offset counts backwards from the end of parameter. Note that one or more blanks is required in front of a minus sign to prevent the shell from interpreting the operator as :-. If parameter is * or @, or is an array name indexed by * or @, then offset and length refer to the array index and number of elements respectively. A negative offset is taken relative to one greater than the highest subscript for indexed arrays. The order for associative arrays is unspecified.
• ${parameter#pattern} and ${parameter##pattern} — If the shell pattern matches the beginning of the value of parameter, then the value of this expansion is the value of the parameter with the matched portion deleted; otherwise the value of this parameter is substituted. In the first form the smallest matching pattern is deleted and in the second form the largest matching pattern is deleted. When parameter is @, *, or an array variable with subscript @ or *, the substring operation is applied to each element in turn.
• ${parameter%pattern} and ${parameter%%pattern} — If the shell pattern matches the end of the value of parameter, then the value of this expansion is the value of the parameter with the matched part deleted; otherwise substitute the value of parameter. In the first form the smallest matching pattern is deleted and in the second form the largest matching pattern is deleted. When parameter is @, *, or an array variable with subscript @ or *, the substring operation is applied to each element in turn.
• ${parameter/pattern/string}, ${parameter//pattern/string}, ${parameter/#pattern/string} and ${parameter/%pattern/string} — Expands parameter and replaces the longest match of pattern with the given string. Each occurrence of \n in string is replaced by the portion of parameter that matches the n-th sub-pattern. In the first form, only the first occurrence of pattern is replaced. In the second form, each match for pattern is replaced by the given string. The third form restricts the pattern match to the beginning of the string while the fourth form restricts the pattern match to the end of the string. When string is null, the pattern will be deleted and the / in front of string may be omitted. When parameter is @, *, or an array variable with subscript @ or *, the substitution operation is applied to each element in turn. In this case, the string portion of word will be re-evaluated for each element.
• ${parameter^pattern}, ${parameter^^pattern}, ${parameter,pattern} and ${parameter,,pattern} — Case modification. This expansion modifies the case of alphabetic characters in parameter. The pattern is expanded to produce a pattern just as in pathname expansion. The ^ operator converts lowercase characters matching pattern to uppercase. The , operator converts matching uppercase characters to lowercase. The ^^ and ,, expansions convert all matched character in the expanded value. The ^ and , expansions match and convert only the first character in the expanded value. If pattern is omitted it is treated like a ?, which matches every character. If parameter is @ or *, or an array subscripted by @ or *, the case modification operation is applied to each element. ✨

okay so these ones? you don't set them, the shell sets them for you, like it's doing your makeup before you even wake up 💅 here's the whole roster:

• # — the number of positional parameters, in decimal.
• - — the options handed to the shell on invocation, or the ones you flipped with the set command.
• ? — the decimal value returned by the last command that ran. your fave little status check 🫶
• $ — the process number of this shell. its own personal ID.
• _ — okay this one has lore. initially its value is an absolute pathname of the shell or script being executed, as passed in the environment. after that, it gets assigned the last argument of the previous command. it is not set for commands which are asynchronous (rude, but okay). it's also the parameter that holds the name of the matching MAIL file when checking for mail. while defining a compound variable or a type, _ is initialized as a reference to the compound variable or type. when a discipline function is invoked, _ is initialized as a reference to the variable associated with the call to this function. and finally, when _ is used as the name of the first variable of a type definition, the new type is derived from the type of the first variable (see Type Variables below). she contains multitudes, fr.
• ! — the process id, or the pool name and job number, of the last background command invoked — or of the most recent job you yeeted into the background with the bg built-in command. background jobs started in a named pool come out in the form pool.number, where pool is the pool name and number is the job number within that pool. ✨
• .sh.command — when processing a DEBUG trap, this variable contains the current command line that is about to run. sneak peek energy.
• .sh.edchar — holds the value of the keyboard character (or sequence of characters, if the first character is an ESC, ascii 033) that was entered while processing a KEYBD trap (see Key Bindings below). if you change the value as part of the trap action, then the new value replaces the key (or key sequence) that caused the trap. yes, you can literally swap out what key does. iconic.
• .sh.edcol — the character position of the cursor at the time of the most recent KEYBD trap.
• .sh.edmode — gets set to ESC when processing a KEYBD trap while in vi insert mode (see Vi Editing Mode below). otherwise, .sh.edmode is null while processing a KEYBD trap.
• .sh.edtext — the characters sitting in the input buffer at the time of the most recent KEYBD trap. the value is null when you're not processing a KEYBD trap.
• .sh.file — the pathname of the file that contains the current command.
• .sh.fun — the name of the current function that's being executed. main character identification 🎀
• .sh.level — set to the current function depth. you can change it inside a DEBUG trap and it'll set the context to the level you specified. time travel but make it shell.
• .sh.lineno — set during a DEBUG trap to the line number for the caller of each function.
• .sh.match — an indexed array that stores the most recent match and sub-pattern matches after conditional pattern matches that match, and after variable expansions using the operators #, %, or /. the 0-th element stores the complete match, and the i-th element stores the i-th submatch. for //, the array is two dimensional, with the first subscript indicating the most recent match and sub-pattern match, and the second subscript indicating which match, with 0 representing the first match. .sh.match becomes unset when the variable that has expanded is assigned a new value. so it's giving hot gossip that expires 💀
• .sh.math — used for defining arithmetic functions (see Arithmetic evaluation below), and stores the list of user defined arithmetic functions.
• .sh.name — set to the name of the variable at the time that a discipline function is invoked.
• .sh.op_astbin — the directory where several shell built-in commands are bound to. the default is /opt/ast/bin. when the value is /bin, then builtins will be bound to /bin or /usr/bin depending on where the executable is found. this variable can be set by including it in the SH_OPTIONS variable.
• .sh.pgrp — the current process group of this shell.
• .sh.pwdfd — the file descriptor number for the present working directory.
• .sh.sig — set when executing a trap, to the information contained in the siginfo_t structure (see siginfo(2) for a description of this structure).
• .sh.subscript — set to the name subscript of the variable at the time that a discipline function is invoked.
• .sh.subshell — the current depth for subshells and command substitution. how deep in the nesting we are bestie 🌀
• .sh.value — set to the value of the variable at the time that the set or append discipline function is invoked. when a user defined arithmetic function is invoked, the value of .sh.value is saved and .sh.value is set to long double precision floating point. .sh.value is restored when the function returns. so it puts itself away when it's done, we love a tidy queen.
• .sh.version — set to a value that identifies the version of this shell.
• KSH_VERSION — a name reference to .sh.version. same vibes, cuter name.
• LINENO — the current line number within the script or function being executed.
• OLDPWD — the previous working directory, set by the cd command. where you just were, emotionally and literally.
• OPTARG — the value of the last option argument processed by the getopts built-in command.
• OPTIND — the index of the last option argument processed by the getopts built-in command.
• PPID — the process number of the parent of the shell. hi mom 🫶
• PWD — the present working directory, set by the cd command.
• RANDOM — every single time this variable is referenced, a random integer, uniformly distributed between 0 and 32767, is generated. you can initialize the sequence of random numbers by assigning a numeric value to RANDOM. built-in chaos, no cap 🎲
• REPLY — this variable is set by the select statement and by the read built-in command when no arguments are supplied.
• SECONDS — every time this variable is referenced, the number of seconds since shell invocation is returned. if you assign a value to this variable, then the value returned upon reference will be the value that was assigned plus the number of seconds since the assignment. so it's a clock you can gaslight ✨
• SHLVL — an integer variable that is incremented each time the shell is invoked, and is exported. if SHLVL is not in the environment when the shell is invoked, it is set to 1.
• CDPATH — the search path that cd goes looking through. 💅
• COLUMNS — if you set it, this value decides how wide the edit window is for the shell edit modes, and it's also what gets used when printing select lists. slay.
• EDITOR — if VISUAL isn't set, the shell checks this variable against the patterns described down there with VISUAL, and flips on the matching editing option (peep the Special Command set section for those). ✨
• ENV — okay so if this one's set, then parameter expansion, command substitution, and arithmetic substitution all get done on its value to generate the pathname of the script that runs when the shell is invoked interactively (see Invocation below, bestie). That file is typically where alias and function definitions live. The default value is $HOME/.kshrc. On systems that support a system wide /etc/ksh.kshrc initialization file: if the filename generated by expanding ENV begins with /./ or ./., then the system wide initialization file will not be executed. noted. 🫶
• FCEDIT — obsolete name for the default editor name for the hist command. FCEDIT is not used when HISTEDIT is set. it's giving legacy, but we respect her 💀
• FIGNORE — a pattern that defines the set of filenames that get ignored when doing filename matching. 🙈
• FPATH — the search path for function definitions, mmkay. The directories in this path get searched for a file with the same name as the function or command when a function with the -u attribute is referenced, and also when a command is not found. If an executable file with the name of that command is found, then it's read and executed in the current environment. Unlike PATH, the current directory has to be represented explicitly by . — not by adjacent : characters, and not by a beginning or ending :. lowkey picky but okay 🌸
• HISTCMD — number of the current command in the history file. ⭐
• HISTEDIT — name for the default editor name for the hist command.
• HISTFILE — if this variable is set when the shell is invoked, then the value is the pathname of the file that will be used to store the command history (see Command Re-entry below). 🎀
• HISTSIZE — if this variable is set when the shell is invoked, then the number of previously entered commands accessible by this shell will be greater than or equal to this number. The default is 512. 💖
• HOME — the default argument (home directory) for the cd command. home sweet home fr fr 🦋
• IFS — internal field separators — normally space, tab, and newline — used to separate the results of command substitution or parameter expansion, and to separate fields with the built-in command read. The first character of the IFS variable is what separates arguments for the "$*" substitution (see Quoting below). Deep breath, here's the whole rule, bestie:
  • Each single occurrence of an IFS character in the string to be split, that is not in the isspace character class, and any adjacent characters in IFS that are in the isspace character class, delimit a field.
  • One or more characters in IFS that belong to the isspace character class delimit a field.
  • In addition, if the same isspace character appears consecutively inside IFS, this character is treated as if it were not in the isspace class — so that if IFS consists of two tab characters, then two adjacent tab characters delimit a null field.
• JOBMAX — this variable defines the maximum number of running background jobs that can run at a time. When this limit is reached, the shell will wait for a job to complete before starting a new job. queue energy 👑
• LANG — determines the locale category for any category not specifically selected with a variable starting with LC_ or LANG. 🌈
• LC_ALL — overrides the value of the LANG variable and any other LC_ variable. she's the main character, obviously 💅
• LC_COLLATE — determines the locale category for character collation information.
• LC_CTYPE — determines the locale category for character handling functions. It determines the character classes for pattern matching (see File Name Generation below).
• LC_NUMERIC — determines the locale category for the decimal point character.
• LINES — if this variable is set, the value is used to determine the column length for printing select lists. Select lists will print vertically until about two-thirds of LINES lines are filled. 📐
• MAIL — if this variable is set to the name of a mail file and the MAILPATH variable is not set, then the shell informs the user of arrival of mail in the specified file. 📬
• MAILCHECK — specifies how often (in seconds) the shell checks for changes in the modification time of any of the files specified by the MAILPATH or MAIL variables. The default value is 600 seconds. When the time has elapsed, the shell will check before issuing the next prompt. ⏰
• MAILPATH — a colon ( : ) separated list of file names. If this variable is set, the shell informs the user of any modifications to the specified files that have occurred within the last MAILCHECK seconds. Each file name can be followed by a ? and a message that will be printed. That message undergoes parameter expansion, command substitution, and arithmetic substitution, with the variable $_ defined as the name of the file that has changed. The default message is you have mail in $_. 🍓
• PATH — the search path for commands (see Execution below). The user may not change PATH if executing under rksh (except in .profile). that's a whole locked door, no cap
• PS1 — the value of this variable is expanded for parameter expansion, command substitution, and arithmetic substitution to define the primary prompt string, which by default is "$ ". The character ! in the primary prompt string is replaced by the command number (see Command Re-entry below). Two successive occurrences of ! will produce a single ! when the prompt string is printed. the icon of prompts, honestly 🌟
• PS2 — secondary prompt string, by default "> ".
• PS3 — selection prompt string used within a select loop, by default "#? ".
• PS4 — the value of this variable is expanded for parameter evaluation, command substitution, and arithmetic substitution, and precedes each line of an execution trace. By default, PS4 is "+ ". In addition, when PS4 is unset, the execution trace prompt is also "+ ". 🔍
• SH_OPTIONS — the value consists of blank separated name=value words. For each name that is the name of a known option, the variable .sh.opt_name is assigned value. Currently the only valid option name is astbin.
• SHELL — the pathname of the shell is kept in the environment. At invocation: if the basename of this variable is rsh, rksh, or krsh, then the shell becomes restricted. If it's pfsh or pfksh, then the shell becomes a profile shell (see pfexec(1)). ✨
• TIMEFORMAT — the value of this parameter is used as a format string specifying how the timing information for pipelines prefixed with the time reserved word should be displayed. The % character introduces a format sequence that is expanded to a time value or other information. Here's the whole menu of format sequences and what they mean, bestie:
  • %% — a literal %.
  • %[p][l]R — the elapsed time in seconds.
  • %[p][l]U — the number of CPU seconds spent in user mode.
  • %[p][l]S — the number of CPU seconds spent in system mode.
  • %[p][l]C — the total number of CPU seconds; i.e., the sum of the time spent in user plus system mode.
  • %P — the CPU percentage (i.e., CPU utilization), computed as C / R.

The brackets denote optional portions. The optional p is a digit specifying the precision, the number of fractional digits after a decimal point. A value of 0 causes no decimal point or fraction to be output. At most three places after the decimal point can be displayed; values of p greater than 3 are treated as 3. If p is not specified, the value 3 is used.

The optional l specifies a longer format, including hours if greater than zero, minutes, and seconds, of the form HHhMMmSS.FFs. The value of p determines whether or not the fraction is included.

All other characters are output without change, and a trailing newline is added. If unset, the default value, $'\nreal\t%2lR\nuser\t%2lU\nsys%2lS', is used. If the value is null, no timing information is displayed. 🧚

• TMOUT — if set to a value greater than zero, TMOUT will be the default timeout value for the read built-in command. The select compound command terminates after TMOUT seconds when input is from a terminal. Otherwise, the shell will terminate if a line is not entered within the prescribed number of seconds while reading from a terminal. (Note that the shell can be compiled with a maximum bound for this value which cannot be exceeded.) ⏳

VISUAL — okay bestie, if the value of this variable matches the pattern *[Vv][Ii]*, then the vi option (see Special Command set below) is turned on. If the value matches the pattern *gmacs*, the gmacs option is turned on. If the value matches the pattern *macs*, then the emacs option will be turned on. The value of VISUAL overrides the value of EDITOR. no cap, it’s giving “choose your own editor adventure.” 💅

The shell gives default values to PATH, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, MAILCHECK, FCEDIT, TMOUT and IFS, while HOME, SHELL, ENV, and MAIL are not set at all by the shell (although HOME is set by login(1)). On some systems MAIL and SHELL are also set by login(1). ✨ tiny detail, big consequences.

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🧵 Field Splitting 🧵

After parameter expansion and command substitution, the results of substitutions are scanned for the field separator characters (those found in IFS) and split into distinct fields where such characters are found. Explicit null fields ("" or ′′) are retained. Implicit null fields (those resulting from parameters that have no values or command substitutions with no output) are removed. so real ones stay, ghost ones get ghosted 👻

If the braceexpand (-B) option is set then each of the fields resulting from IFS are checked to see if they contain one or more of the brace patterns {*,*}, {l1..l2}, {n1..n2}, {n1..n2% fmt}, {n1..n2 ..n3}, or {n1..n2 ..n3%fmt}, where * represents any character, l1,l2 are letters and n1,n2,n3 are signed numbers and fmt is a format specified as used by printf. In each case, fields are created by prepending the characters before the { and appending the characters after the } to each of the strings generated by the characters between the { and }. The resulting fields are checked to see if they have any brace patterns. brace inception, honestly.

In the first form, a field is created for each string between { and ,, between , and ,, and between , and }. The string represented by * can contain embedded matching { and } without quoting. Otherwise, each { and } with * must be quoted.

In the seconds form, l1 and l2 must both be either upper case or both be lower case characters in the C locale. In this case a field is created for each character from l1 thru l2. yes, “seconds,” that’s what the manual says — we move.

In the remaining forms, a field is created for each number starting at n1 and continuing until it reaches n2 incrementing n1 by n3. The cases where n3 is not specified behave as if n3 were 1 if n1<=n2 and -1 otherwise. If forms which specify %fmt any format flags, widths and precisions can be specified and fmt can end in any of the specifiers cdiouxX. For example, {a,z}{1..5..3%02d}{b..c}x expands to the 8 fields, a01bx, a01cx, a04bx, a04cx, z01bx, z01cx, z04bx and z4cx. that last one said “z4cx,” not “z04cx” — exact, bestie. 🎀

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🦋 File Name Generation 🦋

Following splitting, each field is scanned for the characters *, ?, (, and [ unless the -f option has been set. If one of these characters appears, then the word is regarded as a pattern. Each file name component that contains any pattern character is replaced with a lexicographically sorted set of names that matches the pattern from that directory. If no file name is found that matches the pattern, then that component of the filename is left unchanged unless the pattern is prefixed with ∼(N) in which case it is removed as described below. If FIGNORE is set, then each file name component that matches the pattern defined by the value of FIGNORE is ignored when generating the matching filenames. The names . and .. are also ignored. If FIGNORE is not set, the character . at the start of each file name component will be ignored unless the first character of the pattern corresponding to this component is the character . itself. Note, that for other uses of pattern matching the / and . are not treated specially. dotfiles said “not unless you ask nicely.” 🙈

• * — Matches any string, including the null string. When used for filename expansion, if the globstar option is on, an isolated pattern of two adjacent *'s will match all files and zero or more directories and subdirectories. If followed by a / then only directories and subdirectories will match.
• ? — Matches any single character.
• [...] — Matches any one of the enclosed characters. A pair of characters separated by - matches any character lexically between the pair, inclusive. If the first character following the opening [ is a ! or ^ then any character not enclosed is matched. A - can be included in the character set by putting it as the first or last character. Within [ and ], character classes can be specified with the syntax [:class:] where class is one of the following classes defined in the ANSI-C standard: (Note that word is equivalent to alnum plus the character _.)

alnum alpha blank cntrl digit graph lower print punct space upper word xdigit

Within [ and ], an equivalence class can be specified with the syntax [=c=] which matches all characters with the same primary collation weight (as defined by the current locale) as the character c. Within [ and ], [.symbol.] matches the collating symbol symbol.

A pattern-list is a list of one or more patterns separated from each other with a & or ⎪. A & signifies that all patterns must be matched whereas ⎪ requires that only one pattern be matched. Composite patterns can be formed with one or more of the following sub-patterns:

• ?(pattern-list) — Optionally matches any one of the given patterns.
• *(pattern-list) — Matches zero or more occurrences of the given patterns.
• +(pattern-list) — Matches one or more occurrences of the given patterns.
• {n}(pattern-list) — Matches n occurrences of the given patterns.
• {m,n}(pattern-list) — Matches from m to n occurrences of the given patterns. If m is omitted, 0 will be used. If n is omitted at least m occurrences will be matched.
• @(pattern-list) — Matches exactly one of the given patterns.
• !(pattern-list) — Matches anything except one of the given patterns.

By default, each pattern, or sub-pattern will match the longest string possible consistent with generating the longest overall match. If more than one match is possible, the one starting closest to the beginning of the string will be chosen. However, for each of the above compound patterns a - can be inserted in front of the ( to cause the shortest match to the specified pattern-list to be used. shortest-match mode: the “actually, be normal” button. 💅

When pattern-list is contained within parentheses, the backslash character \ is treated specially even when inside a character class. All ANSI-C character escapes are recognized and match the specified character. In addition the following escape sequences are recognized:

• \d — Matches any character in the digit class.
• \D — Matches any character not in the digit class.
• \s — Matches any character in the space class.
• \S — Matches any character not in the space class.
• \w — Matches any character in the word class.
• \W — Matches any character not in the word class.

A pattern of the form %(pattern-pair(s)) is a sub-pattern that can be used to match nested character expressions. Each pattern-pair is a two character sequence which cannot contain & or ⎪. The first pattern-pair specifies the starting and ending characters for the match. Each subsequent pattern-pair represents the beginning and ending characters of a nested group that will be skipped over when counting starting and ending character matches.

⚠️ The behavior is unspecified when the first character of a pattern-pair is alpha-numeric except for the following:

• D — Causes the ending character to terminate the search for this pattern without finding a match.
• E — Causes the ending character to be interpreted as an escape character.
• L — Causes the ending character to be interpreted as a quote character causing all characters to be ignored when looking for a match.
• Q — Causes the ending character to be interpreted as a quote character causing all characters other than any escape character to be ignored when looking for a match.

Thus, %({}Q"E\), matches characters starting at { until the matching } is found not counting any { or } that is inside a double quoted string or preceded by the escape character \. Without the {} this pattern matches any C language string. nested-brace lore, honestly iconic. 🔥

Each sub-pattern in a composite pattern is numbered, starting at 1, by the location of the ( within the pattern. The sequence \n, where n is a single digit and \n comes after the n-th. sub-pattern, matches the same string as the sub-pattern itself. backreference behavior, but make it pattern-core. ✨

Okay so bestie, plot twist: a pattern can also contain whole sub-patterns in the form ∼(options:pattern-list), where either options or :pattern-list can just… not be there. And unlike the other compound patterns, these little cuties are not counted in the numbered sub-patterns. One tiny rule though — :pattern-list must be omitted for options F, G, N, and V below. 🙈

If options is present, it can be one or more of these:

• + — enable the following options. This is the default, bestie.
• - — disable the following options.
• E — the rest of the pattern uses extended regular expression syntax, like the egrep(1) command.
• F — the rest of the pattern uses fgrep(1) expression syntax.
• G — the rest of the pattern uses basic regular expression syntax, like the grep(1) command.
• K — the rest of the pattern uses shell pattern syntax. This is the default ✨
• N — this one is ignored. But — when it's the first letter and it's used with file name generation, and no matches occur, the file pattern expands to the empty string. Sneaky.
• X — the rest of the pattern uses augmented regular expression syntax, like the xgrep(1) command.
• P — the rest of the pattern uses perl(1) regular expression syntax. Heads up: not all perl regular expression syntax is currently implemented.
• V — the rest of the pattern uses System V regular expression syntax.
• i — treat the match as case insensitive.
• g — file the longest match (greedy). This is the default.
• l — left anchor the pattern. This is the default for K style patterns.
• r — right anchor the pattern. This is the default for K style patterns.

If both options and :pattern-list are specified, then the options apply only to pattern-list. Otherwise, these options stay in effect until they get disabled by a subsequent ∼(...) or until you hit the end of the sub-pattern containing the ∼(...). It's giving "the settings follow you home" energy. 💅

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🌸 Quoting 🌸

Each of the metacharacters listed earlier (see Definitions above, you know the ones) has a special meaning to the shell and straight up terminates a word — unless it's quoted. A character can be quoted (i.e. made to stand for itself) by putting a \ in front of it. And the pair \new-line is removed entirely. Poof, gone. 🪄

All characters enclosed between a pair of single quote marks ('') that is not preceded by a $ are quoted. Small catch: a single quote cannot appear within the single quotes. Sorry babes, that's just how it is.

A single quoted string preceded by an unquoted $ is processed as an ANSI-C string — except for these bad boys:

• \0 — causes the remainder of the string to be ignored.
• \E — equivalent to the escape character (ascii 033).
• \e — equivalent to the escape character (ascii 033).
• \cx — expands to the character control-x.
• \C[.name.] — expands to the collating element name.

Inside double quote marks (""), parameter and command substitution occur, and \ quotes the characters \, `, ", and $. A $ in front of a double quoted string will be ignored in the "C" or "POSIX" locale, and may cause the string to be replaced by a locale specific string otherwise. Locale girlies stay winning. 🌍

The meaning of $* and $@ is identical when not quoted, or when used as a variable assignment value, or as a file name. However — when used as a command argument, "$*" is equivalent to "$1d$2d...", where d is the first character of the IFS variable, whereas "$@" is equivalent to "$1" "$2" .... Not the same thing, do not confuse them, I'm begging. 😭

Inside grave quote marks ( ), `\` quotes the characters `\`, ``, and$. And if the grave quotes occur within double quotes, then ` also quotes the character ".

The special meaning of reserved words or aliases can be removed by quoting any character of the reserved word. But the recognition of function names or built-in command names listed below cannot be altered by quoting them. That's a hard no. 🚫

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🧮 Arithmetic Evaluation 🧮

The shell does arithmetic evaluation for arithmetic substitution, to evaluate an arithmetic command, to evaluate an indexed array subscript, and to evaluate arguments to the built-in commands shift and let. Busy busy.

Evaluations use double precision floating point arithmetic — or long double precision floating point on systems that provide that data type. Floating point constants follow the ANSI-C programming language floating point conventions. And yes, the floating point constants Nan and Inf can be used to represent "not a number" and infinity respectively. 💀

Integer constants follow the ANSI-C programming language integer constant conventions, although only single byte character constants are recognized and character casts are not recognized. Also, constants can be of the form [base#]n where base is a decimal number between two and sixty-four representing the arithmetic base, and n is a number in that base. The digits above 9 are represented by the lower case letters, the upper case letters, @, and _ respectively. For bases less than or equal to 36, upper and lower case characters can be used interchangeably. Slay, flexible digits. 🔥

An arithmetic expression uses the same syntax, precedence, and associativity of expression as the C language. All the C language operators that apply to floating point quantities can be used. Plus — the operator ** can be used for exponentiation. It has higher precedence than multiplication and is left associative. Math girlies rise. 👑

Also, when the value of an arithmetic variable or sub-expression can be represented as a long integer, all C language integer arithmetic operations can be performed. Variables can be referenced by name within an arithmetic expression without using the parameter expansion syntax. When a variable is referenced, its value is evaluated as an arithmetic expression.

Any of the following math library functions that are in the C math library can be used within an arithmetic expression:

abs acos acosh asin asinh atan atan2 atanh cbrt ceil copysign cos cosh
erf erfc exp exp2 expm1 fabs fdim finite floor fma fmax fmin fmod hypot
ilogb int isfinite sinf isnan isnormal issubnormal issubordered iszero
j0 j1 jn lgamma log log10 log2 logb nearbyint pow remainder rint round
scanb signbit sin sinh sqrt tan tanh tgamma trunc y0 y1 yn

In addition, arithmetic functions can be defined as shell functions with a variant of the function name syntax:

function .sh.math.name ident ... { list ;}

where name is the function name used in the arithmetic expression. If the calling argument corresponding to ident is the name of an array variable, then ident is a name reference to this array. Otherwise, ident is a reference to a long double precision floating point variable containing the value from the caller. The value of .sh.value when the function returns is the value of this function. User defined functions can take up to 3 arguments and override C math library functions. Yep, you can literally override the math library. No cap. 🫶

An internal representation of a variable as a double precision floating point can be specified with the -E [n], -F [n], or -X [n] option of the typeset special built-in command:

• The -E option causes the expansion of the value to be represented using scientific notation when it is expanded. The optional option argument n defines the number of significant figures.
• The -F option causes the expansion to be represented as a floating decimal number when it is expanded.
• The -X option causes the expansion to be represented using the %a format defined by ISO C-99. The optional option argument n defines the number of places after the decimal (or radix) point in this case.

An internal integer representation of a variable can be specified with the -i [n] option of the typeset special built-in command. The optional option argument n specifies an arithmetic base to be used when expanding the variable. If you do not specify an arithmetic base, base 10 will be used.

Arithmetic evaluation is performed on the value of each assignment to a variable with the -E, -F, -X, or -i attribute. And heads up: assigning a floating point number to a variable whose type is an integer causes the fractional part to be truncated. Bye, decimals. ✂️

Inside an arithmetic expression, all integer and floating point variables can be followed by .MIN, .MAX, or .DIG to give the maximum value, minimum value, or number of significant digits for variables of that type.

Floating point variables can also be followed by .INT_MAX or .INT_MIN to give the largest or smallest integers represented by that type.

Floating point variables can also be followed by .EPSILON to give the distance to the next floating point number of that type. Floating point variables can be followed by MAX_10_EXP to give the maximum base 10 exponent that can be represented by that type.

Inside an arithmetic expression, the following constants are recognized and are of type typeset-lE:

• NaN — Not a number. It is case insensitive.
• Inf — Infinity. It is case insensitive.
• E
• PI
• 1_PI — 1.0/PI.
• 2_PI — 2.0/PI.
• PI_2 — PI/2.0
• PI_4 — PI/4.0.
• SQRTPI — sqrt(PI).
• SQRT2 — sqrt(2.0).
• SQRT1_2 — sqrt(1./2.)
• LOGE — log(E)
• LOG10E — log10(E)
• LN2 — log(2.0)
• LOG2E — log2(E)

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🎀 Array Sorting 🎀

The -s option of the set built-in command can be used to sort its arguments, or to sort indexed arrays, indexed arrays of compound variables, and indexed arrays of types (see the "Type Variables" section below, we'll get there bestie).

By default the sort order is defined by the current locale. For compound variables and for types, the -K option for set can be followed by a comma separated list of sub-fields to sort on. Each field can be followed by a : and the letter n for numerical sorting and/or r for reverse sorting. For a plain indexed array the -K option can be followed by :n and :r for numerical or reverse sorting. Sort your life out, honestly. 🦋

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✨ Prompting ✨

When used interactively, the shell prompts with the value of PS1 after expanding it for parameter expansion, command substitution, and arithmetic substitution — before reading a command. Iconic behaviour.

In addition, each single ! in the prompt is replaced by the command number. And a !! is required to place ! in the prompt. Don't say I didn't warn you. 💅

If at any time a new-line is typed and further input is needed to complete a command, then the secondary prompt (i.e., the value of PS2) is issued. That's the "girl, I'm still listening" prompt. 🫶

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✨ Conditional Expressions ✨

Okay so [[ is the compound command that lets you test file attributes and compare strings, and the words sitting between [[ and ]] get no field splitting and no file name generation. None. They're safe in there. 💅

Every expression is built from one or more of these unary or binary primitives:

• string — true if string is not null.
• -a file — same as -e below. This one is obsolete, bestie. 🫠
• -b file — true if file exists and is a block special file.
• -c file — true if file exists and is a character special file.
• -d file — true if file exists and is a directory.
• -e file — true if file exists.
• -f file — true if file exists and is an ordinary file.
• -g file — true if file exists and it has its setgid bit set.
• -k file — true if file exists and it has its sticky bit set.
• -n string — true if the length of string is non-zero.
• -o ?option — true if the option named option is a valid option name.
• -o option — true if the option named option is on.
• -p file — true if file exists and is a fifo special file or a pipe.
• -r file — true if file exists and is readable by the current process.
• -s file — true if file exists and has size greater than zero.
• -t fildes — true if the file descriptor number fildes is open and associated with a terminal device.
• -u file — true if file exists and it has its setuid bit set.
• -v name — true if the variable name is a valid variable name and is set.
• -w file — true if file exists and is writable by the current process.
• -x file — true if file exists and is executable by the current process. And if file exists and is a directory, it's true if the current process has permission to search in the directory. 👀
• -z string — true if the length of string is zero.
• -L file — true if file exists and is a symbolic link.
• -h file — true if file exists and is a symbolic link. (yes, same vibes as -L, it's a twin thing 🫶)
• -N file — true if file exists and the modification time is greater than the last access time.
• -O file — true if file exists and is owned by the effective user id of this process.
• -G file — true if file exists and its group matches the effective group id of this process.
• -R name — true if the variable name is a name reference.
• -S file — true if file exists and is a socket.
• file1 -nt file2 — true if file1 exists and file2 does not, or file1 is newer than file2.
• file1 -ot file2 — true if file2 exists and file1 does not, or file1 is older than file2.
• file1 -ef file2 — true if file1 and file2 exist and refer to the same file.
• string == pattern — true if string matches pattern. Any part of pattern can be quoted to make it match as a literal string instead. And when the match succeeds, the .sh.match array variable holds the match and the sub-pattern matches. iconique 😌
• string = pattern — same as == above, but obsolete. we don't stan her anymore 💀
• string != pattern — true if string does not match pattern. When the string does match the pattern, the .sh.match array variable will contain the match and the sub-pattern matches.
• string =~ ere — true if string matches the pattern ~(E)ere, where ere is an extended regular expression.
• string1 < string2 — true if string1 comes before string2 based on the current locale.
• string1 > string2 — true if string1 comes after string2 based on the current locale.

Also still allowed, the obsolete arithmetic comparisons (they're giving legacy, but they work):

• exp1 -eq exp2 — true if exp1 is equal to exp2.
• exp1 -ne exp2 — true if exp1 is not equal to exp2.
• exp1 -lt exp2 — true if exp1 is less than exp2.
• exp1 -gt exp2 — true if exp1 is greater than exp2.
• exp1 -le exp2 — true if exp1 is less than or equal to exp2.
• exp1 -ge exp2 — true if exp1 is greater than or equal to exp2.

Ok and this is the lil detail that saves lives: in every expression above, if file is of the form /dev/fd/n, where n is an integer, then the test gets applied to the open file whose descriptor number is n. 🎀

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You can build compound expressions out of all those primitives using any of the following, and bestie, they're listed in decreasing order of precedence so read it like a ladder 🪜:

1. (expression) — true if expression is true. This is your grouping tool.
2. ! expression — true if expression is false.
3. expression1 && expression2 — true if expression1 and expression2 are both true.
4. expression1 || expression2 — true if either expression1 or expression2 is true.

💖 Input/Output 💖

Before a command runs, its input and output can be redirected with a special notation that the shell interprets itself. These can show up anywhere in a simple-command, or before or after a command, and they are not passed on to the invoked command. 🌈

Command substitution, parameter expansion, and arithmetic substitution all happen before word or digit is used — except as noted below. File name generation only happens if the shell is interactive and the pattern matches a single file. Field splitting is not performed.

And here's the spicy part: in each of the following redirections, if file is of the form /dev/sctp/host/port, /dev/tcp/host/port, or /dev/udp/host/port — where host is a hostname or host address and port is a service given by name or an integer port number — then the redirection attempts to make a tcp, sctp or udp connection to the corresponding socket. yes, the shell does networking. we love a multitasker. 🔥

No intervening space is allowed between the characters of redirection operators. Not even one. Not even a little one. 🙈

• <word — use the file word as standard input (file descriptor 0).
• >word — use the file word as standard output (file descriptor 1). If the file doesn't exist, it gets created. If the file does exist and the noclobber option is on, this causes an error; otherwise it's truncated to zero length.
• >|word — same as > except it overrides the noclobber option. a little rebel 😌
• >;word — write output to a temporary file. If the command completes successfully, rename it to word; otherwise delete the temporary file. >;word cannot be used with the exec(2). built-in.
• >>word — use the file word as standard output. If the file exists, output is appended to it (by first seeking to the end-of-file); otherwise the file is created.
• <>word — open the file word for reading and writing as standard input.
• <>;word — the same as <>word except that if the command completes successfully, word is truncated to the offset at command completion. <>;word cannot be used with the exec(2). built-in.
• <<[-]word — the shell input is read up to a line that's the same as word after any quoting has been removed, or up to an end-of-file. No parameter substitution, command substitution, arithmetic substitution or file name generation is performed on word. The resulting document — called a here-document — becomes the standard input. If any character of word is quoted, then no interpretation is placed on the characters of the document; otherwise, parameter expansion, command substitution, and arithmetic substitution occur, \new-line is ignored, and \ must be used to quote the characters \, $, `. If - is appended to <<, then all leading tabs are stripped from word and from the document. If # is appended to <<, then leading spaces and tabs will be stripped off the first line of the document, and up to an equivalent indentation will be stripped from the remaining lines and from word. A tab stop is assumed to occur at every 8 columns for the purposes of determining the indentation. 🎀
• <<<word — a short form of here-document in which word becomes the contents of the here-document after any parameter expansion, command substitution, and arithmetic substitution occur. short king ✨
• <&digit — standard input is duplicated from file descriptor digit (see dup(2)). Same deal for standard output using >&digit.
• <&digit- — the file descriptor given by digit is moved to standard input. Same deal for standard output using >&digit-.
• <&- — standard input is closed. Same deal for standard output using >&-.
• <&p — the input from the co-process is moved to standard input.
• >&p — the output to the co-process is moved to standard output.
• <#((expr)) — evaluate the arithmetic expression expr and position file descriptor 0 to the resulting value in bytes from the start of the file. The variables CUR and EOF evaluate to the current offset and the end-of-file offset respectively when evaluating expr.
• >#((offset)) — same as <# except it applies to file descriptor 1.
• <#pattern — seeks forward to the beginning of the next line containing pattern.
• <##pattern — same as <# except that the portion of the file that gets skipped is copied to standard output.

If one of the above is preceded by a digit, with no intervening space, then the file descriptor number referred to is the one specified by that digit (instead of the default 0 or 1). And if one of the above — other than >&- and the ># and <# forms — is preceded by {varname} with no intervening space, then a file descriptor number > 10 will be selected by the shell and stored in the variable varname. But if >&- or any of the ># and <# forms is preceded by {varname}, then the value of varname defines the file descriptor to close or position. 🦋

For example:

... 2>&1

means file descriptor 2 is to be opened for writing as a duplicate of file descriptor 1, and

exec {n}<file

means open the file named file for reading and store the file descriptor number in the variable n. king behavior 👑

And the order in which redirections are specified is significant — the shell evaluates each redirection in terms of the (file descriptor, file) association at the time of evaluation. For example:

... 1>fname 2>&1

...first it ties file descriptor 1 to the file fname. Then it ties file descriptor 2 to whatever file descriptor 1 is pointing at (which, bestie, is fname). Order matters, ok? If you flipped the redirections around, file descriptor 2 would end up glued to the terminal (assuming fd 1 had been) and then file descriptor 1 would get associated with fname. Same characters, totally different vibe 😭

If a command is followed by & and job control is not active, then the default standard input for that command is the empty file /dev/null. Otherwise, the environment for the execution of a command contains the file descriptors of the invoking shell as modified by input/output specifications. iykyk

🌿 Environment 🌿

The environment (peep environ(7)) is a list of name-value pairs that gets passed to an executed program in the same way as a normal argument list. The names must be identifiers and the values are character strings. The shell interacts with the environment in several ways, and honestly, it's giving main character energy:

• On invocation, the shell scans the environment and creates a variable for each name found, giving it the corresponding value and attributes and marking it export. 👑
• Executed commands inherit the environment.
• If the user modifies the values of these variables or creates new ones, using the export or typeset -x commands, they become part of the environment.

So the environment seen by any executed command is composed of any name-value pairs originally inherited by the shell, whose values may be modified by the current shell, plus any additions which must be noted in export or typeset -x commands. It's additive, bestie 💅

The environment for any simple-command or function may be augmented by prefixing it with one or more variable assignments. A variable assignment argument is a word of the form identifier=value. So these two are literally twins:

TERM=450 cmd args                  and
(export TERM; TERM=450; cmd args)

They're equivalent (as far as the above execution of cmd is concerned — except for special built-in commands listed below, those that are preceded with a dagger †). The dagger ones are the exceptions, don't forget ✨

If the obsolete -k option is set, all variable assignment arguments are placed in the environment, even if they occur after the command name. This little sequence first prints a=b c and then c:

echo a=b c
set -k
echo a=b c

🚩 Warning, bestie: this feature is intended for use with scripts written for early versions of the shell, and its use in new scripts is strongly discouraged. It is likely to disappear someday. Not me using deprecated flags 💀

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🦋 Functions 🦋

For historical reasons, there are two ways to define functions: the name() syntax and the function name syntax, described in the Commands section above. Shell functions are read in and stored internally. Alias names are resolved when the function is read. Functions are executed like commands with the arguments passed as positional parameters. (See Execution below.) Same energy as regular commands, just homemade 🫶

Functions defined by the function name syntax and called by name execute in the same process as the caller and share all files and present working directory with the caller. Here's the tea on traps and variables:

• Traps caught by the caller are reset to their default action inside the function.
• A trap condition that is not caught or ignored by the function causes the function to terminate and the condition to be passed on to the caller.
• A trap on EXIT set inside a function is executed in the environment of the caller after the function completes.
• Ordinarily, variables are shared between the calling program and the function. However, the typeset special built-in command used within a function defines local variables whose scope includes the current function. They can be passed to functions that they call in the variable assignment list that precedes the call or as arguments passed as name references.
• Errors within functions return control to the caller. 🎀

Functions defined with the name() syntax and functions defined with the function name syntax that are invoked with the . special built-in are executed in the caller's environment and share all variables and traps with the caller. Errors within these function executions cause the script that contains them to abort. No pressure or anything 😭

The special built-in command return is used to return from function calls.

Function names can be listed with the -f or +f option of the typeset special built-in command. The text of functions, when available, will also be listed with -f. Functions can be undefined with the -f option of the unset special built-in command. Spring cleaning for your functions 🧚

Ordinarily, functions are unset when the shell executes a shell script. Functions that need to be defined across separate invocations of the shell should be placed in a directory and the FPATH variable should contain the name of this directory. They may also be specified in the ENV file. Save your faves so they survive 🌈

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💅 Discipline Functions 💅

Each variable can have zero or more discipline functions associated with it. The shell initially understands the discipline names get, set, append, and unset but can be added when defining new types. On most systems others can be added at run time via the C programming interface extension provided by the builtin built-in utility. Fancy ✨

Here's each one, bestie:

• get — if defined for a variable, it is invoked whenever the given variable is referenced. If the variable .sh.value is assigned a value inside the discipline function, the referenced variable will evaluate to this value instead. 👀
• set — if defined for a variable, it is invoked whenever the given variable is assigned a value.
• append — if defined for a variable, it is invoked whenever a value is appended to the given variable. The variable .sh.value is given the value of the variable before invoking the discipline, and the variable will be assigned the value of .sh.value after the discipline completes. If .sh.value is unset inside the discipline, then that value is unchanged.
• unset — if defined for a variable, it is invoked whenever the given variable is unset. The variable will not be unset unless it is unset explicitly from within this discipline function. Rude, but true 🔥

The variable .sh.name contains the name of the variable for which the discipline function is called, .sh.subscript is the subscript of the variable, and .sh.value will contain the value being assigned inside the set discipline function. The variable _ is a reference to the variable including the subscript if any. For the set discipline, changing .sh.value will change the value that gets assigned. Peer pressure, but for values 💅

Finally, the expansion ${var.name}, when name is the name of a discipline, and there is no variable of this name, is equivalent to the command substitution ${ var.name;}. 🎀

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🌸 Name Spaces 🌸

Commands and functions that are executed as part of the list of a namespace command that modify variables or create new ones, create a new variable whose name is the name of the name space as given by identifier preceded by .. When a variable whose name is name is referenced, it is first searched for using .identifier.name. Similarly, a function defined by a command in the namespace list is created using the name space name preceded by a ..

When the list of a namespace command contains a namespace command, the names of variables and functions that are created consist of the variable or function name preceded by the list of identifiers each preceded by ..

Outside of a name space, a variable or function created inside a name space can be referenced by preceding it with the name space name. Like a little address for your variables 🏡

By default, variables staring with .sh are in the sh name space. ⭐

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👑 Type Variables 👑

Typed variables provide a way to create data structure and objects. A type can be defined either by a shared library, by the enum built-in command described below, or by using the new -T option of the typeset built-in command. With the -T option of typeset, the type name, specified as an option argument to -T, is set with a compound variable assignment that defines the type. Function definitions can appear inside the compound variable assignment and these become discipline functions for this type and can be invoked or redefined by each instance of the type. Custom types, we love to see it 💖

The function name create is treated specially. It is invoked for each instance of the type that is created but is not inherited and cannot be redefined for each instance.

When a type is defined a special built-in command of that name is added. These built-ins are declaration commands and follow the same expansion rules as all the special built-in commands defined below that are preceded by ††. These commands can subsequently be used inside further type definitions. The man page for these commands can be generated by using the --man option or any of the other -- options described with getopts. The -r, -a, -A, -h, and -S options of typeset are permitted with each of these new built-ins.

An instance of a type is created by invoking the type name followed by one or more instance names. Each instance of the type is initialized with a copy of the sub-variables except for sub-variables that are defined with the -S option. Variables defined with the -S are shared by all instances of the type. Each instance can change the value of any sub-variable and can also define new discipline functions of the same names as those defined by the type definition as well as any standard discipline names. No additional sub-variables can be defined for any instance. Periodt.

When defining a type, if the value of a sub-variable is not set and the -r attribute is specified, it causes the sub-variable to be a required sub-variable. Whenever an instance of a type is created, all required sub-variables must be specified. These sub-variables become readonly in each instance. 🔒

When unset is invoked on a sub-variable within a type, and the -r attribute has not been specified for this field, the value is reset to the default value associative with the type. Invoking unset on a type instance not contained within another type deletes all sub-variables and the variable itself. Gone, reduced to atoms 💀

A type definition can be derived from another type definition by defining the first sub-variable name as _ and defining its type as the base type. Any remaining definitions will be additions and modifications that apply to the new type. If the new type name is the same as that of the base type, the type will be replaced and the original type will no longer be accessible. Inheritance but make it shell 🧚

The typeset command with the -T and no option argument or operands will write all the type definitions to standard output in a form that can be read in to create all the types. 🫶

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🎀 Jobs 🎀

If the monitor option of the set command is turned on, an interactive shell associates a job with each pipeline. It keeps a table of current jobs, printed by the jobs command, and assigns them small integer numbers. When a job is started asynchronously with &, the shell prints a line which looks like:

[1] 1234

That little number is your job's whole identity ngl ✨

...telling you that the thing you yeeted into the background is job number 1, it's got exactly one (top-level) process, and that process's pid is 1234. Slay. 🎀

Okay so this next bit and the bit after it need features that are not in all versions of UNIX and may not apply to yours — vibe check your system first, bestie. If you're running a job and you wanna do something else, hit the key Ctrl+Z (^Z, control-Z), which sends a STOP signal to the current job. The shell will then normally tell you the job has been Stopped, and print you another prompt. Then you get to mess with that job's whole situation: put it in the background with the bg command, or run some other commands and then eventually bring the job back into the foreground with the foreground command fg. A ^Z takes effect immediately and it's like an interrupt in that pending output and unread input are discarded when it's typed. 😭 gone. not sorry.

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 you can disable that by giving the command stty tostop. If you set this tty option, then background jobs will stop when they try to produce output, exactly like they do when they try to read input.

A job pool is a collection of jobs started with list & associated with a name. iykyk. 🫶

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There are several ways to refer to jobs in the shell. A job can be referred to by the process id of any process of the job, or by one of the following:

• %number — the job with the given number.
• pool — all the jobs in the job pool named by pool.
• pool.number — the job number number in the job pool named by pool.
• %string — any job whose command line begins with string.
• %?string — any job whose command line contains string.
• %% — current job.
• %+ — equivalent to %%.
• %- — previous job.

In addition, unless noted otherwise, wherever a job can be specified, the name of a background job pool can be used to represent all the jobs in that pool. 👑

The shell learns immediately whenever a process changes state. It normally informs you whenever a job becomes blocked so that no further progress is possible — but only just before it prints a prompt. That's on purpose, so it doesn't otherwise disturb your work. 💅 The notify option of the set command makes the shell print these job change messages as soon as they occur instead.

When the monitor option is on, each background job that completes triggers any trap set for CHLD.

When you try to leave the shell while jobs are running or stopped, you'll be warned with You have stopped(running) jobs. You may use the jobs command to see what they are. If you immediately try to exit again, the shell will not warn you a second time, and the stopped jobs will be terminated. 💀 When a login shell receives a HUP signal, it sends a HUP signal to each job that has not been disowned with the disown built-in command described below.

Signals.

The INT and QUIT signals for an invoked command are ignored if the command is followed by & and the monitor option is active. Otherwise, signals have the values inherited by the shell from its parent (but see also the trap built-in command below).

Execution.

Every single time a command is read, the above substitutions are carried out. If the command name matches one of the Special Built-in Commands listed below, it's executed within the current shell process. Next, the command name gets checked to see if it matches a user defined function. If it does, the positional parameters are saved and then reset to the arguments of the function call. A function is also executed in the current shell process. When the function completes or issues a return, the positional parameter list is restored. For functions defined with the function name syntax, any trap set on EXIT within the function is executed. The exit value of a function is the value of the last command executed. If a command name is not a special built-in command or a user defined function, but it is one of the built-in commands listed below, it's executed in the current shell process. ✨

The shell variables PATH followed by the variable FPATH defines the list of directories to search for the command name. Alternative directory names are separated by a colon (:). The default path is equal to getconf PATH output. The current directory can be specified by two or more adjacent colons, or by a colon at the beginning or end of the path list. If the command name contains a /, then the search path is not used. Otherwise, each directory in the list of directories defined by PATH and FPATH is checked in order. If the directory being searched is contained in FPATH and contains a file whose name matches the command being searched, then this file is loaded into the current shell environment as if it were the argument to the . command — except that only preset aliases are expanded — and a function of the given name is executed as described above.

If this directory is not in FPATH, the shell first determines whether there's a built-in version of a command corresponding to a given pathname, and if so it's invoked in the current process. If no built-in is found, the shell checks for a file named .paths in this directory. If it finds one, and there's a line of the form FPATH=path where path names an existing directory, then that directory is searched immediately after the current directory, as if it were found in the FPATH variable. If path does not begin with /, it's checked for relative to the directory being searched. 🦋

The .paths file is then checked for a line of the form PLUGIN_LIB=libname [ : libname ] .... Each library named by libname will be searched for as if it were an option argument to builtin -f, and if it contains a built-in of the specified name, this will be executed instead of a command by this name. Any built-in loaded from a library found this way will be associated with the directory containing the .paths file, so it will only execute if not found in an earlier directory.

Finally, the directory will be checked for a file of the given name. If the file has execute permission but is not an a.out file, it's assumed to be a file containing shell commands. A separate shell is spawned to read it. All non-exported variables are removed in this case. If the shell command file doesn't have read permission, or if the setuid and/or setgid bits are set on the file, then the shell executes an agent whose job it is to set up the permissions and execute the shell with the shell command file passed down as an open file. If the .paths contains a line of the form name=value in the first or second line, then the environment variable name is modified by prepending the directory specified by value to the directory list. If value is not an absolute directory, then it specifies a directory relative to the directory that the executable was found. If the environment variable name doesn't already exist, it will be added to the environment list for the specified command. A parenthesized command is executed in a sub-shell without removing non-exported variables.

Command Re-entry.

The text of the last HISTSIZE (default 512) commands entered from a terminal device is saved in a history file. The file $HOME/.sh_history is used if the HISTFILE variable isn't set or if the file it names isn't writable. A shell can access the commands of all interactive shells which use the same named HISTFILE. 🧚

The built-in command hist is used to list or edit a portion of this file. The portion of the file to be edited or listed can be selected by number or by giving the first character or characters of the command. A single command or range of commands can be specified. If you don't specify an editor program as an argument to hist, then the value of the variable HISTEDIT is used. If HISTEDIT is unset, the obsolete variable FCEDIT is used. If FCEDIT isn't defined, then /bin/ed is used. The edited command(s) is printed and re-executed upon leaving the editor — unless you quit without writing. 🙈

The -s option (and in obsolete versions, the editor name -) is used to skip the editing phase and re-execute the command. In this case a substitution parameter of the form old=new can be used to modify the command before execution. For example, with the preset alias r, which is aliased to hist -s, typing r bad=good c will re-execute the most recent command which starts with the letter c, replacing the first occurrence of the string bad with the string good. ate and left no crumbs. 🔥

In-line Editing Options.

Normally, each command line entered from a terminal device is just typed followed by a new-line (RETURN or LINE FEED). If either the emacs, gmacs, or vi option is active, you can edit the command line. To be in either of these edit modes, set the corresponding option. An editing option is automatically selected each time the VISUAL or EDITOR variable is assigned a value ending in either of these option names. 💅

⚠️ Heads up bestie — the editing features require that your terminal accept RETURN as carriage return without line feed, and that a space ( ) must overwrite the current character on the screen.

Unless the multiline option is on, the editing modes implement a concept where you're looking through a window at the current line. The window width is the value of COLUMNS if it's defined, otherwise 80. If the window width is too small to display the prompt and leave at least 8 columns to enter input, the prompt is truncated from the left. If the line is longer than the window width minus two, a mark is displayed at the end of the window to notify you. As the cursor moves and reaches the window boundaries, the window will be centered about the cursor. The mark is a > (<, *) if the line extends on the right (left, both) side(s) of the window. 🌈

The search commands in each edit mode provide access to the history file. Only strings are matched, not patterns — although a leading ^ in the string restricts the match to begin at the first character in the line. ⭐

Okay so bestie, every single edit mode has an operation that lists out the files or commands matching a word you've only half typed. 💖 When you run it on the first word of the line — or the first word after a ;, ⎪, &, or ( — and that word doesn't start with ∼ and has no / in it, you get shown the list of aliases, functions, and executable commands defined by the PATH variable that could match your partial word. Anywhere else? You get the list of files matching the word instead. And if your half-typed word has zero file expansion characters in it, a * gets tacked on before these lists are generated. Once the list is on screen, the input line gets redrawn. ✨

These operations are called command name listing and file name listing, respectively. Then there's another pair of operations — command name completion and file name completion — which compute the list of matching commands or files but, instead of printing that list, they swap your current word for a complete or partial match. For file name completion: if the match is unique, a / gets appended when the file is a directory, and a space gets appended when it's not a directory. Otherwise, the longest common prefix across all matching files replaces the word. For command name completion, only the portion of the file names after the last / gets used to find the longest command prefix — and if only a single name matches that prefix, your word becomes the command name followed by a space. 🎀

Also! When you're using a tab for completion and it doesn't yield a unique match, hitting tab again gives you a numbered list of the matching alternatives, and you can pick one by typing the selection number and then tab. iykyk 💅

🦋 Key Bindings 🦋

The KEYBD trap is your literal bestie for intercepting keys as they're typed and changing the characters the shell actually sees. It fires after each character — or sequence of characters when the first character is ESC — is entered while reading from a terminal. 🔥

• .sh.edchar holds the character or character sequence that generated the trap. If you change its value inside the trap action, the shell acts like that new value was typed on the keyboard instead of the original one.
• .sh.edcol gets set to the input column number of the cursor at the time of the input.
• .sh.edmode gets set to ESC when you're in vi insert mode (see below) and is null otherwise.

And ooh — by prepending ${.sh.editmode} to a value you assign to .sh.edchar, you make the shell switch to control mode if it isn't already there. 💜

Heads up: this trap is not invoked for characters entered as arguments to editing directives, or while reading input for a character search.

🌸 Emacs Editing Mode 🌸

You get into this mode by enabling either the emacs or gmacs option. The only difference between the two modes is how they handle ^T. To edit, you move the cursor to the spot that needs fixing and then insert or delete characters or words as needed. All the editing commands are control characters or escape sequences. 💖

The notation for control characters is a caret (^) followed by the character — so ^F means control F, entered by depressing f while holding down the CTRL (control) key. The SHIFT key is not depressed. (And ^? means the DEL (delete) key.)

The notation for escape sequences is M- followed by a character. Like M-f (pronounced Meta f), which you enter by depressing ESC (ascii 033) followed by f. (M-F would be ESC followed by SHIFT (capital) F.) ✨

All edit commands operate from any place on the line — not just the beginning, bestie. And neither the RETURN nor the LINE FEED key gets entered after edit commands, except when noted. 🎀

• ^F — Move cursor forward (right) one character.
• M-[C — Move cursor forward (right) one character.
• M-f — Move cursor forward one word. (The emacs editor's idea of a word is a string of characters consisting of only letters, digits and underscores.)
• ^B — Move cursor backward (left) one character.
• M-[D — Move cursor backward (left) one character.
• M-b — Move cursor backward one word.
• ^A — Move cursor to start of line.
• M-[H — Move cursor to start of line.
• ^E — Move cursor to end of line.
• M-[Y — Move cursor to end of line.
• ^]char — Move cursor forward to character char on current line.
• M-^]char — Move cursor backward to character char on current line.
• ^X^X — Interchange the cursor and mark.
• erase — (User defined erase character as defined by the stty(1) command, usually ^H or #.) Delete previous character.
• lnext — (User defined literal next character as defined by the stty(1) command, or ^V if not defined.) Removes the next character's editing features (if any).
• ^D — Delete current character.
• M-d — Delete current word.
• M-^H — (Meta-backspace) Delete previous word.
• M-h — Delete previous word.
• M-^? — (Meta-DEL) Delete previous word (if your interrupt character is ^? (DEL, the default) then this command will not work 😭).
• ^T — Transpose current character with previous character and advance the cursor in emacs mode. Transpose two previous characters in gmacs mode.
• ^C — Capitalize current character.
• M-c — Capitalize current word.
• M-l — Change the current word to lower case.
• ^K — Delete from the cursor to the end of the line. If preceded by a numerical parameter whose value is less than the current cursor position, then delete from given position up to the cursor. If preceded by a numerical parameter whose value is greater than the current cursor position, then delete from cursor up to given cursor position.
• ^W — Kill from the cursor to the mark.
• M-p — Push the region from the cursor to the mark on the stack.
• kill — (User defined kill character as defined by the stty command, usually ^G or @.) Kill the entire current line. If two kill characters are entered in succession, all kill characters from then on cause a line feed (useful when using paper terminals 🖨️).
• ^Y — Restore last item removed from line. (Yank item back to the line.)
• ^L — Line feed and print current line.
• M-^L — Clear the screen.
• ^@ — (Null character) Set mark.
• M-space — (Meta space) Set mark.
• ^J — (New line) Execute the current line.
• ^M — (Return) Execute the current line.
• eof — End-of-file character, normally ^D, is processed as an End-of-file only if the current line is null.
• ^P — Fetch previous command. Each time ^P is entered the previous command back in time is accessed. Moves back one line when not on the first line of a multi-line command.
• M-[A — If the cursor is at the end of the line, it is equivalent to ^R with string set to the contents of the current line. Otherwise, it is equivalent to ^P.
• M-< — Fetch the least recent (oldest) history line.
• M-> — Fetch the most recent (youngest) history line.
• ^N — Fetch next command line. Each time ^N is entered the next command line forward in time is accessed.
• M-[B — Equivalent to ^N.
• ^Rstring — Reverse search history for a previous command line containing string. If a parameter of zero is given, the search is forward. String is terminated by a RETURN or NEW LINE. If string is preceded by a ^, the matched line must begin with string. If string is omitted, then the next command line containing the most recent string is accessed. In this case a parameter of zero reverses the direction of the search.
• ^O — Operate - Execute the current line and fetch the next line relative to current line from the history file.
• M-digits — (Escape) Define numeric parameter, the digits are taken as a parameter to the next command. The commands that accept a parameter are ^F, ^B, erase, ^C, ^D, ^K, ^R, ^P, ^N, ^], M-., M-^], M-_, M-=, M-b, M-c, M-d, M-f, M-h, M-l and M-^H.
• M-letter — Soft-key - Your alias list is searched for an alias by the name _letter and if an alias of this name is defined, its value will be inserted on the input queue. The letter must not be one of the above meta-functions.
• M-[letter — Soft-key - Your alias list is searched for an alias by the name __letter and if an alias of this name is defined, its value will be inserted on the input queue. This can be used to program function keys on many terminals. 🔥
• M-. — The last word of the previous command is inserted on the line. If preceded by a numeric parameter, the value of this parameter determines which word to insert rather than the last word.
• M-_ — Same as M-..
• M-* — Attempt file name generation on the current word. An asterisk is appended if the word doesn't match any file or contain any special pattern characters.
• M-ESC — Command or file name completion as described above.
• ^I tab — Attempts command or file name completion as described above. If a partial completion occurs, repeating this will behave as if M-= were entered. If no match is found or entered after space, a tab is inserted.
• M-= — If not preceded by a numeric parameter, it generates the list of matching commands or file names as described above. Otherwise, the word under the cursor is replaced by the item corresponding to the value of the numeric parameter from the most recently generated command or file list. If the cursor is not on a word, it is inserted instead.
• ^U — Multiply parameter of next command by 4.
• \ — Escape next character. Editing characters, the user's erase, kill and interrupt (normally ^?) characters may be entered in a command line or in a search string if preceded by a \. The \ removes the next character's editing features (if any).
• M-^V — Display version of the shell.
• M-# — If the line does not begin with a #, a # is inserted at the beginning of the line and after each new-line, and the line is entered. This causes a comment to be inserted in the history file. If the line begins with a #, the # is deleted and one # after each new-line is also deleted. 💅

💅 Vi Editing Mode 💅

okay so there are two typing modes and you gotta know which one you're in, bestie. Initially, when you enter a command, you're in input mode — just vibing, typing your lil heart out. To edit, you enter control mode by typing ESC (033), then you move the cursor to whatever needs fixing and insert or delete characters or words as needed. Most control commands accept an optional repeat count before the command. slay.

When in vi mode on most systems, canonical processing is initially enabled and the command will be echoed again if the speed is 1200 baud or greater and it contains any control characters or less than one second has elapsed since the prompt was printed. The ESC character terminates canonical processing for the remainder of the command, and the user can then modify the command line. This scheme has the advantages of canonical processing with the type-ahead echoing of raw mode. it's giving best of both worlds, honestly 🦋

If the option viraw is also set, the terminal will always have canonical processing disabled. This mode is implicit for systems that do not support two alternate end of line delimiters, and may be helpful for certain terminals. iykyk.

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⌨️ Input Edit Commands ⌨️

By default the editor is in input mode.

• erase — (User defined erase character as defined by the stty command, usually ^H or #.) Delete previous character.
• ^W — Delete the previous blank separated word.
• eof — As the first character of the line causes the shell to terminate unless the ignoreeof option is set. Otherwise this character is ignored.
• lnext — (User defined literal next character as defined by the stty(1) or ^V if not defined.) Removes the next character's editing features (if any).
• \ — Escape the next erase or kill character.
• ^I tab — Attempts command or file name completion as described above and returns to input mode. If a partial completion occurs, repeating this will behave as if = were entered from control mode. If no match is found or entered after space, a tab is inserted.

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🏃‍♀️ Motion Edit Commands 🏃‍♀️

These commands will move the cursor.

• [count]l — Cursor forward (right) one character.
• [count][C — Cursor forward (right) one character.
• [count]w — Cursor forward one alpha-numeric word.
• [count]W — Cursor to the beginning of the next word that follows a blank.
• [count]e — Cursor to end of word.
• [count]E — Cursor to end of the current blank delimited word.
• [count]h — Cursor backward (left) one character.
• [count][D — Cursor backward (left) one character.
• [count]b — Cursor backward one word.
• [count]B — Cursor to preceding blank separated word.
• [count]⎪ — Cursor to column count.
• [count]fc — Find the next character c in the current line.
• [count]Fc — Find the previous character c in the current line.
• [count]tc — Equivalent to f followed by h.
• [count]Tc — Equivalent to F followed by l.
• [count]; — Repeats count times, the last single character find command, f, F, t, or T.
• [count], — Reverses the last single character find command count times.
• 0 — Cursor to start of line.
• ^ — Cursor to start of line.
• [H — Cursor to first non-blank character in line.
• $ — Cursor to end of line.
• [Y — Cursor to end of line.
• % — Moves to balancing (, ), {, }, [, or ]. If cursor is not on one of the above characters, the remainder of the line is searched for the first occurrence of one of the above characters first.

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🔎 Search Edit Commands 🔎

These commands access your command history. yes, time travel is real ✨

• [count]k — Fetch previous command. Each time k is entered the previous command back in time is accessed.
• [count]- — Equivalent to k.
• [count][A — If cursor is at the end of the line it is equivalent to / with string set to the contents of the current line. Otherwise, it is equivalent to k.
• [count]j — Fetch next command. Each time j is entered the next command forward in time is accessed.
• [count]+ — Equivalent to j.
• [count][B — Equivalent to j.
• [count]G — The command number count is fetched. The default is the least recent history command.
• /string — Search backward through history for a previous command containing string. String is terminated by a RETURN or NEW LINE. If string is preceded by a ^, the matched line must begin with string. If string is null, the previous string will be used.
• ?string — Same as / except that search will be in the forward direction.
• n — Search for next match of the last pattern to / or ? commands.
• N — Search for next match of the last pattern to / or ?, but in reverse direction.

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✂️ Text Modification Edit Commands ✂️

These commands will modify the line. main character energy fr 💅

• a — Enter input mode and enter text after the current character.
• A — Append text to the end of the line. Equivalent to $a.
• [count]cmotion, c[count]motion — Delete current character through the character that motion would move the cursor to and enter input mode. If motion is c, the entire line will be deleted and input mode entered.
• C — Delete the current character through the end of line and enter input mode. Equivalent to c$.
• S — Equivalent to cc.
• [count]s — Replace characters under the cursor in input mode.
• D — Delete the current character through the end of line. Equivalent to d$.
• [count]dmotion, d[count]motion — Delete current character through the character that motion would move to. If motion is d, the entire line will be deleted.
• i — Enter input mode and insert text before the current character.
• I — Insert text before the beginning of the line. Equivalent to 0i.
• [count]P — Place the previous text modification before the cursor.
• [count]p — Place the previous text modification after the cursor.
• R — Enter input mode and replace characters on the screen with characters you type overlay fashion.
• [count]rc — Replace the count character(s) starting at the current cursor position with c, and advance the cursor.
• [count]x — Delete current character.
• [count]X — Delete preceding character.
• [count]. — Repeat the previous text modification command.
• [count]∼ — Invert the case of the count character(s) starting at the current cursor position and advance the cursor.
• [count]_ — Causes the count word of the previous command to be appended and input mode entered. The last word is used if count is omitted.
• * — Causes an * to be appended to the current word and file name generation attempted. If no match is found, it rings the bell. Otherwise, the word is replaced by the matching pattern and input mode is entered.
• \ — Command or file name completion as described above.

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🎀 Other Edit Commands 🎀

Miscellaneous commands. the lil grab bag 🍓

• [count]ymotion, y[count]motion — Yank current character through character that motion would move the cursor to and puts them into the delete buffer. The text and cursor are unchanged.
• yy — Yanks the entire line.
• Y — Yanks from current position to end of line. Equivalent to y$.
• u — Undo the last text modifying command.
• U — Undo all the text modifying commands performed on the line.
• [count]v — Returns the command hist -e ${VISUAL:-${EDITOR:-vi}} count in the input buffer. If count is omitted, then the current line is used.
• ^L — Line feed and print current line. Has effect only in control mode.
• ^J — (New line) Execute the current line, regardless of mode.
• ^M — (Return) Execute the current line, regardless of mode.
• # — If the first character of the command is a #, then this command deletes this # and each # that follows a newline. Otherwise, sends the line after inserting a # in front of each line in the command. Useful for causing the current line to be inserted in the history as a comment and uncommenting previously commented commands in the history file.
• [count]= — If count is not specified, it generates the list of matching commands or file names as described above. Otherwise, the word under the cursor is replaced by the count item from the most recently generated command or file list. If the cursor is not on a word, it is inserted instead.
• @letter — Your alias list is searched for an alias by the name _letter and if an alias of this name is defined, its value will be inserted on the input queue for processing.
• ^V — Display version of the shell.

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🌈 Programmable Completion 🌈

By default, hitting the tab key causes the current word to be matched against files starting with the characters you typed and adding as many characters that provide a unique match. If the matching prefix is not unique, hitting tab again will output a numbered list with the choices and entering number tab will replace the current word with that selection. iconic behavior, honestly 👑

Programmable completion allows you to control how words are expanded when you enter the tab key for one or more specified commands. The complete built-in command allows you to specify how to complete the current word of the specified command.

💅 Built-in Commands 💅

Okay bestie, so these simple-commands get executed in the shell process itself — no forking, no leaving the group chat, just vibes in-place. Input/output redirection is permitted. Unless it says otherwise, output gets written on file descriptor 1, and the exit status — when there's no syntax error — is zero. ✨

Except for :, true, false, echo, newgrp, and login, every built-in command accepts -- to mean "options are OVER, periodt." They also read --man as a request to display the man page onto standard error, and -? as a help request that prints a usage message on standard error. 🫶

Commands with one or two † symbols in front of them are special built-in commands, and they get treated specially, like this:

1. Variable assignment lists preceding the command remain in effect when the command completes.
2. I/O redirections are processed after variable assignments.
3. Errors cause a script that contains them to abort. 😭
4. They are not valid function names.
5. Words following a command preceded by †† that are in the format of a variable assignment are expanded with the same rules as a variable assignment. This means that tilde substitution is performed after the = sign and field splitting and file name generation are not performed. These are called declaration built-ins.

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† : [ arg ... ]

Literally does nothing except expand parameters. The most low-effort icon in the whole shell and we respect her for it. 💅

† . name [ arg ... ]

If name is a function defined with the function name reserved word syntax, the function is executed in the current environment (as if it had been defined with the name() syntax). Otherwise, if name refers to a file, the file is read in its entirety and the commands are executed in the current shell environment. The search path specified by PATH is used to find the directory containing the file. If any arguments arg are given, they become the positional parameters while processing the . command, and the original positional parameters are restored upon completion. Otherwise the positional parameters are unchanged. The exit status is the exit status of the last command executed.

†† alias [ -ptx ] [ name[ =value ] ] ...

alias with no arguments prints the list of aliases in the form name=value on standard output. The -p option causes the word alias to be inserted before each one. When one or more arguments are given, 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 obsolete -t option 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 alias remains tracked. Without the -t option, for each name in the argument list for which no value is given, the name and value of the alias is printed. The obsolete -x option has no effect. The exit status is non-zero if a name is given, but no value, and no alias has been defined for the name.

bg [ job... ]

This command is only on systems that support job control. Puts each specified job into the background. The current job is put in the background if job is not specified. See Jobs for a description of the format of job. 🏃‍♀️💨

† break [ n ]

Exit from the enclosing for, while, until, or select loop, if any. If n is specified, then break n levels. Not me breaking out of three loops at once 😭

builtin [ -dsp ] [ -f file ] [ name ... ]

If name is not specified, and no -f option is specified, the built-ins are printed on standard output. The -s option prints only the special built-ins. Otherwise, each name represents the pathname whose basename is the name of the built-in. The entry point function name is determined by prepending b_ to the built-in name. A built-in specified by a pathname will only be executed when that pathname would be found during the path search. Built-ins found in libraries loaded via the .paths file will be associated with the pathname of the directory containing the .paths file.

The ISO C/C++ prototype is b_mycommand(int argc, char *argv[], void *context) for the builtin command mycommand, where argv is an array of argc elements and context is an optional pointer to a Shell_t structure as described in <ast/shell.h>. 🧚

Special built-ins cannot be bound to a pathname or deleted. The -d option deletes each of the given built-ins. On systems that support dynamic loading, the -f option names a shared library containing the code for built-ins. The shared library prefix and/or suffix, which depend on the system, can be omitted. Once a library is loaded, its symbols become available for subsequent invocations of builtin. Multiple libraries can be specified with separate invocations of the builtin command. Libraries are searched in the reverse order in which they are specified. When a library is loaded, it looks for a function in the library whose name is lib_init() and invokes this function with an argument of 0.

The -p causes the output to be in a form of builtin commands that can be used as input to the shell to recreate the current set of builtins. 🔁

cd [ -LP ] [ arg ]

cd [ -LP ] old new

This command can be in either of two forms. In the first form it changes the current directory to arg. If arg is - the directory is changed to the previous directory. The shell variable HOME is the default arg. The variable PWD is set to the current directory. The shell variable CDPATH defines the search path for the directory containing arg. Alternative directory names are separated by a colon (:). The default path is <null> (specifying the current directory). Note that the current directory is specified by a null path name, which can appear immediately after the equal sign or between the colon delimiters anywhere else in the path list. If arg begins with a / then the search path is not used. Otherwise, each directory in the path is searched for arg. 🗺️

The second form of cd substitutes the string new for the string old in the current directory name, PWD, and tries to change to this new directory.

By default, symbolic link names are treated literally when finding the directory name. This is equivalent to the -L option. The -P option causes symbolic links to be resolved when determining the directory. The last instance of -L or -P on the command line determines which method is used.

The cd command may not be executed by rksh. 🙈

command [ -pvxV ] name [ arg ... ]

Without the -v or -V options, command executes name with the arguments given by arg. The -p option causes a default path to be searched rather than the one defined by the value of PATH. Functions will not be searched for when finding name. In addition, if name refers to a special built-in, none of the special properties associated with the leading daggers will be honored. (For example, the predefined alias redirect='command exec' prevents a script from terminating when an invalid redirection is given.) 🛡️

With the -x option, if command execution would result in a failure because there are too many arguments, errno E2BIG, the shell will invoke command name multiple times with a subset of the arguments on each invocation. Arguments that occur prior to the first word that expands to multiple arguments and after the last word that expands to multiple arguments will be passed on each invocation. The exit status will be the maximum invocation exit status.

With the -v option, command is equivalent to the built-in whence command described below. The -V option causes command to act like whence -v.

† continue [ n ]

Resume the next iteration of the enclosing for, while, until, or select loop. If n is specified, then resume at the n-th enclosing loop. Go on, girl, keep going ✨

disown [ job... ]

Causes the shell not to send a HUP signal to each given job, or all active jobs if job is omitted, when a login shell terminates. Honestly the healthiest breakup move in the whole shell fr fr 💀

echo [ -n -e ] [ arg ... ]

The echo builtin prints all of its arguments separated by space and terminated by new-line. -n will skip putting a newline character at the end of output. If -e is set, it will enable interpreting escape sequences. 🍓

†† enum [ -i ] type[=(value ...) ]

Creates a declaration command named type that is an integer type that allows one of the specified values as enumeration names. If =(value ...) is omitted, then type must be an indexed array variable with at least two elements and the values are taken from this array variable. If -i is specified the values are case insensitive. 👑

When an enumeration variable is used in arithmetic expression, its value is the index into the array that defined it starting from index 0. Enumeration strings can be used in an arithmetic expression when comparing against an enumeration variable. Also, each non-subscripted enumeration variable followed by .name where name is one of the enumeration names expands to the index corresponding to name.

The enum _Bool is created with values true and false. The predefined alias bool is defined as _Bool.

† eval [ arg ... ]

The arguments are read as input to the shell and the resulting command(s) executed. It's giving "inception but make it shell" 🌀

† exec [ -c ] [ -a name ] [ arg ... ]

If arg is given, the command specified by the arguments is executed in place of this shell without creating a new process. The -c option causes the environment to be cleared before applying variable assignments associated with the exec invocation. The -a option causes name rather than the first arg, to become argv[0] for the new process. Input/output arguments may appear and affect the current process. If arg is not given, the effect of this command is to modify file descriptors as prescribed by the input/output redirection list. In this case, any file descriptor numbers greater than 2 that are opened with this mechanism are closed when invoking another program. 🔥

† exit [ n ]

Bestie, this is the ✨ goodbye button ✨. It makes the shell exit with the exit status you give it as n.

• The value used is the least significant 8 bits of whatever status you specified, so don't come in here with 300 thinking you're clever 💅
• If n is omitted, then the exit status is that of the last command executed — very "I'm leaving, and I'm taking the mood of the room with me."
• An end-of-file will also cause the shell to exit, except for a shell which has the ignoreeof option turned on (peep set below) 🙈

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†† export [ -p ] [ name[=value] ] ...

Okay so export is how you tell the shell "hey, pass this one down to my kids" 🫶 — i.e. mark variables for the environment.

• If name is not given, the names and values of each variable with the export attribute are printed, with the values quoted in a manner that allows them to be re-input. Very round-trip friendly, we love a reproducible queen ✨
• export is the same as typeset -x, with one iconic exception: if you use export within a function, no local variable is created. No sneaky scoping, periodt.
• -p — causes the word export to be inserted before each one. (So the output is literally re-runnable. Chef's kiss 😚👌)
• Otherwise, the given names are marked for automatic export to the environment of subsequently-executed commands.

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false

Does nothing, and exits 1. Used with until for infinite loops.

That's it. That's the whole personality. Zero thoughts, head empty, exit code one 💀 Literally the flop era of commands and I respect it so much.

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fg [ job... ]

⚠️ Heads up: this command is only on systems that support job control.

Each job specified is brought to the foreground and waited for in the specified order. Otherwise (no job given), the current job gets brought into the foreground.

See Jobs for a description of the format of job.

(in simple terms: it's the "come back here, main character energy" command 👑)

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getopts [ -a name ] optstring vname [ arg ... ]

The option-parsing bestie!! This one checks arg for legal options. If arg is omitted, the positional parameters are used. Let's break it all the way down 🔍

• An option argument begins with a + or a -.
• An option not beginning with + or -, or the argument --, ends the options. That's the flag that says "okay we're done with flags now."
• Options beginning with + are only recognized when optstring begins with a +.
• optstring contains the letters that getopts recognizes.
• If a letter is followed by a :, that option is expected to have an argument.
• The options can be separated from the argument by blanks.
• The option -? causes getopts to generate a usage message on standard error.
• The -a argument can be used to specify the name to use for the usage message, which defaults to $0.

Here's the cute part 🎀: getopts places the next option letter it finds inside variable vname each time it is invoked.

• The option letter will be prepended with a + when arg begins with a +.
• The index of the next arg is stored in OPTIND.
• The option argument, if any, gets stored in OPTARG.

And now the spicy bit 🌶️ — a leading : in optstring causes getopts to:

• store the letter of an invalid option in OPTARG
• set vname to ? for an unknown option
• set vname to : when a required option argument is missing

Otherwise (no leading colon), getopts just prints an error message. The exit status is non-zero when there are no more options.

Big caveat, no cap: there is no way to specify any of the options :, +, -, ?, [, and ]. And the option # can only be specified as the first option. That's just the rules, bestie 😭

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hist [ -e ename ] [ -nlr ] [ first [ last ] ]

hist -s [ old=new ] [ command ]

Two forms, two vibes ✨

Form one — a range of commands from first to last is selected from the last HISTSIZE commands that were typed at the terminal.

• first and last may be specified as a number or as a string.
• A string is used to locate the most recent command starting with the given string.
• A negative number is used as an offset to the current command number.
• If the -l option is selected, the commands are listed on standard output.
• Otherwise, the editor program ename is invoked on a file containing these keyboard commands.
  • If ename is not supplied, then the value of the variable HISTEDIT is used.
  • If HISTEDIT is not set, then FCEDIT (default /bin/ed) is used as the editor.
• When editing is complete, the edited command(s) is executed if the changes have been saved. (Save your work, queen 💀)
• If last is not specified, then it will be set to first.
• If first is not specified, the default is the previous command for editing and -16 for listing.
• -r reverses the order of the commands.
• -n suppresses command numbers when listing.

Form two (-s) — command is interpreted as first described above, and defaults to the last command executed. The resulting command is executed after the optional substitution old=new is performed. Find-and-replace, but make it history 🦋

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jobs [ -lnp ] [ job ... ]

Lists info about each given job; or all active jobs if job is omitted.

• -l — lists process ids in addition to the normal information.
• -n — only displays jobs that have stopped or exited since last notified. (The "what's new" filter ✨)
• -p — causes only the process group to be listed.

See Jobs for a description of the format of job.

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kill [ -s signame ] [ -q n ] job ...

kill [ -n signum ] [ -q n ] job ...

kill -Ll [ sig ... ]

Sends either the TERM (terminate) signal or the specified signal to the specified jobs or processes. Okay so let's get into it 🔥

• Signals are given either by number with the -n option or by name with the -s option (as given in <signal.h>, stripped of the prefix `SIG` — with the exception that SIGCLD is named CHLD).
• For backward compatibility, the n and s can be omitted and the number or name placed immediately after the -.
• If the signal being sent is TERM (terminate) or HUP (hangup), then the job or process will be sent a CONT (continue) signal if it is stopped.
• The argument job can be the process id of a process that is not a member of one of the active jobs.
• See Jobs for a description of the format of job.

Third form — kill -l, or kill -L:

• If sig is not specified, the signal names are listed.
• -l lists only the signal names.
• -L lists each signal name and corresponding number.
• Otherwise, for each sig that is a name, the corresponding signal number is listed.
• For each sig that is a number, the signal name corresponding to the least significant 8 bits of sig is listed.

And for the queued signal girlies 💌 — on systems that support sigqueue(2), the -q option can be used to send a queued signal with message number n. Each specified job must be a positive number.

On systems that do not support sigqueue(2), a signal is sent without the message number n and the signal will not be queued. And if the signal cannot be queued because of a return of EAGAIN, the exit status will be 2. Noted, fr fr 😤

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let arg ...

Each arg is a separate arithmetic expression to be evaluated. Math class but make it shell 🧮✨

• let only recognizes octal constants starting with 0 when the set option letoctal is on. (Otherwise, bestie, that's not an octal, that's just a number with a zero in front of it.)
• See Arithmetic Evaluation above for a description of arithmetic expression evaluation.

Exit status: 0 if the value of the last expression is non-zero, and 1 otherwise. Yes, it's backwards from normal commands. Yes, that's intentional. No, we don't make the rules 💅

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† newgrp [ arg ... ]

Equivalent to exec /bin/newgrp arg ....

Short, sweet, and literally just exec'ing the binary. Iconic efficiency 🎀

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print [ -CRenprsv ] [ -u unit ] [ -f format ] [ arg ... ]

Okay the print command is a whole personality 🌈 — it's the shell's own fancy echo.

With no options, or with option - or --, each arg is printed on standard output.

• -f — causes the arguments to be printed as described by printf. In this case, any e, n, r, R options are ignored.

Otherwise, unless the -C, -R, -r, or -v are specified, the following escape conventions will be applied:

• \a — the alert character (ascii 07)
• \b — the backspace character (ascii 010)
• \c — causes print to end without processing more arguments and not adding a new-line
• \f — the formfeed character (ascii 014)
• \n — the new-line character (ascii 012)
• \r — the carriage return character (ascii 015)
• \t — the tab character (ascii 011)
• \v — the vertical tab character (ascii 013)
• \E — the escape character (ascii 033)
• \\ — the backslash character \
• \0x — the character defined by the 1, 2, or 3-digit octal string given by x

Now the flags, one by one 🫶

• -R — will print all subsequent arguments and options other than -n.
• -e — causes the above escape conventions to be applied. This is the default behavior. It reverses the effect of an earlier -r.
• -p — causes the arguments to be written onto the pipe of the process spawned with |& instead of standard output.
• -v — treats each arg as a variable name and writes the value in the printf %B format.
• -C — treats each arg as a variable name and writes the value in the printf %#B format.
• -s — causes the arguments to be written onto the history file instead of standard output.
• -u — can be used to specify a one digit file descriptor unit number unit on which the output will be placed. The default is 1.
• -n — if used, no new-line is added to the output.

That's the whole print buffet, and every bit of it slays 💖

💖 printf — the glow-up your strings deserve

printf [ -v varname ] format [ arg ... ]

Okay so bestie, the args get printed on standard output following the ANSI-C formatting rules tied to the format string. And if the number of arguments exceeds the number of format specifications? The format string gets reused to format the leftover args. Recycling era! ♻️

If you throw -v in there, the output gets assigned to the variable varname instead of hitting your screen.

Now for the extensions, which are honestly the most iconic part:

• %b — use this instead of %s to make escape sequences in the matching arg get expanded, exactly as described in print. 🎀
• %B — each argument gets treated as a variable name, and the binary value of the variable gets printed. The alternate flag # makes a compound variable print out on a single line — super useful for compound variables and variables whose attribute is -b.
• %H — use %H instead of %s and any characters in arg that are special in HTML and XML get output as their entity name. The alternate flag # formats the output for use as a URI. 🌈
• %P — use %P instead of %s and arg gets interpreted as an extended regular expression, then printed as a shell pattern. ✨
• %R — the reverse vibe: arg is interpreted as a shell pattern and printed as an extended regular expression.
• %q — use %q instead of %s and the resulting string gets quoted in a manner that can be reinput to the shell. And when q is preceded by the alternative format specifier #, the string is quoted in a manner suitable as a field in a .csv format file. 🧚
• %(date-format)T — treats an argument as a date/time string and formats the date/time according to the date-format, as defined for the date(1) command. Values specified as digits are interpreted as described in the touch(1) command. 🕰️
• %Z — outputs a byte whose value is 0. That's it. Tiny legend.
• %d — the precision field of the %d format can be followed by a . and the output base. In that case, the # flag character causes base# to be prepended.
• # — when used with the %d format without an output base, # displays the output in powers of 1000, indicated by one of these suffixes: k M G T P E. And when used with the %i format, it displays the output in powers of 1024, indicated by one of these suffixes: Ki Mi Gi Ti Pi Ei. Numbers but make it 💅.
• = — centers the output within the specified field width. Main character alignment. 👑
• L — when used with the %c or %s formats, L treats precision as character width instead of byte count. (Bytes could never.)
• , — when used with the %d or %f formats, , separates groups of digits with the grouping delimiter — , on groups of 3 in the C locale.

---

🌸 pwd — where even are we

pwd [ -LP ] [ -f fd ]

Outputs the value of the current working directory. The -L option is the default — it prints the logical name of the current directory. If you give -P, all symbolic links are resolved from the name. 🪞

The last instance of -L or -P on the command line is the one that determines which method gets used. So pick a side, bestie.

If -f is specified, the directory name corresponding to file descriptor fd is outputted. 🎀

---

💜 read — the input mechanism, aka the moment of truth

read [ -AaCSprsv ] [ -d delim] [ -n n] [ -N n] [ -m method] [ -t
timeout] [ -u unit] [ vname?prompt ] [ vname ... ]

The shell input mechanism, fr fr. One line gets read and broken up into fields using the characters in IFS as separators. The escape character, \, removes any special meaning for the next character and handles line continuation.

Let's get into the options, because there are so many and they all ate:

• -d delim — the read continues to the first character of delim rather than to new-line.
• -n n — at most n bytes get read rather than a full line, but it'll return when reading from a slow device as soon as any characters have been read. 🐌
• -N n — exactly n get read, unless an end-of-file has been encountered or the read times out because of the -t option.
• -r — raw mode, where the \ character is not treated specially.
• -v — the value of the first vname is used as a default value when reading from a terminal device.
• -A — causes the variable vname to be unset and each field that's read to be stored in successive elements of the indexed array vname. 💫
• -a — an alias for -A. Same vibes, shorter name.
• -m method — reads a compound variable with the read method defined by method. Currently, only the json and ksh methods exist.
• -C — causes the variable vname to be read as a compound variable. Blanks get ignored when finding the beginning open parenthesis. This is equivalent to -m ksh.
• -S — treats the line like a record in a .csv format file, so double quotes can be used to let the delimiter character and the new-line character appear within a field. 🍓
• -p — the input line gets taken from the input pipe of a process spawned by the shell using ⎪&.
• -s — the input gets saved as a command in the history file.
• -u unit — specifies a one digit file descriptor unit unit to read from. The file descriptor can be opened with the exec special built-in command. The default value of unit n is 0.
• -t timeout — specifies a timeout in seconds when reading from a terminal or pipe. ⏳

The field assignment situation: the first field goes to the first vname, the second field to the second vname, etc., with leftover fields assigned to the last vname.

When vname has the binary attribute and -n or -N is specified, the bytes that are read get stored directly into the variable. 🔥

If vname is omitted, then REPLY is used as the default vname.

An end-of-file with the -p option causes cleanup for this process so that another one can be spawned.

And if the first argument contains a ?, the remainder of that word is used as a prompt on standard error when the shell is interactive. Cute little vname?prompt moment. 🫶

Exit status is 0 unless an end-of-file is encountered or read has timed out.

---

🎀 readonly — lock it in, no takebacks

readonly [ -p ] [ vname[=value] ] ...

If vname isn't given, the names and values of each variable with the readonly attribute get printed, with the values quoted in a manner that allows them to be re-inputted. 📜

The -p option causes the word readonly to be inserted before each one.

Otherwise, the given *vname*s get marked readonly and those names cannot be changed by subsequent assignment. Periodt. 🚫

When defining a type, if the value of a readonly sub-variable is not defined, the value is required when creating each instance.

---

✨ return — bestie's heading home

return [ n ]

Causes a shell function or . script to return to the invoking script with the exit status specified by n. The value will be the least significant 8 bits of the specified status. 🔢

If n is omitted, then the return status is that of the last command executed.

And if return gets invoked while you're not in a function or a . script? It behaves the same as exit. Same energy, different door. 🚪

† set [ ±BCGabefhkmnoprstuvx ] [ ±o [ option ] ] ... [ ±A vname ]  [ -K keylist ] [ arg ... ]

The options for this command have meaning as follows, bestie — buckle up, there's a lot of them, but each one is lowkey iconic in its own way 💅

• -A — Array assignment. If arg is specified, unset the variable vname and assign values sequentially from the arg list. If +A is used, the variable vname is not unset first. (the + is giving "don't clear the canvas first" energy 🎨)
• -B — Enable brace group expansion. On by default. ✨
• -C — Prevents redirection > from truncating existing files. Files that are created are opened with the O_EXCL mode. Requires >| to truncate a file when turned on. (so like, > becomes shy about clobbering stuff 🙈)
• -G — Causes the pattern ** by itself to match files and zero or more directories and sub-directories when used for file name generation. If followed by a / only directories and sub-directories are matched. 🌀
• -H — Enable !-style history expansion similar to csh(1).
• -K — When no arguments are specified, it is used along with -s to specify the sort fields and sort options for sorting an array. (See "Array Sorting" above for the description of the keylist option.) 🗂️
• -a — All subsequent variables that are defined are automatically exported.
• -b — Prints job completion messages as soon as a background job changes state rather than waiting for the next prompt. (instant tea, no waiting for the next vibe check ☕)
• -e — Unless contained in a || or && command, or the command following an if while or until command or in the pipeline following !, if a command has a non-zero exit status, execute the ERR trap, if set, and exit. This mode is disabled while reading profiles. ⚠️ (yes this one is dramatic, that's the whole point)
• -f — Disables file name generation. (no more globbing, the wildcards are on do-not-disturb 🚫)
• -h — Each command becomes a tracked alias when first encountered.
• -k — (Obsolete). All variable assignment arguments are placed in the environment for a command, not just those that precede the command name. 💀
• -m — Background jobs will run in a separate process group and a line will print upon completion. The exit status of background jobs is reported in a completion message. On systems with job control, this option is turned on automatically for interactive shells. 👑
• -n — Read commands and check them for syntax errors, but do not execute them. Ignored for interactive shells. (all vibes, no execution 🫶)
• -o — The following argument can be one of the following option names:
  • allexport — Same as -a.
  • bgnice — All background jobs are run at a lower priority. This is the default mode.
  • braceexpand — Same as -B.
  • emacs — Puts you in an emacs style in-line editor for command entry.
  • errexit — Same as -e.
  • globstar — Same as -G.
  • gmacs — Puts you in a gmacs style in-line editor for command entry.
  • histexpand — Same as -H.
  • ignoreeof — The shell will not exit on end-of-file. The command exit must be used. (no escape via Ctrl+D, you will say goodbye properly 😭)
  • keyword — Same as -k.
  • letoctal — The let command allows octal constants starting with 0.
  • markdirs — All directory names resulting from file name generation have a trailing / appended.
  • monitor — Same as -m.
  • multiline — The built-in editors will use multiple lines on the screen for lines that are longer than the width of the screen. This may not work for all terminals. 🖥️
  • noclobber — Same as -C.
  • noexec — Same as -n.
  • noglob — Same as -f.
  • nolog — Do not save function definitions in the history file.
  • notify — Same as -b.
  • nounset — Same as -u.
  • pipefail — A pipeline will not complete until all components of the pipeline have completed, and the return value will be the value of the last non-zero command to fail or zero if no command has failed. 🔥 (my beloved)
  • privileged — Same as -p.
  • showme — When enabled, simple commands or pipelines preceded by a semicolon (;) will be displayed as if the xtrace option were enabled but will not be executed. Otherwise, the leading ; will be ignored. 👀
  • trackall — Same as -h.
  • verbose — Same as -v.
  • vi — Puts you in insert mode of a vi style in-line editor until you hit the escape character 033. This puts you in control mode. A return sends the line.
  • viraw — Each character is processed as it is typed in vi mode. This is now always enabled. Disabling the option at run time has no effect. 💀 (it said "always", and it meant it)
  • xtrace — Same as -x.

If no option name is supplied, then the current option settings are printed.

• -p — Disables processing of the $HOME/.profile file and uses the file /etc/suid_profile instead of the ENV file. This mode is on whenever the effective uid (gid) is not equal to the real uid (gid). Turning this off causes the effective uid and gid to be set to the real uid and gid. 🔐
• -r — Enables the restricted shell. This option cannot be unset once set. (one-way door, no takebacks 🚪)
• -s — Sort the positional parameters lexicographically. When used with -A sorts the elements of the array.
• -t — (Obsolete). Exit after reading and executing one command.
• -u — Treat unset parameters as an error when substituting.
• -v — Print shell input lines as they are read.
• -x — Print commands and their arguments as they are executed. 🐛
• -- — Do not change any of the options; useful in setting $1 to a value beginning with -. If no arguments follow this option then the positional parameters are unset.

As an obsolete feature, if the first arg is - then the -x and -v options are turned off and the next arg is treated as the first argument. Using + rather than - causes these options to be turned off. These options can also be used upon invocation of the shell. The current set of options may be found in $-.

Unless -A is specified, the remaining arguments are positional parameters and are assigned, in order, to $1 $2 .... If no arguments are given, then the names and values of all variables are printed on the standard output. (surprise variable dump, you're welcome 💖)

---

🎀 shift 🎀

† shift [ n ]

The positional parameters from $n+1 ... are renamed $1 ... , default n is 1. The parameter n can be any arithmetic expression that evaluates to a non-negative number less than or equal to $#. (slide everything left, like a group chat where someone leaves 🫶)

---

🌸 sleep 🌸

sleep seconds

Suspends execution for the number of decimal seconds or fractions of a second given by seconds. seconds A suffix of one of smhd can be used to indicate seconds, minutes, hours, and days respectively. Seconds can also be specified using a date/time format. 😴💤

---

⭐ times ⭐

Display CPU time used by the shell and all of its child processes.

---

🦋 trap 🦋

† trap [ -alp ] [ action ] [ sig ] ...

The -p option causes the trap action associated with each trap as specified by the arguments to be printed with appropriate quoting. Otherwise, action will be processed as if it were an argument to eval when the shell receives signal(s) sig.

The -a option causes the current trap setting to be appended to action. Each sig can be given as a number or as the name of the signal. Trap commands are executed in order of signal number. Any attempt to set a trap on a signal that was ignored on entry to the current shell is ineffective. 🚫

If action is omitted and the first sig is a number, or if action is -, then the trap(s) for each sig are reset to their original values. If action is the null string then this signal is ignored by the shell and by the commands it invokes.

If sig is ERR then action will be executed whenever a command has a non-zero exit status. ⚠️

If sig is DEBUG then action will be executed before each command. The variable .sh.command will contain the contents of the current command line when action is running. If the exit status of the trap is 2 the command will not be executed. If the exit status of the trap is 255 and inside a function or a dot script, the function or dot script will return. 👀

If sig is 0 or EXIT and the trap statement is executed inside the body of a function defined with the function name syntax, then the command action is executed after the function completes. For a trap set outside any function then the command action is executed on exit from the shell. 🚪

If sig is KEYBD, then action will be executed whenever a key is read while in emacs, gmacs, or vi mode. ⌨️

The trap command with no arguments prints a list of commands associated with each signal number.

An exit or return without an argument in a trap action will preserve the exit status of the command that invoked the trap. 💅

action. Each sig can be given as a number or as the name of the signal. Trap commands are executed in order of signal number. Any attempt to set a trap on a signal that was ignored on entry to the current shell is ineffective. If action is omitted and the first sig is a number, or if action is -, then the trap(s) for each sig are reset to their original values. The -l option lists the signals and their numbers to standard output.

ok so real talk — that last paragraph is literally a repeat of stuff a couple paragraphs up, in the original page itself. Not me being lazy, I swear 😭 I'm keeping it because the rule is "keep every detail" and I am nothing if not a woman of my word. 💀

Okay bestie, first up: true is literally the chillest command in the whole shell. It does nothing and exits 0 — that’s it, that’s the whole personality. Used with while for infinite loops. 💅

---

Now for the double-dagger typeset moment, and yes she’s giving main character energy ✨:

†† typeset [ ±ACHSfblmnprstux ] [ ±EFLRXZi[n] ]   [ +-M  [ mapname ] ] [
-T  [ tname=(assign_list) ] ] [ -h str ] [ -a [type] ] [ vname[=value ]
] ...

This icon sets attributes and values for shell variables and functions. When invoked inside a function defined with the function name syntax, a brand-new instance of the variable vname is created, and the variable’s value and type are restored when the function completes. Here’s the attribute menu, bestie:

• -A — Declares vname to be an associative array. Subscripts are strings rather than arithmetic expressions.
• -C — Causes each vname to be a compound variable. value names a compound variable, and it is copied into vname. Otherwise, it unsets each vname.
• -a — Declares vname to be an indexed array. If type is specified, it must be the name of an enumeration type created with the enum command, and it allows enumeration constants to be used as subscripts.
• -E — Declares vname to be a double precision floating point number. If n is non-zero, it defines the number of significant figures that are used when expanding vname. Otherwise, ten significant figures will be used.
• -F — Declares vname to be a double precision floating point number. If n is non-zero, it defines the number of places after the decimal point that are used when expanding vname. Otherwise ten places after the decimal point will be used.
• -H — This option provides UNIX to host-name file mapping on non-UNIX machines.
• -L — Left justify and remove leading blanks from value. If n is non-zero, it defines the width of the field; otherwise it is determined by the width of the value of first assignment. When the variable is assigned to, it is filled on the right with blanks or truncated, if necessary, to fit into the field. The -R option is turned off.
• -M — Use the character mapping mapping defined by wctrans(3), such as tolower and toupper, when assigning a value to each of the specified operands. When mapping is specified and there are no operands, all variables that use this mapping are written to standard output. When mapping is omitted and there are no operands, all mapped variables are written to standard output.
• -R — Right justify and fill with leading blanks. If n is non-zero, it defines the width of the field; otherwise it is determined by the width of the value of first assignment. The field is left filled with blanks or truncated from the end if the variable is reassigned. The -L option is turned off.
• -S — When used within the assign_list of a type definition, it causes the specified sub-variable to be shared by all instances of the type. When used inside a function defined with the function reserved word, the specified variables will have function static scope. Otherwise, the variable is unset prior to processing the assignment list.
• -T — If followed by tname, it creates a type named by tname using the compound assignment assign_list to tname. Otherwise, it writes all the type definitions to standard output.
• -X — Declares vname to be a double precision floating point number and expands using the %a format of ISO-C99. If n is non-zero, it defines the number of hex digits after the radix point that is used when expanding vname. The default is 10.
• -Z — Right justify and fill with leading zeros if the first non-blank character is a digit and the -L option has not been set. Remove leading zeros if the -L option is also set. If n is non-zero, it defines the width of the field; otherwise it is determined by the width of the value of first assignment.
• -f — The names refer to function names rather than variable names. No assignments can be made, and the only other valid options are -S, -t, -u, and -x. The -S can be used with discipline functions defined in a type to indicate that the function is static. For a static function, the same method will be used by all instances of that type no matter which instance references it. In addition, it can only use value of variables from the original type definition. These discipline functions cannot be redefined in any type instance. The -t option turns on execution tracing for this function. The -u option causes this function to be marked undefined. The FPATH variable will be searched to find the function definition when the function is referenced. If no options other than -f is specified, then the function definition will be displayed on standard output. If +f is specified, then a line containing the function name followed by a shell comment containing the line number and path name of the file where this function was defined, if any, is displayed. The exit status can be used to determine whether the function is defined so that typeset -f .sh.math.name will return 0 when math function name is defined and non-zero otherwise.
• -b — The variable can hold any number of bytes of data. The data can be text or binary. The value is represented by the base64 encoding of the data. If -Z is also specified, the size in bytes of the data in the buffer will be determined by the size associated with the -Z. If the base64 string assigned results in more data, it will be truncated. Otherwise, it will be filled with bytes whose value is zero. The printf format %B can be used to output the actual data in this buffer instead of the base64 encoding of the data.
• -h — Used within type definitions to add information when generating information about the sub-variable on the man page. It is ignored when used outside of a type definition. When used with -f the information is associated with the corresponding discipline function.
• -i — Declares vname to be represented internally as integer. The right hand side of an assignment is evaluated as an arithmetic expression when assigning to an integer. If n is non-zero, it defines the output arithmetic base; otherwise the output base will be ten.
• -l — Used with -i, -E, or -F, to indicate long integer, or long double. Otherwise, all upper-case characters are converted to lower-case. The upper-case option, -u, is turned off. Equivalent to -M tolower.
• -m — moves or renames the variable. The value is the name of a variable whose value will be moved to vname. The original variable will be unset. Cannot be used with any other options.
• -n — Declares vname to be a reference to the variable whose name is defined by the value of variable vname. This is usually used to reference a variable inside a function whose name has been passed as an argument. Cannot be used with any other options.
• -p — The name, attributes and values for the given vnames are written on standard output in a form that can be used as shell input. If +p is specified, then the values are not displayed.
• -r — The given vnames are marked readonly and these names cannot be changed by subsequent assignment.
• -s — Used with -i, -E, or -F, to indicate short integer, or float.
• -t — Tags the variables. Tags are user definable and have no special meaning to the shell.
• -u — When given along with -i, specifies unsigned integer. Otherwise, all lower-case characters are converted to upper-case. The lower-case option, -l, is turned off. Equivalent to -M toupper.
• -x — The given vnames are marked for automatic export to the environment of subsequently-executed commands. Variables whose names contain a . cannot be exported.

⚠️ The -i attribute cannot be specified along with -R, -L, -Z, or -f. Like, do not try it, bestie.

Using + rather than - causes these options to be turned off. If no vname arguments are given, a list of vnames (and optionally the values) of the variables is printed. (Using + rather than - keeps the values from being printed.) The -p option causes typeset followed by the option letters to be printed before each name rather than the names of the options. If any option other than -p is given, only those variables which have all of the given options are printed. Otherwise, the vnames and attributes of all variables that have attributes are printed. ✨

✨ ulimit ✨

ulimit [ -HSacdfmnpstv ] [ limit ]

Okay bestie, this one sets or displays a resource limit 💅. The available resource limits are listed below. Many systems do not support one or more of these limits. The limit for a specified resource is set when limit is specified. The value of limit can be a number in the unit specified below with each resource, or the value unlimited.

The -H and -S options specify whether the hard limit or the soft limit for the given resource is set.

🚨 A hard limit cannot be increased once it is set. A soft limit can be increased up to the value of the hard limit.

If neither the H nor S option is specified, the limit applies to both. The current resource limit is printed when limit is omitted. In this case, the soft limit is printed unless H is specified. When more than one resource is specified, then the limit name and unit is printed before the value.

• -a — Lists all of the current resource limits.
• -c — The number of 512-byte blocks on the size of core dumps.
• -d — The number of K-bytes on the size of the data area.
• -f — The number of 512-byte blocks on files that can be written by the current process or by child processes (files of any size may be read).
• -m — The number of K-bytes on the size of physical memory.
• -n — The number of file descriptors plus 1.
• -p — The number of 512-byte blocks for pipe buffering.
• -s — The number of K-bytes on the size of the stack area.
• -t — The number of CPU seconds to be used by each process.
• -v — The number of K-bytes for virtual memory.

If no option is given, -f is assumed.

---

🎀 umask 🎀

umask [ -pS ] [ mask ]

The user file-creation mask is set to mask (see umask(2)). mask can either be an octal number or a symbolic value as described in chmod(1). If a symbolic value is given, the new umask value is the complement of the result of applying mask to the complement of the previous umask value. If mask is omitted, the current value of the mask is printed.

• -S — Causes the mode to be printed as a symbolic value. Otherwise, the mask is printed in octal.
• -p — Causes the output to be in a form that can be used for reinput.

---

💅 unalias 💅

† unalias [ -a ] name ...

The aliases given by the list of names are removed from the alias list.

• -a — Causes all the aliases to be unset.

---

🌀 unset 🌀

†unset [ -fnv ] vname ...

The variables given by the list of vnames are unassigned, i.e., except for sub-variables within a type, their values and attributes are erased. For sub-variables of a type, the values are reset to the default value from the type definition.

💀 Readonly variables cannot be unset.

• -f — If set, then the names refer to function names.
• -v — If set, then the names refer to variable names.
• -n — If set and name is a name reference, then name will be unset rather than the variable that it references.

The -f option overrides -v. The default is equivalent to -v.

Unsetting LINENO, MAILCHECK, OPTARG, OPTIND, RANDOM, SECONDS, TMOUT, and _ removes their special meaning even if they are subsequently assigned to.

---

🫶 wait 🫶

wait [ job ... ]

Wait for the specified job and report its termination status. If job is not given, then all currently active child processes are waited for. The exit status from this command is that of the last process waited for if job is specified; otherwise it is zero. See Jobs for a description of the format of job.

---

🔎 whence 🔎

whence [ -afpv ] name ...

For each name, indicate how it would be interpreted if used as a command name.

• -v — Produces a more verbose report.
• -f — Skips the search for functions.
• -p — Does a path search for name even if name is an alias, a function, or a reserved word. The -p option turns off the -v option.
• -a — Similar to the -v option but causes all interpretations of the given name to be reported.

---

🚀 Invocation

If the shell is invoked by exec(2), and the first character of argument zero ($0) is -, then the shell is assumed to be a login shell and commands are read from /etc/profile and then from $HOME/.profile, if it exists. Alternatively, the option -l causes the shell to be treated as a login shell.

Next, for interactive shells, commands are read from the file named by performing parameter expansion, command substitution, and arithmetic substitution on the value of the environment variable ENV if the file exists.

If the -s option is not present and arg names a file that exists, then it reads and executes this script. Otherwise, if the first arg does not contain a /, a path search is performed on the first arg to determine the name of the script to execute. The script arg must have execute permission and any setuid and setgid settings will be ignored. If the script is not found on the path, arg is processed as if it named a built-in command or function.

Commands are then read as described below; the following options are interpreted by the shell when it is invoked:

• -D — A list of all double quoted strings that are preceded by a $ will be printed on standard output and the shell will exit. This set of strings will be subject to language translation when the locale is not C or POSIX. No commands will be executed.
• -E — Reads the file named by the ENV variable or by $HOME/.kshrc if not defined after the profiles.
• -c — If the -c option is present, then commands are read from the first arg. Any remaining arguments become positional parameters starting at 0.
• -s — If the -s option is present or if no arguments remain, then commands are read from the standard input. Shell output, except for the output of the Special Commands listed above, is written to file descriptor 2.
• -i — If the -i option is present or if the shell input and error output are attached to a terminal (as told by tcgetattr(2)), then this shell is interactive. In this case TERM is ignored (so that kill 0 does not kill an interactive shell) and INTR is caught and ignored (so that wait is interruptible). In all cases, QUIT is ignored by the shell.
• -r — If the -r option is present, the shell is a restricted shell.
• -P — If -P or -o profile is present, the shell is a profile shell (see pfexec(1)).
• -R filename — The -R filename option is used to generate a cross reference database that can be used by a separate utility to find definitions and references for variables and commands. The filename argument specifies the generated database. A script file must be provided on the command line as well.

The remaining options and arguments are described under the set command above. An optional - as the first argument is ignored.

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🔒 Rksh Only

Rksh is used to set up login names and execution environments whose capabilities are more controlled than those of the standard shell. The actions of rksh are identical to those of ksh, except that the following are disallowed:

• Unsetting the restricted option.
• changing directory (see cd(1)),
• setting or unsetting the value or attributes of SHELL, ENV, FPATH, or PATH,
• specifying path or command names containing /,
• redirecting output (>, >|, <>, and >>).
• adding or deleting built-in commands.
• using command -p to invoke a command.

The restrictions above are enforced after .profile and the ENV files are interpreted.

When a command to be executed is found to be a shell procedure, rksh invokes ksh to execute it. Thus, it is possible to provide to the end-user shell procedures that have access to the full power of the standard shell, while imposing a limited menu of commands; this scheme assumes that the end-user does not have write and execute permissions in the same directory.

🌸 The net effect of these rules is that the writer of the .profile has complete control over user actions, by performing guaranteed setup actions and leaving the user in an appropriate directory (probably not the login directory).

The system administrator often sets up a directory of commands (e.g., /usr/rbin) that can be safely invoked by rksh.

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💀 EXIT STATUS 💀

Errors detected by the shell, such as syntax errors, cause the shell to return a non-zero exit status. If the shell is being used non-interactively, then execution of the shell file is abandoned unless the error occurs inside a subshell in which case the subshell is abandoned. Otherwise, the shell returns the exit status of the last command executed (see also the exit command above).

Run time errors detected by the shell are reported by printing the command or function name and the error condition. If the line number that the error occurred on is greater than one, then the line number is also printed in square brackets ([]) after the command or function name.

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📁 FILES 📁

• /etc/profile — The system wide initialization file, executed for login shells.
• $HOME/.profile — The personal initialization file, executed for login shells after /etc/profile.
• $HOME/.kshrc — Default personal initialization file, executed for interactive shells when ENV is not set.
• /etc/suid_profile — Alternative initialization file, executed instead of the personal initialization file when the real and effective user or group id do not match.
• /dev/null — NULL device.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

cat(1), cd(1), chmod(1), cut(1), date(1), egrep(1), echo(1), emacs(1), env(1), fgrep(1), gmacs(1), grep(1), newgrp(1), pfexec(1), stty(1), test(1), touch(1), umask(1), vi(1), dup(2), exec(2), fork(2), getpwnam(3), ioctl(2), lseek(2), paste(1), pathconf(2), pipe(2), sigsetinfo(2), sysconf(2), umask(2), ulimit(2), wait(2), wctrans(3), rand(3), a.out(5), profile(5), environ(7).

Morris I. Bolsky and David G. Korn, The New KornShell Command and Programming Language, Prentice Hall, 1995.

POSIX - Part 2: Shell and Utilities, IEEE Std 1003.2-1992, ISO/IEC 9945-2, IEEE, 1993.

💀 CAVEATS 💀

These are the sharp little edges, bestie — the stuff that will lowkey bite you if you skip it. Read them, hydrate, and proceed. 🫶

• So picture this: a command gets executed, and then a command with the same name gets installed in a directory in the search path before the directory where the original command was found. The shell will keep right on exec-ing the original command. To correct this situation, use the -t option of the alias command. No cap — that's the fix. 🎯
• Some very old shell scripts contain a ^ as a synonym for the pipe character |. That's giving ancient shell gremlin energy. 💀
• Using the hist built-in command within a compound command will cause the whole command to disappear from the history file. Not a vibe, but forewarned is forearmed. 🙈
• The built-in command . file reads the whole file before any commands are executed. Therefore, alias and unalias commands in the file will not apply to any commands defined in the file. So don't expect them to retroactively slay anything in that same file. 🎀
• Traps are not processed while a job is waiting for a foreground process. Thus, a trap on CHLD won't be executed until the foreground job terminates. It's literally just over there waiting its turn. ⏳
• It is a good idea to leave a space after the comma operator in arithmetic expressions to prevent the comma from being interpreted as the decimal point character in certain locales. Tiny space, big save. 🌸

That's the end of KSH(1), bestie — the footer tag is KSH(1), so that's the source/version/date sign-off we're leaving you with. Stay slay, keep your commas spaced, and may your traps fire exactly when you expect. 💅✨