fish
ships with a large number of builtin commands, shellscript functions and external commands. These are all described below.
Almost all fish commands respond to the -h
or --help
options to display their relevant help, also accessible using the help
and man
commands, like so:
echo -h echo --help # Prints help to the terminal window man echo # Displays the man page in the system pager # (normally 'less', 'more' or 'most'). help echo # Open a web browser to show the relevant documentation
abbr -a word="phrase" abbr -s abbr -l abbr -e word
abbr
manipulates the list of abbreviations that fish will expand.
Abbreviations are user-defined character sequences or words that are replaced with longer phrases after they are entered. For example, a frequently-run command such as git checkout
can be abbreviated to gco
. After entering gco
and pressing Space or Enter, the full text git checkout
will appear in the command line.
Abbreviations are stored, by default, in a universal variable.
The following parameters are available:
-a WORD PHRASE
or --add WORD PHRASE
Adds a new abbreviation, where WORD will be expanded to PHRASE.-s
or --show
Show all abbreviated words and their expanded phrases in a manner suitable for export and import.-l
or --list
Lists all abbreviated words.-e WORD
or --erase WORD
Erase the abbreviation WORD.abbr -a gco git checkout
Add a new abbreviation where gco
will be replaced with git checkout
.
abbr -e gco
Erase the gco
abbreviation.
ssh another_host abbr -s | source
Import the abbreviations defined on another_host over SSH.
Back to index.
alias NAME DEFINITION alias NAME=DEFINITION
alias
is a simple wrapper for the function
builtin. It exists for backwards compatibility with Posix shells. For other uses, it is recommended to define a function.
fish
does not keep track of which functions have been defined using alias
. They must be erased using functions -e
.
NAME
is the name of the aliasDEFINITION
is the actual command to execute. The string $argv
will be appended.You cannot create an alias to a function with the same name.
The following code will create rmi
, which runs rm
with additional arguments on every invocation.
alias rmi "rm -i" # This is equivalent to entering the following function: function rmi rm -i $argv end
Back to index.
COMMAND1; and COMMAND2
and
is used to execute a command if the current exit status (as set by the last previous command) is 0.
and
does not change the current exit status.
The exit status of the last foreground command to exit can always be accessed using the $status variable.
The following code runs the make
command to build a program. If the build succeeds, make
's exit status is 0, and the program is installed. If either step fails, the exit status is 1, and make clean
is run, which removes the files created by the build process.
make; and make install; or make clean
Back to index.
begin; [COMMANDS...;] end
begin
is used to create a new block of code.
The block is unconditionally executed. begin; ...; end
is equivalent to if true; ...; end
.
begin
is used to group a number of commands into a block. This allows the introduction of a new variable scope, redirection of the input or output of a set of commands as a group, or to specify precedence when using the conditional commands like and
.
begin
does not change the current exit status.
The following code sets a number of variables inside of a block scope. Since the variables are set inside the block and have local scope, they will be automatically deleted when the block ends.
begin set -l PIRATE Yarrr ... end echo $PIRATE # This will not output anything, since the PIRATE variable # went out of scope at the end of the block
In the following code, all output is redirected to the file out.html.
begin echo $xml_header echo $html_header if test -e $file ... end ... end > out.html
Back to index.
bg [PID...]
bg
sends jobs to the background, resuming them if they are stopped. A background job is executed simultaneously with fish, and does not have access to the keyboard. If no job is specified, the last job to be used is put in the background. If PID is specified, the jobs with the specified process group IDs are put in the background.
The PID of the desired process is usually found by using process expansion.
bg %1
will put the job with job ID 1 in the background.
Back to index.
bind [(-M | --mode) MODE] [(-m | --sets-mode) NEW_MODE] [(-k | --key)] SEQUENCE COMMAND [COMMAND...] bind [(-M | --mode) MODE] [(-k | --key)] SEQUENCE bind (-K | --key-names) [(-a | --all)] bind (-f | --function-names) bind (-e | --erase) [(-M | --mode) MODE] (-a | --all | [(-k | --key)] SEQUENCE [SEQUENCE...])
bind
adds a binding for the specified key sequence to the specified command.
SEQUENCE is the character sequence to bind to. These should be written as fish escape sequences. For example, because pressing the Alt key and another character sends that character prefixed with an escape character, Alt-based key bindings can be written using the \e
escape. For example, Alt-w can be written as \ew
. The control character can be written in much the same way using the \c
escape, for example Control-X (^X) can be written as \cx
. Note that Alt-based key bindings are case sensitive and Control-based key bindings are not. This is a constraint of text-based terminals, not fish
.
The default key binding can be set by specifying a SEQUENCE
of the empty string (that is, ''
). It will be used whenever no other binding matches. For most key bindings, it makes sense to use the self-insert
function (i.e. bind '' self-insert
) as the default keybinding. This will insert any keystrokes not specifically bound to into the editor. Non- printable characters are ignored by the editor, so this will not result in control sequences being printable.
If the -k
switch is used, the name of the key (such as 'down', 'up' or 'backspace') is used instead of a sequence. The names used are the same as the corresponding curses variables, but without the 'key_' prefix. (See terminfo(5)
for more information, or use bind --key-names
for a list of all available named keys.)
COMMAND
can be any fish command, but it can also be one of a set of special input functions. These include functions for moving the cursor, operating on the kill-ring, performing tab completion, etc. Use bind --function-names
for a complete list of these input functions.
When COMMAND
is a shellscript command, it is a good practice to put the actual code into a function and simply bind to the function name. This way it becomes significantly easier to test the function while editing, and the result is usually more readable as well.
If such a script produces output, the script needs to finish by calling commandline -f repaint
in order to tell fish that a repaint is in order.
When multiple COMMAND
s are provided, they are all run in the specified order when the key is pressed.
If no SEQUENCE
is provided, all bindings (or just the bindings in the specified MODE
) are printed. If SEQUENCE
is provided without COMMAND
, just the binding matching that sequence is printed.
Key bindings are not saved between sessions by default. To save custom keybindings, edit the fish_user_key_bindings
function and insert the appropriate bind
statements.
Key bindings may use "modes", which mimics Vi's modal input behavior. The default mode is "default", and every bind applies to a single mode. The mode can be viewed/changed with the $fish_bind_mode
variable.
The following parameters are available:
-k
or --key
Specify a key name, such as 'left' or 'backspace' instead of a character sequence-K
or --key-names
Display a list of available key names. Specifying -a
or --all
includes keys that don't have a known mapping-f
or --function-names
Display a list of available input functions-M MODE
or --mode MODE
Specify a bind mode that the bind is used in. Defaults to "default"-m NEW_MODE
or --sets-mode NEW_MODE
Change the current mode to NEW_MODE
after this binding is executed-e
or --erase
Erase the binding with the given sequence and mode instead of defining a new one. Multiple sequences can be specified with this flag. Specifying -a
or --all
with -M
or --mode
erases all binds in the given mode regardless of sequence. Specifying -a
or --all
without -M
or --mode
erases all binds in all modes regardless of sequence.-a
or --all
See --erase
and --key-names
The following special input functions are available:
backward-char
, moves one character to the leftbackward-delete-char
, deletes one character of input to the left of the cursorbackward-kill-line
, move everything from the beginning of the line to the cursor to the killringbackward-kill-word
, move the word to the left of the cursor to the killringbackward-word
, move one word to the leftbeginning-of-history
, move to the beginning of the historybeginning-of-line
, move to the beginning of the linecapitalize-word
, make the current word begin with a capital lettercomplete
, guess the remainder of the current tokendelete-char
, delete one character to the right of the cursordelete-line
, delete the entire linedowncase-word
, make the current word lowercasedump-functions
, print a list of all key-bindingsend-of-history
, move to the end of the historyend-of-line
, move to the end of the lineexplain
, print a description of possible problems with the current commandforward-char
, move one character to the rightforward-word
, move one word to the righthistory-search-backward
, search the history for the previous matchhistory-search-forward
, search the history for the next matchkill-line
, move everything from the cursor to the end of the line to the killringkill-whole-line
, move the line to the killringkill-word
, move the next word to the killringupcase-word
, make the current word uppercaseyank
, insert the latest entry of the killring into the bufferyank-pop
, rotate to the previous entry of the killringbind \cd 'exit'
Causes fish
to exit when Control-D is pressed.
bind -k ppage history-search-backward
Performs a history search when the Page Up key is pressed.
set -g fish_key_bindings fish_vi_key_bindings bind -M insert \cc kill-whole-line force-repaint
Turns on Vi key bindings and rebinds Control-C to clear the input line.
Back to index.
block [OPTIONS...]
block
prevents events triggered by fish
or the emit
command from being delivered and acted upon while the block is in place.
In functions, block
can be useful while performing work that should not be interrupted by the shell.
The block can be removed. Any events which triggered while the block was in place will then be delivered.
Event blocks should not be confused with code blocks, which are created with begin
, if
, while
or for
The following parameters are available:
-l
or --local
Release the block automatically at the end of the current innermost code block scope-g
or --global
Never automatically release the lock-e
or --erase
Release global block# Create a function that listens for events function --on-event foo foo; echo 'foo fired'; end # Block the delivery of events block -g emit foo # No output will be produced block -e # 'foo fired' will now be printed
Back to index.
LOOP_CONSTRUCT; [COMMANDS...] break; [COMMANDS...] end
break
halts a currently running loop, such as a for loop or a while loop. It is usually added inside of a conditional block such as an if statement or a switch statement.
There are no parameters for break
.
The following code searches all .c files for "smurf", and halts at the first occurrence.
for i in *.c if grep smurf $i echo Smurfs are present in $i break end end
Back to index.
breakpoint
breakpoint
is used to halt a running script and launch an interactive debugging prompt.
For more details, see Debugging fish scripts in the fish
manual.
There are no parameters for breakpoint
.
Back to index.
builtin BUILTINNAME [OPTIONS...]
builtin
forces the shell to use a builtin command, rather than a function or program.
The following parameters are available:
-n
or --names
List the names of all defined builtinsbuiltin jobs # executes the jobs builtin, even if a function named jobs exists
Back to index.
switch VALUE; [case [WILDCARD...]; [COMMANDS...]; ...] end
switch
performs one of several blocks of commands, depending on whether a specified value equals one of several wildcarded values. case
is used together with the switch
statement in order to determine which block should be executed.
Each case
command is given one or more parameters. The first case
command with a parameter that matches the string specified in the switch command will be evaluated. case
parameters may contain wildcards. These need to be escaped or quoted in order to avoid regular wildcard expansion using filenames.
Note that fish does not fall through on case statements. Only the first matching case is executed.
Note that command substitutions in a case statement will be evaluated even if its body is not taken. All substitutions, including command substitutions, must be performed before the value can be compared against the parameter.
If the variable $animal contains the name of an animal, the following code would attempt to classify it:
switch $animal case cat echo evil case wolf dog human moose dolphin whale echo mammal case duck goose albatross echo bird case shark trout stingray echo fish # Note that the next case has a wildcard which is quoted case '*' echo I have no idea what a $animal is end
If the above code was run with $animal
set to whale
, the output would be mammal
.
Back to index.
cd [DIRECTORY]
cd
changes the current working directory.
If DIRECTORY
is supplied, it will become the new directory. If no parameter is given, the contents of the HOME
environment variable will be used.
If DIRECTORY
is a relative path, the paths found in the CDPATH
environment variable array will be tried as prefixes for the specified path.
Note that the shell will attempt to change directory without requiring cd
if the name of a directory is provided (starting with .
, /
or ~
, or ending with /
).
cd # changes the working directory to your home directory. cd /usr/src/fish-shell # changes the working directory to /usr/src/fish-shell
Back to index.
command [OPTIONS] COMMANDNAME [ARGS...]
command
forces the shell to execute the program COMMANDNAME
and ignore any functions or builtins with the same name.
The following options are available:
-s
or --search
returns the name of the disk file that would be executed, or nothing if no file with the specified name could be found in the $PATH
.With the -s
option, command
treats every argument as a separate command to look up and sets the exit status to 0 if any of the specified commands were found, or 1 if no commands could be found.
For basic compatibility with POSIX command
, the -v
flag is recognized as an alias for -s
.
command ls
causes fish to execute the ls
program, even if an ls
function exists.
command -s ls
returns the path to the ls
program.
Back to index.
commandline [OPTIONS] [CMD]
commandline
can be used to set or get the current contents of the command line buffer.
With no parameters, commandline
returns the current value of the command line.
With CMD
specified, the command line buffer is erased and replaced with the contents of CMD
.
The following options are available:
-C
or --cursor
set or get the current cursor position, not the contents of the buffer. If no argument is given, the current cursor position is printed, otherwise the argument is interpreted as the new cursor position.-f
or --function
inject readline functions into the reader. This option cannot be combined with any other option. It will cause any additional arguments to be interpreted as readline functions, and these functions will be injected into the reader, so that they will be returned to the reader before any additional actual key presses are read.The following options change the way commandline
updates the command line buffer:
-a
or --append
do not remove the current commandline, append the specified string at the end of it-i
or --insert
do not remove the current commandline, insert the specified string at the current cursor position-r
or --replace
remove the current commandline and replace it with the specified string (default)The following options change what part of the commandline is printed or updated:
-b
or --current-buffer
select the entire buffer (default)-j
or --current-job
select the current job-p
or --current-process
select the current process-t
or --current-token
select the current token.The following options change the way commandline
prints the current commandline buffer:
-c
or --cut-at-cursor
only print selection up until the current cursor position-o
or --tokenize
tokenize the selection and print one string-type token per lineIf commandline
is called during a call to complete a given string using complete -C STRING
, commandline
will consider the specified string to be the current contents of the command line.
The following options output metadata about the commandline state:
-L
or --line
print the line that the cursor is on, with the topmost line starting at 1-S
or --search-mode
evaluates to true if the commandline is performing a history search-P
or --paging-mode
evaluates to true if the commandline is showing pager contents, such as tab completionscommandline -j $history[3]
replaces the job under the cursor with the third item from the command line history.
Back to index.
complete ( -c | --command | -p | --path ) COMMAND [( -s | --short-option ) SHORT_OPTION] [( -l | --long-option | -o | --old-option ) LONG_OPTION] [( -a | --arguments ) OPTION_ARGUMENTS] [( -w | --wraps ) WRAPPED_COMMAND] [( -d | --description ) DESCRIPTION]
For an introduction to specifying completions, see Writing your own completions in the fish manual.
COMMAND
is the name of the command for which to add a completion.SHORT_OPTION
is a one character option for the command.LONG_OPTION
is a multi character option for the command.OPTION_ARGUMENTS
is parameter containing a space-separated list of possible option-arguments, which may contain subshells.DESCRIPTION
is a description of what the option and/or option arguments do.-C STRING
or --do-complete=STRING
makes complete try to find all possible completions for the specified string.-w WRAPPED_COMMAND
or --wraps=WRAPPED_COMMAND
causes the specified command to inherit completions from the wrapped command.-e
or --erase
implies that the specified completion should be deleted.-f
or --no-files
specifies that the option specified by this completion may not be followed by a filename.-n
or --condition
specifies a shell command that must return 0 if the completion is to be used. This makes it possible to specify completions that should only be used in some cases.-o
or --old-option
implies that the command uses old long style options with only one dash.-p
or --path
implies that the string COMMAND
is the full path of the command.-r
or --require-parameter
specifies that the option specified by this completion always must have an option argument, i.e. may not be followed by another option.-u
or --unauthoritative
implies that there may be more options than the ones specified, and that fish should not assume that options not listed are spelling errors.-A
or --authoritative
implies that there may be no more options than the ones specified, and that fish should assume that options not listed are spelling errors.-x
or --exclusive
implies both -r
and -f
.Command specific tab-completions in fish
are based on the notion of options and arguments. An option is a parameter which begins with a hyphen, such as '-h
', '-help
' or '--help
'. Arguments are parameters that do not begin with a hyphen. Fish recognizes three styles of options, the same styles as the GNU version of the getopt library. These styles are:
-a
'. Short options are a single character long, are preceded by a single hyphen and may be grouped together (like '-la
', which is equivalent to '-l -a
'). Option arguments may be specified in the following parameter ('-w 32
') or by appending the option with the value ('-w32
').-Wall
'. Old style long options can be more than one character long, are preceded by a single hyphen and may not be grouped together. Option arguments are specified in the following parameter ('-ao null
').--colors
'. GNU style long options can be more than one character long, are preceded by two hyphens, and may not be grouped together. Option arguments may be specified in the following parameter ('--quoting-style
') or by appending the option with a '=
' and the value ('--quoting-style=shell
'). GNU style long options may be abbreviated so long as the abbreviation is unique ('--h
') is equivalent to '--help
' if help is the only long option beginning with an 'h').The options for specifying command name, command path, or command switches may all be used multiple times to specify multiple commands which have the same completion or multiple switches accepted by a command.
The -w
or --wraps
options causes the specified command to inherit completions from another command. The inheriting command is said to "wrap" the inherited command. The wrapping command may have its own completions in addition to inherited ones. A command may wrap multiple commands, and wrapping is transitive: if A wraps B, and B wraps C, then A automatically inherits all of C's completions. Wrapping can be removed using the -e
or --erase
options.
When erasing completions, it is possible to either erase all completions for a specific command by specifying complete -e -c COMMAND
, or by specifying a specific completion option to delete by specifying either a long, short or old style option.
The short style option -o
for the gcc
command requires that a file follows it. This can be done using writing:
complete -c gcc -s o -r
The short style option -d
for the grep
command requires that one of the strings 'read
', 'skip
' or 'recurse
' is used. This can be specified writing:
complete -c grep -s d -x -a "read skip recurse"
The su
command takes any username as an argument. Usernames are given as the first colon-separated field in the file /etc/passwd. This can be specified as:
complete -x -c su -d "Username" -a "(cat /etc/passwd | cut -d : -f 1)"
The rpm
command has several different modes. If the -e
or --erase
flag has been specified, rpm
should delete one or more packages, in which case several switches related to deleting packages are valid, like the nodeps
switch.
This can be written as:
complete -c rpm -n "__fish_contains_opt -s e erase" -d nodeps "Don't check dependencies"
where __fish_contains_opt
is a function that checks the commandline buffer for the presence of a specified set of options.
To implement an alias, use the -w
or --wraps
option:
complete -c hub -w git
Now hub inherits all of the completions from git. Note this can also be specified in a function declaration.
Back to index.
contains [OPTIONS] KEY [VALUES...]
contains
tests whether the set VALUES
contains the string KEY
. If so, contains
exits with status 0; if not, it exits with status 1.
The following options are available:
-i
or --index
print the word indexNote that, like GNU tools, contains
interprets all arguments starting with a -
as options to contains, until it reaches an argument that is --
(two dashes). See the examples below.
for i in ~/bin /usr/local/bin if not contains $i $PATH set PATH $PATH $i end end
The above code tests if ~/bin
and /usr/local/bin
are in the path and adds them if not.
function hasargs if contains -- -q $argv echo '$argv contains a -q option' end end
The above code checks for -q
in the argument list, using the --
argument to demarcate options to contains
from the key to search for.
Back to index.
LOOP_CONSTRUCT; [COMMANDS...;] continue; [COMMANDS...;] end
continue
skips the remainder of the current iteration of the current inner loop, such as a for loop or a while loop. It is usually added inside of a conditional block such as an if statement or a switch statement.
The following code removes all tmp files that do not contain the word smurf.
for i in *.tmp if grep smurf $i continue end rm $i end
Back to index.
count $VARIABLE
count
prints the number of arguments that were passed to it. This is usually used to find out how many elements an environment variable array contains.
count
does not accept any options, including -h
or --help
.
count
exits with a non-zero exit status if no arguments were passed to it, and with zero if at least one argument was passed.
count $PATH # Returns the number of directories in the users PATH variable. count *.txt # Returns the number of files in the current working directory ending with the suffix '.txt'.
Back to index.
dirh
dirh
prints the current directory history. The current position in the history is highlighted using the color defined in the fish_color_history_current
environment variable.
dirh
does not accept any parameters.
Back to index.
dirs
dirs
prints the current directory stack, as created by the pushd
command.
dirs
does not accept any parameters.
Back to index.
echo [OPTIONS] [STRING]
echo
displays a string of text.
The following options are available:
-n
, Do not output a newline-s
, Do not separate arguments with spaces-E
, Disable interpretation of backslash escapes (default)-e
, Enable interpretation of backslash escapesIf -e
is used, the following sequences are recognized:
\
backslash\a
alert (BEL)\b
backspace\c
produce no further output\e
escape\f
form feed\n
new line\r
carriage return\t
horizontal tab\v
vertical tab\0NNN
byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits)\xHH
byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits)echo 'Hello World'
Print hello world to stdout
echo -e 'Top\nBottom'
Print Top and Bottom on separate lines, using an escape sequence
Back to index.
if CONDITION; COMMANDS_TRUE...; [else; COMMANDS_FALSE...;] end
if
will execute the command CONDITION
. If the condition's exit status is 0, the commands COMMANDS_TRUE
will execute. If it is not 0 and else
is given, COMMANDS_FALSE
will be executed.
The following code tests whether a file foo.txt
exists as a regular file.
if test -f foo.txt echo foo.txt exists else echo foo.txt does not exist end
Back to index.
emit EVENT_NAME [ARGUMENTS...]
emit
emits, or fires, an event. Events are delivered to, or caught by, special functions called event handlers. The arguments are passed to the event handlers as function arguments.
The following code first defines an event handler for the generic event named 'test_event', and then emits an event of that type.
function event_test --on-event test_event echo event test: $argv end emit test_event something
Back to index.
begin; [COMMANDS...] end if CONDITION; COMMANDS_TRUE...; [else; COMMANDS_FALSE...;] end while CONDITION; COMMANDS...; end for VARNAME in [VALUES...]; COMMANDS...; end switch VALUE; [case [WILDCARD...]; [COMMANDS...]; ...] end
end
ends a block of commands.
For more information, read the documentation for the block constructs, such as if
, for
and while
.
The end
command does not change the current exit status.
Back to index.
eval [COMMANDS...]
eval
evaluates the specified parameters as a command. If more than one parameter is specified, all parameters will be joined using a space character as a separator.
The following code will call the ls command. Note that fish
does not support the use of shell variables as direct commands; eval
can be used to work around this.
set cmd ls eval $cmd
Back to index.
exec COMMAND [OPTIONS...]
exec
replaces the currently running shell with a new command. On successful completion, exec
never returns. exec
cannot be used inside a pipeline.
exec emacs
starts up the emacs text editor, and exits fish
. When emacs exits, the session will terminate.
Back to index.
exit [STATUS]
exit
causes fish to exit. If STATUS
is supplied, it will be converted to an integer and used as the exit code. Otherwise, the exit code will be that of the last command executed.
If exit is called while sourcing a file (using the source builtin) the rest of the file will be skipped, but the shell itself will not exit.
Back to index.
false
false
sets the exit status to 1.
Back to index.
fg [PID]
fg
brings the specified job to the foreground, resuming it if it is stopped. While a foreground job is executed, fish is suspended. If no job is specified, the last job to be used is put in the foreground. If PID is specified, the job with the specified group ID is put in the foreground.
The PID of the desired process is usually found by using process expansion.
fg %1
will put the job with job ID 1 in the foreground.
Back to index.
fish [OPTIONS] [-c command] [FILE [ARGUMENTS...]]
fish
is a command-line shell written mainly with interactive use in mind. The full manual is available in HTML by using the help command from inside fish.
The following options are available:
-c
or --command=COMMANDS
evaluate the specified commands instead of reading from the commandline-d
or --debug-level=DEBUG_LEVEL
specify the verbosity level of fish. A higher number means higher verbosity. The default level is 1.-i
or --interactive
specify that fish is to run in interactive mode-l
or --login
specify that fish is to run as a login shell-n
or --no-execute
do not execute any commands, only perform syntax checking-p
or --profile=PROFILE_FILE
when fish exits, output timing information on all executed commands to the specified file-v
or --version
display version and exitThe fish exit status is generally the exit status of the last foreground command. If fish is exiting because of a parse error, the exit status is 127.
Back to index.
fish_config
starts the web-based configuration interface.
The web interface allows you to view your functions, variables and history, and to make changes to your prompt and color configuration.
fish_config
starts a local web server and then opens a web browser window; when you have finished, close the browser window and then press the Enter key to terminate the configuration session.
fish_config
optionally accepts name of the initial configuration tab. For e.g. fish_config history
will start configuration interface with history tab.
If the BROWSER
environment variable is set, it will be used as the name of the web browser to open instead of the system default.
fish_config
opens a new web browser window and allows you to configure certain fish settings.
Back to index.
fish_indent [OPTIONS]
fish_indent
is used to indent a piece of fish code. fish_indent
reads commands from standard input and outputs them to standard output.
The following options are available:
-i
or --no-indent
do not indent commands; only reformat to one job per line-v
or --version
displays the current fish version and then exits--ansi
colorizes the output using ANSI escape sequences, appropriate for the current $TERM, using the colors defined in the environment (such as $fish_color_command
).--html
outputs HTML, which supports syntax highlighting if the appropriate CSS is defined. The CSS class names are the same as the variable names, such as fish_color_command
Back to index.
function fish_prompt ... end
By defining the fish_prompt
function, the user can choose a custom prompt. The fish_prompt
function is executed when the prompt is to be shown, and the output is used as a prompt.
The exit status of commands within fish_prompt
will not modify the value of $status outside of the fish_prompt
function.
fish
ships with a number of example prompts that can be chosen with the fish_config
command.
A simple prompt:
function fish_prompt -d "Write out the prompt" printf '%s@%s%s%s%s> ' (whoami) (hostname | cut -d . -f 1) \ (set_color $fish_color_cwd) (prompt_pwd) (set_color normal) end
Back to index.
function fish_right_prompt ... end
fish_right_prompt
is similar to fish_prompt
, except that it appears on the right side of the terminal window.
Multiple lines are not supported in fish_right_prompt
.
A simple right prompt:
function fish_right_prompt -d "Write out the right prompt" date "+%m/%d/%y" end
Back to index.
fish_update_completions
parses manual pages installed on the system, and attempts to create completion files in the fish
configuration directory.
This does not overwrite custom completions.
There are no parameters for fish_update_completions
.
Back to index.
408-600-6421
fish_vi_mode
fish_vi_mode
enters a vi-like command editing mode. To always start in vi mode, add fish_vi_mode
to your config.fish
file.
Back to index.
for VARNAME in [VALUES...]; COMMANDS...; end
for
is a loop construct. It will perform the commands specified by COMMANDS
multiple times. On each iteration, the local variable specified by VARNAME
is assigned a new value from VALUES
. If VALUES
is empty, COMMANDS
will not be executed at all.
for i in foo bar baz; echo $i; end # would output: foo bar baz
Back to index.
funced [OPTIONS] NAME
funced
provides an interface to edit the definition of the function NAME
.
If the $EDITOR
environment variable is set, it will be used as the program to edit the function. Otherwise, a built-in editor will be used.
If there is no function called NAME
a new function will be created with the specified name
-e command
or --editor command
Open the function body inside the text editor given by the command (for example, "vi"). The command 'fish' will use the built-in editor.-i
or --interactive
Open function body in the built-in editor.Back to index.
funcsave FUNCTION_NAME
funcsave
saves the current definition of a function to a file in the fish configuration directory. This function will be automatically loaded by current and future fish sessions. This can be useful if you have interactively created a new function and wish to save it for later use.
Back to index.
function [OPTIONS] NAME; BODY; end
function
creates a new function NAME
with the body BODY
.
A function is a list of commands that will be executed when the name of the function is given as a command.
The following options are available:
-a NAMES
or --argument-names NAMES
assigns the value of successive command-line arguments to the names given in NAMES.-d DESCRIPTION
or --description=DESCRIPTION
is a description of what the function does, suitable as a completion description.-w WRAPPED_COMMAND
or --wraps=WRAPPED_COMMAND
causes the function to inherit completions from the given wrapped command. See the documentation for complete
for more information.-e
or --on-event EVENT_NAME
tells fish to run this function when the specified named event is emitted. Fish internally generates named events e.g. when showing the prompt.-v
or --on-variable VARIABLE_NAME
tells fish to run this function when the variable VARIABLE_NAME changes value.-j PGID
or --on-job-exit PGID
tells fish to run this function when the job with group ID PGID exits. Instead of PGID, the string 'caller' can be specified. This is only legal when in a command substitution, and will result in the handler being triggered by the exit of the job which created this command substitution.-p PID
or --on-process-exit PID
tells fish to run this function when the fish child process with process ID PID exits.-s
or --on-signal SIGSPEC
tells fish to run this function when the signal SIGSPEC is delivered. SIGSPEC can be a signal number, or the signal name, such as SIGHUP (or just HUP).-S
or --no-scope-shadowing
allows the function to access the variables of calling functions. Normally, any variables inside the function that have the same name as variables from the calling function are "shadowed", and their contents is independent of the calling function.-V
or --inherit-variable NAME
snapshots the value of the variable NAME
and defines a local variable with that same name and value when the function is executed.If the user enters any additional arguments after the function, they are inserted into the environment variable array $argv
. If the --argument-names
option is provided, the arguments are also assigned to names specified in that option.
By using one of the event handler switches, a function can be made to run automatically at specific events. The user may generate new events using the emit builtin. Fish generates the following named events:
fish_prompt
, which is emitted whenever a new fish prompt is about to be displayed.fish_command_not_found
, which is emitted whenever a command lookup failed.fish_preexec
, which is emitted right before executing an interactive command. The commandline is passed as the first parameter.
Note: This event will be emitted even if the command is invalid. The commandline parameter includes the entire commandline verbatim, and may potentially include newlines.
fish_postexec
, which is emitted right after executing an interactive command. The commandline is passed as the first parameter.
Note: This event will be emitted even if the command is invalid. The commandline parameter includes the entire commandline verbatim, and may potentially include newlines.
function ll ls -l $argv end
will run the ls
command, using the -l
option, while passing on any additional files and switches to ls
.
function mkdir -d "Create a directory and set CWD" command mkdir $argv if test $status = 0 switch $argv[(count $argv)] case '-*' case '*' cd $argv[(count $argv)] return end end end
This will run the mkdir
command, and if it is successful, change the current working directory to the one just created.
function notify set -l job (jobs -l -g) or begin; echo "There are no jobs" >&; return 1; end function _notify_job_$job --on-job-exit $job --inherit-variable job echo -n \a ## beep functions -e _notify_job_$job end end
This will beep when the most recent job completes.
Back to index.
functions [ -a | --all ] [ -n | --names ] functions -c OLDNAME NEWNAME functions -d DESCRIPTION FUNCTION functions [ -e | -q ] FUNCTIONS...
functions
prints or erases functions.
The following options are available:
-a
or --all
lists all functions, even those whose name start with an underscore.-c OLDNAME NEWNAME
or --copy OLDNAME NEWNAME
creates a new function named NEWNAME, using the definition of the OLDNAME function.-d DESCRIPTION
or --description=DESCRIPTION
changes the description of this function.-e
or --erase
causes the specified functions to be erased.-n
or --names
lists the names of all defined functions.-q
or --query
tests if the specified functions exist.The default behavior of functions
, when called with no arguments, is to print the names of all defined functions. Unless the -a
option is given, no functions starting with underscores are not included in the output.
If any non-option parameters are given, the definition of the specified functions are printed.
Automatically loaded functions cannot be removed using functions -e
. Either remove the definition file or change the $fish_function_path variable to remove autoloaded functions.
Copying a function using -c
copies only the body of the function, and does not attach any event notifications from the original function.
Only one function's description can be changed in a single invocation of functions -d
.
The exit status of functions
is the number of functions specified in the argument list that do not exist, which can be used in concert with the -q
option.
functions -n # Displays a list of currently-defined functions functions -c foo bar # Copies the 'foo' function to a new function called 'bar' functions -e bar # Erases the function `bar`
Back to index.
help [SECTION]
help
displays the fish help documentation.
If a SECTION
is specified, the help for that command is shown.
If the BROWSER environment variable is set, it will be used to display the documentation. Otherwise, fish will search for a suitable browser.
Note that most builtin commands display their help in the terminal when given the --help
option.
help fg
shows the documentation for the fg
builtin.
Back to index.
history ( --merge | --save | --clear ) history ( --search | --delete ) [ --prefix "prefix string" | --contains "search string" ]
history
is used to list, search and delete the history of commands used.
The following options are available:
--merge
immediately incorporates history changes from other sessions. Ordinarily fish
ignores history changes from sessions started after the current one. This command applies those changes immediately.--save
saves all changes in the history file. The shell automatically saves the history file; this option is provided for internal use.--clear
clears the history file. A prompt is displayed before the history is erased.--search
returns history items in keeping with the --prefix
or --contains
options.--delete
deletes history items.--prefix
searches or deletes items in the history that begin with the specified text string.--contains
searches or deletes items in the history that contain the specified text string.If --search
is specified without --contains
or --prefix
, --contains
will be assumed.
If --delete
is specified without --contains
or --prefix
, only a history item which exactly matches the parameter will be erased. No prompt will be given. If --delete
is specified with either of these parameters, an interactive prompt will be displayed before any items are deleted.
history --clear # Deletes all history items history --search --contains "foo" # Outputs a list of all previous commands containing the string "foo". history --delete --prefix "foo" # Interactively deletes the record of previous commands which start with "foo".
Back to index.
if CONDITION; COMMANDS_TRUE...; [else if CONDITION2; COMMANDS_TRUE2...;] [else; COMMANDS_FALSE...;] end
if
will execute the command CONDITION
. If the condition's exit status is 0, the commands COMMANDS_TRUE
will execute. If the exit status is not 0 and else
is given, COMMANDS_FALSE
will be executed.
In order to use the exit status of multiple commands as the condition of an if block, use begin; ...; end
and the short circuit commands and
and or
.
The exit status of the last foreground command to exit can always be accessed using the $status variable.
The following code will print foo.txt exists
if the file foo.txt exists and is a regular file, otherwise it will print bar.txt exists
if the file bar.txt exists and is a regular file, otherwise it will print foo.txt and bar.txt do not exist
.
if test -f foo.txt echo foo.txt exists else if test -f bar.txt echo bar.txt exists else echo foo.txt and bar.txt do not exist end
Back to index.
isatty [FILE DESCRIPTOR]
isatty
tests if a file descriptor is a tty.
FILE DESCRIPTOR
may be either the number of a file descriptor, or one of the strings stdin
, stdout
, or stderr
.
If the specified file descriptor is a tty, the exit status of the command is zero. Otherwise, the exit status is non-zero. No messages are printed to standard error.
From an interactive shell, the commands below exit with a return value of zero:
isatty isatty stdout isatty 2 echo | isatty 1
And these will exit non-zero:
echo | isatty isatty 9 isatty stdout > file isatty 2 2> file
Back to index.
jobs [OPTIONS] [PID]
jobs
prints a list of the currently running jobs and their status.
jobs accepts the following switches:
-c
or --command
prints the command name for each process in jobs.-g
or --group
only prints the group ID of each job.-l
or --last
prints only the last job to be started.-p
or --pid
prints the process ID for each process in all jobs.On systems that supports this feature, jobs will print the CPU usage of each job since the last command was executed. The CPU usage is expressed as a percentage of full CPU activity. Note that on multiprocessor systems, the total activity may be more than 100%.
jobs
outputs a summary of the current jobs.
Back to index.
math EXPRESSION
math
is used to perform mathematical calculations. It is a very thin wrapper for the bc program, which makes it possible to specify an expression from the command line without using non-standard extensions or a pipeline.
For a description of the syntax supported by math, see the manual for the bc program. Keep in mind that parameter expansion takes place on any expressions before they are evaluated. This can be very useful in order to perform calculations involving shell variables or the output of command substitutions, but it also means that parenthesis have to be escaped.
math 1+1
outputs 2.
math $status-128
outputs the numerical exit status of the last command minus 128.
Back to index.
mimedb [OPTIONS] FILES...
mimedb
queries the MIME type database and the .desktop
files installed on the system in order to find information on the files listed in FILES
. The information that mimedb
can retrieve includes the MIME type for a file, a description of the type, and the default action that can be performed on the file. mimedb
can also be used to launch the default action for this file.
The following options are available:
-t
, --input-file-data
determines the files' type both by their filename and by their contents (default behaviour).-f
, --input-filename
determines the files' type by their filename.-i
, --input-mime
specifies that the arguments are not files, but MIME types.-m
, --output-mime
outputs the MIME type of each file (default behaviour).-f
, --output-description
outputs the description of each MIME type.-a
, --output-action
outputs the default action of each MIME type.-l
, --launch
launches the default action for the specified files.-v
, --version
displays the version number and exits.Back to index.
nextd [ -l | --list ] [POS]
nextd
moves forwards POS
positions in the history of visited directories; if the end of the history has been hit, a warning is printed.
If the -l
or --list
flag is specified, the current directory history is also displayed.
cd /usr/src # Working directory is now /usr/src cd /usr/src/fish-shell # Working directory is now /usr/src/fish-shell prevd # Working directory is now /usr/src nextd # Working directory is now /usr/src/fish-shell
Back to index.
not COMMAND [OPTIONS...]
not
negates the exit status of another command. If the exit status is zero, not
returns 1. Otherwise, not
returns 0.
The following code reports an error and exits if no file named spoon can be found.
if not test -f spoon echo There is no spoon exit 1 end
Back to index.
open FILES...
open
opens a file in its default application, using the xdg-open
command if it exists, or else the mimedb command.
open *.txt
opens all the text files in the current directory using your system's default text editor.
Back to index.
COMMAND1; or COMMAND2
or
is used to execute a command if the current exit status (as set by the last previous command) is not 0.
or
does not change the current exit status.
The exit status of the last foreground command to exit can always be accessed using the $status variable.
The following code runs the make
command to build a program. If the build succeeds, the program is installed. If either step fails, make clean
is run, which removes the files created by the build process.
make; and make install; or make clean
Back to index.
popd
popd
removes the top directory from the directory stack and changes the working directory to the new top directory. Use pushd
to add directories to the stack.
pushd /usr/src # Working directory is now /usr/src # Directory stack contains /usr/src pushd /usr/src/fish-shell # Working directory is now /usr/src/fish-shell # Directory stack contains /usr/src /usr/src/fish-shell popd # Working directory is now /usr/src # Directory stack contains /usr/src
Back to index.
prevd [ -l | --list ] [POS]
prevd
moves backwards POS
positions in the history of visited directories; if the beginning of the history has been hit, a warning is printed.
If the -l
or --list
flag is specified, the current history is also displayed.
cd /usr/src # Working directory is now /usr/src cd /usr/src/fish-shell # Working directory is now /usr/src/fish-shell prevd # Working directory is now /usr/src nextd # Working directory is now /usr/src/fish-shell
Back to index.
COMMAND1 ( COMMAND2 | psub [-f] )
Posix shells feature a syntax that is a mix between command substitution and piping, called process substitution. It is used to send the output of a command into the calling command, much like command substitution, but with the difference that the output is not sent through commandline arguments but through a named pipe, with the filename of the named pipe sent as an argument to the calling program. psub
combined with a regular command substitution provides the same functionality.
If the -f
or --file
switch is given to psub
, psub
will use a regular file instead of a named pipe to communicate with the calling process. This will cause psub
to be significantly slower when large amounts of data are involved, but has the advantage that the reading process can seek in the stream.
diff (sort a.txt | psub) (sort b.txt | psub) # shows the difference between the sorted versions of files `a.txt` and `b.txt`.
Back to index.
pushd [DIRECTORY]
The pushd
function adds DIRECTORY
to the top of the directory stack and makes it the current working directory. popd
will pop it off and return to the original directory.
pushd /usr/src # Working directory is now /usr/src # Directory stack contains /usr/src pushd /usr/src/fish-shell # Working directory is now /usr/src/fish-shell # Directory stack contains /usr/src /usr/src/fish-shell popd # Working directory is now /usr/src # Directory stack contains /usr/src
Back to index.
pwd
pwd
outputs (prints) the current working directory.
Note that fish
always resolves symbolic links in the current directory path.
Back to index.
random [SEED]
random
outputs a random number from 0 to 32766, inclusive.
If a SEED
value is provided, it is used to seed the random number generator, and no output will be produced. This can be useful for debugging purposes, where it can be desirable to get the same random number sequence multiple times. If the random number generator is called without first seeding it, the current time will be used as the seed.
The following code will count down from a random number to 1:
for i in (seq (random) -1 1) echo $i sleep end
Back to index.
read [OPTIONS] [VARIABLES...]
read
reads one line from standard input and stores the result in one or more shell variables.
The following options are available:
-c CMD
or --command=CMD
sets the initial string in the interactive mode command buffer to CMD
.-g
or --global
makes the variables global.-l
or --local
makes the variables local.-m NAME
or --mode-name=NAME
specifies that the name NAME should be used to save/load the history file. If NAME is fish, the regular fish history will be available.-n NCHARS
or --nchars=NCHARS
causes read
to return after reading NCHARS characters rather than waiting for a complete line of input.-p PROMPT_CMD
or --prompt=PROMPT_CMD
uses the output of the shell command PROMPT_CMD
as the prompt for the interactive mode. The default prompt command is set_color green; echo read; set_color normal; echo "> "
.-R RIGHT_PROMPT_CMD
or --right-prompt=RIGHT_PROMPT_CMD
uses the output of the shell command RIGHT_PROMPT_CMD
as the right prompt for the interactive mode. There is no default right prompt command.-s
or --shell
enables syntax highlighting, tab completions and command termination suitable for entering shellscript code in the interactive mode.-u
or --unexport
prevents the variables from being exported to child processes (default behaviour).-U
or --universal
causes the specified shell variable to be made universal.-x
or --export
exports the variables to child processes.-a
or --array
stores the result as an array.-z
or --null
reads up to NUL instead of newline. Disables interactive mode.read
reads a single line of input from stdin, breaks it into tokens based on the IFS
shell variable, and then assigns one token to each variable specified in VARIABLES
. If there are more tokens than variables, the complete remainder is assigned to the last variable. As a special case, if IFS
is set to the empty string, each character of the input is considered a separate token.
If -a
or --array
is provided, only one variable name is allowed and the tokens are stored as an array in this variable.
See the documentation for set
for more details on the scoping rules for variables.
The following code stores the value 'hello' in the shell variable $foo
.
echo hello|read foo
Back to index.
function NAME; [COMMANDS...;] return [STATUS]; [COMMANDS...;] end
return
halts a currently running function. The exit status is set to STATUS
if it is given.
It is usually added inside of a conditional block such as an if statement or a switch statement to conditionally stop the executing function and return to the caller, but it can also be used to specify the exit status of a function.
The following code is an implementation of the false command as a fish function
function false return 1 end
Back to index.
set [SCOPE_OPTIONS] set [OPTIONS] VARIABLE_NAME VALUES... set [OPTIONS] VARIABLE_NAME[INDICES]... VALUES... set ( -q | --query ) [SCOPE_OPTIONS] VARIABLE_NAMES... set ( -e | --erase ) [SCOPE_OPTIONS] VARIABLE_NAME set ( -e | --erase ) [SCOPE_OPTIONS] VARIABLE_NAME[INDICES]...
set
manipulates shell variables.
If set is called with no arguments, the names and values of all shell variables are printed. If some of the scope or export flags have been given, only the variables matching the specified scope are printed.
With both variable names and values provided, set
assigns the variable VARIABLE_NAME
the values VALUES...
.
The following options control variable scope:
-l
or --local
forces the specified shell variable to be given a scope that is local to the current block, even if a variable with the given name exists and is non-local-g
or --global
causes the specified shell variable to be given a global scope. Non-global variables disappear when the block they belong to ends-U
or --universal
causes the specified shell variable to be given a universal scope. If this option is supplied, the variable will be shared between all the current users fish instances on the current computer, and will be preserved across restarts of the shell.-x
or --export
causes the specified shell variable to be exported to child processes (making it an "environment variable")-u
or --unexport
causes the specified shell variable to NOT be exported to child processesThe following options are available:
-e
or --erase
causes the specified shell variable to be erased-q
or --query
test if the specified variable names are defined. Does not output anything, but the builtins exit status is the number of variables specified that were not defined.-n
or --names
List only the names of all defined variables, not their value-L
or --long
do not abbreviate long values when printing set variablesIf a variable is set to more than one value, the variable will be an array with the specified elements. If a variable is set to zero elements, it will become an array with zero elements.
If the variable name is one or more array elements, such as PATH[1 3 7]
, only those array elements specified will be changed. When array indices are specified to set
, multiple arguments may be used to specify additional indexes, e.g. set PATH[1] PATH[4] /bin /sbin
. If you specify a negative index when expanding or assigning to an array variable, the index will be calculated from the end of the array. For example, the index -1 means the last index of an array.
The scoping rules when creating or updating a variable are:
-l
or --local
flag. If one of those flags is used, the variable will be local to the most inner currently executing block, while without these the variable will be local to the function. If no function is executing, the variable will be global.The exporting rules when creating or updating a variable are identical to the scoping rules for variables:
In query mode, the scope to be examined can be specified.
In erase mode, if variable indices are specified, only the specified slices of the array variable will be erased.
set
requires all options to come before any other arguments. For example, set flags -l
will have the effect of setting the value of the variable flags
to '-l', not making the variable local.
In assignment mode, set
exits with a non-zero exit status if variable assignments could not be successfully performed. If the variable assignments were performed, the exit status is unchanged. This allows simultaneous capture of the output and exit status of a subcommand, e.g. if set output (command)
. In query mode, the exit status is the number of variables that were not found. In erase mode, set
exits with a zero exit status in case of success, with a non-zero exit status if the commandline was invalid, if the variable was write-protected or if the variable did not exist.
set -xg # Prints all global, exported variables. set foo hi # Sets the value of the variable $foo to be 'hi'. set -e smurf # Removes the variable $smurf set PATH[4] ~/bin # Changes the fourth element of the $PATH array to ~/bin if set python_path (which python) echo "Python is at $python_path" end # Outputs the path to Python if `which` returns true.
Back to index.
set_color [OPTIONS] [COLOR]
set_color
changes the foreground and/or background color of the terminal. COLOR
is one of black, red, green, brown, yellow, blue, magenta, purple, cyan, white and normal.
If your terminal supports term256 (modern xterms and OS X Lion), you can specify an RGB value with three or six hex digits, such as A0FF33 or f2f. fish
will choose the closest supported color.
The following options are available:
-b
, --background
COLOR
sets the background color.-c
, --print-colors
prints a list of all valid color names.-o
, --bold
sets bold or extra bright mode.-u
, --underline
sets underlined mode.Calling set_color normal
will set the terminal color to the default color of the terminal.
Some terminals use the --bold
escape sequence to switch to a brighter color set. On such terminals, set_color white
will result in a grey font color, while set_color --bold white
will result in a white font color.
Not all terminal emulators support all these features.
set_color
uses the terminfo database to look up how to change terminal colors on whatever terminal is in use. Some systems have old and incomplete terminfo databases, and may lack color information for terminals that support it.
set_color red; echo "Roses are red" set_color blue; echo "Violets are blue" set_color 62A; echo "Eggplants are dark purple" set_color normal; echo "Normal is nice too"
Back to index.
source FILENAME [ARGUMENTS...]
source
evaluates the commands of the specified file in the current shell. This is different from starting a new process to perform the commands (i.e. fish < FILENAME
) since the commands will be evaluated by the current shell, which means that changes in shell variables will affect the current shell. If additional arguments are specified after the file name, they will be inserted into the $argv variable.
If no file is specified, or if the file name '-
' is used, stdin will be read.
The return status of source
is the return status of the last job to execute. If something goes wrong while opening or reading the file, source
exits with a non-zero status.
.
(a single period) is an alias for the source
command. The use of .
is deprecated in favour of source
, and .
will be removed in a future version of fish.
source ~/.config/fish/config.fish # Causes fish to re-read its initialization file.
Back to index.
status [OPTION]
With no arguments, status
displays a summary of the current login and job control status of the shell.
The following options are available:
-c
or --is-command-substitution
returns 0 if fish is currently executing a command substitution.-b
or --is-block
returns 0 if fish is currently executing a block of code.-i
or --is-interactive
returns 0 if fish is interactive - that is, connected to a keyboard.-l
or --is-login
returns 0 if fish is a login shell - that is, if fish should perform login tasks such as setting up the PATH.--is-full-job-control
returns 0 if full job control is enabled.--is-interactive-job-control
returns 0 if interactive job control is enabled.--is-no-job-control
returns 0 if no job control is enabled.-f
or --current-filename
prints the filename of the currently running script.-n
or --current-line-number
prints the line number of the currently running script.-j CONTROLTYPE
or --job-control=CONTROLTYPE
sets the job control type, which can be none
, full
, or interactive
.-t
or --print-stack-trace
prints a stack trace of all function calls on the call stack.Back to index.
switch VALUE; [case [WILDCARD...]; [COMMANDS...]; ...] end
switch
performs one of several blocks of commands, depending on whether a specified value equals one of several wildcarded values. case
is used together with the switch
statement in order to determine which block should be executed.
Each case
command is given one or more parameters. The first case
command with a parameter that matches the string specified in the switch command will be evaluated. case
parameters may contain wildcards. These need to be escaped or quoted in order to avoid regular wildcard expansion using filenames.
Note that fish does not fall through on case statements. Only the first matching case is executed.
Note that command substitutions in a case statement will be evaluated even if its body is not taken. All substitutions, including command substitutions, must be performed before the value can be compared against the parameter.
If the variable $animal contains the name of an animal, the following code would attempt to classify it:
switch $animal case cat echo evil case wolf dog human moose dolphin whale echo mammal case duck goose albatross echo bird case shark trout stingray echo fish case '*' echo I have no idea what a $animal is end
If the above code was run with $animal
set to whale
, the output would be mammal
.
Back to index.
test [EXPRESSION] [ [EXPRESSION] ]
Tests the expression given and sets the exit status to 0 if true, and 1 if false. An expression is made up of one or more operators and their arguments.
The first form (test
) is preferred. For compatibility with other shells, the second form is available: a matching pair of square brackets ([ [EXPRESSION ] ]
).
The following operators are available to examine files and directories:
-b FILE
returns true if FILE
is a block device.-c FILE
returns true if FILE
is a character device.-d FILE
returns true if FILE
is a directory.-e FILE
returns true if FILE
exists.-f FILE
returns true if FILE
is a regular file.-g FILE
returns true if FILE
has the set-group-ID bit set.-G FILE
returns true if FILE
exists and has the same group ID as the current user.-L FILE
returns true if FILE
is a symbolic link.-O FILE
returns true if FILE
exists and is owned by the current user.-p FILE
returns true if FILE
is a named pipe.-r FILE
returns true if FILE
is marked as readable.-s FILE
returns true if the size of FILE
is greater than zero.-S FILE
returns true if FILE
is a socket.-t FD
returns true if the file descriptor FD
is a terminal (TTY).-u FILE
returns true if FILE
has the set-user-ID bit set.-w FILE
returns true if FILE
is marked as writable; note that this does not check if the filesystem is read-only.-x FILE
returns true if FILE
is marked as executable.The following operators are available to compare and examine text strings:
STRING1 = STRING2
returns true if the strings STRING1
and STRING2
are identical.STRING1 != STRING2
returns true if the strings STRING1
and STRING2
are not identical.-n STRING
returns true if the length of STRING
is non-zero.-z STRING
returns true if the length of STRING
is zero.The following operators are available to compare and examine numbers:
NUM1 -eq NUM2
returns true if NUM1
and NUM2
are numerically equal.NUM1 -ne NUM2
returns true if NUM1
and NUM2
are not numerically equal.NUM1 -gt NUM2
returns true if NUM1
is greater than NUM2
.NUM1 -ge NUM2
returns true if NUM1
is greater than or equal to NUM2
.NUM1 -lt NUM2
returns true if NUM1
is less than NUM2
.NUM1 -le NUM2
returns true if NUM1
is less than or equal to NUM2
.Note that only integers are supported. For more complex mathematical operations, including fractions, the env
program may be useful. Consult the documentation for your operating system.
Expressions can be combined using the following operators:
COND1 -a COND2
returns true if both COND1
and COND2
are true.COND1 -o COND2
returns true if either COND1
or COND2
are true.Expressions can be inverted using the !
operator:
! EXPRESSION
returns true if EXPRESSION
is false, and false if EXPRESSION
is true.Expressions can be grouped using parentheses.
( EXPRESSION )
returns the value of EXPRESSION
.
Note that parentheses will usually require escaping with \(
to avoid being interpreted as a command substitution.
If the /tmp
directory exists, copy the /etc/motd
file to it:
if test -d /tmp cp /etc/motd /tmp/motd end
If the variable MANPATH
is defined and not empty, print the contents. (If MANPATH
is not defined, then it will expand to zero arguments, unless quoted.)
if test -n "$MANPATH" echo $MANPATH end
Parentheses and the -o
and -a
operators can be combined to produce more complicated expressions. In this example, success is printed if there is a /foo
or /bar
file as well as a /baz
or /bat
file.
if test \( -f /foo -o -f /bar \) -a \( -f /baz -o -f /bat \) echo Success. end.
test
implements a subset of the IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (POSIX.1) standard. The following exceptions apply:
<
and >
operators for comparing strings are not implemented.Because this test is a shell builtin and not a standalone utility, using the -c flag on a special file descriptors like standard input and output may not return the same result when invoked from within a pipe as one would expect when invoking the test
utility in another shell.
In cases such as this, one can use command
test
to explicitly use the system's standalone test
rather than this builtin
test
.
Back to index.
trap [OPTIONS] [[ARG] SIGSPEC ... ]
trap
is a wrapper around the fish event delivery framework. It exists for backwards compatibility with POSIX shells. For other uses, it is recommended to define an event handler.
The following parameters are available:
ARG
is the command to be executed on signal delivery.SIGSPEC
is the name of the signal to trap.-l
or --list-signals
prints a list of signal names.-p
or --print
prints all defined signal handlers.If ARG
and SIGSPEC
are both specified, ARG
is the command to be executed when the signal specified by SIGSPEC
is delivered.
If ARG
is absent (and there is a single SIGSPEC) or -, each specified signal is reset to its original disposition (the value it had upon entrance to the shell). If ARG
is the null string the signal specified by each SIGSPEC
is ignored by the shell and by the commands it invokes.
If ARG
is not present and -p
has been supplied, then the trap commands associated with each SIGSPEC
are displayed. If no arguments are supplied or if only -p
is given, trap
prints the list of commands associated with each signal.
Signal names are case insensitive and the SIG
prefix is optional.
The return status is 1 if any SIGSPEC
is invalid; otherwise trap returns 0.
trap "status --print-stack-trace" SIGUSR1 # Prints a stack trace each time the SIGUSR1 signal is sent to the shell.
Back to index.
true
true
sets the exit status to 0.
Back to index.
type [OPTIONS] NAME [NAME ...]
With no options, type
indicates how each NAME
would be interpreted if used as a command name.
The following options are available:
-a
or --all
prints all of possible definitions of the specified names.-f
or --no-functions
suppresses function and builtin lookup.-t
or --type
prints function
, builtin
, or file
if NAME
is a shell function, builtin, or disk file, respectively.-p
or --path
returns the name of the disk file that would be executed, or nothing if type -t name
would not return file
.-P
or --force-path
returns the name of the disk file that would be executed, or nothing if no file with the specified name could be found in the $PATH
.-q
or --quiet
suppresses all output; this is useful when testing the exit status.type fg # Outputs the string 'fg is a shell builtin'.
Back to index.
ulimit [OPTIONS] [LIMIT]
ulimit
builtin sets or outputs the resource usage limits of the shell and any processes spawned by it. If a new limit value is omitted, the current value of the limit of the resource is printed; otherwise, the specified limit is set to the new value.
Use one of the following switches to specify which resource limit to set or report:
-c
or --core-size
: the maximum size of core files created. By setting this limit to zero, core dumps can be disabled.-d
or --data-size
: the maximum size of a process' data segment.-f
or --file-size
: the maximum size of files created by the shell.-l
or --lock-size
: the maximum size that may be locked into memory.-m
or --resident-set-size
: the maximum resident set size.-n
or --file-descriptor-count
: the maximum number of open file descriptors (most systems do not allow this value to be set).-s
or --stack-size
: the maximum stack size.-t
or --cpu-time
: the maximum amount of CPU time in seconds.-u
or --process-count
: the maximum number of processes available to a single user.-v
or --virtual-memory-size
The maximum amount of virtual memory available to the shell.Note that not all these limits are available in all operating systems.
The value of limit can be a number in the unit specified for the resource or one of the special values hard
, soft
, or unlimited
, which stand for the current hard limit, the current soft limit, and no limit, respectively.
If limit is given, it is the new value of the specified resource. If no option is given, then -f
is assumed. Values are in kilobytes, except for -t
, which is in seconds and -n
and -u
, which are unscaled values. The return status is 0 unless an invalid option or argument is supplied, or an error occurs while setting a new limit.
ulimit
also accepts the following switches that determine what type of limit to set:
-H
or --hard
sets hard resource limit-S
or --soft
sets soft resource limitA hard limit can only be decreased. Once it is set it cannot be increased; a soft limit may be increased up to the value of the hard limit. If neither -H nor -S is specified, both the soft and hard limits are updated when assigning a new limit value, and the soft limit is used when reporting the current value.
The following additional options are also understood by ulimit
:
-a
or --all
prints all current limitsThe fish
implementation of ulimit
should behave identically to the implementation in bash, except for these differences:
ulimit
supports GNU-style long options for all switchesulimit
does not support the -p
option for getting the pipe size. The bash implementation consists of a compile-time check that empirically guesses this number by writing to a pipe and waiting for SIGPIPE. Fish does not do this because it this method of determining pipe size is unreliable. Depending on bash version, there may also be further additional limits to set in bash that do not exist in fish.ulimit
does not support getting or setting multiple limits in one command, except reporting all values using the -a switchulimit -Hs 64
sets the hard stack size limit to 64 kB.
Back to index.
umask [OPTIONS] [MASK]
umask
displays and manipulates the "umask", or file creation mode mask, which is used to restrict the default access to files.
The umask may be expressed either as an octal number, which represents the rights that will be removed by default, or symbolically, which represents the only rights that will be granted by default.
Access rights are explained in the manual page for the chmod
(1) program.
With no parameters, the current file creation mode mask is printed as an octal number.
-h
or --help
prints this message.-S
or --symbolic
prints the umask in symbolic form instead of octal form.-p
or --as-command
outputs the umask in a form that may be reused as inputIf a numeric mask is specified as a parameter, the current shell's umask will be set to that value, and the rights specified by that mask will be removed from new files and directories by default.
If a symbolic mask is specified, the desired permission bits, and not the inverse, should be specified. A symbolic mask is a comma separated list of rights. Each right consists of three parts:
u
, g
, o
or a
, where u
specifies the user who owns the file, g
specifies the group owner of the file, o
specific other users rights and a
specifies all three should be changed.=
, +
or -
, where =
specifies that the rights should be set to the new value, +
specifies that the specified right should be added to those previously specified and -
specifies that the specified rights should be removed from those previously specified.r
, w
and x
, representing read, write and execute rights.If the first and second parts are skipped, they are assumed to be a
and =
, respectively. As an example, r,u+w
means all users should have read access and the file owner should also have write access.
Note that symbolic masks currently do not work as intended.
umask 177
or umask u=rw
sets the file creation mask to read and write for the owner and no permissions at all for any other users.
Back to index.
vared VARIABLE_NAME
vared
is used to interactively edit the value of an environment variable. Array variables as a whole can not be edited using vared
, but individual array elements can.
vared PATH[3]
edits the third element of the PATH array
Back to index.
while CONDITION; COMMANDS...; end
while
repeatedly executes CONDITION
, and if the exit status is 0, then executes COMMANDS
.
If the exit status of CONDITION
is non-zero on the first iteration, COMMANDS
will not be executed at all.
Use begin; ...; end
for complex conditions; more complex control can be achieved with while true
containing a break.
while test -f foo.txt; echo file exists; sleep 10; end # outputs 'file exists' at 10 second intervals as long as the file foo.txt exists.
Back to index.