Alias

1.3. Alias#

last update: Feb 07, 2024

If you are using command line, there must be commands you use frequently. Some commands are long and you might think that copying them every time is a waste of time. In such case, you can use alias for a command. If you want to use h as an alias for cd ~, you define alias h='cd ~' in ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bashrc). If you can’t find such files in your home directory, you need to make it with touch ~/.zshrc.

If you find some useful aliases below, write them in ~/.zshrc.

1.3.1. Basic#

Customize and colorize PROMPT#

PS1="%F{082}%n%f %F{051}%~%f %# "
RPROMPT='%T'

PS1 is the main (left) prompt and RPROMPT is the right prompt.
%n means username
%~ means current directory
%# shows # if you are root, % if not.
%T shows the current time in 24-hour format (%t for 12-hour format).
you can colorize your prompt by using %F{color number} ~ %f. You can find color numbers here.

Read more about Prompt Expansion in this link.

Put a blank line before every prompt except the first one.#

precmd() { precmd() { echo } }

change directory#

cs() { cd $@ && la }
alias cd='cs'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias ....='cd ../../..'
alias cb='cd -'
alias d='cd ~/Desktop'
alias dl="cd ~/Downloads"
alias h='cd ~'
alias /='cd /'

# Change working directory to the top-most Finder window location.
cdf() { cd "$(osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to POSIX path of (insertion location as alias)')" }

show files#

alias ls='gls --color --group-directories-first -F'
alias l='ls'
alias la='ls -A'
alias ll='ls -AhlS'
alias ds='du -d 1 -h 2>/dev/null | sort -h'
alias pwd='sed "s/ /\\\ /g" <<< ${PWD/#$HOME/"~"}'
alias p='pwd'
alias path='echo -e ${PATH//:/\\n}'

ls: To use gls, you need to install coreutils with brew install coreutils. You can use the same colorization as tree command.
- --color option colorize the output of gls command.
- --group-directories-first option puts directories first.
- -F option adds a trailing / to directory names, @ to symbolic links, and so on.
la, ll: ls is defined as gls --color --group-directories-first -F before la='ls -A'. This means la='gls --color --group-directories-first -F -A' and the same for ll.
- -A option shows all files and directories except . and ...
- -h option shows the size in human readable format.
- -l option shows the file size, owner, group, and permissions.
- -S option sorts by file size.
ds: du -d 1 shows the size of directories in the current directory.
- -h option shows the size in human readable format.
- 2>/dev/null hides error messages.
- sort -h sorts by file size using pipe.
pwd: sed "s/ /\\\ /g" puts \ before every space. <<< is a “here string”. ${PWD/#$HOME/"~"} replaces $HOME with ~ in the current directory path.

Hint

When you specify options, you can use ls -AhlS instead of ls -A -h -l -S.

edit files#

alias v='vi'
alias cp='cp -iv'
alias mv='mv -iv'
alias rm='rm -iv'
alias rf='rm -rf'

-i option asks you before overwriting a file.
-v option shows the name of the file being copied, moved, or removed.

search#

fb() { find . -size +$2M -type f -name $1 -exec ls -lhS "{}" +}
fd() { find . -name "*.$1" -type f -delete }
rn() { for filename in *.$1; do mv -f "$filename" $(echo "$filename" | sed -e "s/$2//g"); done }
dif(){ diff --color -u $1 $2 }
alias imgopt='open -a ImageOptim .'
alias grep='grep --color'

Function

You can make an alias with arguments, which is called a function. Functions are defined as function_name() { commands }. For example, fb takes two arguments, $1 and $2. $1 is the first argument and $2 is the second argument. Use like fb "*.pdf" 10 to find files with the name pdf larger than 10 MB.

In addition to $1 and $2, there are other special variables: $0 is the function name. $@ is all arguments. $# is the number of arguments. $? is the exit status of the last command. $$ is the process ID of the current shell. $! is the process ID of the last command run in the background.

fb finds files larger than $2 MB with the name $1 in the current directory.
- -size +$2M option finds files larger than $2 MB.
- -type f option finds only files (-type d finds only directories).
- -name $1 option finds files with the name $1.
- -exec ls -lhS "{}" + option executes ls -lhS command for each file found.
fd: find . -name "*.$1" -type f -delete finds files with the extension $1 and deletes them.
rn renames files with the extension $1 by removing $2 from the file name. For example, rn txt asdf renames aaasdfff.txt to aaff.txt.

Note

-exec <command> {} + is a common syntax to execute <command> for each file found. {} is a placeholder for the file name. + is a delimiter to tell the end of the command.

open apps#

alias hr='open .'
alias c='open /Applications/CotEditor.app'
alias vs='code'
alias fire='open /Applications/Firefox.app'
alias chrome='open /Applications/Google\ Chrome.app'
alias safari='open /Applications/Safari.app'

hr opens the current directory.
c opens CotEditor.
vs opens Visual Studio Code.
fire opens Firefox.
chrome opens Google Chrome.
safari opens Safari.

others#

alias his='history'
alias rl='exec ${SHELL} -l' #reload

zip encryption#

zipen(){
	zip -er enc.zip "$@"
}

zipen zips files and encrypts them with a password as enc.zip. Use like zipen file1 file2 dir1.

Note

"$@" is a special variable that expands to all arguments. For example, "$@" is expanded to file1 file2 dir1 in the above example.

1.3.2. Mac OS settings#

Show/hide hidden files in Finder#

alias show="defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true && killall Finder"
alias hide="defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false && killall Finder"

Tip

You can also use Command + Shift + . to show/hide hidden files in Finder.

Hide/show all desktop icons#

alias dhide="defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool false && killall Finder"
alias dshow="defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool true && killall Finder"

Screenshot settings#

alias dwl='defaults write com.apple.screencapture location'
alias ddl='defaults delete com.apple.screencapture location'
alias drl='defaults read com.apple.screencapture location'

You can change the location of screenshots by dwl ~/path/to/dir.

sleep setting#

alias sleepon='sudo pmset -a disablesleep 0'
alias sleepoff='sudo pmset -a disablesleep 1'

1.3.3. GitHub#

alias g='git'
alias ga='git add'
alias gb='git branch'
alias gc='git commit'
alias gch='git checkout'
alias gcl='git clone'
alias gd='git diff'
alias gf='git fetch'
alias gi='git init'
alias gm='git merge'
alias gps='git push'
alias gpl='git pull'
alias gpom='git push origin main'
alias gs='git status'

Function#

gacpm() { git add -A && git commit -m "$1" && git push origin main }

gacpm adds all files, commits with the message $1, and pushes to the main branch of the origin remote repository. Use like gacpm "update README.md".

For example, you can define a function to make a new repository with just one command.

# $1 = private or public
ginit() {
	git init
	git add .
	git commit -m "🎉  Initial commit"
	gh repo create --"$1" --source=. --push
}

You need to install GitHub CLI to use gh command.

gitignore.io #

gitignore.io enable us to make .gitignore file easily

function gi() { curl -sLw n https://www.toptal.com/developers/gitignore/api/$@ ;}

1.3.4. Python#

alias wpy='which python'

alias pip='pip3'
alias pin='pip install'
alias puin='pip uninstall'
alias pup='pip install --upgrade pip'
alias pinreq='pip install -r requirements.txt'
alias pf='pip list --format=freeze'
alias pfr='pip list --format=freeze > requirements.txt'

Make, activate, deactivate venv#

alias mkv='python3 -m venv venv; acv; pip install --upgrade pip'
alias acv='source venv/bin/activate'
alias deac='deactivate'

1.3.5. Latex#

Copy latex-template directory to somewhere;#

If you write a lot of latex documents, you should make a template directory. You can copy the template directory to somewhere with this function.

mklt(){
	cp -r ~/latex-template ./"$1"
}

mkbt(){
	cp -r ~/beamer-template ./"$1"
}