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4.2 Bash Builtin Commands
This section describes builtin commands which are unique to
or have been extended in Bash.
Some of these commands are specified in the POSIX 1003.2 standard.
alias
-
alias [-p] [name[=value] ...]
Without arguments or with the -p option, alias prints
the list of aliases on the standard output in a form that allows
them to be reused as input.
If arguments are supplied, an alias is defined for each name
whose value is given. If no value is given, the name
and value of the alias is printed.
Aliases are described in section 6.6 Aliases.
bind
-
bind [-m keymap] [-lpsvPSV]
bind [-m keymap] [-q function] [-u function]
[-r keyseq]
bind [-m keymap] -f filename
bind [-m keymap] -x keyseq:shell-command
bind [-m keymap] keyseq:function-name
bind readline-command
Display current Readline (see section 8 Command Line Editing)
key and function bindings,
bind a key sequence to a Readline function or macro,
or set a Readline variable.
Each non-option argument is a command as it would appear in
a Readline initialization file (see section 8.3 Readline Init File),
but each binding or command must be passed as a separate argument; e.g.,
'"\C-x\C-r":re-read-init-file'.
Options, if supplied, have the following meanings:
-m keymap
-
Use keymap as the keymap to be affected by
the subsequent bindings. Acceptable keymap
names are
emacs,
emacs-standard,
emacs-meta,
emacs-ctlx,
vi,
vi-move,
vi-command, and
vi-insert.
vi is equivalent to vi-command;
emacs is equivalent to emacs-standard.
-l
-
List the names of all Readline functions.
-p
-
Display Readline function names and bindings in such a way that they
can be used as input or in a Readline initialization file.
-P
-
List current Readline function names and bindings.
-v
-
Display Readline variable names and values in such a way that they
can be used as input or in a Readline initialization file.
-V
-
List current Readline variable names and values.
-s
-
Display Readline key sequences bound to macros and the strings they output
in such a way that they can be used as input or in a Readline
initialization file.
-S
-
Display Readline key sequences bound to macros and the strings they output.
-f filename
-
Read key bindings from filename.
-q function
-
Query about which keys invoke the named function.
-u function
-
Unbind all keys bound to the named function.
-r keyseq
-
Remove any current binding for keyseq.
-x keyseq:shell-command
-
Cause shell-command to be executed whenever keyseq is
entered.
The return status is zero unless an invalid option is supplied or an
error occurs.
builtin
-
builtin [shell-builtin [args]]
Run a shell builtin, passing it args, and return its exit status.
This is useful when defining a shell function with the same
name as a shell builtin, retaining the functionality of the builtin within
the function.
The return status is non-zero if shell-builtin is not a shell
builtin command.
command
-
command [-pVv] command [arguments ...]
Runs command with arguments ignoring any shell function
named command.
Only shell builtin commands or commands found by searching the
PATH are executed.
If there is a shell function named ls, running 'command ls'
within the function will execute the external command ls
instead of calling the function recursively.
The -p option means to use a default value for PATH
that is guaranteed to find all of the standard utilities.
The return status in this case is 127 if command cannot be
found or an error occurred, and the exit status of command
otherwise.
If either the -V or -v option is supplied, a
description of command is printed. The -v option
causes a single word indicating the command or file name used to
invoke command to be displayed; the -V option produces
a more verbose description. In this case, the return status is
zero if command is found, and non-zero if not.
declare
-
declare [-afFirtx] [-p] [name[=value]]
Declare variables and give them attributes. If no names
are given, then display the values of variables instead.
The -p option will display the attributes and values of each
name. When -p is used, additional options are ignored.
The -F option inhibits the display of function definitions;
only the function name and attributes are printed. -F implies
-f. The following options can be used to restrict output
to variables with the specified attributes or to give variables
attributes:
-a
-
Each name is an array variable (see section 6.7 Arrays).
-f
-
Use function names only.
-i
-
The variable is to be treated as
an integer; arithmetic evaluation (see section 6.5 Shell Arithmetic) is
performed when the variable is assigned a value.
-r
-
Make names readonly. These names cannot then be assigned values
by subsequent assignment statements or unset.
-t
-
Give each name the
trace attribute.
Traced functions inherit the DEBUG trap from the calling shell.
The trace attribute has no special meaning for variables.
-x
-
Mark each name for export to subsequent commands via
the environment.
Using '+' instead of '-' turns off the attribute instead.
When used in a function, declare makes each name local,
as with the local command.
The return status is zero unless an invalid option is encountered,
an attempt is made to define a function using '-f foo=bar',
an attempt is made to assign a value to a readonly variable,
an attempt is made to assign a value to an array variable without
using the compound assignment syntax (see section 6.7 Arrays),
one of the names is not a valid shell variable name,
an attempt is made to turn off readonly status for a readonly variable,
an attempt is made to turn off array status for an array variable,
or an attempt is made to display a non-existent function with -f.
echo
-
echo [-neE] [arg ...]
Output the args, separated by spaces, terminated with a
newline.
The return status is always 0.
If -n is specified, the trailing newline is suppressed.
If the -e option is given, interpretation of the following
backslash-escaped characters is enabled.
The -E option disables the interpretation of these escape characters,
even on systems where they are interpreted by default.
The xpg_echo shell option may be used to
dynamically determine whether or not echo expands these
escape characters by default.
echo interprets the following escape sequences:
\a
-
alert (bell)
\b
-
backspace
\c
-
suppress trailing newline
\e
-
escape
\f
-
form feed
\n
-
new line
\r
-
carriage return
\t
-
horizontal tab
\v
-
vertical tab
\\
-
backslash
\0nnn
-
the eight-bit character whose value is the octal value nnn
(zero to three octal digits)
\nnn
-
the eight-bit character whose value is the octal value nnn
(one to three octal digits)
\xHH
-
the eight-bit character whose value is the hexadecimal value HH
(one or two hex digits)
enable
-
enable [-n] [-p] [-f filename] [-ads] [name ...]
Enable and disable builtin shell commands.
Disabling a builtin allows a disk command which has the same name
as a shell builtin to be executed without specifying a full pathname,
even though the shell normally searches for builtins before disk commands.
If -n is used, the names become disabled. Otherwise
names are enabled. For example, to use the test binary
found via $PATH instead of the shell builtin version, type
'enable -n test'.
If the -p option is supplied, or no name arguments appear,
a list of shell builtins is printed. With no other arguments, the list
consists of all enabled shell builtins.
The -a option means to list
each builtin with an indication of whether or not it is enabled.
The -f option means to load the new builtin command name
from shared object filename, on systems that support dynamic loading.
The -d option will delete a builtin loaded with -f.
If there are no options, a list of the shell builtins is displayed.
The -s option restricts enable to the POSIX special
builtins. If -s is used with -f, the new builtin becomes
a special builtin (see section 4.4 Special Builtins).
The return status is zero unless a name is not a shell builtin
or there is an error loading a new builtin from a shared object.
help
-
help [-s] [pattern]
Display helpful information about builtin commands.
If pattern is specified, help gives detailed help
on all commands matching pattern, otherwise a list of
the builtins is printed.
The -s option restricts the information displayed to a short
usage synopsis.
The return status is zero unless no command matches pattern.
let
-
let expression [expression]
The let builtin allows arithmetic to be performed on shell
variables. Each expression is evaluated according to the
rules given below in section 6.5 Shell Arithmetic. If the
last expression evaluates to 0, let returns 1;
otherwise 0 is returned.
local
-
local [option] name[=value]
For each argument, a local variable named name is created,
and assigned value.
The option can be any of the options accepted by declare.
local can only be used within a function; it makes the variable
name have a visible scope restricted to that function and its
children. The return status is zero unless local is used outside
a function, an invalid name is supplied, or name is a
readonly variable.
logout
-
logout [n]
Exit a login shell, returning a status of n to the shell's
parent.
printf
-
printf format [arguments]
Write the formatted arguments to the standard output under the
control of the format.
The format is a character string which contains three types of objects:
plain characters, which are simply copied to standard output, character
escape sequences, which are converted and copied to the standard output, and
format specifications, each of which causes printing of the next successive
argument.
In addition to the standard printf(1) formats, '%b' causes
printf to expand backslash escape sequences in the corresponding
argument, and '%q' causes printf to output the
corresponding argument in a format that can be reused as shell input.
The format is reused as necessary to consume all of the arguments.
If the format requires more arguments than are supplied, the
extra format specifications behave as if a zero value or null string, as
appropriate, had been supplied. The return value is zero on success,
non-zero on failure.
read
-
read [-ers] [-a aname] [-d delim] [-n nchars]
[-p prompt] [-t timeout] [-u fd] [name ...]
One line is read from the standard input, or from the file descriptor
fd supplied as an argument to the -u option, and the first word
is assigned to the first name, the second word to the second name,
and so on, with leftover words and their intervening separators assigned
to the last name.
If there are fewer words read from the input stream than names,
the remaining names are assigned empty values.
The characters in the value of the IFS variable
are used to split the line into words.
The backslash character '\' may be used to remove any special
meaning for the next character read and for line continuation.
If no names are supplied, the line read is assigned to the
variable REPLY.
The return code is zero, unless end-of-file is encountered, read
times out, or an invalid file descriptor is supplied as the argument to
-u.
Options, if supplied, have the following meanings:
-a aname
-
The words are assigned to sequential indices of the array variable
aname, starting at 0.
All elements are removed from aname before the assignment.
Other name arguments are ignored.
-d delim
-
The first character of delim is used to terminate the input line,
rather than newline.
-e
-
Readline (see section 8 Command Line Editing) is used to obtain the line.
-n nchars
-
read returns after reading nchars characters rather than
waiting for a complete line of input.
-p prompt
-
Display prompt, without a trailing newline, before attempting
to read any input.
The prompt is displayed only if input is coming from a terminal.
-r
-
If this option is given, backslash does not act as an escape character.
The backslash is considered to be part of the line.
In particular, a backslash-newline pair may not be used as a line
continuation.
-s
-
Silent mode. If input is coming from a terminal, characters are
not echoed.
-t timeout
-
Cause
read to time out and return failure if a complete line of
input is not read within timeout seconds.
This option has no effect if read is not reading input from the
terminal or a pipe.
-u fd
-
Read input from file descriptor fd.
shopt
-
shopt [-pqsu] [-o] [optname ...]
Toggle the values of variables controlling optional shell behavior.
With no options, or with the -p option, a list of all settable
options is displayed, with an indication of whether or not each is set.
The -p option causes output to be displayed in a form that
may be reused as input.
Other options have the following meanings:
-s
-
Enable (set) each optname.
-u
-
Disable (unset) each optname.
-q
-
Suppresses normal output; the return status
indicates whether the optname is set or unset.
If multiple optname arguments are given with
-q,
the return status is zero if all optnames are enabled;
non-zero otherwise.
-o
-
Restricts the values of
optname to be those defined for the
-o option to the
set builtin (see section 4.3 The Set Builtin).
If either -s or -u
is used with no optname arguments, the display is limited to
those options which are set or unset, respectively.
Unless otherwise noted, the shopt options are disabled (off)
by default.
The return status when listing options is zero if all optnames
are enabled, non-zero otherwise. When setting or unsetting options,
the return status is zero unless an optname is not a valid shell
option.
The list of shopt options is:
cdable_vars
-
If this is set, an argument to the
cd
builtin command that
is not a directory is assumed to be the name of a variable whose
value is the directory to change to.
cdspell
-
If set, minor errors in the spelling of a directory component in a
cd command will be corrected.
The errors checked for are transposed characters,
a missing character, and a character too many.
If a correction is found, the corrected path is printed,
and the command proceeds.
This option is only used by interactive shells.
checkhash
-
If this is set, Bash checks that a command found in the hash
table exists before trying to execute it. If a hashed command no
longer exists, a normal path search is performed.
checkwinsize
-
If set, Bash checks the window size after each command
and, if necessary, updates the values of
LINES and COLUMNS.
cmdhist
-
If set, Bash
attempts to save all lines of a multiple-line
command in the same history entry. This allows
easy re-editing of multi-line commands.
dotglob
-
If set, Bash includes filenames beginning with a `.' in
the results of filename expansion.
execfail
-
If this is set, a non-interactive shell will not exit if
it cannot execute the file specified as an argument to the
exec
builtin command. An interactive shell does not exit if exec
fails.
expand_aliases
-
If set, aliases are expanded as described below under Aliases,
section 6.6 Aliases.
This option is enabled by default for interactive shells.
extglob
-
If set, the extended pattern matching features described above
(see section 3.5.8.1 Pattern Matching) are enabled.
histappend
-
If set, the history list is appended to the file named by the value
of the
HISTFILE
variable when the shell exits, rather than overwriting the file.
histreedit
-
If set, and Readline
is being used, a user is given the opportunity to re-edit a
failed history substitution.
histverify
-
If set, and Readline
is being used, the results of history substitution are not immediately
passed to the shell parser. Instead, the resulting line is loaded into
the Readline editing buffer, allowing further modification.
hostcomplete
-
If set, and Readline is being used, Bash will attempt to perform
hostname completion when a word containing a '@' is being
completed (see section 8.4.6 Letting Readline Type For You). This option is enabled
by default.
huponexit
-
If set, Bash will send
SIGHUP to all jobs when an interactive
login shell exits (see section 3.7.6 Signals).
interactive_comments
-
Allow a word beginning with '#'
to cause that word and all remaining characters on that
line to be ignored in an interactive shell.
This option is enabled by default.
lithist
-
If enabled, and the
cmdhist
option is enabled, multi-line commands are saved to the history with
embedded newlines rather than using semicolon separators where possible.
login_shell
-
The shell sets this option if it is started as a login shell
(see section 6.1 Invoking Bash).
The value may not be changed.
mailwarn
-
If set, and a file that Bash is checking for mail has been
accessed since the last time it was checked, the message
"The mail in mailfile has been read" is displayed.
no_empty_cmd_completion
-
If set, and Readline is being used, Bash will not attempt to search
the
PATH for possible completions when completion is attempted
on an empty line.
nocaseglob
-
If set, Bash matches filenames in a case-insensitive fashion when
performing filename expansion.
nullglob
-
If set, Bash allows filename patterns which match no
files to expand to a null string, rather than themselves.
progcomp
-
If set, the programmable completion facilities
(see section 8.6 Programmable Completion) are enabled.
This option is enabled by default.
promptvars
-
If set, prompt strings undergo variable and parameter expansion after
being expanded (see section 6.9 Controlling the Prompt).
This option is enabled by default.
restricted_shell
-
The shell sets this option if it is started in restricted mode
(see section 6.10 The Restricted Shell).
The value may not be changed.
This is not reset when the startup files are executed, allowing
the startup files to discover whether or not a shell is restricted.
shift_verbose
-
If this is set, the
shift
builtin prints an error message when the shift count exceeds the
number of positional parameters.
sourcepath
-
If set, the
source builtin uses the value of PATH
to find the directory containing the file supplied as an argument.
This option is enabled by default.
xpg_echo
-
If set, the
echo builtin expands backslash-escape sequences
by default.
The return status when listing options is zero if all optnames
are enabled, non-zero otherwise.
When setting or unsetting options, the return status is zero unless an
optname is not a valid shell option.
source
-
source filename
A synonym for . (see section 4.1 Bourne Shell Builtins).
type
-
type [-afptP] [name ...]
For each name, indicate how it would be interpreted if used as a
command name.
If the -t option is used, type prints a single word
which is one of 'alias', 'function', 'builtin',
'file' or 'keyword',
if name is an alias, shell function, shell builtin,
disk file, or shell reserved word, respectively.
If the name is not found, then nothing is printed, and
type returns a failure status.
If the -p option is used, type either returns the name
of the disk file that would be executed, or nothing if -t
would not return 'file'.
The -P option forces a path search for each name, even if
-t would not return 'file'.
If a command is hashed, -p and -P print the hashed value,
not necessarily the file that appears first in $PATH.
If the -a option is used, type returns all of the places
that contain an executable named file.
This includes aliases and functions, if and only if the -p option
is not also used.
If the -f option is used, type does not attempt to find
shell functions, as with the command builtin.
The return status is zero if any of the names are found, non-zero
if none are found.
typeset
-
typeset [-afFrxi] [-p] [name[=value]]
The typeset command is supplied for compatibility with the Korn
shell; however, it has been deprecated in favor of the declare
builtin command.
ulimit
-
ulimit [-acdflmnpstuvSH] [limit]
ulimit provides control over the resources available to processes
started by the shell, on systems that allow such control. If an
option is given, it is interpreted as follows:
-S
-
Change and report the soft limit associated with a resource.
-H
-
Change and report the hard limit associated with a resource.
-a
-
All current limits are reported.
-c
-
The maximum size of core files created.
-d
-
The maximum size of a process's data segment.
-f
-
The maximum size of files created by the shell.
-l
-
The maximum size that may be locked into memory.
-m
-
The maximum resident set size.
-n
-
The maximum number of open file descriptors.
-p
-
The pipe buffer size.
-s
-
The maximum stack size.
-t
-
The maximum amount of cpu time in seconds.
-u
-
The maximum number of processes available to a single user.
-v
-
The maximum amount of virtual memory available to the process.
If limit is given, it is the new value of the specified resource;
the special limit values hard, soft, and
unlimited stand for the current hard limit, the current soft limit,
and no limit, respectively.
Otherwise, the current value of the soft limit for the specified resource
is printed, unless the -H option is supplied.
When setting new limits, if neither -H nor -S is supplied,
both the hard and soft limits are set.
If no option is given, then -f is assumed. Values are in 1024-byte
increments, except for -t, which is in seconds, -p,
which is in units of 512-byte blocks, and -n and -u, which
are unscaled values.
The return status is zero unless an invalid option or argument is supplied,
or an error occurs while setting a new limit.
unalias
-
unalias [-a] [name ... ]
Remove each name from the list of aliases. If -a is
supplied, all aliases are removed.
Aliases are described in section 6.6 Aliases.
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