Make it easier to call often used terminal commands

aliasbashcommand linepathterminal

I have a java tool that I use quite often from the command line but to use it I have to type java -jar dsim.jar. I want to make it so that I can call it just by typing dsim regardless of what directory I am in, but I can't quite work out how to accomplish this.

I have created a file at ~/.bash_profile and put into it:

alias dsim='java -jar dsim.jar'

And I have placed the dsim.jar file into /usr/local/bin as I read this is where user created command line tools should be kept. This location is in my $PATH.

I think the alias works well but location of the file doesn't seem to be accessible from anywhere. If I call dsim from within /usr/local/bin it works fine but if I am in any other directory I get:

Error: Unable to access jar file dsim.jar

How can I get this to work from any directory?

Best Answer

Use absolute paths for the jar file:

alias dsim='java -jar /path/to/dsim.jar'

Related Solutions

Many programs notify me that “grep/sed/uname/… not found”; some run, some don’t. My system(?) path is damaged, how to go about a diagnosing it

Your question is unclear as it seems to ask several things. However the issue re launching from the Dock can be answered.

The Dock does not call a shell. .profile and other startup scripts are only run when Terminal.app or similar starts a shell or you run a shell script via launchd etc.

To change the path used for Apps launched from the Dock, Finder or other GUI then you need to change the path your Workspace uses this is in ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist e.g. mine is

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>WAFDIR</key>
  <string>/Users/mark/src/third_party/git-svn/waf</string>

  <key>PATH</key>
  <string>/Users/mark/bin:/Users/mark/env/bin:/Users/mark/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/opt/local/bin:/usr/local/git/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/libexec/binutils:</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Also have a look at this question.

How to use arguments together with bash aliases

You can't pass arguments to aliases. Aliases are just text substitutions without further logic.

But you can use shell functions to achieve the same result:

function pman() {
    if [ -x /usr/bin/open ]; then
        man -t "$1" | open -f -a Preview
    else
        man "$1"
    fi
}

The if-then-else part is there just to make sure it also works on non-OSX systems.

To define a function, just include the definition from above into your ~/.bash_profile. Usage is identical to aliases or any other command: pman ls.

As @stuffe pointed out in a comment keeping aliases/functions in a separate file has its advantages (especially it allows you to re-read your aliases/functions into the current shell without executing any setup stuff from .bashrc or .bash_profile). To do this, create a separate file called .alias, .functions or similar and add

test -e ~/.alias && . ~/.alias

to .bashrc or .bash_profile.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Many programs notify me that “grep/sed/uname/… not found”; some run, some don’t. My system(?) path is damaged, how to go about a diagnosing it

How to use arguments together with bash aliases

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