Ubuntu – How to run an alias in a shell script

aliasbashscripts

I have an executable file mpiexec, whose full path is ~/petsc-3.2-p6/petsc-arch/bin/mpiexec. Since I want to execute this command in different directories (without having to retype the entire path), I setup an alias in my home .bashrc file: 

alias petsc="~/petsc-3.2-p6/petsc-arch/bin/mpiexec"

which allows me to execute this mpiexec file at the command prompt easily by typing: 

petsc myexecutable

I tried to write a shell script file, named script, using my new alias petsc as a command. After giving my shell script the appropriate permissions (using chmod), I tried to run the script. However, it gave me the following error: 

./script: line 1: petsc: command not found

I know that I could just write the full path to the mpiexec file, but it is cumbersome to write the full path everytime that I want to write a new script. Is there a way that I can use my alias petsc inside the script file? Is there a way I can edit my .bashrc or .bash_profile to make this happen?

Best Answer

Some options:

  1. In your shell script use the full path rather then an alias.

  2. In your shell script, set a variable, different syntax

    petsc='/home/your_user/petsc-3.2-p6/petsc-arch/bin/mpiexec'

$petsc myexecutable

  3. Use a function in your script. Probably better if petsc is complex

    function petsc () {
    command 1
    command 2
}

petsc myexecutable

  4. Source your aliases

    shopt -s expand_aliases
source /home/your_user/.bashrc

You probably do not want to source your .bashrc, so IMO one of the first 3 would be better.

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