Bash – Changing directories with Bash

autocompletebashcd-command

I was wondering if there was an easier way to pick directories to cd to within one's current directory.

For example, is there a way to just get a numbered list of the current directory and be able to do cd 1, cd 2, cd 3, etc.
Is there some other way to easily cd between sub directories in one's current directory?

Best Answer

If you set the autocd option in your ~/.bashrc you can change directories just by typing the name. Combined with Tab completion, you have only to type the first, unique characters and then hit Tab to move to your desired directory.

From the manual:

If set, a command name that is the name of a directory is executed as if it were the argument to the cd command. This option is only used by interactive shells.

Add the option to your ~/.bashrc with:

shopt -s autocd

If you use Zsh, set the option with:

setopt autocd

Related Solutions

Bash – Make copies of a single directory to multiple directories with different names

Use a loop to iterate over the directories you want it copied to and copy the contents of your master directory to each one:

dest=(Fred Barney Thelma Louise Foo Bar)
for d in "${dest[@]}"; do
    cp -r master "$d"
done

Bash – n easy way to change directories from within one duplicate folder structure to another

Use string substitution in bash:

$ a="~/dev/com/wp-content/plugins/myplugin"
$ echo ${a/dev/staging}
~/staging/com/wp-content/plugins/myplugin

So a function like:

cdx () 
{
    cd "${PWD/$1/$2}"
}

And then do cdx dev staging to switch from a folder in dev to staging. With some checks, you could name the function cd:

cd ()
{
    if [ $# != 2 ]
    then
        builtin cd "$@"
    else
        builtin cd "${PWD/$1/$2}"
    fi
}

Effect:

~ # cd /tmp
/tmp # cd tmp srv
/srv # cd
~ # cd -
/srv
/srv # cd tmp var
/srv #

This retains the usual behaviour of cd in all cases, except for two arguments.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Bash – Make copies of a single directory to multiple directories with different names

Bash – n easy way to change directories from within one duplicate folder structure to another

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