Bash – run bash script doesn’t work alias command in zsh

aliasbashscriptingshell

I use zsh in centos. And I want running some shell script. Like this.

script.sh

#!/bin/sh

# something ..

source ./aliases-file.sh

aliases-file.sh

alias test=ls
alias test2=cat

I run ./script.sh, the alias has not been applied to the current session.
how can I work this?

Best Answer

When you run script.sh it is executed in a subshell and your aliases won't propagate up to the calling shell (or current session as you refer to it). You need to source script.sh itself: source script.sh. That will cause the commands to be run in your current shell and the aliases will become visible.

Side note: for portability reasons you should consider using . instead of source as the former is POSIX standard while the latter is a bashism.

Related Solutions

Bash: Use an alias in a variable

After some testing, I have concluded the following:

Aliases only work in interactive mode (add -i to the shebang).
Aliases are not evaluated when they come from an interpreted source (in this case, the variable.
You can get bash to use the alias with eval $1. Note that evaling anything created with a variable is dangerous, but since the whole point of the script requires arbitrary execution, I won't make too big a deal out of that.

From the bash man page:

Aliases are not expanded when the shell is not interactive, unless the expand_aliases shell option is set using shopt (see the description of shopt under SHELL BUILTIN COMMANDS below).

So you could add shopt -s expand_aliases instead of -i.

Also,

Aliases are expanded when a command is read, not when it is executed.

Since variables are not expanded before the command is read, they will not be expanded further using the alias.

Zsh – alias -s with parameter

You either provide a wrapper script or a function doing what you need, e.g:

background() {
  "$@" &
}

and use the function/script instead:

alias -s {mkv,mpg}='background mplayer'

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Bash: Use an alias in a variable

Zsh – alias -s with parameter

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