Linux Classes
Share This With a Friend  
LINUX CLASSES - LINUX BASICS

Can I Recall Previous Commands?

Command History and Editing

Bash remembers what commands you've recently entered so that you can recall and issue them again easily. If you press the up-arrow key, bash places the contents of the previous command on the command line. Repeatedly pressing the up or down arrow naviga tes through the command history; you can even modify the text in the recalled commands with the left and right arrows, as well as the insert and delete keys, before pressing enter to issue the recalled command. Command Completion: Linux Can Even Read Your Mind

If you're a lazy typist, you'll love this feature. Let's say you have a directory containing the following files:

cars-are-fun
cats-are-bad

dogs-are-good
birds-have-lips

Typing rm cat and then pressing the tab key magically expands your command line to

rm cats-are-bad

matching a file in your current directory that starts with the word cat. The shell looks at what you've typed so far and then checks to see if there is a single file that starts with those characters. If there is, the shell finishes typing that file name for you. If there isn't such a file, nothing happens. If multiple files match, a beep will sound. You can then press tab twice to see all the matches, or just keep typing the filename.

You still have to press enter, but if you remember this nifty feature, you can save a lot of keystrokes and pretend that the computer is actually reading your mind!

Previous Lesson: Wildcards
Next Lesson: Aliases

[ RETURN TO INDEX ]


   

Comments - most recent first
(Please feel free to answer questions posted by others!)

sekhar     (01 Jan 2013, 07:04)
I want window 7 video tutorial cd
sadrul     (07 Oct 2012, 23:42)
How do I display the command history without the leading numbers.
Sunny     (19 Nov 2011, 04:29)
I have learnt many knowledgeable things from your notes.
VKM     (09 Jan 2011, 13:19)
And too, command history saves in /root/.bash_history
This is common text file.
Suresh Kumar     (07 Jul 2010, 08:23)
Its really good to know about linux...

I welcome your comments. However... I am puzzled by many people who say "Please send me the Linux tutorial." This website *is* your Linux Tutorial! Read everything here, learn all you can, ask questions if you like. But don't ask me to send what you already have. :-)

NO SPAM! If you post garbage, it will be deleted, and you will be banned.
*Name:
Email:
Notify me about new comments on this page
Hide my email
*Text:
 
 


Ask Bob Rankin - Free Tech Support


Copyright © by - Privacy Policy
All rights reserved - Redistribution is allowed only with permission.