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@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -This is the Bash FAQ, version 2.13, for Bash version 2.02. +This is the Bash FAQ, version 3.0, for Bash version 2.03. This document contains a set of frequently-asked questions concerning Bash, the GNU Bourne-Again Shell. Bash is a freely-available command @@ -20,87 +20,87 @@ Contents: Section A: The Basics -1) What is it? -2) What's the latest version? -3) Where can I get it? -4) On what machines will bash run? -5) Will bash run on operating systems other than Unix? -6) How can I build bash with gcc? -7) How can I make bash my login shell? -8) I just changed my login shell to bash, and now I can't FTP into my - machine. Why not? -9) What's the `POSIX 1003.2 standard'? -10) What is the bash `posix mode'? +A1) What is it? +A2) What's the latest version? +A3) Where can I get it? +A4) On what machines will bash run? +A5) Will bash run on operating systems other than Unix? +A6) How can I build bash with gcc? +A7) How can I make bash my login shell? +A8) I just changed my login shell to bash, and now I can't FTP into my + machine. Why not? +A9) What's the `POSIX 1003.2 standard'? +A10) What is the bash `posix mode'? Section B: The latest version -11) What's new in version 2.02? -12) Are there any user-visible incompatibilities between bash-2.02 and +B1) What's new in version 2.03? +B2) Are there any user-visible incompatibilities between bash-2.03 and bash-1.14.7? Section C: Differences from other Unix shells -13) How does bash differ from sh, the Bourne shell? -14) How does bash differ from the Korn shell, version ksh88? -15) Which new features in ksh-93 are not in bash, and which are? +C1) How does bash differ from sh, the Bourne shell? +C2) How does bash differ from the Korn shell, version ksh88? +C3) Which new features in ksh-93 are not in bash, and which are? Section D: Why does bash do some things differently than other Unix shells? -16) Why does bash run a different version of `command' than +D1) Why does bash run a different version of `command' than `which command' says it will? -17) Why doesn't bash treat brace expansions exactly like csh? -18) Why doesn't bash have csh variable modifiers? -19) How can I make my csh aliases work when I convert to bash? -20) How can I pipe standard output and standard error from one command to +D2) Why doesn't bash treat brace expansions exactly like csh? +D3) Why doesn't bash have csh variable modifiers? +D4) How can I make my csh aliases work when I convert to bash? +D5) How can I pipe standard output and standard error from one command to another, like csh does with `|&'? -21) Now that I've converted from ksh to bash, are there equivalents to +D6) Now that I've converted from ksh to bash, are there equivalents to ksh features like autoloaded functions and the `whence' command? Section E: How can I get bash to do certain things, and why does bash do things the way it does? -22) Why is the bash builtin `test' slightly different from /bin/test? -23) Why does bash sometimes say `Broken pipe'? -24) How can I get bash to read and display eight-bit characters? -25) How do I write a function `x' to replace builtin command `x', but +E1) Why is the bash builtin `test' slightly different from /bin/test? +E2) Why does bash sometimes say `Broken pipe'? +E3) How can I get bash to read and display eight-bit characters? +E4) How do I write a function `x' to replace builtin command `x', but still invoke the command from within the function? -26) When I have terminal escape sequences in my prompt, why does bash +E5) When I have terminal escape sequences in my prompt, why does bash wrap lines at the wrong column? -27) How can I find the value of a shell variable whose name is the value +E6) How can I find the value of a shell variable whose name is the value of another shell variable? -28) If I pipe the output of a command into `read variable', why doesn't +E7) If I pipe the output of a command into `read variable', why doesn't the output show up in $variable when the read command finishes? -29) I have a bunch of shell scripts that use backslash-escaped characters +E8) I have a bunch of shell scripts that use backslash-escaped characters in arguments to `echo'. Bash doesn't interpret these characters. Why not, and how can I make it understand them? -30) Why doesn't a while or for loop get suspended when I type ^Z? -31) How can I make the bash `time' reserved word print timing output that - looks like the output from my system's /usr/bin/time? +E9) Why doesn't a while or for loop get suspended when I type ^Z? +E10) How can I make the bash `time' reserved word print timing output that + looks like the output from my system's /usr/bin/time? Section F: Things to watch out for on certain Unix versions -32) Why can't I use command line editing in my `cmdtool'? -33) I built bash on Solaris 2. Why do globbing expansions and filename +F1) Why can't I use command line editing in my `cmdtool'? +F2) I built bash on Solaris 2. Why do globbing expansions and filename completion chop off the first few characters of each filename? -34) Why does bash dump core after I interrupt username completion or +F3) Why does bash dump core after I interrupt username completion or `~user' tilde expansion on a machine running NIS? -35) I'm running SVR4.2. Why is the line erased every time I type `@'? -36) Why does bash report syntax errors when my C News scripts use a +F4) I'm running SVR4.2. Why is the line erased every time I type `@'? +F5) Why does bash report syntax errors when my C News scripts use a redirection before a subshell command? Section G: Where do I go from here? -37) How do I report bugs in bash, and where should I look for fixes and +G1) How do I report bugs in bash, and where should I look for fixes and advice? -38) What kind of bash documentation is there? -39) What's coming in future versions? -40) What's on the bash `wish list'? -41) When will the next release appear? +G2) What kind of bash documentation is there? +G3) What's coming in future versions? +G4) What's on the bash `wish list'? +G5) When will the next release appear? ---------- Section A: The Basics -1) What is it? +A1) What is it? Bash is a Unix command interpreter (shell). It is an implementation of the Posix 1003.2 shell standard, and resembles the Korn and System V @@ -118,26 +118,26 @@ Bash was originally written by Brian Fox of the Free Software Foundation. The current developer and maintainer is Chet Ramey of Case Western Reserve University. -2) What's the latest version? +A2) What's the latest version? -The latest version is 2.02, first made available on Monday, 20 April, 1998. +The latest version is 2.03, first made available on Friday, 19 Feburary 1999. -3) Where can I get it? +A3) Where can I get it? Bash is the GNU project's shell, and so is available from the -master GNU archive site, prep.ai.mit.edu, and its mirrors. The +master GNU archive site, ftp.gnu.org, and its mirrors. The latest version is also available for FTP from ftp.cwru.edu. -The following URLs tell how to get version 2.02: +The following URLs tell how to get version 2.03: -ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/bash-2.02.tar.gz -ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-2.02.tar.gz +ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash-2.03.tar.gz +ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-2.03.tar.gz Formatted versions of the documentation are available with the URLs: -ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/bash-doc-2.02.tar.gz -ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-doc-2.02.tar.gz +ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash-doc-2.03.tar.gz +ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-doc-2.03.tar.gz -4) On what machines will bash run? +A4) On what machines will bash run? Bash has been ported to nearly every version of UNIX. All you should have to do to build it on a machine for which a port @@ -147,10 +147,10 @@ itself accordingly, using a script created by GNU autoconf. More information appears in the file `INSTALL' in the distribution. -5) Will bash run on operating systems other than Unix? +A5) Will bash run on operating systems other than Unix? Configuration specifics for Unix-like systems such as QNX and -LynxOS are included in the distribution. Bash-2.02 should +LynxOS are included in the distribution. Bash-2.03 should compile and run on Minix 2.0 (patches were contributed), but I don't believe anyone has built bash-2.x on earlier Minix versions yet. @@ -162,12 +162,12 @@ project. For more information about the project, look at the URL http://www.cygnus.com/misc/gnu-win32 -Cygnus has ported bash-1.14.7, and their port is part of the current -gnu-win32 release. Cygnus has also done a port of bash-2.01 to the -GNU-Win32 environment, and it should be available as part of their next -release. +Cygnus originally ported bash-1.14.7, and that port was part of their +early GNU-Win32 releases. Cygnus has also done a port of bash-2.01 to the +GNU-Win32 environment, and it is available as part of their current +release. (They may have upgraded by now.) -Bash-2.02 should require no local Cygnus changes to build and run under +Bash-2.03 should require no local Cygnus changes to build and run under GNU-WIN32. The Cygnus port works only on Intel machines. There is a port of bash @@ -175,9 +175,19 @@ The Cygnus port works only on Intel machines. There is a port of bash ftp://ftp.gnustep.org//pub/win32/bash-alpha-nt-1.01.tar.gz -Softway Systems has ported bash-2.01.1 to their Interix (nee OpenNT) +Softway Systems has ported bash-2.01 to their Interix (nee OpenNT) system, a Unix subsystem for NT that replaces the Microsoft POSIX subsystem. Check out http://www.interix.com for more information. +Some support for Interix has been incorporated into bash, beginning +with Bash-2.03. It should be easier to build bash on Interix now, +but Interix users should fetch + +ftp://ftp.interix.com/pub/tw/unsup/bash.diffs.tar.gz + +and read the README.OpenNT file in that archive. It will detail the +arguments configure needs to build on Interix. A configure cache +file for Interix is in the bash distribution in cross-build/opennt.cache; +copy that to `config.cache' before starting configure. D. J. Delorie has ported bash-1.14.7 to run under MS-DOS, as part of the DJGPP project. For more information on the project, see @@ -201,12 +211,12 @@ ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/shell/bash-2.0(253).zip I haven't looked at either, but the second appears to be a binary-only distribution. Beware. -6) How can I build bash with gcc? +A6) How can I build bash with gcc? Bash configures to use gcc by default if it is available. Read the file INSTALL in the distribution for more information. -7) How can I make bash my login shell? +A7) How can I make bash my login shell? Some machines let you use `chsh' to change your login shell. Other systems use `passwd -s' or `passwd -e'. If one of these works for @@ -252,7 +262,7 @@ This will cause login shells to replace themselves with bash running as a login shell. Once you have this working, you can copy your initialization code from ~/.profile to ~/.bash_profile. -8) I just changed my login shell to bash, and now I can't FTP into my +A8) I just changed my login shell to bash, and now I can't FTP into my machine. Why not? You must add the full pathname to bash to the file /etc/shells. As @@ -262,7 +272,7 @@ this before you can make bash your login shell. Most versions of ftpd use this file to prohibit `special' users such as `uucp' and `news' from using FTP. -9) What's the `POSIX 1003.2 standard'? +A9) What's the `POSIX 1003.2 standard'? POSIX is a name originally coined by Richard Stallman for a family of open system standards based on UNIX. There are a @@ -297,7 +307,7 @@ line editing. Only vi-style line editing commands have been standardized; emacs editing commands were left out due to objections. -10) What is the bash `posix mode'? +A10) What is the bash `posix mode'? Although bash is an implementation of the POSIX.2 shell specification, there are areas where the bash default behavior @@ -314,9 +324,29 @@ Reference Manual. Section B: The latest version -11) What's new in version 2.02? +B1) What's new in version 2.03? + +Bash-2.03 has a very few new features, in keeping with the convention +that odd-numbered releases provide mainly bug fixes. A number of new +features were added to Readline, mostly at the request of the Cygnus +folks. -Bash-2.02 has a number of new features. Here's a short list: +a new shopt option, `restricted_shell', so that startup files can test + whether or not the shell was started in restricted mode +filename generation is now performed on the words between ( and ) in + compound array assignments (this is really a bug fix) +OLDPWD is now auto-exported, as POSIX.2 requires +ENV and BASH_ENV are read-only variables in a restricted shell +Bash may now be linked against an already-installed Readline library, + as long as the Readline library is version 4 or newer +All shells begun with the `--login' option will source the login shell + startup files, even if the shell is not interactive + +There are lots of changes to the version of the Readline library released +along with Bash-2.03. For a complete list of the changes, read the file +CHANGES in the Bash-2.03 distribution. + +Bash-2.02 contained the following new features: a new version of malloc (based on the old GNU malloc code in previous bash versions) that is more page-oriented, more conservative @@ -382,15 +412,15 @@ grammar tighter and smaller (66 reduce-reduce conflicts gone) lots of code now smaller and faster test suite greatly expanded -12) Are there any user-visible incompatibilities between bash-2.02 and +B2) Are there any user-visible incompatibilities between bash-2.03 and bash-1.14.7? -There are a few incompatibilities between version 1.14.7 and version 2.02. -They are detailed in the file COMPAT in the bash-2.02 distribution. +There are a few incompatibilities between version 1.14.7 and version 2.03. +They are detailed in the file COMPAT in the bash-2.03 distribution. Section C: Differences from other Unix shells -13) How does bash differ from sh, the Bourne shell? +C1) How does bash differ from sh, the Bourne shell? This is a non-comprehensive list of features that differentiate bash from the SVR4.2 shell. The bash manual page explains these more @@ -481,11 +511,12 @@ Implementation differences: bash allows multiple option arguments when invoked (e.g. -x -v); sh allows only a single option argument (`sh -x -v' attempts to open a file named `-v', and, on SunOS 4.1.4, dumps core. - On Solaris 2, sh goes into an infinite loop.) + On Solaris 2.4 and earlier versions, sh goes into an infinite + loop.) sh exits a script if any builtin fails; bash exits only if one of the POSIX.2 `special' builtins fails -14) How does bash differ from the Korn shell, version ksh88? +C2) How does bash differ from the Korn shell, version ksh88? Things bash has or uses that ksh88 does not: long invocation options @@ -541,9 +572,9 @@ Implementation differences: bash has exported functions bash command search finds functions before builtins -15) Which new features in ksh-93 are not in bash, and which are? +C3) Which new features in ksh-93 are not in bash, and which are? -New things in ksh-93 not in bash-2.02: +New things in ksh-93 not in bash-2.03: associative arrays floating point arithmetic ++, --, comma arithmetic operators @@ -564,7 +595,7 @@ New things in ksh-93 not in bash-2.02: read -t/-d `.' can execute shell functions -New things in ksh-93 present in bash-2.02: +New things in ksh-93 present in bash-2.03: ?: arithmetic operator expansions: ${!param}, ${param:offset[:len]}, ${param/pat[/str]} compound array assignment @@ -588,16 +619,37 @@ New things in ksh-93 present in bash-2.02: Section D: Why does bash do some things differently than other Unix shells? -16) Why does bash run a different version of `command' than +D1) Why does bash run a different version of `command' than `which command' says it will? -`which' is actually a csh script that assumes you're running csh. -It reads the csh startup files from your home directory and uses -those to determine which `command' will be invoked. Since bash -doesn't use any of those startup files, there's a good chance -that your bash environment differs from your csh environment. +On many systems, `which' is actually a csh script that assumes +you're running csh. In tcsh, `which' and its cousin `where' +are builtins. On other Unix systems, `which' is a perl script +that uses the PATH environment variable. + +The csh script version reads the csh startup files from your +home directory and uses those to determine which `command' will +be invoked. Since bash doesn't use any of those startup files, +there's a good chance that your bash environment differs from +your csh environment. The bash `type' builtin does everything +`which' does, and will report correct results for the running +shell. If you're really wedded to the name `which', try adding +the following function definition to your .bashrc: + + which() + { + builtin type -p "$@" + } + +If you're moving from tcsh and would like to bring `where' along +as well, use this function: + + where() + { + builtin type -a "$@" + } -17) Why doesn't bash treat brace expansions exactly like csh? +D2) Why doesn't bash treat brace expansions exactly like csh? The only difference between bash and csh brace expansion is that bash requires a brace expression to contain at least one unquoted @@ -608,7 +660,7 @@ compatibility. Bash, ksh, zsh, and pd-ksh all implement brace expansion this way. -18) Why doesn't bash have csh variable modifiers? +D3) Why doesn't bash have csh variable modifiers? Posix has specified a more powerful, albeit somewhat more cryptic, mechanism cribbed from ksh, and bash implements it. @@ -663,7 +715,7 @@ Given $b:e ${b##*.} xxx -19) How can I make my csh aliases work when I convert to bash? +D4) How can I make my csh aliases work when I convert to bash? Bash uses a different syntax to support aliases than csh does. The details can be found in the documentation. We have provided @@ -706,7 +758,7 @@ simply `cshtobash' to convert your normal interactive environment, or as `cshtobash ~/.login' to convert your login environment. -20) How can I pipe standard output and standard error from one command to +D5) How can I pipe standard output and standard error from one command to another, like csh does with `|&'? Use @@ -716,7 +768,7 @@ The key is to remember that piping is performed before redirection, so file descriptor 1 points to the pipe when it is duplicated onto file descriptor 2. -21) Now that I've converted from ksh to bash, are there equivalents to +D6) Now that I've converted from ksh to bash, are there equivalents to ksh features like autoloaded functions and the `whence' command? There are features in ksh-88 that do not have direct bash equivalents. @@ -735,7 +787,7 @@ read var?prompt read -p prompt var Section E: How can I get bash to do certain things, and why does bash do things the way it does? -22) Why is the bash builtin `test' slightly different from /bin/test? +E1) Why is the bash builtin `test' slightly different from /bin/test? The specific example used here is [ ! x -o x ], which is false. @@ -764,7 +816,7 @@ of the 3 Arg case. As you can see, the test becomes (not (x or x)), which is false. -23) Why does bash sometimes say `Broken pipe'? +E2) Why does bash sometimes say `Broken pipe'? If a sequence of commands appears in a pipeline, and one of the reading commands finishes before the writer has finished, the @@ -779,7 +831,11 @@ will try to write on a pipe without a reader. In that case, bash will print `Broken pipe' to stderr when ps is killed by a SIGPIPE. -24) How can I get bash to read and display eight-bit characters? +You can build a version of bash that will not report SIGPIPE errors +by uncommenting the definition of DONT_REPORT_SIGPIPE in the file +config-top.h. + +E3) How can I get bash to read and display eight-bit characters? This is a process requiring several steps. @@ -813,7 +869,7 @@ this. These variables can be set in your .inputrc or using the bash The `set' commands between the single quotes may also be placed in ~/.inputrc. -25) How do I write a function `x' to replace builtin command `x', but +E4) How do I write a function `x' to replace builtin command `x', but still invoke the command from within the function? This is why the `command' and `builtin' builtins exist. The @@ -834,7 +890,7 @@ something like the following: This could also be written using `command' instead of `builtin'; the version above is marginally more efficient. -26) When I have terminal escape sequences in my prompt, why does bash +E5) When I have terminal escape sequences in my prompt, why does bash wrap lines at the wrong column? Readline, the line editing library that bash uses, does not know @@ -850,10 +906,10 @@ characters in the prompt strings take up no screen space. Use the \[ escape to begin a sequence of non-printing characters, and the \] escape to signal the end of such a sequence. -27) How can I find the value of a shell variable whose name is the value +E6) How can I find the value of a shell variable whose name is the value of another shell variable? -Bash-2.02 supports this directly. You can use +Versions of Bash newer than Bash-2.0 support this directly. You can use ${!var} @@ -875,13 +931,13 @@ parameter: The expansion of the quoted portions of this expression will be deferred until `eval' runs, while the `$#' will be expanded -before `eval' is executed. In bash-2.02, +before `eval' is executed. In versions of bash later than bash-2.0, echo ${!#} does the same thing. -28) If I pipe the output of a command into `read variable', why doesn't +E7) If I pipe the output of a command into `read variable', why doesn't the output show up in $variable when the read command finishes? This has to do with the parent-child relationship between Unix @@ -937,7 +993,7 @@ this. This is the general approach -- in most cases you will not need to set $IFS to a different value. -29) I have a bunch of shell scripts that use backslash-escaped characters +E8) I have a bunch of shell scripts that use backslash-escaped characters in arguments to `echo'. Bash doesn't interpret these characters. Why not, and how can I make it understand them? @@ -957,7 +1013,7 @@ configure with the --enable-usg-echo-default option to turn this on. Be aware that this will cause some of the tests run when you type `make tests' to fail. -30) Why doesn't a while or for loop get suspended when I type ^Z? +E9) Why doesn't a while or for loop get suspended when I type ^Z? This is a consequence of how job control works on Unix. The only thing that can be suspended is the process group. This is a single @@ -972,8 +1028,8 @@ If you want to be able to stop the entire loop, you need to put it within parentheses, which will force the loop into a subshell that may be stopped (and subsequently restarted) as a single unit. -31) How can I make the bash `time' reserved word print timing output that - looks like the output from my system's /usr/bin/time? +E10) How can I make the bash `time' reserved word print timing output that + looks like the output from my system's /usr/bin/time? The bash command timing code looks for a variable `TIMEFORMAT' and uses its value as a format string to decide how to display the @@ -1006,7 +1062,7 @@ The ksh format can be emulated with: Section F: Things to watch out for on certain Unix versions -32) Why can't I use command line editing in my `cmdtool'? +F1) Why can't I use command line editing in my `cmdtool'? The problem is `cmdtool' and bash fighting over the input. When scrolling is enabled in a cmdtool window, cmdtool puts the tty in @@ -1034,7 +1090,7 @@ The bash command-line editing should behave better in the new cmdtool. If this works, you can put the assignment to TERMCAP in your bashrc file. -33) I built bash on Solaris 2. Why do globbing expansions and filename +F2) I built bash on Solaris 2. Why do globbing expansions and filename completion chop off the first few characters of each filename? This is the consequence of building bash on SunOS 5 and linking @@ -1054,7 +1110,7 @@ If you have installed the Sun C compiler, you may also need to put /usr/ccs/bin and /opt/SUNWspro/bin into your $PATH before /usr/ucb. -34) Why does bash dump core after I interrupt username completion or +F3) Why does bash dump core after I interrupt username completion or `~user' tilde expansion on a machine running NIS? This is a famous and long-standing bug in the SunOS YP (sorry, NIS) @@ -1077,7 +1133,7 @@ times; that's probably why this has never been fixed. You can run configure with the `--without-gnu-malloc' option to use the C library malloc and avoid the problem. -35) I'm running SVR4.2. Why is the line erased every time I type `@'? +F4) I'm running SVR4.2. Why is the line erased every time I type `@'? The `@' character is the default `line kill' character in most versions of System V, including SVR4.2. You can change this @@ -1088,7 +1144,7 @@ change the line kill character to control-u, type where the `^' and `U' can be two separate characters. -36) Why does bash report syntax errors when my C News scripts use a +F5) Why does bash report syntax errors when my C News scripts use a redirection before a subshell command? The actual command in question is something like @@ -1100,7 +1156,7 @@ is, in fact, a syntax error. Redirections may only precede `simple commands'. A subshell construct such as the above is one of the shell's `compound commands'. A redirection may only follow a compound command. -The file CWRU/sh-redir-hack in the bash-2.02 distribution is an +The file CWRU/sh-redir-hack in the bash-2.03 distribution is an (unofficial) patch to parse.y that will modify the grammar to support this construct. It will not apply with `patch'; you must modify parse.y by hand. Note that if you apply this, you must @@ -1109,7 +1165,7 @@ number of reduce/reduce conflicts into the shell grammar. Section G: Where do I go from here? -37) How do I report bugs in bash, and where should I look for fixes and +G1) How do I report bugs in bash, and where should I look for fixes and advice? Use the `bashbug' script to report bugs. It is built and @@ -1117,7 +1173,7 @@ installed at the same time as bash. It provides a standard template for reporting a problem and automatically includes information about your configuration and build environment. -`bashbug' sends its reports to bug-bash@prep.ai.mit.edu, which +`bashbug' sends its reports to bug-bash@gnu.org, which is a large mailing list gatewayed to the usenet newsgroup gnu.bash.bug. Bug fixes, answers to questions, and announcements of new releases @@ -1125,24 +1181,23 @@ are all posted to gnu.bash.bug. Discussions concerning bash features and problems also take place there. To reach the bash maintainers directly, send mail to -bash-maintainers@prep.ai.mit.edu. +bash-maintainers@gnu.org. -38) What kind of bash documentation is there? +G2) What kind of bash documentation is there? First, look in the doc directory in the bash distribution. It should contain at least the following files: bash.1 an extensive, thorough Unix-style manual page builtins.1 a manual page covering just bash builtin commands -bashref.texi a reference manual in GNU info format -bash.html an HTML version of the manual page -bashref.html an HTML version of the reference manual +bashref.texi a reference manual in GNU tex`info format +bashref.info an info version of the reference manual FAQ this file article.ms text of an article written for The Linux Journal readline.3 a man page describing readline -Postscript files created from the above source are available in -the documentation distribution. +Postscript, HTML, and ASCII files created from the above source are +available in the documentation distribution. There is additional documentation available for anonymous FTP from host ftp.cwru.edu in the `pub/bash' directory. @@ -1158,14 +1213,14 @@ A second edition of this book is available, published in January, 1998. The ISBN number is 1-56592-347-2. Look for it in the same fine bookstores or on the web. -39) What's coming in future versions? +G3) What's coming in future versions? These are features I plan to include in a future version of bash. a bash debugger (a minimally-tested version is included with bash-2.02) -Programmable completion a la zsh +Programmable completion a la zsh/tcsh -40) What's on the bash `wish list' for future versions? +G4) What's on the bash `wish list' for future versions? These are features that may or may not appear in a future version of bash. @@ -1177,14 +1232,17 @@ timeouts for the `read' builtin the ksh-93 ${!prefix*} and ${!prefix@} operators arithmetic ++ and -- prefix and postfix operators date-stamped command history +a way to bind readline editing key sequences to shell commands +a mechanism to open network connections and assign them to file descriptors + using redirection (like ksh /dev/{tcp,udp}) -41) When will the next release appear? +G5) When will the next release appear? -The next version will appear sometime in 1998. Never make +The next version will appear sometime in 1999. Never make predictions. -This document is Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by Chester Ramey. +This document is Copyright 1995-1999 by Chester Ramey. Permission is hereby granted, without written agreement and without license or royalty fees, to use, copy, and distribute |