Run scripts without typing the extension

Question

I use git-bash on windows.

Is there a way to make it run windows batches (.cmd) without typing file extensions?

And the same question about *.sh files. I prefer putting bash scripts into .sh to distinguish them in the explorer easier.

PS. Aliases or proxy-scripts without extension are not welcomed.

Hopefully, there is some geek's way to do this. So, still looking for an answer...

@Allan, Advice to newcomers: Don't give advice, do give solution. There is no helpful answer yet. — zhekaus, Feb 27 '18 at 20:59

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 14 '17 at 07:10

1

You could any flavour of bash (cmder, git-bash, ms bash, cygwin, gnu-utilities…) which will let you use any unix command without extension, even if stored as a .exe.

Take attention to the CR/LF, and use dos2unix at each shell script creation to prevent misinterpretation of line ending.

You won't be able to use .sh file without extension… but to create an alias for each script :

$ alias myscript="/usr/local/bin/myscript.sh"

Put them in your ~/.bashrc

answered Dec 14 '17 at 07:10

Gaétan RYCKEBOER

305
1
8

Obviously, I don't want to put all the *.sh and *.cmd into aliases. It's too cumbersome and senseless. So, the answer on my question is NO. – zhekaus Dec 14 '17 at 08:01

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 14 '17 at 07:46

First of all a bit of content about file extension:

A filename extension is an identifier specified as a suffix to the name of a computer file. The extension indicates a characteristic of the file contents or its intended use. A file extension is typically delimited from the filename with a full stop (period), but in some systems it is separated with spaces.

Some file systems implement filename extensions as a feature of the file system itself and may limit the length and format of the extension, while others treat filename extensions as part of the filename without special distinction.

Filesystems for UNIX-like operating systems (opposed to DOS/Windows) do not separate the extension metadata from the rest of the file name. The dot character is just another character in the main filename, and filenames can have multiple extensions, usually representing nested transformations, ...

Regarding your shell scripts:

So basically in Unix file extension are not important/not mandatory so you can directly omit them. If for any reason you want to keep them (and I believe that you should) then you can define an alias to them. (refer to https://askubuntu.com/questions/17536/how-do-i-create-a-permanent-bash-alias)

You must also keep in mind the EOL char ('\n' vs '\r\n' that differ between Unix and Windows.

Regarding your windows batches, you can not run them directly in a Unix like environment so you will not be able to run them at the same time from your git bash except if you use a tool like GH4W (github generate ssh key on windows) or use git-cmd.bat (What is the exact meaning of Git Bash?)

I need extensions on Windows environment. Their use can't be underestimated. And using aliases for omitting the extensions for every script looks senseless. So, the answer on the question is NO. — zhekaus, Dec 14 '17 at 08:06

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 09 '20 at 11:55

Maybe I've found a solution that requires some additional coding. Instead of insulting the user when typing a non-existent command, you could try to rewrite the code so it executes a command by adding '.sh' or '.cmd'.

GitGub: insult-linux-unix-bash-user-when-typing-wrong-command

Also do a search for the command_not_found_handle. This is available on most Linux systems and might or might not be available for git-bash.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 04 '22 at 14:45

This is something I was looking for myself and following on from FithAxiom's answer, have found a solution. It feels ugly, because it basically means overriding the "command not found" handling, and searching for the file ourselves. But it does achieve the desired effect.

This is a modification of an answer given in another thread. You add this to your .bashrc file. You can modify it to suit your needs (and improvements are also welcome).

command_not_found_handle()
{
    cmd=$1
    shift
    args=( "$@" )

    IFS=:
    for dir in $PATH; do
        if [ -f $dir/$cmd.cmd ]; then { "$dir/$cmd.cmd" "${args[@]}"; return; }
        elif [ -f $dir/$cmd.ps1 ]; then { powershell.exe -file "$dir/$cmd.ps1" "${args[@]}"; return; }
        elif [ -f $dir/$cmd.sh ]; then { "$dir/$cmd.sh" "${args[@]}"; return; }
        fi
    done

    # Replicate standard "command not found" error
    echo "bash: $1: command not found" >&2
    return 127
}

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 09 '22 at 06:05

You can create a file ~/.bashrc and override the command not found handler. Bash let you handle it. Read it for more info.

In .bashrc file you can update the command_not_found_handle function provided by bash.

command_not_found_handle() {
   unset -f command_not_found_handle
   command="$1".sh
   shift
   exec "$command" "$@"
}

Run scripts without typing the extension

5 Answers5