Current Working Directory output in an alias

Question

I want to create an alias that will print out the current working directory sub name.

I have this:

BASENAME=${PWD##*/}
alias wai="echo $BASENAME"

This outputs the directory subname of the directory .bashrc is stored in. I want it to be the current working directory.

Sorry if this is simple, I'm new to bash.

I need to actually use the basename in another alias, not just print it. I'm using this alias (wai) to try and extract the basename before I go any further. — Nick Barone, Oct 03 '11 at 16:38
**Dear Google searcher**: Check your quotes, a simple fix for me was to use a single quote `'` instead of double quotes `"` in the alias definition. See @kgong's answer below for more. — PatKilg, Jun 27 '17 at 16:42

score 10 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

10

The trick is really just in the single quotes. I believe you can achieve this by doing the following:

'echo ${PWD##*/}'

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

answered Oct 19 '13 at 05:44

kgong

1

I think this is actually the answer I was looking for, as it led to the expected behavior based on the question. For reference, I use the following alias to launch the corresponding python venv matching that project from the project directory as follows `alias use-env='source ~/env/${PWD##*/}/bin/activate` – PatKilg Jun 27 '17 at 16:40

jman · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-03T16:43:31.940

3

There is a command for this:

$ pwd
/path/to/current/directory

Am I missing something?

Edit based on your comment:

alias foo="pwd | rev | cut -d '/' -f1 | rev"

edited Oct 03 '11 at 16:43

answered Oct 03 '11 at 16:38

jman

In that case, I would want to print just "directory" I am using this for another alias that will be something like: `alias winitio="initio -i $BASENAME $1"` The alias I posted above is just to extract the basename – Nick Barone Oct 03 '11 at 16:40
Edited answer with a possible solution – jman Oct 03 '11 at 16:43
How would I get that into a variable, instead of output? – Nick Barone Oct 03 '11 at 16:46
Define another alias: `alias bar='VAR=\`foo\`'` – jman Oct 03 '11 at 16:50
Then I have to call bar before I run the winitio command, not ideal. – Nick Barone Oct 03 '11 at 16:54
Here is what I have now: `alias wai="pwd | rev | cut -d "/" -f1 | rev" BASENAME=$(wai) alias winitio="echo initio -i $BASENAME $1"` wai outputs correctly, however when I do winitio I get my home directory where .bashrc is located. – Nick Barone Oct 03 '11 at 16:54
Use single quote in winitio definition. – jman Oct 03 '11 at 16:55

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 03 '11 at 16:43

1

What about

alias wai='basename $PWD'

answered Oct 03 '11 at 16:43

3 Answers3