jomama717's Journal: Bash "cd" wrapper

Below is some bash script I wrote years ago that allows you to "anchor" up to 5 directories for fast access later by entering the command "cd [1-5]".  You can assign a number to the current directory by typing "cd -s [1-5]", and dump the current assignments with "cd -p".  Aside from these new options cd operates as normal (unless you have directories named 1,2,3,4, or 5).  There is also a "dir_persist" function that saves off the current set of anchors under a given tag and can be loaded up after a subsequent login.  I find that this simple change allows me to navigate a large source repository much faster than before (no more cd ../../../../../../../other_component).  Note that this is the "cygwinized" version, which should run on unix but I've never tried it.  I originally only used it only on unix machines, and had to jump through some hoops to handle directories with spaces in the names on cygwin.

CD_USAGE="cd: Usage: cd [ -s [ 1-5 | [1-5]=<directory> ] | -p | <directory name> | [1-5] ]";

function dir_persist {
     DIRSTRINGS="ONE_DC TWO_DC THREE_DC FOUR_DC FIVE_DC";
    _DIRSTRINGS=($DIRSTRINGS);

    if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
      echo -n "Enter a name to persist dirs under, or <enter> to skip: "
      read session_tag
    else
      session_tag=${1}
    fi

    if [ "${session_tag}" = "" ]; then
        CDFILE_NAME=".cdfile_${HOSTNAME}_default"
    else
        CDFILE_NAME=".cdfile_${HOSTNAME}_${session_tag}"
    fi

    let count=0;
    while [ $count -lt 5 ] ; do
      outp=`env | grep "${_DIRSTRINGS[$count]}"`;
      if [ "" != "$outp" ] ; then
        dir_to_print=`echo $outp | cut -d"=" -f2`;
        let num=count+1;
        if [ $count -eq 0 ] ; then
            echo "$num=$dir_to_print" > ~/${CDFILE_NAME};
        else
            echo "$num=$dir_to_print" >> ~/${CDFILE_NAME};
        fi
      fi
      let count=count+1;
    done
}

function dirset {
     DIRSTRINGS="ONE_DC TWO_DC THREE_DC FOUR_DC FIVE_DC";
    _DIRSTRINGS=($DIRSTRINGS);
let err=0;

if [ "$#" -ge 2 ] || [ "$#" -eq 0 ] ; then
   let err=1;
fi
if [ -z `echo "$1" | grep "="` ] ; then
    let reg=$1;
    let pwd_flag=1;
else
    let reg=`echo "$1" | cut -d"=" -f1`;
    dir=`echo "$1" | cut -d"=" -f2 | tr '~' ' '`;
    let pwd_flag=0;
fi

if [ $reg -gt 5 ] || [ $reg -eq 0 ] ; then
   echo >&2 "cd: Invalid directory choice";
   let err=1;
fi
if [ $err -eq 0 ] ; then
    let reg=reg-1;
    if [ $pwd_flag -eq 1 ] ; then
        littlePWD="${PWD}"
        export "${_DIRSTRINGS[$reg]}=${littlePWD}";
    else
        littleDir="${dir}"
        export "${_DIRSTRINGS[$reg]}=${littleDir}";
    fi
fi
}

function cd {
  DIRSTRINGS="ONE_DC TWO_DC THREE_DC FOUR_DC FIVE_DC"
  _DIRSTRINGS=($DIRSTRINGS)
  let err=0

case $# in
0)
    command cd
     return
;;
1)
    if [ "$1" = "-p" ] ; then
      let count=0
       while [ "$count" -lt 5 ] ; do
         outp=`env | grep "${_DIRSTRINGS[$count]}"`
         if [ "" != "$outp" ] ; then
           dir_to_print=`echo $outp | cut -d"=" -f2`
           let num=count+1
           echo "$num) $dir_to_print"
         fi
         let count=count+1
       done
     elif [ "$1" = 1 -o "$1" = 2 -o "$1" = 3 -o "$1" = 4 -o "$1" = 5 ] ; then
      let choice=$1
      let choice=choice-1
      _CD_STRING="\$${_DIRSTRINGS[$choice]}"
      CD_STRING=`eval echo "${_CD_STRING}"`
      command cd "${CD_STRING}"
     else
      command cd "${1}"
      return
     fi
;;
2)
    teststr=`echo $1 | grep "\-s"`
   if [ -z "$teststr" ] ; then
      echo >&2 "$CD_USAGE"
      let err=1
      return
   fi
      dirset "$2"
;;
*)
     echo >&2 "$CD_USAGE"
     let err=1
     return
;;
esac

}

:-) thanks

[tqft]

Thanks, I have an immediate use for that.

Am trying to get some stuff to work - and I have useful informative names on the directories - which makes them very long

Re:

[jomama717]

Excellent! Let me know if you have questions.

Re:

[tqft]

I pasted your code into a file and saved it as cddfxer.sh and changed the permission to executable.

ian@tqft:~$ sudo ./cddfxer.sh
Password:
ian@tqft:~$ cd /media/hde1/home/ian/mozilla/
ian@tqft:/media/hde1/home/ian/mozilla$ cd 1
bash: cd: 1: No such file or directory
ian@tqft:/media/hde1/home/ian/mozilla$ cd -s 1
bash: cd: -s: invalid option
cd: usage: cd [-L|-P] [dir]
ian@tqft:/media/hde1/home/ian/mozilla$ cd -s1
bash: cd: -s: invalid option
cd: usage: cd [-L|-P] [dir]
ian@tqft:/media/hde1/home/ian/mozilla$

what did I

Re:

[jomama717]

Sorry, been in Mexico for a week. You have to source the script in order for the "function" override to take place in your shell. I just put the code into my .bash_profile, so my new overridden "cd" becomes the default. If you don't want to put the code into your profile, you'll have to do: prompt> . ./cddfxer.sh as the current user every time you log in and then you will be able to use the new functionality as normal "cd".