Argthtjtr

I am trying to create a new directory and simultaneously switch to it in one line command on Bash using mkdir repo && cd $_. This has worked well for me previously on all Linux distros but now when I try it on Elementary OS 5 it throws me the below error:

:~$ mkdir repo && cd $_

bash: cd: __bp_preexec_invoke_exec: No such file or directory

Is this a Bash problem? How can we fix this?

This is not a problem of sole Bash.

My guess is something (a terminal emulator?) integrates with Bash, defines __bp_preexec_invoke_exec function and sets a DEBUG trap that uses this function.

There is a question on SO: bash: preserve $_ in a DEBUG trap. From therein:

When using a DEBUG trap, $_ is based upon the last command run by the trap […] rather than the last command the user entered

The answer:

It's worth noting that "the last argument of the last command executed" includes the literal text "last command executed", not "last command entered by the user"; bash is behaving as its documentation promises in this respect.

But never mind that: Unless your traps are ever returning nonzero values (and thus aborting commands they run before), this is easy enough to work around:

trapfunc() { local old_=$1; date; : "$old_"; }

trap 'trapfunc "$_"' DEBUG

For example take iTerm2. It uses __bp_preexec_invoke_exec (note in your particular case it may be some other program that uses the same name for the same purpose). At the moment I'm writing this answer, this is what you can find under https://iterm2.com/shell_integration/bash :

# This function is installed as the DEBUG trap.  It is invoked before each

# interactive prompt display.  Its purpose is to inspect the current

# environment to attempt to detect if the current command is being invoked

# interactively, and invoke 'preexec' if so.

__bp_preexec_invoke_exec() {

    # Save the contents of $_ so that it can be restored later on.

    # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40944532/bash-preserve-in-a-debug-trap#40944702

    __bp_last_argument_prev_command="$1"

The function continues and then

__bp_set_ret_value "$preexec_ret_value" "$__bp_last_argument_prev_command"

}

And elsewhere (__bp_install):

trap '__bp_preexec_invoke_exec "$_"' DEBUG

So it basically uses the solution from the linked answer. Note the code even mentions the linked question!

You should find out where your __bp_preexec_invoke_exec comes from and patch it accordingly along with probable trap '__bp_preexec_invoke_exec' DEBUG line. Or maybe the software that is the culprit has already been patched and you only need to update.