How to create alias with a command contains ' and "












9














A few posts ago someone asked how to show memory in percentage. Someone replied with:



free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'


I was wondering if I can turn this command into an alias in ~/.bashrc. But the syntax of alias is:



alias aliasname='command'


How can I do this? That command contains both ' and ". I tried different ways, but it didn't work. Is this even possible? Am I missing something?






bash quoting alias







share|improve this question




















  • 4




    To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
    – nohillside
    2 days ago










  • @nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
    – D. Ben Knoble
    2 days ago










  • aliasname() { free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'; } -- still just one line, no changes to quoting/escaping/etc needed at all. There's a reason the freenode #bash channel !alias factoid is (well, was, but for most of the factoid bot's life some variant of): If you have to ask, use a function instead.
    – Charles Duffy
    2 days ago


















9














A few posts ago someone asked how to show memory in percentage. Someone replied with:



free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'


I was wondering if I can turn this command into an alias in ~/.bashrc. But the syntax of alias is:



alias aliasname='command'


How can I do this? That command contains both ' and ". I tried different ways, but it didn't work. Is this even possible? Am I missing something?






bash quoting alias







share|improve this question




















  • 4




    To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
    – nohillside
    2 days ago










  • @nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
    – D. Ben Knoble
    2 days ago










  • aliasname() { free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'; } -- still just one line, no changes to quoting/escaping/etc needed at all. There's a reason the freenode #bash channel !alias factoid is (well, was, but for most of the factoid bot's life some variant of): If you have to ask, use a function instead.
    – Charles Duffy
    2 days ago
















9












9








9







A few posts ago someone asked how to show memory in percentage. Someone replied with:



free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'


I was wondering if I can turn this command into an alias in ~/.bashrc. But the syntax of alias is:



alias aliasname='command'


How can I do this? That command contains both ' and ". I tried different ways, but it didn't work. Is this even possible? Am I missing something?






bash quoting alias







share|improve this question















A few posts ago someone asked how to show memory in percentage. Someone replied with:



free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'


I was wondering if I can turn this command into an alias in ~/.bashrc. But the syntax of alias is:



alias aliasname='command'


How can I do this? That command contains both ' and ". I tried different ways, but it didn't work. Is this even possible? Am I missing something?






bash quoting alias




bash quoting alias






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited yesterday









Peter Mortensen

87758




87758










asked 2 days ago









BlackCrystal

32811




32811








  • 4




    To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
    – nohillside
    2 days ago










  • @nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
    – D. Ben Knoble
    2 days ago










  • aliasname() { free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'; } -- still just one line, no changes to quoting/escaping/etc needed at all. There's a reason the freenode #bash channel !alias factoid is (well, was, but for most of the factoid bot's life some variant of): If you have to ask, use a function instead.
    – Charles Duffy
    2 days ago
















  • 4




    To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
    – nohillside
    2 days ago










  • @nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
    – D. Ben Knoble
    2 days ago










  • aliasname() { free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'; } -- still just one line, no changes to quoting/escaping/etc needed at all. There's a reason the freenode #bash channel !alias factoid is (well, was, but for most of the factoid bot's life some variant of): If you have to ask, use a function instead.
    – Charles Duffy
    2 days ago










4




4




To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
– nohillside
2 days ago




To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
– nohillside
2 days ago












@nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
– D. Ben Knoble
2 days ago




@nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
– D. Ben Knoble
2 days ago












aliasname() { free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'; } -- still just one line, no changes to quoting/escaping/etc needed at all. There's a reason the freenode #bash channel !alias factoid is (well, was, but for most of the factoid bot's life some variant of): If you have to ask, use a function instead.
– Charles Duffy
2 days ago






aliasname() { free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'; } -- still just one line, no changes to quoting/escaping/etc needed at all. There's a reason the freenode #bash channel !alias factoid is (well, was, but for most of the factoid bot's life some variant of): If you have to ask, use a function instead.
– Charles Duffy
2 days ago












2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















7














You need:



alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


Notice that you need to escape both " and $.






share|improve this answer





























    16














    Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



    These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



    alias ks=ls
    
alias ls='ls -l'
    
alias ls="ls -l"
    
alias ls=ls -l


    So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



    See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





    • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

    • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


    Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



    freemem() {
    
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
    
}





    share|improve this answer























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      2 Answers
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      2 Answers
      2






      active

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      active

      oldest

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      7














      You need:



      alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


      Notice that you need to escape both " and $.






      share|improve this answer


























        7














        You need:



        alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


        Notice that you need to escape both " and $.






        share|improve this answer
























          7












          7








          7






          You need:



          alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


          Notice that you need to escape both " and $.






          share|improve this answer












          You need:



          alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


          Notice that you need to escape both " and $.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 2 days ago









          Arkadiusz Drabczyk

          7,83521734




          7,83521734

























              16














              Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



              These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



              alias ks=ls
              
alias ls='ls -l'
              
alias ls="ls -l"
              
alias ls=ls -l


              So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



              See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





              • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

              • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


              Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



              freemem() {
              
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
              
}





              share|improve this answer




























                16














                Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



                These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



                alias ks=ls
                
alias ls='ls -l'
                
alias ls="ls -l"
                
alias ls=ls -l


                So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



                See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





                • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

                • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


                Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



                freemem() {
                
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
                
}





                share|improve this answer


























                  16












                  16








                  16






                  Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



                  These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



                  alias ks=ls
                  
alias ls='ls -l'
                  
alias ls="ls -l"
                  
alias ls=ls -l


                  So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



                  See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





                  • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

                  • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


                  Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



                  freemem() {
                  
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
                  
}





                  share|improve this answer














                  Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



                  These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



                  alias ks=ls
                  
alias ls='ls -l'
                  
alias ls="ls -l"
                  
alias ls=ls -l


                  So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



                  See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





                  • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

                  • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


                  Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



                  freemem() {
                  
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
                  
}






                  share|improve this answer














                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer








                  edited 2 days ago

























                  answered 2 days ago









                  ilkkachu

                  55.9k784155




                  55.9k784155






























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