alias

Adds a new alias or modifies an existing one

Usage

alias [-q] (<alias_name>) <implementation>
alias [-q] (<alias_name>){}

Description

Adds the alias <alias_name> with the specified <implementation> code. The implementation code can be either a single KVS instruction or an instruction block (instruction list enclosed in braces).
If the alias already exists, it is replaced with the new implementation.
If the <implementation> is empty (e.g. {} or just a ;) the alias <alias_name> is removed. If the remove form is used but the specified <alias_name> does not exist in the alias store then a warning is printed unless the -q (--quiet) switch is used. If <alias_name> contains a <name>:: prefix, then the alias is created in the namespace specified by <name>. If the namespace does not exist, it is created. Any alias without the <name>:: prefix is created in the root namespace. Namespaces are useful to avoid collisions in alias names between scripts. Only really common aliases should be created in the root namespace - all of the internal functionality of your scripts should be hidden in your own namespace. The special syntax <namespace>:: can be used to remove all the aliases belonging to the specified namespace. When creating aliases this syntax is not allowed.

Switches

-q | --quiet

Causes the command to run quietly

Examples

# Add the alias j
alias(j)
{
join $0;
}
# Remove the alias j
alias(j){}
# Add the alias j in namespace letters
alias(letters::j)
{
echo "j"
}
# Kill the whole 'letters' namespace
alias(letters::){}