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0 pointskazinator6y ago0 comments

> doesn't show you the new filename

  $ echo mv foo{x,y}bar

> the ability to edit a filename shown, in place

Easily done right in the command line. First, type this:

  $ mv oldname _

The _ denotes the cursor.

Now erase the last word using Ctrl-W:

  $ mv _

Now pastte it twie with Ctrl-Y Ctrl-Y:

  $ mv oldname oldname _

Edit in place, submit.

0 comments

9 comments · 2 top-level

Kiro6y ago· 4 in thread

Or I just use this script which is much more intuitive and convenient.

kazinatorOP6y ago

In my other post, I got the readline method down to one control code. You type "mv name" and hit the assigned control character, which produces a second copy of the name that you can edit in place. It works with any command: mv, cp, ln, git mv ... The editing is in the same command line, resulting in a proper argument that is in the command line. It gets saved into your history, and can be pasted into a script.

zeepzeep6y ago

But only solves one use case. Why not learn how to do it for every other unix tool?

Kiro6y ago

I don't see how this script prevents me from learning it. With that said, we're obviously in different ballparks when it comes to the terminal. I don't need to do anything fancy. cd, ls, mv and git are pretty much the only commands I ever use. For me, this script fits nicely into my workflow.

kelnos6y ago

But it's... not? What if I want to use the same trick with 'cp'? Do I go and copy-paste my script, or maybe spend time to make it generic enough to handle both commands? That's not a good use of my time when the shell will do it for me, if only I'd spend a minute to learn.

matt-attack6y ago· 3 in thread

Using echo is the wrong way. What you do is ‘CTRL-x *’. That will expand any glob right there on the command line.

kazinatorOP6y ago

Brace expansion isn't a glob, unfortunately. Did you try it?

bruce_one6y ago

I didn't know the `CTRL-x * ` expansion; it appears to work in zsh for brace expansion:

  $ touch asdf-{gh,jk}-l
  # CTRL-x *
  $ touch asdf-gh-l asdf-jk-l

1 more reply

m4636y ago

I didn't know about that.

I tried control-x escape, that only does variable expansion (and it appears to expand aliases too)

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