alias

Create an alias, aliases allow a string to be substituted for a word when it is used as the first word of a simple command.

SYNTAX
      alias [name [wordlist]]

	       Without	arguments,  prints all aliases.	 With name, prints the
	       alias for name.	With name and wordlist,	 assigns  wordlist  as
	       the  alias  of  name.  wordlist is command and filename substi-
	       tuted.  name may not be `alias' or  `unalias'.
      
     unalias pattern
	       Removes all aliases whose names	match  pattern.	  `unalias  *'
	       thus removes all aliases.  It is not an error for nothing to be
	       unaliased.    

If arguments are supplied, an alias is defined for each name whose value is given.

If no value is given, `alias' will print the current value of the alias.

Alias substitution
The shell maintains a list of aliases which can be set, unset and printed by the alias and unalias commands. After a command line is parsed into simple commands the first word of each command, left-to-right, is checked to see if it has an alias. If so, the first word is replaced by the alias. If the alias contains a history reference, it undergoes History substitution (q.v.) as though the original command were the previous input line. If the alias does not contain a history reference, the argument list is left untouched.

Thus if the alias for `ls' were `ls -l' the command `ls /usr' would become `ls -l /usr', the argument list here being undisturbed. If the alias for `lookup' were `grep !^ /etc/passwd' then `lookup bill' would become `grep bill /etc/passwd'. Aliases can be used to introduce parser metasyntax. For example, `alias print 'pr \!* | lpr'' defines a `command' (`print') which pr's its arguments to the line printer.

Alias substitution is repeated until the first word of the command has no alias. If an alias substitution does not change the first word (as in the previous example) it is flagged to prevent a loop. Other loops are detected and cause an error.

Examples

Create an alias 'ls' that will actually run 'ls -F'

   alias ls 'ls -F' 

Produce a custom prompt to display which machine you are on, the current 
folder, and the number of the current command:

   alias cd 'cd \!*; set currDir = `basename $cwd`; set currDir = `echo
   "<${host}:"$currDir
   " ! >"`; set prompt = "${currDir} "'
   cd $cwd

<Mac_One:Sheppard 15 >

Making an alias permanent:
Use your favorite text editor to open ~/Library/init/tcsh/aliases.mine and add your alias commands.
You can also use ~/.tcshrc or ~/.cshrc or if running BASH then create a .bash_aliases file.

`alias' is a tcsh shell command.

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever" - George Orwell (alias Eric Blair)

Related commands:

env - Display, set, or remove environment variables
echo - Display message on screen
set - Set a shell variable = value
setenv - Set an environment variable = value
shift - Shift positional parameters

Equivalent BASH command:

alias - Create an alias