alias

Create or display command aliases.

Source: src/execution/builtins.f90:1493-1589

Synopsis

alias [name[=value] ...]
alias -p
unalias name [name ...]
unalias -a

Description

The alias builtin creates shortcut names for commands. When an alias is used as a command, its value is substituted before execution.

Usage

Create Alias

alias ll='ls -la'
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
alias ..='cd ..'

Show Specific Alias

alias ll
# alias ll='ls -la'

Show All Aliases

alias
# alias ll='ls -la'
# alias grep='grep --color=auto'

Print All (Reusable Format)

alias -p

Removing Aliases

Remove Specific Alias

unalias ll

Remove All Aliases

unalias -a

Examples

Common Aliases

# Navigation
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias ~='cd ~'

# Safety
alias rm='rm -i'
alias cp='cp -i'
alias mv='mv -i'

# Colorize
alias ls='ls --color=auto'
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
alias diff='diff --color=auto'

# Git shortcuts
alias gs='git status'
alias gc='git commit'
alias gp='git push'
alias gl='git log --oneline'

Complex Aliases

# Alias with multiple commands
alias update='sudo dnf update && flatpak update'

# Alias with pipes
alias ports='netstat -tuln | grep LISTEN'

# Alias using variables
alias projects='cd $HOME/projects'

Aliases in Scripts

Aliases are not expanded in non-interactive shells by default. To use aliases in scripts:

shopt -s expand_aliases
source ~/.bash_aliases

Quoting

Both single and double quotes work:

alias hello="echo 'Hello, World!'"
alias hello='echo "Hello, World!"'

The outer quotes are stripped during alias creation.

Alias Expansion

Aliases are expanded only for the first word of a command:

alias ls='ls --color'
ls -la                  # Expands to: ls --color -la

echo ls                 # Does NOT expand (ls is not first word)

Chained Aliases

If an alias value ends with a space, the next word is also checked:

alias sudo='sudo '      # Note trailing space
alias dnf='dnf -y'
sudo dnf install pkg    # Expands both: sudo -y install pkg

Implementation

Source: builtins.f90:1493-1555 (builtin_alias)

Aliases are stored in shell%aliases array with name and value pairs:

Handles quoted values (strips outer quotes)
Supports multiple aliases per command

Source: builtins.f90:1557-1589 (builtin_unalias)

Exit Status

Status	Condition
0	Success
1	Alias not found (unalias) or invalid syntax

Tips

Define Aliases in Config

Add to ~/.fortshrc:

# Load aliases from separate file
if [[ -f ~/.aliases ]]; then
    source ~/.aliases
fi

Check Before Aliasing

# See what a command resolves to
type ls
# ls is aliased to 'ls --color=auto'

Bypass Alias

\ls           # Backslash bypasses alias
command ls    # 'command' builtin bypasses alias