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(zsh.info)Parameters Used By The Shell
Parameters Used By The Shell
============================
The following parameters are used by the shell.
In cases where there are two parameters with an upper- and lowercase
form of the same name, such as path and PATH, the lowercase form is an
array and the uppercase form is a scalar with the elements of the array
joined together by colons. These are similar to tied parameters
created via `typeset -T'. The normal use for the colon-separated form
is for exporting to the environment, while the array form is easier to
manipulate within the shell. Note that unsetting either of the pair
will unset the other; they retain their special properties when
recreated, and recreating one of the pair will recreate the other.
ARGV0
If exported, its value is used as the argv[0] of external commands.
Usually used in constructs like `ARGV0=emacs nethack'.
BAUD
The baud rate of the current connection. Used by the line editor
update mechanism to compensate for a slow terminal by delaying
updates until necessary. This may be profitably set to a lower
value in some circumstances, e.g. for slow modems dialing into a
communications server which is connected to a host via a fast
link; in this case, this variable would be set by default to the
speed of the fast link, and not the modem. This parameter should
be set to the baud rate of the slowest part of the link for best
performance. The compensation mechanism can be turned off by
setting the variable to zero.
cdpath <S> <Z> (CDPATH <S>)
An array (colon-separated list) of directories specifying the
search path for the cd command.
COLUMNS <S>
The number of columns for this terminal session. Used for
printing select lists and for the line editor.
DIRSTACKSIZE
The maximum size of the directory stack. If the stack gets larger
than this, it will be truncated automatically. This is useful
with the AUTO_PUSHD option.
FCEDIT
The default editor for the fc builtin.
fignore <S> <Z> (FIGNORE <S>)
An array (colon separated list) containing the suffixes of files
to be ignored during filename completion. However, if completion
only generates files with suffixes in this list, then these files
are completed anyway.
fpath <S> <Z> (FPATH <S>)
An array (colon separated list) of directories specifying the
search path for function definitions. This path is searched when
a function with the -u attribute is referenced. If an executable
file is found, then it is read and executed in the current
environment.
histchars <S>
Three characters used by the shell's history and lexical analysis
mechanism. The first character signals the start of a history
expansion (default `!'). The second character signals the start
of a quick history substitution (default `^'). The third
character is the comment character (default `#').
HISTCHARS <S> <Z>
Same as histchars. (Deprecated.)
HISTFILE
The file to save the history in when an interactive shell exits.
If unset, the history is not saved.
HISTSIZE <S>
The maximum number of events stored in the internal history list.
If you use the HIST_EXPIRE_DUPS_FIRST option, setting this value
larger than the SAVEHIST size will give you the difference as a
cushion for saving duplicated history events.
HOME <S>
The default argument for the cd command.
IFS <S>
Internal field separators (by default space, tab, newline and
NUL), that are used to separate words which result from command or
parameter expansion and words read by the read builtin. Any
characters from the set space, tab and newline that appear in the
IFS are called _IFS white space_. One or more IFS white space
characters or one non-IFS white space character together with any
adjacent IFS white space character delimit a field. If an IFS
white space character appears twice consecutively in the IFS, this
character is treated as if it were not an IFS white space
character.
KEYTIMEOUT
The time the shell waits, in hundredths of seconds, for another
key to be pressed when reading bound multi-character sequences.
LANG <S>
This variable determines the locale category for any category not
specifically selected via a variable starting with `LC_'.
LC_ALL <S>
This variable overrides the value of the `LANG' variable and the
value of any of the other variables starting with `LC_'.
LC_COLLATE <S>
This variable determines the locale category for character
collation information within ranges in glob brackets and for
sorting.
LC_CTYPE <S>
This variable determines the locale category for character handling
functions.
LC_MESSAGES <S>
This variable determines the language in which messages should be
written. Note that zsh does not use message catalogs.
LC_NUMERIC <S>
This variable affects the decimal point character and thousands
separator character for the formatted input/output functions and
string conversion functions. Note that zsh ignores this setting
when parsing floating point mathematical expressions.
LC_TIME <S>
This variable determines the locale category for date and time
formatting in prompt escape sequences.
LINES <S>
The number of lines for this terminal session. Used for printing
select lists and for the line editor.
LISTMAX
In the line editor, the number of matches to list without asking
first. If the value is negative, the list will be shown if it
spans at most as many lines as given by the absolute value. If
set to zero, the shell asks only if the top of the listing would
scroll off the screen.
LOGCHECK
The interval in seconds between checks for login/logout activity
using the watch parameter.
MAIL
If this parameter is set and mailpath is not set, the shell looks
for mail in the specified file.
MAILCHECK
The interval in seconds between checks for new mail.
mailpath <S> <Z> (MAILPATH <S>)
An array (colon-separated list) of filenames to check for new
mail. Each filename can be followed by a `?' and a message that
will be printed. The message will undergo parameter expansion,
command substitution and arithmetic expansion with the variable $_
defined as the name of the file that has changed. The default
message is `You have new mail'. If an element is a directory
instead of a file the shell will recursively check every file in
every subdirectory of the element.
manpath <S> <Z> (MANPATH <S> <Z>)
An array (colon-separated list) whose value is not used by the
shell. The manpath array can be useful, however, since setting it
also sets MANPATH, and vice versa.
module_path <S> <Z> (MODULE_PATH <S>)
An array (colon-separated list) of directories that zmodload
searches for dynamically loadable modules. This is initialized to
a standard pathname, usually `/usr/local/lib/zsh/$ZSH_VERSION'.
(The `/usr/local/lib' part varies from installation to
installation.) For security reasons, any value set in the
environment when the shell is started will be ignored.
These parameters only exist if the installation supports dynamic
module loading.
NULLCMD <S>
The command name to assume if a redirection is specified with no
command. Defaults to cat. For `sh'/`ksh' behavior, change this
to :. For `csh'-like behavior, unset this parameter; the shell
will print an error message if null commands are entered.
path <S> <Z> (PATH <S>)
An array (colon-separated list) of directories to search for
commands. When this parameter is set, each directory is scanned
and all files found are put in a hash table.
POSTEDIT <S>
This string is output whenever the line editor exits. It usually
contains termcap strings to reset the terminal.
PROMPT <S> <Z>
PROMPT2 <S> <Z>
PROMPT3 <S> <Z>
PROMPT4 <S> <Z>
Same as PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4, respectively.
prompt <S> <Z>
Same as PS1.
PS1 <S>
The primary prompt string, printed before a command is read. the
default is `%m%# '. It undergoes a special form of expansion
before being displayed; see Note: Prompt Expansion.
PS2 <S>
The secondary prompt, printed when the shell needs more information
to complete a command. It is expanded in the same way as PS1.
The default is `%_> ', which displays any shell constructs or
quotation marks which are currently being processed.
PS3 <S>
Selection prompt used within a select loop. It is expanded in the
same way as PS1. The default is `?# '.
PS4 <S>
The execution trace prompt. Default is `+%N:%i> ', which displays
the name of the current shell structure and the line number within
it. In sh or ksh emulation, the default is `+ '.
psvar <S> <Z> (PSVAR <S>)
An array (colon-separated list) whose first nine values can be
used in PROMPT strings. Setting psvar also sets PSVAR, and vice
versa.
READNULLCMD <S>
The command name to assume if a single input redirection is
specified with no command. Defaults to more.
REPORTTIME
If nonnegative, commands whose combined user and system execution
times (measured in seconds) are greater than this value have timing
statistics printed for them.
REPLY
This parameter is reserved by convention to pass string values
between shell scripts and shell builtins in situations where a
function call or redirection are impossible or undesirable. The
read builtin and the select complex command may set REPLY, and
filename generation both sets and examines its value when
evaluating certain expressions. Some modules also employ REPLY
for similar purposes.
reply
As REPLY, but for array values rather than strings.
RPROMPT <S>
RPS1 <S>
This prompt is displayed on the right-hand side of the screen when
the primary prompt is being displayed on the left. This does not
work if the SINGLELINEZLE option is set. It is expanded in the
same way as PS1.
SAVEHIST
The maximum number of history events to save in the history file.
SPROMPT <S>
The prompt used for spelling correction. The sequence `%R'
expands to the string which presumably needs spelling correction,
and `%r' expands to the proposed correction. All other prompt
escapes are also allowed.
STTY
If this parameter is set in a command's environment, the shell
runs the stty command with the value of this parameter as
arguments in order to set up the terminal before executing the
command. The modes apply only to the command, and are reset when
it finishes or is suspended. If the command is suspended and
continued later with the fg or wait builtins it will see the modes
specified by STTY, as if it were not suspended. This
(intentionally) does not apply if the command is continued via
`kill -CONT'. STTY is ignored if the command is run in the
background, or if it is in the environment of the shell but not
explicitly assigned to in the input line. This avoids running stty
at every external command by accidentally exporting it. Also note
that STTY should not be used for window size specifications; these
will not be local to the command.
TERM <S>
The type of terminal in use. This is used when looking up termcap
sequences. An assignment to TERM causes zsh to re-initialize the
terminal, even if the value does not change (e.g., `TERM=$TERM').
It is necessary to make such an assignment upon any change to the
terminal definition database or terminal type in order for the new
settings to take effect.
TIMEFMT
The format of process time reports with the time keyword. The
default is `%E real %U user %S system %P %J'. Recognizes the
following escape sequences:
%%
A `%'.
%U
CPU seconds spent in user mode.
%S
CPU seconds spent in kernel mode.
%E
Elapsed time in seconds.
%P
The CPU percentage, computed as (%U+%S)/%E.
%J
The name of this job.
A star may be inserted between the percent sign and flags printing
time. This cause the time to be printed in `HH:MM:SS.TTT' format
(hours and minutes are only printed if they are not zero).
TMOUT
If this parameter is nonzero, the shell will receive an ALRM
signal if a command is not entered within the specified number of
seconds after issuing a prompt. If there is a trap on SIGALRM, it
will be executed and a new alarm is scheduled using the value of
the TMOUT parameter after executing the trap. If no trap is set,
and the idle time of the terminal is not less than the value of the
TMOUT parameter, zsh terminates. Otherwise a new alarm is
scheduled to TMOUT seconds after the last keypress.
TMPPREFIX
A pathname prefix which the shell will use for all temporary files.
Note that this should include an initial part for the file name as
well as any directory names. The default is `/tmp/zsh'.
watch <S> <Z> (WATCH <S>)
An array (colon-separated list) of login/logout events to report.
If it contains the single word `all', then all login/logout events
are reported. If it contains the single word `notme', then all
events are reported as with `all' except $USERNAME. An entry in
this list may consist of a username, an `@' followed by a remote
hostname, and a `%' followed by a line (tty). Any or all of these
components may be present in an entry; if a login/logout event
matches all of them, it is reported.
WATCHFMT
The format of login/logout reports if the watch parameter is set.
Default is `%n has %a %l from %m'. Recognizes the following
escape sequences:
%n
The name of the user that logged in/out.
%a
The observed action, i.e. "logged on" or "logged off".
%l
The line (tty) the user is logged in on.
%M
The full hostname of the remote host.
%m
The hostname up to the first `.'. If only the IP address is
available or the utmp field contains the name of an X-windows
display, the whole name is printed.
_NOTE:_ The `%m' and `%M' escapes will work only if there is
a host name field in the utmp on your machine. Otherwise
they are treated as ordinary strings.
%S (%s)
Start (stop) standout mode.
%U (%u)
Start (stop) underline mode.
%B (%b)
Start (stop) boldface mode.
%t
%@
The time, in 12-hour, am/pm format.
%T
The time, in 24-hour format.
%w
The date in `DAY-DD' format.
%W
The date in `MM/DD/YY' format.
%D
The date in `YY-MM-DD' format.
%(X:TRUE-TEXT:FALSE-TEXT)
Specifies a ternary expression. The character following the
X is arbitrary; the same character is used to separate the
text for the "true" result from that for the "false" result.
Both the separator and the right parenthesis may be escaped
with a backslash. Ternary expressions may be nested.
The test character X may be any one of `l', `n', `m' or `M',
which indicate a `true' result if the corresponding escape
sequence would return a non-empty value; or it may be `a',
which indicates a `true' result if the watched user has
logged in, or `false' if he has logged out. Other characters
evaluate to neither true nor false; the entire expression is
omitted in this case.
If the result is `true', then the TRUE-TEXT is formatted
according to the rules above and printed, and the FALSE-TEXT
is skipped. If `false', the TRUE-TEXT is skipped and the
FALSE-TEXT is formatted and printed. Either or both of the
branches may be empty, but both separators must be present in
any case.
WORDCHARS <S>
A list of non-alphanumeric characters considered part of a word by
the line editor.
ZBEEP
If set, this gives a string of characters, which can use all the
same codes as the bindkey command as described in Note: The
zsh/zle Module, that will be output to the terminal instead of
beeping. This may have a visible instead of an audible effect;
for example, the string `\e[?5h\e[?5l' on a vt100 or xterm will
have the effect of flashing reverse video on and off (if you
usually use reverse video, you should use the string
`\e[?5l\e[?5h' instead). This takes precedence over the NOBEEP
option.
ZDOTDIR
The directory to search for shell startup files (.zshrc, etc), if
not $HOME.
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