zshbuiltins
ZSHBUILTINS(1) ZSHBUILTINS(1)
NAME
zshbuiltins - zsh built-in commands
SHELL BUILTIN COMMANDS
- simple command
See the section ‘Precommand Modifiers’.
. file [ arg ... ]
Read commands from file and execute them in the current shell
environment.
If file does not contain a slash, or if PATH_DIRS is set, the
shell looks in the components of $path to find the directory
containing file. Files in the current directory are not read
unless ‘.’ appears somewhere in $path. If a file named
‘file.zwc’ is found, is newer than file, and is the compiled
form (created with the zcompile builtin) of file, then commands
are read from that file instead of file.
If any arguments arg are given, they become the positional
parameters; the old positional parameters are restored when the
file is done executing. The exit status is the exit status of
the last command executed.
: [ arg ... ]
This command does nothing, although normal argument expansions
is performed which may have effects on shell parameters. A
zero exit code is returned.
alias [ {+|-}gmrsL ] [ name[=value] ... ]
For each name with a corresponding value, define an alias with
that value. A trailing space in value causes the next word to
be checked for alias expansion. If the -g flag is present,
define a global alias; global aliases are expanded even if they
do not occur in command position.
If the -s flags is present, define a suffix alias: if the com-
mand word on a command line is in the form ‘text.name’, where
text is any non-empty string, it is replaced by the text ‘value
text.name’. Note that name is treated as a literal string, not
a pattern. A trailing space in value is not special in this
case. For example,
alias -s ps=gv
will cause the command ‘*.ps’ to be expanded to ‘gv *.ps’. As
alias expansion is carried out earlier than globbing, the
‘*.ps’ will then be expanded. Suffix aliases constitute a dif-
ferent name space from other aliases (so in the above example
it is still possible to create an alias for the command ps) and
the two sets are never listed together.
For each name with no value, print the value of name, if any.
With no arguments, print all currently defined aliases other
than suffix aliases. If the -m flag is given the arguments are
taken as patterns (they should be quoted to preserve them from
being interpreted as glob patterns), and the aliases matching
these patterns are printed. When printing aliases and one of
the -g, -r or -s flags is present, restrict the printing to
global, regular or suffix aliases, respectively; a regular
alias is one which is neither a global nor a suffix alias.
Using ‘+’ instead of ‘-’, or ending the option list with a
single ‘+’, prevents the values of the aliases from being
printed.
If the -L flag is present, then print each alias in a manner
suitable for putting in a startup script. The exit status is
nonzero if a name (with no value) is given for which no alias
has been defined.
autoload [ {+|-}UXmt ] [ -wkz ] [ name ... ]
Equivalent to functions -u, with the exception of -X/+X, -w, -k
and -z.
The flag -X may be used only inside a shell function, and may
not be followed by a name. It causes the calling function to
be marked for autoloading and then immediately loaded and exe-
cuted, with the current array of positional parameters as argu-
ments. This replaces the previous definition of the function.
If no function definition is found, an error is printed and the
function remains undefined and marked for autoloading.
The flag +X attempts to load each name as an autoloaded func-
tion, but does not execute it. The exit status is zero (suc-
cess) if the function was not previously defined and a defini-
tion for it was found. This does not replace any existing def-
inition of the function. The exit status is nonzero (failure)
if the function was already defined or when no definition was
found. In the latter case the function remains undefined and
marked for autoloading.
The flag +X may be combined with either -k or -z to make the
function be loaded using ksh-style or zsh-style autoloading,
respectively. If neither is given, the current setting of the
KSH_AUTOLOAD options determines how the function is loaded.
With ksh-style autoloading, the contents of the file will not
be executed immediately. Instead, the function created will
contain the contents of the file plus a call to the function
itself appended to it, thus given normal ksh autoloading
behaviour on the first call to the function.
With the -w flag, the names are taken as names of files com-
piled with the zcompile builtin, and all functions defined in
them are marked for autoloading.
bg [ job ... ]
job ... &
Put each specified job in the background, or the current job if
none is specified.
bindkey
See the section ‘Zle Builtins’ in zshzle(1).
break [ n ]
Exit from an enclosing for, while, until, select or repeat
loop. If n is specified, then break n levels instead of just
one.
builtin name [ args ... ]
Executes the builtin name, with the given args.
bye Same as exit.
cap See the section ‘The zsh/cap Module’ in zshmodules(1).
cd [ -sLP ] [ arg ]
cd [ -sLP ] old new
cd [ -sLP ] {+|-}n
Change the current directory. In the first form, change the
current directory to arg, or to the value of $HOME if arg is
not specified. If arg is ‘-’, change to the value of $OLDPWD,
the previous directory. Otherwise, if a directory named arg is
not found in the current directory and arg does not begin with
a slash, search each component of the shell parameter cdpath.
If no directory is found and the option CDABLE_VARS is set, and
a parameter named arg exists whose value begins with a slash,
treat its value as the directory. In that case, the parameter
is added to the named directory hash table.
The second form of cd substitutes the string new for the string
old in the name of the current directory, and tries to change
to this new directory.
The third form of cd extracts an entry from the directory
stack, and changes to that directory. An argument of the form
‘+n’ identifies a stack entry by counting from the left of the
list shown by the dirs command, starting with zero. An argu-
ment of the form ‘-n’ counts from the right. If the
PUSHD_MINUS option is set, the meanings of ‘+’ and ‘-’ in this
context are swapped.
If the -s option is specified, cd refuses to change the current
directory if the given pathname contains symlinks. If the -P
option is given or the CHASE_LINKS option is set, symbolic
links are resolved to their true values. If the -L option is
given symbolic links are followed regardless of the state of
the CHASE_LINKS option.
chdir Same as cd.
clone See the section ‘The zsh/clone Module’ in zshmodules(1).
command [ -pvV ] simple command
The simple command argument is taken as an external command
instead of a function or builtin and is executed. If the
POSIX_BUILTINS option is set, builtins will also be executed
but certain special properties of them are suppressed. The -p
flag causes a default path to be searched instead of that in
$path. With the -v flag, command is similar to whence and with
-V, it is equivalent to whence -v.
See also the section ‘Precommand Modifiers’.
comparguments
See the section ‘The zsh/computil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
compcall
See the section ‘The zsh/compctl Module’ in zshmodules(1).
compctl
See the section ‘The zsh/compctl Module’ in zshmodules(1).
compdescribe
See the section ‘The zsh/computil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
compfiles
See the section ‘The zsh/computil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
compgroups
See the section ‘The zsh/computil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
compquote
See the section ‘The zsh/computil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
comptags
See the section ‘The zsh/computil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
comptry
See the section ‘The zsh/computil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
compvalues
See the section ‘The zsh/computil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
continue [ n ]
Resume the next iteration of the enclosing for, while, until,
select or repeat loop. If n is specified, break out of n-1
loops and resume at the nth enclosing loop.
declare
Same as typeset.
dirs [ -c ] [ arg ... ]
dirs [ -lpv ]
With no arguments, print the contents of the directory stack.
Directories are added to this stack with the pushd command, and
removed with the cd or popd commands. If arguments are speci-
fied, load them onto the directory stack, replacing anything
that was there, and push the current directory onto the stack.
-c clear the directory stack.
-l print directory names in full instead of using of using
~ expressions.
-p print directory entries one per line.
-v number the directories in the stack when printing.
disable [ -afmrs ] name ...
Temporarily disable the named hash table elements. The default
is to disable builtin commands. This allows you to use an
external command with the same name as a builtin command. The
-a option causes disable to act on regular or global aliases.
The -s option causes disable to act on suffix aliases. The -f
option causes disable to act on shell functions. The -r
options causes disable to act on reserved words. Without argu-
ments all disabled hash table elements from the corresponding
hash table are printed. With the -m flag the arguments are
taken as patterns (which should be quoted to prevent them from
undergoing filename expansion), and all hash table elements
from the corresponding hash table matching these patterns are
disabled. Disabled objects can be enabled with the enable com-
mand.
disown [ job ... ]
job ... &|
job ... &!
Remove the specified jobs from the job table; the shell will no
longer report their status, and will not complain if you try to
exit an interactive shell with them running or stopped. If no
job is specified, disown the current job.
If the jobs are currently stopped and the AUTO_CONTINUE option
is not set, a warning is printed containing information about
how to make them running after they have been disowned. If one
of the latter two forms is used, the jobs will automatically be
made running, independent of the setting of the AUTO_CONTINUE
option.
echo [ -neE ] [ arg ... ]
Write each arg on the standard output, with a space separating
each one. If the -n flag is not present, print a newline at
the end. echo recognizes the following escape sequences:
\a bell character
\b backspace
\c suppress final newline
\e escape
\f form feed
\n linefeed (newline)
\r carriage return
\t horizontal tab
\v vertical tab
\\ backslash
\0NNN character code in octal
\xNN character code in hexadecimal
\uNNNN unicode character code in hexadecimal
\UNNNNNNNN
unicode character code in hexadecimal
The -E flag, or the BSD_ECHO option, can be used to disable
these escape sequences. In the latter case, -e flag can be
used to enable them.
echotc See the section ‘The zsh/termcap Module’ in zshmodules(1).
echoti See the section ‘The zsh/terminfo Module’ in zshmodules(1).
emulate [ -LR ] {zsh|sh|ksh|csh}
Set up zsh options to emulate the specified shell as much as
possible. csh will never be fully emulated. If the argument
is not one of the shells listed above, zsh will be used as a
default; more precisely, the tests performed on the argument
are the same as those used to determine the emulation at
startup based on the shell name, see the section ‘Compatibil-
ity’ in zshmisc(1) . If the -R option is given, all options
are reset to their default value corresponding to the specified
emulation mode, except for certain options describing the
interactive environment; otherwise, only those options likely
to cause portability problems in scripts and functions are
altered. If the -L option is given, the options LOCAL_OPTIONS
and LOCAL_TRAPS will be set as well, causing the effects of the
emulate command and any setopt and trap commands to be local to
the immediately surrounding shell function, if any; normally
these options are turned off in all emulation modes except ksh.
enable [ -afmrs ] name ...
Enable the named hash table elements, presumably disabled ear-
lier with disable. The default is to enable builtin commands.
The -a option causes enable to act on regular or global
aliases. The -s option causes enable to act on suffix aliases.
The -f option causes enable to act on shell functions. The -r
option causes enable to act on reserved words. Without argu-
ments all enabled hash table elements from the corresponding
hash table are printed. With the -m flag the arguments are
taken as patterns (should be quoted) and all hash table ele-
ments from the corresponding hash table matching these patterns
are enabled. Enabled objects can be disabled with the disable
builtin command.
eval [ arg ... ]
Read the arguments as input to the shell and execute the
resulting command in the current shell process.
exec simple command
See the section ‘Precommand Modifiers’.
exit [ n ]
Exit the shell with the exit code specified by n; if none is
specified, use the exit code from the last command executed.
An EOF condition will also cause the shell to exit, unless the
IGNORE_EOF option is set.
export [ name[=value] ... ]
The specified names are marked for automatic export to the
environment of subsequently executed commands. Equivalent to
typeset -gx. If a parameter specified does not already exist,
it is created in the global scope.
false [ arg ... ]
Do nothing and return an exit code of 1.
fc [ -e ename ] [ -nlrdDfEim ] [ old=new ... ] [ first [ last ] ]
fc -ARWI [ filename ]
Select a range of commands from first to last from the history
list. The arguments first and last may be specified as a num-
ber or as a string. A negative number is used as an offset to
the current history event number. A string specifies the most
recent event beginning with the given string. All substitu-
tions old=new, if any, are then performed on the commands.
If the -l flag is given, the resulting commands are listed on
standard output. If the -m flag is also given the first argu-
ment is taken as a pattern (should be quoted) and only the his-
tory events matching this pattern will be shown. Otherwise the
editor program ename is invoked on a file containing these his-
tory events. If ename is not given, the value of the parameter
FCEDIT is used. If ename is ‘-’, no editor is invoked. When
editing is complete, the edited command is executed.
If first is not specified, it will be set to -1 (the most
recent event), or to -16 if the -l flag is given. If last is
not specified, it will be set to first, or to -1 if the -l flag
is given.
The flag -r reverses the order of the commands and the flag -n
suppresses command numbers when listing. Also when listing, -d
prints timestamps for each command, and -f prints full
time-date stamps. Adding the -E flag causes the dates to be
printed as ‘dd.mm.yyyy’, instead of the default ‘mm/dd/yyyy’.
Adding the -i flag causes the dates to be printed in ISO8601
‘yyyy-mm-dd’ format. With the -D flag, fc prints elapsed
times.
‘fc -R’ reads the history from the given file, ‘fc -W’ writes
the history out to the given file, and ‘fc -A’ appends the his-
tory out to the given file. If no filename is specified, the
$HISTFILE is assumed. If the -I option is added to -R, only
those events that are not already contained within the internal
history list are added. If the -I option is added to -A or -W,
only those events that are new since last incremental
append/write to the history file are appended/written. In any
case, the created file will have no more than $SAVEHIST
entries.
fg [ job ... ]
job ...
Bring each specified job in turn to the foreground. If no job
is specified, resume the current job.
float [ {+|-}EFHghlprtux ] [ name[=value] ... ]
Equivalent to typeset -E, except that options irrelevant to
floating point numbers are not permitted.
functions [ {+|-}UXmtu ] [ name ... ]
Equivalent to typeset -f.
getcap See the section ‘The zsh/cap Module’ in zshmodules(1).
getln [ -AclneE ] name ...
Read the top value from the buffer stack and put it in the
shell parameter name. Equivalent to read -zr.
getopts optstring name [ arg ... ]
Checks the args for legal options. If the args are omitted,
use the positional parameters. A valid option argument begins
with a ‘+’ or a ‘-’. An argument not beginning with a ‘+’ or a
‘-’, or the argument ‘--’, ends the options. Note that a sin-
gle ‘-’ is not considered a valid option argument. optstring
contains the letters that getopts recognizes. If a letter is
followed by a ‘:’, that option is expected to have an argument.
The options can be separated from the argument by blanks.
Each time it is invoked, getopts places the option letter it
finds in the shell parameter name, prepended with a ‘+’ when
arg begins with a ‘+’. The index of the next arg is stored in
OPTIND. The option argument, if any, is stored in OPTARG.
The first option to be examined may be changed by explicitly
assigning to OPTIND. OPTIND has an initial value of 1, and is
normally reset to 1 upon exit from a shell function. OPTARG is
not reset and retains its value from the most recent call to
getopts. If either of OPTIND or OPTARG is explicitly unset, it
remains unset, and the index or option argument is not stored.
The option itself is still stored in name in this case.
A leading ‘:’ in optstring causes getopts to store the letter
of any invalid option in OPTARG, and to set name to ‘?’ for an
unknown option and to ‘:’ when a required option is missing.
Otherwise, getopts sets name to ‘?’ and prints an error message
when an option is invalid. The exit status is nonzero when
there are no more options.
hash [ -Ldfmrv ] [ name[=value] ] ...
hash can be used to directly modify the contents of the command
hash table, and the named directory hash table. Normally one
would modify these tables by modifying one’s PATH (for the com-
mand hash table) or by creating appropriate shell parameters
(for the named directory hash table). The choice of hash table
to work on is determined by the -d option; without the option
the command hash table is used, and with the option the named
directory hash table is used.
Given no arguments, and neither the -r or -f options, the
selected hash table will be listed in full.
The -r option causes the selected hash table to be emptied. It
will be subsequently rebuilt in the normal fashion. The -f
option causes the selected hash table to be fully rebuilt imme-
diately. For the command hash table this hashes all the abso-
lute directories in the PATH, and for the named directory hash
table this adds all users’ home directories. These two options
cannot be used with any arguments.
The -m option causes the arguments to be taken as patterns
(which should be quoted) and the elements of the hash table
matching those patterns are printed. This is the only way to
display a limited selection of hash table elements.
For each name with a corresponding value, put ‘name’ in the
selected hash table, associating it with the pathname ‘value’.
In the command hash table, this means that whenever ‘name’ is
used as a command argument, the shell will try to execute the
file given by ‘value’. In the named directory hash table, this
means that ‘value’ may be referred to as ‘~name’.
For each name with no corresponding value, attempt to add name
to the hash table, checking what the appropriate value is in
the normal manner for that hash table. If an appropriate value
can’t be found, then the hash table will be unchanged.
The -v option causes hash table entries to be listed as they
are added by explicit specification. If has no effect if used
with -f.
If the -L flag is present, then each hash table entry is
printed in the form of a call to hash.
history
Same as fc -l.
integer [ {+|-}Hghilprtux ] [ name[=value] ... ]
Equivalent to typeset -i, except that options irrelevant to
integers are not permitted.
jobs [ -dlprs ] [ job ... ]
jobs -Z string
Lists information about each given job, or all jobs if job is
omitted. The -l flag lists process IDs, and the -p flag lists
process groups. If the -r flag is specified only running jobs
will be listed and if the -s flag is given only stopped jobs
are shown. If the -d flag is given, the directory from which
the job was started (which may not be the current directory of
the job) will also be shown.
The -Z option replaces the shell’s argument and environment
space with the given string, truncated if necessary to fit.
This will normally be visible in ps (ps(1)) listings. This
feature is typically used by daemons, to indicate their state.
kill [ -s signal_name | -n signal_number | -sig ] job ...
kill -l [ sig ... ]
Sends either SIGTERM or the specified signal to the given jobs
or processes. Signals are given by number or by names, with or
without the ‘SIG’ prefix. If the signal being sent is not
‘KILL’ or ‘CONT’, then the job will be sent a ‘CONT’ signal if
it is stopped. The argument job can be the process ID of a job
not in the job list. In the second form, kill -l, if sig is
not specified the signal names are listed. Otherwise, for each
sig that is a name, the corresponding signal number is listed.
For each sig that is a signal number or a number representing
the exit status of a process which was terminated or stopped by
a signal the name of the signal is printed.
let arg ...
Evaluate each arg as an arithmetic expression. See the section
‘Arithmetic Evaluation’ for a description of arithmetic expres-
sions. The exit status is 0 if the value of the last expres-
sion is nonzero, and 1 otherwise.
limit [ -hs ] [ resource [ limit ] ] ...
Set or display resource limits. Unless the -s flag is given,
the limit applies only the children of the shell. If -s is
given without other arguments, the resource limits of the cur-
rent shell is set to the previously set resource limits of the
children.
If limit is not specified, print the current limit placed on
resource, otherwise set the limit to the specified value. If
the -h flag is given, use hard limits instead of soft limits.
If no resource is given, print all limits.
resource can be one of:
addressspace
Maximum amount of address space used.
aiomemorylocked
Maximum amount of memory locked in RAM for AIO opera-
tions.
aiooperations
Maximum number of AIO operations.
cachedthreads
Maximum number of cached threads.
coredumpsize
Maximum size of a core dump.
cputime
Maximum CPU seconds per process.
datasize
Maximum data size (including stack) for each process.
descriptors
Maximum value for a file descriptor.
filesize
Largest single file allowed.
maxproc
Maximum number of processes.
maxpthreads
Maximum number of threads per process.
memorylocked
Maximum amount of memory locked in RAM.
memoryuse
Maximum resident set size.
resident
Maximum resident set size.
sockbufsize
Maximum size of all socket buffers.
stacksize
Maximum stack size for each process.
vmemorysize
Maximum amount of virtual memory.
Which of these resource limits are available depends on the
system. resource can be abbreviated to any unambiguous prefix.
limit is a number, with an optional scaling factor, as follows:
nh hours
nk kilobytes (default)
nm megabytes or minutes
[mm:]ss
minutes and seconds
local [ {+|-}AEFHLRUZahilprtux [n]] [ name[=value] ] ...
Same as typeset, except that the options -g, and -f are not
permitted. In this case the -x option does not force the use
of -g, i.e. exported variables will be local to functions.
log List all users currently logged in who are affected by the cur-
rent setting of the watch parameter.
logout [ n ]
Same as exit, except that it only works in a login shell.
noglob simple command
See the section ‘Precommand Modifiers’.
popd [ {+|-}n ]
Remove an entry from the directory stack, and perform a cd to
the new top directory. With no argument, the current top entry
is removed. An argument of the form ‘+n’ identifies a stack
entry by counting from the left of the list shown by the dirs
command, starting with zero. An argument of the form -n counts
from the right. If the PUSHD_MINUS option is set, the meanings
of ‘+’ and ‘-’ in this context are swapped.
print [ -abcDilmnNoOpPrsz ] [ -u n ] [ -f format ] [ -C cols ]
[ -R [ -en ]] [ arg ... ]
With the ‘-f’ option the arguments are printed as described by
printf. With no flags or with the flag ‘-’, the arguments are
printed on the standard output as described by echo, with the
following differences: the escape sequence ‘\M-x’ metafies the
character x (sets the highest bit), ‘\C-x’ produces a control
character (‘\C-@’ and ‘\C-?’ give the characters NUL and
delete), and ‘\E’ is a synonym for ‘\e’. Finally, if not in an
escape sequence, ‘\’ escapes the following character and is not
printed.
-a Print arguments with the column incrementing first.
Only useful with the -c and -C options.
-b Recognize all the escape sequences defined for the bind-
key command, see zshzle(1).
-c Print the arguments in columns. Unless -a is also
given, arguments are printed with the row incrementing
first.
-C cols
Print the arguments in cols columns. Unless -a is also
given, arguments are printed with the row incrementing
first.
-D Treat the arguments as directory names, replacing pre-
fixes with ~ expressions, as appropriate.
-i If given together with -o or -O, sorting is performed
case-independently.
-l Print the arguments separated by newlines instead of
spaces.
-m Take the first argument as a pattern (should be quoted),
and remove it from the argument list together with sub-
sequent arguments that do not match this pattern.
-n Do not add a newline to the output.
-N Print the arguments separated and terminated by nulls.
-o Print the arguments sorted in ascending order.
-O Print the arguments sorted in descending order.
-p Print the arguments to the input of the coprocess.
-P Perform prompt expansion (see zshmisc(1)).
-r Ignore the escape conventions of echo.
-R Emulate the BSD echo command, which does not process
escape sequences unless the -e flag is given. The -n
flag suppresses the trailing newline. Only the -e and
-n flags are recognized after -R; all other arguments
and options are printed.
-s Place the results in the history list instead of on the
standard output.
-u n Print the arguments to file descriptor n.
-z Push the arguments onto the editing buffer stack, sepa-
rated by spaces.
If any of ‘-m’, ‘-o’ or ‘-O’ are used in combination with ‘-f’
and there are no arguments (after the removal process in the
case of ‘-m’) then nothing is printed.
printf format [ arg ... ]
Print the arguments according to the format specification. For-
matting rules are the same as used in C. The same escape
sequences as for echo are recognised in the format. All C con-
version specifications ending in one of csdiouxXeEfgGn are han-
dled. In addition to this, ‘%b’ can be used instead of ‘%s’ to
cause escape sequences in the argument to be recognised and
‘%q’ can be used to quote the argument in such a way that
allows it to be reused as shell input. With the numeric format
specifiers, if the corresponding argument starts with a quote
character, the numeric value of the following character is used
as the number to print otherwise the argument is evaluated as
an arithmetic expression. See the section ‘Arithmetic Evalua-
tion’ for a description of arithmetic expressions. With ‘%n’,
the corresponding argument is taken as an identifier which is
created as an integer parameter.
Normally, conversion specifications are applied to each argu-
ment in order but they can explicitly specify the nth argument
is to be used by replacing ‘%’ by ‘%n$’ and ‘*’ by ‘*n$’. It
is recommended that you do not mix references of this explicit
style with the normal style and the handling of such mixed
styles may be subject to future change.
If arguments remain unused after formatting, the format string
is reused until all arguments have been consumed. With the
print builtin, this can be suppressed by using the -r option.
If more arguments are required by the format than have been
specified, the behaviour is as if zero or an empty string had
been specified as the argument.
pushd [ -sLP ] [ arg ]
pushd [ -sLP ] old new
pushd [ -sLP ] {+|-}n
Change the current directory, and push the old current direc-
tory onto the directory stack. In the first form, change the
current directory to arg. If arg is not specified, change to
the second directory on the stack (that is, exchange the top
two entries), or change to $HOME if the PUSHD_TO_HOME option is
set or if there is only one entry on the stack. Otherwise, arg
is interpreted as it would be by cd. The meaning of old and
new in the second form is also the same as for cd.
The third form of pushd changes directory by rotating the
directory list. An argument of the form ‘+n’ identifies a
stack entry by counting from the left of the list shown by the
dirs command, starting with zero. An argument of the form ‘-n’
counts from the right. If the PUSHD_MINUS option is set, the
meanings of ‘+’ and ‘-’ in this context are swapped.
If the option PUSHD_SILENT is not set, the directory stack will
be printed after a pushd is performed.
The options -s, -L and -P have the same meanings as for the cd
builtin.
pushln [ arg ... ]
Equivalent to print -nz.
pwd [ -rLP ]
Print the absolute pathname of the current working directory.
If the -r or the -P flag is specified, or the CHASE_LINKS
option is set and the -L flag is not given, the printed path
will not contain symbolic links.
r Same as fc -e -.
read [ -rszpqAclneE ] [ -t [ num ] ] [ -k [ num ] ] [ -d delim ]
[ -u n ] [ name[?prompt] ] [ name ... ]
Read one line and break it into fields using the characters in
$IFS as separators, except as noted below. The first field is
assigned to the first name, the second field to the second
name, etc., with leftover fields assigned to the last name. If
name is omitted then REPLY is used for scalars and reply for
arrays.
-r Raw mode: a ‘\’ at the end of a line does not signify
line continuation and backslashes in the line don’t
quote the following character and are not removed.
-s Don’t echo back characters if reading from the terminal.
Currently does not work with the -q option.
-q Read only one character from the terminal and set name
to ‘y’ if this character was ‘y’ or ‘Y’ and to ‘n’ oth-
erwise. With this flag set the return value is zero
only if the character was ‘y’ or ‘Y’. Note that this
always reads from the terminal, even if used with the -p
or -u or -z flags or with redirected input. This option
may also be used within zle widgets.
-k [ num ]
Read only one (or num) characters. All are assigned to
the first name, without word splitting. This flag is
ignored when -q is present. Input is read from the ter-
minal unless one of -u or -p is present. This option
may also be used within zle widgets.
-z Read one entry from the editor buffer stack and assign
it to the first name, without word splitting. Text is
pushed onto the stack with ‘print -z’ or with push-line
from the line editor (see zshzle(1)). This flag is
ignored when the -k or -q flags are present.
-e
-E The input read is printed (echoed) to the standard out-
put. If the -e flag is used, no input is assigned to
the parameters.
-A The first name is taken as the name of an array and all
words are assigned to it.
-c
-l These flags are allowed only if called inside a function
used for completion (specified with the -K flag to com-
pctl). If the -c flag is given, the words of the cur-
rent command are read. If the -l flag is given, the
whole line is assigned as a scalar. If both flags are
present, -l is used and -c is ignored.
-n Together with -c, the number of the word the cursor is
on is read. With -l, the index of the character the
cursor is on is read. Note that the command name is
word number 1, not word 0, and that when the cursor is
at the end of the line, its character index is the
length of the line plus one.
-u n Input is read from file descriptor n.
-p Input is read from the coprocess.
-d delim
Input is terminated by the first character of delim
instead of by newline.
-t [ num ]
Test if input is available before attempting to read.
If num is present, it must begin with a digit and will
be evaluated to give a number of seconds, which may be a
floating point number; in this case the read times out
if input is not available within this time. If num is
not present, it is taken to be zero, so that read
returns immediately if no input is available. If no
input is available, return status 1 and do not set any
variables.
This option is not available when reading from the edi-
tor buffer with -z, when called from within completion
with -c or -l, with -q which clears the input queue
before reading, or within zle where other mechanisms
should be used to test for input.
Note that read does not attempt to alter the input pro-
cessing mode. The default mode is canonical input, in
which an entire line is read at a time, so usually ‘read
-t’ will not read anything until an entire line has been
typed. However, when reading from the terminal with -k
input is processed one key at a time; in this case, only
availability of the first character is tested, so that
e.g. ‘read -t -k 2’ can still block on the second char-
acter. Use two instances of ‘read -t -k’ if this is not
what is wanted. If the first argument contains a ‘?’,
the remainder of this word is used as a prompt on stan-
dard error when the shell is interactive.
The value (exit status) of read is 1 when an end-of-file is
encountered, or when -c or -l is present and the command is not
called from a compctl function, or as described for -q. Other-
wise the value is 0.
The behavior of some combinations of the -k, -p, -q, -u and -z
flags is undefined. Presently -q cancels all the others, -p
cancels -u, -k cancels -z, and otherwise -z cancels both -p and
-u.
The -c or -l flags cancel any and all of -kpquz.
readonly
Same as typeset -r.
rehash Same as hash -r.
return [ n ]
Causes a shell function or . script to return to the invoking
script with the return status specified by n. If n is omitted,
the return status is that of the last command executed.
If return was executed from a trap in a TRAPNAL function, the
effect is different for zero and non-zero return status. With
zero status (or after an implicit return at the end of the
trap), the shell will return to whatever it was previously pro-
cessing; with a non-zero status, the shell will behave as
interrupted except that the return status of the trap is
retained. Note that the numeric value of the signal which
caused the trap is passed as the first argument, so the state-
ment ‘return $((128+$1))’ will return the same status as if the
signal had not been trapped.
sched See the section ‘The zsh/sched Module’ in zshmodules(1).
set [ {+|-}options | {+|-}o [ option_name ] ] ... [ {+|-}A [ name ] ]
[ arg ... ]
Set the options for the shell and/or set the positional parame-
ters, or declare and set an array. If the -s option is given,
it causes the specified arguments to be sorted before assigning
them to the positional parameters (or to the array name if -A
is used). With +s sort arguments in descending order. For the
meaning of the other flags, see zshoptions(1). Flags may be
specified by name using the -o option. If no option name is
supplied with -o, the current option states are printed. With
+o they are printed in a form that can be used as input to the
shell.
If the -A flag is specified, name is set to an array containing
the given args; if no name is specified, all arrays are printed
together with their values.
If +A is used and name is an array, the given arguments will
replace the initial elements of that array; if no name is spec-
ified, all arrays are printed without their values.
The behaviour of arguments after -A name or +A name depends on
whether the option KSH_ARRAYS is set. If it is not set, all
arguments following name are treated as values for the array,
regardless of their form. If the option is set, normal option
processing continues at that point; only regular arguments are
treated as values for the array. This means that
set -A array -x -- foo
sets array to ‘-x -- foo’ if KSH_ARRAYS is not set, but sets
the array to foo and turns on the option ‘-x’ if it is set.
If the -A flag is not present, but there are arguments beyond
the options, the positional parameters are set. If the option
list (if any) is terminated by ‘--’, and there are no further
arguments, the positional parameters will be unset.
If no arguments and no ‘--’ are given, then the names and val-
ues of all parameters are printed on the standard output. If
the only argument is ‘+’, the names of all parameters are
printed.
setcap See the section ‘The zsh/cap Module’ in zshmodules(1).
setopt [ {+|-}options | {+|-}o option_name ] [ name ... ]
Set the options for the shell. All options specified either
with flags or by name are set. If no arguments are supplied,
the names of all options currently set are printed. If the -m
flag is given the arguments are taken as patterns (which should
be quoted to protect them from filename expansion), and all
options with names matching these patterns are set.
shift [ n ] [ name ... ]
The positional parameters ${n+1} ... are renamed to $1 ...,
where n is an arithmetic expression that defaults to 1. If any
names are given then the arrays with these names are shifted
instead of the positional parameters.
source file [ arg ... ]
Same as ., except that the current directory is always searched
and is always searched first, before directories in $path.
stat See the section ‘The zsh/stat Module’ in zshmodules(1).
suspend [ -f ]
Suspend the execution of the shell (send it a SIGTSTP) until it
receives a SIGCONT. Unless the -f option is given, this will
refuse to suspend a login shell.
test [ arg ... ]
[ [ arg ... ] ]
Like the system version of test. Added for compatibility; use
conditional expressions instead (see the section ‘Conditional
Expressions’).
times Print the accumulated user and system times for the shell and
for processes run from the shell.
trap [ arg [ sig ... ] ]
arg is a series of commands (usually quoted to protect it from
immediate evaluation by the shell) to be read and executed when
the shell receives sig. Each sig can be given as a number or
as the name of a signal. If arg is ‘-’, then all traps sig are
reset to their default values. If arg is the empty string,
then this signal is ignored by the shell and by the commands it
invokes.
If sig is ZERR then arg will be executed after each command
with a nonzero exit status. If sig is DEBUG then arg will be
executed after each command. If sig is 0 or EXIT and the trap
statement is executed inside the body of a function, then the
command arg is executed after the function completes. If sig
is 0 or EXIT and the trap statement is not executed inside the
body of a function, then the command arg is executed when the
shell terminates.
The trap command with no arguments prints a list of commands
associated with each signal.
Note that traps defined with the trap builtin are slightly dif-
ferent from those defined as ‘TRAPNAL () { ... }’, as the lat-
ter have their own function environment (line numbers, local
variables, etc.) while the former use the environment of the
command in which they were called. For example,
trap ’print $LINENO’ DEBUG
will print the line number of a command executed after it has
run, while
TRAPDEBUG() { print $LINENO; }
will always print the number zero.
true [ arg ... ]
Do nothing and return an exit code of 0.
ttyctl -fu
The -f option freezes the tty, and -u unfreezes it. When the
tty is frozen, no changes made to the tty settings by external
programs will be honored by the shell, except for changes in
the size of the screen; the shell will simply reset the set-
tings to their previous values as soon as each command exits or
is suspended. Thus, stty and similar programs have no effect
when the tty is frozen. Without options it reports whether the
terminal is frozen or not.
type [ -wfpams ] name ...
Equivalent to whence -v.
typeset [ {+|-}AEFHLRUZafghilprtuxm [n]] [ name[=value] ... ]
typeset -T [ {+|-}LRUZrux ] SCALAR[=value] array [ sep ]
Set or display attributes and values for shell parameters.
A parameter is created for each name that does not already
refer to one. When inside a function, a new parameter is cre-
ated for every name (even those that already exist), and is
unset again when the function completes. See ‘Local Parame-
ters’ in zshparam(1). The same rules apply to special shell
parameters, which retain their special attributes when made
local.
For each name=value assignment, the parameter name is set to
value. Note that arrays currently cannot be assigned in type-
set expressions, only scalars and integers.
If the shell option TYPESET_SILENT is not set, for each remain-
ing name that refers to a parameter that is set, the name and
value of the parameter are printed in the form of an assign-
ment. Nothing is printed for newly-created parameters, or when
any attribute flags listed below are given along with the name.
Using ‘+’ instead of minus to introduce an attribute turns it
off.
If the -p option is given, parameters and values are printed in
the form of a typeset comand and an assignment (which will be
printed separately for arrays and associative arrays), regard-
less of other flags and options. Note that the -h flag on
parameters is respected; no value will be shown for these
parameters.
If the -T option is given, two or three arguments must be
present (an exception is that zero arguments are allowed to
show the list of parameters created in this fashion). The
first two are the name of a scalar and an array parameter (in
that order) that will be tied together in the manner of $PATH
and $path. The optional third argument is a single-character
separator which will be used to join the elements of the array
to form the scalar; if absent, a colon is used, as with $PATH.
Only the first character of the separator is significant; any
remaining characters are ignored. Only the scalar parameter
may be assigned an initial value. Both the scalar and the
array may otherwise be manipulated as normal. If one is unset,
the other will automatically be unset too. There is no way of
untying the variables without unsetting them, or converting the
type of one of them with another typeset command; +T does not
work, assigning an array to SCALAR is an error, and assigning a
scalar to array sets it to be a single-element array. Note
that both ‘typeset -xT ...’ and ‘export -T ...’ work, but only
the scalar will be marked for export. Setting the value using
the scalar version causes a split on all separators (which can-
not be quoted).
The -g (global) flag is treated specially: it means that any
resulting parameter will not be restricted to local scope.
Note that this does not necessarily mean that the parameter
will be global, as the flag will apply to any existing parame-
ter (even if unset) from an enclosing function. This flag does
not affect the parameter after creation, hence it has no effect
when listing existing parameters, nor does the flag +g have any
effect except in combination with -m (see below).
If no name is present, the names and values of all parameters
are printed. In this case the attribute flags restrict the
display to only those parameters that have the specified
attributes, and using ‘+’ rather than ‘-’ to introduce the flag
suppresses printing of the values of parameters when there is
no parameter name. Also, if the last option is the word ‘+’,
then names are printed but values are not.
If the -m flag is given the name arguments are taken as pat-
terns (which should be quoted). With no attribute flags, all
parameters (or functions with the -f flag) with matching names
are printed (the shell option TYPESET_SILENT is not used in
this case). Note that -m is ignored if no patterns are given.
If the +g flag is combined with -m, a new local parameter is
created for every matching parameter that is not already local.
Otherwise -m applies all other flags or assignments to the
existing parameters. Except when assignments are made with
name=value, using +m forces the matching parameters to be
printed, even inside a function.
If no attribute flags are given and either no -m flag is
present or the +m form was used, each parameter name printed is
preceded by a list of the attributes of that parameter (array,
association, exported, integer, readonly). If +m is used with
attribute flags, and all those flags are introduced with +, the
matching parameter names are printed but their values are not.
The following attribute flags may be specified:
-A The names refer to associative array parameters; see
‘Array Parameters’ in zshparam(1).
-L Left justify and remove leading blanks from value. If n
is nonzero, it defines the width of the field; otherwise
it is determined by the width of the value of the first
assignment. When the parameter is expanded, it is
filled on the right with blanks or truncated if neces-
sary to fit the field. Leading zeros are removed if the
-Z flag is also set.
-R Right justify and fill with leading blanks. If n is
nonzero if defines the width of the field; otherwise it
is determined by the width of the value of the first
assignment. When the parameter is expanded, the field
is left filled with blanks or truncated from the end.
-U For arrays (but not for associative arrays), keep only
the first occurrence of each duplicated value. This may
also be set for colon-separated special parameters like
PATH or FIGNORE, etc. This flag has a different meaning
when used with -f; see below.
-Z Right justify and fill with leading zeros if the first
non-blank character is a digit and the -L flag has not
been set. If n is nonzero it defines the width of the
field; otherwise it is determined by the width of the
value of the first assignment.
-a The names refer to array parameters. An array parameter
may be created this way, but it may not be assigned to
in the typeset statement. When displaying, both normal
and associative arrays are shown.
-f The names refer to functions rather than parameters. No
assignments can be made, and the only other valid flags
are -t, -u and -U. The flag -t turns on execution trac-
ing for this function. The -u and -U flags cause the
function to be marked for autoloading; -U also causes
alias expansion to be suppressed when the function is
loaded. The fpath parameter will be searched to find
the function definition when the function is first ref-
erenced; see the section ‘Functions’.
-h Hide: only useful for special parameters (those marked
‘<S>’ in the table in zshparams(1)), and for local
parameters with the same name as a special parameter,
though harmless for others. A special parameter with
this attribute will not retain its special effect when
made local. Thus after ‘typeset -h PATH’, a function
containing ‘typeset PATH’ will create an ordinary local
parameter without the usual behaviour of PATH. Alterna-
tively, the local parameter may itself be given this
attribute; hence inside a function ‘typeset -h PATH’
creates an ordinary local parameter and the special PATH
parameter is not altered in any way. It is also possi-
ble to create a local parameter using ‘typeset +h spe-
cial’, where the local copy of special will retain its
special properties regardless of having the -h
attribute. Global special parameters loaded from shell
modules (currently those in zsh/mapfile and zsh/parame-
ter) are automatically given the -h attribute to avoid
name clashes.
-H Hide value: specifies that typeset will not display the
value of the parameter when listing parameters; the dis-
play for such parameters is always as if the ‘+’ flag
had been given. Use of the parameter is in other
respects normal, and the option does not apply if the
parameter is specified by name, or by pattern with the
-m option. This is on by default for the parameters in
the zsh/parameter and zsh/mapfile modules. Note, how-
ever, that unlike the -h flag this is also useful for
non-special parameters.
-i Use an internal integer representation. If n is nonzero
it defines the output arithmetic base, otherwise it is
determined by the first assignment.
-E Use an internal double-precision floating point repre-
sentation. On output the variable will be converted to
scientific notation. If n is nonzero it defines the
number of significant figures to display; the default is
ten.
-F Use an internal double-precision floating point repre-
sentation. On output the variable will be converted to
fixed-point decimal notation. If n is nonzero it
defines the number of digits to display after the deci-
mal point; the default is ten.
-l Convert the result to lower case whenever the parameter
is expanded. The value is not converted when assigned.
-r The given names are marked readonly. Note that if name
is a special parameter, the readonly attribute can be
turned on, but cannot then be turned off.
-t Tags the named parameters. Tags have no special meaning
to the shell. This flag has a different meaning when
used with -f; see above.
-u Convert the result to upper case whenever the parameter
is expanded. The value is not converted when assigned.
This flag has a different meaning when used with -f; see
above.
-x Mark for automatic export to the environment of subse-
quently executed commands. If the option GLOBAL_EXPORT
is set, this implies the option -g, unless +g is also
explicitly given; in other words the parameter is not
made local to the enclosing function. This is for com-
patibility with previous versions of zsh.
ulimit [ -SHacdflmnpstv [ limit ] ... ]
Set or display resource limits of the shell and the processes
started by the shell. The value of limit can be a number in
the unit specified below or the value ‘unlimited’. By default,
only soft limits are manipulated. If the -H flag is given use
hard limits instead of soft limits. If the -S flag is given
together with the -H flag set both hard and soft limits. If no
options are used, the file size limit (-f) is assumed. If
limit is omitted the current value of the specified resources
are printed. When more than one resource values are printed
the limit name and unit is printed before each value.
-a Lists all of the current resource limits.
-c 512-byte blocks on the size of core dumps.
-d K-bytes on the size of the data segment.
-f 512-byte blocks on the size of files written.
-l K-bytes on the size of locked-in memory.
-m K-bytes on the size of physical memory.
-n open file descriptors.
-s K-bytes on the size of the stack.
-t CPU seconds to be used.
-u processes available to the user.
-v K-bytes on the size of virtual memory. On some systems
this refers to the limit called ‘address space’.
umask [ -S ] [ mask ]
The umask is set to mask. mask can be either an octal number
or a symbolic value as described in chmod(1). If mask is omit-
ted, the current value is printed. The -S option causes the
mask to be printed as a symbolic value. Otherwise, the mask is
printed as an octal number. Note that in the symbolic form the
permissions you specify are those which are to be allowed (not
denied) to the users specified.
unalias
Same as unhash -a.
unfunction
Same as unhash -f.
unhash [ -adfms ] name ...
Remove the element named name from an internal hash table. The
default is remove elements from the command hash table. The -a
option causes unhash to remove regular or global aliases. The
-s option causes unhash to remove suffix aliases. The -f
option causes unhash to remove shell functions. The -d options
causes unhash to remove named directories. If the -m flag is
given the arguments are taken as patterns (should be quoted)
and all elements of the corresponding hash table with matching
names will be removed.
unlimit [ -hs ] resource ...
The resource limit for each resource is set to the hard limit.
If the -h flag is given and the shell has appropriate privi-
leges, the hard resource limit for each resource is removed.
The resources of the shell process are only changed if the -s
flag is given.
unset [ -fmv ] name ...
Each named parameter is unset. Local parameters remain local
even if unset; they appear unset within scope, but the previous
value will still reappear when the scope ends.
Individual elements of associative array parameters may be
unset by using subscript syntax on name, which should be quoted
(or the entire command prefixed with noglob) to protect the
subscript from filename generation.
If the -m flag is specified the arguments are taken as patterns
(should be quoted) and all parameters with matching names are
unset. Note that this cannot be used when unsetting associa-
tive array elements, as the subscript will be treated as part
of the pattern.
The -v flag specifies that name refers to parameters. This is
the default behaviour.
unset -f is equivalent to unfunction.
unsetopt [ {+|-}options | {+|-}o option_name ] [ name ... ]
Unset the options for the shell. All options specified either
with flags or by name are unset. If no arguments are supplied,
the names of all options currently unset are printed. If the
-m flag is given the arguments are taken as patterns (which
should be quoted to preserve them from being interpreted as
glob patterns), and all options with names matching these pat-
terns are unset.
vared See the section ‘Zle Builtins’ in zshzle(1).
wait [ job ... ]
Wait for the specified jobs or processes. If job is not given
then all currently active child processes are waited for. Each
job can be either a job specification or the process ID of a
job in the job table. The exit status from this command is
that of the job waited for.
whence [ -vcwfpams ] name ...
For each name, indicate how it would be interpreted if used as
a command name.
-v Produce a more verbose report.
-c Print the results in a csh-like format. This takes
precedence over -v.
-w For each name, print ‘name: word’ where word is one of
alias, builtin, command, function, hashed, reserved or
none, according as name corresponds to an alias, a
built-in command, an external command, a shell function,
a command defined with the hash builtin, a reserved
word, or is not recognised. This takes precedence over
-v and -c.
-f Causes the contents of a shell function to be displayed,
which would otherwise not happen unless the -c flag were
used.
-p Do a path search for name even if it is an alias,
reserved word, shell function or builtin.
-a Do a search for all occurrences of name throughout the
command path. Normally only the first occurrence is
printed.
-m The arguments are taken as patterns (should be quoted),
and the information is displayed for each command match-
ing one of these patterns.
-s If a pathname contains symlinks, print the symlink-free
pathname as well.
where [ -wpms ] name ...
Equivalent to whence -ca.
which [ -wpams ] name ...
Equivalent to whence -c.
zcompile [ -U ] [ -z | -k ] [ -R | -M ] file [ name ... ]
zcompile -ca [ -m ] [ -R | -M ] file [ name ... ]
zcompile -t file [ name ... ]
This builtin command can be used to compile functions or
scripts, storing the compiled form in a file, and to examine
files containing the compiled form. This allows faster
autoloading of functions and execution of scripts by avoiding
parsing of the text when the files are read.
The first form (without the -c, -a or -t options) creates a
compiled file. If only the file argument is given, the output
file has the name ‘file.zwc’ and will be placed in the same
directory as the file. The shell will load the compiled file
instead of the normal function file when the function is
autoloaded; see the section ‘Autoloading Functions’ in zsh-
func(1) for a description of how autoloaded functions are
searched. The extension .zwc stands for ‘zsh word code’.
If there is at least one name argument, all the named files are
compiled into the output file given as the first argument. If
file does not end in .zwc, this extension is automatically
appended. Files containing multiple compiled functions are
called ‘digest’ files, and are intended to be used as elements
of the FPATH/fpath special array.
The second form, with the -c or -a options, writes the compiled
definitions for all the named functions into file. For -c, the
names must be functions currently defined in the shell, not
those marked for autoloading. Undefined functions that are
marked for autoloading may be written by using the -a option,
in which case the fpath is searched and the contents of the
definition files for those functions, if found, are compiled
into file. If both -c and -a are given, names of both defined
functions and functions marked for autoloading may be given.
In either case, the functions in files written with the -c or
-a option will be autoloaded as if the KSH_AUTOLOAD option were
unset.
The reason for handling loaded and not-yet-loaded functions
with different options is that some definition files for
autoloading define multiple functions, including the function
with the same name as the file, and, at the end, call that
function. In such cases the output of ‘zcompile -c’ does not
include the additional functions defined in the file, and any
other initialization code in the file is lost. Using ‘zcompile
-a’ captures all this extra information.
If the -m option is combined with -c or -a, the names are used
as patterns and all functions whose names match one of these
patterns will be written. If no name is given, the definitions
of all functions currently defined or marked as autoloaded will
be written.
The third form, with the -t option, examines an existing com-
piled file. Without further arguments, the names of the origi-
nal files compiled into it are listed. The first line of out-
put shows the version of the shell which compiled the file and
how the file will be used (i.e. by reading it directly or by
mapping it into memory). With arguments, nothing is output and
the return value is set to zero if definitions for all names
were found in the compiled file, and non-zero if the definition
for at least one name was not found.
Other options:
-U Aliases are not expanded when compiling the named files.
-R When the compiled file is read, its contents are copied
into the shell’s memory, rather than memory-mapped (see
-M). This happens automatically on systems that do not
support memory mapping.
When compiling scripts instead of autoloadable func-
tions, it is often desirable to use this option; other-
wise the whole file, including the code to define func-
tions which have already been defined, will remain
mapped, consequently wasting memory.
-M The compiled file is mapped into the shell’s memory when
read. This is done in such a way that multiple instances
of the shell running on the same host will share this
mapped file. If neither -R nor -M is given, the zcom-
pile builtin decides what to do based on the size of the
compiled file.
-k
-z These options are used when the compiled file contains
functions which are to be autoloaded. If -z is given,
the function will be autoloaded as if the KSH_AUTOLOAD
option is not set, even if it is set at the time the
compiled file is read, while if the -k is given, the
function will be loaded as if KSH_AUTOLOAD is set. If
neither of these options is given, the function will be
loaded as determined by the setting of the KSH_AUTOLOAD
option at the time the compiled file is read.
These options may also appear as many times as necessary
between the listed names to specify the loading style of
all following functions, up to the next -k or -z.
The created file always contains two versions of the
compiled format, one for big-endian machines and one for
small-endian machines. The upshot of this is that the
compiled file is machine independent and if it is read
or mapped, only one half of the file is actually used
(and mapped).
zformat
See the section ‘The zsh/zutil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
zftp See the section ‘The zsh/zftp Module’ in zshmodules(1).
zle See the section ‘Zle Builtins’ in zshzle(1).
zmodload [ -dL ] [ ... ]
zmodload -e [ -A ] [ ... ]
zmodload [ -a [ -bcpf [ -I ] ] ] [ -iL ] ...
zmodload -u [ -abcdpf [ -I ] ] [ -iL ] ...
zmodload -A [ -L ] [ modalias[=module] ... ]
zmodload -R modalias ...
Performs operations relating to zsh’s loadable modules. Load-
ing of modules while the shell is running (‘dynamical loading’)
is not available on all operating systems, or on all installa-
tions on a particular operating system, although the zmodload
command itself is always available and can be used to manipu-
late modules built into versions of the shell executable with-
out dynamical loading.
Without arguments the names of all currently loaded binary mod-
ules are printed. The -L option causes this list to be in the
form of a series of zmodload commands. Forms with arguments
are:
zmodload [ -i ] name ...
zmodload -u [ -i ] name ...
In the simplest case, zmodload loads a binary module.
The module must be in a file with a name consisting of
the specified name followed by a standard suffix, usu-
ally ‘.so’ (‘.sl’ on HPUX). If the module to be loaded
is already loaded and the -i option is given, the dupli-
cate module is ignored. Otherwise zmodload prints an
error message.
The named module is searched for in the same way a com-
mand is, using $module_path instead of $path. However,
the path search is performed even when the module name
contains a ‘/’, which it usually does. There is no way
to prevent the path search.
With -u, zmodload unloads modules. The same name must
be given that was given when the module was loaded, but
it is not necessary for the module to exist in the
filesystem. The -i option suppresses the error if the
module is already unloaded (or was never loaded).
Each module has a boot and a cleanup function. The mod-
ule will not be loaded if its boot function fails. Sim-
ilarly a module can only be unloaded if its cleanup
function runs successfully.
zmodload -d [ -L ] [ name ]
zmodload -d name dep ...
zmodload -ud name [ dep ... ]
The -d option can be used to specify module dependen-
cies. The modules named in the second and subsequent
arguments will be loaded before the module named in the
first argument.
With -d and one argument, all dependencies for that mod-
ule are listed. With -d and no arguments, all module
dependencies are listed. This listing is by default in
a Makefile-like format. The -L option changes this for-
mat to a list of zmodload -d commands.
If -d and -u are both used, dependencies are removed.
If only one argument is given, all dependencies for that
module are removed.
zmodload -ab [ -L ]
zmodload -ab [ -i ] name [ builtin ... ]
zmodload -ub [ -i ] builtin ...
The -ab option defines autoloaded builtins. It defines
the specified builtins. When any of those builtins is
called, the module specified in the first argument is
loaded. If only the name is given, one builtin is
defined, with the same name as the module. -i sup-
presses the error if the builtin is already defined or
autoloaded, regardless of which module it came from.
With -ab and no arguments, all autoloaded builtins are
listed, with the module name (if different) shown in
parentheses after the builtin name. The -L option
changes this format to a list of zmodload -a commands.
If -b is used together with the -u option, it removes
builtins previously defined with -ab. This is only pos-
sible if the builtin is not yet loaded. -i suppresses
the error if the builtin is already removed (or never
existed).
zmodload -ac [ -IL ]
zmodload -ac [ -iI ] name [ cond ... ]
zmodload -uc [ -iI ] cond ...
The -ac option is used to define autoloaded condition
codes. The cond strings give the names of the conditions
defined by the module. The optional -I option is used to
define infix condition names. Without this option prefix
condition names are defined.
If given no condition names, all defined names are
listed (as a series of zmodload commands if the -L
option is given).
The -uc option removes definitions for autoloaded condi-
tions.
zmodload -ap [ -L ]
zmodload -ap [ -i ] name [ parameter ... ]
zmodload -up [ -i ] parameter ...
The -p option is like the -b and -c options, but makes
zmodload work on autoloaded parameters instead.
zmodload -af [ -L ]
zmodload -af [ -i ] name [ function ... ]
zmodload -uf [ -i ] function ...
The -f option is like the -b, -p, and -c options, but
makes zmodload work on autoloaded math functions
instead.
zmodload -a [ -L ]
zmodload -a [ -i ] name [ builtin ... ]
zmodload -ua [ -i ] builtin ...
Equivalent to -ab and -ub.
zmodload -e [ -A ] [ string ... ]
The -e option without arguments lists all loaded mod-
ules; if the -A option is also given, module aliases
corresponding to loaded modules are also shown. With
arguments only the return status is set to zero if all
strings given as arguments are names of loaded modules
and to one if at least on string is not the name of a
loaded module. This can be used to test for the
availability of things implemented by modules. In this
case, any aliases are automatically resolved and the -A
flag is not used.
zmodload -A [ -L ] [ modalias[=module] ... ]
For each argument, if both modalias and module are
given, define modalias to be an alias for the module
module. If the module modalias is ever subsequently
requested, either via a call to zmodload or implicitly,
the shell will attempt to load module instead. If mod-
ule is not given, show the definition of modalias. If
no arguments are given, list all defined module aliases.
When listing, if the -L flag was also given, list the
definition as a zmodload command to recreate the alias.
The existence of aliases for modules is completely inde-
pendent of whether the name resolved is actually loaded
as a module: while the alias exists, loading and unload-
ing the module under any alias has exactly the same
effect as using the resolved name, and does not affect
the connection between the alias and the resolved name
which can be removed either by zmodload -R or by
redefining the alias. Chains of aliases (i.e. where the
first resolved name is itself an alias) are valid so
long as these are not circular. As the aliases take the
same format as module names, they may include path sepa-
rators: in this case, there is no requirement for any
part of the path named to exist as the alias will be
resolved first. For example, ‘any/old/alias’ is always
a valid alias.
Dependencies added to aliased modules are actually added
to the resolved module; these remain if the alias is
removed. It is valid to create an alias whose name is
one of the standard shell modules and which resolves to
a different module. However, if a module has dependen-
cies, it will not be possible to use the module name as
an alias as the module will already be marked as a load-
able module in its own right.
Apart from the above, aliases can be used in the zmod-
load command anywhere module names are required. How-
ever, aliases will not be shown in lists of loaded mod-
ules with a bare ‘zmodload’.
zmodload -R modalias ...
For each modalias argument that was previously defined
as a module alias via zmodload -A, delete the alias. If
any was not defined, an error is caused and the remain-
der of the line is ignored.
Note that zsh makes no distinction between modules that were
linked into the shell and modules that are loaded dynamically.
In both cases this builtin command has to be used to make
available the builtins and other things defined by modules
(unless the module is autoloaded on these definitions). This is
true even for systems that don’t support dynamic loading of
modules.
zparseopts
See the section ‘The zsh/zutil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
zprof See the section ‘The zsh/zprof Module’ in zshmodules(1).
zpty See the section ‘The zsh/zpty Module’ in zshmodules(1).
zregexparse
See the section ‘The zsh/zutil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
zsocket
See the section ‘The zsh/net/socket Module’ in zshmodules(1).
zstyle See the section ‘The zsh/zutil Module’ in zshmodules(1).
ztcp See the section ‘The zsh/net/tcp Module’ in zshmodules(1).
zsh 4.2.0 March 19, 2004 ZSHBUILTINS(1)
