How to create bash alias with argument?

Question

I normally use ps -elf | grep proceesname to get a detailed description of the process named processname. I think that I have to write too much for this.

Now what i was thinking is to create a bash alias like

alias lsps='ps -elf | grep $1'

which will give the above detailed description only by using lsps processname.

So, my question is how do I create a bash alias which accepts an argument.

PS: I know I can write a shell script for the above task but I was just wondering how to do it with bash alias.

For GNU `ps` it's probably better to say `lsps () { ps -lf -C "$1" ; }`. — sorpigal, Jul 13 '12 at 14:39

Igor Chubin · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-13T08:09:29.827

80

Very simple;

alias lsps='ps -elf | grep'

Command line arguments will be added automatically to the end of the alias:

lsps arg1 arg2 arg3 => converted to => ps -elf | grep arg1 arg2 arg3

That works only when you want to add arguments to the end of alias.

If you want to get arguments of the alias inside of the expanded command line you must use functions:

For example:

lsps()
{
    ps -elf | grep "$1" | grep -v grep
}

Functions as well as aliases can be saved in your ~/.bashrc file )or a file that is included from it):

$ cat /tmp/.bash_aliases
lsps()
{
    ps -elf | grep "$1" | grep -v grep
}

$ . /tmp/.bash_aliases
$

edited Jul 13 '12 at 08:09

answered Jul 13 '12 at 08:03

Igor Chubin

61,765
13
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Thanks it worked. But what if I had to give an argument. – RanRag Jul 13 '12 at 08:05
2

Just use functions in that case – Igor Chubin Jul 13 '12 at 08:08
That is strange. May be you've added additional spaces after the function name (in its definition). I added example of usage to my answer, as you can see all works perfect. – Igor Chubin Jul 13 '12 at 08:12
1

Yes, you have to add the function; and that is all. – Igor Chubin Jul 13 '12 at 08:13
Still not working. Here is my [.bash_aliases](http://pastie.org/4248506) and the [error](http://pastie.org/4248511) – RanRag Jul 13 '12 at 08:17
please, try to add `set -x` before (enable debug) – Igor Chubin Jul 13 '12 at 08:23
It started working automatically. – RanRag Jul 13 '12 at 09:11
Defining a quick function that does the job: `function killName { local name="${1}"; if [ "$name" == "" ]; then return 1; fi; for pid in $(ps aux | grep "$name" | grep -v "grep" | awk '{print $2}'); do kill $pid; if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then kill -9 $pid; fi; done }` You may then use it in bash with: `killName myprocessName` – Orsiris de Jong Sep 14 '16 at 08:43
Changing the syntax from "$1" to ${1} worked for me. I was using git-bash – Abhilash Nayak Jul 26 '18 at 05:32

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 13 '12 at 08:02

7

Use this:

alias lsps='ps -elf | grep'

Then you can issue this:

lsps processname

answered Jul 13 '12 at 08:02

ramazan polat

7,111
1
48
76

How to create bash alias with argument?

2 Answers2