[brainchild2b]

For example when I type PERL it just runs, doesn't matter what directory I am in.

I would like to be able to do this with a few of my applescripts and other applications so that when I'm SSHing remotely I can get a few things done in a hurry.

What is the best way?

Thanks.

[Camelot]

Originally posted by brainchild2b:
For example when I type PERL it just runs, doesn't matter what directory I am in.

I would like to be able to do this with a few of my applescripts and other applications so that when I'm SSHing remotely I can get a few things done in a hurry.

What is the best way?

Thanks.

Whenever you type a command at the shell prompt, the system looks at your $PATH to determine which directories to search, in order, to find the application.

You can see your $PATH at any time by simply running:

echo $PATH

If you want other applications to be launched by name (without the fill path), just include their directories in your $PATH.

For ease of use, add it to your .cshrc file so have these directories added to the $PATH each time you open a new shell.

Adding the line:

setenv PATH $PATH:/path/to/new/dir:/path/to/another/dir

to ~/.cshrc should add the two additional directories to your $PATH. Note the colon-delimited nature of the path list.

The alternative way would be to place links to the apps you want in the existing $PATH. In this way you can be more selective about which commands are available.

This approach doesn't require changing any shell variables or startup files:

sudo ln -s /path/to/app /bin

will place a link to /path/to/app in the /bin directory, so you can now type 'app' and launch it.

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by Camelot:
Adding the line:

setenv PATH $PATH:/path/to/new/dir:/path/to/another/dir

to ~/.cshrc should add the two additional directories to your $PATH. Note the colon-delimited nature of the path list.

Ya know I can't remember ever having this much trouble trying to add a directory to my path, yet here I've been sitting for 20 minutes, giving up on my usual instinct and ability at finding these types of things...

I added setenv PATH $PATH:/usr/local/bin: to my .cshrc and upon sourcing my .cshrc I get: Bad : modifier in $ (/).

Ugh. Thanks, Camelot.

[utidjian]

Originally posted by [APi]TheMan:
Ya know I can't remember ever having this much trouble trying to add a directory to my path, yet here I've been sitting for 20 minutes, giving up on my usual instinct and ability at finding these types of things...

I added setenv PATH $PATH:/usr/local/bin: to my .cshrc and upon sourcing my .cshrc I get: Bad : modifier in $ (/).

Ugh. Thanks, Camelot.

setenv PATH $PATH:/usr/local/bin:

try removing the trailing : so that it looks like

setenv PATH $PATH:/usr/local/bin

If you want to make this extra path systemwide and not on a user by user basis you can place it in /etc/csh.login

Note: As convenient as it may seem... it is a VERY bad idea to put . in your path. This would put the current folder in the execution path which would make it a LOT easier to insert a trojan on your system.

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by utidjian:
setenv PATH $PATH:/usr/local/bin:

try removing the trailing : so that it looks like

setenv PATH $PATH:/usr/local/bin

If you want to make this extra path systemwide and not on a user by user basis you can place it in /etc/csh.login

I tried playing with removing the trailing colon and slash, but it still errored.

I ended up just adding the directory to /etc/csh.login. I tried adding it to /usr/share/tcsh/examples/login , where I swear I've edited the aliases file and had it work... but editing that login file seemed to do nothing, probably because they're just examples, eh?

Anyways, thanks, utidjian.

[utidjian]

Originally posted by [APi]TheMan:
I tried playing with removing the trailing colon and slash, but it still errored.

I ended up just adding the directory to /etc/csh.login. I tried adding it to /usr/share/tcsh/examples/login , where I swear I've edited the aliases file and had it work... but editing that login file seemed to do nothing, probably because they're just examples, eh?

Anyways, thanks, utidjian.

Whoops... my bad. Darn thing works in csh and bash. It should have been:

setenv PATH $PATH\:/usr/local/bin

for some reason tcsh requires the \ to escape the : (and after extensive man tcsh reading I still don't understand why!)

The above will append the /usr/local/bin to your $PATH. Alternatively you can prepend /usr/local/bin with:

setenv PATH /usr/local/bin:$PATH

Now... I DID test the above in a tcsh shell and they work ;-)

[Dale Sorel]

This litle goodie puts terminal commands into a contextual menu

[Paul McCann]

I'm guessing that the problem witnessed above is due to the fact that tcsh
isn't seeing the colon as anything but part of the variable name. You need to
delimit the variable name with (eg) brackets: witness the following...

% echo $TERM
xterm-color

% echo $TERM:$PATH
Bad : modifier in $ ($).

% echo ${TERM}:${PATH}
xterm-color:/usr/local/bin:/sw/bin:/Users/pmccann/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:
/usr/local/subversion/bin:/usr/local/teTeX/bin/powerpc-apple-darwin-current

That's why you often see the PATH defined using something like

setenv PATH ${PATH}:/another/directory

Of course the other option is to use a different shell! zsh or bash jump to mind,
and zsh is the provider of all my prompts these days. It's unreservedly great.

Cheers,
Paul

[Zim]

Also, put this in your .cshrc

alias addpath 'set path=($path \!^ )'

now (at least on a session by session basis) you can

addpath /foo/bar

And/or in your .cshrc, AFTER declaring the alias, you can do an addpath.

(note, I've uses this in tcsh for years), and also have the alias

alias prependpath 'set path=(\!^ $path )'

Cheers,
Mike