how to create alias with a command contains ' and "












3














A few posts ago someone asked how to show memory in percentage. someone replied with:
free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'

I was wondering if i can turn this command into an alias in ~/.bashrc. but the syntax of alias is:
alias aliasname='command'

how can I do this? that command contain both ' and ". I tried different ways but I didn't work. is this even possible? am I missing something?






bash quoting alias







share|improve this question




















  • 1




    alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"
    – Arkadiusz Drabczyk
    3 hours ago










  • it worked.thanks.can you post it so i can make this question solved?
    – BlackCrystal
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
    – nohillside
    1 hour ago










  • @nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
    – D. Ben Knoble
    1 hour ago
















3














A few posts ago someone asked how to show memory in percentage. someone replied with:
free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'

I was wondering if i can turn this command into an alias in ~/.bashrc. but the syntax of alias is:
alias aliasname='command'

how can I do this? that command contain both ' and ". I tried different ways but I didn't work. is this even possible? am I missing something?






bash quoting alias







share|improve this question




















  • 1




    alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"
    – Arkadiusz Drabczyk
    3 hours ago










  • it worked.thanks.can you post it so i can make this question solved?
    – BlackCrystal
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
    – nohillside
    1 hour ago










  • @nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
    – D. Ben Knoble
    1 hour ago














3












3








3







A few posts ago someone asked how to show memory in percentage. someone replied with:
free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'

I was wondering if i can turn this command into an alias in ~/.bashrc. but the syntax of alias is:
alias aliasname='command'

how can I do this? that command contain both ' and ". I tried different ways but I didn't work. is this even possible? am I missing something?






bash quoting alias







share|improve this question















A few posts ago someone asked how to show memory in percentage. someone replied with:
free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'

I was wondering if i can turn this command into an alias in ~/.bashrc. but the syntax of alias is:
alias aliasname='command'

how can I do this? that command contain both ' and ". I tried different ways but I didn't work. is this even possible? am I missing something?






bash quoting alias




bash quoting alias






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 2 hours ago









GAD3R

25.4k1750106




25.4k1750106










asked 3 hours ago









BlackCrystal

19111




19111








  • 1




    alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"
    – Arkadiusz Drabczyk
    3 hours ago










  • it worked.thanks.can you post it so i can make this question solved?
    – BlackCrystal
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
    – nohillside
    1 hour ago










  • @nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
    – D. Ben Knoble
    1 hour ago














  • 1




    alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"
    – Arkadiusz Drabczyk
    3 hours ago










  • it worked.thanks.can you post it so i can make this question solved?
    – BlackCrystal
    3 hours ago






  • 1




    To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
    – nohillside
    1 hour ago










  • @nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
    – D. Ben Knoble
    1 hour ago








1




1




alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"
– Arkadiusz Drabczyk
3 hours ago




alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"
– Arkadiusz Drabczyk
3 hours ago












it worked.thanks.can you post it so i can make this question solved?
– BlackCrystal
3 hours ago




it worked.thanks.can you post it so i can make this question solved?
– BlackCrystal
3 hours ago




1




1




To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
– nohillside
1 hour ago




To avoid quoting hell it might be easier to just define a function in such cases.
– nohillside
1 hour ago












@nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
– D. Ben Knoble
1 hour ago




@nohillside functions are generally more useful/powerful anyway
– D. Ben Knoble
1 hour ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















2














You need:



alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


Notice that you need to escape both " and $.






share|improve this answer





























    2














    Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



    These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



    alias ks=ls
    
alias ls='ls -l'
    
alias ls="ls -l"
    
alias ls=ls -l


    So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



    See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





    • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

    • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


    Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



    freemem() {
    
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
    
}





    share|improve this answer























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      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

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      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      2














      You need:



      alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


      Notice that you need to escape both " and $.






      share|improve this answer


























        2














        You need:



        alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


        Notice that you need to escape both " and $.






        share|improve this answer
























          2












          2








          2






          You need:



          alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


          Notice that you need to escape both " and $.






          share|improve this answer












          You need:



          alias aliasname="free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'"


          Notice that you need to escape both " and $.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 3 hours ago









          Arkadiusz Drabczyk

          7,77521734




          7,77521734

























              2














              Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



              These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



              alias ks=ls
              
alias ls='ls -l'
              
alias ls="ls -l"
              
alias ls=ls -l


              So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



              See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





              • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

              • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


              Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



              freemem() {
              
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
              
}





              share|improve this answer




























                2














                Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



                These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



                alias ks=ls
                
alias ls='ls -l'
                
alias ls="ls -l"
                
alias ls=ls -l


                So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



                See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





                • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

                • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


                Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



                freemem() {
                
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
                
}





                share|improve this answer


























                  2












                  2








                  2






                  Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



                  These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



                  alias ks=ls
                  
alias ls='ls -l'
                  
alias ls="ls -l"
                  
alias ls=ls -l


                  So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



                  See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





                  • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

                  • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


                  Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



                  freemem() {
                  
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
                  
}





                  share|improve this answer














                  Saying that the syntax of an alias is alias aliasname='command' is a bit misleading, as it seems to imply that the single quotes are part of the syntax. They are not. The part after the equal sign is similar to variable assignments, in that it can be any shell word, composed either of plain characters (without quotes), or a quoted string, or a combination.



                  These are all valid, and the last three equivalent:



                  alias ks=ls
                  
alias ls='ls -l'
                  
alias ls="ls -l"
                  
alias ls=ls -l


                  So, all you need to do is to escape the quotes properly to have them inside the alias value.



                  See, e.g. this answer and other answers to e.g. these question for discussion on that:





                  • How to enclose in quotes if both single and double quotes are already used?

                  • Print a string including single quotes and other special characters


                  Or, use function instead of a alias to get rid of quoting issues completely:



                  freemem() {
                  
    free | awk '/^Mem/ { printf("free: %.2f %n", $4/$2 * 100.0) }'
                  
}






                  share|improve this answer














                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer








                  edited 26 mins ago

























                  answered 1 hour ago









                  ilkkachu

                  55.6k783151




                  55.6k783151






























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