Refer to an item in `dirs`

Question

I use pushd to work with multiple directories in bash and zsh. I've aliased dirs to dirs -v so that I get an ordered list when I want to see what's on the directory stack:

chb$ dirs
0  /Volumes/banister/grosste_daever_gh/2013-03-27/reader
1  /tmp/20130618202713/Library/Internet Plug-Ins
2  ~/code/foo/view/static/css
3  ~/Downloads

Is there a way (either in bash or zsh) that I can refer to one of the directories listed on the command line using an alias for its position on the stack? For example, instead of typing:

chb$ cp ~/code/foo/view/static/css/baz.css ~/code/bar/view/static/css/

I'd type:

chb$ cp <2>baz.css ~/code/bar/view/static/css/

...or something like that, maybe using a dollar sign and a variable name instead of <n>.

score 11 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 26 '13 at 23:25

11

Bash exposes the directory stack in the DIRSTACK variable. You can also use the command dirs +2 to refer to the second entry on the stack.

More conveniently, ~1 through ~9 refer to the nine topmost entries on the stack. So your example would translate to

chb$ cp ~2/baz.css ~/code/bar/view/static/css/

Zsh has the same ~n facility, and the stack is exposed through an array called dirstack. Bash's dirs +2 is zsh's print -r ~2 or print -r $dirstack[2].

edited Jun 26 '13 at 23:25

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'

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answered Jun 26 '13 at 08:49

tripleee

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This answer just begs for some examples! – Johan Jun 26 '13 at 09:31
@Johan better now? Thanks for prodding me to expand! – tripleee Jun 26 '13 at 10:49
Good but what about a $DIRSTACK[2] example ? – Johan Jun 26 '13 at 11:24
Probably good enough to have in your cimment (-: – tripleee Jun 26 '13 at 12:06

suspectus · Answer 2 · 2013-06-26T11:03:33.013

2

Yes, in bash:

cp $(dirs +2) ~/code/bar/view/static/css/

or even simpler:

cp ~2 ~/code/bar/view/static/css/

edited Jun 26 '13 at 11:03

answered Jun 26 '13 at 08:41

suspectus

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Refer to an item in `dirs`

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