9 ms·

Quickly go back to a directory instead of typing cd ../../..

85 points by vigneshwaran 13y ago

Description: Quickly go back to a specific parent directory in bash instead of typing "cd ../../.." redundantly. How to use: If you are in this path /home/user/project/src/org/main/site/utils/file/reader/whatever and you want to go to site directory quickly, then just type: 'bd site' In fact, You can simply type 'bd <starting few letters>' like 'bd s' or 'bd si' If there are more than one directories with same name up in the hierarchy, bd will take you to the closest. (Not considering the immediate parent.) Using bd within backticks (`bd <letter(s)>`) prints out the path without changing the current directory. You can take advantage of that by combining `bd <letter(s)>` with other commands such as ls, ln, echo, zip, tar etc.. Check out the screenshot.

MetaCosm 13y ago
For those using ZSH: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3986760/cd-1-2-3-etc-in-z-shell http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3986760/cd-1-2-3-etc-in-z...
DiabloD3 13y ago
So why don't you just use jump? A lot of people already use it and you're not limited to just directories parenting yours.
- vigneshwaran 13y ago
  Hi, 'jump' is a great bookmarking system for the bash shell. But you'd only want to bookmark some most used directories. I made 'bd' out of frustration to use 'cd ../..' all the time from "any" random directory. I can't bookmark all possible places. They are like slightly different tools. I think it'll be awesome to use both jump and bd in the same system! Please give 'bd' a try. Once you get used to 'bd', you'll use it frequently without thinking. :)
  - hk__2 13y ago
    You can use z, then. You don’t have to bookmark directories to jump to them.
    - vigneshwaran 13y ago
      Thanks. z is great! If only I had found this before. I actually googled a lot before writing this (last year April) but couldn't find something like z. Anyways z always changes directory. Using bd within backticks will just print the path without changing the directory. We can use that with other commands like ls, zip etc. Example: "ls `bd <starting letters>`" would only print the contents without changing the directory.
      - arjunrc 13y ago
        An obligatory addition - check out fasd (https://github.com/clvv/fasd https://github.com/clvv/fasd), inspired by z. In addition to "z foldername" to move around, you can do things like "v vimrc" or "v freetds.conf" to directly edit files, where ever you are. It's available on homebrew.
ck2 13y ago
You know when you are getting old by when you have to start using history a lot to try to remember what the heck you did.
- dajohnson89 13y ago
  I don't think it means you're getting old, necessarily. I'm well under 30, and I use the hell out of history. Whenever I need to do something complex, and I can't figure it out, my solution is often copy/pasted from the web. Bash history is often the only way I can remember which `sed` switch to use, or some complex `grep` operation. In fact, I use history so much, I increased HISTFILESIZE[0] from 1000 commands to 10000. [0] http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/12/change-length-of-bash-command-history-or-disable-bash-history-completely/ http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/12/change-length-of-bash-command...
- lclarkmichalek 13y ago
  Oh wow, thanks for this. I was cating ~/.histfile previously :)
taeric 13y ago
This has to be one of the first alternatives to a pushd/popd workflow that actually sounds compelling. Kudos.
- vigneshwaran 13y ago
  Thank you
tytso 13y ago
Why not put something like this in your .bashrc or your .profile file instead? function bd () { OLDPWD=`pwd` NEWPWD=`echo $OLDPWD | sed 's|$.*/'$1'[^/]*/$.*|\1|'` index=`echo $NEWPWD | awk '{ print index($1,"/'$1'"); }'` if [ $index -eq 0 ] ; then echo "No such occurrence." else echo $NEWPWD cd "$NEWPWD" fi } That way you don't have to execute a separate shell script and source its output. Also note that the "export OLDPWD" wasn't necessary in your script, either. Why pollute the environment of future processes spawned by your shell?
- vigneshwaran 13y ago
  Didn't know about the function approach. Removed the 'export'. I wrote out of habit. Thanks a lot for pointing that out.
logn 13y ago
This article covers more advanced functionality than what's built in to shells but don't forget: cd - That goes to previous dir. A utility that follows this convention but adds some more features would be nice. For instance, maybe typing 'cd -2' could take me back two spots in history, like a web browser.
- inglesp 13y ago
  You can use pushp and popd for this.
- Tmmrn 13y ago
  Sounds like zsh http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/workshops/zsh/cd.html http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/workshops/zsh/cd.html
  - aaronz8 13y ago
    This is exactly what I was going to say, cd +n and cd-n work amazingly.
typicalbender 13y ago
I've also found this extremely useful. It lets you mark directories with a keyword and jump directly to them regardless of where you are. http://jeroenjanssens.com/2013/08/16/quickly-navigate-your-filesystem-from-the-command-line.html http://jeroenjanssens.com/2013/08/16/quickly-navigate-your-f...
ballard 13y ago
zsh can be set to automagically track directories (like using `pushd` for you when using `cd`), so all that's needed is `popd`. No scripting required.
tobr 13y ago
An interesting aside: I can't seem to right click that link in Safari (6.0.5). It seems to be the "../../.." in the tag content that does it, because it works if I edit it out in the inspector. Does anyone else run in to this?
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
cygni 13y ago
I have these two aliases in my .zshrc file: alias ..="cd .." alias ...="cd ../.." For moving around to other directories I use autojump (https://github.com/joelthelion/autojump https://github.com/joelthelion/autojump).
- kroger 13y ago
  I have the same, but I use cd[a]+: alias cda='cd ../' alias cdaa='cd ../../' alias cdaaa='cd ../../../' I guess I was influenced by Lisp at the time, with car, cdr, cdar, cddr, etc ;-)
  - Shish2k 13y ago
    > I guess I was influenced by Lisp at the time, with car, cdr, cdar, cddr, etc ;-) You saw that naming scheme and thought "wow, that's sensible"?!
philfreo 13y ago
Two other simple tips without requiring a script: "cd -" will jump back to the last directory you were at, regardless of where it is. Add this to your .bashrc / .zshrc / whatever: alias cdg='cd $(git rev-parse --show-cdup)' And then type "cdg" to keep going up directories until you reach whichever folder contains your git repo. Useful when going from "/Users/philfreo/Projects/myproject/myproject/src/assets/js/views/" back up to "/Users/philfreo/Projects/myproject/"
- tytso 13y ago
  Note that "git rev-parse --show-cdup" return the empty string if you are at the top of the git repo. So "cdg" as defined above will drop you in the hope directory if you are already at the top of your git tree.
  - davvid 13y ago
    Yup. Perhaps `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` is better for this alias.
- wging 13y ago
  Similarly, in zsh cd -n will take you to the nth-most-recent directory. 'dirs -v' will show the current state of the directory stack... you can do things like "dirs -v" + "cd -6" to figure out the number to use, then go to that directory.
- dhimes 13y ago
  I just have an alias .cgit='cd /home/<user>/<...>/<repodir>' In fact, I have a lot of .c<dir> aliases that take me directly to various frequented directories.
- tghw 13y ago
  zshell automatically links `cd` to `pushd`, which means you can go back with `popd`.
VaucGiaps 13y ago
alias ..='cd ..' alias ..1='cd ..' alias ..2="cd ../.." alias ..3="cd ../../.." alias ..4="cd ../../../.." alias ..5="cd ../../../../.."
- silvestrov 13y ago
  alias ..='cd ..' alias ...='cd ../..' alias ....='cd ../../..' alias .....='cd ../../../..'
  - jloughry 13y ago
    I miss the feature of Novell Netware that used to let you type cd ... to go up two levels, or analogously for as many dots as you needed. It was incredibly useful and fast. Thanks for the tip, and I'm using these aliases from now on.
D9u 13y ago
In FreeBSD I use the following to change to an arbitrary directory when I'm unsure of the correct path: `whereis -sq <dirname>` No extra software necessary.
jostmey 13y ago
Why not "cd -" ?
- onedognight 13y ago
  "cd -" only supports the directory you most recently came from ($OLDPWD), while "bd" supports any directory that is a prefix of $PWD.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
Skunkleton 13y ago
I have tried stuff like this in the past, but I find it creates too much of a dependence on special configuration. My keymapping and vimrc are already enough. Instead, I usually just do a `cd ..` followed by up/enter/up/enter, which is very easy to type quickly.
imurray 13y ago
Here's my, yet another, alternative to the many nice shell hacks out there: a bash/zsh "up" command that does "cd ..", or "up <n>" does "cd .." n times. function up () { if test $# = 1 ; then s=$( printf "%$1s" ); s=${s// /..\/}; cd $s ; else cd .. ; fi; }
paulkroka 13y ago
How about using bind -x '"\C-h":"cd ../;ls"' (putting it into .bashrc) and then using control-h as a command on the shell to move a directory upwards. very useful for me.
- vigneshwaran 13y ago
  That's a good one!
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
jvehent 13y ago
Simple bashrc function # go up X directories up_dir() { num_of_dirs=$1 for i in $(seq 1 $num_of_dirs) do cd .. done } alias up=up_dir Usage: $ pwd /home/user/svn/automation/puppet/trunk/modules/ossec/templates $ up 4 $ pwd /home/user/svn/automation/puppet
- dylnclrk 13y ago
  # Hah, I have almost the exact same thing in my bash_profile up () { TIMES=${1:-1}; for ((i=1; i<=$TIMES; i++)); do cd .. done } EDIT: Although now I'm looking at it and it looks like I made a strange choice with `TIMES=${1:-1};`. Oh well, I think it was my first bash script... it's funny to look back at the hack-y crap that your bash_profile accumulates over time.
nkuttler 13y ago
wget -O /usr/bin/bd https:[snip] chmod +rx /usr/bin/bd Really? Run wget as root to get a random script, and put it into every user's PATH and a directory that should only be used by the system? :-|
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
B-Con 13y ago
pushd and popd can be used maintain an easily rewindable history of places you have been. Use pushd to add the cwd to the stack and cd to another directory. Use popd to cd to the top dir on the stack and remove it. $ pwd /dir1 $ pushd /some/other/dir /some/other/dir /dir1 $ pwd /some/other/dir $ popd /dir1 $ pwd /dir1
wicknicks 13y ago
Smart idea. Good job! Could you extend bd to jump to bookmarked directories. I often jump between /data... and ~/dir/containing/code/ -- would be useful to have one command help with both scenarios.
- vigneshwaran 13y ago
  Somebody commented that there is a nice tool called 'jump' for bookmarking directories. https://github.com/flavio/jump https://github.com/flavio/jump You can use both 'jump' to jump between bookmarked directories and 'bd' to quickly go to a parent directory in the same shell.
jmulder 13y ago
Very useful! Thank you ver much! Although I'd like to add one suggestion and that is to surpress an 'echo' on successful navigation. I'd see my path twice right underneath of eachother, which just clutters up the screen.
mtdewcmu 13y ago
I implemented a fairly sophisticated system for navigating directories based on pushd and popd. I also set up a system based on CDPATH to hop quickly to directories I go to frequently. I fell out of the habit of using them once my usage patterns changed, though, and, since I gave "cd -" a new meaning, sometimes it confuses me. It's hard to come up with an interface that's intuitive enough to be future-proof.
helpermethod 13y ago
Shameless plug: This works similar to a script called 'up' which I am the author of: https://github.com/helpermethod/up https://github.com/helpermethod/up
Tarrasch 13y ago
For zsh users, I created a similar command with auto-completion! No root access needed to install! https://github.com/Tarrasch/zsh-bd https://github.com/Tarrasch/zsh-bd

85 points by vigneshwaran 13y ago

MetaCosm 13y ago

For those using ZSH: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3986760/cd-1-2-3-etc-in-z-shell http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3986760/cd-1-2-3-etc-in-z...

DiabloD3 13y ago

So why don't you just use jump? A lot of people already use it and you're not limited to just directories parenting yours.

vigneshwaran 13y ago
Hi, 'jump' is a great bookmarking system for the bash shell. But you'd only want to bookmark some most used directories. I made 'bd' out of frustration to use 'cd ../..' all the time from "any" random directory. I can't bookmark all possible places. They are like slightly different tools. I think it'll be awesome to use both jump and bd in the same system! Please give 'bd' a try. Once you get used to 'bd', you'll use it frequently without thinking. :)
- hk__2 13y ago
  You can use z, then. You don’t have to bookmark directories to jump to them.
  - vigneshwaran 13y ago
    Thanks. z is great! If only I had found this before. I actually googled a lot before writing this (last year April) but couldn't find something like z. Anyways z always changes directory. Using bd within backticks will just print the path without changing the directory. We can use that with other commands like ls, zip etc. Example: "ls `bd <starting letters>`" would only print the contents without changing the directory.
    - arjunrc 13y ago
      An obligatory addition - check out fasd (https://github.com/clvv/fasd https://github.com/clvv/fasd), inspired by z. In addition to "z foldername" to move around, you can do things like "v vimrc" or "v freetds.conf" to directly edit files, where ever you are. It's available on homebrew.

ck2 13y ago

You know when you are getting old by when you have to start using history a lot to try to remember what the heck you did.

dajohnson89 13y ago
I don't think it means you're getting old, necessarily. I'm well under 30, and I use the hell out of history. Whenever I need to do something complex, and I can't figure it out, my solution is often copy/pasted from the web. Bash history is often the only way I can remember which `sed` switch to use, or some complex `grep` operation. In fact, I use history so much, I increased HISTFILESIZE[0] from 1000 commands to 10000. [0] http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/12/change-length-of-bash-command-history-or-disable-bash-history-completely/ http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/12/change-length-of-bash-command...
lclarkmichalek 13y ago
Oh wow, thanks for this. I was cating ~/.histfile previously :)

taeric 13y ago

This has to be one of the first alternatives to a pushd/popd workflow that actually sounds compelling. Kudos.

vigneshwaran 13y ago
Thank you

tytso 13y ago

Why not put something like this in your .bashrc or your .profile file instead? function bd () { OLDPWD=`pwd` NEWPWD=`echo $OLDPWD | sed 's|$.*/'$1'[^/]*/$.*|\1|'` index=`echo $NEWPWD | awk '{ print index($1,"/'$1'"); }'` if [ $index -eq 0 ] ; then echo "No such occurrence." else echo $NEWPWD cd "$NEWPWD" fi } That way you don't have to execute a separate shell script and source its output. Also note that the "export OLDPWD" wasn't necessary in your script, either. Why pollute the environment of future processes spawned by your shell?

vigneshwaran 13y ago
Didn't know about the function approach. Removed the 'export'. I wrote out of habit. Thanks a lot for pointing that out.

logn 13y ago

This article covers more advanced functionality than what's built in to shells but don't forget: cd - That goes to previous dir. A utility that follows this convention but adds some more features would be nice. For instance, maybe typing 'cd -2' could take me back two spots in history, like a web browser.

inglesp 13y ago
You can use pushp and popd for this.
Tmmrn 13y ago
Sounds like zsh http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/workshops/zsh/cd.html http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/workshops/zsh/cd.html
- aaronz8 13y ago
  This is exactly what I was going to say, cd +n and cd-n work amazingly.

typicalbender 13y ago

I've also found this extremely useful. It lets you mark directories with a keyword and jump directly to them regardless of where you are. http://jeroenjanssens.com/2013/08/16/quickly-navigate-your-filesystem-from-the-command-line.html http://jeroenjanssens.com/2013/08/16/quickly-navigate-your-f...

ballard 13y ago

zsh can be set to automagically track directories (like using `pushd` for you when using `cd`), so all that's needed is `popd`. No scripting required.

tobr 13y ago

An interesting aside: I can't seem to right click that link in Safari (6.0.5). It seems to be the "../../.." in the tag content that does it, because it works if I edit it out in the inspector. Does anyone else run in to this?

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

cygni 13y ago

I have these two aliases in my .zshrc file: alias ..="cd .." alias ...="cd ../.." For moving around to other directories I use autojump (https://github.com/joelthelion/autojump https://github.com/joelthelion/autojump).

kroger 13y ago
I have the same, but I use cd[a]+: alias cda='cd ../' alias cdaa='cd ../../' alias cdaaa='cd ../../../' I guess I was influenced by Lisp at the time, with car, cdr, cdar, cddr, etc ;-)
- Shish2k 13y ago
  > I guess I was influenced by Lisp at the time, with car, cdr, cdar, cddr, etc ;-) You saw that naming scheme and thought "wow, that's sensible"?!

philfreo 13y ago

Two other simple tips without requiring a script: "cd -" will jump back to the last directory you were at, regardless of where it is. Add this to your .bashrc / .zshrc / whatever: alias cdg='cd $(git rev-parse --show-cdup)' And then type "cdg" to keep going up directories until you reach whichever folder contains your git repo. Useful when going from "/Users/philfreo/Projects/myproject/myproject/src/assets/js/views/" back up to "/Users/philfreo/Projects/myproject/"

tytso 13y ago
Note that "git rev-parse --show-cdup" return the empty string if you are at the top of the git repo. So "cdg" as defined above will drop you in the hope directory if you are already at the top of your git tree.
- davvid 13y ago
  Yup. Perhaps `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` is better for this alias.
wging 13y ago
Similarly, in zsh cd -n will take you to the nth-most-recent directory. 'dirs -v' will show the current state of the directory stack... you can do things like "dirs -v" + "cd -6" to figure out the number to use, then go to that directory.
dhimes 13y ago
I just have an alias .cgit='cd /home/<user>/<...>/<repodir>' In fact, I have a lot of .c<dir> aliases that take me directly to various frequented directories.
tghw 13y ago
zshell automatically links `cd` to `pushd`, which means you can go back with `popd`.

VaucGiaps 13y ago

alias ..='cd ..' alias ..1='cd ..' alias ..2="cd ../.." alias ..3="cd ../../.." alias ..4="cd ../../../.." alias ..5="cd ../../../../.."

silvestrov 13y ago
alias ..='cd ..' alias ...='cd ../..' alias ....='cd ../../..' alias .....='cd ../../../..'
- jloughry 13y ago
  I miss the feature of Novell Netware that used to let you type cd ... to go up two levels, or analogously for as many dots as you needed. It was incredibly useful and fast. Thanks for the tip, and I'm using these aliases from now on.

D9u 13y ago

In FreeBSD I use the following to change to an arbitrary directory when I'm unsure of the correct path: `whereis -sq <dirname>` No extra software necessary.

jostmey 13y ago

Why not "cd -" ?

onedognight 13y ago
"cd -" only supports the directory you most recently came from ($OLDPWD), while "bd" supports any directory that is a prefix of $PWD.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

Skunkleton 13y ago

I have tried stuff like this in the past, but I find it creates too much of a dependence on special configuration. My keymapping and vimrc are already enough. Instead, I usually just do a `cd ..` followed by up/enter/up/enter, which is very easy to type quickly.

imurray 13y ago

Here's my, yet another, alternative to the many nice shell hacks out there: a bash/zsh "up" command that does "cd ..", or "up <n>" does "cd .." n times. function up () { if test $# = 1 ; then s=$( printf "%$1s" ); s=${s// /..\/}; cd $s ; else cd .. ; fi; }

paulkroka 13y ago

How about using bind -x '"\C-h":"cd ../;ls"' (putting it into .bashrc) and then using control-h as a command on the shell to move a directory upwards. very useful for me.

vigneshwaran 13y ago
That's a good one!

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

jvehent 13y ago

Simple bashrc function # go up X directories up_dir() { num_of_dirs=$1 for i in $(seq 1 $num_of_dirs) do cd .. done } alias up=up_dir Usage: $ pwd /home/user/svn/automation/puppet/trunk/modules/ossec/templates $ up 4 $ pwd /home/user/svn/automation/puppet

dylnclrk 13y ago
# Hah, I have almost the exact same thing in my bash_profile up () { TIMES=${1:-1}; for ((i=1; i<=$TIMES; i++)); do cd .. done } EDIT: Although now I'm looking at it and it looks like I made a strange choice with `TIMES=${1:-1};`. Oh well, I think it was my first bash script... it's funny to look back at the hack-y crap that your bash_profile accumulates over time.

nkuttler 13y ago

wget -O /usr/bin/bd https:[snip] chmod +rx /usr/bin/bd Really? Run wget as root to get a random script, and put it into every user's PATH and a directory that should only be used by the system? :-|

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

B-Con 13y ago

pushd and popd can be used maintain an easily rewindable history of places you have been. Use pushd to add the cwd to the stack and cd to another directory. Use popd to cd to the top dir on the stack and remove it. $ pwd /dir1 $ pushd /some/other/dir /some/other/dir /dir1 $ pwd /some/other/dir $ popd /dir1 $ pwd /dir1

wicknicks 13y ago

Smart idea. Good job! Could you extend bd to jump to bookmarked directories. I often jump between /data... and ~/dir/containing/code/ -- would be useful to have one command help with both scenarios.

vigneshwaran 13y ago
Somebody commented that there is a nice tool called 'jump' for bookmarking directories. https://github.com/flavio/jump https://github.com/flavio/jump You can use both 'jump' to jump between bookmarked directories and 'bd' to quickly go to a parent directory in the same shell.

jmulder 13y ago

Very useful! Thank you ver much! Although I'd like to add one suggestion and that is to surpress an 'echo' on successful navigation. I'd see my path twice right underneath of eachother, which just clutters up the screen.

mtdewcmu 13y ago

I implemented a fairly sophisticated system for navigating directories based on pushd and popd. I also set up a system based on CDPATH to hop quickly to directories I go to frequently. I fell out of the habit of using them once my usage patterns changed, though, and, since I gave "cd -" a new meaning, sometimes it confuses me. It's hard to come up with an interface that's intuitive enough to be future-proof.

helpermethod 13y ago

Shameless plug: This works similar to a script called 'up' which I am the author of: https://github.com/helpermethod/up https://github.com/helpermethod/up

Tarrasch 13y ago

For zsh users, I created a similar command with auto-completion! No root access needed to install! https://github.com/Tarrasch/zsh-bd https://github.com/Tarrasch/zsh-bd