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Is there an equivalent of cd - for cp or mv?

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14

1

In Bash and similar shells cd - changes the current directory to a previously visited one. It's often very handy. I wonder if there is similar shorthand for copying or moving files, like:

~/project-a/ $ cd ../project-b
~/project-b/ $ cp Makefile LICENSE - # this won't work, hence the question

I'd be also happy with zsh specific answers.

linux bash file-transfer zsh

share|improve this question

edited Apr 8 at 6:39

Tad Lispy

asked Mar 31 at 14:57

Tad LispyTad Lispy

323310

• 
  
  
  

  
  5
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  With bash: Instead of - press Esc and then . to get from last command its last argument (here: ../project-b).
  
  – Cyrus
  Mar 31 at 15:06
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That's true @Cyrus, but in the example the intention is to copy from project-b to project-a.
  
  – Tad Lispy
  Mar 31 at 15:19
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Cyrus, I was always aware that bash has some Emacs-like key bindings and am a heavy Emacs user myself. I was always happily using the general line movement keys of emacs on the shell (C-a etc.). But your comment prompted me to actually look for key bindings in man bash. Holy moly... it really is Emacs-like, complete with the kill ring, the mark semantics (C-space) etc. Thanks for bringing that up.
  
  – AnoE
  Apr 1 at 11:15
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

14

1

In Bash and similar shells cd - changes the current directory to a previously visited one. It's often very handy. I wonder if there is similar shorthand for copying or moving files, like:

~/project-a/ $ cd ../project-b
~/project-b/ $ cp Makefile LICENSE - # this won't work, hence the question

I'd be also happy with zsh specific answers.

linux bash file-transfer zsh

share|improve this question

edited Apr 8 at 6:39

Tad Lispy

asked Mar 31 at 14:57

Tad LispyTad Lispy

323310

• 
  
  
  

  
  5
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  With bash: Instead of - press Esc and then . to get from last command its last argument (here: ../project-b).
  
  – Cyrus
  Mar 31 at 15:06
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That's true @Cyrus, but in the example the intention is to copy from project-b to project-a.
  
  – Tad Lispy
  Mar 31 at 15:19
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Cyrus, I was always aware that bash has some Emacs-like key bindings and am a heavy Emacs user myself. I was always happily using the general line movement keys of emacs on the shell (C-a etc.). But your comment prompted me to actually look for key bindings in man bash. Holy moly... it really is Emacs-like, complete with the kill ring, the mark semantics (C-space) etc. Thanks for bringing that up.
  
  – AnoE
  Apr 1 at 11:15
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

In Bash and similar shells cd - changes the current directory to a previously visited one. It's often very handy. I wonder if there is similar shorthand for copying or moving files, like:

~/project-a/ $ cd ../project-b
~/project-b/ $ cp Makefile LICENSE - # this won't work, hence the question

I'd be also happy with zsh specific answers.

linux bash file-transfer zsh

share|improve this question

edited Apr 8 at 6:39

Tad Lispy

asked Mar 31 at 14:57

Tad LispyTad Lispy

323310

~/project-a/ $ cd ../project-b
~/project-b/ $ cp Makefile LICENSE - # this won't work, hence the question

share|improve this question

edited Apr 8 at 6:39

Tad Lispy

asked Mar 31 at 14:57

Tad LispyTad Lispy

323310

share|improve this question

edited Apr 8 at 6:39

Tad Lispy

asked Mar 31 at 14:57

Tad LispyTad Lispy

323310

asked Mar 31 at 14:57

Tad LispyTad Lispy

323310

asked Mar 31 at 14:57

Tad LispyTad Lispy

323310

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

28

If your shell has cd -, then it will likely have either the special variable $OLDPWD and/or the shortcut ~- for the directory you've been in previously.

cp Makefile LICENSE "$OLDPWD/"

cp Makefile LICENSE ~-

cat ~-/Makefile

Indeed the POSIX shell language (upon which ksh/bash/zsh are built) specifies that cd - should be equal to cd "$OLDPWD".

share|improve this answer

edited Mar 31 at 15:28

answered Mar 31 at 15:20

grawitygrawity

244k37515575

• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Tilde expansion has a lot more to it even than that. For an additional taste, unix.stackexchange.com/a/286628/135943 and that doesn’t even cover home directories.
  
  – Wildcard
  Mar 31 at 21:50
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

5

You can always use shell backquotes.

They act like a subshell : the command in the backquotes is executed first, and its output is placed as argument of the main command.

~/folderA$ cd ../folderB 
~/folderB$ cp Makefile `cd -` 
# gets expended to "cp Makefile ~/folderA"

share|improve this answer

answered Mar 31 at 21:34

Nathanael C.Nathanael C.

511

• 
  
  
  

  
  4
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  No, the command cd - outputs nothing, so `cd -` expands to the empty string. Try the command % echo `cd -` to verify. You would need to use something like % echo `cd -; pwd` ...
  
  – Neal Young
  Apr 1 at 0:21
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @NealYoung: It seems that there’s something wrong with your shell. POSIX says “When a <hyphen-minus> is used as the operand [to cd], this shall be equivalent to the command: cd "$OLDPWD" && pwd, which changes to the previous working directory and then writes its name.” … (Cont’d)
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  (Cont’d) …  And bash(1) says “An argument of - is converted to $OLDPWD before the directory change is attempted.  If a non-empty directory name from CDPATH is used, or if - is the first argument, and the directory change is successful, the absolute pathname of the new working directory is written to the standard output.”
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Nathanael C.: But please use "$(cd -)".
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:40
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  There's only "something wrong" if the shell claims POSIX compliance, and I think it's perfectly normal for shells that weren't invoked as /bin/sh and aren't specifically trying to emulate a POSIX shell to implement their language in whatever way they want...
  
  – grawity
  Apr 1 at 3:55
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 1 more comment

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28

If your shell has cd -, then it will likely have either the special variable $OLDPWD and/or the shortcut ~- for the directory you've been in previously.

cp Makefile LICENSE "$OLDPWD/"

cp Makefile LICENSE ~-

cat ~-/Makefile

Indeed the POSIX shell language (upon which ksh/bash/zsh are built) specifies that cd - should be equal to cd "$OLDPWD".

share|improve this answer

edited Mar 31 at 15:28

answered Mar 31 at 15:20

grawitygrawity

244k37515575

• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Tilde expansion has a lot more to it even than that. For an additional taste, unix.stackexchange.com/a/286628/135943 and that doesn’t even cover home directories.
  
  – Wildcard
  Mar 31 at 21:50
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

28

If your shell has cd -, then it will likely have either the special variable $OLDPWD and/or the shortcut ~- for the directory you've been in previously.

cp Makefile LICENSE "$OLDPWD/"

cp Makefile LICENSE ~-

cat ~-/Makefile

Indeed the POSIX shell language (upon which ksh/bash/zsh are built) specifies that cd - should be equal to cd "$OLDPWD".

share|improve this answer

edited Mar 31 at 15:28

answered Mar 31 at 15:20

grawitygrawity

244k37515575

• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Tilde expansion has a lot more to it even than that. For an additional taste, unix.stackexchange.com/a/286628/135943 and that doesn’t even cover home directories.
  
  – Wildcard
  Mar 31 at 21:50
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

If your shell has cd -, then it will likely have either the special variable $OLDPWD and/or the shortcut ~- for the directory you've been in previously.

cp Makefile LICENSE "$OLDPWD/"

cp Makefile LICENSE ~-

cat ~-/Makefile

Indeed the POSIX shell language (upon which ksh/bash/zsh are built) specifies that cd - should be equal to cd "$OLDPWD".

share|improve this answer

edited Mar 31 at 15:28

answered Mar 31 at 15:20

grawitygrawity

244k37515575

cp Makefile LICENSE "$OLDPWD/"

cp Makefile LICENSE ~-

cat ~-/Makefile

share|improve this answer

edited Mar 31 at 15:28

answered Mar 31 at 15:20

grawitygrawity

244k37515575

answered Mar 31 at 15:20

grawitygrawity

244k37515575

answered Mar 31 at 15:20

grawitygrawity

244k37515575

5

You can always use shell backquotes.

They act like a subshell : the command in the backquotes is executed first, and its output is placed as argument of the main command.

~/folderA$ cd ../folderB 
~/folderB$ cp Makefile `cd -` 
# gets expended to "cp Makefile ~/folderA"

share|improve this answer

answered Mar 31 at 21:34

Nathanael C.Nathanael C.

511

• 
  
  
  

  
  4
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  No, the command cd - outputs nothing, so `cd -` expands to the empty string. Try the command % echo `cd -` to verify. You would need to use something like % echo `cd -; pwd` ...
  
  – Neal Young
  Apr 1 at 0:21
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @NealYoung: It seems that there’s something wrong with your shell. POSIX says “When a <hyphen-minus> is used as the operand [to cd], this shall be equivalent to the command: cd "$OLDPWD" && pwd, which changes to the previous working directory and then writes its name.” … (Cont’d)
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  (Cont’d) …  And bash(1) says “An argument of - is converted to $OLDPWD before the directory change is attempted.  If a non-empty directory name from CDPATH is used, or if - is the first argument, and the directory change is successful, the absolute pathname of the new working directory is written to the standard output.”
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Nathanael C.: But please use "$(cd -)".
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:40
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  There's only "something wrong" if the shell claims POSIX compliance, and I think it's perfectly normal for shells that weren't invoked as /bin/sh and aren't specifically trying to emulate a POSIX shell to implement their language in whatever way they want...
  
  – grawity
  Apr 1 at 3:55
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 1 more comment

5

You can always use shell backquotes.

They act like a subshell : the command in the backquotes is executed first, and its output is placed as argument of the main command.

~/folderA$ cd ../folderB 
~/folderB$ cp Makefile `cd -` 
# gets expended to "cp Makefile ~/folderA"

share|improve this answer

answered Mar 31 at 21:34

Nathanael C.Nathanael C.

511

• 
  
  
  

  
  4
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  No, the command cd - outputs nothing, so `cd -` expands to the empty string. Try the command % echo `cd -` to verify. You would need to use something like % echo `cd -; pwd` ...
  
  – Neal Young
  Apr 1 at 0:21
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @NealYoung: It seems that there’s something wrong with your shell. POSIX says “When a <hyphen-minus> is used as the operand [to cd], this shall be equivalent to the command: cd "$OLDPWD" && pwd, which changes to the previous working directory and then writes its name.” … (Cont’d)
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  (Cont’d) …  And bash(1) says “An argument of - is converted to $OLDPWD before the directory change is attempted.  If a non-empty directory name from CDPATH is used, or if - is the first argument, and the directory change is successful, the absolute pathname of the new working directory is written to the standard output.”
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Nathanael C.: But please use "$(cd -)".
  
  – G-Man
  Apr 1 at 2:40
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  There's only "something wrong" if the shell claims POSIX compliance, and I think it's perfectly normal for shells that weren't invoked as /bin/sh and aren't specifically trying to emulate a POSIX shell to implement their language in whatever way they want...
  
  – grawity
  Apr 1 at 3:55
  

  
  
  
  

 | 
show 1 more comment

You can always use shell backquotes.

They act like a subshell : the command in the backquotes is executed first, and its output is placed as argument of the main command.

~/folderA$ cd ../folderB 
~/folderB$ cp Makefile `cd -` 
# gets expended to "cp Makefile ~/folderA"

share|improve this answer

answered Mar 31 at 21:34

Nathanael C.Nathanael C.

511

~/folderA$ cd ../folderB 
~/folderB$ cp Makefile `cd -` 
# gets expended to "cp Makefile ~/folderA"

share|improve this answer

answered Mar 31 at 21:34

Nathanael C.Nathanael C.

511

answered Mar 31 at 21:34

Nathanael C.Nathanael C.

511

answered Mar 31 at 21:34

Nathanael C.Nathanael C.

511