Prompt

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== my personal (zsh) prompt setups has, on one line ==
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{{TOCright}}
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As a commandline junkie, my prompt is important. It is a key element to my interface.
   
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It needs to be both informative and terse (I can't stand 2line prompts for eg)
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I have used ZSH as my shell of preference since roughly the turn of the century. (previously: bash). Part of the incentive to switch was the prompt interface features found in zsh that were not in bash at the time. (my memory has right-aligned-prompt as notable, but I'm sure there were more reasons than just that ;)
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The prompt I use dates it's heritage back to an old dos (specifically: [[wikipedia:4DOS|4DOS]]) prompt that I setup in... 1994, for a guess.
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== Features ==
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=== currently implemented ===
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[[Image:Zshprompt.png|thumb|400px|prompt action]]
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* Verbose date/time and $USER greeting on the very first prompt. This detail never recurs. I don't need $USER every prompt, since this custom prompt is enough to indicate to me that it's my account. I do not use this prompt on any other user accounts, nor as UID=0. (despite being configured to handle that usage gracefully)
  +
* wall clock execution time of command if it's longer than one minute
 
* last job exit status (invisible when zero)
  
* last job exit status (invisible when zero)
 
* host:path in network friendly (ish) format
  
* host:path in network friendly (ish) format
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* path shortening to last three components, plus subtle visual indication when this occurs
 +
* path shortening to last three components, plus subtle visual indication when this occurs (deliminating colon changes from host colour to directory colour, and '…' appears as the first element)
 
** this shortening balances path context needs with space limitations. and is why the preceeding 'network friendly' format is "ish" :)
  
** this shortening balances path context needs with space limitations. and is why the preceeding 'network friendly' format is "ish" :)
 
* path colourisation to indicate whether $PWD is RW or not (not usually means RO, but may also mean 'directory does not exist')
  
* path colourisation to indicate whether $PWD is RW or not (not usually means RO, but may also mean 'directory does not exist')
 
* count of background jobs (invisible if zero)
  
* count of background jobs (invisible if zero)
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* ^ and $ reminder mnemonic for regex start/end line matching (I have a dyslexia about this!)
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* priveliged user (usually UID=0) indication. Using # instead of $
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* live time and load average (load gets dynamic colourisation also, but is invisible below threshold (set to 0.3 for me)
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* bang (!) hints (ie, history event number)
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** for values of "live" that = "20 second refresh"
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* VIM keybinding 'command' mode indication
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** this refresh ensures that an abandoned prompt will keep-alive a remote shell over dodgy NAT :)
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* version control system repository information (supports bzr, git, svn, cvs... others?)
  +
** Note: this is almost entirely untested
  +
* live updating load average (colourised with thresholds. invisible below 0.4)
  +
* live updating of time (or, if on battery, then battery discharge/charge info (I show minutes remaining for either when < 1hour, otherwise % of battery. Colour indicated charging (green/greenbold) vs discharging (yellow/yellowbold/redbold/redboldinverted). Battery required 'acpi' command with expected output to parse.
  +
* live updating of 'biff'. ie, number of mailboxes with unread mail (Maildir++ format mailboxes only. Notes in [[Mutt]] indicate the basis of this)
 
* current tty
  
* current tty
   
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== ideas I don't currently implement ==
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==== Extra Notes ====
  +
* The initial greeting recurs if the '$msg' variable is non-empty. It is echoed to the screen, then the prompt cleared to a new line with a refresh after only 1second.
  +
* All "live" updates are at a 20 second refresh rate. Live updating also ensures that an abandoned prompt will keep-alive a remote shell over dodgy NAT :)
  +
* The first prompt after any command always shows time with seconds, and does NOT show TTY or battery. They appear only after the first refresh
  +
  +
=== under consideration / TODO ===
  +
these have been suggested, but not yet implemented. Or maybe I wont implement them - but I haven't decided yet
  +
* make priv user prompt (#) be an alternate colour
  +
* make the first prompt reset wipe the visibility of any half-written command in that location
  +
* remove history event hint, or change format to eventnum@time ?
  +
  +
* moving the vcs_info to replace the host:path element, since within a vcs, it's often a different command namespace.
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** [http://bewatermyfriend.org/media/vcs_info0.png example of vcs_info]
 
* per-host auto-colourisation
  
* per-host auto-colourisation
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** http://screwtape.jottit.com/per-host_prompt_colouring
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** http://zork.net/~st/jottings/Per-Host_Prompt_Colouring.html
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* vcs_info (I would probably replace tty info with this, with a colourisation to help the glancing eye notice)
  
 
** http://ft.bewatermyfriend.org/comp/zsh/functions/prompt_ft_setup.html
  
** http://ft.bewatermyfriend.org/comp/zsh/functions/prompt_ft_setup.html
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*** [http://bewatermyfriend.org/media/vcs_info0.png example of vcs_info]
  
   
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----
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** note comment from screwtape: http://identi.ca/conversation/31704527#notice-31817077
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* active group when not default
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=== ignored / NOT be implemented ===
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note: some of these I just don't use (or at least, ever expect to), others were clearly suggested in jest :)
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* count of subshells
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* http://www.facebook.com/#!/nemothorx?v=wall&story_fbid=121814377837169&ref=mf
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** Free disk, highest mem and CPU process, length of current prompt! -- Norgus
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** current Dow, weather and TV listings -- Julian
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= Configuration =
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My current prompt config is findable here:
   
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here is my prompt:
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http://pub.thorx.net/zsh/
   
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http://wiki.thorx.net/~nemo/s/zsh_ps1.txt
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Using single quotes around $PS1 and $RPS1 to delay evaluation of variables until the prompt is displayed requires that you have the PROMPT_SUBST option set.
   
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warning: it's full of comments and code cruft, both from old revisions, and also future plans.
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If the output of $RPS1 isn't remaining on the line with $PS1 after a command is executed, unset TRANSIENT_PROMPT option.

Latest revision as of 12:19, 3 June 2016

Contents

As a commandline junkie, my prompt is important. It is a key element to my interface.

It needs to be both informative and terse (I can't stand 2line prompts for eg)

I have used ZSH as my shell of preference since roughly the turn of the century. (previously: bash). Part of the incentive to switch was the prompt interface features found in zsh that were not in bash at the time. (my memory has right-aligned-prompt as notable, but I'm sure there were more reasons than just that ;)

The prompt I use dates it's heritage back to an old dos (specifically: 4DOS) prompt that I setup in... 1994, for a guess.

[edit] Features

[edit] currently implemented

(thumbnail)
prompt action
  • Verbose date/time and $USER greeting on the very first prompt. This detail never recurs. I don't need $USER every prompt, since this custom prompt is enough to indicate to me that it's my account. I do not use this prompt on any other user accounts, nor as UID=0. (despite being configured to handle that usage gracefully)
  • wall clock execution time of command if it's longer than one minute
  • last job exit status (invisible when zero)
  • host:path in network friendly (ish) format
  • path shortening to last three components, plus subtle visual indication when this occurs (deliminating colon changes from host colour to directory colour, and '…' appears as the first element)
    • this shortening balances path context needs with space limitations. and is why the preceeding 'network friendly' format is "ish" :)
  • path colourisation to indicate whether $PWD is RW or not (not usually means RO, but may also mean 'directory does not exist')
  • count of background jobs (invisible if zero)
  • priveliged user (usually UID=0) indication. Using # instead of $
  • bang (!) hints (ie, history event number)
  • VIM keybinding 'command' mode indication
  • version control system repository information (supports bzr, git, svn, cvs... others?)
    • Note: this is almost entirely untested
  • live updating load average (colourised with thresholds. invisible below 0.4)
  • live updating of time (or, if on battery, then battery discharge/charge info (I show minutes remaining for either when < 1hour, otherwise % of battery. Colour indicated charging (green/greenbold) vs discharging (yellow/yellowbold/redbold/redboldinverted). Battery required 'acpi' command with expected output to parse.
  • live updating of 'biff'. ie, number of mailboxes with unread mail (Maildir++ format mailboxes only. Notes in Mutt indicate the basis of this)
  • current tty

[edit] Extra Notes

  • The initial greeting recurs if the '$msg' variable is non-empty. It is echoed to the screen, then the prompt cleared to a new line with a refresh after only 1second.
  • All "live" updates are at a 20 second refresh rate. Live updating also ensures that an abandoned prompt will keep-alive a remote shell over dodgy NAT :)
  • The first prompt after any command always shows time with seconds, and does NOT show TTY or battery. They appear only after the first refresh

[edit] under consideration / TODO

these have been suggested, but not yet implemented. Or maybe I wont implement them - but I haven't decided yet

  • make priv user prompt (#) be an alternate colour
  • make the first prompt reset wipe the visibility of any half-written command in that location
  • remove history event hint, or change format to eventnum@time ?


[edit] ignored / NOT be implemented

note: some of these I just don't use (or at least, ever expect to), others were clearly suggested in jest :)


[edit] Configuration

My current prompt config is findable here:

http://pub.thorx.net/zsh/

Using single quotes around $PS1 and $RPS1 to delay evaluation of variables until the prompt is displayed requires that you have the PROMPT_SUBST option set.

If the output of $RPS1 isn't remaining on the line with $PS1 after a command is executed, unset TRANSIENT_PROMPT option.

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