Home / ubuntu / Questions / 276421
Accepted
somethis
Asked: 2013-04-01 03:04:17 +0800 CST

Autocomplete on Partial Matches in the Middle of a filename in Terminal (dash/bash)

  • 772

I have a bunch of directories:

20130118-Cars_Directory
20130118-Bikes_Directory
20130218-Planes_Directory
20130228-Scooters_Directory

Is there any way to change directories in the manner of typing a partial match in the middle of the command.

Ideally, something in the style of cd *Bikes*<TAB>, and have dash autocomplete the rest?

12.04

4 Answers

  1. You can do that by creating an alias for cd and defining a bash completion as your will. See Bach Completion manual.

    Here is a step by step guide. I will use "scd" for our new command, but you can use "cd" as well.

    1) Editing .bashrc file 

    gedit ~/.bashrc

    2) Creating the alias
    Paste this in the final of the ".bashrc" file:

    # Alias for making a "Super cd"

alias scd="cd"

_scd_completion() {
    mapfile -t COMPREPLY < <(ls -d */ | grep "${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}")
}
complete -F _scd_completion scd

    Save and close.

    3) Open a new terminal
    Or run: source ~/.bashrc

    4) How to use

    Just call the command followed by part of the name of the directory you want to go.

    scd Bikes<TAB>

    Done. Enjoy!

    • 6
  2. Best Answer

    Actually, by coincidence, it turns out that cd *Bikes*<RETURN> works without any changes to the system.

    I am just a little stunned that it didn't require quotes around *Bikes*.

    • 3

  3. Try to use the tool called z, it allows what you need, plus it creates a global database of your cd's weighted by frequency and allows you to jump to frequently visited place instantly.

    If you have visited the Bikes directory, you can later type

    z Bikes

    and you will jump there

    • 2

  4. The answer from desuga works, but it is case sensitive.

    If you do not want it to be case sensitive, the ~/.bashrc file should be:

    # Alias for making a "Super cd"

alias scd="cd"

_scd_completion() {
    mapfile -t COMPREPLY < <(ls -d */ | grep -i "${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}")
}
complete -F _scd_completion scd
    • 1