back
A simple bash script to make backwards navigation in the unix shell as simple as it should be.
Motivation
Tired of this?
~/this/is/a/very/long/example/path> cd ..
~/this/is/a/very/long/example> cd ..
~/this/is/a/very/long> cd ..
~/this/is/a> cd ..
~/this/is> cd ..
~/this>
And/or this?
~/this/is/a/very/long/example/path> cd ../../../../..
~/this>
Usage
Using back with no arguments behaves just like the standard cd ..:
~/this/is/a/very/long/example/path> back
~/this/is/a/very/long/example> back
~/this/is/a/very/long>
Go back faster using a positive integer argument:
~/this/is/a/very/long/example/path> back 4
~/this/is/a> back 2
~/this>
Or even by specifying the target directory in the current working directory path:
~/this/is/a/very/long/example/path> back a
~/this/is/a> back this
~/this>
Installation
-
In the terminal, make the script executable:
chmod +x /path/to/back.sh -
In the file where you would normally set your aliases (ex: .bashrc), source the script file by adding the following line:
source /path/to/back.sh -
Source the changed file in the terminal:
source .bashrc