Understanding the exclamation mark (!) in bash












90















I used 



history | less


to get the lines of previous commands and from the numbers on the left hand side I found the line I wanted repeated (eg. 22) and did



!22


at the command prompt and it worked -- executing the set of commands on the line I did at that time. I cannot figure out where the exclamation mark is used, what does it represent in terms of actions taken by bash, and where to use it. From the documentation I do not see an explanation that is 'tangible'.






command-line bash command-history







share|improve this question




















  • 6





    This answer might help

    – Michael Mrozek♦
    Nov 3 '10 at 21:50






  • 5





    Not an answer to your question, but <ctrl>+R will allow you to interactively search your history and then immediately execute if you find what you were looking for.

    – kasterma
    Nov 3 '10 at 22:25
















90















I used 



history | less


to get the lines of previous commands and from the numbers on the left hand side I found the line I wanted repeated (eg. 22) and did



!22


at the command prompt and it worked -- executing the set of commands on the line I did at that time. I cannot figure out where the exclamation mark is used, what does it represent in terms of actions taken by bash, and where to use it. From the documentation I do not see an explanation that is 'tangible'.






command-line bash command-history







share|improve this question




















  • 6





    This answer might help

    – Michael Mrozek♦
    Nov 3 '10 at 21:50






  • 5





    Not an answer to your question, but <ctrl>+R will allow you to interactively search your history and then immediately execute if you find what you were looking for.

    – kasterma
    Nov 3 '10 at 22:25














90












90








90


35






I used 



history | less


to get the lines of previous commands and from the numbers on the left hand side I found the line I wanted repeated (eg. 22) and did



!22


at the command prompt and it worked -- executing the set of commands on the line I did at that time. I cannot figure out where the exclamation mark is used, what does it represent in terms of actions taken by bash, and where to use it. From the documentation I do not see an explanation that is 'tangible'.






command-line bash command-history







share|improve this question
















I used 



history | less


to get the lines of previous commands and from the numbers on the left hand side I found the line I wanted repeated (eg. 22) and did



!22


at the command prompt and it worked -- executing the set of commands on the line I did at that time. I cannot figure out where the exclamation mark is used, what does it represent in terms of actions taken by bash, and where to use it. From the documentation I do not see an explanation that is 'tangible'.






command-line bash command-history




command-line bash command-history






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Aug 23 '11 at 12:42









Caleb

50.9k9149192




50.9k9149192










asked Nov 3 '10 at 19:41









VassVass

1,82682539




1,82682539








  • 6





    This answer might help

    – Michael Mrozek♦
    Nov 3 '10 at 21:50






  • 5





    Not an answer to your question, but <ctrl>+R will allow you to interactively search your history and then immediately execute if you find what you were looking for.

    – kasterma
    Nov 3 '10 at 22:25














  • 6





    This answer might help

    – Michael Mrozek♦
    Nov 3 '10 at 21:50






  • 5





    Not an answer to your question, but <ctrl>+R will allow you to interactively search your history and then immediately execute if you find what you were looking for.

    – kasterma
    Nov 3 '10 at 22:25








6




6





This answer might help

– Michael Mrozek♦
Nov 3 '10 at 21:50





This answer might help

– Michael Mrozek♦
Nov 3 '10 at 21:50




5




5





Not an answer to your question, but <ctrl>+R will allow you to interactively search your history and then immediately execute if you find what you were looking for.

– kasterma
Nov 3 '10 at 22:25





Not an answer to your question, but <ctrl>+R will allow you to interactively search your history and then immediately execute if you find what you were looking for.

– kasterma
Nov 3 '10 at 22:25










5 Answers
5






active

oldest

votes


















127














! is a feature that originally appeared in the C shell, back in the days before you could count on terminals to have arrow keys. It's especially useful if you add the current command number to the prompt (PS1="!$ ") so you can quickly look at your screen to get numbers for past commands.



Now that you can use arrow keys and things like Ctrl-R to search the command history, I don't see much use for the feature.



One variant of it you might still find useful is !!, which re-executes the previous command. On its own, I don't find !!Enter any faster than just ↑ Enter, but it can be helpful when combined into a larger command.



Example: A common pilot error on sudo based systems is to forget the sudo prefix on a command that requires extra privileges. A novice retypes the whole command. The diligent student edits the command from the shell's command history. The enlightened one types sudo !!.



Bash lets you disable ! processing in the shell with set +o histexpand or set +H. You can disable it in Zsh with set -K.






share|improve this answer





















  • 3





    I find Ctrl-P Ctrl-J to be pretty fast; faster than Up Enter, at least.

    – ephemient
    Nov 5 '10 at 1:55






  • 21





    If you just want to run the last command, Up/Enter is fine, but if you want to add to it in some way (say, you forgot to sudo, or something), then you can do sudo !!, for example. That might be a bit faster than "Up/Ctrl-A(or Home, if you are lucky enough)/sudo/space/enter". YMMV. :)

    – malvim
    Jan 14 '11 at 20:57








  • 1





    @AquariusPower: Just quote it. Either echo 'Hi!' or echo "Hi!" or echo Hi!. All do the same thing.

    – Warren Young
    Jul 18 '13 at 16:14



















42














If there isn't a longer answer here there's certainly one on Super User, since I've read one recently. In the bash man page you can find a huge section titled HISTORY EXPANSION on the matter.



You can do a whole host more than just run the last command, or command number X. You can do things like !cat to run the last command that started with cat. Or !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ runs the last command containing bash but replaces it with csh.






share|improve this answer





















  • 2





    Although not directly an answer to OP's question, this needs way more upvotes. So useful! Thanks, Havok.

    – malvim
    Apr 30 '15 at 19:09











  • Uh, I should really look into the man page before I start googling.

    – erikbwork
    Jul 27 '15 at 13:39






  • 1





    !!:s/bash/csh/ actually runs the last command, then replaces bash with csh, if present. Not the last command that included bash. That would be !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ or maybe !?bash?:s/%/csh/

    – cde
    Jan 24 '16 at 14:31











  • Having used Bash extensively for several years, I was shocked to find that I had never known about this keyword before, and even though I have spent hours poring through the man pages, this feature is incredibly obscure. Thank you for pointing out the relevant section--that's the only place in the actual docs where they explain it sufficiently.

    – Steve Benner
    Jan 30 at 9:19



















31














A lot more can be done with ! such as:




  • execute a command which is typed before 3 commands: !-3

  • execute a command that starts with !ls


and a lot more. See 15 Linux Bash History Expansion Examples You Should Know






share|improve this answer


























  • Upvoted this. None of the other answers had any of these clever tricks.

    – Gergely Lukacsy
    Feb 15 '17 at 14:38











  • Upvoted because www.thegeekstuff.com is simply a fantastic resource, and this was one of the few linux articles I hadn't seen before. Very helpful.

    – Steve Benner
    Jan 30 at 9:16



















3














A friend of mine emailed me this:




It's part of GNU history library. In bash it is used to re-run
commands in your history. If you want to be hardcore, grep for
history_expansion_char in bash-4.1/lib/readline/histexpand.c for
implementation details.







share|improve this answer

































    0














    Of course you can do !! to reuse the last command in bash shell. And then there is !$ to reuse the last part of your last command.



    e.g. view some file



    less path/to/your/file.txt


    If you now want to edit the same file, you can use !$ to get only the file path from the last command



    vim !$





    share|improve this answer








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      5 Answers
      5






      active

      oldest

      votes








      5 Answers
      5






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      127














      ! is a feature that originally appeared in the C shell, back in the days before you could count on terminals to have arrow keys. It's especially useful if you add the current command number to the prompt (PS1="!$ ") so you can quickly look at your screen to get numbers for past commands.



      Now that you can use arrow keys and things like Ctrl-R to search the command history, I don't see much use for the feature.



      One variant of it you might still find useful is !!, which re-executes the previous command. On its own, I don't find !!Enter any faster than just ↑ Enter, but it can be helpful when combined into a larger command.



      Example: A common pilot error on sudo based systems is to forget the sudo prefix on a command that requires extra privileges. A novice retypes the whole command. The diligent student edits the command from the shell's command history. The enlightened one types sudo !!.



      Bash lets you disable ! processing in the shell with set +o histexpand or set +H. You can disable it in Zsh with set -K.






      share|improve this answer





















      • 3





        I find Ctrl-P Ctrl-J to be pretty fast; faster than Up Enter, at least.

        – ephemient
        Nov 5 '10 at 1:55






      • 21





        If you just want to run the last command, Up/Enter is fine, but if you want to add to it in some way (say, you forgot to sudo, or something), then you can do sudo !!, for example. That might be a bit faster than "Up/Ctrl-A(or Home, if you are lucky enough)/sudo/space/enter". YMMV. :)

        – malvim
        Jan 14 '11 at 20:57








      • 1





        @AquariusPower: Just quote it. Either echo 'Hi!' or echo "Hi!" or echo Hi!. All do the same thing.

        – Warren Young
        Jul 18 '13 at 16:14
















      127














      ! is a feature that originally appeared in the C shell, back in the days before you could count on terminals to have arrow keys. It's especially useful if you add the current command number to the prompt (PS1="!$ ") so you can quickly look at your screen to get numbers for past commands.



      Now that you can use arrow keys and things like Ctrl-R to search the command history, I don't see much use for the feature.



      One variant of it you might still find useful is !!, which re-executes the previous command. On its own, I don't find !!Enter any faster than just ↑ Enter, but it can be helpful when combined into a larger command.



      Example: A common pilot error on sudo based systems is to forget the sudo prefix on a command that requires extra privileges. A novice retypes the whole command. The diligent student edits the command from the shell's command history. The enlightened one types sudo !!.



      Bash lets you disable ! processing in the shell with set +o histexpand or set +H. You can disable it in Zsh with set -K.






      share|improve this answer





















      • 3





        I find Ctrl-P Ctrl-J to be pretty fast; faster than Up Enter, at least.

        – ephemient
        Nov 5 '10 at 1:55






      • 21





        If you just want to run the last command, Up/Enter is fine, but if you want to add to it in some way (say, you forgot to sudo, or something), then you can do sudo !!, for example. That might be a bit faster than "Up/Ctrl-A(or Home, if you are lucky enough)/sudo/space/enter". YMMV. :)

        – malvim
        Jan 14 '11 at 20:57








      • 1





        @AquariusPower: Just quote it. Either echo 'Hi!' or echo "Hi!" or echo Hi!. All do the same thing.

        – Warren Young
        Jul 18 '13 at 16:14














      127












      127








      127







      ! is a feature that originally appeared in the C shell, back in the days before you could count on terminals to have arrow keys. It's especially useful if you add the current command number to the prompt (PS1="!$ ") so you can quickly look at your screen to get numbers for past commands.



      Now that you can use arrow keys and things like Ctrl-R to search the command history, I don't see much use for the feature.



      One variant of it you might still find useful is !!, which re-executes the previous command. On its own, I don't find !!Enter any faster than just ↑ Enter, but it can be helpful when combined into a larger command.



      Example: A common pilot error on sudo based systems is to forget the sudo prefix on a command that requires extra privileges. A novice retypes the whole command. The diligent student edits the command from the shell's command history. The enlightened one types sudo !!.



      Bash lets you disable ! processing in the shell with set +o histexpand or set +H. You can disable it in Zsh with set -K.






      share|improve this answer















      ! is a feature that originally appeared in the C shell, back in the days before you could count on terminals to have arrow keys. It's especially useful if you add the current command number to the prompt (PS1="!$ ") so you can quickly look at your screen to get numbers for past commands.



      Now that you can use arrow keys and things like Ctrl-R to search the command history, I don't see much use for the feature.



      One variant of it you might still find useful is !!, which re-executes the previous command. On its own, I don't find !!Enter any faster than just ↑ Enter, but it can be helpful when combined into a larger command.



      Example: A common pilot error on sudo based systems is to forget the sudo prefix on a command that requires extra privileges. A novice retypes the whole command. The diligent student edits the command from the shell's command history. The enlightened one types sudo !!.



      Bash lets you disable ! processing in the shell with set +o histexpand or set +H. You can disable it in Zsh with set -K.







      share|improve this answer














      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer








      edited Nov 5 '13 at 23:53

























      answered Nov 3 '10 at 20:06









      Warren YoungWarren Young

      55.2k11143148




      55.2k11143148








      • 3





        I find Ctrl-P Ctrl-J to be pretty fast; faster than Up Enter, at least.

        – ephemient
        Nov 5 '10 at 1:55






      • 21





        If you just want to run the last command, Up/Enter is fine, but if you want to add to it in some way (say, you forgot to sudo, or something), then you can do sudo !!, for example. That might be a bit faster than "Up/Ctrl-A(or Home, if you are lucky enough)/sudo/space/enter". YMMV. :)

        – malvim
        Jan 14 '11 at 20:57








      • 1





        @AquariusPower: Just quote it. Either echo 'Hi!' or echo "Hi!" or echo Hi!. All do the same thing.

        – Warren Young
        Jul 18 '13 at 16:14














      • 3





        I find Ctrl-P Ctrl-J to be pretty fast; faster than Up Enter, at least.

        – ephemient
        Nov 5 '10 at 1:55






      • 21





        If you just want to run the last command, Up/Enter is fine, but if you want to add to it in some way (say, you forgot to sudo, or something), then you can do sudo !!, for example. That might be a bit faster than "Up/Ctrl-A(or Home, if you are lucky enough)/sudo/space/enter". YMMV. :)

        – malvim
        Jan 14 '11 at 20:57








      • 1





        @AquariusPower: Just quote it. Either echo 'Hi!' or echo "Hi!" or echo Hi!. All do the same thing.

        – Warren Young
        Jul 18 '13 at 16:14








      3




      3





      I find Ctrl-P Ctrl-J to be pretty fast; faster than Up Enter, at least.

      – ephemient
      Nov 5 '10 at 1:55





      I find Ctrl-P Ctrl-J to be pretty fast; faster than Up Enter, at least.

      – ephemient
      Nov 5 '10 at 1:55




      21




      21





      If you just want to run the last command, Up/Enter is fine, but if you want to add to it in some way (say, you forgot to sudo, or something), then you can do sudo !!, for example. That might be a bit faster than "Up/Ctrl-A(or Home, if you are lucky enough)/sudo/space/enter". YMMV. :)

      – malvim
      Jan 14 '11 at 20:57







      If you just want to run the last command, Up/Enter is fine, but if you want to add to it in some way (say, you forgot to sudo, or something), then you can do sudo !!, for example. That might be a bit faster than "Up/Ctrl-A(or Home, if you are lucky enough)/sudo/space/enter". YMMV. :)

      – malvim
      Jan 14 '11 at 20:57






      1




      1





      @AquariusPower: Just quote it. Either echo 'Hi!' or echo "Hi!" or echo Hi!. All do the same thing.

      – Warren Young
      Jul 18 '13 at 16:14





      @AquariusPower: Just quote it. Either echo 'Hi!' or echo "Hi!" or echo Hi!. All do the same thing.

      – Warren Young
      Jul 18 '13 at 16:14













      42














      If there isn't a longer answer here there's certainly one on Super User, since I've read one recently. In the bash man page you can find a huge section titled HISTORY EXPANSION on the matter.



      You can do a whole host more than just run the last command, or command number X. You can do things like !cat to run the last command that started with cat. Or !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ runs the last command containing bash but replaces it with csh.






      share|improve this answer





















      • 2





        Although not directly an answer to OP's question, this needs way more upvotes. So useful! Thanks, Havok.

        – malvim
        Apr 30 '15 at 19:09











      • Uh, I should really look into the man page before I start googling.

        – erikbwork
        Jul 27 '15 at 13:39






      • 1





        !!:s/bash/csh/ actually runs the last command, then replaces bash with csh, if present. Not the last command that included bash. That would be !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ or maybe !?bash?:s/%/csh/

        – cde
        Jan 24 '16 at 14:31











      • Having used Bash extensively for several years, I was shocked to find that I had never known about this keyword before, and even though I have spent hours poring through the man pages, this feature is incredibly obscure. Thank you for pointing out the relevant section--that's the only place in the actual docs where they explain it sufficiently.

        – Steve Benner
        Jan 30 at 9:19
















      42














      If there isn't a longer answer here there's certainly one on Super User, since I've read one recently. In the bash man page you can find a huge section titled HISTORY EXPANSION on the matter.



      You can do a whole host more than just run the last command, or command number X. You can do things like !cat to run the last command that started with cat. Or !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ runs the last command containing bash but replaces it with csh.






      share|improve this answer





















      • 2





        Although not directly an answer to OP's question, this needs way more upvotes. So useful! Thanks, Havok.

        – malvim
        Apr 30 '15 at 19:09











      • Uh, I should really look into the man page before I start googling.

        – erikbwork
        Jul 27 '15 at 13:39






      • 1





        !!:s/bash/csh/ actually runs the last command, then replaces bash with csh, if present. Not the last command that included bash. That would be !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ or maybe !?bash?:s/%/csh/

        – cde
        Jan 24 '16 at 14:31











      • Having used Bash extensively for several years, I was shocked to find that I had never known about this keyword before, and even though I have spent hours poring through the man pages, this feature is incredibly obscure. Thank you for pointing out the relevant section--that's the only place in the actual docs where they explain it sufficiently.

        – Steve Benner
        Jan 30 at 9:19














      42












      42








      42







      If there isn't a longer answer here there's certainly one on Super User, since I've read one recently. In the bash man page you can find a huge section titled HISTORY EXPANSION on the matter.



      You can do a whole host more than just run the last command, or command number X. You can do things like !cat to run the last command that started with cat. Or !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ runs the last command containing bash but replaces it with csh.






      share|improve this answer















      If there isn't a longer answer here there's certainly one on Super User, since I've read one recently. In the bash man page you can find a huge section titled HISTORY EXPANSION on the matter.



      You can do a whole host more than just run the last command, or command number X. You can do things like !cat to run the last command that started with cat. Or !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ runs the last command containing bash but replaces it with csh.







      share|improve this answer














      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer








      edited Jan 26 '18 at 20:44









      Jeff Schaller

      41k1056131




      41k1056131










      answered Nov 3 '10 at 20:12









      Cry HavokCry Havok

      1,4901011




      1,4901011








      • 2





        Although not directly an answer to OP's question, this needs way more upvotes. So useful! Thanks, Havok.

        – malvim
        Apr 30 '15 at 19:09











      • Uh, I should really look into the man page before I start googling.

        – erikbwork
        Jul 27 '15 at 13:39






      • 1





        !!:s/bash/csh/ actually runs the last command, then replaces bash with csh, if present. Not the last command that included bash. That would be !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ or maybe !?bash?:s/%/csh/

        – cde
        Jan 24 '16 at 14:31











      • Having used Bash extensively for several years, I was shocked to find that I had never known about this keyword before, and even though I have spent hours poring through the man pages, this feature is incredibly obscure. Thank you for pointing out the relevant section--that's the only place in the actual docs where they explain it sufficiently.

        – Steve Benner
        Jan 30 at 9:19














      • 2





        Although not directly an answer to OP's question, this needs way more upvotes. So useful! Thanks, Havok.

        – malvim
        Apr 30 '15 at 19:09











      • Uh, I should really look into the man page before I start googling.

        – erikbwork
        Jul 27 '15 at 13:39






      • 1





        !!:s/bash/csh/ actually runs the last command, then replaces bash with csh, if present. Not the last command that included bash. That would be !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ or maybe !?bash?:s/%/csh/

        – cde
        Jan 24 '16 at 14:31











      • Having used Bash extensively for several years, I was shocked to find that I had never known about this keyword before, and even though I have spent hours poring through the man pages, this feature is incredibly obscure. Thank you for pointing out the relevant section--that's the only place in the actual docs where they explain it sufficiently.

        – Steve Benner
        Jan 30 at 9:19








      2




      2





      Although not directly an answer to OP's question, this needs way more upvotes. So useful! Thanks, Havok.

      – malvim
      Apr 30 '15 at 19:09





      Although not directly an answer to OP's question, this needs way more upvotes. So useful! Thanks, Havok.

      – malvim
      Apr 30 '15 at 19:09













      Uh, I should really look into the man page before I start googling.

      – erikbwork
      Jul 27 '15 at 13:39





      Uh, I should really look into the man page before I start googling.

      – erikbwork
      Jul 27 '15 at 13:39




      1




      1





      !!:s/bash/csh/ actually runs the last command, then replaces bash with csh, if present. Not the last command that included bash. That would be !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ or maybe !?bash?:s/%/csh/

      – cde
      Jan 24 '16 at 14:31





      !!:s/bash/csh/ actually runs the last command, then replaces bash with csh, if present. Not the last command that included bash. That would be !?bash?:s/bash/csh/ or maybe !?bash?:s/%/csh/

      – cde
      Jan 24 '16 at 14:31













      Having used Bash extensively for several years, I was shocked to find that I had never known about this keyword before, and even though I have spent hours poring through the man pages, this feature is incredibly obscure. Thank you for pointing out the relevant section--that's the only place in the actual docs where they explain it sufficiently.

      – Steve Benner
      Jan 30 at 9:19





      Having used Bash extensively for several years, I was shocked to find that I had never known about this keyword before, and even though I have spent hours poring through the man pages, this feature is incredibly obscure. Thank you for pointing out the relevant section--that's the only place in the actual docs where they explain it sufficiently.

      – Steve Benner
      Jan 30 at 9:19











      31














      A lot more can be done with ! such as:




      • execute a command which is typed before 3 commands: !-3

      • execute a command that starts with !ls


      and a lot more. See 15 Linux Bash History Expansion Examples You Should Know






      share|improve this answer


























      • Upvoted this. None of the other answers had any of these clever tricks.

        – Gergely Lukacsy
        Feb 15 '17 at 14:38











      • Upvoted because www.thegeekstuff.com is simply a fantastic resource, and this was one of the few linux articles I hadn't seen before. Very helpful.

        – Steve Benner
        Jan 30 at 9:16
















      31














      A lot more can be done with ! such as:




      • execute a command which is typed before 3 commands: !-3

      • execute a command that starts with !ls


      and a lot more. See 15 Linux Bash History Expansion Examples You Should Know






      share|improve this answer


























      • Upvoted this. None of the other answers had any of these clever tricks.

        – Gergely Lukacsy
        Feb 15 '17 at 14:38











      • Upvoted because www.thegeekstuff.com is simply a fantastic resource, and this was one of the few linux articles I hadn't seen before. Very helpful.

        – Steve Benner
        Jan 30 at 9:16














      31












      31








      31







      A lot more can be done with ! such as:




      • execute a command which is typed before 3 commands: !-3

      • execute a command that starts with !ls


      and a lot more. See 15 Linux Bash History Expansion Examples You Should Know






      share|improve this answer















      A lot more can be done with ! such as:




      • execute a command which is typed before 3 commands: !-3

      • execute a command that starts with !ls


      and a lot more. See 15 Linux Bash History Expansion Examples You Should Know







      share|improve this answer














      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer








      edited Mar 6 '12 at 10:53









      Mat

      39.3k8121127




      39.3k8121127










      answered Mar 6 '12 at 10:34









      user379997user379997

      47157




      47157













      • Upvoted this. None of the other answers had any of these clever tricks.

        – Gergely Lukacsy
        Feb 15 '17 at 14:38











      • Upvoted because www.thegeekstuff.com is simply a fantastic resource, and this was one of the few linux articles I hadn't seen before. Very helpful.

        – Steve Benner
        Jan 30 at 9:16



















      • Upvoted this. None of the other answers had any of these clever tricks.

        – Gergely Lukacsy
        Feb 15 '17 at 14:38











      • Upvoted because www.thegeekstuff.com is simply a fantastic resource, and this was one of the few linux articles I hadn't seen before. Very helpful.

        – Steve Benner
        Jan 30 at 9:16

















      Upvoted this. None of the other answers had any of these clever tricks.

      – Gergely Lukacsy
      Feb 15 '17 at 14:38





      Upvoted this. None of the other answers had any of these clever tricks.

      – Gergely Lukacsy
      Feb 15 '17 at 14:38













      Upvoted because www.thegeekstuff.com is simply a fantastic resource, and this was one of the few linux articles I hadn't seen before. Very helpful.

      – Steve Benner
      Jan 30 at 9:16





      Upvoted because www.thegeekstuff.com is simply a fantastic resource, and this was one of the few linux articles I hadn't seen before. Very helpful.

      – Steve Benner
      Jan 30 at 9:16











      3














      A friend of mine emailed me this:




      It's part of GNU history library. In bash it is used to re-run
      commands in your history. If you want to be hardcore, grep for
      history_expansion_char in bash-4.1/lib/readline/histexpand.c for
      implementation details.







      share|improve this answer






























        3














        A friend of mine emailed me this:




        It's part of GNU history library. In bash it is used to re-run
        commands in your history. If you want to be hardcore, grep for
        history_expansion_char in bash-4.1/lib/readline/histexpand.c for
        implementation details.







        share|improve this answer




























          3












          3








          3







          A friend of mine emailed me this:




          It's part of GNU history library. In bash it is used to re-run
          commands in your history. If you want to be hardcore, grep for
          history_expansion_char in bash-4.1/lib/readline/histexpand.c for
          implementation details.







          share|improve this answer















          A friend of mine emailed me this:




          It's part of GNU history library. In bash it is used to re-run
          commands in your history. If you want to be hardcore, grep for
          history_expansion_char in bash-4.1/lib/readline/histexpand.c for
          implementation details.








          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited Nov 5 '10 at 2:58









          Michael Mrozek♦

          61.2k29191211




          61.2k29191211










          answered Nov 4 '10 at 13:58









          VassVass

          1,82682539




          1,82682539























              0














              Of course you can do !! to reuse the last command in bash shell. And then there is !$ to reuse the last part of your last command.



              e.g. view some file



              less path/to/your/file.txt


              If you now want to edit the same file, you can use !$ to get only the file path from the last command



              vim !$





              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              Teshan Shanuka J is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.

























                0














                Of course you can do !! to reuse the last command in bash shell. And then there is !$ to reuse the last part of your last command.



                e.g. view some file



                less path/to/your/file.txt


                If you now want to edit the same file, you can use !$ to get only the file path from the last command



                vim !$





                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                Teshan Shanuka J is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.























                  0












                  0








                  0







                  Of course you can do !! to reuse the last command in bash shell. And then there is !$ to reuse the last part of your last command.



                  e.g. view some file



                  less path/to/your/file.txt


                  If you now want to edit the same file, you can use !$ to get only the file path from the last command



                  vim !$





                  share|improve this answer








                  New contributor




                  Teshan Shanuka J is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.










                  Of course you can do !! to reuse the last command in bash shell. And then there is !$ to reuse the last part of your last command.



                  e.g. view some file



                  less path/to/your/file.txt


                  If you now want to edit the same file, you can use !$ to get only the file path from the last command



                  vim !$






                  share|improve this answer








                  New contributor




                  Teshan Shanuka J is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.









                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer






                  New contributor




                  Teshan Shanuka J is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.









                  answered 23 mins ago









                  Teshan Shanuka JTeshan Shanuka J

                  1




                  1




                  New contributor




                  Teshan Shanuka J is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.





                  New contributor





                  Teshan Shanuka J is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.






                  Teshan Shanuka J is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.






























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