Few days back we had written an article about autocd. It’s a builtin shell variable that helps us to navigate to a directory without using cd command.
To come back to previous directory then you have to type cd ...
To go back to two directories then you have to type cd ../...
It’s normal in Linux but if you want to come back from 9th directory to 3rd directory, then it’s horrible to use cd command.
To handle the situation easily we have a solution in Linux, we can go with bd command.
What is bd Command?
bd command allows users to quickly go back to a parent directory in Linux instead of typing cd ../../.. repeatedly.
You can list the contents of a given directory without mentioning the full path ls `bd Directory_Name`. It supports following other commands such as ls, ln, echo, zip, tar etc..
Also, it allow us to execute a shell file without mentioning the full path bd p`/shell_file.sh.
How to install bd Command in Linux?
There is no official distribution package for bd except Debian/Ubuntu. Hence, we need to perform manual method.
For Debian/Ubuntu systems, use APT-GET Command or APT Command to install bd.
$ sudo apt install bd
For other Linux distributions.
Download the bd executable binary file using wget command.
$ sudo wget --no-check-certificate -O /usr/local/bin/bd https://raw.github.com/vigneshwaranr/bd/master/bd
Set executable permission to the bd binary file.
$ sudo chmod +rx /usr/local/bin/bd
Append the below values in the .bashrc file.
$ echo 'alias bd=". bd -si"' >> ~/.bashrc
Run the following command to make the changes to take effect.
$ source ~/.bashrc
To enable auto completion, perform the following two steps.
$ sudo wget -O /etc/bash_completion.d/bd https://raw.github.com/vigneshwaranr/bd/master/bash_completion.d/bd $ sudo source /etc/bash_completion.d/bd
We have successfully installed and configured the bd utility on the system. It’s time to test it.
I’m going to take the below directory path for this testing.
Run the pwd command or dirs command or tree command to know your current location.
daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ pwd or daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ dirs /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps
I’m currently in /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps and if I want to go to icons directory quickly then simple type the following command.
daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ bd icons /usr/share/icons/ daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons$
Even, you no need to type full directory name instead you can type few starting letters .
daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ bd i /usr/share/icons/ daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons$
Note: If there are more than one directories with same name up in the hierarchy, bd will take you to the closest. (Not considering the immediate parent.)
If you would like to list a given directory contents then use the following format. It prints the contents of /usr/share/icons/.
$ ls -lh `bd icons` or daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ ls -lh `bd i` total 64K drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 Adwaita lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 51 Feb 25 14:32 communitheme -> /snap/communitheme/current/share/icons/communitheme drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 default drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 DMZ-Black drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 DMZ-White drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 gnome drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 handhelds drwxr-xr-x 20 root root 4.0K Mar 9 14:52 hicolor drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 HighContrast drwxr-xr-x 12 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 Humanity drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 Humanity-Dark drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 locolor drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Feb 25 15:46 LoginIcons drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 redglass drwxr-xr-x 10 root root 4.0K Feb 25 15:46 ubuntu-mono-dark drwxr-xr-x 10 root root 4.0K Feb 25 15:46 ubuntu-mono-light drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jul 25 2018 whiteglass
If you want to execute a file somewhere in a parent directory then use the following format. It will run the following shell file /usr/share/icons/users-list.sh.
$ `bd i`/users-list.sh or daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ `bd icon`/users-list.sh daygeek thanu renu 2gadmin testuser demouser sudha suresh user1 user2 user3
If you reside in /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps and would you like to navigate to different parent directory then use the following format. The below command will navigate to /usr/share/icons/gnome directory.
$ cd `bd i`/gnome or daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ cd `bd icon`/gnome daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/gnome$
If you reside in /usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps and would you like to create a new directory under /usr/share/icons/ then use the following format.
$ daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ sudo mkdir `bd icons`/2g daygeek@Ubuntu18:/usr/share/icons/Adwaita/256x256/apps$ ls -ld `bd icon`/2g drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Mar 16 05:44 /usr/share/icons//2g
This tutorial shows you to quickly go back to a specific parent directory but there is no option to move forward quickly.
We have another solution for this, will come up with the solution shortly. Please stay tune with us.
