Create and execute a shell script in Linux home directory

Question

I would like to create (and execute) a shell script in my home directory (/home/user).

Have tried the following:

printf "cd /mypath\n" > myShortcut.sh
chmod +x myShortcut.sh
sh myShortcut.sh

where am I going wrong?

(am trying to set up a shortcut to navigate to a different directory)

Answer 1

What is exactly wrong here? That you are still in /home/user after the script executes? Well thats because executing the script creates a child shell that returns to the parent shell once the script ends. Therefore your cd has NO EFFECT in your current shell.

Answer 2

If you want to execute the script in the current shell (as opposed to in a subshell ), use the source (or . ) command:

 source myShortcut.sh

This should then change the directory as expected.

In addition, sourcing also allows you to set and change environment variables in the current shell--a very frequent question in its own right :-)

Answer 3

That won't work because of what the other answer says. The script operates in a child shell.

For a shortcut like that, you could set up an alias, edit the .bashrc file in your home directory and add a line like

alias shortcut='cd /mypath'

Substitute "shortcut" for whatever you want to name it, and mypath to the path you want. Restart the shell (close terminal and reopen or w/e) and that should work just as you want. Then you can use "shortcut" anywhere you want in the shell.