newlib-cygwin/winsup/doc/setup-files.xml

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<sect1 id="setup-files"><title>Customizing bash</title>

<para>
To set up bash so that cut and paste work properly, click on the
"Properties" button of the window, then on the "Misc" tab.  Make sure
that "QuickEdit mode" and "Insert mode" are checked.  These settings
will be remembered next time you run bash from that shortcut.
</para>

<para>
Your home directory should contain three initialization files that
control the behavior of bash.  They are <filename>.profile</filename>,
<filename>.bashrc</filename> and <filename>.inputrc</filename>.
The Cygwin base installation creates stub files when you start bash
for the first time.
</para>

<para>
<filename>.profile</filename> (other names are also valid, see the bash man
page) contains bash commands.  It is executed when bash is started as login
shell, e.g. from the command <command>bash --login</command>.
This is a useful place to define and
export environment variables and bash functions that will be used by bash
and the programs invoked by bash.  It is a good place to redefine
<envar>PATH</envar> if needed.  We recommend adding a ":." to the end of
<envar>PATH</envar> to also search the current working directory (contrary
to DOS, the local directory is not searched by default).  Also to avoid
delays you should either <command>unset</command> <envar>MAILCHECK</envar> 
or define <envar>MAILPATH</envar> to point to your existing mail inbox.
</para>

<para>
<filename>.bashrc</filename> is similar to
<filename>.profile</filename> but is executed each time an interactive
bash shell is launched.  It serves to define elements that are not
inherited through the environment, such as aliases. If you do not use
login shells, you may want to put the contents of
<filename>.profile</filename> as discussed above in this file
instead.
</para>

<para>
<screen>
shopt -s nocaseglob
</screen>
will allow bash to glob filenames in a case-insensitive manner.
Note that <filename>.bashrc</filename> is not called automatically for login 
shells. You can source it from <filename>.profile</filename>.
</para>

<para>
<filename>.inputrc</filename> controls how programs using the readline
library (including <command>bash</command>) behave.  It is loaded
automatically.  For full details see the <literal>Function and Variable
Index</literal> section of the GNU <systemitem>readline</systemitem> manual.
Consider the following settings:
<screen>
# Ignore case while completing
set completion-ignore-case on
# Make Bash 8bit clean
set meta-flag on
set convert-meta off
set output-meta on
</screen>
The first command makes filename completion case insensitive, which can
be convenient in a Windows environment.  The next three commands allow
<command>bash</command> to display 8-bit characters, useful for
languages with accented characters.  Note that tools that do not use
<systemitem>readline</systemitem> for display, such as
<command>less</command> and <command>ls</command>, require additional
settings, which could be put in your <filename>.bashrc</filename>:
<screen>
alias less='/bin/less -r'
alias ls='/bin/ls -F --color=tty --show-control-chars'
</screen>
</para>

</sect1>