Thank you very much, Richard! I will be preserving this message about
the goings-on in PS1. Ufortunately, the info didn't solve my problem.
PS1 in profile, as well as in bashrc is: PS1="[\u@\h \W]\\$ ".
If I log in as root, I get the full prompt displaying, but as user it's
still bash-2.03$. I've found the info displayed by the called-for prompt
to be helpful in navigation.
It looks like, as user, bash might be inheriting nothing at all.
Everything else in my system works fine, as far as I can tell.
-Paul-
Richard Myers wrote:
>
> > > On Sat, 17 Jul 1999, pauljw wrote:
> > > > I did some fiddling and had to put my home (user, not root) directory
> > > > back in place from a backup. Happily, everything worked save for the
> > > > bash prompt. It looks like: bash-2.03$. It used to show the user name
> > > > and the current directory. How can I get that back?
> > > > TIA,
> > > > -Paul-
>
> > > Verify permissions and ownership of the files you moved
> > Axalon wrote:
>
> On Sat, 17 Jul 1999, pauljw wrote:
> > Did that. I didn't look at each and every file, but a good
> > representative sample shows the ownership and permissions are my user
> > name and are as they should be. I didn't mention that this prompt is in
> > the Konsole, not the primary linux shell, so I presume it's to do with
> > kde.
>
> Greetings, everyone, I've just joined this list.
>
> This problem is easy to fix, and gives an opportunity to learn a bit
> about the startup sequence.
>
> What you are referring to is stored in the PS1 variable. You can type
> "set" and you will see a list of all your current variable settings.
> The PS1 variable could be set in a number of places-- either a
> global startup file, or an individual user startup file. (I don't have
> access to Linux right now, so can't be more specific about the default
> installation.)
>
> One setting for username is:
>
> PS1="\u--> "
>
> The current directory is:
>
> PS1="\w--> "
>
> If you combine \u and \w, you get both.
>
> The other stuff-- in other words, the --> can be whatever you wish.
> The trailing space is a nice thing to have, however.
>
> Soooo--- you can fix this problem easily by modifying a bash startup
> file.
>
> Which file?
>
> Well, first go to the command prompt and find out if it is already
> being set somewhere.
>
> I'm doing this on a Sun system (I'm new to Linux), but it will be very
> similar for you.
>
> First check the global startup file. This is /etc profile
>
> We are going to use the grep command from a command prompt:
>
> grep PS1 /etc/profile
>
> When I do it on this Sun, it looks like this:
>
> >>grep PS1 /etc/profile
> PS1=">>"
> PS1=">>#"
> export PS1
> >>
>
> Aha! My PS1 variable is set initially in the /etc/profile file.
> This means that it is set to this value for everyone on the system.
> (But each user can set it again to something different.)
>
> Notice that the actual, global system code doesn't show up with
> grep-- we only see lines that include the "PS1" string of
> characters.
>
> If we actually look at (my) /etc/profile file, we see this:
>
> PS1=">>"
> if [ "$LOGNAME" = "root" ]
> then
> PS1=">>#"
> fi
> export PS1
>
> If you are logging in as root, you get the # in addition to
> the >> (on my system). But all that is needed to set my
> user prompt would be:
>
> PS1= (something)
>
> ...and, so that the change is propagated to all shell logins,
>
> export PS1
>
> You may wish to check the individual user files too-- each
> user can customize their own PS1 variable. To see if it is
> set up in your user startup files, type:
>
> cd
> grep PS1 .bash_profile
>
> ...or,
>
> cd
> grep PS1 .bashrc
>
> The difference between .bash_profile and .bashrc? Having
> two files gives you the flexibility to separate startup
> commands needed at login time (.bash_profile) from those
> you might need when you run a subshell (.bashrc). So,
> I'd change .bash_profile for a user account (although
> you could have different settings for subshells, too.)
>
> I'd try this in a user login first, if you haven't had
> much experience with editing text files in [U-Li]nix.
> Open your .bash_profile with commands such as:
>
> cd
> pico .bash_profile
>
> (substitute your favorite editor for pico, but pico
> is very easy to use...)
>
> Find out where variables are set (if you already have
> a .bash_profile-- it is possible to use the /etc/profile
> file for all setup).
>
> Change the PS1 variable to what you want.
>
> Don't forget to export it!
>
> Some other settings for PS1:
>
> \d date
> \H hostname
> \h abbreviated hostname
> \n a carriage return and linefeed
> \T time
> \t time, another format
> \@ time, yet another format
> \u user name
> \v version of bash
> \V release version of bash
> \w current working directory
> \W abbreviated current working directory
> \# command number of the current prompt
> \! command history number of the current prompt
>
>
> best wishes,
>
> richard myers
