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From: dg@lakart.UUCP (David Goodenough)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Alias command
Message-ID: <754@lakart.UUCP>
Date: 17 Nov 89 18:16:01 GMT
Article-I.D.: lakart.754
References: <63720013@hpl-opus.HP.COM>
Organization: Lakart Corporation, Newton, MA
Lines: 35

steinbac@hpl-opus.HP.COM (Gunter Steinbach) sez:
>> / hpl-opus:comp.unix.questions / bwildasi@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (Ben
>> Wildasin) / 1:03 pm Nov 12, 1989 /
> 
>> Another question about the alias command:
> 
>> I would like to modify the rm command so that it first deletes the file, and
>> then copies it to my nfs directory. In other words, I would like to know
>> how I can create an alias that can be passed arguments.
> 
> In ksh, you have to use a "function" instead of an alias if you want to
> pass arguments to it.  RTFM for details.

Of course csh does not have functions. So you do things like the following:

alias es 'vi +/\!:1/ `grep -l -e \!* *.[chs]`'

which edits all C sources, headers and assembler sources that contain a given
string:

es readDirectory

does a bit like a:

vi -t readDirectory

but as well as finding the declaration of readDirectory, it finds all USES
of it.

ANYWAY, the \!:n gives you the n'th argument, and \!* gives you all arguments.
-- 
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