[Index]

Bash Reference Manual

This text is a brief description of the features that are present in the Bash shell.

This is Edition 2.5a, last updated 13 November 2001, of The GNU Bash Reference Manual, for Bash, Version 2.05a.

Bash contains features that appear in other popular shells, and some features that only appear in Bash. Some of the shells that Bash has borrowed concepts from are the Bourne Shell (`sh'), the Korn Shell (`ksh'), and the C-shell (`csh' and its successor, `tcsh'). The following menu breaks the features up into categories based upon which one of these other shells inspired the feature.

This manual is meant as a brief introduction to features found in Bash. The Bash manual page should be used as the definitive reference on shell behavior.

1. Introduction    An introduction to the shell.

2. Definitions    Some definitions used in the rest of this manual.

3. Basic Shell Features    The shell "building blocks".

4. Shell Builtin Commands    Commands that are a part of the shell.

5. Shell Variables    Variables used or set by Bash.

6. Bash Features    Features found only in Bash.

7. Job Control    A chapter describing what job control is and how Bash allows you to use it.

9. Using History Interactively    Chapter dealing with history expansion rules.

8. Command Line Editing    Chapter describing the command line editing features.

10. Installing Bash    How to build and install Bash on your system.

A. Reporting Bugs    How to report bugs in Bash.

B. Major Differences From The Bourne Shell    A terse list of the differences between Bash and historical versions of /bin/sh.

Index of Shell Builtin Commands    Index of Bash builtin commands.

Index of Shell Reserved Words    Index of Bash reserved words.

Parameter and Variable Index    Quick reference helps you find the variable you want.

Function Index    Index of bindable Readline functions.

Concept Index    General index for concepts described in this manual.

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