[TriLUG] Changing slashes to backslashes in prompt

[bick via TriLUG]

When I first started using Linux a few years ago, I went through 
tutorials on how to change the command prompt.  I changed the colors, 
etc.  I'm just going through this book, because I thought it would be a 
fun refresher.  I don't get a lot of practice with the command line 
tools in my daily use.

I am really not concerned with changing my prompt to make it look like 
Windows.  I am really just interested to know why what I'm doing isn't 
working for the backslash, when it works to replace the slashes with any 
other character or combination of characters I have tried.

Thanks again for your time.

On 4/19/19 3:39 PM, David Both wrote:
> Why not try something different to learn about changing your command 
> prompt? Here are a couple articles available on Opensource.com. I 
> write for them requently but neither of these articles is one of mine.
>
> https://opensource.com/article/17/7/bash-prompt-tips-and-tricks
>
> https://opensource.com/article/18/12/linux-toy-bash-prompt
>
> Here is an article of mine about Bash command line programming. You 
> might find it useful.
>
> https://opensource.com/article/18/11/control-operators-bash-shell
>
> There are many more articles there to help you learn the Bash shell. 
> Just search for Bash.
>
>
> On 4/19/19 4:27 PM, Bick via TriLUG wrote:
>> To be fair, this is not part of an overall strategy of the book to 
>> make things more Windows like.  It is just a one-off example, not 
>> meant to be actually used in practice, and I think the author is 
>> having a bit of fun.
>>
>> As for me, I am annoyed that I have spent this much time on the 
>> problem, because I would never want to make the prompt look more like 
>> Windows.  However, it bothers me that it doesn’t work, and as far as 
>> I can tell, none of the bash prompt how-tos I have found online 
>> explain why.  If you have any ideas, or know what documentation I 
>> should be reading to find the answer, I would greatly appreciate it.
>>
>>> On Apr 19, 2019, at 3:14 PM, David Both via TriLUG 
>>> <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> First - kudos to you for trying to learn Linux and the command line.
>>>
>>> <rant>
>>>
>>> I understand what you are doing and why, but the author of that book 
>>> should never be allowed to write another book with the word Linux in 
>>> it. Ignore that exercise once you have finished it. Never think of 
>>> it again. Then find a better book.
>>>
>>> There is a horrible problem with Windows people trying to make Linux 
>>> look and work like Windows. In my articles and books I caution 
>>> against this approach to learning Linux. You will never really learn 
>>> Linux if you try to make it work like Windows. My primary example of 
>>> this is using aliases so the user can type a Windows command that is 
>>> then interpreted by the shell into its Linux equivalent. I will add 
>>> this example to my list at the next opportunity.
>>>
>>> What this tells me is that the author is stuck in the Windows world 
>>> and is, probably unconsciously but nonetheless, trying to infect 
>>> readers in the same way. Linux is not Windows, and trying to make it 
>>> so will only impede your efforts to learn Linux.
>>>
>>> I can think of a slew of different things to do with the command 
>>> prompt than making it look like Windows.
>>>
>>> </rant>
>>>
>>> Good luck and keep learning!
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 4/19/19 3:55 PM, Bick via TriLUG wrote:
>>>> I am reading through a Linux book right now and one of the 
>>>> exercises in the chapter about environment variables is to make the 
>>>> prompt look more Windows like.  Specifically, I am supposed to make 
>>>> the prompt display C:\directory.  I first attempted to use sed to 
>>>> accomplish it like this: PS1='C:$(echo $(pwd) | sed 's:/:\\:g') '.  
>>>> The result is C:parentDirchildDir.  It does not print slashes.  If 
>>>> I just put the command I am calling directly into the bash prompt, 
>>>> I get the proper output: C:\parentDir\childDir.
>>>>
>>>> I thought maybe the problem was that the single slash was being 
>>>> reinterpreted as an escape character when PS1 was being read, so I 
>>>> tried using four slashes (so that two would be present in the PS1 
>>>> string).  Again typing this at the command prompt worked (output 
>>>> was C:\\parentDir\\childDir), but it didn't work as part of 
>>>> assigning it to PS1.
>>>>
>>>> I have also tried assigning the commands I want to run to a 
>>>> variable, $NEWPWD, I created in PROMPT_COMMAND.  I then used the 
>>>> variable in the PS1 assignment.  This didn't work either.
>>>>
>>>> I have successfully replaced the slashes with letters, numbers, and 
>>>> even an exclamation point (which needed to be escaped by a 
>>>> backslash) using ALL of the above methods.  Any ideas why this 
>>>> doesn't work with backslashes?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>>
>>>> Chris
>>> -- 
>>>
>>> *********************************************************
>>> David P. Both
>>> *********************************************************
>>> The value of any software lies in its usefulness
>>> not in its price.
>>>
>>> — Linus Torvalds
>>> *********************************************************
>>>
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>