Combined `mkdir` and `cd`?

Question

is there any way (what is the easiest way in bash) to combine the following:

mkdir foo
cd foo

The manpage for mkdir does not describe anything like that, maybe there is a fancy version of mkdir? I know that cd has to be shell builtin, so the same would be true for the fancy mkdir...

Aliasing?

Solution 1

Function?

mkcdir ()
{
    mkdir -p -- "$1" &&
       cd -P -- "$1"
}

Put the above code in the ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc or another file sourced by your shell. Then source it by running e.g. source ~/.bashrc to apply changes.

After that simply run mkcdir foo or mkcdir "nested/path/in quotes".

Notes:

• "$1" is the first argument of the mkcdir command. Quotes around it protects the argument if it has spaces or other special characters.
• -- makes sure the passed name for the new directory is not interpreted as an option to mkdir or cd, giving the opportunity to create a directory that starts with - or --.
• -p used on mkdir makes it create extra directories if they do not exist yet, and -P used makes cd resolve symbolic links.
• Instead of source-ing the rc, you may also restart the terminal emulator/shell.

Solution 2

I think creating a function is the most appropriate way to do this, but just for listing all alternative ways, you could write:

mkdir foo && cd "$_"

$_is a special parameter that holds the last argument of the previous command. The quote around $_ make sure it works even if the folder name contains spaces.

Why use double quotes?

In some shells, such as zsh, the double quotes surrounding the $_ are not necessary even when the directory name contains spaces. They are required for this command to work in bash, however.

For example, running this command in bash 3.2.57 on macOS 10.13.6:

mkdir "my directory" && cd $_

results in this output:

bash: cd: my: No such file or directory

However, if we surround $_ with double quotes, the command returns successfully.

bash-3.2$ mkdir "my directory" && cd "$_"
bash-3.2$ echo $?
0
bash-3.2$

Solution 3

Bash (using word designators):

/tmp/bug$ mkdir "some dir"
/tmp/bug$ cd !$
cd "some dir"
/tmp/bug/some dir$ 

!$ expands to the last argument of the previous line in the history. If you have parameters in between, then you can use !:1 for the first argument, !:2 forthe second argument, etc.

From bash(1):

Event Designators

An event designator is a reference to a command line entry in the history list. Unless the reference is absolute, events are relative to the current position in the history list.

! Start a history substitution, except when followed by a blank, newline, carriage return, = or ( (when the extglob shell option is enabled using the shopt builtin).

[..]

Word Designators

Word designators are used to select desired words from the event. A : separates the event specification from the word designator. [..]

[..]
n The n-th word.
^ The first argument. That is, word 1.
$ The last word. This is usually the last argument, but will expand to the zeroth word if there is only one word in the line.

Solution 4

These other lads are just making life complicated, here it is:

eval {mkdir,cd}\ FOLDER\;

View more solutions

Comments

[Admin]

You can't alias two commands together directly.

[Jasper]

and put this in .bashrc?

[Ouki]

exactly ;) ... no big deal

[Ouki]

@glenn jackman: thanks for the "$1"

[Stéphane Chazelas]

!$ is shorter and easier to type on many keyboards. See also <Alt-.> or <Alt-_>

[Lekensteyn]

@StephaneChazelas Nice one, I'll update the answer to use !$ instead.

[Lekensteyn]

@bernard you can move forward and backward in the parameter list. See the manual page of bash.

[Admin]

I really wanted to make a directory called 'FOLDER && rm ../something'. But eval won't let me :*( Tragically, may have to choose complicated in the battle of complicated vs evil.

[Sean D]

@BroSlow, well then you'll have to find another OS, since having a slash in a filename has never been allowed! as for the other characters they work just fine if escaped.

[Admin]

@SeanD You're missing my point. Using eval with user input is generally a bad idea and eval will process FOLDER && rm ../something in place of FOLDER without complaint. Or for another variant, how about "FOLDER && rm -r $HOME"

[Miles Rout]

@BroSlow This isn't using eval with user input, so it's fine. Don't cargo cult.

[Zaz]

What's the purpose of --?

[antak]

Same line version of $!, in this case, is !#:1. i.e. "$_" can be replaced with !#:1.

[immeëmosol]

@Zaz -- is used to make sure that the following parameters are not parsed as a options to modify the behaviour of the command. In this case it makes sure the passed name for the new directory is not interpreted as an option to mkdir or cd, giving the option to create a directory that starts with - or -- .

[immeëmosol]

In case someone's wondering, the -P used makes cd resolve symbol links. The -p used on mkdir makes it create extra directories if they do not exists yet.

[MarSoft]

Strange, but this answer doesn't work for me. It works when I start bash --norc, but when config is active then echo $_ echoes $_, while echo ${_} works. I couldn't find the reason. Probably ${_} is more safe variation and should be used in the answer?

[MarSoft]

Also, without --norc, this command echo abc; echo def; echo $_ echoes abc def $_ (each on new line). When using --norc, the same command yields abc def def (each on new line).

[Zajn]

@MarSoft Weird! I wonder if it's a difference in the version of bash? It works for me under bash 4.3.46 whether if I supply --norc or not. I would be curious to see what your bashrc looks like if it works when starting the shell without config, even though I don't think you can modify special parameters like _.

[MarSoft]

@Zajn, I found that the culprit is a git-prompt script. Yet to determine how does it achieve such behaviour :) Probably any PROMPT_COMMAND will influence the $_?

[Zajn]

@nyxee $_'s value will be foo in this example. If I had instead typed mkdir workspace, the value of $_ would have been workspace, and cd "$_" would change our current directory to the newly created workspace. Does that make sense?

[user2067125]

Does not work inside of shell & works perfectly at command prompt.

[Suhaib]

why did you add the double quotation ? I just tried and It works without it. Also, it makes it look really ugly and might discourage some people

[Zajn]

@Suhaib Without the double quotes, this command will not work correctly using bash. I've tried it in zsh and confirmed that it works without the double quotes, but since the question was tagged with bash, I answered accordingly.

[Zajn]

@Suhaib As explained in the answer, the double quotes ensure that the command works if the directory name contains spaces. Try running mkdir "test folder" && cd $_ in bash and see the result. I should have specified in my last comment that this pertains to directories with spaces in their names.

[Tofeeq]

I normally use $ mkdir gulp && cd gulp in my arch linux

[Asotos]

In case someone is wondering: You need to put the function in .bashrc and then add a line export <name_of_my_function>. Then source ~/.bashrc` or restart terminal, and the function will be available as a command. I really think the comments should be integrated into the answer, but I don't want to intrude to someone else's answer.

[Zajn]

@SHiON Adding double-quotes is necessary in bash when creating a directory that contains spaces. Since the question is tagged for bash, I answered accordingly.

[nroose]

I am calling it mc!

[harperville]

I find it humorous that the best answer here is one that ends with an error: bash: cd: my: No such file or directory. I mean, it shows that the cd is being invoked and my is the argument but pwd && mkdir thisdir && cd $_ && pwd demonstrates the point without an error. All the same, TIL about the $_ command. Thanks!

[Zajn]

@harperville The reason for the error at the end of the answer is to demonstrate the need for quotes surrounding $_ in certain shells, namely bash. Perhaps I should re-word that section to more clearly state that without the "$_", that is the error you will see.

[Mark Han]

Do we need an || exit following the cd? e.g. mkdir -p -- "$1" && cd -P -- "$1" || exit

[Ouki]

"exit" would mean "logout" : I am sure you do not want that ^^

[Positive Navid]

Other than typing "mkdir", "cd", white space, and theFolderName, this answer requires typing only 2 more characters. That's how I evaluate the best answer

[qwertz]

when using oh-my-zsh there is a function take defined, so you can use something like take somenewdir . The function looks like this: take () { mkdir -p $@ && cd ${@:$#} }