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Bash's command history is great, especially it is useful when adding the history -a command to the COMMAND_PROMPT.

However, I'm wondering if there is a way to log the commands to a file as soon as the Return key is pressed, e.g. before starting the command and not on completion of the command (using the COMMAND_PROMPT option would save the command once the prompt is there again).

I read about auditing programs like snoopy and session recorder like script but I thought they're already too complex for the simple question I have. I guess that deactivating that script logs all the output of the command would lead already in the right direction but isn't there a quicker way to solve that probelm?

Thanks, Jon

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@Jon there is no COMMAND_PROMPT. i think you mean PROMPT_COMMAND. –  lesmana Aug 21 '10 at 0:36
related: superuser.com/questions/167283/… –  lesmana Aug 21 '10 at 1:05
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Aug 21 '10 at 20:44

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1 Answer

The DEBUG trap is executed before each command. You could set up a trap and in that do your logging.

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Excellent. Thank you very much. There is a little bit of fine tuning still necessary but it looks very promising. –  Jon Jun 7 '10 at 21:39
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