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I'm creating an alias for the following command with the tree program:

tree -P '*name*'

This works exactly as I want. But when I create an alias for this command, the command behaves differently: It only prints directories and not files.

In .bash_aliases

function tree_seek {
tree -P '*$1*' 

alias treeseek='tree_seek'

Why does the alias treeseek name does not do the same as tree -P '*name*'.

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@artistoex Could you elaborate on that? From what I can tell, this is no different from the deleted answer you commented on, since double-quoted asterisks aren't subject to expansion, so tree -P "*$1*" should work as well. –  Daniel Beck Feb 14 '13 at 10:53
Indeed, using double quotes like Daniel Beck said works as well. Could you post this as a seperate answer? –  Bentley4 Feb 14 '13 at 10:56
Aliases don't handle arguments, use a shell function. –  vonbrand Feb 15 '13 at 3:27
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1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote accepted

In Bash, single quotes won't interpolate anything. Try using double quotes in your function instead:

function tree_seek() {
  tree -P "*$1*" 

alias treeseek='tree_seek'
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@daniel-beck: Sorry, I certainly didn't mean to hijack your answer. I didn't see your comment before I posted my answer. –  Eero Helenius Feb 14 '13 at 10:58
+1 for finding out and for your apologies to Daniel Beck. –  jaume Feb 14 '13 at 11:17
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