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Archive-Name: unix-faq/shell/zsh
Last-Modified: 1997/01/24
Submitted-By: pws@amtp.liv.ac.uk (Peter Stephenson)
Version: Id: zsh.FAQ,v 2.23 1997/01/24 13:21:16 pws Exp
Frequency: Monthly
Copyright: (C) P.W. Stephenson, 1995, 1996 (see end of document)

Changes since last issue

This document contains a list of frequently-asked (or otherwise significant) questions concerning the Z-shell, a command interpreter for many UNIX systems which is freely available to anyone with FTP access. Zsh is among the most powerful freely available Bourne-like shell for interactive use.

If you have never heard of sh, csh or ksh, then you are probably better off to start by reading a general introduction to UNIX rather than this document.

If you just want to know how to get your hands on the latest version, skip to question A5; if you want to know what to do with insoluble problems, go to Z2).

Notation: Quotes `like this' are ordinary textual quotation marks. You can also review the mark-up conventions I (Mark Borges) have tried to use throughout this FAQ and zsh page.

Section A: Introducing zsh and how to install it

A0) Sources of information
A1) What is it?
A2) What is it good at?
A3) On what machines will it run? (Plus important compilation notes)
A4) What's the latest version?
A5) Where do I get it?
A6) I don't have root access: how do I make zsh my login shell?

Section B: How does zsh differ from...?

B1) sh and ksh?
B2) csh?
B3) Why do my csh aliases not work? (Plus other alias pitfalls.)
B4) tcsh?
B5) bash?
B6) Shouldn't zsh be more/less like ksh/(t)csh?

Section C: How to get various things to work

C1) Why does `$var' where var="foo bar" not do what I expect?
C2) How do I turn off spelling correction/globbing for an individual command?
C3) How do I get the meta key to work on my xterm?
C4) How do I automatically display the directory in my xterm title bar?
C5) Why does my terminal act funny in some way?
C6) Why do my autoloaded functions not autoload [the first time]?
C7) How does base arithmetic work?
C8) How do I get a newline in my prompt?
C9) Why does bindkey ^a command-name or stty intr ^- do something funny?
C10) Why can't I bind \C-s and \C-q any more?
C11) How do I execute command `foo' within function `foo'?
C12) Why do history substitutions with single bangs do something funny?
C13) Why does zsh kill off all my background jobs when I logout?
C14) How do I list all my history entries?

Section D: The mysteries of completion

D1) What is completion?
D2) What sorts of things can be completed?
D3) How does zsh deal with ambiguous completions?
D4) How do I get started with programmable completion?
D5) And if programmable completion isn't good enough?

Section Z: The future of zsh

Z1) What bugs are currently known and unfixed? (Plus recent important changes)
Z2) Where do I report bugs, get more info / who's working on zsh?
Z3) What's on the wish-list?

Acknowledgments

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Copyright © 1995 P.W. Stephenson and Mark D. Borges