.bash_profile aliases: command not found

Question

I cannot get my .bash_profile aliases to work on my Mac OSX Terminal. I created a .bash_profile file in my ~/ directory, then wrote two lines:

echo bash profile has loaded

alias prof=“open ~/.bash_profile”

I saved and entered in Terminal command:

. ~/.bash_profile

Terminal displayed:

bash profile has loaded

-bash: alias: /Users/kennethlarose/.bash_profile”: not found

I've been reading up on alias profiles, and I believe my syntax is valid. I know the profile is sourcing because it displays the echo, but Terminal will show the same 'not found' message no matter what command I save in the alias. Does anybody know what else I can try?

I just got this same error but it seems to have been because the command I wanted to alias was too long. When I tried the same format with a much shorter command it worked fine. So if you're trying to fun a very long command (not this case but a head's up for other readers), you should drop the command in a file and make the file executable like so stackoverflow.com/questions/817060/… — Sunnyside Productions
– Sunnyside Productions, Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 15:28

that other guy · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-15 01:24:39Z

32

Let's ask shellcheck!

In .bash_profile line 2:
alias prof=“open ~/.bash_profile”
           ^-- SC1015: This is a unicode double quote. Delete and retype it.

There's your problem. OS X has turned your double quotes into fancy slanted quotes that bash doesn't recognize. If you're programming, you may want to disable "smart quotes".

answered Aug 15, 2014 at 1:24

that other guy

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3 Comments

jaypal singh Over a year ago

Gee! That link helped me resolve the automatic spell check feature that was bugging the crap out of me. +1 for that.

Jim Tierney Over a year ago

Genius answer, why hasn't this been marked up to over 1000 already? Cheers

cggarvey Over a year ago

Thank you for this! I was racking my brain trying to figure out why a dead-simple alias wouldn't work properly.

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