I have been trying to get the Git status on my bash prompt but haven't had any success. The color variables work so it's not them. Here is my PS1 and parse function.
PS1="${GREEN}ganymede@${BLUE}dawson:${ICYAN}\W${RESET}${IYELLOW} $(parse_git_branch) $ "
parse_git_branch() {
git branch 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/ (\1)/'
}
What is missing from my PS1?
Thanks Dawson
The line:
PS1="$anything"
or:
PS1="$(command)"
written this way means: evaluate $anything now or run command now, i.e., at the time you're setting the variable PS1. Let's suppose that $anything or command prints hello. The final result is:
PS1=hello
after which the prompt you'll get is the constant string hello.
You'd like PS1 to contain, among other things, the string $(parse_git_branch). That means you must quote the dollar sign, e.g.:
PS1=\$\(parse_git_branch\)
or:
PS1="\$(parse_git_branch)"
or:
PS1='$(parse_git_branch)'
If you're willing to let all $var expansions take place later, the single quote method is simple and effective. If you want some expansions to take place now, consider, e.g.:
PS1="${GREEN}ganymede@${BLUE}dawson:${ICYAN}\W${RESET}${IYELLOW} \$(parse_git_branch) $ "
or:
PS1="${GREEN}ganymede@${BLUE}dawson:${ICYAN}\W${RESET}${IYELLOW} "'$(parse_git_branch) $ '
Note that the unquoted SPACE$SPACE in some of these is "safe" because $SPACE remains unchanged during expansion.
__git_ps1which returns the branch or hash ofHEADin brackets. It's often used inPS1. The function also prints extra status indicating rebase, sparse checkout, conflicts.