Guideline for aliases

Guideline for aliases and short-functions in Shell.

1. General
2. Format
3. Code style

General

An alias/short-function ...

• is categorized.
• has a description.

Format

Alias and short-function files are created in the following format:

# ======= #.  SECTION NAME =====================================

#[Subsection name]
alias a1Name='alias start...                           ...a1 end'                # a1Name: description
alias a2Name='alias start...                                          ...a2 end' # a2Name: description
alias a3Name='alias start...                                                              ...a3 end' # a3Name: description
f1Name() { f1 line 1 start...                                ...f1 line 1 end; } # f1Name: description
f2Name() { f2 line 1 start...                                 ...f2 line 1 end \
  f2 line 2 start...                               ...f2 line 2 end; }           # f2Name: description

Sections

• All aliases and short-functions are placed under a section and subsection.
• The equals character ("=") line always ends at column 65.

Maximum lengths

• An alias is no more than one line and has a maximum length of 100 characters (discluding the description).
• A short function is no more than two lines and each has a maximum length of 80 characters (discluding the description). (Note: A short-function is changed to a one-liner if it is more than 2 lines).

Line continuation

• A short-function is continued on the next line with the last (space-separated) word that exceeds the 80 character limit.
• A continued line is indented 2 spaces.

Description

• The comment specifier ("#") starts on column 82 or one space after an alias longer than 80 characters.
• A description is all lowercase letters with the exception of names and acronymns.

---

For an example, see aliases-linux-output_only-single-value.bash.

Code style

General

Variables

• A variable name uses acronyms whenever possible.

Bash

Variables

• A non-global variable inside a function is declared local.

---

All other code style rules are up to the contributor.