Cookbook: Storing aliases

Like macros, aliases can be %store'd. Writing a simple alias can be a good alternative to writing a trivial script; here I introduce an alias called 'publish' to copy the specified folder to a "publishing area" where others can acces it, and make the alias available in subsequent sessions:

> alias publish cp -r %s n:/Public/Files/pub
> %store publish

Now, after %Exit and restarting the ipython session, "publish" remains available. Also note the use of '%s' as an alias argument placeholder.

This can also be a handy way to avoid adding places to PATH:

[\]|79> alias vlc q:/opt/VLC/vlc.exe
[\]|80> %store vlc
Alias stored: vlc (0, 'q:/opt/VLC/vlc.exe')

Or to override stupid binaries like window's "FIND.exe" with cygwin's find:

[~]|47> alias find q:/cygwin/bin/find.exe
[~]|48> store find

To see what aliases you have stored, check the 'stored_aliases' variable in the persistent "pickleshare" database:

[ipython]|44> _ip.db.keys
------------> _ip.db.keys()
         <44>
['autorestore/radio_chillout',
 'autorestore/radio_harddance',
 'autorestore/radio_trance',
 'bookmarks',
 'stored_aliases',
 'syscmdlist']
[ipython]|45> _ip.db['stored_aliases']
         <45>
{'d': (0, 'ls.exe -F --color=auto'),
 'find': (0, 'q:\\cygwin\\bin\\find.exe'),
 'hg': (0, 'q:\\opt\\Mercurial\\hg.exe'),
 'irssi': (0, 'Q:\\opt\\irssi\\irssi.bat'),
 'kdiff': (0, 'q:/opt/KDiff3/kdiff3.exe'),
 'np': (0, 'q:/opt/np/notepad++.exe'),
 'rm': (0, 'q:\\cygwin\\bin\\rm.exe'),
 'telkku': (0, 'start http://telkku.com'),
 'vi': (0, 'vim'),
 'vlc': (0, 'q:/opt/VLC/vlc.exe')}
[ipython]|46>

Or more conveniently, execute %alias without arguments and see the last few aliases - they are probably either %store'd, er defined manually in some config file:

[ipython]|43> alias
Total number of aliases: 710
         <43>
[('ACE', 'ACE'),
 ('ACE2', 'ACE2'),
 ('ACE32', 'ACE32'),

...

 ('xxd', 'xxd'),
 ('yes', 'yes'),
 ('zcat', 'zcat'),
 ('d', 'ls.exe -F --color=auto'),
 ('ddir', 'dir /ad /on'),
 ('find', 'q:\\cygwin\\bin\\find.exe'),
 ('hg', 'q:\\opt\\Mercurial\\hg.exe'),
 ('irssi', 'Q:\\opt\\irssi\\irssi.bat'),
 ('kdiff', 'q:/opt/KDiff3/kdiff3.exe'),
 ('ldir', 'dir /ad /on'),
 ('np', 'q:/opt/np/notepad++.exe'),
 ('rm', 'q:\\cygwin\\bin\\rm.exe'),
 ('telkku', 'start http://telkku.com'),
 ('vi', 'vim'),
 ('vlc', 'q:/opt/VLC/vlc.exe')]
[ipython]|44>