Provided by: zsh-common_5.9-6ubuntu2_all 
NAME
zshoptions - zsh options
SPECIFYING OPTIONS
Options are primarily referred to by name. These names are case insensitive and
underscores are ignored. For example, `allexport' is equivalent to `A__lleXP_ort'.
The sense of an option name may be inverted by preceding it with `no', so `setopt No_Beep'
is equivalent to `unsetopt beep'. This inversion can only be done once, so `nonobeep' is
not a synonym for `beep'. Similarly, `tify' is not a synonym for `nonotify' (the
inversion of `notify').
Some options also have one or more single letter names. There are two sets of single
letter options: one used by default, and another used to emulate sh/ksh (used when the
SH_OPTION_LETTERS option is set). The single letter options can be used on the shell
command line, or with the set, setopt and unsetopt builtins, as normal Unix options
preceded by `-'.
The sense of the single letter options may be inverted by using `+' instead of `-'. Some
of the single letter option names refer to an option being off, in which case the
inversion of that name refers to the option being on. For example, `+n' is the short name
of `exec', and `-n' is the short name of its inversion, `noexec'.
In strings of single letter options supplied to the shell at startup, trailing whitespace
will be ignored; for example the string `-f ' will be treated just as `-f', but the
string `-f i' is an error. This is because many systems which implement the `#!'
mechanism for calling scripts do not strip trailing whitespace.
It is possible for options to be set within a function scope. See the description of the
option LOCAL_OPTIONS below.
DESCRIPTION OF OPTIONS
In the following list, options set by default in all emulations are marked <D>; those set
by default only in csh, ksh, sh, or zsh emulations are marked <C>, <K>, <S>, <Z> as
appropriate. When listing options (by `setopt', `unsetopt', `set -o' or `set +o'), those
turned on by default appear in the list prefixed with `no'. Hence (unless
KSH_OPTION_PRINT is set), `setopt' shows all options whose settings are changed from the
default.
Changing Directories
AUTO_CD (-J)
If a command is issued that can't be executed as a normal command, and the command
is the name of a directory, perform the cd command to that directory. This option
is only applicable if the option SHIN_STDIN is set, i.e. if commands are being read
from standard input. The option is designed for interactive use; it is recommended
that cd be used explicitly in scripts to avoid ambiguity.
AUTO_PUSHD (-N)
Make cd push the old directory onto the directory stack.
CDABLE_VARS (-T)
If the argument to a cd command (or an implied cd with the AUTO_CD option set) is
not a directory, and does not begin with a slash, try to expand the expression as
if it were preceded by a `~' (see the section `Filename Expansion').
CD_SILENT
Never print the working directory after a cd (whether explicit or implied with the
AUTO_CD option set). cd normally prints the working directory when the argument
given to it was -, a stack entry, or the name of a directory found under CDPATH.
Note that this is distinct from pushd's stack-printing behaviour, which is
controlled by PUSHD_SILENT. This option overrides the printing-related effects of
POSIX_CD.
CHASE_DOTS
When changing to a directory containing a path segment `..' which would otherwise
be treated as canceling the previous segment in the path (in other words, `foo/..'
would be removed from the path, or if `..' is the first part of the path, the last
part of the current working directory would be removed), instead resolve the path
to the physical directory. This option is overridden by CHASE_LINKS.
For example, suppose /foo/bar is a link to the directory /alt/rod. Without this
option set, `cd /foo/bar/..' changes to /foo; with it set, it changes to /alt. The
same applies if the current directory is /foo/bar and `cd ..' is used. Note that
all other symbolic links in the path will also be resolved.
CHASE_LINKS (-w)
Resolve symbolic links to their true values when changing directory. This also has
the effect of CHASE_DOTS, i.e. a `..' path segment will be treated as referring to
the physical parent, even if the preceding path segment is a symbolic link.
POSIX_CD <K> <S>
Modifies the behaviour of cd, chdir and pushd commands to make them more compatible
with the POSIX standard. The behaviour with the option unset is described in the
documentation for the cd builtin in zshbuiltins(1). If the option is set, the
shell does not test for directories beneath the local directory (`.') until after
all directories in cdpath have been tested, and the cd and chdir commands do not
recognise arguments of the form `{+|-}n' as directory stack entries.
Also, if the option is set, the conditions under which the shell prints the new
directory after changing to it are modified. It is no longer restricted to
interactive shells (although printing of the directory stack with pushd is still
limited to interactive shells); and any use of a component of CDPATH, including a
`.' but excluding an empty component that is otherwise treated as `.', causes the
directory to be printed.
PUSHD_IGNORE_DUPS
Don't push multiple copies of the same directory onto the directory stack.
PUSHD_MINUS
Exchanges the meanings of `+' and `-' when used with a number to specify a
directory in the stack.
PUSHD_SILENT (-E)
Do not print the directory stack after pushd or popd.
PUSHD_TO_HOME (-D)
Have pushd with no arguments act like `pushd $HOME'.
Completion
ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT <D>
If unset, key functions that list completions try to return to the last prompt if
given a numeric argument. If set these functions try to return to the last prompt
if given no numeric argument.
ALWAYS_TO_END
If a completion is performed with the cursor within a word, and a full completion
is inserted, the cursor is moved to the end of the word. That is, the cursor is
moved to the end of the word if either a single match is inserted or menu
completion is performed.
AUTO_LIST (-9) <D>
Automatically list choices on an ambiguous completion.
AUTO_MENU <D>
Automatically use menu completion after the second consecutive request for
completion, for example by pressing the tab key repeatedly. This option is
overridden by MENU_COMPLETE.
AUTO_NAME_DIRS
Any parameter that is set to the absolute name of a directory immediately becomes a
name for that directory, that will be used by the `%~' and related prompt
sequences, and will be available when completion is performed on a word starting
with `~'. (Otherwise, the parameter must be used in the form `~param' first.)
AUTO_PARAM_KEYS <D>
If a parameter name was completed and a following character (normally a space)
automatically inserted, and the next character typed is one of those that have to
come directly after the name (like `}', `:', etc.), the automatically added
character is deleted, so that the character typed comes immediately after the
parameter name. Completion in a brace expansion is affected similarly: the added
character is a `,', which will be removed if `}' is typed next.
AUTO_PARAM_SLASH <D>
If a parameter is completed whose content is the name of a directory, then add a
trailing slash instead of a space.
AUTO_REMOVE_SLASH <D>
When the last character resulting from a completion is a slash and the next
character typed is a word delimiter, a slash, or a character that ends a command
(such as a semicolon or an ampersand), remove the slash.
BASH_AUTO_LIST
On an ambiguous completion, automatically list choices when the completion function
is called twice in succession. This takes precedence over AUTO_LIST. The setting
of LIST_AMBIGUOUS is respected. If AUTO_MENU is set, the menu behaviour will then
start with the third press. Note that this will not work with MENU_COMPLETE, since
repeated completion calls immediately cycle through the list in that case.
COMPLETE_ALIASES
Prevents aliases on the command line from being internally substituted before
completion is attempted. The effect is to make the alias a distinct command for
completion purposes.
COMPLETE_IN_WORD
If unset, the cursor is set to the end of the word if completion is started.
Otherwise it stays there and completion is done from both ends.
GLOB_COMPLETE
When the current word has a glob pattern, do not insert all the words resulting
from the expansion but generate matches as for completion and cycle through them
like MENU_COMPLETE. The matches are generated as if a `*' was added to the end of
the word, or inserted at the cursor when COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set. This actually
uses pattern matching, not globbing, so it works not only for files but for any
completion, such as options, user names, etc.
Note that when the pattern matcher is used, matching control (for example,
case-insensitive or anchored matching) cannot be used. This limitation only
applies when the current word contains a pattern; simply turning on the
GLOB_COMPLETE option does not have this effect.
HASH_LIST_ALL <D>
Whenever a command completion or spelling correction is attempted, make sure the
entire command path is hashed first. This makes the first completion slower but
avoids false reports of spelling errors.
LIST_AMBIGUOUS <D>
This option works when AUTO_LIST or BASH_AUTO_LIST is also set. If there is an
unambiguous prefix to insert on the command line, that is done without a completion
list being displayed; in other words, auto-listing behaviour only takes place when
nothing would be inserted. In the case of BASH_AUTO_LIST, this means that the list
will be delayed to the third call of the function.
LIST_BEEP <D>
Beep on an ambiguous completion. More accurately, this forces the completion
widgets to return status 1 on an ambiguous completion, which causes the shell to
beep if the option BEEP is also set; this may be modified if completion is called
from a user-defined widget.
LIST_PACKED
Try to make the completion list smaller (occupying less lines) by printing the
matches in columns with different widths.
LIST_ROWS_FIRST
Lay out the matches in completion lists sorted horizontally, that is, the second
match is to the right of the first one, not under it as usual.
LIST_TYPES (-X) <D>
When listing files that are possible completions, show the type of each file with a
trailing identifying mark.
MENU_COMPLETE (-Y)
On an ambiguous completion, instead of listing possibilities or beeping, insert the
first match immediately. Then when completion is requested again, remove the first
match and insert the second match, etc. When there are no more matches, go back to
the first one again. reverse-menu-complete may be used to loop through the list in
the other direction. This option overrides AUTO_MENU.
REC_EXACT (-S)
If the string on the command line exactly matches one of the possible completions,
it is accepted, even if there is another completion (i.e. that string with
something else added) that also matches.
Expansion and Globbing
BAD_PATTERN (+2) <C> <Z>
If a pattern for filename generation is badly formed, print an error message. (If
this option is unset, the pattern will be left unchanged.)
BARE_GLOB_QUAL <Z>
In a glob pattern, treat a trailing set of parentheses as a qualifier list, if it
contains no `|', `(' or (if special) `~' characters. See the section `Filename
Generation'.
BRACE_CCL
Expand expressions in braces which would not otherwise undergo brace expansion to a
lexically ordered list of all the characters. See the section `Brace Expansion'.
CASE_GLOB <D>
Make globbing (filename generation) sensitive to case. Note that other uses of
patterns are always sensitive to case. If the option is unset, the presence of any
character which is special to filename generation will cause case-insensitive
matching. For example, cvs(/) can match the directory CVS owing to the presence of
the globbing flag (unless the option BARE_GLOB_QUAL is unset).
CASE_MATCH <D>
Make regular expressions using the zsh/regex module (including matches with =~)
sensitive to case.
CASE_PATHS
If CASE_PATHS is not set (the default), CASE_GLOB affects the interpretation of
every path component, whenever a special character appears in any component. When
CASE_PATHS is set, file path components that do not contain special filename
generation characters are always sensitive to case, thus restricting NO_CASE_GLOB
to components that contain globbing characters.
Note that if the filesystem itself is not sensitive to case, then CASE_PATHS has no
effect.
CSH_NULL_GLOB <C>
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, delete the pattern from the
argument list; do not report an error unless all the patterns in a command have no
matches. Overrides NOMATCH.
EQUALS <Z>
Perform = filename expansion. (See the section `Filename Expansion'.)
EXTENDED_GLOB
Treat the `#', `~' and `^' characters as part of patterns for filename generation,
etc. (An initial unquoted `~' always produces named directory expansion.)
FORCE_FLOAT
Constants in arithmetic evaluation will be treated as floating point even without
the use of a decimal point; the values of integer variables will be converted to
floating point when used in arithmetic expressions. Integers in any base will be
converted.
GLOB (+F, ksh: +f) <D>
Perform filename generation (globbing). (See the section `Filename Generation'.)
GLOB_ASSIGN <C>
If this option is set, filename generation (globbing) is performed on the right
hand side of scalar parameter assignments of the form `name=pattern (e.g. `foo=*').
If the result has more than one word the parameter will become an array with those
words as arguments. This option is provided for backwards compatibility only:
globbing is always performed on the right hand side of array assignments of the
form `name=(value)' (e.g. `foo=(*)') and this form is recommended for clarity; with
this option set, it is not possible to predict whether the result will be an array
or a scalar.
GLOB_DOTS (-4)
Do not require a leading `.' in a filename to be matched explicitly.
GLOB_STAR_SHORT
When this option is set and the default zsh-style globbing is in effect, the
pattern `**/*' can be abbreviated to `**' and the pattern `***/*' can be
abbreviated to ***. Hence `**.c' finds a file ending in .c in any subdirectory,
and `***.c' does the same while also following symbolic links. A / immediately
after the `**' or `***' forces the pattern to be treated as the unabbreviated form.
GLOB_SUBST <C> <K> <S>
Treat any characters resulting from parameter expansion as being eligible for
filename expansion and filename generation, and any characters resulting from
command substitution as being eligible for filename generation. Braces (and commas
in between) do not become eligible for expansion.
HIST_SUBST_PATTERN
Substitutions using the :s and :& history modifiers are performed with pattern
matching instead of string matching. This occurs wherever history modifiers are
valid, including glob qualifiers and parameters. See the section `Modifiers' in
zshexpn(1).
IGNORE_BRACES (-I) <S>
Do not perform brace expansion. For historical reasons this also includes the
effect of the IGNORE_CLOSE_BRACES option.
IGNORE_CLOSE_BRACES
When neither this option nor IGNORE_BRACES is set, a sole close brace character `}'
is syntactically significant at any point on a command line. This has the effect
that no semicolon or newline is necessary before the brace terminating a function
or current shell construct. When either option is set, a closing brace is
syntactically significant only in command position. Unlike IGNORE_BRACES, this
option does not disable brace expansion.
For example, with both options unset a function may be defined in the following
fashion:
args() { echo $# }
while if either option is set, this does not work and something equivalent to the
following is required:
args() { echo $#; }
KSH_GLOB <K>
In pattern matching, the interpretation of parentheses is affected by a preceding
`@', `*', `+', `?' or `!'. See the section `Filename Generation'.
MAGIC_EQUAL_SUBST
All unquoted arguments of the form `anything=expression' appearing after the
command name have filename expansion (that is, where expression has a leading `~'
or `=') performed on expression as if it were a parameter assignment. The argument
is not otherwise treated specially; it is passed to the command as a single
argument, and not used as an actual parameter assignment. For example, in echo
foo=~/bar:~/rod, both occurrences of ~ would be replaced. Note that this happens
anyway with typeset and similar statements.
This option respects the setting of the KSH_TYPESET option. In other words, if
both options are in effect, arguments looking like assignments will not undergo
word splitting.
MARK_DIRS (-8, ksh: -X)
Append a trailing `/' to all directory names resulting from filename generation
(globbing).
MULTIBYTE <D>
Respect multibyte characters when found in strings. When this option is set,
strings are examined using the system library to determine how many bytes form a
character, depending on the current locale. This affects the way characters are
counted in pattern matching, parameter values and various delimiters.
The option is on by default if the shell was compiled with MULTIBYTE_SUPPORT;
otherwise it is off by default and has no effect if turned on.
If the option is off a single byte is always treated as a single character. This
setting is designed purely for examining strings known to contain raw bytes or
other values that may not be characters in the current locale. It is not necessary
to unset the option merely because the character set for the current locale does
not contain multibyte characters.
The option does not affect the shell's editor, which always uses the locale to
determine multibyte characters. This is because the character set displayed by the
terminal emulator is independent of shell settings.
NOMATCH (+3) <C> <Z>
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, print an error, instead of
leaving it unchanged in the argument list. This also applies to file expansion of
an initial `~' or `='.
NULL_GLOB (-G)
If a pattern for filename generation has no matches, delete the pattern from the
argument list instead of reporting an error. Overrides NOMATCH.
NUMERIC_GLOB_SORT
If numeric filenames are matched by a filename generation pattern, sort the
filenames numerically rather than lexicographically.
RC_EXPAND_PARAM (-P)
Array expansions of the form `foo${xx}bar', where the parameter xx is set to (a b
c), are substituted with `fooabar foobbar foocbar' instead of the default `fooa b
cbar'. Note that an empty array will therefore cause all arguments to be removed.
REMATCH_PCRE
If set, regular expression matching with the =~ operator will use Perl-Compatible
Regular Expressions from the PCRE library. (The zsh/pcre module must be
available.) If not set, regular expressions will use the extended regexp syntax
provided by the system libraries.
SH_GLOB <K> <S>
Disables the special meaning of `(', `|', `)' and '<' for globbing the result of
parameter and command substitutions, and in some other places where the shell
accepts patterns. If SH_GLOB is set but KSH_GLOB is not, the shell allows the
interpretation of subshell expressions enclosed in parentheses in some cases where
there is no space before the opening parenthesis, e.g. !(true) is interpreted as if
there were a space after the !. This option is set by default if zsh is invoked as
sh or ksh.
UNSET (+u, ksh: +u) <K> <S> <Z>
Treat unset parameters as if they were empty when substituting, and as if they were
zero when reading their values in arithmetic expansion and arithmetic commands.
Otherwise they are treated as an error.
WARN_CREATE_GLOBAL
Print a warning message when a global parameter is created in a function by an
assignment or in math context. This often indicates that a parameter has not been
declared local when it should have been. Parameters explicitly declared global
from within a function using typeset -g do not cause a warning. Note that there is
no warning when a local parameter is assigned to in a nested function, which may
also indicate an error.
WARN_NESTED_VAR
Print a warning message when an existing parameter from an enclosing function
scope, or global, is set in a function by an assignment or in math context.
Assignment to shell special parameters does not cause a warning. This is the
companion to WARN_CREATE_GLOBAL as in this case the warning is only printed when a
parameter is not created. Where possible, use of typeset -g to set the parameter
suppresses the error, but note that this needs to be used every time the parameter
is set. To restrict the effect of this option to a single function scope, use
`functions -W'.
For example, the following code produces a warning for the assignment inside the
function nested as that overrides the value within toplevel
toplevel() {
local foo="in fn"
nested
}
nested() {
foo="in nested"
}
setopt warn_nested_var
toplevel
History
APPEND_HISTORY <D>
If this is set, zsh sessions will append their history list to the history file,
rather than replace it. Thus, multiple parallel zsh sessions will all have the new
entries from their history lists added to the history file, in the order that they
exit. The file will still be periodically re-written to trim it when the number of
lines grows 20% beyond the value specified by $SAVEHIST (see also the
HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY option).
BANG_HIST (+K) <C> <Z>
Perform textual history expansion, csh-style, treating the character `!' specially.
EXTENDED_HISTORY <C>
Save each command's beginning timestamp (in seconds since the epoch) and the
duration (in seconds) to the history file. The format of this prefixed data is:
`: <beginning time>:<elapsed seconds>;<command>'.
HIST_ALLOW_CLOBBER
Add `|' to output redirections in the history. This allows history references to
clobber files even when CLOBBER is unset.
HIST_BEEP <D>
Beep in ZLE when a widget attempts to access a history entry which isn't there.
HIST_EXPIRE_DUPS_FIRST
If the internal history needs to be trimmed to add the current command line,
setting this option will cause the oldest history event that has a duplicate to be
lost before losing a unique event from the list. You should be sure to set the
value of HISTSIZE to a larger number than SAVEHIST in order to give you some room
for the duplicated events, otherwise this option will behave just like
HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS once the history fills up with unique events.
HIST_FCNTL_LOCK
When writing out the history file, by default zsh uses ad-hoc file locking to avoid
known problems with locking on some operating systems. With this option locking is
done by means of the system's fcntl call, where this method is available. On
recent operating systems this may provide better performance, in particular
avoiding history corruption when files are stored on NFS.
HIST_FIND_NO_DUPS
When searching for history entries in the line editor, do not display duplicates of
a line previously found, even if the duplicates are not contiguous.
HIST_IGNORE_ALL_DUPS
If a new command line being added to the history list duplicates an older one, the
older command is removed from the list (even if it is not the previous event).
HIST_IGNORE_DUPS (-h)
Do not enter command lines into the history list if they are duplicates of the
previous event.
HIST_IGNORE_SPACE (-g)
Remove command lines from the history list when the first character on the line is
a space, or when one of the expanded aliases contains a leading space. Only normal
aliases (not global or suffix aliases) have this behaviour. Note that the command
lingers in the internal history until the next command is entered before it
vanishes, allowing you to briefly reuse or edit the line. If you want to make it
vanish right away without entering another command, type a space and press return.
HIST_LEX_WORDS
By default, shell history that is read in from files is split into words on all
white space. This means that arguments with quoted whitespace are not correctly
handled, with the consequence that references to words in history lines that have
been read from a file may be inaccurate. When this option is set, words read in
from a history file are divided up in a similar fashion to normal shell command
line handling. Although this produces more accurately delimited words, if the size
of the history file is large this can be slow. Trial and error is necessary to
decide.
HIST_NO_FUNCTIONS
Remove function definitions from the history list. Note that the function lingers
in the internal history until the next command is entered before it vanishes,
allowing you to briefly reuse or edit the definition.
HIST_NO_STORE
Remove the history (fc -l) command from the history list when invoked. Note that
the command lingers in the internal history until the next command is entered
before it vanishes, allowing you to briefly reuse or edit the line.
HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS
Remove superfluous blanks from each command line being added to the history list.
HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY <D>
When the history file is re-written, we normally write out a copy of the file named
$HISTFILE.new and then rename it over the old one. However, if this option is
unset, we instead truncate the old history file and write out the new version
in-place. If one of the history-appending options is enabled, this option only has
an effect when the enlarged history file needs to be re-written to trim it down to
size. Disable this only if you have special needs, as doing so makes it possible
to lose history entries if zsh gets interrupted during the save.
When writing out a copy of the history file, zsh preserves the old file's
permissions and group information, but will refuse to write out a new file if it
would change the history file's owner.
HIST_SAVE_NO_DUPS
When writing out the history file, older commands that duplicate newer ones are
omitted.
HIST_VERIFY
Whenever the user enters a line with history expansion, don't execute the line
directly; instead, perform history expansion and reload the line into the editing
buffer.
INC_APPEND_HISTORY
This option works like APPEND_HISTORY except that new history lines are added to
the $HISTFILE incrementally (as soon as they are entered), rather than waiting
until the shell exits. The file will still be periodically re-written to trim it
when the number of lines grows 20% beyond the value specified by $SAVEHIST (see
also the HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY option).
INC_APPEND_HISTORY_TIME
This option is a variant of INC_APPEND_HISTORY in which, where possible, the
history entry is written out to the file after the command is finished, so that the
time taken by the command is recorded correctly in the history file in
EXTENDED_HISTORY format. This means that the history entry will not be available
immediately from other instances of the shell that are using the same history file.
This option is only useful if INC_APPEND_HISTORY and SHARE_HISTORY are turned off.
The three options should be considered mutually exclusive.
SHARE_HISTORY <K>
This option both imports new commands from the history file, and also causes your
typed commands to be appended to the history file (the latter is like specifying
INC_APPEND_HISTORY, which should be turned off if this option is in effect). The
history lines are also output with timestamps ala EXTENDED_HISTORY (which makes it
easier to find the spot where we left off reading the file after it gets
re-written).
By default, history movement commands visit the imported lines as well as the local
lines, but you can toggle this on and off with the set-local-history zle binding.
It is also possible to create a zle widget that will make some commands ignore
imported commands, and some include them.
If you find that you want more control over when commands get imported, you may
wish to turn SHARE_HISTORY off, INC_APPEND_HISTORY or INC_APPEND_HISTORY_TIME (see
above) on, and then manually import commands whenever you need them using `fc -RI'.
Initialisation
ALL_EXPORT (-a, ksh: -a)
All parameters subsequently defined are automatically exported.
GLOBAL_EXPORT <Z>
If this option is set, passing the -x flag to the builtins declare, float, integer,
readonly and typeset (but not local) will also set the -g flag; hence parameters
exported to the environment will not be made local to the enclosing function,
unless they were already or the flag +g is given explicitly. If the option is
unset, exported parameters will be made local in just the same way as any other
parameter.
This option is set by default for backward compatibility; it is not recommended
that its behaviour be relied upon. Note that the builtin export always sets both
the -x and -g flags, and hence its effect extends beyond the scope of the enclosing
function; this is the most portable way to achieve this behaviour.
GLOBAL_RCS (+d) <D>
If this option is unset, the startup files /etc/zsh/zprofile, /etc/zsh/zshrc,
/etc/zsh/zlogin and /etc/zsh/zlogout will not be run. It can be disabled and
re-enabled at any time, including inside local startup files (.zshrc, etc.).
RCS (+f) <D>
After /etc/zsh/zshenv is sourced on startup, source the .zshenv, /etc/zsh/zprofile,
.zprofile, /etc/zsh/zshrc, .zshrc, /etc/zsh/zlogin, .zlogin, and .zlogout files, as
described in the section `Files'. If this option is unset, the /etc/zsh/zshenv
file is still sourced, but any of the others will not be; it can be set at any time
to prevent the remaining startup files after the currently executing one from being
sourced.
Input/Output
ALIASES <D>
Expand aliases.
CLOBBER (+C, ksh: +C) <D>
Allows `>' redirection to truncate existing files. Otherwise `>!' or `>|' must be
used to truncate a file.
If the option is not set, and the option APPEND_CREATE is also not set, `>>!' or
`>>|' must be used to create a file. If either option is set, `>>' may be used.
CLOBBER_EMPTY
This option is only used if the option CLOBBER is not set: note that it is set by
default.
If this option is set, then regular files of zero length may be ovewritten
(`clobbered'). Note that it is possible another process has written to the file
between this test and use of the file by the current process. This option should
therefore not be used in cases where files to be clobbered may be written to
asynchronously.
CORRECT (-0)
Try to correct the spelling of commands. Note that, when the HASH_LIST_ALL option
is not set or when some directories in the path are not readable, this may falsely
report spelling errors the first time some commands are used.
The shell variable CORRECT_IGNORE may be set to a pattern to match words that will
never be offered as corrections.
CORRECT_ALL (-O)
Try to correct the spelling of all arguments in a line.
The shell variable CORRECT_IGNORE_FILE may be set to a pattern to match file names
that will never be offered as corrections.
DVORAK Use the Dvorak keyboard instead of the standard qwerty keyboard as a basis for
examining spelling mistakes for the CORRECT and CORRECT_ALL options and the
spell-word editor command.
FLOW_CONTROL <D>
If this option is unset, output flow control via start/stop characters (usually
assigned to ^S/^Q) is disabled in the shell's editor.
IGNORE_EOF (-7)
Do not exit on end-of-file. Require the use of exit or logout instead. However,
ten consecutive EOFs will cause the shell to exit anyway, to avoid the shell
hanging if its tty goes away.
Also, if this option is set and the Zsh Line Editor is used, widgets implemented by
shell functions can be bound to EOF (normally Control-D) without printing the
normal warning message. This works only for normal widgets, not for completion
widgets.
INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS (-k) <K> <S>
Allow comments even in interactive shells.
HASH_CMDS <D>
Note the location of each command the first time it is executed. Subsequent
invocations of the same command will use the saved location, avoiding a path
search. If this option is unset, no path hashing is done at all. However, when
CORRECT is set, commands whose names do not appear in the functions or aliases hash
tables are hashed in order to avoid reporting them as spelling errors.
HASH_DIRS <D>
Whenever a command name is hashed, hash the directory containing it, as well as all
directories that occur earlier in the path. Has no effect if neither HASH_CMDS nor
CORRECT is set.
HASH_EXECUTABLES_ONLY
When hashing commands because of HASH_CMDS, check that the file to be hashed is
actually an executable. This option is unset by default as if the path contains a
large number of commands, or consists of many remote files, the additional tests
can take a long time. Trial and error is needed to show if this option is
beneficial.
MAIL_WARNING (-U)
Print a warning message if a mail file has been accessed since the shell last
checked.
PATH_DIRS (-Q)
Perform a path search even on command names with slashes in them. Thus if
`/usr/local/bin' is in the user's path, and he or she types `X11/xinit', the
command `/usr/local/bin/X11/xinit' will be executed (assuming it exists). Commands
explicitly beginning with `/', `./' or `../' are not subject to the path search.
This also applies to the `.' and source builtins.
Note that subdirectories of the current directory are always searched for
executables specified in this form. This takes place before any search indicated
by this option, and regardless of whether `.' or the current directory appear in
the command search path.
PATH_SCRIPT <K> <S>
If this option is not set, a script passed as the first non-option argument to the
shell must contain the name of the file to open. If this option is set, and the
script does not specify a directory path, the script is looked for first in the
current directory, then in the command path. See the section INVOCATION in zsh(1).
PRINT_EIGHT_BIT
Print eight bit characters literally in completion lists, etc. This option is not
necessary if your system correctly returns the printability of eight bit characters
(see ctype(3)).
PRINT_EXIT_VALUE (-1)
Print the exit value of programs with non-zero exit status. This is only available
at the command line in interactive shells.
RC_QUOTES
Allow the character sequence `''' to signify a single quote within singly quoted
strings. Note this does not apply in quoted strings using the format $'...', where
a backslashed single quote can be used.
RM_STAR_SILENT (-H) <K> <S>
Do not query the user before executing `rm *' or `rm path/*'.
RM_STAR_WAIT
If querying the user before executing `rm *' or `rm path/*', first wait ten seconds
and ignore anything typed in that time. This avoids the problem of reflexively
answering `yes' to the query when one didn't really mean it. The wait and query
can always be avoided by expanding the `*' in ZLE (with tab).
SHORT_LOOPS <C> <Z>
Allow the short forms of for, repeat, select, if, and function constructs.
SHORT_REPEAT
Allow the short form repeat as SHORT_LOOPS but without enabling it for the other
constructs.
SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK (-L)
If a line ends with a backquote, and there are an odd number of backquotes on the
line, ignore the trailing backquote. This is useful on some keyboards where the
return key is too small, and the backquote key lies annoyingly close to it. As an
alternative the variable KEYBOARD_HACK lets you choose the character to be removed.
Job Control
AUTO_CONTINUE
With this option set, stopped jobs that are removed from the job table with the
disown builtin command are automatically sent a CONT signal to make them running.
AUTO_RESUME (-W)
Treat single word simple commands without redirection as candidates for resumption
of an existing job.
BG_NICE (-6) <C> <Z>
Run all background jobs at a lower priority. This option is set by default.
CHECK_JOBS <Z>
Report the status of background and suspended jobs before exiting a shell with job
control; a second attempt to exit the shell will succeed. NO_CHECK_JOBS is best
used only in combination with NO_HUP, else such jobs will be killed automatically.
The check is omitted if the commands run from the previous command line included a
`jobs' command, since it is assumed the user is aware that there are background or
suspended jobs. A `jobs' command run from one of the hook functions defined in the
section SPECIAL FUNCTIONS in zshmisc(1) is not counted for this purpose.
CHECK_RUNNING_JOBS <Z>
Check for both running and suspended jobs when CHECK_JOBS is enabled. When this
option is disabled, zsh checks only for suspended jobs, which matches the default
behavior of bash.
This option has no effect unless CHECK_JOBS is set.
HUP <Z>
Send the HUP signal to running jobs when the shell exits.
LONG_LIST_JOBS (-R)
Print job notifications in the long format by default.
MONITOR (-m, ksh: -m)
Allow job control. Set by default in interactive shells.
NOTIFY (-5, ksh: -b) <Z>
Report the status of background jobs immediately, rather than waiting until just
before printing a prompt.
POSIX_JOBS <K> <S>
This option makes job control more compliant with the POSIX standard.
When the option is not set, the MONITOR option is unset on entry to subshells, so
that job control is no longer active. When the option is set, the MONITOR option
and job control remain active in the subshell, but note that the subshell has no
access to jobs in the parent shell.
When the option is not set, jobs put in the background or foreground with bg or fg
are displayed with the same information that would be reported by jobs. When the
option is set, only the text is printed. The output from jobs itself is not
affected by the option.
When the option is not set, job information from the parent shell is saved for
output within a subshell (for example, within a pipeline). When the option is set,
the output of jobs is empty until a job is started within the subshell.
In previous versions of the shell, it was necessary to enable POSIX_JOBS in order
for the builtin command wait to return the status of background jobs that had
already exited. This is no longer the case.
Prompting
PROMPT_BANG <K>
If set, `!' is treated specially in prompt expansion. See EXPANSION OF PROMPT
SEQUENCES in zshmisc(1).
PROMPT_CR (+V) <D>
Print a carriage return just before printing a prompt in the line editor. This is
on by default as multi-line editing is only possible if the editor knows where the
start of the line appears.
PROMPT_SP <D>
Attempt to preserve a partial line (i.e. a line that did not end with a newline)
that would otherwise be covered up by the command prompt due to the PROMPT_CR
option. This works by outputting some cursor-control characters, including a
series of spaces, that should make the terminal wrap to the next line when a
partial line is present (note that this is only successful if your terminal has
automatic margins, which is typical).
When a partial line is preserved, by default you will see an inverse+bold character
at the end of the partial line: a `%' for a normal user or a `#' for root. If
set, the shell parameter PROMPT_EOL_MARK can be used to customize how the end of
partial lines are shown.
NOTE: if the PROMPT_CR option is not set, enabling this option will have no effect.
This option is on by default.
PROMPT_PERCENT <C> <Z>
If set, `%' is treated specially in prompt expansion. See EXPANSION OF PROMPT
SEQUENCES in zshmisc(1).
PROMPT_SUBST <K> <S>
If set, parameter expansion, command substitution and arithmetic expansion are
performed in prompts. Substitutions within prompts do not affect the command
status.
TRANSIENT_RPROMPT
Remove any right prompt from display when accepting a command line. This may be
useful with terminals with other cut/paste methods.
Scripts and Functions
ALIAS_FUNC_DEF <S>
By default, zsh does not allow the definition of functions using the `name ()'
syntax if name was expanded as an alias: this causes an error. This is usually the
desired behaviour, as otherwise the combination of an alias and a function based on
the same definition can easily cause problems.
When this option is set, aliases can be used for defining functions.
For example, consider the following definitions as they might occur in a startup
file.
alias foo=bar
foo() {
print This probably does not do what you expect.
}
Here, foo is expanded as an alias to bar before the () is encountered, so the
function defined would be named bar. By default this is instead an error in native
mode. Note that quoting any part of the function name, or using the keyword
function, avoids the problem, so is recommended when the function name can also be
an alias.
C_BASES
Output hexadecimal numbers in the standard C format, for example `0xFF' instead of
the usual `16#FF'. If the option OCTAL_ZEROES is also set (it is not by default),
octal numbers will be treated similarly and hence appear as `077' instead of
`8#77'. This option has no effect on the choice of the output base, nor on the
output of bases other than hexadecimal and octal. Note that these formats will be
understood on input irrespective of the setting of C_BASES.
C_PRECEDENCES
This alters the precedence of arithmetic operators to be more like C and other
programming languages; the section ARITHMETIC EVALUATION in zshmisc(1) has an
explicit list.
DEBUG_BEFORE_CMD <D>
Run the DEBUG trap before each command; otherwise it is run after each command.
Setting this option mimics the behaviour of ksh 93; with the option unset the
behaviour is that of ksh 88.
ERR_EXIT (-e, ksh: -e)
If a command has a non-zero exit status, execute the ZERR trap, if set, and exit.
This is disabled while running initialization scripts.
The behaviour is also disabled inside DEBUG traps. In this case the option is
handled specially: it is unset on entry to the trap. If the option
DEBUG_BEFORE_CMD is set, as it is by default, and the option ERR_EXIT is found to
have been set on exit, then the command for which the DEBUG trap is being executed
is skipped. The option is restored after the trap exits.
Non-zero status in a command list containing && or || is ignored for commands not
at the end of the list. Hence
false && true
does not trigger exit.
Exiting due to ERR_EXIT has certain interactions with asynchronous jobs noted in
the section JOBS in zshmisc(1).
ERR_RETURN
If a command has a non-zero exit status, return immediately from the enclosing
function. The logic is similar to that for ERR_EXIT, except that an implicit
return statement is executed instead of an exit. This will trigger an exit at the
outermost level of a non-interactive script.
Normally this option inherits the behaviour of ERR_EXIT that code followed by `&&'
`||' does not trigger a return. Hence in the following:
summit || true
no return is forced as the combined effect always has a zero return status.
Note. however, that if summit in the above example is itself a function, code
inside it is considered separately: it may force a return from summit (assuming the
option remains set within summit), but not from the enclosing context. This
behaviour is different from ERR_EXIT which is unaffected by function scope.
EVAL_LINENO <Z>
If set, line numbers of expressions evaluated using the builtin eval are tracked
separately of the enclosing environment. This applies both to the parameter LINENO
and the line number output by the prompt escape %i. If the option is set, the
prompt escape %N will output the string `(eval)' instead of the script or function
name as an indication. (The two prompt escapes are typically used in the
parameter PS4 to be output when the option XTRACE is set.) If EVAL_LINENO is
unset, the line number of the surrounding script or function is retained during the
evaluation.
EXEC (+n, ksh: +n) <D>
Do execute commands. Without this option, commands are read and checked for syntax
errors, but not executed. This option cannot be turned off in an interactive
shell, except when `-n' is supplied to the shell at startup.
FUNCTION_ARGZERO <C> <Z>
When executing a shell function or sourcing a script, set $0 temporarily to the
name of the function/script. Note that toggling FUNCTION_ARGZERO from on to off
(or off to on) does not change the current value of $0. Only the state upon entry
to the function or script has an effect. Compare POSIX_ARGZERO.
LOCAL_LOOPS
When this option is not set, the effect of break and continue commands may
propagate outside function scope, affecting loops in calling functions. When the
option is set in a calling function, a break or a continue that is not caught
within a called function (regardless of the setting of the option within that
function) produces a warning and the effect is cancelled.
LOCAL_OPTIONS <K>
If this option is set at the point of return from a shell function, most options
(including this one) which were in force upon entry to the function are restored;
options that are not restored are PRIVILEGED and RESTRICTED. Otherwise, only this
option, and the LOCAL_LOOPS, XTRACE and PRINT_EXIT_VALUE options are restored.
Hence if this is explicitly unset by a shell function the other options in force at
the point of return will remain so. A shell function can also guarantee itself a
known shell configuration with a formulation like `emulate -L zsh'; the -L
activates LOCAL_OPTIONS.
LOCAL_PATTERNS
If this option is set at the point of return from a shell function, the state of
pattern disables, as set with the builtin command `disable -p', is restored to what
it was when the function was entered. The behaviour of this option is similar to
the effect of LOCAL_OPTIONS on options; hence `emulate -L sh' (or indeed any other
emulation with the -L option) activates LOCAL_PATTERNS.
LOCAL_TRAPS <K>
If this option is set when a signal trap is set inside a function, then the
previous status of the trap for that signal will be restored when the function
exits. Note that this option must be set prior to altering the trap behaviour in a
function; unlike LOCAL_OPTIONS, the value on exit from the function is irrelevant.
However, it does not need to be set before any global trap for that to be correctly
restored by a function. For example,
unsetopt localtraps
trap - INT
fn() { setopt localtraps; trap '' INT; sleep 3; }
will restore normal handling of SIGINT after the function exits.
MULTI_FUNC_DEF <Z>
Allow definitions of multiple functions at once in the form `fn1 fn2...()'; if the
option is not set, this causes a parse error. Definition of multiple functions
with the function keyword is always allowed. Multiple function definitions are not
often used and can cause obscure errors.
MULTIOS <Z>
Perform implicit tees or cats when multiple redirections are attempted (see the
section `Redirection').
OCTAL_ZEROES <S>
Interpret any integer constant beginning with a 0 as octal, per IEEE Std
1003.2-1992 (ISO 9945-2:1993). This is not enabled by default as it causes
problems with parsing of, for example, date and time strings with leading zeroes.
Sequences of digits indicating a numeric base such as the `08' component in `08#77'
are always interpreted as decimal, regardless of leading zeroes.
PIPE_FAIL
By default, when a pipeline exits the exit status recorded by the shell and
returned by the shell variable $? reflects that of the rightmost element of a
pipeline. If this option is set, the exit status instead reflects the status of
the rightmost element of the pipeline that was non-zero, or zero if all elements
exited with zero status.
SOURCE_TRACE
If set, zsh will print an informational message announcing the name of each file it
loads. The format of the output is similar to that for the XTRACE option, with the
message <sourcetrace>. A file may be loaded by the shell itself when it starts up
and shuts down (Startup/Shutdown Files) or by the use of the `source' and `dot'
builtin commands.
TYPESET_SILENT
If this is unset, executing any of the `typeset' family of commands with no options
and a list of parameters that have no values to be assigned but already exist will
display the value of the parameter. If the option is set, they will only be shown
when parameters are selected with the `-m' option. The option `-p' is available
whether or not the option is set.
TYPESET_TO_UNSET <K> <S>
When declaring a new parameter with any of the `typeset' family of related
commands, the parameter remains unset unless and until a value is explicitly
assigned to it, either in the `typeset' command itself or as a later assignment
statement.
VERBOSE (-v, ksh: -v)
Print shell input lines as they are read.
XTRACE (-x, ksh: -x)
Print commands and their arguments as they are executed. The output is preceded by
the value of $PS4, formatted as described in the section EXPANSION OF PROMPT
SEQUENCES in zshmisc(1).
Shell Emulation
APPEND_CREATE <K> <S>
This option only applies when NO_CLOBBER (-C) is in effect.
If this option is not set, the shell will report an error when a append redirection
(>>) is used on a file that does not already exists (the traditional zsh behaviour
of NO_CLOBBER). If the option is set, no error is reported (POSIX behaviour).
BASH_REMATCH
When set, matches performed with the =~ operator will set the BASH_REMATCH array
variable, instead of the default MATCH and match variables. The first element of
the BASH_REMATCH array will contain the entire matched text and subsequent elements
will contain extracted substrings. This option makes more sense when KSH_ARRAYS is
also set, so that the entire matched portion is stored at index 0 and the first
substring is at index 1. Without this option, the MATCH variable contains the
entire matched text and the match array variable contains substrings.
BSD_ECHO <S>
Make the echo builtin compatible with the BSD echo(1) command. This disables
backslashed escape sequences in echo strings unless the -e option is specified.
CONTINUE_ON_ERROR
If a fatal error is encountered (see the section ERRORS in zshmisc(1)), and the
code is running in a script, the shell will resume execution at the next statement
in the script at the top level, in other words outside all functions or shell
constructs such as loops and conditions. This mimics the behaviour of interactive
shells, where the shell returns to the line editor to read a new command; it was
the normal behaviour in versions of zsh before 5.0.1.
CSH_JUNKIE_HISTORY <C>
A history reference without an event specifier will always refer to the previous
command. Without this option, such a history reference refers to the same event as
the previous history reference on the current command line, defaulting to the
previous command.
CSH_JUNKIE_LOOPS <C>
Allow loop bodies to take the form `list; end' instead of `do list; done'.
CSH_JUNKIE_QUOTES <C>
Changes the rules for single- and double-quoted text to match that of csh. These
require that embedded newlines be preceded by a backslash; unescaped newlines will
cause an error message. In double-quoted strings, it is made impossible to escape
`$', ``' or `"' (and `\' itself no longer needs escaping). Command substitutions
are only expanded once, and cannot be nested.
CSH_NULLCMD <C>
Do not use the values of NULLCMD and READNULLCMD when running redirections with no
command. This make such redirections fail (see the section `Redirection').
KSH_ARRAYS <K> <S>
Emulate ksh array handling as closely as possible. If this option is set, array
elements are numbered from zero, an array parameter without subscript refers to the
first element instead of the whole array, and braces are required to delimit a
subscript (`${path[2]}' rather than just `$path[2]') or to apply modifiers to any
parameter (`${PWD:h}' rather than `$PWD:h').
KSH_AUTOLOAD <K> <S>
Emulate ksh function autoloading. This means that when a function is autoloaded,
the corresponding file is merely executed, and must define the function itself.
(By default, the function is defined to the contents of the file. However, the
most common ksh-style case - of the file containing only a simple definition of the
function - is always handled in the ksh-compatible manner.)
KSH_OPTION_PRINT <K>
Alters the way options settings are printed: instead of separate lists of set and
unset options, all options are shown, marked `on' if they are in the non-default
state, `off' otherwise.
KSH_TYPESET
This option is now obsolete: a better appropximation to the behaviour of other
shells is obtained with the reserved word interface to declare, export, float,
integer, local, readonly and typeset. Note that the option is only applied when
the reserved word interface is not in use.
Alters the way arguments to the typeset family of commands, including declare,
export, float, integer, local and readonly, are processed. Without this option,
zsh will perform normal word splitting after command and parameter expansion in
arguments of an assignment; with it, word splitting does not take place in those
cases.
KSH_ZERO_SUBSCRIPT
Treat use of a subscript of value zero in array or string expressions as a
reference to the first element, i.e. the element that usually has the subscript 1.
Ignored if KSH_ARRAYS is also set.
If neither this option nor KSH_ARRAYS is set, accesses to an element of an array or
string with subscript zero return an empty element or string, while attempts to set
element zero of an array or string are treated as an error. However, attempts to
set an otherwise valid subscript range that includes zero will succeed. For
example, if KSH_ZERO_SUBSCRIPT is not set,
array[0]=(element)
is an error, while
array[0,1]=(element)
is not and will replace the first element of the array.
This option is for compatibility with older versions of the shell and is not
recommended in new code.
POSIX_ALIASES <K> <S>
When this option is set, reserved words are not candidates for alias expansion: it
is still possible to declare any of them as an alias, but the alias will never be
expanded. Reserved words are described in the section RESERVED WORDS in
zshmisc(1).
Alias expansion takes place while text is being read; hence when this option is set
it does not take effect until the end of any function or other piece of shell code
parsed as one unit. Note this may cause differences from other shells even when
the option is in effect. For example, when running a command with `zsh -c', or
even `zsh -o posixaliases -c', the entire command argument is parsed as one unit,
so aliases defined within the argument are not available even in later lines. If
in doubt, avoid use of aliases in non-interactive code.
POSIX_ARGZERO
This option may be used to temporarily disable FUNCTION_ARGZERO and thereby restore
the value of $0 to the name used to invoke the shell (or as set by the -c command
line option). For compatibility with previous versions of the shell, emulations
use NO_FUNCTION_ARGZERO instead of POSIX_ARGZERO, which may result in unexpected
scoping of $0 if the emulation mode is changed inside a function or script. To
avoid this, explicitly enable POSIX_ARGZERO in the emulate command:
emulate sh -o POSIX_ARGZERO
Note that NO_POSIX_ARGZERO has no effect unless FUNCTION_ARGZERO was already
enabled upon entry to the function or script.
POSIX_BUILTINS <K> <S>
When this option is set the command builtin can be used to execute shell builtin
commands. Parameter assignments specified before shell functions and special
builtins are kept after the command completes unless the special builtin is
prefixed with the command builtin. Special builtins are ., :, break, continue,
declare, eval, exit, export, integer, local, readonly, return, set, shift, source,
times, trap and unset.
In addition, various error conditions associated with the above builtins or exec
cause a non-interactive shell to exit and an interactive shell to return to its
top-level processing.
Furthermore, functions and shell builtins are not executed after an exec prefix;
the command to be executed must be an external command found in the path.
Furthermore, the getopts builtin behaves in a POSIX-compatible fashion in that the
associated variable OPTIND is not made local to functions, and its value is
calculated differently to match other shells.
Moreover, the warning and special exit code from [[ -o non_existent_option ]] are
suppressed.
POSIX_IDENTIFIERS <K> <S>
When this option is set, only the ASCII characters a to z, A to Z, 0 to 9 and _ may
be used in identifiers (names of shell parameters and modules).
In addition, setting this option limits the effect of parameter substitution with
no braces, so that the expression $# is treated as the parameter $# even if
followed by a valid parameter name. When it is unset, zsh allows expressions of
the form $#name to refer to the length of $name, even for special variables, for
example in expressions such as $#- and $#*.
Another difference is that with the option set assignment to an unset variable in
arithmetic context causes the variable to be created as a scalar rather than a
numeric type. So after `unset t; (( t = 3 ))'. without POSIX_IDENTIFIERS set t has
integer type, while with it set it has scalar type.
When the option is unset and multibyte character support is enabled (i.e. it is
compiled in and the option MULTIBYTE is set), then additionally any alphanumeric
characters in the local character set may be used in identifiers. Note that
scripts and functions written with this feature are not portable, and also that
both options must be set before the script or function is parsed; setting them
during execution is not sufficient as the syntax variable=value has already been
parsed as a command rather than an assignment.
If multibyte character support is not compiled into the shell this option is
ignored; all octets with the top bit set may be used in identifiers. This is
non-standard but is the traditional zsh behaviour.
POSIX_STRINGS <K> <S>
This option affects processing of quoted strings. Currently it only affects the
behaviour of null characters, i.e. character 0 in the portable character set
corresponding to US ASCII.
When this option is not set, null characters embedded within strings of the form
$'...' are treated as ordinary characters. The entire string is maintained within
the shell and output to files where necessary, although owing to restrictions of
the library interface the string is truncated at the null character in file names,
environment variables, or in arguments to external programs.
When this option is set, the $'...' expression is truncated at the null character.
Note that remaining parts of the same string beyond the termination of the quotes
are not truncated.
For example, the command line argument a$'b\0c'd is treated with the option off as
the characters a, b, null, c, d, and with the option on as the characters a, b, d.
POSIX_TRAPS <K> <S>
When this option is set, the usual zsh behaviour of executing traps for EXIT on
exit from shell functions is suppressed. In that case, manipulating EXIT traps
always alters the global trap for exiting the shell; the LOCAL_TRAPS option is
ignored for the EXIT trap.
Also, a return statement executed in a trap with no argument passes back from the
function the value from the surrounding context, not from code executed within the
trap.
Furthermore, if a trap is set to be ignored, this state persists when a subshell is
entered. Without the option, the trap would be reset to its default state at this
point.
SH_FILE_EXPANSION <K> <S>
Perform filename expansion (e.g., ~ expansion) before parameter expansion, command
substitution, arithmetic expansion and brace expansion. If this option is unset,
it is performed after brace expansion, so things like `~$USERNAME' and
`~{pfalstad,rc}' will work.
SH_NULLCMD <K> <S>
Do not use the values of NULLCMD and READNULLCMD when doing redirections, use `:'
instead (see the section `Redirection').
SH_OPTION_LETTERS <K> <S>
If this option is set the shell tries to interpret single letter options (which are
used with set and setopt) like ksh does. This also affects the value of the -
special parameter.
SH_WORD_SPLIT (-y) <K> <S>
Causes field splitting to be performed on unquoted parameter expansions. Note that
this option has nothing to do with word splitting. (See zshexpn(1).)
TRAPS_ASYNC
While waiting for a program to exit, handle signals and run traps immediately.
Otherwise the trap is run after a child process has exited. Note this does not
affect the point at which traps are run for any case other than when the shell is
waiting for a child process.
Shell State
INTERACTIVE (-i, ksh: -i)
This is an interactive shell. This option is set upon initialisation if the
standard input is a tty and commands are being read from standard input. (See the
discussion of SHIN_STDIN.) This heuristic may be overridden by specifying a state
for this option on the command line. The value of this option can only be changed
via flags supplied at invocation of the shell. It cannot be changed once zsh is
running.
LOGIN (-l, ksh: -l)
This is a login shell. If this option is not explicitly set, the shell becomes a
login shell if the first character of the argv[0] passed to the shell is a `-'.
PRIVILEGED (-p, ksh: -p)
Turn on privileged mode. Typically this is used when script is to be run with
elevated privileges. This should be done as follows directly with the -p option to
zsh so that it takes effect during startup.
#!/bin/zsh -p
The option is enabled automatically on startup if the effective user (group) ID is
not equal to the real user (group) ID. In this case, turning the option off causes
the effective user and group IDs to be set to the real user and group IDs. Be aware
that if that fails the shell may be running with different IDs than was intended so
a script should check for failure and act accordingly, for example:
unsetopt privileged || exit
The PRIVILEGED option disables sourcing user startup files. If zsh is invoked as
`sh' or `ksh' with this option set, /etc/suid_profile is sourced (after
/etc/profile on interactive shells). Sourcing ~/.profile is disabled and the
contents of the ENV variable is ignored. This option cannot be changed using the -m
option of setopt and unsetopt, and changing it inside a function always changes it
globally regardless of the LOCAL_OPTIONS option.
RESTRICTED (-r)
Enables restricted mode. This option cannot be changed using unsetopt, and setting
it inside a function always changes it globally regardless of the LOCAL_OPTIONS
option. See the section `Restricted Shell'.
SHIN_STDIN (-s, ksh: -s)
Commands are being read from the standard input. Commands are read from standard
input if no command is specified with -c and no file of commands is specified. If
SHIN_STDIN is set explicitly on the command line, any argument that would otherwise
have been taken as a file to run will instead be treated as a normal positional
parameter. Note that setting or unsetting this option on the command line does not
necessarily affect the state the option will have while the shell is running - that
is purely an indicator of whether or not commands are actually being read from
standard input. The value of this option can only be changed via flags supplied at
invocation of the shell. It cannot be changed once zsh is running.
SINGLE_COMMAND (-t, ksh: -t)
If the shell is reading from standard input, it exits after a single command has
been executed. This also makes the shell non-interactive, unless the INTERACTIVE
option is explicitly set on the command line. The value of this option can only be
changed via flags supplied at invocation of the shell. It cannot be changed once
zsh is running.
Zle
BEEP (+B) <D>
Beep on error in ZLE.
COMBINING_CHARS
Assume that the terminal displays combining characters correctly. Specifically, if
a base alphanumeric character is followed by one or more zero-width punctuation
characters, assume that the zero-width characters will be displayed as
modifications to the base character within the same width. Not all terminals
handle this. If this option is not set, zero-width characters are displayed
separately with special mark-up.
If this option is set, the pattern test [[:WORD:]] matches a zero-width punctuation
character on the assumption that it will be used as part of a word in combination
with a word character. Otherwise the base shell does not handle combining
characters specially.
EMACS If ZLE is loaded, turning on this option has the equivalent effect of `bindkey -e'.
In addition, the VI option is unset. Turning it off has no effect. The option
setting is not guaranteed to reflect the current keymap. This option is provided
for compatibility; bindkey is the recommended interface.
OVERSTRIKE
Start up the line editor in overstrike mode.
SINGLE_LINE_ZLE (-M) <K>
Use single-line command line editing instead of multi-line.
Note that although this is on by default in ksh emulation it only provides
superficial compatibility with the ksh line editor and reduces the effectiveness of
the zsh line editor. As it has no effect on shell syntax, many users may wish to
disable this option when using ksh emulation interactively.
VI If ZLE is loaded, turning on this option has the equivalent effect of `bindkey -v'.
In addition, the EMACS option is unset. Turning it off has no effect. The option
setting is not guaranteed to reflect the current keymap. This option is provided
for compatibility; bindkey is the recommended interface.
ZLE (-Z)
Use the zsh line editor. Set by default in interactive shells connected to a
terminal.
OPTION ALIASES
Some options have alternative names. These aliases are never used for output, but can be
used just like normal option names when specifying options to the shell.
BRACE_EXPAND
NO_IGNORE_BRACES (ksh and bash compatibility)
DOT_GLOB
GLOB_DOTS (bash compatibility)
HASH_ALL
HASH_CMDS (bash compatibility)
HIST_APPEND
APPEND_HISTORY (bash compatibility)
HIST_EXPAND
BANG_HIST (bash compatibility)
LOG NO_HIST_NO_FUNCTIONS (ksh compatibility)
MAIL_WARN
MAIL_WARNING (bash compatibility)
ONE_CMD
SINGLE_COMMAND (bash compatibility)
PHYSICAL
CHASE_LINKS (ksh and bash compatibility)
PROMPT_VARS
PROMPT_SUBST (bash compatibility)
STDIN SHIN_STDIN (ksh compatibility)
TRACK_ALL
HASH_CMDS (ksh compatibility)
SINGLE LETTER OPTIONS
Default set
-0 CORRECT
-1 PRINT_EXIT_VALUE
-2 NO_BAD_PATTERN
-3 NO_NOMATCH
-4 GLOB_DOTS
-5 NOTIFY
-6 BG_NICE
-7 IGNORE_EOF
-8 MARK_DIRS
-9 AUTO_LIST
-B NO_BEEP
-C NO_CLOBBER
-D PUSHD_TO_HOME
-E PUSHD_SILENT
-F NO_GLOB
-G NULL_GLOB
-H RM_STAR_SILENT
-I IGNORE_BRACES
-J AUTO_CD
-K NO_BANG_HIST
-L SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK
-M SINGLE_LINE_ZLE
-N AUTO_PUSHD
-O CORRECT_ALL
-P RC_EXPAND_PARAM
-Q PATH_DIRS
-R LONG_LIST_JOBS
-S REC_EXACT
-T CDABLE_VARS
-U MAIL_WARNING
-V NO_PROMPT_CR
-W AUTO_RESUME
-X LIST_TYPES
-Y MENU_COMPLETE
-Z ZLE
-a ALL_EXPORT
-e ERR_EXIT
-f NO_RCS
-g HIST_IGNORE_SPACE
-h HIST_IGNORE_DUPS
-i INTERACTIVE
-k INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS
-l LOGIN
-m MONITOR
-n NO_EXEC
-p PRIVILEGED
-r RESTRICTED
-s SHIN_STDIN
-t SINGLE_COMMAND
-u NO_UNSET
-v VERBOSE
-w CHASE_LINKS
-x XTRACE
-y SH_WORD_SPLIT
sh/ksh emulation set
-C NO_CLOBBER
-T TRAPS_ASYNC
-X MARK_DIRS
-a ALL_EXPORT
-b NOTIFY
-e ERR_EXIT
-f NO_GLOB
-i INTERACTIVE
-l LOGIN
-m MONITOR
-n NO_EXEC
-p PRIVILEGED
-r RESTRICTED
-s SHIN_STDIN
-t SINGLE_COMMAND
-u NO_UNSET
-v VERBOSE
-x XTRACE
Also note
-A Used by set for setting arrays
-b Used on the command line to specify end of option processing
-c Used on the command line to specify a single command
-m Used by setopt for pattern-matching option setting
-o Used in all places to allow use of long option names
-s Used by set to sort positional parameters