Zsh: Partial Colouring Completion with Preserved unmatched parts of LS_COLORS

Bash and the LS\_COLORS variable

Bash is a popular command-line shell used in Unix and Unix-like operating systems. It offers various customization options, one of which is the LS\_COLORS variable. This variable allows users to customize the way ls command displays different types of files and directories.

Understanding LS\_COLORS

The LS\_COLORS variable is a colon-separated list of entries, where each entry specifies the color coding for a particular file type or attribute. The format of each entry is: type=colorcode,....

Here, type can be one of the following:

• dir: directories
• exe: executable files
• link: symbolic links
• file: regular files
• fifo: FIFO special files
• sock: Unix domain sockets
• docexe: document files that are executable
• block: block special files
• char: character special files
• suid: files with setuid bit set
• sgid: files with setgid bit set
• sticky: files with sticky bit set
• orch: orphaned symbolic links (symlinks pointing to nonexistent files)
• hlink: broken symbolic links (dangling symlinks)

The colorcode is a string representing the foreground and background colors, as well as any attributes like bold or italic. It is typically represented as fg;bg, where fg and bg are the 3-digit ANSI color codes.

Setting LS\_COLORS in ~/.bashrc

To set the LS\_COLORS variable, you can add the following line to your ~/.bashrc file:

This sets the color coding for directories (di) to be light cyan, symbolic links (ln) to be blue, and broken symbolic links (hlink) to be bright red.

Preserving Unmatched Parts with Zsh

If you are using the Zsh shell, you might want to preserve the unmatched parts of the LS\_COLORS variable when switching to a new terminal. To do this, add the following lines to your ~/.zshrc file:

This checks if the LS\_COLORS variable is already set, and if not, it sets it using the dircolors command.

The LS\_COLORS variable is a powerful customization option in Bash that allows users to change the way files and directories are displayed in the terminal. By understanding the format of this variable and how to set it in your shell configuration files, you can improve your productivity and make your command-line experience more visually appealing.

References

• dircolors man page
• LS\_COLORS on Arch Linux Wiki
• Bash Variables on GNU Bash Manual

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