I just want to write a script which changes my directory.
I put the below commands in the file /home/alex/pathABC
#!/bin/sh
cd /home/alex/Documents/A/B/C
echo HelloWorld
I did
chmod +x pathABC
In the Terminal, while in /home/alex, I ran ./pathABC, but the output is just HelloWorld and the current directory is not changed.
So what is wrong?
As others have explained, the directory is changed in the child process of your script, not in the terminal process from which the script is called. After the child process dies, you are back in the terminal which is left where it was.
Several alternatives:
1. Symbolic link
Put a symlink in your home to the long path you want to easily access
$ ln -s /home/alex/Documents/A/B/C ~/pathABC
then access the directory with:
$ cd ~/pathABC
2. Alias
Put an alias in your ~/.bashrc:
alias pathABC="cd /home/alex/Documents/A/B/C"
(from here)
3. Function
Create a function that changes the directory, the function runs in the process of your terminal and can then change its directory.
(from here)
4. Avoid running as child
Source your script instead of running it. Sourcing (done by . or source) causes the script to be executed in the same shell instead of running in its own subshell.
$ . ./pathABC
5. cd-able vars
Set the cdable_vars option in your ~/.bashrc and create an environment variable to the directory:
shopt -s cdable_vars
export pathABC="/home/alex/Documents/A/B/C"
Then you can use cd pathABC
(from here)
