How can I alias to `!!` (last command)?

Question

!! in bash runs last command. I find it too difficult to type given how much I use it. alias to the rescue, I presumed.

Or not. I tried:

$ alias dl='!!'               # Aliasing
$ echo Testing123             # Here's something to test on
Testing123
$ dl                          # Testing alias
bash: !!: command not found
$                             # I AM DISAPPOINT

Without quotes also fails.

What's up?

Aliases usually shorten the length of frequently typed commands, or adding frequently used switches. What's the point of even needing an alias for !!? — bsd, Mar 08 '12 at 19:44
@bdowning, presumably so you don't have to hit Shift and reach up in the corner of the keyboard. — cjm, Mar 08 '12 at 19:51
Get a dvorak. qwerty stair-step keyboards are an anachronism left over from typewriters designed to slow you down and make you hands hurt. After 20 years of emacs, my fingers are like pretzels — bsd, Mar 08 '12 at 20:42
@bdowning I've considered dvorak and colemak, but I move between multiple computers daily and qwerty is the unfortunate hardware standard. All those C-chords on Emacs are little reasons I prefer vim. :-) — Anko, Mar 08 '12 at 21:24
@bdowning: according to "Why QWERTY was invented", slowing you down was not a design objective of querty, but reducing clashes (of course, keyboards don't clash at all, so other layouts might be more favourable) — sr_, Mar 09 '12 at 13:27
@sr_ The clashes occurred because of the speed of typists. If you wish to continue this I suggest we move to a chat room. I don't care to continue, the less typing the better :) — bsd, Mar 09 '12 at 13:30

score 20 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 08 '12 at 19:51

20

alias dl='fc -s'

See http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html#Bash-History-Builtins

answered Mar 08 '12 at 19:51

glenn jackman

85,964

1

Works! Still curious though: What makes !! un-aliasable? – Anko Mar 08 '12 at 19:57
7

I can't find anything quickly in the manual but I'm guessing that bash performs any history expansions before substituting aliases. So the shell only sees the command "!!" which clearly doesn't exist. – glenn jackman Mar 08 '12 at 20:17

How can I alias to `!!` (last command)?

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