Access last command of history within a function

Question

I'm trying to create a function that will echo the previous to last command from the current terminal. This is the expected output (here I call the desired function f):

$ history 1
history 1
$ f
history 1

Side question: Where does history(1) saves the current terminal's history. I know that when the terminal session ends history is typically saved in $HISTFILE (which is set to ~/.bash_history in my case). But I'd like to know where history(1) keeps the history of the currently running terminal.

Not a function (so not an answer) but !!:p prints the last command without executing it. — schrodingerscatcuriosity, Nov 22 '19 at 18:47
The command you want is fc -ln -1 (that’s FC -LN -(one), which works fine in a function. — G-Man Says 'Reinstate Monica', Nov 23 '19 at 03:03
@G-ManSays'ReinstateMonica' I updated my answer using fc which simplifies the function by a lot. — builder-7000, Nov 23 '19 at 03:55

builder-7000 · Answer 1 · 2019-11-23T03:56:36.190

1

Found a solution:

f()(echo $(history 2 | head -n1 | cut -d' ' -f2-))

or using fc as suggested by G-Man:

f()(fc -ln -1)

test:

$ echo 123*
123*
$ f
echo 123*

edited Nov 23 '19 at 03:56

answered Nov 22 '19 at 19:45

builder-7000

222

Access last command of history within a function

1 Answers1