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System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices

Customization Procedures

There are many ways to customize your system environment. This section discusses the following procedures:

Exporting Shell Variables (export Shell Command)

A local shell variable is a variable known only to the shell that created it. If you start a new shell, the old shell's variables are unknown to it. If you want the new shells that you open to know the variables from an old shell, you need to make the variables global by exporting them.

You can use the export command to make local variables global. To make your local shell variables global automatically, export them in your .profile file.

Note: Variables can be exported down to child shells but not exported up to parent shells.

For example, to make the local shell variable PATH global, enter:

export path

For example, to list all your exported variables, enter:

export

The system displays information similar to the following:

DISPLAY=unix:0
EDITOR=vi
ENV=$HOME/.env
HISTFILE=/u/denise/.history
HISTSIZE=500
HOME=/u/denise
LANG=En_US
LOGNAME=denise
MAIL=/usr/mail/denise
MAILCHECK=0
MAILMSG=**YOU HAVE NEW MAIL. USE THE mail COMMAND TO SEE YOUR MAILPATH=/usr/mail/denise?denise has mail !!!
MAILRECORD=/u/denise/.Outmail
PATH=/usr/ucb:/usr/lpp/X11/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/etc:/u/denise:/u/denise/bin:/u/bin1
PWD=/u/denise
SHELL=/bin/ksh

Changing the Display's Font (chfont Command)

You can change the default font at system startup with the chfont or smit command. A font palette is a file that the system uses to define and identify the fonts it has available.

Note: You must have root authority to run the chfont command.

chfont Command

For example, to change the active font to the fifth font in the font palette, enter:

chfont -a5

Font ID 5 becomes the primary font.

For example, to change the font to an italic, roman, and bold face of the same size, enter:

chfont -n /usr/lpp/fonts/It114.snf /usr/lpp/fonts/Bld14.snf  /usr/lpp/fonts/Rom14.snf

See the chfont command in the AIX Version 4.3 Commands Reference for more information and the exact syntax. See also Listing the Available Fonts (lsfont Command)

smit Command

The chfont command can also be run using smit.

To select the active font, enter:

smit chfont

To select the font palette, enter:

smit chfontpl

Changing Control Keys (stty Command)

You can change the keys your terminal uses for control keys with the stty command. Your changes to control keys last until you log off. To make your changes permanent, place them in your .profile file.

For example, to assign Ctrl-Z as the interrupt key, enter:

stty intr ^Z

For example, to reset all control keys to their default values, enter:

stty sane

For example, to display your current settings, enter:

stty -a

See the stty command in the AIX Version 4.3 Commands Reference for the exact syntax.

Changing Your System Prompt

Your shell uses three prompt variables:

PS1 Prompt used as the normal system prompt.
PS2 Prompt used when the shell expects more input.
PS3 Prompt used when you have root authority.

You can change any of your prompt characters by changing the value of its shell variable. Your changes to your prompts last until you log off. To make your changes permanent, place them in your .env file.

For example, to display the current value of the PS1 variable, enter:

echo "prompt is $PS1"

The system displays information similar to the following:

prompt is $

For example, to change your prompt to Ready> , enter:

PS1="Ready> "

For example, to change your continuation prompt to Enter more-> , enter:

PS2="Enter more->"

For example, to change your root prompt to Root-> , enter:

PS3="Root-> "

Related Information

Commands Overview

Processes Overview

File Systems Overview

Directory Overview

Files Overview

File and System Security

User Environment and System Information

System Initialization Files Overview

Customization of the InfoExplorer ASCII Program

Customization of the InfoExplorer Windows Program

Shells Overview

Korn Shell or POSIX Shell

Bourne Shell

C Shell


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