bash-powerline

Powerline for Bash in pure Bash script.

Notes for this particular branch

• Rewritten so that PS1 is assigned and calls functions internally, not that PS1 is assigned by a function
  • This was causing problems in some interactive programs (emerge)
• Added current directory shortening (pwds function) - this can be parametrized
• Using powerline symbols (requires patched fonts, unless amended)
• Symbol ($ for user, # for root) changes color based on return code of last command
• Simplified git ahead and behind parsing
• Coloring is not using tput for better compatibility

Features

• Git branch: display current git branch name, or short SHA1 hash when the head is detached
• Git branch: display "+" symbol when current branch is changed but uncommited
• Git branch: display "⇡" symbol and the difference in the number of commits when the current branch is ahead of remote (see screenshot)
• Git branch: display "⇣" symbol and the difference in the number of commits when the current branch is behind of remote (see screenshot)
• Color code for the previously failed command
• Even faster execution (no noticable delay)
• Current directory shortening to predefined limit
• Hostname coloring based on root/non-root

Installation

Download the Bash script

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/j1r1k/bash-powerline/master/bash-powerline.sh > ~/.bashrc.theme.sh

And source it in your .bashrc

source ~/.bashrc.theme.sh

Why?

This script is largely inspired by powerline-shell. The biggest problem is that it is implemented in Python. Python scripts are much easier to write and maintain than Bash scripts, but for my simple cases I find Bash scripts to be manageable. However, invoking the Python interpreter each time to draw the shell prompt introduces a noticable delay. I hate delays. So I decided to port just the functionalities I need to pure Bash script instead.

See also

• powerline: Unified Powerline written in Python. This is the future of all Powerline derivatives.
• vim-powerline: Powerline in Vim writtien in pure Vimscript. Deprecated.
• tmux-powerline: Powerline for Tmux written in Bash script. Deprecated.
• powerline-shell: Powerline for Bash/Zsh/Fish implemented in Python. Might be merged into the unified Powerline.
• emacs powerline: Powerline for Emacs
• bash-powerline: Original implementation