zfunctions plugin

Use a $ZDOTDIR/functions directory to store lazy-loaded zsh function files.

This plugin is similar in concept to the fish functions directory.

Description

This plugin will enable a directory for you to store function files, and adds that directory to your zsh 'fpath' variable. Any file placed in this directory should contain the innards of a single function definition. These files will then be "lazy-loaded" by zsh into a function of the same name upon their first call. The lazy-loading functionality is a built-in feature of zsh called function autoloading.

Your functions path by default is: ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME/.config/zsh}/functions. However, you can optionally override the path by setting the $ZFUNCDIR value:

ZFUNCDIR=/path/to/my/lazy/zfunctions

Features

The following functions are defined by this plugin:

Functions	Arguments	Description
funced	<func-name>	edit the function specified
funcsave	<func-name>	save a function to your configured functions directory

Note: Additionally, the built-in zsh functions command will list all the zsh functions that are defined. The built-in function keyword will allow you to define a new function.

Example

First, make sure you have loaded the zfunctions plugin and started a new zsh session. You can verify that zfunctions is enabled by running the following:

$ (( $+functions[funcsave] )) && echo "zfunctions loaded" || echo "zfunctions not loaded"
zfuncions loaded

Next, let's set a $ZFUNCDIR variable for our examples

ZFUNCDIR=${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME/.config/zsh}/functions

Now, let's make a quick function to test with called 'foo'.

The 'foo' function should always print "bar" and sometimes also print "baz".

From a zsh prompt, define this function:

# 'foo' with comments and custom formatting
function foo() {
    # print bar
    echo "bar"
    # and sometimes baz
    if [[ $[${RANDOM}%2] -eq 0 ]]; then
        echo "baz"
    fi
}

Next, we can save the function.

funcsave foo

Now you should have a function file called "foo" in $ZFUNCDIR. Let's verify:

cat $ZFUNCDIR/foo

Notice that the function was reformatted and also that only the function internals are saved to the "foo" file, not the function name definition (ie: the "function foo() {" part is purposely missing).

# contents of $ZFUNCDIR/foo
echo "bar"
if [[ $[${RANDOM}%2] -eq 0 ]]
then
    echo "baz"
fi

Run zsh to start a new zsh session to show how lazy loading works.

zsh

Now, check out the function definition for foo by using the functions built-in (notice the trailing "s" on the word functions):

functions foo

You should see this:

foo () {
    # undefined
    builtin autoload -XUz ~/.config/zsh/functions
}

Now execute the foo function once (or do it a few times for fun):

# outputs bar, and sometimes baz
$ foo
bar
$ foo
bar
baz
$ foo
bar

Now go back and run functions foo again and check out the results... The function definition is now filled in from the foo file in your $ZFUNCDIR.

foo() {
    echo "bar"
    if [[ $[${RANDOM}%2] -eq 0 ]]
    then
        echo "baz"
    fi
}

You can edit the 'foo' function by using funced:

# edit the foo function
funced foo

# or, make a new one entirely
funced bar

That's it! Note that you do not need to use funcsave or funced if you don't prefer to. Adding files to $ZFUNCDIR yourself is also an option. Just remember that your function files should be named without a file extension (ie: foo, not foo.zsh), and should not contain the function declaration part (ie: function foo() {).

Here's a great first function to create called "up". Start by typing funced up and add this to the file:

### $ZFUNCDIR/up
# goes up any number of directories
if [[ "$#" < 1 ]] ; then
    cd ..
else
    local rpt=$(printf "%${1}s")
    local cdstr=${rpt// /..\/}
    cd $cdstr
fi

Have fun building your zsh function library!