Changing Unix system prompt

Lesson 7	Changing your system prompt
Objective	Use the prompt variable to redefine your system prompt.

By default, the C shell uses the percent sign (%) as a prompt. You can change the default by redefining the C shell’s prompt variable , using this general form:

% set prompt=value

Prompt variable :The prompt variable is a C shell variable that stores the value of your shell prompt.
For example, to set your prompt to Hello there %, use this command:

% set prompt="Hello there %" Hello there %

Note the following:

First, it’s a UNIX convention to keep the default character at the end of a prompt. This helps you identify your shell. For example, the prompt for your course account is lab2%.
Second, the prompt value must be supplied as a single argument. Because Hello there % contains spaces, the phrase is quoted. This causes the shell to treat the value as a single argument instead of as two.
Finally, notice that the new prompt appears right after you set it.

As another example, if I wanted to change my prompt to include my user ID, I would enter the following:

% set prompt="danielg %"
danielg %

More complex prompts also can be defined.
In the next lesson, storing your custom settings will be discussed.