Possible to use alias/function for the shells used by fzf?

[enoryw]

I have the following bash shell script (I would like to convert to a zsh shell function):

#!/usr/bin/env bash

cmd() {
  fd -t d --hidden --no-ignore --follow \
    --ignore-file "$HOME/.config/fd/ignore" \
    --ignore-file "$HOME/.config/fd/cd-fzf.fdignore" \
    . "$@" 
}

export -f cmd

selection=$(cmd "$HOME" /etc /media \
  /data /data2 | SHELL=/usr/bin/bash fzf --preview 'tree -C {}' \
  --header 'cd to selection (Ctrl-r to toggle filtering for non-media dirs only)' \
  --prompt 'Dirs > ' \
  --bind 'ctrl-r:transform:[[ ! $FZF_PROMPT == "Dirs > " ]] &&
  echo "change-prompt(Dirs > )+reload(cmd "$HOME" /etc /media /data /data2)" ||
  echo "change-prompt(Dirs (media excluded) > )+reload(cmd /etc"$HOME/dev")"')

if [ -n "$selection" ]; then
  cd "$selection" && n "$selection"
fi

Here it relies on export -f cmd simplify the code so I don't have the repeat the same fd command and arguments. Is it possible to have an equivalent without exporting the function? AFAIK exporting a function in shells like bash/zsh is considered broken and not supported but I'm not sure of any alternatives. Can the above be restructured to get the same effect or is hardcoding and repeating the commands/arguments the only "proper" way?

[LangLangBart]

Can the above be restructured to get the same effect

yes.

shell script - what is the zsh equivalent of bash's export -f - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange

---

Most common is to store the function in a variable name.

cmd='fd -t d --hidden --no-ignore --follow --ignore-file "$HOME/.config/fd/ignore" --ignore-file "$HOME/.config/fd/cd-fzf.fdignore" .'

selection=$(fzf --preview 'tree -C {}' \
  --prompt 'Dirs > ' \
  --bind "start:reload:$cmd '$HOME' /etc /media /data /data2" \
  --bind "ctrl-r:transform:[[ ! \$FZF_PROMPT == 'Dirs > ' ]] &&
    echo \"change-prompt(Dirs > )+reload($cmd '$HOME' /etc /media /data /data2)\" ||
    echo \"change-prompt(Dirs (media excluded) > )+reload($cmd /etc '$HOME/dev')\"")

if [ -n "$selection" ]; then
  cd "$selection" && n "$selection"
fi

PRO

• The function and its use case are close together, and the implementation should work in both bash and zsh.

CONTRA

• Functions crammed into a string might cause issues with proper quoting and make them harder to read due to missing syntax highlighting and not triggering shellcheck.

---

Another way is using .zshenv¹, as it is the only initialization file that is loaded with every zsh session, except when used with the -f/--no-rcs flag.

# Define a function in your  "${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshenv"
random_word() {
  perl -e 'srand; rand($.) < 1 && ($line = $_) while <>; print $line;' "${1:-/usr/share/dict/words}"
}

# this works, it will find the function
fzf --bind "start:reload:random_word" --preview 'typeset -f'

# this won't work, the function will not be found; the '--with-shell' flag came with '0.51.0' (see CHANGELOG.md)
fzf --bind "start:reload:random_word" --preview 'typeset -f' --with-shell 'zsh --no-rcs -c'

PRO

• Functions can be written normally and benefit from shell formatting, syntax highlighting, and shellcheck in the editor to identify potential issues and improve readability.

CONTRA

• The function and its use case are likely spread across different files.

Footnotes

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