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.\"
.TH ZSHPARAM 1 "June 26, 1996" "zsh version 3.0"
.SH NAME
zshparam \- zsh parameters
.SH DESCRIPTIONS
A parameter has a name, a value, and a number of attributes.
A name may be any sequence of alphanumeric
characters and _'s, or the single characters
*, @, #, ?, \-, $, or !.
The value may be either a \fIscalar\fP (a string),
an integer, or an array.
To assign a scalar or integer value to a parameter,
use the \fBtypeset\fP builtin.
To assign an array value, use \fBset \-A\fP \fIname\fP \fIvalue\fP ....
The value of a parameter may also be assigned by writing:
.RS
.PP
\fIname\fP=\fIvalue\fP ...
.RE
.PP
If the integer attribute, \-\fBi\fP, is set for \fIname\fP,
the \fIvalue\fP is subject to arithmetic evaluation.
.PP
The value of an array parameter may be assigned by writing:
.RS
.PP
\fIname\fP=(\fIvalue\fP ...) ...
.RE
Individual elements of an array may be selected using a
subscript. A subscript of the form \fB[\fIexp\fB]\fR
selects the single element \fIexp\fP, where \fIexp\fP is
an arithmetic expression which will be subject to arithmetic
expansion as if it were surrounded by "$((...))".
The elements are numbered beginning with 1 unless the
\fBKSH_ARRAYS\fP option is set when they are numbered from zero.
.PP
A subscript of the form \fB[*]\fP or \fB[@]\fP evaluates to all
elements of an array; there is no difference between the two
except when they appear within double quotes.
"$foo[*]" evaluates to "$foo[1] $foo[2] ...", while
"$foo[@]" evaluates to "$foo[1]" "$foo[2]", etc.
.PP
A subscript of the form \fB[\fIexp1\fP,\fIexp2\fB]\fR
selects all elements in the range \fIexp1\fP to \fIexp2\fP,
inclusive.
If one of the subscripts evaluates to a negative number,
say \-\fIn\fP, then the \fIn\fPth element from the end
of the array is used. Thus "$foo[-3]" is the third element
from the end of the array \fIfoo\fP, and
"$foo[1,-1]" is the same as "$foo[*]".
.PP
Subscripting may also be performed on non-array values, in which
case the subscripts specify a substring to be extracted.
For example, if \fBFOO\fP is set to \fBfoobar\fP, then
\fBecho $FOO[2,5]\fP prints \fBooba\fP.
.PP
Subscripts may be used inside braces used to delimit a parameter name, thus
.B ${foo[2]}
is equivalent to
.BR $foo[2] .
If the
.B KSH_ARRAYS
option is set, the braced form is the only one that will
work, the subscript otherwise not being treated specially.
.PP
If a subscript is used on the left side of an assignment the selected
range is replaced by the expression on the right side.
.PP
If the opening bracket or the comma is directly followed by an opening
parentheses the string up to the matching closing one is considered to
be a list of flags. The flags currently understood are:
.PP
.RS
.PD
.TP
.B e
this option has no effect and retained for backward compatibility only
.TP
.B w
if the parameter subscripted is a scalar than this flag makes
subscription work on a per-word basis instead of characters
.TP
.B s:\fIstring\fB:
this gives the \fIstring\fP that separates words (for use with the
\fBw\fP flag)
.TP
.B p
Recognize the same escape sequences as the \fBprint\fP builtin in
the string argument of a subsequent \fBs\fP flag.
.TP
.B f
if the parameter subscripted is a scalar than this flag makes
subscription work on a per-line basis instead of characters.
This is a shorthand for \fBpws:\\n:\fP.
.TP
.B r
if this flag is given the \fIexp\fP is taken as a pattern and the
result is the first matching array element, substring or word (if the
parameter is an array, if it is a scalar, or if it is a scalar and the
\fBw\fP flag is given, respectively); note that this is like giving a
number: \fB$foo[(r)??,3]\fP and \fB$foo[(r)??,(r)f*]\fP work
.TP
.B R
like \fBr\fP, but gives the last match
.TP
.B i
like \fBr\fP, but gives the index of the match instead; this may not
be combined with a second argument
.TP
.B I
like \fBi\fP, but gives the index of the last match
.TP
.B n:\fIexpr\fB:
if combined with \fBr\fP, \fBR\fP, \fI\fP, or \fBI\fP, makes them give
the \fIn\fP'th or \fIn\fP'th last match (if \fIexpr\fP evaluates to
\fIn\fP)
.PD
.RE
.SS Positional Parameters
Positional parameters are set by the shell on invocation,
by the \fBset\fP builtin, or by direct assignment.
The parameter \fIn\fP, where \fIn\fP is a number,
is the \fIn\fPth positional parameter.
The parameters \fB*\fP, \fB@\fP, and \fBargv\fP are
arrays containing all the positional parameters;
thus \fBargv\fP[\fIn\fP], etc. is equivalent to simply \fIn\fP.
.PP
.SS Special Parameters
The following parameters are automatically set by the shell:
.PP
.RS
.PD 0
.TP
.B !
The process id of the last background command invoked.
.TP
.B #
The number of positional parameters in decimal.
.TP
.B ARGC
Same as \fB#\fP. It has no special meaning in sh/ksh compatibility mode.
.TP
.B $
The process id of this shell.
.TP
.B \-
Flags supplied to the shell on invocation or by the \fBset\fP
or \fBsetopt\fP commands.
.TP
.B *
An array containing the positional parameters.
.TP
.B argv
Same as \fB*\fP. It has no special meaning in sh/ksh compatibility mode.
.TP
.B @
Same as \fBargv[@]\fP but it can be used in sh/ksh compatibility mode.
.TP
.B ?
The exit value returned by the last command.
.TP
.B status
Same as \fB?\fP. It has no special meaning in sh/ksh compatibility mode.
.TP
.B _
The last argument of the previous command.
Also, this parameter is set in the environment of every command
executed to the full pathname of the command.
.TP
.B EGID
The effective group id of the shell process. If you have sufficient
privileges, you may change the effective group id of the shell
process by assigning to this parameter. Also (assuming sufficient
privileges), you may start a single command with a different
effective group id by:
.RS
.PP
.B (EGID=egid ; command)
.RE
.TP
.B EUID
The effective user id of the shell process. If you have sufficient
privileges, you may change the effective user id of the shell process
by assigning to this parameter. Also (assuming sufficient privileges),
you may start a single command with a different effective user id by:
.RS
.PP
.B (EUID=euid ; command)
.RE
.TP
.B ERRNO
The value of errno as set by the most recently failed system call.
This value is system dependent and is intended for debugging
purposes.
.TP
.B GID
The group id of the shell process. If you have sufficient privileges,
you may change the group id of the shell process by assigning to this
parameter. Also (assuming sufficient privileges), you may start a single
command under a different group id by:
.RS
.PP
.B (GID=gid ; command)
.RE
.TP
.B HOST
The current hostname.
.TP
.B LINENO
The line number of the current line within the current script
being executed.
.TP
.B LOGNAME
If the corresponding variable is not set in the environment of the
shell, it is initialized to the login name corresponding to the
current login session. This parameter is exported by default but
this can be disabled using the \fBtypeset\fP builtin.
.TP
.B MACHTYPE
The machine type (microprocessor class or machine model),
as determined at compile time.
.TP
.B OLDPWD
The previous working directory.
.TP
.B OPTARG
The value of the last option argument processed by the \fBgetopts\fP
command.
.TP
.B OPTIND
The index of the last option argument processed by the \fBgetopts\fP
command.
.TP
.B OSTYPE
The operating system, as determined at compile time.
.TP
.B PPID
The process id of the parent of the shell.
.TP
.B PWD
The present working directory.
.TP
.B RANDOM
A random integer from 0 to 32767, newly generated each time
this parameter is referenced. The random number generator
can be seeded by assigning a numeric value to \fBRANDOM\fP.
.TP
.B SECONDS
The number of seconds since shell invocation. If this parameter
is assigned a value, then the value returned upon reference
will be the value that was assigned plus the number of seconds
since the assignment.
.TP
.B SHLVL
Incremented by one each time a new shell is started.
.TP
.B signals
An array containing the names of the signals.
.TP
.B TTY
The name of the tty associated with the shell, if any.
.TP
.B TTYIDLE
The idle time of the tty associated with the shell in seconds or -1 if there
is no such tty.
.TP
.B UID
The user id of the shell process. If you have sufficient privileges,
you may change the user id of the shell by assigning to this parameter.
Also (assuming sufficient privileges), you may start a single command
under a different user id by:
.RS
.PP
.B (UID=uid ; command)
.RE
.TP
.B USERNAME
The username corresponding to the user id of the shell process. If you
have sufficient privileges, you may change the username (and also the
user id and group id) of the shell by assigning to this parameter.
Also (assuming sufficient privileges), you may start a single command
under a different username (and user id and group id) by:
.RS
.PP
.B (USERNAME=username ; command)
.RE
.TP
.B VENDOR
The vendor, as determined at compile time.
.TP
.B ZSHNAME
Expands to the basename of the command used to invoke this instance
of \fBzsh\fP.
.TP
.B ZSH_NAME
Expands to the basename of the command used to invoke this instance
of \fBzsh\fP.
.TP
.B ZSH_VERSION
The version number of this \fBzsh\fP.
.PD
.RE
.PP
The following parameters are used by the shell:
.PP
.RS
.PD 0
.TP
.B ARGV0
If exported, it's value is used as argv[0] of external commands.
Usually used in constructs like 'ARGV0=emacs nethack'.
.TP
.B BAUD
The baud rate of the current connection. Used by the line editor
update mechanism to compensate for a slow terminal by delaying
updates until necessary. This may be profitably set to a lower value
in some circumstances, e.g.
for slow modems dialing into a communications server which is connected
to a host via a fast link; in this case, this variable
would be set by default to the speed of the fast link, and not
the modem.
This parameter should be set to the baud
rate of the slowest part of the link for best performance. The compensation
mechanism can be turned off by setting the variable to zero.
.TP
.B cdpath (CDPATH)
An array (colon-separated list)
of directories specifying the search path for the \fBcd\fP command.
.TP
.B COLUMNS
The number of columns for this terminal session.
Used for printing select lists and for the line editor.
.TP
.B DIRSTACKSIZE
The maximum size of the directory stack. If the
stack gets larger than this, it will be truncated automatically.
This is useful with the \fBAUTO_PUSHD\fP option.
.TP
.B FCEDIT
The default editor for the \fBfc\fP builtin.
.TP
.B fignore (FIGNORE)
An array (colon separated list)
containing the suffixes of files to be ignored
during filename completion. However, if the completion generates only files
which would match if this variable would be ignored, than these files are
completed anyway.
.TP
.B fpath (FPATH)
An array (colon separated list)
of directories specifying the search path for
function definitions. This path is searched when a function
with the \-\fBu\fP attribute is referenced. If an executable
file is found, then it is read and executed in the current environment.
.TP
.B histchars
Three characters used by the shell's history and lexical analysis
mechanism. The first character signals the start of a history
substitution (default `!'). The second character signals the
start of a quick history substitution (default `^'). The third
character is the comment character (default `#').
.TP
.B HISTCHARS
Same as \fBhistchars\bP.
.TP
.B HISTFILE
The file to save the history in when an interactive shell exits.
If unset, the history is not saved.
.TP
.B HISTSIZE
The maximum size of the history list.
.TP
.B HOME
The default argument for the \fBcd\fP command.
.TP
.B IFS
Internal field separators, normally space, tab, and newline, that
are used to separate words which result from
command or parameter substitution and words read by
the \fBread\fP builtin. Any characters from the set space, tab and
newline that appear in the IFS are called \fIIFS white space\fP.
One or more IFS white space characters or one non-IFS white space
character together with any adjacent IFS white space character delimit
a field. If an IFS white space character appears twice consecutively
in the IFS, this character is treated as if it were not an IFS white
space character.
.TP
.B KEYTIMEOUT
The time the shell waits, in hundredths of seconds, for another key to
be pressed when reading bound multi-character sequences.
.TP
.B LANG
This variable determines the locale category for any category not
specifically selected via a variable starting with
.BR LC_ .
.TP
.B LC_ALL
This variable overrides the value of the LANG variable and the value
of any of the other variables starting with
.BR LC_ .
.TP
.B LC_COLLATE
This variable determines the locale category for character collation
information within ranges in glob brackets and for sorting.
.TP
.B LC_CTYPE
This variable determines the locale category for character handling
functions.
.TP
.B LC_MESSAGES
This variable determines the language in which messages should be
written. Note that zsh does not use message catalogs.
.TP
.B LC_TIME
This variable determines the locale category for date and time
formatting in promt escape sequences.
.TP
.B LINES
The number of lines for this terminal session.
Used for printing select lists and for the line editor.
.TP
.B LISTMAX
In the line editor,
the number of filenames to list without asking first.
If set to zero, the shell asks only if the top of the listing would scroll
off the screen.
.TP
.B LOGCHECK
The interval in seconds between checks for login/logout activity
using the \fBwatch\fP parameter.
.TP
.B MAIL
If this parameter is set and \fBmailpath\fP is not set,
the shell looks for mail in the specified file.
.TP
.B MAILCHECK
The interval in seconds between checks for new mail.
.TP
.B mailpath (MAILPATH)
An array (colon-separated list) of filenames to check for
new mail. Each filename can be followed by a ? and a
message that will be printed. The message will undergo
parameter expansion, command substitution and arithmetic
substitution with the variable \fB$_\fP defined as the name
of the file that has changed. The default message is
"\fIYou have new mail.\fP" If an element is a directory
instead of a file the shell will recursively check every
file in every subdirectory of the element.
.TP
.B manpath (MANPATH)
An array (colon-separated list)
whose value is not used by the shell. The \fBmanpath\fP
array can be useful, however, since setting it also sets
\fBMANPATH\fP, and vice versa.
.TP
.B NULLCMD
The command name to assume if a redirection is specified
with no command. Defaults to \fBcat\fP. For sh/ksh-like
behavior, change this to \fB:\fP. For csh-like
behavior, unset this parameter; the shell will print an
error message if null commands are entered.
.TP
.B path (PATH)
An array (colon-separated list)
of directories to search for commands.
When this parameter is set, each directory is scanned
and all files found are put in a hash table.
.TP
.B POSTEDIT
This string is output whenever the line editor exits.
It usually contains termcap strings to reset the terminal.
.TP
.B PS1
The primary prompt string, printed before a command is read;
the default is "%m%# ". If the escape sequence takes an optional
integer, it should appear between the '%' and the next character of the
sequence. The following escape sequences are recognized:
.PD
.PP
.PD 0
.RS
.TP
.B %%
A `%'.
.TP
.B %)
A `)'.
.TP
.B %d
.TP
.B %/
Present working directory ($PWD).
.TP
.B %~
$PWD.
If it has a named directory as its prefix, that part is replaced
by a ~ followed by the name of the directory.
If it starts with $HOME, that part is
replaced by a ~.
.TP
.B %c
.TP
.B %.
.TP
.B %C
Trailing component of $PWD.
An integer may follow the '%' to get more than one component.
Unless \fB%C\fP is used, tilde expansion is performed first.
.TP
.B %h
.TP
.B %!
Current history event number
.TP
.B %M
The full machine hostname.
.TP
.B %m
The hostname up to the first '.'.
An integer may follow the '%' to specify
how many components of the hostname are desired.
.TP
.B %S (%s)
Start (stop) standout mode.
.TP
.B %U (%u)
Start (stop) underline mode.
.TP
.B %B (%b)
Start (stop) boldface mode.
.TP
.B %t
.TP
.B %@
Current time of day, in 12-hour, am/pm format.
.TP
.B %T
Current time of day, in 24-hour format.
.TP
.B %*
Current time of day in 24-hour format, with seconds.
.TP
.B %n
\fB$USERNAME\fP.
.TP
.B %w
The date in day\-dd format.
.TP
.B %W
The date in mm/dd/yy format.
.TP
.B %D
The date in yy\-mm\-dd format.
.TP
.B %D{\fIstring\fP}
\fIstring\fP is formatted using the \fBstrftime\fP function.
See \fBstrftime(3)\fP for more details, if your system has it.
.TP
.B %l
The line (tty) the user is logged in on.
.TP
.B %?
The return code of the last command executed just before the prompt.
.TP
.B %_
The status of the parser, i.e. the shell constructs (like `if' and
`for') that have been started on the command line. If given an integer
number that many strings will be printed; zero or no integer means
print as many as there are.
.TP
.B %E
Clears to end of line.
.TP
.B %#
A '#' if the shell is running as root, a '%' if not.
Equivalent to %(#.#.%%).
.TP
.B %v
The value of the first element of the $psvar array parameter. Following
the '%' with an integer gives that element of the array.
.TP
\fB%{\fP...\fB%}\fP
Include a string as a literal escape sequence.
The string within the braces should not change the cursor
position.
.TP
.B %(x\fI.true-text.false-text\fB)\fP
Specifies a ternary expression. The character following the \fBx\fP is
arbitrary; the same character is used to separate the text for the
"true" result from that for the "false" result.
This separator may not appear in the \fItrue-text\fP, except as part of a %
sequence. A `)' may appear in the \fIfalse-text\fP as `%)'.
\fITrue-text\fP
and \fIfalse-text\fP may both contain arbitrarily-nested escape
sequences, including further ternary expressions. The left
parenthesis may be preceded or followed by a positive integer \fIn\fP,
which defaults to zero. The test character \fBx\fP may be any of the
following:
.PD
.PP
.PD 0
.RS
.B c
.TP
.B .
.TP
.B ~
True if the current path, with prefix replacement, has at least \fIn\fP
elements.
.TP
.B /
.TP
.B C
True if the current absolute path has at least \fIn\fP elements.
.TP
.B t
True if the time in minutes is equal to \fIn\fP.
.TP
.B T
True if the time in hours is equal to \fIn\fP.
.TP
.B d
True if the day of the month is equal to \fIn\fP.
.TP
.B D
True if the month is equal to \fIn\fP (January = 0).
.TP
.B w
True if the day of the week is equal to \fIn\fP (Sunday = 0).
.TP
.B ?
True if the exit status of the last command was \fIn\fP.
.TP
.B #
True if the effective uid of the current process is \fIn\fP.
.TP
.B g
True if the effective gid of the current process is \fIn\fP.
.TP
.B L
True if the SHLVL parameter is at least \fIn\fP.
.TP
.B S
True if the SECONDS parameter is at least \fIn\fP.
.TP
.B v
True if the array psvar has at least \fIn\fP elements.
.TP
.B _
True if at least \fIn\fP shell constructs were started.
.RE
.TP
.B %<\fIstring\fB<\fP
.TP
.B %>\fIstring\fB>\fP
.TP
.B %[x\fIstring\fB]\fP
Specifies truncation behaviour.
The third form is equivalent to `%\fIxstringx\fP',
i.e. \fIx\fP may be `<' or `>'.
The numeric argument, which in the third form may appear immediately
after the `[', specifies the maximum permitted length of
the various strings that can be displayed in the prompt. If this
integer is zero, or missing, truncation is disabled. Truncation is
initially disabled.
The forms with `<' truncate at the left of the string,
and the forms with `>' truncate at the right of the string.
For example, if the current directory is `/home/pike',
the prompt `%8<..<%/' will expand to `..e/pike'.
The \fIstring\fR will be displayed in
place of the truncated portion of any string.
In this string, the terminating character (`<', `>' or `]'),
or in fact any character, may be quoted by a preceding `\e'.
% sequences are \fInot\fP treated specially.
If the \fIstring\fP is longer than the specified truncation length,
it will appear in full, completely replacing the truncated string.
.RE
.PD
.PP
.PD 0
.TP
.B PS2
The secondary prompt, printed when the shell needs more information
to complete a command.
Recognizes the same escape sequences as \fB$PS1\fP.
The default is "%_> ", which displays any shell constructs or quotation
marks which are currently being processed.
.TP
.B PS3
Selection prompt used within a \fBselect\fP loop.
Recognizes the same escape sequences as \fB$PS1\fP.
The default is "?# ".
.TP
.B PS4
The execution trace prompt. Default is "+ ".
.TP
.B PROMPT
.TP
.B PROMPT2
.TP
.B PROMPT3
.TP
.B PROMPT4
Same as \fBPS1\fP, \fBPS2\fP, \fBPS3\fP, and \fBPS4\fP,
respectively. These parameters do not have any special
meaning in sh/ksh compatibility mode.
.TP
.B psvar (PSVAR)
An array (colon-separated list) whose first nine values can be used in
\fBPROMPT\fP strings. Setting \fBpsvar\fP also sets \fBPSVAR\fP, and
vice versa.
.TP
.B prompt
Same as \fBPS1\fP. It has no special meaning in sh/ksh compatibility mode.
.TP
.B READNULLCMD
The command name to assume if a single input redirection
is specified with no command. Defaults to \fBmore\fP.
.TP
.B REPORTTIME
If nonnegative, commands whose combined user and system execution times
(measured in seconds) are greater than this value have timing
statistics printed for them.
.TP
.B RPROMPT
.TP
.B RPS1
This prompt is displayed on the right-hand side of the screen
when the primary prompt is being displayed on the left.
This does not work if the \fBSINGLELINEZLE\fP option is set.
Recognizes the same escape sequences as \fBPROMPT\fP.
.TP
.B SAVEHIST
The maximum number of history events to save in the history file.
.TP
.B SPROMPT
The prompt used for spelling correction. The sequence
\fB%R\fP expands to the string which presumably needs spelling
correction, and \fB%r\fP expands to the proposed correction.
All other \fBPROMPT\fP escapes are also allowed.
.TP
.B STTY
If this parameter is set in a command's environment, the shell runs the
\fBstty\fP command with the value of this parameter as arguments in order to
set up the terminal before executing the command. The modes apply only to the
command, and are reset when it finishes or is suspended. If the command is
suspended and continued later with the \fBfg\fP or \fBwait\fP builtins it will
see the modes specified by STTY, as if it were not suspended. This
(intentionally) does not apply if the command is continued via "kill -CONT".
STTY is ignored if the command is run in the background, or if it is in the
environment of the shell but not explicitly assigned to in the input line. This
avoids running stty at every external command by accidentally exporting it.
Also note that STTY should not be used for window size specifications; these
will not be local to the command.
.TP
.B TIMEFMT
The format of process time reports with the \fBtime\fP keyword.
The default is "%E real %U user %S system %P %J".
Recognizes the following escape sequences:
.PD
.PP
.PD 0
.RS
.TP
.B %%
A `%'.
.TP
.B %U
CPU seconds spent in user mode.
.TP
.B %S
CPU seconds spent in kernel mode.
.TP
.B %E
Elapsed time in seconds.
.TP
.B %P
The CPU percentage, computed as (%U+%S)/%E.
.TP
.B %J
The name of this job.
.RE
.PD
.PP
.PD 0
A star may be inserted between the percent sign and flags printing time.
This cause the time to be printed in hh:mm:ss.ttt format (hours and
minutes are only printed if they are not zero).
.TP
.B TMOUT
If this parameter is nonzero, the shell will receive an \fBALRM\fP
signal if a command is not entered within the specified number of
seconds after issuing a prompt. If there is a trap on \fBSIGALRM\fP, it
will be executed and a new alarm is scheduled using the value of the
\fBTMOUT\fP parametr after exececuting the trap. If no trap is set, and
the idle time of the terminal is not less than the value of the
\fBTMOUT\fP parameter, zsh terminates. Otherwise a new alarm is
scheduled to \fBTMOUT\fP seconds after the last keypress.
.TP
.B TMPPREFIX
A pathname prefix which the shell will use for all temporary files.
Note that this should include an initial part for the file name as
well as any directory names. The default is /tmp/zsh.
.TP
.B watch (WATCH)
An array (colon-separated list) of login/logout events to report.
If it contains the single word "all", then all login/logout events
are reported. If it contains the single word "notme", then all
events are reported as with "all" except $USERNAME.
An entry in this list may consist of a username,
an `@' followed by a remote hostname,
and a `%' followed by a line (tty).
Any or all of these components may be present in an entry;
if a login/logout event matches all of them,
it is reported.
.TP
.B WATCHFMT
The format of login/logout reports if the \fBwatch\fP parameter is set.
Default is "%n has %a %l from %m."
Recognizes the following escape sequences:
.PD
.PP
.PD 0
.RS
.TP
.B %n
The name of the user that logged in/out.
.TP
.B %a
The observed action, i.e. "logged on" or "logged off".
.TP
.B %l
The line (tty) the user is logged in on.
.TP
.B %M
The full hostname of the remote host.
.TP
.B %m
The hostname up to the first ".". If only the
ip address is available or the utmp field contains
the name of an X-windows display, the whole name is printed.
.TP
.B NOTE:
The %m and %M escapes will work only if there is a host name
field in the utmp on your machine. Otherwise they are
treated as ordinary strings.
.TP
.B %S (%s)
Start (stop) standout mode.
.TP
.B %U (%u)
Start (stop) underline mode.
.TP
.B %B (%b)
Start (stop) boldface mode.
.TP
.B %t
.TP
.B %@
The time, in 12-hour, am/pm format.
.TP
.B %T
The time, in 24-hour format.
.TP
.B %w
The date in day\-dd format.
.TP
.B %W
The date in mm/dd/yy format.
.TP
.B %D
The date in yy\-mm\-dd format.
.TP
.B %(x\fI:true-text:false-text\fB)\fP
Specifies a ternary expression.
The character following the \fBx\fP is
arbitrary; the same character is used to separate the text
for the "true" result from that for the "false" result.
Both the separator and the right parenthesis may be escaped
with a backslash.
Ternary expressions may be nested.
.sp
The test character \fBx\fP may be any one of \fBl\fP, \fBn\fP, \fBm\fP,
or \fBM\fP, which indicate a "true" result if the corresponding
escape sequence would return a non-empty value; or may be \fBa\fP,
which indicates a "true" result if the watched user has logged in,
or "false" if he has logged out.
Other characters evaluate to neither true nor false; the entire
expression is omitted in this case.
.sp
If the result is "true", then the \fItrue-text\fP
is formatted according to the rules above and printed,
and the \fIfalse-text\fP is skipped.
If "false", the \fItrue-text\fP is skipped and the \fIfalse-text\fP
is formatted and printed.
Either or both of the branches may be empty, but
both separators must be present in any case.
.RE
.PD
.PP
.PD 0
.TP
.B WORDCHARS
A list of nonalphanumeric characters considered part of a word
by the line editor.
.TP
.B ZDOTDIR
The directory to search for shell startup files (.zshrc, etc),
if not \fB$HOME\fP.
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Netfuture.ch.