Pimp your Bash console on Windows

Since I have been doing so much Git work I wanted to post some things I do to pimp my Bash console out.

First thing is we need to get to our home directory.  Do this by typing this in your bash console:

cd

This should change your prompt to point to ~.  The next thing is we need to see if there is already a .bashrc file.  The easiest way I have found to do this is to type the following in the bash console:

explorer .

This should open a windows explorer window in your home directory.  Check to see if a .bashrc file exists.  If this file does not exist type the following in the bash console window:

touch .bashrc

Go back to windows explorer and you should now see the .bsahrc file.  Open the file in your favorite text editor.  Here is an example of what I have been putting in my .basrc file:

alias brc="source ~/.bashrc" alias cls=clear alias ..='cd ..' alias cd..='cd ..' alias dir='ls --color -X' alias e='explorer .' h() {     cd ~/skydrive/dev; } cl() {     d=$1     if [[ -z "$d" ]]; then         d=$HOME     fi     if [[ -d "$d" ]]; then         cd "$d"         dir     else         echo "bash: cl: '$d': Directory not found"     fi }

brc	an easy way to reload the bashrc file while in the bash console.  This way you don’t have to restart the console each time you make a change.
cls	I am used to typing this in DOS
..	a shortcut to go back a directory
cd..	bash wants a space between the cd and the .. this alias lets me forget the space and it doesn’t complain about it.
dir	I am used to typing this in DOS
e	shortcut to open explorer in the current directory
h	shortcut to my start directory where all my code is
cl	change directory and list its contents