Character Index, e.g. What does this character mean?

This is intended to be a list of the various and multiple meanings in the zsh of all the characters on the keyboard. Flags, punctuation, etc. It is sorted in ASCII order, but with case-folded. While it is intended to be complete, it is not so yet. (Quite a bit of the phrasing used below was copied from the ZSH Reference Card.)

1. !(pat) is a KSH_GLOB operator meaning anything but pat
2. !expr is the general form of history expansion
3. ! is a history event designator expansion referring to the previous command
4. %! is a prompt expansion for the current history event number
5. ! is a shell variable automatically set to the Process ID of last background process
6. != means not-equal within a double square bracket test expression
7. ! expr is the boolean NOT within a double square bracket test expression
8. !-foo prevents -foo from being completed within the argument specifiers used by the _arguments completion utility function

1. " serves to mark double quoted strings, a type of quoting (the others are single quoting (') and quoting the backslash (\))
2. !" turns off the history mechanism for the current list

1. X# is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing pattern meaning zero or more occurrences of element X
2. X## is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing pattern meaning one or more occurrences of element X
3. (#X) is the form of all EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flags, where X is the flag.
4. #, in scripts (or interactively, with INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS set) makes the rest of the line a comment.
5. !# is a history expansion referring to the current command line so far.
6. %# is a prompt expansion used to identify root shells.
7. ${var#pat} is a parameter expansion form returning the minimum match of pat removed from head
8. ${var##pat} is a parameter expansion form returning the maximum match of pat removed from head
9. ${var:#pat} is a parameter expansion form returning var unless pat matches, then empty
10. ${#var} is a parameter expansion form returning the length of var in words (if it's an array) or bytes otherwise.
11. # is a shell variable automatically set to the number of arguments to a script or function

1. $var performs variable (i.e. parameter) substitution/expansion
2. ${var} performs parameter substitution/expansion, and allows parameter expansion flags and alternative parameter expansion forms.
3. $(cmds) turns into the output of cmds, i.e. does command substitution (this is a synonym for `cmds` (backquoting))
4. $((expr)) performs arithmetic substitution, i.e. it does math on expr and turns into the result
5. :$ is a history expansion word selector referring to the last command argument; it's often used in the form of !!:$ which expands to the last argument of the previous command
6. $ is a shell variable automatically set to the process ID of the main shell process

1. % is a glob qualifier referring to special files
2. %b is a glob qualifier referring to block special files
3. %c is a glob qualifier referring to character special files
4. % is a parameter expansion flag (e.g. ${(%)VARIABLE}) indicating that the string in VARIABLE should be prompt expanded
5. %[optional integer]single character forms all prompt expansions; rather than duplicating them here, please look them up under their single character
6. %% is a prompt expansion that expands to a percent character (i.e. "%")
7. !?str?:% is a history expansion referring to the most recent word in the history matching str
8. !% or !:% is a history expansion referring to the word matched by the last !?str? history expansion (the % is a word selector/designator)
9. ${var%pat} is a parameter expansion form returning the minimum match of pat removed from the tail end of the value of var
10. ${var%%pat} is a parameter expansion form returning the maximum match of pat removed from the tail end of the value of var
11. % in arithmetic expansions is the modular operator
12. %= in arithmetic expansions is the modular assignment operator
13. %d in the value of the format completion zstyle refers to the specific format

1. && is a command separator which makes the following command run only if the previous one succeeded, and a arithmetic operator which means logical AND
2. |& is a command separator which is shorthand for 2>&1 |, which sends stdout and stderr to stdin of the next command
3. & is a sublist terminator which puts the pipeline before it into the background, and an arithmetic operator which means bitwise AND
4. &! or &| are sublist terminators which background and disown (don't track in the jobs table) their sublists
5. & is a history argument modifier causing a previously set of search and replace strings to be re-used
6. <& number is a redirection operator which duplicates stdin from file descriptor number
7. >& number is a redirection operator which duplicates stdout from file descriptor number
8. <& - is a redirection operator which closes stdin
9. >& - is a redirection operator which closes stdout
10. <& p is a redirection operator which moves coprocess input to stdin
11. >& p is a redirection operator which moves stdout to coprocess output
12. >& word or &> word are redirection operators which redirect both stdout and stderr to word (>& will be interpreted as above, if possible; use &> if to remove ambiguity)
13. >&| word or >&! word or &>| word or &>! word are redirection operators which silently overwrite word, and redirect both stdout and stderr
14. »& word or &» word are redirection operators which redirect both stdout and stderr to word in append mode
15. »&| word or »&! word or &»| word or &»! word are redirection operators which silently create word, and redirect both stdout and stderr to it in append mode
16. ;& is a list terminator used in case statements which causes fall-through, i.e. the next list will be executed, too
17. &= or &&= are arithmetic operators which combine bitwise or logical AND with assignment

1. ' is used to quote things; it is referred as single-quoting
2. '' (two single quotes), when the option RC_QUOTES is on, get turned into one single quote when found inside a single-quoted string; otherwise, they just vanish (i.e. they end the string, and start a new one, which gets automatically joined with the last one)

1. (list) executes list in a subshell
2. (choices) enclose choices in a foreach statement
3. optionally surround patterns in a case statement
4. optional when defining a function
5. (pat) is a glob pattern that groups globbing patterns
6. (pat1|pat2) is a glob pattern that matches either pat1 or pat2
7. surround patterns operated on by KSH_GLOB operators
8. surround EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flags
9. surround glob qualifiers when at the end of a glob pattern
10. surround the list executed in process substitution
11. surround the command executed in command substitution ($())
12. a pair surrounds arithmetic expansion
13. may be used to surround parameter expansion flags, instead of :
14. group tests within a double square bracket test expression
15. doubled, activates arithmetic expansion within test expressions
16. surround arguments to math functions
17. surround list of options to be excluded in the argument specifiers used by the _arguments completion utility function
18. surround explicit list of possible completions for arguments to options in the argument specifiers used by the _arguments completion utility function
19. sets of arguments in the argument specifiers used by the _arguments completion utility function

1. See (
2. %) is a prompt expansion that expands to a close paren character (i.e. ")")

1. * is a glob pattern referring to any string
2. * is a glob qualifier referring to executable plain files (e.g. "*(*)")
3. **/ is a glob pattern referring to any number of directories, i.e. all subdirectories
4. ***/ same as "**/" but also follows symlinks
5. *(pat) is a KSH_GLOB operator meaning zero or more copies of pat
6. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. +//cmd// is a glob qualifier referring to files for which //cmd// evaluates to true (//cmd// must be a single word)
2. $+VARIABLE returns 0 if VARIABLE is not set, and 1 if it is set (even if it is set to the empty string)
3. +(pat) is a KSH_GLOB operator meaning one or more copies of pat
4. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. - is a glob qualifier toggling link following behavior; i.e. does globing work on symbolic link targets, or the link files themselves (default is link files, not targets)
2. <num1-num2> is a glob pattern meaning any number between num1 and num2; if num1 missing, from 0 to num2; if num2 missing, from num1 to infinity
3. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. . is a glob quantifier referring to plain files
2. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. / is a glob quantifier referring to directories
2. **/ is a glob pattern referring to any number of directories, i.e. all subdirectories
3. -/ is an option to the _path_files completion function causing it to complete only directories
4. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -0 is a synonym for the CORRECT option
2. 0 is a shell variable automatically set to the name used to invoke the current shell; with the FUNCTION_ARGZERO option set, reflects the name of functions and scripts while within them

1. -3 is a synonym for the NO_NO_MATCH option

1. -4 is a synonym for the GLOB_DOTS option

1. -5 is a synonym for the NOTIFY option

1. -6 is a synonym for the BG_NICE option

1. -7 is a synonym for the IGNORE_EOF option

1. -8 is a synonym for the MARK_DIRS option

1. -9 is a synonym for the AUTO_LIST option

1. ":" always true, but without stdout/stderr output
2. : separates parts of a zstyle context
3. :class: is the form of all character classes, where class is one of alnum, alpha, etc
4. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. ; terminates a sublist, and is a synonym for a newline
2. ;; terminates a particular case within a case statement
3. ;& terminates a particular case within a case statement, but falls through
4. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. <num1-num2> is a glob pattern meaning any number between num1 and num2; if num1 missing, from 0 to num2; if num2 missing, from num1 to infinity
2. <(cmds) is a type of process substitution (expansion), which expands to a device file (or FIFO) holding the output of cmds
3. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. = is a glob quantifier referring to sockets
2. =(cmds) is a type of process substitution (expansion), which expands to temporary file holding the output of cmds
3. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. <num1-num2> is a glob pattern meaning any number between num1 and num2; if num1 missing, from 0 to num2; if num2 missing, from num1 to infinity
2. >(cmds) is a type of process substitution (expansion), which expands to a device file (or FIFO) which will be read for standard input by cmds
3. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. ? is a glob pattern matching any single character
2. ?(pat) is a KSH_GLOB operator matching zero or 1 copy of pat
3. !?str is a history expansion referring to the last command containing str
4. %? is a prompt expansion for the return status of most recently executed command
5. ${var:?str} is a parameter expansion form which returns var if it is non-null, otherwise prints str(if given) as an error and aborts
6. ? is a shell variable automatically set to the status of the most recently executed command
7. test?true_exp:false_exp is the C ternary if statement, usable only within arithmetic expressions

1. @(pat) is a KSH_GLOB operator used to group patterns
2. @ is a glob quantifier referring to symbolic links
3. %@ is a prompt expansion expanding to the current time, in 12 hour (AM/PM) format. (%t is a synonym)
4. @ is a parameter expansion flag causing arrays to be expanded even within double quotes
5. @ is a shell variable automatically set to the list of positional parameters within a script or function; unlike argv, it splits into words even within double quotes.

1. -a is a synonym for the ALL_EXPORT option
2. -A and +A are options to the set builtin used for creating arrays
3. (#anum) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag causing num approximations to be permitted in matches
4. a is a glob qualifier specifying a particular access time; its format is a followed by one of the letters Mwhms (referring to the time units: Months, weeks, hours, minutes or seconds) followed by a plus or minus (referring to at older than or newer than), followed by a number (to set how many time units)
5. A is a glob qualifier specifying the group read permission is set, i.e. –r—– or 0040
6. A is a parameter expansion flag which creates an array parameter
7. AA is a parameter expansion flag which creates an associative array parameter
8. a is a parameter expansion flag causing sorting to be done on array index
9. -a is a test expression operator which is true if the filename following it exists
10. oa is a glob qualifier which causes the results to be sorted by access time; see under o for other sort orders

1. -B is a synonym for the NO_BEEP option
2. (#b) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag turning on backreferences, i.e. setting the shell parameters match, mbegin, & mend.
3. (#B) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag turning off backreferences
4. %b is a glob qualifier referring to block special files
5. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -C is a synonym for the NO_CLOBBER option
2. %c is a glob qualifier referring to character special files
3. c is a glob qualifier specifying a particular inode change (attribute modification) time; it's format is c followed by one of the letters Mwhms (referring to the time units: Months, weeks, hours, minutes or seconds) followed by a plus or minus (referring to at older than or newer than), followed by a number (to set how many time units)
4. oc is a glob qualifier which causes the results to be sorted by inode change (attribute modification) time; see under o for other sort orders
5. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -D is a synonym for the PUSHD_TO_HOME option
2. ddev is a glob qualifier referring to files with a device number of dev
3. D is a glob qualifier which turns on the GLOB_DOTS option
4. oc is a glob qualifier which causes the results to be sorted with files in subdirectories first; see under o for other sort orders
5. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -e is a synonym for the ERR_EXIT option
2. -E is a synonym for the PUSHD_SILENT option
3. (#e) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag forcing the pattern to only match at the end of the test string
4. estring is a glob qualifier referring to files for which string evaluates to true
5. E is a glob qualifier specifying the group execute permission is set, i.e. —-x— or 0010
6. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -F is a synonym for the NO_GLOB option
2. -f is a synonym for the NO_RCS option
3. F is a glob quantifier referring to non-empty directories
4. fspec is a glob quantifier referring to files with the chmod-style permissions of spec
5. -f is an option to the _path_files completion function causing it to complete all files, as is the default
6. -F files is an option to the _path_files completion function causing it to ignore, i.e. not complete files, overriding ignored-patterns
7. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -g is a synonym for the HIST_IGNORE_SPACE option
2. -G is a synonym for the NULL_GLOB option
3. G is a glob qualifier referring to files owned by a user in the same group as the current effective user (i.e. with the same effective GID)
4. ggid is a glob qualifier referring to files owned by a user in gid (can be a name instead of a number)
5. -g pat is an option to the _path_files completion function causing it to complete files that match pat
6. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -h is a synonym for the HIST_IGNORE_DUPS option
2. -H is a synonym for the RM_STAR_SILENT option
3. ah, ch or mh are glob qualifiers specifying a particular access time, inode change (attribute modification) time, or modification time; see under a, c or m for details
4. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -I is a synonym for the IGNORE_BRACES option
2. -i is a synonym for the INTERACTIVE option
3. (#i) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag causing case insensitive matching
4. (#I) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag causing case sensitive matching
5. I is a glob qualifier specifying the group write permission is set, i.e. —w—- or 0020
6. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -J is a synonym for the AUTO_CD option
2. %j is a prompt expansion referring to the number of jobs, as displayed by the jobs builtin
3. j:str: is a parameter expansion flag causing the words expanded by the parameter to be joined with str in between

1. -k is a synonym for the INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS option
2. -K is a synonym for the NO_BANG_HIST option
3. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -l is a synonym for the LOGIN option
2. -L is a synonym for the SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK option
3. (#l) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag causing lower case to match upper case
4. l-num and l+num are glob qualifiers referring to files with link counts less than (or greater than, for +) num
5. oL is a glob qualifier which causes the results to be sorted by file size (Length); see under o for other sort orders
6. ol is a glob qualifier which causes the results to be sorted by link count; see under o for other sort orders
7. %l is a prompt expansion that expands to the user's tty line
8. %L is a prompt expansion that expands to the current value of $SHLVL (the depth of nested shells)
9. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -m is a synonym for the MONITOR option
2. -M is a synonym for the SINGLE_LINE_ZLE option
3. (#m) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag causing the match data to be saved, i.e. the contents and length of the match are put in the shell parameters MATCH, MBEGIN and MEND
4. m is a glob qualifier specifying a particular modification time; its format is m followed by one of the letters Mwhms (referring to the time units: Months, weeks, hours, minutes or seconds) followed by a plus or minus (referring to at older than or newer than), followed by a number (to set how many time units)
5. M is a glob qualifier which causes directories to be marked (i.e. sets the MARK_DIRS option)
6. (#M) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag causing the match data not be saved
7. aM, am, cM or cm are glob qualifiers specifying a particular access time (the first two) or inode change (attribute modification) time; see under a or c for details.
8. om is a glob qualifier which causes the results to be sorted by modification time; see under o for other sort orders
9. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -N is a synonym for the AUTO_PUSHD option
2. -n is a synonym for the NO_EXEC option
3. N is a glob qualifier which turns on the NULL_GLOB option
4. n is a glob qualifier which turns on the NUMERIC_GLOB_SORT option
5. on is a glob qualifier which causes the results to be sorted by name; see under o for other sort orders
6. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -O is a synonym for the CORRECT_ALL option
2. o is a glob qualifier that selects a type of sorting; the choices are on, name (default); oL, size (Length); ol, link count; oa, access time, om, modification time, oc, inode change (attribute modification) time, od, files in subdirectories appear before those in the current directory at each level of the search
3. O is a glob qualifier that selects a type of sorting, reversed from o; the choices are the same as with o
4. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -P is a synonym for the RC_EXPAND_PARAM option
2. -p is a synonym for the PRIVILEGED option
3. p is a glob qualifier referring to named pipes (FIFOs)
4. P is a parameter expansion flag which causes the name in the parameter expansion to be treated as a variable whose value then becomes the value of the expansion
5. p is a parameter expansion flag that activates print escape sequences in the *arguments* of other parameter expansion flags
6. :p is a history expansion modifier which causes the expansion to be printed, but not executed as it would be normally
7. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -Q is a synonym for the PATH_DIRS option
2. (#qexpr) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag listing a set of glob qualifiers
3. q is a history argument modifier which adds a layer of quotes
4. Q is a history argument modifier which strips off a layer of quotes
5. q is a parameter expansion flag causing the result to be quoted with backslashes
6. qq is a parameter expansion flag causing the result to be quoted with single quotes
7. qqq is a parameter expansion flag causing the result to be quoted with double quotes
8. qqqq is a parameter expansion flag causing the result to be quoted with the $'…' form
9. Q is a parameter expansion flag which strips off a layer of quotes

1. -R is a synonym for the LONG_LIST_JOBS option
2. -r is a synonym for the RESTRICTED option
3. r is a glob qualifier specifying that matched files are readable by their owners
4. R is a glob quantifier referring world readable files
5. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -S is a synonym for the REC_EXACT option
2. -s is a synonym for the SHIN_STDIN option
3. (#s) is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing flag forcing the pattern to only match at the beginning of the test string
4. s is a glob quantifier referring to setuid files (set user id)
5. s is a glob quantifier referring to setgid files (set group id)
6. as, cs or ms are glob qualifiers specifying a particular access time, inode change (attribute modification) time, or modification time; see under a, c or m for details
7. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -T is a synonym for the CDABLE_VARS option
2. -t is a synonym for the SINGLE_COMMAND option
3. t is a glob quantifier referring to files with the sticky bit set
4. T is a glob qualifier which causes directories, links, and special files to be marked (i.e. sets the LIST_TYPES option)
5. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -U is a synonym for the MAIL_WARNING option
2. -u is a synonym for the NO_UNSET option
3. U is a glob qualifier referring to files owned by the current effective UID
4. uuid is a glob qualifier referring to files owned by uid (can be a name instead of a number)
5. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -V is a synonym for the NO_PROMPT_CR option
2. -v is a synonym for the VERBOSE option
3. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -W is a synonym for the AUTO_RESUME option
2. -w is a synonym for the CHASE_LINKS option
3. w is a glob qualifier specifying that matched files are writable by their owners
4. W is a glob quantifier referring world writable files
5. aw, cw or mw are glob qualifiers specifying a particular access time, inode change (attribute modification) time, or modification time; see under a, c or m for details.
6. -W dirs is an option to the _path_files completion function causing it to look in dirs for files to complete
7. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -X is a synonym for the LIST_TYPES option
2. -x is a synonym for the XTRACE option
3. x is a glob qualifier specifying that matched files are executable by their owners
4. X is a glob quantifier referring world executable files
5. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -Y is a synonym for the MENU_COMPLETE option
2. -y is a synonym for the SH_WORD_SPLIT option
3. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. -Z is a synonym for the ZLE option
2. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. [[ cond ]] evaluates cond as a test expression, returning true or false
2. [class] is a glob pattern meaning any single character in class
3. [^class] is a glob pattern meaning any single character not in class
4. [num] is a glob qualifier causing the pattern to only return only the numth result
5. [beg,end] is a glob qualifier causing the pattern to only return the results between beg and end as if they were an array (beg and end can be expressions)
6. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. See [

1. [^class] is a glob pattern meaning any single character not in class
2. ^pat is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing pattern meaning anything that doesn't match pat
3. ^ is a glob quantifier which negates the following quantifiers
4. ^ is a history word selector which selects the first argument (i.e. a synonym for 1)
5. ${^var} is a parameter expansion form that causes the elements of var to be expanded like brace expansion

1. {list} groups the commands in list, so they act like a single command, e.g. they can be redirected as a whole
2. ${var} performs parameter substitution/expansion, and allows parameter expansion flags and alternative parameter expansion forms (for which, see under their sections in this page)

1. || is used to connect pipelines (or single simple commands) into an OR sublist
2. | , the pipe character, is used to redirect the output of one command into the input of another, forming a pipeline
3. (pat1|pat2) is a glob pattern that matches either pat1 or pat2
4. Other meanings not yet listed here…

1. See {

1. pat~exclude_pat is an EXTENDED_GLOB globbing pattern meaning anything that matches pat and doesn't match exclude_pat