Usage:
alias [ [^]name [ wordlist... ] ]

Usage:
~alias [ [^]name ]

Alias assigns to name the specified wordlist. Subsequent occurrences of name (space- and/or semicolon-delimited) in commands will be replaced with wordlist. Using ^name indicates that only occurrences at the beginning of a line should be replaced. This is useful for aliasing a long command to a short name without having to worry about that same name appearing (and being expanded) in the middle of some other command.

Aliases are saved in sessions. Aliases defined with ^name and that do not require arguments (see below) are also saved in the preferences file and listed in a top-level Aliases menu. Choosing an entry in the Aliases menu executes the alias. Aliases can be set up automatically by placing alias commands in a startup command file (see the Command Line preferences).

The alias command without any arguments shows the definitions of all current aliases in the Reply Log. The definition of a specific alias can be shown with alias name.

The command ~alias without arguments deletes all aliases, whereas a specific alias can be deleted with ~alias name (^name should be used instead of name if the alias was defined that way).

Within wordlist, $1, $2, $3 ... may be used to indicate the first, second, third ... arguments of name. To have a string with spaces in it handled as a single argument, replace each space with an underscore. Any underscores will be replaced with spaces before the command is executed. For example,

alias colorsrf color $1,s #0$2.a
alias helix5 :200-228
colorsrf light_sea_green helix5

color light sea green,s #0:200-228.a

Note that wordlist may contain multiple commands separated by semicolons, for example:

alias inspect ~color; ~rl; focus $1; color byatom $1; rl $1
inspect :26

alias others ligand | ions | solvent; color red others

See also: namesel