enable – Enable or Disable Shell Builtins

The enable command is used to enable or disable shell builtins in the current shell session. Shell builtins are commands that are built into the shell itself, rather than being separate executable files.

Overview

The basic syntax for the enable command is as follows:

enable [-a] [-dnps] [-f filename] [name ...]

The options for the enable command are as follows:

• -a: Enables all builtins.
• -d: Disables builtins.
• -n: Displays a list of builtins that are currently enabled.
• -p: Displays a list of builtins that are currently disabled.
• -s: Enables/disables builtins in a way that persists across shell sessions.
• -f filename: Enables/disables builtins in a script file.

To enable a specific builtin, simply specify its name as an argument to the enable command. For example, to enable the echo builtin, you would use the following command:

enable echo

To disable a builtin, use the -d option followed by the name of the builtin. For example, to disable the cd builtin, you would use the following command:

enable -d cd

Options

The following table lists all available options for the enable command:

Troubleshooting Tips

If you are having trouble enabling or disabling a builtin, make sure that you have the correct name for the builtin. You can use the type command to check if a command is a builtin or an external command. For example, to check if echo is a builtin, you would use the following command:

type echo

If echo is a builtin, the output will indicate that it is a shell builtin.

Notes

The enable command is primarily used for managing builtins in the current shell session. If you want to permanently enable or disable a builtin, you should add the appropriate enable command to your shell startup file (e.g. .bashrc for Bash).