Reusing output from last command in Bash

Question

Is the output of a Bash command stored in any register? E.g. something similar to $? capturing the output instead of the exit status.

I could assign the

Answer 1

If you don't want to recompute the previous command you can create a macro that scans the current terminal buffer, tries to guess the -supposed- output of the last command, copies it to the clipboard and finally types it to the terminal.

It can be used for simple commands that return a single line of output (tested on Ubuntu 18.04 with gnome-terminal).

Install the following tools: xdootool, xclip , ruby

In gnome-terminal go to Preferences -> Shortcuts -> Select all and set it to Ctrl+shift+a.

Create the following ruby script:

cat >${HOME}/parse.rb <

In the keyboard settings add the following keyboard shortcut:

bash -c '/bin/sleep 0.3 ; xdotool key ctrl+shift+a ; xdotool key ctrl+shift+c ; ( (xclip -out | ${HOME}/parse.rb ) > /tmp/clipboard ) ; (cat /tmp/clipboard | xclip -sel clip ) ; xdotool key ctrl+shift+v '

The above shortcut:

• copies the current terminal buffer to the clipboard
• extracts the output of the last command (only one line)
• types it into the current terminal