Configuring bash_profile to show git branch returns my branch twice

Question

# show git branch
function parse_git_branch {
  git branch --no-color 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/(\1)/'
}

function proml {
  local        BLUE="\[\033[0;34m\]"
  local         RED="\[\033[0;31m\]"
  local   LIGHT_RED="\[\033[1;31m\]"
  local       GREEN="\[\033[0;32m\]"
  local LIGHT_GREEN="\[\033[1;32m\]"
  local       WHITE="\[\033[1;37m\]"
  local  LIGHT_GRAY="\[\033[0;37m\]"
  case $TERM in
    xterm*)
    TITLEBAR='\[\033]0;\u@\h:\w\007\]'
    ;;
    *)
    TITLEBAR=""
    ;;
  esac

PS1="${TITLEBAR}\
$WHITE\w$GREEN\$(parse_git_branch)$BLUE\
$GREEN\$ "
PS2='> '
PS4='+ '
}
proml

The previous code returns the branch name three times. I just need to see it once...

~/projects/sms(apps2)$ 
(apps2)
(apps2)

How can I correct this to display just the path + branch?

ie .. ~/projects/sms(apps2)$

Answer 1

It's the last line of your script that messes up things. Calling proml directly from ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc sets PS* environment variables only once, so it won't be updated when you change folders (and you might have (apps2) displayed in every folder you enter later).

Instead, proml should be set as PROMPT_COMMAND in last line of your script:

PROMPT_COMMAND=proml

PROMPT_COMMAND holds the name of the function to be executed each time before bash displays prompt. For more info see here.

Also, speaking of git-aware shell prompts, there's one nice addition to what you already have. Apart from current branch, you can get indication about any uncommitted changes. See e.g. this blog post for parse_git_dirty() function.

Answer 2

Try changing the last line to PROMPT_COMMAND=proml

;-)