Bash Tutorial => Handling the system prompt

Syntax

export PS1="something" # displayes when bash awaits a command to be typed in
export PS2="anotherthing" # dsplayed when statement extends to more lines
export PS3="question prompt for select statement" # seldomly used prompt for select. First set PS3 to your needs, then call select. See help select
export PS4="mostly useful for debugging; line number and so on" # used for debugging bash scripts.

Escape	Details
\a	A bell character.
\d	The date, in "Weekday Month Date" format (e.g., "Tue May 26").
\D{FORMAT}	The FORMAT is passed to `strftime'(3) and the result is inserted into the prompt string; an empty FORMAT results in a locale-specific time representation. The braces are required.
\e	An escape character. \033 works of course too.
\h	The hostname, up to the first `.'. (i.e. no domain part)
\H	The hostname eventually with domain part
\j	The number of jobs currently managed by the shell.
\l	The basename of the shell's terminal device name.
\n	A newline.
\r	A carriage return.
\s	The name of the shell, the basename of `$0' (the portion following the final slash).
\t	The time, in 24-hour HH:MM:SS format.
\T	The time, in 12-hour HH:MM:SS format.
@	The time, in 12-hour am/pm format.
\A	The time, in 24-hour HH:MM format.
\u	The username of the current user.
\v	The version of Bash (e.g., 2.00)
\V	The release of Bash, version + patchlevel (e.g., 2.00.0)
\w	The current working directory, with $HOME abbreviated with a tilde (uses the $PROMPT_DIRTRIM variable).
\W	The basename of $PWD, with $HOME abbreviated with a tilde.
!	The history number of this command.
#	The command number of this command.
$	If the effective uid is 0, #, otherwise $.
\NNN	The character whose ASCII code is the octal value NNN.
\	A backslash.
\[	Begin a sequence of non-printing characters. This could be used to embed a terminal control sequence into the prompt.
\]	End a sequence of non-printing characters.

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