How to fix path variable in bash on Mac OSX Snow Leopard

Question

This might be a noob question, but I need help. I screwed up my terminal by trying to alter my path variable using the following command:

$ sudo nano .profile

Before I did that, if I were to type: $ echo $PATH

I would get: /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11/bin

When I opened .profile in nano it told me that the file didn't exist. I figured that made sense, since I had never edited this file before. I proceeded to enter a path to a directory I was using for a php framework and saved the file.

After I saved the file, I noticed that none of my bash commands are working. Now I can't do anything from the terminal. I can't even edit .profile in nano because it says -bash: nano: command not found

I'm clearly new to working with the terminal. I feel completely lost. Please provide some guidance on how to restore the terminal to working condition.

Answer 1

Use absolute paths.

 $  /usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/nano .profile

If you add something to a path, never just do

 PATH=/path/to/something

instead do

 PATH=$PATH:/path/to/something

By the way, you shouldn't/don't have to use sudo to edit your own file, such as .profile. Use sudo only when you need to edit the file which doesn't to belong to your account.