embedaddon/readline/doc/readline.0 - view

File: [ELWIX - Embedded LightWeight unIX -] / embedaddon / readline / doc / readline.0
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Wed Jul 30 08:16:46 2014 UTC (9 years, 11 months ago) by misho
Branches: readline, MAIN
CVS tags: v6_3p10_cross, v6_3p10, v6_3, p6, HEAD

readline 6.3

READLINE(3) READLINE(3) NNAAMMEE readline - get a line from a user with editing SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS ##iinncclluuddee <<ssttddiioo..hh>> ##iinncclluuddee <<rreeaaddlliinnee//rreeaaddlliinnee..hh>> ##iinncclluuddee <<rreeaaddlliinnee//hhiissttoorryy..hh>> _c_h_a_r _* rreeaaddlliinnee (_c_o_n_s_t _c_h_a_r _*_p_r_o_m_p_t); CCOOPPYYRRIIGGHHTT Readline is Copyright (C) 1989-2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc. DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN rreeaaddlliinnee will read a line from the terminal and return it, using pprroommpptt as a prompt. If pprroommpptt is NNUULLLL or the empty string, no prompt is issued. The line returned is allocated with _m_a_l_l_o_c(3); the caller must free it when finished. The line returned has the final newline removed, so only the text of the line remains. rreeaaddlliinnee offers editing capabilities while the user is entering the line. By default, the line editing commands are similar to those of emacs. A vi-style line editing interface is also available. This manual page describes only the most basic use of rreeaaddlliinnee. Much more functionality is available; see _T_h_e _G_N_U _R_e_a_d_l_i_n_e _L_i_b_r_a_r_y and _T_h_e _G_N_U _H_i_s_t_o_r_y _L_i_b_r_a_r_y for additional information. RREETTUURRNN VVAALLUUEE rreeaaddlliinnee returns the text of the line read. A blank line returns the empty string. If EEOOFF is encountered while reading a line, and the line is empty, NNUULLLL is returned. If an EEOOFF is read with a non-empty line, it is treated as a newline. NNOOTTAATTIIOONN An Emacs-style notation is used to denote keystrokes. Control keys are denoted by C-_k_e_y, e.g., C-n means Control-N. Similarly, _m_e_t_a keys are denoted by M-_k_e_y, so M-x means Meta-X. (On keyboards without a _m_e_t_a key, M-_x means ESC _x, i.e., press the Escape key then the _x key. This makes ESC the _m_e_t_a _p_r_e_f_i_x. The combination M-C-_x means ESC-Control-_x, or press the Escape key then hold the Control key while pressing the _x key.) Readline commands may be given numeric _a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t_s, which normally act as a repeat count. Sometimes, however, it is the sign of the argument that is significant. Passing a negative argument to a command that acts in the forward direction (e.g., kkiillll--lliinnee) causes that command to act in a backward direction. Commands whose behavior with arguments deviates from this are noted. When a command is described as _k_i_l_l_i_n_g text, the text deleted is saved for possible future retrieval (_y_a_n_k_i_n_g). The killed text is saved in a _k_i_l_l _r_i_n_g. Consecutive kills cause the text to be accumulated into one unit, which can be yanked all at once. Commands which do not kill text separate the chunks of text on the kill ring. IINNIITTIIAALLIIZZAATTIIOONN FFIILLEE Readline is customized by putting commands in an initialization file (the _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file). The name of this file is taken from the value of the IINNPPUUTTRRCC environment variable. If that variable is unset, the default is _~_/_._i_n_p_u_t_r_c. If that file does not exist or cannot be read, the ultimate default is _/_e_t_c_/_i_n_p_u_t_r_c. When a program which uses the readline library starts up, the init file is read, and the key bindings and variables are set. There are only a few basic constructs allowed in the readline init file. Blank lines are ignored. Lines beginning with a ## are comments. Lines beginning with a $$ indicate conditional constructs. Other lines denote key bindings and variable settings. Each program using this library may add its own commands and bindings. For example, placing M-Control-u: universal-argument or C-Meta-u: universal-argument into the _i_n_p_u_t_r_c would make M-C-u execute the readline command _u_n_i_v_e_r_- _s_a_l_-_a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t. The following symbolic character names are recognized while processing key bindings: _D_E_L, _E_S_C, _E_S_C_A_P_E, _L_F_D, _N_E_W_L_I_N_E, _R_E_T, _R_E_T_U_R_N, _R_U_B_O_U_T, _S_P_A_C_E, _S_P_C, and _T_A_B. In addition to command names, readline allows keys to be bound to a string that is inserted when the key is pressed (a _m_a_c_r_o). KKeeyy BBiinnddiinnggss The syntax for controlling key bindings in the _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file is simple. All that is required is the name of the command or the text of a macro and a key sequence to which it should be bound. The name may be speci- fied in one of two ways: as a symbolic key name, possibly with _M_e_t_a_- or _C_o_n_t_r_o_l_- prefixes, or as a key sequence. The name and key sequence are separated by a colon. There can be no whitespace between the name and the colon. When using the form kkeeyynnaammee:_f_u_n_c_t_i_o_n_-_n_a_m_e or _m_a_c_r_o, _k_e_y_n_a_m_e is the name of a key spelled out in English. For example: Control-u: universal-argument Meta-Rubout: backward-kill-word Control-o: "> output" In the above example, _C_-_u is bound to the function uunniivveerrssaall--aarrgguummeenntt, _M_-_D_E_L is bound to the function bbaacckkwwaarrdd--kkiillll--wwoorrdd, and _C_-_o is bound to run the macro expressed on the right hand side (that is, to insert the text ``> output'' into the line). In the second form, ""kkeeyysseeqq"":_f_u_n_c_t_i_o_n_-_n_a_m_e or _m_a_c_r_o, kkeeyysseeqq differs from kkeeyynnaammee above in that strings denoting an entire key sequence may be specified by placing the sequence within double quotes. Some GNU Emacs style key escapes can be used, as in the following example, but the symbolic character names are not recognized. "\C-u": universal-argument "\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file "\e[11~": "Function Key 1" In this example, _C_-_u is again bound to the function uunniivveerrssaall--aarrgguummeenntt. _C_-_x _C_-_r is bound to the function rree--rreeaadd--iinniitt--ffiillee, and _E_S_C _[ _1 _1 _~ is bound to insert the text ``Function Key 1''. The full set of GNU Emacs style escape sequences available when speci- fying key sequences is \\CC-- control prefix \\MM-- meta prefix \\ee an escape character \\\\ backslash \\"" literal ", a double quote \\'' literal ', a single quote In addition to the GNU Emacs style escape sequences, a second set of backslash escapes is available: \\aa alert (bell) \\bb backspace \\dd delete \\ff form feed \\nn newline \\rr carriage return \\tt horizontal tab \\vv vertical tab \\_n_n_n the eight-bit character whose value is the octal value _n_n_n (one to three digits) \\xx_H_H the eight-bit character whose value is the hexadecimal value _H_H (one or two hex digits) When entering the text of a macro, single or double quotes should be used to indicate a macro definition. Unquoted text is assumed to be a function name. In the macro body, the backslash escapes described above are expanded. Backslash will quote any other character in the macro text, including " and '. BBaasshh allows the current readline key bindings to be displayed or modi- fied with the bbiinndd builtin command. The editing mode may be switched during interactive use by using the --oo option to the sseett builtin com- mand. Other programs using this library provide similar mechanisms. The _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file may be edited and re-read if a program does not pro- vide any other means to incorporate new bindings. VVaarriiaabblleess Readline has variables that can be used to further customize its behav- ior. A variable may be set in the _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file with a statement of the form sseett _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_-_n_a_m_e _v_a_l_u_e Except where noted, readline variables can take the values OOnn or OOffff (without regard to case). Unrecognized variable names are ignored. When a variable value is read, empty or null values, "on" (case-insen- sitive), and "1" are equivalent to OOnn. All other values are equivalent to OOffff. The variables and their default values are: bbeellll--ssttyyllee ((aauuddiibbllee)) Controls what happens when readline wants to ring the terminal bell. If set to nnoonnee, readline never rings the bell. If set to vviissiibbllee, readline uses a visible bell if one is available. If set to aauuddiibbllee, readline attempts to ring the terminal's bell. bbiinndd--ttttyy--ssppeecciiaall--cchhaarrss ((OOnn)) If set to OOnn, readline attempts to bind the control characters treated specially by the kernel's terminal driver to their read- line equivalents. ccoolloorreedd--ssttaattss ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, readline displays possible completions using dif- ferent colors to indicate their file type. The color defini- tions are taken from the value of the LLSS__CCOOLLOORRSS environment variable. ccoommmmeenntt--bbeeggiinn ((````##'''')) The string that is inserted in vvii mode when the iinnsseerrtt--ccoommmmeenntt command is executed. This command is bound to MM--## in emacs mode and to ## in vi command mode. ccoommpplleettiioonn--ddiissppllaayy--wwiiddtthh ((--11)) The number of screen columns used to display possible matches when performing completion. The value is ignored if it is less than 0 or greater than the terminal screen width. A value of 0 will cause matches to be displayed one per line. The default value is -1. ccoommpplleettiioonn--iiggnnoorree--ccaassee ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, readline performs filename matching and completion in a case-insensitive fashion. ccoommpplleettiioonn--mmaapp--ccaassee ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, and ccoommpplleettiioonn--iiggnnoorree--ccaassee is enabled, readline treats hyphens (_-) and underscores (__) as equivalent when per- forming case-insensitive filename matching and completion. ccoommpplleettiioonn--pprreeffiixx--ddiissppllaayy--lleennggtthh ((00)) The length in characters of the common prefix of a list of pos- sible completions that is displayed without modification. When set to a value greater than zero, common prefixes longer than this value are replaced with an ellipsis when displaying possi- ble completions. ccoommpplleettiioonn--qquueerryy--iitteemmss ((110000)) This determines when the user is queried about viewing the num- ber of possible completions generated by the ppoossssiibbllee--ccoommppllee-- ttiioonnss command. It may be set to any integer value greater than or equal to zero. If the number of possible completions is greater than or equal to the value of this variable, the user is asked whether or not he wishes to view them; otherwise they are simply listed on the terminal. A negative value causes readline to never ask. ccoonnvveerrtt--mmeettaa ((OOnn)) If set to OOnn, readline will convert characters with the eighth bit set to an ASCII key sequence by stripping the eighth bit and prefixing it with an escape character (in effect, using escape as the _m_e_t_a _p_r_e_f_i_x). ddiissaabbllee--ccoommpplleettiioonn ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, readline will inhibit word completion. Completion characters will be inserted into the line as if they had been mapped to sseellff--iinnsseerrtt. eeddiittiinngg--mmooddee ((eemmaaccss)) Controls whether readline begins with a set of key bindings sim- ilar to _E_m_a_c_s or _v_i. eeddiittiinngg--mmooddee can be set to either eemmaaccss or vvii. eecchhoo--ccoonnttrrooll--cchhaarraacctteerrss ((OOnn)) When set to OOnn, on operating systems that indicate they support it, readline echoes a character corresponding to a signal gener- ated from the keyboard. eennaabbllee--kkeeyyppaadd ((OOffff)) When set to OOnn, readline will try to enable the application key- pad when it is called. Some systems need this to enable the arrow keys. eennaabbllee--mmeettaa--kkeeyy ((OOnn)) When set to OOnn, readline will try to enable any meta modifier key the terminal claims to support when it is called. On many terminals, the meta key is used to send eight-bit characters. eexxppaanndd--ttiillddee ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, tilde expansion is performed when readline attempts word completion. hhiissttoorryy--pprreesseerrvvee--ppooiinntt ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, the history code attempts to place point at the same location on each history line retrieved with pprreevviioouuss--hhiiss-- ttoorryy or nneexxtt--hhiissttoorryy. hhiissttoorryy--ssiizzee ((00)) Set the maximum number of history entries saved in the history list. If set to zero, any existing history entries are deleted and no new entries are saved. If set to a value less than zero, the number of history entries is not limited. By default, the number of history entries is not limited. hhoorriizzoonnttaall--ssccrroollll--mmooddee ((OOffff)) When set to OOnn, makes readline use a single line for display, scrolling the input horizontally on a single screen line when it becomes longer than the screen width rather than wrapping to a new line. iinnppuutt--mmeettaa ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, readline will enable eight-bit input (that is, it will not clear the eighth bit in the characters it reads), regardless of what the terminal claims it can support. The name mmeettaa--ffllaagg is a synonym for this variable. iisseeaarrcchh--tteerrmmiinnaattoorrss ((````CC--[[ CC--JJ'''')) The string of characters that should terminate an incremental search without subsequently executing the character as a com- mand. If this variable has not been given a value, the charac- ters _E_S_C and _C_-_J will terminate an incremental search. kkeeyymmaapp ((eemmaaccss)) Set the current readline keymap. The set of legal keymap names is _e_m_a_c_s_, _e_m_a_c_s_-_s_t_a_n_d_a_r_d_, _e_m_a_c_s_-_m_e_t_a_, _e_m_a_c_s_-_c_t_l_x_, _v_i_, _v_i_-_m_o_v_e_, _v_i_-_c_o_m_m_a_n_d, and _v_i_-_i_n_s_e_r_t. _v_i is equivalent to _v_i_-_c_o_m_m_a_n_d; _e_m_a_c_s is equivalent to _e_m_a_c_s_-_s_t_a_n_d_a_r_d. The default value is _e_m_a_c_s. The value of eeddiittiinngg--mmooddee also affects the default keymap. kkeeyysseeqq--ttiimmeeoouutt ((550000)) Specifies the duration _r_e_a_d_l_i_n_e will wait for a character when reading an ambiguous key sequence (one that can form a complete key sequence using the input read so far, or can take additional input to complete a longer key sequence). If no input is received within the timeout, _r_e_a_d_l_i_n_e will use the shorter but complete key sequence. The value is specified in milliseconds, so a value of 1000 means that _r_e_a_d_l_i_n_e will wait one second for additional input. If this variable is set to a value less than or equal to zero, or to a non-numeric value, _r_e_a_d_l_i_n_e will wait until another key is pressed to decide which key sequence to complete. mmaarrkk--ddiirreeccttoorriieess ((OOnn)) If set to OOnn, completed directory names have a slash appended. mmaarrkk--mmooddiiffiieedd--lliinneess ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, history lines that have been modified are dis- played with a preceding asterisk (**). mmaarrkk--ssyymmlliinnkkeedd--ddiirreeccttoorriieess ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, completed names which are symbolic links to direc- tories have a slash appended (subject to the value of mmaarrkk--ddiirreeccttoorriieess). mmaattcchh--hhiiddddeenn--ffiilleess ((OOnn)) This variable, when set to OOnn, causes readline to match files whose names begin with a `.' (hidden files) when performing filename completion. If set to OOffff, the leading `.' must be supplied by the user in the filename to be completed. mmeennuu--ccoommpplleettee--ddiissppllaayy--pprreeffiixx ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, menu completion displays the common prefix of the list of possible completions (which may be empty) before cycling through the list. oouuttppuutt--mmeettaa ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, readline will display characters with the eighth bit set directly rather than as a meta-prefixed escape sequence. ppaaggee--ccoommpplleettiioonnss ((OOnn)) If set to OOnn, readline uses an internal _m_o_r_e-like pager to dis- play a screenful of possible completions at a time. pprriinntt--ccoommpplleettiioonnss--hhoorriizzoonnttaallllyy ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, readline will display completions with matches sorted horizontally in alphabetical order, rather than down the screen. rreevveerrtt--aallll--aatt--nneewwlliinnee ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, readline will undo all changes to history lines before returning when aacccceepptt--lliinnee is executed. By default, his- tory lines may be modified and retain individual undo lists across calls to rreeaaddlliinnee. sshhooww--aallll--iiff--aammbbiigguuoouuss ((OOffff)) This alters the default behavior of the completion functions. If set to OOnn, words which have more than one possible completion cause the matches to be listed immediately instead of ringing the bell. sshhooww--aallll--iiff--uunnmmooddiiffiieedd ((OOffff)) This alters the default behavior of the completion functions in a fashion similar to sshhooww--aallll--iiff--aammbbiigguuoouuss. If set to OOnn, words which have more than one possible completion without any possi- ble partial completion (the possible completions don't share a common prefix) cause the matches to be listed immediately instead of ringing the bell. sshhooww--mmooddee--iinn--pprroommpptt ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, add a character to the beginning of the prompt indicating the editing mode: emacs (@), vi command (:) or vi insertion (+). sskkiipp--ccoommpplleetteedd--tteexxtt ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, this alters the default completion behavior when inserting a single match into the line. It's only active when performing completion in the middle of a word. If enabled, readline does not insert characters from the completion that match characters after point in the word being completed, so portions of the word following the cursor are not duplicated. vviissiibbllee--ssttaattss ((OOffff)) If set to OOnn, a character denoting a file's type as reported by _s_t_a_t(2) is appended to the filename when listing possible com- pletions. CCoonnddiittiioonnaall CCoonnssttrruuccttss Readline implements a facility similar in spirit to the conditional compilation features of the C preprocessor which allows key bindings and variable settings to be performed as the result of tests. There are four parser directives used. $$iiff The $$iiff construct allows bindings to be made based on the edit- ing mode, the terminal being used, or the application using readline. The text of the test extends to the end of the line; no characters are required to isolate it. mmooddee The mmooddee== form of the $$iiff directive is used to test whether readline is in emacs or vi mode. This may be used in conjunction with the sseett kkeeyymmaapp command, for instance, to set bindings in the _e_m_a_c_s_-_s_t_a_n_d_a_r_d and _e_m_a_c_s_-_c_t_l_x keymaps only if readline is starting out in emacs mode. tteerrmm The tteerrmm== form may be used to include terminal-specific key bindings, perhaps to bind the key sequences output by the terminal's function keys. The word on the right side of the == is tested against the full name of the terminal and the portion of the terminal name before the first --. This allows _s_u_n to match both _s_u_n and _s_u_n_-_c_m_d, for instance. aapppplliiccaattiioonn The aapppplliiccaattiioonn construct is used to include application- specific settings. Each program using the readline library sets the _a_p_p_l_i_c_a_t_i_o_n _n_a_m_e, and an initialization file can test for a particular value. This could be used to bind key sequences to functions useful for a specific program. For instance, the following command adds a key sequence that quotes the current or previous word in bbaasshh: $$iiff Bash # Quote the current or previous word "\C-xq": "\eb\"\ef\"" $$eennddiiff $$eennddiiff This command, as seen in the previous example, terminates an $$iiff command. $$eellssee Commands in this branch of the $$iiff directive are executed if the test fails. $$iinncclluuddee This directive takes a single filename as an argument and reads commands and bindings from that file. For example, the follow- ing directive would read _/_e_t_c_/_i_n_p_u_t_r_c: $$iinncclluuddee _/_e_t_c_/_i_n_p_u_t_r_c SSEEAARRCCHHIINNGG Readline provides commands for searching through the command history for lines containing a specified string. There are two search modes: _i_n_c_r_e_m_e_n_t_a_l and _n_o_n_-_i_n_c_r_e_m_e_n_t_a_l. Incremental searches begin before the user has finished typing the search string. As each character of the search string is typed, read- line displays the next entry from the history matching the string typed so far. An incremental search requires only as many characters as needed to find the desired history entry. To search backward in the history for a particular string, type CC--rr. Typing CC--ss searches forward through the history. The characters present in the value of the iisseeaarrcchh--tteerrmmiinnaattoorrss variable are used to terminate an incremental search. If that variable has not been assigned a value the _E_s_c_a_p_e and CC--JJ characters will terminate an incremental search. CC--GG will abort an incremental search and restore the original line. When the search is terminated, the history entry containing the search string becomes the current line. To find other matching entries in the history list, type CC--ss or CC--rr as appropriate. This will search backward or forward in the history for the next line matching the search string typed so far. Any other key sequence bound to a readline command will terminate the search and exe- cute that command. For instance, a newline will terminate the search and accept the line, thereby executing the command from the history list. A movement command will terminate the search, make the last line found the current line, and begin editing. Non-incremental searches read the entire search string before starting to search for matching history lines. The search string may be typed by the user or be part of the contents of the current line. EEDDIITTIINNGG CCOOMMMMAANNDDSS The following is a list of the names of the commands and the default key sequences to which they are bound. Command names without an accom- panying key sequence are unbound by default. In the following descriptions, _p_o_i_n_t refers to the current cursor posi- tion, and _m_a_r_k refers to a cursor position saved by the sseett--mmaarrkk com- mand. The text between the point and mark is referred to as the _r_e_g_i_o_n. CCoommmmaannddss ffoorr MMoovviinngg bbeeggiinnnniinngg--ooff--lliinnee ((CC--aa)) Move to the start of the current line. eenndd--ooff--lliinnee ((CC--ee)) Move to the end of the line. ffoorrwwaarrdd--cchhaarr ((CC--ff)) Move forward a character. bbaacckkwwaarrdd--cchhaarr ((CC--bb)) Move back a character. ffoorrwwaarrdd--wwoorrdd ((MM--ff)) Move forward to the end of the next word. Words are composed of alphanumeric characters (letters and digits). bbaacckkwwaarrdd--wwoorrdd ((MM--bb)) Move back to the start of the current or previous word. Words are composed of alphanumeric characters (letters and digits). cclleeaarr--ssccrreeeenn ((CC--ll)) Clear the screen leaving the current line at the top of the screen. With an argument, refresh the current line without clearing the screen. rreeddrraaww--ccuurrrreenntt--lliinnee Refresh the current line. CCoommmmaannddss ffoorr MMaanniippuullaattiinngg tthhee HHiissttoorryy aacccceepptt--lliinnee ((NNeewwlliinnee,, RReettuurrnn)) Accept the line regardless of where the cursor is. If this line is non-empty, it may be added to the history list for future recall with aadddd__hhiissttoorryy(()). If the line is a modified history line, the history line is restored to its original state. pprreevviioouuss--hhiissttoorryy ((CC--pp)) Fetch the previous command from the history list, moving back in the list. nneexxtt--hhiissttoorryy ((CC--nn)) Fetch the next command from the history list, moving forward in the list. bbeeggiinnnniinngg--ooff--hhiissttoorryy ((MM--<<)) Move to the first line in the history. eenndd--ooff--hhiissttoorryy ((MM-->>)) Move to the end of the input history, i.e., the line currently being entered. rreevveerrssee--sseeaarrcchh--hhiissttoorryy ((CC--rr)) Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through the history as necessary. This is an incremental search. ffoorrwwaarrdd--sseeaarrcchh--hhiissttoorryy ((CC--ss)) Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through the history as necessary. This is an incremental search. nnoonn--iinnccrreemmeennttaall--rreevveerrssee--sseeaarrcchh--hhiissttoorryy ((MM--pp)) Search backward through the history starting at the current line using a non-incremental search for a string supplied by the user. nnoonn--iinnccrreemmeennttaall--ffoorrwwaarrdd--sseeaarrcchh--hhiissttoorryy ((MM--nn)) Search forward through the history using a non-incremental search for a string supplied by the user. hhiissttoorryy--sseeaarrcchh--bbaacckkwwaarrdd Search backward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the current cursor position (the _p_o_i_n_t). The search string must match at the beginning of a history line. This is a non-incremental search. hhiissttoorryy--sseeaarrcchh--ffoorrwwaarrdd Search forward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the point. The search string must match at the beginning of a history line. This is a non-incremental search. hhiissttoorryy--ssuubbssttrriinngg--sseeaarrcchh--bbaacckkwwaarrdd Search backward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the current cursor position (the _p_o_i_n_t). The search string may match anywhere in a history line. This is a non-incremental search. hhiissttoorryy--ssuubbssttrriinngg--sseeaarrcchh--ffoorrwwaarrdd Search forward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the point. The search string may match anywhere in a history line. This is a non- incremental search. yyaannkk--nntthh--aarrgg ((MM--CC--yy)) Insert the first argument to the previous command (usually the second word on the previous line) at point. With an argument _n, insert the _nth word from the previous command (the words in the previous command begin with word 0). A negative argument inserts the _nth word from the end of the previous command. Once the argument _n is computed, the argument is extracted as if the "!_n" history expansion had been specified. yyaannkk--llaasstt--aarrgg ((MM--..,, MM--__)) Insert the last argument to the previous command (the last word of the previous history entry). With a numeric argument, behave exactly like yyaannkk--nntthh--aarrgg. Successive calls to yyaannkk--llaasstt--aarrgg move back through the history list, inserting the last word (or the word specified by the argument to the first call) of each line in turn. Any numeric argument supplied to these successive calls determines the direction to move through the history. A negative argument switches the direction through the history (back or forward). The history expansion facilities are used to extract the last argument, as if the "!$" history expansion had been specified. CCoommmmaannddss ffoorr CChhaannggiinngg TTeexxtt _e_n_d_-_o_f_-_f_i_l_e ((uussuuaallllyy CC--dd)) The character indicating end-of-file as set, for example, by ``stty''. If this character is read when there are no charac- ters on the line, and point is at the beginning of the line, Readline interprets it as the end of input and returns EEOOFF. ddeelleettee--cchhaarr ((CC--dd)) Delete the character at point. If this function is bound to the same character as the tty EEOOFF character, as CC--dd commonly is, see above for the effects. bbaacckkwwaarrdd--ddeelleettee--cchhaarr ((RRuubboouutt)) Delete the character behind the cursor. When given a numeric argument, save the deleted text on the kill ring. ffoorrwwaarrdd--bbaacckkwwaarrdd--ddeelleettee--cchhaarr Delete the character under the cursor, unless the cursor is at the end of the line, in which case the character behind the cur- sor is deleted. qquuootteedd--iinnsseerrtt ((CC--qq,, CC--vv)) Add the next character that you type to the line verbatim. This is how to insert characters like CC--qq, for example. ttaabb--iinnsseerrtt ((MM--TTAABB)) Insert a tab character. sseellff--iinnsseerrtt ((aa,, bb,, AA,, 11,, !!,, ......)) Insert the character typed. ttrraannssppoossee--cchhaarrss ((CC--tt)) Drag the character before point forward over the character at point, moving point forward as well. If point is at the end of the line, then this transposes the two characters before point. Negative arguments have no effect. ttrraannssppoossee--wwoorrddss ((MM--tt)) Drag the word before point past the word after point, moving point over that word as well. If point is at the end of the line, this transposes the last two words on the line. uuppccaassee--wwoorrdd ((MM--uu)) Uppercase the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, uppercase the previous word, but do not move point. ddoowwnnccaassee--wwoorrdd ((MM--ll)) Lowercase the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, lowercase the previous word, but do not move point. ccaappiittaalliizzee--wwoorrdd ((MM--cc)) Capitalize the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, capitalize the previous word, but do not move point. oovveerrwwrriittee--mmooddee Toggle overwrite mode. With an explicit positive numeric argu- ment, switches to overwrite mode. With an explicit non-positive numeric argument, switches to insert mode. This command affects only eemmaaccss mode; vvii mode does overwrite differently. Each call to _r_e_a_d_l_i_n_e_(_) starts in insert mode. In overwrite mode, charac- ters bound to sseellff--iinnsseerrtt replace the text at point rather than pushing the text to the right. Characters bound to bbaacckk-- wwaarrdd--ddeelleettee--cchhaarr replace the character before point with a space. By default, this command is unbound. KKiilllliinngg aanndd YYaannkkiinngg kkiillll--lliinnee ((CC--kk)) Kill the text from point to the end of the line. bbaacckkwwaarrdd--kkiillll--lliinnee ((CC--xx RRuubboouutt)) Kill backward to the beginning of the line. uunniixx--lliinnee--ddiissccaarrdd ((CC--uu)) Kill backward from point to the beginning of the line. The killed text is saved on the kill-ring. kkiillll--wwhhoollee--lliinnee Kill all characters on the current line, no matter where point is. kkiillll--wwoorrdd ((MM--dd)) Kill from point the end of the current word, or if between words, to the end of the next word. Word boundaries are the same as those used by ffoorrwwaarrdd--wwoorrdd. bbaacckkwwaarrdd--kkiillll--wwoorrdd ((MM--RRuubboouutt)) Kill the word behind point. Word boundaries are the same as those used by bbaacckkwwaarrdd--wwoorrdd. uunniixx--wwoorrdd--rruubboouutt ((CC--ww)) Kill the word behind point, using white space as a word bound- ary. The killed text is saved on the kill-ring. uunniixx--ffiilleennaammee--rruubboouutt Kill the word behind point, using white space and the slash character as the word boundaries. The killed text is saved on the kill-ring. ddeelleettee--hhoorriizzoonnttaall--ssppaaccee ((MM--\\)) Delete all spaces and tabs around point. kkiillll--rreeggiioonn Kill the text between the point and _m_a_r_k (saved cursor posi- tion). This text is referred to as the _r_e_g_i_o_n. ccooppyy--rreeggiioonn--aass--kkiillll Copy the text in the region to the kill buffer. ccooppyy--bbaacckkwwaarrdd--wwoorrdd Copy the word before point to the kill buffer. The word bound- aries are the same as bbaacckkwwaarrdd--wwoorrdd. ccooppyy--ffoorrwwaarrdd--wwoorrdd Copy the word following point to the kill buffer. The word boundaries are the same as ffoorrwwaarrdd--wwoorrdd. yyaannkk ((CC--yy)) Yank the top of the kill ring into the buffer at point. yyaannkk--ppoopp ((MM--yy)) Rotate the kill ring, and yank the new top. Only works follow- ing yyaannkk or yyaannkk--ppoopp. NNuummeerriicc AArrgguummeennttss ddiiggiitt--aarrgguummeenntt ((MM--00,, MM--11,, ......,, MM----)) Add this digit to the argument already accumulating, or start a new argument. M-- starts a negative argument. uunniivveerrssaall--aarrgguummeenntt This is another way to specify an argument. If this command is followed by one or more digits, optionally with a leading minus sign, those digits define the argument. If the command is fol- lowed by digits, executing uunniivveerrssaall--aarrgguummeenntt again ends the numeric argument, but is otherwise ignored. As a special case, if this command is immediately followed by a character that is neither a digit or minus sign, the argument count for the next command is multiplied by four. The argument count is initially one, so executing this function the first time makes the argu- ment count four, a second time makes the argument count sixteen, and so on. CCoommpplleettiinngg ccoommpplleettee ((TTAABB)) Attempt to perform completion on the text before point. The actual completion performed is application-specific. BBaasshh, for instance, attempts completion treating the text as a variable (if the text begins with $$), username (if the text begins with ~~), hostname (if the text begins with @@), or command (including aliases and functions) in turn. If none of these produces a match, filename completion is attempted. GGddbb, on the other hand, allows completion of program functions and variables, and only attempts filename completion under certain circumstances. ppoossssiibbllee--ccoommpplleettiioonnss ((MM--??)) List the possible completions of the text before point. When displaying completions, readline sets the number of columns used for display to the value of ccoommpplleettiioonn--ddiissppllaayy--wwiiddtthh, the value of the environment variable CCOOLLUUMMNNSS, or the screen width, in that order. iinnsseerrtt--ccoommpplleettiioonnss ((MM--**)) Insert all completions of the text before point that would have been generated by ppoossssiibbllee--ccoommpplleettiioonnss. mmeennuu--ccoommpplleettee Similar to ccoommpplleettee, but replaces the word to be completed with a single match from the list of possible completions. Repeated execution of mmeennuu--ccoommpplleettee steps through the list of possible completions, inserting each match in turn. At the end of the list of completions, the bell is rung (subject to the setting of bbeellll--ssttyyllee) and the original text is restored. An argument of _n moves _n positions forward in the list of matches; a negative argument may be used to move backward through the list. This command is intended to be bound to TTAABB, but is unbound by default. mmeennuu--ccoommpplleettee--bbaacckkwwaarrdd Identical to mmeennuu--ccoommpplleettee, but moves backward through the list of possible completions, as if mmeennuu--ccoommpplleettee had been given a negative argument. This command is unbound by default. ddeelleettee--cchhaarr--oorr--lliisstt Deletes the character under the cursor if not at the beginning or end of the line (like ddeelleettee--cchhaarr). If at the end of the line, behaves identically to ppoossssiibbllee--ccoommpplleettiioonnss. KKeeyybbooaarrdd MMaaccrrooss ssttaarrtt--kkbbdd--mmaaccrroo ((CC--xx (()) Begin saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro. eenndd--kkbbdd--mmaaccrroo ((CC--xx )))) Stop saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro and store the definition. ccaallll--llaasstt--kkbbdd--mmaaccrroo ((CC--xx ee)) Re-execute the last keyboard macro defined, by making the char- acters in the macro appear as if typed at the keyboard. pprriinntt--llaasstt--kkbbdd--mmaaccrroo (()) Print the last keyboard macro defined in a format suitable for the _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file. MMiisscceellllaanneeoouuss rree--rreeaadd--iinniitt--ffiillee ((CC--xx CC--rr)) Read in the contents of the _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file, and incorporate any bindings or variable assignments found there. aabboorrtt ((CC--gg)) Abort the current editing command and ring the terminal's bell (subject to the setting of bbeellll--ssttyyllee). ddoo--uuppppeerrccaassee--vveerrssiioonn ((MM--aa,, MM--bb,, MM--_x,, ......)) If the metafied character _x is lowercase, run the command that is bound to the corresponding uppercase character. pprreeffiixx--mmeettaa ((EESSCC)) Metafy the next character typed. EESSCC ff is equivalent to MMeettaa--ff. uunnddoo ((CC--__,, CC--xx CC--uu)) Incremental undo, separately remembered for each line. rreevveerrtt--lliinnee ((MM--rr)) Undo all changes made to this line. This is like executing the uunnddoo command enough times to return the line to its initial state. ttiillddee--eexxppaanndd ((MM--&&)) Perform tilde expansion on the current word. sseett--mmaarrkk ((CC--@@,, MM--<<ssppaaccee>>)) Set the mark to the point. If a numeric argument is supplied, the mark is set to that position. eexxcchhaannggee--ppooiinntt--aanndd--mmaarrkk ((CC--xx CC--xx)) Swap the point with the mark. The current cursor position is set to the saved position, and the old cursor position is saved as the mark. cchhaarraacctteerr--sseeaarrcchh ((CC--]])) A character is read and point is moved to the next occurrence of that character. A negative count searches for previous occur- rences. cchhaarraacctteerr--sseeaarrcchh--bbaacckkwwaarrdd ((MM--CC--]])) A character is read and point is moved to the previous occur- rence of that character. A negative count searches for subse- quent occurrences. sskkiipp--ccssii--sseeqquueennccee Read enough characters to consume a multi-key sequence such as those defined for keys like Home and End. Such sequences begin with a Control Sequence Indicator (CSI), usually ESC-[. If this sequence is bound to "\[", keys producing such sequences will have no effect unless explicitly bound to a readline command, instead of inserting stray characters into the editing buffer. This is unbound by default, but usually bound to ESC-[. iinnsseerrtt--ccoommmmeenntt ((MM--##)) Without a numeric argument, the value of the readline ccoomm-- mmeenntt--bbeeggiinn variable is inserted at the beginning of the current line. If a numeric argument is supplied, this command acts as a toggle: if the characters at the beginning of the line do not match the value of ccoommmmeenntt--bbeeggiinn, the value is inserted, other- wise the characters in ccoommmmeenntt--bbeeggiinn are deleted from the begin- ning of the line. In either case, the line is accepted as if a newline had been typed. The default value of ccoommmmeenntt--bbeeggiinn makes the current line a shell comment. If a numeric argument causes the comment character to be removed, the line will be executed by the shell. dduummpp--ffuunnccttiioonnss Print all of the functions and their key bindings to the read- line output stream. If a numeric argument is supplied, the out- put is formatted in such a way that it can be made part of an _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file. dduummpp--vvaarriiaabblleess Print all of the settable variables and their values to the readline output stream. If a numeric argument is supplied, the output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part of an _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file. dduummpp--mmaaccrrooss Print all of the readline key sequences bound to macros and the strings they output. If a numeric argument is supplied, the output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part of an _i_n_p_u_t_r_c file. eemmaaccss--eeddiittiinngg--mmooddee ((CC--ee)) When in vvii command mode, this causes a switch to eemmaaccss editing mode. vvii--eeddiittiinngg--mmooddee ((MM--CC--jj)) When in eemmaaccss editing mode, this causes a switch to vvii editing mode. DDEEFFAAUULLTT KKEEYY BBIINNDDIINNGGSS The following is a list of the default emacs and vi bindings. Charac- ters with the eighth bit set are written as M-<character>, and are referred to as _m_e_t_a_f_i_e_d characters. The printable ASCII characters not mentioned in the list of emacs standard bindings are bound to the sseellff--iinnsseerrtt function, which just inserts the given character into the input line. In vi insertion mode, all characters not specifically men- tioned are bound to sseellff--iinnsseerrtt. Characters assigned to signal genera- tion by _s_t_t_y(1) or the terminal driver, such as C-Z or C-C, retain that function. Upper and lower case metafied characters are bound to the same function in the emacs mode meta keymap. The remaining characters are unbound, which causes readline to ring the bell (subject to the setting of the bbeellll--ssttyyllee variable). EEmmaaccss MMooddee Emacs Standard bindings "C-@" set-mark "C-A" beginning-of-line "C-B" backward-char "C-D" delete-char "C-E" end-of-line "C-F" forward-char "C-G" abort "C-H" backward-delete-char "C-I" complete "C-J" accept-line "C-K" kill-line "C-L" clear-screen "C-M" accept-line "C-N" next-history "C-P" previous-history "C-Q" quoted-insert "C-R" reverse-search-history "C-S" forward-search-history "C-T" transpose-chars "C-U" unix-line-discard "C-V" quoted-insert "C-W" unix-word-rubout "C-Y" yank "C-]" character-search "C-_" undo " " to "/" self-insert "0" to "9" self-insert ":" to "~" self-insert "C-?" backward-delete-char Emacs Meta bindings "M-C-G" abort "M-C-H" backward-kill-word "M-C-I" tab-insert "M-C-J" vi-editing-mode "M-C-M" vi-editing-mode "M-C-R" revert-line "M-C-Y" yank-nth-arg "M-C-[" complete "M-C-]" character-search-backward "M-space" set-mark "M-#" insert-comment "M-&" tilde-expand "M-*" insert-completions "M--" digit-argument "M-." yank-last-arg "M-0" digit-argument "M-1" digit-argument "M-2" digit-argument "M-3" digit-argument "M-4" digit-argument "M-5" digit-argument "M-6" digit-argument "M-7" digit-argument "M-8" digit-argument "M-9" digit-argument "M-<" beginning-of-history "M-=" possible-completions "M->" end-of-history "M-?" possible-completions "M-B" backward-word "M-C" capitalize-word "M-D" kill-word "M-F" forward-word "M-L" downcase-word "M-N" non-incremental-forward-search-history "M-P" non-incremental-reverse-search-history "M-R" revert-line "M-T" transpose-words "M-U" upcase-word "M-Y" yank-pop "M-\" delete-horizontal-space "M-~" tilde-expand "M-C-?" backward-kill-word "M-_" yank-last-arg Emacs Control-X bindings "C-XC-G" abort "C-XC-R" re-read-init-file "C-XC-U" undo "C-XC-X" exchange-point-and-mark "C-X(" start-kbd-macro "C-X)" end-kbd-macro "C-XE" call-last-kbd-macro "C-XC-?" backward-kill-line VVII MMooddee bbiinnddiinnggss VI Insert Mode functions "C-D" vi-eof-maybe "C-H" backward-delete-char "C-I" complete "C-J" accept-line "C-M" accept-line "C-R" reverse-search-history "C-S" forward-search-history "C-T" transpose-chars "C-U" unix-line-discard "C-V" quoted-insert "C-W" unix-word-rubout "C-Y" yank "C-[" vi-movement-mode "C-_" undo " " to "~" self-insert "C-?" backward-delete-char VI Command Mode functions "C-D" vi-eof-maybe "C-E" emacs-editing-mode "C-G" abort "C-H" backward-char "C-J" accept-line "C-K" kill-line "C-L" clear-screen "C-M" accept-line "C-N" next-history "C-P" previous-history "C-Q" quoted-insert "C-R" reverse-search-history "C-S" forward-search-history "C-T" transpose-chars "C-U" unix-line-discard "C-V" quoted-insert "C-W" unix-word-rubout "C-Y" yank "C-_" vi-undo " " forward-char "#" insert-comment "$" end-of-line "%" vi-match "&" vi-tilde-expand "*" vi-complete "+" next-history "," vi-char-search "-" previous-history "." vi-redo "/" vi-search "0" beginning-of-line "1" to "9" vi-arg-digit ";" vi-char-search "=" vi-complete "?" vi-search "A" vi-append-eol "B" vi-prev-word "C" vi-change-to "D" vi-delete-to "E" vi-end-word "F" vi-char-search "G" vi-fetch-history "I" vi-insert-beg "N" vi-search-again "P" vi-put "R" vi-replace "S" vi-subst "T" vi-char-search "U" revert-line "W" vi-next-word "X" backward-delete-char "Y" vi-yank-to "\" vi-complete "^" vi-first-print "_" vi-yank-arg "`" vi-goto-mark "a" vi-append-mode "b" vi-prev-word "c" vi-change-to "d" vi-delete-to "e" vi-end-word "f" vi-char-search "h" backward-char "i" vi-insertion-mode "j" next-history "k" prev-history "l" forward-char "m" vi-set-mark "n" vi-search-again "p" vi-put "r" vi-change-char "s" vi-subst "t" vi-char-search "u" vi-undo "w" vi-next-word "x" vi-delete "y" vi-yank-to "|" vi-column "~" vi-change-case SSEEEE AALLSSOO _T_h_e _G_n_u _R_e_a_d_l_i_n_e _L_i_b_r_a_r_y, Brian Fox and Chet Ramey _T_h_e _G_n_u _H_i_s_t_o_r_y _L_i_b_r_a_r_y, Brian Fox and Chet Ramey _b_a_s_h(1) FFIILLEESS _~_/_._i_n_p_u_t_r_c Individual rreeaaddlliinnee initialization file AAUUTTHHOORRSS Brian Fox, Free Software Foundation bfox@gnu.org Chet Ramey, Case Western Reserve University chet.ramey@case.edu BBUUGG RREEPPOORRTTSS If you find a bug in rreeaaddlliinnee,, you should report it. But first, you should make sure that it really is a bug, and that it appears in the latest version of the rreeaaddlliinnee library that you have. Once you have determined that a bug actually exists, mail a bug report to _b_u_g_-_r_e_a_d_l_i_n_e@_g_n_u_._o_r_g. If you have a fix, you are welcome to mail that as well! Suggestions and `philosophical' bug reports may be mailed to _b_u_g_-_r_e_a_d_l_i_n_e@_g_n_u_._o_r_g or posted to the Usenet newsgroup ggnnuu..bbaasshh..bbuugg. Comments and bug reports concerning this manual page should be directed to _c_h_e_t_._r_a_m_e_y_@_c_a_s_e_._e_d_u. BBUUGGSS It's too big and too slow. GNU Readline 6.3 2014 January 6 READLINE(3)