Windows PowerShell command on Get-command readline

Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man readline

Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

NAME

readline - get a line from a user with editing

SYNOPSIS

#include

char *

readline (const char *prompt);

Foundation, Inc.

DESCRIPTION

readline will read a line from the terminal and return it,

using prompt as a prompt. If prompt is NULL or the empty string, no prompt is issued. The line returned is allocated with malloc(3); the caller must free it when finished. The line returned has the final newline removed, so only the text of the line remains.

readline 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 read-

line. Much more functionality is available; see The GNU Readline Library and The GNU History Library for additional information. RETURN VALUE

readline returns the text of the line read. A blank line

returns the empty string. If EOF is encountered while read-

ing a line, and the line is empty, NULL is returned. If an

EOF is read with a non-empty line, it is treated as a new-

line. NOTATION

An emacs-style notation is used to denote keystrokes. Con-

trol keys are denoted by C-key, e.g., C-n means Control-N.

Similarly, meta keys are denoted by M-key, so M-x means

Meta-X. (On keyboards without a meta key, M-x means ESC x,

i.e., press the Escape key then the x key. This makes ESC

the meta prefix. 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 arguments, which nor-

mally act as a repeat count. Sometimes, however, it is the GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 1 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

sign of the argument that is significant. Passing a nega-

tive argument to a command that acts in the forward direc-

tion (e.g., kill-line) causes that command to act in a back-

ward direction. Commands whose behavior with arguments deviates from this are noted. When a command is described as killing text, the text deleted is saved for possible future retrieval (yanking). The killed text is saved in a kill ring. 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. INITIALIZATION FILE

Readline is customized by putting commands in an initializa-

tion file (the inputrc file). The name of this file is

taken from the value of the INPUTRC environment variable.

If that variable is unset, the default is ~/.inputrc. If that file does not exist or cannot be read, the ultimate default is /etc/inputrc. 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

C-Meta-u: universal-argument

into the inputrc would make M-C-u execute the readline com-

mand universal-argument.

The following symbolic character names are recognized while processing key bindings: DEL, ESC, ESCAPE, LFD, NEWLINE, RET, RETURN, RUBOUT, SPACE, SPC, and TAB.

In addition to command names, readline allows keys to be

bound to a string that is inserted when the key is pressed (a macro). Key Bindings The syntax for controlling key bindings in the inputrc 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 specified in one of two ways: as

a symbolic key name, possibly with Meta- or Control-

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 2 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3) 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 keyname:function-name or macro, keyname

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

universal-argument, M-DEL is bound to the function

backward-kill-word, 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, "keyseq":function-name or macro, keyseq

differs from keyname 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 char-

acter 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

universal-argument. C-x C-r is bound to the function

re-read-init-file, and ESC [ 1 1 ~ is bound to insert the

text ``Function Key 1''. The full set of GNU Emacs style escape sequences available when specifying key sequences is

\C- control prefix

\M- meta prefix

\e 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: \a alert (bell) \b backspace \d delete \f form feed \n newline \r carriage return \t horizontal tab \v vertical tab GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 3 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

\nnn the eight-bit character whose value is the octal

value nnn (one to three digits)

\xHH the eight-bit character whose value is the hexade-

cimal value HH (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 '.

Bash allows the current readline key bindings to be

displayed or modified with the bind builtin command. The editing mode may be switched during interactive use by using

the -o option to the set builtin command. Other programs

using this library provide similar mechanisms. The inputrc

file may be edited and re-read if a program does not provide

any other means to incorporate new bindings. Variables Readline has variables that can be used to further customize its behavior. A variable may be set in the inputrc file with a statement of the form

set variable-name value

Except where noted, readline variables can take the values

On or Off (without regard to case). Unrecognized variable names are ignored. When a variable value is read, empty or

null values, "on" (case-insensitive), and "1" are equivalent

to On. All other values are equivalent to Off. The vari-

ables and their default values are:

bell-style (audible)

Controls what happens when readline wants to ring the

terminal bell. If set to none, readline never rings

the bell. If set to visible, readline uses a visible

bell if one is available. If set to audible, readline

attempts to ring the terminal's bell.

bind-tty-special-chars (On)

If set to On, readline attempts to bind the control

characters treated specially by the kernel's terminal

driver to their readline equivalents.

comment-begin (``#'')

The string that is inserted in vi mode when the

insert-comment command is executed. This command is

bound to M-# in emacs mode and to # in vi command mode.

completion-ignore-case (Off)

If set to On, readline performs filename matching and

completion in a case-insensitive fashion.

completion-query-items (100)

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 4 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3) This determines when the user is queried about viewing the number of possible completions generated by the

possible-completions 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.

convert-meta (On)

If set to On, 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 charac-

ter (in effect, using escape as the meta prefix).

disable-completion (Off)

If set to On, readline will inhibit word completion.

Completion characters will be inserted into the line as

if they had been mapped to self-insert.

editing-mode (emacs)

Controls whether readline begins with a set of key

bindings similar to emacs or vi. editing-mode can be

set to either emacs or vi.

enable-keypad (Off)

When set to On, readline will try to enable the appli-

cation keypad when it is called. Some systems need this to enable the arrow keys.

expand-tilde (Off)

If set to on, tilde expansion is performed when read-

line attempts word completion.

history-preserve-point (Off)

If set to on, the history code attempts to place point at the same location on each history line retrieved

with previous-history or next-history.

horizontal-scroll-mode (Off)

When set to On, 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.

input-meta (Off)

If set to On, readline will enable eight-bit input

(that is, it will not clear the eighth bit in the char-

acters it reads), regardless of what the terminal

claims it can support. The name meta-flag is a synonym

for this variable.

isearch-terminators (``C-[ C-J'')

The string of characters that should terminate an incremental search without subsequently executing the character as a command. If this variable has not been

given a value, the characters ESC and C-J will ter-

minate an incremental search. keymap (emacs)

Set the current readline keymap. The set of legal

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 5 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

keymap names is emacs, emacs-standard, emacs-meta,

emacs-ctlx, vi, vi-move, vi-command, and vi-insert. vi

is equivalent to vi-command; emacs is equivalent to

emacs-standard. The default value is emacs. The value

of editing-mode also affects the default keymap.

mark-directories (On)

If set to On, completed directory names have a slash appended.

mark-modified-lines (Off)

If set to On, history lines that have been modified are displayed with a preceding asterisk (*).

mark-symlinked-directories (Off)

If set to On, completed names which are symbolic links to directories have a slash appended (subject to the

value of mark-directories).

match-hidden-files (On)

This variable, when set to On, causes readline to match

files whose names begin with a `.' (hidden files) when performing filename completion, unless the leading `.'

is supplied by the user in the filename to be com-

pleted.

output-meta (Off)

If set to On, readline will display characters with the

eighth bit set directly rather than as a meta-prefixed

escape sequence.

page-completions (On)

If set to On, readline uses an internal more-like pager

to display a screenful of possible completions at a time.

print-completions-horizontally (Off)

If set to On, readline will display completions with

matches sorted horizontally in alphabetical order, rather than down the screen.

show-all-if-ambiguous (Off)

This alters the default behavior of the completion functions. If set to on, words which have more than one possible completion cause the matches to be listed immediately instead of ringing the bell.

show-all-if-unmodified (Off)

This alters the default behavior of the completion functions in a fashion similar to

show-all-if-ambiguous. If set to on, words which have

more than one possible completion without any possible partial completion (the possible completions don't share a common prefix) cause the matches to be listed immediately instead of ringing the bell.

visible-stats (Off)

If set to On, a character denoting a file's type as reported by stat(2) is appended to the filename when listing possible completions. GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 6 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3) Conditional Constructs

Readline implements a facility similar in spirit to the con-

ditional 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.

$if The $if construct allows bindings to be made based on

the editing 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.

mode The mode= form of the $if directive is used to

test whether readline is in emacs or vi mode.

This may be used in conjunction with the set key-

map command, for instance, to set bindings in the

emacs-standard and emacs-ctlx keymaps only if

readline is starting out in emacs mode.

term The term= 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 por-

tion of the terminal name before the first -.

This allows sun to match both sun and sun-cmd, for

instance. application The application construct is used to include

application-specific settings. Each program using

the readline library sets the application name,

and an initialization file can test for a particu-

lar value. This could be used to bind key

sequences to functions useful for a specific pro-

gram. For instance, the following command adds a key sequence that quotes the current or previous word in Bash:

$if Bash

# Quote the current or previous word

"\C-xq": "\eb\"\ef\""

$endif

This command, as seen in the previous example, ter-

minates an $if command.

$else

Commands in this branch of the $if directive are exe-

cuted if the test fails. GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 7 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

$include

This directive takes a single filename as an argument and reads commands and bindings from that file. For example, the following directive would read /etc/inputrc:

$include /etc/inputrc

SEARCHING Readline provides commands for searching through the command history for lines containing a specified string. There are

two search modes: incremental and non-incremental.

Incremental searches begin before the user has finished typ-

ing the search string. As each character of the search

string is typed, readline 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 his-

tory for a particular string, type C-r. Typing C-s searches

forward through the history. The characters present in the

value of the isearch-terminators variable are used to ter-

minate an incremental search. If that variable has not been

assigned a value the Escape and C-J characters will ter-

minate an incremental search. C-G 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 C-s

or C-r 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 execute 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. EDITING COMMANDS 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 accompanying key sequence are unbound by default. In the following descriptions, point refers to the current cursor position, and mark refers to a cursor position saved GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 8 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

by the set-mark command. The text between the point and

mark is referred to as the region. Commands for Moving

beginning-of-line (C-a)

Move to the start of the current line.

end-of-line (C-e)

Move to the end of the line.

forward-char (C-f)

Move forward a character.

backward-char (C-b)

Move back a character.

forward-word (M-f)

Move forward to the end of the next word. Words are composed of alphanumeric characters (letters and digits).

backward-word (M-b)

Move back to the start of the current or previous word. Words are composed of alphanumeric characters (letters and digits).

clear-screen (C-l)

Clear the screen leaving the current line at the top of the screen. With an argument, refresh the current line without clearing the screen.

redraw-current-line

Refresh the current line. Commands for Manipulating the History

accept-line (Newline, Return)

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 add_history(). If the line

is a modified history line, the history line is restored to its original state.

previous-history (C-p)

Fetch the previous command from the history list, mov-

ing back in the list.

next-history (C-n)

Fetch the next command from the history list, moving forward in the list.

beginning-of-history (M-<)

Move to the first line in the history.

end-of-history (M->)

Move to the end of the input history, i.e., the line currently being entered.

reverse-search-history (C-r)

Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through the history as necessary. This is an incremental search.

forward-search-history (C-s)

Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through the history as necessary. This is an GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 9 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3) incremental search.

non-incremental-reverse-search-history (M-p)

Search backward through the history starting at the

current line using a non-incremental search for a

string supplied by the user.

non-incremental-forward-search-history (M-n)

Search forward through the history using a non-

incremental search for a string supplied by the user.

history-search-forward

Search forward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the current cursor position (the point). This is a

non-incremental search.

history-search-backward

Search backward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and

the point. This is a non-incremental search.

yank-nth-arg (M-C-y)

Insert the first argument to the previous command (usu-

ally the second word on the previous line) at point.

With an argument n, insert the nth word from the previ-

ous 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 argu-

ment n is computed, the argument is extracted as if the "!n" history expansion had been specified.

yank-last-arg (M-., M-_)

Insert the last argument to the previous command (the last word of the previous history entry). With an

argument, behave exactly like yank-nth-arg. Successive

calls to yank-last-arg move back through the history

list, inserting the last argument of each line in turn. The history expansion facilities are used to extract

the last argument, as if the "!$" history expansion had

been specified. Commands for Changing Text

delete-char (C-d)

Delete the character at point. If point is at the beginning of the line, there are no characters in the line, and the last character typed was not bound to

delete-char, then return EOF.

backward-delete-char (Rubout)

Delete the character behind the cursor. When given a numeric argument, save the deleted text on the kill ring.

forward-backward-delete-char

Delete the character under the cursor, unless the cur-

sor is at the end of the line, in which case the char-

acter behind the cursor is deleted.

quoted-insert (C-q, C-v)

Add the next character that you type to the line GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 10 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

verbatim. This is how to insert characters like C-q,

for example.

tab-insert (M-TAB)

Insert a tab character.

self-insert (a, b, A, 1, !, ...)

Insert the character typed.

transpose-chars (C-t)

Drag the character before point forward over the char-

acter 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.

transpose-words (M-t)

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.

upcase-word (M-u)

Uppercase the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, uppercase the previous word, but do not move point.

downcase-word (M-l)

Lowercase the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, lowercase the previous word, but do not move point.

capitalize-word (M-c)

Capitalize the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, capitalize the previous word, but do not move point.

overwrite-mode

Toggle overwrite mode. With an explicit positive numeric argument, switches to overwrite mode. With an

explicit non-positive numeric argument, switches to

insert mode. This command affects only emacs mode; vi

mode does overwrite differently. Each call to read-

line() starts in insert mode. In overwrite mode, char-

acters bound to self-insert replace the text at point

rather than pushing the text to the right. Characters

bound to backward-delete-char replace the character

before point with a space. By default, this command is unbound. Killing and Yanking

kill-line (C-k)

Kill the text from point to the end of the line.

backward-kill-line (C-x Rubout)

Kill backward to the beginning of the line.

unix-line-discard (C-u)

Kill backward from point to the beginning of the line.

The killed text is saved on the kill-ring.

kill-whole-line

Kill all characters on the current line, no matter GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 11 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3) where point is.

kill-word (M-d)

Kill from point the end of the current word, or if

between words, to the end of the next word. Word boun-

daries are the same as those used by forward-word.

backward-kill-word (M-Rubout)

Kill the word behind point. Word boundaries are the

same as those used by backward-word.

unix-word-rubout (C-w)

Kill the word behind point, using white space as a word

boundary. The killed text is saved on the kill-ring.

unix-filename-rubout

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.

delete-horizontal-space (M-\)

Delete all spaces and tabs around point.

kill-region

Kill the text between the point and mark (saved cursor position). This text is referred to as the region.

copy-region-as-kill

Copy the text in the region to the kill buffer.

copy-backward-word

Copy the word before point to the kill buffer. The

word boundaries are the same as backward-word.

copy-forward-word

Copy the word following point to the kill buffer. The

word boundaries are the same as forward-word.

yank (C-y)

Yank the top of the kill ring into the buffer at point.

yank-pop (M-y)

Rotate the kill ring, and yank the new top. Only works

following yank or yank-pop.

Numeric Arguments

digit-argument (M-0, M-1, ..., M--)

Add this digit to the argument already accumulating, or

start a new argument. M-- starts a negative argument.

universal-argument

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 followed by digits, exe-

cuting universal-argument again ends the numeric argu-

ment, 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 argument count four, a second time makes the argument count sixteen, and so on. GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 12 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3) Completing complete (TAB) Attempt to perform completion on the text before point.

The actual completion performed is application-

specific. Bash, 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 pro-

duces a match, filename completion is attempted. Gdb,

on the other hand, allows completion of program func-

tions and variables, and only attempts filename comple-

tion under certain circumstances.

possible-completions (M-?)

List the possible completions of the text before point.

insert-completions (M-*)

Insert all completions of the text before point that

would have been generated by possible-completions.

menu-complete

Similar to complete, but replaces the word to be com-

pleted with a single match from the list of possible

completions. Repeated execution of menu-complete steps

through the list of possible completions, inserting

each match in turn. At the end of the list of comple-

tions, the bell is rung (subject to the setting of

bell-style) 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 back-

ward through the list. This command is intended to be bound to TAB, but is unbound by default.

delete-char-or-list

Deletes the character under the cursor if not at the

beginning or end of the line (like delete-char). If at

the end of the line, behaves identically to possible-

completions. Keyboard Macros

start-kbd-macro (C-x ()

Begin saving the characters typed into the current key-

board macro.

end-kbd-macro (C-x ))

Stop saving the characters typed into the current key-

board macro and store the definition.

call-last-kbd-macro (C-x e)

Re-execute the last keyboard macro defined, by making

the characters in the macro appear as if typed at the keyboard. Miscellaneous

re-read-init-file (C-x C-r)

Read in the contents of the inputrc file, and incor-

porate any bindings or variable assignments found GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 13 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3) there.

abort (C-g)

Abort the current editing command and ring the

terminal's bell (subject to the setting of bell-style).

do-uppercase-version (M-a, M-b, M-x, ...)

If the metafied character x is lowercase, run the com-

mand that is bound to the corresponding uppercase char-

acter.

prefix-meta (ESC)

Metafy the next character typed. ESC f is equivalent

to Meta-f.

undo (C-_, C-x C-u)

Incremental undo, separately remembered for each line.

revert-line (M-r)

Undo all changes made to this line. This is like exe-

cuting the undo command enough times to return the line to its initial state.

tilde-expand (M-&)

Perform tilde expansion on the current word.

set-mark (C-@, M-)

Set the mark to the point. If a numeric argument is supplied, the mark is set to that position.

exchange-point-and-mark (C-x C-x)

Swap the point with the mark. The current cursor posi-

tion is set to the saved position, and the old cursor position is saved as the mark.

character-search (C-])

A character is read and point is moved to the next occurrence of that character. A negative count searches for previous occurrences.

character-search-backward (M-C-])

A character is read and point is moved to the previous occurrence of that character. A negative count searches for subsequent occurrences.

insert-comment (M-#)

Without a numeric argument, the value of the readline

comment-begin 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

comment-begin, the value is inserted, otherwise the

characters in comment-begin 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

comment-begin 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.

dump-functions

Print all of the functions and their key bindings 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 inputrc file. GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 14 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

dump-variables

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 inputrc file.

dump-macros

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 inputrc file.

emacs-editing-mode (C-e)

When in vi command mode, this causes a switch to emacs editing mode.

vi-editing-mode (M-C-j)

When in emacs editing mode, this causes a switch to vi editing mode. DEFAULT KEY BINDINGS

The following is a list of the default emacs and vi bind-

ings. Characters with the eighth bit set are written as

M-, and are referred to as metafied characters.

The printable ASCII characters not mentioned in the list of

emacs standard bindings are bound to the self-insert func-

tion, which just inserts the given character into the input line. In vi insertion mode, all characters not specifically

mentioned are bound to self-insert. Characters assigned to

signal generation by stty(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 bell-style variable).

Emacs Mode 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

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 15 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

"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

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 16 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

"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

VI Mode bindings 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

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 17 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

"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

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 18 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3)

"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

Individual readline initialization file

AUTHORS Brian Fox, Free Software Foundation bfox@gnu.org Chet Ramey, Case Western Reserve University chet@ins.CWRU.Edu BUG REPORTS

If you find a bug in readline, 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 readline

library that you have. Once you have determined that a bug actually exists, mail a

bug report to bug-readline@gnu.org. If you have a fix, you

are welcome to mail that as well! Suggestions and `philo-

sophical' bug reports may be mailed to bug-readline@gnu.org

or posted to the Usenet newsgroup gnu.bash.bug. Comments and bug reports concerning this manual page should be directed to chet@ins.CWRU.Edu.

BUGS

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 19 Introduction to Library Functions READLINE(3) It's too big and too slow.

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-

butes:

_________________________________________

| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |

|____________________|____________________|_

| Availability | library/readline |

|____________________|____________________|_

| Interface Stability| Uncommitted |

|____________________|___________________|

NOTES

Source for readline is available at http://opensolaris.org.

GNU Readline 5.2 Last change: 2006 Apr 26 20

Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man readline

NAME

readline - get a line from a user with editing

SYNOPSIS

#include

#include

readline (const char *prompt);

DESCRIPTION

readline will read a line from the terminal and return it,

readline offers editing capabilities while the user is

readline returns the text of the line read. A blank line

taken from the value of the INPUTRC environment variable.

readline library starts up, the init file is read, and the

basic constructs allowed in the readline init file. Blank

into the inputrc would make M-C-u execute the readline com-

In addition to command names, readline allows keys to be

Bash allows the current readline key bindings to be

Except where noted, readline variables can take the values

Controls what happens when readline wants to ring the

terminal bell. If set to none, readline never rings

the bell. If set to visible, readline uses a visible

bell if one is available. If set to audible, readline

If set to On, readline attempts to bind the control

driver to their readline equivalents.

If set to On, readline performs filename matching and

causes readline to never ask.

If set to On, readline will convert characters with the

If set to On, readline will inhibit word completion.

Controls whether readline begins with a set of key

When set to On, readline will try to enable the appli-

When set to On, makes readline use a single line for

If set to On, readline will enable eight-bit input

Set the current readline keymap. The set of legal

This variable, when set to On, causes readline to match

If set to On, readline will display characters with the

If set to On, readline uses an internal more-like pager

If set to On, readline will display completions with

application using readline. The text of the test

test whether readline is in emacs or vi mode.

readline is starting out in emacs mode.

the readline library sets the application name,

string is typed, readline displays the next entry from the

typed so far. Any other key sequence bound to a readline

Without a numeric argument, the value of the readline

the readline output stream. If a numeric argument is

the readline output stream. If a numeric argument is

Print all of the readline key sequences bound to macros

unbound, which causes readline to ring the bell (subject to

SEE ALSO

Individual readline initialization file

If you find a bug in readline, you should report it. But

that it appears in the latest version of the readline

bug report to bug-readline@gnu.org. If you have a fix, you

sophical' bug reports may be mailed to bug-readline@gnu.org

BUGS

ATTRIBUTES

| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |

| Availability | library/readline |

Source for readline is available at http://opensolaris.org.