readline man page on Archlinux

Printed from http://www.polarhome.com/service/man/?qf=readline&af=0&tf=2&of=Archlinux

READLINE(3)							   READLINE(3)

NAME
       readline - get a line from a user with editing

SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdio.h>
       #include <readline/readline.h>
       #include <readline/history.h>

       char *
       readline (const char *prompt);

COPYRIGHT
       Readline is Copyright (C) 1989-2011 Free Software 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 readline.  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 reading 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 newline.

NOTATION
       An Emacs-style notation is used to denote keystrokes.  Control 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 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., kill-line) 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 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 initialization 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
       or
	      C-Meta-u: universal-argument

       into  the inputrc would make M-C-u execute the readline command univer‐
       sal-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 speci‐
       fied in one of two ways: as a symbolic key name, possibly with Meta- or
       Control- 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 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 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 speci‐
       fying 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
	      \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  hexadecimal
		     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 modi‐
       fied with the bind builtin command.  The editing mode may  be  switched
       during  interactive  use by using the -o option to the set builtin com‐
       mand.  Other programs using this library	 provide  similar  mechanisms.
       The  inputrc  file may be edited and re-read if a program does not pro‐
       vide any other means to incorporate new bindings.

   Variables
       Readline has variables that can be used to further customize its behav‐
       ior.  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-insen‐
       sitive), and "1" are equivalent to On.  All other values are equivalent
       to Off.	The variables 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 read‐
	      line equivalents.
       colored-stats (Off)
	      If  set to On, readline displays possible completions using dif‐
	      ferent colors to indicate their file type.   The	color  defini‐
	      tions  are  taken	 from  the  value of the LS_COLORS environment
	      variable.
       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-display-width (-1)
	      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.
       completion-ignore-case (Off)
	      If set to On, readline performs filename matching and completion
	      in a case-insensitive fashion.
       completion-map-case (Off)
	      If  set  to  On, and completion-ignore-case is enabled, readline
	      treats hyphens (-) and underscores (_) as equivalent  when  per‐
	      forming case-insensitive filename matching and completion.
       completion-prefix-display-length (0)
	      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.
       completion-query-items (100)
	      This  determines when the user is queried about viewing the num‐
	      ber of possible completions generated  by	 the  possible-comple‐
	      tions  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 character (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 sim‐
	      ilar to Emacs or vi.  editing-mode can be set to either emacs or
	      vi.
       echo-control-characters (On)
	      When  set to On, on operating systems that indicate they support
	      it, readline echoes a character corresponding to a signal gener‐
	      ated from the keyboard.
       enable-keypad (Off)
	      When set to On, readline will try to enable the application key‐
	      pad when it is called.  Some systems need	 this  to  enable  the
	      arrow keys.
       enable-meta-key (On)
	      When  set	 to  On, 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.
       expand-tilde (Off)
	      If  set  to  On,	tilde  expansion  is  performed	 when readline
	      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-his‐
	      tory or next-history.
       history-size (0)
	      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.
       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  characters  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 com‐
	      mand.  If this variable has not been given a value, the  charac‐
	      ters ESC and C-J will terminate an incremental search.
       keymap (emacs)
	      Set  the current readline keymap.	 The set of legal 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.
       keyseq-timeout (500)
	      Specifies the duration readline 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, readline will use the  shorter  but
	      complete	key sequence.  The value is specified in milliseconds,
	      so a value of 1000 means that readline 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, readline will  wait
	      until  another  key  is  pressed to decide which key sequence to
	      complete.
       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  dis‐
	      played with a preceding asterisk (*).
       mark-symlinked-directories (Off)
	      If set to On, completed names which are symbolic links to direc‐
	      tories  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.   If  set  to Off, the leading `.' must be
	      supplied by the user in the filename to be completed.
       menu-complete-display-prefix (Off)
	      If set to On, menu completion displays the common prefix of  the
	      list of possible completions (which may be empty) before cycling
	      through the list.
       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 dis‐
	      play 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.
       revert-all-at-newline (Off)
	      If set to On, readline will undo all changes  to	history	 lines
	      before returning when accept-line is executed.  By default, his‐
	      tory lines may be modified  and  retain  individual  undo	 lists
	      across calls to readline.
       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	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.
       show-mode-in-prompt (Off)
	      If  set  to  On,	add a character to the beginning of the prompt
	      indicating the editing mode: emacs (@), vi  command  (:)	or  vi
	      insertion (+).
       skip-completed-text (Off)
	      If  set  to On, 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.
       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 com‐
	      pletions.

   Conditional Constructs
       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.

       $if    The  $if 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.

	      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	 keymap	 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 portion 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 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
		     bash:

		     $if Bash
		     # Quote the current or previous word
		     "\C-xq": "\eb\"\ef\""
		     $endif

       $endif This command, as seen in the previous example, terminates an $if
	      command.

       $else  Commands in this branch of the $if directive are executed if the
	      test fails.

       $include
	      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 /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  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 C-r.  Typing C-s searches forward
       through the history.  The  characters  present  in  the	value  of  the
       isearch-terminators  variable  are  used	 to  terminate	an incremental
       search.	If that variable has not been assigned a value the Escape  and
       C-J characters will terminate 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 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.

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 accom‐
       panying key sequence are unbound by default.

       In the following descriptions, point refers to the current cursor posi‐
       tion, and mark refers to a cursor position saved by the	set-mark  com‐
       mand.   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, moving 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 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-backward
	      Search backward through the history for the string of characters
	      between the start of the current line  and  the  current	cursor
	      position	(the  point).	The  search  string  must match at the
	      beginning of a history line.  This is a non-incremental search.
       history-search-forward
	      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.
       history-substring-search-backward
	      Search backward through the history for the string of characters
	      between the start of the current line  and  the  current	cursor
	      position (the point).  The search string may match anywhere in a
	      history line.  This is a non-incremental search.
       history-substring-search-forward
	      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.
       yank-nth-arg (M-C-y)
	      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.
       yank-last-arg (M-., M-_)
	      Insert  the last argument to the previous command (the last word
	      of the previous history entry).  With a numeric argument, behave
	      exactly  like  yank-nth-arg.   Successive calls to yank-last-arg
	      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.

   Commands for Changing Text
       end-of-file (usually C-d)
	      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 EOF.
       delete-char (C-d)
	      Delete the character at point.  If this function is bound to the
	      same character as the tty EOF character, as C-d commonly is, see
	      above for the effects.
       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 cursor is at
	      the end of the line, in which case the character behind the cur‐
	      sor is deleted.
       quoted-insert (C-q, C-v)
	      Add the next character that you type to the line 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	 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.
       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	 argu‐
	      ment, 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 readline() starts in insert mode.  In overwrite mode, charac‐
	      ters  bound to self-insert replace the text at point rather than
	      pushing the text	to  the	 right.	  Characters  bound  to	 back‐
	      ward-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 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 boundaries 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 bound‐
	      ary.  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	 posi‐
	      tion).  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 bound‐
	      aries 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 follow‐
	      ing 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 fol‐
	      lowed by digits, executing  universal-argument  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.

   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  produces  a
	      match,  filename	completion  is	attempted.   Gdb, on the other
	      hand, allows completion of program functions and variables,  and
	      only attempts filename completion under certain circumstances.
       possible-completions (M-?)
	      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 completion-display-width, the value
	      of the environment variable COLUMNS, or  the  screen  width,  in
	      that order.
       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 completed  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 completions, 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 backward through the list.  This
	      command is intended to be	 bound	to  TAB,  but  is  unbound  by
	      default.
       menu-complete-backward
	      Identical	 to menu-complete, but moves backward through the list
	      of possible completions, as if menu-complete had	been  given  a
	      negative argument.  This command 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 keyboard
	      macro.
       end-kbd-macro (C-x ))
	      Stop saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro
	      and store the definition.
       call-last-kbd-macro (C-x e)
	      Re-execute  the last keyboard macro defined, by making the char‐
	      acters in	 the  macro  appear  as	 if  typed  at	the  keyboard.
	      print-last-kbd-macro () Print the last keyboard macro defined in
	      a format suitable for the inputrc file.

   Miscellaneous
       re-read-init-file (C-x C-r)
	      Read in the contents of the inputrc file,	 and  incorporate  any
	      bindings or variable assignments found 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	 command  that
	      is bound to the corresponding uppercase character.
       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 executing 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-<space>)
	      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  position  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 occur‐
	      rences.
       character-search-backward (M-C-])
	      A character is read and point is moved to	 the  previous	occur‐
	      rence  of	 that character.  A negative count searches for subse‐
	      quent occurrences.
       skip-csi-sequence
	      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-[.
       insert-comment (M-#)
	      Without a numeric argument,  the	value  of  the	readline  com‐
	      ment-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,	other‐
	      wise 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	 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
	      inputrc file.
       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 bindings.  Charac‐
       ters with the eighth bit set are	 written  as  M-<character>,  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  function,  which just inserts the given character into the
       input line.  In vi insertion mode, all characters not specifically men‐
       tioned are bound to self-insert.	 Characters assigned to signal genera‐
       tion 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
	     "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

   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
	     "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

SEE ALSO
       The Gnu Readline Library, Brian Fox and Chet Ramey
       The Gnu History Library, Brian Fox and Chet Ramey
       bash(1)

FILES
       ~/.inputrc
	      Individual readline initialization file

AUTHORS
       Brian Fox, Free Software Foundation
       bfox@gnu.org

       Chet Ramey, Case Western Reserve University
       chet.ramey@case.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	`philosophical'	 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.ramey@case.edu.

BUGS
       It's too big and too slow.

GNU Readline 6.3		2014 January 6			   READLINE(3)
[top]

List of man pages available for Archlinux

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net