readline man page on Gentoo

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   6889 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
Gentoo logo
[printable version]

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.
       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, the number of entries in the history list
	      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.
       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.
       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-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	 (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
       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 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.

   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@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	`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@ins.CWRU.Edu.

BUGS
       It's too big and too slow.

GNU Readline 6.2		2010 August 28			   READLINE(3)
[top]

List of man pages available for Gentoo

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