1@comment %**start of header (This is for running Texinfo on a region.) 2@setfilename rluser.info 3@comment %**end of header (This is for running Texinfo on a region.) 4@setchapternewpage odd 5 6@ignore 7This file documents the end user interface to the GNU command line 8editing features. It is to be an appendix to manuals for programs which 9use these features. There is a document entitled "readline.texinfo" 10which contains both end-user and programmer documentation for the 11GNU Readline Library. 12
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13Copyright (C) 1988-2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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13Copyright (C) 1988-2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
14 15Authored by Brian Fox and Chet Ramey. 16 17Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the 18results, provided the printed document carries copying permission notice 19identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph (this 20paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual). 21 22Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual 23provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on 24all copies. 25 26Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this 27manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the 28GNU Copyright statement is available to the distributee, and provided that 29the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a 30permission notice identical to this one. 31 32Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual 33into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions. 34@end ignore 35 36@comment If you are including this manual as an appendix, then set the 37@comment variable readline-appendix. 38 39@ifclear BashFeatures 40@defcodeindex bt 41@end ifclear 42 43@node Command Line Editing 44@chapter Command Line Editing 45 46This chapter describes the basic features of the @sc{gnu} 47command line editing interface. 48@ifset BashFeatures 49Command line editing is provided by the Readline library, which is 50used by several different programs, including Bash. 51@end ifset 52 53@menu 54* Introduction and Notation:: Notation used in this text. 55* Readline Interaction:: The minimum set of commands for editing a line. 56* Readline Init File:: Customizing Readline from a user's view. 57* Bindable Readline Commands:: A description of most of the Readline commands 58 available for binding 59* Readline vi Mode:: A short description of how to make Readline 60 behave like the vi editor. 61@ifset BashFeatures 62* Programmable Completion:: How to specify the possible completions for 63 a specific command. 64* Programmable Completion Builtins:: Builtin commands to specify how to 65 complete arguments for a particular command. 66@end ifset 67@end menu 68 69@node Introduction and Notation 70@section Introduction to Line Editing 71 72The following paragraphs describe the notation used to represent 73keystrokes. 74 75The text @kbd{C-k} is read as `Control-K' and describes the character 76produced when the @key{k} key is pressed while the Control key 77is depressed. 78 79The text @kbd{M-k} is read as `Meta-K' and describes the character 80produced when the Meta key (if you have one) is depressed, and the @key{k} 81key is pressed. 82The Meta key is labeled @key{ALT} on many keyboards. 83On keyboards with two keys labeled @key{ALT} (usually to either side of 84the space bar), the @key{ALT} on the left side is generally set to 85work as a Meta key. 86The @key{ALT} key on the right may also be configured to work as a 87Meta key or may be configured as some other modifier, such as a 88Compose key for typing accented characters. 89 90If you do not have a Meta or @key{ALT} key, or another key working as 91a Meta key, the identical keystroke can be generated by typing @key{ESC} 92@emph{first}, and then typing @key{k}. 93Either process is known as @dfn{metafying} the @key{k} key. 94 95The text @kbd{M-C-k} is read as `Meta-Control-k' and describes the 96character produced by @dfn{metafying} @kbd{C-k}. 97 98In addition, several keys have their own names. Specifically, 99@key{DEL}, @key{ESC}, @key{LFD}, @key{SPC}, @key{RET}, and @key{TAB} all 100stand for themselves when seen in this text, or in an init file 101(@pxref{Readline Init File}). 102If your keyboard lacks a @key{LFD} key, typing @key{C-j} will 103produce the desired character. 104The @key{RET} key may be labeled @key{Return} or @key{Enter} on 105some keyboards. 106 107@node Readline Interaction 108@section Readline Interaction 109@cindex interaction, readline 110 111Often during an interactive session you type in a long line of text, 112only to notice that the first word on the line is misspelled. The 113Readline library gives you a set of commands for manipulating the text 114as you type it in, allowing you to just fix your typo, and not forcing 115you to retype the majority of the line. Using these editing commands, 116you move the cursor to the place that needs correction, and delete or 117insert the text of the corrections. Then, when you are satisfied with 118the line, you simply press @key{RET}. You do not have to be at the 119end of the line to press @key{RET}; the entire line is accepted 120regardless of the location of the cursor within the line. 121 122@menu 123* Readline Bare Essentials:: The least you need to know about Readline. 124* Readline Movement Commands:: Moving about the input line. 125* Readline Killing Commands:: How to delete text, and how to get it back! 126* Readline Arguments:: Giving numeric arguments to commands. 127* Searching:: Searching through previous lines. 128@end menu 129 130@node Readline Bare Essentials 131@subsection Readline Bare Essentials 132@cindex notation, readline 133@cindex command editing 134@cindex editing command lines 135 136In order to enter characters into the line, simply type them. The typed 137character appears where the cursor was, and then the cursor moves one 138space to the right. If you mistype a character, you can use your 139erase character to back up and delete the mistyped character. 140 141Sometimes you may mistype a character, and 142not notice the error until you have typed several other characters. In 143that case, you can type @kbd{C-b} to move the cursor to the left, and then 144correct your mistake. Afterwards, you can move the cursor to the right 145with @kbd{C-f}. 146 147When you add text in the middle of a line, you will notice that characters 148to the right of the cursor are `pushed over' to make room for the text 149that you have inserted. Likewise, when you delete text behind the cursor, 150characters to the right of the cursor are `pulled back' to fill in the 151blank space created by the removal of the text. A list of the bare 152essentials for editing the text of an input line follows. 153 154@table @asis 155@item @kbd{C-b} 156Move back one character. 157@item @kbd{C-f} 158Move forward one character. 159@item @key{DEL} or @key{Backspace} 160Delete the character to the left of the cursor. 161@item @kbd{C-d} 162Delete the character underneath the cursor. 163@item @w{Printing characters} 164Insert the character into the line at the cursor. 165@item @kbd{C-_} or @kbd{C-x C-u} 166Undo the last editing command. You can undo all the way back to an 167empty line. 168@end table 169 170@noindent 171(Depending on your configuration, the @key{Backspace} key be set to 172delete the character to the left of the cursor and the @key{DEL} key set 173to delete the character underneath the cursor, like @kbd{C-d}, rather 174than the character to the left of the cursor.) 175 176@node Readline Movement Commands 177@subsection Readline Movement Commands 178 179 180The above table describes the most basic keystrokes that you need 181in order to do editing of the input line. For your convenience, many 182other commands have been added in addition to @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-f}, 183@kbd{C-d}, and @key{DEL}. Here are some commands for moving more rapidly 184about the line. 185 186@table @kbd 187@item C-a 188Move to the start of the line. 189@item C-e 190Move to the end of the line. 191@item M-f 192Move forward a word, where a word is composed of letters and digits. 193@item M-b 194Move backward a word. 195@item C-l 196Clear the screen, reprinting the current line at the top. 197@end table 198 199Notice how @kbd{C-f} moves forward a character, while @kbd{M-f} moves 200forward a word. It is a loose convention that control keystrokes 201operate on characters while meta keystrokes operate on words. 202 203@node Readline Killing Commands 204@subsection Readline Killing Commands 205 206@cindex killing text 207@cindex yanking text 208 209@dfn{Killing} text means to delete the text from the line, but to save 210it away for later use, usually by @dfn{yanking} (re-inserting) 211it back into the line. 212(`Cut' and `paste' are more recent jargon for `kill' and `yank'.) 213 214If the description for a command says that it `kills' text, then you can 215be sure that you can get the text back in a different (or the same) 216place later. 217 218When you use a kill command, the text is saved in a @dfn{kill-ring}. 219Any number of consecutive kills save all of the killed text together, so 220that when you yank it back, you get it all. The kill 221ring is not line specific; the text that you killed on a previously 222typed line is available to be yanked back later, when you are typing 223another line. 224@cindex kill ring 225 226Here is the list of commands for killing text. 227 228@table @kbd 229@item C-k 230Kill the text from the current cursor position to the end of the line. 231 232@item M-d 233Kill from the cursor to the end of the current word, or, if between 234words, to the end of the next word. 235Word boundaries are the same as those used by @kbd{M-f}. 236 237@item M-@key{DEL} 238Kill from the cursor the start of the current word, or, if between 239words, to the start of the previous word. 240Word boundaries are the same as those used by @kbd{M-b}. 241 242@item C-w 243Kill from the cursor to the previous whitespace. This is different than 244@kbd{M-@key{DEL}} because the word boundaries differ. 245 246@end table 247 248Here is how to @dfn{yank} the text back into the line. Yanking 249means to copy the most-recently-killed text from the kill buffer. 250 251@table @kbd 252@item C-y 253Yank the most recently killed text back into the buffer at the cursor. 254 255@item M-y 256Rotate the kill-ring, and yank the new top. You can only do this if 257the prior command is @kbd{C-y} or @kbd{M-y}. 258@end table 259 260@node Readline Arguments 261@subsection Readline Arguments 262 263You can pass numeric arguments to Readline commands. Sometimes the 264argument acts as a repeat count, other times it is the @i{sign} of the 265argument that is significant. If you pass a negative argument to a 266command which normally acts in a forward direction, that command will 267act in a backward direction. For example, to kill text back to the 268start of the line, you might type @samp{M-- C-k}. 269 270The general way to pass numeric arguments to a command is to type meta 271digits before the command. If the first `digit' typed is a minus 272sign (@samp{-}), then the sign of the argument will be negative. Once 273you have typed one meta digit to get the argument started, you can type 274the remainder of the digits, and then the command. For example, to give 275the @kbd{C-d} command an argument of 10, you could type @samp{M-1 0 C-d}, 276which will delete the next ten characters on the input line. 277 278@node Searching 279@subsection Searching for Commands in the History 280 281Readline provides commands for searching through the command history 282@ifset BashFeatures 283(@pxref{Bash History Facilities}) 284@end ifset 285for lines containing a specified string. 286There are two search modes: @dfn{incremental} and @dfn{non-incremental}. 287 288Incremental searches begin before the user has finished typing the 289search string. 290As each character of the search string is typed, Readline displays 291the next entry from the history matching the string typed so far. 292An incremental search requires only as many characters as needed to 293find the desired history entry. 294To search backward in the history for a particular string, type 295@kbd{C-r}. Typing @kbd{C-s} searches forward through the history. 296The characters present in the value of the @code{isearch-terminators} variable 297are used to terminate an incremental search. 298If that variable has not been assigned a value, the @key{ESC} and 299@kbd{C-J} characters will terminate an incremental search. 300@kbd{C-g} will abort an incremental search and restore the original line. 301When the search is terminated, the history entry containing the 302search string becomes the current line. 303 304To find other matching entries in the history list, type @kbd{C-r} or 305@kbd{C-s} as appropriate. 306This will search backward or forward in the history for the next 307entry matching the search string typed so far. 308Any other key sequence bound to a Readline command will terminate 309the search and execute that command. 310For instance, a @key{RET} will terminate the search and accept 311the line, thereby executing the command from the history list. 312A movement command will terminate the search, make the last line found 313the current line, and begin editing. 314 315Readline remembers the last incremental search string. If two 316@kbd{C-r}s are typed without any intervening characters defining a new 317search string, any remembered search string is used. 318 319Non-incremental searches read the entire search string before starting 320to search for matching history lines. The search string may be 321typed by the user or be part of the contents of the current line. 322 323@node Readline Init File 324@section Readline Init File 325@cindex initialization file, readline 326 327Although the Readline library comes with a set of Emacs-like 328keybindings installed by default, it is possible to use a different set 329of keybindings. 330Any user can customize programs that use Readline by putting 331commands in an @dfn{inputrc} file, conventionally in his home directory. 332The name of this 333@ifset BashFeatures 334file is taken from the value of the shell variable @env{INPUTRC}. If 335@end ifset 336@ifclear BashFeatures 337file is taken from the value of the environment variable @env{INPUTRC}. If 338@end ifclear 339that variable is unset, the default is @file{~/.inputrc}. 340 341When a program which uses the Readline library starts up, the 342init file is read, and the key bindings are set. 343 344In addition, the @code{C-x C-r} command re-reads this init file, thus 345incorporating any changes that you might have made to it. 346 347@menu 348* Readline Init File Syntax:: Syntax for the commands in the inputrc file. 349 350* Conditional Init Constructs:: Conditional key bindings in the inputrc file. 351 352* Sample Init File:: An example inputrc file. 353@end menu 354 355@node Readline Init File Syntax 356@subsection Readline Init File Syntax 357 358There are only a few basic constructs allowed in the 359Readline init file. Blank lines are ignored. 360Lines beginning with a @samp{#} are comments. 361Lines beginning with a @samp{$} indicate conditional 362constructs (@pxref{Conditional Init Constructs}). Other lines 363denote variable settings and key bindings. 364 365@table @asis 366@item Variable Settings 367You can modify the run-time behavior of Readline by 368altering the values of variables in Readline 369using the @code{set} command within the init file. 370The syntax is simple: 371 372@example 373set @var{variable} @var{value} 374@end example 375 376@noindent 377Here, for example, is how to 378change from the default Emacs-like key binding to use 379@code{vi} line editing commands: 380 381@example 382set editing-mode vi 383@end example 384 385Variable names and values, where appropriate, are recognized without regard
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386to case.
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386to case. Unrecognized variable names are ignored. |
387
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388Boolean variables (those that can be set to on or off) are set to on if 389the value is null or empty, @var{on} (case-insensitive), or 1. Any other 390value results in the variable being set to off. 391 |
392@ifset BashFeatures 393The @w{@code{bind -V}} command lists the current Readline variable names 394and values. @xref{Bash Builtins}. 395@end ifset 396 397A great deal of run-time behavior is changeable with the following 398variables. 399 400@cindex variables, readline 401@table @code 402 403@item bell-style 404@vindex bell-style 405Controls what happens when Readline wants to ring the terminal bell. 406If set to @samp{none}, Readline never rings the bell. If set to 407@samp{visible}, Readline uses a visible bell if one is available. 408If set to @samp{audible} (the default), Readline attempts to ring 409the terminal's bell. 410
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411@item bind-tty-special-chars 412@vindex bind-tty-special-chars 413If set to @samp{on}, Readline attempts to bind the control characters 414treated specially by the kernel's terminal driver to their Readline 415equivalents. 416 |
417@item comment-begin 418@vindex comment-begin 419The string to insert at the beginning of the line when the 420@code{insert-comment} command is executed. The default value 421is @code{"#"}. 422 423@item completion-ignore-case 424If set to @samp{on}, Readline performs filename matching and completion 425in a case-insensitive fashion. 426The default value is @samp{off}. 427 428@item completion-query-items 429@vindex completion-query-items 430The number of possible completions that determines when the user is 431asked whether the list of possibilities should be displayed. 432If the number of possible completions is greater than this value, 433Readline will ask the user whether or not he wishes to view 434them; otherwise, they are simply listed. 435This variable must be set to an integer value greater than or equal to 0.
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436A negative value means Readline should never ask. |
437The default limit is @code{100}. 438 439@item convert-meta 440@vindex convert-meta 441If set to @samp{on}, Readline will convert characters with the 442eighth bit set to an @sc{ascii} key sequence by stripping the eighth 443bit and prefixing an @key{ESC} character, converting them to a 444meta-prefixed key sequence. The default value is @samp{on}. 445 446@item disable-completion 447@vindex disable-completion 448If set to @samp{On}, Readline will inhibit word completion. 449Completion characters will be inserted into the line as if they had 450been mapped to @code{self-insert}. The default is @samp{off}. 451 452@item editing-mode 453@vindex editing-mode 454The @code{editing-mode} variable controls which default set of 455key bindings is used. By default, Readline starts up in Emacs editing 456mode, where the keystrokes are most similar to Emacs. This variable can be 457set to either @samp{emacs} or @samp{vi}. 458 459@item enable-keypad 460@vindex enable-keypad 461When set to @samp{on}, Readline will try to enable the application 462keypad when it is called. Some systems need this to enable the 463arrow keys. The default is @samp{off}. 464 465@item expand-tilde 466@vindex expand-tilde 467If set to @samp{on}, tilde expansion is performed when Readline 468attempts word completion. The default is @samp{off}. 469
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470@item history-preserve-point |
471@vindex history-preserve-point 472If set to @samp{on}, the history code attempts to place point at the 473same location on each history line retrieved with @code{previous-history}
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462or @code{next-history}.
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474or @code{next-history}. The default is @samp{off}. |
475 476@item horizontal-scroll-mode 477@vindex horizontal-scroll-mode 478This variable can be set to either @samp{on} or @samp{off}. Setting it 479to @samp{on} means that the text of the lines being edited will scroll 480horizontally on a single screen line when they are longer than the width 481of the screen, instead of wrapping onto a new screen line. By default, 482this variable is set to @samp{off}. 483 484@item input-meta 485@vindex input-meta 486@vindex meta-flag 487If set to @samp{on}, Readline will enable eight-bit input (it 488will not clear the eighth bit in the characters it reads), 489regardless of what the terminal claims it can support. The 490default value is @samp{off}. The name @code{meta-flag} is a 491synonym for this variable. 492 493@item isearch-terminators 494@vindex isearch-terminators 495The string of characters that should terminate an incremental search without 496subsequently executing the character as a command (@pxref{Searching}). 497If this variable has not been given a value, the characters @key{ESC} and 498@kbd{C-J} will terminate an incremental search. 499 500@item keymap 501@vindex keymap 502Sets Readline's idea of the current keymap for key binding commands. 503Acceptable @code{keymap} names are 504@code{emacs}, 505@code{emacs-standard}, 506@code{emacs-meta}, 507@code{emacs-ctlx}, 508@code{vi}, 509@code{vi-move}, 510@code{vi-command}, and 511@code{vi-insert}. 512@code{vi} is equivalent to @code{vi-command}; @code{emacs} is 513equivalent to @code{emacs-standard}. The default value is @code{emacs}. 514The value of the @code{editing-mode} variable also affects the 515default keymap. 516 517@item mark-directories 518If set to @samp{on}, completed directory names have a slash 519appended. The default is @samp{on}. 520 521@item mark-modified-lines 522@vindex mark-modified-lines 523This variable, when set to @samp{on}, causes Readline to display an 524asterisk (@samp{*}) at the start of history lines which have been modified. 525This variable is @samp{off} by default. 526 527@item mark-symlinked-directories 528@vindex mark-symlinked-directories 529If set to @samp{on}, completed names which are symbolic links 530to directories have a slash appended (subject to the value of 531@code{mark-directories}). 532The default is @samp{off}. 533 534@item match-hidden-files 535@vindex match-hidden-files 536This variable, when set to @samp{on}, causes Readline to match files whose 537names begin with a @samp{.} (hidden files) when performing filename 538completion, unless the leading @samp{.} is 539supplied by the user in the filename to be completed. 540This variable is @samp{on} by default. 541 542@item output-meta 543@vindex output-meta 544If set to @samp{on}, Readline will display characters with the 545eighth bit set directly rather than as a meta-prefixed escape 546sequence. The default is @samp{off}. 547 548@item page-completions 549@vindex page-completions 550If set to @samp{on}, Readline uses an internal @code{more}-like pager 551to display a screenful of possible completions at a time. 552This variable is @samp{on} by default. 553 554@item print-completions-horizontally 555If set to @samp{on}, Readline will display completions with matches 556sorted horizontally in alphabetical order, rather than down the screen. 557The default is @samp{off}. 558 559@item show-all-if-ambiguous 560@vindex show-all-if-ambiguous 561This alters the default behavior of the completion functions. If 562set to @samp{on}, 563words which have more than one possible completion cause the 564matches to be listed immediately instead of ringing the bell. 565The default value is @samp{off}. 566 567@item show-all-if-unmodified 568@vindex show-all-if-unmodified 569This alters the default behavior of the completion functions in 570a fashion similar to @var{show-all-if-ambiguous}. 571If set to @samp{on}, 572words which have more than one possible completion without any 573possible partial completion (the possible completions don't share 574a common prefix) cause the matches to be listed immediately instead 575of ringing the bell. 576The default value is @samp{off}. 577 578@item visible-stats 579@vindex visible-stats 580If set to @samp{on}, a character denoting a file's type 581is appended to the filename when listing possible 582completions. The default is @samp{off}. 583 584@end table 585 586@item Key Bindings 587The syntax for controlling key bindings in the init file is 588simple. First you need to find the name of the command that you 589want to change. The following sections contain tables of the command 590name, the default keybinding, if any, and a short description of what 591the command does. 592 593Once you know the name of the command, simply place on a line 594in the init file the name of the key 595you wish to bind the command to, a colon, and then the name of the 596command. The name of the key 597can be expressed in different ways, depending on what you find most 598comfortable. 599 600In addition to command names, readline allows keys to be bound 601to a string that is inserted when the key is pressed (a @var{macro}). 602 603@ifset BashFeatures 604The @w{@code{bind -p}} command displays Readline function names and 605bindings in a format that can put directly into an initialization file. 606@xref{Bash Builtins}. 607@end ifset 608 609@table @asis 610@item @w{@var{keyname}: @var{function-name} or @var{macro}} 611@var{keyname} is the name of a key spelled out in English. For example: 612@example 613Control-u: universal-argument 614Meta-Rubout: backward-kill-word 615Control-o: "> output" 616@end example 617 618In the above example, @kbd{C-u} is bound to the function 619@code{universal-argument}, 620@kbd{M-DEL} is bound to the function @code{backward-kill-word}, and 621@kbd{C-o} is bound to run the macro 622expressed on the right hand side (that is, to insert the text 623@samp{> output} into the line). 624 625A number of symbolic character names are recognized while 626processing this key binding syntax: 627@var{DEL}, 628@var{ESC}, 629@var{ESCAPE}, 630@var{LFD}, 631@var{NEWLINE}, 632@var{RET}, 633@var{RETURN}, 634@var{RUBOUT}, 635@var{SPACE}, 636@var{SPC}, 637and 638@var{TAB}. 639 640@item @w{"@var{keyseq}": @var{function-name} or @var{macro}} 641@var{keyseq} differs from @var{keyname} above in that strings 642denoting an entire key sequence can be specified, by placing 643the key sequence in double quotes. Some @sc{gnu} Emacs style key 644escapes can be used, as in the following example, but the 645special character names are not recognized. 646 647@example 648"\C-u": universal-argument 649"\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file 650"\e[11~": "Function Key 1" 651@end example 652 653In the above example, @kbd{C-u} is again bound to the function 654@code{universal-argument} (just as it was in the first example), 655@samp{@kbd{C-x} @kbd{C-r}} is bound to the function @code{re-read-init-file}, 656and @samp{@key{ESC} @key{[} @key{1} @key{1} @key{~}} is bound to insert 657the text @samp{Function Key 1}. 658 659@end table 660 661The following @sc{gnu} Emacs style escape sequences are available when 662specifying key sequences: 663 664@table @code 665@item @kbd{\C-} 666control prefix 667@item @kbd{\M-} 668meta prefix 669@item @kbd{\e} 670an escape character 671@item @kbd{\\} 672backslash 673@item @kbd{\"} 674@key{"}, a double quotation mark 675@item @kbd{\'} 676@key{'}, a single quote or apostrophe 677@end table 678 679In addition to the @sc{gnu} Emacs style escape sequences, a second 680set of backslash escapes is available: 681 682@table @code 683@item \a 684alert (bell) 685@item \b 686backspace 687@item \d 688delete 689@item \f 690form feed 691@item \n 692newline 693@item \r 694carriage return 695@item \t 696horizontal tab 697@item \v 698vertical tab 699@item \@var{nnn} 700the eight-bit character whose value is the octal value @var{nnn} 701(one to three digits) 702@item \x@var{HH} 703the eight-bit character whose value is the hexadecimal value @var{HH} 704(one or two hex digits) 705@end table 706 707When entering the text of a macro, single or double quotes must 708be used to indicate a macro definition. 709Unquoted text is assumed to be a function name. 710In the macro body, the backslash escapes described above are expanded. 711Backslash will quote any other character in the macro text, 712including @samp{"} and @samp{'}. 713For example, the following binding will make @samp{@kbd{C-x} \} 714insert a single @samp{\} into the line: 715@example 716"\C-x\\": "\\" 717@end example 718 719@end table 720 721@node Conditional Init Constructs 722@subsection Conditional Init Constructs 723 724Readline implements a facility similar in spirit to the conditional 725compilation features of the C preprocessor which allows key 726bindings and variable settings to be performed as the result 727of tests. There are four parser directives used. 728 729@table @code 730@item $if 731The @code{$if} construct allows bindings to be made based on the 732editing mode, the terminal being used, or the application using 733Readline. The text of the test extends to the end of the line; 734no characters are required to isolate it. 735 736@table @code 737@item mode 738The @code{mode=} form of the @code{$if} directive is used to test 739whether Readline is in @code{emacs} or @code{vi} mode. 740This may be used in conjunction 741with the @samp{set keymap} command, for instance, to set bindings in 742the @code{emacs-standard} and @code{emacs-ctlx} keymaps only if 743Readline is starting out in @code{emacs} mode. 744 745@item term 746The @code{term=} form may be used to include terminal-specific 747key bindings, perhaps to bind the key sequences output by the 748terminal's function keys. The word on the right side of the 749@samp{=} is tested against both the full name of the terminal and 750the portion of the terminal name before the first @samp{-}. This 751allows @code{sun} to match both @code{sun} and @code{sun-cmd}, 752for instance. 753 754@item application 755The @var{application} construct is used to include 756application-specific settings. Each program using the Readline 757library sets the @var{application name}, and you can test for 758a particular value. 759This could be used to bind key sequences to functions useful for 760a specific program. For instance, the following command adds a 761key sequence that quotes the current or previous word in Bash: 762@example 763$if Bash 764# Quote the current or previous word 765"\C-xq": "\eb\"\ef\"" 766$endif 767@end example 768@end table 769 770@item $endif 771This command, as seen in the previous example, terminates an 772@code{$if} command. 773 774@item $else 775Commands in this branch of the @code{$if} directive are executed if 776the test fails. 777 778@item $include 779This directive takes a single filename as an argument and reads commands 780and bindings from that file. 781For example, the following directive reads from @file{/etc/inputrc}: 782@example 783$include /etc/inputrc 784@end example 785@end table 786 787@node Sample Init File 788@subsection Sample Init File 789 790Here is an example of an @var{inputrc} file. This illustrates key 791binding, variable assignment, and conditional syntax. 792 793@example 794@page 795# This file controls the behaviour of line input editing for 796# programs that use the GNU Readline library. Existing 797# programs include FTP, Bash, and GDB. 798# 799# You can re-read the inputrc file with C-x C-r. 800# Lines beginning with '#' are comments. 801# 802# First, include any systemwide bindings and variable 803# assignments from /etc/Inputrc 804$include /etc/Inputrc 805 806# 807# Set various bindings for emacs mode. 808 809set editing-mode emacs 810 811$if mode=emacs 812 813Meta-Control-h: backward-kill-word Text after the function name is ignored 814 815# 816# Arrow keys in keypad mode 817# 818#"\M-OD": backward-char 819#"\M-OC": forward-char 820#"\M-OA": previous-history 821#"\M-OB": next-history 822# 823# Arrow keys in ANSI mode 824# 825"\M-[D": backward-char 826"\M-[C": forward-char 827"\M-[A": previous-history 828"\M-[B": next-history 829# 830# Arrow keys in 8 bit keypad mode 831# 832#"\M-\C-OD": backward-char 833#"\M-\C-OC": forward-char 834#"\M-\C-OA": previous-history 835#"\M-\C-OB": next-history 836# 837# Arrow keys in 8 bit ANSI mode 838# 839#"\M-\C-[D": backward-char 840#"\M-\C-[C": forward-char 841#"\M-\C-[A": previous-history 842#"\M-\C-[B": next-history 843 844C-q: quoted-insert 845 846$endif 847 848# An old-style binding. This happens to be the default. 849TAB: complete 850 851# Macros that are convenient for shell interaction 852$if Bash 853# edit the path 854"\C-xp": "PATH=$@{PATH@}\e\C-e\C-a\ef\C-f" 855# prepare to type a quoted word -- 856# insert open and close double quotes 857# and move to just after the open quote 858"\C-x\"": "\"\"\C-b" 859# insert a backslash (testing backslash escapes 860# in sequences and macros) 861"\C-x\\": "\\" 862# Quote the current or previous word 863"\C-xq": "\eb\"\ef\"" 864# Add a binding to refresh the line, which is unbound 865"\C-xr": redraw-current-line 866# Edit variable on current line. 867"\M-\C-v": "\C-a\C-k$\C-y\M-\C-e\C-a\C-y=" 868$endif 869 870# use a visible bell if one is available 871set bell-style visible 872 873# don't strip characters to 7 bits when reading 874set input-meta on 875 876# allow iso-latin1 characters to be inserted rather 877# than converted to prefix-meta sequences 878set convert-meta off 879 880# display characters with the eighth bit set directly 881# rather than as meta-prefixed characters 882set output-meta on 883 884# if there are more than 150 possible completions for 885# a word, ask the user if he wants to see all of them 886set completion-query-items 150 887 888# For FTP 889$if Ftp 890"\C-xg": "get \M-?" 891"\C-xt": "put \M-?" 892"\M-.": yank-last-arg 893$endif 894@end example 895 896@node Bindable Readline Commands 897@section Bindable Readline Commands 898 899@menu 900* Commands For Moving:: Moving about the line. 901* Commands For History:: Getting at previous lines. 902* Commands For Text:: Commands for changing text. 903* Commands For Killing:: Commands for killing and yanking. 904* Numeric Arguments:: Specifying numeric arguments, repeat counts. 905* Commands For Completion:: Getting Readline to do the typing for you. 906* Keyboard Macros:: Saving and re-executing typed characters 907* Miscellaneous Commands:: Other miscellaneous commands. 908@end menu 909 910This section describes Readline commands that may be bound to key 911sequences. 912@ifset BashFeatures 913You can list your key bindings by executing 914@w{@code{bind -P}} or, for a more terse format, suitable for an 915@var{inputrc} file, @w{@code{bind -p}}. (@xref{Bash Builtins}.) 916@end ifset 917Command names without an accompanying key sequence are unbound by default. 918 919In the following descriptions, @dfn{point} refers to the current cursor 920position, and @dfn{mark} refers to a cursor position saved by the 921@code{set-mark} command. 922The text between the point and mark is referred to as the @dfn{region}. 923 924@node Commands For Moving 925@subsection Commands For Moving 926@ftable @code 927@item beginning-of-line (C-a) 928Move to the start of the current line. 929 930@item end-of-line (C-e) 931Move to the end of the line. 932 933@item forward-char (C-f) 934Move forward a character. 935 936@item backward-char (C-b) 937Move back a character. 938 939@item forward-word (M-f) 940Move forward to the end of the next word. Words are composed of 941letters and digits. 942 943@item backward-word (M-b) 944Move back to the start of the current or previous word. Words are 945composed of letters and digits. 946 947@item clear-screen (C-l) 948Clear the screen and redraw the current line, 949leaving the current line at the top of the screen. 950 951@item redraw-current-line () 952Refresh the current line. By default, this is unbound. 953 954@end ftable 955 956@node Commands For History 957@subsection Commands For Manipulating The History 958 959@ftable @code 960@item accept-line (Newline or Return) 961@ifset BashFeatures 962Accept the line regardless of where the cursor is. 963If this line is 964non-empty, add it to the history list according to the setting of 965the @env{HISTCONTROL} and @env{HISTIGNORE} variables. 966If this line is a modified history line, then restore the history line 967to its original state. 968@end ifset 969@ifclear BashFeatures 970Accept the line regardless of where the cursor is. 971If this line is 972non-empty, it may be added to the history list for future recall with 973@code{add_history()}. 974If this line is a modified history line, the history line is restored 975to its original state. 976@end ifclear 977 978@item previous-history (C-p) 979Move `back' through the history list, fetching the previous command. 980 981@item next-history (C-n) 982Move `forward' through the history list, fetching the next command. 983 984@item beginning-of-history (M-<) 985Move to the first line in the history. 986 987@item end-of-history (M->) 988Move to the end of the input history, i.e., the line currently 989being entered. 990 991@item reverse-search-history (C-r) 992Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through 993the history as necessary. This is an incremental search. 994 995@item forward-search-history (C-s) 996Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through 997the the history as necessary. This is an incremental search. 998 999@item non-incremental-reverse-search-history (M-p) 1000Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' 1001through the history as necessary using a non-incremental search 1002for a string supplied by the user. 1003 1004@item non-incremental-forward-search-history (M-n) 1005Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' 1006through the the history as necessary using a non-incremental search 1007for a string supplied by the user. 1008 1009@item history-search-forward () 1010Search forward through the history for the string of characters 1011between the start of the current line and the point. 1012This is a non-incremental search. 1013By default, this command is unbound. 1014 1015@item history-search-backward () 1016Search backward through the history for the string of characters 1017between the start of the current line and the point. This 1018is a non-incremental search. By default, this command is unbound. 1019 1020@item yank-nth-arg (M-C-y) 1021Insert the first argument to the previous command (usually 1022the second word on the previous line) at point. 1023With an argument @var{n}, 1024insert the @var{n}th word from the previous command (the words 1025in the previous command begin with word 0). A negative argument 1026inserts the @var{n}th word from the end of the previous command.
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1027Once the argument @var{n} is computed, the argument is extracted 1028as if the @samp{!@var{n}} history expansion had been specified. |
1029 1030@item yank-last-arg (M-. or M-_) 1031Insert last argument to the previous command (the last word of the 1032previous history entry). With an 1033argument, behave exactly like @code{yank-nth-arg}. 1034Successive calls to @code{yank-last-arg} move back through the history 1035list, inserting the last argument of each line in turn.
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1036The history expansion facilities are used to extract the last argument, 1037as if the @samp{!$} history expansion had been specified. |
1038 1039@end ftable 1040 1041@node Commands For Text 1042@subsection Commands For Changing Text 1043 1044@ftable @code 1045@item delete-char (C-d) 1046Delete the character at point. If point is at the 1047beginning of the line, there are no characters in the line, and 1048the last character typed was not bound to @code{delete-char}, then 1049return @sc{eof}. 1050 1051@item backward-delete-char (Rubout) 1052Delete the character behind the cursor. A numeric argument means 1053to kill the characters instead of deleting them. 1054 1055@item forward-backward-delete-char () 1056Delete the character under the cursor, unless the cursor is at the 1057end of the line, in which case the character behind the cursor is 1058deleted. By default, this is not bound to a key. 1059 1060@item quoted-insert (C-q or C-v) 1061Add the next character typed to the line verbatim. This is 1062how to insert key sequences like @kbd{C-q}, for example. 1063 1064@ifclear BashFeatures 1065@item tab-insert (M-@key{TAB}) 1066Insert a tab character. 1067@end ifclear 1068 1069@item self-insert (a, b, A, 1, !, @dots{}) 1070Insert yourself. 1071 1072@item transpose-chars (C-t) 1073Drag the character before the cursor forward over 1074the character at the cursor, moving the 1075cursor forward as well. If the insertion point 1076is at the end of the line, then this 1077transposes the last two characters of the line. 1078Negative arguments have no effect. 1079 1080@item transpose-words (M-t) 1081Drag the word before point past the word after point, 1082moving point past that word as well. 1083If the insertion point is at the end of the line, this transposes 1084the last two words on the line. 1085 1086@item upcase-word (M-u) 1087Uppercase the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, 1088uppercase the previous word, but do not move the cursor. 1089 1090@item downcase-word (M-l) 1091Lowercase the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, 1092lowercase the previous word, but do not move the cursor. 1093 1094@item capitalize-word (M-c) 1095Capitalize the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, 1096capitalize the previous word, but do not move the cursor. 1097 1098@item overwrite-mode () 1099Toggle overwrite mode. With an explicit positive numeric argument, 1100switches to overwrite mode. With an explicit non-positive numeric 1101argument, switches to insert mode. This command affects only 1102@code{emacs} mode; @code{vi} mode does overwrite differently. 1103Each call to @code{readline()} starts in insert mode. 1104 1105In overwrite mode, characters bound to @code{self-insert} replace 1106the text at point rather than pushing the text to the right. 1107Characters bound to @code{backward-delete-char} replace the character 1108before point with a space. 1109 1110By default, this command is unbound. 1111 1112@end ftable 1113 1114@node Commands For Killing 1115@subsection Killing And Yanking 1116 1117@ftable @code 1118 1119@item kill-line (C-k) 1120Kill the text from point to the end of the line. 1121 1122@item backward-kill-line (C-x Rubout) 1123Kill backward to the beginning of the line. 1124 1125@item unix-line-discard (C-u) 1126Kill backward from the cursor to the beginning of the current line. 1127 1128@item kill-whole-line () 1129Kill all characters on the current line, no matter where point is. 1130By default, this is unbound. 1131 1132@item kill-word (M-d) 1133Kill from point to the end of the current word, or if between 1134words, to the end of the next word. 1135Word boundaries are the same as @code{forward-word}. 1136 1137@item backward-kill-word (M-@key{DEL}) 1138Kill the word behind point. 1139Word boundaries are the same as @code{backward-word}. 1140 1141@item unix-word-rubout (C-w) 1142Kill the word behind point, using white space as a word boundary. 1143The killed text is saved on the kill-ring. 1144 1145@item unix-filename-rubout () 1146Kill the word behind point, using white space and the slash character 1147as the word boundaries. 1148The killed text is saved on the kill-ring. 1149 1150@item delete-horizontal-space () 1151Delete all spaces and tabs around point. By default, this is unbound. 1152 1153@item kill-region () 1154Kill the text in the current region. 1155By default, this command is unbound. 1156 1157@item copy-region-as-kill () 1158Copy the text in the region to the kill buffer, so it can be yanked 1159right away. By default, this command is unbound. 1160 1161@item copy-backward-word () 1162Copy the word before point to the kill buffer. 1163The word boundaries are the same as @code{backward-word}. 1164By default, this command is unbound. 1165 1166@item copy-forward-word () 1167Copy the word following point to the kill buffer. 1168The word boundaries are the same as @code{forward-word}. 1169By default, this command is unbound. 1170 1171@item yank (C-y) 1172Yank the top of the kill ring into the buffer at point. 1173 1174@item yank-pop (M-y) 1175Rotate the kill-ring, and yank the new top. You can only do this if 1176the prior command is @code{yank} or @code{yank-pop}. 1177@end ftable 1178 1179@node Numeric Arguments 1180@subsection Specifying Numeric Arguments 1181@ftable @code 1182 1183@item digit-argument (@kbd{M-0}, @kbd{M-1}, @dots{} @kbd{M--}) 1184Add this digit to the argument already accumulating, or start a new 1185argument. @kbd{M--} starts a negative argument. 1186 1187@item universal-argument () 1188This is another way to specify an argument. 1189If this command is followed by one or more digits, optionally with a 1190leading minus sign, those digits define the argument. 1191If the command is followed by digits, executing @code{universal-argument} 1192again ends the numeric argument, but is otherwise ignored. 1193As a special case, if this command is immediately followed by a 1194character that is neither a digit or minus sign, the argument count 1195for the next command is multiplied by four. 1196The argument count is initially one, so executing this function the 1197first time makes the argument count four, a second time makes the 1198argument count sixteen, and so on. 1199By default, this is not bound to a key. 1200@end ftable 1201 1202@node Commands For Completion 1203@subsection Letting Readline Type For You 1204 1205@ftable @code 1206@item complete (@key{TAB}) 1207Attempt to perform completion on the text before point. 1208The actual completion performed is application-specific. 1209@ifset BashFeatures 1210Bash attempts completion treating the text as a variable (if the 1211text begins with @samp{$}), username (if the text begins with 1212@samp{~}), hostname (if the text begins with @samp{@@}), or 1213command (including aliases and functions) in turn. If none 1214of these produces a match, filename completion is attempted. 1215@end ifset 1216@ifclear BashFeatures 1217The default is filename completion. 1218@end ifclear 1219 1220@item possible-completions (M-?) 1221List the possible completions of the text before point. 1222 1223@item insert-completions (M-*) 1224Insert all completions of the text before point that would have 1225been generated by @code{possible-completions}. 1226 1227@item menu-complete () 1228Similar to @code{complete}, but replaces the word to be completed 1229with a single match from the list of possible completions. 1230Repeated execution of @code{menu-complete} steps through the list 1231of possible completions, inserting each match in turn. 1232At the end of the list of completions, the bell is rung 1233(subject to the setting of @code{bell-style}) 1234and the original text is restored. 1235An argument of @var{n} moves @var{n} positions forward in the list 1236of matches; a negative argument may be used to move backward 1237through the list. 1238This command is intended to be bound to @key{TAB}, but is unbound 1239by default. 1240 1241@item delete-char-or-list () 1242Deletes the character under the cursor if not at the beginning or 1243end of the line (like @code{delete-char}). 1244If at the end of the line, behaves identically to 1245@code{possible-completions}. 1246This command is unbound by default. 1247 1248@ifset BashFeatures 1249@item complete-filename (M-/) 1250Attempt filename completion on the text before point. 1251 1252@item possible-filename-completions (C-x /) 1253List the possible completions of the text before point, 1254treating it as a filename. 1255 1256@item complete-username (M-~) 1257Attempt completion on the text before point, treating 1258it as a username. 1259 1260@item possible-username-completions (C-x ~) 1261List the possible completions of the text before point, 1262treating it as a username. 1263 1264@item complete-variable (M-$) 1265Attempt completion on the text before point, treating 1266it as a shell variable. 1267 1268@item possible-variable-completions (C-x $) 1269List the possible completions of the text before point, 1270treating it as a shell variable. 1271 1272@item complete-hostname (M-@@) 1273Attempt completion on the text before point, treating 1274it as a hostname. 1275 1276@item possible-hostname-completions (C-x @@) 1277List the possible completions of the text before point, 1278treating it as a hostname. 1279 1280@item complete-command (M-!) 1281Attempt completion on the text before point, treating 1282it as a command name. Command completion attempts to 1283match the text against aliases, reserved words, shell 1284functions, shell builtins, and finally executable filenames, 1285in that order. 1286 1287@item possible-command-completions (C-x !) 1288List the possible completions of the text before point, 1289treating it as a command name. 1290 1291@item dynamic-complete-history (M-@key{TAB}) 1292Attempt completion on the text before point, comparing 1293the text against lines from the history list for possible 1294completion matches. 1295 1296@item complete-into-braces (M-@{) 1297Perform filename completion and insert the list of possible completions 1298enclosed within braces so the list is available to the shell 1299(@pxref{Brace Expansion}). 1300 1301@end ifset 1302@end ftable 1303 1304@node Keyboard Macros 1305@subsection Keyboard Macros 1306@ftable @code 1307 1308@item start-kbd-macro (C-x () 1309Begin saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro. 1310 1311@item end-kbd-macro (C-x )) 1312Stop saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro 1313and save the definition. 1314 1315@item call-last-kbd-macro (C-x e) 1316Re-execute the last keyboard macro defined, by making the characters 1317in the macro appear as if typed at the keyboard. 1318 1319@end ftable 1320 1321@node Miscellaneous Commands 1322@subsection Some Miscellaneous Commands 1323@ftable @code 1324 1325@item re-read-init-file (C-x C-r) 1326Read in the contents of the @var{inputrc} file, and incorporate 1327any bindings or variable assignments found there. 1328 1329@item abort (C-g) 1330Abort the current editing command and 1331ring the terminal's bell (subject to the setting of 1332@code{bell-style}). 1333 1334@item do-uppercase-version (M-a, M-b, M-@var{x}, @dots{}) 1335If the metafied character @var{x} is lowercase, run the command 1336that is bound to the corresponding uppercase character. 1337 1338@item prefix-meta (@key{ESC}) 1339Metafy the next character typed. This is for keyboards 1340without a meta key. Typing @samp{@key{ESC} f} is equivalent to typing 1341@kbd{M-f}. 1342 1343@item undo (C-_ or C-x C-u) 1344Incremental undo, separately remembered for each line. 1345 1346@item revert-line (M-r) 1347Undo all changes made to this line. This is like executing the @code{undo} 1348command enough times to get back to the beginning. 1349 1350@ifset BashFeatures 1351@item tilde-expand (M-&) 1352@end ifset 1353@ifclear BashFeatures 1354@item tilde-expand (M-~) 1355@end ifclear 1356Perform tilde expansion on the current word. 1357 1358@item set-mark (C-@@) 1359Set the mark to the point. If a 1360numeric argument is supplied, the mark is set to that position. 1361 1362@item exchange-point-and-mark (C-x C-x) 1363Swap the point with the mark. The current cursor position is set to 1364the saved position, and the old cursor position is saved as the mark. 1365 1366@item character-search (C-]) 1367A character is read and point is moved to the next occurrence of that 1368character. A negative count searches for previous occurrences. 1369 1370@item character-search-backward (M-C-]) 1371A character is read and point is moved to the previous occurrence 1372of that character. A negative count searches for subsequent 1373occurrences. 1374 1375@item insert-comment (M-#) 1376Without a numeric argument, the value of the @code{comment-begin} 1377variable is inserted at the beginning of the current line. 1378If a numeric argument is supplied, this command acts as a toggle: if 1379the characters at the beginning of the line do not match the value 1380of @code{comment-begin}, the value is inserted, otherwise 1381the characters in @code{comment-begin} are deleted from the beginning of 1382the line. 1383In either case, the line is accepted as if a newline had been typed. 1384@ifset BashFeatures 1385The default value of @code{comment-begin} causes this command 1386to make the current line a shell comment. 1387If a numeric argument causes the comment character to be removed, the line 1388will be executed by the shell. 1389@end ifset 1390 1391@item dump-functions () 1392Print all of the functions and their key bindings to the 1393Readline output stream. If a numeric argument is supplied, 1394the output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part 1395of an @var{inputrc} file. This command is unbound by default. 1396 1397@item dump-variables () 1398Print all of the settable variables and their values to the 1399Readline output stream. If a numeric argument is supplied, 1400the output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part 1401of an @var{inputrc} file. This command is unbound by default. 1402 1403@item dump-macros () 1404Print all of the Readline key sequences bound to macros and the 1405strings they output. If a numeric argument is supplied, 1406the output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part 1407of an @var{inputrc} file. This command is unbound by default. 1408 1409@ifset BashFeatures 1410@item glob-complete-word (M-g) 1411The word before point is treated as a pattern for pathname expansion, 1412with an asterisk implicitly appended. This pattern is used to 1413generate a list of matching file names for possible completions. 1414 1415@item glob-expand-word (C-x *) 1416The word before point is treated as a pattern for pathname expansion, 1417and the list of matching file names is inserted, replacing the word. 1418If a numeric argument is supplied, a @samp{*} is appended before 1419pathname expansion. 1420 1421@item glob-list-expansions (C-x g) 1422The list of expansions that would have been generated by 1423@code{glob-expand-word} is displayed, and the line is redrawn. 1424If a numeric argument is supplied, a @samp{*} is appended before 1425pathname expansion. 1426 1427@item display-shell-version (C-x C-v) 1428Display version information about the current instance of Bash. 1429 1430@item shell-expand-line (M-C-e) 1431Expand the line as the shell does. 1432This performs alias and history expansion as well as all of the shell 1433word expansions (@pxref{Shell Expansions}). 1434 1435@item history-expand-line (M-^) 1436Perform history expansion on the current line. 1437 1438@item magic-space () 1439Perform history expansion on the current line and insert a space 1440(@pxref{History Interaction}). 1441 1442@item alias-expand-line () 1443Perform alias expansion on the current line (@pxref{Aliases}). 1444 1445@item history-and-alias-expand-line () 1446Perform history and alias expansion on the current line. 1447 1448@item insert-last-argument (M-. or M-_) 1449A synonym for @code{yank-last-arg}. 1450 1451@item operate-and-get-next (C-o) 1452Accept the current line for execution and fetch the next line 1453relative to the current line from the history for editing. Any 1454argument is ignored. 1455 1456@item edit-and-execute-command (C-xC-e) 1457Invoke an editor on the current command line, and execute the result as shell 1458commands. 1459Bash attempts to invoke 1460@code{$VISUAL}, @code{$EDITOR}, and @code{emacs} 1461as the editor, in that order. 1462 1463@end ifset 1464 1465@ifclear BashFeatures 1466@item emacs-editing-mode (C-e) 1467When in @code{vi} command mode, this causes a switch to @code{emacs} 1468editing mode. 1469 1470@item vi-editing-mode (M-C-j) 1471When in @code{emacs} editing mode, this causes a switch to @code{vi} 1472editing mode. 1473 1474@end ifclear 1475 1476@end ftable 1477 1478@node Readline vi Mode 1479@section Readline vi Mode 1480 1481While the Readline library does not have a full set of @code{vi} 1482editing functions, it does contain enough to allow simple editing 1483of the line. The Readline @code{vi} mode behaves as specified in 1484the @sc{posix} 1003.2 standard. 1485 1486@ifset BashFeatures 1487In order to switch interactively between @code{emacs} and @code{vi} 1488editing modes, use the @samp{set -o emacs} and @samp{set -o vi} 1489commands (@pxref{The Set Builtin}). 1490@end ifset 1491@ifclear BashFeatures 1492In order to switch interactively between @code{emacs} and @code{vi} 1493editing modes, use the command @kbd{M-C-j} (bound to emacs-editing-mode 1494when in @code{vi} mode and to vi-editing-mode in @code{emacs} mode). 1495@end ifclear 1496The Readline default is @code{emacs} mode. 1497 1498When you enter a line in @code{vi} mode, you are already placed in 1499`insertion' mode, as if you had typed an @samp{i}. Pressing @key{ESC} 1500switches you into `command' mode, where you can edit the text of the 1501line with the standard @code{vi} movement keys, move to previous 1502history lines with @samp{k} and subsequent lines with @samp{j}, and 1503so forth. 1504 1505@ifset BashFeatures 1506@node Programmable Completion 1507@section Programmable Completion 1508@cindex programmable completion 1509 1510When word completion is attempted for an argument to a command for 1511which a completion specification (a @var{compspec}) has been defined 1512using the @code{complete} builtin (@pxref{Programmable Completion Builtins}), 1513the programmable completion facilities are invoked. 1514 1515First, the command name is identified. 1516If a compspec has been defined for that command, the 1517compspec is used to generate the list of possible completions for the word. 1518If the command word is a full pathname, a compspec for the full 1519pathname is searched for first. 1520If no compspec is found for the full pathname, an attempt is made to 1521find a compspec for the portion following the final slash. 1522 1523Once a compspec has been found, it is used to generate the list of 1524matching words. 1525If a compspec is not found, the default Bash completion 1526described above (@pxref{Commands For Completion}) is performed. 1527 1528First, the actions specified by the compspec are used. 1529Only matches which are prefixed by the word being completed are 1530returned. 1531When the @option{-f} or @option{-d} option is used for filename or 1532directory name completion, the shell variable @env{FIGNORE} is 1533used to filter the matches. 1534@xref{Bash Variables}, for a description of @env{FIGNORE}. 1535 1536Any completions specified by a filename expansion pattern to the 1537@option{-G} option are generated next. 1538The words generated by the pattern need not match the word being completed. 1539The @env{GLOBIGNORE} shell variable is not used to filter the matches, 1540but the @env{FIGNORE} shell variable is used. 1541 1542Next, the string specified as the argument to the @option{-W} option 1543is considered. 1544The string is first split using the characters in the @env{IFS} 1545special variable as delimiters. 1546Shell quoting is honored. 1547Each word is then expanded using 1548brace expansion, tilde expansion, parameter and variable expansion,
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1533command substitution, arithmetic expansion, and pathname expansion,
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1549command substitution, and arithmetic expansion, |
1550as described above (@pxref{Shell Expansions}). 1551The results are split using the rules described above 1552(@pxref{Word Splitting}). 1553The results of the expansion are prefix-matched against the word being 1554completed, and the matching words become the possible completions. 1555 1556After these matches have been generated, any shell function or command 1557specified with the @option{-F} and @option{-C} options is invoked. 1558When the command or function is invoked, the @env{COMP_LINE} and 1559@env{COMP_POINT} variables are assigned values as described above 1560(@pxref{Bash Variables}). 1561If a shell function is being invoked, the @env{COMP_WORDS} and 1562@env{COMP_CWORD} variables are also set. 1563When the function or command is invoked, the first argument is the 1564name of the command whose arguments are being completed, the 1565second argument is the word being completed, and the third argument 1566is the word preceding the word being completed on the current command line. 1567No filtering of the generated completions against the word being completed 1568is performed; the function or command has complete freedom in generating 1569the matches. 1570 1571Any function specified with @option{-F} is invoked first. 1572The function may use any of the shell facilities, including the 1573@code{compgen} builtin described below 1574(@pxref{Programmable Completion Builtins}), to generate the matches. 1575It must put the possible completions in the @env{COMPREPLY} array 1576variable. 1577 1578Next, any command specified with the @option{-C} option is invoked 1579in an environment equivalent to command substitution. 1580It should print a list of completions, one per line, to 1581the standard output. 1582Backslash may be used to escape a newline, if necessary. 1583 1584After all of the possible completions are generated, any filter 1585specified with the @option{-X} option is applied to the list. 1586The filter is a pattern as used for pathname expansion; a @samp{&} 1587in the pattern is replaced with the text of the word being completed. 1588A literal @samp{&} may be escaped with a backslash; the backslash 1589is removed before attempting a match. 1590Any completion that matches the pattern will be removed from the list. 1591A leading @samp{!} negates the pattern; in this case any completion 1592not matching the pattern will be removed. 1593 1594Finally, any prefix and suffix specified with the @option{-P} and @option{-S} 1595options are added to each member of the completion list, and the result is 1596returned to the Readline completion code as the list of possible 1597completions. 1598 1599If the previously-applied actions do not generate any matches, and the 1600@option{-o dirnames} option was supplied to @code{complete} when the 1601compspec was defined, directory name completion is attempted. 1602 1603If the @option{-o plusdirs} option was supplied to @code{complete} when 1604the compspec was defined, directory name completion is attempted and any 1605matches are added to the results of the other actions. 1606 1607By default, if a compspec is found, whatever it generates is returned to 1608the completion code as the full set of possible completions. 1609The default Bash completions are not attempted, and the Readline default 1610of filename completion is disabled. 1611If the @option{-o bashdefault} option was supplied to @code{complete} when 1612the compspec was defined, the default Bash completions are attempted 1613if the compspec generates no matches. 1614If the @option{-o default} option was supplied to @code{complete} when the 1615compspec was defined, Readline's default completion will be performed 1616if the compspec (and, if attempted, the default Bash completions) 1617generate no matches. 1618 1619When a compspec indicates that directory name completion is desired, 1620the programmable completion functions force Readline to append a slash 1621to completed names which are symbolic links to directories, subject to 1622the value of the @var{mark-directories} Readline variable, regardless 1623of the setting of the @var{mark-symlinked-directories} Readline variable. 1624 1625@node Programmable Completion Builtins 1626@section Programmable Completion Builtins 1627@cindex completion builtins 1628 1629Two builtin commands are available to manipulate the programmable completion 1630facilities. 1631 1632@table @code 1633@item compgen 1634@btindex compgen 1635@example 1636@code{compgen [@var{option}] [@var{word}]} 1637@end example 1638 1639Generate possible completion matches for @var{word} according to 1640the @var{option}s, which may be any option accepted by the 1641@code{complete} 1642builtin with the exception of @option{-p} and @option{-r}, and write 1643the matches to the standard output. 1644When using the @option{-F} or @option{-C} options, the various shell variables 1645set by the programmable completion facilities, while available, will not 1646have useful values. 1647 1648The matches will be generated in the same way as if the programmable 1649completion code had generated them directly from a completion specification 1650with the same flags. 1651If @var{word} is specified, only those completions matching @var{word} 1652will be displayed. 1653 1654The return value is true unless an invalid option is supplied, or no 1655matches were generated. 1656 1657@item complete 1658@btindex complete 1659@example 1660@code{complete [-abcdefgjksuv] [-o @var{comp-option}] [-A @var{action}] [-G @var{globpat}] [-W @var{wordlist}] 1661[-P @var{prefix}] [-S @var{suffix}] [-X @var{filterpat}] [-F @var{function}] 1662[-C @var{command}] @var{name} [@var{name} @dots{}]} 1663@code{complete -pr [@var{name} @dots{}]} 1664@end example 1665 1666Specify how arguments to each @var{name} should be completed. 1667If the @option{-p} option is supplied, or if no options are supplied, existing 1668completion specifications are printed in a way that allows them to be 1669reused as input. 1670The @option{-r} option removes a completion specification for 1671each @var{name}, or, if no @var{name}s are supplied, all 1672completion specifications. 1673 1674The process of applying these completion specifications when word completion 1675is attempted is described above (@pxref{Programmable Completion}). 1676 1677Other options, if specified, have the following meanings. 1678The arguments to the @option{-G}, @option{-W}, and @option{-X} options 1679(and, if necessary, the @option{-P} and @option{-S} options) 1680should be quoted to protect them from expansion before the 1681@code{complete} builtin is invoked. 1682 1683 1684@table @code 1685@item -o @var{comp-option} 1686The @var{comp-option} controls several aspects of the compspec's behavior 1687beyond the simple generation of completions. 1688@var{comp-option} may be one of: 1689 1690@table @code 1691 1692@item bashdefault 1693Perform the rest of the default Bash completions if the compspec 1694generates no matches. 1695 1696@item default 1697Use Readline's default filename completion if the compspec generates 1698no matches. 1699 1700@item dirnames 1701Perform directory name completion if the compspec generates no matches. 1702 1703@item filenames 1704Tell Readline that the compspec generates filenames, so it can perform any 1705filename-specific processing (like adding a slash to directory names or 1706suppressing trailing spaces). This option is intended to be used with 1707shell functions specified with @option{-F}. 1708 1709@item nospace 1710Tell Readline not to append a space (the default) to words completed at 1711the end of the line.
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1712 1713@item plusdirs 1714After any matches defined by the compspec are generated, 1715directory name completion is attempted and any 1716matches are added to the results of the other actions. 1717 |
1718@end table 1719 1720@item -A @var{action} 1721The @var{action} may be one of the following to generate a list of possible 1722completions: 1723 1724@table @code 1725@item alias 1726Alias names. May also be specified as @option{-a}. 1727 1728@item arrayvar 1729Array variable names. 1730 1731@item binding 1732Readline key binding names (@pxref{Bindable Readline Commands}). 1733 1734@item builtin 1735Names of shell builtin commands. May also be specified as @option{-b}. 1736 1737@item command 1738Command names. May also be specified as @option{-c}. 1739 1740@item directory 1741Directory names. May also be specified as @option{-d}. 1742 1743@item disabled 1744Names of disabled shell builtins. 1745 1746@item enabled 1747Names of enabled shell builtins. 1748 1749@item export 1750Names of exported shell variables. May also be specified as @option{-e}. 1751 1752@item file 1753File names. May also be specified as @option{-f}. 1754 1755@item function 1756Names of shell functions. 1757 1758@item group 1759Group names. May also be specified as @option{-g}. 1760 1761@item helptopic 1762Help topics as accepted by the @code{help} builtin (@pxref{Bash Builtins}). 1763 1764@item hostname 1765Hostnames, as taken from the file specified by the 1766@env{HOSTFILE} shell variable (@pxref{Bash Variables}). 1767 1768@item job 1769Job names, if job control is active. May also be specified as @option{-j}. 1770 1771@item keyword 1772Shell reserved words. May also be specified as @option{-k}. 1773 1774@item running 1775Names of running jobs, if job control is active. 1776 1777@item service 1778Service names. May also be specified as @option{-s}. 1779 1780@item setopt 1781Valid arguments for the @option{-o} option to the @code{set} builtin 1782(@pxref{The Set Builtin}). 1783 1784@item shopt 1785Shell option names as accepted by the @code{shopt} builtin 1786(@pxref{Bash Builtins}). 1787 1788@item signal 1789Signal names. 1790 1791@item stopped 1792Names of stopped jobs, if job control is active. 1793 1794@item user 1795User names. May also be specified as @option{-u}. 1796 1797@item variable 1798Names of all shell variables. May also be specified as @option{-v}. 1799@end table 1800 1801@item -G @var{globpat} 1802The filename expansion pattern @var{globpat} is expanded to generate 1803the possible completions. 1804 1805@item -W @var{wordlist} 1806The @var{wordlist} is split using the characters in the 1807@env{IFS} special variable as delimiters, and each resultant word 1808is expanded. 1809The possible completions are the members of the resultant list which 1810match the word being completed. 1811 1812@item -C @var{command} 1813@var{command} is executed in a subshell environment, and its output is 1814used as the possible completions. 1815 1816@item -F @var{function} 1817The shell function @var{function} is executed in the current shell 1818environment. 1819When it finishes, the possible completions are retrieved from the value 1820of the @env{COMPREPLY} array variable. 1821 1822@item -X @var{filterpat} 1823@var{filterpat} is a pattern as used for filename expansion. 1824It is applied to the list of possible completions generated by the 1825preceding options and arguments, and each completion matching 1826@var{filterpat} is removed from the list. 1827A leading @samp{!} in @var{filterpat} negates the pattern; in this 1828case, any completion not matching @var{filterpat} is removed. 1829 1830@item -P @var{prefix} 1831@var{prefix} is added at the beginning of each possible completion 1832after all other options have been applied. 1833 1834@item -S @var{suffix} 1835@var{suffix} is appended to each possible completion 1836after all other options have been applied. 1837@end table 1838 1839The return value is true unless an invalid option is supplied, an option 1840other than @option{-p} or @option{-r} is supplied without a @var{name} 1841argument, an attempt is made to remove a completion specification for 1842a @var{name} for which no specification exists, or 1843an error occurs adding a completion specification. 1844 1845@end table 1846@end ifset
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