


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) 1989-2001 by the 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  allo-
       cated  with  malloc(3);  the caller must free it when fin-
       ished.  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 addi-
       tional 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  Con-
       trol-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 Con-
       trol 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



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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


       direction (e.g., kill-line) causes that command to act  in
       a  backward direction.  Commands whose behavior with argu-
       ments 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 initial-
       ization 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.
       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 universal-argument.

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

       In  addition  to command names, readline allows keys to be
       bound to a string that is inserted when the key is pressed
       (a macro).


   Key Bindings
       The  syntax  for  controlling  key bindings in the inputrc
       file is simple.  All that is required is the name  of  the
       command or the text of a macro and a key sequence to which
       it should be bound. The name may be specified  in  one  of
       two  ways:  as a symbolic key name, possibly with Meta- or
       Control- prefixes, or as a key sequence.

       When using the form keyname:function-name or  macro,  key-
       name  is  the  name  of a key spelled out in English.  For
       example:



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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


              Control-u: universal-argument
              Meta-Rubout: backward-kill-word
              Control-o: "> output"

       In the above example, C-u is bound to the function univer-
       sal-argument,   M-DEL  is  bound  to  the  function  back-
       ward-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,  key-
       seq 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 uni-
       versal-argument.   C-x  C-r  is  bound  to  the   function
       re-read-init-file,  and ESC [ 1 1 ~ is bound to insert the
       text ``Function Key 1''.

       The full set of GNU Emacs style escape sequences available
       when specifying key sequences is
              \C-    control prefix
              \M-    meta prefix
              \e     an escape character
              \\     backslash
              \"     literal ", a double quote
              \'     literal ', a single quote

       In  addition  to  the  GNU Emacs style escape sequences, a
       second set of backslash escapes is available:
              \a     alert (bell)
              \b     backspace
              \d     delete
              \f     form feed
              \n     newline
              \r     carriage return
              \t     horizontal tab
              \v     vertical tab
              \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.



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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


       Backslash  will  quote  any  other  character in the macro
       text, including " and '.

       Bash allows the current readline key bindings to  be  dis-
       played  or  modified  with  the bind builtin command.  The
       editing mode may be switched  during  interactive  use  by
       using  the  -o  option  to the set builtin command.  Other
       programs using this library  provide  similar  mechanisms.
       The  inputrc  file  may be edited and re-read if a program
       does not provide any other means to incorporate new  bind-
       ings.

   Variables
       Readline  has  variables  that can be used to further cus-
       tomize its behavior.  A variable may be set in the inputrc
       file with a statement of the form

              set variable-name value

       Except where noted, readline variables can take the values
       On or Off (without regard to  case).   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  audi-
              ble, readline attempts to ring the terminal's bell.
       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  com-
              mand mode.
       completion-ignore-case (Off)
              If  set  to On, readline performs filename matching
              and completion in a case-insensitive fashion.
       completion-query-items (100)
              This determines when  the  user  is  queried  about
              viewing  the  number of possible completions gener-
              ated by the possible-completions command.   It  may
              be  set  to any integer value greater than or equal
              to zero.  If the number of possible completions  is
              greater  than  or  equal to the value of this vari-
              able, the user is asked whether or not he wishes to
              view  them; otherwise they are simply listed on the
              terminal.
       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).




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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


       disable-completion (Off)
              If set to On, readline will  inhibit  word  comple-
              tion.   Completion characters will be inserted into
              the line as if they had been mapped to self-insert.
       editing-mode (emacs)
              Controls  whether readline begins with a set of key
              bindings similar to emacs or vi.  editing-mode  can
              be set to either emacs or vi.
       enable-keypad (Off)
              When  set  to  On,  readline will try to enable the
              application keypad when it is called.  Some systems
              need this to enable the arrow keys.
       expand-tilde (Off)
              If  set  to  on,  tilde expansion is performed when
              readline attempts word completion.
       history-preserve-point
              If set to on, the history code  attempts  to  place
              point  at  the  same  location on each history line
              retrived with previous-history or next-history.
       horizontal-scroll-mode (Off)
              When set to On, makes readline use  a  single  line
              for  display, scrolling the input horizontally on a
              single screen line when it becomes longer than  the
              screen width rather than wrapping to a new line.
       input-meta (Off)
              If  set to On, readline will enable eight-bit input
              (that is, it will not clear the eighth bit  in  the
              characters it reads), regardless of what the termi-
              nal claims it can support.  The name meta-flag is a
              synonym for this variable.
       isearch-terminators (``C-[ C-J'')
              The  string  of characters that should terminate an
              incremental search without  subsequently  executing
              the  character  as a command.  If this variable has
              not been given a value, the characters ESC and  C-J
              will 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 displayed with a preceding asterisk (*).
       match-hidden-files (On)
              This  variable,  when set to On, causes readline to
              match files whose names begin with  a  `.'  (hidden
              files)  when performing filename completion, unless



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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


              the leading `.' is supplied  by  the  user  in  the
              filename to be completed.
       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.
       print-completions-horizontally (Off)
              If  set  to  On,  readline will display completions
              with matches sorted  horizontally  in  alphabetical
              order, rather than down the screen.
       show-all-if-ambiguous (Off)
              This  alters the default behavior of the completion
              functions.  If set to on,  words  which  have  more
              than  one  possible completion cause the matches to
              be listed immediately instead of ringing the  bell.
       visible-stats (Off)
              If set to On, a character denoting a file's type as
              reported by stat(2) is  appended  to  the  filename
              when listing possible completions.

   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 per-
       formed as the result of  tests.   There  are  four  parser
       directives used.

       $if    The  $if construct allows bindings to be made based
              on the editing mode, the terminal  being  used,  or
              the  application  using  readline.  The text of the
              test extends to the end of the line; no  characters
              are required to isolate it.

              mode   The  mode= form of the $if directive is used
                     to test whether readline is in emacs  or  vi
                     mode.   This may be used in conjunction with
                     the set 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 termi-
                     nal-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



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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


                     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, ter-
              minates 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 argu-
              ment and reads  commands  and  bindings  from  that
              file.   For  example, the following directive would
              read /etc/inputrc:

              $include  /etc/inputrc

SEARCHING
       Readline provides commands for searching through the  com-
       mand  history  for  lines  containing  a specified string.
       There are two search modes: incremental and  non-incremen-
       tal.

       Incremental  searches  begin  before the user has finished
       typing the search string.  As each character of the search
       string is typed, readline displays the next entry from the
       history matching the string typed so far.  An  incremental
       search  requires only as many characters as needed to find
       the desired history entry.  To search backward in the his-
       tory  for  a  particular  string,  type  C-r.   Typing C-s
       searches forward through the history.  The characters pre-
       sent  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 charac-
       ters 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



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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


       execute that command.  For instance, a newline will termi-
       nate 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.   Com-
       mand  names  without  an  accompanying  key  sequence  are
       unbound by default.

       In the following descriptions, point refers to the current
       cursor  position,  and  mark  refers  to a cursor position
       saved by the set-mark command.  The text between the point
       and mark is referred to as the region.

   Commands for Moving
       beginning-of-line (C-a)
              Move to the start of the current line.
       end-of-line (C-e)
              Move to the end of the line.
       forward-char (C-f)
              Move forward a character.
       backward-char (C-b)
              Move back a character.
       forward-word (M-f)
              Move  forward  to  the end of the next word.  Words
              are composed of  alphanumeric  characters  (letters
              and digits).
       backward-word (M-b)
              Move  back  to the start of the current or previous
              word.  Words are composed of  alphanumeric  charac-
              ters (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.




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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


       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,  mov-
              ing 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  previ-
              ous  command  begin with word 0).  A negative argu-
              ment inserts the nth word from the end of the  pre-
              vious command.
       yank-last-arg (M-., M-_)
              Insert  the  last  argument to the previous command
              (the last word  of  the  previous  history  entry).
              With an argument, behave exactly like yank-nth-arg.
              Successive calls to yank-last-arg move back through
              the  history  list,  inserting the last argument of
              each line in turn.

   Commands for Changing Text




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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


       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 cursor 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.   Nega-
              tive 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.

   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.




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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


       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  for-
              ward-word.
       backward-kill-word (M-Rubout)
              Kill  the  word  behind point.  Word boundaries are
              the same as those used by backward-word.
       unix-word-rubout (C-w)
              Kill the word behind point, using white space as  a
              word  boundary.   The  killed  text is saved on the
              kill-ring.
       delete-horizontal-space (M-\)
              Delete all spaces and tabs around point.
       kill-region
              Kill the text between the  point  and  mark  (saved
              cursor  position).  This text is referred to as the
              region.
       copy-region-as-kill
              Copy the text in the region to the kill buffer.
       copy-backward-word
              Copy the word before point to the kill buffer.  The
              word boundaries are the same as backward-word.
       copy-forward-word
              Copy  the  word following point to the kill buffer.
              The word boundaries are the same as forward-word.
       yank (C-y)
              Yank the top of the kill ring into  the  buffer  at
              point.
       yank-pop (M-y)
              Rotate  the  kill ring, and yank the new top.  Only
              works following yank or yank-pop.

   Numeric Arguments
       digit-argument (M-0, M-1, ..., M--)
              Add this digit to the argument  already  accumulat-
              ing,  or  start a new argument.  M-- starts a nega-
              tive argument.
       universal-argument
              This is another way to  specify  an  argument.   If
              this  command  is  followed  by one or more digits,
              optionally with a leading minus sign, those  digits
              define the argument.  If the command is followed by
              digits, executing universal-argument again ends the
              numeric  argument,  but is otherwise ignored.  As a
              special case, if this command is  immediately  fol-
              lowed  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 ini-
              tially one, so executing this  function  the  first
              time  makes  the argument count four, a second time



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READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


              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 applica-
              tion-specific.  Bash, for instance,  attempts  com-
              pletion  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 comple-
              tion 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.
       insert-completions (M-*)
              Insert all completions of  the  text  before  point
              that  would have been generated by possible-comple-
              tions.
       menu-complete
              Similar to complete, but replaces the  word  to  be
              completed with a single match from the list of pos-
              sible completions.  Repeated execution of menu-com-
              plete  steps  through  the list of possible comple-
              tions, inserting each match in turn.  At the end of
              the  list of completions, the bell is rung (subject
              to the setting of  Bbell-style)  and  the  original
              text  is  restored.  An argument of n moves n posi-
              tions 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.
       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 identi-
              cally 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 mak-
              ing  the characters in the macro appear as if typed
              at the keyboard.




GNU Readline 4.2a         2001 October 9                       12





READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


   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 ter-
              minal'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 upper-
              case character.
       prefix-meta (ESC)
              Metafy the next character typed.  ESC f is  equiva-
              lent 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 occurrences.
       character-search-backward (M-C-])
              A  character is read and point is moved to the pre-
              vious occurrence of  that  character.   A  negative
              count searches for subsequent occurrences.
       insert-comment (M-#)
              The value of the readline comment-begin variable is
              inserted at the beginning of the current line,  and
              the  line  is  accepted  as  if  a newline had been
              typed.  The default value  of  comment-begin  makes
              the current line a shell comment.
       dump-functions
              Print  all  of the functions and their key bindings
              to the readline output stream.  If a numeric  argu-
              ment is supplied, the output 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  val-
              ues  to  the  readline output stream.  If a numeric



GNU Readline 4.2a         2001 October 9                       13





READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


              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 ouput.  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 editing mode, this causes  a  switch  to
              emacs editing mode.
       vi-editing-mode (M-C-j)
              When in emacs editing mode, this causes a switch to
              vi editing mode.

DEFAULT KEY BINDINGS
       The following is a list of the default emacs and vi  bind-
       ings.   Characters  with the eighth bit set are written as
       M-<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  mentioned are bound to self-insert.  Charac-
       ters assigned to signal generation by stty(1) or the  ter-
       minal  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 remain-
       ing characters are unbound, which causes readline to  ring
       the  bell  (subject to the setting of the bell-style vari-
       able).

   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



GNU Readline 4.2a         2001 October 9                       14





READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


             "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



GNU Readline 4.2a         2001 October 9                       15





READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


             "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



GNU Readline 4.2a         2001 October 9                       16





READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


             "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



GNU Readline 4.2a         2001 October 9                       17





READLINE(3)                                           READLINE(3)


             "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-read-
       line@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 4.2a         2001 October 9                       18


