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.\"

.\" MAN PAGE COMMENTS to

.\"

.\"     Chet Ramey

.\"     Information Network Services

.\"     Case Western Reserve University

.\"     chet@ins.CWRU.Edu

.\"

.\"     Last Change: Tue Sep 13 12:07:26 EDT 2005

.\"

.TH READLINE 3 "2005 Sep 13" "GNU Readline 5.1-beta1"

.\"

.\" File Name macro.  This used to be `.PN', for Path Name,

.\" but Sun doesn't seem to like that very much.

.\"

.de FN

\fI\|\\$1\|\fP

..

.SH NAME

readline \- get a line from a user with editing

.SH SYNOPSIS

.LP

.nf

.ft B

#include 

#include 

#include 

.ft

.fi

.LP

.nf

\fIchar *\fP

.br

\fBreadline\fP (\fIconst char *prompt\fP);

.fi

.SH COPYRIGHT

.if n Readline is Copyright (C) 1989\-2004 by the Free Software Foundation, Inc.

.if t Readline is Copyright \(co 1989\-2004 by the Free Software Foundation, Inc.

.SH DESCRIPTION

.LP

.B readline

will read a line from the terminal

and return it, using

.B prompt

as a prompt.  If

.B prompt

is \fBNULL\fP or the empty string, no prompt is issued.

The line returned is allocated with

.IR malloc (3);

the caller must free it when finished.  The line returned

has the final newline removed, so only the text of the line

remains.

.LP

.B 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.

.LP

This manual page describes only the most basic use of \fBreadline\fP.

Much more functionality is available; see

\fIThe GNU Readline Library\fP and \fIThe GNU History Library\fP

for additional information.

.SH RETURN VALUE

.LP

.B readline

returns the text of the line read.  A blank line

returns the empty string.  If

.B EOF

is encountered while reading a line, and the line is empty,

.B NULL

is returned.  If an

.B EOF

is read with a non\-empty line, it is

treated as a newline.

.SH NOTATION

.LP

An emacs-style notation is used to denote

keystrokes.  Control keys are denoted by C\-\fIkey\fR, e.g., C\-n

means Control\-N.  Similarly,

.I meta

keys are denoted by M\-\fIkey\fR, so M\-x means Meta\-X.  (On keyboards

without a

.I meta

key, M\-\fIx\fP means ESC \fIx\fP, i.e., press the Escape key

then the

.I x

key.  This makes ESC the \fImeta prefix\fP.

The combination M\-C\-\fIx\fP means ESC\-Control\-\fIx\fP,

or press the Escape key

then hold the Control key while pressing the

.I x

key.)

.PP

Readline commands may be given numeric

.IR arguments ,

which normally act as a repeat count.  Sometimes, however, it is the

sign of the argument that is significant.  Passing a negative argument

to a command that acts in the forward direction (e.g., \fBkill\-line\fP)

causes that command to act in a backward direction.  Commands whose

behavior with arguments deviates from this are noted.

.PP

When a command is described as \fIkilling\fP text, the text

deleted is saved for possible future retrieval

(\fIyanking\fP).  The killed text is saved in a

\fIkill ring\fP.  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.

.SH INITIALIZATION FILE

.LP

Readline is customized by putting commands in an initialization

file (the \fIinputrc\fP file).

The name of this file is taken from the value of the

.B INPUTRC

environment variable.  If that variable is unset, the default is

.IR ~/.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 \fB#\fP are comments.

Lines beginning with a \fB$\fP indicate conditional constructs.

Other lines denote key bindings and variable settings.

Each program using this library may add its own commands

and bindings.

.PP

For example, placing

.RS

.PP

M\-Control\-u: universal\-argument

.RE

or

.RS

C\-Meta\-u: universal\-argument

.RE

.sp

into the

.I inputrc

would make M\-C\-u execute the readline command

.IR universal\-argument .

.PP

The following symbolic character names are recognized while

processing key bindings:

.IR DEL ,

.IR ESC ,

.IR ESCAPE ,

.IR LFD ,

.IR NEWLINE ,

.IR RET ,

.IR RETURN ,

.IR RUBOUT ,

.IR SPACE ,

.IR SPC ,

and

.IR TAB .

.PP

In addition to command names, readline allows keys to be bound

to a string that is inserted when the key is pressed (a \fImacro\fP).

.PP

.SS Key Bindings

.PP

The syntax for controlling key bindings in the

.I 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 \fIMeta\-\fP or \fIControl\-\fP

prefixes, or as a key sequence.

.PP

When using the form \fBkeyname\fP:\^\fIfunction-name\fP or \fImacro\fP,

.I keyname

is the name of a key spelled out in English.  For example:

.sp

.RS

Control\-u: universal\-argument

.br

Meta\-Rubout: backward\-kill\-word

.br

Control\-o: "> output"

.RE

.LP

In the above example,

.I C\-u

is bound to the function

.BR universal\-argument ,

.I M-DEL

is bound to the function

.BR backward\-kill\-word ,

and

.I C\-o

is bound to run the macro

expressed on the right hand side (that is, to insert the text

.if t \f(CW> output\fP

.if n ``> output''

into the line).

.PP

In the second form, \fB"keyseq"\fP:\^\fIfunction\-name\fP or \fImacro\fP,

.B keyseq

differs from

.B 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.

.sp

.RS

"\eC\-u": universal\-argument

.br

"\eC\-x\eC\-r": re\-read\-init\-file

.br

"\ee[11~": "Function Key 1"

.RE

.PP

In this example,

.I C-u

is again bound to the function

.BR universal\-argument .

.I "C-x C-r"

is bound to the function

.BR re\-read\-init\-file ,

and

.I "ESC [ 1 1 ~"

is bound to insert the text

.if t \f(CWFunction Key 1\fP.

.if n ``Function Key 1''.

.PP

The full set of GNU Emacs style escape sequences available when specifying

key sequences is

.RS

.PD 0

.TP

.B \eC\-

control prefix

.TP

.B \eM\-

meta prefix

.TP

.B \ee

an escape character

.TP

.B \e\e

backslash

.TP

.B \e"

literal ", a double quote

.TP

.B \e'

literal ', a single quote

.RE

.PD

.PP

In addition to the GNU Emacs style escape sequences, a second

set of backslash escapes is available:

.RS

.PD 0

.TP

.B \ea

alert (bell)

.TP

.B \eb

backspace

.TP

.B \ed

delete

.TP

.B \ef

form feed

.TP

.B \en

newline

.TP

.B \er

carriage return

.TP

.B \et

horizontal tab

.TP

.B \ev

vertical tab

.TP

.B \e\fInnn\fP

the eight-bit character whose value is the octal value \fInnn\fP

(one to three digits)

.TP

.B \ex\fIHH\fP

the eight-bit character whose value is the hexadecimal value \fIHH\fP

(one or two hex digits)

.RE

.PD

.PP

When entering the text of a macro, single or double quotes should

be used to indicate a macro definition.  Unquoted text

is assumed to be a function name.

In the macro body, the backslash escapes described above are expanded.

Backslash will quote any other character in the macro text,

including " and '.

.PP

.B Bash

allows the current readline key bindings to be displayed or modified

with the

.B bind

builtin command.  The editing mode may be switched during interactive

use by using the

.B \-o

option to the

.B set

builtin command.  Other programs using this library provide

similar mechanisms.  The

.I inputrc

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

any other means to incorporate new bindings.

.SS Variables

.PP

Readline has variables that can be used to further customize its

behavior.  A variable may be set in the

.I inputrc

file with a statement of the form

.RS

.PP

\fBset\fP \fIvariable\-name\fP \fIvalue\fP

.RE

.PP

Except where noted, readline variables can take the values

.B On

or

.B Off

(without regard to case).

Unrecognized variable names are ignored.

When a variable value is read, empty or null values, "on" (case-insensitive),

and "1" are equivalent to \fBOn\fP.  All other values are equivalent to

\fBOff\fP.

The variables and their default values are:

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B bell\-style (audible)

Controls what happens when readline wants to ring the terminal bell.

If set to \fBnone\fP, readline never rings the bell.  If set to

\fBvisible\fP, readline uses a visible bell if one is available.

If set to \fBaudible\fP, readline attempts to ring the terminal's bell.

.TP

.B bind\-tty\-special\-chars (On)

If set to \fBOn\fP, readline attempts to bind the control characters

treated specially by the kernel's terminal driver to their readline

equivalents.

.TP

.B comment\-begin (``#'')

The string that is inserted in \fBvi\fP mode when the

.B insert\-comment

command is executed.

This command is bound to

.B M\-#

in emacs mode and to

.B #

in vi command mode.

.TP

.B completion\-ignore\-case (Off)

If set to \fBOn\fP, readline performs filename matching and completion

in a case\-insensitive fashion.

.TP

.B completion\-query\-items (100)

This determines when the user is queried about viewing

the number of possible completions

generated by the \fBpossible\-completions\fP command.

It may be set to any integer value greater than or equal to

zero.  If the number of possible completions is greater than

or equal to the value of this variable, the user is asked whether

or not he wishes to view them; otherwise they are simply listed

on the terminal.  A negative value causes readline to never ask.

.TP

.B convert\-meta (On)

If set to \fBOn\fP, 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 \fImeta prefix\fP).

.TP

.B disable\-completion (Off)

If set to \fBOn\fP, readline will inhibit word completion.  Completion

characters will be inserted into the line as if they had been

mapped to \fBself-insert\fP.

.TP

.B editing\-mode (emacs)

Controls whether readline begins with a set of key bindings similar

to emacs or vi.

.B editing\-mode

can be set to either

.B emacs

or

.BR vi .

.TP

.B enable\-keypad (Off)

When set to \fBOn\fP, readline will try to enable the application

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

arrow keys.

.TP

.B expand\-tilde (Off)

If set to \fBon\fP, tilde expansion is performed when readline

attempts word completion.

.TP

.B history\-preserve\-point (Off)

If set to \fBon\fP, the history code attempts to place point at the

same location on each history line retrieved with \fBprevious-history\fP

or \fBnext-history\fP.

.TP

.B horizontal\-scroll\-mode (Off)

When set to \fBOn\fP, 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.

.TP

.B input\-meta (Off)

If set to \fBOn\fP, readline will enable eight-bit input (that is,

it will not clear the eighth bit in the characters it reads),

regardless of what the terminal claims it can support.  The name

.B meta\-flag

is a synonym for this variable.

.TP

.B 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

\fIESC\fP and \fIC\-J\fP will terminate an incremental search.

.TP

.B keymap (emacs)

Set the current readline keymap.  The set of legal keymap names is

\fIemacs, emacs-standard, emacs-meta, emacs-ctlx, vi, vi-move,

vi-command\fP, and

.IR vi-insert .

\fIvi\fP is equivalent to \fIvi-command\fP; \fIemacs\fP is

equivalent to \fIemacs-standard\fP.  The default value is

.IR emacs .

The value of

.B editing\-mode

also affects the default keymap.

.TP

.B mark\-directories (On)

If set to \fBOn\fP, completed directory names have a slash

appended.

.TP

.B mark\-modified\-lines (Off)

If set to \fBOn\fP, history lines that have been modified are displayed

with a preceding asterisk (\fB*\fP).

.TP

.B mark\-symlinked\-directories (Off)

If set to \fBOn\fP, completed names which are symbolic links to directories

have a slash appended (subject to the value of

\fBmark\-directories\fP).

.TP

.B match\-hidden\-files (On)

This variable, when set to \fBOn\fP, causes readline to match files whose

names begin with a `.' (hidden files) when performing filename

completion, unless the leading `.' is

supplied by the user in the filename to be completed.

.TP

.B output\-meta (Off)

If set to \fBOn\fP, readline will display characters with the

eighth bit set directly rather than as a meta-prefixed escape

sequence.

.TP

.B page\-completions (On)

If set to \fBOn\fP, readline uses an internal \fImore\fP-like pager

to display a screenful of possible completions at a time.

.TP

.B print\-completions\-horizontally (Off)

If set to \fBOn\fP, readline will display completions with matches

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

.TP

.B show\-all\-if\-ambiguous (Off)

This alters the default behavior of the completion functions.  If

set to

.BR on ,

words which have more than one possible completion cause the

matches to be listed immediately instead of ringing the bell.

.TP

.B show\-all\-if\-unmodified (Off)

This alters the default behavior of the completion functions in

a fashion similar to \fBshow\-all\-if\-ambiguous\fP.

If set to

.BR on ,

words which have more than one possible completion without any

possible partial completion (the possible completions don't share

a common prefix) cause the matches to be listed immediately instead

of ringing the bell.

.TP

.B visible\-stats (Off)

If set to \fBOn\fP, a character denoting a file's type as reported

by \fIstat\fP(2) is appended to the filename when listing possible

completions.

.PD

.SS Conditional Constructs

.PP

Readline implements a facility similar in spirit to the conditional

compilation features of the C preprocessor which allows key

bindings and variable settings to be performed as the result

of tests.  There are four parser directives used.

.IP \fB$if\fP

The

.B $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.

.RS

.IP \fBmode\fP

The \fBmode=\fP form of the \fB$if\fP directive is used to test

whether readline is in emacs or vi mode.

This may be used in conjunction

with the \fBset keymap\fP command, for instance, to set bindings in

the \fIemacs-standard\fP and \fIemacs-ctlx\fP keymaps only if

readline is starting out in emacs mode.

.IP \fBterm\fP

The \fBterm=\fP form may be used to include terminal-specific

key bindings, perhaps to bind the key sequences output by the

terminal's function keys.  The word on the right side of the

.B =

is tested against the full name of the terminal and the portion

of the terminal name before the first \fB\-\fP.  This allows

.I sun

to match both

.I sun

and

.IR sun\-cmd ,

for instance.

.IP \fBapplication\fP

The \fBapplication\fP construct is used to include

application-specific settings.  Each program using the readline

library sets the \fIapplication name\fP, 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:

.sp 1

.RS

.nf

\fB$if\fP Bash

# Quote the current or previous word

"\eC-xq": "\eeb\e"\eef\e""

\fB$endif\fP

.fi

.RE

.RE

.IP \fB$endif\fP

This command, as seen in the previous example, terminates an

\fB$if\fP command.

.IP \fB$else\fP

Commands in this branch of the \fB$if\fP directive are executed if

the test fails.

.IP \fB$include\fP

This directive takes a single filename as an argument and reads commands

and bindings from that file.  For example, the following directive

would read \fI/etc/inputrc\fP:

.sp 1

.RS

.nf

\fB$include\fP \^ \fI/etc/inputrc\fP

.fi

.RE

.SH SEARCHING

.PP

Readline provides commands for searching through the command history

for lines containing a specified string.

There are two search modes:

.I incremental

and

.IR non-incremental .

.PP

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 history for a particular string, type

\fBC\-r\fP.  Typing \fBC\-s\fP searches forward through the history.

The characters present in the value of the \fBisearch-terminators\fP

variable are used to terminate an incremental search.

If that variable has not been assigned a value the \fIEscape\fP and

\fBC\-J\fP characters will terminate an incremental search.

\fBC\-G\fP 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.

.PP

To find other matching entries in the history list, type \fBC\-s\fP or

\fBC\-r\fP as appropriate.

This will search backward or forward in the history for the next

line matching the search string typed so far.

Any other key sequence bound to a readline command will terminate

the search and execute that command.

For instance, a newline will terminate the search and accept

the line, thereby executing the command from the history list.

A movement command will terminate the search, make the last line found

the current line, and begin editing.

.PP

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.

.SH EDITING COMMANDS

.PP

The following is a list of the names of the commands and the default

key sequences to which they are bound.

Command names without an accompanying key sequence are unbound by default.

.PP

In the following descriptions, \fIpoint\fP refers to the current cursor

position, and \fImark\fP refers to a cursor position saved by the

\fBset\-mark\fP command.

The text between the point and mark is referred to as the \fIregion\fP.

.SS Commands for Moving

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B beginning\-of\-line (C\-a)

Move to the start of the current line.

.TP

.B end\-of\-line (C\-e)

Move to the end of the line.

.TP

.B forward\-char (C\-f)

Move forward a character.

.TP

.B backward\-char (C\-b)

Move back a character.

.TP

.B forward\-word (M\-f)

Move forward to the end of the next word.  Words are composed of

alphanumeric characters (letters and digits).

.TP

.B backward\-word (M\-b)

Move back to the start of the current or previous word.  Words are

composed of alphanumeric characters (letters and digits).

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B redraw\-current\-line

Refresh the current line.

.PD

.SS Commands for Manipulating the History

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B 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

\fBadd_history()\fP.

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

.TP

.B previous\-history (C\-p)

Fetch the previous command from the history list, moving back in

the list.

.TP

.B next\-history (C\-n)

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

list.

.TP

.B beginning\-of\-history (M\-<)

Move to the first line in the history.

.TP

.B end\-of\-history (M\->)

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

entered.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B non\-incremental\-forward\-search\-history (M\-n)

Search forward through the history using a non-incremental search

for a string supplied by the user.

.TP

.B 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 \fIpoint\fP).

This is a non-incremental search.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B 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

.IR n ,

insert the \fIn\fPth word from the previous command (the words

in the previous command begin with word 0).  A negative argument

inserts the \fIn\fPth word from the end of the previous command.

Once the argument \fIn\fP is computed, the argument is extracted

as if the "!\fIn\fP" history expansion had been specified.

.TP

.B

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 \fByank\-nth\-arg\fP.

Successive calls to \fByank\-last\-arg\fP move back through the history

list, inserting the last argument of each line in turn.

The history expansion facilities are used to extract the last argument,

as if the "!$" history expansion had been specified.

.PD

.SS Commands for Changing Text

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B 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 \fBdelete\-char\fP, then return

.SM

.BR EOF .

.TP

.B backward\-delete\-char (Rubout)

Delete the character behind the cursor.  When given a numeric argument,

save the deleted text on the kill ring.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B quoted\-insert (C\-q, C\-v)

Add the next character that you type to the line verbatim.  This is

how to insert characters like \fBC\-q\fP, for example.

.TP

.B tab\-insert (M-TAB)

Insert a tab character.

.TP

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

Insert the character typed.

.TP

.B transpose\-chars (C\-t)

Drag the character before point forward over the character at point,

moving point forward as well.

If point is at the end of the line, then this transposes

the two characters before point.

Negative arguments have no effect.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B upcase\-word (M\-u)

Uppercase the current (or following) word.  With a negative argument,

uppercase the previous word, but do not move point.

.TP

.B downcase\-word (M\-l)

Lowercase the current (or following) word.  With a negative argument,

lowercase the previous word, but do not move point.

.TP

.B capitalize\-word (M\-c)

Capitalize the current (or following) word.  With a negative argument,

capitalize the previous word, but do not move point.

.TP

.B overwrite\-mode

Toggle overwrite mode.  With an explicit positive numeric argument,

switches to overwrite mode.  With an explicit non-positive numeric

argument, switches to insert mode.  This command affects only

\fBemacs\fP mode; \fBvi\fP mode does overwrite differently.

Each call to \fIreadline()\fP starts in insert mode.

In overwrite mode, characters bound to \fBself\-insert\fP replace

the text at point rather than pushing the text to the right.

Characters bound to \fBbackward\-delete\-char\fP replace the character

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

.PD

.SS Killing and Yanking

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B kill\-line (C\-k)

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

.TP

.B backward\-kill\-line (C\-x Rubout)

Kill backward to the beginning of the line.

.TP

.B unix\-line\-discard (C\-u)

Kill backward from point to the beginning of the line.

The killed text is saved on the kill-ring.

.\" There is no real difference between this and backward-kill-line

.TP

.B kill\-whole\-line

Kill all characters on the current line, no matter where point is.

.TP

.B 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 \fBforward\-word\fP.

.TP

.B backward\-kill\-word (M\-Rubout)

Kill the word behind point.

Word boundaries are the same as those used by \fBbackward\-word\fP.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B unix\-filename\-rubout

Kill the word behind point, using white space and the slash character

as the word boundaries.

The killed text is saved on the kill-ring.

.TP

.B delete\-horizontal\-space (M\-\e)

Delete all spaces and tabs around point.

.TP

.B kill\-region

Kill the text between the point and \fImark\fP (saved cursor position).

This text is referred to as the \fIregion\fP.

.TP

.B copy\-region\-as\-kill

Copy the text in the region to the kill buffer.

.TP

.B copy\-backward\-word

Copy the word before point to the kill buffer.

The word boundaries are the same as \fBbackward\-word\fP.

.TP

.B copy\-forward\-word

Copy the word following point to the kill buffer.

The word boundaries are the same as \fBforward\-word\fP.

.TP

.B yank (C\-y)

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

.TP

.B yank\-pop (M\-y)

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

.B yank

or

.BR yank\-pop .

.PD

.SS Numeric Arguments

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

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

Add this digit to the argument already accumulating, or start a new

argument.  M\-\- starts a negative argument.

.TP

.B 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

.B universal\-argument

again ends the numeric argument, but is otherwise ignored.

As a special case, if this command is immediately followed by a

character that is neither a digit or minus sign, the argument count

for the next command is multiplied by four.

The argument count is initially one, so executing this function the

first time makes the argument count four, a second time makes the

argument count sixteen, and so on.

.PD

.SS Completing

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B complete (TAB)

Attempt to perform completion on the text before point.

The actual completion performed is application-specific.

.BR Bash ,

for instance, attempts completion treating the text as a variable

(if the text begins with \fB$\fP), username (if the text begins with

\fB~\fP), hostname (if the text begins with \fB@\fP), or

command (including aliases and functions) in turn.  If none

of these produces a match, filename completion is attempted.

.BR Gdb ,

on the other hand,

allows completion of program functions and variables, and

only attempts filename completion under certain circumstances.

.TP

.B possible\-completions (M\-?)

List the possible completions of the text before point.

.TP

.B insert\-completions (M\-*)

Insert all completions of the text before point

that would have been generated by

\fBpossible\-completions\fP.

.TP

.B menu\-complete

Similar to \fBcomplete\fP, but replaces the word to be completed

with a single match from the list of possible completions.

Repeated execution of \fBmenu\-complete\fP steps through the list

of possible completions, inserting each match in turn.

At the end of the list of completions, the bell is rung

(subject to the setting of \fBbell\-style\fP)

and the original text is restored.

An argument of \fIn\fP moves \fIn\fP positions forward in the list

of matches; a negative argument may be used to move backward

through the list.

This command is intended to be bound to \fBTAB\fP, but is unbound

by default.

.TP

.B delete\-char\-or\-list

Deletes the character under the cursor if not at the beginning or

end of the line (like \fBdelete-char\fP).

If at the end of the line, behaves identically to

\fBpossible-completions\fP.

.PD

.SS Keyboard Macros

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B start\-kbd\-macro (C\-x (\^)

Begin saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro.

.TP

.B end\-kbd\-macro (C\-x )\^)

Stop saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro

and store the definition.

.TP

.B call\-last\-kbd\-macro (C\-x e)

Re-execute the last keyboard macro defined, by making the characters

in the macro appear as if typed at the keyboard.

.PD

.SS Miscellaneous

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B re\-read\-init\-file (C\-x C\-r)

Read in the contents of the \fIinputrc\fP file, and incorporate

any bindings or variable assignments found there.

.TP

.B abort (C\-g)

Abort the current editing command and

ring the terminal's bell (subject to the setting of

.BR bell\-style ).