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.\"

.\" MAN PAGE COMMENTS to

.\"

.\"     Chet Ramey

.\"     Information Network Services

.\"     Case Western Reserve University

.\"     chet@ins.CWRU.Edu

.\"

.\"     Last Change: Tue Jun  1 13:28:03 EDT 1999

.\"

.TH READLINE 3 "1999 Jun 1" GNU

.\"

.\" 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

.ft B

char *readline (prompt)

char *prompt;

.ft

.fi

.SH COPYRIGHT

.if n Readline is Copyright (C) 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996 by the Free Software Foundation, Inc.

.if t Readline is Copyright \(co 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996 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 null, no prompt is issued.  The line returned is allocated with

.IR malloc (3),

so 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.

.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

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 RUBOUT ,

.IR DEL ,

.IR ESC ,

.IR LFD ,

.IR NEWLINE ,

.IR RET ,

.IR RETURN ,

.IR SPC ,

.IR SPACE ,

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.

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

.I >&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.

.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

.BR "Function Key 1" .

The full set of GNU Emacs style escape 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 "

.TP

.B \e'

literal '

.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 character whose ASCII code is the octal value \fInnn\fP

(one to three digits)

.TP

.B \ex\fInnn\fP

the character whose ASCII code is the hexadecimal value \fInnn\fP

(one to three 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

.BR Off .

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 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.

.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 prepending 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 \fIemacs\fP or \fIvi\fP.

.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 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 strip the high bit from 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, complete

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 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 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 visible\-stats (Off)

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

by \fBstat\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.

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

variable are used to terminate an incremental search.

If that variable has not been assigned a value the Escape and

Control-J characters will terminate an incremental search.

Control-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 Control-S or

Control-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 execute that command.

For instance, a \fInewline\fP will terminate the search and accept

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

.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.

.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, add it to the history list. If the line is a modified

history line, then restore the history line 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 (the current

cursor position).  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.

.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.

.PD

.SS Commands for Changing Text

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

.B delete\-char (C\-d)

Delete the character under the cursor.  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 \fBBdelete\-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.  By default, this is not bound to a key.

.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.

Point moves forward as well.  If point is at the end of the line, then

transpose the two characters before point.  Negative arguments don't work.

.TP

.B transpose\-words (M\-t)

Drag the word behind the cursor past the word in front of the cursor

moving the cursor over that word as well.

.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.

.PD

.SS Killing and Yanking

.PP

.PD 0

.TP

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

Kill the text from the current cursor position 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 the

cursor is.

.TP

.B kill\-word  (M\-d)

Kill from the cursor to 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 the cursor.  Word boundaries are the same as

those used by \fBbackward\-word\fP.

.TP

.B unix\-word\-rubout (C\-w)

Kill the word behind the cursor, using white space as a word boundary.

The word boundaries are different from

.BR backward\-kill\-word .

.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 the cursor.

.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 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.

This command is unbound by default.

.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 ).

.TP

.B do\-uppercase\-version (M\-a, M\-b, M\-\fIx\fP, ...)

If the metafied character \fIx\fP is lowercase, run the command

that is bound to the corresponding uppercase character.

.TP

.B prefix\-meta (ESC)

Metafy the next character typed.

.SM

.B ESC

.B f

is equivalent to

.BR Meta\-f .

.TP

.B undo (C\-_, C\-x C\-u)

Incremental undo, separately remembered for each line.

.TP

.B revert\-line (M\-r)

Undo all changes made to this line.  This is like executing the

.B undo

command enough times to return the line to its initial state.

.TP

.B tilde\-expand (M\-&)

Perform tilde expansion on the current word.

.TP

.B set\-mark (C\-@, M-)

Set the mark to the current point.  If a

numeric argument is supplied, the mark is set to that position.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B 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.

.TP

.B character\-search\-backward (M\-C\-])

A character is read and point is moved to the previous occurrence of that

character.  A negative count searches for subsequent occurrences.

.TP

.B insert\-comment (M\-#)

The value of the readline

.B comment\-begin

variable is inserted at the beginning of the current line, and the line

is accepted as if a newline had been typed.  This makes the current line

a shell comment.

.TP

.B dump\-functions

Print all of the functions and their key bindings to the

readline output stream.  If a numeric argument is supplied,

the output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part

of an \fIinputrc\fP file.

.TP

.B dump\-variables

Print all of the settable variables and their values to the

readline output stream.  If a numeric argument is supplied,

the output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part

of an \fIinputrc\fP file.

.TP

.B 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 \fIinputrc\fP file.

.TP

.B emacs\-editing\-mode (C\-e)

When in

.B vi

editing mode, this causes a switch to

.B emacs

editing mode.

.TP

.B vi\-editing\-mode (M\-C\-j)

When in

.B emacs

editing mode, this causes a switch to

.B vi

editing mode.

.PD

.SH DEFAULT KEY BINDINGS

.LP

The following is a list of the default emacs and vi bindings.

Characters with the 8th bit set are written as M\-, and

are referred to as

.I metafied

characters.