{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "readline", "section": "3readline", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/readline/3readline/json", "generated": "2026-10-05T07:59:12Z", "synopsis": "", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "readline - get a line from a user with editing\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "", "subsections": [ { "name": "#include ", "content": "" }, { "name": "#include ", "content": "" }, { "name": "#include ", "content": "char *\nreadline (const char *prompt);\n" } ] }, "COPYRIGHT": { "content": "Readline is Copyright (C) 1989-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "readline will read a line from the terminal and return it, using prompt as a prompt. If\nprompt is NULL or the empty string, no prompt is issued. The line returned is allocated with\nmalloc(3); the caller must free it when finished. The line returned has the final newline\nremoved, so only the text of the line remains.\n\nreadline offers editing capabilities while the user is entering the line. By default, the\nline editing commands are similar to those of emacs. A vi-style line editing interface is\nalso available.\n\nThis manual page describes only the most basic use of readline. Much more functionality is\navailable; see The GNU Readline Library and The GNU History Library for additional informa‐\ntion.\n", "subsections": [] }, "RETURN VALUE": { "content": "readline returns the text of the line read. A blank line returns the empty string. If EOF\nis encountered while reading a line, and the line is empty, NULL is returned. If an EOF is\nread with a non-empty line, it is treated as a newline.\n", "subsections": [] }, "NOTATION": { "content": "An Emacs-style notation is used to denote keystrokes. Control keys are denoted by C-key,\ne.g., C-n means Control-N. Similarly, meta keys are denoted by M-key, so M-x means Meta-X.\n(On keyboards without a meta key, M-x means ESC x, i.e., press the Escape key then the x key.\nThis makes ESC the meta prefix. The combination M-C-x means ESC-Control-x, or press the Es‐\ncape key then hold the Control key while pressing the x key.)\n\nReadline commands may be given numeric arguments, which normally act as a repeat count.\nSometimes, however, it is the sign of the argument that is significant. Passing a negative\nargument to a command that acts in the forward direction (e.g., kill-line) causes that com‐\nmand to act in a backward direction. Commands whose behavior with arguments deviates from\nthis are noted below.\n\nWhen a command is described as killing text, the text deleted is saved for possible future\nretrieval (yanking). The killed text is saved in a kill ring. Consecutive kills cause the\ntext to be accumulated into one unit, which can be yanked all at once. Commands which do not\nkill text separate the chunks of text on the kill ring.\n", "subsections": [] }, "INITIALIZATION FILE": { "content": "Readline is customized by putting commands in an initialization file (the inputrc file). The\nname of this file is taken from the value of the INPUTRC environment variable. If that vari‐\nable is unset, the default is ~/.inputrc. If that file does not exist or cannot be read,\nthe ultimate default is /etc/inputrc. When a program which uses the readline library starts\nup, the init file is read, and the key bindings and variables are set. There are only a few\nbasic constructs allowed in the readline init file. Blank lines are ignored. Lines begin‐\nning with a # are comments. Lines beginning with a $ indicate conditional constructs. Other\nlines denote key bindings and variable settings. Each program using this library may add its\nown commands and bindings.\n\nFor example, placing\n\nM-Control-u: universal-argument\nor\nC-Meta-u: universal-argument\n\ninto the inputrc would make M-C-u execute the readline command universal-argument.\n\nThe following symbolic character names are recognized while processing key bindings: DEL,\nESC, ESCAPE, LFD, NEWLINE, RET, RETURN, RUBOUT, SPACE, SPC, and TAB.\n\nIn addition to command names, readline allows keys to be bound to a string that is inserted\nwhen the key is pressed (a macro).\n", "subsections": [ { "name": "Key Bindings", "content": "The syntax for controlling key bindings in the inputrc file is simple. All that is required\nis the name of the command or the text of a macro and a key sequence to which it should be\nbound. The name may be specified in one of two ways: as a symbolic key name, possibly with\nMeta- or Control- prefixes, or as a key sequence. The name and key sequence are separated by\na colon. There can be no whitespace between the name and the colon.\n\nWhen using the form keyname:function-name or macro, keyname is the name of a key spelled out\nin English. For example:\n\nControl-u: universal-argument\nMeta-Rubout: backward-kill-word\nControl-o: \"> output\"\n\nIn the above example, C-u is bound to the function universal-argument, M-DEL is bound to the\nfunction backward-kill-word, and C-o is bound to run the macro expressed on the right hand\nside (that is, to insert the text ``> output'' into the line).\n\nIn the second form, \"keyseq\":function-name or macro, keyseq differs from keyname above in\nthat strings denoting an entire key sequence may be specified by placing the sequence within\ndouble quotes. Some GNU Emacs style key escapes can be used, as in the following example,\nbut the symbolic character names are not recognized.\n\n\"\\C-u\": universal-argument\n\"\\C-x\\C-r\": re-read-init-file\n\"\\e[11~\": \"Function Key 1\"\n\nIn this example, C-u is again bound to the function universal-argument. C-x C-r is bound to\nthe function re-read-init-file, and ESC [ 1 1 ~ is bound to insert the text ``Function Key\n1''.\n\nThe full set of GNU Emacs style escape sequences available when specifying key sequences is\n\\C- control prefix\n\\M- meta prefix\n\\e an escape character\n\\\\ backslash\n\\\" literal \", a double quote\n\\' literal ', a single quote\n\nIn addition to the GNU Emacs style escape sequences, a second set of backslash escapes is\navailable:\n\\a alert (bell)\n\\b backspace\n\\d delete\n\\f form feed\n\\n newline\n\\r carriage return\n\\t horizontal tab\n\\v vertical tab\n\\nnn the eight-bit character whose value is the octal value nnn (one to three dig‐\nits)\n\\xHH the eight-bit character whose value is the hexadecimal value HH (one or two hex\ndigits)\n\nWhen entering the text of a macro, single or double quotes should be used to indicate a macro\ndefinition. Unquoted text is assumed to be a function name. In the macro body, the back‐\nslash escapes described above are expanded. Backslash will quote any other character in the\nmacro text, including \" and '.\n\nBash allows the current readline key bindings to be displayed or modified with the bind\nbuiltin command. The editing mode may be switched during interactive use by using the -o op‐\ntion to the set builtin command. Other programs using this library provide similar mecha‐\nnisms. The inputrc file may be edited and re-read if a program does not provide any other\nmeans to incorporate new bindings.\n" }, { "name": "Variables", "content": "Readline has variables that can be used to further customize its behavior. A variable may be\nset in the inputrc file with a statement of the form\n\nset variable-name value\n\nExcept where noted, readline variables can take the values On or Off (without regard to\ncase). Unrecognized variable names are ignored. When a variable value is read, empty or\nnull values, \"on\" (case-insensitive), and \"1\" are equivalent to On. All other values are\nequivalent to Off. The variables and their default values are:\n" }, { "name": "active-region-start-color", "content": "A string variable that controls the text color and background when displaying the text\nin the active region (see the description of enable-active-region below). This string\nmust not take up any physical character positions on the display, so it should consist\nonly of terminal escape sequences. It is output to the terminal before displaying the\ntext in the active region. This variable is reset to the default value whenever the\nterminal type changes. The default value is the string that puts the terminal in\nstandout mode, as obtained from the terminal's terminfo description. A sample value\nmight be \"\\e[01;33m\"." }, { "name": "active-region-end-color", "content": "A string variable that \"undoes\" the effects of active-region-start-color and restores\n\"normal\" terminal display appearance after displaying text in the active region. This\nstring must not take up any physical character positions on the display, so it should\nconsist only of terminal escape sequences. It is output to the terminal after dis‐\nplaying the text in the active region. This variable is reset to the default value\nwhenever the terminal type changes. The default value is the string that restores the\nterminal from standout mode, as obtained from the terminal's terminfo description. A\nsample value might be \"\\e[0m\"." }, { "name": "bell-style (audible)", "content": "Controls what happens when readline wants to ring the terminal bell. If set to none,\nreadline never rings the bell. If set to visible, readline uses a visible bell if one\nis available. If set to audible, readline attempts to ring the terminal's bell." }, { "name": "bind-tty-special-chars (On)", "content": "If set to On (the default), readline attempts to bind the control characters treated\nspecially by the kernel's terminal driver to their readline equivalents." }, { "name": "blink-matching-paren (Off)", "content": "If set to On, readline attempts to briefly move the cursor to an opening parenthesis\nwhen a closing parenthesis is inserted." }, { "name": "colored-completion-prefix (Off)", "content": "If set to On, when listing completions, readline displays the common prefix of the set\nof possible completions using a different color. The color definitions are taken from\nthe value of the LSCOLORS environment variable. If there is a color definition in\n$LSCOLORS for the custom suffix \"readline-colored-completion-prefix\", readline uses\nthis color for the common prefix instead of its default." }, { "name": "colored-stats (Off)", "content": "If set to On, readline displays possible completions using different colors to indi‐\ncate their file type. The color definitions are taken from the value of the LSCOLORS\nenvironment variable." }, { "name": "comment-begin (``#'')", "content": "The string that is inserted in vi mode when the insert-comment command is executed.\nThis command is bound to M-# in emacs mode and to # in vi command mode." }, { "name": "completion-display-width (-1)", "content": "The number of screen columns used to display possible matches when performing comple‐\ntion. The value is ignored if it is less than 0 or greater than the terminal screen\nwidth. A value of 0 will cause matches to be displayed one per line. The default\nvalue is -1." }, { "name": "completion-ignore-case (Off)", "content": "If set to On, readline performs filename matching and completion in a case-insensitive\nfashion." }, { "name": "completion-map-case (Off)", "content": "If set to On, and completion-ignore-case is enabled, readline treats hyphens (-) and\nunderscores () as equivalent when performing case-insensitive filename matching and\ncompletion." }, { "name": "completion-prefix-display-length (0)", "content": "The length in characters of the common prefix of a list of possible completions that\nis displayed without modification. When set to a value greater than zero, common pre‐\nfixes longer than this value are replaced with an ellipsis when displaying possible\ncompletions." }, { "name": "completion-query-items (100)", "content": "This determines when the user is queried about viewing the number of possible comple‐\ntions generated by the possible-completions command. It may be set to any integer\nvalue greater than or equal to zero. If the number of possible completions is greater\nthan or equal to the value of this variable, readline will ask whether or not the user\nwishes to view them; otherwise they are simply listed on the terminal. A negative\nvalue causes readline to never ask." }, { "name": "convert-meta (On)", "content": "If set to On, readline will convert characters with the eighth bit set to an ASCII key\nsequence by stripping the eighth bit and prefixing it with an escape character (in ef‐\nfect, using escape as the meta prefix). The default is On, but readline will set it\nto Off if the locale contains eight-bit characters. This variable is dependent on the\nLCCTYPE locale category, and may change if the locale is changed." }, { "name": "disable-completion (Off)", "content": "If set to On, readline will inhibit word completion. Completion characters will be\ninserted into the line as if they had been mapped to self-insert." }, { "name": "echo-control-characters (On)", "content": "When set to On, on operating systems that indicate they support it, readline echoes a\ncharacter corresponding to a signal generated from the keyboard." }, { "name": "editing-mode (emacs)", "content": "Controls whether readline begins with a set of key bindings similar to Emacs or vi.\nediting-mode can be set to either emacs or vi." }, { "name": "emacs-mode-string (@)", "content": "If the show-mode-in-prompt variable is enabled, this string is displayed immediately\nbefore the last line of the primary prompt when emacs editing mode is active. The\nvalue is expanded like a key binding, so the standard set of meta- and control pre‐\nfixes and backslash escape sequences is available. Use the \\1 and \\2 escapes to begin\nand end sequences of non-printing characters, which can be used to embed a terminal\ncontrol sequence into the mode string." }, { "name": "enable-active-region (On)", "content": "The point is the current cursor position, and mark refers to a saved cursor position.\nThe text between the point and mark is referred to as the region. When this variable\nis set to On, readline allows certain commands to designate the region as active.\nWhen the region is active, readline highlights the text in the region using the value\nof the active-region-start-color, which defaults to the string that enables the termi‐\nnal's standout mode. The active region shows the text inserted by bracketed-paste and\nany matching text found by incremental and non-incremental history searches." }, { "name": "enable-bracketed-paste (On)", "content": "When set to On, readline configures the terminal to insert each paste into the editing\nbuffer as a single string of characters, instead of treating each character as if it\nhad been read from the keyboard. This prevents readline from executing any editing\ncommands bound to key sequences appearing in the pasted text." }, { "name": "enable-keypad (Off)", "content": "When set to On, readline will try to enable the application keypad when it is called.\nSome systems need this to enable the arrow keys." }, { "name": "enable-meta-key (On)", "content": "When set to On, readline will try to enable any meta modifier key the terminal claims\nto support when it is called. On many terminals, the meta key is used to send eight-\nbit characters." }, { "name": "expand-tilde (Off)", "content": "If set to On, tilde expansion is performed when readline attempts word completion." }, { "name": "history-preserve-point (Off)", "content": "If set to On, the history code attempts to place point at the same location on each\nhistory line retrieved with previous-history or next-history." }, { "name": "history-size (unset)", "content": "Set the maximum number of history entries saved in the history list. If set to zero,\nany existing history entries are deleted and no new entries are saved. If set to a\nvalue less than zero, the number of history entries is not limited. By default, the\nnumber of history entries is not limited. If an attempt is made to set history-size\nto a non-numeric value, the maximum number of history entries will be set to 500." }, { "name": "horizontal-scroll-mode (Off)", "content": "When set to On, makes readline use a single line for display, scrolling the input hor‐\nizontally on a single screen line when it becomes longer than the screen width rather\nthan wrapping to a new line. This setting is automatically enabled for terminals of\nheight 1." }, { "name": "input-meta (Off)", "content": "If set to On, readline will enable eight-bit input (that is, it will not clear the\neighth bit in the characters it reads), regardless of what the terminal claims it can\nsupport. The name meta-flag is a synonym for this variable. The default is Off, but\nreadline will set it to On if the locale contains eight-bit characters. This variable\nis dependent on the LCCTYPE locale category, and may change if the locale is changed." }, { "name": "isearch-terminators (``C-[ C-J'')", "content": "The string of characters that should terminate an incremental search without subse‐\nquently executing the character as a command. If this variable has not been given a\nvalue, the characters ESC and C-J will terminate an incremental search." }, { "name": "keymap (emacs)", "content": "Set the current readline keymap. The set of legal keymap names is emacs, emacs-stan‐\ndard, emacs-meta, emacs-ctlx, vi, vi-move, vi-command, and vi-insert. vi is equiva‐\nlent to vi-command; emacs is equivalent to emacs-standard. The default value is\nemacs. The value of editing-mode also affects the default keymap." }, { "name": "keyseq-timeout (500)", "content": "Specifies the duration readline will wait for a character when reading an ambiguous\nkey sequence (one that can form a complete key sequence using the input read so far,\nor can take additional input to complete a longer key sequence). If no input is re‐\nceived within the timeout, readline will use the shorter but complete key sequence.\nThe value is specified in milliseconds, so a value of 1000 means that readline will\nwait one second for additional input. If this variable is set to a value less than or\nequal to zero, or to a non-numeric value, readline will wait until another key is\npressed to decide which key sequence to complete." }, { "name": "mark-directories (On)", "content": "If set to On, completed directory names have a slash appended." }, { "name": "mark-modified-lines (Off)", "content": "If set to On, history lines that have been modified are displayed with a preceding as‐\nterisk (*)." }, { "name": "mark-symlinked-directories (Off)", "content": "If set to On, completed names which are symbolic links to directories have a slash ap‐\npended (subject to the value of mark-directories)." }, { "name": "match-hidden-files (On)", "content": "This variable, when set to On, causes readline to match files whose names begin with a\n`.' (hidden files) when performing filename completion. If set to Off, the leading\n`.' must be supplied by the user in the filename to be completed." }, { "name": "menu-complete-display-prefix (Off)", "content": "If set to On, menu completion displays the common prefix of the list of possible com‐\npletions (which may be empty) before cycling through the list." }, { "name": "output-meta (Off)", "content": "If set to On, readline will display characters with the eighth bit set directly rather\nthan as a meta-prefixed escape sequence. The default is Off, but readline will set it\nto On if the locale contains eight-bit characters. This variable is dependent on the\nLCCTYPE locale category, and may change if the locale is changed." }, { "name": "page-completions (On)", "content": "If set to On, readline uses an internal more-like pager to display a screenful of pos‐\nsible completions at a time." }, { "name": "print-completions-horizontally (Off)", "content": "If set to On, readline will display completions with matches sorted horizontally in\nalphabetical order, rather than down the screen." }, { "name": "revert-all-at-newline (Off)", "content": "If set to On, readline will undo all changes to history lines before returning when\naccept-line is executed. By default, history lines may be modified and retain indi‐\nvidual undo lists across calls to readline." }, { "name": "show-all-if-ambiguous (Off)", "content": "This alters the default behavior of the completion functions. If set to On, words\nwhich have more than one possible completion cause the matches to be listed immedi‐\nately instead of ringing the bell." }, { "name": "show-all-if-unmodified (Off)", "content": "This alters the default behavior of the completion functions in a fashion similar to\nshow-all-if-ambiguous. If set to On, words which have more than one possible comple‐\ntion without any possible partial completion (the possible completions don't share a\ncommon prefix) cause the matches to be listed immediately instead of ringing the bell." }, { "name": "show-mode-in-prompt (Off)", "content": "If set to On, add a string to the beginning of the prompt indicating the editing mode:\nemacs, vi command, or vi insertion. The mode strings are user-settable (e.g.,\nemacs-mode-string)." }, { "name": "skip-completed-text (Off)", "content": "If set to On, this alters the default completion behavior when inserting a single\nmatch into the line. It's only active when performing completion in the middle of a\nword. If enabled, readline does not insert characters from the completion that match\ncharacters after point in the word being completed, so portions of the word following\nthe cursor are not duplicated." }, { "name": "vi-cmd-mode-string ((cmd))", "content": "If the show-mode-in-prompt variable is enabled, this string is displayed immediately\nbefore the last line of the primary prompt when vi editing mode is active and in com‐\nmand mode. The value is expanded like a key binding, so the standard set of meta- and\ncontrol prefixes and backslash escape sequences is available. Use the \\1 and \\2 es‐\ncapes to begin and end sequences of non-printing characters, which can be used to em‐\nbed a terminal control sequence into the mode string." }, { "name": "vi-ins-mode-string ((ins))", "content": "If the show-mode-in-prompt variable is enabled, this string is displayed immediately\nbefore the last line of the primary prompt when vi editing mode is active and in in‐\nsertion mode. The value is expanded like a key binding, so the standard set of meta-\nand control prefixes and backslash escape sequences is available. Use the \\1 and \\2\nescapes to begin and end sequences of non-printing characters, which can be used to\nembed a terminal control sequence into the mode string." }, { "name": "visible-stats (Off)", "content": "If set to On, a character denoting a file's type as reported by stat(2) is appended to\nthe filename when listing possible completions.\n" }, { "name": "Conditional Constructs", "content": "Readline implements a facility similar in spirit to the conditional compilation features of\nthe C preprocessor which allows key bindings and variable settings to be performed as the re‐\nsult of tests. There are four parser directives used.\n\n$if The $if construct allows bindings to be made based on the editing mode, the terminal\nbeing used, or the application using readline. The text of the test, after any com‐\nparison operator, extends to the end of the line; unless otherwise noted, no charac‐\nters are required to isolate it.\n\nmode The mode= form of the $if directive is used to test whether readline is in\nemacs or vi mode. This may be used in conjunction with the set keymap command,\nfor instance, to set bindings in the emacs-standard and emacs-ctlx keymaps only\nif readline is starting out in emacs mode.\n\nterm The term= form may be used to include terminal-specific key bindings, perhaps\nto bind the key sequences output by the terminal's function keys. The word on\nthe right side of the = is tested against the full name of the terminal and the\nportion of the terminal name before the first -. This allows sun to match both\nsun and sun-cmd, for instance.\n\nversion\nThe version test may be used to perform comparisons against specific readline\nversions. The version expands to the current readline version. The set of\ncomparison operators includes =, (and ==), !=, <=, >=, <, and >. The version\nnumber supplied on the right side of the operator consists of a major version\nnumber, an optional decimal point, and an optional minor version (e.g., 7.1).\nIf the minor version is omitted, it is assumed to be 0. The operator may be\nseparated from the string version and from the version number argument by\nwhitespace.\n\napplication\nThe application construct is used to include application-specific settings.\nEach program using the readline library sets the application name, and an ini‐\ntialization file can test for a particular value. This could be used to bind\nkey sequences to functions useful for a specific program. For instance, the\nfollowing command adds a key sequence that quotes the current or previous word\nin bash:\n\n$if Bash\n# Quote the current or previous word\n\"\\C-xq\": \"\\eb\\\"\\ef\\\"\"\n$endif\n\nvariable\nThe variable construct provides simple equality tests for readline variables\nand values. The permitted comparison operators are =, ==, and !=. The vari‐\nable name must be separated from the comparison operator by whitespace; the op‐\nerator may be separated from the value on the right hand side by whitespace.\nBoth string and boolean variables may be tested. Boolean variables must be\ntested against the values on and off.\n\n$endif This command, as seen in the previous example, terminates an $if command.\n\n$else Commands in this branch of the $if directive are executed if the test fails.\n" }, { "name": "$include", "content": "This directive takes a single filename as an argument and reads commands and bindings\nfrom that file. For example, the following directive would read /etc/inputrc:\n\n$include /etc/inputrc\n" } ] }, "SEARCHING": { "content": "Readline provides commands for searching through the command history for lines containing a\nspecified string. There are two search modes: incremental and non-incremental.\n\nIncremental searches begin before the user has finished typing the search string. As each\ncharacter of the search string is typed, readline displays the next entry from the history\nmatching the string typed so far. An incremental search requires only as many characters as\nneeded to find the desired history entry. To search backward in the history for a particular\nstring, type C-r. Typing C-s searches forward through the history. The characters present\nin the value of the isearch-terminators variable are used to terminate an incremental search.\nIf that variable has not been assigned a value the Escape and C-J characters will terminate\nan incremental search. C-G will abort an incremental search and restore the original line.\nWhen the search is terminated, the history entry containing the search string becomes the\ncurrent line.\n\nTo find other matching entries in the history list, type C-s or C-r as appropriate. This\nwill search backward or forward in the history for the next line matching the search string\ntyped so far. Any other key sequence bound to a readline command will terminate the search\nand execute that command. For instance, a newline will terminate the search and accept the\nline, thereby executing the command from the history list. A movement command will terminate\nthe search, make the last line found the current line, and begin editing.\n\nNon-incremental searches read the entire search string before starting to search for matching\nhistory lines. The search string may be typed by the user or be part of the contents of the\ncurrent line.\n", "subsections": [] }, "EDITING COMMANDS": { "content": "The following is a list of the names of the commands and the default key sequences to which\nthey are bound. Command names without an accompanying key sequence are unbound by default.\n\nIn the following descriptions, point refers to the current cursor position, and mark refers\nto a cursor position saved by the set-mark command. The text between the point and mark is\nreferred to as the region.\n", "subsections": [ { "name": "Commands for Moving", "content": "" }, { "name": "beginning-of-line (C-a)", "content": "Move to the start of the current line." }, { "name": "end-of-line (C-e)", "content": "Move to the end of the line." }, { "name": "forward-char (C-f)", "content": "Move forward a character." }, { "name": "backward-char (C-b)", "content": "Move back a character." }, { "name": "forward-word (M-f)", "content": "Move forward to the end of the next word. Words are composed of alphanumeric charac‐\nters (letters and digits)." }, { "name": "backward-word (M-b)", "content": "Move back to the start of the current or previous word. Words are composed of al‐\nphanumeric characters (letters and digits)." }, { "name": "previous-screen-line", "content": "Attempt to move point to the same physical screen column on the previous physical\nscreen line. This will not have the desired effect if the current readline line does\nnot take up more than one physical line or if point is not greater than the length of\nthe prompt plus the screen width." }, { "name": "next-screen-line", "content": "Attempt to move point to the same physical screen column on the next physical screen\nline. This will not have the desired effect if the current readline line does not take\nup more than one physical line or if the length of the current readline line is not\ngreater than the length of the prompt plus the screen width." }, { "name": "clear-display (M-C-l)", "content": "Clear the screen and, if possible, the terminal's scrollback buffer, then redraw the\ncurrent line, leaving the current line at the top of the screen." }, { "name": "clear-screen (C-l)", "content": "Clear the screen, then redraw the current line, leaving the current line at the top of\nthe screen. With an argument, refresh the current line without clearing the screen." }, { "name": "redraw-current-line", "content": "Refresh the current line.\n" }, { "name": "Commands for Manipulating the History", "content": "" }, { "name": "accept-line (Newline, Return)", "content": "Accept the line regardless of where the cursor is. If this line is non-empty, it may\nbe added to the history list for future recall with addhistory(). If the line is a\nmodified history line, the history line is restored to its original state." }, { "name": "previous-history (C-p)", "content": "Fetch the previous command from the history list, moving back in the list." }, { "name": "next-history (C-n)", "content": "Fetch the next command from the history list, moving forward in the list." }, { "name": "beginning-of-history (M-<)", "content": "Move to the first line in the history." }, { "name": "end-of-history (M->)", "content": "Move to the end of the input history, i.e., the line currently being entered." }, { "name": "operate-and-get-next (C-o)", "content": "Accept the current line for return to the calling application as if a newline had been\nentered, and fetch the next line relative to the current line from the history for\nediting. A numeric argument, if supplied, specifies the history entry to use instead\nof the current line." }, { "name": "fetch-history", "content": "With a numeric argument, fetch that entry from the history list and make it the cur‐\nrent line. Without an argument, move back to the first entry in the history list." }, { "name": "reverse-search-history (C-r)", "content": "Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through the history as\nnecessary. This is an incremental search." }, { "name": "forward-search-history (C-s)", "content": "Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through the history as\nnecessary. This is an incremental search." }, { "name": "non-incremental-reverse-search-history (M-p)", "content": "Search backward through the history starting at the current line using a non-incremen‐\ntal search for a string supplied by the user." }, { "name": "non-incremental-forward-search-history (M-n)", "content": "Search forward through the history using a non-incremental search for a string sup‐\nplied by the user." }, { "name": "history-search-backward", "content": "Search backward through the history for the string of characters between the start of\nthe current line and the current cursor position (the point). The search string must\nmatch at the beginning of a history line. This is a non-incremental search." }, { "name": "history-search-forward", "content": "Search forward through the history for the string of characters between the start of\nthe current line and the point. The search string must match at the beginning of a\nhistory line. This is a non-incremental search." }, { "name": "history-substring-search-backward", "content": "Search backward through the history for the string of characters between the start of\nthe current line and the current cursor position (the point). The search string may\nmatch anywhere in a history line. This is a non-incremental search." }, { "name": "history-substring-search-forward", "content": "Search forward through the history for the string of characters between the start of\nthe current line and the point. The search string may match anywhere in a history\nline. This is a non-incremental search." }, { "name": "yank-nth-arg (M-C-y)", "content": "Insert the first argument to the previous command (usually the second word on the pre‐\nvious line) at point. With an argument n, insert the nth word from the previous com‐\nmand (the words in the previous command begin with word 0). A negative argument in‐\nserts the nth word from the end of the previous command. Once the argument n is com‐\nputed, the argument is extracted as if the \"!n\" history expansion had been specified." }, { "name": "yank-last-arg (M-., M-_)", "content": "Insert the last argument to the previous command (the last word of the previous his‐\ntory entry). With a numeric argument, behave exactly like yank-nth-arg. Successive\ncalls to yank-last-arg move back through the history list, inserting the last word (or\nthe word specified by the argument to the first call) of each line in turn. Any nu‐\nmeric argument supplied to these successive calls determines the direction to move\nthrough the history. A negative argument switches the direction through the history\n(back or forward). The history expansion facilities are used to extract the last ar‐\ngument, as if the \"!$\" history expansion had been specified.\n" }, { "name": "Commands for Changing Text", "content": "end-of-file (usually C-d)\nThe character indicating end-of-file as set, for example, by ``stty''. If this char‐\nacter is read when there are no characters on the line, and point is at the beginning\nof the line, readline interprets it as the end of input and returns EOF." }, { "name": "delete-char (C-d)", "content": "Delete the character at point. If this function is bound to the same character as the\ntty EOF character, as C-d commonly is, see above for the effects." }, { "name": "backward-delete-char (Rubout)", "content": "Delete the character behind the cursor. When given a numeric argument, save the\ndeleted text on the kill ring." }, { "name": "forward-backward-delete-char", "content": "Delete the character under the cursor, unless the cursor is at the end of the line, in\nwhich case the character behind the cursor is deleted." }, { "name": "quoted-insert (C-q, C-v)", "content": "Add the next character that you type to the line verbatim. This is how to insert\ncharacters like C-q, for example." }, { "name": "tab-insert (M-TAB)", "content": "Insert a tab character." }, { "name": "self-insert (a, b, A, 1, !, ...)", "content": "Insert the character typed." }, { "name": "transpose-chars (C-t)", "content": "Drag the character before point forward over the character at point, moving point for‐\nward as well. If point is at the end of the line, then this transposes the two char‐\nacters before point. Negative arguments have no effect." }, { "name": "transpose-words (M-t)", "content": "Drag the word before point past the word after point, moving point over that word as\nwell. If point is at the end of the line, this transposes the last two words on the\nline." }, { "name": "upcase-word (M-u)", "content": "Uppercase the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, uppercase the\nprevious word, but do not move point." }, { "name": "downcase-word (M-l)", "content": "Lowercase the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, lowercase the\nprevious word, but do not move point." }, { "name": "capitalize-word (M-c)", "content": "Capitalize the current (or following) word. With a negative argument, capitalize the\nprevious word, but do not move point." }, { "name": "overwrite-mode", "content": "Toggle overwrite mode. With an explicit positive numeric argument, switches to over‐\nwrite mode. With an explicit non-positive numeric argument, switches to insert mode.\nThis command affects only emacs mode; vi mode does overwrite differently. Each call\nto readline() starts in insert mode. In overwrite mode, characters bound to self-in‐\nsert replace the text at point rather than pushing the text to the right. Characters\nbound to backward-delete-char replace the character before point with a space. By de‐\nfault, this command is unbound.\n" }, { "name": "Killing and Yanking", "content": "" }, { "name": "kill-line (C-k)", "content": "Kill the text from point to the end of the line." }, { "name": "backward-kill-line (C-x Rubout)", "content": "Kill backward to the beginning of the line." }, { "name": "unix-line-discard (C-u)", "content": "Kill backward from point to the beginning of the line. The killed text is saved on\nthe kill-ring." }, { "name": "kill-whole-line", "content": "Kill all characters on the current line, no matter where point is." }, { "name": "kill-word (M-d)", "content": "Kill from point the end of the current word, or if between words, to the end of the\nnext word. Word boundaries are the same as those used by forward-word." }, { "name": "backward-kill-word (M-Rubout)", "content": "Kill the word behind point. Word boundaries are the same as those used by back‐\nward-word." }, { "name": "unix-word-rubout (C-w)", "content": "Kill the word behind point, using white space as a word boundary. The killed text is\nsaved on the kill-ring." }, { "name": "unix-filename-rubout", "content": "Kill the word behind point, using white space and the slash character as the word\nboundaries. The killed text is saved on the kill-ring." }, { "name": "delete-horizontal-space (M-\\)", "content": "Delete all spaces and tabs around point." }, { "name": "kill-region", "content": "Kill the text between the point and mark (saved cursor position). This text is re‐\nferred to as the region." }, { "name": "copy-region-as-kill", "content": "Copy the text in the region to the kill buffer." }, { "name": "copy-backward-word", "content": "Copy the word before point to the kill buffer. The word boundaries are the same as\nbackward-word." }, { "name": "copy-forward-word", "content": "Copy the word following point to the kill buffer. The word boundaries are the same as\nforward-word." }, { "name": "yank (C-y)", "content": "Yank the top of the kill ring into the buffer at point." }, { "name": "yank-pop (M-y)", "content": "Rotate the kill ring, and yank the new top. Only works following yank or yank-pop.\n" }, { "name": "Numeric Arguments", "content": "" }, { "name": "digit-argument (M-0, M-1, ..., M--)", "content": "Add this digit to the argument already accumulating, or start a new argument. M--\nstarts a negative argument." }, { "name": "universal-argument", "content": "This is another way to specify an argument. If this command is followed by one or\nmore digits, optionally with a leading minus sign, those digits define the argument.\nIf the command is followed by digits, executing universal-argument again ends the nu‐\nmeric argument, but is otherwise ignored. As a special case, if this command is imme‐\ndiately followed by a character that is neither a digit or minus sign, the argument\ncount for the next command is multiplied by four. The argument count is initially\none, so executing this function the first time makes the argument count four, a second\ntime makes the argument count sixteen, and so on.\n" }, { "name": "Completing", "content": "" }, { "name": "complete (TAB)", "content": "Attempt to perform completion on the text before point. The actual completion per‐\nformed is application-specific. Bash, for instance, attempts completion treating the\ntext as a variable (if the text begins with $), username (if the text begins with ~),\nhostname (if the text begins with @), or command (including aliases and functions) in\nturn. If none of these produces a match, filename completion is attempted. Gdb, on\nthe other hand, allows completion of program functions and variables, and only at‐\ntempts filename completion under certain circumstances." }, { "name": "possible-completions (M-?)", "content": "List the possible completions of the text before point. When displaying completions,\nreadline sets the number of columns used for display to the value of completion-dis‐\nplay-width, the value of the environment variable COLUMNS, or the screen width, in\nthat order.\ninsert-completions (M-*)\nInsert all completions of the text before point that would have been generated by pos‐\nsible-completions." }, { "name": "menu-complete", "content": "Similar to complete, but replaces the word to be completed with a single match from\nthe list of possible completions. Repeated execution of menu-complete steps through\nthe list of possible completions, inserting each match in turn. At the end of the\nlist of completions, the bell is rung (subject to the setting of bell-style) and the\noriginal text is restored. An argument of n moves n positions forward in the list of\nmatches; a negative argument may be used to move backward through the list. This com‐\nmand is intended to be bound to TAB, but is unbound by default." }, { "name": "menu-complete-backward", "content": "Identical to menu-complete, but moves backward through the list of possible comple‐\ntions, as if menu-complete had been given a negative argument. This command is un‐\nbound by default." }, { "name": "delete-char-or-list", "content": "Deletes the character under the cursor if not at the beginning or end of the line\n(like delete-char). If at the end of the line, behaves identically to possible-com‐\npletions.\n" }, { "name": "Keyboard Macros", "content": "" }, { "name": "start-kbd-macro (C-x ()", "content": "Begin saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro." }, { "name": "end-kbd-macro (C-x ))", "content": "Stop saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro and store the defini‐\ntion." }, { "name": "call-last-kbd-macro (C-x e)", "content": "Re-execute the last keyboard macro defined, by making the characters in the macro ap‐\npear as if typed at the keyboard." }, { "name": "print-last-kbd-macro ()", "content": "Print the last keyboard macro defined in a format suitable for the inputrc file.\n" }, { "name": "Miscellaneous", "content": "" }, { "name": "re-read-init-file (C-x C-r)", "content": "Read in the contents of the inputrc file, and incorporate any bindings or variable as‐\nsignments found there." }, { "name": "abort (C-g)", "content": "Abort the current editing command and ring the terminal's bell (subject to the setting\nof bell-style).\ndo-lowercase-version (M-A, M-B, M-x, ...)\nIf the metafied character x is uppercase, run the command that is bound to the corre‐\nsponding metafied lowercase character. The behavior is undefined if x is already low‐\nercase." }, { "name": "prefix-meta (ESC)", "content": "Metafy the next character typed. ESC f is equivalent to Meta-f." }, { "name": "undo (C-_, C-x C-u)", "content": "Incremental undo, separately remembered for each line." }, { "name": "revert-line (M-r)", "content": "Undo all changes made to this line. This is like executing the undo command enough\ntimes to return the line to its initial state." }, { "name": "tilde-expand (M-&)", "content": "Perform tilde expansion on the current word." }, { "name": "set-mark (C-@, M-)", "content": "Set the mark to the point. If a numeric argument is supplied, the mark is set to that\nposition." }, { "name": "exchange-point-and-mark (C-x C-x)", "content": "Swap the point with the mark. The current cursor position is set to the saved posi‐\ntion, and the old cursor position is saved as the mark." }, { "name": "character-search (C-])", "content": "A character is read and point is moved to the next occurrence of that character. A\nnegative argument searches for previous occurrences." }, { "name": "character-search-backward (M-C-])", "content": "A character is read and point is moved to the previous occurrence of that character.\nA negative argument searches for subsequent occurrences." }, { "name": "skip-csi-sequence", "content": "Read enough characters to consume a multi-key sequence such as those defined for keys\nlike Home and End. Such sequences begin with a Control Sequence Indicator (CSI), usu‐\nally ESC-[. If this sequence is bound to \"\\[\", keys producing such sequences will\nhave no effect unless explicitly bound to a readline command, instead of inserting\nstray characters into the editing buffer. This is unbound by default, but usually\nbound to ESC-[." }, { "name": "insert-comment (M-#)", "content": "Without a numeric argument, the value of the readline comment-begin variable is in‐\nserted at the beginning of the current line. If a numeric argument is supplied, this\ncommand acts as a toggle: if the characters at the beginning of the line do not match\nthe value of comment-begin, the value is inserted, otherwise the characters in com‐\nment-begin are deleted from the beginning of the line. In either case, the line is\naccepted as if a newline had been typed. The default value of comment-begin makes the\ncurrent line a shell comment. If a numeric argument causes the comment character to\nbe removed, the line will be executed by the shell." }, { "name": "dump-functions", "content": "Print all of the functions and their key bindings to the readline output stream. If a\nnumeric argument is supplied, the output is formatted in such a way that it can be\nmade part of an inputrc file." }, { "name": "dump-variables", "content": "Print all of the settable variables and their values to the readline output stream.\nIf a numeric argument is supplied, the output is formatted in such a way that it can\nbe made part of an inputrc file." }, { "name": "dump-macros", "content": "Print all of the readline key sequences bound to macros and the strings they output.\nIf a numeric argument is supplied, the output is formatted in such a way that it can\nbe made part of an inputrc file." }, { "name": "emacs-editing-mode (C-e)", "content": "When in vi command mode, this causes a switch to emacs editing mode." }, { "name": "vi-editing-mode (M-C-j)", "content": "When in emacs editing mode, this causes a switch to vi editing mode.\n" } ] }, "DEFAULT KEY BINDINGS": { "content": "The following is a list of the default emacs and vi bindings. Characters with the eighth bit\nset are written as M-, and are referred to as metafied characters. The printable\nASCII characters not mentioned in the list of emacs standard bindings are bound to the\nself-insert function, which just inserts the given character into the input line. In vi in‐\nsertion mode, all characters not specifically mentioned are bound to self-insert. Characters\nassigned to signal generation by stty(1) or the terminal driver, such as C-Z or C-C, retain\nthat function. Upper and lower case metafied characters are bound to the same function in\nthe emacs mode meta keymap. The remaining characters are unbound, which causes readline to\nring the bell (subject to the setting of the bell-style variable).\n", "subsections": [ { "name": "Emacs Mode", "content": "Emacs Standard bindings\n\n\"C-@\" set-mark\n\"C-A\" beginning-of-line\n\"C-B\" backward-char\n\"C-D\" delete-char\n\"C-E\" end-of-line\n\"C-F\" forward-char\n\"C-G\" abort\n\"C-H\" backward-delete-char\n\"C-I\" complete\n\"C-J\" accept-line\n\"C-K\" kill-line\n\"C-L\" clear-screen\n\"C-M\" accept-line\n\"C-N\" next-history\n\"C-P\" previous-history\n\"C-Q\" quoted-insert\n\"C-R\" reverse-search-history\n\"C-S\" forward-search-history\n\"C-T\" transpose-chars\n\"C-U\" unix-line-discard\n\"C-V\" quoted-insert\n\"C-W\" unix-word-rubout\n\"C-Y\" yank\n\"C-]\" character-search\n\"C-\" undo\n\" \" to \"/\" self-insert\n\"0\" to \"9\" self-insert\n\":\" to \"~\" self-insert\n\"C-?\" backward-delete-char\n\nEmacs Meta bindings\n\n\"M-C-G\" abort\n\"M-C-H\" backward-kill-word\n\"M-C-I\" tab-insert\n\"M-C-J\" vi-editing-mode\n\"M-C-L\" clear-display\n\"M-C-M\" vi-editing-mode\n\"M-C-R\" revert-line\n\"M-C-Y\" yank-nth-arg\n\"M-C-[\" complete\n\"M-C-]\" character-search-backward\n\"M-space\" set-mark\n\"M-#\" insert-comment\n\"M-&\" tilde-expand\n\"M-*\" insert-completions\n\"M--\" digit-argument\n\"M-.\" yank-last-arg\n\"M-0\" digit-argument\n\"M-1\" digit-argument\n\"M-2\" digit-argument\n\"M-3\" digit-argument\n\"M-4\" digit-argument\n\"M-5\" digit-argument\n\"M-6\" digit-argument\n\"M-7\" digit-argument\n\"M-8\" digit-argument\n\"M-9\" digit-argument\n\"M-<\" beginning-of-history\n\"M-=\" possible-completions\n\"M->\" end-of-history\n\"M-?\" possible-completions\n\"M-B\" backward-word\n\"M-C\" capitalize-word\n\"M-D\" kill-word\n\"M-F\" forward-word\n\"M-L\" downcase-word\n\"M-N\" non-incremental-forward-search-history\n\"M-P\" non-incremental-reverse-search-history\n\"M-R\" revert-line\n\"M-T\" transpose-words\n\"M-U\" upcase-word\n\"M-Y\" yank-pop\n\"M-\\\" delete-horizontal-space\n\"M-~\" tilde-expand\n\"M-C-?\" backward-kill-word\n\"M-\" yank-last-arg\n\nEmacs Control-X bindings\n\n\"C-XC-G\" abort\n\"C-XC-R\" re-read-init-file\n\"C-XC-U\" undo\n\"C-XC-X\" exchange-point-and-mark\n\"C-X(\" start-kbd-macro\n\"C-X)\" end-kbd-macro\n\"C-XE\" call-last-kbd-macro\n\"C-XC-?\" backward-kill-line\n\n" }, { "name": "VI Mode bindings", "content": "VI Insert Mode functions\n\n\"C-D\" vi-eof-maybe\n\"C-H\" backward-delete-char\n\"C-I\" complete\n\"C-J\" accept-line\n\"C-M\" accept-line\n\"C-R\" reverse-search-history\n\"C-S\" forward-search-history\n\"C-T\" transpose-chars\n\"C-U\" unix-line-discard\n\"C-V\" quoted-insert\n\"C-W\" unix-word-rubout\n\"C-Y\" yank\n\"C-[\" vi-movement-mode\n\"C-\" undo\n\" \" to \"~\" self-insert\n\"C-?\" backward-delete-char\n\nVI Command Mode functions\n\n\"C-D\" vi-eof-maybe\n\"C-E\" emacs-editing-mode\n\"C-G\" abort\n\"C-H\" backward-char\n\"C-J\" accept-line\n\"C-K\" kill-line\n\"C-L\" clear-screen\n\"C-M\" accept-line\n\"C-N\" next-history\n\"C-P\" previous-history\n\"C-Q\" quoted-insert\n\"C-R\" reverse-search-history\n\"C-S\" forward-search-history\n\"C-T\" transpose-chars\n\"C-U\" unix-line-discard\n\"C-V\" quoted-insert\n\"C-W\" unix-word-rubout\n\"C-Y\" yank\n\"C-\" vi-undo\n\" \" forward-char\n\"#\" insert-comment\n\"$\" end-of-line\n\"%\" vi-match\n\"&\" vi-tilde-expand\n\"*\" vi-complete\n\"+\" next-history\n\",\" vi-char-search\n\"-\" previous-history\n\".\" vi-redo\n\"/\" vi-search\n\"0\" beginning-of-line\n\"1\" to \"9\" vi-arg-digit\n\";\" vi-char-search\n\"=\" vi-complete\n\"?\" vi-search\n\"A\" vi-append-eol\n\"B\" vi-prev-word\n\"C\" vi-change-to\n\"D\" vi-delete-to\n\"E\" vi-end-word\n\"F\" vi-char-search\n\"G\" vi-fetch-history\n\"I\" vi-insert-beg\n\"N\" vi-search-again\n\"P\" vi-put\n\"R\" vi-replace\n\"S\" vi-subst\n\"T\" vi-char-search\n\"U\" revert-line\n\"W\" vi-next-word\n\"X\" backward-delete-char\n\"Y\" vi-yank-to\n\"\\\" vi-complete\n\"^\" vi-first-print\n\"\" vi-yank-arg\n\"`\" vi-goto-mark\n\"a\" vi-append-mode\n\"b\" vi-prev-word\n\"c\" vi-change-to\n\"d\" vi-delete-to\n\"e\" vi-end-word\n\"f\" vi-char-search\n\"h\" backward-char\n\"i\" vi-insertion-mode\n\"j\" next-history\n\"k\" prev-history\n\"l\" forward-char\n\"m\" vi-set-mark\n\"n\" vi-search-again\n\"p\" vi-put\n\"r\" vi-change-char\n\"s\" vi-subst\n\"t\" vi-char-search\n\"u\" vi-undo\n\"w\" vi-next-word\n\"x\" vi-delete\n\"y\" vi-yank-to\n\"|\" vi-column\n\"~\" vi-change-case\n" } ] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "The Gnu Readline Library, Brian Fox and Chet Ramey\nThe Gnu History Library, Brian Fox and Chet Ramey\nbash(1)\n", "subsections": [] }, "FILES": { "content": "~/.inputrc\nIndividual readline initialization file\n", "subsections": [] }, "AUTHORS": { "content": "Brian Fox, Free Software Foundation\nbfox@gnu.org\n\nChet Ramey, Case Western Reserve University\nchet.ramey@case.edu\n", "subsections": [] }, "BUG REPORTS": { "content": "If you find a bug in readline, you should report it. But first, you should make sure that it\nreally is a bug, and that it appears in the latest version of the readline library that you\nhave.\n\nOnce you have determined that a bug actually exists, mail a bug report to bug-read‐\nline@gnu.org. If you have a fix, you are welcome to mail that as well! Suggestions and\n`philosophical' bug reports may be mailed to bug-readline@gnu.org or posted to the Usenet\nnewsgroup gnu.bash.bug.\n\nComments and bug reports concerning this manual page should be directed to\nchet.ramey@case.edu.\n", "subsections": [] }, "BUGS": { "content": "It's too big and too slow.\n\nGNU Readline 8.2 2022 September 19 READLINE(3)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "readline - get a line from a user with editing", "flags": [], "examples": [], "see_also": [ { "name": "bash", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/bash/1/json" } ] }