READLINE(3)                                                        READLINE(3)



NAME
       readline - get a line from a user with editing

SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdio.h>
       #include <readline/readline.h>
       #include <readline/history.h>

       char *
       readline (const char *prompt);

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

DESCRIPTION
       readline will read a line from the terminal and return it, using prompt
       as  a  prompt.   If  prompt  is  NULL or the empty string, no prompt is
       issued.  The line returned is allocated with 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.

       readline offers editing capabilities while the  user  is  entering  the
       line.   By  default,  the line editing commands are similar to those of
       emacs.  A vi-style line editing interface is also available.

       This manual page describes only the most basic use of  readline.   Much
       more  functionality  is available; see The GNU Readline Library and The
       GNU History Library for additional information.

RETURN VALUE
       readline returns the text of the line read.  A blank line  returns  the
       empty string.  If EOF is encountered while reading a line, and the line
       is empty, NULL is returned.  If an EOF is read with a  non-empty  line,
       it is treated as a newline.

NOTATION
       An emacs-style notation is used to denote keystrokes.  Control keys are
       denoted by C-key, e.g., C-n means Control-N.  Similarly, meta keys  are
       denoted  by  M-key,  so M-x means Meta-X.  (On keyboards without a meta
       key, M-x means ESC x, i.e., press the Escape key then the x key.   This
       makes  ESC the meta prefix.  The combination M-C-x means ESC-Control-x,
       or press the Escape key then hold the Control key while pressing the  x
       key.)

       Readline commands may be given numeric arguments, which normally act as
       a repeat count.  Sometimes, however, it is the  sign  of  the  argument
       that  is  significant.   Passing  a negative argument to a command that
       acts in the forward direction (e.g., kill-line) causes that command  to
       act  in  a  backward direction.  Commands whose behavior with arguments
       deviates from this are noted.

       When a command is described as killing text, the text deleted is  saved
       for possible future retrieval (yanking).  The killed text is saved in a
       kill ring.  Consecutive kills cause the text to be accumulated into one
       unit, which can be yanked all at once.  Commands which do not kill text
       separate the chunks of text on the kill ring.

INITIALIZATION FILE
       Readline is customized by putting commands in  an  initialization  file
       (the  inputrc  file).  The name of this file is taken from the value of
       the INPUTRC environment variable.   If  that  variable  is  unset,  the
       default is ~/.inputrc.  If that file  does not exist or cannot be read,
       the ultimate default is /etc/inputrc.  When a program  which  uses  the
       readline library starts up, the init file is read, and the key bindings
       and variables are set.  There are only a few basic  constructs  allowed
       in  the  readline init file.  Blank lines are ignored.  Lines beginning
       with a # are comments.  Lines beginning with a $  indicate  conditional
       constructs.   Other  lines  denote  key bindings and variable settings.
       Each program using this library may add its own commands and  bindings.

       For example, placing

              M-Control-u: universal-argument
       or
              C-Meta-u: universal-argument

       into  the inputrc would make M-C-u execute the readline command univer-
       sal-argument.

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

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


   Key Bindings
       The  syntax for controlling key bindings in the inputrc file is simple.
       All that is required is the name of the command or the text of a  macro
       and  a key sequence to which it should be bound. The name may be speci-
       fied in one of two ways: as a symbolic key name, possibly with Meta- or
       Control- prefixes, or as a key sequence.  The name and key sequence are
       separated by a colon.  There can be no whitespace between the name  and
       the colon.

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

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

       In the above example, C-u is bound to the function  universal-argument,
       M-DEL  is bound to the function backward-kill-word, and C-o is bound to
       run the macro expressed on the right hand side (that is, to insert  the
       text ``> output'' into the line).

       In  the  second  form,  "keyseq":function-name or macro, keyseq differs
       from keyname above in that strings denoting an entire key sequence  may
       be  specified  by  placing the sequence within double quotes.  Some GNU
       Emacs style key escapes can be used, as in the following  example,  but
       the symbolic character names are not recognized.

              "\C-u": universal-argument
              "\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file
              "\e[11~": "Function Key 1"

       In this example, C-u is again bound to the function universal-argument.
       C-x C-r is bound to the function re-read-init-file, and ESC [ 1 1 ~  is
       bound to insert the text ``Function Key 1''.

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

       In addition to the GNU Emacs style escape sequences, a  second  set  of
       backslash escapes is available:
              \a     alert (bell)
              \b     backspace
              \d     delete
              \f     form feed
              \n     newline
              \r     carriage return
              \t     horizontal tab
              \v     vertical tab
              \nnn   the  eight-bit  character  whose value is the octal value
                     nnn (one to three digits)
              \xHH   the eight-bit character whose value  is  the  hexadecimal
                     value HH (one or two hex digits)

       When  entering  the  text of a macro, single or double quotes should be
       used to indicate a macro definition.  Unquoted text is assumed to be  a
       function  name.   In  the  macro  body, the backslash escapes described
       above are expanded.  Backslash will quote any other  character  in  the
       macro text, including " and '.

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

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

              set variable-name value

       Except where noted, readline variables can take the values  On  or  Off
       (without  regard  to  case).   Unrecognized variable names are ignored.
       When a variable value is read, empty or null values, "on"  (case-insen-
       sitive), and "1" are equivalent to On.  All other values are equivalent
       to Off.  The variables and their default values are:

       bell-style (audible)
              Controls what happens when readline wants to ring  the  terminal
              bell.  If set to none, readline never rings the bell.  If set to
              visible, readline uses a visible bell if one is  available.   If
              set to audible, readline attempts to ring the terminal's bell.
       bind-tty-special-chars (On)
              If  set  to On, readline attempts to bind the control characters
              treated specially by the kernel's terminal driver to their read-
              line equivalents.
       comment-begin (``#'')
              The  string  that is inserted in vi mode when the insert-comment
              command is executed.  This command is bound to M-# in emacs mode
              and to # in vi command mode.
       completion-ignore-case (Off)
              If set to On, readline performs filename matching and completion
              in a case-insensitive fashion.
       completion-query-items (100)
              This determines when the user is queried about viewing the  num-
              ber  of  possible  completions generated by the possible-comple-
              tions 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.
       convert-meta (On)
              If  set  to On, readline will convert characters with the eighth
              bit set to an ASCII key sequence by stripping the eighth bit and
              prefixing  it  with an escape character (in effect, using escape
              as the meta prefix).
       disable-completion (Off)
              If set to On, readline will inhibit word completion.  Completion
              characters  will  be  inserted into the line as if they had been
              mapped to self-insert.
       editing-mode (emacs)
              Controls whether readline begins with a set of key bindings sim-
              ilar to emacs or vi.  editing-mode can be set to either emacs or
              vi.
       enable-keypad (Off)
              When set to On, readline will try to enable the application key-
              pad  when  it  is  called.  Some systems need this to enable the
              arrow keys.
       expand-tilde (Off)
              If set  to  on,  tilde  expansion  is  performed  when  readline
              attempts word completion.
       history-preserve-point (Off)
              If  set  to  on, the history code attempts to place point at the
              same location on each history line retrieved with  previous-his-
              tory or next-history.
       horizontal-scroll-mode (Off)
              When  set  to  On, makes readline use a single line for display,
              scrolling the input horizontally on a single screen line when it
              becomes  longer  than the screen width rather than wrapping to a
              new line.
       input-meta (Off)
              If set to On, readline will enable eight-bit input (that is,  it
              will  not  clear  the  eighth  bit  in the characters it reads),
              regardless of what the terminal claims it can support.  The name
              meta-flag is a synonym for this variable.
       isearch-terminators (``C-[ C-J'')
              The  string  of  characters that should terminate an incremental
              search without subsequently executing the character  as  a  com-
              mand.   If this variable has not been given a value, the charac-
              ters ESC and C-J will terminate an incremental search.
       keymap (emacs)
              Set the current readline keymap.  The set of legal keymap  names
              is  emacs,  emacs-standard, emacs-meta, emacs-ctlx, vi, vi-move,
              vi-command, and vi-insert.   vi  is  equivalent  to  vi-command;
              emacs  is  equivalent  to  emacs-standard.  The default value is
              emacs.  The value  of  editing-mode  also  affects  the  default
              keymap.
       mark-directories (On)
              If set to On, completed directory names have a slash appended.
       mark-modified-lines (Off)
              If  set  to  On,  history lines that have been modified are dis-
              played with a preceding asterisk (*).
       mark-symlinked-directories (Off)
              If set to On, completed names which are symbolic links to direc-
              tories   have   a  slash  appended  (subject  to  the  value  of
              mark-directories).
       match-hidden-files (On)
              This variable, when set to On, causes readline  to  match  files
              whose  names  begin  with  a  `.' (hidden files) when performing
              filename completion, unless the leading `.' is supplied  by  the
              user in the filename to be completed.
       output-meta (Off)
              If  set  to On, readline will display characters with the eighth
              bit set directly rather than as a meta-prefixed escape sequence.
       page-completions (On)
              If  set to On, readline uses an internal more-like pager to dis-
              play a screenful of possible completions at a time.
       print-completions-horizontally (Off)
              If set to On, readline will  display  completions  with  matches
              sorted  horizontally in alphabetical order, rather than down the
              screen.
       show-all-if-ambiguous (Off)
              This alters the default behavior of  the  completion  functions.
              If set to on, words which have more than one possible completion
              cause the matches to be listed immediately  instead  of  ringing
              the bell.
       show-all-if-unmodified (Off)
              This  alters the default behavior of the completion functions in
              a fashion similar to show-all-if-ambiguous.  If set to on, words
              which  have more than one possible completion without any possi-
              ble partial completion (the possible completions don't  share  a
              common  prefix)  cause  the  matches  to  be  listed immediately
              instead of ringing the bell.
       visible-stats (Off)
              If set to On, a character denoting a file's type as reported  by
              stat(2)  is  appended to the filename when listing possible com-
              pletions.

   Conditional Constructs
       Readline implements a facility similar in  spirit  to  the  conditional
       compilation  features  of  the C preprocessor which allows key bindings
       and variable settings to be performed as the result  of  tests.   There
       are four parser directives used.

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

              mode   The mode= form of the  $if  directive  is  used  to  test
                     whether  readline  is  in  emacs or vi mode.  This may be
                     used in conjunction with  the  set  keymap  command,  for
                     instance,  to  set  bindings  in  the  emacs-standard and
                     emacs-ctlx keymaps only if readline is  starting  out  in
                     emacs mode.

              term   The  term=  form may be used to include 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 = is tested against the full name of the  terminal
                     and  the portion of the terminal name before the first -.
                     This allows sun  to  match  both  sun  and  sun-cmd,  for
                     instance.

              application
                     The application construct is used to include application-
                     specific  settings.   Each  program  using  the  readline
                     library  sets the application name, and an initialization
                     file can test for a particular value.  This could be used
                     to  bind key sequences to functions useful for a specific
                     program.  For instance, the following command adds a  key
                     sequence  that  quotes  the  current  or previous word in
                     Bash:

                     $if Bash
                     # Quote the current or previous word
                     "\C-xq": "\eb\"\ef\""
                     $endif

       $endif This command, as seen in the previous example, terminates an $if
              command.

       $else  Commands in this branch of the $if directive are executed if the
              test fails.

       $include
              This directive takes a single filename as an argument and  reads
              commands  and bindings from that file.  For example, the follow-
              ing directive would read /etc/inputrc:

              $include  /etc/inputrc

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

       Incremental searches begin before the  user  has  finished  typing  the
       search  string.  As each character of the search string is typed, read-
       line 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 C-r.  Typing C-s searches forward
       through the history.  The  characters  present  in  the  value  of  the
       isearch-terminators  variable  are  used  to  terminate  an incremental
       search.  If that variable has not been assigned a value the Escape  and
       C-J characters will terminate an incremental search.  C-G will abort an
       incremental search and restore the original line.  When the  search  is
       terminated,  the history entry containing the search string becomes the
       current line.

       To find other matching entries in the history list, type C-s or C-r  as
       appropriate.   This  will search backward or forward in the history for
       the next line matching the search string typed so far.  Any  other  key
       sequence bound to a readline command will terminate the search and exe-
       cute 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.

       Non-incremental  searches read the entire search string before starting
       to search for matching history lines.  The search string may  be  typed
       by the user or be part of the contents of the current line.

EDITING COMMANDS
       The  following  is  a list of the names of the commands and the default
       key sequences to which they are bound.  Command names without an accom-
       panying key sequence are unbound by default.

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

   Commands for Moving
       beginning-of-line (C-a)
              Move to the start of the current line.
       end-of-line (C-e)
              Move to the end of the line.
       forward-char (C-f)
              Move forward a character.
       backward-char (C-b)
              Move back a character.
       forward-word (M-f)
              Move forward to the end of the next word.  Words are composed of
              alphanumeric characters (letters and digits).
       backward-word (M-b)
              Move  back  to the start of the current or previous word.  Words
              are composed of alphanumeric characters (letters and digits).
       clear-screen (C-l)
              Clear the screen leaving the current line  at  the  top  of  the
              screen.   With  an  argument,  refresh  the current line without
              clearing the screen.
       redraw-current-line
              Refresh the current line.

   Commands for Manipulating the History
       accept-line (Newline, Return)
              Accept the line regardless of where the cursor is.  If this line
              is  non-empty,  it  may  be added to the history list for future
              recall with add_history().  If the line is  a  modified  history
              line, the history line is restored to its original state.
       previous-history (C-p)
              Fetch the previous command from the history list, moving back in
              the list.
       next-history (C-n)
              Fetch the next command from the history list, moving forward  in
              the list.
       beginning-of-history (M-<)
              Move to the first line in the history.
       end-of-history (M->)
              Move  to  the end of the input history, i.e., the line currently
              being entered.
       reverse-search-history (C-r)
              Search backward starting at the current  line  and  moving  `up'
              through  the  history  as  necessary.   This  is  an incremental
              search.
       forward-search-history (C-s)
              Search forward starting at the current line  and  moving  `down'
              through  the  history  as  necessary.   This  is  an incremental
              search.
       non-incremental-reverse-search-history (M-p)
              Search backward through the history starting at the current line
              using  a  non-incremental  search  for  a string supplied by the
              user.
       non-incremental-forward-search-history (M-n)
              Search forward  through  the  history  using  a  non-incremental
              search for a string supplied by the user.
       history-search-forward
              Search  forward through the history for the string of characters
              between the start of the current line  and  the  current  cursor
              position (the point).  This is a non-incremental search.
       history-search-backward
              Search backward through the history for the string of characters
              between the start of the current line and the point.  This is  a
              non-incremental search.
       yank-nth-arg (M-C-y)
              Insert  the  first argument to the previous command (usually the
              second word on the previous line) at point.  With an argument n,
              insert  the nth word from the previous command (the words in the
              previous command  begin  with  word  0).   A  negative  argument
              inserts the nth word from the end of the previous command.  Once
              the argument n is computed, the argument is extracted as if  the
              "!n" history expansion had been specified.
       yank-last-arg (M-., M-_)
              Insert  the last argument to the previous command (the last word
              of the  previous  history  entry).   With  an  argument,  behave
              exactly  like  yank-nth-arg.   Successive calls to yank-last-arg
              move back through the history list, inserting the last  argument
              of each line in turn.  The history expansion facilities are used
              to extract the last argument, as if the "!$"  history  expansion
              had been specified.

   Commands for Changing Text
       delete-char (C-d)
              Delete  the character at point.  If point is at the beginning of
              the line, there are no characters in  the  line,  and  the  last
              character typed was not bound to delete-char, then return EOF.
       backward-delete-char (Rubout)
              Delete  the  character  behind the cursor.  When given a numeric
              argument, save the deleted text on the kill ring.
       forward-backward-delete-char
              Delete the character under the cursor, unless the cursor  is  at
              the end of the line, in which case the character behind the cur-
              sor is deleted.
       quoted-insert (C-q, C-v)
              Add the next character that you type to the line verbatim.  This
              is how to insert characters like C-q, for example.
       tab-insert (M-TAB)
              Insert a tab character.
       self-insert (a, b, A, 1, !, ...)
              Insert the character typed.
       transpose-chars (C-t)
              Drag  the  character  before point forward over the character at
              point, moving point forward as well.  If point is at the end  of
              the  line, then this transposes the two characters before point.
              Negative arguments have no effect.
       transpose-words (M-t)
              Drag the word before point past the  word  after  point,  moving
              point  over  that  word  as well.  If point is at the end of the
              line, this transposes the last two words on the line.
       upcase-word (M-u)
              Uppercase the current (or  following)  word.   With  a  negative
              argument, uppercase the previous word, but do not move point.
       downcase-word (M-l)
              Lowercase  the  current  (or  following)  word.  With a negative
              argument, lowercase the previous word, but do not move point.
       capitalize-word (M-c)
              Capitalize the current (or following)  word.   With  a  negative
              argument, capitalize the previous word, but do not move point.
       overwrite-mode
              Toggle  overwrite mode.  With an explicit positive numeric argu-
              ment, switches to overwrite mode.  With an explicit non-positive
              numeric argument, switches to insert mode.  This command affects
              only emacs mode; vi mode does overwrite differently.  Each  call
              to readline() starts in insert mode.  In overwrite mode, charac-
              ters bound to self-insert replace the text at point rather  than
              pushing  the  text  to  the  right.   Characters  bound to back-
              ward-delete-char replace  the  character  before  point  with  a
              space.  By default, this command is unbound.

   Killing and Yanking
       kill-line (C-k)
              Kill the text from point to the end of the line.
       backward-kill-line (C-x Rubout)
              Kill backward to the beginning of the line.
       unix-line-discard (C-u)
              Kill  backward  from  point  to  the beginning of the line.  The
              killed text is saved on the kill-ring.
       kill-whole-line
              Kill all characters on the current line, no matter  where  point
              is.
       kill-word (M-d)
              Kill  from  point  the  end  of  the current word, or if between
              words, to the end of the next word.   Word  boundaries  are  the
              same as those used by forward-word.
       backward-kill-word (M-Rubout)
              Kill  the  word  behind  point.  Word boundaries are the same as
              those used by backward-word.
       unix-word-rubout (C-w)
              Kill the word behind point, using white space as a  word  bound-
              ary.  The killed text is saved on the kill-ring.
       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.
       delete-horizontal-space (M-\)
              Delete all spaces and tabs around point.
       kill-region
              Kill  the  text  between  the point and mark (saved cursor posi-
              tion).  This text is referred to as the region.
       copy-region-as-kill
              Copy the text in the region to the kill buffer.
       copy-backward-word
              Copy the word before point to the kill buffer.  The word  bound-
              aries are the same as backward-word.
       copy-forward-word
              Copy  the  word  following  point  to the kill buffer.  The word
              boundaries are the same as forward-word.
       yank (C-y)
              Yank the top of the kill ring into the buffer at point.
       yank-pop (M-y)
              Rotate the kill ring, and yank the new top.  Only works  follow-
              ing yank or yank-pop.

   Numeric Arguments
       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.
       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  fol-
              lowed  by  digits,  executing  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  argu-
              ment count four, a second time makes the argument count sixteen,
              and so on.

   Completing
       complete (TAB)
              Attempt to perform completion on the  text  before  point.   The
              actual  completion performed is application-specific.  Bash, for
              instance, attempts completion treating the text  as  a  variable
              (if  the  text begins with $), username (if the text begins with
              ~), hostname (if the text begins with @), or command  (including
              aliases  and  functions)  in  turn.  If none of these produces a
              match, filename completion is  attempted.   Gdb,  on  the  other
              hand,  allows completion of program functions and variables, and
              only attempts filename completion under certain circumstances.
       possible-completions (M-?)
              List the possible completions of the text before point.
       insert-completions (M-*)
              Insert all completions of the text before point that would  have
              been generated by possible-completions.
       menu-complete
              Similar  to complete, but replaces the word to be completed with
              a single match from the list of possible completions.   Repeated
              execution  of  menu-complete  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
              bell-style) and the original text is restored.  An argument of n
              moves  n  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  TAB, but is unbound by
              default.
       delete-char-or-list
              Deletes the character under the cursor if not at  the  beginning
              or  end  of  the  line (like delete-char).  If at the end of the
              line, behaves identically to possible-completions.

   Keyboard Macros
       start-kbd-macro (C-x ()
              Begin saving the characters  typed  into  the  current  keyboard
              macro.
       end-kbd-macro (C-x ))
              Stop saving the characters typed into the current keyboard macro
              and store the definition.
       call-last-kbd-macro (C-x e)
              Re-execute the last keyboard macro defined, by making the  char-
              acters in the macro appear as if typed at the keyboard.

   Miscellaneous
       re-read-init-file (C-x C-r)
              Read  in  the  contents of the inputrc file, and incorporate any
              bindings or variable assignments found there.
       abort (C-g)
              Abort the current editing command and ring the  terminal's  bell
              (subject to the setting of bell-style).
       do-uppercase-version (M-a, M-b, M-x, ...)
              If  the  metafied character x is lowercase, run the command that
              is bound to the corresponding uppercase character.
       prefix-meta (ESC)
              Metafy the next character typed.  ESC f is equivalent to Meta-f.
       undo (C-_, C-x C-u)
              Incremental undo, separately remembered for each line.
       revert-line (M-r)
              Undo  all changes made to this line.  This is like executing the
              undo command enough times to return  the  line  to  its  initial
              state.
       tilde-expand (M-&)
              Perform tilde expansion on the current word.
       set-mark (C-@, M-<space>)
              Set  the  mark to the point.  If a numeric argument is supplied,
              the mark is set to that position.
       exchange-point-and-mark (C-x C-x)
              Swap the point with the mark.  The current  cursor  position  is
              set  to the saved position, and the old cursor position is saved
              as the mark.
       character-search (C-])
              A character is read and point is moved to the next occurrence of
              that  character.   A negative count searches for previous occur-
              rences.
       character-search-backward (M-C-])
              A character is read and point is moved to  the  previous  occur-
              rence  of  that character.  A negative count searches for subse-
              quent occurrences.
       insert-comment (M-#)
              Without a numeric argument,  the  value  of  the  readline  com-
              ment-begin  variable is inserted at the beginning of the current
              line.  If a numeric argument is supplied, this command acts as a
              toggle:   if  the characters at the beginning of the line do not
              match the value of comment-begin, the value is inserted,  other-
              wise the characters in comment-begin are deleted from the begin-
              ning of the line.  In either case, the line is accepted as if  a
              newline  had  been  typed.   The  default value of comment-begin
              makes the current line a shell comment.  If a  numeric  argument
              causes  the  comment  character  to be removed, the line will be
              executed by the shell.
       dump-functions
              Print all of the functions and their key bindings to  the  read-
              line output stream.  If a numeric argument is supplied, the out-
              put is formatted in such a way that it can be made  part  of  an
              inputrc file.
       dump-variables
              Print  all  of  the  settable  variables and their 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
              inputrc file.
       dump-macros
              Print all of the readline key sequences bound to macros and  the
              strings  they  output.   If  a numeric argument is supplied, the
              output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part of an
              inputrc file.
       emacs-editing-mode (C-e)
              When  in  vi command mode, this causes a switch to emacs editing
              mode.
       vi-editing-mode (M-C-j)
              When in emacs editing mode, this causes a switch to  vi  editing
              mode.

DEFAULT KEY BINDINGS
       The  following is a list of the default emacs and vi bindings.  Charac-
       ters with the eighth bit set are  written  as  M-<character>,  and  are
       referred to as metafied characters.  The printable ASCII characters not
       mentioned in the list of emacs  standard  bindings  are  bound  to  the
       self-insert  function,  which just inserts the given character into the
       input line.  In vi insertion mode, all characters not specifically men-
       tioned are bound to self-insert.  Characters assigned to signal genera-
       tion by stty(1) or the terminal driver, such as C-Z or C-C, retain that
       function.   Upper  and  lower case metafied characters are bound to the
       same function in the emacs mode meta keymap.  The remaining  characters
       are  unbound,  which  causes  readline to ring the bell (subject to the
       setting of the bell-style variable).

   Emacs Mode
             Emacs Standard bindings

             "C-@"  set-mark
             "C-A"  beginning-of-line
             "C-B"  backward-char
             "C-D"  delete-char
             "C-E"  end-of-line
             "C-F"  forward-char
             "C-G"  abort
             "C-H"  backward-delete-char
             "C-I"  complete
             "C-J"  accept-line
             "C-K"  kill-line
             "C-L"  clear-screen
             "C-M"  accept-line
             "C-N"  next-history
             "C-P"  previous-history
             "C-Q"  quoted-insert
             "C-R"  reverse-search-history
             "C-S"  forward-search-history
             "C-T"  transpose-chars
             "C-U"  unix-line-discard
             "C-V"  quoted-insert
             "C-W"  unix-word-rubout
             "C-Y"  yank
             "C-]"  character-search
             "C-_"  undo
             " " to "/"  self-insert
             "0"  to "9"  self-insert
             ":"  to "~"  self-insert
             "C-?"  backward-delete-char

             Emacs Meta bindings

             "M-C-G"  abort
             "M-C-H"  backward-kill-word
             "M-C-I"  tab-insert
             "M-C-J"  vi-editing-mode
             "M-C-M"  vi-editing-mode
             "M-C-R"  revert-line
             "M-C-Y"  yank-nth-arg
             "M-C-["  complete
             "M-C-]"  character-search-backward
             "M-space"  set-mark
             "M-#"  insert-comment
             "M-&"  tilde-expand
             "M-*"  insert-completions
             "M--"  digit-argument
             "M-."  yank-last-arg
             "M-0"  digit-argument
             "M-1"  digit-argument
             "M-2"  digit-argument
             "M-3"  digit-argument
             "M-4"  digit-argument
             "M-5"  digit-argument
             "M-6"  digit-argument
             "M-7"  digit-argument
             "M-8"  digit-argument
             "M-9"  digit-argument
             "M-<"  beginning-of-history
             "M-="  possible-completions
             "M->"  end-of-history
             "M-?"  possible-completions
             "M-B"  backward-word
             "M-C"  capitalize-word
             "M-D"  kill-word
             "M-F"  forward-word
             "M-L"  downcase-word
             "M-N"  non-incremental-forward-search-history
             "M-P"  non-incremental-reverse-search-history
             "M-R"  revert-line
             "M-T"  transpose-words
             "M-U"  upcase-word
             "M-Y"  yank-pop
             "M-\"  delete-horizontal-space
             "M-~"  tilde-expand
             "M-C-?"  backward-kill-word
             "M-_"  yank-last-arg

             Emacs Control-X bindings

             "C-XC-G"  abort
             "C-XC-R"  re-read-init-file
             "C-XC-U"  undo
             "C-XC-X"  exchange-point-and-mark
             "C-X("  start-kbd-macro
             "C-X)"  end-kbd-macro
             "C-XE"  call-last-kbd-macro
             "C-XC-?"  backward-kill-line


   VI Mode bindings
             VI Insert Mode functions

             "C-D"  vi-eof-maybe
             "C-H"  backward-delete-char
             "C-I"  complete
             "C-J"  accept-line
             "C-M"  accept-line
             "C-R"  reverse-search-history
             "C-S"  forward-search-history
             "C-T"  transpose-chars
             "C-U"  unix-line-discard
             "C-V"  quoted-insert
             "C-W"  unix-word-rubout
             "C-Y"  yank
             "C-["  vi-movement-mode
             "C-_"  undo
             " " to "~"  self-insert
             "C-?"  backward-delete-char

             VI Command Mode functions

             "C-D"  vi-eof-maybe
             "C-E"  emacs-editing-mode
             "C-G"  abort
             "C-H"  backward-char
             "C-J"  accept-line
             "C-K"  kill-line
             "C-L"  clear-screen
             "C-M"  accept-line
             "C-N"  next-history
             "C-P"  previous-history
             "C-Q"  quoted-insert
             "C-R"  reverse-search-history
             "C-S"  forward-search-history
             "C-T"  transpose-chars
             "C-U"  unix-line-discard
             "C-V"  quoted-insert
             "C-W"  unix-word-rubout
             "C-Y"  yank
             "C-_"  vi-undo
             " "  forward-char
             "#"  insert-comment
             "$"  end-of-line
             "%"  vi-match
             "&"  vi-tilde-expand
             "*"  vi-complete
             "+"  next-history
             ","  vi-char-search
             "-"  previous-history
             "."  vi-redo
             "/"  vi-search
             "0"  beginning-of-line
             "1" to "9"  vi-arg-digit
             ";"  vi-char-search
             "="  vi-complete
             "?"  vi-search
             "A"  vi-append-eol
             "B"  vi-prev-word
             "C"  vi-change-to
             "D"  vi-delete-to
             "E"  vi-end-word
             "F"  vi-char-search
             "G"  vi-fetch-history
             "I"  vi-insert-beg
             "N"  vi-search-again
             "P"  vi-put
             "R"  vi-replace
             "S"  vi-subst
             "T"  vi-char-search
             "U"  revert-line
             "W"  vi-next-word
             "X"  backward-delete-char
             "Y"  vi-yank-to
             "\"  vi-complete
             "^"  vi-first-print
             "_"  vi-yank-arg
             "`"  vi-goto-mark
             "a"  vi-append-mode
             "b"  vi-prev-word
             "c"  vi-change-to
             "d"  vi-delete-to
             "e"  vi-end-word
             "f"  vi-char-search
             "h"  backward-char
             "i"  vi-insertion-mode
             "j"  next-history
             "k"  prev-history
             "l"  forward-char
             "m"  vi-set-mark
             "n"  vi-search-again
             "p"  vi-put
             "r"  vi-change-char
             "s"  vi-subst
             "t"  vi-char-search
             "u"  vi-undo
             "w"  vi-next-word
             "x"  vi-delete
             "y"  vi-yank-to
             "|"  vi-column
             "~"  vi-change-case

SEE ALSO
       The Gnu Readline Library, Brian Fox and Chet Ramey
       The Gnu History Library, Brian Fox and Chet Ramey
       bash(1)

FILES
       ~/.inputrc
              Individual readline initialization file

AUTHORS
       Brian Fox, Free Software Foundation
       bfox@gnu.org

       Chet Ramey, Case Western Reserve University
       chet@ins.CWRU.Edu

BUG REPORTS
       If you find a bug in readline, you should report it.   But  first,  you
       should  make  sure  that it really is a bug, and that it appears in the
       latest version of the readline library that you have.

       Once you have determined that a bug actually exists, mail a bug  report
       to  bug-readline@gnu.org.   If  you have a fix, you are welcome to mail
       that as well!  Suggestions  and  `philosophical'  bug  reports  may  be
       mailed  to  bug-readline@gnu.org  or  posted  to  the  Usenet newsgroup
       gnu.bash.bug.

       Comments and bug reports concerning this manual page should be directed
       to chet@ins.CWRU.Edu.

BUGS
       It's too big and too slow.



GNU Readline 5.2                  2006 Apr 26                      READLINE(3)
