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 READLINE(3)                  GNU Readline 6.2                   READLINE(3)
                               2010 August 28



 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) 1989-2011 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



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      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
      universal-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
      specified 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



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 READLINE(3)                  GNU Readline 6.2                   READLINE(3)
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      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
      specifying key sequences is
           \C-  control prefix
           \M-  meta prefix
           \e   an escape character
           \\   backslash
           \"   literal ", a double quote
           \'   literal ', a single quote

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

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

      Bash allows the current readline key bindings to be displayed or
      modified with the bind builtin command.  The editing mode may be
      switched during interactive use by using the -o option to the set
      builtin command.  Other programs using this library provide similar



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      mechanisms.  The inputrc file may be edited and re-read if a program
      does not provide any other means to incorporate new bindings.

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

           set variable-name value

      Except where noted, readline variables can take the values On or Off
      (without regard to case).  Unrecognized variable names are ignored.
      When a variable value is read, empty or null values, "on" (case-
      insensitive), 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
           readline 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-display-width (-1)
           The number of screen columns used to display possible matches
           when performing completion.  The value is ignored if it is less
           than 0 or greater than the terminal screen width.  A value of 0
           will cause matches to be displayed one per line.  The default
           value is -1.
      completion-ignore-case (Off)
           If set to On, readline performs filename matching and completion
           in a case-insensitive fashion.
      completion-map-case (Off)
           If set to On, and completion-ignore-case is enabled, readline
           treats hyphens (-) and underscores (_) as equivalent when
           performing case-insensitive filename matching and completion.
      completion-prefix-display-length (0)
           The length in characters of the common prefix of a list of
           possible completions that is displayed without modification.
           When set to a value greater than zero, common prefixes longer
           than this value are replaced with an ellipsis when displaying
           possible completions.
      completion-query-items (100)
           This determines when the user is queried about viewing the number
           of possible completions generated by the possible-completions



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           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
           similar to Emacs or vi.  editing-mode can be set to either emacs
           or vi.
      echo-control-characters (On)
           When set to On, on operating systems that indicate they support
           it, readline echoes a character corresponding to a signal
           generated from the keyboard.
      enable-keypad (Off)
           When set to On, readline will try to enable the application
           keypad when it is called.  Some systems need this to enable the
           arrow keys.
      enable-meta-key (On)
           When set to On, readline will try to enable any meta modifier key
           the terminal claims to support when it is called.  On many
           terminals, the meta key is used to send eight-bit characters.
      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-
           history or next-history.
      history-size (0)
           Set the maximum number of history entries saved in the history
           list.  If set to zero, the number of entries in the history list
           is not limited.
      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



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           meta-flag is a synonym for this variable.
      isearch-terminators (``C-[ C-J'')
           The string of characters that should terminate an incremental
           search without subsequently executing the character as a command.
           If this variable has not been given a value, the characters ESC
           and C-J will terminate an incremental search.
      keymap (emacs)
           Set the current readline keymap.  The set of legal keymap names
           is emacs, emacs-standard, emacs-meta, emacs-ctlx, vi, vi-move,
           vi-command, and vi-insert.  vi is equivalent to vi-command; emacs
           is equivalent to emacs-standard.  The default value is emacs.
           The value of editing-mode also affects the default keymap.
      mark-directories (On)
           If set to On, completed directory names have a slash appended.
      mark-modified-lines (Off)
           If set to On, history lines that have been modified are displayed
           with a preceding asterisk (*).
      mark-symlinked-directories (Off)
           If set to On, completed names which are symbolic links to
           directories 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.  If set to Off, the leading `.' must be
           supplied by the user in the filename to be completed.
      menu-complete-display-prefix (Off)
           If set to On, menu completion displays the common prefix of the
           list of possible completions (which may be empty) before cycling
           through the list.
      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
           display 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.
      revert-all-at-newline (Off)
           If set to On, readline will undo all changes to history lines
           before returning when accept-line is executed.  By default,
           history lines may be modified and retain individual undo lists
           across calls to readline.
      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.




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      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 possible
           partial completion (the possible completions don't share a common
           prefix) cause the matches to be listed immediately instead of
           ringing the bell.
      skip-completed-text (Off)
           If set to On, this alters the default completion behavior when
           inserting a single match into the line.  It's only active when
           performing completion in the middle of a word.  If enabled,
           readline does not insert characters from the completion that
           match characters after point in the word being completed, so
           portions of the word following the cursor are not duplicated.
      visible-stats (Off)
           If set to On, a character denoting a file's type as reported by
           stat(2) is appended to the filename when listing possible
           completions.

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

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

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

           term The term= form may be used to include 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:



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                $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 following
           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,
      readline displays the next entry from the history matching the string
      typed so far.  An incremental search requires only as many characters
      as needed to find the desired history entry.  To search backward in
      the history for a particular string, type 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
      execute that command.  For instance, a newline will terminate the
      search and accept the line, thereby executing the command from the
      history list.  A movement command will terminate the search, make the
      last line found the current line, and begin editing.

      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.



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 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
      accompanying key sequence are unbound by default.

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

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



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           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 a numeric argument, behave
           exactly like yank-nth-arg.  Successive calls to yank-last-arg
           move back through the history list, inserting the last word (or
           the word specified by the argument to the first call) of each
           line in turn.  Any numeric argument supplied to these successive
           calls determines the direction to move through the history.  A
           negative argument switches the direction through the history
           (back or forward).  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
           cursor is deleted.



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      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
           argument, 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, characters bound to self-insert replace the text at point
           rather than pushing the text to the right.  Characters bound to
           backward-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.



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

    Numeric Arguments
      digit-argument (M-0, M-1, ..., M--)
           Add this digit to the argument already 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
           followed 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 argument
           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



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                               2010 August 28



           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.  When
           displaying completions, readline sets the number of columns used
           for display to the value of completion-display-width, the value
           of the environment variable COLUMNS, or the screen width, in that
           order.
      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.
      menu-complete-backward
           Identical to menu-complete, but moves backward through the list
           of possible completions, as if menu-complete had been given a
           negative argument.  This command 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
           characters 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.




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      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
           occurrences.
      character-search-backward (M-C-])
           A character is read and point is moved to the previous occurrence
           of that character.  A negative count searches for subsequent
           occurrences.
      skip-csi-sequence
           Read enough characters to consume a multi-key sequence such as
           those defined for keys like Home and End.  Such sequences begin
           with a Control Sequence Indicator (CSI), usually ESC-[.  If this
           sequence is bound to "\[", keys producing such sequences will
           have no effect unless explicitly bound to a readline command,
           instead of inserting stray characters into the editing buffer.
           This is unbound by default, but usually bound to ESC-[.
      insert-comment (M-#)
           Without a numeric argument, the value of the readline
           comment-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,
           otherwise the characters in comment-begin are deleted from the
           beginning 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.



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      dump-functions
           Print all of the functions and their key bindings to the readline
           output stream.  If a numeric argument is supplied, the output is
           formatted in such a way that it can be made part of an 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.
      Characters with the eighth bit set are written as M-<character>, and
      are referred to as metafied characters.  The printable ASCII
      characters not mentioned in the list of emacs standard bindings are
      bound to the self-insert function, which just inserts the given
      character into the input line.  In vi insertion mode, all characters
      not specifically mentioned are bound to self-insert.  Characters
      assigned to signal generation 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



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                               2010 August 28



            "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



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            "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



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                               2010 August 28



            "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



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            "_"  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



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                               2010 August 28



      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.















































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