EDITLINE(7edit) LOCAL EDITLINE(7edit)
NAME
editline — line editing user interface
DESCRIPTION
When a program using the editline(3edit) library prompts for an input
string using the function el_wgets(3), it reads characters from the
terminal. Invalid input bytes that do not form characters are silently
discarded. For each character read, one editor command is executed.
The mapping of input characters to editor commands depends on the edit-
ing mode. There are three editing modes: vi insert mode, vi command
mode, and emacs mode. The default is vi insert mode. The program can
switch the default to emacs mode by using the el_set(3) or el_parse(3)
functions, and the user can switch to emacs mode either in the
editrc(5edit) configuration file or interactively with the ed-command
editor command, in all three cases executing the bind -e builtin com-
mand.
If trying to read from the terminal results in end of file or an error,
the library signals end of file to the program and does not return a
string.
Input character bindings
All default bindings described below can be overridden by individual
programs and can be changed with the editrc(5edit) bind builtin com-
mand.
In the following tables, ‘Ctrl-’ indicates a character with the bit
0x40 flipped, and ‘Meta-’ indicates a character with the bit 0x80 set.
In vi insert mode and in emacs mode, all Meta-characters considered
printable by the current locale(1) are bound to ed-insert instead of to
the editor command listed below. Consequently, in UTF-8 mode, most of
the Meta-characters are not directly accessible because their code
points are occupied by printable Unicode characters, and Meta-charac-
ters are usually input using the em-meta-next editor command. For ex-
ample, to enter ‘Meta-B’ in order to call the ed-prev-word editor com-
mand in emacs mode, call em-meta-next by pressing and releasing the es-
cape key (or equivalently, Ctrl-[), then press and release the ‘B’ key.
If you have configured a Meta-key on your keyboard, for example with
‘setxkbmap -option altwin:left_meta_win’, the Ctrl-Meta-characters are
directly accessible. For example, to enter ‘Ctrl-Meta-H’ in order to
call the ed-delete-prev-word editor command in emacs mode, hold down
the keys ‘Ctrl’, ‘Meta’, and ‘H’ at the same time. Alternatively,
press and release the escape key, then press and release ‘Ctrl-H’.
In vi input mode, input characters are bound to the following editor
commands by default:
Ctrl-D, EOF vi-list-or-eof
Ctrl-H, BS vi-delete-prev-char
Ctrl-J, LF ed-newline
Ctrl-M, CR ed-newline
Ctrl-Q ed-tty-start-output
Ctrl-S ed-tty-stop-output
Ctrl-U vi-kill-line-prev
Ctrl-V ed-quoted-insert
Ctrl-W ed-delete-prev-word
Ctrl-[, ESC vi-command-mode
Ctrl-\, QUIT ed-tty-sigquit
Ctrl-?, DEL vi-delete-prev-char
All other input characters except the NUL character (Ctrl-@) are bound
to ed-insert.
In vi command mode, input characters are bound to the following editor
commands by default:
Ctrl-A ed-move-to-beg
Ctrl-C, INT ed-tty-sigint
Ctrl-E ed-move-to-end
Ctrl-H, BS ed-delete-prev-char
Ctrl-J, LF ed-newline
Ctrl-K ed-kill-line
Ctrl-L, FF ed-clear-screen
Ctrl-M, CR ed-newline
Ctrl-N ed-next-history
Ctrl-O ed-tty-flush-output
Ctrl-P ed-prev-history
Ctrl-Q ed-tty-start-output
Ctrl-R ed-redisplay
Ctrl-S ed-tty-stop-output
Ctrl-U vi-kill-line-prev
Ctrl-W ed-delete-prev-word
Ctrl-[, ESC em-meta-next
Ctrl-\, QUIT ed-tty-sigquit
Space ed-next-char
# vi-comment-out
$ ed-move-to-end
% vi-match
+ ed-next-history
, vi-repeat-prev-char
- ed-prev-history
. vi-redo
/ vi-search-prev
0 vi-zero
1 to 9 ed-argument-digit
: ed-command
; vi-repeat-next-char
? vi-search-next
@ vi-alias
A vi-add-at-eol
B vi-prev-big-word
C vi-change-to-eol
D ed-kill-line
E vi-end-big-word
F vi-prev-char
G vi-to-history-line
I vi-insert-at-bol
J ed-search-next-history
K ed-search-prev-history
N vi-repeat-search-prev
O ed-sequence-lead-in
P vi-paste-prev
R vi-replace-mode
S vi-substitute-line
T vi-to-prev-char
U vi-undo-line
W vi-next-big-word
X ed-delete-prev-char
Y vi-yank-end
[ ed-sequence-lead-in
^ ed-move-to-beg
_ vi-history-word
a vi-add
b vi-prev-word
c vi-change-meta
d vi-delete-meta
e vi-end-word
f vi-next-char
h ed-prev-char
i vi-insert
j ed-next-history
k ed-prev-history
l ed-next-char
n vi-repeat-search-next
p vi-paste-next
r vi-replace-char
s vi-substitute-char
t vi-to-next-char
u vi-undo
v vi-histedit
w vi-next-word
x ed-delete-next-char
y vi-yank
| vi-to-column
~ vi-change-case
Ctrl-?, DEL ed-delete-prev-char
Meta-O ed-sequence-lead-in
Meta-[ ed-sequence-lead-in
In emacs mode, input characters are bound to the following editor com-
mands by default:
0 to 9 ed-digit
Ctrl-@, NUL em-set-mark
Ctrl-A ed-move-to-beg
Ctrl-B ed-prev-char
Ctrl-C, INT ed-tty-sigint
Ctrl-D, EOF em-delete-or-list
Ctrl-E ed-move-to-end
Ctrl-F ed-next-char
Ctrl-H, BS em-delete-prev-char
Ctrl-J, LF ed-newline
Ctrl-K ed-kill-line
Ctrl-L, FF ed-clear-screen
Ctrl-M, CR ed-newline
Ctrl-N ed-next-history
Ctrl-O ed-tty-flush-output
Ctrl-P ed-prev-history
Ctrl-Q ed-tty-start-output
Ctrl-R ed-redisplay
Ctrl-S ed-tty-stop-output
Ctrl-T ed-transpose-chars
Ctrl-U ed-kill-line
Ctrl-V ed-quoted-insert
Ctrl-W em-kill-region
Ctrl-X ed-sequence-lead-in
Ctrl-Y em-yank
Ctrl-Z, TSTP ed-tty-sigtstp
Ctrl-[, ESC em-meta-next
Ctrl-\, QUIT ed-tty-sigquit
Ctrl-] ed-tty-dsusp
Ctrl-?, DEL em-delete-prev-char
Ctrl-Meta-H ed-delete-prev-word
Ctrl-Meta-L ed-clear-screen
Ctrl-Meta-_ em-copy-prev-word
Meta-0 to 9 ed-argument-digit
Meta-B ed-prev-word
Meta-C em-capitol-case
Meta-D em-delete-next-word
Meta-F em-next-word
Meta-L em-lower-case
Meta-N ed-search-next-history
Meta-O ed-sequence-lead-in
Meta-P ed-search-prev-history
Meta-U em-upper-case
Meta-W em-copy-region
Meta-X ed-command
Meta-[ ed-sequence-lead-in
Meta-b ed-prev-word
Meta-c em-capitol-case
Meta-d em-delete-next-word
Meta-f em-next-word
Meta-l em-lower-case
Meta-n ed-search-next-history
Meta-p ed-search-prev-history
Meta-u em-upper-case
Meta-w em-copy-region
Meta-x ed-command
Ctrl-Meta-? ed-delete-prev-word
The remaining ascii(7) characters in the range 0x20 to 0x7e are bound
to ed-insert.
If standard output is not connected to a terminal device or el_set(3)
was used to set EL_EDITMODE to 0, all input character bindings are dis-
abled and all characters typed are appended to the edit buffer. In
that case, the edit buffer is returned to the program after a newline
or carriage return character is typed, or after the first character
typed if el_set(3) was used to set EL_UNBUFFERED to non-zero.
Editor commands
Most editor commands accept an optional argument. The argument is en-
tered by prefixing the editor command with one or more of the editor
commands ed-argument-digit, ed-digit, em-universal-argument, or
vi-zero. When an argument is not provided, it defaults to 1. For most
editor commands, the effect of an argument is to repeatedly execute the
command that number of times.
When talking about a character string from a left character to a right
character, the left character is included in the string, while the
right character is not included.
If an editor command causes an error, the input character is discarded,
no action occurs, and the terminal bell is rung. In case of a non-fa-
tal error, the terminal bell is also rung, but the editor command takes
effect anyway.
In the following list, the default key bindings are listed after each
editor command.
ed-argument-digit (vi command: 1 to 9; emacs: Meta-0 to Meta-9)
If in argument input mode, append the input digit to the argument
being read. Otherwise, switch to argument input mode and use the
input digit as the most significant digit of the argument. It is
an error if the input character is not a digit or if the existing
argument is already greater than a million.
ed-clear-screen (vi command: Ctrl-L; emacs: Ctrl-L, Ctrl-Meta-L)
Clear the screen and display the edit buffer at the top. Ignore
any argument.
ed-command (vi command: ‘:’; emacs: Meta-X, Meta-x)
Read a line from the terminal bypassing the normal line editing
functionality and execute that line as an editrc(5edit) builtin
command. If in vi command mode, also switch back to vi insert
mode. Ignore any argument.
ed-delete-next-char (vi command: x)
Delete the character at the cursor position. With an argument,
delete that number of characters. In emacs mode, it is an error
if the cursor is at the end of the edit buffer. In vi mode, the
last character in the edit buffer is deleted in that case, and it
is an error if the buffer is empty.
ed-delete-prev-char (vi command: X, Ctrl-H, BS, Ctrl-?, DEL)
Delete the character to the left of the cursor position. With an
argument, delete that number of characters. It is an error if
the cursor is at the beginning of the edit buffer.
ed-delete-prev-word (vi: Ctrl-W; emacs: Ctrl-Meta-H, Ctrl-Meta-?)
Move to the left to the closest beginning of a word, delete the
string from that position to the cursor, and save it to the cut
buffer. With an argument, delete that number of words. It is an
error if the cursor is at the beginning of the edit buffer.
ed-digit (emacs: 0 to 9)
If in argument input mode, append the input digit to the argument
being read. Otherwise, call ed-insert. It is an error if the
input character is not a digit or if the existing argument is al-
ready greater than a million.
ed-end-of-file (not bound by default)
Discard the edit buffer and indicate end of file to the program.
Ignore any argument.
ed-ignore (various)
Discard the input character and do nothing.
ed-insert (vi input: almost all; emacs: printable characters)
In insert mode, insert the input character left of the cursor po-
sition. In replace mode, overwrite the character at the cursor
and move the cursor to the right by one character position. Ac-
cept an argument to do this repeatedly. It is an error if the
input character is the NUL character (Ctrl-@). Failure to en-
large the edit buffer also results in an error.
ed-kill-line (vi command: D, Ctrl-K; emacs: Ctrl-K, Ctrl-U)
Delete the string from the cursor position to the end of the line
and save it to the cut buffer. Ignore any argument.
ed-move-to-beg (vi command: ^, Ctrl-A; emacs: Ctrl-A)
In vi mode, move the cursor to the first non-space character in
the edit buffer. In emacs mode, move the cursor to the beginning
of the edit buffer. Ignore any argument. Can be used as a move-
ment command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank.
ed-move-to-end (vi command: $, Ctrl-E; emacs: Ctrl-E)
Move the cursor to the end of the edit buffer. Ignore any argu-
ment. Can be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank.
ed-newline (all modes: Ctrl-J, LF, Ctrl-M, CR)
Append a newline character to the edit buffer and return the edit
buffer to the program. Ignore any argument.
ed-next-char (vi command: Space, l; emacs: Ctrl-F)
Move the cursor one character position to the right. With an ar-
gument, move by that number of characters. Can be used as a
movement command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or
vi_yank. It is an error if the cursor is already at the end of
the edit buffer.
ed-next-history (vi command: j, +, Ctrl-N; emacs: Ctrl-N)
Replace the edit buffer with the next history line. That line is
older than the current line. With an argument, go forward by
that number of history lines. It is a non-fatal error to advance
by more lines than are available.
ed-next-line (not bound by default)
Move the cursor down one line. With an argument, move down by
that number of lines. It is an error if the edit buffer does not
contain enough newline characters to the right of the cursor po-
sition.
ed-prev-char (vi command: h; emacs: Ctrl-B)
Move the cursor one character position to the left. With an ar-
gument, move by that number of characters. Can be used as a
movement command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or
vi_yank. It is an error if the cursor is already at the begin-
ning of the edit buffer.
ed-prev-history (vi command: k, -, Ctrl-P; emacs: Ctrl-P)
Replace the edit buffer with the previous history line. That
line is newer than the current line. With an argument, go back
by that number of lines. It is a non-fatal error to back up by
more lines than are available.
ed-prev-line (not bound by default)
Move the cursor up one line. With an argument, move up by that
number of lines. It is an error if the edit buffer does not con-
tain enough newline characters to the left of the cursor posi-
tion.
ed-prev-word (emacs: Meta-B, Meta-b)
Move the cursor to the left to the closest beginning of a word.
With an argument, repeat that number of times. Can be used as a
movement command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or
vi_yank. It is an error if the cursor is already at the begin-
ning of the edit buffer.
ed-quoted-insert (vi insert, emacs: Ctrl-V)
Read one character from the terminal bypassing the normal line
editing functionality and call ed-insert on it. If trying to
read the character returns end of file or an error, call
ed-end-of-file instead.
ed-redisplay (vi command, emacs: Ctrl-R)
Redisplay everything. Ignore any argument.
ed-search-next-history (vi command: J; emacs: Meta-N, Meta-n)
Replace the edit buffer with the next matching history entry.
ed-search-prev-history (vi command: K; emacs: Meta-P, Meta-p)
Replace the edit buffer with the previous matching history entry.
ed-sequence-lead-in (vi cmd: O, [; emacs: Ctrl-X; both: Meta-O, Meta-[)
Call a macro. See the section about “Macros” below for details.
ed-start-over (not bound by default)
Discard the contents of the edit buffer and start from scratch.
Ignore any argument.
ed-transpose-chars (emacs: Ctrl-T)
Exchange the character at the cursor position with the one to the
left of it and move the cursor to the character to the right of
the two exchanged characters. Ignore any argument. It is an er-
ror if the cursor is at the beginning of the edit buffer or if
the edit buffer contains less than two characters.
ed-unassigned (all characters not listed)
This editor command always results in an error.
em-capitol-case (emacs: Meta-C, Meta-c)
Capitalize the string from the cursor to the end of the current
word. That is, if it contains at least one alphabetic character,
convert the first alphabetic character to upper case, and convert
all characters to the right of it to lower case. In any case,
move the cursor to the next character after the end of the cur-
rent word.
em-copy-prev-word (emacs: Ctrl-Meta-_)
Copy the string from the beginning of the current word to the
cursor and insert it to the left of the cursor. Move the cursor
to the character after the inserted string. It is an error if
the cursor is at the beginning of the edit buffer.
em-copy-region (emacs: Meta-W, Meta-w)
Copy the string from the cursor to the mark to the cut buffer.
It is an error if the mark is not set.
em-delete-next-word (emacs: Meta-D, Meta-d)
Delete the string from the cursor to the end of the current word
and save it to the cut buffer. It is an error if the cursor is
at the end of the edit buffer.
em-delete-or-list (emacs: Ctrl-D, EOF)
If the cursor is not at the end of the line, delete the character
at the cursor. If the edit buffer is empty, indicate end of file
to the program. It is an error if the cursor is at the end of
the edit buffer and the edit buffer is not empty.
em-delete-prev-char (emacs: Ctrl-H, BS, Ctrl-?, DEL)
Delete the character to the left of the cursor. It is an error
if the cursor is at the beginning of the edit buffer.
em-exchange-mark (not bound by default)
Exchange the cursor and the mark.
em-gosmacs-transpose (not bound by default)
Exchange the two characters to the left of the cursor. It is an
error if the cursor is on the first or second character of the
edit buffer.
em-inc-search-next (not bound by default)
Emacs incremental next search.
em-inc-search-prev (not bound by default)
Emacs incremental reverse search.
em-kill-line (not bound by default)
Delete the entire contents of the edit buffer and save it to the
cut buffer.
em-kill-region (emacs: Ctrl-W)
Delete the string from the cursor to the mark and save it to the
cut buffer. It is an error if the mark is not set.
em-lower-case (emacs: Meta-L, Meta-l)
Convert the characters from the cursor to the end of the current
word to lower case.
em-meta-next (vi command, emacs: Ctrl-[, ESC)
Set the bit 0x80 on the next character typed. Unless the result-
ing code point is printable, holding down the ‘Meta-’ key while
typing that character is a simpler way to achieve the same ef-
fect.
em-next-word (Meta-F, Meta-f)
Move the cursor to the end of the current word. Can be used as a
movement command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or
vi_yank. It is an error if the cursor is already at the end of
the edit buffer.
em-set-mark (emacs: Ctrl-Q, NUL)
Set the mark at the current cursor position.
em-toggle-overwrite (not bound by default)
Switch from insert to overwrite mode or vice versa.
em-universal-argument (not bound by default)
If in argument input mode, multiply the argument by 4. Other-
wise, switch to argument input mode and set the argument to 4.
It is an error if the existing argument is already greater than a
million.
em-upper-case (emacs: Meta-U, Meta-u)
Convert the characters from the cursor to the end of the current
word to upper case.
em-yank (emacs: Ctrl-Y)
Paste the cut buffer to the left of the cursor.
vi-add (vi command: a)
Switch to vi insert mode. Unless the cursor is already at the
end of the edit buffer, move it one character position to the
right.
vi-add-at-eol (vi command: A)
Switch to vi insert mode and move the cursor to the end of the
edit buffer.
vi-alias (vi command: @)
If an alias function was defined by calling the el_set(3) or
el_wset(3) function with the argument EL_ALIAS_TEXT, read one
character from the terminal bypassing the normal line editing
functionality, call the alias function passing the argument that
was specified with EL_ALIAS_TEXT as the first argument and the
character read, with an underscore prepended, as the second argu-
ment, and pass the string returned from the alias function to
el_wpush(3). It is an error if no alias function is defined or
if trying to read the character results in end of file or an er-
ror.
vi-change-case (vi command: ~)
Change the case of the character at the cursor and move the cur-
sor one character position to the right. It is an error if the
cursor is already at the end of the edit buffer.
vi-change-meta (vi command: c)
Delete the string from the cursor to the position specified by
the following movement command and save a copy of it to the cut
buffer. When given twice in a row, instead delete the whole con-
tents of the edit buffer and save a copy of it to the cut buffer.
In either case, switch to vi insert mode after that.
vi-change-to-eol (vi command: C)
Delete the string from the cursor position to the end of the line
and save it to the cut buffer, then switch to vi insert mode.
vi-command-mode (vi insert: Ctrl-[, ESC)
Discard pending actions and arguments and switch to vi command
mode. Unless the cursor is already at the beginning of the edit
buffer, move it to the left by one character position.
vi-comment-out (vi command: #)
Insert a ‘#’ character at the beginning of the edit buffer and
return the edit buffer to the program.
vi-delete-meta (vi command: d)
Delete the string from the cursor to the position specified by
the following movement command and save a copy of it to the cut
buffer. When given twice in a row, instead delete the whole con-
tents of the edit buffer and save a copy of it to the cut buffer.
vi-delete-prev-char (vi insert: Ctrl-H, BS, Ctrl-?, DEL)
Delete the character to the left of the cursor. It is an error
if the cursor is already at the beginning of the edit buffer.
vi-end-big-word (vi command: E)
Move the cursor to the end of the current space delimited word.
Can be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank. It is an error if the cursor is al-
ready at the end of the edit buffer.
vi-end-word (vi command: e)
Move the cursor to the end of the current word. Can be used as a
movement command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or
vi_yank. It is an error if the cursor is already at the end of
the edit buffer.
vi-history-word (vi command: _)
Insert the first word from the most recent history entry after
the cursor, move the cursor after to the character after the in-
serted word, and switch to vi insert mode. It is an error if
there is no history entry or the most recent history entry is
empty.
vi-insert (vi command: i)
Enter insert mode.
vi-insert-at-bol (vi command: I)
Move the cursor to the beginning of the edit buffer and switch to
vi insert mode.
vi-kill-line-prev (vi: Ctrl-U)
Delete the string from the beginning of the edit buffer to the
cursor and save it to the cut buffer.
vi-list-or-eof (vi insert: Ctrl-D, EOF)
If the edit buffer is empty, indicate end of file to the program.
It is an error if the edit buffer is not empty.
vi-match (vi command: %)
Consider opening and closing parentheses, braces, and brackets as
delimiters. If the cursor is not at a delimiter, move it to the
right until it gets to one, then move it to the matching delim-
iter. Can be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank. It is an error if there is no delim-
iter at the cursor or in the string to the right of the cursor,
or if the first such delimiter has no matching delimiter.
vi-next-big-word (vi command: W)
Move the cursor to the right to the beginning of the next space
delimited word. Can be used as a movement command after
vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank. It is an error if
the cursor is already at the end of the edit buffer or on its
last character.
vi-next-char (vi command: f)
Read one character from the terminal bypassing the normal line
editing functionality and move the cursor to the right to the
next instance of that character in the edit buffer. Can be used
as a movement command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or
vi_yank. If trying to read the character results in end of file
or an error, call ed-end-of-file instead. It is an error if the
character is not found searching to the right in the edit buffer.
vi-next-word (vi command: w)
Move the cursor to the right to the beginning of the next word.
Can be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank. It is an error if the cursor is al-
ready at the end of the edit buffer or on its last character.
vi-paste-next (vi command: p)
Insert a copy of the cut buffer to the right of the cursor. It
is an error if the cut buffer is empty.
vi-paste-prev (vi command: P)
Insert a copy of the cut buffer to the left of the cursor. It is
an error if the cut buffer is empty.
vi-prev-big-word (vi command: B)
Move the cursor to the left to the next beginning of a space de-
limited word. Can be used as a movement command after
vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank. It is an error if
the cursor is already at the beginning of the edit buffer.
vi-prev-char (vi command: F)
Read one character from the terminal bypassing the normal line
editing functionality and move the cursor to the left to the next
instance of that character in the edit buffer. Can be used as a
movement command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or
vi_yank. If trying to read the character results in end of file
or an error, call ed-end-of-file instead. It is an error if the
character is not found searching to the left in the edit buffer.
vi-prev-word (vi command: b)
Move the cursor to the left to the next beginning of a word. Can
be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank. It is an error if the cursor is al-
ready at the beginning of the edit buffer.
vi-redo (vi command: ‘.’)
Redo the last non-motion command.
vi-repeat-next-char (vi command: ‘;’)
Repeat the most recent character search in the same search direc-
tion. Can be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank.
vi-repeat-prev-char (vi command: ‘,’)
Repeat the most recent character search in the opposite search
direction. Can be used as a movement command after
vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank.
vi-repeat-search-next (vi command: n)
Repeat the most recent history search in the same search direc-
tion.
vi-repeat-search-prev (vi command: N)
Repeat the most recent history search in the opposite search di-
rection.
vi-replace-char (vi command: r)
Switch to vi replace mode, and automatically switch back to vi
command mode after the next character typed. See ed-insert for a
description of replace mode. It is an error if the cursor is at
the end of the edit buffer.
vi-replace-mode (vi command: R)
Switch to vi replace mode. This is a variant of vi insert mode;
see ed-insert for the difference.
vi-search-next (vi command: ?)
Replace the edit buffer with the next matching history entry.
vi-search-prev (vi command: /)
Replace the edit buffer with the previous matching history entry.
vi-substitute-char (vi command: s)
Delete the character at the cursor and switch to vi insert mode.
vi-substitute-line (vi command: S)
Delete the entire contents of the edit buffer, save a copy of it
in the cut buffer, and enter vi insert mode.
vi-to-column (vi command: |)
Move the cursor to the column specified as the argument. Can be
used as a movement command after vi_change_meta, vi_delete_meta,
or vi_yank.
vi-to-history-line (vi command: G)
Replace the edit buffer with the specified history entry.
vi-to-next-char (vi command: t)
Read one character from the terminal bypassing the normal line
editing functionality and move the cursor to the right to the
character before the next instance of that character in the edit
buffer. Can be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank. If trying to read the character re-
sults in end of file or an error, call ed-end-of-file instead.
It is an error if the character is not found searching to the
right in the edit buffer.
vi-to-prev-char (vi command: T)
Read one character from the terminal bypassing the normal line
editing functionality and move the cursor to the left to the
character after the next instance of that character in the edit
buffer. Can be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank. If trying to read the character re-
sults in end of file or an error, call ed-end-of-file instead.
It is an error if the character is not found searching to the
left in the edit buffer.
vi-undo (vi command: u)
Undo the last change.
vi-undo-line (vi command: U)
Undo all changes to the edit buffer.
vi-yank (vi command: y)
Copy the string from the cursor to the position specified by the
following movement command to the cut buffer. When given twice
in a row, instead copy the whole contents of the edit buffer to
the cut buffer.
vi-yank-end (vi command: Y)
Copy the string from the cursor to the end of the edit buffer to
the cut buffer.
vi-zero (vi command: 0)
If in argument input mode, multiply the argument by ten. Other-
wise, move the cursor to the beginning of the edit buffer. Can
be used as a movement command after vi_change_meta,
vi_delete_meta, or vi_yank.
Macros
If an input character is bound to the editor command
ed-sequence-lead-in, editline attempts to call a macro. If the input
character by itself forms the name of a macro, that macro is executed.
Otherwise, additional input characters are read until the string read
forms the name of a macro, in which case that macro is executed, or un-
til the string read matches the beginning of none of the existing macro
names, in which case the string including the final, mismatching char-
acter is discarded and the terminal bell is rung.
There are two kinds of macros. Command macros execute a single editor
command. Keyboard macros return a string of characters that is ap-
pended as a new line to the “Input Queue”.
The following command macros are defined by default in vi command mode
and in emacs mode:
Esc [ A, Esc O A ed-prev-history
Esc [ B, Esc O B ed-next-history
Esc [ C, Esc O C ed-next-char
Esc [ D, Esc O D ed-prev-char
Esc [ F, Esc O F ed-move-to-end
Esc [ H, Esc O H ed-move-to-beg
In vi command mode, they are also defined by default without the ini-
tial escape character.
In addition, the editline library tries to bind the strings generated
by the arrow keys as reported by the terminfo(5) database to these edi-
tor commands, unless that would clobber user settings.
In emacs mode, the two-character string “Ctrl-X Ctrl-X” is bound to the
em-exchange-mark editor command.
Input Queue
The editline library maintains an input queue operated in FIFO mode.
Whenever it needs an input character, it takes the first character from
the first line of the input queue. When the queue is empty, it reads
from the terminal.
A line can be appended to the end of the input queue in several ways:
- By calling one of the keyboard “Macros”.
- By calling the editor command vi-redo.
- By calling the editor command vi-alias.
- By pressing a key in emacs incremental search mode that
doesn't have a special meaning in that mode but returns to
normal emacs mode.
- If an application program directly calls the functions
el_push(3) or el_wpush(3), it can provide additional, pro-
gram-specific ways of appending to the input queue.
SEE ALSO
mg(1), vi(1), editline(3edit), el_wgets(3), el_wpush(3), el_wset(3),
editrc(5edit)
HISTORY
This manual page first appeared in OpenBSD 6.0 and NetBSD 8.
AUTHORS
This manual page was written by Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>.
Debian May 7, 2016 EDITLINE(7edit)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 16:30:38 CET 2025.