EDITLINE(7) BSD Reference Manual EDITLINE(7)
editline - line editing user interface
When a program using the editline(3) 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 editing 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(5) configuration file or
interactively with the ed-command editor command, in all three cases exe-
cuting the bind -e builtin command.
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.
All default bindings described below can be overridden by individual pro-
grams and can be changed with the editrc(5) bind builtin command.
In a 7-bit US-ASCII world, input used to involve Meta characters, that
is, characters with the bit 0x80 set, as special: editing commands would
be bound to these bytes, and users could call them in two ways: with a
dedicated Meta key if they had one (so, for example, Meta-d would input
the byte 0xE4, which is 0x80 + 0x64, the ASCII code of 'd'), or pressing
Escape first, then the key in question (e.g. 'd'), which would then enter
the two bytes 0x1B (Esc) and 0x64; internally, both map to the same edit-
ing command. Globally, this did not make sense already with the advent of
8-bit codepages, such as ISO-8859-1, and especially no longer with UTF-8,
since Meta-d would be the codepoint U+00E4 now which is represented by
two octets. Therefore, while the Meta key can still be used to enter a
number of special characters (Meta-d, U+00E4, is the German a-umlaut, for
example), they are no longer used to call editing commands, which require
use of the Escape key nowadays. Internal keybindings that use Meta keys
are converted to ed-sequence-lead-in-led macros upon initialisation;
therefore, Esc (Ctrl-[) is no longer bound to em-meta-next, "add 0x80 to
the next character", which is now obsolete.
In the following tables, 'Ctrl-' indicates a character with the bit 0x40
flipped, and 'Meta-' (see above) indicates pressing the Escape key (or
equivalently, Ctrl-[) first, then the character denoted.
In vi input mode, input characters are bound to the following editor com-
mands 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 (or XON, ignored)
Ctrl-S ed-tty-stop-output (or XOFF, ignored)
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 (or QUIT, ignored)
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 (or INTR, ignored)
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 (or XON, ignored)
Ctrl-R ed-redisplay
Ctrl-S ed-tty-stop-output (or XOFF, ignored)
Ctrl-U vi-kill-line-prev (or WERASE, ignored)
Ctrl-W ed-delete-prev-word
Ctrl-[, ESC ed-sequence-lead-in Used to be em-meta-next
Ctrl-\, QUIT ed-tty-sigquit (or QUIT, ignored)
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:
Ctrl-@, NUL em-set-mark
Ctrl-A ed-move-to-beg
Ctrl-B ed-prev-char
Ctrl-C, INT ed-tty-sigint (or INTR, ignored)
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 (or DISCARD, ignored)
Ctrl-P ed-prev-history
Ctrl-Q ed-tty-start-output (or XON, ignored)
Ctrl-R ed-redisplay
Ctrl-S ed-tty-stop-output (or XOFF, ignored)
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 (or SUSP, ignored)
Ctrl-[, ESC ed-sequence-lead-in Used to be em-meta-next
Ctrl-\, QUIT ed-tty-sigquit (or QUIT, ignored)
Ctrl-] ed-tty-dsusp (or ignored)
0 to 9 ed-digit
Ctrl-?, DEL em-delete-prev-char
Meta-Ctrl-H ed-delete-prev-word
Meta-Ctrl-L ed-clear-screen
Meta-Ctrl-_ 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 (implicit)
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 (implicit)
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
Meta-Ctrl-? ed-delete-prev-word
The remaining ascii(7) characters in the range 0x20 to 0x7E, as well as
all UCS characters from U+0080 on, 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 disabled
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.
Most editor commands accept an optional argument. The argument is entered
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-fatal
error, the terminal bell is also rung, but the editor command takes ef-
fect anyway.
In the following list, the default key bindings are listed after each ed-
itor 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 ar-
gument is already greater than a million.
ed-clear-screen (vi command: Ctrl-L, FF; emacs: Ctrl-L, FF, Meta-Ctrl-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(5) builtin com-
mand. 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: Meta-Ctrl-H, Meta-Ctrl-?)
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 er-
ror 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 already
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 (almost all characters)
In insert mode, insert the input character left of the cursor posi-
tion. In replace mode, overwrite the character at the cursor and
move the cursor to the right by one character position. Accept an
argument to do this repeatedly. It is an error if the input charac-
ter is the NUL character (Ctrl-@). Failure to enlarge 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 movement 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 argument.
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 argu-
ment, 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 position.
ed-prev-char (vi command: h, Ctrl-?; emacs: Ctrl-B)
Move the cursor one character position to the left. With an argu-
ment, 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 beginning 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 contain
enough newline characters to the left of the cursor position.
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 beginning 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 command: Ctrl-[, Esc, O, '['; emacs: Ctrl-X,
Ctrl-[, Esc; 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. Ig-
nore 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 error 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)
Capitalise 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 current word.
em-copy-prev-word (emacs: Meta-Ctrl-_)
Copy the string from the beginning of the current word to the cur-
sor 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 (emacs: Ctrl-X + Ctrl-X)
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 er-
ror 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 (emacs: Ctrl-U)
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 (not bound by default)
Set the bit 0x80 on the next character typed. Unless the resulting
code point is printable, holding down the 'Meta-' key while typing
that character is a simpler way to achieve the same effect.
Note: internal default keybindings that use high-bit7 bytes are
converted to ed-sequence-lead-in-led macros nowadays.
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-@, 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. Otherwise,
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 char-
acter from the terminal bypassing the normal line editing func-
tionality, call the alias function passing the argument that was
specified with EL_ALIAS_TEXT as the first argument and the charac-
ter read, with an underscore prepended, as the second argument, 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 error.
vi-change-case (vi command: '~')
Change the case of the character at the cursor and move the cursor
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 contents 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 re-
turn 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 contents 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 already 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-histedit (vi command: v)
Edit the command line in an external editor; execute the result.
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 inserted
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 cur-
sor 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 delimiter.
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 delimiter
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 already 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 delim-
ited 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 already 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 direction.
vi-repeat-search-prev (vi command: N)
Repeat the most recent history search in the opposite search direc-
tion.
vi-replace-char (vi command: r)
Switch to vi replace mode, and automatically switch back to vi com-
mand 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 char-
acter 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 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-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 char-
acter 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 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-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. Otherwise,
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.
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 until the string read matches the
beginning of none of the existing macro names, in which case the string
including the final, mismatching character 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 appended
as a new line to the Input Queue.
The following command macros are defined by default in vi command mode
and in emacs mode, shown with their corresponding terminal key:
Esc [ A, Esc O A ed-prev-history up (vt220, xterm)
Esc [ B, Esc O B ed-next-history down (vt220, xterm)
Esc [ C, Esc O C ed-next-char right (vt220, xterm)
Esc [ D, Esc O D ed-prev-char left (vt220, xterm)
Esc [ H, Esc O H ed-move-to-beg home (xterm)
Esc [ F, Esc O F ed-move-to-end end (xterm)
Esc [ 1 ~ ed-move-to-beg home (vt220)
Esc [ 4 ~ ed-move-to-end end (vt220)
Esc [ 3 ~ ed-delete-next-char delete (vt220, xterm)
In vi command mode, the first six are also defined by default without the
initial escape character.
In addition, the editline library binds the strings generated by the ar-
row keys as reported by the terminfo(5) database (if differing from these
above) to these editor 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.
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, program-
specific ways of appending to the input queue.
mg(1), vi(1), editline(3), editrc(5)
This manual page first appeared in OpenBSD 6.0 and NetBSD 8.
This manual page was written by Ingo Schwarze <schwarze@openbsd.org>.
This library defaults to the vi editing mode. MirBSD installs a skeleton
editrc(5) file to correct that:
# switch libedit applications to Emacs mode by default to match mksh
bind -e
The default assignment for Ctrl-W mimics GNU bash and differs from mksh.
Add the following line to the editrc(5) file to correct that:
bind ^W ed-delete-prev-word
The developer who contributed em-capitol-case[sic!] couldn't spell, it
should be em-capital-case instead, but it can't be changed now.
MirBSD #10-current July 9, 2021 12