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 charac‐
ters 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(5edit) configuration file or interactively with the ed-command editor command, in all three cases executing 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.
Input character bindings
All default bindings described below can be overridden by individual programs and can be changed with the editrc(5edit) bind
builtin command.
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-characters are
usually input using the em-meta-next editor command. For example, to enter ‘Meta-B’ in order to call the ed-prev-word editor
command in emacs mode, call em-meta-next by pressing and releasing the escape 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. Alterna‐
tively, 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 commands 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 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.
Editor commands
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 de‐
faults 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 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 er‐
ror 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 (vi input: almost all; emacs: printable characters)
In insert mode, insert the input character left of the cursor position. 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 character is the NUL character (Ctrl-@). Failure to enlarge the edit buffer also results in an er‐
ror.
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 argument, 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; emacs: Ctrl-B)
Move the cursor one character position to the left. With an argument, 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 try‐
ing 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 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)
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 current 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 resulting code point is printable, holding down the ‘Meta-’
key while typing that character is a simpler way to achieve the same effect.
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. 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 character from the terminal bypassing the normal line editing functionality, call the alias function passing the ar‐
gument that was specified with EL_ALIAS_TEXT as the first argument and the character 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 in‐
sert 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 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-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 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 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 in‐
stead. 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 char‐
acter.
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 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 beginning of the edit buf‐
fer.
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 in‐
stead. 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 direction. 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 direction.
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 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 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 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 buf‐
fer. 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 until the string read matches the begin‐
ning 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:
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 initial escape character.
In addition, the editline library tries to bind the strings generated by the arrow keys as reported by the terminfo(5) data‐
base 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.
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>.
BSD May 7, 2016 BSD