Calmar's GNU/Linux Stuff

Parts of the Bash man page

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, add it to the history list according to the state of the HISTCONTROL variable. If the line is a modified history line, then restore the history line to its original state.

previous-history (C-p)

Fetch the previous command from the history list, moving back in the list.

next-history (C-n)

Fetch the next command from the history list, moving forward in the list.

beginning-of-history (M-<)

Move to the first line in the history.

end-of-history (M->)

Move to the end of the input history, i.e., the line currently being entered.

reverse-search-history (C-r)

Search backward starting at the current line and moving `up' through the history as necessary. This is an incremental search.

forward-search-history (C-s)

Search forward starting at the current line and moving `down' through the history as necessary. This is an incremental search.

non-incremental-reverse-search-history (M-p)

Search backward through the history starting at the current line using a non-incremental search for a string supplied by the user.

non-incremental-forward-search-history (M-n)

Search forward through the history using a non-incremental search for a string supplied by the user.

history-search-forward

Search forward through the history for the string of characters between the start of the current line and the 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.

yank-last-arg (M-., M-_)

Insert the last argument to the previous command (the last word of the previous history entry). With an argument, behave exactly like yank-nth-arg. Successive calls to yank-last-arg move back through the history list, inserting the last argument of each line in turn.

shell-expand-line (M-C-e)

Expand the line as the shell does. This performs alias and history expansion as well as all of the shell word expansions. See HISTORY EXPANSION below for a description of history expansion.

history-expand-line (M-^)

Perform history expansion on the current line. See HISTORY EXPANSION below for a description of history expansion.

magic-space

Perform history expansion on the current line and insert a space. See HISTORY EXPANSION below for a description of history expansion.

alias-expand-line

Perform alias expansion on the current line. See ALIASES above for a description of alias expansion.

history-and-alias-expand-line

Perform history and alias expansion on the current line.

insert-last-argument (M-., M-_)

A synonym for yank-last-arg.

operate-and-get-next (C-o)

Accept the current line for execution and fetch the next line relative to the current line from the history for editing. Any argument is ignored.

edit-and-execute-command (C-xC-e)

Invoke an editor on the current command line, and execute the result as shell commands. Bash attempts to invoke $FCEDIT, $EDITOR, and emacs as the editor, in that order.

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.

quoted-insert (C-q, C-v)

Add the next character typed to the line verbatim. This is how to insert characters like C-q, for example.

tab-insert (C-v 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 to the end of the current word, or if between words, to the end of the next word. Word boundaries are the same as those used by forward-word.

backward-kill-word (M-Rubout)

Kill the word behind point. Word boundaries are the same as those used by backward-word.

unix-word-rubout (C-w)

Kill the word behind point, using white space as a word boundary. 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 in the current 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. Bash attempts completion treating the text as a variable (if the text begins with $), username (if the text begins with ~), hostname (if the text begins with @), or command (including aliases and functions) in turn. If none of these produces a match, filename completion is attempted.

possible-completions (M-?)

List the possible completions of the text before point.

insert-completions (M-*)

Insert all completions of the text before point that would have been generated by possible-completions.

menu-complete

Similar to complete, but replaces the word to be completed with a single match from the list of possible completions. Repeated execution of menu-complete steps through the list of possible completions, inserting each match in turn. At the end of the list of completions, the bell is rung (subject to the setting of bell-style) and the original text is restored. An argument of n moves n positions forward in the list of matches; a negative argument may be used to move backward through the list. This command is intended to be bound to TAB, but is unbound by default.

delete-char-or-list

Deletes the character under the cursor if not at the beginning or end of the line (like delete-char). If at the end of the line, behaves identically to possible-completions. This command is unbound by default.

complete-filename (M-/)

Attempt filename completion on the text before point.

possible-filename-completions (C-x /)

List the possible completions of the text before point, treating it as a filename.

complete-username (M-~)

Attempt completion on the text before point, treating it as a username.

possible-username-completions (C-x ~)

List the possible completions of the text before point, treating it as a username.

complete-variable (M-$)

Attempt completion on the text before point, treating it as a shell variable.

possible-variable-completions (C-x $)

List the possible completions of the text before point, treating it as a shell variable.

complete-hostname (M-@)

Attempt completion on the text before point, treating it as a hostname.

possible-hostname-completions (C-x @)

List the possible completions of the text before point, treating it as a hostname.

complete-command (M-!)

Attempt completion on the text before point, treating it as a command name. Command completion attempts to match the text against aliases, reserved words, shell functions, shell builtins, and finally executable filenames, in that order.

possible-command-completions (C-x !)

List the possible completions of the text before point, treating it as a command name.

dynamic-complete-history (M-TAB)

Attempt completion on the text before point, comparing the text against lines from the history list for possible completion matches.

complete-into-braces (M-{)

Perform filename completion and insert the list of possible completions enclosed within braces so the list is available to the shell (see Brace Expansion above).

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.

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.

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 causes this command to make 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.

glob-complete-word (M-g)

The word before point is treated as a pattern for pathname expansion, with an asterisk implicitly appended. This pattern is used to generate a list of matching file names for possible completions.

glob-expand-word (C-x *)

The word before point is treated as a pattern for pathname expansion, and the list of matching file names is inserted, replacing the word. If a numeric argument is supplied, an asterisk is appended before pathname expansion.

glob-list-expansions (C-x g)

The list of expansions that would have been generated by glob-expand-word is displayed, and the line is redrawn. If a numeric argument is supplied, an asterisk is appended before pathname expansion.

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 readline 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 ouput. If a numeric argument is supplied, the output is formatted in such a way that it can be made part of an inputrc file.

display-shell-version (C-x C-v)

Display version information about the current instance of bash.

HISTORY

Event Designators

An event designator is a reference to a command line entry in the history list.

!

Start a history substitution, except when followed by a blank, newline, = or (.

!n

Refer to command line n.

!-n

Refer to the current command line minus n.

!!

Refer to the previous command. This is a synonym for `!-1'.

!string

Refer to the most recent command starting with string.

!?string[?]

Refer to the most recent command containing string. The trailing ? may be omitted if string is followed immediately by a newline.

^string1^string2^

Quick substitution. Repeat the last command, replacing string1 with string2. Equivalent to ``!!:s/string1/string2/'' (see Modifiers below).

!#

The entire command line typed so far.

Word Designators

Word designators are used to select desired words from the event. A : separates the event specification from the word designator. It may be omitted if the word designator begins with a ^, $, *, -, or %. Words are numbered from the beginning of the line, with the first word being denoted by 0 (zero). Words are inserted into the current line separated by single spaces.

0 (zero)

The zeroth word. For the shell, this is the command word.

n

The nth word.

^

The first argument. That is, word 1.

$

The last argument.

%

The word matched by the most recent `?string?' search.

x-y

A range of words; `-y' abbreviates `0-y'.

*

All of the words but the zeroth. This is a synonym for `1-$'. It is not an error to use * if there is just one word in the event; the empty string is returned in that case.

x*

Abbreviates x-$.

x-

Abbreviates x-$ like x*, but omits the last word.

If a word designator is supplied without an event specification, the previous command is used as the event.  

Modifiers

After the optional word designator, there may appear a sequence of one or more of the following modifiers, each preceded by a `:'.

h

Remove a trailing file name component, leaving only the head.

t

Remove all leading file name components, leaving the tail.

r

Remove a trailing suffix of the form .xxx, leaving the basename.

e

Remove all but the trailing suffix.

p

Print the new command but do not execute it.

q

Quote the substituted words, escaping further substitutions.

x

Quote the substituted words as with q, but break into words at blanks and newlines.

s/old/new/

Substitute new for the first occurrence of old in the event line. Any delimiter can be used in place of /. The final delimiter is optional if it is the last character of the event line. The delimiter may be quoted in old and new with a single backslash. If & appears in new, it is replaced by old. A single backslash will quote the &. If old is null, it is set to the last old substituted, or, if no previous history substitutions took place, the last string in a !?string[?] search.

&

Repeat the previous substitution.

g

Cause changes to be applied over the entire event line. This is used in conjunction with `:s' (e.g., `:gs/old/new/') or `:&'. If used with `:s', any delimiter can be used in place of /, and the final delimiter is optional if it is the last character of the event line.