1EDITLINE(3) Library Functions Manual EDITLINE(3)
2
6 editline, el_init, el_end, el_reset, el_gets, el_getc, el_push,
7 el_parse, el_set, el_get, el_source, el_resize, el_line, el_insertstr,
8 el_deletestr, history_init, history_end, history, tok_init, tok_end,
9 tok_reset, tok_line, tok_str - line editor, history and tokenization
10 functions
11
13 Command Line Editor Library (libedit, -ledit)
14
16 #include <histedit.h>
17 EditLine *
19 el_init(const char *prog, FILE *fin, FILE *fout, FILE *ferr);
20 void
22 el_end(EditLine *e);
23 void
25 el_reset(EditLine *e);
26 const char *
28 el_gets(EditLine *e, int *count);
29 int
31 el_getc(EditLine *e, char *ch);
32 void
34 el_push(EditLine *e, const char *str);
35 int
37 el_parse(EditLine *e, int argc, const char *argv[]);
38 int
40 el_set(EditLine *e, int op, ...);
41 int
43 el_get(EditLine *e, int op, ...);
44 int
46 el_source(EditLine *e, const char *file);
47 void
49 el_resize(EditLine *e);
50 const LineInfo *
52 el_line(EditLine *e);
53 int
55 el_insertstr(EditLine *e, const char *str);
56 void
58 el_deletestr(EditLine *e, int count);
59 History *
61 history_init();
62 void
64 history_end(History *h);
65 int
67 history(History *h, HistEvent *ev, int op, ...);
68 Tokenizer *
70 tok_init(const char *IFS);
71 void
73 tok_end(Tokenizer *t);
74 void
76 tok_reset(Tokenizer *t);
77 int
79 tok_line(Tokenizer *t, const LineInfo *li, int *argc, const char
80 **argv[], int *cursorc, int *cursoro);
81 int
83 tok_str(Tokenizer *t, const char *str, int *argc, const char **argv[]);
84
86 The editline library provides generic line editing, history and tok‐
87 enization functions, similar to those found in sh(1).
88 These functions are available in the libedit library (which needs the
90 libcurses library). Programs should be linked with -ledit -lcurses.
91
93 The line editing functions use a common data structure, EditLine, which
94 is created by el_init() and freed by el_end().
95 The following functions are available:
97 el_init()
99 Initialise the line editor, and return a data structure to be
100 used by all other line editing functions. prog is the name of
101 the invoking program, used when reading the editrc(5) file to
102 determine which settings to use. fin, fout and ferr are the
103 input, output, and error streams (respectively) to use. In this
104 documentation, references to ``the tty'' are actually to this
105 input/output stream combination.
106 el_end()
108 Clean up and finish with e, assumed to have been created with
109 el_init().
110 el_reset()
112 Reset the tty and the parser. This should be called after an
113 error which may have upset the tty's state.
114 el_gets()
116 Read a line from the tty. count is modified to contain the num‐
117 ber of characters read. Returns the line read if successful, or
118 NULL if no characters were read or if an error occurred. If an
119 error occurred, count is set to -1 and errno contains the error
120 code that caused it. The return value may not remain valid
121 across calls to el_gets() and must be copied if the data is to
122 be retained.
123 el_getc()
125 Read a character from the tty. ch is modified to contain the
126 character read. Returns the number of characters read if suc‐
127 cessful, -1 otherwise.
128 el_push()
130 Pushes str back onto the input stream. This is used by the
131 macro expansion mechanism. Refer to the description of bind -s
132 in editrc(5) for more information.
133 el_parse()
135 Parses the argv array (which is argc elements in size) to exe‐
136 cute builtin editline commands. If the command is prefixed with
137 ``prog :'' then el_parse() will only execute the command if
138 ``prog'' matches the prog argument supplied to el_init(). The
139 return value is -1 if the command is unknown, 0 if there was no
140 error or ``prog'' didn't match, or 1 if the command returned an
141 error. Refer to editrc(5) for more information.
142 el_set()
144 Set editline parameters. op determines which parameter to set,
145 and each operation has its own parameter list.
146 The following values for op are supported, along with the
148 required argument list:
149 EL_PROMPT , char *(*f)(EditLine *)
151 Define prompt printing function as f, which is to return
152 a string that contains the prompt.
153 EL_PROMPT_ESC , char *(*f)(EditLine *), Fa char c
155 Same as EL_PROMPT , but the c argument indicates the
156 start/stop literal prompt character.
157 If a start/stop literal character is found in the prompt,
159 the character itself is not printed, but characters after
160 it are printed directly to the terminal without affecting
161 the state of the current line. A subsequent second
162 start/stop literal character ends this behavior. This is
163 typically used to embed literal escape sequences that
164 change the color/style of the terminal in the prompt. 0
165 unsets it.
166 EL_REFRESH
168 Re-display the current line on the next terminal line.
169 EL_RPROMPT , char *(*f)(EditLine *)
171 Define right side prompt printing function as f, which is
172 to return a string that contains the prompt.
173 EL_RPROMPT_ESC , char *(*f)(EditLine *), Fa char c
175 Define the right prompt printing function but with a lit‐
176 eral escape character.
177 EL_TERMINAL , const char *type
179 Define terminal type of the tty to be type, or to TERM if
180 type is NULL .
181 EL_EDITOR , const char *mode
183 Set editing mode to mode, which must be one of ``emacs''
184 or ``vi''.
185 EL_SIGNAL , int flag
187 If flag is non-zero, editline will install its own signal
188 handler for the following signals when reading command
189 input: SIGCONT , SIGHUP , SIGINT , SIGQUIT , SIGSTOP ,
190 SIGTERM , SIGTSTP , and SIGWINCH . Otherwise, the cur‐
191 rent signal handlers will be used.
192 EL_BIND , const char *, Fa ..., Dv NULL
194 Perform the bind builtin command. Refer to editrc(5) for
195 more information.
196 EL_ECHOTC , const char *, Fa ..., Dv NULL
198 Perform the echotc builtin command. Refer to editrc(5)
199 for more information.
200 EL_SETTC , const char *, Fa ..., Dv NULL
202 Perform the settc builtin command. Refer to editrc(5)
203 for more information.
204 EL_SETTY , const char *, Fa ..., Dv NULL
206 Perform the setty builtin command. Refer to editrc(5)
207 for more information.
208 EL_TELLTC , const char *, Fa ..., Dv NULL
210 Perform the telltc builtin command. Refer to editrc(5)
211 for more information.
212 EL_ADDFN , const char *name, Fa const char *help,
214 Fa "unsigned char (*func)(EditLine *e, int ch)" Add a
215 user defined function, func(), referred to as name which
216 is invoked when a key which is bound to name is entered.
217 help is a description of name. At invocation time, ch is
218 the key which caused the invocation. The return value of
219 func() should be one of:
220 CC_NORM
222 Add a normal character.
223 CC_NEWLINE
225 End of line was entered.
226 CC_EOF EOF was entered.
228 CC_ARGHACK
230 Expecting further command input as arguments, do
231 nothing visually.
232 CC_REFRESH
234 Refresh display.
235 CC_REFRESH_BEEP
237 Refresh display, and beep.
238 CC_CURSOR
240 Cursor moved, so update and perform CC_REFRESH .
241 CC_REDISPLAY
243 Redisplay entire input line. This is useful if a
244 key binding outputs extra information.
245 CC_ERROR
247 An error occurred. Beep, and flush tty.
248 CC_FATAL
250 Fatal error, reset tty to known state.
251 EL_HIST , History *(*func)(History *, int op, ...),
253 Fa "const char *ptr" Defines which history function to
254 use, which is usually history(). ptr should be the value
255 returned by history_init().
256 EL_EDITMODE , int flag
258 If flag is non-zero, editing is enabled (the default).
259 Note that this is only an indication, and does not affect
260 the operation of . At this time, it is the caller's
261 responsibility to check this (using el_get() ) to deter‐
262 mine if editing should be enabled or not.
263 EL_GETCFN , int (*f)(EditLine *, char *c)
265 Define the character reading function as f, which is to
266 return the number of characters read and store them in c.
267 This function is called internally by el_gets() and
268 el_getc(). The builtin function can be set or restored
269 with the special function name ``Dv EL_BUILTIN_GETCFN''.
270 EL_CLIENTDATA , void *data
272 Register data to be associated with this EditLine struc‐
273 ture. It can be retrieved with the corresponding
274 el_get() call.
275 EL_SETFP , int fd, Fa FILE *fp
277 Set the current editline file pointer for ``input'' fd =
278 0 , ``output'' fd = 1 , or ``error'' fd = 2 from fp.
279 el_get()
281 Get editline parameters. op determines which parameter to
282 retrieve into result. Returns 0 if successful, -1 otherwise.
283 The following values for op are supported, along with actual
285 type of result :
286 EL_PROMPT , char *(*f)(EditLine *), Fa char *c
288 Return a pointer to the function that displays the prompt
289 in f. If c is not NULL , return the start/stop literal
290 prompt character in it.
291 EL_RPROMPT , char *(*f)(EditLine *), Fa char *c
293 Return a pointer to the function that displays the prompt
294 in f. If c is not NULL , return the start/stop literal
295 prompt character in it.
296 EL_EDITOR , const char *
298 Return the name of the editor, which will be one of
299 ``emacs'' or ``vi''.
300 EL_GETTC , const char *name, Fa void *value
302 Return non-zero if name is a valid termcap(5) capability
303 and set value to the current value of that capability.
304 EL_SIGNAL , int *
306 Return non-zero if editline has installed private signal
307 handlers (see el_get() above).
308 EL_EDITMODE , int *
310 Return non-zero if editing is enabled.
311 EL_GETCFN , int (**f)(EditLine *, char *)
313 Return a pointer to the function that read characters,
314 which is equal to ``Dv EL_BUILTIN_GETCFN'' in the case of
315 the default builtin function.
316 EL_CLIENTDATA , void **data
318 Retrieve data previously registered with the correspond‐
319 ing el_set() call.
320 EL_UNBUFFERED , int
322 Sets or clears unbuffered mode. In this mode, el_gets()
323 will return immediately after processing a single charac‐
324 ter.
325 EL_PREP_TERM , int
327 Sets or clears terminal editing mode.
328 EL_GETFP , int fd", Fa FILE **fp
330 Return in fp the current editline file pointer for
331 ``input'' fd = 0 , ``output'' fd = 1 , or ``error'' fd =
332 2 .
333 el_source()
335 Initialise editline by reading the contents of file. el_parse()
336 is called for each line in file. If file is NULL , try
337 $PWD/.editrc then $HOME/.editrc. Refer to editrc(5) for details
338 on the format of file.
339 el_resize()
341 Must be called if the terminal size changes. If EL_SIGNAL has
342 been set with el_set(), then this is done automatically. Other‐
343 wise, it's the responsibility of the application to call
344 el_resize() on the appropriate occasions.
345 el_line()
347 Return the editing information for the current line in a Line‐
348 Info structure, which is defined as follows:
349 typedef struct lineinfo {
351 const char *buffer; /* address of buffer */
352 const char *cursor; /* address of cursor */
353 const char *lastchar; /* address of last character */
354 } LineInfo;
355 buffer is not NUL terminated. This function may be called after
357 el_gets() to obtain the LineInfo structure pertaining to line
358 returned by that function, and from within user defined func‐
359 tions added with EL_ADDFN .
360 el_insertstr()
362 Insert str into the line at the cursor. Returns -1 if str is
363 empty or won't fit, and 0 otherwise.
364 el_deletestr()
366 Delete count characters before the cursor.
367
369 The history functions use a common data structure, History, which is
370 created by history_init() and freed by history_end().
371 The following functions are available:
373 history_init()
375 Initialise the history list, and return a data structure to be
376 used by all other history list functions.
377 history_end()
379 Clean up and finish with h, assumed to have been created with
380 history_init().
381 history()
383 Perform operation op on the history list, with optional argu‐
384 ments as needed by the operation. ev is changed accordingly to
385 operation. The following values for op are supported, along
386 with the required argument list:
387 H_SETSIZE , int size
389 Set size of history to size elements.
390 H_GETSIZE
392 Get number of events currently in history.
393 H_END Cleans up and finishes with h, assumed to be created with
395 history_init().
396 H_CLEAR
398 Clear the history.
399 H_FUNC , void *ptr, Fa history_gfun_t first,
401 Fa "history_gfun_t next" , Fa "history_gfun_t last" , Fa
402 "history_gfun_t prev" , Fa "history_gfun_t curr" , Fa
403 "history_sfun_t set" , Fa "history_vfun_t clear" , Fa
404 "history_efun_t enter" , Fa "history_efun_t add" Define
405 functions to perform various history operations. ptr is
406 the argument given to a function when it's invoked.
407 H_FIRST
409 Return the first element in the history.
410 H_LAST Return the last element in the history.
412 H_PREV Return the previous element in the history.
414 H_NEXT Return the next element in the history.
416 H_CURR Return the current element in the history.
418 H_SET Set the cursor to point to the requested element.
420 H_ADD , const char *str
422 Append str to the current element of the history, or per‐
423 form the H_ENTER operation with argument str if there is
424 no current element.
425 H_APPEND , const char *str
427 Append str to the last new element of the history.
428 H_ENTER , const char *str
430 Add str as a new element to the history, and, if neces‐
431 sary, removing the oldest entry to keep the list to the
432 created size. If H_SETUNIQUE was has been called with a
433 non-zero arguments, the element will not be entered into
434 the history if its contents match the ones of the current
435 history element. If the element is entered history()
436 returns 1, if it is ignored as a duplicate returns 0.
437 Finally history() returns -1 if an error occurred.
438 H_PREV_STR , const char *str
440 Return the closest previous event that starts with str.
441 H_NEXT_STR , const char *str
443 Return the closest next event that starts with str.
444 H_PREV_EVENT , int e
446 Return the previous event numbered e.
447 H_NEXT_EVENT , int e
449 Return the next event numbered e.
450 H_LOAD , const char *file
452 Load the history list stored in file.
453 H_SAVE , const char *file
455 Save the history list to file.
456 H_SETUNIQUE , int unique
458 Set flag that adjacent identical event strings should not
459 be entered into the history.
460 H_GETUNIQUE
462 Retrieve the current setting if adjacent identical ele‐
463 ments should be entered into the history.
464 H_DEL , int e
466 Delete the event numbered e. This function is only pro‐
467 vided for readline(3) compatibility. The caller is
468 responsible for free'ing the string in the returned His‐
469 tEvent.
470 history() returns = 0 if the operation op succeeds. Otherwise, -1 is
472 returned and ev is updated to contain more details about the error.
473
475 The tokenization functions use a common data structure, Tokenizer,
476 which is created by tok_init() and freed by tok_end().
477 The following functions are available:
479 tok_init()
481 Initialise the tokenizer, and return a data structure to be used
482 by all other tokenizer functions. IFS contains the Input Field
483 Separators, which defaults to <space> , <tab> , and <newline> if
484 NULL .
485 tok_end()
487 Clean up and finish with t, assumed to have been created with
488 tok_init().
489 tok_reset()
491 Reset the tokenizer state. Use after a line has been success‐
492 fully tokenized by tok_line() or tok_str() and before a new line
493 is to be tokenized.
494 tok_line()
496 Tokenize li, If successful, modify: argv to contain the words,
497 argc to contain the number of words, cursorc (if not NULL ) to
498 contain the index of the word containing the cursor, and cursoro
499 (if not NULL ) to contain the offset within argv[cursorc] of the
500 cursor.
501 Returns 0 if successful, -1 for an internal error, 1 for an
503 unmatched single quote, 2 for an unmatched double quote, and 3
504 for a backslash quoted <newline .> A positive exit code indi‐
505 cates that another line should be read and tokenization
506 attempted again.
507 tok_str()
509 A simpler form of tok_line(; ) str is a NUL terminated string to
510 tokenize.
511
513 sh(1), signal(3), termcap(3), editrc(5), termcap(5)
514
516 The editline library first appeared in Bx 4.4 . CC_REDISPLAY appeared
517 in Nx 1.3 . CC_REFRESH_BEEP , EL_EDITMODE and the readline emulation
518 appeared in Nx 1.4 . EL_RPROMPT appeared in Nx 1.5 .
519
521 The editline library was written by Christos Zoulas. Luke Mewburn
522 wrote this manual and implemented CC_REDISPLAY , CC_REFRESH_BEEP ,
523 EL_EDITMODE , and EL_RPROMPT . Jaromir Dolecek implemented the read‐
524 line emulation.
525
527 At this time, it is the responsibility of the caller to check the
528 result of the EL_EDITMODE operation of el_get() (after an el_source()
529 or el_parse() ) to determine if editline should be used for further
530 input. I.e., EL_EDITMODE is purely an indication of the result of the
531 most recent editrc(5) edit command.
532 July 5, 2009 EDITLINE(3)