Unix Power Tools

30.15
There are two bind options good for use with inputrc type files. To write all the
current key bindings out to a file named inputrc.new, type bind -p>
inputrc.new in bash2; use the –d option in original bash. (You can overwrite your
default .inputrc file this way, too, if you want.) To read an inputrc file into the
current shell (if you’ve just edited it, for instance), use bind –f and give the filename
as an argument.
Finally, the bind option –m keymap chooses the keymap that subsequent bindings
apply to. The keymap names that bash2 understands are emacs, emacs-standard,
emacs-meta, emacs-ctlx, vi, vi-move, vi-command, and vi-insert. (vi is the
same as vi-command, and emacs is the same as emacs-standard.)
zsh Editing
zsh, as you migh expect by now, has a wide variety of command-line editing
capabilities, many similar to or the same as those found in ksh, tcsh, orbash.
Emacs mode is the default, but vi mode may also be chosen, and all of the key
commands found in either mode may be bound to any character you like using
the bindkey –v command. See the zshzle manual page for a long list of these commands
and their default bindings.
—JP and SJC
30.15 Changing History Characters
with histchars
The existence of special characters (particularly !) can be a pain; you may often
need to type commands that have exclamation points in them, and occasionally
need commands with carets (^). These get the C shell confused unless you
“quote” them properly. If you use these special characters often, you can choose
different ones by setting the histchars variable. histchars is a two-character string;
the first character replaces the exclamation point (the “history” character), and
the second character replaces the caret (the “modification” character (30.5)). For
example:
% set histchars='@#'
% ls file*
file1 file2 file3
% @@ Repeat previous command (was !!)
ls file*
file1 file2 file3
% #file#data# Edit previous command (was ^file^data^)
ls data*
data4 data5
zsh’s histchars is like the csh and tcsh version, but it has three characters. The
third is the comment character—by default, #.
Chapter 30: The Use of History 615
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