zshzle(1)

NAME

zshzle - zsh command line editor

DESCRIPTION

If the ZLE option is set (it is by default) and the shell

input is attached to the terminal, the user is allowed to edit

command lines.

There are two display modes. The first, multiline mode,

is the default. It only works if the TERM parameter is set to a

valid terminal type that can move the cursor up. The second,

single line mode, is used if TERM is invalid or incapable of mov

ing the cursor up, or if the SINGLE_LINE_ZLE option is set. This

mode is similar to ksh, and uses no termcap sequences. If TERM

is "emacs", the ZLE option will be unset by the shell.

Bindings

Command bindings may be set using the bindkey builtin.

There are two keymaps-the main keymap and the alternate keymap.

The alternate keymap is bound to vi command mode. The main

keymap is bound to emacs mode by default. To bind the main

keymap to vi insert mode, use bindkey -v. However, if one of the

VISUAL

the shell starts up the main keymap will be bound to vi insert
mode by default.
The following is a list of all the key commands and their

default bindings in emacs mode, vi command mode and vi insert

mode.

Movement

vi-backward-blank-word (unbound) (B) (unbound)

Move backward one word, where a word is defined as

a series of non-blank characters.

backward-char (^B ESC-[D) (unbound) (unbound)

Move backward one character.

vi-backward-char (unbound) (^H h ^?) (unbound)

Move backward one character, without changing

lines.

backward-word (ESC-B ESC-b) (unbound) (unbound)

Move to the beginning of the previous word.

emacs-backward-word

Move to the beginning of the previous word.

vi-backward-word (unbound) (b) (unbound)

Move to the beginning of the previous word, vi

style.

beginning-of-line (^A) (unbound) (unbound)

Move to the beginning of the line. If already at

the beginning of the line, move to the beginning of the previous

line, if any.

vi-beginning-of-line

Move to the beginning of the line, without changing

lines.

end-of-line (^E) (unbound) (unbound)

Move to the end of the line. If already at the end

of the line, move to the end of the next line, if any.

vi-end-of-line (unbound) ($) (unbound)

Move to the end of the line. If an argument is

given to this command, the cursor will be moved to the end of the

line (argument - 1) lines down.

vi-forward-blank-word (unbound) (W) (unbound)

Move forward one word, where a word is defined as a

series of non-blank characters.

vi-forward-blank-word-end (unbound) (E) (unbound)

Move to the end of the current word, or, if at the

end of the current word, to the end of the next word, where a

word is defined as a series of non-blank characters.

forward-char (^F ESC-[C) (unbound) (unbound)

Move forward one character.

vi-forward-char (unbound) (space l) (unbound)

Move forward one character.

vi-find-next-char (^X^F) (f) (unbound)

Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the

next occurrence of it in the line.

vi-find-next-char-skip (unbound) (t) (unbound)

Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the

position just before the next occurrence of it in the line.

vi-find-prev-char (unbound) (F) (unbound)

Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the

previous occurrence of it in the line.

vi-find-prev-char-skip (unbound) (T) (unbound)

Read a character from the keyboard, and move to the

position just after the previous occurrence of it in the line.

vi-first-non-blank (unbound) (^) (unbound)

Move to the first non-blank character in the line.

vi-forward-word (unbound) (w) (unbound)

Move forward one word, vi-style.

forward-word (ESC-F ESC-f) (unbound) (unbound)

Move to the beginning of the next word. The edi

tor's idea of a word is specified with the WORDCHARS parameter.

emacs-forward-word

Move to the end of the next word.

vi-forward-word-end (unbound) (e) (unbound)

Move to the end of the next word.

vi-goto-column (ESC-|) (|) (unbound)

Move to the column specified by the numeric argu

ment.

vi-goto-mark (unbound) (`) (unbound)

Move to the specified mark.

vi-goto-mark-line (unbound) (') (unbound)

Move to beginning of the line containing the speci

fied mark.

vi-repeat-find (unbound) (;) (unbound)

Repeat the last vi-find command.

vi-rev-repeat-find (unbound) (,) (unbound)

Repeat the last vi-find command in the opposite di

rection.

History

beginning-of-buffer-or-history (ESC-<) (unbound) (unbound)

Move to the beginning of the buffer, or if already

there, move to the first event in the history list.

beginning-of-line-hist

Move to the beginning of the line. If already at

the beginning of the buffer, move to the previous history line.

beginning-of-history

Move to the first event in the history list.

down-line-or-history (^N ESC-[B) (j) (unbound)

Move down a line in the buffer, or if already at

the bottom line, move to the next event in the history list.

vi-down-line-or-history (unbound) (+) (unbound)

Move down a line in the buffer, or if already at

the bottom line, move to the next event in the history list.

Then move to the first non-blank character on the line.

down-line-or-search

Move down a line in the buffer, or if already at

the bottom line, search forward in the history for a line begin

ning with the first word in the buffer.

down-history (unbound) (^N) (unbound)

Move to the next event in the history list.

history-beginning-search-backward

Search backward in the history for a line beginning

with the current line up to the cursor. This leaves the cursor

in its original position.

end-of-buffer-or-history (ESC->) (unbound) (unbound)

Move to the end of the buffer, or if already there,

move to the last event in the history list.

end-of-line-hist

Move to the end of the line. If already at the end

of the buffer, move to the next history line.

end-of-history

Move to the last event in the history list.

vi-fetch-history (unbound) (G) (unbound)

Fetch the history line specified by the numeric ar

gument. This defaults to the current history line (i.e. the one

that isn't history yet).

history-incremental-search-backward (^R ^Xr) (unbound)

(unbound)

Search backward incrementally for a specified

string. The search is case-insensitive if the search string does

not have uppercase letters and no numeric argument was given.

The string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the begin

ning of the line. A restricted set of editing functions is avail

able in the mini-buffer. An interrupt signal, as defined by the

stty setting, will stop the search and go back to the original

line. An undefined key will have the same effect. The supported

functions are: backward-delete-char, vi-backward-delete-char,

clear-screen, redisplay, quoted-insert, vi-quoted-insert, accept

and-hold, accept-and-infer-next-history, accept-line and accept

line-and-down-history; magic-space just inserts a space. vi-cmd

mode toggles between the main and alternate key bindings; the

main key bindings (insert mode) will be selected initially. Any

string that is bound to an out-string (via bindkey -s) will be

have as if out-string were typed directly. Typing the binding of

history-incremental-search-backward will get the next occurrence

of the contents of the mini-buffer. Typing the binding of

history-incremental-search-forward inverts the sense of the

search. vi-repeat-search and vi-rev-repeat-search are similarly

supported. The direction of the search is indicated in the mini

buffer. Any multi-character string that is not bound to one of

the above functions will beep and interrupt the search, leaving

the last found line in the buffer. Any single character that is

not bound to one of the above functions, or self-insert or self

insert-unmeta, will have the same effect but the function will be

executed.

history-incremental-search-forward (^S ^Xs) (unbound) (un

bound)

Search forward incrementally for a specified

string. The search is case-insensitive if the search string does

not have uppercase letters and no numeric argument was given.

The string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to the begin

ning of the line. The functions available in the mini-buffer are

the same as for history-incremental-search-backward.

history-search-backward (ESC-P ESC-p) (unbound) (unbound)

Search backward in the history for a line beginning

with the first word in the buffer.

vi-history-search-backward (unbound) (/) (unbound)

Search backward in the history for a specified

string. The string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to

the beginning of the line. A restricted set of editing functions

is available in the mini-buffer. An interrupt signal, as defined

by the stty setting, will stop the search. The functions avail

able in the mini-buffer are: accept-line, vi-cmd-mode (treated

the same as accept-line), backward-delete-char, vi-backward

delete-char, backward-kill-word, vi-backward-kill-word, clear

screen, redisplay, magic-space (treated as a space), quoted-in

sert and vi-quoted-insert. Any string that is bound to an out

string (via bindkey -s) will behave as if out-string were typed

directly. Any other character that is not bound to self-insert or

self-insert-unmeta will beep and be ignored. If the function is

called from vi command mode, the bindings of the current insert

mode will be used.

history-search-forward (ESC-N ESC-n) (unbound) (unbound)

Search forward in the history for a line beginning

with the first word in the buffer.

vi-history-search-forward (unbound) (?) (unbound)

Search forward in the history for a specified

string. The string may begin with `^' to anchor the search to

the beginning of the line. The functions available in the mini

buffer are the same as for vi-history-search-backward.

infer-next-history (^X^N) (unbound) (unbound)

Search in the history list for a line matching the

current one and fetch the event following it.

insert-last-word (ESC-_ ESC-.) (unbound) (unbound)

Insert the last word from the previous history

event at the cursor position. If a positive numeric argument is

given, insert that word from the end of the previous history

event. If the argument is zero or negative insert that word from

the left (zero inserts the previous command word).

vi-repeat-search (unbound) (n) (unbound)

Repeat the last vi history search.

vi-rev-repeat-search (unbound) (N) (unbound)

Repeat the last vi history search, but in reverse.

up-line-or-history (^P ESC-[A) (k) (unbound)

Move up a line in the buffer, or if already at the

top line, move to the previous event in the history list.

vi-up-line-or-history (unbound) (-) (unbound)

Move up a line in the buffer, or if already at the

top line, move to the previous event in the history list. Then

move to the first non-blank character on the line.

up-line-or-search

Move up a line in the buffer, or if already at the

top line, search backward in the history for a line beginning

with the first word in the buffer.

up-history (unbound) (^P) (unbound)

Move to the previous event in the history list.

history-beginning-search-forward

Search forward in the history for a line beginning

with the current line up to the cursor. This leaves the cursor

in its original position.

Modifying Text

vi-add-eol (unbound) (A) (unbound)

Move to the end of the line and enter insert mode.

vi-add-next (unbound) (a) (unbound)

Enter insert mode after the current cursor posi

tion, without changing lines.

backward-delete-char (^H ^?) (unbound) (unbound)

Delete the character behind the cursor.

vi-backward-delete-char (unbound) (X) (^H)

Delete the character behind the cursor, without

changing lines. If in insert mode, this won't delete past the

point where insert mode was last entered.

backward-delete-word

Delete the word behind the cursor.

backward-kill-line

Kill from the beginning of the line to the cursor

position.

backward-kill-word (^W ESC-^H ESC-^?) (unbound) (unbound)

Kill the word behind the cursor.

vi-backward-kill-word (unbound) (unbound) (^W)

Kill the word behind the cursor, without going past

the point where insert mode was last entered.

capitalize-word (ESC-C ESC-c) (unbound) (unbound)

Capitalize the current word and move past it.

vi-change (unbound) (c) (unbound)

Read a movement command from the keyboard, and kill

from the cursor position to the endpoint of the movement. Then

enter insert mode. If the command is vi-change, change the cur

rent line.

vi-change-eol (unbound) (C) (unbound)

Kill to the end of the line and enter insert mode.

vi-change-whole-line (unbound) (S) (unbound)

Kill the current line and enter insert mode.

copy-region-as-kill (ESC-W ESC-w) (unbound) (unbound)

Copy the area from the cursor to the mark to the

kill buffer.

copy-prev-word (ESC-^_) (unbound) (unbound)

Duplicate the word behind the cursor.

vi-delete (unbound) (d) (unbound)

Read a movement command from the keyboard, and kill

from the cursor position to the endpoint of the movement. If the

command is vi-delete, kill the current line.

delete-char

Delete the character under the cursor.

vi-delete-char (unbound) (x) (unbound)

Delete the character under the cursor, without go

ing past the end of the line.

delete-word

Delete the current word.

down-case-word (ESC-L ESC-l) (unbound) (unbound)

Convert the current word to all lowercase and move

past it.

kill-word (ESC-D ESC-d) (unbound) (unbound)

Kill the current word.

gosmacs-transpose-chars

Exchange the two characters behind the cursor.

vi-indent (unbound) (>) (unbound)

Indent a number of lines.

vi-insert (unbound) (i) (unbound)

Enter insert mode.

vi-insert-bol (unbound) (I) (unbound)

Move to the first non-blank character on the line

and enter insert mode.

vi-join (^X^J) (J) (unbound)

Join the current line with the next one.

kill-line (^K) (unbound) (unbound)

Kill from the cursor to the end of the line. If

already on the end of the line, kill the newline character.

vi-kill-line (unbound) (unbound) (^U)

Kill from the cursor back to wherever insert mode

was last entered.

vi-kill-eol (unbound) (D) (unbound)

Kill from the cursor to the end of the line.

kill-region

Kill from the cursor to the mark.

kill-buffer (^X^K) (unbound) (unbound)

Kill the entire buffer.

kill-whole-line (^U) (unbound) (unbound)

Kill the current line.

vi-match-bracket (^X^B) (%) (unbound)

Move to the bracket character (one of {}, (), or

[]) that matches the one under the cursor. If the cursor is not

on a bracket character, move forward without going past the end

of the line to find one, and then go to the matching bracket.

vi-open-line-above (unbound) (O) (unbound)

Open a line above the cursor and enter insert mode.

vi-open-line-below (unbound) (o) (unbound)

Open a line below the cursor and enter insert mode.

vi-oper-swap-case

Read a movement command from the keyboard, and swap

the case of all characters from the cursor position to the end

point of the movement. If the movement command is

vi-oper-swap-case, swap the case of all characters on the current

line.

overwrite-mode (^X^O) (unbound) (unbound)

Toggle between overwrite mode and insert mode.

vi-put-before (unbound) (P) (unbound)

Insert the contents of the kill buffer before the

cursor. If the kill buffer contains a sequence of lines (as op

posed to characters), paste it above the current line.

vi-put-after (unbound) (p) (unbound)

Insert the contents of the kill buffer after the

cursor. If the kill buffer contains a sequence of lines (as op

posed to characters), paste it below the current line.

quoted-insert (^V) (unbound) (unbound)

Insert the next character typed into the buffer

literally. An interrupt character will not be inserted.

vi-quoted-insert (unbound) (unbound) (^Q ^V)

Display a `^' at the cursor position, and insert

the next character typed into the buffer literally. An interrupt

character will not be inserted.

quote-line (ESC-') (unbound) (unbound)

Quote the current line; that is, put a ' character

at the beginning and the end, and convert all ' characters to

'´'.

quote-region (ESC-") (unbound) (unbound)

Quote the region from the cursor to the mark.

vi-replace (unbound) (R) (unbound)

Enter overwrite mode.

vi-repeat-change (unbound) (.) (unbound)

Repeat the last vi mode text modification. If a

count was used with the modification, it is remembered. If a

count is given to this command, it overrides the remembered

count, and is remembered for future uses of this command. The

cut buffer specification is similarly remembered.

vi-replace-chars (unbound) (r) (unbound)

Replace the character under the cursor with a char

acter read from the keyboard.

self-insert (printable characters) (unbound) (printable

characters and some control characters)

Put a character in the buffer at the cursor posi

tion.

self-insert-unmeta (ESC-^I ESC-^J ESC-^M) (unbound) (un

bound)

Put a character in the buffer after stripping the

meta bit and converting ^M to ^J.

vi-substitute (unbound) (s) (unbound)

Substitute the next character(s).

vi-swap-case (unbound) (~) (unbound)

Swap the case of the character under the cursor and

move past it.

transpose-chars (^T) (unbound) (unbound)

Exchange the two characters to the left of the cur

sor if at end of line, else exchange the character under the cur

sor with the character to the left.

transpose-words (ESC-T ESC-t) (unbound) (unbound)

Exchange the current word with the one before it.

vi-unindent (unbound) (<) (unbound)

Unindent a number of lines.

up-case-word (ESC-U ESC-u) (unbound) (unbound)

Convert the current word to all caps and move past

it.

yank (^Y) (unbound) (unbound)

Insert the contents of the kill buffer at the cur

sor position.

yank-pop (ESC-y) (unbound) (unbound)

Remove the text just yanked, rotate the kill-ring,

and yank the new top. Only works following yank or yank-pop.

vi-yank (unbound) (y) (unbound)

Read a movement command from the keyboard, and copy

the region from the cursor position to the endpoint of the move

ment into the kill buffer. If the command is vi-yank, copy the

current line.

vi-yank-whole-line (unbound) (Y) (unbound)

Copy the current line into the kill buffer.

vi-yank-eol

Copy the region from the cursor position to the end

of the line into the kill buffer. Arguably, this is what Y

should do in vi, but it isn't what it actually does.

Arguments

digit-argument (ESC-0..ESC-9) (1-9) (unbound)

Start a new numeric argument, or add to the current

one. See also vi-digit-or-beginning-of-line.

neg-argument (ESC--) (unbound) (unbound)

Changes the sign of the following argument.

universal-argument

Multiply the argument of the next command by 4.

Completion

accept-and-menu-complete

In a menu completion, insert the current completion

into the buffer, and advance to the next possible completion.

complete-word

Attempt completion on the current word.

delete-char-or-list (^D) (unbound) (unbound)

Delete the character under the cursor. If the cur

sor is at the end of the line, list possible completions for the

current word.

expand-cmd-path

Expand the current command to its full pathname.

expand-or-complete (TAB) (unbound) (TAB)

Attempt shell expansion on the current word. If

that fails, attempt completion.

expand-or-complete-prefix

Attempt shell expansion on the current word upto

cursor.

expand-history (ESC-space ESC-!) (unbound) (unbound)

Perform history expansion on the edit buffer.

expand-word (^X*) (unbound) (unbound)

Attempt shell expansion on the current word.

list-choices (ESC-^D) (^D =) (^D)

List possible completions for the current word.

list-expand (^Xg ^XG) (^G) (^G)

List the expansion of the current word.

magic-space

Perform history expansion and insert a space into

the buffer. This is intended to be bound to space.

menu-complete

Like complete-word, except that menu completion is

used. See the MENU_COMPLETE option below.

menu-expand-or-complete

Like expand-or-complete, except that menu comple

tion is used.

reverse-menu-complete

See the MENU_COMPLETE option below.

Miscellaneous

accept-and-hold (ESC-A ESC-a) (unbound) (unbound)

Push the contents of the buffer on the buffer stack

and execute it.

accept-and-infer-next-history

Execute the contents of the buffer. Then search

the history list for a line matching the current one and push the

event following onto the buffer stack.

accept-line (^J ^M) (^J ^M) (^J ^M)

Execute the contents of the buffer.

accept-line-and-down-history (^O) (unbound) (unbound)

Execute the current line, and push the next history

event on the the buffer stack.

vi-cmd-mode (^X^V) (unbound) (^[)

Enter command mode; that is, use the alternate

keymap. Yes, this is bound by default in emacs mode.

vi-caps-lock-panic

Hang until any lowercase key is pressed. This is

for vi users without the mental capacity to keep track of their

caps lock key (like the author).

clear-screen (^L ESC-^L) (^L) (^L)

Clear the screen and redraw the prompt.

describe-key-briefly

Waits for a keypress then prints the function bound

to the pressed key.

exchange-point-and-mark (^X^X) (unbound) (unbound)

Exchange the cursor position with the position of

the mark.

execute-named-cmd (ESC-x) (unbound) (unbound)

Read the name of an editor command and execute it.

A restricted set of editing functions is available in the mini

buffer. An interrupt signal, as defined by the stty setting, will

abort the function. The allowed functions are: backward-delete

char, vi-backward-delete-char, clear-screen, redisplay, quoted

insert, vi-quoted-insert, kill-region (kills the last word),

backward-kill-word, vi-backward-kill-word, kill-whole-line, vi

kill-line, backward-kill-line, list-choices, delete-char-or-list,

complete-word, expand-or-complete, expand-or-complete-prefix, ac

cept-line and vi-cmd-mode (treated the same as accept-line). The

space and tab characters, if not bound to one of these functions,

will complete the name and then list the possibilities if the

AUTO_LIST

string (via bindkey -s) will behave as if out-string were typed
directly. Any other character that is not bound to self-insert or
self-insert-unmeta will beep and be ignored. If the function is
called from vi command mode, the bindings of the current insert
mode will be used.
execute-last-named-cmd (ESC-z) (unbound) (unbound)

Redo the last function executed with

execute-named-cmd.

get-line (ESC-G ESC-g) (unbound) (unbound)

Pop the top line off the buffer stack and insert it

at the cursor position.

pound-insert (unbound) (#) (unbound)

If there is no # character at the beginning of the

buffer, add one to the beginning of each line. If there is one,

remove a # from each line that has one. In either case, accept

the current line. The INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS option must be set

for this to have any usefulness.

vi-pound-insert

If there is no # character at the beginning of the

current line, add one. If there is one, remove it. The

INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS

fulness.
push-input

Push the entire current multiline construct onto

the buffer stack and return to the top-level (PS1) prompt. If

the current parser construct is only a single line, this is ex

actly like push-line. Next time the editor starts up or is

popped with get-line, the construct will be popped off the top of

the buffer stack and loaded into the editing buffer.

push-line (^Q ESC-Q ESC-q) (unbound) (unbound)

Push the current buffer onto the buffer stack and

clear the buffer. Next time the editor starts up, the buffer

will be popped off the top of the buffer stack and loaded into

the editing buffer.

push-line-or-edit

At the top-level (PS1) prompt, equivalent to

push-line. At a secondary (PS2) prompt, move the entire current

multiline construct into the editor buffer. The latter is equiv

alent to push-input followed by get-line.

redisplay (unbound) (^R) (^R)

Redisplays the edit buffer.

send-break (^G ESC-^G) (unbound) (unbound)

Abort the current editor function, eg.

execute-named-command, or the editor itself, eg. if you are in

vared. Otherwise abort the parsing of the current line.

run-help (ESC-H ESC-h) (unbound) (unbound)

Push the buffer onto the buffer stack, and execute

the command "run-help cmd", where cmd is the current command.

run-help is normally aliased to man.

vi-set-buffer (unbound) (") (unbound)

Specify a buffer to be used in the following com

mand. There are 35 buffers that can be specified: the 26 `named'

buffers "a to "z and the nine `queued' buffers "1 to "9. The

named buffers can also be specified as "A to "Z. When a buffer

is specified for a cut command, the text being cut replaces the

previous contents of the specified buffer. If a named buffer is

specified using a capital, the newly cut text is appended to the

buffer instead of overwriting it. If no buffer is specified for

a cut command, "1 is used, and the contents of "1 to "8 are each

shifted along one buffer; the contents of "9 is lost.

vi-set-mark (unbound) (m) (unbound)

Set the specified mark at the cursor position.

set-mark-command (^@) (unbound) (unbound)

Set the mark at the cursor position.

spell-word (ESC-$ ESC-S ESC-s) (unbound) (unbound)

Attempt spelling correction on the current word.

undefined-key (lots o' keys) (lots o' keys) (unbound)

Beep.

undo (^_ ^Xu ^X^U) (unbound) (unbound)

Incrementally undo the last text modification.

vi-undo-change (unbound) (u) (unbound)

Undo the last text modification. If repeated, redo

the modification.

where-is

Read the name of an editor command and and print

the listing of key sequences that invoke the specified command.

which-command (ESC-?) (unbound) (unbound)

Push the buffer onto the buffer stack, and execute

the command "which-command cmd", where cmd is the current com

mand. which-command is normally aliased to whence.

vi-digit-or-beginning-of-line (unbound) (0) (unbound)

If the last command executed was a digit as part of

an argument, continue the argument. Otherwise, execute vi-begin

ning-of-line.

zsh version 3.0 June 26, 1996

ZSHZLE(1)