| Introduction |
| ============ |
| |
| This is the Gnu Readline library, version 2.2 |
| |
| The Readline library provides a set of functions for use by applications |
| that allow users to edit command lines as they are typed in. Both |
| Emacs and vi editing modes are available. The Readline library includes |
| additional functions to maintain a list of previously-entered command |
| lines, to recall and perhaps reedit those lines, and perform csh-like |
| history expansion on previous commands. |
| |
| The history facilites are also placed into a separate library, the |
| History library, as part of the build process. The History library |
| may be used without Readline in applications which desire its |
| capabilities. |
| |
| The Readline library is free software, distributed under the terms of |
| the GNU Public License, version 2. For more information, see the file |
| COPYING. |
| |
| To build the library, try typing `./configure', then `make'. The |
| configuration process is automated, so no further intervention should |
| be necessary. Readline builds with `gcc' by default if it is |
| available. If you want to use `cc' instead, type |
| |
| CC=cc ./configure |
| |
| if you are using a Bourne-style shell. If you are not, the following |
| may work: |
| |
| env CC=cc ./configure |
| |
| Read the file INSTALL in this directory for more information about how |
| to customize and control the build process. |
| |
| The file rlconf.h contains defines that enable and disable certain |
| Readline features. |
| |
| Examples |
| ======== |
| |
| There are several example programs that use Readline features in the |
| examples directory. The `rl' program is of particular interest. It |
| is a command-line interface to Readline, suitable for use in shell |
| scripts in place of `read'. |
| |
| Shared Libraries |
| ================ |
| |
| There is skeletal support for building shared versions of the |
| Readline and History libraries. |
| |
| Typing `make shared' will cause shared versions of the Readline and |
| History libraries to be built on SunOS 4.1.x. For versions of Unix |
| other than SunOS, you will have to make some changes to Makefile.in. |
| The relevant variables are: |
| |
| PICFLAG Options to give to the compiler to produce position-independent |
| code. The value `-fpic' works for most versions of gcc. |
| SHLIB_OPTS Options to give to the linker to produce a shared library. |
| The value `-assert pure-text -ldl' works on SunOS 4.1.x. |
| The value `-Bshareable' works for some versions of GNU ld. |
| |
| MAJOR The major version number of the shared library. You should |
| not need to change this. |
| MINOR The minor version number of the shared library. Some systems, |
| such as SVR4 and its descendents (e.g., Solaris, Unixware), |
| do not use minor version numbers. For those systems, this |
| variable should be left unset. |
| |
| LD The linker. The value of `ld' is correct for SunOS 4.1.x. |
| You may need to change it to `gcc'; make sure to change |
| SHLIB_OPTS if you do so. |
| |
| Once you have edited Makefile.in, type `make Makefile' to rebuild the |
| Makefile, then `make shared' to build the shared libraries. |
| |
| Documentation |
| ============= |
| |
| The documentation for the Readline and History libraries appears in the |
| `doc' subdirectory. There are two texinfo files and a Unix-style manual |
| page describing the programming facilities available in the Readline |
| library. The texinfo files include both user and programmer's manuals. |
| |
| Reporting Bugs |
| ============== |
| |
| Bug reports for Readline should be sent to: |
| |
| bug-readline@gnu.org |
| |
| When reporting a bug, please include the following information: |
| |
| * the version number and release status of Readline (e.g., 2.2-release) |
| * the machine and OS that it is running on |
| * a list of the compilation flags or the contents of `config.h', if |
| appropriate |
| * a description of the bug |
| * a recipe for recreating the bug reliably |
| * a fix for the bug if you have one! |
| |
| If you would like to contact the Readline maintainer directly, send mail |
| to bash-maintainers@gnu.org. |
| |
| Since Readline is developed along with bash, the bug-bash@gnu.org mailing |
| list (mirrored to the Usenet newsgroup gnu.bash.bug) often contains |
| Readline bug reports and fixes. |
| |
| Chet Ramey |
| chet@po.cwru.edu |