tcsh Command Editor Commands

Paul DuBois
dubois@primate.wisc.edu
19 May 1995

This document started out as part of one of the appendices to the O'Reilly & Associates handbook Using csh & tcsh, but it quickly got too long, so it exists separately. Background for the command editor may be found in that handbook (Chapter 7, The tcsh Command Editor), and in the Editing section of the tcsh manual page.

This document provides information about the following:

The tcsh command editor provides two sets of command bindings. One set is patterned after the emacs editor, the other is patterned after the vi editor. At most sites, the command editor uses the emacs bindings by default, but you can select one set or the other explicitly using one of the following commands in your ~/.cshrc (or ~/.tcshrc) file: 
   bindkey -e	Select emacs bindings
   bindkey -v	Select vi bindings
Some commands are available only in one mode or the other. If the description of a command is marked "emacs only" or "vi only", it means the command is available only in the given editing mode. Otherwise it's likely available in both (although I haven't verified this for every unmarked command).

The default key bindings are listed at the end of this document. You can also use bindkey to give you online help:

Comments on or corrections to this document are welcome. Send them to the address listed above.

Notes

The following terms are used in the command descriptions in the next section:

Command Editor Command Names

This section lists the names of the command editor commands and describes what they do. When you see a command that you think you'd like to use, you can find out what keys it's bound to by looking in the section "Command Editor Default Bindings" later in this document. If the command name doesn't appear there, you can use bindkey to set up your own binding for the command.

backward-char
Move the cursor left one character.

backward-delete-char
Delete the character to the left of the cursor.

backward-delete-word
Delete from the beginning of the current word to the cursor. Deleted text is saved in the cut buffer.

backward-kill-line
Delete from the beginning of the line to the cursor. Deleted text is saved in the cut buffer. See also kill-line.

backward-word
Move the cursor to the beginning of the current word, or to the beginning of the previous word if the cursor is already at beginning of the current word. See also forward-word. In vi mode, words are delimited by space or punctuation; see also vi-word-back.

beginning-of-line
In emacs mode, move the cursor to the beginning of the line. In vi mode, move the cursor to the first non-whitespace character; see also vi-zero.

capitalize-word
Convert the character under the cursor to uppercase and move the cursor to the end of the word.

change-case (vi only)
Change the case of the character under the cursor and move the cursor right one character.

change-till-end-of-line (vi only)
Change text from the cursor position to the end of the line, replacing it with new characters until ESC is typed.

clear-screen
Clear the screen, redrawing the current prompt and command line at the top of the screen. This is much quicker than using the clear shell command. See also redisplay.

complete-word
Perform completion on the current word. Uses programmed completions, if any are applicable. See also complete-word-raw.

complete-word-back
Like complete-word-fwd, but displays the possible completions in reverse order.

complete-word-fwd
The current word is treated as a completion prefix. Successive complete-word-fwd commands successively replace the current word with each of the possible completions. When the list of completions is exhausted, the shell beeps and replaces the current word with the original prefix. You can use complete-word-fwd and complete-word-back to move back and forth in the list of completions. Uses programmed completions, if any are applicable.

complete-word-raw
Like complete-word, but ignores programmed completions.

copy-prev-word
Copy the previous word to the cursor position, including any whitespace between the word and the cursor. See also insert-last-word.

copy-region-as-kill
Copy the area between the mark and the cursor to the cut buffer. See also kill-region and set-mark-command.

delete-char
Delete the character under the cursor.

delete-char-or-eof
Delete the character under the cursor or indicate end of file if the current line is empty.

delete-char-or-list
Delete the character under the cursor or list completions if the cursor is at the end of the line.

delete-char-or-list-or-eof
Delete the character under the cursor, list completions if the cursor is at the end of the line, or indicate end of file if the current line is empty.

delete-word
Delete the characters from the cursor to the end of the current word. Deleted text is saved in the cut buffer.

digit
If a repeat count is currently being collected, add the digit to the end of it. Otherwise, enter the digit into the command line.

digit-argument
Begin collecting repeat count for the following command. Subsequent digit comands are added to the repeat count.

down-history
Recall the next history line into the edit buffer. When repeated, continues down through the history list, stopping at the end of the list. See also up-history.

downcase-word
Convert characters from the cursor to the end of the current word to lowercase. See also upcase-word.

end-of-file
Indicate end of file to the shell.

end-of-line
Move the cursor to the end of the line.

exchange-point-and-mark
Exchange the cursor (point) and mark positions. This is useful if you've forgotten where the mark is. A second exchange-point-and-mark command returns the cursor to its original position. See also set-mark-command.

expand-glob
Expand the filename pattern to the left of the cursor, replacing it with the matching filenames. See also list-glob.

expand-history
Expand history references in the current word. History references beginning with !# are not expanded.

expand-line
Expand all history references in a command line, including references beginning with !#. See also magic-space and toggle-literal-history.

expand-variables
Expand variable references in the current word.

forward-char
Move the cursor right one character

forward-word
Move the cursor forward to the end of the current word, or to the end of the next word if the cursor is already at the end of the current word. See also backward-word.

gosmacs-transpose-chars
Exchange the two characters the the left of the cursor (like Gosling emacs). See also transpose-chars.

history-search-backward
Search backward through the history list using the current contents of the edit buffer up to the cursor as a search string (which may be a filename pattern). The command retrieves the previous command beginning with that string. (If the command buffer is empty, all commands match and history-search-backward simply retrieves the previous command like up-history.) If the first command retrieved is not the one you wanted, repeat history-search-backward until you find the right one. If you go too far, history-search-fwd searches in the other direction. Identical matches are skipped. history-search-backward does not wrap around when the beginning of the history list is reached.

history-search-forward
Like history-search-backward, but searches forward through the history list. history-search-backward does not wrap around when the end of the history list is reached.

insert-last-word
Insert the final word of the previous command at the cursor position. See also copy-prev-word.

i-search-back
Perform an emacs-style incremental search. Presents bck: as a prompt and waits for you to type a search string. As you type successive characters, the command editor searches back through your history list for commands matching the current search string and successively copies them into the edit buffer. To back up through the commands retrieved, or if you make a typing mistake, delete the last character from the search string and the shell returns the previously retrieved command into the edit buffer. Type ESC to terminate the search and leave the current line in the edit buffer. Hit RETURN to execute the command.

For each command retrieved, the cursor is positioned at the end of the matching string within the command. Type CTRL-W to copy the rest of the word under the cursor to the end of the search string.

If no command matches the search string when you type a new character, the shell beeps. Typing CTRL-G returns to the previous successful search. CTRL-G aborts the search if the previous character resulted in a successful search.

i-search-fwd
Like i-search-back, but searches forward.

keyboard-quit
Clear the entire command line.

kill-line
Delete from the cursor to the end of the line. Deleted text is saved in the cut buffer. See also backward-kill-line.

kill-region
Delete the characters between the mark and the cursor. If the region isn't what you thought it was, issue a yank command to put the deleted text back. Deleted text is saved in the cut buffer. See also copy-region-as-kill, set-mark-command, and exchange-point-and-mark.

kill-whole-line
Delete the entire line. Deleted text is saved in the cut buffer.

list-choices
List possible completions for the current word. Uses programmed completions, if any are applicable. See also list-choices-raw.

list-choices-raw
List possible completions for the current word, ignoring programmed completions. See also list-choices.

list-glob
List filename wildcard matches for the current word. See also expand-glob.

list-or-eof
List possible completions for the current word or indicate end of file if the line is empty.

load-average
Display the system load average and current process status.

magic-space
Expand history references in the current word, then add a space. (Acts similar to expand-history, so references beginning with !# are not expanded.) If you bind magic-space to SPACE, then all history references are expanded as you type successive words of command lines. See also expand-history.

newline
Execute the current command (the command in the edit buffer).

normalize-command
Looks for the current word as a command in your search path and replaces it with the command's full pathname. If the word is an alias, the word is replaced by the alias definition. If the word is a builtin command, the word remains unchanged. If the word isn't a command, an alias, or a builtin, the shell beeps.

normalize-path
Expand the current word as a pathname, eliminating leading . and .. components as if the symlinks shell variable were set to expand.

overwrite-mode (emacs only?)
Switch from insert to overwrite mode or vice versa. In insert mode, new characters are inserted into the command line at the cursor position. In overwrite mode, new characters overwrite characters under the cursor. See also self-insert-command.

prefix-meta
Turn on the high bit of the next character you type.

quoted-insert
Add the next character you type to the command line literally without interpretation, even if the character is otherwise special. For instance, to enter a literal TAB into the command line instead of having it trigger filename completion, precede it with quoted-insert.

redisplay
Redisplay the command line. This is useful if another program blats output on the screen and messes it up while you're typing a command. See also clear-screen.

run-fg-editor
Look for a stopped editor job and restart it. Editor jobs are identified by looking at the values of the EDITOR and VISUAL environment variables. If neither is set, jobs beginning with ed or vi are considered editor jobs.

Restarting an editor is a job control operation you're likely to do often. The default binding is ESC CTRL-Z, but you can bind it to CTRL-Z to make it easier to use. This way you can restart an editor using the same key you use to stop it.

run-help
Look for documentation on the current command and display it. This is intended for display of short files since the output is not run through a pager. The shell looks for help files in directories named in the HPATH environment variable. For a command xyz, files named xyz.help, xyz.1, xyz.6, or xyz.8 are considered help files.

self-insert-command
Add a character as itself to the current command, or replace the character under the cursor if in overwrite mode. See also overwrite-mode.

sequence-lead-in
You don't actually bind this command to a key sequence. When you use bindkey to display key bindings and a character is indicated as bound to sequence-lead-in, it means that one or more multiple-character sequences beginning with the character have been bound to a command.

set-mark-command
Set a mark at the cursor position. Some keyboards may not generate the proper character for the default binding (CTRL-@, a null character); in that case you'll need to rebind the command to something else. See also exchange-point-and-mark.

spell-line
For each word of the current line, attempts to correct the word as for spell-word, except for words beginning with !, ., , ^, -, or %, or containing filename pattern characters.

spell-word
Correct the spelling of the current word. The first word of a line is corrected as a command name and subsequent words are corrected as filenames. If the word appears to be a pathname, correction is attempted for each component of the pathname.

stuff-char
Send the character to the terminal in cooked mode.

toggle-literal-history
Toggle between the literal and lexical representations of the current history line. This affects all commands that retrieve lines from the history list into the edit buffer, such as up-history. The literal representation of a line is the line just as you typed it, with history references unexpanded. The lexical representation of a line has history references expanded and a space between successive words. See also expand-history.

transpose-chars
Exchange the character to the left of the cursor with the character under the cursor. See also gosmacs-transpose-chars.

transpose-gosling
Same as gosmacs-transpose-chars.

tty-dsusp
Terminal delayed-suspend character. Generally the dsusp character. See the section "Terminal Control Characters" below.

tty-flush-output
Terminal flush-output character. Generally the oflush character. See the section "Terminal Control Characters" below.

tty-sigintr
Terminal interrupt character. Generally the intr character. See the section "Terminal Control Characters" below.

tty-sigquit
Terminal quit character. Generally the quit character. See the section "Terminal Control Characters" below.

tty-sigtsusp
Terminal suspend character. Generally the susp character. See the section "Terminal Control Characters" below.

tty-start-output
Terminal allow-output character. Generally the start character. See the section "Terminal Control Characters" below.

tty-stop-output
Terminal disallow-output character. Generally the stop character. See the section "Terminal Control Characters" below.

undefined-key
This command indicates that a key is ignored, i.e., the key is unbound. When you type an unbound key, the shell beeps. Normally, you don't actually bind this command to a key, you use bindkey -r instead.

universal-argument
emacs universal argument. Repeats the following command four times. If specified twice, repeats the following command 16 times.

up-history
Recall the previous history line into the edit buffer. When repeated, continues up through the history list, stopping at the beginning of the list. See also down-history.

upcase-word
Convert characters from the cursor to the end of the current word to uppercase. See also downcase-word and capitalize-word.

vi-add (vi only)
Enter vi insert mode, allowing text entry to the right of the cursor.

vi-add-at-eol (vi only)
Enter vi insert mode, allowing text entry at the end of the line.

vi-beginning-of-next-word (vi only)
Move the cursor to the beginning of the next space- or punctuation-delimited word. See also vi-word-fwd.

vi-char-back (vi only)
Move the cursor backward to the previous instance of the next character you type.

vi-char-fwd (vi only)
Move the cursor forward to the next instance of the next character you type.

vi-charto-back (vi only)
Move the cursor backward to the right of the previous instance of the next character you type.

vi-charto-fwd (vi only)
Move the cursor forward to the left of the next instance of the next character you type.

vi-chg-case (vi only)
Change the case of the character under the cursor and move the cursor right one character.

vi-chg-meta (vi only)
This command is the prefix in vi command mode for change-text commands. When followed by a cursor motion command, enters insert mode so you can change the text from the cursor position to the text where the cursor motion command would place the cursor. For instance, use cw to change a word, c$ to change the rest of the line, and c0 to change everything from the beginning of the line to the cursor.

vi-chg-to-eol (vi only)
Same as change-till-end-of-line.

vi-cmd-mode (vi only)
Enter vi command mode. The bindings from the alternative key map are used in command mode.

vi-cmd-mode-complete (vi only)
Like complete-word but works in vi command mode.

vi-delprev (vi only)
Backspace over the previous character in vi insert mode. Backspaces only when the cursor is at the end of the characters added since insert mode was entered, and backspaces only to the beginning of those characters.

vi-delmeta (vi only)
This command is the prefix in vi command mode for delete-text commands. When followed by a cursor motion command, deletes text from the cursor position to where the cursor motion command would place the cursor. For instance, use dw to delete a word, d$ to delete the rest of the line, and d0 to delete backward to the beginning of the line.

vi-endword (vi only)
Move the cursor to the end of the current space-delimited word. See also vi-eword.

vi-eword (vi only)
Move the cursor to the end of the current space- or punctuation-delimited word. See also vi-endword.

vi-insert (vi only)
Enter vi insert mode, allowing text entry to the left of cursor.

vi-insert-at-bol (vi only)
Enter vi insert mode, allowing text entry at the beginning of the line.

vi-repeat-char-back (vi only)
Repeat the current character search in the opposite search direction. That is, it repeats vi-char-back as vi-char-fwd and vi-char-fwd as vi-char-back.

vi-repeat-char-fwd (vi only)
Repeat the current character search in the same search direction. That is, it repeats vi-char-back as vi-char-back and vi-char-fwd as vi-char-fwd.

vi-repeat-search-back (vi only)
Like vi-repeat-search-fwd, but in the opposite direction.

vi-repeat-search-fwd (vi only)
Repeat the current search in the same search direction. If you begin a backward search with vi-search-back, then vi-repeat-search-back does another backward search. If you begin a forward search with vi-search-fwd, then vi-repeat-search-back does another forward search. vi-repeat-search-fwd and vi-repeat-search-back might better be named as vi-repeat-search and vi-repeat-search-reverse or something like that.

vi-replace-char (vi only)
Replace the character under the cursor with the next character you type. Advances the cursor, unlike vi itself.

vi-replace-mode (vi only)
Enter vi character replacement mode, where characters you type replace successive characters in the command line.

vi-search-back (vi only)
Search the history list backward. When you use vi-search-back, the shell prompts with a ? character. Type a search string (which may be a filename pattern) and hit RETURN. The command retrieves the previous command containing with that string, or beeps if there is no match in the history list. If the command retrieved is not the one you wanted, repeat the search until you find the one you want using vi-repeat-search-fwd (no, that's not a typo, see the description of vi-repeat-search-fwd). Hit RETURN to terminate the search and leave the most recently retrieved command in the edit buffer. Hit ESC to execute the currently retrieved command. vi-search-back and vi-repeat-search-back wrap around when the beginning of the history list is reached.

vi-search-fwd (vi only)
Like vi-search-back, but prompts with a / character and searches forward.

vi-substitute-char (vi only)
Enter insert mode to replace the character under the cursor.

vi-substitute-line (vi only)
Enter insert mode to replace the entire line.

vi-word-back (vi only)
Move the cursor to the previous word. See also backward-word.

vi-word-fwd (vi only)
Move the cursor to the next word. See also vi-beginning-of-next-word.

vi-undo (vi only)
Undo the last change. vi-undo is unreliable, unfortunately.

vi-zero (vi only)
Move the cursor to the beginning of the line. See also beginning-of-line, which in vi mode moves the cursor to the first non-whitespace character.

which-command
Runs which for the first word of the current line.

yank
Yank the contents of the cut buffer into the command line at the cursor position. The cut buffer contents remain unchanged.

Terminal Control Commands

The terminal control commands (tty-dsusp, tty-flush-output, tty-sigintr, tty-sigquit, tty-sigtsusp, tty-start-output, and tty-stop-output) are by default bound to characters that are commonly used for the corresponding terminal driver control functions. For instance, CTRL-C is often used for the terminal driver intr function, so CTRL-C is bound to tty-sigintr. If you want to use different characters for terminal control functions, you should make the change using both stty and bindkey so that the terminal driver and the command editor both know about the change. For instance, if you want to use CTRL-T as the intr character, issue both these commands: 

   stty intr ^t	(in ~/.login)
   bindkey ^t tty-sigintr	(in ~/.cshrc)

Command Editor Default Bindings

This section lists the default bindings for both emacs and vi editing modes. For vi mode, bindings are listed separately for insert mode and command mode. In vi command mode, bindings from the alternate key map are used.

CTRL-X means to hold down the CTRL (control) key as you type X. META-X means to hold down the META key as you type X. ESC X means to type ESC, then X (two characters).

In general, when META-X is bound to a given command, ESC X is bound to the same command, for keyboards that have no META key.

The character names in the first column below are used in the binding lists that follow. Each name is equivalent to the corresponding control character in the right column. 

   TAB	CTRL-I
   RETURN	CTRL-M
   LINEFEED	CTRL-J
   BACKSPACE	CTRL-H
Most single character sequences not shown in the lists below are bound to self-insert-char. However, if you type a character and it does nothing, then most likely it's unbound (i.e., bound to undefined-key).

Some commands are bound to multiple key sequences. For such commands, the sequences are shown separated by commas.

Default Bindings--emacs mode

To repeat a command n times in emacs mode, precede it with ESC n, e.g., ESC 3 ESC d to delete three words.

Command Default Key Sequence(s)
backward-char CTRL-B, LEFT-ARROW
backward-delete-char BACKSPACE, DEL
backward-delete-word ESC BACKSPACE, ESC DEL, META-BACKSPACE, META-DEL
backward-word ESC B, ESC b, META-B, META-b
beginning-of-line CTRL-A
capitalize-word ESC C, ESC c, META-C, META-c
clear-screen CTRL-L, ESC CTRL-L, META-CTRL-L
complete-word TAB, ESC TAB, ESC ESC, META-TAB, META-ESC
complete-word-raw CTRL-X TAB
copy-prev-word ESC CTRL-_, META-_
copy-region-as-kill ESC W, ESC w, META-W, META-w
dabbrev-expand ESC /, META-/
delete-char-or-list-or-eof CTRL-D
delete-word ESC D, ESC d, META-D, META-d
digit 0 through 9
digit-argument ESC 0 through ESC 9, META-0 through META-9
down-history CTRL-N, DOWN-ARROW
downcase-word ESC L, ESC l, META-L, META-l
end-of-line CTRL-E
exchange-point-and-mark CTRL-X CTRL-X
expand-glob CTRL-X *
expand-history ESC SPACE, META-SPACE, ESC-!, META-!
expand-variables CTRL-X $
forward-char CTRL-F, RIGHT-ARROW
forward-word ESC F, ESC f, META-F, META-f
history-search-backward ESC P, ESC p, META-P, META-p
history-search-forward ESC N, ESC n, META-N, META-n
insert-last-word ESC _, META-_
kill-line CTRL-K
kill-region CTRL-W
kill-whole-line CTRL-U
list-choices ESC CTRL-D, META-CTRL-D
list-choices-raw CTRL-X CTRL-D
list-glob CTRL-X G, CTRL-X g
newline LINEFEED, RETURN
normalize-command CTRL-X ?
normalize-path CTRL-X N, CTRL-X n
quoted-insert CTRL-V
redisplay CTRL-R
run-fg-editor ESC CTRL-Z, META-CTRL-Z
run-help ESC H, ESC h, META-H, META-h
set-mark-command CTRL-@
spell-line ESC $, META-$
spell-word ESC S, ESC s, META-S, META-s
toggle-literal-history ESC R, ESC r, META-R, META-r
transpose-chars CTRL-T
tty-dsusp CTRL-]
tty-flush-output CTRL-O
tty-sigintr CTRL-C
tty-sigquit CTRL-\
tty-sigtsusp CTRL-Z
tty-start-output CTRL-Q
tty-stop-output CTRL-S
up-history CTRL-P, UP-ARROW
upcase-word ESC U, ESC u, META-U, META-u
which-command ESC ?, META-?
yank CTRL-Y

Default Bindings--vi mode

The arrow keys allow movement up or down in the history list, or back and forth in the current line, but be aware that if your arrow keys send out key sequences beginning with ESC (as is typical), you will be in command mode after using them.

Insert mode bindings

Command Default Key Sequence(s)
backward-char CTRL-B
backward-delete-char BACKSPACE, DEL
backward-delete-word CTRL-W
backward-kill-line CTRL-U
beginning-of-line CTRL-A
clear-screen CTRL-L
complete-word TAB
down-history CTRL-N, DOWN-ARROW
end-of-line CTRL-E
expand-line CTRL-X
kill-line CTRL-K
list-glob CTRL-G
list-or-eof CTRL-D
newline LINEFEED, RETURN
quoted-insert CTRL-V
redisplay CTRL-R
run-help META-?
transpose-chars CTRL-T
tty-dsusp CTRL-Y
tty-flush-output CTRL-O
tty-sigintr CTRL-C
tty-sigquit CTRL-\
tty-sigtsusp CTRL-Z
tty-start-output CTRL-Q
tty-stop-output CTRL-S
up-history CTRL-P, UP-ARROW
vi-cmd-mode ESC

Command mode bindings

You cannot repeat a command in vi insert mode. In vi command mode, many of the commands may be repeated by typing the repeat count before the command, e.g., 3dw to delete three words.

Command Default Key Sequence(s)
backward-char BACKSPACE, LEFT-ARROW, h
backward-delete-char DEL, X
backward-delete-word CTRL-W
backward-kill-line CTRL-U
backward-word b
beginning-of-line CTRL-A, ^
change-case ~
change-till-end-of-line C
clear-screen CTRL-L
delete-char-or-eof x
digit-argument 1 through 9
down-history CTRL-N, DOWN-ARROW, +, j
end-of-line CTRL-E, $
expand-glob *
expand-history !
expand-line CTRL-X
expand-variables V, v
forward-char CTRL-F, RIGHT-ARROW, SPACE, l
history-search-backward K
history-search-forward J
kill-line CTRL-K, D
list-choices CTRL-D
list-glob CTRL-G
newline LINEFEED, RETURN
redisplay CTRL-R
run-help ESC ?
tty-flush-output CTRL-O
tty-sigintr CTRL-C
tty-sigquit CTRL-\
tty-start-output CTRL-Q
tty-stop-output CTRL-S
up-history CTRL-P, UP-ARROW, -, k
vi-add a
vi-add-at-eol A
vi-beginning-of-next-word w
vi-char-back F
vi-char-fwd f
vi-charto-back T
vi-charto-fwd t
vi-chg-meta c
vi-cmd-mode-complete TAB
vi-delmeta d
vi-endword E
vi-eword e
vi-insert i
vi-insert-at-bol I
vi-repeat-char-back ,
vi-repeat-char-fwd ;
vi-repeat-search-back N
vi-repeat-search-fwd n
vi-replace-char r
vi-replace-mode R
vi-search-back ?
vi-search-fwd /
vi-substitute-char s
vi-substitute-line S
vi-undo u
vi-word-back B
vi-word-fwd W
vi-zero 0