|
See the section ’The zsh/net/tcp Module’ in
zshmodules(1).
NAME
zshzle − zsh command line
editor
DESCRIPTION
If the
ZLE option is set (which it is by default in
interactive shells) and the shell input is attached to the
terminal, the user is able 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 moving 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
default.
The parameters
BAUD, COLUMNS, and LINES are also used
by the line editor. See Parameters Used By The Shell
in zshparam(1).
KEYMAPS
A keymap in ZLE
contains a set of bindings between key sequences and ZLE
commands. The empty key sequence cannot be bound.
There can be
any number of keymaps at any time, and each keymap has one
or more names. If all of a keymap’s names are deleted,
it disappears. bindkey can be used to manipulate
keymap names.
Initially,
there are four keymaps:
|
emacs |
|
EMACS emulation |
|
|
viins |
|
vi emulation − insert mode |
|
|
vicmd |
|
vi emulation − command mode |
|
|
.safe |
|
fallback keymap |
|
The
’.safe’ keymap is special. It can never
be altered, and the name can never be removed. However, it
can be linked to other names, which can be removed. In the
future other special keymaps may be added; users should
avoid using names beginning with ’.’ for
their own keymaps.
In addition to
these four names, either ’emacs’ or
’viins’ is also linked to the name
’main’. If one of the VISUAL or
EDITOR environment variables contain the string
’vi’ when the shell starts up then it
will be ’viins’, otherwise it will be
’emacs’. bindkey’s
−e and −v options provide a
convenient way to override this default choice.
When the editor
starts up, it will select the ’main’
keymap. If that keymap doesn’t exist, it will use
’.safe’ instead.
In the
’.safe’ keymap, each single key is bound
to self−insert, except for ^J (line feed) and
^M (return) which are bound to accept−line.
This is deliberately not pleasant to use; if you are using
it, it means you deleted the main keymap, and you should put
it back.
Reading
Commands
When ZLE is reading a command from the terminal, it may read
a sequence that is bound to some command and is also a
prefix of a longer bound string. In this case ZLE will wait
a certain time to see if more characters are typed, and if
not (or they don’t match any longer string) it will
execute the binding. This timeout is defined by the
KEYTIMEOUT parameter; its default is 0.4 sec. There
is no timeout if the prefix string is not itself bound to a
command.
As well as ZLE
commands, key sequences can be bound to other strings, by
using ’bindkey −s’. When such a
sequence is read, the replacement string is pushed back as
input, and the command reading process starts again using
these fake keystrokes. This input can itself invoke further
replacement strings, but in order to detect loops the
process will be stopped if there are twenty such
replacements without a real command being read.
ZLE BUILTINS
The ZLE module
contains three related builtin commands. The bindkey
command manipulates keymaps and key bindings; the
vared command invokes ZLE on the value of a shell
parameter; and the zle command manipulates editing
widgets and allows command line access to ZLE commands from
within shell functions.
bindkey [ options ] −l
bindkey [ options ] −d
bindkey [ options ] −D keymap
...
bindkey [ options ] −A
old−keymap new−keymap
bindkey [ options ] −N
new−keymap [ old−keymap ]
bindkey [ options ] −m
bindkey [ options ] −r
in−string ...
bindkey [ options ] −s
in−string out−string ...
bindkey [ options ] in−string
command ...
bindkey [ options ] [ in−string
]
bindkey’s options
can be divided into three categories: keymap selection,
operation selection, and others. The keymap selection
options are:
|
−e |
|
Selects keymap ’emacs’, and also
links it to ’main’. |
|
−v |
|
Selects keymap ’viins’, and also
links it to ’main’. |
|
−a |
|
Selects keymap ’vicmd’. |
−M
keymap
The keymap specifies a
keymap name.
If a keymap
selection is required and none of the options above are
used, the ’main’ keymap is used. Some
operations do not permit a keymap to be selected,
namely:
|
−l |
|
List all existing keymap names. If the −L
option is also used, list in the form of bindkey
commands to create the keymaps. |
|
−d |
|
Delete all existing keymaps and reset to the default
state. |
−D keymap
...
Delete the named
keymaps.
−A
old−keymap new−keymap
Make the
new−keymap name an alias for
old−keymap, so that both names refer to the
same keymap. The names have equal standing; if either is
deleted, the other remains. If there is already a keymap
with the new−keymap name, it is deleted.
−N
new−keymap [ old−keymap ]
Create a new keymap, named
new−keymap. If a keymap already has that name,
it is deleted. If an old−keymap name is given,
the new keymap is initialized to be a duplicate of it,
otherwise the new keymap will be empty.
To use a newly
created keymap, it should be linked to main. Hence
the sequence of commands to create and use a new keymap
’mymap’ initialized from the emacs
keymap (which remains unchanged) is:
bindkey
−N mymap emacs
bindkey −A mymap main
Note that while
’bindkey −A newmap
main’ will work when newmap is
emacs or viins, it will not work for
vicmd, as switching from vi insert to command mode
becomes impossible.
The following
operations act on the ’main’ keymap if no
keymap selection option was given:
|
−m |
|
Add the built−in set of meta−key bindings to
the selected keymap. Only keys that are unbound or bound to
self−insert are affected. |
−r
in−string ...
Unbind the specified
in−strings in the selected keymap. This is
exactly equivalent to binding the strings to
undefined−key.
When
−R is also used, interpret the
in−strings as ranges.
When
−p is also used, the in−strings
specify prefixes. Any binding that has the given
in−string as a prefix, not including the
binding for the in−string itself, if any, will
be removed. For example,
bindkey
−rpM viins ’^[’
will remove all
bindings in the vi−insert keymap beginning with an
escape character (probably cursor keys), but leave the
binding for the escape character itself (probably
vi−cmd−mode). This is incompatible with
the option −R.
−s
in−string out−string ...
Bind each
in−string to each out−string. When
in−string is typed, out−string
will be pushed back and treated as input to the line editor.
When −R is also used, interpret the
in−strings as ranges.
in−string command
...
Bind each
in−string to each command. When
−R is used, interpret the
in−strings as ranges.
[ in−string ]
List key bindings. If an
in−string is specified, the binding of that
string in the selected keymap is displayed. Otherwise, all
key bindings in the selected keymap are displayed. (As a
special case, if the −e or −v
option is used alone, the keymap is not displayed
− the implicit linking of keymaps is the only thing
that happens.)
When the option
−p is used, the in−string must be
present. The listing shows all bindings which have the given
key sequence as a prefix, not including any bindings for the
key sequence itself.
When the
−L option is used, the list is in the form of
bindkey commands to create the key bindings.
When the
−R option is used as noted above, a valid range
consists of two characters, with an optional
’−’ between them. All characters
between the two specified, inclusive, are bound as
specified.
For either
in−string or out−string, the
following escape sequences are recognised:
|
\a |
|
bell character |
|
|
\b |
|
backspace |
|
|
\e, \E |
|
escape |
|
|
\f |
|
form feed |
|
|
\n |
|
linefeed (newline) |
|
|
\r |
|
carriage return |
|
|
\t |
|
horizontal tab |
|
|
\v |
|
vertical tab |
|
|
\NNN |
|
character code in octal |
|
|
\xNN |
|
character code in hexadecimal |
|
|
\M[−]X |
|
character with meta bit set |
|
|
\C[−]X |
|
control character |
|
|
^X |
|
control character |
|
In all other
cases, ’\’ escapes the following
character. Delete is written as ’^?’.
Note that ’\M^?’ and
’^\M?’ are not the same, and that (unlike
emacs), the bindings ’\M−X’
and ’\eX’ are entirely distinct,
although they are initialized to the same bindings by
’bindkey −m’.
vared [ −Aache ] [ −p
prompt ] [ −r rprompt ]
name
The value of the parameter
name is loaded into the edit buffer, and the line
editor is invoked. When the editor exits, name is set
to the string value returned by the editor. When the
−c flag is given, the parameter is created if
it doesn’t already exist. The −a flag may
be given with −c to create an array parameter,
or the −A flag to create an associative array.
If the type of an existing parameter does not match the type
to be created, the parameter is unset and recreated.
If an array or
array slice is being edited, separator characters as defined
in $IFS will be shown quoted with a backslash, as
will backslashes themselves. Conversely, when the edited
text is split into an array, a backslash quotes an
immediately following separator character or backslash; no
other special handling of backslashes, or any handling of
quotes, is performed.
Individual
elements of existing array or associative array parameters
may be edited by using subscript syntax on name. New
elements are created automatically, even without
−c.
If the
−p flag is given, the following string will be
taken as the prompt to display at the left. If the
−r flag is given, the following string gives
the prompt to display at the right. If the −h
flag is specified, the history can be accessed from ZLE. If
the −e flag is given, typing ^D
(Control−D) on an empty line causes vared to
exit immediately with a non−zero return value.
zle −l [
−L | −a ] [ string ... ]
zle −D widget ...
zle −A old−widget new−widget
zle −N widget [ function ]
zle −C widget completion−widget
function
zle −R [ −c ] [
display−string ] [ string ... ]
zle −M string
zle −U string
zle −K keymap
zle −F [ −L ] [ fd [
handler ] ]
zle widget [
−n num ] [ −N ] args
...
|
zle |
|
The zle builtin performs a number of different
actions concerning ZLE. Which operation it performs depends
on its options: |
−l [
−L | −a ]
List all existing
user−defined widgets. If the −L option is
used, list in the form of zle commands to create the
widgets.
When combined
with the −a option, all widget names are
listed, including the builtin ones. In this case the
−L option is ignored.
If at least one
string is given, nothing will be printed but the
return status will be zero if all strings are names
of existing widgets (or of user−defined widgets if the
−a flag is not given) and non−zero if at
least one string is not a name of an defined
widget.
−D widget
...
Delete the named
widgets.
−A
old−widget new−widget
Make the
new−widget name an alias for
old−widget, so that both names refer to the
same widget. The names have equal standing; if either is
deleted, the other remains. If there is already a widget
with the new−widget name, it is deleted.
−N widget [
function ]
Create a user−defined
widget. If there is already a widget with the specified
name, it is overwritten. When the new widget is invoked from
within the editor, the specified shell function is
called. If no function name is specified, it defaults to the
same name as the widget. For further information, see the
section Widgets in zshzle(1).
−C widget
completion−widget function
Create a user−defined
completion widget named widget. The completion widget
will behave like the built−in completion−widget
whose name is given as completion−widget. To
generate the completions, the shell function function
will be called. For further information, see
zshcompwid(1).
−R [
−c ] [ display−string ] [
string ... ]
Redisplay the command line;
this is to be called from within a user−defined widget
to allow changes to become visible. If a
display−string is given and not empty, this is
shown in the status line (immediately below the line being
edited).
If the optional
strings are given they are listed below the prompt in
the same way as completion lists are printed. If no
strings are given but the −c option is
used such a list is cleared.
Note that this
option is only useful for widgets that do not exit
immediately after using it because the strings displayed
will be erased immediately after return from the widget.
This command
can safely be called outside user defined widgets; if zle is
active, the display will be refreshed, while if zle is not
active, the command has no effect. In this case there will
usually be no other arguments. The status is zero if zle was
active, else one.
−M
string
As with the −R
option, the string will be displayed below the
command line; unlike the −R option, the string
will not be put into the status line but will instead be
printed normally below the prompt. This means that the
string will still be displayed after the widget
returns (until it is overwritten by subsequent
commands).
−U
string
This pushes the characters in
the string onto the input stack of ZLE. After the
widget currently executed finishes ZLE will behave as if the
characters in the string were typed by the user.
As ZLE uses a
stack, if this option is used repeatedly the last string
pushed onto the stack will be processed first. However, the
characters in each string will be processed in the
order in which they appear in the string.
−K
keymap
Selects the keymap named
keymap. An error message will be displayed if there
is no such keymap.
This keymap
selection affects the interpretation of following keystrokes
within this invocation of ZLE. Any following invocation
(e.g., the next command line) will start as usual with the
’main’ keymap selected.
−F [
−L ] [ fd [ handler ] ]
Only available if your system
supports one of the ’poll’ or
’select’ system calls; most modern systems
do.
Installs
handler (the name of a shell function) to handle
input from file descriptor fd. When zle is attempting
to read data, it will examine both the terminal and the list
of handled fd’s. If data becomes available on a
handled fd, zle will call handler with the fd
which is ready for reading as the only argument. If the
handler produces output to the terminal, it should call
’zle −I’ before doing so (see
below). The handler should not attempt to read from the
terminal. Note that zle makes no attempt to check whether
this fd is actually readable when installing the handler.
The user must make their own arrangements for handling the
file descriptor when zle is not active.
Any number of
handlers for any number of readable file descriptors may be
installed. Installing a handler for an fd which is
already handled causes the existing handler to be
replaced.
If no
handler is given, but an fd is present, any
handler for that fd is removed. If there is none, an
error message is printed and status 1 is returned.
If no arguments
are given, or the −L option is supplied, a list
of handlers is printed in a form which can be stored for
later execution.
An fd
(but not a handler) may optionally be given with the
−L option; in this case, the function will list
the handler if any, else silently return status 1.
Note that this
feature should be used with care. Activity on one of the
fd’s which is not properly handled can cause
the terminal to become unusable.
Here is a
simple example of using this feature. A connection to a
remote TCP port is created using the ztcp command; see the
description of the zsh/net/tcp module in
zshmodules(1). Then a handler is installed which
simply prints out any data which arrives on this connection.
Note that ’select’ will indicate that the file
descriptor needs handling if the remote side has closed the
connection; we handle that by testing for a failed read.
if ztcp pwspc 2811; then
tcpfd=$REPLY
handler() {
zle −I
local line
if ! read −r line <&$1; then
# select marks this fd if we reach EOF,
# so handle this specially.
print "[Read on fd $1 failed, removing.]"
>&2
zle −F $1
return 1
fi
print −r − $line
}
zle −F $tcpfd handler
fi
|
−I |
|
Unusually, this option is most useful outside ordinary
widget functions, though it may be used within if normal
output to the terminal is required. It invalidates the
current zle display in preparation for output; typically
this will be from a trap function. It has no effect if zle
is not active. When a trap exits, the shell checks to see if
the display needs restoring, hence the following will print
output in such a way as not to disturb the line being
edited: |
TRAPUSR1() {
# Invalidate zle display
[[ −o zle ]] && zle −I
# Show output
print Hello
}
In general, the
trap function may need to test whether zle is active before
using this method (as shown in the example), since the
zsh/zle module may not even be loaded; if it is not,
the command can be skipped.
It is possible
to call ’zle −I’ several times
before control is returned to the editor; the display will
only be invalidated the first time to minimise
disruption.
Note that there
are normally better ways of manipulating the display from
within zle widgets; see, for example, ’zle
−R’ above.
The status is
zero if zle is active and the current zle display has been
invalidated (even if this was by a previous call to
’zle −I’), else one.
widget [ −n
num ] [ −N ] args ...
Invoke the specified widget.
This can only be done when ZLE is active; normally this will
be within a user−defined widget.
With the
options −n and −N, the current
numerical argument will be saved and then restored after the
call to widget; ’−n
num’ sets the numerical argument temporarily to
num, while ’−N’ sets it to
the default, i.e. as if there were none.
Any further
arguments will be passed to the widget. If it is a shell
function, these are passed down as positional parameters;
for builtin widgets it is up to the widget in question what
it does with them. Currently arguments are only handled by
the incremental−search commands, the
history−search−forward and
−backward and the corresponding functions
prefixed by vi−, and by
universal−argument. No error is flagged if the
command does not use the arguments, or only uses some of
them.
The return
status reflects the success or failure of the operation
carried out by the widget, or if it is a user−defined
widget the return status of the shell function.
A
non−zero return status causes the shell to beep when
the widget exits, unless the BEEP options was unset
or the widget was called via the zle command. Thus if
a user defined widget requires an immediate beep, it should
call the beep widget directly.
With no options
and no arguments, only the return status will be set. It is
zero if ZLE is currently active and widgets could be invoked
using this builtin command and non−zero if ZLE is not
active.
WIDGETS
All actions in
the editor are performed by ’widgets’. A
widget’s job is simply to perform some small action.
The ZLE commands that key sequences in keymaps are bound to
are in fact widgets. Widgets can be user−defined or
built in.
The standard
widgets built in to ZLE are listed in Standard Widgets
below. Other built−in widgets can be defined by other
modules (see zshmodules(1)). Each built−in
widget has two names: its normal canonical name, and the
same name preceded by a ’.’. The
’.’ name is special: it can’t be
rebound to a different widget. This makes the widget
available even when its usual name has been redefined.
User−defined
widgets are defined using ’zle −N’,
and implemented as shell functions. When the widget is
executed, the corresponding shell function is executed, and
can perform editing (or other) actions. It is recommended
that user−defined widgets should not have names
starting with ’.’.
USER−DEFINED WIDGETS
User−defined
widgets, being implemented as shell functions, can execute
any normal shell command. They can also run other widgets
(whether built−in or user−defined) using the
zle builtin command. The standard input of the
function is closed to prevent external commands from
unintentionally blocking ZLE by reading from the terminal,
but read −k or read −q can be used
to read characters. Finally, they can examine and edit the
ZLE buffer being edited by reading and setting the special
parameters described below.
These special
parameters are always available in widget functions, but are
not in any way special outside ZLE. If they have some normal
value outside ZLE, that value is temporarily inaccessible,
but will return when the widget function exits. These
special parameters in fact have local scope, like parameters
created in a function using local.
Inside
completion widgets and traps called while ZLE is active,
these parameters are available read−only.
BUFFER (scalar)
The entire contents of the edit
buffer. If it is written to, the cursor remains at the same
offset, unless that would put it outside the buffer.
BUFFERLINES
(integer)
The number of screen lines
needed for the edit buffer currently displayed on screen
(i.e. without any changes to the preceding parameters done
after the last redisplay); read−only.
CONTEXT (scalar)
The context in which zle was
called to read a line; read−only. One of the
values:
|
start |
|
The start of a command line (at prompt PS1). |
|
|
cont |
|
A continuation to a command line (at prompt
PS2). |
|
|
select |
|
In a select loop. |
|
|
vared |
|
Editing a variable in vared. |
|
CURSOR (integer)
The offset of the cursor,
within the edit buffer. This is in the range 0 to
$#BUFFER, and is by definition equal to
$#LBUFFER. Attempts to move the cursor outside the
buffer will result in the cursor being moved to the
appropriate end of the buffer.
CUTBUFFER (scalar)
The last item to be cut using
one of the ’kill−’ commands; the
string which the next yank would insert in the line.
HISTNO (integer)
The current history number;
read−only.
KEYMAP (scalar)
The name of the currently
selected keymap; read−only.
KEYS (scalar)
The keys typed to invoke this
widget, as a literal string; read−only.
killring (array)
The array of previously killed
items, with the most recently killed first. This gives the
items that would be retrieved by a yank−pop in
the same order.
The default
size for the kill ring is eight, however the length may be
changed by normal array operations. Any empty string in the
kill ring is ignored by the yank−pop command,
hence the size of the array effectively sets the maximum
length of the kill ring, while the number of non−zero
strings gives the current length, both as seen by the user
at the command line.
LASTSEARCH (scalar)
The last search string used by
an interactive search ; read−only.
LASTWIDGET (scalar)
The name of the last widget
that was executed; read−only.
LBUFFER (scalar)
The part of the buffer that
lies to the left of the cursor position. If it is assigned
to, only that part of the buffer is replaced, and the cursor
remains between the new $LBUFFER and the old
$RBUFFER.
MARK (integer)
Like CURSOR, but for the
mark.
NUMERIC (integer)
The numeric argument. If no
numeric argument was given, this parameter is unset. When
this is set inside a widget function, builtin widgets called
with the zle builtin command will use the value
assigned. If it is unset inside a widget function, builtin
widgets called behave as if no numeric argument was
given.
PENDING (integer)
The number of bytes pending for
input, i.e. the number of bytes which have already been
typed and can immediately be read. On systems where the
shell is not able to get this information, this parameter
will always have a value of zero. Read−only.
PREBUFFER (scalar)
In a multi−line input at
the secondary prompt, this read−only parameter
contains the contents of the lines before the one the cursor
is currently in.
PREDISPLAY (scalar)
Text to be displayed before the
start of the editable text buffer. This does not have to be
a complete line; to display a complete line, a newline must
be appended explicitly. The text is reset on each new
invocation (but not recursive invocation) of zle.
POSTDISPLAY (scalar)
Text to be displayed after the
end of the editable text buffer. This does not have to be a
complete line; to display a complete line, a newline must be
prepended explicitly. The text is reset on each new
invocation (but not recursive invocation) of zle.
RBUFFER (scalar)
The part of the buffer that
lies to the right of the cursor position. If it is assigned
to, only that part of the buffer is replaced, and the cursor
remains between the old $LBUFFER and the new
$RBUFFER.
WIDGET (scalar)
The name of the widget
currently being executed; read−only.
Special
Widget
There is one user−defined widget which is special to
the shell. If it does not exist, no special action is taken.
The environment provided is identical to that for any other
editing widget.
zle−line−init
Executed every time the line
editor is started to read a new line of input. The following
example puts the line editor into vi command mode when it
starts up.
zle−line−init()
{ zle −K vicmd; }
zle −N zle−line−init
(The command
inside the function sets the keymap directly; it is
equivalent to zle vi−cmd−mode.)
STANDARD WIDGETS
The following
is a list of all the standard widgets, and their default
bindings in emacs mode, vi command mode and vi insert mode
(the ’emacs’, ’vicmd’
and ’viins’ keymaps, respectively).
Note that
cursor keys are bound to movement keys in all three keymaps;
the shell assumes that the cursor keys send the key
sequences reported by the terminal−handling library
(termcap or terminfo). The key sequences shown in the list
are those based on the VT100, common on many modern
terminals, but in fact these are not necessarily bound. In
the case of the viins keymap, the initial escape
character of the sequences serves also to return to the
vicmd keymap: whether this happens is determined by
the KEYTIMEOUT parameter, see zshparam(1).
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 ^?) (ESC−[D)
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) (ESC−[C)
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 editor’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 argument.
vi−goto−mark
(unbound) (’) (unbound)
Move to the specified mark.
vi−goto−mark−line
(unbound) (’) (unbound)
Move to beginning of the line
containing the specified 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 direction.
History
Control
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) (ESC−[B)
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 beginning with the first word in the
buffer.
If called from
a function by the zle command with arguments, the
first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than 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 argument. 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 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 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
’vicmd’ keymaps; the
’main’ keymap (insert mode) will be
selected initially.
history−incremental−search−backward
will get the next occurrence of the contents of the
mini−buffer.
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.
When called
from a widget function by the zle command, the
incremental search commands can take a string argument. This
will be treated as a string of keys, as for arguments to the
bindkey command, and used as initial input for the
command. Any characters in the string which are unused by
the incremental search will be silently ignored. For
example,
zle
history−incremental−search−backward
forceps
will search
backwards for forceps, leaving the minibuffer
containing the string ’forceps’.
history−incremental−search−forward
(^S ^Xs) (unbound) (unbound)
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 beginning
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.
If called from
a function by the zle command with arguments, the
first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than 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 available
in the mini−buffer are: accept−line,
backward−delete−char,
vi−backward−delete−char,
backward−kill−word,
vi−backward−kill−word,
clear−screen, redisplay,
quoted−insert and
vi−quoted−insert.
vi−cmd−mode
is treated the same as accept−line, and
magic−space is treated as a space. 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.
If called from
a function by the zle command with arguments, the
first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than the first word in the buffer.
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.
If called from
a function by the zle command with arguments, the
first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than 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.
Argument handling is also the same as for that command.
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). Repeating this command replaces the
word just inserted with the last word from the history event
prior to the one just used; numeric arguments can be used in
the same way to pick a word from that event.
When called
from a shell function invoked from a user−defined
widget, the command can take one to three arguments. The
first argument specifies a history offset which applies to
successive calls to this widget: if is −1, the default
behaviour is used, while if it is 1, successive calls will
move forwards through the history. The value 0 can be used
to indicate that the history line examined by the previous
execution of the command will be reexamined. Note that
negative numbers should be preceded with a
’−−’ argument to avoid
confusing them with options.
If two
arguments are given, the second specifies the word on the
command line in normal array index notation (as a more
natural alternative to the prefix argument). Hence 1 is the
first word, and −1 (the default) is the last word.
If a third
argument is given, its value is ignored, but it is used to
signify that the history offset is relative to the current
history line, rather than the one remembered after the
previous invocations of
insert−last−word.
For example,
the default behaviour of the command corresponds to
zle
insert−last−word −− −1
−1
while the
command
zle
insert−last−word −− −1 1
−
always copies
the first word of the line in the history immediately before
the line being edited. This has the side effect that later
invocations of the widget will be relative to that line.
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) (ESC−[A)
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.
If called from
a function by the zle command with arguments, the
first argument is taken as the string for which to search,
rather than 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 position, 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 current
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 to the left
of the cursor.
copy−prev−shell−word
(ESC−^_) (unbound) (unbound)
Like
copy−prev−word, but the word is found by
using shell parsing, whereas
copy−prev−word looks for blanks. This
makes a difference when the word is quoted and contains
spaces.
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 going 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 endpoint 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 opposed 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 opposed 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 character read from the keyboard.
self−insert
(printable characters) (unbound) (printable characters and
some control characters)
Insert a character into the
buffer at the cursor position.
self−insert−unmeta
(ESC−^I ESC−^J ESC−^M) (unbound)
(unbound)
Insert a character into 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 cursor if at end of line, else exchange the
character under the cursor 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 cursor 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 movement 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.
This only works if bound to a key sequence ending in a
decimal digit.
Inside a widget
function, a call to this function treats the last key of the
key sequence which called the widget as the digit.
neg−argument
(ESC−−) (unbound) (unbound)
Changes the sign of the
following argument.
universal−argument
Multiply the argument of the
next command by 4. Alternatively, if this command is
followed by an integer (positive or negative), use that as
the argument for the next command. Thus digits cannot be
repeated using this command. For example, if this command
occurs twice, followed immediately by
forward−char, move forward sixteen spaces; if
instead it is followed by −2, then
forward−char, move backward two spaces.
Inside a widget
function, if passed an argument, i.e. ’zle
universal−argument num’, the
numerical argument will be set to num; this is
equivalent to ’NUMERIC=num’.
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 cursor 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 up to 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.
menu−expand−or−complete
Like
expand−or−complete, except that menu
completion is used.
reverse−menu−complete
Perform menu completion, like
menu−complete, except that if a menu completion
is already in progress, move to the previous
completion rather than the next.
end−of−list
When a previous completion
displayed a list below the prompt, this widget can be used
to move the prompt below the list.
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)
Finish editing the buffer.
Normally this causes the buffer to be executed as a shell
command.
accept−line−and−down−history
(^O) (unbound) (unbound)
Execute the current line, and
push the next history event on the the buffer stack.
|
beep |
|
Beep, unless the BEEP option is unset. |
|
vi−cmd−mode
(^X^V) (unbound) (^[)
Enter command mode; that is,
select the ’vicmd’ 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
Reads a key sequence, then
prints the function bound to that sequence.
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,
backward−kill−word,
vi−backward−kill−word,
kill−whole−line,
vi−kill−line,
backward−kill−line,
list−choices,
delete−char−or−list,
complete−word, accept−line,
expand−or−complete and
expand−or−complete−prefix.
kill−region
kills the last word, and vi−cmd−mode is 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
option is set. Any other character that is not bound to
self−insert or
self−insert−unmeta will beep and be
ignored. 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 option must be
set for this to have any usefulness.
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 exactly 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
equivalent to push−input followed by
get−line.
recursive−edit
Only useful from a
user−defined widget. At this point in the function,
the editor regains control until one of the standard widgets
which would normally cause zle to exit (typically an
accept−line caused by hitting the return key)
is executed. Instead, control returns to the
user−defined widget. The status returned is
non−zero if the return was caused by an error, but the
function still continues executing and hence may tidy up.
This makes it safe for the user−defined widget to
alter the command line or key bindings temporarily.
The following
widget, caps−lock, serves as an example.
self−insert−ucase()
{
LBUFFER+=${(U)KEYS[−1]}
}
integer
stat
zle −N
self−insert self−insert−ucase
zle −A caps−lock save−caps−lock
zle −A accept−line caps−lock
zle
recursive−edit
stat=$?
zle −A
.self−insert self−insert
zle −A save−caps−lock caps−lock
zle −D save−caps−lock
(( stat ))
&& zle send−break
return
$stat
This causes typed letters to be
inserted capitalised until either accept−line
(i.e. typically the return key) is typed or the
caps−lock widget is invoked again; the later is
handled by saving the old definition of
caps−lock as save−caps−lock
and then rebinding it to invoke accept−line.
Note that an error from the recursive edit is detected as a
non−zero return status and propagated by using the
send−break widget.
redisplay (unbound) (^R)
(^R)
Redisplays the edit buffer.
send−break (^G
ESC−^G) (unbound) (unbound)
Abort the current editor
function, e.g. execute−named−command, or
the editor itself, e.g. if you are in vared.
Otherwise abort the parsing of the current line.
run−help
(ESC−H ESC−h) (unbound) (unbound)
Push the buffer onto the buffer
stack, and execute the command ’run−help
cmd’, where cmd is the current command.
run−help is normally aliased to man.
vi−set−buffer
(unbound) (") (unbound)
Specify a buffer to be used in
the following command. There are 35 buffers that can be
specified: the 26 ’named’ buffers "a
to "z and the nine ’queued’ buffers
"1 to "9. The named buffers can also
be specified as "A to "Z.
When a buffer
is specified for a cut command, the text being cut replaces
the previous contents of the specified buffer. If a named
buffer is specified using a capital, the newly cut text is
appended to the buffer instead of overwriting it.
If no buffer is
specified for a cut command, "1 is used, and the
contents of "1 to "8 are each
shifted along one buffer; the contents of "9 is
lost.
vi−set−mark
(unbound) (m) (unbound)
Set the specified mark at the
cursor position.
set−mark−command
(^@) (unbound) (unbound)
Set the mark at the cursor
position.
spell−word
(ESC−$ ESC−S ESC−s) (unbound)
(unbound)
Attempt spelling correction on
the current word.
undefined−key
This command is executed when a
key sequence that is not bound to any command is typed. By
default it beeps.
undo (^_ ^Xu ^X^U)
(unbound) (unbound)
Incrementally undo the last
text modification.
|
redo |
|
Incrementally redo undone text modifications. |
|
vi−undo−change
(unbound) (u) (unbound)
Undo the last text
modification. If repeated, redo the modification.
what−cursor−position
(^X=) (unbound) (unbound)
Print the character under the
cursor, its code as an octal, decimal and hexadecimal
number, the current cursor position within the buffer and
the column of the cursor in the current line.
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 command.
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−beginning−of−line.
NAME
zshcompwid − zsh
completion widgets
DESCRIPTION
The
shell’s programmable completion mechanism can be
manipulated in two ways; here the low−level features
supporting the newer, function−based mechanism are
defined. A complete set of shell functions based on these
features is described in zshcompsys(1), and users
with no interest in adding to that system (or, potentially,
writing their own −−− see dictionary entry
for ’hubris’) should skip this section. The
older system based on the compctl builtin command is
described in zshcompctl(1).
Completion
widgets are defined by the −C option to the
zle builtin command provided by the zsh/zle
module (see zshzle(1)). For example,
zle −C
complete expand−or−complete completer
defines a
widget named ’complete’. The second
argument is the name of any of the builtin widgets that
handle completions: complete−word,
expand−or−complete,
expand−or−complete−prefix,
menu−complete,
menu−expand−or−complete,
reverse−menu−complete,
list−choices, or
delete−char−or−list. Note that this
will still work even if the widget in question has been
re−bound.
When this newly
defined widget is bound to a key using the bindkey
builtin command defined in the zsh/zle module (see
zshzle(1)), typing that key will call the shell
function ’completer’. This function is
responsible for generating the possible matches using the
builtins described below. As with other ZLE widgets, the
function is called with its standard input closed.
Once the
function returns, the completion code takes over control
again and treats the matches in the same manner as the
specified builtin widget, in this case
expand−or−complete.
SPECIAL PARAMETERS
Inside
completion widgets, and any functions called from them, some
parameters have special meaning; outside these functions
they are not special to the shell in any way. These
parameters are used to pass information between the
completion code and the completion widget. Some of the
builtin commands and the condition codes use or change the
current values of these parameters. Any existing values will
be hidden during execution of completion widgets; except for
compstate, the parameters are reset on each function
exit (including nested function calls from within the
completion widget) to the values they had when the function
was entered.
CURRENT
This is the number of the
current word, i.e. the word the cursor is currently on in
the words array. Note that this value is only correct
if the ksharrays option is not set.
IPREFIX
Initially this will be set to
the empty string. This parameter functions like
PREFIX; it contains a string which precedes the one
in PREFIX and is not considered part of the list of
matches. Typically, a string is transferred from the
beginning of PREFIX to the end of IPREFIX, for
example:
IPREFIX=${PREFIX%%\=*}=
PREFIX=${PREFIX#*=}
causes the part
of the prefix up to and including the first equal sign not
to be treated as part of a matched string. This can be done
automatically by the compset builtin, see below.
ISUFFIX
As IPREFIX, but for a
suffix that should not be considered part of the matches;
note that the ISUFFIX string follows the
SUFFIX string.
|
PREFIX |
|
Initially this will be set to the part of the current
word from the beginning of the word up to the position of
the cursor; it may be altered to give a common prefix for
all matches. |
QIPREFIX
This parameter is
read−only and contains the quoted string up to the
word being completed. E.g. when completing
’"foo’, this parameter contains the
double quote. If the −q option of
compset is used (see below), and the original string
was ’"foo bar’ with the cursor on
the ’bar’, this parameter contains
’"foo ’.
QISUFFIX
Like QIPREFIX, but
containing the suffix.
|
SUFFIX |
|
Initially this will be set to the part of the current
word from the cursor position to the end; it may be altered
to give a common suffix for all matches. It is most useful
when the option COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set, as otherwise
the whole word on the command line is treated as a
prefix. |
compstate
This is an associative array
with various keys and values that the completion code uses
to exchange information with the completion widget. The keys
are:
all_quotes
The −q option of
the compset builtin command (see below) allows a
quoted string to be broken into separate words; if the
cursor is on one of those words, that word will be
completed, possibly invoking ’compset
−q’ recursively. With this key it is
possible to test the types of quoted strings which are
currently broken into parts in this fashion. Its value
contains one character for each quoting level. The
characters are a single quote or a double quote for strings
quoted with these characters and a backslash for strings not
starting with a quote character. The first character in the
value always corresponds to the innermost quoting level.
context
This will be set by the
completion code to the overall context in which completion
is attempted. Possible values are:
array_value
when completing inside the
value of an array parameter assignment; in this case the
words array contains the words inside the
parentheses.
brace_parameter
when completing the name of a
parameter in a parameter expansion beginning with
${.
assign_parameter
when completing the name of a
parameter in a parameter assignment.
command
when completing for a normal
command (either in command position or for an argument of
the command).
condition
when completing inside a
’[[...]]’ conditional expression;
in this case the words array contains only the words
inside the conditional expression.
|
math |
|
when completing in a mathematical environment such as a
’((...))’ construct. |
parameter
when completing the name of a
parameter in a parameter expansion beginning with $
but not ${.
redirect
when completing after a
redirection operator.
subscript
when completing inside a
parameter subscript.
|
value |
|
when completing the value of a parameter assignment. |
|
exact |
|
|
Controls the
behaviour when the REC_EXACT option is set. It will
be set to accept if an exact match would be accepted,
and will be unset otherwise.
If it was set
when at least one match equal to the string on the line was
generated, the match is accepted.
exact_string
The string of an exact match if
one was found, otherwise unset.
ignored
The number of words that were
ignored because they matched one of the patterns given with
the −F option to the compadd builtin
command.
|
insert |
|
This controls the manner in which a match is inserted
into the command line. On entry to the widget function, if
it is unset the command line is not to be changed; if set to
unambiguous, any prefix common to all matches is to
be inserted; if set to automenu−unambiguous,
the common prefix is to be inserted and the next invocation
of the completion code may start menu completion (due to the
AUTO_MENU option being set); if set to menu or
automenu menu completion will be started for the
matches currently generated (in the latter case this will
happen because the AUTO_MENU is set). The value may
also contain the string ’tab’ when the
completion code would normally not really do completion, but
only insert the TAB character. |
On exit it may
be set to any of the values above (where setting it to the
empty string is the same as unsetting it), or to a number,
in which case the match whose number is given will be
inserted into the command line. Negative numbers count
backward from the last match (with
’−1’ selecting the last match) and
out−of−range values are wrapped around, so that
a value of zero selects the last match and a value one more
than the maximum selects the first. Unless the value of this
key ends in a space, the match is inserted as in a menu
completion, i.e. without automatically appending a
space.
Both
menu and automenu may also specify the the
number of the match to insert, given after a colon. For
example, ’menu:2’ says to start menu
completion, beginning with the second match.
Note that a
value containing the substring ’tab’
makes the matches generated be ignored and only the TAB be
inserted.
Finally, it may
also be set to all, which makes all matches generated
be inserted into the line.
insert_positions
When the completion system
inserts an unambiguous string into the line, there may be
multiple places where characters are missing or where the
character inserted differs from at least one match. The
value of this key contains a colon separated list of all
these positions, as indexes into the command line.
last_prompt
If this is set to a
non−empty string for every match added, the completion
code will move the cursor back to the previous prompt after
the list of completions has been displayed. Initially this
is set or unset according to the ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT
option.
|
list |
|
This controls whether or how the list of matches will be
displayed. If it is unset or empty they will never be
listed; if its value begins with list, they will
always be listed; if it begins with autolist or
ambiguous, they will be listed when the
AUTO_LIST or LIST_AMBIGUOUS options
respectively would normally cause them to be. |
If the
substring force appears in the value, this makes the
list be shown even if there is only one match. Normally, the
list would be shown only if there are at least two
matches.
The value
contains the substring packed if the
LIST_PACKED option is set. If this substring is given
for all matches added to a group, this group will show the
LIST_PACKED behavior. The same is done for the
LIST_ROWS_FIRST option with the substring
rows.
Finally, if the
value contains the string explanations, only the
explanation strings, if any, will be listed and if it
contains messages, only the messages (added with the
−x option of compadd) will be listed. If
it contains both explanations and messages
both kinds of explanation strings will be listed. It will be
set appropriately on entry to a completion widget and may be
changed there.
list_lines
This gives the number of lines
that are needed to display the full list of completions.
Note that to calculate the total number of lines to display
you need to add the number of lines needed for the command
line to this value, this is available as the value of the
BUFFERLINES special parameter.
list_max
Initially this is set to the
value of the LISTMAX parameter. It may be set to any
other value; when the widget exits this value will be used
in the same way as the value of LISTMAX.
nmatches
The number of matches generated
and accepted by the completion code so far.
old_insert
On entry to the widget this
will be set to the number of the match of an old list of
completions that is currently inserted into the command
line. If no match has been inserted, this is unset.
As with
old_list, the value of this key will only be used if
it is the string keep. If it was set to this value by
the widget and there was an old match inserted into the
command line, this match will be kept and if the value of
the insert key specifies that another match should be
inserted, this will be inserted after the old one.
old_list
This is set to yes if
there is still a valid list of completions from a previous
completion at the time the widget is invoked. This will
usually be the case if and only if the previous editing
operation was a completion widget or one of the builtin
completion functions. If there is a valid list and it is
also currently shown on the screen, the value of this key is
shown.
After the
widget has exited the value of this key is only used if it
was set to keep. In this case the completion code
will continue to use this old list. If the widget generated
new matches, they will not be used.
parameter
The name of the parameter when
completing in a subscript or in the value of a parameter
assignment.
pattern_insert
Normally this is set to
menu, which specifies that menu completion will be
used whenever a set of matches was generated using pattern
matching. If it is set to any other non−empty string
by the user and menu completion is not selected by other
option settings, the code will instead insert any common
prefix for the generated matches as with normal
completion.
pattern_match
Locally controls the behaviour
given by the GLOB_COMPLETE option. Initially it is
set to ’*’ if and only if the option is
set. The completion widget may set it to this value, to an
empty string (which has the same effect as unsetting it), or
to any other non−empty string. If it is
non−empty, unquoted metacharacters on the command line
will be treated as patterns; if it is
’*’, then additionally a wildcard
’*’ is assumed at the cursor position; if
it is empty or unset, metacharacters will be treated
literally.
Note that the
matcher specifications given to the compadd builtin
command are not used if this is set to a non−empty
string.
|
quote |
|
When completing inside quotes, this contains the
quotation character (i.e. either a single quote, a double
quote, or a backtick). Otherwise it is unset. |
quoting
When completing inside single
quotes, this is set to the string single; inside
double quotes, the string double; inside backticks,
the string backtick. Otherwise it is unset.
redirect
The redirection operator when
completing in a redirection position, i.e. one of
<, >, etc.
restore
This is set to auto
before a function is entered, which forces the special
parameters mentioned above (words, CURRENT,
PREFIX, IPREFIX, SUFFIX, and
ISUFFIX) to be restored to their previous values when
the function exits. If a function unsets it or sets it to
any other string, they will not be restored.
|
to_end |
|
Specifies the occasions on which the cursor is moved to
the end of a string when a match is inserted. On entry to a
widget function, it may be single if this will happen
when a single unambiguous match was inserted or match
if it will happen any time a match is inserted (for example,
by menu completion; this is likely to be the effect of the
ALWAYS_TO_END option). |
On exit, it may
be set to single as above. It may also be set to
always, or to the empty string or unset; in those
cases the cursor will be moved to the end of the string
always or never respectively. Any other string is treated as
match.
unambiguous
This key is read−only and
will always be set to the common (unambiguous) prefix the
completion code has generated for all matches added so
far.
unambiguous_cursor
This gives the position the
cursor would be placed at if the common prefix in the
unambiguous key were inserted, relative to the value
of that key. The cursor would be placed before the character
whose index is given by this key.
unambiguous_positions
This contains all positions
where characters in the unambiguous string are missing or
where the character inserted differs from at least one of
the matches. The positions are given as indexes into the
string given by the value of the unambiguous key.
|
vared |
|
If completion is called while editing a line using the
vared builtin, the value of this key is set to the
name of the parameter given as an argument to vared.
This key is only set while a vared command is
active. |
|
words |
|
|
This array
contains the words present on the command line currently
being edited.
BUILTIN COMMANDS
compadd
[ −akqQfenUl12C ] [ −F
array ]
[ −P prefix ] [ −S
suffix ]
[ −p hidden−prefix ] [
−s hidden−suffix ]
[ −i ignored−prefix ] [
−I ignored−suffix ]
[ −W file−prefix ] [
−d array ]
[ −J name ] [ −V
name ] [ −X explanation ] [
−x message ]
[ −r remove−chars ] [
−R remove−func ]
[ −D array ] [ −O
array ] [ −A array ]
[ −E number ]
[ −M match−spec ] [
−− ] [ words ... ]
This builtin
command can be used to add matches directly and control all
the information the completion code stores with each
possible match. The return value is zero if at least one
match was added and non−zero if no matches were
added.
The completion
code breaks the string to complete into seven fields in the
order:
<ipre><apre><hpre><word><hsuf><asuf><isuf>
The first field
is an ignored prefix taken from the command line, the
contents of the IPREFIX parameter plus the string
given with the −i option. With the
−U option, only the string from the
−i option is used. The field
<apre> is an optional prefix string given with
the −P option. The <hpre> field is
a string that is considered part of the match but that
should not be shown when listing completions, given with the
−p option; for example, functions that do
filename generation might specify a common path prefix this
way. <word> is the part of the match that
should appear in the list of completions, i.e. one of the
words given at the end of the compadd command
line. The suffixes <hsuf>, <asuf>
and <isuf> correspond to the prefixes
<hpre>, <apre> and
<ipre> and are given by the options
−s, −S and −I,
respectively.
The supported
flags are:
−P prefix
This gives a string to be
inserted before the given words. The string given is
not considered as part of the match and any shell
metacharacters in it will not be quoted when the string is
inserted.
−S
suffix
Like −P, but gives
a string to be inserted after the match.
−p
hidden−prefix
This gives a string that should
be inserted into the command line before the match but that
should not appear in the list of matches. Unless the
−U option is given, this string must be matched
as part of the string on the command line.
−s
hidden−suffix
Like
’−p’, but gives a string to insert
after the match.
−i
ignored−prefix
This gives a string to insert
into the command line just before any string given with the
’−P’ option. Without
’−P’ the string is inserted before
the string given with ’−p’ or
directly before the match.
−I
ignored−suffix
Like −i, but gives
an ignored suffix.
|
−a |
|
With this flag the words are taken as names of
arrays and the possible matches are their values. If only
some elements of the arrays are needed, the words may
also contain subscripts, as in
’foo[2,−1]’. |
|
−k |
|
With this flag the words are taken as names of
associative arrays and the possible matches are their keys.
As for −a, the words may also contain
subscripts, as in ’foo[(R)*bar*]’. |
−d
array
This adds per−match
display strings. The array should contain one element
per word given. The completion code will then display
the first element instead of the first word, and so
on. The array may be given as the name of an array
parameter or directly as a space−separated list of
words in parentheses.
If there are
fewer display strings than words, the leftover
words will be displayed unchanged and if there are
more display strings than words, the leftover display
strings will be silently ignored.
|
−l |
|
This option only has an effect if used together with the
−d option. If it is given, the display strings
are listed one per line, not arrayed in columns. |
−J name
Gives the name of the group of
matches the words should be stored in.
−V name
Like −J but naming
a unsorted group. These are in a different name space than
groups created with the −J flag.
|
−1 |
|
If given together with the −V option, makes
only consecutive duplicates in the group be removed. If
combined with the −J option, this has no
visible effect. Note that groups with and without this flag
are in different name spaces. |
|
−2 |
|
If given together with the −J or
−V option, makes all duplicates be kept. Again,
groups with and without this flag are in different name
spaces. |
−X
explanation
The explanation string
will be printed with the list of matches, above the group
currently selected.
−x
message
Like −X, but the
message will be printed even if there are no matches
in the group.
|
−q |
|
The suffix given with −S will be
automatically removed if the next character typed is a blank
or does not insert anything, or if the suffix consists of
only one character and the next character typed is the same
character. |
−r
remove−chars
This is a more versatile form
of the −q option. The suffix given with
−S or the slash automatically added after
completing directories will be automatically removed if the
next character typed inserts one of the characters given in
the remove−chars. This string is parsed as a
characters class and understands the backslash sequences
used by the print command. For example,
’−r "a−z\t"’
removes the suffix if the next character typed inserts a
lowercase character or a TAB, and ’−r
"^0−9"’ removes the suffix if the
next character typed inserts anything but a digit. One extra
backslash sequence is understood in this string:
’\−’ stands for all characters that
insert nothing. Thus ’−S "="
−q’ is the same as ’−S
"=" −r "=
\t\n\−"’.
This option may
also be used without the −S option; then any
automatically added space will be removed when one of the
characters in the list is typed.
−R
remove−func
This is another form of the
−r option. When a suffix has been inserted and
the completion accepted, the function
remove−func will be called after the next
character typed. It is passed the length of the suffix as an
argument and can use the special parameters available in
ordinary (non−completion) zle widgets (see
zshzle(1)) to analyse and modify the command
line.
|
−f |
|
If this flag is given, all of the matches built from
words are marked as being the names of files. They
are not required to be actual filenames, but if they are,
and the option LIST_TYPES is set, the characters
describing the types of the files in the completion lists
will be shown. This also forces a slash to be added when the
name of a directory is completed. |
|
−e |
|
This flag can be used to tell the completion code that
the matches added are parameter names for a parameter
expansion. This will make the AUTO_PARAM_SLASH and
AUTO_PARAM_KEYS options be used for the matches. |
−W
file−prefix
This string is a pathname that
will be prepended to each of the matches formed by the given
words together with any prefix specified by the
−p option to form a complete filename for
testing. Hence it is only useful if combined with the
−f flag, as the tests will not otherwise be
performed.
−F
array
Specifies an array containing
patterns. Words matching one of these patterns are ignored,
i.e. not considered to be possible matches.
The
array may be the name of an array parameter or a list
of literal patterns enclosed in parentheses and quoted, as
in ’−F "(*?.o *?.h)"’. If
the name of an array is given, the elements of the array are
taken as the patterns.
|
−Q |
|
This flag instructs the completion code not to quote any
metacharacters in the words when inserting them into the
command line. |
−M
match−spec
This gives local match
specifications as described below in the section
’Matching Control’. This option may be given
more than once. In this case all match−specs
given are concatenated with spaces between them to form the
specification string to use. Note that they will only be
used if the −U option is not given.
|
−n |
|
Specifies that the words added are to be used as
possible matches, but are not to appear in the completion
listing. |
|
−U |
|
If this flag is given, all words given will be accepted
and no matching will be done by the completion code.
Normally this is used in functions that do the matching
themselves. |
−O
array
If this option is given, the
words are not added to the set of possible
completions. Instead, matching is done as usual and all of
the words given as arguments that match the string on
the command line will be stored in the array parameter whose
name is given as array.
−A
array
As the −O option,
except that instead of those of the words which match
being stored in array, the strings generated
internally by the completion code are stored. For example,
with a matching specification of ’−M
"L:|no="’, the string
’nof’ on the command line and the string
’foo’ as one of the words, this
option stores the string ’nofoo’ in the
array, whereas the −O option stores the
’foo’ originally given.
−D
array
As with −O, the
words are not added to the set of possible
completions. Instead, the completion code tests whether each
word in turn matches what is on the line. If the
n’th word does not match, the
n’th element of the array is removed.
Elements for which the corresponding word is matched
are retained.
|
−C |
|
This option adds a special match which expands to all
other matches when inserted into the line, even those that
are added after this option is used. Together with the
−d option it is possible to specify a string
that should be displayed in the list for this special match.
If no string is given, it will be shown as a string
containing the strings that would be inserted for the other
matches, truncated to the width of the screen. |
|
−E |
|
This option adds number empty matches after the
words have been added. An empty match takes up space
in completion listings but will never be inserted in the
line and can’t be selected with menu completion or
menu selection. This makes empty matches only useful to
format completion lists and to make explanatory string be
shown in completion lists (since empty matches can be given
display strings with the −d option). And
because all but one empty string would otherwise be removed,
this option implies the −V and −2
options (even if an explicit −J option is
given). |
|
− |
|
|
|
−− |
|
This flag ends the list of flags and options. All
arguments after it will be taken as the words to use as
matches even if they begin with hyphens. |
Except for the
−M flag, if any of these flags is given more
than once, the first one (and its argument) will be
used.
compset −p
number
compset −P [ number ] pattern
compset −s number
compset −S [ number ] pattern
compset −n begin [ end ]
compset −N beg−pat [
end−pat ]
compset −q
This command simplifies
modification of the special parameters, while its return
value allows tests on them to be carried out.
The options
are:
−p number
If the contents of the
PREFIX parameter is longer than number
characters, the first number characters are removed
from it and appended to the contents of the IPREFIX
parameter.
−P [ number
] pattern
If the value of the
PREFIX parameter begins with anything that matches
the pattern, the matched portion is removed from
PREFIX and appended to IPREFIX.
Without the
optional number, the longest match is taken, but if
number is given, anything up to the
number’th match is moved. If the number
is negative, the number’th longest match is
moved. For example, if PREFIX contains the string
’a=b=c’, then compset −P
’*\=’ will move the string
’a=b=’ into the IPREFIX parameter,
but compset −P 1 ’*\=’ will move
only the string ’a=’.
−s
number
As −p, but
transfer the last number characters from the value of
SUFFIX to the front of the value of
ISUFFIX.
−S [ number
] pattern
As −P, but match
the last portion of SUFFIX and transfer the matched
portion to the front of the value of ISUFFIX.
−n begin [
end ]
If the current word position as
specified by the parameter CURRENT is greater than or
equal to begin, anything up to the
begin’th word is removed from the words
array and the value of the parameter CURRENT is
decremented by begin.
If the optional
end is given, the modification is done only if the
current word position is also less than or equal to
end. In this case, the words from position end
onwards are also removed from the words array.
Both
begin and end may be negative to count
backwards from the last element of the words
array.
−N
beg−pat [ end−pat ]
If one of the elements of the
words array before the one at the index given by the
value of the parameter CURRENT matches the pattern
beg−pat, all elements up to and including the
matching one are removed from the words array and the
value of CURRENT is changed to point to the same word
in the changed array.
If the optional
pattern end−pat is also given, and there is an
element in the words array matching this pattern, the
parameters are modified only if the index of this word is
higher than the one given by the CURRENT parameter
(so that the matching word has to be after the cursor). In
this case, the words starting with the one matching
end−pat are also removed from the words
array. If words contains no word matching
end−pat, the testing and modification is
performed as if it were not given.
|
−q |
|
The word currently being completed is split on spaces
into separate words, respecting the usual shell quoting
conventions. The resulting words are stored in the
words array, and CURRENT, PREFIX,
SUFFIX, QIPREFIX, and QISUFFIX are
modified to reflect the word part that is completed. |
In all the
above cases the return value is zero if the test succeeded
and the parameters were modified and non−zero
otherwise. This allows one to use this builtin in tests such
as:
if compset
−P ’*\=’; then ...
This forces
anything up to and including the last equal sign to be
ignored by the completion code.
compcall [
−TD ]
This allows the use of
completions defined with the compctl builtin from
within completion widgets. The list of matches will be
generated as if one of the non−widget completion
function (complete−word, etc.) had been called,
except that only compctls given for specific commands
are used. To force the code to try completions defined with
the −T option of compctl and/or the
default completion (whether defined by compctl
−D or the builtin default) in the appropriate
places, the −T and/or −D flags can
be passed to compcall.
The return
value can be used to test if a matching compctl
definition was found. It is non−zero if a
compctl was found and zero otherwise.
Note that this
builtin is defined by the zsh/compctl module.
CONDITION CODES
The following
additional condition codes for use within the [[ ...
]] construct are available in completion widgets. These
work on the special parameters. All of these tests can also
be performed by the compset builtin, but in the case
of the condition codes the contents of the special
parameters are not modified.
−prefix [ number ] pattern
true if the test for the
−P option of compset would succeed.
−suffix [
number ] pattern
true if the test for the
−S option of compset would succeed.
−after
beg−pat
true if the test of the
−N option with only the beg−pat
given would succeed.
−between
beg−pat end−pat
true if the test for the
−N option with both patterns would succeed.
MATCHING CONTROL
It is possible
by use of the −M option of the compadd
builtin command to specify how the characters in the string
to be completed (referred to here as the command line) map
onto the characters in the list of matches produced by the
completion code (referred to here as the trial completions).
Note that this is not used if the command line contains a
glob pattern and the GLOB_COMPLETE option is set or
the pattern_match of the compstate special
association is set to a non−empty string.
The
match−spec given as the argument to the
−M option (see ’Builtin Commands’
above) consists of one or more matching descriptions
separated by whitespace. Each description consists of a
letter followed by a colon and then the patterns describing
which character sequences on the line match which character
sequences in the trial completion. Any sequence of
characters not handled in this fashion must match exactly,
as usual.
The forms of
match−spec understood are as follows. In each
case, the form with an uppercase initial character retains
the string already typed on the command line as the final
result of completion, while with a lowercase initial
character the string on the command line is changed into the
corresponding part of the trial completion.
m:lpat=tpat
M:lpat=tpat
Here, lpat is a pattern
that matches on the command line, corresponding to
tpat which matches in the trial completion.
l:lanchor|lpat=tpat
L:lanchor|lpat=tpat
l:lanchor||ranchor=tpat
L:lanchor||ranchor=tpat
b:lpat=tpat
B:lpat=tpat
These letters are for patterns
that are anchored by another pattern on the left side.
Matching for lpat and tpat is as for m
and M, but the pattern lpat matched on the
command line must be preceded by the pattern lanchor.
The lanchor can be blank to anchor the match to the
start of the command line string; otherwise the anchor can
occur anywhere, but must match in both the command line and
trial completion strings.
If no
lpat is given but a ranchor is, this matches
the gap between substrings matched by lanchor and
ranchor. Unlike lanchor, the ranchor
only needs to match the trial completion string.
The b
and B forms are similar to l and L with
an empty anchor, but need to match only the beginning of the
trial completion or the word on the command line,
respectively.
r:lpat|ranchor=tpat
R:lpat|ranchor=tpat
r:lanchor||ranchor=tpat
R:lanchor||ranchor=tpat
e:lpat=tpat
E:lpat=tpat
As l, L, b
and B, with the difference that the command line and
trial completion patterns are anchored on the right side.
Here an empty ranchor and the e and E
forms force the match to the end of the trial completion or
command line string.
Each
lpat, tpat or anchor is either an empty
string or consists of a sequence of literal characters
(which may be quoted with a backslash), question marks,
character classes, and correspondence classes; ordinary
shell patterns are not used. Literal characters match only
themselves, question marks match any character, and
character classes are formed as for globbing and match any
character in the given set.
Correspondence
classes are defined like character classes, but with two
differences: they are delimited by a pair of braces, and
negated classes are not allowed, so the characters !
and ^ have no special meaning directly after the
opening brace. They indicate that a range of characters on
the line match a range of characters in the trial
completion, but (unlike ordinary character classes) paired
according to the corresponding position in the sequence. For
example, to make any lowercase letter on the line match the
corresponding uppercase letter in the trial completion, you
can use ’m:{a−z}={A−Z}’. More
than one pair of classes can occur, in which case the first
class before the = corresponds to the first after it,
and so on. If one side has more such classes than the other
side, the superfluous classes behave like normal character
classes. In anchor patterns correspondence classes also
behave like normal character classes.
The pattern
tpat may also be one or two stars,
’*’ or ’**’. This
means that the pattern on the command line can match any
number of characters in the trial completion. In this case
the pattern must be anchored (on either side); in the case
of a single star, the anchor then determines how much
of the trial completion is to be included
−−− only the characters up to the next
appearance of the anchor will be matched. With two stars,
substrings matched by the anchor can be matched, too.
Examples:
The keys of the
options association defined by the parameter
module are the option names in all−lowercase form,
without underscores, and without the optional no at
the beginning even though the builtins setopt and
unsetopt understand option names with uppercase
letters, underscores, and the optional no. The
following alters the matching rules so that the prefix
no and any underscore are ignored when trying to
match the trial completions generated and uppercase letters
on the line match the corresponding lowercase letters in the
words:
compadd
−M ’L:|[nN][oO]= M:_=
M:{A−Z}={a−z}’ − \
${(k)options}
The first part
says that the pattern ’[nN][oO]’ at the
beginning (the empty anchor before the pipe symbol) of the
string on the line matches the empty string in the list of
words generated by completion, so it will be ignored if
present. The second part does the same for an underscore
anywhere in the command line string, and the third part uses
correspondence classes so that any uppercase letter on the
line matches the corresponding lowercase letter in the word.
The use of the uppercase forms of the specification
characters (L and M) guarantees that what has
already been typed on the command line (in particular the
prefix no) will not be deleted.
Note that the
use of L in the first part means that it matches only
when at the beginning of both the command line string and
the trial completion. I.e., the string
’_NO_f’ would not be completed to
’_NO_foo’, nor would
’NONO_f’ be completed to
’NONO_foo’ because of the leading
underscore or the second ’NO’ on the line
which makes the pattern fail even though they are otherwise
ignored. To fix this, one would use
’B:[nN][oO]=’ instead of the first part.
As described above, this matches at the beginning of the
trial completion, independent of other characters or
substrings at the beginning of the command line word which
are ignored by the same or other
match−specs.
The second
example makes completion case insensitive. This is just the
same as in the option example, except here we wish to retain
the characters in the list of completions:
compadd
−M ’m:{a−z}={A−Z}’ ...
This makes
lowercase letters match their uppercase counterparts. To
make uppercase letters match the lowercase forms as
well:
compadd
−M
’m:{a−zA−Z}={A−Za−z}’
...
A nice example
for the use of * patterns is partial word completion.
Sometimes you would like to make strings like
’c.s.u’ complete to strings like
’comp.source.unix’, i.e. the word on the
command line consists of multiple parts, separated by a dot
in this example, where each part should be completed
separately −−− note, however, that the
case where each part of the word, i.e.
’comp’, ’source’ and
’unix’ in this example, is to be
completed from separate sets of matches is a different
problem to be solved by the implementation of the completion
widget. The example can be handled by:
compadd
−M ’r:|.=* r:|=*’ \
− comp.sources.unix comp.sources.misc ...
The first
specification says that lpat is the empty string,
while anchor is a dot; tpat is *, so
this can match anything except for the
’.’ from the anchor in the trial
completion word. So in ’c.s.u’, the
matcher sees ’c’, followed by the empty
string, followed by the anchor ’.’, and
likewise for the second dot, and replaces the empty strings
before the anchors, giving
’c[omp].s[ources].u[nix]’,
where the last part of the completion is just as normal.
With the
pattern shown above, the string ’c.u’
could not be completed to
’comp.sources.unix’ because the single
star means that no dot (matched by the anchor) can be
skipped. By using two stars as in
’r:|.=**’, however,
’c.u’ could be completed to
’comp.sources.unix’. This also shows that
in some cases, especially if the anchor is a real pattern,
like a character class, the form with two stars may result
in more matches than one would like.
The second
specification is needed to make this work when the cursor is
in the middle of the string on the command line and the
option COMPLETE_IN_WORD is set. In this case the
completion code would normally try to match trial
completions that end with the string as typed so far, i.e.
it will only insert new characters at the cursor position
rather then at the end. However in our example we would like
the code to recognise matches which contain extra characters
after the string on the line (the ’nix’
in the example). Hence we say that the empty string at the
end of the string on the line matches any characters at the
end of the trial completion.
More generally,
the specification
compadd
−M ’r:|[.,_−]=* r:|=*’ ...
allows one to
complete words with abbreviations before any of the
characters in the square brackets. For example, to complete
veryverylongfile.c rather than
veryverylongheader.h with the above in effect, you
can just type very.c before attempting
completion.
The
specifications with both a left and a right anchor are
useful to complete partial words whose parts are not
separated by some special character. For example, in some
places strings have to be completed that are formed
’LikeThis’ (i.e. the separate parts are
determined by a leading uppercase letter) or maybe one has
to complete strings with trailing numbers. Here one could
use the simple form with only one anchor as in:
compadd
−M ’r:|[A−Z0−9]=* r:|=*’
LikeTHIS FooHoo 5foo123 5bar234
But with this,
the string ’H’ would neither complete to
’FooHoo’ nor to
’LikeTHIS’ because in each case there is
an uppercase letter before the ’H’ and
that is matched by the anchor. Likewise, a
’2’ would not be completed. In both cases
this could be changed by using
’r:|[A−Z0−9]=**’, but then
’H’ completes to both
’LikeTHIS’ and
’FooHoo’ and a ’2’
matches the other strings because characters can be inserted
before every uppercase letter and digit. To avoid this one
would use:
compadd
−M
’r:[^A−Z0−9]||[A−Z0−9]=**
r:|=*’ \
LikeTHIS FooHoo foo123 bar234
By using these
two anchors, a ’H’ matches only uppercase
’H’s that are immediately preceded by
something matching the left anchor
’[^A−Z0−9]’. The effect is,
of course, that ’H’ matches only the
string ’FooHoo’, a ’2’
matches only ’bar234’ and so on.
When using the
completion system (see zshcompsys(1)), users can
define match specifications that are to be used for specific
contexts by using the matcher and
matcher−list styles. The values for the latter
will be used everywhere.
COMPLETION WIDGET EXAMPLE
The first step
is to define the widget:
zle −C
complete complete−word complete−files
Then the widget
can be bound to a key using the bindkey builtin
command:
bindkey
’^X\t’ complete
After that the
shell function complete−files will be invoked
after typing control−X and TAB. The function should
then generate the matches, e.g.:
complete−files
() { compadd − * }
This function
will complete files in the current directory matching the
current word.
NAME
zshcompsys − zsh
completion system
DESCRIPTION
This describes
the shell code for the new completion system. It consists of
various shell functions; those beginning
’comp’ are to be called directly, while
those beginning ’_’ are called by the
completion code. The shell functions of the second set,
which implement completion behaviour and may be bound to
keystrokes, are referred to as ’widgets’.
INITIALIZATION
If the system
was installed completely, it should be enough to call the
shell function compinit from your initialization
file; see the next section. However, the function
compinstall can be run by a user to configure various
aspects of the completion system.
Usually,
compinstall will insert code into .zshrc,
although if that is not writable it will save it in another
file and tell you that file’s location. Note that it
is up to you to make sure that the lines added to
.zshrc are actually run; you may, for example, need
to move them to an earlier place in the file if
.zshrc usually returns early. So long as you keep
them all together (including the comment lines at the start
and finish), you can rerun compinstall and it will
correctly locate and modify these lines. Note, however, that
any code you add to this section by hand is likely to be
lost if you rerun compinstall, although lines using
the command ’zstyle’ should be gracefully
handled.
The new code
will take effect next time you start the shell, or run
.zshrc by hand; there is also an option to make them
take effect immediately. However, if compinstall has
removed definitions, you will need to restart the shell to
see the changes.
To run
compinstall you will need to make sure it is in a
directory mentioned in your fpath parameter, which
should already be the case if zsh was properly configured as
long as your startup files do not remove the appropriate
directories from fpath. Then it must be autoloaded
(’autoload −U compinstall’ is
recommended). You can abort the installation any time you
are being prompted for information, and your .zshrc
will not be altered at all; changes only take place right at
the end, where you are specifically asked for
confirmation.
Use of
compinit
This section describes the use of compinit to
initialize completion for the current session when called
directly; if you have run compinstall it will be
called automatically from your .zshrc.
To initialize
the system, the function compinit should be in a
directory mentioned in the fpath parameter, and
should be autoloaded (’autoload −U
compinit’ is recommended), and then run simply as
’compinit’. This will define a few
utility functions, arrange for all the necessary shell
functions to be autoloaded, and will then re−define
all widgets that do completion to use the new system. If you
use the menu−select widget, which is part of
the zsh/complist module, you should make sure that
that module is loaded before the call to compinit so
that that widget is also re−defined. If completion
styles (see below) are set up to perform expansion as well
as completion by default, and the TAB key is bound to
expand−or−complete, compinit will
rebind it to complete−word; this is necessary
to use the correct form of expansion.
Should you need
to use the original completion commands, you can still bind
keys to the old widgets by putting a ’.’
in front of the widget name, e.g.
’.expand−or−complete’.
To speed up the
running of compinit, it can be made to produce a
dumped configuration that will be read in on future
invocations; this is the default, but can be turned off by
calling compinit with the option −D. The
dumped file is .zcompdump in the same directory as
the startup files (i.e. $ZDOTDIR or $HOME);
alternatively, an explicit file name can be given by
’compinit −d dumpfile’. The
next invocation of compinit will read the dumped file
instead of performing a full initialization.
If the number
of completion files changes, compinit will recognise
this and produce a new dump file. However, if the name of a
function or the arguments in the first line of a
#compdef function (as described below) change, it is
easiest to delete the dump file by hand so that
compinit will re−create it the next time it is
run. The check performed to see if there are new functions
can be omitted by giving the option −C. In this
case the dump file will only be created if there isn’t
one already.
The dumping is
actually done by another function, compdump, but you
will only need to run this yourself if you change the
configuration (e.g. using compdef) and then want to
dump the new one. The name of the old dumped file will be
remembered for this purpose.
If the
parameter _compdir is set, compinit uses it as
a directory where completion functions can be found; this is
only necessary if they are not already in the function
search path.
For security
reasons compinit also checks if the completion system
would use files not owned by root or by the current user, or
files in directories that are world− or
group−writable or that are not owned by root or by the
current user. If such files or directories are found,
compinit will ask if the completion system should
really be used. To avoid these tests and make all files
found be used without asking, use the option
−u, and to make compinit silently ignore
all insecure files and directories use the option
−i. This security check is skipped entirely
when the −C option is given.
The security
check can be retried at any time by running the function
compaudit. This is the same check used by
compinit, but when it is executed directly any
changes to fpath are made local to the function so
they do not persist. The directories to be checked may be
passed as arguments; if none are given, compaudit
uses fpath and _compdir to find completion
system directories, adding missing ones to fpath as
necessary. To force a check of exactly the directories
currently named in fpath, set _compdir to an
empty string before calling compaudit or
compinit.
Autoloaded
files
The convention for autoloaded functions used in completion
is that they start with an underscore; as already mentioned,
the fpath/FPATH parameter must contain the directory
in which they are stored. If zsh was properly
installed on your system, then fpath/FPATH
automatically contains the required directories for the
standard functions.
For incomplete
installations, if compinit does not find enough files
beginning with an underscore (fewer than twenty) in the
search path, it will try to find more by adding the
directory _compdir to the search path. If that
directory has a subdirectory named Base, all
subdirectories will be added to the path. Furthermore, if
the subdirectory Base has a subdirectory named
Core, compinit will add all subdirectories of
the subdirectories is to the path: this allows the functions
to be in the same format as in the zsh source
distribution.
When
compinit is run, it searches all such files
accessible via fpath/FPATH and reads the first line
of each of them. This line should contain one of the tags
described below. Files whose first line does not start with
one of these tags are not considered to be part of the
completion system and will not be treated specially.
The tags are:
#compdef names... [ −[pP]
patterns... [ −N names... ] ]
The file will be made
autoloadable and the function defined in it will be called
when completing names, each of which is either the
name of a command whose arguments are to be completed or one
of a number of special contexts in the form
−context− described
below.
Each
name may also be of the form
’cmd=service’. When
completing the command cmd, the function typically
behaves as if the command (or special context)
service was being completed instead. This provides a
way of altering the behaviour of functions that can perform
many different completions. It is implemented by setting the
parameter $service when calling the function; the
function may choose to interpret this how it wishes, and
simpler functions will probably ignore it.
If the
#compdef line contains one of the options
−p or −P, the words following are
taken to be patterns. The function will be called when
completion is attempted for a command or context that
matches one of the patterns. The options −p and
−P are used to specify patterns to be tried
before or after other completions respectively. Hence
−P may be used to specify default actions.
The option
−N is used after a list following
−p or −P; it specifies that
remaining words no longer define patterns. It is possible to
toggle between the three options as many times as
necessary.
#compdef −k
style key−sequences...
This option creates a widget
behaving like the builtin widget style and binds it
to the given key−sequences, if any. The
style must be one of the builtin widgets that perform
completion, namely complete−word,
delete−char−or−list,
expand−or−complete,
expand−or−complete−prefix,
list−choices, menu−complete,
menu−expand−or−complete, or
reverse−menu−complete. If the
zsh/complist module is loaded (see
zshmodules(1)) the widget menu−select is
also available.
When one of the
key−sequences is typed, the function in the
file will be invoked to generate the matches. Note that a
key will not be re−bound if if it already was (that
is, was bound to something other than
undefined−key). The widget created has the same
name as the file and can be bound to any other keys using
bindkey as usual.
#compdef −K
widget−name style key−sequences ...
This is similar to
−k except that only one
key−sequences argument may be given for each
widget−name style pair. However, the entire set
of three arguments may be repeated with a different set of
arguments. Note in particular that the
widget−name must be distinct in each set. If it
does not begin with ’_’ this will be
added. The widget−name should not clash with
the name of any existing widget: names based on the name of
the function are most useful. For example,
#compdef
−K _foo_complete complete−word "^X^C"
\
_foo_list list−choices "^X^D"
(all on one
line) defines a widget _foo_complete for completion,
bound to ’^X^C’, and a widget
_foo_list for listing, bound to
’^X^D’.
#autoload [
options ]
Functions with the
#autoload tag are marked for autoloading but are not
otherwise treated specially. Typically they are to be called
from within one of the completion functions. Any
options supplied will be passed to the
autoload builtin; a typical use is +X to force
the function to be loaded immediately. Note that the
−U flag is always added implicitly.
The # is
part of the tag name and no white space is allowed after it.
The #compdef tags use the compdef function
described below; the main difference is that the name of the
function is supplied implicitly.
Note also that
the functions for the completion system assume that the
KSH_AUTOLOAD option is not set. They cannot be loaded
if it is set. To avoid having to unset KSH_AUTOLOAD,
you can instead use one or more zwc file(s) that have
been created with the command zcompile −z to
load the functions for the completion system; see
zshbuiltins(1). This forces the functions to be
autoloaded the way zsh normally loads functions.
The special
contexts for which completion functions can be defined are:
−array−value−
The right hand side of an
array−assignment (’foo=(...)’)
−brace−parameter−
The name of a parameter
expansion within braces (’${...}’)
−assign−parameter−
The name of a parameter in an
assignment, i.e. on the left hand side of an
’=’
−command−
A word in command position
−condition−
A word inside a condition
(’[[...]]’)
−default−
Any word for which no other
completion is defined
−equal−
A word beginning with an equals
sign
−first−
This is tried before any other
completion function. The function called may set the
_compskip parameter to one of various values:
all: no further completion is attempted; a string
containing the substring patterns: no pattern
completion functions will be called; a string containing
default: the function for the
’−default−’ context will not
be called, but functions defined for commands will
|
−math− |
|
Inside mathematical contexts, such as
’((...))’ |
|
−parameter−
The name of a parameter
expansion (’$...’)
−redirect−
The word after a redirection
operator.
−subscript−
The contents of a parameter
subscript.
−tilde−
After an initial tilde
(’~’), but before the first slash in the
word.
−value−
On the right hand side of an
assignment.
Default
implementations are supplied for each of these contexts. In
most cases the context
−context− is implemented by
a corresponding function _context, for example
the context ’−tilde−’ and the
function ’_tilde’).
The contexts
−redirect− and −value−
allow extra context−specific information. (Internally,
this is handled by the functions for each context calling
the function _dispatch.) The extra information is
added separated by commas.
For the
−redirect− context, the extra information
is in the form
’−redirect−,op,command’,
where op is the redirection operator and
command is the name of the command on the line. If
there is no command on the line yet, the command
field will be empty.
For the
−value− context, the form is
’−value−,name,command’,
where name is the name of the parameter. In the case
of elements of an associative array, for example
’assoc=(key <TAB>’, name is
expanded to
’name−key’. In
certain special contexts, such as completing after
’make CFLAGS=’, the command part
gives the name of the command, here make; otherwise
it is empty.
It is not
necessary to define fully specific completions as the
functions provided will try to generate completions by
progressively replacing the elements with
’−default−’. For example,
when completing after ’foo=<TAB>’,
_value will try the names
’−value−,foo,’ (note the
empty command part),
’−value−,foo,−default−’
and’−value−,−default−,−default−’,
in that order, until it finds a function to handle the
context.
As an
example:
compdef
’_files −g "*.log"’
’−redirect−,2>,−default−’
completes files
matching ’*.log’ after ’2>
<TAB>’ for any command with no more specific
handler defined.
Also:
compdef _foo
−value−,−default−,−default−
specifies that
_foo provides completions for the values of
parameters for which no special function has been defined.
This is usually handled by the function _value
itself.
The same lookup
rules are used when looking up styles (as described below);
for example
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:−redirect−,2>,*:*’
file−patterns ’*.log’
is another way
to make completion after ’2>
<TAB>’ complete files matching
’*.log’.
Functions
The following function is defined by compinit and may
be called directly.
compdef [ −an ] function names... [
−[pP] patterns... [ −N
names... ] ]
compdef −d names...
compdef −k [ −an ] function style
key−sequences...
compdef −K [ −an ] function name
style key−sequences ...
The first form defines the
function to call for completion in the given contexts
as described for the #compdef tag above.
Alternatively,
all the arguments may have the form
’cmd=service’. Here
service should already have been defined by
’cmd1=service’ lines in
#compdef files, as described above. The argument for
cmd will be completed in the same way as
service.
The
function argument may alternatively be a string
containing any shell code. The string will be executed using
the eval builtin command to generate completions.
This provides a way of avoiding having to define a new
completion function. For example, to complete files ending
in ’.h’ as arguments to the command
foo:
compdef
’_files −g "*.h"’ foo
The option
−n prevents any completions already defined for
the command or context from being overwritten.
The option
−d deletes any completion defined for the
command or contexts listed.
The
names may also contain −p,
−P and −N options as described for
the #compdef tag. The effect on the argument list is
identical, switching between definitions of patterns tried
initially, patterns tried finally, and normal commands and
contexts.
The parameter
$_compskip may be set by any function defined for a
pattern context. If it is set to a value containing the
substring ’patterns’ none of the
pattern−functions will be called; if it is set to a
value containing the substring ’all’, no
other function will be called.
The form with
−k defines a widget with the same name as the
function that will be called for each of the
key−sequences; this is like the #compdef
−k tag. The function should generate the
completions needed and will otherwise behave like the
builtin widget whose name is given as the style
argument. The widgets usable for this are:
complete−word,
delete−char−or−list,
expand−or−complete,
expand−or−complete−prefix,
list−choices, menu−complete,
menu−expand−or−complete, and
reverse−menu−complete, as well as
menu−select if the zsh/complist module
is loaded. The option −n prevents the key being
bound if it is already to bound to something other than
undefined−key.
The form with
−K is similar and defines multiple widgets
based on the same function, each of which requires
the set of three arguments name, style and
key−sequences, where the latter two are as for
−k and the first must be a unique widget name
beginning with an underscore.
Wherever
applicable, the −a option makes the
function autoloadable, equivalent to autoload
−U function.
The function
compdef can be used to associate existing completion
functions with new commands. For example,
compdef
_pids foo
uses the
function _pids to complete process IDs for the
command foo.
Note also the
_gnu_generic function described below, which can be
used to complete options for commands that understand the
’−−help’ option.
COMPLETION SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
This section
gives a short overview of how the completion system works,
and then more detail on how users can configure how and when
matches are generated.
Overview
When completion is attempted somewhere on the command line
the completion system first works out the context. This
takes account of a number of things including the command
word (such as ’grep’ or
’zsh’) and options to which the current
word may be an argument (such as the
’−o’ option to zsh which
takes a shell option as an argument).
This context
information is condensed into a string consisting of
multiple fields separated by colons, referred to simply as
’the context’ in the remainder of the
documentation. This is used to look up styles,
context−sensitive options that can be used to
configure the completion system. The context used for lookup
may vary during the same call to the completion system.
The context
string always consists of the following fields, separated by
colons and with a leading colon before the first:
|
• |
|
The literal string completion, saying that this
style is used by the completion system. This distinguishes
the context from those used by, for example, zle widgets and
ZFTP functions. |
|
• |
|
The function, if completion is called from a
named widget rather than through the normal completion
system. Typically this is blank, but it is set by special
widgets such as predict−on and the various
functions in the Widget directory of the distribution
to the name of that function, often in an abbreviated
form. |
|
• |
|
The completer currently active, the name of the
function without the leading underscore. A
’completer’ is in overall control of how
completion is to be performed; ’complete’
is the simplest, but other completers exist to perform
related tasks such as correction, or to modify the behaviour
of a later completer. See the section ’Control
Functions’ below for more information. |
|
• |
|
The command or a special
−context−, just at it
appears following the #compdef tag or the
compdef function. Completion functions for commands
that have sub−commands usually modify this field to
contain the name of the command followed by a minus sign and
the sub−command. For example, the completion function
for the cvs command sets this field to
cvs−add when completing arguments to the
add subcommand. |
|
• |
|
The argument; this indicates which command line
or option argument we are completing. For command arguments
this generally takes the form
argument−n, where n is the number
of the argument, and for arguments to options the form
option−opt−n where
n is the number of the argument to option opt.
However, this is only the case if the command line is parsed
with standard UNIX−style options and arguments, so
many completions do not set this. |
|
• |
|
The tag. Tags are used to discriminate between
the types of matches a completion function can generate in a
certain context and are described further below. |
As an example,
the context name
:completion::complete:dvips:option−o−1:files
says that
normal completion was attempted as the first argument to the
option −o of the command dvips:
dvips
−o ...
and the
completion function will generate filenames.
Each type of
completion the system can perform in a given context is
described by a ’tag’, a short descriptive string
such as files in the example above. Any completion
function may use any tag name it likes, but a list of the
more common ones is given below.
Usually
completion will be tried by all possible tags in an order
given by the completion function. However, this can be
altered by using the tag−order style.
Completion is then restricted to the list of given tags in
the given order.
The
_complete_help bindable command shows all the
contexts and tags available for completion at a particular
point. This provides an easy way of finding information for
tag−order and other styles. It is described in
the section ’Bindable Commands’ below.
Styles
determine such things as how the matches are generated,
similarly to shell options but with much more control. They
can have any number of strings as their value. They are
defined with the zstyle builtin command (see
zshmodules(1)).
When looking up
styles the completion system uses full context names,
including the tag. Looking up the value of a style therefore
consists of two things: the context, which may be matched as
a pattern, and the name of the style itself, which must be
given exactly.
For example,
many completion functions can generate matches in a simple
and a verbose form and use the verbose style to
decide which form should be used. To make all such functions
use the verbose form, put
zstyle
’:completion:*’ verbose yes
in a startup
file (probably .zshrc). This gives the verbose
style the value yes in every context inside the
completion system, unless that context has a more specific
definition. It is best to avoid giving the context as
’*’ in case the style has some meaning
outside the completion system.
Many such
general purpose styles can be configured simply by using the
compinstall function.
A more specific
example of the use of the verbose style is by the
completion for the kill builtin. If the style is set,
the builtin lists full job texts and process command lines;
otherwise it shows the bare job numbers and PIDs. To turn
the style off for this use only:
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:kill:*’ verbose no
For even more
control, the style can use one of the tags
’jobs’ or ’processes’.
To turn off verbose display only for jobs:
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:kill:*:jobs’ verbose no
The
−e option to zstyle even allows
completion function code to appear as the argument to a
style; this requires some understanding of the internals of
completion functions (see see zshcompwid(1))). For
example:
zstyle
−e ’:completion:*’ completer ’
if [[ $words[1] = cvs ]]; then
reply=(_complete)
else
reply=(_complete _approximate)
fi’
uses the value
’_complete’ for the completer
style in most contexts, but the value ’_complete
_approximate’ when the first word on the command
line is ’cvs’. This is probably more
conveniently done by specifying the style for two different
contexts. This form can be slow and should be avoided for
commonly examined styles such as menu and
list−rows−first.
Note that the
order in which styles are defined does not matter;
the style mechanism uses the most specific possible match
for a particular style to determine the set of values. More
precisely, strings are preferred over patterns (for example,
’:completion::complete:foo’ is more
specific than ’:completion::complete:*’),
and longer patterns are preferred over shorter patterns.
Style names
like those of tags are arbitrary and depend on the
completion function. However, the following two sections
list some of the most common tags and styles.
Standard
Tags
Some of the following are only used when looking up
particular styles and do not refer to a type of match.
accounts
used to look up the
users−hosts style
all−expansions
used by the _expand
completer when adding the single string containing all
possible expansions
all−files
for the names of all files (as
distinct from a particular subset, see the
globbed−files tag).
arguments
for arguments to a command
|
arrays |
|
for names of array parameters |
|
association−keys
for keys of associative arrays;
used when completing inside a subscript to a parameter of
this type
bookmarks
when completing bookmarks (e.g.
for URLs and the zftp function suite)
builtins
for names of builtin
commands
characters
for single characters in
arguments of commands such as stty. Also used when
completing character classes after an opening bracket
colormapids
for X colormap ids
commands
for names of external commands.
Also used by complex commands such as cvs when
completing names subcommands.
contexts
for contexts in arguments to
the zstyle builtin command
corrections
used by the _approximate
and _correct completers for possible corrections
cursors
for cursor names used by X
programs
default
used in some contexts to
provide a way of supplying a default when more specific tags
are also valid. Note that this tag is used when only the
function field of the context name is set
descriptions
used when looking up the value
of the format style to generate descriptions for
types of matches
devices
for names of device special
files
directories
for names of directories
directory−stack
for entries in the directory
stack
displays
for X display names
domains
for network domains
expansions
used by the _expand
completer for individual words (as opposed to the complete
set of expansions) resulting from the expansion of a word on
the command line
extensions
for X server extensions
file−descriptors
for numbers of open file
descriptors
|
files |
|
the generic file−matching tag used by functions
completing filenames |
|
fonts |
|
for X font names |
fstypes
for file system types (e.g. for
the mount command)
functions
names of functions
−−− normally shell functions, although
certain commands may understand other kinds of function
globbed−files
for filenames when the name has
been generated by pattern matching
|
groups |
|
for names of user groups |
|
history−words
for words from the history
indexes
for array indexes
|
jobs |
|
for jobs (as listed by the ’jobs’
builtin) |
|
interfaces
for network interfaces
keymaps
for names of zsh keymaps
keysyms
for names of X keysyms
libraries
for names of system
libraries
local−directories
for names of directories that
are subdirectories of the current working directory when
completing arguments of cd and related builtin
commands (compare path−directories)
manuals
for names of manual pages
mailboxes
for e−mail folders
|
maps |
|
for map names (e.g. NIS maps) |
|
messages
used to look up the
format style for messages
modifiers
for names of X modifiers
modules
for modules (e.g. zsh
modules)
my−accounts
used to look up the
users−hosts style
named−directories
for named directories (you
wouldn’t have guessed that, would you?)
|
names |
|
for all kinds of names |
|
newsgroups
for USENET groups
nicknames
for nicknames of NIS maps
options
for command options
original
used by the
_approximate, _correct and _expand
completers when offering the original string as a match
other−accounts
used to look up the
users−hosts style
packages
for packages (e.g. rpm
or installed Debian packages)
parameters
for names of parameters
path−directories
for names of directories found
by searching the cdpath array when completing
arguments of cd and related builtin commands (compare
local−directories)
|
paths |
|
used to look up the values of the expand,
ambiguous and special−dirs styles |
|
pods |
|
for perl pods (documentation files) |
|
ports |
|
for communication ports |
prefixes
for prefixes (like those of a
URL)
printers
for print queue names
processes
for process identifiers
processes−names
used to look up the
command style when generating the names of processes
for killall
sequences
for sequences (e.g. mh
sequences)
sessions
for sessions in the zftp
function suite
signals
for signal names
strings
for strings (e.g. the
replacement strings for the cd builtin command)
|
styles |
|
for styles used by the zstyle builtin command |
|
suffixes
for filename extensions
|
tags |
|
for tags (e.g. rpm tags) |
|
targets
for makefile targets
time−zones
for time zones (e.g. when
setting the TZ parameter)
|
types |
|
for types of whatever (e.g. address types for the
xhost command) |
|
urls |
|
used to look up the urls and local styles
when completing URLs |
|
users |
|
for usernames |
|
values |
|
for one of a set of values in certain lists |
variant
used by _pick_variant to
look up the command to run when determining what program is
installed for a particular command name.
visuals
for X visuals
warnings
used to look up the
format style for warnings
widgets
for zsh widget names
windows
for IDs of X windows
zsh−options
for shell options
Standard
Styles
Note that the values of several of these styles represent
boolean values. Any of the strings
’true’, ’on’,
’yes’, and ’1’ can be
used for the value ’true’ and any of the strings
’false’, ’off’,
’no’, and ’0’ for the
value ’false’. The behavior for any other value
is undefined except where explicitly mentioned. The default
value may be either true or false if the style is not
set.
Some of these
styles are tested first for every possible tag corresponding
to a type of match, and if no style was found, for the
default tag. The most notable styles of this type are
menu, list−colors and styles controlling
completion listing such as list−packed and
last−prompt). When tested for the
default tag, only the function field of the
context will be set so that a style using the default tag
will normally be defined along the lines of:
zstyle
’:completion:*:default’ menu ...
accept−exact
This is tested for the default
tag in addition to the tags valid for the current context.
If it is set to ’true’ and any of the trial
matches is the same as the string on the command line, this
match will immediately be accepted (even if it would
otherwise be considered ambiguous).
When completing
pathnames (where the tag used is ’paths’)
this style accepts any number of patterns as the value in
addition to the boolean values. Pathnames matching one of
these patterns will be accepted immediately even if the
command line contains some more partially typed pathname
components and these match no file under the directory
accepted.
This style is
also used by the _expand completer to decide if words
beginning with a tilde or parameter expansion should be
expanded. For example, if there are parameters foo
and foobar, the string ’$foo’ will
only be expanded if accept−exact is set to
’true’; otherwise the completion system will be
allowed to complete $foo to $foobar. If the
style is set to ’continue’, _expand will add the
expansion as a match and the completion system will also be
allowed to continue.
add−space
This style is used by the
_expand completer. If it is true (the default), a
space will be inserted after all words resulting from the
expansion, or a slash in the case of directory names. If the
value is ’file’, the completer will only
add a space to names of existing files. Either a boolean
true or the value ’file’ may be combined
with ’subst’, in which case the completer
will not add a space to words generated from the expansion
of a substitution of the form ’$(...)’ or
’${...}’.
The
_prefix completer uses this style as a simple boolean
value to decide if a space should be inserted before the
suffix.
ambiguous
This applies when completing
non−final components of filename paths, in other words
those with a trailing slash. If it is set, the cursor is
left after the first ambiguous component, even if menu
completion is in use. The style is always tested with the
paths tag.
assign−list
When completing after an equals
sign that is being treated as an assignment, the completion
system normally completes only one filename. In some cases
the value may be a list of filenames separated by colons, as
with PATH and similar parameters. This style can be
set to a list of patterns matching the names of such
parameters.
The default is
to complete lists when the word on the line already contains
a colon.
auto−description
If set, this style’s
value will be used as the description for options that are
not described by the completion functions, but that have
exactly one argument. The sequence ’%d’
in the value will be replaced by the description for this
argument. Depending on personal preferences, it may be
useful to set this style to something like
’specify: %d’. Note that this may not
work for some commands.
avoid−completer
This is used by the
_all_matches completer to decide if the string
consisting of all matches should be added to the list
currently being generated. Its value is a list of names of
completers. If any of these is the name of the completer
that generated the matches in this completion, the string
will not be added.
The default
value for this style is ’_expand _old_list _correct
_approximate’, i.e. it contains the completers for
which a string with all matches will almost never be
wanted.
cache−path
This style defines the path
where any cache files containing dumped completion data are
stored. It defaults to
’$ZDOTDIR/.zcompcache’, or
’$HOME/.zcompcache’ if $ZDOTDIR is
not defined. The completion cache will not be used unless
the use−cache style is set.
cache−policy
This style defines the function
that will be used to determine whether a cache needs
rebuilding. See the section on the _cache_invalid
function below.
call−command
This style is used in the
function for commands such as make and ant
where calling the command directly to generate matches
suffers problems such as being slow or, as in the case of
make can potentially causes actions in the makefile
to be executed. If it is set to ’true’ the
command is called to generate matches. The default value of
this style is ’false’.
command
In many places, completion
functions need to call external commands to generate the
list of completions. This style can be used to override the
command that is called in some such cases. The elements of
the value are joined with spaces to form a command line to
execute. The value can also start with a hyphen, in which
case the usual command will be added to the end; this is
most useful for putting ’builtin’ or
’command’ in front to make sure the
appropriate version of a command is called, for example to
avoid calling a shell function with the same name as an
external command.
As an example,
the completion function for process IDs uses this style with
the processes tag to generate the IDs to complete and
the list of processes to display (if the verbose
style is ’true’). The list produced by the
command should look like the output of the ps
command. The first line is not displayed, but is searched
for the string ’PID’ (or
’pid’) to find the position of the
process IDs in the following lines. If the line does not
contain ’PID’, the first numbers in each
of the other lines are taken as the process IDs to
complete.
Note that the
completion function generally has to call the specified
command for each attempt to generate the completion list.
Hence care should be taken to specify only commands that
take a short time to run, and in particular to avoid any
that may never terminate.
commands
This is used by the function
completing sub−commands for the system initialisation
scripts (residing in /etc/init.d or somewhere not too
far away from that). Its values give the default commands to
complete for those commands for which the completion
function isn’t able to find them out automatically.
The default for this style are the two strings
’start’ and
’stop’.
complete
This is used by the
_expand_alias function when invoked as a bindable
command. If it set to ’true’ and the word on the
command line is not the name of an alias, matching alias
names will be completed.
completer
The strings given as the value
of this style provide the names of the completer functions
to use. The available completer functions are described in
the section ’Control Functions’ below.
Each string may
be either the name of a completer function or a string of
the form ’function:name’.
In the first case the completer field of the context
will contain the name of the completer without the leading
underscore and with all other underscores replaced by
hyphens. In the second case the function is the name
of the completer to call, but the context will contain the
user−defined name in the completer field
of the context. If the name starts with a hyphen, the
string for the context will be build from the name of the
completer function as in the first case with the name
appended to it. For example:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ completer _complete
_complete:−foo
Here,
completion will call the _complete completer twice,
once using ’complete’ and once using
’complete−foo’ in the
completer field of the context. Normally, using the
same completer more than once only makes sense when used
with the ’functions:name’
form, because otherwise the context name will be the same in
all calls to the completer; possible exceptions to this rule
are the _ignored and _prefix completers.
The default
value for this style is ’_complete
_ignored’: only completion will be done, first
using the ignored−patterns style and the
$fignore array and then without ignoring matches.
condition
This style is used by the
_list completer function to decide if insertion of
matches should be delayed unconditionally. The default is
’true’.
disabled
If this is set to
’true’, the _expand_alias completer and
bindable command will try to expand disabled aliases, too.
The default is ’false’.
disable−stat
This is used with an empty tag
by the _cvs function to decide whether the
zsh/stat module should be used to generate names of
modified files in the appropriate places (this is its only
use). If the style is set, completion will use the ls
command.
domains
A list of names of network
domains for completion. If this is not set, domain names
will be taken from the file /etc/resolv.conf.
|
expand |
|
This style is used when completing strings consisting of
multiple parts, such as path names. |
If one of its
values is the string ’prefix’, the
partially typed word from the line will be expanded as far
as possible even if trailing parts cannot be completed.
If one of its
values is the string ’suffix’, matching
names for components after the first ambiguous one will also
be added. This means that the resulting string is the
longest unambiguous string possible. However, menu
completion can be used to cycle through all matches.
|
fake |
|
This style may be set for any
completion context. It specifies additional strings that
will always be completed in that context. The form of each
string is
’value:description’; the
colon and description may be omitted, but any literal colons
in value must be quoted with a backslash. Any
description provided is shown alongside the value in
completion listings. |
It is important
to use a sufficiently restrictive context when specifying
fake strings. Note that the styles fake−files
and fake−parameters provide additional features
when completing files or parameters.
fake−files
This style is used when
completing files and looked up without a tag. Its values are
of the form ’dir:names...’.
This will add the names (strings separated by spaces)
as possible matches when completing in the directory
dir, even if no such files really exist.
This can be
useful on systems that support special filesystems whose
top−level pathnames can not be listed or generated
with glob patterns. It can also be used for directories for
which one does not have read permission.
fake−parameters
This is used by the completion
function for parameter names. Its values are names of
parameters that might not yet be set but should be completed
nonetheless. Each name may also be followed by a colon and a
string specifying the type of the parameter (like
’scalar’, ’array’ or
’integer’). If the type is given, the
name will only be completed if parameters of that type are
required in the particular context. Names for which no type
is specified will always be completed.
file−patterns
This is used by the standard
function for completing filenames, _files. If the
style is unset up to three tags are offered,
’globbed−files’,’directories’
and ’all−files’, depending on the
types of files expected by the caller of _files. The
first two (’globbed−files’ and
’directories’) are normally offered
together to make it easier to complete files in
sub−directories.
The
file−patterns style provides alternatives to
the default tags, which are not used. Its value consists of
elements of the form
’pattern:tag’; each string
may contain any number of such specifications separated by
spaces.
The
pattern is a pattern that is to be used to generate
filenames. Any occurrence of the sequence
’%p’ is replaced by any pattern(s) passed
by the function calling _files. Colons in the pattern
must be preceded by a backslash to make them distinguishable
from the colon before the tag. If more than one
pattern is needed, the patterns can be given inside braces,
separated by commas.
The tags
of all strings in the value will be offered by _files
and used when looking up other styles. Any tags in
the same word will be offered at the same time and before
later words. If no ’:tag’ is given
the ’files’ tag will be used.
The tag
may also be followed by an optional second colon and a
description, which will be used for the
’%d’ in the value of the format
style (if that is set) instead of the default description
supplied by the completion function. If the description
given here contains itself a ’%d’, that
is replaced with the description supplied by the completion
function.
For example, to
make the rm command first complete only names of
object files and then the names of all files if there is no
matching object file:
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:rm:*’ file−patterns \
’*.o:object−files’
’%p:all−files’
To alter the
default behaviour of file completion −−−
offer files matching a pattern and directories on the first
attempt, then all files −−− to offer only
matching files on the first attempt, then directories, and
finally all files:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ file−patterns \
’%p:globbed−files’
’*(−/):directories’
’*:all−files’
This works even
where there is no special pattern: _files matches all
files using the pattern ’*’ at the first
step and stops when it sees this pattern. Note also it will
never try a pattern more than once for a single completion
attempt.
During the
execution of completion functions, the EXTENDED_GLOB
option is in effect, so the characters
’#’, ’~’ and
’^’ have special meanings in the
patterns.
file−sort
The standard filename
completion function uses this style without a tag to
determine in which order the names should be listed; menu
completion will cycle through them in the same order. The
possible values are: ’size’ to sort by
the size of the file; ’links’ to sort by
the number of links to the file;
’modification’ (or
’time’ or ’date’) to
sort by the last modification time;
’access’ to sort by the last access time;
and ’inode’ (or
’change’) to sort by the last inode
change time. If the style is set to any other value, or is
unset, files will be sorted alphabetically by name. If the
value contains the string ’reverse’,
sorting is done in the opposite order.
|
filter |
|
This is used by the LDAP plugin for e−mail address
completion to specify the attributes to match against when
filtering entries. So for example, if the style is set to
’sn’, matching is done against surnames.
Standard LDAP filtering is used so normal completion
matching is bypassed. If this style is not set, the LDAP
plugin is skipped. You may also need to set the
command style to specify how to connect to your LDAP
server. |
force−list
This forces a list of
completions to be shown at any point where listing is done,
even in cases where the list would usually be suppressed.
For example, normally the list is only shown if there are at
least two different matches. By setting this style to
’always’, the list will always be shown,
even if there is only a single match that will immediately
be accepted. The style may also be set to a number. In this
case the list will be shown if there are at least that many
matches, even if they would all insert the same string.
This style is
tested for the default tag as well as for each tag valid for
the current completion. Hence the listing can be forced only
for certain types of match.
|
format |
|
If this is set for the descriptions tag, its
value is used as a string to display above matches in
completion lists. The sequence ’%d’ in
this string will be replaced with a short description of
what these matches are. This string may also contain the
sequences to specify output attributes, such as
’%B’, ’%S’ and
’%{...%}’. |
The style is
tested with each tag valid for the current completion before
it is tested for the descriptions tag. Hence
different format strings can be defined for different types
of match.
Note also that
some completer functions define additional
’%’−sequences. These are described
for the completer functions that make use of them.
Some completion
functions display messages that may be customised by setting
this style for the messages tag. Here, the
’%d’ is replaced with a message given by
the completion function.
Finally, the
format string is looked up with the warnings tag, for
use when no matches could be generated at all. In this case
the ’%d’ is replaced with the
descriptions for the matches that were expected separated by
spaces. The sequence ’%D’ is replaced
with the same descriptions separated by newlines.
It is possible
to use printf−style field width specifiers with
’%d’ and similar escape sequences. This
is handled by the zformat builtin command from the
zsh/zutil module, see zshmodules(1).
|
glob |
|
This is used by the
_expand completer. If it is set to ’true’
(the default), globbing will be attempted on the words
resulting from a previous substitution (see the
substitute style) or else the original string from
the line. |
|
global |
|
If this is set to ’true’ (the default), the
_expand_alias completer and bindable command will try
to expand global aliases. |
group−name
The completion system can group
different types of matches, which appear in separate lists.
This style can be used to give the names of groups for
particular tags. For example, in command position the
completion system generates names of builtin and external
commands, names of aliases, shell functions and parameters
and reserved words as possible completions. To have the
external commands and shell functions listed separately:
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:−command−:*:commands’
group−name commands
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:−command−:*:functions’
group−name functions
As a
consequence, any match with the same tag will be displayed
in the same group.
If the name
given is the empty string the name of the tag for the
matches will be used as the name of the group. So, to have
all different types of matches displayed separately, one can
just set:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ group−name
’’
All matches for
which no group name is defined will be put in a group named
−default−.
group−order
This style is additional to the
group−name style to specify the order for
display of the groups defined by that style (compare
tag−order, which determines which completions
appear at all). The groups named are shown in the given
order; any other groups are shown in the order defined by
the completion function.
For example, to
have names of builtin commands, shell functions and external
commands appear in that order when completing in command
position:
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:−command−:*’
group−order \
builtins functions commands
|
groups |
|
A list of names of UNIX groups. If this is not set,
group names are taken from the YP database or the file
’/etc/group’. |
|
hidden |
|
If this is set to true, matches for the given context
will not be listed, although any description for the matches
set with the format style will be shown. If it is set
to ’all’, not even the description will
be displayed. |
Note that the
matches will still be completed; they are just not shown in
the list. To avoid having matches considered as possible
completions at all, the tag−order style can be
modified as described below.
|
hosts |
|
A list of names of hosts that
should be completed. If this is not set, hostnames are taken
from the file ’/etc/hosts’. |
hosts−ports
This style is used by commands
that need or accept hostnames and network ports. The strings
in the value should be of the form
’host:port’. Valid ports
are determined by the presence of hostnames; multiple ports
for the same host may appear.
ignore−line
This is tested for each tag
valid for the current completion. If it is set to
’true’, none of the words that are
already on the line will be considered as possible
completions. If it is set to ’current’,
the word the cursor is on will not be considered as a
possible completion. The value
’current−shown’ is similar but only
applies if the list of completions is currently shown on the
screen. Finally, if the style is set to
’other’, no word apart from the current
one will be considered as a possible completion.
The values
’current’ and
’current−shown’ are a bit like the
opposite of the accept−exact style: only
strings with missing characters will be completed.
Note that you
almost certainly don’t want to set this to
’true’ or ’other’ for a
general context such as ’:completion:*’.
This is because it would disallow completion of, for
example, options multiple times even if the command in
question accepts the option more than once.
ignore−parents
The style is tested without a
tag by the function completing pathnames in order to
determine whether to ignore the names of directories already
mentioned in the current word, or the name of the current
working directory. The value must include one or both of the
following strings:
|
parent |
|
The name of any directory whose path is already
contained in the word on the line is ignored. For example,
when completing after foo/../, the directory
foo will not be considered a valid completion. |
|
pwd |
|
The name of the current working directory will not be
completed; hence, for example, completion after ../
will not use the name of the current directory. |
In addition,
the value may include one or both of:
|
.. |
|
Ignore the specified directories
only when the word on the line contains the substring
’../’. |
directory
Ignore the specified
directories only when names of directories are completed,
not when completing names of files.
Excluded values
act in a similar fashion to values of the
ignored−patterns style, so they can be restored
to consideration by the _ignored completer.
ignored−patterns
A list of patterns; any trial
completion matching one of the patterns will be excluded
from consideration. The _ignored completer can appear
in the list of completers to restore the ignored matches.
This is a more configurable version of the shell parameter
$fignore.
Note that the
EXTENDED_GLOB option is set during the execution of
completion functions, so the characters
’#’, ’~’ and
’^’ have special meanings in the
patterns.
|
insert |
|
This style is used by the _all_matches completer
to decide whether to insert the list of all matches
unconditionally instead of adding the list as another
match. |
insert−ids
When completing process IDs,
for example as arguments to the kill and wait
builtins the name of a command may be converted to the
appropriate process ID. A problem arises when the process
name typed is not unique. By default (or if this style is
set explicitly to ’menu’) the name will
be converted immediately to a set of possible IDs, and menu
completion will be started to cycle through them.
If the value of
the style is ’single’, the shell will
wait until the user has typed enough to make the command
unique before converting the name to an ID; attempts at
completion will be unsuccessful until that point. If the
value is any other string, menu completion will be started
when the string typed by the user is longer than the common
prefix to the corresponding IDs.
insert−tab
If this is set to
’true’, the completion system will insert a TAB
character (assuming that was used to start completion)
instead of performing completion when there is no
non−blank character to the left of the cursor. If it
is set to ’false’, completion will be done even
there.
The value may
also contain the substrings ’pending’ or
’pending=val’. In this case, the
typed character will be inserted instead of staring
completion when there is unprocessed input pending. If a
val is given, completion will not be done if there
are at least that many characters of unprocessed input. This
is often useful when pasting characters into a terminal.
Note however, that it relies on the $PENDING special
parameter from the zsh/zle module being set properly
which is not guaranteed on all platforms.
The default
value of this style is ’true’ except for
completion within vared builtin command where it is
’false’.
insert−unambiguous
This is used by the
_match and _approximate completers. These
completers are often used with menu completion since the
word typed may bear little resemblance to the final
completion. However, if this style is ’true’,
the completer will start menu completion only if it could
find no unambiguous initial string at least as long as the
original string typed by the user.
In the case of
the _approximate completer, the completer field in
the context will already have been set to one of
correct−num or
approximate−num, where num is the
number of errors that were accepted.
In the case of
the _match completer, the style may also be set to
the string ’pattern’. Then the pattern on
the line is left unchanged if it does not match
unambiguously.
keep−prefix
This style is used by the
_expand completer. If it is ’true’, the
completer will try to keep a prefix containing a tilde or
parameter expansion. Hence, for example, the string
’~/f*’ would be expanded to
’~/foo’ instead of
’/home/user/foo’. If the style is set to
’changed’ (the default), the prefix will
only be left unchanged if there were other changes between
the expanded words and the original word from the command
line. Any other value forces the prefix to be expanded
unconditionally.
The behaviour
of expand when this style is true is to cause _expand
to give up when a single expansion with the restored prefix
is the same as the original; hence any remaining completers
may be called.
last−prompt
This is a more flexible form of
the ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT option. If it is true, the
completion system will try to return the cursor to the
previous command line after displaying a completion list. It
is tested for all tags valid for the current completion,
then the default tag. The cursor will be moved back
to the previous line if this style is ’true’ for
all types of match. Note that unlike the
ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT option this is independent of the
numeric prefix argument.
|
list |
|
This style is used by the _history_complete_word
bindable command. If it is set to ’true’ it has
no effect. If it is set to ’false’ matches will
not be listed. This overrides the setting of the options
controlling listing behaviour, in particular
AUTO_LIST. The context always starts with
’:completion:history−words’. |
list−colors
If the zsh/complist
module is loaded, this style can be used to set color
specifications. This mechanism replaces the use of the
ZLS_COLORS and ZLS_COLOURS parameters
described in the section ’The zsh/complist
Module’ in zshmodules(1), but the syntax is the
same.
If this style
is set for the default tag, the strings in the value
are taken as specifications that are to be used everywhere.
If it is set for other tags, the specifications are used
only for matches of the type described by the tag. For this
to work best, the group−name style must be set
to an empty string.
In addition to
setting styles for specific tags, it is also possible to use
group names specified explicitly by the
group−name tag together with the
’(group)’ syntax allowed by the
ZLS_COLORS and ZLS_COLOURS parameters and
simply using the default tag.
It is possible
to use any color specifications already set up for the GNU
version of the ls command:
zstyle
’:completion:*:default’ list−colors
${(s.:.)LS_COLORS}
The default
colors are the same as for the GNU ls command and can
be obtained by setting the style to an empty string (i.e.
’’).
list−grouped
If this style is
’true’ (the default), the completion system will
try to make certain completion listings more compact by
grouping matches. For example, options for commands that
have the same description (shown when the verbose
style is set to ’true’) will appear as a single
entry. However, menu selection can be used to cycle through
all the matches.
list−packed
This is tested for each tag
valid in the current context as well as the default
tag. If it is set to ’true’, the corresponding
matches appear in listings as if the LIST_PACKED
option were set. If it is set to ’false’, they
are listed normally.
list−prompt
If this style is set for the
default tag, completion lists that don’t fit on
the screen can be scrolled (see the description of the
zsh/complist module in zshmodules(1)). The
value, if not the empty string, will be displayed after
every screenful and the shell will prompt for a key press;
if the style is set to the empty string, a default prompt
will be used.
The value may
contain the escape sequences: ’%l’ or
’%L’, which will be replaced by the
number of the last line displayed and the total number of
lines; ’%m’ or ’%M’,
the number of the last match shown and the total number of
matches; and ’%p’ and
’%P’, ’Top’ when at
the beginning of the list, ’Bottom’ when
at the end and the position shown as a percentage of the
total length otherwise. In each case the form with the
uppercase letter will be replaced by a string of fixed
width, padded to the right with spaces, while the lowercase
form will be replaced by a variable width string. As in
other prompt strings, the escape sequences
’%S’, ’%s’,
’%B’, ’%b’,
’%U’, ’%u’ for
entering and leaving the display modes standout, bold and
underline are also available, as is the form
’%{...%}’ for enclosing escape
sequences which display with zero width.
list−rows−first
This style is tested in the
same way as the list−packed style and
determines whether matches are to be listed in a
rows−first fashion as if the LIST_ROWS_FIRST
option were set.
list−suffixes
This style is used by the
function that completes filenames. If it is true, and
completion is attempted on a string containing multiple
partially typed pathname components, all ambiguous
components will be shown. Otherwise, completion stops at the
first ambiguous component.
list−separator
The value of this style is used
in completion listing to separate the string to complete
from a description when possible (e.g. when completing
options). It defaults to ’−−’
(two hyphens).
|
local |
|
This is for use with functions that complete URLs for
which the corresponding files are available directly from
the filing system. Its value should consist of three
strings: a hostname, the path to the default web pages for
the server, and the directory name used by a user placing
web pages within their home area. |
For
example:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ local toast \
/var/http/public/toast public_html
Completion
after ’http://toast/stuff/’ will look for
files in the directory /var/http/public/toast/stuff,
while completion after
’http://toast/~yousir/’ will look for
files in the directory ~yousir/public_html.
mail−directory
If set, zsh will assume that
mailbox files can be found in the directory specified. It
defaults to ’~/Mail’.
match−original
This is used by the
_match completer. If it is set to only,
_match will try to generate matches without inserting
a ’*’ at the cursor position. If set to
any other non−empty value, it will first try to
generate matches without inserting the
’*’ and if that yields no matches, it
will try again with the ’*’ inserted. If
it is unset or set to the empty string, matching will only
be performed with the ’*’ inserted.
matcher
This style is tested separately
for each tag valid in the current context. Its value is
added to any match specifications given by the
matcher−list style. It should be in the form
described in the section ’Matching Control’ in
zshcompwid(1).
matcher−list
This style can be set to a list
of match specifications that are to be applied everywhere.
Match specifications are described in the section
’Matching Control’ in zshcompwid(1). The
completion system will try them one after another for each
completer selected. For example, to try first simple
completion and, if that generates no matches,
case−insensitive completion:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ matcher−list
’’
’m:{a−zA−Z}={A−Za−z}’
By default each
specification replaces the previous one; however, if a
specification is prefixed with +, it is added to the
existing list. Hence it is possible to create increasingly
general specifications without repetition:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ matcher−list
’’ ’+m{a−Z}={A−Z}’
’+m{A−Z}={a−z}’
It is possible
to create match specifications valid for particular
completers by using the third field of the context. For
example, to use the completers _complete and
_prefix but only allow case−insensitive
completion with _complete:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ completer _complete _prefix
zstyle ’:completion:*:complete:*’
matcher−list \
’’
’m:{a−zA−Z}={A−Za−z}’
User−defined
names, as explained for the completer style, are
available. This makes it possible to try the same completer
more than once with different match specifications each
time. For example, to try normal completion without a match
specification, then normal completion with
case−insensitive matching, then correction, and
finally partial−word completion:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ completer _complete _correct
_complete:foo
zstyle ’:completion:*:complete:*’
matcher−list \
’’
’m:{a−zA−Z}={A−Za−z}’
zstyle ’:completion:*:foo:*’ matcher−list
\
’m:{a−zA−Z}={A−Za−z}
r:|[−_./]=* r:|=*’
If the style is
unset in any context no match specification is applied. Note
also that some completers such as _correct and
_approximate do not use the match specifications at
all, though these completers will only ever called once even
if the matcher−list contains more than one
element.
Where multiple
specifications are useful, note that the entire
completion is done for each element of
matcher−list, which can quickly reduce the
shell’s performance. As a rough rule of thumb, one to
three strings will give acceptable performance. On the other
hand, putting multiple space−separated values into the
same string does not have an appreciable impact on
performance.
max−errors
This is used by the
_approximate and _correct completer functions
to determine the maximum number of errors to allow. The
completer will try to generate completions by first allowing
one error, then two errors, and so on, until either a match
or matches were found or the maximum number of errors given
by this style has been reached.
If the value
for this style contains the string
’numeric’, the completer function will
take any numeric argument as the maximum number of errors
allowed. For example, with
zstyle
’:completion:*:approximate:::’ max−errors
2 numeric
two errors are
allowed if no numeric argument is given, but with a numeric
argument of six (as in ’ESC−6
TAB’), up to six errors are accepted. Hence with a
value of ’0 numeric’, no correcting
completion will be attempted unless a numeric argument is
given.
If the value
contains the string ’not−numeric’,
the completer will not try to generate corrected
completions when given a numeric argument, so in this case
the number given should be greater than zero. For example,
’2 not−numeric’ specifies that
correcting completion with two errors will usually be
performed, but if a numeric argument is given, correcting
completion will not be performed.
The default
value for this style is ’2 numeric’.
max−matches−width
This style is used to determine
the trade off between the width of the display used for
matches and the width used for their descriptions when the
verbose style is in effect. The value gives the
number of display columns to reserve for the matches. The
default is half the width of the screen.
This has the
most impact when several matches have the same description
and so will be grouped together. Increasing the style will
allow more matches to be grouped together; decreasing it
will allow more of the description to be visible.
|
menu |
|
If this is true in the context of any of the tags
defined for the current completion menu completion will be
used. The value for a specific tag will take precedence over
that for the ’default’ tag. |
If none of the
values found in this way is true but at least one is set to
’auto’, the shell behaves as if the
AUTO_MENU option is set.
If one of the
values is explicitly set to false, menu completion will be
explicitly turned off, overriding the MENU_COMPLETE
option and other settings.
In the form
’yes=num’, where
’yes’ may be any of the true values
(’yes’, ’true’,
’on’ and ’1’), menu
completion will be turned on if there are at least
num matches. In the form
’yes=long’, menu completion will be
turned on if the list does not fit on the screen. This does
not activate menu completion if the widget normally only
lists completions, but menu completion can be activated in
that case with the value
’yes=long−list’ (Typically, the
value ’select=long−list’ described
later is more useful as it provides control over
scrolling.)
Similarly, with
any of the ’false’ values (as in
’no=10’), menu completion will not
be used if there are num or more matches.
The value of
this widget also controls menu selection, as implemented by
the zsh/complist module. The following values may
appear either alongside or instead of the values above.
If the value
contains the string ’select’, menu
selection will be started unconditionally.
In the form
’select=num’, menu selection will
only be started if there are at least num matches. If
the values for more than one tag provide a number, the
smallest number is taken.
Menu selection
can be turned off explicitly by defining a value containing
the string’no−select’.
It is also
possible to start menu selection only if the list of matches
does not fit on the screen by using the value
’select=long’. To start menu selection
even if the current widget only performs listing, use the
value ’select=long−list’.
To turn on menu
completion or menu selection when a there are a certain
number of matches or the list of matches does not fit
on the screen, both of ’yes=’ and
’select=’ may be given twice, once with a
number and once with ’long’ or
’long−list’.
Finally, it is
possible to activate two special modes of menu selection.
The word ’interactive’ in the value
causes interactive mode to be entered immediately when menu
selection is started; see the description of the
zsh/complist module in zshmodules(1).RE for a
description of interactive mode. Including the string
’search’ does the same for incremental
search mode. To select backward incremental search, include
the string ’search−backward’. )
|
muttrc |
|
If set, gives the location of
the mutt configuration file. It defaults to
’~/.muttrc’. |
numbers
This is used with the
jobs tag. If it is ’true’, the shell will
complete job numbers instead of the shortest unambiguous
prefix of the job command text. If the value is a number,
job numbers will only be used if that many words from the
job descriptions are required to resolve ambiguities. For
example, if the value is ’1’, strings
will only be used if all jobs differ in the first word on
their command lines.
old−list
This is used by the
_oldlist completer. If it is set to
’always’, then standard widgets which
perform listing will retain the current list of matches,
however they were generated; this can be turned off
explicitly with the value ’never’, giving
the behaviour without the _oldlist completer. If the
style is unset, or any other value, then the existing list
of completions is displayed if it is not already; otherwise,
the standard completion list is generated; this is the
default behaviour of _oldlist. However, if there is
an old list and this style contains the name of the
completer function that generated the list, then the old
list will be used even if it was generated by a widget which
does not do listing.
For example,
suppose you type ^Xc to use the _correct_word
widget, which generates a list of corrections for the word
under the cursor. Usually, typing ^D would generate a
standard list of completions for the word on the command
line, and show that. With _oldlist, it will instead
show the list of corrections already generated.
As another
example consider the _match completer: with the
insert−unambiguous style set to
’true’ it inserts only a common prefix string,
if there is any. However, this may remove parts of the
original pattern, so that further completion could produce
more matches than on the first attempt. By using the
_oldlist completer and setting this style to
_match, the list of matches generated on the first
attempt will be used again.
old−matches
This is used by the
_all_matches completer to decide if an old list of
matches should be used if one exists. This is selected by
one of the ’true’ values or by the string
’only’. If the value is
’only’, _all_matches will only use
an old list and won’t have any effect on the list of
matches currently being generated.
If this style
is set it is generally unwise to call the
_all_matches completer unconditionally. One possible
use is for either this style or the completer style
to be defined with the −e option to
zstyle to make the style conditional.
old−menu
This is used by the
_oldlist completer. It controls how menu completion
behaves when a completion has already been inserted and the
user types a standard completion key such as TAB. The
default behaviour of _oldlist is that menu completion
always continues with the existing list of completions. If
this style is set to ’false’, however, a new
completion is started if the old list was generated by a
different completion command; this is the behaviour without
the _oldlist completer.
For example,
suppose you type ^Xc to generate a list of
corrections, and menu completion is started in one of the
usual ways. Usually, or with this style set to false,
typing TAB at this point would start trying to
complete the line as it now appears. With _oldlist,
it instead continues to cycle through the list of
corrections.
original
This is used by the
_approximate and _correct completers to decide
if the original string should be added as a possible
completion. Normally, this is done only if there are at
least two possible corrections, but if this style is set to
’true’, it is always added. Note that the style
will be examined with the completer field in the context
name set to correct−num or
approximate−num, where num is the
number of errors that were accepted.
packageset
This style is used when
completing arguments of the Debian ’dpkg’
program. It contains an override for the default package set
for a given context. For example,
zstyle
’:completion:*:complete:dpkg:option−−status−1:*’
\
packageset avail
causes
available packages, rather than only installed packages, to
be completed for ’dpkg
−−status’.
|
path |
|
The function that completes color names uses this style
with the colors tag. The value should be the pathname
of a file containing color names in the format of an X11
rgb.txt file. If the style is not set but this file
is found in one of various standard locations it will be
used as the default. |
pine−directory
If set, specifies the directory
containing PINE mailbox files. It defaults to
’~/mail’.
|
ports |
|
A list of Internet service names (network ports) to
complete. If this is not set, service names are taken from
the file ’/etc/services’. |
prefix−hidden
This is used for certain
completions which share a common prefix, for example command
options beginning with dashes. If it is ’true’,
the prefix will not be shown in the list of matches.
The default
value for this style is ’false’.
prefix−needed
This, too, is used for matches
with a common prefix. If it is set to ’true’
this common prefix must be typed by the user to generate the
matches. In the case of command options, this means that the
initial ’−’,
’+’, or
’−−’ must be typed explicitly
before option names will be completed.
The default
value for this style is ’true’.
preserve−prefix
This style is used when
completing path names. Its value should be a pattern
matching an initial prefix of the word to complete that
should be left unchanged under all circumstances. For
example, on some Unices an initial ’//’
(double slash) has a special meaning; setting this style to
the string ’//’ will preserve it. As
another example, setting this style to
’?:/’ under Cygwin would allow completion
after ’a:/...’ and so on.
|
range |
|
This is used by the _history completer and the
_history_complete_word bindable command to decide
which words should be completed. |
If it is a
singe number, only the last N words from the history
will be completed.
If it is a
range of the form
’max:slice’, the last
slice words will be completed; then if that yields no
matches, the slice words before those will be tried
and so on. This process stops either when at least one match
was been found, or max words have been tried.
The default is
to complete all words from the history at once.
regular
This style is used by the
_expand_alias completer and bindable command. If set
to ’true’ (the default), regular aliases
will be expanded but only in command position. If it is set
to ’false’, regular aliases will never be
expanded. If it is set to ’always’,
regular aliases will be expanded even if not in command
position.
remote−access
If set to false, certain
commands will be prevented from making Internet connections
to retrieve remote information. This includes the completion
for the CVS command.
It is not
always possible to know if connections are in fact to a
remote site, so some may be prevented unnecessarily.
remove−all−dups
The
_history_complete_word bindable command and the
_history completer use this to decide if all
duplicate matches should be removed, rather than just
consecutive duplicates.
select−prompt
If this is set for the
default tag, its value will be displayed during menu
selection (see the menu style above) when the
completion list does not fit on the screen as a whole. The
same escapes as for the list−prompt style are
understood, except that the numbers refer to the match or
line the mark is on. A default prompt is used when the value
is the empty string.
select−scroll
This style is tested for the
default tag and determines how a completion list is
scrolled during a menu selection (see the menu style
above) when the completion list does not fit on the screen
as a whole. If the value is ’0’ (zero),
the list is scrolled by half−screenfuls; if it is a
positive integer, the list is scrolled by the given number
of lines; if it is a negative number, the list is scrolled
by a screenful minus the absolute value of the given number
of lines. The default is to scroll by single lines.
separate−sections
This style is used with the
manuals tag when completing names of manual pages. If
it is ’true’, entries for different sections are
added separately using tag names of the form
’manual.X’, where X is the
section number. When the group−name style is
also in effect, pages from different sections will appear
separately. This style is also used similarly with the
words style when completing words for the dict
command. It allows words from different dictionary databases
to be added separately. The default for this style is
’false’.
single−ignored
This is used by the
_ignored completer when there is only one match. If
its value is ’show’, the single match
will be displayed but not inserted. If the value is
’menu’, then the single match and the
original string are both added as matches and menu
completion is started, making it easy to select either of
them.
|
sort |
|
Many completion widgets call _description at some
point which decides whether the matches are added sorted or
unsorted (often indirectly via _wanted or
_requested). This style can be set explicitly to one
of the usual true or false values as an override. If it is
not set for the context, the standard behaviour of the
calling widget is used. |
The style is
tested first against the full context including the tag, and
if that fails to produce a value against the context without
the tag.
If the calling
widget explicitly requests unsorted matches, this is usually
honoured. However, the default (unsorted) behaviour of
completion for the command history may be overridden by
setting the style to true.
In the
_expand completer, if it is set to
’true’, the expansions generated will always be
sorted. If it is set to ’menu’, then the
expansions are only sorted when they are offered as single
strings but not in the string containing all possible
expansions.
special−dirs
Normally, the completion code
will not produce the directory names ’.’
and ’..’ as possible completions. If this
style is set to ’true’, it will add both
’.’ and ’..’ as
possible completions; if it is set to
’..’, only ’..’ will
be added.
The following
example sets special−dirs to
’..’ when the current prefix is empty, is
a single ’.’, or consists only of a path
beginning with ’../’. Otherwise the value
is ’false’.
zstyle
−e ’:completion:*’ special−dirs \
’[[ $PREFIX = (../)#(|.|..) ]] &&
reply=(..)’
squeeze−slashes
If set to ’true’,
sequences of slashes in filename paths (for example in
’foo//bar’) will be treated as a single
slash. This is the usual behaviour of UNIX paths. However,
by default the file completion function behaves as if there
were a ’*’ between the slashes.
|
stop |
|
If set to ’true’, the
_history_complete_word bindable command will stop
once when reaching the beginning or end of the history.
Invoking _history_complete_word will then wrap around
to the opposite end of the history. If this style is set to
’false’ (the default),
_history_complete_word will loop immediately as in a
menu completion. |
strip−comments
If set to ’true’,
this style causes non−essential comment text to be
removed from completion matches. Currently it is only used
when completing e−mail addresses where it removes any
display name from the addresses, cutting them down to plain
user@host form.
subst−globs−only
This is used by the
_expand completer. If it is set to
’true’, the expansion will only be used if it
resulted from globbing; hence, if expansions resulted from
the use of the substitute style described below, but
these were not further changed by globbing, the expansions
will be rejected.
The default for
this style is ’false’.
substitute
This boolean style controls
whether the _expand completer will first try to
expand all substitutions in the string (such as
’$(...)’ and
’${...}’).
The default is
’true’.
|
suffix |
|
This is used by the _expand completer if the word
starts with a tilde or contains a parameter expansion. If it
is set to ’true’, the word will only be expanded
if it doesn’t have a suffix, i.e. if it is something
like ’~foo’ or ’$foo’
rather than ’~foo/’ or
’$foo/bar’, unless that suffix itself
contains characters eligible for expansion. The default for
this style is ’true’. |
tag−order
This provides a mechanism for
sorting how the tags available in a particular context will
be used.
The values for
the style are sets of space−separated lists of tags.
The tags in each value will be tried at the same time; if no
match is found, the next value is used. (See the
file−patterns style for an exception to this
behavior.)
For
example:
zstyle
’:completion:*:complete:−command−:*’
tag−order \
’commands functions’
specifies that
completion in command position first offers external
commands and shell functions. Remaining tags will be tried
if no completions are found.
In addition to
tag names, each string in the value may take one of the
following forms:
|
− |
|
If any value consists of only a hyphen, then only
the tags specified in the other values are generated.
Normally all tags not explicitly selected are tried last if
the specified tags fail to generate any matches. This means
that a single value consisting only of a single hyphen turns
off completion. |
! tags...
A string starting with an
exclamation mark specifies names of tags that are not
to be used. The effect is the same as if all other possible
tags for the context had been listed.
tag:label
...
Here, tag is one of the
standard tags and label is an arbitrary name. Matches
are generated as normal but the name label is used in
contexts instead of tag. This is not useful in words
starting with !.
If the
label starts with a hyphen, the tag is
prepended to the label to form the name used for
lookup. This can be used to make the completion system try a
certain tag more than once, supplying different style
settings for each attempt; see below for an example.
tag:label:description
As before, but
description will replace the ’%d’
in the value of the format style instead of the
default description supplied by the completion function.
Spaces in the description must be quoted with a backslash. A
’%d’ appearing in description is
replaced with the description given by the completion
function.
In any of the
forms above the tag may be a pattern or several patterns in
the form
’{pat1,pat2...}’.
In this case all matching tags will be used except for any
given explicitly in the same string.
One use of
these features is to try one tag more than once, setting
other styles differently on each attempt, but still to use
all the other tags without having to repeat them all. For
example, to make completion of function names in command
position ignore all the completion functions starting with
an underscore the first time completion is tried:
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:−command−:*’
tag−order \
’functions:−non−comp *’ functions
zstyle
’:completion:*:functions−non−comp’
ignored−patterns ’_*’
On the first
attempt, all tags will be offered but the functions
tag will be replaced by
functions−non−comp. The
ignored−patterns style is set for this tag to
exclude functions starting with an underscore. If there are
no matches, the second value of the tag−order
style is used which completes functions using the default
tag, this time presumably including all function names.
The matches for
one tag can be split into different groups. For example:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ tag−order \
’options:−long:long\ options
options:−short:short\ options
options:−single−letter:single\ letter\
options’
zstyle
’:completion:*:options−long’
ignored−patterns
’[−+](|−|[^−]*)’
zstyle ’:completion:*:options−short’
ignored−patterns ’−−*’
’[−+]?’
zstyle
’:completion:*:options−single−letter’
ignored−patterns ’???*’
With the
group−names style set, options beginning with
’−−’, options beginning with
a single ’−’ or
’+’ but containing multiple characters,
and single−letter options will be displayed in
separate groups with different descriptions.
Another use of
patterns is to try multiple match specifications one after
another. The matcher−list style offers
something similar, but it is tested very early in the
completion system and hence can’t be set for single
commands nor for more specific contexts. Here is how to try
normal completion without any match specification and, if
that generates no matches, try again with
case−insensitive matching, restricting the effect to
arguments of the command foo:
zstyle
’:completion:*:*:foo:*’ tag−order
’*’ ’*:−case’
zstyle ’:completion:*−case’ matcher
’m:{a−z}={A−Z}’
First, all the
tags offered when completing after foo are tried
using the normal tag name. If that generates no matches, the
second value of tag−order is used, which tries
all tags again except that this time each has
−case appended to its name for lookup of
styles. Hence this time the value for the matcher
style from the second call to zstyle in the example
is used to make completion case−insensitive.
It is possible
to use the −e option of the zstyle
builtin command to specify conditions for the use of
particular tags. For example:
zstyle
−e ’*:−command−:*’
tag−order ’
if [[ −n $PREFIX$SUFFIX ]]; then
reply=( )
else
reply=( − )
fi’
Completion in
command position will be attempted only if the string typed
so far is not empty. This is tested using the PREFIX
special parameter; see zshcompwid for a description of
parameters which are special inside completion widgets.
Setting reply to an empty array provides the default
behaviour of trying all tags at once; setting it to an array
containing only a hyphen disables the use of all tags and
hence of all completions.
If no
tag−order style has been defined for a context,
the strings ’(|*−)argument−*
(|*−)option−* values’ and
’options’ plus all tags offered by the
completion function will be used to provide a sensible
default behavior that causes arguments (whether normal
command arguments or arguments of options) to be completed
before option names for most commands.
|
urls |
|
This is used together with the the urls tag by
functions completing URLs. |
If the value
consists of more than one string, or if the only string does
not name a file or directory, the strings are used as the
URLs to complete.
If the value
contains only one string which is the name of a normal file
the URLs are taken from that file (where the URLs may be
separated by white space or newlines).
Finally, if the
only string in the value names a directory, the directory
hierarchy rooted at this directory gives the completions.
The top level directory should be the file access method,
such as ’http’, ’ftp’,
’bookmark’ and so on. In many cases the
next level of directories will be a filename. The directory
hierarchy can descend as deep as necessary.
For
example,
zstyle
’:completion:*’ urls ~/.urls
mkdir −p
~/.urls/ftp/ftp.zsh.org/pub/development
allows
completion of all the components of the URL
ftp://ftp.zsh.org/pub/development after suitable
commands such as ’netscape’ or
’lynx’. Note, however, that access
methods and files are completed separately, so if the
hosts style is set hosts can be completed without
reference to the urls style.
See the
description in the function _urls itself for more
information (e.g. ’more
$^fpath/_urls(N)’).
use−cache
If this is set, the completion
caching layer is activated for any completions which use it
(via the _store_cache, _retrieve_cache, and
_cache_invalid functions). The directory containing
the cache files can be changed with the
cache−path style.
use−compctl
If this style is set to a
string not equal to false, 0,
no, and off, the completion system may use any
completion specifications defined with the compctl
builtin command. If the style is unset, this is done only if
the zsh/compctl module is loaded. The string may also
contain the substring ’first’ to use
completions defined with ’compctl
−T’, and the substring
’default’ to use the completion defined
with ’compctl −D’.
Note that this
is only intended to smooth the transition from
compctl to the new completion system and may
disappear in the future.
Note also that
the definitions from compctl will only be used if
there is no specific completion function for the command in
question. For example, if there is a function _foo to
complete arguments to the command foo, compctl
will never be invoked for foo. However, the
compctl version will be tried if foo only uses
default completion.
use−perl
Various parts of the function
system use awk to extract words from files or command output
as this universally available. However, many versions of awk
have arbitrary limits on the size of input. If this style is
set, perl will be used instead. This is almost always
preferable if perl is available on your system.
Currently this
is only used in completions for ’make’, but it
may be extended depending on authorial frustration.
|
users |
|
This may be set to a list of usernames to be completed.
If it is not set or the string on the line doesn’t
match any of the strings in this list, all usernames will be
completed. |
users−hosts
The values of this style should
be of the form ’user@host’
or ’user:host’. It is used
for commands that need pairs of user− and hostnames.
These commands will complete usernames from this style
(only), and will restrict subsequent hostname completion to
hosts paired with that user in one of the values of the
style.
It is possible
to group values for sets of commands which allow a remote
login, such as rlogin and ssh, by using the
my−accounts tag. Similarly, values for sets of
commands which usually refer to the accounts of other
people, such as talk and finger, can be
grouped by using the other−accounts tag. More
ambivalent commands may use the accounts tag.
users−hosts−ports
Like users−hosts
but used for commands like telnet and containing
strings of the form
’user@host:port’.
verbose
If set, as it is by default,
the completion listing is more verbose. In particular many
commands show descriptions for options if this style is
’true’.
|
word |
|
This is used by the _list completer, which
prevents the insertion of completions until a second
completion attempt when the line has not changed. The normal
way of finding out if the line has changed is to compare its
entire contents between the two occasions. If this style is
true, the comparison is instead performed only on the
current word. Hence if completion is performed on another
word with the same contents, completion will not be
delayed. |
CONTROL FUNCTIONS
The
initialization script compinit redefines all the
widgets which perform completion to call the supplied widget
function _main_complete. This function acts as a
wrapper calling the so−called ’completer’
functions that generate matches. If _main_complete is
called with arguments, these are taken as the names of
completer functions to be called in the order given. If no
arguments are given, the set of functions to try is taken
from the completer style. For example, to use normal
completion and correction if that doesn’t generate any
matches:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ completer _complete
_correct
after calling
compinit. The default value for this style is
’_complete _ignored’, i.e. normally only
ordinary completion is tried, first with the effect of the
ignored−patterns style and then without it. The
_main_complete function uses the return value of the
completer functions to decide if other completers should be
called. If the return value is zero, no other completers are
tried and the _main_complete function returns.
If the first
argument to _main_complete is a single hyphen, the
arguments will not be taken as names of completers. Instead,
the second argument gives a name to use in the
completer field of the context and the other
arguments give a command name and arguments to call to
generate the matches.
The following
completer functions are contained in the distribution,
although users may write their own. Note that in contexts
the leading underscore is stripped, for example basic
completion is performed in the context
’:completion::complete:...’.
_all_matches
This completer can be used to
add a string consisting of all other matches. As it
influences later completers it must appear as the first
completer in the list. The list of all matches is affected
by the avoid−completer and
old−matches styles described above.
It may be
useful to use the _generic function described below
to bind _all_matches to its own keystroke, for
example:
zle −C
all−matches complete−word _generic
bindkey ’^Xa’ all−matches
zstyle ’:completion:all−matches:*’
old−matches only
zstyle ’:completion:all−matches::::’
completer _all_matches
_approximate
This is similar to the basic
_complete completer but allows the completions to
undergo corrections. The maximum number of errors can be
specified by the max−errors style; see the
description of approximate matching in zshexpn(1) for
how errors are counted. Normally this completer will only be
tried after the normal _complete completer:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ completer _complete
_approximate
This will give
correcting completion if and only if normal completion
yields no possible completions. When corrected completions
are found, the completer will normally start menu completion
allowing you to cycle through these strings.
This completer
uses the tags corrections and original when
generating the possible corrections and the original string.
The format style for the former may contain the
additional sequences ’%e’ and
’%o’ which will be replaced by the number
of errors accepted to generate the corrections and the
original string, respectively.
The completer
progressively increases the number of errors allowed up to
the limit by the max−errors style, hence if a
completion is found with one error, no completions with two
errors will be shown, and so on. It modifies the completer
name in the context to indicate the number of errors being
tried: on the first try the completer field contains
’approximate−1’, on the second try
’approximate−2’, and so on.
When
_approximate is called from another function, the
number of errors to accept may be passed with the
−a option. The argument is in the same format
as the max−errors style, all in one string.
Note that this
completer (and the _correct completer mentioned
below) can be quite expensive to call, especially when a
large number of errors are allowed. One way to avoid this is
to set up the completer style using the
−e option to zstyle so that some completers are
only used when completion is attempted a second time on the
same string, e.g.:
zstyle
−e ’:completion:*’ completer ’
if [[ $_last_try != "$HISTNO$BUFFER$CURSOR" ]];
then
_last_try="$HISTNO$BUFFER$CURSOR"
reply=(_complete _match _prefix)
else
reply=(_ignored _correct _approximate)
fi’
This uses the
HISTNO parameter and the BUFFER and
CURSOR special parameters that are available inside
zle and completion widgets to find out if the command line
hasn’t changed since the last time completion was
tried. Only then are the _ignored, _correct
and _approximate completers called.
_complete
This completer generates all
possible completions in a context−sensitive manner,
i.e. using the settings defined with the compdef
function explained above and the current settings of all
special parameters. This gives the normal completion
behaviour.
To complete
arguments of commands, _complete uses the utility
function _normal, which is in turn responsible for
finding the particular function; it is described below.
Various contexts of the form
−context− are handled
specifically. These are all mentioned above as possible
arguments to the #compdef tag.
Before trying
to find a function for a specific context, _complete
checks if the parameter ’compcontext’ is
set. Setting ’compcontext’ allows the
usual completion dispatching to be overridden which is
useful in places such as a function that uses vared
for input. If it is set to an array, the elements are taken
to be the possible matches which will be completed using the
tag ’values’ and the description
’value’. If it is set to an associative
array, the keys are used as the possible completions and the
values (if non−empty) are used as descriptions for the
matches. If ’compcontext’ is set to a
string containing colons, it should be of the form
’tag:descr:action’.
In this case the tag and descr give the tag
and description to use and the action indicates what
should be completed in one of the forms accepted by the
_arguments utility function described below.
Finally, if
’compcontext’ is set to a string without
colons, the value is taken as the name of the context to use
and the function defined for that context will be called.
For this purpose, there is a special context named
−command−line− that completes whole
command lines (commands and their arguments). This is not
used by the completion system itself but is nonetheless
handled when explicitly called.
_correct
Generate corrections, but not
completions, for the current word; this is similar to
_approximate but will not allow any number of extra
characters at the cursor as that completer does. The effect
is similar to spell−checking. It is based on
_approximate, but the completer field in the context
name is correct.
For example,
with:
zstyle
’:completion:::::’ completer _complete _correct
_approximate
zstyle ’:completion:*:correct:::’
max−errors 2 not−numeric
zstyle ’:completion:*:approximate:::’
max−errors 3 numeric
correction will
accept up to two errors. If a numeric argument is given,
correction will not be performed, but correcting completion
will be, and will accept as many errors as given by the
numeric argument. Without a numeric argument, first
correction and then correcting completion will be tried,
with the first one accepting two errors and the second one
accepting three errors.
When
_correct is called as a function, the number of
errors to accept may be given following the −a
option. The argument is in the same form a values to the
accept style, all in one string.
This completer
function is intended to be used without the
_approximate completer or, as in the example, just
before it. Using it after the _approximate completer
is useless since _approximate will at least generate
the corrected strings generated by the _correct
completer −− and probably more.
_expand
This completer function does
not really perform completion, but instead checks if the
word on the command line is eligible for expansion and, if
it is, gives detailed control over how this expansion is
done. For this to happen, the completion system needs to be
invoked with complete−word, not
expand−or−complete (the default binding
for TAB), as otherwise the string will be expanded by
the shell’s internal mechanism before the completion
system is started. Note also this completer should be called
before the _complete completer function.
The tags used
when generating expansions are all−expansions
for the string containing all possible expansions,
expansions when adding the possible expansions as
single matches and original when adding the original
string from the line. The order in which these strings are
generated, if at all, can be controlled by the
group−order and tag−order styles,
as usual.
The format
string for all−expansions and for
expansions may contain the sequence
’%o’ which will be replaced by the
original string from the line.
The kind of
expansion to be tried is controlled by the
substitute, glob and
subst−globs−only styles.
It is also
possible to call _expand as a function, in which case
the different modes may be selected with options:
−s for substitute, −g for
glob and −o for
subst−globs−only.
_expand_alias
If the word the cursor is on is
an alias, it is expanded and no other completers are called.
The types of aliases which are to be expanded can be
controlled with the styles regular, global and
disabled.
This function
is also a bindable command, see the section ’Bindable
Commands’ below.
_history
Complete words from the
shell’s command history. This completer can be
controlled by the remove−all−dups, and
sort styles as for the _history_complete_word
bindable command, see the section ’Bindable
Commands’ below and the section ’Completion
System Configuration’ above.
_ignored
The
ignored−patterns style can be set to a list of
patterns which are compared against possible completions;
matching ones are removed. With this completer those matches
can be reinstated, as if no ignored−patterns
style were set. The completer actually generates its own
list of matches; which completers are invoked is determined
in the same way as for the _prefix completer. The
single−ignored style is also available as
described above.
|
_list |
|
This completer allows the insertion of matches to be
delayed until completion is attempted a second time without
the word on the line being changed. On the first attempt,
only the list of matches will be shown. It is affected by
the styles condition and word, see the section
’Completion System Configuration’ above. |
|
_match |
|
This completer is intended to be used after the
_complete completer. It behaves similarly but the
string on the command line may be a pattern to match against
trial completions. This gives the effect of the
GLOB_COMPLETE option. |
Normally
completion will be performed by taking the pattern from the
line, inserting a ’*’ at the cursor
position and comparing the resulting pattern with the
possible completions generated. This can be modified with
the match−original style described above.
The generated
matches will be offered in a menu completion unless the
insert−unambiguous style is set to
’true’; see the description above for other
options for this style.
Note that
matcher specifications defined globally or used by the
completion functions (the styles matcher−list
and matcher) will not be used.
|
_menu |
|
This completer was written as
simple example function to show how menu completion can be
enabled in shell code. However, it has the notable effect of
disabling menu selection which can be useful with
_generic based widgets. It should be used as the
first completer in the list. Note that this is independent
of the setting of the MENU_COMPLETE option and does
not work with the other menu completion widgets such as
reverse−menu−complete, or
accept−and−menu−complete. |
_oldlist
This completer controls how the
standard completion widgets behave when there is an existing
list of completions which may have been generated by a
special completion (i.e. a separately−bound completion
command). It allows the ordinary completion keys to continue
to use the list of completions thus generated, instead of
producing a new list of ordinary contextual completions. It
should appear in the list of completers before any of the
widgets which generate matches. It uses two styles:
old−list and old−menu, see the
section ’Completion System Configuration’
above.
_prefix
This completer can be used to
try completion with the suffix (everything after the cursor)
ignored. In other words, the suffix will not be considered
to be part of the word to complete. The effect is similar to
the expand−or−complete−prefix
command.
The
completer style is used to decide which other
completers are to be called to generate matches. If this
style is unset, the list of completers set for the current
context is used −− except, of course, the
_prefix completer itself. Furthermore, if this
completer appears more than once in the list of completers
only those completers not already tried by the last
invocation of _prefix will be called.
For example,
consider this global completer style:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ completer \
_complete _prefix _correct _prefix:foo
Here, the
_prefix completer tries normal completion but
ignoring the suffix. If that doesn’t generate any
matches, and neither does the call to the _correct
completer after it, _prefix will be called a second
time and, now only trying correction with the suffix
ignored. On the second invocation the completer part of the
context appears as ’foo’.
To use
_prefix as the last resort and try only normal
completion when it is invoked:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ completer _complete ... _prefix
zstyle ’:completion::prefix:*’ completer
_complete
The
add−space style is also respected. If it is set
to ’true’ then _prefix will insert a
space between the matches generated (if any) and the
suffix.
Note that this
completer is only useful if the COMPLETE_IN_WORD
option is set; otherwise, the cursor will be moved to the
end of the current word before the completion code is called
and hence there will be no suffix.
bashcompinit
This function provides
compatibility with bash’s programmable completion
system. When run it will define the functions,
compgen and complete which correspond to the
bash builtins with the same names. It will then be possible
to use completion specifications and functions written for
bash.
BINDABLE COMMANDS
In addition to
the context−dependent completions provided, which are
expected to work in an intuitively obvious way, there are a
few widgets implementing special behaviour which can be
bound separately to keys. The following is a list of these
and their default bindings.
_bash_completions
This function is used by two
widgets, _bash_complete−word and
_bash_list−choices. It exists to provide
compatibility with completion bindings in bash. The last
character of the binding determines what is completed:
’!’, command names;
’$’, environment variables;
’@’, host names; ’/’,
file names; ’~’ user names. In bash, the
binding preceded by ’\e’ gives
completion, and preceded by ’^X’ lists
options. As some of these bindings clash with standard zsh
bindings, only ’\e~’ and
’^X~’ are bound by default. To add the
rest, the following should be added to .zshrc after
compinit has been run:
for key in
’!’ ’$’ ’@’
’/’ ’~’; do
bindkey "\e$key" _bash_complete−word
bindkey "^X$key" _bash_list−choices
done
This includes
the bindings for ’~’ in case they were
already bound to something else; the completion code does
not override user bindings.
_correct_filename
(^XC)
Correct the filename path at
the cursor position. Allows up to six errors in the name.
Can also be called with an argument to correct a filename
path, independently of zle; the correction is printed on
standard output.
_correct_word (^Xc)
Performs correction of the
current argument using the usual contextual completions as
possible choices. This stores the string
’correct−word’ in the
function field of the context name and then calls the
_correct completer.
_expand_alias (^Xa)
This function can be used as a
completer and as a bindable command. It expands the word the
cursor is on if it is an alias. The types of alias expanded
can be controlled with the styles regular,
global and disabled.
When used as a
bindable command there is one additional feature that can be
selected by setting the complete style to
’true’. In this case, if the word is not the
name of an alias, _expand_alias tries to complete the
word to a full alias name without expanding it. It leaves
the cursor directly after the completed word so that
invoking _expand_alias once more will expand the
now−complete alias name.
_expand_word (^Xe)
Performs expansion on the
current word: equivalent to the standard
expand−word command, but using the
_expand completer. Before calling it, the
function field of the context is set to
’expand−word’.
_generic
This function is not defined as
a widget and not bound by default. However, it can be used
to define a widget and will then store the name of the
widget in the function field of the context and call
the completion system. This allows custom completion widgets
with their own set of style settings to be defined easily.
For example, to define a widget that performs normal
completion and starts menu selection:
zle −C
foo complete−word _generic
bindkey ’...’ foo
zstyle ’:completion:foo:*’ menu yes
select=1
_history_complete_word
(\e/)
Complete words from the
shell’s command history. This uses the list,
remove−all−dups, sort, and
stop styles.
_most_recent_file
(^Xm)
Complete the name of the most
recently modified file matching the pattern on the command
line (which may be blank). If given a numeric argument
N, complete the Nth most recently modified
file. Note the completion, if any, is always unique.
_next_tags (^Xn)
This command alters the set of
matches used to that for the next tag, or set of tags,
either as given by the tag−order style or as
set by default; these matches would otherwise not be
available. Successive invocations of the command cycle
through all possible sets of tags.
_read_comp (^X^R)
Prompt the user for a string,
and use that to perform completion on the current word.
There are two possibilities for the string. First, it can be
a set of words beginning ’_’, for example
’_files −/’, in which case the
function with any arguments will be called to generate the
completions. Unambiguous parts of the function name will be
completed automatically (normal completion is not available
at this point) until a space is typed.
Second, any
other string will be passed as a set of arguments to
compadd and should hence be an expression specifying
what should be completed.
A very
restricted set of editing commands is available when reading
the string: ’DEL’ and
’^H’ delete the last character;
’^U’ deletes the line, and
’^C’ and ’^G’ abort
the function, while ’RET’ accepts the
completion. Note the string is used verbatim as a command
line, so arguments must be quoted in accordance with
standard shell rules.
Once a string
has been read, the next call to _read_comp will use
the existing string instead of reading a new one. To force a
new string to be read, call _read_comp with a numeric
argument.
_complete_debug
(^X?)
This widget performs ordinary
completion, but captures in a temporary file a trace of the
shell commands executed by the completion system. Each
completion attempt gets its own file. A command to view each
of these files is pushed onto the editor buffer stack.
_complete_help (^Xh)
This widget displays
information about the context names, the tags, and the
completion functions used when completing at the current
cursor position. If given a numeric argument other than
1 (as in ’ESC−2 ^Xh’), then
the styles used and the contexts for which they are used
will be shown, too.
Note that the
information about styles may be incomplete; it depends on
the information available from the completion functions
called, which in turn is determined by the user’s own
styles and other settings.
_complete_tag (^Xt)
This widget completes symbol
tags created by the etags or ctags programmes
(note there is no connection with the completion
system’s tags) stored in a file TAGS, in the
format used by etags, or tags, in the format
created by ctags. It will look back up the path
hierarchy for the first occurrence of either file; if both
exist, the file TAGS is preferred. You can specify
the full path to a TAGS or tags file by
setting the parameter $TAGSFILE or $tagsfile
respectively. The corresponding completion tags used are
etags and vtags, after emacs and vi
respectively.
UTILITY FUNCTIONS
Descriptions
follow for utility functions that may be useful when writing
completion functions. If functions are installed in
subdirectories, most of these reside in the Base
subdirectory. Like the example functions for commands in the
distribution, the utility functions generating matches all
follow the convention of returning zero if they generated
completions and non−zero if no matching completions
could be added.
Two more
features are offered by the _main_complete function.
The arrays compprefuncs and comppostfuncs may
contain names of functions that are to be called immediately
before or after completion has been tried. A function will
only be called once unless it explicitly reinserts itself
into the array.
_all_labels [ −x ] [ −12VJ ]
tag name descr [ command args ... ]
This is a convenient interface
to the _next_label function below, implementing the
loop shown in the _next_label example. The
command and its arguments are called to generate the
matches. The options stored in the parameter name
will automatically be inserted into the args passed
to the command. Normally, they are put directly after
the command, but if one of the args is a
single hyphen, they are inserted directly before that. If
the hyphen is the last argument, it will be removed from the
argument list before the command is called. This
allows _all_labels to be used in almost all cases
where the matches can be generated by a single call to the
compadd builtin command or by a call to one of the
utility functions.
For
example:
local expl
...
if _requested foo; then
...
_all_labels foo expl ’...’ compadd ... −
$matches
fi
Will complete
the strings from the matches parameter, using
compadd with additional options which will take
precedence over those generated by _all_labels.
_alternative [
−C name ] spec ...
This function is useful in
simple cases where multiple tags are available. Essentially
it implements a loop like the one described for the
_tags function below.
The tags to use
and the action to perform if a tag is requested are
described using the specs which are of the form:
’tag:descr:action’.
The tags are offered using _tags and if the
tag is requested, the action is executed with the
given description descr. The actions are those
accepted by the _arguments function (described
below), excluding the
’−>state’ and
’=...’ forms.
For example,
the action may be a simple function call:
_alternative
\
’users:user:_users’ \
’hosts:host:_hosts’
offers
usernames and hostnames as possible matches, generated by
the _users and _hosts functions
respectively.
Like
_arguments, this functions uses _all_labels to
execute the actions, which will loop over all sets of tags.
Special handling is only required if there is an additional
valid tag, for example inside a function called from
_alternative.
Like
_tags this function supports the −C
option to give a different name for the argument context
field.
_arguments [
−swWACRS ] [ −O name ] [
−M matchspec ] [ : ] spec
...
This function can be used to
give a complete specification for completion for a command
whose arguments follow standard UNIX option and argument
conventions. The following forms specify individual sets of
options and arguments; to avoid ambiguity, these may be
separated from the options to _arguments itself by a
single colon.
n:message:action
n::message:action
This describes the
n’th normal argument. The message will
be printed above the matches generated and the action
indicates what can be completed in this position (see
below). If there are two colons before the message
the argument is optional. If the message contains
only white space, nothing will be printed above the matches
unless the action adds an explanation string itself.
:message:action
::message:action
Similar, but describes the
next argument, whatever number that happens to be. If
all arguments are specified in this form in the correct
order the numbers are unnecessary.
*:message:action
*::message:action
*:::message:action
This describes how arguments
(usually non−option arguments, those not beginning
with − or +) are to be completed when
neither of the first two forms was provided. Any number of
arguments can be completed in this fashion.
With two colons
before the message, the words special array
and the CURRENT special parameter are modified to
refer only to the normal arguments when the action is
executed or evaluated. With three colons before the
message they are modified to refer only to the normal
arguments covered by this description.
optspec
optspec:...
This describes an option. The
colon indicates handling for one or more arguments to the
option; if it is not present, the option is assumed to take
no arguments.
By default,
options are multi−character name, one
’−word’ per option. With
−s, options may be single characters, with more
than one option per word, although words starting with two
hyphens, such as ’−−prefix’,
are still considered complete option names. This is suitable
for standard GNU options.
The combination
of −s with −w allows
single−letter options to be combined in a single word
even if one or more of the options take arguments. For
example, if −a takes an argument, with no
−s ’−ab’ is considered
as a single (unhandled) option; with −s
−ab is an option with the argument
’b’; with both −s and
−w, −ab may be the option
−a and the option(−b) with arguments
still to come.
The option
−W takes this a stage further: it is possible
to complete single−letter options even after an
argument that occurs in the same word. However, it depends
on the action performed whether options will really be
completed at this point. For more control, use a utility
function like _guard as part of the action.
The following
forms are available for the initial optspec, whether
or not the option has arguments.
*optspec
Here optspec is one of
the remaining forms below. This indicates the following
optspec may be repeated. Otherwise if the
corresponding option is already present on the command line
to the left of the cursor it will not be offered again.
−optname
+optname
In the simplest form the
optspec is just the option name beginning with a
minus or a plus sign, such as
’−foo’. The first argument for the
option (if any) must follow as a separate word
directly after the option.
Either of
’−+optname’ and
’+−optname’ can be used to
specify that −optname and
+optname are both valid.
In all the
remaining forms, the leading ’−’
may be replaced by or paired with ’+’ in
this way.
−optname−
The first argument of the
option must come directly after the option name in the
same word. For example,
’−foo−:...’ specifies
that the completed option and argument will look like
’−fooarg’.
−optname+
The first argument may appear
immediately after optname in the same word, or may
appear as a separate word after the option. For example,
’−foo+:...’ specifies that
the completed option and argument will look like either
’−fooarg’ or
’−foo arg’.
−optname=
The argument may appear as the
next word, or in same word as the option name provided that
it is separated from it by an equals sign, for example
’−foo=arg’ or
’−foo arg’.
−optname=−
The argument to the option must
appear after an equals sign in the same word, and may not be
given in the next argument.
optspec[explanation]
An explanation string may be
appended to any of the preceding forms of optspec by
enclosing it in brackets, as in ’−q[query
operation]’.
The
verbose style is used to decide whether the
explanation strings are displayed with the option in a
completion listing.
If no bracketed
explanation string is given but the
auto−description style is set and only one
argument is described for this optspec, the value of
the style is displayed, with any appearance of the sequence
’%d’ in it replaced by the message
of the first optarg that follows the optspec;
see below.
It is possible
for options with a literal ’+’ or
’=’ to appear, but that character must be
quoted, for example ’−\+’.
Each
optarg following an optspec must take one of
the following forms:
:message:action
::message:action
An argument to the option;
message and action are treated as for ordinary
arguments. In the first form, the argument is mandatory, and
in the second form it is optional.
This group may
be repeated for options which take multiple arguments. In
other words,
:message1:action1:message2:action2
specifies that the option takes two arguments.
:*pattern:message:action
:*pattern::message:action
:*pattern:::message:action
This describes multiple
arguments. Only the last optarg for an option taking
multiple arguments may be given in this form. If the
pattern is empty (i.e., :*:), all the
remaining words on the line are to be completed as described
by the action; otherwise, all the words up to a word
matching the pattern are to be completed using the
action.
Multiple colons
are treated as for the ’*:...’
forms for ordinary arguments: when the message is
preceded by two colons, the words special array and
the CURRENT special parameter are modified during the
execution or evaluation of the action to refer only
to the words after the option. When preceded by three
colons, they are modified to refer only to the words covered
by this description.
Any literal
colon in an optname, message, or action
must be preceded by a backslash,
’\:’.
Each of the
forms above may be preceded by a list in parentheses of
option names and argument numbers. If the given option is on
the command line, the options and arguments indicated in
parentheses will not be offered. For example,
’(−two −three
1)−one:...’ completes the option
’−one’; if this appears on the
command line, the options −two and
−three and the first ordinary argument will not
be completed after it.
’(−foo):...’ specifies an
ordinary argument completion; −foo will not be
completed if that argument is already present.
Other items may
appear in the list of excluded options to indicate various
other items that should not be applied when the current
specification is matched: a single star (*) for the
rest arguments (i.e. a specification of the form
’*:...’); a colon (:) for all
normal (non−option−) arguments; and a hyphen
(−) for all options. For example, if
’(*)’ appears before an option and the
option appears on the command line, the list of remaining
arguments (those shown in the above table beginning with
’*:’) will not be completed.
To aid in reuse
of specifications, it is possible to precede any of the
forms above with ’!’; then the form will
no longer be completed, although if the option or argument
appears on the command line they will be skipped as normal.
The main use for this is when the arguments are given by an
array, and _arguments is called repeatedly for more
specific contexts: on the first call ’_arguments
$global_options’ is used, and on subsequent calls
’_arguments !$^global_options’.
In each of the
forms above the action determines how completions
should be generated. Except for the
’−>string’ form below,
the action will be executed by calling the
_all_labels function to process all tag labels. No
special handling of tags is needed unless a function call
introduces a new one.
The forms for
action are as follows.
(single unquoted space)
This is useful where an
argument is required but it is not possible or desirable to
generate matches for it. The message will be
displayed but no completions listed. Note that even in this
case the colon at the end of the message is needed;
it may only be omitted when neither a message nor an
action is given.
(item1 item2
...)
One of a list of possible
matches, for example:
:foo:(foo
bar baz)
((item1\:desc1
...))
Similar to the above, but with
descriptions for each possible match. Note the backslash
before the colon. For example,
:foo:((a\:bar
b\:baz))
The matches
will be listed together with their descriptions if the
description style is set with the values tag
in the context.
−>string
In this form, _arguments
processes the arguments and options and then returns control
to the calling function with parameters set to indicate the
state of processing; the calling function then makes its own
arrangements for generating completions. For example,
functions that implement a state machine can use this type
of action.
Where
_arguments encounters a
’−>string’, it will strip
all leading and trailing whitespace from string and
set the array state to the set of all stringss
for which an action is to be performed.
By default and
in common with all other well behaved completion functions,
_arguments returns zero if it was able to add matches and
non−zero otherwise. However, if the −R
option is given, _arguments will instead return a
status of 300 to indicate that $state is to be
handled.
In addition to
$state, _arguments also sets the global
parameters ’context’,
’line’ and ’opt_args’
as described below, and does not reset any changes made to
the special parameters such as PREFIX and
words. This gives the calling function the choice of
resetting these parameters or propagating changes in
them.
A function
calling _arguments with at least one action
containing a ’−>string’
therefore must declare appropriate local parameters:
local
context state line
typeset −A opt_args
to avoid
_arguments from altering the global environment.
{eval−string}
A string in braces is evaluated
as shell code to generate matches. If the
eval−string itself does not begin with an
opening parenthesis or brace it is split into separate words
before execution.
= action
If the action starts
with ’= ’ (an equals sign followed by a
space), _arguments will insert the contents of the
argument field of the current context as the new
first element in the words special array and
increment the value of the CURRENT special parameter.
This has the effect of inserting a dummy word onto the
completion command line while not changing the point at
which completion is taking place.
This is most
useful with one of the specifiers that restrict the words on
the command line on which the action is to operate
(the two− and three−colon forms above). One
particular use is when an action itself causes
_arguments on a restricted range; it is necessary to
use this trick to insert an appropriate command name into
the range for the second call to _arguments to be
able to parse the line.
word...
word...
This covers all forms other
than those above. If the action starts with a space,
the remaining list of words will be invoked unchanged.
Otherwise it
will be invoked with some extra strings placed after the
first word; these are to be passed down as options to the
compadd builtin. They ensure that the state specified
by _arguments, in particular the descriptions of
options and arguments, is correctly passed to the completion
command. These additional arguments are taken from the array
parameter ’expl’; this will be set up
before executing the action and hence may be referred
to inside it, typically in an expansion of the form
’$expl[@]’ which preserves empty elements
of the array.
During the
performance of the action the array
’line’ will be set to the command name
and normal arguments from the command line, i.e. the words
from the command line excluding all options and their
arguments. Options are stored in the associative array
’opt_args’ with option names as keys and
their arguments as the values. For options that have more
than one argument these are given as one string, separated
by colons. All colons in the original arguments are preceded
with backslashes.
The parameter
’context’ is set when returning to the
calling function to perform an action of the form
’−>string’. It is set to
an array of elements corresponding to the elements of
$state. Each element is a suitable name for the
argument field of the context: either a string of the form
’option−opt−n’
for the n’th argument of the option
−opt, or a string of the form
’argument−n’ for the
n’th argument. For ’rest’
arguments, that is those in the list at the end not handled
by position, n is the string
’rest’. For example, when completing the
argument of the −o option, the name is
’option−o−1’, while for the
second normal (non−option−) argument it is
’argument−2’.
Furthermore,
during the evaluation of the action the context name
in the curcontext parameter is altered to append the
same string that is stored in the context
parameter.
It is possible
to specify multiple sets of options and arguments with the
sets separated by single hyphens. The specifications before
the first hyphen (if any) are shared by all the remaining
sets. The first word in every other set provides a name for
the set which may appear in exclusion lists in
specifications, either alone or before one of the possible
values described above. In the second case a
’−’ should appear between this name
and the remainder.
For
example:
_arguments \
−a \
− set1 \
−c \
− set2 \
−d \
’:arg:(x2 y2)’
This defines
two sets. When the command line contains the option
’−c’, the
’−d’ option and the argument will
not be considered possible completions. When it contains
’−d’ or an argument, the option
’−c’ will not be considered.
However, after ’−a’ both sets will
still be considered valid.
If the name
given for one of the mutually exclusive sets is of the form
’(name)’ then only one
value from each set will ever be completed; more formally,
all specifications are mutually exclusive to all other
specifications in the same set. This is useful for defining
multiple sets of options which are mutually exclusive and in
which the options are aliases for each other. For
example:
_arguments \
−a −b \
− ’(compress)’ \
{−c,−−compress}’[compress]’ \
− ’(uncompress)’ \
{−d,−−decompress}’[decompress]’
As the
completion code has to parse the command line separately for
each set this form of argument is slow and should only be
used when necessary. A useful alternative is often an option
specification with rest−arguments (as in
’−foo:*:...’); here the option
−foo swallows up all remaining arguments as
described by the optarg definitions.
The options
−S and −A are available to
simplify the specifications for commands with standard
option parsing. With −S, no option will be
completed after a ’−−’
appearing on its own on the line; this argument will
otherwise be ignored; hence in the line
foobar
−a −− −b
the
’−a’ is considered an option but
the ’−b’ is considered an argument,
while the ’−−’ is considered
to be neither.
With
−A, no options will be completed after the
first non−option argument on the line. The
−A must be followed by a pattern matching all
strings which are not to be taken as arguments. For example,
to make _arguments stop completing options after the
first normal argument, but ignoring all strings starting
with a hyphen even if they are not described by one of the
optspecs, the form is ’−A
"−*"’.
The option
’−O name’ specifies the name
of an array whose elements will be passed as arguments to
functions called to execute actions. For example,
this can be used to pass the same set of options for the
compadd builtin to all actions.
The option
’−M spec’ sets a match
specification to use to completion option names and values.
It must appear before the first argument specification. The
default is ’r:|[_−]=* r:|=*’: this
allows partial word completion after ’_’
and ’−’, for example
’−f−b’ can be completed to
’−foo−bar’.
The option
−C tells _arguments to modify the
curcontext parameter for an action of the form
’−>state’. This is the
standard parameter used to keep track of the current
context. Here it (and not the context array) should
be made local to the calling function to avoid passing back
the modified value and should be initialised to the current
value at the start of the function:
local
curcontext="$curcontext"
This is useful
where it is not possible for multiple states to be valid
together.
The option
’−−’ allows _arguments
to work out the names of long options that support the
’−−help’ option which is
standard in many GNU commands. The command word is called
with the argument ’−−help’
and the output examined for option names. Clearly, it can be
dangerous to pass this to commands which may not support
this option as the behaviour of the command is
unspecified.
In addition to
options, ’_arguments −−’ will
try to deduce the types of arguments available for options
when the form
’−−opt=val’ is
valid. It is also possible to provide hints by examining the
help text of the command and adding specifiers of the form
’pattern:message:action’;
note that normal _arguments specifiers are not used.
The pattern is matched against the help text for an
option, and if it matches the message and
action are used as for other argument specifiers. For
example:
_arguments
−− ’*\*:toggle:(yes no)’ \
’*=FILE*:file:_files’ \
’*=DIR*:directory:_files −/’ \
’*=PATH*:directory:_files −/’
Here,
’yes’ and ’no’ will be
completed as the argument of options whose description ends
in a star; file names will be completed for options that
contain the substring ’=FILE’ in the
description; and directories will be completed for options
whose description contains ’=DIR’ or
’=PATH’. The last three are in fact the
default and so need not be given explicitly, although it is
possible to override the use of these patterns. A typical
help text which uses this feature is:
−C,
−−directory=DIR change to directory DIR
so that the
above specifications will cause directories to be completed
after ’−−directory’, though
not after ’−C’.
Note also that
_arguments tries to find out automatically if the
argument for an option is optional. This can be specified
explicitly by doubling the colon before the
message.
If the
pattern ends in ’(−)’, this
will removed from the pattern and the action will be
used only directly after the ’=’, not in
the next word. This is the behaviour of a normal
specification defined with the form
’=−’.
The
’_arguments −−’ can be
followed by the option ’−i
patterns’ to give patterns for options which
are not to be completed. The patterns can be given as the
name of an array parameter or as a literal list in
parentheses. For example,
_arguments
−− −i \
"(−−(en|dis)able−FEATURE*)"
will cause
completion to ignore the options
’−−enable−FEATURE’ and
’−−disable−FEATURE’
(this example is useful with GNU configure).
The
’_arguments −−’ form can also
be followed by the option ’−s
pair’ to describe option aliases. Each
pair consists of a pattern and a replacement. For
example, some configure−scripts describe
options only as
’−−enable−foo’, but
also accept
’−−disable−foo’. To
allow completion of the second form:
_arguments
−− −s "(#−−enable−
−−disable−)"
Here is a more
general example of the use of _arguments:
_arguments
’−l+:left border:’ \
’−format:paper size:(letter A4)’ \
’*−copy:output file:_files::resolution:(300
600)’ \
’:postscript file:_files −g
\*.\(ps\|eps\)’ \
’*:page number:’
This describes
three options: ’−l’,
’−format’, and
’−copy’. The first takes one
argument described as ’left border’ for
which no completion will be offered because of the empty
action. Its argument may come directly after the
’−l’ or it may be given as the next
word on the line.
The
’−format’ option takes one argument
in the next word, described as ’paper
size’ for which only the strings
’letter’ and ’A4’ will
be completed.
The
’−copy’ option may appear more than
once on the command line and takes two arguments. The first
is mandatory and will be completed as a filename. The second
is optional (because of the second colon before the
description ’resolution’) and will be
completed from the strings ’300’ and
’600’.
The last two
descriptions say what should be completed as arguments. The
first describes the first argument as a ’postscript
file’ and makes files ending in
’ps’ or ’eps’ be
completed. The last description gives all other arguments
the description ’page numbers’ but does
not offer completions.
_cache_invalid cache_identifier
This function returns status
zero if the completions cache corresponding to the given
cache identifier needs rebuilding. It determines this by
looking up the cache−policy style for the
current context. This should provide a function name which
is run with the full path to the relevant cache file as the
only argument.
Example:
_example_caching_policy
() {
# rebuild if cache is more than a week old
oldp=( "$1"(Nmw+1) )
(( $#oldp ))
}
_call_function return
name [ args ... ]
If a function name
exists, it is called with the arguments args. The
return argument gives the name of a parameter in
which the return status from the function name; if
return is empty or a single hyphen it is ignored.
The return
value of _call_function itself is zero if the
function name exists and was called and
non−zero otherwise.
_call_program tag
string ...
This function provides a
mechanism for the user to override the use of an external
command. It looks up the command style with the
supplied tag. If the style is set, its value is used
as the command to execute. The strings from the call
to _call_program, or from the style if set, are
concatenated with spaces between them and the resulting
string is evaluated. The return value is the return value of
the command called.
_combination [
−s pattern ] tag style spec ...
field opts ...
This function is used to
complete combinations of values, for example pairs of
hostnames and usernames. The style argument gives the
style which defines the pairs; it is looked up in a context
with the tag specified.
The style name
consists of field names separated by hyphens, for example
’users−hosts−ports’. For each
field for a value is already known, a spec of the
form ’field=pattern’ is
given. For example, if the command line so far specifies a
user ’pws’, the argument
’users=pws’ should appear.
The next
argument with no equals sign is taken as the name of the
field for which completions should be generated (presumably
not one of the fields for which the value is
known).
The matches
generated will be taken from the value of the style. These
should contain the possible values for the combinations in
the appropriate order (users, hosts, ports in the example
above). The different fields the values for the different
fields are separated by colons. This can be altered with the
option −s to _combination which
specifies a pattern. Typically this is a character class, as
for example ’−s "[:@]"’
in the case of the users−hosts style. Each
’field=pattern’
specification restricts the completions which apply to
elements of the style with appropriately matching
fields.
If no style
with the given name is defined for the given tag, or if none
of the strings in style’s value match, but a function
name of the required field preceded by an underscore is
defined, that function will be called to generate the
matches. For example, if there is no
’users−hosts−ports’ or no
matching hostname when a host is required, the function
’_hosts’ will automatically be
called.
If the same
name is used for more than one field, in both the
’field=pattern’ and the
argument that gives the name of the field to be completed,
the number of the field (starting with one) may be given
after the fieldname, separated from it by a colon.
All arguments
after the required field name are passed to compadd
when generating matches from the style value, or to the
functions for the fields if they are called.
_describe [
−oO | −t tag ] descr
name1 [ name2 ] opts ...
−− ...
This function associates
completions with descriptions. Multiple groups separated by
−− can be supplied, potentially with
different completion options opts.
The
descr is taken as a string to display above the
matches if the format style for the
descriptions tag is set. This is followed by one or
two names of arrays followed by options to pass to
compadd. The first array contains the possible
completions with their descriptions in the form
’completion:description’.
If a second array is given, it should have the same number
of elements as the first; in this case the corresponding
elements are added as possible completions instead of the
completion strings from the first array. The
completion list will retain the descriptions from the first
array. Finally, a set of completion options can appear.
If the option
’−o’ appears before the first
argument, the matches added will be treated as names of
command options (N.B. not shell options), typically
following a ’−’,
’−−’ or
’+’ on the command line. In this case
_describe uses the prefix−hidden,
prefix−needed and verbose styles to find
out if the strings should be added as completions and if the
descriptions should be shown. Without the
’−o’ option, only the
verbose style is used to decide how descriptions are
shown. If ’−O’ is used instead of
’−O’, command options are completed
as above but _describe will not handle the
prefix−needed style.
With the
−t option a tag can be specified. The
default is ’values’ or, if the
−o option is given,
’options’.
If selected by
the list−grouped style, strings with the same
description will appear together in the list.
_describe
uses the _all_labels function to generate the
matches, so it does not need to appear inside a loop over
tag labels.
_description [
−x ] [ −12VJ ] tag name
descr [ spec ... ]
This function is not to be
confused with the previous one; it is used as a helper
function for creating options to compadd. It is
buried inside many of the higher level completion functions
and so often does not need to be called directly.
The styles
listed below are tested in the current context using the
given tag. The resulting options for compadd
are put into the array named name (this is
traditionally ’expl’, but this convention
is not enforced). The description for the corresponding set
of matches is passed to the function in descr.
The styles
tested are: format, hidden, matcher,
ignored−patterns and group−name.
The format style is first tested for the given
tag and then for the descriptions tag if no
value was found, while the remainder are only tested for the
tag given as the first argument. The function also calls
_setup which tests some more styles.
The string
returned by the format style (if any) will be
modified so that the sequence ’%d’ is
replaced by the descr given as the third argument
without any leading or trailing white space. If, after
removing the white space, the descr is the empty
string, the format style will not be used and the options
put into the name array will not contain an
explanation string to be displayed above the matches.
If
_description is called with more than three
arguments, the additional specs should be of the form
’char:str’. These supply
escape sequence replacements for the format style:
every appearance of ’%char’ will
be replaced by string.
If the
−x option is given, the description will be
passed to compadd using the −x option
instead of the default −X. This means that the
description will be displayed even if there are no
corresponding matches.
The options
placed in the array name take account of the
group−name style, so matches are placed in a
separate group where necessary. The group normally has its
elements sorted (by passing the option −J to
compadd), but if an option starting with
’−V’,
’−J’,
’−1’, or
’−2’ is passed to
_description, that option will be included in the
array. Hence it is possible for the completion group to be
unsorted by giving the option ’−V’,
’−1V’, or
’−2V’.
In most cases,
the function will be used like this:
local expl
_description files expl file
compadd "$expl[@]" −
"$files[@]"
Note the use of
the parameter expl, the hyphen, and the list of
matches. Almost all calls to compadd within the
completion system use a similar format; this ensures that
user−specified styles are correctly passed down to the
builtins which implement the internals of completion.
_dispatch context
string ...
This sets the current context
to context and looks for completion functions to
handle this context by hunting through the list of command
names or special contexts (as described above for
compdef) given as string .... The first
completion function to be defined for one of the contexts in
the list is used to generate matches. Typically, the last
string is −default− to cause the
function for default completion to be used as a
fallback.
The function
sets the parameter $service to the string
being tried, and sets the context/command field (the
fourth) of the $curcontext parameter to the
context given as the first argument.
|
_files |
|
The function _files calls _path_files with
all the arguments it was passed except for −g
and −/. The use of these two options depends on
the setting of the file−patterns style. |
This function
accepts the full set of options allowed by
_path_files, described below.
_gnu_generic
This function is a simple
wrapper around the _arguments function described
above. It can be used to determine automatically the long
options understood by commands that produce a list when
passed the option ’−−help’.
It is intended to be used as a top−level completion
function in its own right. For example, to enable option
completion for the commands foo and bar,
use
compdef
_gnu_generic foo bar
after the call
to compinit.
The completion
system as supplied is conservative in its use of this
function, since it is important to be sure the command
understands the option
’−’−help’.
_guard [ options
] pattern descr
This function is intended to be
used in the action for the specifications passed to
_arguments and similar functions. It returns
immediately with a non−zero return value if the string
to be completed does not match the pattern. If the
pattern matches, the descr is displayed; the function
then returns zero if the word to complete is not empty,
non−zero otherwise.
The
pattern may be preceded by any of the options
understood by compadd that are passed down from
_description, namely −M,
−J, −V, −1,
−2, −n, −F and
−X. All of these options will be ignored. This
fits in conveniently with the argument−passing
conventions of actions for _arguments.
As an example,
consider a command taking the options −n and
−none, where −n must be followed
by a numeric value in the same word. By using:
_arguments
’−n−: :_guard "[0−9]#"
"numeric value"’
’−none’
_arguments
can be made to both display the message ’numeric
value’ and complete options after
’−n<TAB>’. If the
’−n’ is already followed by one or
more digits (the pattern passed to _guard) only the
message will be displayed; if the
’−n’ is followed by another
character, only options are completed.
_message [
−r12 ] [ −VJ group ]
descr
_message −e [ tag ] descr
The descr is used in the
same way as the third argument to the _description
function, except that the resulting string will always be
shown whether or not matches were generated. This is useful
for displaying a help message in places where no completions
can be generated.
The
format style is examined with the messages tag
to find a message; the usual tag, descriptions, is
used only if the style is not set with the former.
If the
−r option is given, no style is used; the
descr is taken literally as the string to display.
This is most useful when the descr comes from a
pre−processed argument list which already contains an
expanded description.
The
−12VJ options and the group are passed
to compadd and hence determine the group the message
string is added to.
The second form
gives a description for completions with the tag tag
to be shown even if there are no matches for that tag. The
tag can be omitted and if so the tag is taken from the
parameter $curtag; this is maintained by the
completion system and so is usually correct.
_multi_parts sep
array
The argument sep is a
separator character. The array may be either the name
of an array parameter or a literal array in the form
’(foo bar)’, a parenthesised list of
words separated by whitespace. The possible completions are
the strings from the array. However, each chunk delimited by
sep will be completed separately. For example, the
_tar function uses ’_multi_parts /
patharray’ to complete partial file paths from
the given array of complete file paths.
The
−i option causes _multi_parts to insert
a unique match even if that requires multiple separators to
be inserted. This is not usually the expected behaviour with
filenames, but certain other types of completion, for
example those with a fixed set of possibilities, may be more
suited to this form.
Like other
utility functions, this function accepts the
’−V’,
’−J’,
’−1’,
’−2’,
’−n’,
’−f’,
’−X’,
’−M’,
’−P’,
’−S’,
’−r’,
’−R’, and
’−q’ options and passes them to the
compadd builtin.
_next_label [
−x ] [ −12VJ ] tag name
descr [ options ... ]
This function is used to
implement the loop over different tag labels for a
particular tag as described above for the
tag−order style. On each call it checks to see
if there are any more tag labels; if there is it returns
status zero, otherwise non−zero. As this function
requires a current tag to be set, it must always follow a
call to _tags or _requested.
The
−x12VJ options and the first three arguments
are passed to the _description function. Where
appropriate the tag will be replaced by a tag label
in this call. Any description given in the
tag−order style is preferred to the
descr passed to _next_label.
The
options given after the descr are set in the
parameter given by name, and hence are to be passed
to compadd or whatever function is called to add the
matches.
Here is a
typical use of this function for the tag foo. The
call to _requested determines if tag foo is
required at all; the loop over _next_label handles
any labels defined for the tag in the tag−order
style.
local expl
ret=1
...
if _requested foo; then
...
while _next_label foo expl ’...’; do
compadd "$expl[@]" ... && ret=0
done
...
fi
return ret
_normal
This is the standard function
called to handle completion outside any special
−context−. It is called both to complete
the command word and also the arguments for a command. In
the second case, _normal looks for a special
completion for that command, and if there is none it uses
the completion for the −default−
context.
A second use is
to reexamine the command line specified by the $words
array and the $CURRENT parameter after those have
been modified. For example, the function _precommand,
which completes after pre−command specifiers such as
nohup, removes the first word from the words
array, decrements the CURRENT parameter, then calls
_normal again. The effect is that ’nohup
cmd ...’ is treated in the same way as
’cmd ...’.
If the command
name matches one of the patterns given by one of the options
−p or −P to compdef, the
corresponding completion function is called and then the
parameter _compskip is checked. If it is set
completion is terminated at that point even if no matches
have been found. This is the same effect as in the
−first− context.
_options
This can be used to complete
the names of shell options. It provides a matcher
specification that ignores a leading
’no’, ignores underscores and allows
upper−case letters to match their lower−case
counterparts (for example, ’glob’,
’noglob’, ’NO_GLOB’
are all completed). Any arguments are propagated to the
compadd builtin.
_options_set and
_options_unset
These functions complete only
set or unset options, with the same matching specification
used in the _options function.
Note that you
need to uncomment a few lines in the _main_complete
function for these functions to work properly. The lines in
question are used to store the option settings in effect
before the completion widget locally sets the options it
needs. Hence these functions are not generally used by the
completion system.
_parameters
This is used to complete the
names of shell parameters.
The option
’−g pattern’ limits the
completion to parameters whose type matches the pattern. The
type of a parameter is that shown by ’print
${(t)param}’, hence judicious use
of ’*’ in pattern is probably
necessary.
All other
arguments are passed to the compadd builtin.
_path_files
This function is used
throughout the completion system to complete filenames. It
allows completion of partial paths. For example, the string
’/u/i/s/sig’ may be completed to
’/usr/include/sys/signal.h’.
The options
accepted by both _path_files and _files
are:
|
−f |
|
Complete all filenames. This is the default. |
|
−/ |
|
Specifies that only directories should be completed. |
−g
pattern
Specifies that only files
matching the pattern should be completed.
−W
paths
Specifies path prefixes that
are to be prepended to the string from the command line to
generate the filenames but that should not be inserted as
completions nor shown in completion listings. Here,
paths may be the name of an array parameter, a
literal list of paths enclosed in parentheses or an absolute
pathname.
−F
ignored−files
This behaves as for the
corresponding option to the compadd builtin. It gives
direct control over which filenames should be ignored. If
the option is not present, the ignored−patterns
style is used.
Both
_path_files and _files also accept the
following options which are passed to compadd:
’−J’,
’−V’,
’−1’,
’−2’,
’−n’,
’−X’,
’−M’,
’−P’,
’−S’,
’−q’,
’−r’, and
’−R’.
Finally, the
_path_files function uses the styles expand,
ambiguous, special−dirs,
list−suffixes and file−sort
described above.
_pick_variant [ −c
command ] [ −r name ]
label=pattern ... label
[ args
... ]
This function is used to
resolve situations where a single command name requires more
than one type of handling, either because it has more than
one variant or because there is a name clash between two
different commands.
The command to
run is taken from the first element of the array
words unless this is overridden by the option
−c. This command is run and its output is
compared with a series of patterns. Arguments to be passed
to the command can be specified at the end after all the
other arguments. The patterns to try in order are given by
the arguments label=pattern; if the
output of ’command args ...’
contains pattern, then label is selected as
the label for the command variant. If none of the patterns
match, the final command label is selected and status 1 is
returned.
If the
’−r name’ is given, the
label picked is stored in the parameter named
name.
The results are
also cached in the _cmd_variant associative array
indexed by the name of the command run.
_regex_arguments name
spec ...
This function generates a
completion function name which matches the
specifications spec ..., a set of regular
expressions as described below. After running
_regex_arguments, the function name should be
called at the appropriate point. The pattern to be matched
is given by the contents of the words array up to the
current cursor position joined together with null
characters; no quotation is applied.
The arguments
are grouped as sets of alternatives separated by
’|’, which are tried one after the other
until one matches. Each alternative consists of a one or
more specifications which are tried left to right, with each
pattern matched being stripped in turn from the command line
being tested, until all of the group succeeds or until one
fails; in the latter case, the next alternative is tried.
This structure can be repeated to arbitrary depth by using
parentheses; matching proceeds from inside to outside.
A special
procedure is applied if no test succeeds but the remaining
command line string contains no null character (implying the
remaining word is the one for which completions are to be
generated). The completion target is restricted to the
remaining word and any actions for the corresponding
patterns are executed. In this case, nothing is stripped
from the command line string. The order of evaluation of the
actions can be determined by the
tag−order style; the various formats supported
by _alternative can be used in action. The
descr is used for setting up the array parameter
expl.
Specification
arguments take one of following forms, in which
metacharacters such as ’(’,
’)’, ’#’ and
’|’ should be quoted.
/pattern/
[%lookahead%]
[−guard]
[:tag:descr:action]
This is a single primitive
component. The function tests whether the combined pattern
’(#b)((#B)pattern)lookahead*’
matches the command line string. If so,
’guard’ is evaluated and its return
status is examined to determine if the test has succeeded.
The pattern string ’[]’ is
guaranteed never to match. The lookahead is not
stripped from the command line before the next pattern is
examined.
/pattern/+
[%lookahead%]
[−guard]
[:tag:descr:action]
This is similar to
’/pattern/ ...’ but the
left part of the command line string (i.e. the part already
matched by previous patterns) is also considered part of the
completion target.
/pattern/−
[%lookahead%]
[−guard]
[:tag:descr:action]
This is similar to
’/pattern/ ...’ but the
actions of the current and previously matched
patterns are ignored even if the following
’pattern’ matches the empty string.
( spec
)
Parentheses may be used to
groups specs; note each parenthesis is a single
argument to _regex_arguments.
|
spec # |
|
This allows any number of repetitions of
spec. |
spec spec
The two specs are to be
matched one after the other as described above.
spec |
spec
Either of the two specs
can be matched.
_requested [
−x ] [ −12VJ ] tag [
name descr [ command args ... ] ]
This function is called to
decide whether a tag already registered by a call to
_tags (see below) has been requested by the user and
hence completion should be performed for it. It returns
status zero if the tag is requested and non−zero
otherwise. The function is typically used as part of a loop
over different tags as follows:
_tags foo
bar baz
while _tags; do
if _requested foo; then
... # perform completion for foo
fi
... # test the tags bar and baz in the same way
... # exit loop if matches were generated
done
Note that the
test for whether matches were generated is not performed
until the end of the _tags loop. This is so that the
user can set the tag−order style to specify a
set of tags to be completed at the same time.
If name
and descr are given, _requested calls the
_description function with these arguments together
with the options passed to _requested.
If
command is given, the _all_labels function
will be called immediately with the same arguments. In
simple cases this makes it possible to perform the test for
the tag and the matching in one go. For example:
local expl
ret=1
_tags foo bar baz
while _tags; do
_requested foo expl ’description’ \
compadd foobar foobaz && ret=0
...
(( ret )) || break
done
If the
command is not compadd, it must nevertheless
be prepared to handle the same options.
_retrieve_cache
cache_identifier
This function retrieves
completion information from the file given by
cache_identifier, stored in a directory specified by
the cache−path style which defaults to
~/.zsh/cache. The return value is zero if retrieval
was successful. It will only attempt retrieval if the
use−cache style is set, so you can call this
function without worrying about whether the user wanted to
use the caching layer.
See
_store_cache below for more details.
_sep_parts
This function is passed
alternating arrays and separators as arguments. The arrays
specify completions for parts of strings to be separated by
the separators. The arrays may be the names of array
parameters or a quoted list of words in parentheses. For
example, with the array ’hosts=(ftp
news)’ the call ’_sep_parts ’(foo
bar)’ @ hosts’ will complete the string
’f’ to ’foo’ and the
string ’b@n’ to
’bar@news’.
This function
accepts the compadd options
’−V’,
’−J’,
’−1’,
’−2’,
’−n’,
’−X’,
’−M’,
’−P’,
’−S’,
’−r’,
’−R’, and
’−q’ and passes them on to the
compadd builtin used to add the matches.
_setup tag [
group ]
This function sets up the
special parameters used by the completion system
appropriately for the tag given as the first
argument. It uses the styles list−colors,
list−packed,
list−rows−first,
last−prompt, accept−exact,
menu and force−list.
The optional
group supplies the name of the group in which the
matches will be placed. If it is not given, the tag
is used as the group name.
This function
is called automatically from _description and hence
is not normally called explicitly.
_store_cache
cache_identifier params ...
This function, together with
_retrieve_cache and _cache_invalid, implements
a caching layer which can be used in any completion
function. Data obtained by costly operations are stored in
parameters; this function then dumps the values of those
parameters to a file. The data can then be retrieved quickly
from that file via _retrieve_cache, even in different
instances of the shell.
The
cache_identifier specifies the file which the data
should be dumped to. The file is stored in a directory
specified by the cache−path style which
defaults to ~/.zsh/cache. The remaining params
arguments are the parameters to dump to the file.
The return
value is zero if storage was successful. The function will
only attempt storage if the use−cache style is
set, so you can call this function without worrying about
whether the user wanted to use the caching layer.
The completion
function may avoid calling _retrieve_cache when it
already has the completion data available as parameters.
However, in that case it should call _cache_invalid
to check whether the data in the parameters and in the cache
are still valid.
See the
_perl_modules completion function for a simple example of
the usage of the caching layer.
_tags [ [
−C name ] tags ... ]
If called with arguments, these
are taken to be the names of tags valid for completions in
the current context. These tags are stored internally and
sorted by using the tag−order style.
Next,
_tags is called repeatedly without arguments from the
same completion function. This successively selects the
first, second, etc. set of tags requested by the user. The
return value is zero if at least one of the tags is
requested and non−zero otherwise. To test if a
particular tag is to be tried, the _requested
function should be called (see above).
If
’−C name’ is given,
name is temporarily stored in the argument field (the
fifth) of the context in the curcontext parameter
during the call to _tags; the field is restored on
exit. This allows _tags to use a more specific
context without having to change and reset the
curcontext parameter (which has the same effect).
_values [
−O name ] [ −s sep ]
[ −S sep ] [ −wC ] desc
spec ...
This is used to complete
arbitrary keywords (values) and their arguments, or lists of
such combinations.
If the first
argument is the option ’−O
name’, it will be used in the same way as by
the _arguments function. In other words, the elements
of the name array will be passed to compadd
when executing an action.
If the first
argument (or the first argument after ’−O
name’) is ’−s’, the
next argument is used as the character that separates
multiple values. This character is automatically added after
each value in an auto−removable fashion (see below);
all values completed by ’_values
−s’ appear in the same word on the command
line, unlike completion using _arguments. If this
option is not present, only a single value will be completed
per word.
Normally,
_values will only use the current word to determine
which values are already present on the command line and
hence are not to be completed again. If the −w
option is given, other arguments are examined as well.
The first
non−option argument is used as a string to print as a
description before listing the values.
All other
arguments describe the possible values and their arguments
in the same format used for the description of options by
the _arguments function (see above). The only
differences are that no minus or plus sign is required at
the beginning, values can have only one argument, and the
forms of action beginning with an equal sign are not
supported.
The character
separating a value from its argument can be set using the
option −S (like −s, followed by
the character to use as the separator in the next argument).
By default the equals sign will be used as the separator
between values and arguments.
Example:
_values
−s , ’description’ \
’*foo[bar]’ \
’(two)*one[number]:first count:’ \
’two[another number]::second count:(1 2
3)’
This describes
three possible values: ’foo’,
’one’, and ’two’. The
first is described as ’bar’, takes no
argument and may appear more than once. The second is
described as ’number’, may appear more
than once, and takes one mandatory argument described as
’first count’; no action is specified, so
it will not be completed. The ’(two)’ at
the beginning says that if the value
’one’ is on the line, the value
’two’ will no longer be considered a
possible completion. Finally, the last value
(’two’) is described as ’another
number’ and takes an optional argument described
as ’second count’ for which the
completions (to appear after an ’=’) are
’1’, ’2’, and
’3’. The _values function will
complete lists of these values separated by commas.
Like
_arguments, this function temporarily adds another
context name component to the arguments element (the fifth)
of the current context while executing the action.
Here this name is just the name of the value for which the
argument is completed.
The style
verbose is used to decide if the descriptions for the
values (but not those for the arguments) should be
printed.
The associative
array val_args is used to report values and their
arguments; this works similarly to the opt_args
associative array used by _arguments. Hence the
function calling _values should declare the local
parameters state, line, context and
val_args:
local
context state line
typeset −A val_args
when using an
action of the form
’−>string’. With this
function the context parameter will be set to the
name of the value whose argument is to be completed.
Note also that
_values normally adds the character used as the
separator between values as an auto−removable suffix
(similar to a ’/’ after a directory).
However, this is not possible for a
’−>string’ action as the
matches for the argument are generated by the calling
function. To get the usual behaviour, the the calling
function can add the separator x as a suffix by
passing the options ’−qS x’
either directly or indirectly to compadd.
The option
−C is treated in the same way as it is by
_arguments. In that case the parameter
curcontext should be made local instead of
context (as described above).
_wanted [
−x ] [ −C name ] [
−12VJ ] tag name descr command args
...
In many contexts, completion
can only generate one particular set of matches, usually
corresponding to a single tag. However, it is still
necessary to decide whether the user requires matches of
this type. This function is useful in such a case.
The arguments
to _wanted are the same as those to
_requested, i.e. arguments to be passed to
_description. However, in this case the
command is not optional; all the processing of tags,
including the loop over both tags and tag labels and the
generation of matches, is carried out automatically by
_wanted.
Hence to offer
only one tag and immediately add the corresponding matches
with the given description:
_wanted tag
expl ’description’ \
compadd matches...
Note that, as
for _requested, the command must be able to
accept options to be passed down to compadd.
Like
_tags this function supports the −C
option to give a different name for the argument context
field. The −x option has the same meaning as
for _description.
COMPLETION DIRECTORIES
In the source
distribution, the files are contained in various
subdirectories of the Completion directory. They may
have been installed in the same structure, or into one
single function directory. The following is a description of
the files found in the original directory structure. If you
wish to alter an installed file, you will need to copy it to
some directory which appears earlier in your fpath
than the standard directory where it appears.
|
Base |
|
The core functions and special completion widgets
automatically bound to keys. You will certainly need most of
these, though will probably not need to alter them. Many of
these are documented above. |
|
Zsh |
|
Functions for completing arguments of shell builtin
commands and utility functions for this. Some of these are
also used by functions from the Unix directory. |
|
Unix |
|
Functions for completing arguments of external commands
and suites of commands. They may need modifying for your
system, although in many cases some attempt is made to
decide which version of a command is present. For example,
completion for the mount command tries to determine
the system it is running on, while completion for many other
utilities try to decide whether the GNU version of the
command is in use, and hence whether the
−−help option is supported. |
X, AIX,
BSD, ...
Completion and utility function
for commands available only on some systems. These are not
arranged hierarchically, so, for example, both the
Linux and Debian directories, as well as the
X directory, may be useful on your system.
NAME
zshcompctl − zsh
programmable completion
DESCRIPTION
This version of
zsh has two ways of performing completion of words on the
command line. New users of the shell may prefer to use the
newer and more powerful system based on shell functions;
this is described in zshcompsys(1), and the basic
shell mechanisms which support it are described in
zshcompwid(1). This manual entry describes the older
compctl command.
compctl [ −CDT ] options [
command ... ]
compctl [ −CDT ] options [
−x pattern options − ...
−− ] [ + options [
−x ... −− ] ... [+] ] [
command ... ]
compctl −M match−specs ...
compctl −L [ −CDTM ] [ command
... ]
compctl + command ...
Control the
editor’s completion behavior according to the supplied
set of options. Various editing commands, notably
expand−or−complete−word, usually
bound to tab, will attempt to complete a word typed by the
user, while others, notably
delete−char−or−list, usually bound
to ^D in EMACS editing mode, list the possibilities;
compctl controls what those possibilities are. They
may for example be filenames (the most common case, and
hence the default), shell variables, or words from a
user−specified list.
COMMAND FLAGS
Completion of
the arguments of a command may be different for each command
or may use the default. The behavior when completing the
command word itself may also be separately specified. These
correspond to the following flags and arguments, all of
which (except for −L) may be combined with any
combination of the options described subsequently in
the section ’Option Flags’:
command ...
controls completion for the
named commands, which must be listed last on the command
line. If completion is attempted for a command with a
pathname containing slashes and no completion definition is
found, the search is retried with the last pathname
component. If the command starts with a =, completion
is tried with the pathname of the command.
Any of the
command strings may be patterns of the form normally
used for filename generation. These should be be quoted to
protect them from immediate expansion; for example the
command string ’foo*’ arranges for
completion of the words of any command beginning with
foo. When completion is attempted, all pattern
completions are tried in the reverse order of their
definition until one matches. By default, completion then
proceeds as normal, i.e. the shell will try to generate more
matches for the specific command on the command line; this
can be overridden by including −tn in the flags
for the pattern completion.
Note that
aliases are expanded before the command name is determined
unless the COMPLETE_ALIASES option is set. Commands
may not be combined with the −C,
−D or −T flags.
|
−C |
|
controls completion when the command word itself is
being completed. If no compctl −C command has
been issued, the names of any executable command (whether in
the path or specific to the shell, such as aliases or
functions) are completed. |
|
−D |
|
controls default completion behavior for the arguments
of commands not assigned any special behavior. If no
compctl −D command has been issued, filenames
are completed. |
|
−T |
|
supplies completion flags to be used before any other
processing is done, even before processing for
compctls defined for specific commands. This is
especially useful when combined with extended completion
(the −x flag, see the section ’Extended
Completion’ below). Using this flag you can define
default behavior which will apply to all commands without
exception, or you can alter the standard behavior for all
commands. For example, if your access to the user database
is too slow and/or it contains too many users (so that
completion after ’~’ is too slow to be
usable), you can use |
compctl
−T −x ’s[~] C[0,[^/]#]’ −k
friends −S/ −tn
to complete the
strings in the array friends after a
’~’. The C[...] argument is
necessary so that this form of ~−completion is not
tried after the directory name is finished.
|
−L |
|
lists the existing completion
behavior in a manner suitable for putting into a
start−up script; the existing behavior is not changed.
Any combination of the above forms, or the −M
flag (which must follow the −L flag), may be
specified, otherwise all defined completions are listed. Any
other flags supplied are ignored. |
no argument
If no argument is given,
compctl lists all defined completions in an
abbreviated form; with a list of options, all
completions with those flags set (not counting extended
completion) are listed.
If the +
flag is alone and followed immediately by the command
list, the completion behavior for all the commands in the
list is reset to the default. In other words, completion
will subsequently use the options specified by the
−D flag.
The form with
−M as the first and only option defines global
matching specifications (see zshcompwid). The match
specifications given will be used for every completion
attempt (only when using compctl, not with the new
completion system) and are tried in the order in which they
are defined until one generates at least one match.
E.g.:
compctl
−M ’’
’m:{a−zA−Z}={A−Za−z}’
This will first
try completion without any global match specifications (the
empty string) and, if that generates no matches, will try
case insensitive completion.
OPTION FLAGS
[
−fcFBdeaRGovNAIOPZEnbjrzu/12 ]
[ −k array ] [ −g
globstring ] [ −s subststring ]
[ −K function ]
[ −Q ] [ −P prefix ] [
−S suffix ]
[ −W file−prefix ] [
−H num pattern ]
[ −q ] [ −X explanation ] [
−Y explanation ]
[ −y func−or−var ] [
−l cmd ] [ −h cmd ]
[ −U ]
[ −t continue ] [ −J
name ] [ −V name ]
[ −M match−spec ]
The remaining
options specify the type of command arguments to look
for during completion. Any combination of these flags may be
specified; the result is a sorted list of all the
possibilities. The options are as follows.
Simple
Flags
These produce completion lists made up by the shell
itself:
|
−f |
|
Filenames and filesystem paths. |
|
−/ |
|
Just filesystem paths. |
|
−c |
|
Command names, including aliases, shell functions,
builtins and reserved words. |
|
−F |
|
Function names. |
|
−B |
|
Names of builtin commands. |
|
−m |
|
Names of external commands. |
|
−w |
|
Reserved words. |
|
−a |
|
Alias names. |
|
−R |
|
Names of regular (non−global) aliases. |
|
−G |
|
Names of global aliases. |
|
−d |
|
This can be combined with −F,
−B, −w, −a,
−R and −G to get names of disabled
functions, builtins, reserved words or aliases. |
|
−e |
|
This option (to show enabled commands) is in effect by
default, but may be combined with −d;
−de in combination with −F,
−B, −w, −a,
−R and −G will complete names of
functions, builtins, reserved words or aliases whether or
not they are disabled. |
|
−o |
|
Names of shell options (see zshoptions(1)). |
|
−v |
|
Names of any variable defined in the shell. |
|
−N |
|
Names of scalar (non−array) parameters. |
|
−A |
|
Array names. |
|
−I |
|
Names of integer variables. |
|
−O |
|
Names of read−only variables. |
|
−p |
|
Names of parameters used by the shell (including special
parameters). |
|
−Z |
|
Names of shell special parameters. |
|
−E |
|
Names of environment variables. |
|
−n |
|
Named directories. |
|
−b |
|
Key binding names. |
|
−j |
|
Job names: the first word of the job leader’s
command line. This is useful with the kill
builtin. |
|
−r |
|
Names of running jobs. |
|
−z |
|
Names of suspended jobs. |
|
−u |
|
User names. |
Flags with
Arguments
These have user supplied arguments to determine how the list
of completions is to be made up:
−k array
Names taken from the elements
of $array (note that the
’$’ does not appear on the command line).
Alternatively, the argument array itself may be a set
of space− or comma−separated values in
parentheses, in which any delimiter may be escaped with a
backslash; in this case the argument should be quoted. For
example,
compctl
−k "(cputime filesize datasize stacksize
|
|
coredumpsize resident descriptors)"
limit |
−g
globstring
The globstring is
expanded using filename globbing; it should be quoted to
protect it from immediate expansion. The resulting filenames
are taken as the possible completions. Use
’*(/)’ instead of ’*/’
for directories. The fignore special parameter is not
applied to the resulting files. More than one pattern may be
given separated by blanks. (Note that brace expansion is
not part of globbing. Use the syntax
’(either|or)’ to match alternatives.)
−s
subststring
The subststring is split
into words and these words are than expanded using all shell
expansion mechanisms (see zshexpn(1)). The resulting
words are taken as possible completions. The fignore
special parameter is not applied to the resulting files.
Note that −g is faster for filenames.
−K
function
Call the given function to get
the completions. Unless the name starts with an underscore,
the function is passed two arguments: the prefix and the
suffix of the word on which completion is to be attempted,
in other words those characters before the cursor position,
and those from the cursor position onwards. The whole
command line can be accessed with the −c and
−l flags of the read builtin. The
function should set the variable reply to an array
containing the completions (one completion per element);
note that reply should not be made local to the
function. From such a function the command line can be
accessed with the −c and −l flags
to the read builtin. For example,
function
whoson { reply=(’users’); }
compctl −K whoson talk
completes only
logged−on users after ’talk’. Note
that ’whoson’ must return an array, so
’reply=’users’’ would be
incorrect.
−H num
pattern
The possible completions are
taken from the last num history lines. Only words
matching pattern are taken. If num is zero or
negative the whole history is searched and if pattern
is the empty string all words are taken (as with
’*’). A typical use is
compctl
−D −f + −H 0 ’’
which forces
completion to look back in the history list for a word if no
filename matches.
Control
Flags
These do not directly specify types of name to be completed,
but manipulate the options that do:
|
−Q |
|
This instructs the shell not to quote any metacharacters
in the possible completions. Normally the results of a
completion are inserted into the command line with any
metacharacters quoted so that they are interpreted as normal
characters. This is appropriate for filenames and ordinary
strings. However, for special effects, such as inserting a
backquoted expression from a completion array
(−k) so that the expression will not be
evaluated until the complete line is executed, this option
must be used. |
−P
prefix
The prefix is inserted
just before the completed string; any initial part already
typed will be completed and the whole prefix ignored
for completion purposes. For example,
compctl
−j −P "%" kill
inserts a
’%’ after the kill command and then completes
job names.
−S
suffix
When a completion is found the
suffix is inserted after the completed string. In the
case of menu completion the suffix is inserted immediately,
but it is still possible to cycle through the list of
completions by repeatedly hitting the same key.
−W
file−prefix
With directory
file−prefix: for command, file, directory and
globbing completion (options −c,
−f, −/, −g), the file
prefix is implicitly added in front of the completion. For
example,
compctl
−/ −W ~/Mail maildirs
completes any
subdirectories to any depth beneath the directory
~/Mail, although that prefix does not appear on the
command line. The file−prefix may also be of
the form accepted by the −k flag, i.e. the name
of an array or a literal list in parenthesis. In this case
all the directories in the list will be searched for
possible completions.
|
−q |
|
If used with a suffix as specified by the
−S option, this causes the suffix to be removed
if the next character typed is a blank or does not insert
anything or if the suffix consists of only one character and
the next character typed is the same character; this the
same rule used for the AUTO_REMOVE_SLASH option. The
option is most useful for list separators (comma, colon,
etc.). |
|
−l cmd |
|
This option restricts the range of command line words
that are considered to be arguments. If combined with one of
the extended completion patterns
’p[...]’,
’r[...]’, or
’R[...]’ (see the section
’Extended Completion’ below) the range is
restricted to the range of arguments specified in the
brackets. Completion is then performed as if these had been
given as arguments to the cmd supplied with the
option. If the cmd string is empty the first word in
the range is instead taken as the command name, and command
name completion performed on the first word in the range.
For example, |
compctl
−x ’r[−exec,;]’ −l
’’ −− find
completes
arguments between ’−exec’ and the
following ’;’ (or the end of the command
line if there is no such string) as if they were a separate
command line.
|
−h cmd |
|
Normally zsh completes quoted
strings as a whole. With this option, completion can be done
separately on different parts of such strings. It works like
the −l option but makes the completion code
work on the parts of the current word that are separated by
spaces. These parts are completed as if they were arguments
to the given cmd. If cmd is the empty string,
the first part is completed as a command name, as with
−l. |
|
−U |
|
Use the whole list of possible completions, whether or
not they actually match the word on the command line. The
word typed so far will be deleted. This is most useful with
a function (given by the −K option) which can
examine the word components passed to it (or via the
read builtin’s −c and
−l flags) and use its own criteria to decide
what matches. If there is no completion, the original word
is retained. Since the produced possible completions seldom
have interesting common prefixes and suffixes, menu
completion is started immediately if AUTO_MENU is set
and this flag is used. |
−y
func−or−var
The list provided by
func−or−var is displayed instead of the
list of completions whenever a listing is required; the
actual completions to be inserted are not affected. It can
be provided in two ways. Firstly, if
func−or−var begins with a $ it
defines a variable, or if it begins with a left parenthesis
a literal array, which contains the list. A variable may
have been set by a call to a function using the
−K option. Otherwise it contains the name of a
function which will be executed to create the list. The
function will be passed as an argument list all matching
completions, including prefixes and suffixes expanded in
full, and should set the array reply to the result.
In both cases, the display list will only be retrieved after
a complete list of matches has been created.
Note that the
returned list does not have to correspond, even in length,
to the original set of matches, and may be passed as a
scalar instead of an array. No special formatting of
characters is performed on the output in this case; in
particular, newlines are printed literally and if they
appear output in columns is suppressed.
−X
explanation
Print explanation when
trying completion on the current set of options. A
’%n’ in this string is replaced by the
number of matches that were added for this explanation
string. The explanation only appears if completion was tried
and there was no unique match, or when listing completions.
Explanation strings will be listed together with the matches
of the group specified together with the −X
option (using the −J or −V
option). If the same explanation string is given to multiple
−X options, the string appears only once (for
each group) and the number of matches shown for the
’%n’ is the total number of all matches
for each of these uses. In any case, the explanation string
will only be shown if there was at least one match added for
the explanation string.
The sequences
%B, %b, %S, %s, %U, and
%u specify output attributes (bold, standout, and
underline) and %{...%} can be used to include literal
escape sequences as in prompts.
−Y
explanation
Identical to −X,
except that the explanation first undergoes expansion
following the usual rules for strings in double quotes. The
expansion will be carried out after any functions are called
for the −K or −y options, allowing
them to set variables.
−t
continue
The
continue−string contains a character that
specifies which set of completion flags should be used next.
It is useful:
(i) With
−T, or when trying a list of pattern
completions, when compctl would usually continue with
ordinary processing after finding matches; this can be
suppressed with ’−tn’.
(ii) With a
list of alternatives separated by +, when
compctl would normally stop when one of the
alternatives generates matches. It can be forced to consider
the next set of completions by adding
’−t+’ to the flags of the
alternative before the ’+’.
(iii) In an
extended completion list (see below), when compctl
would normally continue until a set of conditions succeeded,
then use only the immediately following flags. With
’−t−’, compctl will
continue trying extended completions after the next
’−’; with
’−tx’ it will attempt completion
with the default flags, in other words those before the
’−x’.
−J name
This gives the name of the
group the matches should be placed in. Groups are listed and
sorted separately; likewise, menu completion will offer the
matches in the groups in the order in which the groups were
defined. If no group name is explicitly given, the matches
are stored in a group named default. The first time a
group name is encountered, a group with that name is
created. After that all matches with the same group name are
stored in that group.
This can be
useful with non−exclusive alternative completions. For
example, in
compctl
−f −J files −t+ + −v −J
variables foo
both files and
variables are possible completions, as the −t+
forces both sets of alternatives before and after the
+ to be considered at once. Because of the
−J options, however, all files are listed
before all variables.
−V name
Like −J, but
matches within the group will not be sorted in listings nor
in menu completion. These unsorted groups are in a different
name space from the sorted ones, so groups defined as
−J files and −V files are
distinct.
|
−1 |
|
If given together with the −V option, makes
only consecutive duplicates in the group be removed. Note
that groups with and without this flag are in different name
spaces. |
|
−2 |
|
If given together with the −J or
−V option, makes all duplicates be kept. Again,
groups with and without this flag are in different name
spaces. |
−M
match−spec
This defines additional
matching control specifications that should be used only
when testing words for the list of flags this flag appears
in. The format of the match−spec string is
described in zshcompwid.
ALTERNATIVE COMPLETION
compctl
[ −CDT ] options + options
[ + ... ] [ + ] command ...
The form with
’+’ specifies alternative options.
Completion is tried with the options before the first
’+’. If this produces no matches
completion is tried with the flags after the
’+’ and so on. If there are no flags
after the last ’+’ and a match has not
been found up to that point, default completion is tried. If
the list of flags contains a −t with a +
character, the next list of flags is used even if the
current list produced matches.
EXTENDED COMPLETION
compctl
[ −CDT ] options −x
pattern options − ...
−−
[ command ... ]
compctl [
−CDT ] options [ −x
pattern options − ...
−− ]
[ + options [
−x ... −− ] ... [+] ]
[ command ... ]
The form with
’−x’ specifies extended completion
for the commands given; as shown, it may be combined with
alternative completion using ’+’. Each
pattern is examined in turn; when a match is found,
the corresponding options, as described in the
section ’Option Flags’ above, are used to
generate possible completions. If no pattern matches,
the options given before the −x are
used.
Note that each
pattern should be supplied as a single argument and should
be quoted to prevent expansion of metacharacters by the
shell.
A
pattern is built of sub−patterns separated by
commas; it matches if at least one of these
sub−patterns matches (they are ’or’ed).
These sub−patterns are in turn composed of other
sub−patterns separated by white spaces which match if
all of the sub−patterns match (they are
’and’ed). An element of the sub−patterns
is of the form
’c[...][...]’, where
the pairs of brackets may be repeated as often as necessary,
and matches if any of the sets of brackets match (an
’or’). The example below makes this clearer.
The elements
may be any of the following:
s[string]...
Matches if the current word on
the command line starts with one of the strings given in
brackets. The string is not removed and is not part
of the completion.
S[string]...
Like
s[string] except that the string
is part of the completion.
p[from,to]...
Matches if the number of the
current word is between one of the from and to
pairs inclusive. The comma and to are optional;
to defaults to the same value as from. The
numbers may be negative: −n refers to
the n’th last word on the line.
c[offset,string]...
Matches if the string
matches the word offset by offset from the current
word position. Usually offset will be negative.
C[offset,pattern]...
Like c but using pattern
matching instead.
w[index,string]...
Matches if the word in position
index is equal to the corresponding string.
Note that the word count is made after any alias
expansion.
W[index,pattern]...
Like w but using pattern
matching instead.
n[index,string]...
Matches if the current word
contains string. Anything up to and including the
indexth occurrence of this string will not be
considered part of the completion, but the rest will.
index may be negative to count from the end: in most
cases, index will be 1 or −1. For example,
compctl
−s ’’users’’ −x
’n[1,@]’ −k hosts −−
talk
will usually
complete usernames, but if you insert an @ after the
name, names from the array hosts (assumed to contain
hostnames, though you must make the array yourself) will be
completed. Other commands such as rcp can be handled
similarly.
N[index,string]...
Like n except that the
string will be taken as a character class. Anything up to
and including the indexth occurrence of any of the
characters in string will not be considered part of
the completion.
m[min,max]...
Matches if the total number of
words lies between min and max inclusive.
r[str1,str2]...
Matches if the cursor is after
a word with prefix str1. If there is also a word with
prefix str2 on the command line after the one matched
by str1 it matches only if the cursor is before this
word. If the comma and str2 are omitted, it matches
if the cursor is after a word with prefix str1.
R[str1,str2]...
Like r but using pattern
matching instead.
q[str]...
Matches the word currently
being completed is in single quotes and the str
begins with the letter ’s’, or if completion is
done in double quotes and str starts with the letter
’d’, or if completion is done in backticks and
str starts with a ’b’.
EXAMPLE
compctl
−u −x ’s[+]
c[−1,−f],s[−f+]’ \
−g ’~/Mail/*(:t)’ −
’s[−f],c[−1,−f]’ −f
−− mail
This is to be
interpreted as follows:
If the current
command is mail, then
if ((the
current word begins with + and the previous word is
−f)
or (the current word begins with −f+)), then
complete the
non−directory part (the ’:t’ glob
modifier) of files in the directory
~/Mail; else
if the current
word begins with −f or the previous word was
−f, then
complete any file; else
complete user
names.
NAME
zshmodules
− zsh loadable modules
DESCRIPTION
Some optional
parts of zsh are in modules, separate from the core of the
shell. Each of these modules may be linked in to the shell
at build time, or can be dynamically linked while the shell
is running if the installation supports this feature. The
modules that are bundled with the zsh distribution are:
zsh/cap
Builtins for manipulating
POSIX.1e (POSIX.6) capability (privilege) sets.
zsh/clone
A builtin that can clone a
running shell onto another terminal.
zsh/compctl
The compctl builtin for
controlling completion.
zsh/complete
The basic completion code.
zsh/complist
Completion listing
extensions.
zsh/computil
A module with utility builtins
needed for the shell function based completion system.
zsh/datetime
Some date/time commands and
parameters.
zsh/deltochar
A ZLE function duplicating
EMACS’ zap−to−char.
zsh/example
An example of how to write a
module.
zsh/files
Some basic file manipulation
commands as builtins.
zsh/mapfile
Access to external files via a
special associative array.
zsh/mathfunc
Standard scientific functions
for use in mathematical evaluations.
zsh/parameter
Access to internal hash tables
via special associative arrays.
zsh/pcre
Interface to the PCRE
library.
zsh/sched
A builtin that provides a timed
execution facility within the shell.
zsh/net/socket
Manipulation of Unix domain
sockets
zsh/stat
A builtin command interface to
the stat system call.
zsh/system
A builtin interface to various
low−level system features.
zsh/net/tcp
Manipulation of TCP sockets
zsh/termcap
Interface to the termcap
database.
zsh/terminfo
Interface to the terminfo
database.
zsh/zftp
A builtin FTP client.
zsh/zle
The Zsh Line Editor, including
the bindkey and vared builtins.
zsh/zleparameter
Access to internals of the Zsh
Line Editor via parameters.
zsh/zprof
A module allowing profiling for
shell functions.
zsh/zpty
A builtin for starting a
command in a pseudo−terminal.
zsh/zselect
Block and return when file
descriptors are ready.
zsh/zutil
Some utility builtins, e.g. the
one for supporting configuration via styles.
THE ZSH/CAP MODULE
The
zsh/cap module is used for manipulating POSIX.1e
(POSIX.6) capability sets. If the operating system does not
support this interface, the builtins defined by this module
will do nothing. The builtins in this module are:
cap [ capabilities ]
Change the shell’s
process capability sets to the specified
capabilities, otherwise display the shell’s
current capabilities.
getcap filename
...
This is a built−in
implementation of the POSIX standard utility. It displays
the capability sets on each specified filename.
setcap capabilities
filename ...
This is a built−in
implementation of the POSIX standard utility. It sets the
capability sets on each specified filename to the
specified capabilities.
THE ZSH/CLONE MODULE
The
zsh/clone module makes available one builtin command:
clone tty
Creates a forked instance of
the current shell, attached to the specified tty. In
the new shell, the PID, PPID and TTY
special parameters are changed appropriately. $! is
set to zero in the new shell, and to the new shell’s
PID in the original shell.
The return
value of the builtin is zero in both shells if successful,
and non−zero on error.
THE ZSH/COMPCTL MODULE
The
zsh/compctl module makes available two builtin
commands. compctl, is the old, deprecated way to
control completions for ZLE. See zshcompctl(1). The
other builtin command, compcall can be used in
user−defined completion widgets, see
zshcompwid(1).
THE ZSH/COMPLETE MODULE
The
zsh/complete module makes available several builtin
commands which can be used in user−defined completion
widgets, see zshcompwid(1).
THE ZSH/COMPLIST MODULE
The
zsh/complist module offers three extensions to
completion listings: the ability to highlight matches in
such a list, the ability to scroll through long lists and a
different style of menu completion.
Colored
completion listings
Whenever one of the parameters ZLS_COLORS or
ZLS_COLOURS is set and the zsh/complist module
is loaded or linked into the shell, completion lists will be
colored. Note, however, that complist will not
automatically be loaded if it is not linked in: on systems
with dynamic loading, ’zmodload
zsh/complist’ is required.
The parameters
ZLS_COLORS and ZLS_COLOURS describe how
matches are highlighted. To turn on highlighting an empty
value suffices, in which case all the default values given
below will be used. The format of the value of these
parameters is the same as used by the GNU version of the
ls command: a colon−separated list of
specifications of the form
’name=value’. The name may
be one of the following strings, most of which specify file
types for which the value will be used. The strings
and their default values are:
|
no 0 |
|
for normal text (i.e. when displaying something other
than a matched file) |
|
fi 0 |
|
for regular files |
|
di 32 |
|
for directories |
|
ln 36 |
|
for symbolic links |
|
pi 31 |
|
for named pipes (FIFOs) |
|
so 33 |
|
for sockets |
bd 44;37
for block devices
cd 44;37
for character devices
|
ex 35 |
|
for executable files |
|
mi none
for a non−existent file
(default is the value defined for fi)
|
lc \e[ |
|
for the left code (see below) |
|
rc m |
|
for the right code |
|
tc 0 |
|
for the character indicating the file type printed after
filenames if the LIST_TYPES option is set |
|
sp 0 |
|
for the spaces printed after matches to align the next
column |
ec none
for the end code
Apart from
these strings, the name may also be an asterisk
(’*’) followed by any string. The
value given for such a string will be used for all
files whose name ends with the string. The name may
also be an equals sign (’=’) followed by
a pattern. The value given for this pattern will be
used for all matches (not just filenames) whose display
string are matched by the pattern. Definitions for both of
these take precedence over the values defined for file types
and the form with the leading asterisk takes precedence over
the form with the leading equal sign.
The last form
also allows different parts of the displayed strings to be
colored differently. For this, the pattern has to use the
’(#b)’ globbing flag and pairs of
parentheses surrounding the parts of the strings that are to
be colored differently. In this case the value may
consist of more than one color code separated by equal
signs. The first code will be used for all parts for which
no explicit code is specified and the following codes will
be used for the parts matched by the sub−patterns in
parentheses. For example, the specification
’=(#b)(?)*(?)=0=3=7’ will be used for all
matches which are at least two characters long and will use
the code ’3’ for the first character,
’7’ for the last character and
’0’ for the rest.
All three forms
of name may be preceded by a pattern in parentheses.
If this is given, the value will be used only for
matches in groups whose names are matched by the pattern
given in the parentheses. For example,
’(g*)m*=43’ highlights all matches
beginning with ’m’ in groups whose names
begin with ’g’ using the color code
’43’. In case of the
’lc’, ’rc’, and
’ec’ codes, the group pattern is
ignored.
Note also that
all patterns are tried in the order in which they appear in
the parameter value until the first one matches which is
then used.
When printing a
match, the code prints the value of lc, the value for
the file−type or the last matching specification with
a ’*’, the value of rc, the string
to display for the match itself, and then the value of
ec if that is defined or the values of lc,
no, and rc if ec is not defined.
The default
values are ISO 6429 (ANSI) compliant and can be used on
vt100 compatible terminals such as xterms. On
monochrome terminals the default values will have no visible
effect. The colors function from the contribution can
be used to get associative arrays containing the codes for
ANSI terminals (see the section ’Other
Functions’ in zshcontrib(1)). For example,
after loading colors, one could use
’$colors[red]’ to get the code for
foreground color red and
’$colors[bg−green]’ for the code
for background color green.
If the
completion system invoked by compinit is used, these
parameters should not be set directly because the system
controls them itself. Instead, the list−colors
style should be used (see the section ’Completion
System Configuration’ in zshcompsys(1)).
Scrolling in
completion listings
To enable scrolling through a completion list, the
LISTPROMPT parameter must be set. Its value will be
used as the prompt; if it is the empty string, a default
prompt will be used. The value may contain escapes of the
form ’%x’. It supports the escapes
’%B’, ’%b’,
’%S’, ’%s’,
’%U’, ’%u’ and
’%{...%}’ used also in shell prompts as
well as three pairs of additional sequences: a
’%l’ or ’%L’ is
replaced by the number of the last line shown and the total
number of lines in the form
’number/total’; a
’%m’ or ’%M’ is
replaced with the number of the last match shown and the
total number of matches; and ’%p’ or
’%P’ is replaced with
’Top’, ’Bottom’ or the
position of the first line shown in percent of the total
number of lines, respectively. In each of these cases the
form with the uppercase letter will be replaced with a
string of fixed width, padded to the right with spaces,
while the lowercase form will not be padded.
If the
parameter LISTPROMPT is set, the completion code will
not ask if the list should be shown. Instead it immediately
starts displaying the list, stopping after the first
screenful, showing the prompt at the bottom, waiting for a
keypress after temporarily switching to the
listscroll keymap. Some of the zle functions have a
special meaning while scrolling lists:
send−break
stops listing discarding the
key pressed
accept−line,
down−history,
down−line−or−history
down−line−or−search,
vi−down−line−or−history
scrolls forward one line
complete−word,
menu−complete,
expand−or−complete
expand−or−complete−prefix,
menu−complete−or−expand
scrolls forward one
screenful
Every other
character stops listing and immediately processes the key as
usual. Any key that is not bound in the listscroll
keymap or that is bound to undefined−key is
looked up in the keymap currently selected.
As for the
ZLS_COLORS and ZLS_COLOURS parameters,
LISTPROMPT should not be set directly when using the
shell function based completion system. Instead, the
list−prompt style should be used.
Menu
selection
The zsh/complist module also offers an alternative
style of selecting matches from a list, called menu
selection, which can be used if the shell is set up to
return to the last prompt after showing a completion list
(see the ALWAYS_LAST_PROMPT option in
zshoptions(1)). It can be invoked directly by the
widget menu−select defined by the module.
Alternatively, the parameter MENUSELECT can be set to
an integer, which gives the minimum number of matches that
must be present before menu selection is automatically
turned on. This second method requires that menu completion
be started, either directly from a widget such as
menu−complete, or due to one of the options
MENU_COMPLETE or AUTO_MENU being set. If
MENUSELECT is set, but is 0, 1 or empty, menu
selection will always be started during an ambiguous menu
completion.
When using the
completion system based on shell functions, the
MENUSELECT parameter should not be used (like the
ZLS_COLORS and ZLS_COLOURS parameters
described above). Instead, the menu style should be
used with the select=... keyword.
After menu
selection is started, the matches will be listed. If there
are more matches than fit on the screen, only the first
screenful is shown. The matches to insert into the command
line can be selected from this list. In the list one match
is highlighted using the value for ma from the
ZLS_COLORS or ZLS_COLOURS parameter. The
default value for this is ’7’ which
forces the selected match to be highlighted using standout
mode on a vt100−compatible terminal. If neither
ZLS_COLORS nor ZLS_COLOURS is set, the same
terminal control sequence as for the ’%S’
escape in prompts is used.
If there are
more matches than fit on the screen and the parameter
MENUPROMPT is set, its value will be shown below the
matches. It supports the same escape sequences as
LISTPROMPT, but the number of the match or line shown
will be that of the one where the mark is placed. If its
value is the empty string, a default prompt will be
used.
The
MENUSCROLL parameter can be used to specify how the
list is scrolled. If the parameter is unset, this is done
line by line, if it is set to ’0’ (zero),
the list will scroll half the number of lines of the screen.
If the value is positive, it gives the number of lines to
scroll and if it is negative, the list will be scrolled the
number of lines of the screen minus the (absolute)
value.
As for the
ZLS_COLORS, ZLS_COLOURS and LISTPROMPT
parameters, neither MENUPROMPT nor MENUSCROLL
should be set directly when using the shell function based
completion system. Instead, the select−prompt
and select−scroll styles should be used.
The completion
code sometimes decides not to show all of the matches in the
list. These hidden matches are either matches for which the
completion function which added them explicitly requested
that they not appear in the list (using the −n
option of the compadd builtin command) or they are
matches which duplicate a string already in the list
(because they differ only in things like prefixes or
suffixes that are not displayed). In the list used for menu
selection, however, even these matches are shown so that it
is possible to select them. To highlight such matches the
hi and du capabilities in the
ZLS_COLORS and ZLS_COLOURS parameters are
supported for hidden matches of the first and second kind,
respectively.
Selecting
matches is done by moving the mark around using the zle
movement functions. When not all matches can be shown on the
screen at the same time, the list will scroll up and down
when crossing the top or bottom line. The following zle
functions have special meaning during menu selection:
accept−line
accepts the current match and
leaves menu selection
send−break
leaves menu selection and
restores the previous contents of the command line
redisplay,
clear−screen
execute their normal function
without leaving menu selection
accept−and−hold,
accept−and−menu−complete
accept the currently inserted
match and continue selection allowing to select the next
match to insert into the line
accept−and−infer−next−history
accepts the current match and
then tries completion with menu selection again; in the case
of files this allows one to select a directory and
immediately attempt to complete files in it; if there are no
matches, a message is shown and one can use undo to
go back to completion on the previous level, every other key
leaves menu selection (including the other zle functions
which are otherwise special during menu selection)
|
undo |
|
removes matches inserted during the menu selection by
one of the three functions before |
down−history,
down−line−or−history
vi−down−line−or−history,
down−line−or−search
moves the mark one line
down
up−history,
up−line−or−history
vi−up−line−or−history,
up−line−or−search
moves the mark one line up
forward−char,
vi−forward−char
moves the mark one column
right
backward−char,
vi−backward−char
moves the mark one column
left
forward−word,
vi−forward−word
vi−forward−word−end,
emacs−forward−word
moves the mark one screenful
down
backward−word,
vi−backward−word,
emacs−backward−word
moves the mark one screenful
up
vi−forward−blank−word,
vi−forward−blank−word−end
moves the mark to the first
line of the next group of matches
vi−backward−blank−word
moves the mark to the last line
of the previous group of matches
beginning−of−history
moves the mark to the first
line
end−of−history
moves the mark to the last
line
beginning−of−buffer−or−history,
beginning−of−line
beginning−of−line−hist,
vi−beginning−of−line
moves the mark to the leftmost
column
end−of−buffer−or−history,
end−of−line
end−of−line−hist,
vi−end−of−line
moves the mark to the rightmost
column
complete−word,
menu−complete,
expand−or−complete
expand−or−complete−prefix,
menu−expand−or−complete
moves the mark to the next
match
reverse−menu−complete
moves the mark to the previous
match
vi−insert
this toggles between normal and
interactive mode; in interactive mode the keys bound to
self−insert and
self−insert−unmeta insert into the
command line as in normal editing mode but without leaving
menu selection; after each character completion is tried
again and the list changes to contain only the new matches;
the completion widgets make the longest unambiguous string
be inserted in the command line and undo and
backward−delete−char go back to the
previous set of matches
history−incremental−search−forward,
history−incremental−search−backward
this starts incremental searches in the list of completions
displayed; in this mode, accept−line only
leaves incremental search, going back to the normal menu
selection mode
All movement
functions wrap around at the edges; any other zle function
not listed leaves menu selection and executes that function.
It is possible to make widgets in the above list do the same
by using the form of the widget with a
’.’ in front. For example, the widget
’.accept−line’ has the effect of
leaving menu selection and accepting the entire command
line.
During this
selection the widget uses the keymap menuselect. Any
key that is not defined in this keymap or that is bound to
undefined−key is looked up in the keymap
currently selected. This is used to ensure that the most
important keys used during selection (namely the cursor
keys, return, and TAB) have sensible defaults. However, keys
in the menuselect keymap can be modified directly
using the bindkey builtin command (see
zshmodules(1)). For example, to make the return key
leave menu selection without accepting the match currently
selected one could call
bindkey
−M menuselect ’^M’
send−break
after loading
the zsh/complist module.
THE ZSH/COMPUTIL MODULE
The
zsh/computil module adds several builtin commands
that are used by some of the completion functions in the
completion system based on shell functions (see
zshcompsys(1) ). Except for compquote these
builtin commands are very specialised and thus not very
interesting when writing your own completion functions. In
summary, these builtin commands are:
comparguments
This is used by the
_arguments function to do the argument and command
line parsing. Like compdescribe it has an option
−i to do the parsing and initialize some
internal state and various options to access the state
information to decide what should be completed.
compdescribe
This is used by the
_describe function to build the displays for the
matches and to get the strings to add as matches with their
options. On the first call one of the options
−i or −I should be supplied as the
first argument. In the first case, display strings without
the descriptions will be generated, in the second case, the
string used to separate the matches from their descriptions
must be given as the second argument and the descriptions
(if any) will be shown. All other arguments are like the
definition arguments to _describe itself.
Once
compdescribe has been called with either the
−i or the −I option, it can be
repeatedly called with the −g option and the
names of five arrays as its arguments. This will step
through the different sets of matches and store the options
in the first array, the strings with descriptions in the
second, the matches for these in the third, the strings
without descriptions in the fourth, and the matches for them
in the fifth array. These are then directly given to
compadd to register the matches with the completion
code.
compfiles
Used by the _path_files
function to optimize complex recursive filename generation
(globbing). It does three things. With the −p
and −P options it builds the glob patterns to
use, including the paths already handled and trying to
optimize the patterns with respect to the prefix and suffix
from the line and the match specification currently used.
The −i option does the directory tests for the
ignore−parents style and the −r
option tests if a component for some of the matches are
equal to the string on the line and removes all other
matches if that is true.
compgroups
Used by the _tags
function to implement the internals of the
group−order style. This only takes its
arguments as names of completion groups and creates the
groups for it (all six types: sorted and unsorted, both
without removing duplicates, with removing all duplicates
and with removing consecutive duplicates).
compquote [
−p ] names ...
There may be reasons to write
completion functions that have to add the matches using the
−Q option to compadd and perform quoting
themselves. Instead of interpreting the first character of
the all_quotes key of the compstate special
association and using the q flag for parameter
expansions, one can use this builtin command. The arguments
are the names of scalar or array parameters and the values
of these parameters are quoted as needed for the innermost
quoting level. If the −p option is given,
quoting is done as if there is some prefix before the values
of the parameters, so that a leading equal sign will not be
quoted.
The return
value is non−zero in case of an error and zero
otherwise.
comptags
comptry
These implement the internals
of the tags mechanism.
compvalues
Like comparguments, but
for the _values function.
THE ZSH/DATETIME MODULE
The
zsh/datetime module makes available one builtin
command:
strftime [ −s scalar ] format
epochtime
Output the date denoted by
epochtime in the format specified.
If
−s scalar is given, assign the date to
scalar instead of printing it.
The
zsh/datetime module makes available one parameter:
EPOCHSECONDS
An integer value representing
the number of seconds since the epoch.
THE ZSH/DELTOCHAR MODULE
The
zsh/deltochar module makes available two ZLE
functions:
delete−to−char
Read a character from the
keyboard, and delete from the cursor position up to and
including the next (or, with repeat count n, the
nth) instance of that character. Negative repeat
counts mean delete backwards.
zap−to−char
This behaves like
delete−to−char, except that the final
occurrence of the character itself is not deleted.
THE ZSH/EXAMPLE MODULE
The
zsh/example module makes available one builtin
command:
example [ −flags ] [ args ... ]
Displays the flags and
arguments it is invoked with.
The purpose of
the module is to serve as an example of how to write a
module.
THE ZSH/FILES MODULE
The
zsh/files module makes some standard commands
available as builtins:
chgrp [ −Rs ] group filename ...
Changes group of files
specified. This is equivalent to chown with a
user−spec argument of
’:group’.
chown [ −Rs
] user−spec filename ...
Changes ownership and group of
files specified.
The
user−spec can be in four forms:
|
user |
|
change owner to user; do not change group |
|
user:: |
|
change owner to user; do not change group |
|
user: |
|
change owner to user; change group to
user’s primary group |
user:group
change owner to user;
change group to group
|
:group |
|
do not change owner; change group to group |
|
In each case,
the ’:’ may instead be a
’.’. The rule is that if there is a
’:’ then the separator is
’:’, otherwise if there is a
’.’ then the separator is
’.’, otherwise there is no separator.
Each of
user and group may be either a username (or
group name, as appropriate) or a decimal user ID (group ID).
Interpretation as a name takes precedence, if there is an
all−numeric username (or group name).
The
−R option causes chown to recursively
descend into directories, changing the ownership of all
files in the directory after changing the ownership of the
directory itself.
The
−s option is a zsh extension to chown
functionality. It enables paranoid behaviour, intended to
avoid security problems involving a chown being
tricked into affecting files other than the ones intended.
It will refuse to follow symbolic links, so that (for
example) ’’chown luser
/tmp/foo/passwd’’ can’t accidentally
chown /etc/passwd if /tmp/foo happens to be a
link to /etc. It will also check where it is after
leaving directories, so that a recursive chown of a deep
directory tree can’t end up recursively chowning
/usr as a result of directories being moved up the
tree.
ln [ −dfis
] filename dest
ln [ −dfis ] filename ...
dir
Creates hard (or, with
−s, symbolic) links. In the first form, the
specified destination is created, as a link to the
specified filename. In the second form, each of the
filenames is taken in turn, and linked to a pathname
in the specified directory that has the same last
pathname component.
Normally,
ln will not attempt to create hard links to
directories. This check can be overridden using the
−d option. Typically only the super−user
can actually succeed in creating hard links to directories.
This does not apply to symbolic links in any case.
By default,
existing files cannot be replaced by links. The
−i option causes the user to be queried about
replacing existing files. The −f option causes
existing files to be silently deleted, without querying.
−f takes precedence.
mkdir [ −p
] [ −m mode ] dir ...
Creates directories. With the
−p option, non−existing parent
directories are first created if necessary, and there will
be no complaint if the directory already exists. The
−m option can be used to specify (in octal) a
set of file permissions for the created directories,
otherwise mode 777 modified by the current umask (see
umask(2)) is used.
mv [ −fi ]
filename dest
mv [ −fi ] filename ...
dir
Moves files. In the first form,
the specified filename is moved to the specified
destination. In the second form, each of the
filenames is taken in turn, and moved to a pathname
in the specified directory that has the same last
pathname component.
By default, the
user will be queried before replacing any file that the user
cannot write to, but writable files will be silently
removed. The −i option causes the user to be
queried about replacing any existing files. The
−f option causes any existing files to be
silently deleted, without querying. −f takes
precedence.
Note that this
mv will not move files across devices. Historical
versions of mv, when actual renaming is impossible,
fall back on copying and removing files; if this behaviour
is desired, use cp and rm manually. This may
change in a future version.
rm [ −dfirs
] filename ...
Removes files and directories
specified.
Normally,
rm will not remove directories (except with the
−r option). The −d option causes
rm to try removing directories with unlink
(see unlink(2)), the same method used for files.
Typically only the super−user can actually succeed in
unlinking directories in this way. −d takes
precedence over −r.
By default, the
user will be queried before removing any file that the user
cannot write to, but writable files will be silently
removed. The −i option causes the user to be
queried about removing any files. The −f option
causes files to be silently deleted, without querying, and
suppresses all error indications. −f takes
precedence.
The
−r option causes rm to recursively
descend into directories, deleting all files in the
directory before removing the directory with the
rmdir system call (see rmdir(2)).
The
−s option is a zsh extension to rm
functionality. It enables paranoid behaviour, intended to
avoid common security problems involving a root−run
rm being tricked into removing files other than the
ones intended. It will refuse to follow symbolic links, so
that (for example) ’’rm
/tmp/foo/passwd’’ can’t accidentally
remove /etc/passwd if /tmp/foo happens to be a
link to /etc. It will also check where it is after
leaving directories, so that a recursive removal of a deep
directory tree can’t end up recursively removing
/usr as a result of directories being moved up the
tree.
rmdir dir ...
Removes empty directories
specified.
|
sync |
|
Calls the system call of the same name (see
sync(2)), which flushes dirty buffers to disk. It
might return before the I/O has actually been completed. |
THE ZSH/MAPFILE MODULE
The
zsh/mapfile module provides one special associative
array parameter of the same name.
mapfile
This associative array takes as
keys the names of files; the resulting value is the content
of the file. The value is treated identically to any other
text coming from a parameter. The value may also be assigned
to, in which case the file in question is written (whether
or not it originally existed); or an element may be unset,
which will delete the file in question. For example,
’vared mapfile[myfile]’ works as
expected, editing the file ’myfile’.
When the array
is accessed as a whole, the keys are the names of files in
the current directory, and the values are empty (to save a
huge overhead in memory). Thus ${(k)mapfile} has the
same affect as the glob operator *(D), since files
beginning with a dot are not special. Care must be taken
with expressions such as rm ${(k)mapfile}, which will
delete every file in the current directory without the usual
’rm *’ test.
The parameter
mapfile may be made read−only; in that case,
files referenced may not be written or deleted.
Limitations
Although reading and writing of the file in question is
efficiently handled, zsh’s internal memory management
may be arbitrarily baroque. Thus it should not automatically
be assumed that use of mapfile represents a gain in
efficiency over use of other mechanisms. Note in particular
that the whole contents of the file will always reside
physically in memory when accessed (possibly multiple times,
due to standard parameter substitution operations). In
particular, this means handling of sufficiently long files
(greater than the machine’s swap space, or than the
range of the pointer type) will be incorrect.
No errors are
printed or flagged for non−existent, unreadable, or
unwritable files, as the parameter mechanism is too low in
the shell execution hierarchy to make this convenient.
It is
unfortunate that the mechanism for loading modules does not
yet allow the user to specify the name of the shell
parameter to be given the special behaviour.
THE ZSH/MATHFUNC MODULE
The
zsh/mathfunc module provides standard mathematical
functions for use when evaluating mathematical formulae. The
syntax agrees with normal C and FORTRAN conventions, for
example,
(( f =
sin(0.3) ))
assigns the
sine of 0.3 to the parameter f.
Most functions
take floating point arguments and return a floating point
value. However, any necessary conversions from or to integer
type will be performed automatically by the shell. Apart
from atan with a second argument and the abs,
int and float functions, all functions behave
as noted in the manual page for the corresponding C
function, except that any arguments out of range for the
function in question will be detected by the shell and an
error reported.
The following
functions take a single floating point argument:
acos, acosh, asin, asinh,
atan, atanh, cbrt, ceil,
cos, cosh, erf, erfc,
exp, expm1, fabs, floor,
gamma, j0, j1, lgamma,
log, log10, log1p, logb,
sin, sinh, sqrt, tan,
tanh, y0, y1. The atan function
can optionally take a second argument, in which case it
behaves like the C function atan2. The ilogb
function takes a single floating point argument, but returns
an integer.
The function
signgam takes no arguments, and returns an integer,
which is the C variable of the same name, as described in
gamma(3). Note that it is therefore only useful
immediately after a call to gamma or lgamma.
Note also that ’signgam()’ and
’signgam’ are distinct expressions.
The following
functions take two floating point arguments:
copysign, fmod, hypot,
nextafter.
The following
take an integer first argument and a floating point second
argument: jn, yn.
The following
take a floating point first argument and an integer second
argument: ldexp, scalb.
The function
abs does not convert the type of its single argument;
it returns the absolute value of either a floating point
number or an integer. The functions float and
int convert their arguments into a floating point or
integer value (by truncation) respectively.
Note that the C
pow function is available in ordinary math evaluation
as the ’**’ operator and is not provided
here.
The function
rand48 is available if your system’s
mathematical library has the function erand48(3). It
returns a pseudo−random floating point number between
0 and 1. It takes a single string optional argument.
If the argument
is not present, the random number seed is initialised by
three calls to the rand(3) function
−−− this produces the same random numbers
as the next three values of $RANDOM.
If the argument
is present, it gives the name of a scalar parameter where
the current random number seed will be stored. On the first
call, the value must contain at least twelve hexadecimal
digits (the remainder of the string is ignored), or the seed
will be initialised in the same manner as for a call to
rand48 with no argument. Subsequent calls to
rand48(param) will then maintain the seed in
the parameter param as a string of twelve hexadecimal
digits, with no base signifier. The random number sequences
for different parameters are completely independent, and are
also independent from that used by calls to rand48
with no argument.
For example,
consider
print $((
rand48(seed) ))
print $(( rand48() ))
print $(( rand48(seed) ))
Assuming
$seed does not exist, it will be initialised by the
first call. In the second call, the default seed is
initialised; note, however, that because of the properties
of rand() there is a correlation between the seeds
used for the two initialisations, so for more secure uses,
you should generate your own 12−byte seed. The third
call returns to the same sequence of random numbers used in
the first call, unaffected by the intervening
rand48().
THE ZSH/PARAMETER MODULE
The
zsh/parameter module gives access to some of the
internal hash tables used by the shell by defining some
special parameters.
options
The keys for this associative
array are the names of the options that can be set and unset
using the setopt and unsetopt builtins. The
value of each key is either the string on if the
option is currently set, or the string off if the
option is unset. Setting a key to one of these strings is
like setting or unsetting the option, respectively.
Unsetting a key in this array is like setting it to the
value off.
commands
This array gives access to the
command hash table. The keys are the names of external
commands, the values are the pathnames of the files that
would be executed when the command would be invoked. Setting
a key in this array defines a new entry in this table in the
same way as with the hash builtin. Unsetting a key as
in ’unset "commands[foo]"’
removes the entry for the given key from the command hash
table.
functions
This associative array maps
names of enabled functions to their definitions. Setting a
key in it is like defining a function with the name given by
the key and the body given by the value. Unsetting a key
removes the definition for the function named by the
key.
dis_functions
Like functions but for
disabled functions.
builtins
This associative array gives
information about the builtin commands currently enabled.
The keys are the names of the builtin commands and the
values are either ’undefined’ for builtin
commands that will automatically be loaded from a module if
invoked or ’defined’ for builtin commands
that are already loaded.
dis_builtins
Like builtins but for
disabled builtin commands.
reswords
This array contains the enabled
reserved words.
dis_reswords
Like reswords but for
disabled reserved words.
aliases
This maps the names of the
regular aliases currently enabled to their expansions.
dis_aliases
Like aliases but for
disabled regular aliases.
galiases
Like aliases, but for
global aliases.
dis_galiases
Like galiases but for
disabled global aliases.
saliases
Like raliases, but for
suffix aliases.
dis_saliases
Like saliases but for
disabled suffix aliases.
parameters
The keys in this associative
array are the names of the parameters currently defined. The
values are strings describing the type of the parameter, in
the same format used by the t parameter flag, see
zshexpn(1) . Setting or unsetting keys in this array
is not possible.
modules
An associative array giving
information about modules. The keys are the names of the
modules loaded, registered to be autoloaded, or aliased. The
value says which state the named module is in and is one of
the strings ’loaded’,
’autoloaded’, or
’alias:name’, where name is
the name the module is aliased to.
Setting or
unsetting keys in this array is not possible.
dirstack
A normal array holding the
elements of the directory stack. Note that the output of the
dirs builtin command includes one more directory, the
current working directory.
history
This associative array maps
history event numbers to the full history lines.
historywords
A special array containing the
words stored in the history.
jobdirs
This associative array maps job
numbers to the directories from which the job was started
(which may not be the current directory of the job).
jobtexts
This associative array maps job
numbers to the texts of the command lines that were used to
start the jobs.
jobstates
This associative array gives
information about the states of the jobs currently known.
The keys are the job numbers and the values are strings of
the form
’job−state:mark:pid=state...’.
The job−state gives the state the whole job is
currently in, one of ’running’,
’suspended’, or
’done’. The mark is
’+’ for the current job,
’−’ for the previous job and empty
otherwise. This is followed by one
’pid=state’ for every
process in the job. The pids are, of course, the
process IDs and the state describes the state of that
process.
nameddirs
This associative array maps the
names of named directories to the pathnames they stand
for.
userdirs
This associative array maps
user names to the pathnames of their home directories.
funcstack
This array contains the names
of the functions currently being executed. The first element
is the name of the function using the parameter.
THE ZSH/PCRE MODULE
The
zsh/pcre module makes some commands available as
builtins:
pcre_compile [ −aimx ] PCRE
Compiles a
perl−compatible regular expression.
Option
−a will force the pattern to be anchored.
Option −i will compile a case−insensitive
pattern. Option −m will compile a
multi−line pattern; that is, ^ and $
will match newlines within the pattern. Option
−x will compile an extended pattern, wherein
whitespace and # comments are ignored.
pcre_study
Studies the
previously−compiled PCRE which may result in faster
matching.
pcre_match [
−a arr ] string
Returns successfully if
string matches the previously−compiled
PCRE.
If the
expression captures substrings within parentheses,
pcre_match will set the array $match to those
substrings, unless the −a option is given, in
which case it will set the array arr.
THE ZSH/SCHED MODULE
The
zsh/sched module makes available one builtin command:
sched [+]hh:mm command ...
sched [ −item ]
Make an entry in the scheduled
list of commands to execute. The time may be specified in
either absolute or relative time. With no arguments, prints
the list of scheduled commands. With the argument
’−item’, removes the given
item from the list.
THE ZSH/NET/SOCKET MODULE
The
zsh/net/socket module makes available one builtin
command:
zsocket [ −altv ] [ −d
fd ] [ args ]
zsocket is implemented
as a builtin to allow full use of shell command line
editing, file I/O, and job control mechanisms.
Outbound
Connections
zsocket [ −v ] [ −d fd
] filename
Open a new Unix domain
connection to filename. The shell parameter
REPLY will be set to the file descriptor associated
with that connection. Currently, only stream connections are
supported.
If
−d is specified, its argument will be taken as
the target file descriptor for the connection.
In order to
elicit more verbose output, use −v.
Inbound
Connections
zsocket −l [ −v ] [ −d
fd ] filename
zsocket −l will
open a socket listening on filename. The shell
parameter REPLY will be set to the file descriptor
associated with that listener.
If
−d is specified, its argument will be taken as
the target file descriptor for the connection.
In order to
elicit more verbose output, use −v.
zsocket −a [
−tv ] [ −d targetfd ]
listenfd
zsocket −a will
accept an incoming connection to the socket associated with
listenfd. The shell parameter REPLY will be
set to the file descriptor associated with the inbound
connection.
If
−d is specified, its argument will be taken as
the target file descriptor for the connection.
If
−t is specified, zsocket will return if
no incoming connection is pending. Otherwise it will wait
for one.
In order to
elicit more verbose output, use −v.
THE ZSH/STAT MODULE
The
zsh/stat module makes available one builtin command:
stat [ −gnNolLtTrs ] [ −f
fd ] [ −H hash ] [
−A array ] [ −F fmt
] [
+element ] [ file ... ]
The command acts as a front end
to the stat system call (see stat(2)). If the
stat call fails, the appropriate system error message
printed and status 1 is returned. The fields of struct
stat give information about the files provided as
arguments to the command. In addition to those available
from the stat call, an extra element
’link’ is provided. These elements
are:
|
device |
|
The number of the device on which the file resides. |
|
inode |
|
The unique number of the file on this device
(’inode’ number). |
|
mode |
|
The mode of the file; that is, the file’s type and
access permissions. With the −s option, this
will be returned as a string corresponding to the first
column in the display of the ls −l command. |
|
nlink |
|
The number of hard links to the file. |
|
uid |
|
The user ID of the owner of the file. With the
−s option, this is displayed as a user
name. |
|
gid |
|
The group ID of the file. With the −s
option, this is displayed as a group name. |
|
rdev |
|
The raw device number. This is only useful for special
devices. |
|
size |
|
The size of the file in bytes. |
|
atime |
|
|
|
mtime |
|
|
|
ctime |
|
The last access, modification and inode change times of
the file, respectively, as the number of seconds since
midnight GMT on 1st January, 1970. With the −s
option, these are printed as strings for the local time
zone; the format can be altered with the −F
option, and with the −g option the times are in
GMT. |
blksize
The number of bytes in one
allocation block on the device on which the file
resides.
|
block |
|
The number of disk blocks used by the file. |
|
link |
|
If the file is a link and the −L option is
in effect, this contains the name of the file linked to,
otherwise it is empty. Note that if this element is selected
(’’stat +link’’) then the
−L option is automatically used. |
A particular
element may be selected by including its name preceded by a
’+’ in the option list; only one element
is allowed. The element may be shortened to any unique set
of leading characters. Otherwise, all elements will be shown
for all files.
Options:
−A array
Instead of displaying the
results on standard output, assign them to an array,
one struct stat element per array element for each
file in order. In this case neither the name of the element
nor the name of the files appears in array unless the
−t or −n options were given,
respectively. If −t is given, the element name
appears as a prefix to the appropriate array element; if
−n is given, the file name appears as a
separate array element preceding all the others. Other
formatting options are respected.
−H hash
Similar to −A, but
instead assign the values to hash. The keys are the
elements listed above. If the −n option is
provided then the name of the file is included in the hash
with key name.
|
−f fd |
|
Use the file on file descriptor fd instead of
named files; no list of file names is allowed in this
case. |
|
−F fmt |
|
Supplies a strftime (see strftime(3))
string for the formatting of the time elements. The
−s option is implied. |
|
−g |
|
Show the time elements in the GMT time zone. The
−s option is implied. |
|
−l |
|
List the names of the type elements (to standard output
or an array as appropriate) and return immediately; options
other than −A and arguments are ignored. |
|
−L |
|
Perform an lstat (see lstat(2)) rather
than a stat system call. In this case, if the file is
a link, information about the link itself rather than the
target file is returned. This option is required to make the
link element useful. |
|
−n |
|
Always show the names of files. Usually these are only
shown when output is to standard output and there is more
than one file in the list. |
|
−N |
|
Never show the names of files. |
|
−o |
|
If a raw file mode is printed, show it in octal, which
is more useful for human consumption than the default of
decimal. A leading zero will be printed in this case. Note
that this does not affect whether a raw or formatted file
mode is shown, which is controlled by the −r
and −s options, nor whether a mode is shown at
all. |
|
−r |
|
Print raw data (the default format) alongside string
data (the −s format); the string data appears
in parentheses after the raw data. |
|
−s |
|
Print mode, uid, gid and the three
time elements as strings instead of numbers. In each case
the format is like that of ls −l. |
|
−t |
|
Always show the type names for the elements of struct
stat. Usually these are only shown when output is to
standard output and no individual element has been
selected. |
|
−T |
|
Never show the type names of the struct stat
elements. |
THE ZSH/SYSTEM MODULE
The
zsh/system module makes available three builtin
commands and a parameter.
BUILTINS
syserror [
−e errvar ] [ −p prefix
] [ errno | errname ]
This command prints out the
error message associated with errno, a system error
number, followed by a newline to standard error.
Instead of the
error number, a name errname, for example
ENOENT, may be used. The set of names is the same as
the contents of the array errnos, see below.
If the string
prefix is given, it is printed in front of the error
message, with no intervening space.
If
errvar is supplied, the entire message, without a
newline, is assigned to the parameter names errvar
and nothing is output.
A return value
of 0 indicates the message was successfully printed
(although it may not be useful if the error number was out
of the system’s range), a return value of 1 indicates
an error in the parameters, and a return value of 2
indicates the error name was not recognised (no message is
printed for this).
sysread [ −c
countvar ] [ −i infd ] [
−o outfd ]
[ −s bufsize ] [ −t
timeout ] [ param ]
Perform a single system read
from file descriptor infd, or zero if that is not
given. The result of the read is stored in param or
REPLY if that is not given. If countvar is
given, the number of bytes read is assigned to the parameter
named by countvar.
The maximum
number of bytes read is bufsize or 8192 if that is
not given, however the command returns as soon as any number
of bytes was successfully read.
If
timeout is given, it specifies a timeout in seconds,
which may be zero to poll the file descriptor. This is
handled by the poll system call if available,
otherwise the select system call if available.
If outfd
is given, an attempt is made to write all the bytes just
read to the file descriptor outfd. If this fails,
because of a system error other than EINTR or because
of an internal zsh error during an interrupt, the bytes read
but not written are stored in the parameter named by
param if supplied (no default is used in this case),
and the number of bytes read but not written is stored in
the parameter named by countvar if that is supplied.
If it was successful, countvar contains the full
number of bytes transferred, as usual, and param is
not set.
The error
EINTR (interrupted system call) is handled internally
so that shell interrupts are transparent to the caller. Any
other error causes a return.
The possible
return values are
|
0 |
|
At least one byte of data was successfully read and, if
appropriate, written. |
|
1 |
|
There was an error in the parameters to the command.
This is the only error for which a message is printed to
standard error. |
|
2 |
|
There was an error on the read, or on polling the input
file descriptor for a timeout. The parameter ERRNO
gives the error. |
|
3 |
|
Data were successfully read, but there was an error
writing them to outfd. The parameter ERRNO
gives the error. |
|
4 |
|
The attempt to read timed out. Note this does not set
ERRNO as this is not a system error. |
|
5 |
|
No system error occurred, but zero bytes were read. This
usually indicates end of file. The parameters are set
according to the usual rules; no write to outfd is
attempted. |
syswrite [ −c
countvar ] [ −o outfd ]
data
The data (a single string of
bytes) are written to the file descriptor outfd, or 1
if that is not given, using the write system call.
Multiple write operations may be used if the first does not
write all the data.
If
countvar is given, the number of byte written is
stored in the parameter named by countvar; this may
not be the full length of data if an error
occurred.
The error
EINTR (interrupted system call) is handled internally
by retrying; otherwise an error causes the command to
return. For example, if the file descriptor is set to
non−blocking output, an error EAGAIN (on some
systems, EWOULDBLOCK) may result in the command
returning early.
The return
status may be 0 for success, 1 for an error in the
parameters to the command, or 2 for an error on the write;
no error message is printed in the last case, but the
parameter ERRNO will reflect the error that
occurred.
PARAMETERS
|
errnos |
|
A readonly array of the names of
errors defined on the system. These are typically macros
defined in C by including the system header file
errno.h. The index of each name (assuming the option
KSH_ARRAYS is unset) corresponds to the error number.
Error numbers num before the last known error which
have no name are given the name Enum in the
array. |
Note that
aliases for errors are not handled; only the canonical name
is used.
THE ZSH/NET/TCP MODULE
The
zsh/net/tcp module makes available one builtin
command:
ztcp [ −acflLtv ] [ −d
fd ] [ args ]
ztcp is implemented as a
builtin to allow full use of shell command line editing,
file I/O, and job control mechanisms.
If ztcp
is run with no options, it will output the contents of its
session table.
If it is run
with only the option −L, it will output the
contents of the session table in a format suitable for
automatic parsing. The option is ignored if given with a
command to open or close a session. The output consists of a
set of lines, one per session, each containing the following
elements separated by spaces:
File descriptor
The file descriptor in use for
the connection. For normal inbound (I) and outbound
(O) connections this may be read and written by the
usual shell mechanisms. However, it should only be close
with ’ztcp −c’.
Connection type
A letter indicating how the
session was created:
|
Z |
|
A session created with the zftp command. |
|
L |
|
A connection opened for listening with ’ztcp
−l’. |
|
I |
|
An inbound connection accepted with ’ztcp
−a’. |
|
O |
|
An outbound connection created with ’ztcp
host ...’. |
The local host
This is usually set to an
all−zero IP address as the address of the localhost is
irrelevant.
The local port
This is likely to be zero
unless the connection is for listening.
The remote host
This is the fully qualified
domain name of the peer, if available, else an IP address.
It is an all−zero IP address for a session opened for
listening.
The remote port
This is zero for a connection
opened for listening.
Outbound
Connections
ztcp [ −v ] [ −d fd ]
host [ port ]
Open a new TCP connection to
host. If the port is omitted, it will default
to port 23. The connection will be added to the session
table and the shell parameter REPLY will be set to
the file descriptor associated with that connection.
If
−d is specified, its argument will be taken as
the target file descriptor for the connection.
In order to
elicit more verbose output, use −v.
Inbound
Connections
ztcp −l [ −v ] [ −d
fd ] port
ztcp −l will open
a socket listening on TCP port. The socket will be
added to the session table and the shell parameter
REPLY will be set to the file descriptor associated
with that listener.
If
−d is specified, its argument will be taken as
the target file descriptor for the connection.
In order to
elicit more verbose output, use −v.
ztcp −a [
−tv ] [ −d targetfd ]
listenfd
ztcp −a will
accept an incoming connection to the port associated with
listenfd. The connection will be added to the session
table and the shell parameter REPLY will be set to
the file descriptor associated with the inbound
connection.
If
−d is specified, its argument will be taken as
the target file descriptor for the connection.
If
−t is specified, ztcp will return if no
incoming connection is pending. Otherwise it will wait for
one.
In order to
elicit more verbose output, use −v.
Closing
Connections
ztcp −cf [ −v ] [ fd ]
ztcp −c [ −v ] [ fd ]
ztcp −c will close
the socket associated with fd. The socket will be
removed from the session table. If fd is not
specified, ztcp will close everything in the session
table.
Normally,
sockets registered by zftp (see zshmodules(1) )
cannot be closed this way. In order to force such a socket
closed, use −f.
In order to
elicit more verbose output, use −v.
Example
Here is how to create a TCP connection between two instances
of zsh. We need to pick an unassigned port; here we use the
randomly chosen 5123.
On
host1,
zmodload zsh/net/tcp
ztcp −l 5123
listenfd=$REPLY
ztcp −a $listenfd
fd=$REPLY
The second from last command
blocks until there is an incoming connection.
Now create a
connection from host2 (which may, of course, be the
same machine):
zmodload zsh/net/tcp
ztcp host1 5123
fd=$REPLY
Now on each
host, $fd contains a file descriptor for talking to
the other. For example, on host1:
print This is a message
>&$fd
and on host2:
read −r line
<&$fd; print −r − $line
prints ’This is a
message’.
To tidy up, on
host1:
ztcp −c $listenfd
ztcp −c $fd
and on host2
ztcp −c $fd
THE ZSH/TERMCAP MODULE
The
zsh/termcap module makes available one builtin
command:
echotc cap [ arg ... ]
Output the termcap value
corresponding to the capability cap, with optional
arguments.
The
zsh/termcap module makes available one parameter:
termcap
An associative array that maps
termcap capability codes to their values.
THE ZSH/TERMINFO MODULE
The
zsh/terminfo module makes available one builtin
command:
echoti cap [ arg ]
Output the terminfo value
corresponding to the capability cap, instantiated
with arg if applicable.
The
zsh/terminfo module makes available one parameter:
terminfo
An associative array that maps
terminfo capability names to their values.
THE ZSH/ZFTP MODULE
The
zsh/zftp module makes available one builtin command:
zftp subcommand [ args ]
The zsh/zftp module is a
client for FTP (file transfer protocol). It is implemented
as a builtin to allow full use of shell command line
editing, file I/O, and job control mechanisms. Often, users
will access it via shell functions providing a more powerful
interface; a set is provided with the zsh
distribution and is described in zshzftpsys(1).
However, the zftp command is entirely usable in its
own right.
All commands
consist of the command name zftp followed by the name
of a subcommand. These are listed below. The return status
of each subcommand is supposed to reflect the success or
failure of the remote operation. See a description of the
variable ZFTP_VERBOSE for more information on how
responses from the server may be printed.
Subcommands
open host [ user [ password [
account ] ] ]
Open a new FTP session to
host, which may be the name of a TCP/IP connected
host or an IP number in the standard dot notation. Remaining
arguments are passed to the login subcommand. Note
that if no arguments beyond host are supplied,
open will not automatically call login.
If no arguments at all are supplied, open will use
the parameters set by the params subcommand.
After a
successful open, the shell variables ZFTP_HOST,
ZFTP_IP and ZFTP_SYSTEM are available; see
’Variables’ below.
login [ name [
password [ account ] ] ]
user [ name [ password [ account ]
] ]
Login the user name with
parameters password and account. Any of the
parameters can be omitted, and will be read from standard
input if needed (name is always needed). If standard
input is a terminal, a prompt for each one will be printed
on standard error and password will not be echoed. If
any of the parameters are not used, a warning message is
printed.
After a
successful login, the shell variables ZFTP_USER,
ZFTP_ACCOUNT and ZFTP_PWD are available; see
’Variables’ below.
This command
may be re−issued when a user is already logged in, and
the server will first be reinitialized for a new user.
params [ host [
user [ password [ account ] ] ] ]
params −
Store the given parameters for
a later open command with no arguments. Only those
given on the command line will be remembered. If no
arguments are given, the parameters currently set are
printed, although the password will appear as a line of
stars; the return value is one if no parameters were set,
zero otherwise.
Any of the
parameters may be specified as a ’?’,
which may need to be quoted to protect it from shell
expansion. In this case, the appropriate parameter will be
read from stdin as with the login subcommand,
including special handling of password. If the
’?’ is followed by a string, that is used
as the prompt for reading the parameter instead of the
default message (any necessary punctuation and whitespace
should be included at the end of the prompt). The first
letter of the parameter (only) may be quoted with a
’\’; hence an argument
"\\$word" guarantees that the string from
the shell parameter $word will be treated literally,
whether or not it begins with a ’?’.
If instead a
single ’−’ is given, the existing
parameters, if any, are deleted. In that case, calling
open with no arguments will cause an error.
The list of
parameters is not deleted after a close, however it
will be deleted if the zsh/zftp module is
unloaded.
For
example,
zftp params
ftp.elsewhere.xx juser ’?Password for juser:
’
will store the
host ftp.elsewhere.xx and the user juser and
then prompt the user for the corresponding password with the
given prompt.
|
test |
|
Test the connection; if the server has reported that it
has closed the connection (maybe due to a timeout), return
status 2; if no connection was open anyway, return status 1;
else return status 0. The test subcommand is silent,
apart from messages printed by the $ZFTP_VERBOSE
mechanism, or error messages if the connection closes. There
is no network overhead for this test. |
The test is
only supported on systems with either the select(2)
or poll(2) system calls; otherwise the message
’not supported on this system’ is printed
instead.
The test
subcommand will automatically be called at the start of any
other subcommand for the current session when a connection
is open.
cd directory
Change the remote directory to
directory. Also alters the shell variable
ZFTP_PWD.
|
cdup |
|
Change the remote directory to the one higher in the
directory tree. Note that cd .. will also work
correctly on non−UNIX systems. |
dir [ args...
]
Give a (verbose) listing of the
remote directory. The args are passed directly to the
server. The command’s behaviour is implementation
dependent, but a UNIX server will typically interpret
args as arguments to the ls command and with
no arguments return the result of ’ls
−l’. The directory is listed to standard
output.
ls [ args ]
Give a (short) listing of the
remote directory. With no args, produces a raw list
of the files in the directory, one per line. Otherwise, up
to vagaries of the server implementation, behaves similar to
dir.
type [ type ]
Change the type for the
transfer to type, or print the current type if
type is absent. The allowed values are
’A’ (ASCII), ’I’
(Image, i.e. binary), or ’B’ (a synonym
for ’I’).
The FTP default
for a transfer is ASCII. However, if zftp finds that
the remote host is a UNIX machine with 8−bit byes, it
will automatically switch to using binary for file transfers
upon open. This can subsequently be overridden.
The transfer
type is only passed to the remote host when a data
connection is established; this command involves no network
overhead.
|
ascii |
|
The same as type A. |
|
|
binary |
|
The same as type I. |
|
mode [ S |
B ]
Set the mode type to stream
(S) or block (B). Stream mode is the default;
block mode is not widely supported.
remote files...
local [ files... ]
Print the size and last
modification time of the remote or local files. If there is
more than one item on the list, the name of the file is
printed first. The first number is the file size, the second
is the last modification time of the file in the format
CCYYMMDDhhmmSS consisting of year, month, date, hour,
minutes and seconds in GMT. Note that this format, including
the length, is guaranteed, so that time strings can be
directly compared via the [[ builtin’s
< and > operators, even if they are too
long to be represented as integers.
Not all servers
support the commands for retrieving this information. In
that case, the remote command will print nothing and
return status 2, compared with status 1 for a file not
found.
The
local command (but not remote) may be used
with no arguments, in which case the information comes from
examining file descriptor zero. This is the same file as
seen by a put command with no further
redirection.
get file
[...]
Retrieve all files from
the server, concatenating them and sending them to standard
output.
put file
[...]
For each file, read a
file from standard input and send that to the remote host
with the given name.
append file
[...]
As put, but if the
remote file already exists, data is appended to it
instead of overwriting it.
getat file point
putat file point
appendat file point
Versions of get,
put and append which will start the transfer
at the given point in the remote file. This is
useful for appending to an incomplete local file. However,
note that this ability is not universally supported by
servers (and is not quite the behaviour specified by the
standard).
delete file
[...]
Delete the list of files on the
server.
mkdir
directory
Create a new directory
directory on the server.
rmdir
directory
Delete the directory
directory on the server.
rename old−name
new−name
Rename file
old−name to new−name on the
server.
site args...
Send a host−specific
command to the server. You will probably only need this if
instructed by the server to use it.
quote args...
Send the raw FTP command
sequence to the server. You should be familiar with the FTP
command set as defined in RFC959 before doing this. Useful
commands may include STAT and HELP. Note also
the mechanism for returning messages as described for the
variable ZFTP_VERBOSE below, in particular that all
messages from the control connection are sent to standard
error.
|
close |
|
|
|
quit |
|
Close the current data connection. This unsets the shell
parameters ZFTP_HOST, ZFTP_IP,
ZFTP_SYSTEM, ZFTP_USER, ZFTP_ACCOUNT,
ZFTP_PWD, ZFTP_TYPE and ZFTP_MODE. |
session [
sessname ]
Allows multiple FTP sessions to
be used at once. The name of the session is an arbitrary
string of characters; the default session is called
’default’. If this command is called
without an argument, it will list all the current sessions;
with an argument, it will either switch to the existing
session called sessname, or create a new session of
that name.
Each session
remembers the status of the connection, the set of
connection−specific shell parameters (the same set as
are unset when a connection closes, as given in the
description of close), and any user parameters
specified with the params subcommand. Changing to a
previous session restores those values; changing to a new
session initialises them in the same way as if zftp
had just been loaded. The name of the current session is
given by the parameter ZFTP_SESSION.
rmsession [
sessname ]
Delete a session; if a name is
not given, the current session is deleted. If the current
session is deleted, the earliest existing session becomes
the new current session, otherwise the current session is
not changed. If the session being deleted is the only one, a
new session called ’default’ is created
and becomes the current session; note that this is a new
session even if the session being deleted is also called
’default’. It is recommended that
sessions not be deleted while background commands which use
zftp are still active.
Parameters
The following shell parameters are used by zftp.
Currently none of them are special.
ZFTP_TMOUT
Integer. The time in seconds to
wait for a network operation to complete before returning an
error. If this is not set when the module is loaded, it will
be given the default value 60. A value of zero turns off
timeouts. If a timeout occurs on the control connection it
will be closed. Use a larger value if this occurs too
frequently.
ZFTP_IP
Readonly. The IP address of the
current connection in dot notation.
ZFTP_HOST
Readonly. The hostname of the
current remote server. If the host was opened as an IP
number, ZFTP_HOST contains that instead; this saves
the overhead for a name lookup, as IP numbers are most
commonly used when a nameserver is unavailable.
ZFTP_SYSTEM
Readonly. The system type
string returned by the server in response to an FTP
SYST request. The most interesting case is a string
beginning "UNIX Type: L8", which ensures
maximum compatibility with a local UNIX host.
ZFTP_TYPE
Readonly. The type to be used
for data transfers , either ’A’ or
’I’. Use the type subcommand to
change this.
ZFTP_USER
Readonly. The username
currently logged in, if any.
ZFTP_ACCOUNT
Readonly. The account name of
the current user, if any. Most servers do not require an
account name.
ZFTP_PWD
Readonly. The current directory
on the server.
ZFTP_CODE
Readonly. The three digit code
of the last FTP reply from the server as a string. This can
still be read after the connection is closed, and is not
changed when the current session changes.
ZFTP_REPLY
Readonly. The last line of the
last reply sent by the server. This can still be read after
the connection is closed, and is not changed when the
current session changes.
ZFTP_SESSION
Readonly. The name of the
current FTP session; see the description of the
session subcommand.
ZFTP_PREFS
A string of preferences for
altering aspects of zftp’s behaviour. Each
preference is a single character. The following are
defined:
|
P |
|
Passive: attempt to make the remote server initiate data
transfers. This is slightly more efficient than sendport
mode. If the letter S occurs later in the string,
zftp will use sendport mode if passive mode is not
available. |
|
S |
|
Sendport: initiate transfers by the FTP PORT
command. If this occurs before any P in the string,
passive mode will never be attempted. |
|
D |
|
Dumb: use only the bare minimum of FTP commands. This
prevents the variables ZFTP_SYSTEM and
ZFTP_PWD from being set, and will mean all
connections default to ASCII type. It may prevent
ZFTP_SIZE from being set during a transfer if the
server does not send it anyway (many servers do). |
If
ZFTP_PREFS is not set when zftp is loaded, it
will be set to a default of ’PS’, i.e.
use passive mode if available, otherwise fall back to
sendport mode.
ZFTP_VERBOSE
A string of digits between 0
and 5 inclusive, specifying which responses from the server
should be printed. All responses go to standard error. If
any of the numbers 1 to 5 appear in the string, raw
responses from the server with reply codes beginning with
that digit will be printed to standard error. The first
digit of the three digit reply code is defined by RFC959 to
correspond to:
|
1. |
|
A positive preliminary reply. |
|
|
2. |
|
A positive completion reply. |
|
|
3. |
|
A positive intermediate reply. |
|
|
4. |
|
A transient negative completion reply. |
|
|
5. |
|
A permanent negative completion reply. |
|
It should be
noted that, for unknown reasons, the reply ’Service
not available’, which forces termination of a
connection, is classified as 421, i.e. ’transient
negative’, an interesting interpretation of the word
’transient’.
The code 0 is
special: it indicates that all but the last line of
multiline replies read from the server will be printed to
standard error in a processed format. By convention, servers
use this mechanism for sending information for the user to
read. The appropriate reply code, if it matches the same
response, takes priority.
If
ZFTP_VERBOSE is not set when zftp is loaded,
it will be set to the default value 450, i.e.,
messages destined for the user and all errors will be
printed. A null string is valid and specifies that no
messages should be printed.
Functions
zftp_chpwd
If this function is set by the
user, it is called every time the directory changes on the
server, including when a user is logged in, or when a
connection is closed. In the last case, $ZFTP_PWD
will be unset; otherwise it will reflect the new
directory.
zftp_progress
If this function is set by the
user, it will be called during a get, put or
append operation each time sufficient data has been
received from the host. During a get, the data is
sent to standard output, so it is vital that this function
should write to standard error or directly to the terminal,
not to standard output.
When it is
called with a transfer in progress, the following additional
shell parameters are set:
ZFTP_FILE
The name of the remote file
being transferred from or to.
ZFTP_TRANSFER
A G for a get
operation and a P for a put operation.
ZFTP_SIZE
The total size of the complete
file being transferred: the same as the first value provided
by the remote and local subcommands for a
particular file. If the server cannot supply this value for
a remote file being retrieved, it will not be set. If input
is from a pipe the value may be incorrect and correspond
simply to a full pipe buffer.
ZFTP_COUNT
The amount of data so far
transferred; a number between zero and $ZFTP_SIZE, if
that is set. This number is always available.
The function is
initially called with ZFTP_TRANSFER set appropriately
and ZFTP_COUNT set to zero. After the transfer is
finished, the function will be called one more time with
ZFTP_TRANSFER set to GF or PF, in case
it wishes to tidy up. It is otherwise never called twice
with the same value of ZFTP_COUNT.
Sometimes the
progress meter may cause disruption. It is up to the user to
decide whether the function should be defined and to use
unfunction when necessary.
Problems
A connection may not be opened in the left hand side of a
pipe as this occurs in a subshell and the file information
is not updated in the main shell. In the case of type or
mode changes or closing the connection in a subshell, the
information is returned but variables are not updated until
the next call to zftp. Other status changes in
subshells will not be reflected by changes to the variables
(but should be otherwise harmless).
Deleting
sessions while a zftp command is active in the
background can have unexpected effects, even if it does not
use the session being deleted. This is because all shell
subprocesses share information on the state of all
connections, and deleting a session changes the ordering of
that information.
On some
operating systems, the control connection is not valid after
a fork(), so that operations in subshells, on the left hand
side of a pipeline, or in the background are not possible,
as they should be. This is presumably a bug in the operating
system.
THE ZSH/ZLE MODULE
The
zsh/zle module contains the Zsh Line Editor. See
zshzle(1).
THE ZSH/ZLEPARAMETER MODULE
The
zsh/zleparameter module defines two special
parameters that can be used to access internal information
of the Zsh Line Editor (see zshzle(1)).
keymaps
This array contains the names
of the keymaps currently defined.
widgets
This associative array contains
one entry per widget defined. The name of the widget is the
key and the value gives information about the widget. It is
either the string ’builtin’ for builtin
widgets, a string of the form
’user:name’ for user−defined
widgets, where name is the name of the shell function
implementing the widget, or it is a string of the form
’completion:type:name’,
for completion widgets. In the last case type is the
name of the builtin widgets the completion widget imitates
in its behavior and name is the name of the shell
function implementing the completion widget.
THE ZSH/ZPROF MODULE
When loaded,
the zsh/zprof causes shell functions to be profiled.
The profiling results can be obtained with the zprof
builtin command made available by this module. There is no
way to turn profiling off other than unloading the module.
zprof [ −c ]
Without the −c
option, zprof lists profiling results to standard
output. The format is comparable to that of commands like
gprof.
At the top
there is a summary listing all functions that were called at
least once. This summary is sorted in decreasing order of
the amount of time spent in each. The lines contain the
number of the function in order, which is used in other
parts of the list in suffixes of the form
’[num]’.RE, then the number
of calls made to the function. The next three columns list
the time in milliseconds spent in the function and its
descendents, the average time in milliseconds spent in the
function and its descendents per call and the percentage of
time spent in all shell functions used in this function and
its descendents. The following three columns give the same
information, but counting only the time spent in the
function itself. The final column shows the name of the
function.
After the
summary, detailed information about every function that was
invoked is listed, sorted in decreasing order of the amount
of time spent in each function and its descendents. Each of
these entries consists of descriptions for the functions
that called the function described, the function itself, and
the functions that were called from it. The description for
the function itself has the same format as in the summary
(and shows the same information). The other lines
don’t show the number of the function at the beginning
and have their function named indented to make it easier to
distinguish the line showing the function described in the
section from the surrounding lines.
The information
shown in this case is almost the same as in the summary, but
only refers to the call hierarchy being displayed. For
example, for a calling function the column showing the total
running time lists the time spent in the described function
and its descendents only for the times when it was called
from that particular calling function. Likewise, for a
called function, this columns lists the total time spent in
the called function and its descendents only for the times
when it was called from the function described.
Also in this
case, the column showing the number of calls to a function
also shows a slash and then the total number of invocations
made to the called function.
As long as the
zsh/zprof module is loaded, profiling will be done
and multiple invocations of the zprof builtin command
will show the times and numbers of calls since the module
was loaded. With the −c option, the
zprof builtin command will reset its internal
counters and will not show the listing. )
THE ZSH/ZPTY MODULE
The
zsh/zpty module offers one builtin:
zpty [ −e ] [ −b ] name
[ arg ... ]
The arguments following
name are concatenated with spaces between, then
executed as a command, as if passed to the eval
builtin. The command runs under a newly assigned
pseudo−terminal; this is useful for running commands
non−interactively which expect an interactive
environment. The name is not part of the command, but
is used to refer to this command in later calls to
zpty.
With the
−e option, the pseudo−terminal is set up
so that input characters are echoed.
With the
−b option, input to and output from the
pseudo−terminal are made non−blocking.
zpty −d [
names ... ]
The second form, with the
−d option, is used to delete commands
previously started, by supplying a list of their
names. If no names are given, all commands are
deleted. Deleting a command causes the HUP signal to be sent
to the corresponding process.
zpty −w [
−n ] name [ strings ... ]
The −w option can
be used to send the to command name the given
strings as input (separated by spaces). If the
−n option is not given, a newline is
added at the end.
If no
strings are provided, the standard input is copied to
the pseudo−terminal; this may stop before copying the
full input if the pseudo−terminal is
non−blocking.
Note that the
command under the pseudo−terminal sees this input as
if it were typed, so beware when sending special tty driver
characters such as word−erase, line−kill, and
end−of−file.
zpty −r [
−t ] name [ param [
pattern ] ]
The −r option can
be used to read the output of the command name. With
only a name argument, the output read is copied to
the standard output. Unless the pseudo−terminal is
non−blocking, copying continues until the command
under the pseudo−terminal exits; when
non−blocking, only as much output as is immediately
available is copied. The return value is zero if any output
is copied.
When also given
a param argument, at most one line is read and stored
in the parameter named param. Less than a full line
may be read if the pseudo−terminal is
non−blocking. The return value is zero if at least one
character is stored in param.
If a
pattern is given as well, output is read until the
whole string read matches the pattern, even in the
non−blocking case. The return value is zero if the
string read matches the pattern, or if the command has
exited but at least one character could still be read. As of
this writing, a maximum of one megabyte of output can be
consumed this way; if a full megabyte is read without
matching the pattern, the return value is
non−zero.
In all cases,
the return value is non−zero if nothing could be read,
and is 2 if this is because the command has
finished.
If the
−r option is combined with the −t
option, zpty tests whether output is available before
trying to read. If no output is available, zpty
immediately returns the value 1.
zpty −t
name
The −t option
without the −r option can be used to test
whether the command name is still running. It returns
a zero value if the command is running and a non−zero
value otherwise.
zpty [ −L
]
The last form, without any
arguments, is used to list the commands currently defined.
If the −L option is given, this is done in the
form of calls to the zpty builtin.
THE ZSH/ZSELECT MODULE
The
zsh/zselect module makes available one builtin
command:
zselect [ −rwe −t timeout
−a array ] [ fd ... ]
The zselect builtin is a
front−end to the ’select’ system call,
which blocks until a file descriptor is ready for reading or
writing, or has an error condition, with an optional
timeout. If this is not available on your system, the
command prints an error message and returns status 2 (normal
errors return status 1). For more information, see your
systems documentation for select(3). Note there is no
connection with the shell builtin of the same name.
Arguments and
options may be intermingled in any order. Non−option
arguments are file descriptors, which must be decimal
integers. By default, file descriptors are to be tested for
reading, i.e. zselect will return when data is
available to be read from the file descriptor, or more
precisely, when a read operation from the file descriptor
will not block. After a −r, −w and
−e, the given file descriptors are to be tested
for reading, writing, or error conditions. These options and
an arbitrary list of file descriptors may be given in any
order.
(The presence
of an ’error condition’ is not well defined in
the documentation for many implementations of the select
system call. According to recent versions of the POSIX
specification, it is really an exception condition,
of which the only standard example is
out−of−band data received on a socket. So zsh
users are unlikely to find the −e option
useful.)
The option
’−t timeout’ specifies a
timeout in hundredths of a second. This may be zero, in
which case the file descriptors will simply be polled and
zselect will return immediately. It is possible to
call zselect with no file descriptors and a non−zero
timeout for use as a finer−grained replacement for
’sleep’; not, however, the return status is
always 1 for a timeout.
The option
’−a array’ indicates that
array should be set to indicate the file
descriptor(s) which are ready. If the option is not given,
the array reply will be used for this purpose. The
array will contain a string similar to the arguments for
zselect. For example,
zselect
−t 0 −r 0 −w 1
might return
immediately with status 0 and $reply containing
’−r 0 −w 1’ to show that both
file descriptors are ready for the requested operations.
The option
’−A assoc’ indicates that
the associative array assoc should be set to indicate
the file descriptor(s) which are ready. This option
overrides the option −a, nor will reply
be modified. The keys of assoc are the file
descriptors, and the corresponding values are any of the
characters ’rwe’ to indicate the
condition.
The command
returns 0 if some file descriptors are ready for reading. If
the operation timed out, or a timeout of 0 was given and no
file descriptors were ready, or there was an error, it
returns status 1 and the array will not be set (nor modified
in any way). If there was an error in the select operation
the appropriate error message is printed.
THE ZSH/ZUTIL MODULE
The
zsh/zutil module only adds some builtins:
zstyle [ −L ]
zstyle [ −e | − |
−− ] pattern style strings ...
zstyle −d [ pattern [ styles ... ] ]
zstyle −g name [ pattern [
style ] ]
zstyle −abs context style name [ sep
]
zstyle −Tt context style [ strings
...]
zstyle −m context style pattern
This builtin command is used to
define and lookup styles. Styles are pairs of names and
values, where the values consist of any number of strings.
They are stored together with patterns and lookup is done by
giving a string, called the ’context’, which is
compared to the patterns. The definition stored for the
first matching pattern will be returned.
For ordering of
comparisons, patterns are searched from most specific to
least specific, and patterns that are equally specific keep
the order in which they were defined. A pattern is
considered to be more specific than another if it contains
more components (substrings separated by colons) or if the
patterns for the components are more specific, where simple
strings are considered to be more specific than patterns and
complex patterns are considered to be more specific than the
pattern ’*’.
The first form
(without arguments) lists the definitions in the order
zstyle will test them. If the −L option
is given, listing is done in the form of calls to
zstyle. Forms with arguments:
zstyle [ − | −− |
−e ] pattern style strings ...
Defines the given style
for the pattern with the strings as the value.
If the −e option is given, the strings
will be concatenated (separated by spaces) and the resulting
string will be evaluated (in the same way as it is done by
the eval builtin command) when the style is looked
up. In this case the parameter ’reply’
must be assigned to set the strings returned after the
evaluation. Before evaluating the value, reply is
unset, and if it is still unset after the evaluation, the
style is treated as if it were not set.
zstyle −d [
pattern [ styles ... ] ]
Delete style definitions.
Without arguments all definitions are deleted, with a
pattern all definitions for that pattern are deleted
and if any styles are given, then only those styles
are deleted for the pattern.
zstyle −g
name [ pattern [ style ] ]
Retrieve a style definition.
The name is used as the name of an array in which the
results are stored. Without any further arguments, all
patterns defined are returned. With a pattern
the styles defined for that pattern are returned and with
both a pattern and a style, the value strings
of that combination is returned.
The other forms
can be used to look up or test patterns.
zstyle −s context style name [ sep
]
The parameter name is
set to the value of the style interpreted as a string. If
the value contains several strings they are concatenated
with spaces (or with the sep string if that is given)
between them.
zstyle −b
context style name
The value is stored in
name as a boolean, i.e. as the string
’yes’ if the value has only one string
and that string is equal to one of ’yes’,
’true’, ’on’, or
’1’. If the value is any other string or
has more than one string, the parameter is set to
’no’.
zstyle −a
context style name
The value is stored in
name as an array. If name is declared as an
associative array, the first, third, etc. strings are used
as the keys and the other strings are used as the
values.
zstyle −t
context style [ strings ...]
zstyle −T context style [ strings
...]
Test the value of a style, i.e.
the −t option only returns a status (sets
$?). Without any strings the return status is
zero if the style is defined for at least one matching
pattern, has only one string in its value, and that is equal
to one of ’true’,
’yes’, ’on’ or
’1’. If any strings are given the
status is zero if and only if at least one of the
strings is equal to at least one of the strings in
the value. If the style is not defined, the status is
2.
The
−T option tests the values of the style like
−t, but it returns zero (rather than 2)
if the style is not defined for any matching pattern.
zstyle −m
context style pattern
Match a value. Returns status
zero if the pattern matches at least one of the
strings in the value.
zformat −f
param format specs ...
zformat −a array sep specs ...
This builtin provides two
different forms of formatting. The first form is selected
with the −f option. In this case the
format string will be modified by replacing sequences
starting with a percent sign in it with strings from the
specs. Each spec should be of the form
’char:string’ which will
cause every appearance of the sequence
’%char’ in format to be
replaced by the string. The ’%’
sequence may also contain optional minimum and maximum field
width specifications between the ’%’ and
the ’char’ in the form
’%min.maxc’,
i.e. the minimum field width is given first and if the
maximum field width is used, it has to be preceded by a dot.
Specifying a minimum field width makes the result be padded
with spaces to the right if the string is shorter
than the requested width. Padding to the left can be
achieved by giving a negative minimum field width. If a
maximum field width is specified, the string will be
truncated after that many characters. After all
’%’ sequences for the given specs
have been processed, the resulting string is stored in the
parameter param.
The
%−escapes also understand ternary expressions
in the form used by prompts. The % is followed by a
’(’ and then an ordinary format specifier
character as described above. There may be a set of digits
either before or after the ’(’; these
specify a test number, which defaults to zero. Negative
numbers are also allowed. An arbitrary delimiter character
follows the format specifier, which is followed by a piece
of ’true’ text, the delimiter character again, a
piece of ’false’ text, and a closing
parenthesis. The complete expression (without the digits)
thus looks like
’%(X.text1.text2)’,
except that the ’.’ character is
arbitrary. The value given for the format specifier in the
char:string expressions is evaluated as
a mathematical expression, and compared with the test
number. If they are the same, text1 is output, else
text2 is output. A parenthesis may be escaped in
text2 as %). Either of text1 or
text2 may contain nested %−escapes.
For
example:
zformat
−f REPLY "The answer is
’%3(c.yes.no)’." c:3
outputs
"The answer is ’yes’." to REPLY
since the value for the format specifier c is 3,
agreeing with the digit argument to the ternary
expression.
The second
form, using the −a option, can be used for
aligning strings. Here, the specs are of the form
’left:right’ where
’left’ and ’right’ are
arbitrary strings. These strings are modified by replacing
the colons by the sep string and padding the
left strings with spaces to the right so that the
sep strings in the result (and hence the right
strings after them) are all aligned if the strings are
printed below each other. All strings without a colon are
left unchanged and all strings with an empty right
string have the trailing colon removed. In both cases the
lengths of the strings are not used to determine how the
other strings are to be aligned. The resulting strings are
stored in the array.
zregexparse
This implements some internals
of the _regex_arguments function.
zparseopts [
−D ] [ −K ] [ −E ] [
−a array ] [ −A
assoc ] specs
This builtin simplifies the
parsing of options in positional parameters, i.e. the set of
arguments given by $*. Each spec describes one
option and must be of the form
’opt[=array]’. If an option
described by opt is found in the positional
parameters it is copied into the array specified with
the −a option; if the optional
’=array’ is given, it is instead
copied into that array.
Note that it is
an error to give any spec without an
’=array’ unless one of the
−a or −A options is used.
Unless the
−E option is given, parsing stops at the first
string that isn’t described by one of the
specs. Even with −E, parsing always
stops at a positional parameter equal to
’−’ or
’−−’.
The opt
description must be one of the following. Any of the special
characters can appear in the option name provided it is
preceded by a backslash.
|
name |
|
|
|
name+ |
|
The name is the name of the option without the
leading ’−’. To specify a
GNU−style long option, one of the usual two leading
’−’ must be included in
name; for example, a
’−−file’ option is
represented by a name of
’−file’. |
If a
’+’ appears after name, the option
is appended to array each time it is found in the
positional parameters; without the ’+’
only the last occurrence of the option is
preserved.
If one of these
forms is used, the option takes no argument, so parsing
stops if the next positional parameter does not also begin
with ’−’ (unless the
−E option is used).
|
name: |
|
|
|
name:− |
|
|
|
name:: |
|
If one or two colons are given, the option takes an
argument; with one colon, the argument is mandatory and with
two colons it is optional. The argument is appended to the
array after the option itself. |
An optional
argument is put into the same array element as the option
name (note that this makes empty strings as arguments
indistinguishable). A mandatory argument is added as a
separate element unless the ’:−’
form is used, in which case the argument is put into the
same element.
A
’+’ as described above may appear between
the name and the first colon.
The options of
zparseopts itself are:
−a array
As described above, this names
the default array in which to store the recognised
options.
−A
assoc
If this is given, the options
and their values are also put into an associative array with
the option names as keys and the arguments (if any) as the
values.
|
−D |
|
If this option is given, all options found are removed
from the positional parameters of the calling shell or shell
function, up to but not including any not described by the
specs. This is similar to using the shift
builtin. |
|
−K |
|
With this option, the arrays specified with the
−a and −A options and with the
’=array’ forms are kept unchanged
when none of the specs for them is used. This allows
assignment of default values to them before calling
zparseopts. |
|
−E |
|
This changes the parsing rules to not stop at the
first string that isn’t described by one of the
specs. It can be used to test for or (if used
together with −D) extract options and their
arguments, ignoring all other options and arguments that may
be in the positional parameters. |
For
example,
set
−− −a −bx −c y −cz baz
−cend
zparseopts a=foo b:=bar c+:=bar
will have the
effect of
foo=(−a)
bar=(−b x −c y −c z)
The arguments
from ’baz’ on will not be used.
As an example
for the −E option, consider:
set
−− −a x −b y −c z arg1 arg2
zparseopts −E −D b:=bar
will have the
effect of
bar=(−b
y)
set −− −a x −c z arg1 arg2
I.e., the
option −b and its arguments are taken from the
positional parameters and put into the array bar.
NAME
zshtcpsys − zsh tcp
system
DESCRIPTION
A module
zsh/net/tcp is provided to provide network I/O over
TCP/IP from within the shell; see its description in
zshmodules(1) . This manual page describes a function
suite based on the module. If the module is installed, the
functions are usually installed at the same time, in which
case they will be available for autoloading in the default
function search path. In addition to the zsh/net/tcp
module, the zsh/zselect module is used to implement
timeouts on read operations. For troubleshooting tips,
consult the corresponding advice for the zftp
functions described in zshftpsys(1) .
There are
functions corresponding to the basic I/O operations open,
close, read and send, named tcp_open etc., as well as
a function tcp_expect for pattern match analysis of
data read as input. The system makes it easy to receive data
from and send data to multiple named sessions at once. In
addition, it can be linked with the shell’s line
editor in such a way that input data is automatically shown
at the terminal. Other facilities available including
logging, filtering and configurable output prompts.
To use the
system where it is available, it should be enough to
’autoload −U tcp_open’ and run
tcp_open as documented below to start a session. The
tcp_open function will autoload the remaining
functions.
TCP USER FUNCTIONS
Basic I/O
tcp_open [−qz] host port [
sess ]
tcp_open [−qz] [ −s sess |
−l sess,... ] ...
tcp_open [−qz] [−a fd |
−f fd ] [ sess ]
Open a new session. In the
first and simplest form, open a TCP connection to host
host at port port; numeric and symbolic forms
are understood for both.
If sess
is given, this becomes the name of the session which can be
used to refer to multiple different TCP connections. If
sess is not given, the function will invent a numeric
name value (note this is not the same as the file
descriptor to which the session is attached). It is
recommended that session names not include
’funny’ characters, where funny characters are
not well−defined but certainly do not include
alphanumerics or underscores, and certainly do include
whitespace.
In the second
case, one or more sessions to be opened are given by name. A
single session name is given after −s and a
comma−separated list after −l; both
options may be repeated as many times as necessary. The host
and port are read from the file .ztcp_sessions in the
same directory as the user’s zsh initialisation files,
i.e. usually the home directory, but $ZDOTDIR if that
is set. The file consists of lines each giving a session
name and the corresponding host and port, in that order
(note the session name comes first, not last), separated by
whitespace.
The third form
allows passive and fake TCP connections. If the option
−a is used, its argument is a file descriptor
open for listening for connections. No function
front−end is provided to open such a file descriptor,
but a call to ’ztcp −l port’
will create one with the file descriptor stored in the
parameter $REPLY. The listening port can be closed
with ’ztcp −c fd’. A call to
’tcp_open −a fd’ will block
until a remote TCP connection is made to port on the
local machine. At this point, a session is created in the
usual way and is largely indistinguishable from an active
connection created with one of the first two forms.
If the option
−f is used, its argument is a file descriptor
which is used directly as if it were a TCP session. How well
the remainder of the TCP function system copes with this
depends on what actually underlies this file descriptor. A
regular file is likely to be unusable; a FIFO (pipe) of some
sort will work better, but note that it is not a good idea
for two different sessions to attempt to read from the same
FIFO at once.
If the option
−q is given with any of the three forms,
tcp_open will not print informational messages,
although it will in any case exit with an appropriate
status.
If the line
editor (zle) is in use, which is typically the case if the
shell is interactive, tcp_open installs a handler
inside zle which will check for new data at the same
time as it checks for keyboard input. This is convenient as
the shell consumes no CPU time while waiting; the test is
performed by the operating system. Giving the option
−z to any of the forms of tcp_open
prevents the handler from being installed, so data must be
read explicitly. Note, however, this is not necessary for
executing complete sets of send and read commands from a
function, as zle is not active at this point. Generally
speaking, the handler is only active when the shell is
waiting for input at a command prompt or in the vared
builtin. The option has no effect if zle is not active;
’[[ −o zle]]’ will test for
this.
The first
session to be opened becomes the current session and
subsequent calls to tcp_open do not change it. The
current session is stored in the parameter $TCP_SESS;
see below for more detail about the parameters used by the
system.
tcp_close [−qn] [
−a | −l sess,... | sess
... ]
Close the named sessions, or
the current session if none is given, or all open sessions
if −a is given. The options −l and
−s are both handled for consistency with
tcp_open, although the latter is redundant.
If the session
being closed is the current one, $TCP_SESS is unset,
leaving no current session, even if there are other sessions
still open.
If the session
was opened with tcp_open −f, the file
descriptor is closed so long as it is in the range 0 to 9
accessible directly from the command line. If the option
−n is given, no attempt will be made to close
file descriptors in this case. The −n option is
not used for genuine ztcp session; the file
descriptors are always closed with the session.
If the option
−q is given, no informational messages will be
printed.
tcp_read [−bdq] [
−t TO ] [ −T TO ]
[ −a | −u fd ... | −l
sess,... | −s sess
...]
Perform a read operation on the
current session, or on a list of sessions if any are given
with −u, −l or −s, or
all open sessions if the option −a is given.
Any of the −u, −l or
−s options may be repeated or mixed together.
The −u option specifies a file descriptor
directly (only those managed by this system are useful), the
other two specify sessions as described for tcp_open
above.
The function
checks for new data available on all the sessions listed.
Unless the −b option is given, it will not
block waiting for new data. Any one line of data from any of
the available sessions will be read, stored in the parameter
$TCP_LINE, and displayed to standard output unless
$TCP_SILENT contains a non−empty string. When
printed to standard output the string $TCP_PROMPT
will be shown at the start of the line; the default form for
this includes the name of the session being read. See below
for more information on these parameters. In this mode,
tcp_read can be called repeatedly until it returns
status 2 which indicates all pending input from all
specified sessions has been handled.
With the option
−b, equivalent to an infinite timeout, the
function will block until a line is available to read from
one of the specified sessions. However, only a single line
is returned.
The option
−d indicates that all pending input should be
drained. In this case tcp_read may process multiple
lines in the manner given above; only the last is stored in
$TCP_LINE, but the complete set is stored in the
array $tcp_lines. This is cleared at the start of
each call to tcp_read.
The options
−t and −T specify a timeout in
seconds, which may be a floating point number for increased
accuracy. With −t the timeout is applied before
each line read. With −T, the timeout applies to
the overall operation, possibly including multiple read
operations if the option −d is present; without
this option, there is no distinction between −t
and −T.
The function
does not print informational messages, but if the option
−q is given, no error message is printed for a
non−existent session.
A return value
of 2 indicates a timeout or no data to read. Any other
non−zero return value indicates some error
condition.
See
tcp_log for how to control where data is sent by
tcp_read.
tcp_send [−nq] [
−s sess | −l
sess,... ] data ...
tcp_send [−nq] −a data ...
Send the supplied data strings
to all the specified sessions in turn. The underlying
operation differs little from a ’print
−r’ to the session’s file descriptor,
although it attempts to prevent the shell from dying owing
to a SIGPIPE caused by an attempt to write to a
defunct session.
The option
−n prevents tcp_send from putting a
newline at the end of the data strings.
The remaining
options all behave as for tcp_read.
The data
arguments are not further processed once they have been
passed to tcp_send; they are simply passed down to
print −r.
If the
parameter $TCP_OUTPUT is a non−empty string and
logging is enabled then the data sent to each session will
be echoed to the log file(s) with $TCP_OUTPUT in
front where appropriate, much in the manner of
$TCP_PROMPT.
Session
Management
tcp_alias [−q] alias=sess
...
tcp_alias [−q] [ alias ] ...
tcp_alias −d [−q] alias
...
This function is not
particularly well tested.
The first form
creates an alias for a session name; alias can then
be used to refer to the existing session sess. As
many aliases may be listed as required.
The second form
lists any aliases specified, or all aliases if none.
The third form
deletes all the aliases listed. The underlying sessions are
not affected.
The option
−q suppresses an inconsistently chosen subset
of error messages.
tcp_log [−asc] [
−n | −N ] [ logfile ]
With an argument
logfile, all future input from tcp_read will
be logged to the named file. Unless −a (append)
is given, this file will first be truncated or created
empty. With no arguments, show the current status of
logging.
With the option
−s, per−session logging is enabled. Input
from tcp_read is output to the file
logfile.sess. As the session is automatically
discriminated by the filename, the contents are raw (no
$TCP_PROMPT). The option −a applies as
above. Per−session logging and logging of all data in
one file are not mutually exclusive.
The option
−c closes all logging, both complete and
per−session logs.
The options
−n and −N respectively turn off or
restore output of data read by tcp_read to standard
output; hence ’tcp_log −cn’ turns
off all output by tcp_read.
The function is
purely a convenient front end to setting the parameters
$TCP_LOG, $TCP_LOG_SESS, $TCP_SILENT,
which are described below.
tcp_rename old
new
Rename session old to
session new. The old name becomes invalid.
tcp_sess [ sess
[ command ... ] ]
With no arguments, list all the
open sessions and associated file descriptors. The current
session is marked with a star. For use in functions, direct
access to the parameters $tcp_by_name,
$tcp_by_fd and $TCP_SESS is probably more
convenient; see below.
With a
sess argument, set the current session to
sess. This is equivalent to changing $TCP_SESS
directly.
With additional
arguments, temporarily set the current session while
executing the string command .... The first argument
is re−evaluated so as to expand aliases etc., but the
remaining arguments are passed through as the appear to
tcp_sess. The original session is restored when
tcp_sess exits.
Advanced I/O
tcp_command send−options ...
send−arguments ...
This is a convenient
front−end to tcp_send. All arguments are passed
to tcp_send, then the function pauses waiting for
data. While data is arriving at least every
$TCP_TIMEOUT (default 0.3) seconds, data is handled
and printed out according to the current settings. Status 0
is always returned.
This is
generally only useful for interactive use, to prevent the
display becoming fragmented by output returned from the
connection. Within a programme or function it is generally
better to handle reading data by a more explicit method.
tcp_expect [ −q ] [
−p var ] [ −t to |
−T TO]
[ −a | −s sess ... | −l
sess,... ] pattern ...
Wait for input matching any of
the given patterns from any of the specified
sessions. Input is ignored until an input line matches one
of the given patterns; at this point status zero is
returned, the matching line is stored in $TCP_LINE,
and the full set of lines read during the call to
tcp_expect is stored in the array
$tcp_expect_lines.
Sessions are
specified in the same way as tcp_read: the default is
to use the current session, otherwise the sessions specified
by −a, −s, or −l are
used.
Each
pattern is a standard zsh extended−globbing
pattern; note that it needs to be quoted to avoid it being
expanded immediately by filename generation. It must match
the full line, so to match a substring there must be a
’*’ at the start and end. The line
matched against includes the $TCP_PROMPT added by
tcp_read. It is possible to include the globbing
flags ’#b’ or ’#m’ in
the patterns to make backreferences available in the
parameters $MATCH, $match, etc., as described
in the base zsh documentation on pattern matching.
Unlike
tcp_read, the default behaviour of tcp_expect
is to block indefinitely until the required input is found.
This can be modified by specifying a timeout with
−t or −T; these function as in
tcp_read, specifying a per−read or overall
timeout, respectively, in seconds, as an integer or
floating−point number. As tcp_read, the
function returns status 2 if a timeout occurs.
The function
returns as soon as any one of the patterns given match. If
the caller needs to know which of the patterns matched, the
option −p var can be used; on return,
$var is set to the number of the pattern using
ordinary zsh indexing, i.e. the first is 1, and so on. Note
the absence of a ’$’ in front of
var. To avoid clashes, the parameter cannot begin
with ’_expect’.
The option
−q is passed directly down to
tcp_read.
As all input is
done via tcp_read, all the usual rules about output
of lines read apply. One exception is that the parameter
$tcp_lines will only reflect the line actually
matched by tcp_expect; use $tcp_expect_lines
for the full set of lines read during the function call.
tcp_proxy
This is a simple−minded
function to accept a TCP connection and execute a command
with I/O redirected to the connection. Extreme caution
should be taken as there is no security whatsoever and this
can leave your computer open to the world. Ideally, it
should only be used behind a firewall.
The first
argument is a TCP port on which the function will
listen.
The remaining
arguments give a command and its arguments to execute with
standard input, standard output and standard error
redirected to the file descriptor on which the TCP session
has been accepted. If no command is given, a new zsh is
started. This gives everyone on your network direct access
to your account, which in many cases will be a bad
thing.
The command is
run in the background, so tcp_proxy can then accept
new connections. It continues to accept new connections
until interrupted.
tcp_spam [−ertv] [
−a | −s sess | −l
sess,... ] cmd ...
Execute ’cmd
...’ for each session in turn. Note this
executes the command and arguments; it does not send the
command line as data unless the −t (transmit)
option is given.
The sessions
may be selected explicitly with the standard
−a, −s or −l options,
or may be chosen implicitly. If none of the three options is
given the rules are: first, if the array
$tcp_spam_list is set, this is taken as the list of
sessions, otherwise all sessions are taken. Second, any
sessions given in the array $tcp_no_spam_list are
removed from the list of sessions.
Normally, any
sessions added by the ’−a’ flag or
when all sessions are chosen implicitly are spammed in
alphabetic order; sessions given by the
$tcp_spam_list array or on the command line are
spammed in the order given. The −r flag
reverses the order however it was arrived it.
The
−v flag specifies that a $TCP_PROMPT
will be output before each session. This is output after any
modification to TCP_SESS by the user−defined
tcp_on_spam function described below. (Obviously that
function is able to generate its own output.)
If the option
−e is present, the line given as cmd ...
is executed using eval, otherwise it is executed
without any further processing.
tcp_talk
This is a fairly
simple−minded attempt to force input to the line
editor to go straight to the default TCP_SESSION.
An escape
string, $TCP_TALK_ESCAPE, default ’:’, is
used to allow access to normal shell operation. If it is on
its own at the start of the line, or followed only by
whitespace, the line editor returns to normal operation.
Otherwise, the string and any following whitespace are
skipped and the remainder of the line executed as shell
input without any change of the line editor’s
operating mode.
The current
implementation is somewhat deficient in terms of use of the
command history. For this reason, many users will prefer to
use some form of alternative approach for sending data
easily to the current session. One simple approach is to
alias some special character (such as
’%’) to ’tcp_command
−−’.
tcp_wait
The sole argument is an integer
or floating point number which gives the seconds to delay.
The shell will do nothing for that period except wait for
input on all TCP sessions by calling tcp_read
−a. This is similar to the interactive behaviour
at the command prompt when zle handlers are installed.
’One−shot’
file transfer
tcp_point port
tcp_shoot host port
This pair of functions provide
a simple way to transfer a file between two hosts within the
shell. Note, however, that bulk data transfer is currently
done using cat. tcp_point reads any data
arriving at port and sends it to standard output;
tcp_shoot connects to port on host and
sends its standard input. Any unused port may be
used; the standard mechanism for picking a port is to think
of a random four−digit number above 1024 until one
works.
To transfer a
file from host woodcock to host springes, on
springes:
tcp_point
8091 >output_file
and on
woodcock:
tcp_shoot
springes 8091 <input_file
As these two
functions do not require tcp_open to set up a TCP
connection first, they may need to be autoloaded
separately.
TCP USER−DEFINED FUNCTIONS
Certain
functions, if defined by the user, will be called by the
function system in certain contexts. This facility depends
on the module zsh/parameter, which is usually
available in interactive shells as the completion system
depends on it. None of the functions need be defined; they
simply provide convenient hooks when necessary.
Typically,
these are called after the requested action has been taken,
so that the various parameters will reflect the new state.
tcp_on_alias alias fd
When an alias is defined, this
function will be called with two arguments: the name of the
alias, and the file descriptor of the corresponding
session.
tcp_on_close sess
fd
This is called with the name of
a session being closed and the file descriptor which
corresponded to that session. Both will be invalid by the
time the function is called.
tcp_on_open sess
fd
This is called after a new
session has been defined with the session name and file
descriptor as arguments.
tcp_on_rename oldsess
fd newsess
This is called after a session
has been renamed with the three arguments old session name,
file descriptor, new session name.
tcp_on_spam sess
command ...
This is called once for each
session spammed, just before a command is executed
for a session by tcp_spam. The arguments are the
session name followed by the command list to be executed. If
tcp_spam was called with the option −t,
the first command will be tcp_send.
This function
is called after $TCP_SESS is set to reflect the
session to be spammed, but before any use of it is made.
Hence it is possible to alter the value of $TCP_SESS
within this function. For example, the session arguments to
tcp_spam could include extra information to be
stripped off and processed in tcp_on_spam.
If the function
sets the parameter $REPLY to
’done’, the command line is not executed;
in addition, no prompt is printed for the −v
option to tcp_spam.
tcp_on_unalias alias
fd
This is called with the name of
an alias and the corresponding session’s file
descriptor after an alias has been deleted.
TCP UTILITY FUNCTIONS
The following
functions are used by the TCP function system but will
rarely if ever need to be called directly.
tcp_fd_handler
This is the function installed
by tcp_open for handling input from within the line
editor, if that is required. It is in the format documented
for the builtin ’zle −F’ in
zshzle(1) .
While active,
the function sets the parameter TCP_HANDLER_ACTIVE to
1. This allows shell code called internally (for example, by
setting tcp_on_read) to tell if is being called when
the shell is otherwise idle at the editor prompt.
tcp_output [ −q ]
−P prompt −F fd
−S sess
This function is used for both
logging and handling output to standard output, from within
tcp_read and (if $TCP_OUTPUT is set)
tcp_send.
The
prompt to use is specified by −P; the
default is the empty string. It can contain:
|
%c |
|
Expands to 1 if the session is the current session,
otherwise 0. Used with ternary expresions such as
’%(c.−.+)’ to output
’+’ for the current session and
’−’ otherwise. |
|
%f |
|
Replaced by the session’s file descriptor. |
|
%s |
|
Replaced by the session name. |
|
%% |
|
Replaced by a single ’%’. |
The option
−q suppresses output to standard output, but
not to any log files which are configured.
The
−S and −F options are used to pass
in the session name and file descriptor for possible
replacement in the prompt.
TCP USER PARAMETERS
Parameters
follow the usual convention that uppercase is used for
scalars and integers, while lowercase is used for normal and
associative array. It is always safe for user code to read
these parameters. Some parameters may also be set; these are
noted explicitly. Others are included in this group as they
are set by the function system for the user’s benefit,
i.e. setting them is typically not useful but is benign.
It is often
also useful to make settable parameters local to a function.
For example, ’local TCP_SILENT=1’
specifies that data read during the function call will not
be printed to standard output, regardless of the setting
outside the function. Likewise, ’local
TCP_SESS=sess’ sets a session for the
duration of a function, and ’local
TCP_PROMPT=’ specifies that no prompt is used for
input during the function.
tcp_expect_lines
Array. The set of lines read
during the last call to tcp_expect, including the
last ($TCP_LINE).
tcp_filter
Array. May be set directly. A
set of extended globbing patterns which, if matched in
tcp_output, will cause the line not to be printed to
standard output. The patterns should be defined as described
for the arguments to tcp_expect. Output of line to
log files is not affected.
TCP_HANDLER_ACTIVE
Scalar. Set to 1 within
tcp_fd_handler to indicate to functions called
recursively that they have been called during an editor
session. Otherwise unset.
TCP_LINE
The last line read by
tcp_read, and hence also tcp_expect.
TCP_LINE_FD
The file descriptor from which
$TCP_LINE was read. ${tcp_by_fd[$TCP_LINE_FD]}
will give the corresponding session name.
tcp_lines
Array. The set of lines read
during the last call to tcp_read, including the last
($TCP_LINE).
TCP_LOG
May be set directly, although
it is also controlled by tcp_log. The name of a file
to which output from all sessions will be sent. The output
is proceeded by the usual $TCP_PROMPT. If it is not
an absolute path name, it will follow the user’s
current directory.
TCP_LOG_SESS
May be set directly, although
it is also controlled by tcp_log. The prefix for a
set of files to which output from each session separately
will be sent; the full filename is
${TCP_LOG_SESS}.sess. Output to each file is
raw; no prompt is added. If it is not an absolute path name,
it will follow the user’s current directory.
tcp_no_spam_list
Array. May be set directly. See
tcp_spam for how this is used.
TCP_OUTPUT
May be set directly. If a
non−empty string, any data sent to a session by
tcp_send will be logged. This parameter gives the
prompt to be used in a file specified by $TCP_LOG but
not in a file generated from $TCP_LOG_SESS. The
prompt string has the same format as TCP_PROMPT and
the same rules for its use apply.
TCP_PROMPT
May be set directly. Used as
the prefix for data read by tcp_read which is printed
to standard output or to the log file given by
$TCP_LOG, if any. Any ’%s’,
’%f’ or ’%%’ occurring
in the string will be replaced by the name of the session,
the session’s underlying file descriptor, or a single
’%’, respectively. The expression
’%c’ expands to 1 if the session being
read is the current session, else 0; this is most useful in
ternary expressions such as
’%(c.−.+)’ which outputs
’+’ if the session is the current one,
else ’−’.
TCP_READ_DEBUG
May be set directly. If this
has non−zero length, tcp_read will give some
limited diagnostics about data being read.
TCP_SECONDS_START
This value is created and
initialised to zero by tcp_open.
The functions
tcp_read and tcp_expect use the shell’s
SECONDS parameter for their own timing purposes. If
that parameter is not of floating point type on entry to one
of the functions, it will create a local parameter
SECONDS which is floating point and set the parameter
TCP_SECONDS_START to the previous value of
$SECONDS. If the parameter is already floating point,
it is used without a local copy being created and
TCP_SECONDS_START is not set. As the global value is
zero, the shell elapsed time is guaranteed to be the sum of
$SECONDS and $TCP_SECONDS_START.
This can be
avoided by setting SECONDS globally to a floating
point value using ’typeset −F
SECONDS’; then the TCP functions will never make a
local copy and never set TCP_SECONDS_START to a
non−zero value.
TCP_SESS
May be set directly. The
current session; must refer to one of the sessions
established by tcp_open.
TCP_SILENT
May be set directly, although
it is also controlled by tcp_log. If of
non−zero length, data read by tcp_read will not
be written to standard output, though may still be written
to a log file.
tcp_spam_list
Array. May be set directly. See
the description of the function tcp_spam for how this
is used.
TCP_TALK_ESCAPE
May be set directly. See the
description of the function tcp_talk for how this is
used.
TCP_TIMEOUT
May be set directly. Currently
this is only used by the function tcp_command, see
above.
TCP USER−DEFINED PARAMETERS
The following
parameters are not set by the function system, but have a
special effect if set by the user.
tcp_on_read
This should be an associative
array; if it is not, the behaviour is undefined. Each key is
the name of a shell function or other command, and the
corresponding value is a shell pattern (using
EXTENDED_GLOB). Every line read from a TCP session
directly or indirectly using tcp_read (which includes
lines read by tcp_expect) is compared against the
pattern. If the line matches, the command given in the key
is called with two arguments: the name of the session from
which the line was read, and the line itself.
If any function
called to handle a line returns a non−zero status, the
line is not output. Thus a tcp_on_read handler
containing only the instruction ’return
1’ can be used to suppress output of particular
lines (see, however, tcp_filter above). However, the
line is still stored in TCP_LINE and
tcp_lines; this occurs after all tcp_on_read
processing.
TCP UTILITY PARAMETERS
These
parameters are controlled by the function system; they may
be read directly, but should not usually be set by user
code.
tcp_aliases
Associative array. The keys are
the names of sessions established with tcp_open; each
value is a space−separated list of aliases which refer
to that session.
tcp_by_fd
Associative array. The keys are
session file descriptors; each value is the name of that
session.
tcp_by_name
Associative array. The keys are
the names of sessions; each value is the file descriptor
associated with that session.
TCP EXAMPLES
Here is a
trivial example using a remote calculator.
TO create a
calculator server on port 7337 (see the dc manual
page for quite how infuriating the underlying command
is):
tcp_proxy
7337 dc
To connect to
this from the same host with a session also named
’dc’:
tcp_open
localhost 7337 dc
To send a
command to the remote session and wait a short while for
output (assuming dc is the current session):
tcp_command
2 4 + p
To close the
session:
tcp_close
The
tcp_proxy needs to be killed to be stopped. Note this
will not usually kill any connections which have already
been accepted, and also that the port is not immediately
available for reuse.
The following
chunk of code puts a list of sessions into an xterm header,
with the current session followed by a star.
print
−n "\033]2;TCP:"
${(k)tcp_by_name:/$TCP_SESS/$TCP_SESS\*}
"\a"
TCP BUGS
The function
tcp_read uses the shell’s normal read
builtin. As this reads a complete line at once, data
arriving without a terminating newline can cause the
function to block indefinitely.
Though the
function suite works well for interactive use and for data
arriving in small amounts, the performance when large
amounts of data are being exchanged is likely to be
extremely poor.
NAME
zshzftpsys − zftp
function front−end
DESCRIPTION
This describes
the set of shell functions supplied with the source
distribution as an interface to the zftp builtin
command, allowing you to perform FTP operations from the
shell command line or within functions or scripts. The
interface is similar to a traditional FTP client (e.g. the
ftp command itself, see ftp(1)), but as it is
entirely done within the shell all the familiar completion,
editing and globbing features, and so on, are present, and
macros are particularly simple to write as they are just
ordinary shell functions.
The
prerequisite is that the zftp command, as described
in zshmodules(1) , must be available in the version
of zsh installed at your site. If the shell is
configured to load new commands at run time, it probably is:
typing ’zmodload zsh/zftp’ will make sure
(if that runs silently, it has worked). If this is not the
case, it is possible zftp was linked into the shell
anyway: to test this, type ’which zftp’
and if zftp is available you will get the message
’zftp: shell built−in command’.
Commands given
directly with zftp builtin may be interspersed
between the functions in this suite; in a few cases, using
zftp directly may cause some of the status
information stored in shell parameters to become invalid.
Note in particular the description of the variables
$ZFTP_TMOUT, $ZFTP_PREFS and
$ZFTP_VERBOSE for zftp.
INSTALLATION
You should make
sure all the functions from the Functions/Zftp
directory of the source distribution are available; they all
begin with the two letters ’zf’. They may
already have been installed on your system; otherwise, you
will need to find them and copy them. The directory should
appear as one of the elements of the $fpath array
(this should already be the case if they were installed),
and at least the function zfinit should be
autoloaded; it will autoload the rest. Finally, to
initialize the use of the system you need to call the
zfinit function. The following code in your
.zshrc will arrange for this; assume the functions
are stored in the directory ~/myfns:
fpath=(~/myfns
$fpath)
autoload −U zfinit
zfinit
Note that
zfinit assumes you are using the zmodload
method to load the zftp command. If it is already
built into the shell, change zfinit to zfinit
−n. It is helpful (though not essential) if the
call to zfinit appears after any code to initialize
the new completion system, else unnecessary compctl
commands will be given.
FUNCTIONS
The sequence of
operations in performing a file transfer is essentially the
same as that in a standard FTP client. Note that, due to a
quirk of the shell’s getopts builtin, for those
functions that handle options you must use
’−−’ rather than
’−’ to ensure the remaining
arguments are treated literally (a single
’−’ is treated as an argument).
Opening a
connection
zfparams [ host [ user [
password ... ] ] ]
Set or show the parameters for
a future zfopen with no arguments. If no arguments
are given, the current parameters are displayed (the
password will be shown as a line of asterisks). If a host is
given, and either the user or password is not,
they will be prompted for; also, any parameter given as
’?’ will be prompted for, and if the
’?’ is followed by a string, that will be
used as the prompt. As zfopen calls zfparams
to store the parameters, this usually need not be called
directly.
A single
argument ’−’ will delete the stored
parameters. This will also cause the memory of the last
directory (and so on) on the other host to be deleted.
zfopen [ −1 ] [
host [ user [ password
[ account ] ] ] ]
If host is present, open
a connection to that host under username user with
password password (and, on the rare occasions when it
is necessary, account account). If a necessary
parameter is missing or given as ’?’ it
will be prompted for. If host is not present, use a
previously stored set of parameters.
If the command
was successful, and the terminal is compatible with
xterm or is sun−cmd, a summary will
appear in the title bar, giving the local
host:directory and the remote host:directory;
this is handled by the function zftp_chpwd, described
below.
Normally, the
host, user and password are internally
recorded for later re−opening, either by a
zfopen with no arguments, or automatically (see
below). With the option ’−1’, no
information is stored. Also, if an open command with
arguments failed, the parameters will not be retained (and
any previous parameters will also be deleted). A
zfopen on its own, or a zfopen −1, never
alters the stored parameters.
Both
zfopen and zfanon (but not zfparams)
understand URLs of the form
ftp://host/path... as meaning to
connect to the host, then change directory to
path (which must be a directory, not a file). The
’ftp://’ can be omitted; the trailing
’/’ is enough to trigger recognition of
the path. Note prefixes other than
’ftp:’ are not recognized, and that all
characters after the first slash beyond host are
significant in path.
zfanon [ −1 ]
host
Open a connection host
for anonymous FTP. The username used is
’anonymous’. The password (which will be
reported the first time) is generated as
user@host; this is then stored in the
shell parameter $EMAIL_ADDR which can alternatively
be set manually to a suitable string.
Directory
management
zfcd [ dir ]
zfcd old new
Change the current directory on
the remote server: this is implemented to have many of the
features of the shell builtin cd.
In the first
form with dir present, change to the directory
dir. The command ’zfcd ..’ is
treated specially, so is guaranteed to work on
non−UNIX servers (note this is handled internally by
zftp). If dir is omitted, has the effect of
’zfcd ~’.
The second form
changes to the directory previously current.
The third form
attempts to change the current directory by replacing the
first occurrence of the string old with the string
new in the current directory.
Note that in
this command, and indeed anywhere a remote filename is
expected, the string which on the local host corresponds to
’~’ is converted back to a
’~’ before being passed to the remote
machine. This is convenient because of the way expansion is
performed on the command line before zfcd receives a
string. For example, suppose the command is ’zfcd
~/foo’. The shell will expand this to a full path
such as ’zfcd /home/user2/pws/foo’. At
this stage, zfcd recognises the initial path as
corresponding to ’~’ and will send the
directory to the remote host as ~/foo, so that the
’~’ will be expanded by the server to the
correct remote host directory. Other named directories of
the form ’~name’ are not treated in this
fashion.
|
zfhere |
|
Change directory on the remote server to the one
corresponding to the current local directory, with special
handling of ’~’ as in zfcd. For
example, if the current local directory is ~/foo/bar,
then zfhere performs the effect of ’zfcd
~/foo/bar’. |
zfdir [ −rfd ] [
− ] [ dir−options ] [
dir ]
Produce a long directory
listing. The arguments dir−options and
dir are passed directly to the server and their
effect is implementation dependent, but specifying a
particular remote directory dir is usually possible.
The output is passed through a pager given by the
environment variable $PAGER, or
’more’ if that is not set.
The directory
is usually cached for re−use. In fact, two caches are
maintained. One is for use when there is no
dir−options or dir, i.e. a full listing
of the current remote directory; it is flushed when the
current remote directory changes. The other is kept for
repeated use of zfdir with the same arguments; for
example, repeated use of ’zfdir /pub/gnu’
will only require the directory to be retrieved on the first
call. Alternatively, this cache can be re−viewed with
the −r option. As relative directories will
confuse zfdir, the −f option can be used
to force the cache to be flushed before the directory is
listed. The option −d will delete both caches
without showing a directory listing; it will also delete the
cache of file names in the current remote directory, if
any.
zfls [
ls−options ] [ dir ]
List files on the remote
server. With no arguments, this will produce a simple list
of file names for the current remote directory. Any
arguments are passed directly to the server. No pager and no
caching is used.
Status
commands
zftype [ type ]
With no arguments, show the
type of data to be transferred, usually ASCII or binary.
With an argument, change the type: the types
’A’ or ’ASCII’ for
ASCII data and ’B’ or
’BINARY’, ’I’ or
’IMAGE’ for binary data are understood
case−insensitively.
zfstat [ −v ]
Show the status of the current
or last connection, as well as the status of some of
zftp’s status variables. With the
−v option, a more verbose listing is produced
by querying the server for its version of events, too.
Retrieving
files
The commands for retrieving files all take at least two
options. −G suppresses remote filename
expansion which would otherwise be performed (see below for
a more detailed description of that). −t
attempts to set the modification time of the local file to
that of the remote file: this requires version 5 of
perl, see the description of the function
zfrtime below for more information.
zfget [ −Gtc ] file1 ...
Retrieve all the listed files
file1 ... one at a time from the remote server. If a
file contains a ’/’, the full name is
passed to the remote server, but the file is stored locally
under the name given by the part after the final
’/’. The option −c (cat)
forces all files to be sent as a single stream to standard
output; in this case the −t option has no
effect.
zfuget [ −Gvst ]
file1 ...
As zfget, but only
retrieve files where the version on the remote server is
newer (has a later modification time), or where the local
file does not exist. If the remote file is older but the
files have different sizes, or if the sizes are the same but
the remote file is newer, the user will usually be queried.
With the option −s, the command runs silently
and will always retrieve the file in either of those two
cases. With the option −v, the command prints
more information about the files while it is working out
whether or not to transfer them.
zfcget [ −Gt ]
file1 ...
As zfget, but if any of
the local files exists, and is shorter than the
corresponding remote file, the command assumes that it is
the result of a partially completed transfer and attempts to
transfer the rest of the file. This is useful on a poor
connection which keeps failing.
Note that this
requires a commonly implemented, but non−standard,
version of the FTP protocol, so is not guaranteed to work on
all servers.
zfgcp [ −Gt ]
remote−file local−file
zfgcp [ −Gt ] rfile1 ...
ldir
This retrieves files from the
remote server with arguments behaving similarly to the
cp command.
In the first
form, copy remote−file from the server to the
local file local−file.
In the second
form, copy all the remote files rfile1 ... into the
local directory ldir retaining the same basenames.
This assumes UNIX directory semantics.
Sending
files
zfput [ −r ] file1 ...
Send all the file1 ...
given separately to the remote server. If a filename
contains a ’/’, the full filename is used
locally to find the file, but only the basename is used for
the remote file name.
With the option
−r, if any of the files are directories
they are sent recursively with all their subdirectories,
including files beginning with ’.’. This
requires that the remote machine understand UNIX file
semantics, since ’/’ is used as a
directory separator.
zfuput [ −vs ]
file1 ...
As zfput, but only send
files which are newer than their local equivalents, or if
the remote file does not exist. The logic is the same as for
zfuget, but reversed between local and remote
files.
zfcput file1
...
As zfput, but if any
remote file already exists and is shorter than the local
equivalent, assume it is the result of an incomplete
transfer and send the rest of the file to append to the
existing part. As the FTP append command is part of the
standard set, this is in principle more likely to work than
zfcget.
zfpcp
local−file remote−file
zfpcp lfile1 ... rdir
This sends files to the remote
server with arguments behaving similarly to the cp
command.
With two
arguments, copy local−file to the server as
remote−file.
With more than
two arguments, copy all the local files lfile1 ...
into the existing remote directory rdir retaining the
same basenames. This assumes UNIX directory semantics.
A problem
arises if you attempt to use zfpcp lfile1
rdir, i.e. the second form of copying but with two
arguments, as the command has no simple way of knowing if
rdir corresponds to a directory or a filename. It
attempts to resolve this in various ways. First, if the
rdir argument is ’.’ or
’..’ or ends in a slash, it is assumed to
be a directory. Secondly, if the operation of copying to a
remote file in the first form failed, and the remote server
sends back the expected failure code 553 and a reply
including the string ’Is a directory’,
then zfpcp will retry using the second form.
Closing the
connection
zfclose
Close the connection.
Session
management
zfsession [ −lvod ] [ sessname ]
Allows you to manage multiple
FTP sessions at once. By default, connections take place in
a session called ’default’; by giving the
command ’zfsession sessname’ you
can change to a new or existing session with a name of your
choice. The new session remembers its own connection, as
well as associated shell parameters, and also the host/user
parameters set by zfparams. Hence you can have
different sessions set up to connect to different hosts,
each remembering the appropriate host, user and
password.
With no
arguments, zfsession prints the name of the current
session; with the option −l it lists all
sessions which currently exist, and with the option
−v it gives a verbose list showing the host and
directory for each session, where the current session is
marked with an asterisk. With −o, it will
switch to the most recent previous session.
With
−d, the given session (or else the current one)
is removed; everything to do with it is completely
forgotten. If it was the only session, a new session called
’default’ is created and made current. It
is safest not to delete sessions while background commands
using zftp are active.
zftransfer
sess1:file1
sess2:file2
Transfer files between two
sessions; no local copy is made. The file is read from the
session sess1 as file1 and written to session
sess2 as file file2; file1 and
file2 may be relative to the current directories of
the session. Either sess1 or sess2 may be
omitted (though the colon should be retained if there is a
possibility of a colon appearing in the file name) and
defaults to the current session; file2 may be omitted
or may end with a slash, in which case the basename of
file1 will be added. The sessions sess1 and
sess2 must be distinct.
The operation
is performed using pipes, so it is required that the
connections still be valid in a subshell, which is not the
case under versions of some operating systems, presumably
due to a system bug.
Bookmarks
The two functions zfmark and zfgoto allow you
to ’bookmark’ the present location (host, user
and directory) of the current FTP connection for later use.
The file to be used for storing and retrieving bookmarks is
given by the parameter $ZFTP_BMFILE; if not set when
one of the two functions is called, it will be set to the
file .zfbkmarks in the directory where your zsh
startup files live (usually ~).
zfmark [ bookmark ]
If given an argument, mark the
current host, user and directory under the name
bookmark for later use by zfgoto. If there is
no connection open, use the values for the last connection
immediately before it was closed; it is an error if there
was none. Any existing bookmark under the same name will be
silently replaced.
If not given an
argument, list the existing bookmarks and the points to
which they refer in the form
user@host:directory; this
is the format in which they are stored, and the file may be
edited directly.
zfgoto [ −n ]
bookmark
Return to the location given by
bookmark, as previously set by zfmark. If the
location has user ’ftp’ or
’anonymous’, open the connection with
zfanon, so that no password is required. If the user
and host parameters match those stored for the current
session, if any, those will be used, and again no password
is required. Otherwise a password will be prompted for.
With the option
−n, the bookmark is taken to be a nickname
stored by the ncftp program in its bookmark file,
which is assumed to be ~/.ncftp/bookmarks. The
function works identically in other ways. Note that there is
no mechanism for adding or modifying ncftp bookmarks
from the zftp functions.
Other
functions
Mostly, these functions will not be called directly (apart
from zfinit), but are described here for
completeness. You may wish to alter zftp_chpwd and
zftp_progress, in particular.
zfinit [ −n ]
As described above, this is
used to initialize the zftp function system. The
−n option should be used if the zftp command is
already built into the shell.
zfautocheck [ −dn
]
This function is called to
implement automatic reopening behaviour, as described in
more detail below. The options must appear in the first
argument; −n prevents the command from changing
to the old directory, while −d prevents it from
setting the variable do_close, which it otherwise
does as a flag for automatically closing the connection
after a transfer. The host and directory for the last
session are stored in the variable $zflastsession,
but the internal host/user/password parameters must also be
correctly set.
zfcd_match prefix
suffix
This performs matching for
completion of remote directory names. If the remote server
is UNIX, it will attempt to persuade the server to list the
remote directory with subdirectories marked, which usually
works but is not guaranteed. On other hosts it simply calls
zfget_match and hence completes all files, not just
directories. On some systems, directories may not even look
like filenames.
zfget_match prefix
suffix
This performs matching for
completion of remote filenames. It caches files for the
current directory (only) in the shell parameter
$zftp_fcache. It is in the form to be called by the
−K option of compctl, but also works
when called from a widget−style completion function
with prefix and suffix set appropriately.
zfrglob
varname
Perform remote globbing, as
describes in more detail below. varname is the name
of a variable containing the pattern to be expanded; if
there were any matches, the same variable will be set to the
expanded set of filenames on return.
zfrtime lfile
rfile [ time ]
Set the local file lfile
to have the same modification time as the remote file
rfile, or the explicit time time in FTP format
CCYYMMDDhhmmSS for the GMT timezone.
Currently this
requires perl version 5 to perform the conversion
from GMT to local time. This is unfortunately difficult to
do using shell code alone.
zftp_chpwd
This function is called every
time a connection is opened, or closed, or the remote
directory changes. This version alters the title bar of an
xterm−compatible or sun−cmd
terminal emulator to reflect the local and remote hostnames
and current directories. It works best when combined with
the function chpwd. In particular, a function of the
form
chpwd() {
if [[ −n $ZFTP_USER ]]; then
zftp_chpwd
else
# usual chpwd e.g put host:directory in title bar
fi
}
fits in
well.
zftp_progress
This function shows the status
of the transfer. It will not write anything unless the
output is going to a terminal; however, if you transfer
files in the background, you should turn off progress
reports by hand using ’zstyle ’:zftp:*’
progress none’. Note also that if you alter it,
any output must be to standard error, as standard
output may be a file being received. The form of the
progress meter, or whether it is used at all, can be
configured without altering the function, as described in
the next section.
zffcache
This is used to implement
caching of files in the current directory for each session
separately. It is used by zfget_match and
zfrglob.
MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES
Configuration
Various styles are available using the standard shell style
mechanism, described in zshmodules(1). Briefly, the
command ’zstyle ’:zftp:*’ style
value ...’. defines the style to have value
value; more than one value may be given, although
that is not useful in the cases described here. These values
will then be used throughout the zftp function system. For
more precise control, the first argument, which gives a
context in which the style applies, can be modified to
include a particular function, as for example
’:zftp:zfget’: the style will then have
the given value only in the zfget function. Values
for the same style in different contexts may be set; the
most specific function will be used, where strings are held
to be more specific than patterns, and longer patterns and
shorter patterns. Note that only the top level function
name, as called by the user, is used; calling of lower level
functions is transparent to the user. Hence modifications to
the title bar in zftp_chpwd use the contexts
:zftp:zfopen, :zftp:zfcd, etc., depending
where it was called from. The following styles are
understood:
progress
Controls the way that
zftp_progress reports on the progress of a transfer.
If empty, unset, or ’none’, no progress
report is made; if ’bar’ a growing bar of
inverse video is shown; if ’percent’ (or
any other string, though this may change in future), the
percentage of the file transferred is shown. The bar meter
requires that the width of the terminal be available via the
$COLUMNS parameter (normally this is set
automatically). If the size of the file being transferred is
not available, bar and percent meters will
simply show the number of bytes transferred so far.
When
zfinit is run, if this style is not defined for the
context :zftp:*, it will be set to
’bar’.
|
update |
|
Specifies the minimum time interval between updates of
the progress meter in seconds. No update is made unless new
data has been received, so the actual time interval is
limited only by $ZFTP_TIMEOUT. |
As described
for progress, zfinit will force this to
default to 1.
remote−glob
If set to ’1’,
’yes’ or ’true’, filename generation
(globbing) is performed on the remote machine instead of by
zsh itself; see below.
titlebar
If set to ’1’,
’yes’ or ’true’, zftp_chpwd
will put the remote host and remote directory into the
titlebar of terminal emulators such as xterm or
sun−cmd that allow this.
As described
for progress, zfinit will force this to
default to 1.
|
chpwd |
|
If set to ’1’ ’yes’ or
’true’, zftp_chpwd will call the function
chpwd when a connection is closed. This is useful if
the remote host details were put into the terminal title bar
by zftp_chpwd and your usual chpwd also
modifies the title bar. |
When
zfinit is run, it will determine whether chpwd
exists and if so it will set the default value for the style
to 1 if none exists already.
Note that there
is also an associative array zfconfig which contains
values used by the function system. This should not be
modified or overwritten.
Remote
globbing
The commands for retrieving files usually perform filename
generation (globbing) on their arguments; this can be turned
off by passing the option −G to each of the
commands. Normally this operates by retrieving a complete
list of files for the directory in question, then matching
these locally against the pattern supplied. This has the
advantage that the full range of zsh patterns (respecting
the setting of the option EXTENDED_GLOB) can be used.
However, it means that the directory part of a filename will
not be expanded and must be given exactly. If the remote
server does not support the UNIX directory semantics,
directory handling is problematic and it is recommended that
globbing only be used within the current directory. The list
of files in the current directory, if retrieved, will be
cached, so that subsequent globs in the same directory
without an intervening zfcd are much faster.
If the
remote−glob style (see above) is set, globbing
is instead performed on the remote host: the server is asked
for a list of matching files. This is highly dependent on
how the server is implemented, though typically UNIX servers
will provide support for basic glob patterns. This may in
some cases be faster, as it avoids retrieving the entire
list of directory contents.
Automatic
and temporary reopening
As described for the zfopen command, a subsequent
zfopen with no parameters will reopen the connection
to the last host (this includes connections made with the
zfanon command). Opened in this fashion, the
connection starts in the default remote directory and will
remain open until explicitly closed.
Automatic
re−opening is also available. If a connection is not
currently open and a command requiring a connection is
given, the last connection is implicitly reopened. In this
case the directory which was current when the connection was
closed again becomes the current directory (unless, of
course, the command given changes it). Automatic reopening
will also take place if the connection was close by the
remote server for whatever reason (e.g. a timeout). It is
not available if the −1 option to zfopen
or zfanon was used.
Furthermore, if
the command issued is a file transfer, the connection will
be closed after the transfer is finished, hence providing a
one−shot mode for transfers. This does not apply to
directory changing or listing commands; for example a
zfdir may reopen a connection but will leave it open.
Also, automatic closure will only ever happen in the same
command as automatic opening, i.e a zfdir directly
followed by a zfget will never close the connection
automatically.
Information
about the previous connection is given by the zfstat
function. So, for example, if that reports:
Session:
default
Not connected.
Last session: ftp.bar.com:/pub/textfiles
then the
command zfget file.txt will attempt to reopen a
connection to ftp.bar.com, retrieve the file
/pub/textfiles/file.txt, and immediately close the
connection again. On the other hand, zfcd .. will
open the connection in the directory /pub and leave
it open.
Note that all
the above is local to each session; if you return to a
previous session, the connection for that session is the one
which will be reopened.
Completion
Completion of local and remote files, directories, sessions
and bookmarks is supported. The older,
compctl−style completion is defined when
zfinit is called; support for the new
widget−based completion system is provided in the
function Completion/Zsh/Command/_zftp, which should
be installed with the other functions of the completion
system and hence should automatically be available.
NAME
zshcontrib − user
contributions to zsh
DESCRIPTION
The Zsh source
distribution includes a number of items contributed by the
user community. These are not inherently a part of the
shell, and some may not be available in every zsh
installation. The most significant of these are documented
here. For documentation on other contributed items such as
shell functions, look for comments in the function source
files.
UTILITIES
Accessing
On−Line Help
The key sequence ESC h is normally bound by ZLE to
execute the run−help widget (see
zshzle(1)). This invokes the run−help
command with the command word from the current input line as
its argument. By default, run−help is an alias
for the man command, so this often fails when the
command word is a shell builtin or a user−defined
function. By redefining the run−help alias, one
can improve the on−line help provided by the
shell.
The
helpfiles utility, found in the Util directory
of the distribution, is a Perl program that can be used to
process the zsh manual to produce a separate help file for
each shell builtin and for many other shell features as
well. The autoloadable run−help function, found
in Functions/Misc, searches for these helpfiles and
performs several other tests to produce the most complete
help possible for the command.
There may
already be a directory of help files on your system; look in
/usr/share/zsh or /usr/local/share/zsh and
subdirectories below those, or ask your system
administrator.
To create your
own help files with helpfiles, choose or create a
directory where the individual command help files will
reside. For example, you might choose ~/zsh_help. If
you unpacked the zsh distribution in your home directory,
you would use the commands:
mkdir
~/zsh_help
cd ~/zsh_help
man zshall | colcrt − | \
perl ~/zsh−4.2.0/Util/helpfiles
Next, to use
the run−help function, you need to add lines
something like the following to your .zshrc or
equivalent startup file:
unalias
run−help
autoload run−help
HELPDIR=~/zsh_help
The
HELPDIR parameter tells run−help where
to look for the help files. If your system already has a
help file directory installed, set HELPDIR to the
path of that directory instead.
Note that in
order for ’autoload run−help’ to
work, the run−help file must be in one of the
directories named in your fpath array (see
zshparam(1)). This should already be the case if you
have a standard zsh installation; if it is not, copy
Functions/Misc/run−help to an appropriate
directory.
Recompiling
Functions
If you frequently edit your zsh functions, or periodically
update your zsh installation to track the latest
developments, you may find that function digests compiled
with the zcompile builtin are frequently out of date
with respect to the function source files. This is not
usually a problem, because zsh always looks for the newest
file when loading a function, but it may cause slower shell
startup and function loading. Also, if a digest file is
explicitly used as an element of fpath, zsh
won’t check whether any of its source files has
changed.
The
zrecompile autoloadable function, found in
Functions/Misc, can be used to keep function digests
up to date.
zrecompile [ −qt ] [ name ... ]
zrecompile [ −qt ] −p
args [ −− args ... ]
This tries to find *.zwc
files and automatically re−compile them if at least
one of the original files is newer than the compiled file.
This works only if the names stored in the compiled files
are full paths or are relative to the directory that
contains the .zwc file.
In the first
form, each name is the name of a compiled file or a
directory containing *.zwc files that should be
checked. If no arguments are given, the directories and
*.zwc files in fpath are used.
When
−t is given, no compilation is performed, but a
return status of zero (true) is set if there are files that
need to be re−compiled and non−zero (false)
otherwise. The −q option quiets the chatty
output that describes what zrecompile is doing.
Without the
−t option, the return status is zero if all
files that needed re−compilation could be compiled and
non−zero if compilation for at least one of the files
failed.
If the
−p option is given, the args are
interpreted as one or more sets of arguments for
zcompile, separated by
’−−’. For example:
zrecompile
−p \
−R ~/.zshrc −− \
−M ~/.zcompdump −− \
~/zsh/comp.zwc ~/zsh/Completion/*/_*
This compiles
~/.zshrc into ~/.zshrc.zwc if that
doesn’t exist or if it is older than ~/.zshrc.
The compiled file will be marked for reading instead of
mapping. The same is done for ~/.zcompdump and
~/.zcompdump.zwc, but this compiled file is marked
for mapping. The last line re−creates the file
~/zsh/comp.zwc if any of the files matching the given
pattern is newer than it.
Without the
−p option, zrecompile does not create
function digests that do not already exist, nor does it add
new functions to the digest.
The following
shell loop is an example of a method for creating function
digests for all functions in your fpath, assuming
that you have write permission to the directories:
for ((i=1; i
<= $#fpath; ++i)); do
dir=$fpath[i]
zwc=${dir:t}.zwc
if [[ $dir == (.|..) || $dir == (.|..)/* ]]; then
continue
fi
files=($dir/*(N−.))
if [[ −w $dir:h && −n $files ]]; then
files=(${${(M)files%/*/*}#/})
if ( cd $dir:h &&
zrecompile −p −U −z $zwc $files ); then
fpath[i]=$fpath[i].zwc
fi
fi
done
The
−U and −z options are appropriate
for functions in the default zsh installation fpath;
you may need to use different options for your personal
function directories.
Once the
digests have been created and your fpath modified to
refer to them, you can keep them up to date by running
zrecompile with no arguments.
Keyboard
Definition
The large number of possible combinations of keyboards,
workstations, terminals, emulators, and window systems makes
it impossible for zsh to have built−in key bindings
for every situation. The zkbd utility, found in
Functions/Misc, can help you quickly create key bindings for
your configuration.
Run zkbd
either as an autoloaded function, or as a shell script:
zsh −f
~/zsh−4.2.0/Functions/Misc/zkbd
When you run
zkbd, it first asks you to enter your terminal type;
if the default it offers is correct, just press return. It
then asks you to press a number of different keys to
determine characteristics of your keyboard and terminal;
zkbd warns you if it finds anything out of the
ordinary, such as a Delete key that sends neither ^H
nor ^?.
The keystrokes
read by zkbd are recorded as a definition for an
associative array named key, written to a file in the
subdirectory .zkbd within either your HOME or
ZDOTDIR directory. The name of the file is composed
from the TERM, VENDOR and OSTYPE
parameters, joined by hyphens.
You may read
this file into your .zshrc or another startup file
with the "source" or "." commands, then
reference the key parameter in bindkey commands, like
this:
source
${ZDOTDIR:−$HOME}/.zkbd/$TERM−$VENDOR−$OSTYPE
[[ −n ${key[Left]} ]] && bindkey
"${key[Left]}" backward−char
[[ −n ${key[Right]} ]] && bindkey
"${key[Right]}" forward−char
# etc.
Note that in
order for ’autoload zkbd’ to work, the
zkdb file must be in one of the directories named in
your fpath array (see zshparam(1)). This
should already be the case if you have a standard zsh
installation; if it is not, copy Functions/Misc/zkbd
to an appropriate directory.
Dumping
Shell State
Occasionally you may encounter what appears to be a bug in
the shell, particularly if you are using a beta version of
zsh or a development release. Usually it is sufficient to
send a description of the problem to one of the zsh mailing
lists (see zsh(1)), but sometimes one of the zsh
developers will need to recreate your environment in order
to track the problem down.
The script
named reporter, found in the Util directory of
the distribution, is provided for this purpose. (It is also
possible to autoload reporter, but reporter is
not installed in fpath by default.) This script
outputs a detailed dump of the shell state, in the form of
another script that can be read with ’zsh
−f’ to recreate that state.
To use
reporter, read the script into your shell with the
’.’ command and redirect the output into
a file:
.
~/zsh−4.2.0/Util/reporter > zsh.report
You should
check the zsh.report file for any sensitive
information such as passwords and delete them by hand before
sending the script to the developers. Also, as the output
can be voluminous, it’s best to wait for the
developers to ask for this information before sending
it.
You can also
use reporter to dump only a subset of the shell
state. This is sometimes useful for creating startup files
for the first time. Most of the output from reporter is far
more detailed than usually is necessary for a startup file,
but the aliases, options, and zstyles
states may be useful because they include only changes from
the defaults. The bindings state may be useful if you
have created any of your own keymaps, because
reporter arranges to dump the keymap creation
commands as well as the bindings for every keymap.
As is usual
with automated tools, if you create a startup file with
reporter, you should edit the results to remove
unnecessary commands. Note that if you’re using the
new completion system, you should not dump the
functions state to your startup files with
reporter; use the compdump function instead
(see zshcompsys(1)).
reporter [ state ... ]
Print to standard output the
indicated subset of the current shell state. The
state arguments may be one or more of:
|
all |
|
Output everything listed below. |
|
aliases
Output alias definitions.
bindings
Output ZLE key maps and
bindings.
completion
Output old−style
compctl commands. New completion is covered by
functions and zstyles.
functions
Output autoloads and function
definitions.
|
limits |
|
Output limit commands. |
|
options
Output setopt
commands.
variables
Output shell parameter
assignments, plus export commands for any environment
variables.
zstyles
Output zstyle
commands.
If the
state is omitted, all is assumed.
With the
exception of ’all’, every state
can be abbreviated by any prefix, even a single letter; thus
a is the same as aliases, z is the same
as zstyles, etc.
PROMPT THEMES
Installation
You should make sure all the functions from the
Functions/Prompts directory of the source
distribution are available; they all begin with the string
’prompt_’ except for the special
function’promptinit’. You also need the
’colors’ function from
Functions/Misc. All of these functions may already
have been installed on your system; if not, you will need to
find them and copy them. The directory should appear as one
of the elements of the fpath array (this should
already be the case if they were installed), and at least
the function promptinit should be autoloaded; it will
autoload the rest. Finally, to initialize the use of the
system you need to call the promptinit function. The
following code in your .zshrc will arrange for this;
assume the functions are stored in the directory
~/myfns:
fpath=(~/myfns
$fpath)
autoload −U promptinit
promptinit
Theme
Selection
Use the prompt command to select your preferred
theme. This command may be added to your .zshrc
following the call to promptinit in order to start
zsh with a theme already selected.
prompt [ −c | −l ]
prompt [ −p | −h ] [
theme ... ]
prompt [ −s ] theme [ arg ...
]
Set or examine the prompt
theme. With no options and a theme argument, the
theme with that name is set as the current theme. The
available themes are determined at run time; use the
−l option to see a list. The special
theme ’random’ selects at random
one of the available themes and sets your prompt to
that.
In some cases
the theme may be modified by one or more arguments,
which should be given after the theme name. See the help for
each theme for descriptions of these arguments.
Options
are:
|
−c |
|
Show the currently selected theme and its parameters, if
any. |
|
−l |
|
List all available prompt themes. |
|
−p |
|
Preview the theme named by theme, or all themes
if no theme is given. |
|
−h |
|
Show help for the theme named by theme, or for
the prompt function if no theme is given. |
|
−s |
|
Set theme as the current theme and save
state. |
prompt_theme_setup
Each available theme has
a setup function which is called by the prompt
function to install that theme. This function may define
other functions as necessary to maintain the prompt,
including functions used to preview the prompt or provide
help for its use. You should not normally call a
theme’s setup function directly.
ZLE FUNCTIONS
Widgets
These functions all implement user−defined ZLE widgets
(see zshzle(1)) which can be bound to keystrokes in
interactive shells. To use them, your .zshrc should
contain lines of the form
autoload
function
zle −N function
followed by an
appropriate bindkey command to associate the function
with a key sequence. Suggested bindings are described below.
bash−style word functions
If you are looking for
functions to implement moving over and editing words in the
manner of bash, where only alphanumeric characters are
considered word characters, you can use the functions
described in the next section. The following is
sufficient:
autoload
−U select−word−style
select−word−style bash
forward−word−match,
backward−word−match
kill−word−match,
backward−kill−word−match
transpose−words−match,
capitalize−word−match
up−case−word−match,
down−case−word−match
select−word−style,
match−words−by−style
The eight
’−match’ functions are
drop−in replacements for the builtin widgets without
the suffix. By default they behave in a similar way.
However, by the use of styles and the function
select−word−style, the way words are
matched can be altered.
The simplest
way of configuring the functions is to use
select−word−style, which can either be
called as a normal function with the appropriate argument,
or invoked as a user−defined widget that will prompt
for the first character of the word style to be used. The
first time it is invoked, the eight −match
functions will automatically replace the builtin versions,
so they do not need to be loaded explicitly.
The word styles
available are as follows. Only the first character is
examined.
|
bash |
|
Word characters are alphanumeric characters only. |
|
normal |
|
As in normal shell operation: word characters are
alphanumeric characters plus any characters present in the
string given by the parameter $WORDCHARS. |
|
shell |
|
Words are complete shell command arguments, possibly
including complete quoted strings, or any tokens special to
the shell. |
whitespace
Words are any set of characters
delimited by whitespace.
default
Restore the default settings;
this is usually the same as ’normal’.
More control
can be obtained using the zstyle command, as
described in zshmodules(1). Each style is looked up
in the context :zle:widget where widget
is the name of the user−defined widget, not the name
of the function implementing it, so in the case of the
definitions supplied by select−word−style
the appropriate contexts are :zle:forward−word,
and so on. The function select−word−style
itself always defines styles for the context
’:zle:*’ which can be overridden by more
specific (longer) patterns as well as explicit contexts.
The style
word−style specifies the rules to use. This may
have the following values.
|
normal |
|
Use the standard shell rules, i.e. alphanumerics and
$WORDCHARS, unless overridden by the styles
word−chars or word−class. |
specified
Similar to normal, but
only the specified characters, and not also
alphanumerics, are considered word characters.
unspecified
The negation of specified. The
given characters are those which will not be
considered part of a word.
|
shell |
|
Words are obtained by using the syntactic rules for
generating shell command arguments. In addition, special
tokens which are never command arguments such as
’()’ are also treated as words. |
whitespace
Words are
whitespace−delimited strings of characters.
The first three
of those styles usually use $WORDCHARS, but the value
in the parameter can be overridden by the style
word−chars, which works in exactly the same way
as $WORDCHARS. In addition, the style
word−class uses character class syntax to group
characters and takes precedence over word−chars
if both are set. The word−class style does not
include the surrounding brackets of the character class; for
example, ’−:[:alnum:]’ is a valid
word−class to include all alphanumerics plus
the characters ’−’ and
’:’. Be careful including
’]’, ’^’ and
’−’ as these are special inside
character classes.
The final style
is skip−chars. This is mostly useful for
transpose−words and similar functions. If set,
it gives a count of characters starting at the cursor
position which will not be considered part of the word and
are treated as space, regardless of what they actually are.
For example, if
zstyle
’:zle:transpose−words’ skip−chars
1
has been set,
and transpose−words−match is called with
the cursor on the X of fooXbar,
where X can be any character, then the resulting
expression is barXfoo.
Here are some
examples of use of the styles, actually taken from the
simplified interface in
select−word−style:
zstyle
’:zle:*’ word−style standard
zstyle ’:zle:*’ word−chars
’’
Implements
bash−style word handling for all widgets, i.e. only
alphanumerics are word characters; equivalent to setting the
parameter WORDCHARS empty for the given context.
style
’:zle:*kill*’ word−style space
Uses
space−delimited words for widgets with the word
’kill’ in the name. Neither of the styles
word−chars nor word−class is used
in this case.
The word
matching and all the handling of zstyle settings is
actually implemented by the function
match−words−by−style. This can be
used to create new user−defined widgets. The calling
function should set the local parameter curcontext to
:zle:widget, create the local parameter
matched_words and call
match−words−by−style with no
arguments. On return, matched_words will be set to an
array with the elements: (1) the start of the line (2) the
word before the cursor (3) any non−word characters
between that word and the cursor (4) any non−word
character at the cursor position plus any remaining
non−word characters before the next word, including
all characters specified by the skip−chars
style, (5) the word at or following the cursor (6) any
non−word characters following that word (7) the
remainder of the line. Any of the elements may be an empty
string; the calling function should test for this to decide
whether it can perform its function.
delete−whole−word−match
This is another function which
works like the −match functions described
immediately above, i.e. using styles to decide the word
boundaries. However, it is not a replacement for any
existing function.
The basic
behaviour is to delete the word around the cursor. There is
no numeric prefix handling; only the single word around the
cursor is considered. If the widget contains the string
kill, the removed text will be placed in the
cutbuffer for future yanking. This can be obtained by
defining kill−whole−word−match as
follows:
zle −N
kill−whole−word−match
delete−whole−word−match
and then
binding the widget
kill−whole−word−match.
copy−earlier−word
This widget works like a
combination of insert−last−word and
copy−prev−shell−word. Repeated
invocations of the widget retrieve earlier words on the
relevant history line. With a numeric argument N,
insert the Nth word from the history line; N
may be negative to count from the end of the line.
If
insert−last−word has been used to
retrieve the last word on a previous history line, repeated
invocations will replace that word with earlier words from
the same line.
Otherwise, the
widget applies to words on the line currently being edited.
The widget style can be set to the name of another
widget that should be called to retrieve words. This widget
must accept the same three arguments as
insert−last−word.
cycle−completion−positions
After inserting an unambiguous
string into the command line, the new function based
completion system may know about multiple places in this
string where characters are missing or differ from at least
one of the possible matches. It will then place the cursor
on the position it considers to be the most interesting one,
i.e. the one where one can disambiguate between as many
matches as possible with as little typing as possible.
This widget
allows the cursor to be easily moved to the other
interesting spots. It can be invoked repeatedly to cycle
between all positions reported by the completion system.
edit−command−line
Edit the command line using
your visual editor, as in ksh.
bindkey
−M vicmd v edit−command−line
history−search−end
This function implements the
widgets
history−beginning−search−backward−end
and
history−beginning−search−forward−end.
These commands work by first calling the corresponding
builtin widget (see ’History Control’ in
zshzle(1)) and then moving the cursor to the end of
the line. The original cursor position is remembered and
restored before calling the builtin widget a second time, so
that the same search is repeated to look farther through the
history.
Although you
autoload only one function, the commands to use it
are slightly different because it implements two
widgets.
zle −N
history−beginning−search−backward−end
\
history−search−end
zle −N
history−beginning−search−forward−end
\
history−search−end
bindkey ’\e^P’
history−beginning−search−backward−end
bindkey ’\e^N’
history−beginning−search−forward−end
up−line−or−beginning−search,
down−line−or−beginning−search
These widgets are similar to
the builtin functions
up−line−or−search and
down−line−or−search: if in a
multiline buffer they move up or down within the buffer,
otherwise they search for a history line matching the start
of the current line. In this case, however, they search for
a line which matches the current line up to the current
cursor position, in the manner of
history−beginning−search−backward
and −forward, rather than the first word on the
line.
|
incarg |
|
Typing the keystrokes for this widget with the cursor
placed on or to the left of an integer causes that integer
to be incremented by one. With a numeric prefix argument,
the number is incremented by the amount of the argument
(decremented if the prefix argument is negative). The shell
parameter incarg may be set to change the default
increment something other than one. |
bindkey
’^X+’ incarg
incremental−complete−word
This allows incremental
completion of a word. After starting this command, a list of
completion choices can be shown after every character you
type, which you can delete with ^H or DEL.
Pressing return accepts the completion so far and returns
you to normal editing (that is, the command line is
not immediately executed). You can hit TAB to
do normal completion, ^G to abort back to the state
when you started, and ^D to list the matches.
This works only
with the new function based completion system.
bindkey
’^Xi’
incremental−complete−word
insert−files
This function allows you type a
file pattern, and see the results of the expansion at each
step. When you hit return, all expansions are inserted into
the command line.
bindkey
’^Xf’ insert−files
narrow−to−region
[ −p pre ] [ −P post
]
[ −S statepm | −R
statepm ] [ −n ] [ start end
])
narrow−to−region−invisible
Narrow the editable portion of
the buffer to the region between the cursor and the mark,
which may be in either order. The region may not be
empty.
narrow−to−region
may be used as a widget or called as a function from a
user−defined widget; by default, the text outside the
editable area remains visible. A recursive−edit
is performed and the original widening status is then
restored. Various options and arguments are available when
it is called as a function.
The options
−p pretext and −P
posttext may be used to replace the text before and
after the display for the duration of the function; either
or both may be an empty string.
If the option
−n is also given, pretext or
posttext will only be inserted if there is text
before or after the region respectively which will be made
invisible.
Two numeric
arguments may be given which will be used instead of the
cursor and mark positions.
The option
−S statepm is used to narrow according
to the other options while saving the original state in the
parameter with name statepm, while the option
−R statepm is used to restore the state
from the parameter; note in both cases the name of
the parameter is required. In the second case, other options
and arguments are irrelevant. When this method is used, no
recursive−edit is performed; the calling widget
should call this function with the option −S,
perform its own editing on the command line or pass control
to the user via ’zle
recursive−edit’, then call this function
with the option −R. The argument statepm
must be a suitable name for an ordinary parameter, except
that parameters beginning with the prefix _ntr_ are
reserved for use within narrow−to−region.
Typically the parameter will be local to the calling
function.
narrow−to−region−invisible
is a simple widget which calls
narrow−to−region with arguments which
replace any text outside the region with
’...’.
The display is
restored (and the widget returns) upon any zle command which
would usually cause the line to be accepted or aborted.
Hence an additional such command is required to accept or
abort the current line.
The return
status of both widgets is zero if the line was accepted,
else non−zero.
Here is a
trivial example of a widget using this feature.
local state
narrow−to−region −p $’Editing
restricted region\n’ \
−P ’’ −S state
zle recursive−edit
narrow−to−region −R state
predict−on
This set of functions
implements predictive typing using history search. After
predict−on, typing characters causes the editor
to look backward in the history for the first line beginning
with what you have typed so far. After
predict−off, editing returns to normal for the
line found. In fact, you often don’t even need to use
predict−off, because if the line doesn’t
match something in the history, adding a key performs
standard completion, and then inserts itself if no
completions were found. However, editing in the middle of a
line is liable to confuse prediction; see the toggle
style below.
With the
function based completion system (which is needed for this),
you should be able to type TAB at almost any point to
advance the cursor to the next
’’interesting’’ character position
(usually the end of the current word, but sometimes
somewhere in the middle of the word). And of course as soon
as the entire line is what you want, you can accept with
return, without needing to move the cursor to the end
first.
The first time
predict−on is used, it creates several
additional widget functions:
delete−backward−and−predict
Replaces the
backward−delete−char widget. You do not
need to bind this yourself.
insert−and−predict
Implements predictive typing by
replacing the self−insert widget. You do not
need to bind this yourself.
predict−off
Turns off predictive
typing.
Although you
autoload only the predict−on function,
it is necessary to create a keybinding for
predict−off as well.
zle −N
predict−on
zle −N predict−off
bindkey ’^X^Z’ predict−on
bindkey ’^Z’ predict−off
read−from−minibuffer
This is most useful when called
as a function from inside a widget, but will work correctly
as a widget in its own right. It prompts for a value below
the current command line; a value may be input using all of
the standard zle operations (and not merely the restricted
set available when executing, for example,
execute−named−cmd). The value is then
returned to the calling function in the parameter
$REPLY and the editing buffer restored to its
previous state. If the read was aborted by a keyboard break
(typically ^G), the function returns status 1 and
$REPLY is not set. If an argument is supplied to the
function it is taken as a prompt, otherwise ’?
’ is used.
One option is
available: ’−k num’
specifies that num characters are to be read instead
of a whole line. The line editor is not invoked recursively
in this case. Note that unlike the read builtin
num must be given; there is no default.
The name is a
slight misnomer, as in fact the shell’s own minibuffer
is not used. Hence it is still possible to call
executed−named−cmd and similar functions
while reading a value.
replace−string,
replace−pattern
The function
replace−string implements two widgets. If
defined under the same name as the function, it prompts for
two strings; the first (source) string will be replaced by
the second everywhere it occurs in the line editing
buffer.
If the widget
name contains the word ’pattern’, for
example by defining the widget using the command
’zle −N replace−pattern
replace−string’, then the replacement is
done by pattern matching. All zsh extended globbing patterns
can be used in the source string; note that unlike filename
generation the pattern does not need to match an entire
word, nor do glob qualifiers have any effect. In addition,
the replacement string can contain parameter or command
substitutions. Furthermore, a ’&’ in
the replacement string will be replaced with the matched
source string, and a backquoted digit
’\N’ will be replaced by the
Nth parenthesised expression matched. The form
’\{N}’ may be used to
protect the digit from following digits.
For example,
starting from the line:
print This
line contains fan and fond
and invoking
replace−pattern with the source string
’f(?)n’ and the replacment string
’c\1r’ produces the not very useful
line:
print This
line contains car and cord
The range of
the replacement string can be limited by using the
narrow−to−region−invisible widget.
One limitation of the current version is that undo
will cycle through changes to the replacement and source
strings before undoing the replacement itself.
smart−insert−last−word
This function may replace the
insert−last−word widget, like so:
zle −N
insert−last−word
smart−insert−last−word
With a numeric
prefix, or when passed command line arguments in a call from
another widget, it behaves like
insert−last−word, except that words in
comments are ignored when INTERACTIVE_COMMENTS is
set.
Otherwise, the
rightmost ’’interesting’’ word from
the previous command is found and inserted. The default
definition of ’’interesting’’ is
that the word contains at least one alphabetic character,
slash, or backslash. This definition may be overridden by
use of the match style. The context used to look up
the style is the widget name, so usually the context is
:insert−last−word. However, you can bind
this function to different widgets to use different
patterns:
zle −N
insert−last−assignment
smart−insert−last−word
zstyle :insert−last−assignment match
’[[:alpha:]][][[:alnum:]]#=*’
bindkey ’\e=’
insert−last−assignment
Styles
The behavior of several of the above widgets can be
controlled by the use of the zstyle mechanism. In
particular, widgets that interact with the completion system
pass along their context to any completions that they
invoke.
break−keys
This style is used by the
incremental−complete−word widget. Its
value should be a pattern, and all keys matching this
pattern will cause the widget to stop incremental completion
without the key having any further effect. Like all styles
used directly by
incremental−complete−word, this style is
looked up using the context
’:incremental’.
completer
The
incremental−complete−word and
insert−and−predict widgets set up their
top−level context name before calling completion. This
allows one to define different sets of completer functions
for normal completion and for these widgets. For example, to
use completion, approximation and correction for normal
completion, completion and correction for incremental
completion and only completion for prediction one could
use:
zstyle
’:completion:*’ completer \
_complete _correct _approximate
zstyle ’:completion:incremental:*’ completer \
_complete _correct
zstyle ’:completion:predict:*’ completer \
_complete
It is a good
idea to restrict the completers used in prediction, because
they may be automatically invoked as you type. The
_list and _menu completers should never be
used with prediction. The _approximate,
_correct, _expand, and _match
completers may be used, but be aware that they may change
characters anywhere in the word behind the cursor, so you
need to watch carefully that the result is what you
intended.
|
cursor |
|
The insert−and−predict widget uses
this style, in the context ’:predict’, to
decide where to place the cursor after completion has been
tried. Values are: |
complete
The cursor is left where it was
when completion finished, but only if it is after a
character equal to the one just inserted by the user. If it
is after another character, this value is the same as
’key’.
|
key |
|
The cursor is left after the nth occurrence of
the character just inserted, where n is the number of
times that character appeared in the word before completion
was attempted. In short, this has the effect of leaving the
cursor after the character just typed even if the completion
code found out that no other characters need to be inserted
at that position. |
Any other value
for this style unconditionally leaves the cursor at the
position where the completion code left it.
|
list |
|
When using the
incremental−complete−word widget, this
style says if the matches should be listed on every key
press (if they fit on the screen). Use the context prefix
’:completion:incremental’. |
The
insert−and−predict widget uses this style
to decide if the completion should be shown even if there is
only one possible completion. This is done if the value of
this style is the string always. In this case the
context is ’:predict’ (not
’:completion:predict’).
|
match |
|
This style is used by
smart−insert−last−word to provide a
pattern (using full EXTENDED_GLOB syntax) that
matches an interesting word. The context is the name of the
widget to which
smart−insert−last−word is bound
(see above). The default behavior of
smart−insert−last−word is
equivalent to: |
zstyle
:insert−last−word match
’*[[:alpha:]/\\]*’
However, you
might want to include words that contain spaces:
zstyle
:insert−last−word match
’*[[:alpha:][:space:]/\\]*’
Or include
numbers as long as the word is at least two characters
long:
zstyle
:insert−last−word match
’*([[:digit:]]?|[[:alpha:]/\\])*’
The above
example causes redirections like "2>" to be
included.
|
prompt |
|
The
incremental−complete−word widget shows
the value of this style in the status line during
incremental completion. The string value may contain any of
the following substrings in the manner of the PS1 and
other prompt parameters: |
%c
|
|
|
Replaced by the name of the
completer function that generated the matches (without the
leading underscore). |
|
%l |
|
When the list style is set, replaced by
’...’ if the list of matches is too long
to fit on the screen and with an empty string otherwise. If
the list style is ’false’ or not set,
’%l’ is always removed. |
|
%n |
|
Replaced by the number of matches generated. |
|
%s |
|
Replaced by ’−no match−’,
’−no prefix−’, or an empty
string if there is no completion matching the word on the
line, if the matches have no common prefix different from
the word on the line, or if there is such a common prefix,
respectively. |
|
%u |
|
Replaced by the unambiguous part of all matches, if
there is any, and if it is different from the word on the
line. |
Like
’break−keys’, this uses the
’:incremental’ context.
stop−keys
This style is used by the
incremental−complete−word widget. Its
value is treated similarly to the one for the
break−keys style (and uses the same context:
’:incremental’). However, in this case
all keys matching the pattern given as its value will stop
incremental completion and will then execute their usual
function.
|
toggle |
|
This boolean style is used by predict−on
and its related widgets in the context
’:predict’. If set to one of the standard
’true’ values, predictive typing is
automatically toggled off in situations where it is unlikely
to be useful, such as when editing a multi−line buffer
or after moving into the middle of a line and then deleting
a character. The default is to leave prediction turned on
until an explicit call to predict−off. |
verbose
This boolean style is used by
predict−on and its related widgets in the
context ’:predict’. If set to one of the
standard ’true’ values, these widgets display a
message below the prompt when the predictive state is
toggled. This is most useful in combination with the
toggle style. The default does not display these
messages.
|
widget |
|
This style is similar to the command style: For
widget functions that use zle to call other widgets,
this style can sometimes be used to override the widget
which is called. The context for this style is the name of
the calling widget (not the name of the calling
function, because one function may be bound to multiple
widget names). |
zstyle
:copy−earlier−word widget
smart−insert−last−word
Check the
documentation for the calling widget or function to
determine whether the widget style is used.
MIME FUNCTIONS
Three functions
are available to provide handling of files recognised by
extension, for example to dispatch a file text.ps
when executed as a command to an appropriate viewer.
zsh−mime−setup [−flv]
zsh−mime−handler
These two functions use the
files ~/.mime.types and /etc/mime.types, which
associate types and extensions, as well as ~/.mailcap
and /etc/mailcap files, which associate types and the
programs that handle them. These are provided on many
systems with the Multimedia Internet Mail Extensions.
To enable the
system, the function zsh−mime−setup
should be autoloaded and run. This allows files with
extensions to be treated as executable; such files be
completed by the function completion system. The function
zsh−mime−handler should not need to be
called by the user.
The system
works by setting up suffix aliases with ’alias
−s’. Suffix aliases already installed by the
user will not be overwritten.
Repeated calls
to zsh−mime−setup do not override the
existing mapping between suffixes and executable files
unless the option −f is given. Note, however,
that this does not override existing suffix aliases assigned
to handlers other than zsh−mime−handler.
Calling zsh−mime−setup with the option
−l lists the existing mapping without altering
it. Calling zsh−mime−setup with the
option −v causes verbose output to be shown
during the setup operation.
The system
respects the mailcap flags needsterminal and
copiousoutput, see mailcap(4).
The functions
use the following styles, which are defined with the
zstyle builtin command (see zshmodules(1)).
They should be defined before
zsh−mime−setup is run. The contexts used
all start with :mime:, with additional components in
some cases. It is recommended that a trailing *
(suitably quoted) be appended to style patterns in case the
system is extended in future. Some examples are given below.
mime−types
A list of files in the format
of ~/.mime.types and /etc/mime.types to be
read during setup, replacing the default list which consists
of those two files. The context is :mime:.
mailcap
A list of files in the format
of ~/.mailcap and /etc/mailcap to be read
during setup, replacing the default list which consists of
those two files. The context is :mime:.
handler
Specifies a handler for a
suffix; the suffix is given by the context as
:mime:.suffix:, and the format of the
handler is exactly that in mailcap. Note in
particular the ’.’ and trailing colon to
distinguish this use of the context. This overrides any
handler specified by the mailcap files. If the
handler requires a terminal, the flags style should
be set to include the word needsterminal, or if the
output is to be displayed through a pager (but not if the
handler is itself a pager), it should include
copiousoutput.
|
flags |
|
Defines flags to go with a handler; the context is as
for the handler style, and the format is as for the
flags in mailcap. |
|
pager |
|
If set, will be used instead of $PAGER or
more to handle suffixes where the
copiousoutput flag is set. The context is as for
handler, i.e. :mime:.suffix: for
handling a file with the given suffix. |
Examples:
zstyle
’:mime:*’ mailcap ~/.mailcap
/usr/local/etc/mailcap
zstyle ’:mime:.txt’ handler less %s
zstyle ’:mime:.txt’ flags needsterminal
When
zsh−mime−setup is subsequently run, it
will look for mailcap entries in the two files given.
Files of suffix .txt will be handled by running
’less file.txt’. The flag
needsterminal is set to show that this program must
run attached to a terminal.
As there are
several steps to dispatching a command, the following should
be checked if attempting to execute a file by extension
.ext does not have the expected effect.
starteit() eit()( The command ’alias −s
ext’ should show
’ps=zsh−mime−handler’. If it
shows something else, another suffix alias was already
installed and was not overwritten. If it shows nothing, no
handler was installed: this is most likely because no
handler was found in the .mime.types and
mailcap combination for .ext files. In that
case, appropriate handling should be added to
~/.mime.types and mailcap. ) eit()( If the
extension is handled by zsh−mime−handler
but the file is not opened correctly, either the handler
defined for the type is incorrect, or the flags associated
with it are in appropriate. Running
zsh−mime−setup −l will show the
handler and, if there are any, the flags. A %s in the
handler is replaced by the file (suitably quoted if
necessary). Check that the handler program listed lists and
can be run in the way shown. Also check that the flags
needsterminal or copiousoutput are set if the
handler needs to be run under a terminal; the second flag is
used if the output should be sent to a pager. An example of
a suitable mailcap entry for such a program is:
text/html;
/usr/bin/lynx ’%s’; needsterminal
) endeit()
pick−web−browser
This function is separate from
the two MIME functions described above and can be assigned
directly to a suffix:
autoload
−U pick−web−browser
alias −s html=pick−web−browser
It is provided
as an intelligent front end to dispatch a web browser. It
will check if an X Windows display is available, and if so
if there is already a browser running which can accept a
remote connection. In that case, the file will be displayed
in that browser; you should check explicitly if it has
appeared in the running browser’s window. Otherwise,
it will start a new browser according to a builtin set of
preferences.
Alternatively,
pick−web−browser can be run as a zsh
script.
Two styles are
available to customize the choice of browsers:
x−browsers when running under the X Windows
System, and tty−browsers otherwise. These are
arrays in decreasing order of preference consiting of the
command name under which to start the browser. They are
looked up in the context :mime: (which may be
extended in future, so appending ’*’ is
recommended). For example,
zstyle
’:mime:*’ x−browsers opera konqueror
netscape
specifies that
pick−web−browser should first look for a
runing instance of Opera, Konqueror or Netscape, in that
order, and if it fails to find any should attempt to start
Opera.
OTHER FUNCTIONS
There are a
large number of helpful functions in the
Functions/Misc directory of the zsh distribution.
Most are very simple and do not require documentation here,
but a few are worthy of special mention.
Descriptions
|
colors |
|
This function initializes several associative arrays to
map color names to (and from) the ANSI standard
eight−color terminal codes. These are used by the
prompt theme system (see above). You seldom should need to
run colors more than once. |
The eight base
colors are: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan,
and white. Each of these has codes for foreground and
background. In addition there are eight intensity
attributes: bold, faint, standout, underline, blink,
reverse, and conceal. Finally, there are six codes used to
negate attributes: none (reset all attributes to the
defaults), normal (neither bold nor faint),
no−standout, no−underline, no−blink, and
no−reverse.
Some terminals
do not support all combinations of colors and
intensities.
The associative
arrays are:
|
color |
|
|
|
colour |
|
Map all the color names to their integer codes, and
integer codes to the color names. The eight base names map
to the foreground color codes, as do names prefixed with
’fg−’, such as
’fg−red’. Names prefixed with
’bg−’, such as
’bg−blue’, refer to the background
codes. The reverse mapping from code to color yields base
name for foreground codes and the bg− form for
backgrounds. |
Although it is
a misnomer to call them ’colors’, these arrays
also map the other fourteen attributes from names to codes
and codes to names.
fg_bold
fg_no_bold
Map the eight basic color names
to ANSI terminal escape sequences that set the corresponding
foreground text properties. The fg sequences change
the color without changing the eight intensity
attributes.
bg_bold
bg_no_bold
Map the eight basic color names
to ANSI terminal escape sequences that set the corresponding
background properties. The bg sequences change the
color without changing the eight intensity attributes.
In addition,
the scalar parameters reset_color and
bold_color are set to the ANSI terminal escapes that
turn off all attributes and turn on bold intensity,
respectively.
fned name
Same as zed −f.
This function does not appear in the zsh distribution, but
can be created by linking zed to the name fned
in some directory in your fpath.
is−at−least
needed [ present ]
Perform a
greater−than−or−equal−to comparison
of two strings having the format of a zsh version number;
that is, a string of numbers and text with segments
separated by dots or dashes. If the present string is
not provided, $ZSH_VERSION is used. Segments are
paired left−to−right in the two strings with
leading non−number parts ignored. If one string has
fewer segments than the other, the missing segments are
considered zero.
This is useful
in startup files to set options and other state that are not
available in all versions of zsh.
is−at−least
3.1.6−15 && setopt NO_GLOBAL_RCS
is−at−least 3.1.0 && setopt
HIST_REDUCE_BLANKS
is−at−least 2.6−17 || print "You
can’t use is−at−least here."
nslookup [ arg
... ]
This wrapper function for the
nslookup command requires the zsh/zpty module
(see zshmodules(1)). It behaves exactly like the
standard nslookup except that it provides
customizable prompts (including a right−side prompt)
and completion of nslookup commands, host names, etc. (if
you use the function−based completion system).
Completion styles may be set with the context prefix
’:completion:nslookup’.
See also the
pager, prompt and rprompt styles
below.
run−help
See ’Accessing
On−Line Help’ above.
|
tetris |
|
Zsh was once accused of not being as complete as Emacs,
because it lacked a Tetris game. This function was written
to refute this vicious slander. |
This function
must be used as a ZLE widget:
autoload
−U tetris
zle −N tetris
bindkey keys tetris
To start a
game, execute the widget by typing the keys. Whatever
command line you were editing disappears temporarily, and
your keymap is also temporarily replaced by the Tetris
control keys. The previous editor state is restored when you
quit the game (by pressing ’q’) or when
you lose.
If you quit in
the middle of a game, the next invocation of the
tetris widget will continue where you left off. If
you lost, it will start a new game.
zcalc [
expression ... ]
A reasonably powerful
calculator based on zsh’s arithmetic evaluation
facility. The syntax is similar to that of formulae in most
programming languages; see the section ’Arithmetic
Evaluation’ in zshmisc(1) for details. The
mathematical library zsh/mathfunc will be loaded if
it is available; see the section ’The zsh/mathfunc
Module’ in zshmodules(1). The mathematical
functions correspond to the raw system libraries, so
trigonometric functions are evaluated using radians, and so
on.
Each line typed
is evaluated as an expression. The prompt shows a number,
which corresponds to a positional parameter where the result
of that calculation is stored. For example, the result of
the calculation on the line preceded by ’4>
’ is available as $4. Full command line
editing, including the history of previous calculations, is
available; the history is saved in the file
~/.zcalc_history. To exit, enter a blank line or type
’q’ on its own.
If arguments
are given to zcalc on start up, they are used to
prime the first few positional parameters. A visual
indication of this is given when the calculator starts.
The constants
PI (3.14159...) and E (2.71828...) are
provided. Parameter assignment is possible, but note that
all parameters will be put into the global namespace.
An extra
facility is provided for changing the default output base.
Use, for example, ’[#16]’ to display
hexadecimal output preceded by an indication of the base, or
’[##16]’ just to display the raw number
in the given base. Bases themselves are always specified in
decimal. ’[#]’ restores the normal output
format.
The output base
can be initialised by passing the option
’−#base’, for example
’zcalc −#16’ (the
’#’ may have to be quoted, depending on
the globbing options set).
The prompt is
configurable via the parameter ZCALCPROMPT, which
undergoes standard prompt expansion. The index of the
current entry is stored locally in the first element of the
array psvar, which can be referred to in
ZCALCPROMPT as ’%1v’. The default
prompt is ’%1v> ’.
See the
comments in the function for a few extra tips.
zed [ −f ]
name
This function uses the ZLE
editor to edit a file or function. It rebinds the return key
to insert a line break, and adds bindings for
’^X^W’ in the emacs keymap and
’ZZ’ in the vicmd keymap to accept
(and therefore write, in the case of a file) the edited file
or function. Keybindings are otherwise the standard ones;
completion is available, and styles may be set with the
context prefix ’:completion:zed’.
Only one
name argument is recognized (additional arguments are
ignored). If the −f option is given, the name
is taken to be that of a function; if the function is marked
for autoloading, zed searches for it in the
fpath and loads it. Note that functions edited this
way are installed into the current shell, but not
written back to the autoload file.
Without
−f, name is the path name of the file to
edit, which need not exist; it is created on write, if
necessary.
zcp [
−finqQvwW ] srcpat dest
zln [ −finqQsvwW ] srcpat dest
Same as zmv −C and
zmv −L, respectively. These functions do not
appear in the zsh distribution, but can be created by
linking zmv to the names zcp and zln in
some directory in your fpath.
|
zkbd |
|
See ’Keyboard Definition’ above. |
|
zmv [
−finqQsvwW ] [ −C | −L | −M |
−p program ] [ −o optstring ]
srcpat dest
Move (usually, rename) files
matching the pattern srcpat to corresponding files
having names of the form given by dest, where
srcpat contains parentheses surrounding patterns
which will be replaced in turn by $1, $2, ... in
dest. For example,
zmv
’(*).lis’ ’$1.txt’
renames
’foo.lis’ to
’foo.txt’,
’my.old.stuff.lis’ to
’my.old.stuff.txt’, and so on.
The pattern is
always treated as an EXTENDED_GLOB pattern. Any file
whose name is not changed by the substitution is simply
ignored. Any error (a substitution resulted in an empty
string, two substitutions gave the same result, the
destination was an existing regular file and −f
was not given) causes the entire function to abort without
doing anything.
Options:
|
−f |
|
Force overwriting of destination files. Not currently
passed down to the mv/cp/ln command due
to vagaries of implementations (but you can use
−o−f to do that). |
|
−i |
|
Interactive: show each line to be executed and ask the
user whether to execute it. ’Y’ or
’y’ will execute it, anything else will skip it.
Note that you just need to type one character. |
|
−n |
|
No execution: print what would happen, but don’t
do it. |
|
−q |
|
Turn bare glob qualifiers off: now assumed by default,
so this has no effect. |
|
−Q |
|
Force bare glob qualifiers on. Don’t turn this on
unless you are actually using glob qualifiers in a
pattern. |
|
−s |
|
Symbolic, passed down to ln; only works with
−L. |
|
−v |
|
Verbose: print each command as it’s being
executed. |
|
−w |
|
Pick out wildcard parts of the pattern, as described
above, and implicitly add parentheses for referring to
them. |
|
−W |
|
Just like −w, with the addition of turning
wildcards in the replacement pattern into sequential ${1} ..
${N} references. |
|
−C |
|
|
|
−L |
|
|
|
−M |
|
Force cp, ln or mv, respectively,
regardless of the name of the function. |
−p
program
Call program instead of
cp, ln or mv. Whatever it does, it
should at least understand the form ’program
−− oldname newname’ where
oldname and newname are filenames generated by
zmv.
−o
optstring
The optstring is split
into words and passed down verbatim to the cp,
ln or mv command called to perform the work.
It should probably begin with a
’−’.
For more
complete examples and other implementation details, see the
zmv source file, usually located in one of the
directories named in your fpath, or in
Functions/Misc/zmv in the zsh distribution.
zrecompile
See ’Recompiling
Functions’ above.
zstyle+ context style
value [ + subcontext style value ... ]
This makes defining styles a
bit simpler by using a single ’+’ as a
special token that allows you to append a context name to
the previously used context name. Like this:
zstyle+
’:foo:bar’ style1 value1 \
+ ’:baz’ style2 value2 \
+ ’:frob’ style3 value3
This defines
’style1’ with ’value1’ for the
context :foo:bar as usual, but it also defines
’style2’ with ’value2’ for the
context :foo:bar:baz and ’style3’ with
’value3’ for :foo:bar:frob. Any
subcontext may be the empty string to re−use
the first context unchanged.
Styles
insert−tab
The zed function
sets this style in context
’:completion:zed:*’ to turn off
completion when TAB is typed at the beginning of a
line. You may override this by setting your own value for
this context and style.
|
pager |
|
The nslookup function looks up this style in the
context ’:nslookup’ to determine the
program used to display output that does not fit on a single
screen. |
|
prompt |
|
|
rprompt
The nslookup function
looks up this style in the context
’:nslookup’ to set the prompt and the
right−side prompt, respectively. The usual expansions
for the PS1 and RPS1 parameters may be used
(see zshmisc(1)).
FILES
$ZDOTDIR/.zshenv
$ZDOTDIR/.zprofile
$ZDOTDIR/.zshrc
$ZDOTDIR/.zlogin
$ZDOTDIR/.zlogout
${TMPPREFIX}* (default is /tmp/zsh*)
/etc/zshenv
/etc/zprofile
/etc/zshrc
/etc/zlogin
/etc/zlogout (installation−specific −
/etc is the default)
SEE ALSO
sh(1),
csh(1), tcsh(1), rc(1), bash(1),
ksh(1)
IEEE
Standard for information Technology − Portable
Operating System Interface (POSIX) − Part 2: Shell and
Utilities, IEEE Inc, 1993, ISBN
1−55937−255−9.
 |
zshall(1) |
 |
| 