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This is the Gnu Readline library, version 4.0.
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The Readline library provides a set of functions for use by applications
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that allow users to edit command lines as they are typed in. Both
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Emacs and vi editing modes are available. The Readline library includes
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additional functions to maintain a list of previously-entered command
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lines, to recall and perhaps reedit those lines, and perform csh-like
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history expansion on previous commands.
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The history facilites are also placed into a separate library, the
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History library, as part of the build process. The History library
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may be used without Readline in applications which desire its
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The Readline library is free software, distributed under the terms of
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the GNU Public License, version 2. For more information, see the file
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To build the library, try typing `./configure', then `make'. The
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configuration process is automated, so no further intervention should
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be necessary. Readline builds with `gcc' by default if it is
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available. If you want to use `cc' instead, type
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if you are using a Bourne-style shell. If you are not, the following
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Read the file INSTALL in this directory for more information about how
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to customize and control the build process.
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The file rlconf.h contains C preprocessor defines that enable and disable
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certain Readline features.
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There are several example programs that use Readline features in the
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examples directory. The `rl' program is of particular interest. It
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is a command-line interface to Readline, suitable for use in shell
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scripts in place of `read'.
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There is skeletal support for building shared versions of the
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Readline and History libraries. The configure script creates
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a Makefile in the `shlib' subdirectory, and typing `make shared'
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will cause shared versions of the Readline and History libraries
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to be built on supported platforms.
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Configure calls the script support/shobj-conf to test whether or
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not shared library creation is supported and to generate the values
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of variables that are substituted into shlib/Makefile. If you
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try to build shared libraries on an unsupported platform, `make'
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will display a message asking you to update support/shobj-conf for
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If you need to update support/shobj-conf, you will need to create
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a `stanza' for your operating system and compiler. The script uses
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the value of host_os and ${CC} as determined by configure. For
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instance, FreeBSD 2.2.5 with any version of gcc is identified as
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In the stanza for your operating system-compiler pair, you will need to
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define several variables. They are:
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SHOBJ_CC The C compiler used to compile source files into shareable
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object files. This is normally set to the value of ${CC}
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by configure, and should not need to be changed.
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SHOBJ_CFLAGS Flags to pass to the C compiler ($SHOBJ_CC) to create
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position-independent code. If you are using gcc, this
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should probably be set to `-fpic'.
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SHOBJ_LD The link editor to be used to create the shared library from
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the object files created by $SHOBJ_CC. If you are using
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gcc, a value of `gcc' will probably work.
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SHOBJ_LDFLAGS Flags to pass to SHOBJ_LD to enable shared object creation.
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If you are using gcc, `-shared' may be all that is necessary.
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These should be the flags needed for generic shared object
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SHLIB_XLDFLAGS Additional flags to pass to SHOBJ_LD for shared library
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creation. Many systems use the -R option to the link
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editor to embed a path within the library for run-time
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library searches. A reasonable value for such systems would
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SHLIB_LIBS Any additional libraries that shared libraries should be
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linked against when they are created.
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SHLIB_LIBSUFF The suffix to add to `libreadline' and `libhistory' when
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generating the filename of the shared library. Many systems
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use `so'; HP-UX uses `sl'.
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SHLIB_LIBVERSION The string to append to the filename to indicate the version
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of the shared library. It should begin with $(SHLIB_LIBSUFF),
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and possibly include version information that allows the
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run-time loader to load the version of the shared library
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appropriate for a particular program. Systems using shared
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libraries similar to SunOS 4.x use major and minor library
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version numbers; for those systems a value of
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`$(SHLIB_LIBSUFF).$(SHLIB_MAJOR)$(SHLIB_MINOR)' is appropriate.
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Systems based on System V Release 4 don't use minor version
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numbers; use `$(SHLIB_LIBSUFF).$(SHLIB_MAJOR)' on those systems.
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Other Unix versions use different schemes.
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SHLIB_STATUS Set this to `supported' when you have defined the other
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necessary variables. Make uses this to determine whether
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or not shared library creation should be attempted.
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You should look at the existing stanzas in support/shobj-conf for ideas.
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Once you have updated support/shobj-conf, re-run configure and type
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`make shared'. The shared libraries will be created in the shlib
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Since shared libraries are not created on all platforms, `make install'
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will not automatically install the shared libraries. To install them,
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change the current directory to shlib and type `make install'. Running
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`make install-shared' from the top-level build directory will also work.
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The documentation for the Readline and History libraries appears in the
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`doc' subdirectory. There are two texinfo files and a Unix-style manual
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page describing the programming facilities available in the Readline
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library. The texinfo files include both user and programmer's manuals.
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Bug reports for Readline should be sent to:
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When reporting a bug, please include the following information:
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* the version number and release status of Readline (e.g., 4.0-release)
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* the machine and OS that it is running on
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* a list of the compilation flags or the contents of `config.h', if
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* a description of the bug
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* a recipe for recreating the bug reliably
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* a fix for the bug if you have one!
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If you would like to contact the Readline maintainer directly, send mail
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to bash-maintainers@gnu.org.
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Since Readline is developed along with bash, the bug-bash@gnu.org mailing
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list (mirrored to the Usenet newsgroup gnu.bash.bug) often contains
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Readline bug reports and fixes.
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readline-4.0/README
