readline/README

   1 Introduction
   2 ============
   3
   4 This is the Gnu Readline library, version 2.2
   5
   6 The Readline library provides a set of functions for use by applications
   7 that allow users to edit command lines as they are typed in.  Both
   8 Emacs and vi editing modes are available.  The Readline library includes
   9 additional functions to maintain a list of previously-entered command
  10 lines, to recall and perhaps reedit those lines, and perform csh-like
  11 history expansion on previous commands.
  12
  13 The history facilites are also placed into a separate library, the
  14 History library, as part of the build process.  The History library
  15 may be used without Readline in applications which desire its
  16 capabilities.
  17
  18 The Readline library is free software, distributed under the terms of
  19 the GNU Public License, version 2.  For more information, see the file
  20 COPYING.
  21
  22 To build the library, try typing `./configure', then `make'.  The
  23 configuration process is automated, so no further intervention should
  24 be necessary.  Readline builds with `gcc' by default if it is
  25 available.  If you want to use `cc' instead, type
  26
  27         CC=cc ./configure
  28
  29 if you are using a Bourne-style shell.  If you are not, the following
  30 may work:
  31
  32         env CC=cc ./configure
  33
  34 Read the file INSTALL in this directory for more information about how
  35 to customize and control the build process.
  36
  37 The file rlconf.h contains defines that enable and disable certain
  38 Readline features.
  39
  40 Examples
  41 ========
  42
  43 There are several example programs that use Readline features in the
  44 examples directory.  The `rl' program is of particular interest.  It
  45 is a command-line interface to Readline, suitable for use in shell
  46 scripts in place of `read'.
  47
  48 Shared Libraries
  49 ================
  50
  51 There is skeletal support for building shared versions of the
  52 Readline and History libraries.
  53
  54 Typing `make shared' will cause shared versions of the Readline and
  55 History libraries to be built on SunOS 4.1.x.  For versions of Unix
  56 other than SunOS, you will have to make some changes to Makefile.in.
  57 The relevant variables are:
  58
  59 PICFLAG         Options to give to the compiler to produce position-independent
  60                 code.  The value `-fpic' works for most versions of gcc.
  61 SHLIB_OPTS      Options to give to the linker to produce a shared library.
  62                 The value `-assert pure-text -ldl' works on SunOS 4.1.x.
  63                 The value `-Bshareable' works for some versions of GNU ld.
  64
  65 MAJOR           The major version number of the shared library.  You should
  66                 not need to change this.
  67 MINOR           The minor version number of the shared library.  Some systems,
  68                 such as SVR4 and its descendents (e.g., Solaris, Unixware),
  69                 do not use minor version numbers.  For those systems, this
  70                 variable should be left unset.
  71
  72 LD              The linker.  The value of `ld' is correct for SunOS 4.1.x.
  73                 You may need to change it to `gcc'; make sure to change
  74                 SHLIB_OPTS if you do so.
  75
  76 Once you have edited Makefile.in, type `make Makefile' to rebuild the
  77 Makefile, then `make shared' to build the shared libraries.
  78
  79 Documentation
  80 =============
  81
  82 The documentation for the Readline and History libraries appears in the
  83 `doc' subdirectory.  There are two texinfo files and a Unix-style manual
  84 page describing the programming facilities available in the Readline
  85 library.  The texinfo files include both user and programmer's manuals.
  86
  87 Reporting Bugs
  88 ==============
  89
  90 Bug reports for Readline should be sent to:
  91
  92         bug-readline@gnu.org
  93
  94 When reporting a bug, please include the following information:
  95
  96         * the version number and release status of Readline (e.g., 2.2-release)
  97         * the machine and OS that it is running on
  98         * a list of the compilation flags or the contents of `config.h', if
  99           appropriate
 100         * a description of the bug
 101         * a recipe for recreating the bug reliably
 102         * a fix for the bug if you have one!
 103
 104 If you would like to contact the Readline maintainer directly, send mail
 105 to bash-maintainers@gnu.org.
 106
 107 Since Readline is developed along with bash, the bug-bash@gnu.org mailing
 108 list (mirrored to the Usenet newsgroup gnu.bash.bug) often contains
 109 Readline bug reports and fixes.
 110
 111 Chet Ramey
 112 chet@po.cwru.edu