readline/README

   1 Introduction
   2 ============
   3
   4 This is the Gnu Readline library, version 4.1.
   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 C preprocessor defines that enable and disable
  38 certain 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.  The configure script creates
  53 a Makefile in the `shlib' subdirectory, and typing `make shared'
  54 will cause shared versions of the Readline and History libraries
  55 to be built on supported platforms.
  56
  57 Configure calls the script support/shobj-conf to test whether or
  58 not shared library creation is supported and to generate the values
  59 of variables that are substituted into shlib/Makefile.  If you
  60 try to build shared libraries on an unsupported platform, `make'
  61 will display a message asking you to update support/shobj-conf for
  62 your platform.
  63
  64 If you need to update support/shobj-conf, you will need to create
  65 a `stanza' for your operating system and compiler.  The script uses
  66 the value of host_os and ${CC} as determined by configure.  For
  67 instance, FreeBSD 2.2.5 with any version of gcc is identified as
  68 `freebsd2.2.5-gcc*'.
  69
  70 In the stanza for your operating system-compiler pair, you will need to
  71 define several variables.  They are:
  72
  73 SHOBJ_CC        The C compiler used to compile source files into shareable
  74                 object files.  This is normally set to the value of ${CC}
  75                 by configure, and should not need to be changed.
  76
  77 SHOBJ_CFLAGS    Flags to pass to the C compiler ($SHOBJ_CC) to create
  78                 position-independent code.  If you are using gcc, this
  79                 should probably be set to `-fpic'.
  80
  81 SHOBJ_LD        The link editor to be used to create the shared library from
  82                 the object files created by $SHOBJ_CC.  If you are using
  83                 gcc, a value of `gcc' will probably work.
  84
  85 SHOBJ_LDFLAGS   Flags to pass to SHOBJ_LD to enable shared object creation.
  86                 If you are using gcc, `-shared' may be all that is necessary.
  87                 These should be the flags needed for generic shared object
  88                 creation.
  89
  90 SHLIB_XLDFLAGS  Additional flags to pass to SHOBJ_LD for shared library
  91                 creation.  Many systems use the -R option to the link
  92                 editor to embed a path within the library for run-time
  93                 library searches.  A reasonable value for such systems would
  94                 be `-R$(libdir)'.
  95
  96 SHLIB_LIBS      Any additional libraries that shared libraries should be
  97                 linked against when they are created.
  98
  99 SHLIB_LIBSUFF   The suffix to add to `libreadline' and `libhistory' when
 100                 generating the filename of the shared library.  Many systems
 101                 use `so'; HP-UX uses `sl'.
 102
 103 SHLIB_LIBVERSION The string to append to the filename to indicate the version
 104                 of the shared library.  It should begin with $(SHLIB_LIBSUFF),
 105                 and possibly include version information that allows the
 106                 run-time loader to load the version of the shared library
 107                 appropriate for a particular program.  Systems using shared
 108                 libraries similar to SunOS 4.x use major and minor library
 109                 version numbers; for those systems a value of
 110                 `$(SHLIB_LIBSUFF).$(SHLIB_MAJOR)$(SHLIB_MINOR)' is appropriate.
 111                 Systems based on System V Release 4 don't use minor version
 112                 numbers; use `$(SHLIB_LIBSUFF).$(SHLIB_MAJOR)' on those systems.
 113                 Other Unix versions use different schemes.
 114
 115 SHLIB_STATUS    Set this to `supported' when you have defined the other
 116                 necessary variables.  Make uses this to determine whether
 117                 or not shared library creation should be attempted.
 118
 119 You should look at the existing stanzas in support/shobj-conf for ideas.
 120
 121 Once you have updated support/shobj-conf, re-run configure and type
 122 `make shared'.  The shared libraries will be created in the shlib
 123 subdirectory.
 124
 125 Since shared libraries are not created on all platforms, `make install'
 126 will not automatically install the shared libraries.  To install them,
 127 change the current directory to shlib and type `make install'.  Running
 128 `make install-shared' from the top-level build directory will also work.
 129
 130 Documentation
 131 =============
 132
 133 The documentation for the Readline and History libraries appears in the
 134 `doc' subdirectory.  There are two texinfo files and a Unix-style manual
 135 page describing the programming facilities available in the Readline
 136 library.  The texinfo files include both user and programmer's manuals.
 137
 138 Reporting Bugs
 139 ==============
 140
 141 Bug reports for Readline should be sent to:
 142
 143         bug-readline@gnu.org
 144
 145 When reporting a bug, please include the following information:
 146
 147         * the version number and release status of Readline (e.g., 4.0-release)
 148         * the machine and OS that it is running on
 149         * a list of the compilation flags or the contents of `config.h', if
 150           appropriate
 151         * a description of the bug
 152         * a recipe for recreating the bug reliably
 153         * a fix for the bug if you have one!
 154
 155 If you would like to contact the Readline maintainer directly, send mail
 156 to bash-maintainers@gnu.org.
 157
 158 Since Readline is developed along with bash, the bug-bash@gnu.org mailing
 159 list (mirrored to the Usenet newsgroup gnu.bash.bug) often contains
 160 Readline bug reports and fixes.
 161
 162 Chet Ramey
 163 chet@po.cwru.edu