rlwrap v 0.35 January 8 2010

• WHAT IT IS:

rlwrap is a 'readline wrapper', a small utility that uses the GNU readline library to allow the editing of keyboard input for any command. I couldn't find anything like it when I needed it, so I wrote this one back in 1999. By now, there are (and, in hindsight, even then there were) a number of good readline wrappers around, like rlfe, distributed as part of the GNU readline library, and cle (http://kaolin.unice.fr/Cle/). rlwrap should be especially useful when you need user-defined completion (by way of completion word lists) and persistent history, or if you want to program 'special effects' using the filter mechanism. rlwrap compiles and runs on a fairly wide range of Unix-like systems.

• HOW TO USE IT: If $ doesn't let you use arrow keys to edit input, or if you just want decent input history and completion, try: $ rlwrap [-options] You then can edit 's input and recall the input history using the arrow keys. Input history is remembered accross invocations, separately for different s. Typing ! will recall the last input line starting with , CTRL-R will search the input history. With the -r and -f options you can specify the list of words which rlwrap will use as possible completions, taking them from a file (-f option) or from 's standard in/output. rlwrap monitors 's terminal settings, so that it can do the right thing when command asks for single keypresses or for a password. Commands that already use readline will always ask for (and get) single keypresses, which makes rlwrapping them rather pointless. However, if one uses the -a option, rlwrap will use its own line editing and history. Unforunately, in this case, rlwrap cannot detect whether asks for a password. This can be remedied by giving the password prompt (excluding trailing space and possibly the first few letters) as an argument to the -a option.

• EXAMPLES: Run netcat with command-line editing:

  rlwrap nc localhost 80

Run lprolog and use library1 and library2 to build a completion word list:

rlwrap -f library1 -f library2 lprolog

Run smbclient (which already uses readline), add all input and output to completion list, complete local filenames, avoid showing (and storing) passwords:

rlwrap -cr -aPassword: smbclient '\PEANUT\C'

• INSTALLATION:
  Usually just

./configure; make install

See the INSTALL file for more information.

• PARENTHESIS MATCHING This is not very clearly documented in readline's info or manpages, it should be on by default. It can be controlled by putting "set blink-matching-paren (off|on)" in your .inputrc

• FILTERS Filters are "plug-in" scripts that give you complete control over rlwrap's input and output, history and completion. They are somewhat experimental, and their implementation and the example filters still are of slightly dubious ('alpha') qualiity.

• AUTHOR Hans Lub, [email protected]

• HOMEPAGE http://utopia.knoware.nl/~hlub/uck/rlwrap