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searchingwithinputrc/

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Themostimportantcommandlinetip
incrementalhistorysearchingwith
.inputrc
byDavidWinterbottomonTuesday,3February2009
Note,thisarticlewaspublishedover5yearsagoandhencethecontentmaybestale.
Consumewithapinchofsalt.
Gettingwww.commandlinefu.comoffthegroundhasrenewedmyinterestinBash,UNIX
andallthingscommandline.Powerfulonelinersarethingsofbeautyandareworth
collectinghoweverwhatIconsidertobethemostinfluentialcommandlinetipIknow
coversfour:
"\e[A":historysearchbackward
"\e[B":historysearchforward
"\e[C":forwardchar
"\e[D":backwardchar

Theselinesneedtobeplacedinyour~/.inputrcfile,thestartupscriptfortheReadline
utilityusedbyBash(aswellasseveralotherapplications)andothers).Theimportant
commandsherearethefirsttwo,whichbindyourupanddowncursorkeysto
incrementallysearchyourhistory.(Thesecondtwoensurethatleftandrightcontinueto
workcorrectly).
Thisisincrediblyusefulforretrievingcommandsyou'veusedpreviouslyandmakesa
hugedifferencetoyourproductivity.Forinstance,tofindapreviousSSHcommandfroma
fewdaysago,simplytype"ss"andpressupafewtimes.Thiswillallowyoutobrowse
throughallyourprevioussshcommandsuntilyoufindtherightoneyouneverneedto
usemorethan4or5keystrokestoretrieveanypreviouscommand.Ifyourcyclingthrough
toomanycommandstofindtherightone,typeinafewmorecharacterstorefinethe
search.
Asindicatedabove,thisfunctionalityisavailableinallapplicationsthatuseReadline
includingMySQL,Python,IRB(interactiveRubyshell)andothers.Onceyou'reusedto
thisfeature,it'shardtolivewithoutthefirstthingIdoonceI'vebeensetupasauseron

anewserverisupdatemy.inputrcfiletocontainthesesettings.TheoneplacewhereI
sorelywishthisfunctionalityexistedistheFirebugJavascriptcommandlineinFirefox(a
ticketalreadyexistsrequestingasimilarfeature).
AnotherwayofsearchingyourhistoryistouseCTRL+R,whichessentiallyperformsa
fulltextsearchonyourhistory(keeppressingCTRL+Rtocyclethroughresults).Inthis
case,searchingfor"ssh"willlocateallcommandsthatfeaturethisstringanywhereinthe
command.Althoughthisisactuallyamorepowerfulfeaturethantheincrementalhistory
searchdescribedabove,Idon'toftenuseitas:(a)theincrementalsearchgenerallylets
mejumptothedesiredcommandinfewerkeypressesand(b)Ifind"ssh",CTRL+R,
CTRL+Rslightlyawkwardtotypeandlessintuitivethan"ssh",UP,UP.Horsesforcourses
reallyyoucouldprobablybejustasefficientwitheitherone.
HattiptotheplacewhereIfirstlearntthis:PowerShellUsagebySimonMyers
Oneextrathing:thisfunctionalitycanbeneatlycomplimentedbysomechoicehistory
settingsinyour~/.bashrcfile:
exportHISTSIZE=1000000
exportHISTFILESIZE=1000000000

Thesesimplysetyourhistorytobeverylargesothatyouhaveahugebankofcommands
tosearch.

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Hello

I'mDavidWinterbottom,aminimalisthackerlivinginLondon.
I'maTechnicalDirectorofTangentSnowball,adigitalagency.IprogrammainlyinPython
buthavestronginterestsinalldynamicandfunctionallanguages.
Ispendmostofmyfreetimehacking.Iruncommandlinefu.comandamtheauthorofthe
ecommerceframeworkdjangooscaramongstotherthings.

IusedtobeamathematicianIhaveaPhDinMathematicsfromtheUniversityof
Nottinghamandanassociatedinterestincrypticcrosswords,chessandplayingdevil's
advocate.
Ifyou'vereadthisfar,youshouldprobablyfollowmeonTwitter:

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