Provided by: libbobcat-dev_6.04.00-1ubuntu3_amd64 bug

NAME

       FBB::ReadLineBuf - std::streambuf offering line-editing and history

SYNOPSIS

       #include <bobcat/readlinebuf>
       Linking option: -lbobcat  -lreadline

DESCRIPTION

       The  FBB::ReadLineBuf  object  may  be  used  as a std::streambuf of std::istream objects,
       allowing line-editing and history manipulation.

       The ReadLineBuf class uses Gnu’s readline library to allow editing  of  input  lines.  The
       ReadLineBuf  object  can  be  used to construct a std::istream allowing in-line editing of
       lines read from the terminal. All lines may be preceded by a configurable prompt.

       Since Gnu’s readline library operates on global data there can  only  be  one  ReadLineBuf
       object.  Therefore  ReadLineBuf is a singleton class: in any program there can only be one
       ReadLineBuf object  (Gnu’s  readline  library  does,  however,  offer  functions  allowing
       programs  to  use  multiple  histories.  So  it would in principle be possible to design a
       non-singleton ReadLineBuf class. Since programs  normally  only  interact  with  a  single
       terminal, there is probably little use for non-singleton ReadLineBuf class).

       ReadLineBuf  offers  editing  capabilities  while  the  user is entering lines. Like Gnu’s
       readline(3) function, the line editing  commands  are  by  default  similar  to  those  of
       emacs(1), but can easily be reconfigured, e.g. to offer vi(1)-like characteristics.

       History  manipulation  is provided as an option. The collected history may be accessed for
       reading using an FBB::ReadLineHistory object.

       Specific information about the facilities offered by the Gnu software used by  ReadLineBuf
       is       provided       in      the      GNU      Readline      Library      documentation
       (http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/php/chet/readline/rltop.html).

       Gnu’s readline function reads its information from the standard input file. Programs using
       ReadLineBuf  should  normally  not  extract  information  from  std::cin.  However, as the
       standard input file has a file descriptor (0), redirection should be possible (e.g., using
       FBB::Redirector).

       When  the  command  line  is  kept,  history  expansion  is offered as an option.  History
       expansion introduces words from the history list into the input stream, making it easy  to
       repeat  commands, to insert elements of a previous input line into the current input line,
       or to fix errors in previous command lines.

       History expansion is usually performed  immediately  after  a  complete line  is read.

       The line selected from the history is called the event, and the portions of that line that
       are  processed  are  called words.  Various modifiers are available to manipulate selected
       words. This is comparable to the way a program like bash(1) breaks up its input line  into
       `words’.

       History  expansion is introduced by the use of the history expansion character, by default
       equal to the !-character.  Only backslash (\) and single quotes  can  change  the  history
       expansion character into a normal character.

       The  remainder of this section is copied almost verbatim from the history(3) man-page. The
       reader is referred to that man-page or  to  the  Gnu  History  Library  documentation  for
       further details.

       The following event designators are supported:

       o      !:   starts a  history substitution, except when followed by a blank, newline, = or
              (.

       o      !n: refers to command line n.

       o      !-n: refers to the current command line minus n.

       o      !!  refers to the previous command.  This is a synonym for `!-1’.

       o      !string refers to the most recent command starting with string.

       o      !?string[?]  refers to the most recent command containing string.  The  trailing  ?
              may be omitted if string is followed immediately by a newline.

       o      ^string1^string2^  (quick substitution) repeats the last command, replacing string1
              with string2.  Equivalent to !!:s/string1/string2/.

       o      !# the entire command line typed so far.

       Word Designators

       Word designators are used to select desired words from the event.  A : separates the event
       specification  from  the word designator.  It may be omitted if the word designator begins
       with a ^, $, *, -, or %.  Words are numbered from the beginning  of  the  line,  with  the
       first  word being denoted by 0 (zero).  Words are inserted into the current line separated
       by single spaces.

       o      0 (zero) The zeroth word.  For the shell, this is the command word.

       o      n      The nth word.

       o      ^      The first argument.  That is, word 1.

       o      $      The last argument.

       o      %      The word matched by the most recent ?string? search.

       o      x-y    A range of words; `-y’ abbreviates `0-y’.

       o      *      All  of  the words but the zeroth.  This is a synonym for 1-$. It is not  an
              error to use * if there is just one word in the event; the empty string is returned
              in that case.

       o      x*     Abbreviates x-$.

       o      x-     Abbreviates x-$ like x*, but omits the last word.  If  a   word   designator
              is  supplied  without  an  event specification, the previous command is used as the
              event.

       Modifiers

       After the optional word designator, there may appear a sequence of  one  or  more  of  the
       following modifiers, each preceded by a :.

       o      h removes a trailing file name component, leaving only the head.

       o      t removes all leading file name components, leaving the tail.

       o      r removes a trailing suffix of the form .xxx, leaving the basename.

       o      e removes all but the trailing suffix.

       o      p prints the new command but does not execute it.

       o      q quotes the substituted words, escaping further substitutions.

       o      x  quotes  the  substituted  words  as  with  q, but break into words at blanks and
              newlines.

       o      s/old/new/ substitutes new for the first occurrence of old in the event line.   Any
              delimiter  can be used in place of /.  The final delimiter is optional if it is the
              last character of the event line.  The delimiter may be quoted in old and new  with
              a  single  backslash.   If  &  appears  in  new,  it  is replaced by old.  A single
              backslash will quote the &.  If old is null, it is set to the last old substituted,
              or,  if  no  previous  history  substitutions  took  place,  the  last  string in a
              !?string[?]  search.

       o      &      repeats the previous substitution.

       o      g Causes changes to be applied over  the  entire  event  line.   This  is  used  in
              conjunction with :s (e.g., :gs/old/new/) or :&.  If used with :s, any delimiter can
              be used in place of /, and the final delimiter  is  optional  if  it  is  the  last
              character of the event line.  An a may be used as a synonym for g.

       o      G Apply the following s modifier once to each word in the event line.

NAMESPACE

       FBB
       All  constructors,  members,  operators  and manipulators, mentioned in this man-page, are
       defined in the namespace FBB.

INHERITS FROM

       std::streambuf

ENUMERATIONS

       The enum Type defines the following value:

       o      DONT_EXPAND_HISTORY: history expansion is not requested;

       o      EXPAND_HISTORY:  history expansion is requested.

       The enum Expansion provides meaningful return values for the  history  expansion  process.
       Its values are:

       o      DONT_EXEC:  history  expansion  succeeded,  but  the  expanded  line  should not be
              executed. E.g., after entering the line

                  ls *

              the line

                  !!:p

              should cause the using program to display, rather than exectute  ls  *.  Note  that
              interpretation  of  this  expansion return value is not the task of the ReadLineBuf
              object, but of the program using the ReadLineBuf object.

       o      ERROR: the history expansion failed. See also the member expansionError below;

       o      EXPANDED: the history expansion succeeded;

       o      NO_EXPANSION: no history expansion took place.

STATIC MEMBERS

       o      ReadLineBuf &initialize(std::string const &prompt = "", Type type = NO_EXPANSION):
              This static member returns the ReadLineBuf using an initial prompt, using a history
              of  at most std::numeric_limits<int>::max() lines, and by default not using history
              expansion.  If the object has already been initialized a logic_error  exception  is
              thrown.

       o      ReadLineBuf  &initialize(std::string const &prompt, size_t historySize, Type type =
              NO_EXPANSION):
              This static member initializes the ReadLineBuf using an initial prompt, an  initial
              history  of  a predefined maximum size, and by default not using history expansion.
              Specifying a history size 0 results in no history being kept, any value equal to or
              exceeding  the  predefined  constant  std::numeric_limits<int>::max()  results in a
              history  of  at  most  std::numeric_limits<int>::max()  lines.  If  no  history  is
              requested  but  type  is  specified  as  EXPAND_HISTORY  a logic_error exception is
              thrown. A logic_error is also thrown if the object has already been initialized.

       o      ReadLineBuf &instance():
              This static member returns the  already  initialized  ReadLineBuf  object.  If  the
              object has not yet been initialized a logic_error exception is thrown.

CONSTRUCTORS

       As  the  class  ReadLineBuf is a singleton class it offers no public constructors, nor are
       overloaded assignment operators available.

MEMBER FUNCTIONS

       All members of std::streambuf are available, as FBB::ReadLineBuf inherits from this class.

       o      ReadLineBuf::Expansion expansion() const:
              The status of the history expansion after retrieving a line from  the  terminal  is
              returned.  Its  value is determined after each line retrieved from the terminal. If
              no history expansion is requested it returns Expansion::ERROR.

       o      std::string const &expansionError() const:
              A short textual description of the nature  of  the  error  when  expansion  returns
              Expansion::ERROR  is returned. If no history expansion is requested an empty string
              is returned.

       o      bool setExpansion(Type type):
              History expansion can be activated or  stopped  using  this  member.  When  history
              expansion is requested but the ReadLineBuf object maintains no history the function
              returns false. Otherwise it returns true.

       o      void setPrompt(std::string const &prompt = ""):
              The prompt that is displayed in front of the next line read from the  terminal  can
              be  modified  by  this  member.  When  called  without  arguments no prompt will be
              displayed. setPrompt can be called while input lines are being  received.  The  new
              prompt will be active after the current line has been read from the terminal.

       o      bool useTimestamps(std::string (*timestamp)() = 0):
              When initialized with the address of a function returning a std::string the entered
              commands will be given a timestamp equal to  the  text  returned  by  the  function
              pointed   to   by   timestamp.   The   timestamps   can   be  retrieved  using  the
              ReadLineHistory(3) object. By default or after passing  an  explicit  0-pointer  to
              useTimestamps  no  timestamps  are  stored.   The  value  false is returned when no
              history is kept, otherwise true is returned.

EXAMPLE

       #include <iostream>
       #include <istream>
       #include <cstdio>
       #include <sstream>
       #include <iomanip>

       #include <bobcat/readlinebuf>
       //#include "../readlinebuf"

       using namespace std;
       using namespace FBB;

       int main()
       {
           ReadLineBuf &readlineBuf =
                   ReadLineBuf::initialize("", 10, ReadLineBuf::EXPAND_HISTORY);

           istream in(&readlineBuf);

           size_t count = 0;
           string line;
           while (true)
           {
               ostringstream prompt;
               prompt << setw(2) << ++count << ": ";
               readlineBuf.setPrompt(prompt.str());

               if (!getline(in, line))          // uses the last-set prompt
                   break;

               cout << "Retrieved: " << line << "\n"
                       "Expansion status: ";

               switch (readlineBuf.expansion())
               {
                   case ReadLineBuf::ERROR:
                       cout << "ERROR: " << readlineBuf.expansionError() << ’\n’;
                   break;

                   case ReadLineBuf::NO_EXPANSION:
                       cout << "no expansion performed\n";
                   break;

                   case ReadLineBuf::DONT_EXEC:
                       cout << "don’t execute the expanded line\n";
                   break;

                   case ReadLineBuf::EXPANDED:
                       cout << "expansion successfully performed\n";
                   break;
               }
           }
       }

FILES

       bobcat/readlinebuf - defines the class interface

SEE ALSO

       bobcat(7), readline(3), readlinehistory(3), readlinestream(3)

BUGS

       None Reported.

BOBCAT PROJECT FILES

       o      https://fbb-git.gitlab.io/bobcat/: gitlab project page;

       o      bobcat_6.04.00-x.dsc: detached signature;

       o      bobcat_6.04.00-x.tar.gz: source archive;

       o      bobcat_6.04.00-x_i386.changes: change log;

       o      libbobcat1_6.04.00-x_*.deb: debian package containing the libraries;

       o      libbobcat1-dev_6.04.00-x_*.deb: debian package containing  the  libraries,  headers
              and manual pages;

BOBCAT

       Bobcat is an acronym of `Brokken’s Own Base Classes And Templates’.

COPYRIGHT

       This  is  free  software,  distributed  under  the terms of the GNU General Public License
       (GPL).

AUTHOR

       Frank B. Brokken (f.b.brokken@rug.nl).