source: trunk/third/readline/README @ 12992

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1Introduction
2============
3
4This is the Gnu Readline library, version 4.0.
5
6The Readline library provides a set of functions for use by applications
7that allow users to edit command lines as they are typed in.  Both
8Emacs and vi editing modes are available.  The Readline library includes
9additional functions to maintain a list of previously-entered command
10lines, to recall and perhaps reedit those lines, and perform csh-like
11history expansion on previous commands.
12
13The history facilites are also placed into a separate library, the
14History library, as part of the build process.  The History library
15may be used without Readline in applications which desire its
16capabilities.
17
18The Readline library is free software, distributed under the terms of
19the GNU Public License, version 2.  For more information, see the file
20COPYING.
21
22To build the library, try typing `./configure', then `make'.  The
23configuration process is automated, so no further intervention should
24be necessary.  Readline builds with `gcc' by default if it is
25available.  If you want to use `cc' instead, type
26
27        CC=cc ./configure
28
29if you are using a Bourne-style shell.  If you are not, the following
30may work:
31
32        env CC=cc ./configure
33
34Read the file INSTALL in this directory for more information about how
35to customize and control the build process.
36
37The file rlconf.h contains C preprocessor defines that enable and disable
38certain Readline features.
39
40Examples
41========
42
43There are several example programs that use Readline features in the
44examples directory.  The `rl' program is of particular interest.  It
45is a command-line interface to Readline, suitable for use in shell
46scripts in place of `read'.
47
48Shared Libraries
49================
50
51There is skeletal support for building shared versions of the
52Readline and History libraries.  The configure script creates
53a Makefile in the `shlib' subdirectory, and typing `make shared'
54will cause shared versions of the Readline and History libraries
55to be built on supported platforms.
56
57Configure calls the script support/shobj-conf to test whether or
58not shared library creation is supported and to generate the values
59of variables that are substituted into shlib/Makefile.  If you
60try to build shared libraries on an unsupported platform, `make'
61will display a message asking you to update support/shobj-conf for
62your platform.
63
64If you need to update support/shobj-conf, you will need to create
65a `stanza' for your operating system and compiler.  The script uses
66the value of host_os and ${CC} as determined by configure.  For
67instance, FreeBSD 2.2.5 with any version of gcc is identified as
68`freebsd2.2.5-gcc*'.
69
70In the stanza for your operating system-compiler pair, you will need to
71define several variables.  They are:
72
73SHOBJ_CC        The C compiler used to compile source files into shareable
74                object files.  This is normally set to the value of ${CC}
75                by configure, and should not need to be changed.
76
77SHOBJ_CFLAGS    Flags to pass to the C compiler ($SHOBJ_CC) to create
78                position-independent code.  If you are using gcc, this
79                should probably be set to `-fpic'.
80
81SHOBJ_LD        The link editor to be used to create the shared library from
82                the object files created by $SHOBJ_CC.  If you are using
83                gcc, a value of `gcc' will probably work.
84
85SHOBJ_LDFLAGS   Flags to pass to SHOBJ_LD to enable shared object creation.
86                If you are using gcc, `-shared' may be all that is necessary.
87                These should be the flags needed for generic shared object
88                creation.
89
90SHLIB_XLDFLAGS  Additional flags to pass to SHOBJ_LD for shared library
91                creation.  Many systems use the -R option to the link
92                editor to embed a path within the library for run-time
93                library searches.  A reasonable value for such systems would
94                be `-R$(libdir)'.
95
96SHLIB_LIBS      Any additional libraries that shared libraries should be
97                linked against when they are created.
98
99SHLIB_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
103SHLIB_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
115SHLIB_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
119You should look at the existing stanzas in support/shobj-conf for ideas.
120
121Once you have updated support/shobj-conf, re-run configure and type
122`make shared'.  The shared libraries will be created in the shlib
123subdirectory.
124
125Since shared libraries are not created on all platforms, `make install'
126will not automatically install the shared libraries.  To install them,
127change the current directory to shlib and type `make install'.  Running
128`make install-shared' from the top-level build directory will also work.
129
130Documentation
131=============
132
133The documentation for the Readline and History libraries appears in the
134`doc' subdirectory.  There are two texinfo files and a Unix-style manual
135page describing the programming facilities available in the Readline
136library.  The texinfo files include both user and programmer's manuals.
137
138Reporting Bugs
139==============
140
141Bug reports for Readline should be sent to:
142
143        bug-readline@gnu.org
144
145When 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
155If you would like to contact the Readline maintainer directly, send mail
156to bash-maintainers@gnu.org.
157
158Since Readline is developed along with bash, the bug-bash@gnu.org mailing
159list (mirrored to the Usenet newsgroup gnu.bash.bug) often contains
160Readline bug reports and fixes.
161
162Chet Ramey
163chet@po.cwru.edu
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