source: chapter06/readline.xml@ 48553c1

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<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
  %general-entities;
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<sect1 id="ch-system-readline" role="wrap">
<title>Readline-&readline-version;</title>
<?dbhtml filename="readline.html"?>

<indexterm zone="ch-system-readline"><primary sortas="a-Readline">Readline</primary></indexterm>

<sect2 role="package"><title/>
<para>The Readline package is a set of libraries that offers command-line
editing and history capabilities.</para>

<segmentedlist>
<segtitle>&buildtime;</segtitle>
<segtitle>&diskspace;</segtitle>
<seglistitem><seg>0.11 SBU</seg><seg>9.1 MB</seg></seglistitem>
</segmentedlist>

<segmentedlist>
<segtitle>&dependencies;</segtitle>
<seglistitem><seg>Binutils, Coreutils, Diffutils, Gawk,
GCC, Glibc, Grep, Make, Ncurses, and Sed</seg></seglistitem>
</segmentedlist>
</sect2>

<sect2 role="installation">
<title>Installation of Readline</title>

<para>The following patch includes a fix for a problem where Readline sometimes
only shows 33 characters on a line and then wraps to the next line. It also
includes other fixes recommended by the Readline author.</para>

<screen><userinput>patch -Np1 -i ../&readline-fixes-patch;</userinput></screen>

<para>Prepare Readline for compilation:</para>

<screen><userinput>./configure --prefix=/usr --libdir=/lib</userinput></screen>

<para>Compile the package:</para>

<screen><userinput>make SHLIB_XLDFLAGS=-lncurses</userinput></screen>

<para>The meaning of the make option:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>SHLIB_XLDFLAGS=-lncurses</parameter></term>
<listitem><para>This option forces Readline to link against the
<filename class="libraryfile">libncurses</filename> library.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<para>Install the package:</para>

<screen><userinput>make install</userinput></screen>

<para>Give Readline's dynamic libraries more appropriate permissions:</para>

<screen><userinput>chmod -v 755 /lib/lib{readline,history}.so*</userinput></screen>

<para>Now move the static libraries to a more appropriate location:</para>

<screen><userinput>mv -v /lib/lib{readline,history}.a /usr/lib</userinput></screen>

<para>Next, remove the <filename class="extension">.so</filename> files in
<filename class="directory">/lib</filename> and relink them into <filename
class="directory">/usr/lib</filename>.</para>

<screen><userinput>rm -v /lib/lib{readline,history}.so
ln -sfv ../../lib/libreadline.so.5 /usr/lib/libreadline.so
ln -sfv ../../lib/libhistory.so.5 /usr/lib/libhistory.so</userinput></screen>

</sect2>


<sect2 id="contents-readline" role="content"><title>Contents of Readline</title>
<segmentedlist>
<segtitle>Installed libraries</segtitle>
<seglistitem><seg>libhistory.[a,so], and libreadline.[a,so]</seg></seglistitem>
</segmentedlist>

<variablelist><bridgehead renderas="sect3">Short Descriptions</bridgehead>
<?dbfo list-presentation="list"?>
<?dbhtml list-presentation="table"?>

<varlistentry id="libhistory">
<term><filename class="libraryfile">libhistory</filename></term>
<listitem>
<para>Provides a consistent user interface
for recalling lines of history</para>
<indexterm zone="ch-system-readline libhistory"><primary sortas="c-libhistory">libhistory</primary></indexterm>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry id="libreadline">
<term><filename class="libraryfile">libreadline</filename></term>
<listitem>
<para>Aids in the consistency of user interface
across discrete programs that need to provide a command line
interface</para>
<indexterm zone="ch-system-readline libreadline"><primary sortas="c-libreadline">libreadline</primary></indexterm>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</sect2>

</sect1>