How to create a bash function that return to the current prompt?
Is it possible to create a bash function that return to the current line?
For example
#~/.bashrc
do-magic() {
# do some magic and return the input to current prompt line
# for example "hello"
}
bind -x '"\C-e":do-magic'
Then
$ echo <ctrl+e>
# become
$ echo hello
As of Bash 4.0 you can do this by changing the READLINE_LINE
and READLINE_POINT
variables inside the function. (The 'point' is the current cursor position.) For example:
_paste() {
local str="Hello $(date +%F)!"
local len=${#str}
# Note: Bash 5.x wants the length in characters, but Bash 4.x apparently
# wanted bytes. To properly insert non-ASCII text, you used to need:
# local len=$(printf '%s' "$str" | wc -c)
# Insert the text in between [0..cursor] and [cursor..end]
READLINE_LINE=${READLINE_LINE:0:$READLINE_POINT}${str}${READLINE_LINE:$READLINE_POINT}
# Advance the cursor
READLINE_POINT=$((READLINE_POINT + len))
}
bind -x '"\C-e": _paste'