move faster in bash

gistfile1.txt

reference: http://teohm.com/blog/shortcuts-to-move-faster-in-bash-command-line/

Shortcuts to move faster in Bash command line
Jan 4, 2012

Nowadays, I spend more time in Bash shell, typing longer commands. One of my new year resolutions for this year is to stop using left/right arrow keys to move around in the command line. I learned a few shortcuts a while ago.

Last night, I spent some time to read about “Command Line Editing” in the bash manual. The bash manual is a well-written piece of documentation. I think I should read it more often.

Well, here’s the new shortcuts I learned:

Basic moves
Move back one character. Ctrl + b
Move forward one character. Ctrl + f
Delete current character. Ctrl + d
Delete previous character. Backspace
Undo. Ctrl + -
Moving faster
Move to the start of line. Ctrl + a
Move to the end of line. Ctrl + e
Move forward a word. Meta + f (a word contains alphabets and digits, no symbols)
Move backward a word. Meta + b
Clear the screen. Ctrl + l
What is Meta? Meta is your Alt key, normally. For Mac OSX user, you need to enable it yourself. Open Terminal > Preferences > Settings > Keyboard, and enable Use option as meta key. Meta key, by convention, is used for operations on word.

Cut and paste (‘Kill and yank’ for old schoolers)
Cut from cursor to the end of line. Ctrl + k
Cut from cursor to the end of word. Meta + d
Cut from cursor to the start of word. Meta + Backspace
Cut from cursor to previous whitespace. Ctrl + w
Paste the last cut text. Ctrl + y
Loop through and paste previously cut text. Meta + y (use it after Ctrl + y)
Loop through and paste the last argument of previous commands. Meta + .
Search the command history
Search as you type. Ctrl + r and type the search term; Repeat Ctrl + r to loop through results.
Search the last remembered search term. Ctrl + r twice.
End the search at current history entry. Ctrl + j
Cancel the search and restore original line. Ctrl + g