2.4.1 Naming a Function

The user can dynamically change the bindings of keys while using Readline. This is done by representing the function with a descriptive name. The user is able to type the descriptive name when referring to the function. Thus, in an init file, one might find

Meta-Rubout: backward-kill-word

This binds the keystroke Meta-Rubout to the function descriptively named backward-kill-word. You, as the programmer, should bind the functions you write to descriptive names as well. Readline provides a function for doing that:

Function: int rl_add_defun (const char *name, rl_command_func_t *function, int key)

Add name to the list of named functions. Make function be the function that gets called. If key is not -1, then bind it to function using rl_bind_key().

Using this function alone is sufficient for most applications. It is the recommended way to add a few functions to the default functions that Readline has built in. If you need to do something other than adding a function to Readline, you may need to use the underlying functions described below.