README.md

fb-editline: libedit bindings for LuaJIT

Basic bindings

The core of this module is the EditLine class, instantiated with a configuration table (described below). The read method returns the next line read from the terminal, or nil if the user entered the EOF character (usually Ctrl-D).

local editline = require('fb.editline')
local el_loop = editline.EditLine({
    prompt = 'hello> ',
})

while true do
  local line = el_loop:read()

  -- process line
  el_loop:add_history(line)
end

The configuration table contains:

• prompt: the prompt to display at the beginning of each line
• prompt_func: alternatively, this is a function called at the beginning of each line that should return the prompt; if nil, the value of prompt is used; if prompt is also nil, the prompt is `> '
• history_file: file name to save history to, if desired
• word_break: string of word break characters (good default)
• auto_history: if true, lines are automatically added to history; otherwise, call add_history yourself
• complete: completion function, called whenever the user types the completion key (by default Tab); init.lua has more details
• max_matches: the maximum number of matches to display when completing; if there are more matches, the user gets a confirmation prompt

Word completion

A good completion function is provided:

local completer = require('fb.editline.completer')
local el_loop = editline.EditLine({
    prompt = 'hello> ',
    complete = completer.complete,
})

The completer completes values appropriately (local and global variables; Lua keywords; if foo is a table / module, foo.<tab> will complete with keys in foo) and strings as files in the filesystem (try "./<tab>)