You can enter an editing command anywhere on a line. In addition, you can press the <Return> key anywhere on the line.
Use the control characters and escape sequences shown in the following tables for line editing.
| Control Character |
Action Performed |
| C-A |
Move to the beginning of the line |
| C-B |
Move left (backwards) [n] |
| C-D |
Delete character [n] |
| C-E |
Move to the end of the line |
| C-F |
Move right (forward) [n] |
| C-G |
Ring bell |
| C-H |
Delete character before the cursor [n] |
| C-I |
Complete the file name (<Tab> key) |
| C-J |
Done with line (<Return> key) |
| C-K |
Kill to the end of the line (or column [n] |
| C-L |
Redisplay line |
| C-M |
Done with line (alternate <Return> key) |
| C-N |
Get next line from history [n] |
| C-P |
Get previous line from history [n] |
| C-R |
Search backward (or forward if [n]) through history for text; start line if text begins with an up-arrow |
| C-T |
Transpose characters |
| C-V |
Insert next character even if it an edit command |
| C-W |
Wipe to the mark |
| C-XC-X |
Exchange current location and mark |
| C-Y |
Yank back last killed test |
| C-[ |
Start an escape sequence (<Esc> key) |
| C-]c |
Move forward to next character c |
| C-? |
Delete character before the cursor [n] |
| Escape Sequence |
Action Performed |
| ESC C-H |
Delete previous word (<Backspace> key) [n] |
| ESC DEL |
Delete previous word (<Delete> key) [n] |
| ESC SPC |
Set the mark (<Space Bar>); refer to C-XC-X and C-Y control characters in the previous table. |
| ESC . |
Get the last (or [n]th) word from the previous line |
| ESC ? |
Show possible completions |
| ESC < |
Move to the start of history |
| ESC > |
Move to the end of history |
| ESC b |
Move backward one word [n] |
| ESC d |
Delete the word under the cursor [n] |
| ESC f |
Move forward one word [n] |
| ESC l |
Make the word lowercase [n] |
| ESC u |
Make the word uppercase [n] |
| ESC y |
Yank back the last killed text |
| ESC w |
Make area up to mark yankable |
| ESC nn |
Set repeat count to the number nn |
The DCE control program also supports file name completion. For example, suppose the root directory has the following files in it: