When you press Ctrl+L in bash default mode the screen is cleared. But when I run set -o vi and press Ctrl+L the keystroke is printed (^L).
Is there any way to keep this behavior?
53
asked Dec 7 '13 at 4:01
61
Ctrl+L is also bound in vi command mode but not in insert mode. There's no default binding for clear-screen in insert mode. Readline bindings should be specified in ~/.inputrc, like so:
set editing-mode vi
$if mode=vi
set keymap vi-command
# these are for vi-command mode
Control-l: clear-screen
set keymap vi-insert
# these are for vi-insert mode
Control-l: clear-screen
$endifThis will bind Ctrl+L to clear the screen in both normal and insert mode. Naturally, if you prefer to only use it in one mode, just remove the relevant option.
There is an extensive list of readline commands that you can use to customize your bash shell with.
answered Dec 7 '13 at 5:22
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1out of curiosity, why bother with vi-command if it's already mapped? just for the sake of completeness, or is there a technical reason? – Ken Bellows Oct 10 '17 at 13:43
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1@KenBellows for clarity, as per the comments (and I needed an example in the vi-command block for purely aesthetic reasons). – jasonwryan Oct 10 '17 at 15:17
21
Put this line in your bashrc:
bind -m vi-insert "\C-l":clear-screen
