Linux – In Bash (Mac/Linux terminal shell), can the up and down arrow keys be made to function as they do in text editors

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In text editors, if I press the up and down arrow keys, it moves the cursor between lines of text.

In Bash, if I’m typing a long command that spans multiple lines and I press the up and down arrow keys, it cycles through the command history.

I want the former behavior in Bash. Is this possible? If not, is there any way to move the cursor directly up or down in a multi-line command?

Best Answer

No, it's not possible. Bash uses GNU Readline to handle interactive line input. There is no command in Readline that moves between display lines as you desire, nor is there a configuration variable comparable to the line-move-visual variable of GNU Emacs that causes next-line and previous-line to move by display lines.

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vim:

 :set mouse=a

Linux – How to edit previous lines in a multiple line command in Bash

That, unfortunately, is up to bash, not to the terminal. Your options are:

Use semicolons instead of newlines, although even then you can't move up a screen line at a time but must use character or word motion commands. (Oddly, zsh at least lets you move within a compound command when editing history, just not within the current command.) Sometimes fc (which tosses you into your editor with the previous command) is the easiest way to handle compound commands.
If you are using Bash, use the following key combination:
```
ctrl x e
```
It will open up the command you are working on using your text editor. Save the file and quit. (I found the command on the Shell Hater's presentation.) Zsh users have this alternative.

Best Answer

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Linux – How to edit previous lines in a multiple line command in Bash

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