Question

In the python interpreter we can use

readline.parse_and_bind('tab: complete')

to enable tab completion

Is it possible to bind arbitrary keys to our own functions?
I’d like to bind CTRL+E and CTRL+SHIFT+E to edit_history() and edit_history(True) respectively, where edit_history() is my own function defined in .pythonrc

def edit_history(fork=False):
    import readline
    timeStamp = time.strftime("%Y%m%d-%H%M%S")
    tmpFile = '/tmp/pyHistory.%s' % timeStamp
    readline.write_history_file(tmpFile)
    if not fork:
        os.system('gvim -f %s' % tmpFile)
        readline.clear_history()
        readline.read_history_file(tmpFile)
        os.unlink(tmpFile)
    else:
        os.system('gvim %s' % tmpFile)

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Dado

Answer 1

Yes… kind of. After defining your edit_history function, you can map a key to the sequence “edit_history()\n”. Pressing that key would simulate typing “edit_history” followed by the Enter key.