backspace

Synopsis

/bind <key> backspace

Description

Delete the character immediately before the cursor in the input line, moving the cursor left and closing the gap. If the input cursor is at the start of the input line, nothing happens. The input prompt cannot be erased this way.

This built-in action combines backward_character and delete_character, with a check for the start of the line before either action runs. Deletion uses the input editor's logical character boundaries rather than deleting a single byte, so an ordinary multibyte UTF-8 character is removed as a unit.

The action takes no arguments or options; extra text supplied with the binding is ignored. It behaves the same in insert and overwrite modes. Deleted text is not saved in the cut buffer, and the action does not send the line or issue an IRC request.

By default, both Control-H (^H) and the DEL character (^?) are bound to backspace. Which sequence a physical Backspace key sends depends on your terminal configuration; scripts can also change these bindings.

Example

/bind ^H backspace
/bind ^? backspace

These bindings make either common Backspace sequence delete the preceding character. For example, with hello in the input line and the cursor at its end, pressing the bound key leaves hell.

See bind for key sequence syntax.

Source references

• source/keys.c: action registration and default ^H and ^? bindings.
• source/input.c: input_backspace, backward_character, input_move_cursor, input_delete_character, and retokenize_input implement cursor movement and deletion.