How to Use Key Bindings in BitchX
One of the strengths of this client is its /bind command. It permits any
key or sequences to keys to be bound to any arbitrary action. You are most
likely already familiar with using keyboard shortcuts with other programs.
The general allowable key sequences that may be bound are as follows:
Sequence Description
c any single character may be bound (case sensitive)
^c any letter (case insensitive) may be bound as a control key,
as well as any of: ? [ ] \ ^ @
METAn-c any meta key (1..9) may be used in conjunction with a single
key (as in the first form, above)
METAn-^c meta keys (1..9) may also be used in conjunction with control
keys (as in the second form, above)
mc this is another form of using meta keys, except in this case
the key bound to a META function is specified
m^c same as above, except used in conjunction with control keys
Meta keys may also be bound to other meta keys, such that a sequences may
be several characters in length. Some examples:
Whenever the '|' key is typed, the client will try to use that nick:
bind | parse_command nick |
This lets ^X (control-x) be used as a meta key in other bindings
bind ^X meta2_character
Either of these can be used to switch to a new window:
bind meta2-w next_window
bind ^Xw next_window
Either of these can be used to switch back to the previous window
bind meta2-^W previous_window
bind ^X^W previous window
A binding can also use a block of commands:
bind ^^ {
echo 1
echo 2
}
The client uses these bindings automatically for the arrow keys
bind ^[ meta1_character
bind meta1-[ meta2_character
bind meta2-A backward_history /* up arrow */
bind meta2-B forward_history /* down arrow */
bind meta2-C backward_character /* left arrow */
bind meta2-D forward_character /* right arrow */
Refer to the BIND command in section 4 for more information.
