Editing Command Lines

Editing Feature

You can edit commands in a CLI that supports multi-line edition. Each command can contain a maximum of 510 characters. The keywords in the commands are case insensitive. Whether a command parameter is case sensitive or not depends on what the parameter is.

Table 1 lists keys that are frequently used for command editing.

**Table 1** Keys for command editing
Key	Function
Common key	Inserts a character at the current location of the cursor if the editing buffer is not full, and the cursor moves to the right. Otherwise, an alarm is generated.
Backspace	Deletes the character on the left of the cursor and the cursor moves to the left. When the cursor reaches the head of the command, an alarm is generated.
Left cursor key ← or Ctrl+B	Moves the cursor to the left by the space of a character. When the cursor reaches the head of the command, an alarm is generated.
Right cursor key → or Ctrl+F	Moves the cursor to the right by the space of a character. When the cursor reaches the end of the command, an alarm is generated.

Operating Techniques

Incomplete Keyword

You can enter incomplete keywords on the device. In the current view, you do not need to enter complete keywords if the entered characters can match a unique keyword. This function improves operating efficiency.

For example, to execute the display current-configuration command, you can enter d cu, di cu, or dis cu. However, you cannot enter d c or dis c because they do not match unique keywords.

The maximum length of a command (including the incomplete command) to be entered is 510 characters. If a command in incomplete for m is configured, the system saves it to the configuration file in its complete form, which may exceed the 510-character limit. In this case, the command in incomplete form cannot be restored after the system restarts. Therefore, when you configure a command in incomplete form, pay attention to the length of the command.

Tab

Enter an incomplete keyword and press Tab to complete the keyword.

When a unique keyword matches the input, the system replaces the incomplete input with the unique keyword and displays it in a new line followed by a space. For example:
1. Enter an incomplete keyword.
```
[HUAWEI] info-
```
2. Press Tab.
  The system replaces the entered keyword and displays it in a new line with the complete keyword followed by a space.
```
[HUAWEI] info-center
```
When the input has multiple matches, press Tab repeatedly to display the keywords beginning with the incomplete input in a circle until the desired keyword is displayed. In this case, the cursor closely follows the end of the keyword. For example:
1. Enter an incomplete keyword.
```
[HUAWEI] info-center log
```
2. Press Tab.
  The system displays the prefixes of all the matched keywords. In this example, the prefix is log.
```
[HUAWEI] info-center loghost
```
  Press Tab to switch from one matched keyword to another. In this case, the cursor closely follows the end of a word.
```
[HUAWEI] info-center logbuffer
```
  Stop pressing Tab when the desired keyword is displayed.
When an incorrect keyword is entered, press Tab and it is displayed in a new line without being changed. For example:
1. Enter an incorrect keyword.
```
[HUAWEI] info-center loglog
```
2. Press Tab.
```
[HUAWEI] info-center loglog
```
  The system displays information in a new line, but the keyword loglog remains unchanged and there is no space between the cursor and the keyword. This indicates that this keyword does not exist.