Trying to finally get a grip on POE, I played around (among other modules) with POE::Wheel::ReadLine, which uses Term::ReadKey rather than Term::ReadLine and implements part of what is in the GNU readline library. Having Term::ReadLine::Gnu on my system, I rewrote P::W::ReadLine to use that. The result is pretty short, and lo! all nifty features of the GNU readline library at hand (those which Term::ReadLine::Gnu implements, that is.)

package POE::Wheel::ReadLine::Gnu; use Carp qw( croak carp ); use Symbol qw( gensym ); use POE qw( Wheel ); use Term::ReadLine; our @ISA = qw(Term::ReadLine); # Private STDIN and STDOUT. my $stdin = gensym(); open($stdin, "<&STDIN") or die "Can't open private STDIN: $!"; my $stdout = gensym; open($stdout, ">&STDOUT") or die "Can't open private STDOUT: $!"; # Offsets into $self->{POE}. # OBJECT ($self) is 0 sub SELF_INPUT () { 1 } sub SELF_EVENT_INPUT () { 2 } sub SELF_READING_LINE () { 3 } sub SELF_STATE_READ () { 4 } sub SELF_STATE_IDLE () { 5 } sub SELF_UNIQUE_ID () { 6 } sub SELF_APP () { 7 } #--------------------------------------------------------------------- +--------- sub new { my $proto = shift; my $class = ref($proto) || $proto; my %params = @_; croak "$class requires a working Kernel" unless defined $poe_kerne +l; my $input_event = delete $params{InputEvent}; croak "$class requires an InputEvent parameter" unless defined $in +put_event; my $put_mode = delete $params{PutMode}; $put_mode = 'idle' unless defined $put_mode; croak "$class PutMode must be either 'immediate', 'idle', or 'afte +r'" unless $put_mode =~ /^(immediate|idle|after)$/; my $idle_time = delete $params{IdleTime}; $idle_time = 2 unless defined $idle_time; my $app = delete $params{appname}; $app ||= 'poe-readline'; if (scalar keys %params) { carp( "unknown parameters in $class constructor call: ", join(', ', keys %params) ); } my $self = $proto->SUPER::new(__PACKAGE__, $stdin, $stdout); $self->{POE} = [ undef, # OBJECT undef, # SELF_INPUT $input_event, # SELF_EVENT_INPUT 0, # SELF_READING_LINE undef, # SELF_STATE_READ undef, # SELF_STATE_IDLE &POE::Wheel::allocate_wheel_id(), # SELF_UNIQUE_ID $app, # SELF_APP ]; bless $self, $class; # set unbuffered IO select((select($stdout), $| = 1)[0]); # Set up the event handlers. Idle goes first. $self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_IDLE] = ( ref($self) . "(" . $self->{POE}->[SELF_UNIQUE_ID] . ") -> inpu +t timeout" ); $poe_kernel->state($self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_IDLE], $self, '_idle_ +state'); $self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_READ] = ( ref($self) . "(" . $self->{POE}->[SELF_UNIQUE_ID] . ") -> sele +ct read" ); $poe_kernel->state($self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_READ], $self, '_read_ +state'); rl_callback_handler_install($self,$prompt,sub { $self->got_line(@_ +) } ); return $self; } sub get { my ($self,$prompt,$preput) = @_; return if $self->{POE}->[SELF_READING_LINE]; $self->{POE}->[SELF_READING_LINE] = 1; my $Attribs = $self->Attribs; # ornament support (now prompt only) $prompt = ${$Attribs{term_set}}[0] . $prompt . ${$Attribs{term_set +}}[1]; $Attribs{completion_entry_function} = $Attribs{_trp_completion_fun +ction} if (!defined $Attribs{completion_entry_function} && defined $Attribs{completion_function}); $self->rl_set_prompt($prompt); $self->rl_insert_text($preput) if defined $preput; $self->rl_redisplay(); $poe_kernel->select_read($stdin, $self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_READ]); } sub put { my $self = shift; print $stdout map { $_ =~ /\r?\n/? $_ : $_ . "\r\n" } @_; return; }; sub got_line { my $self = $_[OBJECT]; $self->{POE}->[SELF_READING_LINE] = 0; $poe_kernel->select_read($stdin); $self->rl_set_prompt(''); $poe_kernel->yield( $self->{POE}->[SELF_EVENT_INPUT], $_[SELF_INPUT] || undef, $_[SELF_INPUT] ? undef : 'eot', $self->{POE}->[SELF_UNIQUE_ID] ); } sub _idle_state { } sub _read_state { $_[OBJECT]->rl_callback_read_char } sub DESTROY { my $self = shift; # Stop selecting on the handle. $poe_kernel->select($stdin); # Detach our tentacles from the parent session. if ($self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_READ]) { $poe_kernel->state($self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_READ]); $self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_READ] = undef; } if ($self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_IDLE]) { $poe_kernel->alarm($self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_IDLE]); $poe_kernel->state($self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_IDLE]); $self->{POE}->[SELF_STATE_IDLE] = undef; } # restore terminal state $self->rl_deprep_terminal(); POE::Wheel::free_wheel_id($self->{POE}->[SELF_UNIQUE_ID]); } 1;

The above code is hacked together using stuff of both POE::Wheel::ReadLine and Term::ReadLine::Gnu (with bits of my own, of course ;-)

Within the distribution of Term::ReadLine::Gnu there's a shell in the eg/ directory. I've hacked that a bit to use POE::Wheel::ReadLine::Gnu. Other than the original, it behaves like a shell (that is, it shells out commands by default) except if a line begins with a semicolon.

Entering just one colon invokes $EDITOR if set, otherwise vi, with a temporary file, and after finishing inserts that file's content at the prompt.

The only thing lacking to make it a real shell is job control, but that should be easy (for some value of easy) with POE.

Disclaimer: that's all unfinished work yet... ;-)

#! /usr/bin/perl # # $Id: perlsh,v 1.24 2001-10-27 22:59:15-05 hayashi Exp $ # # Copyright (c) 2000 Hiroo Hayashi. All Rights Reserved. # Copyright (c) 2008 shmem for the POE part, right or reserved? # # This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or # modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. =head1 NAME perlsh - one-line perl evaluator with line editing function and variable name completion function =head1 SYNOPSIS perlsh =head1 DESCRIPTION This program reads input a line, shells the command out to the system shell, or if the line begins with a semicolon (;) evaluates it by the perl interpreter, and prints the result. If the result is a list value then each value of the list is printed line by line. This program can be used as a very strong calculator which has whole perl functions. This is a sample program Term::ReadLine::Gnu module. When you input a line, the line editing function of GNU Readline Library is available. Perl symbol name completion function is also available. This version uses POE together with Term::ReadLine::Gnu. Implementatio +n of job control is under way. See the subroutine 'process_line' for more on syntax quirks. =head2 TODO: =over4 =item documentation (pod update) =item job control =item decent parser for shell commands =item ... =back =cut package PerlSh; use strict; # use Term::ReadLine; use Cwd; use POE qw(Wheel::ReadLine::Gnu Wheel::Run Filter::Line); # #use Devel::Leak::Object qw(GLOBAL_bless); use vars qw($PS1 $PS2 $HISTFILE $HISTSIZE $INPUTRC $STRICT $HOSTNAME $LOGNAME $CWP); $PS1 ='package \w; # [\!] ~ > '; $PS2 = '> '; $HISTFILE = ".perlsh_history" if -f ".perlsh_history"; $HISTFILE ||= ($ENV{HOME} || ((getpwuid($<))[7])) . "/.perlsh_history" +; $HISTSIZE = undef; #256; $INPUTRC = ($ENV{HOME} || ((getpwuid($<))[7])) . "/.perlshrc"; $STRICT = 0; $HOSTNAME = $ENV{HOSTNAME}; $LOGNAME = $ENV{LOGNAME}; $CWP = 'main'; # current working package package main; if (-f $PerlSh::INPUTRC) { do $PerlSh::INPUTRC; } package PerlSh; use vars qw($term $attribs); # to access as `$PerlSh::term' from pr +ompt POE::Session->create ( inline_states => { _start => \&readline_start, got_input => \&reader, _stop => \&readline_stop, } ); $poe_kernel->run(); ###################################################################### +## sub readline_stop { delete $_[HEAP]->{readline_wheel} } sub sigint { my $term = shift; $term->modifying; $term->delete_text; $attribs->{point} = $attribs->{end} = 0; $term->redisplay; } sub readline_start { my ($heap) = $_[HEAP]; $term = $heap->{readline_wheel} = POE::Wheel::ReadLine::Gnu->new( InputEvent => 'got_input' ); $attribs = $term->Attribs; $term->bind_key(ord "^", 'history-expand-line', 'emacs-meta'); $term->bind_key(ord "\cv", 'display-readline-version', 'emacs-ctlx +'); $term->bind_key(ord "\cc", 'abort'); # not works yet FIXME!!! $term->ornaments(0); if (defined &main::afterinit) { package main; &afterinit; package PerlSh; } # disable implicit add_history() call $term->MinLine(undef); $term->stifle_history($HISTSIZE); if (-f $HISTFILE) { $term->ReadHistory($HISTFILE) or warn "perlsh: cannot read history file: $!\n"; } $attribs->{attempted_completion_function} = \&attempt_perl_complet +ion; $attribs->{special_prefixes} = '$@%&'; $attribs->{completion_display_matches_hook} = \&perl_symbol_display_match_list; $poe_kernel->yield('got_input'); } sub process_line { my ($heap) = $_[HEAP]; my $command = $heap->{command}; my ($strict, @result); $strict = $STRICT ? '' : 'no strict;'; if ( defined($command) ) { if ($command =~ s/^(=|\+|;)\s*//) { my $fh; my $ext; if ($command =~ s/#\s*(\|.*)//) { $ext = 1; open(O,"$1"); $fh = select O; } @result = eval ("$strict package $CWP; $command"); use strict; if ($@) { print "Error: $@\n"; return; } printer (@result); if($ext) { $ext = 0; close (O); select $fh if $fh; } undef @result; #$CWP = $1 if ($command =~ /^\s*package\s+([\w:]+)/); my $dnammoc = reverse $command; $CWP = reverse $1 if ($dnammoc =~ /([\w:]+)\s+egakcap\b/); } elsif ($command =~ s/^\s*cd\b\s*//) { if($command) { if (-d $command) { chdir $command; } else { warn "'$command': Not a directory\n"; } } else { chdir $ENV{HOME}; } } elsif ($command =~ s/^:$//) { system $ENV{EDITOR} || 'vi',"/tmp/perlshell.$$"; { local $/; open my $fh, '<', "/tmp/perlshell.$$"; chop($PerlSh::PREPUT = <$fh>); } } elsif ($command =~ /^s$/) { eval { require Devel::Leak::Object; Devel::Leak::Object->import qw(GLOBAL_bless) }; if($@) { warn $@; } else { Devel::Leak::Object::status(); } } elsif ($command =~ /^(exit|q)$/) { delete $heap->{readline_wheel}; $term->DESTROY; quit(); } else { # experimental - beginning of Job Control # implementation # # XXX Too simplistic command line parsing $command =~ s/(\w+)/$PerlSh::ALIAS{$1} || $1/e; if ($command =~ s/\&\s*$//) { my ($prog, @args) = split /\s+/, $command; for(@args){s/^'|'$//g} my $session = POE::Session->create ( inline_states => { _start => sub { my $job = POE::Wheel::Run->new ( Program => [$prog, (@args) x ! ! @args +], #StdioFilter => POE::Filter::Line->ne +w(), #StderrFilter => POE::Filter::Line->ne +w(), StdinEvent => "got_job_stdin", StdoutEvent => "got_job_stdout", StderrEvent => "got_job_stderr", CloseEvent => "got_job_close", ); $heap->{job} = $job; push @PerlSh::Jobs, $job->PID; print '[',$job->PID,"] $command\n"; }, got_job_stdout => sub { print "out $_[ARG0]\n" + }, got_job_stderr => sub { print "ERR: $_[ARG0]\n +" }, got_job_stdin => sub { print "in: $_[ARG0]\n" + }, got_job_close => sub { my ( $kernel, $heap ) = @_[ KERNEL, HEAP ] +; my $job = delete $heap->{job}; if ($job) { print "Job " . $job->PID . " stopped. +\n"; } else { print "Job stopped.\n"; } wait; # reap child }, } ); } else { # default: shell out command system $command; } } } } sub sigint { $term->modifying; $term->delete_text; $attribs->{point} = $attribs->{end} = 0; $term->redisplay; } sub quit { $term->WriteHistory($HISTFILE) or warn "perlsh: cannot write history file: $!\n"; exit (0); } sub reader { my ( $heap, $kernel, $line, $exception ) = @_[ HEAP, KERNEL, ARG0, + ARG1 ]; my $command = $heap->{command}; my $term = $heap->{readline_wheel}; if ( defined ($line) && $line !~ /^\r?$/) { #warn "\nline:$line\n"; if ($line =~ /\\$/) { chop $line; $heap->{command} = $command ? $command . " $line" : $line; } else { $heap->{command} = $command ? $command . " $line" : $line; unless($command =~ /^(q|\+h|exit)/) { $term->addhistory($heap->{command}) if (length($heap->{command}) > 0); } &process_line; $heap->{command} = ''; } } #warn "\$heap->{readline_wheel} = $heap->{readline_wheel}\n"; $term->get($command ? $PS2 : prompt($PS1),$PerlSh::PREPUT) if $heap->{readline_wheel}; $PerlSh::PREPUT = ''; #return(("Foo!") x 32); } sub printer { my (@res) = @_; my ($i); foreach $i (@res) { print "result: $i\n"; } } sub prompt { local($_) = @_; # if reference to a subroutine return the return value of it return &$_ if (ref($_) eq 'CODE'); # \h: hostname, \u: username, \w: package name, \!: history number s/\\h/$HOSTNAME/g; s/\\u/$LOGNAME/g; s/\\w/$CWP/g; s/\\!/$attribs->{history_base} + $attribs->{history_length}/eg; my $dir = getcwd; s/~/$dir/; $_; } # # custom completion for Perl # sub perl_symbol_display_match_list ($$$) { my($matches, $num_matches, $max_length) = @_; map { $_ =~ s/^((\$#|[\@\$%&])?).*::(.+)/$3/; }(@{$matches}); $term->display_match_list($matches); $term->forced_update_display; } sub attempt_perl_completion ($$$$) { my ($text, $line, $start, $end) = @_; no strict qw(refs); if (substr($line, 0, $end) =~ m/\!(\d+)?$/) { $attribs->{completion_append_character} = ''; return $term->history_get($1) if length($1); my $c = 0; $term->display_match_list( [undef,map { ++$c.(" "x (6-length($c))).$_ } $term->GetHis +tory] ); $term->forced_update_display; return undef; } elsif (substr($line, 0, $start) =~ m/\$([\w:]+)\s*(->)?\s*{\s*[' +"]?$/) { # $foo{key, $foo->{key $attribs->{completion_append_character} = '}'; return $term->completion_matches($text, \&perl_hash_key_completion_fu +nction); } elsif (substr($line, 0, $start) =~ m/\$([\w:]+)\s*->\s*['"]?$/) +{ # $foo->method $attribs->{completion_append_character} = ' '; return $term->completion_matches($text, \&perl_method_completion_func +tion); } else { # Perl symbol completion $attribs->{completion_append_character} = ''; return $term->completion_matches($text, \&perl_symbol_completion_fun +ction); } } # static global variables for completion functions use vars qw($i @matches); sub perl_history_completion_function ($$) { my($text, $state) = @_; print "\ntext='$text',state='$state'\n"; } sub perl_hash_key_completion_function ($$) { my($text, $state) = @_; if ($state) { $i++; } else { # the first call $i = 0; # clear index my ($var,$arrow) = (substr($attribs->{line_buffer}, 0, $attribs->{point} - length($text +)) =~ m/\$([\w:]+)\s*(->)?\s*{\s*['"]?$/); # +}); no strict qw(refs); $var = "${CWP}::$var" unless ($var =~ m/::/); if ($arrow) { my $hashref = eval "\$$var"; @matches = keys %$hashref; } else { @matches = keys %$var; } } for (; $i <= $#matches; $i++) { return $matches[$i] if ($matches[$i] =~ /^\Q$text/); } return undef; } sub _search_ISA ($) { my ($mypkg) = @_; no strict 'refs'; my $isa = "${mypkg}::ISA"; return $mypkg, map _search_ISA($_), @$isa; } sub perl_method_completion_function ($$) { my($text, $state) = @_; if ($state) { $i++; } else { # the first call my ($var, $pkg, $sym, $pk); $i = 0; # clear index $var = (substr($attribs->{line_buffer}, 0, $attribs->{point} - length($text)) =~ m/\$([\w:]+)\s*->\s*$/)[0]; $pkg = ref eval (($var =~ m/::/) ? "\$$var" : "\$${CWP}::$var" +); no strict qw(refs); @matches = map { $pk = $_ . '::'; grep (/^\w+$/ && ($sym = "${pk}$_", defined *$sym{COD +E}), keys %$pk); } _search_ISA($pkg); } for (; $i <= $#matches; $i++) { return $matches[$i] if ($matches[$i] =~ /^\Q$text/); } return undef; } # # Perl symbol name completion # { my ($prefix, %type, @keyword); sub perl_symbol_completion_function ($$) { my($text, $state) = @_; if ($state) { $i++; } else { # the first call my ($pre, $pkg, $sym); $i = 0; # clear index no strict qw(refs); ($prefix, $pre, $pkg) = ($text =~ m/^((\$#|[\@\$%&])?(.*:: +)?)/); @matches = grep /::$/, $pkg ? keys %$pkg : keys %::; $pkg = ($CWP eq 'main' ? '::' : $CWP . '::') unless $pkg; if ($pre) { # $foo, @foo, $#foo, %foo, &foo @matches = (@matches, grep (/^\w+$/ && ($sym = $pkg . $_, defined *$sym{$type{$pre}}), keys %$pkg)); } else { # foo @matches = (@matches, !$prefix && @keyword, grep (/^\w+$/ && ($sym = $pkg . $_, defined *$sym{CODE} || defined *$sym{FILEHANDLE} ), keys %$pkg)); } } my $entry; for (; $i <= $#matches; $i++) { $entry = $prefix . $matches[$i]; return $entry if ($entry =~ /^\Q$text/); } return undef; } BEGIN { %type = ('$' => 'SCALAR', '*' => 'SCALAR', '@' => 'ARRAY', '$#' => 'ARRAY', '%' => 'HASH', '&' => 'CODE'); # ' # from perl5.004_02 perlfunc @keyword = qw( chomp chop chr crypt hex index lc lcfirst length oct ord pack q qq reverse rindex sprintf substr tr uc ucfirst y m pos quotemeta s split study qr abs atan2 cos exp hex int log oct rand sin sqrt srand pop push shift splice unshift grep join map qw reverse sort unpack delete each exists keys values binmode close closedir dbmclose dbmopen die eof fileno flock format getc print printf read readdir rewinddir seek seekdir select syscall sysread sysseek syswrite tell telldir truncate warn write pack read syscall sysread syswrite unpack vec chdir chmod chown chroot fcntl glob ioctl link lstat mkdir open opendir readlink rename rmdir stat symlink umask unlink utime caller continue die do dump eval exit goto last next redo return sub wantarray caller import local my package use defined dump eval formline local my reset scalar undef wantarray alarm exec fork getpgrp getppid getpriority kill pipe qx setpgrp setpriority sleep system times wait waitpid do import no package require use bless dbmclose dbmopen package ref tie tied untie use accept bind connect getpeername getsockname getsockopt listen recv send setsockopt shutdown socket socketpair msgctl msgget msgrcv msgsnd semctl semget semop shmctl shmget shmread shmwrite endgrent endhostent endnetent endpwent getgrent getgrgid getgrnam getlogin getpwent getpwnam getpwuid setgrent setpwent endprotoent endservent gethostbyaddr gethostbyname gethostent getnetbyaddr getnetbyname getnetent getprotobyname getprotobynumber getprotoent getservbyname getservbyport getservent sethostent setnetent setprotoent setservent gmtime localtime time times abs bless chomp chr exists formline glob import lc lcfirst map my no prototype qx qw readline readpipe ref sub sysopen tie tied uc ucfirst untie use dbmclose dbmopen ); } } __END__ =pod Before invoking, this program reads F<~/.perlshrc> and evaluates the content of the file. When this program is terminated, the content of the history buffer is saved in a file F<~/.perlsh_history>, and it is read at next invoking. =head1 VARIABLES You can customize the behavior of C<perlsh> by setting following variables in F<~/.perlshrc>; =over 4 =item C<$PerlSh::PS1> The primary prompt string. The following backslash-escaped special characters can be used. \h: host name \u: user name \w: package name \!: history number The default value is `C<\w[\!]$ >'. =item C<$PerlSh::PS2> The secondary prompt string. The default value is `C<E<gt> >'. =item C<$PerlSh::HISTFILE> The name of the file to which the command history is saved. The default value is C<~/.perlsh_history>. =item C<$PerlSh::HISTSIZE> If not C<undef>, this is the maximum number of commands to remember in the history. The default value is 256. =item C<$PerlSh::STRICT> If true, restrict unsafe constructs. See C<use strict> in perl man page. The default value is 0; =over =head1 FILES =over 4 =item F<~/.perlshrc> This file is eval-ed at initialization. If a subroutine C<afterinit> is defined in this file, it will be eval-ed after initialization. Here is a sample. # -*- mode: perl -*- # decimal to hexa sub h { map { sprintf("0x%x", $_ ) } @_;} sub tk { $t->tkRunning(1); use Tk; $mw = MainWindow->new(); } # for debugging Term::ReadLine::Gnu sub afterinit { *t = \$PerlSh::term; *a = \$PerlSh::attribs; } =item F<~/.perlsh_history> =item F<~/.inputrc> A initialization file for the GNU Readline Library. Refer its manual for details. =back =head1 SEE ALSO Term::ReadLine::Gnu GNU Readline Library Manual =head1 AUTHOR Hiroo Hayashi <hiroo.hayashi@computer.org> =cut

Comments, suggestions? Worth uploading to CPAN?

--shmem

_($_=" "x(1<<5)."?\n".q·/)Oo.  G°\        /
                              /\_¯/(q    /
----------------------------  \__(m.====·.(_("always off the crowd"))."·
");sub _{s./.($e="'Itrs `mnsgdq Gdbj O`qkdq")=~y/"-y/#-z/;$e.e && print}

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: RFC: POE::Wheel::ReadLine::Gnu
by rcaputo (Chaplain) on Feb 09, 2008 at 21:10 UTC

    You should point POE's mailing list to this post. I think the Morgan Stanley people who wrote large chunks of POE::Wheel::ReadLine read the list, and they may be interested in a relatively inexpensive way to complete the readline feature set.

    Have you checked whether POE::Wheel::ReadLine::Gnu passes POE::Wheel::ReadLine's tests? If so, it might be a viable replacement for the existing module.

      Have you checked whether POE::Wheel::ReadLine::Gnu passes POE::Wheel::ReadLine's tests?

      Not yet, since I'm pretty sure it doesn't pass the tests - for now. I wanted to have that working first, and care about compatibility and tests later... Ill update the OP with results as I get them.

      Thanks for answering; I'll notice the mailing list.

      update: ...and thank you for POE! It rocks! ;-)

      update 2: Test output:

      perl t/30_loops/00_base/wheel_readline-gnu.pm 1..6 ok 1 - plain typing ok 2 - backspace ok 3 - forward/backward not ok 4 - delete words # Failed test 'delete words' # at t/30_loops/00_base/wheel_readline-gnu.pm line 306. # got: ' two four' # expected: 'two four' ok 5 - case changes not ok 6 - transpose # Failed test 'transpose' # at t/30_loops/00_base/wheel_readline-gnu.pm line 306. # got: 'two one 12' # expected: 'two one 21' # Looks like you failed 2 tests of 6.

      The failures only show differences between the two implementations; for GNU readline:

      • 'delete words' - killing a word at bol (beginning-of-line) doesn't kill a following space
      • 'transpose' - transposing two previous chars is possible at eol

      The tests for POE::Wheel::ReadLine are far from complete; I didn't yet look into the arguments to new() and how they would translate to P::W::RL::Gnu, so I suspect incompatibilities in areas not covered by the tests (yet).

      --shmem

      _($_=" "x(1<<5)."?\n".q·/)Oo.  G°\        /
                                    /\_¯/(q    /
      ----------------------------  \__(m.====·.(_("always off the crowd"))."·
      ");sub _{s./.($e="'Itrs `mnsgdq Gdbj O`qkdq")=~y/"-y/#-z/;$e.e && print}
      I think the Morgan Stanley people (...) may be interested in (...) a viable replacement for the existing module.

      SCNR to the temptation of giving an example of how easy it is to twist a whole statement with the use of some ellipsis... ;-)

      It might be a viable replacement, and if refined, it is; and "relatively inexpensive way" is an understatement, because all there is to it already can be found in the GNU readline library.

      Dunno how that has been in the beginning of POE::Wheel::ReadLine. As for now, calling the GNU RL lib via Term::ReadLine::Gnu in POE context is straightforward, since it supports the callback execution model.

      The functions needed in POE context, for most of its functionality, are:

      • $self->rl_callback_handler_install
      • $self->rl_callback_read_char
      • $self->rl_deprep_terminal
      • $self->rl_insert_text
      • $self->rl_set_prompt
      • $self->rl_redisplay

      all of which (and oodles of more functions) are nicely explained in the GNU readline info pages.

      I could step in and release a POE::Wheel::ReadLine::Gnu module compatible to POE::Wheel::ReadLine, and I would do so if you as "grandfather POE" would favor that; but I'd rather have the original authors of P:W:RL ("the Morgan Stanley people" ?) do the revision, for they have more insight into POE. Besides, I don't want to take over things without need, nor spoil effort.

      That said - if nobody answers on the mailing list, I'll just do my best in coding and post it here or send it to you for inclusion.

      --shmem

      _($_=" "x(1<<5)."?\n".q·/)Oo.  G°\        /
                                    /\_¯/(q    /
      ----------------------------  \__(m.====·.(_("always off the crowd"))."·
      ");sub _{s./.($e="'Itrs `mnsgdq Gdbj O`qkdq")=~y/"-y/#-z/;$e.e && print}