Is it possible to add arbitrary keybindings to the Python interpreter?

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

You should look at enhanced interpreters like iPython, it has a lot of interesting %magic. — Paulo Scardine
– Paulo Scardine, Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 1:48
Thanks for the suggestion Paulo, but I can't get used to iPython. — dado
– dado, Commented Jul 27, 2012 at 23:03

chepner · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-27 03:20:44Z

0

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.

answered Jul 27, 2012 at 3:20

chepner

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dado Over a year ago

Ah, I tried that without ()\n, since the binding for complete doesn't include that. But I'm not sure how to specify keys. Do you have an example for F2 or CTRL+E? Thanks!

dado Over a year ago

I managed to get it to work with readline.parse_and_bind('C-e: "edit_history()\n"') Couldn't combine Meta or Shift with that. I might need a completely separate binding. Thank you chepner for pointing me in the right direction.

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