This is my "port" of GNU-Readline to Java. Actually, it is a crude wrapper using the Java Native Interface (JNI). Starting from version 0.6, alternative libraries are supported. Currently only Editline is implemented, but adding support for other implementations should be easy. From 0.6 on, JavaReadline also has a fallback solution (System.in) for platforms without Readline or Editline support, making your programs portable again. This version implements basic readline functionality like line editing and filename completion, which should be just enough for normal use. Not all functionality is available with all implementations. Various people contributed code (see the file NEWS for details). Since I changed some of the code, all bugs are my fault and bugreports should be adressed to me. The binary distribution contains the API documentation, a JAR with the Readline class and the shared library libJavaReadline.so. The source distribution contains all the source (I hope this doesn't surprise you ;-) and a system of makefiles. You need the JDK to compile it. LICENSING ISSUES ================ Although JavaReadline is distributed under the LGPL, the underlying Readline library is GPL code. The consequence is, that any program linking with JavaReadline+Readline, will fall under the GPL. There is a Readline replacement called Editline with a more liberal license. Use that library if you want to distribute your program under the LGPL instead of the GPL. You can fetch the Editline stuff at http://packages.debian.org. You need libedit2 and libedit-dev. Source code is also available, although I must admit I did not succeed in compiling it on my non-BSD and non-Debian system :-( A second Readline replacement is called Getline. This is a very minimal Readline-clone with a liberal license, and the source-code is provided in the java-readline distribution. It has the advantage that it compiles natively on Windows. COMPILATION =========== Compilation should be no problem. Try "make". You should set the variable JAVA_HOME (or edit the makefile). JAVAC and JAVAC_OPT can also be set in the environment or from the make commandline. If you want Editline support, use "make T_LIBS=JavaEditline". Getline support is selected with "make T_LIBS=JavaGetline". Getline support is also available for (native) WIN32. To build it from source, you need the cygwin-environment (only necessary because we still use GNU-make) and a native C-compiler. All necessary variables are configured in the toplevel Makefile. Before running make, set the WIN32-variable to MSC: > WIN32=MSC make A ready-to-use DLL is in the contrib/win32 directory. Since this feature is experimental, your feedback is appreciated. If you figure out how to link JavaReadline with cygwin, please let me know as well (some stubs are already built into the makefiles). INSTALLATION ============ Copy the files libJava*.so to one of your library directories or add the directory where you put libJava*.so to LD_LIBARY_PATH. Also, add java_readline.jar to your CLASSPATH. After building the jar and the shared library, you can run a program with something like: LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib java -cp java_readline.jar org.foo.bar.MyClass assuming that you put libJava*.so into /usr/lib. DEBIAN ====== Thanks to Ben Burton, Debian-packages for JavaReadline are available! SUPPORT ======= If you think you found a bug or want to contribute some code, please open an issue or send a pull request. This software was originally written by Bernhard Bablok, who has retired from maintaining. It is now maintained by Andrew Clemons.