How do I get the delete key to work properly

Question

I'm on a linux box:

jla@jaspden-desktop$ uname -a

Linux jaspden-desktop 2.6.35.13-92.fc14.i686 #1 SMP Sat May 21 17:39:42 UTC 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

here, at the command prompt, the backspace key deletes the character behind the cursor, and the delete key deletes the character underneath the cursor.

I log in remotely to another box of ours:

$ ssh anvil
Last login: Thu Sep 15 11:58:38 2011 from maspben-desktop.uk.level5networks.com

$ uname -a
Linux anvil 2.6.9-89.ELlargesmp #1 SMP Mon Apr 20 10:43:12 EDT 2009 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Now the backspace key still works as before, but the delete key doesn't delete anything. Instead, it inserts a tilde like so:

jla@anvil$ misspell~ling

If I then run tcsh on the remote box,

$ tcsh

The delete key works as if it were backspace, deleting the character behind the cursor.

If I go back to bash, it reverts to its tilde-inserting mode.

Any ideas how to fix/debug this? It's driving me up the wall.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 16 '11 at 12:20

2

Here are two guides to help you understand and hopefully fix the backspace and delete keys in various shells and other command line applications:

They have helped me solve this kind of problems many times.

I have refrained from quoting the "most relevant" part, because any part of those documents could be the most relevant for you, it depends on the specifics of your systems.

answered Sep 16 '11 at 12:20

Lesmana

20,163

1

Thanks! That was enough information to sort it out. I needed to modify .inputrc for bash and .cshrc for tcsh. – John Lawrence Aspden Sep 16 '11 at 13:06

How do I get the delete key to work properly

1 Answers1