Why Apple hates Home/End/Page Up/Page Down?

cybercrypt13 wrote:

open a terminal, type in a command and I want to go to the beginning of the line and then back to the end of the line. How do you do this?

Hold down the option key and use the left and right arrows.

I've never understood why Apple doesn't have a backspace and a delete button as well as a simple home and end.

They do, on the full size heyboard. Not on the compact keyboard or on laptops, where there isn't room for them. For Home and End, use fn-option-up and down keys. fn-delete will do a delete-right.

Because they don't feel the user needs them, Wrong or right.

Home = Command+Left arrow key

End = Cmd+Right arrow.

P^Pv = Cmd+up/down arrow.

Backspace = fn+delete (sometimes, other times not)

Delete = Delete (sometimes, then not sometimes)

All key combo above, as noted with delete key, work sometimes and most of the time not when you really need it.

It's a Mac and Steve Jobs Knows Best what is good for all users. Just ask him.

Actually, in most cases the Delete key functions like a Backspace key. To delete characters to the right of the cursor, use Fn+Delete. First thing I learned as a former Windows user converting to the Mac way a couple months back.

stevenfrombrownsburg wrote:

Actually, in most cases the Delete key functions like a Backspace key. To delete characters to the right of the cursor, use Fn+Delete. First thing I learned as a former Windows user converting to the Mac way a couple months back.

Yup right Delete = Backspace, forgot for a second.

Delete to the right of cursor, what is normally known as the function of the REAL Delete key, is fn+Delete (Sometimes).

Sorry I forgot you were in Terminal.

Terminal is not a text editor. It is a tool for running Unix shells. You must follow the conventions determined by your shell and your shell configuration.

A typical configuration in bash uses Control-A for the beginning of the line, and Control-E for the end of the line. This is a bash convention, not set by Apple. However Apple has provided a feature: if you Option-Click anywhere on the line to move the cursor to the clicked point. (Terminal sends the necessary commands to the shell to move the cursor to that point.)

Control-A and Control-E do work, as they have for over twenty years, on multiple Unix systems. Maybe if, as I implied, you check your shell configuration, you would find what you are doing wrong. But if you come here with an attitude, don't expect any more help from me.

If you are comfortable with the vi or emacs editor, you can set command-line editing with the editor name:

$ set -o vi

Now, up arrow, walks you back up the bash command history tree. When you see a command you want to edit, hit esc to enter view and navigate mode.

i - insert mode

esc - exit insert mode

h - left one char

l - right one char

home - beginning of line

end - end of line

delete - remove char right of cursor

usual vi line commands

If you are at the terminal prompt, Page up will jump a page back in command-line history. Page down moves forward a page.

if your terminal session loses destructive backspace or Ctrl-U destructive line delete, here is a command that still provides fond memories to some us:

$ stty dec

I open a Terminal window, type in history, and home, end, page up, and page down keys work normally. I don't do ssh stuff so can't check your example.

If i'm typing code or recalling past commands using the arrow keys, CNTRL+A goes to the line's beginning and CNTRL+E goes to the line's end. More at http://osxdaily.com/2006/12/19/command-line-keyboard-shortcuts-for-mac-os-x/. If it's not working for you, create a new admin user account, log into it, and try there. You might have some mucked up Terminal prefs.

What else might you be wanting, since I didn't read every entry.😉

Just to add to this... Control-A and Control-E do in fact work to go to the beginning and ending of the line respectivelly in terminal.app. t's been that way since pretty much the beginning of UNIX shells. Jeffry Jones is correct. Cybercript13, if you lived in the shell, you would know this 🙂. At any rate, it might be a nice gesture if you apologized to Jeffry Jones, and retracted your statements about Apple. (you're beginning to sound like "pts").

If you are in a default shell for Terminal.app, this should all work. What keyboard are you using?

I have to agree with cybercrypt13.. I get what you're all saying, but you see, as someone coming from Windows and Linux, home, end, pg up and pg down have always functioned the exact same, across all applications and versions of those platforms. Yet upon arriving in OSX, which I do ADORE, I've casually checked for about 5 years and yet to find a universal solution. I can confirm that in the text editor I'm using right now, yes control+{a,e} works as pg up/down, but it isn't so in the default terminal.

As a software engineer, I feel equipped to comprehend the details of why this is different... But it doesn't matter.. This is an issue fit for the 80s and one developer should have fixed it back in the NeXT days.

I am irritated beyond rationality about this. I don't care what the details are, I just am comfounded this remains an actual issue. It should be unified with the other major platforms and just work. Is this the last relic of the "Think Different" campagin? Everything else about OSX is basically perfect and unchallenged for usability, except this issue.

My only theory is that this issue has managed to be neglected for some really really backward reason and there is no actual rational thought involved.

I'm not interested in any explanations. I just want Apple to FIX this serious usability issue. This is behaviour I'd expect from Microsoft, who doesn't at all have this particular problem.

Thank you Internet, I needed to get that off my chest. I'll probably have to vent again, in a few years.

(*sheds a tear of rage*)