Using stty

There is several functions that can be done by typing in a particular character in your shell. The stty function can be used to find out what character and to set/unset that character as well (as I demonstrated with removing the 'stop').

Getting the current characters

This is simple enough, simply type:

$ stty -a
speed 38400 baud; rows 44; columns 111; line = 0;
intr = ^C; quit = ^\; erase = ^?; kill = ^U; eof = ^D; eol = ;
eol2 = ; start = ^Q; stop = ^S;
susp = ^Z; rprnt = ^R; werase = ^W; lnext = ^V; flush = ^O; min = 1;
time = 0;
-parenb -parodd cs8 -hupcl -cstopb cread -clocal -crtscts
-ignbrk -brkint -ignpar -parmrk -inpck -istrip -inlcr -igncr icrnl
ixon -ixoff -iuclc -ixany -imaxbel
opost -olcuc -ocrnl onlcr -onocr -onlret -ofill -ofdel nl0 cr0 tab0
bs0 vt0 ff0
isig icanon iexten echo echoe echok -echonl -noflsh -xcase -tostop
-echoprt echoctl echoke

So you can see for example, intr = ^C. The ^C represents a 'control character'. So in this case holding down the 'Ctrl' key and the 'c' key will produce ^C. This is, of course, the interrupt to stop a program from running. Note that the shift key has no effect on control characters, ^c and ^C are the same.

So lets just run through all the various items:

erase

The erase function is probably one that you use all the time. It will delete the last character you typed. If you have ^? like I do above, then the key Delete will work. Another common one for erase is ^H which is the Backspace key.

werase

The word erase will erase the last word that you typed. In this case my terminal has that set to ^W.

kill

This is a line kill, it will delete all the text in the current line of the shell. In this case ^U is for my terminal. In some setups this is ^K or even @.

intr

The interrupt key will abort the current running command. Some setups will use the Delete key for that and therefore you will see ^?.

stop

The stop function will cease the flow of the terminal, it is intended for when you have text is flowing very quickly, too quick to read. Then you can stop it, and start it again. In this case ^S is set.

susp

The suspend function, will stop a job being run but instead of aborting it will just freeze the job. You can then use the fg or bg commands to start the job again.

Assigning Characters

If you find that the characters that are set aren't to your liking or maybe don't fit your keyboard very well then you can use stty to set your prefered characters.

For example you can do this:

$ stty intr ^c

That will set the interrupt function to the Ctrl and c key press.

stty gives you the power to setup your terminal in the manner you wish.