Tim> I am quite well aware of all of the ways you mention of recalling Tim> history etc. etc. When I've tried using them, they all seem Tim> tiresomely cumbersome ...
That's not at all surprising (at least not to me). An important point to realize is that readline's command recall is by default switchable between Emacs-like key bindings and VI-like key bindings. (If you're familiar with readline's configuration file, I suspect you can make it resemble other editors as well.) If you're unfamiliar with either vi or Emacs, you're likely to find either mode combersome. For someone who regularly uses one or the other, they are quite natural. I speak as someone who has used Emacs of one variety or another for over 20 years. For me, readline's key bindings "just work". Skip -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list