NAME
       history - Manipulate the history list

SYNOPSIS
       history ?option? ?arg arg ...?


DESCRIPTION
       The  history  command  performs  one of several operations
       related to recently-executed commands recorded in  a  his-
       tory list.  Each of these recorded commands is referred to
       as an ``event''.  When specifying an event to the  history
       command, the following forms may be used:

       [1]    A number:  if positive, it refers to the event with
              that number (all events are  numbered  starting  at
              1).  If the number is negative, it selects an event
              relative to the current event  (-1  refers  to  the
              previous  event,  -2 to the one before that, and so
              on).  Event 0 refers to the current event.

       [2]    A string:   selects  the  most  recent  event  that
              matches  the  string.   An  event  is considered to
              match the string either if the string is  the  same
              as  the  first  characters  of the event, or if the
              string matches the event in the sense of the string
              match command.

       The history command can take any of the following forms:

       history
              Same as history info, described below.

       history add command ?exec?
              Adds  the command argument to the history list as a
              new event.  If exec is specified  (or  abbreviated)
              then the command is also executed and its result is
              returned.  If exec isn't specified  then  an  empty
              string is returned as result.

       history change newValue ?event?
              Replaces  the value recorded for an event with new-
              Value.  Event specifies the event to  replace,  and
              defaults to the current event (not event -1).  This
              command is intended for use in commands that imple-
              ment  new forms of history substitution and wish to
              replace the current event (which invokes  the  sub-
              stitution) with the command created through substi-
              tution.  The return value is an empty string.

       history clear
              Erase the history list.  The current keep limit  is
              retained.  The history event numbers are reset.

       history event ?event?
              Returns  the  value  of  the  event given by event.
              Event defaults to -1.

       history info ?count?
              Returns a formatted string (intended for humans  to
              read) giving the event number and contents for each
              of the  events  in  the  history  list  except  the
              current event.  If count is specified then only the
              most recent count events are returned.

       history keep ?count?
              This command may be used to change the size of  the
              history list to count events.  Initially, 20 events
              are retained in the history list.  If count is  not
              specified, the current keep limit is returned.

       history nextid
              Returns the number of the next event to be recorded
              in the history list.  It is useful for things  like
              printing  the event number in command-line prompts.

       history redo ?event?
              Re-executes the  command  indicated  by  event  and
              return  its  result.   Event  defaults to -1.  This
              command results in history revision:  see below for
              details.

HISTORY REVISION
       Pre-8.0 Tcl had a complex history revision mechanism.  The
       current mechanism is more limited,  and  the  old  history
       operations  substitute and words have been removed.  (As a
       consolation, the clear operation was added.)

       The history option redo results in much simpler  ``history
       revision''.   When  this  option  is invoked then the most
       recent event is modified to eliminate the history  command
       and replace it with the result of the history command.  If
       you want to redo an event without modifying history,  then
       use  the  event  operation to retrieve some event, and the
       add operation to add it to history and execute it.


KEYWORDS
