zsh create a command line within a script but do not execute it

Question

I'm wondering if it's possible to write a zsh script that will write a command to the prompt but NOT execute it, i.e. leave it there for me to edit and then execute when I'm ready. I can do something like this with keybindings by leaving off the final '\C-m'. eg:

bindkey -s "\e[1;3C" "howdy!"

... I press Alt+RightArrow and the text "howdy!" is printed at the prompt and just left there.

I can also do something like what I want by writing my command to the history file and then recalling it with the up arrow. I've tried 'echo -n sometext' but it doesn't work.

Can I write a script that would exit leaving (say) " howdy! " on the command line? In actual fact I want the script to build up a complex command based on several things, but I want the script to leave it on the CLI for final editing, so automatic execution must be prevented.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Turns out the answer is simple:

print -z $string-to-print

Answer 2

If you mean a zsh function and not an external script, you can write a zle (short for zsh line editor) widget and bind it to some key.

# define to function to use
hello () {
 BUFFER=hello
 zle end-of-line
}
# create a zle widget, which will invoke the function.
zle -N hello
# bindkey Alt-a to that widget
bindkey "\ea" hello

You can learn more from A User's Guide to the Z-Shell, Chapter 4.