# WinXP, no braces in irb

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/winxp-no-braces-in-irb/50935>\
**Category:** Ruby\
**Created:** [December 22, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/winxp-no-braces-in-irb/50935 "2005-12-22T23:30:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![klausa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@klausa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/klausa)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/winxp-no-braces-in-irb/50935/1 "2005-12-22T23:30:36Z")

</div>

Hi,

I just started learning ruby. Installed on WinXP. Opened a command  
window. Whenever I type a brace it appears on the creen. After typing  
irb no more braces… Why? What can I do?? TIA for any help.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![klausa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@klausa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/klausa)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/winxp-no-braces-in-irb/50935/2 "2005-12-23T00:00:44Z")

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On 12/22/05, klausa [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:

> The same goes for square brackets and the baclslash. I am using a  
> german keyboard. But the german umlauts (characters with two dots on  
> top) appear in irb when I type them on the keyboard. Any ideas?

This has come up several times in the past. I don’t remember what the  
resolution status is, but try searching for “keyboard irb” on google  
groups for comp.lang.ruby. Here’s a link:

[http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.ruby/search?q=keyboard+irb](http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.ruby/search?q=keyboard+irb)

Jacob F.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![klausa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@klausa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/klausa)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/winxp-no-braces-in-irb/50935/3 "2005-12-22T23:39:39Z")

</div>

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 23:26:27 +0100, klausa [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)  
wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I just started learning ruby. Installed on WinXP. Opened a command  
> window. Whenever I type a brace it appears on the creen. After typing  
> irb no more braces… Why? What can I do?? TIA for any help.

The same goes for square brackets and the baclslash. I am using a  
german keyboard. But the german umlauts (characters with two dots on  
top) appear in irb when I type them on the keyboard. Any ideas?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![klausa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@klausa](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/klausa)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:38am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/winxp-no-braces-in-irb/50935/4 "2005-12-23T08:38:20Z")

</div>

klausa schrieb:

> On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 23:26:27 +0100, klausa [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid)
> 
> > I just started learning ruby. Installed on WinXP. Opened a command  
> > window. Whenever I type a brace it appears on the creen. After typing  
> > irb no more braces… Why? What can I do?? TIA for any help.
> 
> The same goes for square brackets and the baclslash. I am using a  
> german keyboard. But the german umlauts (characters with two dots on  
> top) appear in irb when I type them on the keyboard. Any ideas?

Well, you have to configure some some things for it. Sadly. Here are the  
steps that worked for me.

1. Create a file “.inputrc”

First you have to create an .inputrc in your home dir to configure the  
mappings for the braces, and so on. Your homedir is here:

C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\<Username on Windpows\>

And the content should be:

“\M-[”: “[”  
“\M-]”: “]”  
“\M-{”: “{”  
“\M-}”: “}”  
“\M-\”: “\”  
“\M-|”: “|”  
“\M-@”: “@”  
“\M-~”: “~”

1. Activate readline in irb

In the same directory create a .ircrb file with the following content.

require ‘irb/completion’  
ARGV.concat [“–readline”, “–prompt-mode”, “simple”]

1. Setting set HOME environment variable.

The last step is to set a “Umgebungsvariable” 🙂 /Environment variable  
HOME the before mentioned diretory/path.

Afterwards it works fine for me.

Best regards,  
Oliver