spinix-hive/manpages/ed.txt

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ED(1) User Commands ED(1)
NAME
ed - text editor
SYNOPSIS
ed [file]
DESCRIPTION
ed is a line-oriented text editor. It is used to create, display,
modify and otherwise manipulate text files. This version of ed
implements most of the commands in the standard ed utility. It does
not allow wildcard or escape characters in the search or replacement
strings, and it cannot execute shell commands. It also does not
implement the undo command, and it only allows one command per line.
There are two non-standard commands supported that provide assistance
in using ed. The 'h' command will print help information that
summarizes the commands available in ed. A 'V' command was added to
provide an enhanced visualization mode, which prints the text around the
current line after executing a command.
If invoked with a file argument, a copy of file is read into the
editor's buffer. Changes are made to this copy and not directly to file
itself. Upon quitting ed, any changes not explicitly saved with a 'w'
command are lost.
Editing is done in two distinct modes: command and input. When first
invoked, ed is in command mode. In this mode commands are read from the
standard input and executed to manipulate the contents of the editor
buffer. A typical command might look like:
,s/old/new/g
which replaces all occurrences of the string old with new.
When an input command, such as 'a' (append), 'i' (insert) or 'c'
(change), is given, ed enters input mode. This is the primary means of
adding text to a file. In this mode, no commands are available;
instead, the standard input is written directly to the editor buffer.
Lines consist of text up to and including a newline character. Input
mode is terminated by entering a single period (.) on a line.
All ed commands operate on whole lines or ranges of lines; e.g., the 'd'
command deletes lines; the 'm' command moves lines, and so on. It is
possible to modify only a portion of a line by means of replacement, as
in the example above. However even here, the 's' command is applied to
whole lines at a time.
In general, ed commands consist of zero or more line addresses, followed
by a single character command and possibly additional parameters; i.e.,
commands have the structure:
[address [,address]]command[parameters]
The address(es) indicate the line or range of lines to be affected by
the command. If fewer addresses are given than the command accepts,
then default addresses are supplied.
OPTIONS
file Specifies the name of a file to read. The default filename is
set to the specified file.
LINE ADDRESSING
An address represents the number of a line in the buffer. ed maintains
a current address which is typically supplied to commands as the default
address when none is specified. When a file is first read, the
current address is set to the last line of the file. In general, the
current address is set to the last line affected by a command.
A line address is constructed from one of the bases in the list below,
optionally followed by a numeric offset. The offset may include any
combination of digits, operators (i.e. + and -). Addresses are read
from left to right, and their values are computed relative to the
current address.
One exception to the rule that addresses represent line numbers is the
address 0 (zero). This means "before the first line," and is legal
wherever it makes sense.
An address range is two addresses separated either by a comma or
semicolon. The value of the first address in a range cannot exceed the
value of the second. If only one address is given in a range, then the
second address is set to the given address. If only one address is
expected, then the last address is used.
Each address in a comma-delimited range is interpreted relative to the
current address. In a semicolon-delimited range, the first address is
used to set the current address, and the second address is
interpreted relative to the first.
The following address symbols are recognized.
. The current line (address) in the buffer.
$ The last line in the buffer.
n The nth, line in the buffer where n is a number in the range
[0,$].
- The previous line. This is equivalent to -1.
-n The nth previous line, where n is a non-negative number.
+ The next line. This is equivalent to +1.
+n The nth next line, where n is a non-negative number.
, The first through last lines in the buffer. This is equivalent
to the address range 1,$.
; The current through last lines in the buffer. This is
equivalent to the address range .,$.
/re/ The next line containing the regular expression re. The search
wraps to the beginning of the buffer and continues down to the
current line, if necessary. // repeats the last search.
?re? The previous line containing the regular expression re. The
search wraps to the end of the buffer and continues up to the
current line, if necessary. ?? repeats the last search.
REGULAR EXPRESSIONS
Regular expressions are patterns used in selecting text. For example,
the ed command
g/string/
prints all lines containing string. Regular expressions are also used
by the 's' command for selecting old text to be replaced with new. This
version of ed does not use any wildcard or escape characters.
COMMANDS
All ed commands are single characters, though some require additional
parameters. ed commands must fit in a single line, and cannot be
continued to another line.
In general, only one command is allowed per line. The only exceptions
are the 'g' and 'v' commands, which can be followed by an 's', 'p', 'l'
or 'n' command.
ed recognizes the following commands. The commands are shown together
with the default address or address range supplied if none is specified
(in parenthesis).
(.)a Appends text to the buffer after the addressed line, which may
be the address 0 (zero). Text is entered in input mode. The
current address is set to last line entered.
(.,.)c Changes lines in the buffer. The addressed lines are deleted
from the buffer, and text is appended in their place. Text is
entered in input mode. The current address is set to last line
entered.
(.,.)d Deletes the addressed lines from the buffer. If there is a line
after the deleted range, then the current address is set to this
line. Otherwise the current address is set to the line before
the deleted range.
e file Edits file, and sets the default filename. If file is not
specified, then the default filename is used. Any lines in the
buffer are deleted before the new file is read. The current
address is set to the last line read.
E file Edits file unconditionally. This is similar to the e command,
except that unwritten changes are discarded without warning.
The current address is set to the last line read.
f file Sets the default filename to file. If file is not specified,
then the default filename is printed.
(1,$)g/re/command
Applies command to each of the addressed lines matching a
regular expression re. The current address is set to the line
currently matched before command is executed. At the end of the
'g' command, the current address is set to the last line
affected by command. The allowable commands are 's', 'p', 'l'
and 'n'. The 'p' command is used if command is not specified.
h Print help information, which summarizes the commands available.
Note that this is different than the standard usage for 'h',
which prints an explanation of the last error.
(.)i Inserts text in the buffer before the current line. Text is
entered in input mode. The current address is set to the last
line entered.
(.,.+1)j
Joins the addressed lines. The addressed lines are deleted from
the buffer and replaced by a single line containing their joined
text. The current address is set to the resultant line.
(.,.)l Prints the addressed lines unambiguously. The current address
is set to the last line printed.
(.,.)m(.)
Moves lines in the buffer. The addressed lines are moved to
after the right-hand destination address, which may be the
address 0 (zero). The current address is set to the new address
of the last line moved.
(.,.)n Prints the addressed lines along with their line numbers. The
current address is set to the last line printed.
(.,.)p Prints the addressed lines. The current address is set to the
last line printed.
P Toggles the command prompt on and off. The command prompt is by
default turned off.
q Quits ed.
Q Quits ed unconditionally. This is similar to the q command,
except that unwritten changes are discarded without warning.
($)r file
Reads file to after the addressed line. If file is not
specified, then the default filename is used. If there was no
default filename prior to the command, then the default filename
is set to file. Otherwise, the default filename is unchanged.
The current address is set to the last line read.
(.,.)s/re/replacement/
(.,.)s/re/replacement/g
Replaces text in the addressed lines matching a regular
expression re with replacement. By default, only the first
match in each line is replaced. If the 'g' (global) suffix is
given, then every match to be replaced. It is an error if no
substitutions are performed on any of the addressed lines. The
current address is set to the last line affected.
(.,.)t(.)
Copies (i.e., transfers) the addressed lines to after the right-
hand destination address, which may be the address 0 (zero).
The current address is set to the last line copied.
(1,$)v/re/command-list
Applies command-list to each of the addressed lines not matching
a regular expression re. This is similar to the 'g' command.
Vn If n is specified, the visualization mode is enabled and the
number of lines printed is set to n. Otherwise, the
visualization mode it toggled on or off. The visualization mode
is a non-standard feature that prints the text in the edit
buffer before and after the current line.
(1,$)w file
Writes the addressed lines to file. Any previous contents of
file is lost without warning. If there is no default filename,
then the default filename is set to file, otherwise it is
unchanged. If no filename is specified, then the default
filename is used. The current address is unchanged.
(.)x Copies (puts) the contents of the cut buffer to after the
addressed line. The current address is set to the last line
copied.
(.,.)y Copies (yanks) the addressed lines to the cut buffer. The cut
buffer is overwritten by subsequent 'y', 'j', 'd', or 'c'
commands. The current address is unchanged.
(.+1)zn Scrolls n lines at a time starting at addressed line. If n is
not specified, then the current window size is used. The
current address is set to the last line printed.
($)= Prints the line number of the addressed line.
(.+1)newline
Prints the addressed line, and sets the current address to that
line.
SEE ALSO
B. W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger, Software Tools in Pascal , Addison-
Wesley, 1981.
LIMITATIONS
ed is limited to 200 characters per line. If an input line is greater
than 200 characters it will be broken up into multiple lines. The input
file must terminate lines with a newline (LF) character. Files will be
written using the UNIX LF line termination. The size of the file is
limited by the amount of buffer memory available to ed. If ed
encounters an error in a command line it will print '?' and return to
command mode. Attempting to quit ed or edit another file before writing
a modified buffer results in an error. If the command is entered a
second time, it succeeds, but any changes to the buffer are lost.
AUTHOR
Dave Hein
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2011, 2012, Dave Hein
MIT License (See license.txt in the root directory)
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is no warranty, to the extent permitted by law.
SPINIX utility March 2012 ED(1)