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Ex Reference Manual
Version 3.5/2.13 - September, 1980
William Joy
Revised for versions 3.5/2.13 by
Mark Horton
Computer Science Division
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, Ca. 94720
ABSTRACT
Ex a line oriented text editor, which sup-
ports both command and display oriented editing.
This reference manual describes the command
oriented part of ex; the display editing features
of ex are described in An Introduction to Display
Editing with Vi. Other documents about the editor
include the introduction Edit: A tutorial, the
Ex/edit Command Summary, and a Vi Quick Reference
card.
July 21, 1991
Ex Reference Manual
Version 3.5/2.13 - September, 1980
William Joy
Revised for versions 3.5/2.13 by
Mark Horton
Computer Science Division
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, Ca. 94720
1. Starting ex
Each instance of the editor has a set of options, which
can be set to tailor it to your liking. The command edit
invokes a version of ex designed for more casual or begin-
ning users by changing the default settings of some of these
options. To simplify the description which follows we
assume the default settings of the options.
When invoked, ex determines the terminal type from the
TERM variable in the environment. It there is a TERMCAP
variable in the environment, and the type of the terminal
described there matches the TERM variable, then that
description is used. Also if the TERMCAP variable contains
a pathname (beginning with a /) then the editor will seek
the description of the terminal in that file (rather than
the default /etc/termcap.) If there is a variable EXINIT in
the environment, then the editor will execute the commands
in that variable, otherwise if there is a file .exrc in your
HOME directory ex reads commands from that file, simulating
a source command. Option setting commands placed in EXINIT
or .exrc will be executed before each editor session.
A command to enter ex has the following prototype:-
ex [ - ] [ -v ] [ -t tag ] [ -r ] [ -l ] [ -wn ] [ -x ] [ -R ] [ +command ] name ...
The most common case edits a single file with no options,
i.e.:
_________________________
The financial support of an IBM Graduate Fellowship and
the National Science Foundation under grants MCS74-
07644-A03 and MCS78-07291 is gratefully acknowledged.
- Brackets `[' `]' surround optional parameters here.
July 21, 1991
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ex name
The - command line option option suppresses all
interactive-user feedback and is useful in processing editor
scripts in command files. The -v option is equivalent to
using vi rather than ex. The -t option is equivalent to an
initial tag command, editing the file containing the tag and
positioning the editor at its definition. The -r option is
used in recovering after an editor or system crash, retriev-
ing the last saved version of the named file or, if no file
is specified, typing a list of saved files. The -l option
sets up for editing LISP, setting the showmatch and lisp
options. The -w option sets the default window size to n,
and is useful on dialups to start in small windows. The -x
option causes ex to prompt for a key, which is used to
encrypt and decrypt the contents of the file, which should
already be encrypted using the same key, see crypt(1). The
-R option sets the readonly option at the start. = Name
arguments indicate files to be edited. An argument of the
form +command indicates that the editor should begin by exe-
cuting the specified command. If command is omitted, then
it defaults to ``$'', positioning the editor at the last
line of the first file initially. Other useful commands
here are scanning patterns of the form ``/pat'' or line
numbers, e.g. ``+100'' starting at line 100.
2. File manipulation
2.1. Current file
Ex is normally editing the contents of a single file,
whose name is recorded in the current file name. Ex per-
forms all editing actions in a buffer (actually a temporary
file) into which the text of the file is initially read.
Changes made to the buffer have no effect on the file being
edited unless and until the buffer contents are written out
to the file with a write command. After the buffer contents
are written, the previous contents of the written file are
no longer accessible. When a file is edited, its name
becomes the current file name, and its contents are read
into the buffer.
The current file is almost always considered to be
edited. This means that the contents of the buffer are log-
ically connected with the current file name, so that writing
the current buffer contents onto that file, even if it
exists, is a reasonable action. If the current file is not
edited then ex will not normally write on it if it already
exists.*
_________________________
= Not available in all v2 editors due to memory con-
straints.
* The file command will say ``[Not edited]'' if the
July 21, 1991
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2.2. Alternate file
Each time a new value is given to the current file
name, the previous current file name is saved as the alter-
nate file name. Similarly if a file is mentioned but does
not become the current file, it is saved as the alternate
file name.
2.3. Filename expansion
Filenames within the editor may be specified using the
normal shell expansion conventions. In addition, the char-
acter `%' in filenames is replaced by the current file name
and the character `#' by the alternate file name.-
2.4. Multiple files and named buffers
If more than one file is given on the command line,
then the first file is edited as described above. The
remaining arguments are placed with the first file in the
argument list. The current argument list may be displayed
with the args command. The next file in the argument list
may be edited with the next command. The argument list may
also be respecified by specifying a list of names to the
next command. These names are expanded, the resulting list
of names becomes the new argument list, and ex edits the
first file on the list.
For saving blocks of text while editing, and especially
when editing more than one file, ex has a group of named
buffers. These are similar to the normal buffer, except
that only a limited number of operations are available on
them. The buffers have names a through z.=
2.5. Read only
It is possible to use ex in read only mode to look at
files that you have no intention of modifying. This mode
protects you from accidently overwriting the file. Read
only mode is on when the readonly option is set. It can be
turned on with the -R command line option, by the view com-
mand line invocation, or by setting the readonly option. It
can be cleared by setting noreadonly. It is possible to
_________________________
current file is not considered edited.
- This makes it easy to deal alternately with two files
and eliminates the need for retyping the name supplied
on an edit command after a No write since last change
diagnostic is received.
= It is also possible to refer to A through Z; the
upper case buffers are the same as the lower but com-
mands append to named buffers rather than replacing if
upper case names are used.
July 21, 1991
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write, even while in read only mode, by indicating that you
really know what you are doing. You can write to a dif-
ferent file, or can use the ! form of write, even while in
read only mode.
3. Exceptional Conditions
3.1. Errors and interrupts
When errors occur ex (optionally) rings the terminal
bell and, in any case, prints an error diagnostic. If the
primary input is from a file, editor processing will ter-
minate. If an interrupt signal is received, ex prints
``Interrupt'' and returns to its command level. If the pri-
mary input is a file, then ex will exit when this occurs.
3.2. Recovering from hangups and crashes
If a hangup signal is received and the buffer has been
modified since it was last written out, or if the system
crashes, either the editor (in the first case) or the system
(after it reboots in the second) will attempt to preserve
the buffer. The next time you log in you should be able to
recover the work you were doing, losing at most a few lines
of changes from the last point before the hangup or editor
crash. To recover a file you can use the -r option. If you
were editing the file resume, then you should change to the
directory where you were when the crash occurred, giving the
command
ex -r resume
After checking that the retrieved file is indeed ok, you can
write it over the previous contents of that file.
You will normally get mail from the system telling you
when a file has been saved after a crash. The command
ex -r
will print a list of the files which have been saved for
you. (In the case of a hangup, the file will not appear in
the list, although it can be recovered.)
4. Editing modes
Ex has five distinct modes. The primary mode is com-
mand mode. Commands are entered in command mode when a `:'
prompt is present, and are executed each time a complete
line is sent. In text input mode ex gathers input lines and
places them in the file. The append, insert, and change
commands use text input mode. No prompt is printed when you
are in text input mode. This mode is left by typing a `.'
alone at the beginning of a line, and command mode resumes.
July 21, 1991
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The last three modes are open and visual modes, entered
by the commands of the same name, and, within open and
visual modes text insertion mode. Open and visual modes
allow local editing operations to be performed on the text
in the file. The open command displays one line at a time
on any terminal while visual works on CRT terminals with
random positioning cursors, using the screen as a (single)
window for file editing changes. These modes are described
(only) in An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi.
5. Command structure
Most command names are English words, and initial pre-
fixes of the words are acceptable abbreviations. The ambi-
guity of abbreviations is resolved in favor of the more com-
monly used commands.*
5.1. Command parameters
Most commands accept prefix addresses specifying the
lines in the file upon which they are to have effect. The
forms of these addresses will be discussed below. A number
of commands also may take a trailing count specifying the
number of lines to be involved in the command.- Thus the
command ``10p'' will print the tenth line in the buffer
while ``delete 5'' will delete five lines from the buffer,
starting with the current line.
Some commands take other information or parameters,
this information always being given after the command name.=
5.2. Command variants
A number of commands have two distinct variants. The
variant form of the command is invoked by placing an `!'
immediately after the command name. Some of the default
variants may be controlled by options; in this case, the `!'
serves to toggle the default.
5.3. Flags after commands
The characters `#', `p' and `l' may be placed after
many commands.** In this case, the command abbreviated by
_________________________
* As an example, the command substitute can be abbrevi-
ated `s' while the shortest available abbreviation for
the set command is `se'.
- Counts are rounded down if necessary.
= Examples would be option names in a set command i.e.
``set number'', a file name in an edit command, a regu-
lar expression in a substitute command, or a target ad-
dress for a copy command, i.e. ``1,5 copy 25''.
** A `p' or `l' must be preceded by a blank or tab ex-
cept in the single special case `dp'.
July 21, 1991
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these characters is executed after the command completes.
Since ex normally prints the new current line after each
change, `p' is rarely necessary. Any number of `+' or `-'
characters may also be given with these flags. If they
appear, the specified offset is applied to the current line
value before the printing command is executed.
5.4. Comments
It is possible to give editor commands which are
ignored. This is useful when making complex editor scripts
for which comments are desired. The comment character is
the double quote: ". Any command line beginning with " is
ignored. Comments beginning with " may also be placed at
the ends of commands, except in cases where they could be
confused as part of text (shell escapes and the substitute
and map commands).
5.5. Multiple commands per line
More than one command may be placed on a line by
separating each pair of commands by a `|' character. How-
ever the global commands, comments, and the shell escape `!'
must be the last command on a line, as they are not ter-
minated by a `|'.
5.6. Reporting large changes
Most commands which change the contents of the editor
buffer give feedback if the scope of the change exceeds a
threshold given by the report option. This feedback helps
to detect undesirably large changes so that they may be
quickly and easily reversed with an undo. After commands
with more global effect such as global or visual, you will
be informed if the net change in the number of lines in the
buffer during this command exceeds this threshold.
6. Command addressing
6.1. Addressing primitives
. The current line. Most commands leave
the current line as the last line which
they affect. The default address for
most commands is the current line, thus
`.' is rarely used alone as an address.
n The nth line in the editor's buffer,
lines being numbered sequentially from
1.
$ The last line in the buffer.
% An abbreviation for ``1,$'', the entire
July 21, 1991
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buffer.
+n -n An offset relative to the current buffer
line.-
/pat/ ?pat? Scan forward and backward respectively
for a line containing pat, a regular
expression (as defined below). The
scans normally wrap around the end of
the buffer. If all that is desired is
to print the next line containing pat,
then the trailing / or ? may be omitted.
If pat is omitted or explicitly empty,
then the last regular expression speci-
fied is located.=
'' 'x Before each non-relative motion of the
current line `.', the previous current
line is marked with a tag, subsequently
referred to as `'''. This makes it easy
to refer or return to this previous con-
text. Marks may also be established by
the mark command, using single lower
case letters x and the marked lines
referred to as `'x'.
6.2. Combining addressing primitives
Addresses to commands consist of a series of addressing
primitives, separated by `,' or `;'. Such address lists are
evaluated left-to-right. When addresses are separated by
`;' the current line `.' is set to the value of the previous
addressing expression before the next address is inter-
preted. If more addresses are given than the command
requires, then all but the last one or two are ignored. If
the command takes two addresses, the first addressed line
must precede the second in the buffer.-
7. Command descriptions
The following form is a prototype for all ex commands:
_________________________
- The forms `.+3' `+3' and `+++' are all equivalent; if
the current line is line 100 they all address line 103.
= The forms \/ and \? scan using the last regular ex-
pression used in a scan; after a substitute // and ??
would scan using the substitute's regular expression.
- Null address specifications are permitted in a list
of addresses, the default in this case is the current
line `.'; thus `,100' is equivalent to `.,100'. It is
an error to give a prefix address to a command which
expects none.
July 21, 1991
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address command ! parameters count flags
All parts are optional; the degenerate case is the empty
command which prints the next line in the file. For sanity
with use from within visual mode, ex ignores a ``:'' preced-
ing any command.
In the following command descriptions, the default
addresses are shown in parentheses, which are not, however,
part of the command.
abbreviate word rhs abbr: ab
Add the named abbreviation to the current list. When
in input mode in visual, if word is typed as a complete
word, it will be changed to rhs.
( . ) append abbr: a
text
.
Reads the input text and places it after the specified
line. After the command, `.' addresses the last line
input or the specified line if no lines were input. If
address `0' is given, text is placed at the beginning
of the buffer.
a!
text
.
The variant flag to append toggles the setting for the
autoindent option during the input of text.
args
The members of the argument list are printed, with the
current argument delimited by `[' and `]'.
( . , . ) change count abbr: c
text
.
Replaces the specified lines with the input text. The
current line becomes the last line input; if no lines
were input it is left as for a delete.
c!
text
.
July 21, 1991
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The variant toggles autoindent during the change.
( . , . )copy addr flags abbr: co
A copy of the specified lines is placed after addr,
which may be `0'. The current line `.' addresses the
last line of the copy. The command t is a synonym for
copy.
( . , . )delete buffer count flags abbr: d
Removes the specified lines from the buffer. The line
after the last line deleted becomes the current line;
if the lines deleted were originally at the end, the
new last line becomes the current line. If a named
buffer is specified by giving a letter, then the speci-
fied lines are saved in that buffer, or appended to it
if an upper case letter is used.
edit file abbr: e
ex file
Used to begin an editing session on a new file. The
editor first checks to see if the buffer has been modi-
fied since the last write command was issued. If it
has been, a warning is issued and the command is
aborted. The command otherwise deletes the entire con-
tents of the editor buffer, makes the named file the
current file and prints the new filename. After insur-
ing that this file is sensible- the editor reads the
file into its buffer.
If the read of the file completes without error, the
number of lines and characters read is typed. If there
were any non-ASCII characters in the file they are
stripped of their non-ASCII high bits, and any null
characters in the file are discarded. If none of these
errors occurred, the file is considered edited. If the
last line of the input file is missing the trailing
newline character, it will be supplied and a complaint
will be issued. This command leaves the current line
`.' at the last line read.=
_________________________
- I.e., that it is not a binary file such as a directo-
ry, a block or character special file other than
/dev/tty, a terminal, or a binary or executable file
(as indicated by the first word).
= If executed from within open or visual, the current
line is initially the first line of the file.
July 21, 1991
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e! file
The variant form suppresses the complaint about modifi-
cations having been made and not written from the edi-
tor buffer, thus discarding all changes which have been
made before editing the new file.
e +n file
Causes the editor to begin at line n rather than at the
last line; n may also be an editor command containing
no spaces, e.g.: ``+/pat''.
file abbr: f
Prints the current file name, whether it has been
`[Modified]' since the last write command, whether it
is read only, the current line, the number of lines in
the buffer, and the percentage of the way through the
buffer of the current line.*
file file
The current file name is changed to file which is con-
sidered `[Not edited]'.
( 1 , $ ) global /pat/ cmds abbr: g
First marks each line among those specified which
matches the given regular expression. Then the given
command list is executed with `.' initially set to each
marked line.
The command list consists of the remaining commands on
the current input line and may continue to multiple
lines by ending all but the last such line with a `\'.
If cmds (and possibly the trailing / delimiter) is
omitted, each line matching pat is printed. Append,
insert, and change commands and associated input are
permitted; the `.' terminating input may be omitted if
it would be on the last line of the command list. Open
and visual commands are permitted in the command list
and take input from the terminal.
The global command itself may not appear in cmds. The
_________________________
* In the rare case that the current file is `[Not edit-
ed]' this is noted also; in this case you have to use
the form w! to write to the file, since the editor is
not sure that a write will not destroy a file unrelated
to the current contents of the buffer.
July 21, 1991
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undo command is also not permitted there, as undo
instead can be used to reverse the entire global com-
mand. The options autoprint and autoindent are inhi-
bited during a global, (and possibly the trailing /
delimiter) and the value of the report option is tem-
porarily infinite, in deference to a report for the
entire global. Finally, the context mark `''' is set
to the value of `.' before the global command begins
and is not changed during a global command, except
perhaps by an open or visual within the global.
g! /pat/ cmds abbr: v
The variant form of global runs cmds at each line not
matching pat.
( . )insert abbr: i
text
.
Places the given text before the specified line. The
current line is left at the last line input; if there
were none input it is left at the line before the
addressed line. This command differs from append only
in the placement of text.
i!
text
.
The variant toggles autoindent during the insert.
( . , .+1 ) join count flags abbr: j
Places the text from a specified range of lines
together on one line. White space is adjusted at each
junction to provide at least one blank character, two
if there was a `.' at the end of the line, or none if
the first following character is a `)'. If there is
already white space at the end of the line, then the
white space at the start of the next line will be dis-
carded.
j!
The variant causes a simpler join with no white space
processing; the characters in the lines are simply con-
catenated.
July 21, 1991
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( . ) k x
The k command is a synonym for mark. It does not
require a blank or tab before the following letter.
( . , . ) list count flags
Prints the specified lines in a more unambiguous way:
tabs are printed as `^I' and the end of each line is
marked with a trailing `$'. The current line is left
at the last line printed.
map lhs rhs
The map command is used to define macros for use in
visual mode. Lhs should be a single character, or the
sequence ``#n'', for n a digit, referring to function
key n. When this character or function key is typed in
visual mode, it will be as though the corresponding rhs
had been typed. On terminals without function keys,
you can type ``#n''. See section 6.9 of the ``Intro-
duction to Display Editing with Vi'' for more details.
( . ) mark x
Gives the specified line mark x, a single lower case
letter. The x must be preceded by a blank or a tab.
The addressing form `'x' then addresses this line. The
current line is not affected by this command.
( . , . ) move addr abbr: m
The move command repositions the specified lines to be
after addr. The first of the moved lines becomes the
current line.
next abbr: n
The next file from the command line argument list is
edited.
n!
The variant suppresses warnings about the modifications
to the buffer not having been written out, discarding
(irretrievably) any changes which may have been made.
n filelist
n +command filelist
July 21, 1991
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The specified filelist is expanded and the resulting
list replaces the current argument list; the first file
in the new list is then edited. If command is given
(it must contain no spaces), then it is executed after
editing the first such file.
( . , . ) number count flags abbr: # or nu
Prints each specified line preceded by its buffer line
number. The current line is left at the last line
printed.
( . ) open flags abbr: o
( . ) open /pat/ flags
Enters intraline editing open mode at each addressed
line. If pat is given, then the cursor will be placed
initially at the beginning of the string matched by the
pattern. To exit this mode use Q. See An Introduction
to Display Editing with Vi for more details.
=
preserve
The current editor buffer is saved as though the system
had just crashed. This command is for use only in
emergencies when a write command has resulted in an
error and you don't know how to save your work. After
a preserve you should seek help.
( . , . )print count abbr: p or P
Prints the specified lines with non-printing characters
printed as control characters `^x'; delete (octal 177)
is represented as `^?'. The current line is left at
the last line printed.
( . )put buffer abbr: pu
Puts back previously deleted or yanked lines. Normally
used with delete to effect movement of lines, or with
yank to effect duplication of lines. If no buffer is
specified, then the last deleted or yanked text is
restored.* By using a named buffer, text may be
restored that was saved there at any previous time.
_________________________
= Not available in all v2 editors due to memory con-
straints.
* But no modifying commands may intervene between the
delete or yank and the put, nor may lines be moved
between files without using a named buffer.
July 21, 1991
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quit abbr: q
Causes ex to terminate. No automatic write of the edi-
tor buffer to a file is performed. However, ex issues
a warning message if the file has changed since the
last write command was issued, and does not quit.- Nor-
mally, you will wish to save your changes, and you
should give a write command; if you wish to discard
them, use the q! command variant.
q!
Quits from the editor, discarding changes to the buffer
without complaint.
( . ) read file abbr: r
Places a copy of the text of the given file in the
editing buffer after the specified line. If no file is
given the current file name is used. The current file
name is not changed unless there is none in which case
file becomes the current name. The sensibility res-
trictions for the edit command apply here also. If the
file buffer is empty and there is no current name then
ex treats this as an edit command.
Address `0' is legal for this command and causes the
file to be read at the beginning of the buffer.
Statistics are given as for the edit command when the
read successfully terminates. After a read the current
line is the last line read.=
( . ) read !command
Reads the output of the command command into the buffer
after the specified line. This is not a variant form
of the command, rather a read specifying a command
rather than a filename; a blank or tab before the ! is
mandatory.
recover file
Recovers file from the system save area. Used after a
accidental hangup of the phone** or a system crash** or
_________________________
- Ex will also issue a diagnostic if there are more
files in the argument list.
= Within open and visual the current line is set to the
first line read rather than the last.
** The system saves a copy of the file you were editing
only if you have made changes to the file.
July 21, 1991
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preserve command. Except when you use preserve you
will be notified by mail when a file is saved.
rewind abbr: rew
The argument list is rewound, and the first file in the
list is edited.
rew!
Rewinds the argument list discarding any changes made
to the current buffer.
set parameter
With no arguments, prints those options whose values
have been changed from their defaults; with parameter
all it prints all of the option values.
Giving an option name followed by a `?' causes the
current value of that option to be printed. The `?' is
unnecessary unless the option is Boolean valued.
Boolean options are given values either by the form
`set option' to turn them on or `set nooption' to turn
them off; string and numeric options are assigned via
the form `set option=value'.
More than one parameter may be given to set; they are
interpreted left-to-right.
shell abbr: sh
A new shell is created. When it terminates, editing
resumes.
source file abbr: so
Reads and executes commands from the specified file.
Source commands may be nested.
( . , . ) substitute /pat/repl/ options count flagsabbr: s
On each specified line, the first instance of pattern
pat is replaced by replacement pattern repl. If the
global indicator option character `g' appears, then all
instances are substituted; if the confirm indication
character `c' appears, then before each substitution
the line to be substituted is typed with the string to
be substituted marked with `^' characters. By typing
an `y' one can cause the substitution to be performed,
any other input causes no change to take place. After
July 21, 1991
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a substitute the current line is the last line substi-
tuted.
Lines may be split by substituting new-line characters
into them. The newline in repl must be escaped by
preceding it with a `\'. Other metacharacters avail-
able in pat and repl are described below.
stop
Suspends the editor, returning control to the top level
shell. If autowrite is set and there are unsaved
changes, a write is done first unless the form stop!
is used. This commands is only available where sup-
ported by the teletype driver and operating system.
( . , . ) substitute options count flagsabbr: s
If pat and repl are omitted, then the last substitution
is repeated. This is a synonym for the & command.
( . , . ) t addr flags
The t command is a synonym for copy.
ta tag
The focus of editing switches to the location of tag,
switching to a different line in the current file where
it is defined, or if necessary to another file.=
The tags file is normally created by a program such as
ctags, and consists of a number of lines with three
fields separated by blanks or tabs. The first field
gives the name of the tag, the second the name of the
file where the tag resides, and the third gives an
addressing form which can be used by the editor to find
the tag; this field is usually a contextual scan using
`/pat/' to be immune to minor changes in the file.
Such scans are always performed as if nomagic was set.
The tag names in the tags file must be sorted alphabet-
ically. =
_________________________
= If you have modified the current file before giving a
tag command, you must write it out; giving another tag
command, specifying no tag will reuse the previous tag.
= Not available in all v2 editors due to memory con-
straints.
July 21, 1991
- 17 -
unabbreviate word abbr: una
Delete word from the list of abbreviations.
undo abbr: u
Reverses the changes made in the buffer by the last
buffer editing command. Note that global commands are
considered a single command for the purpose of undo (as
are open and visual.) Also, the commands write and edit
which interact with the file system cannot be undone.
Undo is its own inverse.
Undo always marks the previous value of the current
line `.' as `'''. After an undo the current line is
the first line restored or the line before the first
line deleted if no lines were restored. For commands
with more global effect such as global and visual the
current line regains it's pre-command value after an
undo.
unmap lhs
The macro expansion associated by map for lhs is
removed.
( 1 , $ ) v /pat/ cmds
A synonym for the global command variant g!, running
the specified cmds on each line which does not match
pat.
version abbr: ve
Prints the current version number of the editor as well
as the date the editor was last changed.
( . ) visual type count flags abbr: vi
Enters visual mode at the specified line. Type is
optional and may be `-' , `^' or `.' as in the z com-
mand to specify the placement of the specified line on
the screen. By default, if type is omitted, the speci-
fied line is placed as the first on the screen. A
count specifies an initial window size; the default is
the value of the option window. See the document An
Introduction to Display Editing with Vi for more
details. To exit this mode, type Q.
July 21, 1991
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visual file
visual +n file
From visual mode, this command is the same as edit.
( 1 , $ ) write file abbr: w
Writes changes made back to file, printing the number
of lines and characters written. Normally file is
omitted and the text goes back where it came from. If
a file is specified, then text will be written to that
file.* If the file does not exist it is created. The
current file name is changed only if there is no
current file name; the current line is never changed.
If an error occurs while writing the current and edited
file, the editor considers that there has been ``No
write since last change'' even if the buffer had not
previously been modified.
( 1 , $ ) write>> file abbr: w>>
Writes the buffer contents at the end of an existing
file.
w! name
Overrides the checking of the normal write command, and
will write to any file which the system permits.
( 1 , $ ) w !command
Writes the specified lines into command. Note the
difference between w! which overrides checks and w !
which writes to a command.
wq name
Like a write and then a quit command.
wq! name
The variant overrides checking on the sensibility of
_________________________
* The editor writes to a file only if it is the current
file and is edited, if the file does not exist, or if
the file is actually a teletype, /dev/tty, /dev/null.
Otherwise, you must give the variant form w! to force
the write.
July 21, 1991
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the write command, as w! does.
xit name
If any changes have been made and not written, writes
the buffer out. Then, in any case, quits.
( . , . )yank buffer count abbr: ya
Places the specified lines in the named buffer, for
later retrieval via put. If no buffer name is speci-
fied, the lines go to a more volatile place; see the
put command description.
( .+1 ) z count
Print the next count lines, default window.
( . ) z type count
Prints a window of text with the specified line at the
top. If type is `-' the line is placed at the bottom;
a `.' causes the line to be placed in the center.* A
count gives the number of lines to be displayed rather
than double the number specified by the scroll option.
On a CRT the screen is cleared before display begins
unless a count which is less than the screen size is
given. The current line is left at the last line
printed.
! command
The remainder of the line after the `!' character is
sent to a shell to be executed. Within the text of
command the characters `%' and `#' are expanded as in
filenames and the character `!' is replaced with the
text of the previous command. Thus, in particular,
`!!' repeats the last such shell escape. If any such
expansion is performed, the expanded line will be
echoed. The current line is unchanged by this command.
If there has been ``[No write]'' of the buffer contents
since the last change to the editing buffer, then a
_________________________
* Forms `z=' and `z^' also exist; `z=' places the
current line in the center, surrounds it with lines of
`-' characters and leaves the current line at this
line. The form `z^' prints the window before `z-'
would. The characters `+', `^' and `-' may be repeated
for cumulative effect. On some v2 editors, no type may
be given.
July 21, 1991
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diagnostic will be printed before the command is exe-
cuted as a warning. A single `!' is printed when the
command completes.
( addr , addr ) ! command
Takes the specified address range and supplies it as
standard input to command; the resulting output then
replaces the input lines.
( $ ) =
Prints the line number of the addressed line. The
current line is unchanged.
( . , . ) > count flags
( . , . ) < count flags
Perform intelligent shifting on the specified lines; <
shifts left and > shift right. The quantity of shift
is determined by the shiftwidth option and the repeti-
tion of the specification character. Only white space
(blanks and tabs) is shifted; no non-white characters
are discarded in a left-shift. The current line be-
comes the last line which changed due to the shifting.
^D
An end-of-file from a terminal input scrolls through
the file. The scroll option specifies the size of the
scroll, normally a half screen of text.
( .+1 , .+1 )
( .+1 , .+1 ) |
An address alone causes the addressed lines to be
printed. A blank line prints the next line in the
file.
( . , . ) & options count flags
Repeats the previous substitute command.
( . , . ) ~ options count flags
Replaces the previous regular expression with the pre-
vious replacement pattern from a substitution.
July 21, 1991
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8. Regular expressions and substitute replacement patterns
8.1. Regular expressions
A regular expression specifies a set of strings of
characters. A member of this set of strings is said to be
matched by the regular expression. Ex remembers two previ-
ous regular expressions: the previous regular expression
used in a substitute command and the previous regular
expression used elsewhere (referred to as the previous scan-
ning regular expression.) The previous regular expression
can always be referred to by a null re, e.g. `//' or `??'.
8.2. Magic and nomagic
The regular expressions allowed by ex are constructed
in one of two ways depending on the setting of the magic
option. The ex and vi default setting of magic gives quick
access to a powerful set of regular expression metacharac-
ters. The disadvantage of magic is that the user must
remember that these metacharacters are magic and precede
them with the character `\' to use them as ``ordinary''
characters. With nomagic, the default for edit, regular
expressions are much simpler, there being only two metachar-
acters. The power of the other metacharacters is still
available by preceding the (now) ordinary character with a
`\'. Note that `\' is thus always a metacharacter.
The remainder of the discussion of regular expressions
assumes that that the setting of this option is magic.-
8.3. Basic regular expression summary
The following basic constructs are used to construct
magic mode regular expressions.
char An ordinary character matches itself. The
characters `^' at the beginning of a line,
`$' at the end of line, `*' as any character
other than the first, `.', `\', `[', and `~'
are not ordinary characters and must be
escaped (preceded) by `\' to be treated as
such.
^ At the beginning of a pattern forces the
_________________________
- To discern what is true with nomagic it suffices to
remember that the only special characters in this case
will be `^' at the beginning of a regular expression,
`$' at the end of a regular expression, and `\'. With
nomagic the characters `~' and `&' also lose their spe-
cial meanings related to the replacement pattern of a
substitute.
July 21, 1991
- 22 -
match to succeed only at the beginning of a
line.
$ At the end of a regular expression forces the
match to succeed only at the end of the line.
. Matches any single character except the new-
line character.
\< Forces the match to occur only at the begin-
ning of a ``variable'' or ``word''; that is,
either at the beginning of a line, or just
before a letter, digit, or underline and
after a character not one of these.
\> Similar to `\<', but matching the end of a
``variable'' or ``word'', i.e. either the end
of the line or before character which is nei-
ther a letter, nor a digit, nor the underline
character.
[string] Matches any (single) character in the class
defined by string. Most characters in string
define themselves. A pair of characters
separated by `-' in string defines the set of
characters collating between the specified
lower and upper bounds, thus `[a-z]' as a
regular expression matches any (single)
lower-case letter. If the first character of
string is an `^' then the construct matches
those characters which it otherwise would
not; thus `[^a-z]' matches anything but a
lower-case letter (and of course a newline).
To place any of the characters `^', `[', or
`-' in string you must escape them with a
preceding `\'.
8.4. Combining regular expression primitives
The concatenation of two regular expressions matches
the leftmost and then longest string which can be divided
with the first piece matching the first regular expression
and the second piece matching the second. Any of the (sin-
gle character matching) regular expressions mentioned above
may be followed by the character `*' to form a regular
expression which matches any number of adjacent occurrences
(including 0) of characters matched by the regular expres-
sion it follows.
The character `~' may be used in a regular expression,
and matches the text which defined the replacement part of
the last substitute command. A regular expression may be
enclosed between the sequences `\(' and `\)' with side
effects in the substitute replacement patterns.
July 21, 1991
- 23 -
8.5. Substitute replacement patterns
The basic metacharacters for the replacement pattern
are `&' and `~'; these are given as `\&' and `\~' when
nomagic is set. Each instance of `&' is replaced by the
characters which the regular expression matched. The meta-
character `~' stands, in the replacement pattern, for the
defining text of the previous replacement pattern.
Other metasequences possible in the replacement pattern
are always introduced by the escaping character `\'. The
sequence `\n' is replaced by the text matched by the n-th
regular subexpression enclosed between `\(' and `\)'.- The
sequences `\u' and `\l' cause the immediately following
character in the replacement to be converted to upper- or
lower-case respectively if this character is a letter. The
sequences `\U' and `\L' turn such conversion on, either
until `\E' or `\e' is encountered, or until the end of the
replacement pattern.
9. Option descriptions
autoindent, ai default: noai
Can be used to ease the preparation of structured pro-
gram text. At the beginning of each append, change or
insert command or when a new line is opened or created
by an append, change, insert, or substitute operation
within open or visual mode, ex looks at the line being
appended after, the first line changed or the line
inserted before and calculates the amount of white
space at the start of the line. It then aligns the
cursor at the level of indentation so determined.
If the user then types lines of text in, they will con-
tinue to be justified at the displayed indenting level.
If more white space is typed at the beginning of a
line, the following line will start aligned with the
first non-white character of the previous line. To
back the cursor up to the preceding tab stop one can
hit ^D. The tab stops going backwards are defined at
multiples of the shiftwidth option. You cannot back-
space over the indent, except by sending an end-of-file
with a ^D.
Specially processed in this mode is a line with no
characters added to it, which turns into a completely
blank line (the white space provided for the autoindent
_________________________
- When nested, parenthesized subexpressions are
present, n is determined by counting occurrences of
`\(' starting from the left.
July 21, 1991
- 24 -
is discarded.) Also specially processed in this mode
are lines beginning with an `^' and immediately fol-
lowed by a ^D. This causes the input to be reposi-
tioned at the beginning of the line, but retaining the
previous indent for the next line. Similarly, a `0'
followed by a ^D repositions at the beginning but
without retaining the previous indent.
Autoindent doesn't happen in global commands or when
the input is not a terminal.
autoprint, ap default: ap
Causes the current line to be printed after each
delete, copy, join, move, substitute, t, undo or shift
command. This has the same effect as supplying a
trailing `p' to each such command. Autoprint is
suppressed in globals, and only applies to the last of
many commands on a line.
autowrite, aw default: noaw
Causes the contents of the buffer to be written to the
current file if you have modified it and give a next,
rewind, stop, tag, or ! command, or a ^^ (switch
files) or ^] (tag goto) command in visual. Note, that
the edit and ex commands do not autowrite. In each
case, there is an equivalent way of switching when
autowrite is set to avoid the autowrite (edit for next,
rewind! for .I rewind , stop! for stop, tag! for
tag, shell for !, and :e # and a :ta! command from
within visual).
beautify, bf default: nobeautify
Causes all control characters except tab, newline and
form-feed to be discarded from the input. A complaint
is registered the first time a backspace character is
discarded. Beautify does not apply to command input.
directory, dir default: dir=/tmp
Specifies the directory in which ex places its buffer
file. If this directory in not writable, then the edi-
tor will exit abruptly when it fails to be able to
create its buffer there.
edcompatible default: noedcompatible
Causes the presence of absence of g and c suffixes on
substitute commands to be remembered, and to be toggled
by repeating the suffices. The suffix r makes the
July 21, 1991
- 25 -
substitution be as in the ~ command, instead of like &.
==
errorbells, eb default: noeb
Error messages are preceded by a bell.* If possible the
editor always places the error message in a standout
mode of the terminal (such as inverse video) instead of
ringing the bell.
hardtabs, ht default: ht=8
Gives the boundaries on which terminal hardware tabs
are set (or on which the system expands tabs).
ignorecase, ic default: noic
All upper case characters in the text are mapped to
lower case in regular expression matching. In addi-
tion, all upper case characters in regular expressions
are mapped to lower case except in character class
specifications.
lisp default: nolisp
Autoindent indents appropriately for lisp code, and the
( ) { } [[ and ]] commands in open and visual are modi-
fied to have meaning for lisp.
list default: nolist
All printed lines will be displayed (more) unambigu-
ously, showing tabs and end-of-lines as in the list
command.
magic default: magic for ex and vi-
If nomagic is set, the number of regular expression
metacharacters is greatly reduced, with only `^' and
`$' having special effects. In addition the metachar-
acters `~' and `&' of the replacement pattern are
treated as normal characters. All the normal metachar-
acters may be made magic when nomagic is set by preced-
ing them with a `\'.
_________________________
== Version 3 only.
* Bell ringing in open and visual on errors is not
suppressed by setting noeb.
- Nomagic for edit.
July 21, 1991
- 26 -
mesg default: mesg
Causes write permission to be turned off to the termi-
nal while you are in visual mode, if nomesg is set. ==
number, nu default: nonumber
Causes all output lines to be printed with their line
numbers. In addition each input line will be prompted
for by supplying the line number it will have.
open default: open
If noopen, the commands open and visual are not permit-
ted. This is set for edit to prevent confusion result-
ing from accidental entry to open or visual mode.
optimize, opt default: optimize
Throughput of text is expedited by setting the terminal
to not do automatic carriage returns when printing more
than one (logical) line of output, greatly speeding
output on terminals without addressable cursors when
text with leading white space is printed.
paragraphs, para default: para=IPLPPPQPP LIbp
Specifies the paragraphs for the { and } operations in
open and visual. The pairs of characters in the
option's value are the names of the macros which start
paragraphs.
prompt default: prompt
Command mode input is prompted for with a `:'.
redraw default: noredraw
The editor simulates (using great amounts of output),
an intelligent terminal on a dumb terminal (e.g. during
insertions in visual the characters to the right of the
cursor position are refreshed as each input character
is typed.) Useful only at very high speed.
remap default: remap
If on, macros are repeatedly tried until they are
unchanged. == For example, if o is mapped to O, and O
_________________________
== Version 3 only.
== Version 3 only.
July 21, 1991
- 27 -
is mapped to I, then if remap is set, o will map to I,
but if noremap is set, it will map to O.
report default: report=5-
Specifies a threshold for feedback from commands. Any
command which modifies more than the specified number
of lines will provide feedback as to the scope of its
changes. For commands such as global, open, undo, and
visual which have potentially more far reaching scope,
the net change in the number of lines in the buffer is
presented at the end of the command, subject to this
same threshold. Thus notification is suppressed during
a global command on the individual commands performed.
scroll default: scroll=1/2 window
Determines the number of logical lines scrolled when an
end-of-file is received from a terminal input in com-
mand mode, and the number of lines printed by a command
mode z command (double the value of scroll).
sections default: sections=SHNHH HU
Specifies the section macros for the [[ and ]] opera-
tions in open and visual. The pairs of characters in
the options's value are the names of the macros which
start paragraphs.
shell, sh default: sh=/bin/sh
Gives the path name of the shell forked for the shell
escape command `!', and by the shell command. The
default is taken from SHELL in the environment, if
present.
shiftwidth, sw default: sw=8
Gives the width a software tab stop, used in reverse
tabbing with ^D when using autoindent to append text,
and by the shift commands.
showmatch, sm default: nosm
In open and visual mode, when a ) or } is typed, move
the cursor to the matching ( or { for one second if
this matching character is on the screen. Extremely
useful with lisp.
_________________________
- 2 for edit.
July 21, 1991
- 28 -
slowopen, slow terminal dependent
Affects the display algorithm used in visual mode,
holding off display updating during input of new text
to improve throughput when the terminal in use is both
slow and unintelligent. See An Introduction to Display
Editing with Vi for more details.
tabstop, ts default: ts=8
The editor expands tabs in the input file to be on
tabstop boundaries for the purposes of display.
taglength, tl default: tl=0
Tags are not significant beyond this many characters.
A value of zero (the default) means that all characters
are significant.
tags default: tags=tags
/usr/lib/tags
A path of files to be used as tag files for the tag
command. == A requested tag is searched for in the
specified files, sequentially. By default (even in
version 2) files called tags are searched for in the
current directory and in /usr/lib (a master file for
the entire system.)
term from environment TERM
The terminal type of the output device.
terse default: noterse
Shorter error diagnostics are produced for the experi-
enced user.
warn default: warn
Warn if there has been `[No write since last change]'
before a `!' command escape.
window default: window=speed depen-
dent
The number of lines in a text window in the visual com-
mand. The default is 8 at slow speeds (600 baud or
_________________________
== Version 3 only.
July 21, 1991
- 29 -
less), 16 at medium speed (1200 baud), and the full
screen (minus one line) at higher speeds.
w300, w1200, w9600
These are not true options but set window only if the
speed is slow (300), medium (1200), or high (9600),
respectively. They are suitable for an EXINIT and make
it easy to change the 8/16/full screen rule.
wrapscan, ws default: ws
Searches using the regular expressions in addressing
will wrap around past the end of the file.
wrapmargin, wm default: wm=0
Defines a margin for automatic wrapover of text during
input in open and visual modes. See An Introduction to
Text Editing with Vi for details.
writeany, wa default: nowa
Inhibit the checks normally made before write commands,
allowing a write to any file which the system protec-
tion mechanism will allow.
10. Limitations
Editor limits that the user is likely to encounter are
as follows: 1024 characters per line, 256 characters per
global command list, 128 characters per file name, 128 char-
acters in the previous inserted and deleted text in open or
visual, 100 characters in a shell escape command, 63 charac-
ters in a string valued option, and 30 characters in a tag
name, and a limit of 250000 lines in the file is silently
enforced.
The visual implementation limits the number of macros
defined with map to 32, and the total number of characters
in macros to be less than 512.
Acknowledgments. Chuck Haley contributed greatly to the
early development of ex. Bruce Englar encouraged the
redesign which led to ex version 1. Bill Joy wrote versions
1 and 2.0 through 2.7, and created the framework that users
see in the present editor. Mark Horton added macros and
other features and made the editor work on a large number of
terminals and Unix systems.
July 21, 1991
