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ED(1)                        BSD Reference Manual                        ED(1)

N\bNA\bAM\bME\bE
     e\bed\bd - text editor

S\bSY\bYN\bNO\bOP\bPS\bSI\bIS\bS
     e\bed\bd [-\b-] [-\b-x\bx] [_\bf_\bi_\bl_\be]

D\bDE\bES\bSC\bCR\bRI\bIP\bPT\bTI\bIO\bON\bN
     E\bEd\bd once was the standard text editor in the early days of UNIX. While its
     life as a line editor is dated, e\bed\bd still resides on systems produced by a
     variety of vendors for good reason.  Because of its small size and sim-
     plicity, e\bed\bd,\b, is found on the root partition (_\b/_\bb_\bi_\bn_\b/_\be_\bd) for emergency edit-
     ing when normal system reboots fail or single user tasks are performed
     and _\b/_\bu_\bs_\br is not mounted.  E\bEd\bd is also useful for script editing tasks, and
     although there is nothing which can be done by e\bed\bd that cannot be per-
     formed by sed(1),  ex(1) or _\bG_\bn_\bu _\bE_\bm_\ba_\bc_\bs, e\bed\bd remains the simplest and easi-
     est to use.

     If a _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be argument is given, e\bed\bd simulates an e\be command (see below) on the
     named file; that is to say, the file is read into e\bed\bd's buffer so that it
     can be edited.

     Available options:

     -\b-x\bx      An x\bx command is simulated first to handle an encrypted file.

     -\b-       Suppresses the printing of explanatory output and should be used
             when the standard input is an editor script.

     E\bEd\bd operates on a copy of any file it is editing; changes made in the copy
     have no effect on the file until a w\bw (write) command is given.  The copy
     of the text being edited resides in a temporary file called the _\bb_\bu_\bf_\bf_\be_\br.

     Commands to e\bed\bd have a simple and regular structure: zero or more
     _\ba_\bd_\bd_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\be_\bs followed by a single character c\bco\bom\bmm\bma\ban\bnd\bd, possibly followed by
     parameters to the command.  These addresses specify one or more lines in
     the buffer.  Missing addresses are supplied by default.

     In general, only one command may appear on a line.  Certain commands al-
     low the addition of text to the buffer.  While e\bed\bd is accepting text, it
     is said to be in _\bi_\bn_\bp_\bu_\bt _\bm_\bo_\bd_\be. In this mode, no commands are recognized;
     all input is merely collected.  Input mode is left by typing a period `_\b.'
     alone at the beginning of a line.

     E\bEd\bd supports a limited form of _\br_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn notation.  A regular ex-
     pression specifies a set of strings of characters.  A member of this set
     of strings is said to be _\bm_\ba_\bt_\bc_\bh_\be_\bd by the regular expression.  In the fol-
     lowing specification for regular expressions the word `character' means
     any character but newline.

     1.   Any character except a special character matches itself.  Special
          characters are the regular expression delimiter plus `\[.' and some-
          times `^*$'.

     2.   A ``.'' matches any character.

     3.   A `\' followed by any character except a digit or ( matches that
          character.

     4.   A nonempty string _\bs bracketed [_\bs] (or [_\b^_\bs]) matches any character in
          (or not in) _\bs_\b. In _\bs_\b, `\' has no special meaning, and may only appear
          as the first letter.  A substring _\ba_\b-_\bb, with _\ba and _\bb in ascending


          ASCII order, stands for the inclusive range of ASCII characters.

     5.   A regular expression of form 1-4 followed by `*' matches a sequence
          of 0 or more matches of the regular expression.

     6.   A regular expression, _\bx, of form 1-8, bracketed \( _\bx\) matches what
          _\bx matches.

     7.   A \ followed by a digit _\bn matches a copy of the string that the
          bracketed regular expression beginning with the _\bnth \( matched.

     8.   A regular expression of form 1-8, _\bx, followed by a regular expres-
          sion of form 1-7, _\by matches a match for _\bx followed by a match for _\by,
          with the _\bx match being as long as possible while still permitting a
          _\by match.

     9.   A regular expression of form 1-8 preceded by `^' (or followed by
          `$'), is constrained to matches that begin at the left (or end at
          the right) end of a line.

     10.  A regular expression of form 1-9 picks out the longest among the
          leftmost matches in a line.

     11.  An empty regular expression stands for a copy of the last regular
          expression encountered.

     Regular expressions are used in addresses to specify lines and in one
     command (see _\bs below) to specify a portion of a line which is to be re-
     placed.  If it is desired to use one of the regular expression metachar-
     acters as an ordinary character, that character may be preceded by `\'.
     This also applies to the character bounding the regular expression (often
     `/') and to `\' itself.

     To understand addressing in e\bed\bd it is necessary to know that at any time
     there is a _\bc_\bu_\br_\br_\be_\bn_\bt _\bl_\bi_\bn_\be_\b. Generally speaking, the current line is the last
     line affected by a command; however, the exact effect on the current line
     is discussed under the description of the command.  Addresses are con-
     structed as follows.

     1.   The character `_\b.' addresses the current line.

     2.   The character `_\b$' addresses the last line of the buffer.

     3.   A decimal number _\bn addresses the _\bnth line of the buffer.

     4.   `'_\bx' addresses the line marked with the name _\bx, which must be a low-
          er-case letter.  Lines are marked with the _\bk command described be-
          low.

     5.   A regular expression enclosed in slashes `/' addresses the line
          found by searching forward from the current line and stopping at the
          first line containing a string that matches the regular expression.
          If necessary the search wraps around to the beginning of the buffer.

     6.   A regular expression enclosed in queries `?' addresses the line
          found by searching backward from the current line and stopping at
          the first line containing a string that matches the regular expres-
          sion.  If necessary the search wraps around to the end of the
          buffer.

     7.   An address followed by a plus sign `+' or a minus sign `-' followed
          by a decimal number specifies that address plus (resp. minus) the
          indicated number of lines.  The plus sign may be omitted.

     8.   If an address begins with `+' or `-' the addition or subtraction is
          taken with respect to the current line; e.g.  `-5' is understood to

          mean `.-5'.

     9.   If an address ends with `+' or `-' then 1 is added (resp. subtract-
          ed).  As a consequence of this rule and rule 8, the address `-'
          refers to the line before the current line.  Moreover, trailing `+'
          and `-' characters have cumulative effect, so `--' refers to the
          current line less 2.

     10.  To maintain compatibility with earlier versions of the editor, the
          character `^' in addresses is equivalent to `-'

     Commands may require zero, one, or two addresses.  Commands which require
     no addresses regard the presence of an address as an error.  Commands
     which accept one or two addresses assume default addresses when insuffi-
     cient are given.  If more addresses are given than such a command re-
     quires, the last one or two (depending on what is accepted) are used.

     Addresses are separated from each other typically by a comma `,' They may
     also be separated by a semicolon `;' In this case the current line `.' is
     set to the previous address before the next address is interpreted.  This
     feature can be used to determine the starting line for forward and back-
     ward searches (`/', `?') The second address of any two-address sequence
     must correspond to a line following the line corresponding to the first
     address.  The special form `%' is an abbreviation for the address pair
     `1,$'.

     In the following list of e\bed\bd commands, the default addresses are shown in
     parentheses.  The parentheses are not part of the address, but are used
     to show that the given addresses are the default.

     As mentioned, it is generally illegal for more than one command to appear
     on a line.  However, most commands may be suffixed by `p' or by `l', in
     which case the current line is either printed or listed respectively in
     the way discussed below.  Commands may also be suffixed by `n', meaning
     the output of the command is to be line numbered.  These suffixes may be
     combined in any order.

     (_\b.)a\ba
     <text>
     .\b.
           The append command reads the given text and appends it after the
           addressed line.  `_\b.' is left on the last line input, if there were
           any, otherwise at the addressed line.  Address `0' is legal for
           this command; text is placed at the beginning of the buffer.

     (_\b.,_\b.)c\bc
     <text>
     .\b.
           The change command deletes the addressed lines, then accepts input
           text which replaces these lines.  `_\b.' is left at the last line in-
           put; if there were none, it is left at the line preceding the
           deleted lines.

     (_\b.,_\b.)d\bd
     <text>
     .\b.
           The delete command deletes the addressed lines from the buffer.
           The line originally 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.

     e\be _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
           The edit command causes the entire contents of the buffer to be
           deleted, and then the named file to be read in.  `_\b.' is set to the
           last line of the buffer.  The number of characters read is typed.
           _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be is remembered for possible use as a default file name in a
           subsequent r\br or w\bw command.  If _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be is missing, the remembered
           name is used.

     E\bE _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
           This command is the same as e\be, except that no diagnostic results
           when no w\bw has been given since the last buffer alteration.

     f\bf _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
           The filename command prints the currently remembered file name.  If
           _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be is given, the currently remembered file name is changed to
           _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be.

     (_\b1,_\b$)g\bg_\b/_\br_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn_\b/c\bco\bom\bmm\bma\ban\bnd\bd l\bli\bis\bst\bt
           In the global command, the first step is to mark every line which
           matches the given regular expression.  Then for every such line,
           the given command list is executed with In the global command, the
           first step is to mark every line which matches the given regular
           expression.  Then for every such line, the given command list is
           executed with `_\b.' initially set to that line.  A single command or
           the first of multiple commands appears on the same line with the
           global command.  All lines of a multi-line list except the last
           line must be ended with `\\b\' A\bA, i\bi, and c\bc commands and associated in-
           put are permitted; the `_\b.' terminating input mode may be omitted if
           it would be on the last line of the command list.  The commands g\bg
           and v\bv are not permitted in the command list.

     (_\b.)i\bi
     <text>
     .\b.
           This command inserts the given text before the addressed line.  `_\b.'
           is left at the last line input, or, if there were none, at the line
           before the addressed line.  This command differs from the a\ba command
           only in the placement of the text.

     (_\b.,_\b._\b+_\b1)j\bj
           This command joins the addressed lines into a single line; interme-
           diate newlines simply disappear.  `_\b.' is left at the resulting
           line.

     (_\b.)k\bk_\bx
           The mark command marks the addressed line with name _\bx, which must
           be a lower-case letter.  The address form _\b'_\bx then addresses this
           line.

     (_\b.,_\b.)l\bl
           The list command prints the addressed lines in an unambiguous way:
           non-graphic characters are printed in two-digit octal, and long
           lines are folded.  The _\bl command may be placed on the same line af-
           ter any non-i/o command.

     (_\b.,_\b.)m\bm_\ba
           The move command repositions the addressed lines after the line ad-
           dressed by `_\ba'. The last of the moved lines becomes the current
           line.

     (_\b.,_\b.)p\bp
           The print command prints the addressed lines.  `_\b.' is left at the
           last line printed.  The p\bp command may be placed on the same line
           after any non-i/o command.

     (_\b.,_\b.)P\bP
           This command is a synonym for p\bp.



     q\bq     The quit command causes e\bed\bd to exit.  No automatic write of a file
           is done.

     Q\bQ     This command is the same as q\bq, except that no diagnostic results
           when no w\bw has been given since the last buffer alteration.

     (_\b$,_\b.)r\br _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
           The read command reads in the given file after the addressed line.
           If no file name is given, the remembered file name, if any, is used
           (see e\be and f\bf commands).  The file name is remembered if there was
           no remembered file name already.  Address `0' is legal for r\br and
           causes the file to be read at the beginning of the buffer.  If the
           read is successful, the number of characters read is typed.  `_\b.' is
           left at the last line read in from the file.

     (_\b1,_\b$)g\bg_\b/_\br_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn_\b/r\bre\bep\bpl\bla\bac\bce\bem\bme\ben\bnt\bt l\bli\bis\bst\bt   or,
     (_\b1,_\b$)g\bg_\b/_\br_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn_\b/r\bre\bep\bpl\bla\bac\bce\bem\bme\ben\bnt\bt l\bli\bis\bst\bt/\b/g\bg
           The substitute command searches each addressed line for an occur-
           rence of the specified regular expression.  On each line in which a
           match is found, all matched strings are replaced by the replacement
           specified, if the global replacement indicator g\bg appears after the
           command.  If the global indicator does not appear, only the first
           occurrence of the matched string is replaced.  It is an error for
           the substitution to fail on all addressed lines.  Any punctuation
           character may be used instead of `/\b/' to delimit the regular expres-
           sion and the replacement.  `_\b.' is left at the last line substitut-
           ed.  An ampersand `&\b&' appearing in the replacement is replaced by
           the string matching the regular expression.  The special meaning of
           `&\b&' in this context may be suppressed by preceding it by `\\b\' The
           characters `\\b\_\bn' where _\bn is a digit, are replaced by the text
           matched by the regular subexpression enclosed between _\bn`' and `\\b\)\b)'
           When nested, parenthesized subexpressions are present, _\bn is deter-
           mined by counting occurrences of `\\b\(\b(' starting from the left.
           Lines may be split by substituting new-line characters into them.
           The new-line in the replacement string must be escaped by preceding
           it by `\\b\' One or two trailing delimiters may be omitted, implying
           the p\bp suffix.  The special form s\bs followed by _\bn_\bo delimiters repeats
           the most recent substitute command on the addressed lines.  The s\bs
           may be followed by the letters r\br (use the most recent regular ex-
           pression for the left hand side, instead of the most recent left
           hand side of a substitute command), p\bp (complement the setting of
           the p\bp suffix from the previous substitution), or g\bg (complement the
           setting of the g\bg suffix).  These letters may be combined in any or-
           der.

     (_\b.,_\b.)t\bt_\ba
           This command acts just like the m\bm command, except that a copy of
           the addressed lines is placed after address _\ba (which may be 0).
           `_\b.' is left on the last line of the copy.

     (_\b.,_\b.)u\bu
           The undo command restores the buffer to it's state before the most
           recent buffer modifying command.  The current line is also re-
           stored.  Buffer modifying commands are a\ba, c\bc, d\bd, g\bg, i\bi, k\bk, m\bm, r\br, s\bs,
           t\bt, and v\bv. For purposes of undo, g\bg and v\bv are considered to be a sin-
           gle buffer modifying command.  Undo is its own inverse.  When e\bed\bd
           runs out of memory (at about 8000 lines on any 16 bit mini-computer
           such as the PDP-11) This full undo is not possible, and u\bu can only
           undo the effect of the most recent substitute on the current line.
           This restricted undo also applies to editor scripts when e\bed\bd is in-
           voked with the -\b- option.

     (_\b1,_\b$)v\bv_\b/_\br_\be_\bg_\bu_\bl_\ba_\br _\be_\bx_\bp_\br_\be_\bs_\bs_\bi_\bo_\bn_\b/c\bco\bom\bmm\bma\ban\bnd\bd l\bli\bis\bst\bt
           This command is the same as the global command g\bg except that the
           command list is executed g\bg with `_\b.' initially set to every line
           _\be_\bx_\bc_\be_\bp_\bt those matching the regular expression.

     (_\b1,_\b$)w\bw _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
           The write command writes the addressed lines onto the given file.
           If the file does not exist, it is created.  The file name is remem-
           bered if there was no remembered file name already.  If no file
           name is given, the remembered file name, if any, is used (see e\be and
           f\bf commands).  `_\b.' is unchanged.  If the command is successful, the
           number of characters written is printed.

     (_\b1,_\b$)W\bW _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
           This command is the same as w\bw, except that the addressed lines are
           appended to the file.

     (_\b1,_\b$)w\bwq\bq _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bn_\ba_\bm_\be
           This command is the same as w\bw except that afterwards a q\bq command is
           done, exiting the editor after the file is written.

     x     A key string is demanded from the standard input.  Later r\br, e\be and w\bw
           commands will encrypt and decrypt the text with this key by the al-
           gorithm of crypt(1).  An explicitly empty key turns off encryption.

     (_\b._\b+_\b1)z\bz    or,
     (_\b._\b+_\b1)z\bz_\bn
           This command scrolls through the buffer starting at the addressed
           line.  22 (or _\bn, if given) lines are printed.  The last line print-
           ed becomes the current line.  The value _\bn is sticky, in that it be-
           comes the default for future z\bz commands.

     (_\b$)=\b=  The line number of the addressed line is typed.  `_\b.' is unchanged
           by this command.

     _\b!<shell command>
           The remainder of the line after the `!\b!' is sent to sh(1) to be in-
           terpreted as a command.  `_\b.' is unchanged.

     (_\b._\b+_\b1,_\b._\b+_\b1)<newline>
           An address alone on a line causes the addressed line to be printed.
           A blank line alone is equivalent to _\b._\b+_\b1 it is useful for stepping
           through text.  If two addresses are present with no intervening
           semicolon, e\bed\bd prints the range of lines.  If they are separated by
           a semicolon, the second line is printed.

     If an interrupt signal (ASCII DEL) is sent, e\bed\bd prints `?interrupted' and
     returns to its command level.

     Some size limitations: 512 characters per line, 256 characters per global
     command list, 64 characters per file name, and, on mini computers, 128K
     characters in the temporary file.  The limit on the number of lines de-
     pends on the amount of core: each line takes 2 words.

     When reading a file, e\bed\bd discards ASCII NUL characters and all characters
     after the last newline.  It refuses to read files containing non- ASCII
     characters.

F\bFI\bIL\bLE\bES\bS
     /tmp/e*
     edhup     work is saved here if terminal hangs up

S\bSE\bEE\bE A\bAL\bLS\bSO\bO
     ex(1),  sed(1),  crypt(1)
     B. W. Kernighan, _\bA _\bT_\bu_\bt_\bo_\br_\bi_\ba_\bl _\bI_\bn_\bt_\br_\bo_\bd_\bu_\bc_\bt_\bi_\bo_\bn _\bt_\bo _\bt_\bh_\be _\bE_\bD _\bT_\be_\bx_\bt _\bE_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bo_\br
     B. W. Kernighan, _\bA_\bd_\bv_\ba_\bn_\bc_\be_\bd _\be_\bd_\bi_\bt_\bi_\bn_\bg _\bo_\bn _\bU_\bN_\bI_\bX

H\bHI\bIS\bST\bTO\bOR\bRY\bY
     The e\bed\bd command appeared in

D\bDI\bIA\bAG\bGN\bNO\bOS\bST\bTI\bIC\bCS\bS
     `name' for inaccessible file; `?self-explanatory message' for other er-
     rors.

     To protect against throwing away valuable work, a q\bq or e\be command is con-
     sidered to be in error, unless a w\bw has occurred since the last buffer
     change.  A second q\bq or e\be will be obeyed regardless.

B\bBU\bUG\bGS\bS
     The l\bl command mishandles DEL.
     The u\bun\bnd\bdo\bo command causes marks to be lost on affected lines.
     The x\bx command, -\b-x\bx option, and special treatment of hangups only work on
     UNIX.

AT&T 7th Edition               December 5, 1992                              7