ed [-] [-sx] [-p \fIstring\fR] [\fIfile\fR]
red [-] [-sx] [-p \fIstring\fR] [\fIfile\fR]
is a line-oriented text editor.
It is used to create, display, modify and otherwise manipulate text
it can only edit files in the current
directory and cannot execute shell commands.
is read into the editor's buffer.
Changes are made to this copy and not directly to
any changes not explicitly saved with a
Editing is done in two distinct modes:
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:
which replaces all occurences of the string
When an input command, such as
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
Input mode is terminated by
entering a single period (\fI.\fR) on a line.
commands operate on whole lines or ranges of lines; e.g.,
command deletes lines; the
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
command is applied to whole lines at a time.
commands consist of zero or more line addresses, followed by a single
character command and possibly additional parameters; i.e.,
commands have the structure:
.I [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.
Suppresses diagnostics. This should be used if
standard input is from a script.
Prompts for an encryption key to be used in subsequent reads and writes
Specifies a command prompt. This may be toggled on and off with the
Specifies the name of a file to read. If
bang (!), then it is interpreted as a shell command. In this case,
To read a file whose name begins with a bang, prefix the
name with a backslash (\\).
The default filename is set to
only if it is not prefixed with a bang.
An address represents the number of line in the buffer.
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
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.,
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
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
semi-colon. The value of the first address in a range cannot exceed the
value of the the second. If an
of addresses is given where
then the corresponding range is determined by the last two addresses
If only one address is expected, then the last
Each address in a comma-delimited range is interpreted relative to the
current address. In a semi-colon-delimited range, the first address is
used to set the current address, and the second address is interpreted
The following address symbols are recognized.
The current line (address) in the buffer.
The last line in the buffer.
and may be repeated with cumulative effect.
is a non-negative number.
and may be repeated with cumulative effect.
+\fIn\fR or whitespace\fIn\fR
is a non-negative number.
The first through last lines in the buffer. This is equivalent to
current through last lines in the buffer. This is equivalent to
next line containing the regular expression
The search wraps to the beginning of the buffer and continues down to the
current line, if necessary.
// repeats the last search.
previous line containing the regular expression
The search wraps to the end of the buffer and continues up to the
current line, if necessary.
?? repeats the last search.
line previously marked by a
Regular expressions are patterns used in selecting text.
prints all lines containing
Regular expressions are also
command for selecting old text to be replaced with new.
In addition to a specifying string literals, regular expressions can
classes of strings. Strings thus represented are said to be matched
by the corresponding regular expression.
If it is possible for a regular expression
to match several strings in a line, then the left-most longest match is
The following symbols are used in constructing regular expressions:
not listed below, including `{', '}', `(', `)', `<' and `>',
Any backslash-escaped character
except for `{', '}', `(', `)', `<' and `>',
Matches any single character.
Matches any single character in
it must be the first character.
A range of characters may be specified by separating the end characters
of the range with a `-', e.g., `a-z' specifies the lower case characters.
The following literal expressions can also be used in
to specify sets of characters:
\ \ [:alnum:]\ \ [:cntrl:]\ \ [:lower:]\ \ [:space:]
\ \ [:alpha:]\ \ [:digit:]\ \ [:print:]\ \ [:upper:]
\ \ [:blank:]\ \ [:graph:]\ \ [:punct:]\ \ [:xdigit:]
If `-' appears as the first or last
\ \ [.\fIcol-elm\fR.] or,
are interpreted according to
(not currently supported).
for an explanation of these constructs.
Matches any single character, other than newline, not in
If `^' is the first character of a regular expression, then it
anchors the regular expression to the beginning of a line.
Otherwise, it matches itself.
If `$' is the last character of a regular expression, it
anchors the regular expression to the end of a line.
Otherwise, it matches itself.
Anchors the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately following it to the beginning of a word.
(This may not be available)
Anchors the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately following it to the end of a word.
(This may not be available)
Subexpressions may be nested.
A subsequent backreference of the form \fI`\en'\fR, where
is a number in the range [1,9], expands to the text matched by the
For example, the regular expression `\e(.*\e)\e1' matches any string
consisting of identical adjacent substrings.
Subexpressions are ordered relative to
Matches the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately preceding it zero or more times. If '*' is the first
character of a regular expression or subexpression, then it matches
itself. The `*' operator sometimes yields unexpected results.
For example, the regular expression `b*' matches the beginning of
the string `abbb' (as opposed to the substring `bbb'), since a null match
is the only left-most match.
\fR\e{\fIn,m\fR\e}\fR or \fR\e{\fIn,\fR\e}\fR or \fR\e{\fIn\fR\e}\fR
Matches the single character regular expression or subexpression
immediately preceding it at least
is omitted, then it matches at least
If the comma is also omitted, then it matches exactly
Additional regular expression operators may be defined depending on the
commands are single characters, though some require additonal parameters.
If a command's parameters extend over several lines, then
each line except for the last
must be terminated with a backslash (\\).
In general, at most one command is allowed per line.
However, most commands accept a print suffix, which is any of
to print the last line affected by the command.
An interrupt (typically ^C) has the effect of aborting the current command
and returning the editor to command mode.
recognizes the following commands. The commands are shown together with
the default address or address range supplied if none is
specified (in parenthesis).
Appends text to the buffer after the addressed line.
Text is entered in input mode.
The current address is set to last line entered.
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.
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.
and sets the default filename.
is not specified, then the default filename is used.
Any lines in the buffer are deleted before
The current address is set to the last line read.
Edits the standard output of
executed as described below.
The default filename is unchanged.
Any lines in the buffer are deleted before the output of
The current address is set to the last line read.
except that unwritten changes are discarded without warning.
The current address is set to the last line read.
Sets the default filename to
is not specified, then the default unescaped filename is printed.
.RI (1,$)g /re/command-list
to each of the addressed lines matching a regular expression
The current address is set to the
line currently matched before
command, the current address is set to the last line affected by
must be on a separate line,
and every line except for the last must be terminated by a backslash
Any commands are allowed, except for
Interactively edits the addressed lines matching a regular expression
the current address is set,
and the user is prompted to enter a
command, the current address
is set to the last line affected by (the last)
is the same as that of the
command. A newline alone acts as a null command list.
A single `&' repeats the last non-null command list.
Toggles the printing of error explanations.
By default, explanations are not printed.
It is recommended that ed scripts begin with this command to
Prints an explanation of the last error.
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.
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.
Marks a line with a lower case letter
The line can then be addressed as
(i.e., a single quote followed by
) in subsequent commands. The mark is not cleared until the line is
deleted or otherwise modified.
Prints the addressed lines unambiguously.
The current address is set to the last line
Moves lines in the buffer. The addressed lines are moved to after the
right-hand destination address, which may be the address
The current address is set to the
Prints the addressed lines along with
their line numbers. The current address is set to the last line
Prints the addressed lines. The current address is set to the last line
Toggles the command prompt on and off.
Unless a prompt was specified by with command-line option
\fI-p string\fR, the command prompt is by default turned off.
Quits ed unconditionally.
except that unwritten changes are discarded without warning.
to after the addressed line. If
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
Otherwise, the default filename is unchanged.
The current address is set to the last line read.
to after the addressed line
executed as described below.
The default filename is unchanged.
The current address is set to the last line read.
.RI (.,.)s /re/replacement/
.RI (.,.)s /re/replacement/\fRg\fR
.RI (.,.)s /re/replacement/n
Replaces text in the addressed lines
matching a regular expression
By default, only the first match in each line is replaced.
(global) suffix causes every match to be replaced.
is a postive number, causes only the
It is an error if no substitutions are performed on any of the addressed
The current address is set the last line affected.
may be delimited by any character other than space and newline.
If one or two of the last delimiters is omitted, then the last line
affected is printed as though the print suffix
is replaced by the currently matched text.
is a number in the range [1,9], is replaced by the
backreference expression of the matched text.
consists of a single `%', then
from the last substitution is used.
Newlines may be embedded in
if they are escaped with a backslash (\\).
Repeats the last substitution.
command may be suffixed with
any combination of the characters
the regular expression of the last search to be used instead of the
that of the last substitution.
suffix toggles the global suffix of the last substitution.
suffix toggles the print suffix of the last substitution
The current address is set to the last line affected.
Copies (i.e., transfers) the addressed lines to after the right-hand
destination address, which may be the address
The current address is set to the last line
Undoes the last command and restores the current address
to what it was before the command.
are treated as a single command by undo.
.RI (1,$)v /pat/command-list
to each of the addressed lines not matching a regular expression
Interactively edits the addressed lines not matching a regular expression
Writes the addressed lines to
If there is no default filename, then the default filename is set to
otherwise it is unchanged. If no filename is specified, then the default
The current address is unchanged.
Writes the addressed lines to
Writes the addressed lines to the standard input of
executed as described below.
The default filename and current address are unchanged.
Appends the addressed lines to the end of
command, expect that the previous contents of file is not clobbered.
The current address is unchanged.
Prompts for an encryption key which is used in subsequent reads and
writes. If a newline alone is entered as the key, then encryption is
turned off. Otherwise, echoing is disabled while a key is read.
Encryption/decryption is done using the bdes(1) algorithm.
lines at a time starting at addressed line. If
is not specified, then the current window size is used.
The current address is set to the last line printed.
If the first character of
is `!', then it is replaced by text of the
for backslash (\\) escapes.
is replaced by the default filename.
When the shell returns from execution, a `!'
is printed to the standard output.
The current line is unchanged.
Replaces the addressed lines with the output of
The current address is set to the last line read.
Prints the line number of the addressed line.
Prints the addressed line, and sets the current address to
attempts to write the buffer if the terminal hangs up.
B. W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger,
.I Software Tools in Pascal ,
arguments for backslash escapes, i.e., in a filename,
any characters preceded by a backslash (\\) are
If a text (non-binary) file is not terminated by a newline character,
appends one on reading/writing it. In the case of a binary file,
does not append a newline on reading/writing.
per line overhead: 4 ints
prints a `?' and either returns to command mode
or exits if its input is from a script.
An explanation of the last error can be
(global) command masks any errors from failed searches and substitutions,
it can be used to perform conditional operations in scripts; e.g.,
g/\fIold\fR/s//\fInew\fR/
replaces any occurrences of
(undo) command occurs in a global command list, then
the command list is executed only once.
If diagnostics are not disabled, attempting to quit
or edit another file before writing a modified buffer
If the command is entered a second time, it succeeds,
but any changes to the buffer are lost.