EDIT(1,C) AIX Commands Reference EDIT(1,C)
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edit
PURPOSE
Starts a line editor that is designed for the new user.
SYNTAX
+------+
edit ---| |-- file --|
+- -r -+ ^ |
+------+
DESCRIPTION
The edit command starts a line editor that is designed for beginning users. It
is a simplified version of the ex command (see "ex"). To edit the contents of
a file, enter:
"edit" file
If file is the name of an existing file, the edit command copies the file to a
buffer and displays the number of lines and characters in it. (Both the file
and the file name can contain Japanese characters.) Then it displays a colon
prompt (":") to show that it is ready to read subcommands from standard input.
If file does not already exist, the edit command tells you this, but still
stores the name as the current file name. You can give more than one file
name, in which case the edit command copies the first file into its buffer and
stores the remaining file names in an argument list for later use.
The edit command operates in one of two modes: command mode and text entry
mode. In command mode, the edit command displays the colon prompt to show you
that it is ready to accept edit subcommands. In text entry mode, edit places
all input into its editing buffer. The general format of an edit subcommand is
as follows:
[addr]subcommand [parameters] [count]
The addr can be a line number or a pattern to be matched or, in some cases, a
range of line numbers or patterns. To specify a range, separate two line
numbers or patterns with a comma or a semicolon (for example, "1,5" or "1;5").
In a range, the second address must refer to a line that follows the first
addressed line in the range. If you do not specify addr, the edit command
works on the current line. If you add a numeric count to most subcommands,
edit works on the specified number of lines.
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For most subcommands, the last line affected becomes the new current line.
That means, for example, that after the edit command reads a file into its
buffer, the last line in the file becomes the current line.
ADDRESSING LINES WITHIN A FILE
The simplest way to address a line within a file is to use its line number.
But this can be unreliable because line numbers change when you insert and
delete lines. The edit command provides a way to search through the buffer for
strings. Given the address
/pattern/
the edit command searches forward for pattern, while given
?pattern?
it searches backwards for pattern. (The pattern can contain Japanese
characters.) If a forward search reaches the end of the buffer without finding
pattern, the search continues from the beginning of the file until it reaches
the current line. A backwards search does just the reverse.
The following characters have special meanings in forward and backward
searches:
^ Matches the beginning of a line.
$ Matches the end of a line.
Thus, you can use /^pattern/ to search for patterns at the beginning of a line,
and /pattern$/ to search for patterns at the end of the line.
The current line has a symbolic name, dot ("."), and the last line in the
buffer has a symbolic name, dollar sign ("$"), that you can use in addresses.
These symbolic names are useful when working with a range of lines. For
example,
.,$print
displays all lines from the current line to the last line in the buffer. You
can combine these symbols with numbers to reference lines, so that "$-5" refers
to the fifth line from the last and ".+20" refers to the line 20 lines beyond
the current line. You can also use these symbols with the = (equal) command to
find out the line number of the current line or the last line, as follows:
.=
$=
To view the next line in the buffer, press the Enter key. To display the next
half-screen of lines, press Ctrl-D.
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Note: Do not confuse the meaning of "$" in text patterns (end of line) with
its meaning in addresses (last line).
THE FAMILY OF EDITORS
The edit command is part of a family of editors that includes edit, ex, and vi.
The edit command starts a simple line editor that is designed for beginning
users. It is a simplified version of the ex editor. After you become more
experienced with the edit editor, you may want to try the advanced features of
one of the other editors in the family. Because the edit editor is part of a
family of editors, you can apply your knowledge of this editor to the other
editors in the family.
The ex editor is a powerful interactive line editor. The edit subcommands work
the same way in ex, but the editing environment is somewhat different. For
example in edit, only the characters ^, "$", and \ have special meanings as
pattern-matching characters; however, several additional characters also have
special meanings in ex. For more information on the ex editor, see "ex."
The vi editor is a display-based editor designed for experienced users who do a
lot of editing at their display. It contains many of the advanced features of
the ex editor, but focuses on the display editing portion of ex. The edit
editor prevents you from accidentally entering vi's two alternative modes of
editing, the open mode and the visual mode. For more information on the vi
editor, see "vi, vedit, view."
FLAG
-r Recovers file after an editor or system crash.
PARAMETERS
You can enter most edit subcommands as either a complete word or an
abbreviation. In the following list, a subcommand abbreviation appears in
parentheses. Unless noted otherwise, all subcommands work by default on the
current line. When the edit command displays the colon (:) prompt, you can
enter these subcommands:
[addr]append (a)
text
. Reads the input text into the file being edited, placing text after
the line at the address specified by addr. If you specify address
0, edit places the text at the beginning of the buffer. To return
to command mode, enter a line with only a . (period) in the first
position.
[addr1[,addr2]]change (c)
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text
. Replaces the specified line or lines with the input text. If any
lines are input, the last input line becomes the new current line.
[addr1[,addr2]]delete [buffer] (d)
Removes the specified line or lines from the editing buffer. The
line following the last deleted line becomes the current line. If
you specify a buffer by giving a letter from "a" to "z", the
specified lines are saved in that buffer or, if the letter is
uppercase, appends the lines to that buffer.
edit file (e)
Begins an editing session on a new file. The editor first checks
to see if the buffer has been modified (edited) since the last
write subcommand was entered. If it has, edit issues a warning and
cancels the edit subcommand. Otherwise, it deletes the complete
contents of the editor buffer, makes the named file the current
file, and displays the new file name. After ensuring that this
file can be edited, it reads the file into its buffer. If the edit
command reads the file without error, it displays the number of
lines and characters that it read. The last line read becomes the
new current line.
file (f) Displays the current file name along with the following information
about it:
o Whether it has been modified since the last write subcommand
was entered.
o What the current line is.
o How many lines are in the buffer.
o What percentage of the way through the buffer the current line
is.
file file Changes the name of the current file to file. The edit command
considers this file not edited.
[addr1[,addr2]]global/pattern/cmds (g)
Marks each of the specified lines that matches pattern. Then the
edit command carries out the specified subcommands (cmds) on each
marked line.
A single cmd or the first cmd in a subcommand list appears on same
line as global. The remaining cmds must appear on separate lines,
where each line (except the last) ends with a \ (backslash). The
default subcommand is print.
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The list can include the append, insert, and change subcommands and
their associated input. In this case, if the ending period comes
on the last line of the command list, you may omit it. The undo
subcommand and the global subcommand itself, however, may not
appear in the command list.
[addr]insert (i)
text
. Places the given text before the specified line. The last line
input becomes the current line. Otherwise, the current line does
not change.
[addr1[,addr2]]move addr3 (m)
Repositions the specified line or lines to follow addr3. The first
line moved becomes the current line.
next (n) Copies the next file in the command-line argument list to the
buffer for editing.
[addr1[,addr2]]number (nu)
Displays each specified line or lines preceded by its buffer line
number. The last line displayed becomes the current line.
preserve
Saves the current editor buffer as though the system had just
crashed. Use this command when a write subcommand has resulted in
an error, and you do not know how to save your work.
[addr1[,addr2]]print (p)
Displays the specified line or lines. The last line displayed
becomes the current line.
[addr]put buffer (pu)
Retrieves the contents of the specified buffer and places it after
addr. If you do not specify a buffer, the edit command restores
the last deleted or yanked text. Thus you can use this subcommand
together with the delete command to move lines or with the yank
command to duplicate lines between files.
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quit (q)
quit! (q!)
Ends the editing session.
Note: The quit command does not write the editor buffer to a file.
However, if you have modified the contents of the buffer
since entering the last write command, edit displays a
warning message and does not end the session. In this case,
either use the quit! subcommand to discard the buffer or the
write command to the buffer and then use the quit command.
recover file
Recovers file from the system save area. Use this command after a
system crash or after using a preserve subcommand.
[addr1[,addr2]]substitute/pattern/repl/ (s)
[addr1[,addr2]]substitute/pattern/repl/g
Replaces on each specified line the first instance of pattern with
the replacement pattern repl. If you add the g flag, it replaces
all instances of pattern on each specified line.
undo (u) Reverses the changes made in the buffer by the last buffer editing
subcommand. Note that global subcommands are considered a single
subcommand to an undo command. You cannot undo a write or an edit
command.
[addr1,[addr2]]write file (w)
Writes the contents of the specified line or lines to file. The
default range is all lines in the buffer. The edit command
displays the number of lines and characters that it writes. If you
do not specify a file, the edit command uses the current file name.
If file does not exist, the edit command creates it.
[addr1,[addr2]]yank [buffer] (ya)
Places the specified line or lines in buffer, which is a single
alpha character a through z.
[addr]z Displays a screen of text, beginning with the specified line.
[addr]z- Displays a screen of text, with the specified line at the bottom of
the screen.
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[addr]z. Displays a screen of text, with the specified line in the middle of
the screen.
RELATED INFORMATION
See the following commands: "ed, red," "ex," and "vi, vedit, view."
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