EX(1,C) AIX Commands Reference EX(1,C)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ex
PURPOSE
Edits lines interactively with screen display.
SYNTAX
+------------+ +--------+ +------------------+
ex ---| +--------+ |---| one of |---| +----------+ |--->
+-| -l |-+ | +----+ | +- + -|1 |-+
| -R | +-| -v |-+ +- subcmd -+
| -t tag | | - |
| -w num | +----+
+--------+
+-----------------+ +------------+
>---| +--------+ |---| |---|
+- -r -| |-+ +--- file ---+
+- file -+ ^ |
+--------+
-----------------
1 Do not put a blank between these items.
DESCRIPTION
The ex command is a line-oriented text editor that is a subset of the vi screen
editor. The ex editor is similar to ed, but is more powerful, providing
multi-line displays and access to a screen editing mode. You may prefer to
call vi directly to have environmental variables set for screen editing. Also
edit, a limited subset of ex, is available for novice or casual use. For more
information on vi, see "vi, vedit, view." For more information on edit, see
"edit."
Notes:
1. Some vi subcommands have meanings that differ from ed subcommands.
2. To determine how to drive your work station more efficiently, ex uses the
work station capability data base terminfo and the type of the work station
you are using from the shell environment variable TERM.
The ex editor has the following features:
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o You can view text in files. The z subcommand lets you access windows of
text, and you can scroll through text by pressing Ctrl-D. The vi
subcommand provides further viewing options and active screen-editing by
invoking the vi editor.
o You can you revoke the last previous subcommand entered (except for q and
w). The undo subcommand allows you to "undo" the last subcommand, even if
it's an undo subcommand. Thus you can switch back and forth between the
latest change in the edit file and the last prior file status and view the
effect of a subcommand without that effect being permanent. The ex command
displays changed lines and indicates when more than a few lines are
affected by a subcommand. The undo subcommand causes all marks to be lost
on lines changed and then restored if the marked lines were changed. It
does not clear the "buffer modified" condition.
o You can retrieve your work (except changes that were in the buffer) if the
system or the editor crashes by re-entering the editor with the -r flag and
the file name. When the file name is not specified, all open files in your
partition are listed.
o You can queue a sequence or group of files to edit. You can list the files
in the ex command and then use the next subcommand to access each file
sequentially. Or after you enter the editor, you can enter the next
subcommand with a list of file names or a pattern (as used by the shell) to
specify a set of files. In general, you can designate file names to the
editor using the pattern-matching symbols that the shell accepts. You can
use the wild card character "%" to form file names and represent the name
of the current edit file.
o You can use a group of buffers (buffers named a through z) to move text
between files and within a file. You can temporarily place text in these
buffers and copy or reinsert it in a file, or you can carry it over to
another file. The buffers are cleared when you quit the editor. The
editor does not notify you if text is placed in a buffer and not used
before exiting the editor. The buffer names can contain only ASCII digits.
o You can use patterns that match words. For example, you can search only
for the word "ink" when your document also contains the word "inkblot" or
"blink". The patterns can contain Japanese characters.
o You can display a window of logical lines. The z subcommand allows you to
select the number of lines displayed and locate the current line within the
display simultaneously. More than a screen of output can result when the
file lines are longer than the output display lines because the set number
of logical lines are displayed rather than a number of physical lines.
o You can read a file of editor subcommands. The so command allows you to
read and execute a file of subcommands. Nesting of source files is
permitted, allowing one file to call another; however, no return mechanism
is provided.
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The ex editor has the following maximum limits. If have selected a language
(through the LANG environment variable) that supports multibyte characters, the
character limits can be reduced by as much as 50%, depending on the character
code set being used.
o 1024 characters per line
o 256 characters per global command list
o 128 characters in the previous inserted and deleted text
o 100 characters in a shell escape command
o 63 characters in a string-valued option
o 30 characters in a tag name
o 250,000 lines of 1024 characters per line silently enforced
o 128 map macros with 2048 characters total
o 100 characters per each map macro subcommand (or rhs).
Editing States
command Normal and initial state. Input is prompted for by :
(colon). Pressing END OF FILE (Ctrl-D) clears an
uncompleted subcommand from the command line.
visual Entered by vi, vi., vi-, or o. Each of the first three
commands gives you a full screen vi editor, but puts the
current line in a different place on entry. Enter vi to
put the current line at the top of the screen; enter vi.
to put the current line in the middle of the screen; and
enter vi- to put the current line at the bottom of the
screen. The o command opens a one-line window. All
three commands share the input state of the visual
editor. Press the Esc key to exit the input state. To
return to the ex command state at the current line, enter
Q or ^\ while not in the input state.
entry Entered by a, i and c. In this state you can enter text.
Entry state ends normally with a line that has only a .
(period) on it or ends abnormally if you press INTERRUPT
(Ctrl-C).
Note: This editing state applies only to the RT PC.
PARAMETERS
The following is a list of the ex subcommands. Most of these subcommands are
discussed under "edit" or "vi, vedit, view."
ab abbrev n next una unabbrev
a append nu number u undo
ar args unm unmap
c change pre preserve
co copy p print vi visual
d delete pu put w write
e edit q quit x exit
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f file re read ya yank
g global rec recover z window
i insert rew rewind ! escape
j join se set < lshift
l list sh shell CR print next
map map so source & resubst
ma mark > rshift
m move s substitute^D scroll
Subcommand Addresses
"$" The last line x-num The numth line before x
+ The next line x,y Lines x through y
- The previous line 'm The line marked with m
+ num The numth line '' The previous context
forward
-num The numth previous /pat$ The next line with pat at
line end of line
"%" The first through /^pat The next line with pat at
last lines start of line
num line num /pat The next line with pat
. The current line ?pat The previous line with pat
Scanning Pattern Formation
^ The beginning of the line
$ The end of the line
. Any character
\< The beginning of the word
\> The end of the word
[string] Any character in string
[^string] Any character not in string
[x-y] Any character between x and y, inclusive
* Any number of the preceding character.
FLAGS
-l Indents appropriately for Lisp code, and modifies the
functions of the () {} [ and ] characters when used as vi
subcommands. The Lisp modifier is active in open or
visual modes.
-r [file] Recovers file after an editor or system crash. If you do
not specify file, a list of all saved files is displayed.
-R The readonly option is set, preventing you from altering
the file if you are an ordinary user.
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-t tag Loads the file that contains tag and positions the editor
at tag. The tag can contain only ASCII characters.
-v Invokes the visual editor.
Note: When the v flag is selected, an enlarged set of
subcommands are available, including screen
editing and cursor movement features. See "vi,
vedit, view."
- Suppresses all interactive-user feedback. If you use
this flag, file input/output errors do not generate a
helpful error message.
+subcmd Begins the edit at the specified editor search or
subcommand. When subcom is not entered, +places the
current line to the bottom of the file. Normally ex sets
current line to the start of the file, or to some
specified tag or pattern.
-w num Defines the number of lines desired in the window. The
num variable can contain only ASCII characters.
FILES
/usr/lib/exrecover Recover subcommand.
/usr/lib/expreserve Preserve subcommand.
/usr/lib/*/* Describes capabilities of work stations.
$HOME/.exrc Editor startup file.
./.exrc Editor startup file.
/tmp/Exnnnnn Editor temporary.
/tmp/Rxnnnnn Names buffer temporary.
/usr/preserve Preservation directory.
RELATED INFORMATION
See the following commands: "vi, vedit, view," "edit," "ctags" "awk, nawk,
oawk," "ed, red," "grep, egrep, fgrep," and "sed."
See curses subroutine and the TERM and terminfo files in AIX Operating System
Technical Reference.
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