ex(1)ex(1)Name
ex, edit - text editor
Syntaxex [ - ] [ -v ] [ -x ] [ -t tag ] [ -r ] [ +command ] [ -l ] name...
edit [ ex options ]
Description
The editor is the root of a family of editors: and The editor is a
superset of with the most notable extension being a display-editing
facility. Display-based editing is the focus of
The name argument indicates the files to be edited.
Options
- Suppresses all interactive-user feedback. This option is useful
in processing editor scripts in command files.
-v Equivalent to using rather than
-t Equivalent to an initial tag command, that is, editing the file
containing the tag and positioning the editor at its definition.
-r Used to recover after an editor or system crash. It recovers by
retrieving the last saved version of the named file. If no file
is specified, it displays a list of saved files.
-R Sets the read-only option at the start.
+command
Indicates that the editor should begin by executing the specified
command. If the command is omitted, 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 +/pattern
or line numbers.
-l Sets up for LISP. That is, it sets the showmatch and lisp
options. The -x option is available only if the Encryption lay‐
ered product is installed.
-x Causes to prompt for a key. The key is used to encrypt and decrypt
the contents of the file. If the file contents have been encrypted
with one key, you must use the same key to decrypt them.
Restrictions
The command causes all marks to be lost on lines changed and then
restored if the marked lines were changed.
The command does not clear the buffer modified condition.
The z command prints a number of logical rather than physical lines.
More than a screenful of output may result if long lines are present.
File input/output errors do not print a name if the command line minus
sign (-) option is used.
There is no easy way to do a single scan ignoring case.
The editor does not warn you if you place text in named buffers and do
not use it before exiting the editor.
Null characters are discarded from input files, and cannot appear in
output files.
The command uses a symbolic link to to preserve and recover an edited
file. It is required that the symbolic link is there to allow to work
properly.
Files
recover command
preserve command
terminal capabilities
editor startup file
editor temporary
named buffer temporary
preservation directory
See Alsoawk(1), ed(1), grep(1), sed(1), vi(1), termcap(5), environ(7)
Edit: A Tutorial and the Ex Reference Manual in the
Supplementary Documents, Volume 1: General User
ex(1)
