ex(1) User Commands ex(1)NAMEex - text editor
SYNOPSIS
/usr/bin/ex [ -| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [ -r [file]] [-t tag] [-v] [-V]
[-x] [-wn] [-C] [+command | -c command] file...
/usr/xpg4/bin/ex [ -| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [ -r [file]] [-t tag] [-v]
[-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C] [+command | -c command] file...
/usr/xpg6/bin/ex [ -| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [ -r [file]] [-t tag] [-v]
[-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C] [+command | -c command] file...
DESCRIPTION
The ex utility is the root of a family of editors: ex and vi. ex is a
superset of ed(1), with the most notable extension being a display
editing facility. Display based editing is the focus of vi.
If you have a CRT terminal, you can wish to use a display based editor;
in this case see vi(1), which is a command which focuses on the dis‐
play-editing portion of ex.
If you have used ed you find that, in addition to having all of the ed
commands available, ex has a number of additional features useful on
CRT terminals. Intelligent terminals and high speed terminals are very
pleasant to use with vi. Generally, the ex editor uses far more of the
capabilities of terminals than ed does, and uses the terminal capabil‐
ity data base (see terminfo(4)) and the type of the terminal you are
using from the environment variable TERM to determine how to drive your
terminal efficiently. The editor makes use of features such as insert
and delete character and line in its visual command (which can be
abbreviated vi) and which is the central mode of editing when using the
vi command.
The ex utility contains a number of features for easily viewing the
text of the file. The z command gives easy access to windows of text.
Typing ^D (CTRL-D) causes the editor to scroll a half-window of text
and is more useful for quickly stepping through a file than just typing
return. Of course, the screen-oriented visual mode gives constant
access to editing context.
The ex utility gives you help when you make mistakes. The undo (u) com‐
mand allows you to reverse any single change which goes astray. ex
gives you a lot of feedback, normally printing changed lines, and indi‐
cates when more than a few lines are affected by a command so that it
is easy to detect when a command has affected more lines than it should
have.
The editor also normally prevents overwriting existing files, unless
you edited them, so that you do not accidentally overwrite a file other
than the one you are editing. If the system (or editor) crashes, or you
accidentally hang up the telephone, you can use the editor recover com‐
mand (or -r file option) to retrieve your work. This gets you back to
within a few lines of where you left off.
The ex utility has several features for dealing with more than one file
at a time. You can give it a list of files on the command line and use
the next (n) command to deal with each in turn. The next command can
also be given a list of file names, or a pattern as used by the shell
to specify a new set of files to be dealt with. In general, file names
in the editor can be formed with full shell metasyntax. The metacharac‐
ter `%' is also available in forming file names and is replaced by the
name of the current file.
The editor has a group of buffers whose names are the ASCII lower-case
letters (a-z). You can place text in these named buffers where it is
available to be inserted elsewhere in the file. The contents of these
buffers remain available when you begin editing a new file using the
edit (e) command.
There is a command & in ex which repeats the last substitute command.
In addition, there is a confirmed substitute command. You give a range
of substitutions to be done and the editor interactively asks whether
each substitution is desired.
It is possible to ignore the case of letters in searches and substitu‐
tions. ex also allows regular expressions which match words to be con‐
structed. This is convenient, for example, in searching for the word
``edit'' if your document also contains the word ``editor.''
ex has a set of options which you can set to tailor it to your liking.
One option which is very useful is the autoindent option that allows
the editor to supply leading white space to align text automatically.
You can then use ^D as a backtab and space or tab to move forward to
align new code easily.
Miscellaneous useful features include an intelligent join (j) command
that supplies white space between joined lines automatically, commands
< and > which shift groups of lines, and the ability to filter portions
of the buffer through commands such as sort.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
− | -s Suppresses all interactive user feedback. This
is useful when processing editor scripts.
-l Sets up for editing LISP programs.
-L Lists the name of all files saved as the result
of an editor or system crash.
-R Readonly mode. The readonly flag is set, pre‐
venting accidental overwriting of the file.
-r file Edits file after an editor or system crash.
(Recovers the version of file that was in the
buffer when the crash occurred.)
-t tag Edits the file containing the tag and positions
the editor at its definition. It is an error to
specify more than one -t option.
-v Starts up in display editing state, using vi.
You can achieve the same effect by typing the
vi command itself.
-V Verbose. When ex commands are read by means of
standard input, the input is echoed to standard
error. This can be useful when processing ex
commands within shell scripts.
-x Encryption option. Simulates the X command and
prompts the user for a key. This key is used to
encrypt and decrypt text using the algorithm of
the crypt command. The X command makes an edu‐
cated guess to determine whether text read in
is encrypted or not. The temporary buffer file
is encrypted also, using a transformed version
of the key typed in for the -x option.
-wn Sets the default window size to n. This is use‐
ful when using the editor over a slow speed
line.
-C Encryption option. Same as the -x option,
except that -C simulates the C command. The C
command is like the X command, except that all
text read in is assumed to have been encrypted.
+command | -c command Begins editing by executing the specified edi‐
tor command (usually a search or positioning
command).
/usr/xpg4/bin/ex, /usr/xpg6/bin/ex
If both the -t tag and the -c command options are given, the -t tag
is processed first. That is, the file containing the tag is
selected by -t and then the command is executed.
OPERANDS
The following operand is supported:
file A path name of a file to be edited.
USAGE
This section defines the ex states, commands, initializing options, and
scanning pattern formations.
ex States
Command Normal and initial state. Input prompted for by ":".
The line kill character cancels a partial command.
Insert Entered by a, i, or c. Arbitrary text can be entered.
Insert state normally is terminated by a line having
only "." on it, or, abnormally, with an interrupt.
Visual Entered by typing vi. Terminated by typing Q or ^\
(Control-\).
ex Command Names and Abbreviations
Command Abbrevi- Command Abbrevi- Command Abbrevi-
Name ation Name ation Name ation
abbrev ab map set se
append a mark ma shell sh
args ar move m source so
change c next n substitute s
copy co number nu unabbrev unab
delete d preserve pre undo u
edit e print p unmap unm
file f put pu version ve
global g quit q visual vi
insert i read r write
w
join j recover rec xit x
list l rewind rew yank ya
Join Command Arguments
Join [range] j[oin][!] [count] [flags]
If count is specified:
/usr/bin/ex, /usr/xpg6/bin/ex
If no address is specified, the join command behaves as if 2addr
were the current line and the current line plus count (.,. +
count). If one address is specified, the join command behaves as if
2addr were the specified address and the specified address plus
count ( addr, addr + count).
/usr/xpg4/bin/ex
If no address is specified, the join command behaves as if 2addr
were the current line and the current line plus count -1 (.,. +
count -1). If one address is specified, the join command behaves as
if 2addr were the specified address and the specified address plus
count -1 ( addr, addr + count -1).
/usr/bin/ex, /usr/xpg4/bin/ex, /usr/xpg6/bin/ex
If two or more addresses are specified, the join command behaves as
if an additional address, equal to the last address plus count -1
(addr1, ..., lastaddr, lastaddr + count -1), was specified. If
this results in a second address greater than the last line of the
edit buffer, it is corrected to be equal to the last line of the
edit buffer.
If no count is specified:
/usr/bin/ex, /usr/xpg4/bin/ex, /usr/xpg6/bin/ex
If no address is specified, the join command behaves as if 2addr
were the current line and the next line (.,. +1). If one address is
specified, the join command behaves as if 2addr were the specified
address and the next line ( addr, addr +1).
Additional ex Command Arguments
/usr/bin/ex, /usr/xpg6/bin/ex
For the following ex commands, if count is specified, it is equiva‐
lent to specifying an additional address to the command. The addi‐
tional address is equal to the last address specified to the com‐
mand (either explicitly or by default) plus count-1. If this
results in an address greater than the last line of the edit buf‐
fer, it is corrected to equal the last line of the edit buffer.
/usr/xpg4/bin/ex
For the following ex commands, if both a count and a range are
specified for a command that uses them, the number of lines
affected is taken from the count value rather than the range. The
starting line for the command is taken to be the first line
addressed by the range.
Abbreviate ab[brev] word rhs
Append [line]a[ppend][!]
Arguments ar[gs]
Change [range] c[hange][!] [count]
Change Directory chd[ir][!] [directory]; cd[!] [directory]
Copy [range] co[py] line [flags]; [range] t
line [flags]
Delete [range] d[elete] [buffer] [count] [flags]
Edit e[dit][!] [+line][file]; ex[!] [+line]
[file]
File f[ile] [file]
Global [range] g[lobal] /pattern/ [commands];
[range] v /pattern/ [commands]
Insert [line] i[nsert][!]
List [range] l[ist] [count] [flags]
Map map[!] [x rhs]
Mark [line] ma[rk] x; [line] k x
Move [range] m[ove] line
Next n[ext][!] [file ...]
Open [line] o[pen] /pattern/ [flags]
Preserve pre[serve]
Put [line] pu[t] [buffer]
Quit q[uit][!]
Read [line] r[ead][!] [file]
Recover rec[over] file
Rewind rew[ind][!]
Set se[t] [option[=[value]]...] [nooption...]
[option?...] [all]
Shell sh[ell]
Source so[urce] file
Suspend su[spend][!]; st[op][!]
Tag ta[g][!] tagstring
Unabbreviate una[bbrev] word
Undo u[ndo]
Unmap unm[ap][!] x
Visual [line] v[isual] [type] [count] [flags]
Write [range] w[rite][!] [>>] [file]; [range]
w[rite][!] [file]; [range] wq[!] [>>]
[file]
Write and Exit [range] x[it][!] [file]
Yank [range] ya[nk] [buffer] [count]
Adjust Window [line] z [type] [count] [flags]
Escape ! command [range]! command
Scroll EOF
Write Line Number [line] = [flags]
Execute @ buffer; * buffer
/usr/bin/ex, /usr/xpg4/bin/ex, /usr/xpg6/bin/ex
For the following ex commands, if count is specified, it is equiva‐
lent to specifying an additional address to the command. The addi‐
tional address is equal to the last address specified to the com‐
mand (either explicitly or by default) plus count-1. If this
results in an address greater than the last line of the edit buf‐
fer, it is corrected to equal the last line of the edit buffer.
Number [range] nu[mber] [count] [flags]; [range]
| # [count]
[flags]
Print [range] p[rint] [count] [flags]
Substitute [range] s[ubstitute] [/pat‐
tern/repl/[options] [count] [flags]]
Shift Left [range] < [count] [flags]
Shift Right [range] > [count] [flags]
Resubstitute [range] & [options] [count] [flags];
[range] s[ubstitute] [options] [count]
[flags]; [range] ~ [options] [count
[flags]
ex Commands
C forced encryption
X heuristic encryption
& resubst
CR print next
> rshift
< lshift
^D scroll
z window
! shell escape
ex Command Addresses
n line n
. current
$ last
+ next
- previous
+n n forward
% 1,$
/pat next with pat
?pat previous with pat
x-n n before x
x,y x through y
'x marked with x
" previous context
Initializing Options
EXINIT place set's here in environment variable
$HOME/.exrc editor initialization file
./.exrc editor initialization file
set x enable option x
set nox disable option x
set x=val give value val to option x
set show changed options
set all show all options
set x? show value of option x
Useful Options and Abbreviations
autoindent ai supply indent
autowrite aw write before changing files
directory pathname of directory for temporary
work files
exrc ex allow vi/ex to read the .exrc in
the current directory. This option
is set in the EXINIT shell variable
or in the .exrc file in the $HOME‐
directory.
ignorecase ic ignore case of letters in scanning
list print ^I for tab, $ at end
magic treat . [ * special in patterns
modelines first five lines and last five
lines executed as vi/ex commands if
they are of the form ex:command: or
vi:command:
number nu number lines
paragraphs para macro names that start paragraphs
redraw simulate smart terminal
report informs you if the number of lines
modified by the last command is
greater than the value of the
report variable
scroll command mode lines
sections sect macro names that start sections
shiftwidth sw for < >, and input ^D
showmatch sm to ) and } as typed
showmode smd show insert mode in vi
slowopen slow stop updates during insert
term specifies to vi the type of termi‐
nal being used (the default is the
value of the environment variable
TERM)
window visual mode lines
wrapmargin wm automatic line splitting
wrapscan ws search around end (or beginning) of
buffer
Scanning Pattern Formation
^ beginning of line
$ end of line
. any character
\< beginning of word
\> end of word
[str] any character in str
[^str] any character not in str
[xy] any character between x and y
* any number of preceding characters
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables
that affect the execution of ex: HOME, LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE,
LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, NLSPATH, PATH, SHELL, and TERM.
COLUMNS Override the system-selected horizontal screen size.
EXINIT Determine a list of ex commands that are executed on
editor start-up, before reading the first file. The
list can contain multiple commands by separating them
using a vertical-line (|) character.
LINES Override the system-selected vertical screen size, used
as the number of lines in a screenful and the vertical
screen size in visual mode.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
FILES
/var/tmp/Exnnnnn editor temporary
/var/tmp/Rxnnnnn named buffer temporary
/usr/lib/expreserve preserve command
/usr/lib/exrecover recover command
/usr/lib/exstrings error messages
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/* describes capabilities of terminals
/var/preserve/login preservation directory (where login is
the user's login)
$HOME/.exrc editor startup file
./.exrc editor startup file
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
/usr/bin/ex
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWcsu │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│CSI │Enabled │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
/usr/xpg4/bin/ex
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWxcu4 │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│CSI │Enabled │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │Standard │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
/usr/xpg6/bin/ex
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWxcu6 │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│CSI │Enabled │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │Standard │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOed(1), edit(1), grep(1), sed(1), sort(1), vi(1), curses(3CURSES),
term(4), terminfo(4), attributes(5), environ(5), standards(5)
Solaris Advanced User's Guide
AUTHOR
The vi and ex utilities are based on software developed by The Univer‐
sity of California, Berkeley California, Computer Science Division,
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
NOTES
Several options, although they continue to be supported, have been
replaced in the documentation by options that follow the Command Syntax
Standard (see intro(1)). The − option has been replaced by -s, a -r
option that is not followed with an option-argument has been replaced
by -L, and +command has been replaced by -c command.
The message file too large to recover with -r option, which is seen
when a file is loaded, indicates that the file can be edited and saved
successfully, but if the editing session is lost, recovery of the file
with the -r option is not possible.
The z command prints the number of logical rather than physical lines.
More than a screen full of output can result if long lines are present.
File input/output errors do not print a name if the command line -s
option is used.
The editing environment defaults to certain configuration options. When
an editing session is initiated, ex attempts to read the EXINIT envi‐
ronment variable. If it exists, the editor uses the values defined in
EXINIT, otherwise the values set in $HOME/.exrc are used. If
$HOME/.exrc does not exist, the default values are used.
To use a copy of .exrc located in the current directory other than
$HOME, set the exrc option in EXINIT or $HOME/.exrc. Options set in
EXINIT can be turned off in a local .exrc only if exrc is set in EXINIT
or $HOME/.exrc. In order to be used, .exrc in $HOME or the current
directory must fulfill these conditions:
· It must exist.
· It must be owned by the same userid as the real userid of the
process, or the process has appropriate privileges.
· It is not writable by anyone other than the owner.
There is no easy way to do a single scan ignoring case.
The editor does not warn if text is placed in named buffers and not
used before exiting the editor.
Null characters are discarded in input files and cannot appear in
resultant files.
SunOS 5.10 15 Jun 2004 ex(1)
