4.3BSD - /usr/man/cat1/ex.0

EX(1)                                                                    EX(1)


NAME
       ex, edit - text editor

SYNOPSIS
       ex [ - ] [ -v ] [ -t tag ] [ -r ] [ +command ] [ -l ] name ...
       edit [ ex options ]

DESCRIPTION
       Ex is the root of a family of editors: edit, ex and vi.  Ex is a super‐
       set of ed, with the most notable  extension  being  a  display  editing
       facility.  Display based editing is the focus of vi.

       If  you  have not used ed, or are a casual user, you will find that the
       editor edit is convenient for you.  It avoids some of the  complexities
       of ex used mostly by systems programmers and persons very familiar with
       ed.

       If you have a CRT terminal, you may wish to use a display based editor;
       in this case see vi(1), which is a command which focuses on the display
       editing portion of ex.

DOCUMENTATION
       The document Edit: A tutorial (USD:14) provides a comprehensive  intro‐
       duction to edit assuming no previous knowledge of computers or the UNIX
       system.

       The Ex Reference Manual - Version 3.7 (USD:16) is a  comprehensive  and
       complete  manual  for  the  command mode features of ex, but you cannot
       learn to use the editor by reading it.  For  an  introduction  to  more
       advanced  forms of editing using the command mode of ex see the editing
       documents written by Brian Kernighan for the editor ed; the material in
       the introductory and advanced documents works also with ex.

       An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi (USD:15) introduces the dis‐
       play editor vi and provides reference material on vi.  In addition, the
       Vi  Quick  Reference  card  summarizes  the commands of vi in a useful,
       functional way, and is useful with the Introduction.

FILES
       /usr/lib/ex?.?strings         error messages
       /usr/lib/ex?.?recover         recover command
       /usr/lib/ex?.?preserve        preserve command
       /etc/termcap             describes capabilities of terminals
       ~/.exrc                  editor startup file
       /tmp/Exnnnnn             editor temporary
       /tmp/Rxnnnnn             named buffer temporary
       /usr/preserve            preservation directory

SEE ALSO
       awk(1), ed(1), grep(1), sed(1), grep(1), vi(1), termcap(5), environ(7)

AUTHOR
       Originally written by William Joy
       Mark Horton has maintained the editor since version 2.7, adding macros,
       support  for  many  unusual  terminals, and other features such as word
       abbreviation mode.

BUGS
       The undo command causes all marks to be lost on lines changed and  then
       restored if the marked lines were changed.

       Undo never clears the buffer modified condition.

       The  z  command  prints a number of logical rather than physical lines.
       More than a screen full of output may result if long lines are present.

       File  input/output  errors  don’t  print a name if the command line ‘‘-’’
       option is used.

       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.


4th Berkeley Distribution        June 5, 1986                            EX(1)