ex(1)								   User Commands							     ex(1)

NAME

       ex - 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
       display-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 capability 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 typ-
       ing 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) command allows you to reverse any single change which  goes  astray.	ex
       gives you a lot of feedback, normally printing changed lines, and indicates 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 command (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
       metacharacter `%' 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 substitutions. 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, com-
       mands < 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, preventing 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 educated 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 useful 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  com-
			       mand, except that all text read in is assumed to have been encrypted.

       +command | -c command   Begins editing by executing the specified editor 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 equivalent to specifying an additional address to the  command.	The  addi-
	   tional address is equal to the last address specified to the command (either explicitly or by default) plus count-1. If this results in
	   an address greater than the last line of the edit buffer, 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 equivalent to specifying an additional address to the  command.	The  addi-
	   tional address is equal to the last address specified to the command (either explicitly or by default) plus count-1. If this results in
	   an address greater than the last line of the edit buffer, 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 ALSO

       ed(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 University 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
       environment 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:

	 o  It must exist.

	 o  It must be owned by the same userid as the real userid of the process, or the process has appropriate privileges.

	 o  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)