1ED(1) General Commands Manual ED(1)
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6 ed - text editor
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9 ed [ - ] [ name ]
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12 Ed is the standard text editor.
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14 If a name argument is given, ed simulates an e command (see below) on
15 the named file; that is to say, the file is read into ed's buffer so
16 that it can be edited. The optional - suppresses the printing of
17 explanatory output and should be used when the standard input is an
18 editor script.
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20 Ed operates on a copy of any file it is editing; changes made in the
21 copy have no effect on the file until a w (write) command is given.
22 The copy of the text being edited resides in a temporary file called
23 the buffer.
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25 Commands to ed have a simple and regular structure: zero or more
26 addresses followed by a single character command, possibly followed by
27 parameters to the command. These addresses specify one or more lines
28 in the buffer. Missing addresses are supplied by default.
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30 In general, only one command may appear on a line. Certain commands
31 allow the addition of text to the buffer. While ed is accepting text,
32 it is said to be in input mode. In this mode, no commands are recog‐
33 nized; all input is merely collected. Input mode is left by typing a
34 period `.' alone at the beginning of a line.
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36 Ed supports a limited form of regular expression notation. A regular
37 expression specifies a set of strings of characters. A member of this
38 set of strings is said to be matched by the regular expression. In the
39 following specification for regular expressions the word `character'
40 means any character but newline.
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42 1. Any character except a special character matches itself. Spe‐
43 cial characters are the regular expression delimiter plus \[.
44 and sometimes ^*$.
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46 2. A . matches any character.
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48 3. A \ followed by any character except a digit or () matches that
49 character.
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51 4. A nonempty string s bracketed [s] (or [^s]) matches any charac‐
52 ter in (or not in) s. In s, \ has no special meaning, and ] may
53 only appear as the first letter. A substring a-b, with a and b
54 in ascending ASCII order, stands for the inclusive range of
55 ASCII characters.
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57 5. A regular expression of form 1-4 followed by * matches a
58 sequence of 0 or more matches of the regular expression.
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60 6. A regular expression, x, of form 1-8, bracketed \(x\) matches
61 what x matches.
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63 7. A \ followed by a digit n matches a copy of the string that the
64 bracketed regular expression beginning with the nth \( matched.
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66 8. A regular expression of form 1-8, x, followed by a regular
67 expression of form 1-7, y matches a match for x followed by a
68 match for y, with the x match being as long as possible while
69 still permitting a y match.
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71 9. A regular expression of form 1-8 preceded by ^ (or followed by
72 $), is constrained to matches that begin at the left (or end at
73 the right) end of a line.
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75 10. A regular expression of form 1-9 picks out the longest among the
76 leftmost matches in a line.
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78 11. An empty regular expression stands for a copy of the last regu‐
79 lar expression encountered.
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81 Regular expressions are used in addresses to specify lines and in one
82 command (see s below) to specify a portion of a line which is to be
83 replaced. If it is desired to use one of the regular expression
84 metacharacters as an ordinary character, that character may be preceded
85 by `\'. This also applies to the character bounding the regular
86 expression (often `/') and to `\' itself.
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88 To understand addressing in ed it is necessary to know that at any time
89 there is a current line. Generally speaking, the current line is the
90 last line affected by a command; however, the exact effect on the cur‐
91 rent line is discussed under the description of the command. Addresses
92 are constructed as follows.
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94 1. The character `.' addresses the current line.
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96 2. The character `$' addresses the last line of the buffer.
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98 3. A decimal number n addresses the n-th line of the buffer.
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100 4. `′x' addresses the line marked with the name x, which must be a
101 lower-case letter. Lines are marked with the k command
102 described below.
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104 5. A regular expression enclosed in slashes `/' addresses the line
105 found by searching forward from the current line and stopping at
106 the first line containing a string that matches the regular
107 expression. If necessary the search wraps around to the begin‐
108 ning of the buffer.
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110 6. A regular expression enclosed in queries `?' addresses the line
111 found by searching backward from the current line and stopping
112 at the first line containing a string that matches the regular
113 expression. If necessary the search wraps around to the end of
114 the buffer.
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116 7. An address followed by a plus sign `+' or a minus sign `-' fol‐
117 lowed by a decimal number specifies that address plus (resp.
118 minus) the indicated number of lines. The plus sign may be
119 omitted.
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121 8. If an address begins with `+' or `-' the addition or subtraction
122 is taken with respect to the current line; e.g. `-5' is under‐
123 stood to mean `.-5'.
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125 9. If an address ends with `+' or `-', then 1 is added (resp. sub‐
126 tracted). As a consequence of this rule and rule 8, the address
127 `-' refers to the line before the current line. Moreover,
128 trailing `+' and `-' characters have cumulative effect, so `--'
129 refers to the current line less 2.
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131 10. To maintain compatibility with earlier versions of the editor,
132 the character `^' in addresses is equivalent to `-'.
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134 Commands may require zero, one, or two addresses. Commands which
135 require no addresses regard the presence of an address as an error.
136 Commands which accept one or two addresses assume default addresses
137 when insufficient are given. If more addresses are given than such a
138 command requires, the last one or two (depending on what is accepted)
139 are used.
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141 Addresses are separated from each other typically by a comma `,'. They
142 may also be separated by a semicolon `;'. In this case the current
143 line `.' is set to the previous address before the next address is
144 interpreted. This feature can be used to determine the starting line
145 for forward and backward searches (`/', `?'). The second address of
146 any two-address sequence must correspond to a line following the line
147 corresponding to the first address. The special form `%' is an abbre‐
148 viation for the address pair `1,$'.
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150 In the following list of ed commands, the default addresses are shown
151 in parentheses. The parentheses are not part of the address, but are
152 used to show that the given addresses are the default.
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154 As mentioned, it is generally illegal for more than one command to
155 appear on a line. However, most commands may be suffixed by `p' or by
156 `l', in which case the current line is either printed or listed respec‐
157 tively in the way discussed below. Commands may also be suffixed by
158 `n', meaning the output of the command is to be line numbered. These
159 suffixes may be combined in any order.
160
161 (.)a
162 <text>
163 .
164 The append command reads the given text and appends it after the
165 addressed line. `.' is left on the last line input, if there were
166 any, otherwise at the addressed line. Address `0' is legal for
167 this command; text is placed at the beginning of the buffer.
168
169 (., .)c
170 <text>
171 .
172 The change command deletes the addressed lines, then accepts input
173 text which replaces these lines. `.' is left at the last line
174 input; if there were none, it is left at the line preceding the
175 deleted lines.
176
177 (., .)d
178 The delete command deletes the addressed lines from the buffer.
179 The line originally after the last line deleted becomes the cur‐
180 rent line; if the lines deleted were originally at the end, the
181 new last line becomes the current line.
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183 e filename
184 The edit command causes the entire contents of the buffer to be
185 deleted, and then the named file to be read in. `.' is set to the
186 last line of the buffer. The number of characters read is typed.
187 `filename' is remembered for possible use as a default file name
188 in a subsequent r or w command. If `filename' is missing, the
189 remembered name is used.
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191 E filename
192 This command is the same as e, except that no diagnostic results
193 when no w has been given since the last buffer alteration.
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195 f filename
196 The filename command prints the currently remembered file name.
197 If `filename' is given, the currently remembered file name is
198 changed to `filename'.
199
200 (1,$)g/regular expression/command list
201 In the global command, the first step is to mark every line which
202 matches the given regular expression. Then for every such line,
203 the given command list is executed with `.' initially set to that
204 line. A single command or the first of multiple commands appears
205 on the same line with the global command. All lines of a multi-
206 line list except the last line must be ended with `\'. A, i, and
207 c commands and associated input are permitted; the `.' terminating
208 input mode may be omitted if it would be on the last line of the
209 command list. The commands g and v are not permitted in the com‐
210 mand list.
211
212 (.)i
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214 <text>
215 .
216 This command inserts the given text before the addressed line.
217 `.' is left at the last line input, or, if there were none, at the
218 line before the addressed line. This command differs from the a
219 command only in the placement of the text.
220
221 (., .+1)j
222 This command joins the addressed lines into a single line; inter‐
223 mediate newlines simply disappear. `.' is left at the resulting
224 line.
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226 ( . )kx
227 The mark command marks the addressed line with name x, which must
228 be a lower-case letter. The address form `′x' then addresses this
229 line.
230
231 (., .)l
232 The list command prints the addressed lines in an unambiguous way:
233 non-graphic characters are printed in two-digit octal, and long
234 lines are folded. The l command may be placed on the same line
235 after any non-i/o command.
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237 (., .)ma
238 The move command repositions the addressed lines after the line
239 addressed by a. The last of the moved lines becomes the current
240 line.
241
242 (., .)p
243 The print command prints the addressed lines. `.' is left at the
244 last line printed. The p command may be placed on the same line
245 after any non-i/o command.
246
247 (., .)P
248 This command is a synonym for p.
249
250 q The quit command causes ed to exit. No automatic write of a file
251 is done.
252
253 Q This command is the same as q, except that no diagnostic results
254 when no w has been given since the last buffer alteration.
255
256 ($)r filename
257 The read command reads in the given file after the addressed line.
258 If no file name is given, the remembered file name, if any, is
259 used (see e and f commands). The file name is remembered if there
260 was no remembered file name already. Address `0' is legal for r
261 and causes the file to be read at the beginning of the buffer. If
262 the read is successful, the number of characters read is typed.
263 `.' is left at the last line read in from the file.
264
265 ( ., .)s/regular expression/replacement/ or,
266 ( ., .)s/regular expression/replacement/g
267 The substitute command searches each addressed line for an occur‐
268 rence of the specified regular expression. On each line in which
269 a match is found, all matched strings are replaced by the replace‐
270 ment specified, if the global replacement indicator `g' appears
271 after the command. If the global indicator does not appear, only
272 the first occurrence of the matched string is replaced. It is an
273 error for the substitution to fail on all addressed lines. Any
274 punctuation character may be used instead of `/' to delimit the
275 regular expression and the replacement. `.' is left at the last
276 line substituted.
277
278 An ampersand `&' appearing in the replacement is replaced by the
279 string matching the regular expression. The special meaning of
280 `&' in this context may be suppressed by preceding it by `\'. The
281 characters `\n' where n is a digit, are replaced by the text
282 matched by the n-th regular subexpression enclosed between `\('
283 and `\)'. When nested, parenthesized subexpressions are present,
284 n is determined by counting occurrences of `\(' starting from the
285 left.
286
287 Lines may be split by substituting new-line characters into them.
288 The new-line in the replacement string must be escaped by preced‐
289 ing it by `\'.
290
291 One or two trailing delimiters may be omitted, implying the `p'
292 suffix. The special form `s' followed by no delimiters repeats
293 the most recent substitute command on the addressed lines. The
294 `s' may be followed by the letters r (use the most recent regular
295 expression for the left hand side, instead of the most recent left
296 hand side of a substitute command), p (complement the setting of
297 the p suffix from the previous substitution), or g (complement the
298 setting of the g suffix). These letters may be combined in any
299 order.
300
301 (., .)ta
302 This command acts just like the m command, except that a copy of
303 the addressed lines is placed after address a (which may be 0).
304 `.' is left on the last line of the copy.
305
306 (., .)u
307 The undo command restores the buffer to it's state before the most
308 recent buffer modifying command. The current line is also
309 restored. Buffer modifying commands are a, c, d, g, i, k, m, r,
310 s, t, and v. For purposes of undo, g and v are considered to be a
311 single buffer modifying command. Undo is its own inverse.
312
313 When ed runs out of memory (at about 8000 lines on any 16 bit
314 mini-computer such as the PDP-11) This full undo is not possible,
315 and u can only undo the effect of the most recent substitute on
316 the current line. This restricted undo also applies to editor
317 scripts when ed is invoked with the - option.
318
319 (1, $)v/regular expression/command list
320 This command is the same as the global command g except that the
321 command list is executed g with `.' initially set to every line
322 except those matching the regular expression.
323
324 (1, $)w filename
325 The write command writes the addressed lines onto the given file.
326 If the file does not exist, it is created. The file name is
327 remembered if there was no remembered file name already. If no
328 file name is given, the remembered file name, if any, is used (see
329 e and f commands). `.' is unchanged. If the command is success‐
330 ful, the number of characters written is printed.
331
332 (1, $)W filename
333 This command is the same as w, except that the addressed lines are
334 appended to the file.
335
336 (1, $)wq filename
337 This command is the same as w except that afterwards a q command
338 is done, exiting the editor after the file is written.
339
340 (.+1)z or,
341 (.+1)zn
342 This command scrolls through the buffer starting at the addressed
343 line. 22 (or n, if given) lines are printed. The last line
344 printed becomes the current line. The value n is sticky, in that
345 it becomes the default for future z commands.
346
347 ($)= The line number of the addressed line is typed. `.' is unchanged
348 by this command.
349
350 !<shell command>
351 The remainder of the line after the `!' is sent to sh(1) to be
352 interpreted as a command. `.' is unchanged.
353
354 (.+1,.+1)<newline>
355 An address alone on a line causes the addressed line to be
356 printed. A blank line alone is equivalent to `.+1p'; it is useful
357 for stepping through text. If two addresses are present with no
358 intervening semicolon, ed prints the range of lines. If they are
359 separated by a semicolon, the second line is printed.
360
361 If an interrupt signal (ASCII DEL) is sent, ed prints `?interrupted'
362 and returns to its command level.
363
364 Some size limitations: 512 characters per line, 256 characters per
365 global command list, 64 characters per file name, and, on mini comput‐
366 ers, 128K characters in the temporary file. The limit on the number of
367 lines depends on the amount of core: each line takes 2 words.
368
369 When reading a file, ed discards ASCII NUL characters and all charac‐
370 ters after the last newline. It refuses to read files containing non-
371 ASCII characters.
372
374 /tmp/e*
375 edhup: work is saved here if terminal hangs up
376
378 B. W. Kernighan, A Tutorial Introduction to the ED Text Editor
379 B. W. Kernighan, Advanced editing on UNIX
380 ex(1), sed(1), crypt(1)
381
383 `?name' for inaccessible file; `?self-explanatory message' for other
384 errors.
385
386 To protect against throwing away valuable work, a q or e command is
387 considered to be in error, unless a w has occurred since the last buf‐
388 fer change. A second q or e will be obeyed regardless.
389
391 The l command mishandles DEL.
392 The undo command causes marks to be lost on affected lines.
393
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3967th Edition August 12, 1986 ED(1)