1DEX(1) General Commands Manual DEX(1)
2
6 dex
7
9 dex [-c command] [-t tag] [-r rcfile] [-V] [file]...
10
12 A small and flexible text editor.
13
15 -c command
16 Run this command after reading the rc file and opening any files
17 specified on command line.
18 -r rcfile
20 Read this rc file instead of ~/.dex/rc or /usr/share/dex/rc.
21 -t tag
23 Go to tag. Requires tags file generated by Exuberant Ctags.
24 -R
26 Don't read the rc file.
27 -V
29 Display the version number and exit.
30
32 Here's some of the default key bindings. M-x means meta-x or alt-x and
33 ^V is ctrl-v. See /usr/share/dex/bindings/default for more keys.
34 M-s select
36 ^V select lines
38 ^Y copy current line or selection
40 ^D cut current line or selection
42 ^P paste
44 ^E undo
46 ^R redo
48 ^C enter command line
50 M-/ search
52 M-n search next
54 M-p search previous
56 M-N activate Nth tab
58 On the command line you can use tab to complete commands and most of
60 their parameters. Run next or prev to switch to next or previous file.
61 The commands open, save and quit should be obvious.
62
64 alias <name> <command>
65 Create an alias to command.
66 Example:
68 alias read "pass-through cat"
69 Now you can run "read file.txt" to insert file.txt to current
71 file.
72 bind <key> [command]
74 Bind a key to command. If command is not given then binding for
75 the key is removed.
76 Keys:
78 insert delete home end pgup pgdown left right up down F1
79 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 enter tab space (or
80 sp)
81 Modifiers:
83 ctrl: C-X or ^X
84 meta/alt: M-X
86 shift: S-left
88 Key chains are supported. For example "^X c" (press ^X and then
90 c). Keys are separated by spaces.
91 bof
93 Move to beginning of file.
94 bol
96 Move to beginning of line.
97 case [-lu]
99 Change text case. Default is to change lower case to upper and
100 vice versa.
101 -l lower case
103 -u upper case
105 cd <directory>
107 Change directory. Updates $PWD and $OLDPWD. "cd -" changes to
108 previous directory ($OLDPWD).
109 center-view
111 Center view to cursor.
112 clear
114 Clear current line.
115 close [-fqw]
117 Close file.
118 -f close file even if it hasn't been saved after last
120 modification
121 -q quit if closing the last open file
123 -w close parent window if closing its last contained file
125 command [text]
127 Enter command line. If text is given then it is written to the
128 command line (see the default binding ^L why this is useful).
129 compile [-1ps] <errorfmt> <command> [parameters]...
131 Run external command and collect error messages. This can be
132 used to run make and grep.
133 -1 read error messages from stdout instead of stderr
135 -p display "Press any key to continue" prompt
137 -s silent. both stderr and stdout are redirected to /dev/null
139 See also errorfmt and msg commands.
141 copy
143 Copy current line or selection.
144 cut
146 Cut current line or selection.
147 delete
149 Delete character or selection.
150 delete-eol
152 Delete to end of line.
153 delete-word [-s]
155 Delete word after cursor.
156 -s be more "aggressive"
158 down
160 Move cursor down.
161 eof
163 Move cursor to end of file.
164 eol
166 Move cursor to end of line.
167 erase
169 Erase character before cursor.
170 erase-bol
172 Erase to beginning of line.
173 erase-word [-s]
175 Erase word before cursor.
176 -s be more "aggressive"
178 errorfmt [-i] <compiler> <regexp> [file|line|column|message]...
180 -i ignore this error
182 See compile and msg commands for more information.
184 filter <command> [parameter]...
186 Filter selected text or whole file through external command.
187 Example: filter sort -r
189 format-paragraph [width]
191 Format the paragraph cursor is located on or selection. If
192 paragraph width is not given then the text-width option is used.
193 This command merges selection into one paragraph. To format
195 multiple paragraphs use the external command fmt with filter
196 command. E.g. filter fmt -w 60.
197 ft <filetype> <extension>...
199 Add extensions for filetype.
200 ft -c <filetype> <regexp>...
202 Detect filetype by matching the regexp against first line of
203 file.
204 ft -f <filetype> <regexp>...
206 Detect filetype by matching the regexp against filename.
207 ft -i <filetype> <interpreter>...
209 Connect interpreters to file type. Interpreter is parsed from
210 the #! line in many scripts.
211 git-open
213 Interactive file opener. Lists all files in GIT repository.
214 Same keys work as in command mode, but with these changes:
216 up Move up in file list.
218 down Move down in file list.
220 enter Open file.
222 ^O Open file but don't close git-open.
224 M-e Go to end of file list.
226 M-t Go to top of file list.
228 hi <name> [fg-color [bg-color]] [attribute]...
230 Set highlight color.
231 Colors:
233 keep (-2) default (-1) black (0) red green yellow blue
234 magenta cyan gray darkgray lightred lightgreen
235 lightyellow lightblue lightmagenta lightcyan white
236 Color can be given as a numeric value too (-2..255).
238 Colors 16-255 are supported by modern xterm compatible terminal
240 emulators. There's a 6x6x6 color cube at indexes 16..231. For
241 these colors it is easiest to use the R/G/B syntax where R, G
242 and B are values between 0 and 5.
243 Indexes 232..255 contain 24 grayscale values which can be used
245 to specify grayscale value more accurately than using the R/G/B
246 syntax.
247 Attributes:
249 bold lowintensity italic underline blink reverse
250 invisible keep
251 The color and attribute value "keep" is useful in selected text
253 to keep fg-color and attributes and change only bg-color.
254 NOTE: Because "keep" is both color and attribute you need to
256 specify both fg-color and bg-color if you want to set the "keep"
257 attribute.
258 If you omit any color it is set to default (-1).
260 Unset fg/bg colors are inherited from highlight color "default".
262 If you don't set fg/bg for the highlight color "default" then
263 terminal's default fg/bg is used.
264 include <filename>
266 Read commands from file.
267 insert [-km] <text>
269 Insert text.
270 -k insert one character at a time as if it has been typed
272 -m move after inserted text
274 insert-special
276 Insert special character.
277 Insert control character, type decimal value of byte to insert
279 or press o to insert octal byte value, x to insert hexadecimal
280 byte value or u to insert hexadecimal unicode value.
281 join
283 Join selection or next line to current.
284 left
286 Move left.
287 line <number>
289 Go to line.
290 load-syntax <filename|filetype>
292 If argument contains / it is considered a filename.
293 move-tab <position|left|right>
295 Move current tab to numeric position, left or right.
296 msg [-np]
298 Show latest, next (-n) or previous (-p) message. If its location
299 is known (compile error or tag message) then the file will be
300 opened and cursor moved to the location.
301 -n next message
303 -p previous message
305 See also compile and tag commands.
307 new-line
309 Insert empty line under current line.
310 next
312 Display next file.
313 open [-e encoding] [file]...
315 Open files. If filename is omitted a new file is opened.
316 -e encoding
318 Set file encoding. See "iconv -l" for list of supported
319 encodings.
320 option <filetype> <option> <value>...
322 Add automatic options for a filetype. Options are automatically
323 set when file is opened.
324 option [-r] <regexp> <option> <value>...
326 Add automatic options for filenames matching regexp.
327 pass-through [-ms] <command> [parameter]...
329 Run command and insert its output.
330 -m move after the inserted text
332 -s strip newline from end of the command output
334 paste
336 Paste.
337 pgdown
339 Move cursor page down. See also scroll-pgdown.
340 pgup
342 Move cursor page up. See also scroll-pgup.
343 prev
345 Display previous file.
346 quit [-f]
348 Quit.
349 -f force quitting even if there are unsaved files
351 redo [choice]
353 Redo given or latest undid change. If there are multiple
354 possibilities an informative message is displayed:
355 Redoing newest (2) of 2 possible changes.
357 If the change was not the one you wanted, just run undo and
359 then, for example, redo 1.
360 repeat <count> <command> [parameters]...
362 Run command multiple times.
363 replace [-bcgi] <pattern> <replacement>
365 -b use basic instead of extended regular expression syntax
367 -c display confirmation before each replace
369 -g replace all matching text from a line
371 -i ignore case
373 right
375 Move right.
376 run [-ps] <command> [parameters]...
378 Run external command.
379 -p display "Press any key to continue" prompt
381 -s silent. both stderr and stdout are redirected to /dev/null
383 save [-dfu] [-e encoding] [filename]
385 Save file. By default line-endings (LF vs CRLF) are preserved.
386 -d save with DOS/CRLF line-endings
388 -f force saving read-only file
390 -u save with Unix/LF line-endings
392 -e encoding
394 Set file encoding. See "iconv -l" for list of supported
395 encodings.
396 scroll-down
398 Scroll view down one line. Keeps cursor position unchanged if
399 possible.
400 scroll-pgdown
402 Scroll page down. Cursor's position relative to top of screen is
403 maintained. See also pgdown.
404 scroll-pgup
406 Scroll page up. Cursor's position relative to top of screen is
407 maintained. See also pgup.
408 scroll-up
410 Scroll view up one line. Keeps cursor position unchanged if
411 possible.
412 search [-Hnprw] [pattern]
414 If no flags or just -r and no pattern given then dex changes to
415 search mode where you can type a regular expression to search.
416 -H don't add search pattern to history (meaningful only with the
418 search pattern given as argument)
419 -n search next
421 -p search previous
423 -r start searching backwards
425 -w search word under cursor
427 select [-bl]
429 Start selecting.
430 -b select code block starting from { and ending to }
432 -l select whole lines
434 set [-gl] <option1> [value1] ...
436 Set option value. Value can be omitted for boolean option to set
437 it true. Multiple options can be set at once but then value must
438 be given for every option.
439 There are three kinds of options.
441 1. Global options
443 2. Local options
445 These are file specific options. Each open file has its
446 own copies of the option values.
447 3. Options that have both global and local values
449 Global value is just a default local value for opened
450 files and never used for anything else. Changing global
451 value does not affect any already opened files.
452 By default set changes both global and local values.
454 -g change only global option value
456 -l change only local option value of current file
458 In configuration files only global options can be set (no need
460 to specify the -g flag).
461 To change option for specific filetypes and filenames use the
463 option command.
464 setenv <name> <value>
466 Set environment variable.
467 shift <count>
469 Shift current or selected lines <count> indentation levels.
470 Count is usually -1 (decrease indent) or 1 (increase indent).
471 suspend
473 Suspend program. Usually bound to ^Z.
474 tag [-r] [tag]
476 Save current location to stack and go to the location of tag.
477 Requires tags file generated by Exuberant Ctags. If no tag is
478 given then word under cursor is used as a tag instead.
479 -r return back
481 Tag files are searched from current working directory and its
483 parent directories.
484 See also msg command.
486 toggle [-gv] <option> [value...]
488 Toggle option. If list of values is not given then the option
489 must be either boolean or enum.
490 -g toggle global option instead of local
492 -v display new value
494 If option has both local and global value then local is toggled
496 unless -g is given.
497 undo
499 Undo latest change.
500 unselect
502 Unselect.
503 up
505 Move cursor up.
506 view <N|last>
508 Display Nth or last open file.
509 wclose [-f]
511 Close window.
512 -f close even if there are unsaved files in the window
514 wflip
516 Change from vertical layout to horizontal and vice versa.
517 wnext
519 Next window.
520 word-bwd [-s]
522 Move cursor backward one word.
523 -s skip special characters
525 word-fwd [-s]
527 Move cursor forward one word.
528 -s skip special characters
530 wprev
532 Previous window.
533 wresize [-hv] [[+-]N]
535 If no parameter given, equalize window sizes in current frame.
536 -h resize horizontally
538 -v resize vertically
540 N Set size of current window to N characters.
542 +N Increase size of current window by N characters.
544 -N Decrease size of current window by N characters.
546 wsplit [-bhr] [file...]
548 Like open but at first splits current window vertically.
549 -b Add new window before current instead of after.
551 -h Split horizontally instead of vertically.
553 -r Split root instead of current window.
555 wswap
557 Swap positions of this and next frame.
558
560 Options can be changed using the set command. Enumerated option values
561 can also be toggled. To see which options are enumerated type "toggle "
562 on command line and press tab. You can also use the option command to
563 set filetype/filename specific options.
564 Local and global options
566 Global values of these options serve as default values for local
567 (per-file) options.
568 auto-indent [true]
570 Automatically insert indentation when pressing enter.
571 Indentation is copied from previous non-empty line. If also the
572 indent-regex local option is set then indentation is
573 automatically increased if the regular expression matches
574 current line.
575 detect-indent [""]
577 Comma separated list of indent widths (1-8) to detect
578 automatically when file is opened. Set to "" to disable. Tab
579 indentation is detected if the value is not "". Adjusts
580 following options if indentation style is detected: emulate-tab,
581 expand-tab, indent-width.
582 Example:
584 set detect-indent 2,3,4,8
585 emulate-tab [false]
587 Make delete, erase and moving left and right inside indentation
588 feel as if there were tabs instead of spaces.
589 expand-tab [false]
591 Convert tab to spaces on insert.
592 file-history [true]
594 Save line and column for each file to ~/.dex/file-history.
595 indent-width [8]
597 Size of indentation in spaces.
598 syntax [true]
600 Use syntax highlighting.
601 tab-width [8]
603 Width of tab. Recommended value is 8. If you use other
604 indentation size than 8 you should use spaces to indent.
605 text-width [72]
607 Preferred with of text. Used as default value for
608 format-paragraph.
609 ws-error [special]
611 Comma separated list of flags that describe what whitespace
612 errors should be highlighted. Set to "" to disable.
613 auto-indent
615 If expand-tab is true then same as
616 tab-after-indent,tab-indent otherwise same as
617 space-indent.
618 space-align
620 Display spaces used as alignment after tabs in
621 indentation as error.
622 space-indent
624 Display spaces in indentation as error. Note that this
625 still allows using less than tab-width spaces at end of
626 indentation for alignment.
627 tab-after-indent
629 Display tabs used anywhere else but indentation as
630 errors.
631 tab-indent
633 Display tabs in indentation as errors. If you set this
634 you most likely want to set tab-after-indent too.
635 special
637 Display all characters that look like regular space as
638 errors. One of these characters is no-break space
639 (U+00A0) which is often accidentally typed (AltGr+space
640 in some keyboard layouts).
641 trailing
643 Display trailing whitespace as error.
644 Local only options
646 brace-indent [false]
647 Scan for { and } when calculating indentation size. Depends on
648 the auto-indent option.
649 filetype [none]
651 Type of file. Value must be previously registered using the ft
652 command.
653 indent-regex [""]
655 If this regular expression matches current line when enter is
656 pressed and auto-indent is true then indentation is increased.
657 Set to "" to disable.
658 Global only options
660 case-sensitive-search [true]
661 false
662 Search is case-insensitive.
663 true
664 Search is case-sensitive.
665 auto
666 If search string contains a uppercase letter search is
667 case-sensitive, otherwise it is case-insensitive.
668 display-special [false]
670 Display special characters.
671 esc-timeout [100] 0...2000
673 When single escape is read from the terminal dex waits some time
674 before treating the escape as a single keypress. The timeout
675 value is in milliseconds.
676 Too long timeout makes escape key feel slow and too small
678 timeout can cause escape sequences of for example arrow keys to
679 be split and treated as multiple key presses.
680 lock-files [true]
682 Lock files using ~/.dex/file-locks. Only protects from your own
683 mistakes (two processes editing same file).
684 newline [unix]
686 Whether to use LF (unix) or CRLF (dos) line-endings. This is
687 just a default value for new files.
688 scroll-margin [0]
690 Minimum number of lines to keep visible before and after cursor.
691 show-line-numbers [false]
693 Show line numbers.
694 statusline-left [" %f%s%m%r%s%M"]
696 Format string for the left aligned part of status line.
697 %f Filename.
699 %m "*" if file is has been modified since last save.
701 %r "RO" if file is read-only.
703 %y Cursor row.
705 %Y Total rows in file.
707 %x Cursor display column.
709 %X Cursor column as characters. If it differs from cursor
711 display column it is show too (e.g. "2-9").
712 %p Position in percentage.
714 %E File encoding.
716 %M Miscellaneous status information.
718 %n Line-ending (LF or CRLF).
720 %s Add separator.
722 %t File type.
724 %u Hexadecimal unicode value value of character under
726 cursor.
727 %% Literal %.
729 statusline-right [" %y,%X %u %E %n %t %p "]
731 Format string for the right aligned part of status line.
732 tab-bar [horizontal]
734 hidden
735 Hide tab bar.
736 horizontal
737 Show tab bar on top.
738 vertical
739 Show tab bar on left if there's enough space, hide
740 otherwise.
741 auto
742 Show tab bar on left if there's enough space, on top
743 otherwise.
744 tab-bar-max-components [0]
746 Maximum number of path components displayed in vertical tab bar.
747 Set to 0 to disable.
748 tab-bar-width [25]
750 Width of vertical tab bar. Note that width of tab bar is
751 automatically reduced to keep editing area at least 80
752 characters wide. Vertical tab bar is shown only if there's
753 enough space.
754
756 Command syntax is similar to shell but simpler.
757 Commands are separated either by newline or ";" character. To make a
759 command span multiple lines in a rc file escape the newline (put \ at
760 end of line).
761 Rc files can contain comments at beginning of line. Comment begins with
763 # character and can be indented, but you can't put comment on same line
764 with a command. This decision was made to make it possible to include #
765 in commands without escaping.
766 Commands can contain environment variables. Variable always expands
768 into a single argument even if it contains whitespace. Variables inside
769 single or double quotes are NOT expanded. This makes it possible to
770 bind a key to command which contains variable (inside single or double
771 quotes) and the variable is expanded just before the command is
772 executed.
773 Example:
775 alias x "run chmod 755 $FILE"
776 $FILE is expanded when the alias x is executed. The command works even
778 if $FILE contains whitespace.
779 Special variables
781 These are always defined and override environment variables of same
782 name.
783 $PKGDATADIR
785 Usually /usr/share/dex
786 $FILE
787 Current file. Empty string if there's no filename.
788 $WORD
789 Selected text or word under cursor. Empty string if there's no
790 selection and cursor is not on a word.
791 Single quoted strings
793 Can't contain single quote, no escaping possible.
794 Double quoted strings
796 \a Bell
797 \b Backspace
799 \t Horizontal tab
801 \n New line
803 \v Vertical tab
805 \f Form feed
807 \r Carriage return
809 \\ Literal \
811 \x0a Hexadecimal byte value 0x0a. Note that 0x00 is not supported
813 because strings are NUL-terminated.
814 \u20ac Four hex digit unicode code point U+20AC.
816 \U000020ac
818 Eight hex digit unicode code point U+20AC.
819
821 In command line you can use up and down arrows to browse command
822 history and tab to complete commands and most of their arguments.
823 Here's list of key bindings (totally obvious keys left out):
825 ^A Go to beginning of command line.
827 ^B Move left.
829 ^C Leave command line.
831 ^D Delete.
833 ^E Go to end of command line.
835 ^F Move right.
837 ^K Delete to end of command line.
839 ^U Delete to beginning of command line.
841 ^V Insert special character.
843 ^W Erase word.
845 ^Z Suspend.
847
849 Search pattern is an extended regular expression.
850 Same keys work as in command mode, plus these additional keys:
852 M-c Toggle case-sensitive-search option.
854 M-r Reverse search direction.
856
858 ~/.dex/rc
859 You personal configuration.
860 ~/.dex/syntax/*
862 Your personal syntax files. These override the syntax files
863 which come with the program.
864 ~/.dex/file-locks
866 Records open files to protect you from accidentally editing file
867 opened in another process. Used only if lock-files is true.
868 ~/.dex/command-history and ~/.dex/search-history
870 Command and search history.
871 ~/.dex/file-history
873 Last edited files and cursor positions.
874 /usr/share/dex/rc
876 Copy to ~/.dex/rc and customize.
877
879 Timo Hirvonen <tihirvon@gmail.com>
880
882 dex-syntax(7)
883 2012 DEX(1)