1MG(1) BSD General Commands Manual MG(1)
2
4 mg — emacs-like text editor
5
7 mg [-nR] [-f mode] [+number] [file ...]
8
10 mg is intended to be a small, fast, and portable editor for people who
11 can't (or don't want to) run emacs for one reason or another, or are not
12 familiar with the vi(1) editor. It is compatible with emacs because
13 there shouldn't be any reason to learn more editor types than emacs or
14 vi(1).
15 The options are as follows:
17 +number
19 Go to the line specified by number (do not insert a space between
20 the ‘+’ sign and the number). If a negative number is specified,
21 the line number counts backwards from the end of the file i.e.
22 +-1 will be the last line of the file, +-2 will be second last,
23 and so on.
24 -f mode
26 Run the mode command for all buffers created from arguments on
27 the command line, including the scratch buffer and all files.
28 -n Turn off backup file generation.
30 -R Files specified on the command line will be opened read-only.
32
34 When a file is loaded into mg, it is stored in a buffer. This buffer may
35 be displayed on the screen in more than one window. At present, windows
36 may only be split horizontally, so each window is delineated by a mode‐
37 line at the bottom. If changes are made to a buffer, it will be
38 reflected in all open windows.
39 If a file is changed outside mg and its buffer is about to be changed, mg
41 prompts if the change should go ahead (y), not go ahead (n) or if the
42 buffer should be reverted (r) to the latest file on disk.
43 If a buffer name begins and ends with an asterisk, the buffer is consid‐
45 ered throwaway; i.e. the user will not be prompted to save changes when
46 the buffer is killed.
47
49 The current cursor location in mg is called the point (or dot). It is
50 possible to define a window-specific region of text by setting a second
51 location, called the mark. The region is the text between point and mark
52 inclusive. Deleting the character at the mark position leaves the mark
53 at the point of deletion.
54 Note: The point and mark are window-specific in mg, not buffer-specific,
56 as in other emacs flavours.
57
59 Backup files have a ‘~’ character appended to the file name and are cre‐
60 ated in the current working directory by default. Whether to create
61 backup files or not can be toggled with the make-backup-files command.
62 The backup file location can either be in the current working directory,
63 or all backups can be moved to a ~/.mg.d directory where files retain
64 their path name to retain uniqueness. Use the backup-to-home-directory
65 to alternate between these two locations. Further, if any application
66 creates backup files in /tmp, these can be left with the leave-tmpdir-
67 backups command.
68
70 mg supports tag files created by ctags(1), allowing the user to quickly
71 locate various object definitions. Note though that emacs uses etags,
72 not ctags.
73
75 mg supports navigating source code using cscope. However, mg requires
76 cscope and cscope-indexer executables to be present in PATH for it to
77 work.
78
80 Normal editing commands are very similar to GNU Emacs. In the following
81 examples, C-x means Control-x, and M-x means Meta-x, where the Meta key
82 may be either a special key on the keyboard or the ALT key; otherwise ESC
83 followed by the key X works as well.
84 C-SPC set-mark-command
86 C-a beginning-of-line
87 C-b backward-char
88 C-c s c cscope-find-functions-calling-this-function
89 C-c s d cscope-find-global-definition
90 C-c s e cscope-find-egrep-pattern
91 C-c s f cscope-find-this-file
92 C-c s i cscope-find-files-including-file
93 C-c s n cscope-next-symbol
94 C-c s p cscope-prev-symbol
95 C-c s s cscope-find-this-symbol
96 C-c s t cscope-find-this-text-string
97 C-d delete-char
98 C-e end-of-line
99 C-f forward-char
100 C-g keyboard-quit
101 C-h C-h help-help
102 C-h a apropos
103 C-h b describe-bindings
104 C-h c describe-key-briefly
105 C-j newline-and-indent
106 C-k kill-line
107 C-l recenter
108 RET newline
109 C-n next-line
110 C-o open-line
111 C-p previous-line
112 C-q quoted-insert
113 C-r isearch-backward
114 C-s isearch-forward
115 C-t transpose-chars
116 C-u universal-argument
117 C-v scroll-up
118 C-w kill-region
119 C-x C-b list-buffers
120 C-x C-c save-buffers-kill-emacs
121 C-x C-f find-file
122 C-x C-g keyboard-quit
123 C-x C-l downcase-region
124 C-x C-o delete-blank-lines
125 C-x C-q toggle-read-only
126 C-x C-r find-file-read-only
127 C-x C-s save-buffer
128 C-x C-u upcase-region
129 C-x C-v find-alternate-file
130 C-x C-w write-file
131 C-x C-x exchange-point-and-mark
132 C-x ( start-kbd-macro
133 C-x ) end-kbd-macro
134 C-x 0 delete-window
135 C-x 1 delete-other-windows
136 C-x 2 split-window-vertically
137 C-x 4 C-f find-file-other-window
138 C-x 4 C-g keyboard-quit
139 C-x 4 b switch-to-buffer-other-window
140 C-x 4 f find-file-other-window
141 C-x = what-cursor-position
142 C-x ^ enlarge-window
143 C-x ` next-error
144 C-x b switch-to-buffer
145 C-x d dired
146 C-x e call-last-kbd-macro
147 C-x f set-fill-column
148 C-x g goto-line
149 C-x h mark-whole-buffer
150 C-x i insert-file
151 C-x k kill-buffer
152 C-x n other-window
153 C-x o other-window
154 C-x p previous-window
155 C-x s save-some-buffers
156 C-x u undo
157 C-y yank
158 C-z suspend-emacs
159 M-C-v scroll-other-window
160 M-SPC just-one-space
161 M-! shell-command
162 M-. find-tag
163 M-* pop-tag-mark
164 M-% query-replace
165 M-< beginning-of-buffer
166 M-> end-of-buffer
167 M-\ delete-horizontal-space
168 M-^ join-line
169 M-b backward-word
170 M-c capitalize-word
171 M-d kill-word
172 M-f forward-word
173 M-h mark-paragraph
174 M-l downcase-word
175 M-m back-to-indentation
176 M-q fill-paragraph
177 M-r search-backward
178 M-s search-forward
179 M-t transpose-words
180 M-u upcase-word
181 M-v scroll-down
182 M-w copy-region-as-kill
183 M-x execute-extended-command
184 M-{ backward-paragraph
185 M-| shell-command-on-region
186 M-} forward-paragraph
187 M-~ not-modified
188 M-DEL backward-kill-word
189 C-_ undo
190 ) blink-and-insert
191 DEL delete-backward-char
192 For a complete description of mg commands, see MG COMMANDS. To see the
194 active keybindings at any time, type “M-x describe-bindings”.
195
197 Commands are invoked by “M-x”, or by binding to a key. Many commands
198 take an optional numerical parameter, n. This parameter is set either by
199 M-<n> (where n is the numerical argument) before the command, or by one
200 or more invocations of the universal argument, usually bound to C-u.
201 When invoked in this manner, the value of the numeric parameter to be
202 passed is displayed in the minibuffer before the M-x. One common use of
203 the parameter is in mode toggles (e.g. make-backup-files). If no parame‐
204 ter is supplied, the mode is toggled to its alternate state. If a posi‐
205 tive parameter is supplied, the mode is forced to on. Otherwise, it is
206 forced to off.
207 apropos
209 Help Apropos. Prompt the user for a string, open the *help* buf‐
210 fer, and list all mg commands that contain that string.
211 audible-bell
213 Toggle the audible system bell.
214 auto-execute
216 Register an auto-execute hook; that is, specify a filename pattern
217 (conforming to the shell's filename globbing rules) and an associ‐
218 ated function to execute when a file matching the specified pat‐
219 tern is read into a buffer.
220 auto-fill-mode
222 Toggle auto-fill mode (sometimes called mail-mode) in the current
223 buffer, where text inserted past the fill column is automatically
224 wrapped to a new line. Can be set globally with set-default-mode.
225 auto-indent-mode
227 Toggle indent mode in the current buffer, where indentation is
228 preserved after a newline. Can be set globally with set-default-
229 mode.
230 back-to-indentation
232 Move the dot to the first non-whitespace character on the current
233 line.
234 backup-to-home-directory
236 Save backup copies to a ~/.mg.d directory instead of working
237 directory. Requires make-backup-files to be on.
238 backward-char
240 Move cursor backwards one character.
241 backward-kill-word
243 Kill text backwards by n words.
244 backward-paragraph
246 Move cursor backwards n paragraphs. Paragraphs are delimited by
247 <NL><NL> or <NL><TAB> or <NL><SPACE>.
248 backward-word
250 Move cursor backwards by the specified number of words.
251 beginning-of-buffer
253 Move cursor to the top of the buffer. If set, keep mark's posi‐
254 tion, otherwise set at current position. A numeric argument n
255 will move n/10th of the way from the top.
256 beginning-of-line
258 Move cursor to the beginning of the line.
259 blink-and-insert
261 Self-insert a character, then search backwards and blink its
262 matching delimiter. For delimiters other than parenthesis, brack‐
263 ets, and braces, the character itself is used as its own match.
264 Can be used in the startup file with the global-set-key command.
265 bsmap-mode
267 Toggle bsmap mode, where DEL and C-h are swapped.
268 c-mode
270 Toggle a KNF-compliant mode for editing C program files.
271 call-last-kbd-macro
273 Invoke the keyboard macro.
274 capitalize-word
276 Capitalize n words; i.e. convert the first character of the word
277 to upper case, and subsequent letters to lower case.
278 cd Change the global working directory. See also global-wd-mode.
280 column-number-mode
282 Toggle whether the column number is displayed in the modeline.
283 copy-region-as-kill
285 Copy all of the characters in the region to the kill buffer,
286 clearing the mark afterwards. This is a bit like a kill-region
287 followed by a yank.
288 count-matches
290 Count the number of lines matching the supplied regular expres‐
291 sion.
292 count-non-matches
294 Count the number of lines not matching the supplied regular
295 expression.
296 cscope-find-this-symbol
298 List the matches for the given symbol.
299 cscope-find-global-definition
301 List global definitions for the given literal.
302 cscope-find-called-functions
304 List functions called from the given function.
305 cscope-find-functions-calling-this-function
307 List functions calling the given function.
308 cscope-find-this-text-string
310 List locations matching the given text string.
311 cscope-find-egrep-pattern
313 List locations matching the given extended regular expression pat‐
314 tern.
315 cscope-find-this-file
317 List filenames matching the given filename.
318 cscope-find-files-including-file
320 List files that #include the given filename.
321 cscope-next-symbol
323 Navigate to the next match.
324 cscope-prev-symbol
326 Navigate to the previous match.
327 cscope-next-file
329 Navigate to the next file.
330 cscope-prev-file
332 Navigate to the previous file.
333 cscope-create-list-of-files-to-index
335 Create cscope's List and Index in the given directory.
336 define-key
338 Prompts the user for a named keymap (mode), a key, and an mg com‐
339 mand, then creates a keybinding in the appropriate map.
340 delete-backward-char
342 Delete backwards n characters. Like delete-char, this actually
343 does a kill if presented with an argument.
344 delete-blank-lines
346 Delete blank lines around dot. If dot is sitting on a blank line,
347 this command deletes all the blank lines above and below the cur‐
348 rent line. Otherwise, it deletes all of the blank lines after the
349 current line.
350 delete-char
352 Delete n characters forward. If any argument is present, it kills
353 rather than deletes, saving the result in the kill buffer.
354 delete-horizontal-space
356 Delete any whitespace around the dot.
357 delete-leading-space
359 Delete leading whitespace on the current line.
360 delete-trailing-space
362 Delete trailing whitespace on the current line.
363 delete-matching-lines
365 Delete all lines after dot that contain a string matching the sup‐
366 plied regular expression.
367 delete-non-matching-lines
369 Delete all lines after dot that don't contain a string matching
370 the supplied regular expression.
371 delete-other-windows
373 Make the current window the only window visible on the screen.
374 delete-window
376 Delete current window.
377 describe-bindings
379 List all global and local keybindings, putting the result in the
380 *help* buffer.
381 describe-key-briefly
383 Read a key from the keyboard, and look it up in the keymap. Dis‐
384 play the name of the function currently bound to the key.
385 diff-buffer-with-file
387 View the differences between buffer and its associated file.
388 digit-argument
390 Process a numerical argument for keyboard-invoked functions.
391 downcase-region
393 Set all characters in the region to lower case.
394 downcase-word
396 Set characters to lower case, starting at the dot, and ending n
397 words away.
398 emacs-version
400 Return an mg version string.
401 end-kbd-macro
403 Stop defining a keyboard macro.
404 end-of-buffer
406 Move cursor to the end of the buffer. If set, keep mark's posi‐
407 tion, otherwise set at current position. A numeric argument n
408 will move n/10th of the way from the end.
409 end-of-line
411 Move cursor to the end of the line.
412 enlarge-window
414 Enlarge the current window by shrinking either the window above or
415 below it.
416 eval-current-buffer
418 Evaluate the current buffer as a series of mg commands. Useful
419 for testing mg startup files.
420 eval-expression
422 Get one line from the user, and run it. Useful for testing
423 expressions in mg startup files.
424 exchange-point-and-mark
426 Swap the values of "dot" and "mark" in the current window. Return
427 an error if no mark is set.
428 execute-extended-command
430 Invoke an extended command; i.e. M-x. Call the message line rou‐
431 tine to read in the command name and apply autocompletion to it.
432 When it comes back, look the name up in the symbol table and run
433 the command if it is found, passing arguments as necessary. Print
434 an error if there is anything wrong.
435 fill-paragraph
437 Justify a paragraph, wrapping text at the current fill column.
438 find-file
440 Select a file for editing. First check if the file can be found
441 in another buffer; if it is there, just switch to that buffer. If
442 the file cannot be found, create a new buffer, read in the file
443 from disk, and switch to the new buffer.
444 find-file-read-only
446 Same as find-file, except the new buffer is set to read-only.
447 find-alternate-file
449 Replace the current file with an alternate one. Semantics for
450 finding the replacement file are the same as find-file, except the
451 current buffer is killed before the switch. If the kill fails, or
452 is aborted, revert to the original file.
453 find-file-other-window
455 Opens the specified file in a second buffer. Splits the current
456 window if necessary.
457 find-tag
459 Jump to definition of tag at dot.
460 forward-char
462 Move cursor forwards (or backwards, if n is negative) n charac‐
463 ters. Returns an error if the end of buffer is reached.
464 forward-paragraph
466 Move forward n paragraphs. Paragraphs are delimited by <NL><NL>
467 or <NL><TAB> or <NL><SPACE>.
468 forward-word
470 Move the cursor forward by the specified number of words.
471 global-set-key
473 Bind a key in the global (fundamental) key map.
474 global-unset-key
476 Unbind a key from the global (fundamental) key map; i.e. set it to
477 'rescan'.
478 global-wd-mode
480 Toggle global working-directory mode. When enabled, mg defaults
481 to opening files (and executing commands like compile and grep)
482 relative to the global working directory. When disabled, a work‐
483 ing directory is set for each buffer.
484 goto-line
486 Go to a specific line. If an argument is present, then it is the
487 line number, else prompt for a line number to use.
488 help-help
490 Prompts for one of (a)propos, (b)indings, des(c)ribe key briefly.
491 insert
493 Insert a string, mainly for use from macros.
494 insert-buffer
496 Insert the contents of another buffer at dot.
497 insert-file
499 Insert a file into the current buffer at dot.
500 insert-with-wrap
502 Insert the bound character with word wrap. Check to see if we're
503 past the fill column, and if so, justify this line.
504 isearch-backward
506 Use incremental searching, initially in the reverse direction.
507 isearch ignores any explicit arguments. If invoked during macro
508 definition or evaluation, the non-incremental search-backward is
509 invoked instead.
510 isearch-forward
512 Use incremental searching, initially in the forward direction.
513 isearch ignores any explicit arguments. If invoked during macro
514 definition or evaluation, the non-incremental search-forward is
515 invoked instead.
516 join-line
518 Join the current line to the previous. If called with an argu‐
519 ment, join the next line to the current one.
520 just-one-space
522 Delete any whitespace around dot, then insert a space.
523 keyboard-quit
525 Abort the current action.
526 kill-buffer
528 Dispose of a buffer, by name. If the buffer name does not start
529 and end with an asterisk, prompt the user if the buffer has been
530 changed.
531 kill-line
533 Kill line. If called without an argument, it kills from dot to
534 the end of the line, unless it is at the end of the line, when it
535 kills the newline. If called with an argument of 0, it kills from
536 the start of the line to dot. If called with a positive argument,
537 it kills from dot forward over that number of newlines. If called
538 with a negative argument it kills any text before dot on the cur‐
539 rent line, then it kills back abs(n) lines.
540 kill-paragraph
542 Delete n paragraphs starting with the current one.
543 kill-region
545 Kill the currently defined region.
546 kill-word
548 Delete forward n words.
549 leave-tmpdir-backups
551 Modifies the behaviour of backup-to-home-directory. Backup files
552 that would normally reside in /tmp are left there and not moved to
553 the ~/.mg.d directory.
554 line-number-mode
556 Toggle whether the line number is displayed in the modeline.
557 list-buffers
559 Display the list of available buffers.
560 load Prompt the user for a filename, and then execute commands from
562 that file.
563 local-set-key
565 Bind a key mapping in the local (topmost) mode.
566 local-unset-key
568 Unbind a key mapping in the local (topmost) mode.
569 make-backup-files
571 Toggle generation of backup files. Enabled by default.
572 make-directory
574 Prompt the user for a path or directory name which is then cre‐
575 ated.
576 mark-paragraph
578 Mark n paragraphs.
579 mark-whole-buffer
581 Marks whole buffer as a region by putting dot at the beginning and
582 mark at the end of buffer.
583 meta-key-mode
585 When disabled, the meta key can be used to insert extended-ascii
586 (8-bit) characters. When enabled, the meta key acts as usual.
587 negative-argument
589 Process a negative argument for keyboard-invoked functions.
590 newline
592 Insert a newline into the current buffer.
593 newline-and-indent
595 Insert a newline, then enough tabs and spaces to duplicate the
596 indentation of the previous line. Assumes tabs are every eight
597 characters.
598 next-line
600 Move forward n lines.
601 not-modified
603 Turn off the modified flag in the current buffer.
604 open-line
606 Open up some blank space. Essentially, insert n newlines, then
607 back up over them.
608 other-window
610 The command to make the next (down the screen) window the current
611 window. There are no real errors, although the command does noth‐
612 ing if there is only 1 window on the screen.
613 overwrite-mode
615 Toggle overwrite mode in the current buffer, where typing over‐
616 writes existing characters rather than inserting them. Can be set
617 globally with set-default-mode.
618 prefix-region
620 Inserts a prefix string before each line of a region. The prefix
621 string is settable by using 'set-prefix-string'.
622 previous-line
624 Move backwards n lines.
625 previous-window
627 This command makes the previous (up the screen) window the current
628 window. There are no errors, although the command does not do a
629 lot if there is only 1 window.
630 pop-tag-mark
632 Return to position where find-tag was previously invoked.
633 push-shell
635 Suspend mg and switch to alternate screen, if available.
636 pwd Display current (global) working directory in the status area.
638 query-replace
640 Query Replace. Search and replace strings selectively, prompting
641 after each match.
642 replace-string
644 Replace string globally without individual prompting.
645 query-replace-regexp
647 Replace strings selectively. Does a search and replace operation
648 using regular expressions for both patterns.
649 quoted-insert
651 Insert the next character verbatim into the current buffer; i.e.
652 ignore any function bound to that key.
653 re-search-again
655 Perform a regular expression search again, using the same search
656 string and direction as the last search command.
657 re-search-backward
659 Search backwards using a regular expression. Get a search string
660 from the user, and search, starting at dot and proceeding toward
661 the front of the buffer. If found, dot is left pointing at the
662 first character of the pattern [the last character that was
663 matched].
664 re-search-forward
666 Search forward using a regular expression. Get a search string
667 from the user and search for it starting at dot. If found, move
668 dot to just after the matched characters. display does all the
669 hard stuff. If not found, it just prints a message.
670 recenter
672 Reposition dot in the current window. By default, the dot is cen‐
673 tered. If given a positive argument (n), the display is reposi‐
674 tioned to line n. If n is negative, it is that line from the bot‐
675 tom.
676 redraw-display
678 Refresh the display. Recomputes all window sizes in case some‐
679 thing has changed.
680 revert-buffer
682 Revert the current buffer to the latest file on disk.
683 save-buffer
685 Save the contents of the current buffer if it has been changed,
686 optionally creating a backup copy.
687 save-buffers-kill-emacs
689 Offer to save modified buffers and quit mg.
690 save-some-buffers
692 Look through the list of buffers, offering to save any buffer that
693 has been changed. Buffers that are not associated with files
694 (such as *scratch*, *grep*, *compile*) are ignored.
695 scroll-down
697 Scroll backwards n pages. A two-line overlap between pages is
698 assumed. If given a repeat argument, scrolls back lines, not
699 pages.
700 scroll-one-line-down
702 Scroll the display down n lines without changing the cursor posi‐
703 tion.
704 scroll-one-line-up
706 Scroll the display n lines up without moving the cursor position.
707 scroll-other-window
709 Scroll the next window in the window list window forward n pages.
710 scroll-up
712 Scroll forward one page. A two-line overlap between pages is
713 assumed. If given a repeat argument, scrolls back lines, not
714 pages.
715 search-again
717 Search again, using the same search string and direction as the
718 last search command.
719 search-backward
721 Reverse search. Get a search string from the user, and search,
722 starting at dot and proceeding toward the front of the buffer. If
723 found, dot is left pointing at the first character of the pattern
724 (the last character that was matched).
725 search-forward
727 Search forward. Get a search string from the user, and search for
728 it starting at dot. If found, dot gets moved to just after the
729 matched characters, if not found, print a message.
730 self-insert-command
732 Insert a character.
733 sentence-end-double-space
735 Toggle double or single spaces for end of sentences. Double is
736 the default. Currently only affects fill-paragraph.
737 set-case-fold-search
739 Set case-fold searching, causing case not to matter in regular
740 expression searches. This is the default.
741 set-case-replace
743 Preserve the case of the replaced string. This is the default.
744 set-default-mode
746 Append the supplied mode to the list of default modes used by sub‐
747 sequent buffer creation. Built in modes include: fill, indent and
748 overwrite.
749 set-fill-column
751 Prompt the user for a fill column. Used by auto-fill-mode.
752 set-mark-command
754 Sets the mark in the current window to the current dot location.
755 set-prefix-string
757 Sets the prefix string to be used by the 'prefix-region' command.
758 shell-command
760 Execute external command from mini-buffer.
761 shell-command-on-region
763 Provide the text in region to the shell command as input.
764 shrink-window
766 Shrink current window by one line. The window immediately below
767 is expanded to pick up the slack. If only one window is present,
768 this command has no effect.
769 split-window-vertically
771 Split the current window. A window smaller than 3 lines cannot be
772 split.
773 start-kbd-macro
775 Start defining a keyboard macro. Macro definition is ended by
776 invoking end-kbd-macro.
777 suspend-emacs
779 Suspend mg and switch back to alternate screen, if in use.
780 switch-to-buffer
782 Prompt and switch to a new buffer in the current window.
783 switch-to-buffer-other-window
785 Switch to buffer in another window.
786 toggle-read-only
788 Toggle the read-only flag on the current buffer.
789 toggle-read-only-all
791 Toggle the read-only flag on all non-ephemeral buffers. A simple
792 toggle that switches a global read-only flag either on or off.
793 transpose-chars
795 Transpose the two characters in front of and under dot, then move
796 forward one character. Treat newline characters the same as any
797 other.
798 transpose-paragraphs
800 Transpose adjacent paragraphs. If multiple iterations are
801 requested, the current paragraph will be moved n paragraphs for‐
802 ward.
803 transpose-words
805 Transpose adjacent words.
806 undo Undo the most recent action. If invoked again without an inter‐
808 vening command, move the undo pointer to the previous action and
809 undo it.
810 undo-boundary
812 Add an undo boundary. This is not usually done interactively.
813 undo-boundary-toggle
815 Toggle whether undo boundaries are generated. Undo boundaries are
816 often disabled before operations that should be considered atomi‐
817 cally undoable.
818 undo-enable
820 Toggle whether undo information is kept.
821 undo-list
823 Show the undo records for the current buffer in a new buffer.
824 universal-argument
826 Repeat the next command 4 times. Usually bound to C-u. This com‐
827 mand may be stacked; e.g. C-u C-u C-f moves the cursor forward 16
828 characters.
829 upcase-region
831 Upper case region. Change all of the lower case characters in the
832 region to upper case.
833 upcase-word
835 Move the cursor forward by the specified number of words. As it
836 moves, convert any characters to upper case.
837 visible-bell
839 Toggle the visible bell. If this toggle is on, the modeline will
840 flash.
841 visit-tags-table
843 Record name of the tags file to be used for subsequent find-tag.
844 what-cursor-position
846 Display a bunch of useful information about the current location
847 of dot. The character under the cursor (in octal), the current
848 line, row, and column, and approximate position of the cursor in
849 the file (as a percentage) is displayed. The column position
850 assumes an infinite position display; it does not truncate just
851 because the screen does.
852 write-file
854 Ask for a file name and write the contents of the current buffer
855 to that file. Update the remembered file name and clear the buf‐
856 fer changed flag.
857 yank Yank text from kill-buffer. Unlike emacs, the mg kill buffer con‐
859 sists only of the most recent kill. It is not a ring.
860
862 Specific key bindings are available in dired mode.
863 DEL dired-unmark-backward
865 RET, e, f and C-m dired-find-file
866 SPC, n dired-next-line
867 ! dired-shell-command
868 + dired-create-directory
869 a dired-find-alternate-file
870 c dired-do-copy
871 d and C-d dired-flag-file-deletion
872 g dired-revert
873 j dired-goto-file
874 o dired-find-file-other-window
875 p dired-previous-line
876 q quit-window
877 r dired-do-rename
878 u dired-unmark
879 x dired-do-flagged-delete
880 C-v dired-scroll-down
881 M-v dired-scroll-up
882
884 The following are a list of the commands specific to dired mode:
885 dired-create-directory
887 Create a directory.
888 dired-do-copy
890 Copy the file listed on the current line of the dired buffer.
891 dired-do-flagged-delete
893 Delete the files that have been flagged for deletion.
894 dired-do-rename
896 Rename the file listed on the current line of the dired buffer.
897 dired-find-alternate-file
899 Replace the current dired buffer with an alternate one as speci‐
900 fied by the position of the cursor in the dired buffer.
901 dired-find-file
903 Open the file on the current line of the dired buffer. If the
904 cursor is on a directory it will be opened in dired mode.
905 dired-flag-file-deletion
907 Flag the file listed on the current line for deletion. This is
908 indicated in the buffer by putting a D at the left margin. No
909 files are actually deleted until the function dired-do-flagged-
910 delete is executed.
911 dired-find-file-other-window
913 Open the file on the current line of the dired buffer in a dif‐
914 ferent window.
915 dired-goto-file
917 Move the cursor to a file name in the dired buffer.
918 dired-next-line
920 Move the cursor to the next line.
921 dired-other-window
923 This function works just like dired, except that it puts the
924 dired buffer in another window.
925 dired-previous-line
927 Move the cursor to the previous line.
928 dired-revert
930 Refresh the dired buffer while retaining any flags.
931 dired-scroll-down
933 Scroll down the dired buffer.
934 dired-scroll-up
936 Scroll up the dired buffer.
937 dired-unmark
939 Remove the deletion flag for the file on the current line.
940 dired-unmark-backward
942 Remove the deletion flag from the file listed on the previous
943 line of the dired buffer, then move up to that line.
944 quit-window
946 Close the current dired buffer.
947
949 There are two configuration files, .mg and .mg-TERM. Here, TERM repre‐
950 sents the name of the terminal type; e.g. if the terminal type is set to
951 “vt100”, mg will use .mg-vt100 as a startup file. The terminal type
952 startup file is used first.
953 The startup file format is a list of commands, one per line, as used for
955 interactive evaluation. Strings that are normally entered by the user at
956 any subsequent prompts may be specified after the command name; e.g.:
957 global-set-key ")" self-insert-command
959 global-set-key "\^x\^f" find-file
960 global-set-key "\e[Z" backward-char
961 set-default-mode fill
962 set-fill-column 72
963 auto-execute *.c c-mode
964 Comments can be added to the startup files by placing ‘;’ or ‘#’ as the
966 first character of a line.
967
969 ~/.mg normal startup file
970 ~/.mg-TERM terminal-specific startup file
971 ~/.mg.d alternative backup file location
972 /usr/share/doc/mg/tutorial concise tutorial
973
975 ctags(1), vi(1)
976
978 Since it is written completely in C, there is currently no language in
979 which extensions can be written; however, keys can be rebound and certain
980 parameters can be changed in startup files.
981 In order to use 8-bit characters (such as German umlauts), the Meta key
983 needs to be disabled via the “meta-key-mode” command.
984 Multi-byte character sets, such as UTF-8, are not supported.
986BSD May 10, 2020 BSD