1NEDIT(1) NEdit documentation NEDIT(1)
2
6 NEdit - Text Editor
7
9 nedit [-read] [-create] [-line n | +n] [-server]
10 [-do command] [-tags file] [-tabs n]
11 [-wrap] [-nowrap] [-autowrap]
12 [-autoindent] [-noautoindent]
13 [-autosave] [-noautosave]
14 [-lm languagemode] [-rows n] [-columns n]
15 [-font font]
16 [-geometry|-g geometry] [-iconic] [-noiconic]
17 [-display [host]:server[.screen]]
18 [-xrm resourcestring]
19 [-svrname name] [-import file]
20 [-background|-bg color] [-foreground|-fg color]
21 [-tabbed] [-untabbed] [-group]
22 [-V|-version] [-h|-help] [--] [file...]
23
25 NEdit is a standard GUI (Graphical User Interface) style text editor
26 for programs and plain-text files. It provides mouse based editing and
27 a streamlined editing style, based on popular Macintosh and MS Windows
28 editors, for users of X workstations and X terminals.
29
31 -read
32 Open the file read-only regardless of the actual file protection.
33 -create
35 Don't warn about file creation when a file doesn't exist.
36 -line n, +n
38 Go to line number n.
39 -server
41 Designate this session as an NEdit server, for processing commands
42 from the nc(1) program. nc(1) can be used to interface NEdit to
43 code development environments, mailers, etc., or just as a quick
44 way to open files from the shell command line without starting a
45 new NEdit session.
46 -do command
48 Execute an NEdit macro or action on the file following the -do
49 argument on the command line. -do is particularly useful from the
50 nc(1) program, where `nc -do' can remotely execute commands in an
51 nedit -server session.
52 -tags file
54 Load a file of directions for finding definitions of program
55 subroutines and data objects. The file must be of the format
56 generated by Exuberant Ctags, or the standard Unix ctags(1)
57 command.
58 -tabs n
60 Set tab stops every n characters.
61 -wrap, -nowrap
63 Wrap long lines at the right edge of the window rather than
64 continuing them past it. (Continuous Wrap mode)
65 -autowrap, -noautowrap
67 Wrap long lines when the cursor reaches the right edge of the
68 window by inserting newlines at word boundaries. (Auto Newline Wrap
69 mode)
70 -autoindent, -noautoindent
72 Maintain a running indent.
73 -autosave, -noautosave
75 Maintain a backup copy of the file being edited under the name
76 ~filename (on Unix) or _filename (on VMS).
77 -lm languagemode
79 Initial language mode used for editing succeeding files.
80 -rows n
82 Default height in characters for an editing window.
83 -columns n
85 Default width in characters for an editing window.
86 -font font, -fn font
88 Font for text being edited. Font for menus and dialogs can be set
89 with -xrm "*fontList:font".
90 -geometry geometry, -g geometry
92 The initial size and/or location of editor windows. The argument
93 geometry has the form:
94 [<width>x<height>][+|-][<xoffset>[+|-]<yoffset>]
96 where C`<width>' and "<height>" are the desired width and height of
98 the window, and <xoffset> and C`<yoffset>' are the distance from
99 the edge of the screen to the window, + for top or left, - for
100 bottom or right. -geometry can be specified for individual files on
101 the command line.
102 -iconic, -noiconic
104 Initial window state for succeeding files.
105 -display [host]:server[.screen]
107 The name of the X server to use. host specifies the machine, server
108 specifies the display server number, and screen specifies the
109 screen number. host or screen can be omitted and default to the
110 local machine, and screen 0.
111 -background color, -bg color
113 Background color. The background color for text can be set
114 separately with -xrm "nedit*text.background: color".
115 -foreground color, -fg color
117 Foreground color. The foreground color for text can be set
118 separately with -xrm "nedit*text.foreground: color".
119 -xrm resourcestring
121 Set the value of an X resource to override a default value.
122 -svrname name
124 When starting nedit in server mode, name the server, such that it
125 responds to requests only when nc(1) is given a corresponding
126 -svrname argument. By naming servers, you can run several
127 simultaneously, and direct files and commands specifically to any
128 one. Specifying a non-empty name automatically designates this
129 session as an NEdit server, as though -server were specified.
130 -import file
132 Loads an additional preferences file on top of the existing
133 defaults saved in your nedit.rc file. To incorporate macros,
134 language modes, and highlight patterns and styles written by other
135 users, run nedit with -import <file>, then re-save your nedit.rc
136 file with Preferences->Save Defaults.
137 -tabbed
139 Open all subsequent files in new tabs. Resets -group option.
140 -untabbed
142 Open all subsequent files in new windows. Resets -group option.
143 -group
145 Open all subsequent files as tabs in a new window.
146 -V, -version
148 Prints version and build information, to be mentioned when
149 reporting bugs and problems.
150 -h, -help
152 Prints the command line help and then exits.
153 -- Treats all subsequent arguments as file names, even if they start
155 with a dash. This is so NEdit can access files that begin with the
156 dash character.
157
159 DISPLAY
160 NEdit requires an X-based workstation or X-Terminal. If you have
161 used telnet or rlogin to access the host Unix system, set the Unix
162 environment variable for your display:
163 csh-type shells:
165 % setenv DISPLAY devicename:0
167 sh-type shells:
169 % DISPLAY=devicename:0 && export DISPLAY
171 NEDIT_HOME
173 This environment variable can be set to the name of a directory.
174 This directory will then be used instead of `$HOME/.nedit' as the
175 base directory for NEdit's special files (see section FILES,
176 below).
177 This variable is new to NEdit 5.4.
179
181 From version 5.4 on, NEdit creates a directory in which NEdit's special
182 files reside. This directory is named '.nedit' by default.
183 nedit.rc
185 This is an X resource file which contains most user settings for
186 NEdit. It is read at startup and written by selecting the item
187 'Save Defaults...' in the Preferences menu. Do not edit this file
188 by hand, all settings can be reached via the 'Default Settings'
189 menu.
190 nedit.history
192 The list of recently opened files. Do not edit this file by hand.
193 autoload.nm
195 A file that can contain a number of NEdit Macro Language statements
196 and subroutine definitions. The statements will be executed when an
197 NEdit server starts, the subroutines will be loaded for later
198 reference. This file will not be created or modified by NEdit
199 (unless you load it and edit it of course).
200 Note that NEdit still supports the older names for these files, which
202 were used by version 5.3 and below. These file names are
203 `$HOME/.nedit', `$HOME/.neditdb' and `$HOME/.neditmacro', respectively.
204 The old naming scheme will be used if NEdit detects that `$HOME/.nedit'
205 is a regular file and NEDIT_HOME isn't set.
206 See also the entry for NEDIT_HOME under ENVIRONMENT, above.
208
210 For more information see NEdit's online help, or nedit.doc in the NEdit
211 distribution kit.
212 NEdit sources, executables, additional documentation, and contributed
214 software are available from the NEdit web site at http://nedit.org.
215
217 nc(1), X(1), mwm(1), ctags(1), etags(1)
218
220 NEdit was written by Mark Edel, Joy Kyriakopulos, Christopher Conrad,
221 Jim Clark, Arnulfo Zepeda-Navratil, Suresh Ravoor, Tony Balinski, Max
222 Vohlken, Yunliang Yu, Donna Reid, Arne Forlie, Eddy De Greef, Steve
223 LoBasso, Alexander Mai, Scott Tringali, Thorsten Haude, Steve Haehn,
224 Andrew Hood, Nathaniel Gray, and TK Soh.
225 The regular expression matching routines used in NEdit are adapted
227 (with permission) from original code written by Henry Spencer at the
228 University of Toronto.
229 Syntax highlighting patterns and smart indent macros were contributed
231 by: Simon T. MacDonald, Maurice Leysens, Matt Majka, Alfred Smeenk,
232 Alain Fargues, Christopher Conrad, Scott Markinson, Konrad Bernloehr,
233 Ivan Herman, Patrice Venant, Christian Denat, Philippe Couton, Max
234 Vohlken, Markus Schwarzenberg, Himanshu Gohel, Steven C. Kapp, Michael
235 Turomsha, John Fieber, Chris Ross, Nathaniel Gray, Joachim Lous, Mike
236 Duigou, Seak Teng-Fong, Joor Loohuis, Mark Jones, and Niek van den
237 Berg.
238
240 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
241 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
242 Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
243 option) any later version.
244 In addition, as a special exception to the GNU GPL, the copyright
246 holders give permission to link the code of this program with the Motif
247 and Open Motif libraries (or with modified versions of these that use
248 the same license), and distribute linked combinations including the
249 two. You must obey the GNU General Public License in all respects for
250 all of the code used other than linking with Motif/Open Motif. If you
251 modify this file, you may extend this exception to your version of the
252 file, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so,
253 delete this exception statement from your version.
254 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
256 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
257 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
258 General Public License in the Help section "Distribution Policy" for
259 more details.
260NEdit 5.7 2023-07-20 NEDIT(1)