README.md

dedlin

Dedlin is an interactive line-by-line text editor and a DSL, similar to edlin or ed. It is perfect for letting AI chatbots edit documents without sending the whole document back and forth.

It is scriptable making it similar to sed for doing find, insert, replace, delete operations on existing files.

Soon it will support non-line number ranges, e.g. "/Done/ DELETE

Dedlin extends on edlin enough that it is not backwards compatible.

I have made changes to make the app less user hostile than classic ed or edlin, but there is a --vim_mode where all help, warnings, feedback will be suppressed.

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Installation

Requires python 3.11 or higher. Someday I'll write a standalone installer for it.

Install globally in an isolated virtual environment. This is a good idea.

pipx install dedlin

Run pre-built image with docker. Painful, but you're using an edlin clone, so that is what you're looking for.

# This is should work in powershell or linux bash. Not windows git-bash.
docker run --rm -it -v "${PWD}/:/app"  ghcr.io/matthewdeanmartin/dedlin:latest file.txt

Usage

Launch and edit file_name.txt

If you installed with pip or pipx

dedlin file_name.txt

Command line help

> python -m dedlin --help
Dedlin.

An improved version of the edlin.

Usage:
  dedlin [<file>] [options]
  dedlin (-h | --help)
  dedlin --version

Options:
  -h --help          Show this screen.
  --version          Show version.
  --macro=<macro>    Run macro file.
  --echo             Echo commands.
  --halt_on_error    End program on error.
  --promptless_quit  Skip prompt on quit.
  --vim_mode         User hostile, no feedback.
  --verbose          Displaying all debugging info.
  --blind_mode       Optimize for blind users (experimental).

Sample session

   _          _  _  _
 __| | ___  __| || |(_) _ _
/ _` |/ -_)/ _` || || || ' \
\__,_|\___|\__,_||_||_||_||_|


Editing /home/mmartin/github/dedlin/sample.txt
? * 1i
1 INSERT
Control C to exit insert mode
?    1 :  cabbage
?    2 :  bread
?    3 :  carrots
?    4 :  ghost peppers
?    5 :  coffee
?    6 :  tortillas
?    7 :

Exiting insert mode

? * SORT
 SORT
Sorted
? * LIST
1,6 LIST
   1 : bread
   2 : cabbage
   3 : carrots
   4 : coffee
   5 : ghost peppers
   6 : tortillas

? * EXIT
1,6 EXIT

Documentation

• User Manual
• Developer roadmap
• Prior Art