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elvisex.html
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elvisex.html
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<html><head>
<title>Elvis 2.1 Ex Mode</title>
</head><body>
<h1>4. EX COMMAND MODE</h1>
Ex is an editing mode in which elvis acts like a line editor.
This means that you type in a command line, and when the line is complete
elvis executes it on the current text buffer.
I.e., in ex each <em>line</em> (or group of lines) is a command,
as opposed to vi where each <em>character</em> (or group of characters) is a
command.
<p>Typically, ex commands are used to do perform complex actions such as
global search & replace, or actions which require an argument such as
writing the edit buffer out to a different file.
<p>Ex is also used as the configuration language for elvis;
configuration scripts such as <a href="elvisses.html#elvis.ini">elvis.ini</a>,
.exrc (or elvis.rc), and <a href="elvisses.html#elvis.arf">elvis.arf</a>
contain a series of ex commands.
<p>You can switch freely between vi and ex.
If you're in vi mode, you can enter a single ex command line via the
visual <a href="elvisvi.html#colon">:</a> command, or more permanently switch via
the visual <a href="elvisvi.html#Q">Q</a> command.
If you're in ex mode, you can switch to vi mode via ex's
<a href="#visual">:vi</a> command.
<p>Normally elvis will start in vi mode, but you can force it to start in
ex mode by supplying a <strong>-e</strong> command line flag.
On UNIX systems, you can link elvis to a name which ends with "x" to
achieve the same effect.
<p>The remainder of this section discusses how to enter lines, the general
syntax of an ex command line, and the specific commands which elvis supports.
<h2>4.1 Entering lines</h2>
In elvis, when you're typing in an ex command line
you're really inputting text into a buffer named "Elvis ex history".
All of the usual <a href="elvisinp.html">input mode</a> commands are available,
including <kbd>Backspace</kbd> to erase the previous character,
<kbd>Control-W</kbd> to erase the previous word, and so on.
<p>Any previously entered lines will still be in the "Elvis ex history"
buffer, and you can use the arrow keys to move back and edit earlier commands.
You can even use the <kbd>Control-O</kbd> input-mode command with
the <a href="elvisvi.html#slash">?<var>regexp</var></a> visual command,
to search for an earlier command line.
<p>When you hit the <kbd>Enter</kbd> key on a line in the "Elvis ex history"
buffer, elvis sends that line to the ex command parser,
which is described in the next section.
<h3>4.1.1 An example</h3>
Suppose you enter the command...
<pre>
:e ~/proj1/src/header.h
</pre>
...and then realize that you really wanted "header2.h" instead of "header.h".
You simplest way to get "header2.h" is to...
<ol>
<li>Hit the <kbd>:</kbd> key to start a new ex command line.
<li>Hit the <kbd>Up</kbd> arrow key, or <kbd>^O k</kbd> to move back to the
preceding command line (which was "<code>:e ~/proj1/src/header.h</code>").
<kbd>^O k</kbd> works because <kbd>^O</kbd> reads and executes one vi
command, and the <kbd>k</kbd> vi command moves the cursor back one line.
The <kbd>Up</kbd> arrow key works because it is mapped to "visual k",
which does exactly the same thing as <kbd>^O k</kbd>.
<li>Hit the <kbd>Left</kbd> arrow key twice, or <kbd>^O 2 h</kbd>, to move
the cursor back to the '.' character in "header.h".
<li>Hit <kbd>2</kbd> to insert a '2' before the '.' character. At this point,
the line should look like "<code>:e ~/proj1/src/header2.h</code>".
<li>Hit <kbd>Enter</kbd> to submit the revised command line.
</ol>
<p>Or suppose you really wanted "footer2.h" instead of "header2.h".
This is a little trickier because you want to delete characters in the
middle of the command line, before inserting the correct text.
The simplest way to do this is move the cursor to a point just <em>after</em>
the last character that you want to delete, and then backspace over them.
The steps are:
<ol>
<li>Hit the <kbd>:</kbd> key to start a new ex command line.
<li>Hit the <kbd>Up</kbd> arrow key or <kbd>^O k</kbd> repeatedly to move
back to the "<code>:e ~/proj1/src/header2.h</code>"command line.
<li>Hit the <kbd>Left</kbd> arrow key five times, or <kbd>^O 5 h</kbd>, to move
the cursor back to the last 'e' character in "header2.h".
<li>Hit the <kbd>Backspace</kbd> key four times to delete the word "head".
It will still show on the screen, but elvis will know that it has been
deleted. This is the same sort of behavior that elvis (and vi) exhibits
when you backspace over newly entered text in input mode.
<li>Type <kbd>f o o t</kbd> to insert "foot" where "head" used to be. At this
point, the line should look like "<code>:e ~/proj1/src/footer2.h</code>".
<li>Hit <kbd>Enter</kbd> to submit the revised command line.
</ol>
<h3>4.1.2 The TAB key</h3>
<a name="Tab"></a>
<p>The <kbd>Tab</kbd> key has a special function when you're inputting
text into the "Elvis ex history" buffer.
It is used for name completion.
(Exception: Under MS-DOS, this feature is disabled in order to reduce the
size of the program, so it will fit in the lower 640K.)
<p>Name completion works like this:
The preceding word is assumed to be a partial name for an ex command,
an option, a tag, or a file.
The type of name is determined by the context in which it appears --
commands appear at the start of an ex command line, and the others
can only occur after certain, specific command names.
Elvis searches for all matches of the appropriate type.
<p>If there are multiple matches, then elvis fills in as many
characters of the name as possible, and then stops;
or, if no additional characters are implied by the matching names,
then elvis lists all matching names and redisplays the command line.
If there is a single match, then elvis completes the name and appends a
tab character or some other appropriate character.
If there are no matches, then elvis simply inserts a tab character.
<p>Also, if while entering a <a href="#set">:set</a> command you hit the
<kbd>Tab</kbd> key immediately after "<var>option</var>=" then elvis
will insert the current value of the <var>option</var>.
You can then edit that value before submitting the command line.
<p>I tried to make elvis smart enough that the <kbd>Tab</kbd> key will
only attempt file/command/option completion in contexts where it makes sense to
do so, but that code might not be 100% correct.
You can bypass the completion by typing a <kbd>Control-V</kbd>
before the <kbd>Tab</kbd> key.
You can also disable name completion altogether by setting the
"Elvis ex history" buffer's <a href="elvisopt.html#inputtab">inputtab</a>
option to "tab", via the following command:
<pre>
:(Elvis ex history)set inputtab=tab</pre>
<p>By default, elvis ignores binary files when performing filename
completion.
The <a href="elvisopt.html#completebinary">completebinary</a> option can
be used to make elvis include binary files.
That's a global option (unlike <a href="elvisopt.html#inputtab">inputtab</a>
which is associated with a specific buffer), so you don't need to specify
the buffer name; a simple <code>:set completebinary</code> will set it.
<h2>4.2 Syntax and Addressing</h2>
In general, ex command lines can begin with an optional window id.
This may be followed by an optional buffer id,
and then 0, 1, or 2 line addresses,
followed by a command name, and perhaps some arguments after that
(depending on the command name).
<p>A window ID is typed in as a decimal number followed by a colon character.
If you don't supply a window ID (and you almost never will) then it defaults
to the window where you typed in the command line.
The <a href="#buffer">:buffer</a> command lists the buffers, and shows which
one is being edited in which window.
Also, the <a href="elvisopt.html#windowid">windowid</a> option indicates the
ID of the current window.
<a name="BUFFERID"></a>
<p>A buffer ID is given by typing an opening parenthesis, the name of the
buffer, and a closing parenthesis.
For user buffers, the name of the buffer is usually identical to the name of
the file that it corresponds to.
For example, a file named ~/.Xdefaults would be loaded into a buffer which
could be addressed as <code>(~/.Xdefaults)</code>.
Elvis also assigns numbers to user buffers, which may be more convenient
to type since numbers are generally shorter than names.
If ~/.Xdefaults is the first file you've edited since starting elvis, then
its buffer could be addressed as <code>(1)</code>.
The <a href="#buffer">:buffer</a> command shows the number for each user
buffer.
<p>Elvis also has several internal buffers, all of which have names that start
with "Elvis ", such as <code>(Elvis cut buffer x)</code> and
<code>(Elvis error list)</code>.
The <a href="#buffer">:buffer!</a> command (with a ! suffix) will list them all.
For the sake of brevity, elvis allows you to refer to cut buffers as
<code>("x)</code>.
Similarly, the other internal buffers can be referred to via a " character
and the initial letter in each word of the full name, such as
<code>("Eel)</code> for <code>(Elvis error list)</code>.
<p>Commands which don't access the text, such as "<a href="#quit">:quit</a>",
don't allow any line addresses.
Other commands, such as "<a href="#mark">:mark</a>",
only allow a single line address.
Most commands, though, allow two line addresses;
the command is applied to all lines between the two specified lines,
inclusively.
The tables below indicate how many line addresses each command allows.
<p>Line addresses are always optional.
The first line address of most commands usually defaults to the current line.
The second line address usually defaults to be the same as the first line address.
Exceptions are <a href="#write">:write,</a> <a href="#lpr">:lpr,</a>
<a href="#global">:global,</a> and <a href="#vglobal">:vglobal,</a>
which act on all lines of the file by default, and
<a href="#BANG">:!,</a> which acts on no lines by default.
<p>If you use the visual <a href="elvisvi.html#V">V</a> command to mark
a range of lines, and then use the visual <a href="elvisvi.html#colon">:</a>
command to execute a single ex command,
then the default range affected by the ex command will
be the visibly marked text.
<p><a name="address"></a>Line addresses consist of an absolute part and a relative part.
The <em>absolute part</em> of a line specifier may be either an
explicit line number, a mark, a dot to denote the current line,
a dollar sign to denote the last line of the file, or a
forward or backward search.
An <em>explicit line number</em> is simply a decimal number,
expressed as a string of digits.
A <em>mark</em> is typed in as an apostrophe followed by a letter.
Marks must be set before they can be used.
You can set a mark in visual command mode by typing "m" and a letter,
or you can set it in ex command mode via the "mark" command.
A <em>forward search</em> is typed in as a regular expression surrounded by
slash characters; searching begins at the default line.
A <em>backward search</em> is typed in as a regular expression
surrounded by question marks;
searching begins at the line before the default line.
<p>If you omit the <em>absolute part,</em> then the default line is used.
<p>The <em>relative part</em> of a line specifier is typed as a <code>+</code>
or <code>-</code> character followed by a decimal number.
The number is added to or subtracted from the absolute part of the line
specifier to produce the final line number.
<p>As a special case, the <code>%</code> character may be used to specify
all lines of the file.
It is roughly equivalent to saying <code>1,$</code>.
This can be a handy shortcut.
<p>Here are some addressing examples, using the <a href="#print">:p</a> command:
<pre graphic>
COMMAND | ACTION
-------------|-------------------------------------------
:p | print the current line
:37p | print line 37
:'gp | print the line which contains mark g
:/foo/p | print the next line that contains "foo"
:$p | print the last line of the buffer
:20,30p | print lines 20 through 30
:1,$p | print all lines of the buffer
:%p | print all lines of the buffer
:(zot)%p | print all lines of the "zot" buffer
:/foo/-2,+4p | print 5 lines around the next "foo"</pre>
<p>The optional addresses are followed by the command name.
Command names may be abbreviated.
In the sections that follow, the command's full name is given with the
optional part enclosed in square brackets.
<p>Some commands allow a '!' character to appear immediately after the
command name.
The significance of the '!' varies from one command to another,
but typically it forces the command to do something dangerous that it would
ordinarily refuse to do.
For example, <a href="#write">:w <var>file</var></a> refuses to overwrite an
existing file, but <a href="#write">:w! <var>file</var></a> will do it.
<p>Many commands allow (or even require) additional arguments.
The descriptions below list which arguments each command accepts
with optional commands denoted by square brackets.
The most common argument types are:
<dl>
<dt>/regexp/
<dd>This is a <a href="elvisre.html">regular expression.</a>
You can use any punctuation character to delimit it, but the '/' character
is the most commonly used.
<dt>/regexp/newtext/
<dd>This is a <a href="elvisre.html">regular expression</a>
followed by replacement text.
<dt>count
<dd>This is a number - a string of digits.
Generally, it is used as the repeat count for certain commands.
<dt>cutbuf
<dd>This is the name of a cut buffer - a single letter.
Elvis also allows (but does not require) a quote character before the letter.
<dt>excmds
<dd>This is another ex command, or list of ex commands.
Traditionally, the whole list of commands had to appear on the same line,
delimited by '|' characters.
Elvis has the added versatility of allowing a '{' character on the first line,
each command on a separate following line, and then '}' on a line by itself to mark
the end of the ex command list.
<dt>lhs
<dd>This is string of characters.
If whitespace characters are to be included in it, then they must be
quoted by embedding a <kbd>^V</kbd> character before them.
<dt>line
<dd>This is a line address, as described earlier.
<dt>mark
<dd>This is the name of a mark - a single lowercase letter.
Elvis allows (but does not require) an apostrophe before the letter.
<dt>rhs
<dd>This is a string of characters.
If it begins with a whitespace character, then that character must be quoted
by embedding a <kbd>^V</kbd> character in the command line before it.
Other whitespace characters in the string do not need to be quoted.
<dt>expr
<dd>This is an <a href="elvisexp.html">arithmetic expression</a>
using the normal syntax.
<dt>shellcmd
<dd>This is a command line which is passed to the system's command interpreter.
Within the command line, the following character substitutions take place,
unless preceded by a backslash:
<pre graphic>
.-----------.----------------------------.
| CHARACTER | REPLACED BY |
|-----------|----------------------------|
| % | Name of current file |
| # | Name of alternate file |
| #<var>n</var> | Name of file whose <a href="elvisopt.html#bufid">bufid</a>=<var>n</var> |
| ! | Previous command line |
| \@ | Word at cursor location |
^-----------^----------------------------^
</pre>
Note that the <code>\@</code> substitution <em>requires</em> a backslash.
This quirk exists for the sake of backward compatibility -
the real vi doesn't perform any substitutions for just plain @.
<dt>file or files
<dd>This is one or more file name, or a "wildcard" pattern which matches
the names of zero or more files. File names are subjected to three levels
of processing. First, leading ~ characters and certain other characters
are replaced with text, as follows:
<pre graphic>
.---------.------------------------------------------------.
| SYMBOL | REPLACED BY |
|---------|------------------------------------------------|
| ~<var>user</var> | (Unix only) Replaced by home directory of <var>user</var> |
| ~+ | Replaced by current working directory |
| ~- | Replaced by previous directory (<a href="elvisopt.html#previousdir">previousdir</a>) |
| ~ | Replaced by home directory (<a href="elvisopt.html#home">home</a>) |
| % | Replaced by the name of the current file |
| # | Replaced by the name of the alternate file |
| #<var>n</var> | Replaced by the filename of buffer with <a href="elvisopt.html#bufid">bufid</a>=<var>n</var>|
| (space) | Delimits one file name from another |
^---------^------------------------------------------------^
</pre>
The second stage of processing evaluates each name using the
<a href="elvisexp.html#simpler">simpler expression syntax</a>.
This basically means that expressions of the form
<strong>$</strong><var>NAME</var> will be replaced with the value of
the environment variable named <var>NAME</var>.
Also, you can use parentheses around option names or more complex expressions.
For example, if the user option <a href="elvisopt.html#f">f</a> contains
the name of a file, then you could say "<code>:e (f)</code>" to edit that file.
<p>In either of the first two stages,
backslashes may be used to prevent the special symbols from
having their usual meaning; they'll be treated as normal text instead.
In particular, a backslash-space sequence can be used to give a filename
which includes spaces; e.g., to edit "C:\Program Files\foo" you would type
"<code>:e C:\Program\ Files\foo</code>".
Note that backslashes which are followed by a normal character are simply
retained as normal characters, so you rarely need to type a double-backslash
when your file name needs only a single backslash.
<p>The third stage of processing checks for "wildcard" characters in the name,
and if there are any then the whole name is replaced by the name of each
matching file. The exact list of supported wildcards will vary from one
operating system to another, but the following are typical:
<pre graphic>
.--------.----------------------------------------------.
| SYMBOL | MATCHES |
|--------|----------------------------------------------|
| * | Any string of characters, of any length |
| ? | Any single character |
| [a-z] | (Unix only) Any single character from A to Z |
^--------^----------------------------------------------^
</pre>
In most operating systems, wildcards are only recognized when they occur
in the last file name part of a longer pathname. In other words, you can
use wildcards for file names,
but not in directory names leading up to file names.
<p>Traditionally, vi has used the Unix shell to expand wildcards.
However, this interferes with the use of spaces in file names, isn't easily
portable to non-Unix operating systems, and is a potential security hole.
So elvis performs all wildcard expansion itself. The only disadvantage
of this is that you loose other shell notations such as
<code>`command`</code> and <code>{alt1,alt2}</code>.
</dl>
<p>Most commands can be followed by a '|' character and another ex command.
Others can't. In particular, any command which takes a <strong>excmd</strong>
or <strong>shellcmd</strong> argument doesn't treat '|' as a command delimiter.
<p>If a command does treat '|' as a delimiter, and you want '|' to be treated
as part of a command argument, then you'll need to quote the '|' character
by preceding it with a backslash or ^V, depending on the command.
(Sadly, different commands require different quote characters.)
<h2><a name="GROUP"></a>4.3 Ex Commands, Grouped by Function</h2>
<menu>
<li><a href="#HELP"> 4.3.1 The help command itself</a>
<li><a href="#EDIT"> 4.3.2 Editing commands</a>
<li><a href="#GLOBAL"> 4.3.3 Global edit commands</a>
<li><a href="#PRINT"> 4.3.4 Displaying text</a>
<li><a href="#TAGS"> 4.3.5 Tags</a>
<li><a href="#IO"> 4.3.6 File I/O commands</a>
<li><a href="#ARGS"> 4.3.7 The args list, and selecting a file to edit</a>
<li><a href="#QUIT"> 4.3.8 Quitting</a>
<li><a href="#MACRO"> 4.3.9 Scripts and macros</a>
<li><a href="#ERRLIST"> 4.3.10 Working with a compiler</a>
<li><a href="#CALC"> 4.3.11 Built-in calculator</a>
<li><a href="#BUFFER"> 4.3.12 Buffer commands</a>
<li><a href="#WINDOW"> 4.3.13 Window commands</a>
<li><a href="#SETUP"> 4.3.14 Configuration</a>
<li><a href="#MISC"> 4.3.15 Miscellaneous</a>
</menu>
<h3><a name="HELP"></a>4.3.1 The help command itself</h3>
<pre graphic>.-------.-------------------.-----------------------------------.
|ADDRESS| COMMAND | ARGUMENTS |
|-------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| | <a href="#help">h[elp]</a> | topic |
^-------^-------------------^-----------------------------------^
</pre>
<a name="help"></a>The <em>:help</em> command loads and displays a
help file for a given topic.
There are several help files, covering a wide variety of topics.
<p>Elvis looks at the topic you supply, and tries to determine whether
it is an ex command name, vi keystroke, option name, or something else.
Based on this, it generates a hypertext link to the topic in the appropriate
help file, and shows the topic in a separate window.
Elvis uses the following rules to convert your requested topic into
a hypertext reference:
<pre graphic>
.---------------.-------------------------------------------.
| COMMAND | ELVIS' INTERPRETATION |
|---------------|-------------------------------------------|
| :help | With no topic, elvis loads the table of |
| | contents. This has hypertext links that |
| | can lead you to any other topic. |
| :help ex | Elvis loads the chapter describing ex |
| | commands. |
| :help vi | Elvis loads the chapter describing vi |
| | commands. |
| :help set XXX | If XXX is an option name, elvis will show |
| | the description of that option; else it |
| | will list groups of all options. |
| :help :XXX | If XXX is an ex command name, elvis will |
| | show its description; else elvis will |
| | list groups of all ex commands. |
| :help XXX | If XXX appears to be a keystroke then |
| | elvis will assume it is meant to be a |
| | vi command and will show the command's |
| | description. Else if it is an option |
| | name elvis will show that. Else if it |
| | is an ex command, elvis will show that. |
| | Else elvis will show this description |
| | of the :help command itself. |
^---------------^-------------------------------------------^</pre>
<p>Although this chart only mentions sections on ex commands, vi commands,
and options, there are many others which are only accessible via the
table of contents shown by ":help" with no arguments.
<p>All of these help files are HTML documents.
Elvis' standard HTML editing facilities are available while you're
viewing the help text.
Some of the highlights of this are:
<ul>
<li>To close this help window, type <kbd>ZQ</kbd>. Actually, this works
for all windows. (You must hold the <kbd>Shift</kbd> key
as you type <kbd>ZQ</kbd>, because lowercase <kbd>zq</kbd> does
something else entirely: nothing!)
<li>Any underlined text is a hypertext reference. This means that you
can move the cursor onto it, and hit the <kbd>Enter</kbd> key,
and the cursor will move to a topic describing the underlined text.
<li>To return to your original position after following a hypertext reference, hit <kbd>^T</kbd> (Control-T).
<li>The <kbd>Tab</kbd> key moves the cursor forward to the next
hypertext reference.
</ul>
<p>You can use elvis to print the document via the <a href="#lpr">:lpr</a>
command. This assumes you have set the <a href="elvisopt.html#LPR">printing
options</a> correctly.
<h3><a name="EDIT"></a>4.3.2 Editing commands</h3>
<pre graphic>.-------.-------------------.-----------------------------------.
|ADDRESS| COMMAND | ARGUMENTS |
|-------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| line | <a href="#append">a[ppend]</a>[!] | [text] |
| line | <a href="#insert">i[nsert]</a>[!] | [text] |
| range | <a href="#change">c[hange]</a>[!] | [count] [text] |
| range | <a href="#delete">d[elete]</a> | [cutbuf] [count] |
| range | <a href="#yank">y[ank]</a> | [cutbuf] [count] |
| line | <a href="#put">pu[t]</a> | [cutbuf] |
| range | <a href="#copy">co[py]</a> | line |
| range | <a href="#move">m[ove]</a> | line |
| range | <a href="#to">t[o]</a> | line |
| range | <a href="#BANG">!</a> | shellcmd |
| range | <a href="#GT">></a> | |
| range | <a href="#LT"><</a> | |
| range | <a href="#join">j[oin]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#undo">u[ndo]</a> | [count] |
| | <a href="#redo">red[o]</a> | [count] |
^-------^-------------------^-----------------------------------^
</pre>
<a name="append"></a>The <em>:append</em> command inserts text after the
current line.
If no new text is supplied on the command line, then elvis will wait for
you to type in text;
you can then mark the end of the new text by typing a "." (period) on a
line by itself.
In the real vi, adding a '!' suffix temporarily toggles the
<a href="elvisopt.html#autoindent">autoindent</a> option, but elvis just
ignores the '!'.
<p><a name="insert"></a>The <em>:insert</em> command inserts text before the
current line.
Other than that, it is identical to the <a href="#append">:append</a>
command.
In the real vi, adding a '!' suffix temporarily toggles the
<a href="elvisopt.html#autoindent">autoindent</a> option, but elvis just
ignores the '!'.
<p><a name="change"></a>The <em>:change</em> command deletes old text lines
(copying them into the anonymous cut buffer) and then waits for you to enter
new text to replace it.
You can then mark the end of the new text by typing a "." (period) on a
line by itself.
In the real vi, adding a '!' suffix temporarily toggles the
<a href="elvisopt.html#autoindent">autoindent</a> option, but elvis just
ignores the '!'.
<p><a name="delete"></a><a name="yank"></a>The <em>:delete</em> command copies
text into a cut buffer, and then deletes it from the edit buffer.
The <em>:yank</em> command copies text into a cut buffer but leaves the
edit buffer unchanged.
<p><a name="put"></a>The <em>:put</em> command "pastes" text from a cut buffer
back into the edit buffer.
The cut buffer's contents are inserted after the addressed line.
If you want to insert before the first line, you can use address 0 like
this:
<pre>
:0put</pre>
<p><a name="copy"></a><a name="to"></a>
The <em>:copy</em> and <em>:to</em> commands are identical.
They both make a copy of a portion of an edit buffer, and insert that copy
at a specific point.
The destination line can be specified with an optional buffer name and the
full address syntax as described in <a href="#address">section 4.2.</a>
Consequently, you can use this command to copy part of one edit buffer
into another edit buffer.
The following example copies an 11-line window from the current buffer
onto the end of a buffer named "otherbuf"
<pre>
:-5,+5t(otherbuf)$</pre>
<p><a name="move"></a>
The <em>:move</em> command resembles <a href="#copy">:copy</a> except that
<em>:move</em> deletes the original text.
<p><a name="BANG"></a>
The <em>:!</em> command allows you to send parts of your edit buffer though
some external "filter" program.
The output of the program then replaces the original text.
For example, this following will sort lines 1 through 10 using the "sort"
program.
<pre>
:1,10!sort</pre>
<p>If you use the <em>:!</em> command without any line addresses, then
elvis will simply execute the program and display its output.
This is only guaranteed to work correctly for non-interactive programs;
to execute an interactive program you should use the <a href="#shell">:shell</a>
command.
<p><a name="LT"></a><a name="GT"></a>
The <em>:<</em> and <em>:></em> commands adjust the indentation on the
addressed lines.
The <em>:<</em> command decreases the leading whitespace by the number of
spaces indicated in the <a href="elvisopt.html#shiftwidth">shiftwidth</a>
option, and <em>:></em> does the reverse.
You can use multiple < or > characters in a single command to increase
the shift amount; for example, <em>:>>></em> shifts text by triple
the <a href="elvisopt.html#shiftwidth">shiftwidth</a> amount.
Normally elvis' versions of these commands will leave blank lines unchanged,
but if you append a '!' (as in <em>:>!</em>) then the command will affect
blank lines in addition to other lines.
<p><a name="join"></a>
The <em>:join</em> command joins multiple lines together so they form one
long line.
Normally it will intelligently decide how much whitespace it should place
between lines, depending on the <a href="elvisopt.html#sentenceend">sentenceend,</a>
<a href="elvisopt.html#sentencegap">sentencegap,</a> and
<a href="elvisopt.html#sentencequote">sentencequote</a> options.
When invoked with a '!' suffix (as in <code>:join!</code>), it joins the lines
without doing fancy things to whitespace.
<p><a name="undo"></a><a name="redo"></a>
The <em>:undo</em> command undoes recent changes.
The number of undoable changes is controllable on a buffer-by-buffer basis,
via the <a href="elvisopt.html#undolevels">undolevels</a> option.
The <em>:redo</em> command undoes an undo.
<h3><a name="GLOBAL"></a>4.3.3 Global edit commands</h3>
<pre graphic>.-------.-------------------.-----------------------------------.
|ADDRESS| COMMAND | ARGUMENTS |
|-------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| range | <a href="#global">g[lobal]</a>[!] | /regexp/ excmds |
| range | <a href="#vglobal">v[global]</a>[!] | /regexp/ excmds |
| range | <a href="#substitute">s[ubstitute]</a> | /regexp/text/[g|.<var>n</var>][x][c][p|l|#] |
| range | <a href="#AMP">&</a> | [g|.<var>n</var>][p|l|#][x][c] |
| range | <a href="#TILDE">~</a> | [g|.<var>n</var>][p|l|#][x][c] |
^-------^-------------------^-----------------------------------^
</pre>
<a name="global"></a>
<a name="vglobal"></a>
The <em>:global</em> command searches for lines which contain the
<a href="elvisre.html">/regexp/</a> and executes the given <var>excmds</var>
for each matching line.
The <em>:vglobal</em> command executes the <var>excmds</var> for each line
which <em>does not</em> match the <var>/regexp/.</var>
<p>In script files, you can supply multiple command lines to a single
<code>:global</code> or <code>:vglobal</code> by placing a '{' character on the
<code>:global/:vglobal</code> line,
following that with any number of command lines, and then finally a '}'
character on a line by itself to mark the end.
This notation doesn't allow nesting; you can't use {...} inside a larger
{...} command list.
(Hopefully this limitation will be lifted soon.)
<p><a name="substitute"></a>
The <em>:substitute</em> command searches for the <var>/regexp/</var> in each
line, and replaces the matching text with <var>newtext.</var>
The interpretation of <var>newtext</var> is described in
<a href="elvisre.html#SUBST">section 5.2</a>
<p>The <var>newtext</var> can be followed by a <kbd>g</kbd> flag to
replace all instances in each line.
Without the <kbd>g</kbd> flag, only the first match within each line is changed
(unless the <a href="elvisopt.html#gdefault">gdefault</a> option is set).
To replace some other instance in each line, give a decimal point followed by
the instance number, such as <kbd>.3</kbd> to replace the third instance of
matching text in each line.
<p>You can also supply a <kbd>p</kbd> flag.
This causes each affected line to be printed (like <a href="#print">:p</a>),
after all substitutions have been made to that line.
Similarly, <kbd>l</kbd> lists it (like <a href="#list">:l</a>), and
<kbd>#</kbd>prints it with a line number (like <a href="#number">:nu or :#</a>).
<p>You can also make elvis ask for confirmation before each substitution by
appending a <kbd>c</kbd> flag.
The <code>:s</code> command will locate the first match and then exit immediately,
but it will leave the window in an unusual input state in which
<kbd>y</kbd> performs a substitution and then moves on to the next match,
<kbd>n</kbd> does not perform the substitution but still moves to the next match, and
<kbd>Esc</kbd> cancels the operation.
Most other keys act like <kbd>y</kbd> in this mode.
<p>Elvis supports a special <kbd>x</kbd> flag.
Instead of performing each substitution,
elvis will execute the final replacement text as an ex command line.
This is used in the implementation of modelines, like this:
<pre>
1,5 s/ex:\(.*\):/\1/x
$-4,$ s/ex:\(.*\):/\1/x</pre>
<p><a name="AMP"></a><a name="TILDE"></a>
The <em>:&</em> and <em>:~</em> commands both repeat the previous
<em>:substitute</em> command, discarding any previous flags.
The difference between them is that <code>:&</code> uses the regular
expression from the previous <code>:s</code> command, but <code>:~</code>
uses the most recent regular expression from any context.
<h3><a name="PRINT"></a>4.3.4 Displaying text</h3>
<pre graphic>.-------.-------------------.-----------------------------------.
|ADDRESS| COMMAND | ARGUMENTS |
|-------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| range | <a href="#print">p[rint]</a> | [count] |
| range | <a href="#list">l[ist]</a> | [count] |
| range | <a href="#number">nu[mber]</a> | [count] |
| range | <a href="#HASH">#</a> | [count] |
| line | <a href="#z">z</a> | [spec] |
| range | <a href="#EQ">=</a> | |
^-------^-------------------^-----------------------------------^
</pre>
<a name="print"></a>
The <em>:print</em> command displays lines from the edit buffer.
It displays them the normal way -- with tabs expanded and so on.
<p><a name="list"></a>
The <em>:list</em> command also displays lines, but it tries to make
all non-printing characters visible, and it marks the end of each line with
a '$' character.
<p><a name="number"></a><a name="HASH"></a>
The <em>:number</em> and <em>:#</em> commands are identical to each other.
They both display lines the normal way except that each line is preceded by
its line number.
<p><a name="z"></a>
The <em>:z</em> command shows a "window" of lines surrounding the current line.
The default size of the "window" is taken from the
<a href="elvisopt.html#window">window</a> option.
If a line address is supplied, then it becomes the current line before this
command is executed.
The <var>spec</var> can be one of the following characters;
the default is <kbd>z+.</kbd>
<pre graphic>
.------.-----------------------------------------------------.
| SPEC | OUTPUT STYLE |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| - | Place the current line at the bottom of the window. |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| + | Place the current line at the top of the window. |
| | Upon completion of this command, the last line |
| | output will become the current line. |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| ^ | Jump back 2 windows' worth of lines, and then do |
| | the equivalent of z+. Note that z+ is like paging |
| | forward and z^ is like paging backward. |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| . | Place the current line in the middle of the window. |
| | Upon completion of this command, the last line |
| | output will become the current line. |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| = | Place the current line in the middle of the window, |
| | and surround it with lines containing hyphens. |
^------^-----------------------------------------------------^ </pre>
<p><a name="EQ"></a>
The <em>:=</em> command displays the line number of the current line,
or the addressed line if given one address.
If given a range of addresses, it tells you the line numbers of the two
endpoints and the total number of lines in the range.
<h3><a name="TAGS"></a>4.3.5 Tags</h3>
<pre graphic>.-------.-------------------.-----------------------------------.
|ADDRESS| COMMAND | ARGUMENTS |
|-------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| | <a href="#tag">ta[g]</a>[!] | [tag] |
| | <a href="#stack">stac[k]</a> | |
| | <a href="#pop">po[p]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#browse">br[owse]</a>[!] | restrictions |
^-------^-------------------^-----------------------------------^
</pre>
Tags provide a way to associate names with certain places within certain files.
Typically, you will run the <strong>ctags</strong> program to create a file
named "tags" which describes the location of each function and macro
used in the source code for your project.
The tag names are the same as the function names, in this case.
<p>In HTML mode, elvis uses the tags commands to follow hypertext links,
but we'll generally ignore that in the following discussions.
<p><a name="tag"></a>
The <em>:tag</em> command performs tag lookup.
It reads the "tags" file to locate the named tag.
It then loads the source file where that tag is defined, and moves the
cursor to the specific point within that buffer where the tag is defined.
Elvis' implementation of <code>:tag</code> also allows you to give extra
<a href="elvistag.html#HINTS">restrictions and hints.</a>
There is also a <a href="#stag">:stag</a> command which creates a new window
and moves its cursor to the tag's definition point.
<p><a name="browse"></a>
The <em>:browse</em> command extracts selected tags from the tags file,
constructs an HTML document listing those tags (with hypertext links to their
definition points inside your source code) and displays it in the current
window.
There is also a <a href="#sbrowse">:sbrowse</a> command which displays the
same list in a new window.
If invoked with no args, they browse all tags in the current file.
If invoked with a '!' suffix, they browse <em>all</em> tags.
See chapter <a href="elvistag.html">14. Tags</a> for a full description of
<a href="elvistag.html#HINTS">restrictions and hints,</a> and
<a href="elvistag.html#BROWSE">browsing.</a>
<p><a name="stack"></a>
Before moving the cursor, elvis will save the old cursor position on a stack.
You can use the <em>:stack</em> command to display the contents of that stack.
Each window has an independent stack.
<p><a name="pop"></a>
The <em>:pop</em> command pops a cursor position off the stack, restoring
the cursor to its previous position.
When you're browsing though source code, you will typically use <em>:tag</em>
to go deeper into the call tree, and <em>:pop</em> to come back out again.
<p>In HTML mode, these all work the same except that <em>:tag</em> expects to
be given an URL instead of a tag name.
URLs don't depend on having a "tags" file, so the "tags" file is ignored
when in HTML mode.
Elvis doesn't support any network protocols, so its URLs can only consist
of a file name and/or a #label.
The following example would move the cursor to the start of this section:
<pre>
:tag elvisopt.html#TAGS</pre>
<h3><a name="IO"></a>4.3.6 File I/O commands</h3>
<pre graphic>.-------.-------------------.-----------------------------------.
|ADDRESS| COMMAND | ARGUMENTS |
|-------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| line | <a href="#read">r[ead]</a> | file | !shellcmd |
| range | <a href="#write">w[rite]</a>[!] | [file | >>file | !shellcmd] |
| range | <a href="#lpr">lp[r]</a>[!] | [file | >>file | !shellcmd] |
^-------^-------------------^-----------------------------------^
</pre>
<a name="read"></a>
The <em>:read</em> command reads a file or external program,
and inserts the new text into the edit buffer after the addressed line.
If you don't explicitly give a line address, then the text will be
inserted after the current line.
To insert the file's contents into the top of the buffer (before line 1),
you should specify line 0.
For example, to insert the contents of "foo.txt" before line 1, you would
give the command...
<pre>:0 read foo.txt</pre>
<p><a name="write"></a>
The <em>:write</em> command writes either the entire edit buffer (if no
address range is given) or a part of it (if a range is given) out to either
a file or an external filter program.
If you don't specify the output file or external command,
then elvis will assume it should write to the file that the buffer was
originally loaded from.
<p>Elvis will normally prevent you from overwriting existing files.
(The exact details of this protection depend on the
<a href="elvisopt.html#edited">edited,</a>
<a href="elvisopt.html#filename">filename,</a>
<a href="elvisopt.html#newfile">newfile,</a>
<a href="elvisopt.html#readonly">readonly,</a> and
<a href="elvisopt.html#writeany">writeany</a> options.)
If you want to force elvis to overwrite an existing file,
you can append a "!" to the end of the command name, but before the file name.
In order to avoid ambiguity, <em>there must not be any whitespace between
the "write" command name and the "!" character</em> when you want to
overwrite an existing file.
Conversely, when writing to an external program there <em>should</em> be
whitespace before the "!" that marks the start of the program's command line.
The ">>file" notation tells elvis to append to "file" instead of overwriting it.
<p><a name="lpr"></a>
The <em>:lpr</em> command sends text to the printer.
It is similar to <code>:write</code> except that <code>:lpr</code>
formats the buffer contents as defined by the
<a href="elvisopt.html#bufdisplay">bufdisplay</a> option and the
<a href="elvisopt.html#LPR">printing options.</a>
If no output file or external program is specified,
then the printer output is sent to the file or external program
specified by the <a href="elvisopt.html#lpout">lpout</a> option.
<h3><a name="ARGS"></a>4.3.7 The args list, and selecting a file to edit</h3>
<pre graphic>.-------.-------------------.-----------------------------------.
|ADDRESS| COMMAND | ARGUMENTS |
|-------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| | <a href="#args">ar[gs]</a> | [file...] |
| | <a href="#next">n[ext]</a>[!] | [file...] |
| | <a href="#previous">N[ext]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#previous">pre[vious]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#rewind">rew[ind]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#last">la[st]</a> | |
| | <a href="#wnext">wn[ext]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#file">f[ile]</a> | [file] |
| | <a href="#edit">e[dit]</a>[!] | [+line] [file] |
| | <a href="#ex">ex</a>[!] | [+line] [file] |
| | <a href="#visual">vi[sual]</a>[!] | [+line] [file] |
| | <a href="#open">o[pen]</a>[!] | [+line] [file] |
^-------^-------------------^-----------------------------------^
</pre>
The "args list" is a list of file names.
It provides an easy way to edit a whole series of files, one at a time.
Initially, it contains any file names that you named on the command line
when you invoked elvis.
<p><a name="args"></a>
The <em>:args</em> command displays the args list, with the
current file name enclosed in brackets.
You can also use <code>:args</code> to replace the args list with a new
set of files;
this has no effect on whatever file you're editing at that time, but
it will affect any <a href="#next">:next</a> commands that you give later.
<p><a name="next"></a>
The <em>:next</em> command switches to the next file in the args list.
This means it loads the next file from the args list into an edit buffer,
and makes that edit buffer be the current buffer for this window.
You can also give a new args list on the <code>:next</code> command line;
this acts like a <code>:args</code> command to set the args list, followed by
an argumentless <code>:next</code> command to load the next (first) file in
that list.
<p><a name="Next"></a><a name="previous"></a>
The <em>:Next</em> (with a capital "N") and <em>:previous</em> commands
are identical to each other.
They both move backwards through the args list.
<p><a name="rewind"></a><a name="last"></a>
The <em>:rewind</em> and <em>:last</em> commands switch to the first and
last files in the args list, respectively.
<p><a name="wnext"></a>
The <em>:wnext</em> command is like a <a href="#write">:write</a> command
followed by a <a href="#next">:next</a> command.
It saves any changes made to the current file before switching to the next
file.
(The <a href="elvisopt.html#autowrite">autowrite</a> option offers a better
alternative.)
<p><a name="file"></a>
The <em>:file</em> command displays information about the current buffer.
It can also be used to change the filename associated with this buffer.
<p><a name="edit"></a><a name="ex"></a>
The <em>:edit</em> and <em>:ex</em> commands are identical to each other.
They both switch to a new file, or if no file is named then they reread
the current file.
This has no effect on the args list.
<p><a name="visual"></a><a name="open"></a>
The <em>:visual</em> and <em>:open</em> commands switch to a new file if
one is named; otherwise they continue to use the current buffer <em>without</em>
reloading it from the original file.
These commands have the side-effect of switching the window mode from ex mode
to either the normal visual mode or the uglier "open" mode, respectively.
"Open" mode allows you to use all of the visual commands, but it only displays
a single line (the line that the cursor is on) at the bottom of the screen.
The sole advantage that "open" mode has over "visual" mode is that "open"
mode doesn't need to know what kind of terminal you're using.
<h3><a name="QUIT"></a>4.3.8 Quitting</h3>
<pre graphic>.-------.-------------------.-----------------------------------.
|ADDRESS| COMMAND | ARGUMENTS |
|-------|-------------------|-----------------------------------|
| | <a href="#close">cl[ose]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#quit">q[uit]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#wquit">wq[uit]</a>[!] | [file] |
| | <a href="#xit">x[it]</a>[!] | [file] |
| | <a href="#qall">qa[ll]</a>[!] | |
| | <a href="#preserve">pres[erve]</a> | |
^-------^-------------------^-----------------------------------^
</pre>
Except for <code>:qall,</code> all of these commands attempt to close the current
window without losing any changes.
When the last window is closed, elvis exits.
The differences between these commands concern how modified buffers are handled.
In the discussions below, it is assumed that
<a href="elvisopt.html#tempsession">tempsession</a> is True and the buffer's
<a href="elvisopt.html#retain">retain</a> option is False, which is usually
the case.
<p><a name="close"></a>
The <em>:close</em> command is the simplest.
If the current window is the only window and one or more buffers have been
modified but not yet saved, then <code>:close</code> will fail;
otherwise the current window will be closed.
The visual <a href="elvisvi.html#^Wq">^Wq</a> command uses this command internally.
If the window's buffer was modified, then elvis will just have a modified
buffer lying around, which may or may not be visible in some other window.
That's okay.
The other quitting commands won't allow you to lose that buffer accidentally.
You can make some other window view that buffer by giving that buffer's
name in parentheses on an ex command line in that other window.
<p><a name="quit"></a>
The <em>:quit</em> command fails if the current buffer has been modified.
If you wish to abandon the changes made to the current buffer, you can add