ex

ex [options] files

A line-oriented text editor; a superset of ed and the root of vi. See Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 for more information.

Options

-c command

Begin edit session by executing the given ex command (usually a search pattern or line address). If command contains spaces or special characters, enclose it in single quotes to protect it from the shell. For example, command could be ':set list' (show tabs and newlines) or /word (search for word) or '$' (show last line). (Note: -c command was formerly +command. The old version still works.)

-l

Run in LISP mode for editing LISP programs.

-L

List filenames saved due to an editor or system crash.

-r file

Recover and edit file after an editor or system crash.

-R

Edit in read-only mode to prevent accidental changing of files.

-s

Suppress status messages (e.g., errors, prompts); useful when running an ex script. (-s was formerly the - option; the old version still works.)

-t tag

Edit the file containing tag and position the editor at its definition (see ctags for more information).

-v

Invoke vi. Running vi directly is simpler.

-V

Verbose; print nonterminal input on standard error. Useful for tracking shell scripts running ex.

-wn

Set the window size to n. Useful over slow dial-up (or slow Internet) connections.

-x

Supply a key to encrypt or decrypt file using crypt.

-C

Same as -x, but assume that file began in encrypted form.

Examples

Either of the following examples applies the ex commands in exscript to text file doc:

ex -s doc < exscript
cat exscript | ex -s doc