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BPE(1)									BPE(1)

NAME
       bpe - examine and patch binary files

SYNOPSIS
       bpe [ -abcdeEhkKLmrwxy ] [ -Bext ] [ -ln ] [ -ooffset ]
	   [ -sn ] file ...
       bpe -H
       bpe -v
       bpe -V

DESCRIPTION
       bpe is a simple, screen-oriented editor for searching and editing ordi‐
       nary files in either ASCII or hexadecimal  modes	 (directories  can  be
       searched on many systems but not edited). Files are displayed in n-byte
       pages (where n is a function of the terminal/window size)  in  separate
       ASCII  and hexadecimal windows and it is possible to switch between the
       two windows as required.

       The size of files that can be edited is not limited by  available  mem‐
       ory.

   Command-Line Options
       -a	 align	a  searched-for	 string	 or  a selected address at the
		 first column of each window - the default is for the  display
		 to be aligned on 16-byte boundaries.

       -b	 create	 a  backup  file with the default extension .bak - the
		 filename must be no longer than the maximum number of charac‐
		 ters  allowed	for  a	directory  entry  less	the characters
		 required for the extension.

		 The backup file  is  created  automatically  in  the  current
		 directory  with  the  user's  effective  UID, with the GID as
		 specified in creat(2) and with the same modes	and  modifica‐
		 tion-time  as	the  original file. If a file of the same name
		 already exists the user will be given the option of replacing
		 it.  The backup file is created only on the first access of a
		 given file in the current bpe session.

		 A backup file will not be created for a file that  is	opened
		 in  read-only	mode  or  that is not an ordinary file or if a
		 lockfile-error is detected.

       -Bext	 specify an extension for backup files instead of the  default
		 - apart from restrictions imposed by the file-system, ext can
		 be no longer than 15 characters. Note that the -b  option  or
		 the  B	 command is still required to actually create a backup
		 file.

       -c	 set the cursor position on entry to an edit mode to the  top,
		 left-hand  corner  of the appropriate window - by default the
		 cursor position is set to the first character of a  searched-
		 for  ASCII/hex string after a search operation or to the win‐
		 dow position representing a selected address after a set-cur‐
		 rent-address  operation  (the C command can be used to toggle
		 cursor-positioning on/off).

       -d	 clear the display before accessing each file in the file list
		 and  when toggling between the help screens - by default, bpe
		 updates only those parts of  the  display  that  need	to  be
		 changed.   However,   this   can  cause  problems  with  some
		 curses/terminal combinations that leave  "old"	 data  in  the
		 display. Using the -d option will overcome the problem (the D
		 command can be used to toggle display-clear on/off).

       -e	 disable error-bell for command and file errors.

       -E	 disable error-bell in edit modes  and	during	string/address
		 data-entry.

       -h	 disable  highlighting	- by default, bpe uses highlighting in
		 several areas	but  some  curses/terminal  combinations  have
		 trouble  with	mixed  highlighted and non-highlighted charac‐
		 ters, particularly over slow lines. The -h option will	 solve
		 the  problem  although	 some of the visual convenience of bpe
		 will be lost (the H command can be used to toggle  highlight‐
		 ing on/off).

       -k	 disable  ESC  as escape character - by default, ESC (0x1b) is
		 one of the characters that can be used to exit edit-mode  and
		 to  abort  string/address/data	 entry.	 This can cause timing
		 problems, particularly over slow lines, with  terminals  that
		 use  the  escape  character in the strings sent by the cursor
		 keys. If the -k option is used, ESC will no longer be	inter‐
		 preted	 as an escape character. This option is really of sig‐
		 nificance only if bpe has been compiled with keypad enabled.

       -K	 disable keypad - this option, which is available only if  bpe
		 has  been  compiled  with  keypad enabled, can be useful with
		 some terminals (check the compile-time defaults with  the  -V
		 option). The "vi-style" cursor-movement keys remain available
		 if the -K option is used (see under Editing below).

       -ln	 set the position of the target line after search and set-cur‐
		 rent-address  operations  to  line  n	where  n is an integer
		 between 1 and 15 - the default is for the target line	to  be
		 positioned at the top of the windows (i.e.  n = 1).

       -L	 disable file-locking - by default a lockfile is created for a
		 file opened in read/write mode and any other attempt to  open
		 the  same  file  for read/write will result in the file being
		 opened in read-only mode. The -L option disables normal  cre‐
		 ation	of  the	 lockfile  although  it	 is still created (but
		 removed as soon as the file is open) as a check for its prior
		 existence.  This  option,  which is available only if bpe has
		 been compiled with file-locking enabled, should be used  with
		 caution!

       -m	 disable  message-receive - by default the modes of the user's
		 tty are left unchanged. The -m option will clear  group-write
		 and  world-write  access.  The original modes are restored on
		 quitting bpe or when exiting to a shell.

       -ooffset	 specify the start-address of the first page of	 a  file  that
		 will  be  displayed  when a file is first accessed instead of
		 the default of 0x00 - the offset-address, which should be  in
		 the  range  from  0x01 to EOF inclusive, can be either octal,
		 decimal or hexadecimal. An octal address should have a	 lead‐
		 ing 0 and a hex address should have a leading 0x. If there is
		 no leading 0 or 0x it is taken to be a decimal address.

		 The start-address will be set to 0x00 if  offset  is  outside
		 the  legal range for a given file and, in any case, will have
		 no effect if a file has already been accessed in the  current
		 bpe session.

       -r	 open  all  files  in read-only mode. A file will be opened in
		 read-only mode automatically regardless of the use of the  -r
		 option	 if  it	 does  not  have write access but is otherwise
		 accessible or if a lockfile exists  for  that	file  (see  -L
		 above).

       -sn	 set  the number of lines to be scrolled with the + and - com‐
		 mands to n where n is an integer greater than 1 - the default
		 is  half  the	size  of the editing window (i.e. 8 lines on a
		 24-line terminal).

       -w	 force bpe to use a 24-line by 80-column  display  over-riding
		 any  window-size information obtained at run-time (see Window
		 Size below).

       -x	 do not disable	 XON-XOFF  flow-control.  It  is  disabled  by
		 default,  partly  to  avoid  the possibility of an unintended
		 CTRL-S seeming to "lock" the terminal. However,  flow-control
		 may  be  needed  with slow terminals (particularly on dial-up
		 lines) but will be available with the -x option only if it is
		 the default state.

       -y	 disable  display  of the file-address represented by the cur‐
		 sor-position during editing and file-address  display	during
		 searching  (useful  on	 slow  systems and, particularly, with
		 slow terminals - the Y command can be used to toggle address-
		 display on/off).

       A  brief	 explanation  of the command-line options will be displayed if
       bpe is called with the -H option. The version number and date  will  be
       displayed with the -v option. If the -V option is used the compile-time
       defaults will also be listed.

   Environment-Variable Options
       Any of the command-line options (other than -H, -v and -V) can also  be
       placed  in  the	environment variable, BPE, to set user-preferred, run-
       time defaults and should take the form, for example, BPE=´abcedeEhkKLm‐
       rwxyBext lnsnooffset´ where n is an integer, ext is the required exten‐
       sion for any backup files and offset is the address at which  file-dis‐
       play  should  start (see -o under Command-Line Options for the format).
       Note that, if B or o is given, ext or offset respectively must be  fol‐
       lowed by a space and the entire argument properly-enclosed in quotes if
       it is not the last option on the line. The form	given  is  appropriate
       for the Bourne and Korn shells.

       Any of the BPE options used without a corresponding command-line option
       (or vice-versa) will have the effect listed under Command-Line Options.
       However, an option given on the command line that is already set in BPE
       will have its action reversed.

       As an example, BPE=r will put bpe into read-only	 mode  as  a  run-time
       default	but  the  use  of  the -r command-line option will then enable
       read/write mode.

       Four exceptions to this general rule are the -Bext, -ooffset,  -ln  and
       -sn  command-line options where the strings ext and offset and the val‐
       ues for n will be used in place of anything set in BPE.

   Buffers
       bpe maintains three main buffers - an edit buffer, a last-write	buffer
       and  an	original-data buffer. The size of the buffers is determined by
       the number of lines in the editing windows but would be 256 bytes for a
       "standard" 24 x 80 terminal.

       The edit buffer contains the data that is displayed in the editing win‐
       dows.

       The last-write buffer reflects any changes that have  been  written  to
       disk  and  is updated at each write. It is used to restore the contents
       of the edit buffer to the state that obtained before any	 modifications
       were  made  after the last write. The last-write buffer's contents will
       be the same as that of the original-data buffer if no write  has	 taken
       place.

       The  original-data  buffer  contains the data read from the disk before
       any edit session for that page where a page is defined as any  editing-
       window-sized segment of the file. The current page is that editing-win‐
       dow-sized segment contained within the buffers' boundaries.

       Note, therefore, that any movement outside the current-page boundaries,
       i.e.   moving to another page, will change the buffers' boundaries and,
       therefore, their contents.

       The start-address of the current page is displayed  at  the  top-right-
       hand corner of the screen.

       bpe also maintains buffers for each file in the argument list.  Various
       file-attributes are saved when a file is first accessed which speeds-up
       operations during any subsequent access in the current bpe session.

       The  current-page,  marker, last-edited-page, last-set-current-address,
       last-successfully-searched-for-string and cursor-offset	addresses  are
       also  saved  for	 each file making it possible to return to a file with
       all previous settings intact - including any highlighting from a search
       operation.

   Window Size
       The  window-size is determined at run time. bpe will attempt to use all
       of the available lines (unless the -w option has	 been  used)  but  the
       80-column  width	 is  fixed.  bpe  will abort with an error if the win‐
       dow/terminal has fewer than 80 columns or if it has  fewer  lines  than
       the  minimum  set  at  compile-time  (this  can	be checked with the -V
       option) or fewer than 24 lines if the -w option has been used.

       This version of bpe does not respond to a SIGWINCH,  i.e.  the  display
       cannot be resized dynamically.

   Edit-Mode Commands
       CTRL-E	      toggle  edit-mode	 -  can be used after entering an edit
		      mode with either the a or h commands.
       CTRL-V	      escape next edit character - allows the  entry  of  non-
		      printing ASCII characters in ASCII-edit mode and of sin‐
		      gle ASCII characters in hex-edit mode.
       CTRL-R	      redraw current screen (see below).
       CTRL-X	      set marker [a to z] to address  represented  by  current
		      cursor-position.
       DEL	      single-character	undo - available only for changes that
		      have not been written to disk.
       ESC or CTRL-C  exit edit mode and abort data-entry  at  any  prompt  in
		      command-mode  (CTRL-D  can  also	be  used - it has been
		      included to maintain "compatibility" with the first ver‐
		      sions of bpe).

   Command-Mode Commands
       N	      move to next file in arg list.
       P	      move to previous file in arg list.
       F	      display/select-from file list.
       A	      add file to list.
       E	      edit new file.
       j	      jump to file number from arg list.
       J	      jump to file name from arg list.
       t or #	      toggle between two-most-recently-accessed files.
       T	      show  names  of two-most-recently-accessed files on sta‐
		      tus-line - the name of the current file  will  be	 high‐
		      lighted.
       b or g	      display first page.
       e or G	      display last page.
       n or SPACE     display next page.
       p	      display previous page.
       CTRL-J	      scroll forward 1 line.
       +	      scroll  forward  8  lines	 (the  number  of  lines to be
		      scrolled with the + and - commands can be set  with  the
		      -sn option).
       CTRL-K	      scroll back 1 line.
       -	      scroll back 8 lines.
       s	      set current address.
       m	      set marker [a to z] to the current file address.
       M	      set marker [a to z] to specific address.
       k	      clear markers.
       X	      display	marker,	  current-page,	 last-edit-page,  set-
		      address, string-search and offset addresses.  Note  that
		      any  legal  bpe  command	can be entered at the address-
		      screen prompt  although  user-confirmation  is  required
		      before quitting bpe directly from the prompt.
       ` or ´	      goto address represented by marker [a to z]
       @	      goto last set-current-address
       o	      goto offset address entered on the command line.
       x	      goto start-address of last-edited page.
       f or /	      find ASCII string (from current address)
       l	      locate hex bytes (from current address)
       L	      goto address of last successfully-searched-for string.
       a	      edit in ASCII window.
       h	      edit in hex window.
       C	      toggle cursor-positioning on/off
       u	      undo all changes to the window-buffer that have not been
		      written to disk.
       U	      undo changes after the window-buffer has been written to
		      disk  -  this  facility is available only if the current
		      file address has not been changed.
       w	      write modified window-buffer to disk.
       CTRL-E	      edit last command-mode entry at the  file-name,  search-
		      string  and  address  prompts (see under Command Editing
		      below).
       c	      clear status-line
       D	      toggle display-clear on/off
       H	      toggle highlighting on/off - any highlighting already in
		      the  display will be removed when highlighting is turned
		      off. Turning highlighting on will restore any highlight‐
		      ing that would have been in the display had highlighting
		      not been off or that had been there before  highlighting
		      was  turned  off with the exception of any string-search
		      highlighting that had been removed with the r command.
       r	      remove highlighting - any highlighting from a search  or
		      edit  will  be removed but, in the latter case, the win‐
		      dow-buffer contents will not be  changed.	  Highlighting
		      will not be turned-off. This command will have no effect
		      if highlighting is off.
       d	      display highlighting - restore any highlighting that has
		      been  removed with the r command. The d command can also
		      be used to restore highlighting to a searched-for-string
		      that  was	 removed  by  entering an edit mode as long as
		      there  are  no   unwritten   window-buffer-modifications
		      present  in  the	display	 and the string itself has not
		      been edited. Once	 again,	 this  command	will  have  no
		      effect if highlighting is turned-off.
       R or CTRL-R    redraw  current screen - useful for removing mailer mes‐
		      sages and the like. The CTRL-R form  can	be  used  from
		      within  the  edit	 modes	and  during  data entry at any
		      prompt.
       Y	      toggle address-display on/off
       B	      create a backup of the current file (even if it has been
		      opened  in  read-only mode) regardless of whether the -b
		      command-line option has been used. A backup can be  cre‐
		      ated only of an ordinary file.
       W	      write (part-of) the current file to a new file.
       O	      show status of address-display, cursor-positioning, dis‐
		      play-clear and highlighting options.
       S	      show  file  information  and  window-buffer,   file-mod,
		      backup, lockfile and string-search status.
       V	      show version number.
       q	      quit bpe.
       Q	      unconditional quit.
       !	      shell-escape (no arguments accepted) - runs shell set in
		      the SHELL environment variable or defaults to /bin/sh if
		      SHELL is not set.	 CTRL-Z can also be used to initiate a
		      shell-escape on systems  on  which  job-control  is  not
		      available or has been disabled.
       ?	      display  help  screens  -	 the  help screens will, where
		      appropriate, reflect compile and run-time	 defaults.  As
		      with the X command, any legal bpe command can be entered
		      at the help-screen prompts although user-confirmation is
		      required before quitting bpe directly from help.

   Command Editing
       Simple  line-editing  is available when entering string/address data at
       an appropriate prompt. CTRL-H (or left-arrow key if keypad is  enabled)
       will  move backwards and CTRL-L (or right-arrow key) will move forwards
       through an already-entered string. DEL will delete the single character
       before  the  cursor or at the cursor if at the beginning of the string.
       Insert mode is always on and  any  legal	 character  will  be  inserted
       before the cursor.

       Entering	 CTRL-E	 will  retrieve	 any string entered previously at that
       prompt and make it available for editing. A  string  for	 a  particular
       prompt is carried across from file to file.

       A  maximum  of 63 characters can be entered at any prompt at which com‐
       mand editing is available. Data-entry can be aborted by	entering  ESC,
       CTRL-C or CTRL-D.

   Selecting Files
       Move  through the files in the argument list with the N, P, F, j, J and
       t commands.

       The N and P commands will move to the next and previous	files  in  the
       argument list respectively.

       The  F  command will display a numbered list of the files with the name
       of the current file highlighted (or  marked  with  square  brackets  if
       highlighting is turned off) - select the required file by number. Enter
       the number of the current file or RETURN on its own to continue editing
       the  current file. Note that the length of the file name (or path name)
       in the display is limited to 19 characters - only the last  18  charac‐
       ters  are  displayed,  with a leading > to indicate that truncation has
       taken place, if the name is longer than the  19-character  limit	 (only
       the  last  16  are  displayed  for  the current file if highlighting is
       turned off). Note, too, that the same truncation from the left is  used
       when  necessary for the file-name display at the top-left of the screen
       and, when appropriate, on the status-line.

       The j command will prompt for a number from the file list -  enter  the
       number of the current file or RETURN on its own to continue editing the
       current file. Use of this command assumes that  the  user  has  already
       viewed  that  list  and,	 thus,	knows  the number. It provides a quick
       method of switching between files without having to  display  the  full
       list  each time. If there are only two files in the list, the j command
       will toggle between them.

       The J command will prompt for a name from the file list - note that the
       only  names  that  can be used are those which were present on the com‐
       mand-line when bpe was called or which were added with the A or E  com‐
       mands.  Once again, if there are only two files in the list, the J com‐
       mand will toggle between them.

       The t or # commands will toggle between the two	most-recently-accessed
       files  from the file list. The names of the two files, with that of the
       current file highlighted (or marked with square brackets if  highlight‐
       ing is turned off), can be shown on the status-line with the T command.
       The commands will have no effect until at least	two  files  have  been
       accessed.

       The A or E commands can be used to access files not already in the file
       list. Both commands will prompt for a file name and add the name to the
       file  list.  The E command will also change the current file to the new
       file. Note that there can be no more than 60 files in the list.

   Moving Through a File
       Any of the file-position commands can be used to move through a file.

       The s command will prompt for a	legal  address	which  can  be	either
       octal, decimal or hexadecimal. An octal address should have a leading 0
       and a hex address should have a leading 0x. If there is no leading 0 or
       0x it is taken to be a decimal address. Note that bpe defines the first
       byte of a file as being at address 0x00 which may cause minor confusion
       when using addresses given by some other utilities that insist that the
       first byte is at 0x01.

       Several "shorthand" codes can also be used at the prompt.

       A legal marker [a to z] that has already been set to an address can  be
       entered	in  response  instead of an actual address, a B or E will give
       the address of the beginning or the end of the file respectively,  a  C
       will  give  the	start-address  of  the current page, a G will give the
       start-address of the last page, an L will give the address of the  last
       successfully-search-for	string,	 an  O	will  give  the offset address
       entered on the command line, an X will give the	start-address  of  the
       last-edited  page, an S will give the address entered for the last set-
       address operation and entering just a RETURN will give the last address
       entered	at  that  prompt (this action is duplicated by the @ command).
       The last-address string can be retrieved for editing  with  CTRL-E  but
       the  addresses  represented by previously-entered "shorthand" codes are
       not available.

       A set-current-address operation can be aborted during address-entry (as
       can any data-entry at a prompt) by entering ESC, CTRL-C or CTRL-D.

       Markers can be used to store addresses to enable rapid movement through
       a file.

       Set a marker with the m command followed by a  valid  marker-identifier
       [a  to  z] at the prompt. The selected marker will be set to the start-
       address of the current page.

       Set a marker to a specific address with	the  M	command	 followed,  as
       before,	by a valid marker-identifier [a to z] at the marker prompt and
       then a legal address or "shorthand" code (see  above)  at  the  address
       prompt.

       A marker can be set from within an edit mode to the address represented
       by the current cursor position with CTRL-X

       All markers can be cleared with the k command.

       Move to the address represented by a marker with the ´ command followed
       by a valid marker-identifier [a to z] at the prompt.

       Move to the address of the last successfully-searched-for string, be it
       hex or ASCII, with the L command (see under Searching). The string will
       be  highlighted	in  both windows if it has not been modified since the
       search.

       Move to the start-address of the last page that was edited with	the  x
       command.

       The  current-page,  marker,  last-edited-page, last-set-current-address
       and last-successfully-searched-for-string addresses are saved for  each
       file but are not carried across from file to file.

   Editing
       Enter edit mode with a for ASCII or h for hex editing.

       Unless  the  -c	option has been used, the cursor will be placed at the
       start of a searched-for string or at the window-position representing a
       selected address. If the -c option has been used or if the editing ses‐
       sion does not follow a search or set-current-address operation the cur‐
       sor  will  be  placed in the upper, left-hand corner of the appropriate
       window.

       Use the "vi-style" cursor-movement keys - CTRL-J (down),	 CTRL-K	 (up),
       CTRL-H  (left),	CTRL-L (right) and CTRL-^ (home) - to place the cursor
       on the byte to be changed (the arrow-keys can also be used if  bpe  was
       appropriately-compiled and there is a valid termcap/terminfo entry).

       Enter  a	 printing  ASCII character, i.e. from 0x20 to 0x7e (32 to 126)
       inclusive, or a two-digit hex value depending on the  mode.   Prefixing
       each character with CTRL-V allows characters outside the printing-ASCII
       range to be entered in ASCII-edit  mode	or  single  characters	to  be
       entered in hex-edit mode.

       Note  that  non-printing	 ASCII	characters  will be represented in the
       ASCII window by the . (0x2e) character.

       Any changes will be highlighted and will be reflected in both  windows.
       However,	 any  "changes"	 that correspond to the last-write buffer con‐
       tents will not be highlighted.

       Any single ASCII character or hexadecimal digit can be returned to  its
       former value with DEL (0x7f).

       Exit edit mode by with ESC or CTRL-C and write the modified window-buf‐
       fer to disk with w.

       A warning will be given if an attempt is made to move to another	 page,
       to  scroll  the display, to edit another file or to quit the program if
       the modified edit buffer has not been written to disk. The edit	buffer
       can  be	returned to its state after the last write with the u command.
       The Q command can be used to quit bpe unconditionally after a user-con‐
       firmation  check	 even if buffer-modifications exist that have not been
       written to disk.

       If the modified edit buffer has been written to disk  the  changes  can
       still  be  undone  with the U command if the current file address, i.e.
       the current page, has not been changed since  the  write.  Any  changes
       made  to	 the  edit  buffer after the last write to disk of that buffer
       will also be undone by the U command. Only the page represented by  the
       edit  buffer  will  be affected - any changes to other pages previously
       written to disk will not be undone.

       The file-modification time will be restored on exit with the q  command
       or  when moving to another file with any of the file-selection commands
       if all changes written to disk have been undone using the U command.

       The display can be refreshed to remove any highlighting without	alter‐
       ing the buffer contents with the r command.

   Searching
       Search  for  hex data with the l command and a string of hex digits - a
       leading x or 0 or a trailing h is not required but a leading 0 will  be
       added  if  an  odd  number  of characters is entered. The search can be
       aborted during string-entry by entering ESC, CTRL-C or CTRL-D.

       To search again for the same string, enter  the	l  command  and	 press
       RETURN  - if the starting address has not been adjusted the search will
       start one character past the location of the last occurrence found. The
       last-searched-for-string	 can  be  edited  after entering CTRL-E and is
       carried across from file to file.

       Search for an ASCII string with the f or / command. Enter a  string  at
       the  prompt  followed  by  RETURN - once again, the previous pattern is
       used if no pattern is specified. Searching is case-sensitive  and  pro‐
       ceeds as with a hex-data search.

       Searching  is  forward  from  the  current  file	 address which remains
       unchanged if the string is not found. Search  operations	 do  not  wrap
       around after end-of-file.

       Following a successful search, the display is adjusted to put the first
       byte of the string in the line at the top of the screen unless the  -ln
       option has been used.

       The string will be highlighted in both windows unless the -h option has
       been used. Any highlighting of the searched-for string will be retained
       following a partial-screen scroll as long as all of the string is still
       in the windows but it will be removed if another	 search	 is  made.  It
       will also be removed when entering an edit mode to avoid confusion with
       the highlighting of modified data. The S command can be used  to	 check
       if any highlighting is the result of a string-search.

       It  is possible to return to the file-address of the last successfully-
       searched-for string (which is saved for each file) with the  L  command
       (see under Moving Through a File).

   Backups and Copies
       For  obvious reasons, it is suggested that a backup copy should be made
       before patching any file for which the source is not available. Backups
       can  be	made automatically with the -b command-line option or manually
       with the B command (see above).

       The current file, or any part of the current file, can also be  written
       to a new file with the W command.

       The  user  will	be prompted for a filename and, as before, previously-
       entered strings can be used by entering	just  RETURN  or  by  entering
       CTRL-E  for editing. If a file of the same name already exists the user
       will be given the option of replacing it, appending to it or quitting.

       The user will then be prompted for the current-file addresses  for  the
       segment	of  the	 file  that  is to be written to the new file. Enter a
       legal address at each prompt (see under Moving Through a File  for  the
       format).	  Note	that,  if the current page is included in the address-
       range, any buffer-modifications that have not been written to disk will
       not be written to the new file.

       The  new file will be created with the user's effective UID and GID and
       default permissions.

   Status
       The S command will show the following information on the status-line.

       [ordinary file]	   the file being examined or patched is  an  ordinary
			   file.
       [directory]	   the	file  being  examined is a directory - it will
			   have been opened in read-only mode even if  the  -r
			   option has not been used.
       [file-error]	   the	file  does  not exist, it is a zero-byte file,
			   its permissions do not allow access or it is a spe‐
			   cial file.
       [read/write]	   the	file  has  been opened for reading and writing
			   (normal default).
       [read-only]	   the file has been opened in read-only mode  because
			   the -r option has been used or the file is a direc‐
			   tory or a file-error	 or  lockfile-error  has  been
			   detected.
       [lockfile]	   a  lockfile	has  been  created  for the file being
			   edited - any attempt by another user	 to  edit  the
			   same	 file  will result in it being opened in read-
			   only mode.
       [nolockfile]	   no lockfile has been	 created  either  because  the
			   file	 has  been opened in read-only mode or because
			   the -L option has been used.
       [lockfile exists]   a lockfile for the file being edited has been  cre‐
			   ated	 by  another user - as a result, the file will
			   have been opened in read-only mode.
       [lockfile-error]	   an error was detected when  attempting  to  create,
			   read, write-to or delete the lockfile.
       [nobackup]	   no backup file has been created.
       [backup]		   a backup file has been created either by use of the
			   -b option or the B command.
       [backup-error]	   an error was detected when attempting to  create  a
			   backup file.
       [nomod]		   no  modifications have been made to the edit buffer
			   or written to disk.
       [buffermod]	   modifications have been made	 to  the  edit	buffer
			   that have not been written to disk.
       [filemod]	   modifications have been written to disk.
       [search]		   any	highlighting in the edit windows is the result
			   of a successful search.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       bpe checks the  BPE  environment	 variable  for	any  default  run-time
       options,	 the  SHELL  environment variable for the default shell if the
       shell escape is used and, of course, the TERM environment variable.

DIAGNOSTICS
       Self explanatory. Error messages are highlighted	 on  the  status  line
       unless the -h option has been used - information messages are not high‐
       lighted.

       Program-termination is not forced on any lseek(2), read(2) or  write(2)
       error  but the user should take any subsequent actions with care. The Q
       command will quit the program and avoid	further	 disk  accesses	 apart
       from any associated with the file close.

       However,	 program-termination  is  forced  on  any close(2) error or on
       other than a permission-related error when resetting the file-modifica‐
       tion  time  (if	appropriate) and the last error message is retained on
       the display.

RETURN VALUE
       bpe returns 1 on error, otherwise zero.

FILES
       /tmp/BPE..filename

SEE ALSO
       dd(1), dump(1), od(1)

AUTHOR
       v1.1 written by Andreas Pleschutznig, Teichhofweg 2, 8044 Graz, Austria
       (andy@mssx.uucp)
       Contributions by maart@cs.vu.nl
       v1.2  features  added  by Bill Davidsen, Box 8 KW-C206, Schenectady, NY
       12345
       v1.3  features  added  by  andy@mssx.uucp,   davidsen@crdos1.uucp   and
       jon@joblab and integrated by davidsen@crdos1.uucp
       v1.[1-3]	 bug-fixes, v1.4[0-8] and v2.00.nn rewrites/features-added and
       man page written by Ralphe Neill (ran@dgs.monash.edu.au)

BUGS
       This version of bpe does not respond to a SIGWINCH signal.

       The help, marker/address and file-list  screens	assume	a  24-line  by
       80-column display and are not adjusted if the display has fewer than 24
       lines.

       The maximum number of characters that can  be  entered  at  any	prompt
       where command editing is allowed is limited to 63.

       Initial write-accessibility checks use the access(2) system-call - this
       could lead to problems in some circumstances.

       The naming convention used for lockfiles could lead to ambiguities with
       similarly-named	files.	The first n - 4 characters of the filename are
       used for part of the lockfile name where n is  the  maximum  number  of
       characters  allowed  for a filename. The -L option can be used to over‐
       come the problem, should it arise, but it should be used	 with  caution
       (see under Command-Line Options above).

       Lockfile-operation cannot be relied on when editing files under NFS.

       Some  versions of curses(3X) do not check the TERMCAP or TERMINFO envi‐
       ronment variables making it impossible to use "custom" terminal defini‐
       tions.

       This version of bpe cannot be used with special files.

LOCAL MANUAL		       November 09 1998				BPE(1)
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