ED(1) BSD General Commands Manual ED(1)NAMEed — text editor
SYNOPSISed [-] [-Esx] [-p string] [file]
DESCRIPTIONed is a line-oriented text editor. It is used to create, display, mod‐
ify, and otherwise manipulate text files. If invoked with a file argu‐
ment, then a copy of file is read into the editor's buffer. Changes are
made to this copy and not directly to file itself. Upon quitting ed, any
changes not explicitly saved with a w command are lost.
Editing is done in two distinct modes: command and input. When first
invoked, ed is in command mode. In this mode, commands are read from the
standard input and executed to manipulate the contents of the editor buf‐
fer.
A typical command might look like:
,s/old/new/g
which replaces all occurrences of the string old with new.
When an input command, such as a (append), i (insert), or c (change) is
given, ed enters input mode. This is the primary means of adding text to
a file. In this mode, no commands are available; instead, the standard
input is written directly to the editor buffer. Lines consist of text up
to and including a newline character. Input mode is terminated by enter‐
ing a single period (‘.’) on a line.
All ed commands operate on whole lines or ranges of lines; e.g., the d
command deletes lines; the m command moves lines, and so on. It is pos‐
sible to modify only a portion of a line by means of replacement, as in
the example above. However, even here, the s command is applied to whole
lines at a time.
In general, ed commands consist of zero or more line addresses, followed
by a single character command and possibly additional parameters; i.e.,
commands have the structure:
[address [,address]]command[parameters]
The address(es) indicate the line or range of lines to be affected by the
command. If fewer addresses are given than the command accepts, then
default addresses are supplied.
The options are as follows:
- Same as the -s option (deprecated).
-E Enables the use of extended regular expressions instead of the
basic regular expressions that are normally used.
-p string
Specifies a command prompt. This may be toggled on and off with
the P command.
-s Suppress diagnostics. This should be used if ed standard input
is from a script.
-x Prompt for an encryption key to be used in subsequent reads and
writes (see the x command).
file Specifies the name of a file to read. If file is prefixed with a
bang (‘!’), then it is interpreted as a shell command. In this
case, what is read is the standard output of file executed via
sh(1). To read a file whose name begins with a bang, prefix the
name with a backslash (‘\’). The default filename is set to file
only if it is not prefixed with a bang.
LINE ADDRESSING
An address represents the number of a line in the buffer. ed maintains a
current address which is typically supplied to commands as the default
address when none is specified. When a file is first read, the current
address is set to the last line of the file. In general, the current
address is set to the last line affected by a command.
A line address is constructed from one of the bases in the list below,
optionally followed by a numeric offset. The offset may include any com‐
bination of digits, operators (i.e., ‘+’, ‘-’, and ‘^’), and whitespace.
Addresses are read from left to right, and their values are computed rel‐
ative to the current address.
One exception to the rule that addresses represent line numbers is the
address 0 (zero). This means “before the first line”, and is legal wher‐
ever it makes sense.
An address range is two addresses separated either by a comma or semi-
colon. The value of the first address in a range cannot exceed the value
of the second. If only one address is given in a range, then the second
address is set to the given address. If an n-tuple of addresses is given
where n > 2, then the corresponding range is determined by the last two
addresses in the n-tuple. If only one address is expected, then the last
address is used.
Each address in a comma-delimited range is interpreted relative to the
current address. In a semi-colon-delimited range, the first address is
used to set the current address, and the second address is interpreted
relative to the first.
The following address symbols are recognized:
. The current line (address) in the buffer.
$ The last line in the buffer.
n The nth line in the buffer where n is a number in the range
[0,$].
- or ^ The previous line. This is equivalent to -1 and may be repeated
with cumulative effect.
-n or ^n
The nth previous line, where n is a non-negative number.
+ The next line. This is equivalent to +1 and may be repeated with
cumulative effect.
+n The nth next line, where n is a non-negative number.
whitespace n
whitespace followed by a number n is interpreted as ‘+n’.
, or % The first through last lines in the buffer. This is equivalent
to the address range 1,$.
; The current through last lines in the buffer. This is equivalent
to the address range .,$.
/re/ The next line containing the regular expression re. The search
wraps to the beginning of the buffer and continues down to the
current line, if necessary. // repeats the last search.
?re? The previous line containing the regular expression re. The
search wraps to the end of the buffer and continues up to the
current line, if necessary. ?? repeats the last search.
´lc The line previously marked by a k (mark) command, where lc is a
lower case letter.
REGULAR EXPRESSIONS
Regular expressions are patterns used in selecting text. For example,
the ed command
g/string/
prints all lines containing string. Regular expressions are also used by
the s command for selecting old text to be replaced with new.
In addition to specifying string literals, regular expressions can repre‐
sent classes of strings. Strings thus represented are said to be matched
by the corresponding regular expression. If it is possible for a regular
expression to match several strings in a line, then the leftmost longest
match is the one selected.
The following symbols are used in constructing regular expressions:
c Any character c not listed below, including ‘{’, ‘}’, ‘(’, ‘)’,
‘<’, and ‘>’ matches itself.
\c Any backslash-escaped character c, except for ‘{’, ‘}’, ‘(’,
‘)’, ‘<’, and ‘>’ matches itself.
. Matches any single character.
[char-class]
Matches any single character in the character class char-class.
See CHARACTER CLASSES below for further information.
[^char-class]
Matches any single character, other than newline, not in the
character class char-class.
^ If ^ is the first character of a regular expression, then it
anchors the regular expression to the beginning of a line.
Otherwise, it matches itself.
$ If $ is the last character of a regular expression, it anchors
the regular expression to the end of a line. Otherwise, it
matches itself.
\< Anchors the single character regular expression or subexpres‐
sion immediately following it to the beginning of a word.
(This may not be available.)
\> Anchors the single character regular expression or subexpres‐
sion immediately following it to the end of a word. (This may
not be available.)
\(re\) Defines a subexpression re. Subexpressions may be nested. A
subsequent backreference of the form \n, where n is a number in
the range [1,9], expands to the text matched by the nth subex‐
pression. For example, the regular expression \(.*\)\1 matches
any string consisting of identical adjacent substrings. Subex‐
pressions are ordered relative to their left delimiter.
* Matches the single character regular expression or subexpres‐
sion immediately preceding it zero or more times. If * is the
first character of a regular expression or subexpression, then
it matches itself. The * operator sometimes yields unexpected
results. For example, the regular expression b* matches the
beginning of the string abbb (as opposed to the substring bbb),
since a null match is the only leftmost match.
\{n,m\} \{n,\} \{n\}
Matches the single character regular expression or subexpres‐
sion immediately preceding it at least n and at most m times.
If m is omitted, then it matches at least n times. If the
comma is also omitted, then it matches exactly n times.
Additional regular expression operators may be defined depending on the
particular regex(3) implementation.
CHARACTER CLASSES
A character class specifies a set of characters. It is written within
square brackets ([]) and in its most basic form contains just the charac‐
ters in the set.
To include a ‘]’ in a character class, it must be the first character. A
range of characters may be specified by separating the end characters of
the range with a ‘-’, e.g., ‘a-z’ specifies the lower case characters.
The following literals can also be used within character classes as
shorthand for particular sets of characters:
[:alnum:] Alphanumeric characters.
[:cntrl:] Control characters.
[:lower:] Lowercase alphabetic characters.
[:space:] Whitespace (space, tab, newline, form feed, etc.)
[:alpha:] Alphabetic characters.
[:digit:] Numeric characters (digits).
[:print:] Printable characters.
[:upper:] Uppercase alphabetic characters.
[:blank:] Blank characters (space and tab).
[:graph:] Graphical characters (printing nonblank characters).
[:punct:] Punctuation characters.
[:xdigit:] Hexadecimal digits.
If ‘-’ appears as the first or last character of a character class, then
it matches itself. All other characters in a character class match them‐
selves.
Patterns in a character class of the form [.col-elm.] or [=col-elm=]
where col-elm is a collating element are interpreted according to
locale(5) (not currently supported). See regex(3) for an explanation of
these constructs.
COMMANDS
All ed commands are single characters, though some require additional
parameters. If a command's parameters extend over several lines, then
each line except for the last must be terminated with a backslash (‘\’).
In general, at most one command is allowed per line. However, most com‐
mands accept a print suffix, which is any of p (print), l (list), or n
(enumerate), to print the last line affected by the command.
An interrupt (typically ^C) has the effect of aborting the current com‐
mand and returning the editor to command mode.
ed recognizes the following commands. The commands are shown together
with the default address or address range supplied if none is specified
(in parentheses), and other possible arguments on the right.
(.)a Appends text to the buffer after the addressed line. Text is
entered in input mode. The current address is set to last line
entered.
(.,.)c
Changes lines in the buffer. The addressed lines are deleted from
the buffer, and text is appended in their place. Text is entered
in input mode. The current address is set to last line entered.
(.,.)d
Deletes the addressed lines from the buffer. If there is a line
after the deleted range, then the current address is set to this
line. Otherwise the current address is set to the line before the
deleted range.
e file
Edits file, and sets the default filename. If file is not speci‐
fied, then the default filename is used. Any lines in the buffer
are deleted before the new file is read. The current address is
set to the last line read.
e !command
Edits the standard output of command, (see ! command below). The
default filename is unchanged. Any lines in the buffer are deleted
before the output of command is read. The current address is set
to the last line read.
E file
Edits file unconditionally. This is similar to the e command,
except that unwritten changes are discarded without warning. The
current address is set to the last line read.
f file
Sets the default filename to file. If file is not specified, then
the default unescaped filename is printed.
(1,$)g/re/command-list
Applies command-list to each of the addressed lines matching a reg‐
ular expression re. The current address is set to the line cur‐
rently matched before command-list is executed. At the end of the
g command, the current address is set to the last line affected by
command-list.
Each command in command-list must be on a separate line, and every
line except for the last must be terminated by a backslash (‘\’).
Any commands are allowed, except for g, G, v, and V. A newline
alone in command-list is equivalent to a p command.
(1,$)G/re/
Interactively edits the addressed lines matching a regular expres‐
sion re. For each matching line, the line is printed, the current
address is set, and the user is prompted to enter a command-list.
At the end of the G command, the current address is set to the last
line affected by (the last) command-list.
The format of command-list is the same as that of the g command. A
newline alone acts as a null command list. A single ‘&’ repeats
the last non-null command list.
H Toggles the printing of error explanations. By default, explana‐
tions are not printed. It is recommended that ed scripts begin
with this command to aid in debugging.
h Prints an explanation of the last error.
(.)i Inserts text in the buffer before the current line. Text is
entered in input mode. The current address is set to the last line
entered.
(.,.+1)j
Joins the addressed lines. The addressed lines are deleted from
the buffer and replaced by a single line containing their joined
text. The current address is set to the resultant line.
(.)klc
Marks a line with a lower case letter lc. The line can then be
addressed as 'lc (i.e., a single quote followed by lc) in subse‐
quent commands. The mark is not cleared until the line is deleted
or otherwise modified.
(.,.)l
Prints the addressed lines unambiguously. If a single line fills
more than one screen (as might be the case when viewing a binary
file, for instance), a “--More--” prompt is printed on the last
line. ed waits until the RETURN key is pressed before displaying
the next screen. The current address is set to the last line
printed.
(.,.)m(.)
Moves lines in the buffer. The addressed lines are moved to after
the right-hand destination address, which may be the address 0
(zero). The current address is set to the last line moved.
(.,.)n
Prints the addressed lines along with their line numbers. The cur‐
rent address is set to the last line printed.
(.,.)p
Prints the addressed lines. The current address is set to the last
line printed.
P Toggles the command prompt on and off. Unless a prompt was speci‐
fied with the command-line option -p string, the command prompt is
by default turned off.
q Quits ed.
Q Quits ed unconditionally. This is similar to the q command, except
that unwritten changes are discarded without warning.
($)r file
Reads file to after the addressed line. If file is not specified,
then the default filename is used. If there was no default file‐
name prior to the command, then the default filename is set to
file. Otherwise, the default filename is unchanged. The current
address is set to the last line read.
($)r !command
Reads to after the addressed line the standard output of command,
(see the ! command below). The default filename is unchanged. The
current address is set to the last line read.
(.,.)s/re/replacement/, (.,.)s/re/replacement/g, (.,.)s/re/replacement/n
Replaces text in the addressed lines matching a regular expression
re with replacement. By default, only the first match in each line
is replaced. If the g (global) suffix is given, then every match
to be replaced. The n suffix, where n is a positive number, causes
only the nth match to be replaced. It is an error if no substitu‐
tions are performed on any of the addressed lines. The current
address is set the last line affected.
re and replacement may be delimited by any character other than
space and newline (see the s command below). If one or two of the
last delimiters is omitted, then the last line affected is printed
as though the print suffix p were specified.
An unescaped ‘&’ in replacement is replaced by the currently
matched text. The character sequence \m, where m is a number in
the range [1,9], is replaced by the mth backreference expression of
the matched text. If replacement consists of a single ‘%’, then
replacement from the last substitution is used. Newlines may be
embedded in replacement if they are escaped with a backslash (‘\’).
(.,.)s
Repeats the last substitution. This form of the s command accepts
a count suffix n, or any combination of the characters r, g, and p.
If a count suffix n is given, then only the nth match is replaced.
The r suffix causes the regular expression of the last search to be
used instead of that of the last substitution. The g suffix tog‐
gles the global suffix of the last substitution. The p suffix tog‐
gles the print suffix of the last substitution. The current
address is set to the last line affected.
(.,.)t(.)
Copies (i.e., transfers) the addressed lines to after the right-
hand destination address, which may be the address 0 (zero). The
current address is set to the last line copied.
u Undoes the last command and restores the current address to what it
was before the command. The global commands g, G, v, and V are
treated as a single command by undo. u is its own inverse.
(1,$)v/re/command-list
Applies command-list to each of the addressed lines not matching a
regular expression re. This is similar to the g command.
(1,$)V/re/
Interactively edits the addressed lines not matching a regular
expression re. This is similar to the G command.
(1,$)w file
Writes the addressed lines to file. Any previous contents of file
are lost without warning. If there is no default filename, then
the default filename is set to file, otherwise it is unchanged. If
no filename is specified, then the default filename is used. The
current address is unchanged.
(1,$)wq file
Writes the addressed lines to file, and then executes a q command.
(1,$)w !command
Writes the addressed lines to the standard input of command, (see
the ! command below). The default filename and current address are
unchanged.
(1,$)W file
Appends the addressed lines to the end of file. This is similar to
the w command, except that the previous contents of file are not
clobbered. The current address is unchanged.
x Prompts for an encryption key which is used in subsequent reads and
writes. If a newline alone is entered as the key, then encryption
is turned off. Otherwise, echoing is disabled while a key is read.
Encryption/decryption is done using the bdes(1) algorithm.
(.+1)zn
Scrolls n lines at a time starting at addressed line. If n is not
specified, then the current window size is used. The current
address is set to the last line printed.
($)= Prints the line number of the addressed line.
(.+1)newline
Prints the addressed line, and sets the current address to that
line.
!command
Executes command via sh(1). If the first character of command is
!, then it is replaced by text of the previous !command. ed does
not process command for ‘\’ (backslash) escapes. However, an
unescaped ‘%’ is replaced by the default filename. When the shell
returns from execution, a ‘!’ is printed to the standard output.
The current line is unchanged.
LIMITATIONSed processes file arguments for backslash escapes, i.e., in a filename,
any characters preceded by a backslash (‘\’) are interpreted literally.
If a text (non-binary) file is not terminated by a newline character,
then ed appends one on reading/writing it. In the case of a binary file,
ed does not append a newline on reading/writing.
ENVIRONMENT
TMPDIR The location used to store temporary files.
FILES
/tmp/ed.* buffer file
ed.hup where ed attempts to write the buffer if the terminal hangs up
DIAGNOSTICS
When an error occurs, ed prints a “?” and either returns to command mode
or exits if its input is from a script. An explanation of the last error
can be printed with the h (help) command.
Since the g (global) command masks any errors from failed searches and
substitutions, it can be used to perform conditional operations in
scripts; e.g.,
g/old/s//new/
replaces any occurrences of old with new.
If the u (undo) command occurs in a global command list, then the command
list is executed only once.
If diagnostics are not disabled, attempting to quit ed or edit another
file before writing a modified buffer results in an error. If the com‐
mand is entered a second time, it succeeds, but any changes to the buffer
are lost.
SEE ALSObdes(1), sed(1), sh(1), vi(1), regex(3)
USD:09-10
B. W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger, Software Tools in Pascal, Addison-
Wesley, 1981.
HISTORY
An ed command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.
BSD January 23, 2002 BSD
