mcedit(1)mcedit(1)NAMEmcedit - Full featured terminal text editor for Unix-like systems.
USAGEmcedit [[+number] file [-bcCdfhstVx?]]
DESCRIPTION
Mcedit is a link to mc, the Midnight Commander, forcing it to immedi‐
ately start its internal editor. The editor is a terminal version of
the cooledit standalone X Window editor.
OPTIONS
+number
Go to the line specified by number (do not insert a space
between the "+" sign and the number).
-b Forces black and white display.
-c Force color mode on terminals where mcedit defaults to black and
white.
-C <keyword>=<FGcolor>,<BGcolor>:<keyword>= ...
Used to specify a different color set, where keyword is one of
normal, selected, marked, markselect, errors, reverse menu,
menusel, menuhot, menuhotsel and gauge. The colors are optional
and are one of black, gray, red, brightred, green, brightgreen,
brown, yellow, blue, brightblue, magenta, brightmagenta, cyan,
brightcyan, lightgray and white. See the Colors section in mc.1
for more information.
-d Disables mouse support.
-f Displays the compiled-in search paths for Midnight Commander
files.
-t Used only if the code was compiled with Slang and terminfo: it
makes the Midnight Commander use the value of the TERMCAP vari‐
able for the terminal information instead of the information on
the system wide terminal database
-V Displays the version of the program.
-x Forces xterm mode. Used when running on xterm-capable terminals
(two screen modes, and able to send mouse escape sequences).
Features
The internal file editor provides most of the features of common full
screen editors. It has an extensible file size limit of sixteen
megabytes and edits binary files flawlessly. The features it presently
supports are: Block copy, move, delete, cut, paste; key for key undo ;
pull-down menus; file insertion; macro definition; regular expression
search and replace (and our own scanf-printf search and replace);
shift-arrow MSW-MAC text highlighting (for the linux console only);
insert-overwrite toggle; word-wrap; a variety of tabbing options; syn‐
tax highlighting for various file types; and an option to pipe text
blocks through shell commands like indent and ispell.
Keys
The editor is very easy to use and requires no tutoring. To see what
keys do what, just consult the appropriate pull-down menu. Other keys
are: Shift movement keys do text highlighting (Linux console only).
Ctrl-Ins copies to the file ~/.cedit/cooledit.clip, and Shift-Ins
pastes from ~/.cedit/cooledit.clip. Shift-Del cuts to
~/.cedit/cooledit.clip, and Ctrl-Del deletes highlighted text - all
linux console only. The completion key (see mc.1) also does a hard
return without an automatic indent. Mouse highlighting also works, and
you can override the mouse as usual by holding down the shift key while
dragging the mouse to let normal terminal mouse highlighting work.
To define a macro, press Ctrl-R and then type out the key strokes you
want to be executed. Press Ctrl-R again when finished. You can then
assign the macro to any key you like by pressing that key. The macro is
executed when you press Ctrl-A and then the assigned key. The macro is
also executed if you press Meta, Ctrl, or Esc and the assigned key,
provided that the key is not used for any other function. Once defined,
the macro commands go into the file ~/.cedit/cooledit.macros. Do NOT
edit this file unless you are not going to use macros again in the same
editing session, because Mcedit caches macro key defines in memory.
Mcedit now overwrites a macro if a macro with the same key already
exists, so you won't have to edit this file. You will also have to
restart other running editors for macros to take effect.
F19 will format C code when it is highlighted. For this to work, make
an executable file called .cedit/edit.indent.rc in your home directory
containing the following:
#!/bin/sh
# Use $HOME instead of ~ if this doesn't work.
# You may also have to use a different redirection
# syntax for some machines.
/usr/bin/indent -kr -pcs ~/.cedit/cooledit.block >& /dev/null
cat /dev/null > ~/.cedit/cooledit.error
C-p will run ispell on a block of text in a similar way. The file is
.cedit/edit.spell.rc
#!/bin/sh
# Use $HOME instead of ~ if this doesn't work.
# You may also have to use a different redirection
# syntax for some machines.
/usr/local/bin/ispell ~/.cedit/cooledit.block >& /dev/null
cat /dev/null > ~/.cedit/cooledit.error
Redefining Keys
Keys may be redefined from the Midnight Commander options menu.
SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING
As of version 3.6.0, cooledit has syntax highlighting. This means that
keywords and contexts (like C comments, string constants, etc) are
highlighted in different colours. The following section explains the
format of the file ~/.cedit/syntax.
The file ~/.cedit/syntax is rescanned on opening of a any new editor
file. The file contains rules for highlighting, each of which is given
on a separate line, and define which keywords will be highlighted to
what colour. The file is also divided into sections, each beginning
with a line with the file command, followed by a regular expression.
The regular expression dictates the file name that that set of rules
applies to. Following this is a description to be printed on the left
of the editor window explaining the file type to the user. A third
optional argument is a regular expression to match the first line of
text of the file. If either the file name matches, or the first line of
text, then those rules will be loaded.
A section ends with the start of a new section. Each section is divided
into contexts, and each context contains rules. A context is a scope
within the text that a particular set of rules belongs to. For
instance, the region within a C style comment (i.e. between /* and */)
has its own colour. This is a context, although it will have no further
rules inside it because there is probably nothing that we want high‐
lighted within a C comment.
A trivial C programming section might look like this:
file .\*\\.c C\sProgram\sFile (#include|/\\\*)
wholechars abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ_
# default colors
context default
keyword whole if 24
keyword whole else 24
keyword whole for 24
keyword whole while 24
keyword whole do 24
keyword whole switch 24
keyword whole case 24
keyword whole static 24
keyword whole extern 24
keyword { 14
keyword } 14
keyword '*' 6
# C comments
context /\* \*/ 22
# C preprocessor directives
context linestart # \n 18
keyword \\\n 24
# C string constants
context " " 6
keyword %d 24
keyword %s 24
keyword %c 24
keyword \\" 24
Each context starts with a line of the form:
context [exclusive] [whole|wholeright|wholeleft] [linestart] delim
[linestart] delim [foreground] [background]
One exception is the first context. It must start with the command
context default [foreground] [background]
or else cooledit will return an error.
The linestart option dictates that delim must start at the beginning of
a line.
The whole option tells that delim must be a whole word. What consti‐
tutes a whole word are a set of characters that can be changed at any
point in the file with the wholechars command. The wholechars command
at the top just sets the set exactly to its default and could therefore
have been omitted. To specify that a word must be whole on the left
only, you can use the wholeleft option, and similarly on the right. The
left and right set of characters can be set separately with,
wholechars [left|right] characters
The exclusive option causes the text between the delimiters to be high‐
lighted, but not the delimiters themselves.
Each rule is a line of the form:
keyword [whole|wholeright|wholeleft] [linestart] string foreground
[background]
Context or keyword strings are interpreted so that you can include tabs
and spaces with the sequences \t and \s. Newlines and the \ are speci‐
fied with \n and \\ respectively. Since whitespace is used as a separa‐
tor, it may not be used explicitedly. Also, \* must be used to specify
a *. The * itself is a wildcard that matches any length of characters.
For example,
keyword '*' 6
colours all C single character constants green. You could also have
used
keyword "*" 6
to colour string constants, except that the matched string may not
cross newlines. The wildcard may be used within context delimiters as
well, but you cannot have a wildcard as the last or first character.
Important to note is the line
keyword \\\n 24
This line defines a keyword containing the \ and newline characters.
Because keywords have a higher precedence than context delimiters, this
keyword prevents the context from ending at the end of a line if the
line ends in a \ thus allowing C preprocessor directive to continue
across multiple lines.
The colours themselves are numbered 0 to 26 and are explained below in
FURTHER BEHAVIORAL OPTIONS. You can also use any of the named colors
specified in /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt, though only one word versions of
them. It is better to stick to the numerical colors to limit use of the
color palette.
Comments may be included on a line of there own and begin with a #.
Because of the simplicity of the implementation, there are a few intri‐
cacies that will not be coped with correctly but these are a minor
irritation. On the whole, a broad spectrum of quite complicated situa‐
tions are handled with these simple rules. It is a good idea to take a
look at the syntax file to see some of the nifty tricks you can do with
a little imagination. If you can't get by with the rules I have coded,
and you think you have a rule that would be useful, please email me
with your request. However, do not ask for regular expression support,
because this is flatly impossible.
A useful hint is to work with as much as possible with the things you
can do rather than try to do things that this implementation can't cope
with. Also remember that the aim of syntax highlighting is to make pro‐
gramming less prone to error, not to make code look pretty.
COLORS
The default colors may be changed by appending to the MC_COLOR_TABLE
environment variable. Foreground and background colors pairs may be
specified for example with:
MC_COLOR_TABLE="$MC_COLOR_TABLE:editnormal=lightgray,black:editbold=yellow,black:editmarked=black,cyan"
OPTIONS
Most options can now be set from the editors options dialog box. See
the Options menu. The following options are defined in .mc.ini, and
have obvious correspondences in the dialog box. You can modify them to
change the editor behavior, by editing the file. Unless specified, a 1
sets the option to on, and a 0 sets it to off, as is usual.
use_internal_edit
This option is ignored when invoking mcedit.
editor_key_emulation
1 for Emacs keys, and 0 for normal Cooledit keys.
editor_tab_spacing
Interpret the tab character as being of this length. Default is
8. You should avoid using other than 8 since most other editors
and text viewers assume a tab spacing of 8. Use edi‐
tor_fake_half_tabs to simulate a smaller tab spacing.
editor_fill_tabs_with_spaces
Never insert a tab space. Rather insert spaces (ascii 20h) to
fill to the desired tab size.
editor_return_does_auto_indent
Pressing return will tab across to match the indentation of the
first line above that has text on it.
editor_backspace_through_tabs
Make a single backspace delete all the space to the left margin
if there is no text between the cursor and the left margin.
editor_fake_half_tabs
This will emulate a half tab for those who want to program with
a tab spacing of 4, but do not want the tab size changed from 8
(so that the code will be formatted the same when displayed by
other programs). When editing between text and the left margin,
moving and tabbing will be as though a tab space were 4, while
actually using spaces and normal tabs for an optimal fill. When
editing anywhere else, a normal tab is inserted.
editor_option_save_mode
(0, 1 or 2.) The save mode (see the options menu also) allows
you to change the method of saving a file. Quick save (0) saves
the file by immediately, truncating the disk file to zero length
(i.e. erasing it) and the writing the editor contents to the
file. This method is fast, but dangerous, since a system error
during a file save will leave the file only partially written,
possibly rendering the data irretrievable. When saving, the safe
save (1) option enables creation of a temporary file into which
the file contents are first written. In the event of an problem,
the original file is untouched. When the temporary file is suc‐
cessfully written, it is renamed to the name of the original
file, thus replacing it. The safest method is create backups
(2). Where a backup file is created before any changes are made.
You can specify your own backup file extension in the dialog.
Note that saving twice will replace your backup as well as your
original file.
Miscellaneous
(Scanf search and replace have previously not worked properly. With
this release, problems with search and replace have been fixed.)
You can use scanf search and replace to search and replace a C format
string. First take a look at the sscanf and sprintf man pages to see
what a format string is and how it works. An example is as follows:
Suppose you want to replace all occurrences of say, an open bracket,
three comma separated numbers, and a close bracket, with the word
apples, the third number, the word oranges and then the second number,
you would fill in the Replace dialog box as follows:
Enter search string
(%d,%d,%d)
Enter replace string
apples %d oranges %d
Enter replacement argument order
3,2
The last line specifies that the third and then the second number are
to be used in place of the first and second.
It is advisable to use this feature with Prompt On Replace on, because
a match is thought to be found whenever the number of arguments found
matches the number given, which is not always a real match. Scanf also
treats whitespace as being elastic. Note that the scanf format %[ is
very useful for scanning strings, and whitespace.
The editor also displays non-us characters (160+). When editing binary
files, you should set display bits to 7 bits in the Midnight Commander
options menu to keep the spacing clean.
FILES
/usr/local/mc.hlp
The help file for the program.
/usr/local/lib/mc/mc.ini
The default system-wide setup for the Midnight Commander, used
only if the user lacks his own ~/.mc.ini file.
/usr/local/lib/mc/mc.lib
Global settings for the Midnight Commander. Settings in this
file are global to any Midnight Commander, it is useful to
define site-global terminal settings.
$HOME/.mc.ini
User's own setup. If this file is present then the setup is
loaded from here instead of the system-wide startup file.
$HOME/.cedit/
User's own temporary directory where block commands are pro‐
cessed and saved.
LICENSE
This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation. See the built-in
help of the Midnight Commander for details on the License and the lack
of warranty.
AVAILABILITY
The latest version of this program can be found at
ftp://ftp.gnome.org/mirror/gnome.org/stable/sources/mc/ and on the mir‐
rors listed on the GNOME site http://www.gnome.org/.
SEE ALSOcooledit(1), mc(1), gpm(1), terminfo(1), scanf(3).
AUTHORS
Paul Sheer (psheer@obsidian.co.za) is the developer of the Midnight
Commander's internal editor.
BUGS
See the file README.edit in the distribution for more information.
30 January 1997 mcedit(1)
