




Command:   elvis - clone of the Berkeley vi editor
Syntax:    elvis [-Rerv] [-t tag] [file] ...
Flags:     -R  Set the read-only option
           -e  Start up emulating ex
           -r  Tell the user to use elvrec instead
           -t  Start editing at the given tag
           -v  Start up emulating vi
Examples:  elvis                    # Call the editor
           elvis prog.c             # edit prog.c

     Elvis is  a  full-screen  editor  closely  modeled  on  the  famous
Berkeley  vi  editor.  It provides essentially the same interface to the
user as vi, but the code is completely new, written from scratch.   This
document  provides  a brief introduction to vi.  It is not intended as a
tutorial for beginners.  Most books on UNIX cover vi.

     Like vi, elvis can operate as a screen editor (vi  mode)  or  as  a
line  editor  (ex)  mode.  It can be called either as elvis vi,or as ex,
depending on which is desired.  They are all links to the same file.

Vi Commands

     Below is a list  of  the  vi  commands  supported.   The  following
symbols are used in the table:

   count       Integer parameter telling how many or how much
   key         One character parameter to the command
   inp         Interactive input expected
   mv          Indicates how much for commands like delete and change:
                     (  Previous sentence
                     )  Next sentence
                     {  Previous paragraph
                     }  Next paragraph (delimited by  blank  line,  .PP,
                        .LP, .IP etc.)
                     [  Previous section (delimited by .SH or .NH)
                        A repeated command character means the scope  is
                        this line
   MOVE        Indicates commands that may also  be  used  where  mv  is
               specified
   EDIT        These commands affect text and may be repeated by  the  .
               command

In addition to  the  above  notation,  the  caret  (^)  is  used  as  an
abbreviation for CTRL.  For example, ^A means CTRL-A.

Count       Command     Description                            Type
            ^A          (Not defined)
            ^B          Move toward the top of the file by 1 screenful
            ^C          (Not defined)
count       ^D          Scroll down count lines (default 1/2 screen)


                                                                        



                                                                        


count       ^E          Scroll up count lines
            ^F          Move  toward  the  bottom  of  the  file  by   1
                        screenful
            ^G          Show file status, and the current line
count       ^H          Move left, like h                      MOVE
            ^I          (Not defined)
count       ^J          Move down                              MOVE
            ^K          (Not defined)
            ^l          Redraw the screen
count       ^M          Move to the front of the next line     MOVE
count       ^N          Move down                              MOVE
            ^O          (Not defined)
count       ^P          Move up                                MOVE
            ^Q          (Not defined)
            ^R          Redraw the screen
            ^S          (Not defined)
            ^T          (Not defined)
count       ^U          Scroll up count lines (default 1/2 screen)
            ^V          (Not defined)
            ^W          (Not defined)
            ^X          (Not defined)
count       ^Y          Scroll down count lines
            ^Z          (Not defined)
            ESC         (Not defined)
            ^\          (Not defined)
            ^]          If the cursor is on a tag name, go to that tag
            ^^          Save this file and edit the previous file
            ^_          (Not defined)
count       SPACE       Move right,like l                      MOVE
            ! mv        Run the selected lines thru an  external  filter
                        program
            " key       Select which cut buffer to use next
            #           (Not defined)
            $           Move to the rear of the current line   MOVE
            %           move to the matching (){}[] character  MOVE
            &           (Not defined)
            ' key       Move to a marked line                  MOVE
count       (           Move backward count sentences          MOVE
count       )           Move forward count sentences           MOVE
            *           (Not defined)
count       +           Move to the front of the next line     MOVE
count       ,           Repeat the previous [fFtT]  but  the  other  way
                        MOVE
count       -           Move to the front of the preceding line MOVE
            .           Repeat the previous 'edit' command
            /           Text search forward for  a  given  regular  expr
                        MOVE
            0           If not part of count, move to 1st char  of  this
                        line
                        MOVE


                                                                        



                                                                        


            1           Part of count
            2           Part of count
            3           Part of count
            4           Part of count
            5           Part of count
            6           Part of count
            7           Part of count
            8           Part of count
            9           Part of count
            :           Text. Run single ex cmd
count       ;           Repeat the previous [fFtT] cmd         MOVE
count       < mv        Shift text left                        EDIT
            =           (Not defined)
count       > mv        Shift text right                       EDIT
            ? text      Search backward for a given  regular  expression
                        MOVE
            @           (Not defined)
count       A inp       Append at end of the line              EDIT
count       B           Move back Word                         MOVE
            C inp       Change text from cursor through end of line EDIT
            D           Delete text from  cursor  through  end  of  line
                        EDIT
count       E           Move end of Word                       MOVE
count       F key       Move leftward to a given character     MOVE
count       G           Move to line #count (default is the bottom line)
                        MOVE
count       H           Move to home row (the line at  the  top  of  the
                        screen)
count       I inp       Insert at the front of the line (after  indents)
                        EDIT
count       J           Join lines, to form one big line       EDIT
            K           Look up keyword
count       L           Move to last row (the line at the bottom of  the
                        screen)
            M           Move to middle row (the line in the middle)
            N           Repeat previous search,  but  the  opposite  way
                        MOVE
count       O inp       Open up a new line above the current line EDIT
            P           Paste text before the cursor
            Q           Quit to EX mode
            R inp       Overtype                               EDIT
count       S inp       Change lines, like countcc
count       T key       Move leftward almost to a given character MOVE
            U           Undo all recent changes to the current line
            V           (Not defined)
count       W           Move forward count Words               MOVE
count       X           Delete the  character(s)  to  the  left  of  the
                        cursor
                        EDIT
count       Y           Yank text line(s) (copy them into a cut buffer)


                                                                        



                                                                        


            Z Z         Save the file & exit
            [ [         Move back 1 section                    MOVE
            \           (Not defined)
            ] ]         Move forward 1 section                 MOVE
            ^           Move to the front of  the  current  line  (after
                        indent)
                        MOVE
            _           (Not defined)
            ` key       Move to a marked character             MOVE
count       a inp       Insert text after the cursor           EDIT
count       b           Move back count words                  MOVE
            c mv        Change text                            EDIT
            d mv        Delete text                            EDIT
count       e           Move forward to the end of the current word MOVE
count       f key       Move rightward to a given character    MOVE
            g           (Not defined)
count       h           Move left                              MOVE
count       i inp       Insert text at the cursor              EDIT
count       j           Move down                              MOVE
count       k           Move up                                MOVE
count       l           Move right                             MOVE
            m key       Mark a line or character
            n           Repeat the previous search             MOVE
count       o inp       Open a new line below the current line EDIT
            p           Paste text after the cursor
            q           (Not defined)
count       r key       Replace count chars by a given character EDIT
count       s inp       Replace count chars with text from the user EDIT
count       t key       Move rightward almost to a given character MOVE
            u           Undo the previous edit command
            v           (Not defined)
count       w           Move forward count words               MOVE
count       x           Delete the character that the cursor's on EDIT
            y mv        Yank text (copy it into a cut buffer)
            z key       Scroll  current  line  to  the  screen's   +=top
                        -=bottom .=middle
count       {           Move back count paragraphs             MOVE
count       |           Move to column count (the leftmost column is 1)
count       }           Move forward count paragraphs          MOVE
count       ~           Switch a character between upper  &  lower  case
                        EDIT
            DEL         (Not defined)

Ex Commands

     Below is  a  list  of  the  ex  commands  supported.   All  can  be
abbreviated.





                                                                        



                                                                        


General


[line]        append
              args          [files]
              cd            [directory]
              chdir         [directory]
[line][,line] change
[line][,line] copy          line
[line][,line] debug[!]
[line][,line] Delete        ['x]
              edit[!]       [file]
              ex[!]         [file]
              file
[line][,line] global        /regexp/ command
[line]        Insert
[line][,line] join
[line][,line] list
              map[!]        key mapped_to
[line]        mark          x
              mkexrc
[line][,line] Move          line
              next[!]       [files]
              Next[!]
              previous[!]
[line][,line] print
[line]        put           ['x]
              quit[!]
[line]        read          file
              rewind[!]
              set           [options]
[line][,line] substitute    /regexp/replacement/[p][g]
              tag[!]        tagname
[line][,line] to            line
              Undo
              unmap[!]      key
              validate[!]
              version
[line][,line] vglobal       /regexp/ command
              visual
              wq
[line][,line] write[!]      [[>>]file]
              xit[!]
[line][,line] yank          ['x]
[line][,line] !             command
[line][,line] <
[line][,line] =
[line][,line] >




                                                                        



                                                                        


Text Entry



[line]        append
[line][,line] change ['x]
[line]        Insert

The (a)ppend command inserts text after the specified line.

The (i)nsert command inserts text before the specified line.

The (c)hange command copies the  range  of  lines  into  a  cut  buffer,
deletes them, and inserts new text where the old text used to be.

For all of these commands, you indicate  the  end  of  the  text  you're
inserting  by  hitting  ^D  or  by entering a line which contains only a
period.



Cut & Paste



[line][,line] Delete ['x]
[line][,line] yank ['x]
[line]        put[!] ['x]
[line][,line] copy line
[line][,line] to line
[line][,line] Move line

The (d)elete command copies the specified range  of  lines  into  a  cut
buffer, and then deletes them.

The (y)ank command copies the  specified  range  of  lines  into  a  cut
buffer, but does not delete them.

The (pu)t command inserts text from a cut  buffer  after  the  specified
line----or before it if the ! is present.

The (co)py and (t)o commands yank the specified range of lines and  then
immediately paste them after some other line.

The (m)ove command  deletes  the  specified  range  of  lines  and  then
immediately  pastes them after some other line.  If the destination line
comes after the deleted text, then it will be adjusted automatically  to
account for the deleted lines.




                                                                        



                                                                        


Displaying Text


[line][,line] print
[line][,line] list

The (p)rint command displays the specified range of lines.

The (l)ist command also displays them, but it is careful to make control
characters visible.


Global Operations


[line][,line] global /regexp/ command
[line][,line] vglobal /regexp/ command

The (g)lobal command searches through the lines of the  specified  range
(or  through  the  whole  file  if no range is specified) for lines that
contain a given regular expression.  It then moves the cursor to each of
these lines and runs some other command on them.

The (v)global command is similar, but it searches for lines that do  not
contain the regular expression.


Line Editing


[line][,line] join
[line][,line] ! program
[line][,line] <
[line][,line] >
[line][,line] substitute /regexp/replacement/[p][g]

The (j)oin  command  concatenates  all  lines  in  the  specified  range
together to form one big line.  If only a single line is specified, then
the following line is catenated onto it.

The ! command runs an external filter program, and feeds  the  specified
range of lines to it's stdin.  The lines are then replaced by the output
of the filter.  A typical example would be ':'a,'z!sort -n' to sort  the
lines 'a,'z according to their numeric values.

The < and > commands shift the specified range of lines left  or  right,
normally  by  the  width  of  1  tab character.  The 'shiftwidth' option
determines the shifting amount.

The (s)ubstitute command finds the regular expression in each line,  and


                                                                        



                                                                        


replaces it with the  replacement  text.   The  'p'  option  causes  the
altered lines to be printed, and the 'g' option permits all instances of
the regular expression to be found & replaced.  (Without 'g',  only  the
first occurrence is replaced.)



Undo



              undo

The (u)ndo command restores the file to the state it was in before  your
most recent command which changed text.



Configuration & Status



              map[!] [key mapped_to]
              unmap[!] key
              set [options]
              mkexrc
[line]        mark x
              visual
              version
[line][,line] =
              file

The (ma)p command allows  you  to  configure  elvis  to  recognize  your
function  keys,  and  treat  them  as though they transmitted some other
sequence of characters.  Normally this mapping is done only when in  the
visual command mode, but with the [!] present it will map keys under all
contexts.  When this command is given with no  arguments,  it  prints  a
table  showing  all  mappings currently in effect.  When called with two
arguments, the first is the  sequence  that  your  function  key  really
sends, and the second is the sequence that you want elvis to treat it as
having sent.

The (unm)ap command removes key definitions that were made via  the  map
command.

The (se)t command allows you examine or set various  options.   With  no
arguments,  it  displays  the  values of options that have been changed.
With the single argument 'all' it displays the values  of  all  options,
regardless  of  whether  they've been explicitly set or not.  Otherwise,
the arguments are treated as options to be set.


                                                                        



                                                                        


The (mk)exrc command saves the current configuration to  a  file  called
.exrc in the current directory.

The mar(k) command defines a named mark to refer to a specific place  in
the  file.   This  mark  may  be  used  later to specify lines for other
commands.

The (vi)sual command puts the  editor  into  visual  mode.   Instead  of
emulating ex, elvis will start emulating vi.

The (ve)rsion command tells you that what version of elvis this is.

The = command tells you what line you specified, or, if you specified  a
range  of lines, it will tell you both endpoints and the number of lines
included in the range.

The file command tells you the name of the file,  whether  it  has  been
modified, the number of lines in the file, and the current line number.


Multiple Files


              args [files]
              next[!] [files]
              Next[!]
              previous[!]
              rewind[!]

When you invoke elvis from your shell's command line, any filenames that
you  give to elvis as arguments are stored in the args list.  The (ar)gs
command will display this list, or define a new one.

The (n)ext command switches from the current file to the next one in the
args list.  You may specify a new args list here, too.

The (N)ext and (pre)vious commands (they're really aliases for the  same
command)  switch from the current file to the preceding file in the args
list.

The (rew)ind command switches from the current file to the first file in
the args list.



Switching Files






                                                                        



                                                                        


              edit[!] [file]
              tag[!] tagname

The (e)dit command allows to switch from the current file to some  other
file.  This has nothing to do with the args list, by the way.

The (ta)g command looks up a given tagname  in  a  file  called  'tags".
This tells it which file the tag is in, and how to find it in that file.
Elvis then switches to the tag's file and finds the tag.



Exiting



              quit[!]
              wq
              xit

The (q)uit command exits from the editor without saving your file.

The (wq) and (x)it commands (really two names for the same command) both
write the file before exiting.


File I/O


[line]        read file
[line][,line] write[!][[>>]file]

The (r)ead command gets text from another file and inserts it after  the
specified line.

The (w)rite command writes the whole file, or just part of it,  to  some
other file.  The !, if present, will permit the lines to be written even
if you've set the readonly option.  If you precede the  filename  by  >>
then the lies will be appended to the file.


Directory


              cd [directory]
              chdir [directory]
              shell

The (cd) and (chd)ir commands (really two names for one command)  switch
the current working directory.


                                                                        



                                                                        


The (sh)ell command starts an interactive shell.



Debugging



[line][,line] debug[!]
              validate[!]

These commands are only available if you compile elvis with the  -DDEBUG
flag.

The de(b)ug command  lists  stats  for  the  blocks  which  contain  the
specified  range  of  lines.   If the ! is present, then the contents of
those blocks is displayed, too.

The  (va)lidate  command   checks   certain   variables   for   internal
consistency.   Normally  it does not output anything unless it detects a
problem.  With the !, though, it will always produce *some* output.


Extensions


        In addition  to  the  standard  commands,  a  variety  of  extra
   features  are  present in elvis that are not present in vi.  They are
   described below.

.exrc
   Elvis first runs a .exrc file (if  there  is  one)  from  your  $HOME
   directory.  After  that,  it  runs a .exrc (if there is one) from the
   current directory.  The one in the  current  directory  may  override
   settings made by the one in the $HOME directory.

:mkexrc
:mk
   This EX command saves the current :set and :map configurations in the
   '.exrc' file in your current directory.

:args
:ar
   You can use the :args command to define a new args list, as in:

               :args *.h

   After you have defined a new args list, the next  time  you  issue  a
   :next command elvis will switch to the first file of the new list.



                                                                        



                                                                        


:Next
:previous
:N
:pre
   These commands move backwards through the args list.

zz
   In VI, the (lowercase) 'zz' command will center the current  line  on
   the screen, like 'z="

.
   The default count value for . is the same  as  the  previous  command
   which  .  is meant to repeat.  However, you can supply a new count if
   you wish. For example, after '3dw', '.' will delete 3 words, but '5.'
   will delete 5 words.

"
   The text which was most  recently  input  (via  a  'cw'  command,  or
   something  similar)  is  saved  in a cut buffer called ". (which is a
   pretty hard name to write in an English sentence).  You can use  this
   with the 'p' or 'P' commands thusly:

               ".p

K
   You can move the cursor onto a word and press shift-K to  have  elvis
   run  a reference program to look that word up.  This command alone is
   worth the price of admission!  See the ctags and ref programs.

input
   You can backspace back past the beginning of the line.  If  you  type
   CTRL-A, then the text that you input last time is inserted.  You will
   remain in input mode, so you can backspace over part of  it,  or  add
   more to it.  (This is sort of like CTRL-@ on the real vi, except that
   CTRL-A really works.)

   Real vi can only remember up to 128 characters of  input,  but  elvis
   can remember any amount.

:set charattr
:se ca
   Elvis can display 'backslash-f' style  character  attributes  on  the
   screen  as  you  edit.   The  following  example shows the recognized
   attributes:

               normal boldface italics

   NOTE: you must compile elvis without the  -DSET_NOCHARATTR  flag  for
   this to work.



                                                                        



                                                                        


Omissions

     A few vi features are missing.  The replace mode  is  a  hack.   It
does not save the text that it overwrites.

     Long lines are displayed differently----where  the  real  vi  would
wrap  a long line onto several rows of the screen, elvis simply displays
part of the line, and allows you to scroll the screen  sideways  to  see
the rest of it.

     The ':preserve' and ':recover' commands are missing, as is  the  -r
flag.    ':Preserve"   is  practically  never  used  and  since  use  of
':recover\*(CQ is so rare, it was decided to implement it as a  separate
program.   There's  no  need to load the recovery code into memory every
time you edit a file.

     LISP support is missing.  The '@' and ':@'  commands  are  missing.
You cannot APPEND to a cut buffer.

Options

     A variety of options can be set as described below:

   Name      Abbr  Type     Default    Description
   autoindent as   Bool     FALSE      autoindent during input?
   autowrite aw    Bool     FALSE      write file for :n command?
   charattr  ca    Bool     FALSE      display bold & underline chars?
   columns   co    Number   80         width of screen, in characters
   directory dir   String   /usr/tmp   where tmp files are kept
   errorbells eb   Bool     TRUE       ring bell on error?
   exrefresh er    Bool     TRUE       EX mode calls write() often?
   ignorecase ic   Bool     FALSE      searches: upper/lowercase OK?
   keytime   kt    Number   1          allow slow receipt of ESC seq?
   keywordprg kp   String   /usr/bin/ref program to run for shift-K
   lines     ln    Number   25         height of screen, in lines
   list      li    Bool     FALSE      show tabs as '^I'?
   magic     ma    Bool     TRUE       searches: allow metacharacters?
   paragraphs pa   String   PPppPApa   paragraphs start with .PP, etc.
   readonly  ro    Bool     FALSE      no file should be written back?
   report    re    Number   5          report changes to X lines?
   scroll    sc    Number   12         default #lines for ^U and ^D
   sections  se    String   SEseSHsh   sections start with .SE, etc.
   shell     sh    String   /bin/sh    shell program, from environment
   shiftwidth sw   Number   8          width of < or > commands
   sidescroll ss   Number   8          #chars to scroll sideways by
   sync      sy    Bool     FALSE      call sync() after each change?
   tabstop   ts    Number   8          width of a tab character
   term      te    String   "?"        terminal type, from environment
   vbell     vb    Bool     TRUE       use visible bell if possible?
   warn      wa    Bool     TRUE       warn if file not saved for :!cmd


                                                                        



                                                                        


   wrapmargin wm   Number   0          Insert newline after which col?
   wrapscan  ws    Bool     TRUE       searches: wrap at EOF?

autoindent
   During input mode, the autoindent option will cause each  added  line
   to begin with the same amount of leading whitespace as the line above
   it.  Without autoindent, added lines are initially empty.

autowrite
   When you're editing one file and decide to switch  to  another----via
   the  :tag  command, or :next command, perhaps----if your current file
   has been modified, then elvis will normally print  an  error  message
   and refuse to switch.

   However, if the autowrite option is on, then  elvis  will  write  the
   modified  version  of the current file and successfully switch to the
   new file.

charattr
   Many text formatting programs allow you to designate portions of your
   text  to  be  underlined,  italicized,  or  boldface by embedding the
   special strings \fU, \fI, and \fB in your text.  The  special  string
   \fR marks the end of underlined or boldface text.

   Elvis normally treats those special strings just like any other text.
   However,  if  the  charattr  option  is on, then elvis will interpret
   those special strings correctly, to display  underlined  or  boldface
   text  on  the  screen.  (This only works, of course, if your terminal
   can display underlined and boldface, and if the  TERMCAP  entry  says
   how to do it.)

columns
   This is a 'read only' option.  You cannot change its value,  but  you
   can have elvis print it.  It shows how wide your screen is.

directory
   Elvis uses temporary files to store changed text.  This option allows
   you  to  control  where  those temporary files will be.  Ideally, you
   should store them on in fast non-volatile  memory,  such  as  a  hard
   disk.

   This option can only be set in the ".exrc" file.

errorbells
   Normally, elvis will ring your terminal's bell if you make an  error.
   However, in noerrorbells mode, your terminal will remain silent.

exrefresh
   The EX mode of elvis writes many lines to the screen.  You  can  make
   elvis  either  write  each  line to the screen separately, or save up


                                                                        



                                                                        


   many lines and write them all at once.

   The exrefresh option is normally on, so each line is written  to  the
   screen separately.

   You may wish to turn the exrefresh  option  off  (:se  noer)  if  the
   'write'  system  call is costly on your machine, or if you're using a
   windowing environment.  (Windowing environments  scroll  text  a  lot
   faster when you write many lines at once.)

   This option has no effect in vi mode.

ignorecase
   Normally, when elvis searches for text, it treats  uppercase  letters
   as being different for lowercase letters.

   When the ignorecase option is on, uppercase and lowercase are treated
   as equal.

keytime
   The arrow keys of most terminals send a multi-character sequence.  It
   takes  a  measurable  amount  of  time  for  these  sequences  to  be
   transmitted.  The keytime option allows you to  control  the  maximum
   amount  of time to allow for an arrow key (or other mapped key) to be
   received in full.

   The default keytime value is 2.  Because of the way UNIX  timekeeping
   works,  the  actual amount of time allowed will vary slightly, but it
   will always be between 1 and 2 seconds.

   If you set keytime to 1, then the actual amount of time allowed  will
   be  between  0 and 1 second.  This will generally make the keyboard's
   response be a little faster (mostly for the ESC key),  but  on  those
   occasions  where  the  time  allowed happens to be closer to 0 than 1
   second, elvis may fail to  allow  enough  time  for  an  arrow  key's
   sequence to be received fully.  Ugh.

   As a special case, you can set keytime to  0  to  disable  this  time
   limit  stuff  altogether.   The  big  problem here is:  If your arrow
   keys' sequences start with an ESC, then every time you hit  your  ESC
   key  elvis will wait... and wait... to see if maybe that ESC was part
   of an arrow key's sequence.

   NOTE: this option is a generalization of the timeout  option  of  the
   real vi.

keywordprg
   Elvis has a special keyword lookup feature.  You move the cursor onto
   a  word,  and  hit shift-K, and elvis uses another program to look up
   the word and display information about it.


                                                                        



                                                                        


   This option says which program gets run.  It should contain the  full
   pathname of the program; your whole execution path is not checked.

   The default value of this option is /usr/bin/ref, which is a  program
   that  looks  up  the  definition of a function in C.  It looks up the
   function name in a file called 'refs' which is created by ctags.

   You can substitute other programs,  such  as  an  English  dictionary
   program  or  the  online  manual.   elvis runs the program, using the
   keyword as its only argument.  The program should  write  information
   to  stdout.   The  program's exit status should be 0, unless you want
   elvis to print '<<< failed >>>".

lines
   This 'read only' option shows how many lines you screen has.

list
   Normally (in 'nolist" mode) elvis will  expand  tabs  to  the  proper
   number  of  spaces  on  the screen, so that the file appears the same
   would it would be if you printed it or looked at it with more.

   Sometimes, though, it can be handy to  have  the  tabs  displayed  as
   '^I".  In 'list" mode, elvis does this, and also displays a '$" after
   the end of the line.

magic
   The search mechanism in  elvis  can  accept  'regular  expressions'--
   --strings  in  which  certain  characters  have special meaning.  The
   magic option is normally on, which  causes  these  characters  to  be
   treated specially.  If you turn the magic option off (:se noma), then
   all characters except ^ and $ are treated literally.   ^ and $ retain
   their special meanings regardless of the setting of magic.

paragraphs
   The {  and  }  commands  move  the  cursor  forward  or  backward  in
   increments  of  one  paragraph.  Paragraphs may be separated by blank
   lines, or by a 'dot' command of a  text  formatter.   Different  text
   formatters  use  different 'dot' commands.  This option allows you to
   configure elvis to work with your text formatter.

   It is assumed that your formatter uses commands that start with a ".'
   character  at  the  front  of  a  line,  and then have a one- or two-
   character command name.

   The value of the paragraphs option is a string in which each pair  of
   characters  is  one  possible form of your text formatter's paragraph
   command.

readonly
   Normally, elvis will let you write back any file to  which  you  have


                                                                        



                                                                        


   write permission.  If you do not have write permission, then you  can
   only write the changed version of the file to a different file.

   If you set the readonly option, then elvis will pretend  you  do  not
   have  write  permission  to any file you edit.  It is useful when you
   really only mean to use elvis to look at a file, not  to  change  it.
   This way you cannot change it accidentally.

   This option is normally off, unless  you  use  the  'view'  alias  of
   elvis.  'View' is like vi except that the readonly option is on.

report
   Commands in elvis may affect many lines.  For commands that affect  a
   lot  of  lines,  elvis will output a message saying what was done and
   how many lines were affected.  This option allows you to define  what
   'a  lot  of  lines'  means.   The  default is 5, so any command which
   affects 5 or more lines will cause a message to be shown.

scroll
   The CTRL-U and CTRL-D keys normally scroll  backward  or  forward  by
   half  a  screenful, but this is adjustable.  The value of this option
   says how many lines those keys should scroll by.

sections
   The [[ and ]]  commands  move  the  cursor  backward  or  forward  in
   increment  of  1 section.  Sections may be delimited by a { character
   in column 1 (which is useful for C source code) or by means of a text
   formatter's 'dot' commands.

   This option allows you to configure elvis  to  work  with  your  text
   formatter's  'section'  command,  in  exactly  the  same way that the
   paragraphs option makes it work  with  the  formatter's  'paragraphs"
   command.

shell
   When elvis forks a shell (perhaps for the :! or :shell commands) this
   is  the program that is uses as a shell.  This is /bin/sh by default,
   unless you have set the SHELL environment variable, it which case the
   default value is copied from the environment.

shiftwidth
   The < and > commands shift text left or right by some uniform  number
   of  columns.  The shiftwidth option defines that uniform number.  The
   default is 8.

sidescroll
   For long lines, elvis scrolls sideways.  (This is different from  the
   real  vi,  which  wraps  a  single long line onto several rows of the
   screen.)  To minimize the number of scrolls needed, elvis  moves  the
   screen  sideways  by several characters at a time.  The value of this


                                                                        



                                                                        


   option says  how  many  characters'  widths  to  scroll  at  a  time.
   Generally, the faster your screen can be redrawn, the lower the value
   you will want in this option.

sync
   If the system crashes during an edit session, then most of your  work
   can  be  recovered  from  the temporary file that elvis uses to store
   changes.  However, sometimes MINIX will not copy changes to the  hard
   disk  immediately,  so  recovery might not be possible.  The [no]sync
   option lets you control this.  In nosync mode (which is the default),
   elvis  lets  the operating system control when data is written to the
   disk.  This is generally faster.  In  sync  mode,  elvis  forces  all
   changes  out to disk every time you make a change.  This is generally
   safer, but slower.

tabstop
   Tab characters are normally 8 characters wide,  but  you  can  change
   their widths by means of this option.

term
   This 'read only' option shows the name  of  the  termcap  entry  that
   elvis is using for your terminal.

vbell
   If your termcap entry describes a visible alternative to ringing your
   terminal's  bell,  then  this  option  will  say  whether the visible
   version gets used or not.  Normally it will be.

   If your termcap does NOT include a visible bell capability, then  the
   vbell option will be off, and you cannot turn it on.

warn
   Elvis will normally warn you if  you  run  a  shell  command  without
   saving  your changed version of a file.  The 'nowarn" option prevents
   this warning.

wrapmargin
   Normally (with wrapmargin=0) elvis will let  you  type  in  extremely
   long  lines,  if you wish.  However, with wrapmargin set to something
   other that 0 (wrapmargin=65 is nice), elvis will automatically  cause
   long  lines  to  be  'wrapped"  on a word break for lines longer than
   wrapmargin's setting.

wrapscan
   Normally, when you search for something, elvis will find it no matter
   where  it  is  in the file.  elvis starts at the cursor position, and
   searches forward.  If elvis hits  EOF  without  finding  what  you're
   looking for, then it wraps around to continue searching from line 1.

   If you turn off the wrapscan option (:se nows), then when elvis  hits


                                                                        



                                                                        


   EOF during a search, it will stop and say so.

Cflags

     Elvis uses many preprocessor symbols to control compilation.   Most
of  these  flags  allow you to disable small sets of features.  MINIX-ST
users will probably want all features enabled, but MINIX-PC  users  will
have to disable one or two feature sets because otherwise elvis would be
too large to compile and run.

These symbols can be defined via flags passed to the compiler.  The best
way  to  do  this  is  to  edit the Makefile, and append the flag to the
'CFLAGS=' line.  After you do that, you must recompile elvis  completely
by saying

        make  clean
        make

-DM_SYSV
   This flag causes elvis to use System-V ioctl() calls for  controlling
   your terminal; normally it uses v7/BSD/MINIX ioctl() calls.

-DDATE
   The symbol DATE should be defined to look  like  a  string  constant,
   giving  the  date  when elvis was compiled.  This date is reported by
   the ':version' command.

   You can also leave DATE undefined, in which case ':version' will  not
   report the compilation date.

-DCRUNCH
   This flag causes several large often-used macros to  be  replaced  by
   equivalent  functions.   This  saves about 4K of space in the '.text'
   segment, and it does not cost you any features.

-DDEBUG
   This adds many internal  consistency  checks  and  the  ':debug'  and
   ':validate'  commands.   It  increases the size of 'text' by about 5K
   bytes.

-DNO_CHARATTR
   This permanenently disables the 'charattr' option.   It  reduces  the
   size of '.text' by about 850 bytes.

-DNO_RECYCLE
   Normally, elvis will  recycle  space  in  the  temporary  file  which
   contains  totally  obsolete  text.   The -DNO_RECYCLE option disables
   this, making your '.text'  segment  smaller  by  about  1K  but  also
   permitting the temporary file to grow very quickly.  If you have less
   than two megabytes of free space on  your  disk,  then  do  not  even


                                                                        



                                                                        


   consider using this flag.

-DNO_SENTENCE
   This leaves out the '(' and ')' visual commands, and removes the code
   that  allows the '[[', ']]', '{', and '}' commands to recognize nroff
   macros.  The '[[' and ']]' commands will still move to the  start  of
   the  previous/next  C  function  source code, though, and '{' and '}'
   will move to the previous/next blank  line.   This  saves  about  650
   bytes from the '.text' segment.

-DNO_CHARSEARCH
   This leaves out the visual commands which locate a given character in
   the current line: 'f', 't', 'F', 'T', ';', and ','.  This saves about
   900 bytes.

-DNO_EXTENSIONS
   This leaves out the ':mkexrc' command, and the  'K'  and  '#'  visual
   commands.   Other  extensions  are  either  inherent in the design of
   elvis, or are too tiny to be worth removing.  This  saves  about  500
   bytes.

-DNO_MAGIC
   This permanently disables the 'magic'  option,  so  that  most  meta-
   characters  in  a  regular  expression are not recognized. This saves
   about 3K bytes from the '.text' segment.


Termcap Elvis can use standard termcap entries, but it  also  recognizes
and uses several extra capabilities, if you give them.  All of these are
optional.

   Capability        Description
   :PU=:             sequence received from the <PgUp> key
   :PD=:             sequence received from the <PgDn> key
   :HM=:             sequence received from the <Home> key
   :EN=:             sequence received from the <End> key
   :VB=:             sequence sent to start bold printing
   :Vb=:             sequence sent to end bold printing

Author

     Elvis was written by Steve Kirkendall.  He can be reached by  email
at: kirkenda@cs.pdx.edu for comments regarding elvis.









                                                                        

