11.3. ex Command-Line Options
While most people know ex commands only by their use within
vi, the editor also exists as a
separate program and can be invoked from the shell (for instance, to
edit files as part of a script). Within ex, you can enter the vi or visual
command to start vi. Similarly,
within vi, you can enter Q to quit the vi editor and enter ex.
If you invoke ex as a standalone
editor, you can include the following options:
- +[num]
-
Start editing at line number num, or the last
line of the file if num is omitted.
- +/pattern
-
Start editing at the first line matching
pattern. (Fails if nowrapscan is set in your
.exrc startup file.)
- -c command
-
Run the given ex command upon
startup. Only one -c option is
permitted. An older form of this option, +command, is still
supported.
- -e
-
Run as a line editor rather than full-screen vi mode (default).
- -l
-
Enter LISP mode for running LISP programs (not supported in all
versions).
- -r [file]
-
Recover and resume editing on file after an
aborted editor session or system crash. Without
file, list files available for recovery.
- -s
-
Silent; do not display prompts. Useful when running a script. This
behavior also can be set through the older - option.
- -t tag
-
Edit the file containing tag and position the
cursor at its definition (see ctags
in Chapter 3 for more information).
- -v
-
Run in full-screen mode (same as invoking vi).
- -w rows
-
Set the window size so rows lines at a time are
displayed; useful when editing by a slow dial-up line.
- -x
-
Prompt for a key that will be used to try to encrypt or decrypt a
file using crypt (not supported in
all versions).
- -C
-
Same as -x, but assume the file is
encrypted already (not supported in all versions).
- -L
-
List files that were saved due to an editor or system crash (not
supported in all versions).
- -R
-
Edit files read-only; do not allow changes to be saved.
You can exit ex in several ways:
- :x
-
Exit (save changes and quit).
- :q!
-
Quit without saving changes.
- :vi
-
Enter the vi editor.
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