ex

ex [options] files

A line-oriented text editor; a superset of ed and the root of vi. See Sections 8 and 9 for more information.

Options

-ccommand

Begin edit session by executing the given ex command (usually a search pattern or line address). If command contains spaces or special characters, enclose it in single quotes to protect it from the shell. For example, command could be ':set list' (show tabs and newlines) or /word (search for word) or '$' (show last line). (Note: -ccommand was formerly +command.)

-l

Run in LISP mode for editing LISP programs.

-L

List filenames that were saved due to an editor or system crash.

-r file

Recover and edit file after an editor or system crash.

-R

Edit in read-only mode to prevent accidental changing of files.

-s

Suppress status messages (e.g., errors, prompts); useful when running an ex script. (-s was formerly the - option.)

-t tag

Edit the file containing tag, and position the editor at its definition (see ctags for more information).

-v

Invoke vi. Running vi directly is simpler.

-V

Verbose; print non-terminal input on standard error. Useful for tracking shell scripts running ex.

-x

Supply a key to encrypt or decrypt file using crypt.

-C

Same as -x but assume that file began in encrypted form.

Examples

Either of the following examples will apply the ex commands in exscript to text file doc:

ex -s doc < exscript
cat exscript | ex -s doc