POSIX revision 1.7 1 This version of ed(1) is not strictly POSIX compliant, as described in
2 the POSIX 1003.2 document. The following is a summary of the omissions,
3 extensions and possible deviations from POSIX 1003.2.
4
5 OMISSIONS
6 ---------
7 1) Locale(3) is not supported yet.
8
9 2) For backwards compatibility, the POSIX rule that says a range of
10 addresses cannot be used where only a single address is expected has
11 been relaxed.
12
13 EXTENSIONS
14 ----------
15 1) BSD commands have been implemented wherever they do not conflict with
16 the POSIX standard. The BSD-ism's included are:
17 i) `s' (i.e., s[rgp]*) to repeat a previous substitution,
18 ii) `W' for appending text to an existing file,
19 iii) `wq' for exiting after a write,
20 iv) `z' for scrolling through the buffer, and
21 v) BSD line addressing syntax (i.e., `^' and `%') is recognized.
22
23 2) If crypt(3) is available, files can be read and written using DES
24 encryption. The `x' command prompts the user to enter a key used for
25 encrypting/ decrypting subsequent reads and writes. If only a newline
26 is entered as the key, then encryption is disabled. Otherwise, a key
27 is read in the same manner as a password entry. The key remains in
28 effect until encryption is disabled. For more information on the
29 encryption algorithm, see the bdes(1) man page. Encryption/decryption
30 should be fully compatible with SunOS DES.
31
32 3) The POSIX interactive global commands `G' and `V' are extended to
33 support multiple commands, including `a', `i' and `c'. The command
34 format is the same as for the global commands `g' and `v', i.e., one
35 command per line with each line, except for the last, ending in a
36 backslash (\).
37
38 4) Though ed is not a binary editor, it can be used (if painfully) to edit
39 binary files. To assist in binary editing, when a file containing at
40 least one ASCII NUL character is written, a newline is not appended if
41 it did not already contain one upon reading. For instance, to create
42 a file containing a single NUL, one might use:
43 $ cp /dev/null file
44 $ ed file
45 a
46 ^@
47 .
48 wq
49 $
50
51 5) An extension to the POSIX file commands `E', `e', `r', `W' and `w' is
52 that <file> arguments are processed for backslash escapes, i.e., any
53 character preceded by a backslash is interpreted literally. If the
54 first unescaped character of a <file> argument is a bang (!), then the
55 rest of the line is interpreted as a shell command, and no escape
56 processing is performed by ed.
57
58 6) The ex(1) editor's ! (bang) command syntax is supported, i.e.:
59 i) commands of the form:
60 (addr1,addr2) !shell-command
61 replace the addressed lines with the output of the shell-
62 command, and
63 ii) commands of the form:
64 [rwe] !!
65 read, write, or edit, respectively, the previous shell-command.
66
67 7) For SunOS ed(1) compatibility, ed runs in restricted mode if invoked
68 as red. This limits editing of files in the local directory only and
69 prohibits shell commands.
70
71 DEVIATIONS
72 ----------
73 1) Since the behavior of `u' (undo) within a `g' (global) command list is
74 not specified by POSIX, it follows the behavior of the SunOS ed (this
75 is the best way, I think, in that the alternatives are either too
76 complicated to implement or too confusing to use): undo forces a global
77 command list to be executed only once, rather than for each line
78 matching a global pattern. In addtion, each instance of `u' within a
79 global command undoes all previous commands (including undo's) in the
80 command list.
81
82 2) The `m' (move) command within a `g' command list also follows the SunOS
83 ed implementation: any moved lines are removed from the global command's
84 `active' list.
85
86 3) If ed is invoked with a name argument prefixed by a bang, then the
87 remainder of the argument is interpreted as a shell command. To invoke
88 ed on a file whose name starts with bang, prefix the name with a
89 backslash.
90