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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