elvis(9)
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.