Main Menu Aee allows you to move through the file and execute commands without having to toggle through different modes. The following are the topics available in this help file: commands keys init.ae Please enter the entire word you are interested in learning more information about. If you would like to return to this menu later while still in this help facility, enter a TAB (press the TAB key, then the RETURN key). To learn about a topic, enter the topic at the prompt (type the entire topic just as it is in the list, then press RETURN). The man (reference) page for aee contains additional information, such as configuration information, which is not contained in this on-line help file. To exit the help facility, simply press the RETURN key without entering other information. Copyright (c) 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999 Hugh Mahon. commands Aee uses word commands to perform several functions. The following are the commands used: ! edit leftmargin noliteral rightmargin +- eight line nooverstrike save autoformat exit literal nostatus show binary expand noautoformat nowindows spacing case file nocase overstrike status cd height noeight print tabs character help noexpand pwd text define indent noindent quit untabs delete info noinfo read windows diff justify nojustify resequence write binary Files read while in binary mode will be read in as is, only the new line (also called the line-feed) character has special meaning (terminating a line). The command line option '-binary' may be used to ensure the editor is in the binary mode when starting. The 'binary' command may also be used in the file 'init.ae'. See also 'text'. text Files read while in the text mode will be checked whether or not they contain carriage-return characters immediately before new-line (also called line-feed) characters. If the file does contain carriage-returns before new-lines, the file is deemed a DOS file. When it comes time to write the file, if the editor has set a flag and will write the file with carriage-returns. If no carriage-return characters are found, the file is deemed a UNIX file. The 'text' mode is the default. See 'binary' for non-text mode behavior. It is possible to change the mode between DOS and UNIX in the menu (which can by default be accessed by pressing the Escape key, or control-[). The command line option '-text' can be used to ensure that the editor starts in text mode. character To have the ascii code for the character the cursor is currently pointing to displayed, type 'character' at the command prompt. The decimal form of the number is the one displayed. cd The command 'cd' will change the current working to the one specified, for example: cd .. will cause the working directory to be changed to the directory above the current directory. file Entering the command 'file' at the command prompt causes the name of the file being edited to be displayed. The file is the name entered on the command line when the editor is invoked. height The command 'height' is used to set or display the number of lines that are to be displayed in the info window. By providing a numeric argument for the command, like so: height 8 the number of lines will be set according to the value of the argument. If no argument is provided, the current value will be displayed. See the commands 'info' and 'noinfo' to learn how to turn on or off the display of the info window. info noinfo The command 'info' turns on the display of an information window at the top of the screen. This window displays the keys associated with the control keys (keys pressed at the same time as the CONTROL key). The command 'noinfo' turns off the display of this window. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. The info window is by default displayed. It can be turned off automatically by putting 'noinfo' in an init.ae file, or by specifying the '-i' option when invoking aee. See the command 'height' to learn how to change the size of the info window. line Entering the command 'line' at the command prompt will cause the number of the line the cursor is currently on to be displayed. read You may read other files into the current buffer by using the command 'read', as in the example below: read file.c The file named 'file.c' will be read into the buffer you are currently operating in. This may be any buffer you create or in 'main', the initial buffer created at the start of aee. You may read in as many files as you wish as often as you wish. write You may write out the buffer you are currently operating in to a file using the command 'write', as in the example: write file.c The file name is then compared to the current file name. If the named file is not the same as the current file, aee checks if it already exists. If the file does already exist, you are asked if you want to write over it. If you decide to write over the file, answer 'y'. This will cause aee to delete the existing file. If the file does not already exist, it will be created without prompting for any more information. save The command 'save' will save the contents of the buffer 'main' to the file named when the editor was invoked. edit You may edit another file within the same edit session by using the command 'edit', as in the example: edit file.c A new buffer named 'file.c' will be created and the file (if it exists) will be read into the buffer. If journalling was not turned off at the beginning of the edit session (either with a command line option or command in the file .init.ae) then a journal file will also be created for this file. The buffer will be deleted by the 'delete' command, or when the editor is exited. If changes have been made to the contents of an edit buffer, the user will be prompted whether or not to save the contents of the buffer. buffer The command 'buffer' performs three functions. Entered with no argument, 'buffer' will display the name of the current buffer. Entered with an argument, 'buffer' will move to the buffer with the argument as the name of the buffer. If the buffer does not exist, it is created. If the buffer exists, the cursor is placed at the last position it occupied in that buffer. delete The command 'delete' deletes the buffer you are currently operating in. You cannot delete the buffer named 'main', since this is the buffer containing the file you read in upon entering aee. diff The 'diff' command will provide a diff of the contents of the current edit buffer and the file associated with the buffer. A new window (buffer) will be created to contain the diffs. If the diff command had been previously run then the buffer created previously will be deleted and a fresh buffer created. Note that this command will only work if a file is associated with the buffer, which happens when the buffer is the main buffer, or when the 'edit' command was used to edit another file in an existing session. exit The command 'exit' causes you to leave the edit session and write the buffer 'main' out to the file named when you invoked aee. If you have created any other buffer(s) in the session, you will be prompted if you are sure you wish to exit without doing anything with the data in the other buffer(s). An optional exclamation mark ('!') after the command allows you to leave aee without going through the rest of the list of files you entered when invoking the edit session. quit The command 'quit' allows you to leave the edit session without saving the changes you made during the edit session. If you have created other buffers during the session, you will be prompted if you are sure you wish to exit without doing anything with the data in the other buffer(s). An optional exclamation mark ('!') after the command allows you to leave aee without going through the rest of the list of files you entered when invoking the edit session. +- Entering a '+' or '-' and then a number will move the cursor forward or backward in the text that number of lines. ! The exclamation point ('!') at the beginning of the line followed by a shell command allows you to execute the shell command without having to exit or quit the edit session. You may read data into a buffer by typing a '<' and then the name of a buffer (if different from the current buffer) before the !command, as follows: ' and the name of a buffer (if different from the current buffer) before the !command, as follows: >outbuff !sort You may output data and read from a shell command at the same time, as follows: list !sort which will send data from buffer 'list' to be sorted, and then place the sorted data in a buffer named 'sorted'. pwd Prints the working (current) directory. case nocase The command 'case' tells aee to discriminate between upper and lower case during a search or replace command. The default condition is that aee does not discriminate between upper and lower case (nocase). You may tell aee to be case sensitive in the file 'init.ae' (see topic init.ae). The command 'nocase' tells aee not to discriminate between upper and lower case during search and replace operations. This command is used to return to the default condition after using the command 'case'. literal The command 'literal' tells aee to match characters one to one during the search operation, i.e., to match an 'a' in the search string to an 'a' in the text, or a '*' to a '*'. When in literal mode, aee matches exactly what is in the search string to the text through which it is searching. In literal mode, no characters have special meaning. The command 'noliteral' tells aee that certain characters in the search string may be metacharacters, that is, characters which have special meaning. See topic 'noliteral'. 'literal' and 'noliteral' may be used in the initialization file. See 'init.ae'. noliteral The command 'noliteral' tells aee that some characters (described below) have special meaning. Noliteral mode is the default. The following characters have special meaning in noliteral mode of search/replace operations: \x match character x verbatim [a-z] match character in text in range a to z [^a-z] match character in text as anything but in range a to z . match any single character * match any string ^ match beginning of line $ match end of line To search for an 'a' at the beginning of a line, type '^a' for the search string at the prompt. To search for a backslash (\), a dollar sign ($), a period (.), or any of the other characters that have special meaning when in noliteral mode, precede them with a backslash (\). To search for a backslash, enter "\\" in the search string. windows nowindows The command 'windows' allows multiple buffers to exist on the screen. When you use the command 'buffer' with an argument, a buffer is created with the argument as the name of that window. If you haven't entered the command 'nowindow', aee will put the new buffer on the screen along with the current window reduced in size. You may have several windows on your screen at the same time. This is the default condition. The command 'nowindows' tells aee that you do not want buffers to co-exist on the screen. When you use the command 'buffer' and an argument, the new buffer replaces the previous buffer on the screen. The old buffer still exists, but simply will not be visible until you move back to that buffer. You may turn off windowing in the file 'init.ae' (see topic init.ae). show The command 'show' is used to display the function(s) assigned to the specified key. Example: show ^g displays: key defined as gold Note that the carat ('^') is typed by the user. Both control keys (^x) and function keys (f#) may be displayed. define The command 'define' is used to assign a function or set of functions to a key. Example: define ^L dl assigns the function 'delete line' to the key combination control-L using the symbol 'dl'. Note that the '^' is typed by the user. More than one function may be assigned to a key, as long as each function is separated by one or more spaces. You may also assign a string to be inserted by executing a control or function key by using delimiters: define f8 /insert this string/ causing the text between the slashes (/) to be inserted at the cursor position when f8 is pressed. The 'define' command may also be used in the file 'init.ae' (see topic init.ae). resequence The command 'resequence' renumbers the lines into proper sequence from the top of the file to the bottom. This command is useful if you have inserted or deleted lines in the middle of the file, and wish to know how many lines from the top you are. help The 'help' command is used to obtain this help facility. To find the topic you want, look at the first selection presented, which may be obtained by entering a TAB and pressing RETURN at the prompt at the bottom of your screen. To exit, simply press RETURN in response to the prompt below and you will return to your edit session. The entire name of the topic must be entered without any other characters before or after the topic name, otherwise this will confuse the help facility. eight noeight The command 'eight' tells aee to send an eight bit character directly to the terminal rather than representing it in a different fashion. Since some terminals do not have a character set which includes eight bit characters, aee allows the user to choose whether or not eight bit characters are represented by the eight bit value between angle brackets (251 is represented by <251>), or having the code sent directly to the terminal. The command 'noeight' is used to tell aee to use the representation of the character, which is the default condition. The command 'noeight' is used to tell aee to represent eight bit characters as the decimal value which represents the character between angle brackets. This is the default condition. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. tabs untabs The command 'tabs' sets tab stops if used with arguments. If used without arguments, 'tabs' displays the stops set with previous 'tabs' commands. Example: tabs 3 6 9 12 will set tab stops at columns 3, 6, 9, and 12. After column 12, if the TAB key is pressed, a tab will be inserted and the cursor will move to the next default tab stop, in this case, column 16. The command 'untabs' unsets tab stops that were set with previous 'tabs' commands. For example: untabs 6 12 will unset tab stops at columns 6 and 12 if tabs had been set there using a previous 'tabs' command. See also the 'spacing' and 'expand' commands. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. spacing The command 'spacing' will set the spacing for tabs to be the value specified for the number of spaces between tab stops. This differs from the 'tabs' command in that spacing is regular (while with 'tabs' spacing need not be regular stops). Example: spacing 5 Will space tab stops every 5 spaces, like so: 1 2 3 4 5 This command may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. See also the 'tabs' and 'expand' commands for additional information expand noexpand The command 'expand' causes spaces to fill to the next tab stop when the TAB key is pressed. This is useful when you need to move to specific columns (when used with the command 'tabs'), but do not want the tab character. The command 'noexpand' turns off tab expansion. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. justify nojustify The command 'justify' tells aee to justify the right side of a paragraph during a 'format' operation. The command 'nojustfy' turns off right margin justification. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. autoformat noautoformat The command 'autoformat' tells the editor to turn on auto paragraph formatting. This means that when entering text, when a space is entered, the editor will make sure the text in the current paragraph fits into the set margins. A paragraph is defined by a section of text bounded by the begin or end of files, and blank lines at the begin or end of the text block. The command 'noautoformat' turns off auto paragraph formatting. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. In order for paragraph formatting to work, margins must be observed. When auto paragraph formatting is turned on, the editor is automatically notified to observe margins. If however, the user later turns off margins, auto formatting will stop. margin nomargin The command 'margin' tells aee that you wish the length of a line limited to the right margin. If in the course of typing you go beyond the right margin, aee will then start a new line, and move the characters from the first word that crosses the right margin to the new line. The command 'nomargin' tells the editor that the set margins are not to be observed. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. rightmargin The command 'rightmargin' allows you to set or view a value for the right margin. If you enter a value after 'rightmargin', that value will be used for the new right margin setting. To view the current right margin setting, simply type 'rightmargin'. This command may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. leftmargin The command 'leftmargin' allows you to set or view a value for the left margin. If you enter a value after 'leftmargin', that value will be used for the new left margin setting. To view the current left margin setting, simply type 'leftmargin'. This command may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. status nostatus The command 'status' turns on a status line at the bottom of the screen which displays the name of the file, the line number, the column, and other flags used by the editor. The command 'nostatus' turns off the status line. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. overstrike nooverstrike The command 'overstrike' allows you to overwrite, or replace existing text, instead of inserting in the middle of a line. The command 'nooverstrike' turns off the 'overstrike' mode. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. indent noindent The command 'indent' causes automatic indentation of a line created by pressing the RETURN key to the same number of tabs and spaces as the previous line. The command 'noindent' turns off automatic indentation. These commands may be used in the file init.ae. See 'init.ae' for more information. print The command "print" will send the contents of the current buffer to a shell command (the default is the command "lp"). The shell command can be redefined in the "init.ae" file by using the line option "printcommand", as follows: printcommand lp -dlaser The above example will cause the "print" command to send the contents of the current buffer to the shell command "lp" with the option "-dlaser", which specifies the device "laser". (See the UNIX reference page for "lp(1)" for more information.) keys Aee uses a combination of function keys and control keys (a-z pressed along with the CONTROL or CTRL key) to perform operations in the editor. These keys may be redefined to the user's taste using the 'define' command. The functions available are listed below. The function name is followed in parenthesis by the symbol name used in defining the key. Enter the symbol or the name in response to the 'topic' prompt. case sensitive search (case) gold (gold) case insensitive search (nocase) replace prompt (prp) carriage return (cr) begin of line (bol) exit (exit) insert line (il) expand tabs (expand) reverse (rev) don't expand tabs (noexpand) begin of text (bot) help (help) left arrow (left) auto indent (indent) right arrow (right) auto indent off (noindent) carriage return (cr) literal search (literal) mark text (mark) regular expresn search (noliteral) search (srch) observe margins (margins) clear to eol (cl) no margins (nomargins) match (mc) overstrike (overstrike) search prompt (psrch) insert characters (nooverstrike) command (cmd) display status line (status) menu (menu) don't display status (nostatus) undelete (und) redraw screen (rd) copy text (copy) show all windows (windows) next buffer (nb) show only one window (nowindows) undelete character (udc) advance line (al) cut text (cut) end of line (eol) next page (np) previous page (pp) undelete line (udl) advance word (aw) delete character (dc) end of text (eot) paste text (pst) previous word (pw) undelete word (udw) append (append) delete line (dl) format (format) prefix (prefix) redraw screen (rd) unmark (unmark) ascii character (ac) delete word (dw) forward (fwd) previous buffer (pb) replace (rp) up arrow (up) backspace (bck) down arrow (down) menu The 'menu' function causes a menu to pop up in the middle of the screen. The menu contains entries for exiting the editor, getting help information, edit functions (cut/paste), file operations (read, write, save), screen redraw, file behavior settings (margins, etc.), search and replace, and miscellaneous operations (spell, paragraph formatting, shell escape). The menu function is initially assigned to the Escape key (or control-[ for keyboards without an escape key). The menu is navigated by using the up and down arrow keys, the space bar and the backspace key. Once the cursor is on the desired menu item, press the Return key to perform the task indicated. delete line dl 'Delete line' is initially assigned to control-L, as well as being assigned to the key (if it is on your keyboard) DELETE LINE. This function may be assigned to a key using the symbol 'dl'. 'Delete line' deletes from the current cursor position to the end of the line, and appends the following line to the end of the current line. The line is placed in a buffer and may be undeleted using the keyboard function 'undelete line', whose symbol is 'udl'. See 'undelete line'. clear to eol cl 'Clear to eol' is initially assigned to GOLD control-C, and may be assigned to a key using the symbol 'cl'. 'Clear to eol' deletes from the current cursor position to the end of the line, but does not append the following line to the end of the current line as does 'delete line'. The line is placed in a buffer and may be undeleted using the keyboard function 'undelete line', whose symbol is 'udl'. See 'undelete line'. delete word dw 'Delete word' is initially assigned to the key control-W, and to f3. This function may be assigned to a key using the symbol 'dw'. Using this function you may delete from the current cursor position to the beginning of the next word. For instance, if your cursor is placed on a character that is not a 'space' or 'tab' character, then the characters to the next space or tab will be deleted, and then the tabs and/or spaces to the next non-space character. If your cursor is on a space or tab, the space characters up to the first non-space character are deleted. The word is placed in a buffer allowing you to undelete it by using the command 'undelete character', symbol 'udw'. delete character dc The default assignment for 'delete character' is control-K, and if your terminal has it, the DELETE CHAR key. 'Delete character' may be assigned to a key using the symbol 'dc'. 'Delete char' deletes the character the cursor is currently on. Both 'delete character' and 'backspace' use the same buffer to store the last deleted character. This buffer is accessed by using the function 'undelete character'. undelete und The function 'undelete' is not initially assigned. 'Undelete' does an undelete operation of the last delete operations, in reverse order of the delete operations. The symbol for 'undelete' is 'und'. undelete line udl 'Undelete line' is initially assigned to gold control-L, gold f2, and to gold DELETE LINE, where DELETE LINE is a key on your keyboard. The symbol for 'undelete line' is 'udl'. This function allows you to insert the most recently deleted line. The line or partial line will be inserted in front of the current cursor position, and will cause the text after the cursor to be at the start of a new line. undelete word udw 'Undelete word' is initially assigned to gold control-W, and gold f3. The symbol for 'undelete word' is 'udw'. This function allows you to insert the most recently deleted word at the cursor. end of line eol 'End of line' is initially assigned to control-O and uses the symbol 'eol'. 'End of line' does exactly what you would expect it to do, which is to move the cursor to the end of the current line. If you are already at the end of the line, 'end of line' will move the cursor to the end of the next line. begin of line bol 'Begin of line' is initially assigned to control-D, and uses the symbol 'bol'. 'Begin of line' moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line. If you are at the start of the current line, 'begin of line' will move you to the beginning of the previous line. end of text eot 'End of text' is initially assigned to control-B, and uses the symbol 'eot'. 'End of text' moves the cursor to the bottom of the current buffer. begin of text bot 'Begin of text' is initially assigned to control-T, and uses the symbol 'bot'. 'Begin of text' moves the cursor to the top of the current buffer. next page np 'Next page' is initially assigned to control-N, and if your terminal has it, the key NEXT PAGE. 'Next page' uses the symbol 'np'. 'Next page' moves the cursor forward several lines, depending on the size of your terminal screen, and the number of lines the current buffer occupies on the screen. previous page pp 'Previous page' is initially assigned to control-P, and if your terminal has it, the key PREV PAGE. 'Previous page' uses the symbol 'pp'. 'Previous page' moves the cursor forward several lines, depending on the size of your terminal screen, and the number of lines the current buffer occupies on the screen. next buffer nb 'Next buffer' is initially assigned to gold control-N, and uses the symbol 'nb'. 'Next buffer' moves you to the next buffer in the order of buffer creation. If you have windows active, your cursor will be placed in the next buffer, otherwise the screen is erased and the next buffer replaces the current buffer on the screen. The name of the buffer is also displayed on the command line. previous buffer pb 'Previous buffer' is initially assigned to gold control-P, and uses the symbol 'pb'. 'Previous buffer' moves you to the previous buffer in the order of buffer creation. If you have windows active, your cursor will be placed in the next buffer, otherwise the screen is erased and the next buffer replaces the current buffer on the screen. The name of the buffer is also displayed on the command line. gold 'Gold' is initially assigned to control-G, and f1. 'Gold' allows the user to have two functions assigned to keys, one is the function executed when pressing the key, and the other is executed when the key is pressed immediately after pressing the gold key. 'Gold' also allows the user to repeat a single keystroke many times. Simply press the key assigned to GOLD, enter the number of repetitions you wish, then press the key you wish to be repeated (or GOLD and key). insert line il 'Insert line' is initially assigned to the key INSERT LINE on your keyboard, and uses the symbol 'il'. 'Insert line' will terminate the line at the current cursor position and put the rest of the line at the start of the next line. search prompt psrch 'Search prompt' is initially assigned to the key gold control-F, and gold f5. 'Search prompt' uses the symbol 'psrch'. 'Search prompt' causes a prompt to appear on the command line asking for the string to be found. If you have executed the 'mark' function, all text from the current cursor position to the start of the string will be marked. You may also use metacharacters in your search string, as well as have aee be case sensitive during search operations. See topics 'case' and 'literal' for more information. To search for a carriage return, a backspace, or control-v, press control-v, and then the desired character. The control-v character is required since the backspace character is used for string editing, and carriage-return is used for string termination. search srch 'Search' is initially assigned to control-F and f5, and uses the symbol 'srch'. 'Search' searches for the last string prompted for after executing 'search prompt'. replace prompt prp 'Replace prompt' is initially assigned to gold control-Z, and uses the symbol 'prp'. 'Replace prompt' asks the user for the string to be replaced, and the string to replace it with. This is accomplished by entering the initial string surrounded by a delimiter character which is not in the string itself, as follows: /old/new/ where "old" is the string to be found and replaced, and "new" is the string to replace "old" with. You may also use metacharacters in your first string (the string to be replaced), as well as have the search operation be case sensitive. See the topics 'case' and 'literal'. It is possible to place the original string into the new string during the replace operation, by inserting an ampersand (&) into the new string where you wish to re-insert the old string. This can only be done if in the 'noliteral' mode. To place an ampersand into the new string precede it with a backslash (\). see 'replace' replace rp 'Replace' is initially assigned to control-Z, and uses the symbol 'rp'. 'Replace' uses the data obtained when the user executes the function 'replace prompt' to search for a string and then replace it with the new string. 'Replace' prompts the user each time it finds a match to the old string as to whether or not to replace this occurrence. The beginning of the old string found is highlighted, and the prompt asks the user to respond with a carriage return or 'r' to replace the string, 'a' to replace all occurrences, 's' to skip this occurrence, or 'q' to quit replacing strings. forward fwd 'Forward' is initially assigned to GOLD control-V, and uses the symbol 'fwd'. 'Forward' allows the user to specify that the next search or replace operation will search forward of the current cursor position. reverse rev 'Reverse' is initially assigned to GOLD control-r, and uses the symbol 'rev'. 'Reverse' allows the user to specify that the next search or replace operation will search above or before the current cursor position. advance line al 'Advance line' is initially assigned to f8, and uses the symbol 'al'. 'Advance line' moves the cursor to the beginning of the next line. advance word aw 'Advance word' is initially assigned to f4, and uses the symbol 'aw'. 'Advance word' moves the cursor forward to the next character after the following spaces and/or tabs. previous word pw 'Previous word' is initially assigned to gold control-Y, and uses the symbol 'pw'. 'Previous word' moves the cursor to the first character of the word to the left of the current cursor position. mark 'Mark' is initially assigned to control-U and f6. 'Mark' causes the text over which the cursor moves to be "marked" until you execute either the 'cut' or 'copy' function. This causes the text to be placed into a buffer so that you may place it elsewhere in your file using the 'paste' function. You may delete the marked text (using the 'cut' function) or simply copy the text (using the 'copy' function). Once the text is in the buffer, you may insert it anywhere in your buffer as many times as you like. The text contained in the buffer before pressing 'mark' is lost. prefix 'Prefix' is initially assigned to gold control-D, and uses the symbol 'prefix'. 'Prefix' performs the same function as 'mark', except that the text marked is added to the current contents of the paste buffer (it is placed before the previous contents, hence 'prefix'). append 'Append' is initially assigned to gold control-B, and uses the symbol 'append'. 'Append' performs the same function as 'mark', except that the text marked is added to the current contents of the paste buffer (it is placed at the end of the previous contents, hence 'append'). paste pst 'Paste' is initially assigned to gold control-V and gold f7, and uses the symbol 'pst'. 'Paste' causes the text you placed into the paste buffer using the 'mark' function to be inserted into the current buffer starting at the current cursor position. cut 'Cut' is initially assigned to control-X and f7. 'Cut' causes the marked text to be removed from the buffer. You can insert this text in a buffer anywhere you wish by using the 'paste' function. copy 'Copy' is initially assigned to gold control-C and gold f6. 'Copy' causes the marked text in the current buffer to be "unmarked", but still causes it to be placed into the buffer for use with the 'paste' function. unmark 'Unmark' causes the marked test to be unmarked, and leaves the previous contents of the paste buffer intact. The 'unmark' function is initially unassigned. The symbol for 'unmark' is 'unmark'. ascii character ac 'ASCII character' is initially assigned to control-A, and uses the symbol 'ac'. 'ASCII character' prompts the user form the decimal form of the ASCII code for the desired character, and then inserts it at the current cursor position. match mc 'Match' is initially assigned to gold control-A, and uses the symbol 'mc'. If the cursor is on a parenthesis (), a bracket [], a brace {}, or angle bracket <>, 'match' will find the character which will be of the same level (skip nested characters), and place the cursor on it. format 'Format' is initially assigned to gold control-F, and uses the symbol 'format'. By pressing the function 'format', you will cause the paragraph in which the cursor currently resides to be left and right adjusted according the the current margin settings. You must have 'nowrap' set, so that aee knows to observe the margins, otherwise no operations will occur. command cmd 'Command' is initially assigned to control-E, and gold f8. 'Command' is assigned to so many keys because some people assign shell operations to various keys, and since this function is so vital, it is hoped that no one will have assigned operations to all of the keys used for this function. 'Command' prompts the user for the name of the operation to be performed, and those operations are described under "commands" in the first topic selection. 'Command' uses the symbol 'cmd'. up 'Up' is initially assigned to the up-arrow key. This function causes the cursor to move to the previous line in the same horizontal position it currently occupies. down 'Down' is initially assigned to the down-arrow key. This function causes the cursor to move to the next line in the same horizontal position it currently occupies. left 'Left' is initially assigned to the left-arrow key. 'Left' moves the cursor to the left of the current cursor position, unless it is at the beginning of a line, in which case it moves to the last character of the previous line. right 'Right' is initially assigned to the right-arrow key. 'Right' moves the cursor to the right or the current cursor position, unless it is at the end of the line, in which case it moves to the start of the next line. redraw rd 'Redraw' is initially assigned to control-R, and uses the symbol 'rd'. 'Redraw' erases the screen and then redraws them, clearing the screen of any garbage introduced by messages from outside the editor. backspace bck 'Backspace' is initially assigned to the BACKSPACE key, and uses the symbol 'bck'. 'Backspace' deletes the character to the left of the cursor and places it in a buffer. The character may be "undeleted" using the function 'undelete character'. carriage return cr 'Carriage return' is assigned to the RETURN key, and uses the symbol 'cr'. 'Carriage return' terminates a line and moves the cursor to the start of the next line. init.ae The file 'init.ae' may be used to set parameters and define keys to perform certain functions within ae. This file may reside in three locations: /usr/local/lib/init.ae, .init.ae in your home directory, and .init.ae in the current working directory. First, aee checks for a system level initialization file, located in /usr/local/lib. Next the user's home directory is checked for a file named .init.ae, then the current directory. The settings from each file are read, so that the directives from the most recently read file will take precedence over previously read files. This allows, for example, the .init.ae file in the user's home directory to specify tab expansion, while the .init.ae file in the current working directory specifies no tab expansion. This allows the user to establish global settings and to automatically override them for specific directories if desired. The 'init.ae' file may be used to set aee to consider upper and lower case (using the 'case' and 'nocase' commands), whether or not buffers will co-exist on the screen ('windows', 'nowindows'), and define function and control keys (the 'define' command). See the above mentioned topics for details on syntax and usage. An example follows: define ^l dl define gold ^l udl case nowindows This file would disable windows, cause aee to be case sensitive, and define control-L to execute the function 'delete line', and gold control-L to execute the function 'undelete line'.