NAME
elvis, ex, vi - The editor
SYNOPSIS
elvis [flags] [+cmd] [files...]
DESCRIPTION
Elvis is a text editor which emulates vi/ex.
On systems which pass the program name as an argument, such
as UNIX and MINIX 3, you may also install elvis under the
names "ex", "vi", "view", and "input". These extra names
would normally be links to elvis; see the "ln" shell com-
mand.
When elvis is invoked as "vi", it behaves exactly as though
it was invoked as "elvis". However, if you invoke elvis as
"view", then the readonly option is set as though you had
given it the "-R" flag. If you invoke elvis as "ex", then
elvis will start up in the colon command mode instead of the
visual command mode, as though you had given it the "-e"
flag. If you invoke elvis as "input" or "edit", then elvis
will start up in input mode, as though the "-i" flag was
given.
OPTIONS
-r To the real vi, this flag means that a previous edit
should be recovered. Elvis, though, has a separate
program, called elvrec(1), for recovering files. When
you invoke elvis with -r, elvis will tell you to run
elvrec.
-R This sets the "readonly" option, so you won't acciden-
tally overwrite a file.
-t tag
This causes elvis to start editing at the given tag.
-m [file]
Elvis will search through file for something that looks
like an error message from a compiler. It will then
begin editing the source file that caused the error,
with the cursor sitting on the line where the error was
detected. If you don't explicitly name a file, then
"errlist" is assumed.
-e Elvis will start up in colon command mode.
-v Elvis will start up in visual command mode.
-i Elvis will start up in input mode.
-w winsize
Sets the "window" option's value to winsize.
+command or -c command
If you use the +command parameter, then after the first
file is loaded command is executed as an EX command. A
typical example would be "elvis +237 foo", which would
cause elvis to start editing foo and then move directly
to line 237. The "-c command" variant was added for
UNIX SysV compatibility.
FILES
/tmp/elv*
During editing, elvis stores text in a temporary file.
For UNIX, this file will usually be stored in the /tmp
directory, and the first three characters will be
"elv". For other systems, the temporary files may be
stored someplace else; see the version-specific section
of the documentation.
tags This is the database used by the :tags command and the
-t option. It is usually created by the ctags(1) pro-
gram.
.exrc or elvis.rc
On UNIX-like systems, a file called ".exrc" in your
home directory is executed as a series of ex commands.
A file by the same name may be executed in the current
directory, too. On non-UNIX systems, ".exrc" is usu-
ally an invalid file name; there, the initialization
file is called "elvis.rc" instead.
SEE ALSO
ctags(1), ref(1), elvrec(1), elvis(9).
Elvis - A Clone of Vi/Ex, the complete elvis documentation.
BUGS
There is no LISP support. Certain other features are miss-
ing, too.
Auto-indent mode is not quite compatible with the real vi.
Among other things, 0^D and ^^D don't do what you might
expect.
Long lines are displayed differently. The real vi wraps
long lines onto multiple rows of the screen, but elvis
scrolls sideways.
AUTHOR
Steve Kirkendall
kirkenda@cs.pdx.edu
Many other people have worked to port elvis to various
operating systems. To see who deserves credit, run the
:version command from within elvis, or look in the system-
specific section of the complete documentation.