STEVIE - An Aspiring VI Clone User Reference - 3.69a Tony Andrews 1. _#O_#v_#e_#r_#v_#i_#e_#w STEVIE is an editor designed to mimic the interface of the UNIX editor 'vi'. The name (ST Editor for VI Enthusiasts) comes from the fact that the editor was first written for the Atari ST. The current version also supports UNIX, Minix (ST), MS-DOS, and OS/2, but I've left the name intact for now. This program is the result of many late nights of hacking over the last couple of years. The first version was written by Tim Thompson and posted to USENET. From there, I reworked the data structures completely, added LOTS of features, and generally improved the overall performance in the process. I've labelled STEVIE an 'aspiring' vi clone as a warning to those who may expect too much. On the whole, the editor is pretty complete. Nearly all of the visual mode commands are supported. And several of the more important 'ex' commands are supported as well. I've tried hard to capture the feel of vi by getting the little things right. Making lines wrap correctly, supporting true operators, and even getting the cursor to land on the right place for tabs are all a pain, but really help make the editor feel right. I've tried to resist the temptation to deviate from the behavior of vi, even where I disagree with the original design. The biggest problem remaining has to do with the fact that the edit buffer is maintained entirely in memory, limiting the size of files that can be edited in some environments. Other missing features include named buffers and macros. Performance is generally reasonable, although the screen update code could be more efficient. This is generally only visible on fairly slow systems. STEVIE may be freely distributed. The source isn't copyrighted or restricted in any way. If you pass the program along, please include all the documentation and, if practical, the source as well. I'm not fanatical about this, but I tried to make STEVIE fairly portable and I'd like to see as many people have access to the source as possible. The remainder of this document describes the operation of the editor. This is intended as a reference for users already familiar with the real vi editor. - 1 - STEVIE User Reference 2. _#S_#t_#a_#r_#t_#i_#n_#g__#t_#h_#e__#E_#d_#i_#t_#o_#r The following command line forms are supported: stevie [file ...] Edit the specified file(s) stevie -t tag Start at the location of the given tag stevie + file Edit file starting at end stevie +n file Edit file starting a line number 'n' stevie +/pat file Edit file starting at pattern 'pat' If multiple files are given on the command line (using the first form), the ":n" command goes to the next file, ":N" goes backward in the list, and ":rew" can be used to rewind back to the start of the file list. 3. _#S_#e_#t__#C_#o_#m_#m_#a_#n_#d__#O_#p_#t_#i_#o_#n_#s The ":set" command works as usual to set parameters. Each parameter has a long and an abbreviated name, either of which may be used. Boolean parameters are set as in: set showmatch or cleared by: set noshowmatch Numeric parameters are set as in: set scroll=5 Several parameters may be set with a single command: set novb sm report=1 To see the status of all parameters use ":set all". Typing ":set" with no arguments will show only those parameters that have been changed. The supported parameters, their names, abbreviations, defaults, and descriptions are shown below: autoindent Short: ai, Default: noai, Type: Boolean When in insert mode, start new lines at the same column as the prior line. Unlike vi, you can backspace over the indentation. - 2 - STEVIE User Reference backup Short: bk, Default: nobk, Type: Boolean Leave a backup on file writes. (During file writes, a backup is always kept for safety anyway, until the write is completed. At that point, the 'backup' parameter determines whether the backup file is deleted.) color Short: co, Default: system-dependent, Type: Numeric Change the screen color (video attributes). There is a system-dependent mapping between numbers and colors. (For instance, in MSDOS we use the BIOS-type attributes for CGA or monochrome screens in alphanumeric mode.) errorbells Short: eb, Default: noeb, Type: Boolean Ring bell when error messages are shown. ignorecase Short: ic, Default: noic, Type: Boolean Ignore case in string searches. lines Short: lines, Default: lines=25, Type: Numeric Number of physical lines on the screen. The default value and possible settings depend on the host machine. The default value is 25 on most systems. list Short: list, Default: nolist, Type: Boolean Show tabs and newlines graphically. modelines Short: ml, Default: noml, Type: Boolean Enable processing of modelines in files. number Short: nu, Default: nonu, Type: Boolean Display lines on the screen with their line numbers. report Short: report, Default: report=5, Type: Numeric Minimum number of lines to report operations on. return Short: cr, Default: cr, Type: Boolean End lines with cr-lf when writing files. scroll Short: scroll, Default: scroll=12, Type: Numeric Number of lines to scroll for ^D & ^U. showmatch Short: sm, Default: nosm, Type: Boolean When a ), }, or ] is typed, show the matching (, {, or [ if it's on the current screen by moving the cursor there briefly. - 3 - STEVIE User Reference showmode Short: mo, Default: nomo, Type: Boolean Show on status line when in insert mode. tabstop Short: ts, Default: ts=8, Type: Numeric Number of spaces in a tab. tagstack Short: tg, Default: notg, Type: Boolean If set, the tag command :ta is "stacked"; that is, the place from which it was called is pushed onto a stack. A new command ":untag" goes back to that place, and pops the tag stack. terse Short: terse, Default: noterse, Type: Boolean This option is currently ignored. It is provided only for compatibility with vi. tildeop Short: to, Default: noto, Type: Boolean If set, tilde is an operator. Otherwise, tilde acts as normal. wrapscan Short: ws, Default: ws, Type: Boolean String searches wrap around the ends of the file. vbell Short: vb, Default: vb, Type: Boolean Use a visual bell, if possible. (novb for audible bell) The EXINIT environment variable can be used to modify the default values on startup as in: setenv EXINIT="set sm ts=4" In environments (e.g. OS/2 or TOS) where lines are normally terminated by CR-LF, the 'return' parameter allows files to be written with only a LF terminator (if the parameter is cleared). This parameter is ignored on UNIX systems. The 'lines' parameter tells the editor how many lines there are on the screen. This is useful on systems like the ST (or OS/2 machines with an EGA adapter) where various screen resolutions may be used. By using the 'lines' parameter, different screen sizes can be easily handled. 4. _#C_#o_#l_#o_#n__#C_#o_#m_#m_#a_#n_#d_#s Several of the normal 'vi' colon commands are supported by STEVIE. Some commands may be preceded by a line range specification. For commands that accept a range of lines, the following address forms are supported: - 4 - STEVIE User Reference addr addr + number addr - number where 'addr' may be one of the following: a line number a mark (as in 'a or 'b) '.' (the current line) '$' (the last line) An address range of "%" is accepted as an abbreviation of "1,$". 4.1 _#M_#o_#d_#e__#L_#i_#n_#e_#s Mode lines are a little-known, but often useful, feature of vi. To use this feature, special strings are placed in the first or last five lines in a file. When the file is edited, these strings are detected and processed as though typed as a colon command. One instance where this can be useful is to set the "tabstop" parameter on a per-file basis. The following are examples of mode lines: vi:set ts=4 noai: ex:45: Mode lines are characterized by the string "vi" or "ex" followed by a command surrounded by colons. Other text may appear on the line, and multiple mode lines may be present. No guarantee is made regarding the order in which multiple mode lines will be processed. The processing of mode lines is enabled by setting the "ml" parameter. This should be done in the "EXINIT" environment variable, so that mode line processing is enabled as soon as the editor begins. By default, mode lines are disabled for security reasons. 4.2 _#T_#h_#e__#G_#l_#o_#b_#a_#l__#C_#o_#m_#m_#a_#n_#d A limited form of the global command is supported, accepting the following command form: g/pattern/X where X may be either 'd' or 'p' to delete or print lines that match the given pattern. If a line range is given, only those lines are checked for a match with the pattern. If no range is given, all lines are checked. - 5 - STEVIE User Reference If the trailing command character is omitted, 'p' is assumed. In this case, the trailing slash is also optional. The current version of the editor does not support the undo operation following the deletion of lines with the global command. 4.3 _#T_#h_#e__#S_#u_#b_#s_#t_#i_#t_#u_#t_#e__#C_#o_#m_#m_#a_#n_#d The substitute command provides a powerful mechanism for making more complex substitutions than can be done directly from visual mode. The general form of the command is: s/pattern/replacement/g Each line in the given range (or the current line, if no range was given) is scanned for the given regular expression. When found, the string that matched the pattern is replaced with the given replacement string. If the replacement string is null, each matching pattern string is deleted. The trailing 'g' is optional and, if present, indicates that multiple occurrences of 'pattern' on a line should all be replaced. Some special sequences are recognized in the replacement string. The ampersand character is replaced by the entire pattern that was matched. For example, the following command could be used to put all occurrences of 'foo' or 'bar' within double quotes: 1,$s/foo|bar/"&"/g The special sequence "\n" where 'n' is a digit from 1 to 9, is replaced by the string the matched the corresponding parenthesized expression in the pattern. The following command could be used to swap the first two parameters in calls to the C function "foo": 1,$s/foo\(([^,]*),([^,]*),/foo(\2,\1,/g Like the global command, substitutions can't be undone with this version of the editor. 4.4 _#F_#i_#l_#e__#M_#a_#n_#i_#p_#u_#l_#a_#t_#i_#o_#n__#C_#o_#m_#m_#a_#n_#d_#s The following table shows the supported file manipulation commands as well as some other 'ex' commands that aren't described elsewhere: - 6 - STEVIE User Reference :w write the current file :wq write and quit :x write (if necessary) and quit ZZ same as ":x" :e file edit the named file :e! re-edit the current file, discarding changes :e # edit the alternate file :w file write the buffer to the named file :x,yw file write lines x through y to the named file :r file read the named file into the buffer :n edit the next file :N edit the previous file :rew rewind the file list :f show the current file name :f name change the current file name :x= show the line number of address 'x' :ta tag go to the named tag ^] like ":ta" using the current word as the tag :untag go back to place from which ":ta" was called :help display a command summary :ve show the version number :sh run an interactive shell :!cmd run a command The commands above work pretty much like they do in 'vi'. Most of the commands support a '!' suffix (if appropriate) to discard any pending changes. 5. _#H_#e_#l_#p_#F_#a_#c_#i_#l_#i_#t_#y The ":help" command can also be invoked with the key on the Atari ST and the F1 key on MSDOS and OS/2 PCs. This actually displays a pretty complete summary of the real vi with unsupported features indicated appropriately. Certain features controlled by "set" parameters will have varied displays on the Help screens, to correspond to the current setting of their parameters. The help screens (there are multiple screens) can be traversed using "reasonable" keystrokes. For instance, any key that would take you "down" in the vi editor, will take you to the next help screen in the help facility. Similarly, "up" commands will take you to the previous - 7 - STEVIE User Reference screen. The screens are numbered, and any numeric key will take you to the corresponding screen. The first screen (screen 0) is a table of contents for the help screens. 6. _#S_#t_#r_#i_#n_#g__#S_#e_#a_#r_#c_#h_#e_#s String searches are supported, as in vi, accepting the usual regular expression syntax. This was done using a modified form of Henry Spencer's regular expression library. I added code outside the library to support the '\<' and '\>' extensions. The parameter "ignorecase" can be set to ignore case in all string searches. 7. _#O_#p_#e_#r_#a_#t_#o_#r_#s The vi operators (d, c, y, !, <, and >) work as true operators. The tilde command may also be used as an operator if the parameter "tildeop" has been set. By default, this parameter is not set. 8. _#T_#a_#g_#s Tags are implemented and a fairly simple version of 'ctags' is supplied with the editor. The current version of ctags will find functions and macros following a specific (but common) form. See 'ctags.doc' for a complete discussion. A non-standard but useful variant of tags is the "stacking" of calls to the ':ta' command. When tag-stacking is enabled (with ':set tg'), stevie remembers (and stacks) the position from which any tag call is made. In this mode, a new ':untag' command returns to the remembered position and pops the stack. Also while in the tagstack mode, the Ctrl-^ keystroke has a somewhat different effect. Before it switches to edit the alternate file (its normal function), it checks to see if the tag stack is empty, and does an ':untag' if not empty. 9. _#S_#y_#s_#t_#e_#m_#-_#S_#p_#e_#c_#i_#f_#i_#c__#C_#o_#m_#m_#e_#n_#t_#s The following sections provide additional relevant information for the systems to which STEVIE has been ported. (WARNING: If you compile Stevie for, or port Stevie to, your favorite environment, don't forget to edit ENV.H to correspond to the target environment.) - 8 - STEVIE User Reference 9.1 _#A_#t_#a_#r_#i__#S_#T 9.1.1 _#T_#O_#S The editor has been tested in all three resolutions, although low and high res. are less tested than medium. The 50-line high res. mode can be used by setting the 'lines' parameter to 50. Alternatively, the environment variable 'LINES' can be set. The editor doesn't actively set the number of lines on the screen. It just operates using the number of lines it was told. The arrow keys, as well as the , , and keys are all mapped appropriately. 9.1.2 _#M_#i_#n_#i_#x The editor is pretty much the same under Minix, but many of the keyboard mappings aren't yet supported. 9.2 _#U_#N_#I_#X The editor has been ported to UNIX System V release 3 as well as 4.2 BSD. This was done mainly to get some profiling data so I haven't put much effort into doing the UNIX version right. While the termcap routines are supported, the editor is still fairly picky about the capabilities it wants and makes little effort to do clever things with less intelligent terminals. 9.3 _#O_#S_#/_#2 This port was done because the editor that comes with the OS/2 developer's kit really stinks. Make sure 'ansi' mode is on (using the 'ansi' command). The OS/2 console driver doesn't support insert/delete line, so STEVIE bypasses the driver and makes the appropriate system calls directly. This is all done in the system-specific part of the editor so the kludge is at least localized. The arrow keys, page up/down and home/end all do what you'd expect. The function keys are hard-coded to some useful macros until I can get true support for macros into the editor. The current mappings are: - 9 - STEVIE User Reference F1 Help F2 Next file (:n) Shift-F2 discard changes (:n!) F3 Previous file (:N) Shift-F3 discard changes (:N!) F4 Alternate file (:e #) Shift-F4 discard changes (:e! #) F5 Rewind file list (:rew) Shift-F5 discard changes (:rew!) F6 Next function (]]) Shift-F6 Prev. function ([[) F8 Global subst. (:1,$s/) F9 Convert cdecl to English Shift-F9 Convert English to cdecl F10 Save & quit (:x) Shift-F10 discard changes (:q!) Function keys F9 and Shift-F9 assume the presence of the cdecl program. 9.4 _#M_#S_#D_#O_#S STEVIE has been ported to MSDOS 3.3 using (1) the Microsoft C compiler, version 5.1, and (2) the Borland Turbo C compiler, version 2.0. The keyboard mappings are the same as for OS/2. The only problem with the PC version is that the inefficiency of the screen update code becomes painfully apparent on slower machines. (In Rev 3.69a, there are a couple of ways in which screen I/O is significantly speeded up.) There are two DOS versions: one that uses an extended console driver, and another that uses the BIOS directly. The extended-console-driver version works well with "nansi.sys", which is widely available shareware. It does not work well with the "ANSI.SYS" driver included as part of MSDOS (at least through the 3.30 version). In order to be independent of the console driver, you may compile with BIOS #defined; this uses the BIOS as the exclusive screen I/O mechanism. (Note that it is somewhat slower than nansi.sys.) The color settings are the video attributes for the alphanumeric modes of the CGA and monochrome displays. While these make most sense in binary or hex, they must be entered in decimal. The reference table below gives a few common values: 07 White on black Initial default 23 White on blue 30 Bright yellow on blue My favorite - 10 - STEVIE User Reference 10. _#M_#i_#s_#s_#i_#n_#g__#F_#e_#a_#t_#u_#r_#e_#s 1. The ability to edit files larger than the available memory. This isn't a problem on the machines I use, but it hits the Minix-PC people pretty hard. 2. Macros with support for function keys. 3. More "set" options. 4. Many others... 11. _#K_#n_#o_#w_#n__#B_#u_#g_#s__#a_#n_#d__#P_#r_#o_#b_#l_#e_#m_#s 1. The yank buffer uses statically allocated memory, so large yanks will fail. If a delete spans an area larger than the yank buffer, the program asks for confirmation before proceeding. That way, if you were moving text, you don't get screwed by the limited yank buffer. You just have to move smaller chunks at a time. All the internal buffers (yank, redo, etc.) need to be reworked to allocate memory dynamically. The 'undo' buffer is now dynamically allocated, so any change can be undone. 2. If you stay in insert mode for a long time, the insert buffer can overflow. The editor will print a message and dump you back into command mode. 3. The current version of the substitute and global commands (i.e. ":s/foo/bar" or ":g/foo/d") can't be undone. This is due to the current design of the undo code. To undo these commands would generally involve unreasonable amounts of memory. 4. Several other less bothersome glitches... - 11 - STEVIE User Reference 12. _#C_#o_#n_#c_#l_#u_#s_#i_#o_#n The editor has reached a pretty stable state, and performs well on the systems I use it on, so I'm pretty much in maintenance mode now. There's still plenty to be done; the screen update code is still pretty inefficient and the yank/put code is still primitive. I'm still interested in bug reports, and I do still add a new feature from time to time, but the rate of change is way down now. I'd like to thank Tim Thompson for writing the original version of the editor. His program was well structured and quite readable. Thanks for giving me a good base to work with. Thanks also to many users of STEVIE who have sent in their changes. Many of the changes I've received aren't portable to all the systems I support, but I'm working to get portable implementations integrated into the editor where possible. If you're reading this file, but didn't get the source code for STEVIE, it can be had by sending a disk with return postage to the address given below. I can write disks for the Atari ST (SS or DS) or MSDOS (360K or 1.2M). Please be sure to include the return postage. I don't intend to make money from this program, but I don't want to lose any either. Tony Andrews UUCP: onecom!wldrdg!tony 5902E Gunbarrel Ave. Boulder, CO 80301 3.69a Additions from Dave Tutelman UUCP: pegasus.att.com!dmt Larry Shurr (The BIOS implementation) - 12 - STEVIE User Reference _#C_#h_#a_#r_#a_#c_#t_#e_#r__#F_#u_#n_#c_#t_#i_#o_#n__#S_#u_#m_#m_#a_#r_#y The following list describes the meaning of each character that's used by the editor. In some cases characters have meaning in both command and insert mode; these are all described. ^@ The null character. Not used in any mode. This character may not be present in the file, as is the case with vi. ^B Backward one screen. ^D Scroll the window down one half screen. ^E Scroll the screen up one line. ^F Forward one screen. ^G Same as ":f" command. Displays file information. ^H (Backspace) Moves cursor left one space in command mode. In insert mode, erases the last character typed. ^J Move the cursor down one line. ^L Clear and redraw the screen. ^M (Carriage return) Move to the first non-white character in the next line. In insert mode, a carriage return opens a new line for input. ^N Move the cursor down a line. ^P Move the cursor up a line. ^U Scroll the window up one half screen. ^Y Scroll the screen down one line. ^[ Escape cancels a pending command in command mode, and is used to terminate insert mode. ^] Moves to the tag whose name is given by the word in which the cursor resides. ^` Same as ":e #" if supported (system-dependent). - 13 - STEVIE User Reference SPACE Move the cursor right on column. ! The filter operator always operates on a range of lines, passing the lines as input to a program, and replacing them with the output of the program. The shorthand command "!!" can be used to filter a number of lines (specified by a preceding count). The command "!" is replaced by the last command used, so "!!!" runs the given number of lines through the last specified command. $ Move to the end of the current line. % If the cursor rests on a paren '()', brace '{}', or bracket '[]', move to the matching one. ' Used to move the cursor to a previously marked position, as in 'a or 'b. The cursor moves to the start of the marked line. The special mark '' refers to the "previous context". + Same as carriage return, in command mode. , Reverse of the last t, T, f, or F command. - Move to the first non-white character in the previous line. . Repeat the last edit command. / Start of a forward string search command. String searches may be optionally terminated with a closing slash. To search for a slash use '\/' in the search string. 0 Move to the start of the current line. Also used within counts. 1-9 Used to add 'count' prefixes to commands. : Prefix character for "ex" commands. ; Repeat last t, T, f, or F command. < The 'left shift' operator. > The 'right shift' operator. ? Same as '/', but search backward. - 14 - STEVIE User Reference A Append at the end of the current line. B Backward one blank-delimited word. C Change the rest of the current line. D Delete the rest of the current line. E End of the end of a blank-delimited word. F Find a character backward on the current line. G Go to the given line number (end of file, by default). H Move to the first non-white char. on the top screen line. I Insert before the first non-white char. on the current line. J Join two lines. L Move to the first non-white char. on the bottom screen line. M Move to the first non-white char. on the middle screen line. N Reverse the last string search. O Open a new line above the current line, and start inserting. P Put the yank/delete buffer before the current cursor position. R Replace characters until an "escape" character is received. Similar to insert mode, but replaces instead of inserting. Typing a newline in replace mode is the same as in insert mode, but replacing continues on the new line. T Reverse search 'upto' the given character. U Restore the current line to its state before you started changing it. W Move forward one blank-delimited word. - 15 - STEVIE User Reference X Delete one character before the cursor. Y Yank the current line. Same as 'yy'. ZZ Exit from the editor, saving changes if necessary. [[ Move backward one C function. ]] Move forward one C function. ^ Move to the first non-white on the current line. ` Move to the given mark, as with '. The distinction between the two commands is important when used with operators. I support the difference correctly. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry, it won't matter to you. a Append text after the cursor. b Back one word. c The change operator. d The delete operator. e Move to the end of a word. f Find a character on the current line. h Move left one column. i Insert text before the cursor. j Move down one line. k Move up one line. l Move right one column. m Set a mark at the current position (e.g. ma or mb). n Repeat the last string search. o Open a new line and start inserting text. p Put the yank/delete buffer after the cursor. r Replace a character. - 16 - STEVIE User Reference s Replace characters. t Move forward 'upto' the given character on the current line. u Undo the last edit. w Move forward one word. x Delete the character under the cursor. y The yank operator. z Redraw the screen with the current line at the top (zRETURN), the middle (z.), or the bottom (z-). | Move to the column given by the preceding count. ~ Invert the case of the current character (if alpha) and move to the right. If the parameter "tildeop" is set, this command functions as an operator. - 17 - STEVIE - User Guide CONTENTS 1. Overview........................................... 1 2. Starting the Editor................................ 2 3. Set Command Options................................ 2 4. Colon Commands..................................... 4 4.1 Mode Lines.................................... 5 4.2 The Global Command............................ 5 4.3 The Substitute Command........................ 6 4.4 File Manipulation Commands.................... 6 5. Help............................................... 7 6. String Searches.................................... 8 7. Operators.......................................... 8 8. Tags............................................... 8 9. System-Specific Comments........................... 8 9.1 Atari ST...................................... 9 9.2 UNIX.......................................... 9 9.3 OS/2.......................................... 9 9.4 MSDOS......................................... 10 10. Missing Features................................... 11 11. Known Bugs and Problems............................ 11 12. Conclusion......................................... 12 Character Function Summary.............................. 13 - i -