ELVIS(1) ELVIS(1)
NAME
elvis, ex, vi, view, input - 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, 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
command.
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
accidentally 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.
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ELVIS(1) ELVIS(1)
+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) program.
.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 usually an invalid file name;
there, the initialization file is called "elvis.rc"
instead.
SEE ALSO
ctags(1), ref(1), virec(1)
Elvis - A Clone of Vi/Ex, the complete elvis
documentation.
BUGS
There is no LISP support. Certain other features are
missing, 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
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ELVIS(1) ELVIS(1)
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.
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