NAME

       edlin - FreeDOS line-oriented text editor

SYNOPSIS

       edlin [filename]

DESCRIPTION

       The FreeDOS edlin program is a small line-oriented text editor. Unline screen-based editors, edlin does
       not display the text being edited at all times, instead only showing parts of it upon the user's request.

       When invoked, edlin presents the user a command line allowing them to manipulate the text by applying
       operations on the specified lines of the text file. All commands operate on whole lines or ranges of
       lines.

       In general, the structure of an edlin command is as follows:

           [LINE[,LINE...]]COMMAND[PARAMETERS...]

       A line number can be one of the following:

       A sequence of digits as a literal line number, such as 12 for line 12.
       A full stop (.), meaning the current line in the file.
       A dollar sign ($), meaning the last line in the file.
       A hash sign (#), meaning the line number just after the last line in the file.
       A number added or subtracted from a line number (+n or -n). This is useful for relative line addressing,
       such as .+1 for the line after the current line.

       String parameters may be enclosed in either single or double quotes, and may contain the following escape
       sequences:

       \a: Alert character
       \b: Backspace character
       \e: Escape
       \f: Form feed
       \t: Horizontal tab
       \v: Vertical tab
       ": Double quote
       ': Single quote
       .: Full stop
       \: Backslash
       \xXX: Hexadecimal value, where each X is a hexadecimal digit (0 to F, uppercase or lowercase)
       \dNNN: Decimal value, where each N is a decimal digit (0 to 9)
       \OOO: Octal value, where each O is an octal digit (0 to 7)
       \^C: Control character, such as \^J for the literal "control J" (linefeed) character.

COMMAND SYNOPSIS

       The edlin program supports the following editor commands:

       #: Edit a single line
           The  edlin  program  outputs  the  single  line  indicated  by the number, and the next inputted line
           replaces the outputted line in the file.

       a: Append to the file
           This command is equivalent to $+1i

       [LINE],[LINE],LINE,[NUMBER]c: Copy a range of lines
           Copy a range of consecutive lines to another location in the buffer. The parameters are, in order:

           1. The first line you want to copy (default is the current line)
           2. The last line you want to copy (default is the current line)
           3. The line before which you want to insert the block of lines
           4. The number of times you want to copy the block (default is 1)

           After copying lines, use the l (list) command to see the new line numbers.

       [LINE][,LINE]d: Delete a range of lines
           Delete a block of consecutive lines from the buffer. The parameters are the first and  last  line  of
           the block to be deleted.

           If  you omit the first parameter, delete the block from the current line to the line specified in the
           second parameter (be sure to include the comma).

           If you omit the second parameter, delete only the line specified in the first parameter.

           Omitting both parameters deletes the current line.

       e filename: Save and exit
           This command is equivalent to w filename followed by q

           This verifies whether the user actually wants to quit before doing so.  To quit,  answer  the  "Abort
           edit (Y/N)?" prompt with "yes."

       [LINE]i: Insert lines
           Enter insert mode. Its parameter is the line number before which you want to insert lines.

           While entering text, you can use the escape sequences from above.

           To  exit insert mode, type . (full stop) on a line by itself. (If you need a line with just a period,
           you need to enter it as \.)

           After exiting insert mode, the line after the inserted text becomes  the  current  line,  unless  the
           insertion  was  appended  to the end of the buffer, in which case the last line in the buffer becomes
           the new current line.

       [LINE][,LINE]l: List lines
           List the lines of text to the screen. If you omit the first parameter, start showing text starting at
           11 lines before the current line.

           If you omit the second parameter, shows a screen of text beginning with the  line  specified  in  the
           first parameter.

           If you omit both parameters, show a screen of text starting at 11 lines before the current line.

           If  the  number  of lines to show is longer than the number of lines on the screen, edlin will prompt
           after each screen.

       [LINE],[LINE],LINEm: Move lines
           Move a block of text to the line before the number specified in the third parameter. It is similar to
           copying then deleting the original block.

       [LINE][,LINE]p: Print lines
           Similar to the l (list) command except that the default parameters starts at the current line instead
           of 11 lines before it.

       q: Quit
           Quit the program.

           This verifies whether the user actually wants to quit before doing so.  To quit, answer  the  \"Abort
           edit (Y/N)?\" prompt with \"yes.\"

       [LINE][,LINE][?]rSTRING,REPLACEMENT: Replace string
           Replace all occurrences of the first string with the second between the two lines specified.

           If you omit the first parameter, start replacing at the line after the current line.

           If you omit the second parameter, stops replacing text at the last line of the buffer.

           If you include the ? (question mark), edlin will print a confirmation message before replacing text.

       [LINE][,LINE][?]sSUBSTRING: Search for a substring
           Search for the first line containing the specified substring.

           If you omit the first parameter, start searching from the current line.

           If you omit the second parameter, stop the search at the end of the buffer.

           If you include the ? (question mark), edlin will print a confirmation message. Responding "no" to the
           confirmation message continues the search; "yes" ends the search.

           If the search found the substring, the current line will be set to the line where the search ended.

       [LINE]t filename: Transfer a file
           Insert the contents of a file before the specified line number.

           If you omit the line number, insert before the current line.

       [LINE]w filename: Write the file
           Write the first # lines in the buffer to the specified file.

           If you omit the number parameter, write all the lines in the buffer to the file.

       ?: Print short help notice

EXIT STATUS

       edlin  aborts and returns non-zero if the standard input is closed when it expects a command, e.g. if the
       user presses Control-D at the command prompt.

HISTORY

       The FreeDOS edlin was developed by Gregory Pietsch in 2003.

       The original edlin was created by Tim Paterson in 1980, inspired by the CP/M  context  editor  ED,  which
       itself was distantly inspired by the Unix ed line editor.

NOTES

       Unlike  the original edlin, the FreeDOS edlin uses a comma (,) as a parameter separator for the "replace"
       command (r) instead of the DOS end-of-file control character (Control-Z).

       The command l, when specified in upper case (L) is synonymous to p and starts printing from  the  current
       line.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2003-2024 Gregory Pietsch

       Copyright (C) 2025 Andrej Shadura

SEE ALSO

       ed(1)

                                                   2025-02-20                                           EDLIN(1)