FTE(1)

💖 FTE(1) — the text editor that's lowkey iconic 💖

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, and let me tell you about fte — yes it's a text editor, and yes it's from the General Commands Manual, and yes it ate. ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

fte — text editor 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

like, the whole vibe in one block, no notes:

fte  [[options] files ...]

xfte [[options] files ...]

vfte [[options] files ...]

nfte [[options] files ...]

sfte [[options] files ...]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so this manual page documents fte briefly. that's the assignment. short and sweet, we love that for us.

some detailed documentation is available in html format — see below, bestie, it's in the SEE ALSO section, don't worry. 🫶

fte is a powerful text editor which closely resembles Borlands programming editors for M$-DOS, but is far more flexible and configurable. it's giving "your fave from back in the day but she got a glow-up". no cap. 👑

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

okay so here's the thing — fte uses a command line syntax which is a little bit different from most of Debian GNU/Linux apps. it's quirky like that. it's her main character energy. don't fight it. ✨

• -h, -?, --help — help on command line options. the classic cry for assistance, we stan. 🆘
• -! — ignore any external configuration file and use internal configuration. going fully off-grid, no outside influences, just vibes. 🙈
• -l<line>[,<column>] — go to line (and column) in the next file on the command line. yes bestie, teleport. 🧚
• -#<line>[<,column>] — same as -l. do not use this option. ⚠️ not me warning you, the manpage is warning you. just use -l, okay?
• -m[<mode>] — set mode for next files to <mode>. if it's just a plain -m, then use the default mode. simple as that. 🌈
• -C[<.cnf>] — use specified configuration file (compiled). a plain -C does the same as -!. twin behavior, honestly iconic. 💖
• -D[<.dsk>] — load/save desktop from file <.dsk>. if there's no argument, disable desktop load/save. no desktop, no problems. 🚫
• -H[<.his>] — load/save history from file <.his>. if there's no argument, disable history load/save. what happens in the session stays in the session. 💀
• -T<tagfile> — load 'tagfile' at startup. tags at the door, let 'em in. 🎀
• -t<tag> — lookup tag 'tag' and display the file containing it. detective mode activated. 🔍
• -- — the rest of the arguments are not options, but filenames. periodt. 🛑
• -+ — the next argument is not an option even if it starts with a '-'. super useful when loading files that begin with a -. it's giving "she's a filename, not a flag, leave her alone". 🫶
• -noi18n — do not use locales in xfte — useful if you have incorrect locales. bye localization, it was fun. 👋
• -noxmb — do not use XMB functions in xfte — useful if you have incorrect locales and you want to use just english fonts. going back to basics, english-only, we respect the choice. 🇬🇧
• -font — select XWindow font to use with xfte. see VIOFONT also. ✨

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🌈 ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES 🌈

this is the list of variables which might change the behavior of some internals of fte. little knobs behind the scenes, iykyk.

• VIOFONT — select font used by xfte. 🎨
• ISOCONSOLE — when set, vfte is usign ascii symbols to draw tables. this is useful when iso latin charset is used on console. (yes, "usign". the manpage said it, i'm keeping it, no editing bestie, that's the rule. 💀)

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🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

real-world, no cap, copy these:

fte -mBIN /usr/bin/vfte : load /usr/bin/vfte in BIN mode

fte -mBIN -+ -bla- : load file -bla- in BIN mode

fte -l100,30 win.c : go to (100,30) in win.c

fte window.cpp : load file window.cpp

fte -- -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 : load files -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6

fte -D -H fte.dsk fte.his : disable desktop and history loading and saving and load files fte.dsk and fte.his

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🎀 FILES 🎀

~/.fterc
/usr/local/etc/fte/system.fterc
/etc/fte/system.fterc

default configuration files. includes all keybindings and menus compiled with cfte(1) from config files in /usr/share/doc/fte/config-example.tar.gz. so yeah, that's where the magic lives. 🪄

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• cfte(1)
• /usr/share/doc/fte/contents.html

go read those, bestie, i'm not gatekeeping. 🫶

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

this manual page was written by Riku Voipio and Zdenek Kabelac <riku.voipio@iki.fi> <kabi@debian.org> for the Debian GNU/Linux system. legends, honestly. we owe them. 💖

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🌸 DATE 🌸

18 Nov 1999

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and that's the whole page, bestie! ✨ go forth and edit some text, slay, and remember — -l is your friend and -# is not. mwah. 💅

FTE(1) — that's the manual name, she's a general commands manual girly, dated 18 Nov 1999, and she still serves. okay bye, love you, go read cfte(1). 🎀🦋💖