NEDIT(1)

📦
version 5.7 · 5 versions
, in debian bookworm, ubuntu jammy

💖 NEDIT(1) — like, the NEdit manual page bestie 💖

okay so you found the NEDIT(1) page, the NEdit documentation one, and honestly? you're about to have a great time. grab a snack. 🍓

🌸 NAME 🌸

NEdit — it's a Text Editor. that's the whole name. iconic behaviour honestly. 👑

✨ SYNOPSYS ✨

(no fr that's how it's spelled up top, we don't fix it, we respect it)

nedit [-read] [-create] [-line n | +n] [-server]
      [-do command] [-tags file] [-tabs n]
      [-wrap] [-nowrap] [-autowrap]
      [-autoindent] [-noautoindent]
      [-autosave] [-noautosave]
      [-lm languagemode] [-rows n] [-columns n]
      [-font font]
      [-geometry|-g geometry] [-iconic] [-noiconic]
      [-display [host]:server[.screen]]
      [-xrm resourcestring]
      [-svrname name] [-import file]
      [-background|-bg color] [-foreground|-fg color]
      [-tabbed] [-untabbed] [-group]
      [-V|-version] [-h|-help] [--] [file...]

look at her. all those little flags. a whole wardrobe. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so NEdit is a standard GUI (that's Graphical User Interface, bestie) style text editor for programs and plain-text files. it's giving classic desktop app, and we love that for it.

it hands you mouse based editing plus a streamlined editing style, and that whole vibe is based on the popular Macintosh and MS Windows editors — so if you're an X workstation or X terminal user, it'll feel lowkey familiar. no cap. ✨

💜 OPTIONS 💜

okay this is the part where everyone scrolls fast, so let's go slow. every single one. no skipping. periodt.

  • -read — opens the file read-only, no matter what the actual file protection says. the file can't stop you, but this flag will. 🙈
  • -create — if the file doesn't exist, it won't warn you about creating it. no drama, just vibes.
  • -line n, +n — jumps you straight to line number n. main character entrance. 🎀
  • -server — designates this session as an NEdit server, so it can process commands coming from the nc(1) program. nc(1) is how you wire NEdit into code development environments, mailers, etc., or honestly just as a quick way to open files from the shell command line without starting a brand new NEdit session. teamwork! 🫶
  • -do command — executes an NEdit macro or action on the file that follows the -do argument on the command line. -do is especially useful from nc(1), where nc -do can remotely execute commands inside an nedit -server session. remote control, but make it text editing. 🔥
  • -tags file — loads a file of directions for finding definitions of program subroutines and data objects. the file has to be in the format generated by Exuberant Ctags, or by the standard Unix ctags(1) command. iykyk.
  • -tabs n — sets tab stops every n characters. your tabs, your rules. ⭐
  • -wrap, -nowrap — wraps long lines at the right edge of the window instead of letting them continue past it. that's Continuous Wrap mode. 🌈
  • -autowrap, -noautowrap — wraps long lines when the cursor reaches the right edge of the window, by inserting newlines at word boundaries. that's Auto Newline Wrap mode. 🌸
  • -autoindent, -noautoindent — maintains a running indent. your indentation is being looked after. 💖
  • -autosave, -noautosave — maintains a backup copy of the file being edited, under the name ~filename (on Unix) or _filename (on VMS). safety net, bestie. 🧚
  • -lm languagemode — the initial language mode used for editing succeeding files.
  • -rows n — default height in characters for an editing window.
  • -columns n — default width in characters for an editing window.
  • -font font, -fn font — the font for text being edited. the font for menus and dialogs can be set with -xrm "*fontList:font". ✨
  • -geometry geometry, -g geometry — the initial size and/or location of editor windows. the geometry argument has the form:
[<width>x<height>][+|-][<xoffset>[+|-]<yoffset>]

where <width> and <height> are the desired width and height of the window, and <xoffset> and <yoffset> are the distance from the edge of the screen to the window — + for top or left, - for bottom or right. -geometry can be specified for individual files on the command line. so many coordinates. so many little numbers. obsessed. 💅

  • -iconic, -noiconic — initial window state for succeeding files.
  • -display [host]:server[.screen] — the name of the X server to use. host specifies the machine, server specifies the display server number, and screen specifies the screen number. host or screen can be omitted, and they default to the local machine, and screen 0. defaults do be defaulting. 🦋
  • -background color, -bg color — background color. the background color for text can be set separately with -xrm "nedit*text.background: color".
  • -foreground color, -fg color — foreground color. the foreground color for text can be set separately with -xrm "nedit*text.foreground: color".
  • -xrm resourcestring — sets the value of an X resource, overriding a default value. override! 😤
  • -svrname name — when starting nedit in server mode, names the server, so it only responds to requests when nc(1) is given a corresponding -svrname argument. by naming servers you can run several at the same time and direct files and commands specifically to any one of them. specifying a non-empty name automatically designates this session as an NEdit server, as though -server were specified. multitasking queen. 👑
  • -import file — loads an additional preferences file on top of the existing defaults saved in your nedit.rc file. to incorporate macros, language modes, and highlight patterns and styles written by other users, run nedit with -import <file>, then re-save your nedit.rc file with Preferences->Save Defaults. sharing is caring. 🫶
  • -tabbed — opens all subsequent files in new tabs. resets the -group option.
  • -untabbed — opens all subsequent files in new windows. resets the -group option.
  • -group — opens all subsequent files as tabs in a new window.
  • -V, -version — prints version and build information. this is the one to mention when reporting bugs and problems, bestie. do not skip it. 🙏
  • -h, -help — prints the command line help and then exits. bye! 💨
  • -- — treats all subsequent arguments as file names, even if they start with a dash. this exists so NEdit can access files that begin with the dash character. the dash can't hide from us. 💀

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

DISPLAY

NEdit requires an X-based workstation or X-Terminal. if you've used telnet or rlogin to access the host Unix system, set the Unix environment variable for your display:

csh-type shells:

% setenv DISPLAY devicename:0

sh-type shells:

% DISPLAY=devicename:0 && export DISPLAY

pick your shell, live your truth. ✨

NEDIT_HOME

this environment variable can be set to the name of a directory. that directory will then be used instead of $HOME/.nedit as the base directory for NEdit's special files (see section FILES, below).

this variable is new to NEdit 5.4. baby of the family. 🍼

🎀 FILES 🎀

from version 5.4 on, NEdit creates a directory in which NEdit's special files reside. this directory is named .nedit by default. cute little home base. 🏠

  • nedit.rc — this is an X resource file which contains most user settings for NEdit. it is read at startup and written by selecting the item Save Defaults... in the Preferences menu.
do not edit this file by hand — all settings can be reached via the Default Settings menu. hands off, bestie. 🙅‍♀️
  • nedit.history — the list of recently opened files.
do not edit this file by hand. seriously. 🙈
  • autoload.nm — a file that can contain a number of NEdit Macro Language statements and subroutine definitions. the statements will be executed when an NEdit server starts, and the subroutines will be loaded for later reference. this file will not be created or modified by NEdit (unless you load it and edit it, of course — then it's all you, babe). 🌸

note that NEdit still supports the older names for these files, which were used by version 5.3 and below. those file names are $HOME/.nedit, $HOME/.neditdb and $HOME/.neditmacro, respectively. the old naming scheme will be used if NEdit detects that $HOME/.nedit is a regular file and NEDIT_HOME isn't set. nostalgia core. ⭐

see also the entry for NEDIT_HOME under ENVIRONMENT, above.

🔥 NOTES 🔥

for more information see NEdit's online help, or nedit.doc in the NEdit distribution kit.

NEdit sources, executables, additional documentation, and contributed software are available from the NEdit web site at http://nedit.org. go visit her. 🌐

💫 SEE ALSO 💫

nc(1), X(1), mwm(1), ctags(1), etags(1)

the whole friend group. 💖

👑 AUTHORS 👑

NEdit was written by Mark Edel, Joy Kyriakopulos, Christopher Conrad, Jim Clark, Arnulfo Zepeda-Navratil, Suresh Ravoor, Tony Balinski, Max Vohlken, Yunliang Yu, Donna Reid, Arne Forlie, Eddy De Greef, Steve LoBasso, Alexander Mai, Scott Tringali, Thorsten Haude, Steve Haehn, Andrew Hood, Nathaniel Gray, and TK Soh.

absolute legends, every single one. 🫶

the regular expression matching routines used in NEdit are adapted (with permission) from original code written by Henry Spencer at the University of Toronto.

syntax highlighting patterns and smart indent macros were contributed by: Simon T. MacDonald, Maurice Leysens, Matt Majka, Alfred Smeenk, Alain Fargues, Christopher Conrad, Scott Markinson, Konrad Bernloehr, Ivan Herman, Patrice Venant, Christian Denat, Philippe Couton, Max Vohlken, Markus Schwarzenberg, Himanshu Gohel, Steven C. Kapp, Michael Turomsha, John Fieber, Chris Ross, Nathaniel Gray, Joachim Lous, Mike Duigou, Seak Teng-Fong, Joor Loohuis, Mark Jones, and Niek van den Berg. 🌟

this program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

in addition, as a special exception to the GNU GPL, the copyright holders give permission to link the code of this program with the Motif and Open Motif libraries (or with modified versions of these that use the same license), and distribute linked combinations including the two. you must obey the GNU General Public License in all respects for all of the code used other than linking with Motif/Open Motif. if you modify this file, you may extend this exception to your version of the file, but you are not obligated to do so. if you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version. your call, no pressure. 🦋

this program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. see the GNU General Public License in the Help section Distribution Policy for more details.

and that's the whole page, bestie. this one was released by Debian as version 1:5.7-3 on 2020-09-12, and the manual page itself answers to NEDIT(1). slay. go edit something. 💖✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from