ex

Additional Notes

ex is the line-editor mode of vi. When you run vi, you are actually running ex's visual mode. The ex command provides the same line-oriented editing commands that are available in vi's command mode when preceded by :. It supports the full ex command set: search and replace, file operations, buffer management, and scripted editing.

ex can be used interactively as a line editor or driven by scripts for batch text processing. It is standardized by POSIX and is the direct successor of ed. The ex command language includes vi's command-line commands (:s, :g, :w, :q, etc.) without the visual interface.

Syntax

ex [options] [file...]

Parameters

• file: File to edit.

Common Options

• -R: Open files in read-only mode (like view).
• -r file: Recover the specified file after a crash.
• -s: Enter batch mode with suppressed prompts (for scripting).
• -c command, --cmd command: Run a command after opening the file.
• -t tag: Edit the file containing the specified tag.
• -w number: Set the window size for the ^Z command.
• -E: Display text with tabs expanded.
• -v: Start in visual mode (equivalent to running vi).

Examples

ex file.txt

Open file.txt in ex line-editor mode.

ex -s file.txt <<< $'%s/foo/bar/g\nwq'

Replace all occurrences of foo with bar and save.

ex -c '%s/old/new/g' -c 'wq' file.txt

Replace text from the command line and quit.

ex -R file.txt

Open a file in read-only mode.

Practical Notes

• All vi colon commands (:s, :g, :w, :q, etc.) are ex commands.
• In batch mode (-s), ex suppresses prompts and error messages, making it suitable for scripted editing.
• ex is often used as the editor for crontab -e and other tools that require a POSIX-standard editor.
• To switch to visual mode from within ex, type vi or visual.
• The ex command set is documented in the ex man page (section 1) and the POSIX specification.