NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     mg - emacs-like text editor

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     mg [options] [files] [...]

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     mg is intended to be a small, fast, and portable editor  for
people who
     can't  (or  don't want to) run the real emacs for one reason
or another, or
     are not familiar with the vi(1) editor.   It  is  compatible
with emacs because
  there  shouldn't  be  any reason to learn more editor
types than emacs
     or vi(1).

     The options are as follows:

     +number
            Go to the line specified by number (do not  insert  a
space between
            the  "+"  sign and the number).  If a negative number
is specified,
            the line number counts backwards from the end of  the
file i.e. +-1
            will be the last line of the file, +-2 will be second
last, and so
            on.
     -f <mode>
            Run the mode command for all buffers created from arguments on the
            command  line,  including  the scratch buffer and all
files.

     Normal editing commands are very similar to Gnu  Emacs.   In
the following
     examples,  ^X  means  control-X, and M-X means Meta-X, where
the Meta key
     may be either a special key on your keyboard or the ALT key;
otherwise
     ESC followed by the key X works as well.

     ^F     Forward character
     ^B     Backwards character
     ^N     Next line
     ^P     Previous line
     ^A     Start of line
     ^E     End of line
     ^D     delete current character
     ^S     interactive search forward
     ^R     interactive search backwards
     ^O     Open a new line at cursor position
     ^T     transpose characters
     ^U      Repeat  next  command  4 times (can be cascaded, ie.
^u^u^f will move
            16 characters forward)

     ^K     kill to end of line (placing into kill buffer)
     ^Y     yank kill buffer into current location
     ^@     set mark
     ^W     kill region (cuts from previously set mark to current
location,
            into kill buffer)
     M-W    copy region (into kill buffer)

     ^V     Next page
     M-V    Previous page
     M-<    start of buffer
     M->    end of buffer

     ^X^C   Quit (you will be asked if you want to save files)
     ^X-O   Next window.
     ^X-N   Next window.
     ^X-P   Previous window.
     ^X-U   Undo.

     For more key bindings, type ``M-x describe-bindings''.

     mg  differs  primarily in not having special modes for tasks
other than
     straight editing, e.g., mail and news,  and  in  not  having
special modes
     that  support  various  programming languages.  It does have
text justification
 and auto-fill mode.  Since it is written completely  in
C, there is
     no language in which you can write extensions.  However, you
can rebind
     keys and change some parameters.  There  are  no  limits  to
line length or
     format.  Command, buffer, and file name completion and listing can be
     done using the spacebar and `?', respectively.

     Amongst other major differences, the mg configuration  files
are much simpler
  than  real  emacs.  There are two configuration files,
.mg, and .mg-
     TERM.  Here, TERM represents the name of your terminal type;
e.g., if
     your  terminal  type  is  set  to  ``vt100'',  mg  will  use
.mg-vt100 as a startup
 file.  The terminal type startup file is used first.  See
the manual
     for a full list of the commands that can go in the files.

     Here's  another  example  sequence that you may find useful.
By default,
     ``()'' and ``[]'' are recognized  as  brackets,  so  bracket
matching can be
     done.   The  following defines ``{}'' as brackets, and turns
on the mode
     that causes the cursor  to  "blink"  to  show  you  matching
brackets.

           global-set-key } blink-matching-paren-hack
           blink-matching-paren
           set-default-mode blink

     More  complicated  key  mappings  are  also possible, though
there are some
     internal limitations compared to regular emacs.  An  example
of how to map
     control  characters  and sequences follows, illustrating the
Gosling-like
     line scrolling characters.

           global-set-key "Z" scroll-one-line-up
           global-set-key "\z" scroll-one-line-down
           global-set-key "_" suspend-emacs

FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

     ~/.mg       normal startup file
     ~/.mg-TERM  terminal-specific startup file

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     vi(1)

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

     When you type `?' to list possible file names, buffer names,
etc., a help
     buffer is created for the possibilities.  In Gnu Emacs, this
buffer goes
     away the next time you type a real command.  In mg, you must
use "^X-1"
     to get rid of it.

     The undo feature has a minor difference compared to the same
feature in
     Gnu Emacs.  When  the  end  of  the  undo  records  list  is
reached, mg will not
     stop  and inform the user for one undo keystroke before continuing.

OpenBSD     3.6                        February     25,      2000