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    Command Linux
    Home - man page - XEDIT

    XEDIT

    WillieBy WillieMarch 3, 2026Updated:March 3, 2026No Comments10 Mins Read
     

    NAME

    xedit – simple text editor for X  

    SYNTAX

    xedit [ -toolkitoption … ] [ filename … ]  

    DESCRIPTION

    Xedit provides a window consisting of the following four areas:
    Commands Section
    A set of commands that allow you to exit xedit, save the file, or load a new file into the edit window.
    Message Window
    Displays xedit messages. In addition, this window can be also used as a scratch pad.
    Filename Display
    Displays the name of the file currently being edited, and whether this file is Read-Write or Read Only.
    Edit Window
    Displays the text of the file that you are editing or creating.
     

    OPTIONS

    Xedit accepts all of the standard X Toolkit command line options (see X(7)). The order of the command line options is not important.
    filename
    Specifies the file(s) that are to be loaded during start-up. This is the file which will be edited. If a file is not specified, xedit lets you load files or create new files after it has started up.
     

    EDITING

    The Athena Text widget is used for the three sections of this application that allow text input. The characters typed will go to the Text widget that has the input focus, or the Text widget that the pointer cursor is currently over.

    The following keystroke combinations are defined:

    Ctrl-aBeginning Of Line
    Meta-bBackward Word
    Ctrl-bBackward Character
    Meta-fForward Word
    Ctrl-dDelete Next Character
    Meta-iInsert File
    Ctrl-eEnd Of Line
    Meta-kKill To End Of Paragraph
    Ctrl-fForward Character
    Meta-qForm Paragraph
    Ctrl-gKeyboard Reset
    Meta-vPrevious Page
    Ctrl-hDelete Previous Character
    Meta-yInsert Current Selection
    Ctrl-jNewline And Indent
    Meta-zScroll One Line Down
    Ctrl-kKill To End Of Line
    Meta-dDelete Next Word
    Ctrl-lRedraw Display
    Meta-DKill Word
    Ctrl-mNewline
    Delete Previous Word
    Ctrl-nNext Line
    Meta-HBackward Kill Word
    Ctrl-oNewline And Backup
    Meta-<Beginning Of File
    Ctrl-pPrevious Line
    Meta->End Of File
    Ctrl-rSearch/Replace Backward
    Meta-]Forward Paragraph
    Ctrl-sSearch/Replace Forward
    Meta-[Backward Paragraph
    Ctrl-tTranspose Characters
    Ctrl-u [number]Multiply by 4 or number
    Meta-DeleteDelete Previous Word
    Ctrl-vNext Page
    Meta-Shift DeleteKill Previous Word
    Ctrl-wKill Selection
    Meta-BackspaceDelete Previous Word
    Ctrl-yUnkill
    Kill Previous Word
    Ctrl-zScroll One Line Up
    Meta-zScroll One Line Down
    Ctrl-_Undo
    EscapeLine Edit Mode

    In addition, the pointer may be used to cut and paste text:

    Button 1 DownStart Selection
    Button 1 MotionAdjust Selection
    Button 1 UpEnd Selection (cut)

    Button 2 DownInsert Current Selection (paste)

    Button 3 DownExtend Current Selection
    Button 3 MotionAdjust Selection
    Button 3 UpEnd Selection (cut)

    enables several shortcut commands for searching and replacing text in a
    xedit buffer.
    commands have the format:

    [line-number[,line-number]]command[parameters]

    may be specified as:
    .
    The current text line.
    $
    The last line of the file.
    number
    The literal line number.
    – or ^
    The previous line. Equivalent to -1.
    -number or ^number
    The current line minus number.
    +
    The next line. Equivalent to +1.
    +number
    The current line plus number.
    , or %
    From the first to the last line. Equivalent to 1,$.
    ;
    From the current to the last line. Equivalent to .,$.

    may be specified as:
    s
    Substitute text in the specified lines.
    /re/
    Search forward for the regular expression pattern re.
    ?re?
    Search backward for the regular expression pattern re.

    may be specified as:
    /re/
    Works as a parameter to i or as a command.
    /re/text/
    Search forward for re and substitute by text.

    may follow or be parameters, known values are:
    i
    Case insensitive search.
    g
    Global match when replacing text. Unless specified, only the nth,
    that defaults to 1, match will be replaced.
    c
    Confirm before replacing text.
    number
    Replace only the occurrence referenced by number.

    Commands accept some variations, examples:
    /pattern/i
    i/pattern/
    i/pattern
    Search forward for pattern.

    ,sc/pattern/text
    ,sc/pattern/text/
    ,s/pattern/text/c
    Search the entire buffer and ask confirmation to replace pattern
    with text.

    ,s/pattern/text/number
    Replace the match number in the text line. If not specified,
    defaults to the first occurrence.

    When searching for text, type <Return> to go to the next match.
    When interactively replacing text, type y or Y to accept the
    change, and n or N to ignore it and go to the next match.

    Quits the current editing session. If any changes have not been saved,
    displays a warning message, allowing the user to save them.
    If file backups are enabled (see RESOURCES, below)
    stores a copy of the
    original, unedited file in <prefix>file<suffix>,
    then overwrites the file with the contents of the edit window. The
    filename is retrieved from the Text widget directly to the right of
    the Load button.
    Loads the file named in the text widget immediately to the right
    of the this button and displays it in the Edit window.
    For xedit the available resources are:
    Specifies the name of the tags file to search when loading a new file.
    Default value is tags.
    Boolean value to enable or disabling searching for tags files.
    Default is True.
    Specifies that, when edits made to an existing file are saved,
    is to copy the original version of that file to <prefix>file<suffix>
    before it saves the changes. The default value for this resource is
    “on,” stating that backups should be created.
    Specifies a string that is to be prepended to the backup filename. The
    default is that no string shall be prepended.
    Specifies a string that is to be appended to the backup filename. The
    default is to use “~” as the suffix.
    Specifies a format string used to display the cursor position. This
    string uses printf(3) like notation, where
    prints the line number,
    prints the column number,
    prints the insert position offset, and
    prints the current file size. It is also allowed to specify field sizes,
    with the notation
    . The default format string is “L%l”, which shows the character “L”
    followed by the line number.
    Specifies a list of strings, separated by new lines, that will be
    displayed in the bc_label window.
    Specifies the interval in seconds, which the hint string in the bc_label
    window will be changed.
    Specifies the name of the Bitmap that will be displayed in the fileMenu, when
    the file being edited is changed.
    This resource is useful to automatically correct common misspelling errors, but
    can also be used to create simple macros. The format is
    {non-blanks}{blanks}[{string}]. Fields are separated by newlines.
    Example of use:


    nto not\n\
    /macro some long string with \\\n newlines \\\n


    Will automatically replace the word nto by not, and /macro
    by some long string with

     newlines


    when you type that words.
    Specifies a list of dictionary names, separated by spaces, available to the
    ispell program. The default value is "american americamed+ english".
    Specifies the default dictionary to use.
    Specifies a set of characters that can be part of a legal word. The
    <DICTIONARY> field is one of the dictionaries specified in the
    dictionaries resource.
    The path to the ispell program, and possibly, additional arguments. You don’t
    need to specify the “-w” option, neither the “-a” option.
    Refer to the ispell(1) manpage for more information on ispell options.
    Specifies which text formatting to use while spell checking the file. The
    available formats are text and html.
    Lines starting with one of the characters in this string will not be spell
    checked. This resource is only used in text mode.
    When enabled, runs ispell in terse mode, not asking user interaction for words
    generated through compound formation (when using the ispell “-C” option), or
    words generated through affix removal. The default value is False.
    The path to the program to search for alternate words, and possibly,
    additional arguments. The default program used is /usr/bin/egrep.
    The path to the file[s] to search for alternate words. The default file is
    /usr/share/dict/words.
    String displayed in the ispell status bar when ispell returns a guess list
    of one or more words. The default value is Guess.
    String displayed in the ispell status bar when ispell returns a list of one
    or more words to match a misspelled one. The default value is Miss.
    String displayed in the ispell status bar when the word is not in the dictionary,
    but it can be formed through a root one. The default value is Root:, and is
    followed by a space and the root word.
    String displayed in the ispell status bar when there is no near misses. The default
    value is None.
    String displayed in the ispell status bar when the word being checked is formed by
    concatenation of two words. The default value is Compound.
    String displayed in the ispell status bar when the checked word is in the dictionary.
    This string is only displayed when using the check button in the xedit ispell
    interface. The default value is Ok.
    The string displayed in the ispell status bar when the end of the file is reached.
    The default value is End Of File.
    The string displayed in the ispell status bar when two identical words are found
    together in the file. The default value is Repeat.
    The string displayed in the ispell status bar after displaying the results of
    the Look command. If no results are found, the value of the
    ispell.noneLabel resource is shown.
    The string displayed in the ispell status bar while xedit is communicating with
    ispell. The default value is ….
    In order to specify resources, it is useful to know the hierarchy of
    the widgets which compose xedit. In the notation below,
    indentation indicates hierarchical structure. The widget class name
    is given first, followed by the widget instance name.
    Xedit xedit

            Paned  paned


                    Paned  buttons


                            Command  quit


                            Command  save


                            Command  load


                            Text    nbsp; filename


                    Label  bc_label


                    Text   messageWindow


                    Label  labelWindow


                    Text   editWindow

    to get the default host and display number.
    to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources
    stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
    specifies required resources
    Xedit is not a replacement to Emacs.
    Copyright 1988, Digital Equipment Corporation.
    Copyright 1989, X Consortium
    Copyright 1998, The XFree86 Project
    See
    for a full statement of rights and permissions.
    Chris D. Peterson, MIT X Consortium
    Paulo Cesar Pereira de Andrade, The XFree86 Project



    Willie
    • Website

    Willie has over 15 years of experience in Linux system administration and DevOps. After managing infrastructure for startups and enterprises alike, he founded Command Linux to share the practical knowledge he wished he had when starting out. He oversees content strategy and contributes guides on server management, automation, and security.

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