Xref: utzoo comp.unix.misc:668 comp.unix.questions:27348
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!chaph.usc.edu!alcor.usc.edu!jeenglis
From: jeenglis@alcor.usc.edu (Joe English Muffin)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: A question on .exrc while using vi
Keywords: exrc vi
Message-ID: <13458@chaph.usc.edu>
Date: 4 Dec 90 05:01:49 GMT
References: <5315@graphite20.UUCP>
Sender: news@chaph.usc.edu
Followup-To: comp.unix.misc
Organization: USC Co-Ed Naked Depressed Person's Softball League
Lines: 26
Nntp-Posting-Host: alcor.usc.edu

joshi@motcid.UUCP (Abhay B. Joshi) writes:
>
>I set up a .exrc in the current directory which looks like (2 lines):
>	:g/the/ s//an/g
>
>Now I tried to do a 'vi text-file', I got a coredump! About 10 times.
>Then I deleted the .exrc file and put the command in EXINIT.
>I got a coredump again. (No coredump if neither .exrc nor EXINIT exists)

Just a guess:  I think that vi executes all the commands
in .exrc BEFORE reading the file to be edited.  (Try leaving
blank lines in .exrc -- you'll get messages like "No lines
in the buffer" even when you specify a filename on the
command line.)

I'm not sure what your actual application is, but you're better
off mapping a macro to the substitute command.

More weirdness I just discovered: if there are blank lines in 
.exrc, 'vi .exrc' hangs completely.  This is under SunOS 4.1
on a Sun-3.


--Joe English

  jeenglis@alcor.usc.edu