Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!evax!utacfd!letni!mic!convex!convex.COM From: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) Newsgroups: comp.editors Subject: Re: vi meta keys Keywords: vi Message-ID: <110901@convex.convex.com> Date: 13 Dec 90 03:00:54 GMT References: <1990Dec12.231212.6385@agate.berkeley.edu> Sender: schnoebe@convex.com Reply-To: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) Distribution: na Organization: CONVEX Software Development, Richardson, TX Lines: 40 dwallach@soda.Berkeley.EDU (Dan Wallach) writes: (Oops, I think there's Dan mail hidden in my inbox unanswered.) :Just what's the "meta" key in vi? Tom Christensen mentions the tab key but :when I hit it I just get a beep. Dan, Dan, Dan, after all the years we've know each other, you *still* can't spell my name? :-) That's right. You'll just hear a beep, because this meta idea in vi is just something that I have defined for myself. I have a set of more complex macros, like my lint macro or my comment-mode macro, that all begin with a as a lead in. Or you can use backslash. Depends on where your hands are at the time. :I've also seen people referencing \U and \L as commands for macros to upper- :case and lower-case letters. Are there more \ commands? \u change next char to upper case \U change next stuff all to upper case until told to do otherwise \l change next char to lower case \L change next stuff all to lower case until told to do otherwise \E, \e stop changing stuff :Go ahead and say rtfm, but our esteemed Apollo 10.2 docs mention nothing of meta :keys in vi nor \anything in ex (although it does mention & and \&). The meta key is just my weird, broken terminology. But you should have RTFM'd to get the \foo stuff. And considering where you're posting from, you have no excuse to use anything but original docs (which do indeed mention this if you dig enough), not some third-hand, user-friendly, programmer-hostile vendor doc. :-) --tom -- Tom Christiansen tchrist@convex.com convex!tchrist "With a kernel dive, all things are possible, but it sure makes it hard to look at yourself in the mirror the next morning." -me