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From: paul@sesame.UUCP (Paul Ruel)
Newsgroups: net.sources
Subject: Re: Printing a file backwards
Message-ID: <348@sesame.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 8-Oct-85 02:59:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sesame.348
Posted: Tue Oct  8 02:59:00 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Oct-85 15:41:21 EDT
References: <1213@hpda.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Free-Access Unix in Boston
Lines: 28

My feed's been unreliable recently, so I hope I'm not too untimely wih this
followup...In keeping with the UN*X philosophy of using big complicated tools
to solve small, inconsequential problems (:->), I suggest that you do the
following to reverse lines in a file:

	1)  Edit the file using `vi';
	2)  `O'pen a line and type the following:

		:1m'a^[-ma

	    Note that the `^[' means an ESCape;
	3)  Delete this line into macro `a' by typing `"add' when positioned
	    on the just created line (the `' are NOT typed);
	4)  Move your cursor to some line in the file and mark that line
	    as line `a' by typing `ma';
	5)  Type `@a' and *poof* all the lines in the file (above the marked
	    line) will be reversed!

The reversing process is terminated with a message from `vi' which reads:

	Move to a moved line

which, despite its appearance, _means_: `The reversing is done'.

By the way, this works on my 3b2/300 `vi', I hope it works on yours.  `vi'
macro experimentation is a _lot_ safer than playing `hack' on your employer's
dime.  Yes, you _can_ get `vi' stuck in loops, etc.  I've got a number of
visual display time wasters written in `vi' macros.