THE

The Hessling Editor
Version 4.0

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
LICENSE
THE BASICS
COMMAND-LINE SWITCHES
PROFILE FILE
COMMAND REFERENCE
add add blank line
alert display a user configurable dialog box with notification
all select and display restricted set of lines
backward scroll backward by number of screens or lines
bottom move to the bottom of the file
cancel quit from all files in the ring
cappend append text after column pointer
ccancel qquit from all files in the ring
cdelete delete text starting at column pointer
cfirst move column pointer to beginning of zone
change change one string to another
cinsert insert text starting at the column pointer
clast move the column pointer to end of zone
clipboard manipulate system clipboard
clocate move the column pointer
cmatch find matching bracket character
cmsg display text on command line
command execute a command without translation
compress reduce spaces to tabs
controlchar allow control characters to be entered
copy copies text from one position to another
coverlay overlay text starting at the column pointer
creplace replace text starting at the column pointer
cursor move cursor to specified position
define assign one or many commands to a key or mouse event
delete delete lines from a file
dialog display a user configurable dialog box
directory list the specified directory as an editable file
dos execute an operating system command
dosnowait execute an operating system command - no prompt
dosquiet execute an operating system command quietly
down move forward in the file a number of lines
duplicate duplicate lines
edit edit another file or switch to next file
editv set and retrieve persistent macro variables
emsg display message
ENTER execute a command
expand expand tab characters to spaces
extract obtain various internal information about THE
ffile force a FILE of the current file to disk
file write the current file to disk and remove from ring
fillbox fill the marked block with a character
find locate forwards the line which begins with the supplied string
findup locate backwards the line which begins with the supplied string
forward scroll forward by number of screens or lines
fup locate backwards the line which begins with the supplied string
get insert into file the contents of specified file
help edit help file for THE
hit simulate hitting of the named key
input insert the command line contents into the file
join join a line with the line following
kedit edit another file or switch to next file
left scroll the screen to the left
locate search for a target
lowercase change uppercase characters to lowercase
ls list the specified directory as an editable file
macro execute a macro command file
mark mark a portion of text
modify display current SET command for alteration
move move a portion of text
msg display message on error line
next move forward in the file a number of lines
nextwindow switch focus of editing session to another file
nfind locate forwards the line which does NOT begin with the supplied string
nfindup locate backwards the line which does NOT begin with the supplied string
nfup locate backwards the line which does NOT begin with the supplied string
nomsg execute a command suppressing any messages
nop no operation command
os execute an operating system command
osnowait execute an operating system command - no prompt
osquiet execute an operating system command quietly
osredir execute an operating system command and capture output
overlaybox overlay marked block on current cursor position
popup display popup menu
preserve save various editor settings
prevwindow switch focus of editing session to another file
print send text to default printer or print spooler
put write part of a file to another
putd write part of a file to another and delete
qquit exit from the current file without saving changes
query display various option settings
quit exit from the current file if no changes made
readv read keystrokes and pass to macro
record records all keystrokes into a macro file
recover recover changed or deleted lines
redit re-edit the current file
redraw redraw the current screen
refresh refresh the contents of the current screen
repeat repeat the last command
replace replace the current line with supplied text
reset cancel the marked block or prefix commands or both
restore restore various editor settings
rexx execute Rexx instructions
rgtleft scroll the screen to the left or right
right scroll the screen to the right
save save changes to current file
schange selectively change strings
search locate a string
set execute various set commands
shift move text left or right
showkey display current key value and command assignation
sort sort selected lines in a file
sos execute various sos commands
split split a line into two lines
spltjoin split/join two lines
ssave force SAVE to specified file
status display current settings of various variables
suspend suspend THE and return to operating system
tabfile edit the file under the file tab or shift FILETABS view
tag displays lines matching target in different colour
text simulate keyboard entry of characters
the edit another file or switch to next file
toascii convert the target from EBCDIC to ASCII
top move to the top of the file
up move backward in the file a number of lines
uppercase change lowercase characters to uppercase
xedit edit another file or switch to next file
? retrieve - return the next/prior command on the command line
= re-execute the last command issued on the command line
! execute an operating system command
& execute and re-display command
SET COMMAND REFERENCE
set alt change alteration counts
set arbchar set arbitrary character(s) for targets
set autocolor specifies which parser to use for syntax highlighting
set autocolour specifies which parser to use for syntax highlighting
set autosave set autosave period
set autoscroll set rate of automatic horizontal scrolling
set backup indicate if a backup copy of the file is to be kept
set beep turn on or off the audible alarm when displaying errors
set boundmark set bounds marker display
set case set case sensitivity parameters
set clearerrorkey specify which key clears the message line
set clearscreen indicate if the screen is to be cleared on exit
set clock turn on or off display of time on status line
set cmdarrows sets the behaviour of the up and down arrow keys
set cmdline sets the position of the command line.
set color set colors for display
set colour set colours for display
set coloring enable or disable syntax highlighting
set colouring enable or disable syntax highlighting
set compat set compatibility mode
set ctlchar define control character attributes
set curline set position of current line on screen
set cursorstay set on or off the behaviour of the cursor on a scroll
set defsort specify the order in which files appear in DIR.DIR
set dirinclude set the file mask for directory command
set display specify which level of lines to display
set ecolor set colors for syntax highlighting
set ecolour set colours for syntax highlighting
set eolout set end of line terminating character(s)
set equivchar set the equivalence character
set errorformat set format of error messages
set erroroutput indicate whether THE error messages are echoed to screen
set etmode indicate if extended display mode is possible
set file display name change the display filename of the file being edited
set fext change the extension of the existing file
set filename change the filename of the file being edited
set filetabs determine if and where where file tabs are positioned
set fmode change the drive letter of the existing file
set fname change the filename of the file being edited
set fpath change the path of the existing file
set ftype change the extension of the existing file
set fullfname specify if complete filename to be displayed
set header turn on or off syntax highlighting headers
set hex set how hexadecimal strings are treated in string operands
set hexdisplay turn on or off display of character under cursor
set hexshow turn on or off hex display of current line
set highlight specify which lines (if any) are to be highlighted
set idline specify if IDLINE is displayed
set impcmscp set implied operating system command processing
set impmacro set implied macro command processing
set impos set implied operating system command processing
set inputmode set input mode behaviour
set insertmode put editor into or out of insert mode
set interface set overall behaviour of THE
set lastop set the contents of the lastop argument
set lineflag set the line characteristics of lines
set linend allow/disallow multiple commands on command line
set macro indicate if macros executed before commands
set macroext set default macro extension value
set macropath set default path for macro commands
set margins set left and right margins for wordwrap
set mouse turn mouse support on or off
set mouseclick set interval for mouse click events
set msgline set position and size of message line
set msgmode set display of messages on or off
set newlines set position of cursor after adding blank line
set nondisp specify character to display for non-displaying characters
set number turn prefix numbers on or off
set pagewrap determine if page scrolling wraps at bottom/top of file
set parser associates a language definition file with a parser
set pending set status of pending prefix commands
set point assign a name to the current line
set position determine if LINE/COL is displayed on idline
set prefix set prefix area attributes
set printer define printer spooler name
set pscreen set physical size of screen
set readonly allow/disallow changes to a file if it is readonly
set regexp specify the regular expression syntax to use
set reprofile indicate if profile file to be executed for all files
set reserved display a reserved line
set rexxhalt halt Rexx macro after specified number of events
set rexxoutput indicate where Rexx output is to go
set scale set position and status of scale line on screen
set scope sets which lines are to be excluded from commands
set screen specify number of screens displayed
set select sets the selection level for the specified lines
set shadow determines if shadow lines are displayed or not
set slk set Soft Label Key definitions
set span specify if a string target can span multiple lines (unavailable)
set spill specify if a string target can span multiple lines (unavailable)
set statopt set display options on statusline
set statusline set position of status line
set stay set condition of cursor position after CHANGE/LOCATE commands
set synonym define synonyms for commands (unavailable)
set tabkey set characteristics of the SOS TABF command
set tabline set position and status of tab line on screen
set tabs set tab columns or tab length
set tabsin set tab processing on file input
set tabsout set tab processing on file output
set targetsave set type(s) of targets to save for subsequent LOCATEs
set thighlight specify if text highlighting is supported
set timecheck specify if time stamp checking done
set tofeof specify if TOF and BOF lines are displayed
set trailing specify how to treat trailing blanks on lines
set trunc specify the truncation column
set typeahead set behaviour of screen redraw
set undoing turn on or off undo facility for the current file
set untaa specifies if "Unsigned Numerical Targets Are Absolute"
set verify set column display limits
set width set width of maximum line that THE can edit
set word controls what THE considers a word to be
set wordwrap set wordwrap feature on or off
set wrap enable/disable string locates around the end of the file
set xterminal set X terminal to execute under X
set zone set column limits for editing
SOS COMMAND REFERENCE
sos addline add blank line after focus line
sos blockend move cursor to end of marked block
sos blockstart move cursor to start of marked block
sos bottomedge move cursor to bottom edge of FILEAREA
sos cuadelback delete the character to the left of the cursor
sos cuadelchar delete character under cursor
sos current move cursor to current line
sos cursoradj move first non-blank character to cursor
sos cursorshift move text to right of cursor to cursor
sos delback delete the character to the left of the cursor
sos delchar delete character under cursor
sos delend delete to end of line
sos delline delete focus line
sos delword delete word at or right of cursor
sos doprefix execute any pending prefix commands
sos edit edit a file from directory list
sos endchar move cursor to end of focus line
sos execute move cursor to command line and execute command
sos firstchar move cursor to first non-blank of field
sos firstcol move cursor to first column of field
sos instab shift text to next tab column
sos lastcol move cursor to last column of field
sos leftedge move cursor to left edge of window
sos lineadd add blank line after focus line
sos linedel delete focus line
sos makecurr make focus line the current line
sos marginl move cursor to the left margin column
sos marginr move cursor to the right margin column
sos parindent move cursor to the paragraph indent column
sos pastecmdline copy contents of marked block to command line
sos prefix move cursor to leftmost edge of prefix area
sos qcmnd move cursor to command line and clear
sos rightedge move cursor to right edge of window
sos settab set a tab column at the cursor position
sos startendchar move cursor to end/start of focus line
sos tabb move cursor to previous tab stop
sos tabf move cursor to next tab stop
sos tabfieldb move cursor to previous enterable field
sos tabfieldf move cursor to next enterable field
sos tabwordb move cursor to beginning of previous word
sos tabwordf move cursor to start of next word
sos topedge move cursor to top edge of filearea
sos undo undo changes to the current line
QUERY, EXTRACT and STATUS
IMPLIED EXTRACT
BOOLEAN FUNCTIONS
OTHER FUNCTIONS
GLOSSARY
block
Bottom-of-File line
box block
column block
column target
command line
current column
current line
cursor field
filearea
filetabs
focus column
focus line
idline
line block
macro
magic number
message line
prefix area
parser
profile
relative target
reserved line
REXX
ring
scale line
shadow line
status line
stream block
string target
string target delimiter
tab line
target
Top-of-File line
vershift
word block
APPENDIX 1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
APPENDIX 2 KEYBOARD HANDLING IN THE
APPENDIX 3 POINTER DEVICE SUPPORT IN THE
APPENDIX 4 SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING IN THE
APPENDIX 5 DEFAULT STATUS SETTINGS IN THE
APPENDIX 6 THE BY TASKS
APPENDIX 7 REGULAR EXPRESSIONS IN THE
History of THE
Version 4.0 29-12-2022
Version 3.4RC7 16-09-2019
Version 3.4RC6 22-04-2018
Version 3.4RC5 28-09-2016
Version 3.4RC4 30-10-2014
Version 3.3RC3 22-03-2013 (Mageia only)
Version 3.3RC2 21-Feb-2012 (MacOS X only)
Version 3.3RC1 10-Jul-2011
Version 3.3B3 24-Mar-2008
Version 3.3B2 10-Dec-2007 (Not publicly released)
Version 3.3B1 27-Nov-2006
Version 3.2 29-Jan-2006
Version 3.2b2 Not released
Version 3.2b1 8-Jun-2004
Version 3.1 13-Aug-02
Version 3.0 16-Jan-00
Version 2.8 31-Jul-99
Version 2.7 27-Dec-98
Version 2.6 14-Nov-98
Version 2.5.2 31-Jul-98
Version 2.5.1 28-Jul-98
Version 2.5 30-Jun-98
Version 2.4 01-Feb-97
Version 2.3 17-Dec-96
Version 2.2 26-May-96
Version 2.1 24-Jun-95
Version 2.0P1 11-Feb-95
Version 2.0 26-Jan-95
Version 1.5 01-Dec-93
Version 1.4 01-Sep-93 (Not officially released)
Version 1.3 15-Aug-93
Version 1.2 27-Jun-93 (Not officially released)
Version 1.1 17-May-93
Version 1.0 16-Aug-92
Quick Reference for THE
Command-line invocation
Minimum Abbreviations
Commands
SET commands
SOS commands
Prefix commands
Line Targets
Default Key Assignments
GNU FREE DOCUMENTATION LICENSE
The Hessling Editor is Copyright © Mark Hessling, 1990-2023 <mark@rexx.org>
Generated on: 8 Jan 2023