Hello Paul, > I do context constrained global edits in ed with the following technique: > > 1) identify a character that does NOT appear in the first column of any line > (so far the character '@' usually works) > 2) mark the lines I want to make the global edit on by inserting that > character at the start of each such line > 3) globally make the edit on each line starting with that character > 4) remove that leading character (one more global edit).
This is not enough, because it’s still single-line-restricted and non-interactive. The “context” I’m talking about is: - Line number (n) - Preceding lines - Following lines - Special characters (l) I specifically mention G (capital g) here, because I believe it to suit this context-aware editing better. And that’s why I’m asking about printing suffixes for G—these sound just right for the job. > When I prefer such context as the default, I break down and use > whatever "screen" editor I am using that decade. The "ed" editor > is inherently a line editor, which with such techniques as above > enables me to show _just_ the lines I want to show. Sometimes > that works best, sometimes not. A shame, ed(1) is a good editor begging to be explored and mastered. Best of love, -- Artyom Bologov https://aartaka.me
