Provided by: mc-data_4.8.27-1_all 
NAME
mcedit - Internal file editor of GNU Midnight Commander.
SYNOPSIS
mcedit [-bcCdfhstVx?] [+lineno] [file1] [file2] ...
mcedit [-bcCdfhstVx?] file1:lineno[:] file2:lineno[:] ...
DESCRIPTION
mcedit is a link to mc, the main GNU Midnight Commander executable. Executing GNU Midnight Commander
under this name runs the internal editor and opens files specified on the command line. The editor is
based on the terminal version of cooledit - standalone editor for X Window System.
OPTIONS
+lineno
Go to the line specified by number (do not put a space between the + sign and the number). Several
line numbers are allowed but only the last one will be used, and it will be applied to the first
file only.
-b Force black and white display.
-c Force ANSI color mode on terminals that don't seem to have color support.
-C <keyword>=<fgcolor>,<bgcolor>,<attributes>:<keyword>= ...
Specify a different color set. See the Colors section in mc(1) for more information.
-d Disable mouse support.
-f Display the compiled-in search path for GNU Midnight Commander data files.
-t Force using termcap database instead of terminfo. This option is only applicable if GNU Midnight
Commander was compiled with S-Lang library with terminfo support.
-V Display the version of the program.
-x Force xterm mode. Used when running on xterm-capable terminals (two screen modes, and able to
send mouse escape sequences).
FEATURES
The internal file editor is a full-featured windowed editor. It can edit several files at the same time.
Maximum size of each file is 64 megabytes. It is possible to edit binary files. The features it presently
supports are: block copy, move, delete, cut, paste; key for key undo; pull-down menus; file insertion;
macro commands; regular expression search and replace; shift-arrow text highlighting (if supported by the
terminal); insert-overwrite toggle; autoindent; tunable tab size; syntax highlighting for various file
types; and an option to pipe text blocks through shell commands like indent and ispell.
Each file is opened in its own window in full-screen mode. Window control in mcedit is similar to the
window control in other multi-window program: double click on window title maximizes the window to
full-screen or restores window size and position; left-click on window title and mouse drag moves the
window in editor area; left-click on low-right frame corner and mouse drag resizes the window. These
actions can be made using "Window" menu.
KEYS
The editor is easy to use and can be used without learning. The pull-down menu is invoked by pressing
F9. You can learn other keys from the menu and from the button bar labels.
In addition to that, Shift combined with arrows does text highlighting (if supported by the terminal):
Ctrl-Ins copies to the file ~/.cache/mc/mcedit/mcedit.clip, Shift-Ins pastes from
~/.cache/mc/mcedit/mcedit.clip, Shift-Del cuts to ~/.cache/mc/mcedit/mcedit.clip, and Ctrl-Del deletes
highlighted text. Mouse highlighting also works on some terminals. To use the standard mouse support
provided by your terminal, hold the Shift key. Please note that the mouse support in the terminal
doesn't share the clipboard with mcedit.
The completion key (usually Meta-Tab or Escape Tab) completes the word under the cursor using the words
used in the file.
MACRO
To define a macro, press Ctrl-R and then type out the keys you want to be executed. Press Ctrl-R again
when finished. The macro can be assigned to any key by pressing that key. The macro is executed when
you press the assigned key.
The macro commands are stored in section [editor] it the file ~/.local/share/mc/mc.macros.
External scripts (filters) can be assigned into the any hotkey by edit mc.macros like following:
[editor]
ctrl-W=ExecuteScript:25;
This means that ctrl-W hotkey initiates the ExecuteScript(25) action, then editor handler translates this
into execution of ~/.local/share/mc/mcedit/macros.d/macro.25.sh shell script.
External scripts are stored in ~/.local/share/mc/mcedit/macros.d/ directory and must be named as
macro.XXXX.sh where XXXX is the number from 0 to 9999. See Edit Menu File for more detail about format
of the script.
Following macro definition and directives can be used:
#silent
If this directive is set, then script starts without interactive subshell.
%c The cursor column position number.
%i The indent of blank space, equal the cursor column.
%y The syntax type of current file.
%b The block file name.
%f The current file name.
%n Only the current file name without extension.
%x The extension of current file name.
%d The current directory name.
%F The current file in the unselected panel.
%D The directory name of the unselected panel.
%t The currently tagged files.
%T The tagged files in the unselected panel.
%u and %U
Similar to the %t and %T macros, but in addition the files are untagged. You can use this macro
only once per menu file entry or extension file entry, because next time there will be no tagged
files.
%s and %S
The selected files: The tagged files if there are any. Otherwise the current file.
Feel free to edit this files, if you need. Here is a sample external script:
l comment selection
TMPFILE=`mktemp ${MC_TMPDIR:-/tmp}/up.XXXXXX` || exit 1
echo #if 0 > $TMPFILE
cat %b >> $TMPFILE
echo #endif >> $TMPFILE
cat $TMPFILE > %b
rm -f $TMPFILE
If some keys don't work, you can use Learn Keys in the Options menu.
CODE NAVIGATION
mcedit can be used for navigation through code with tags files created by etags or ctags commands. If
there is no TAGS file code navigation will not work. For example, in case of exuberant-ctags for C
language command will be:
ctags -e --language-force=C -R ./
Meta-Enter shows list box to select item under cursor (cursor should stand at the end of the word).
Meta-Minus where minus is symbol "-" goes to previous function in navigation list (like browser's Back
button).
Meta-Equal where equal is symbol "=" goes to next function in navigation list (like browser's Forward
button).
SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING
mcedit supports syntax highlighting. This means that keywords and contexts (like C comments, string
constants, etc) are highlighted in different colors. The following section explains the format of the
file ~/.config/mc/mcedit/Syntax. If this file is missing, system-wide /usr/share/mc/syntax/Syntax is
used. The file ~/.config/mc/mcedit/Syntax is rescanned on opening of every new editor file. The file
contains rules for highlighting, each of which is given on a separate line, and define which keywords
will be highlighted with what color.
The file is divided into sections, each beginning with a line with the file command. The sections are
normally put into separate files using the include command.
The file command has three arguments. The first argument is a regular expression that is applied to the
file name to determine if the following section applies to the file. The second argument is the
description of the file type. It is used in cooledit; future versions of mcedit may use it as well. The
third optional argument is a regular expression to match the first line of text of the file. The rules
in the following section apply if either the file name or the first line of text matches.
A section ends with the start of another section. Each section is divided into contexts, and each
context contains rules. A context is a scope within the text that a particular set of rules belongs to.
For instance, the text within a C style comment (i.e. between /* and */) has its own color. This is a
context, although it has no further rules inside it because there is probably nothing that we want
highlighted within a C comment.
A trivial C programming section might look like this:
file .\*\\.c C\sProgram\sFile (#include|/\\\*)
wholechars abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ_
# default colors
define comment brown
context default
keyword whole if yellow
keyword whole else yellow
keyword whole for yellow
keyword whole while yellow
keyword whole do yellow
keyword whole switch yellow
keyword whole case yellow
keyword whole static yellow
keyword whole extern yellow
keyword { brightcyan
keyword } brightcyan
keyword '*' green
# C comments
context /\* \*/ comment
# C preprocessor directives
context linestart # \n red
keyword \\\n brightred
# C string constants
context " " green
keyword %d brightgreen
keyword %s brightgreen
keyword %c brightgreen
keyword \\" brightgreen
Each context starts with a line of the form:
context [exclusive] [whole|wholeright|wholeleft] [linestart] delim [linestart] delim [foreground]
[background] [attributes]
The first context is an exception. It must start with the command
context default [foreground] [background] [attributes]
otherwise mcedit will report an error. The linestart option specifies that delim must start at the
beginning of a line. The whole option tells that delim must be a whole word. To specify that a word
must begin on the word boundary only on the left side, you can use the wholeleft option, and similarly a
word that must end on the word boundary is specified by wholeright.
The set of characters that constitute a whole word can be changed at any point in the file with the
wholechars command. The left and right set of characters can be set separately with
wholechars [left|right] characters
The exclusive option causes the text between the delimiters to be highlighted, but not the delimiters
themselves.
Each rule is a line of the form:
keyword [whole|wholeright|wholeleft] [linestart] string foreground [background] [attributes]
Context or keyword strings are interpreted, so that you can include tabs and spaces with the sequences \t
and \s. Newlines and backslashes are specified with \n and \\ respectively. Since whitespace is used as
a separator, it may not be used as is. Also, \* must be used to specify an asterisk. The * itself is a
wildcard that matches any length of characters. For example,
keyword '*' green
colors all C single character constants green. You also could use
keyword "*" green
to color string constants, but the matched string would not be allowed to span across multiple newlines.
The wildcard may be used within context delimiters as well, but you cannot have a wildcard as the last or
first character.
Important to note is the line
keyword \\\n brightgreen
This line defines a keyword containing the backslash and newline characters. Since the keywords are
matched before the context delimiters, this keyword prevents the context from ending at the end of the
lines that end in a backslash, thus allowing C preprocessor directive to continue across multiple lines.
The possible colors are: black, gray, red, brightred, green, brightgreen, brown, yellow, blue,
brightblue, magenta, brightmagenta, cyan, brightcyan, lightgray and white. The special keyword "default"
means the terminal's default. Another special keyword "base" means mc's main colors, it is useful as a
placeholder if you want to specify attributes without modifying the background color. When 256 colors are
available, they can be specified either as color16 to color255, or as rgb000 to rgb555 and gray0 to
gray23.
If the syntax file is shared with cooledit, it is possible to specify different colors for mcedit and
cooledit by separating them with a slash, e.g.
keyword #include red/Orange
mcedit uses the color before the slash. See cooledit(1) for supported cooledit colors.
Attributes can be any of bold, italic, underline, reverse and blink, appended by a plus sign if more than
one are desired.
Comments may be put on a separate line starting with the hash sign (#).
If you are describing case insensitive language you need to use caseinsensitive directive. It should be
specified at the beginning of syntax file.
Because of the simplicity of the implementation, there are a few intricacies that will not be dealt with
correctly but these are a minor irritation. On the whole, a broad spectrum of quite complicated
situations are handled with these simple rules. It is a good idea to take a look at the syntax file to
see some of the nifty tricks you can do with a little imagination. If you cannot get by with the rules I
have coded, and you think you have a rule that would be useful, please email me with your request.
However, do not ask for regular expression support, because this is flatly impossible.
A useful hint is to work with as much as possible with the things you can do rather than try to do things
that this implementation cannot deal with. Also remember that the aim of syntax highlighting is to make
programming less prone to error, not to make code look pretty.
The syntax highlighting can be toggled using Ctrl-s shortcut.
COLORS
The default colors may be changed by appending to the MC_COLOR_TABLE environment variable. Foreground
and background colors pairs may be specified for example with:
MC_COLOR_TABLE="$MC_COLOR_TABLE:\
editnormal=lightgray,black:\
editbold=yellow,black:\
editmarked=black,cyan"
OPTIONS
Most options can be set from Options dialog box. See the Options menu. The following options are
defined in ~/.config/mc/ini and have obvious counterparts in the dialog box. You can modify them to
change the editor behavior, by editing the file. Unless specified, a 1 sets the option to on, and a 0
sets it to off, as usual.
use_internal_edit
This option is ignored when invoking mcedit.
editor_tab_spacing
Interpret the tab character as being of this length. Default is 8. You should avoid using other
than 8 since most other editors and text viewers assume a tab spacing of 8. Use
editor_fake_half_tabs to simulate a smaller tab spacing.
editor_fill_tabs_with_spaces
Never insert a tab character. Rather insert spaces (ascii 32) to fill to the desired tab size.
editor_return_does_auto_indent
Pressing return will tab across to match the indentation of the first line above that has text on
it.
editor_backspace_through_tabs
Make a single backspace delete all the space to the left margin if there is no text between the
cursor and the left margin.
editor_fake_half_tabs
This will emulate a half tab for those who want to program with a tab spacing of 4, but do not
want the tab size changed from 8 (so that the code will be formatted the same when displayed by
other programs). When editing between text and the left margin, moving and tabbing will be as
though a tab space were 4, while actually using spaces and normal tabs for an optimal fill. When
editing anywhere else, a normal tab is inserted.
editor_option_save_mode
Possible values 0, 1 and 2. The save mode (see the options menu also) allows you to change the
method of saving a file. Quick save (0) saves the file immediately, truncating the disk file to
zero length (i.e. erasing it) and then writing the editor contents to the file. This method is
fast, but dangerous, since a system error during a file save will leave the file only partially
written, possibly rendering the data irretrievable. When saving, the safe save (1) option enables
creation of a temporary file into which the file contents are first written. In the event of a
problem, the original file is untouched. When the temporary file is successfully written, it is
renamed to the name of the original file, thus replacing it. The safest method is create backups
(2): a backup file is created before any changes are made. You can specify your own backup file
extension in the dialog. Note that saving twice will replace your backup as well as your original
file.
editor_word_wrap_line_length
Line length to wrap at. Default is 72.
editor_backup_extension
Symbol to add to name of backup files. Default is "~".
editor_line_state
Show state line of editor. Currently it shows current line number (in the future it might show
things like folding, breakpoints, etc.). M-n toggles this option.
editor_visible_spaces
Toggle "show visible trailing spaces". If editor_visible_spaces=1, they are shown as '.'
editor_visible_tabs
Toggle "show visible tabs". If editor_visible_tabs=1, tabs are shown as '<---->'
editor_persistent_selections
Do not remove block selection after cursor movement.
editor_drop_selection_on_copy
Reset selection after copy to clipboard.
editor_cursor_beyond_eol
Allow moving cursor beyond the end of line.
editor_cursor_after_inserted_block
Allow moving cursor after inserted block.
editor_syntax_highlighting
enable syntax highlighting.
editor_edit_confirm_save
Show confirmation dialog on save.
editor_option_typewriter_wrap
to be described
editor_option_auto_para_formatting
to be described
editor_option_save_position
Save file position on exit.
source_codepage
Symbol representation of codepage name for file (i.e. CP1251, ~ - default).
editor_group_undo
Combine UNDO actions for several of the same type of action (inserting/overwriting, deleting,
navigating, typing)
editor_wordcompletion_collect_entire_file
Search autocomplete candidates in entire file (1) or just from beginning of file to cursor
position (0).
editor_wordcompletion_collect_all_files
Search autocomplete candidates from all loaded files (1, default), not only from the currently
edited one (0).
spell_language
Spelling language (en, en-variant_0, ru, etc) installed with aspell package (a full list can be
obtained using 'aspell' utility). Use spell_language = NONE to disable aspell support. Default
value is 'en'. Option must be located in the [Misc] section.
editor_stop_format_chars
Set of characters to stop paragraph formatting. If one of those characters is found in the
beginning of line, that line and all following lines of paragraph will be untouched. Default value
is "-+*\,.;:&>".
editor_state_full_filename
Show full path name in the status line. If disabled, only base name of the file is shown.
MISCELLANEOUS
The editor also displays non-us characters (160+). When editing binary files, you should set display
bits to 7 bits in Midnight Commander's options menu to keep the spacing clean.
FILES
/usr/share/mc/help/mc.hlp
The help file for the program.
/usr/share/mc/mc.ini
The default system-wide setup for GNU Midnight Commander, used only if the user's own
~/.config/mc/ini file is missing.
/usr/share/mc/mc.lib
Global settings for Midnight Commander. Settings in this file affect all users, whether they have
~/.config/mc/ini or not.
/usr/share/mc/syntax/*
The default system-wide syntax files for mcedit, used only if the corresponding user's own
~/.local/share/mc/mcedit/ file is missing.
~/.config/mc/ini
User's own setup. If this file is present then the setup is loaded from here instead of the
system-wide setup file.
~/.local/share/mc/mcedit/
User's own directory where block commands are processed and saved and user's own syntax files are
located.
LICENSE
This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
Software Foundation. See the built-in help of Midnight Commander for details on the License and the lack
of warranty.
AVAILABILITY
The latest version of this program can be found at http://ftp.midnight-commander.org/.
SEE ALSO
cooledit(1), mc(1), gpm(1), terminfo(1), scanf(3).
AUTHORS
Paul Sheer (psheer@obsidian.co.za) is the original author of Midnight Commander's internal editor.
BUGS
Bugs should be reported to http://www.midnight-commander.org/.
MC Version 4.8.27 October 2021 MCEDIT(1)