descriptionThe Berkeley Vi Editor
homepage URLhttp://www.bostic.com/vi/
ownerskimo@kotnet.org
last changeSun, 8 Feb 2026 14:58:37 +0000 (8 15:58 +0100)
content tags
add:
README
#	$Id: README,v 8.153 2001/04/30 09:31:12 skimo Exp $ (Berkeley) $Date: 2001/04/30 09:31:12 $

This is version 1.80 (%H%) of nex/nvi, a reimplementation of the ex/vi
text editors originally distributed as part of the Fourth Berkeley
Software Distribution (4BSD), by the University of California, Berkeley.

The directory layout is as follows:

    LICENSE ....... Copyright, use and redistribution information.
    README ........ This file.
    build.unix .... UNIX build directory.
    catalog ....... Message catalogs; see catalog/README.
    cl ............ Vi interface to the curses(3) library.
    clib .......... C library replacement source code.
    common ........ Code shared by ex and vi.
    db ............ A stripped-down, replacement db(3) library.
    dist .......... Various files used to build the vi distribution.
    docs .......... Ex/vi documentation, both current and historic.
    docs/README ... Documentation overview.
    docs/edit ..... Edit: A tutorial.
    docs/exref .... Ex Reference Manual -- Version 3.7.
    docs/vi.man ... UNIX manual page for nex/nvi.
    docs/vi.ref ... Nex/nvi reference manual.
    docs/vitut .... An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi.
    ex ............ Ex source code.
    gtk ........... Vi gtk application.
    include ....... Replacement include files.
    ip ............ Library interface to vi: vi side.
    ipc ........... Library interface to vi: application side.
    motif ......... Vi motif application.
    motif_l ....... Motif library interface to vi.
    perl_api ...... Perl scripting language support.
    perl_scripts .. Perl scripts.
    regex ......... POSIX 1003.2 regular expression library.
    tcl_api ....... Tcl scripting language support.
    tcl_scripts ... Tcl scripts.
    vi ............ Vi source code.

To build DB for a UNIX platform:

    cd build.unix
    ../dist/configure
    make

To build multiple UNIX versions of DB in the same source tree, create
a new directory then configure and build.

    mkdir build.bsdos3.0
    cd build.bsdos3.0
    ../dist/configure
    make

For additional information about building DB for UNIX platforms, the
description of possible configuration options and other information
on DB configuration and build issues, see the file build.unix/README.
	
Bug fixes and updated versions of this software will periodically be made
available.  For more information, as well as a list of Frequently Asked
Questions, see:

	http://www.bostic.com/vi

To ask questions about vi, report vi problems, request notification of
future releases and/or bug fixes, or to contact the authors for any
reason, please send email to:

	bostic@bostic.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
o This software is several years old and is the product of many folks' work.  

	This software was originally derived from software contributed to
	the University of California, Berkeley by Steve Kirkendall, the
	author of the vi clone elvis.  Without his work, this work would
	have been far more difficult.

	IEEE POSIX 1003.2 style regular expression support is courtesy of
	Henry Spencer, for which I am *very* grateful.

	Elan Amir did the original 4BSD curses work that made it possible
	to support a full-screen editor using curses.

	George Neville-Neil added the Tcl interpreter, and the initial
	interpreter design was his.

	Sven Verdoolaege added the Perl interpreter.

	Rob Mayoff provided the original Cscope support.

o Many, many people suggested enhancements, and provided bug reports and
  testing, far too many to individually thank.

o From the original vi acknowledgements, by William Joy and Mark Horton:

	Bruce Englar encouraged the early development of this display
	editor.  Peter Kessler helped bring sanity to version 2's
	command layout.  Bill Joy wrote versions 1 and 2.0 through 2.7,
	and created the framework that users see in the present editor.
	Mark Horton added macros and other features and made the editor
	work on a large number of terminals and Unix systems.

o And...
	The financial support of UUNET Communications Services is gratefully
	acknowledged.
shortlog
2026-02-08 Sven Verdoolaegeex_comm_search: avoid potential buffer overflowmaster
2026-02-08 Sven Verdoolaegeip_main.c: free GO_TERM memory allocation
2026-02-08 Sven Verdoolaegecl_main.c: free GO_TERM memory allocation
2026-02-08 Sven Verdoolaegeopts_init: do not copy global string options into the...
2026-02-08 Sven Verdoolaegeex_aci: free local TEXTH structure
2026-02-08 Sven Verdoolaegescreen_end: free line cache
2026-02-08 Sven Verdoolaegedb_get: do not copy beyond retrieved line
2026-02-08 Sven Verdoolaegeonly allow literal search if REG_NOSPEC is available
2026-01-24 Sven Verdoolaegeavoid invalid access in filename expansion with missing...
2024-12-29 Sven Verdoolaegeex: properly global insert with initial newline in...
2024-12-29 Sven Verdoolaegeex: properly handle (global) insert with trailing delim...
2024-12-28 Sven Verdoolaegerestrict size of _excmd.agv_flags to 4 bits
2024-12-28 Sven Verdoolaegeintroduce simple testing infrastructure
2024-12-25 Sven Verdoolaegeconfigure.ac: avoid using obsolete form of AC_OUTPUT
2024-12-25 Sven Verdoolaegeex/ex_append.c: fix typos in comment
2024-09-14 Sven Verdoolaegeinclude sys/select.h before ex/extern.h
...
tags
18 years ago nvi-1.81.6 nvi 1.81.6
18 years ago nvi-1.81.5
18 years ago nvi-1.81.4
18 years ago nvi-1.81.3
18 years ago nvi-1.81.2
18 years ago nvi-1.81.1
18 years ago nvi-1.81.0
heads
3 weeks ago master