Digital PDFs

AA-H608A-TA

March 1979

152 pages

Original

5.1MB

Document:	os8teco mar79
Order Number:	AA-H608A-TA
Revision:
Pages:	152
Original Filename:	http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp8/os8/AA-H608A-TA_os8teco_mar79.pdf

OCR Text

08/8
TECO Reference Manual
Order No. AA-H608A-TA

ABSTRACT
This document describes the Text Editing and
Correcting Program for OS/8 users.

SUPERSESSION/UPDATE INFORMATION: This manual supersedes the TECO chapter of
the OS/8 Handbook (DEC-S&OSHBA-A-D).
OPERATING SYSTEM AND VERSION:

OS/8V3D

To order additional copies of thisdocument, contact the Software Distribution
Center, Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard, Massachusetts 01754

digital equipment corporation • maynard. massachusetts

First Printing, March 1979

The info~ation in this document is subject to change without notice
and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment
Corporation. Digital Bquipment Corporation assumes no responsibility
for any errors that may appear in this document.
The software described in this document is furnished under a license
and may only be used or copied in accordance with the te~s of such
license.
No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on
equipment that is not supplied by DIGITAL or its affiliated companies.

The postage-prepaid READER'S COMMENTS form on the last page of this
document requests the user's critical evaluation to assist us in preparing future documentation.
The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:

DIGITAL
DEC
PDP
DECUS
UNIBUS
COMPUTER LABS
COMTEX

DECsystem-10
DEC tape
DIBOL
EDUSYSTEM
FLIP CHIP
FOCAL
INDAC

DDT

LAB-8

DECCOMM
ASSIST-ll
VAX
DECnet
DATATRIEVE

DECSYSTEM-20
RTS-8
VMS

lAS
TRAX

MASSBUS
OMNIBUS
OS/8
PHA
RSTS
RSX

TYPESET-8
TYPESET-ll
TMS-ll
ITPS-10
SBI
PDT

""1

CONTENTS

Page
PREFACE
CHAPTER

CHAPTER

vii
1

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS

1-1

1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.S
1.9

FUNDAMENTALS
FILE SELECTION COMMANDS
INPUT AND OUTPUT COMMANDS
POINTER POSITIONING COMMANDS
TYPE OUT COMMANDS
TEXT MODIFICATION COMMANDS
SEARCH COMMANDS
SUMMARY
SAMPLE EDITING JOB

1-1
1-2
1-4
1-5
1-6
1-6
1-7
l-S
l-S

CONCEPTS

2-1

2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.4.1
2.4.2
2.4.3
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.S
2.9
2.9.1
2.9.2
2.9.3
2.10

INTRODUCTION
MEMORY USE
DATA FILES
CHARACTER SET
Special Characters
Control Characters
Carriage Control Functions and Responses
DATA FORMAT -- LINES AND PAGES
EDITING BUFFER
BUFFER POINTER
GENERAL COMMAND STRING SYNTAX
ARGUMENTS
Text Arguments
Numeric Arguments
Commands That Return a Value
SUPER TECO

2-1
2-1
2-2
2-3
2-3
2-4
2-5
2-5
2-6
2-6
2-7
2-S
2-S
2-S
2-10
2-10

USING TECO

3-1

3.1
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.2.1
3.2.2.2
3.2.3
3.3
3.4
3.5

INTRODUCTION
CALLING TECO
R TECO Command
General Purpose Initialization Commands
MAKE Command
TECO Command
MUNG Command
FILE SELECTION COMMANDS
INPUT COMMANDS
BUFFER POSITION NUMERIC ARGUMENTS
BUFFER POINTER POSITIONING COMMANDS
TEXT TYPE-OUT COMMANDS
DELETION COMMANDS
INSERTION COMMru~DS

3-1
3-1
3-1
3-1
3-2
3-3
3-4
3-5
3-5

3.6

3.7
3.S
3.9

iii

3-6
3-6
3-6

3-7
3-7

CONTENTS (Cont.)

Page

CHAPTER

3.10
3.11
3.12
3.13
3.14
3.15
3.16
3.17

OUTPUT AND EXIT COMMANDS
SEARCH COMMANDS
ITERATION COMMANDS
FLOW CONTROL COMMANDS
Q-REGISTERS
ERASING COM}1ANDS
ERROR MESSAGES
TECHNIQUES AND EXAMPLES

3-8
3-9
3-9
3-10
3-10
3-11

TECO COMMANDS

4-1

4.1
4.2
4.3

INTRODUCTION
A APPEND COMMAND
nA COMMAND
AAtext<AA> TYPE-OUT COMMAND
B POSITION INDICATOR
C BUFFER POINTER COMMAND
"c COMMAND
D DELETE COMMAND
"D DECIMAL RADIX COMMAND
<DELETE>
AE END-OF-PAGE FORM FEED FLAG SIGNAL
EB EDIT BACKUP COMMAND
EC EXIT CLOSE COMMAND
EF END FILE COMMAND
EG EXIT AND GO COMMAND
EH EDIT HELP COMMAND

4-1
4-2
4-3
4-4
4-5
4-6
4-7
4-8
4-9
4-10
4-11
4-12
4-14
4-15
4-16
4-18
4-19
4-20
4-21
4-22
4-23
4-24
4-25
4-26
4-27
4-28
4-30
4-32
4-33
4-33
4-34
4-34
4-35
4-36
4-38
4-39
4-40
4-42
4-43
4-45
4-47
4-47
4-47
4-48
4-49

4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.11
4.12
4.13
4.14
4.15
4.16
A

,.,

't • .!. I

EK EXIT KILL CO~mAND

4.18
4.19
4.20
4.21
4.22
4.23
4.24
4.25
4.26
4.27
4.28
4.29
4.29.1
4.29.2
4.29.3
4.30
4.31
4.32
4.33
4.34
4.35
4.36
4.37
4.38
4.38.1
4.38.2
4.39
4.40

EO VERSION COMMAND
ER EDIT READ cor4MAND
<ESCAPE> COMMAND
ET EDIT TERMINAL COMMAND
EU EDIT UPPER/LOWER COMMAND
EW EDIT WRITE COMMAND
EX EXIT COMMAND
AF COMMAND
FN FAST NONSTOP SEARCH/REPLACE COMMAND
FS FAST SEARCH/REPLACE CO~mAND
G GET COMMAND
<"G> COMMAND
<AG><Sp> Command Line Echo Command
<AG>* Command String Echo Command
<AG><AG> Command String Erasure Command
H WHOLE POSITION INDICATOR
I INSERT COMMAND
nI$ INSERT COMMAND
J JUMP COMMAND
K KILL COMMAND
L LINE COMMAND
M MACRO COMMAND
N NONSTOP SEARCH COMMAND
AN
<AN> Match Control Character
An End-of-File Indicator Command
o GOTO COMMAND
<. . . 0> COMMAND

3-7

CONTENTS (Cont .. )

Page
4.40.1
4.40.2
4.41
4.42
A

A ....

<t.<t')

4.44
4.44.1
4.44.2
4.45
4.46

.. .. ...

<t.<tl

4.47.1
4.47.2
4.47.3
4.48
4.49
4.49.1
4.49.2
4.50
4.51
4.52
4.53
4.54
4.54.1
4.54.2
4.55
4.56
4.57
4.58
4.59
4.60
4.61
4.62
4.63
4.63.1
4.63.2
4.63.3
4.64
4.65
4.66
4.67
4.67.1
4.67.2
4.68
4.69
4.69.1
4.69.2
4.70
4.71

<~O> Type Out Command
<AO> Octal Radix Command
P PAGE COMMAND
PW PAGE WRITE COMMAND
Q Q-REGISTER COMMAND
<"'Q>
<"Q> Type-Out Control Command
<"Q> Match Control Character
R REv~RSE COt~·UU~D
S SEARCH CO~~ND

<"'S> Store Command String Command
<"'S> Freeze Output Command
<"S> Match Control Character
T TYPE COMMAND
"T TYPE-IN COMMAND
"T Input Command
"T Typeout Command
<TAB> INSERT COR~D
U COMMAND
<"U> COMMAND
"Uqtext$ COMMAND
W WINDOW CO~~~D
W Command
nW Command
X EXTRACT COMMAND
<"'X>
Y YANK COMMAND
Z POSITION INDICATOR
!tag!
" BRANCHING COMMANDS
% COMMAND
• POSITION INDICATOR
MODIFIER
S Modifier
: Numerical Type-out Modifier
: Q-register Type-out Command
COMMAND
< •.. > COMMAND
= NUMERICAL TYPE-OUT COMMAND
? COMMAND
? Trace Command
? Error Command
@ TEXT DELIMITER MODIFIER
\ COMMAND
\ Command
n \ Insertion Corranand
""x COMMAND
COMMAND

4-49
4-49
4-50
4-52
4-54
4-55
4-55
4-55
4-56
4-57
4-58
4-58
4-58
4-58
4-59
4-61
4-61
4-61
4-62
4-63
4-64
4-65
4-66

4-66
4-66
4-67
4-69
4-70
4-71
4-72
4-73
4-77
4-78
4-79
4-79
4-80
4-80
4-81
4-82
4-84
4-85
4-85
4-86
4-87
4-88
4-88
4-88
4-89
4-90

APPENDIX A

OCTAL & DECIMAL ASCII CHARACTER SET

A-I

APPENDIX B

TECO ERROR MESSAGES

B-1

APPENDIX C

TECO COMMAND SUMMARY

C-1
Index-1

INDEX

CONTENTS (Con t. )

Page
FIGURES
FIGURE

3-1
3-2
3-3
3-4
3-5
3-6
3-7

Command String for Example 2
An Elementary TECO Macro for Example 3
A Second Macro for Example 3
File-Packing Macro
Loading and Running the File-Packing Macro
Unpacking Macro
Loading and Running the Unpacking Macro

3-14
3-15
3-15
3-15
3-16
3-16
3-16

TABLES
TABLE

2-1
2-2
4-1
4-2
4-3
4-4
4-5
4-6
4-7
4-8
4-9
4-10
4-11
4-12
4-13
4-14
4-15
4-16

Special Characters
Arithmetic/Logical Operators
C Commands
D Commands
EH Commands
ET Commands
EU Commands
J Commands
K Commands
L Commands
P Commands
PW Commands
R Commands
T Commands
X Commands
Conditional Execution Commands
Commands
@ Commands

2-4
2-9
4-6
4-8
4-18
4-23
4-24
4-39
4-40
4-42
4-50
4-52
4-56
4-59
4-67
4-74
4-84
4-87

PREFACE

TECO is a text editing program that runs under the POP8 operating
system.
TECO may be used to edit any form of ASCII text such as
program listings, manuscripts, correspondence and the like.
Since
TECO IS a character-oriented editor rather than a line editor, text
edited with TECO does not have line numbers associated with it, nor is
it necessary to replace an entire line of text in order to change one
character.
This manual is divided into four parts.
Chapter 1, which contains
basic information, introduces enough TECO commands to allow the novice
TECO user to begin creating and editing text files after only a few
hours of instruction.
The introductory commands are sufficient for
any editing application; however, they are less convenient, in most
cases, than the advanced commands presented later.
Chapter 2 discusses the concepts underlying TECO. This discussion is
relatively command independent; instead, the emphasis is on how TECO
works.
Chapter 3 explains how to run TECO under the OS/8 monitor and presents
an overview of many of the TECO commands. These commands are grouped
by function.
Chapter 4 examines all TECO commands.
The commands are listed in
alphabetic order.
Where applicable, commands appear together in the
discussion or in the examples.

vii

DOCUMENTATION SET FOR 05/8

OS/8 SYSTEM GENERATION NOTES {AA-H606A-TA}
The System Generation Notes provide the information you need
to get a new 05/8 system running.
OS/8 SYSTEM REFERENCE MANUAL (AA-H607A-TA)
The System Reference
Manual
describes
05/8
system
conventions, keyboard commands, and utility programs.
OS/8 TECO REFERENCE MANUAL (AA-I1608A-TA)
The TECO Reference Manual describes the 05/8 version of this
character-oriented text editing and correcting program.
OS/8 LANGUAGE REFERENCE MANUAL (AA-H609A-TA)
The Language Reference Manual
describes
all languages
supported by OS/8, including BASIC, FORTRAN IV, and the PAL8
assembly language.
OS/8 ERROR MESSAGES (AA-H6l0A-TA)
This manual lists in alphabetical order all error
generated by OS/8 system programs and languages.

viii

messages

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS

1.1

FUNDAMENTALS

TECO considers text to be any string of ASCII codes. Text is divided
into units of pages, lines, and characters. A page of text consists
of all the ASCII codes between two form feed characters, including the
second form feed. A character is one ASCII code. Thus, every page of
text contains one form feed character, which is the last character on
the page.
Every line of text contains one line feed, which is the
last character on the line.
TECO maintains a text buffer in which text is stored.
The buffer
usually contains one page of text consisting of up to several thousand
characters, but the terminating form feed character never appears in
the buffer.
TECO also maintains a buffer pointer. The pointer is
simply a movable position indicator which is always located between
two characters in the buffer, or before the first character in the
buffer, or after the last character in the buffer.
The pointer is
never located on a character.
Line feed and form feed characters are inserted automatically by TECO.
A line feed is automatically appended to every carriage return entered
into the buffer, and a form feed is appended to the content of the
buffer by certain output commands. Additional line feed and form feed
characters may be entered into the buffer as text.
If a form feed
character is entered into the buffer, it will cause a page break upon
output. That is, all text preceding the form feed will appear on one
page, and the text following the form feed will appear on the next
page.
Finally, TECO also maintains an input file and an output file,-both of
which are selected by the user through the use of file specification
commands. The input file is any device from which text may be
accepted.
For example, if a block of text is stored in a disk file,
the disk file would be specified as an input file when the text is
edited.
The output file is any device on which edited text may be written. If
the disk file mentioned above were to be edited, it could be written,
for example, onto another disk file.
TECO functions as a "pipeline" editor. Text is read from the input
file into the text buffer, and is written from the buffer onto the
output file. Once a portion of text has been written to the output
file, it cannot be accessed again without closing the output file and
re-opening it as. an input file.
TECO may be called from command level by typing:
.R TEeD

For RT-ll

1-1

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS

(terminated with a carriage return). TECO will respond by printing an
asterisk at the left margin to indicate that it is ready to accept
user commands. At this point, one or more commands may be typed at
the terminal, and TECO will execute the commands upon receipt of two
consecutive ESCAPE characters. ,The ESCAPE is a non-printing character
which may be labelled ESC, ALT, or PREFIX on some keyboards. TECO
echoes a dollar sign ($) whenever an ESCAPE is received.
The dollar
sign character is used in examples throughout this manual to represent
ESCAPE.
You can also summon TECO with the MAKE and TECO CCL commands.
To create a new file, use the MAKE command.

The format is

MAKE filespec
where filespec is the name of the new file and the device you wish
store it on. TEeO opens the file you specify for output.
To edit an existing file, use the TEeo command.

The format is

TEeo filespec
where filespec is the name of an already existing
edit. TECO opens the file for input.

file

you

wish

A TECO command consists of one or two characters which cause a
specific operation to be performed.
Some TECO commands may be
preceded or followed by arguments. Arguments may be either numeric or
textual. A numeric argument is simply an integer value which might be
used to indicate such things as the number of times a command should
be executed.
A text argument is a string of ASCII characters which
might be words of text, for example, or a file specification.
If a command requires a numeric argument, the numeric argument always
precedes the command. If a command requires a text argument, the text
argument always follows the command.
All text
arguments
are
terminated by a special character (usually an ESCAPE) which indicates
to TECO that the next character typed will be the first character of a
new command.
If more than one command is typed in response to the asterisk
generated by TECO, the command string will be executed from left to
right until either all commands have been executed or a comman~ error
is recognized.
If an error is encountered, a message is printed and
the rest of the command string is ignored. In any case, TEeo prints
another asterisk at the left margin as soon as it finishes execution
of a command string, so that additional commands may be entered.
The extensive text editing capability of TECO implies a large and
versatile command set. However, the novice TECO user will find that
little more than a dozen basic commands suffice for most editing
requirements.
The following section introduces the basic TEeo
commands. The full command set will be described later in this
manual.

1.2

FILE SELECTION COMMANDS

Input and output files may be specified to TECO in several ways.
following commands permit flexible file selection with TEeO.

1-2

The

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS

NOTE
All of the following file selection
commands
are
shown with a general
argument of "filespec".
The
actual
contents of this filespec argument are
operating system dependent.
TECO will accept input text from any input device in the operating
system.
The input device may be specified by means of an ER command
terminated by an ESCAPE. The ER command causes TECO to open the
specified file and print an error message if the file is not found.
This command do~s not cause any portion of the file to be read into
the text buffer, however. The following examples illustrate use of
the ER command:
Command
ERfilespec$

Function
General form of the
ER
command
where
-filespec" is the designation of the input
file.
The command is terminated by
an
ESCAPE, which echoes as a dollar sign.

The following examples illustrate the use of the ER command.
ERPR:$

Prepare to read an input file from the
tape reader.

paper

ERF'ROG.MAC$

Prepare to read input rlle PROG.MAC from
system's default device.

the

ERRXA1:PROG.FOR$

Prepare to
RXAl:.

from

read

input

file

PROG.FOR

TECO will write output text onto any device in the operating system.
The output file may be specified by means of an EW command terminated
by an ESCAPE. If the output device is a file-structured device (e.g.,
a disk), a file name and extension (if any) must be supplied. If a
file name is specified but no device is explicitly defined, the
system's default device is assumed. The following examples illustrate
use of the EW command, which has the same format as the ER command:
Command

Function

EWfilespec$

General form of the
EW
command
where
"filespec" is the designation of the output
file.
The command is terminated by
an
ESCAPE, which echoes as a dollar sign •.

EWSYS:TEXT.LST$

Prepare to
SYS: •

output

file

TEXT.LST

EWPROG$

Prepare to write output
system's default device.

file

PROG

the

EWRXA1:TEXT.LST$

Prepare to
RXAl:.

file

TEXT.LST

write

output

It is not always necessary to specify an input file.
If the user
desires to create a file without using any previously edited text as
input, he may type commands to insert the necessary text directly into
the text buffer from the keyboard and, at the end of each page, write
the content of the buffer onto an output file.
Since all input is
supplied from the keyboard, no input file is necessary.
1-3

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS
An output file is unnecessary if the user desires only to examine an
input file, without making permanent changes or corrections. In this
case, the content of the input file may be read into the text buffer
page by page and examined at the terminal. Since all output is
printed on the user terminal, no output file is needed.
When the user is finished editing a file, he may use the EX command to
close out the file and exit from TECO. The current contents of the
text buffer, and any portion of the input file that has not been read
yet, are copied to the output file before TECO exits. Note that the
EX command takes no arguments.
Command

Function

Move the remainder of the current input file
to the current output file, close the output
file, then return to the monitor.

The following examples illustrate the use of the EX command.

ERINPUT.MACSEWOUTPUT.MAC$$

Open an input file "INPUT.MAC" and
open
an
output
file
named
"OUTPUT.MAC".
The double ESCAPE
($$)
terminates the command string
and causes the
string
to
be
executed.
Note that the ESCAPE
which terminates the EW command may
be one of the two ESCAPEs which
terminates the command string.

ERFILE.MACSEWCOPY.MACSEX$$

Open an input file "FILE.MAC" and
open
an
output
file
named
"COPY.MAC", then copy all the text
in the input file to the output
fiie, ciose the output file and
exit from TECO.

TECO will only keep one input and one output file open and selected at
a time. The current input file may be changed by simply using the ER
command to specify a new file. The EX command or one of the other
file closing commands presented later may be used to close the output
file.

1.3

INPUT AND OUTPUT COMMANDS

The following commands permit pages of text to be read into the TECO
text buffer from an input device or written from the buffer onto an
output device. Once a page of text has been written onto the output
file,
it cannot be recalled into the text buffer unless the output
file is closed and reopened as an input file.
Command

Function

Clear the text buffer, then read the next
page of the input file into the buffer.
Since the Y command causes the contents of
the text buffer to be lost, it is not
permitted if an output file is open and there
is text in the buffer.

1-4

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS
Command

1.4

Function

Write the content of the text buffer onto the
next page of the output file, then clear the
buffer and read the next page of the input
file into the buffer.

Execute the P command n times, where n must
be an integer in the range 1<=n<65535. If n
is not specified, a value of 1 is assumed.

POINTER POSITIONING COMMANDS

Tne buffer pointer provides the only means of specltylng the location
within a block of text at which insertions, deletions or corrections
are to be made. The following commands permit the buffer pointer to
be moved to a position between any two adjacent characters in the
buffer. TECO positions the pointer before the first character in the
buffer after every Y or P command.
Command

Function

Move the pointer
buffer.

Move the pointer forward to a
position
between the next line feed and the first
character of the next line. That is, advance
the pointer to the beginning of the next
line.

Execute the L command n times, where n may be
any integer. A positive value of n moves the
pointer to the beginning of the nth line
following the current pointer position. A
negative value moves the pointer backward n
lines and positions it at the beginning of
the nth line preceding the current position.
If n is zero, the pointer is moved to the
beginning of the line on which
it
is
currently positioned.

Advance the
character.

Execute the C command n times, where n must
be an integer in the range -32768<=n<=32767.
A positive value of n moves the pointer
forward
across
n
characters
(carriage
return/line feed counts as two characters).
A negative value of n moves the pointer
backward across n characters. If n is zero,
the pointer position is not changed.

pointer

the

beginning

forward

across

the

one

These commands may be used to move the buffer pointer across any
number of lines or characters in either direction; however, they will
not move the pointer across a page boundary. If a C command attempts
to move the pointer backward beyond the beginning of the buffer or
forward past the end of the buffer, an error message is printed and
the command is ignored.

1-5

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS
If an L command attempts to exceed the page boundaries in this manner,
the pointer is positioned at the boundary which would have been
exceeded. Thus the command "-IOOOOL tI would position the pointer
before the first character in the buffer. The command "IOOOOL" would
position the pointer after the last character in the buffer. No error
message is printed in either case.

1.5

TYPE OUT COMMANDS

The following commands permit portions of the text in the buffer to be
printed out for examination. These commands do not move the buffer
pointer.
Command

Function

Type the content of the text buffer from the
current position of the pointer through and
including the next line feed character.

Type n lines, where n must be an integer in
the range -32768<=n<=32767. A positive value
of n causes the n lines following the pointer
to be typed.
A negative value of n causes
the n lines preceding the pointer to be
typed.
If n is zero, the content of the
buffer from the beginning of the line on
which the pointer is located up to the
pointer is typed. This facilitates locating
the buffer pointer.

Type the entire content of the text buffer.

Type the current
sequence "OTT".

line.

Equivalent

the

The OT command is particularly useful for determining the position of
the buffer pointer.
This command should be used frequently to
determine that the pointer is actually located where the user expects
it to be.

1.6

TEXT MODIFICATION COMMANDS

The following commands permit the user to insert or delete
the buffer.

text

from

Command

Function

Itext$

Where "text" is a string of ASCII characters
terminated by an ESCAPE, which echoes as a
dollar sign. The specified text is inserted
into the buffer at the current position of
the pointer, with the pointer positioned
immediately after the last character of the
insertion.

Delete the content of the text buffer from
the current position of the pointer through
and including the next line feed character.

1-6

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS

Command

Function

Execute the K command n times, where n may be
any integer in the range -32768<=n<=32767. A
positive value of n causes the n lines
following the pointer to be deleted.
A
negative value of n causes the n lines
preceding the pointer to be deleted. If n is
zero, the content of the buffer from the
beginning of the line on which the pointer is
located up to the pointer is deleted.

Delete the entire content of the text buffer.

Delete the
pointer.

Execute the D command n times, where n may be
any integer in the range -32768<=n<=32767. A
positive value of n causes the n characters
following the pointer to be deleted.
A
negative value of n causes the n characters
preceding the pointer to be deleted. If n is
zero, the command is ignored.

character

following

the

buffer

Like the L command, the D and K commands may not execute across page
boundaries.
If a K command attempts to delete text up to and across
the beginning or end of the buffer, text will be deleted only up to
the buffer boundary and the pointer will be positioned at the
boundary. No error message is printed. A D command attempting to
delete text across a page boundary will produce an error and the
command is ignored.

1.7

SEARCH COMMANDS

The following commands may be used to search for a specified string of
characters which may occur somewhere in the input file. They cause
the buffer pointer to be positioned immediately after the last
character in the specified string, if found.
Command

Function

Stext$

Where "text" is a string of ASCII characters
terminated with an ESCAPE which echoes as a
dollar sign. This command searches the text
buffer
for
the next occurrence of the
specified character string following
the
current pointer position. If the string is
found, the pointer is positioned after the
last character on the string. If it is not
found, the pointer is positioned immediately
before the first character in the buffer and
an error message is printed.

Ntext$

Performs the same function as the S command
except that the search is continued across
page boundaries, if necessary, until the
character string is found or the end of the
input file is reached. If the end of the
input file is reached, an error message is
printed and it is necessary to close the
output file and reopen it as an input file
before any further editing may be done on
that file.
1-7

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS

Both the S command and the N command begin searching for the specified
character string at the current position of the pointer. Therefore,
neither command will locate any occurrence of the character string
which precedes the current pointer position, nor will they locate any
character string which continues across a page boundary.
Both commands execute the search by attempting to match the command
argument, character for character, with some portion of the buffer
contents. If an N command reaches the end of the buffer without
finding a match for its argument, it writes the content of the buffer
onto the output file, clears the buffer, reads the next page of the
input file into the buffer, and continues the search.

1.8

SUMMARY

At this point, the basic TECO commands have been introduced.
Recall
that TECO indicates it is ready to accept user commands by printing an
asterisk (*). Once TECO has printed an asterisk, one or more commands
may be typed at the terminal. Errors may be corrected by typing the
DELETE key to delete characters. The DELETE key may be labeled DEL or
RUBOUT on some keyboards. Each depression of the DELETE key deletes
one character, beginning with the last character typed, and then
prints the deleted character at the terminal. An entire command
string may be deleted in this manner, if necessary. Once the correct
command(s) have been entered, typing a double ESCAPE ($$) causes TECO
to execute the command(s) in the order in which they were entered, and
to print another asterisk so that additional commands may be typed.
Note that this manner of operation is different from most other
editors.
In particular, carriage return has no special significance
to TECO. Only the double ESCAPE forces execution of the command
string.
If TECO encounters an erroneous command, it prints an error message
and ignores the erroneous command as well as all commands which follow
it. All error messages are of the form:
?XXX

Message

where XXX is an error code and the message is a self explanatory
message relating to the command that generated the error. Every error
message is followed by an asterisk at the left margin, indicating that
TECO is ready to accept additional commands. If the first command
entered after a TECO-generated error message is a single question mark
character (?), TECO will print the erroneous command string up to and
including the character which caused the error message.
This
facilitates locating errors in long command strings and determining
how much of a command string was executed before the error was
encountered.
At the conclusion of an editing job, the user may type EX to exit
TECO. If an input and output file are open at the time the EX command
is encountered, the remainder of the input file, including the current
contents of the text buffer, is copied to the output file, and the
output file is closed before TECO exits.

1.9

SAMPLE EDITING JOB

The following sample editing job is included to help the new user to
achieve a greater understanding of the basic TECO commands. The
entire terminal output from the editing run has been reproduced

1-8

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS
intact, and numbers have been added in the left margin referencing the
explanatory paragraphs which follow.
1.

At this point, the user calls TECO into memory.
TECO
responds by printing an asterisk at the left margin. The
user then enters an EW commmand, opening an output file
called "FILEI.TXT" on DTI.
There is no input file. Upon
receipt of the double ESCAPE ($$), TECO
created
the
designated output file, then printed another asterisk at the
left margin.

The user then enters a command string consisting of two
commands.
The HK command clears the text buffer (not really
necessa~y, since it was already empty),
and the I command
inserts 18 lines of text into the buffer, including 8 blank
lines. TECO executes these commands upon receipt of the
second double ESCAPE. At this point, the buffer pointer is
positioned at the end of the buffer, following the last line
feed character in the text. Note that the user made an error
while typing the word "MASSACHUSETTS". He typed "MASA", then
realized his mistake and struck the DELETE key once to delete
the second "A". TECO echoes the deleted character. The user
then types the correct character and continues the insertion.

The user then types -20L to move the pointer to the beginning
of the buffer and SETTS$ to position the pointer immediately
after the character string "ETTS", which terminates the word
"MASSACHUSETTS".
He then uses an I command to insert one
space and a five-digit zip code.
A second S command
positions the pointer after the word "INFORMATION". The 2C
command moves the pointer to the beginning of the next line
(carriage return and line feed count as two characters), and
the user deletes the words "PERTAINING TO" and replaces them
with the word "REGARDING".

The user continues editing by positioning the pointer after
the word "GUIDE". He then deletes this word and replaces it
with the word "MANUAL". Finally, he searches for the word
"SINCERELY", types OT to determine that the pointer was
correctly positioned between the Y and the comma which
follows it, and types OK to delete everything on the line
except the comma. He then inserts "VERY TRULY YOURS" in
place of the word "SINCERELY".
An HT command causes the
edited text to be printed at the terminal.

The command string EX$$ causes the content of the buffer to
be written onto the output file and closes the output file.
The user then reenters TECO and reopens the file "FILEl.TXT"
as an input file and specifies the line printer as an output
file.

This command string reads the first (and only) page of
"FILEI.TXT" into the buffer, deletes the first 5 lines,
replaces them with a different address and salutation, then
prints the content of the buffer on the terminal for
verification and finally prints the new version of the letter
onto the line printer. Note that the previous version of the
letter still resides in file "FILEl.TXT" on DT1.

1-9

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS

1< *EWDT1:FILE1.TXT$$
2( *HKIMR. JOHN P. JONES
COMPUTER ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
DEAR MR. JONES:
I WAS PLEASED TO RECEIVE YOUR REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
PERTAINING TO THE NEW TEeO-11 TEXT EDITING AND CORRECTING
PROGRAM.
ENCLOSED IS A COpy OF THE TECO-11 USER'S GUIDE, WHICH
SHOULD ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS.
SINCERELY,

$$
3< *-20LSETTS$I 02150$$
*STION'2C13DIREGARDING$$
4( *SGUIDE$-5DIMANUAL$$
*SELY'OT$S
SINCERELY*OKIVERY TRULY YOURS.S
*HT'$
MR. JOHN P. JONES
COMPUTER ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02150
DEAR MR. JONES:
I WAS PLEASED TO RECEIVE YOUR REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
REGARDING THE NEW TECO-11 TEXT EDITING AND CORRECTING
PROGRAM.

ENCLOSED IS A COpy OF THE TECO-11 USER'S MANUAL, WHICH
SHOULD ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS.
VERY TRULY YOURS,

*EX$$
(TECO is rerun, operatins s~ste~ dependent)
! *ERDT1:FILE1.TXT$EWLP:$'
6< *YSKIMR. JAMES B. SMITH
DATEK ASSOCIATES, INC.
122 MAIN STREET WEST
AUSTIN, TEXAS
5<·.

DEAR MR. SMITH:
$$
*HT$$
MR. JAMES B. SMITH
DATEK ASSOCIATES, INC.
122 MAIN STREET WEST
AUSTIN, TEXAS
DEAR MR. SMITH:
I WAS PLEASED TO RECEIVE YOUR REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

1-10

INTRODUCTORY COMMANDS

REGARDING THE NEW TECO-!! TEXT EDITING AND CORRECTING
PROGRAM.
ENCLOSED IS A COPY OF THE TECO-!! USER'S MANUAL, WHICH
SHOULD ANSWER ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS.
VERY TRULY YOURS,

*EX$$

1-11

CHAPTER 2

CONCEPTS

2.1

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents information describing those concepts of TECO
that are relatively independent of the commands you may enter. This
information, where applicable, is applied to specific commands in
Chapter 3.

2.2

MEMORY USE

TECO operates most efficiently on systems with at least 16K of memory.
However, TECO will run on 8K or 12K systems, albeit slower.
In all configurations, TECO allocates sufficient storage to contain a
4000 (decima1)-character editing buffer.
In 8K, TECO allocates a
Q-register storage area which contains 2944 (decimal) characters.
(See Section 2.14 for a discussion of Q-registers.) In 12K, TECO
expands this by 2K. In 16K, TEeo allocates space to store I-line
error messages. These messages exist only in systems with 16K or more
memory and reside in a file internal to and accessible only by TECO.
In 8K and 12K systems, TECO uses a series of overlays.
overlays are permanently resident.

In 16K,

these

The overlay system is:
Level

Mnemonic

Overlay 1

I/O

ER, ES, EW (initially resident)

Overlay 2

Quote

" Conditionals, 0, and <>

Overlay 3

Error

Error messages

Overlay 4

Exit

EC, EF, EG, EK, EX

Overlay 5

Flags

EH, EO, ET, EU, =

Commands

You will be able to increase the efficiency of TECO in 8K and 12K
configurations
by grouping commands so as to minimize overlay
swapping.

2-1

CONCEPTS
2.3

DATA FILES

You must specify the file from which TECO is to extract information
and the file into which TECO places edited or examined information.
When you enter an input command, TECO normally brings part of the
input file into the editing buffer.
(The editing buffer is discussed
in Section 2.5.) An output command then tells TECO to write the
contents of the editing buffer onto the output file~
NOTE
An output command is different from an
exit
command.
Generally, an output
command writes the contents of
the
editing buffer onto the output file,
which remains open. An exit command may
or may not write to an output file. In
contrast, it normally closes the output
file.
TECO can only process a file sequentially; that is, TECO can access
the nth page in a file only after it reads the previous (n-l) pages.
Also, you cannot reaccess the information TECO places in the output
file until you close both the input and the output files. Then, and
only then, can you declare the former output file to be the new input
file.
You may subsequently use an input command to bring the portion
of a file you wish to reaccess into the editing buffer.
When using such hard-copy devices as card readers and paper-tape
readers, you need only specify a device name to open a file for input
or output. For disk and DECtape files, you must specify filenames as
well as the device name. If you omit the device name, TECO assumes
DSK:.
NOTE
If OS/8 is not configured for
the
devices you wish to use, consult the
BUILD section of
the
OS/8
System
Reference
Manual
for a listing of
available devices and the 05/8 Software
Support
Manual
for instructions on
adding other device handlers to your
configuration.
Filenames for file-structured devices consist of two parts: the first
part, the filename proper, consists of from one to six alphanumeric
characters; the second part, which is optional, is called the
"extension." If present, the extension consists of either one or two
alphanumeric characters. You must separate the filename from the
extension by a period. For example,

RXA1:MYFILE.FT
is a file specification which designates the FORTRAN
MMYFILE. This file resides on the floppy in drive 1.

file

called

If you do not enter an extension, CCL (the OS/8 Concise Command
Language Utility Program) supplies .PA. If you do not want the file
to have an extension, you must type a period (.) after the filename.

2-2

CONCEPTS
For example,

.TECO MYFILE.
is the command which retrieves the file
from DSK: (the system device).

MYFILE.

with

extension

NOTE
The
term
"file
specification"
is
abbreviated as filespec throughout this
manual. For a complete discussion of
f~le specifications, see the OS/8 System
Reference Manual.
When you use floppies (diskettes), DIGITAL strongly recommends that
you keep your files small. If a file is large and you store other
files on the device, you may have difficulties with some of TECO's I/O
commands because there may be insufficient room to write the file onto
the device. Consequently, if you are having problems, you should
segment the file using EF commands (see Section 4.14).

2.4

CHARACTER SET

TECO uses the entire ASCII character set. ASCII characters
two levels in TEeo: the command level and the data level.

work

You can use every ASCII character from control-A (decimal value 01)
through delete (decimal value 127) as data in TECO. They can all be
read, written, and inserted. (The ASCII character set is listed in
Appendix A.)
The only character that is not completely legal as data is the null
character (decimal value 0).
If you insert a null character, TECO
writes it to the output file.
However, when TECO reads a null
character into the editing buffer (through the reopening of the file
as input), TECO removes it from the file. The null character echoes
as A@ on the terminal.
TECO interprets many of the ASCII characters as commands.
When you
use them as commands, the lower-case characters have the same .meaning
as their upper-case equivalents.
NOTE
In this manual, commands
as capital letters.

always

appear

Appendix C is a list of TECO commands.

2.4.1

Special Characters

Because of their use as special immediate-action commands (e.g.,
monitor commands or erasing commands), you may only implicitly enter
certain characters into a command string. All of them, however, are
legal as data (except the null character) and you may insert them

2-3

CONCEPTS

using commands designed for this purpose. For example, you may insert
a <A C>, which has a decimal ASCII value of 3, into the editing buffer
using a 3I$ command, where 3 is the argument to the I$ command.
The characters to which this restriction applies are
characters" and are listed in Table 2-1.

called

"special

Table 2-1
Special Characters

Command

Decimal
. ASCII Value

Function

A monitor Command

7-32

A retyping command (causes TECO to
retype
line
showing
editorial
corrections)

<CTRL/G>*

7-42

A typing command
command string)

(types

current

7-7

An erasing command
string)

(erases

command

A monitor command (ends terminal
output if TECO is printing)

An erasing command (deletes
line)

DELETE

127

An erasing command
character typed)

ESCAPE

Standard text argument terminator
(two successive ESCAPEs terminate a
command string)

2.4.2

current

{deletes

last

Control Characters

You can enter control characters (ASCII decimal values
holding down the CONTROL key while typing a character key.

0-31)

NOTE
TECO prints a control character as a
circumflex followed by the character
that you type to produce the control
character. For example, <CTRL/A> prints
as AA.
On some terminals, the circumflex prints
as
an
up-arrow.
For
example,
<CONTROL/A> prints as AA.
You can enter many of the control characters into command strings by
typing a circumflex (or up-ar~ow) followed by the desired character.

2-4

CONCEPTS
For example, <CONTROL/D> is equivalent to <AD>. You should use this
method only when typing the control character as a command and not as
text. That is, in an alphanumeric argument, TEeo interprets the
circumflex-letter combination as two characters. In a command string,
however, TEeO interprets the circumflex-letter combination as one of
the control characters.
NOTE
Throughout this manual,
entering
a
control
character
as
a circumflex
followed by a letter is called the
circumflex construction.

2.4.3

Carriage Control Functions and Responses

A few of the control characters have special echoes to the terminal,
namely, bell, tab «CONTROL/I», line feed, form feed {<CONTROL/L>},
and carriage return.
These characters echo on your terminal by
performing their particular action.
When you type a carriage return, the TECO monitor automatically
generates a line feed following it. The echo to the carriage return
type-in is a carriage return followed by a line feed. As TECO appends
a line feed character to every carriage return you type, you must type
a carriage return followed by a <DELETE> to enter a carriage return
without a line feed.
However, if you enter a carriage return as
<CONTROL/J>, TECO does not append a line feed to it.
Except as text arguments, TECO ignores the characters "carriage
return" and "line feed" in command strings. TECO also ignores spaces
within command strings. Consequently, you may insert spaces, carriage
returns, and line feeds into command strings to improve their
readability.
ESCAPE echoes and prints as a dollar sign ($).

2.5

DATA FORMAT -- LINES AND PAGES

TECO lines can be of any length, subject to the limitations of
available memory.
The characters that define the end of a line are
the line feed, the vertical tab, and the form feed.
(These are the
characters which cause vertical movement.) The end of the editing
buffer may also be an end-of~line character if no line feed is
present.
When TECO counts lines, it does so by counting these
end-of-line characters.
An end-of-line character belongs to the line that it terminates.
A text does not have to contain end-of-line characters;
however, if
you do not include them, the TECO commands that are line-dependent
will not be useful. DIGITAL recommends that you enter data as a
series of lines.
Pages are delimited in TECO by form feed characters. Thus, a page of
text consists of all the ASCII code between two form feed characters.
A form feed character does not belong to either of the two pages that
it separates.
Two consecutive form feed characters delimit a null
page.

2-5

CONCEPTS

A form feed character at the end of a file
Thus, you may omit it.

has

effect

TEeo.

TEeo operates most efficiently if you divide files into pages of
approximately fifty or fewer lines. You may edit files with longer
pages or files containing no form feeds, but this process requires
more care because you may use more memory than is available. (See
Section 4.2 for a list describing how TEeo determines when to stop
reading characters into the editing buffer.)

2.6

EDITING BUFFER

You can edit a program by:
1.

Reading text into the editing buffer

Making changes to the text in this buffer

Writing the modified text from the editing buffer out to
new file.

the

This editing buffer is a block of memory within TEeo. When reading or
inserting data, TEeo places it into the buffer, and the data remains
there while you are editing it. It leaves the buffer only when you
type an output command.
The buffer usually contains one page of text consisting of up to 4000
characters.
However, the terminating form feed character never
appears in the buffer. If TEeo terminates input to the editing buffer
because it reads a form feed character, TEeo sets the AE form feed
flag to -1.
TEeo normally passes data into and out of the buffer
time.

2.7

one

page

BUFFER POINTER

The "buffer pointer" construct is fundamental to TEeo because the
place indicated by this pointer determines the effect of many editing
commands. For example, character insertion and deletion always take
place at this position.
The buffer pointer is a position indicator. It always points to a
position between two characters in the editing buffer (unless it
points to a position immediately before or after the buffer's
contents).
Either you or TEeO can move this pointer to any position in the
buffer. It cannot, however, point to a position beyond the boundaries
of the buffer; that is, you cannot move it farther forward than the
position immediately preceding the first character in the buffer or
farther backward than the position following the last character in the
buffer.
Although TEeO must sequentially process pages
address characters randomly within a page.

2-6

file,

can

CONCEPTS
2.8

GENERAL COMMAND STRING SYNTAX

You can type TEeo commands by typing a command string (a command
string is a sequence of commands, one immediately after the other, and
concluding with two consecutive ESCAPEs).
The only formal delimiter in TECO is the ESCAPE character, which
terminates some alphanumeric arguments (see Section 2.9.1). However,
if you use the @ command modifier (see Section 4.68) to a command
accepting a textual argument, you may specify any delimiter you wish.
For example, Itext$ and @I/text/ (where / is an arbitrary delimiter)
are equivalent.
The action that tells TEeD to begin the execution of a command string
is the double ESCAPE ($$).
The double ESCAPE is the only command
string terminator that TECO accepts.
You may type a command string after TECO prints a prompting
An example of a command string is:

asterisk.

*Ylheadin~$2K4DNta~$2LT$$

Execution of this command string begins only after you type two
consecutive ESCAPEs. TECO indicates that it is beginning execution by
printing a carriage return/line feed.
At this time, TECO starts
executing each command in the command string in turn, starting at the
command immediately following the asterisk. When TECO has executed
all commands in the string, it prints another asterisk to indicate
that it is ready to accept another command string.
NOTE
If you enter a command which causes TECO
to type out information, the asterisk
prints immediately after the type-out
rather than at the left margin if the
sequence does not end with a carriage
return/line feed.
If TECO cannot execute a command, execution of the command string
stops at that point and TECO prints an error message. However,
because TECO executes one operation before proceeding to the next, it
executes all commands preceding an error. Thus, TECO does not execute
the erroneous command (and any command that may follow).
(Errors,
error messages, and recovery techniques are discussed in Section
3.l6.)
The only exceptions to the rule that TECO does
until you enter the double ESCAPE are:

not

execute

The special characters in Table 2-1

The? command, which types out all commands executed
an error occurred.

The

<~S>

commands

before

command, which stores a command string in Q-register

2-7

CONCEPTS
ARGUMENTS

2.9

If a command requires a numeric argument, the argument always precedes
the command.
If a command requires a text argument, the argument
always follows the command.

2.9.1

Text Arguments

Text arguments are character strings that follow a command.
Some
examples of text arguments are: search strings, command string tags,
and file specifications.
Text that you place into the buffer is usually as the argument
insertion string.

A text argument always follows the command to which it applies.
Commands that take text arguments require that you terminate the
argument with an ESCAPE; however, the @ command modifier allows you
to choose an alternate delimiter to a text argument.
TECO uses the ESCAPE terminating a text argument as
ESCAPEs necessary to terminate a command string.

one

the

two

Example:
!ITEXT$STEXT1$$

An
ESCAPE
terminates
the
alphanumeric
argument TEXT. An ESCAPE also terminates the
second argument TEST;
however, TECO also
uses this as one of the ESCAPEs terminating
the command string.

All ASCII characters are legal as text arguments.
However, the
special characters listed in Table 2-1 may only be indirectly inserted
(for example, the nI$ command can insert any character).

2.9.2

Numeric Arguments

Numeric arguments always precede the command to which they apply.
some cases, you need to enter only a single numeric argument;
others, the command may require a pair of arguments.

In
in

NOTE
No TECO command accepts
numeric arguments.

than

two

In many cases, numeric arguments must be positive;
however, some
commands allow a numeric argument to be negative or zero. The number
and type of numeric arguments that you may use with a command are
described in Chapter 4.
When you use a numeric argument to specify a buffer position, the
number represents the number of characters in the buffer to the left
of that position. Thus, the nth position means the position to the
right of the nth character in the buffer, that is, between the nth and
(n+l)st characters.
Paired numeric arguments are always buffer-positioning arguments.
When you use two numeric arguments, separate them with a comma. Such
2-8

CONCEPTS
a pair indicates' all the characters in the editing buffer that lie
between the two buffer positions indexed by the two arguments. TnlS
definition is precise because the term ~buffer position- always points
to a position before or after a given character, not "on" or "at" the
character.
Exa~ple:

This argument specifies the 13th through the 20th
characters in the buffer. These characters are
specified because the 12 indicates the position
between the 12th and 13th characters, and the 20
indicates the position between the 20th and 21st
characters.
You may construct a numeric
operator
from
combinations. Table 2-2 lists the TEeo operators.

arithmetic/logical

Table 2-2
Arithmetic/Logical Operators

Ignored, if used before the first term in a
string

+2=2

Addition

5+6=11

Negation, if used before the first term in a
string

-2=-2

Subtraction

8-2=6

Multiplication

8*2=16

Integer divide (and drop the remainder)

8/2=4
8/3=2

Bitwise logical AND of the binary representations of two terms

12&10=8

Bitwise logical OR of the binary representations of two terms

12110=14

When you use more than one arithmetic/logical operation in a single
numeric argument, TEeo performs the operations from left to right.
You may override this sequence through the use of parentheses ().
TEeo evaluates all operations withi~ parentheses before those outside
the parentheses. TEeo also accepts nested parentheses.
TEeo numbers are normally decimal integers. However, you may change
the radix to octal by typing AO. TEeO will then remain in octal radix
unless you change it by entering a AD command.
Example:
~0177=127

(deci~al)

3*-010=30 (octal)
2+3*4=20
2+<3*4)=14
2+(3*(16/(e-1»/2+(2*5)=24
2&(315)116=18
-«2+<3*4)-1&(6+8»/2)=-6

2-9

CONCEPTS

You may use the arithmetic/logical operators and parentheses
one or both of the numeric arguments in a pair.

form

Example:
260-(3*42),250f<77/3)P

is identical to:
144,275P

2.9.3

Commands That Return a Value

Generally speaking, there are two main categories of TEeo commands:
1) those that perform some operation, such as inserting text; and 2)
those that "return" a value, such as the number of characters in the
editing buffer.
(Some commands do both.)
A command is said to return a value if the command both causes TEeo to
calculate the current value of some quantity and then takes on this
value. You may subsequently use this value as an argument to the next
command in the command string. If the command does not take a numeric
argument, TEeo ignores the number. For example, the ~N flag is equal
to -1 when TECO reads in the end of a file. Otherwise, it is equal to
O. Thus, the command string segment ••• ~N"E ••• causes the value of
the ~N flag to be an argument for the "E (execute if equal to 0)
command. If it equals 0, TEeo executes the commands immediately after
the E. Consequently, using such a command is equivalent to typing the
particular number that the command returns as a value, except that the
value is not usual]" known in advance.
You may use commands that return values with each other and with
explicit numbers.
All the same rules apply.
Each command that
returns a value has all the properties of a number that you explicitly
type.
If you concatenate commands that return values with each other
with digits), the value that TEeo returns is not defined.
example, you should not use such arguments as:

(or
For

ZZ
Z48
-2Z
3+ZZ

2.10

SUPER TECO

Inevitably, you will lose valuable files or directories because of
your error, a hardware error, or an operating system error. To
retrieve files whose names have been accidentally deleted from the
directory of a device, you can create a version of TEeo called SUPER
TEeO by typing a 2-word patch using ODT.
(See the 05/8 System
Reference Manual for a complete description of ODT.) This patch is:

.GET SYS TECD
.!.DDT
2034/7420 7610
2117/7450 7410

"'c
..!.SAVE SYS STECD
2-10

CONCEPTS
To use STECO, mount the device on which you want to retrieve the file,
and then type
.R STECD
jERDEV:$$
~_STRING$$

where STRING is a part of the first page of the desired file (e.g.,
the title line). STECO then searches the entire device for the first
occurrence of STRING. 8ecause the device may contain older or similar
copies of the desired file, examine the text following each occurrence
of STRING. If the file is not the one you want, continue searching
until you find the correct file. Once you find the file, type:
~ERDEV:$EWDEV2:FILE$$
~N<STRING$NENDSTRING$EC$$

where
n

is the number of times you had to search for STRING

ENDSTRING is a string at the end of the file.
This command operation retrieves your file and copies it onto
device.

another

If, as sometimes occurs, meaningless characters precede the first good
line of your file, simply delete them.

2-11

CHAPTER 3

USING TECO

3.1

INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes how you call TECO from the OS/8 monitor and
presents the commands that TECO recognlzes. Because these commands
are grouped by function, a command may be mentioned in more than one
context.

3.2

CALLING TECO

You can call (or load) TECO by typing one
monitor.

four

commands

the

dot.

The

dot

If you do not type an extension after a filename, CCL
Concise Command Language Utility Program) assumes .PA.

(the

OS/8

You may load TEeo whenever the monitor prints
indicates that TECO is waiting for a new command.

3.2.1

R TECO Command

You can call TECO by typing:
.R TEeo
~

This command brings TECO into memory.
It does not automatically
initialize any particular device or file for input or output.
After OS/8 loads TECO into memory, TECO prints an asterisk indicating
it is ready to receive a command. This state, in which TECO waits for
a command string type-in, is the command mode. At this point, you can
enter a file specification command such as EB, ER, or EW.
If you are creating a file, you need only type an
to create the file at the keyboard.

3.2.2

EWfilespec

command

General Purpose Initialization Commands

TECO is used chiefly to create new files and to edit existing files.
These two functions are so common that there are special OS/8 monitor
commands for calling TECO. These commands are MAKE and TECO.

3-1

USING TECO
You can follow both TECO and MAKE commands with a file specification.
If you do not use a filespec with a TECO command, CCL uses the name of
the last ASCII file specified in a TECO or MAKE command.
If no
filename is given in a TECO command and no previous MAKE or TECO
command has been entered on that day, CCL prints the error message
"BAD RECOLLECTION".
CCL also displays this message if you have not
typed an OS/8 DATE command. (See the OS/8 System Reference Manual for
a description of the DATE command.)
NOTE
rECO will remember a filespec
only
between bootstraps or during the same
date of operations as entered in an OS/8
monitor DATE command.

3.2.2.1

MAKE Command - You type:

.MAKE filespec
to instruct TECO to create a new file. The filename.ext parameter of
the filespec is the name that you give the new file. The dev:
parameter of the filespec is the device on which the file will be
written;
it can be any output device. If you omit dev: from the
filespec, TECO assumes DSK:.
The command
.MAKE filespec
is equivalent to:
.R TECO
*EWfilespec$$
The MAKE command opens an output file and gives it the name you
specify.
Once TECO opens a file, you can create it with insert and
output commands.
You should choose the filename carefully when using the MAKE command.
If a file is already on the device with the same name, the MAKE
command overwirtes the old file.
However, eeL prints the warning
message %SUPERSEDING.
If you do not wish to supersede the file, you
must type <~C> to return to the monitor.
After the OS/8 monitor loads TEeO, TECO prints an asterisk indicating
its readiness to receive a command string. Usually, you would then
create th~ file by using an insert command.

3-2

USING TECO
Example:
.HAKE EARNNG.FT

*
.HAKE HYFILE.HA

*EX$'

~HAKE

This command calls TECO for the creation
of a FORTRAN file named EARNNG.FT.
TECO is called and the output file
MYFILE.MA on DSK: IS CREATED. AFTER
YOU CLOSE THE FILE WITH THE EX command,
the monitor accepts the second MAKE.
This second command overwrites the first
unless you type <AC>.

XSUPERSEDING
~MAKE

HYFILE.HA

of text$$
~PI2nd paSe of text$$
~Ipase

~PIlast

This is the way in which you create most
files.

paSe of text$$

*EC$$

3.2.2.2

TECO Command - Use the command

.TECO filespec
to call TECO for editing an existing file on a file-structured device.
TECO interprets the filespec in the same way as it does for the MAKE
command, except that the device must be a file-structured device
(disk, diskette, or DECtape).
The filename and extension must be exactly the same as
file that you are editing.

those

the

The TECO command opens the specified file for input and reads in the
first page of that file.
After TECO outputs the new version, it
renames the original (input) version of the file Rfilename.BK R, and
gives the new version the name of the original file. This operation
is identical to that used for the EB command; that is;
TECO filespec
is equivalent to:
*EBfilespec$Y$$
(See Section 4.12.) Also,
.TECO filespec2<filespecl
is equivalent to:
.R TECO
*ERfilespecl$EWfilespec2$Y$$
You cannot use the TECO command with a file having the extension BK.
If a TECO filespec2<filespecl command would cause TECO to overwirte an
existing file, CCL prints the message 'SUPERSEDING. If you do not
wish TECO to overwrite the file, type a <A C>.

3-3

'USING TECO
If you have entered a TECO filespec command, CCL remembers the
filespec the next time you type a TECO command. If you have entered
TECO filespec2<filespecl, CCL remembers only filespec2.
After the OS/8 monitor loads TECO into memory, TECO prints a prompting
asterisk to indicate its readiness to receive a command string.
Example:

.TECO LIB40.HA This command

initializes TECO for editing the
existing file LIB40.MA.
At the completion of
editing, TECO automatically changes the name of
the original version of LIB40.MA to LIB40.BK and
gives the name LIB40.MA to the new version •

• TECO

3.2.3

This command initializes TECO for editing the disk
file last referenced in a TECO or MAKE command.
If the last file referenced was LIB40.MA, then
this would be the file initialized.

MUNG Co •• and

The MUNG Command performs the actions defined in a TECO
MUNG command can take two forms, the first of which:

macro.

The

.MUNG filespec
is equivalent to:
.R TECO
*ERfilespec$Y HXY HK MY$$
The second form:
.MUNG filespec,text
is equivalent to:
.R TECO
*ERfilespec$Y HXY HK Itext$MY$$
When you enter a MUNG command, TECO places the first page of the file
specified in filespec into Q-register Y. If you omit the extension in
the filespec, CCL assumes TE.
If you enter a text argument, TECO places it into the text buffer.
Example:
The following demonstrates one way you could use the MUNG command.
The action that the macro performs is the formatting of a file into
50-line page segments. If the macro
J IEB$ ZJ 27I$ HXA HK MA Y
<!ST!~N;SOS

$aFA OST$ ·O,.PO,.K)EX
is in the file FIFTY and if you wish to format the file
50-line pages, then the command
~HUNG

FIFTY,TEXT.TX

3-4

TEXT.TX

into

USING TECO
causes the operation to be performed. The following is a description
of how this macro operates (saa Saction 4.4 for a description of the
formatting portion of this macro):

3.3

The MUNG command performs an ER on file FIFTY.

The Y command brings the text into the buffer.

HXY stores the page in Q-register Y
page.

MY places the string TEXT.TX into the buffer.

Control now passes to the macro, in which the JIEB$ command
string inserts an EB before TEXT.TX and ZJ27I$ inserts an
ESCAPE after it.

HXA inserts the string EBTEXT.TX$ into Q-register A.

HK kills the buffer.

The MA command executes the EBTEXT.TK command.

The remainder of the macro now formats the file
50-line pages.

and

the

kills

TEXT~TX

the

into

FILE SELECTION COMMANDS

File selection is the specifying of both the device from which input
is to be taken and the device to which output is to go. In the case
of file-structured devices, you must specify a filename as well as the
device.
If you want only to create a file or to edit
an
existing
file-structured device, you may use either of the previously described
loading commands, that is,
.MAKE filespec
or
.TECO filespec
When you load TECO with the R TECO command, one or more
selection commands must be used.

the

file

The file specification commands are:
EBfilespec
ERfilespec
EWfilespec

3.4

Edit creating backup
Edit read from
Edit write to

INPUT COMMANDS

You can enter input commands to bring data from a previously opened
input file into the editing buffer. However, you must use an input
command only after entering an ER command (or its equivalent).
Input
always starts at the beginning of the input file. Successive input
commands bring other parts of the input file into the editing buffer.

3-5

USING TECO

The amount of data TECO brings into the buffer depends on
size, the input commands, and the data itself.

the

buffer

After TECO has written a page of text onto the output file, you cannot
recall the page into the text buffer unless you close the output file
and then reopen it as an input file.
The input commands are:
A
P
Y

Append next page to end of buffer
Page input and output
Yank, bring next page into buffer

The N, FN, and _ search commands may also input data.

3.5

BUFFER POSITION NUMERIC ARGUMENTS

In many cases, you may use numeric arguments to specify buffer
positions.
Because such arguments tend to be large and not easily
countable, the buffer positions which you may often use as numeric
arguments are represented by special characters. You may also use
these characters as values in arithmetic/logical operations.
The
special characters are:
B
H
Z

3.6

Beginning of buffer, always zero
Whole buffer, always equal to B,Z
End of buffer
Current position in buffer

BUFFER POINTER POSITIONING COMMANDS

You may use a buffer pointer positioning command to move
pointer. The buffer pointer positioning commands are:
C
J
L
R

the

buffer

Continue forward movement
Jump to character
Line move
Reverse character movement

In addition to these commands, the search (5, N, and ) commands
search/replace commands (FS and FN) also move the bufter pointer.

3.7

and

TEXT TYPE-OUT COMMANDS

You can type text type-out commands to display information in the
buffer, to type messages while executing a TECO macro, or to suppress
the typing of data. The text type-out commands are:
~A

T
\

Type following text
Type text
Type-out value equal to expression
Type ASCII value of number

The two commands <~S> and <~Q> are not type-out commands;
instead,
they allow you to stop the display and later resume at the place where
you stop. The command <AO> tells TECO to omit printing the remainder
of the output on the terminal.
TECO also contains the EU flag which, depending on its value, can flag
upper- or lower-case output.
3-6

USING TECO
3.8

DELETION COMMANDS

The deletion commands remove characters from the editing buffer.
deletion commands are:
D

Delete character

Kill line

The

The K command preceded by a single numeric argument is a line-oriented
deletion command.
However, if you enter it with a pair of numeric
arguments, it becomes character-oriented.
A search/replace command (FS or FN) with a null second
also deletes text from the buffer.

3.9

text

argument

INSERTION COMMANDS

The insertion commands place characters into the editing buffer.
insertion commands are:
I

nI$
<AI>
<TAB>
n\

3.10

The

Insert
Insert number n into buffer
Insert and include tab
Equivalent to <AI>
Insert a number as individual characters into the buffer

OUTPUT AND EXIT COMMANDS

Output commands transfer data from the editing buffer to the output
file.
An exit command generally transfers data to the output file.
However, output commands also terminate a TECO job and return to the
OS/8 monitor.
One exit command, <A C>, jumps to the OS/8 monitor
without performing output.
The four output commands are:
EC
EF
P
PW

Exit and close after output of file
End file at page
Page output and input next
Page write and append form feed

The three exit commands are:
EG
EX
AC

3.11

Exit and go to executing program
Exit to OS/8 monitor after output of file
Jump to OS/8 monitor

SEARCH COMMANDS

In many cases, you may find that the simplest way to reposition the
buffer pointer is to use a character string search. A search command
causes TECO to scan through the text until a specified string of
characters is found, and then to position the pointer at the end of
the string.
The string of characters for which you are searching is the text
argument following the search command. This search string can be from
1 to 31 characters long.

3-7

USING TEeo
If TEeo finds an exact match for the search string in the text, it
positions the buffer pointer immediately after the last character in
this match. If TEeo cannot find a match for the string, it positions
the pointer at the beginning of the buffer and notifies you of the
failure if you had typed an S or FS. If you use an N or FN search,
TEeO places the buffer pointer after all text in the file. The entire
file will have then been written to the output file.
If you type a colon modifier to a search command, then the search will
return a -1 if the search succeeds or a 0 if the search fails.
All searches begin at the current position of the buffer pointer.
If you do not include a text argument with a search command (for
example, S$$ or N$$), TEeo executes the search using the last previous
search command argument.
The search commands are:
FN
FS
N
S

Search all pages until found, then replace
Search current page until found, then replace
Search all pages until found
Search current page until found
Search, but discard pages until found (that is, no
output)

Four match control characters are allowed in a search string:
Match any character except the one following
Quote the next character (that is, accept command
character)
Match on separator
Match any character

3.12

ITERATION COMMANDS

An iteration command enumerates how many times TEeD will execute a
command string or it may determine whether a command within an
iteration loop has failed so that the looping may end. The iteration
commands are:

<••• >
n;

Loop
Exit loop upon search failure
Exit loop if n is negative

3-8

USING TEeo
3.13

FLOW CONTROL COMMANDS

TEeD contains commands that enable you to write editing and character
manipulation programs.
The iteration command < ••• > is a specialized
example. In addition, TEeo has an unconditional branch command, 0,
and a set of conditional execution commands.
The flow control
commands are:

o
"C

"E
"F
"G
~L

"N
"R
"S
"T

"<
">

3.14

Goto
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute
Execute

if alphanumeric character
if equal
if false
if greater than zero
if less than zero
if nonzero
if alphanumeric range
if successful
if true
if unsuccessful
if less than zero
if greater than zero

Q-REGISTERS

Q-registers are essentially data storage areas. These registers are
the means by which you perform programmed editing and text block
movement. Data that you store in Q-registers is not disturbed by the
tlow of data into and out of the editing buffer. Thus, you may
preserve this data throughout an entire TEeo job, and also retrieve or
change this data at any time.
There are 36 Q-registers, each of which has a single character name.
The name is either one of the digits 0 through 9 or one of the letters
A through Z. Each Q-register is divided into two storage areas:
The
first area stores numbers and the second stores strings.
You can store a single positive, negative, or zero decimal integer in
the range -4095<n<4095 in a Q-register. You can also increment, test,
or recall numbers in a Q-register. Hence, you may use Q-registers as
switches and counters, as well as data-save areas.
The Q-registers can hold from 3000 to 5000 characters, depending upon
your configuration. However, no single Q-register can hold more than
2047 characters. You can store two types of character strings:
ordinary text and TEeo command strings. TECO stores both identically.
The use you make of them determines if a string will be used as a text
or as a macro.
(A macro is a series of TECO commands that are stored
in a Q-register and can be executed upon command.)
Text that you store in a Q-register is copied into the Q-register from
the editing buffer without destroying the copy in the buffer.
Storing text in a Q-register is useful for such tasks as making many
copies of a given segment of text throughout a file without retyping
it each time, moving a block of text from one position to another in a
file, or moving a block of text to another file.
You may store textual data representing TECD command strings in
Q-registers.
You can then execute such a· command string many times
throughout an editing job, much like calling a subroutine.
You may
edit such command strings as you would any other text.

3-9

USING TECO

The Q-register commands are:
Gq
Mq
Qq
Uq
~uq

Xq
%q

3.15

Get text
Execute macro
Return Q-register number
Put number in Q-register
Put text immediately into Q-register
Extract text
Postfix, that is, return number incremented, then store

ERASING COMMANDS

If you make an error while typing a command string, you may correct
the error (if you terminate the command string with a double ESCAPE)
by using the DELETE key to individually delete characters.
Other
erasing commands that you may find useful are: <~G><~G>, which erases
the entire command; and <~U>, which erases the last line typed.
Typing <~G><sp> will cause TECO to echo the last line typed.
<~G>*
will echo the entire command. The <~G><sp> and <A G>* commands do not
move the buffer pointer and they do not close the command storage
register. Consequently, after you type one of these commands, you may
continue typing as if you had not entered one of these commands.

3.16

ERROR MESSAGES

TECO error messages are listed in Appendix B.
When TECO encounters an illegal command or a command that it cannot
execute, it prints an error message on the terminal. An error message
may consist of two parts: The first is a question mark followed by a
3-letter mnemonic code for the error message, and the second is a
brief, I-line statement of the error condition. The I-line message is
available only on systems with a configuration of at least 16K.
TECO normally prints both parts of the error message.
explaains how you may suppress the I-line statement.
When an error occurs:
1.

The command to which it refers is not executed

The remainder of the command string is ignored

TECO prints an error message

TECO returns to command mode.

3-10

The EH

command

USING TECO
After TECO prints an err9r message, you may type the special command
?
TEeo then prints all commands that it has executed in the command
string.
NOTE
This command displays
the
executed
portion
of
the
command
string
immediately after an error has occurred.
If you type any other command following
the printing of an error message, TECO
assumes
that you are typing a new
command string, and you lose the ability
to use the? command for this error.
Also note that the

(~S>

command is often useful after an error occurs.

After TEeo finishes executing a command string (or if you abort a
command string by means of the (AG>(~G> command), you can store the
command string in Q-register Z by entering a (AS> command as the first
command after the prompting asterisk. The (AS> has this function only
when you use it as the first command in a command string.
The (AS>
command is especially useful when an error occurs in a long command
string.

3.17

TECHNIQUES AND EXAMPLES

TECO may be used in several ways.
The most elementary application
involves using TECO to create and edit ASCII files on-line. The user
enters short command strings, often consisting of a single command,
and proceeds from task to task until the file is completely edited.
Since every edited job is simply a sequence of TECO commands, an
entire job may be accomplished with one long command string consisting
of all the short command strings placed end to end with the
intervening double ALT MODE characters removed. This leads to the
concept of a TECO editing program, which is simply a long command
string that performs a certain editing task. Editing programs may be
written (using TECO) and stored in the same manner as any other ASCII
file.
~henever the program is needed, it may be read into the buffer
as text, stored in a Q-register, and executed by an Mq command (where
"qn is the Q-register name).
This is fine for clear-cut editing assignments, such as converting
from one format to another or editing certain characters out of a
file, but many editing jobs are so complex that a given editing
program will only solve a small class of problems. The solution, in
this case, is to write very specialized "editing subroutines." TECO
subroutines might perform such elementary functions as replacing every
occurrence of two or more consecutive spaces with a tabulation
character, for example, or ensuring that words are not hyphenated
across a page boundary. When an editing problem arises, the right
combination of subroutines may be loaded into various Q-registers,
augmented with additional commands if necessary, and called by a
"mainline" command string.
Editing subroutines are essentially macros;
that is, sequences of
commands which perform commonly required editing functions. Thus,
another application of TECO is in the creation and use of a macro
library.
As each editing job is undertaken, the user may look for

3-11

USING TEeo
sequences of operations which might be required in future editing
assignments.
All of the TEeo commands required to perform such an
operation may be loaded into a Q-register and executed by means of an
Mq or nMq command.
When the job is finished, the content of any
Q-register which contains a useful macro may be written onto an output
file (via the buffer) and saved in the macro library. The nMq
command, which was designed to facilitate use of macros, permits one
run-time numeric argument to be passed to the macro.
The following examples illustrate some of the techniques discussed
earlier.
It would not be practical to include examples of the use of
every TEeo command, since most of the commands can be used for many
applications.
Instead, you are encouraged to experiment with the
individual commands.
Example 1:

Splitting, Merging, and Rearranging Files

Assume that a user has a file named PGM.PA on the system
that this file contains data in the following form:

device

and

AB FORM eD FORM EF FORM GH FORM IJ FORM KL FORM MN FORM OP
where each of the letters A, B, C, etc., represents 20 lines of text
and FORM represents a form feed character.
The user intends to
rearrange the file so that it appears in the following format:
AOB FORM D FORM MN FORM EF FORM ICJ FORM KL FORM P FORM GH
The following sequence of commands will achieve this
(Search command arguments are not listed explicitly.)

.R TEee
tEBPGH.PA$V"

!NC••
~J20Xl"
~20K"

!NG ••
~HX2"

~V"

~20L"
~Gl"
~NHH"
~HX1$'

~V$'
~J20X3$'

~20K"

!P ••

!G2••
~HPEF"
~EBPGH.PA$Y$'

~20L'$
~G3$$

!ND$$
~PWHK"

~Gl"

!EX••

rearrangement.

Call TECO.
Specify input file and get first page.
Search for a character string in C to write A and
B on the output file.
Save all of C in Q-register 1.
Delete C from the buffer.
Search for a character string in G to write D, E
and F on the output file.
Save G and H in Q-register 2.
Delete GH from the buffer and read IJ.
Move pointer to the beginning of J.
Insert C, which was stored in Q-register 1.
Search for a character string in M to write ICJ
and KL on the output file.
Save MN in Q-register 1 (the previous content is
overwritten).
Delete MN and read OPe
Save all of a in Q-register 3.
Delete a from the buffer.
Write P onto the output file, leaving the buffer
cleared (the input file is exhausted).
Bring GH into the buffer from Q-register 2.
Write GH on the output file and close it.
Open the partially revised file.
Move the pointer to the beginning of B.
Insert all of a from Q-register 3.
Search for a character string in D to write AOB
on the output file.
Write D on the output file and clear buffer.
Bring all of MN from Q-register 1 into the
buffer.
Write MN onto the output file, then close the
file and exit to the OS/8 monitor.

3-12

USING TEeo
At this point, the file has been rearranged in the desired format. Of
course, this rearrangement could have been accomplished in fewer steps
if the commands listed above had been combined into longer command
strings.
Note that the asterisks shown at the left margin in this
example are generated by TECO, and not typed by the user.
Assume, now, that the same input file
data in the form:

mentioned

earlier,

containing

AS FORM CD FORM EF FORM~~~FORM OP
is to be split into two separate files, with the first file containing
AB FORM CD and the second file containing KL FORM M, while the rest of
the data is to be discarded; The following commands could be used to
achieve this rearrangement:

• R TEeO
iERFILE$EWFILE.lf$
~Y$$

~P$$
~HPEF$$

~<-K$$

~EWFILE.2'P ••
~20LO,.P$$

Call TECO •
Open the input file and the first output
file.
Read AB into the buffer.
write AB FORM onto the output file and read
CD into the buffer.
Write CD onto the output file
(without
appending a form feed), and close the first
output file.
Search for a character string in K.
After
this command has been executed, the buffer
will contain KL. No output is generated by
the search.
Open the second output file and write KL onto
it. Read MN into the buffer.
Move the pointer to the end of M, then write
M onto the output file.
Close the second output file and exit to the
OS/8 monitor.

As a final example of file manipulation techniques, assume that the
user has two files. One file is MATH.BK, which contains information
in the form:
AS FORM CD FORM EF FORM GH FORM IJ FORM KL
and the other is MATH.FT, which contains:
MN FORM OP FORM QR
If both of these files are stored on DECtape unit 1, the following
sequence of commands may be used to merge the two files into a single
file, MATH.NW, which contains all of MATH.FT followed by the latter
half of file MATH.BK in the following format:
MN FORM OP FORM QR FORM GH FORM IJ FORM KL

TEeO
*ERDTA1:HATH.FT$$
*EWHATH.NW$$

~Y$$

~NR$$
~PW$$

*ERDTA1:HATH.BK$$
~Y$$

Call TECO.
Open the first input file.
Open the output file on the OS/8 default
device.
Read MN into the text buffer.
Search for a character string in R to write
MN and OP onto the output file.
WriteQR onto the output file, appending a
form feed.
Open the second input file.
Read AB into the buffer. QR is overwritten.

3-13

USING TECO

!.<-G..

Search for a character string in G to delete
AB, CD and EF, leaving GH in the buffer.
Search for a character string in K to write
GH and IJ on the output file, leaving KL in
the buffer.
Write KL onto the output file
(without
appending a form feed) and close the file,
then exit to the OS/8 monitor.

~NK..

~HPEF~G..

Example 2:

Alphabetizing by Binary Search

Assume that TECO is running and the buffer contains many short lines
of text, each beginning with an alphabetic character at the left
margin (that is, immediately following a line feed). The lines might
consist of names in a roster, for example, or entries in an index.
Figure 3-1 shows a command string which will rearrange the lines into
rough alphabetical order. This command string groups all lines which
begin with the character "A" at the beginning of the page, followed by
all lines beginning with "B," and so on.

!START! J OAUA!
! ! CO NT ! L OAUB!
!QA-QB·G XA K -L GA lUZ'!
!QBUA!
!L Z-~·G -L OCONT$'!

Figure 3-1
Example 3:

Command String for Example 2

An Elementary TECO Macro

Figure 3-2 shows a TECO macro which right justifies the content of the
text buffer on a GO-space line. This macro assumes that the buffer
contains paragraphs of text in manuscript form and that every line
which is not the last line of a paragraph contains between 40 and GO
characters.
When the macro is run, it counts the number of spaces and the number
of characters in each line. It then adds spaces between words until
the line contains a total of GO characters. Lines which contain fewer
than 40 characters are assumed to be paragraph terminators. These
lines are not justified. Figure 3-3 shows how the macro may be
stored, loaded and executed using DECtape unit 1 as the storage
device. In this example, DECtape file 'TEXT.AS· is the file to be
justified.

3-14

USING TEeo
J!1!OUN OUS!
!<GNA=32·E 1%8 • '!

!QNA-13=E OJUSTIFY$:!
!1%N$>!
!!JUSTIFY! GN-40·G!
!60-QN-QS<S $1

$S~N

!OL QSXN$ G5%S$ OJUSTIFY$'!
!60-GN·G 60-GN(S $1 $S~N f)"~!
!L Z-. ·G 01$'$$
Figure 3-2

An Elementary TECO Macro for Example 3
.R TECD
*ERDTA1:MACRO.TE$ Y HXI HK$$
*ERDTA1:TEXT.AS$ Y HIS$$

Figure 3-3
Example 4:

A Second Macro for Example 3

Managing a Macro Library

A TECO macro library is most conveniently stored with TECO on the OS/8
system device.
Macros are usually short enough to require a small
amount of storage space; however, it is impractical to store each
macro in a separate named file, because a large macro library stored
in this manner would make the device unmanageably large and might even
exhaust the available directory entries.
Figure 3-4 illustrates a macro that packs the user's TECO macro
library (or any other set of short ASCII files) into a single file
requiring only one directory entry. This macro could be stored on the
system device in a file named PACK.TE (the extension indicates a TECO
command string file). The user must also create a separate file
containing the name of each file to be packed. This file must be
formatted as follows:
filel.ex
file2.ex
file3.ex

filen.ex
where each file specification after the first is preceded and followed
by a carriage return/line feed combination. Assume that such a file
is created and stored as INDEX.AS on the system· device.
If macro
PACK.TE is also on the system device, the following commands will pack
all files listed in INDEX.AS into file MACLIB.PK on the system device.
Y 10(A) HXO HK OU1 OU2
(GO Q1J :S
$; .U1 2R Oi4 HK
I ERDSK:$ G4 @I.t. HX3
H3 HK I\$ G4 I\$ OU5
lA! AZ·N PW HK OU5 OAt'
%2$) G2·E DB$' EF
lB! HK Q2\ I FILES PACKED
$ HT HK
Figure 3-4

File-Packing Macro
3-15

USING TECO
The packing macro prints a message, as shown, where "n" is the .lumber
of files that were packed. The files to be packed will be taken from
the system device. Files PACK.TE, INDEX.AS and MACLIB.PK may reside
on any file-structured device if the file designations in the above
command summary are changed accordingly.
(See Figure 3-5.)
..!.R TECD
HXP HK$$

~ERSYS:PACK.TE$Y
~ERSYS:INDEX.AS$EWSYS:MACLIB.PKSHP$S

N FILES PACKED
~

Figure 3-5

Loading and Running the File-Packing Macro

Once the packing macro has packed all the files into MACLIB.PK, the
individual files may be deleted. Alternatively, macros could be saved
in individual files on, say, DTAI and the packing macro could be used
to pack the files into one system device file simply by replacing the
imbedded "ERDSK:" command in the macro body with "ERDTAl:".
If the
library index is also saved on the system device, an unpacking macro
may be used to create an unpacked copy of the macro library whenever
required, and the original library tape may be saved as a backup.
Figure 3-6 illustrates a macro that unpacks the output file produced
by the packing macro. This macro accepts a packed ASCII file (such as
MACLIB.PK), then unpacks the file and restores each entry as a
discrete file with the appropriate specification.
Assume that a user desires to access a macro or other ASCII file that
was packed into file MACLIB.PK, as shown in the previous example. If
file UNPACK.TE contains the unpacking macro, the following commands
will unpack the entries and restore them as individual, named files.
The unpacking macro prints a message, as shown, where "n" is the
number of files that were unpacked. Once the files are unpacked, they
will be directed to the system disk. Alternately, the unpacked files
could be directed to, say, DECtape unit 5 by modifying the "EWDSK:"
command in the macro body to read "EWDTA5:". (See Figure 3-7.)
OU2 <Y -Z; OA-92-E
:2S\$-L .-13·L 1,.-lX4
O,.K 02-E OAS' EF
!A! ~2$ I EWDSK: $ 64
@I.S. O,.X3 M3 O,.K~"
PW> 02-E OB$' EF
!B! 02 I FILES UNPACKED
$ HT HK
Figure 3-6

Unpacking Macro

.R TECO
..!ERSYS:UNPACK.TE$Y HXP HKS$
~ERINCEX.ASSMP$$

N FILES UNPACKED
1
Figure 3-7

Loading and Running the Unpacking Macro

3-16

CHAPTER 4
TECO COMMANDS

4.1

INTRODUCTION

InlS chapter describes all TEeo commands used on ~ne ~u~-o.
Ine
commands are listed in their ASCII order with the following exception:
A control character is listed under its alphabetic equivalent.
For
example, you will find ~F listed user F, and not preceding A as it
would in the normal ASCII collating sequence.
Within a letter grouping, the letter predominates over a symbol;
example, A precedes ~A.

for

The nona1phabetic symbols follow the same rule.
However, since the
ASCII collating order is difficult to remember, the order for the
entry of nona1phabetic symbols is:
H

< >

=
?

@
\
~

The ASCII character set is listed in Appendix A.

4-1

TECO COMMANDS
4.2

A APPEND COMMAND

Append next page to end of buffer.
FORMAT:

The A (append) command reads in the next page of the input file
without clearing the current contents of the editing buffer. TECO
concatenates this information to that which is already in the buffer;
that is, TECO places it in the buffer following buffer position Z. An
A command does not change the position of the buffer pointer.
If the editing buffer does not have sufficient space to accommodate
the appended data, TECO issues the error message ?MEM STORAGE CAPACITY
EXCEEDED.
TECO terminates input begun by an A command when:
1.

The end of the input file is reached;

A form feed character is read;

The buffer is 2/3 full and a line feed character is read;

The buffer is
capacity; or

The buffer is full.

filled

within

128

characters

its

If TECO reads a form feed (that is, if input stops because of
condition 2), the form feed flag AE is set to -1. TECO does not place
the form feed flag into the buffer with the rest of the text.
The next input command you enter begins input of the character
following the form feed. If a form feed is not read, the form feed
flag is set to o. You may test the form feed flag, but this is
usually unnecessary.
The A command does not accept a numeric argument. Note that nA, where
n is a numeric argument, is a different command. If you wish to
append more than one page to the editing buffer, you can type n<A>,
where n is the number of pages you wish to append.
If the end of the input file was previously read (that is, if the
flag has been set (see AN», the A command has no effect.

EOF

Examples:
~YA$$

This command deletes the page of text currently in
the editing buffer, and reads in the text two
pages of the current input file, appending the
second page to the first.

~A$$

This command enters the next page of the file into
the editing buffer and appends it to the data
already in the buffer. The previous contents of
the buffer are not altered and the pointer is not
moved.
If the contents of a file fit into memory as a
single unit, this command string will bring the
entire file into memory and remove all form feeds.
The AN; command will cause TECO to exit from the
loop when the end-of-file flag is set.

4-2

TECO COMMANDS
4.3

nA COMMAND

Return the ASCII code of a character.
FORMAT:

where n prints to the {n+l)th character following the buffer pointer.
The purpose of the nA command is to return a number equal to the ASCII
value for the (.+n+l)th character in the editing buffer.
For example, the expression l-lA is equivalent to the ASCII code for
the character immediately preceding the pointer and OA is equivalent
to the ASCII code of the character immediately following the pointer.
NOTE
You cannot omit n.
If you omit the
position indicator, TECO will treat your
command as an append command.
Because
TECO cannot determine if you meant to
type an nA or A command, no error
message can be issued.
If you attempt to reference a position outside of the buffer,
prints the error message ?POP ATTEMPT TO MOVE POINTER OFF PAGE.

TECO

Exampie:

••• OA---I-E
lA--~B.EHQ'

•••

This command string segment will verify that
the string /B immediately follows the buffer
pointer. If it does, TECO executes the macro
in Q-register q. If not, TECO executes the
commands following the second apostrophe.
(The purpose of the AA command is to return
the ASCII value of the character following
it.) OA_AA/ is an argument which is the value
of the character following the pointer minus
the ASCII value of a / character.

4-3

TECO COMMANDS
4.4

-Atest<-A) TYPE-OUT COMMAND

Type delimited text.
FORMAT:

<~A>text<~A>

where the first ~A may be a <circumflex-A>
second must be a <CONTROL/A>.

but

the

The ~Atext<~A> command types the "text" between the AAs on your
terminal.
The text is usually a message that you wish typed out
during the execution of a command string.
The first AA is the actual command. Enter it as a circumflex-A or a
<CONTROL/A>.
The second AA is a delimiter which indicates the last
character in the text argument.
The second delimiter must be a
<CONTROL/A> because a ~ is a legal character within a text string.
The string "text" is the character string that TECO types out when it
encounters the AA command. The text string can contain any character
except ~A.
Example:
~OU1<!ST"'N;SOS

S·FAOST$ '12I$O,.PO,.K~A
OUTPUTTING ~AGE <-A> X2=)EC$$
OUTPUTTING PAGE 1
OUTPUTTING PAGE 2
OUTPUTTING PAGE 3
OUTPUTTING PAGE 4
1.

OUI stores 0 in Q-register 1.

The angle brackets indicate
sequence of operations.

The 50S command searches for the 50th occurrence of a line
feed.
If the buffer does not contain 50 lines, the seaarch
fails and TECO executes the commands after the failure
conditional ("F).

TECO appends the next page and branches back
the fiftieth line (AOST$).

If there are now 50 lines, TECO inserts a form feed into the
buffer, and the text in the buffer up to and including the
form feed is written to the output file.

O,.R removes this text from the buffer.

TECO then prints the message.

The %1 command increments the value in Q-register 1, and then
the = command prints it.

This continues until the end-of-file flag is set;
~N=-l.

10.

TECO closes the file.

4-4

TEeo

will

perform

repeated

that

for

is,

TECO COMMANDS
4.5

B POSITION INDICATOR

Position of beginning of buffer, always O.
FORMAT:

The B buffer position indicator always equals O.
It represents the
position at the beginning of the buffer, that is, the position
preceding the first character in the buffer.
You may also use the B command in arithmetic expressions.
Example:
Remove all characters from the beginning of the
buffer to the character immediately preceding the
buffer pointer position.

4-5

TECO COMMANDS
4.6

C BUFFER POINTER COMMAND

Move pointer forward.
FORMAT:

where n may be positive or negative.
You can use the C command to move the buffer pointer.
You would
normally use this command when the pointer has to be moved across only
several characters. The C commands are listed in Table 4-1.
Table 4-1
C Commands
Function

Argument

Command
nC

n)O

Move the
pointer
forward
over
n
characters
the buffer from the
in
that
current position of the pointer;
is, nC is equivalent to ( • +n) J. nC is
also equivalent to -nR.

1 is assumed

Move the pointer forward one
This is equivalent to -R.

No movement of the pointer.

-C

-1 is assumed

Move the pointer backward one
This is equivalent to R.

n<O

position.

over
Move the pointer
backward
n
characters
in
the buffer from the
that
current position of the pointer;
is, nC is equivalent to ( • -n) J. nC is
also equivalent to nR.

If a C command attempts to move the buffer pointer across either
editing buffer boundary, TECO ignores the command and prints the error
message ?POP ATTEMPT TO MOVE POINTER OFF PAGE.
Examples:
C

Advance the buffer pointer one space.

L4C

Advance the pointer to the position
fourth character in the next line.

following

the

OIC

Advance the pointer
Q-register 1.

characters

4-6

the

number

TECO COMMANDS
4.7

·C COMMAND

Abort or exit.
FORMAT:

If TECO is in command mode (that is, awaiting a command), then (AC> is
an OS/8 monitor command which causes a jump back to the monitor.
However, if TECO is not in command mode, the (AC> is a TECO command
which aborts the present action and returns control to TECO. If you
abort TECO while it is executing with a (AC>: it prints the message
?XAB EXECUTION ABORTED.
If you wish to insert this command into a text or macro, you can
it using the circumflex convention.

4-7

type

TECO COMMANDS
4.8

D DELETE COMMAND

Character deletion.
FORMAT:

where n may be positive or negative.
You can use a 0 command to individually delete characters
strings. The D commands are listed in Table 4-2.

and

short

following

the

Table 4-2
D Commands
Function

Argument

Command
nO

n)O

Delete the n characters
buffer pointer.

1 is assumed

Delete the character following the
pointer.

This is a null command.

-0

-1 is assumed

Delete the character preceding the
pointer.

n(O

Delete the n characters
buffer pointer.

buffer

preceding

the

After TECO executes the D command, it positions the buffer pointer
between the characters that preceded and followed the deletion. The
pointer will always be adjacent to one of the characters to which it
was adjacent before the deletion.
If you attempt to delete text up to and across the beginning or end of
the buffer, no text will be deleted and TECO prints the error message
?POP ATTEMPT TO MOVE POINTER OFF PAGE.
When deleting across carriage return/line
return/line feed counts as two characters.

feeds,

the

carriage

The following examples assume that the buffer contains the
text shown at the right; the buffer pointer points to the
position between the M and the N.

ABCDE
FGHIJ
KLMNO
PQRST
UVWXY

Examples:

.,.!.6[1$$

Deletes NO, the carriage return/line feed, and PQ,
changing the third and fourth lines to KLMRST.

.!.-D$$

Deletes M•
Deletes the carriage return/line feed, and KLM,
changing the second and third lines to FGHIJNO.

.!.-2D2[1$$

Deletes LMNO, changing the third line to K•
Deletes NO and the carriage return/line feed, and
P, changing the third and fourth lines to KLMQRST.
4-8

TECO COMMANDS
4.9

AD DECIMAL RADIX COMMAND

Enter decimal mode.
FORMAT:

The entering of a ~D or a <CONTROLiD> changes the current radix to
decimal if TECO was not already in decimal. You would use this
command after you have changed the radix to octal with a AO command.
If the radix is in decimal, this command is a no-ope
The initial radix of TECO is decimal.

4-9

TECO COMMANDS
4.10

(DELETE>

Delete a character.
FORMAT:

none.

Typing the DELETE key while entering a command string causes TECO to
delete the last character typed~ You may continue deleting characters
until you have erased the entire command string. An attempt to delete
past the prompting asterisk causes TECO to type a carriage return/line
feed followed by the printing of another asterisk.
The actual function of the delete character is to delete the last
typed character in the command string. Consequently, if the incorrect
character is not the last one in the string, you must delete all
characters back to that point.
Type (DELETE> twice to erase a carriage return and the
line feed following it.

TECO-generated

If you have used the SET TTY SCOPE OS/8 monitor command, the (DELETE>
will cause an immediate erasure of the character, and the cursor will
be moved backwards.
You can delete any nonexecuted character;
however, you cannot erase <~C> and <~G>, etc., because these execute
immediately.
If your terminal is not in "scope mode," TECO echoes a deletion by
typing the character deleted; for example, the string "real-time," if
followed by five deletions, would appear as "real-timeemit-" on your
terminal.
If your terminal is not in scope mode, you should use the <AG><Sp>
command when, through extensive editing, a command string becomes
unintelligible.
Example:
After typing the portion of the command string shown
discover that you have misspelled the name "Ericson."

below,

you

*3LKIlEIF ERICXON
To nullify this error, you would type three successive (DELETE>s.
As
you do this, TECO responds by retyping the character being deleted.
*ILEIF ERICXON<OELETE>N<DELETE>O<DELETE>X<AG><sp>
ILEIF ERIC

4-10

TECO COMMANDS
4.11

AE END-OF-PAGE FORM FEED FLAG SIGNAL

This flag indicates if a form feed was read when the current
contents were placed into the buffer.
FORMAT:

buffer's

If, when TEeo is loading data into the editing buffer,
because a form feed was read, it sets the AE flag to -1.
stopped because:

input stops
If input was

The end of the input file was reached;

The buffer is 2/3 full and a line feed character is read;

The buffer is
capacity; or

The buffer is full

filled

within

128

characters

its

the flag remains as a O.
The P·and other similar output commands test this flag to determine
whether they should append a form feed when they write the contents of
the buffer to the output file.
Example:
This macro divides a file into
preserves original form feeds.

pages

lines

each

and

also

<!ST!-N~50S

$·F-EU1 01·LP' 01·EA' OST' 121$ O,.P O,.K> EC$$
1.

TEeo searches for the 50th line terminator.

If this search fails, TEeo stores the value of the form
flag in Q-register 1.

feed

If this value is less than 0, TEeo writes the buffer
output file and reads in a new page.

the

If it equals zero, TEeo appends a new page

buffer's

the

~ontents.

TEeo then branches
fiftieth line.

back

for

the

If fifty lines were found, TEeo appends a form feed.
text is written to the output file and then deleted.
again searches for the 50th line.

This
TEeD

This continues until the end of the file is reached, that is,
AN is set to -1.

4-11

again

TECO COMMANDS
4.12

EB EDIT BACKUP COMMAND

Open an input and output file, creating a file with the same name
the input file. The old file has its extension changed to BK.
FORMAT:

EBfilespec$
@EB/filespec/

where / is an arbitrary delimiter which is not one of
in filespec.

the

Use the EB command to open a file for editing in a manner
the TEeo filespec command.

characters
similar

NOTE
You can use this command only for files
stored on a directory-structured device.
The EBfilespec command is equivalent to:
*ERfilespec$EWfilespec$
except that the input file has its extension changed to BK.
The operation of the EB command is as follows:
1.

The EB command executes an automatic ERfilespec$ command,
opening the specified file for input and releasing any
previously opened input file.

Then, it opens a temporary file to receive the output of
edited version of the input file.

The output device is the same as the input device.

Finally, the EB command sets an internal flag indicating that
special action must be taken when the EB file is closed (by
an Ee, EF, EX, or EG command). It also prohibits any further
EW or EB commands until the file is closed.

When you close a file opened with an EB command, the following
takes place:
already

exists

the

action

If a file with the name filename.BK
device, TEeo deletes it.

the

TEeO renames the input file filename.ext to filename.BK.

Finally, TEeo renames the temporary output file filename.ext.

You cannot use the EB command with a file having the extension BK.
The TEeO filespec initialization command
causes
an
automatic
EBfilespec to be executed (followed by an automatic Y command).

4-12

TECO CO~ANDS
Examples:

*EBAB.FT$$

This command selects the disk file AB.FT for
editing.
When the editing is completed, the
file AB.FT is the new version. TEeo changes
the old version to the back-up file AB.BK.
and deletes any previous back-up-file AB.BK."

*@EB/RXA1:TEXT$.TX/ This command selects the file TEXT$.TX, where
the $ is an ESCAPE character from device RXAI
(floppy drive 1). If you had created a file
with the name TEXT.TX, it could not be
accessed through the OS/8 monitor except
through the use of t filespec construction.

4-13

TECO COMMANDS
4.13

EC EXIT CLOSE COMMAND

Transfer the remainder of the input file to the output file
close the input and output files.
FORMAT:

and

then

EC commands TECO to write the contents of the editing buffer and any
information in the input file not as yet brought into the editing
buffer onto the output file. The input and output files are closed.
After the execution of an EC command, TECO remains in command mode.
The EC command is similar to the EX command, which produces the
identical output and also closes the input and output files. However,
the EX command returns control to the OS/8 monitor.
If you use an EC command instead of an EX command, you do not have
reload TECO, and you do not lose the data in the Q-registers.

Example:
*EC$$

This command closes the current file
contents to the appropriate file.

4-14

and

writes

its

TECO COMMANDS
4.14

EF END FILE COMMAND

Ena the output file with the current page.
FORMAT:

The EF command is an output-file-closing command;
that is, TECO
closes the file you opened with an EW command. You would normally use
an EF command to close the output file after all output to it is
complete.
Furthermore, the EF command is most often used after a P
command, which outputs the last page of a file.
NOTE
If you type an EF command in the middle
of the file, all succeeding pages that
would have been read to it with an EX or
EC command are omitted. If you are not
creating a file; it is far safer to exit
with an EC command rather than an EF
command because you could lose data if
you erroneously think you are at the end
of the file.
Examples:
Output the current page to the output
file, and then close the output file.
Use this command string to close a
file after writing the last page.
*PWEF$$

Equivalent to the preceding example,
except that the buffer is not altered.

*EFEWTEXT.TE$$

Close the current output file and open
an output file TEXT.TE on the oSla
default device DSK:.

*ERPTR:$EFEWRXAO:FILE.MA$$ Read the input file from the paper
tape reader, close the current output
file, and open FILE.MA on RXAO: as an
output file.
~ERFILE.TX$EWFILE1.TX$

4PEFEWFILE2.TX$
4PEFEWFILE3.TX$EC$$

This command divides file FILE.TX into
three files: The first two files each
consists of four pages, while file
FILE3.TX contains the remainder of
FILE.TX.
If you
thought
FILE.TX
consisted of 12 pages of data, you
could have concluded with a
4PEF
command string, rather than an EC.
However, if you were mistaken, you
would not have written the remainder
to an output file, and thus could lose
all text following the 12th page with
an EF command.

4-15

TECO COMMANDS
4.15

EG EXIT AND GO COMMAND

Exit from TEeo after output, then either:
1.

Re-execute the last compile-class eeL command, or

Perform the action specified in the optional text argument.

FORMAT:

EG
@EG//
EGtext$
@EG/text/

where:
text

is an OS/8 monitor command

is an arbitrary delimiter
characters in "text".

which

not

one

the

The EG command is a dual-purpose command.
1.

It transfers the contents of the editing buffer and any
remaining text in the input file to the output file. It then
exits from TEeO. This is identical to an EX command.

An OS/8 monitor command will then be executed.

If you specify a text argument to an EG command, that text must be an
OS/8 monitor command. After the exit from TECO, that command will be
executed. Thus,
*EGtext$
is equivalent to:
*EX
.text
This command form is often used when the text you have created is a
batch command file. If it were, you would type EGSUBMIT filespec$$.
If you do not specify a text argument, TECO causes the last
compile-class
command (for example, COMPILE, EXECUTE, or LOAD)
attempted before TECO was called to be re-executed (with the same
arguments).
Generally, you would use the EG command to exit from an
editing job that was called by an EBfilespec or TECO filespec command.
As an example, suppose you give the command
.CDHPILE PLDT.FT
to request compilation of a FORTRAN source program, but the compiler
encounters errors in the code. You would then call TECO to correct
these errors with the command
.TECD PLDT.FT

4-16

TECO COMMANDS
After you have corrected the errors, you would exit from TECO with the
command
~EG$S

This command causes: 1) the rest of the file PLOT.FT to be output and
closed;
and 2) the command COMPILE PLOT.FT to be re-executed
automatically.
Example:
The following is an example that can be called with a MUNG
It will compile all FORTRAN programs that are on your disk.
it with the OS/8 command •

command.
You call

• MUNG COMPIL,*.FT
Z-E EBTEMP.TM$ Y3KZJ-3KJ
<FS $$;> <S
$;-L I.COMPILE $L>
ISJOB
$ZJI$END
$

EGSUBMIT TEMP.TM/T/H$
'zaN EWDIR.TM$
.JI$JOB
.DIR TEMP.TM<$
ZJI/F
.MUNG COMPIL
SEND
$

EGSUBMIT DrR.TM/H/T$'
In this example, the $
ESCAPEs.

symbols

indicate

4-17

dollar

signs

rather

than

TECO COMMANDS
4.16

EH EDIT HELP COMMAND

Error message printing form command.
FORMAT:

nEH

where:
n

is an integer such that -1<n<3.

TECO error messages consist of two parts:
The first, or code, is
always typed, while the second part, the brief message, is also typed
only with the 16K version of TECO.
By using the EH command, you may change TECO so that it prints only
the 3-letter code preceded by a? or both the code and a I-line error
message. TECO always prints an error message.
Table 4-3 lists the EH commands.
Table 4-3
EH Commands
Command

Function

lEH

Sets TECO so that it prints only
part of the error message.

the

3-letter

code

2EH

Sets TECO so that it prints both the error message
code
and
the
l-line
extended
descriptions
automatically. On systems with less than l6K,a 2EH
command
is
a
null
command because there is
insufficient memory for the internal file which
contains the error messages.

OEH

Resets TECO to the system standard mode of
message type-out (normally equivalent to 2EH).

error

You may return the current value of the EH setting by typing EH.
To
be useful, this must be typed as a numeric argument to another
command.

4-18

TECO COMMANDS
4.17

EK EXIT KILL COMMAND

Detach output file from TECO without performing input or output.
FORMAT:

The EK command detaches ~ne output Il~e {if there is onej.
It does
not delete any files. If, for example, after typing an EWfilespecl
command and deciding that this is an error, you wish to write to
filespec2 instead, then the command
EKEWfilespec2
W;ll

detach filespecl without causing output.

You can also use the EK command to detach a file if it were
overwrite another file.

4-19

going

TECO COMMANDS
4.18

EO VERSION COMMAND

Return version number of TECO.
FORMAT:

An EO command returns a value which specifies the current version
number of TECO.
This will be either a 5 Qr a 5xx, where 5 is the
current version and xx is any 2-digit number. If EO does not return
the 5, this manual may contain inapplicable or erroneous information
for your version.
NOTE
This
command
is
included
for
compatibility
with versions of TECO
implemented on other DIGITAL computers.
It is not used except to see if you have
the version of TECO described in this
manual.

4-20

TECO COMMANDS
4.19

ER EDIT READ COMMAND

Initializes a file so that TEeD may sequentially
from it.
FORMAT:

extract

information

one

ERfilespec$
@ER/filespec/

where:
/

is an arbitrary delimiter
characters in filespec.

which

not

the

The ER command initializes a file so that TECO may read information
from it.
An ER command also terminates input from any file that may
have been previously opened for input, in addition to opening a file
for input.
You may open one file for input, read only part of that file, and
then, with another ER command, release the first file and open a new
file for input. It is not necessary to read the end of one file
before opening a second.
However, opening the second file does
terminate input from the first.
NOTE
OS/8 TECO permits only one input file to
be open at any time.
If you are creating a file, then you do not need to enter an ER
command.
Instead, you enter the text directly into the text buffer
from the terminal keyboard.
Examples:
*ERf'ULSE.FT$$

Select the file
from
the
OS/8
device DSK:.

PULSE.FT
default

Select the card reader for
input and the paper tape
punch for output.
~ERDTA1:INf'UT.TX$EWRKAO:OUTf'UT.TX$$

Open an input file INPUT.TX
on DECtape unit 1 and an
output file OUTPUT.TX on
disk unit o•

.!.ERRXA1:PROG$$

Prepare to read input file
PROG or PROG.MA from RXA1:.

4-21

TECO COMMANDS
4.20

(ESCAPE) COMMAND

A signal to begin execution or a command delimiter.
FORMAT:

none.

An (ESCAPE) character is the only predetermined command delimiter in
TECO. Use it to indicate the location of the last character in a text
argument. In this case, it is part of the previous command;
for
example, in IABC$, the ESCAPE is part of the I command.
The <ESCAPE) is sometimes also used after an n%q command.
You would
use it to ensure that the incremented value in the Q-register is not
used as an argument for the following command.
You may insert the <ESCAPE) into a text string if you preface the
command with an @ modifier. (See Section 4.68.) Using the @ modifier
allows you to choose any delimiter that is not one of the TECO special
characters listed in Table 2-1.
You may also insert the <ESCAPE) into a command string
command.

using

271$

TECO echoes an <ESCAPE) as a dollar sign ($) on a terminal.
A double ESCAPE ($$) signals TECO to begin execution
string.

On some terminals, ESCAPE is labeled ALTmode or PREfix.
"ALTmode" is the traditional TECO name for ESCAPE.)

4-22

the

command

(The

term

TECO COMMANDS
4.21

ET EDIT TERMINAL COMMAND

Flag and command to set typeout modes.
FORMAT:

nET

where:
n

is a combination of the numbers 1, 2, and 8.

The ET flag informs TEeo whether you have entered a SET TTY SCOPE or
SET TTY NO SCOPE command to the OS/8 monitor. If you have entered SET
TTY NO SCOPE, then this flag has a value of O. If you are in "scope
mode" then the flag is set to 2.
Use this command to control how TECO will type information to your
terminal.
The three values this command can take are listed in Table
4-4. Because these numbers represent bits, they are additive;
that
is, one ET value does not preclude another.
Table 4-4
ET Commands
Command

Function

lET

Setting this bit inhibits all of TECO's typeout
conversions.
All characters are output to the
terminal exactly as they appear in the buffer or <AA>
command.
For example, the changing of control
characters in the CONTROL/CHAR form is suppressed.
This mode is useful for driving displays.

2ET

Process <DELETE> and <AU> in scope mode. Scope mode
processing uses the cursor control features of the
CRT terminals to handler character deletion
by
actually erasing characters from the screen.

8ET

Read without echoing for AT command.
This allows
data to be read by the AT command without having the
characters echo at the terminal.
Normal command
input will echo.

Example:
The following TECO command string erases the entire screen of a VTS2.

4-23

TECO COMMANDS
4.22

EU EDIT UPPER/LOWER COMMAND

Upper-case and lower-case flagging of output.
FORMAT:

nEU

where:
is a positive, negative, or zero integer.

The upper/lower-case flag determines the manner in which TECO is to
transmit characters to your terminal. If you have entered a SET TTY
LC command to the 05/8 monitor, TECO, when called into memory, sets
this value to -1. Otherwise, it will be set to o.
Use the nEU command to flag upper-case output characters with an
apostrophe ('). For example, if you are displaying a text, a form of
the EU command will tell TECO to precede every character entered in
lower case with an apostrophe. Although TECO prints the text in upper
case, you would clearly be able to distinguish upper- and lower-case
characters.
The EU commands are listed in Table 4-5.
Table 4-5
EU Commands
Command

Argument
n)O

nEU
I

Function

Flag upper-case
apostrophe.

characters

with

characters

with

OEU

Flag lower-case
apostrophe.

nEU

n(O

Do not flag characters.

4-24

TECO COMMANDS
4.23

FW EDIT WRITE COMMAND

Initialize the output file.
FORMAT:

EWfilespec$
@EW/filespec/

where:

is an arOltrary delimiter
characters in filespec.

which

not

one

the

Use an EW command to open a file for output. If an output file is
currently open, a second EW command closes that file before opening
the new file. TECO permits only one output file to be active at any
one time.
If you type an EWfilespec command while a file is open, TECO deletes
the previously opened file. However, TECO does not permit you to type
an EW command if you had opened the file with an EBfilespec command.
You may not output any information without first
equivalent command.

entering

TECO does not permit you to use multiple EW commands without
the input file.
The MAKE filespec initialization command causes
automatic EWfilespec$ command.

TECO

changing

execute

Examples:
*ERRXA2:CREF.2$EWRXAO:CREF.3$$

This command string selects the
file CREF.2 on diskette drive 2
for input and opens a
file
called CREF.3 on diskette drive
o for output.
If there is a
file named CREF.3 already on the
diskette,
it
will
be
overwritten.

*EWPROG.PA$$

Prepare to write the output file
PROG.PA
on the 05/8 default
device DSK:.

*EWRXA1:0CON.TE$$

Prepare to write the output file
OCON.TE on RXAl:.

4-25

TECO COMMANDS
4.24

EX EXIT COMMAND

Exit from TECO to the OS/8 monitor.
FORMAT:

The EX command outputs the latter part of the input file and closes
the input and output files. Using the EX command is the easiest way
to finish editing a job.
For example, you may be editing a 30-page file and the last change you
make is on page 10. At this point you can give the command

In this case, the action TECO performs is equivalent to the command
string 2lPEF, with an automatic exit to the monitor at the end. Thus,
TECO:
1.

Rapidly moves all the rest of the input file, including
page currently in the buffer, to the output file

Closes the output file

Returns control to the monitor.

the

The EX command is equivalent to:

...!.

The EX command outputs a form feed character only if, after the output
of the editing bufferis contents, it examines the ~E end-of-page form
feed flag and finds that a form feed terminated input. In this way,
the EX command maintains existing page sizes.

4-26

TECO COMMANDS
4.25

-P COMMAND

Return value of console switch register.
FORMAT:

"'F

After you enter an ~F or <CONTROL/F) command, TECO returns the number
input on the console switch register. (On the PDP-12, this is the
right switch register.) This number must be in the range O<n<4095.

4-27

TECO COMMANDS
4.26

FN FAST NONSTOP SEARCH/REPLACE COMMAND

Search remainder of the file until text is found and then replace it.
FORMAT:

nFNtextl$text2$
nFNtextl$$
n@FN/textl/text2/
n@FN/textl//

where:

is a positive number.
replacement occurs.

is an arbitrary delimiter which
characters in textl or text2.

text2
is

omitted,

not

one

the

Use an Fn N command to search for a character string in a page of the
input file which may not yet have been read into the buffer (function
of the N command) and to replace it with another string.
The FN
command operates like the N command when searching for the string. If
the search fails, no replacement occurs.
If you omit text2 in an FN search, TECO deletes textl and does not
insert a string into the buffer to replace it. However, even when
text2 is omitted, its terminating delimiter must be present as shown
in the form
*FNtextl$$
The maximum length of a text argument is 31 ASCII characters.
command, like all search commands, accepts a colon modifier.

The

The textl argument may contain the four match control characters:
~Na
~Q

AS
AX

Match anything except wa w
Use the next command as match character
Match on separator
Exempt position from match

If a search fails, TECO writes the entire input
buffer.

file

the

output

You may preface the FN command with a number n to indicate which
occurrence of a string is the object of the search. If a number
specifying which occurrence of a string is to be replaced is less than
1, then TEeo prints the error message ?NAS NEGATIVE OR ZERO ARGUMENT
TO S.

4-28

TECO COM~~NDS
Examples:

*12FNSTRING$TEXT$$

This

command

replaces

the

12th

occurrence of STRING with TEXT.

*12<FNSTRING$TEXT$)$$

The first 12 occurrences of STRING are
replaced with TEXT. Note the position
of the ESCAPEs.
The ESCAPE following
the TEXT terminates the string TEXT.
Because the
search
is
within
an
iteration, a double ESCAPE cannot be
used because it would terminate the
command before the iteration were to be
entered into the command string.

*12(@ FN/STRINGII)$$

This is similar to the above example
with the difference being that STRING is
not replaced.
If the @- modifier were
not used, you would have to type $$.
This would prematurely terminate the
command and you would receive an error
message.

4-29

TECO COMMANDS
4.27

FS FAST SEARCH/REPLACE COMMAND

Search the remainder of the editing buffer until
then replace it.

found

and

is a positive number, textl and text2 are less than
characters long

is an arbitrary delimiter which
characters in textl or text2.

the

FORMAT:

text

nFStextl$text2$
nFStextl$$
n@FSjtextl/text2/
n@FS/textl//

where:

not

one

The FS command searches for a character string within the current
editing buffer (function of the S command) and replaces it with
another string. If the string to be replaced is not found after the
current pointer position and before the end of the buffer, the search
fails and no replacement is made. If a search fails, TECO moves the
buffer pointer to the beginning of the editing buffer.
If you omit text2 from a FS command, textl is deleted without
replacement.
However, when you omit text2, its terminating ESCAPE
must be present as shown in the form
*FStextl$$
Textl and text2, like all search commands, may not be longer
ASCII characters.

than

The FS command may use the colon modifier, while
following match control characters:

use

the

ANa
AQ
AS
AX

textl

may

Match anything except "a"
Use the next command as match character
Match on a separator
Exempt position from match

You may preface the FS command with a number n to indicate which
occurrence of a string is the object of the search. If the number
specifying which occurrence of a string is to be replaced is less than
1, then TECO prints the error message ?NAS NEGATIVE OR ZERO ARGUMENT
TO S.
Examples:
*12FSOFSFOR$$

This command causes TECO to search the
current buffer for the 12th occurrence
of the string OF and to replace it with
the string FOR.

*12(FSOF$FOR$>$$

This command causes TECO to search for,
and
then to replace, the first 12
occurrences of OF with FOR.
Note that
the concluding double $$ follows the >.

4-30

TECO COMMANDS
~12FSINTEREST$$

This command causes TECO to search the
current page for the 12th occurrence of
the string INTEREST and to delete it.
The two ESCAPEs, $$, must be typed
following the string to be deleted; the
first delimits the string for which you
are searching and the second tells TECO
that there is no replacement string.

~@12FS/INTEREST//$$

This command is identical to the one
described immediately above~ It is very
useful if
a
double
ESCAPE
would
prematurely
terminate
your
command
string.

4-31

TECO COMMANDS
4.28

G GET COMMAND

place Q-register qls contents in the editing buffer.
FORMAT:

where:
q

is a Q-register.

The command Gq (where q is one of the 36 Q-registers) fetches a copy
of the character string stored in the Q-register and inserts it into
the editing buffer at the current buffer pointer position.
This
command does not alter the contents of the Q-register. TECO positions
the buffer pointer at the right end of the character string inserted.
Examples:
*ZJ-5XAJ8LGA$$ This command string puts a copy of the last five
lines of the page into Q-register A and then puts
a copy of these five lines immediately after the
eight lines in the page. It does not, however,
delete the five lines from their position at the
end of the page.
-lSTEXT 1 SOL • U1
STEXT2$OL.U2
01,02XA
01,02K
NTEXT3$L GA$$

This command string stores all text from TEXTI to
TEXT2 in Q-register A, deletes that text from the
page, and then places this text on the line
following TEXT3.

If you type a
before a Gq command, TECO types the contents of
register on your terminal without inserting it into the buffer.

that

Example:
If the second command in the above examples were changed to:
STEXT1$OL.Ul
STEXT2$OL.U2
01,02XA
:GA$$
then the :GA command would verify that you have placed the proper text
into the Q-register.

4-32

TECO COMMANDS

Retype all text back to the last line terminator.
FORMAT:

where the command must be typed using a <CONTROL/G>.
2.

Retype the entire command string.
FORMAT:

<A G>*

where the command must be typed using a <CONTROL/G>.
3.

Erase all commands that have been entered but not executed.
FORMAT:

where the command must be typed using a <CONTROL/G> a

4.29.1

<AG><Sp> COMMAND LINE ECHO COMMAND

The <AG><Sp> command prints the line currently being input on your
terminal. This command is useful when the correcting of typographical
errors causes you to be unable to read easily what you have typed.
If the terminal has a bell, it will ring twice.
You cannot type this command using the circumflex construction.
This is identical in function with typing
entering of a command to the OS/8 monitor.

line

feed

during

the

<AG><Sp> is normally unnecessary if you are entering information on a
CRT and you have entered the OS/8 SET TTY SCOPE command. The <AG><Sp>
command can be thought of as an erasing commmand although it is
actually an echoing command. Its function is to retype the current
line, omitting characters erased with other commands. Use it when you
type so many <DELETE>s on a line that you cannot determine what you
have typed.
After TECO types a line, continue typing the command string just as if
the command had not been typed. TECO neither stores this command in
nor removes anything from the command string.
Example:
~STAET:<DELETE>:<DELETE>T<Dt:LETE>ERT:<TAB>TRZE<""G><sp>

START:

TRZE

.!.

4-33

TECO COMMANDS
4.29.2

<AG>* COMMAND STRING ECHO COMMAND

The <~G>* command prints all the lines you typed from the last TECO
prompt (i.e., the asterisk) to be reprinted. This command differs
from the <~G><sp> command in that it types the entire command string,
rather than only the last line.
If the terminal has a bell, it will ring.
You cannot use the circumflex construction for this command.

4.29.3

<AG><AG> COMMAND STRING ERASURE COMMAND

Typing two consecutive
but not yet executed.

<~G><~G>

characters erases all commands entered

If the terminal has a bell, it will ring.
You cannot use the circumflex construction for this command.

4-34

TECO COMMANDS
4.30

B WHOLE POSITION INDICATOR

Incorporate entire buffer (B,Z) limits into a command argument.
FORMAT:

The H command is equivalent to the numeric pair B,Z. Thus, in those
commands that take two numeric buffer position arguments, H represents
the combination B,Z (which is the entire buffer).
This letter is
particularly useful with type-out and output commands.
Examples:
Delete entire editing buffer.
~HT$$

Type entire buffer.

~HXA$$

Insert entire buffer into Q-register A.

4-35

TECO COMMANDS
4.31

I INSERT COMMAND

Insert text into the buffer.
FORMAT:

Itext$
@I/text/

where:
text

is only limited by
space

available

is an arbitrary delimiter
characters in "text."

command

which

string
not

one

The I command followed by a text argument is the basic TECO
command. Delimit the text argument by an ESCAPE.

storage
of

the

insertion

This command inserts the ASCII text string, "text,· into the editing
buffer just ahead of the buffer pointer. After the insertion, TECO
positions the buffer pointer immediately after the last inserted
character.
TECO does not insert the ESCAPE terminating the text
argument.
"Text" may contain any character except the special
characters listed in Table 1-1.
The amount of core available for command string storage limits the
number of characters in the text. During normal editing jobs, DIGITAL
recommends that you limit insertions to about 10 to 15 lines each.
If a very long insertion command begins to exceed the TECO command
storage
capacity, TECO rings the terminal bell once when ten
characters of storage remain and once after each additional character
entered.
The bell also echoes as a AG. When this occurs, terminate
the command string immediately. Entering more than ten additional
characters into the current command string causes a fatal error.
The @I/text/ command is slightly more powerful than the I command. It
enables you to insert ·single (but not double) ESCAPE characters in
addition to the characters that can be inserted with the I command.
The @I form is useful for inserting TECO command strings into the
editing buffer.
Delimit the text argument to the @I command, both before and after, by
any single character which is not itself a part of the text to be
inserted. TECO does not require an ESCAPE to terminate the text
string;
it is the second occurrence of the delimiting character that
terminates the text string.
The text is inserted
immediately
preceding the buffer pointer, as it is with the I command. TECD does
not insert the delimiting character.

4-36

TECO COMMANDS
Examples:
*JIline one
Tine two

line three

This example shows insertion of several
lines of text at the beginning of the
buffer.

Use this command string to delete the
tail of a line without removing the
carriage return/line feed at the end.
If the buffer contains:
ABCD
EFGH
and the buffer pointer is between the B
and the C, this command produces:
AB
EFGH

<DELETE>
$$
~
~@

I XTEXT$}~<IIELETE>$X$S

Use this command to insert a carriage
return without a line feed following it.
The single <DELETE> deletes the line
feed but not the carriage return.
This is
a
convenient
method
for
inserting multiple ESCAPEs when using
the @I command.
Type the
sequence
x<DELETE>, where x is any character
except an ESCAPE, between the successive
ESCAPEs.
It
~ne
x<DELETE> were not
typed, TECO would assume that you were
terminating the command string.

The following examples assume that the buffer contains ABCDEF with the
buffer positioned between the D and E.
*IXYZ$$

Produces ABCDXYZEF with
the
pointer between the Z and the E •

.!I

Produces ABCD
EF
with the buffer
before the E.

3RI S4CI S$

Produces A BCDE F

4-37

pointer

buffer

positioned

TECO COMMANDS
4.32

nI$ INSERT COMMAND

Insert a character into the buffer.
FORMAT:

nI$

where:
is the ASCII value of the character to be inserted.

The nI$ command inserts one character into the editing buffer. The n
numeric argument includes all characters that the I and @I commands
cannot insert. However, the nI$ command inserts only one character at
a time. The command nI$ inserts the character with the ASCII value n
into the buffer immediately preceding the pointer.
NOTE
The 1$ command inserts a null string
into
the
editing buffer.
The nI$
command always inserts a character into
the buffer.
The nI$ command is most often used to insert
listed in Table 2-1.

the

special

characters

Example:
If you are creating a macro that you wish to abort immediately if a
certain condition occurs, then you could type some command string
minus the <~C> and then add it with the insert command. For example,
*IABCDEFGHIJKILMN$$
If the

<~C>

were to be inserted after the K, then the command string

*3R31$HXA$$
would insert the AC, and then place the command string
A.

The following command string could also be typed:
~IABCDEFGH1JK$

31$ ILMN$$

4-38

Q-register

TECO COMMANDS

4.33

J JUMP COMMAND

Meve buffer

FORMAT:

__ :_&.. ____ , _.a..: __ _
l-IU.l.UI..CL

LC.LQL.l.VC

to the beginning of the buffer.

where n)O
The nJ command moves the buffer pointer to the position immediately
after the nth character in the buffer. The J commands are listed in
Table 4-6.
Table 4-6
J Commands

Command

Function

Move the pointer to the position following
charater in the text buffer.

move the pointer to the beginning of the buffere

Equivalent to OJ.

Move the pointer to the end of the buffer.

4-39

the

nth

TECO COMMANDS
4.34

K KILL COMMAND

Line deletion.
FORMAT:

nK
m,nK

where:
may be positive, negative, or zero if there
argument. If there are two arguments, m<n.

one

The K commands are described in Table 4-7.
Table 4-7
K Commands
Function

Command

Argument

1 assumed

Deletes everything
from
the
buffer
pointer through the next line terminator.
If the pointer is at the beginning of a
line, the K command deletes the entire
line. Otherwise, the K command deletes
only the portion of the line following
the
pointer
(including
the
line
terminator).

n)O

Deletes everything
from
the
buffer
pointer through the nth line terminator
following it.

Deletes everything from the pointer back
to the beginning of the current line.

-K

-1 assumed

Deletes everything from the pointer back
to the beginning of the line preceding
the current line.

n<O

Deletes everything from the pointer
to
the
beginning
of the nth
preceding the current line.

m,nK

m<n

Deletes the (m+l)st through the
nth
characters in the buffer and positions
the pointer at the point of deletion
(that is, the pointer is set equal to m).

B,Z

Deletes
buffer.

the

entire

contents

back
line

the

If the K command attempts to delete text up to and across the
beginning or end of the buffer, TECO deletes text only up to the
buffer boundary. The buffer pointer is positioned at the boundary and
no error message is printed.
TECO positions the buffer pointer between the character that
and followed the deletion.

4-40

preceded

TECO COMMANDS
Examples:
The following examples assume that the buffer contains the
text shown at the right; the buffer pointer is positioned
between the M and the N.

ABe DE
FGHIJ
KLMNO
PQRST
UVWXy
Z

*HI\$$

Deletes everythlng in the buffer, but does not delete
the form feed (if there is one) marking the end of the
page. To delete the form feed as well, type HKA.
Deletes everything from A through M.

..!. ,ZK$$

Deletes everything from N through Z•

.,tK$$

Deletes NO, changing the third
KLMPQRST.

-.!OLK$$

Deletes the entire third line.

*L3K$$

Deletes the
through Z).

-.tK[I$$

Deletes NO and P, changing the third and fourth
to KLMQRST.

~OK$$

Deletes KLM •

.,t-K$$

Deletes FGHIJ
KLM.

last

three

4-41

lines

and

fourth

lines

from

(everything

lines

TECO COMMANDS
4.35

L LINE COMMAND

Move the buffer pointer by lines.
FORMAT:

where:
may be positive, negative, or zero.

Use the L command to move the buffer pointer over entire lines.
command and its arguments are shown in Table 4-8.

The L

Table 4-8
L Commands
Command

Function

Argument

~---------+--------------~~------------------.----------------------------4

1 assumed

Advances the pointer to the beginning
of the line following the current line.

n)O

Advances the pointer to the beginning
of the nth line following the current
line.

Moves the pointer back to the beginning
of the current line.

-L

-1 assumed

Moves the pointer back to the beginning
of the line preceding the current line.

n<O

Moves the pointer back to the beginning
of the nth line preceding the current
line.

If you attempt to move the buffer pointer backward beyond the position
immediately prior to the first character in the buffer or forward
beyond the position immediately after the last character in the
buffer, TECO does not print an error message; however, TECO moves the
pointer to the beginning or end of the editing buffer.
Examples:
The J command moves the pointer to the beginning of
the first line in the buffer. The 3L command then
moves it to the beginning of the fourth line.

*ZJ-2L$$

The ZJ command moves the pointer to the end of the
last line in the buffer. Then the -2L command moves
the pointer to the beginning of the next to last line
in
the buffer (assuming that the last line is
terminated by a line feed).

*L4C.$

Advance the pointer to the position
fourth character in the next line.

4-42

following

the

TECO COMMANDS
4.36

M MACRO COMMAND

Execute the command string stored in a Q-register.
FORMAT:

Mq
nMq
m,nMq

where:
q

is a Q-register ..

TECO command strings are composed of ASCII characters and, as such,
you can insert or read them into the editing buffer just like any
other text.
The command string stored in a Q-register is called a macro.
When a command string is in the editing buffer, you can edit it, but
you may not execute it because, when it is in the buffer, it appears
to be data to TECO. However, if you copy a command string from the
editing buffer into a Q-register (using an X command), then this
command string can be executed.
The command Mq (where q is one of the 36 Q-registers) executes the
text ln that register. Thus, entering an'Mq command is analogous to
calling a subroutine.
You may include any TECO command in the command string which is stored
in and executed from the Q-register. The only restriction is that the
commands must all be complete within the macro in the Q-register. For
example, a command and its argument must not be split apart, one in
the command string and the other in the Q-register.
If you include
iterations and conditional execution strings, these must also be
complete within the register. If you use an a command in the macro,
the tag to which it branches must also be in the register.
The forms of the M command are:
Mq

Execute the contents of Q-register q.

nMq

Execute the contents of Q-register q and use n as a
numeric argument for the first command in the command
string.

M,nMq

Execute the contents of Q-register q and use m,n as a
numeric argument for the first command in the command
str i-ng.

Example:
The following shows the creation of a macro to format a file into
pages of 50 lines. The macro will be stored in a Q-register, and then
be called to operate upon two files.

*EWFIFTY .TEe ••
j@I/Y(!5T!-N; 50S
.-FA 05T.'12I$ O,.P O,.K> Ee/$$
..lHXA$$
..tEe$$
.:!EBF I LE 1 • FT.$
..!MA$$
..!EBFILE2. FT.$
~MA$$

1
4-43

TECO COMMANDS
1.

This macro will be kept after
FIFTY.TE.

The Y brings in the first page of text.

The AN will signal if the end-of-file flag has been set.

If it has been set, AN;
iteration.

If the page has fewer than 50 lines, a new page
to the buffer and the loop is continued.

If there are at least 50 lines, a form feed is appended,
50 lines are output, and then killed.

the

This will continue until the AN flag is set,
end of the file has been reached.

the

After the macro has been completed, it is stored with the HXA
command into Q-register A.

FIFTY.TE is then closed.

10.

FILE1.FT is then opened, and the Q-register is executed.

11.

The procedure is repeated for FILE2.FT.

will

4-44

cause

created

branching
is

the

from

file

the

appended

indicating

TECO COMMANDS

4.37

N NONSTOP SEARCH COMMAND

Search a file for a string until it is found.
FORMAT:

nNtext$
n@N/text/

where n)O and / is an arbitrary delimiter which is not one of the
characters in "text." The N command combines the S command with
input/output functions. Use the N command to search for a character
string in a page of the input file which may not yet have been read
into the editing buffer.
The N command may accept a colon modifier.
"Text" may include the following match control characters:
Match anything except "a"
Use the next command as match character
Match on a separator
Exempt position from match
The N command differs from the S command in that the former
terminate at the end of the page currently in the buffer.

does

not

If TEeo does not find a match for the search string between the
current buffer pointer position and the end of the buffer, the current
page is output, the buffer is cleared, and the next page is read in.
The search then starts over at the beginning of the new page. This
process continues until a match is found or the input file is
completely written to the output file.
If an N search fails, the entire input file passes through the buffer
and is written to the output file. TECO also clears the editing
buffer but does not close the output file. Unless the: modifier was
used or the search is within an iteration, an error message is typed
to notify the user that the search has failed.
An N search cannot detect a match when the matching characters are
split across two buffers.
It also cannot detect a match if the
characters are en separate lines unless you include the line separator
in the search string.
The output function of the N command is exactly like the P command.
If a form feed character was encountered when a given page was read
in, TECO appends a form feed character to that page when it is output;
otherwise, no form feed character is output.
If you do not include a text argument with a search command (for
example, N$$), TEeD executes the search using the last previous search
command argument.
You may use the N command with a single numeric argument. The command
nN, In which n must be greater than 0, causes a search for the nth
occurrence of the search string. When you omit n, TECO assumes n=l.
The
search differs from the N search in that the former produces no
output.
However, both will search through the entire file following
the buffer pointer until a match occurs.

4-45

TECO COMMANDS
Examples:

*NDIGITAL$$

If page 5 of the text is currently in the
buffer and the string DIGITAL does not occur
until page 15, this command causes pages 5
through 14 to be output and page 15 to be
read in.
The
pointer
will
be
set
immediately after the L in DIGITAL.

LIN F'Gl
1ST LIN PG:~

If this string actually exists in
but the two lines are not read into
buffer, the N search will fail.
words, a search can be dependent on
brings information into the buffer.

~NLAST

1SRH FAILED

*NMASSACHUSETTS$$
1S?SRHLEft
...!EF$$
...!Ef.H)UTF'tJT • F I $$
*V$$
:!NMASSACHUSETTf.i$$

the file
the same
In other
how TECO

An N search should not be used when an S
search would suffice, because user errors
with the N command, such as the spelling
shown here, can cause considerable delay.
In this example, the error causes two passes
over the entire file instead of just one.

4-46

TEeo COMMANDS
AN

4.38

Do not match on character following the <AN>.
FORMAT:

<AN>a

where a is
<CONTROL/N>.
2.

ASCII

and

must

entered

Flag that indicates if the end of file has been reached.
FORMAT:

where the command
circumf1ex-N.

4.38.1

character

can

entered

<AN> MATCH CONTROL CHARACTER

Use the <AN> match control command to accept any character in a
particular position during a search except the character following the
command. When TECO is searching for a string, any character except
that following the <AN) is acceptable as a match. It differs from the
<AX) match control character in that the <AX) will accept any
character in that position as a match.
The <"N)-character combination counts as one character in the search
string.
However, it counts as 2 of the 31 characters permitted in a
search string.
The combination <AN><"'S)·is legal; it commands TEeO to accept
character which is not a separator as a match for this string.

any

The circumflex construction may not be used.

4e38e2

An End-of-File Indicator Command

The AN command returns a value indicating if the end of the file has
been reached.
It is most often used in conjunction with a command
that inputs data. The setting of the flag will then be the cause of
jumping from an iteration or the fulfillment of a condition for a
conditional execution command. It is initially set to O.
When the
end of file has been "reached, it is set to -1.
Example:

..!.(YITITLE
$PW"'N;>$$

This command string inserts TITLE at the top
of each page of a file.

.!.<"'N;(FSABC$IIEF$;>
<FSXYZ$PQR$;>
P> EX$$

This macro changes all occurrences of ABC to
DEF and of XYZ to PQR in an entire file.
The AN terminates the iteration when the AN
flag is set to -1.

4-47

TECO COMMANDS
4.39

0 GOTO COMMAND

Unconditional branch to a location.
FORMAT:

Otag$

where:
tag

is composed
of
ASCII
characters
delimited
by
exclamation marks in the command string and by an
ESCAPE in the 0 command.

The purpose of the tag following the 0 is to name the destination of
the unconditional branch instruction. The tag location itself may be
either before or after the 0 command in the command string.
However,
the branch cannot occur before the beginning of the current iteration.
For example, if you enter the following command string:
••• !tagl! ••• < ••• Otagl$ ••• >
TECO will produce an error message.
However, the command string segment
••• <!tagl! ••• Otagl$ ••• >
is legal.
The 0 command causes the command string execution pointer to be moved
to the first character following the exclamation point that terminates
the tag, and command execution continues from that point.
Tags are ignored except when an 0 command
command string from them.

forces

TECO

scan

the

There is no restriction on the length of the tag (except that it
fit into the buffer).

must

The tag must also be in the same macro level;
that is, you cannot
branch from within a called macro to outside of the contents of the
Q-register nor can you branch from outside of a macro into it.

4-48

TECO COMMANDS

Stop terminal output during typing out.
FORMAT:

<"'0>

where the command must be typed as <CONTROL/O>.
2.

Change to octal radix.
FORMAT:

"'0

During the execution of a type-out, you can stop the terminal output
by typing <"'0>. This command causes TECO to finish execution of the
command string, omitting all further type-outs. You can enter this
command only while TECO is actually typing out text at the terminal.
If it is not, TEeo ignores the "'0. The effect of this command does
not carryover to the next command string.
Typing a second <"'0> will cause the type-out
command string has not finished executing.

continue

the

This command cannot be typed as circumflex-O.
Occasionally, the asterisk that TEeD prints when a command finishes
execution
is
also suppressed.
If this occurs, you can type
<CONTROL/U>. TECO then responds with an asterisk if it is waiting for
a command.
Example:
The following example assumes the buffer contains the text
shown at the right.

ABCDE
FGHIJ
KLMNO
PQRST
UVWXy
Z

*HT3K$$
ABCDE
EG"O

The
user requests type-out of the whole buffer, but
stops it with a <"'0> (which echoes as "'0) immediately
after the G is typed.
However, a second HT command
would show that the buffer now contains:
PQB.ST
UVWXY
Z

4.40.2

<AO> OCTAL RADIX COMMAND

The entering of a "'0 or <CONTROL/O> changes the current radix to octal
if TECD was not already in octal.
If the radix is in octal, this command is a no-oPe
The initial radix of TECO is decimal.

4-49

TECO COMMANDS
4.41

P PAGE COMMAND

Write the buffer's contents to the output file.
FORMAT:

nP
m,nP

where:
may be positive, negative, or zero if there
argument. If there are two arguments, m<n.

The P command outputs the text buffer, clears the
the next page of the input file into the buffer.

buffer,

and

one
reads

The P command performs two operations; when you type it with a single
numeric argument (or no argument), the P command performs both output
and input.
The P commands are described in Table 4-9.
Table 4-9
P Commands

Command

Argument

1 assumed

Function

n)O

m,nP

m<n

Similar to PWHKY.
Outputs the entire
contents of the buffer, and then clears
the buffer and reads in the next page of
input.
The buffer pointer is left at
the beginning of the page that is read I
in. If there is no input file, or if no
more data is in the input file, the
buffer is left cleared. TECO appends a
form feed character to the end of the
output data only if the last input
command was terminated by a form feed.
I
Executes the P command n times. You can I
use this command to skip over several
is
pages of text when no
editing
required.
The nP command causes the n
pages of the input file -- starting with
the page currently in the editing buffer
-- to be output, and then the nth page
after the current page to be brought in.
numeric
When used with a pair
of
arguments, the P command only outputs
data; it neither clears any data from
the buffer nor moves the buffer pointer.
Also, the m,nP command never appends a
form feed to the output unless you have
inserted a form feed in the buffer
between the mth and nth characters. The
only action of m,nP is to output the
(m+l)st through the nth characters in
the buffer.
(m,nP
and
m,nPW
are
equivalent.)
(continued on next page)

4-50

TECO COMMANDS
Table 4-9 (Cont.)
P Commands
Command
HP

Argument

Function

H=B,Z

Writes the buffer without appending a
form feed to it; the buffer is not
cleared, and no new data is read in.
(HP and HPW are equivalent.) Although
this form may resemble
a
single
argument
command
(and thus could
output a form feed), it is really a
dual argument command.

As discussed above, you can use the nP. command to skip over several
pages to get to the next page where editing is required. The nP
command can also be used with a very large argument, e.g., 1000, in
order to skip to the end of the input file without doing any more
editing.
Examples:
*PT$$

FIRST LINE OF PAGE

Output the current page, clear the buffer,
read in the next page, and then type out
the first line of the new page.
This command string outputs the entire
contents of the buffer, but it arranges the
data as it is output.
The .,ZP command
outputs first part of the page that follows
the buffer pointer. Then, the a,.p command
outputs that part of the data preceding the
pointer.
No form
feed
character
is
appended to either section of the output.

~.,ZP12I$O,.P$$

This performs the same action as
the
preceding command string except that it
appends a form feed character to the part
of the page that is output last.
(12 is
the ASCII code for form feed.)

*HK12I$HP$$

This command string produces a single blank
page.
If page 6 of a file is in the editing
buffer, this command causes pages 6 - 13 of
the file to be output one after the other,
and then read in page 14.

.MAKE FILE.FT

This is the usual
text file.

of text$$
*PI2nd psSe of text$$

~Ipsse

*PIlsst psSe of text$$
JtEC$$

4-51

method

for

creating

TECO COMMANDS
4.42

PW PAGE WRITE COMMAND

Write contents of editing buffer to the output file and append a
feed.
FORMAT:

nPW

form

m,nPW

where:
n)O

if there is one argument.
m<n.

If there are two arguments,

The PW command is the basic output command because it does nothing but
write data to the output file. Depending on the argument, the PW
command writes all or some part of the data in the editing buffer. It
does not, however, delete data from the buffer, and it never moves the
buffer pointer.
The PW command writes the entire buffer and it always appends a form
feed to the contents. The nPW command (n)O) also outputs n copies of
the text in the buffer, appending a form feed to each copy.
The PW
command does not clear the buffer nor does it move the buffer pointer.
(The same is also true of a P command used with two arguments.)
Note also that when you use a PW command with a single argument, a
form feed character is always automatically sent to the output file
immediately following the data from the buffer. TECD appends the form
feed
character to the outgoing data regardless of whether it
encountered a form feed character when the data was read in, that is,
regardless of the setting of the ~E form feed flag. This is not true
of the P command.
Table 4-10 lists the PW commands.
Table 4-10
PW Commands
Command

Argument

Function

1 is assumed

Writes the contents of the buffer onto
the output file and appends a form feed
character. The buffer is not cleared
and
the
pointer
position remains
unchanged.

nPW

n)O

Same as n<PW). This
command n times.

m,nPW

m<n

Writes the contents of the buffer from
the
(m+l)th
character through and
including the nth character onto the
output file. A form feed character is
not appended to this output nor is the
buffer cleared.
The buffer pointer's
position remains unchanged.

HPW

H=B,Z

Equivalent to PW except that a form
feed is not appended to the output.

4-52

executes

the

TECO COMMANDS
If the editing buffer is empty when TEeo executes
output of any kind takes place.

command,

This command outputs 300 copies
page.

the

Examples:

the
current buffer,
and then outputs the

..!f'WJKI J. DOE$
f'W$$

This
command
outputs
modifies the first line,
buffer again.

-!HK12I$f'W$$

This produces two successive blank pages.

4-53

current

TECO COMMANDS
4.43

Q Q-REGISTER COMMAND

Return contents of a Q-register.
,ORMAT:

where:
q

is a Q-register designator.

Use the Qq command (where q is one of the 36 Q-registers) to read the
numeric value in a register. Qq has no function other than to return
the value in the specified Q-register as a numeric argument to another
command.
It does not alter the value in the Q-register. Qq is often
used in conjunction with conditional commands.
Examples:
~QR-3UR$$

This command string subtracts 3 from the value in
Q-register R and then inserts the new value into
the register.

4-54

TECO COMMANDS

Execution command that resumes a type-out that was frozen
a <~S>.

where you must type the command as <CONTROL/Q>.
2.

Accept the next command as a character in a search.

where c is a TECO command.
<CONTROL/Q>.

4.44.1

This command must be

entered

<AQ> TYPE-OUT CONTROL COMMAND

The <~Q> is an execution time command
which had been stopped by a <~S>.

that

resumes

terminal

output

The circumflex construction may not be used.

4.44.2

(A Q> MATCH CONTROL CHARACTER

<~Q> is a match control character that accepts the next
character as
text.
A <~Q> character in a search command argument indicates that
TECO should interpret the character following the command literally
rather than as a command. This character may be used to search for
~S, ~N, and ~S characters.

It does not count as one of the maximum 31 characters
command argument.
The circumflex construction may not be used.

4-55

the

TECO COMMANDS
4.45

R REVERSE COMMAND

Move the buffer pointer backwards.
FORMAT:

where n may be positive, negative, or zero.
The R command is a buffer pointer positioning command, and is the
reverse of the C command. The forms of the R command are listed in
Table 4-11.
Table 4-11
R Commands
Argument

Command

Function

n)O

Move the pointer backwards
over
n
characters
in
the buffer from the
current buffer pointer position. nR is
equivalent to -nC.

1 is assumed

Move the pointer backward one character.

This is a null command.

-R

-1 is assumed

Move the pointer forward one
This is equivalent to C.

n(O

n
Move the
pointer
forward
over
the buffer from the
characters
in
current buffer pointer position. nR is
equivalent to nC.

character.

If an R command attempts to move the pointer across either buffer
boundary, TECO ignores the command and prints the error message ?POP
ATTEMPT TO MOVE POINTER OFF PAGE.
Example:
~OL2R$$

The OL command moves the pointer back to the
beginning of the current line.
Then, the 2R
command moves it back past
the
last
two
characters in the preceding line.

4-56

TECO COMMANDS
4.46

S SEARCH COMMAND

Search for a character string.
FORMAT:

nStext

n@S/text/

where n)O and text is less than 32 characters long.
Use the S command to search for a character string within the current
editing buffer. If the string is not found between the current buffer
pointer position and the end of the buffer, the search fails.
After
an unsuccessful S search, the buffer pointer is reset to the beginning
of the buffer, and, unless you have used the: modifier or the search
is within an iteration, TEeo prints the message.
Type the search string as an alphanumeric argument following the S.
Terminate it with an ESCAPE. "Text" can contain any character except
those listed in Table 1-1, Special Characters, but may not contain
more than 31 characters.
The S command may be used with a single numeric argument. The command
nS causes a search for the nth occurrence of the specified search
string. When n is omitted, n=l is assumed. n must be greater than O.
If you are searching for text that contains an ESCAPE, you can use
@ modifier to the S command.

If you do not include a text argument with an S command (for example,
S$$), TECO executes the search using the last previous search command
argument.
The S command may use the following match control characters:
~Na

AQ
AS
AX

Do not match on "aft
Use next command as match character
Match on a separator
Exempt next position from matching

Examples:

!.SA<TA.B>.B$$

This causes the pointer to be
immediately
after the B, in
occurrence of the string A<TAB)B
current position of the pointer.

*SNIX$$
SEARCH FAILED

The string NIX is not found between the
current pointer position and the end of the
buffer.
The error message is typed and the
pointer is moved to the beginning of the
buffer.
You may have typed an incorrect
search string, the pointer may have been
positioned somewhere in the buffer after the
N, or the string NIX may not be in the
editing buffer.

.!.@3S+$+IEF$$

The command @3S+$+ searches for the third
occurrence of the ESCAPE character following
the buffer pointer.
When this ESCAPE is
found,
the
characters EF are inserted
immediately after it.
The + characters
serve as the delimiters for the I-character
search string $. The + characters are not
part of the search string.

~SRH

4-57

positioned
the first
after the

TECO COMMANDS
4.47

·S

Store a completed or aborted command string in Q-register Z.

where you must type a (CONTROL/S>.
2.

Freeze the output display.

where you must type a (CONTROL/S>.
3.

Accept any nonalphanumeric character as
relative position in the search string.
FORMAT:

4.47.1

match

for

this

(AS> STORE COMMAND STRING COMMAND

After TECO completes execution of a command string (or if you abort it
with (AG>(~G», you may store it in Q-register Z by typing a (~S> as
the first command in the next command string. The previous contents,
if any, of Q-register Z are destroyed.
This command causes the entire previous command string, less one of
the two concluding ESCAPEs, to be stored in Q-register Z. If you
abort the command string with a (~G>(~G>, neither (A G> will be stored
with the command string. This command ha~ this function only when it
is the first command in a command string.
If you had intended to use the (~S> but instead typed some other
command first, you may recover the ability to use this command by
typing enough (DELETE>s to cause TECO to respond with a carriage
return/line feed and a new asterisk. This technique will not work
perfectly if some of the characters typed before the (AS> were break
characters (ESCAPE, carriage return, etc.). If you typed some break
characters, some of the leading characters of the preceding command
string will be overwritten.
This command is especially useful when
command string.

4.47.2

error

occurs

long

(-S> FREEZE OUTPUT COMMAND

If you type a (CONTROL/S> while TECO is typing text, the monitor
freezes the output. The output resumes at the place of interruption
if you type a (CONTROL/Q>.

4.47.3

(-S) MATCH CONTROL CHARACTER

(AS) may also act as a match control character. When you enter it,
TECO accepts any separator (that is, any nonalphanumeric character) as
a match in a search.

4-58

TECO COMMANDS

4.48

I TYPE COMMAND

Type out text in the editing buffer.

FORMAT:

where n may be positive, negative, or zero.
You can type any part of the text in the editing buffer for
examinaclon by using cne T command. The text that TEeD types depends
on the position of the buffer pointer and the argument(s) given.
The
T command never moves the buffer pointer.
When preceded with a single numeric argument, T is a line-oriented
command;
when preceded with a pair of numeric arguments, T is a
character-oriented command. The T commands are described in Table
4-12.
Table 4-12
T Commands
Command

Argument

1 assumed

n)O

I
I

Function

I
OT

Types out everything from the buffer
through
the
next
line
pointer
terminator. If the pointer is at the
beginning of a line, T causes the entire
If the
line to be TECO typed out.
pointer is in the middle of a line, T
portion
the
line
causes that
of
following the pointer to be typed out.
Types out everything from the buffer
pointer through the nth line terminator
following it. If the pointer is at the
beginning of a line, this command types
out the next n lines (incl uding the
current 1 i ne) •
Types out everything from the beginning
of the current line up to the pointer.
This command is especially useful for
determining the position of the buffer
pointer.

-T

-1 assumed

Types out everything
in
the
line
plus
preceding
line,
the
current
everything in the current line up to the
pointer.

n<O

Types out everything in the n lines
preceding
the
current
line,
plus
everything in the current line up to the
pointer.

m,nT

m<n

Types out the (m+l)st through
characters in the buffer.

the

nth

(continued on next page)

4-59

I
I
I
II

TECO COMMANDS
Table 4-12 (Cont.)
T Commands
Command

Argument

Function

.,.+nT

n)O

immediately
characters
Types the n
following the buffer pointer.

.,.-nT

n<O

immediately
characters
Types the n
preceding the buffer pointer.

H=B,Z

Types out the
buffer.

entire

contents

the

Examples:
The following examples assume the buffer contains the text
shown at the right, with the buffer pointer positioned
between the M and the N.

ABCDE
FGHIJ
KLMNO
PQRST
UVWXY
Z

Note that no carriage return/line feed eX1S~S
between the. beginning of the line on which the
pointer
is
located and the pointer itself;
therefore, none is typed.
The second asterisk
indicates that TECO is ready for the next command.
*OTT$$
KLMNO

This pair of commands causes the line to be typed
out without moving the pointer •

..1-2T$$

ABCDE
FGHIJ
KLM*

.1., .+6T$$
NO

pa*

The six characters typed are NO, carriage return/
line feed, and PQ

i:"";".-2T$$
LM

*OLT$$
KLMNO

This pair of commands types out the entire current
line and leaves the pointer at the beginning of
the line.

4-60

TECO COMMANDS
4.49

AT TYPE-IN COMMAND
1.

Use the ASCII code for the
terminal as an argument.
FORMAT:

character

typed

the

Type out the character whose ASCII code precedes the command.

FORMAT:

nAT

where:
n

4.49.1

is the ASCII code for a character.

AT INPUT COMMAND

AT is equivalent to the ASCII code for the next character you type at
the terminal. When TECO executes a command string, every AT character
encountered causes it to pause and accept one character typed at the
terminal. TECO then substitutes the ASCII code for this character for
the AT.
This command is useful only as a numeric argument for another command.
It is often used with an AAtext<AA> message string preceding it.
The
message string informs the user that TECO is waiting for a character
to be typed in.
Example:

..!<SFUNCTION $~A
FUNCTION LETTER (MA>
:'TI$>$$

FUNCTION LETTER M
FUNCTION LETTER N
FUNCTION LETTER C

value of
Places the nJl.Cf"TT
..... ".a.. ...
character in Q-register C.

*~TUC$$

4.49.2

Here, the AT command is used as the
argument
for
an nI$ command. This
command string inserts the letter typed
in following each occurrence of the
string FUNCTION that is found by the
search command.
the

typed

AT TYPEOUT COMMAND

The nAT command types out the character whose ASCII code is n.
Example:
.!J(S

$;2ROTL

This macro will type out each line of a file. It
will then wait for you to type a K to delete the
line or anything else to type the next line.

-K')$$

4-61

TECO COMMANDS
4.50

<TAB> INSERT COMMAND

Insert text and <TAB> into the editing buffer.
FORMAT:

<TAB>text$

The tab command is equivalent to the I command, except that the tab
command causes TECO to insert the tab itself as well as all the
following text up to the ESCAPE.
In other words, if the first
character of a text string to be inserted by an I command is a tab,
you may omit the I.
The numer of characters in the text is limited by the amount of core
available for command string storage. During normal editing jobs,
DIGITAL recommends that you limit insertions to about 10 or 15 lines
each.
If a long insertion command begins to exceed the TECO command storage
capacity, TECO rings the terminal bell once when ten characters of
storage remain and once after each additional character entered. When
this occurs, terminate the command string immediately. Entering more
than ten additional characters into the current command string causes
a fatal error.
Example:
If the buffer contains ABCDEF
between the D and E, then:
*<TAB)XYX$$

with

produces ABCD

the
XYZEF

The pointer is now between the Z and E.

4-62

buffer

pointer

positioned

TECO COMMANDS
4.51

U COMMAND

Insert number into a Q-register.
FORMAT:

nUq

where -4095(n(4095 and q is a Q-register designator.
The nUq command stores the integer n in Q-register q (where q is one
of ~ne 36 Q-registers). Anything previously in the numeric part of
the Q-register is destroyed.
Example:
..!SLINE l$OL.Ul
SLINE 2$.U2
Gl,12K$$

This command string will delete the text
beginning at line 1 and preceding line 2.

4-63

TECO COMMANDS

Erase the current line from the command string buffer.

where you must type <CONTROL/U>.
When you enter a <~U> while entering text, TECO erases all text in the
command string back to the last carriage return/line feed. You may
then resume entering the command string as if the deleted text had
never been entered; that is, the command string <AU> does not close
the command string register.
TECO echoes this command on the terminal as a

~U.

This command may not be entered using the circumflex construction.
You may use the <AU> to erase more than one command string line if you
type a <DELETE> after the <AU> has deleted the line.

4-64

TECO COMMANDS
4.53

·Uqtext$ COMMAND

Enter the text following the command into a Q-register.
FORMAT:

~Uqtext$
@~uq!text!

where:
q

is a Q-register designator

text

is the character
Q-register

is an arbitrary delimiter which
characters in "text."

string

inserted

into

the

not

the

one

Text is normally placed into a Q-register by copying it from the
editing buffer (through the use of the Xq command). The ~U .command
gives you the option of directly inserting a text into a Q-register.
Specifically, TECO places the text and the ASCII character string
following the Q-register designator and preceding the ESCAPE into the
Q-register when it begins executing the command string.
You can enter the
construction.

command

directly

the

circumflex

Because the text often contains ESCAPE characters, DIGITAL
that you use the @ modifier form.

recommends

4-65

only

using

TECO COMMANDS
4.54

W WINDOW COMMAND
1.

Perform a display cycle.
FORMAT:

Show n lines before and after the cursor:
FORMAT:

where n)Q
NOTE
These commands are
nonrefreshable CRTs.

4.54.1

used

with

W Command

Perform a display cycle.

4.54.2

only

Update the display from the current buffer.

nW Command

Set display mode to show n lines before and after the line containing
the cursor. The initial display shows three lines above and below the
cursor.

4-66

TECO COMMANDS
4.55

X EXTRACT COMMAND

Insert text into a Q-register.
FORMAT:

nXq
m~nXq

where:
n

is positive, negative, or zero if there
argument o If there are two arguments v m<ne

is a Q-register designator.

one

The X command copies characters from the editing buffer into a
Q-register.
TECO does not remove these characters from the editing
buffere Consequently: an X command is often followed with a K
command.
Any data previously in the data part of the Q-register is
destroyed.
The X commands are listed in Table 4-13.
Table 4-13
X Commands
Command
nXq

Argument
n)O

I
I

Function
Copies everything, from the current
buffer pointer position to the nth
following line terminator character,
into Q-register q.

1 is assumed

Copies the text of the current line,
from the buffer pointer position to
the
next
line
terminator,
into
Q-register q.

nVn
...... "l

Copies the text from the begillning
current
line preceding the buffer
pointer to the buffer pointer position
into Q-register q.

-Xq

-1 is assumed

m,nXq

m<n

Copies the (m+l)st through the
characters into Q-register q.

nth

HXq

H=B,Z

Copies the entire editing buffer
Q-register q.

into

Copies the text of the line precedin 9
the current line, and the current line
to the buffer pointer position, into
Q-register q.

If an X command requires more memory for storage than is available,
TECO prints the error message ?QMO Q-REGISTER MEMORY OVERFLOW and does
not execute the command.

4-67

TECO COMMANDS

Example:
This command string moves everything to the
left of the pointer from its position at the
beginning of the page to the end of the
page.
The O,.XI command puts everything
from the top of the page to the pointer in
Q-register 1. The O,.K command then deletes
this data from the buffer. The ZJ command
moves the pointer to the end of the page.
At this point, the command Gl copies the
contents of Q-register 1 into the buffer at
the position of the pointer.

4-68

TECO COMMANDS

Accept any character in this relative position in a search string as a
match.

where the command must be typed <CONTROL/X).
An (AX> character indicates that this position in the character string
is unimportant and that TECO will accept any ASCII character in this
position as a match for the search string_
The circumflex construction may not be used.

4-69

TECO COMMANDS
4.57

Y YANK COMMAND

Read a new page into the editing buffer.
FORMAT:

The Y command first clears the editing buffer and then reads text into
the buffer until one of the following conditions is met:
1.

The end of the input file is reached;

A form feed character is read;

The buffer is two-thirds full and a line feed is
filled to within 128 characters of capacity); or

The buffer is complete+y filled.

read

(or

The usual effect of the Y command is to clear the editing buffer
(execute an HK command) and then read the next page of the input file
into it. Less than the entire next page is read in only if that page
is too large to fit within two-thirds of the buffer's capacity.
If the end of the input file has previously been read, the
only clears the buffer.

Y command

If a form feed is read (that is, if input stops because of condition
2), the form feed flag AE is set to -1. TECO does not write the form
feed into the buffer with the rest of the text.
A succeeding input
command begins input at the character following the form feed.
If a form feed is not read, the form feed flag is set to 0, and the
next input command begins input at the character following the last
character previously read in. You may test the form feed flag, but
ordinarily this is not necessary.
TECO automatically executes a single Y command in response to the TECO
filespec initialization command.
This causes the first page of the
input file to be read into the buffer before TECO prints the first
asterisk.
The Y command sets the buffer pointer to the
first character in the buffer.

position

preceding

the

The Y command does not accept a numeric argument. If you wish to use
multiple Y commands, you may type n<y>, where n is the number of pages
to be ignored.
The Y command aborts if the text buffer is not
file is open.

empty

and

output

Examples:

..!ERREPORT.TE$Y$$

This command string opens the
file
REPORT.TE for input and reads in the
first page of that file.

..!ERDTA3:DATA.FT$YYY$$

This command string
reads
in
and
discards the first two pages of the
DECtape file DATA.FT, and then reads in
the third page of that file. If an
output file were open, you would have to
type 2<HK>Y.,

4-70

TECO COMMANDS
4.58

Z POSITION INDICATOR

Indicates the last position in the editing buffer.
FORMAT:

Z is a buffer position indicator that equals the number of characters
in the buffer.
Thus, Z is a number that is the count of the
characters in the buffer.
While Z is often used as an argument to a command, you can also use it
in arithmetic expressions.
Example:
One common use of Z is to verify if characters have been read into the
editing buffer; for example, the command string segment
••• ZUl A Z-Ql"E •••
stores a number which is the count of the characters in the buffer and
appends a new page.
The second Z indicates the new number of
characters in the buffer. If, when the former count is subtracted
from it, the remainder equals zero, then no characters were read in.

4-71

TECO COMMANDS
4.59

ltagl

A string of ASCII characters used to identify a location in a
string.
FORMAT:

!tag!

where!

precedes and follows the ASCII string.

command

When an 0 command directs the execution of a command string from the
linear order of execution, the place to which TECD is directed is
called a tag. The tag is delimited both before and after with
exclamation points.
Tags may be thought of in
programming languages.

much

the

same

way

labels

other

The length of a tag is limited solely by the command string register.
Because you do not have to reference tags, they can serve as comments
within a command string or macro.
(Normally, comments are included
only in lengthy TECD macros that will be maintained.)

4-72

TECO COMMANDS
4.60

• BRANCHING COMMANDS

Depending upon cne argument, skip any
apostrophe at the same nesting level.
FORMAT:

command

that

precedes

n·X •••• 1

where:

is the argument to the conditional execution command

•

signals that the command is
command

is the condition to matched

conditional

represents the place to begin
condition is not satisfied.

execution

the

In this command: n is the numeric argument on which TECO bases its
decision to execute a command string. The quotation mark (.) is the
first character of all conditional execution commands.
Immediately
following the quotation mark is a character which must be one of those
listed in Table 4-14:
Terminate this command string with
an
apostrophe (I).
If n satisfies the condition, TEeo executes all the commands in the
usual manner until the apostrophe.
If there is no branch command
within the range •••• ', then after TEeo executes the last command in
the range, command execution falls through the apostrophe, and
execution begins with the next command following it. If n does not
satisfy the condition, then TEeD skips all the commands before the
apostrophe, and command execution continues with the first command
following the apostrophe.
Use the quotation mark and apostrophe only in matching pairs. You may
nest them in the same manner that parentheses surrounding arithmetic
expressions can be nested.
As TECD scans for the matching single quote, it keeps an iteration
count for each level of nested iteration which it finds. TECD then
ignores any single quotes which occur at a nesting level greater than

NOTE
All conditionals must end at the
macro level in which they begin.

same

The conditional execution commands are in Table 4-14.

4-73

TECO COMMANDS
Table 4-14
Conditional Execution Commands
Command

Function
Execute the commands that follow if n
character (A-Z, a-z, 0-9).

ASCII

Execute the commands that follow if n=O.
Execute the commands that follow if n
false (flag is off) (i.e., if n=O) •

represents

Execute the commands that follow if n>O.
Execute the commands that follow if n(O.
Execute the commands that follow if not = O.
Execute the commands that follow if n is the ASCII
code for an alphanumeric character (A-Z, a-z, 0-9).
Execute the commands that
success (i. e., if n <0) •

represents

Execute the commands that follow
true (flag is on) (i.e., if n(O).

represents

Execute the commands that follow
unsuccessful (i.e., if n=O).

represents

Execute the commands that follow if
n"G.

n(O.

Same

Execute the commands that follow if
n·L.

n>O.

Same

Examples:
*!START!J(TAB)PDP-8 TEea
!INSERT PAGE HEADING!
!CHANGE 5K TO 6K!
!CHANGE WAR TO LOVE!
!GET NEXT PAGE AND!
!RESTART IF NOT NULL!

<S 5K$;R-D16$>
<SWAR$;-3DILOVE$)
PZ-NOSTART$
'EF$$

This small editing program also contains an example of the 0
unconditional branching command, that is, the OSTART$ command which
causes a jump back to !START!. String tags are also used purely for
documentation: for example, lINSERT PAGE HEADING!.
This example also shows how a conditional execution command
combined with an 0 command to produce a conditional branch.

may

After TECO performs all three of the editing functions on the
page, it executes the P command to write this page and read
in the next.

The program then tests Z (the number of characters
buffer) to determine if any data was read in.

4-74

the

TECO COMMANDS
3.

If Z does not equal 0, data was read in;
is taken to restart the program.

therefore, a branch

When Z-O, the command OSTART$ is skipped,
branches to the concluding EF command.

and

execution

This technique fails when a file contains null pages (consecutive form
feed characters). The -N end-of-file test may be preferred.
~YZ·N!tt!

Z-4000+1-G4000j

OL 121$ O,.PO,.K ott$ 'ZJ
A .-Z·NOtt$ , 'PEF$$
~

This slightly more complex command string shows how conditional
execution commands may be nested. If the first Y command produces no
data. the "N command sends execution to the matchinq apostrophe on the
right.
This is the last apostrophe, immediately prior to the PEF.
Otherwise, TECO executes the commands following the nNe
The function of this command string is to convert a file with pages of
arbitrary length to one with pages of approximately 4000 characters
each.
The command string operates as follows:
1.

Z-4000+l"G means if Z>4000 (that is, there are at least 4000
characters on the current page), execute the following
commands;
otherwise, skip to the
matching
apostrophe
(between $ and Z).

If Z>4000, 4000J and OL moves the pointer to the end of the
last complete line before the 4000th character in the buffer.

Then, 121$ and O,.P outputs this much of the buffer with a
form feed character after it, and O,.K deletes that which has
been output.

Now, go back to 1"1
until Z<4000.

Execution then skips to the apostrophe.
to the end of the current buffer.

A appends another page., but leaves the pointer
end of the previous page.

.-Z"N checks to determine if any data was actually read in.
If so, the loop is re-entered at I " ! ; otherwise, the end of
the file has been reached.

When .-Z=O, execution skips to the matching apostrophe and
then falls through the next apostrophe to the PEF that closes
the output file.

and test Z again.

Stay

Y<lST!-N; Z-4000"L AOST$ '4000J OL 121$
O,.P O,.R> EC$$

4-75

this

loop

ZJ moves the pointer

NOTE

*<NSIN$;:SCOS$·S-3DITAN$'ZJ)$$

(.)

the

TECO COMMANDS
This example shows how the value returned by a colon search
used as the argument for a conditional execution command.
The N command searches through
occurrence of SIN on any page.

When SIN is found, the command :SCOS$ checks
occurrence of COS following SIN on the same page5

The colon search command returns the value -1 if the search
is successful, and 0 if there is no COS following SIN on the
page.

This value is then used as the numeric argument
command.

If :SCOS$ has a value of -1, TAN replaces the
COS that was found.

If :SCOS$ has
skipped.

We then jump to the end of this page, ignoring all further
occurrences of SIN and COS on it, and continue the iteration
process.

value

4-76

the

file

commands

for

the

can

for

first

for

the

occurrence

-3DITAN$

are

'COMMAND

4.61

Change the number stored in a Q-register by n.
FORMAT:

n%q

where:
n

is a number

is a Q-register designatoro

The command n%q adds n to the integer in Q-register g and then returns
the new value in the same manner as a Qq command. If you omit n, 1 is
assumed (that is, l%q). Note that this command returns a value as
well as incrementing the stored value.
If you wish to increment the value in the Q-register but do not want
the returned value to be used as an argument for the next command,
type an ESCAPE after the n%q command (that is, n%q$).

4-77

TECO COMMANDS
4.62

• POSITION INDICATOR

Return a number equal to the number of characters preceding the buffer
pointer in the editing buffer.
FORMAT:
A period (.) equals the number of characters, that is, the number of
characters from the beginning of the buffer to the present buffer
pointer position, to the left of the current position of the buffer
pointer, and hence represents the buffer pointer position itself.
You can use the period in arithmetic expressions.

4-78

TECO COMMANDS
4.63

MODIFIER
1.

Return a value if a search fails.
FORMAT:

:nStext$
:n@S/text/

where:

represents any search command

is an arbitrary delimiter which is not one of the
characters in "text."

Do not output a carriage return after typing out a number.
FORMAT:

Cause a Gq command to type-out its contents without inserting
the contents into buffer.
FORMAT: 3:Gq
where:
q

4.63.1

is a Q-register designator.

: S Modifier

Use the colon modifier to alter the execution of a search command in
the event a search fails. Normally, a search that fails causes TECO
to print an error message; if you use the colon modifier, however, no
error message is printed.
Instead, every colon search returns a
numeric value that TECO can print out, store in a Q-register, or test
by a conditional branch.
A colon search command returns the value -1
successful, and the value 0 if the search fails.

the

The general form of a colon search command is the same for S,
and FN searches:

FS,

is
N,

*nSstring$
The colon precedes the search command letter and its numeric argument,
if any. Both the colon and @ modifier may be used on a search command
in either order.
Just as the Z command takes on a value that may be used as a numeric
argument, so also the command :Sstring$ takes on a value of 0 or -1
after TECO executes the search. If this is the last command in a
command string, or if the command following it does not take a numeric
argument, the value returned by the colon is discarded. Consequently,
a command that takes a numeric argument should follow a colon search.
The colon search commands reposition the buffer pointer in the same
manner as other search commands, regardless of whether the returned
value is used.

4-79

TECO COMMANDS
The primary use of the colon search is in programmed
command is usually followed by a conditional command.

4.63.2

The

: Numerical Type-out Modifier

See the = and == discussion for information on how
type-out commands.

4.63.3

editing.

Q-register Type-out Command

See the G command for information.

4-80

modifies numeric

TECO COMMANDS
COMMAND

4.64

If an argument is positive
iteration field.

zero,

ju'mp

out

current

FORMAT: n;

where:
n
2.

is a number, either explicit or returned.

If the current search failed, jump out of
field.

current

iteration

FORMAT:

You can terminate repetition of a command string loop before the
iteration count is satisfied by using the conditional iteration exit
command, semicolon (;). You can use the; command only within angle
brackets. You may use it with or without a numeric argument.
When you use a semicolon without a numeric argument, it evaluates the
outcome of the last search (of any kind) that was executed before TEeo
encountered the semicolon. If this search was successful, command
execution continues within the loop, as if no semicolon were present.
If, however, the most recent search failed, the; command causes all
those commands that follow the semicolon in the loop to be skipped
over, and command execution passes to the first command following the
right angle bracket, which closes the innermost loop containing the
semicolon.
NOTE

Within a command loop, all searches are
colon searches.
They do not generate
error messages when a failure occurs;
instead, they return a value of -1 if
successful and 0 if unsuccessful.
TECO executes all unmodified
search
commands entered within command loops as
though they were preceded by a colon and
followed by a semicolon.
The semicolon command is most often used with a numeric argument.
TECO ignores the command n; if n<O. However, if n>O, the command n;
causes command execution to exit from the loop, just as a
command
exits from the loop when a search fails.

4-81

TECO COMMANDS

<••• > COMMAND

4.65

Continue executing the command string until conditions are met.
FORMAT:

n< ••• >

where:
n

is a positive number.
If n is omitted, the
command is executed an infinite number of times
or until an exit condition occurs within the
loop.

You can cause a group of commands to be iterated (repeatedly executed)
any number of times by placing the commands within angle brackets.
The left angle bracket marks the beginning of a command string loop
and the right angle bracket marks the end of the loop.
These command string loops can be nested in the same manner that
arithmetic expressions are nested within parentheses. Loops should be
nested to no more than approximately ten levels;
otherwise, a
pushdown list overflow may occur.
You may use a numeric argument to type the number of times a given
loop is executed.
The argument is placed before the left angle
bracket in the form n< ••• >. This causes the group of commands within
the brackets to be iterated n times. In a command of the form <••• >,
if the argument is less than or- equal to zero, Teco skips the commands
within the angle brackets.
If no argument is given, the number of
iterations is assumed to be infinite.
You should use only the; and 0 commands to exit from
flow control commands (B) should not be used.

loop.

The

Example:

*J8«TAR>$L>$$

This commmand string inserts a tab
at the beginning of the first eight
lines in the buffer and leaves the
pointer positioned at the beginning
of the ninth line. The J command
starts
the pointer off at the
beginning of the first line.
The
first command in the loop, <TAB>$,
inserts a tab. Then the L command
moves the pointer to the next line
to prepare for the next iteration
of the loop.

*J<OLIJAN$
FS1969$1970$;)HT$$
JAN REPORT
I1EPT:
JAN 1970 SALES
WHOLESALE
RETAIL
JAN 1970 EXPENSES
OVERHEAII
AIIVERTISING

This command string inserts JAN at
the beginning of the first line in
the buffer and at the beginning of
each line that contains 1970. It
also changes
the
69 in every
occurrence of 1969 to 1970. The
action is similar to the way in
which the J command starts the
operation at the beginning of the
buffer. The first execution of the
OL
does
nothing. IJAN$ then

4-82

TECO COMMANDS

JAN 1970 RETURNS
JAN 1970

"'~I'

.r-...... ,.. P'.V

.I.I"CVC.I"CIUn:T

inserts JAN at the beginning of the
first line e Now a search is made
for
1969.
When it is found,
FS1969$1970$ changes 1969 to 1970.
This completes the first iteration;
execution loops the first iteration
and then loops back to the <. OL
moves the pointer to the beginning
of the line where the 1969 was
found. Here JAN is inserted and a
search is begun for the next 1969.
This continues until the search
command fails to find another 1969.
When the search fails, the pointer
is moved to the beginning of the
buffer. HT is the next command
which is executed.
(This macro
assumes that no line contains more
than one 1969.)

~EBfilespec$50000<~hp>ex$$

This removes all form feeds from
file.

-.!<FSREAD$WRITE$;>$$

This command causes a search of the
current page for all occurrences of
the string READ and replacement of
them with the string WRITE.

..!.<@FN/ERRORII;>$$

This command causes TECO to search
all of the following pages for the
string ERROR and
delete
every
occurrence
of
it.
The
@
construction must be used in this
case
because it allows you to
specify a delimiter other than $.
The delimiter must be specified
twice after the string: the first
to
delimit the string and the
second
to
indicate
that
a
replacement string is not present.
If $ were used as the delimiter. a
double $ would be present causing
an erroneous termination of the
command string.

4-83

TECO COMMANDS
4.66

- NUMERICAL TYPE-OUT COMMAND

Type out a number in decimal or octal (with
carriage return).
FORMAT:

without

following

=
:=
==

:==

where a single = means type out in decimal, a double = means type out
in octal, and the
modifier means do not type a carriage return
after typing.
Table 4-15 outlines these commands.
Table 4-15
= Commands
Command

Function

Type the value of n in
carriage return/line feed.

decimal

followed

n:=

Same as n= except the carriage return/line
suppressed.

feed

n==

Type the value of n as an unsigned octal
followed by a carriage return/line feed.

n:==

Same as n== except the carriage return/line feed
suppressed.

number
is

Examples:
...!VZ==$$

2529
*IOA==$$

40
*VNCHAF'TER $=$$

This reads in a page and then types out the
(decimal) number of characters in the page.
This types the octal representation of the
next character in the buffer.
This command searches for the next chapter
heading and then types out the number of the
chapter.
The buffer pointer points to the
location immediately following the 6.

4-84

TECO COMMANDS
4.67

? COMMAND

Trace the execution of a TECO command string.
FORMAT:

where:
?
2.

is inserted into the command string.

If an error occurs, type out the
command string.
FORMAT:

commands

executed

the

character

typed

after

the

where:
?

4.67.1

must be the first
prompting asterisk.

? Trace Command

The use of a question mark causes TECO to enter trace mode. In trace
mode, TECO types out each command as it is executed. A second
question mark takes TECO out of trace mode.
The? command traces only the commands that TECO executes; that is,
if a branching command causes a command to be skipped over, TECO does
not print it.
Example:
*JHT?
!L!lA-9-N
!M!lA-5B-NCOM$
~CD<TAB>$
~LOL$$

AB: LINE 1

LINE 2
C:

LINE 3

LINE 4
!L!lA-9-N!M!lA-5S-NCOM$lA-5S-NCO!M!lA-5S
-NCD
$'LOL$lA-9-NLO!L!lA-9-N!M!lA-5SNCO!M!lA-5S-NCD $'LO!L!lA-9-NLO!L!lA-9!M
l1A-5S-NC?F'OF'
.!,J?HT$$
J?
AS: LINE 1
LINE 2
LINE 3
LINE 4

After the first? command, TECO begins typing out
each command as it is executed. This enables you
to see exactly what the command string is doing.
The attempt to move the pointer beyond the end of
the fourth (and last) line with the C command
causes the ?PDP error message.
The second question mark command turns off the
trace feature so that the HT following it is not
printed.

4-85

TECO COMMANDS
4.67.2

? Error Command

In some cases, you may not be able to determine immediately which
command in the string caused an error. This could occur, for example,
if the command string had several commands of the same type. In such
a case, use the question mark command to obtain more information. The
question mark command, when you type it immediately
and only
immediately
after an error message type-out, causes TECO to type
out the entire command string up to and including the bad command.
NOTE
When you use this form of
the
?
command, it is not necessary to type an
ESCAPE or any other delimiting character
following the question mark.
TECO always types a second question mark after the last character of
the group. The character at which the error was detected is the last
character before the question mark.

4-86

TECO COMMANDS
4.68

@ TEXT DELIMITER MODIFIER

Modifies the next command which takes
delimiter form.

text

argument

is a command that takes a
4-16)

text

argument

is an arbitrary delimiter which
characters in "text. n

FORMAT:

use

the

@x/text/

where:

not

(see
one

Table
of

the

Use an @ modifier to alter the method by which TECO reads a command's
text.
The aeneral form and the commands for which the @ modifier is
applIcable ar~ listed in Table 4-16.
Table 4-16
@ Commands
@nS/text/
@nN/text/
@n /text/

@nFS/textl/text2/~

@nFS/textl//
@nFN/textl/text2/
@nFN/textl//
@I/text/
n@I//
@EB/filespec/
@EG//
@EG/text/
@ER/filespec/
@EW/filespec/
@"Uq/text/

Search page
Search file
Search file
Search page and replace
Search page and delete
Search file and replace
Search file and delete
Insert text
Insert character
Edit backup
Exit and execute last
Exit and execute text
Edit read
Edit write
Insert text in Q-register

Place the @ modifier before the command and before a numeric argument.
When you use the @ modifier, the text string is delimited not by the
command and an ESCAPE but by the first character you type after the
command and the next recurrence of this command.
In the above
examples, the delimiting character is a slash.
The delimiting
character may be any character except a character that appears in the
text itself.
Using the @ modifier, you may enter single (but
into a text string.

not

double)

ESCAPEs

Use the @ modifier in the above commands to separate the strings with
a delimiting character other than an ESCAPE. This is useful in cases
where a double ESCAPE cannot terminate the command. For example, if
you are searching for a string, then deleting it without replacement,
you would ordinarily type a double <ESCAPE> after an FS or FN command.
However, if this were within a command string, the command would be
terminated at this point unless you used an @ modifier.

4-87

TECO COMMANDS
4.69

\ COMMAND
1.

Returns the numbers following the buffer pointer.
FORMAT:

Insert a character numeric string into the buffer.
FORMAT:

where:
n

4.69.1

is the number to be inserted.

\ Command

The \ command (without a numeric argument) is equivalent to the value
of the digit string (optionally preceded by a + or - sign) immediately
following the current position of the buffer pointer.
The value is
terminated by the first alphabetic character that TECO encounters. If
there is no digit, TECO types a O.
TECD interprets the digit string in the current radix.
Example:
*VNCHAPTER $\=$$
16

4.69.2

This command searches for the next chapter
heading and then types out the number of the
chapter.
The buffer pointer is positioned
immediately following the 6 after
this
command has been executed.

n\ Insertion Command

Use the n\ command to insert the ASCII representation of a number n
into the buffer. TECD inserts the number in the current radix. For
example, 349 inserts the ASCII characters 3, 4, and 9 into the buffer
immediately preceding the pointer. Note that n does not have to be a
number typed in by the user. It can be a value which some other TECD
command returns.

4-88

TECO COMMANDS
4.70

AAX COMMAND

Return the ASCII value of a character.

where:

is an ASCII character.

The
command, when followed by an arbitrary character x, is
equivalent to the ASCII value of that character. For example, ln the
command AAA, the character A is an argument for AAA and TECO does not
interpret it as a command.
Example:
~~~HUO$$

This command stores the ASCII value of the letter
M (77) into Q-register O.

4-89

TECO COMMANDS
4.71

COMMAND

Search for a character string and discard all pages before the
is found.
FORMAT:

string

n textS
n@_/text/

where:
n

indicates what occurrence of the string is to be found

is an arbitrary delimiter which
characters in "text."

not

one

the

The backarrow command is identical to the N command except that a
search generates no output. Generally, where the N command executes a
P, the
executes a Y. You use the
search for examination functions
and for-discarding parts of a file.
You can also use the
command with a single numeric argument.
The
causes a search for the nth occurrence of the search
command n
string. When you omit n, TECO assumes n=l. n must always be greater
than O.
"text" may not be longer than 31 ASCII characters.
"text" may include the match control characters:
No match on character "a"
Use following command as match character
Match on separator
Exempt position from match
The

command may use a:

modifier.

Example:
You can use this command to determine if the
string VERSION88 occurs in the input file
five times.
If it does, the pointer is
positioned
immediately
after
the fifth'
occurrence, and everything in the input file
preceding
the
page on which the fifth
occurrence is located is discarded.
If it
does not, the entire file is discarded.

4-90

APPENDIX A
OCTAL & DECIMAL ASCII CHARACTER SET

ICHAR

OCT Q!£I

NUL

000 0001
001 001
002 002
003 003
004 004
005 005
006 006
007 007
010 008
011 009
012 010
013 011'
014 012
015 013
016 014
017 015,
020 016
021 017
022 018
023 019
024 020
025 021
026 022
027 023
030 024
031 025
032 026
033 027
034 028
035 029
036 030
037 031

AA
I AB

AC
AD
AE
AF
AG
AH
TAB
LF
VT

FF
CR
AN
AO
Ap
AQ
"R

.. s

"T
AU
A
V
-W
"X
"y

A
Z
ALT
FS
GS
RS
US

ICHAR OCT
SP
!
n

i
$
%
&

(
)

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
;

->
?

040
041
042
043
044
045
046
047
050
051
052
053
054
055
056
057
060
061
062
063
064
065
066
067
070
071
072
073
074
075
076
077

DECI ICHAR

OCT

DEC IICHAR OCT

DEC

100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
110

064
065
066
067
068
069
070
071
072
073
074
075
076
077
078
079
080
081
082
083
084
085
086
087
088 1
089
090
091
092
093
094
095

096
097
098
099
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107'
108
109
110

032
033 1
034. I
035
036
037
038
039
040
041
042
043
044
045
046
047
048
049
050
051
052
053
054
055
056
057
058
059
060
061
062
063

I Ba
I

C
D
-E
F
G
H
I
J
K

L
M

P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y

Z
[

A-l

III

112
113
114
115
116
-117
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137

140
141
142
144
c
144
d
e
145
f
146
147
9
h
150
i
151
j
152
k
153
1
154
m
155
156
n
157
0
160
P
q
161
162
r
s
163
t
164
u
165
166
v
w
167
170
x
y
171
z
172
173
174
175
176
DEL 177

I ba

Ill,

112
113
114
115
116
1171
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127

APPENDIX B

TECO ERROR MESSAGES
I

Ab:~!~i~~ionl

Printout
Message

Meaning

?ARG

IMPROPER ARGUMENTS

Number
missing I
before
comma, or
two
arguments
specified to 0, or
three
numeric
arguments

?BNI

NOT AN ITERATION

Iteration close (»
without
matching
open «)

?CCL

CCL.SV NOT FOUND OR EG
ARGUMENT TOO BIG

CCL not found
EG
argument
long

or
too

?FER

FILE ERROR

FILE
mean:

ERROR

can

1) input file not
found
on
"ER"
command
2)
cannot
enter
output file on "EW"
or "EB" command

3) device specified
for file does not
exist

4)
"ES"
command
given on non-file
structured device
?FUL

OUTPUT COMMAND WOULD HAVE

Output
command
would
have
overflowed
output
file (panic mode)

?IEC

ILLEGAL CHARACTER X* AFTER E

E followed by an
illegal character

?IFC

ILLEGAL CHARACTER X* AFTER F

F followed by an
illegal character

B-1

TECO ERROR MESSAGES

I
II

Printout
Abbreviation

Printout
Message

Meaning

?IFN

ILLEGAL CHARACTER X*** IN FILE
NAME

Illegal file name
in "ER", "EW" or
command

?ILL

ILLEGAL COMMAND X*

Illegal command

?INP

INPUT ERROR

Parity error
input file

?IQC

ILLEGAL CHARACTER X*
AFTER "n

" followed by an
illegal command

?IQN

ILLEGAL Q REGISTER NAME X**

Non-alphanumeric
Q-register name

?MEM

STORAGE CAPACITY EXCEEDED

Text
overflow

?NAC

NEGATIVE ARGUMENT TO,

Negative argument
to comma

?NAE

NO ARGUMENT BEFORE =

No
numeric
argument to the
left of an equal
sign

?NAP

NEGATIVE OR ZERO ARGUMENT
TO P

Negative or zero
argument to P
I

?NAQ

NO ARGUMENT BEFORE QUOTE

No
numeric
argument to the
left of a quote

?NAS

NEGATIVE OR ZERO ARGUMENT
TO S

Negative or zero
argument with a
search

?NAU

NO ARGUMENT BEFORE U

numeric
No
argument to the
left of a U

?NAY

NUMERIC ARGUMENT TO Y

Numeric argument
specified with Y
command

?NFO

VERSION NUMBER TO FILE FOR
OUTPUT

Attempt to output
without
opening
an output file

?NYI

CASE SUPPORT NOT IMPLEMENTED

Case support not
implemented (use
EO for version)

?NYI

CASE SUPPORT NOT IMPLEMENTED

Case support not
implemented (use
W for watch)

?OUT

OUTPUT ERROR

Output file too
big
or
output
parity error

B-2

buffer

TEeo ERROR MESSAGES
Printout
Abbreviation

Printout
Message

?PDO

Meaning

INTERNAL PUSHDOWN OVERFLOW

Pushdown overflow

?POP

I
I
ATTEMPT TO MOVE POINTER OFF
II PAGE

iterations nested
too deeply)

?QMO

I Q REGISTER MEMORY OVERFLOW

?SNI
?SRH

(macros

NOT IN AN ITERATION

I SEARCH Fill LED

and

Attempt to
move
pointer
outside
of text buffer
Q-register
storage overflow
Semicolon
command level

Failing search at
command level

?STL

SEARCH STRING TOO LONG

Search string too
large
(greater
than
31
characters)

?UTC

UNTERMINATED COMMAND

Incomplete
command
(POL not
empty at end of
command string)

?UTM

UNTERMINATED MACRO

Incomplete
command
(PDI not
empty at end of
macro)

?WLO

CANNOT WRITE OUT ERROR MESSAGE
OVERLAY

locked
Write
system device
Execution aborted

?XAB
?YCA

Y (or.) command
aborted
because
data
would
be
lost

Y COMMAND ABORTED

8-3

APPENDIX C
TECO COMMAND SUMMARY

Command
ERdev:filnam.exS
EWdev:filnam.ex$
EBdev:filnam.exS

y
'A

Function
Input file selection.
Output file selection.
I/O file selection with backup protection.
Clear buffer and read one page of input file.
Read one page of input file and append to current
buffer content.

BUFFER POINTER POSITIONS
B
Before first character.
Current pointer position (number of
left of pointer).
Z
After last character (number of
buffer).
m,n
From m+lth character through and
character.
H
Entire buffer; equivalent to B,Z.

characters

including

nth

ARITHMETIC OPERATORS
-n
Negation.
m+n
Addition.
m-n
Subtraction.
m*n
Multiplication.
min
Divide and truncate.
m&n
Bitwise logical AND.
mtn
Bitwise logical OR.
( )
Perform enclosed operations first.
POINTER POSITIONS
nJ
nC
nR
nL
TYPE-OUT COMMANDS
nT
m,nT
n=

"Atext"A
"0

position pointer between nth and n+lth characters.
Move pointer forward across n characters.
Move pointer backward across n characters.
Position pointer at beginning of nth line following
current position.
Type buffer content from pointer position
beginning of nth following line.
Type m+lth character through and including
character.
Type the integer equivalent of expression n.
Type the enclosed text.
Inhibit typeout.

C-l

to
nth

TECO COMMAND SUMMARY
Command
DELETION COMMANDS
nO
-nO
nK
m,nK

Function

Delete the n characters following the pointer.
Delete the n characters preceding the pointer.
Delete the n lines following the pointer.
Delete the m+lth character through and including
the nth character.

INSERTION COMMANDS
Itext$
Insert text delimited by I and ALT MODE.
<I>text$
Insert tabulation, then text.
<I> is a
TAB
(control-I) character.
Insert character whose ASCII code is n.
nI
@I/text/
Insert text delimited by arbitrary character shown
as a slash.
Insert the ASCII code for integer n.
n\
OUTPUT AND EXIT
PW
P

m,nP

EC
SEARCH COMMANDS
nStext$
nNtext$
n

textS

nFNtextl $text2$
:nStext$

n@S/text/$

FS
FN

Write current page and append form feed.
Write current page, append form feed, clear buffer,
and read next page.
Write m+lth
through
nth
characters
without
appending a form feed.
Close the current output file.
Close the current output file and exit to the OS/8
monitor.
Immediate exit to the OS/8 monitor.
Exit to the monitor and do a START 200.
Write the rest of the input file on the output file
and exit to the monitor.
Write the remainder of the input file on the output
file and close the file.
Begin at the pointer and search for the nth
occurrence of the text delimited by the S and the
ALT MODE on the current page.
Equivalent to nStext$ except that the search is
continued across page boundaries.
Equivalent to nNtext$ except that no output is
generated.
Do nNtextl$ and then replace textl with text2.
Equivalent to nStext$ except that it returns a
value of -1. If the search succeeds, or 0, if the
search fails. The colon may be used with Nand
searches.
Equivalent to nStext$ except that the text is
delimited by the arbitrary character following the
S, instead of ALT MODE.
Accept any character in this position.
Accept any separator in this position.
Save last
typed command.
Accept any character except the following character
in this position.
Interpret the next character literally, rather than
as a command.
Search for a character string in the current buffer
and replace with another string.
Search for a character string in a page other than
the current buffer and replace with another string.

C-?

TEeo COMMAND SUMMARY
Function

Command

n< >
n;

!tag!
Otag$
niiE

n"N
n"L
n"G
n"C
n-m"A

n-m"B

ITERATION AND FLOW CONTROL
Perform enclosed commands n times.
If n is positive, jump out of the current iteration
field.
Define a position named "tag" at this location.
Jump to the position defined by "tag."
If n=O, execute the following command string.
If n=O, execute the following command string.
If n is less than zero, execute the following
command string.
If n is greater than zero, execute the following
command string.
If n is the ASCII code for an
alphanumeric
character, execute the following commands.
If n is greater than or equal to m, execute the
following commands.
If n is less than m, execute the
following
commands.

Q-REGISTER COMMANDS
nUq
Store n in Q-register q.
Qq
Equivalent to the value stored in Q-register q.
n%I
Add n to the content of Q-register q and return
this value.
"'uqtext$
Insert text into Q-register q.
Load the n following lines into Q-register q.
nXq
Load the m+lth character through the nth character
m,nXq
into Q-register q.
Insert the content of Q-register q into the buffer.
Gq
Execute the content of Q-register q as a command
Mq
string.
Insert the specified string into the text storage
area of the Q-register
NUMERIC VALUES
nA
"'E
"'F
"'H

...... X
"'z
"'0
"'0

"'V

ASCII value of nth character following pointer.
Form feed flag.
Console data switches~
Always equals zero •
Equivalent to the ASCII code for character "X."
Command and Q-register storage words in use.
Set octal radix.
Set decimal radix.
Equivalent to the value of the digit
string
following the pointer.
Equivalent to the ASCII code for the next character
typed.
Equivalent to the number of the version of TECO
being run.

PROGRAMMING AIDS
?
?

After an error message,
identifies
erroneous
character.
Except after an error message, toggles in and out
of trace mode.
Erases current command string.

C-3

INDEX

ET edit terminal command, 4-23
EU edit upper/lower command, 4-24
EW output file selection cO~~4nd,
4-25
EX output and exit command, 4-26
Exclamation point (!), 4-72
Exit TECO, 3-7

A (append) command, 4-2
Alphabetizing, 3-14
Arithmetic operators, 2-9
Asterisk usage, 3-1
At sign (@) modifier, 4-87

B position indicator, 4-5
Backslash (\) insertion command,
4-88
Branching commands, 3-9
Buffer pointer manipulation
commands, 3-6

File closing commands, 3-7
File specification commands, 3-5
FN search command, 4-28

G (get) command, 4-32
C pointer, 4-6
Calling TECO, 3-1 to 3-3
Carriage control, 2-5
Case control, 4-24
Character set, 2-3
Colon (:),
modifier, 4-79
search command, 4-81
Command loops, 3-8
Conditional execution commands,
3-9
CTRL/A type-out command, 4-4
CTRL/C exit command, 4-7
CTRL/N search command, 4-47
CTRL/O inhibit type-out command,
4-49
CTRL/Q command, 4-55
CTRL/S search command, 4-58
CTRL/U command, 4-64
CTRL/X search command, 4-69

H position indicator, 4-35

I (insertion) command, 4-36
Input files, 2-2
Insertion .commands , 3-7
Iteration commands, 3-8

(jump) command, 4-39

K deletion command, 4-40

L (line) command, 4-42
Line of text, 2-5
Logical operators, 2-9
Looping commands, 3-8

D (deletion) command, 4-8
Deleting TECO commands, 3-10
Deletion commands, 3-7
Dot (.) buffer pointer, 3-6

EC output command, 4-14
EF output command, 4-15
EG exit and go command, 4-16
EH edit and help command, 4-18
EK exit kill command, 4-19
EO version command, 4-20
ER input file selection command,
4-21
ESCape command, 4-22

M (macro) command, 4-43
Macro library management, 3-14 to
3-15
Match control characters, 4-55,
4-58

N search command, 4-45
Nesting loop commands, 4-83
Numeric arguments, 2-8

Index-l

INDEX (Cont.)

o flow control command, 4-48
Operators, 2-9
OUtput commands, 3-7
Output files, 2-2

S (search) command, 4-57
Search commands, 3-7
Super TEeO, 2-10

T (type out) command, 4-59
TAB insertion command, 4-62
Text type-out commands, 3-6

P (page) command, 4-50
Page of text, 2-5
Percent sign (%) Q-register
command, 4-77
PW page command, 4-52

U command, 4-63

Q (Q-register) command, 4-54
Q registers, 3-9
Quotation marks en) flow control
commands, 4-73

X command, 4-67

Y (yank) command, 4-70
R (reverse) command, 4-56
Retrieving lost files, 2-10

Z position indicator, 4-71

Index-2

OS/8
TECO Reference Manual
AA-H608A-TA

NOTE:

This form is for document co~~ents only. DIGITAL will
use comments submitted on this form at the company!s
discretion. If you require a ~~itten reply and are
eligible to receive one under Software Performance
Report (SPR) service, submit your comments on an SPR
form.

Did you find this manual understandable, usable, and well-organized?
Please make suggestion~ for improvement •

Did you find errors in this manual?
page number.

If so, specify the error and the

Please indicate the type of reader that you most nearly represent.
[] Assembly language programmer
[] Higher-level language programmer
[] Occasional programmer (experienced)
[] User with little programming experience
[] Student programmer
[] Other (please specifyl ______________________________________

Name

Date ________________________

Organization _________________________________________________________________
Street ________________________________________________________________________
City___________________________ State _____________ Zip Code _____________
or
Country

Do Not Tear - Fold Here and Tape

IIIIII

~DmDDmD

No Postage
Necessary
if Mailed in the
United States

BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO.33 MAYNARD MASS.
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE

RT/C SOFTWARE PUBLICATIONS

ML 5-5/E45

DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION
146 MAIN STREET
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS

. -

Do Not Tear - Fold Here

01754

....J

....o

c
o

:;;: