r command (Editor processor)

The r command replaces the current line, replaces a string of characters within the current line, or replaces a string of characters within a specific range of lines.

Syntax

r{u}{#lines}/old.string/new.string{/{start.col{-end.col}}}

Parameter(s)

u Indicates universal replace.
#lines Specifies the number of lines to be replaced.
/ (forward-slash) Delimiter that can be any nonnumeric character.
old.string If null, a new string is inserted at the beginning of the line.
new.string If null, and the old string is found, the old string is deleted from the line.
start.col Specifies the beginning column range in which strings are eligible for replacement.
end.col Specifies the ending column range in which strings are eligible for replacement.

Description

Only the first occurrence of the old string is replaced with the new string. The ru form replaces all (universal) occurrences. If the number of lines is specified, the line pointer is incremented accordingly.

An r command, followed by pressing ENTER, allows the replacement of an entire line. Pressing ENTER at the first position of the line returns control to the Editor command prompt and the line remains unchanged.

Multiple replacements may be performed on a line without filing the data with the f command.

The ^ represents an attribute mark in the Editor. Used with the r command, it has the effect of terminating the line. See the .r/abc/^ example below.

Note: When using column ranges (see c command (Editor processor)), the r command only works if there is data in the attribute and it occurs within the specified column position, or range of positions. It is not possible to replace using a column range beyond the end of the attribute.

Example(s)

Positions cursor at the beginning of line nnn for replacement of the entire line. A subsequent Enter leaves the line intact.

r
nnn _

Positions cursor at the beginning of each of the next ten lines for entire line replacement.

r10

Replaces the first 3 characters (wildcards or ^) of the current line with null (that is, deletes the first three characters).

r/^^^//

Replaces the first occurrence of the string, abc, with an attribute mark (^), terminating the line prior to the string, abc.

r/abc/^

Places the string, abc at the beginning of the next ten lines.

r10//abc

Replaces the first occurrence of the string, abc, with the string xyz in the current and the next nine lines.

r10/abc/xyz

Replaces all occurrences of the string, abc, with the string, xyz, in the current and next nine lines.

ru10/abc/xyz

Replaces the first occurrence of the string, abc, with the string xyz, in the current and next nine lines, when the string is found in column positions 5 through 9.

r10/abc/xyz/5-9

Replaces all characters on the current attribute with null, leaving the current attribute intact, but empty.

ru/^//

Replaces every occurrence of two spaces with one space, from the current line through the end of the item.

ru999/ / /