Option (o)

option query/set

Syntax:

o{option_character}{option_modifier}

Description:

The Option command allows you to change or query your editing options. The option selected is specified by the {option_character} and the operation is specified by the {option_modifier}.

The {option_modifier} may be one of +, -, ~ (tilde) or ?. A + (plus) will turn an option on, a - (minus) will turn an option off and a ~ (tilde) will cause the option to toggle. A ? does not affect the option, but it sets the condition register TRUE if the option is on and FALSE if the option is off. The +, - and ~ forms of the command do not affect the condition register.

The {option_character} is a single letter and specifies which option will be acted on. It may be one of a, b, c, d, e, f, i, j, l, m, n, s, t or w). Each option is briefly described in a subsection below.

Options

oa - Option Anchor

Whenever a pattern search is made, the editor will leave your cursor at the start (a+) or end (a-) of the pattern matched. Should you specify a search for the string “mouse” with a+ your cursor will be anchored to the “m” in mouse. With (a-), the cursor would be positioned at the character after the matched string “mouse” (the character after the “e”).

ob - Option Blank

When viewing a piece of text on the screen, lines appear to be padded with blanks to the end of the screen. Since the editor reads files with variable sized lines containing 0 (a line containing only a carriage return) to 512 characters you may wonder whether the blanks at the end of the line are read or not. With (b+), the editor will allow you to differentiate between real blanks by displaying nulls (non-existent characters) as small centered dots.

oc - Option Command

This option indicates whether your active cursor is in the command area (c+) or text area (c-). It is often queried and set within macros. The F1, F2 and large + key are examples of macros which do this.

od - Option Dual

This option, like option anchor (oa) concerns pattern matching. If off (d-) then a search for “mouse” would match the string “MOUSE”, “MoUse”, “MOUsE” and so on in your text. With (d+) the pattern matcher differentiates between upper and lower case.

oe - Option Environment

This option is handled quite differently from the other options. It does not have an on or off state. Each time you specify an oe+ command, your current options will be saved. They may be restored by an oe- command. The editor only maintains a single level of environment stacking. Multiple oe+ commands simply overwrite previous saves and multiple oe- commands simple restore the last environment saved by an oe+. This command is useful within macros where it may be necessary to temporarily change an option to perform a required function. Only the current state (on/off) off each option is saved.

of - Option Fill

This option when on (f+) will cause automatic filling of input lines at your defined right margin. The default right margin is column 60. Should you attempt to enter a character in this column, then any preceding characters of a word will be moved to the next line. Using this option you may enter text without having to type a carriage return to end each line. This is extremely useful when entering documentation and letters.

oi - Option Insert

With (i+), all characters typed will be inserted before the cursor.

oj - Option Justify

With (j+), all filled lines will also be justified at your right margin.

ol - Option Limit

This option will flash (l+) when a limited tag has been set.

om - Option Meta Characters

With (m+), meta characters are enabled during pattern matching. The meta characters “@$^&*[.” are explained in detail on the section describing the pattern matcher.

on - Option Newline

Whenever a carriage return is entered in the text area while this option is on (n+), a new line will open up after your current line to allow you to type in new text. This can be thought of as line insert mode and is similar to character insert mode (oi).

os - Option Autosave

With (s+), your buffer will be automatically saved in the file “autosave” after every 20 lines of input. While writing to the disk you may still continue to type up to 256 characters per line, however, your keys will not be echoed until the write is complete.

ot - Option Tabs

This option is similar to option blank (b). Tab characters in your text are expanded into enough spaces to reach the next tab stop. What may appear as 4 spaces may only be one real character. Turning this option on (t+) will display the actual tab character as a right triangle. With (b+) also on, the spaces which pad the tab to the next tab stop will be displayed as centered dots since they do not exist within the buffer. Tabs are characters which are heavily used within C programs for indentation.

ow - Option Wrap

With (w+) pattern searches will wrap around from top to bottom or bottom to top in your buffer.

Current line:

Not affected.

Condition register:

Set TRUE or FALSE if option_modifier is a “?”.