Chapter 6. Inserting Text

At the beginning of each editing session, the editor puts your keyboard in insert mode. The Insert Mode command key lets you switch between insert and overwrite modes. The bottom of the editor screen reads either INSERT or OVERWRITE . Insert and overwrite modes affect all keyboard characters.

How to Insert Text with the INed Editor

You can use the following procedures with INed editor subcommands:

• To Switch between Insert and Overwrite Modes
• To Switch between the Current Font and Continuous Underline
• To Display or Change the Current Font
• To Reset the Current Font to Roman
• To Type a Control Character
• To Insert One Line
• To Insert Multiple Lines

To Switch between Insert and Overwrite Modes

Press the Insert key (the Insert Mode function).

In insert mode, you can type new text in the middle of existing text without deleting anything. For example, if the cursor is at the comma in the following text:

He who laughs, laughs best.

and you type the word last , the new text is placed directly in front of the cursor, as follows:

He who laughs last, laughs best.

In overwrite mode, you can type over existing text. For example, if the cursor is on the last letter of the word lasts in the following text:

He who laughs lasts.

and you type the following string:

, laughs best.

the editor replaces everything you type over with the new text:

He who laughs last, laughs best.

To Switch between the Current Font and Continuous Underline

Press the Ctrl-A, F key sequence (the Font function).

When you begin to edit a file, the font you type with (the default font for the INed editor) is Roman, and the alternate font is continuous underline.

To Display or Change the Current Font

Font changes affect only the text that you type after you change the font. To change the font for existing text, you must first change the font, and then retype the text.

1. Press the Ctrl-A, Enter key sequence (the Enter function).

2. Type one of the following characters in the ENTER box, and press the Ctrl-A, F key sequence (the Font function):

   Key	Action
   ?	Displays the current and available fonts.
   r	Roman font (not underlined).
   w	Word-underline font. Each word is underlined, but spaces and punctuation are not underlined.
   c	Continuous-underline font. Everything you enter, including spaces and punctuation, is underlined.
   g	Graphics font. You can enter graphic characters on the display by typing the following keys:

   Key	Graphic Character
   s	Upper-left corner box
   t	Top-side middle
   d	Upper-right corner box
   w	Left-side middle
   q	Horizontal line
   a	Vertical bar
   z	Intersection
   e	Right-side middle
   f	Lower-left corner box
   r	Bottom-side middle
   g	Lower-right corner box.

   Note: Use the Ctrl-A, P key sequence (the Print function) to print graphic characters. (How the graphic characters print depends on your printer.)

To Reset the Current Font to Roman

1. Press the Ctrl-A, Enter key sequence (the Enter function).

2. Press the Ctrl-A, F key sequence (the Font function).

To Type a Control Character

Press the Ctrl-A, Q key sequence (the Quote function), and type the character that corresponds to the desired control character.

Control characters are nonprinting characters. Some control characters perform formatting functions in text files. You can use the Ctrl-A, Q key sequence to insert one control character at a particular location in text. An example of a control character is FF (form feed). To enter a form-feed character, press the Ctrl-A, Q key sequence, and then type the letter l . See INed Editor ASCII Control Characters for more information.

Note: To print files formatted with control characters, go to the system prompt and use the operating system qprt command. The Ctrl-A, P key sequence (the Print function) does not recognize the control characters that you enter with the Ctrl-A, Q key sequence.

To Insert One Line

Move the cursor to the line directly below the place where you want the new lines to be inserted, and press the F6 key (the Insert Line function).

In the following example, a blank line needs to be inserted between the end of one paragraph and the beginning of the next paragraph:

this beginning will serve as a helpful guide to
our initial system introduction.
   Please feel free to call if you have any
questions or problems.

Move the cursor anywhere on the line that starts with Please feel free and press the F6 key. The result is:

this beginning will serve as a 
helpful guide to our initial system introduction.
   Please feel free to call if you have any
questions or problems.

To Insert Multiple Lines

1. Move the cursor to the line directly below where you want the new lines to be inserted, and press the Ctrl-A, Enter key sequence (the Enter function).

   The editor displays the ENTER box.

2. Type in the ENTER box the number of lines you want to insert, and press the F6 key (the Insert Line function).

In the following example, two lines for a signature need to be inserted within the following:

Sincerely yours,
Lila Beardorf
Vice President, Ecological Affairs

Move the cursor to the line Lila Beardorf , press the Ctrl-A, Enter key sequence, type the number 2 in the ENTER box, and press the F6 key. The result is:

Sincerely yours,
Lila Beardorf
   
   
Vice President, Ecological Affairs

Related Information

The qprt command in AIX Version 4.3 Commands Reference.

INed Editor Overview introduces general concepts about the INed editor, lists the INed editing functions and describes the system guidelines for using the INed editor.

INed Editor Functions for the Standard Keyboard is a table that shows the INed editor command keys on a standard keyboard.

INed Editor Files in AIX Version 4.3 Files Reference contains reference information about the files used by the INed editor.

INed Editor ASCII Control Characters.