SSAM(1)SSAM(1)NAMEssam - A stream editor with sam command syntax
SYNOPSISssam [-a CollationSequence] [-b] [-f FileOfCommands] [-n] [-w] [-x] [files...]
DESCRIPTIONSsam(1) is analogous to the stream editor sed(1), but uses the sam com‐
mand set to provide improved functionality, and is aware of the UTF
character set. It uses the UTF-aware regular expression library,
ure(3).
FLAGS
A different UTF collation sequence may be sepcified either on the com‐
mand line by using the -asequencename argument, or by using the UTF‐
COLLSEQ environment variable.
The -b argument specifies that offsets in the output of the '=' command
should be given in bytes from the beginning of the file, rather than in
UTF characters from the beginning of the file. This is for some compat‐
ibility with tools that are not UTF-aware. Please note also that this
is solely for output - currently, it's not possible to move to a byte
offset in a file, nor is it desirable to do so.
Commands may be taken from a file rather than the command line by using
the -ffilename argument.
The -n argument specifies that output should not be sent to stdout by
default.
The -v argument prints the version number of ssam on standard output,
along with the date ssam was compiled, and the e-mail address for bug
reports.
The -w argument allows you to update files in place. It was considered
dangerous to implement ssam without this argument, as, without it, an
unsuspecting user may overwrite files unintentionally. In effect, this
argument enables the ssam 'w' command to work.
The -x argument shows a simple representation of commands after parsing
has taken place. This is mainly for debugging purposes, and there are a
few unexpected indentations, especially in address calculation, but has
been left in for help in divining why certain commands are executed.
SSAM COMMAND SET
The following sam(1) commands have been implemented in ssam(1):
= prints the value (line numbers and character offsets) of dot
X /ure/ command run command in each file whose menu line matches ure
Y /ure/ command run command in each file whose menu line does not match
ure
a /text/ append text after dot
c /text/ change text in dot
d delete text in dot
f print menu line of current file
g /ure/ command if dot contains a match of ure, run command
i /text/ insert text after dot
k set address mark to dot
m address move text in dot to be after address
n print menu lines of all files
p print text in dot
s /ure/text/ substitute text for match of ure in dot
t address copy text in dot to after address
v /ure/ command if dot does not contain a match of ure, run command
w write file
x /ure/ command for each match of ure, set dot and run command
y /ure/ command between adjacent matches of ure, set dot and run com‐
mand
{ begin a group of commands
} end a group of commands
BUGS
Get your buggy software here...
AUTHOR
Conceived and written by Alistair Crooks (agc@uts.amdahl.com, or
agc@westley.demon.co.uk). I've since found out that Byron Rakitzis
wrote a similar program, with less functionality, called ss, which was
based on Henry Spencer's regular expression code.
SSAM(1)
