Command Storage

exaEdit knows two kinds of command storage. First, there are the F keys explained in Programmable Function Keys, and, second, the two exaEdit commands X and Y which are explained below. The essential difference between the F keys and the commands is that you may use the command sequence saved as X or Y within another command sequence as command X and Y, again, while the F keys can only be used separately.

You set the command storage X with the command

X command sequence

For example:

x next 2; change /ab/xy/

For the execution of this command it is sufficient to give the command X. You will often wish to execute a command repeatedly. To do this, you only have to specify the number of repetitions behind the command.

x 17

executes the command sequence 17 times.

If a command cannot be executed, for example because the end of the workfile is reached, then the execution of X is aborted. This would allow you to use, for example, the predefined X from above with X 9999 even if the workfile does not contain as many records as would be necessary at first sight.

With the command

x ?

you achieve that exaEdit displays the command sequence stored in X in the window. This is very useful if you have defined a highly complex command sequence and you want to change it only slightly. In this case you enter X ?, change the line in the window and hit the return key. By doing so, you have redefined (and changed) X.

The command Y is identical with X. In the definition of X you may use Y and vice versa. A directly or indirectly recursive definition is recognized by exaEdit in the execution of the commands and results in one of the following two messages:

Cancelled at recursive X
Cancelled at recursive Y