Tulane Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
The Z editor is available on the UNIX computer systems in the department and at TCS. It originated at Yale, but the current version was redesigned and implemented by Tulane computer science students.
Introduction to Z
To run a tutorial that will introduce you to the basic commands of Z, use the following command.
z /usr/local/doc/z/zintro
How to use Z
To use Z on a file, just type z followed by the file name. For example, to edit the file named myfile, use the following command.
z myfile
If you wish to resume editing the last file you were working on, just type z. It will then reenter that file at the place you left off. (Z uses a file .ztmp to keep track of this, so do not delete .ztmp.)
Control keys and other special keys
Commands in Z are given by using a combination of keys, usually called control keys. In documentation, a control key is denoted in the form ^C or CTRL/C. And, for example, the key ^C is called CONTROL-C or control C. There are 32 control keys, one for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet plus 6 others.
To enter a control key, you must hold down the key labeled CONTROL or CTRL and type another key. For example, to enter ^A, hold down the CONTROL key and type the A key.
There is a special key labeled ESC or ESCAPE. The ESCAPE key will usually be referred to as <ESC> in documentation.
Another special key that is used in Z is PF1, the upper left function key on the keypad of the VT100 terminal. It is used to provide arguments to Z. If you are using a terminal or PC without a PF1 key, you can use <ESC><ESC> in its place; i.e., strike the ESCAPE key twice. In the Z documentation, this particular special key is referred to as <ARG> because it is used to precede arguments to Z commands. (Note that when you type PF1 or <ESC><ESC> in Z, a $ will appear on your screen marking the spot where your cursor is. That $ has not been inserted into your text; it will vanish when the command is executed.)
Z COMMANDS
The commands marked with * are basic and beginning users need only learn to use these.
Common name formal name key strokes ___________ ___________ ___________
* advance plines ^A * backup mlines ^B balance balance ^] * cancel cancel ^C carriagereturn softcr ^M or ^J center center <ESC>c setswitch setswitch ^^ * delete (backspace) bdelete ^H or DEL * deletechar sdelete ^D * deleteline ldelete ^U * exit exit ^Z filechange chgbuf ^F fill fill <ESC>f flushleft flushl <ESC>L flushright flusher <ESC>R * get put ^G home home ^Y justify justify <ESC>j * insertspace sinsert ^V * lineinsert linsert ^L lowercase lower <ESC>1 * newpage ppaes ^N * oldpage mpages ^O * put pick ^P position position ^K queryreplace qreplace <ESC>^R quotechar quotechar ^\ * readarg readarg <ESC><ESC> or PF1 replace replace ^R resetkeys resetkeys <ESC>s rotatepickbuffers rotate <ESC>r * search psearch ^X setline setline <ESC>S showmap showmap <ESC>~ splitscreen split <ESC>a tab softtab ^I toggle toggle ^T uppercase upper <ESC>u * upsearch msearch ^E window setwind ^W