RGFN User's Guide

Directory Editor (DIRED)

DIRED, short for DIRectory EDitor, allows you to manipulate the files in your directory with a comfortable point-and-shoot interface. Each file in the directory is listed on a separate line along with additional file information explained below. Cursor motion commands are used to select files and a number of commands are provided to operate on the currently selected file which is the file whose line the cursor is on. Users of VT-100 and compatible terminals can also use the arrow keys to move up, down, right, or left.

File Information

Here is how a typical line of information about a file will appear:
 chet       163840 Mar  1 16:36  mywork*

The fields, in order, are:
	owner of the file (chet)
	size of file in characters/bytes (163840)
	date of last modification of this file (Mar  1 16:36)
	name of the file* (mywork)

When you type h or ? while in DIRED this file is the one you will see.

Moving Around

The cursor movement commands are patterned after the Emacs equivalents.

Here is the list:

C-x means Control key -x
M-x means ESC key -x
C-P     move cursor to previous line            
C-N     move cursor to next line 
C-A     move cursor to beginning of current line
C-E     move cursor to end of  current line
C-B     move cursor one space left              
C-F     move cursor one space right
C-V     move to next screenful of files 
M-V     move to previous screenful of files     
C-L     clear and refresh the screen            
C-R     refresh current line
M-<     go to first file in list                
M->     go to last file in list

C-U can be used to provide numeric arguments to all commands. These arguments are usually interpreted as a repeat count. For instance, C-U 4 C-N will move down 4 lines. C-P and C-N try to position the cursor so it is at the beginning of the file name on each line. Users of VT-100 and compatible terminals can also use the arrow keys to move up, down, right, or left.

Commands

These are the commands that operate on files. All of commands operate on the current file (the one whose line the cursor is on). Case is significant so be careful.

d       Delete a file (also C-K)
u       Undelete a file (also C-Y)
x       Expunge files marked for deletion (really remove them). Often 
	followed by  R  to re-read the directory.
s       Send a file to another user
c       Copy the file. You will be prompted for a file name to copy to.
r       Rename the file. You will be prompted for a new file name.
v       View the file. This runs ce on the file in read-only mode. It is 
	oriented more towards moving around in the file and searching it 
	than reading the contents.
m       More, means display more of the file to the terminal through a 
	pager
e       Edit the file, using your choice of editors
t       Type the file out to the screen, without pausing. Mostly used for 
	capturing the file into a PC capture buffer.
q       Quit. The files marked for deletion are listed, and you are asked 
	whether or not to delete them.If you type y the files are deleted, 
	and DIRED exits. If you type  n  the files are not deleted,and 
	DIRED continues on the assumption that you deleted a file you 
	wanted to keep and need to undelete it.
Q       The same as q except that it always quits, whether or not you type  
	y and have the files deleted.
R       Re-read the directory you are editing. Commonly used after 
	deleting or renaming files.
SPACE   Print the full pathname of the directory currently being edited.

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