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DOS EDITOR:-

About edit

The MS-DOS Editor is a command line text editor that allows you to to view, create, or modify any fileon your computer. When running the edit command you will be shown a screen similar to the below

picture.

Availability

The edit command is an external command that is available in the below Microsoft operating systems.

MS-DOS 5.x and above

Windows 95

Windows 98Windows ME

Windows NT

Windows 2000

Windows XP

Windows Vista*

Windows 7*

* 64-bit versions of Windows do not support the edit commanduse notepad to edit files. Notepad can be

started from the Windows command line by using thestart command.

Syntax

EDIT [/B] [/H] [/R] [/S] [/] [/?] [file(s)]

/B Forces monochrome mode.

/H Displays the maximum number of lines possible for your hardware.

/R Load file(s) in read-only mode.

/S Forces the use of short filenames.

/ Load binary file(s), wrapping lines to characters wide.

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/e/extecomm.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win95.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win98.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winme.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winnt.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win2000.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winxp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/software/vista.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/windows7.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001303.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001303.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001303.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/starthlp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/starthlp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/starthlp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/starthlp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001303.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/windows7.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/software/vista.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winxp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win2000.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winnt.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winme.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win98.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win95.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/jargon/e/extecomm.htm

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/? Displays this help screen.

[file] Specifies initial files(s) to load. Wildcards and multiple file specs can be given.

Examples

edit c:\autoexec.bat

This would look at the autoexec.bat. However, if the file is not found, you will have a blank blue screen.

When editing this or any file, ensure that you know what you are placing in the files improperly editing

the file can cause issues with your computer.

If you are unable to get this program to work, try typing in "path c:\windows\command" if you

haveWindows 95or higher, or type in "path c:\dos" if you have Dos 5.x/6.x/7.x orWindows 3.xand tryagain. If you still are not able to get edit to work, it may not be on the hard drive; Type in dir edit.com

/s at the c:\>. If it says that the file is not found, you may not have this feature.

If you are running a MS-DOS version 4.x or lower or you are unable to find edit.com on your hard drive,

you can also use the below command to create a file.

copy con

Once you have entered the above command this will create the file with the name specified.

Once you have typed all the lines you wish to be in the file, press and hold CTRL + Z. This should enter

^Z, once on the screen, press enter and one file should be copied.

Using edit to create a file

Using edit you can also create files; for example, if you wanted to create a file called myfile.txt, you

would type the below command.

edit myfile.txt

This would bring up a blank edit screen, as long as the file is saved upon exit this will create the file

myfile.txt.

Additional information

Note: Edit is only able to open a file with a maximum of 65,280 lines.

If your mouse drivers are not loaded while in MS-DOS or the Windows command line you may have no

mouse support. It is still possible to navigate the Editor using shortcut keys as seen in the below list.

Quick Tip: Pressing Alt will allow you to quickly navigate through edit without having to memorize the

below commands.

http://www.computerhope.com/win95.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win95.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win95.htm

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Home Move cursor to the beginning of the line currently on.

End Move cursor to the end of the line currently on.

Ctrl + Up Scroll up one line.

Ctrl + Down Scroll down one line.

PageUp Scroll up one screen.

PageDown Scroll down one screen.

Ctrl + PageUp Scroll left one screen.

Ctrl +

PageDown

Scroll right one screen.

Ctrl + Home Scroll to the top of the document.

Ctrl + End Scroll to the bottom of the document.

Ctrl + Left Move left one word.

Ctrl + Right Move right one word.

Enter Starts a new line or moves text after cursor down.

Delete (Del) Deletes one character that cursor is on or currently selected text.

Backspace Deletes one character before the cursor.

Tab Moves cursor or text to next tab stop, or indents line if at first character.

Insert Switch between insert and overwrite modes.

Ctrl + Y Deletes the current line.

Ctrl + V Pastes contents currently within buffer, if any.

Ctrl + P Allows special characters to be inserted into Edit.

Shift Using shift in combination with any of the above scrolling or moving commands will

highlight text, such as Ctrl + Shift + Right.

Ctrl + C Copies currently selected text into buffer.

Ctrl + X Cuts the currently selected text into buffer.

Shift + Tab Un-indents the currently selected line.

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Ctrl + Q + F Find text.

Ctrl + Q + A Find and replace text.

F3 Repeat last search.

F6 Switch to the next edit window, if any.

Ctrl + F6 Open new edit window.

Ctrl + F4 Closes second edit window.

Ctrl + F8 Resizes edit window.

F1 Displays help.

About edit

The MS-DOS Editor is a command line text editor that allows you to view, create, or modify any file on

your computer. When running the edit command you will be shown a screen similar to the below picture.

Availability

The edit command is an external command that is available in the below Microsoft operating systems.

MS-DOS 5.x and above

Windows 95

Windows 98

Windows ME

Windows NT

Windows 2000

Windows XP

Windows Vista*

Windows 7*

* 64-bit versions of Windows do not support the edit commanduse notepad to edit files. Notepad can be

started from the Windows command line by using thestart command.

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/e/extecomm.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win95.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win98.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winme.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winnt.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win2000.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winxp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/software/vista.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/windows7.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001303.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001303.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001303.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/starthlp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/starthlp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/starthlp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/starthlp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001303.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/windows7.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/software/vista.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winxp.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win2000.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winnt.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/winme.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win98.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win95.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/jargon/e/extecomm.htm

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Syntax

EDIT [/B] [/H] [/R] [/S] [/] [/?] [file(s)]

/B Forces monochrome mode.

/H Displays the maximum number of lines possible for your hardware.

/R Load file(s) in read-only mode.

/S Forces the use of short filenames.

/ Load binary file(s), wrapping lines to characters wide.

/? Displays this help screen.

[file] Specifies initial files(s) to load. Wildcards and multiple file specs can be given.

Examples

edit c:\autoexec.bat

This would look at the autoexec.bat. However, if the file is not found, you will have a blank blue screen.

When editing this or any file, ensure that you know what you are placing in the files improperly editingthe file can cause issues with your computer.

If you are unable to get this program to work, try typing in "path c:\windows\command" if you

haveWindows 95or higher, or type in "path c:\dos" if you have Dos 5.x/6.x/7.x orWindows 3.xand try

again. If you still are not able to get edit to work, it may not be on the hard drive; Type in dir edit.com

/s at the c:\>. If it says that the file is not found, you may not have this feature.

If you are running a MS-DOS version 4.x or lower or you are unable to find edit.com on your hard drive,

you can also use the below command to create a file.

copy con

Once you have entered the above command this will create the file with the name specified.

Once you have typed all the lines you wish to be in the file, press and hold CTRL + Z. This should enter

^Z, once on the screen, press enter and one file should be copied.

Using edit to create a file

Using edit you can also create files; for example, if you wanted to create a file called myfile.txt, youwould type the below command.

http://www.computerhope.com/win95.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win95.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win3x.htmhttp://www.computerhope.com/win95.htm

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edit myfile.txt

This would bring up a blank edit screen, as long as the file is saved upon exit this will create the file

myfile.txt.

Additional information

Note: Edit is only able to open a file with a maximum of 65,280 lines.

If your mouse drivers are not loaded while in MS-DOS or the Windows command line you may have no

mouse support. It is still possible to navigate the Editor using shortcut keys as seen in the below list.

Quick Tip: Pressing Alt will allow you to quickly navigate through edit without having to memorize the

below commands.

Home Move cursor to the beginning of the line currently on.

End Move cursor to the end of the line currently on.

Ctrl + Up Scroll up one line.

Ctrl + Down Scroll down one line.

PageUp Scroll up one screen.

PageDown Scroll down one screen.

Ctrl + PageUp Scroll left one screen.

Ctrl + PageDown Scroll right one screen.

Ctrl + Home Scroll to the top of the document.

Ctrl + End Scroll to the bottom of the document.

Ctrl + Left Move left one word.

Ctrl + Right Move right one word.

Enter Starts a new line or moves text after cursor down.

Delete (Del) Deletes one character that cursor is on or currently selected text.

Backspace Deletes one character before the cursor.

Tab Moves cursor or text to next tab stop, or indents line if at first character.

Insert Switch between insert and overwrite modes.

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Ctrl + Y Deletes the current line.

Ctrl + V Pastes contents currently within buffer, if any.

Ctrl + P Allows special characters to be inserted into Edit.

Shift Using shift in combination with any of the above scrolling or moving commands

will highlight text, such as Ctrl + Shift + Right.

Ctrl + C Copies currently selected text into buffer.

Ctrl + X Cuts the currently selected text into buffer.

Shift + Tab Un-indents the currently selected line.

Ctrl + Q + F Find text.

Ctrl + Q + A Find and replace text.

F3 Repeat last search.

F6 Switch to the next edit window, if any.

Ctrl + F6 Open new edit window.

Ctrl + F4 Closes second edit window.

Ctrl + F8 Resizes edit window.

F1 Displays help.