ACME(1) ACME(1)
NAME
acme, win, awd - interactive text windows
SYNOPSIS
acme [ -f varfont ] [ -F fixfont ] [ -c ncol ] [ -b ] [ -l
file | file ... ]
win [ command ]
awd [ label ]
DESCRIPTION
Acme manages windows of text that may be edited interac-
tively or by external programs. The interactive interface
uses the keyboard and mouse; external programs use a set of
files served by acme; these are discussed in acme(4).
Any named files are read into acme windows before acme
accepts input. With the -l option, the state of the entire
system is loaded from file, which should have been created
by a Dump command (q.v.), and subsequent file names are
ignored. Plain files display as text; directories display
as columnated lists of the names of their components, as in
ls -p directory|mc except that the names of subdirectories
have a slash appended.
The -f (-F) option sets the main font, usually variable-
pitch (alternate, usually fixed-pitch); the default is
/lib/font/bit/lucidasans/euro.8.font
(.../lucm/unicode.9.font). Tab intervals are set to the
width of 4 (or the value of $tabstop) numeral zeros in the
appropriate font.
Windows
Acme windows are in two parts: a one-line tag above a
multi-line body. The body typically contains an image of a
file, as in sam(1), or the output of a program, as in an
rio(1) window. The tag contains a number of blank-separated
words, followed by a vertical bar character, followed by
anything. The first word is the name of the window, typi-
cally the name of the associated file or directory, and the
other words are commands available in that window. Any text
may be added after the bar; examples are strings to search
for or commands to execute in that window. Changes to the
text left of the bar will be ignored, unless the result is
to change the name of the window.
If a window holds a directory, the name (first word of the
tag) will end with a slash.
Page 1 Plan 9 (printed 12/27/24)
ACME(1) ACME(1)
Scrolling
Each window has a scroll bar to the left of the body. The
scroll bar behaves much as in sam(1) or rio(1) except that
scrolling occurs when the button is pressed, rather than
released, and continues as long as the mouse button is held
down in the scroll bar. For example, to scroll slowly
through a file, hold button 3 down near the top of the
scroll bar. Moving the mouse down the scroll bar speeds up
the rate of scrolling.
Layout
Acme windows are arranged in columns. By default, it cre-
ates two columns when starting; this can be overridden with
the -c option. Placement is automatic but may be adjusted
using the layout box in the upper left corner of each window
and column. Pressing and holding any mouse button in the
box drags the associated window or column. For windows,
just clicking in the layout box grows the window in place:
button 1 grows it a little, button 2 grows it as much as it
can, still leaving all other tags in that column visible,
and button 3 takes over the column completely, temporarily
hiding other windows in the column. (They will return en
masse if any of them needs attention.) The layout box in a
window is normally white; when it is black in the center, it
records that the file is `dirty': Acme believes it is modi-
fied from its original contents.
Tags exist at the top of each column and across the whole
display. Acme pre-loads them with useful commands. Also,
the tag across the top maintains a list of executing long-
running commands.
Typing
The behavior of typed text is similar to that in rio(1)
except that the characters are delivered to the tag or body
under the mouse; there is no `click to type'. (The experi-
mental option -b causes typing to go to the most recently
clicked-at or made window.) The usual backspacing conven-
tions apply. As in sam(1) but not rio, the ESC key selects
the text typed since the last mouse action, a feature par-
ticularly useful when executing commands. A side effect is
that typing ESC with text already selected is identical to a
Cut command (q.v.).
Most text, including the names of windows, may be edited
uniformly. The only exception is that the command names to
the left of the bar in a tag are maintained automatically;
changes to them are repaired by acme.
Directory context
Each window's tag names a directory: explicitly if the win-
dow holds a directory; implicitly if it holds a regular file
Page 2 Plan 9 (printed 12/27/24)
ACME(1) ACME(1)
(e.g. the directory /adm if the window holds /adm/users).
This directory provides a context for interpreting file
names in that window. For example, the string users in a
window labeled /adm/ or /adm/keys will be interpreted as the
file name /adm/users. The directory is defined purely tex-
tually, so it can be a non-existent directory or a real
directory associated with a non-existent file (e.g.
/adm/not-a-file). File names beginning with a slash are
assumed to be absolute file names.
Errors
Windows whose names begin with - or + conventionally hold
diagnostics and other data not directly associated with
files. A window labeled +Errors receives all diagnostics
produced by acme itself. Diagnostics from commands run by
acme appear in a window named directory/+Errors where
directory is identified by the context of the command.
These error windows are created when needed.
Mouse button 1
Mouse button 1 selects text just as in sam(1) or rio(1),
including the usual double-clicking conventions.
Mouse button 2
By an action similar to selecting text with button 1, button
2 indicates text to execute as a command. If the indicated
text has multiple white-space-separated words, the first is
the command name and the second and subsequent are its argu-
ments. If button 2 is `clicked'-indicates a null string-
acme expands the indicated text to find a command to run: if
the click is within button-1-selected text, acme takes that
selection as the command; otherwise it takes the largest
string of valid file name characters containing the click.
Valid file name characters are alphanumerics and _ . - + /.
This behavior is similar to double-clicking with button 1
but, because a null command is meaningless, only a single
click is required.
Some commands, all by convention starting with a capital
letter, are built-ins that are executed directly by acme:
Cut Delete most recently selected text and place in snarf
buffer.
Del Delete window. If window is dirty, instead print a
warning; a second Del will succeed.
Delcol
Delete column and all its windows, after checking that
windows are not dirty.
Delete
Page 3 Plan 9 (printed 12/27/24)
ACME(1) ACME(1)
Delete window without checking for dirtiness.
Dump Write the state of acme to the file name, if specified,
or $home/acme.dump by default.
Edit Treat the argument as a text editing command in the
style of sam(1). The full Sam language is implemented
except for the commands k, n, q, and !. The = command
is slightly different: it includes the file name and
gives only the line address unless the command is
explicitly =#. The `current window' for the command is
the body of the window in which the Edit command is
executed. Usually the Edit command would be typed in a
tag; longer commands may be prepared in a scratch win-
dow and executed, with Edit itself in the current win-
dow, using the 2-1 chord described below.
Exit Exit acme after checking that windows are not dirty.
Font With no arguments, change the font of the associated
window from fixed-spaced to proportional-spaced or vice
versa . Given a file name argument, change the font of
the window to that stored in the named file. If the
file name argument is prefixed by var (fix), also set
the default proportional-spaced (fixed-spaced) font for
future use to that font. Other existing windows are
unaffected.
Get Load file into window, replacing previous contents
(after checking for dirtiness as in Del). With no
argument, use the existing file name of the window.
Given an argument, use that file but do not change the
window's file name.
ID Print window ID number (q.v.).
Incl When opening `include' files (those enclosed in <>)
with button 3, acme searches in directories
/$objtype/include and /sys/include. Incl adds its
arguments to a supplementary list of include directo-
ries, analogous to the -I option to the compilers.
This list is per-window and is inherited when windows
are created by actions in that window, so Incl is most
usefully applied to a directory containing relevant
source. With no arguments, Incl prints the supplemen-
tary list. This command is largely superseded by
plumbing (see plumb(6)).
Kill Send a kill note to acme-initiated commands named as
arguments.
Local
Page 4 Plan 9 (printed 12/27/24)
ACME(1) ACME(1)
When prefixed to a command run the command in the same
file name space and environment variable group as acme.
The environment of the command is restricted but is
sufficient to run bind(1), 9fs (see srv(4)), import(4),
etc., and to set environment variables such as
$objtype.
Load Restore the state of acme from a file (default
$home/acme.dump) created by the Dump command.
Look Search in body for occurrence of literal text indicated
by the argument or, if none is given, by the selected
text in the body.
New Make new window. With arguments, load the named files
into windows.
Newcol
Make new column.
Paste
Replace most recently selected text with contents of
snarf buffer.
Put Write window to the named file. With no argument,
write to the file named in the tag of the window.
Putall
Write all dirty windows whose names indicate existing
regular files.
Redo Complement of Undo.
Send Append selected text or snarf buffer to end of body;
used mainly with win.
Snarf
Place selected text in snarf buffer.
Sort Arrange the windows in the column from top to bottom in
lexicographical order based on their names.
Tab Set the width of tab stops for this window to the value
of the argument, in units of widths of the zero charac-
ter. With no arguments, it prints the current value.
Undo Undo last textual change or set of changes.
Zerox
Create a copy of the window containing most recently
selected text.
Page 5 Plan 9 (printed 12/27/24)
ACME(1) ACME(1)
A common place to store text for commands is in the tag; in
fact acme maintains a set of commands appropriate to the
state of the window to the left of the bar in the tag.
If the text indicated with button 2 is not a recognized
built-in, it is executed as a shell command. For example,
indicating date with button 2 runs date(1). The standard and
error outputs of commands are sent to the error window asso-
ciated with the directory from which the command was run,
which will be created if necessary. For example, in a win-
dow /adm/users executing pwd will produce the output /adm in
a (possibly newly-created) window labeled /adm/+Errors; in a
window containing /sys/src/cmd/sam/sam.c executing mk will
run mk(1) in /sys/src/cmd/sam, producing output in a window
labeled /sys/src/cmd/sam/+Errors.
Mouse button 3
Pointing at text with button 3 instructs acme to locate or
acquire the file, string, etc. described by the indicated
text and its context. This description follows the actions
taken when button 3 is released after sweeping out some
text. In the description, text refers to the text of the
original sweep or, if it was null, the result of applying
the same expansion rules that apply to button 2 actions.
If the text names an existing window, acme moves the mouse
cursor to the selected text in the body of that window. If
the text names an existing file with no associated window,
acme loads the file into a new window and moves the mouse
there. If the text is a file name contained in angle brack-
ets, acme loads the indicated include file from the direc-
tory appropriate to the suffix of the file name of the win-
dow holding the text. (The Incl command adds directories to
the standard list.)
If the text begins with a colon, it is taken to be an
address, in the style of sam(1), within the body of the win-
dow containing the text. The address is evaluated, the
resulting text highlighted, and the mouse moved to it.
Thus, in acme, one must type :/regexp or :127 not just
/regexp or 127. (There is an easier way to locate literal
text; see below.)
If the text is a file name followed by a colon and an
address, acme loads the file and evaluates the address. For
example, clicking button 3 anywhere in the text file.c:27
will open file.c, select line 27, and put the mouse at the
beginning of the line. The rules about Error files, direc-
tories, and so on all combine to make this an efficient way
to investigate errors from compilers, etc.
If the text is not an address or file, it is taken to be
Page 6 Plan 9 (printed 12/27/24)
ACME(1) ACME(1)
literal text, which is then searched for in the body of the
window in which button 3 was clicked. If a match is found,
it is selected and the mouse is moved there. Thus, to
search for occurrences of a word in a file, just click but-
ton 3 on the word. Because of the rule of using the selec-
tion as the button 3 action, subsequent clicks will find
subsequent occurrences without moving the mouse.
In all these actions, the mouse motion is not done if the
text is a null string within a non-null selected string in
the tag, so that (for example) complex regular expressions
may be selected and applied repeatedly to the body by just
clicking button 3 over them.
Chords of mouse buttons
Several operations are bound to multiple-button actions.
After selecting text, with button 1 still down, pressing
button 2 executes Cut and button 3 executes Paste. After
clicking one button, the other undoes the first; thus (while
holding down button 1) 2 followed by 3 is a Snarf that
leaves the file undirtied; 3 followed by 2 is a no-op.
These actions also apply to text selected by double-clicking
because the double-click expansion is made when the second
click starts, not when it ends.
Commands may be given extra arguments by a mouse chord with
buttons 2 and 1. While holding down button 2 on text to be
executed as a command, clicking button 1 appends the text
last pointed to by button 1 as a distinct final argument.
For example, to search for literal text one may execute Look
text with button 2 or instead point at text with button 1 in
any window, release button 1, then execute Look, clicking
button 1 while 2 is held down.
When an external command (e.g. echo(1)) is executed this
way, the extra argument is passed as expected and an envi-
ronment variable $acmeaddr is created that holds, in the
form interpreted by button 3, the fully-qualified address of
the extra argument.
Support programs
Win creates a new acme window and runs a command (default
/bin/rc) in it, turning the window into something analogous
to an rio(1) window. Executing text in a win window with
button 2 is similar to using Send.
Awd loads the tag line of its window with the directory in
which it's running, suffixed -label (default rc); it is
intended to be executed by a cd function for use in win win-
dows. An example definition is
fn cd { builtin cd $1 && awd $sysname }
Page 7 Plan 9 (printed 12/27/24)
ACME(1) ACME(1)
Applications and guide files
In the directory /acme live several subdirectories, each
corresponding to a program or set of related programs that
employ acme's user interface. Each subdirectory includes
source, binaries, and a readme file for further information.
It also includes a guide, a text file holding sample com-
mands to invoke the programs. The idea is to find an exam-
ple in the guide that best matches the job at hand, edit it
to suit, and execute it.
Whenever a command is executed by acme, the default search
path includes the directory of the window containing the
command and its subdirectory $cputype. The program directo-
ries in /acme contain appropriately labeled subdirectories
of binaries, so commands named in the guide files will be
found automatically when run. Also, acme binds the directo-
ries /acme/bin and /acme/bin/$cputype to the end of /bin
when it starts; this is where acme-specific programs such as
win and awd reside.
FILES
$home/acme.dump default file for Dump and Load; also where
state is written if acme dies or is killed
unexpectedly, e.g. by deleting its window.
/acme/*/guide template files for applications
/acme/*/readme informal documentation for applications
/acme/*/src source for applications
/acme/*/mips MIPS-specific binaries for applications
SOURCE
/sys/src/cmd/acme
/acme/bin/source/win
/sys/src/cmd/awd.c
SEE ALSO
acme(4)
Rob Pike, Acme: A User Interface for Programmers.
BUGS
With the -l option or Load command, the recreation of win-
dows under control of external programs such as win is just
to rerun the command; information may be lost.
Page 8 Plan 9 (printed 12/27/24)