Edit Buffer Details

vEdit has 99 available edit buffers, each of which can have one file open for editing. The edit buffers are always in one of three possible states:

• Closed. We also say that a closed edit buffer is “available” or “unused”.
• Open without a file. The edit buffer may or may not contain text. If the buffer contains no text, we say that it is “empty”.
• Open with a file open. The edit buffer is being used to edit a file.

Edit buffers are normally used to edit files, but can also be used as editable “scratchpads” that have no file open. You can open an empty edit buffer without a file by selecting FILE > Buffer switch or F4 and entering the number of an unused buffer. Or you can select FILE > New to open the next available buffer. You can then perform any normal editing operations in this buffer.

Once an edit buffer is opened, it remains open until you explicitly close it with FILE > Close or WINDOW > Close. vEdit always keeps one buffer and window open. If you attempt to close the last buffer, it only closes the file. The last buffer and corresponding window will remain open, but will be empty.

The contents of an edit buffer can be inserted into another buffer (file) just like a text register. A block of text cannot be copied to another buffer you cannot change the contents of an edit buffer except when it is the “active” buffer . This limitation prevents you from accidentally altering any file open in the buffer.

How to Insert Another Edit Buffer into the Current Buffer (File)

1. Position the cursor at the desired location in your file. The buffer contents will be inserted just before the cursor.
2. Select BLOCK > Insert register (normal hot-key: F11 or Numpad*). You will be prompted with: "Register number:"
3. Enter the buffer number, followed by “+buffer”. For example, to select buffer 5, enter “5+buffer”.

You should only insert an edit buffer that either has no file open or is reasonably small. In particular, if the open file is large, only the portion currently in memory will be inserted. Use EDIT > Insert > Insert file to insert another file into the current file.

Related Resources

• Editing Multiple Files Overview
• Edit EBCDIC, ASCII, ANSI, Hex, Text and Multiple Files
• Wiki Home