Appendix B

MPW

MPW Command Reference

Appendix B - Expressions

Table B-1 lists the selection expressions used in MPW and their meanings.

Table B-2 shows the special characters and regular expressions as they are used in selection expressions.

Table B-1: Selection expressions

Expression	Meaning
•	The beginning of the file
∞	The end of the file
n	A line number
!n	n lines forward from the end of the current selection
¡n	n lines backward from the end of the current selection
!n1!n2	n1 lines plus n2 characters forward
¡n1¡n2	n1 lines plus n2 characters backward
!n1¡n2	n1 lines forward, then n2 characters backward
¡n1!n2	n1 lines backward, then n2 characters forward
∆expression	The position before the first character of the selection
expression∆	The position after the last character of the selection
expression!c	c characters forward from the end of the selection
expression¡c	c characters backward from the beginning of the selection
expression:expression	Both selections and everything in between
§	The current selection
(expression)	A selection grouping
/regularExpression/	Searching forward, the first string that matches the pattern
\regularExpression\	Searching backward, the first string that matches the pattern

Table B-2: Regular expressions that become part of selection expressions

Expression	Meaning
?	Any character except return
≈	Any string of characters, including the null string
∂s	A special character used as a literal character
•expression	A pattern when it occurs at the beginning of a line
expression∞	A pattern when it occurs at the end of a line
[characterList]	Any character in the list
[-characterList]	Any character not in the list
[c1-c2]	Any character between c1 and c2, inclusive
expression+	The expression when it occurs 1 or more times in succession
expression*	The expression when it occurs 0 or more times in succession
expression«n»	The expression when it occurs n times in succession
expression«n,»	The expression when it occurs at least n times in succession
expression«n1,n2»	The expression when it occurs at least n1 times and at most n2 times in succession
(expression)®n	A tag indicating that you can refer to the text that matches the expression as ®n (or as the variable {®n} in some commands)

Last Updated July 2000