ed sometimes clears s bit

[rare_j]

Sometimes when I use ed to edit a script it clears the 's' protection bit, sometimes it doesn't.

Does anyone know why this is? Also is there a better program that I could use that doesn't mess with the file protection bits at all?

[Thomas]

Ed is a very basic program, it does not care at all about protection bits. The bits are changed to ----RWED whenever you save a file.

As a replacement I'd suggest CygnusEd. It is *the* text editor par excellence.

Bye,
Thomas

[mpiva]

  Ed will only preserve the "S" bit if the name remains EXACTLY the same.

For example, if you have the "s" protection bit on the startup sequence you have to use:

ed S:Startup-Sequence

and not

ed s:startup-sequence

The later will change the upper-case to lower-case and give the file the default "RWED" protection bits.

[rare_j]

Thanks - that's been bugging me for ages