---
name: "edbrowse"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "edbrowse"
version: "3.8.12-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/edbrowse"
---

# edbrowse(1)

text editor and web browser

## NAME

edbrowse - text editor and web browser

## SYNOPSIS

**edbrowse** \[ *file1* \] \[ *file2* \] *...*

**edbrowse** \[ *url1* \] \[ *url2* \]  *...*

## DESCRIPTION

Complete documentation can be found in the user's guide; see below.

**edbrowse** is a line-oriented text editor very similar to [**ed**(1)](/ed/1.md), It is used to create, display, modify and otherwise manipulate text files.

In addition **edbrowse** can be used to display web pages and edit the contents of these pages. It supports the use of forms and Javascript in web pages.

If **edbrowse** is invoked with a *file* argument, then a copy of *file* is read into the editor's buffer. If it is invoked with a *url* argument, then the *url* is read into the editor's buffer and the HTML is rendered as text. Changes are made to this copy and not directly to *file* or  *url* itself.

Please refer to [**ed**(1)](/ed/1.md) for further details regarding the editing commands. Explanation of the browsing functions can be found in the HTML documentation.

## EXAMPLES

To read the HTML documentation you can do

-

  **edbrowse /usr/share/doc/edbrowse/usersguide.html**

To read (say) 20 lines of the buffer at a time starting from the top use the command *\`0z20'* followed by repeating *\`z'* to scroll another 20 lines at a time.

To quit the editor completely type *\`qt'* . Upon quitting **edbrowse**, any changes not explicitly saved  with a *\`w'* command are lost. The *\`w'* command does not apply to URLs but one can save the corresponding buffer to a file by the command *w file*.

## OPTIONS

- **-h**

  Display the usage message.

- **-e**

  Batch mode. This option causes  **edbrowse** to exit when it encounters an error.

- **-d?**

  Debug level. Can be set to a value between 0 and 9. The default is 1  which prints the sizes of buffers. Some people like 2 which prints out URLs as they are retrieved. This value can be changed within the  editor with the *dbx* command with x a value between 0 and 9.

- **-c**

  Edit config file. This command suppresses the processing of the configuration file *$HOME/.ebrc* and starts editing it instead. This option is useful if this file is syntactically incorrect or otherwise corrupted.

## FILES

- *$HOME/.ebrc*

  Configuration file. The file which **edbrowse** reads when it starts up. If the file exists then it must be syntactically correct.

## DIAGNOSTICS

When an error occurs, if **edbrowse** it prints a \`?' and returns to command mode. An explanation of the last error can be printed with the *\`h'* (help) command.

Attempting to quit **edbrowse** with the  *\`q'* command or trying to edit another file before writing a modified buffer results in an error. If the command is entered a second time, it succeeds, but any changes to the buffer are lost.

## BUGS

This manual page is not complete.  Users should refer to the HTML documentation for fuller details of the configuration options and for details of the use of edbrowse.

## SEE ALSO

[*ed*(1)](/ed/1.md), [*sed*(1)](/sed/1.md), [*pcrepattern*(3)](/pcrepattern/3.md).

The provides greater detail about the program.

## AUTHORS

This manual page was originally written by Kapil Hari Paranjape \<kapil@imsc.res.in\>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system (but it may be used by others).

The **edbrowse** program is written by Karl Dahlke \<eklhad@gmail.com\>. The author maintains for the program.