## Text Editors 



A lot of configuration in DragonFly is done by editing text files. Because of this, it would be a good idea to become familiar with a text editor. DragonFly comes with a few as part of the base system, and many more are available in the pkgsrc® tree.

The easiest and simplest editor to learn is an editor called  **ee** , which stands for easy editor. To start  **ee** , one would type at the command line `ee filename` where `filename` is the name of the file to be edited. For example, to edit `/etc/rc.conf`, type in `ee /etc/rc.conf`. Once inside of `ee`, all of the commands for manipulating the editor's functions are listed at the top of the display. The caret `^` character represents the  **Ctrl**  key on the keyboard, so `^e` expands to the key combination  **Ctrl** + **e** . To leave  **ee** , hit the  **Esc**  key, then choose leave editor. The editor will prompt you to save any changes if the file has been modified.

DragonFly also comes with more powerful text editors such as  **vi**  as part of the base system, while other editors, like  **emacs**  and  **vim** , are part of the pkgsrc tree. These editors offer much more functionality and power at the expense of being a little more complicated to learn. However if you plan on doing a lot of text editing, learning a more powerful editor such as  **vim**  or  **emacs**  will save you much more time in the long run.