E (PC DOS)
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Text editor software |
E is a text editor that was incorporated into PC DOS beginning with version 6.1 released in June 1993, continuing through version 7 in February 1995, and subsequently included in PC DOS 2000. IBM replaced the edit mode of QBASIC by adapting and extensively improving its OS/2 System Editor (originally from 1986), which itself is a fundamental member of the E editor series. The DOS iteration was enhanced with functionalities characteristic of more sophisticated E editors. With the arrival of PC DOS version 7, IBM integrated the REXX scripting language, thereby reintroducing programmability to the editor. Additionally, IBM provided a version of E for OS/2.
Features
The edition of E included in PC DOS 7 offers:
- built-in online assistance
- capability to edit large text documents
- tools to draw boxes around selected text
- support for mouse input and menus
- functionality to record and replay keystroke macros
- ability to change case within highlighted sections
- access to multiple files displayed in separate panes
- syntax-aware editing for C and REXX languages
- arithmetic calculations in selected areas
- comprehensive search and replace across files
- text selection with options to move, copy, overlay, or delete
- transferring text between different files
The PC DOS version of E comprises five key files:
E.EXE— the executable application (version 3.13 in PC DOS 7)E.EX— a pre-compiled profile that governs E’s operational settingsE.INI— a configuration text file allowing customization of someE.EXparameters (not present in version 3.12)EHELP.HLP— help documentation accessible by pressing F1 in Browse modeBROWSE.COM— utility to open files within E in read-only mode (absent in version 3.12)
Since there are no tools provided for creating alternative profiles beyond the included E.EX, users of PC DOS have restricted access to the full extensibility present in version 3 (e3), which is favored by IBM developers. Nonetheless, this editor remains highly capable for general programming tasks.
E can also be executed on other platforms through DOS emulators such as DOSBox or virtualization environments like DOSEMU and NTVDM. It functions reliably within the Windows NT 32-bit command prompt environment.
To run E under OS/2, it is necessary to interchange the first two directories listed in the PATH variable within AUTOEXEC.BAT and place the E program files inside the \OS2\MDOS folder. Version 3.12 was likewise distributed with the OS/2 PPC edition.
E family
The PC DOS E editor traces its origins back to Personal Editor, a customizable editor introduced in 1982 that supported limited programming via a GML-like language and was soon acquired by IBM.
Because Personal Editor had significant constraints, E was developed in 1984 as a faster editor capable of handling very large files and featuring an improved user interface. The subsequent release, E2, arrived in 1985 and added sophisticated programmability through a language similar to REXX. Its adaptable user interface scripting was employed to prototype interfaces for various applications including word processors and survey software.
Later iterations such as E3, EOS2, and EPM brought further advancements. The OS/2 System Editor was created by the original E development team at the request of OS/2 Development; designed as a lightweight yet efficient text editor with minimal features and no configurability, it eventually evolved into the OS/2 Enhanced Editor (EPM). The widely used SlickEdit traces its roots back to the original developer of E3.
Several other editors from the E family were bundled with IBM programming tools. Numerous clones have appeared over time, notably X2, which emulates the Rexx-like EI programming language introduced from E2 onward and acknowledges its heritage within its documentation.