.TH dbe 1 "ndbm(3) EDITOR"
.SH NAME
dbe \- Edit a ndbm(3) database
.SH USAGE
dbe [-m r|w|rw] [-crtvx] -a|-d|-f|-F|-s [ []]
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fIdbme\fP operates on ndbm(3) databases.
It can be used to create them, look at them or change them.
When specifying the value of a key or the content of its associated entry,
\\nnn, \\0, \\n, \\t, \\f and \\r are interpreted as usual.
When displaying key/content pairs, non-printable characters are displayed
using the \\nnn notation.
.SH OPTIONS
.IP -a
List all entries in the database.
.IP -c
Create the database if it does not exist.
.IP -d
Delete the entry associated with the specified key.
.IP -f
Fetch and display the entry associated with the specified key.
.IP -F
Fetch and display all the entries whose key match the specified
regular-expression
.IP "-m r|w|rw"
Open the database in read-only, write-only or read-write mode
.IP -r
Replace the entry associated with the specified key if it already exists.
See option -s.
.IP -s
Store an entry under a specific key.
An error occurs if the key already exists and the option -r was not specified.
.IP -t
Re-initialize the database before executing the command.
.IP -v
Verbose mode.
Confirm stores and deletions.
.IP -x
If option -x is used with option -c, then if the database already exists,
an error occurs.
This can be used to implement a simple exclusive access locking mechanism.
.SH SEE ALSO
ndbm(3)
.SH AUTHOR
janick@bnr.ca
