EX editor: go to previous file

Question

Using ex I open 3 files

ex file1 file2 file3

I know

the command :n goes to file 2 and file3
the command :rew go to file1 from file3 or file2

But what command can I use to go to previous file? I think :e previousfile will work, but does something quicker like :n for previous exist?

`vim` has `:p` but for `vi` the best I can offer is `:e#` – roaima Aug 19 '15 at 20:43 — roaima, Aug 19 '15 at 20:43
I think `:N` works in `vi`. – garyjohn Aug 20 '15 at 01:23 — garyjohn, Aug 20 '15 at 01:23

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 25 '16 at 09:09

From the POSIX specifications for ex:

Implementations wanting to provide a counterpart to the next command that edited the previous file have used the command prev[ious], which takes no file argument. POSIX.1-2008 does not require this command.

So, in most implementations, :prev will do what you want. (That is, most implementations of ex that I've encountered; obviously you shouldn't rely on this for portable scripting.)

Note also that this is not the same as :p, which actually means to print the current line. prev is the shortest abbreviation allowed. (pre means "preserve".)

EX editor: go to previous file

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