.TH EL 1
.SH NAME
el \- searching editor
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B el
[-h] [-z] [-a [search terms] ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
 Finds and edits files matching all arguments in basedir. Arguments are regular expressions delimited by whitespace. Basedir is defined by the value of $el. If unset it defaults to current directory.
.PP
With no arguments, lists all files in basedir. If a single file matches all arguments, opens the file with $EDITOR. If multiple files match, prints a numbered list of matches and prompts for input.
.PP
The first item in the list,
.BR 0)
, is always the search string. Selecting a number will open the file in $EDITOR. Lastly, input that does not begin with a number is treated as the filename to edit.
.SH OPTIONS
.IP -a
include hidden files
.IP -h
brief help
.IP -z
print value of
.BR $el
.SH CONFIGURATION
Add
.BR export
.BR el
to .bashrc to make the variable easily available. 
.BR el(1)
gets more useful when wrapped in .bashrc functions, for example:
.PP
 export el
 function howto {
  local el=~/docs/howto
  el $@
 }
.PP
This redefines the basedir locally in the function, executes 
.BR el(1)
as normal, and leaves the value of basedir unchanged. The basedir can also be temporarily changed in a shell session by setting
.BR el=/path/to/dir