Vi/Ex: command line editor? - Yes!

[Yuval Fisher]

I find that ex Version SVR3.1 (released with sunOS 4.1.1, I am guessing) 
and ex Version 3.7, 6/7/85. (released with previous sun systems)
behave differently with the "-" option. The latter does what I would 
reasonably expect from the man pages explanation, but the first
causes the terminal output to be somewhat non-sensical. 
 This causes a bit of a problem with the redo script recently 
posted to edit the last command. It works beautifully with 
Version 3.7; not at all with Version SVR3.1 if the "-" option 
is included; and so-so with Version SVR3.1 if the "-" option is 
removed. 
 Does some vi/ex guru know what I am talking about and why it is so 
and if there is a fix ? 
 
 Buckets of thanks, Y. Fisher