A far safer method of editing your crontab file is like this:
#crontab -l > local_file
#vi local_file
#crontab local_file
The first command copies the user's crontab to a file where it can be safely edited. If a mistake is made it will not effect the actual crontab entry. Once the user has edited their file, they can active that file by using the last command listed above.
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Michael S. Mimoso, Editorial DirectorThis was first published in September 2002