Programmer 7500/MAX_PROGRAMMERS.iso/INFO/EDITOR/E10_EDIT.ZIP/E.DOC

Text File | 1990-03-15 | 11.4 KB | 254 lines

Thanks for downloading E!

E is a small, fast, general purpose editor.  It is copyrighted but you are
hereby granted a limited license to use it free of charge.
While I am not aware of any bugs, I make no guarantees
about its trustworthiness, so use it at your own risk.  Feel free to share it
with others.  I only ask that you distribute these files together and unchanged
and charge nothing for them.

Some of e's features:

  - block and line move and delete functions, to/from buffer or another file

  - find, replace, replace all

  - set tabs, L and R margins, word wrap, autoindent

  - set and jump to labels or line number

  - shell to DOS, one-key execution of batch files

  - DESQview-compatible (run in a window with direct write disabled)

  - assembly language (TASM) for speed and compactness, source included

  - configuration program included to change defaults


Lines are limited to 80 chars in length.  Longer lines in input files are
truncated.  Those entered at the terminal are wrapped at 80 characters.  Tab
characters encountered as a file is being read in are converted to spaces using
the current tab setting.

Here is a summary of commands.  In the descriptions of these commands, '*'
indicates that the function performs differently if the shift key is down.
When in E, press F1 for help.  Whenever you are asked to enter a response to a
prompt (as for a string to find or file name), just pressing Enter will usually
cancel the command.


Cursor movement:

left                    left arrow, Ctrl S
right                   right arrow, Ctrl D
word left               Ctrl left arrow, Ctrl A
word right              Ctrl right arrow, Ctrl F
tab right               Tab
tab left                Shift Tab
to left margin          Home
to end of line          End
up                      up arrow, Ctrl E
down                    down arrow, Ctrl X
page up                 PgUp, Ctrl R
page down               PgDn, Ctrl C
start of file           Ctrl PgUp
end of file             Ctrl PgDn
assign label (0-9)      Alt L
go to label (0-9)       Alt G
jump to line #          Alt J


Insert and Delete:

delete char left        backspace
delete char at cursor   Del
delete word left        Ctrl [
delete word right       Ctrl ]
delete to end of line   Ctrl \
delete line             Ctrl -, Ctrl Y
undelete line           Ctrl ^
    'Delete to end of line' and 'delete line' save the deleted text in a
    buffer.  Use Ctrl ^ to retrieve one line at a time.  The same buffer is
    used for block deletes, providing an easy way to move a few lines:  delete
    the lines individually using Ctrl -, move the cursor to the new location,
    then insert all the lines at once using Alt I (see below).  If the cursor
    is at the left margin when a line is undeleted using Ctrl ^, the line is
    inserted above the current line.  If it is to the right of the left margin
    it overwrites what is currently on the line from that column on.  This is
    useful for moving comments from the end of one line to another.
toggle insert mode      Ins
    Toggle between Insert (the default, signified by a line cursor) and
    Overwrite (identified by a block cursor) modes of text entry.
insert raw character    Alt = *
    Insert the character which follows, which might otherwise be interpreted as
    a command (for example a form feed character).  If shifted, 80h is added to
    the character.  For example, to enter line drawing characters, press Shift
    Alt =, then a character in the set {@, A-J}.  Warning: don't start a line
    with a character whose ASCII value is > 80h (E uses that bit as a flag when
    moving buffered lines during a file swap).


Insert and Delete Block and File:

mark start of block       Alt B
copy block to buffer      Alt C *
delete block to buffer    Alt D *
insert block from buffer  Alt I *
empty block buffer        Alt E *
unmark                    Alt U
    Alt C copies all marked lines (between the line where you pressed Alt B for
    'mark start of block' and the present cursor location) to a buffer, or if
    the shift key is also down, to a file.  Alt D deletes the original lines
    after first copying them to the buffer or file.  Alt I inserts the contents
    of the file or buffer above the present line.  Press Alt I several times to
    insert multiple copies.  To move text, use Alt D then Alt I.  To move text
    between two files, delete or copy to the block buffer, press Alt O to
    change files, then Alt I to insert.  You can get lines into the buffer
    using either Alt C or Alt D or the line delete commands Ctrl - or Ctrl \
    and out using either Alt I or Ctrl ^.

    All block commands marked with a '*' will read from or write to a file
    instead of an internal buffer if the shift key is down (you will be
    prompted for a file name).  Here's a useful trick:  to print part of a
    file, first mark the start of the block with Alt B, then use Shift Alt C
    and give 'prn' as the file name.

    The block commands work on whole lines only.  To move part of a line, use
    the Enter key to break it into pieces first.


Formatting:

set left margin         Ctrl Home
set right margin        Ctrl End
    These toggle the margin settings between the current cursor location and the
    screen edge.
set tab width           Alt T
    E will expand all tabs found in files it edits.  If a file read in doesn't
    look right, change the tab width, then read the file in again by pressing
    Alt O and reentering the file name.
wrap paragraph          Alt W
    Readjust line lengths by moving words at the end up or down a line as
    necessary to best fill out the lines within the boundaries set by the left
    and right margins.  Wrapping will start at the beginning of the line the
    cursor is on and stop at the first line on which text does not begin at the
    left margin.  E automatically wraps text as you enter it, moving the first
    word that overflows the right margin down to the beginning of a new line.
toggle autoindent mode  Ctrl @
    Autoindent mode causes each new line after a carriage return to be indented
    as much as the line above it.  The default is on, the way you generally will
    want it for programming.  Turn it off for most word processing except
    writing outlines.
Toggle text/programming mode defaults   Alt Z
    Use this to change quickly between programming and text mode configurations.
    E starts in programming mode with margins at 0, 79 and autoindent on.  ALT
    Z toggles between this and margins at 8, 72 with autoindent mode off for
    processing text.  You may alter E to start up in text mode each time or
    change the default margins using the accompanying configuration program.


Find and Replace:

find                    Alt F *
replace                 Alt R *
find/replace all        Alt A *
    After pressing Alt F and entering a string to find, E will put the cursor
    at the start of the first exact match.  If you then press Alt R, you will
    be prompted for another string to replace the one just found.  Replace must
    always be used immediately after Find.  If the shift key is also pressed,
    the last string entered is used.  Use Find/Replace All only if you're sure
    you want to change all occurrances of a string.  Otherwise use shifted Find
    to locate each subsequent occurrence of a string, then shifted Replace only
    for those instances you want to replace.


Files and DOS:

load other file         Alt O
    Alt O will save the current file if changed and prompt for the name of a
    new file to edit.
save and continue       Alt S
save and exit           Alt X
kill save on exit       Alt K
    Use Alt K before Alt X or Alt O to discard any changes made before exiting.
shell to DOS            F2 *
execute EFn.BAT         F3-F6 *
    Press F2 to exit E temporarily to run some other file or system command
    (for example, DIR).  Type 'exit' after you are done to return to E.  If it
    exists, the batch file EFn.BAT will be executed when Fn is pressed, for n =
    3 to 6.  The file being edited will be saved first if changed.  You can use
    this feature to run a .BAT file to compile, link and/or debug the file you
    are editing, print the file, perhaps passing it to a print formatter such
    as NROFF first, even play a game if you are tired of working, all without
    losing your place!

    If the shift key is pressed along with the function key, E contracts itself
    down to under 7K, writing the file being edited to disk if changed, then
    reading it back in afterward.  Anything in the block or other buffers is
    lost.  Use this if the application which you are leaving E to run won't fit
    otherwise.

    For example, here is a .BAT file to invoke the Turbo assembler, linker and
    debugger.  If you name it 'EF3.BAT', it will be run whenever you push F3.
    '%1' will be replaced by the name of the file being edited minus any
    extension.

        echo off
        tasm -zi %1
        IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO fixit
        tlink /v %1
        IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO fixit
        td %1
        :fixit

    If you use one of these functions to invoke an assembler or compiler, I
    recommend you also install a program like BUFFIT to allow you to retrieve
    text that has scrolled off the top of the screen, so you can find those
    error messages once you are back in E.


I'd like to thank two people who have helped with this project.  Jim DeVries
wrote ECONFIG.EXE, with which you may change many of E's default settings.
Mike Robertson sent me the code to allow E to run under DESQview and
contributed many helpful suggestions as I was developing and debugging E.

I'd appreciate hearing about any bugs, and welcome any other comments.  To
contact me, leave mail to dnye on BIX or write me at the address below.  Please
enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you need a reply.


                                                      David Nye MD
                                                      4209 W Lowe's Creek Rd.
                                                      Eau Claire, WI  54701
                                                      15 Mar, 1990
                                                      BIX name: dnye

Version history

0.2, 1 Jan 1990
    First widely released.

0.3, 20 Jan 1990
    Added F2 to execute a DOS command, Alt Z as a quick way to set up word
    processing defaults.  Clearer help screen.  ESC no longer exits (I kept
    hitting it by mistake).  Use Alt X instead.  Some minor bug fixes.  Added
    more color monitor support (default colors, cursor fix).

0.4, 28 Jan 1990
    More bug fixes (last line in file no longer has CR LF appended, can no
    longer start e up without a file name on the command line, then escape out
    of entering a file name at the prompt).  There is now a byte settable with
    debug to start e up in text mode instead of programming mode.  Can enter
    chars above 80h with Shift Alt =.  Wrapping a line ending in one of the
    punctuation characters in the set {.;:!?} leaves two spaces after the
    character.

0.5, 15 Feb 1990
    More minor bug fixes.

0.6, 28 Feb 1990
    Added ability to run under DESQview and F3-F6 functions (to execute BATs).

1.0, 15 Mar 1990
    Bug fixes.  Added shifted F2-F6 functions.