ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 …eeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)/ProfitPress-MegaCDROM2.B6I/MISC/NETWORK/EZMAIL2.ZIP/PED.DOC

Text File | 1990-09-27 | 9.9 KB | 245 lines

30 MARCH 1990

Pliable Editor Version 1.5
Released to the Public Domain 18 AUGUST 1988
Permission granted by Bob Foley for unrestricted distribution within the
Defense Logistics Agency 21 MARCH 1990

Point of Contact:  [e-mail]

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Updated copies of PED Version 3.0 are available for $18 each from

Pliable Products
P.O. Box 1245
Folsom, CA 95630
[phone]

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08/18/88

         PED, a full screen file editor by Bob Foley


                          INTRODUCTION

     I have a bad memory. Every program that I get my hands on
requires that I refer back to the manual countless times in order
to find some ridiculous little bit of information that was
supposed to have been committed to said memory. MS-DOS is the
worst culprit of this offense, and sets an EXTREMELY bad example
for those of us that follow. I hope to change all of that (good
luck). It was my intention upon writing this program for it's
users to be able to peruse through this document once, maybe
glace at it once more after trying the program, and finally throw
it away for lack of use. I think you'll agree that PED's user
interface (ie: pull down menus) obviates the need for a document
such as this, since all of the needed information is already on
the screen in front of you. But for those who are totally new to
this game, I want to make sure that all of the jargon is clear.

    PED is not a word processor, and it does not pretend to be
one. It is a full screen editor with a wide range of uses. You
may wish to create and edit batch files (such as AUTOEXEC.BAT),
Pascal or C programs, reminders, or any other type of ASCII file.
You can even load, change, and save this document (PED.DOC) since
it is a simple ASCII file. I hope you will find PED of some use
and that it lives up to my expectations. Have fun!


                            EQUIPMENT

          IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2, or true compatible.
          Any IBM compatible video adapter.
          At least 128K of memory.


                            FEATURES

          Edit up to 8 files at once.
          Merge files in any way.
          Pull down menus.
          List files in a directory without leaving the program.
          MS-DOS shell option.
          Print file option.
          Creates backup files if requested.
          Colors may be changed to taste.
          On screen clock if requested.
          Move, copy or delete blocks of text.
          ASCII chart.
          C source code available, call Pliable Products.


                         GETTING STARTED
     To start PED type:

          PED
             or
          PED <file name>

     Typing PED alone (the first example) runs the program and
starts an editing session on an as yet untitled file
(**Untitled** appears where the file name normally appears).
Typing a file name after PED runs the program and starts an
editing session on the named file, if it exists. Now the file may
be edited in any way. Lines may be added, deleted, changed or
moved. Many of the keys on the keyboard have specific functions
in PED, they are listed below. But remember, don't memorize! This
information is all on the pull down menus which will be discussed
later.

      Key name           Function
      --------           --------
      Left arrow         Move the cursor left one space.
      Right arrow        Move the cursor right one space.
      Up arrow           Move to the previous line.
      Down arrow         Move to the next line.
      PgUp               Move up one page.
      PgDn               Move down one page.
      Home               Move to the beginning of the line.
      End                Move to the end of the line.
      Ctrl-Home          Move to the top of the document.
      Ctrl-End           Move to the bottom of the document.
      Ctrl-Left arrow    Move one word to the left.
      Ctrl-Right arrow   Move one word to the right.
      Enter (insert OFF) Move to the beginning of the next line.
      Enter (insert ON)  Insert a line below the current line.
      Ins                Turn insert mode On/Off.
      Del                Delete the character to the right.
      Backspace          Delete the character to the left.
      Tab (insert OFF)   Tab right.
      Tab (insert ON)    Insert a tab character.
      Shift-Tab          Tab left.

     These are very standard interpretations of the keyboard's
special keys and you should have no trouble adapting to them. Try
them all, experiment.


                         PULL DOWN MENUS

     If you're like most people you've already fooled around with
PED before looking at the documentation. But for the rest of you
here are a few notes on pull down menus.
     To activate the menu bar, press ESC. To move from menu to
menu use the left and right arrow keys. To move between menu
selections use the up and down arrow keys. To make a selection
press the Enter key, or press the Esc key to abort the menu
process and go back to editing. Most of the menu selections may
also be triggered with a 'hot' key, which appears highlighted in
the menu. For example, the option 'Quit' appears on the menu with
the letter 'Q' highlighted. This means that pressing 'Q' will
perform that function without having to move the cursor to the
'Quit' option. This ability sometimes speeds up the menu
selection process.
     There are 6 menus associated with PED. They are titled
"Project", "Edit", "Movement", "Find", "Manipulate", and
"Extras". The functions within these menus are very explicit as
to their function, so only some of them will be discussed here.
Most of the menu functions have special keys which perform the
same function while in editing mode (not to be confused with
'hot' keys). These special keys appear in parentheses after the
menu function name. For example pressing Ctrl-G performs the same
function as the menu selection GO TO LINE #.

LOAD A FILE: Loads the specified file into memory for editing.
PED may have up to 8 files loaded at one time.

UN-LOAD FILE(s): Allows the omission from memory of any or all
currently loaded files. Once un-loaded, the file cannot be
recovered.

MERGE WITH THIS FILE: Inserts the specified file within the
current file above the current line.

SAVE THIS FILE: Saves the currently displayed file to disk. The
file name may be changed before the actual update takes place.

SAVE, THEN EXIT: Saves all files that have been edited, then
exits to DOS. Ctrl-X also performs this function.

PRINT: Prints the currently displayed file on the system printer.

QUIT: Exits to DOS. Ctrl-Q also performs this function.

UN-DELETE: Replaces the most recently deleted line. Up to 200
lines may be Un-deleted in this manner. This makes moving text as
simple as deleting several lines, moving the cursor, then un-
deleting the lines. Ctrl-U also performs this function.

SWAP FILES: Switches the current file with another loaded file,
making it the current file. Ctrl-S also performs this function.

FIND: Finds the specified word or phrase in the document and
positions the cursor there. Ctrl-F also performs this function.

FIND/REPLACE: Performs the FIND function, then replaces the word
or phrase with a specified word or phrase. Ctrl-R also performs
this function.

PLACE A BLOCK MARKER ON THE CURRENT LINE: Marks the current line
as the beginning or end of a block. When 2 marks have been set,
the text between them constitutes a block. These blocks may be
copied, moved or deleted using the following 3 functions. Ctrl-B
also performs this function.

COPY THE MARKED BLOCK TO ABOVE THE CURRENT LINE: Copies the
marked block to above the current line. The block may have been
marked in another file altogether, but the text will be copied
just the same. Blocks may be copied as many times as you wish.
Ctrl-C also performs this function.

MOVE THE MARKED BLOCK TO ABOVE THE CURRENT LINE: Moves the marked
block from one place in a file to another. This will only work
within a single file, and will only work once.

DELETE THE MARKED BLOCK: Deletes the text between the markers.
This will only work within one file.

DOS SHELL: Executes MS-DOS as a sub-task. Typing EXIT returns to
PED.

FILE DIRECTORY: Displays a directory of files on the screen.

ASCII CHART: Displays an ASCII chart listing all characters,
decimal, octal, and hexadecimal equivalents from 0 to 255.

CONFIGURE (COLORS ETC.): Allows the permanent (or temporary)
change of some aspects of PED including colors, whether backup
files are made, and how many lines each text file is allowed to
have.

CREDITS: Somebody had to all of this work.


                          INPUT WINDOWS

     Some menu functions require more input from the user before
the function can be carried out. For example, to load a file, PED
must know the name of the file before it can do anything. In
these situations an Input Window appears, information may be
typed, and pressing ENTER completes the process (or ESC aborts
the process). Input Windows activate keys which have slightly
different meanings than those used by the editor. These keys are
listed below.

       Key name           Function
       --------           --------
       Left arrow         Move left one space.
       Right arrow        Move right one space.
       Up arrow           Move to the previous field.
       Down arrow or Tab  Move to the next field.
       Enter

       Finish the input process.
       Ins                Insert one space.
       Del                Delete the character to the right.
       Backspace          Delete the character to the left.
       Esc                Abort the input process.


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