NEWZ.TXT The NEW Zimmers Editor 02/22/90 Welcome to the "NEW IMPROVED" Zimmer's editor/environment. The NEWZ.ZIP file contains the following files: NEWZ.EXE The Full featured version of Zimmer's editor. NEWZ.CFG A configuration file for NEWZ.EXE. NEWZ.TXT This documentation file. ZHELP.TXT The hypertext help system. HYPER.NDX The hypertext index file for ZHELP.TXT. SZ.COM A small version of Zimmers editor (25k). ZZ.COM An environment manager. ZZ.CFG A document that sets up ZZ. INDEX.COM A stand alone version of the index compiler. INDEX.CFG The configuration file for INDEX.COM Getting started The NEWZ.CFG file needs to be either in the directory where you are editing, or in the ROOT directory of the current drive. NEWZ.CFG is a text file that sets the editors options, and tells NEWZ where to find its files. The default contents of NEWZ.CFG specify that NEWZ's files are in the directory "\FPC\NEWZ". You can edit NEWZ.CFG if you have installed NEWZ in some other directory. NEWZ must access NEWZ.CFG, HYPER.NDX, and ZHELP.TXT for the online hypertext help system to work. Several changes have occured since the last NEWZ release, converting NEWZ into an environment for whatever compiler you are using. You can of course still use NEWZ like you did before, as a normal text editor. What Does It Mean? Many of you have probably seen versions of the Turbo Pascal compiler over the years. It is a good compiler, but what impressed many people was the ability to perform the "EDIT, COMPILE, DEBUG" cycle from within the compiler. Turbo Pascal provides an integrated environment for program development. This is an idea that was really pioneered by Basic, you can do whatever you need to do without leaving Basic. Compilers of course provide their own set of problems when it comes to interactivity. They are mostly command line driven, with many options to be typed with each command. MAKE utilities automate this to a large degree, but still don't shorten the actual development cycle while working on an individual module of a program. This is where ZZ and NEWZ come in to connect together your the Edit, Compile, Debug and Make process into an environment that invokes each major operation with a single keystroke. ÚÄ ^F1 ÄÄÄ> Edit .MSG file ³ ÃÄ ^F2 ÄÄ-> Execute .COM or .EXE ³ ÃÄ ^F4 ÄÄÄ> Edit ZZ.CFG file ³ ÃÄ ^F5 ÄÄÄ> Compiler ³ ZZ/NEWZ ÄÄÄÄÅÄ ^F7 ÄÄÄ> Debugger ³ ÃÄ ^F8 ÄÄÄ> Build "C" HYPER.NDX file ³ ÃÄ ^F9 ÄÄÄ> Linker ³ ÀÄ ^F10 ÄÄ> Make ZZ consumes only about 12k of you valuble program memory, and retains no memory when you leave the environment. In addition, this version of the NEWZ editor includes features that make it very useful when working with multiple source file programs. NEWZ can now compile an index file of all symbols in your source files. It then provides a hypertext browsing environment where you can easily view, change, and explore a multitude of source files with full nest and return to where you were. Locating any symbol in a multi-thousand symbol index file on an 80286 machine takes less than one second. This version of NEWZ supports Forth type symbols, and assembly symbols. Support for "C" is also provided by the program CTAGS.EXE. See NEWZ's hypertext help under configuration for details of how to setup and build an index file of your source files. Additional Features NEWZ includes many features, here is a brief summary: 1. Work with up to 20 files at one time. (Only one file is in memory but switching between files with a hard disk is very quick, and requires only a single keystroke.) 2. Pull down menus and pop up dialog boxes are supported for ease of use, along with "POWER" Control and Alt sequences for experienced users. 3. Hypertext help is provided to ease the learning process. 4. Searching is supported within a file, and across multiple files, to help find any file that contains a particular character sequence. 5. You can "Shell" out to DOS to perform any needed commands, and you can easily repeat a particular DOS command with a two key sequence. This allows NEWZ to be your shell when performing repeated compiles. 6. DOS commands can be typed into documents, and performed with a single keystroke. "Alt-F2" "" 7. Keystroke Macros are provided, to ease those operations that need to be repeated. A repeat function allows a macro to be performed a specified number of times. 8. A search path is supported, allowing NEWZ to find a file you specify across directory boundries without having to type in the actual path at file open time. 9. You can set the default file extension to any three characters. The specified extension will be applied to a file when no extension is specified. 10. Full margin control is provided, with paragraph reformat. Word wrap can be turned on or off, or set to a default value. 11. Maximum file size is limited by available memory, and will typically be greater than 250k on a 640k machine. 12. Full Cut/Copy/Paste is supported within and between files. 13. Line drawing allows documents that will be printed on IBM compatible printers to box sections of text, and use graphic characters and bullets to hilight sections. 14. Paragraph line sorting is provided to allow simple document databases to be created. Sorting is performed on the current column down to the next blank line. 15. EGA/VGA high resolution text modes are supported, NEWZ will automatically adjust to whatever screen size your display is set for up to 132 columns by 60 lines. 16. Search and replace including global replace are provided. 17. You can create your own hypertext systems for training. 18. SPEED! NEWZ is very fast, moving around a document, or from one end to the other, is limited by the repeat rate of your keyboard, not NEWZ's redisplay speed. On a 4.7 MHZ 8088 machine, NEWZ can redisplay more than ten full (80x24) screens per second. 19. Both COLOR and MONOCROME are supported automatically with no installation required for your hardware. 20. NEWZ automatically reconizes and supports a mouse when a driver is present. The mouse can be used with pulldown menus, cursor positoning, scanning through a document, and text line selection for Cut and Copy operations. 21. You can specify in the NEWZ.CFG configuration file whether you want backup copies kept of your edits. 22. ZZ turns NEWZ into a compiler environment/director. 23. "Alt-O S" toggle between expanding TABs and showing them as a character. 24. LASERJET and PROPRINT are supported printer drivers now with an option in the NEWZ.CFG file. 25. TABSIZE n1, and TABX ON|OFF allow setting the tab size in the configuration file, as well as specifying whether tabs should be expanded when editing. The default is EXPAND TABS. 26. "Ctrl-\" displays the current memory usage in the computer. 27. Modified F-PC so that all programs (including the Z editor) will now flush themselves to Expanded memory if there is enough available when shelling out to do a DOS command. This frees up all except about 8000 bytes of program space for any other thing you might want to do while shelled to DOS. 28. New parameters in NEWZ.CFG, "SWAPEMM ON|OFF" to control whether the editor will try to use expanded memory when shelling to DOS, and "SWAPFILE " that will allow the editor to try to swap itself to a file when shelling out to DOS. The file specified can be on any drive, but will be very slow unless it is on a RAMDRIVE. SWAPEMM defaults to ON, and SWAPFILE defaults to disabled. 29. Added the TCOMed version of INDEX to the NEWZ .ZIP file. This allows you to index a bunch of files automatically, without having to startup the NEWZ editor and manually using the build index function in the file menu. Shareware The NEWZ editor is shareware. If you find NEWZ useful in your daily work, join other satisfied users and register your copy by sending a check for $60.00 to the address below. Be sure to specify the NEWZ editor in your letter, and include a return address. You will receive the latest copy of NEWZ. If you also want the source for NEWZ, include an additional $50.00 ($110.00 total), and specify that in your letter. The F-PC Forth development system on which NEWZ is built will be included with the latest source for NEWZ. Register TODAY by sending your check to the following address. Tom Zimmer 292 Falcato Drive Milpitas, Ca. 95035 U.S.A. Home (408) 263-8859 Work (408) 954-6946