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VDE18D.UPD
----------
VDE 1.8D Update Information
E. Meyer - 30 Oct 1995
See UPDATE GUIDE below for new features and changes in this version.
=============================== RECENT NEWS =================================
ORDERING INFORMATION
See the order form (ORDER.FRM) for current fees for registration, site
licenses, and updates. Please provide all information requested.
FUTURE PLANS
VDE development for the MSDOS environment will continue. Editing larger
files is the most requested new feature, and is still planned. No Windows-
specific version of VDE is likely (though VDE can be used in a DOS box).
"fastWRITE" FOR HP LX PALMTOPS
A dedicated Hewlett-Packard palmtop (95/100/200LX) version of VDE, called
"fastWRITE", is marketed by ACE Technologies. For those who primarily need
an editor for the LX, fastWRITE offers: automatic recognition of each LX
model; LX-style command menus invoked by MENU key; support for all LX video
modes, "hotkey zoom", serial port, and battery saving features; and full
popup/hotkey ability under ACE SWITCH! 2.0 API. Contact ACE Technologies at
592 Weddell Drive #6, Sunnyvale CA 94089, tel. (408)734-0100, (800)825-9977.
Registered VDE users are eligible for a discount toward purchase of
fastWRITE, and vice versa.
=============================== UPDATE GUIDE ================================
Users of previous versions of VDE will notice the following changes in
operation. Please refer to the instructions for full details.
VDE 1.8D
This release includes internal improvements and small fixes. Also:
* ^QP can now be used after a block paste, copy, or read operation
(AltP, ^KC, ^KR) to move to the end of the block that was just inserted (the
cursor remains at the start of it). This is most convenient in the event of
an error, so you can easily locate and delete the unwanted material
(^KB^QP^KK^KY).
* VDE no longer attempts to respond to mouse motion when running under
Windows, which caused problems in many circumstances.
NEW IN VDE 1.8 (Aug 1995)
* A long-requested feature, column block mode, is toggled by the new ^KN
and ^KI commands. When on, you will see "CBl", or "CRp" for column replace
mode, in the header (note that the former "vt,hy" flags no longer appear). A
column block is a rectangle whose top left and bottom right corners are the
block markers. Column block move/copy/read operations can either insert or
replace existing text, according to the mode selected with ^KI. A new toggle
command Esc*C is also provided. See COLUMN BLOCK MODE.
Also, the ^KR or {File:Import} command no longer leaves material marked
as a block, as it did in VDE 1.73. (To do this, you can execute the commands
^KB,^KK,^S before ^KR, or set up a macro to do so.)
* The file information command, formerly ^KI, has been changed to AltK,
and improved: when it lists multiple files, the cursor is now positioned on
the next filename, and the Up/Down arrows and Enter key can be used to move
to a particular file.
* VDE now recognizes the motion of a mouse (or other pointer device), if
installed, for moving the cursor through file text. This allows faster
cursor motion, especially diagonally. Also, pressing the main (Left) button
while moving marks a block, just like holding down Shift with arrow keys.
* To maintain smooth cursor motion when using the mouse or up/down arrow
keys, VDE now allows the cursor to move temporarily beyond the end of a short
line. An arrow will display by the column number in the header (i.e. "C>52")
to indicate this. If you type a character, the intervening spaces will be
added to the line first. For full details, see MOVING THE CURSOR.
* A new command ^\ copies the character above the cursor, making it easy
to duplicate parts of lines. The backward repeat find command, formerly ^\,
has been changed to ^H, which is more accessible and similar to the forward
command ^L.
* A new command ^[Tab] tabs to the column of the next nonblank in the
previous line, for automatic alignment with existing columns.
* A new command ^OY toggles hard reformat mode. Auto-format is turned
off; reformat (^B) will convert a group of text lines with hard returns into
a formatted paragraph with soft returns. (Thus it is no longer necessary to
use a macro to "soften" text before reformatting.) Esc*Y is provided to
control this in a macro. See HARD REFORMAT.
* A new command ^KU removes all place marks (^KM) from the file. This is
very useful in a macro which will be using a place mark and would be confused
by pre-existing ones.
* A new command Esc*S specifies that single lines ending in a hard CR
should be adjusted to the current left margin when manual reformat (^B) is
used; Esc*s returns to the default, which now is that they are NOT adjusted.
(They may be centered titles, etc.)
* A new option /R (which can be combined with a file mode, like /RD)
loads a file in PROTECTED MODE (see ^KO).
* The following keys which used to be completely equivalent are now
different in most contexts:
[Enter] and ^M (CR) [BkSp] and ^H [Esc] and ^[
^[Enter] and ^J (LF) [Tab] and ^I ^[Ins] and ^]
This means that the keys ^H,^I,^M,^[,^] are now free for use as independent
commands in VDE. (^J already was one.) The only case when these keys are
still equivalent is their use after ^P to embed an ASCII code in text:
^P[BkSp] and ^P^H both enter the character ^H, ASCII 08. On XT keyboards
that do not recognize ^[Ins], you can use the toggle function Esc*W for word
insert mode instead.
This will require changing some habits, and rewriting most macros. For
example, when defining macros, ^P[Enter] and ^P^M (or just ^M) are no longer
the same: the first embeds the Enter COMMAND, the second embeds the ^M (CR)
CHARACTER. Thus to terminate input to a prompt, for example, you must use
^P[Enter]; while to search for a CR in the text, you must enter it as ^P^M or
just ^M (which works fine now without a ^P prefix). Be careful, also, not to
press ^P^[Enter] when you mean ^P[Enter].
NOTE: With all the changes to keys and commands in VDE 1.8, VINST cannot
read and convert .VDF files from previous versions. For the first time in
many years, you will have to redo your function key files. (The new release
of the VMC macro converter should simplify this task, however.)
* If block zoom (^KZ) is used when no block is marked, it will now zoom
into an empty block instead of giving an error.
* The Alt[Tab] command can now produce a hard tab in variable tab mode,
as well as variable tab in hard tab mode.
* Several changes have been made to Find/Replace (^QF/^QA) features:
The potentially confusing "I"gnore-case option is now called simply "C"ase.
In document modes, the find algorithm allows for additional whitespace
(spaces, soft CR) between words, in the event of wordwrap. The command-line
option "[_]" to locate a string when loading a file can now contain spaces or
punctuation, and follows the user's VINST default for case-sensitivity.
* When windowing two locations in the same file (^OW), changes made in
one window are now reflected in the other after an interval of inactivity.
(Previously no update occured until moving back to the other window.)
* The ^QB,^QK,^QM commands now display a visible error ("Not Found") when
the relevant marker is not present.
* Non-document file modes (/N,C) now remove any spaces at the ends of
lines when saving to disk. This can be useful for converting VDE-style
"soft" paragraphs to "hard" text for various applications. If you want to
avoid this effect, you can save in mode /A or /U instead.
* VINST no longer offers a choice of behavior for several keys, which now
simply have their standard PC functions:
[BkSp] delete previous char [Home] go to line start
[Del] delete current char [End] go to line end
And by the same logic, the "^Q[Del]" command has been changed to ^Q[BkSp].
Also, there is no more "Align page with screen" option; ^QI positions the
cursor just like Find (^QF). If you like, you can then use ^OE to make this
the top of the screen.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VDE 1.73 UPDATE SUMMARY (Aug 1994)
* A new command, ^[Del], deletes the entire current word, regardless of
the position of the cursor within it. (Actually introduced in ver. 1.72B)
* VDE FILENAME[string] loads FILENAME, and positions the cursor on the
first occurrence of "string".
* When defining a macro with the Esc[ command, PC keys like [Del] or
[End] are now accepted.
* There is no longer a special command Esc] to store the previously
defined macro to a key; instead, use Esc[ and press ^R to replay the macro.
* Most users will no longer need to SET a VDE environment variable; under
DOS 3 and above, you can simply keep these files in the same directory that
VDE.EXE is run from. The same search method is also used when running
VINST.COM or VUDIC.COM, and applies also to writing .VDx files.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VDE 1.72 UPDATE SUMMARY (Jan 1994)
* The PC up/down arrow keys now restore the original cursor column (when
possible) after moving across shorter lines. The ^E/^X keys do not do this,
retaining their WordStar behavior instead.
* WordPerfect file compatibility has been improved. /F mode can now
recognize and read WP version 6.0 files, as well as 5.0/5.1. It now writes
WP 5.0 format, which can be read directly by WP 5.1 or 6.0 as well.
* Unformatted /U mode no longer interprets control codes as print effects
(it now behaves like /A mode in this respect, instead of /D).
* Soft hyphens (^P-) are now saved to disk in /D mode as well as the
WordStar and WordPerfect filemodes.
* Find (^QF) can now be used more easily to find hard returns in
documents: a string BEGINNING with a return (^M) matches only HARD returns.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VDE 1.71 UPDATE SUMMARY (Oct 1993)
* The VDE program is now in .EXE format (rather than .COM), and there is
no longer a separate VDEOPT.DAT file required for the AltE command.
* Two new macro commands, Esc? and Esc:, accept input directly from the
keyboard during macro execution.
* The macro chain command Esc& now has a variant Esc&& which calls
another macro definition, then returns.
* The old style VDE "Esc key" macros, which some users felt had mnemonic
value, have been reinstated as aliases for function keys.
* There are now 16 variable tab stops, rather than 8. Also, the Esc-Tab
command (for variable tab in hard tab mode) has been replaced with Alt-Tab.
* The screen shift commands, formerly Esc-arrow key, are now Alt-arrow
key, and work only with the separate arrow keys of the AT keyboard.
* The MenuBar {sCreen:} selection has been renamed to {View:}.
* In addition to the new "Esc key" aliases, function key definitions now
offer twice as much available space.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VDE 1.7 UPDATE SUMMARY (Jun 1993)
* VDE now offers an integrated spelling checker for registered users.
AltH checks one word, AltJ checks the rest of a document.
* A new command ^OU toggles display of function key labels on the bottom
line of the screen.
* There is no more "MenuBar MODE", determining how the [Esc] key
functions. Instead, the menus are always available, invoked by ^[Esc].
* The Esc$ command has a new argument, "$" (Esc$$), to cancel special
error handling in macros, returning to halting on any error.
* The print command ^KP now reads an empty init string ('' alone) as a
request not to send the init string built into the driver.
* The find/replace functions ^QF/^QA now use option "I" for Ignore-case
(instead of "U"ppercase as before). Also, ^QA no longer has an "A"lign
option; realignment simply depends on whether AutoFormat is on.
* The menubar selection {File:neW} now performs the ^KD function, not ^KL
(it saves the current file, instead of abandoning it).
* Several minor changes in key usage have been made, including ^[Break]
(instead of ^U as before) to abort command input.
* CTRLCAPS 1.2 provides a complete swap of functions between the [Ctrl]
and [CapsLock] keys, instead of the previous dual function.
* The "Macro keys" Esc0-Z have been removed, along with ".VDK files".
(Note that you can rename any .VDK files to .VDF for use as function keys.)
* The "Generic ANSI.SYS" installation is no longer available. As of VDE
1.7B, the HP95LX and 100LX palmtops are no longer automatically detected;
they must be selected as "not-quite-compatibles" in VINST.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VDE 1.65 UPDATE SUMMARY (Feb 1993)
* There is a new "Protected mode", toggled by the command ^KO, that
engages automatically if you load a file with the DOS R/O attribute.
* In the File Browser, the plus key "+" acts to tag or untag files, and
you can invoke the Browser from the command line by entering VDE with a
command like VDE *.DOC.
* You can add a page/line number in square brackets "[]" after a filename
to go to (^QI) that position immediately upon loading the file.
============================= VERSION HISTORY ===============================
1984-1987: Development of "Video Display Editor" for CP/M computers.
VDE 1.0 (Dec87): First MSDOS release, for IBM PC compatibles only.
1.01 (Dec87): Faster; several bug fixes; minor changes to VINST.
1.1 (Jan88): Edit 2 files; AltE; AltT,D; DOS shell; ANSI installation.
1.2 (Mar88): AltW; AltM; AltS; ^OQ; ^QT,^QI; AltG; [F]-keys; word count.
1.21 (May88): Auto indent; enhanced ^OI; ^PL is pagebreak.
1.22 (Aug88): AltO; AltA; AltI; append to files; enhanced ^KP, display.
1.3 (Jan89): Edit 6 files; AltC,P; AltV; improved ^QA, ^U; /5 mode.
1.31 (Mar89): ^K#; ^KZ; macro keys A-Z; AltU; ^OD.
1.4 (Jul89): MenuBar mode; Esc"; proportional format/print mode.
1.5 (Dec89): 8 files; ^KA; enhanced ^KF, ^OW/AltF, ^QF; use less memory.
1.51 (Mar90): /P, /X file modes; ^]; ^K^; improved proportional mode.
1.52 (Apr90): Various small improvements and fixes.
1.53 (May90): ^QL,N; /M mode; ^PG; foreign language/KEYBxx compatibility.
1.54 (Sep90): Small improvements; supports enhanced keyboard, F11/F12.
1.6 (Dec90): Auto format; Justify; ^OG; {User}; /U; improved ^U, ^OD.
1.61 (Mar91): Envelope printer; /C mode; enhanced AltE, block marking.
1.62 (Oct91): Supports UltraVision, HP95LX palmtop, Tandy keyboard.
1.63 (Jun92): Autoexec macro; ^\ (now ^H); enhanced ^QF,^OI,^KF,^KA etc.
1.64 (Aug92): "W"ord find; dual /D,A modes; DESQview aware.
1.65 (Feb93): Protected mode ^KO; Browser can tag files; [goto#] option.
1.7 (Jun93): Spelling checker; ^OU; HP100LX. Now PC compatibles only.
1.71 (Oct93): Esc?, Esc: for macro input; small improvements.
1.72 (Jan94): Reads WordPerfect 6 files; small improvements.
1.73 (Aug94): ^[Del]; [gotostring] option; small improvements.
1.8 (Aug95): Column blocks ^KN,^KI; mouse; ^OY, Esc*S; ^KU; ^Tab, ^\.
----- Eric Meyer, 3541 Smuggler Way, Boulder, CO 80303 USA -----