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- Dear Computer Abuser.. ..er, I mean User:
-
- The EXPRESS 1.0 full screen editor on this disk is NOT A TOY. It is a full
- featured screen editor with all the commands the 'big boys' have, plus
- several unique features that make it a must on everybody's system disk.
-
- SPECIAL FEATURES
-
- Just to get your attention in the first 100 words: EXPRESS includes a
- built in macro key translator and editor for reducing long tedious
- operations to a single key. Macro definitions can be saved to a disk
- file for later use.
-
- EXPRESS also can access files in any user area (can your current editor
- be executed from A12: to edit a file in B2: and include into the text a
- file from A15:???) Other features include a built in DIR command that
- shows disk capacity and file sizes (of files in any user area, of
- course), a built in TYPE command (that TYPEs files in any user area, get
- the picture?)
-
- EXPRESS can be installed on any CP/M 2.2 system with at least 48k of
- memory and a terminal with direct cursor addressing. Installation for
- different systems is as simple as picking a name from a menu (or adding
- your own entry to the menu if you have something really obscure.)
-
-
-
- EXPRESS is not a word processor; it was not written for secretaries
- (although they could grow just as fond of it if given the chance).
- EXPRESS was written BY programmers FOR programmers and it shows. Extra
- effort was taken to assure fast operation, efficient use of memory,
- flexibility, configurablity, and of course power.
-
- The Search routines, for instance, went through several different ideas
- and implementations before we finally settled on the fastest. The
- standard BYTE searching benchmark now runs faster with EXPRESS on a 4Mhz
- Z80 than it runs with the Turbo Pascal(tm) editor running on an 8 Mhz
- 80186!! The scrolling has been optimized as well; while it is not up to
- the memory mapped speeds of some 'hardware specific' editors on the
- market, it is much faster than Turbo or WordStar(tm).
-
-
-
- EXPRESS Version 1.0 is a preliminary and limited implementation
- of the EXPRESS full screen editor and is distributed without
- charge, as a sample intended to introduce users to the power and
- potential of the EXPRESS full screen editor. Version 1.0 does not
- contain all the enhancements of Version 2.0. Those functions which
- were not implemented in Version 1.0 are indicated on the command page
- with a (#). A brief list of the version 2.0 enhancements follows:
-
- * Full use of 32 user areas
-
- * Edit files any size (not just limited to memory size)
-
- * ERASE, COPY and RENAME implemented
-
- * unlimited number of macro key definitions
-
- * size of marked text block limited only by memory size
-
- * full, dynamic (as you type) wordwrap
-
- * fully definable tab stops
-
- * Literal or "case ignoring" search
-
- * Sorted Directory
-
- * Full 91 page manual included
-
- You are authorized and encouraged to freely copy and distribute copies
- of EXPRESS Version 1.0 to friends and bulletin boards. We believe that
- you should be allowed to use and appreciate a software package before
- having to spend any of your hard-earned money. We ask only that this
- full documentation be included in copies you distribute.
-
-
- WE MUST INSIST THAT EXPRESS 1.0 NOT BE DISTRIBUTED FOR FINANCIAL GAIN.
-
-
- As software users ourselves, we also believe that current software
- prices are much too high for the average computer user. Because of
- this, we are selling EXPRESS version 2.0 for only $34.95, POSTAGE AND
- HANDLING INCLUDED (in USA).
-
- EXPRESS Version 2.0 may be purchased by sending a check or money order
- for $34.95 (postage and handling included) to the address listed
- below. In return, you will receive a disk containing Version 2.0 (or
- the latest version), the full printed documentation and any recent
- user news. You will also be placed on our list of registered users.
- Further information may be obtained from:
-
-
- TCI
- 17733 205th Ave. NE
- Woodinville, Washington 98072
-
-
- EXPRESS (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 TCI All rights reserved.
-
-
-
- *******************************************************************************
- * *
- * EXPRESS 2.0 Full Screen Editor Overview *
- * *
- * *
- * * FULL Access to all 32 USER AREAS with ALL editor commands. *
- * *
- * * EASILY CONFIGURED for any Terminal / computer *
- * *
- * * Terminal data base for QUICK and EASY SETUP for your *
- * computer or terminal (over 50 terminals pre-defined) *
- * *
- * * Flexible terminal definition to easily accomodate a wide range *
- * of terminals (even ANSI standard and different screen sizes) *
- * *
- * * DEFAULT tab stops and MODE SETTINGS can be setup by the user *
- * *
- * * USER DEFINABLE Keyboard command layout *
- * (emulate function and control keys of other editor *
- * *
- * * Takes advantage of the POWERFUL string handling *
- * instructions of the Z-80 *
- * *
- * * NO LIMIT ON FILE SIZE *
- * *
- * * Easily accomodates lines longer than 80 characters *
- * *
- * * FULL RECOVERY FROM DISK FULL conditions *
- * *
- * * FULL CURSOR CONTROL (and then some!) *
- * (character, word, line, etc) *
- * *
- * * Variable Speed (FAST!!) , bidirectional Auto-Scroll *
- * *
- * * UNDELETE word/line/end of line *
- * *
- * * Full complement of TEXT BLOCK functions *
- * *
- * Block Copy *
- * Block Move *
- * Block Delete *
- * Block Kill *
- * Block Save to disk *
- * Include block from disk *
- * Block Print *
- * *
- * * All block functions directly callable from Edit *
- * or Command mode. *
- * *
- * * CPM functions "outer shell". While editing, you can: *
- * *
- * TYPE any file from any disk/user area *
- * COPY any file from/to any disk/user area *
- * ERASE any file from any disk/user area *
- * RENAME any file in any disk/user area *
- * DIR ectory includes file sizes and disk usage for *
- * any disk/user area *
- * LOG any disk/user area as the default *
- * *
- *******************************************************************************
-
- *******************************************************************************
- * *
- * Built in MACRO KEY TRANSLATOR *
- * *
- * Any number of input keys translated to any length output *
- * (up to 256 characters per macro key) *
- * *
- * Errors while defining macro keys can be corrected with *
- * a backspace key. *
- * *
- * UNLIMITED NUMBER of translations available *
- * *
- * SAVE your definitions on disk for later use *
- * *
- * READ pre-defined keyboard macros from disk *
- * *
- * Macro key table can be cleared at any time to *
- * reclaim use of memory *
- * *
- * * SEARCH and REPLACE Commands *
- * *
- * FAST !!! We use the power of the Z-80 instruction set *
- * *
- * Global or selective replace *
- * *
- * Literal or "Ignore Case" search *
- * *
- * Goto PAGE "N" command *
- * *
- * Goto LINE "N" command *
- * *
- * * WORD WRAP mode functions *
- * *
- * Dynamic WRAP/UNWRAP mode while you type , as well as *
- * an Explicit reformat command *
- * *
- * SET LEFT AND RIGHT MARGINS to any column *
- * *
- * *
- * * TAB functions *
- * *
- * Tabs are easy to setup, explicit columns or incremental *
- * *
- * Tab characters can actually be inserted in file *
- * or spaces used instead (ala Turbo) *
- * *
- * * Without exiting the editor you can: *
- * *
- * END - edit of current file to edit another (NEW) *
- * QNEW - Abort edit of this file and edit another *
- * SAVE a copy of your current work on disk and be *
- * returned to the exact place you left off *
- * Goto the "HEAD" of the file (multiple buffers) *
- * *
- * * INEXPENSIVE - $34.95 including shipping and handling. *
- * *
- * *
- * TCI *
- * 17733 205th Ave. NE *
- * Woodinville, WA 98072 *
- * *
- *******************************************************************************
-
- EDITING_COMMANDS_QUICK_REFERENCE
-
- CURSOR_MOVEMENT
-
- Cursor Left.........^H (______) Next Tab............^I (______)
- Cursor Right........^L (______) Previous Tab...... ^I (______)
- Cursor Up...........^K (______)
- Cursor Down.........^J (______) Next Word...........^W (______)
- Previous Word.......^A (______)
- Indent............^U^W (______)
- Undent............^U^A (______)
-
- Start of Line.....^U^H (______) End of Line.......^U^L (______)
- Top of Screen.....^U^K (______) Bottom of Line....^U^J (______)
- Top of Buffer.....^U^R (______) Bottom of Buffer..^U^T (______)
-
- Start of Line/Screen/Buffer.....^^ <HOME> (______)
- End of Line/Screen/Buffer.......^N (______)
- Carriage Return.................^M <CR> (______)
-
- SCROLLING
-
- Scroll Down One Line..^F (______) Down Continuously..^U^F (______)
- Scroll Up One Line....^G (______) Up Continuously....^U^G (______)
-
- Next Page.............^T (______) Center Cursor Line...^] (______)
- Previous Page.........^R (______)
-
- EDITING_COMMANDS
-
- Rubout.............<RUB> (______) Delete Word..........^V (______)
- Delete Character......^D (______) UNdelete Word......^U^V (______)
-
- Insert Single Space...^E (______) Delete End of Line...^Y (______)
- Partial Insert Mode...^Q (______) UNdel End of Line..^U^Y (______)
- Toggle Full Insert..^U^Q (______)
-
- Insert Line...........^X (______) Delete Line..........^Z (______)
- Toggle Entry Mode.....^\ (______) UNdelete Line......^U^Z (______)
-
- Break Line............^B (______)
- Concatenate Lines.....^O (______) Reformat Paragraph.^U^O (______)
-
- SPECIAL_COMMANDS
-
- Enter/Leave Command Mode..^[ <ESC> (______)
-
- Cont. Search/Replace..^S (______) Literal Next Char....^C (______)
- 'Bit7' Next Char...^U^C (______)
-
- BLOCK_COMMANDS
-
- Set Block Marker....^P^P (______) Block Copy.........^P^C (______)
- Clear Block Marker..^P^B (______) Block Move.........^P^M (______)
- Clear all Markers...^P^K (______) Block Delete.......^P^D (______)
-
- REPLACE_MODE_COMMANDS
-
- Continue, No Replace..^S (______) Replace and Stay...<LF> (______)
- Replace and Cont....<CR> (______) Center on Screen.....^] (______)
-
- Begin Editing.............(Any other Key)
- Hardware Requirements
-
- EXPRESS requires a Z-80 microprocessor with a minimum of 48K bytes of
- memory and the CP/M 2.2 operating system. The video display terminal
- should have at least 64 columns (characters per line) and direct cursor
- addressing.
-
- Overview
-
- EXPRESS will edit any ASCII file created under the standard CP/M text
- storage format used by ED and most other editors; i.e., every line is
- followed by a carriage return/linefeed and the end of the file is marked
- with a ^Z. EXPRESS performs simple formatting automatically during
- editing by providing the user with dynamic word wrap and unwrap. When
- a more sophisticated output is desired, (such as footnotes, page
- numbering, right justification, etc.), the output file can be sent to a
- text formatter such as ROFF4, a very complete public domain program
- available on SIG/M volume 174.
-
- EXPRESS was written to be fast, powerful, and flexible. The editing
- commands can be configured to look exactly like any other editor with
- which you are familiar. This lets you switch over from another system
- painlessly while gaining the advantages of EXPRESS (such as fast
- operation, full use of CP/M user areas, etc.).
-
- EXPRESS has two distinct modes of operation - "COMMAND" mode and "EDIT"
- mode. Edit mode is used for entering and editing text. Command mode
- performs more complex operations that involve blocks of text or the
- whole file. When in Edit mode, the screen is filled with text (or blank
- if creating a new file). When in Command mode, a special menu is
- displayed and the cursor is placed on a command input line.
-
- Required Files
-
- The only files needed to use EXPRESS are E.COM and EXPRESS.OVL.
- EXPRESS.OVL contains overlays for some of the extended commands
- available from command mode. Both files together take about 24k bytes of
- disk space.
-
- Naming the command file E.COM is more evidence of our commitment to fast
- operation. We found that no matter what name we gave our editor (and the
- name was changed many times since its inception), we always renamed the
- command file to "E.COM" anyway. Although "E" isn't as descriptive as
- some multi-character name, it is much faster to type. When you are as
- impatient as we are, any unnecessary keystroke gets in your way.
-
- E.COM will find EXPRESS.OVL if it is in any user area on CP/M's current
- "default drive" (as indicated by the CP/M ?> prompt) or in any user area
- on drive A. This means you need only one copy of EXPRESS.OVL on the
- system. You can actually edit files without having EXPRESS.OVL on any
- disk at all. If EXPRESS cannot find EXPRESS.OVL anywhere, you will lose
- only the use of Block Commands, Macro Key Commands, and System Commands,
- but no other functions will be affected.
-
- Getting Started
-
- Run ECONFIG on the working disk and select the <T>erminal Installation
- command to install EXPRESS for your system. If you don't want to install
- different command keys than those we have provided or set up different
- default parameters, you can skip the next two paragraphs and get right
- down to brass tacks. Otherwise...
-
- While running ECONFIG, if you are extremely familiar with the control
- characters for some other full screen editor and would like to stick
- with them instead of using ours, they can be changed using the <C>ommand
- Installation command in ECONFIG.
-
- Since EXPRESS uses so little disk space, you may want to keep a copy on
- each of your working disks. These can each be set up with different
- tabs, margins, and other default parameters that are appropriate for the
- files on that disk (ie. FORTRAN, PASCAL, ASSEMBLER, text files). The
- default parameters are set up using the <D>efault Parameter Selection
- command in ECONFIG.
-
- You are now ready to take advantage of the speed and power of EXPRESS.
-
- To edit an existing file with EXPRESS, type the following command at the
- operating system prompt:
-
- A>e d:fid.ext
-
- where 'fid.ext' is the name of the file you wish to edit and 'd:' is the
- drive where the file is located. EXPRESS will load the requested file
- into memory and place you in Command Mode (or Edit Mode if you told it
- to do so with ECONFIG).
-
- To create a new file, the command is the same. When EXPRESS discovers
- that the file does not exist, it will ask the question:
-
- Create New File D:FID.EXT? (Y/N)
-
- Responding 'N' will allow you to correct the file name if in error,
- responding 'Y' will create the file and allow you to enter and edit
- text.
-
- If you type 'e' with no filename following, you will be prompted for a
- 'File to Edit'. While entering and editing at this prompt, all of the
- normal EXPRESS editing commands are available, such as cursor movement,
- character insertion and deletion, etc.
-
- Memory Overflow Handling
-
- When you are close to overflowing the edit buffer, EXPRESS will
- automatically write out one page (screen) of the buffer to the disk.
- This will take a second or so and after it is done, you may continue
- editing. If you were editing in the first page of the buffer at the time
- the overflow occurred, you will have to go to command mode and execute
- the HEAD command to get back to where you were; otherwise, you will be
- left exactly where you were before the overflow.
-
- If you find that you are overflowing memory often, you will probably
- want to raise the amount of free memory left after a disk read. This can
- be done with the <D>efault parameters option of the ECONFIG program that
- comes on the distribution disk.
-
- Disk Full Error Handling
-
- If at any time during a disk operation, the disk becomes full, the
- operation will be stopped and the message 'The Disk is Full!' will be
- printed on the error line. You cannot write any more to disk until you
- remedy the problem.
-
- You have several options at this point, the most undesirable one being
- to QUIT out of the edit. If you really would like to save what you have
- just entered (most likely you would) you can use the DIR command to
- check the disk you are working on to see if any files can be deleted.
- Good candidates for this are files with a .BAK extension. If there are
- any files that are not needed, erase them with the ERASE command. Now,
- re-execute the command that caused the disk full error.
-
- If there aren't any files on the disk that can be deleted, don't get
- excited yet. There's still another option. COPY files that you need to
- save to another disk and ERASE them from the original. This will free up
- disk space that can be used to save the file you are editing. Make sure
- you don't change the disks that are already in the drives. If you do,
- you may find yourself with an ugly error message from the operating
- system.
-
- If you are anything short of totally careless, you should always be able
- to come away from a disk full error with a smile on your face.
- COMMAND_MODE
-
- Command Mode is used for tasks too involved and complicated to be
- handled while in Edit Mode. For instance, if a command needs a file
- name, it would be most inconvenient to have to type the file name
- without being able to go back and edit it as you typed.
-
- Command Mode is entered from edit mode by pressing the <ESC> key (^[),
- (______). When you do this, the screen will be cleared and a header
- of information will be displayed at the top of the screen, like
- this:
-
- The Command Line Prompt
-
- EXPRESS 1.0 Full Screen Editor Purchaser:
- (c) copyright TCI 1984, 1985 Terminal: Snipe-13
- A0:Editing B7:JUNK.TXT
- >
-
- The letter and number at the beginning of the third line is the current
- 'default' drive and user area. This is the drive and user area that will
- be assumed whenever you type a filename for a command and don't enter a
- drive name or user area. The file displayed after 'Editing' is the file
- that is currently being edited. If the file is larger than the available
- memory (RAM) in your system and the entire file has not yet passed
- through the memory buffer, the message 'More of File Still on Disk' will
- be displayed following the file name.
-
- The fourth line is the command input line. It contains the prompt '>'
- and the cursor is placed immediately after the prompt. This is where all
- commands will be input. All of the single line editing commands can be
- used when inputting the command line, including cursor movement,
- character insertion and deletion, etc.
-
- The line immediately below the prompt line is the 'auxiliary input' line
- (for short yes/no questions) and the line below that is the 'error
- line'. Any time there is a mistake made in command input (for instance,
- if a file doesn't exist) the message telling you so will be printed on
- this line.
-
- While in command mode you have access to a variety of useful
- functions including: ENDing the editing session, setting the TABS,
- SEARCHing for a string of characters, TYPING, RENAMING, COPYing, and
- ERAsing files, and many others.
-
- NOTE: (Not all commands are available in EXPRESS version 1.0.)
- (Unavailable commands are denoted with a # on the command page)
-
- COMMANDS
-
- The following is a list of commands executable from the command mode of
- EXPRESS. These commands are executed by typing the command and any
- arguments that are needed followed by a carriage return, <CR>, which
- begins execution of the given command.
-
- The entire word for a command may be entered if you wish to make it
- easy to remember, but you are only required to enter the letters
- that are shown in upper case in the discussion below. The actual
- command which you type in may be in either upper or lower case.
-
- Syntax Conventions
-
- The following descriptions will use these rules of grammer:
-
- [ ] - anything enclosed in brackets is an optional part of the command
- and may be omitted (do not enter the brackets themselves as part
- of the command line).
-
- | - when there is a choice between two or more arguments, they will be
- separated by a vertical bar.
-
- n - any positive number less than 32767 (for most commands the highest
- number that will be recognized is much smaller than this)
-
- ccc - any string of characters
-
- du:fid.ext - this is any file, on any disk, in any user area of your
- system where:
-
- du - specifies disc and user area
- fid.ext - specified filename and extension
-
- EXPRESS 2.0 recognizes 32 user areas numbered 0-31
- EXPRESS 1.0 recognizes only 16 user areas.
-
-
- Command Groups
-
- The Command Mode commands are logically separated into 6 major groups:
-
- SEARCH - find a specific string, line, or page in the file replace
- occurrences of one string with another string
-
- EDITING - set parameters that directly affect how text is entered (tabs,
- margins, word wrap)
-
- BLOCK - perform operations on large "blocks" of text (move, copy,
- delete, include from or save to a file)
-
- MACRO KEY - define macro keys and maintain files of macro key definitions
-
- BUFFER - change the contents of the edit buffer, end the edit session,
- switch to a new work file.
-
- SYSTEM - provide CP/M-like commands without having to exit to CP/M.
-
- For convenience, the commands are separated into these categories on the
- Command Mode menu and in this manual.
-
- SEARCH COMMANDS
-
- The search and replace strings may be composed of anything that can be
- typed in Edit Mode, including control characters and block marker
- characters. They are entered the same way you would enter them in Edit
- Mode (precede the control character with ^C, (______) and use the 'Set
- Block Marker' command ^P^P , (______) to search for a block marker).
-
- The search string begins immediately after the delimiter character
- following the 'SEARCH' command on the command line and ends at the next
- occurrence of the delimiter. So, if you want to search for the string
- 'this is it' you could type
-
- se/this is it/
- s'this is it'
- sea?this is it?
-
- or any other similar entry. The only limitation is that the delimiter
- character cannot be an alphabetic character('a'-'z' or 'A'-'Z').
-
- The rules are the same for the replace string, except that the beginning
- of the replace string is the first character after the second delimiter
- on the line.
-
- rep/this/that/
- ^ the replace string begins here
-
- Search/ccc/
-
- This command finds the first occurrence of the string 'ccc' following the
- current cursor location in the edit buffer. The string to be searched
- for can be any length from 1 to 40 characters If the string is found, you
- are placed in edit mode with the cursor on the top line of the screen,
- directly over the first character of the matching string.
-
- If no occurrences of the string are found, you are told so and remain in
- command mode. If this happens, the entire command line that you entered
- is left on the command line. All the standard editing commands can be used
- on the command input line to change the search string and try again without
- having to retype the entire command.
-
- Once the first occurrence of a string is found and you are in edit mode,
- you may use the 'continue search' key, ^S (______) to find all other
- occurrences of the string.
-
- Replace/this/that/[N]
-
- This command attempts to find the string between the first two
- delimiters and, if the string is found, replaces it with the string
- between the second and third delimiters.
-
- If you follow the command with 'N' (No-verify) all occurrences of the
- search string after the current cursor location in the buffer will be
- immediately replaced with the replace string.
-
- If you do not follow the command with 'N' you will be able to
- selectively replace some of the occurrences of the string and bypass
- others.
-
- In selective replace mode, if the specified string is found anywhere
- following the current cursor location in the edit buffer, the cursor is
- moved to the first character of the string, just as when you are
- searching. At this time you are in edit mode and may begin editing
- normally, except that 4 keys temporarily have different actions:
-
- 1. Type ^] (______) to place the line the string was found on
- in the middle of the screen.
-
- 2. Type ^S (______) to find the next occurrence of the string
- without replacing this one.
-
- 3. Type <CR> (^M) to replace this occurrence of the string
- and immediately find the next occurrence.
-
- 4. Type a cursor down or linefeed (^J) (______) to replace
- this occurrence and remain here to do more editing.
-
- After any key (except ^], (______) ) has been typed, these four keys
- regain their original meaning and you are completely in Edit Mode.
-
- If you begin editing here or choose option 4, you may still continue the
- selective replace operation at any time by pressing ^S (______). This
- allows you to do things such as replacing a string and putting a comment
- about the replacement at the end of the line before going on to replace
- the next occurrence. Once you return to command mode (by typing <ESC>,
- (______) ), replace mode is turned off and you will have to execute the
- command again to replace any more occurrences. The first time you return
- to command mode after starting a 'selective' replace, a message will be
- printed below the command line telling how many occurrences of the string
- were replaced.
-
- LITeral [On|OFf|True|False] (Literal mode only on EXPRESS 1.0)
-
- This command is used for switching between two modes of searching. If
- literal mode is on, you will only find occurrences of exactly what you
- typed, (e.g 'se/ONE/' will find 'ONE', but it will not find 'One' or
- 'one'); if literal mode is off then the same command will find all three
- strings, assuming that they occur. Basically, if literal mode is off,
- SEARCH and REPLACE does not distinguish between upper and lower case
- letters; if literal mode is on then they do distinguish between upper
- and lower case.
-
- It should also be pointed out that, when in non-literal mode, a single
- space (or tab) in a search string can be matched by any number of spaces
- (or tabs, or a combination of tabs and spaces). This means that if you
- search for 'I am', you will also find 'I am' and 'I<tab>am', etc.
-
-
- Line n
-
- Looks for line number n in the buffer and, if it is there, the edit mode
- cursor is positioned to the first column of the desired line. You will
- remain in command mode, but next time you go to edit mode ( by typing
- <ESC>, (______) ), the cursor will be positioned at the new location.
-
- If the specified line is not currently in the buffer, the message 'Not
- in Buffer' is displayed and the edit mode cursor remains in its original
- position. If this happens, the line may either be in an as yet unread
- portion of the file, or you may have typed in a line number such as '-1'
- or '0' (Lines are numbered 1-n).
-
- If no line is specified, the LINE command simply displays the current
- line number, along with the tab stops, etc.
-
-
- Page n
-
- Looks for the nth screenful of lines in the buffer and, if there are
- that many 'pages' in the buffer, the edit mode cursor is placed at the
- beginning of the desired page. The next time you enter edit mode, you
- will be positioned at the new location.
-
- This command is similar to the LINE command except that it only counts
- the lines currently in the buffer; it does not keep track of absolute
- position in the entire file. It is useful for moving quickly to the
- approximate location in the file that you wish to be.
-
- If the specified page is not in the buffer, the message 'Not in Buffer'
- is printed and the edit mode cursor remains in its original position.
-
- (For reference - page 1 is the beginning of the buffer (BOB), page two
- starts at BOB + (number of lines in display), etc.)
-
-
- EDITING COMMANDS
-
- Editing commands are used to set certain parameters that affect the way
- text is entered and displayed. Commands are included for setting tab
- stops, left and right margins, and word wrap mode.
-
- All values of n in these commands should be in the range 1-(no. of
- columns on the screen).
-
- Wrap [n]|[On|OFf|True|False] (Dynamic Wrap available only on EXPRESS 2.0)
-
- The Wrap command switches between the two modes of entering and editing
- text. When wrap mode is on, the editor will perform automatic word wrap
- (without right justification). If any word is overflowing the current
- right margin, it will be moved to the beginning of the following line.
- When Wrap mode is off, all lines are left as they are and no attention
- is paid to the right margin.
-
- When in wrap mode, everything will be wrapped down to the end of the
- current paragraph. If a new line is needed at the end of the
- paragraph, one will be inserted. Conversely, if words are 'unwrapped'
- following a deletion and a line at the end of the paragraph is no longer
- needed, it will be deleted. This is all done in real time while you
- type. If you use the same margin settings for EXPRESS that you will
- be using for your text formatter program, the lines on the screen
- will always contain the same words that they will contain when the
- file is printed out by the text formatter. They will not however be
- right justified on the screen.
-
- For the purposes of word wrapping, a new paragraph is signaled by
- one of three circumstances; (1) a blank line, (2) a line with a
- space in the column that the INDENT is set to, or (3) a line that
- begins with the user specified formatter command character, (.)
- (______). This character can be set in the <D>efault settings
- section of CONFIG.
-
- Indent [n]
-
- Sets the left margin, or amount of indent, to the specified value. This
- margin is respected in wrap mode and in standard mode. The amount of
- indent may be changed from within the edit mode by using the indent,
- ^U^W (______), and undent, ^U^A (______), commands. Refer to the
- Edit Mode section for more information on these.
-
- If no value for n is given then the number 1 (the extreme left of the
- screen, i.e. no indent) is assumed.
-
- Tabs [i]|[n1,n2,n3,...][,i]|[ON|OFf] (Fixed tab stops only with EXPRESS 1.0)
-
- This command sets the tab stops and allows turning the tabs 'on' (actual
- tab characters are inserted) and 'off' (tabs are expanded as spaces).
- Tabs are used for columnarizing data and indenting sections of a
- computer program, among other things.
-
- Tabs are actually special characters stored in the file that cause
- the remainder of the current line to be moved out to the column of
- the next tab stop. You will notice that if you move the cursor over
- a tab character it will 'jump' from one end of the tab to the other;
- this indicates to you that it is really a single character and not
- merely a group of spaces.
-
- You can set the tabs at a certain interval by giving a single number on
- the command line:
-
- TABS 8
- t8
-
- sets tabs at 9,17,25,33,41,49,57,65,73... up to the width of the screen
- or twenty stops, whichever is less.
-
- It is also possible to set the tabs at individual locations such as:
-
- ta 6,12,20,22,28,46,51,70
-
- which set tabs at exactly the locations specified and no others.
- You can combine these two methods if you like, simply by making the last
- number you enter smaller than the one preceding it:
-
- T 4 9 22 5
-
- This sets tabs at columns 4, 9, and 22, and every 5 columns afterward.
-
- Using tab characters instead of spaces will give you a much more
- compact file; saving you space in memory and on your disk.
- Unfortunately, certain programs (such as TURBO PASCAL) will not
- handle tabs. If you want tabs to be expanded with spaces instead of
- inserting actual tab characters, you can use the command:
-
- TABS OFF
-
- The tab key will still move the cursor to the same positions on the
- line, it will just insert a proper number of spaces instead of a single
- tab character.
-
- When tabs are ON and you change the TABS setting, you will change the
- way that previously entered tab characters are displayed on the screen.
- This allows you to look at the same information in several formats
- without retyping it. The tabs are also expanded to these columns when
- sending text to the printer with the BPRINT command. This allows you to
- do things such as narrowing up the tabs before printing to allow wide
- lines to fit on narrow paper, etc.
-
- If no numbers are given after the TABS command the current tab table is
- printed on the screen along with the INDENT value and the state of wrap
- and literal mode, etc.
-
- BLOCK_COMMANDS
-
- These commands all deal with a 'block' of text defined by placing 'block
- markers' at either end of the desired text with the 'set block marker'
- control command ^P^P (______), in the edit mode. Only one block may be
- specified at any time; if there are more (or less) than two block
- markers, an error message will be printed whenever a block operation is
- attempted. Many of the Block commands can be executed directly from edit
- mode. See the Block Commands description in the Edit Mode section of the
- manual.
-
- A block of text can be anywhere from a single line to the entire
- contents of the edit buffer; it can be composed only of complete lines;
- if you want part of a line in a block, you can break it from the rest of
- the line with ^B (______) and then put markers around it.
-
- ( EXPRESS 1.0 block size is limited to 1024 bytes )
-
- Marking Blocks
-
- To mark a block of text, the first block marker must be on the first
- line that you wish to be in the block, and the end marker must be on the
- last line to be included in the block. If the entire block is one line,
- then put two block markers on it. Block markers are automatically placed
- at the beginning of the line regardless of where you are when you type
- the ^P^P (______) command, so you will never have to worry about doing
- this yourself.
-
- Finding Block Markers
-
- To find the beginning of a block, use the search command to search for
- the block marker with:
-
- search ^P^P (actually type ctrl+P, ctrl+P)
-
- BMove
-
- Finds the currently active block of text and moves it from its present
- location to the area immediately preceding the cursor line in the edit
- buffer.
-
- BCopy
-
- Finds the currently active block of text and places a copy of it
- immediately preceding the current cursor line.
-
- BDelete
-
- Deletes the current block from the edit buffer. After this command is
- issued you will be told how large the block is and asked if you really
- want to delete the block. Typing a 'Y' or 'y' will allow the operation
- to continue, any other character causes the command to be ignored.
-
- BKill
-
- Clears (kills) ALL block markers from the edit buffer. This operation is
- automatically executed whenever a SAVE, HEAD, or END command is given.
- It is also executed after a BMOVE or BDELETE.
-
- BPrint
-
- Sends the current block of text to the CP/M list device, LST:, (usually
- the printer). Tabs are expanded according to the user's current tab
- settings. Printing can be cancelled at any time by typing an <ESC>,
- (______).
-
- If your ListStatus does not work properly (or if you are not even sure what
- ListStatus is), then the BIOS of your version of CP/M is not implementing
- the LSTST: routine properly so you will have to make sure the printer is
- ready yourself.
-
- BSave du:fid.ext
-
- Saves the current block of text to disk in the file du:fid.ext. Notice that
- you can save the block to any user area (0-31) of any disk on your system.
-
- The block of text is NOT deleted from the edit buffer and the block markers
- remain around the text.
-
- If the named file already exists, an error message will be printed and
- the operation will not be allowed to occur. If you really want to write
- over the file you can ERASE it first and then do the BSAVE.
-
- INClude du:fid.ext
-
- Places a copy of the named file in the edit buffer preceding the current
- cursor line. When you return to edit mode after this command, the cursor
- will be on the first line of the included file. Again, the included file can
- be from any user area on any disk.
-
- Wildcarded file names are not allowed for this command.
-
-
- MACRO KEY COMMANDS (limited number of definitions on EXPRESS 1.0)
-
- The Macro Key Commands allow you to redefine any sequence of typed keys
- to output a sequence of characters or commands, and to save these key
- redefinitions in a disk file for later recall. Macro keys can
- dramatically increase productivity and decrease boredom and frustration
- (and besides that, they're just plain fun.)
-
- After a macro key has been defined, typing that key (or sequence of
- keys) will have the same results as typing the characters or commands
- to which the key was redefined. For instance, if the <LF> (^J) key
- has been redefined to type 'this is the linefeed key', then typing
- <LF> will cause 'this is the linefeed key' to be entered on the
- screen (and in the file) just as if you had typed the entire string
- yourself. This can be handy in many obvious ways (like defining
- macro keys for common words like 'write', 'read', 'begin', etc.) and
- in many not-so-obvious ways. Any repetative series of keystrokes is a good
- candidate for a macro key.
-
- When you are done using a macro key, you can 'undefine' the key (by
- redefining it to a blank string) and it will regain its original meaning.
-
- You can also enter the original value of a key into the file without
- 'undefining` it by using the 'Literal Next Character' command ^C (______)
- followed by the key; you can redefine normal printable characters
- without losing the ability to enter them into the text.
-
- A macro key can be any character, or sequence of characters, that you
- can type on the keyboard; each macro 'key' can be up to 10 keystrokes
- long. For instance, the following could be redefined as macro keys:
-
- ^U^B (control+U followed by control+B)
- t (the letter 't')
- T (the letter 'T', separate from the letter 't')
- <ESC>BGG (the <ESC> key followed by 'BGG'
-
- The redefinition of a macro key can be any mixture of characters and
- commands entered just as you would type them at the keyboard; each macro
- 'redefinition' can be up to 256 keystrokes in length. Macro
- redefinitions can be used to execute any command you can execute from
- the keyboard. For instance, a macro key to go to Command Mode and save
- the current text block to the file 'TEMP.$$$', then return to Edit Mode
- is defined as:
-
- <ESC>bs temp.$$$<CR><ESC>
-
- assuming that you are using the command keys originally installed in
- EXPRESS. Notice that when the macro redefinition is typed in, you
- actually type the <ESC> key, not the sequence of characters '<ESC>'.
- Another example is the following command that will move to the beginning
- of the last word on the current line and place you in partial insert
- mode:
-
- ^U^L^A^Q (end of line, prev word, partial insert on)
-
- again, this is assuming you have not reinstalled the command keys with
- CONFIG; if you have, just use the commands you have defined as 'end of
- line', 'prev word', and 'partial insert on' when entering the
- redefinition string.
-
- MDefine
-
- After you enter the MDefine command, EXPRESS prompts for 'input keys'
- (the key sequence you will type to execute the macro). Type the exact
- key sequence you want to use followed by a <CR>. Then EXPRESS asks for
- the 'redefinition'; type the characters and editing commands that you
- want to be executed when you type the 'input keys' followed by <CR>. If
- you make a mistake while defining either the input keys or the
- redefinition string, use the <RUB> (DEL) key to correct the line (all
- other editing keys are disabled so they can be part of macro
- definitions).
-
- To 'UnDefine' a macro command, enter the input keys that you wish to be
- undefined, then enter a blank line for the redefinition. You can 'redefine'
- an existing key without worrying about undefining it first.
-
- If you want to use <CR> and <RUB> in macro definitions, you can either avoid
- the problem by using 'NextLine, Start of Line' for <CR> and 'Backspace,
- Delete Character' for <RUB> or you can follow the MD on the command line
- with the keys you wish to use for <RUB> and <CR>. For instance, the command:
-
- MD:-
-
- lets you define a new macro key using ':' as the <RUB> key and '-' as
- the <CR> key.
-
- MClear
- MClear is a quick way to clear out the entire macro table. All previously
- defined macro keys will be 'forgotten'.
-
- MSave du:fid.ext
-
- Saves all current macro definitions to the named file. The definitions
- are not cleared from the macro table.
-
- MRestore du:fid.ext
-
- Loads the named macro key file into the macro table. A check is made to see
- if the file actually does contain macro definitions.
-
- The new macro definitions are added to the current definitions (the current
- ones are not deleted). You can concatenate two (or several) macro files by
- MRestoring them all and then MSaving them all at once.
-
- BUFFER_COMMANDS
-
- Buffer commands operate directly on the file that is being edited and on
- the contents of the edit buffer.
-
- Managing`Files`Larger`Than`Memory (EXPRESS 2.0 ONLY)
-
- PRead [n]
-
- Writes n screens full (if n is not specified then it writes one screen
- full) of the current edit buffer to the disk and reads as many more as
- will fit in the buffer, if any of the file is left on the disk.
-
- BRead
-
- If there is still a portion of the file remaining on the disk, this
- command writes the current edit buffer contents to disk and reads in
- more until the buffer is full or the end of the file is reached.
-
- End
-
- This command saves the updated file on the disk and returns to the
- operating system. If the file is larger than memory and has not all
- been read yet, the remainder of the original file will be
- automatically read and then written to the new file. After all the
- file is successfully written to the disk, the old d:fid.BAK file
- will be deleted and the original file renamed to d:fid.BAK. Then,
- the new file (named d:fid.$$$ during editing) will be renamed to
- d:fid.ext.
-
- Quit
-
- Use this command to terminate the editing session without saving the
- changes that have just been made to the file.
-
- SAve
-
- Use this command if you have a system prone to memory errors or power
- failures, or if you just happen to have common sense. It saves all
- changes that have been made to the file and then places you back EXACTLY
- where you were in the file at the time you issued the save command.
-
- Head
-
- This is the same as the SAve command except that it places you at the
- beginning of the file instead of where you were when the command was
- given. It is functionally the same as Ending and then calling up EXPRESS
- again to edit the same file, it is just faster.
-
-
- SYSTEM_COMMANDS
-
- The System commands operate on ANY file in ANY user area on ANY disk
- currently on the computer system. They provide you with most of the
- commands of the CP/M Console Command Processor and PIP without requiring
- you to end the edit and exit to the operating system.
-
- Remember that anywhere a filename is requested, you can optionally
- specify a disk and user area different from the current defaults
- (displayed on the command screen immediately preceding 'Editing').
-
- Dir [du:fid.ext] (Directory sorted on EXPRESS 2.0 only)
-
- Displays a listing with filesizes (in kilobytes) of the directory of the
- given disk or files matching the filename given. '?' (single character)
- and '*' (multiple letters) wildcards are allowed in the file name.
-
- TYpe du:fid.ext
-
- This command is used to display a file on the screen, similar to CP/M's
- TYPE command (with a few enhancements).
-
- The speed at which the file scrolls past the screen may be controlled
- with the number keys in the same fashion as auto-scroll, with the
- exception of the '-' key (you cannot scroll backwards with the TYPE
- command). See the Continuous Scroll commands in the Edit Mode section
- for more details.
-
- Typing any character other than a number suspends output until another
- character is typed; typing <ESC> (______) stops the display and
- immediately returns you to Command Mode.
-
- When the entire file has been displayed, the message:
-
- [EOF] Type <ESC> to Continue
-
- is displayed at the bottom of the screen. At this time you must type
- <ESC> (______) to return to the command screen.
-
-
- ERase du:fid.ext (Available on EXPRESS 2.0 only)
-
- Functionally the same as the CP/M ERA command. This command erases the
- named file if it exists, or prints an error message if it doesn't.
-
- The '?' (single character) wildcard character and the '*' (multiple
- character) wildcard are both allowed when specifying the file to ERASE.
-
- As a rule, any selected group of files that would include the file being
- edited (source.ext) or the temporary file used by EXPRESS during the
- editing session (source.$$$) cannot be operated on by this command (to
- avoid lawsuits and suicides).
-
-
-
- REName du:fid.ext > du:fid.ext (available on EXPRESS 2.0 only)
-
- This is identical to CP/M's REN command except that it recognizes the
- '>' character (ala UNIX) as well as the '=' (like PIP). You may also use
- the '<' redirection symbol (more UNIX) or simply a space (MSDOS, VMS).
- This way, no matter what operating system you are used to, the command
- will execute and you won't get frustrated trying to remember 25
- different types of command lines. So there is no confusion, the
- following command lines all have the same effect, they RENAME a file
- called 'OLDNAME' to 'NEWNAME':
-
- ren newname=oldname
- ren newname < oldname
- ren oldname > newname
- ren oldname newname
-
- Note that blanks between filenames and the 'director' characters are
- ignored (except in the case where the 'director' IS a blank).
-
- If the file to be RENAMED is in a different drive/user than the current
- default, you only need to include it in the first filename on the line.
- For example, all of the following commands rename 'B21:OLD' to
- 'B21:NEW':
-
- rename b21:new=old
- rename b21:new <old
- rename b21:old >b21:new
- rename b21:old new
-
- Remember: when in doubt, just type the same command you would use in
- CP/M (or MSDOS, or whatever you are used to).
-
- Wildcarded file names are NOT allowed for this command and it is not
- allowed to operate on the file which you are currently editing.
-
-
- Copy du:fid.ext > du:fid.ext (available on EXPRESS 2.0 only)
-
- This command copies the contents of a file into a new file. Both files
- can be on any drive in any user area. The same flexible command
- interpretation used for the rename command is used for COPY. To
- illustrate:
-
- copy exist > new
- copy new = exist
- copy exist new
- copy new < exist
-
- all copy the contents of the file 'EXIST' into the new file called
- 'NEW'. The '>' form of the command becomes very understandable when
- the '>' is thought of as the word 'to'; this way the command would read
- as 'COPY exist TO new'.
-
- Wildcarded file names are NOT allowed for this command.
-
- If you wish to copy over an existing file, you must ERASE the existing file
- first.
-
- LOg du:
-
- This command allows you to change the current 'default' drive and user
- area (displayed on the third line of the Command Screen, preceding
- 'Editing'). This is handy if you entered the editor in one area and then
- decided to work on something in another area. While you could just type
- the new drive and user area preceding all the file names you enter, it
- is much more convenient to LOG into the new area and just type the file
- names from then on, letting EXPRESS figure out the drive and user for
- you.
-
- After this command is entered, the new 'default' will be displayed at
- the beginning of the third line on the screen:
-
- B2:Editing B3:THIS.FIL
- ^-- new default drive/user area
-
- This new default is in effect until you return to CP/M.
-
- You MUST type the colon ":" at the end of the drive/user area or you
- will receive an error message. Remember that you can specify a drive
- without a user area, but you cannot give a user area without a drive.
- EDIT_MODE
-
- EXPRESS's "Edit Mode" is used for entering and modifying text. Edit Mode
- is sometimes referred to as "Visual Mode" on some other editors. When in
- Edit Mode, any characters you type are entered into the file. "Control
- keys" execute editing commands when in Edit Mode.
-
- Any time a specific control character is mentioned, it will be preceded
- by a '^'; thus, ^N means 'control+N'. You should remember that the
- <CONTROL> key is similar to the <SHIFT> key; you must hold it down WHILE
- YOU TYPE THE OTHER KEY.
-
- For people who have chosen to customize their control character layout
- to achieve compatibility with other editors, implement special function
- keys on their terminal, or whatever other reason, a space - (______) - has
- been provided wherever a specific control character is mentioned. This
- will allow you to write in the control character or function key you
- have selected for this operation.
-
- CURSOR_MOVEMENT
-
- Cursor Left ^H (Backspace) (______)
-
- Moves the cursor one position to the left non-destructively.
-
- Cursor Right ^L (______)
-
- Moves the cursor one position to the right non-destructively.
-
- Next Tab ^I (Tab) (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the next tab stop on the line.
-
- If the cursor is already past the last tab stop on the line, the line is
- extended into the next line on the screen and the cursor is moved to the
- beginning of this 'continuation line'.
-
- If insert mode is on or if the cursor is moving past the last character
- on a line, a tab will be inserted at the cursor position, otherwise the
- command just positions the cursor.
-
- If you wish, you can cause the <TAB> key to insert the appropriate
- number of spaces instead of a tab character. This is useful when the
- file will later be used by a program that does not understand tab
- characters (Turbo Pascal, for instance). To 'turn off the tabs', return
- to command mode with <ESC>, (______) and enter the command:
-
- tabs off
-
- After this time, no more tab characters will be entered into the file
- (although all existing tab characters will remain).
-
- Previous`Tab ^U^I (^U Tab) (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the first tab stop preceding the current
- cursor location in the line. This command is always
- non-destructive.
-
- Next Word ^W (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next word following the
- current cursor location. The beginning of a word is signaled by
- either the start of a new line or an non-alphanumeric character
- ('a'-'z','A'-'Z','0'-'9') preceding an alphanumeric character.
-
- Previous Word ^A (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current word or, if it
- is already on the beginning of the current word, to the
- beginning of the first word preceding it.
-
- Indent ^U^W (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the next tab stop and sets that column as
- the new left margin. Note that this new margin is the next tab stop
- after the CURRENT LOCATION OF THE CURSOR, not the current left margin.
-
-
- Undent ^U^A (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the first tab previous to the current cursor
- location and sets that column as the new left margin.
-
-
- Start of Line ^U^H (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.
-
-
- End of Line ^U^L (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the end of the current line.
-
-
- Carriage Return ^M <CR> (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next line. If you are
- currently in entry mode or if you are at the end of the edit
- buffer, a new line is inserted. This command merely positions
- the cursor; it does not actually place a ^M in the file, so you
- can simply type a carriage return from the middle of a line to
- move to the next line, you don't have to worry about going to
- the end or beginning of the line first as with some other
- editors.
-
- If you wish to break a line in two you may use the 'break line' command,
- ^B (______) described later. If you really must have the carriage return
- break a line in two then you may set the 'break line on CR' flag in
- ECONFIG and the carriage return key will actually insert a carriage
- return/linefeed into the file (when entry mode is on).
-
-
- Cursor Up ^K (______)
-
- Moves the cursor up one line.
-
-
- Cursor Down ^J (Linefeed) (______)
-
- Moves the cursor down one line.
-
-
- Start of Screen ^U^K (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the first line on the screen.
-
-
- End of Screen ^U^J (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the bottom line of the screen.
-
-
- Start of Buffer ^U^R (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the first page of the edit buffer.
-
-
- End of Buffer ^U^T (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the last page of the edit buffer.
-
- Start of Line/Screen/Buffer ^^ (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line when typed
- once. Typed twice, it moves to the beginning of the first line
- on the screen. Three times moves to the beginning of the first
- line of the edit buffer.
-
-
- End of Line/Screen/Buffer ^N (______)
-
- Moves the cursor to one position past the last non-space on the
- current line when typed once. When typed twice, it moves to the
- end of the last line on the screen. If it is typed three times,
- it moves the cursor to the end of the last line in the edit
- buffer.
-
- SCROLLING
-
- Scroll Backward One Line ^F (______)
-
- Scrolls the screen one line towards the beginning of the edit
- buffer; the cursor remains in the same position on the screen.
-
-
- Scroll Forward One Line ^G (______)
-
- Scrolls the screen one line towards the end of the edit buffer.
- The cursor maintains the same position on the screen.
-
-
- Scroll Backward Continuously ^U^F (______)
-
- Scrolls the screen towards the beginning of the buffer, one line
- at a time.
-
- While scrolling is in progress, several keys take on a special
- function:
-
- 1. Typing any digit, 1-9 or 0, will change the auto-scroll
- speed to that speed. '1' gives the slowest scroll speed and
- '0' gives the fastest. These are arranged in ascending order
- across the top of the computer keyboard.
-
- 2. The minus key (-) changes the direction of the scroll. If you
- were scrolling backward, you will begin scrolling forward, if
- you were scrolling forward, you will begin scrolling backward.
- This key was chosen because it is usually situated immediately
- to the right of the '0' key on the computer keyboard and it
- also has the meaning of negate' which is what you are doing -
- negating the command.
-
- 3. Any other key will stop the scrolling action and return you
- to normal edit mode.
-
-
- Scroll Forward Continuously ^U^G (______)
-
- This command is identical to the Scroll Backward Continuously command
- except that it scrolls the screen towards the end of the buffer, one
- line at a time.
-
-
- Center Cursor Line ^] (______)
-
- Scrolls the line that the cursor is currently on to the middle of the
- screen. This is useful for viewing the context in the file of a word
- that has just been located using the SEARCH command.
-
-
- Next Page ^T (______)
-
- Clears the current page from the screen and displays the next 24 lines
- (or however many lines your terminal can display) on the screen. If you
- wish to page rapidly through a file to find a certain section, you may
- press the 'next page' key several times; you do not have to wait for the
- screen to finish painting. As soon as you type any key, painting of the
- screen is temporarily suspended and the new command is executed.
-
-
- Previous Page ^R (______)
-
- Clears the current page from the screen and displays the previous 24
- lines (or however many your terminal can display) on the screen. The
- same comments about the painting of the screen given in the Next Page
- command hold for this command (and all other commands, for that matter),
- too.
-
-
- EDITING
-
- Rubout <RUB> <DEL> (______)
-
- The cursor is moved left one position and the character in this position
- is replaced with a space (' '). If you are at the beginning of the line
- it remains there and replaces that character with a space.
-
- Rubout works slightly different during insert mode. The cursor is moved
- back one space and the character is deleted, but then the rest of the
- line is adjusted one position to the left to close up the space left by
- the deletion. If you are at the beginning of the line in insert mode,
- rubout will append the current line on the line above, effectively
- deleting the carriage return/linefeed at the end of that line. This
- can be changed with ECONFIG so that RUB doesn't delete the
- return/linefeed.
-
-
- Delete Character ^D (______)
-
- Removes the character at the current cursor position and adjusts the
- remainder of the line one position to the left. The cursor remains
- in the same position on the screen.
-
- Since tab stops are stored as single characters, you may delete a tab
- with the Delete Character command.
-
- Insert Single Space ^E (______)
-
- Opens up space for one character at the current cursor position.
-
- This is useful for minor alterations, such as misspelled words, when it
- is inconvenient to toggle insert mode, type the character, and then
- toggle insert mode again. It is also helpful when you wish to move a
- line to the right on the screen by inserting spaces at the beginning of
- the line, but do not want the cursor to move from its present position.
-
-
- Partial Insert Mode ^Q (______)
-
- Temporarily turns on insert mode (as described in the section on
- 'Toggle Insert Mode'). Each character you type after this
- command will be 'inserted' into the line instead of typing over
- what is already there. Typing any control command except
- 'Rubout', <DEL> (______), 'Tab', ^I (______), 'Insert Control
- Character', ^C (______), or, of course, this command itself, will
- return you to the 'replacing mode' of text entry.
-
-
- Toggle Full Insert Mode ^U^Q (______)
-
- This key changes the state of insert mode; if it is on, it is
- turned off and if it is off, it is turned on. This new setting
- remains in effect until the command is issued again or until the
- editing session is terminated.
-
- When insert mode is on, everything that is typed is 'inserted'
- at the current cursor location. The character at the current cursor
- position and all characters to the right of it are moved one column
- to the right. This is functionally equivalent to typing an 'Insert
- Space' command, ^E (______), before typing each character.
-
-
- Delete Word ^V (______)
-
- Deletes from the current cursor position to the beginning of the
- next word and adjusts the line to close up the space.
-
- This command has three distinct uses which vary slightly. The first is,
- of course, to delete an entire word; the second use is to delete the
- end of a word; and the third is to delete a large group of space.
-
-
- UNdelete Word ^U^V (______)
-
- Any time a deletion of more than a single character is
- performed, the deleted text is placed temporarily in a buffer in
- case the deletion was not wanted, or possibly if you want to put
- the deleted text somewhere else in the file. When you perform
- the UNdelete Word command, enough space is provided at the
- current cursor location for the previously deleted text and it
- is inserted there. Note that it is possible (and often
- desirable) to delete a line with ^Z (______) and then UNdelete it
- as a word or partial line with ^U^V or ^U^Y. The opposite
- operation is also possible.
-
- The delete buffer is left intact following this operation, so
- you may UNdelete the same string as many times and in as many
- places as you wish.
-
-
- Delete to End of Line ^Y (______)
-
- Deletes, starting at the current cursor location, to the end of
- the current line on the screen. The deleted text is saved temporarily
- in the delete buffer for possible later 'UNdeletion'.
-
-
- UNdelete End of Line ^U^Y (______)
-
- This command is functionally identical to UNdelete word. It is
- provided as a separate sequence merely for consistency and
- convenience.
-
-
- Delete Line ^Z (______)
-
- When typed once, this command takes no action. This is to
- prevent erroneous deletion of lines. However, every time it is
- typed after the first time, it deletes one line from the screen.
- The deleted line is stored temporarily (until the next word or
- line deletion) in the delete buffer for possible 'UNdeletion' at
- a later time and place.
-
- UNdelete Line ^U^Z (______)
-
- This command is similar to the UNdelete Word command except that
- a new line is inserted above the line the cursor is currently on
- for the deleted text to be UNdeleted into. Again, I will point
- out that it is possible to delete a word or partial line and
- UNdelete it as a line.
-
-
- Insert Line ^X (______)
-
- Inserts a new line ABOVE the line the cursor is currently on and
- places the cursor at the beginning of this new line.
-
-
- Toggle Entry Mode ^\ (______)
-
- This key changes the state of entry mode; if it is on, it is
- turned off and if it is off, it is turned on. The new setting
- remains in effect until the command is issued again or wrap mode is
- turned on (at which time it is turned off).
-
- When entry mode is on, a carriage return command, ^M <CR>
- (______), causes a new line to be inserted below the current one
- after which the cursor is placed at the beginning of the new
- line.
-
- Entry mode is useful when adding new sections to the middle of a
- computer program or other text. It relieves you from the burden
- of having to type so many Insert Line commands, ^X (______).
-
-
- Break Line ^B (______)
-
- Breaks the line the cursor is on into two lines, the first from
- the start of the line to the character preceding the cursor and
- the second from the cursor position to the end of the line. The
- cursor is left at the end of the first line.
-
-
- Concatenate Lines ^O (______)
-
- Joins the line following the line that the cursor is on with the
- cursor line. This is the opposite operation of Break Line.
-
- When in wrap mode, this command to reformats the remainder of the
- current paragraph to the currently set right margin.
-
-
- Reformat Paragraph ^U^O (______)
-
- This command reformats from the cursor to the end of the current
- paragraph. If wrap mode is not on, it is temporarily turned on while
- reformatting, then turned back off. If wrap mode is already on, it
- remains on.
-
-
- BLOCK_COMMANDS
-
- Block commands allow you to move large 'chunks' of text around the
- file. These commands are accessible from Command mode as well as Edit
- mode. They are explained more fully in the COMMAND MODE section under
- BLOCK COMMANDS. The EXPRESS.OVL file must be present in some user area
- of the current drive or drive A to use the Block Commands.
-
-
- Insert Block Marker ^P^P (______)
-
- Block Copy ^P^C (______)
-
- Block Move ^P^M (______)
-
- Block Delete ^P^D (______)
-
- Kill Block Markers ^P^K (______)
-
-
-
- SPECIAL_COMMANDS
-
- Some of these commands are related, but mostly, their reason for
- being placed here is that they don't fit anywhere else.
-
-
- Continue Search/Replace ^S (______)
-
- Finds the next occurrence of the "search string". If you are in
- replace mode, the keys described in the section on selective replace
- will be in effect after you find the next occurrence.
-
- If there are no more occurrences of the search string following
- the cursor in the edit buffer, EXPRESS will beep and the cursor will
- not be moved.
-
-
- Literal Next Character ^C (______)
-
- When this command is typed, no attempt will be made to translate
- the next character into a command. This allows the entry of
- control characters (and keys that have been redefined as macro keys)
- directly into the file.
-
- This command may be used to embed printer commands (such as
- formfeeds, font changes or any other control sequence) into a file
- which you are editing. Another use would be to clear a terminal
- screen before printing a file. One other important use is to allow
- entry of characters that have been defined as macro keys into the
- text.
-
-
- Non-displayable Characters
-
- All control characters are displayed as '^c' where 'c' is the letter
- corresponding to the control character. It is also possible to enter
- RUBouts (DEL) into the file in the same manner; they are displayed as
- '^?'. Once in the file (or the command line), the control characters
- can all be SEARCHed for, REPLACEd, and whatever else you might wish to
- do with them. They are distinguishable from the regular characters,
- such as the following: '^C', by the fact that you cannot position the
- cursor directly on the 'C' if it is a control character, but you can if
- it is just a '^' followed by a 'C'.
-
- The only exceptions to the above statements are that the characters ^Z
- and ^@ cannot be entered into the file. Entry of ^Z was disallowed on
- purpose, because ^Z is the CP/M End of File character; having it occur
- in the middle of a file would create results ranging from mildly
- annoying to catastrophic.
-
- The inability to enter ^@ originally stemmed from CP/M's Direct Console
- I/O function's inability to directly input a character with a value of
- 0. This fact was taken advantage of and now ^@ is a special character
- used internally to EXPRESS (along with the characters represented by
- 0FFh and 0FEh; all other characters from 01h to FDh may be entered,
- whether your terminal is able to display them or not). However, I
- have never heard of ANY computer system, terminal, or printer that
- used ^@ for anything except a delay character, so this should never
- be any hindrance.
-
- Displaying Graphics Characters
-
- The entry of characters greater than <RUB> (7FH) is also supported by
- the Literal Next Character command (and the 'Bit 7 Next Character
- Command). If you can't display characters with bit 7 set, they will be
- displayed as '\c' if a printable character with bit 7 set, or '/c' if a
- control character with bit 7 set (where 'c' is the character). If
- your terminal is able to display these characters then EXPRESS will
- display them as regular characters provided you appropriately set
- the 'Highest Displayable Character' parameter in the <T> option of
- ECONFIG.
-
- Bit 7 Next Character ^U^C (______)
-
- This command is the same as the 'Literal Next Character' command, except
- that the high bit (bit 7) of whatever character you type next is set (to
- a 1) before the character is placed in the file.
-
- The rules for 'Bit 7 Next Character' are the same as those for 'Literal
- Next Character'.
-
-
- Enter/Leave Command Mode ^[ <ESC> (______)
-
- This command clears the screen and places you in command mode.
- When in command mode, the cursor is placed after a prompt '>'
- and you may input any of the commands described in the 'Command
- Mode' section of this manual. Any single-line editing command may be
- used for editing your entry on the command line. For instance, you
- can even delete a word while in edit mode and UNdelete it onto the
- command line.
-
- If you are currently in command mode, you can enter edit mode by
- typing this same command; you may think of it as a toggle
- switch, moving you between the two modes of operation.
-
- This key is also used to get you out of various situations that
- you may find yourself in (similar to ^C in CP/M). For instance,
- the TYPE command and the BPRINT command use this key to cancel
- their operation immediately and return, of course, to command
- mode.
- CUSTOMIZING_EXPRESS_with_ECONFIG
-
- The configurator program (ECONFIG.COM) allows you to modify the
- necessary portions of EXPRESS to allow it to run on different sets
- of hardware (terminals, disk systems, etc.) You can also use ECONFIG
- to change the default values of a few important internal variables
- (tab settings, margins, etc.) to make editing more convenient and
- productive.
-
- Specifying`Filenames`for`ECONFIG
-
- Unless told otherwise, ECONFIG always assumes you have called it up from
- the default drive and that there is a file called E.COM also on the
- default drive. If you want to use the predefined terminals in the
- terminal database, you must have the file TERM.DAT on the default drive
- (or specify an alternate database as described in a moment). To use
- ECONFIG to modify a copy of EXPRESS that is named differently or is on
- another drive, give the name and location of the .COM file on the
- command line:
-
- A>econfig b:edit.com
-
- will configure the file EDIT.COM on drive B. To use a terminal database
- that is named differently or is on another drive, put the name of
- the .COM file followed by the name of the terminal database file on the
- command line:
-
- A>econfig e.com c:terminal.spc
-
- will configure E.COM on the default drive (A in this case) and get its
- terminal information from the file TERMINAL.SPC on drive C. It is
- not likely that this will be used often, since ECONFIG automatically
- adds your new definitions to TERM.DAT up to a maximum of 97
- different terminals. It is nice to know the capability is there
- though (in case you have more than 97 different terminals hooked to
- your system).
-
- MAIN_MENU
-
- ECONFIG gives you a choice of four things to do:
-
- <T>erminal Installation, <C>ommand Installation,
- <D>efault Parameter Selection, <E>nd >_
-
- Type the letter inside the brackets, followed by a carriage return,
- <CR>, to select the appropriate choice.
-
-
- <T>erminal Installation
-
- Leads you into an interactive session for selecting a previously
- defined terminal or creating a new terminal definition.
-
-
- <C>ommand Installation
-
- Allows you to modify the editing key layout to conform to your
- hardware and to your personal tastes. You can very easily set up
- EXPRESS to recognize those special function keys on your terminal.
- The command installation may also be used to set up the control key
- editing commands on EXPRESS to emulate other editors which you have
- used in the past, or even to set up the keys to your own private
- layout.
-
- <D>efault Parameter Selection
-
- Enters an interactive session similar to that for defining a new
- terminal, except that you are changing parameters that are more
- user dependent' than 'terminal dependent'. (i.e. initial tab settings,
- margins, special characters, insert mode, word wrap, ...)
-
- <E>nd
-
- This selection simply exits the program and returns to the operating
- system prompt.
-
- Following is an explanation of the first three selections (the fourth
- shouldn't need any more), but first, a note on the different types of
- input used in ECONFIG:
-
- Input_Handling_in_ECONFIG
-
- The input handler for ECONFIG is very specialized. There are basically
- three types of input expected - numbers, ASCII strings, and Yes/No
- responses. Each of these is handled differently.
-
- Yes/No
-
- The simplest case is the Yes/No which requires a 'Y' or 'N' to be
- entered followed by a <CR>. If one of these letters (or their lower
- case equivalents) is not entered, you will be asked the same
- question again.
-
- Numbers
-
- When a number is requested, you are always told whether to give an
- answer in Decimal (base 10) or Hexadecimal (base 16). There will
- never be any question as to whether a decimal or hex number is
- required. Simply enter the number followed by a <CR>. If you enter
- an invalid number, it will simply translate to 0, so you must be
- careful about this.
-
- ASCII`Strings
-
- The third type of entry, ASCII string, is more specialized than
- the other two because some keyboards cannot produce all the ASCII
- characters directly. Therefore, you may enter a string as a sequence
- of actual ASCII characters, or you may enter it as a group of
- hexadecimal numbers separated by spaces. These two types of entry are
- automatically distinguished when being interpreted by looking at the
- FIRST character typed in the input line; if it is a valid digit
- (0-9) (NOTICE - I did not say anything about A-F!!) then the entire
- string is expected to be hex numbers; otherwise, it is interpreted
- literally, just as you typed it. You may not enter part of a line in
- hexadecimal and the rest in ASCII, you must choose one or the other.
- Most of the time you will use the ASCII mode because it is faster
- and easier to see exactly what is being entered.
-
- There are some other special features that should be mentioned here as
- well. You may enter any ASCII character except <RUB>, and ^M <CR> into
- an input line simply by typing it. RUB is used to edit within the line,
- and <CR> is used to terminate input. This should not provide any kind of
- conflict, since all terminals use these commands for the same purposes
- and we are not asking for those commands in any of the questions in the
- Terminal Installation. The only place you will possibly need to enter
- these keys into an input string is in the Command Installation, and you
- are allowed to define your own 'rubout' and 'return' keys there.
- Besides, you can always use their hexadecimal equivalents (0D for <RET>
- and 7F for <RUB>).
-
- Most control characters are displayed as '^c' where c is the control
- character+64 to make it displayable. The one exception is <ESC> (1Bh),
- which is displayed as '<ESC>' (imagine that...). This is because of the
- immense popularity of this control character as a command introducer
- or lead in character (What a lucky guy).
-
-
- <T>erminal_Installation
-
- The Terminal Installation section of ECONFIG is for installing the
- terminal dependent features of EXPRESS such as the method of positioning
- the cursor, clearing the screen, etc. ECONFIG gives a menu of terminals
- to choose from as well as the option of defining a new terminal not
- already supported:
-
- 1)AIM 60 2)ADDS 20/25/30
- 3)ADDS Viewpoint 1A 4)ANSI Terminal
- 5)BigBoard 6)Heath/Zenith 19
- 7)KayPro 8)Lear Siegler ADM 3A
- . .
- . .
- . .
- n)Snipe 13+ n+1)CREATE NEW DEFINITION
-
- ECONFIG pauses after every 30 terminals to give you a chance to look at
- the choices before they scroll off the screen. If you see the choice you
- want, enter its number; otherwise, type <CR> to see more choices.
- The final choice allows you to define a new terminal to be added to
- the database, the other selections are already defined terminals
- that you can install simply by selecting their number.
-
- If you have selected a pre-defined terminal, you will be asked if you
- would like to modify the definition. If you enter 'N' the definition is
- installed and you return to the main menu ( <T>, <C>, <D>, <E> ).
-
- Typing 'Y' begins an interactive session much like the description of
- entering a new terminal given below. The one difference is that all the
- values are already filled in for you. If you want to change one, simply use
- the RUBOUT key to backspace over the portion you wish to change and enter
- the new value. Before doing this, you should read the following section on
- entering a new terminal definition. If you give your approval of the
- changes, then they are installed in EXPRESS.COM and the terminal database
- is updated with the new values; otherwise, the changes are discarded.
-
- Creating a New Definition
-
- Making this selection enters you into an interactive session answering
- questions about your terminal's capabilities and command set.
-
- Each question is listed below along with a description of what is
- actually being requested and some hints on what can be done to make
- the most efficient use of your terminal's local editing
- capabilities. Some commands are optional. If they are, and your
- terminal does not have them, just enter a blank line. You should
- note the existence of as many features as possible to make the most
- efficient use of terminal input/output (with the exception of auto
- CR on End of Line, which actually slows down I/O.)
-
- Terminal Name >_ (optional)
-
- This is the string that will be printed at the top of the
- screen when in Command Mode of EXPRESS.
-
- Terminal Initialization String >_ (optional)
-
- This is a string of characters/commands to send to the terminal
- when EXPRESS is first called up.
-
- This is usually most useful for setting special modes in the
- terminal. Some examples are: changing the cursor character so
- that you will know at a glance that you are in EXPRESS, turning AUTO
- CR on End of Line OFF while in EXPRESS (more on this in a minute), and
- especially turning keypad function keys on.
-
- Terminal Reset String >_ (optional)
-
- Usually, this command UNdoes whatever the terminal initialization
- string DID. It is sent to the terminal immediately before exiting
- back to CP/M.
-
- CURSOR POSITION LEADIN Sequence >_
-
- This is the command that tells the terminal a cursor position
- address is following. The LEADIN is the part of the positioning
- command that is sent before the row or column address is sent.
-
- CURSOR POSITION SEPARATOR Sequence >_
-
- These are the characters to send BETWEEN the row and column
- addresses, irrespective of whether row or column is first.
-
- Usually, this sequence is left blank, but if there is a separator
- required for your terminal, it MUST be included or EXPRESS will not
- operate properly.
-
- CURSOR POSITION TERMINATOR Sequence >_
-
- These are the characters to send after both the row and the
- column have been sent.
-
- This is also usually left blank, but it too MUST be included, if
- your terminal requires it.
-
- COLUMN FIRST ? (Y/N) >_
-
- This indicates whether or not the column address is sent before
- the row during a positioning sequence. If column is first, enter
- 'Y'. If row is first (the most common) enter 'N'.
-
- HEX OFFSET to add to LINE >_
-
- This is the number to add to the LINE (ROW) number when positioning the
- cursor. EXPRESS thinks of the screen as an array starting at (0,0) so
- the LINE OFFSET will be the number that must be sent to the terminal to
- position it on the top row.
-
- The line offset is nearly always 20 (32 decimal).
-
- HEX OFFSET to add to COLUMN >_
-
- Same as LINE OFFSET, except for column positioning. Usually this is the
- same value as LINE OFFSET.
-
- ASCII CURSOR ADDRESS ? (Y/N) >_
-
- If your terminal expects the ROW and COLUMN numbers to be sent as a
- string of ASCII numerals, answer Y, else answer N. This is very seldom
- used except on ANSI standard terminals.
-
- BCD (Binary Coded Decimal) CURSOR ADDRESS ? (Y/N) >_
-
- Enter Y if your terminal expects the ROW and COLUMN numbers to be sent
- as BCD numerals (packed half-ASCII). This type of cursor address is
- also very uncommon.
-
- If you answer NO to both of the preceding questions, ECONFIG will
- assume that the cursor address should be sent as a straight binary
- number. If you are unsure which your terminal uses, it would be
- safest to answer NO to both questions since binary addressing is the
- most common.
-
- CLEAR SCREEN and HOME CURSOR Sequence >_
-
- Enter the command sequence that will clear all the characters from your
- terminal's screen and place the cursor in the upper left corner of the
- screen. Usually this can be done with a single command, but on some
- terminals CLEAR SCREEN does not home the cursor. If that is the case,
- just give both commands.
-
- This command is required for proper operation of EXPRESS.
-
- CLEAR TO END OF SCREEN Sequence >_ (optional)
-
- Enter the command that will clear from the current cursor position to
- the end of the screen. The cursor should remain in its original position
- after the command is given.
-
- CLEAR TO END OF LINE Sequence >_ (optional)
-
- Enter the command that will clear from the current cursor position to
- the end of the line leaving the cursor in its original position.
-
- INSERT LINE Sequence >_ (optional)
-
- Enter the command that will insert a single line at the current cursor
- position on the screen.
-
- If none is available, leave the entry blank, but you will suffer a
- significant degradation in performance when scrolling towards the
- beginning of the file (the entire screen must be repainted each time
- instead of a single line).
-
- DELETE LINE Sequence >_ (optional)
-
- Enter the command that will delete the line the cursor is on and move
- all lines following up one line. If no delete line command is available,
- leave the entry blank.
-
- INSERT MODE ON INDICATOR Sequence >_ (optional)
-
- Enter a command that will give a visual indication that insert mode has
- been turned on. DO NOT give the command to place the terminal in insert
- mode!
-
- The most successful indicator we have found is changing the shape of the
- cursor - sending a command to make it a solid block when insert is on
- and a blinking underscore when insert is off. Another possibility is to
- turn on an LED on the terminal when in insert mode and turn it off when
- leaving insert mode.
-
- If you have no similar functions available on your terminal, leave the
- entries blank.
-
- INSERT MODE OFF INDICATOR Sequence >_
-
- Enter a command to counteract the INSERT MODE ON command.
-
- Number of LINES in DISPLAY (Decimal) >_
-
- Enter the number of lines in your CRT display. Do not count status
- lines, etc. Count only those lines that scroll normally with the
- rest of the screen. %BMake certain%b that you count %Ball%b the
- lines; otherwise, your screen will not scroll forward properly
- (forward scrolling is done by doing a linefeed (^J) off the bottom
- line of the screen).
-
- Most terminals have 24 lines, but EXPRESS will support terminals with
- any number of display lines (up to 64).
-
- Number of COLUMNS in DISPLAY >_
-
- Enter the number of columns in your CRT display. This number is usually
- 80, but can be as low as 64 and as high as 127.
-
- Unlike the LINES, if you wish, you can enter a smaller number of
- columns than your terminal actually supports. For instance, many
- terminals have a 132 column mode, but EXPRESS only supports 127
- columns; just enter 127 for COLUMNS and everything will work just
- fine.
-
- If your terminal operates in 132 column and 80 column modes (e.g.
- WYSE-50), you can use the Terminal Initialization String to set 132
- column mode and the Terminal Reset String to switch back to 80 columns.
-
- Is There AUTO-CR on END of LINE ? (Y/N) >_
-
- If your terminal automatically moves the cursor to the beginning of the
- next line when a character is typed in the last column, answer YES;
- otherwise, answer NO.
-
- This is important to know because if your terminal does this, it is
- very dangerous to output a character to the last positon of the last
- line on the screen. Sending a character to this position would cause
- the screen to scroll without EXPRESS's knowledge and subsequent
- cursor positioning would be incorrect. Not fun!
-
- Most terminals DO give an Auto-CRLF at the end of the line, so if you
- aren't sure, just answer YES. If your terminal has a way to turn this
- feature off, put it in the Terminal Initialization String and answer NO.
-
- HIGHEST DISPLAYABLE CHARACTER for this Terminal >_
-
- Enter the highest character that can be directly displayed on your
- terminal. For most terminals this is the tilde character '~' (7Eh).
- For some terminals (such as the Hazeltine) it is lower.
-
- Some terminals (the 84 model Kaypro computers, for instance) display a
- graphics character set when characters with values greater than 7Fh are
- output. In these cases, give the hex value of the highest displayable
- character (such as '0F0'). Make sure that you precede the number with a
- '0'; that is how ECONFIG knows you are entering the character as a hex
- number rather than as a single ASCII character.
-
- Is This Definition Correct ? (Y/N) >_
-
- If you have typed everything correctly, answer 'Y' and the new terminal
- definition will be installed in E.COM and added to the terminal
- database. If you made a mistake, answer 'N' and you will be allowed to
- edit your entries or, if you like, return to the main menu.
-
-
- <C>ommand_Installation
-
- The Command Installation portion of ECONFIG lets you set up the editing
- keys to any layout you like. This capability was provided to achieve
- compatibility with other editors and to allow the use of special
- function keys on some terminals.
-
- You will be given the present key sequence setting for each command and
- allowed to change them if you wish, but first ECONFIG asks a few
- questions to help in entering the new keystrokes into its table:
-
- Ignore Upper/Lower Case ? (Y/N) >_
-
- Answer 'Y' if you want <ESC>Y to be interpreted the same as <ESC>y. This
- is handy if you will be typing escape sequences by hand rather than
- using function keys. If you are using function keys it is probably best
- to say 'N'.
-
- This setting also effects Macro Key definitions. One thing to notice,
- though, is that macro keys always distinguish upper/lower case on the
- FIRST character of the key sequence. This is so you can have upper (or
- lower) case letters defined as single key macro keys and still have use of
- the lower (or upper) case letters
-
- Rubout character while entering these commands >_
-
- Enter a single character that you will use to correct mistakes and erase
- old command definitions. Usually the <RUB> or <DEL> key is used, but if
- you want to use that key in one of your key sequences, use something
- else (e.g. a number key or some special character like - or =)
-
- Type just the single key you want to be the rubout key, DO NOT TYPE
- <RET>.
-
- Return character while entering these commands >_
-
- Enter a single character that you will use to end editing each command.
- Usually the <RET> key (^M) is used, but if you will be using this key in
- one of the commands, use something else as the return key (again - a
- number key or one of the special characters, etc).
-
- Type just the single key you want to be the return key, DO NOT TYPE
- <RET>.
-
- Televideo users note: The Televideo 950 has function keys that output
- '^An<RET>' where ^A is the ASCII equivalent of 01h, n is a different
- character for each key, and <RET> is the ASCII 'carriage return' character.
- If you will be using these function keys or others like them, use a key
- other than <RET> for the 'return' key; otherwise the <RET> on the end of
- each key sequence will be lost and an extra <RET> command will be executed
- everytime you use one of the function keys in EXPRESS.
-
- Now you will be shown the current setting for each command. After each
- command key sequence is displayed, the cursor is left at the end of the
- line ready for you to change the sequence with your previously defined
- 'rubout' key, or accept it as it is with the 'return' key.
-
- To modify a key sequence, type 'rubouts' to the beginning of the input
- line to remove the old key sequence, then type in the new sequence, just
- as you want to type it when running EXPRESS. For instance, if you want
- the 'NEXT WORD' command to be ^F^V then type ctrl+F followed by ctrl+V,
- then type 'return' (the return that you defined just a moment ago, not
- the <RET> key).
-
- If you do not expect to be using a command, just leave its keystroke
- sequence blank.
-
- If you enter two ambiguous commands (ones that could be confused with
- each other) ECONFIG will print the message:
-
- Your entry is ambiguous with: xxxxxx Please try Again...
-
- If this happens, type some other key sequence for the current command.
- If it was the earlier command that you made the mistake on rather than
- this one, just clear the input line with 'rubouts' and type returns
- through the rest of the questions to the end. Then say 'N' the
- definitions are not correct and 'Y' you would like to try again. Now you
- will be allowed to go through the process again to correct the
- erroneous entry.
-
- Notice that you can use nearly any keystroke sequence to for the
- commands; you are not restricted to one or two characters, or even to
- just control characters. You can use special keys with the high bit set,
- you can even use the standard alphabet as commands if you like (although
- you would then have to use the 'Literal Next Character' command before
- each character when you wanted to actually enter it into the text). The
- only limitation is that key sequences must be no longer than 10
- characters each.
-
- For a detailed description of each command (in the same order as they
- are prompted for in ECONFIG) see the Edit Mode section of the manual.
-
- When you are finished entering commands, you will be asked if the new
- definitions are correct. If they are, answer 'Y'; if not, answer 'N' and
- you will be allowed to try again or simply return to the main menu
- without installing the new commands.
-
-
- <D>efault_Parameter_Selection
-
- Use the Default Parameter Selection section of ECONFIG to change the
- initial values of EXPRESS's editing parameters. You can set tab stops,
- margins, and modes as well as turning the command mode menu on and off,
- deciding whether you will start editing in command mode or edit mode,
- and many other useful things.
-
- All questions will have default answers. If you like the current
- setting, just type <RET>; otherwise, use the <RUB> (DEL) key to
- remove the old setting and enter a new value.
-
- INITIAL COMMAND MODE on Entry to Editor ? (Y/N) >_
-
- As furnished, EXPRESS goes into command mode after initially reading in
- the file to edit. If you would rather go immediately to edit mode,
- answer 'N'.
-
- DISPLAY COMMANDS When in Command Mode ? (Y/N) >_
-
- A menu of all the commands available in command mode is usually printed
- on the screen when entering command mode. This is often helpful, but is
- a nuisance for applications such as remote access systems with low baud
- rates, etc. Answering 'N' turns the menu off.
-
- INSERT CHARACTER Mode ON ? (Y/N) >_
-
- Usually EXPRESS comes up in 'replace' mode (new characters are entered
- over the top of characters currently in the file). Answer 'Y' if you
- want EXPRESS to start in 'insert' mode (new character are inserted into
- the file).
-
- ENTRY Mode ON ? (Y/N) >_
-
- EXPRESS comes up with Entry mode off. When entry mode is on the carriage
- return key inserts a new line below the current one. If you want EXPRESS to
- start in Entry mode, answer 'Y'.
-
- INDENT (Left Margin) >_
-
- The value of Indent determines how far to the left you can place the
- cursor on the screen. Possible values are from 1 to (right margin-1).
-
- WRAP COLUMN (Right Margin) >_
-
- The value of the Wrap Column determines how far to the right words are
- allowed to go before they are 'wrapped' down to the next line. Possible
- values are from (indent+1) to the right side of the screen (usually 80).
-
- Does TAB key insert a TAB character (or just spaces) ? (Y/N) >_
-
- Usually the TAB key inserts a single ASCII TAB character into the file.
- This saves a considerable amount of space and allows recolumnarizing
- the file by merely changing the tab settings. Some programs, however, do
- not know what to do with tab characters, so spaces must be used instead.
- The most known example of a program that can't handle tabs is Turbo
- Pascal. If you will be using EXPRESS mainly to enter Turbo source files,
- answer 'N' (just spaces).
-
- Notice that turning Tabs 'Off' does not mean that EXPRESS will replace
- existing tabs in your files with spaces, it only suppresses entering new
- tab characters. To remove tabs from a file, try using the following PIP
- command:
-
- A>pip a:filename=filename[g0t8]
-
- Use of Tab characters can be turned on and off while editing with the
- 'TABS ON' and 'TABS OFF' commands in command mode.
-
- Does <RET> in ENTRY Mode split the current line at the cursor ? (Y/N) >_
-
- When entry mode is on, a <RET> command places the cursor at the
- beginning of the next line and inserts a new blank line there. If
- you would rather have the <RET> command break the current line in
- two and put the cursor at the beginning of the new line (similar to
- WordStar and Turbo) answer 'Y'.
-
- Can <RUB> delete a carriage return/linefeed ? (Y/N) >_
-
- Typing the <RUB> key at the beginning of a line usually moves the cursor
- up to the end of the previous line and concatenates it with the line
- below, effectively deleting the CRLF line separator. If you would rather
- have the <RUB> key take no action at the beginning of a line, answer
- 'N'.
-
- Do next word/prev word commands recognize punctuation ? (Y/N) >_
-
- The Next Word and Prev Word commands usually search past punctuation and
- special characters looking for a numeric or alphabetic character to
- indicate the beginning or ending of a word. This is useful because words
- separated with commas but no spaces will be found. However, it is
- sometimes nice to define words as any non-spaces. If you would like
- spaces to be the only 'word delimiter', answer 'N'; if you want
- spaces and other special characters to be recognized as word
- delimiters, answer 'Y'.
-
- AUTO SCROLL SPEED >_
-
- The Auto Scroll Speed is usually defaulted to 0 (the fastest). If, for
- some reason, you want it to initially be slower, enter a number 1-9 (1
- is slowest, 9 is fastest other than 0). The Auto Scroll Speed can be
- changed while scrolling by typing 1-9 or 0.
-
- Character to Indicate CONTINUATION LINE >_
-
- Lines longer than the width of the screen are displayed by splitting
- them into two pieces and displaying the end of the line below the start
- of the line. The fact that the second line is a 'continuation' of the
- first is noted by a special character in the first position of the line.
- EXPRESS is shipped with '+' as the continuation character, but you can
- change it to any other single displayable character you like.
-
-
- Character to Indicate BLOCK MARKER >_
-
- The start and end of text blocks are shown by placing a single special
- character at the beginning of the first and last line of the block.
- EXPRESS is shipped with '|' as the block marker character, but you can
- change it to any other single displayable character you like.
-
-
- Text Formatter COMMAND character >_
-
- Most text formatters have special 'command lines' that are entered
- directly into the text and identified by placing a special character
- in the first position of the line. It is important for EXPRESS to
- know what this character is so that it doesn't try to 'reformat' the
- command line into the paragraph preceding it. The current setting is
- '.' which is the command character for ROFF4 and several other
- programs, but you can change it to any other single character.
-
- Minimum FREE SPACE after Disk Read (4-20K bytes) >_
-
- Some free space must be left in memory when reading in portions of a
- file larger than memory. EXPRESS usually leaves 4 kbytes of free memory.
- If this is too little or too much for your tastes, you can change it.
-
- Is This Definition Correct ? (Y/N) >_
-
- If everything has been entered correctly, answer 'Y' and the new
- settings will be written into E.COM. If something was entered wrong, or
- you decided you didn't want to change the setting after all, answer 'N'.