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1994-01-15
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PEARL V3.0
The Programmer's Text Editor
2
INTRODUCTION
Pearl is a text editor designed with programmer's in mind. Word processing
features are absent but features of use to developers are included instead
including COMPILE and RUN facilities allowing a program to be tested and
reedited without leaving Pearl. The compile facility works with ANY computer
language making Pearl useful to ALL programmers.
Pearl supports user-definable fonts generated by Servile Software's PCFONT
program. This enables Pearl to operate in any available display line mode from
25 to 50 lines on a computer equipped with a VGA monitor.
Pearl has been developed so that the minimum number of keys need to be pressed
to carry out any operation.
Pearl is also very compact. Occupying only about 50K of disk space making
Pearl one of the smallest text editors on the market.
Specifications:
Maximum file size: Dependant upon available conventional RAM, but usually
about 500K bytes.
Maximum line length: 999 bytes
Maximum lines: Unlimited
Maximum loaded macros: 10 predefined
8 User definable
Display lines: Dependant upon loaded font, ranges from 25 to 50
depending upon monitor type
3
STARTUP
Pearl is started by entering the command PEARL from the dos prompt. A name of
a file to load may also be optionaly specified forcing Pearl to load that file
for editing.
For example. To startup Pearl and edit the file "myfile.doc", from the dos
prompt enter the command:
PEARL MYFILE.DOC
If the specified file does not exist, Pearl will warn you that the file could
not be loaded, but will retain the file's name assuming that you wish to
create it.
4
ENTERING TEXT
Use the normal typewriter keys to enter text. If you enter text at the end of
a line the cursor (a flashing block) will drop down to the start of the next
line. To go down a line press the return key. The cursor may be moved around
the text with the four arrow keys. Mistakes can be deleted with the backspace
key to delete the character to the left of the cursor (usually the last
character entered). The delete key deletes the character at the cursor
position.
The case of the text may be toggled between upper and lower case by pressing
key F5. This toggles the case of alphabetical characters at the cursor
position, and moves the cursor right one character in the current line. To
force text to upper case use Shift F5. To force text to lower case use Ctrl
F5.
5
SEARCHING & REPLACING
Pearl supports full text search and replace functions. Press Ctrl Q F to
search for a string. Press Ctrl Q A to search for and replace a string. Press
Ctrl L to continue a search or search and replace operation.
Positioning the cursor over a left bracket character '(', '{' or '[' and
pressing F6 will cause Pearl to search for the matching right bracket
character. If a matching bracket is found, the cursor will be positioned over
it. Otherwise, a message will be displayed and the cursor will not move.
To move quickly to a known line number press Alt G and enter the desired line
number.
6
INDENT MODE
When Indent mode is active, pressing return goes down one line and then
inserts a number of spaces at the start of the line so that the cursor is at
the same column as the first non-space character of the previous line.
Indent mode is selected when Pearl starts. It may be toggled by pressing ALT
I. The current indent status is displayed on the status line at the top of the
screen.
7
ASCII TABLE
Pearl includes an Ascii character table so that characters not represented on
the keyboard can be easily entered into the text. Press Alt A to display the
Ascii chart, and then move the highlight block to the character you want to
insert. You may then press return to insert the highlighted character as
though it had been typed at the keyboard, or press Esc to abort the operation.
The only character which you cannot select is ascii code 10 because this is
used as a formatting character by Pearl. If you try to select this character
Pearl will simply ignore you.
8
MENUS
From the edit mode, any menu may be selected by pressing Alt and the
highlighted letter key. You may switch between Edit mode and the last menu by
pressing Esc. For example. To drop-down the File menu whilst editing a file
press Alt F. To then compile the loaded file either press C, or move the
highlight bar over the word Compile and press Return.
9
FILES
To load a file quickly press F3. Pearl will respond by requesting the name of
the file to be loaded. This will be in the form of the asterisk wild card and
the default file extension described in the configuration file. You may simply
type in the name of a file to load, including an optional path.
When you press Return on the file name, Pearl checks to see iof an asterisk
wildcard is included in the file name. If it is, Pearl builds a list of all
files matching the specification in the current directory and also all
subdirectories in the current directory. You may then select a file from the
list by highlighting it and pressing Return. Or you may change directory by
highlighting the desired directory entry (displayed in upper case) and
pressing Return. If you don't want to load any file press Esc to abort the
operation.
To save the current file press F2. Pearl will copy the existing disk file to a
file with the same name but with the extension .BAK, and then write the file
in memory back to disk. To save the loaded file under a different name select
the 'save As' option from the Files menu.
10
MACROS
What is a macro?
A macro is a combination of key strokes which may be replayed to save you time
typing them in manually.
Pearl makes use of two types of macro. Predefined macros which are simple text
strings loaded automatically when Pearl commences operation. And user
definable macros which are complex, recordable combinations of key strokes.
Predefined macros are entitled F1.MAC, F2.MAC, F3.MAC .... F10.MAC and are
loaded from the same directory as Pearl commences operation from. These macros
are executed by pressing Ctrl and the appropriate function key.
Predefined macros may be edited with a text editor (such as Pearl) with the
proviso that: a) they can not be longer than 100 characters,
b) they can only include character codes greater than 31
Record:
Macros are best created by recording. Selecting the Record option from the
macro menu forces Pearl to record all key strokes entered EXCEPT for
verification regarding file overwrites. Pressing Alt Esc stops the recording
mode. A macro has now been recorded and should be Saved.
Save:
Save stores the recorded macro to both a text file and the first free slot on
the macro menu.
Load:
Load reads a macro from disk and stores it at the first free slot on the macro
menu. If there are no free slots, a message will be displayed and you will not
be given the option to enter a macro file name.
Playing Macros:
A macro may be replayed by selecting it from the macro menu, or pressing its
Alt Function key combination. Where Alt F1 plays back macro 1, Alt F2 plays
back macro 2 and so on up to Alt F8 which plays back macro 8.
Editing Macros:
Macros are stored in fully editable text files. Each character/key stroke
command is separated by a white space (space, tab, or carriage return). Some
key strokes are stored in the macro file in a descriptive format as
illustrated in the following table:
11
Macro Text Keyboard equivalent
-------------------------------
[cr] Carriage return
[tab] Tab
[spc] Space
home Home
pgup PgUp
pgdn PgDn
left Left arrow
right Right arrow
up Up arrow
down Down arrow
delete Delete
bk_space Backspace
ctrl_pgdn Ctrl PgDn
ctrl_pgup Ctrl PgUp
ctrl_left Ctrl left arrow
ctrl_right Ctrl right arrow
alt_left Alt left arrow
alt_right Alt right arrow
ctrl_k Ctrl K
ctrl_l Ctrl L
ctrl_q Ctrl Q
ctrl_t Ctrl T
alt_e Alt E
alt_f Alt F
alt_m Alt M
All other keystrokes are recorded in their native form. When a macro file is
Loaded it is compiled before being assigned to a macro slot.
12
QUICK REFERENCE
Cursor Navigation:
Key Function
Up Arrow Up one line
Down Arrow Down one line
Right Arrow Right one character within current line
Left Arrow Left one character within current line
Ctrl Right Arrow Right one word within current line
Ctrl Left Arrow Left one word within current line
Home Start of current line
End End of current line
PgUp Up one page
PgDn Down one page
Ctrl PgUp Start of file
Ctrl PgDn End of file
Ctrl K 1,2,...9 Set marker 1,2,...9
Ctrl Q 1,2,...9 Goto marker 1,2,...9
Alt G Goto line number
Deletion:
Delete Delete character at cursor
Backspace Delete character left of cursor
Ctrl Y Delete current line
Ctrl T Delete word right
Search & Replace:
Ctrl Q F Find text
Ctrl L Continue search for text
Ctrl Q A Find text and replace it with new text.
Block operations:
Ctrl K B Mark start of block
Ctrl K K Mark end of block
Ctrl K C Copy block to cursor
Ctrl K V Move block
Ctrl K W Write block to file
Ctrl K Y Delete block
Alt Right Arrow Shift block right one character
Alt Left Arrow Shift block left one character
Macros:
Ctrl F1 Playback predefined macro 1
Ctrl F2 Playback predefined macro 2
Ctrl F3 Playback predefined macro 3
Ctrl F4 Playback predefined macro 4
13
Ctrl F5 Playback predefined macro 5
Ctrl F6 Playback predefined macro 6
Ctrl F7 Playback predefined macro 7
Ctrl F8 Playback predefined macro 8
Ctrl F9 Playback predefined macro 9
Ctrl F10 Playback predefined macro 10
Alt F1 Playback macro 1
Alt F2 Playback macro 2
Alt F3 Playback macro 3
Alt F4 Playback macro 4
Alt F5 Playback macro 5
Alt F6 Playback macro 6
Alt F7 Playback macro 7
Alt F8 Playback macro 8
Alt Esc Stop macro recording
Other Keys:
Insert Toggle insert/over type mode
Alt A Ascii Chart
Alt E Edit
Alt F File menu
ALT I Toggle indent mode
Alt X Leave Pearl
Esc Edit mode->Menu->Edit mode toggle
Tab Insert spaces to next tab position
F2 Save Current file
F3 Load New File
F4 Convert tabs to spaces
F5 Toggle current character case
Shift F5 Switch current character to upper case
Ctrl F5 Switch current character to lower case
F6 Locate matching right bracket/brace/parenthesis
14
CONFIGURATION FILE
Pearl makes use of a configuration file. This file, entitled "pearl.cfg"
contains information about screen length, colours, line length and tab size.
All parameters in the file are optional, defaults being used if they are not
found. The configuration file is comprised of separate lines starting with the
parameter followed by its value. Pearl loads this configuration file from the
directory where pearl.exe resides.
Variable Function
font Load a user definable font
display Edit display attribute
highlight Highlight display attribute
menu text Menu text display attribute
menu highlight Menu text highlight attribute
menu first letter Menu first letter display attribute
status text Status text/ascii table display attribute
tab size Tab size (expanded to spaces)
line length Maximum line length in characters
compiler Name and parameters for compiler
For example:
Pearl Configuration file
font std12.fnt
display 14
highlight 30
menu text 23
menu highlight 94
menu first letter 19
status text 7
tab size 4
line length 100
compiler tcc -ms -N- -v- -y-
Unrecognised text is ignored, as is the case of the text.
15
COMPILING & RUNNING
Pearl allows a compiler to be named in the configuration file which can be
used to compile the currently loaded file. Any compiler parameters are
included in the configuration file along with the compiler's program name.
When the compile option is selected from the file menu, Pearl issues the
command <compiler> <fname> where <compiler> is the 'compiler' text from the
configuration file, and <fname> is the name of the current text file loaded
into pearl. After the compiler terminates, Pearl displays a message and waits
for a key to be pressed so that you can see any warnings or errors reported by
the compiler.
A program with the same name as the loaded file, such as a compiled version,
may be run with the run option from the file menu. After the program
terminates Pearl resumes operation immediately.
16
Pearl is distributed as Shareware. You are free to use this product for a
period not exceeding 30 days from when you obtained it. After that you must
either register it or stop using it.
Registration of Pearl is accomplished by sending a cheque or money order for
19.95 pounds sterling, made payable to M. Probert to Servile Software,
5 Longcroft Close, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 1XG, England.
Registered users are entitled to:
* Free life-time telephone support
* Free upgrade to the latest version
* Full Turbo C & assembler source code
* Use Pearl past 30 days
Written by: Matthew Probert
Published by: Servile Software
5 Longcroft Close
Basingstoke
Hampshire
RG21 1XG
Telephone: 0256 478576