Control keys

Basic operation of the editor is largely self explanatory. Text is input by straight typing anywhere on the screen. Cursor movement is controlled by the arrow keys and auxiliary keypad keys as per their standard definitions as well as accelerated movement with Ctrl combinations. The cursor can also be positioned using the mouse by clicking with the left button at the desired cursor location. The cursor position control keys are as follows:



                        


Un-mapped Cursor Motion Keys 		 




 		 		 




left arrow 		  left one space                    


right arrow 		  right one space                   


up arrow 		  up one line                       


down arrow 		  down one line                     


end 		  end of line                       


home 		  beginning of line                 


PgDn 		  scroll down one screen            


PgUp 		  scroll up one screen              


Center Key 		  fast motion toggle                


Ctrl left 		  left one word                     


Ctrl right 		  right one word                    


Ctrl up 		  scroll up five lines              


Ctrl down 		  scroll down five lines            


Ctrl end 		  end of file                       


Ctrl PgDn 		  end of file                       


Ctrl home 		  beginning of file                 


Ctrl PgUp 		  beginning of file                 


Alt home 		  top of page                       


Alt end 		  bottom of page                    


Alt PgUp 		  scroll up half a page             


Alt PgDn 		  scroll down half a page



                        


Un-mapped Editor Control Keys not discussed in other sections 		         


 		 		                                               


Ctrl a 		  set place mark                         


Ctrl A 		  save all changed files                 


Ctrl b 		  bracket match {, (, [, <, or /*     


Ctrl c 		  change case of character under cursor  


Ctrl C 		  opens configuration notebook (OS/2)    


Ctrl d 		  delete character                       


Ctrl D 		  read in the displayed macro list       


DEL 		  delete character                       


Ctrl e 		  delete to end of line                  


Ctrl h 		  destructive backspace                  


Ctrl H 		  open select other loaded file dialog   


Ctrl g 		  execute file (C interpreter version)   


Ctrl i 		  tab                                    


Ctrl j 		  join next line to current line         


Ctrl k 		  cut current line at cursor             


Ctrl K 		  list the currently defined key mappings


Ctrl l 		  return to previous set place mark      


Ctrl L 		  list the currently defined macros      


Ctrl m 		  insert new line (also return key)      


Ctrl M 		  open command line input dialog         


Ctrl n 		  edit next file in ring                 


Ctrl o 		  switch to other window if screen split 


Ctrl O 		  open file select dialog                


Ctrl p 		  edit previous file in ring             


Ctrl q 		  quit without saving file               


Ctrl r 		  redo previous undo                     


Ctrl s 		  swap current and next character        


Ctrl t 		  toggle insert/replace                  


Ctrl u 		  undo changes to last modified line     


Ctrl w 		  write file to disk                     


Ctrl W 		  write file to disk with different name 


Ctrl x 		  delete line                            


Ctrl y 		  split edit window horizontally in two  


Ctrl Y 		  read in the displayed key mappings     


Ctrl BACK 		 delete line                          


Ctrl z 		  zap word                               


Ctrl DEL 		zap word                               


Alt a 		  alternate binary representation        


Alt B 		  set breakpoint (interpreter version)   


Alt e 		  execute last macro                     


Alt D 		  defines (interpreter version)         


Alt G 		  global vars (interpreter version)       


Alt h 		  view only lines with place mark         


Alt i 		  clear all place marks                   


Alt I 		  step into (interpreter version)         


Alt k 		  enter next char literally              


Alt L 		  local vars (interpreter version)        


Alt O 		  step over (interpreter version)         


Alt p 		  position curs at previous location     


Alt q 		  restore a line from undo record        


Alt r 		  re-flow paragraph, stops at blank line 


Alt O 		  reset execution (interpreter version)  


Alt s 		  view lines containing search string    


Alt t 		  teach (end) new macro                  


Alt v 		  view only changed lines                


Alt x 		  enter control character                


Alt z 		  zero command multiplier                


Alt 0-9		  enter command multiplier

The following section provides more detailed information for a selection of the above commands that are perhaps not inherently obvious.

The Ctrl a command sets a place mark on the current line in the current file. Any number of place marks can be set. Hitting Ctrl l will return the cursor to these place marks in the reverse order that they where set. To remove a place mark hit Ctrl a again on the line with the place mark and it will be removed. Alt i removes all currently set place marks and Alt h shows only lines on which a place mark has been set.
The bracket match command Ctrl b moves the cursor to the bracket matching the one under the cursor. If the cursor does not move it means that a matching bracket could not be found or that the cursor is not presently sitting on a bracket. The matchable characters are <, >, (, ), {, }, [, ] and the comment delimiter pairs. The comment delimiter pairs are set in the syntax colouring configuration dialog and are /* and */ by default.
Ctrl c changes the case of the letter under the cursor. If the case of a whole region is to be changed. Block mark the region (Alt b) and then use the change case option of the block fill command (Alt f).
Ctrl j, k, m. Unlike most editors hitting return ( Ctrl m ) does not split the current line at the cursor. Instead a line is split at the cursor using Ctrl k. This usage may take some getting use to but it is the same as used by the editor E and optionally by the EPM editor. If, however, you prefer more conventional return key behaviour this can be set in the configuration menu. Ctrl j is used to join two lines together. Return or Ctrl m inserts a new blank line below the current line but the current line is not split.
Ctrl n, p. If more than one file is currently in memory then Ctrl n switches to the next one in the ring while Ctrl p switches to the previous file. If the switched to file has been modified externally to the editor since it was last seen you will be prompted for an optional reload.
Ctrl q. Quits the current file which will be removed from memory and all changes will be lost. If changes have been made and the file has not been saved then you will be prompted for confirmation. It is possible to configure the editor to prompt for a confirmation before over writing an old version of the file.
Ctrl u, r. Undo the change to the last edited line. The number of undo levels is set in the configuration dialog and is essentially unlimited. By repeatedly hitting Ctrl u all the changes made to a file since it was loaded can be undone. Ctrl r re-does a previous undo. The changes to a file can only be undone in the order that they where made except that any line for which a line undo record exists can be restored using Alt q. Only simple edits that only operate on a single line generate undo records of the type that can be undone using Alt q. In some instances it may be desirable to turn off the undo record generation for example if column manipulations are to be done on very long columns since in that case the entire file will have to be duplicated may times for the undo records which will adversely affect performance. Undo record generation may be turned off by setting the undo limit to zero in the config dialog of the file menu.
Ctrl w. Saves the current file to disk using the file name displayed on the command line. The file name can be changed by moving to the command line ESC and using the rename command. The file can also be saved with a different name using the ``save as'' menu item of the file menu. Before writting the existing file of this name is renamed ``editfile.bak''. Thus writting a file may be undone provided no subsequent files were written.
Ctrl y splits the editor window horizontally in to two windows separated by a second command line. Hitting Ctrl y again un-splits the screen. Use Ctrl o or the left mouse button to change the current window. These commands are not available in the version of the editor bundled with Splot.
Alt a selects the alternate binary representation. This key is only active for files loaded using the binary switch (-b). The default binary representation is hex with two hex characters per byte and 32 bytes per line. The alternate representation uses the following codes: Printable characters appear with a leading underscore and control characters with a leading ∧. This second representation also has 32 bytes per line and is more useful for identifying text in binary files. Individual hex numbers may be converted to decimal or the reverse by using the command line commands ``hex'', ``dec'' and ``asc''.
Alt e executes the last defined macro see section $[*]$ .
Alt i removes all previously set (Ctrl a) place marks.
Alt k interprets the next character as a literal without re-mapping. This key may be useful for enter characters that have been mapped onto editor commands. This should not be needed with the default configuration since only Ctrl and Alt keys are used to control the editor.
The Alt p command is useful if the cursor was accidentally moved away from the region of interest with a Ctrl Home or search for example. In these situations Alt p will restore the cursor to its previous location. This action is similar to using place marks except that unlike place marks these are automatically set by any command that causes the cursor to jump by more than one line. Only one previous location is remembered though.
The Alt r command re-flows a paragraph with the right and left margins and the first line indentation set as specified in the config dialog. It starts at the current line and stops at the first encountered blank line. If a region is Alt b marked and the cursor is currently in the marked region the marked region only will be reformatted with the right and left margins set by the marking and no initial indentation. If syntax colouring is on then the file is assumed to be program code and is reformatted as code rather than text using a set of rules that are currently not configurable. In this case the region to be reformatted must be line marked.
Alt t starts and ends the definition of a new macro see section $[*]$ .
Alt x queries the user for the 3 digit hex code of the character to be inserted. Alt x can thus be used to enter characters for which there is no keyboard key such as the characters above 127 in the ASCII table.
Alt 0-9, z. These keys are used to enter a command multiplier to be used on the next command. Entering a multiplier has the same effect as entering the following keystroke n times. Alt z resets the multiplier to zero.
Alt F4. The system default close application key removes all loaded files and terminates the editor. If there are any changed unsaved files a confirmation dialog appears. Other system menu Alt F# keys perform their usual task. These keys are intercepted before reaching the editor and thus cannot be used for bound macros.