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*** Welcome to The Aurora Editor version 2.1! ***
(C) Copyright 1993-1995 nuText Systems
All rights reserved worldwide.
What's New:
───────────
This file briefly highlights some of the new features available in
Aurora version 2.1. For more detailed information, see the User's Guide,
the AML Language Reference, and the AML Function Reference.
Aurora version 2.1
──────────────────
* Aurora now features a new 'Interactive Configuration', in addition to
the standard .AML configuration files. Dialog boxes have been provided
for changing most configuration settings interactively within an edit
session. The new configuration dialog boxes are accessible through the
'Configuration and Setup' item on the 'Set' menu. Interactive
configuration settings include:
- Colors - Open Options
- Confirmations - Print Options
- Desktop Options - Prompt Styles
- Edit Options - Save Options
- File Manager Options - Sort Options
- Line Delimiters - Search / Replace Options
- Margins and Tabs - Text Reformatting Options
- Miscellaneous Options - Video Modes
- Mouse Options - Window Styles
* The 'Save Configuration' item on the Set menu will now directly update
source CONFIG.AML and COLOR.AML files with the current configuration
settings and recompile the editor. Unlike v2.0, changes will not be
lost when you recompile the editor.
* Source code for the new configuration dialog boxes is located in a new
'CFG' subdirectory, making even the configuration scheme configurable!
Within this code, custom dialog boxes are created by using new library
functions (see below). The installation macro (INSTALL.AML) was also
modified to accomodate the new CFG subdirectory.
* The following new AML macros have been added to the macro list (on the
Macro menu), and to the MACRO subdirectory:
ASCII2.AML - 2-dimensional ASCII chart
BOOKLIST.AML - List all bookmarks
CALEN4.AML - Four-month calendar
COMPARE.AML - Compare two files
COUNTLIN.AML - Count lines in multiple files
DLGDEMO.AML - AML dialog box demo with dialog box controls
SCRSAVER.AML - AML Screen Saver demo showing how to draw on the screen
STYLE.AML - Change the editor keyboard/menu style
TEMPLATE.AML - Install Template-Editing
TEMPLATE.DAT - Template data (used by TEMPLATE.AML)
* The macro list can now be displayed by pressing <ctrl f12>
* Several macros have been rewritten. These macros now take advantage of
important new macro language features which allow them to run as
independent, movable, switchable, windows (you can also run multiple
instances of these macros). The rewritten macros include:
ASCII2.AML - 2-dimensional ASCII chart
KEYCODES.AML - Display various keycodes
CALCPAD.AML - Calculator pad
CLRCHART.AML - Color chart
CALENDAR.AML - One-month Calendar
CALEN4.AML - Four-month Calendar
* A following new keyboard/menu styles are available at installation.
- Aurora/CUA/Windows
- MultiEdit
* Commands were added to the clipboard menu which allow you to 'Copy To'
and 'Paste From' the Windows Clipboard (up to 16k bytes). Aurora must
be running in an MS Windows enhanced mode DOS box to use these
commands.
* The following additional changes were made to the default menus:
Window menu:
- removed "Style Toggle" (equivalent function is now provided
from within the 'Configuration and Setup' menu item)
Set menu:
- added 'Configuration and Setup'
- 'Word Processing' was relaced with 'Margins and Tabs'
- 'Binary Line Length' and 'Line Delimiter Options' were replaced
- with 'Line Delimiter Options'.
- 'Video Mode' and 'Video Toggle' were removed (equivalent
function is now provided from within the 'Configuration and
Setup' menu item)
Macro menu:
- added 'Show Available Keys..'
- removed 'Configuration..'
- removed 'Include Macro'
* The new '>' and '<' window style option codes will now allow Edit and
File Manager titles to be placed within the window border, when the
border style is not zero. These options can also be changed from the
'Window Style 1' configuration dialog box.
* All online documentation is now 'read/only' when opened through the
help menus and hotkeys.
* A new "Sort Options" dialog box is displayed when entering the
'sortblock2' (Block Sort) command.
* The File Manager will now always show the drive bar, even if the menu
bar is removed.
* New listbox color attributes (71-74) were added to COLOR.AML.
* The following changes were made to CONFIG.AML:
- Added the new setting 'FormatOpt', for default text reformatting
options.
- Added the new setting 'SortOpt', for default block sorting
options.
- The 'FmgrCtls' and 'EditCtls' settings were removed. South title
controls are now defined by adding style option 'z' to 'EditStyle'
and/or 'FmgrStyle'.
- 'ExitOpen' was moved to the Desktop section.
* Several changes were made to the keyboard configuration and handling:
- In SYSTEM.AML, the new 'kbdoptions' setting replaces the
'enchancedkbd' setting. The new keyboard options are:
e = enable enhanced keyboard keys
g = enable unshifted grey keypad function keys
(<grey*>, <grey->, <grey+>)
w = enable shifted white keypad function keys
(<shift del>, <shift ins>, <shift end>, etc.)
(Numeric keypad users may wish to disable options 'g' or 'w')
- The shifted grey island keys (<shift del>, <shift ins>, etc.) are
now handled properly, and are no longer interpreted as <del>,
<ins>, etc. The keyboard configuration files for all editor styles
were modified to reflect these changes.
Macro Language Additions/Changes in version 2.1:
────────────────────────────────────────────────
Architectural Changes:
──────────────────────
* Global variables are now 'persistent', and will hold their values
throughout the lifetime of the macro in which they are defined. When
used within internal macro areas such as KBD.AML, EXT.AML, etc.,
global variables will hold their values throughout an entire editing
session.
* The 'runmacro' function will now allow pre-existing functions to be
replaced or 'preempted' throughout the lifetime of the external macro.
This is accomplished by simply defining a function with the same name
as the function to be preempted, in the same object as the function to
be preempted.
This feature allows detailed, temporary modifications to be made to
existing objects (i.e. detailed changes in editor behavior), without
adding new objects to the object hierarchy. The modifications will
disappear when the macro is finished executing, or the temporary
object associated with 'runmacro' is destroyed.
The new function 'passprev' can be used within the newer preempting
functions to access the older preempted functions.
* The new 'stayresident' function allows external macros executed by
'runmacro' to remain resident after they are finished executing,
similar to way the 'includemacro' function works. Functions can be
defined within the macro which respond to events after 'runmacro'
returns.
However, unlike macros executed with 'includemacro', these new
resident macros can also be 'purged' by destroying the temporary
object automatically created by 'runmacro'.
Using the 'stayresident' function, it is possible to write Aurora
mini-applications which behave as independent windows on the desktop.
Macros such as CALCPAD, CALENDAR, CLRCHART, etc. are examples of these
mini-applications.
Syntax/Compiler Changes:
────────────────────────
* Objects and functions may now have the same name.
* The 'object' statement is no longer permitted within functions or key
definitions.
* A new compiler error code (1318: invalid number) was added.
* The following standard backslash control characters can now be entered
within strings:
\a - alert (beep) character (ASCII 7)
\b - backspace character (ASCII 8)
\f - formfeed character (ASCII 12)
\n - newline (linefeed) character (ASCII 10)
\r - return character (ASCII 13)
\t - tab character (ASCII 9)
\v - vertical tab character (ASCII 11)
\xHH - any hex character
* The following new keywords can now be used instead of the 'end'
keyword, in their respective language structures:
endcase endkey
enddatabuf endloop
enddefine endmenu
endfunction endmenubar
endif endwhile
* The AML compiler generates smaller executable code (A.X in v2.1 is
about 5k smaller than A.X in v2.0).
Function Additions/Changes:
───────────────────────────
* A new dialog box interface is now provided by the editor library code
(LIB.X), enabling you to create custom dialog boxes - see FUNCTION.DOX
and LANGUAGE.DOX for full details. For examples on how to create and
use dialog boxes, see the dialog box demo DLGDEMO.AML, and macros in
the new CFG subdirectory. The new dialog box functions are:
dialog - creates a main dialog box window
button - creates a button control
field - creates an edit field control
listbox - creates a listbox control
groupbox - creates a groupbox control with checkboxes or
radio buttons
setgroupbox - re-initializes a groupbox
getdialog - displays a 'modal' dialog box, and retreives
dialog box control values.
showdialog - displays a 'modeless' dialog box.
whenenter - defines a user-function to be called when <enter>
(or equivalent) is pressed from within a dialog
box control.
whenselect - defines a user-function to be called when an item
is selected from within a group box or list box.
* The following new functions were also added (see FUNCTION.DOX for full
details):
builtin functions:
fillrect // fill a rectangle with a character
getattr // get a color attribute from a video window
geteventcount // get the number of real events
getstr // get a string from a video window
gotoscreen // route video functions to the physical screen
inheritfrom // change the inheritance path of the current object
kbdoptions // set keyboard options
parse // parse substrings of a string into variables
passprev // call the current function in a preempted object
stayresident // force an executable macro to remain resident
windowflag // change window flags
comments:
- gotoscreen enables video functions such as writestr, hilite,
etc. to write directly to the physical screen.
- parse will extract substrings of a string and place them in
user variables, with only one function call. The substrings
are specified with a search pattern, which may be a regular
expression pattern. This function is very handy for parsing
almost anything, including compiler output.
- windowflag enables the new events 'ondraw' and 'onstatus' (see
below), which allow customized drawing of the window and
status line.
library functions:
askbox // prompt the user for a string (2-line box)
askbox1 // prompt the user for a string (1-line box)
askline // prompt the user for a string (command-line prompt)
enter // enter key (prompt object)
setmenucurs // change menu cursor style
extension functions:
runcfg // run a macro in the CFG subdirectory (w/prefix CFG)
runmac // run a macro in the MACRO subdirectory
savecfg // save current config variables and recompile
events:
ondraw // called after drawing the window client area
onkillfocus // called before before a window loses the focus
onstatus // called before drawing the window status line
* The following functions were removed:
builtin functions:
enhancedkbd // replaced by: kbdoptions
getobjsize // not needed
clearwindow // not needed: the same effect can be achieved with
'hilite' and the new 'fillrect' function
library functions:
togglestyle // replaced by: runcfg "style"
extension functions:
saveconfig // replaced by: savecfg
includemacro2 // seldom used
askimacro // seldom used
askbinary // replaced by: runcfg "ldlm"
askdelim // replaced by: runcfg "ldlm"
asktabw // replaced by: runcfg "marg"
asktabv // replaced by: runcfg "marg"
asklmarg // replaced by: runcfg "marg"
askrmarg // replaced by: runcfg "marg"
askprint // replaced by: runcfg "print"
askprompt // replaced by: runcfg "prom"
* The following functions were altered in some way:
builtin functions:
-----------------
bufferflag, bufferflag?
Option 'r' was added to these functions to permit buffers to be
made 'read-only'.
gotobuf
gotobuf now returns the previous current buffer.
gotowindow
gotowindow now returns the previous current window.
hilite
hilite now advances the cursor in video windows if the height is
one.
menubar, getmenubar
Removed the west menubar (menubar 5).
replace
When using regular expressions, any of the special control
characters "\a\b\f\n\r\t\v\xHH" can be used in the replace
string.
say
say is now a builtin function, and works in any window.
setdisplay
Added the display option -1, which validates the display so that
updating will not be performed. This allows you to draw in an
edit window without the editor immediately overwriting it.
setframe, frame?
Added new option codes '>' and '<' for north and south
title-in-border frame options.
usemark
usemark now returns the previous default markid.
library functions:
-----------------
msgbox, okbox, shortbox, yncbox
These functions will now allow message boxes with 2 message
lines to be displayed when a newline character (\n) is inserted
in the message string.
extension functions:
-------------------
ask
ask is no longer a library function, but is now exposed in
EXT.AML, allowing you to customize the dialog box appearance
when using the dialog box prompt style.
onhotkey
onhotkey now works with any number of leading spaces on popup
menu items (onhotkey now works correctly on help popup menus).
saveblock2
Added a new parameter: the filename where the block should be
saved. You are prompted if the filename is not specified.
writebak
writebak is no longer a builtin function, but is now exposed in
EXT.AML. Parameter order has also been changed to resemble the
'writestr' builtin function.