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- I made the following enhancements to MicroEMACS which should make
- it easier to run on an IBM PC or a close compatible:
- 1. I implemented a new getkey function. This new version, which
- resides in the module getkey can now recognize all of the IBM PC
- extended keycodes. In addition the cursor positioning keys and the
- INS and DEL keys were implemented. None of the unimplemented keys
- will put anything in the file buffer.
- The new getkey function requires the modules keybadt.c and
- sysint.a which I have included in this package. keybadt.c, which
- contains the keyboard read function get_key, returns the complete
- keycode of the key input by the user. Thus, it is much better able
- to discern the Function keys, cursor keys etc.
- 2. The INS key now toggles between an insert and an overwrite mode.
- In the insert mode characters are inserted into the buffer in front
- of characters to the right of the cursor. In the overwrite mode, it
- overwrites the characters in the buffer.
- 3. Using version 1.20 of stayres which has been contributed by Brian
- Irvine, I prepared EM which is a memory resident version of MicroEMACS.
- To get EM to behave properly I had to remove the execute DOS command
- functions (spawncli and spawn) and allocate about 128k of memory for
- it (in the stayrs.c module). In order for a user to make good use of
- em, he should have a lot of memory.
- 4. I implemented a simple minded help function and attached it to the
- ESC ? key combination. All of the commands and keystrokes presently
- included in MicroEMACS are described.
-
- Some further areas of enhancement for MicroEMACS are:
- 1. Improve the screen display module so that the screen is updated
- faster.
- 2. Tie some of the editing functions to Function keys.
- 3. To make this more like a true word processor, at least implement
- some kind of right justify capability.
- 4. Compile this program with a compiler that supports a big memory
- model to get more heap space for the buffer files.
-
- The contributors of MicroEMACS, Dave Conroy and Dan Lewis wrote a very
- well-organized, easy to modify program and should be congratulated.
-
- I have used MicroEMACS and EM for applications software development and
- have found both programs to be quite helpful text editors. Enjoy using
- them and enhancing them further.
-
- Mark P. Schapira
- March 23, 1986
-
- P.S. If someone can get EM to work properly with the DOS functions SPAWN
- and SPAWNCLI please leave me a message on the bulletin board.
- Thanks.