Software of the Month Club 1996 June/Software of the Month Club 1996 June.iso/pc/dos/dtp/aurora/read.me

Text File | 1995-02-23 | 18KB | 441 lines

           ***  Welcome to The Aurora Editor version 2.0!  ***
                  (C) Copyright 1993-1995 nuText Systems
                      All rights reserved worldwide.


Note: this version of Aurora is NOT public domain or free software, but
is distributed as shareware for EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY.

Individuals are granted a limited license to use this shareware software
for a 30-day period on a private, non-commercial basis, in order to
decide whether or not Aurora suits their needs. At the end of the 30-day
evaluation period, the individual MUST either purchase a fully licensed
copy of this software, or discontinue using Aurora.


Introduction
────────────
Aurora is one of the finest text editors available today. Many hours
have gone into the development and testing of this software. However, we
can only continue to develop and support the software if those who use
Aurora purchase a license for it. Aurora is very reasonably priced, but
it is not free. You may try this software for up to 30 days with no
obligation to pay for using it (subject to the conditions stated in the
Aurora Editor User's Guide). If you continue to use Aurora after the
30-day evaluation period, you must purchase a fully licensed copy. For
ordering and pricing information, see ORDERFRM.DOC.

The Aurora Editor software is owned by nuText Systems or its suppliers
and is protected by United States copyright laws and international
treaty provisions. The Aurora Editor, and The Aurora Macro Language are
trademarks of nuText Systems. All other trademarks and registered
trademarks referenced in this file are the property of their respective
owners.

For COPYRIGHT AND PROPRIETARY RIGHTS, LICENSE AND RESTRICTIONS, WARRANTY
DISCLAIMER, US GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS, and TRADEMARK information,
see LICENSE.DOC.

Please take a moment to review this file before using Aurora. It
contains helpful information on how to obtain technical support, and
highlights the major new features and changes in version 2.0.


Disk Contents
─────────────
NOTE: To reduce the size of the shareware archive, only the 386 version
of Aurora is included in this package. An 8086 version is available from
the Aurora Support BBS. See technical support below for BBS access
details.


Executable files:
  A.EXE         - Aurora/386

Macro Object files:
  A.X           - The editor boot macro
  INSTALL.X     - Installation macro
  LIB.X         - Compiled editor library macro code

Macro Source files:
  COLOR.AML     - Color definitions
  CONFIG.AML    - Configuration settings
  DEFINE.AML    - Compile-time declarations, constants, functions
  EXT.AML       - Editor extension source code
  INSTALL.AML   - Installation macro source code
  MAIN.AML      - The main macro source file
  MOUSE.AML     - Mouse definitions
  SYNTAX.AML    - Syntax highlighting definitions
  SYSTEM.AML    - System settings
  TRAN.AML      - Translation sample definitions

Other files:
  FILE_ID.DIZ   - Description for BBS's
  LICENSE.DOC   - Copyright, License, and Restrictions
  ORDERFRM.DOC  - Ordering information and order form
  READ.ME       - Introduction and last-minute information
  VENDOR.DOC    - Distribution restrictions

Documentation:
  FUNCTION.DOX  - The Aurora Macro Language Function Reference
  LANGUAGE.DOX  - The Aurora Macro Language Reference
  QUICKFUN.DOX  - The AML Function Quick Reference
  REGEXP.DOX    - Regular Expression Searching Reference
  TIPS.DOX      - Miscellaneous User Tips
  USER.DOX      - The Aurora Editor User's Guide

Editor styles:
  AUKBD.AML     - Aurora-style keyboard layout and functions
  AUMENU.AML    - Aurora-style menu definitions
  BRKBD.AML     - Brief-style keyboard layout and functions
  BRMENU.AML    - Brief-style menu definitions
  QEKBD.AML     - QEdit/TSE-style keyboard layout and functions
  QEMENU.AML    - QEdit/TSE-style menu definitions
  WPKBD.AML     - WordPerfect-style keyboard layout and functions
  WPMENU.AML    - WordPerfect-style menu definitions
  WSKBD.AML     - WordStar/Borland IDE keyboard layout and functions
  WSMENU.AML    - WordStar/Borland IDE menu definitions

Color palettes:
  BLUGREEN.AML  - Blue and green
  FLUORESC.AML  - Fluorescent
  GREENCH.AML   - Green charcoal
  REDBLUE.AML   - Red and blue
  WIMBLEDN.AML  - Wimbledon

Macro Utilities and Samples:
  CALENDAR.AML  - Display a popup calendar window
  CLRCHART.AML  - Display a popup color chart window
  COUNTCHR.AML  - Count characters in a file or block
  COUNTWRD.AML  - Count words in a file or block
  DELBLANK.AML  - Delete blank lines in a file or block
  DELDUP.AML    - Delete duplicate lines in a file
  DRAWBOX.AML   - Draw a box around a mark
  ENTAB.AML     - Customizable Entab macro
  EXAMPLE.AML   - Examples and macro source code fragments
  FULLDATE.AML  - Get the date and time in full-format
  HELPLANG.AML  - Language Reference Topics menu
  HELPUSER.AML  - User's Guide Topics menu
  KEYCODES.AML  - Display various keycodes
  KEYDEF.AML    - Display key assignments
  LONGLINE.AML  - Find the longest line in a file
  PALETTE.AML   - Change the color palette
  SUMBLOCK.AML  - Add up numbers in a marked block
  TABS.AML      - Entab and Detab a file or block
  UTILITY.AML   - Utility macro menu
  VIEWMEM.AML   - Display an area of DOS memory


Technical Support
─────────────────
Although we will do our best to answer questions for all users, licensed
users will receive higher priority. If you are contacting us with a
problem about the software, please have the following information
available:

  - The editor version number and the date of the A.EXE file
  - The operating environment (DOS, OS/2, Windows, etc) and operating
      system version number you are using
  - The names and versions of any memory managers or resident utilities
      you are using in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
  - The amount of memory and disk space available
  - Your computer hardware


You can obtain technical support or information in the following ways:

1. Call The Aurora Support BBS at [phone]. The BBS is available
   24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at speeds from 2400 bps to 14,400 bps.
   Use modem settings <N81>.

2. Send EMail to:
     Internet:  [e-mail]
     CIS:       71702,1025

3. Telephone: [phone]

4. Write to:
     nuText Systems
     P.O. Box 2405
     Kensington, MD 20891-2405  USA

Please feel free to contact us at any time to offer comments or suggest
improvements to this product. Many previous suggestions have been
implemented in version 2.0.


Aurora v2.00b
─────────────
Version 2.00b is a maintenance release.


Aurora v2.00a
─────────────
Version 2.00a is primarily a maintenance release and includes the
following:

* Source code is provided for the installation macro (INSTALL.AML)

* New sample macros were added to the MACRO subdirectory:

   CLRCHART.AML  - displays a popup color chart window
   CALENDAR.AML  - displays a popup calendar window

* Live WordWrap preserves spaces across multiple lines, and now works
  correctly when AutoIndent is OFF.

* Fixes


What's new in Aurora v2.0:
─────────────────────────
This section briefly highlights some of the new features available in
Aurora version 2.0. For more detailed information, see the Aurora Editor
User's Guide, the AML Language Reference, and the AML Function
Reference.

* There have been major performance increases throughout the editor.
  Extensive benchmark testing has shown Aurora v2.0 to be one of the
  fastest editors currently available.

* A new, easy-to-use macro language (AML) has replaced the old macro
  language. General features of the new language include:

    - New easy-to-learn, highlighted syntax
    - Improved error recovery
    - Greatly increased execution and compilation performance
    - Descriptive function names
    - A revised function set, with many new functions
    - Simplified function parameters
    - More complete documentation with numerous examples

  Individual macro language changes are much too comprehensive and
  numerous to list here. See the Aurora Macro Language Reference for an
  overview and tutorial of the new macro language, and the AML Function
  Reference for a full description of macro language functions.

* Integrated macro language compilation support moves the cursor
  directly to syntax errors in your macros.

* Over 3000 lines of macro language source code, utilities, and examples
  are included. See the .AML files in the main Aurora directory, and the
  .AML files in the MACRO and STYLE subdirectories.

* A new Macro Utilities popup menu is accessible from the Macro menu and
  allows you to run several useful macros:

    COUNTCHR.AML  - Count characters in a file or block
    COUNTWRD.AML  - Count words in a file or block
    DELBLANK.AML  - Delete blank lines in a file or block
    DELDUP.AML    - Delete duplicate lines in a file
    DRAWBOX.AML   - Draw a box around a mark
    ENTAB.AML     - Customizable Entab macro
    FULLDATE.AML  - Get the date and time in full-format
    KEYCODES.AML  - Display various keycodes
    KEYDEF.AML    - Check key assignments
    LONGLINE.AML  - Find the longest line in a file
    PALETTE.AML   - Change the color palette
    SUMBLOCK.AML  - Add up numbers in a marked block
    TABS.AML      - Entab and Detab a file or block
    VIEWMEM.AML   - Display an area of DOS memory

* The new 'pickmacro' <shift f12> command lists all macros in the MACRO
  subdirectory, and allows you to select one for execution.

* New comprehensive highlighted documentation is provided in the DOC
  subdirectory, including:

    FUNCTION.DOX  - The Aurora Macro Language Function Reference
    LANGUAGE.DOX  - The Aurora Macro Language Reference
    QUICKFUN.DOX  - An AML Function Quick Reference
    REGEXP.DOX    - Regular Expression Searching Reference
    TIPS.DOX      - Miscellaneous User Tips
    USER.DOX      - The Aurora Editor User's Guide

  The Help menu has been modified to reflect the new documentation, and
  provides 'topics' menus to help you navigate through the Macro
  Language Reference and the User's Guide.

* The hot-keys <shift f1> and <shift f2> allow you to display context
  sensitive help on a macro language function name at the cursor. This
  feature can be very helpful when learning to use the macro language.

* FAST Color Syntax Highlighting is now provided, and can be customized
  for almost any programming language, or even text files. See the new
  configuration files SYNTAX.AML and SYNTAX2.AML for syntax highlighting
  definitions based on file extensions.

* Words or identifiers in your text can be highlighted in any color
  on-the-fly from within an edit session, by using the new 'Highlight
  Word' <ctrl \> command on the Edit menu. This can can be very useful
  for finding instances of a word in a document, or marking occurrences
  of variables, functions, or other identifiers in your program source
  code.

* More complete folding and outlining capabilities have been provided,
  including support for:

    - automatic saving and loading of folds as comments in the
        source file
    - opening folds for editing, and closing folds
    - changing the fold description on closed folds
    - optional searching through closed folds
    - exporting files or blocks of text without folds

  The edit window Fold menu has been modified to reflect the new folding
  enhancements.

* Live, real-time Word Wrap is now available from the Set Menu, in
  addition to the old standard Word Wrap.

* A new 'Incremental Search' <ctrl i> command has been added to the
  search menu, allowing you to search for a string one character at a
  time.

* A new 'Find Occurrences' <ctrl h> command is available from the search
  menu. This command displays a popup menu showing all the lines in a
  file where a search string is found, and allows you to optionally edit
  these lines in a separate file.

* Support for a full range of Regular Expression search and replace
  operators is provided. A new search option 'x' has been added for
  regular expressions, and can be used in the Find, Replace, Scan Files,
  and Find Occurrences prompts.

* The number of occurrences of a search string can be counted with the
  new search option 'a'.

* A new installation macro guides you through the installation process.

* Aurora can now be configured to emulate several other popular editors
  and word processors. You will be prompted to select an editor 'style'
  at installation. The following editor styles are currently available
  in the shareware version:

    - Aurora
    - Brief
    - QEdit/TSE
    - WordPerfect
    - WordStar/Borland IDE

* You can choose from several new pre-defined color palettes at
  installation:

    - Blue and green
    - Fluorescent
    - Green charcoal
    - Red and blue
    - Wimbledon

* Three new window settings are associated with each edit window and can
  be toggled ON and OFF from the Set menu:

    - Live Word Wrap
    - Syntax Highlighting
    - Undo

* Popup history windows are available from any prompt with history by
  entering <pgup> or <pgdn> at the prompt, or by clicking the left mouse
  button on the prompt history tab ().

* A new 'File Name Completion' feature has been added for prompts which
  expect filenames to be entered. You can enter <tab> or <ctrl tab>
  within these prompts to display a picklist for a partially entered
  filename or filespec.

* A new Two-line box prompt style is included. The prompt style can be
  changed from the Window menu, or by changing the 'PromptStyle' setting
  in CONFIG.AML.

* One-line and two-line box prompts can now be resized horizontally by
  grabbing the left or right prompt borders with the mouse, or by using
  the keyboard (<ctrl f5> + <shift> + cursor keys).

* Dialog boxes have been revised.

* Additional color settings were added for edit windows, file manager
  windows, prompts, and dialog boxes.

* Dialog box and popup menu positions can now be saved and restored when
  the 'SaveDialog' setting is ON.

* Text can be now be copied from within a prompt to the clipboard by
  using the clipboard Copy <grey+> command. This can be used to save
  complex search strings entered at a prompt for later use.

* Several enhancements were made to the File Manager including:

   - the sort menu allows you to sort-by-extension
   - the disk volume and free space are displayed on the status line
   - marked files are highlighted
   - the number of marked files and the total size (in bytes) of all
     marked files are displayed on the status line
   - you can jump quickly to a file within the file manager (or a file
     picklist) by repeatedly entering the first letter of the desired
     filename until the cursor is positioned at the file.

* Pull-down menus can be detached from the menu bar and moved around the
  screen by grabbing the menu borders with the mouse, or by using the
  keyboard (<ctrl f5> + cursor keys).

* A new window was added to show progress while scanning through files
  with the 'askscan' <ctrl s> command.

* The system-wide Date and Time format is now configurable (see
  SYSTEM.AML for details). You can also configure a new 'Thousands
  separator' character for displaying large numbers.

* Entab and Detab are now both builtin functions. See the 'tabblock'
  function in FUNCTION.TXH.

* Options to trim trailing blanks and entab while saving have been
  added. See the 'SaveOpt' setting in CONFIG.AML

* Better CUA-style <shift> key marking is supported, including support
  for <shift home>, <shift end>, <shift ctrl home>, <shift ctrl end>,
  <shift pgdn>, etc.

* The default mouse-marking mode has been changed to 'stream' marking.

* Key macros can now be repeated with the Repeat Key function
  <ctrl q><q>.

* The text reformatting commands are now configured (by default) to
  maintain the indenting relationship between the first and second lines
  being reformatted, and to preserve the spacing between words.

* The block Fill function <ctrl k><f> now also fills a marked block with
  with a repeating string (not just a repeating character).

* The new configuration setting 'InsAbove' forces marked blocks to be
  inserted above the cursor position (rather than below), for the block
  Copy, Move, and clipboard Paste commands. See CONFIG.AML.

* The new configuration setting 'MenuCursor' allows the video hardware
  cursor to be displayed on the menus and the file manager, which may be
  helpful for blind users. See CONFIG.AML.

* Simple block quoting support is provided by the new 'quote' <shift f9>
  command. For text quoting on a line-by-line basis, use the
  'commentline' <alt f1> command.

* The 'commentline' <alt f1> command is now sensitive to the extension
  of the current file.

* The 'goto line' <ctrl j> and 'goto column' prompts will now jump to a
  relative distance away from the current cursor position. To move by a
  relative amount, specify '+' or '-' immediately before the line or
  column.

* The new commands 'compilemacro2' <shift f10> and 'runmacro2' <shift
  f11> will compile and run the macro source file displayed in the
  current edit window. This can be very convenient when developing new
  external macros.

* The status line hex indicator now displays '[EL]' when the cursor is
  beyond the end of the line.

* Many other minor additions and changes