Hall of Fame/HallofFameCDROM.cdr/prog1/bingo20.lzh/READ.ME

Text File | 1990-07-01 | 14KB | 301 lines

                         Read Me file for Bingo 2.0
                         --------------------------

   This file list various pertinent information about the Bingo
Programmer's Text Editor such as:
   -->   included files
   -->   features through previous version, and what's new with
         this version
   -->   additions/corrections to the manual
   -->   author's comments
   -->   how to contact the author

This is the first maintenance release of version 2.0, correcting
one small bug in keyboard definition.  This is the only place
where this is so noted.

Included files on disk/in archive:
----------------------------------

   read.me      : this file

   be.exe       : Bingo Editor 2.0 executable

   bswap.com    : program used by Bingo to aid in swapping itself
                  into and out of memory so as to consume only
                  ~10k when executing other programs

   bingo.doc    : documentation for Bingo; ready to be printed out
                  on an ascii line printer.

   Additionally, there will be a number of *.cfg files.  These include,
but are not necessarily limited to:

   bingo.cfg    : sample keyboard definition file (the one I use)

   emacs.cfg    : sample keyboard definition file which mimics some of
                  the EMACS command set

   wskey.cfg    : sample keyboard definition file which allows Bingo
                  to mimic some of the Wordstar command set.

Features of Bingo through version 1.1b
--------------------------------------
   -  high speed execution, with particularly fast searches,
      screen handling, and file I/O
   -  full color support
   -  superb macro capability
   -  large suite of utility functions: entab; detab; command
      repeat; sort; etc.
   -  redefinable keys; custom define your own keyboard setup
   -  complete menu system
   -  multiple files
   -  execute DOS commands with only 10k of overhead
   -  no configuration files needed; no environment variables to
      set
   -  completely configurable
   -  effective use of placemarks to mark positions
   -  edit files up to size of memory
   -  user definable help file
   -  extensive block operation support, include point and line
      marking, and two different sets of block operations
   -  wordwrap and paragraph formatting support
   -  C Mode for programming in the C programming language
   -  Delimiter matching & indentation matching
   -  wildcard filespecs lead to a directory list picker
   -  execute command line level compilers from within Bingo with
      only 10k of overhead
   -  multiple windows.  In all, 13 functions specifically have
      been added to deal with windows.
   -  vertical or "column" marking now supported
   -  in addition to the default paste buffer, there are 26
      additional named buffers, 'a'-'z'.
   -  you can interrupt Bingo at any time, exit it, and when you
      return it will allow you to pick up exactly where you left off
   -  command to allow you to save all the files in the ring
      which have been modified
   -  case changing functions work on point marked blocks as well
   -  error parsing for most compiler types (Borland & Microsoft)
   -  very complete directory picker to assist you in navigating
      your volumes
   -  macro functions dynamically memory space for 2048 tokens
   -  automagically detects and uses an extended keyboard BIOS
      if present.
   -  Bingo can be set to detect the current screen size and use
      it, or to switch automatically to 43/50 line modes if it exists.
   -  print files, lines, or send control sequences to the
      serial or parallel ports, or to a file.  You can print with
      or  without line numbers

Version 2.0
-----------
   -  'default_del' & 'default_bspace' execute a cut if a block
      is marked, else they execute a del_char and back_space,
      respectively.
   -  previously, when you quit or switched files while in one
      window, it was possible that the other windows would
      arbitrarily change files on you.  This has been rectified.
   -  a new, slightly friendlier strategy for changing colors was
      implemented.
   -  function 'time_stamp' to insert the current date & time
      implemented.
   -  'open_end' identifier added.  This allows you to create
      macros which force string input to come from the keyboard,
      even in the midst macro playback.
   -  Escape key at any time forces the termination of macro
      recording.
   -  the search  (and replace) algorithm will confine itself to
      the currently linemarked block, providing the search starts
      within the block.  All block types are treated as
      linemarked for this purpose.
   -  "smart" tabs were added, as well as the requisite support
      for configuring them.  These insert spaces based on the
      next start of a word on the line above the current one.
   -  'block_save' now gives you the option of appending *or*
      overwriting the file if the file exists.
   -  paragraph reformating function now may or may not preserves
      the left indention of the line the cursor is on throughout
      the rest of paragraph, depending on whether or not
      Autoindent mode is active.
   -  likewise, if Word Wrap mode is active, whether or not the
      left indentation is preserved is again dependent on whether
      or not Autoindent mode is on.
   -  the paragraph reformating functions now work from the
      current line forward, and preserve the current position in
      the file.
   -  fixed a bug in the begin_line function, used internally in 4
      places, which kept the function from working properly on
      lines longer than the screen is wide; unsigned ints will be
      the death of  me!
   -  added a toggle_cmode function to allow manual toggling of C
      mode, and a toggle_autoindent to quickly toggle Autoindent
      mode.
   -  a 'Count' option was added to the search function.  It
      reports the number of occurrances found.
   -  you can now split windows vertically.  You can only vertically
      split a window which is as wide of the screen, hence giving
      rise to pairs of windows, but it is extremely useful for
      comparison.
   -  status line flags changed, and a strategy was decided
      upon to handle status lines of vertically split windows.
      Essentially, a new strategy for displaying information on
      the status line was implemented.
      Status Line:
         -   the flags on the line are different.  Now they are:
            a     Autoindent on/off
            c     C mode on/off
            i     Insert mode on/off
            m     Matching Mode on/off
            r     Recording Macro on/off
            t     Smart Tabs
            w     Wordrap on/off
            z     Zoom mode active/inactive
   -  command line switches (/lxx & /cxx) to start at a specific
      line & column.
   -  matching mode for matching insertion of delimiters now
      supported.
   -  it was brought to my attention that Bingo's penchant for
      constantly stripping trailing spaces could be a problem in
      certain situations (files with fixed length fields);
      therefore, this tendency is now configurable.
   -  added the ability to set the overscan attribute; this
      enables those who don't like the default black border (or
      whatever the default may be) to do away with it.
   -  'cut_append' & 'copy_append' allow a marked block to be appended
      to the current contents of the buffer, provided the buffer
      and the block  use the same marking type
   -  'look_buffer' function shows the contents of the currently
      selected paste buffer.
   -  found a downright silly bug!!!  Two 'P' functions were on
      the block menu -- only the first could be selected.
      Replaced the 'Paste' option with 'Insert (paste)'.
      Stooooooooooooooooooooooooopid.
   -  previously, Bingo used a particular paradigm of cursor
      movement, in which you could not move the cursor somewhere
      which did not contain a character.  To be precise, if you
      moved the cursor up one line, and that line did not extend
      to the current cursor position, the cursor would "bounce"
      to the end of the line, since it was the closest it could
      get to the original position.  This is now a configurable
      option; you can now simple move right, up, or down into an
      area of a line which isn't really there.  Editing functions
      will pad the space if necessary.  This is configurable
      through the 'conf_bounce' function.
   -  'back_tab' function added, does just what you might think;
      I don't know how I missed it originally; pretty obvious
      need, yes?
   -  better method of updating status lines implemented.  Having
      lots of windows open doesn't slow down response time at all.
   -  massive touch up to allow Bingo to take full advantage of
      extended keyboards.  Both sets of arrows should work from
      within Bingo, and a ton of new names are available from
      Keyinst.
   -  Altered the next_word and prev_word functions so that a
      word is defined as letters only -- digits and punctuation
      are treated as whitespace.  This definition made more sense
      than the previous one, which used spaces to delimit words.
   -  the 'again' function will no longer perfom a replace
      operation again.  Too many times I have hit ^L, which is
      bound to again in my keyboard, and had an old global
      replace muck up the works, so the again simply repeats the
      most recent search.
   -  function 'toggle_display' to toggle the 43/50 line mode on and
      off was added.
   -  Menus restructured a bit to be a little more logical.
   -  The 'key_quote' function has been replaced with a table of
      all Ascii key values with mnemonics if apropos.  By
      moving though the table, you can build a string of
      characters which will be imbedded in the text at the
      current cursor point.  This serves both the original
      purpose of 'key_quote' and as a handy lookup table of
      character values.  This is the 'ascii_table'.
   -  Eeeeek! Mice!!!!!  Yes, Bingo now makes full use of a mouse,
      should you have one.  In all, mouse handling cost a mere 3k
      of code, and is really quite nice.
      -  At the basic editing level:
         -  Ten discreetly recognized button events (five on a
            two button mouse) to which macros or functions can be
            tied using Keyinst, just as if they were key names.
         -  Four additional programmable hot spots on the status
            line, each programmable for a single or double click
            event.
         -  One hardwired hot spot to move to the next file.
      -  In the Menus:
         -  Easy mouse manipulation of the menus.
      -  In Dialog Boxes:
         -  Easy mouse handling of all dialog boxes.
      -  primarily, the left button selects something, while the right
      button exits something.  Usually, the right button is equivalent
      to the Escape key, whether it was a single or double click.
      A single left function generally moves to the pointed at item,
      but does not select it.  A double click moves to the item pointed
      at as well, but the simulates a Return as well.  For the most
      part, that is how the mouse works throughout.
      -  The hardwired status line hot spot is the '' spot at
      the rightmost end of the active status line.  A button
      press here switches to the next file in the ring.
   -  function 'snap_to_mouse_xy' moves the text cursor to the
      position the mouse was at last spot mouse position, changing
      windows if necessary.
   -  'conf_mouse' enables/disables mouse use.
   -  'conf_key_bios' enables/disables the use of the extended
      keyboard BIOS.  If this is active, the two sets of arrow
      keys, for example, will be interpreted differently.  If
      this is not active, these keys will appear identical to
      Bingo.
   -  'conf_erronly' enables/disables error line parsing to be
      further restriced to lines containing the word 'error'.  This
      is handy for skipping warnings.
   -  'fill_block' will fill a vertically marked block with a specified
      keystroke.
   -  'last_error' redisplays the last error message.
   -  'del_word' added
   -  'indent_tab' function added.  Works somewhat like the
      'entab' function, except it only adds tabs to the leading
      spaces in a line, and it rounds to the nearest number of
      tabs, thus "normalizing" the line's indention.

Additions/Corrections to the Manual
-----------------------------------
   Several keynames have changed a bit, and a few functions descriptors
have been renamed or replaced.

Comments
--------
   I author two other shareware/PD packages.  The first is Navstar,
a file management tool which aids in the handling and execution
of the myriad of files which reside on your hard drives.  It is
generally found on bulletin board systems as NAV??.(ARC/ZIP/ZOO),
depending on the version.  It is quite extensive, and also quite
cheap.

   I also released a collection of public domain (read: free)
utility generally found on bulletin board systems as
BINS??.(ARC/ZIP/ZOO), depending on the version, which contains a
dozen or so of useful programs. These include a file viewer for
any size files; a file locater; match/unmatch execution managers;
a utility which executes command recursively, etc.  Source for
these can be had for the asking.

   If you can't find them and want to try them out, contact me at
the below address.  Most of these programs are used every day in developement
of Bingo.

Contacting the Author:
----------------------

   Feel free to contact me any time about any problems, suggestions,
or just plain discussions concerning Bingo, regardless of whether
you are registered.  Without users, any  product, now matter how
good, is so much raw data.  Use either this address:

                  Christopher R. S. Schanck
                  2718 Nottingham Road
                  Bethlehem PA 18017

or call

                  (215)-691-1070