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ced.txt
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1995-04-25
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5KB
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82 lines
CygnusEd:
[so, I'm using CED to write my review for...CED! Isn't this cheating? :]
For a text editor, this baby is really a honey. Does a couple of things
that I'm not sure if I've seen any other text editor do, and does a couple of
other things just plain old "smart". In short, it handles like a dream.
First off, the gap between "text editors" and "word processors" is getting
narrower and narrower, as text editors get smarter and (in some cases), word
processors get dumber. To me, what's traditionally drawn the line between the
two is word-wrap. Continuous word-wrap, not just the first time you type it.
I could just never understand why a "text editor" couldn't have "live" word-
wrap like, say, ProWrite did. And no, even CED's word-wrap isn't "on" all the
time, you have to manually "reformat" <blech> the paragraph, with three, not
two, three keys: right-Amiga/shift/F. But at least it works!
Another thing that CED does that I've rarely seen on another text editor
(OR word processor) is pick up and insert columns. And it, too, works very
well. Between it and Snap, you can just shuffle things all over the place.
You can set the right-hand margin real nicely, you can make invisible
spaces visible (like what you get by hitting the space bar), which can be
important, and you can strip CR's, which can also be handy. And the mouse-
scrolling...whew! It moves faster, up or down, as you move nearer the top or
bottom of the screen...and when you get to the edge, this baby really flies.
The arrow keys move the screen up and down, of course, and the shifted arrow
keys make it really jump, about 12 lines at a whack. Ctrl-up/down arrow keys
whisk you to the top or bottom of the file, and Ctrl-side arrows zip you
across a line. Sorry, don't mean this to be a lesson (old habits die hard),
I just want to point out that once you get used to the keys, you can really
dash around this thing. That's true with a lot of text editors, but this one
seems particularly well thought out.
Maybe what I like best about it is that it preloads the whole file first,
so its Search mode is as fast as your computer can move. That's not impor-
tant for short textfiles, of course, but when you're searching through some
650k textfile, it makes a serious difference.
One other nifty feature is its Undo function. Many smart text editors have
an Undo memory, but it's all caught up when you save the file. CED has what
you might call a "temporary save" feature, that'll save the file so you can
test it out, but if you want to undo the damage done, it's still there.
CED also handles binary to a degree, so you can do things like edit ANSI
animations, insert screen clearing codes at the top of your textfiles, or
maybe edit a binary HighScores file or something.
For what it's worth, it's quite bug-free. I don't ever recall it causing a
Guru, under whatever circumstances. And, heh, that's saying a lot! :)
Let's see...a few bad things. For some reason, it doesn't like the parnet
system, just spits out some kind of inexplicable DOS error code when you try
to save a file through the net: device. Ed, it must be noted, does it just
fine, so minus-one for CED. One thing that's not "wrong", but has to have an
eye kept on it, is the right-hand margin. In ProWrite, for instance, nothing,
but nothing, goes past the margin..it wraps it immediately. Since CED doesn't
have "live" word-wrap, if you start writing in the middle of a line, it just
runs it right out past the margin. This is no big deal as long as you remem-
ber to "reformat" <blech> the paragraph. "As long as" being the operative
phrase here.
I like the reminder box that pops up after so many minutes, letting you
click on a small box to save the file. I didn't use it at first 'cause it's
kind of pesky, but then I lost a little something one day and decided to give
it a try, and now it's saved a few things here and there, so I like it.
Oh, here's something kinda smart. When you <ouch! here it comes again!>
"reformat" a paragraph, it not only takes care of the right-hand margin, but
makes sure there are two spaces between every period, question mark and
exclamation point, and the next word! Okay, it's not earth-shaking, but it
earns cuteness points.
Well, that's about it. As mentioned, one really great aspect of the
program is its ability to block off, save and insert columns. You may not
need it often, but when you do, it's a life-saver.
%Z