C70:editor-people (08/12/82)
>From DODDS@BBNA Thu Aug 12 02:22:49 1982
Is it possible that there are EMACS users out there who are not
aware of the improved NOVICE library created by Jan Walker? It
has been distributed generally, through MIT. This package was
written to address precisely the learning problem that York
mentions. It was done in conjunction with an elaborate
interfacing of EMACS to the HERMES message system, but the only
connection of the NOVICE library to HERMES is that the HERMES
library for EMACS always tries in turn to load NOVICE.
Many people here at BBN, including myself, found NOVICE such an
aid in using EMACS that they set things up to load NOVICE
whenever they run EMACS. I am now pretty adept at using EMACS,
but continue to use the NOVICE library just for prevention of the
disasters York writes of.
I refer interested parties to the self-documentation of NOVICE
for most details. Suffice it to say that NOVICE creates for the
user a profile controlling which commands are turned on and off.
The initial state includes about 15 of the most common and least
destructive commands.
When a key is hit for a disabled command (e.g., ^W when ^E was
intended), an explanation of the command (in a few lines) is
output, followed by a query as to whether the user wants to
enable the key and its command, leave it disabled, or execute it
this once and leave it disabled. By this and other means the
user can learn about and enable (and disable) individual
commands, to build a personal command set: my EMACS will only
execute commands that I know about and want. There is also
improved on-line help including menuing of enabled commands, to
facilitate learning and finding the command for a desired
function.
I commend this excellent tool to all who would like to use EMACS
but are a bit scared of its power; also to those who would like
secretaries and others in their organizations to use the same
good editor that the computer whizzes use.
-- Doug Dodds