[comp.lang.c] Terminal Type/Productivity correlation

onward@fsg.UUCP (Onward Lam) (11/26/90)

We've seen quick a bit on hardcopy/productivity discussion.

How about a discussion on Editors and productivity (NO, not the
vi vs. emacs religious debate), but more like size of terminals
(ie. lines x columns), or windows/xterms vs ascii terminals.

Here's to start it off:

1.  24x80 is okay for programming, but painful for debugging (you
    need the paper printouts then).

2.  Bigger displays (or windows), eg. 48x80 is much better for
    debugging.  Reason: With 48 lines, you can see more of the code
    around where you think the error is, and keeping it on one
    screen allows the brain to take it all in without constantly
    forward/back paging.  Plus, we were taught (weren't we?) to
    write short functions, so 48 lines may actually be most of
    the function already.  Argument here is on what the upper limit
    of lines is before you overtax the brain/eyes (60 lines perhaps)

    A small flame: it may perhaps be conjectured that a 24x80
    ascii, after a split screen is almost counterproductive ??

3.  Using multiple windows during development: convenience or 
    distraction?

Personally I prefer big screens.  I used to use hp300 workstations
as a 49x128 line terminal and it was GREAT.  I tried Suns (34 lines)
but their emulation was painfully slow - (? Why is the SLC console
terminal emulation so @!*# slow ?)  ....guess I'm not that into
windows yet

Hm.., wonder if someone's done research on this...

About paper I prefer the availability of real lineprinters
(66x132 fanfold 11"x14.5" type).  Some of you out there probably 
thinks every installation has one, which is no longer true with
the proliferation of Laserjets.  I almost had to beg my managers
to keep the lineprinter at my last job, since most people were
printing their code out on Laserjets.

-----------------------------------------------
-- Onward Lam         ..!uunet!fsg!onward    --
-- Of course these are my personal views :-) --
-- I dont't deserve to be flamed, yet. Do I? --
-----------------------------------------------

chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg) (11/30/90)

[ Followups to comp.misc ]

According to onward@fsg.UUCP (Onward Lam):
>How about a discussion on Editors and productivity (NO, not the
>vi vs. emacs religious debate), but more like size of terminals
>(ie. lines x columns), or windows/xterms vs ascii terminals.

I use 25x80 exclusively, but it's either SCO's "mscreen" program with
our home-grown multi-screen ANSI terminal emulation program, or KA9Q
over an Ethernet, hacked for multi-screen ANSI emulation.

As a result, I have at least four sessions available simulaneously,
and switching among them is as easy as <Alt-Fx>.  I find this
arrangement close to ideal for development and debugging, since I can
almost literally do four things at once.

As to line count: I prefer four screens of 80x25 to fewer screens with
more characters, since I find tiny characters distractingly difficult
to read.
-- 
Chip Salzenberg at Teltronics/TCT     <chip@tct.uucp>, <uunet!pdn!tct!chip>
    "I've been cranky ever since my comp.unix.wizards was removed
         by that evil Chip Salzenberg."   -- John F. Haugh II

henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (11/30/90)

In article <12332@fsg.UUCP> onward@fsg.UUCP (Onward Lam) writes:
>About paper I prefer the availability of real lineprinters
>(66x132 fanfold 11"x14.5" type).  Some of you out there probably 
>thinks every installation has one, which is no longer true with
>the proliferation of Laserjets...

Hey, LaserJets are far superior to dealing with acres of paper with an
occasional black mark here and there.  I put 310 lines of output (in a
two-column format, with a small font) per 8.5x11 page with an LJ.  I can
spread out a 1000-line program on my desk, with all of it visible.  Try
doing that with those old 11x14 bedsheets.
-- 
"The average pointer, statistically,    |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| henry@zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry

shankar@hpclscu.HP.COM (Shankar Unni) (11/30/90)

> I HATE laserjet printouts, and I have a lot of C code > 80 chars/line.
> 
> But I work in an office environment...  is there such a thing as
> 132-column fan-fold, quiet, laserjet printing?  I also hate having to
> staple my papers 8-(

Most laserjets have an "lp" font, so the following set of escape sequences
(which you can make your spooler prefix to the file) should do the trick
(not all of these may be necessary, but specifying all of them makes for
less doubt about what you get out, in case your LaserJet has the lp font in
different sizes):

  \033(s0T	# select lp font
  \033&l1O	# select landscape
  \033(s16.66H	# 16.66 horizontal pitch
  \033(s8.5V	# 8.5 point size
  \033&l66F	# 66 lines per page
  \033&l5.6C	# vertical motion index 5.6
  \033&a4L	# left margin 4
  \033&a9999M	# huge right margin
  \033&l2E	# top margin 2

(The "\033" is an ESCAPE character (octal 033)).
 
Seems like a lot, doesn't it? There's tons of stuff you can do with escape
sequences in a LaserJet - the manual should have details of all this stuff.
-----
Shankar Unni                                   E-Mail: 
Hewlett-Packard California Language Lab.     Internet: shankar@hpda.hp.com
Phone : (408) 447-5797                           UUCP: ...!hplabs!hpda!shankar

gwyn@smoke.brl.mil (Doug Gwyn) (11/30/90)

In article <1990Nov29.223825.26372@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
>Hey, LaserJets are far superior to dealing with acres of paper ...

We like listings "two-up" on Imagen laser printers.  You can punch
the edges and keep them in an ordinary notebook binder, too.

ts@cup.portal.com (Tim W Smith) (12/08/90)

Try printing three columns in landscape mode on a laser printer.
If you use a tiny font, you can get 80 characters in each column,
and some large number of lines.

As for size of the screen, I prefer computers that allow me to
have several screens.  For example, on my Mac, I've got a mono
screen (actually, it supports greyscale, but I never use that).
This lets me have about 40x110 text display.

Next to this I've got the color screen.  This is good for another
40x110 (actually, slightly less because the menu bar is on this
screen).

If I decide I need more room, I'll get a two page display and
video card.  I'll still have three NuBus slots for more video
expansion should that fail to satisfy my appetite for screen
space...

This sort of arrangement has several advantages compared to the
usual "get a real big screen" strategy that most people seem
to follow.  First of all, it costs a lot less.  Those big screens
are expensive.  There's no way, for example, that I could afford
a single large color monitor and a video card to drive it, but
a 640x480 color monitor and 24 bit video card is not that
expensive.

Second, it lets one optimize better for what one is doing.  For
example, I find most color screens not as nice as a good mono
display for working with text.  With the multi-screen approach,
I get to have a good mono screen where I do my primary editing,
and I can use the other screen for looking at header files and
stuff like that, where I can tolerate a little less quality on
the text display.

It's also easier to arrange.  I don't have *room* for a big
screen, but I can fit a couple of smaller screens in.

					Tim Smith

mat@mole-end.UUCP (Mark A Terribile) (12/09/90)

> >We've seen quick a bit on hardcopy/productivity discussion.

> >About paper I prefer the availability of real lineprinters
> >(66x132 fanfold 11"x14.5" type).  Some of you out there probably 
> >thinks every installation has one, which is no longer true with
> >the proliferation of Laserjets.  I almost had to beg my managers
> >to keep the lineprinter at my last job, since most people were
> >printing their code out on Laserjets.

> I HATE laserjet printouts, and I have a lot of C code > 80 chars/line.

> But I work in an office environment...  is there such a thing as
> 132-column fan-fold, quiet, laserjet printing?  I also hate having to
> staple my papers 8-(


Well, I vote for the laser printer (so long as it's not the !@#$%^&*()_+=
HP with 60 lines/page instead of 66).  I like the clean, sharp printing,
printing which fades sharply enough to force the toner cartridge to be
replaced, instead of hanging on with a ribbon for five times its rated life,
and I am careful not to wrap code past 79 columns.  If I'm working on a Sun
it doesn't matter, since I can stretch the windows and get over 190 columns,
but I don't do everything on the Sun (I wish I did ... the Sun 4/Sparc is
NICE) and so I keep code to less than 79 positions/line.

As far as the stapling problem: I use small binder clips, which I pull off
for re-use when I chuck the listings (in the recycling bin, of course).

One reason that I no longer like fan-fold is that I've been forced of late
to work on the fashionable modular office furniture, and the desks are too
shallow to open fan-fold well.  Otherwise, I think I would prefer laser-
print fanfold!
-- 

 (This man's opinions are his own.)
 From mole-end				Mark Terribile