[comp.sys.ibm.pc] MKS vi problems and solutions

psrc@pegasus.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (03/09/90)

This started as a question about programming editors, and has since
become a question about an MS-DOS tool.  I've attempted to redirect
this discussion back to comp.sys.ibm.pc from the .programmer group.
Would everyone else please try to do the same, e.g., not talk about
monitors and hard drives in what's supposed to be a programming group?

In article <0MWF6WC@drivax.UUCP>, braun@drivax.UUCP (Kral) writes:
> I'm using ver 2.3d of the toolkit.  Vi (and other programs) seem to
> want the toolkit's shell under them.

Huh?  I just about always run vi (and other MKS tools) from
COMMAND.COM, and I've never had any problems doing so.

> 1.      You have to be in the directory of the file you want to edit
> (eg, if you are in c:\subdir, and you type 'vi \autoexec.bat', you
> get some sort of error (I don't recall what it is right now).

All of the MKS tools demand pathnames with forward slashes; back
slashes are used for escapes, just as they are in the UNIX(R) system
versions of the tools.  vi /autoexec.bat will work fine, as will egrep
\. /autoexec.bat (look for a literal dot in \autoexec.bat).

> 2.      It doesn't speak through the nnansi driver I'm using.

I don't know if there's a way to prevent direct screen access.

> 3.      It's in black and white.  While this isn't a real show
> stopper, it's rather hard on the eyes that have been staring at a
> color screen for a while.

RTF vipc(5) manual page; look for the attrib and errattrib options.

> -- kral,   ...amdahl!drivax!braun

Paul S. R. Chisholm, AT&T Bell Laboratories
att!pegasus!psrc, psrc@pegasus.att.com, AT&T Mail !psrchisholm
I have no relation to Mortice Kern Systems except as a customer.
I'm not speaking for the company, I'm just speaking my mind.

toma@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Tom Almy) (03/10/90)

In article <4530@pegasus.ATT.COM> psrc@pegasus.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) writes:
>In article <0MWF6WC@drivax.UUCP>, braun@drivax.UUCP (Kral) writes:
>> I'm using ver 2.3d of the toolkit.  Vi (and other programs) seem to
>> want the toolkit's shell under them.
>Huh?  I just about always run vi (and other MKS tools) from
>COMMAND.COM, and I've never had any problems doing so.

The trick is the MKS tools must be able to find GLOB.EXE. It must either be
in the directory \etc or in the directory specified by  the environment
variable GLOB.

>> 1.      You have to be in the directory of the file you want to edit
>> (eg, if you are in c:\subdir, and you type 'vi \autoexec.bat', you
>> get some sort of error (I don't recall what it is right now).
>
>All of the MKS tools demand pathnames with forward slashes; back
>slashes are used for escapes, just as they are in the UNIX(R) system
>versions of the tools.  vi /autoexec.bat will work fine, as will egrep
>\. /autoexec.bat (look for a literal dot in \autoexec.bat).

Not so if you are using COMMAND.COM. With ksh you do either need to use
the forward slash or pairs of backwards slashes.

>> 2.      It doesn't speak through the nnansi driver I'm using.
>I don't know if there's a way to prevent direct screen access.

The most recent version of MKS (3.1) works just fine with nnansi.sys,
even in 43/50 line modes or 132 column modes. Earlier versions had
problems unless the screen was cleared first.

Tom Almy
toma@tekgvs.labs.tek.com
Standard Disclaimers Apply