[comp.sys.atari.st] In search of ... A decent editor..

bob@wiley.UUCP (04/14/87)

I knew that porting X wouldn't be easy, but it would be much easier
if I could do it all with one editor. This is what I have tried:

	MicroGNUEmacs - This editor falls into the "nice try" category.
		I use GNU Emacs at work and love it. This made it very
		tempting to trying MicroGNU. Unfortunately, it looks enough
		like GNU to fool you, but not enough make you happy. I
		don't know how many times I reach for the nonexistant META
		key. Also it doesn't make use of my monochrome monitor
		(no smaller fonts).

	Micro Emacs 3.8f - I don't know where this one comes from, but it
		also falls short in the same respects (no META key, no
		hi-res fonts). It does however have an editing language and
		allows use of the function keys.

	VIX - Lets me use 50 or 40 line editting, but beyond that its
		everything I hate about vi and none of the good stuff.

	Micro Emacs 3.8b - I have the original posting of the sources, but
		neither the time nor the Megamax C compiler to compile
		this with. I would welcome the binaries from a respectable
		source or sources that can be compiled with the Mark
		Williams C Compiler.

	The Ideal Editor - Allows use of the 50 line mode of my display.
		Uses the "Alternate" key as a META key. Allows definition
		of the function keys and the numeric keypad keys. Behaves
		exactly like GNU emacs. Requires no memory to run (just
		kidding).

If anyone has seen the ideal editor (or something closer than what I've seen),
tell me where I can get it. Please mail me your responses, and I will
post the results in a condensed form.


		Bob Amstadt

		bob@wiley.uucp (UUCP)
		trwrb.uucp!wiley!bob (Alternate UUCP)
		csvax.caltech.edu!wiley!bob (Alternate UUCP or ARPA)


	No Trespassing! Prosecutors will be violated!

sandra@utah-cs.UUCP (04/15/87)

In article <469@diva.UUCP>, bob@wiley.UUCP (Bob Amstadt) writes:
> 	MicroGNUEmacs - This editor falls into the "nice try" category.
> 		I use GNU Emacs at work and love it. This made it very
> 		tempting to trying MicroGNU. Unfortunately, it looks enough
> 		like GNU to fool you, but not enough make you happy. I
> 		don't know how many times I reach for the nonexistant META
> 		key. Also it doesn't make use of my monochrome monitor
> 		(no smaller fonts).
> 
> 	The Ideal Editor - Allows use of the 50 line mode of my display.
> 		Uses the "Alternate" key as a META key. Allows definition
> 		of the function keys and the numeric keypad keys. Behaves
> 		exactly like GNU emacs. Requires no memory to run (just
> 		kidding).
> 
> 		Bob Amstadt

MicroGnuEmacs *does* support a 50-line mode if you have a monochrome
monitor.  However, you must tweak the font size before you run MG, since
MG just goes out and looks at the magic number and uses whatever is there.

I will be posting a new release of MG real soon now, that lets you rebind
the function keys in your init file (or by M-x).  (I've been sitting on a
beta test version for about a month now, waiting to hear from Mike Meyer
and the other developers that it's ready to release....)  Sources will be
available this time around.

It would be trivial to make the ALT key act like a META key, since MG
does recognize what a meta key is; but the Europeans also want to be 
able to use that 8th bit to support the 8-bit character set on the ST.  I 
believe that the keystroke handling is going to be totally redone in some 
future version of MG to fix the problem, and also to allow more "special 
keys" if you really want to bind up the numeric keyboard keys as well as 
the function and arrow keys.

-Sandra Loosemore
sandra@utah-cs.uucp, sandra@cs.utah.edu

K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET.UUCP (04/16/87)

Bob, if you want SPEED SPEED SPEED SPEED I would have a look at Tempus
from CCD (the people which wrote the OSS Personal Pascal Compiler).
It's a bit less flexible than the various *emacs*, but it is at least
an order of magnitude quicker in all functions than any other editor
I've seen to date. Features:

               - GEM based with windows etc.
               - < 60 kB
               - max. 4 windows open at once, copy between windows etc.
               - max. 1200 search and replace ops per second
               - max. line length 255
               - practically all functions available via key combinations
               - file size limit is available memory
               - on mono monitor every window can have 8x8 or 8x16 character
                 set
               - built-in programmers calculator etc..............

The only things that are really missing: macro language, keypad as function
keys. You actually don't see the screen updating, matter of fact the first
hour or so of use was a bit disturbing: I would click on the one of the
slider bars and wait for the screen to redraw (ala 1st Word) and nothing
would happen! it had already done the operation! There's a demo version
which I can send to you if you are interested. The price of Tempus in
Switzerland is ~70 SFr ~$50 (it would probably be even cheaper if distributed
in the US).

                       Simon Poole
                       K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET

PS: I've tried Tempus with:
        OSS Pascal Shell (has a special interface program)
        Megamax Shell
        TDI Modula II Desktop

    It works very well with Megamax, it has a following very nice feature:
          if you click the right mouse button on a number in a non-active
          window the current window is positioned on that line of the file.
>>>>>Usual disclaimers!