barnett@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com (Bruce G. Barnett) (07/01/88)
In article <8196@brl-smoke.ARPA> gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn>) writes: |I actually do use "vi" on my Sun, until I get "sam" running. (The |SunTools text editor is a joke.) Given a choice between "vi" or an |EMACS variant I'll choose EMACS, but those aren't the only choices. Actually, I use textedit a lot. It has several things going for it. The bigest one is: (SunOS 4.0): -rwxr-xr-x 1 root 32768 Apr 9 04:49 /usr/bin/textedit (SunOS 3.4.2): -rwxr-xr-x 3 barnett 991232 Feb 29 11:48 /usr/local/bin/emacs -rwxrwxr-x 1 barnett 581632 Aug 31 1987 /usr/local/bin/emacstool Yes, size. emacs+emacstool (SUnOS 3.4) is 48 TIMES larger than textedit (SunOS 4.0). (yes, emacstool will shrink under 4.0. No, don't have the numbers yet). On My Sun 3/50 - I have stopped compiling within emacs. With only 4 Meg, my sun pages like crazy, and large compiles take twice as long or longer. Also, textedit is MUCH more powerful than it seems at first glance. For instance, I can click on the entire file (four quick clicks), and press one function key. This could do any of the following: check for spelling and pop up a new window with the misspelled words re-format a C program (or just a procedure), and continue editing it. Generate troff output and print it on a laser printer, etc. etc. etc. The power of the pending delete, secondary selection, and multiple clicking provides a very powerful set of accerators. Let's say I wanted to swap the contents of two buffers or files. This can be done by: Hold down Control and quad-click with the left mouse Now hold down Put Go to other buffer and quad-click the mouse Release Control-Put go back to first window and press Get Look at that again. I pressed and released three keys. I clicked the mouse in one window, then in another window and then moved it back. I agree that this isn't obvious at first. But as you learn more, this IS obvious. And because it combines the use of both hands, it can be very fast. And don't forget that this is all visual. You don't HAVE to know the names of the buffers or files. You identify the buffers and sections you want to exchange with your eyes. This is a Window System, remember? Swaping arbitrary lines or paragraphs around is Just As Easy. It doesn't even have to be in the same file, or the same program. Textedit can do this between shells, editors and the mailtool. You can read several articles from USENET, and post a followup. Using textedit, you can cut out pieces of dozen's of articles and paste them into your followup. WITHOUT knowing the filename the articles are stored in. PLEASE note that I am not knocking EMACS, vi, ed, or sam. But I am saying that textedit is NOT "a joke". People are always talking about 'tools'. Well, textedit is a 'tool' for window systems. To paraphrase Chris Torek: Think 'tools'. Think 'windows'. -- Bruce G. Barnett <barnett@ge-crd.ARPA> <barnett@steinmetz.UUCP> uunet!steinmetz!barnett
lrbartram@watcgl.waterloo.edu (lyn bartram) (07/03/88)
In article <4736@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com> barnett@steinmetz.ge.com (Bruce G. Barnett) writes: >Actually, I use textedit a lot. It has several things going for it. >Also, textedit is MUCH more powerful than it seems at first glance. > >For instance, I can click on the entire file (four quick clicks), and >press one function key. > >The power of the pending delete, secondary selection, and multiple >clicking provides a very powerful set of accerators. > >Let's say I wanted to swap the contents of two buffers or files. >This can be done by: > > Hold down Control and quad-click with the left mouse ...etc. *Quad* clock? 4 quick clicks? Why 4? if there are any other multiple clicks ( double, even single ) i can just imagine the ease of making errors.
wyle@solaris.UUCP (Mitchell Wyle) (07/03/88)
Textedit on Sun OS 4.0 will also include the other key features it currently lacks (global search & replace, better macros, etc.). When we move up to Sun OS 4.0 I shall probably leave the editor I love and use and migrate to Textedit. Please E-MAIL me YOUR reasons for YOUR religious hatred of vi. I prefer vi to emacs for 11 strong reasons. I may post if such a message can get lost in the "new editor wars" usenet bandwidth :-). -- -Mitchell F. Wyle wyle@ethz.uucp Institut fuer Informatik wyle%ifi.ethz.ch@relay.cs.net ETH Zentrum 8092 Zuerich, Switzerland +41 1 256-5237
barnett@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com (Bruce G. Barnett) (07/05/88)
In article <5071@watcgl.waterloo.edu> lrbartram@watcgl.waterloo.edu (lyn bartram) writes: | | ...etc. *Quad* clock? 4 quick clicks? Why 4? if there are any | other multiple clicks ( double, even single ) i can just imagine | the ease of making errors. Not really. A single click: A) changes the insertion point B) Selects one character. To select more than one character, you can use the middle mouse button to modify (extend) the selection. This is a pain when you want to cut/paste a word or line, because you have to precisely align the mouse before clicking. SunView/textedit solves this problem by multiple clicking. 2 clicks - word mode 3 clicks - line mode 4 clicks - entire buffer. This makes it very easy to cut and paste words or lines. To select a line: Move the mouse anywhere on the line and give the left mouse button three clicks. To select several lines: Select the first/last line with three clicks Move the mouse to the last/first line and click the middle mouse button once. The selection 'rounds up' to whole lines. The delay between selections are user-programmable. I find the multiple-clicking easy to use and consistant as a means of selection. The only time I have problems is when the system is bogged down, the programmable delay is too large, and I do too many mouse-ahead operations. And since I can immediately see the results of the selection, I don't make too many 'disastrous' errors. One subtle feature of the multiple clicks: With most mouse editors, it is difficult to quickly place the insertion point at the first/last character of a word/line. With multiple clicks, the insertion point is also 'rounded'. That is, if you want to insert before a word, you position the mouse somewhere in the first half of the word, and double click. If you want to insert at the beginning of a line, position the mouse somewhere in the first half of the line and triple click. Same for insertions at the end of a word/line. -- Bruce G. Barnett <barnett@ge-crd.ARPA> <barnett@steinmetz.UUCP> uunet!steinmetz!barnett