[comp.emacs] Need to be able to look at columns > 80.

larryg@zehntel (Larry Gillespie) (08/24/89)

I need to be able to view and edit columns beyond 80 on an 80-column terminal.
Does Emacs have this capability?  I'd like to be able to shift horizontally
to the right an indefinite number of columns, so I was looking at columns
41 through 120, say, or 81 through 160, 161 - 240, etc.  Now, I have heard that
Emacs can do anything.  Can it do this?  I know for a fact that the IBM
mainframe editor 'XEDIT' can do this, but that is not what I have or want.

I am using Unipress Emacs here.  We also have GNU Emacs available, but that
editor is not the solution to my problem.  I'm interested primarily in making
such a feature work with the Unipress Emacs.

I also would like to have Unipress Emacs understand complex text constructs
such as matrices of numbers.  We have a standard test vector construct in our
PCB test language that has a section where signals are identified, followed
by a section where the actual stimulus and measurement values are stored
(the matrix of H, L, U, D, X, Z, etc.).  I would like to have this Emacs
capable of recognizing such a construct, including knowing different iterations
of this type of construct by the names assigned to them in the constructs.
Then, I'd like to have a command which automatically copies and/or moves the
matrix part from one such construct to the other, when the two names are given.
So, I am asking for context sensitivity, and a block move (and possible fill-in
if the depth of one of the matrices is greater than the other).
Is this possible?  At the very least I need a manual block move capability.

I'd also like to be able to tell the to go to a particular named construct,
and have it relocate the window around that construct.  I also would like to
be able to do a global substitution on a particular column in an arbitrary
number of lines (because of the matrix nature of the text data).

Thanks in advance for all such information.  Please e-mail to me as well as
posting, if you please, since we miss some of the articles here.

-Larry Gillespie
Teradyne, Inc.
Zehntel Systems Division,
2625 Shadelands Drive,
Walnut Creek, Calif.  94598
(415) 932-6900 x217
{ucbvax, sun, varian, decwrl}!zehntel!larryg

jcgs@wundt.harlqn.uucp (John Sturdy) (09/04/89)

Larry> I need to be able to view and edit columns beyond 80 on an
Larry> 80-column terminal.  Does Emacs have this capability?  I'd like
Larry> to be able to shift horizontally to the right an indefinite
Larry> number of columns, so I was looking at columns 41 through 120,
Larry> say, or 81 through 160, 161 - 240, etc.

This reply is for GNUemacs only, but I'd be surprised if others don't
have something similar.

Try C-x < and C-x > (aka M-x scroll-left and M-x scroll-right). These
are controlled by the variables truncate-lines and
truncate-partial-width-windows. (The alternative is that emacs will
wrap long lines on the screen for you.)

Larry> Now, I have heard that Emacs can do anything.

Just a small matter of programming. (In GNU, anyway.)
--
__John            When asked to attend a court case, Father Moses took with him
          a leaking jug of water. Asked about it, he said: "You ask me to judge
               the faults of another, while mine run out like water behind me."

                jcgs@uk.co.harlqn (UK notation) jcgs@harlqn.co.uk (most places)
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John Sturdy                                            Telephone +44-223-872522
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