[net.news] "Return" in "rn"

wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (07/17/85)

Quickie request: the next time "rn" gets updated or modified, could the
programmer please change the current process that now echoes
"Unnecessary CR ignored" and make a CR do the same thing as a "space"
would do at that point in the process? It is more common to press a CR
to mean "go on and continue" than it is to press "space", in most
user-interfaces, so it is not unlikely for users to hit CR instead of
space. It seems a waste of everyone's effort for the program to read
that CR and not just act on it, but instead echo back that message. It
would be just as easy as doing that echo to just read it as "space" instead.

It's not major, but it is a minor annoyance.

Will

metcalf@ucbmiro.ARPA (Chris Metcalf) (07/18/85)

In article <11641@brl-tgr.ARPA> wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) writes:
>Quickie request: the next time "rn" gets updated or modified, could the
>programmer please change the current process that now echoes
>"Unnecessary CR ignored" and make a CR do the same thing as a "space"

I'd like to toss in my two cents worth here before anyone does anything
rash.  Those of us who have multiple accounts and rlogin to another machine
to read news find an unimplemented return key very convenient, since the
"~^Z" escape from rlogin needs to have a return before it.

Again, as Mr. Martin says, it's not terribly important, but my vote
is for the status quo.

-- 

Chris Metcalf (metcalf@ucbmiro.BERKELEY)	     ...!ucbvax!ucbmiro!metcalf

msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader) (07/22/85)

Will Martin:
> Quickie request: the next time "rn" gets updated or modified, could the
> programmer please change the current process that now echoes
> "Unnecessary CR ignored" and make a CR do the same thing as a "space"

It's been done.  We're running rn version 4.3, which was posted, what,
a couple of months ago?  And it has precisely that improvement.  It also
has macros so that you can reverse the more-style reversed functions of
'space and return in the pager mode.  Thanks, Larry.  (Are you there?)

I don't think Chris Metcalf's objection:
> Those of us who have multiple accounts and rlogin to another machine
> to read news find an unimplemented return key very convenient, since the
> "~^Z" escape from rlogin needs to have a return before it.

is very significant.  I don't think most rn users have that particular
restriction, and Chris can always type !date^M^Z instead of ^M^Z.

Mark Brader

friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) (07/23/85)

In article <9145@ucbvax.ARPA> metcalf@ucbmiro.UUCP (Chris metcalf) writes:
>In article <11641@brl-tgr.ARPA> wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) writes:
>>Quickie request: the next time "rn" gets updated or modified, could the
>>programmer please change the current process that now echoes
>>"Unnecessary CR ignored" and make a CR do the same thing as a "space"
>
>Those of us who have multiple accounts and rlogin to another machine
>to read news find an unimplemented return key very convenient, since the
>"~^Z" escape from rlogin needs to have a return before it.
>
>Again, as Mr. Martin says, it's not terribly important, but my vote
>is for the status quo.
>
	How about making it some sort of option, so everyone can have
it thier preferred way? The game Hack does this now.
-- 

				Sarima (Stanley Friesen)

{trwrb|allegra|cbosgd|hplabs|ihnp4|aero!uscvax!akgua}!sdcrdcf!psivax!friesen
or {ttdica|quad1|bellcore|scgvaxd}!psivax!friesen

wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (07/23/85)

I received a mailed reply which showed a way to use the ".rnmac" macro
file to get "return" made equivalent to "space" in rn. This has no
effect here, where the version command returns "v 4.1" as part of the
string, but it *does* work over at the other place I run rn (ALMSA-1)
[version v 4.3.1.3].

Merely create a file named ".rnmac" with this line in it:

^M    \040

and that is all that is needed! Thanks to G|ran Uddeborg for the info!

Will

lwall@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Larry Wall) (07/23/85)

In article <9145@ucbvax.ARPA> metcalf@ucbmiro.UUCP (Chris metcalf) writes:
>In article <11641@brl-tgr.ARPA> wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) writes:
>>Quickie request: the next time "rn" gets updated or modified, could the
>>programmer please change the current process that now echoes
>>"Unnecessary CR ignored" and make a CR do the same thing as a "space"
>
>I'd like to toss in my two cents worth here before anyone does anything
>rash.  Those of us who have multiple accounts and rlogin to another machine
>to read news find an unimplemented return key very convenient, since the
>"~^Z" escape from rlogin needs to have a return before it.
>
>Again, as Mr. Martin says, it's not terribly important, but my vote
>is for the status quo.

As it happens, Mr. Metcalf appears to be running an obsolete version of rn.
The "status quo" changed when rn version 4.3 came out.  The current version
treats carriage return identically to space, except in the pager, where it
scrolls one line.  There are two things you can do if you don't like this:

1) You can define the compiler symbol STRICTCR, which implements the old
    semantics.
2) You can define a keymapping with your macro file that makes carriage
    return do whatever you want, including nothing.

The semantics were changed to the current form because many people wanted to
be able to use macros to reverse the meaning of carriage return and space,
and this wasn't possible when carriage return was outlawed.

Larry Wall
{allegra,burdvax,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,sdcsvax}!sdcrdcf!lwall