nagy%warner.hepnet@LBL.GOV (Frank J. Nagy, VAX Wizard & Guru) (02/07/88)
> Since I'm used to a Macintosh environment where a user familiar with the > standard Macintosh interface can run an unknown application without looking > at the manual, I feel that there is no excuse for programs that are not easy > to learn. Then the only question is one of functionality. Does it do what > you need? Can you customize it to your personal needs? Does it perform > well enough? I too have a Macintosh (at home) and consider this a major plus of the Xerox PARC/Apple Macintosh environment. Interestingly enough, during some of the DECWindows discussions we have been having with Digital, the comment was made (by a Digital person) that one goal of DECWindows was to insure that people could use the programs (mostly the personal productivity programs) without having to read any manuals. By The Way: I mostly use LSE for my editing chores. I have made my own additions in TPU (like the DCL Window stolen from EVE) and will continue to do so. I *love* LSE and would like to start using EVE on the systems I use which do not have LSE -- but, the EDT keypad organization is *burned* into my personal ROM and I have not had the time/energy to invest to make a customized EVE section to match the EDT keypad (yes, some exist. I've been collecting a lot of EVE/TPU code from DECUS and someday, Real Soon Now ...). Anyway, I don't think EDT (real EDT, not the emulated EDT) is going away. As I remember Digital's statements, it was just not going to be enhanced anymore. There is still one use for EDT - editing massive files which EVE/LSE/TPU cannot handle because the file cannot fit into the virtual address space of the system. I once edited an 88,000 line database journal file with EDT (had to, no other way to fix the text for re-running to rebuild the database). It was slow, but the job got done. Considering the file was more than 6 MB or so, it might be handlable with EVE but it the file were 250,000 lines ? ? ? = Frank J. Nagy "VAX Guru & Wizard" = Fermilab Research Division EED/Controls = HEPNET: WARNER::NAGY (43198::NAGY) or FNAL::NAGY (43009::NAGY) = BitNet: NAGY@FNAL = USnail: Fermilab POB 500 MS/220 Batavia, IL 60510