wagner@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Larry Wagner) (01/08/91)
Background info: I use a SUN 386i which has the capability of emulating
multiple DOS 8086 PCs under UNIX. Our research lab has standardized on
the DOS version of WordPerfect 5.1 for our research reports (a BIG step
up from Ashton-Tate's MultiMate). Except for the 386i, all of our local
machines are 86,286, or 386 PC's. Thus, the primary reason for standardizing
on a DOS wordprocessor.
Since, I am able to jump between Unix and DOS at will with the 386i,
I find it very annoying when I switch between my programming editor,
the UNIX vi editor, and WordPerfect 5.1. My productivity really takes
a nose dive when I need to look for arrow and function keys to perform
simple editing tasks under WordPerfect.
Therefore, I am looking for a set of macros and/or keyboard mappings for
the DOS version of WordPerfect 5.1 that will emulate the basic editing
functions of the UNIX vi editor. I have made an initial attempt at developing
two keyboard maps - one for input mode and one for command mode (for those
of you reading this in the WordPerfect news group, vi is a modal editor).
This is rather straight forward, but the delays that occur loading the
keyboard mappings into memory from disk are annoying - even on a 20MHz
286 machine. Is there a way to store more than one keyboard mapping in
memory (besides constructing a RAM disk and storing the files there)
that will reduce the time required to swap the keyboard maps? If not,
the only other way I see is to construct a keyboard map where each key
macro keeps track of what "mode" the editor is in and respond accordingly.
This obviously will take more time to create since each key macro must contain
the if-then-else code to handle both modes. Is there any other way to
do this that I have not considered?
I understand that there are versions of WordPerfect that run under UNIX,
but the latest versions available is 4.2 and 5.0 which do not have the ability
to build complex equations easily like the DOS 5.1 version (one of the
other reasons why it was chosen for our research lab) and thus is not 100%
compatible with the DOS versions. I read some time ago about someone
who posted a message about having UNIX WordPerfect 4.2 macros that
provided UNIX vi editing emulation. However, I could not remember which
group I saw it in and thus could not locate the posting. If anyone has
such a group of WordPerfect macros, even for versions 4.2 or 5.0, they
should still be beneficial to me if 5.1 macros are unavailable since there is
a macro conversion utility supplied with the DOS 5.1 version.
Thanks for any help.
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Larry E. Wagner |
USDA-ARS Wind Erosion Research Unit | wagner@chepil.weru.ksu.edu
105B East Waters Hall |
Kansas State University | ...!{rutgers,texbell}!ksuvax1!weru!wagner
Manhattan, KS 66506 |
voice (913)532-6807 | fax (913)776-0962
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