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Information about “EDIT”
EDIT is a general purpose text editor and word processing program. It
supports a wide array of editing operations, including powerful
commands that are often not available even in very expensive word
processors. For example, it supports not only "word wrapping", but
fully automatic paragraph reformatting as well. Under versions 2.0 or
later of DOS, EDIT even allows you to execute DOS commands, or start
another program without leaving EDIT. Files are limited to about
50,000 characters (25 single-spaced pages).
How to Start: Consult the README and .TXT files for documentation; use
the PRINTDOC.BAT file to print it. To run EDIT.EXE, just type EDIT
<ENTER>.
Suggested Registration: $25.00
File Descriptions:
EDIT EXE Main program - type "edit" to start
??? TXT Documentation files (70K total)
??? SET Print format files
PRINTDOC BAT Batch file to print documentation
READ ME Brief description
??? EXE Various PC file and disk tools
MESSAGE? DOC Notes on EDIT
EDITDOC0.TXT
EDIT
A Public Domain Text Editor and Word Processor
For The IBM Personal Computer
Version 1.37
by
Thomas N. Thurston
1111 W. El Camino Real, Suite 109-115
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Copyright 1983, 84, 85, 86, 87 by Thomas N. Thurston.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION..................................................1-1
1.1. Simple, Consistent Command Organization.....................1-1
1.2. Extensive Commands..........................................1-2
1.3. System Requirements.........................................1-3
1.4. Installation................................................1-3
2. COMMAND OVERVIEW..............................................2-1
2.1. Basic Concepts..............................................2-1
2.2. How to Start EDIT...........................................2-2
2.3. Screen Organization.........................................2-3
2.4. Command Basics..............................................2-4
2.5. Command Repetition..........................................2-6
2.6. Input to Command Prompts....................................2-6
2.7. Settings....................................................2-7
2.8. Files.......................................................2-8
3. COMMANDS......................................................3-1
3.1. Basic Text Insertion and Deletion...........................3-1
3.2. Basic Cursor Movements......................................3-3
3.3. Setting Display, Editing, and Formatting Options............3-5
3.4. File Selection and/or Exiting EDIT..........................3-6
3.4.1. Retrieving Setting Files..................................3-8
3.4.2. Protection Against Losing Your Work.......................3-9
3.5. Printing and Miscelleneous Word Processing.................3-10
3.5.1. Background Printing......................................3-12
3.6. Block Commands: Save, Delete, Get, and Move Text..........3-13
3.7. GoTo, Find, and Replace....................................3-14
3.8. Help, Macros, and DOS Commands.............................3-16
3.9. Windows and Dual File Editing..............................3-18
4. SETTINGS......................................................4-1
4.1. Settings That Affect the File Being Edited..................4-1
4.2. Settings That Only Affect the Editing Enrironment...........4-5
A. COMMAND SUMMARY...............................................A-1
A.1. Basic Text Insertion and Deletion...........................A-1
A.2. Basic Cursor Movements......................................A-2
A.3. Setting Display, Editing, and Printing Options..............A-3
A.4. File Selection and/or Exit to DOS...........................A-4
A.5. Block Commands: Save, Delete, Get, & Move Text.............A-5
A.6. Goto, Find, and Replace.....................................A-6
A.7. Miscelleneous Word Processing & Printing....................A-7
A.8. Help, Macros, DOS Commands, Windows, and Dual File Editing..A-7
A.9. Alternate Command Keys......................................A-8
B. INTERNAL INFORMATION..........................................B-1
EDITDOC1.TXT
1. INTRODUCTION
EDIT is a general-purpose text editor and word processor for the
IBM Personal Computer. It also runs on other computers that are 100%
compatible with the IBM PC. It is very easy use, and easy to learn.
It does everything most people need from a word processor. It has
all of the basic text editing and word word processing operations
that allow you to easily create and modify nicely formatted
documents. It even includes some important features that are not
available even in many expensive word processors.
EDIT is also fast. This is because most of the time-critical
sections of EDIT are written in assembly language.
All this makes EDIT a very nice program to use, either as a
general purpose text editor or as a personal word processor. Yet
EDIT's author has placed it in the public domain. You may copy and
use it freely. You are encouraged to share it with others. However,
if you use EDIT, please do your part to support good public domain
software by sending a donation to EDIT's author at the following
address:
Thomas N. Thurston
1111 W. El Camino Real, Suite 109-115
Sunnyvale, California 94087
Suggested donation: 25 dollars
If you do send a donation, be sure to include your name and
address. Everyone who donates at least 15 dollars will be notified
when major updates of EDIT are available, and how to get a current
copy.
The author also appreciates comments, criticisms, and suggestions
for improvements to EDIT.
1.1. Simple, Consistent Command Organization
EDIT's command organization is intuitive and "friendly". The
cursor control keys on the right side of the keyboard all perform the
action designated on the keycap. A prompt line on the screen
indicates the command for each of the function keys F1 through F10.
The text keys in the center of the keyboard are used to enter text.
In addition to the basic commands, most commands also have a
"stronger" version, that use the same key, but with Ctrl or Shift
held down. For example, the cursor control key labeled with a left
arrow moves the cursor left one character. By holding down Shift or
Ctrl with the left arrow key, the cursor will move left by one word.
For more extensive commands, like those that set up margins, tab
stops, lines per page, and such, EDIT provides menus to make the
selection of different options easier. It also gives a brief
explanation of each option to help you remember what it does.
One aspect of EDIT that is not often found in a text editor or
word processor is the fact that it is "modeless". This means that
each command always means the same thing, regardless of when the
command is given. Even if EDIT is in the middle of one command (like
selecting options from a menu), when you press another command key,
EDIT will immediately execute the new command. Of course, this isn't
the only way to leave a menu, but it's nice, because you don't have
to remember different commands for different contexts. This also
allows you to be able to immediately do what you want, without having
to give some explicit command that means "stop this, so I can do
something else".
1.2. Extensive Commands
EDIT supports approximately 100 commands, some of which have
several options. The following list gives an overview of the range
and power of these commands:
Cursor movements: Relative movements by character, line,
screen, word, sentence, paragraph, and
indentation level.
Direct movements to a specific line,
column, or to the beginning or end of the
file.
Editing: Deletions by character left or right;
word left or right; to beginning or end
of line; or entire line.
Both insert and overstrike forms of text
insertion.
Block operations: Mark block, delete block, save block,
insert saved or deleted block (copy or
move block), write block to file, insert
block from file.
Search and Replace: Search forward and backward, global
search and replace, and conditional
replace.
Page format control: Set tab stops, margins, page layout,
headers, footers, page number, right
justification, and spacing.
On screen display: Bold, underline, centering, tab stops,
margins, etc. "What you see is what you
get."
Word wrap: Full support of word wrap; automatic
reformatting of a paragraph when text is
inserted or deleted.
DOS commands: Execute any DOS command directly from
EDIT, even execute another program or
another copy of EDIT (DOS 2.0 or later
only).
Macros: Keystoke macros, to simplify repetitive
tasks.
Windows: Split the screen into two windows, to
view and edit two different files, or two
different places in the same file.
1.3. System Requirements
System: IBM-PC or system that is 100% compatible with
the IBM-PC. The XT, AT, and COMPAQ are all
okay. The PCjr works with some restrictions,
due to its different keyboard.
Monitor: 80 column graphics or monochrome monitor.
Memory: At least 96K bytes. 128K bytes is
recommended.
Operating System: DOS. Version 1.1 is okay, but 2.0 or later
is recommended.
Printer: IBM matrix printer or compatible (any printer
that supports the ASCII printable characters
plus CR, LF, and FF).
1.4. Installation
The EDIT distribution diskette contains the following files:
EDIT.EXE (the EDIT program itself)
EDIT.HLP (the text used by EDIT's Help command)
To install EDIT, you should copy both of these files onto the
diskette or hard disk that will be used as the default drive when you
use EDIT. Generally, the current "default drive" is indicated by the
DOS prompt. If the DOS prompt is
A>
then the current default drive is drive A.
To install EDIT on a computer with two diskette drives, place a
DOS diskette in drive A, place the EDIT diskette in drive B, and type
the following command:
copy b:edit.* a:
After copying these two files onto the diskette in drive A, that
diskette contains everything neccessary to run EDIT. The new EDIT
diskette should be used to run EDIT. The original EDIT diskette
should be kept in a safe place in case the new EDIT diskette is
accidently ruined.
To run EDIT, make sure that the EDIT diskette is in the current
default drive, and then type
edit filename
where filename is the name of the file to create or edit. Section
2.2 describes how to run EDIT in greater detail.
The procedure to install EDIT on a hard disk is very similar.
You should copy both files from the EDIT distribution diskette onto
the hard disk. Copy them into the directory that will be used as the
default directory when EDIT is executed, or in a directory that is in
your command seach path.
Section 2.8 explains you to create an EDIT.SET file in order to
configure EDIT to your particular hardware environment. You can use
this file customize your screen colors, and to specify strings to
make EDIT work better with your printer.
For instructions on how to create a DOS diskette, and a more
complete explanation of the "default drive", "default directory", and
"command search path", consult the DOS section of the Guide To
Operations manual, or the Disk Operating System User's Guide.
EDITDOC2.TXT
2. COMMAND OVERVIEW
One of the nice things about EDIT is how easy it is to use. To
start EDIT and create a document named memo1, simply type
edit memo1
EDIT will start executing, and then you can start typing. There
is no need to wade through a hierarchy of menus just to get started.
To delete a character, just press the backspace key. To move the
cursor, press one of the the arrow keys on the right side of the
keyboard. EDIT's commands are simple, and they are easy to use (just
one or two keystrokes), but they are powerful.
2.1. Basic Concepts
EDIT is a program that runs on the IBM Personal Computer or a
computer that is 100% compatible with the IBM PC. It allows you to
create and edit documents containing arbitary text. To do this, you
must first start EDIT (explained in section 2.2). Once EDIT is
started, you can immediately begin to type, using the text keys in
the center of the keyboard. As you press each key, EDIT displays the
character on the CRT screen of the computer. The place where the
character is displayed is indicated by the small, blinking dash on
the screen. This dash is called the "cursor". After the character
is displayed, the cursor moves one position to the right. When you
press the Enter key, the cursor moves one line down and to the left
side of the screen (like carriage return on a typewriter).
EDIT stores each character you type in a large storage area in
the computer called its "editing buffer", or just "buffer". The
buffer holds many more characters than EDIT can display on the screen
at once. EDIT only displays 23 lines of the text at any one time.
When you type more lines of text than will fit on the screen, the
cursor can no longer be moved down when you press Enter. Instead,
all the lines on the screen are "scrolled" up one line, the top line
disappears, and the cursor stays on the bottom line. You don't need
to worry about the line that disappears from the top of the screen.
It is still stored in the editing buffer.
EDIT also allows you to modify the text you have typed. For
example, when the you type the Backspace key, the character
immediately to the left of the cursor will be erased from the screen,
and the cursor will move one position to the left. EDIT has other
commands for modifying the text adjacent to the cursor -- deleting
the character to the right of the cursor, the entire line containing
the cursor, or an arbitrary block of text before or after the cursor,
etc. In fact, all EDIT commands that change the text do so by
inserting or deleting characters immediately adjacent to the cursor.
Thus, there are commands for moving the cursor to a place in the
text that you want to change. This allows you to go back to
characters typed previously and delete them, or insert new text.
Whenever you give a command that would move the cursor off the top or
bottom of the screen (like the up command when the cursor is on the
top line of the screen), the screen is scrolled up or down instead,
so that the cursor always stays on the screen. Some EDIT commands
(like the Find command) may move the cursor to any point in the text,
even to lines a long ways before or after the lines displayed on the
screen. When you give one of these commands, EDIT will completely
update the text displayed on the screen, so that the 23 lines
adjacent to the new position of the cursor are displayed.
As explained above, EDIT stores all the text you are editing in
its editing buffer. However, this storage of the text is only
temporary, while you are running EDIT. For a more long-term storage
of the text, you must save it in a DOS file. EDIT's Quit command
allows you to save text in a file and retrieve text from a file.
EDIT will warn you if you attempt to give a command that might cause
you to lose the text in the editing buffer if you have not already
saved it in a file.
2.2. How to Start EDIT
To start EDIT, first make sure DOS is ready to accept your
commands. Generally, DOS indicates this by printing a message like
the following on the screen:
A>
Instead of A, you may see a different letter. Then place your
EDIT diskette in disk in drive A, and type
edit [ filename ]
where filename is the name of a file you want to create, or the name
of a file you previously created that you want to edit. The brackets
around filename indicate that the file is optional. You should not
type the brackets.
If you don't give a file, EDIT will be started with an empty
editing buffer and the message "No file specified" is displayed in
the lower left corner of the screen.
If you give a file that already exists, it is read into EDIT's
buffer and the cursor is positioned at the beginning of the file.
EDIT displays the message "Editing: filename" in the lower left
corner of the screen.
If the file does not yet exist, EDIT is started with an empty
buffer, and EDIT displays the message "Creating: filename" in the
lower left corner of the screen.
The following are several examples of how to start EDIT:
edit
edit memo.txt
edit b:prog1.c
edit \letters\george
The last example uses a file from a subdirectory. Subdirectories
are a feature that was added to version 2.0 of DOS. If you are using
version 2.0 or a later version of DOS, EDIT allows you to access
files in subdirectories.
2.3. Screen Organization
EDIT organizes the screen as follows:
Text area: top 23 lines
Prompt line: next to the bottom line
Status line: bottom line
EDIT uses the top 23 lines of the screen to display the portion
of the file that contains the cursor. Lines that are longer than 80
characters will only have their first 80 characters displayed,
although all commands operate on long lines normally.
EDIT uses the 24th line on the screen (the next to the bottom
line) for prompts regarding the use of function keys, for input of
file names, search strings, and such, and for messages.
The bottom line on the screen displays the name of the file being
edited and various status indicators. On the far right side of the
bottom line EDIT displays the line and column numbers of the current
cursor position within the file. To the left of the line and column
numbers on the bottom line, EDIT displays the amount of free space
currently available in its editing buffer as a percentage of the
total space available.
2.4. Command Basics
Basic Rules. The basic rules for using EDIT are quite simple.
The light-colored cursor control keys (the right arrow, PgUp, etc) on
the right side of the keyboard move the cursor. The function keys F1
through F10 are command keys; they perform the action indicated by
the prompt line on the screen. The keys next to the cursor control
keys (like the Del key) are also used as command keys. Many of the
cursor control keys and command keys have both a basic version, where
you press the key all by itself, and a stronger version, where you
press the command key while holding down Shift. For example, End
moves the cursor to the end of the current line, and Shift-End moves
the cursor to the end of the current sentence.
Every command key in EDIT always does the same thing, no matter
when you give that command. This is one of the things that makes
EDIT easy to learn, and easy to use.
The text keys in the center of the keyboard are used to enter
text at the current cursor location, or to provide input to a command
prompt. When the blinking cursor is in the text area (the top 23
lines on the screen), each text key you type will be inserted at the
current cursor location, and then the cursor will move one position
to the right.
Insert mode and Replace mode. EDIT has two ways to handle what
happens to the text to the right of the cursor when you type a text
key while the cursor is in the middle of a line. In insert mode, the
character is inserted into the text at the cursor position and the
characters to the right of the cursor are moved over one position to
make room for the inserted character. In replace mode, the character
you type replaces the character that was at the cursor position.
Some other text editors and word processors call replace mode
"overstrike mode".
It is easy to think of insert mode as pushing characters out of
the way to make room for each new character as you type it.
Likewise, you can think of replace mode as simply typing on top of
the characters that are already there, with each new character
erasing old character before typing on top of it.
EDIT indicates whether it is current in insert mode or replace
mode by displaying "Insert" or "Replace" near the right side of the
status line on the bottom of the screen. You can switch from insert
mode to replace mode (or vice versa) by pressing the Ins key, located
just below the cursor control keys on the right side of the keyboard.
You can also set EDIT to insert or replace mode via the Set command,
explained in section 3.3 and chapter 4.
Word Processing mode. EDIT may be used either as a word
processor or as general-purpose text editor. In word processing
mode, EDIT will automatically reformat the text in a paragraph when
you insert or delete characters, in order to always keep the right
margin of your text neat. EDIT reformats a paragraph in one of two
ways. When you insert text so that the current line extends past the
right margin, EDIT automatically moves any words that extend past the
margin down to the beginning of the next line. When you delete text
so that the current line is short enough, EDIT automatically moves
the first word (or words) from the beginning of the next line of the
paragraph up to the end of the current line. Thus, you don't need to
type Enter at the end of every line in a paragraph. EDIT
automatically adjusts the lines for you. In fact, you should only
type Enter at the end of a paragraph, to start a new paragraph.
If EDIT is not in word processing mode, it will not reformat a
paragraph (or line) when you insert or delete characters, even if you
insert text that extends past the right margin (or even the right
side of the screen).
Normally, you should use word processing mode whenever you are
creating a file that consists of some form of paragraph. It is best
to leave word processing mode off if you are editing something like a
program source file.
EDIT indicates that it is in word processing mode by displaying
"WP-Yes" near the center of the status line on the bottom of the
screen. If EDIT is not in word processing mode, it will display
"WP-No". You can switch word processing mode on or off by holding
down Alt and pressing the W key. You can also turn word processing
mode on or off via the Set command, explained in section 3.3 and
chapter 4.
Other Command Keys. For convenience, you may use Alt or Ctrl
instead of Shift to get the modified version of the function keys on
the left side of the keyboard.
A few additional commands are obtained by pressing Alt and one of
the text keys in the center of the keyboard. Generally the key
pressed with Alt is the first letter of the desired command. For
example, Alt-C is the Center command, which causes EDIT to center the
current line between the left and right margins.
Using the Numeric Pad. Note that it is also possible to use the
cursor control keys as a numeric pad, for ease of entering numbers,
"+", and "-". To do so, press the Num Lock key. After pressing this
key, the keys in the numeric pad area will act as a text keys, rather
than cursor control keys. To return to the keys to their use as
cursor control keys, press Num Lock again.
2.5. Command Repetition
For some of EDIT's commands, you can specify a repetition count
that indicates the number of times the command should be executed.
The repetition count is entered by pressing Esc, followed by a
positive number, and then typing the command key. For example, to
move the cursor down ten lines, type the following:
Esc 10 Down
There is a default value for the repetition count that is used if
you simply type Esc followed by the command. The initial value for
this default is 5. The default value may be changed by typing Esc,
then the new value, and then Enter. The maximum repetition count is
9999. The count may not be negative.
The commands that accept a repetition count include the
following:
- basic cursor movement commands
- find commands
- replace commands
- get command
- macro execution
The deletion commands do not accept a repetition count.
2.6. Input to Command Prompts
A few of EDIT's commands require you to enter a text string - a
file name, a word or phrase to search for, etc. Other commands
require you to type a single character to select an option from a
menu. In both of these cases, EDIT moves the blinking cursor out of
the main text area, and down to the prompt line. To help you
remember where the cursor was before it was moved down to the prompt
line, EDIT marks the old cursor position in reverse video.
String Input to Command Prompts. Some of EDIT's command require
you to type a string of text, like the name of a file, or a word or
phrase to find. In these commands, EDIT will move the cursor down to
the prompt line and print a message like the following:
Output file:
The cursor will appear at the end of this line. You should type
each character in the string, and then press Enter to execute the
command. If you make a mistake when you are typing the string, you
may use the Backspace key to delete the last character of the string.
To delete the entire string and start over, press Shift-Backspace.
Note that the Enter key is the large key on the right side of the
text keys, just to the left of the cursor control keys. The
Backspace key is at the top right corner of the text keys, just to
the left of the cursor control keys and above the Enter key.
To abort a command that requests string input, type Esc (Escape).
Selecting an Option From a Menu. Several of EDIT's command allow
you to select an option from a menu. EDIT indicates this by moving
the cursor down to the the prompt line, and printing a message like
the following:
GoTo. Select (Beginning, End, Line, Column):
The cursor will appear at the end of this line. To select the
desired option, press the key that is the first character of the
option you want. For example, to select the "Beginning" option,
press the "B" key. If you press any other key, EDIT will simply
return to what it was doing before the current command.
Implicitly Leaving a Command. You do not need to explicitly
leave a command when the cursor is in the prompt line. If you press
one of the cursor control or command keys, EDIT will automatically
leave the current command perform the new one.
2.7. Settings
Via EDIT's Set command you can specify various parameters that
affect how EDIT handles the file you are editing, or how EDIT
operates. You can also configure EDIT to your printer. For
convenience, these parameters (or "settings") are divided into two
groups, "file settings" (or settings that are specific to the file
you are editing), and "editor settings".
File Settings. File settings allow you to control margins, tab
stops, page layout, headers and footers, page numbering, and such.
These settings are all "global". In other words, they apply to the
entire file. For example, you can't start the file with one header,
and then change to a different header half way through the file.
Thus, when you create a file, you should be careful to use settings
that work for the entire file. If you use word processing mode, it
is best to set the tab stops and margins before you enter the text of
the file.
However, EDIT does allow you to control how some of the settings
work at various points in the file. For example, as part of a header
or footer, you specify the number of the first page that it should be
printed on. You can override the margin setting for any one line by
centering that line, or you can override the left margin for a
paragraph by using the tab key to indent the first line of the
paragraph to a tab stop. The page setting not only specifies the
number of lines per page, but the conditions under which EDIT should
automatically skip to a new page. This gives you some control over
"widow" lines -- lines which start a paragraph or section, but are
so close to the bottom of the page that it really is better to start
the section or paragraph on the next page.
Editor Settings. Editor settings settings allow you to configure
various aspects of EDIT to your taste, or to your hardware
environment. For example, if you have a color monitor on your
computer, you can specify the color EDIT should use for different
regions of the screen. You can also configure EDIT to work better
with your printer, by specifying the control codes to initialize the
printer, or make it print bold or underline.
2.8. Files
Text Files. As explained above, EDIT stores all your text while
you are working with it in an editing buffer. If you want to save
your work, you must use EDIT's Quit command to store it in a file.
Otherwise, your work will be lost after you leave the EDIT program,
or when you turn off the computer.
You can use up to eight characters for the name of your file.
You can also use an extension as part of the file name. The
extension consists of a dot, followed by up to three characters.
Normally, the extension is used to identify the type of file. For
example, you might use the extension ".MEM" to identify all files
containing memos, or the extension ".TXT" for general text files.
EDIT allows you to use files in subdirectories if you use version
2.0 or a later version of DOS.
With EDIT, you cannot create files bigger than will fit in its
editing buffer. The maximum size file is about 55,000 characters.
This is about 15 to 20 single spaced pages of text. If you need to
create documents larger than this, you can break the document into
smaller sections, and use a single file for each section.
Setting Files. EDIT does not save the file settings in the same
file used to save the text of a document. Instead, it allows you to
save the settings in separate files called "setting files". When
EDIT retrieves a text file, it automatically looks for the setting
file that goes with that file. First it looks for a file with the
same name as the file being retrieved, but with the extension changed
to ".SET". It will look for this setting file in the same directory
as the text file. If it cannot this setting file, EDIT looks for a
setting file whose name is the extension of the text file, and the
extension is ".SET".
For example, if you retrieve a text file named
proposal.txt
EDIT will first look for a setting file with the name
proposal.set
EDIT will look for this file in the same directory (or on the same
disk) as the directory containing the text file. If EDIT cannot find
this setting file, it will look for a setting file with the name
txt.set
EDIT will first look for this file in the current directory, and if
it is not found there, it will look through each of the directories
specified in the DOS PATH command. If this setting file is not
found, EDIT will use its current settings for the text file. (For an
explanation of directories, and the PATH command, refer to the DOS
Reference Manual.)
This technique for handling setting files has several advantages.
Since setting files are stored as normal text, it is possible for you
to edit a setting file directly, rather than use the Set command to
change settings. This is particularly useful for changing long
settings, like the header or footer.
Another advantage of this technique is that it allows you to
create settings files not only for a specific new file, but for
groups of files, all with the same extension. This way you don't
always have to use the Set command to specify the settings for each
new file you create. EDIT will automatically retrieve the right
settings for the new file, using the extension to determine which
settings you want.
This is useful not only when you are using EDIT as a word
processor, but also when you use EDIT as a general purpose text
editor. For example, if you write programs in both C and assembly
language, you may want to create general setting files with two
different tab sizes -- tabs of 4 for C, and tabs of 8 for assembly
language. These settings files might be named:
C.SET
ASM.SET
When EDIT first starts executing, it looks for a setting file
named
EDIT.SET
and retreives the settings from this file. If you want to change any
of EDIT's default settings, you should put these changes in this
file. This is a convenient place to put settings changes that affect
the way EDIT works, like the colors EDIT uses on your screen, or
whether EDIT starts in Replace mode or Insert mode. This is also
where you should put setting commands that configure EDIT to your
particular printer.
Several standard printer configuration setting files are supplied
on the EDIT distribution diskette. These include:
C-ITOH.SET - for printers compatible to the C-Itoh 8510,
like the NEC prowriter
EPSON.SET - for printers compatible with the EPSON MX-80
or IBM Graphics printer
LASERJET.SET - for the HP LASERJET printer
OKIDATA.SET - for printers compatible with the OKIDATA-92
printer
If your printer is compatible with one of these printers, you can
copy the appropriate file onto into the same directory or disk where
you have installed EDIT, and name it
EDIT.SET
The following command illustrates how to do this when EDIT is
installed on a hard disk.
copy a:epson.set c:edit.set
EDITDOC3.TXT
3. COMMANDS
The following sections describe each of EDIT's commands in
detail. These sections are organized as tables of related commands.
The command key is given at the left of the table. On the right is
the name of the command, followed by a description of the action
performed by that command. Some commands require you to press a key
to select from a set of options or subcommands. In general, these
subcommands are indented under the primary command, and the
description of each subcommand is preceeded by the letter you must
type for that subcommand.
3.1. Basic Text Insertion and Deletion
Command Key Command Description
Ins Toggle Insert/Replace mode. If the current mode
is Insert mode, this command switches EDIT to
Replace mode, and vice versa.
text character Insert character (Insert mode). All characters
to the right of the cursor are moved to the
right, and the character is inserted at the
cursor position.
Replace character (Replace mode). The character
typed replaces the character at the current
cursor location.
Shift-Ins Insert special character. The following single
keystroke is inserted into the buffer, even if it
would normally be interpreted as a command. This
is useful for inserting characters like Esc into
a file, which many printers require in order to
specify printer options, like line spacing.
Enter Insert line. A carriage return is inserted at
the cursor position, and the current line is
broken into two pieces. The rest of the line to
the right of the cursor is moved to the next line
down, and the rest of the lines below the cursor
are moved one position down to make room for this
line.
The new line is indented according to the
following rule. In Word-Processing mode, the
line is indented at the left margin setting plus
the indentation specified (which may be a
positive or negative number). The margins may be
set via the Set command, explained below.
Otherwise, the new line is indented at the same
level as the preceeding line. This is
particularly useful for editing text that has a
hierarchical structure, like programs or
outlines.
Note that the carriage return inserted by Enter
indicates the end of a paragraph. There are a
variety of commands that operate on paragraphs,
including both cursor movements, and re-adjusting
lines so that they fit nicely between the left
and right margins.
Also note that the Enter key is sometimes called
"Return".
Tab Insert Tab. A tab character is inserted, the
cursor is moved right to the next tab stop, and a
temporary left margin is set at that tab stop.
The temporary left margin is used to re-adjust
the lines in a paragraph in Word-Processing mode
when they are modified so that they extend beyond
the right margin or do not reach to the right
margin. Word-Processing mode is explained in
greater detail below, under the "Set Word
processing mode" command.
Tabs may be set via the Set command, explained
below. The default tab stops are in columns 0,
4, 8, ... Note that the Tab key is near the left
side of the keyboard, just left of the "Q" key.
Shift-Tab Insert spaces to tab stop. Insert spaces to next
tab stop. Note that this allows tabbing without
resetting the temporary left margin.
Ctrl-L Insert form feed (new page). A form feed
character is inserted. This character is
displayed as a small circle with a plus sign
underneath. When this character is printed, it
causes the printer to skip to the next page
before printing any subsequent pages.
Del Delete right. Delete the character at the
cursor. When the cursor is at the right end of a
line, this character is the carriage return that
separates the current line from the following
line.
Backspace Delete left. Delete the character to the left of
the cursor. When the cursor is in column 0, the
character left of the cursor is the carriage
return that separates the current line from the
previous line.
Shift-Del Delete line. Delete the entire line containing
the cursor, leaving the cursor at the same
position in the following line.
pad-minus Delete word left. Delete the word to the left of
the cursor, including any intervening spaces,
tabs, and line breaks. Note that a word is
defined as a contigious sequence of letters and
digits, or any other single non-blank character.
Note that pad-minus refers to the darker colored
"minus" ("-") key in the numeric pad area on the
right side of the keyboard, just right of the key
labeled PgUp. It should not be confused with the
normal minus key, which is in the lighter colored
central region of the keyboard. Similarly,
pad-plus refers to the large, darker colored,
large "plus" ("+") key in the numeric pad area.
pad-plus Delete word right. Delete the word at the
cursor, including any trailing spaces, tabs, and
line breaks.
Shift-pad-minus Delete to beginning of line. Delete all the
characters between the cursor position and the
beginning of the current line.
Shift-pad-plus Delete to end of line. Delete all the characters
between the cursor position and the end of the
current line.
3.2. Basic Cursor Movements
Command Key Command Description
Left Move left. Move the cursor one character to the
left. When the cursor is at the beginning of a
line, it moves to the end of the previous line.
Note that the Left key is located at the right
side of the keyboard in the numeric pad and
cursor-control key area (as are the keys Right,
Up, and Down). If a number is inserted when you
press one of the cursor control keys, press Num
Lock once, to switch to the cursor control
meaning of these keys.
Right Move right. Move the cursor one character to the
right.
Up Move up. Move the cursor one line up, scrolling
the screen as needed to keep the cursor on the
screen.
Down Move down. Move the cursor one line down,
scrolling the screen as needed to keep the cursor
on the screen.
Home Move to beginning of line. Move the cursor to
the column 0 in the current line.
End Move to end of line. Move the cursor to the
right end of the current line (just past the last
character in the line).
PgUp Move page up. Move the cursor 23 lines up,
redisplaying the screen with the cursor in the
same position on the screen as it was before
giving this command.
PgDn Move page down. Move the cursor 23 lines down,
redisplaying the screen with the cursor in the
same position on the screen as it was before
giving this command.
Shift-Left Move word left. Move the cursor one "word" to
the left. Note that a word is defined as a
contigious sequence of letters and digits, or any
other single non-blank character.
Shift-Right Move word right. Move the cursor one "word" to
the right.
Shift-Up Move structure up. Move the cursor back one
"structure". In general, this moves the cursor
to the beginning of the previous line that is
indented at the same level as the current line or
the first line indented less than the current
line. If the cursor is to the left of the first
non-blank character in the line, then this
command moves the cursor to the previous line
that is indented at the same level as the current
cursor position.
Note that this command and the Move structure
down command are useful for moving around
structured text like source code written in a
programming language like Pascal or "C", provided
that you are careful to use indentation to
indicate the levels of structure in your program.
This command may also be used to move to first
line of the current paragraph, or the previous
paragraph that is indented at the same level as
the current paragraph.
Shift-Down Move structure down. Move the cursor forward one
"structure". The meaning of "structure" is
defined above, under the Shift-Up command.
Shift-Home Move sentence left. Move the cursor one
"sentence" to the left. The beginning a sentence
is defined to be the first non-blank character
following a period (".").
Shift-End Move sentence right. Move the cursor one
"sentence" to the right.
Shift-PgUp Move paragraph up. Move the cursor one
"paragraph" up. The beginning of a paragraph is
defined as the first non-blank character
following a carriage return inserted by typing
the Enter key.
Shift-PgDn Move paragraph down. Move the cursor one
"paragraph" down.
3.3. Setting Display, Editing, and Formatting Options
Command Key Command Description
F3 Set. The Set command allows you to change
various settings that affect the operation of
EDIT, such as tabs, margins, page size, and such.
There are two groups of settings, settings that
effect the file being edited (like changing tab
stops), and settings that effect the editing
environment (like changing the color of the
screen).
At the beginning of the Set command, EDIT
displays two tables that show the current values
of each setting in these two groups. At the left
side of the tables, EDIT displays a letter or
number that is used to select the corresponding
setting. Generally, this is the first letter of
the setting name (for example, "t" or "T" for
setting tabs).
To select a setting, press the indicated letter
or number for that setting. EDIT then prompts
you to enter new values for the selected item.
Chapter 4, SETTINGS, describes each of the
settings in detail. Section 4.1 explains each
of the file settings and section 4.2 explains the
editor settings.
Shift-F3 Get Settings from file. This command allows you
to retrieve setting values from a file. Note
that setting values may be saved in a file via
the Save Settings option of the Quit command,
explained in section 3.4.
In response to the prompt for this command, enter
the name of a file. EDIT will read the specified
file and change its settings according to the
commands in the file.
Each setting command in the file should be a
single line long. The first character of the
line should be the first character of the setting
to change (for example, 'h' to change the
header). The remaining characters in the line
specify the value for the setting, using the same
format as if the setting value were changed
interactively with the Set command.
The following is an example of a setting file
that contains commands that change the margins
and header:
m 10, 5, 75
h 2,,,Page #
3.4. File Selection and/or Exiting EDIT
Command Key Command Description
F1 Quit. The Quit command allows you to stop
editing the current file, save it, initialize
editing of a different file, and/or exit EDIT and
return to DOS. In response to the prompt for
this command, select the desired subcommand by
pressing a single key, as follows:
E. Quit-Exit. This subcommand writes the
current contents of the editing buffer to the
file being edited and then exits EDIT to DOS.
This is the normal way to exit EDIT, saving
the work done while editing a file.
U. Quit-Update. This subcommand simply writes
out the buffer contents to the file, but does
not exit to DOS. This subcommand, together
with the Initialize subcommand, is used when
you want to edit several files, one after
another, without leaving EDIT.
W. Quit-Write. This subcommand prompts you to
enter the name of a file. The contents of
the editing buffer will be saved in the file.
This subcommand is used to save your work in
a file other that the file currently being
edited.
A. Quit-Abort. This subcommand directs EDIT to
simply exit to DOS.
S. Quit-Save-Settings. This subcommand allows
you to save in a file the current values of
the settings that affect editing and
printing. The settings are saved in a form
so that they can be read by the "Get Settings
from file" command described above.
This subcommand prompts you to enter the name
of a file in which the settings are to be
saved. The default name for this file is the
same name as the file currently being edited,
except that the extension is changed to
"SET".
After you have entered the file name, EDIT
prompts prompts to select which group of
settings should be saved in the file. In
response to this prompt, enter a single key,
as follows:
F. The settings that affect the file being
edited are saved in the file.
E. The settings that only affect the editing
environment are saved in the file.
After you have selected one group of settings
to be saved, EDIT will continue to prompt you
to select the other groups that have not yet
been saved. If you type any other key, EDIT
will leave the Save Settings command.
Chapter 4 describes settings in detail, and
specifies which settings belong to each of
these two groups of settings.
Note that EDIT uses certain naming
conventions for the files in which settings
are saved. These conventions determine when
EDIT will automatically retrieve the settings
from a file. These conventions are described
after the Quit-Initialize subcommand.
I. Quit-Initialize. This subcommand prompts you
to type the name of a file. This text in the
file is then loaded into the editing buffer
(replacing the previous buffer contents) and
the cursor is placed at the beginning of the
file.
After EDIT reads the file, it will also look
for a "setting file" that gives tab settings,
margins, page length specifications, headers,
and such. The Quit-Save-Settings subcommand,
above, describes the format of "setting
files", and how to create them.
3.4.1. Retrieving Setting Files
As explained above, EDIT will automatically retrieve a setting
file whenever it initializes its buffer with a new file. This
happens not only as with the Quit-Initialize command, but also
whenever EDIT is first started, and a file is specified.
The following example illustrates the rules EDIT follows when it
retrieves a Setting file. Suppose you specify the following file
with the Quit-Initialize command:
b:memo.txt
After reading "memo.txt" from drive "b" EDIT will look to see if it
can find the file
b:memo.set
If this file exists, EDIT will read the settings from this file.
Otherwise, it will look for the file
txt.set
If this file exists, EDIT will read the settings from this file.
Thus, the settings that apply to a particular file should be
saved in a file with the same name as that file, but with the
extension changed to ".set". This setting file should reside on the
same drive as the file to which it applies.
However, you may use a single, "generic" setting file for all the
files having the same extension. This "generic" setting file should
reside on the current default drive. For example, you could create
the setting files
rep.set
mem.set
The first file might contain settings specifying margins, page
length, and such for reports, and the second file might contain
settings for memos. Then you would name all files that contain
reports with the extension
.rep
and all files containing memos would be named with the extension
.mem
The following would be example names of files containing reports:
a:yearend.rep
january.rep
Sample names of files containing memos might be:
bill.mem
b:staff.mem
3.4.2. Protection Against Losing Your Work
If you select the Initialize or Abort option and the contents of
the buffer have been modified without saving them or the current file
settings have been modified without saving them, EDIT will display
one or both of the following two messages:
File settings modified. Okay to lose changes? Select (Yes
or No):
Text is modified. Okay to lose changes? Select (Yes or No):
If you select yes (by typing "Y" or "y"), then the Initialize or
Abort operation will proceed. If you type anything else, the
operation will not proceed, and EDIT will go back to the Quit
command. This gives you another chance to save the work you have
done before losing it.
3.5. Printing and Miscelleneous Word Processing
Command Key Command Description
Shift-PrtSc Print. The Print command is used to produce a
printed version of the file currently being
edited (the contents of the editing buffer). The
current settings (explained in chapter 4)
determine how EDIT will break the printed file
into pages, whether it will right justify lines,
and such.
The print command allows you to specify that the
printed output should go to a file or device
other than the standard printer device (PRN:).
You may want to print to a file for one of two
reasons. First, the "printed" file will be
divided into pages, with headers and footers, and
possibly justified. Thus, you can look at the
file to see if it is formatted exactly the way
you want before actually printing it on the
printer. Also, you can use DOS's PRINT command
to print the file as a background task, and
continue to use EDIT in the foreground (DOS 2.0
or later only).
The Print command also allows you to specify the
starting page and maximum last page to print.
The default starting page is generally page 1.
The default last page is page 9999 (or the last
page of the file, whichever comes first). This
is useful when one or two minor changes have been
made to a file after it has already been printed,
since it allows you to print only those pages
that have changed.
EDIT prompts you for each of these options by
displaying the current default for the option.
To use the default, just press Enter. To select
a value other than the default, type the new
value and then press Enter. To cancel the Print
command, type Esc. After all three options have
been selected, EDIT will display the message
Printing to: file-or-device
and begin printing. As each page is printed,
EDIT will display the message
Page: #
to the right of the file-or-device name.
You may abort the Print command after it has
started by typing Ctrl-Break.
Alt-W Toggle Word-processing mode. This command causes
EDIT to change the Word-Processing mode without
having to use the Set command. If the
Word-Processing mode is currently "Yes", this
command will switch the Word-Processing mode to
"No", and vice versa. The effect of the
Word-Processing mode is explained above, in
section 4.1, under the Set command, and in
section 3.1, under the Enter command.
The current Word-processing mode setting is
indicated on the staus line.
Alt-P Paragraph. Append all the lines up to the next
blank line to the current paragraph, then
reformat the paragraph using the current left,
indent, and right margin values. You can use
this command to convert standard ASCII files with
a CR and LF at the end of every line into EDIT's
paragraph format.
Alt-C Center. Reformat the current line so that it is
centered between the current left and right
margins.
Alt-R Right-justify line. Expand or shrink the line
containing the cursor so that it is flush with
the right margin. The expansion or contraction
is made by expanding only the character left of
the cursor. All other characters in the line will
remain unchanged. Note that for most uses of
this command (a table of contents, for example)
the character expanded or contracted will be
either a space or a period (".").
Alt-B Toggle boldface on/off. This command allows you
to indicate whether text should be boldface or
not. Initially all text entered is "normal
text", neither boldface nor underlined. When the
Alt-B command is given, all text entered will be
boldface until a subsequent Alt-B command is
given. When you turn the boldface option on,
EDIT actually inserts two special characters into
the text, a Ctrl-B, which turns boldface on, and
a Ctrl-A, which turns boldface off. You may also
insert or delete either of these two characters
directly to change change whether existing text
is to be boldface or not. Boldface is also
turned off automatically at the end of a
paragraph.
Whenever the cursor is a region of boldface text,
EDIT indicates this by displaying the letter "B"
on the status line, just left of the
Word-Processing mode indicator.
Alt-U Toggle underline on/off. This command functions
similar to the the Alt-B command, except that it
turns underlining on or off. The special
characters EDIT stores in the text for
underlining are: Ctrl-D (for underline) to turn
underlining on, and Ctrl-C to turn underlining
off. Like boldface, underlining is automatically
turned off at the end of a paragraph. When the
cursor is in a region of underlined text, EDIT
indicates this by displaying the letter "U" on
the status line, adjacent to where the boldface
status is displayed.
3.5.1. Background Printing
Note that under version 2.0 (or later) of DOS, it possible to use
the System command to print files in the background while continuing
to edit other files using EDIT. The following is the recommended way
to this:
- Before starting EDIT, enter the DOS PRINT command. This
causes the background print program to be loaded into memory
so that it is accessible to EDIT. A convenient way to this
is to put the PRINT command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT so that it
will be automatically executed when the computer is turned
on. The following line in an AUTOEXEC.BAT file will
accomplish this:
print
- Use EDIT's Print command to print to a file. For example,
when editing the file memo.txt, you may want to print to a
file named memo.prn.
- After EDIT has finished creating the print file, use EDIT's
System command to start printing the print file in the
background. The following command would print the file
created in the last example:
DOS Command: print memo.prn
- It is then possible to continue working with EDIT while the
file prints in the background.
Note that EDIT's System command is explained in section 3.8,
below.
3.6. Block Commands: Save, Delete, Get, and Move Text
Command Key Command Description
F7 Mark block. Mark the character at the cursor
position as one end of a block of text. This
"marked" character is used to indicate one end of
a block of text for the Delete and Save commands
described below. The block is defined to always
consist of the characters between the last
character marked and the current cursor position.
For convenience in describing the commands below,
this region of text is refered to as "the marked
text".
F9 Delete and save block. If less than 2000
characters are in the marked text, delete all
those characters and save them in a special
buffer (the block buffer). If there are more
than 2000 characters print a message indicating
that there is not room to save the deleted
characters and do not delete them.
Shift-F9 Delete block without saving. Delete all
characters in the marked text (regardless of how
many there are). The characters will not be
saved.
F10 Save block. If there are less than 2000
characters in the marked text, copy them into the
"block buffer". Otherwise, print a message
indicating that there is not room to save the
characters.
Shift-F10 Save block in file. Enter the name of a file
into which the marked text is to be saved. A
copy of the marked text is then saved in the
file.
F8 Get block. Insert the current contents of the
block buffer at the cursor position, leaving the
cursor at the beginning of the inserted text.
Shift-F8 Get block from file. Enter the name of a file.
The contents of that file are inserted into the
buffer at the current cursor position, leaving
the cursor at the beginning of the inserted text.
Note that a "block move" may be accomplished for
small blocks by the Delete and Save command, then
moving the cursor to the new location and using
the Get command. For blocks larger than 2000
characters, a block move is done by Save in File,
Delete without saving, moving the cursor to the
new position, and then Get from file.
3.7. GoTo, Find, and Replace
Command Key Command Description
Shift-num-pad-5 GoTo. The GoTo command allows you to move the
cursor directly to a position in the file. EDIT
prompts you to select from one of the following
options:
B. Goto beginning of file. The cursor will be
moved to the beginning of the file.
E. Goto end of file. The cursor will be moved
to the end of the file.
L. Goto line. Enter an positive integer value.
The cursor will be moved to that line in the
file. The column position of the cursor is
not changed. Specifying a line beyond the
end of the file will move the cursor to the
end of the file.
C. Goto column. Enter a positive integer value.
The cursor will be moved to that column in
the current line. Specifying a column beyond
the end of the line will move the cursor to
the end of the line.
Note that the GoTo command is located in the
center of the cursor control keys (right between
the left and right keys). Thus, althougth this
key is not labeled, it should be easy to
remember, since it allows you to "center in" on a
particular position in the file.
F6 Find. Enter a target string. Type Enter at the
end of the string to enter it and execute the
Find command. EDIT will search for the first
instance of the target string following the
cursor and move the cursor to the first character
after that string.
During string entry, typing Esc will abort the
Find command.
Shift-F6 Reverse Find. This command is exactly the same
as the "find" command, execpt that EDIT will
search backwards for the first instance of the
target string preceeding the cursor.
F5 Replace. Enter a target string, then a
replacement string. EDIT will execute the
Replace command as soon as the second string is
entered, by searching for the first instance of
the target string following the cursor and
replacing it with the replacement string.
Shift-F5 Conditional Replace. Enter a target string, then
a replacement string, as in the Replace command.
After the second string has been entered, EDIT
will search for the first instance of the target
string following the cursor, and move the cursor
to the first character after that string. EDIT
will then prompt you to select from the following
set of options:
Y. Yes. The target string should be replaced by
the replacement string.
N. No. The target string should not be replaced
by the replacement string.
S. Stop. The target string should be replaced
by the replacement string. Then EDIT will
exit the conditional replacement command.
A. Abort. The target string is not replaced and
EDIT will exit the conditional replacement
command.
Note that the Stop and Abort options are designed
for use with a repeat count applied to the
conditional replacement command.
3.8. Help, Macros, and DOS Commands
Command Key Command Description
F2 Help. This command allows you to view a file of
"help" information. This information lists each
EDIT command, together with a brief description
of what it does. Subcommands and options are
listed indented under each command. The
information also describes briefly any values
that the commands may require you to enter, and
what those values mean.
The information in the Help file is displayed one
page at a time. To view the next page of the
help list, press the space bar. To abort the
Help command and return to EDIT's normal
operation, type any other key.
As the first screen of the Help text, EDIT
displays a message regarding EDIT's status as
free software. The actual Help text follows this
first screen.
Note that EDIT obtains the information it
displays in the Help command from a file called
"EDIT.HLP". For the Help command to operate
properly, this file must be on the current
"default" disk while EDIT is running. For an
explanation of default disks, refer to the
documentation provided by IBM.
Shift-F4 Macro define. Start or end a macro definition.
When a macro definition is started, "Macro" is
displayed near the right side of the bottom line
on the screen. All subsequent commands up to the
next Macro Shift-F4 command are saved in a macro
buffer in addition to being executed.
Typing Shift-F4 again ends the macro definition,
and erases "Macro" from the bottom line of the
screen. The sequence of commands may then be
re-executed by typing F4.
F4 Macro Execute. Execute the macro most recently
defined via the Macro command. Prior to defining
a macro, the current macro is null.
Alt-V View. Redisplay the contents of the screen with
the line containing the cursor centered on the
screen, and the current version number of EDIT
displayed on the message line. If the cursor is
in the first 12 lines of the file or it is
already centered on the screen, then the contents
of the screen will not change.
Shift-F1 DOS Command. This command allows you to execute
any DOS command from EDIT. EDIT prompts you to
enter a command. Enter the command exactly as it
would be entered in response to the DOS prompt.
After you enter the command, EDIT clears the
screen and executes the DOS command. When the
command has completed, EDIT prompts you to press
any key to return to EDIT. Then EDIT restores
the screen as it was before executing the DOS
command and you can continue editing.
If you simply type ENTER in response to EDIT's
prompt to enter a DOS command, EDIT will start a
nested copy of the DOS command interpreter. This
will allow you to execute multiple DOS commands
or other programs before returning to EDIT. To
return to EDIT from the nested command
interpreter, enter the EXIT command.
The following examples illustrate the use of
EDIT's System command:
DOS Command: dir *.txt
DOS Command: print chap1.prn
DOS Command: cd \memos
DOS Command: rename memo1.txt memo1.bak
DOS Command:
>dir
>rename memo.txt memo.bak
>copy newmemo.txt memo.txt
>exit
The last example shows how multiple DOS commands
may be entered, followed by typing EXIT to return
to EDIT.
Note that EDIT only supports the System command
with DOS version 2.0 or later. In order for the
System command to work, there should be at least
128K bytes of free memory before running EDIT.
Some additional memory may be required to execute
non-resident DOS commands from EDIT.
Caution: Certain DOS commands stay resident in
memory when they are first executed after DOS has
been started. The DOS PRINT and GRAPHICS
commands are in this category. It is not good to
execute such commands for the first time from
EDIT. This is because they reserve not only the
memory they use themselves, but also the memory
of any other program that is currently executing
(like EDIT), even if that program normally
releases the memory it uses when it exits.
Before using such commands from EDIT, they should
be executed before EDIT is started. Putting them
in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file is one way to do this.
For a further explanation of DOS commands,
consult the DOS reference manual.
3.9. Windows and Dual File Editing
Command Key Command Description
pad-asterisk Switch Window. This command will switch the
active cursor between the upper and lower windows
on the screen. If you give this command when an
upper window has not been created, EDIT will
automatically create one, using the line the
cursor is in as the last line of the upper window
(provided that this gives each window at least
five lines).
Note that pad-asterisk refers to the darker
colored "asterisk" ("*") key in the numeric pad
area on the right side of the keyboard, near the
cursor control keys. It should not be confused
with the normal asterisk key, which is in the
lighter colored central region of the keyboard.
On older PC keyboards, this key is labeled
"PrtSc" (Print Screen). Since this is about the
only key that refers to the screen, it should be
easy to remember that this key is used for
switching between windows on the screen.
Alt-O Other Buffer. This command allows you to create
a second editing buffer, and to switch from one
buffer to the other. When you first give this
command, the screen is cleared, but what was on
the screen before is not lost; you can bring it
back by giving another Other-Buffer command.
Each buffer simply has its own screen, and EDIT
displays the screen for the buffer that is
currently active.
The second buffer acts just like the first; you
can create and edit a second file, or retrieve a
second file with the Quit-Initialize command.
Although EDIT maintains two separate file
buffers, it has only one block buffer. Thus,
text that you save in the block buffer when you
are editing in one file buffer will be available
to get from the block buffer after you press
Alt-O and switch to the other buffer. Thus, you
can easily use the block buffer to copy or move
text from one file to the other.
It is often convenient to use this command in
conjunction with the window command explained
above. If you have created a window on the
screen when you give the Other-Buffer command,
EDIT will use initially only the current window
for the new file buffer, and leave the other file
in the other window. With the windows like this,
the Switch-Window command will switch not only
between windows, but also between files, since
each window has a different file.
When you have a second editing buffer active, the
Quit-Exit and Quit-Abort commands do not exit
from EDIT, but only from the second buffer. You
must give a second Quit-Edit or Quit-Abort
command to exit from EDIT.
EDITDOC4.TXT
4. SETTINGS
As explained in chapter 3, EDIT's SET command (the F3 function
key) allows you to set various options that affect how EDIT processes
the file you are editing, or that affect the editing environment (the
colors on the screen, how EDIT tells the printer to print bold or
underlined characters, and so forth). This chapter explains each of
these settings in detail. It has one section describing each of the
settings that affect the file being edited, and one for settings that
affect the editing environment. These sections are organized as
tables. The letter used to select a setting is given at the left.
On the right is the name of the setting, followed by a description of
that setting.
4.1. Settings That Affect the File Being Edited
Key Setting Description
W. Word processing mode. EDIT's word processing mode
determines what happens when a line is modified so that
it does not fit neatly between the left and right
margins. The word processing mode also determines how a
new line will be indented when you type Enter to insert a
carriage return into the text, as explained in section
3.1.
In response to the prompt for this setting, you should
select an option by pressing a single character, as
follows:
N. No. In this mode, EDIT completely ignores the
margins, and allows lines to extend arbitrarily long.
However, this mode is useful for editing things like
the source text for programs.
Y. Yes. Whenever a line is edited (either extending or
decreasing its length), that line and any following
lines in the current paragraph are adjusted so that
each line is as long as possible without extending
past the right margin.
T. Tab stops. EDIT will prompt you to enter a list of tab
stops. Tab stops will automatically continue past the
last one entered in the list, every n'th column, where
"n" is the number of columns between the last two stops
specified. For example, the following list of specified
tab stops
10, 14, 24, 28
will effectively set tab stops in columns
10, 14, 24, 28, 32, 36, ...
Giving a single tab stop value of "n" will simply set tab
stops every "n" columns, starting with column "n". The
maximum number of tab stops that may be set is 16.
It is recommended that you set a tab stop at the left
margin column when EDIT is being used in word processing
mode. For example, if your left margin is 10, you ought
to have a tab stop set in column 10.
M. Margins. The margin setting consists of three values,
the left margin, indent value, and right margin. You may
enter enter new values for the margins by typing the
values separated by commas, followed by return. The
indent value specifies the indentation level for the
first line of a paragraph. It may be negative, to make
the first line of the paragraph start to the left of the
left margin. The margin values are given in columns.
For example, a left margin of 10 means that the left
margin is at the 10th character position on a line.
You may omit any of the three values of the margin
setting to use the current value for that setting, while
changing the other values. For example, if the current
margin settings are
8, 0, 77
(left margin = 8, indentation = 0, right margin = 77),
then entering
12
will change only the left margin to 12, leaving the other
values unchanged. Entering
,4
will leave the left and right margins unchanged but
change the indentation to 4.
P. Page options. The page options consist of four values -
the number of lines per page, and three values that
control when EDIT will automatically skip to a new page
near the bottom of a page, based on encountering the end
of a paragraph, 1 blank line, or two blank lines. (These
latter three values allow some control over "widows",
single lines from a paragraph or section occuring at the
bottom of a page.) Enter new values for the page options
by typing the values separated by commas, followed by
Enter, as in the Margin setting.
The meaning of the values in the pagination control is as
follows:
- lines: the maximum number of lines that will be
printed on a page.
- new page (para): the distance from the end of a page
that will cause a new page to be automatically
generated if the end of a paragraph is encountered.
- new page (1 line): the distance from the end of a
page that will cause a new page to be automatically
generated if a single blank line is encountered.
- new page (2 lines): the distance from the end of a
page that will cause a new page to be automatically
generated if two blank lines are encountered.
H. Header. This option allows you to specify a line of text
to be printed at the top each printed page. You can
specify the first page on which the header is to be
printed. It also allows you to optionally specify the
position that the page number should be printed within
the header text. In response to the Header prompt, you
should enter a line containing four sections separated by
commas. These four sections are:
- Start page. This value should be a number specifying
the first page on which the header is to be printed.
- Left text. This text will be printed starting in the
left margin.
- Center text. This text will be printed centered
between the left and right margins.
- Right text. This text will be printed justified to
the right margin.
The position in the header where the page number should
be printed is indicated by the character "#" in the
header. For example, the header
2,,,Page #
will print page numbers right justified at top of the
page, starting on page 2. Note that two blank lines are
automatically produced after the header.
If you have previously specified a header, and you do
not want that header, press "N" (for None) in response to
the Header prompt.
F. Footer. This option allows you to specify a line of text
to be printed at the bottom of each page, similar to the
Header option. The line that you enter in response to
the prompt for this option has the same sections and
meaning as the line entered for the Header option. The
footer will be printed preceeded by at least two blank
lines.
N. Number. This option allows you to specify number of the
first page printed. In response to the prompt for this
option, enter a single number. Note, however, that no
number will be printed on any page, unless you have
defined a header or footer containing the "#" character,
as explained above under the Header setting.
S. Spacing. This option allows you to specify whether the
document should be printed with single spacing, or double
spacing. In response to this prompt, select one of these
two options by typing a single character as follow:
S. Single spacing.
D. Double spacing.
J. Justify. This option allows you to specify whether EDIT
should print your file with lines within a paragraph
right justified or not. Edit performs right
justification by expanding the spaces following the last
tab character or first non-blank character in a line. In
response to this prompt, type a single character to
select whether or not EDIT should perform right
justification, as follows:
Y. Yes. EDIT should right justify lines within
paragraphs.
N. No. EDIT should print each line exactly as it
appears on the screen.
4.2. Settings That Only Affect The Editing Environment
Key Setting Desrciption
I. Insert/Replace mode. This option allows you to select
whether EDIT should be in Insert mode or Replace mode.
These two modes are explained above, under the Toggle
Insert/Replace mode command in section 3.1. In response
to the prompt for this option, select the mode by typing
a single character, as follows:
I. Insert mode.
R. Replace mode.
D. Default repetition count. This option allows you to
specify the default value that will be used when the Esc
key is pressed to repeat an EDIT command. EDIT commands
that may be repeated include the cursor movement
commands, the Find and Reverse Find commands, the Replace
and Conditional Replace commands, the Get command, and
the Macro Execute command.
C. Color. This option allows you to specify the display
color (or attribute on monochrome displays) for different
sections of the CRT screen. It also allows you to
specify color for boldface or underlined text. The
default colors (attributes) are different for systems
using the IBM monochrome adaptor (or compatible), and the
color/graphics adaptor. You may want to experiment to
determine what actual colors are displayed for different
color values on a particular color monitor.
In response to the prompt for the Set Color option, enter
up to six values separated by commas. Any of the three
values may be optionally omitted. Each value determines
the color EDIT uses for a different regions of the
screen, or different kinds of text, as follows:
- Normal text display. This is the color EDIT uses for
normal text displayed on the top 23 lines of the
screen.
- Prompt area. This is the color EDIT uses for the
bottom two lines on the screen contain EDIT's prompt
and message lines.
- Marker. This is the color EDIT uses to mark the
character at the cursor position in the text display
area when the screen cursor is moved down to the
prompt area for you to enter a character or line of
text in response to a command prompt.
- Bold text display. This is the color or attribute
EDIT uses to display text which will be "boldface"
when printed.
- Underlined text display. This is the color or
attribute EDIT uses to display text which will be
underlined when printed.
- Bold-Underlined text display. This is the color or
attribute EDIT uses to display text which will be
printed both "boldface" and underlined.
U. Upper Window Size. This option create an additional
"window" into the file you are editing. The window must
be at least five lines long. Setting the window to a
size of zero will remove the window. Each of the two
windows has a separate cursor; thus, using to windows
into a file allows you to look at one part of the file
while you are editing another part of the file. To
switch between windows, press the numeric-pad-asterisk
key, as explained in section in section 3.9.
0. Top of Page Printer Output Codes. This option allows you
to specify a sequence of ASCII codes that will be sent to
the printer before printing each new page. This may be
used to output several LF (line feed) characaters to
adjust the position where the first line of text (or the
first line of the header) will be printed.
In response to the prompt for this option, enter up to 16
positive decimal numbers separated by commas. These
numbers should not be larger than 255. To clear this
option, enter 'n' or 'N' in response to the prompt.
For example, to cause the printer to move down three
lines before starting to print on each page, specify the
following for this option:
10, 10, 10
Note that "10" is the ASCII code for the LF character.
1. Bold ON Printer Output Codes. This option allows you to
specify a sequence of ASCII codes that will cause your
printer to start printing bold characters.
In response to the prompt for this option, enter up to 16
positive decimal numbers separated by commas. These
numbers should not be larger than 255. To clear this
option, enter 'n' or 'N' in response to the prompt.
EDIT will not use the codes you have specified for this
option unless you also specify codes to turn bold off.
If you do not specify any values for these two options,
EDIT will print bold characters by reprinting the line.
2. Bold OFF Printer Output Codes. This option allows you to
specify a sequence of ASCII codes that will cause your
printer to stop printing bold characters.
In response to the prompt for this option, enter up to 16
positive decimal numbers separated by commas. These
numbers should not be larger than 255. To clear this
option, enter 'n' or 'N' in response to the prompt.
EDIT will not use the codes you have specified for this
option unless you also specify codes to turn bold on. If
you do not specify any values for these two options, EDIT
will print bold characters by reprinting the line.
3. Underline ON Printer Output Codes. This option allows
you to specify a sequence of ASCII codes that will cause
your printer to start underlining.
In response to the prompt for this option, enter up to 16
positive decimal numbers separated by commas. These
numbers should not be larger than 255. To clear this
option, enter 'n' or 'N' in response to the prompt.
EDIT will not use the codes you have specified for this
option unless you also specify codes to turn underline
off. If you do not specify any values for these two
options, EDIT will underline by reprinting the line,
using the ASCII underline character.
4. Underline OFF Printer Output Codes. This option allows
you to specify a sequence of ASCII codes that will cause
your printer to stop underlining.
In response to the prompt for this option, enter up to 16
positive decimal numbers separated by commas. These
numbers should not be larger than 255. To clear this
option, enter 'n' or 'N' in response to the prompt.
EDIT will not use the codes you have specified for this
option unless you also specify codes to turn underline
on. If you do not specify any values for these two
options, EDIT will underline by reprinting the line,
using the ASCII underline character.
9. Printer Initialization Printer Output Codes. This option
allows you to specify a sequence of ASCII codes that will
be sent to your printer before printing your entire
document. This is useful for sophisticated printers,
like the HP LaserJet, that may be initialized (for
example, by specifying the font) before you start
printing.
In response to the prompt for this option, enter up to 16
positive decimal numbers separated by commas. These
numbers should not be larger than 255. To clear this
option, enter 'n' or 'N' in response to the prompt.
EDITDOCA.TXT
A. COMMAND SUMMARY
The following tables summarize EDIT's commands. The tables are
organized according to groups of related commands. At the left side
of the tables is listed the key the user must type to activate each
command. Indented under the command key the table gives whatever the
user must type select subcommands or options, or enter values used
used by the command. At the right, the table gives the actions
performed by that command.
A.1. Basic Text Insertion and Deletion
Command Action
Ins Switch between Insert and Replace modes
any text character Insert or Replace character at cursor
Shift-Ins c Insert character "c", even if a command
Enter Insert new line at cursor
tab Insert tab, set temporary Auto-format
left margin
Shift-tab Insert spaces to next tab stop
Ctrl-L Insert form feed character (new page)
Del Delete character at cursor
backspace Delete character left of cursor
Shift-Del Delete line containing cursor
numeric pad minus Delete word left of cursor
numeric pad plus Delete word right of cursor
Shift-numeric pad minus Delete to beginning of line
Shift-numeric pad plus Delete to end of line
A.2. Basic Cursor Movements
Command Action
left Move cursor left one character
right Move cursor right one character
up Move cursor up one line
down Move cursor down one line
Home Move cursor to beginning of line
End Move cursor to end of line
PgUp Move cursor back one screen
PgDn Move cursor forward one screen
Shift-left Move cursor left one word
Shift-right Move cursor right one word
Shift-up Move cursor up one structure
Shift-down Move cursor down one structure
(structures are defined by indentation)
Shift-Home Move cursor left one sentence
Shift-End Move cursor right one sentence
Shift-PgUp Move cursor back one paragraph
Shift-PgDn Move cursor forward one paragraph
A.3. Setting Display, Editing, and Printing Options
Command Action
F3 Set
W (y or n) Word processing mode (Yes or No)
T n1, n2, ... Enter Tab stops (at columns n1, n2, ...)
M l, i, r Enter Margins: left, indent, right
P l, p, n1, n2 Enter Page: lines, paragraph skip range,
1 blank line skip range,
2 blank lines skip range
H text Enter Header: start page, left, center,
right
F text Enter Footer: start page, left, center,
right
N n Enter Number to put on first page
S (s or d) Spacing (single or double)
J (y or n) Justify when printing (Yes or No)
I (i or r) Insert/Replace mode (Insert or Replace)
D n Enter Default repetition count
C d, p, m, b, u, bu Enter Color: display area, prompt area,
marker, bold, underline,
bold-underline
U n Upper window size (number of lines)
0 n1, n2, ... Enter Top of page printer output codes
1 n1, n2, ... Enter Bold ON printer output codes
2 n1, n2, ... Enter Bold OFF printer output codes
3 n1, n2, ... Enter Underline ON printer output codes
4 n1, n2, ... Enter Underline OFF printer output codes
9 n1, n2, ... Enter Initialization printer output codes
A.4. File Selection and/or Exit to DOS
Command Action
F1 Quit
E Exit - update file, then exit to
DOS
U Update - save file
W file Enter Write - write buffer contents to
new file
I file Enter Initialize - get new file
A Abort - exit to DOS without
saving file
S file Enter Save settings to file.
F Settings affecting file being edited
E Settings affecting editor only
Shift-F3 file Enter Retrieve settings from file
A.5. Block Commands: Save, Delete, Get, & Move Text
Command Action
F7 Mark character at cursor as one end of
block (move cursor to other end)
F9 Delete block (save it in block buffer)
Shift-F9 Delete block (without saving)
F10 Save block in block buffer
Shift-F10 file Enter Save block in file
F8 Get text from block buffer and insert at
cursor
Shift-F8 file Enter Get text from file and insert at cursor
To move text, Save it, move cursor; then
Get it
To copy text, Delete it, move cursor;
then Get it
A.6. Goto, Find, and Replace
Command Action
Shift-numeric pad "5" Goto
B Go to beginning (of file)
E Go to end (of file)
L n Enter Go to line "n" (in file)
C n Enter Go to column "n" (in line)
F6 s Enter Find string "s" (search forward)
Shift-F6 s Enter Find string "s" (search backward)
F5 s Enter s Enter Replace 1st string with 2nd (search
forward)
Shift-F5 s Enter s Enter Conditional Replace (search forward)
Y Yes (replace)
N No (do not replace)
S Stop (replace, then stop)
A Abort (abort without replacing)
Ctrl-M (in strings) enter Carriage-Return
Ctrl-J (in strings) enter Line-Feed
A.7. Printing and Miscelleneous Word Processing
Command Action
Shift-PrtSc dev Enter Print (using current settings) to file or
n Enter or device from page n through page m
m Enter
Alt-W Toggle Word-Processing mode on/off
Alt-P Paragraph reformat
Alt-C Center line
Alt-R Right-justify line (expanding char left
of cursor)
Alt-B Toggle boldface on/off
Alt-U Toggle underline on/off
A.8. Help, Macros, Command Repetition, and DOS Commands
Command Action
F2 Display help screens
Alt-H Turn menu line on/off
Shift-F4 Start/Stop macro definition
F4 Execute macro
Esc n command Repeat command "n" times
Esc n Enter Set default repetition count to "n"
Esc command Repeat command using default repetition
count
Esc Abort string input; type Esc instead of
Enter
Alt-V View. Rewrite screen with cursor on
center line
Shift-F1 dos-command Enter Execute DOS command
Numeric-Pad-Asterisk Switch Windows. Move cursor between
upper and lower windows on screen
Alt-O Other Buffer. Switch between two
different files being created or edited
A.9. Alternate Command Keys
Command Action
Alt-G Goto
Alt-H Delete to beginning of line
Alt-J Delete word left
Alt-K Delete word right
Alt-L Delete to end of line
Alt-D Delete entire line
Alt-M Move "structure" down
Alt-N Move "structure" up
Alt-Fn Same as Shift-Fn for function key "n"
Ctrl-Fn Same as Shift-Fn for function key "n"
Ctrl-"x" Same as Shift-"x" where "x" is
Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, <Left>, or <Right>
EDITDOCB.TXT
B. INTERNAL INFORMATION
This appendix describes the meaning EDIT assigns to each possible
byte stored in a file it is editing or printing.
In general, EDIT stores files a normal characters. A line feed
(LF) is stored at the end of each line, and each line that ends a
paragraph also has a carriage return (CR) preceeding the line feed.
Characters in the range 128 through 255 which include normal printing
characters, but also greek characters, box-drawing characters, and
other extensions to the ASCII character set are also stored normally
and may be used in EDIT. The only characters that EDIT treats
specially are the characters in the range 0 (NUL) through 13 (CR).
EDIT does not display anything on the screen for any of these codes,
also some of them affect the display of the text that follows them.
For example, LF is not displayed itself; instead, it causes the
following character to be displayed at the beginning of the next
line. EDIT uses each of these characters as follows:
Character Usage in EDIT
0 Used as a marker of the cursor position
during paragraph reformatting. If the
paragraph already contains this character,
the cursor may be positioned incorrectly
after the paragraph has been reformatted.
1 (Ctrl-A) End Bold. Marks the end of a BOLD section of
text.
2 (Ctrl-B) Begin Bold. Marks the beginning of a BOLD
section of text. Note that it is legal to
insert Ctrl-B and Ctrl-A around a section of
existing text to make that text BOLD. This
may sometimes be easier than using Alt-B, and
then typing the text.
3 (Ctrl-C) End Underline. Marks the end of an
UNDERLINED section of text.
4 (Ctrl-D) Begin Underline. Marks the beginning of an
UNDERLINED section of text. Note that is
legal to insert Ctrl-D and Ctrl-C around a
section of existing text to make that text
UNDERLINED.
5, 6, 7, 8 Not used by EDIT at this time, but reserved
for future expansion.
9 (HT or Ctrl-I) Tab. Causes the following character to be
printed at the next tab stop. Note that a
tab in a line sets the left margin for the
following lines in a paragraph. In general,
tab is used in the first line of a paragraph
to set a local left margin for that
paragraph.
It is not a good idea to insert a tab in a
line other than the first line of a
paragraph, because when the paragraph is
reformatted (because characters preceeding
the tab in the paragraph are inserted or
deleted), the tab will be moved along with
the other characters being reformatted, and
this may cause the left margin to move to
wherever the tab was moved to.
It is good practice to set the tab stops and
margins so that there will be a tab stop
exactly at the left margin.
10 (LF or Ctrl-J) Line Feed. Causes the following character to
be printted at the beginning of the next
line. Note that EDIT stores a LF without a
preceeding CR on lines inside a paragraph,
but a CR-LF pair at the end of a paragraph.
Thus, when a file is printed, EDIT will right
justify lines that end with LF only (no CR).
11 Not used at this time, but reserved for
future expansion.
12 (FF or Ctrl-L) Form Feed. Causes the following character to
be printted at the beginning of the next
page. Note that the FF character is
displayed on the screen of the PC as a little
circle with a plus-sign under it.
13 (CR or Ctrl-M) Carriage Return. Signals the end of the
paragraph. If a line of text has a CR
character immediately preceeding the LF at
the end of the line, that line will never be
right justified when it is printed.
CR will also turn off BOLD and/or UNDERLINE.
Thus, BOLD and UNDERLINE are always turned
off at the end of each paragraph.
14 through 255 Printable Characters. All characters in this
range may be used as the text to be displayed
and printed by EDIT. For a description of
the image displayed or printed for each of
these values, you should consult the
appropriate PC or printer documentation.
FILES294.TXT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk No 294 EDIT - V1.37 v1.2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT is a general purpose text editor and word processing program. It
supports a wide array of editing operations, including powerful commands
that are often not available even in very expensive word processors.
EDIT EXE Main program - type "edit" to start
EDIT SET Setup parameter file
EDIT HLP Help text
* TXT Documentation files (70K total)
* SET Print format files
PRINTDOC BAT Batch file to print documentation
* PRN Documentation files to print
READ ME Brief description which may be "typed" or copied to "lpt1:"
PC-SIG
1030D E. Duane Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1987 PC-SIG
MESSAGE1.DOC
COMMAND OVERVIEW
EDIT's commands are simple and easy to remember. The cursor control keys
on the right side of the keyboard all perform the action designated on the
keycap. A prompt line on the screen indicates the command for each of the
function keys on the left side of the keyboard. The text keys in the center of
the keyboard are used to enter text. In addition to the basic commands, most
commands also have a "stronger" version, that uses the same key, but with Ctrl
or Shift held down.
Yet EDIT is very powerful, both as a general purpose text editor and as a
word processing program. It supports a wide array of editing operations,
including powerful commands that are often not available even in very expensive
word processors. Naturally, EDIT gives you a wide range of control over the
final layout of your printed file, including headers and footers, page size,
tab stops, margins, right justification, spacing, etc. It supports not just
"word wrapping", but automatic paragraph reformatting. Under versions 2.0 or
later of DOS, EDIT even allows you to execute DOS commands, or start another
program without leaving EDIT.
MESSAGE2.DOC
USERS MANUAL
To print a copy of the Users Manual for EDIT, first place the EDIT disk in
drive A. Then prepare your printer for printing. For most printers, all you
need to do is turn on the power. However, with serial printers, you may need
to give a MODE command to set the communication speed, etc. Refer to your
printer manual for details. Also, be sure that the paper in the printer is
aligned at the top of a page. Next, give the DOS command to make drive A,
(which contains the EDIT disk) your current disk. To do this, type
A:
Then, type the command
printdoc
This will print the Users Manual. The manual is about 50 pages long. The
manual is in several chapters, each printed from a separate file. To abort the
printing, press Ctrl-Break to stop printing the current file, and then press
Ctrl-Break again to stop EDIT before it starts printing the next file.
MESSAGE3.DOC
USER SUPPORT
EDIT has been placed in the public domain by it's author. You may copy it
freely, and you are encouraged to share it with others.
However, EDIT is a sophisticated, high quality program. If you use EDIT,
please do your part to support good public domain software by sending a
donation to EDIT's author at the following address:
Thomas N. Thurston
1111 W. El Camino Real, Suite 109-115
Sunnyvale, California 94087
Suggested donation: 25 dollars
If you do send a donation, be sure to include your name and address.
Everyone who donates at least 15 dollars will be notified when major updates of
EDIT are available, and how to get a current copy. Comments and suggestions
are also greatly appreciated.
TOOLS.TXT
A Set of Tool Programs
For the IBM PC
This document describes a set of UNIX-like tool programs for use
on MS-DOS systems. They are handy for general file management, and
obtaining information about text files. They are especially useful
on systems that have a hard disk. A summary of the tools is given on
this page. The following pages contain a more detailed explanation
of each tool.
Tool Function
CALC Simple calculator program
CHMOD Change file mode (hidden, write protected, etc.)
CP A more general COPY program
CRYPT File encryption/decryption program
DELETE A more general DEL or ERASE program
FD Find Directory
FF Find File (anywhere on the disk)
FL Find Lines in files containing specified strings
LF List directory with File types
LINES Count lines
LOG Obtain a log file (in a pipe)
LS List Sorted directory of files
MOVE Move files between directories
PAGES Count pages
READ Read file (for use in pipe)
RUNTIME Give execution time of a specified program
SIZE Give total size (in bytes) of specified files
STRINGS Display ASCII strings in file
UNWS Convert a WordStar file to ASCII format
WORDS Count words
In the decriptions that follow, whenever the term filespec is
used, you may give any name that refers to a single a file or a group
of files (using the DOS wildcard characters * and ?). When the term
dirspec is used, you may give any name that refers to a directory or
device. As with a filespec, you may use DOS wildcard characters in a
dirspec.
CALC
Synopsis: CALC [/01234567] expression
or
CALC [/01234567]
expression
expression
...
Examples: CALC 40k - 16
CALC
1.23-4.56
12*5 + 3*(234 - 13*6)
99/7
'%'
CALC is a simple calculator program. It accepts a single
expression on its invocation line, or a sequence of input lines
from standard input (terminated by a blank line or end of file).
CALC accepts numbers in hex (H suffix) or decimal (with optional
K suffix meaning to multiply the value by 1024), or character
constants (surrounded by single quotes). The result of each
expression is sent to standard output on a line with the value
printed in decimal, hex, and (optionally) a quoted character
value.
By default, CALC displays decimal numbers with 2 digits after the
decimal point, but a different number of digits can be specified
by an option when CALC is started. CALC accepts the following
option:
/0 Display the number without a decimal point.
/n Display n digits after the decimal point, where n is a
decimal number from 0 to 7.
CHMOD
Synopsis: CHMOD [-rhsa] [+rhsa] filespec ...
Examples: CHMOD *.exe *.com +r
CHMOD secret.txt +h
CHMOD *.* -h +r
CHMOD (Change mode) sets the file attributes for the matching
files. If there is no directory component of a filespec, the
current directory is assumed. If there is no file portion of a
filespec, the directory itself is used. A plus sign preceeding
the options will set the corresponding attribute. A minus sign
preceeding the option will clear the attribute. The following
options may be given:
-a Clear Archive Bit. This bit is set on whenever a file has
been written to and closed. It is used by BACKUP and
RESTORE.
+a Set Archive Bit.
-h Clear Hidden Bit. If this bit is set, the file will be
excluded from normal directory searches.
+h Set Hidden Bit.
-r Clear Read-Only Bit. If this bit is set, the file may not be
modified (written to, or deleted).
+r Set Read-Only Bit.
-s Clear System Bit. If this bit is set, the file is considered
a "system" file, and the file will be excluded from normal
directory searches.
+s Set System Bit.
CP
Synopsis: CP [-q] filespec
or
CP [-fq] dirspec
or
CP [-q] filespec ... dirspec
Examples: CP \work \tools -q
CP *.txt *.doc a:
FF *.c |cp a: -f
CP (Copy) copies the matching files to another directory
(possibly on another device). If there is no directory component
of a filespec, the current directory is assumed. If there is no
file portion of a filespec, *.* is assumed. If no dirspec is
given, the current directory is assumed to be the target
directory. A dirspec is required if more than one filespec is
given. The following options may be given:
-q Query. CP prompts the user for confirmation of each file to
copy.
-f Files. A list of files to copy will be read from standard
input, and the target directory must be specified as the
single argument on the command line.
The options may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. They may occur at any point among the arguments.
CRYPT
Synopsis: CRYPT [-fq] filespec ...
Examples: CRYPT *.txt *.doc -q
CRYPT file1 file2 file3 -f
CRYPT \private -q
CRYPT is a file encryption/decryption program. After it starts
executing, it prompts you to enter a key. The key must be at
least two characters long. The key is not echoed as you enter
it. It then requests that you enter the key again. If the
second key is the same as the first, CRYPT will encrypt the
matching files, using the key. To decrypt the files, use CRYPT
again with the same key. Do not forget your key! If you do, it
will be impossible to decrypt the files.
If there is no directory component of the filespec, the current
directory is assumed. If there is no file portion of the
filespec, *.* is assumed.
CRYPT accepts the following options:
-f Fast. Process the file using a faster (but not quite as
safe) algorithm. If the "f" option is not selected, CRYPT
makes a copy of the file being processed, encrypts the copy,
and then renames the files so to avoid any risk of leaving
the file in a partially encrypted state if an I/O error
occurs during processing.
However, with the "f" option, the file is encrypted without
making a backup copy of it first. As a result, the file is
processed much faster, but there is a small chance that an
I/O error will leave the file partially encrypted. In
addition, the "f" option requires less disk space, since it
does not make of a copy of the file before processing it.
The problem with leaving a file in a partially encrypted
state is that CRYPT will not be able to tell which part is
encrypted and which part isn't, and thus will be unable to
decrypt the file.
-q Query. CRYPT prompts the user for confirmation of each file
to process.
DELETE
Synopsis: DELETE [-b] filespec ...
Examples: DELETE *.bak
DELETE -b *.o badfile.tmp oldfile.*
DELETE deletes the matching files. If there is no directory
component of the filespec, the current directory is assumed. If
there is no file portion of the filespec, *.* is assumed. By
default, DELETE prompts the user for confirmation of each
deletion. The following option is available:
-b Brief. DELETE does not prompt for a confirmation of each
deletion (unless the filespec contains *.*).
The option may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. It may occur at any point among the arguments.
FD
Synopsis: FD [dirspec ...]
Examples: FD
FD \usr | SIZE
FD (Find Directory) returns a list of matching directory names
including the specified directory and any directories within that
directory (and so on). If no dirspec is given, the root
directory is assumed. The dirspec can have * or ? as wildcard
specifiers. The list of matching directories is sent to standard
output. The output list gives full pathnames for the
directories.
FF
Synopsis: FF [filespec ...]
Examples: FF *.bak
FF *.c *.h | SORT
FF \tom | LINES
FF (Find File) returns a list of matching file names starting the
the directory portion of the filespec, and including any matching
file names in any contained directories. If there is no
directory given in the filespec, the root directory is assumed.
If there is no filename portion of the filespec, then *.* is
assumed. The list of matching files is sent to standard output.
The output list gives full pathnames for the filenames.
FL
Synopsis: FL [-fpl] [filespec ...] [string ...]
Examples: FL /f *.c *.h "longjmp" "setjmp" | LOG jmps | MORE
FF *.txt | FL "current" > wordlist
FL -fpl *.prn "fish" "fowl" |more
FL reads the matching files and sends all lines containing one of
the specified strings to standard output. If there is no
directory component of the filespec, the current directory is
assumed. If there is no filename component of the filespec, *.*
is assumed. If invocation does not give a filespec, the list of
filespec's will be read from standard input. The following
options are available:
-f File. Each line sent to standard output is to be labeled
with the name of the file from which it was read.
-p Page. Each output line is to be labeled with the page number
in which it occurs in the file. Pages are assumed to be
delimited by Form-Feed characters.
-l Line. Each line is to be labeled with the number of that
line. Lines are assumed to be delimited by Line-Feed
characters. If both the 'p' and 'l' options are given, then
the line number will be the line number on the current page,
otherwise, the line number will be the line within the file.
The options may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. More than one option may be given after a single
dash (or slash). The options, filespecs, and strings may be
given in any order.
LINES
Synopsis: LINES [filespec ...]
Examples: LINES *.txt
FF \tom\*.txt | READ | LINES
LINES counts the lines (delimited by Line Feed characters) in its
input and prints the number of lines on standard output. If
there is no directory component of the filespec, the current
directory is assumed. If there is no filename component of the
filespec, *.* is assumed. If no filespec is given, the lines in
standard input are counted.
LOG
Synopsis: LOG file
Examples: FF *.tmp | LOG tmpfiles | LINES
LS -l *.txt | LOG txtfiles | MORE
LOG simply copies standard input to a file as well as to standard
output. It is useful for capturing intermediate information from
a pipe in a file as well as passing it on down the pipe.
LF
LS
Synopsis: LF [-aceflrst] [filespec ...]
LS [-aceflrst] [filespec ...]
Examples: LF
LS/l b:
LS *.c *.h | READ | LINES
LF (List directory with File type) is simply LS with the f (file
type) and the c (columns) options enabled.
LS (List directory) lists the matching files. Normally, the
files are sorted by filename. If there is no directory component
of the filespec, the current directory is assumed. If there is
no filename component of the filespec, *.* is assumed. The list
of files is sent to standard output. The following options are
available:
-a All. All files are included in the directory list, including
hidden, directory, and system files, and the pseudo-file that
represents the volume name.
-c Columns. The files are listed in columns. If only file
names are being listed, 5 columns are used. If the long form
of the list is used ('l' option), 2 columns will be used
(unless the 'a' option is given, and only 1 column will fit).
-e Extension. The files are sorted first by extension, then by
filename.
-f File type. Directory files will be indicated by appending a
backslash character to the filename in the list.
-l Long. The list will include various information about the
file, including the size of the file, and the date and time
the file was last modified. If the 'a' option is also given,
the file attributes will be also listed for each file. The
meaning of each attribute is as follows:
r Read Only. The file may only be read; not written to or
deleted.
h Hidden. The file is normally hidden (not listed in
directory searches).
s System. The file is a hidden file reserved for special
system functions.
a Archive. Indicates that the file has been modified since
it was archived using the DOS BACKUP command.
-r Reverse. The sorting order is reversed.
-s Sort by Size. The sorting order is by file size.
-t Sort by Time. The sorting order is by the date and time the
file was last modified.
The options may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. They may occur at any point among the arguments.
MOVE
Synopsis: MOVE [-q] filespec
or
MOVE [-fq] dirspec
or
MOVE [-q] filespec filespec ... dirspec
Examples: MOVE /q \work \tools
MOVE *.txt *.doc \text -q
FF *.txt *.doc |move \usr\txt
MOVE moves the matching files from directory to another on the
same device. If there is no directory component of a filespec,
the current directory is assumed. If there is no file portion of
a filespec, *.* is assumed. If no dirspec is given, the current
directory is assumed to be the target directory. A dirspec is
required if more than one filespec is given. The following
options are available:
-q Query. MOVE prompts the user for confirmation of each file
to move.
-f Files. A list of files to move will be read from standard
input, and the target directory must be specified as the
single argument on the command line.
The options may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. They may occur at any point among the arguments.
PAGES
Synopsis: PAGES [filespec ...]
Examples: PAGES *.lst
FF *.txt | LOG txtfiles | READ | PAGES
PAGES counts the pages (delimited by Form Feed characters) in its
input and prints the number of pages on standard output. If
there is no directory component of the filespec, the current
directory is assumed. If there is no filename component of the
filespec, *.* is assumed. If no filespec is given, the pages in
standard input are counted.
READ
Synopsis: READ [-fl] [filespec ...]
Examples: READ *.c *.h | LINES
FF \tom\*.lst | READ | PAGES
READ reads the matching files and sends the contents of the files
to standard output. If there is no directory component of the
filespec, the current directory is assumed. If there is no
filename component of the filespec, *.* is assumed. If
invocation does not give a filespec, the list of filespec's will
be read from standard input. The following options are
available:
-f File. Each line sent to standard output is to be labeled
with the name of the file from which it was read.
-l Line. Each line is to be labeled with the number of that
line. Lines are assumed to be delimited by Line-Feed
characters.
The options may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. More than one option may be given after a single
dash (or slash). The options, filespecs, and strings may be
given in any order.
RUNTIME
Synopsis: RUNTIME program [argument ...]
Examples: RUNTIME plm86 prog1.plm
RUNTIME batchfil arg1 arg2
RUNTIME executes another program or batch file and times the
execution of it. When the other program has finished its
execution, the total execution time is displayed in the form of
HH:MM:SS.SS. Although the time includes hundredths of seconds,
the resolution is accurate only to the nearest 10th of a second
or so. The runtime includes the time taken to load the program.
Since the time is computed by subtracting the time of day at the
start from the time of day at the end, the number of hours will
be off by 24 for each time midnight is passed.
SIZE
Synopsis: SIZE [-f] [filespec ...]
Examples: SIZE .
FD \tools | SIZE
SIZE *.c *.h
SIZE sends the total size (in bytes) of the matching files to
standard output. If the filespec does not contain a directory
component, the current directory is assumed. If the filespec
does not include a filename component, *.* is assumed. If no
filespec is given, the size of all the files in the current
directory is given. The following option is available:
-f Files. A list of files will be read from standard input.
The option may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. It may occur at any point among the arguments.
STRINGS
Synopsis: STRINGS [-afl] [filespec ...]
Examples: STRINGS command.com -l4
STRINGS *.exe /f
STRINGS reads the specified file(s) and displays any text (ASCII)
strings found in the file to standard output. By default, only
those strings that end in a null character are included, but this
can be changed with the -a option. If there is no directory
component of the filespec, the current directory is assumed. If
there is no filename component of the filespec, *.* is assumed.
If invocation does not give a filespec, the list of filespec's
will be read from standard input. The following options are
available:
-a All. All strings are included, not just those that end in a
null character.
-f File. Each line sent to standard output is to be labeled
with the name of the file from which it was read.
-ln Length. Only strings with length n or greater (where n is a
positive integer) will be displayed.
The options may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. More than one option may be given after a single
dash (or slash). The options, filespecs, and strings may be
given in any order.
UNWS
Synopsis: UNWS [-fq] filespec ...
Examples: UNWS *.txt *.doc -q
UNWS file1 file2 file3 -f
UNWS \private -q
UNWS is a program that strips converts WordStar files into a pure
ASCII (pure text) format. When WordStar creates a file, it
stores some of the characters in a way so that they do not appear
as normal text to another word processor. UNWS converts these
characters back to their normal text form.
If there is no directory component of the filespec, the current
directory is assumed. If there is no file portion of the
filespec, *.* is assumed.
UNWS accepts the following option:
-q Query. UNWS prompts the user for confirmation of each file
to process.
WORDS
Synopsis: WORDS [-lns] [filespec ...]
Examples: WORDS a:*.txt
FF chap*.txt | READ | WORDS -l | SORT | LOG t1 | MORE
WORDS *.c -snl
WORDS reads the text of all matching files, and processes the
words in that text. If the filespec does not contain a directory
component, the current directory is assumed. If the filespec
does not contain a filename component, *.* is assumed. If no
filespec is given, then the words in standard input are
processed. The following options are available:
-l Long. If the L option is not given, the total number of
words is sent to standard output. If the L option is given,
standard output is sent a sorted list where each line
contains one of the words found in the input, preceeded by
the number of times that word occured.
-n Numbers. Numbers are also counted as words.
-s Strings. Each string (using C syntax) is to be counted as a
single word.
The options may be preceeded by a dash '-' or a slash '/'
character. They may occur at any point among the arguments. Any
number of options may be given after a single dash.
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #0294
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
EDIT EXE 52224 1-07-87 10:34p
EDIT HLP 6554 1-03-87 8:53p
EPSON SET 56 3-03-86 10:55a
C-ITOH SET 50 3-03-86 10:55a
OKIDATA SET 46 3-03-86 10:52a
LASERJET SET 99 3-03-86 10:55a
EDITDOC0 TXT 3492 1-14-87 1:22a
EDITDOC0 SET 85 11-07-85 10:06a
EDITDOC1 TXT 7901 12-06-86 12:32p
EDITDOC1 SET 100 1-21-86 4:46p
EDITDOC2 TXT 23298 12-13-86 11:44a
EDITDOC2 SET 104 1-21-86 4:48p
EDITDOC3 TXT 39069 12-16-86 1:34a
EDITDOC3 SET 96 12-16-86 1:31a
EDITDOC4 TXT 16006 12-13-86 11:47a
EDITDOC4 SET 95 12-13-86 11:49a
EDITDOCA TXT 7925 12-04-86 10:57p
EDITDOCA SET 121 11-07-85 10:20a
EDITDOCB TXT 4562 3-03-86 12:01p
EDITDOCB SET 126 11-07-85 10:24a
PRINTDOC BAT 175 1-02-87 8:49a
MESSAGE0 DOC 1259 1-01-87 11:05p
MESSAGE1 DOC 1214 1-01-87 11:05p
MESSAGE2 DOC 944 1-20-87 9:42a
MESSAGE3 DOC 794 1-01-87 11:05p
GO BAT 161 3-06-86 3:09p
EGA43 COM 26 12-02-86 7:48p
EGA25 COM 13 1-03-87 11:52a
CALC EXE 15360 1-02-87 12:15a
CHMOD EXE 5120 1-02-87 12:29a
CP EXE 10240 1-14-87 12:35a
CRYPT EXE 6144 1-14-87 12:39a
DELETE EXE 4608 1-14-87 12:51a
FD EXE 3584 1-02-87 12:31a
FF EXE 3584 1-02-87 12:32a
FL EXE 11264 1-02-87 12:32a
LF EXE 11264 1-02-87 12:33a
LINES EXE 4096 1-02-87 12:33a
LOG EXE 2560 1-02-87 12:34a
LS EXE 11264 1-02-87 12:35a
MOVE EXE 10752 1-14-87 12:55a
PAGES EXE 4096 1-02-87 12:36a
READ EXE 10240 1-02-87 12:37a
RUNTIME EXE 3072 1-02-87 12:37a
SIZE EXE 9216 1-02-87 12:38a
STRINGS EXE 10240 1-02-87 12:38a
UNWS EXE 5120 1-14-87 1:15a
WORDS EXE 6656 1-02-87 12:45a
TOOLS TXT 20826 1-23-87 3:55p
TOOLS SET 83 8-18-86 11:05a
READ ME 862 1-02-87 12:06a
FILES294 TXT 908 1-30-87 9:03a
52 file(s) 337754 bytes
0 bytes free