editors

[Richard Harter]

Debates about editors seems to be straying from UNIX a bit, but I'll
add some more input.  Itty Bitty Machine Co (Remember them) actually
has a very good screen editor.  The current incarnation is XEDIT; my
experience was with an earlier version.  Some of the nice features:

(1) Edit multiple files in one session, switching back and forth,
a la EMACS.

(2) Multiple windows including horizontal windows.  I disremember whether
you could display multiple horizontal windows but you could definitely
edit a restricted field (e.g. columns 60-90).

(3) For you mode/modeless fans:  All commands were in a command window
(actually line).  What you typed went on the screen at the position the
cursor pointed at.  A single key stroke popped you to the command line.

(4) Hardware delete and switch from overwrite to insert mode.

(5) You could type into the screen and edit all day without interacting
with the computer until you hit the enter key.  Lovely on a heavily 
loaded system.  The editor sucked in one screenful at time.

Really a nice editor -- I've even heard EMACS fanatics admit that it
was good.  Only one small drawback -- you need an IBM terminal and an
IBM operating system.

-- 

Richard Harter, SMDS Inc. [Disclaimers not permitted by company policy.]
	For Cheryl :-)