Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ogicse!emory!hubcap!gheff
From: gheff@hubcap.clemson.edu (Gary R Heffelfinger)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Amiga editor programming advice
Message-ID: <8680@hubcap.clemson.edu>
Date: 10 Apr 90 20:45:09 GMT
Organization: Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Lines: 71

>    >From:     danbabcock@eklektik.uucp
>    >
>    >Dan Barrett wrote (heavily edited):
>    >
>    >> I am porting an editor to the Amiga...
>    >> Should I use the console device...what kind of window, etc.?
>    >> Any tips? Thanks!
>    >
>    >If you want a slow, frustrating editor - like most editors on the Amiga -
>    >then open a window and do your IO via the console device. If, however, you
>    >want an editor that will make people shout "WOW!", here's what to do:

Blitz (the browser) made me say "wow", but I rarely use it.  Sure it's
blindingly fast, but I prefer the features of "more" and I'd rather stay
on the WB screen.

>    >
>    >Open a custom, one-bitplane screen. Do not use the operating system for
>    >text output. Do not use the blitter. Instead, write a very efficient
>    >character output routine (in machine code, naturally) that performs eight
>    >moves per character.
>    >
>    >For scrolling, use the copper, not the blitter or the CPU. By making
>    >clever use of the copper, it's possible to scroll very efficiently.
>    >...
>    >I have a few user interface suggestions too: utilitize the numeric
>    >keypad as in the IBM-style arrangement of Home, PgUp, PgDown, etc.
> 
>    UGH!!!  My first thought when I read this was it was a joke.
>    PLEASE!!!!  Don't listen to this.

What he said.  (Forgive me.  I missed the start of this thread so my
quoting may be wrong.)

Look at Matt Dillon's DME for an example of a crisp, small,
feature-packed editor that behaves and will probably work flawlessly
under 1.7.

If DME is too slugish for you, you need to chill out and get off the
caffeine.  :-)

I have no particular opinion about the IBM keys, but it can't hurt.
Don't automatically open up a window on a custom screen.  Some of us
would rather stay on the WB screen, thank you, even if it is a little
more sluggish.

>    >One last suggestion: do not implement
>    >infinitely long lines; instead, simply wrap at 80 columns (at least when
>    >the user is entering text).

Ick!  Some of us *like* long lines.

>    >
> 
>    Why not?  Allowing a wrap at 80 is fine, forcing someone to wrap at 80 all the
>    time is a good way to make me never use your editor.

I wholeheartedly agree.  Editors like DME and QED allow you to enter
long lines if you wish, and to wrap if you wish.

-Gary






-- 
             Gary R Heffelfinger ------ gheff@hubcap.clemson.edu
               Clemson University - Info. Systems Development
       Eagles soar, but a weasel will never get sucked into a jet engine.