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From: p554mve@mpirbn.UUCP (Michael van Elst)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: Amiga editor programming advice
Message-ID: <718@mpirbn.UUCP>
Date: 8 Apr 90 20:35:31 GMT
References: <1519@eklektik.UUCP>
Reply-To: p554mve@mpirbn.UUCP (Michael van Elst)
Organization: Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Bonn
Lines: 36

In article <1519@eklektik.UUCP> danbabcock@eklektik.UUCP (/dev/ph1) writes:
>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.
Or use the blitter and write your output to a window. Maybe it's not
as fast but more convenient. Giving about 14500 characters/second.
Or 0.15 seconds per screen update. (With 8x8 sized characters).

>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.
Again, use the blitter (needed for window output). The blitter needs
about 25 milliseconds to scroll a complete bitplane. You can't scroll
much faster since you have to stay with the display rate.

>.. you will end up with the
>absolute fastest possible editor on the Amiga,
It will scroll faster than I can look.

Now, there are things I like to have in an editor.
It can be used in a CLI window or use it's own window.
It can be used with arbitrary (fixed sized) fonts.
It can be used on the serial port (with a terminal, assuming
ANSI control-codes).
It can handle text that will not fit in main memory.
It will load reasonable sized texts as fast as possible (the disk
drive permits). Now say, 100k text in 2 seconds is enough.
It will search (and replace) fast enough, even with regular expressions.

And that's for my personal preferences:
It should look and feel like VI.


-- 
Michael van Elst
p554mve@mpirbn.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de