Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!uwvax!astroatc!vidiot!brown
From: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: destructive backspace on vi
Message-ID: <743@vidiot.UUCP>
Date: 6 Sep 90 05:06:26 GMT
References: <1990Aug30.224234.19582@ecst.csuchico.edu> <1990Sep4.023335.28883@cbnewsl.att.com>
Reply-To: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Vidiot's Hangout
Lines: 33

In article <1990Sep4.023335.28883@cbnewsl.att.com> psrc@mtunq.att.com (Paul S. R. Chisholm) writes:
<In article <1990Aug30.224234.19582@ecst.csuchico.edu>, dbar@csuchico.edu (David Barrett) writes:
<> When I use a screen editor, I like a "destructive backspace" (you
<> back up and the character under the cursor disappears).  Previous
<> versions of vi that I have used (on AT&T [systems] for example) have
<> had this feature, I think. . . .  [In my current version,] backspace
<> apparently is nondestructive and can't be altered by ordinary
<> users.
<
<Every version of vi I've used has a non-destructive backspace, both in
<input mode, and when editing text on the bottom line in "colon" mode.
<In fact, the documentation lists this as a feature, "so you can see
<what you had typed" (or words to that effect).  (Also, destructive
<backspace when inserting can be quite demanding, depending on how your
<terminal does such things.  Yes, I know, every PC editor in the world
<does this.  PC video access and UNIX(R) system terminal access aren't
<the same; and if you want details or argument on this point, please use
<e-mail.)  Your sysadmin is correct:  you'd need access to the source
<code to change this.

While it is true that the character doesn't "vanish", when the backspace
is pressed, while in input (edit) mode, the characters are no longer valid.
I find it very handy to see what I had typed previously, making it easier
to type over the same characters, changing only those that were incorrect.
Of course this falls apart when the mistake doesn't equate out when typing
in new characters.  In this case I just ignore it.

In any event it has never been a problem for me.  One just gets used to the
operation over the years.
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