Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucsd!scripps!bashford
From: bashford@scripps.edu (Don Bashford)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: Why I hate Emacs
Message-ID: <863@riscsm.scripps.edu>
Date: 13 Dec 90 07:17:49 GMT
References: <9012111501.AA09140@maui.coral.com>
Sender: news@Scripps.EDU
Organization: Research Institute of Scripps Clinic; La Jolla, CA
Lines: 46

In article <9012111501.AA09140@maui.coral.com> tomt@maui.coral.com (Tom Tulinsky) writes:
>
>I'm typing a letter in Mail mode.  I try to do C-x C-n to set a goal
>column.  Now I'm getting beeps and my command line says `
>   "Please type y, n, or space"
>Why?  What are the consequences?  I type space. It seemed safest.  The
>letter disappears.
>
>This happened in Epoch, although it would probably be the same in Emacs.
>
> Coral
>     * **	Tom Tulinsky                508 460-6010
>  *  **		Coral Network Corporation   fax 508 481-6258
>*  ** 		734 Forest St               net: tomt@coral.com
> ***		   Marlboro, MA 01752		
>  **		   U S A
>*********	
>NETWORKS	


Nope, not in my emacs-18.55 on a Sparc.  When I type C-x n (which
is what I suspect you did rather than C-x C-n) I get a help window
which says:

  You have typed C-x n, invoking disabled command narrow-to-region:
  Restrict editing in this buffer to the current region.
  The rest of the text becomes temporarily invisible and untouchable
  but is not deleted; if you save the buffer in a file, the invisible
  text is included in the file.  C-x w makes all visible again.


  You can now type
  Space to try the command just this once,
        but leave it disabled,
  Y to try it and enable it (no questions if you use it again),
  N to do nothing (command remains disabled).

and the minibuffer says, "Please type y, n, or space"

So, you see, your letter didn't really get clobbered, you
could have got it back by typing C-x w.  Somehow, I expect
you will still hate emacs, but for Epoch fans, this sounds
like an Epoch-bug worth looking into.

Cheers,
Don Bashford