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From: gast@maui.cs.ucla.edu (David Gast)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: Yet another screen editor
Keywords: new editor
Message-ID: <1991Jan20.023645.12341@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: 20 Jan 91 02:36:45 GMT
References: <1991Jan16.230527.3200@cs.uiuc.edu> <3879@pta.oz.au> <21335@oolong.la.locus.com>
Sender: news@cs.ucla.edu (Mr. News)
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
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In article <21335@oolong.la.locus.com> jfr@locus.com (Jon Rosen) writes:
>In article <3879@pta.oz.au> bgg@pta.oz.au (Ben Golding) writes:

>>I disagree entirely.  Vi has exactly this capability by using the
>>various positioning commands, for example:

>> 	d) 	delete to end of sentence
>>	d}	delete to end of paragraph
>>	d$	delete to end of line
>>	d%	delete to matching parenthesis
>>	dfx	delete up to and including first character x
>>	dtx	delete up to first character x

>As a novice vi user  ... this is an example of what I consider vi's
>biggest defects: the lack of intuitive command names...  
>To indulge in a bit of "If I were the king of the forest", I would
>probably have chosen the following initials:

>> 	ds 	delete to end of sentence
>>	dp	delete to end of paragraph
>>	de	delete to end of line
>>	d)	delete to matching parenthesis
>>	dix	delete up to and including first character x
>>	dfx	delete up to first character x

The trouble with your suggestion is that you have missed the concept of
<action><object>.  Thus, ) represents end of sentence, ( represents
beginning of sentence, } is end of paragraph.  Unless you want s to take
you to the end of the sentence, and p to take you to the end of the
paragraph, you do not want to use the initials you suggested.  (You might
also want to get rid of the <action><object> model, but that would be a
major calamity).

Given your choices:

1. How do you go to the delete to the beginning of something?  Or is that
   unimportant to you?
2. More importantly, if p means end of paragraph, what would you use "put
   after" and "put before"?
3. If e means end of line, how would indicate the end of word?
4. $ to mean end of line is also present in a number of other commands like
   grep.  Would you suggest that grep change as well?

After you have learned how to use vi, you will understand that it is laid
out pretty well.  I have my gripes as well, and I am particularly frustrated
by too dangerous to map that, but it really does work well after you learn
all of the objects.  And it works fine until you learn all the objects.

David Gast