From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!seismo!rlgvax!guy
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Title: Re: Rand Editor
Article-I.D.: rlgvax.242
Posted: Tue Apr 12 14:58:04 1983
Received: Wed Apr 13 08:59:22 1983
References: rlgvax.203 amd70.1779 flairvax.105


    Turning tabs into spaces is a feature, not a bug.... Do you really
    like it when you're inserting text into tab-infested whitespace
    and you can't type where you want because there's no "there" there ?
    ...or when trailing characters jump spasmodically when you type
    the character that pushes it to the brink of the next tabstop ?

This does not happen on "vi" or our (or some other) word processors, because
you can't PUT the cursor in the middle of tab-"infested" whitespace.  On
our other editor, you can *tell* the difference between tabs and spaces
because it uses the VT100 "centered dot" character to indicate tabs (on
other terminals, you may lose).  I have *no* problem with characters to
the right jumping; in fact, it's rather reassuring (it tells me that there
are *still* tabs there) and even fun to watch.  It also means that if you
align comments on tab boundaries, they *stay* aligned there regardless of what
you insert at the left margin.

This discussion should be moved to net.flame; any further comments I make will
get sent there.

					Guy Harris
					RLG Corporation
					{seismo,mcnc,we13}!rlgvax!guy