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From: mhnadel@gryphon.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: large file text editor
Message-ID: <555@gryphon.CTS.COM>
Date: Wed, 27-May-87 17:21:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: gryphon.555
Posted: Wed May 27 17:21:09 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 29-May-87 01:47:32 EDT
References: <119200008@convexs> <246@uvicctr.UUCP> <334@booboo.UUCP> <3610@gitpyr.gatech.EDU>
Organization: Trailing Edge Technology, Redondo Beach, Ca.
Lines: 38
Summary: spf-pc

In article <3610@gitpyr.gatech.EDU>, iadt3tb@gitpyr.gatech.EDU (T. Terrell Banks) writes:
>     I'm using a text editor system from Command Technology Corp. called
>  SPF-PC.  It is a clone of the IBM SPF editor.  The doc states
>      " File size limited only by the capacity of the hard disk or
>        extended/expanded RAM."
>     I just edited a 225K file with no trouble.  On an AT this editor is
>  greased-lightening fast, it's just plain fast on slower machines.  No
>  trouble or bugs have been found to date and I recommend it highly. 

I use spf-pc a lot and generally like it but there are two limitations
I've found (note that these aren't bugs since they're true of the mainframe
version of spf as well.)  One is that it cannot be used at all with
files that have record lengths greater than 255.  If you try it will
just say that "record length exceeds spf-pc maximum."  The other limitation
is that there is no word entity.  That is, you always have to delete either
individual characters or lines and you can only move the cursor by characters
or lines (or pages.)
The lack of a tab character is also inconvenient for FORTRAN programming.

On the other hand, it remembers the last settings you used (for disk,
path and file extension as well as max record size and a bunch of other
parameters) which can be very convenient and the multiple editing windows
work nicely.  I would probably recommend it primarily to people who are
already familiar with SPF (i.e. those of us who suffer with TSO) and are
willing to tolerate a few minor conveniences of other editors for the
speed and familiarity.  You might also note that there are at least
two versions of spf-pc out there which seem to have minor differences
between them.  In bothe cases, the documentation is inadequate for those
who have never used spf.

Does anyone make a pc version of edt?

Miriam Nadel
-- 
"In a long dispute both parties are wrong." - Voltaire
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