Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!ncar!tank!uxc!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!uxg.cso.uiuc.edu!phil
From: phil@uxg.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: tough bug in vi
Message-ID: <33700001@uxg.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 20 Dec 88 20:32:00 GMT
References: <11500001@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu>
Lines: 19
Nf-ID: #R:uxh.cso.uiuc.edu:11500001:uxg.cso.uiuc.edu:33700001:000:1189
Nf-From: uxg.cso.uiuc.edu!phil    Dec 20 14:32:00 1988


Thanks for all the posting and e-mail about vi.  The responses varied over
quite a wide range from "it works as designed" to "here's how to fix it".
Sorry I haven't had time to actually try out any suggestions.  I might
have that time in the next couple of weeks (hopefully).

Consider an editor environment (not necessarily emacs) where something is
mapping keystrokes into editing functions, and something ELSE is constantly
reading the file buffer and updating the screen to make the changed buffer
always appear on the screen.  The screen updating has nothing to do with the
commands being executed.  The only influence they have on the screen is the
active window and cursor position, and the buffer contents.

If I build a key map to function that works just like vi, it will NOT
display just like vi.  I am working on just such a thing as an integral
part of a smart terminal program for my personal computer.  If such a
thing existed for YOUR personal computer, would it bother you that the
display would always show precisely what is in the file buffer as fast
as the screen can be updated (usually very fast)?  In an attempt to
modularize this program, this is the result I get.