Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!rutgers!psuvax1!vu-vlsi!dsinc!syd
From: syd@dsinc.UUCP (Syd Weinstein)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: Re: Elm command misfeature
Message-ID: <60@dsinc.UUCP>
Date: 15 Feb 89 02:16:57 GMT
References: <963@csd4.milw.wisc.edu>
Reply-To: syd@dsinc.UUCP (Syd Weinstein)
Organization: Datacomp Systems, Inc., Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
Lines: 60

In article <963@csd4.milw.wisc.edu> jgd@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (John G Dobnick,EMS E380,4142295727,) writes:
>Somewhere along the line (Elm 2.0 ?), the "Z" command was added to Elm.
>When one types this command, it echos "Command: ZZ" and Elm then procedes
>to exit and SAVE ALL MESSAGES in the "save file".
>
>I have two objections to this.  One is that I ALWAYS want to be asked
>if I want messages saved, since I prefer to leave unanswered things in the
>system mailbox.  This command does not allow me that choice.
As the author of that command, I'd like to comment.

Thats the purpose of the command, a quick exit from mail, like the
older mailx exit that saves all read mail into the mbox.  If you
don't want that, use q. 

>The second, and more serious, objection is that Elm lies to me!  Yes, LIES!!!
>I type a *single* "Z", and Elm says I typed "ZZ".  (And, needless to
>say, I don't like this.)
Elm doesn't lie, it outputs the command name.  The name of the commnand
is ZZ, if you type m, elm echos mail, did you type mail?  Elm isnt lying
but acknowledging the command.

>I would like to know the reason for the "Z" command.  (I note that the "vi"
>editor uses "ZZ" to exit, but this requires *TWO* keystrokes.  If the
>intent was that Elm emulate this exit command, its implementation is
>faulty.)
The name is a steal from vi, the reason is to have an exit like mailx
that didnt ask the questions all the time.  Note, no messages are lost,
just moved to the default mail save folder.

>Also, please note that it is very easy to *accidentally* hit a "Z" if
>one's fingers miss the "shift" key (on at least some keyboards, "shift"
>and "Z" are adjacent).  This is poor human engineering.  (This keeps "getting"
>me, and I get tired of re-editing my system mailbox to restore these 
>"lost" messages.)
Agreed, Z is next to shift, but I've havent heard of others complaining
about this.

Secondly, this feature is not in Elm2.1, so most of the net
won't even know what you are talking about.  It's a new feature in
Elm 2.2, so you have a development copy of the system.

>I would like to see one of the following changes made.
>
>a) Correct the implementation of this option to require *two* keystrokes.
>   A quick examination of the code reveals no obvious difficulty here.
No command is two keystrokes, this violates the commands all being
a single keystroke (submenus don't count, the command changes mode)

>b) Make this command configurable.  A compile-time option is fine, but
>   a run-time option, specifiable in the .elmrc file, may be better.
If you don't like the command, turn it off in your version.

>c) Remove the "Z" command.
If you don't like the command, turn it off in your version.

-- 
=====================================================================
Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP                   Elm Coordinator
Datacomp Systems, Inc.				Voice: (215) 947-9900
{allegra,bpa,vu-vlsi}!dsinc!syd	                FAX:   (215) 938-0235