Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!oliveb!ames!killer!wnp
From: wnp@killer.Dallas.TX.US (Wolf Paul)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: MKS VI bugs ?? still??
Message-ID: <7549@killer.Dallas.TX.US>
Date: 15 Mar 89 12:43:59 GMT
References: <1921@loral.UUCP>
Reply-To: wnp@killer.Dallas.TX.US (Wolf Paul)
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Unix(R) Connection BBS, Dallas, Tx
Lines: 45

In article <1921@loral.UUCP> jcb@loral.UUCP (Jay C. Bowden) writes:
>Maybe they are not bugs at all, and I am just using it wrong,
>somehow.  Clues, anyone?  Here are my probs:
>
>If I backspace in INSERT mode (with control-H; does that make
>any difference?), I delete NOT ONLY the character I typed last,
>but ALSO delete one character out of the original line for
>each backspace I do!

That one bit me too, until I got used to it; now I find it annoying
that UNIX vi won't do the same thing.

>And I cannot insert a "@" character into a line at all!  The 
>@ seems to delete to start of line, even in insert mode.

I think that is consistent with UNIX. Vi starts out with @ as the
"line erase" character, and then checks to see if you changed it by means
of "stty". Since this information is not available in a DOS environment,
it never gets changed in the running Vi.

I insert the @ character by preceding it with a back slash ('\'),
and while it is an extra keystroke, one does get used to it.

>It is hard to believe that these are "bugs" really there in this
>product, at this stage!  What am I doing wrong?

Well, it depends on your interpretation of "bugs". The second one,
at least, is really an "implementation difference". There are some things
UNIX utilities expect to find which just aren't there under DOS. How to
deal with these things -- well, different people have different ideas
on that subject. The folks at MKS implemented _their_ ideas 'coz that's
all they had to go by. If enough of their customers complain (in a
nice and polite fashing, mind you -- I am not advocating a flame fest :-))
they will probably consider changing the way certain things are done.

>I love it otherwise, because of all the ex commands it runs

And it really does make the transition from DOS to UNIX and back much easier!
It's a great product.

Wolf
-- 
Wolf N. Paul * 3387 Sam Rayburn Run * Carrollton TX 75007 * (214) 306-9101
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