Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!husc6!m2c!wpi!jhallen
From: jhallen@wpi.wpi.edu (Joseph H Allen)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: stuff
Message-ID: <1705@wpi.wpi.edu>
Date: 5 Apr 89 02:52:09 GMT
References: <1686@wpi.wpi.edu> <11473@lanl.gov>
Reply-To: jhallen@wpi.wpi.edu (Joseph H Allen)
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA. USA
Lines: 33

In article <11473@lanl.gov> mikeg%watson.c3@lanl.gov (M.P.Gerlek) writes:
>From article <1686@wpi.wpi.edu>, by jhallen@wpi.wpi.edu (Joseph H Allen):
>> So, my wish-list for an editor is:
>> 
>>  * every lengthy screen update must be interruptable
>
>There must be _NO_ "lengthy screen updates".

Well, I certainly agree with this, but....  Many people I know use old vt52s
over phone lines.  Although expensive hardware will solve this problem,
creatively written software can at least make it bearable, and at a much lower
cost. 

>>  * the following commands HAVE to be single key or control keys with none of
>>    that vi mode switching junk:
>>   [...]
>>  * the following commands should take no more than 2 key-presses to get:
>>   [...]
>>  * DEL and ^H must both backspace
>
>Any editor worth its name must have the ability to bind keys in a permanent,
>user-happy manner.  EMACS and EVE both have all of this...  User preferences
>must NOT be set by The Powers That BE.

While a powerful editor will let you rebind the keys, it has been my
experience that most people use whatever default settings are provided.  The
default settings are also important for compatibilty reasons:  While the
special meanings of ^Q, ^S and ^O may be suppressed on some systems, they
can't be controlled on others (in particular, on networked systems).  Also, ^C
should probably be left alone since you don't want to get people in the habbit
of hitting it often (lest they get confused and forget what environment
they're currenly in).  Finally, I'm against having editors use ^@, ^_, ^\, ^]
and even ^[ (esc) for the same reasons.