Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!pasteur!ames!sgi!key!sjc
From: sjc@key.COM (Steve Correll)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
Subject: Re: VMS utilities
Message-ID: <745@key.COM>
Date: 7 Apr 89 16:18:50 GMT
References: <8904051044.aa10317@SMOKE.BRL.MIL>
Organization: Key Computer Labs, Fremont, CA
Lines: 18

In article <8904051044.aa10317@SMOKE.BRL.MIL>, JORDAN@gmr.COM writes:
> VMS has a console handler that allows one to edit previous commands by
> using the up arrow key.  For me, this is far superior than the history
> commands used in UNIX.  Has anyone out there written any routines out
> there to emulate this on a UNIX system?

MIPS systems have an optional emacs-like line editor built into both "csh" and
"dbx"; it has roughly the same functionality as the VMS handler, but uses
control-characters rather than the arrow keys (unfortunately, though you can
customize it to use the control-keys of your choice, you can't make it use the
arrow keys).

The SGI Irises based on the MIPS CPU lack this useful feature (though the SGI
"dbx" manual even mentions it briefly). Is somebody at SGI listening who might
have mercy on us fumble-fingered users who dislike cardpunch-style editing
with "!" and "^"?
-- 
...{sun,pyramid}!pacbell!key!sjc 				Steve Correll