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From: casey@gauss.llnl.gov (Casey Leedom)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Using vi as the xmh editor
Message-ID: <47054@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>
Date: 3 Feb 90 02:44:34 GMT
References: <9536@medusa.cs.purdue.edu> <9002021625.AA22453@expo.lcs.mit.edu>
Sender: usenet@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV
Reply-To: casey@gauss.llnl.gov (Casey Leedom)
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lines: 40

| From: kit@EXPO.LCS.MIT.EDU (Chris D. Peterson)
| 
| > From: bingle@cs.purdue.EDU (Richard Bingle)
| > 
| > We have a user that would like to use vi when composing, replying, and 
| > forwarding mail while using xmh.  It seems that he got used to that style
| > while using xmail from Tektronix.  My questions are, is there any way that 
| > this can be accomplished short of a change to the source code?
| 
| Nope.
| 
| > If not, what changes would be necessary?  
| 
| You need to write (modify) the Text widget.  It currently only supports
| emacs style editing bindings, and assumes modeless editing.  If you are
| waiting for MIT to support a vi mode, be sure to check the temperature in
| Hell on a daily basis, and when it gets below freezing...

  I also have the same request, but for use with a different editor.  It
should be obvious that trying to put multiple editor styles into the
Text widget is just plain dumb.

  A much, much, much better way of handling all of this is to have
someone approach xterm from behind in a dark alley with a very large
knife and little conscience.  With a few deft moves, xterm's VT100 and
TEK modes should be removed.  Bring in a janitor to clean up the blood
and instantiate the newly freed VT100 and TEK code as widgets for use by
a recovering xterm and any other clients that need either or both
terminal emulators.

  Actually there's still one problem with the above.  Xmh, xrn, etc. might
use a resource like *Editor to specify the path of an editor to exec
under a VT100 widget (NULL implies use of Text widget with no other
underlaying editor process?).  But what happens when the editor in
question already does it's own windows (emacs with X support compiled it,
xedit, etc.)?  I guess we might use a resource like *EditorWidget which
might be "Text", "VT100" or "none" ...  

Looking for someone with blood on their hands,
Casey