Read Me First DFEDIT Version 2.3
DFEDIT Version 2.3 Changes
This following changes have been made to the DFEDIT utilities.
General
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1. Faster screen i/o. Both the IBM and TI versions have been
modified to use a faster type of screen i/o. Both versions now
write directly to the video display RAM which produces a much
faster screen paint. But on the IBM version, an option is
provided to control the type of screen i/o. This option can be
included on the command line for the SHOW, SF, and EDIT
utilities. These options are described below.
/B Use BIOS screen i/o. This is the method previous
versions used. It is compatible with the EGA display,
TopView and other window utilities, and most IBM
compatibles.
/D Use Direct screen i/o. This produces a faster screen
display on most IBM compatibles which have a monochrome
or color graphics type of display. This option is the
default in the current version.
/F Use Fast direct screen i/o. This method produces an even
faster screen display for color graphics type of
displays. But it may produce 'snow' or 'flicker' on the
IBM color graphics display board.
Try each option out on your machine and see which one works best
for you.
2. Context sensitive help. A single help file is used by all
components of the DFEDIT programs. The Help command has been
added to almost every command line plus a Help function (Alt-H)
has been added to the Editor. Each time Help is invoked, help
information for that command line is displayed. You can then
look at sub-topic information or look at the index for the help
file which lets you get to all the subjects in the help file.
3. Handles international character sets and special characters using
'Alt' plus the keypad. You can still use the Editor Modify Keys
Characters command to assign these special characters directly to
function keys or alt keys.
4. Improved prompt editing with the HOME and END keys. The HOME key
moves to beginning of the prompt line. The END key moves to the
end of the current prompt value.
Editor
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1. Ability to edit files larger than memory. This version uses an
overflow file to save part of the file being edited when memory
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Read Me First DFEDIT Version 2.3
gets full. The method uses a overflow file named 'EDITBUF.$OF'
in the <dfedit> directory. Remember you can specify the <dfedit>
directory with the DFEDIT SET variable. The file to be edited is
now limited by the amount of disk space and the amount of memory
for the internal file list.
2. Position relative/absolute. The Editor now supports relative
positioning in addition to just an absolute line number. Use +
or - to move relative to the current line. The last number is
remembered.
3. Additional processing messages. Many functions which may take
several seconds, such as searching for a string, copying and
moving blocks, and cleaning up memory after an edit session, now
have informative messages displayed on the top line of the
display.
Roff
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1. Better documentation. The documentation has been improved for
this utility.
2. Additional commands. Right margin justification can be turned on
with the adjust (.ad) command and turned off with the no adjust
(.na) command. Printer specific escape sequences can be sent to
the printer without having them affect the line length. Use the
printer control (.pc string) command to embed printer control
escape sequences into your output text.
Show File
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1. Find command. A Find command has been added to the Show File
utility which searches for a string in the current file. It
starts its search after the top line of the display. The search
string can also have some special wildcard or repeat characters.
See documentation for more information.
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