Search this site

VDE Editor

Home > VDE Files >

Home

About VDE

VDE 1.96 Manual

About this site

VDE Files

VDE.TXT

-------

Instructions for the VDE Editor:

version 1.96 (17 Aug 2009)

[revised 23 Nov 2009]

Requires: PC compatible computer with DOS 3.x or above

(or equivalent functionality under Windows)

=============================== CONTENTS

==================================

1. INTRODUCTION: About VDE; Copyright and usage policy.

2. QUICK-START INSTRUCTIONS:

Installation, Menus and Commands, Help, Basic operation,

Macros.

3. FILES YOU CAN EDIT: Large files; File modes;

Compatibility.

4. DOS SYNTAX: Invoking VDE from the command line.

5. BEYOND DOS: Using VDE under Windows, etc.

6. COMMAND SUMMARY: MenuBar choices; Command keys.

7. COMMAND REFERENCE, alphabetically by topic:

Autoformat, Autonumber, Autosave, Block commands,

Clipboard,

Column blocks, Cursor motion, Data files, Delete file,

Deletion,

Envelopes, File browser, File commands, Find/replace,

Graphics/foreign characters, Header, Hyphenation,

Indentation,

Information, Input direction, Insertion, Justification,

Line

spacing, Margins, Matching text, MenuBars, Multiple

files,

Pagination, Place markers, Printing, Print preview,

Printer codes,

Printer drivers, Proportional spacing, Protected mode,

Quit,

Read/import, Reformat, Rename/save as, Ruler line, Run

command/

shell, Save, Screen controls, Screen size, Spelling

expansion, Tabs, Time/date, Undelete, Upper/lower case,

check, Tab

Windowing.

8. CREATING MACROS: Automating common tasks.

A. Keystrokes and notation

B. Defining macros

C. Recording macros

D. Storing macros to keys

E. Macro programming

F. Examples of useful macros

G. Adding features: Mail Merge

9. MACRO REFERENCE, alphabetically by topic:

Autoexec macro, Chaining or calling, Counter variable,

Define or

record macro, Error handling, Function keys, Function key

Key definition files, Labels and jumps, Pause or user

labels,

input, Prompt

automation, Segment navigation, Sorting, Tests and loops,

Toggle

control, Value adjustment.

10. TECHNICAL INFORMATION, alphabetically by topic:

Accessory programs, CLIPTEXT, Ctrl key, Directories,

Error messages,

Keyboard variants, Memory, Prompts, Segmentation, USB

printers.

. ============================ 1. INTRODUCTION

==============================

VDE is a small, fast DOS-based text editor for PC compatibles

offering:

* WordStar-style command keys, or easy menu-driven basic

operation

* multiple file editing with dual windows, copy and paste,

compare

* block copy, move, delete, read, write, zoom, and column mode

* find and replace (including backward, ignore case, all

files, etc)

* protected mode, multi-level undo, and automatic timed save

* powerful programmable macros to automate tasks or create new

features

* definable function keys and many other user-configurable

options

* many choices of text, screen, and window sizes

* full-featured file browser (tag, edit, import, delete, etc)

* access to DOS utilities, full DOS shell, and Windows

Clipboard

* compatibility with Windows features like Long File Names

* fast, effective operation even on older PCs, laptops,

palmtops

Yet VDE is also an effective word processor, with:

* fully automatic, permanent paragraph formatting (manual

optional)

* wordwrap, adjustable margins, center, flush right, variable

tabs,

autoindent, double space, right justify

* writer's tools including word count, list numbering, sorting

* print preview to check format and pagebreaks before printing

* customizable printer drivers for special effects (bold,

underline,

italic, super/subscript, overstrike, fonts, etc)

* many printing options (headers, pagination, selective print,

single

sheet feed, address envelopes, print to file, etc)

* multiple file formats for text exchange/translation,

including DOS,

Windows/Unicode, RTF, WordStar, WordPerfect, Word, HPLX,

Unix

VDE (Video Display Editor) is a unique, versatile integration

of the

efficient simplicity of a text editor with an essential core of

word-

processing features. An effective tool for a wide variety of

tasks, VDE is

an excellent general-purpose editor; a quick viewer for document

files in

various formats; a practical editor to run within a shell from

telecom,

database, programming, or other DOS applications; and a good

partner with

Windows software. Yet its wide range of formatting and printing

features

(available even when working with plain text files) also make VDE

a word

processor in its own right, one that handles essential writing

tasks faster

and more simply than vastly more complex desktop-publishing

programs.

After all, typesetting is a process quite unrelated to

writing, and often

there's no good reason to be distracted by it. The fundamental

advance of

word-processing over a typewriter is in speed and ease of writing

and

revision, so VDE allows you to keep your fingers on the keyboard,

concen-

trate, and work quickly, whether you have the latest, fastest

computer or

not. You can find a phrase or make a global change instantly, and

more work

can be done right on screen, eliminating unnecessary printouts.

If you truly

need more sophisticated page design than VDE offers, you can

easily import

what you've written into a full-blown desktop publisher. But

simple text

files are readily viewed, searched, printed, or otherwise

processed with an

enormous variety of utilities dating back to the earliest years of

personal

computers. They remain an ideal medium for long-term storage,

retrieval, and

exchange of information, and programs like VDE that work with or

translate

into plain text still serve all sorts of purposes very well.

With its permanent local formatting, otherwise found only in

full-fledged

word processors, VDE is the culmination of a long quest to

discover how

closely a simple text editor can approximate the features of such

products.

VDE runs well on newer Windows systems, which are still compatible

with DOS

software (and in fact can serve quite nicely as a multitasking DOS

environ-

ment); yet it remains small and efficient enough to work well on

older or

more limited PCs long abandoned by major software vendors, even

tiny

palmtops. Although small, VDE can accomplish even more than a

glance at its

list of built-in features might suggest: its macro programming

ability allows

you to design useful additional features of your own, like

filtering,

sorting, or mail-merge, if you find a need for them.

REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

"VDE is a word-processing program for people who like their

programs lean, mean and simple... executes all the standard

operations necessary for writing articles, books or

screenplays...

blazingly fast... Even the loading and storing of files is

speedy."

- Paul Ciotti, Los Angeles Times Magazine (18 Mar

1990)

"This may be the finest piece of word processing code ever

written. I have never been as impressed with anything as I

have

with VDE 1.5... writing software in 100 percent assembly

language

still pays off in performance and reduced code size. It's an

astonishing product, believe me. It's more than the perfect

laptop

word processor... I cannot give a higher recommendation for

any

product that I have seen in ten years... Top recommendation."

- John Dvorak, PC Magazine (24 Apr 1990)

"What fascinated Dvorak was not just the astonishing

functionality

achieved with very little programming code, but also the

attitude --

and implications -- of the author who circulated it freely

asking

only for a modest sum... VDE is an amazing word-processor,

offering

almost everything except the layout and document processing

features

found in far fatter programs... it supports the old WordStar

command

set... ergonomically the most efficient I've ever learned."

- Colin Brace, Language Technology/Electric Word

(Jul/Aug 1990)

"I've used various versions of WordStar, WordPerfect, and

Wang

IWP. I wouldn't trade my copy of VDE for shrink-wrapped sets

of the

latest versions of all of these. I congratulate you both on

the

quality of your program and on your policy in making it

available..."

- K.N., VDE user (Aug 1991)

"You've recognized a truth about writing, which every

commercial

word-processor vendor has forgotten. Writing is about words -

- not

fonts or bit-maps or graphical layout. Writers need the

computer

equivalent of a typewriter -- not a print-shop."

- J.W., VDE user (Aug 1995)

VDE has appeared in stores in "Dvorak's Top 30", a boxed

software

collection published by Interplay Productions; it was also

included with the

book and disk "Dvorak's Inside Track to DOS and PC Performance" by

John

Dvorak and Nick Anis, published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill. VDE has

received

many good reviews, including a four-star "****" rating for many

years on

ZDnet from Ziff-Davis, publishers of PC Magazine.

The author, Eric Meyer, has programmed in languages from APL

to Z80; his

other software for IBM PC compatibles includes the ZIP File

Transfer program

and numerous smaller utilities. He firmly believes that simple,

effective

software should remain easily available to users of all kinds of

personal

computers.

.

FILES YOU SHOULD HAVE

Be sure you have all the files that should be included in this

package:

VDE.EXE

- The VDE editor itself.

VINST.COM

- Installation and customizing utility.

VDE.TXT

- This documentation for VDE.

VINST.TXT

- Documentation for the VINST utility.

VxxxNEW.TXT - Latest news and update information for this

version.

FILE_ID.DIZ - Standard software description for online libraries.

EXAMPLES.VDF - Function key examples described here under CREATING

MACROS.

WS4.VDF

WP.VDF

- WordStar 4 function key definitions.

- WordPerfect function key definitions.

COPYRIGHT AND USAGE POLICY

The VDE programs and documentation are copyright

freely used and distributed, but only in complete and

unmodified form.

Software libraries are granted permission to charge up

to US $6 for providing a copy to customers, or up to $30

if

part of a CDROM collection. VDE may not otherwise be sold

for profit without written permission of the author;

please

write for terms.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: This software is provided at

no charge, and you undertake to use it at your own risk.

The author does not warrant its suitability for any

partic-

ular purpose, and assumes no liability for damages of any

kind resulting from its use.

The correct description of VDE since December 2002 is

"copyrighted

freeware". "Free" means only that payment is not required for its

use; this

material is not to be considered in the public domain. Please

note that

while VDE still supports it, the spelling checker that registered

users once

received may not now be distributed as freeware.

Eric Meyer

3045 4th Street

Boulder, Colorado 80304 USA

VDE website:

http://groups.google.com/group/vde_editor/web/home-page

. ====================== 2. QUICK-START INSTRUCTIONS

========================

This brief introductory section is intended to explain the

basic features

and operation of VDE. Throughout, you will find references that

lead to a

more complete explanation of operations elsewhere. The first

things to

notice about VDE compared to other editors you may know are:

* Either WordStar-style commands or a simple menu system can

be used.

* The existing format of text is always maintained (in AF

mode).

* Files can be read or written in a variety of formats at any

time, using

an optional mode letter. (See FILE MODES)

* Novel features include block zoom, split viewing of a single

file, text

comparison, and input direction. (See ^KZ, AltW, AltM,

^I)

* Large files are broken into segments for editing. (See

LARGE FILES)

Note that as a classic DOS application, VDE makes no assumptions

about

various file types (extensions) alone indicating proprietary

formats. [You

can configure those yourself if you wish, with VINST.]

INSTALLATION

VDE should run well on any IBM PC-compatible computer, and

also has

special provisions for Hewlett-Packard 95/100/200LX palmtops.

(Earlier

versions through 1.65 once made allowances for older, less

compatible DOS

computers.) It is DOS software, but will also run under Windows

and other

environments providing equivalent functionality (see BEYOND DOS).

Installation and customization of VDE are performed by the

VINST utility.

The VINST.TXT file describes all the options (display colors,

action of

certain keys, editing settings, printer drivers, etc) that can be

changed to

suit your tastes. You will discover the settings you prefer for

VDE's many

options and defaults as you become familiar with the program.

[Various

comments below in brackets "[]" point out choices available

through VINST.]

Once you've run VINST and chosen <S>ave to customize your copy of

VDE.EXE,

its initial welcome/copyright message will no longer appear.

MENUS AND COMMANDS

Editing with VDE can be performed in two different ways: via

the MenuBar,

or with Ctrl- and Alt-key commands. The commands offer greater

power,

flexibility, and speed, but can take some time to learn. MenuBars

allow

anyone to get started using VDE immediately, and may better suit

those who

use it only occasionally, or simply prefer not to memorize

commands. All

choices are listed under COMMAND SUMMARY below.

MenuBars guide you to the functions you need. Press [F10],

which is

originally defined as "Menu", or press ^[Esc] (Ctrl + Esc), or if

you're

running Windows, Left-Shift + [Esc], to see the main menu:

------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------

File Block Delete sEarch formaT stYle Set View Print

Misc User

------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------

Each highlighted letter leads to a submenu; for example, "F"

brings up the

File menu, with choices such as "Save" and "Quit". Hereafter,

MenuBar

commands will be referred to in the following manner:

{File:Save}

This is executed by pressing, say, [F10] F S. Many, though not

all, of VDE's

functions are available from the menu bars. [Others can be added

to your

User menu bar.]

If you're willing to learn at least a basic set of VDE's

editing

commands, they're more concise and give access to its full range

of features,

including powerful macros. If you're familiar with the widely

known WordStar

command set, you can probably start right off editing files with

VDE. VDE

uses simple one- or two-key combinations, for example:

AltW

^C

press [Alt] + W

press [Ctrl] + C

^QC

press [Ctrl] + Q, then C

(^Q^C works too; it doesn't matter how long you hold [Ctrl].)

Many of these

are mnemonic ("Q" for Quick moves, etc). Their advantage lies in

being

easily found by touch typists, with no groping for function keys

or mouse to

distract the writing process. In addition to many WordStar-style

Ctrl-key

commands, VDE has a number of Alt-key and Esc-key commands for its

additional

features, such as multi-file editing.

HELP

ON-LINE HELP: You can get a brief reminder of commands anytime

by

pressing ^J (also initially assigned to the standard help key

[F1]). A

summary of the simple Ctrl-key commands will appear; press

[PgUp/Dn] or

[^],[v] (up/down arrow keys) to page through other commands, or

press A, E/M,

K, O, P, or Q to display the Alt-key, Esc/Macro, ^K, ^O, ^P, or

^Q-commands,

or F for file modes/fine tuning, or J to return to the original

screen. On

narrow screens, the left/right arrow keys [<],[>] can be used to

scroll menus

for viewing. Once you've found the information you need, press

[Esc] or

[Space] to exit the help menu.

THIS DOCUMENTATION: If you need further help while learning to

use VDE,

just load this file and use ^QF or {sEarch:Find} to locate

information by a

key word or phrase, far more easily than with a printed manual.

If you ever

require hard copy of any section, it can easily be printed out

using VDE

itself (^KP B), but you can save paper (as someone once imagined

computers

would do) by not reflexively printing the whole thing.

BASIC OPERATION

A typical editing session begins by typing something like "VDE

filename"

at the DOS prompt (for various options, see SYNTAX). If that file

exists,

it's displayed for editing; if not, you begin a new file. There's

also a

convenient FILE BROWSER for selecting files from a directory

listing. VDE

edits entirely in memory; nothing happens to files on disk until

you issue

some sort of save command (unless you've engaged autosave).

VDE can edit up to 8 files at once, allowing you to move among

them,

compare two views on a split screen, copy text between them,

perform

find/replace operations across them all, etc (see MULTIPLE FILES,

WINDOWING,

MATCHING, FIND/REPLACE).

Normally a HEADER appears at the top of the screen, showing

the file

name, cursor position (by Page, Line, Column), and flags for the

status of

various settings. At times, further information appears beneath

this in

menus or error messages. Press [Esc] to remove any menu or

prompt; error

messages will clear in a moment, or when you press any key.

The usual display is a single screen of text, as many lines

and columns

as the current video mode shows. But many commands allow you to

display

different amounts of text or adjust your view of it, even view two

different

files or parts of the same file (see SCREEN CONTROLS, WINDOWING).

You can

suppress the header, or add a RULER LINE indicating margins and

tab stops.

Prompts will appear when commands require user input, usually

directly

beneath the header. Some are simple confirmations, like "Abandon

changes?",

that require you to press "Y" or "N". At other prompts for

numeric or text

input, like "Column:" or "Find text:", you will typically type

something then

press [Enter]; some keys have special functions here (see

PROMPTS).

There are three ways to move the cursor around the text: with

a mouse [if

enabled], or the four PC "arrow keys", or the WordStar "cursor

diamond":

up

[^]

[<] [>]

[v]

^E

^S

^X

TO MOVE

^D

left right

down

PRESS

OR

These methods are largely equivalent, but have subtle differences:

see CURSOR

MOTION. (As the context suggests, a symbol like "[<]" here refers

to the

left arrow key, not the "less than" character.)

Like WordStar, VDE uses separate block beginning and end

markers, set

or reset independently in any order. (They display as highlighted

brackets

"{}".) You can also mark a block with arrow keys while holding

down Shift,

or with the main (left) mouse button [if enabled].

When a block is properly marked, its text is highlighted and

can be

operated on with a variety of commands (see BLOCK COMMANDS,

AUTONUMBER, etc).

Unlike in most software today, blocks in VDE remain marked

indefinitely and

independently in each file, so you can easily perform multiple

operations on

them, or leave and return to them later. A block is normally a

continuous

stream of file text, but you can instead use rectangular blocks

containing

only parts of lines (see COLUMN BLOCKS).

In documents, unless you've turned AutoFormat off, VDE formats

text

while you type; it can also be reformatted later in a variety of

ways.

(See MARGINS, SPACING, JUSTIFICATION, REFORMAT, AUTOFORMAT,

AUTOINDENT)

Margin, line spacing, and justification settings automatically

adjust to

existing text as the cursor is moved through a file, preserving

its

format during any subsequent editing. (Uniquely, VDE manages this

even

with plain text files, which have no format settings stored in

them.)

Note that the left margin command is ordinarily used only for

indenting

portions of a text; the physical offset from the left edge of the

paper

(which doesn't appear on screen) is set in the printer driver.

A basic understanding of how VDE formats text is helpful.

Rather than

storing hidden codes as word processors do, VDE relies upon a

subtle

distinction: when wordwrap occurs, a space is left at the end of

the line,

indicating that the CR (Carriage Return) is "SOFT", removable for

formatting

purposes. On the other hand, when you hit [Enter] to end a

paragraph, you

create a "HARD" CR with no preceding space, which acts as a

boundary for

paragraph formatting, and displays a small arrow on screen. The

result can

be read and processed by any software as a simple text file, yet

remains a

reformattable document when edited again with VDE. (This format

is sometimes

called "flowed" text today.) Of course VDE can handle unformatted

text too,

in which soft CRs aren't written to the file at all.

Note that when typing at the end of a line, you can change a

hard CR into

a soft one, or vice versa, by adding or deleting a space -- even

uninten-

tionally. And holding [Enter] instead of the down-arrow is NOT

the way to

move the cursor through a file, since it also hardens all the CRs,

obstruc-

ting future reformatting. (It actually remains possible to

reformat such

"hard" text, which you may also encounter from other sources; see

REFORMAT.)

When you wish to apply special print effects, VDE (like

WordStar) handles

them not as a block operation, but by inserting a special code in

the text

with ^P. Some are one-time switches, while the more common ones

(like

underlining) are toggles that must be applied in pairs, to turn

the effect on

and off again. Thus, to use the underline code ^PS,

you type: This is ^PSunderlined^PS text.

and you see: This is SunderlinedS text.

The toggle displays onscreen as a highlighted letter; in printing,

the word

will actually be underlined. Other effects such as bold, italic,

and

super/subscripts are possible if supported by an appropriate

printer driver.

(See PRINTER CODES)

VDE is intended to minimize the need for printing drafts of

your work;

you can move around the file and make corrections so quickly that

it's easier

simply to edit at the keyboard than to print, mark up copy by

hand, then type

in corrections. A PRINT PREVIEW feature also helps to avoid many

mistakes in

printing by showing actual alignment of text columns, highlighting

print-

toggled text, and indicating pagebreaks as dotted lines. When

you're ready

to print, many options are available to select format, pages, and

so on (see

PRINTING). You can print on any size paper or label that your

printer

supports, and even address an envelope.

The default printer driver, called "SIMPLE", works on

virtually any

printer, but isn't capable of special effects (except underline

and

strikeout). The default alternate, "HP LaserJet(PCL)", should

work on

printers that support PCL commands. [VINST can select other

drivers, or

customize one to your preferences.]

MACROS

A "macro" is a string of VDE keystrokes that, once defined,

can be

repeated automatically. Macros can also contain special commands

for loops,

tests, and jumps, much like a programming language. (See CREATING

MACROS)

You can type in a macro directly, or record the use of keys

pressed during

normal editing. You can store macros on function keys [F1]-[F12],

and those

definitions can be made permanent with VINST. The 48 user-

definable keys

(including Shift, Ctrl, Alt) allow you to customize VDE to your

own taste or

to suit specialized tasks. (See FUNCTION KEYS)

Macros are a sophisticated and powerful tool for automating

repetitive

tasks. But they're not just toys for nerds; anyone can find

something

practical to do with them. The simplest example is boilerplate

text -- the

ability to enter a letterhead or a phrase like "Western Widget

Development

Company" just by pressing a key. Macros are also good for any

frequently

performed task, like changing margins -- just store several pairs

of your

favorite right and left margin settings to different function

keys, and you

can switch between them with one keypress. Many more complicated

examples

are described under CREATING MACROS.

. ========================= 3. FILES YOU CAN EDIT

===========================

VDE is intended only for editing TEXT FILES, and shouldn't be

used on

other sorts of disk files, such as binary data or executable

programs. There

are many different kinds of text files, ranging from simple

DOS/ASCII text to

elaborate word processor files, but they can generally be

described as either

documents or nondocuments. A DOCUMENT is a stream of text whose

paragraphs

can be reformatted at will (to different margins, etc); if created

with a

word processor it may also contain embedded formatting data. Each

program

has its own proprietary way of encoding that information, some of

which VDE

may be able to translate. In contrast, a NONDOCUMENT consists of

plain text

in individual lines of arbitrary length that always remain

separate, like a

batch (BAT) file or programming code.

LARGE FILES

VDE can only edit files up to a certain size; originally

written in the

early 1980s for computers with just 64k of RAM, it still uses the

same fast,

simple method to manage text in conventional memory. You can edit

files of

around 70-80k as a single unit; larger files will be divided into

multiple

segments for editing, up to a maximum of around 500k of actual

text

(excluding any word-processor data that VDE discards). This

segmentation is

handled automatically, and global operations act on the entire

file as you

would expect, but while editing a large file you will view one

segment at a

time, and access the others with many of the same commands as are

used for

different files (which is how VDE actually handles segments

internally; see

MULTIPLE FILES). The current segment number (1-8) displays in the

header by

the filename, while the line/page count shown is cumulative from

each segment

to the next.

VDE divides segments at the end of a paragraph where possible;

you will

normally want to avoid changes that leave the last line of a

segment without

a carriage return (Enter), since it would then run together with

the first

line of the next segment when saving or printing. Many editing

functions

recognize multiple segments, and will print or save (^KP, ^KS...),

search

(^QF,^QA,^QM), move to a specific file position (^QR,^QC, ^QI), or

change

settings (^O...) in all segments as appropriate. Exceptions that

remain

limited in scope to the current segment are:

* Text entry, deletion, and most cursor motion, including

arrow keys, PC

keys like [PgUp,Dn] or ^[Home,End], AltO, and ^QP. An explicit

command is

required to switch segments.

* All block operations (^KB,^KV,^QB...); blocks are marked and

function

independently in each segment.

AltN,AltB move between segments just as between files,

maintaining the

previous cursor position in each; to go to the top or end of a

segment, use

^[Home, End]. To copy text between segments, use AltY/C,AltP. If

you want

to write more than one segment of text with ^KW, you can do it

incrementally,

using "+" to append. You can create a new segment yourself to

expand the

file you're editing, by using AltL and entering "+" alone instead

of a

filename; a new, initially empty segment will appear after the

current one.

(This would be a good response to a "Segment Near Full" or "Out of

Memory"

message.)

Block zoom (^KZ) can still be used in multisegment files to

limit the

scope of editing operations: if a portion of the current segment

is in block

zoom, everything else (including other segments) will be ignored.

If another

segment is in block zoom, the portion of that segment outside the

zoomed

block will be ignored.

You can practice on a copy of this file (VDE.TXT) to

familiarize yourself

with VDE's segmented approach to editing large files. See

SEGMENTATION for

advice on macro compatibility issues involving multisegment

editing.

FILE MODES

VDE has different "file modes" for various file formats from

simple DOS

text to word-processor documents like WordStar or WordPerfect; for

a list,

press ^JF. Every time VDE opens or saves a file you can select

whichever of

these you like, determining not only the format in which a file is

read from

or written to disk, but also how it displays on screen and what

default

settings apply. In general, the document modes support word-

processing

features like wordwrap, pagination, variable tabs, and print

styles;

nondocument modes do not. [You can change the default mode /D if

you like,

and specific modes can be assigned to six file extensions.]

A file mode can be specified with a slash after the filename

on the

command line or at any VDE filename prompt (such as "Read in

file:"),

allowing you to read, write, or convert text (subject to VDE's

limited

support for various features) in any of the format(s) listed. The

fact that

file modes aren't hard-wired to file extensions, even once

assigned as

defaults, gives you the flexibility to edit (say) an RTF file

normally as /R

most of the time, but also occasionally to read it as /A when you

want to

examine the RTF codes themselves. You can translate between

formats by

renaming to another mode before saving (^KE /M), or specifying a

mode when

writing to disk, though you must be aware of any differences in

supported

features between the old and new mode. (See SAVE/EXIT)

Plain Text Modes

Some of VDE's file modes (/D,A,U,T,X,N,C) are variations on a

simple file

type commonly called "plain text", which virtually all software

can read (or

import) as it still uses the ASCII alphabet adopted by the first

personal

computers. VDE offers multiple modes because such text may need

to be

handled either as a document or not, according to its purpose, and

because

other operating systems have slightly different standards for its

format than

DOS. (This makes it a bit difficult to decide which mode, if any,

to assign

by default to filetype ".TXT" on a Windows system; suit yourself.

Of course

DOS text files may have any extension, or none.) Any text file

can be opened

in whichever of these modes gives the best result. For example,

this file

VDE.TXT was written and is best edited in mode /A or /D as

formatted DOS

text, but it could at least be read in any text mode, though

unformatted

modes may not preserve its format, and ANSI modes would get a few

special

characters wrong. The optimal mode for any text file depends on

its origin

and purpose; if you're unsure, a little experimentation may be

necessary,

especially before saving any changes.

FORMATTED DOCUMENTS - /D mode is for documents using formatted

paragraphs

with soft CRs, and providing for print effects (underline, etc)

with ^P-

codes. Extended characters (accents/graphics) are DOS/PC

standard.

/A mode (ASCII document) differs from /D only in that control

codes (00-

1Fh) are also viewed and printed directly (as PC graphics) rather

than being

interpreted as printer toggles and switches.

UNFORMATTED DOCUMENTS - /U mode is for DOS/PC files stored

with each

paragraph as a single (long) line of text. Such lines will

automatically

wrap to the right margin in effect when the file is opened, but

other

formatting features (varying margins, justification) are not

supported.

/T mode is a variation on /U, for text files created by

programs like

Windows Notepad using ANSI/Latin1 encoding of extended characters

80-FFh.

(It can also read Unicode files, though it writes only ANSI.)

/X mode is a further variation on /T, for files generated on

Unix/Linux

systems that end lines with LF only, instead of CR+LF.

NONDOCUMENTS - /N mode is for simple line-by-line DOS/PC text

like batch

files. Hard tabs are used by default (TAB=09h) and most word-

processing

functions like wordwrap are disabled.

/C mode differs from /N only by establishing variable tabs

instead, and

autoindentation suitable for structured programming languages like

C.

No special mode is provided for nondocuments in ANSI, Unicode,

or Unix

encoding, but you can open such files in the appropriate

unformatted mode (/T

or /X), and defeat wordwrap by setting the right margin to 255 or

releasing

it. (Or just change to mode /N, if you intend to save in DOS/PC

format.)

If you happen to open formatted text in an unformatted mode,

only lines

longer than your right margin will rewrap; shorter ones are left

alone

(unless you save as unformatted).

Formatted text files not originally created with VDE are

likely to be

full of hard CRs, so reformatting may require hard reformat (^OY).

Should you encounter files from other sources that don't have

normal

pairs of CR+LF at line ends, reading them may produce a single

very long line

of text. You can then use find/replace to change CRs (found as

^PM) or LFs

(found as ^J) to proper CRLFs (entered as ^M).

VDE's plain text modes don't restrict contents to the

"printable" range

of ASCII values (20-7Eh). If a file might contain control codes

or graphics

(00-1F or 7F-FF) that would be unacceptable for some application,

you can

easily filter them out with a macro program. (One is provided in

EXAMPLES.VDF; see MACRO PROGRAMMING.)

Compatibility Modes

The remaining modes (/R,W,S,P,F,M,L) allow VDE to handle

universal Rich

Text Format (also the native format of WordPad), and read or write

files

compatible with the proprietary formats of WordStar, WordPerfect,

Microsoft

Word, and the HP LX palmtop Memo editor, making VDE a handy

accessory for

users of these programs. Naturally, these are all document

modes. Features

supported in each format are listed below; when reading word-

processor files,

unsupported features are generally just filtered out. (VDE also

once had a

mode for XyWrite/NotaBene files, no longer supported. Any such

files can

still be viewed, codes and all, in mode /U.)

RICH TEXT FORMAT - /R mode reads and writes Rich Text Format

(RTF), a

text-based format (derived by Microsoft from Word) designed to

make a full

range of word-processing features portable across a wide variety

of modern

software, including word processors and desktop publishers. /R

mode supports

most VDE print effects including bold, underline, italic,

strikeout, and

super/subscript. Paragraph formatting (margin variation) is also

recognized

and preserved in a general way (not precisely).

VDE writes very minimal RTF header data, so that default fonts

and styles

will prevail when the file is read by other software. If that

isn't your

intention, you can save your file, reload it in /A mode so the RTF

codes are

visible, and make any desired changes. (You may want to use

margin release

to defeat reformatting.)

[VINST offers the option to select a character set (PC,

European PC, or

ANSI) for writing RTF files -- note that unlike Word, WordPad

doesn't read

extended characters 80-FF correctly in files with PC encoding.]

WORDSTAR - /W mode supports all features of WS v.3-4 file

format. /S

mode reads and writes WS v.5-7 format, but doesn't support all of

the newer

formatting features, notes, printer/font IDs, etc. VDE's

operation will seem

very familiar to a WordStar user, since many (though not all)

commands are

identical. Note that VDE doesn't recognize or implement any

WordStar "dot

commands" in the text.

WORDPERFECT - /P mode reads and writes files in DOS WP v.4

format. /F

mode reads DOS WP v.5-6 and all WP for Windows files, and writes

v.5 format

(which can also be read by later versions). Both modes support

some

formatting features and underline, bold, and super/subscript; /F

also

supports italics and strikeout. You can edit in VDE using a

command set much

like WordPerfect's by loading the supplied WP.VDF key definition

file, which

makes the function keys call up the MenuBar in a manner similar to

WP

commands.

MICROSOFT WORD - /M mode reads files in the format of DOS Word

v.3-6,

Win3.x Write, and Word for Windows. But due to the unusual

internal

structure of Word file format, /M mode doesn't support any special

features

at all, including print effects or formatting subtleties; when

reading a

file, it simply extracts text, retaining only paragraph

boundaries. (Note:

like many other general-purpose utilities, VDE can't read files

produced by

Word in "Fast Save" mode; use of that feature is not recommended.)

VDE can't write Word format at all, so when you load a file

with /M,

protected mode (R/O) is automatically engaged to prevent

accidentally

overwriting the original file. If you do want to make changes and

save the

result as plain text, you must first rename it (with ^KE); if you

don't

explicitly change the file mode, it will convert to /T

(unformatted ANSI), a

format that DOS versions of Word can read directly, and Windows

versions can

import with the "Text only" choice. Files exported from Word as

"Text only",

like files written by VDE itself with /T, are not Word documents,

and /M mode

won't read them; use /T.

The best way to exchange documents between Word and VDE is via

RTF files;

mode /R does support print effects and varying margins.

LX MEMO (HP LX palmtop) - /L mode reads and writes files in

the

"formatted" mode of the HP 100/200LX palmtop's built-in Memo

application.

Margins, underline, bold, and pagebreak are supported.

(Unformatted "ASCII"

files can be exchanged with Memo using /U mode. VDE can't read

encrypted

Memo files.)

Many file formats involve encodings of special symbols and

graphics that

differ from the DOS/PC standard; VDE translates these correctly

where

possible, or may substitute the closest available character if an

exact match

is unavailable. In some cases where there simply is no

equivalent, VDE uses

a special code (07h, which typically displays as a fat dot, and

can be

searched for as ^G) rather than simply dropping the character.

VDE's compatibility file modes are intended to offer simple,

quick access

to reformattable text with a basic set of print effects. Word-

processor file

formats are very complex; users with more demanding requirements

for

compatibility or translation should instead resort to specialized

software

designed for such purposes, either the import/export functions of

the word

processor itself or aftermarket products.

. ============================= 4. DOS SYNTAX

==============================

When VDE is invoked from the DOS command line, you can list up

to 8 FILES

to edit; otherwise, a new (as yet untitled) file is begun [or you

may be

prompted for a filename]. Long File Names (LFNs) may be used on

Windows

systems (see BEYOND DOS), or with DOSLFN loaded. Multiple files

can be

separated by spaces and/or commas; the previous one's directory

carries over

to the next, unless the new one begins with a drive letter or the

root

directory "\". When a drive or directory alone is given, or

wildcards (*,?)

are used, the FILE BROWSER is invoked to display files to select

from.

Any name may be followed by a slash and a FILE MODE letter,

like "/D", to

load that file in the specified mode:

D = Document (w/print effects)

W,S = WordStar v.3-4,5-

7

A = ASCII document

P,F = wordPerFect v.4,5

M = Microsoft word

R = Rich text (RTF)

L = hp Lx memo

U = Unformatted ASCII doc.

T = noTepad (unformatted ANSI)

N = Nondocument

C = programming source (nondoc)

X = uniX text

Other options are also possible with a slash after a filename:

you can

use "/O" to load a file in PROTECTED MODE (Read/Only). Any

wildcard filespec

may be followed by the option "/1-8" (or "/" alone, equivalent to

"/8"), to

load up to that many of those files AUTOMATICALLY, bypassing the

Browser

display and manual selection. (The actual number of files loaded

may be

smaller, depending on how many such files exist and how much

memory was

available.) Options may be combined at will.

Any filespec may be followed by a target text string or

number in square

brackets [], to POSITION the cursor when the file is loaded. (If

used before

any options, this must not be separated from the filename by a

space.)

If a text string, the cursor goes to the first instance of

that string,

as if ^QF had been used; ^L will find further instances. (If the

string

contains codes that can't be typed on the command line, you must

substitute

the VDE wildcard ^_; if it contains only digits, append a wildcard

to prevent

its being interpreted as a line/page number.)

If a number, the cursor goes to that line (for nondocuments)

or page

(for documents), as if ^QI had been used; very large values (up to

the

maximum, 65534) can be used to go to the end of the file.

You can also change the default file mode and/or margins for

a VDE

session by specifying an option BEFORE any filenames. Margins are

given in

left-right order, "/#,#" (or just "/#" for a right margin, the

left

defaulting to 1.) These options can be useful when shelling to

VDE from a

program where other settings are preferred over your usual

defaults: you can

specify your editor as "VDE /U", or "VDE /60". The leading-mode

option is

also a convenient way to load many files in one mode. [Note that

it's still

overriden by any VINST filetype defaults.]

The entire list of files to edit may optionally be followed by

the names

of VDE data files to load, overriding the default data in VDE.

Each one must

be preceded by a semicolon, have file type .VDF, .VDP, .VDC, .VDG,

or .VDI,

and reside in the specified, current, or VDE directory. (See DATA

FILES)

EXAMPLES

C> VDE

Begin editing a new file, as yet "untitled" [or VDE may

prompt for a

filename to edit, if so installed].

C> VDE SAMPLE.FIL

Edit file SAMPLE.FIL in the current directory.

C> VDE B:\WORK\FILE1 MYDIR\FILE2 \FILE3 D:FILE4

Edit files B:\WORK\FILE1, B:\WORK\MYDIR\FILE2, B:\FILE3,

D:FILE4.

C> VDE D:*.DOC

List all files *.DOC in the current directory on drive D:,

to select

some for editing.

C> VDE *.TXT/

Automatically load all (up to 8) files *.TXT. (note / =

/8)

VDE *.TXT//T

Likewise, but also specifying Notepad mode. (note //T =

/8/T)

C> VDE MYOLD.DOC[12]/W;WS4.VDF

Load function key data file WS4.VDF, and edit file

MYOLD.DOC as a

WordStar v.3-4 document, starting out on page 12.

C> VDE B:\WORK\INTRO[help],INDEX/O

Edit files INTRO and INDEX, both in B:\WORK, starting off

in INTRO at

the first instance of "help", and preventing changes to INDEX.

C> VDE /M66 SUMMARY.DOC,CHAPTER2.DOC,COMMENTS.DOC

Set the session default to Microsoft Word mode, margins

1,66, and edit

these three files.

C> VDE "C:\My Documents\Annual meeting notes.txt"/T[6]

Edit this Windows long-named file in Notepad mode, starting

off on

page 6.

. ============================= 5. BEYOND DOS

==============================

VDE should be usable in any software environment that provides

or

correctly emulates the functionality of MSDOS 3+, a PC BIOS, and

video RAM.

In particular, VDE works very well under DESQview or Windows; it's

also been

reported to work on OS/2 systems, and with DOS emulation (dosemu)

under Linux

(see file mode /X).

DESQVIEW

VDE is fully "DESQview-aware", so no special precautions are

needed to

run it under DESQview. VDE will time-share or cut and paste with

other

tasks, and its display adapts to window size as closely as

possible, to

preserve full-screen functionality even within a smaller window.

VDE's AltE

command won't work; to change display size, use DV's menu

selection

"Rearrange:Video" instead. For the best performance from VDE,

leave both

"Writes directly to screen" and "Virtualize text/graphics" set to

NO under DV

program options.

MICROSOFT WINDOWS

VDE can be run in a CMD or COMMAND (MSDOS) window under

Windows 3.x,

95/98/ME, or NT/2000/XP. VDE's file mode /T suits Windows text

files

(Notepad, etc); /M reads Word documents; and /R handles Rich Text

Format

(RTF), written by Wordpad.

From Win95 on, Windows supports long filenames (LFNs), while

also

providing short DOS-compatible equivalents (like LONGFI~1 for

"Long file

name"). VDE accepts either short or long form for the names of

files to edit

or redirect print output ^KP(); any long name a file may already

have is

preserved when you access it by its short one. LFN entries

containing

spaces, commas, or square brackets '[]' must be enclosed in

"quotes". Only

short names are displayed by the header, the ^F/^R keys at

prompts, and the

Browser file list, though if the current item has a LFN, the

Browser also

shows that on an extra line below. The AltK command shows long

names (with

the short-form path for brevity), and the ^PF code in a print

header will

print the LFN. VDE abbreviates long paths and names with left or

right

arrows as necessary for display.

EXCEPTIONS: LFNs are not accepted for VDE's own data files,

nor in the

File Browser. Any entry containing wildcards, whether at command

line or

prompt, is parsed as a DOS filespec.

IDIOSYNCRASIES: When creating a new file, any filename in 8.3-

character

format will be capitalized as a DOS name unless enclosed in

"quotes" as a

Windows name. Any new filename not in 8.3 form causes the header

to display

a pseudo-short-name with the tag '~?', until the file is actually

saved to

disk and acquires a short name (typically '...~1' instead).

(Caution: older DOS software tends to lose LFNs when

processing files on

Windows systems, and shouldn't be used on such files unless you

know it can

handle them. LFN support is available only when Windows is

loaded.)

VDE is compatible with the generic Windows Cut/Paste feature,

via the

menus/buttons of its window (accessed by Alt-Space or right-

clicking on the

header if not visible) or for Win9x, marking and right-clicking

with the

mouse (once disabled in VDE itself). VDE can also access the

Clipboard

directly using its own keys ^[, ^] (instead of ^C,^V), with full

proper

translation. (Under WinNT/2K/XP, a free accessory utility is

required to

allow this. See CLIPTEXT)

Ctrl-Esc and Alt-Tab are Windows shortcuts for task-switching,

so to

allow them as command keys in VDE you must reserve them for its

use in the

window's Properties. (Alternatively, you can store these keys to

function

keys instead, or access the MenuBar by pressing LeftShift-Esc.)

When running within a window, AltE changes the window height

instead of

the text size. Under Win9x, VDE gets confused and positions its

own cursor

erratically if the mouse cursor moves across its window; to avoid

this

problem keep the mouse out of the VDE window, or run VDE full-

screen

(allowing use of the mouse within VDE), or select the "QuickEdit"

or

"Exclusive" mouse mode in the Properties of VDE's DOS session [or

disable

VDE's mouse response entirely with VINST].

The response time of NT/2K/XP's CMD can grow very sluggish;

when you

notice this, it's best to save your work and reboot the computer

to avoid the

annoyance (and risk of further problems).

In order to be able to print from a networked Windows system

with VDE, it

may be necessary to specify your printer port (e.g. "LPT1") in

place of "PRN"

in VDE's printer driver (see PRINTER INSTALLATION). Use of a USB

printer

will require capturing, pooling, or sharing LPT1 via Windows or

third-party

drivers (see USB PRINTERS). Recent "Windows-only" economy

printers can't

print if you boot to DOS alone without Windows 9x loaded.

. ========================== 6. COMMAND SUMMARY

=============================

COMMANDS AND NOTATION: special PC keys are indicated in

[brackets],

including cursor arrows [^],[v],[<],[>]. [+],[-],[5] refer to the

separate

keypad keys only, with NumLock off. "Esc0" means pressing [Esc],

then 0.

"AltD" means pressing [Alt]+D. "^" indicates holding down [Ctrl];

"^K" means

[Ctrl]+K. Many commands use two-key sequences, like ^QR =

[Ctrl]+Q, then R.

A prefix (like ^Q) can be canceled with [Esc] or [Space].

Occasionally a

caret "^" or bracket "[", "]" itself is also part of a command.

On some foreign keyboards, obscure ctrl-keys are in different

locations:

you must press ^6 for ^^, or ^< for ^\. If your [Ctrl] key isn't

conven-

iently located, you can swap its function with [CapsLock]; see

CTRL KEY.

SPECIAL PC KEYS

[Enter] = End of line. In documents, marks paragraph end.

[Tab] = Hard tab mode: enter TAB. Variable tab mode: move to

next stop.

Shift[Tab] = backward tab (move to previous tab position).

^[Tab] = tab to next column of line above.

Alt[Tab] = variable tab in hard tab mode, or vice versa.

[BkSp] = Delete previous character. ^[BkSp] = delete word to

left.

[Del] = Delete current character.

current word.

[Ins] = toggle Insert/overstrike.

Insert.

^[Del] = delete entire

^[Ins] = toggle Word

[^], [v], [>], [<] (arrow keys) = move cursor.

^[^],^[v] = go to top, bottom of screen.

^[<],^[>] = move to start of previous (left), next (right)

word.

Alt[^],[v] = scroll screen vertically 1/3 screen.

Alt[<],[>] or [Esc][<],[>] = scroll horizontally 32 columns.

[5] = make current line center of screen.

[-],[+] = scroll back, forward one line.

\ Keypad

keys,

off

/ NumLock

[Home],[End] = go to start, end of line. Repeated: of

prev/next line.

^[Home],^[End] = go to top, end of segment.

[PgUp],[PgDn] = page back, forward one screen.

^[PgUp],^[PgDn] = page both windows of split screen back,

forward.

Shift[^],[v],[>],[<]

Shift[Home,End,PgUp,PgDn] / block

\ mark

(shifted arrow

or keypad keys)

.

MENUBAR CHOICES

Press ^[Esc] or LeftShift-Esc (also initially programmed on

[F10]) to

call up the main menu bar; select a sub-menu by typing the

capitalized,

highlighted letter, then select a command from it. The [Esc] key

can be used

to return to the main menu, and from there to quit. For

explanation of any

selection, look up its command equivalent.

___MENUBAR_____________COMMAND___

_____MENUBAR____________COMMAND___

{File: neW}

^KB

^KD

{Block: Begin}

End}

Open}

AltL

^KR

^KK

Import}

Copy)

AltY

AltP

^QB

^KZ

^KW

^KH

^KY

Dir}

^KF

Paste}

Goto}

Next file}

Prev file}

Rename}

Save}

AltN

AltB

^KE

Zoom}

Write}

Unmark}

Delete}

^KS

Quit}

^KQ

Exit}

^KX

{Delete: Line}

^QF

^Y

{sEarch: Find}

Replace}

to ln Start}

^Q[Del]

^QA

to ln End}

to Char}

^QY

^QT

rePeat}

place Set}

^L

^KM

Block}

^KY

^U

place Go}

Overview}

Match}

^QM

Undelete}

AltO

AltM

AltJ

spellCheck}

{formaT: Center}

^PB

^OC

^OF

^OS

^OK

^OJ

^B

{stYle: Bold}

Underline}

Italic}

Flush}

^PS

^PY

^PX

^PT

^PV

Double spc}

Prop spc}

Justify}

Reform}

strikeOut}

suPerscript}

Subscript}

Auto fmt}

autoIndent}

^OM

^OA

{Set: L margin}

^OL

^OR

^OX

^OT

^OI

^ON

{View: split Window}

Other window}

Header}

AltW

AltF

^OQ

R margin}

Marg rel}

rUler}

F-labels}

^OU

tab Set}

tab Clr}

Lines}

AltE

^OZ

Blank}

Varitab}

Hyphens}

Pg length}

^OV

^OH

^OP

{Print: File}

^KP

{Misc: Time}

Date}

AltT

AltD

AltK

^M^M

AltU

AltR

AltI

preView}

Driver}

^OD

AltV

^PL

file Info}

pg Break}

Graphic}

Record macro}

Use datafile}

DOS Shell}

AltG

overstrike Char} ^PH

overstrike Line} ^PM

about VDE}

.

COMMAND KEYS

I. CONTROL KEYS: press the ctrl-key combination shown.

WordStar arrow-key diamond:

^E = up

right, left

^D = right

^F,^A = move to word

^X = down ^S = left

^W,^Z = scroll back, forward one line

^B = reformat

paragraph

^R,^C = page back, forward one screen

^G = delete character at cursor

^T = delete word to right

^I = input direction

^Y = delete current

line

^U = undo last deletion (character, word, line, or block)

^V = toggle Insert mode on/off

^N = insert CR (break

^_ = insert a space

^P- = soft hyphen

line)

^P = insert special code:

^PI,H,M,L = tab, backspace, return, formfeed

^PB,D,S,Y,T,V,U,Q,W,E,R,A,N = print toggles and

switches

^^ = toggle upper/lowercase character

find/replace

^\ = copy existing character

direction

^L = repeat last

^H = repeat in other

^M = define a macro by entering a key sequence at the prompt

^M^M = record a macro from keys pressed as you work

^[, ^] = copy to, paste from Windows Clipboard

II. FILE AND BLOCK COMMANDS: first press ^K, then the key shown.

^KF = disk File browser

file into text

^KR = Read (import) a

^KL = Load replacement file(s)

^KP = Print

^KJ = delete a disk file

^KE = rEname current work

^KS = Save to disk, and

^KX = eXit: save & quit

^KQ = Quit to DOS,

continue

^KD = Done: save & load new file

to DOS

^KA = set Autosave interval

abandoning file

^KO = prOtected mode (Read/Only)

^KM = insert place Mark in text

^KU = Undo all place

marks

block

^KB = mark start of a Block

^KH = unmark the block

^KK = mark end of a block

^KY = Delete the marked

^KC = Copy block at cursor location ^KV = moVe block to

cursor location

^KZ = Zoom into the marked block

disk file

^KW = Write block to a

^KN,I = column block mode

^K",' = uppercase (") or lowercase (') block text

^K# = automatically number items in the block

^KT = expand tabs into spaces within block

III. QUICK COMMANDS: first press ^Q, then the key shown.

^QS,^QD = go to beginning, end of line

^QE,^QX = go to top, bottom of screen

^QR,^QC = go to top, end of file

^QB,^QK = go to beginning, end of block

^QL,^QN = go to last, next page

page or line

^QI = go to specified

^QM = go to next place Marker

^QP = go to Previous position in file (before last sizable

move)

^QF = find a string

string

^QA = find and replace a

^QY = delete from cursor to end of current line

^Q[BkSp] = delete from cursor to beginning of current line

^QT = delete up to specified character

IV. ONSCREEN COMMANDS: first press ^O, then the key shown.

^OR,^OL = set Right, Left margin

Release on/off

^OC = Center text on line

^OX = toggle Margin

^OF = make line Flush

right

^OW = set margins/spacing/justif. from current paragraph

^OA = Autoindent on/off

^OG = temporary indent

^OM = autoforMat on/off

^OY = hard reformat

on/off

^OO = first line indent

^OK = proportional spacing on/off

on/off

^OS = double Spacing

^OV = tab mode Variable/hard

^OH = Hyphenation on/off

^OI,^ON = set, clear tab stop(s)

^OP = set Page length (0 turns off pagination)

^OQ = header display on/off

on/off

^OT = ruler line display on/off

on/off

^OU = function key labels

^OB = hard CR/TAB display

^OD = print preview (print codes hidden, pagebreaks displayed)

^OE = make current line top of screen

^OZ = temporarily blank the entire screen

V. ALT-KEY COMMANDS: hold [Alt] and press the key shown.

AltK = file/memory information

Information

AltI = VDE version

AltL = Load an additional file

previous file

AltW = split Window

Next file

AltF = move to other window

AltB = move Back to

AltN = move forward to

AltY,C,P = copY, Cut, or Paste a block from one place or file to

another

AltM = Match up the two files on screen, showing differences

AltR = Run DOS command (or shell)

changed files

AltS = Save (^KS) all

AltX = eXit (^KX) all

files

AltZ = purge: quit unchanged files AltQ = Quit (^KQ) all

AltT,D = enter the current system Time or Date in the file

AltA,G = enter an Accented or PC Graphics character into text

AltE = screen lines (20/25/33/50), if supported

AltO = scroll with Overview bar

driVers

AltV = change printer

AltU = Use (Load or Save) data file (key definitions, etc)

VI. ESC-KEY COMMANDS: first press [Esc], then the key shown.

Esc0..Z = optional alternate way (aliases) to use macro

keys

Macro Programming:

= labels Esc(),+,- = counter

= jumps

Esc0..Z

Esc!

Esc;

= pause

Esc=,~,<,>,@ = character tests

Esc:,?

Esc&,&&

= user input

= chain/call

Esc*

= toggle control

macro

Esc#

= adjust value

Esc$,%

= error

handling

Esc|,\,/,[,],. = segment navigation and tests

^[Esc] = call up MenuBar (LeftShift-Esc may also be used)

. ========================= 7. COMMAND REFERENCE

============================

AUTOFORMAT (^OM) - ^OM toggles AutoFormat on and off in a

document. When on,

any changes to the text or adjustments to format cause

immediate refor-

matting of the current paragraph. In formatted file modes,

margin, line

spacing, and justification settings also adjust automatically

to existing

text as the cursor moves through a file. (These changes will

be reflected

in the header and ruler, if on.) This preserves local

formatting, just as

in any word processor: you can simply edit any paragraph

without first

being obliged to change settings manually to match it, and can

make global

changes with Replace or Spell-check without disturbing file

format.

When autoformat is OFF wordwrap still occurs, but format

settings

remain fixed unless changed manually, and any reformatting must

also be

done manually. (This is the most convenient way to reformat

multiple

paragraphs to the same settings; see REFORMAT.)

Notes: Certain keystrokes may appear to have further

effects, or none,

due to autoformat. Rarely, in short paragraphs, the right

margin may fall

just short of that originally intended, or justification may

fail to be

detected, but this can easily be corrected manually.

Proportional spacing

status (^OK) isn't likewise managed automatically; the current

setting

always prevails.

AUTONUMBER (^K#) - VDE can automatically number items for a list,

outline,

etc. Just type a "#" character where each number should go:

#. First item.

#. Second item...

You can then mark the list as a block, and use ^K# to insert

numbers

sequentially. You will be prompted for your choice of these

options:

nn begin numbering with nn

+ continue numbering from the last use of ^K#

- run numbering in decreasing order

A Align numbers flush with marker

R/r use Roman numerals (UPPER/lower case)

"#" use specified marker character (default is "#")

Decimal numbers can run from 1 to 65535, Roman numerals I to

CCCLXLIX

(399). The starting "nn" must be given in decimal; if not

specified, 1 is

assumed (unless decrementing).

The entire number is inserted in place of the marker unless

"A"lign is

used, causing the last digit of the number to replace the

marker and any

others to extend leftward, overwriting any characters

(typically blanks)

previously there.

Once numbering is done, the markers are gone. For lists

that will be

revised, leave the "#" markers in the file on disk; after

numbering, print

or write to another filename, and quit without saving.

AUTOSAVE (^KA) - VDE can automatically save any changes you've

made to disk

at regular intervals. This ensures that you don't lose too

much work if

you make a major mistake or have a power outage. ^KA lets you

set a

suitable interval (1 to 255 minutes), or turn this feature off

again (0).

[The default can be set with VINST].

Autosave will wait for a period of keyboard inactivity. It

can't save

"untitled" work or protected (R/O) files. Like ^KS, it

preserves a backup

file [if selected] only once per session, the first time a file

is saved.

BLOCK COMMANDS (^KB,^KK,^KH,^KZ,^KY,^KC,^KV,^KW; ^QB,^QK; ^KPB) -

A block of

text is delimited by two markers, independently set by the

commands ^KB

(beginning) and ^KK (end) in any order; block marking can be

undone with

^KH. Markers remain in place until removed, or reset

elsewhere. (An end

mark disappears if you mark a beginning after it, etc.)

Alternatively, you can mark a block just by holding down

Shift while

using the arrow, [Home/End], or [PgUp/Dn] keys to move the

cursor, or

pressing the main (left) button while moving with the mouse [if

enabled].

(Immediately after doing this you can also use [Del] to delete

the block.)

Marked block text is highlighted in a contrasting color.

One block

can be marked in each file (or segment of a larger file).

Normally a

block is a continuous stream of characters; but VDE can also

work with

column blocks, rectangular regions defined by block markers at

opposite

corners that include only part of each line. (See COLUMN

BLOCKS; the

descriptions below are for normal block mode.)

The block move and print commands (^KV,^KPB) require a

block to be

fully marked before use. To save keystrokes, other block

commands can be

used when only one block marker is present, completing marking

by taking

the current cursor position as the other end.

^KY deletes the block, also moving to its location if the

cursor was

elsewhere. (^QP will return the cursor to its previous

position).

^KV moves the marked block to the present cursor location;

^KC copies

it there, leaving the original marked. (^QP will return to the

former

position of a moved block, or move to the end of the text just

copied.)

^KZ "zooms into" (and back out of) a block, temporarily

displaying

only that text, and making the rest inaccessible. This

isolates a portion

of a file for your attention, and limits the scope of editing

commands

(find/replace, word count, etc) to that part of the file; only

saving to

disk still involves the entire file. Pagination is turned off;

you can

still use block operations, but any such markers will disappear

when you

zoom back out again.

^KW writes the block text to a disk file, asking for a

filename (a

mode can also be specified). You can also append to an

existing file by

typing a "+" before the filename, as in:

Write to file: +LOG

(If you don't specify "+" and the file already exists, VDE will

ask

whether you want to overwrite it.) To select a file to append

to, you

also can access the FILE BROWSER with [Enter], wildcards, or a

directory

name. You can't write to a file you're currently editing.

^QB moves the cursor to the block beginning marker (^KB),

if there is

one; ^QK moves to the end marker (^KK).

^KPB (^KP with option B) prints the block text only. (See

PRINTING)

CLIPBOARD (^[,^]; Esc*b) - VDE is compatible with standard Windows

copy/paste

features. It can also access the Windows Clipboard directly

using its own

^[ (copy) and ^] (paste) commands (in place of ^C,^V) to

exchange text

with other DOS or Windows software. (Under WinNT/2K/XP, a free

utility

must be present in your command path to allow this. See

CLIPTEXT)

^[ and ^] work much like VDE's other block copy/paste

commands, but

also provide DOS-Windows conversion: document text is copied to

the

Clipboard unformatted (without soft CRs or left margin), and

DOS/PC

special characters are translated to and from ANSI/Windows

(though this

isn't perfect or fully reversible). Occasionally you may not

want this

processing, for example when using the Clipboard to exchange

text within

VDE, with other DOS software, or a Windows application using

the ASCII

"Terminal" font. A toggle command Esc*b is provided to turn

off character

translation (Esc*B restores it); to avoid reformatting, switch

temporarily

to nondocument mode /N.

Note that the ^[, ^] keys don't work at command prompts; if

you want

to cut or paste here, use the generic Windows method (Alt-

Space, Edit).

COLUMN BLOCKS (^KN,^KI) - ^KN toggles column block mode on and

off, and ^KI

alternates between normal (insert) and replace mode for column

blocks.

Normally, a block consists of the entire text stream

between markers;

a column block is just the rectangle with the start marker at

the top left

corner, and the end marker at the bottom right. Block

highlighting shows

the difference between the two modes. If the markers aren't

properly

placed to define a column block, highlighting won't appear and

block

operations won't work. Marking works a bit differently in

column mode:

you can set a marker beyond the end of a shorter line when

needed, and

fill spaces are automatically added. (When this happens during

use of the

Shift-arrows or mouse, they're removed again as the cursor

moves on.)

Afterwards you may want to delete any added spaces that remain.

Column mode, as its name suggests, is most useful for

rearranging or

realigning text by columns. If printer codes or block markers

themselves

make it difficult to judge column alignment, use preview

(^OD). In

documents, column block operations don't invoke autoformat.

They aren't

permitted in proportional mode (^OK) since screen columns

aren't relevant.

Many block commands work essentially the same way in normal

or column

mode, including ^KH, ^K",^K', ^KW, ^KPB, AltY/C, ^KY, and ^U.

A few are

invalid in column block mode: ^KZ, ^K#, ^KT. (As a workaround,

you can

open a new empty file with AltL ^[Enter], paste the text there,

and work

on it in normal block mode.) It's also possible to copy or

write a block

in column mode, then paste or read it in normal mode (or vice

versa).

In column mode the block commands ^KV, ^KC, ^KR, and AltP

(move, copy,

read, paste) can either insert text or replace existing text,

depending on

the mode selected with ^KI, to offer more flexibility. In

either case,

the text appears with its top left corner at the cursor

location; in

column insert mode, spaces will be added to fill shorter

lines. In insert

mode, the block move/delete commands ^KV and ^KY actually

remove the

marked block; in replace mode, they leave a blank rectangle of

spaces.

CURSOR MOTION (Mouse,Arrows; ^F,A,C,R; ^QE,X,S,D; ^QR,C;

^QI,L,N,P; AltO) -

The text cursor can be moved with a mouse or pointing device,

or the four

PC arrow keys, or the classic WordStar "diamond" ^E,^X,^S,^D.

While

generally interchangeable, there are subtle differences.

The mouse can move DIAGONALLY as well as:

UP or DOWN maintaining the previous cursor column;

LEFT to the beginning of the line, but no farther;

RIGHT past the end of the line, up to the edge of the

screen.

The WordStar diamond keys move:

UP or DOWN to the previous column OR end of new line if

shorter;

LEFT or RIGHT from one character to the next throughout

the file.

The arrow keys move:

UP or DOWN maintaining the previous cursor column;

LEFT or RIGHT from one character to the next throughout

the file,

but on to the edge of the screen if already past end

of line.

In short, the mouse moves at will across the screen, while the

WordStar

keys move only within existing text, and the arrow keys are a

sort of

hybrid. There is no separate mouse cursor; the mouse moves the

text

cursor, and works only within the text screen, not at command

prompts.

Whenever the cursor is temporarily pointing past the actual

end of the

line, you will see a ">" by the column number in the header; if

you add

text at this location, spaces will be inserted to position it

there.

^F or ^[>] moves right, to the start of the next word; ^A

or ^[<]

moves left, to the start of the current, then the previous,

word. ^C or

[PgDn] scrolls forward (down) one screen; ^R or [PgUp] scrolls

backward

(up) one screen.

Preceded by ^Q, certain keys move more Quickly: thus ^QE,

^QX go to

the top or bottom of the screen; ^QS, ^QD to the left or right

end of the

line. Similarly, ^QR and ^QC jump to the beginning or end of

the file.

^QI moves directly to the specified page (for documents) or

line (for

nondocuments). In documents, ^QL and ^QN move to the start of

the Last or

Next page, respectively.

^QP is a powerful navigation tool: generally, it returns to

the

Previous cursor position, before the last sizable move. It's

effectively

an "undo" for commands like ^QR/C, ^QF, ^QM/B/K, AltM, AltO,

and can be

repeated to cycle between two positions in a file. (Note: to

cycle

between different files or segments, see Esc/.) ^QP also has

special uses

following many block operations; for example, it locates the

end a block

just imported, copied, pasted, or undeleted, so if after

inserting the

block you realize you didn't want it there after all, you can

remove it

with the commands: ^KB ^QP ^KK ^KY.

AltO displays an Overview (scroll) bar at the top of the

screen,

unless a file is too small to do so. The length of the bar

corresponds to

the size of the text segment, while a marker shows the current

relative

position. Move the cursor left or right with the arrow keys

[<],[>] to

scroll backward or forward through the text. Press [Enter]

when done to

remain at the displayed position, or [Esc] instead to cancel.

DATA FILES (AltU) - AltU allows you change various settings in VDE

by Using

(loading or saving) special data files containing options,

function keys,

graphics, character widths, or printer drivers. .VDF,K,G files

can be

loaded and saved; .VDP,C,I files can be loaded. [VINST can

also create

these data files; see VINST.TXT for further explanation of

them.] If no

directory is specified, files must be in the current or VDE

directory (see

DIRECTORIES).

At the prompt for a data file to load, you can also access

the FILE

BROWSER with [Enter], wildcards, or a directory name. In this

special

case the directory defaults to the VDE directory instead of the

current

one, and the filespec to "*.VD?" instead of "*.*".

DELETE FILE (^KJ) - ^KJ simply deletes whatever disk file you

specify.

Deletion is immediate; use caution. You can access the FILE

BROWSER by

pressing [Enter] alone at the prompt or entering a directory

name or

wildcards.

DELETION ([BkSp],[Del],^[BkSp],^[Del],^G,^T,^Y; ^QY,^Q[BkSp],^QT)

- ^G or

[Del] deletes the character at the cursor. ([Del] will also

delete a

block if you've just marked it with the Shift-arrows or mouse;

see BLOCK

COMMANDS.) [BkSp] deletes the previous character. ^T deletes

a word to

the right (from the cursor to the end of the word). ^[BkSp]

deletes a

word to the left. ^[Del] deletes the entire current word.

^Y deletes the entire current line. ^QY deletes just the

part of the

line to the right of the cursor; ^Q[BkSp] deletes the part to

the left.

^QT, followed by a character, deletes everything up until

the next

occurrence of that character; for example, ^QT. (period)

deletes to the

end of the sentence. Special cases: ^QT[Enter] deletes to the

next HARD

CR (end of paragraph) in documents; ^QT^Z deletes to the end of

a file.

Deletions can be recovered with ^U (see UNDELETE).

ENVELOPES (^KPA) - The Print command's "A"ddress option offers an

easy way

to print an envelope:

1. Begin by moving the cursor to the address of the

recipient, and

marking this as a block (see BLOCK COMMANDS):

{Margarita Empanada

P.O. Box 3172

"{}" = block markers

Sopapilla, CA 91306}

Any indentation will be ignored; column block mode should be

off.

2. Use ^KP, and at the options prompt, type "A", followed by

"1" or "2"

to specify the envelope size: 1 for smaller (letter size)

envelopes, about

3.5 x 6.5"; 2 for larger ones (business size), 4.25 x 9.5".

3. Optionally, you can include a return address for the

upper left

corner of the envelope: enter this in double quotes ("), using

a backslash

(\) to mark the beginning of a new line. Example:

Options: A2"Your Name\Your Street\City, State Zip"

(You may find it convenient to set up envelope printing with

your usual

return address as a FUNCTION KEY, if you use it frequently.)

4. Load the envelope appropriately, and press [Enter] to

print.

NOTES: Printers handle envelope feeding in various ways.

With some

you can just feed in an envelope, or manually position it on

the platen;

with others, you must select a separate tray or a landscape

font. [See

PRINTER INSTALLATION]

Positioning of text can easily be adjusted by adding

linefeeds to the

envelope initialization, or using the left margin option "L"

AFTER the "A"

option. Because of the way laser printers operate in landscape

mode, VDE

prints both envelope sizes with their RIGHT edge in the same

place. This

means that on other printers, the LEFT edge of a smaller

envelope must be

placed about 3" in from the left margin. If this is

inconvenient, it can

be overridden by specifying "L0" AFTER "A1".

FILE BROWSER (^KF,Esc*L) - The File Browser shows a directory

listing and

allows various file operations to be performed. It can be

accessed either

DIRECTLY with ^KF, taking whatever you type as the argument for

the "dir"

command, and offering a choice of file operations; or

INDIRECTLY to

complete many of VDE's file commands (^KL, AltL, etc), when

instead of

specifying one file you use wildcards (*,?), or press [Enter]

alone for

*.*, or give a drive/directory name alone (implying \*.*).

Files display alphabetically in uppercase, followed by the

parent

directory "..", then all subdirectories in lowercase

(regardless of

whether their names match). If there are more items to show,

you will see

"..." at the top and/or bottom to indicate this. A menu line

below

suggests the available command keys, and on Windows systems,

displays the

LFN (if any) of the current item.

You can move the cursor through the list with the arrow

keys,

[PgUp/Dn], or [Home/End]; a character may also be typed to go

to the next

filename beginning with it, or "\" to go to the next

subdirectory. [Esc]

or [Space] clear the directory display (quitting ^KF, or

returning to the

filename prompt); ^[Break] quits. When loading or reading

files, VDE's

usual file mode defaults apply; if a file you want requires a

different

mode, you can first press "/" and the correct mode letter (or

[Space] to

cancel a previous choice).

Pressing [Enter] with the cursor on a subdirectory (or the

parent

"..") switches to viewing its contents in turn. When the

Browser is

invoked indirectly from a file command, pressing [Enter] on a

file

performs that operation on it. When ^KF is used directly, a

choice of

actions is offered:

[F1] load ADDITIONAL file (=AltL) ([Enter] does

this too)

[F2] load NEW file replacing current one (=^KL)

[F3] READ file into current one (=^KR)

[Del] DELETE (=^KJ) - works on directories too if

empty

If you've invoked the Browser with ^KF, ^KL, or AltL, the

following

additional keys may be used to tag and load files as a group:

[+] TAG (select) a file

[F4] load all TAGGED files

Press [Esc] to quit tagging. ^KL and AltL (when not tagging)

also offer:

[F5] load ALL files shown (or as many as possible)

(You can also load a group of files automatically, bypassing

the Browser

display, with the "/1-8" option after the filespec: e.g.

"*.TXT/".)

If you need more features than VDE's File Browser provides,

you can

run any other file utility you like with AltR.

NOTES: For safety, you will be prompted to confirm (press

"Y"es or

"N"o) before any item is actually deleted.

A file mode or the /O option can also be used along with a

wildcard

filespec when invoking the browser indirectly; the mode

displays and can

be changed or canceled with "/", while /O doesn't and can't.

Items with the DOS Hidden or System attribute normally

don't appear in

directory listings. [VINST's excluded filetypes also won't be

listed

unless specified explicitly, e.g. "*.COM". Esc*L can be used

to override

these exclusions; see TOGGLE CONTROL.]

The Browser can list over 1400 files; in the unlikely event

that you

have more than that in a single directory, try using a more

restrictive

filespec than *.*.

FIND/REPLACE (^QF,^QA; ^L,^H) - ^QF is the command to Find a text

string.

The search normally proceeds forward from the cursor position,

and is case

(upper/lower) sensitive. In document modes, it allows for

extra

whitespace (spaces, soft CR) between words in the event of

wordwrap.

At the Find prompt, graphics can be entered with Alt-keypad

codes or

by pressing AltG and selecting from the menu. ^_ (Ctrl-

underline)

functions as a wildcard, matching any single character. Use ^M

alone to

match the end of a line (CR,LF); the code ^P^M can be used to

find line

overstrikes (CR without LF). In documents, a string STARTING

with ^M will

match a HARD CR (without preceding space) only. Examples:

Find: ^MLABEL

finds "LABEL" at start of line

only;

etc.

Find: M^_.

finds "Mr." or "Ms." or "Mt."

^QA is the replAce command. It asks for a string to find,

as above,

then what to change it to. (The replacement can be empty, to

simply

delete the found string.) Normally, the cursor moves to each

occurrence

of the string in turn, and you're asked whether to change it;

answer "Y"es

or "N"o, or "*" to change all further instances without

individual

prompting, or press [Esc] to quit. The number of changes made

is reported

in the header.

The find/replace commands also prompt for various options:

"B" = search Backward from the cursor position;

"C" = Case insensitive search (upper/lower doesn't

matter);

words);

"W" = whole Word only (skip instances within larger

"G" = search Globally (from start or end of file);

"M" = Multi-file search (continues through all files

being edited);

"N" = No query, replace all instances without asking.

You can bypass this prompt for options by finishing entry of

the find or

replace string with ^[Enter] instead of [Enter].

^L instantly repeats the last find or replace (^QF/^QA)

operation;

options "B,C,W,M" remain as last specified. ^H also repeats,

but in the

reverse direction (backward instead of forward, or vice versa).

If the new string is entered in lowercase, case insensitive

replacement matches the existing case of each found string. If

autoformat

(^OM) is on during replacement, existing margins and spacing of

text will

be preserved. (Whether single lines will reformat is governed

by Esc*S;

see TOGGLE CONTROL.) "N"o query is assumed whenever ^QA is

used in a

macro.

[VINST can change your default search mode to case-

sensitive, or to

"adaptive", meaning that search strings in lowercase are

treated as

insensitive, while one with any capital letters becomes

sensitive.

Whichever you choose, specifying the "C"ase option while

searching will

reverse the default treatment.]

GRAPHICS/FOREIGN CHARACTERS (AltG,AltA) - Extended characters with

codes in

the range 80-FFh (128-255), such as accented letters and PC

graphics, can

be entered directly into a file with VDE by any standard DOS

method,

including the KEYBxx keyboard map utilities or the Alt-numeric-

keypad

method. But VDE offers two more convenient alternatives.

AltG, the general-purpose Graphics command, presents a menu

of up to

32 characters to choose from, labeled A-Z and then 1-6; just

press a key

(A-6) to enter the corresponding graphic in your text. The

default set

[which can be modified with VINST] contains some useful box-

drawing parts,

and has room free for other characters. You can add a new

graphic

directly to the table (or redefine an existing one, if it's not

actually

present in any file) by pressing "=", then the code (A-6) to

change. The

complete graphics set will be displayed; you can just move the

cursor to

the desired character and press [Enter], or press [Tab] and be

prompted to

enter the extended character code in either hex (2 digits 80-

FF) or

decimal (3 digits 128-255). A few "control codes" in the range

00-1F,7Fh,

if entered into a file with ^P, will also appear in the

graphics table.

If it seems to be getting crowded, you can type "-" to clear

all entries

not needed for graphics present in current files.

AltA allows easy composition of Accented characters without

international keyboard. In some cases only a "letter" key

an

(capitalized or

not) is required: for example AltA [n] instantly produces "¤",

as there

are no other possibilities. (AltA only produces characters

that exist in

the standard PC code page 437.) But in many cases you will

press "letter"

then "accent" -- first the base letter, then the key resembling

what's to

be added to it: ['], [`], ["], [^], [.] for "ø", or [e] for a

conjoined

"e". For example, AltA [a] [`] produces "…".

AltA also produces some other special characters by general

resemblance: "L,Y,P,F" produce the similar currency symbols;

"$", cents;

"2,4", the fractions 1/2 and 1/4; "<,>", the << and >> quotes;

"!,?", the

reversed versions; ".", the degree symbol; and "s", the beta

(suitable for

German eszett). The combination [o][e] also produces the phi,

suitable

for Norwegian slashed-o. (More alternatives exist in other

code pages,

but for that one can use an international keyboard too.)

Repeatedly entering any graphic is tedious even with

AltG/AltA;

instead, you can use ^\ (see INSERTION) to repeat it, or

incorporate the

graphic into a macro (^M), or store it to a function key (see

WS4.VDF).

Graphics are written to disk according to the current file

mode. They

are printed according to the extended character set selected in

your

printer driver [see PRINTER INSTALLATION]; as a last resort,

VDE can even

approximate them with character overstrikes.

Due to the way text is represented internally, VDE can ONLY

handle the

presence of 32 different graphics in an editing session. If

you load

files containing more graphics (or binary data that VDE

interprets as

such) and the table fills, further graphics can't be properly

registered.

VDE will substitute a special code for them (07h, which you can

search for

as ^G), the "Graphics overflow" warning will display, and

protected mode

(R/O) will engage to guard against saving and thereby

corrupting the file.

(The most common cause of this problem is reading a word

processor file

with the wrong file mode; just retry with the correct one.)

HEADER (^OQ) - The "header" at the top of the screen can be

toggled on and

off with ^OQ. It provides useful information, but can be

removed if you

prefer a screen showing nothing but text. It looks like this:

---------------------------------------------------------------

---------

+ VDE.TXT /A

PS ! ^K_

|-----------------||-------------|------|||----|||----||----||-

---|-----

(#)

(?,")

P 14 L 11 C 48

Ins

Col

AF DS J+

or (NP,BZ)

(>) (WIn,R/O)(CRp)(AI,HR) (MR)

'+' = Multi-file flag indicates other file(s) are also being

edited.

(A segment number may display here instead: see LARGE

FILES)

'VDE.TXT /A' = Current filename and mode. (The drive and

directory, along

with other files being edited, can be displayed with

AltK.)

'P 14...' = Cursor position in file by page (in document

modes), line, and

column. With pagination off in a document, 'NP' displays;

in block

zoom mode, 'BZ'. A right-arrow appears by the Column when

the cursor

is past the end of a line, and other arrows when ^I

changes the input

direction. In proportional mode, the column is replaced

by a

position in inches.

'Ins','WIn' = Insert or Word Insert on.

'R/O' = protected mode on (Read/Only).

'Col','CRp' = Column block or replace mode on.

'AF' = AutoFormat on.

'AI' = AutoIndent on.

'DS' = Double spacing on.

'J+','J-' = Right Justification

modes.

'HR' = Hard Reform on.

released.

'PS' = Proportional spacing on.

'!','?','"' = Macro executing, awaiting input, or being

recorded.

'^K_' = Command key prefixes (and brief messages or prompts)

display here.

'MR' = Margins

On narrower screens, an abbreviated header is shown, like

this:

----------------------------------------

+ VDE.TXT /A I! P 14 L 11 C 48

Word Insert

|-----------------||-----------|||------

(#) or (W,R)(?,") (^K_)

"I,W" = Insert,

"R" = Read/Only

There's no room in the header to display more obscure states

like variable

tab mode or hyphenation. Instead, such commands report their

new status

'on/off' briefly when used. [The header can be off by

default.]

HYPHENATION (^OH,^P-) - ^OH toggles hyphenation on and off. VDE

can't

hyphenate long words itself, but with ^OH on, it can recognize

hyphens

you've typed as legitimate places to break or recombine a line

during

reformatting. [The default can be changed.]

Because later reformatting can change a hyphen's position

and leave it

a redundant nuisance, VDE also offers SOFT hyphens, entered

with ^P-

(^P,hyphen). Soft hyphens (which display in a different color)

also

indicate optional places to break a long word, but won't print

unless they

actually fall at the end of a line. You can use them

temporarily in any

document mode, but only modes /D,W,S,P,F,R store soft hyphens

as such;

when saving to disk in other modes, they convert to ordinary

hyphens or

disappear, as appropriate.

Since soft hyphens aren't universally supported, when

reformatting

rejoins a word at an ordinary hyphen, VDE can't be sure whether

it was

dispensable or not; a place marker will be left beside it to

call your

attention. If you want to remove the hyphen, you can easily do

so with

^QM [Del].

INDENTATION (^OA,^OG,^OO) - Several commands produce automatic

indentation in

various ways. (See also TABS, VALUE ADJUSTMENT)

AUTOINDENT (^OA) causes wordwrap or the [Enter] key, upon

moving to a

new line, to match any existing indentation. Its operation

varies

according to Insert status: if you're inserting new text, it

matches the

previous line's indentation; if you're overwriting text, it

moves to the

line's existing indentation. Thus any structured indentation

you create

is maintained. This is particularly useful for outlines or

program source

code, and works in both document and nondocument modes. (Note:

to work

with ^OA, indentation must be done with spaces, not hard tabs.)

When you want an entire paragraph indented, you could

simply change

the left margin and then change it back; but the TEMPORARY

INDENT (^OG)

may be more convenient. Each time you use ^OG, the left margin

is

indented to the next tab stop (or in proportional mode, another

1/2").

The indentation lasts until you type the [Enter] at the end of

the

paragraph (or use the ^B or ^OL commands), after which the

original left

margin is restored.

Indentation at the start of a paragraph can be created

manually, and

reformatting will preserve it. But you can also set an

automatic INITIAL

INDENT with ^OO, to enforce in all formatting operations. The

indent is

specified relative to the left margin, with allowed values from

-99 to 99;

or you can press [Enter] alone for the current cursor column.

Negative

values produce "hanging indents"; you can enter "+0" or "-0"

for NO

indent. (The units are columns, or 1/10" in proportional

mode.) To turn

this feature off again, enter "0" alone at the prompt. (^OA

and ^OO also

cancel one another.)

INFORMATION (AltK,AltI) - The file/memory information command AltK

displays a

message giving:

the full name (including drive/directory) of the current

file;

when it was last saved, and whether it's been changed

since;

whether any print toggles (^B,^S, etc) are unpaired, in a

document;

a word count for the file, in a document;

the current size of the file text in k (1k = 1024 bytes);

bytes of memory used in the current segment, and percentage

full;

the total amount of memory free to edit more files;

the full names of all other files being edited.

If a file has a Windows LFN, AltK will display it, although the

path

remains in DOS short form for brevity, and further abbreviation

occurs as

needed. You can just press [Esc] to return to editing, or use

the Up/Down

arrow keys to move the cursor to another file or segment

listed, and press

[Enter] to examine it, or ^[Enter] to just go there.

AltI displays the VDE version, date, and copyright. (An

uninstalled

copy of VDE does this automatically on startup.) Press [Esc]

to clear.

INPUT DIRECTION (^I) - This command cycles from the normal state

in which the

cursor moves RIGHT after character entry, to DOWN, LEFT, or UP

instead,

for easy construction of vertical lines, borders, boxes, etc.

An arrow by

the column number in the header indicates the chosen

direction. Direction

mode is temporary, allowing character entry and arrow keys to

move along

the chosen direction, but cancelled by virtually any other

operation.

Autoformat, if on, is suppressed while ^I is engaged. ^I

observes

any Insert state, but note that during leftward entry,

characters

preserved are moved past the entire entry, and Word Insert

doesn't work.

INSERTION (^V,[Ins],^[Ins],^_,^N,^\) - ^V or [Ins] toggles Insert

mode

on/off, and ^[Ins] toggles Word Insert. When both are OFF, VDE

is in

Overwrite mode. Which mode a user wants most of the time is a

matter of

personal preference [and the default can be changed with

VINST].

In Overwrite mode, a character typed replaces the one at

the cursor;

on pressing [Enter], the CR at the end of the line is hardened

(see BASIC

OPERATION), and the cursor advances to the beginning of the

next line of

text. In Insert mode, existing characters are preserved and

carried to

the right; when you press [Enter], a return is inserted in the

text,

moving any following characters onto a new line.

Word Insert is a hybrid mode intended for word by word

replacement:

mostly it behaves like Overwrite, typing over any existing

word; but at

the end of the word it starts to act like Insert, so you can

continue

typing without overwriting the next word. This can be very

convenient for

revising existing text.

The ^_ and ^N commands (to insert a space or a CR after the

cursor)

are most useful in Overwrite mode, avoiding the need to toggle

Insert.

Text can easily be duplicated with the ^\ command, which

copies an

existing character, normally the one above the cursor in the

a graphic

(via AltG/AltA or the Alt-keypad method), ^\ copies the special

character

just entered; thus it can be used to continue a line of

graphics

horizontally or (with ^I) vertically. Handling of existing

characters

depends on the Insert mode.

JUSTIFICATION (^OJ,^OW) - ^OJ controls right justification mode,

cycling each

time it's used between three states:

ADD. ("J+" in header.) Paragraphs are formatted

with

an even right margin, by inserting extra spaces between

words as necessary.

REMOVE. ("J-" in header.) Formatting undoes

justification by removing any extra spaces between words,

leaving an uneven right margin again.

OFF. (Blank.) Formatting doesn't change text

spacing.

This simple method of justifying fixed-pitch text is largely

obsolete

today, but still supported in VDE mainly because

DEjustification (J-)

remains a handy tool for removing unnecessary spaces you may

encounter in

older text files.

In autoformat mode the justification setting is local, and

may change

as the cursor moves to other paragraphs. (See AUTOFORMAT,

REFORMAT) When

autoformat is off, ^OW can be used to manually set

justification (and

margins and line spacing) according to the existing format of

the current

paragraph. The Reform (^B) command can re- or de-justify text

as desired.

Notes: VDE can't justify in proportional mode (^OK).

Justification

should only be used in WordStar file modes /W,S or VDE modes

/D,A. Other

file formats lack margin structure, or have a different

(incompatible) way

of designating justification.

LINE SPACING (^OS,^OW) - ^OS toggles between single and double

line spacing.

In doublespaced mode, the following functions generate double

carriage

returns: [Enter], Insert CR (^N), Reform (^B), wordwrap. You

can easily

mix single and double spacing, and ^B can convert between the

two. In

autoformat mode, the spacing you specify is local, and may

change as the

cursor moves to other paragraphs. (See AUTOFORMAT, REFORMAT)

When autoformat is off, ^OW can be used to manually set

line spacing

(and margins and justification) according to the existing

format of the

current paragraph.

A single-spaced file can also be printed out double-spaced

simply by

using the print option "D" (see PRINTING).

MARGINS (^OL,^OR,^OX,^OW,^OC,^OF) - ^OL and ^OR set the Left and

Right

margins. At the prompt, enter the desired column (1 to 255),

or margin in

1/10" for proportional mode; or just press [Enter] for the

current cursor

position. When margins are set, anything typed before the left

margin

moves up to it; typing past the right margin wraps onto the

next line. In

autoformat mode, the margins you specify are local, and may

change as the

cursor moves to other paragraphs. (See AUTOFORMAT, REFORMAT)

^OX engages margin release, temporarily suspending

formatting and

wordwrap. Use ^OX again (or ^OR or ^OL) to cancel.

When autoformat is off, ^OW can be used to manually set

margins (and

line spacing and justification) according to the existing

format of the

current paragraph.

^OC Centers the current line with respect to the margins;

^OF sets the

line Flush right. Both also advance the cursor to the next

line.

A null left margin is set as column 1 for fixed pitch, or 0

/10" in

proportional mode. The left margin can't be set in unformatted

file modes

/U,T,X. If you set a left margin beyond the present right

margin (or vice

versa), the other margin automatically adjusts to the extent

possible.

For page margins when printing, see the "L" option of ^KP [or

the margin

settings in PRINTER INSTALLATION].

MATCHING TEXT (AltM,Esc*m) - The Match command can locate

variations between

the text shown in two windows (such as earlier and later

revisions of your

work). You must first split the screen (AltW) and position the

cursor in

corresponding places in both windows; then press AltM.

Starting from these positions, VDE searches for any

difference in

the text. The cursor stops if one is found, showing the

disagreeing

passages side by side. If you want to continue, press AltM

again (after

repositioning one cursor to match the other again, if

necessary). If the

end of the file is reached, there were no further differences.

AltM can work within a single file, or between files. In

nondocument

modes it does an exact character by character comparison, and

once two

lines differ, it skips any further differences on those lines

and goes on

to the next. In documents, it compares word by word, ignoring

whitespace

(margins, soft CRs, etc). Normally a difference in hard CRs is

a

mismatch, but you can use Esc*m if you want these treated as

whitespace

too. (See TOGGLE CONTROL)

MENUBARS (^[Esc]) - Ctrl-Esc calls up the MenuBar. (LeftShift-Esc

can also

be used.) Press the hilighted letter to select a submenu, then

select

again to perform a command. You can press [Esc] or [Space] to

back up to

the main menu, or ^[Break] to abort.

The ^[Esc] command can also be used in a macro definition;

if entered

at the ^M prompt it displays as a hilighted "!", and should be

followed by

two letters for menu selection.

MULTIPLE FILES (AltL;AltB,N;AltS,X,Q,Z;AltY,C,P) - VDE can edit up

to 8 files

(or segments of larger files) at once, given enough free

memory. Multiple

files can be loaded from the command line, or by using AltL

(Load). In

either case you can enter any number of filenames, each with

various

options (see SYNTAX). You can access the FILE BROWSER with

[Enter],

wildcards, or a directory name. (To open a new "untitled"

segment, press

^[Enter] at the AltL prompt; to add another segment to the

current file,

press "+",[Enter].)

Once multiple files are loaded, they wait in line (actually

a circular

chain, shown in the AltK display) for your attention; AltB and

AltN (Back,

Next) can be used to cycle through them.

For convenience, there are multi-file versions of the ^KS,

^KX, and

^KQ commands: AltS saves changes to all files at once; AltX

saves all

changes, and then exits to DOS. AltQ quits all files, without

saving; any

that have been modified will be listed with a single prompt for

confirmation. An additional command AltZ (purge) instantly

quits all

unchanged files; it can be used as an alternative to AltQ when

you intend

to examine any changed files before abandoning them, or simply

as a handy

way to free up memory to load more files. (AltZ doesn't exit.)

The "Alt" copy, cut, and paste functions copy blocks of

text, even

between files or segments. AltY (copY) just copies a marked

block of text

into a buffer for later recovery; AltC (Cut) copies and then

removes it

from the file. AltP Pastes previously copied/cut text at the

cursor

position, as many times as you like. (As with other block

operations, ^QP

can locate the end of the pasted text afterwards, and text is

pasted in

column mode as if it had been moved as a column block.)

PAGINATION (^OP,^PL) - ^OP sets the Page length as a number of

text lines

(not including 3 more for any header or page number). Enter a

value up to

255, or 0 to turn pagination off.

This setting determines the page and line count shown in

the document

header ("P xx L xx"); when nonzero, all page functions

(numbering,

headers, start/stop at page) are enabled in printing. A

formfeed is sent

to eject each full page.

When ^OP is set to zero, the file is not paginated. The

header will

say "NP L...", showing the absolute line number (just as in a

nondocument); when printing, pages break whenever the printer

decides

they're full, with a formfeed sent only at the end of the

file. (To skip

even this, use the block print option "B", which allows

printing several

small things on the same sheet or, in conjunction with the "*"

option,

multiple copies of index cards, labels, etc. See PRINTING)

^PL embeds a formfeed (^L) in the text, to begin a new

page; to avoid

confusion, since it must obviously start a new line too, it's

best placed

in column 1.

PLACE MARKERS (^KM,^KU;^QM) - Any number of temporary place

markers can be

set in the text with ^KM (Mark) when you want to return to

certain spots

later. Place markers display as a highlighted "!", and can be

deleted

individually, or removed all at once with ^KU (Unmark).

They're not saved

to disk; if you want a more permanent "bookmark" you must use

some other

code that is, and find it with ^QF.

^QM moves the cursor to the next place marker present,

cycling back to

the top of the file as needed.

PRINTING (^KP) - ^KP Prints the current file; "Wait" displays in

the header,

since you can't do anything else until VDE is finished

printing. (A

spooling utility or large printer memory buffer helps here.)

Printing can

be canceled at any time by pressing [Esc], or paused with any

other key

(press again to resume).

Page format is determined by individual settings: the

current page

length (^OP) sets the number of lines of text per page. The

top and left

margins can be varied with options below. Other options

produce either a

centered page number at the bottom of the page, or a header

with a page

number and/or a string of text; positioning is controlled by

settings in

the printer driver. Various printers handle paper differently,

but can

typically fit at least 60 lines of text on a standard 11-inch

sheet.

You will be prompted for options, at which point you may

enter any of

the following, in any order:

B

prints only the currently marked BLOCK. Pagination

is disabled.

(FILENAME) REDIRECTS the printer data stream to a disk file

instead.

A

ADDRESSES an envelope; see ENVELOPES.

'...'

appends the quoted string of printer commands to the

printer

initialization. (See notes below)

Tnn

sets a TOP MARGIN of nn lines to skip.

[Default

margins can

Lnn

sets a LEFT MARGIN of nn columns to skip. be set

with VINST.]

D

DOUBLESPACES the printout.

*nn

prints the entire job out nn TIMES (nn=1..255).

N

C

NUMBERS pages sequentially, at top right.

numbers pages at bottom CENTER instead.

=nn

RENUMBERS the printout making the first page number

nn.

"..."

below).

uses the quoted string as a page HEADER (see details

prints FACING pages (header/number reversed on even

SUPPRESSES the header/page number on the first page

PAUSES for your keystroke before each page prints

F

pages).

S

printed.

P

(sheet feed).

@nn

#nn

begins printing AT page nn of the document.

prints only (up to) a TOTAL of nn pages.

O,E

prints only ODD or EVEN pages (print one, then run

the paper

back through and print the other, for double-sided

EJECTS the page after printing even if it otherwise

printing).

J

wouldn't

(when printing a block, or in zoom mode)

expands hard tabs (into spaces) to nn column

Inn

INTERVAL.

^

FILTERS control codes (like ^X) so they print out as

text "^X".

PAGINATION: If you print a nondocument, set page length to

0, or use

the "B"lock option, VDE won't paginate; data is sent in a

continuous

stream, letting the printer break pages. [The printer's own

page length

can usually be set in its initialization.] Block printing and

zoom mode

don't even send a final formfeed, allowing multiple blocks to

be printed

on the same page; if your printer lacks a button to eject the

page when

finished, use the "J" option. Block printing doesn't allow

page-format

options like headers or numbering; if you need them, paste the

block to a

new file and print it from there.

HEADER text prints at the right next to the page number

unless it

begins with a "<", for printing at the left edge instead. The

current

Filename, Time or Date can be included by entering ^F, ^T, or

^D

respectively. (If you enter ^F itself in the header by

pressing ^PF, you

get the filename, or LFN under Windows, with no path; if you

just press

^F, the DOS path and filename enter as at any command prompt.)

To enter a

quote mark itself, double it ("").

MARGINS: Because VDE's various left margins (^OL, "Lnn",

or printer

driver setting) are all done by printing spaces, their physical

width can

vary according to the font in use; more consistent results can

be obtained

by setting your printer's physical margin in its installation

instead.

TABS: Normally VDE sends hard tabs straight to your

printer, assuming

it will respond appropriately (you may need to set its tab

stops).

Alternatively, you can use the "I" option to get VDE to expand

tabs

itself, though this works well only with fixed-pitch fonts.

INITIALIZATION: Codes '...' must be entered as actual

characters or

control codes, not digits. If the command is Esc A (1B 41

hex), press ^P

[Esc] A. To enter a single-quote mark itself in the string,

double it.

An empty string ('') can be used to SKIP the driver's

initialization, and

can even be followed (after a space or other option) by another

string

'...' to use instead. Some codes, including Esc, must be

entered with the

^P prefix; see PROMPTS. Codes 00-1F are entered as ^A, ^B,

etc. You may

find the ASCII table in VINST.TXT helpful.

REDIRECTION: A filename in parentheses redirects printing

to disk

instead; a "+" before the name can append to an existing file.

You can

examine this file or even COPY it to your printer later. This

is a handy

way to avoid or fix printing mistakes without wasting a lot of

paper.

EXAMPLES:

Options: "<STATUS REPORT: ^D" N F

puts a header like "STATUS REPORT: 10/19/90" at the top left of

each page,

and the page number at the top right (vice versa on even

pages).

Options: L12 #1

prints one page only, with an added left margin of 12.

(Printing a single

page is a good check of page layout before going ahead to print

a long

file. To continue at page two, use Options: @2.)

Options: BD(+SCRATCH)

appends the print output of a marked block, double spaced, to

the disk

file SCRATCH.

PRINT PREVIEW (^OD) - Preview mode changes the display to show

better how

text would print: all markers and (in document modes) print

toggles or

switches disappear; text between toggles is highlighted to

indicate print

effects; and page breaks are shown by rows of dotted lines.

This is

useful for checking (non-proportional) text alignment and print

effects,

and helps avoid wasting time and paper on unacceptable

printouts.

(Preview also tries to hide printer Esc-sequences embedded with

^P[Esc],

although this only works perfectly for HP PCL LaserJet/DeskJet

codes.)

While in preview mode, the arrow keys can be used to scroll

the screen

up, down, right, or left. You can also scroll through the file

with

[PgUp/Dn] or ^R/^C, or move to the beginning or end with

^[Home/End].

Press [Esc] to continue editing.

PRINTER CODES (^P) - The ^P prefix is used to enter various

special codes in

the range 00-1F,7Fh (^A-^_,DEL), which otherwise might be VDE

commands,

into the text itself, typically for printer control. If a code

has a

supported printer function in the current file mode, VDE

displays it as a

highlighted letter, and it always inserts rather than

overstriking; if

not, the corresponding PC graphic character displays. (Note

that printers

often don't print these graphics as they appear on screen.)

^P[Del] enters the DEL code, 7Fh. ^P^Z enters the code ^Z

(1Ah),

which many programs (including MSDOS commands) treat as an end

of file

(EOF) mark in a text file. Several other standard codes are:

^P[Tab] or ^P^I - tab (printer response depends on its

settings)

^P[BkSp] or ^P^H - backspace, overstrikes previous character

^P[Enter] or ^P^M - carriage return (without linefeed),

overstrikes line

^P^L - formfeed, causes a page break

^P[Esc] enters the ESC code (1Bh), whose standard use is to

begin an

instruction to control printer features when a file prints.

Normally,

this is best done indirectly via the toggles and switches

described below.

But you may embed an actual ESC sequence in your document if

you wish, for

example to obtain a seldom-used effect not installed in your

printer

driver, or for print effects in nondocuments.

In place of the actual "escape sequences" required by

different

printers for effects such as underlining, VDE lets you enter a

single

marker, which will be translated into the proper codes during

printing.

VDE supports a set of 14 codes for this purpose: eight toggles,

six

switches. [See PRINTER INSTALLATION on choosing the proper

driver for

your printer; otherwise, only ^PS and ^PX will work.] The

conventional

WordStar meanings of these codes are:

Toggles: ^P^B boldface

Switches: ^P^A alternate

pitch

1)

^S underline

^N normal

^Y italic (or color)

^Q (user def.

^T superscript

^V subscript

^X strikeout

^W

^E

^R

"

2)

3)

4)

^D "doublestrike" (now just user def.)

^U (user def. -- not a WordStar code)

In fact, you can use them for whatever effects you like, by

installing

appropriate codes in your driver. (Nothing actually implements

"doublestrike" anymore; ^PD is just another user toggle.)

"Toggles" are

good for features like underlining that are turned on and off;

enter them

in pairs, to mark the beginning and end of the desired text.

"Switches"

are better for multi-valued settings like character pitch or

print

quality. [The strikeout character can be chosen in VINST.]

All these codes function in VDE's file mode /D; all but ^U,

in modes

/W,S; only certain supported ones, in modes /R,P,F,L. (See

FILE MODES)

No printer codes are supported in modes /A,U,T,X,N,C.

If toggles aren't properly paired, print effects will

continue

throughout the rest of a document. To save time and paper, use

AltK or

^OD to check for such errors before printing.

PRINTER DRIVERS (AltV,AltU) - Since many people use more than one

kind of

printer, or use it in different ways (for example, to print

labels), VDE

accomodates two different printer drivers, primary and

alternate. Before

printing a file, you can select which one is active using AltV.

AltU gives you access to an unlimited number of further

printer

drivers in the form of .VDP data files; select "L"oad, then

type the file

name, or bring up the FILE BROWSER with [Enter], wildcards, or

a directory

name. The chosen driver replaces the previous primary one.

(See also

DATA FILES, PRINTER INSTALLATION)

PROPORTIONAL SPACING (^OK) - Like other editors that display in

text mode,

VDE assumes by default the use of a fixed-pitch font, so the

printed

result will align just as it was on screen; you can't simply

print the

same text with a proportional font instead, because the right

margin would

become very uneven, spacing wouldn't line up properly, etc.

Full-fledged

word processors devote an enormous amount of code and data to

calculating

exactly how to display and print proportional fonts. VDE can't

manage all

that, but does still offer a rudimentary way of composing and

printing

proportional text.

Use ^OK to toggle proportional spacing on and off. It must

be on both

when you compose or format your text (to judge line lengths),

and when you

actually print it (to use your proportional font).

Proportional

formatting uses a table of character widths to estimate line

lengths as

they will actually print; the results will look uneven

onscreen, and

typically longer (use the Alt-arrow keys to view past column

80).

In proportional mode, right justification and column block

operations

(which rely on column alignment) can't be used; the header

shows the

horizontal position in units of 1/10 inch rather than columns.

Margins

are also set in units of 1/10" instead of columns: 70 now means

7.0".

When you toggle ^OK on or off, the existing numeric settings

remain the

same, effectively converted at 10 characters per inch. Unless

this just

happens to suit the size of your chosen font, you will want

different

margin settings for proportional mode.

NOTES: You may need to install codes for the desired

proportional mode

or font in your printer driver [see PRINTER INSTALLATION].

Proportional printing should work fairly well with VDE's

default width

table, but for best results, you can fine-tune this table to

match the

exact character widths of your own preferred font [see

CHARACTER WIDTHS].

To use different proportional fonts, you must load new tables

(see DATA

FILES).

Variable character widths make it difficult to achieve

exact alignment

of text on successive lines. Except for indenting from the

left margin,

variable tabs (which are just sequences of spaces) can't do

this. If you

want to print something like a table in proportional mode, you

must use

hard tabs, and ensure that your printer driver is setting your

printer's

tab stops appropriately. Since VDE knows nothing about those,

the

displayed position reverts to 0" when hard tabs are used.

Mixing proportional and fixed print in the same document is

possible

but tricky; you can install a print (^P) toggle to alternate

between the

two fonts. You must type (and edit or reformat) the fixed

parts with ^OK

off, and the proportional parts with ^OK on (and appropriately

altered

margins).

PROTECTED MODE (^KO,/O) - When you want to view a file without

accidentally

modifying it, VDE offers two levels of protection. You can

temporarily

toggle protected mode on and off with ^KO; when on, "R/O"

displays in the

header, and anything that causes changes is rejected as an

"Invalid Key".

If you load a file whose DOS Read/Only attribute is set, or

specify

the /O option (or mode /M) with a filename, protected mode will

engage

fully. (This also happens when graphics overflow occurs.) In

these

cases, protection can't be canceled with ^KO; the text can't be

modified

at all unless you first rename it (^KE).

QUIT (^KQ,^KL) - You can quit a file with either of these

commands; if it's

been modified, you're prompted to confirm that you mean to

abandon the

changes. ^KQ simply Quits; if no other files are being edited,

this ends

your VDE session, returning to DOS. ^KL (Load) quits and

prompts for a

new file to edit (or any number of names and options; see

SYNTAX).

Wildcards or [Enter] alone invoke the FILE BROWSER; to open an

"untitled"

segment, press ^[Enter].

READ/IMPORT (^KR) - ^KR Reads in (imports) the contents of another

disk file,

inserting its text at the current cursor position. At the

prompt you can

also specify any file mode, or access the FILE BROWSER by

pressing [Enter]

alone or using wildcards. ^KR also resembles block operations

like paste,

in that ^QP can be used afterwards to locate the end of the

imported text,

and in column mode, text is read in as if it had been moved as

a column

block. (^KR can read only as much text as the current single

segment will

hold, a maximum of 70-80k.)

REFORMAT ([Enter],^B;Esc*S;^OY;^OB) - In documents, pressing

[Enter] creates

a hard return marking the end of a paragraph. (On "hard" vs

"soft" CRs,

see BASIC OPERATION.)

If AUTOFORMAT (^OM) is off, ^B can be used to manually

reformat

paragraphs after editing, or to change their format (to new

margins,

spacing, or justification). Any existing first-line

indentation is

preserved, unless an initial indent has been set with ^OO (see

INDENTATION). To reformat an entire file (to the same

settings!), hold

down ^B or use a macro to repeat it: for example, press ^M ^B

^[Enter].

Normally, ^B ignores single lines ending in a hard CR, to

avoid

disturbing things like centered titles; use Esc*S if you want

^B to adjust

such lines to the left margin instead (see TOGGLE CONTROL).

^OY toggles Hard Reform mode, which allows reformatting of

text files

from other sources that are full of hard CRs. In this mode,

autoformat is

turned off; reform (^B) converts text lines with hard CRs into

a single

formatted paragraph with soft CRs, halting only when it comes

to a blank

line or indentation that would mark a new paragraph. (Make

sure those are

present first!) Should you want to convert "soft" paragraphs

back into

"hard" lines for any reason, you can hold down [Enter] or save

a file in

/N mode.

^OB toggles hard CR/TAB display. In document modes, these

are

normally marked by arrow characters, to distinguish them from

soft CRs and

spaces; but this marking can be turned off if you prefer.

RENAME/SAVE AS (^KE) - Many editors offer a "save as" function to

save your

work under a new filename; VDE uses the separate WordStar

"rEname" command

instead, before saving. It can change the filename under which

your work

will subsequently be saved, and/or the file mode governing its

format.

Nothing is actually written to disk until you use a save

command, although

if a file by the new name already exists, ^KE asks to confirm

your

intention to overwrite it.

At the prompt you can enter a filename, directory, or mode

alone, or

any combination of these; or you can make your work "untitled"

by pressing

^[Enter]. A drive/directory alone may be entered to keep the

same

filename; the usual defaults apply to incomplete paths. Giving

a file

mode alone (^KE /M) is a convenient way to change just the

format in which

the file will be displayed and saved. (Note: if you attempt to

set mode

/M, you will get /T instead; see MICROSOFT WORD.)

RULER LINE (^OT) - To help you align text properly, ^OT toggles

display of a

"ruler line" above the text. [It can also be on by default.]

Examples:

(document)

(nondoc)

...L-----!---!-------v-----!--------------

R.....

........|.......|....v..|.......|.......|.......

A moving pointer "v" indicates the cursor column. "L,R"

designate the

current margin columns; "---" shows the text area within, "..."

the

margins beyond. Tab stops are marked by "!" (Variable) or "|"

(Hard).

In proportional mode (^OK), tab stops wouldn't help

visualize align-

ment, so they don't display. From the left margin onward, the

"v" marker

shows the approximate physical position rather than the screen

column.

RUN COMMAND/SHELL (AltR) - AltR lets you run DOS commands without

leaving

VDE. A DOS-like prompt appears (e.g. "C:\WORK>"); you can copy

or rename

files, or run any other program you like, and afterwards VDE

will prompt

you to "Press [Esc]" to return to your undisturbed editing

session.

In addition, you can simply press [Enter] at the prompt,

which opens a

command shell, a DOS environment where you can execute any

commands you

like; when finished, you must type "exit" to return to VDE, as

the shell

prompt reminds you.

The ^[Break] key can't abort programs being run from within

a VDE

shell, but ^C may work. If a program run from AltR returns a

nonzero

error code, VDE will report "[Error]".

To use AltR, you must have enough free memory to load and

run the

chosen program, and VDE must be able to find COMMAND.COM in

order to

execute it, via the COMSPEC environment variable. Be sure

either that

your AUTOEXEC.BAT file includes a line like

SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM

or that your CONFIG.SYS file includes a line like

SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /P

(In either case replace "C:\" with the appropriate directory.)

CAUTION: never load new memory-resident utilities (TSRs)

from within a

shell like the AltR command; this fouls up the DOS memory

allocation.

SAVE (^KS,^KX,^KD; Esc*t) - ^KS simply Saves any changes you've

made to the

file named in the header, without ending your editing session.

(If it's

still "untitled", a filename is requested. If unchanged, you

just see a

message "No change".) [For added security, you can choose to

have the

previous version of a file preserved as a BACKUP FILE (with

extension

".BAK") when you save changes to it, so that if you decide to

abandon

those changes, you can recover the old version. See OPTIONS in

VINST]

^KX (eXit) saves any changes to the file, and then exits.

If no other

files are being edited, this ends your VDE session, returning

to DOS. ^KD

(Done) also performs a save if needed, but then prompts for a

new file to

edit (or any number of names and options; see SYNTAX).

Wildcards or

[Enter] alone invoke the FILE BROWSER; to open a new "untitled"

segment,

press ^[Enter].

If you don't want spaces to be trimmed from the ends of

lines when

saving to disk in nondocument modes, you can use Esc*t to

change this

behavior. (See TOGGLE CONTROL)

SCREEN CONTROLS (^W,^Z; Alt-arrows; ^OE,^OZ) - VDE provides a

number of

commands to manipulate the text display:

^W and ^Z shift the screen frame up and down a line at a

time, without

moving the cursor in the text (unless necessary).

Used with [Alt], any arrow key also causes the frame to

shift: up/down

by 1/3 screen, or right/left by 32 columns. Again, the cursor

isn't moved

unless necessary.

^OE makes the current line the new top of the screen.

^OZ temporarily blanks the entire screen; restore it by

pressing

[Esc]. This can be useful as a screen saver, or to protect

work from

prying eyes or fingers; ^OZ,Esc is also a convenient way to

correct any

display problems caused by intrusions from other software (like

TSRs).

SCREEN SIZE (AltE) - The standard PC text screen is 25 lines of 80

characters, but VDE automatically adapts to whatever text mode

you run it

in (minimum: 8 lines, 40 columns). VDE supports any extended

screen modes

(like 50 or 60 lines, or 96 or 132 columns) your system offers;

it works

on portable computers with small displays (like 16x40 or 18x64

on HP LX

palmtops); and visually impaired users can use the DOS command

"mode 40"

to edit with a 40-column large-type screen. You can use

whatever software

came with your video adapter card to set any desired screen

size before

running VDE, or even to change sizes while editing (via the

AltR command).

VDE also offers its own command to change the number of text

lines

displayed.

AltE displays a prompt offering four choices for text

sizes: 20, 25,

33, or 50 screen lines (for VGA, slightly fewer for EGA).

Select by

letter "A-D", as indicated. [VINST can also set any of these

as a

default.] Larger characters are easy on the eyes; smaller ones

text; the 33-line setting is a nice overall compromise. (Note:

the

internal fonts used to provide VDE's unique 20- and 33-line

displays

support only standard PC characters, code page 437.)

AltE still works in 40-column mode. When running with

fewer than 80

columns, VDE omits or condenses many header indicators; while a

few

displays, like the File Browser, adjust to the screen width,

most menus

(including ^J,^KP, AltG,H,I,J,K) remain in 80 column format but

can be

viewed by scrolling horizontally with the [<],[>] arrow keys.

SPELLING CHECK (AltH,AltJ; Esc*U) - For previously registered

shareware users

who received the spelling checker accessory (no longer

available), AltH

checks the spelling of the word at the cursor, and AltJ checks

onward

through a document. Esc*U can be used to unload the speller,

freeing its

memory for other use. See the instructions that came with the

speller.

TAB EXPANSION (^KT,^KPI) - VDE provides two ways to expand any

hard tabs in

a file into ordinary spaces, while maintaining column

alignment. First,

you can actually convert the file text, by marking the desired

area as a

block and using ^KT. The tab interval used here is the one set

in VINST

for your display.

Alternatively, printing can expand tabs to any desired

interval,

without modifying the file itself, using ^KPI. (See PRINTING,

option "I")

TABS ([Tab],Shift[Tab],^[Tab]; ^OV,^OI,^ON; ^PI,Alt[Tab]) - VDE

has two tab

modes, Variable and Hard; ^OV toggles between them.

In Hard Tab mode (the default for nondocuments), the [Tab]

key enters

an actual TAB (09h) character. Hard tabs display at fixed

intervals of 8

columns, and appear as a bidirectional arrow in document

modes. How they

print depends on your printer settings.

In Variable Tab mode (the default for documents), the [Tab]

key just

moves the cursor to the next tab stop set. With Insert on,

this inserts

spaces; in Overwrite mode, the cursor first moves across any

existing

text, then adds spaces if needed thereafter. Up to 16 tab

stops may be

set with ^OI, or cleared with ^ON. Both commands prompt for a

list of

column numbers, or [Enter] for the cursor column. The set

command ^OI

also accepts two options, both replacing all previous tab

settings:

@nn

set tabs every "nn" columns

#n1,n2,...

set tabs to columns "n1,n2,..." ONLY

You can also clear all variable tabs with ^ON followed by "*".

Shift[Tab] tabs backward (left to the previous tab

position). ^[Tab]

tabs over to the column of the next nonblank in the previous

line.

Alt[Tab] offers a shortcut to get a hard tab in variable

mode, or

variable in hard mode. ^PI can also be used to insert a hard

tab.

TIME/DATE (AltT,AltD) - VDE can read the system clock and insert

the current

time and date in your file automatically. Just press AltT for

the Time,

or AltD for the Date. The string will appear at the current

cursor

location, as though you had typed it yourself: for example,

1:21 PM

[or 13:21 -- VINST selects the

format]

January 15, 2000 [or 1/15/00, 15 January 2000,

15.1.00]

UNDELETE (^U) - The UNdelete function recovers recently deleted or

overstruck

text, replacing it at the current cursor location. ^U may be

used

repeatedly to undo a sequence of deletions, restoring each

character,

word, or line in order.

Block deletions cannot be recovered sequentially; they must

be

undeleted immediately, before any other deletion occurs. An

undeleted

block is no longer marked, but ^QP will find its end, so it can

be quickly

re-marked with ^KB^QP^KK.

Undeletion can also be used as a sort of quick-and-dirty

block move.

For example, if the cursor is at the start of a word, the

commands ^T^F^U

(which of course can be stored to a function key) will swap

that word with

the one following it. Similarly, ^Y^X^U will swap two lines,

etc.

UPPER/LOWER CASE (^^; ^K",^K') - ^^ (Ctrl-caret or 6) reverses the

case of

the character at the cursor, if it was a letter, and moves to

the next.

For more extensive changes, ^K" and ^K' respectively uppercase

or

lowercase all the text within a marked block.

WINDOWING (AltW,AltF; ^[PgUp,PgDn]) - VDE can split the screen

into dual

windows, showing either two files or two locations within a

file at once.

When you first use AltW, it creates a second window (originally

a

duplicate of the first) in which you can view or edit another

location in

your file at the same time, maintaining both cursor positions

as you

switch between them. Alternatively, you can use AltN/AltB to

change

either window's view to a different file.

AltF moves the cursor back and forth between windows.

^[PgUp] and

^[PgDn] scroll both windows in synchronization. Use AltW again

to restore

the active window to full screen.

. ========================== 8. CREATING MACROS

=============================

A. KEYSTROKES AND NOTATION

A macro is a sequence of keystrokes representing text and/or

VDE

commands, which can then be repeated automatically or stored to a

key for

future use in order to simplify frequently performed tasks. While

this may

sound quite straightforward, it's obviously necessary to get such

a sequence

exactly correct for the macro to perform as intended; therefore,

the

representations used here must be thoroughly understood.

First, some basics: the characters "[]" are often used to

signify the

pressing of a single key, like "[Esc]" -- but in order to avoid

clutter, they

aren't used when that key is shown as part of a macro or multi-key

command,

like "Esc&F2". (A single bracket may still appear as part of

certain macro

commands, like "Esc~^M]".) "^" normally indicates actual use of

the Ctrl

key, as in "^M" for Ctrl-M; but there are special cases when the

character

"^" itself needs to be typed as part of the NAME of a key, as in

"Esc&^F2".

A space will often be used to separate groups of keystrokes to

make a

macro easier to read and understand -- but these spaces are NOT

part of the

macro, and shouldn't be typed in when defining it. Any spaces

that actually

ARE part of a macro and should be typed in are represented by the

underline

character "_", which is not itself part of any macro shown here.

Finally, there are occasional differences between the

keystrokes you

would actually use to perform a task, and those that must be typed

in order

to enter this sequence at the macro definition prompt. At all VDE

string

prompts, certain keys control the entering of the string itself;

for macro

definition ^M, this is a shorter list than for other prompts, but

it still

includes:

[Enter], ^[Enter] -- end macro definition

[<],[>],[BkSp],[Del] -- correct/edit characters entered

^R -- (as 1st key) replay the last macro

entered

^P -- enter codes like these in macro

This means that you must usually prefix any of these keys with ^P

if you want

to enter them as part of the macro itself. Nonetheless, to make

them easy to

read and understand, all macros are written here as you would use

the

commands manually, WITHOUT these extra ^Ps. When entering any of

these

definitions at the macro prompt, you must remember to use ^P as

needed.

It's also important to bear in mind that the following keys,

while

usually equivalent in DOS software, are generally not so in VDE:

[Enter] vs ^M (CR)

^[Enter] vs ^J (LF)

[BkSp] vs ^H (BS)

[Tab] vs ^I (TAB)

[Esc] vs ^[

The one case where these keys remain interchangeable is in their

use after ^P

to embed control-codes (like ^H, 08h) in the text. Otherwise,

they are quite

distinct: [BkSp] is a command that deletes characters, while ^H is

an

entirely different backward-find command, and so on.

EXAMPLE: Consider the following macro ("ASCII"), whose purpose

is

explained more fully below under USEFUL MACROS:

Esc** Esc*f ^QR EscB Esc>~X

Esc=^MN Esc<_X EscN ^D

Esc!B EscX ^G Esc!B

Following the explanations above, be sure you understand which

keys must be

used (e.g. ^M not [Enter]) to define it, and verify that it will

require 34

separate key entries, namely:

Macro: Esc * * Esc * f Ctrl-Q R Esc B Esc > ~

X

Esc = Ctrl-M N Esc < Space X Esc N Ctrl-D

Esc ! B Esc X Ctrl-G Esc ! B

and then, of course, a final [Enter] to terminate the definition.

If you do

this correctly, you will see on screen something like this (the

underlined

letters will be highlighted as control-codes, and the symbol "e"

indicating

the [Esc] key is actually an epsilon):

Macro: e**e*fQReBe>~Xe=MNe< XeNDe!BeXGe!B

- - - - - - - - - -- - -

. ---------------------------- B. DEFINING MACROS -----------------

------------

To DEFINE a Macro, press ^M. Macros execute just as though

you had typed

the given keys yourself; this means that every keystroke,

including answers

to prompts, [Enter]s, and so on must be properly included, so plan

ahead

carefully.

Even special PC keys can be entered at this prompt; a few,

like arrow

keys, display with a recognizable symbol, but most will simply

show a

highlighted asterisk "*". [VINST is capable of displaying full

key names, if

you create or display macros with it instead.] MenuBar selections

(except

{User:...}) can also be used in macros via the ^[Esc] command.

Pay special

attention to any ^P prefixes required; oversights involving ^P are

one of the

most common causes of unexpected macro errors.

Since the macro prompt accepts [Esc] without a ^P prefix, it

can't be

used to abandon the definition; you can only do so by pressing

^[Break], or

[Enter] followed by [Esc] at the next prompt.

To bypass the following options, you can end a macro

definition by

pressing ^[Enter]; VDE will simply repeat your macro (visibly)

until you

press [Esc] to stop it. Otherwise, if you press [Enter], VDE will

ask

whether you want to Use it immediately or store it (see STORING

MACROS). If

you're going to use it now, you must decide whether or how many

times you

want it to repeat, and whether you want to watch it happen.

At the prompt "Make Quiet, No-repeat, Both:", reply "Q" for

Quiet (fast)

operation, or press [Enter] for visible (slower) execution. (The

"N/B"

options are mainly intended for storing macros, but can also be

typed here to

skip the next question.) At the prompt "Repeat count:", type the

number of

times to execute (0-254), or just [Enter] for 1, or "*" to repeat

indefinitely.

While a macro executes, the "!" flag appears in the header;

normally, you

can also see it working through the text. You can cancel it at

any time by

pressing [Esc]. If you choose to speed up execution by specifying

"Q"uiet,

only the header will be updated as the macro runs. (Don't do this

if the

macro requires user input -- when the prompt fails to display, the

macro

would just appear to have stalled.)

By default, macros stop automatically if any error occurs,

with the error

message displaying briefly, or when the cursor runs into the top

or end of

the file. (See also ERROR HANDLING, END OF FILE) Even

indefinitely

repeating macros usually halt when they reach the end of a file,

though some

may need to be terminated manually.

Once defined, a macro can be recovered by typing ^R to replay

it at the

^M prompt, so that you can use it again, or store it if you didn't

previously

do so. (You can also edit it first, if desired.)

^F is used to enter the current filename at a prompt; but in a

macro

definition it remains simply ^F, and is expanded only when the

macro actually

executes. This can be useful to refer to the current file when

running

compilers and file utilities. For example, if you define the

macro

AltR compile_^F_/g_/r1 [Enter] [Esc]

the ^F embedded in the string will be expanded, so that the DOS

command

executed by AltR when the macro is invoked will actually be

something like

compile C:\PGM\MYPROG.C /g /r1.

(If the file is untitled, ^F causes an error that halts the

macro.)

Similarly, ^[, which inserts text from a block at a prompt,

remains ^[ in

a macro definition, inserting the block text only when executed.

This

feature makes it possible to write a macro to search for further

occurrences

of whatever text is at the cursor, etc.

Ordinarily macros are completely self-contained, and NEVER

request input

from the keyboard while executing (unless the input pause commands

Esc? or

Esc: are used). Confirmation prompts like "Abandon changes

(Y/N)?" that may

or may not pop up in normal usage NEVER occur when a macro is

running, so you

should never include a confirming "Y". But there is one

exception: when

using AltR to run another program (or DOS shell) within a macro,

any input

requested by the program or shell must be typed by you -- it

cannot be

included in the macro, which resumes control only when the program

or shell

terminates. (If a macro is to continue after using AltR, its next

keystroke

must be the [Esc] required to restore the screen and continue

editing.)

. --------------------------- C. RECORDING MACROS -----------------

------------

As an alternative to composing macros at the ^M command

prompt, you can

simply RECORD a macro as you go about a task. The main advantages

are that

you can see the effects as you go, and none of the additional ^P

keystrokes

sometimes necessary for entering commands at the macro definition

prompt will

be needed. (On the other hand, a recorded macro must be a simple

series of

keystrokes; it can't contain programming commands like labels and

jumps,

which can't be used from the keyboard.)

Just press ^M^M (that is, ^M again immediately at the prompt)

to activate

recording; type away; and press ^M once more to conclude. You

will then be

asked whether to use or store the macro you've created, just as if

you had

entered it at the prompt. (You can even recall it with ^R the

next time you

use the ^M command.)

While recording, a quote mark (") will be visible in the upper

right

(prefix) area of the header. If you make a mistake, use ^M again

to stop

recording, press [Esc] at the prompt to quit, and start over. If

anything

you do while recording results in an error condition, recording

will be

canceled.

Notes: Macros stored on function keys (and the {User:}

MenuBar, which

uses the same internal mechanism) cannot be used during macro

recording. Any

other keystrokes can be recorded, including other MenuBars.

Although it may

often be rather imprecise, even mouse motion can be recorded in a

macro,

because it's translated internally into sequences of arrow keys.

. ------------------------ D. STORING MACROS TO KEYS --------------

------------

Macros can be stored to function keys, and then recalled and

used with

one keystroke. Each of the 12 PC function keys can be used alone

or with

Shift (often indicated in VDE as "!"), Ctrl ("^"), or Alt ("@"),

to produce

48 different macro keys. VDE comes with [F1] set up as "Help"

(^J) and [F10]

as "Menu" (^[Esc]), but of course this can be changed.

Labels visible at the bottom of the screen can help you

remember function

keys. You can also assign a mnemonic letter or digit (alias) to

invoke a

definition with the [Esc] key: while your Address might be on

^[F3], EscA

could be easier to remember.

The ^M command (see MACRO DEFINITION) gives the option of

storing the

macro definition to any function key, so it can later be executed

simply by

pressing that key. Instead of selecting "U"se, press the desired

key, from

[F1] to [@F12].

At the prompt "Make Quiet, No-repeat, Both:", reply "Q" for a

key that

executes in Quiet (fast) mode; "N" for a key that runs just once,

without

asking for a repeat count; or "B" for both. Just press [Enter]

for neither

-- a key that executes just like the "Use" option, visibly, asking

for a

repeat count first.

At the prompt "Esc key:", you can choose an optional letter or

digit to

press after [Esc] as an alternate way of invoking this macro.

At the prompt "Label:", you can enter up to 7 characters as a

label to

identify the key (see KEY LABELS). Just press [Enter] for none.

Notes: Don't choose "Q"uiet (or "B"oth) for a key that will

request input

from you; the prompt wouldn't display. About 4000 bytes of

storage are

available for all 48 function keys, and a 125-key limit applies

[in VDE;

VINST can accept 253] to any definition. You can delete an

existing key

definition by entering a null definition (^M, [Enter]) and storing

it to the

key. Keys defined while editing in VDE last only during the

current editing

session. [To add a function key permanently to VDE.EXE, use

VINST: see

DEFAULT FUNCTION KEYS and DATA FILES.]

. --------------------------- E. MACRO PROGRAMMING ----------------

------------

"Macro programming" refers to a group of VDE commands that

operate only

within a macro definition, giving you runtime control over the

execution of a

macro. Thus, instead of simply replaying an entire sequence of

keystrokes, a

macro can be constructed much like a computer program, with tests

and jumps

from one point to another, providing great flexibility and power.

Here is a

brief introduction to the range of macro programming commands (see

MACRO

REFERENCE for further details).

Jumps require "labels" to identify a location to jump to: a

macro label

consists of [Esc] followed by a letter A-Z or digit 0-9. (If you

typed this

from the keyboard it would be a function key invocation via an

alias -- but a

macro can't do that, so EscA etc simply serve to label locations

in a macro.)

Esc! is the unconditional jump, requiring a label (A-Z,0-9) to

jump to;

it causes execution of the macro to transfer to the command

following that

label, instead of simply continuing as usual to the next command.

For

example, Esc!1 jumps to the label Esc1. Thus the macro:

This_is_ Esc!1 not_ Esc1 a_silly_macro.

would create the text "This is a silly macro." In contrast, the

macro:

This_is_ Esc1 not_ Esc!1 a_silly_macro.

would produce "This is not not not not not not not not not...",

continuing

indefinitely until you press [Esc] to abort it. (This is an

example of an

"infinite loop" -- occasionally useful, but likely just a

programming error.)

There are also two special predefined "labels" for jump

commands: "["

indicates the beginning of the macro, and "]" the end. Thus Esc![

can be

used to repeat a macro from the start, and Esc!] can be used to

terminate it

from any point.

Several commands allow the use of a counter variable. Esc()

sets the

value: for example, Esc(0) initializes it to zero. The Esc+

command simply

increments the value; Esc- (minus) is a conditional jump,

decrementing the

value, then jumping if it's gone to zero to the specified label.

(Besides

labels 0..Z, you can use "[" or "]", or "@" to avoid jumping

entirely.)

Examples: Esc-] decrements the counter, jumping to the end

(exiting) if it

reaches zero; Esc-@ simply decrements it, with no jump. Thus the

macro:

This_is_a_ Esc(3) EscL silly_ Esc-X Esc!L EscX macro.

produces the text "This is a silly silly silly macro."

Conditional jumps, or tests, are performed by Esc= and Esc~.

Followed by

a character, then a label, they are conditional jumps: they jump

IF the text

character at the cursor does (or for "~", does NOT) match the one

specified.

Examples: Esc~_2 jumps to label 2 if the cursor character is NOT a

space;

Esc=^M] jumps to the end (terminates) if the cursor character is a

CR (^M).

Similarly, Esc< and Esc> test the cursor character's ASCII value

and act

accordingly: thus Esc<A2 jumps to label 2 if the cursor character

value is

less than ASCII "A" (41h), etc.

The test commands (Esc=,~,<,>) can also be used in a second

way, as self-

contained search loops. If instead of a label you use the

character ">" or

"<" (this once it really is greater/less signs not arrows), the

cursor will

move right or left as long as the character at the cursor does (or

for "~",

doesn't) match the one specified. Example: Esc=_> moves right as

long as the

cursor character is a space (stopping on the first NONspace).

That's much

simpler than programming a loop to do it (Esc1 Esc~_2 ^D Esc!1

Esc2).

It's possible for one macro to chain (jump) to, or call,

another macro.

This can permit construction of a single macro longer than the

maximum size;

also, it often simply allows you to organize macros more

efficiently and

conserve definition space. Esc&, followed by a key name like

"!F1", is used

to chain to another key; the macro terminates when that key

finishes. Esc&&

works similarly, but calls the other key, so that when it

finishes, control

returns to the original macro at the point following the Esc&&

command.

Notes on END OF FILE

As mentioned previously, macros tend to terminate when a

command tries

to move past the end (or start) of a file. What actually happens

in these

instances is that a special internal error is generated: no

message displays,

but it is an error condition, and therefore halts the macro. So

if you

actually don't want execution to halt at the EOF, because

something else

should still be done afterwards, you can use Esc$ (see ERROR

HANDLING) to

continue execution anyway:

Esc$E

;on error jump to "E"

EscL

Esc!L

EscE

;keep looping until error

;execution will continue here

after EOF

<...>

(Of course, if it's possible that some other error might have

occurred before

the loop reached EOF, you shouldn't assume you're actually there.)

When dealing with larger, multisegmented files, editing

doesn't

automatically continue into subsequent segments; in fact, the EOF

behavior

described above occurs in every segment. Thus, you can use this

error-

handling technique to detect the boundary of a segment, then use

Esc[ or Esc]

to test whether the file has another, and use AltB/N to move into

it and

continue. (See SEGMENTATION, NAVIGATION)

. ----------------------- F. EXAMPLES OF USEFUL MACROS ------------

------------

Remember that macro examples are given as they function, NOT

including

occasional ^P prefixes for certain keys; and while keystrokes are

often

separated by spaces purely for clarity, the symbol "_" is used to

represent

an actual space that you must type.

Many of the macros in this section are included in the macro

definition

file EXAMPLES.VDF, which you can load with AltU in order to try

them out

easily. (See DEFAULT FUNCTION KEYS) Even though you may have no

use for

some of these examples, they can help clarify and illustrate

techniques.

SIMPLE MACRO EXAMPLES

1. At its simplest, a function key is a way to repeat

keystrokes. Thus,

if you're writing a document that will refer to "Western Widget

Development

Company" dozens of times, it's easier (and helps avoid typos) to

define this

phrase as a macro and store it to a key like [F3] or EscW.

2. The macro repeat count is an easy way to repeat VDE

commands. For

example, to reformat an entire file, go to the top (and turn off

autoformat)

if necessary, then use ^M to define a macro and enter just the

reformat

command ^B; end with ^[Enter] to proceed visibly, or go on to

specify Quiet

and indefinite repeat ("Q,*") for the fastest operation (it will

stop at the

EOF). To reformat only part of the file, mark it as a block and

use zoom

(^KZ) first -- which is a very powerful tool in macros.

3. To view a file by scrolling slowly through it, use the

macro:

Esc; ^Z or

Esc; ^C

This pauses, then scrolls down (a line at a time with ^Z, a screen

at a time

with ^C). Don't make it Quiet, just repeat indefinitely (with

^[Enter] or a

count of "*"); press [Esc] to terminate.

4. This macro, with repeat count "*", would find all phrases

in square

brackets "[]" found in a file, and make a list of them in a second

file being

edited concurrently:

^QR ^QF[^[Enter] ^G ^KB ^QF]^[Enter] ^G ^KK AltY AltN AltP

[Enter] AltB

(As written, single-segment files are assumed; see SEGMENTATION.)

SIMPLE FUNCTION KEY EXAMPLES

1. This macro, which could be stored as No-repeat on a

function key, re-

loads the current file, undoing all changes made since it was last

saved:

^KL ^F [Enter]

2. A function key defined as ^QR ^N AltD ^OF would place the

current date

at the top right of a letter. You can set up another to produce a

personal

letterhead: for example, the macro

^N John_Doe ^OC ^N 123_Main_St ^OC ^N City,_State ^OC

will insert that three-line address, neatly centered. Print

effects can be

added (bold, italic) to suit your taste. For a solid line

separating this

from the body of the letter, try adding onto the end: ^N ^PS ^OF

^E ^PS ^X

3. Function keys can be used to create powerful new commands:

for

example, ^D ^A ^KB ^F ^KK marks the current word as a block. (If

you don't

want to include spaces/punctuation, see the macro "WFreq" in the

block.

4. Function keys can be used as an alternative to AltG for

entering

graphics; just program them with the actual characters, entered

via [Alt] +

numeric keypad, and then they won't depend on the graphics set

(.VDG) in use

at the time. The file WS4.VDF includes a row of individual

graphic keys, and

EXAMPLES.VDF has four box-drawing keys: the top-left corner plus a

horizontal

bar; ^I followed by the top right and a vertical bar; etc. (Line

graphics

are represented here by the characters "+-|".)

key1: +-

key2: ^I+|

key3: ^I+-

key4: ^I+|

To draw a box with them, press the first key, extend the line with

^\, press

the next key, extend with ^\, and so on.

MACRO PROGRAMMING EXAMPLES

1. This macro ("BofP" in EXAMPLES.VDF) moves to the start of

the current

paragraph, by continuing to move back through the file until it

finds a line

that doesn't end with a space (soft CR):

^QS ^S^S Esc=_[ ^D^D

Like the rest of the examples in this section, it's best stored

Quiet, No-

Repeat to a function key.

2. Moving to the start of the current sentence ("BofS") is a

bit more

complicated, but here is a macro program to do it, with some

commentary:

Esc~.1 ^S

Esc1 Esc~.<

^D Esc=_2 Esc=^M2

;move left if already on period

;move left to previous period

;accept if followed by space or

return,

left

^S^S Esc!1

; otherwise ignore and continue

Esc2 ^D Esc=_2 Esc=^M2 ;move right over any

space/returns

; to start of sentence

3. If you want to produce a "pure ASCII" file for software

that can't

accept control codes (other than CR,LF) or IBM graphics, here is a

macro to

filter these out before you save to disk (use file modes /A,U,N):

Esc** Esc*f

afterward)

;formatting off (restore status

^QR

;go to top of file

EscB Esc>~X

;delete anything above "~"

(graphics)

Esc=^MN

Esc<_X

;accept carriage returns

;but delete anything else below "

" (ctrls)

EscN ^D Esc!B

EscX ^G Esc!B

;(accept)

;(delete)

The macro will terminate when it attempts to move beyond the end

of the file

or segment (see SEGMENTATION).

4. Here is a macro that eliminates unwanted blank lines from

a file;

every sequence of up to 10 blank lines will be reduced to just

one, by

repeated use of find/replace:

Esc$@ Esc(10) Esc1 ^QA ^M^M^M [Enter] ^M^M [Enter] GN [Enter]

Esc-] Esc!1

5. This macro ("CtrLn") moves the cursor to the center of the

line, using

the counter variable to figure the line length, then move back

only halfway:

^QS Esc(0)

Esc1 Esc+ ^D

;start at left, zero counter

;loop: move right, increment

counter

Esc~^M1

Esc2 Esc-] Esc-] ^S

; (until you come to the CRLF)

;loop: move left, decrementing

count TWICE

Esc!2

; (macro ends when it goes to

zero)

6. This macro ("WFreq") counts and reports how frequently the

word at the

cursor occurs in the file:

^D^A Esc<@> ^KB ^F ^S

Esc<@< ^D ^KK

;mark current word as block

; (word only, no

spaces/punctuation)

Esc(0)

;zero counter

^QF^[ [Enter]GCW[Enter] ;find string (error if not found

at all)

Esc$E Esc3 Esc+ ^L Esc!3 ;count and find each occurrence

EscE ^QB^KH Esc(H)

report count

;return to word, unmark, and

^[ brings the marked word into the ^QF prompt; Esc(H) shows the

count in the

header when finished (don't run this Quiet, or you won't see it).

7. Many programming languages use nested sets of parentheses,

like "{}"

in C. This macro, when the cursor is placed on an open bracket "

{", will

move ahead to find the closed bracket "}" that matches it:

Esc~{] Esc(0)

;must be on bracket now; zero

counter

Esc1 Esc~{2 Esc+ Esc!3 ;increment for every "{"

encountered

Esc2 Esc~}3 Esc-]

when zero

Esc3 ^D Esc!1

;decrement for every "}", quit

;keep moving along

8. Here is a very basic macro ("HTML-") to strip out hypertext

markup

codes from .HTM files, including all "tags" enclosed in angle

brackets "<>",

leaving only easily readable text. (You can easily rework this

macro to suit

your own taste, for example to preserve the contents of URLs or

certain other

tags before deleting the rest.)

Esc** Esc*f

Esc1 Esc$2

;formatting off

;trap errors each time to

continue

^QA<br>[Enter]^M[Enter]gc[Enter]

Esc2 Esc$3

^QA<p[Enter]^M<p[Enter]gc[Enter]

Esc3 Esc$4

;translate linebreaks

;add them here too

^QF<[Enter]g[Enter] ^KB

^QF>[^Enter] ^D ^KK^KY

Esc!3 Esc4 Esc$5

;find, block mark, and delete

every

none

; other <tag>, repeating till

^QA [Enter]_[Enter]gc[Enter]

Esc5 Esc$6

^QA[Tab][Enter][Enter]g[Enter]

Esc6 ^QR Esc$0

;translate spaces

;remove TABs

Esc7 Esc~_8 ^T

Esc8 ^X Esc!7 Esc0 ^QR

;remove leading spaces

;done, return to top

9. This macro illustrates the use of segment-navigation

tests. It makes

a list at the end of the file from which it's invoked of the first

lines of

all the other files currently being edited.

Esc| ^QC

EscL AltN

Esc.]

;mark original file, and go to end

;loop: advance to next seg

;quit if back to original seg; done!

;skip all but first segs of multiseg

Esc[L

files

^QR ^KB ^X ^KK

AltY Esc/ AltP

^QC Esc/

;mark first line of file

;copy it to here

;and return

Esc!L

;continue loop

10. This macro program ("Sort") uses the Esc@ function (see

SORTING

below) in a very simple algorithm to arrange the lines of a file

in

alphabetical order by their initial characters:

^QC^QS^E

;start on last line of file

Esc1 Esc$E ^QS^E^KB

;main loop: set error jump

for cleanup,

^QS^X^KK Esc$3

; mark previous line

Esc2 Esc@3 ^QS^X Esc!2

Esc3 ^KV ^QP Esc!1

;sort loop: find its place

;put it there, return to its

position

EscE ^KH

;done, remove markers

Sorting is a complex subject, due to the need for speed; this

approach is

reasonably fast when stored to a Quiet function key, especially

when the file

happens already to be partially ordered, as is often the case.

The macro

works up from the bottom, applying the Esc@ test repeatedly to

find where

each new line goes; ^QP returns to the top of the sorted section,

to

continue. Esc$3 ensures that if the ^X hits the end, the macro

won't

terminate but the line will just be put there. Esc$E ensures that

when the

^E hits the top, the macro cleans up and exits gracefully.

You can use block zoom (^KZ) to sort just a section of a file,

or

experiment with variations on this macro to sort in reverse order;

on fields

other than column 1; with multiline records; etc.

. ---------------------- G. ADDING FEATURES: MAIL MERGE -----------

------------

Many extra features commonly included in large word processors

aren't

built into VDE. But as the examples above have shown, macro

programming and

function keys actually allow you to develop your own custom editor

commands,

using existing ones as building blocks. With macros, you can add

new

features yourself, and design them to work exactly the way you

want.

To demonstrate that this isn't really difficult at all,

consider "Mail

Merge": automatic production of many copies of a document, with

insertions at

certain points taken from a data list. The classic example is a

form letter

for multiple recipients. Suppose we compose such a letter,

putting a

distinctive little marker like "@@N" where the name should go, and

"@@A" in

place of the address:

@@N

@@A

29 February 1993

Dear @@N,

We are pleased to announce the opening of...

And in another file we have our mailing list, whether typed by

hand or

generated from a database program. Various formats are possible;

let's

suppose that each "entry" is a name and address, of varying

numbers of lines,

terminated by an empty line. So the file might begin:

C.J. Aubergine

<- first line of file

221-A Slumgullion Road

Hoagie, IL 63213

<- blank line between

each entry

Margarita Empanada

P.O. Box 3172

Sopapilla, CA 91306

Prof. Dr. K. Hasenpfeffer

Schlagsahnestr. 11

D-1380 Rotkohl

GERMANY

(etc...)

It would be nice to have a function key programmed so that one

press

could print off a whole series of letters, one for each entry in

the list,

with the appropriate address and salutation. You can probably see

how you'd

go about the job manually, though it would be incredibly tedious:

find each

"@@" marker in the letter file, switch to the mailing list, mark

and copy the

corresponding data, switch back and paste it in place of the

marker, print

the letter, then reload the letter template and start all over

again with the

second name... So one approach to creating a mail-merge macro

would be to

switch on macro recording (^M^M) while assembling and printing the

first

letter yourself, ending when you're ready to begin again with the

second.

You could store the resulting macro to a key, and execute it

repeatedly

(assuming you managed to get everything just right).

Alternatively, you could plan ahead and design a macro program

with

appropriate labels and jumps to execute the entire process

automatically.

The following macro ("Merge" in EXAMPLES.VDF) will work with files

as

described above, when installed (No-repeat) on a function key.

Brief

comments have been added for explanation. Before running the

macro, you must

be viewing the letter file (which must have been saved to disk),

with the

address list loaded as a second file, and the cursor at the top of

both

files. If you want to test it without wasting paper, redirect

your printer

output to a disk file instead, or substitute Esc; or Esc? for the

print

command so you can just view each version of the letter on screen

as it's

finished. It's striking what can be accomplished with such a

modest macro.

Esc$3 ^QF@@^[Enter]

if none

Esc$$ ^D^D Esc=A1 Esc~N[

neither)

;Find next marker, skip to print

;Was it @@A or @@N? (skip if

AltN ^KB^QD^KK AltY

^QS AltN Esc!2

entry

;Request was for Name,

; so mark and copy first line of

Esc1

; (always leaving cursor at start

of entry)

AltN ^X^KB^QF^M^M^[Enter] ^KK ;Request was for Address,

AltY ^QB^E AltN ; so mark and copy the rest of the

entry

Esc2

^A^G^G^G

;Back to the letter: delete

marker,

AltP Esc![

Esc3

^KP[Enter]

;Letter is ready, so print it

^KL^F[Enter]

; and reload original copy with @@

markers

AltN ^QF^M^M^[Enter] ^D^D

Esc<_]

;Position to next entry in list

;Quit if no more entries,

AltN Esc![

; otherwise do it all over again

This example has been kept simple to illustrate the basic

approach; you

could easily adapt it to put only the first name in the

salutation, or to use

database lists in comma-delimited format, or to work with larger

files (as

written, it assumes single segments). You can tailor your own

mail-merge

feature to suit your requirements.

. ========================== 9. MACRO REFERENCE

=============================

AUTOEXEC MACRO - VINST can designate one function key definition

"autoexec",

meaning that it will execute automatically whenever you first

enter VDE.

This feature can be used in a variety of ways, for example:

1. An autoexec macro can effectively change even

default settings not available as VINST options. (For

certain settings specific to each file, only the first

file

would be affected.)

2. You can turn VDE into a translation or

modification

utility by specifying a key definition (.VDF) file on the

command line containing an autoexec macro that changes

file

modes or alters the text in some way and then exits.

See also SYNTAX, FUNCTION KEYS, DATA FILES. (Note: if an

autoexec macro

exists, you cannot use a utility that stuffs input into the DOS

keyboard

buffer before running VDE.)

CHAINING OR CALLING (Esc&,&&) - Esc&, followed by a key name like

"!F1", will

"chain" (jump) to another function key. Use "!,^,@" for Shift,

Ctrl, Alt;

and after the "F", a single digit "1-9", or "A-C" for 10-12.

("0" is also

accepted for 10.) Examples: Esc&F2 chains to F2; Esc&^FB

chains to Ctrl-

F11. Esc&& works similarly but just "calls" the other key,

returning when

finished to the original one. Calls may be nested at most 4

deep.

COUNTER VARIABLE (Esc(),+,-) - Esc(n) sets the counter value to

"n". Esc+

simply increments the value; Esc- (minus) followed by a label

is a

conditional jump, decrementing the counter and if it became

zero, jumping

to that label (or "[" or "]" for the start or end, or "@" for

no jump).

The counter can effectively run "negative", though it's

actually an

unsigned integer: if you decrement it from 0, it becomes 65535

then 65534

(for -1, -2); if you increment it from 65535, it becomes 0.

It's not

reset after a macro runs, and can be passed to another macro

later.

Two special commands can also be used with the counter

value:

Esc(T) - write counter value into Text at cursor position

Esc(H) - display counter value briefly in Header

DEFINE OR RECORD MACRO (^M,^M^M) - To define a macro, press ^M and

enter

keystrokes at the prompt; for full instructions, see DEFINING

MACROS.

Finish with ^[Enter] to repeat the macro immediately, or

[Enter] for

choices for using or storing it to a function key.

Even if you didn't store your last macro when you

originally defined

it, you can still edit, re-use or store it subsequently by

using ^R

(replay) at the ^M prompt.

As an alternative to composing macros at the ^M command

prompt, you

can simply record one as you go about a task. Press ^M TWICE

(that is, a

second time at the prompt) to activate recording; type away;

then press ^M

again to conclude. While recording, a quote mark (") is

visible in the

upper right (prefix) area of the header. End recording by

pressing ^M

once more. If you make an error while recording, press [Esc]

at the

resulting prompt to quit.

ERROR HANDLING (Esc$,Esc%) - Esc$ can specify a label where macro

execution

should continue if any error occurs (instead of terminating).

Thus, after

the command Esc$E, any command resulting in an error (like "Not

Found")

will cause a jump to label E, and cancel the error. You can

also use the

special characters "[","]" to jump to the beginning or end of

the macro,

or "@" to simply ignore errors (not jumping anywhere), or "$"

to return to

the normal state of halting on any error.

Note that when a macro running through text hits the top or

end of a

file, it's actually halted by an internal error code that

doesn't display,

so this behavior is also affected by Esc$.

Esc% simply causes an error ("Not Available") if the

current file has

multiple segments; this can be used to safely abort macros that

wouldn't

work properly in such a file. (See SEGMENTATION)

FUNCTION KEYS ([F1]..[F12], EscA-Z,0-9) - Macros can be stored to

function

keys, either alone or with Shift, Ctrl, or Alt (!,^,@) for a

total of 48

function keys. These keys can be labeled for easy recognition

(see KEY

LABELS). You can also assign a letter or digit to invoke a

definition

with the [Esc] key: while your Address might be on ^[F3], EscA

could be

easier to remember. For details, see STORING MACROS.

(Note: users of early versions of VDE will recall EscA-Z as

its

original set of macro keys, distinct from the PC Function-keys

added

later; they now function simply as mnemonic aliases.)

FUNCTION KEY LABELS (^OU) - To help you remember the purposes of

function

key definitions, ^OU toggles the display of a label line at the

bottom of

the screen. When a key is defined, its number appears on the

label line,

followed by the label (if any) entered when the key was stored.

The label display is sensitive to keyboard shift status; if

you press

and hold Shift, Ctrl, or Alt for a moment, the labels will

change

accordingly. On screens of fewer than 96 columns, there isn't

room to

show all 12 labels at once; you can scroll the display to show

the rest of

the labels by holding any two of Shift/Ctrl/Alt together.

Since a single

digit is used for the key number, key 10 displays as "0"; 11

and 12

display as "1" and "2" again, but are easily distinguished from

keys 1 and

2 by their position, offset to the right.

KEY DEFINITION FILES (AltU) - These files save function key

definitions and

labels, and should be given a file type of ".VDF" (for an

entire set of

keys) or ".VDK" (for a single key). You can load a .VDF file,

along with

your text file(s) to edit, from the command line (see SYNTAX).

You can

also load or save .VDF or .VDK files with the AltU command

while editing

(see DATA FILES).

[VINST can also create key files or install them in your

copy of VDE;

see DEFAULT FUNCTION KEYS.]

LABELS AND JUMPS (Esc0..Z,Esc!) - In a macro, Esc0..Z are simply

labels

"0..Z". They have no effect, but can be jumped to by other

commands.

Esc! followed by 0..Z is a jump instruction, causing macro

execution

to resume with the command following that label: for example,

Esc!2 jumps

to label 2 (Esc2). "[" and "]" can also be used to jump to the

macro's

beginning or end (meaning quit).

Labels can also be referenced by the test commands, which

perform

conditional jumps (see TESTS AND LOOPS).

PAUSE OR USER INPUT (Esc;,Esc?,Esc:) - Esc; gives a brief pause

before macro

execution continues, so the user can see what's happening on

screen. Use

two or more for a longer pause.

Esc? accepts text or commands from the keyboard during

macro

execution. The header's "!" flag turns into "?" when user

input is

expected. Anything except macro and function key commands may

be used.

[Esc] terminates input, returning control to the macro.

^[Break] aborts.

Esc: makes the following command take its input from the

keyboard; the

macro resumes when that command is completed. Examples:

Esc:^QF allows

you to type in the string to find; Esc:Esc! actually lets you

type the

label to jump to.

PROMPT AUTOMATION (^F,^[,^R) - It's worth pointing out the

usefulness of

several control codes that operate at command prompts (see

PROMPTS) for

automating operation in macros. ^F allows you to reference the

current

filename in VDE file commands or DOS commands run from AltR.

^[ provides

the current block text as prompt input, allowing the use of

commands like

find/replace on whatever is there. ^R replays whatever was the

SEGMENT NAVIGATION (Esc|,\,/,[,],.) - Three Esc commands, useful

from the

keyboard or in macros, allow switching directly between

particular files

(or segments of large files) among those being edited. Esc|

initially

marks one to return to, and Esc\ returns to it (repeatedly if

desired).

Alternatively, Esc/ goes to the previously marked one while

also marking

the one it just left, so it can alternate between a pair.

Three test/jump commands are provided to help macros find

their way

around multisegment files. Esc. (Esc-period) followed by a

label (0..Z or

[,]) tests whether the current segment is the marked one, and

jumps if so;

thus a macro can (for example) tell when it has cycled through

all files

being edited. Esc[ will jump if the current file has previous

segments,

and Esc] if it has following ones; thus a macro can tell

whether an AltN/B

command would remain within the same file before using it.

(Note: if you

mean to skip to the next file without worrying whether the

current one is

multisegmented, just use ^QC AltN or ^QR AltB.)

SORTING (Esc@) - Esc@ is essentially a version of Esc< for entire

strings,

rather than individual characters: it performs a string

comparison (and

conditional jump) between text in a marked block and text at

the cursor.

As with Esc<, the comparison goes alphabetically (by ASCII

values),

proceeding character by character until a difference is found.

If the

block string has a value less than or equal to the cursor

string, which is

to say that it could belong "at" the cursor location, the jump

is

performed (perhaps to code that will put it there); if greater,

not (and

one might move on down the list). Esc@ scans up to 24

characters, is

case-insensitive, and treats accented letters in the code range

80-A5h as

their ordinary letter equivalents.

Rather than having one specific sorting command built into

VDE, the

Esc@ comparison can be used to implement any sorting method you

require.

For example, the macro program "Sort" described under EXAMPLES

above does

the most common task, arranging the lines of a file

alphabetically. Many

other variations can be imagined: reverse sort, sort on other

fields, sort

records of several lines, etc.

TESTS AND LOOPS (Esc=,~,<,>) - Esc= and Esc~ perform tests on the

character

at the current cursor position. They can be used in two ways:

1. Followed by a character, then a label (0..Z or

[,]), they're conditional jumps: go to the label IF the

cursor character does (or for "~", does NOT) match the one

specified.

2. Followed by a character, then ">" or "<", they're

search loops: keep moving right or left as long as the

cursor character does (or for "~", does NOT) match.

Similarly, Esc< and Esc> test the cursor character's ASCII

value and

act according to whether it's less or greater than the

specified value.

(See ASCII table in VINST.TXT)

Note: place and block markers, since they aren't text

characters at

all, will fail any test. If you need to check for their

presence, you can

use Esc>^@ (that's 00h, entered ^P@) since no actual character

could be <0

and fail this test.

TOGGLE CONTROL (Esc*) - Toggle (on/off) commands are problematic

when used

in macros and function keys; ^V, for example, might turn Insert

either on

or off, depending on whether it was off or on already. The

Esc* command

provides a solution, by letting a macro specify an exact state

for each

toggle. Esc* must be followed by a LETTER to identify a

toggle, UPPERcase

to turn it ON or LOWERcase to turn it OFF. (A few options have

a third

state as well.) For example, Esc*i sets INSERT OFF, regardless

of its

previous state. The toggles are:

Autoindent

(^OA)

'a'=off 'A'=on

* clipBoard translation

Column block (^KN,I)

'b'=off 'B'=on

'c'=off 'C'=on 'O'=replace

Doublespace

autoFormat

Hyphenation

Insert

(^OS)

(^OM)

(^OH)

(^V)

'd'=off 'D'=on

'f'=off 'F'=on

'h'=off 'H'=on

'i'=off 'I'=on 'W'=word

'j'=off 'J'=on 'R'=remove

'l'=off 'L'=on

Justification (^OJ)

* Load excluded files

* Match hard CRs exactly 'm'=off 'M'=on

Proportional (^OK)

* Single line reformat

'p'=off 'P'=on

's'=off 'S'=on

* Trim spaces from nondocs 't'=off 'T'=on

* Unload speller from memory 'U,u' (either)

'v'=off 'V'=on

Variable tabs (^OV)

margin release (^OX)

hard reformat (^OY)

'x'=off 'X'=on

'y'=off 'Y'=on

The cases marked "*" actually don't correspond to standard user

commands;

instead, they give access to more of VDE's internal settings

and defaults.

(These "fine tuning" commands are listed in the ^JF help menu,

and their

usage is described where appropriate in the COMMAND REFERENCE.)

Of course, once the macro ends, there's another problem: it

may not

leave common toggle states the way it found them. Therefore

one last

special command, Esc**, saves the current Insert, AutoFormat,

and Margin-

Release status for automatic restoration when a macro ends.

These are the

three toggles that macros most often have to change in order to

work

properly; if you use Esc** first, subsequent changes to them

(Esc*i etc)

will be undone when the macro terminates.

VALUE ADJUSTMENT (Esc#) - It can be very useful for a macro to

adjust a value

without having to know what it previously was: to indent both

margins 10

columns, for example, whatever they were. The Esc# command

makes this

possible: it must be followed by a LETTER to identify the

value, a NUMBER

from 1 to 99, and finally a "+" or "-" sign. The adjustments

are:

Left margin

Right margin (^OR)

Page length (^OP)

(^OL)

'L'

'R'

'P'

Example: Esc#L10+ increases the left margin by 10 columns.

Like the Esc*

toggles, these commands are primarily intended for, but not

limited to,

use in macros.

. ======================= 10. TECHNICAL INFORMATION

=========================

ACCESSORY PROGRAMS - The VDE Macro Compiler "VMC", by Evan

Slawson, is a

utility that translates function key files (*.VDF) from the

binary format

used by VDE/VINST to an easily read and edited text file. (It

can also be

used on .VDK files if you first rename them to .VDF, and don't

define any

keys other than [F1].) The "VPC" program, by Manfred Jainz,

does the same

trick for printer driver files (*.VDP). My CTRLCAPS TSR allows

the

[CapsLock] key to act as Ctrl on DOS systems. These and other

programs

can be downloaded from the VDE Editor site.

For academic and technical writing, I once wrote a

footnote-endnote

formatting utility called "wsNOTE" for WordStar files; although

designed

to work with WordStar, it can also be used with VDE in /W

mode. (Note

that because VDE doesn't support dot commands, you must delete

all these

to accurately preview or print the output from wsNOTE with

VDE.)

It's often possible to use software other than VDE's own

integrated

speller for spell checking, thesaurus, or grammar; programs

known to work

with VDE include Webster's Professional, American Heritage

Dictionary,

Turbo Lightning (Borland), MicroSpell (Trigram), and Wordfinder

(Microlytics), as well as shareware programs like ShareSpell

(Acropolis).

Older programs that operate as TSRs (like Lightning) may

require that VDE

be installed for "XT" keyboard type. Standalone programs (like

ShareSpell) require you to save your file in an appropriate

format, then

run the program, a process you can automate with a function key

definition

using AltR and ^F for the current filename (see PROMPTS).

CLIPTEXT - Horst Schaeffer's tiny Windows utility CLIPTEXT

(available at the

VDE Editor site) is necessary to provide Clipboard

functionality for VDE's

^[ and ^] keys under Windows NT/2K/XP. It writes the Clipboard

to (or

reads it from) a temporary disk file that VDE can read or

write. You can

also use it in other ways yourself, according to its

instructions. (The

format that works best for that is /T.) In order for VDE to

use it

automatically, CLIPTEXT.EXE must simply be placed in a

directory on your

DOS PATH so that it runs when "CLIPTEXT" is typed at the

command prompt.

(Note: due to a problem with Windows, after the ^[, ^] keys

have run

CLIPTEXT, VDE can't tell whether you may still be holding down

[Ctrl] for

more commands. If you should see a small error message "Ctrl

key?" in the

header upon your next keystroke, just tap any Ctrl/Alt/Shift

key before

continuing.)

CTRL KEY (CAPS LOCK) - VDE's WordStar-style commands make

extensive use of

the [Ctrl] key, which was located on the home row next to [A]

on the

original IBM PC keyboard; but later ("enhanced"?) AT keyboards

have put

[CapsLock] there instead, making [Ctrl] less accessible and

commands like

^Q awkward to use. A few AT keyboards have been made that

allow

rearranging these keys, but most don't.

On a DOS system, the functions of these two keys can be

swapped by

loading a TSR utility like my own CTRLCAPS. Because Windows

doesn't let

DOS software fully intercept keystrokes, such an approach is

inadvisable

under Windows -- the CapsLock status or the keyboard light may

vary

unpredictably. Use a Windows-based method instead for

consistent

performance. Under Win9x, install a device driver like

CTRL2CAP.VXD (from

sysinternals.com) to intercept and translate keystrokes.

Under WinNT/2K/XP, the proper technique is to remap the

scancodes of

those keys in the Registry. If you really know what you're

doing, you can

use RegEdit to navigate to the key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard

Layout

and define a new value "Scancode Map", of type REG_BINARY,

containing the

following data:

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 1D 00 3A 00

3A 00 1D 00 00 00 00 00

Then reboot your computer for this to take effect. (If you

ever want to

undo this, find that "Scancode Map" value again and delete it.)

If all this sounds too tricky, just download CTRL_XP.ZIP

from the VDE

Editor site. It contains a simple .REG file that you just have

to click

on to apply to your Registry. But first, be sure that you

really do want

to swap these two keys: you can't just click something to undo

it again,

that Registry value must be manually found and deleted.

DIRECTORIES - At any VDE filename prompt, you can always specify a

path as

well. Otherwise, the default directory assumed by the file

commands

(^KL,^KR,^KE,^KF,^KJ; AltL) is that of the current file; when

editing

multiple files, this can differ from one to the next. The path

doesn't

display in the header, but is shown by the AltK or ^KF

commands.

The current DOS directory remains unchanged, and is shown

by the AltR

command, for which it remains the default. (It can be changed

at the AltR

prompt.) You will return to this directory upon exiting VDE.

THE "VDE DIRECTORY": Sometimes other files associated with

VDE need to

be found in order to perform certain functions: AltU (or ";" on

the

command line) needs .VDx data files; AltH,J require the speller

overlay

and dictionary files. In order for VDE to locate these files

easily they

should all be kept in the "VDE directory", which you can

specify with the

command "SET VDE=" in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (i.e. SET

VDE=C:\UTIL);

otherwise, the default VDE directory is simply the one where

the running

copy of VDE (VDE.EXE) resides.

If the file needed isn't found in the VDE directory, it

will be sought

as a last resort in the current DOS directory. If you do

specify a path,

the file will (only) be sought or put in that directory. If

you use AltU

to save a data file without specifying a path, the first file

by that name

found in the above search will be overwritten; if no such file

is found, a

new one will be written to the VDE directory.

ERROR MESSAGES - These display briefly below the header:

"Error" - invalid data entered, or inappropriate

command.

pressed.

"Invalid Key" - an illegal command key sequence was

"Not Available" - the required hardware or software is not

present.

"Invalid Filespec" - bad directory, duplicate filename, or

excluded type.

"No File" - requested file does not exist.

"I/O Error" - read or write error, disk full, invalid

drive, etc.

"Format Error" - word too long, or margins invalid.

"Not Found" - the object of a search was not found.

"Block Error" - there is no marked block (or the cursor is

in it).

"Macro Error" - programming command misused, or recording

overflow.

"Graphics Overflow" - too many graphics codes in file, table is

full.

"Segment Near Full" - this segment now has less than 1k of memory

free.

"Out of Memory" - the segment has too little room for this

operation.

KEYBOARD VARIANTS - Some non-US keyboards differ in the

arrangement of

certain special symbols. If the following keystrokes don't

seem to work

as VDE commands (or parts thereof), check your keyboard

instructions to

find which key (or combination) produces the required code

instead.

___KEY_____DEC_HEX___|___KEY____DEC_HEX___|___KEY____DEC_HEX__

^\

28 1C

|

"

#

$

34 22

35 23

36 24

|

&

^

~

38 26

94 5E

126 7E

^^ (^6) 30 1E

^_ (^-) 31 1F

MEMORY - VDE requires a minimum of about 140k free RAM; the number

and size

of files you can edit depends on the additional amount of

conventional

memory you have free. (VDE doesn't use EMS/XMS memory.) The

available

memory may be limited if you're running VDE in a shell from

another

program, or have lots of memory-resident software (TSRs)

loaded; you can

check it with AltK. The speller requires an additional 90k;

running a DOS

command (AltR) requires enough to load COMMAND.COM and whatever

program

you intend to run. If you're running short of memory, try

exiting files

you no longer need, cutting an empty block to empty the copy

buffer (^KB

^KK AltC), or unloading the speller (Esc*U).

PROMPTS - At prompts for numeric or text input, like "Column:" or

"Find

text:", the following special keys operate:

Reposition cursor: [<], [>]

Delete character: [BkSp], [Del]

Finish entry: [Enter] (or ^[Enter] to avoid

further prompting

Abort operation: ^[Break]

in

many cases)

Enter text from macro: [F1]-[@F12]

Replay last entry: ^R

(only at beginning of input

line)

Include current filename: ^F \

Include text from block: ^[

Erase entire entry: ^Y

\(these don't have immediate

/ effect at "Macro:" prompt)

Escape from prompt: [Esc] /

Enter one of above codes: ^P

Enter graphic: AltG

Notes: "^[" means Ctrl-[, not [Esc]. When editing input

with the

arrow keys, any characters typed are inserted, and [Enter] can

be used at

any time. In most cases, to make these keys part of input

themselves, you

must precede them with ^P (including ^P itself). At prompts

where [Del]

and [>] can be entered, they don't require ^P when the cursor

is at the

end of the input line. At the Print prompt, the [<],[>] arrows

can be

used to scroll the option menu only when the cursor is at the

end of the

input line.

SEGMENTATION - Macros that assume that each text segment being

edited is a

separate file may not work properly if used in a large

multisegment file.

This is true of a few examples given here, and perhaps other

macros

written before VDE could edit larger files; they should be re-

examined

(see LARGE FILES for compatibility issues) and either modified,

used

differently, or avoided in such a context, as necessary. Macro

tests are

provided to find your way around a multisegment file (see

NAVIGATION).

You can use Esc% to keep a macro that can't handle large files

from

running in them at all (see ERROR HANDLING).

There are two basic reasons why a macro might fail in a

multisegment

file: FIRST, it may assume that all processes work smoothly

throughout an

entire file, whereas some don't. Any macro that runs through a

file and

halts upon hitting the end will also halt at a segment

boundary; you can

revise it, or simply move on manually and use it again. You

can get block

moves to work across segments too by substituting AltC,AltP for

^KV.

Instead of relying on ^QP to return to a position possibly in

another

segment, you can leave behind a marker code or string to search

for.

SECOND, a macro that cycles between different files may

assume that

every AltN/B command is moving to another file, when in fact it

may only

move to another segment of the current one. You can fix this

by using the

combinations ^QC AltN or ^QR AltB instead of AltN/B alone to

guarantee

entry into a different file, and the Esc/,\ commands or a

searchable

marker in order to return to a particular file segment.

USB PRINTERS - DOS software like VDE can't directly use USB

printers. You

can install third-party software that captures and redirects

DOS print

output to a USB port, and for those with a Windows-only

printer, also

translates it so that it will print. (Some examples are

DOSPRN, DOS2USB,

and WINPRINT.) Or if you're willing to work a bit, you can get

Windows

NT/2K/XP to do all this itself. (The exact steps described

here are for

XP.) There are two possible approaches.

1. PRINTER POOLING - This simple method may work if your

computer

actually has a working parallel port, now unused. Go to

Control Panel:

Printers, right-click your printer, select Properties, click

Ports. Add a

check by LPT1, and make sure USB is also still checked. Check

the box

"Enable Printer Pooling", then click OK. You should now be

able to print

from DOS. If not, see the note on WINDOWS-ONLY PRINTERS

below. If it

still doesn't work, go back and undo these changes, and use the

2. NETWORK SHARING - This works even on newer computers

with no

parallel port. The basic instructions should suffice if your

printer

ISN'T Windows-only, it plugs into YOUR computer, and you ARE on

a network,

even if it's just your own modem/router. (Otherwise, read on

below for

additional notes.)

Go to Control Panel: Printers, right-click your printer,

select

Sharing. If Share isn't already enabled, do so. Note its

resource name,

or give it one, for use as "printername" below.

To enable DOS printing whenever desired, the command is:

net use LPT1 \\127.0.0.1\printername

And to disable it again:

net use LPT1 /d

This assumes that you have the usual LPT1 (or PRN) set as the

port in your

VDE printer driver. (If you know your "computer name", or want

to look it

up at Control Panel: System: Computer Name, you can use that in

place of

127.0.0.1.) Additional notes follow...

ENABLING PERMANENTLY: To have LPT1 always available, put

the enable

command above in AUTOEXEC.NT. Or you can try adding on the

option "/p=y",

which is supposed to make the assignment "persistent" even

after rebooting

your computer, although that's reported not to work perfectly.

(Neither

of these is a good idea if you aren't always connected to a

network,

though -- see below.)

WINDOWS-ONLY PRINTERS: If printing doesn't work and you

suspect your

printer lacks support for traditional text printing, go to

Control Panel:

Printers, right-click your printer, select Properties. Click

Advanced:

Print Processor, change the Data Type to "TEXT", click OK

twice. If it

works now, that's the solution. You'll have to use the SIMPLE

printer

driver, as VDE will be unable to control printer features.

NETWORK PRINTERS: To assign LPT1 to a remote network

printer instead,

go to Control Panel: System: Network Identification, and use

the net ID

shown there in place of "127.0.0.1" in the sample command

above.

NOT NETWORKED: The "net use" command only works if you're

actually on

a network. If you're at the desk with a printer, you probably

also have a

modem/router handy, and the simplest thing might be just to

make sure that

connection is live before issuing "net use". If you prefer not

to worry

about that or don't have a network connection, you can install

an obscure

Windows component called Microsoft Loopback Adapter, which

simulates being

on a network all the time. To install the MLA, go to Control

Panel: Add

Hardware, click Next. Select "Already connected hardware".

Scroll down

and select "Add new hardware", click Next. Select "Install

manually from

list (Advanced)", click Next. Select "Network Adapters", click

Next.

Select "Microsoft" from manufacturer list, then "Microsoft

Loopback

Adapter" in Network Adapter list. Click Next twice, then

Finish. To

configure the MLA, go to Control Panel: Network Connections,

right-click

the MLA and select Properties. Under General, This Connection

Uses,

select "Internet Protocol" and click on Properties. Select

"Use IP

address" to assign a static IP address like 192.168.1.1, with a

mask of

255.255.255.0. Click OK twice and it's done.

FIREWALL: If you're still getting errors from "net use"

after

following all the above tips, it's likely that your firewall

isn't

allowing the connection, and you'll have to manually configure

permission

for 127.0.0.1 or the IP address of the MLA.

===============================[end

VDE.TXT]=================================

Kommentare

Kommentare wurden aufgrund eines Netzwerkfehlers deaktiviert. Bitte aktualisieren

Sie die Seite.

Sie sind nicht berechtigt, Kommentare hinzuzufügen.

Anmelden | Aktuelle Site-Aktivitäten | Missbrauch melden | Seite drucken | Powered by Google Sites