VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton dd dd dd vv vv ddddddd oooooo vv vv dd dd oo oo vv vv dd dd oo oo vvv dddddd oooooo ********************************** * USER MANUAL * ********************************** Table of Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------- Section Title Page ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Overview of VDO.................. 1 2 Advantages of VDO................ 3 3 Disadvantages of VDO............. 3 4 Installation/setup............... 4 5 Operation........................ 6 6 Cursor control................... 7 7 Single keystroke commands........ 8 8 Quick commands................... 9 9 Block commands................... 10 10 Help commands.................... 12 11 Error handling................... 13 12 Future plans..................... 14 Appendices A Terminal List.................... 15 1 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 1. Overview VDO (Video Display Oriented) Editor is a small (7k) ASCII file full screen editor designed for use under CP/M 2.x. It originally appeared in a BYTE article by Richard Fobes (BYTE 9/82 and 10/82). It then underwent a series of revisions and modifications by the following firms and individuals: Spite Software Bill McTeer Don Krantz Mike Rejsa Don Krantz (again) This is revision 2.5, a major enhancement of the editor. The improvements made in this revision include the following: - Support for terminals not featuring line insert/delete. - Expanded terminal definitions. - Default drive logging. - Default drive directory display. - Revised menu structure. - Adjustable help level and help menus. - Added support for hiliting, for terminals that support it. - Implemenation of a 128 byte type-ahead buffer. VDO is a memory based editor - that means that both the editor and the file being edited reside in memory. With a 64K CP/M system, that gives you a maximum file size of about 52K. Since you will probably use this for program source files, that ought to be plenty. If not, there's always WordStar. VDO uses a small of standard WordStar keystroke commands. Where possible the keystrokes to activate a VDO operation are exactly the same as for WordStar. 2 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 2. Advantages to VDO VDO's major advantage over WordStar and other screen editors is its small size - only 7K of disk space is needed, as opposed to 60+ for WordStar. A minor advantage is VDO's speed - with no overlay files to swap in and out, VDO seems very fast. And with the type-ahead buffer you don't have to wait for the display to catch up with you. Another advantage it now has is the installation module that allows menu driven terminal installation. A number of terminals re currently supported (see appendix A). 3. Disadvantages to VDO VDO lacks many features found in WordStar. It is a file editor, not a word processor. However, most of the important features are implemented, and more are on the drawing board. Section 11, Future Plans, outlines some of the proposed features still to be added. 3 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 4. Installation/setup To get started with VDO, you need to set a few things up first. This distribution package contains a number of files that make up VDO v2.5. The steps needed to implement VDO on your system are listed below. 1. Extract all of the member files from VDO25.LBR, using a library utility such as NULU, LU, LSWEEP, etc. 2. Unsqueeze all of the files. If you are using NULU or LSWEEP you can extract and unsqueeze at the same time. See the respective doc files for details. 3. Rename the resulting files according to the table below. From To ----------------- ----------------- VDO25.OBJ VDO.COM VINST11.OBJ VINST.COM VTERM.DAT VTERM.DAT VDO25.MAN VDO25.MAN VDO25.NOT VDO25.NOT 4. VDO as distributed is installed for the Kaypro computers without hiliting. If this installation fits your needs, skip this step. To install VDO.COM, type VINST. This will start the install module written for the editor. The user is then prompted for the name of the source file (i.e. VDO.COM) and the name of the file to write the installed version of the editor to (i.e. VDONEW.COM). If you enter a for the second filename the file will be overwritten. A menu of available terminals is then displayed, allowing the user to select a terminal to install or exit the program. If a valid terminal is selected, once the selection is confirmed the editor will be installed with the new terminal control codes, the user will be informed and the progam will terminate. 5. You should now have a copy of VDO ready to run on your system. Type VDO to start it up. Once inside the editor, try various commands, watching the results to ensure that the editor is properly installed. If it doesn't look right, there are several possibilities. It may not be installed for the proper terminal type. Check your owners manual and make sure you have selected the proper terminal. If it still looks screwy, the terminal definition may be invalid. If you suspect this, gather together all the video control information about your terminal that you can and contact the author via one of the methods listed on the title page of this document. 6. If you want to change the initial settings of things such as the help level, insert toggle, etc. here is what you do. Run up VDO and adjust everything to the way that you want it to initialize. Then exit VDO. Now type DDT VDO.COM. When DDT stops 4 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton loading and displays it's stats, type G0 or a ^C to exit. Now type save 27 VDO.COM. You have now created a custom version of VDO for your use. 5 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 5. Operation of VDO VDO is started by tying either:VDO -or-VDO d:filename In the first version, where no filename is specified, VDO will create a new file when you exit, asking for the filename at that time. If the second version is used, VDO will attempt to open the specified file. If no file of the specified name exists, VDO will display an error message. You may continue from that point, and the name specified will be used to save the new file. If the file specified can be located, VDO will load the file and place the cursor at the start of the file. In any of the the three situations, you will be ready to start editing the file. VDO's commands are broken into four major groups: Cursor Control, Quick Commands, Block Commands and Help Commands. Several minor commands are also implemented. Anything not a control character which can't be interpreted as a command will be entered into the file as text. All input to the editor, with the exception of pause prompts, is buffered in a 128 character type-ahead buffer. This means that you don't have to wait for the editor or display to catch up to you, you can just keep typing. Although I am not a touch-typist, I can get going at a fair rate and I have ran into no serious problem over-running the buffer. Characters may be lost during disk reads/writes, due to the fact that the buffer routines are not true interupts. 6 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 6. Cursor Control The standard WordStar cursor controls ^A, ^S, ^D, ^F, ^E, ^X, ^R, ^C are all implemeted, and all work pretty much as you'd expect. Definitions are: ^S move cursor a character to the left ^D move cursor a character to the right ^A move cursor a word to the left ^F move cursor a word to the right ^E move cursor up a line ^X move cursor down a line ^R move a page (usually about 18 lines) up ^C move cursor a page down 7 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 7. Single Keystroke Commands These commands are all activated by single keystrokes. RETURN and TAB are both accepted at any time, and entered into the file as text. ^L repeats last ^QF or ^QA (see Quick commands), using same options. ^P Enter a printer code - The next character typed will be entered into the text as-is, even if it normally has other significance (e.g. ^P^L will enter a ^L into the text file rather than doing a "repeat find" operation). ^V toggle Insert mode on or off ^T delete one word to the right - how this works is: first, delete character under cursor. Next delete following displayable characters (doesn't include control characters displayed). Next, delete following white space (blanks and control characters) except for tabs or end-of-lines. ^Y delete entire line cursor is on ^G delete character right at (under) cursor DEL delete character left of cursor When moving the cursor, the display will adjust to the cursor position. You can't move the cursor off the screen accidentally. If a line is too wide to fit on the screen, it will scroll left automatically when the cursor travels off the left end of the screen. The column count on the status line will reflect the correct logical column at all times. Control characters do not count as occupying a logical column. 8 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 8. Quick Commands The Quick Commands are all accessed by typing a Control-Q. If in Normal or Novice level, a menu will display showing Quick options. The Quick commands, with one exception, all involve moving the cursor to a different position in the text quickly. ^QR places the cursor at the start of the text. ^QC places the cursor at the bottom of the text. ^QB places the cursor at the marker for the beginning of the block, if this marker is set (see ^K B). ^QK places the cursor at the marker for the end of the block, if the marker is set (see ^K K). ^QF allows you to specify a string to search for in the text. This string may not include carriage returns. After selecting 'F', VDO will ask for the string to look for (the "target" string). Type in the string, then press RETURN. VDO will next ask if you wish to ignore upper and lower case differences. If you do not press "Y", VDO will look for a string capitalized exactly as you capitalized the target string. Pressing a "Y", "y", or "^Y" will cause VDO to treat upper and lower case letters as exactly identical. Next, VDO will ask if you wish to look backwards from the cursor position. If you do not answer "Y", "y", or "^Y", VDO will look forward from the cursor postion. When VDO finds the target string in the text, it will move the cursor to that position and display the surrounding text. If the string is not found, an error message will display and the cursor will be returned to the starting position. ^QA Find-and-replace. Works just like ^QF, except when the string is found, a string of your choice is substituted for the target string. Note: Strings containing Carriage Returns may not be searched for, but any other control character may be included in the target string. (both ^QA and ^QF) ^QT Set tab stops. VDO allows tabs to be set to 8, 2, 4, or 16, with the default at 8. This is a dynamic process, and is used mainly for C, Ada, and Pascal programmers for variable indentations. 9 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 9. Block Commands The block commands are all accessed by typing a Control-K. If in Normal or Novice level, a menu will appear with second- keystroke options. Not all Control-K commands necessarily relate to marked blocks. Block commands mainly operate on large portions of the text. A "Block" is a section of the text file begining with the Block Start marker, and ending with the Block End marker, which you may set at any point in the text. Attempting an operation which requires the blocks to be marked will generate an error if the blocks aren't marked properly - i.e. the beginning or end not marked, or the block end marker prior to the block start marker. ^KB Set block start marker. ^KK Set block end marker. ^KC Copy marked block to the cursor position. Block remains marked at its original position, a copy of the block appears at the cursor, the cursor is positioned at the start of the copy. ^KV Move marked block to the cursor position. The marked block is removed from its position and appears at the cursor. The markers disappear and the cursor is placed at the start of the moved material. A block can't be moved "into itself". ^KY Delete marked block. The marked block is removed from the file and the cursor remains where it is. ^KW Writes the marked block into a file of its own. You specify the new filename. ^KR Reads a disk file into the current file at the cursor position. You specify the filename. ^KP Print the file. You will be asked for printer setup codes, which are entered as you wish them sent. Example: You wish to send ESCAPE B to the printer prior to printing. Press the ESCAPE key, then the B key, then RETURN. Note: You will not be able to send any codes for which keystroke equivalents don't exist, and you will not be able to send the RETURN code (ASCII CR, hex 0DH, decimal 13). ^KZ Zaps (erases) current file from memory (does not affect any disk versions of the file), and erases the filename. ^KX End of Edit. Saves the file under the current name and creates a backup file if a version is on disk already. If VDO was invoked without a filename, or if you ZAPped the file, VDO will ask for a new filename. 10 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton ^KQ Abandon file - any changes to the file (unless you did a ^KS are abandoned. Any disk versions of the current file are not affected. ^KS Save and continue. Saves the file as it appears in memory, and continues the editing session. Used in case of failure. ^KF Displays a directory of the currently logged drive/user area. ^KL Change logged drive. Upon selection, the currently logged drive is displayed and the user is prompted for the new drive to log. To change disks, remove the old diskette, insert the new one, do a ^KL and log the new diskette. VDO resets the disk system before writing files, so the disk may changed between reading a file in and saving a file, or in case of system failure (e.g. DISK FULL, BAD SECTOR). 11 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 10. Help commands The help commands are accessed by typing a Control-J. If in Normal or Novice level, a menu will appear with second-keystroke options. From this point all of the on-line information is available through various menus. The help level may also be adjusted. ^JH Set help level. The current help level and definitions are displayed. The user is then prompted for the help level desired. The editor as distributed defaults to Novice on startup. In this mode all menus, including basic cursor control info., are displayed whenever an extended command is initiated (^K, ^Q, ^J). In Normal mode the basic cursor control info. is suppressed. In Expert mode all menus are suppressed. The menus are still available through the help comamnds, ^J, of course. ^JK Display Block Command menu. ^JQ Display Quick Command menu. ^JM Display basic cursor control menu. ^JJ Display help function menu. 12 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 11. Error Handling VDO has 9 editing errors which may occur, which clear the screen, display a message, and wait for you to press the ESACPE key to clear the error display. The messages are: FILE TOO BIG - occurs when loading a file to start the editing session or using ^KR. In the case of ^KR, none of the file is retained: the text remains as it was before you attempted ^KR. This message may also occur when attempting to insert text after the memory size of your system is exceeded. INVALID KEY - occurs when an entry contains an unexpected key. Can happen during text entry when an undefined control character is typed (e.g. ^O), or when entering filenames if bogus characters are entered as part of the filename (e.g. "space") or if the filename can't be properly formed. INPUT/OUTPUT FAILURE - occurs when a requested file can't be found during initial load or ^KR, or when any system failure occurs (e.g. DIRECTORY FULL, BAD SECTOR, R/O). Can also occur when trying to read an empty file. STRING NOT FOUND - occurs during find or find-and-replace operations if the target string can't be located. DISK FULL - self explanatory. You may insert another disk and try again. BLOCK NOT MARKED - occurs when attempting a block operation which require the block to be marked if both the block start and block end markers aren't marked or if the end is prior to the start of the block. BLOCK STRADDLES CURSOR - occurs when trying to move a block into itself. The cursor can't be inside the block when copying or moving a block. ILLEGAL TAB STOP - occurs when setting dynamic tab stops, if you do not enter an valid tab stop number (2, 4, 8, 16 are the valid numbers). 13 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton 12. Future Plans Well, v2.5 saw several goals realized, among them expanded terminal defs., initial support of hiliting, directory functions. There are still more improvements planned. Some of the ones slated for the next version at this time are: - Macro capability. - A deletion storage buffer (to retract mistakes). - Expanded use of hiliting and underlining. - Place markers. - Expanded installation procedure, to allow a more elegant method of creating custom versions. - Displayable block markers. Suggestions are welcome and should be directed to me via one of the systems listed below. VDO is a fine editor and should prove to be a useful addition to anyones library. Enjoy! James Whorton 04/28/85 Suggestions, complaints, comments should be directed to: OBBS Remote System (402) 346-4206 300/1200 baud, 11:00 PM - 4:00 PM weekdays, 24 hours weekends To: Sysop or DRBBS (402) 896-3537 300/1200 24 hours To: James Whorton 14 VDO vers. 2.5 04/28/85 (c)1985 James H. Whorton A. Terminal List The following terminals are supported by this distribution package: Kaypro, no hilite Kaypro with hilite Osborne 1 Hazeltine 1500 Hazeltine Esprit Lear-Siegler ADM-20 Lear-Siegler ADM-31 Televideo 912/920/92 Morrow MDT-20 Zenith Liberty Wyse WY-100/200/300 Epson Geneva Osborne Exec ADDS 20/25/30 ADDS 40/60 ADDS Viewpoint-1A Qume Soroc 120/Apple CP/M Soroc new models Visual 200 Future revisions will support a larger selection of terminals. Custom terminal defs. are also avail. If interested, contact the author. End of File 15