MicroEMACS 3.10 Release NotesMarch 19, 1989

(C)opyright 1988, 1989 by Daniel M. Lawrence
MicroEMACS 3.10 can be copied and distributed freely for any
non-commercial purposes. MicroEMACS 3.10 can only be incorporated
into commercial software with the permission of the current author.

**********************************************************************

MicroEMACS 3.10 is available in a couple of different ways.
First, it is available via my bulletin board system.....

The Programmer's Room
FIDO 201/10
(317) 742-5533
24 hours 300/1200/2400 baud

There it is arranged as five MSDOS .ARC (SEA format) files,
UE310DOC.ARC which contains the documentation files, UE310C.ARC which
contains the C sources, UE310H.ARC which contains the header files and
assembly sources, UE310MAK.ARC which contains various files to help
make EMACS, and UE310CMD.ARC which contains startup and command files.
All the various executables are available individually.

UE310DOC.ARC includes the files:

READMEThis file
EMACS.HLPOnline help file
EMACS.MSSMicroSCRIBE format of EMACS.TXT
EMACS.TXT EMACS BEGINNER'S/REFERENCE MANUAL
EMACS.TUTold tutorial for learning MicroEMACS
MOUSE.DOCvery PRELIMINARY documents on mouse usage

UE310MAK.ARC includes the files:

CMDFIX.LNKMSDOS link file for CMDFIX
DESCRIP.MMSVMS description file
EMACS.AMLLink file for the AMIGA
EMACS.LNKMicrosoft link file for MSDOS
EMACS.OPTVMS options file
MAKEFILE.AMImakefile for the AMIGA
MAKEFILE.DTLmakefile for Data Light C
MAKEFILE.MPCmakefile for Mark Williams C on the IBM-PC
MAKEFILE.MSCmakefile for Microsoft C 5.1 on the IBM-PC
MAKEFILE.MWCmakefile for Mark Williams C on the 1040ST
MAKEFILE.TURmakefile for Turbo C 2.0 on the IBM-PC
MAKEFILE.UNXmakefile for unix
MESHAR.OPToption file for VMS
SMG.MARanother VMS option file
EMACS.LNKTurbo C/Microsoft link command file

UE310CMD.ARC includes the files:

AZBMAP.CMDTranslate Large model AZTEC.SYM file to .map
AZMAP.CMDTranslate AZTEC.SYM files to .MAP
BPAGE.CMDBlock and box manipulation page
BUFDEL.CMDSelect and delete multiple buffers
CPAGE.CMDA not yet complete C language page
EMACS.RCStandard startup file
ENCODE.CMDDemonstration of the &xlate function
EPAGE.CMDEmacs macro debugging page
EPSON.CMDHow to use macroes to insert printer controls
ERROR.CMDMark Williams C error parsing file
FINDCOM.CMDFind mismatched C comments
FORTRAN.RCFortran editing startup file
FUNC.CMDAllow function keys on systems with none (like UNIX)
IWRAP.CMDAllows wrapping of indented text
MENU.CMDSample Menu system
MENU1 datafile for menu system
NEWPAGE.CMDShifted Function key Pager
OPAGE.CMDCobol Language page (not finished)
POS.CMDDisplay current line and column constantly
PPAGE.CMDPascal language page
SENTENCE.CMDSentence operations
SHELL.CMDSample interactive MSDOS shell
SMOOTH.CMDsmooth scrolling control macro
TABLE.CMDCreates a table of bound function keys
WPAGE.CMDWord processing page

UE310H.ARC includes the files:

DUTCH.HDUTCH text header file
EBIND.Hbinding list
EDEF.Hglobal variable declarations
EFUNC.Hfunction name list
ELANG.HText header control file
ENGLISH.HENGLISH text header file
EPATH.Hdefault path settings
ESTRUCT.Hconfiguration and structure definitions
ETYPE.Hfunction prototype header file
EVAR.HEMACS macro variable declarations
EXECPR.ASMMSDOS 4Bh interupt driver
FRENCH.HFRENCH text header file
GERMAN.HGERMAN text header file
PLATIN.HPIG LATIN text header file
SPANISH.HSPANISH text header file
STMOUSE.SSome Atari 1040ST mouse assembly code


UE310C.ARC includes the files:

AMIGADOS.CAmiga system I/O functions
ANSI.CANSI screen driver
AOSVS.CData General Mainframe driver
ATARI.CAtari 520/1040ST I/O functions
BASIC.Cbasic cursor movement
BIND.Ckey binding commands
BUFFER.Cbuffer manipulation commands
CHAR.Ccharacter set mapping and manipulation functions
CMDFIX.Cold to new .CMD file translation program
CRYPT.Cencryption functions
DG10.CData General 10 screen driver
DISPLAY.Cmain display driver
DOLOCK.Cfile locking stub routines
EVAL.Cexpression evaluator
EXEC.Cmacro execution functions
FILE.Cuser file functions
FILEIO.Clow level file I/O driver
HISTORY.CMicroEMACS edit history
HP110.CHP110 screen driver
HP150.CHP150(A or C) screen driver
IBMPC.CIBM-PC CGA and MONOCHROME driver
INPUT.Clow level user input driver
ISEARCH.Cincremental search functions
LINE.Ctext line manipulation functions
LOCK.Cfile locking functions
MAIN.Cargument parsing and command loop
MOUSE.Cmouse handling user level functions
MSDOS.CMS/PCDOS I/O functions
RANDOM.Cother random user functions
REGION.Cregion cut & paste functions
SEARCH.Csearch and replace functions
ST520.CATARI ST1040 screen driver
TCAP.CTermcap screen driver
TIPC.CTI-PC screen driver
UNIX.CUNIX I/O functions
VMS.CVMS functions I/O driver
VMSVT.CVMS screen driver
VT52.CVT52 screen driver
WINDOW.Cwindow manipulation functions
WMCS.CWICAT system I/O functions
WORD.Cword manipulation functions
Z309.CZenith 100 PC series terminal driver

Various Executables available include:

CMDFIX.EXEFixes old command files (MSDOS)
ME110.EXEHP110 portable version
ME150.EXEHP150 version
ME520.PRGAtari 520/1040ST version
MEAMIGA.Amiga 500/1000/2000 version
MEANSI.EXEMSDOS ANSI graphics version
MEDG10.EXEData General 10 PC version
MEIBM.EXEIBM-PC CGA/MONO/EGA version
METIPC.EXETI Professional version
MEZ309.EXEZenith 100 PC series version

MicroSPELL 1.0 is also available. This program allows you to
spell check text files and uses MicroEMACS to scan the file, doing
various corrections.

MicroSCRIBE, a fairly SCRIBE compatible text formatter to go
along with these programs will probably be available for BETA testing
sometime in 1989. This program is turning out to be a lot more complex
than I thought it would be, and is taking more time to get out.

As before, I will continue to support these programs, and
encourage everyone to spread them around as much as they can. If you
make what you think are changes that are useful to many, send me the
updates, and as time permits, I will incorporate the ones I understand,
and agree with into the master sources.

MicroEMACS is available on disk directly from my by sending me
$25 per order and a note specifying the disk format and the product
that you need. I can fill orders for IBM-PC high/low density 5 1/4 and
3 1/5, ATARI ST single and double density, and AMIGA disks. (You do not
need to send disks or mailers, I will provide these.) The distribution
set includes on disk all docs, executables and sources. Also I will
register you and you will receive automatic notices of new versions of
all the programs I am releasing.

Commercial licences to allow MicroEMACS to be incorporated into
other software packages are also available at a reasonable per package
price. Also I am available to do customization of MicroEMACS at an
hourly rate. Send all requests to the address below:

USmail:Daniel Lawrence
617 New York St
Lafayette, IN 47901

ARPA:[email protected]
FIDO:The Programmer's Room 201/10
(317) 742-5533
Voice:(317) 742-5153 evenings and weekends

IMPORTANT NOTE
==============

On the Atari ST, be sure that MicroEMACS is installed as a GEM
application from the GEM desktop. If this is not done, MicroEMACS will
grow confused about the state of the mouse, and ring the bell alot to
alert the user to the problem. (Mouse handling on the Atari is both
complex and tripled layered....).

New Features since version 3.9
==============================

***Multiple Marks now supported

The commands set-mark (M-) and exchange-point-and-mark
(^X^X) both now accept a numeric argument from 0 to 9 allowing up to 10
marks to be set in a buffer. All region commands still work with mark 0
but the other marks can be used to make navigating around a complex
buffer simpler. Also the goto-mark (M-^G) command allows you to go
to one of these marks.

***More function key support

Under UNIX BSD4.3, V7 SUN, XENIX and some other V5 systems
MicroEMACS can now use the TERMCAP entry of the current terminal and
decode it's function keys. Also all function key bindings have been
renamed to make them machine independant. The CMDFIX program/source
distributed along with MicroEMACS will allow you to automaticaly
translate old command files to the new bindings.

***Crypt algorithm much better

Yes, we found a really bad problem in the security of the
encryption algorithm. This has been fixed. Set the environment variable
$oldcrypt to TRUE to read in your old encrypted file, and set it to
FALSE to write it out again with the new algorithm.

***End-of-word

Bending to popular demand, I added an end-of-word command which
advances to the end of the current word rather than the beginning of the
next word (as with next-word).

***Command line switch to initialize variables

The -i switch on the command line allows you to give environment
variables a value on the way into EMACS. For example:

emacs -i$sres VGA

edits in VGA mode on a properly equipped IBM-PC.

***New Hooks

added $writehook to execute macroes when writing files.
added $exbhook to execute macro when exiting an old buffer.
added $bufhook to execute macro when entering a new buffer.

***Trim whitespace function

The &trim function strips the trailing whitespace off of a user
expression.

***Changed trim/entab/detab commands

Now trim-line(^X^T), entab-line(^X^E), and detab-line(^X^D)
work on the current region if they have no arguments. These commands
are now also called trim-region, entab-region and detab-region. The
old names will hang about for a version, then disappear.

***Foreign language text constants

MicroEMACS may now be compiled with its internal messages in
ENGLISH, GERMAN, DUTCH, PIGLATIN, SPANISH, and FRENCH. The $language
variable contains the name of the language of the current version. All
command names are still in english to allow macros to be used between
versions. Notice that the standard startup files and command files have
not been translated, thus the function key window is in english. Only
the text messages generated by EMACS itself are translated.

***Upper/Lower case mapping

Users can now arbitrarily reset the upper/lower case mapping
tables using the &slow and &supper functions. For example:

&slow "e" "E"

causes a lower case "e" to translate to an "E" when upper
cased. This is fairly useful in various foreign languages with
unusual and magical casing rules.

***MicroSoft mouse support

The MicroSOFT and compatible mice are now supported on the
IBM-PC. Mousing commands have changed considerably and are consistent
across all supported environments. See the reference manual's new
chapter on mousing.

***New user input function

>c allows a macro to get an EMACS command key sequence from
the user. the resulting string is suitable for binding commands.

***Tab variables

$softtab can be used to cause EMACS to use spaces to tab to
multiples of $softtab using spaces. If this is zero, EMACS will use
hard tabs. $hardtab specifies how many columns between hard tabs. The
default value is 8, but may be changed by the user.

***New "safe" file saving

Now MicroEMACS write all its output files to a temporary file,
then deletes the original, then renames the temp file as the original.
This makes system crashes a lot easier to live with. (This behavior can
be toggles with the $ssave variable). Notice that $ssave turned on
under UNIX will cause your file privledges to be reset to your current
umask.

***Horizontal window scrolling

Now, by default, when you go beyond the 80th column of the
screen, the entire current window scrolls to the left. This makes
editing wide tables much more pleasant. $hscroll toggles between this
and the old (single line scroll) behavior. $fcol sets what text column
is in the first column of the screen. $hjump determines how many
characters the screen scrolls right or left.

***More Debugging features

The ^XG (display) command prompts the user for a variable name
and displays its value (as opposed to execute-command write-message
$var). The describe-variables command lists all the current environmental
and user variables and their contents in a buffer.

***Named macroes are now bindable

The macro-to-key (^X^K) command allows you to bind a keystroke
to a named function. Very usefull, this lifts the limit of 40 macroes
tied to keys. The older "execute-macro-n" functions will dissapear some
day, so please move to this! The describe-bindings function now will
list the defined macroes after the built-in functions along with their
bindings.

***Hidden modelines???

If you are writing an emacs macro you can hide the emacs
modelines by setting $modeflag to FALSE.

***Smooth scrolling

If you are of the school that prefers the screen to ride up a
line at a time instead of by half windows (I am not BTW), set $sscroll
to TRUE.

***Recall last printed statement

The last text printed by emacs on the command line can be
recalled by querying $lastmesg. Look near the end of the new emacs.rc
file to see how this works.

***VGA support

IBM's VGA display adapter in 50 line mode is now supported.

***Optimizations!

Some internal optimizations have cause a speed increase of apx
30% to the speed of macro execution under all environments.

Calling a different level of I/O functions has speed up disk I/O
by apx 30% on the IBM-PC and under UNIX.

***CMODE improved

CMODE now trims trailing whitespace when the enter key is used,
and copies its indentation from the last non-blank line. Blank lines in
the middle of a function will no longer cause emacs to forget its
indentation level.

***Query-replace bug fixed

A rather long standing bug which caused emacs to lock up when
aborting a query-replace with the '.' character has been eliminated.

***New Search Algorithm

A new search algorithm, written by Geoff Gibbs, implementing
the Boyer/Moore search algorithm has speed up all non-MAGIC searches by
over 30 TIMES!

***Partial Mouse support added

The Atari 512/1040ST, the DEC VAX system under VMS, the
IBM-PC with a Microsoft compatible mouse, and the Commodore AMIGA now
support mouse usage. Text can be cut and pasted from one buffer to
another. Window sizes can be adjusted easily. Mouse support for other
operating systems will be forthcoming. New environment variables added
for mice include:

$xposCursor column of last mouse button click
$yposCursor row of last mouse button click

***Microsoft C Fixes

Various fixes have made MicroEMACS compile well under Microsoft C
version 5.0

***New computers supported

The WICAT computer is now supported under the MSC operating
system. Also the Data General mainframe computers are supported.

***New Compilers supported

Mark Williams C on MSDOS is supported. Datalight C under MSDOS
is now fully supported as well.

***Rewritten fill-paragraph

Fill-paragraph has been rewritten. It is now generally four
times faster, and its speed is now related to the size of the
paragraph, rather then the square of the size of the largest line, as
previously.

***-e switch changed

The -e "EDIT" command line switch has been changed to -c
"changeable" to allow the -e to be used to automatically execute
error.cmd from the command line. This is very useful from Mark
Williams C for error parsing.

***New mechanism for hooks

Hooks are ways of attaching macroes to MicroEMACS as it is doing
specific actions. In the past these were bound to illegal keystrokes.
This mechanism is now that there is an environment variable for each of
these "hooks" that contains the name of a macro to execute at hook time.
These must be one of the built in functions (including execute-macro-)
for now. Hooks include:

$readhookexecutes immediately before reading a file,
after it's buffer has been created.

$wraphookexecutes when it is time to do a word wrap. This
is set to wrap-word by default.

$cmdhookexecuted immediately before MicroEMACS waits for a
command from the user.

***select-buffer upgraded

A numeric argument to select-buffer causes the target buffer to
become "invisible"... ie not listed in the buffer list. Also, when
typing in a buffer name interactivly, the space bar will attempt to
complete the name from the available buffer list.

***Prefix keys upgraded.

More than one key can now be bound to meta-prefix and
ctrlx-prefix. Also the terminating character for search and replace
strings defaults to the last thing bound to the meta-prefix, and can be
reset by setting the $sterm variable.

***Completion routines rewritten

Command names, buffer names and file names under some operating
systems now share a common completion routines. Typing in a portion of
a name and hitting the space bar, meta key or tab key will cause
MicroEMACS to attempt to complete the name for you.

***AMIGA INTUITION support

The mouse, window resizing and close gadgets are no properly
supported on the Commodore Amiga.


THINGS TO COME:
===============

For the next version, I will be concentrating on: (No promises
on the time, I will be concentrating on some other programs for a while)

1)Macintosh support

2)Adding a compiler to the execution language

3)Support for a speaking EMACS to allow sightless people to
edit text (AMIGA first)