MicroEMACS version 3.12 Release Notes 22-Apr-93 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (C)Copyright 1988-1993 by Daniel M. Lawrence MicroEMACS 3.12 can be copied and distributed freely for any non-commercial purposes. Commercial users may use MicroEMACS 3.12 inhouse. Shareware distributors may redistribute MicroEMACS 3.12 for media costs only. MicroEMACS 3.12 can only be incorporated into commercial software or resold with the permission of the current author. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IBM-PC and OS/2 are copywrighted by International Business Machines, INC. MSDOS and MicroSoft Windows are copyrighted by Microsoft Inc. AMIGA is copywrited by Commodore Business Machines. Atari ST is copyrighted by Atari Coorporation. All other product names used within this document are copyrighted by their respective copyright holders. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the offical release of version 3.12 of MicroEMACS. This file gives information on registering MicroEMACS, features which have changed since version 3.11, notes on various installations, future directions for MicroEMACS, contact information and bug reporting procedures. ********** Registering MicroEMACS ********** Keeping many environments up to date, fielding questions over the phone, applying bug fixes and adding new features is reasonably large task. I have been writing, maintaining and supporting MicroEMACS since 1985. I have bought numerous computers solely to port and support MicroEMACS on those platforms. I can not even begin to count the number of people using MicroEMACS, and I have recieved support calls, registrations and inquiries from many countries all over the globe. This keeps me very busy for a hobby that I do outside my normal employment. If you like MicroEMACS, and want to see more work, new versions and other shareware software to go along with it, show your support by registering your copy. Send your registration of $25 US and I will place you on the registration list. You will recieve information on new releases and preferential support. If you have recieved MicroEMACS through a software library, a CDROM collection, or a user's group, none of those fees are passed along to the software author. Register with me and get the latest versions, info and have a voice into future directions. ********** Installation Notes ************** MicroEMACS is supplied on two 3 1/2" inch diskettes in IBMPC format. The first disk is an MSDOS, MicroSoft Windows and OS/2 installation disk. For any of these environments, insert the disk into your A: drive, and type: a:install The installation program will lead you through installing MicroEMACS and all of its related files on your system's hard drive. After installation, these are the names of the various executables: EMACS.EXE MSDOS real mode version (640K limit) EMACS16M.EXE MSDOS protected mode version (will use all memory, slightly slower than real mode) MEWIN.EXE MicroSoft Windows 3.1 version OS2EMACS.EXE OS/2 1.3, 2.0 or 2.1 version The second disk is a ZIP archive of all the sources, documents, command files and makefiles. Copy this file to an empty directory on your hard drive, and then use any unZIPper and allow it to extract this tree of files on your hard drive. Some of the resulting files and subdirectories will include: AIX makefiles for AIX (a UNIX varient) AMIGA makefiles for the Commodore AMIGA ATARI makefiles for the Atari ST CMD standard .CMD command files DGEN makefiles for the Data General DOC documentation files (including this!) FMR makefiles for the Fujitsu FMR series MSDOS computers H .H header files HP150 makefile for the HP150 MSDOS computer HPUX makefile for the HP9000 workstations I55 makefile for the IBM 5550 Katakana computer MPE makefile for the HP3000 series computer MSWIN makefiles and auxillary files for MicroSoft Windows 3 NEC makefiles for the NEC 9800 series MSDOS machines NT makefiles for Windows NT OS2 makefiles for OS/2 PCDOS makefiles for various IBM-PC compilers and versions POSIX makefiles for POSIX (a UNIX varient) SRC .C source files SUN4 makefiles for SUN-OS 4.1 and above (not Solaris) VMS makefile for DEC's VMS operating system WINHELP source code for the windows help files XENIX makefiles for XENIX CLROBJ.BAT MSDOS batch file to clear out all the object and executable files DE.BAT MSDOS batch file to create a diff from an old version TODO pending development tasks UTOD.CMD emacs command file to fix line termination on file group Included on this disk is a public domain MSDOS unzipping program called "unzip" written by a group of USENET programmers. Both the actual executable and the self unpacking package with all of its documention is provided. Copy the diskette to the target directory, and type: unzip ue312 to extract all the sources, command files, makefiles and documentation to their proper directories within the that directory. If you need to build a version from the source files, unpack these files, and move them and all its subdirectories to the target machine. Change to the directory most appropriate for the machine for which you are building MicroEMACS. Edit ESTRUCT.H, changing the definition from zero to one for the appropriate hardware, compiler, terminal driver. Edit any other parameters or options as appropriate. You may need to create an OBJ and a BIN subdirectory from this directory. Then run your make utility to compile and link a MicroEMACS executable. Under MicroSoft windows, use the NEW option of the FILES menu of the file program manager to add a program item. Set the program executable to the drive where you installed MicroEMACS, remembering the name of the Windows executable is mewin.exe. The MicroEMACS icon will appear in the program window you have currently open. Under OS/2, copy a program template to the desktop, and then use its settings menu to set the path to the program executable and the correct working directory. The name of the OS/2 executable is OS2EMACS.EXE. The icon for MicroEMACS should replace the template icon. Drag this to where you want it to be placed. Under the differing varieties of UNIX, if you are installing MicroEMACS systemwide, you need to place it and all of its command files into a directory that all your users can access. Rename the emacs.rc startup file to .emacsrc. Once your users have this directory in their path, they will be able to use MicroEMACS. They can create a local .emacsrc file that will overide the code in the system MicroEMACS startup file. Be carefull to allow read permissions on all the MicroEMACS files. 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 triple layered....). ********** Major New Features since 3.11 ********* >>> Windows and Windows NT GUI versions Pierre Perret made an enormous effort and produced the code to allow MicroEMACS to run under MicroSoft Windows and Windows NT as a GUI style application. Its very good. Try it! >>> MSDOS DMPI version! Under an agreement with Rational Systems, Inc, one version of the distributed executable, "emacs16m.exe" is GLUed to their 16 bit DOS extender product, which allows it to run as a protected mode program. If you have a 386 or better and use this executable, you can use ALL available extended memory to hold files to be edited. If you own this product you can rebuild this version from the supplied sources and makefiles. >>> New MSDOS, Windows, OS/2 installation Using Knowledge Dynamics Corporations INSTALL 3.2 program, it is easier than ever to install versions of MicroEMACS on to your computer. Just put the disk in your A: drive and type "A:INSTALL". >>> Highlighted Regions Using the mouse to cut and paste, the selected region is now displayed in reverse video. This works under all environments supporting both mice and reverse video. >>> Support for AUX MicroEMACS now supports Apple's AUX UNIX-Like operating system. >>> Displays time in bottom modeline if $timeflag is set to TRUE, the time of the last keystroke is displayed in the bottom most modeline. >>> Partial completion lists Attempting a file/buffer/command completion when there are more than one remaining posibility will bring up a pop up buffer of possible completions. Keep typing letters and attempt the completion again when they are more unique. >>> Kill Ring implimented New commands yank-pop (M-Y), delete-kill-ring (M-^Y), and cycle-ring (^X-Y) impliment a ring of kill buffers. >>> Current point position displayed If $posflag is set to TRUE, the position of the point in the current window is displayed as a line and column value in that window's modeline. This defaults to TRUE with the standard startup files. >>> New function &rev This returns the characters of its argument in reverse order. >>> Mouse support under OS/2 The OS/2 version now fully supports all MicroEMACS mouse handling. >>> Console style Windows NT support A very fast console style driver for MicroEMACS under MicroSoft's Windows NT operating system is an alternative for the GUI driver. >>> Buffer variables now terminate When using a buffer variable, like #, when the point in the buffer reaches the end, the variable will return "". This makes your macros using these variables easier to write! >>> Improved 8 bit character handling Many parts of the editor are much more 8 bit aware. >>> More Completion!! The write-file (^X^W) and append-file (^X^A) commands now use file name completion. >>> Better Completion!! While completing file names interactively, MicroEMACS will recognize and expand ~/ as the user's home directory, ~name/ as the named user's home directory and $/ as a directory named in an environmental . This uses the appropriate UNIX calls or looks in the USER environment variable depending on the OS. >>> Macros can query the Operating System The $os variable returns the name of the operating system which MicroEMACS is running under. >>> Position point within line from command line The -p command line option positions the point within the first line of the first file listen on the command line. This can be used in conjunction with the -g flag to position the point anywhere within that file. >>> Labeling of Function Keys On HP terminals connected up to a UNIX system, MicroEMACS can label the on screen function keys. >>> Line position switch alternative Placing a + on the command line is equivilant to -g, allowing the point to be placed on any line of the first file listed on the command line. This makes many UNIX tools happier. >>> Slash Handling Improved Forward slashes are now excepted as directory separators under MSDOS and OS/2 as well as the native backslashes. They are translated both on the command line and in file name completion. >>> Control-Space decoded under UNIX UNIX users can now use control- as a legal character. Most DOS style machines can not scan this combination, but under UNIX this is bound to set-mark by default. >>> Execute-Buffer now uses buffer name completion When this command is called interactively, it does buffer name completion. >>> ISO French Header text As an alternative to the IBM-PC French header files, there is also an ISO french header file for various UNIX versions. The proper version is chosen for the appropriate operating system. >>> Various Bug Fixes Many bugs found by users have been squashed. ********** Future Directions *************** I am continuing work on MicroEMACS, and look forward to a number of improvements in the near to farther future. Ranked in approximate order are: - Macintosh Support - Multiple language support for macroes - Parameters on macroes - An OS/2 Presentation Manager version - A possible VI user interface - A code compiler ********** Contact Information ************* To contact me: (MicroEMACS) USMAIL: Daniel Lawrence 617 New York St Lafayette, IN 47901 USA Internet: mdbs!dan@dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu American Online: bardor BBS: The Programmer's Room (317) 742-5533 Fido 1:201/10 voice: (317) 742-5153 evenings and weekends To contact Rational Systems Inc.: (DOS16M Dos Extender) Rational Systems Inc. 220 North Main Street Natick, Massachusette 01760 (508)653-6006 To contact Knowledge Dynamics Corporation: (INSTALL 3.2 Installation program) Knowledge Dynamics Corporation P.O. Box 1558 Canyon Lake, TX 78130-1558 (USA) ********** Reporting Bugs ****************** If you need to report any bugs, you should be sure to include the this information: - Contact info of the reporter - Hardware where the bug manifests itself - Operating System and OS version number - a list of the ESTRUCT.H switches used to compile effected version or file name of distributed .exe - compiler and makefile used to compile MicroEMACS - a clear, step by step method to reproduce the problem any pertinate macro code or text files used - Under MSDOS: - a list of any concurrent software (TSRs, etc) - a copy of the autoexec.bat and config.sys files ********** Support ************************* Support for MicroEMACS 3.12 is available in a couple of different ways. First, it is available via my bulletin board system..... The Programmer's Room FIDO 1:201/10 (317) 742-5533 24 hours 300/1200/2400/9600HST baud There are message areas devoted to MicroEMACS where I and other people can answer your questions. Also there are file areas for staying abreast of the current development version and finding and trading macro files. MicroSPELL 2.1 is also available. This version is the first major update released in several years. These program allows you to spell check text files and use MicroEMACS to scan the file, making suggestions and doing various corrections. 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.