\begindata{text,17784576} \textdsversion{12} \template{default} \define{section menu:[Title~3,Section~21] attr:[Justification LeftJustified Point 0] attr:[Flags KeepPriorNL Int Set] attr:[Flags KeepNextNL Int Set] attr:[FontFace Bold Int Set]} \define{keyname attr:[FontFace Bold Int Set]} \define{userintext } \define{footnote attr:[Flags OverBar Int Set] attr:[FontSize PreviousFontSize Point -2]} \define{commandname attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} \define{verbatim attr:[FontFace FixedFace Int Set] attr:[FontFamily AndyType Int 0]} \define{symbola } \heading{Introduction } This document tells: a. what the EZ text editor key bindings are, as compared to GNU Emacs key bindings. b. any differences between them and the GNU Emacs key bindings. c. what the changes were to eliminate particular differences. d. a list of projects to remove most of the remaining differences. e. a mini-spec of the work required to do each project. e. the status of each project. Share and enjoy, Chad Brown Bill Cattey \heading{EZ Key Bindings (with Comparison to GNU Emacs)} Many of the menu commands in EZ have keyboard equivalents. There are also a number of commands in EZ that are only executable as key commands. All of the commands that you can execute in EZ from the keyboard are listed here, with their corresponding GNU Emacs equivalents. \keyname{M-} means \keyname{Meta-} and \keyname{C-} means \keyname{Control-}. Note that at Athena, most (but not all) key commands are the same in EZ as in GNU Emacs. The lines in this card are organized as follows: \verbatim{ \smaller{ Emacs key EZ key Command Description}} In some cases, useful descriptive text follows the key summaries. If there is a command conflict, the other system's command name is in angle brackets. If one system has no equivalent, the key string \smaller{\typewriter{}} appears. \subheading{Starting the Editor} \verbatim{\smaller{ emacs & ez}} Note: You do not need to use \typewriter{&} when starting up EZ. EZ automatically puts itself in background. \subheading{Exiting the Editor} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-x C-c C-x C-c exit M-C-c,C-] C-c,C-] exit-recursive-edit \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17910016} \textdsversion{12} Added C-] frame-exit-recursive-edit to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17910016} \view{fnotev,17910016,0,0,0}} }} \subheading{Getting Help} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-h help}}\verbatim{\smaller{ C-h k M-? describe key binding C-h m C-M-? describe-bound-keys \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17910272} \textdsversion{12} New to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17910272} \view{fnotev,17910272,1,0,0}} }} EZ considers \keyname{C-h} the same as a backspace deletion command. You must choose the \commandname{Help} option from the \commandname{Front} menu card while in an EZ window or run \commandname{help} / \commandname{ezhelp} from the shell to get help in EZ. \subheading{Recovering from Errors} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-g C-g abort C-x u undo}} EZ has no undo. \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17910528} \textdsversion{12} \define{footnote } \define{italic menu:[Font~1,Italic~11] attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} See item \footnote{\ \begindata{textref,17911040} \textdsversion{12} undo\ \enddata{textref,17911040} \view{textrefv,17911040,63,0,0}} in \italic{Future Changes}.\ \enddata{fnote,17910528} \view{fnotev,17910528,2,0,0}} \subheading{Moving the Cursor} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-f C-f character forward C-b C-b character backward C-n C-n next line C-p C-p previous line M-f M-f word forward M-b M-b word backward }}Note that the arrow keys also work in both GNU Emacs and EZ.\verbatim{\smaller{ C-e C-e end of line C-a C-a beginning of line}}\verbatim{\smaller{ }} Due to onscreen wordwrap, EZ moves to the end of onscreen line, not to the logical line as in GNU Emacs. \verbatim{\smaller{ M-] M-] forward paragraph M-[ M-[ backward paragraph C-x ] C-x ] forward page \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17910784} \textdsversion{12} New to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17910784} \view{fnotev,17910784,4,0,0}} C-x [ C-x [ backward page \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17911296} \textdsversion{12} New to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17911296} \view{fnotev,17911296,5,0,0}}}} Note that the page motion commands move between page breaks in both EZ and GNU Emacs. In EZ, page breaks can be inserted with the \bold{Insert Pagebreak} command on the \italic{Page} menu card. In GNU emacs, a pagebreak is normally represented by a ^L (control-L) character at the beginning of a line. With motion commands, when the cursor reaches the bottom or top of the screen, GNU Emacs scrolls the text to the middle of the screen/window; EZ currently scrolls one line to keep the caret in view.\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17911552} \textdsversion{12} \define{footnote } \define{italic menu:[Font~1,Italic~11] attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} See item \footnote{\ \begindata{textref,17940480} \textdsversion{12} scroll-step\ \enddata{textref,17940480} \view{textrefv,17940480,62,0,0}} in \italic{Future Changes}.\ \enddata{fnote,17911552} \view{fnotev,17911552,6,0,0}} \subheading{Scrolling}\verbatim{\smaller{ }}\verbatim{\smaller{ C-v C-v next screenful M-v M-v previous screenful}} The numerical arguments to \keyname{C-v} and \keyname{M-v} are interpreted differently. GNU Emacs takes the argument as the number of \italic{lines} to scroll, whereas EZ interprets it as the number of \italic{screenfuls} to scroll.\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17940736} \textdsversion{12} \define{footnote } \define{italic menu:[Font~1,Italic~11] attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} See item \footnote{\ \begindata{textref,17940992} \textdsversion{12} scrolling\ \enddata{textref,17940992} \view{textrefv,17940992,61,0,0}} in \italic{Future Changes}.\ \enddata{fnote,17940736} \view{fnotev,17940736,8,0,0}} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-z next line M-z previous line}} Screen motion in GNU Emacs may re-position the cursor if the cursor would have scrolled off screen. EZ never repositions the caret for text scrolling.\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17941248} \textdsversion{12} \define{footnote } \define{italic menu:[Font~1,Italic~11] attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} See item \footnote{\ \begindata{textref,17941504} \textdsversion{12} recenter\ \enddata{textref,17941504} \view{textrefv,17941504,60,0,0}} in \italic{Future Changes}.\ \enddata{fnote,17941248} \view{fnotev,17941248,10,0,0}} \subheading{Typing in the Message Line / Minibuffer} \verbatim{\smaller{ TAB SPC, TAB complete all\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17941760} \textdsversion{12} Added ^I frameview-complete to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17941760} \view{fnotev,17941760,12,0,0}} SPC complete token RET RET execute ? ? show completions}} \subheading{ Working with Regions } \verbatim{\verbatim{\smaller{ C-w C-w kill region M-w M-w copy region as kill M-= count lines in region M-n go to paragraph M-N identify paragraph number }} }In EZ a paragraph is either a double newline in text mode, or a single newline in ctext, ltext, and other programming language modes. The paragraph commands can therefore act as very nice `what line' and `goto line' commands when editing C, lisp and other language texts. \verbatim{\smaller{ }}\subheading{ Marking Text} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-@,C-SPC C-@,C-SPC set mark C-x C-x C-x C-x cursor and mark exchange positions C-M-@,C-M-SPC select region}} EZ will only operate on the region between mark and point after the select region (\keyname{C-M-@}) command has been issued. Normally, EZ operates on a region selected with the mouse.\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17942016} \textdsversion{12} \define{footnote } \define{italic menu:[Font~1,Italic~11] attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} See item \footnote{\ \begindata{textref,17942272} \textdsversion{12} selection\ \enddata{textref,17942272} \view{textrefv,17942272,59,0,0}} in \italic{Future Changes}.\ \enddata{fnote,17942016} \view{fnotev,17942016,13,0,0}} \subheading{Killing and Deleting Text} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-d C-d delete char forward DEL DEL delete char backward C-h delete char backward M-d M-d kill word forward \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17942528} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-kill-next-word to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17942528} \view{fnotev,17942528,15,0,0}} M-DEL M-DEL kill word backward \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17942784} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-kill-previous-word to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17942784} \view{fnotev,17942784,16,0,0}} C-k C-k kill to end of line \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17943040} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-MIT-kill-line to gnu.init. (MIT Version modifies current kill ring element rather than trashing new kill ring elements for every subsequent line kill.)\ \enddata{fnote,17943040} \view{fnotev,17943040,17,0,0}} M-k kill sentence}}\verbatim{\smaller{ C-y C-y yank back last kill M-y M-y replace last yank with previous}} For a line with only whitespace, ending with a newline, \keyname{C-k} in GNU Emacs removes the whitespace and the newline, whereas \keyname{C-k} in EZ erases only the whitespace, requiring another \keyname{C-k} to remove the newline. EZ has an 8 element kill ring. GNU Emacs has a 30 element kill ring. When using commands to cycle through the kill ring, GNU Emacs will skip any kill ring element which is empty (if four elements are on the ring and you are at, say, element "A", four cycles in the same direction are necessary to return to element "A"). EZ always cycles through empty elements, however, so if there are four non-empty elements and you are at element "B", EZ will require eight cycles to return to element "B". \subheading{Searching} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-s C-s forward incremental search\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17943296} \textdsversion{12} Added gsearch-forward to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17943296} \view{fnotev,17943296,18,0,0}} C-r C-r reverse incremental search\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17943552} \textdsversion{12} Added gsearch-backward to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17943552} \view{fnotev,17943552,19,0,0}} C-M-s Dynamic search forward\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17943808} \textdsversion{12} Added dynsearch-search-forward to gnu.init New: delete this.\ \enddata{fnote,17943808} \view{fnotev,17943808,20,0,0}} C-M-r Dynamic search reverse\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17944064} \textdsversion{12} Added dynsearch-search-reverse to gnu.init New: delete this.\ \enddata{fnote,17944064} \view{fnotev,17944064,21,0,0}}}} When a search is in progress, the following key bindings are in effect: \verbatim{\smaller{ DEL DEL undo effect of last char ESC ESC exit search C-g C-g abort search C-y next line to search string C-y cut buffer to search string C-w next word to search string C-w selection to search string}} EZ performs searching on regular expressions by default; the following characters are treated specially: \commandname{\\ . ] [} and \commandname{*}. If you need to use them, simply precede them with a backslash \commandname{\bold{/}}. GNU Emacs does regular expression searching only when explicitly requested by the user. With the C-y and C-w commands (used to append text to the end of the search string), EZ uses the cut buffer and the selection, whereas GNU Emacs uses the text appearing after point in the text buffer. With both systems, typing any \keyname{Ctrl} or \keyname{Meta} character will also exit the search, as will using any of the mouse commands that affect the cursor location. \subheading{Query Replace} \verbatim{\smaller{ M-% M-% query replace \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17944320} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-query-replace to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17944320} \view{fnotev,17944320,22,0,0}} }} When a query-replace is in progress, the following key bindings are in effect:\verbatim{\smaller{ SPC SPC replace current go to next y y replace current go to next\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17944576} \textdsversion{12} New functionality added to txtvcsrch.c.\ \enddata{fnote,17944576} \view{fnotev,17944576,23,0,0}} , replace current do not move n, DEL n do not replace go to next ! ! replace all remaining q, ESC q exit query replace r}} EZ treats all search strings as regular expressions. See the section below on regular expressions for more help. \subheading{Changing Case} \verbatim{\smaller{ M-u M-u make word upper case \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17944832} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-uppercase-word to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17944832} \view{fnotev,17944832,24,0,0}} M-l M-l make word lower case M-c M-c capitalize word \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17945088} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-capitalize-word to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17945088} \view{fnotev,17945088,25,0,0}} C-x C-u upper case region C-x C-l lower case region C-^ toggle character case}} When changing the case of words, GNU Emacs finds the first word on or after the cursor, looking past spaces, tabs, and newlines when necessary, operates on that word, and moves the cursor immediately past the word. EZ operates on a word only if it is on it or immediately after it, and does not move the cursor.\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17945344} \textdsversion{12} \define{footnote } \define{italic menu:[Font~1,Italic~11] attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} See item \footnote{\ \begindata{textref,17945600} \textdsversion{12} case-change\ \enddata{textref,17945600} \view{textrefv,17945600,58,0,0}} in \italic{Future Changes}.\ \enddata{fnote,17945344} \view{fnotev,17945344,26,0,0}} EZ will take the word case change commands to refer to a region if there is a region selected. \subheading{Transposing Text} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-t C-t transpose chars}}\verbatim{\smaller{ M-t transpose words C-x t transpose lines}} GNU Emacs drags the character before the cursor past the character on the cursor and moves the cursor to the right. EZ toggles the position of the character before the cursor and the character before that one. The cursor does not move.\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17945856} \textdsversion{12} \define{footnote } \define{italic menu:[Font~1,Italic~11] attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} See item \footnote{\ \begindata{textref,17946112} \textdsversion{12} transposition\ \enddata{textref,17946112} \view{textrefv,17946112,57,0,0}} in \italic{Future Changes}.\ \enddata{fnote,17945856} \view{fnotev,17945856,28,0,0}} \subheading{Checking Spelling} \verbatim{\smaller{ M-$ M-$ spell check \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17946368} \textdsversion{12} Added spell-check-document to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17946368} \view{fnotev,17946368,30,0,0}} }} GNU Emacs spell checks the word. EZ checks from the current position to the end of the file. In EZ, the following key bindings are in effect during the spell check: \verbatim{\smaller{ }}\verbatim{\smaller{ replace word with numbered choice SPC replace once r replace to end of document a accept i insert in private dictionary q exit query replace}}\verbatim{ } \subheading{Working with Files} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-x C-f C-x C-f find (visit) file\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17946880} \textdsversion{12} Added frame-visit-file to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17946880} \view{fnotev,17946880,31,0,0}} C-x C-s C-x C-s save file C-x i C-x i,C-x C-i insert file\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17947136} \textdsversion{12} Added C-x i textview-insert-file to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17947136} \view{fnotev,17947136,32,0,0}} C-x C-v C-x C-v switch file C-x C-w C-x C-w write to named file C-x s C-x s save all files\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17947392} \textdsversion{12} Added frame-save-all-files to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17947392} \view{fnotev,17947392,33,0,0}}}} \subheading{Working with Buffers} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-x b C-x b go to other buffer C-x C-b C-x C-b list buffers}}\verbatim{\smaller{ C-x k C-x k kill a buffer M-~ M-~ mark buffer unmodified\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17947648} \textdsversion{12} Added frame-set-buffer-modified to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17947648} \view{fnotev,17947648,34,0,0}} C-x C-q C-x C-q toggle read-only\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17947904} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-toggle-read-only to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17947904} \view{fnotev,17947904,35,0,0}}}} \subheading{Manipulating Multiple Windows} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-x 2 C-x 2 new window}}\verbatim{\smaller{ C-x 0 C-x d, C-x 0 delete this window \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17948160} \textdsversion{12} Currently C-x 0 is frame-hide-window to gnu.init. New gnu.init: change to frame-delete-window.\ \enddata{fnote,17948160} \view{fnotev,17948160,36,0,0}} C-x o C-x o go to next window \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17948416} \textdsversion{12} Added frame-next-window to gnu.init\ \enddata{fnote,17948416} \view{fnotev,17948416,37,0,0}}}} Both EZ and Emacs have what they call 'windows', but they are not the same thing. Emacs makes new windows by dividing up its X window into sections, while EZ makes separate X windows. \subheading{Using Tags} \verbatim{\smaller{ M-. M-. go to next tag \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17965056} \textdsversion{12} Added tags-goto-tag to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17965056} \view{fnotev,17965056,38,0,0}}}} \subheading{Executing Shell Commands} \verbatim{\smaller{ M-! execute shell command}} \subheading{Using Keyboard Macros} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-x ( C-x ( start keyboard macro C-x ) C-x ) end keyboard macro C-x e,C-x E C-x e,C-x E execute keyboard macro\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17965312} \textdsversion{12} Added C-x E play-keyboard-macro to gnu.init so that upper case E in command works too.\ \enddata{fnote,17965312} \view{fnotev,17965312,39,0,0}} C-u C-x ( append to keyboard macro}} \subheading{Regular Expressions} \verbatim{\smaller{ \\ \\ quote regexp special . . match any single character * * match 0 or more of previous [...] [...] any char in set}} The 'quote regexp special' character can be used in a regular expression to 'hide' the special meaning of one of the other regexp characters \bold{.}, \bold{*}, \bold{[}, \bold{]}, and \bold{ }\bold{\\}.\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17965568} \textdsversion{12} \define{footnote } \define{italic menu:[Font~1,Italic~11] attr:[FontFace Italic Int Set]} See item \footnote{\ \begindata{textref,17965824} \textdsversion{12} regexp\ \enddata{textref,17965824} \view{textrefv,17965824,56,0,0}} in \italic{Future Changes}.\ \enddata{fnote,17965568} \view{fnotev,17965568,40,0,0}}\bold{ }This means that you can use '\bold{\\*}' to refer to a literal '\bold{*}' character, instead of getting the special meaning 'match 0 or more of previous'. \subheading{Formatting Text} \verbatim{\smaller{ TAB TAB insert tab character C-o C-o insert newline after point C-x C-p make selection plainest\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17966080} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-plainest to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17966080} \view{fnotev,17966080,42,0,0}} C-j C-j newline and indent}} \verbatim{\smaller{ M-s show styles C-M-x toggle expose styles \footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17966336} \textdsversion{12} Added textview-toggle-expose-styles to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17966336} \view{fnotev,17966336,43,0,0}}}} GNU Emacs inserts a newline after the cursor; EZ currently inserts the newline at the end of the current line. Showing styles in EZ will display many of the formatting commands in a Scribe-like syntax. Ez allows formatting with keystroke commands in addition to menu commands. Each of these commands works as follows: if there is no selection region, the command starts you typing in the designated style; if there is a selection region, the command makes the selected text the designated style. \verbatim{\smaller{ M-' M-i italic M-' M-b bold M-' M-^ superscript M-' M-! subscript M-' M-_ underline M-' M-t typewriter M-' M-+ bigger M-' M-- smaller M-' M-= center M-' M-< flushleft M-' M-> flushright M-' M- leftindent M-' M-l prompts for style to use (completion is available) M-' M-p plainer M-' M-P plainest}} EZ has the notion of the "current" style which controls what style will be in effect with the next character you type. Here are commands to manipulate the current style: \verbatim{\smaller{ M-' moves you out of the innermost or M-' M-u style M-' moves you down into a style or M-' M-d (typically used when you are at the beginning of a style and want to type inside that style) M-' moves you to the next style in the left direction (used only when you are between two styles) M-' moves you to the next style in the right direction (used only when you are between two styles)}} Note: In GNU Emacs, M-' is bound to 'abbrev-prefix-mark', an command dealing with Emacs abbrevs; a rarely used dynamic macro package, whereas EZ uses it to delineate it's formatting commands. \subheading{Special Commands } \verbatim{\smaller{ C-q C-q Insert literally quoted char\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17966592} \textdsversion{12} Added ^I textview-quote to gnu.init. \enddata{fnote,17966592} \view{fnotev,17966592,44,0,0}} M-q M-q Fill Paragraph\footnote{\ \begindata{fnote,17966848} \textdsversion{12} Added gnucompat-fill-para to gnu.init.\ \enddata{fnote,17966848} \view{fnotev,17966848,45,0,0}} }}\subheading{ Composing Foreign, Accented and Special Characters} \verbatim{\smaller{ C-x v verbose compose C-x x quick compose }} \subheading{Language Modes} Common to all language modes: \verbatim{\smaller{\verbatim{\smaller{ }}\verbatim{ C-j C-j newline and indent M-r redo styles }}} See the note in the \bold{Formatting Text} section for differences between newline-and-indent in EZ and Emacs. Available in C language mode only: \verbatim{\smaller{ M-Q rename identifier */ complete comment}} \begindata{bp,17958656} \enddata{bp,17958656} \view{bpv,17958656,46,0,0} \heading{ Future Changes } This section will detail some of the changes necessary to EZ to make it more compatible with GNU Emacs. These are listed in rough order of importance, and tagged to indicate the current status of each change here at MIT. The tags are: \leftindent{Coded -- The change is coded and slated for installation in the next release Probably -- The change will probably be done in time for the next release Later -- The change will probably be done for a later release Never -- The change is not scheduled to be done at the present time. } \section{1 Undo} Later/Never \footnote{\ \begindata{texttag,17967104} \textdsversion{12} undo\ \enddata{texttag,17967104} \view{texttagv,17967104,47,0,0}} This is probably the single largest remaining feature or GNU Emacs that EZ lacks. However, it may also be the single most difficult to implement within the constraints of the IM. Additionally, in many cases, EZ's functions are non-reversible, requiring changes to a large body of code to support the undo feature itself. \section{2 case-change commands} Probably \footnote{\ \begindata{texttag,17967360} \textdsversion{12} case-change\ \enddata{texttag,17967360} \view{texttagv,17967360,48,0,0}} New versions of the commands bound to M-u, M-l, and M-c should be written for txtvcmod.c and bound to these keys. These versions would find the first word on or after the cursor, looking past spaces, tabs, and newlines when necessary, operate on that word, and move the cursor immediately past the word. A preference would be added to enable or disable the EZ behavior of operating on regions, and new commands (bound to C-x C-u, and C-x C-l, respectively) would be added (to text/txtvcmod.c), to implement this region-only behavior \section{3 recenter vs. refresh} Probably/Later \footnote{\ \begindata{texttag,17967616} \textdsversion{12} recenter\ \enddata{texttag,17967616} \view{texttagv,17967616,49,0,0}} Emacs has C-l bound to recenter; a function that redraws the display after having centered point in the current window. It takes and optional argument that means put the point on line ARG, unless ARG is 4 (the default for C-u), in which case it will simply center in the current screen. EZ has C-l bound to refresh; a function that simply refreshes the current display, without moving anything. While it is arguable that this is the correct behavior, there should be some way to accomplish the recenter-type behavior from the keyboard. We should bind C-l to a function that recenters if and only if the cursor is visible; otherwise it merely refreshes the display. Also, possibly add another function that brings the cursor to the currently visible area. \section{4 compatible kill-line} Later The current implementation of EZ's kill-line (MIT-kill-line) does not treat lines like as blank lines, requiring two invocations to completely delete the line; one for the whitespace, and one for the newline. Emacs ignores the whitespace in this context, and kills the line in one invocation. We should implement the Emacs-style behavior, and add a preference to enable it. \section{5 fix newline-and-indent} Later The current behavior of EZ's newline-and-indent code is more aptly described as end-of-line-newline-and-indent. The GNU Emacs style behavior of inserting the newline at the current location should be optionally available. Note that this might involve complications with opening new lines in the middle of styles, since the resulting scope of the current styles may not be what is most commonly wanted. \section{6 transposition commands} Probably \footnote{\ \begindata{texttag,17967872} \textdsversion{12} transposition\ \enddata{texttag,17967872} \view{texttagv,17967872,50,0,0}} The current implementation of the transpose-characters command in EZ (textview-twiddle-chars) exchanges the character immediately before the point with the character immediately before that one; point is not moved. The Emacs version (transpose-chars) exchanges the character immediately before point (where point is defined to be immediately \italic{before} the highlighted character) with the charcter immediately after the point; point is then moved forward one character. We should implement the Emacs-style behavior and introduce a preference option to enable it. \section{7 Scroll-step }Later \footnote{\ \begindata{texttag,17968128} \textdsversion{12} scroll-step\ \enddata{texttag,17968128} \view{texttagv,17968128,51,0,0}} For next-line and prev-line, emacs allows for a variable:\leftindent{ scroll-step (defaults to 0) The number of lines to try scrolling a window by when point moves out. If that fails to bring point back on screen, point is centered instead. If this is zero, point is always centered after it moves off screen.} EZ always just scrolls up one line. We'd like to emulate Emacs as above, but the situation in EZ is more complicated, since difference insets handle scrolling differently. Should the variable be in lines, pixels, or percentage of screen height? How should it deal with insets and styles which may require special scrolling behavior? \section{8 Numeric arg handling of scroll commands} Later \footnote{\ \begindata{texttag,17968384} \textdsversion{12} scrolling\ \enddata{texttag,17968384} \view{texttagv,17968384,52,0,0}} In Emacs, the screen-forward and -backward commands take a numeric arg as the number of lines to scroll. In EZ, it's used as number of screens. The GNU Emacs style behavior should be optionally available through a preference of some sort. As is the case with scroll-step (described above), EZ is trickier, given the way some insets handle scrolling. \section{ 9 kill-ring behavior} Later/Never Currently, Emacs has a variable-sized kill ring, which defaults to a much higher number (30) than EZ's hard coded 8. (Eight is probably acceptable, since most users don't seem to use the extra elements.) The important difference is that Emacs's kill-ring-motion commands ignore empty entries, while EZ's do not. This means that if I have 3 elements on Emacs' kill ring, then I need to issue 3 motion commands to completely cycle back to the original entry. EZ, however, will require 8; I'll need to cycle past all of the empty entries by hand. The Emacs behavior should be implemented and offered as an option, via a preference setting. \section{ 10 recover-file} Later EZ should have a function (M-x foo-recover-file) that prompts for a path to a filename, then sees if it a corresponding checkpoint file exists. If so, it should (after confirming), copy the current copy (if any) to a backup file, and copy the checkpoint file to the given path. Emacs does this, and people regularly ask OLC, SIPB, and -i help about how to do this in EZ. (Alas, users must be protected from the horrors of learning "\typewriter{cp /usr/tmp/##...#.CKP ~/}". -wdc) \section{11 Add 'y' key to textview-query-replace }Coded textview-query-replace should understand 'y' as 'Yes, replace', as Emacs does. \section{ 12 investigate non-regexp search} Probably/Later The primary customers of EZ are bewildered by the superfluous complexity of regexp searching. They need a simple string-search functionality. The initial attempt at implementing this by cannibalizing from the existing regexp-search proved more difficult than expected. \section{13 Finish dired mode} Probably/Later The current implementation of dired mode needs some additional work. Specific changes include: o Add command 'e' to edit in same window. o Add a "?" functionality, to list available commands? o Change title bar to say "Dired: " not "Buffer" o Possibly highlight/unhighlight key commands. o Consider adding in commands to copy/rename/delete a file. o The mouse behavior is to be changed according to the following table: \begindata{table,17963392} \rows 32 27 26 32 \cols 72 172 145 - - | Selection unhighlighted | Selection highlighted | - - - | Button 1 | Highlight selection | Zoom selection | = = | | and unhighlight all others | | - - - | Button 3 | Highlight selection | Unhighlight selection | - - - \enddata{table,17963392} \view{spread,17963392,53,0,0} \section{14 Finish electric buffer mode} Later The frame-list-buffers command currently has disabled code to allow for mouse selection from the buffer list, similar to Emacs' electric-buffer mode. Basically, the view connected to the text object with the list of filenames needs to be changed to have an appropriate hit method. Also, possibly add in keyboard commands as in the suggested dired mode changes, described above. \section{15 Execute-extended-command} Never Currently, metax allows EZ users to execute named functions, as in GNU Emacs, but requires that the user know the \{package,class\} of the function. This requires the user to inappropriately know the insides of EZ -- to wit, the name of the object that implements a particular function. It would be better if we could gather common functions (including recover-file?) under a generic package name. \section{16 other-window commands} Never For strict compatibility with GNU Emacs, one might want to implement the commands that affect other windows such as: \leftindent{find-file-other-window scroll-up-other-window scroll-down-other-window switch-to-buffer-other-window delete-other-windows } Since users may have started multiple (and difficult to distinguish) instances of EZ from their command shell, or other runapp process started by EZ, these sorts of commands are nearly impossible to implement in a way that the user would perceive as coherent. They also provide little value to the user. EZ currently has a variation on find-file-other-window which pops up a new window on a file (for example in the use of the link inset) which is adequate. \section{ 17 Region and selection vs. selection and region} Later \footnote{\ \begindata{texttag,17968640} \textdsversion{12} selection\ \enddata{texttag,17968640} \view{texttagv,17968640,54,0,0}} While Emacs has the idea of region, and, to a smaller extent, of selection, EZ only acts on selections. In general, this is fine, and removes some of the confusion associated with Emacs' (Athena-added) handling of selections, but it also causes some extra effort to be required for certain often-used commands, since EZ requires that defined areas be selected before acting one them. Some suggestions: \leftindent{It might be useful to have certain selection-commands automatically select the region if no other selection exists. This will optimize certain common actions (such as C-w) but may lead to more confusion later. The 'more confusion later' will affect mainly advanced users who will know how to deal appropriately. The possible gain in ease of use (and strict compatibility) may be worth the risk, especially if we add in a preference to disable this behavior. }\leftindent{\section{ }EZ might optionally place the selection into the cut buffer automatically. This might cause some problems, but would be more compatible with the current Emacs behavior in a strict sense (although more restrictive, since Emacs uses the region as a separate entity to get around problems EZ would then have to face.)}\section{ 18 access to options to ispell} Later If there were some way that we could allow the user to access the arglist for the ispell process we spawn, then EZ could start supporting things like private dictionaries, the -t option for suppressing checking of L\smaller{\superscript{A}}T\subscript{E}X commands, etc. This could be done by allowing a preference "IspellAdditionalArgs". \section{19 Shell things} Later/Never EZ seems to have the raw capability to spawn subshells, but not any real user-defined interface for it. This would be very nice, and may be a requirement for getting serious programmers to use EZ. \section{20 token completion} Later/Never EZ's message line current supports full completion but does not support single token-completion. \section{21 add regexp operators } Never \footnote{\ \begindata{texttag,17968896} \textdsversion{12} regexp\ \enddata{texttag,17968896} \view{texttagv,17968896,55,0,0}} The addition of a few common regexp operators (namely, '^') would be helpful. Supporting Emacs' full set of regexps is, probably, too difficult and would involve emulating GNU Emacs functionality not universally accepted as good. \section{22 named/stored macros} Later This is apparently a project in progress at CMU. \section{23 continuations }Later/Never Conventions on continuations should change. For example, in \keyname{^X^B}, the user is prompted to hit Enter to continue. The following should be the behavior: \leftindent{Hitting space should continue and not auto-insert the space. Issuing a command should continue, and do the command on the restored buffer. } \enddata{text,17784576}