Re: ed.ex / non-gui editors - survey
Ken Rhodes wrote:
> I am interested in knowing how many of you (us) use
> ed.ex, or any modified version.
Oddly enough, I use EE.EX.
> Does anyone feel it is worth Robert's time and effort
> to update ed.ex with features that make it more
> powerful and easy to use; if so - what features would
> you like to see implemented?
Keep in mind that it's been a long time since I've used ED, but from my
brief revisiting, I'm not encouraged to start using it again.
The editor makes a *lot* of difference for the language. When I first
learned Euphoria, I tried to use ED, but it lacked many features I felt were
essential:
- Shift+Navigation keys for text selection
- Dropdown menus
- Mouse support
For me, using ED was an experience in frustration. It didn't support the key
sequences I normally used, so using the editor required a lot of extra
thinking on my part. Since my frustration was already high (being a complete
newbie), having to fight with the editor made using Euphoria even more
unpleasant. It didn't help that some key combinations (Ctrl+C, for "cut
text") that I was used to would cause the editor to bomb and lose code. And
when I'd bounce between the DOS editor and ED, ED would mangle the
formatting of my code.
I actually stopped using Euphoria because of ED.
> Do you think it would be worth Rob's effort to enhance
> ed.ex just to make it a better more elaborate example
> of Euphoria's power?
No, I think there are already plenty of nice demos. But since ED is the
default editor supplied with Euphoria, I think that it would be in his best
interest to make it as comfortable for as many users as possible.
ED is probably the first Euphoria program that they are likely to use, and
I'm going to bet that it won't be a pleasant visit. Since I haven't used ED
in years, I'm pretty much a complete newbie. Let me walk you through my
entirely unscientific usability test. I typed:
> ed
And was confronted with:
file name:
Huh? All the other DOS editors create an unnamed file for me. Not ED; it
immediately tells me that it's different.
Now, I just wanted an empty file, so I leave the line blank and press Enter.
Instead of opening an unnamed file, it returned me to the command prompt.
Argh. I'm frustrated already.
So I try again, this time entering a filename. I start typing, and want to
get to the menu. Without thinking, I type Ctrl+F - the reflex is virtually
hard-wired. ED responds by placing me at the top line:
That key does nothing. Do you want to view the help file?
This isn't true. If the key did nothing, it would simply be ignored.
Instead, it pops up this message which interrupts my work flow, and I have
to read it, and figure out how to get rid of it. Does this mean every time I
press an 'invalid' key combination, ED will do this? I hope not... I press
'ESC' to get out of the message.
Oh, bother... That does nothing. I'm stuck at a modal dialog, and I have to
*guess* the magic key that ED wants. The message really should have a hint,
like:
That key does nothing. Do you want to view the help file? [y/n]
And optimally, assume that anything that's not a 'Y' or 'y' is a no. But it
doesn't, and I'm irritated because it's interrupted my flow. I press 'n',
and I'm placed back in the text. The error message is still displayed on the
top line.
I still haven't figured out how to get to the menu. The top line used to
read:
junk.ex Esc for commands
but now it just displays the last error message. I take a guess and punch
the ESC key. Ah! The menu comes up. My frustration goes down a bit, and I
punch ESC to leave the menu and return to the code.
No, bless that well-designed editor, ESC *doesn't* let me out of the menu. I
have to stop and read the options:
help clone quit save write new ex dos find replace lines mods ddd CR:
Now I'm puzzled. I don't see any obvious means of escape, and the 'ddd'
option is especially unhelpful. I take a wild guess that CR might get me
back to the command line, and (happily enough), it does.
So far, this hasn't been a pleasant experience for me. I'm convinced that
I'll *never* be using ED, but I play with it a bit more. I start to type the
expression:
for
and ED helpfully auto-completes it:
for = to by do
end for
and it *beeps*. I don't like it when my machine beeps at me, and I don't
recall anything in the menu that allowed me to turn it off. If it's going to
*beep* every time it auto-completes, it's going to be very irritating. I
want to keep typing, but I'm not sure what to do. Do I press 'tab' to skip
past the keywords, or use the arrow keys? I type:
for i =
and press the tab key, hoping ED will skip past the '=' sign. It doesn't,
and the text now looks like this:
for i
= to by do
end for
OK, no problem. I press the BACKSPACE key to unsplit the line. No, that's
not working... it's acting like the DELETE key and deleting my text! This is
certainly a weird behavior:
for i
to by do
end for
So I figure I'll just delete the code and start over. I use the arrow keys
to move to the top line, and press Shift+DownArrow. No, that doesn't work. I
guess that maybe it uses something old, like Wordstar, so I press Ctrl+Y,
and end up at the menu:
That key does nothing. Do you want to view the help file?
Did I mention that I *seriously* hate this message? I don't want help, so I
press Enter to get out of the menu. But instead of putting me back in my
code, it splits the screen and opens the help document:
F2: c:\euphoria\doc\ed.doc Esc for commands
This behavior has me baffled - I *know* I didn't press the 'Y' key. I press
Esc to get to the menu, and 'c' to close...
F3: c:\euphoria\doc\ed.doc
Oh, wonderful. That was 'clone', not 'close'. I try 'q' this time, and
magically, the screen is only divided into two parts. F2, ESC, Q and I'm
back to this mess:
for i
to by do
end for
I move the cursor to the end of the first line, press DELETE, and:
for i to by do
end for
Excellent. I eventually type:
for i = 1 to 10 do
end for
and I go to run it. I press ESC and look for 'run' in the menu. Not there...
oh, yeah: 'ex'. Good thing I'm not a complete newbie. I press the 'e', and
it *beeps* at me:
junk.ex 2
syntax error - expected to see possibly '(', not a variable
print i
^
OK, this is clearly an error on my part - I've been coding in Basic
recently. I return to the code, and wonder what exactly the syntax for
'print' is. Since 'print' is syntax colored, I wonder if ED has any
context-sensitive help. I position the cursor at 'print', and press F1. No,
nothing. Not even a 'this key does nothing' message. So I try ESC and 'h'. I
get the prompt:
ed.doc, refman.doc or library.doc (e, r or l):
OK, no context sensitive help. I hold my breath and press ENTER. Hurrah! It
returns me to the code.
I figure it's time to exit, so I press ESC, Q. It prompts me:
quit without saving changes?
Now, all the other editors I use ask the question the other way around:
Save changes to untitled?
So I automatically press 'Y', and am suprised to end up still in the editor.
ESC, Q, and this time, I pay attention to the message, exit. But unlike any
other DOS editor, ED doesn't restore the screen to where it was when it was
called; it leaves a mess on the screen.
Of course, if ED behaved exactly like DOS EDIT, you'd get nothing but
complaints from the folk who love vi.
-- David Cuny
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