CFOG's PIP, March 1988, Volume 7 No. 2, Whole No. 64, page 24

VDE is Updated Again: VDE Version 1.2 for MS-DOS, VDE Version 2.64 for CP/M

by Benjamin H. Cohen

On March 16, 1988, Eric Meyer did it again. New versions of VDE for CP/M and MS-DOS users are here. I love it. You'll love it. VDE is Eric's word processor/editor program that edits files solely in memory for speed of operation. It's generally like WordStar in command structure, so it's a boon for those familiar with WordStar. If you'd like to search for a string that's at the end of a 40K byte file and find it in about a second, try VDE! Here's a summary of the UPD [update] files:

VDE 1.2 for MS-DOS:

Editing dual files is easier: When editing dual files you can copy a block from the second file to the first. How about a window in each of the two files you're editing! You can enter two files on the command line. File comparison from the present cursor positions; disagreements are displayed in split screen. A single command to exit from both files, abandon or save.

Other improvements: RUN a single command (as well as enter DOS shell). Split a big file into pieces that VDE can edit. You can enter IBM graphics characters in a file. ESC-TAB is a backwards tab. File directory accepts a filename argument and shows the path and free space. Macro repeat command can be 1-254 instead of 1-9. In WordStar mode WordStar soft hyphens are read in correctly and can be printed with microjustification in WordStar.

VINSTALL lets you modify the default extended character (graphics) set. You can define your function keys [F1] to [F10]. You can tell VDE whether your printer can handle graphics characters.

Changes to both CP/M and MS-DOS Versions:

You can now search backwards. Enter "/b/" before the search string. The command to ignore case is also entered as a prefix to the search string: "/i/". You can combine these commands: "/bi/ WordStar" will search backwards for WordStar, Wordstar, and WORDSTAR. Go to page is implemented (with pagination off, or in non-document mode this is go to line). ^QT deletes to a specified character. ^QQ (quiet) toggles off the header for those who want a completely clean screen or whose terminals are slowed because of the update. The header shows variable/fixed tab status and hyphenation status. You can now save the current file and load a new one with one command, ^KD. Print can now print text in double-space although the file is single-spaced. You can still display text double-spaced on the screen. Several ESC-command names are changed to make the ESC-commands an exact synonym for the CTRL-K prefix.

VDE now tells you whether the file has been modified since the last save. This works on file save and quit commands and the information command. Macro repeat command "*" now repeats indefinitely.

Installation now lets you set a top margin. The print toggles have been moved from the printer installation section to the end of the user options. Since CTRL-B is now an option, the default block character has been changed to CTRL-@.

I'm not sure whether this comes in here or not: I don't remember seeing it in the update notes. When you get an error message you can press the space bar to clear it as an alternative to hitting ESC.

Changes to CP/M Edition only:

VDE is fatter. The loss of editing space is 1825 bytes. On my Kaypro with full blown ZCPR33 system, and total TPA of 52,998 bytes, here's the free edit space:

VDE Version	Free Space
2.11	41,113
2.22	35,488
2.62	39,912
2.64	38,087

For VDM users the charge is even more drastic. Here's the change on my Osborne Executive, with Drive C: and a Trantor hard disk and a history RSX active, which has a TPA of 59,xxx bytes:

VDM Version	Free Space
2.1	48,253
2.62	43,052
2.64	41,274

If the average saving from compression is about 20% (well, it is on this file, I haven't tested it extensively) you can actually edit a file in excess of 47,000 bytes. That's not small, but I still keep a copy of Version 2.1 around on my Osborne systems so that I can edit even bigger files, and one of these days I'll have to compare the VDE21OVR.ASM and VDE22KP.ASM and see if I can make a working copy of 2.11 for the Kaypro.

CTRL-QA once again starts at the cursor, not at the top of the file as in version 2.63. [I never used version 2.63 because of this.] In a macro CTRL-QA assumes "*" rather than prompting "Y/N/*". There is now a installation option that allows you to set the mode for two specified filetypes. For example, my VDE is normally set to come up in WordStar mode, but when I edit a SUB file or ASM file it will come up in Non-document mode. This will save a lot of renaming of files to get the mode correct. But even that problem has been made easier: you can change file edit mode by entering CTRL-KN and [W or [A or [N to change the mode without changing the name. VDE normally traps warm boots to guard against losing work after BDOS errors, but some systems won't work with this. You can turn it off with VINSTALL now. TRS-80 Model 2 with Pickles & Trout CP/M has been added to the terminal installation list.

CP/M Version 2.63, MS-DOS VDE 1.1, Update Note:

I didn't report on the changes in CP/M Version 2.63 and MS-DOS Version 1.1 because of the change in CTRL-QA, so here's a quick summary of the Version 2.63 updates. I think it's safe to assume the enhancements referred to in the next two paragraphs (and more!) exist in the MS-DOS versions:

Block move has been added. Scroll functions now include the WordStar one line scrolls, CTRL-Z and CTRL-W. Some changes in screen shift commands and the pause in macro command were required to accomodate this, and CTRL-\ has been added as a synonym for CTRL-L (repeat find). The tab set commands have been made WordStar compatible. CTRL-OP now allows you to change the page length without going to VINSTALL. Set page length to zero to disable pagination. A <cr> restores the default value. Commands to write, delete, and print a block work when the cursor is in the block.

Note: VINSTALL now accepts decimal input for items where appropriate. Most notably this is done for right margin setting. This caught me: I was so used to entering 41 that I did it without noticing, only to find my right margin at 41d instead of 41h (65d).

The screen update speed for VDM has been improved(!). VINSTALL allows you to set the hard <cr> display in WordStar files. New terminals added: VDE, TRS-80 Montezuma Micro CP/M; VDM, Bondwell 14.

Another undocumented change is that the printer initialization string now says it allows only 14h bytes (20d) instead of 16h (22d). This is not really a change: VINSTALL wouldn't actually accept the additional bytes, only the number of bytes it said it would accept was wrong.

[Novice note: hexadecimal notation is often used with computers. It's just like the decimal notation you're used to, except that you need eight fingers on each hand. When you hit 9, the next six numbers are A through F. The next number is 10h, which means 16 decimaL When a number has a small "h" after it it means hexadecimal or base 16. Without the "h", numbers are normally (but not always!) decimal or base 10.]

I don't actually know if this is in the MSDOS version, but another undocumented change is that centering a line moves the cursor to the next line if there is a next line. WordStar4 does this, NewWord 2 did it, and it's a great convenience since you seldom if ever want the cursor in a line you've just centered. I discovered it when a macro to center a line and move to the next line centered every other line for twice as many lines as I expected!

VDE Bug Notes:

I hesitate to even publish these, since they are likely to be gone by the time you read this. A search for a string at the very end of the file seems to fail. Add a [RETURN] or two at the end and you'll have no problem.

On my Kaypro (not with VDM) responses to prompts fall one line below the prompt and aren't always cleared properly. Eric has already caught this one. If there isn't a new version out, edit the terminal installation to set the viewable lines to 79 instead of 80. Note that this messes up the Help screen displays, so you may want to live with it if you like to have the Help available.

I also seem to be having a problem hitting the [RETURN] and not getting a hard carriage return in the file.

VDE Wish List:

I'd like to be able to change the drive and user area by entering CTRL-KN du:<cr>, keeping the same filename. This would be especially useful for those of us with RAM disks who keep stuff in the RAM disk but want to back things up on floppy from time to time (or put it on a floppy for the Sneaker Net to get it up to the laser printer!). [Eric says this one is a good possibility.]

Unless I missed it somewhere, the CTRL-T option has been changed again. Originally it just deleted up to the end of the line if there was nothing on the line. Recently it was changed so that it deleted up to the next character, deleting blank lines in between and even the first comma or period it encountered. This last item was sometimes an irritation if the next non-blank line had a dot command on it, but CTRL-U restored the period quickly. Now, with 2.64 we're back to deleting only to the end of the line. Leading spaces on the next line aren't deleted, nor are additional lines. You could always enter CTRL-QY to delete to the end of the line or CTRL-G to delete a character. CTRL-T was a useful shortcut has been eliminated. [Eric says this was changed at the request of MANY users who thought it was too much.]

The macro programs that I use and have used, GKX Version 3.90, Z3KEYRCP, SmartKey, and XtraKey, all have eventually moved to easy to edit ASCII definition files. While WordStar Shorthand doesn't do that, you can recall the current version of a Shorthand definition to the command line and edit it. At present there's no convenient way to edit VDE macro definitions. You have to laboriously enter them in the program to test them. If they don't work you cannot edit them, but must enter them again until you get it right. If you enter them using VINST the same problem occurs. Foul it up and you have to re--enter the whole key definition again through VINST. It would be nice if you could put the function key definitions in an ASCII file, BENZ.VDK, and quickly load them into your working copy of VDE.COM with VINST. If the function key needs to be revised, load BENZ.VDK into VDE, edit, and reinstall with VINST. This is solely a VINST function and should not reduce the amount of editing space available.

I don't know if any others have this problem: I occasionally run files through V-Spell to hyphenate them. That gives the tightest appearance when printing with Magic Series. VDE doeen't recognize WordStar's soft hyphens. Once I've done this I have to edit the file with WordStar since VDE will turn all the soft hyphens into hard hyphens. It would be nice if VDE would preserve soft hyphens.

One final item, suggested by Fred Haines: it would be nice to be able to set the top margin 'on the fly', too.

There are, of course, features in the MS-DOS version of VDE that I'd love to have in the CP/M version, but the memory limitation makes it obvious that short of the Z280 we'll never have them. Well, at least I can fire up the Kaypro 16 and run VDE 1.2 if I really need them.

Contributions:

Perhaps some of you who don't use VDE wonder why I spend so much time writing about it. Well, I've written a lot about WordStar, too. The main thing I do with my computers is WRITE. So when I write for PIP I write most about the things I do most and know best. WordStar and VDE are my writing tools. Well, not really. Mostly, VDE is my writing tool. WordStar gets a workout only when I have a need for one of its features that's not present in VDE. One prime example is column mode, an unlikely to appear in VDE memory hog. I don't need it often enough to want Eric to put it in. Another item I like is the undelete. VDE's undelete works only if you leave the cursor in the location where it was when the text was deleted. I can use WS4 to quickly put a list of things in the order I want them. [I should write a macro to mark the current line as a block. Now that VDE has block move that would do it just as neatly as WS4.]

The point of this section of this article is this the MS-DOS version of VDE has been released as shareware. That means you are supposed to send Eric Meyer a contribution (read license fee) if you like the program and use it. The CP/M version is strictly public domain. On the other hand, it's my main writing tool. I paid MicroPro 89 bucks for WordStar 4, but I write all day at my law office with VDE, occasionally using WS4 as a printer driver. The stuff that goes to the laser printer is usually printed with NewWord because WcrdStar 4 is too slow! At home I use VDE to write and my main printer driver is Magic Print, at least when I use my daisy wheel printer. I don't know about you, but I figure Eric ought to be entitled to something for the job he has done with this program, and I've sent him my check. It's not quite the full price of WordStar 4, but it's very close. It's your turn. I'll save you the trouble of looking at the documentation: it's Eric Meyer, 427 North Washington, Bloomington, IN 47401.