CFOG's PIP, May 1988, Volume 7 No. 3, Whole No. 65, page 37

VDE Updated Again

VDKCOM: A Function Key Compiler for VDE

by Benjamin H. Cohen

A few weeks after the March 28 issue of PIP was mailed out one of my friends dropped by and asked whether, as long as he was here, he could get a copy of VDE Version 2.64. I told him that I regretted that it was not possible: I had already discarded it in favor of VDE Version 2.65. Groan!

I've stolen the following from the VDE265.UPD file, with a few revisions.

VDE Version 2.65 Update

The problem with command prompts on some computers has been fixed. As this was the principal reason for the new release, there are only a few changes from Version 2.64.

A new command [CTRL]OA sets Auto Indent mode, useful for typing outlines, structured program source code, etc. When on, you will see an "AI" flag in the header. When you press [RETURN]:

(a)
If text exists on the new line, the cursor advances to it;

(b)
If you are adding new text, it is indented to match the previous line.

The Variable Tab set/clear commands ([CTRL]OI,N) now prompt for a column, just like the margin sets. Hit [RETURN] for the current column.

In addition, the Set command [CTRL]OI accepts two options. Both options wipe out any existing tabs. First, "@nn" sets tabs every "nn" columns, so if you want tabs at 5, 10, etc., all the way across, just enter [CTRL]OI@5[RETURN]. To clear all tabs, enter @[RETURN] at the prompt.

The second option allows you to set a number of tab stops with one [CTRL]OI command. Just enter a number symbol [#] before the number of the column where you want each tab stop and use commmas to separate the settings. For example, after you enter [CTRL]OI, enter #6,#11,#16,#31,#61[RETURN] and you'll have tabs at 6, 11, 16, 31. and 61.

A new command [ESC][TAB] moves backwards (left) to the previous tab stop, whether in hard or variable mode. This can be useful for moving about in tables, etc.

In VINSTALL there is a User Option allowing you to DISABLE the help menus. If you do this you will have about 1K more free RAM for editing. There is a User Option to set initial header display to off if you prefer it that way. You can still toggle it on with [CTRL]OQ.

DOSDISK users will be delighted to know that there is no longer a need for an option disabling warm boot trapping. VDE now works nicely with DOSDISK.

VDKCOM: A Compiler for VDE Function Key Macros

You may recall that one of the items on my 'wish list' in the March 28 issue was the alility to create VDE function key macros in an ASCII file and then 'compile' them into VDE. This would eliminate the need to laboriously enter each new function key through VINST, especially when it came to complicated macros. Retyping a 100+ character macro time an again while debugging it can get tedious. Or what if you discover you just left out one character in a 100+ byte simple macro (your firm name, address, etc., all centered) for the THIRD time! Ouch.

Well, Fred Haines, sysop of the Glendale LADERA RCPM, had read my wish list in a message to Eric Meyer (and added one of his own, which you may recall from the March 28 issue of PIP). Fred and I exchanged messages on the subject and about ten days later I had the first Beta test version of what Fred calls VDKCOM. While it might be simpler and more direct if Eric Meyer had worked this into VINST, VDKCOM does the trick, and I've written a small SUBMIT file that makes the process as smooth as glass.

VDKCOM works two ways. First, if you already have your definitions installed in VDE, VINST will put them into a VDK file. VDKCOM will convert your VDK file to a VDT file which is an ASCII file that you can edit with VDE. If you haven't already put your function key macros into VDE with VINST, don't: just create an ASCII file (using VDE's ASCII or non-doc mode) and have VDKCOM 'compile' it into a VDK file which can then be loaded into VDE with VINST.

I've automated the process with the following SUBMIT file:

vde benz.vdt a
vdkcom benz.vdt
vinst vde.com benz.vdk

When you run this your VDT file is loaded with VDE, you can edit it as necessary. When you save and exit from VDE, it is then quickly [VERY quickly] compiled, and loaded onto VDE with VINST. All you have to do is hit "S" to save, and your new copy of VDE is ready to use.

If you want to have several VDT/VDK files, substitute $1 for "benz" and you can add the name of the file on the command line. This process is very quick.

Thanks to Fred Haines for this great new addition to the VDE arsenal of tools. Fred has also incorporated into the VDKCOM library his favorite macros for VDE, so even if you haven't begun to experiment you'll have something to work with.

The latest version is VDKCOM12.LBR [as of May 6, 1988]. Version 1.1 works the same but is slower. Version 1.0 has a bug or two.

When Did I Miss This One?

VDE's [CTRL-O]W command creates a window in the lower half of the screen containing half-a-screenload of text, freezing the text starting at the cursor location while you continue to edit normally in the top half of the screen. Although the documentation always mentioned it, it never occured to me that you could freeze text from one file in the lower half of the screen and then load another file and edit it while the frozen text from the first file was still on display in the window.

Somehow I just missed that one. What brought it to my attention is that when I opened a window in Version 2.65 I discovered that the line between the top and bottom halves of the screen now shows the name of the file that contains the text frozen in the bottom half of the screen. That made it clear that it was possible to load a new file while still retaining the frozen bottom half of the screen. Expect the unexpected in nice little touches from Eric Meyer: this one's not a documented change.