§ 22 - Appendix E - STYLUS (EDIT.CMD) Editor Documentation

§ 22.1 - Overview

TSC produced a line-based editor (LEDIT.CMD, which is also included in ReFlex), but a WYSIWYG editor is much easier to deal with. STYLUS, named EDIT.CMD under ReFlex, is such an editor. It was intended to provide WYSIWYG for printed documents such as reports, and while that's not really a thing anymore (we're talking about daisy wheel printers and the like here), it's still a very good screen editor.

Back in the day, I had all but abandoned the line editor for working with 6809 and other source code under FLEX, and had gone to using STYLUS full time. It takes some getting used to, as does any terminal-based editor, but it definitely has all the tools you need to quickly and easily create and edit most text files that will be used within the context of FLEX.

If you're going to be spending any serious time inside ReFlex, I strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with STYLUS/EDIT.CMD

Required = <item>
Optional = [item]

§ 22.2 - Editor Invocation

EDIT [FILE(.TXT)] — the .TXT is assumed, but can be entered. If no file name is supplied, the editor starts with an empty buffer. If you want to edit a different type of file than a .TXT file, you must supply the extension, for example "EDIT MYPROG.ASM"

§ 22.3 - Editor Modes

The editor has three operating modes:

1. Supervisor Mode
2. Escape Mode
3. Edit Mode

§ 22.3.1 - Supervisor Mode

In Mode 1, Supervisor Mode, you'll see this menu:

> EDIT ------------ return to ESCAPE mode to edit text
  PRINT ----------- print the text
  SAVE & RETURN --- save the text and return to DOS
  SAVE ------------ save the text
  SAVE TO MARK ---- save the text from the cursor to the marker
  RETURN ---------- return to the disk operating system
  LOAD ------------ insert a file at the cursor position
  ERASE ----------- erase the present text without saving it
  SPECIAL --------- use a speciality "letter quality" printer
  TTY ------------- use a TTY printer
  PASS ------------ pass a command to the disk operating system
  SPOOL ----------- output text to the disk for later printing
  WHEEL ----------- specify a proportional spacing print wheel
  NEW ------------- new text from input file

The > indicates the current selection within the Supervisor Mode menu.

Use the , and i keys to move the > up and down the list. Press Return to select the indicated list item.

§ 22.3.2 - Getting Assistance (Editor Help)

In both Escape Mode and Edit Mode you can press Control—A and STYLUS/EDIT.CMD will provide you with a help menu you can navigate using the i and , keys, selecting items using Return.

Selecting > RETURN and then pressing Return in Supervisor Mode will exit STYLUS/EDIT.CMD.

§ 22.3.3 - Escape Mode

Selecting > EDIT and then pressing Return in Supervisor Mode will put you into Escape Mode. This is the mode where you move the cursor around the text.

§ 22.3.3.1 - Cursor Navigation in Escape Mode

In mode 2, Escape Mode, you can move around using the following cluster of keys as a virtual cursor pad:

	i
j		l
	,

Pressing k will alternate the cursor between the beginning and the end of the current line.

The o and . keys will move the cursor position one page up and down.

The M and U keys scroll text up and down.

The 7 and 9 keys scroll text left and right.

The 1 key allows you to replace the character under the cursor with the next character pressed.

The ^ key allows you insert one character at the cursor position.

The P key allows you to jump to a page of text.

Pressing / will re-enter Supervisor Mode.

§ 22.3.3.2 - Using Markers to Save, Cut, Copy and Duplicate text

In Escape Mode, you can place a marker by typing two characters: }}

Once this marker is in the text, you can save it with a press of the S key. Once you have saved the text this way, you can duplicate it at another cursor position with a press of the D key, which stands for "Duplicate". If you press D before you move, the SD sequence is performing the equivalent of a copy operation. If you don't press D before you move the cursor, the S is the equivalent of a cut operation.

You can also place the text with a press on the W key, which means "Withdraw", which places the text and clears the buffer — you can't place the text again after this unless you mark it again.

When you have placed markers, you can return to Supervisor Mode and save the marked region as a new file by selecting > SAVE TO MARK within the Supervisor Mode menu and then pressing Return.

Finally, you can "zap" the text from the cursor to the marker by pressing Z.

§ 22.3.3.3 - Finding Text

Pressing F will allow you to search for text. Press Return to terminate the search string.

§ 22.3.3.4 - Replacing Text

Pressing R will prompt you for the text to be searched for, and the text to replace it with. Each item is terminated with a press on Return.

Pressing ; will enter Edit Mode.

§ 22.3.4 - Edit Mode

In mode 3, Edit Mode, you are in an insert state, where text that you type will be inserted at the position the cursor was in when you were in Escape Mode.

You can use Control—W to delete words, Control—S to delete single characters, and Control—X to delete individual lines of text. All three of these control commands work in both Escape Mode and Edit Mode.

To re-position the cursor, re-enter Escape Mode, adjust position, then re-enter Edit Mode.

Pressing ESC will exit Edit Mode and re-enter Escape Mode.

 

This manual was generated with wtfm wtfm uses aa_macro and SqLite aa_macro uses python 2.7