Samuel W. Heywood wrote:
>
> On Fri, 6 Jul 2001 10:11:31 -0400 (EDT), Thomas Mueller wrote:
>
> > One
> > critical issue regarding these text editors is whether they are limited
> > to low
> > DOS memory and unable to handle a file > about 360 KB.
>
> I don't know exactly whatever may be the file size limitations for these
> editors. From experience I think I can recall having had problems in
> using these editors with files > about 360KB.
A text editor that can't handle a file of ANY random length, or that
requires the entire file be in memory at one time is very poorly written
indeed and better have some OTHER special redeeming qualities.
My 20 year old Wordstar for CPM has no problems with files as big as the
disk can hold and CPM uses 64k MAX memory.
The same program for the PC has shown no signs of size limit - although my
version is a little retarded on paths and subdirectories.
> > One requirement, as far as I'm concerned, is the ability to see beyond
> > this limitation, and to be able to handle more than one file, and
> > hopefully be less bloated than GNU Emacs DOS port.
>
> The way I deal with the problem is to use a file chopping utility to
> make small ones out of big ones. Then I edit the various small ones
> and concatenate them all back together again. Resorting to these
> procedures is a real hassle, but that is one way of doing it and it
> does work.
Yes, that works if you really love your limited text editor for other
reasons. I use Sidekick and it wants to limit the entire file to 50k
so it will all fit in a single memory segment. (I guess)
But I like it's ability to come out of nowhere and snatch stuff off the DOS
screen. When writing larger programs than this limitation allows, I can get
around most of the file chopping/re-assembling hassle with a batch file.
Sidekick, in combination with concurrently running Wordstar, will do just
about anything I can imagine I could ever need from a text editor.
The keyboard commands are the same, and they only TOTAL 64k in size without
the dictionaries or thesaurus. Hmmm. Maybe I need a spell check on that word.
<G>
- Clarence Verge
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