Saturday, December 28, Mark Evens wrote about "Model/view design for
text editor" and said:
ME> ... Some unix wizards love emacs because they have memorized all
ME> the magic keystrokes required to edit without touching a mouse.
ME> Most of us are not like that. We want our editors to do
ME> low-level thinking for us.
In that case, we will have to think in the way that our text editor
(or email message composer) was designed.
I found TB!'s design paradigm to be frustrating when I first started
using it in 1999 w/ v 1.35. It was too different from what I was
used to, above all the floating (or free) caret. This no longer
bothers me. Any time I want the cursor at the end of the line, I
just hit "end", which will bring it either right or left, depending
on where it is at present.
This may be a bother to anyone not used to having to do that, but
1).- I'm used to it and 2).- It's consistent with the rest of TB!'s
message editors' features.
I'm no expert on text editors, so I'd best ask. Can other editors:
Begin a text block anywhere, with automatic placement for
additional lines?
Change text from All Caps to All Lower Case or First Letter Caps
with a 2 key keystroke combo?
Eliminate or add columns?
Use tabs with a built in memory in relation to the preceding line?
Justify or reformat as easily?
Complete the address as agilely?
Make and use address books as easily?
Use folder level templates that are code-able for supplying any
of the header info that's desired?
Move a text block right or left?
Spell check in multiple languages?
I sure wish my word processor had some of these features.
ME> There are good reasons why most editors behave differently from
ME> Bat.
The reverse is also true: There are good reasons why TB! works the
way it does.
Not that it's perfect as is. I'd welcome support for the windows
command ctrl+up or down, for jumping between paragraphs, for
instance.
I'd also like to be able to reformat multiple paragraphs at once.
But given TB!'s stability, ability to download simultaneously from
multiple accounts, the Mail Dispatcher, Selective Download, Virtual
View windows (if you use the Ticker), virus protection, frequent
upgrades at no cost (so far), the TB! User Groups etc., I'm
satisfied - and not even thinking about looking for a different
email client.
ME> I had to use Utilities > Format Block > Left at least ten times while
ME> editing this short note. I find that to be a nuisance. Others share
ME> this viewpoint
So do I. What I don't understand is why you just don't use alt+l.
ME> and it is perfectly reasonable. We do not intend to give up on
ME> Bat, but to offer our experiences in an effort to make Bat even
ME> better. I've used Bat for many years and still find this editor
ME> very annoying. So my habit is to use UltraEdit alongside Bat. I
ME> would rather use just one program.
While your opinions are certainly respectable, getting them
implemented means you need to express these things to the
developers, rather than fellow users.
ME> The suggestion of model/view should not be shouted down.
Although I don't think Allie shouted, his response lended itself to
an excessively authoritarian interpretation which knowing him as I
do, represents a less than ideal way of expressing that which he
meant to say rather than the logical interpretation you gave it.
ME> Model/view would give all of us what we want. People who like
ME> hard linefeeds and Alt-L could keep on using them. Meanwhile
ME> "the rest of us" would have a more intelligent and pleasant
ME> editor taking care of those irritating details for us.
Alt+l is fine with me. Word processors use ctrl+l (for align left)
instead of alt but as I said, I've gotten used to it.
The above is just one users opinion, but may be as well grounded as
as other user's. IAC, a future TB! could contain hooks for an
external text editor, just as it already does with external AV apps,
full PGP and html viewers - but you'll need to convince the
developers.
Douglas
Douglas
________________________________________________
Current version is 1.62 | "Using TBUDL" information:
http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
