"filename" - file to edit. If no name is given, you begin a new
(untitled) file. @⇧üé◆üêOÇÄ✓⇦OîנîêOä✓◆Ä⇦Ä⇧ê נîéOÄOîAנüÇOÄ⇧üÇOüâêO≡pננננçäêé⇦Oé⇧êH⇦Oëé⇦ê ⇧Ç⇦éOüÇOî⇦äéOÇê⇦נüÇOüâêOÇê⇨üנé⇧êOבÇüê⇦⇦Oé⇧נîê✓⇩äO≡pננננÇ⇩⇧âנÄOëäéêOÇ⇦נäÇ⇧נכüכאAנÇ⇦נîé@0É9ØÀœõÃÀ7Ã⑥⓪:7É892†2Ã:⓪:44¨ù⓪⓪④$Ã⓪:42É╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪0õ7†2É2¶0ÀÕ62¨û⓪&¼ú$ª"ù! ÑÉ4¨É7Ã⓪!⑥⓪1:´⓪)¬ªªá⌐,É4¨É7Ã⓪!¥⑥⓪77´⓪ ¥.)"í⌐ù④åà⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪①⑦Àæ⓪7¨⓪①⓪6æ⓪⑥É7Õ:4ÃÃ0À⓪1œ7œõØÉ7ø⓪34À2É6ÃØ2¨¥⓪①6æ⓪1ãÃ⓪12É①+æ7¨29´0¨⓪╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪27õ´ÀØÃ:⑥⓪+è2)´0¨⓪①əæ⓪27õ´ÀØÃ:⑥⓪① æ)íññÉ27õ´ÀØÃ:⑥⓪7¨⓪①'①7Ã27õ´ÀØÃ:⑦⓪⓪╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪'7¨6ãÀ6<É22ø0´À:9É:7É①⑦áæ⑦⓪⓪&´¨´⓪12É9ØÕ0¨0´ed from filename by a space
^KA command lets you set the interval (1 to 255 minutes), or turn this
feature off entirely (0). Just press [Ret] to restore the default,
normally 0. [This can be changed with VINSTALL.]
Notes: will not work on untitled files; if editing multiple files,
will not activate until you return the cursor to a file.
BLOCK COMMANDS (^K-B,K,U,Z,Y,C,V,W,PB; ^QB,K) - A block of text is delimited
by two markers, which remain in memory until reset or deleted. ^KB marks
the beginning of the block; ^KK marks the end. ^KU unmarks the block,
removing any marker(s) set. The block operation commands all require a
block to be marked:
^KY goes to and deletes the block (including markers).
^KV moves the block (including markers) to the present cursor
location; ^KC simply copies it, leaving the original marked. Any place
markers present are not transferred. (The cursor cannot be H⓪נüâêOîüÇ @אppנננננננננÇÉנכÇÇ⇦OéüÇLנÄOîüÇ @נüâêOäê⇦⇧נÇ✓נüâêOüê⇨üנé⇦Oâé ëêIJנÄëנüâêO≡pננננîüÇ Oé⇦Oüê◆Ç⇦Ä⇦é⇧éOüäê⇧ê נÄ⇦OüâêOêüé⇦êOêé⇧ê@ננüâé⇦Oîנä✓⇦ÇêOÄOÇÇ ê⇦נ≡pננננÇ✓נçÇ⇦çÇ⇦✓⇦AנêäÇOä⇩◆üéOîî✓üäÄ⇧éêOÄ⇧üêüéנÇנÇêOçÇ⇦üéנÇ✓נÄOüê⇨üIJנ≡pננננüÇOüé⇩⇧éêOüâêOä ◆êOÇ✓נÇéOÇÖÿOîëäOבÇåAנÇ£IJנÇÉ②@ijijאOüÇOüâÄ⇧נ≡pננננçÇ⇦üéijננÇ⇦✓OÇÉנÄ✓⇩נüÇOÇÇOîÄ OÇ⇧ijננÆנÇÇOÇ ê@נçÄ✓⇩Ä⇧éנé ^E = up. ^D = right. ^F = move to start of next word.
^X = down. ^S = left. ^A = to start of previous word.
^W = scroll back one line. ^R = scroll back one screen.
^Z = scroll forward one line. ^C = scroll forward one screen.
^G = delete character to right. ^Y = delete current line.
^T = delete word to right.
^U = undo last deletion (character, word, line, or block).
RUN COMMAND/SHELL (AltR) - Typing AltR causes VDE to produce a replica of the
DOS prompt (eg, "C:\WORK>"). At this point you are still in VDE,
and all its input rules apply (press ^U to cancel, etc) -- but you can
execute any command just as you would under MSDOS. You can copy or rename
files, or run any other program you like, and afterwards VDE will prompt
you to "Press Esc" (or Space), upon which you will return to your
undisturbed VDE editing session. VDE leaves no disk files open, so you
can do anything you like with an AltR command. (Exception: don't load new
memory-resident utilities; this fouls up the DOS memory allocation.)
In addition, there is a special VDE command that can be typed at this
"fake DOS" prompt: SHELL. This lets you out into what is known as a
Command Shell: you are actually back IN MSDOS, and can use any number
of commands or move around as you like; when through, you need to type the
command EXIT to leave the Shell. At this point you will be back in VDE,
and will see the "Press Esc" prompt to return to editing.
NOTE 1: VDE must be able to find your command interpreter (usually
COMMAND.COM), and there must be enough free memory to load it and run the
chosen program. VDE checks the COMSPEC environment variable. If your
CONFIG.SYS file doesn't include a line like SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM,
you should add one.
NOTE 2: Using the AltR command in MACROS is tricky. Any keyboard
input expected by the program or shell must be typed by YOU; it will not
be taken from the macro. And you must remember to include in your macro
the [Esc] keystroke needed to return to editing in VDE after it finishes.
SAVE/EXIT (^K-N,S,X,D,Q) - ^KN renames your work. This allows you to change
the filename in the header before saving. (Accepts mode option; you can
also specify a mode alone, eg "/W", simply to change the current mode.)
^KS saves your work so far: what's in memory is written to disk under
the filename in the header. (You must have a filename; one will be
requested if necessary.) If that file already existed, a copy with the
extension .BAK will be preserved [this can be supressed]. If the file has
not been modified, you will be prompted to confirm whether you meant to
resave it anyway.
There are several different commands for finishing up:
^KX saves your work, and then EXITS to DOS.
^KD (Done) saves your work, then loads a new file to edit.
^KQ just QUITS, without saving to disk. If the file has been
modified, you will be prompted to confirm that you meant to do this!
SCREEN CONTROLS (^W,^Z; Esc^,v,<,>; ^O-E,D,Z; AltE,A) - VDE provides a
number of commands affecting the screen display:
The ^W and ^Z commands scroll the screen up and down a line at a
time, without moving the cursor in the text (unless necessary).
Preceded by Esc-, any arrow key shifts the SCREEN, leaving the cursor
in place: the text view moves up/down 1/4 screen, or right/left 32
columns. (The cursor must be past column 32 to allow horizontal shifts.)
Preceded by ^O-, either UP arrow key (eg, ^OE) makes the current text
line the top of the screen.
The ^OD command shows you a preview of the screen with all non-
printing codes (markers, ^P codes, etc) hidden. This is handy for making
sure that text is aligned properly. Press [Esc] to continue editing.
The ^OZ command temporarily "Zaps" (blanks) the entire screen; good
for avoiding CRT burn-in, or just protecting work from prying eyes or
fingers. Restore the screen by pressing [Esc]. This is also useful if
some other software (like a resident utility) has messed up the screen:
type ^OZ,Esc and VDE will completely restore it.
The AltE command lets you see more lines of text on screen, if you
have an enhanced graphics adapter. It toggles between normal 25-line
mode and a compressed mode of 43 (EGA) or 50 (VGA) lines. [Note: the
compressed fonts can be hard to read. You can choose an alternative font
with VINSTALL.]
The AltA command works ONLY with the ATI EGA Wonder video card; do
not use it otherwise. (Many Kaypro PCs come with this card.) This
toggles between normal 80-column mode and ATI 132-column mode. It can be
used alone, or in combination with AltE to provide a 43x132 screen.
SPLITTING FILES (AltS) - If you encounter a text file that is too large for
VDE to load and edit, you can divide it into manageable chunks with the
Split command. Suppose you have a big file HUGE.DOC. Type AltS, then
answer at the prompt:
Split file, output name (w/#): HUGE.DOC, PIECE.#
VDE will go through the file HUGE.DOC and write out a series of smaller
files PIECE.1, PIECE.2 etc, which can then be edited. (You can tidy up
the transitions between them with Cut and Paste, if you like.)
Note that the output name must be separated from the input by a
comma, and must contain one # sign, which will be replaced by a 1, 2, etc
in sequence. (The above example could have used HUGE-#.DOC, etc.) Make
sure you have enough disk space for the output files.
TABS ([Tab],Shft[Tab],Esc[Tab]; ^O-V,I,N) - There are two Tab modes, Variable
and Hard; the ^OV command toggles between them. In Hard Tab mode the Tab
key produces an actual ^I (ASCII TAB); whether this overwrites any
existing text depends on the INSERT toggle. Hard Tabs display at fixed
intervals of 8 screen columns.
In Variable Tab mode, the Tab key moves the cursor to the next
variable tab stop. Existing text is not overwritten; spaces are added at
the end of a line as needed. Up to eight tab stops may be set with ^OI
and cleared with ^ON; the defaults are in columns 5, 15, 35, and 55.
[These are reconfigurable.] The Shft[Tab] command tabs backwards (left),
useful for moving around in tables, etc.
You can always get a Hard Tab with ^PI, or a Variable Tab with
Esc[Tab], no matter what tab mode you are in.
The set/clear commands prompt for a column number, or you can press
[Ret] for the cursor column. In addition, the Set command ^OI accepts
two further options, both of which replace all earlier tab settings:
@nn Set tabs every "nn" columns
#n1,n2,... Set tabs to columns "n1,n2,..."
You can simply clear all variable tabs by typing "@" or "#" alone.
TIME/DATE (AltT,D) - If your MSDOS system maintains the system clock
properly, VDE can read it and insert the current time and date in your
file automatically. Just press AltT for the Time, or AltD for the Date.
The string will appear at the current cursor location, as though you had
typed it in yourself: for example,
1:21 PM [or 13:21 -- format can be selected]
January 15, 1988 [or 1/15/88, 15 January 1988, 15.1.88]
UNDELETING (^U) - The undelete function can be used to recover any amount of
text lost by the last deletion operation (whether character, word, line,
or block). This includes an overstruck character. The text will be
replaced at the current cursor location.
UPPER/LOWER CASE (^^; ^K",') - The ^^ (Ctrl-caret or ^6) changes the case of
the character at the cursor, if it was a letter, and moves to the next.
Useful for changing case of a few characters.
The ^K" command changes all text in a marked block (see BLOCK
COMMANDS) to uppercase; ^K' changes it all to lowercase.
WINDOWS (^OW; AltW,F; ^[PgUp,Dn]) - VDE can split the screen into two windows,
showing you either two parts of the same file or two different files.
AltF moves the cursor back and forth between the two windows. The ^[PgUp]
and ^[PgDn] keys can scroll through BOTH windows in synchronization.
The ^OW command is used in a SINGLE file; it creates a window in the
bottom half of the screen, duplicating the current file text. You can
move to a different place in the file within this window, and continue
editing, with the original text still in view in the top window. (Note:
any modifications made to the file will not be reflected in the inactive
window until you return to it.)נüé◆éêOÇÉOÄ✓⇩נäêê⇦OüâêOÇ⇩ëÇ@≡pננננננננüâêOß⇧üÇOîëנä◆üé⇧äOüâêOä ⇦ê✓נÇ⇩ëÇOîê⇧Ç✓✓נüÇOÖÆ⑧ÿÿ⇦ÿ⓪üנêé⇧ê⇦O≡pננננîê⇩êOê é⇧ê IJנä⇨Ç⇩êOéOîÇ⇧âנÄ⇧נÇî✓@ננבÆ✓נüâêOêé⇧êOéOê✓⇧נéנüâêO≡pננננÇ⇩ëÇOé⇦ז⇧נüâêOÇêOéOÇüê IJנêéëנé⇧נîéOî⇩ ⇧éêOüâäÇ✓⇨נÇ⇩⇧âנ≡pננננß⇧ü£ij⇧üÉijאOנüé◆éêOß⇧üÇOÄ✓⇩נäê⇦⇧Ç⇦ê⇦OêÇ⇧üä ⇦ê✓נê é⇧éê@≡p≡pÇ⓪⇦ÖÇ⇦ß◆נזנäÿ⑧É⇦É⇧ (^B, ^OB) - WORDWRAP is automatic in Document modes
("A,W,5")OÇ⇨êêê⇦נüâêOäé✓⇨üנÇ⇦ê⇩נé⇦Oä✓⇧ijננßéOüê⇨üנêüê⇦ê נÇ⇩⇧üנîêOÇ✓◆üנ≡pננננÇ⇩⇧âéנüâêOî⇦äêüנÇ⇦ê⇩נä✓⇧üéê⇦@ננüâêOêëנÇ✓נÄOçÄ⇦Ä✓⇦Ä◆âנé⇦OÇ⇦Ç✓ נîéOÄO≡pננננכôß⇦Öנ£⇦כIJנÇ⇨é ⇨נÇ ⇦äOÇ⇨êנéOçäê⇦⇦OüâêOÇ⇦ê⇧ÇOÇ✓⇩@ננבüâé⇦Oé⇦OÄO£⇦נ≡pננננé✓ é⇧ê⇧éOêÇ⇧üÇ⇩êOÄOÇÇä◆Ä ✓@אOנÆנîüäÄ⇦⇧IJנÇ⇨êנÇ⇦ëÇ⇦Ä◆נÇ ⇦äOéO≡pננננê✓⇧נÄOכä⓪⑧üנ£⇦כנבÇ⇨é ⇨נé⇦OÄ ⇧Ç⇧üéOÄO£⇦נÇ⇩⇧âנÄOä◆Ä ✓Oîê✓Ç⇦êOé⇧א@ננéOîנ≡pננננî⇨Äê✓OÄOâÄ⇦ëנ£⇦נéüÇOÄOä✓üנÇêAנÇ⇦נÇé ✓OÇê⇦äAנîéOëê⇧C environment variable. If your
CONFIG.SYS file doesn't include a line like SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM,
you should add one.
NOTE 2: Using the AltR command in MACROS is tricky. Any keyboard
input expected by the program or shell must be typed by YOU; it will not
be taken from the macro. And you must remember to include in your macro
the [Esc] keystroke needed to return to editing in VDE after it finishes.
SAVE/EXIT (^K-N,S,X,D,Q) - ^KN renames your work. This allows you to change
the filename in the header before saving. (Accepts mode option; you can
also specify a mode alone, eg "/W", simply to change the current mode.)
^KS saves your work so far: what's in memory is written to disk under
the filename in the header. (You must have a filename; one will be
requested if necessary.) If that file already existed, a copy with the
extension .BAK will be preserved [this can be supressed]. If the file has
not been modified, you will be prompted to confirm whether you meant to
resave it anyway.
There are several different commands for finishing up:
^KX saves your work, and then EXITS to DOS.
^KD (Done) saves your work, then loads a new file to edit.
^KQ just QUITS, without saving to disk. If the file has been
modified, you will be prompted to confirm that you meant to do this!
SCREEN CONTROLS (^W,^Z; Esc^,v,<,>; ^O-E,D,Z; AltE,A) - VDE provides a
number of commandror" alone means the
command used just won't work in this situation. (Example: a block command
was used with no block marked.) More specific errors are:
"Out of Memory" - the file, block, or key string won't fit in RAM.
"Invalid Key" - an illegal command key sequence was pressed.
"Invalid Name/Path" - file not read/written because path does not exist,
or filename is a duplicate, or illegal (COM/EXE).
"I/O Error" - file not found, disk full, invalid drive, etc.
"Cannot Reformat" - word too long, or margins invalid.
"Not Found" - the object of a search was not found.
"Graphics Overflow" - too many graphics in file to fit in table.
"Macro Error" - programming command misused, or recording overflow.
IMPORTANT NOTE: On DOS 2.x systems, an attempt to access an empty
disk drive or to print when the printer is not online can produce a
critical error message directly from DOS, something like:
"Device not ready; Ignore, Retry, or Abort?"
If this should happen, correct the situation and press "R" for Retry.
Pressing "I" usually has no effect. DO NOT PRESS "A", as this will exit
from VDE back to DOS, losing any text in memory!
If, after recovering from such an error, the message is still on
screen, you can press ^OZ,Esc to redisplay your text.
FILE MODES - VDE has four "file modes": "A"SCII document, "W"ordStar
document, WordStar "5" document, and "N"on-document. The main difference
is in the format of the disk files:
In "A" or "N" mode, VDE reads and writes standard ASCII text, a
universal format that can be produced or accepted by virtually all
software. These two modes differ only in providing different sets of
default options. "A" mode is designed for word processing; "N" mode is
for programming and other special applications.
In "W" mode, VDE reads and writes WordStar 3.3/4.0 compatible
document files. NOTE: this compatibility is limited. Any right justifi-
cation in a WordStar document is REMOVED when the file is read into VDE.
In "5" mode, VDE reads and writes WordStar 5.0 compatible document
files. NOTE: this compatibility is very limited. Features specific to
WordStar 5.0 (fonts, etc), as well as any right justification, will be
REMOVED when the file is read into VDE.
DEFAULTS FOR: Margins TABS HARD CR DISP.
documents ("A","W","5") ACTIVE variable [on]
"N"on-document DISABLED hard off
The file mode option can be specified along with the filename at any
VDE file function prompt (such as "Read in file:"), allowing you to read
or write text in whatever format needed.
[The default mode (used when none is specified) is "A", but this can
be changed. In addition, you can specify automatic filetype defaults to
declare exceptions (for example, all ".ASM" files as "N" mode).]
FLOPPY DISK SPACE - If you run out of disk space when writing a file, you can
just insert another disk. (Always keep a blank FORMATTED disk around --
though you can run FORMAT with AltR, if necessary.) Alternatively, you
can use ^KF/^KJ (or AltR) to find and delete unneeded files. [If you have
small disks, you can also choose not to preserve BAK files.]
Let VDE's filesize limits encourage you to break work up into files
of 64k or so; larger files make inefficient use of floppy disks, too.
MEMORY - VDE allocates memory for a file according to need, up to a maximum
of 64k. (1k = 1024 bytes.) If you check the usage of memory (^KI) you
will find that VDE compresses text: a file typically occupies 20-25% less
memory than its actual size. Thus the largest file that can be edited
with VDE in 64k is roughly 80k.
VDE runs well with anywhere from 128k to 640k RAM; the number and
size of files you can edit depends on the amount of memory you have. If
you are running short of memory while editing, try: exiting files you no
longer need; cutting (AltC) an empty block, to empty the cut buffer.
Running a DOS command requires enough free memory (beyond VDE's
usage) to load a copy of COMMAND.COM and any programs you intend to run
under it. You may not have enough memory to do this if you are editing
many files with VDE, or you have lots of memory-resident software (TSRs).
PROMPTS - First, VDE has several simple prompts requiring you to confirm an
action by typing "Y" or "N". These warning messages appear on line 1
(though they are NOT given when a macro is running):
"Abandon changes?" - a file you want to quit has been changed.
"Unchanged; save?" - the file you want saved hasn't been changed.
"File exists; overwrite?" - such a file already exists and will be lost.
"Not recoverable; delete?" - block to delete is too big for undeletion.
These confirmation prompts appear at the right edge of the header:
"Chg?" - do you want to change this instance of a string?
"Remove?" - do you want to remove this hyphen?
Then, there are a few special purpose prompts:
"Repeat count:" - enter (optional "^Q" and) repeat count for macro.
"Store to key:" - enter (optional "^N/Q" and) key number.
"Rdy" - press any key to print next page (Esc quits).
Finally, there are a variety of prompts for either numeric or string
input, like "Column:" or "Find string:". You are expected to type in a
string (up to 65 characters). The following control keys operate:
Correct error: [BkSp] (^H) Erase entire entry: ^X
Finish entry: [Ret] (^M) or (^J) Abort operation: ^U
Note that to get any of these codes into the string itself, you must
precede it with ^P (this includes ^P).
EXAMPLE: to find a line beginning with a "*" (find "^M,*") type
^QF^P[Ret]*[Ret].
WORDPERFECT COMPATIBILITY - Limited. VDE cannot read or write WordPerfect
files directly, but WordPerfect users can import and export ASCII text,
which can be edited with VDE (see FILE MODES). You can edit in VDE using
a function-key command set much like WordPerfect's, by loading the WP.VDF
definition file [see VINST.DOC].
WORDSTAR COMPATIBILITY - Nearly complete. VDE can read and write WordStar
files, and makes a very useful accessory for WordStar users. (For
example, I generally do all my writing in VDE, using its speed and extra
features; but sometimes I need to take advantage of WordStar's more
sophisticated printing abilities, or ability to edit larger files.)
Aside from the absence of a "No-File" menu, VDE operates very much
like WordStar. It does lack some WordStar commands, and then, it has some
of its own. VDE's macro commands are completely different (they were
developed before WordStar had macros!). Aside from that, note the
following differences in common commands:
COMMON USE WORDSTAR 4 VDE 1.3 VDE USE
Hide block ^KH ^KU Actually unmarks block.
Set Place Mark ^K0..9 ^PZ Not individually numbered.
Go to Place Mark ^Q0..9 ^QZ Cyclic.
Time, Date stamp Esc!,@ AltT,D
COMMON COMMAND WORDSTAR 4 USE VDE USE
^^ (^6) Soften hard CR Transpose upper/lowercase
^KN Column block mode Rename current work
^OB Display soft spaces Display hard CRs
^OF Ruler from text Flush right
^OP Preview mode Set page length
^OJ Right justification Proportional spacing
Note also that VDE does not obey WordStar "dot commands" in text, though
in "W" or "5" mode it will avoid printing them. You can get a page break
