62 lines
3.4 KiB
HTML
62 lines
3.4 KiB
HTML
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<TITLE>A New Version of Elvis</TITLE>
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<BR><P><CENTER><H1>Elvis Beta Version 2.0j</H1></CENTER>
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<P> by <B>Larry Ayers</B> <A HREF="mailto:
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layers@vax2.rain.gen.mo.us"><layers@vax2.rain.gen.mo.us></A><BR>
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Copyright (c) 1996<BR> <H5>Published in Issue of the Linux Gazette</H5> <HR>
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<P><CENTER><H3>Introduction</H3></CENTER>
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<A HREF="mailto:kirkenda@cs.pdx.edu"><Steve Kirkendall></A>
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has been working on and improving the vi-editor
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clone Elvis for several years now. Many of you will be familiar with
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the most recent non-beta version as it is linked to vi and ex in the
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default Slackware setup.<P>Elvis was one of the first vi-like editors to
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offer support for multiple windows and buffers, allowing transfer of cut
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or copied text from one file-buffer to another. These days this feature
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is taken for granted, but the original vi required cut-buffers to be saved
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to a file in order to transfer text from one file to another, an awkward
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procedure at best.
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<P> <CENTER><H3>New Features</H3></CENTER>
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X-window support can be compiled into this beta. When the editor starts
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up it is able to determine whether it is being invoked from an x-window
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session or from a console. The appropriate interface then starts. The
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x-window interface is able to make use of different fonts and colors for
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italic and emphasized text; this is put to good use in the new HTML
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mode.<P> HTML-mode in a vi editor? I realize this sounds odd, but it
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works well. All of the Elvis documentation is now in HTML format,
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which is well-suited for help text. The HTML mode is not a complete
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implementation; external links (such as a link to an internet site)
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cannot be followed, and image links can be seen but are not loaded.
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Nonetheless the mode makes Elvis useful as a quick-loading html-file
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previewer. Sometimes it's nice to be able to just quickly scan an html
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file without the distracting presence of the formatting codes, and
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without starting up a browser. Links within a document, and links to
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another html file in the same directory <EM>are</EM> supported.
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<P> As is to be expected in a modern vi-style editor multiple windows
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and buffers are supported. Running in an x-windows session Elvis will
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start up another entire frame when a new file is loaded.
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<P> The mouse support for marking, cutting, and pasting is nicely-
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implemented.
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<P><CENTER><H3>Installation</H3></CENTER>
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The source code compiled uneventfully for me; as usual it's wise to
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check over the makefiles in order to make sure that the paths are
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correct. The resulting executable is named "e2", which helps keep it
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separate from an existing copy of Elvis you might have. The accompanying
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readme file warns of possible bugs, going so far as to state "This beta
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<EM>will</EM> crash", but I've used the current version and the one
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previous to it for some time now with no problems.
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<P><CENTER><H3>Availability</H3></CENTER>
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The only source I know of for the beta version of Elvis is
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.cs.pdx.edu/pub/elvis/unreleased/">
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this ftp site</A>. The filename (which may be incremented by one or
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letters by the time you read this) is <EM>elvis20j.tgz</EM>.
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If you are a vi user, I encourage you to give it a try; I'm sure Steve
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Kirkendall would appreciate any user feedback.
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<P><HR>
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<BR>
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Back up to the <A HREF="./lg_issue7.html">Linux Gazette!</A>
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