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340 lines
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<HEAD> <TITLE>Miscellaneous Software Notes</TITLE> </HEAD>
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#ffefd5" TEXT="#483d8b">
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<CENTER> <H1>New Releases and Revisions</H1></CENTER>
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<CENTER> by <B>Larry Ayers</B></CENTER><BR>
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<CENTER><A HREF="mailto:layers@vax2.rain.gen.mo.us"><layers@vax2.rain.gen.mo.us></A></CENTER><BR>
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<CENTER>Copyright (c) 1996</CENTER><BR>
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<CENTER> <H5>Published in Issue 8 of the Linux Gazette</H5></CENTER>
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<HR>
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Sometimes it seems that the supply of unix/Linux software is inexhaustible!
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I've begun to realize that it would take several lifetimes to learn to
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use all of this stuff. What is gratifying is finding utilities and
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applications which suit your work habits and style. <P>
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This month I'd like to make brief mention of several packages which
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have shown up on the ftp sites recently.<P>
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<UL TYPE=DISC>
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<LI><A HREF="./misc.html#nedit">A Nedit That Works!</A>
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<LI><A HREF="./misc.html#auis">Elf-Based Andrew User Interface System</A>
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<LI><A HREF="./misc.html#fte">FTE: A Folding Editor From the OS/2 World </A>
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<LI><A HREF="./misc.html#tkedit">TkEdit: An Editor Worth Investigating</A>
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<LI><A HREF="./misc.html#process_monitors">A Couple of New Process Monitors</A>
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</UL><P><HR>
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<P>
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<CENTER><H3><A NAME="nedit">A Nedit That Works!</A></H3></CENTER>
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I first tried the Nedit editor, a Motif-linked application from the Fermi
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National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, soon after my first Slackware
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installation. The first impression it made on me was favorable; an intuitive,
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easy-to-use, and reasonably powerful editor which also was visually
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appealing.<P>
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But then it began to crash, especially when attempting to use the
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font-changing window. Eventually I deleted it and went on to other things. A
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few months later a Linux executable of a new version (4.01) showed up on the
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Sunsite mirrors, so I thought I'd give it another chance.<P>
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This time it is an ELF executable compiled on a Slackware version 3.00
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machine, which is probably about as generic an environment as you'll find in
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the Linux world. It seems to be as solid as a rock now and I unhesitatingly
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recommend it if you like to use a pleasingly designed editor which has all of
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the basic editing functionality you would need for ninety per cent of typical
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editing tasks.<P> One useful feature is Nedit's use of the X clipboard, rather
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than an internal private clip-buffer. This opens up the possibility of using
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the venerable but still useful utility, xclipboard, which is usually part of
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the default installation of a Linux distribution. Xclipboard is a multiple
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sliding clipboard utility (a new clip pushes the previous one down one level
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in the stack), and the contents of this clipboard are available to any other X
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program with that capability. A surprising number of editors don't have this
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ability, Gnu Emacs being an obvious example.(Or does it? Let me know if there
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<EM>is</EM> a way!). Netscape uses the X clipboard, which leads me to surmise
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that there is something in the Motif libraries which facilitates the
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clipboard's use.<P>
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The keyboard macro facility is simple and intuitive; the
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resultant macros are saved in your ~/.nedit file.<P>
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A feature which I didn't see mentioned in the online help, but which is nice
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for those who have to access files from a DOS partition: text copied or cut
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from a msdos file and pasted into a Linux file is automatically stripped of
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the extraneous ^M carriage returns.<P> The main drawback of a
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statically-linked Motif app like Nedit is the longer load time, about the same
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as emacs in an X session, and the greater memory needs. But it so pleasant to
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look at...<P>
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<CENTER><A HREF="../gx/ayers/nedit.gif">Nedit Screenshot</A></CENTER><P> <HR>
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<CENTER>
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<H3><A NAME="auis">Elf-Based Andrew User Interface System </A></H3></CENTER>
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A year or so I saw some bulky, mysterious packages on a Slackware CD. After
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reading the introductory readme files I still couldn't quite comprehend this
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"AUIS" system. After filling a major fraction of a hard disk with the EZ
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editor and the Mail package, nothing would run at all, so all that organized
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data evaporated into random electrons again. <P>
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Last winter a new set of packages, bulky as ever, appeared on the Sunsite
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mirror sites. Ever a sucker for new software, I downloaded it all one snowy
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evening and unpacked it into a self-contained text-and-image processing world
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unto itself. <P>
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As I began to explore the interconnected modules, the text-editor/word
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processor, the email facility, the image processors, I began to feel weary. I
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already had Linux programs which perform these functions and had learned their
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quirks. The Andrew programs are different enough from the typical X program
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that it's like starting from scratch. <P>
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The Andrew System programs are certainly visually well designed and laid out.
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They have that "Motif" look about them. What I finally began to realize is
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that they just didn't seem to fit in with the motley collection of other Linux
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programs I had installed. They have their own fonts, as an example.<P>
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A phrase that came to mind was "reinventing the wheel" but after further
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consideration "coinventing the wheel" seemed more appropriate. Think about
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it: work began on the AUIS in the early eighties, a collaboration between IBM
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and the Carnegie-Mellon Institute, back in the dark ages of personal
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computers. During the evolution since then of GUI interfaces, evidently a
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team of programmers (paid? volunteers?) has been toiling away in parallel on
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the AUIS. The present work is really quite an achievement but I'm curious as
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to how many actual users the system has.<P>
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I admit I didn't spend enough time with the system to really become familiar
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with it. Some of my facts are probably wrong, and certainly my opinions and
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conclusions could be way off-base.<P>
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I invite anyone who has used this system, or who has worked on it, to submit
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to the LG any other points of view. I'm still curious; I searched usenet
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archives for postings concerning AUIS but didn't come up with much. The
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multimedia/MIME capabilities of the mail system are interesting but I didn't
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want yet another independent mailbox on my system. Has anyone used the mail
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system extensively?<P>
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Perhaps in the next issue we shall be treated to some more informed opinions
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and impressions than mine!<P> <HR>
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<CENTER> <H3><A NAME="fte">FTE: A Folding Editor From the OS/2
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World</A></H3></CENTER>
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I was using OS/2 long before I discovered Linux, and
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an ongoing programming project I've followed with great interest for a couple
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of years now is Marco Macek's FTE editor.<P>
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Basically a programmer's editor,
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it is distinguished by an integrated system of folding, using regular
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expressions. Originally the editor read a long series of editable text
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configuration files when started up, which made customization of
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file-suffix-specific behaviour and syntax hi-lighting an easy process. This
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system has been refined (for speed reasons) in recent builds. Now after
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editing the config files they are then compiled (with a small compiler
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included in the package) into a small ~/.fterc file.<P>
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A month or so I was intrigued by an announcement on
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<A HREF="http://ixtas.fer.uni-lj.si/~markom/fte/">
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Marko Macek's Webpage</A>
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stating that an alpha Linux version was available for download directly from
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the page. The first two attempts I installed didn't work too well, but the
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current beta 0.39 build (26 May 1996) has been stabilized and works well in
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both the console and X versions.<P>
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This is one of those nicely pliable editors which can be configured in to suit
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any tastes. The *.fte config files are commented and easily comprehended.
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Configuring support for a new programming language would be no chore.<P>
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Both the X and console versions have drop-down menus beneath the titlebar, and
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these can be different for varying file types. As an example, when an *.html
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file is opened the editor goes into html-mode, loading tag macros and adding
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an "HTML" section to the menubar. The neat part about this is that you can
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read the uncompiled *.fte files and see just how this is done.<P>
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After an FTE editing session I noticed two new dot-files in my home
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directory. Upon inspection these turned out to be saved desktop information;
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in other words when FTE is restarted the last file edited in the previous
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session is reloaded, and the other files which had been loaded in that
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previous session are in the new edit ring, without being loaded into memory
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until specifically invoked. This feature is handy for any sort of
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programming.<P>
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Another new feature is a well-integrated drive and directory browser. If the
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editor is started up without a filespec a listing of the CWD is displayed.
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<P>
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This editor I think is deserving of note partly because few programs have been
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ported from OS/2 to Linux. Of course, many unix and GNU programs have been
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ported from unix to OS/2, and I think a cumulative effect might be discerned
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now: many OS/2 users have become familiar with the peculiar unix world because
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of these ports, and many of them have begun using Linux as well. The unix
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free software tradition may well take root in OS/2 soil; FTE, though not
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designated as being under the GPL, is nonetheless freeware and may possibly
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remain so. The Linux version I'm sure will!<P><HR>
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<CENTER> <H3><A NAME="tkedit">TkEdit</A></H3></CENTER>
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From
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<A HREF="mailto:kowallik@ifh.de">Rainer Kowallik</A>
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in Zeuthen, Germany comes what is in my opinion the best of the few text
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editors programmed entirely in Tcl-Tk. This editor,according to the author,
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was in part a reaction against the "emacs way of doing things" . <P>
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Being programmed in Tcl gives the editor the advantage of having a very
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powerful macro language built right into the guts of the program. An
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interesting aspect of this application is the variation on the usual tendency
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to have a single .*rc startup file in the home directory; TkEdit instead has a
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~/.Tkedit_macros subdirectory in which the user places whichever of the
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preconfigured macros suit his or her editing style. New macros can be placed
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there as well. An extensive collection of these is installed in a
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subdirectory off of the /bin directory TkEdit lives in; they can be loaded
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while the program is running as well as from the start-up directory.<P>
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This editor does take some getting used to. The default keyboard
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configuration I thought was odd (no page-up or page-down; instead you
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shift-up-arrow-key and shift-down-arrow-key). The default keys can of course
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be changed. Many advanced programming features are included, as well as
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convenient little utilities like quick stripping of dos-style CR from files or
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marked blocks. <P>
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What looks to be a slick implementation of menu-driven function-key
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macro-recording is an unusual feature; other editors have macro-recording, but
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it often takes longer to find the documentation describing the feature than to
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actually do it. I know I'm more likely to develop a collection of editor
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macros if I can do it without having to take a tutorial first!<P>
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I thought I'd include a screenshot of this editor, as its interface is rather
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unusual. There is quite a bit of function packed into that tool/menubar.<P>
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<CENTER> <A HREF="../gx/ayers/tkedit.gif">TkEdit Screen</A></CENTER><P>
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This is one of those programs to keep an eye on; it's
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still being developed but, while perhaps its not at an utterly dependable
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stage, it works well enough for everyday work. What I like about Tcl-Tk apps
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like this one, TkDesk, etc. is that while configuring and using them you begin
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to understand a little how John Ousterhout's programming creations
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tick.<P><HR>
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<CENTER> <H3><A NAME="process_monitors">A Couple of New Process Monitors</A>
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</H3></CENTER>
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For some reason there seems to be a plethora of process monitors available for
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Linux. One reason for this is that the needed information (cpu-load, etc.) is
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easily accessible to running processes. The /proc directory contains a wide
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variety of information about the session and these monitors typically tap
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right into it and display the results graphically.<P> Lately two new monitors
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have appeared which I think are worthy of note, Procmeter and Xmemuse.<P><HR>
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<CENTER><H4>Xmemuse</H4> </CENTER>
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<IMG SRC="../gx/ayers/xmem.gif" ALIGN=LEFT>
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From the Netherlands comes Xmemuse, by
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<A HREF="mailto:harm@es.ele.tue.nl">Harm Arts</A><P>
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This is an Xmemuse window running in a well-loaded Linux session, with
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Netscape, Emacs, and several other applications running in different virtual
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desktops. The free swap space is at the top; you can see this begin to
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diminish as the programs are started.<P>The blue band at the bottom is
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buffered memory, while directly above that is a thin green band of free
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memory.The thin yellow line marks the amount of shared memory. (One of
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these days I <EM>must</EM> get around to changing those default colors!) <P>
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If the categories sound familiar, it's because these colored areas represent
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the same information reported by the "free" command. Xmemuse just gives you
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another way to visualize that information.<P>
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This is hardly an essential utility, but it's nice to have around when you
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want an inside look at how those SIMMS are being used.<P><HR>
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<CENTER><H4>Procmeter</H4> </CENTER>
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<IMG SRC="../gx/ayers/procmeter.gif" ALIGN=LEFT>
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<IMG SRC="../gx/ayers/procm2.gif" ALIGN=RIGHT>
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Procmeter
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has resemblances to several other process meters available, but the author,
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Andrew M. Bishop, has distinguished his program by reducing the overhead
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needed and making a choice of views quick and menu-driven.
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If the Procmeter title just beneath the title bar is clicked, a menu with
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twenty-five different entries drops down. Choices include network activity,
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paging, disk activity, and cpu activity, with each being represented by
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several variants.The program starts with whatever default views you like, but
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while it's running you can view and dismiss any of the others. As an example,
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there is little point in monitoring packet transfer when you're not
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online!<P>
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The display is a vertical-bar graph similar to xload.<P><HR>
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It is interesting to consider just what it is that gives these monitor
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utilities their appeal. For me, at least, an occasional glimpse into the
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mysterious inner workings of the operating system and hardware serves as a
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reminder of what amazing technology this is. (On a more prosaic note, the
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utilities help in optimizing a system's performance... but let's not get
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prosaic!)<P>
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<CENTER>
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<H4>Availability</H4></CENTER>
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I originally found these programs in Georgia Tech's Incoming directory, but
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since then they have been moved to
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.cc.gatech.edu/pub/linux/system/Status/">
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this directory.</A><P> <HR>
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<CENTER> Comments? Suggestions? Contact me at:</CENTER> <BR>
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<CENTER> <A HREF="mailto:layers@vax2.rain.gen.mo.us">
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layers@vax2.rain.gen.mo.us</A></CENTER>
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<P>
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<A HREF="./gazette_toc.html">Back up to Linux Gazette T.O.C</A><P>
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<!-- HHMTS START -->
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Last modified: Sun Jun 2 20:13:55 CDT 1996
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<!-- HHMTS END --><P>
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