XEDIT is a visual editor for VM/CMS using block mode IBM 3270 terminals. (Line-mode terminals are also supported.) XEDIT is much more line-oriented than modern PC and Unix editors. For example, XEDIT supports automatic line numbers, and many of the commands operate on blocks of lines. A pair of features allows selective line and column editing. The ALL command, for example, hides all lines not matching the described pattern, and the COL (Column) command allows hiding those columns not specified. Hence changing, for example, the word NO as it appears only in columns 24 thru 28, to YES, and only on lines with the word FLEXIBLE, is doable. Another feature is a command line which allows the user to type arbitrary editor commands. Because IBM 3270 terminals do not transmit data to the computer until certain special keys are pressed [such as , a program function key (PFK), or a program access key (PAK)], XEDIT is less interactive than many PC and Unix editors. For example, continuous spell-checking as the user types is problematic. Typical screen layout MOHICANS SCRIPT A1 V 132 Trunc=132 Size=10 Line=10 Col=1 Alt=10 XEDIT: ===== Last of the Mohicans ===== .sp ===== It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, ===== that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered ===== before the adverse hosts could meet. ===== A wide and apparently an impervious boundary of forests severed ===== the possessions of the hostile provinces of France and England. ===== The hardy colonist, and the trained European who fought at his ===== side, frequently expended months in struggling against the rapids ===== of the streams, or in effecting the rugged passes of the mountains |...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7... ===== * * * End of File * * * ====> X E D I T 1 File Notable features of the screen layout: The top line provides details about line format where: MOHICANS is the filename SCRIPT is the filetype A1 is the filemode (default, indicating which disk the file is on) V is the record format (RECFM) which can be Fixed or Variable 132 is the length of the records (for V, maximum length is 65535) Trunc=132 indicates changes beyond 132 columns will be ignored Size=10 denotes total number of lines in file Line=10 denotes the current line Col=1 denotes the current column Alt=10 indicates that ten changes have been made while