XEDIT

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.
Notable features of the screen layout:
Macro language.
XEDIT macros (scripts) can be written in Rexx, EXEC 2, or EXEC.
XEDIT exposes the majority of its internal state to the macro environment, allowing macros to easily read and set internal variables that control its operation.
KEXX.
KEDIT 5 for DOS and OS/2 supports an external Rexx interpreter (native OS/2 Rexx or Quercus Rexx, for DOS only Quercus Rexx replacing the older Mansfield Rexx) and its own rather limited KEXX subset. KEDITW 1.6.1 for Windows supports only its own internal KEXX 5.62 version of the Rexx language. Macros can be arranged in the codice_1 file format.
History.
XEDIT was written by IBM employee Xavier de Lamberterie and was first released in 1980.
Its predecessor was EDIT SP (SP is an initialism for "System Product" used by IBM). Other key influences were EDIT, the older editor for CMS, and EDGAR, an IBM Program Product editor for CMS. XEDIT supported many of the EDGAR commands, SOS (Screen Output Simulation) being a major one. XEDIT also supported EXEC 2, the predecessor of Rexx.
PC and Unix adaptations.
When PCs and Unix computers began to supplant IBM 3270 terminals, some users wanted text editors that resembled the XEDIT they were accustomed to. To fill this need, several developers provided similar programs:
KEDIT.
KEDIT by Mansfield Software Group, Inc., was the first XEDIT clone. Although originally released in 1983, the first major release was version 3.53 for DOS, released in 1985. By 1990, KEDIT 4.0 had a version supporting OS/2, and included the ALL command.
The last version for DOS and OS/2 was KEDIT 5.0p4. KeditW (for Windows) is at version 1.6.1 dated December 2012. Some earlier Windows versions were:
KEDIT 1.6 supports syntax highlighting for various languages including C#, COBOL, FORTRAN, HTML, Java, Pascal, and xBase defined in the codice_2 file format.
KEDIT supports a built-in Rexx-subset called KEXX. Mansfield Software created the first non-IBM implementation of Rexx ("Personal Rexx") in 1985.
In December 2012 Mansfield Software released 1.6.1 to provide compatibility with Windows 8 and extended support to at least June . These 32bit versions work also in the 64bit versions of Windows 7 and Vista, but do not directly support Unicode.
As of May 2018, Kedit supports Windows 10 too.
Mansfield promised website support until at least the end of 2018 and email support until at least June 2019.
SEDIT.
SEDIT (first released in 1989) is another implementation on both Windows and Unix, which supports a variant of Rexx language called S/REXX (announced in 1994).
THE (The Hessling Editor).
The Hessling Editor (THE) is an open source text editor first released in , released under a GPL v2 license, and available for many operating systems including QNX, OS/2, DOS, BeOS, Amiga, Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP and most or all POSIX Unix platforms (as a program for text-mode or native X11). THE is a derivation of the IBM Mainframe VM/CMS editor XEDIT that includes support for versions of the REXX scripting language, and takes some features from KEDIT. THE was written in the C with PDCurses also required for some platforms. A REXX interpreter such as Regina is also required for THE's REXX macro capability.
THE's author, Mark Hessling, discussed at the 1993 REXX conference in La Jolla, California why he created a new multi-platform text editor.