The Point Text Editor for the IBM PC
User's Guide and Tutorial Version 2.00
(c) 1985-1988 Charles Crowley
4913 Royene Avenue NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
505-265-1188
All Rights Reserved
2
Contents
1 Introduction 7
1.1 Notation........................................... 7
1.2 Terminology.......................................... 7
2 Point Installation 9
2.1 Hardware and Software Requirements........................... 9
2.2 System Configuration.................................... 9
2.2.1 Mouse driver..................................... 9
2.2.2 File handles...................................... 9
2.3 Files On the Diskette..................................... 9
2.4 Hard Disk and PATH Information.............................. 10
3 Point Basics 11
3.1 Starting and Exiting Point.................................. 11
3.1.1 PATH.......................................... 11
3.1.2 Help.......................................... 11
3.1.3 Starting Point.................................... 11
3.1.4 Exiting Point..................................... 11
3.2 Parts of the Screen...................................... 12
3.2.1 Top line........................................ 12
3.2.2 Banner line...................................... 12
3.2.3 Elevator........................................ 12
3.3 Display Interference On Color Monitors.......................... 12
3.4 Getting On-line Help..................................... 12
3.4.1 Command information messages.......................... 12
3.4.2 The help menu.................................... 12
3.4.3 Help system commands............................... 13
3.5 Moving the Window Around the File............................ 13
3.5.1 Point windows.................................... 13
3.5.2 Scrolling with keys.................................. 13
3.5.3 Scrolling with the mouse............................... 13
3.5.4 Thumbing....................................... 14
3.5.5 Window corners................................... 14
3.5.6 Two-button mouse.................................. 14
3.6 Using Menus......................................... 14
3.7 Horizontal Scrolling..................................... 14
3.8 Selecting Text......................................... 14
3.8.1 Selecting characters................................. 14
3.8.2 Selecting the wrong thing.............................. 15
3
4 CONTENTS
3.8.3 End-of-line character................................. 15
3.8.4 Extending the selection............................... 15
3.8.5 Selecting by words and lines............................. 15
3.8.6 Moving the selection with keystrokes........................ 15
3.8.7 Point without a mouse................................ 15
3.9 Typing in New Text..................................... 15
3.9.1 Inserting characters................................. 15
3.9.2 The insertion point.................................. 16
3.9.3 Inserting lines..................................... 16
3.10 Deleting and Inserting Text................................. 16
3.10.1 Deleting text..................................... 16
3.10.2 Deleting the end-of-line............................... 16
3.10.3 Inserting deleted text................................ 16
3.10.4 The insertion point.................................. 16
3.10.5 Multiple insertions.................................. 16
3.10.6 Move and copy.................................... 17
3.11 Undoing and Redoing Edits................................. 17
3.11.1 Undo......................................... 17
3.11.2 Undoing an undo................................... 17
3.11.3 Undoing several edits................................ 17
3.11.4 Redo.......................................... 17
4 Copying and Searching 19
4.1 Copying Text......................................... 19
4.1.1 Copy.......................................... 19
4.1.2 Duplicate....................................... 19
4.2 Moving Text......................................... 19
4.3 Choosing a Copying Method................................ 20
4.4 Searching for Strings..................................... 20
4.4.1 Starting a search................................... 20
4.4.2 Entering the search string.............................. 20
4.4.3 Default search strings................................ 20
4.4.4 Accepting defaults with the mouse......................... 21
4.5 Searching for the Selection.................................. 21
4.6 Search Options........................................ 21
4.6.1 Changing options................................... 21
4.6.2 Case sensitivity.................................... 21
4.6.3 Search direction................................... 21
4.7 Replacing One String with Another............................. 22
4.7.1 Replace........................................ 22
4.7.2 Yes or no questions.................................. 22
4.7.3 Responding with the mouse............................. 22
4.8 Other Options........................................ 22
4.8.1 AutoIndent, overType, and tabWidth....................... 22
4.8.2 Setting window colors................................ 22
4.8.3 Color codes...................................... 23
4.8.4 Window colors.................................... 23
4.8.5 Screen parts...................................... 23
4.8.6 Color selection.................................... 23
4.8.7 Sample window.................................... 23
4.8.8 The color options................................... 24
CONTENTS 5
5 Editing With Several Windows 25
5.1 Creating a New Window................................... 25
5.1.1 Multiple windows................................... 25
5.1.2 Specifying position of the window......................... 25
5.1.3 Default lower right corner.............................. 25
5.1.4 Entering the file name to load............................ 25
5.1.5 Closing a window................................... 26
5.2 Moving Windows on the Screen............................... 26
5.2.1 Resizing a window.................................. 26
5.2.2 Stretching a window................................. 26
5.2.3 Moving a window................................... 26
5.3 Top and Bottom Commands................................. 26
5.3.1 Overlapped windows................................. 26
5.3.2 Topping a window.................................. 26
5.3.3 Menu of files in the windows............................ 27
5.4 The Active Window..................................... 27
5.4.1 The active window.................................. 27
5.4.2 Selecting the active window............................. 27
5.5 Searching in Another Window................................ 27
5.6 Starting with Multiple File Names............................. 27
5.6.1 The initial window configuration.......................... 28
5.7 Zooming Windows...................................... 28
5.8 Loading and Saving Files.................................. 28
5.8.1 The SAVE Message.................................. 28
5.9 Quitting Point........................................ 29
5.9.1 Ask about unsaved files............................... 29
5.9.2 Save unsaved files.................................. 29
5.9.3 Forget all changes.................................. 29
5.10 The pt.ini Initialization File................................ 29
5.10.1 Automatic option initialization........................... 29
5.10.2 Initialization file format............................... 29
5.10.3 Customizing the top line............................... 29
5.11 Executing DOS Commands from Point........................... 29
5.11.1 Escape to DOS.................................... 29
5.11.2 Command output to a window........................... 30
5.11.3 Command output replacing the selection...................... 30
6 Point Quick Reference Guide 31
6.1 Function Keys........................................ 31
6.2 Alt-letter and Other Keys.................................. 31
6.3 Mouse Command Chart................................... 32
6 CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Introduction
This User's Guide describes Point, a text editor for the IBM PC (and
| compatible computers), with
a mouse-based user interface and overlapped windows.
Chapter 2 explains Point installation and the contents of the distribution
| diskette.
Chapter 3, 4, and 5 comprise a tutorial on the use of the major features of
| Point.
Chapter 6 is a quick reference to Point features.
The Point Reference Manual provides a complete reference to Point and
| describes a number of
features that are not mentioned in this User's Guide.
This User's Guide will describe the behavior of Point using the default
| options in the distributed
pt.ini file. When you become more familiar with Point and its commands, you
| can try the other
.ini files and modify them to create the user interface that is most
| suitable to your style of editing.
Information and examples on modifying .ini files can be found in the Point
| Reference Manual.
1.1 Notation
I have used different type styles to indicate special names and string.
| Anything that is typed to DOS,
to Point, or into a file (like pt.ini) will be in a constant width
| typewriter font. Text that appears
on the PC screen when using Point is also set in typewriter font. Keys on
| the PC keyboard are
set in small caps. Point commands are set in sans serif font.
1.2 Terminology
The terms Enter key and Return key will both be used in this manual to mean
| the same key, that
is, the key usually labelled "Enter" on PC keyboards, and that sends an
| ASCII carriage return
character.
7
8 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Chapter 2
Point Installation
2.1 Hardware and Software Requirements
 IBM PC, XT, AT or compatible
 A mouse
 256K of memory (Point uses about 190K)
 PC/DOS 2.x or 3.x
2.2 System Configuration
2.2.1 Mouse driver
Point requires a Microsoft-compatible mouse driver to be installed before
| Point is started. Almost
all mice come with such drivers, and they are often called: mouse.com (to
| install the mouse driver
with a DOS command) and mouse.sys (to install the mouse driver during
| system initialization as
a DOS device driver). See the instructions that came with your mouse.
2.2.2 File handles
If you want to edit several files at the same time, you must be sure you
| have enough file handles.
Put the following line in the "config.sys file:
FILES=30
This will provide 30 file handles | enough for most purposes | instead of
| the default of 8.
Because the resident part of DOS is increased about 40 bytes for each file
| handle over 8, little space
is used to add extra file handles.
2.3 Files On the Diskette
The following files are on the distribution diskette:
1. pt.exe
2. pt.msg
9
10 CHAPTER 2. POINT INSTALLATION
3. pt.hlp
4. pt.ini
5. ptcolor.ini
6. ptexpert.ini
7. ptdemo.c
8. ptread.me
The file pt.exe is the editor itself. The file pt.ini is also required to
| run the editor.
The file pt.msg contains a one line description for each command, which
| Point will display when
the command is selected.
The file pt.hlp is an extensive help file with command summaries and
| detailed descriptions of
all the editor commands.
The file pt.ini is the initialization file and is required because it
| contains the contents of the
menus. Several other .ini files are provided as examples.
If you have a color monitor, copy ptcolor.ini to pt.ini, since pt.ini is
| set up for monochrome
monitors (including black and white monitors running with the color card).
| The ptexpert.ini file
will be described later.
The file ptdemo.c is a test file to be used with the Point tutorial.
The file ptread.me contains current information that was unavailable when
| the Point User's
Guide and the Point Reference Manual were prepared.
2.4 Hard Disk and PATH Information
The files pt.exe and pt.ini must be in either the current directory or in a
| directory in your PATH.
It is useful to have the files pt.msg and pt.hlp in the current directory
| or a PATH directory also,
since they contain helpful information that will be accessed and displayed
| while you are using Point.
Chapter 3
Point Basics
This and the next two sections are a tutorial covering most of the features
| of Point. We will not
describe every feature or all variations of each feature. The Point
| Reference Manual contains further
descriptions and complete information on all Point features and their
| variations.
In addition, after you have become familiar with Point, look over the
| suggestions in Appendix A
of the Point Reference Manual ("Point Usage Hints") for tips on more
| effective use of Point. Usage
hints are also included after many of the command descriptions in the Point
| Reference Manual.
3.1 Starting and Exiting Point
3.1.1 PATH
The file pt.exe must be in either the current directory or a directory in
| your PATH. If you have a
monochrome display, put the distributed pt.ini file in either the current
| directory or the PATH. If
you have a color display, copy ptcolor.ini to pt.ini,
1
and put it in the current directory or the
PATH. Do not use ptexpert.ini for this tutorial since it will change the
| way Point looks and acts.
The Point Reference Manual describes how to customize the menus to your own
| taste.
3.1.2 Help
It is useful to have the files pt.msg and pt.hlp in either the current
| directory or the PATH. This
enables you to access the help file while editing.
3.1.3 Starting Point
Start Point with pt followed by the name of the file to be edited. A sample
| file is provided with the
editor:
pt ptdemo.c
3.1.4 Exiting Point
To exit the editor use the Alt-q key. You will be asked about saving edited
| files; answer "y" or "n"
to each question.
1
The only difference between pt.ini and ptcolor.ini is that pt.ini has the
| three color setting lines commented
out and so it uses the default colors which are set for a monochrome
| display.
11
12 CHAPTER 3. POINT BASICS
3.2 Parts of the Screen
When Point starts, it displays a fixed line of menu and command names
| across the top line of the
screen, and a window containing the file to be edited on the rest of the
| screen.
3.2.1 Top line
The top line contains the names of Point command menus (in upper case). To
| call up a menu, press
the left mouse button on the menu name. Also on the top line are several
| Point commands. These
commands can be executed by clicking the left mouse button on the command
| name.
3.2.2 Banner line
The top line of each window is the banner line of the window. It contains
| the name of the file and
the line and column ranges currently displayed in the window.
3.2.3 Elevator
The left border of the window contains the "elevator", which is that
| portion of the border that is
colored differently (or has different video attributes). The elevator
| indicates both the position of the
window in the file (proximity to the top of the border represents proximity
| to the beginning of the
file), and how much of the file is displayed in the window (the amount of
| border occupied by the
elevator represents the amount of the file displayed in the window).
3.3 Display Interference On Color Monitors
If you have an older color graphics adapter, redrawing the screen may cause
| display interference
colloquially called "snow". The display interference shows up as white
| streaks on the display. Press
PgDn and PgUp to test for display interference.
If display interference appears, reset the videoMode option of Point. To do
| this, position the
mouse cursor on the word OTHERS on the top line of the screen. While
| holding down the left mouse
button, move the mouse so that the line videoMode = 0 is highlighted, (it
| is the bottom item on
the menu) and then release the button. The bottom line of the screen will
| prompt for a new value.
Type 2 and press the Enter key.
Try PgDn and PgUp again. If interference still appears on the left side of
| the screen, you can
eliminate it by repeating the above procedure but giving videoMode a value
| of 3. The value 3 will
cause screen updating to be slower than when the value is 2. If there is no
| video snow at all, leave
videoMode at 0 since this will provide the fastest screen updating.
3.4 Getting On-line Help
3.4.1 Command information messages
When you point at a name on the top line or select an item from a menu,
| Point will display a one
line explanation of the command on the bottom line of the screen.
3.4.2 The help menu
A help system with screens describing every command is available on-line,
| and can be accessed by
typing Alt-h, by clicking on "Help" on the top line. The first help screen
| to appear will be the screen
3.5. MOVING THE WINDOW AROUND THE FILE 13
describing the last Point command you highlighted, either from the top line
| or from a pull-down
menu. From this screen you can return to Point immediately or to help
| screens on other commands.
3.4.3 Help system commands
To exit the help system, click the middle mouse button (or both mouse
| buttons), or press the space
bar, the Escape key or the Enter key. The PgDn key (or the right mouse
| button) moves you to the
next help screen, and the PgUp key (or the left mouse button) moves you to
| the last help screen you
looked at. If there are no more related help screens, then the PgDn key
| will move you back to the
main help menu. From this menu you can access any of the help screens.
Some screens allow you to press a letter that will take you to a related
| help screen.
You can continue to move around the help screens as long as you like.
| Clicking the middle mouse
button or typing the space bar, the Enter key, or the Escape key will
| return you to editing.
3.5 Moving the Window Around the File
3.5.1 Point windows
Point allows you to edit several files at the same time by putting each
| file in a window. A window is a
part of the screen surrounded by a single or double line border. The top
| border contains information
about the file in the window and the inside of the window contains the text
| in the file. Except for
small files, the window can only show part of the text in the file.
Point provides many commands for manipulating the contents of the window
| and the size and
location of the window on the screen.
3.5.2 Scrolling with keys
A window shows a part of the text in the file. The PgUp and PgDn keys
| scroll the window up and
down. The Ctrl-PgUp key moves the window to the beginning of the file and
| the Ctrl-PgDn key moves
it to the end of the file.
Try these commands.
3.5.3 Scrolling with the mouse
You can also scroll the window with the mouse. Move the mouse cursor to the
| left border of the
window. Click the right mouse button to scroll down and the left mouse
| button to scroll up. The
farther down the left border you place the mouse cursor, the more lines the
| window will scroll. More
precisely, in a scroll down (right mouse button), the line the mouse cursor
| is beside will become the
top line of the window. In a scroll up (left mouse button), the top line
| will move down to the line
at which the mouse cursor is positioned.
If you press and hold down a mouse button that scrolls, Point will (after a
| short delay so that
it will not be too touchy) begin scrolling continuous as quickly as it can
| scroll. You can change the
effective continuous scrolling rate by changing the number of lines it
| scrolls each time. That is, if
you are at the first line of the window the scrolling rate will be fairly
| slow but if you are near the
bottom of the scroll bar, the scrolling will be by screenful and will go
| very fast.
Try scrolling with the mouse and notice the changing line numbers on the
| window banner, and
the elevator moving up or down the left border of the window.
14 CHAPTER 3. POINT BASICS
3.5.4 Thumbing
Thumbing will move the window to any part of the file. Imagine that the
| left border of the window
(not including the corners of the window) represents the whole file. Moving
| the mouse cursor to the
left border and pressing the middle button will move the elevator to the
| cursor position. To look
toward the end of the file, for example, thumb near the bottom of the left
| window border.
3.5.5 Window corners
Do not try to scroll or thumb on the upper left and lower left window
| corners since this invokes
different commands (which we will look at in chapter 5).
3.5.6 Two-button mouse
If you have a two-button mouse, pressing both buttons at once will have the
| same effect as pressing
the middle button on a three-button mouse.
3.6 Using Menus
Commands can be invoked by using the command menus listed across the top
| line of the screen.
Try executing a command from a menu. Position the mouse cursor on MOVE at
| the top line of
the screen, and press and hold down the left mouse button. Move the cursor
| down the menu until
the desired command is highlighted. Release the mouse button, and the
| highlighted command will
be invoked. Release outside of the menu to dismiss without executing the
| command.
3.7 Horizontal Scrolling
The bottom border of a window is used to scroll horizontally in much the
| same way that the left
border is used to scroll vertically.
Try scrolling horizontally by clicking the left, and then the right, mouse
| button on the bottom
border of the window. Watch the columns indicator on the banner line to see
| the effect of this
scrolling. You can also thumb horizontally by pressing the middle mouse
| button at any point along
the bottom border.
3.8 Selecting Text
3.8.1 Selecting characters
Many text editing commands act on sections of text in the window. In Point,
| to indicate which text
you wish to work with, you select it. A single character is selected by
| pointing at it with the mouse
cursor and clicking the left mouse button. By pressing the left mouse
| button and holding it down
while moving the mouse, you can select any number of characters.
If you move to the bottom border of the window while extending the section,
| the window will
scroll continuously until you release the button or move the mouse back
| inside the window. A similar
thing happens when you move the mouse cursor to the top border of the
| window while extending
the selection. This is one way to select beyond the end of the window.
| Another way is described in
section 3.8.4 below.
Try selecting a character and extending the selection in both directions.
3.9. TYPING IN NEW TEXT 15
3.8.2 Selecting the wrong thing
After text is selected, nothing will happen until you execute a command
| (delete, move, copy, search,
etc.). So if you select the wrong text, or too much or too little, just
| start the selection over and then
tell Point what you want to do with the text.
3.8.3 End-of-line character
At the end of each line is a character that is displayed as a blank. It is
| visible only when it is part
of a selection. This is the "end-of- line" character, and it represents the
| carriage return or Enter key
typed to end each line.
Try selecting over several lines to see the end-of-line character.
3.8.4 Extending the selection
Once you have selected some text, you can extend the selection by
| positioning the cursor on a
character beyond your selection (in either direction), and clicking the
| right mouse button. You can
also hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse while selecting,
| releasing the button
when you want to stop selecting.
Try extending a selection. Notice that you can make the selection larger or
| smaller with the right
mouse button.
3.8.5 Selecting by words and lines
So far you have been selecting text by single characters. If you click
| twice rapidly ("double click")
on any character in a word, you select the word you are pointing at.
| Experiment with this and see
how "word" is defined in this context. Triple clicking on a line will
| select the line.
When you extend a selection it extends by characters, words, or lines,
| depending on how it was
originally selected. You can also hold down the mouse button on the last
| click to extend the selection.
3.8.6 Moving the selection with keystrokes
The arrow keys move the selection one character in the expected direction.
| The Ctrl-left and Ctrl-
right move the selection one word (blank delimited) left or right. The Home
| key moves the selection
to the first (non-blank) character of the line. The End key moves the
| selection to the last character
of the line.
3.8.7 Point without a mouse
The keys described in the previous section work a little differently when
| there is no mouse present.
In this case, they only move the mouse cursor and not the selection. They
| can be used to move the
mosue cursor to the window edges, outside a window and to the top line.
The Gray+ key simulates the clicking of the left mouse button. The Gray-
| key simulates the
clicking of the right mouse button. These keys can be used to make
| selections, scroll (on the window
edges), selection top line menus and commands and select files in the file
| selection screen.
3.9 Typing in New Text
3.9.1 Inserting characters
Typed characters are inserted into the text as you type, immediately in
| front of the first character
of the selection, and do not replace existing text. (There is an overType
| mode in Point, in which
16 CHAPTER 3. POINT BASICS
text is typed over and replaces existing text. We will look at this in
| section 4.8.1 on page 22.)
3.9.2 The insertion point
Text is inserted at the insertion point, that is, immediately before the
| first character of the selection.
3.9.3 Inserting lines
To insert a new line while typing, press the Enter key (carriage return).
| To start with a blank
line, select the end (the end-of-line character) of the preceding line and
| press the Enter key. It is
particularly easy to select the end-of-line character since you can click
| on the line anywhere to the
right of the last visible character on the line.
3.10 Deleting and Inserting Text
3.10.1 Deleting text
To delete a piece of text, begin by selecting it. Then issue the delete
| command and it will be deleted.
The delete command is invoked with the Del key or with the F1 key.
Try selecting and deleting some text.
3.10.2 Deleting the end-of-line
If you select and delete the end-of-line character you will join that line
| and the next line into a single
line. Point will not insert a space between the lines that are joined.
3.10.3 Inserting deleted text
The most recently deleted text is saved in the scrap. The contents of the
| scrap can be inserted in
the text with the Insert From Scrap command. Select the insertion point and
| then invoke Insert from
Scrap by pressing the Ins key or the F2 key.
3.10.4 The insertion point
The text is inserted at the same place as new text, that is, immediately in
| front of the first character
of the selection. This is called the insertion point.
3.10.5 Multiple insertions
Inserting text does not change the contents of the scrap so you can insert
| the same text several
times. To make five copies of a line:
1. Select the line (triple click on the line)
2. Delete the line (Del key)
3. Insert it five times (Ins key five times)
Notice that the insertion point is always at the end of the inserted text.
3.11. UNDOING AND REDOING EDITS 17
3.10.6 Move and copy
Using delete and insert is one way (there are several others|see Chapter 4)
| to move text in Point.
Text can be copied (i.e., duplicated) with the following sequence of delete
| and insert commands:
1. Select the text to copy
2. Delete it (Del or F1)
(This puts the selection into the scrap.)
3. Insert it (Ins or F2)
(This puts the selection back into its original position.)
4. Move the cursor to place to which you want to copy the text
5. Insert the text (Ins or F2)
3.11 Undoing and Redoing Edits
3.11.1 Undo
The Undo Last Edit command undoes the effect of the last edit. It is
| invoked from the EDIT menu
or with the F9 key.
Try deleting some text and undoing it. Now try inserting text and undoing
| it. Now select a word,
delete it, and type in a different word. Now undo that. Note that the
| delete and insert are considered
a single action and are undone as a unit.
3.11.2 Undoing an undo
Try undoing a delete and then undo again. The undo undoes the previous
| undo. This allows you
to switch between two versions of text and compare them. You can undo any
| number of times, and
keep switching between the two versions.
3.11.3 Undoing several edits
To undo several (or many) edits, use a variation on undo called Undo
| Multiple, which can be invoked
either from the EDIT menu or with Shift-F9. This undoes the action in such
| a way that the undo
cannot be undone. Thus a second Undo Multiple will undo a previous edit.
| You can undo up to 50
previous edits.
3.11.4 Redo
Now select a word, delete it, and type in a new word. Then select a second
| word and invoke the
Redo Last Edit command from the EDIT menu or with the F8 key. Notice that
| the second word you
selected and deleted is replaced with the same word that replaced the
| first.
In general, redo does the last edit over again. Try redo with inserts and
| type-in.
18 CHAPTER 3. POINT BASICS
Chapter 4
Copying and Searching
4.1 Copying Text
Copying text, leaving the original selection intact, is a frequent editing
| operation. We have already
seen one way to copy text with delete and insert. There are two other ways
| to copy text that are
usually more convenient than delete and insert.
4.1.1 Copy
First, select the text to be copied. Then move the mouse cursor to the
| place where you want the
text copied. Finally, hold down the Shift key and click the left mouse
| button. The text will be copied
in front of the cursor when you release the left mouse button.
After selecting the text to be copied, you can scroll or jump the window
| before you copy the
text. The selection does not have to be visible at the time it is copied.
4.1.2 Duplicate
The copy command requires you to select the text you want to copy before
| you select the place
where you want it copied. If the insertion point is already where you want
| the text to be copied,
you will lose its position while selecting the text, and will have to find
| it again after you make your
selection. In this case it would be easier to tell Point where you want to
| copy the text first, and then
select the text to be copied. Point provides this facility with the
| duplicate command.
To duplicate text, set the insertion point where you want to insert a
| duplicate copy of the text.
This is done by selecting the character in front of which you want to
| insert text. Then go into
duplicate mode by pressing F4. Next select the text to be duplicated. (You
| can scroll or jump the
window.) Pressing F4 again will complete the duplication.
The advantage of duplicate is that you do not lose the insertion point when
| copying text.
Any of the three methods of copying { delete and insert, copy, or duplicate
| { can be used to
copy text between windows as well as within a window. We will see how to
| use several windows in
Chapter 5.
4.2 Moving Text
When text is moved, the selected text does not remain in its original
| position, as it does when copied.
There are three methods for moving text that correspond to the three
| methods for copying text.
Delete and insert is a method we have already seen.
19
20 CHAPTER 4. COPYING AND SEARCHING
Move, in which you select text first and then choose the insertion point,
| corresponds to copy.
To invoke move, hold down the Ctrl key (instead of the Shift key for copy)
| and click the left mouse
button.
Extract, in which you choose the insertion point first and then select
| text, corresponds to dupli-
cate. Press F5 (instead of F4) to enter extract mode. Press it again to
| complete the extraction (and
end extract mode).
Try all three variations of move and copy.
4.3 Choosing a Copying Method
Copying names and strings means that they will be spelled consistently. In
| addition to being more
accurate, it is usually faster to copy than to type.
Each of the methods for copying and moving text is most convenient in
| different situations.
The delete and insert method is most useful when you want to make several
| copies of the same
text selection.
The duplicate command is most useful for copying small sections of text
| that are visible in the
window. For example, a programmer typing in a statement may need a long
| identifier name that is
already on the line above. At the point where the identifier is needed,
| press F4, select the identifier
name (double click), and press F4 again. The new insertion point will be
| after the inserted identifier,
and typing can be resumed. It is possible to use this method to build up a
| line out of pieces of other
nearby lines.
The copy command is most useful for larger copies, and is more natural for
| many people.
4.4 Searching for Strings
Point has been set up to make searching for strings convenient, fast, and
| accurate.
4.4.1 Starting a search
A search for a string will start at the current selection and continue to
| the end of the file. Invoke
the Search for String command on the SEARCH menu or with Shift-F6.
4.4.2 Entering the search string
When you invoke search, you are prompted for the string to be searched for.
| Type it in, ending with
the Enter key. If the string is found, the window will be moved (if
| necessary) and the string that was
found will be selected. Search ignores the case of letters (this can be
| changed).
Try searching for a string.
Point also allows searching for regular expressions. See the Point
| Reference Manual.
4.4.3 Default search strings
When Point requests a search string it will automatically enter the last
| string you searched for as
a default string. If you press only the Enter key, you accept the default
| string, but if you type any
other character, the default string is erased and the typed-in string is
| used.
Try searching for a string again and accept the default string. Try it yet
| again, but this time
type a new string over the default.
4.5. SEARCHING FOR THE SELECTION 21
4.4.4 Accepting defaults with the mouse
You can also use the mouse to accept the default search string. In general,
| the left mouse button
acts like the Enter key, and can be used to accept the default string or
| terminate any string. The
right mouse button causes the selection to be copied into the string.
Try this in another search.
4.5 Searching for the Selection
To search for the next occurrence of a string that is already selected,
| Point provides the command,
Search For Selection. Select the string to be searched for, and then issue
| the Search For Selection
command from the SEARCH menu or with F6. In section 5.5 (on page 27) we
| will see a powerful use
of this command in searching for a string in another window.
A variation of Search for Selection is called Search Backwards. This causes
| Point to search back-
wards (towards the beginning of the file) for the selected string. The
| Search Backwards can be invoked
from the SEARCH menu, with the Alt-F6 key, or with the Ctrl-F6
1
key.
4.6 Search Options
Point has a number of options that affect the way it acts; two of these
| apply to searching.
4.6.1 Changing options
First, we will see how to change these options. Options are set from most
| of the menus. A menu
shows the option and its current setting. The true/false options are
| changed by selecting them and
releasing the left mouse button; they automatically switch from true to
| false or false to true. Other
options require a string or a number. When you select these options (and
| release the left mouse
button) you are prompted for a new value for the option.
Press the left mouse button on the word "EDIT" on the top line. While
| holding down the
left mouse button move to the first item on the menu "Second EDIT Menu" and
| release the mouse
button. This displays the second EDIT menu. The bottom section of the
| second EDIT menu contains
several options. Select an option to change by clicking on it with the left
| mouse button.
Practice changing option settings by changing autoIndent to false and
| tabWidth to 10. (Chapter
4 of the Point Reference Manual describes what these options do.)
4.6.2 Case sensitivity
The first search related option is ignoreCase which determines whether case
| is significant in search-
ing for a string. This option is found on the SEARCH menu.
Experiment with ignoreCase being true and false and see how it affects the
| searches.
4.6.3 Search direction
The second search related option is searchMode which can have three values:
| 0, 1, and 2. If
searchMode=0, then the search proceeds from the selection to the end of the
| file. If searchMode=1,
the search proceeds from the selection, backwards, to the beginning of the
| file. If searchMode=2, the
search proceeds from the selection to the end of the file and then from the
| beginning of the file to
the selection. That is, the search is circular.
1
Whenever we use Ctrl- or Alt- of a function key, we define both to be the
| same command. This avoids having to
remember which one it is.
22 CHAPTER 4. COPYING AND SEARCHING
If searchMode=1, the Search Backwards command will proceed forward to the
| end of the file, that
is, backwards from the default search direction.
4.7 Replacing One String with Another
4.7.1 Replace
The replace command is related to the search command in that a string is
| searched for and, when
found, replaced. Invoke replace from the EDITING menu or with Alt-r. Point
| first asks you for the
string to be searched for, and then for the string with which it is to be
| replaced. Next, you are
asked whether to do the replace from the selection to the end of the file
| (globally), or only within
the selection. Finally, you are asked whether you want to verify each
| replacement. If you answer 'y'
(yes), you will be asked each time the string is found whether you want it
| replaced or not.
The replace search is affected by ignoreCase and searchMode in the same was
| search is.
4.7.2 Yes or no questions
When asking a yes or no question, Point will provide either 'y' (yes) or
| 'n' (no) as a default answer.
You can accept the default with the Enter key, or use 'y', 'Y', 'n', or 'N'
| as an answer (no Enter is
required).
4.7.3 Responding with the mouse
You can also use the mouse to answer yes or no questions. The left mouse
| button is yes and the
right mouse button is no. The mouse cursor must be on the bottom line of
| the screen, however, if
the mouse buttons are to be accepted as yes or no answers. This is to avoid
| answering by mistake.
4.8 Other Options
Point has a number of other options available.
4.8.1 AutoIndent, overType, and tabWidth
These options are in the second EDIT menu.
2
The autoIndent option causes a new line to be indented
by the same amount as the previous line. The overType option causes new
| characters to replace the
first character of the selection (and the selection is moved one character
| to the right). The tabWidth
option determines how many characters are between tab stops.
Try each of these options.
4.8.2 Setting window colors
The most fun-to-use option (assuming you have a color monitor) is the
| "colors" option. This allows
you to set the colors for the five different parts of a window, as well as
| the message colors, interac-
tively. For monochrome displays, you can set the video attributes (normal,
| reverse video, blinking,
and intense). The option is on the second WINDOWS menu (accessible from the
| WINDOWS menu).
2
To get to the second EDIT menu, select the EDIT menu on the top line and
| release the left mouse button on the
"Second EDIT Menu" choice.
4.8. OTHER OPTIONS 23
4.8.3 Color codes
The current color values shown on the second WINDOWS menu use the hex color
| codes of the PC.
These values can be used to set colors in the initialization file (pt.ini)
| for Point. Ignore them for
now. (They are explained in the Point Reference Manual.)
4.8.4 Window colors
When you select the "colors" option, you get a screen with three major
| sections.
4.8.5 Screen parts
In the top section, you can select the part of the screen in which you want
| to change the color. Select
a part by clicking on its name with the left mouse button. The possible
| values are:
Text The color of normal text in the window.
Selection The color of selected text.
Banner The color of the top line of the window.
Border The color of the other three borders of the window.
Elevator The color of the elevator on the left border.
Info Msgs The color of informational and status messages.
User Input The color of text you input to prompts as well as a few error
| messages and parts of
the New/Load file selection screen.
Error Msgs The color of error messages and the free-space-low warning.
Top Line The color of the top line of the screen.
Exit Leave the color choosing mode and go back to editing.
4.8.6 Color selection
The next section of the screen is a menu of all possible combinations of
| foreground and background
colors. You select one by clicking on it with the left mouse button. This
| changes the color of the
part of the screen selected in the top section (as described above).
The menu just above the color selection controls two things: whether you
| see the normal PC
color set or the alternate color set, and whether the alternate color set
| is blinking or has a bright
background. If you change the blinking/bright background setting it will
| remain changed when you
exit Point since it resets the hardware.
4.8.7 Sample window
The lower part of the screen is a sample window which changes to reect the
| color changes you have
made. It also contains samples of the three message colors and the top line
| color. This allows you
to experiment and find the best looking combination.
Each file window can have different textColors and borderColors, but the
| message colors apply
generally.
Now try color selection. You will find it easy to use and fun to play with.
24 CHAPTER 4. COPYING AND SEARCHING
4.8.8 The color options
There are three options that control the color or video attributes of the
| displayed characters: The
textColors option determines the color of text and selected text. The
| borderColors option de-
termines the color of the top line of the window, the borders, and the
| elevator. The msgColors
option determines the color of the messages (three types) and the top line
| of menu names and Point
commands. Later we will see how you can specify several window color
| schemes in pt.ini.
Chapter 5
Editing With Several Windows
5.1 Creating a New Window
5.1.1 Multiple windows
So far we have used only one window. Part of the power of Point is its
| ability to handle up to 20
1
windows simultaneously. It is not possible to have usable portions of many
| windows on the PC screen
at one time, so Point is set up to make it easy and quick to switch windows
| around and configure
them exactly the way you want on the screen. First, we will look at
| creating a new window.
5.1.2 Specifying position of the window
Choose the New Window command with open on the top line, from the WINDOWS
| menu, or with Alt-n.
You will get a message asking you to show Point where you want the window
| located on the screen.
First it asks for the upper left corner and then for the lower right
| corner. Press (and hold down) the
left mouse button where you want the upper left corner. An elastic window
| border will follow the
mouse cursor until you release the button at the lower right corner.
5.1.3 Default lower right corner
There is another option when Point asks for the corners of the new window.
| If you click where you
want the upper left corner of the window, the lower right corner will
| default to the lower right corner
of the screen. You will probably find that you use this option almost every
| time you create a new
window. In fact, the reason the "open" is the left-most item on the top
| line is so that you can move
to the upper left corner of the screen and double click to create a full
| screen window. The first click
selects the "open" command and the second click describes a full screen
| window.
5.1.4 Entering the file name to load
Once you have chosen the two corners, you are shown a screen that displays
| a selection of file names
that you can load into the new window. You can select a file name by
| clicking on it with the left
mouse button or by typing the file name in yourself.
Which file names you are presented with depends on the option variable
| filePattern. This is
used like wildcard file patterns in DOS. To change the filePattern, look at
| the PATTERNS menu at
the top of the screen. You can put path names in the filePattern, and can
| specify several different
patterns in filePattern by separating them with vertical bars ("j").
1
Up to 256 with DOS 3.x.
25
26 CHAPTER 5. EDITING WITH SEVERAL WINDOWS
To cancel the window create, click on Cancel.
Files are usually sorted on the screen. The three possible sort modes are:
| by file name, by file
extension, or unsorted.
If the file names will not fit on one screen you can see the rest of the
| names by clicking on Next
page.
5.1.5 Closing a window
To dispose of a window use the close command on the top line or from the
| WINDOWS menu, or use
Alt-c.
5.2 Moving Windows on the Screen
5.2.1 Resizing a window
Once a window is on the screen, it can be moved around easily. (Create a
| new window to practice
with.) You can resize it with the Resize Window command in the WINDOWS
| menu. This command
requests two opposite corners of the window just as the New Window command
| does, but you can
actually specify either of the two opposite pairs of corners (not just the
| upper left and lower right
corners).
5.2.2 Stretching a window
There is a faster way to reposition just one corner of a window. Move the
| mouse cursor to any
window corner, and press (and hold down) the right mouse button. An elastic
| border will follow the
mouse cursor until you release the button. The opposite corner stays fixed.
| You may find it easier
to move a window by doing this twice than by using the Resize Window
| command.
5.2.3 Moving a window
You can also move a window around the screen by pressing (and holding down)
| the right mouse
button on the banner line of the window. A shadow version of the window
| borders will follow the
mouse until you release the button. If you move the shadow window into the
| edges of the screen, it
will get smaller until the cursor reaches the screen edge. As you move the
| mouse cursor back into the
screen, the shadow window will expand to its original size. You will reduce
| the size of the window if
you release the right mouse button while the shadow window is smaller than
| the original window.
If the final size of the window is too small, the move will be canceled.
5.3 Top and Bottom Commands
5.3.1 Overlapped windows
Point allows the windows to overlap and to partially (or completely)
| obscure other windows. Think
of the windows as sheets of paper that are placed on the screen. The top
| window can be seen
completely and the lower windows may be partly or wholly hidden by windows
| above them. You
can affect the order of the windows with the top, bottom, and top/bottom
| commands.
5.3.2 Topping a window
The top/bottom command moves a visible window to the top of the other
| windows, but does not
change its position on the screen. If the window is already the top window,
| the top/bottom command
5.4. THE ACTIVE WINDOW 27
makes it the bottom window. You can top/bottom a window by clicking the
| left mouse button on
any corner of the window.
The Bottom Window command affects the current top window, and is invoked
| with Alt-b.
Pick a window and click on a corner. Try using both of these commands
| several times and observe
the effects.
5.3.3 Menu of files in the windows
The TOPLIST menu is a list of the files in each window from top to bottom.
| If you select a file name
from this menu, the window that contains that file will be made the top
| window. This is an excellent
way to see what files you have in your windows, and to get a window on top
| quickly. It is especially
useful for topping windows that are completely hidden by other windows.
The TOPLIST menu is also available inside any window (or outside all
| windows) by pressing the
middle mouse button.
Try using this feature.
5.4 The Active Window
5.4.1 The active window
Once you have several windows on the screen, you (and Point) will have to
| be able to determine
which window your commands will affect. At all times, one of the windows is
| the active window. It
is marked by a double-line border and a double line along the top banner.
| The other windows have
a single-line border and use blanks as a fill characters along the top
| banner. Neither the top window
nor the window containing the selection are necessarily the active window.
5.4.2 Selecting the active window
Make a window active by clicking anywhere along the top banner with the
| left mouse button. Topping
or creating a window also makes it the active window.
Try making several windows visible on the screen and change the active
| window around. Each
time you make a different window active, press the PgDn key and see that it
| is always the active
window that is scrolled.
5.5 Searching in Another Window
You can select a string in one window and search for it in another window.
| After selecting the string,
make the window in which you want to search for it the active window,
| either by topping it or by
creating it with the New Window command. The search is initiated with the
| Search for Selection
command. This technique is useful if you want to see if a string in one
| file also occurs in another
file. Using this approach avoids retyping and ensures accuracy since there
| is no chance of mistyping
the string.
5.6 Starting with Multiple File Names
You may want to edit several files at a time (or one after the other).
| Point makes this easy by
allowing you to put up to 20 file names on the command line invoking Point.
| For example:
pt chap1.doc chap2.doc appendix.doc
28 CHAPTER 5. EDITING WITH SEVERAL WINDOWS
will start Point with three windows.
You can also use the DOS file name wildcard characters on the command line.
| For example, you
could start Point with:
pt chap?.doc app*.doc toc.doc
This allows you to specify at one time all the files you want to edit,
| without having to remember
them for later loading of windows. The usual mode of operation is to edit
| the top window and
bottom it when you are finished. This will bring up the file in the next
| window. Continue until all
the files have been edited, and then quit and save all the files.
5.6.1 The initial window configuration
By default, the windows created will each be full screen windows. There are
| four command line
options that change the way the initial windows are arranged. These options
| are:
 /h Horizontally split windows
 /v Vertically split windows
 /o Overlaid windows (the default)
Exit Point and try starting it (with several file names) with each of the
| options. The options
must come before the file names. For example:
pt /v chap1.doc chap2.doc appendix.doc
Overlaid windows are the default but this can be changed easily in the
| pt.ini initialization file.
(See chapter 4 of the Point Reference Manual.) A hyphen ("-") can be used
| instead of a slash ("/")
to mark the options on the command line. (E.g., -h, -v, and -o.)
5.7 Zooming Windows
You can zoom a window to be full screen size with the Zoom Window command
| from the FILE menu
or with the Alt-z key.
A second zoom command will return the window to its original position.
| Zooming is used when
you want to look at one window exclusively for a while and then go back to
| looking at several
windows.
5.8 Loading and Saving Files
To save the file being edited, use either the Save File command from the
| FILE menu or Alt-s. You
can load a new file in a window with the Load File command from the WINDOWS
| menu or with Alt-l.
Specify the file name in the same way you did with the New Window command.
The Save As... command (from the FILE menu or with Alt-w) writes out the
| file in the active
window to a file with a new name of your choosing.
5.8.1 The SAVE Message
When the Point editing space is getting low, the message SAVE appears in
| front of the file name in
each window. When this occurs, you should save one or more of the edited
| files to regain the editing
space they are using. The amount of editing space used does not depend on
| the size of the files being
edited, but on the number of changes you have made since the window was
| opened. If you do not
save some files, you will risk losing data when Point runs out of editing
| space.
5.9. QUITTING POINT 29
5.9 Quitting Point
There are three variations on the quit command which determine what is to
| be done with files that
have been changed but not saved.
5.9.1 Ask about unsaved files
The Quit-Ask About Files command (FILE menu, Alt-q, Alt-F3, or Ctrl-F3)
| will ask you about each
unsaved file in turn. For each one you can decide whether to save the
| edited version, or discard it
and keep the original version. If you press the Esc key in response to any
| of these questions the quit
is abandoned and you are returned to Point.
5.9.2 Save unsaved files
The Quit-Save files command (FILE menu, `quit&save" on thr top line and F3)
| will automatically
save all edited and unsaved files and then exit Point.
5.9.3 Forget all changes
The Quit-Discard Edits command (FILE menu and Shift-F3) will exit Point
| without saving any edits,
although it will ask you for a verification if there are any edited and
| unsaved files.
5.10 The pt.ini Initialization File
5.10.1 Automatic option initialization
We have seen that several Point options can be changed interactively. The
| default settings of these
options are built into Point, but you can change them every time Point is
| loaded by specifying the
default you prefer in an initialization file called pt.ini.
5.10.2 Initialization file format
The pt.ini file contains a series of entries each of which is the name of
| an option, followed by an
equal sign, and that followed by the value of the option.
5.10.3 Customizing the top line
The initialization file is also used to determine which commands are placed
| on the top line and what
name they go by. In addition, you can create pop-up mouse menus using
| pt.ini. Chapter 4 of the
Point Reference Manual is devoted to setting options with the pt.ini file.
5.11 Executing DOS Commands from Point
5.11.1 Escape to DOS
You may want to escape to the DOS command interpreter to execute commands.
| You can do this
without leaving Point by selecting the DOS Shell option of the OTHERS menu,
| or with the Alt-d key.
This will give you a DOS prompt and you can execute any commands you like.
| When you want to
return to Point, exit the command interpreter with the EXIT command.
30 CHAPTER 5. EDITING WITH SEVERAL WINDOWS
5.11.2 Command output to a window
Alternatively you can type a DOS command in a window, select it, and choose
| the Execute Selected
Command command on the OTHERS menu. The selected command is executed and
| the standard
output of the command is directed to a new window, which is created by
| Point for this purpose.
The window will appear when the command completes.
5.11.3 Command output replacing the selection
If you select a DOS command in a window and choose the Execute and Replace
| command of the
OTHERS menu, the selected command is executed and its standard output
| replaces the selection. A
possible use of this is to put the command DIR on a line, select it, and
| execute the Execute and
Replace command. This will cause the directory listing to be placed in your
| file.
Chapter 6
Point Quick Reference Guide
6.1 Function Keys
Key Unshifted Shifted Alted or Ctrled
F1 Delete (To Scrap) Delete (Not To Scrap)
F2 Insert (From Scrap)
F3 Quit{Save All Files Quit{No Saves Quit{Ask About Saves
F4 Duplicate Text Copy to Scrap Extract text
F5 Find Selected Keyword Find Keyword Find Selected XTAG
F6 Search For Selection Search For String Search Backwards
F7 Go Back To Last Place Go To Selection Go To Line Number
F8 Redo Last Edit Find Matching Bracket Find XTAG
(prompted)
F9 Undo Last Edit Undo Multiple Go To Selected Line
Number
F10 Redraw The Screen Load File{Selected File
NameNew Window{Selected
File Name
6.2 Alt-letter and Other Keys
Key Command
Alt-a Insert ASCII character
Alt-b Bottom the active window
Alt-c Close the active window
Alt-d Execute DOS command interpreter
Alt-e Exchange with scrap
Alt-g Goto line number
Alt-h Get help
Alt-i Print debugging information
Alt-l Load a new file into the active window
31
32 CHAPTER 6. POINT QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
Alt-m Begin/end recordingkeyboard macro
Alt-n New window { create a window
Alt-o Toggle insert/overtype mode
Alt-p Play keyboard macro
Alt-q Quit and ask about unsaved files
Alt-r Replace
Alt-s Save file in the active window
Alt-t Toggle 43 line mode (EGA only)
Alt-u Undo
Alt-w Write file with a new name
Alt-x Hide window
Alt-z Zoom the active window
PgUp Scroll up
PgDn Scroll down
Ctrl-Pgdn End of the file
Ctrl-PgUp Beginning of the file
Del Delete the selection to the scrap
Ins Insert from scrap
Backspace Delete the previous character
Ctrl-Backspace Delete the previous word
Esc Cancel command
Ctrl-Break Stop the current editor action
Home Move to the first (non-blank) character of the line
End Move to the last character of the line
Grey + Simulate clicking the left mouse button
Grey - Simulate clicking the right mouse button
Cursor keys Move the selection
Ctrl-left Move the selection one word (blank-delimited) left
Ctrl-right Move the selection one word (blank-delimited) right
6.3 Mouse Command Chart
Cursor Position Left Button Middle Button Right Button
Outside Window ||| TOPLIST menu |||
Inside Window Select text TOPLIST menu Extend selection
Any Corner Top/bottom the
windowExchange the two
top windowsStretch window
Top Border Make the window
activeSplit the window
verticalMove the window
Right Border Search backwards Split the window
horizontalSearch for selec-
tion
Left Border Scroll up Thumb by line Scroll down
Bottom Border Scroll left Thumb by column Scroll right
