[Text Editors] query about criteria

[jack horsfield]

i spotted the Barry's Emacs entries. there are a few things that
definitely wrong. there are also a few that are possibly wrong, but i
don't know what the selection criteria are so i'm not sure. anyway,
some comments:

-- emacs probably should be in the Programming Editors
section.

-- program exe size: 44k. well, yes, but that just launches
the main program -- 1.5 MB.

-- max working file size: 50MB. this is wrong. there is a
variable that controls the maximum file size and for a
test i've just happily opened a 200MB file. however, the
'illegal operation' is strange, there is usually a
sensible error message. what is the test operating system?

-- what are file stats?

-- what is file wipe? is this writing over the file with
zeroes? or just deleting the file? if zeroes then emacs
doesn't do it (but could be made to call an external
program that does do it). if deleting the file, then emacs
does it.

-- unwrap text and save: it does this, I think. although i'm
not quite sure what 'unwrap text and save' means.

-- wrap to column: it does this. there is a supplied package
to do wrapping.

-- export: this is listed as 'Mlisp, c/c++, HTML', which I
don't understand. other editors show things such as 'Unix,
Mac', both of which emacs will do.

-- call mail program: well, no, not out of the box. but it
will happily call any program. there are some limitations

-- external viewer: what's this? emacs will launch files in
the associated windows program, if that's what it means.

-- macros: yes, it does, as stated. there is also Python
integration, so you have access to anything that can be
done with Python.

-- encryption. well, no, not out of the box. however, Python
does and there is Python integration. the Python
Cryptographic Services module contains:

hmac Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication
(HMAC) implementation for Python.

md5 RSA's MD5 message digest algorithm.

sha NIST's secure hash algorithm, SHA.

mpz Interface to the GNU MP library for arbitrary
precision arithmetic.

rotor Enigma-like encryption and decryption.


so a small amount programming would give you encryption.

-- split/join files: 'insert file' is correct, out of the
box. however, it is easy to use the built-in mlisp to
split a file into various chunks. i wrote this very
function recently.

-- I see that there is no column for regular expression
search and replace, which is something that some of the
editors listed do, emacs among them.


jack
i would confirm for the avoidance of doubt

 

[REMbranded]

jack horsfield <[email protected]> wrote:

i spotted the Barry's Emacs entries. there are a few things that
definitely wrong. there are also a few that are possibly wrong, but i
don't know what the selection criteria are so i'm not sure. anyway,
some comments:

-- emacs probably should be in the Programming Editors
section.

I'm still sorting out which category many of these belong in. I
imagine the programming category is the best for this program,
although it works nicely as a general text editor as well.

-- program exe size: 44k. well, yes, but that just launches
the main program -- 1.5 MB.

I noticed the other .exe files. If I counted dll files other programs
would be large also. The .exe size is more meaningful for the smaller
programs for certain.

-- max working file size: 50MB. this is wrong. there is a
variable that controls the maximum file size and for a
test i've just happily opened a 200MB file. however, the
'illegal operation' is strange, there is usually a
sensible error message. what is the test operating system?

I am running 98SE, Intel, 256 megs of ram. It is a fresh setup.

I got repreated illegal operations in opening the 100 meg file. I
wrote Barry and told him what I was doing and of the error. He wrote
back the next day and told me that he had discovered the unhandled
exception and that it would be fixed within a couple of days. I
haven't had the time to grab the fix yet. I believe he said there was
no catch for the exception of running out of dynamic memory.

This is going to vary according to the system that you run. He said he
can open a 900 meg file, but he has a gig of memory. My system is
older, but quite stable. I'm simply reporting what happens on my
system and sometimes like this, I'm actually able to point out a
slight oversight that makes his program even more solid.

-- what are file stats?

This file contains: 10,000 characters
5,000 lines, etc.

-- what is file wipe? is this writing over the file with
zeroes? or just deleting the file? if zeroes then emacs
doesn't do it (but could be made to call an external
program that does do it). if deleting the file, then emacs
does it.

Yes, a file wipe, as you guessed, is overwriting the file to make it
tough to recover.

-- unwrap text and save: it does this, I think. although i'm
not quite sure what 'unwrap text and save' means.

If you were to open a file written in 40 character lines, could you
unwrap that to 80 characters per line and save the file at 80
characters? This is dynamic word wrapping I suppose and very few
programs have this ability.

-- wrap to column: it does this. there is a supplied package
to do wrapping.

Which package? I'm looking and I don't see anything, but it is a large
program that I'm only beginning to explore. I appreciate your
feedback. I've been in a rush to get some results, but I certainly
want the correct results!

-- export: this is listed as 'Mlisp, c/c++, HTML', which I
don't understand. other editors show things such as 'Unix,
Mac', both of which emacs will do.

This is a space limitation. These are more specialized exports. The
other programs offer only Unix/Mac. The list are very long for some
programs, so I'm forced to choose in selection of the unobvious or to
have a huge table.

-- call mail program: well, no, not out of the box. but it
will happily call any program. there are some limitations

Many programs can be tweaked to do a task. Barry's looks especially
strong here. I'm comparing it to the other programs, some of which
have a "Send To" selection specifically for mail.

-- external viewer: what's this? emacs will launch files in
the associated windows program, if that's what it means.

That's what external viewer is. I don't see it. Where is it?

-- macros: yes, it does, as stated. there is also Python
integration, so you have access to anything that can be
done with Python.

-- encryption. well, no, not out of the box. however, Python
does and there is Python integration. the Python
Cryptographic Services module contains:

hmac Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication
(HMAC) implementation for Python.

md5 RSA's MD5 message digest algorithm.

sha NIST's secure hash algorithm, SHA.

mpz Interface to the GNU MP library for arbitrary
precision arithmetic.

rotor Enigma-like encryption and decryption.

so a small amount programming would give you encryption.

Yes. This is for the general public though and coding seems over the
line as to whether a feature exists in the context of comparing to
other editors that require no extra coding.

-- split/join files: 'insert file' is correct, out of the
box. however, it is easy to use the built-in mlisp to
split a file into various chunks. i wrote this very
function recently.
Ditto.

-- I see that there is no column for regular expression
search and replace, which is something that some of the
editors listed do, emacs among them.

I used "Search & Replace" in the table. I did not differentiate the
type of search and replace at this point, but the plan is to refine as
I figure things out and I imagine I'll expand on this at a later date.

Those are some very good points Jack. I'm considering what new column
headings I need for the Programming, Hex and HTML editors. I'm not at
all intimate with programs in any of these categories. I use MS Visual
c++ and write HTML in Crypt Edit. Any input of the formatting of each
of these pages will be very welcomed!

 

[jack horsfield]

I am running 98SE, Intel, 256 megs of ram. It is a fresh setup.

I got repreated illegal operations in opening the 100 meg file. I
wrote Barry and told him what I was doing and of the error. He wrote
back the next day and told me that he had discovered the unhandled
exception and that it would be fixed within a couple of days. I
haven't had the time to grab the fix yet. I believe he said there was
no catch for the exception of running out of dynamic memory.

ok, sounds good.

This file contains: 10,000 characters
5,000 lines, etc.

ah. ok, it doesn't do that out of the box. it would be very
easy to do, of course.

Which package? I'm looking and I don't see anything

see the User Guide section 'Editing Specific File Types' and
in there the section 'Editing Text'.

(I'm not all that familiar with it because, naturally, I use
a different package from the one supplied

This is a space limitation. These are more specialized exports. The
other programs offer only Unix/Mac. The list are very long for some
programs, so I'm forced to choose in selection of the unobvious or to
have a huge table.

well, ok, but I still don't understand. there is syntax
highlighting for those, but where does 'export' come in? you
can save a file with Unix or Mac line breaks, which is what I
thought Unix/Mac meant for the other editors.

Many programs can be tweaked to do a task. Barry's looks especially
strong here. I'm comparing it to the other programs, some of which
have a "Send To" selection specifically for mail.


That's what external viewer is. I don't see it. Where is it?

ah. I see that it's one of mine, not built in. however, you
do get view added to a key sometimes. for example, if you
edit an HTML file then ESC-c launches it in your browser.


jack
sidelined in order to prevent discrimination on the gender
front

 

[Sami Sihvonen]

-- emacs probably should be in the Programming Editors
section.

My girlfriend uses GNU Emacs to read her e-mail and telnet/ssh outside.
She ain't no programmer, she hardly even can program our VCR.

-- program exe size: 44k. well, yes, but that just launches
the main program -- 1.5 MB.

Program exe size? What platform, which version, which compiler settings?
GNU Emacs has full source code available, if we are talking about Win32
versions feel free to download GNU GCC and compile your own exe file...
In reality if you need maximum diskspace and compress emacs.exe as good
as possible there will be a performance penalty. My GNU Emacs with most
features included takes 62 megabytes of diskspace in my Win98SE laptop.

-- max working file size: 50MB. this is wrong. there is a
variable that controls the maximum file size and for a
test i've just happily opened a 200MB file.

It has no limits on file size, except those that operating system or the
file system provide. Period.

-- what is file wipe? is this writing over the file with
zeroes? or just deleting the file? if zeroes then emacs
doesn't do it (but could be made to call an external
program that does do it). if deleting the file, then emacs
does it.

Btw, when taking about GNU Emacs and it's features it is safe to assume
that standard Unix(tm) stuff is available as an external program. With
MS-Windows just install Cygwin to provide them. After that features like
file wiping is available from GNU Emacs.

-- macros: yes, it does, as stated. there is also Python
integration, so you have access to anything that can be
done with Python.

Also elisp, java, perl, sed, awk etc...

-- encryption. well, no, not out of the box.

Just install GNU Privacy Guard, GNU Emacs has features to use it for
integrated encryption features out of the box...

 

[jack horsfield]

this is not GNU Emacs.


jack
A tomorrow's world of domestic appliances

 

[jack horsfield]

I got repreated illegal operations in opening the 100 meg file. I
wrote Barry and told him what I was doing and of the error. He wrote
back the next day and told me that he had discovered the unhandled
exception and that it would be fixed within a couple of days. I
haven't had the time to grab the fix yet. I believe he said there was
no catch for the exception of running out of dynamic memory.

there is a new version of barry's emacs just out, which includes:

* fixed a bug that crashed emacs when attempting to read
files that are very large. Emacs will now read the
file if possible and turn off syntax array and
colouring. Tested by reading a 900MB file.

get it from:

http://www.barrys-emacs.org/emacs7beta.html


jack
it may be there is room for pushing at the margin of the assumptions

 

[REMbranded]

there is a new version of barry's emacs just out, which includes:

* fixed a bug that crashed emacs when attempting to read
files that are very large. Emacs will now read the
file if possible and turn off syntax array and
colouring. Tested by reading a 900MB file.

get it from:

http://www.barrys-emacs.org/emacs7beta.html

Thanks jack!