.so pndoc:nman
.part nm-introduction manual
.chapter Introduction
.label Introduction
.
@node("intro")
This document describes the NMODE text editor.
NMODE is an
advanced, self-documenting,
customizable, extensible,
interactive, multiple-window, screen-oriented
editor written in PSL (Portable Standard Lisp).
NMODE provides a compatible subset of the EMACS text editor,
developed at M.I.T. It also contains a number of
extensions, most notably an interface to the underlying
Lisp system for Lisp programmers.
NMODE was developed at the Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
Computer Research Center by Alan Snyder.
A number of significant extensions have been contributed by
Jeff Soreff.
NMODE is based on an earlier editor, EMODE, written in PSL
by William F. Galway at the University of Utah.
Many of the basic ideas and the underlying structure
of the NMODE editor come directly from EMODE.
This document is only partially complete, but is being
reprinted at this time for the benefit of new users that
are not familiar with EMACS. The bulk of this document
has been borrowed from EMACS documentation and modified
(by Jeff Soreff)
appropriately in areas where NMODE and EMACS differ.
The EMACS documentation was written by Richard M. Stallman.
We say that NMODE is a screen-oriented editor because normally the text
being edited is visible on the screen and is updated automatically as
you type your commands. @Note("Screen" "Display").
We call it an interactive editor because the display is updated very
frequently, usually after each character or pair of characters you
type. This minimizes the amount of information you must keep in your
head as you edit.
We call NMODE advanced because it provides facilities that go beyond
simple insertion and deletion: filling of text; automatic indentation
of programs; viewing two files at once; and dealing in terms of
characters, words, lines, sentences, and paragraphs, as well as
LISP constructs.
It is much easier to type one command meaning "go to the end of the
paragraph" than to find the desired spot with repetition of simpler
commands.
Self-documenting means that there are on-line functions to find out the
function of any command and to view documentation about that command.
@Note("Help").
Customizable means that you can change the definitions of NMODE
commands in little ways.
For example, you can rearrange the command set.
If you prefer the four basic cursor motion commands (up,
down, left and right) on keys in a diamond pattern on the keyboard,
you can have it.
@Manual{@Note("Customization")}.
Extensible means that you can go beyond simple customization and
write entirely new commands, programs in the language PSL. NMODE is
an "on-line extensible" system, which means that it is divided into
many functions that call each other, any of which can be redefined in
the middle of an editing session. Any part of NMODE can be replaced
without making a separate copy of all of NMODE.
@Section(Preface)
This manual documents the use and simple customization of the
display editor NMODE with the hp9836 operating system. The reader is @i(not)
expected to be a programmer. Even simple customizations do not
require programming skill, but the user who is not interested in
customizing can ignore the scattered customization hints.
This is primarily a reference manual, but can also be used as a
primer. However, I recommend that the newcomer first use the on-line,
learn-by-doing tutorial NTEACH. With it, you learn NMODE by using
NMODE on a specially designed file which describes commands, tells you
when to try them, and then explains the results you see. This gives a
more vivid introduction than a printed manual.
On first reading, you need not make any attempt to memorize chapters
2 and 3, which describe the notational conventions of the manual and the
general appearance of the NMODE display screen. It is enough to be
aware of what questions are answered in these chapters, so you can
refer back when you later become interested in the answers. After
reading the Basic Editing chapter you should practice the commands
there. The next few chapters describe fundamental techniques and
concepts that are referred to again and again. It is best to
understand them thoroughly, experimenting with them if necessary.
To find the documentation on a particular command, look in the index
if you know what the command is. Both command characters and function
names are indexed. If you know vaguely what the command
does, look in the topic index.