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201/NMODE Manual (Introduction) Page 1-1
202/1. Introduction
201/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
appropriately in areas where NMODE and EMACS differ. The original author
of the EMACS documentation was 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. See Section 2 [Display], page 1.
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, paragraphs, and pages, as well as expressions and comments in
several different programming languages. 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. See
Section 8 [Help], page 1.
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. See Section 21
[Customization], page 1.
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
201/Page 1-2 NMODE Manual (Introduction)
session. Any part of NMODE can be replaced without making a separate copy
of all of NMODE.
202/1.1 Preface
201/This manual documents the use and simple customization of the display
editor NMODE with the 9836 operating system. The reader is 203/not 201/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 command
summary. The command summary contains a line or two about each command,
and a cross reference to the section of the manual that describes the command
in more detail; related commands are grouped together.