BEST MSDOS C EDITOR?
Bob Stout
Bob.Stout at p6.f506.n106.z1.fidonet.org
Sun Sep 17 14:42:46 AEST 1989
In an article of <13 Sep 89 14:36:06 GMT>, (Alastair Dallas) writes:
>I don't want to clutter the newsgroup, but a previous poster recommended
>Epsilon from Lugaru.
...As would I, although I don't want to clutter it up either.
>... He ...commented that Epsilion was the only editor he knew of with
>[the listed] features.
>
>Well, BRIEF has these features and a few more and you don't have to mess
>with learning Emacs.
Epsilon is unique among EMACS derivative editors in that its extension
language is a dialect of C rather than LISP. This lesson was not lost on the
authors of Brief who recently made the same change. In addition to the usual
key bindings and new functions you can write in Epsilon's EEL, it is a
full-featured C subset which comes with its own compiler and includes
interrupt functions. One Epsilon user wrote his own personalized interrupt-
driven mouse package in Epsilon's EEL in under two hours.
Epsilon's other claim to fame in the DOS world is true multi-tasking. Using an
Epsilon process window, you can run a program in the background while still
editing in the foreground.
Unless memory fails me, Brief at one time also had (has?) a line length
limitation. This would've been unacceptable for one use to which I put
Epsilon. I had run a communications test over a three-day weekend, capturing
all comm data on a PC. This was a multi-megabyte file (about 6 MB as I recall)
without a single CR or LF character in the entire file - a single line. When I
got in, I spent 2 minutes loading the file into Epsilon and writing an ad hoc
macro to parse it for me, then started it and went to get my morning soft
drink. A couple a minutes later, I was back and the file had been processed. I
split it up further, eventually winding up with close to 100 active buffers in
as many windows as the screen could hold. I don't think Brief could have done
it...
>We all know that editors are religious issues (who started this thread,
>anyway?), but I can highly recommend BRIEF from over three years of use--
I've used Brief at client sites before and can agree that it's a fine editor.
I also agree wholeheartedly that this is a largely religious issue and only of
interest to those who've not already been proselytized (I'd already used EMACS
on a variety of platforms and was used to setting up my own personized set of
functions and key bindings wherever I went). However, like you, I've used
Epsilon for well over three years on PC and can recommend it highly.
BTW, for PC users on a budget, I can also recommend EC from C Source and the
shareware editor Qedit - both excellent products for around $50. For even more
limited budgets, check out the shareware editor Blackbeard for $25 or so.
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