/contrib/ee/README.ee

  1Copyright (c) 2009, Hugh Mahon
  2All rights reserved.
  3
  4Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
  5modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
  6are met:
  7
  8    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
  9      notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 10    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
 11      copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
 12      disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
 13      with the distribution.
 14
 15THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
 16"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 17LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS
 18FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
 19COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
 20INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
 21BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
 22LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
 23CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
 24LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
 25ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
 26POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 27
 28
 29The editor 'ee' (easy editor) is intended to be a simple, easy to use 
 30terminal-based screen oriented editor that requires no instruction to 
 31use.  Its primary use would be for people who are new to computers, or who 
 32use computers only for things like e-mail.
 33
 34ee's simplified interface is highlighted by the use of pop-up menus which 
 35make it possible for users to carry out tasks without the need to 
 36remember commands.  An information window at the top of the screen shows 
 37the user the operations available with control-keys.
 38
 39ee allows users to use full eight-bit characters.  If the host system has 
 40the capabilities, ee can use message catalogs, which would allow users to 
 41translate the message catalog into other languages which use eight-bit 
 42characters.  See the file ee.i18n.guide for more details.
 43
 44ee relies on the virtual memory abilities of the platform it is running on 
 45and does not have its own memory management capabilities.
 46
 47I am releasing ee because I hate to see new users and non-computer types 
 48get frustrated by vi, and would like to see more intuitive interfaces for 
 49basic tools (both character-based and graphical) become more pervasive.
 50Terminal capabilities and communication speeds have evolved considerably 
 51since the time in which vi's interface was created, allowing much more 
 52intuitive interfaces to be used.  Since character-based I/O won't be 
 53completely replaced by graphical user interfaces for at least a few more 
 54years, I'd like to do what I can to make using computers with less 
 55glamorous interfaces as easy to use as possible.  If terminal interfaces 
 56are still used in ten years, I hope neophytes won't still be stuck with 
 57only vi.
 58
 59For a text editor to be easy to use requires a certain set of abilities.  In 
 60order for ee to work, a terminal must have the ability to position the cursor 
 61on the screen, and should have arrow keys that send unique sequences 
 62(multiple characters, the first character is an "escape", octal code 
 63'\033').  All of this information needs to be in a database called "terminfo" 
 64(System V implementations) or "termcap" (usually used for BSD systems).  In 
 65case the arrow keys do not transmit unique sequences, motion operations are 
 66mapped to control keys as well, but this at least partially defeats the 
 67purpose.  The curses package is used to handle the I/O which deals with the 
 68terminal's capabilities.  
 69
 70While ee is based on curses, I have included here the source code to 
 71new_curse, a subset of curses developed for use with ee.  'curses' often  
 72will have a defect that reduces the usefulness of the editor relying upon 
 73it.  
 74
 75The file new_curse.c contains a subset of 'curses', a package for 
 76applications to use to handle screen output.  Unfortunately, curses 
 77varies from system to system, so I developed new_curse to provide 
 78consistent behavior across systems.  It works on both SystemV and BSD 
 79systems, and while it can sometimes be slower than other curses packages, 
 80it will get the information on the screen painted correctly more often 
 81than vendor supplied curses.  Unless problems occur during the building 
 82of ee, it is recommended that you use new_curse rather than the curses 
 83supplied with your system.
 84
 85If you experience problems with data being displayed improperly, check 
 86your terminal configuration, especially if you're using a terminal 
 87emulator, and make sure that you are using the right terminfo entry 
 88before rummaging through code.  Terminfo entries often contain 
 89inaccuracies, or incomplete information, or may not totally match the 
 90terminal or emulator the terminal information is being used with.  
 91Complaints that ee isn't working quite right often end up being something 
 92else (like the terminal emulator being used).  
 93
 94Both ee and new_curse were developed using K&R C (also known as "classic 
 95C"), but it can also be compiled with ANSI C.  You should be able to 
 96build ee by simply typing "make".  A make file which takes into account 
 97the characteristics of your system will be created, and then ee will be 
 98built.  If there are problems encountered, you will be notified about 
 99them. 
100
101ee is the result of several conflicting design goals.  While I know that it 
102solves the problems of some users, I also have no doubt that some will decry 
103its lack of more features.  I will settle for knowing that ee does fulfill 
104the needs of a minority (but still large number) of users.  The goals of ee 
105are: 
106
107        1. To be so easy to use as to require no instruction.
108        2. To be easy to compile and, if necessary, port to new platforms 
109           by people with relatively little knowledge of C and UNIX.
110        3. To have a minimum number of files to be dealt with, for compile 
111           and installation.
112        4. To have enough functionality to be useful to a large number of 
113           people.
114
115Hugh Mahon              |___|     
116hugh4242@yahoo.com      |   |     
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