XEDIT

This article is about the editor for VM/CMS, and ports thereof. For the editor for the X Window System on Linux and Unix, see xedit (X11).

XEDIT is a visual editor for VM/CMS using block mode IBM 3270 terminals.   (Line-mode terminals are also supported.) [1] [2] XEDIT is much more line-oriented than modern PC and Unix editors. For example, XEDIT supports automatic line numbers, and many of the commands operate on blocks of lines. One of the features is a command line which allows the user to type arbitrary editor commands. Because IBM 3270 terminals do not transmit data to the computer until certain special keys are pressed [such as ↵ Enter, a program function key (PFK), or a program access key (PAK)], XEDIT is less interactive than many PC and Unix editors. For example, continuous spell-checking as the user types is problematic.

Typical screen layout

 MOHICANS SCRIPT A1 V 132 Trunc=132 Size=10 Line=10 Col=1 Alt=10
XEDIT:
===== Last of the Mohicans
===== .sp
===== It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America,
===== that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered
===== before the adverse hosts could meet.
===== A wide and apparently an impervious boundary of forests severed
===== the possessions of the hostile provinces of France and England.
===== The hardy colonist, and the trained European who fought at his
===== side, frequently expended months in struggling against the rapids
===== of the streams, or in effecting the rugged passes of the mountains
|...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7...
===== * * * End of File * * *
====>
                                                         X E D I T 1 File

Notable features of the screen layout:

Macro language

XEDIT macros (scripts) can be written in REXX, EXEC2, or EXEC.

KEDIT 5 for DOS and OS/2 supports an external REXX interpreter (native OS/2 REXX or Quercus REXX, for DOS only Quercus REXX replacing the older Mansfield REXX) and its own rather limited KEXX subset. KEDITW 1.6.1 for Windows supports only its own internal KEXX 5.62 version of the REXX language.[4] Macros can be arranged in the .kml file format.

XEDIT exposes the majority of its internal state to REXX, allowing macros to easily read and set internal variables that control its operation.

History

XEDIT was written by IBM employee Xavier de Lamberterie and was first released in 1980.[5] Its predecessor was EDIT SP (SP is an initialism for System Product used by IBM). Other key influences were EDIT, the older editor for CMS, and EDGAR, an IBM Program Product editor for CMS. XEDIT supported many of the EDGAR commands, SOS (Screen Output Simulation) being a major one. XEDIT also supported EXEC2, the predecessor of REXX.

In December 2012 Mansfield Software released 1.6.1 to provide compatibility with Windows 8 and extended support to at least June 2015. These 32bit versions work also in the 64bit versions of Windows 7 and Vista, but do not directly support Unicode.[4][6]

PC and Unix adaptations

Keditw 1.6.1 screenshot

When PCs and Unix computers began to supplant IBM 3270 terminals, some users wanted text editors that resembled the XEDIT they were accustomed to. To fill this need, several developers provided similar programs:

References

  1. ↑ XEDIT Commands and Macros Reference (1st ed.). IBM. September 2004. IBM publication number SC24-6131-00.
  2. ↑ XEDIT User's Guide (2nd ed.). IBM. December 2005. IBM publication number SC24-6132-01.
  3. ↑ "Introduction to the 3270 terminal". Networking on z/OS. IBM. The selector pen was light-based (optical) and it was used to select options on the text screen, similar to how a mouse is used--but of course, the 3270 terminal did not support a mouse.
  4. 1 2 "KEDIT for Windows". Mansfield Software Group. 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
  5. ↑ Varian, Melinda (1997). "VM and the VM community, past present, and future" (PDF). SHARE 89 Sessions 9059-9061. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
  6. 1 2 "KEDIT: What's New". Mansfield Software Group. November 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  7. 1 2 Cowlishaw, Mike (2000). "A brief History of 'Classic' Rexx".
  8. ↑ Beebe, Nelson H. F. (April 12, 2006). "a bibliography of books, manuals, and other publications about the REXX scripting language".
  9. ↑ Geir Ove Grønmo (March 1997). "DSSSL.KLD - KEDIT Language Definition for DSSSL Specifications". XML Coverpages. OASIS. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  10. ↑ Salthouse, David (1995). "S/REXX by Benaroya" (PDF). Proceedings of the 6th International Rexx Symposium. Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. pp. 284–290.
  11. ↑ Varian, Melinda (May 1995). "Report — REXX Symposium". Archived from the original (– Scholar search) on February 7, 2008.
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