
README for vile, version 9.2
-----------------------------

vile is a text editor which is extremely compatible with vi in terms
of "finger feel".  in addition, it has extended capabilities in many areas,
notably multi-file editing and viewing, key rebinding, real X window
system support, an optional embedded perl interpreter, and robust
support for non-Unix hosts.

the authors of vile are Paul Fox, Tom Dickey, and Kevin Buettner.

many patches have been contributed by a lot of users.  we thank them.

more recent additions to this README appear near the bottom.  that is, most
of the newest stuff is at the end, not up here where you are.

visit
	ftp://dickey.his.com/vile
	ftp://ftp.phred.org/pub/vile
to be sure it's still the latest.

impatient?  just type "./configure; make", and get a cup of coffee, decaf
if necessary.

want X11 support?  you'd better look at doc/config.doc, although
"./configure --with-screen=x11"; make" may well do what you want.

want PC support?  look for precompiled binaries at the various ftp sites.

want to build vile on a PC host?  refer to the file README.PC .

want VMS support?  you'll need to build vile yourself. refer to the
file README.VMS .

if you like vile, and wish to be informed of new releases, let me
know -- i maintain a mailing list for that purpose.  don't worry -- the
volume won't fill your inbox.

paul fox, pgf@foxharp.boston.ma.us (original author)
kevin buettner, kev@primenet.com
tom dickey, dickey@herndon4.his.com (current maintainer)

------------------------------------------------------
Up-to-date copies of vile, including executables for DOS, Win32 and
OS/2 are found at
	ftp://dickey.his.com/vile/

which is mirrored at
	ftp://ftp.phred.org/pub/vile/

Development patches are found at
	ftp://dickey.his.com/vile/patches/
	ftp://ftp.phred.org/pub/vile/patches/

In addition, we have distributed copies at other sites, including
metalabs.unc.edu (Linux), hobbes.nmsu.edu (OS/2) and the VMS Freeware
CDROM's.

------------------------------------------------------
Send bug reports to
	bugs@vile.cx
	vile-bugs@foxharp.boston.ma.us

Requests to be put on the announcement list should go to
	announce-request@vile.cx
	vile-announce-request@foxharp.boston.ma.us

------------------------------------------------------

extracts from the original README, from February, 1992:

VILE -- VI Like Emacs: a vi workalike put together from Micro-Emacs by Paul Fox
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	This editor grew out of a frustration that although lots of
	eager programmers have tackled rewrites of Emacs, with new and
	better features (not to mention free source), I've not seen
	anything similar done with the Second True Editor.  (The
	First, of course, being /bin/ed)

	...

	vile retains the multiple buffer/multiple window features of
	MicroEMACS, but the "finger-feel", if you will, is very much
	that of vi.  It is definitely not a clone, in that some
	substantial stuff is missing, and the screen doesn't look
	quite the same.  But what matters most is that one's "muscle
	memory" does the right thing to the text in front of you, and
	that is what vile tries to do for vi users.  THIS IS NOT A
	"CLONE"!  But it feels good.  (Put another way, the things
	that you tend to type over and over probably work -- things
	done less frequently, like configuring a .exrc file, are quite
	different.)

	...

	The collective developers of Micro-Emacs should be
	complimented that the changes were as easy as they were.
	...

	Paul G. Fox	June, 1991, and February, 1992

p.s. By the way, I'm _not_ the same Paul Fox who wrote Crisp, the Brief
	work-alike.


-----------------------

September, 1992

I don't have much to add to the original README -- vile has gotten a lot
better since I first released it, thanks to a lot of users and a lot of
bug reports.  It compiles and runs without modification on most major UNIXes,
and under DOS.  It offers vi finger feel, and most (not all) of its features.
I hope it fills someone's need out there.  -pgf 9/92

(Special thanks to Dave Lemke and Pete Rucszinski, for X and DOS support,
and (in no particular order) to Eric Krohn, Willem Kasdorp, J.C.Webber,
Warren Vik, Julia Harper, Chris Sherman, Thomas Woo, Yanek Martinson, Miura
Masahiro, Tom Dickey for lots of bug reports and suggestions and patience.)

------------------------------

April, 1993

Well, here's an update on vile.  The first release was a long time
ago (a couple of years?).  Tom Dickey has been contributing a _whole_ lot
of good changes.  vile now runs on VMS, and is much more stable on DOS
thanks to Tom.  For me, vile is becoming an "old" program -- I first worked
on it in 1989 sometime.  So it's been fun to have someone contributing
fixes so energetically.  Thanks Tom.

One thing that's changed since I first started vile is that "lots of eager
programmers" have now tackled rewrites of vi.  There are several good work-
alikes out there: elvis (the "king" :-), xvi, vim, stevie, and recent
versions of vip-mode in GNU emacs.  [add "nvi" to that list.  and whatever
happened to xvi?  -pgf 12/94]  From what little I've used any of
these, they all seem like real good programs.  vile feels different from
most of them, mainly due to its roots in MicroEmacs.  You may or may not
like it.  If you don't, try one of the others.  There's certainly no reason
to not have a vi-like editor on just about any machine you choose.  (yeah,
I know -- I'm assuming you _want_ a vi-like editor...  :-)  Enjoy.

Oh yes -- building it.  On UNIX, type "make", and choose one of the predefined
targets.  Like "make linux". [ not anymore -- use "configure; make"  -pgf 12/94]

DOS makefiles are named after the compiler they support:  makefile.tbc for
Turbo-C, makefile.wat.  There is support in "makefile" for Microsoft-C, but
it's next to useless -- if anyone puts together a good "nmake" makefile,
could you pass it along?  [that support isn't there anymore.  -pgf 12/94]

The Watcom C/386 v9.0 compiler should also work -- the makefile to use is
makefile.wat.

The latest version of vile is usually available for ftp at "ftp.cayman.com",
in the pub/vile directory.  [not anymore -- it's at "id.wing.net" in the
"pub/pgf/vile" directory.  -pgf 12/94] Sometimes there's a compiled DOS
binary there too.  I don't maintain a mailing list, or anything like that
to inform folks of new releases -- you just sort of have to check once in a
while, or send me mail...  [ I've set up a mailing list -- contact me to be
added -pgf 7/93]

paul

------------------------------

July, 1993

More new features:  infinite undo, modification time checking, and, at
long last, primitive support for the :map command.  [:map is now fully
functional -pgf, 12/94] I've also received patches that let vile compile
for DOS with the DJ GCC compiler.  Have I mentioned filename completion?
Tom Dickey provided that and variable/modename/command completion too.

If you would like to be informed, via email, of new vile releases (bearing
in mind that the newest release may be _more_ likely to be buggy, rather
than _less_), please send me mail, and I will add you to my list.  The email
will probably contain a capsule summary of the most recent changes to the
code.

Thanks to Tuan Dang for the Watcom and DJ GCC work.  I don't know much
about djgpp, the DOS port of djgcc, but take a look at makefile.djg.


pgf


-------------------------------

March, 1994

The X support in xvile has been given a huge boost with contributions from
Kevin Buettner -- scrollbars, Motif widget support make it feel like a real
application...  We now have rectangular regions.  DOS support is getting
better all the time.  The major version number got bumped to 4 somewhere
along the line, because Tom and I were getting tired of 3.  There are quite
a few new "modes", some to support vi functionality, some altogether new.
We should have keyboard selections and highlighted regions soon...

pgf, pgf@foxharp.boston.ma.us


-------------------------------
December, 1994

hmmmm -- lets see.  new stuff.  see the CHANGES and help files for details.

	- vile is now completely autoconf'ed -- you should be able to type
	either "./configure; make" or "./configure --with-screen=x11" to build
	it on any (unix-like) platform.

	- :map and :map! are now much more complete, but still by no means
	done.  expect to have to edit your favorite macros to make
	them work.

	- :abbr now works.

	- along with proper :map support comes proper function key support.
	function keys defined for your terminal in the termcap/info database
	are now premapped and can be bound to as #-1 etc.  so those of
	you with ESC [ 10 ~ style function keys should be happy now.

	- mouse clicks which move the cursor now count as proper motion
	commands in both xvile and vile-in-an-xterm.  this means, for
	instance, that '' or `` will get you back to where you were before
	you clicked the mouse, and you can apply operators to mouse
	movements.  for example -- click the mouse somewhere, hit 'd' to
	start a delete operation, and click the mouse somewhere else.  the
	text between the two mouse-click locations will be deleted.

	- on-line help (just a single line) for every function, available
	with describe-{bindings,function,key} commands.

	- new modes to better control beeping and the "working..." message.

	- autowrite mode now supported, on a global or buffer-by-buffer basis.

	- popup windows now adjust their size to their contents -- less screen
	space is wasted for small window, and more is used for big windows.

	- file and command completion is now more emacs/bash/tcsh-like, in
	that possible choices are shown when you hit a second TAB key.  this
	can be tuned via a new mode, "popup-choices"

	- "quoted" motions, which highlight the text they will act on.  type
	a 'q', and start moving around, then type another 'q'.

	- various fixes to the macro language, for core dumps and usability.

	- file.bak and file~ backup files now supported.

	- infinite (?) screen sizes should now be supported under X.

	- it's now possible to break lines by putting ^M in the replacement
	pattern.

	- selections, the modelines, and the cursor, under xvile, can all
	have different colors.

	- color support for termcap, at least on the linux console.

	- put'ing from registers (i.e. 'p' and 'P' commands) should be much
	faster.

	- multiple (error) messages arising from running a macro or a startup
	file will now accumulate in a new popup window.

	- a simple, probably incomplete file-locking protocol is available,
	but is not compiled in by default.  the organization which
	contributed the code (Baan Development) uses it to aid their
	multi-user development.  turn on OPT_LCKFILES in estruct.h and
	"set usefilelock" in your .vilerc to play with it.

	- Windows NT support -- console mode only.  anyone want to port this
	to the Windows95 console?  it's probably not hard, though i haven't
	looked into it very hard.

	- lots of bug fixes

-------------------------------
Febrary, 1995
	xvile now supports color attributes, which means we can do some
	primitive syntax coloring of C programs, using the external filter,
	"c-filt".  this is still pretty new stuff.  expect it to get better
	with age.


-------------------------------
November, 1995
	lots of new users in the last year, due to better advertising
	and inclusion in some of the big linux and freebsd archives.
	support for NT and OS/2 has gotten much better, and lots of
	little bugs have been fixed, and features added.  Win32 support
	is very good these days, thanks mostly to the efforts of Rick
	Sladkey.

-------------------------------
June, 1996
	gee, i don't remember _what_ we've done recently.  enjoy.

-------------------------------

September, 1996
	tom dickey has volunteered to take over releases, and maintaining
	"official" sources.  i'll still contribute, but more as part of the
	"audience".  tom has done a _huge_ amount of work over the years
	on vile -- i _really_ appreciate it...  -pgf

-------------------------------

May, 1998
    vile 8.0 is released.  Major new features include:  an embedded
    perl interpreter (available on Unix and Win32 hosts), an editable
    mini-buffer, majormodes, enhancement of user-defined procedures to
    the point that they may now be bound to user-defined keystrokes,
    tag completion, and addition of a win32 gui (called winvile).

-------------------------------

Oct, 1998
    vile 8.1 and 8.2 are released.  These are primarily bugfix releases.
    Refer to the CHANGES files for details.  Tom Dickey continues to
    improve winvile, which now supports scroll bars and two new
    command-line options that control the editor's geometry and font.

Apr, 1999
    vile 8.3 is released.  This release includes much enhanced syntax
    filter capabilities.  The filters are now much faster, mainly because
    vile uses a new command attribute-from-filter to apply their output
    directly as attributes to the buffer rather than modifying (and
    allowing undo).

    The organization of the keyword files for the syntax filters is now
    associated with majormodes.  Syntax filters are defined for most of the
    predefined majormodes which include:

        adamode                   jsmode                    perlmode
        awkmode                   keymode                   sccsmode
        batmode                   latexmode                 shmode
        cmode                     lexmode                   sqlmode
        cshmode                   m4mode                    tcmode
        cwebmode                  mailmode                  tclmode
        dclmode                   makemode                  timode
        diffmode                  mmsmode                   txtmode
        htmlmode                  nrmode                    vilemode
        imakemode                 pasmode                   yaccmode
        javamode

    Other changes of note (this is not an exhaustive list):

    + removed/rewrote code which would prevent us from making vile available
      under more liberal licensing.

    + winvile and xvile have icons.

    + new macro directives added, including:

      ~local  ~hidden  ~with  ~endwith  ~elsewith

    + many VMS bug fixes and enhancements.  8.3 is a keeper if you use VMS.

Nov, 1999
    vile 8.4/9.0 is released, distributed with GPL licensing.

    In addition to improvements to syntax highlighting, e.g., user-definable
    color schemes, vile's macro language has been extended
    
    	+ procedures can be parameterized.

	+ several new functions simplify handling of external filenames, and
	  parsing strings.

    Further improvements have been made to winvile: drag/drop, file open
    dialog, better integration with the Windows Explorer and DevStudio.

Jan, 2000
    vile 9.1 is released.  Highlights since 9.0:

    + continued improvement of syntax coloring (much work here)

    + add an Exporter-like mechanism to Perl5 interface. Instead
      of exposing a module's functions to the caller, it exposes them to
      vile as registered commands.  By renaming the extensions as `.pm',
      and making some minor changes to use Vile::Exporter, an extension
      becomes visible by simply adding:
          use extension;
      to vileinit.pl.  There is also provision for only including some
      commands provided by the extension, and for overriding the keybinding
      defined by the developer (documented in the attached module).
      Of course you can still say:
           require extension;
      and do the registering yourself if you so choose.

    + vile's perl interface includes a new Vile::Window module, which may
      be used to manipulate vile windows.  Examples of the use of this
      module may be found in winops.pm.

    + rename most .pl files to .pm (makefile.in).

    + add/improve several perl scripts, including

      - capture.pl - implements a perl version of capture-command.  This
        version incrementally updates the window however.

      - shell.pl - revised to use IO:Pty instead of Comm.pl (which
        seems to be no longer maintained).

      - Manual.pm - display embedded POD documentation.

    + implement watchfd support for the termcap/terminfo versions of vile.

    + added autocolor feature, which updates color syntax highlighting when
      the keyboard is inactive for a specified period.

    + Vileserv now also works for vile.

    + changed vmsbuild.com to accept a compiler specification on the VMS
      command line, which is much more convenient than editing the build
      script by hand.  compiler defaults to VAXC on Vax hosts and DECC on
      Alpha hosts.

    + Several Win32-specific improvements:

      - add the Win32 common dialog "save as" feature to both console
        vile and winvile.

      - modify directory.pm and dirlist.pm to make them work on win32, i.e.,
        by not executing portions that will not work (such as mime types).

      - implement autoscrolling feature for winvile, which makes the buffer
        scroll in the direction where the mouse leaves the window,
        automatically extending selection highlighting.

    + modify backspacelimit mode to allow backspacing through a newline
      when nobackspacelimit is specified.

    + add single-quoted strings, which eliminate the need for escaping
      backslash (useful in startup/command files)

    + Added binding / support for ^X-_ aka
      "historical-buffer-to-current-window".

    + modify logic in ins_any_time() to interpret control characters which
      are bound to GOAL or MOTION commands rather than inserting them
      without quoting.  This allows ^E and ^Y as commands within an insert.

Oct, 2000
    vile 9.2 is released.  Highlights since 9.1 (modulo bug fixes):

    + improve performance of syntax highlighting with configure option
      for compiling-in any of the syntax filters.  Use the configure
      --with-builtin-filters option.  Both internal (built-in) and
      external filters are supported.

    + add key binding functions for the different editing modes (insert,
      command, minibuffer and default), making it simpler to bind a
      space or tab to a given function without having it confused for a
      function while in insert mode.

    + Vileserv now uses the registry, so 'perl "use Vileserv"' in your
      .vilerc automagically adds the commands startserv, stopserv, and
      vileserv-help.

    + added gdb.pm, which runs gdb in a vile window and tracks changes
      in editor.  (Must be used with shell.pm.)

    Several Win32-specific improvements:

    + allow pasting of one line of text into mini-buffer.

    + winopen, winopen-nocd, winsave, and winsave-nocd accept an
      optional directory argument, which specifies the initial directory
      opened by the Open/Save Win32 common dialogs.

    Other Modes:

    + add insert-exec mode to control logic in ins_any_time() which
      interprets control characters which are bound to GOAL or MOTION
      commands rather than inserting them without quoting (see 9.0a and
      9.0b changes).  This restores the default behavior, since some
      users had control characters bound to a function which was then
      executed.

    + add unique-buffers mode, which does dev/inode checking to be sure
      files aren't edited more than once.

    Syntax Filters:

    + add syntax filters for sed, imake

    + implement abbreviations for syntax keywords, using '*' as the
      default delimiter.

    + filters now attribute multi-line regions when appropriate, e.g.,
      multi-line comments in C.

    Macros and Scripting Support:

    + add &dquery function which prompts for input with a given default
      value.

    + implement function &error, which returns true if its argument was
      an ERROR token.  Modify built-in functions to return ERROR if an
      argument was ERROR.

    + add variable $filename-expr, to specify the actual pattern used
      for %F in [Error Expressions].  On DOS and Win32, this is
      initialized to a more complex pattern, to accommodate drive
      letters.

    + make the ~local directive work for modes.

    + add ~trace directive, which sets or reports the value of the
      $debug variable.  Use this to trace into internal buffer [Trace].

    + add macros/shifts.rc, which implements left/right shifting of
      words in the current line to align with the cursor.

    Other Changes:

    + modify color support in xvile to allow the pre-8.3s color scheme
      as a special case:  setting bcolor to fcolor makes xvile use the
      bcolorN resources on syntax-highlighted text rather than the color
      selected by bcolor (which is actually taken from the fcolorN
      resource in this case).

    + added pushd, popd, dirs commands with accompanying [DirStack].

-------------------------------
$Header: /usr/build/vile/vile/RCS/README,v 1.84 2000/11/04 12:14:23 tom Exp $
-------------------------------
