vpehelp.hlp

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	º	ON-LINE HELP FOR COMMAND MODE TOPICS       º
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EXIT		Save text and exit VEDIT
SAVE		Save text and continue editing
QUIT		Quit - DO NOT save any edit changes

DIR		Display disk directory
NEW		Begin editing a new file
LOOK		Look at another file with line numbers
GET		Get (insert) a line range of another file
MERGE		Merge two or more files together
SPLIT		Split a file into two or more separate files
DOS		Execute DOS commands or programs
MEMORY		Make more memory space free
RECOVER		Recover from disk full errors

More help on common editing tasks in available in Visual Mode using the
[HELP] function.  After [HELP] press RETURN several times until you see the
menu of help topics.

Type the word on the left side for help on above topics: 

\EXIT\

When you are done editing your file and want to exit VEDIT, give the command:

EX	Saves the entire file on disk.  If you were only editing one file it
	also returns to DOS.  Otherwise it switches to another active edit
	buffer.

	This command is equivalent to [FILE]-Exit.

If you were simultaneously editing several files, you can save all of the
files and exit back to DOS with the command:

EXA	Saves all files being edited and returns to DOS.

\QUIT\

Sometimes you will want to quit the editing and NOT SAVE any edit changes.
This may be because you were only examining the file and want to return to
the operating system as quickly as possible.  Or perhaps you made a big
editing mistake (like erasing the entire text) and want to "forget" these
unwanted changes and start over.  The command is:

EQ	Quit VEDIT PLUS and DO NOT SAVE any edit changes.  You are prompted
	for confirmation.  If you were only editing one file it will also
	exit back to the operation system.  Otherwise it will switch to
	another active edit buffer.  The command "EQA" quits ALL files and
	returns to the operating system without saving anything.

	This command is equivalent to [FILE]-Quit.

The "EQ" command quits the "edit session" and does not save any edit changes
made to the file from the time you began editing it or since the last "EA"
command or [FILE]-Save operation.

To quit the edit session just like "EQ", but remain in VEDIT PLUS (and in the
current edit buffer) use the "EZ" command instead.

\SAVE\

You should make it a habit to regularly save your text on disk during a long
edit session.  This way you won't lose all of your work in case of a power or
hardware failure or a major editing mistake on your part.  The command is:

EA	Saves the file being edited on disk and allows further editing to
	continue.  All text registers, text markers and the current editing
	position are preserved.

	This command is equivalent to [FILE]-Save.

\DIR\

The "ED" command is similar to the DOS "DIR" command.

Examples:

ED			Display the directory of the current drive.

ED \USER\		Display the directory of all files in the subdirectory
			\USER\ on the current drive.

ED B:			Display the directory of all files on drive B.

ED A:*.ASM		Display the directory of all files with extension
			".ASM" on drive A.

To see the sizes and creation dates of the files run the MS-DOS "DIR" command
from within VEDIT PLUS.  For example:

OC DIR *.TXT		Use MS-DOS "DIR" command from inside VEDIT PLUS.

\NEW\

After you are done editing one file, you can easily begin editing another
file with the following commands:

EY		This saves the current file on disk in the same way that the
		EX command does.  The difference is that you remain in VEDIT
		PLUS.

EB newfile.txt	The "EB" command is followed by the name of the file you now
		want to edit.  This can be a file which already exists, or a
		file you want to create.

The [FILE]-New function is equivalent to an "EY" followed by an "EB".

Alternatively, you can simultaneously edit additional files by using the
"EE" and "EB" commands.  In this case you may want to save all of your files
and exit VEDIT PLUS with the command "EXA".

\LOOK\

It is often desirable to look at all or a portion of another file.  The
command to look at another file is "EL" and is similar to the DOS "TYPE"
command.  However, "EL" also displays line numbers so that you can
subsequently insert a line range of another file into the file you are
editing.  You can look at all or a portion of another file:

EL myfile.txt		Display the file "myfile.txt" starting with line
			number one.

EL myfile.txt[n,m]	Display the file "myfile.txt" starting with line
			number 'n' and ending with line number 'm'.  This
			lets you zero in on the desired lines without
			displaying the entire file.

Example:

EL VVHELP.HLP[35,60]	Display lines 35 through 60 of one of the help files.

To print the file with line numbers, precede the "EL" with a "YP":

YP EL VVHELP.HLP	Print out the help file with line numbers.

\GET\

You can easily insert a portion of another file into the file you are
editing.  This inserted portion might be a paragraph you previously wrote or
a programmer's subroutine.  The command is "EG file[n,m]" where 'file' is the
file containing the text to be inserted, 'n' is the number of the first line
to insert and 'm' is the number of the last line.

Use the "EL" command to display a file with line numbers if you don't yet
know which lines you want to insert.

Example:

EG VVHELP.HLP[35,60]	Insert lines 35 through 60 of the file VVHELP.HLP
			into the file being edited at the edit pointer
			(cursor) position.

EG VVHELP.HLP		Insert the entire file VVHELP.HLP into the file being
			edited.

\MERGE\

It is quite easy to merge two files together, i.e. append one file to the end
of the file being edited.  Here are the commands:

_Z		Position edit pointer (cursor) to end of file being edited.

ER part2	Setup to append the file "part2" to the current file.
0A		Append all of the file, or as much as will fit right now.

V		Enter Visual Mode so that you can edit the file you just
		appended.

EX		Exit and save the file.  If all of "part2" wasn't appended
		yet, this will append the rest of it.

You can also merge files in other ways - you can merge two files and make a
new file, or insert a file into the middle of another file.  The text
registers can also be used for more complex merging tasks. See "Merging
files" in the Manual's index for more information.

\SPLIT\

A large file can be split into two or more smaller files.  For example, you
could split "BIGFILE" into "PART1" and "PART2", without changing "BIGFILE".
Since you must invoke VEDIT PLUS properly to do this, you may have to exit
VEDIT PLUS first (use EX command).  Then give the following commands:

VPLUS			Invoke VEDIT PLUS without any file names.

ER BIGFILE		Setup to read "BIGFILE" into memory.

EW PART1		"PART1" is the first part to be written.

V			Enter Visual Mode and position the cursor on the
			first character for the file "PART2" (i.e. position
			the cursor just past the end of "PART1").

0W EF			Save the first part of the text on disk in the file
			"PART1".  In detail "0W" writes the text to disk and
			"EF" closes/saves this text in "PART1".

EW PART2		"PART2" is the second part to be written.

EX			Exit VEDIT PLUS, saving the rest of the text in the
			file "PART2".
\DOS\

The two commands "OC" and "OS" allow accessing DOS commands and programs
from within VEDIT PLUS.  "OC" executes a single DOS command or program and
returns to VEDIT PLUS.  "OS" enters DOS for as long as you wish, yet lets
you return to VEDIT PLUS at any time.

Examples:

OC DIR *.TXT	Use the DOS "DIR" command to display a directory of all
		".TXT" files.

OC CC PROGRAM	Run the C compiler "CC" on the program "PROGRAM".

OS		Temporarily enter DOS.  Give the MS-DOS command "EXIT"
		to return to VEDIT PLUS.

		BE SURE TO RETURN TO VEDIT PLUS if you need to save any
		files!  "OS" does not save your files.  It easy to enter
		DOS, forget you are still in VEDIT PLUS and turn off the
		computer!

\MEMORY\

When using the text registers extensively, you may run out of memory space
for performing the desired operations.  This is indicated by a "FULL" message
in Visual Mode or a "*BREAK*" in Command Mode.  First try and empty any text
registers which are no longer needed.  If this does not give you enough
space, you can write some of the text in memory back to disk.

The easiest way to write some of the text back to disk is with the "nEN"
command which will free 'n' bytes in the edit buffer (if possible).

Example:
		You got a "FULL" message when you tried to insert a text
		register containing 12000 characters.  You can give the
		following command and try the operation again:

12000EN		Frees 12000 bytes in the current edit buffer (if possible)
		by writing some text back to disk.  However, no text
		within 2000 bytes of the edit pointer is written.

The "EN" command is a useful combination of the "W" and "-W" commands. You
can also give explicit "W" and "-W" commands to make more memory free.


\RECOVER\  At times, especially if you are using floppy disks, you may run
out of disk space while editing.  This is indicated by the errors "NO DISK
SPACE" or "NO DIR SPACE".  Most often you can simply delete some unused
files.  First use the "ED" command to display a directory of all files.  Then
use the "EK" (kill) command to erase one or more files.  Often, ".BAK" backup
files can be erased.  In a pinch you can delete the VPLUS.COM file.  NEVER
erase any ".$$$" or "$R$" files from within VEDIT PLUS! Last re-issue the
command, typically "EX", "EY" or [FILE]-Exit, which resulted in the error.

Example:

ED			Display directory of all files on current drive.

EK *.BAK		Erase (kill) all ".BAK" files.  This makes more disk
			space available.

EX			Issue the "EX" command again to save the file being
			edited on disk and exit VEDIT.

If the "EK" command cannot make enough disk space free, refer to the manual
under "Disk full error recovery" for more information.

\