From: mgfrank@avernus.com (Marc G. Frank)
Subject: Re: IS UNIX DEAD?
Organization: Maryland Appreciation Society
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 21:20:13 GMT

In article <BxGu2H.A62@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> papresco@napier.uwaterloo.ca (Paul Prescod) writes:
>Why is it, in VI if I try to save a file without a name it doesn't prompt
>me for a name?  Instead it kicks me back to vi.  Or if I try to quit without
>saving.  Why doesn't it ask me "Save y/n."  There is no reason VI couldn't
>have an "expert" mode that got rid of messages for those that don't want
>them.

Because that's not how vi works.  But if you don't like it, get elvis
and *change* it.  That's what the source is for.  How come I can't quit
WordPerfect without it asking me if I'm really really really really sure
I want to quit, even though I clearly typed the quit key?  How come I
can't supress that behavior?  Where can I get the WP source so I can fix
it?

>Why is it, in VI that there is no way (I know of) to get help, or exit,
>without knowing the exit key?  What doesn't "h" in command mode present
>ANY kind of help?

Why can't I quit QEdit or MS-DOS 5 edit or WordPerfect or Windows
without knowing the exit key?  How come I can't get the computer to work
if I don't turn it on?  What the hell am I supposed to do if I can't
find the switch?  I could call tech support, but I don't know how to
dial a phone!

>Why is it, in RN that when I hit 'h' to ask about how to find a command,
>it doesn't give me a menu "message read commands","post commands" "misc
>commands."  Instead it makes me read two pages of (mostly useless) commands.

Because that way you don't have to waste keystrokes going through
useless menus when all the available options can be displayed on a
couple of pages, which you can abort as soon as you find the key you're
looking for.

>Why don't Unix "tools" have a convention about help and exit keys AT THE
>VERY LEAST.  

UNIX "tools" aren't even supposed to be interactive.

>Where am I supposd to get help about VI?  The man pages tell me nothing
>except how to load it.

Well, if you're the bookish sort you could get Linda Lamb's excellent
book *Learning the vi Editor*, a Nutshell Handbook published by O'Reilly
& Associates.

If you're not, you could always ask someone.

>Why do I have 12 function keys on my keyboard that seem to do absolutely
>nothing?

Because you haven't bothered to program them yet?

>Why doesn't help do anything in SH (and others).

Answer 1: Because that's what "man" is for.
Answer 2: In bash:

11:51:32 mgfrank [1/2048] ~ $help if
if: if COMMANDS; then COMMANDS; [else COMMANDS;] fi
    `if' executes the `then' COMMANDS only if the final command in the
    `if' COMMANDS has an exit status of zero.
11:51:39 mgfrank [2/2049] ~ $

>Why doesn't help do anything in VI?

For the same reason that :q! doesn't exit the file without saving in
Microsoft Word.

>Why does VI default to beeping at you when you try to type as opposed to
>editing?

For the same reason that WordPerfect inserts characters when I try to
move the cursor back with h.

HINT: Because they aren't the same program.


>Why is it that if I want to WordProcess in VI I have to remember to hit return at the end of the line otherwise bizarre things happen.  Why not just wrap, beep, or slide over (i.e. let the line go long). 

Because you didn't turn wordwrap on?

>Is there a wordwrap mode in VI?  And if so, why doesn't it kick in when I
>use VI from RN?

Because you didn't bother putting "set wrapmargin=8" in your .exrc?

--
Marc G. Frank                          Gee, Canada's sure looking good right
mgfrank@avernus.com                    about now, isn't it?
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions