> From: A.Sloman@computer-science.birmingham.ac.uk
>
> > ..or you can strip the special characters on a file by file basis. I
> > have the following shell script to do this:
> >
> > #! /bin/csh -f
> > basepop11 %noinit $popliblib/stripvedfile $*
> >
> > Although this does mean starting up a Poplog process each time you need
> > to strip a file.
>
> But then ved_indexify no longer works sensibly on the file if it uses
> the new style headers.
Oh yes it does.... (at least from V14.51 it does --- I don't have access
to an earlier Poplog, but I'm pretty sure it always has).
.... and if it didn't, so what. If you have access to ved_indexify you're
in VED and can view the documentation with attributes anyway.
> I don't want to have two complete sets of online documentation: one with
> the new format for VED users and one stripped for Emacs users.
The ideal solution is, of course, to have a proper editor API for Poplog
(Nobody that I know of disagrees with the idea --- it's just a
time/people/resources issue. With the number of emacs dudes out there
who don't want to retrain I personally think it should be moved up the
hierarchy of priorities a bit.)
Failing that what is wrong with doing it on an as-you-need-it basis as I
suggested previously (apart from having to start up a Poplog process
each time you want to strip a file)? Surely it cannot be too difficult
to tack stripvedfile into whatever currently reads the Poplog
documentation in emacs!
> The old format worked fine despite its aesthetic inelegance!
>
> I think it is always a mistake to put scarce effort into enhancing
> cosmetics that add no real functionality.
Depends on where you draw the line between cosmetics and functionality.
I've had lots of people say how nice all the new features are, eg being
able to colourise/emphasise comments.
Adrian
aids (adrianh@cogs.susx.ac.uk) ObDisclamer: Poplog used to pay my wages
Phone: +44 (0)1273 678367 URL: http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/adrianh/
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