From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 17:28:35 +0200
From: Elliott.Hughes@genedata.com Elliott.Hughes@genedata.com
Subject: [9fans] using sam
Topicbox-Message-UUID: 7c9623bc-eac8-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025
Message-ID: <19980822152835.oUIouRcbp_g8P7zlpoRv0iXK8qqSfR5Bgc30glfN5r4@z>


> The mouse paradigm works really well when I want to do
> something that involves selecting arbitrary blocks of
> text, but I find that I keep having to reach for the mouse
> when I want do simple things like move the cursor, which I
> find slows down my editing.

It was easy to add the left and right cursor keys to acme. forsyth
had a problem with this (and reckoned that rob did too) but I didn't
much care. When others asked me for this, I added it. It turned
out that I didn't use it much myself. Now I use wily (which has
cursor keys by default) I find I cursor about a bit more. I can't
fully explain this discrepancy.

> Cut and paste is a bit more tedious than just using vi in
> combination with X's swipe and paste with middle button.
> I guess I am looking for an 'insert highlighted text at
> cursor' key or menu option.

What you really want is acme's chorded cut & paste. It's the One
True Way. Didn't Plan 9 sam have this? 8.5 did, I'm sure.

> Perhaps I should be leaving myself in the sam window more?

Try acme. I used to have my profile start acme rather than 8.5, and
would only quit to use mothra or 5s ;-)

> Once there, I find I frequently have trouble getting it to accept
> commands. Half the time it just accepts my command as text to be
> stored in the buffer, so somehow I need a quick way of getting my
> cursor to the end of the buffer where presumably commands will be
> accepted (preferably without more mouse reaching)...

There's the "Send" command on the menu. Write your command
where you like, select it and "Send". Or select it using button 3 in
acme.

> Is all of this normal behaviour, or is there a problem with
> my sam setup?

It's all fairly normal. sam and acme both require a certain amount
of "user adjustment" (as does much of Plan 9) but, at least for
acme, it's certainly worth it. I couldn't live without wily on Unix
having gotten used to acme on Plan 9. Never really had much
time for sam, but then I never explored structural regexps which
were, I suppose, it's real advantage.

-- 
http://users.ch.genedata.com/~enh/