To:	The Amiga public.
From:	Mike Rieser	(riesermc@mentor.cc.purdue.edu)

I would like to express my thanks and appreciation for the fine work
Steve Kirkendall has done on the Elvis program.  Any thanks for it's
many working features should be expressed to him first.

Thanks Steve!

Sincerely,
Mike Rieser

Compiling The Amiga version of Elvis was done using Manx Aztec C 5.2b.

For the port to AmigaDOS 2.04, I tried to use as many Native AmigaDOS
calls as I could.  This should increase Elvis's chances at being
compiled with other compilers.  DICE seems to have a different default
char type.  You may need to use the UCHAR() macro in tio.c.

For the port to AmigaDOS 1.3, I tried to make sure the program was at
least usable.  Many features are missing, most notably running commands
in subshells.  Also, what I could get working, I used Aztec functions to
support them, so this part is a little more compiler dependent.

Aztec is compatible with the SAS libcall #pragma.  I personally prefer
using the includes that come from Commodore over the ones supplied with
Aztec, but for people with a straight Aztec installation, I went with
the default names for the Aztec pragmas.

One include you'll need is <sys/types.h> its a common include when
porting software just make yourself one.  Its a two line file that saves
a lot of hassle especially in the elvis source.  So, make a directory
where your includes are located called `sys' and in a file below that
type:
	 /* sys/types.h */
	 #include <exec/types.h>

When setting environment variables (either local or global) for
variables that specify a directory, make sure the variable ends in `:'
or `/'.  This saved from having to change much of the way elvis works.
The default if TEMP and TMP aren't specified is "T:".  The default if
HOME is not specified is "S:".

Under AmigaDOS 2.04 I have been able to support all documented features
of Elvis.  Under AmigaDOS 1.3 Elvis works, but is missing some of the
more sophisticated features.

Under both version of AmigaDOS the following features are supported:

	Elvis is clean of Enforcer hits.

	Elvis supports Global environment variables.

	Elvis works as a line editor and can read script files when
	named ex. (Needs testing.)

	Elvis supports most vi .exrc definitions, put them in elvis.rc
	in either s: or your HOME directory

	Elvis READONLY works for -r--d files, and when Elvis is named
	view.

	Elvis uses an internal TERMCAP entry by default.

	Elvis supports user defined TERM and TERMCAP environment
	variables.

	Elvis supports window resizing.

	Elvis works over an AUX: port, and has an internal TERM vt100-80
	for this purpose.

	Elvis supports Function keys and Arrow keys.

	Elvis supports shifted Arrow Keys, and shifted Function keys
	too.

	Elvis can be told where to put its temp files via TMP or TEMP
	environment variables.

	Elvis can use any user defined shell. (csh, ksh, conman, etc)

	Elvis makes writes of no larger than 256 bytes to the
	console.device to prevent problems accompanying large writes.

	Elvis also turns off the cursor to speed output.


Under AmigaDOS 2.04 the following features are supported:

	Elvis can be run. (ex.  Run Elvis s:startup-sequence)

	Elvis supports filters via PIPE:.  Elvis multitasks and runs
	programs Asynch.

	Elvis supports Local environment variables.

	Elvis supports tag lookup using an external tag program called ref.

	Elvis command line supports AmigaDOS regular expression and `*'
	wildcards via calls to MatchFirst, MatchNext.

	Elvis preserves file protection bits (eg s-rw--).

	Elvis will support 101 key keyboards.

Elvis requires more than the standard 4000 byte stack.  A stack of
10,000 bytes should be adequate.

Elvis has two support programs that notice and recover files from its
temporary files: elvprsv and elvrec.  By default Elvis uses T: for its
temporary file, but most people have T:  assigned to RAM:T.  Not very
useful if the system reboots, since files in this area are not
recoverable after a system crash.  And if you assign this to a hard
drive, you run the risk of corrupting your drive if the system resets
during a write operation.  Based on this, you may want to change the
$TEMP variable to use a recoverable area such as RAD: or VD0:.  There
is no problem with using RAM:T other than you won't be able to recover
changes to a file. Remember Elvis doesn't rewrite or delete the
original file until you tell it.  So, even if a crash occurs all you
should lose are the in memory changes, not the original file.

All this talk of system crashes is not to be taken that Elvis is
buggy.  Only, that since it is an editor it is prone to being used by
developers who do occasionly crash their machine while debugging
programs.

Sincerely,
Mike Rieser

PS I hope you enjoy using Elvis, and if any bugs are found peculiar to
the AmigaDOS port, please notify me via e-mail.

riesermc@mentor.cc.purdue.edu 
or
2410 Happy Hollow Rd, Apt D-10
West Lafayette, IN 47906-1722