1 TTYIN - A DISPLAY TYPEIN EDITOR
TTYIN is an Interlisp function for reading input from the terminal. It
features altmode completion, spelling correction, help facility, and fancy
editing, and can also serve as a glorified free text input function. This
document is divided into two major sections: how to use TTYIN from the
user's point of view, and from the programmer's.
TTYIN exists in implementations for Interlisp-10 and Interlisp-D. The two
are substantially compatible, but the capabilities of the two systems
differ (Interlisp-D has a more powerful display and allows greater access
to the system primitives needed to control it effectively; it also has a
mouse, greatly reducing the need for keyboard-oriented editing commands).
Descriptions of both are included in this document for completeness, but
Interlisp-D users may find large sections irrelevant.
1.1 Entering Input With TTYIN
There are two major ways of using TTYIN: (1) set LISPXREADFN to TTYIN, so
the LISPX executive uses it to obtain input, and (2) call TTYIN from within
a program to gather text input. Mostly the same rules apply to both;
places where it makes a difference are mentioned below.
The following characters may be used to edit your input, independent of
what kind of terminal you are on. The more TTYIN knows about your
terminal, of course, the nicer some of these will behave. Some functions
are performed by one of several characters; any character that you happen
to have assigned as an interrupt character will, of couse, not be read by
TTYIN. There is a (somewhat inelegant) way of changing which characters
perform which functions, described under TTYINREADMACROS later on.
↑A, BS, DELETEDeletes a character. At the start of the second or
subsequent lines of your input, deletes the last character of the
previous line.
↑WDeletes a "word". Generally this means back to the last space or
parenthesis.
↑Q (↑U for Tops20 users)Deletes the current line, or if the current
line is blank, deletes the previous line.
↑RRefreshes the current line. Two in a row refreshes the whole buffer
(when doing multi-line input).
ESCAPETries to complete the current word from the spelling list
provided to TTYIN, if any. In the case of ambiguity, completes as far
as is uniquely determined, or rings the bell. For LISPX input, the
spelling list may be USERWORDS (see discussion of TTYINCOMPLETEFLG,
page X.XX).
Interlisp-10 only: If no spelling list was provided, but the word
begins with a "<", tries directory name completion (or filename
completion if there is already a matching ">" in the current word).
?If typed in the middle of a word will supply alternative completions
from the SPLST argument to TTYIN (if any). ?ACTIVATEFLG (page X.XX)
must be true to enable this feature.
↑FSumex, Tops20 only: Invokes GTJFN for filename completion on the
current "word".
↑YEscapes to a Lisp userexec, from which you may return by the command
OK. However, when in READ mode and the buffer is non-empty, ↑Y is
treated as Lisp's unquote macro instead, so you have to use edit-↑Y
(below) to invoke the userexec.
<middle-blank> in Interlisp-D, LF in Interlisp-10Retrieves characters
from the previous non-empty buffer when it is able to; e.g., when typed
at the beginning of the line this command restores the previous line
you typed at TTYIN; when typed in the middle of a line fills in the
remaining text from the old line; when typed following ↑Q or ↑W
restores what those commands erased.
;If typed as the first character of the line means the line is a
comment; it is ignored, and TTYIN loops back for more input.
↑XGoes to the end of your input (or end of expression if there is an
excess right parenthesis) and returns if parentheses are balanced,
beeps if not. Currently implemented in Interlisp-D only.
During most kinds of input, TTYIN is in "autofill" mode: if a space is
typed near the right margin, a carriage return is simulated to start a new
line. In fact, on cursor-addressable displays, lines are always broken, if
possible, so that no word straddles the end of the line. The
"pseudo-carriage return" ending the line is still read as a space, however;
i.e., the program keeps track of whether a line ends in a carriage return
or is merely broken at some convenient point. You won't get carriage
returns in your strings unless you explicitly type them.
1.2 Mouse Commands [Interlisp-D Only]
The mouse buttons are interpreted as follows during TTYIN input:
LEFTMoves the caret to where the cursor is pointing. As you hold down
LEFT, the caret moves around with the cursor; after you let up, any
typein will be inserted at the new position.
MIDDLELike LEFT, but moves only to word boundaries.
RIGHTDeletes text from the caret to the cursor, either forward or
backward. While you hold down RIGHT, the text to be deleted is
complemented; when you let up, the text actually goes away. If you let
up outside the scope of the text, nothing is killed (this is how to
"cancel" the command). This is roughly the same as CTRL-RIGHT with no
initial selection (below).
If you hold down CTRL and/or SHIFT while pressing the mouse buttons, you
instead get secondary selection, move selection or delete selection. You
make a selection by bugging LEFT (to select a character) or MIDDLE (to
select a word), and optionally extend the selection either left or right
using RIGHT. While you are doing this, the caret does not move, but your
selected text is highlighted in a manner indicating what is about to
happen. When you have made your selection (all mouse buttons up now), lift
up on CTRL and/or SHIFT and the action you have selected will occur, which
is:
SHIFTThe selected text as typein at the caret. The text is highlighted
with a broken underline during selection.
CTRLDelete the selected text. The text is complemented during
selection.
CTRL-SHIFTCombines the above: delete the selected text and insert it at
the caret. This is how you move text about.
You can cancel a selection in progress by pressing LEFT or MIDDLE as if to
select, and moving outside the range of the text.
The most recent text deleted by mouse command can be inserted at the caret
by typing <middle-blank> (the same key that retrieves the previous buffer
when issued at the end of a line).
1.3 Display Editing Commands
On edit-key terminals (Datamedia): In Interlisp-10, TTYIN reads from the
terminal in binary mode, allowing many more editing commands via the edit
key, in the style of TVEDIT commands. Note that due to Tenex's unfortunate
way of handling typeahead, it is not possible to type ahead edit commands
before TTYIN has started (i.e., before its prompt appears), because the
edit bit will be thrown away. Also, since ESCAPE has numerous other
meanings in Lisp and even in TTYIN (for completion), ESCAPE is not used as
a substitute for the edit key.
In Interlisp-D: Users will probably have little use for most of these
commands, as cursor positioning can often be done more conveniently, and
certainly more obviously, with the mouse. Nevertheless, some commands,
such as the case changing commands, can be useful. The <bottom-blank> key
can be used as an edit (meta) key in Chorus and subsequent releases if you
perform (TTYINMETA T). This calls (METASHIFT T) to enable the meta key,
redefines the middle and top blank keys, and informs TTYIN that you want to
use them. Alternatively, you can use the EDITPREFIXCHAR (by default on
<top-blank>) as described in the next paragraph.
On edit-keyless display terminals (Heath): If you want to type any of these
commands, you need to prefix them with the "edit prefix" character. Set
the variable EDITPREFIXCHAR to the character code of the desired prefix
char. Type the edit prefix twice to give an "edit-ESCAPE" command. Some
users of the TENEX TVEDIT program like to make ESCAPE (33Q) be the edit
prefix, but this makes it somewhat awkward to ever use escape completion.
On edit-keyless hardcopy terminals: You probably want to ignore this
section, since you won't be able to see what's going on when you issure
edit commands; there is no attempt made to echo anything reasonable.
In the descriptions below, "current word" means the word the cursor is
under, or if under a space, the previous word. Currently parentheses are
treated as spaces, which is usually what you want, but can occasionally
cause confusion in the word deletion commands. The notation [CHAR] means
edit-CHAR, if you have an edit key, or <editprefixchar> CHAR if you don't;
$ = escape. Most commands can be preceded by numbers or escape (means
infinity), only the first of which requires the edit key (or the edit
prefix). Some commands also accept negative arguments, but some only look
at the magnitude of the arg. Most of these commands are taken from the
display editors TVEDIT and/or E, and are confined to work within one line
of text unless otherwise noted.
Cursor Movement Commands:
[delete], [bs], [<]Back up one (or n) characters.
[space], [>]Move forward one (or n) characters.
[↑]Moves up one (or n) lines.
[lf]Moves down one (or n) lines.
[(]Move back one (or n) words.
[)]Move ahead one (or n) words.
[tab]Moves to end of line; with an argument moves to nth end of line;
[$tab] goes to end of buffer.
[↑L]Moves to start of line (or nth previous, or start of buffer).
[{] and [}]Go to start and end of buffer, respectively (like [$↑L] and
[$tab]).
[ [ ] (edit-left-bracket)Moves to beginning of the current list, where
cursor is currently under an element of that list or its closing paren.
(See also the auto-parenthesis-matching feature below under "Flags".)
[ ] ] (edit-right-bracket)Moves to end of current list.
[Sx]Skips ahead to next (or nth) occurrence of character x, or rings
the bell.
[Bx]Backward search, i.e., short for [-S] or [-nS].
Buffer Modification Commands:
[Zx]Zaps characters from cursor to next (or nth) occurrence of x.
There is no unzap command yet.
[A] or [R]Repeat the last S, B or Z command, regardless of any
intervening input (note this differs from Tvedit's A command).
[K]Kills the character under the cursor, or n chars starting at the
cursor.
[I]Begin inserting. Exit insert with any edit command. Characters you
type will be inserted, rather than overwriting the existing text. If
EMACSFLG (page X.XX) is true (default in Interlisp-D), you are always
in insert mode, and this command is a noop.
Inserting <cr> behaves slightly different from in tvedit. The sequence
[I<cr>] behaves as in TVEDIT; it inserts a blank line ahead of the
cursor. <cr> typed any other time while in insert mode actually
inserts a <cr>, behaving somewhat like TVEDIT's [B]. [$I] is the same
as [I<cr>].
[cr]When the buffer is empty is the same as <lf>, i.e. restores
buffer's previous contents. Otherwise is just like a <cr> (except that
it also terminates an insert). Thus, [<cr><cr>] will repeat the
previous input (as will <lf><cr> without the edit key).
[O]Does "Open line", inserting a crlf after the cursor, i.e., it breaks
the line but leaves the cursor where it is.
[T]Transposes the characters before and after the cursor. When typed
at the end of a line, transposes the previous two characters. Refuses
to handle funny cases, such as tabs.
[G]Grabs the contents of the previous line from the cursor position
onward. [nG] grabs the nth previous line.
[L]Lowercases current word, or n words on line. [$L] lowercases the
rest of the line, or if given at the end of line lowercases the entire
line.
[U]Uppercases analogously.
[C]Capitalize. If you give it an argument, only the first word is
capitalized; the rest are just lowercased.
[↑Q]Deletes the current line. [$↑Q] deletes from the current cursor
position to the end of the buffer. No other arguments are handled.
[↑W]Deletes the current word, or the previous word if sitting on a
space.
[D<del>] and [D<cr>]Are the same as [↑W] and [↑Q], for approximate
compatibility with TVEDIT.
[J]"Justify" this line. This will break it if it is too long, or move
words up from the next line if too short. Will not join to an empty
line, or one starting with a tab (both of which are interpreted as
paragraph breaks). Any new line breaks it introduces are considered
spaces, not carriage returns. [nJ] justifies n lines.
The linelength is defined as TTYJUSTLENGTH, ignoring any prompt
characters at the margin. If TTYJUSTLENGTH is negative, it is
interpreted as relative to the right margin. TTYJUSTLENGTH is
initially 8 in Interlisp-D, 72 in Interlisp-10.
[$F]"Finishes" the input, regardless of where the cursor is.
Specifically, it goes to the end of the input and enters a <cr>, ↑Z or
"]", depending on whether normal, REPEAT or READ input is happening.
Note that a "]" won't necessarily end a READ, but it seems likely to in
most cases where you would be inclined to use this command, and makes
for more predictable behavior.
Miscellaneous Commands:
[P]Interlisp-D: Prettyprint buffer. Clears the buffer and reprints it
using prettyprint. If there are not enough right parentheses, it will
supply more; if there are too many, any excess remains unprettyprinted
at the end of the buffer. May refuse to do anything if there is an
unclosed string or other error trying to read the buffer.
[N]Refresh line. Same as ↑R. [$N] refreshes the whole buffer; [nN]
refreshes n lines. Cursor movement in TTYIN depends on TTYIN being the
only source of output to the screen; if you do a ↑T, or a system
message appears, or line noise occurs, you may need to refresh the line
for best results. In Interlisp-10, if for some reason your terminal
falls out of binary mode (e.g. can happen when returning to a Lisp
running in a lower fork), Edit-<anything> is unreadable, so you'd have
to type ↑R instead.
[↑Y]Gets userexec. Thus, this is like regular ↑Y, except when doing a
READ (when ↑Y is a read macro and hence does not invoke this function).
[$↑Y]Gets a userexec, but first unreads the contents of the buffer from
the cursor onward. Thus if you typed at TTYIN something destined for
the Lisp executive, you can do [↑L$↑Y] and give it to Lisp.
[←]Adds the current word to the spelling list USERWORDS. With zero
arg, removes word. See TTYINCOMPLETEFLG (page X.XX).
Note to Datamedia, Heath users: In addition to simple cursor movement
commands and insert/delete, TTYIN uses the display's cursor-addressing
capability to optimize cursor movements longer than a few characters, e.g.
[tab] to go to the end of the line. In order to be able to address the
cursor, TTYIN has to know where it is to begin with. Lisp keeps track of
the current print position within the line, but does not keep track of the
line on the screen (in fact, it knows precious little about displays, much
like Tenex). Thus, TTYIN establishes where it is by forcing the cursor to
appear on the last line of the screen. Ordinarily this is the case anyway
(except possibly on startup), but if the cursor happens to be only halfway
down the screen at the time, there is a possibly unsettling leap of the
cursor when TTYIN starts.
1.4 Using TTYIN for Lisp Input
When TTYIN is loaded, or a sysout containing TTYIN is started up, the
function SETREADFN is called. If the terminal is a display, it sets
LISPXREADFN to be TTYINREAD; if the terminal is non-display, SETREADFN will
set the variable back to READ. (SETREADFN 'READ) will also set it back to
READ.
There are two principal differences between TTYINREAD and READ: (1)
parenthesis balancing. The input does not activate on an exactly balancing
right paren/bracket unless the input started with a paren/bracket, e.g.,
"USE (FOO) FOR (FIE)" will all be on one line, terminated by <cr>; and (2)
read macros.
In Interlisp-10, TTYIN does not use a read table (TTYIN behaves as though
using the default initial Lisp terminal input readtable), so read macros
and redefinition of syntax characters are not supported; however, " ' "
(QUOTE) and "↑Y" (EVAL) are built in, and a simple implementation of ? and
?= is supplied. Also, the TTYINREADMACROS facility described below can
supply some of the functionality of immediate read macros in the editor.
In Interlisp-D, read macros are (mostly) supported. Immediate read macros
take effect only if typed at the end of the input (it's not clear what
their semantics should be elsewhere).
1.5 Useful Macros
There are two useful edit macros that allow you to use TTYIN as a character
editor: (1) ED loads the current expression into the ttyin buffer to be
edited (this is good for editing comments and strings). Input is
terminated in the usual way (by typing a balancing right parenthesis at the
end of the input, typing <cr> at the end of an already balanced expression,
or ↑X anywhere inside the balanced expression). Typing ↑E or clearing the
buffer aborts ED. (2) EE is like ED but prettyprints the expression into
the buffer, and uses its own window. The variable TTYINEDITPROMPT controls
what prompt, if any, EE uses; see prompt argument description in next
section (the initial setting is no prompt). EE is not yet implemented in
Interlisp-10.
The macro BUF loads the current expression into the buffer, preceded by E,
to be used as input however desired; as a trivial example, to evaluate the
current expression, BUF followed by a <cr> to activate the buffer will
perform roughly what the edit macro EVAL does. Of course, you can edit the
E to something else to make it an edit command.
BUF is also defined at the executive level as a programmer's assistant
command that loads the buffer with the VALUEOF the indicated event, to be
edited as desired.
TV is a programmer's assistant command like EV [EDITV] that performs an ED
on the value of the variable.
And finally, if the event is considered "short" enough, the programmer's
assistant command FIX will load the buffer with the event's input, rather
than calling the editor. If you really wanted the Interlisp editor for
your fix, you could either say FIX EVENT - TTY:, or type ↑U (or whatever on
tops20) once you got TTYIN's version to force you into the editor.
1.6 Programming With TTYIN
(TTYIN PROMPT SPLST HELP OPTIONS ECHOTOFILE TABS UNREADBUF RDTBL)
TTYIN prints PROMPT, then waits for input. The value returned in
the normal case is a list of all atoms on the line, with comma
and parens returned as individual atoms; OPTIONS may be used to
get a different kind of value back.
PROMPT is an atom or string (anything else is converted to a string). If
NIL, the value of DEFAULTPROMPT, initially "** ", will be used. If PROMPT
is T, no prompt will be given. PROMPT may also be a dotted pair (PROMPT1 .
PROMPT2), giving the prompt for the first and subsequent (or overflow)
lines, each prompt being a string/atom or NIL to denote absence of prompt.
Note that rebinding DEFAULTPROMPT gives a convenient way to affect all the
"ordinary" prompts in some program module.
SPLST is a spelling list, i.e., a list of atoms or dotted pairs (SYNONYM .
ROOT). If supplied, it is used to check and correct user responses, and to
provide completion if the user types ESCAPE. If SPLST is one of the Lisp
system spelling lists (e.g., USERWORDS or SPELLINGS3), words that are
escape-completed get moved to the front, just as if a FIXSPELL had found
them. Autocompletion is also performed when user types a break character
(cr, space, paren, etc), unless one of the "nofixspell" options below is
selected; i.e., if the word just typed would uniquely complete by ESCAPE,
TTYIN behaves as though ESCAPE had been typed.
HELP, if non-NIL, determines what happens when the user types ? or HELP.
If HELP = T, program prints back SPLST in suitable form. If HELP is any
other atom, or a string containing no spaces, it performs (DISPLAYHELP
HELP). Anything else is printed as is. If HELP is NIL, ? and HELP are
treated as any other atoms the user types. [DISPLAYHELP is a user-supplied
function, initially a noop; systems with a suitable HASH package, for
example, have defined it to display a piece of text from a hashfile
associated with the key HELP.]
OPTIONS is an atom or list of atoms chosen from among the following:
NOFIXSPELLUses SPLST for HELP and Escape completion, but does not
attempt any FIXSPELLing. Mainly useful if SPLST is incomplete
and the caller wants to handle corrections in a more flexible way
than a straight FIXSPELL.
MUSTAPPROVEDoes spelling correction, but requires confirmation.
CRCOMPLETERequires confirmation on spelling correction, but also
does autocompletion on <cr> (i.e. if what user has typed so far
uniquely identifies a member of SPLST, completes it). This
allows you to have the benefits of autocompletion and still allow
new words to be typed.
DIRECTORY(only if SPLST=NIL) Interprets Escape to mean directory
name completion [Interlisp-10 only].
USERLike DIRECTORY, but does username completion. This is
identical to DIRECTORY under Tenex [Interlisp-10 only].
FILE(only if SPLST=NIL) Interprets Escape to mean filename
completion, i.e. does a GTJFN [Sumex and Tops20 only].
FIXIf response is not on, or does not correct to, SPLST,
interacts with user until an acceptable response is entered. A
blank line (returning NIL) is always accepted. Note that if you
are willing to accept responses that are not on SPLST, you
probably should specify one of the options NOXFISPELL,
MUSTAPPROVE or CRCOMPLETE, lest the user's new response get
FIXSPELLed away without their approval.
STRINGLine is read as a string, rather than list of atoms. Good
for free text.
NORAISEDoes not convert lower case letters to upper case.
NOVALUEFor use principally with the ECHOTOFILE arg (below). Does
not compute a value, but returns T if user typed anything, NIL if
just a blank line.
REPEATFor multi-line input. Repeatedly prompts until user types
↑Z (as in Tenex sndmsg). Returns one long list; with STRING
option returns a single string of everything typed, with carriage
returns (EOL) included in the string.
TEXTImplies REPEAT, NORAISE, and NOVALUE. Additionally, input
may be terminated with ↑V, in which case the global flag CTRLVFLG
will be set true (it is set to NIL on any other termination).
This flag may be utilized in any way the caller desires.
COMMANDOnly the first word on the line is treated as belonging to
SPLST, the remainder of the line being arbitrary text; i.e.,
"command format". If other options are supplied, COMMAND still
applies to the first word typed. Basically, it always returns
(CMD . REST-OF-INPUT), where REST-OF-INPUT is whatever the other
options dictate for the remainder. E.g. COMMAND NOVALUE returns
(CMD) or (CMD . T), depending on whether there was further
input; COMMAND STRING returns (CMD . "REST-OF-INPUT"). When
used with REPEAT, COMMAND is only in effect for the first line
typed; furthermore, if the first line consists solely of a
command, the REPEAT is ignored, i.e., the entire input is taken
to be just the command.
READParens, brackets, and quotes are treated a la READ, rather
than being returned as individual atoms. Control characters may
be input via the ↑Vx notation. Input is terminated roughly along
the lines of READ conventions: a balancing or over-balancing
right paren/bracket will activate the input, or <cr> when no
parenthesis remains unbalanced. READ overrides all other options
(except NORAISE).
LISPXREADLike READ, but implies that TTYIN should behave even
more like READ, i.e., do NORAISE, not be errorset-protected, etc.
NOPROMPTInterlisp-D only: The prompt argument is treated as
usual, except that TTYIN assumes that the prompt for the first
line has already been printed by the caller; the prompt for the
first line is thus used only when redisplaying the line.
ECHOTOFILE if specified, user's input is copied to this file, i.e., TTYIN
can be used as a simple text-to-file routine if NOVALUE is used. If
ECHOTOFILE is a list, copies to all files in the list. PROMPT is not
included on the file.
TABS is a special addition for tabular input. It is a list of tabstops
(numbers). When user types a tab, TTYIN automatically spaces over to the
next tabstop (thus the first tabstop is actually the second "column" of
input). Also treats specially the characters * and "; they echo normally,
and then automatically tab over.
UNREADBUF allows the caller to "preload" the TTYIN buffer with a line of
input. UNREADBUF is a list, the elements of which are unread into the
buffer (i.e., "the outer parentheses are stripped off") to be edited
further as desired; a simple <cr> (or ↑Z for REPEAT input) will thus cause
the buffer's contents to be returned unchanged. If doing READ input, the
"PRIN2 names" of the input list are used, i.e., quotes and %'s will appear
as needed; otherwise the buffer will look as though UNREADBUF had been
PRIN1'ed. UNREADBUF is treated somewhat like READBUF, so that if it
contains a pseudo-carriage return (the value of HISTSTR0), the input line
terminates there.
Input can also be unread from a file, using the HISTSTR1 format: UNREADBUF
= (<value of HISTSTR1> (FILE START . END)), where START and END are file
byte pointers. This makes TTYIN a miniature text file editor.
RDTBL [Interlisp-D only] is the read table to use for READing the input
when one of the READ options is given. A lot of character interpretations
are hardwired into TTYIN, so currently the only effect this has is in the
actual READ, and in deciding whether a character typed at the end of the
input is an immediate read macro, for purposes of termination.
If the global variable TYPEAHEADFLG is T, or option LISPXREAD is given,
TTYIN permits type-ahead; otherwise it clears the buffer before prompting
the user.
1.7 EE Interface
The following may be useful as a way of outsiders to call TTYIN as an
editor. These functions are currently only in Interlisp-D.
(TTYINEDIT EXPRS WINDOW PRINTFN)
This is the body of EE. Switches the tty to WINDOW, clears it,
prettyprints EXPRS, a list of expressions, into it, and leaves
you in TTYIN to edit it as Lisp input. Returns a new list of
expressions.
If PRINTFN is non-NIL, it is a function of two arguments, EXPRS
and FILE, which is called instead of PRETTYPRINT to print the
expressions to the window (actually a scratch file). Note that
EXPRS is a list, so normally the outer parentheses should not be
printed. PRINTFN=T is shorthand for "unpretty"; use PRIN2
instead of PRETTYPRINT.
TTYINAUTOCLOSEFLG
If TTYINAUTOCLOSEFLG is true, TTYINEDIT closes the window on
exit.
TTYINEDITWINDOW
If the WINDOW arg to TTYINEDIT is NIL, it uses the value of
TTYINEDITWINDOW, creating it if it does not yet exist.
TTYINPRINTFN
The default value for PRINTFN in EE's call to TTYINEDIT.
(SET.TTYINEDIT.WINDOW WINDOW)
Called under a RESETLST. Switches the tty to WINDOW (defaulted
as in TTYINEDIT) and clears it. The window's position is left so
that TTYIN will be happy with it if you now call TTYIN yourself.
Specifically, this means positioning an integral number of lines
from the bottom of the window, the way the top-level tty window
normally is.
(TTYIN.SCRATCHFILE)
Returns, possibly creating, the scratchfile that TTYIN uses for
prettyprinting its input. The file pointer is set to zero.
Since TTYIN does use this file, beware of multiple simultaneous
use of the file.
1.8 ?= Handler
In Interlisp, the ?= read macro displays the arguments to the function
currently "in progress" in the typein. Since TTYIN wants you to be able to
continue editing the buffer after a ?=, it processes this macro specially
on its own, printing the arguments below your typein and then putting the
cursor back where it was when ?= was typed. For users who want special
treatment of ?=, the following hook exists:
TTYIN?=FN
The value of this variable, if non-NIL, is a user function of one
argument that is called when ?= is typed. The argument is the
function that ?= thinks it is inside of. The user function
should return one of the following:
NILNormal ?= processing is performed.
TNothing is done. Presumably the user function has
done something privately, perhaps diddled some other
window, or called TTYIN.PRINTARGS (below).
a list (ARGS . STUFF)Treats STUFF as the argument
list of the function in question, and performs the
normal ?= processing using it.
anything elseThe value is printed in lieu of what ?=
normally prints.
At the time that ?= is typed, nothing has been "read" yet, so you
don't have the normal context you might expect inside a conventional
readmacro. If the user function wants to examine the typed-in arguments
being passed to the fn, however, it can perform (TTYIN.READ?=ARGS), which
bundles up everything between the function and the typing of ?= into a
list, which it returns (thus it parallels an arglist; NIL if ?= was typed
immediately after the function name).
(TTYIN.PRINTARGS FN ARGS ACTUALS ARGTYPE)
Does the function/argument printing for ?=. ARGS is an argument
list, ACTUALS is a list of actual parameters (from the typein) to
match up with args. ARGTYPE is a value of the function ARGTYPE;
it defaults to (ARGTYPE FN).
1.9 Read Macros
When doing READ input in Interlisp-10, no Lisp-style read macros are
available (but the ' and ↑Y macros are built in). Principally because of
the usefulness of the editor read macros (set by SETTERMCHARS), and the
desire for a way of changing the meanings of the display editing commands,
the following exists as a hack:
TTYINREADMACROS
Value is a set of shorthand inputs useable during READ input. It
is an alist of entries (CHARCODE . SYNONYM). If the user types
the indicated character (edit bit is denoted by the 200Q bit in
charcode), TTYIN behaves as though the synonym character had been
typed.
Special cases: 0 - the character is ignored; 200Q - pure Edit
bit; means to read another char and turn on its edit bit; 400Q -
macro quote: read another char and use its original meaning. For
example, if you have macros ((33Q . 200Q) (30Q . 33Q)), then
Escape (33Q) will behave as an edit prefix, and ↑X (30Q) will
behave like Escape. Note: currently, synonyms for edit commands
are not well-supported, working only when the command is typed
with no argument.
Slightly more powerful macros also can be supplied; they are
recognized when a character is typed on an empty line, i.e., as
the first thing after the prompt. In this case, the
TTYINREADMACROS entry is of the form (CHARCODE T . RESPONSE) or
(CHARCODE CONDITION . RESPONSE), where CONDITION is a list that
evaluates true. If RESPONSE is a list, it is EVALed; otherwise
it is left unevaluated. The result of this evaluation (or
RESPONSE itself) is treated as follows:
NILThe macro is ignored and the character reads
normally, i.e., as though TTYINREADMACROS had never
existed.
An integerA character code, treated as above.
Special case: -1 is treated like 0, but says that
the display may have been altered in the evaluation
of the macro, so TTYIN should reset itself
appropriately.
Anything elseThis TTYIN input is terminated (with a
crlf) and returns the value of "response" (turned
into a list if necessary). This is the principal
use of this facility. The macro character thus
stands for the (possibly computed) reponse,
terminated if necessary with a crlf. The original
character is not echoed.
Interrupt characters, of course, cannot be read macros, as TTYIN
never sees them, but any other characters, even non-control chars, are
allowed. The ability to return NIL allows you to have conditional macros
that only apply in specified situations (e.g., the macro might check the
prompt (LISPXID) or other contextual variables). To use this specifically
to do immediate editor read macros, do the following for each edit command
and character you want to invoke it with:
(ADDTOVAR TTYINREADMACROS (CHARCODE 'CHARMACRO? EDITCOM)))
For example, (ADDTOVAR TTYINREADMACROS (12Q CHARMACRO? NXP)) will make
linefeed do the NXP command. Note that this will only activate linefeed at
the beginning of a line, not anywhere in the line. There will probably be
a user function to do this in the next release.
Note that putting (12Q T . NXP) on TTYINREADMACROS would also have the
effect of returning "NXP" from the READ call so that the editor would do an
NXP. However, TTYIN would also return NXP outside the editor (probably
resulting in a u.b.a. error, or convincing DWIM to enter the editor), and
also the clearing of the output buffer (performed by CHARMACRO?) would not
happen.
1.10 Assorted Flags
These flags control aspects of TTYIN's behavior. Some have already been
mentioned. Their initial values are all NIL. In Interlisp-D, the flags
are all initially T.
TYPEAHEADFLG
If true, TTYIN always permits typeahead; otherwise it clears the
buffer for any but LISPXREAD input.
?ACTIVATEFLG
If true, enables the feature whereby ? lists alternative
completions from the current spelling list.
EMACSFLG
Affects display editing. When true, TTYIN tries to behave a
little more like EMACS (in very simple ways) than TVEDIT.
Specifically, it has the following effects currently: (1) all
non-edit characters self-insert (i.e. behave as if you're always
in Insert mode); (2) [D] is the EMACS delete to end of word
command.
SHOWPARENFLG
If true, then whenever you are typing Lisp input and type a right
parenthesis/bracket, TTYIN will briefly move the cursor to the
matching parenthesis/bracket, assuming it is still on the screen.
The cursor stays there for about 1 second, or until you type
another character (i.e., if you type fast you'll never notice
it). This feature was inspired by a similar EMACS feature, and
turned out to be pretty easy to implement.
TTYINBSFLG
Causes TTYIN to always physically backspace, even if you're
running on a non-display (not a DM or Heath), rather than print
\deletedtext\ (this assumes your hardcopy terminal or glass tty
is capable of backspacing). If TTYINBSFLG is LF, then in
addition to backspacing, TTYIN x's out the deleted characters as
it backs up, and when you stop deleting, it outputs a linefeed to
drop to a new, clean line before resuming. To save paper, this
linefeed operation is not done when only a single character is
deleted, on the grounds that you can probably figure out what you
typed anyway.
TTYINRESPONSES
An alist of special responses that will be handled by routines
designated by the programmer. See "Special Responses", below.
TTYINERRORSETFLG
[Interlisp-D only] If true, non-LISPXREAD inputs are
errorset-protected (↑E traps back to the prompt), otherwise
errors propagate upwards. Initially NIL.
TTYINMAILFLG
[Tenex only] When true, performs mail checking, etc. before most
inputs (except EVALQT inputs, where it is assumed this has
already been done, or inputs indented by more than a few spaces).
The MAILWATCH package must be loaded for this.
TTYINCOMPLETEFLG
If true, enables Escape completion from USERWORDS during READ
inputs. Details below.
USERWORDS (page X.XX) contains words you mentioned recently: functions you
have defined or edited, variables you have set or evaluated at the
executive level, etc. This happens to be a very convenient list for
context-free escape completion; if you have recently edited a function,
chances are good you may want to edit it again (typing "EF xx$") or type a
call to it. If there is no completion for the current word from USERWORDS,
the escape echoes as "$", i.e. nothing special happens; if there is more
than one possible completion, you get beeped. If typed when not inside a
word, Escape completes to the value of LASTWORD, i.e., the last thing you
typed that the p.a. "noticed" (setting TTYINCOMPLETEFLG to 0 disables this
latter feature), except that Escape at the beginning of the line is left
alone (it is a p.a. command).
If you really wanted to enter an escape, you can, of course, just quote it
with a ↑V, like you can other control chars.
You may explicitly add words to USERWORDS yourself that wouldn't get there
otherwise. To make this convenient online the edit command [←] means "add
the current atom to USERWORDS" (you might think of the command as "pointing
out this atom"). For example, you might be entering a function definition
and want to "point to" one or more of its arguments or prog variables.
Giving an argument of zero to this command will instead remove the
indicated atom from USERWORDS.
Note that this feature loses some of its value if the spelling list is too
long, for then the completion takes too long computationally and, more
important, there are too many alternative completions for you to get by
with typing a few characters followed by escape. Lisp's maintenance of the
spelling list USERWORDS keeps the "temporary" section (which is where
everything goes initially unless you say otherwise) limited to #USERWORDS
atoms, initially 100. Words fall off the end if they haven't been used
(they are "used" if FIXSPELL corrects to one, or you use <escape> to
complete one).
1.11 Special Responses
There is a facility for handling "special responses" during any non-READ
TTYIN input. This action is independent of the particular call to TTYIN,
and exists to allow you to effectively "advise" TTYIN to intercept certain
commands. After the command is processed, control returns to the original
TTYIN call. The facility is implemented via the list TTYINRESPONSES.
TTYINRESPONSES
TTYINRESPONSES is a list of elements, each of the form:
(COMMANDS RESPONSE-FORM OPTION)
COMMANDS is a single atom or list of commands to be recognized;
RESPONSE-FORM is EVALed (if a list), or APPLYed (if an atom) to
the command and the rest of the line. Within this form one can
reference the free variables COMMAND (the command the user typed)
and LINE (the rest of the line). If OPTION is the atom LINE,
this means to pass the rest of line as a list; if it is STRING,
this means to pass it as a string; otherwise, the command is only
valid if there is nothing else on the line. If RESPONSE-FORM
returns the atom IGNORE, it is not treated as a special response
(i.e. the input is returned normally as the result of TTYIN).
In MYCIN, the COMMENT command is handled this way; any time the user types
COMMENT as the first word of input, TTYIN passes the rest of the line to a
mycin-defined function which prompts for the text of the comment
(recursively using TTYIN with the TEXT option). When control returns,
TTYIN goes back and prompts for the original input again. The
TTYINRESPONSES entry for this is (COMMENT (GRIPE LINE) LIST); GRIPE is a
MYCIN function of one argument (the one-line comment, or NIL for extended
comments).
Suggested use: global commands or options can be added to the toplevel
value of TTYINRESPONSES. For more specialized commands, rebind
TTYINRESPONSES to (APPEND NEWENTRIES TTYINRESPONSES) inside any module
where you want to do this sort of special processing.
Special responses are not checked for during READ-style input.
1.12 Display Types
[This is not relevant in Interlisp-D]
TTYIN determines the type of display by calling DISPLAYTERMP, which is
initially defined to test the value of the GTTYP jsys. It returns either
NIL (for printing terminals) or a small number giving TTYIN's internal code
for the terminal type. The types TTYIN currently knows about:
0 = glass tty (capable of deleting chars by backspacing, but little else);
1 = Datamedia;
2 = Heath.
Only the Datamedia has full editing power. DISPLAYTERMP has built into it
the correct terminal types for Sumex and Stanford campus 20's: Datamedia =
11 on tenex, 5 on tops20; Heath = 18 on Tenex, 25 on tops20. You can
override those values by setting the variable DISPLAYTYPES to be an alist
associating the GTTYP value with one of these internal codes. For example,
Sumex displays correspond to DISPLAYTYPES = ((11 . 1) (18 . 2)) [although
this is actually compiled into DISPLAYTERMP for speed]. Any display
terminal other than Datamedia and Heath can probably safely be assigned to
"0" for glass tty.
To add new terminal types, you have to choose a number for it, add new code
to TTYIN for it and recompile. The TTYIN code specifies what the
capabilities of the terminal are, and how to do the primitive operations:
up, down, left, right, address cursor, erase screen, erase to end of line,
insert character, etc.
For terminals lacking an Edit key (currently only Datamedias have it), set
the variable EDITPREFIXCHAR to the ascii code of an Edit "prefix" (i.e.
anything typed preceded by the prefix is considered to have the edit bit
on). If your EDITPREFIXCHAR is 33Q (Escape), you can type a real Escape by
typing 3 of them (2 won't do, since that means "Edit-Escape", a legitimate
argument to another command). You could also define an Escape synonym with
TTYINREADMACROS if you wanted (but currently it doesn't work in filename
completion). Setting EDITPREFIXCHAR for a terminal that is not equipped to
handle the full range of editing functions (only the Heath and Datamedia
are currently so equipped) is not guaranteed to work, i.e. the display
will not always be up to date; but if you can keep track of what you're
doing, together with an occasional ↑R to help out, go right ahead.