VDE16.UPD
                                  ---------
                         VDE 1.6 Update Information
                           E. Meyer -  12 Dec 1990



     VDE is getting rave reviews worldwide!  See "REVIEWS" in VDE.DOC.

     Please note my new address in Colorado, as of September 1990.

     This is a quick guide, for users of earlier versions of VDE, to noticable 
changes in operation of VDE since version 1.54.  Please check VDE.REF and 
VINST.REF for full details.

                                     VDE

     *  A new "Auto Format" mode (command ^OM or {Text:auto fmT}) provides 
continuous reformatting of text during typing or editing, so that manual 
reformat (^B) is unnecessary.  See AUTO FORMAT.

     *  A new "Right Justify" mode (command ^OJ or {Text:Justify}) inserts 
spaces in text as necessary so that formatting leaves an even right margin.  
See JUSTIFICATION.

     *  A new paragraph tab command (^OG) allows setting a temporary indent.  
See INDENTING.

     *  Command changes: The rename work command has been changed from ^KN to 
^KE.  (^KN will still work for now, but is reserved for other purposes in the 
future.)  The proportional mode command has been changed from ^OJ to ^OK, 
since ^OJ is now the right justify command.

     *  Undelete (^U) can now be used repeatedly to recover prior deletions.  
See UNDELETION.

     *  The MenuBar mode has been revised: VDE commands now work in MenuBar 
mode as well.  (A new choice {Misc:Escape} can access Esc commands.)  Also, a 
new {User:} menu bar can contain five new commands of your choice.  See 
OPERATING MODES.

     *  The preview command (^OD) now shows page numbers, and indicates page 
breaks with dotted lines on screen.  See PAGE PREVIEW.

     *  To make hyphenation easier, VDE now uses conditional or "soft" 
hyphens, entered with the command ^P-.  See HYPHENATION.

     *  There is a new file mode /U ("U"nformatted), which produces files 
without soft carriage returns.  See FILE MODES.  (The old trick of setting the 
right margin to 0 and reformatting to remove all soft returns is no longer 
needed, or supported.)

     *  Two new macro commands have been added:
     Esc* is a "universal toggle set", allowing a macro to specify any status 
for Insert, Justify, and other toggles.  See TOGGLE CONTROL.
     Esc$ allows you to control continued execution of a macro when an error 
occurs.  See MACRO PROGRAMMING.

     *  The file browser (^KF) can now handle more files; the screen will 
scroll if the cursor is moved past the end of the display.

     *  The print command (^KP) now allows headers on the left side of the 
page, using the "<" character.  See PRINTING.

     *  Manual reformat (^B) now acts upon the entire paragraph, not just from 
the cursor line downward.

     *  The Match file function (AltM) now compares word by word, ignoring 
formatting differences in documents (line length, word spacing, etc).  In /N 
mode, it is still an exact character by character match.  Also, when files 
match, it finishes at the end of the file (no longer a "not found" message).

     *  The [Esc] key can now be used (like ^U) to escape from all input 
prompts throughout VDE (except macro definitions), canceling the operation in 
progress.


                                    VINST

     *  A new main menu item "menu<B>ar mode" lets you customize the new 
"User" menu bar to contain 5 commands of your choice.  (The choice for MenuBar 
vs Command mode has also been moved here from the options section.)

     *  New user options allow for a choice of default status for auto format, 
double spacing, and proportional spacing.

     *  For convenience, graphic character sets (for the AltG command) can 
also now be stored and retrieved as disk files (.VDG).

     *  The Macro and Function key editing process now allows copying (and 
thus moving) a definition from one key to another.

     *  Proportional character widths are now measured in 1/360" (not 1/256" 
as before) for compatibility with most printers.

     *  The computer installation now supports the Paradise VGA+ video card as 
a choice for 132-column mode operation (AltA).

     *  The printer installation now allows you to specify different ports 
(e.g., LPT2) on systems with several printers.  (Note: VINST will read .VDP 
files from versions 1.52 to 1.54 of VDE as well.  Just write them back out 
again to convert them to 1.60 format, for use with VDE's AltU command.)

     *  Printer code entry now allows entering a single quote (`) + character 
instead of a hex value, and the use of [BkSp] as a correction key.



=============================  VERSION HISTORY  ==============================

       1984-1987:  Development of "Video Display Editor" for CP/M computers.
VDE 1.0  (Dec87):  First MSDOS release, for IBM PC compatibles only.
    1.01 (Dec87):  Faster; several bug fixes; minor changes to VINST.
    1.1  (Jan88):  Edit 2 files; AltE; AltT,D; DOS shell; ANSI installation.
    1.2  (Mar88):  AltW; AltM; AltS; ^OQ; ^QT,^QI; AltG; [F]-keys; word count.
    1.21 (May88):  Auto indent; ^OI enhancements; ^PL as pagebreak.
    1.22 (Aug88):  AltO; AltA; AltI; append to files; enhanced ^KP, display.
    1.3  (Jan89):  Edit 6 files; AltC,P; AltV; improved ^QA, ^U; /5 mode.
    1.31 (Mar89):  ^K#; ^KZ; macro keys A-Z; AltU; ^OD.
    1.4  (Jul89):  MenuBar mode; Esc"; proportional mode; small improvements.
    1.5  (Dec89):  8 files; ^KA; enhanced ^KF, ^OW/AltF, ^QF; use less memory.
    1.51 (Mar90):  /P, /X file modes; ^]; ^K^; improved proportional mode.
    1.52 (Apr90):  Various small improvements and fixes.
    1.53 (May90):  ^QL,N; /M mode; ^PG; foreign language/KEYBxx compatibility.
    1.54 (Sep90):  Small improvements; supports enhanced keyboard, F11/F12.
    1.6  (Dec90):  Auto format; Justify; ^OG; {User}; /U; improved ^U, ^OD.


     ----- Eric Meyer, 3541 Smuggler Way, Boulder, CO 80303  USA -----