On Fri, Oct 20, 2017 at 1:17 PM, Brian Schenkenberger via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
william degnan via vcf-midatlantic writes:
Brian, Do you know anything about why now I can't edit COM files like they are text files, it seems like you deleted all of the old versions of systartup_v5.com that I was saving. can you please advise how to return the EDIT command to show a text editor style, rather than a VI type edit style? Bill
I did not touch SYSTARTUP_V5.COM. Why would you NOT be able to edit a .COM file? It's just text. The editors on VMS are not brain-damaged to decide what's in a file based upon file extension like on other OS.
I CAN edit it, but now it's just a * prompt like VI, I used to be able to see the entire file and edit it like a text file. Now I have to use the arcane asterisk prompt commands. Personal preference, I prefer a text type editor. My question is - not did you touch that file, did you change the nature of the EDIT command itself somehow? To be precise I would type $ EDIT systartup_v5.com [enter] (for example) ... and I would be greeted by a screen full of the file, so that I could use the cursor to jump around the file. Now, when I type $ EDIT systartup_v5.com [enter] ... I see this: [$] !+++++ C* My question for you is, did you change the OS to change the way EDIt by default works, but more important why is this now happening and how can I get into a text editor style mode? Bill