From: CRDGW2::CRDGW2::MRGATE::"SMTP::CRVAX.SRI.COM::RELAY-INFO-VAX" 16-MAR-1992 05:21:35.54 To: ARISIA::EVERHART CC: Subj: Fast VMS file viewer is available. From: RELAY-INFO-VAX@CRVAX.SRI.COM@SMTP@CRDGW2 To: Everhart@Arisia@MRGATE Received: by crdgw1.ge.com (5.57/GE 1.123) id AA00299; Mon, 16 Mar 92 04:51:05 EST Received: From UCBVAX.BERKELEY.EDU by CRVAX.SRI.COM with TCP; Mon, 16 MAR 92 01:48:02 PST Received: by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (5.63/1.43) id AA29190; Mon, 16 Mar 92 01:27:27 -0800 Received: from USENET by ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU with netnews for info-vax@kl.sri.com (info-vax@kl.sri.com) (contact usenet@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU if you have questions) Date: 9 Mar 92 11:03:47 GMT From: mcsun!fuug!demos!relcom!news-server@uunet.uu.net (Serge P. Kovalyov) Organization: Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics SD RAS Subject: Fast VMS file viewer is available. Message-Id: Sender: info-vax-request@kl.sri.com To: info-vax@kl.sri.com This is the advertisement for new VMS software product - fast file viewer LOOK. We VAX users know the problems damn well: I want to see first the 100th line of a file & then the 3rd; or else, I want to see not only some template in file, but also it's context. And in addition, the total file size is 1,000 Kbytes (it contains 50,000 lines of absolutely uncomprehendable Assembler text), & therefore I could have a good sleeping waiting for a text editor to load it. Now the solution of these problems exists! Using LOOK software you will never spend time waiting near the empty screen - LOOK software will show you the first page (20 lines) of your file just immediately after you invoke it. And surely you can read the file in any order, and found template (marked by bold characters) will appear just in the middle of the screen - within a page-size context. To be brief: here is the list of advantages of LOOK software. - Random order of file reading (with the help of standard cursor keys, / keys, hotkeys 'R' - Screen Right & 'L' - Screen Left, 'H' - home, 'E' - end; besides, using hotkey 'W' you can toggle screen width - 80/132 columns mode (of course if your terminal support 132-column regime); using hotkey 'G' you can enter line number or file fraction (in percents) to go to; surely a keybar is always present in the last line of the screen); - Awful fastness (the time of first page appearing simply doesn't depend on file size); - Two modes of file contents representation: text & hexadecimal (in format of DUMP utility; you can throw off the sequential DUMP at all if you have LOOK software); the initial mode is chosen by LOOK software automatically (TXT for text files & HEX for binary); & you can toggle them anytime (pressing hotkey 'X' or '/'); - Processing of list of files (sequential): you can specify file list as simple enumerating (example: LOOK TEST.C TEST.EXE ) or using wildcards (examples: LOOK *.MAC or LOOK T%%%.* or even LOOK [...]*.* - sequential view of all files in all your subdirectories); - Search for given template (case-insensitive, forward); surely in HEX mode you can seek for a byte (or byte sequence) by its hexadecimal code; note that given templates (up to 20) are buffered (like commands in DCL) & kept during entire work session (i. e., file list processing); so, you can really never use SEARCH utility having LOOK software - instead of, e. g., SEARCH *.MAC "CLRL" , you enter LOOK *.MAC , press hotkey 'F', enter a template CLRL, after first finding press hotkey 'N' for next search, and when nothing will found in the first file, press hotkey 'X' to go to next one; then simply pressing 'N' you will seek for the template in this next file; in any time you can press hotkey 'Q' and quit LOOK software at all; - Spawn facility (rather useful in VMS); - Possibility to invoke text editor (by default LSE) with positioning to line just being watched; you can install any other text editor; - Self-tutorial HELP (hotkey 'P'); - LOOK software never knows such barrier to file access as 'FILE CURRENTLY LOCKED BY ANOTHER USER'; i. e., you can see file just when some other process reads it or writes to it (to follow current changes of file contents use hotkey to reread file once again). When LOOK software executes some prolonged command (i. e. search in a large file) the diagnostics appears with the approximal file fraction just processed (in percents); you can press hotkey 'X' to cancel it. *** You will have real pleasure with VMS only using LOOK software! *** Best wishes, Serge Kovalyov. P.S. Considering that in Russia every transmitted kilobyte is paid, and we are too poor to create a file server to spread out our programs (as it is usual for free software), - we ask you to shelter LOOK software on your server.