The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group QEdit3 - Like a Fine Old Wine Ron Taylor

QEdit, or more correctly QEdit Advanced, has been around for a long time. With more than 120,000 registered users spanning seventy countries it has developed a respected name. Requiring just 128 kB memory and 52 kB of disk space, Q will happily run and perform well on PCs or Pentiums, including many of the almost-compatibles.

That small size, large range of wanted features, and fast operation has led to it being adopted by users of all levels-not just for stand-alone work, but as companion for software packages such as List, XTree, various language compilers, offfine mail readers, XBase editing applications, and even as a substitute for Windows Notepad.

Let's Fire it Up

The shareware version of Q comes in archived form. As the author is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), the program comes complete and fully functional, with no annoying nag screens. The only drawback is the omission of it's newly implemented (and excellent) spell-checker - dropped off to so the software can be distributed in 360 kB format.

There are no fancy setup requirements, being preconfigured in basic form it is ready to run straight out of the box. The single executable file, Q.ExE, is all that is required for operation. QEdit offers no mouse support, so our little rodent can sit by and have a well-earned rest at last!

Menus, Help & Docs

In it's normal configuration the Escape key invokes Pull-Down Menus and F1 fills the standard function for help. While the menu system offers access to most common tasks without being overdone, many users would be disappointed at the stark, single screen Help facility.

It should be pointed out there is good reason for that; it is in keeping with the programmer's objectives of "small, fast ... ". Complex menus and help systems have a price, consuming memory and generally slowing things down. Indeed, users soon become familiar with the 20 percent, or so, of commands they use regularly and generally prefer to use fast keystroke combinations anyway.

The main documentation is in a 280 kB text file. Although complete, accurate, and easy to follow, most users will never even need to print it out, choosing to use the ultra-fast searching capabilities of the editor itself to browse for reference if and when the need arises. There are also supplementary files covering Tips, Macro Compiler, etc.

Configuring and Macros?

Few are satisfied with Q in standard form. Probably the feature that has led to it's continued popularity and userfriendliness is it's full configurability. Once, when describing Q in a BBS mailing, the author affectionately referred to it as " ... the most bastardisable software around".

A separate configuration program, QCONFIG.EXE, is supplied with two plaintext files, QHELP.TXT and QCONFIG.DAT, which allow you to freely customise the program to your heart's content. Screen colours (including having the cursor line in a different colour, nice for laptops), help text, many general and advanced functions and/or modes of operation, as well as the full Keyboard Layout can be tailored.

With the flexibility of full keyboard reconfiguration we are able to explore the wonderful world of macros. The spartan initial appearance of the program almost invites prospective users to explore that feature. If that WordStarish Ctrl+Y for deleting a line doesn't make sense to you, then make it more mnemonic: say, Ctrl+D or F8.

Yes you can even write your own interface. You also have the freedom to use or adapt one of the many emulation setups around, creating the feel of your familiar software, by enabling use of the same key strokes.

Files, Files and More

On startup the editor will prompt for a file to edit (or supply a picklist if one is not given); alternatively you may specify any number of filenames from the command line using wildcards if desired. Once inside, the usual facilities are available: Load, Save, SaveAs, Rename, Save Block, Read In (Insert), Quit or Exit (both with optional prompting for Save), etc.

Although constrained to DOS's 640 kB limit, Q is a true multifile editor, equally happy to work away on one, or literally hundreds of files loaded at the one time. As tested, with 621 kB free conventional memory, it's maximum capacity was a file of 437 kB.

Editing your text, source code, or batch files all at once is no problem, switching and swapping between them instantaneously, each in full screen or alternatively, within up to eight open Windows.

Text and the Screen

First and foremost a text editor designed with programmers in mind, Q performs that task exceptionally well. Very few pieces of software could hope to match it for sheer speed and versatility.

Along with normal cursor (plus the usual and necessary movements throughout a file), comes a range of screen commands like: scrolling in any direction, jump to top, bottom, centre (to keep the text surrounding your cursor line in view) Goto Line/Column, etc., to make quick work of your editing session.

Direct support is provided for 25/28/43/50 lines with up to 200 columns by 100 lines for video cards that enable those modes.

Blocks and Buffers

Block marking commands include Line, Column, Stream (with cursor position inclusive or non-inclusive), as well as the mandatory manipulation functions: copying, deleting and moving. A Kill Buffer works in a similar fashion to Undo/Redo. Text can also be stored and later recovered from any of up to ninety-nine user-named clipboards, called Scratch Buffers in Q terminology.

One very usable feature is Scrap Buffers, temporary holding areas for marked blocks. Four additional commands: Cut, Copy, Paste, and PasteOver are used for speedy handling of blocks. They are normally assigned to the +, -, * keys on the numeric keypad and Ctrl+PrintScreen and enable the user to maintain and quickly manipulate single lines or complete blocks across and between different files if desired.

Words and Printing

Budding word processing enthusiasts will be sorely disappointed here. The only provisions in this area are word-wrap (or more precisely paragraph wrap), centring of text and that's about all. Not to be outdone, and with a little creative imagination, scores of Q diehards have come to the rescue.

Among the plethora of user-written QEdit macros, available within the public domain, are some excellent adaptations to enable common word processing ability. Some are quite ingenious. Although Q contains not one single math operator in its commands, one such example, by John Goodman, enables word count on a file; others perform calculations, time and date converters, and even calendars. Worth a look into for budding programmers of any language.

Basic print output options are included for margin settings, line spacing, line numbers, page length, etc. on a marked block or whole file. At long last, version 3 has added the capability of selecting a printer port. While you are free to embed any printer codes within the text, the special font or fancy print enhancements you would expect in word processing packages are not directly supported.

Search and Ye Shall Find

No text editor worth its salt would be complete without a full and rich set of fast search and/or replace commands. QEdit will not let you down in this area. Forward, backward, local (within a block), global, case sensitivity, whole or part words, etc. Neither full regular expression or incremental searches are available, but an Alternate WordSet capability is supported. Like all other functions they can be enhanced by implementing them within simple macro structures. As an example, one of my favourite search commands enables an instant find (either up or down in the file), of the next occurrence of any word at the cursor position.

Assigned as shown in this context to the Alt+CursorUp and Alt+CursorDown keys, this becomes an invaluable aid for quick reading of text files, such as software documentation, and program source code.

Return

More Fun with Macros

The heart of this editor's operation lies in it's well-thought-out design, it is built up from a set of basic English-like commands, all available to the user. Almost any key or key combination on your keyboard can be assigned to either a single command or a complex sequence of commands, more commonly referred to as a macro.

A welcome addition to this release is the inclusion of an AUTOEXEC-type macro called Main; if included in the QCONFIG.DAT file it will automatically be executed at editor startup. Many other new commands have been added to extend the Q language even further.

Keystroke actions can be recorded, assigned to any key, then saved for later reuse if required. Internal macros are burnt-in to the editor during configuration and saved in compiled format, which makes everything run at the speed of normal binary code.

Other utilities supplied are: QCP.EXE to assist in invoking language compilers and various software tools from within the editor; and QMAC.EXE to convert macro files back and forth from binary to text.

To Q or not to Q... 

It would be very difficult not to recommend what is undoubtedly the smallest, fastest, most widely used, and configurable shareware text editor in the world. Coupled with that is the welcome fact that the product is always very well tested and bug-free. With over two years since the previous release (version 2.15), the enhancements in version 3 are worthwhile additions while not encumbering the program with featuritis. Yes, it's is a long time between drinks with Q, nonetheless it is always worth waiting for. Truly a fine old wine!

Support and the Bottom Line

As a long-time registered user I regularly receive mailings from the company. There is also an International QEdit echo on the Melb PC BBS, monitored by at least five Tech-Supporters including the authory ou will never feel left in the dark with this program.

At US$59 Q could not be considered good value by current standards. One redeeming factor may be the continued availability of cheap upgrades thereon. Registered users are also entitled to large discounts on sister editors; QEdit TSR for DOS, QEdit for OS/2, and the company's newest product, TSE, a much enhanced virtual memory editor that handles files up to 32 MB in size.

Reprinted from the October 1994 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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