This is GNU Emacs 'forms-mode', version 1.2 (patchlevel 9).
This GNU Emacs major mode implements editing a structured file (i.e. a
file with 'records' and 'fields' in it) using a forms.
It is fully documented in the source file 'forms.el' and in the
texinfo file 'forms.texinfo'.
This kit contains:
README - this file
MANIFEST - list of files
forms.el - the lisp source
forms.texinfo - texinfo file
forms-passwd - simple demo using /etc/passwd
forms-demo - advanced demo using 'forms-data'
forms-data - data for forms-demo
Load the lisp source, and execute
forms-find-file forms-passwd
to look at your password file in a unconventional (but read-only) way.
forms-find-file forms-demo
gives you something to clobber with data and multi-line fields.
This program has been donated to the Free Software Foundation to be
part of their GNU Emacs programming system.
Have fun!
Johan Vromans <
[email protected]>
HISTORY
-------
1.2.9 Released: Jan 14, 1992
* Add LCD entry for the lisp archive.
* Add (provide 'forms) but retain (provide 'forms-mode) for
compatibility.
* Changed the names of the files so they all start with 'forms'.
To ease integration with the GNU Emacs sources.
1.2.7 Released: Jul 1, 1991
New features:
* Is it now possible to define a function
`forms-modified-record-filter' in the control file, that gets
called when a new record is created. It can be used to change
values in fields.
* The filter functions may also point to a function.
* Support for functions and lisp symbols in forms-format-list.
* Function forms-enumerate can be helpful when defining 'symbolic
names' for fields.
* 'demo2' has been enhanced to exploit most of the new features.
Misc.:
* Internally optimized the forms-format-list.
* Added support for debugging.
* Stripped duplicate documentation.
1.2.3 Released: May 21, 1991
Fixed bug:
* Make argument to scroll-{up,down} &optional.
1.2.2 Released: May 20, 1991
Fixed bug:
* The modifications to the last field of a form were not handled
correctly if that field was not followed by fixed text.
1.2.1 Released: Sep 18, 1990
New feature:
* Is it now possible to define a function `forms-new-record-filter' in
the control file, that gets called when a new record is created.
It can be used to insert default values in fields.
Thanks to Harald Hanche-Olsen <
[email protected]> .
Fixed bugs:
* `save-buffer' was redefined as (interactive "P"). This should have
been (interactive "p").
Thanks to Jonathan Kamens <
[email protected]> .
* `forms--checkmod' was not called often enough to prevent modified
records from getting lost in spurious situations.
Thanks to
[email protected] (Ignatios Souvatzis).
* When updating a new record, sometimes it got prepended to the next
record.
Thanks to several users.
Other modifications:
* Harald Hanche-Olsen <
[email protected]> rewrote
forms--make-format and forms--make-parser to use the more standard
backquote construct.
And finally:
* Ignatios Souvatzis wrote a forms routine to sort a file on
selected fields. I did not include it because I don't think that
sorting belongs to the functionality of forms-mode. Ignatios
wrote me:
as i didn't want to look up the man page for /bin/sort, i wrote
a sort function for you forms mode. You may include it in your
next distribution to the net or FSF, if you want (as long as
there remains a trace of who wrote that ~30 lines). Else tell me
please so that i can post the sort code myself.
