Tom writes:

> > -----Original Message-----
>  > From: Barry Lake [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>  >
>  > In that other emulator, Reflection, either is possible. I can hilite an
>  > entire line, or part of a line, and paste it without an implied return,
>  > allowing me to type more text if I desire. Or, I can hilite an entire
line
>  > and drag down to the beginning of the next line. That picks up the return
>  > as well, so that when I paste it I get the return. The best of both
>  worlds.
>
>  I think this is the "key" to the issue here: did the "cut/copy" include the
>  <return> character or not?  If the hilighted text includes the C/R, then of
>  course it should be pasted.  (Of course, how does a user manage to include
>  an invisible character?  that might be a topic for a whole 'nother thread)

Before the villagers arrive at the castle gates with pitchforks raised high
and torches lit, yelling "Monster!" and "Mutant!", let me explain how we did
design cut and paste.

We (actually, just Vickie and me) decided that IF you were connected to a
host, then QCTerm should act as a terminal, because that's what the mode keys
are telling us. IF, on the other hand, you were in local mode or line modify
mode, then QCTerm should act as if it were a word/document processor, in a
manner consistent with other text/document processors, because again, that's
what the mode keys are telling us.

In both cases, the overwhelming likelihood will be that future users will be
using the Cntl+C/Cntl+V key sequences that are now common to virtually every
PC program (AOL, Netscape, MSIE, Notepad, MS Word, etc.), but that
presumption isn't "necessary" in the mathematical sense. There are several
ways to engage the cut-and-paste features of QCTerm (using the pull-down
menus, using the ALT keys, etc.) and the user is free to chose among them.

The rules associated with QCTerm's cut-and-paste are simple: If you are in
"line modify/modify all" or "local" mode, a carriage return is only
transmitted to QCTerm's screen if it is there in the clipboard. It makes no
difference if the clipboard contains a single word, a line fragment, or an
entire series of lines where all but the last line is terminated with a
carriage return. The clipboard's text, as it exists, is pasted onto QCTerm's
screen, beginning at the cursor's initial point, with the text being written
automatically in insert mode, not overwrite, with NO trailing CR transmitted,
as essentially every modern word processor writes pasted text.

If you in none of those modes, but rather are actively connected to the host,
the situation is slightly different. The same contents of the clipboard,
regardless of whether it's a single word, line fragment, a complete line with
a trailing CR, or multi-line set, where each line terminated with a CR, with
perhaps the exception of the last, is transmitted as it exists, but each line
is also terminated with a CR -- and each line waits for a DC1 host prompt
before the next line is transmitted.

By doing it this way, I can go to a web page, highlight a bit of text of
interest and press copy (control-C). I can then flip windows, go QCTerm,
enter an editor, put it into autoadd mode, and then press paste (control-V).
Every line will then be faithfully entered into the editor, just as if I were
typing them, each line terminated with a CR, and each line waiting for a DC1
before transmitting the next. When the paste process comes to an end, I
simply type "//" to stop the autoadd.

Quite similarly, I can keep a CI script in the clipboard and by merely
pressing Cntl+V at the CI prompt, I can execute the script, line-by-line,
exactly as if it were being accomplished within a job -- or I was typing it
by hand.

And quite similarly, if I'm using a line number-oriented full-screen editor,
as intrinsically exists in BASIC, I can move large bulk segments of code
around by merely pressing Cntl+V.

But if, on the other hand, I were in local edit mode, using a full-screen
editor of some sort that would at some future date read my terminal's screen,
I can paste my clipboarded word, line fragment, or multi-line text anywhere I
want, as often as I want. In this mode, no trailing CRs are transmitted. The
cursor is placed at the end of the paste, which is standard text/document
processor behavior nowadays.

Obversely, in either mode (local edit or active remote connection), I can
highlight the text in QCTerm, press Cntl+C to absorb material off of the
HP3000, and then change windows to either MS Word, Netscape mail, or Notepad,
and press Cntl+V to paste the clipboarded text, again without any trailing CR
added, simply because these target products are all obviously text/document
processors of one sort or another.

While this current behavior of QCTerm is not written in stone, I find it so
nice and so pleasant and efficient to use that I would recommend that you
give it a fair try. After that, your comments would be sincerely appreciated.

Wirt Atmar