Stan, the contrarian, writes:

> In short...if QCTerm is a *TERMINAL* emulator, then there is no choice: the
>  backspace must default to non-destructive, like the rest of the emulators.
>
>  Doesn't Reflection offer an escape sequence to change modes?
>  If so, I'd recommend using that.
>
>  If not, I'd recommend either making it configurable, or making it only non-
>  destructive.
>
>  Also, don't forget that a backspace might not originate from the
*keyboard*..
> .
>  it might be sent by the computer to move the cursor, and the computer
might
> not
>  expect (nor the user appreciate) text disappearing from the screen!
Sure...
>  you can say "okay, we'll differentiate based on the origin of the
backspace",
>
>  but then you have a simple character sequence acting differently based on
>  origin...imagine having to explain that to users and programmers!

Stan was the only one to publicly post his vote. Most people wrote me
privately, with the vote being about 15 to 2 to make destructive backspace
the default setting, if not the only option. The standard comment was
generally something like this:

=======================================

I completely agree with the destructive backspace change. I've seen enough
end users who've come from block mode apps and/or as/400's where the
backspace was not destructive struggle with the concept when presented with
character mode screens. In effect, the backspace was equal to the left
cursor arrow in their old environments and it still looks like it has the
same behavior without the destructive option turned on. It has always been
difficult to explain to users why what they see plainly displayed on their
screens really isn't there. I wish the default in Reflection was yes for
this option, if indeed it needs to be an option.

=======================================

However, I now do worry about breaking any existing code that might be out
there, if someone is doing something as tricky as Stan might do :-).

We'll have to think about this a bit more it seems.

Wirt Atmar

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