I am using jstar or joe but what I miss the most about Wordstar (I'm
dating myself, I know =) is the ability to 'block' paragraphs, where
both left and right margins are straight lines and even the text on
the righthand side end at exactly the same column. Is there a command
key that can force this type of justification? Does nano or any other
editor have this feature? It doesn't matter if there is hyphenation,
but they can still align.

Any tips?

shedied******.com enlightened us with:
> I am using jstar or joe but what I miss the most about Wordstar (I'm
> dating myself, I know =) is the ability to 'block' paragraphs, where
> both left and right margins are straight lines and even the text on
> the righthand side end at exactly the same column. Is there a
> command key that can force this type of justification? Does nano or
> any other editor have this feature?

VIM can do it. Read http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/usr_25.html and search
for "JUSTIFYING TEXT".

Sybren
--
Sybren Stüvel
Stüvel IT - http://www.stuvel.eu/

Sybren Stuvel <sybrenUSE@yourthirdtower.com.imagination> wrote:
> shedied******.com enlightened us with:
>> I am using jstar or joe but what I miss the most about Wordstar (I'm
>> dating myself, I know =) is the ability to 'block' paragraphs, where
>> both left and right margins are straight lines and even the text on
>> the righthand side end at exactly the same column. Is there a
>> command key that can force this type of justification? Does nano or
>> any other editor have this feature?

> VIM can do it. Read http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/usr_25.html and search
> for "JUSTIFYING TEXT".

quote:

Vim has no built-in way of justifying text. However,

(macro or external program - iirc, "joe" has macros, etc).

So the correct answer is "not really", in the sense that he was asking,
since it's not built-in. Otherwise, you would certainly point out a
long list of editors which can do this as a macro or via an external
program.

--
Thomas E. Dickey
http://invisible-island.net
ftp://invisible-island.net

Thomas Dickey enlightened us with:
> So the correct answer is "not really", in the sense that he was asking,
> since it's not built-in.

Please show where OP specifically asks for built-in functionality.

> Otherwise, you would certainly point out a long list of editors
> which can do this as a macro or via an external program.

Which doesn't make VIM any less good.

Sybren
--
Sybren Stüvel
Stüvel IT - http://www.stuvel.eu/

Sybren Stuvel <sybrenUSE@yourthirdtower.com.imagination> wrote:
> Thomas Dickey enlightened us with:
>> So the correct answer is "not really", in the sense that he was asking,
>> since it's not built-in.

> Please show where OP specifically asks for built-in functionality.

I read what he _said_, not what you wanted to answer.

>> Otherwise, you would certainly point out a long list of editors
>> which can do this as a macro or via an external program.

> Which doesn't make VIM any less good.

no, but it is dishonest to imply that Vim does things that other programs
do not (and this is a general failing of vim-groupies, for many years).

--
Thomas E. Dickey
http://invisible-island.net
ftp://invisible-island.net

* Thomas Dickey wrote in alt.os.linux:
> Sybren Stuvel <sybrenUSE@yourthirdtower.com.imagination> wrote:
>> Thomas Dickey enlightened us with:
>>> So the correct answer is "not really", in the sense that he was asking,
>>> since it's not built-in.

>> Please show where OP specifically asks for built-in functionality.

> I read what he _said_, not what you wanted to answer.

>>> Otherwise, you would certainly point out a long list of editors
>>> which can do this as a macro or via an external program.

>> Which doesn't make VIM any less good.

> no, but it is dishonest to imply that Vim does things that other programs
> do not (and this is a general failing of vim-groupies, for many years).

If vi[m] can do it via a macro, vi[m] can do it. There is no semantics
about it. No need to be a groupie. Does your web browser play movies,
yeah, with a plugin, so would you answer no if someone asked?

--
David
Q: What do monsters eat?
A: Things.

Q: What do monsters drink?
A: Coke. (Because Things go better with Coke.)

On Feb 6, 7:29 pm, SINNER <99nesorjd@gates_of_hell.invalid> wrote:
> * Thomas Dickey wrote in alt.os.linux:
>
> > Sybren Stuvel <sybren...@yourthirdtower.com.imagination> wrote:
> >> Thomas Dickey enlightened us with:
> >>> So the correct answer is "not really", in the sense that he was asking,
> >>> since it's not built-in.
> >> Please show where OP specifically asks for built-in functionality.
> > I read what he _said_, not what you wanted to answer.
> >>> Otherwise, you would certainly point out a long list of editors
> >>> which can do this as a macro or via an external program.
> >> Which doesn't make VIM any less good.
> > no, but it is dishonest to imply that Vim does things that other programs
> > do not (and this is a general failing of vim-groupies, for many years).
>
> If vi[m] can do it via a macro, vi[m] can do it. There is no semantics
> about it. No need to be a groupie. Does your web browser play movies,
> yeah, with a plugin, so would you answer no if someone asked?
>
Thanks Sybren and Thomas for your input. It would be nice to have the
justification happening as you type, same as most wordprocessors that
automatically wordwrap (but without the alignment that I seek :-(

Still searching...

Thomas Dickey enlightened us with:
>> Please show where OP specifically asks for built-in functionality.
>
> I read what he _said_, not what you wanted to answer.

Again:Â*I must be blind, please show me where OP specifically asks for
built-in functionality.

>>> Otherwise, you would certainly point out a long list of editors
>>> which can do this as a macro or via an external program.
>
>> Which doesn't make VIM any less good.
>
> no, but it is dishonest to imply that Vim does things that other
> programs do not (and this is a general failing of vim-groupies, for
> many years).

"Dishonest" is a big word, but I can agree with your point. However, I
never said anything about other programs, hence I'm not guilty of your
accusation.

There is nothing dishonest about saying VIM can do something without
mentioning each and every other program that has similar capabilities.

Sybren
--
Sybren Stüvel
Stüvel IT - http://www.stuvel.eu/

Sybren Stuvel <sybrenUSE@yourthirdtower.com.imagination> wrote:

> There is nothing dishonest about saying VIM can do something without
> mentioning each and every other program that has similar capabilities.

that's your standards, not mine. If I'm responding to a request for
information, I give as balanced a response as I have available information.

--
Thomas E. Dickey
http://invisible-island.net
ftp://invisible-island.net

Thomas Dickey enlightened us with:
>> There is nothing dishonest about saying VIM can do something
>> without mentioning each and every other program that has similar
>> capabilities.
>
> that's your standards, not mine. If I'm responding to a request for
> information, I give as balanced a response as I have available
> information.

Same here. I only use and know VIM for text editing, so I have given a
response as balanced as I could with the information I have.

Sybren
--
Sybren Stüvel
Stüvel IT - http://www.stuvel.eu/

shedied******.com writes:

> I am using jstar or joe but what I miss the most about Wordstar (I'm
> dating myself, I know =) is the ability to 'block' paragraphs, where
> both left and right margins are straight lines and even the text on
> the righthand side end at exactly the same column. Is there a command
> key that can force this type of justification? Does nano or any other
> editor have this feature? It doesn't matter if there is hyphenation,
> but they can still align.
>
> Any tips?
>

Emacs does have justification commands, like M-X set-justification-full,
that will justify paragraphs. But doesn't seem to do it on the fly.
It wouldn't be hard to make a macro to use this command, but I don't
think this is what you're asking.

--Rod
______________________
Author of "Linux for Non-Geeks--Clear-eyed Answers for Practical
Consumers" and "Boring Stories from Uncle Rod." To reply by e-mail
take the second "o" out of the e-mail address.

roodwriter@ureach.com writes:

> shedied******.com writes:
>
> > I am using jstar or joe but what I miss the most about Wordstar (I'm
> > dating myself, I know =) is the ability to 'block' paragraphs, where
> > both left and right margins are straight lines and even the text on
> > the righthand side end at exactly the same column. Is there a command
> > key that can force this type of justification? Does nano or any other
> > editor have this feature? It doesn't matter if there is hyphenation,
> > but they can still align.
> >
> > Any tips?
> >
>
> Emacs does have justification commands, like M-X set-justification-full,
> that will justify paragraphs. But doesn't seem to do it on the fly.
> It wouldn't be hard to make a macro to use this command, but I don't
> think this is what you're asking.
>
> --Rod

I'm replying to my own post. I found a way to make this work with
Emacs, as long as you don't use tabs. Combine the M-x
set-justification-full command with M-X refill-mode and it works fine.
The only drawback I can see, and many people won't consider this a
drawback, is that each line ends with a hard return.

Now if you can get along with Emacs....


--Rod
______________________
Author of "Linux for Non-Geeks--Clear-eyed Answers for Practical
Consumers" and "Boring Stories from Uncle Rod." To reply by e-mail
take the second "o" out of the e-mail address.

On Feb 8, 12:51 am, roodwri...@ureach.com wrote:
> roodwri...@ureach.com writes:
> > shed...******.com writes:
>
> > > I am using jstar or joe but what I miss the most about Wordstar (I'm
> > > dating myself, I know =) is the ability to 'block' paragraphs, where
> > > both left and right margins are straight lines and even the text on
> > > the righthand side end at exactly the same column. Is there a command
> > > key that can force this type of justification? Does nano or any other
> > > editor have this feature? It doesn't matter if there is hyphenation,
> > > but they can still align.
>
> > > Any tips?
>
> > Emacs does have justification commands, like M-X set-justification-full,
> > that will justify paragraphs. But doesn't seem to do it on the fly.
> > It wouldn't be hard to make a macro to use this command, but I don't
> > think this is what you're asking.
>
> > --Rod
>
> I'm replying to my own post. I found a way to make this work with
> Emacs, as long as you don't use tabs. Combine the M-x
> set-justification-full command with M-X refill-mode and it works fine.
> The only drawback I can see, and many people won't consider this a
> drawback, is that each line ends with a hard return.
>
> Now if you can get along with Emacs....
>
Sorry, but I grew up with vi and have no time to learn a whole new
operating system :)

I've found that "'t,'b !nroff" fixes vim's paragraphs. I miss Wordstar
where it does the justification as you type.

[snip]...what I miss the most about Wordstar...[snip]
> Any tips?

http://www.wordstar2.com

How about wordstar 2 :o)