🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <C17Ey4.DCs@compsci.liverpool.ac.uk> chris47@uxb.liv.ac.uk (Chris Brown ) writes:
>Im looking for an editor which will ......
>       handle very large files
>       is able to do block edits in columns
>       works on a PC
>       outputs ASCII
>
>It would also be nice if it worked under MS-Windows and had a fixed column
>output filling gaps with blanks or zeros

When I was a DOS user, I liked Kedit, from the Mansfield Software Group. 
It has very nice column editing features and outputs ASCII.  The latest
version, 5.0, works in DOS or OS2 and uses extended memory.  (I don't
have this version.)  They are working on a Windows version.  You can set
record type to fixed, with a specified record length in order to pad
records with blanks.  A global change would change all blanks to 0.

The column editing features are of two forms; you can highlight a column
block and then copy, move, delete, fill or overlay that block with
alt-keystroke commands (alt-c to copy, alt-m to move, etc.).  Also, you
can set a column-delimited zone, after which all of the command-line
commands will affect only the columns within the zone.  This allows you to
create complex macros (which can be bound to a key) to do virtually
unlimited column editing.

Since I have a version that's several releases out-of-date, I suggest you
call the developer if you have questions, instead of asking me:

	Mansfield Software Group
	(203) 429-8402

I call them every so often and ask if they have plans to develop a Unix
version, but so far the answer is "No".  None of the Unix editors I've
seen has the column editing power of Kedit; it's ideal for working with
data and also for turning ugly output into something close to printable,
so that TeX or a word-processor can easily handle the rest.  

Barbara Vaughan