Re: newbie who can't edit

[Ben Abbott]

On Jan 29, 2011, at 1:06 PM, Vokey, John wrote:

> On 2011-01-29, at 7:48 AM, Ben Abbott wrote:
> 
>> On Jan 29, 2011, at 8:09 AM, Sergei Steshenko wrote:
>> 
>>> --- On Sat, 1/29/11, c. <address@hidden> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> From: c. <address@hidden>
>>>> Subject: Re: newbie who can't edit
>>>> To: "Vokey, John" <address@hidden>
>>>> Cc: address@hidden
>>>> Date: Saturday, January 29, 2011, 2:32 AM
>>>> 
>>>> On 29 Jan 2011, at 07:36, Vokey, John wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> A long Matlab user, just started with Octave. 
>>>> Most everything I want from Matlab works with Octave (i.e.,
>>>> every .m file I have tested works), so I am quite
>>>> pleased.  BUT, I can't edit anything.  When I type
>>>> edit or edit name, nothing happens.  The terminal
>>>> window just locks up, and I have to close the window and
>>>> restart Octave.  Am I missing something?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Mac OSX 10.6.6, and the latest Octave.
>>>> 
>>>> you need to specify the program to use for editing, 
>>>> which one to use is really a matter of taste, I like emacs
>>>> 
>>>> and use the Aquamacs binary distribution [1], so I have the
>>>> 
>>>> following in my ~/.octaverc configuration file:
>>>> 
>>>> edit editor "open -a /Applications/Aquamacs.app %s &"
>>>> edit license gpl
>>>> edit mode async
>>>> edit home ./
>>>> 
>>>> type "doc edit" at the octave prompt for more options for
>>>> the "edit" command.
>>>> 
>>>> HTH,
>>>> c.
>>> 
>>> But, if a program freezes in response to user input, it's a bug. I.e. it
>>> should be filed and then it will hopefully be fixed.
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> Sergei.
>> 
>> I'm unable to duplicate the freeze. If someone explain what needs to be done 
>> to reproduce the freeze.
>> 
>> Ben

> 
> I just type edit at the prompt, and octave becomes completely unresponsive.

I got that. I'd like to patch Octave so that the freeze doesn't happen.

Does pressing ctrl+c unfreeze Octave and produce an error. If so what does it 
say?

To enable the edit function to work you need to choose a ascii editor and tell 
Octave about it. To tell Octave to open a file using the app that MacOS 
associates with the file use ...

        edit editor "open -e %s"

To specify a specific editor, say mvim, use ...

        edit editor "mvim %s"

The first is handy if you don't have a favorite editor, but it will not open a 
file that does not yet exist.

Ben

p.s. be sure to reply-all and respond at the bottom so that those arriving late 
can follow along. Thanks