Re: running xy 3+ under windows xp - aarrgghhh!

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from PollyK3@xxxxxxxx on Sun, 22 Jun 2003 16:30:40 EDT


> Anyway, I operated on my startup.int. The first set of numbers that you
> suggested for more than 25 lines did nothing. This one doubled
> the cursor size, but I'd like to double it again.

> BC default it=500,1500,8193,500,1500,8193,0,1

Well, we're on the right track, aren't we? Improvement, aye?

Forget that paragraph you didn't understand. Here are the statements to focus
on (from my first msg):

"Let's posit that insert should be bigger."

OK, do you agree with that, Polly? Do you want a one size cursor for insert,
and another size for overstrike? Which do you want bigger, which smaller?
Now's the time to choose... You can have it either way. OR, you can have them
both be the same size (no visual distinction).

You say:
"I don't understand how to change 500 and 1500, which should go up, which
should go down, or what the significance of 3,6,7, and 8/1,2,4 and 5 is."

OK, let's look at the DEFAULT IT command again. There are eight (8) numbers in
the command -- I've been trying to distinguish them by referring to their
"position" in the string of numbers, from 1 to 8:

BC default it=500,1500,8193,500,1500,8193,0,1
  [position 1  2  3  4  5  6  7 8]

For example, "position 1" above holds the number 500 (i.e. the first number in
the string), "position 3" (the third number) is 8193, "position 8" (the eighth
and last number) is the number 1.

Let's write them out vertically, and comment them:

1 500 <==INSERT on a 25 line screen -- CHANGEABLE!
2 1500 <==OVERSTRIKE on a 25 line screen -- CHANGEABLE!
3 8193 <==this number is fixed (don't change)
4 500 <==INSERT on GREATER THAN 25 line screens -- CHANGEABLE!
5 1500 <==OVERSTRIKE on GREATER THAN 25 line screens -- CHANGEABLE!
6 8193 <==this number is fixed (don't change)
7  0 <==this number is fixed (don't change)
8  1 <==this number is fixed (don't change)

Now, you might well ask, what do these bloody numbers mean? I haven't a clue.
Not one clue. But the RULE is: a smaller number yields a larger cursor. So
we'll just experiment until you get a size you like.

You're using 28 lines, I think you said -- i.e. greater than 25 lines.
Therefore, the numbers in positions 1 and 2 are not relevant to you. Ignore
them. Leave them as they are. Play only with the two numbers in positions 4
and 5.

If you want to double again the size of your cursor, let's try halving these
values again (remember: smaller value equals larger cursor): we'll change 500
to 250, and 1500 to 750. So now we'll try this command:

default it=500,1500,8193,250,750,8193,0,1

On my system, that produces a HUGE cursor -- so large, in fact, that there's
barely any distinction between insert and overstrike (you know what I'm talking
about here, right? insert and overstrike? the insert key?).

Anyway, the simplest way to adjust and experiment is to write the default IT
command out on the command line, and just keep changing those two numbers until
you get something that suits your taste -- when you execute the command (Enter
key), you immediately see the effect of your command in the changed size of the
cursor. Just leave the command on the command line, and play with those two
numbers -- keep executing the command with different numbers. When you're
happy, commit your chosen command to STARTUP.INT, so that it operates hands-off
henceforth, and you don't have to think about this again.

Hope this is clear. Let me know.

-----------------------------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
-----------------------------