XPL Program Glitch

[Nathan Sivin nsivin@xxxxxxxx]

I have attached a problematic but trivial XyDOS program,
ITAL.PGM, for anyone interested in why it doesn't work properly,
a question that stumps me. It inserts italics markup (MD+IT and
MD-IT) and puts the cursor in between the deltas if no text is
selected. If text is selected, it puts the deltas before and aft.

It begins by saving two values, (a) the display type (VA$DT) and
(b) whether any text is selected (VA$DF). It tests the latter,
inserts the markup accordingly, and uses the former to restore
the display type. That is what it is supposed to do. Actually it
always changes the file to graphics mode (WZ), which is a pain in
the neck. I would be delighted if someone could tell me what is
wrong with it.

Thanks and cheers,
--
Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6304
(215) 898-7454
nsivin@xxxxxxxx