XYDOS and XYWIN

[nsivin@xxxxxxxx (Nathan Sivin)]

Having just installed XYWIN 4.12, let me report briefly on its
similarity to XYDOS 4.015, since I found it difficult to get
comparative information when I was looking for it.

I am extremely pleased with the operation of the program, since
there are few differences either in its file formats or in its
XPL functions. Comparing the list of the latter in the XY
Customization
Guide and in the XW Reference Guide (which covers most of the
same ground as both the XY RG and CG), I found only a very few
differences:

FUNCTIONS THAT DIFFER IN XW 4.12 AND XY 4.015

NAME VERSION   DESCRIPTION

AB  Y   Abandon current window
HF  Y   Display help frame
IB  Y   Clear keyboard buffer
KF  Y   Redirect keyboard
MN  Y   Display values
MW  W   Windows functions
TN  Y   Toggle number lock


FUNCTIONS IN BOTH, BUT UNDOCUMENTED IN XW MANUAL

CN     Turn off number lock
DS     Define sentence (D7 in XW manual is a typo)
EX     Exit
MS     Mouse (undoc. in XW manual, but used in XW.KBD)
NI     Do not pass key to DOS
SN     Turn on number lock
SW     Show menu of windows


W=IN XW ONLY   Y=IN XY ONLY

What this meant in practice is that I could use my highly
customized
XY keyboard with hardly a modification. The only key assignments
that did not work were a few to which I had assigned programs.
This meant that I can keep using my old shortcut keys rather than
learning the ones assigned in XW. Furthermore, the actual
assignments show up accurately in the menus.

Since I intend to use the DOS version except when the functionality of
Windows is needed, I was able to set the default directory
assignments so both programs use many of the same directories: graphics, fonts
(the same ones are supplied in both programs, so this avoids
duplication), macros, styles, etc. It is also possible to use
the same hyphenation and personal dictionaries, etc., for both.
Since the format of text files is identical (except perhaps for
some arcane technicalities that I have not encountered yet), they
can be kept in a single hierarchy of directories.

In practice, this means that I can be producing text with the
full range of formating after only a couple of working days of
poking around in the new program, making minor modifications in
keyboard, defaults, startup, etc., rather than the week I had
expected.

I have run across a couple of minor problems that await solution.
 One is that the program is a bit slower in loading files, and
sometimes sticks when moving between two windows. Another is
that I use several small XPL programs that offer a number of
choices for converting files, etc., and find that the area on the
status line that displays prompts is much too narrow to show more
than about 1/3 of a horizontal menu that is completely visible in
XY. (TG Tech Support: Any suggestions?)

To sum up, I am pleased as punch with the compatibility of the
two programs, with how easy it is to avoid having to learn a new
set of commands and keys, and with the fact that the Windows
program produces files no larger than the DOS one does.

-- Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-3325