Re: Two or more Xys open

[Harry Binswanger hb@xxxxxxxx]

Robert wrote:
> You make a change in foobar.txt in Xy1, and BEFORE you "scroll down"
> (whatever that means) or switch to making edits in Xy2, you SAVE your changes
> in Xy1.
Hmm, now that I have thought about this, different spatial positions for
different, simultaneously viewable Xy files is why I wanted this scheme of
two Xy iterations in the first place! In working with one Xy on the left
monitor and one on the right, I won't get confused about which is which,
even if I'm working on two very similar files. For example, at present, I'm
trying to make a new, optimal version of an essay by synthesizing the best
formulations in two earlier, slightly different versions of it. This could
benefit from having 3 Xy iterations open (remember, I have dual monitors,
so I have room for this.
>  Note that even if you are working
> at the top of the document in Xy1, and way down at the bottom of the document
> in Xy2, your cursor will remain where it is -- the "view" of the document or
> the current page will remain the same -- in each iteration (or roughly so,
> allowing for the added or subtracted text involved in the edit).

Cool.
> You don't need flags or warning clutter. You just don't leave an iteration
> without saving first. If you forget ... well, next time you won't forget. It
> is NOT a difficult habit to cultivate! I hit the save key every 30
> seconds max
> *anyway*. Second nature.

Right.
> What this does is offer a truly unique method of toggling between two distant
> parts (or formatted and unformatted views! draft or expanded vs. graphical
> mode [in fullscreen]!) of one file. U2 frames SBS (SideBySide) and TWOSCReen
> let you move, with a keystroke, between two separate parts of a document, but
> they don't allow you to see the same file in two separate windows,
> simultaneously. I don't think even MSWord can accomplish this. *And* keep
> them mutually updated or synchronized.
What would help in my particular work is if I could use ctrl= and ctrl+
between two different Xy iterations. That way, I could more easily see
where my formulations in one version of the essay differ from those in the
other (since the two versions--and we're talking two different files
here--are basically the same). Is that feasible? Can Xy 1 compare its
contents to what's open in Xy 2? I suppose I could write a non-Xy, DOS
program to do the comparisons and shell out to DOS in Xy 1 to execute it.
But could it be done in XPL w/o shelling to DOS? I don't see how the XPL
code in one Xy could "know about" what's going on in another Xy iteration.


Harry Binswanger
hb@xxxxxxxx