Mail Archives: djgpp/2002/02/14/06:15:22
From my previous post TM> and Eli Zaretskii EZ> :
TM> I guess I could, when ready, download Emacs source and build for DOS, Linux and
TM> NetBSD from the same source?
EZ>Yes, but there's a gotcha. The DJGPP version is built in-place, in the
EZ>same directory tree where the sources are, and then used from that tree
EZ>(you can remove the src directory and a few others, once you've built the
EZ>program). So if you want to use a single source tree for building all
EZ>those versions, first build the Unix versions from two different build
EZ>directories, and only then build the DJGPP version.
EZ>
EZ>Alternatively, you can make a copy of the source tree, at the expence of
EZ>more disk space.
I guess then if I wanted to build both for Linux and NetBSD, I could untgz into
a directory on a Linux partition and build from separate directories, since BSD
can read Linux file system, but Linux can't read BSD file system. For DOS, I'd
have to untgz separately onto a DOS partition, since DOS can't read Linux or BSD
file system, and can't handle long file names.
TM> I was wondering how Emacs Internet capabilities would work with DOS packet
TM> drivers such as DOSPPPD (EPPPD) and LSPPP.
EZ>As you've seen, my solution doesn't need any DOS packet drivers, since
EZ>Blat is a Win32 console application. However, a similar solution should
EZ>work with DOS drivers, assuming you can find a command-line mailer that
EZ>works on MS-DOS.
EZ>
EZ>On other platforms, Emacs has a built-in network support (although the
EZ>default configuration on those systems doesn't use that support for
EZ>email), but those network capabilities aren't supported in the DJGPP
EZ>port, because of lack of time and interest in implementing it, and
EZ>because there's no satisfactory solution (IMHO) for DJGPP networking
EZ>that works on most or all supported platforms.
I use a DOS command-line program for SMTP, POP3 and NNTP, but I think it has to
be run from its directory. I wouldn't see any advantage trying to invoke this
program from within Emacs, but some users invoke NOS-BOX 2.05 or earlier versions
from Yarn or Crosspoint (http://www.openxp.de/).
What do you mean by most or all DJGPP-supported platforms? I thought DJGPP was
only for DOS, though there are many DOSes out there: MS-DOS, DR-DOS, IBM PC-DOS,
FreeDOS (http://www.freedos.org/), Phystechsoft PTS-DOS, Datalight ROM-DOS, any
others?
I tried w3 just to see if it would work when connected to the Internet. I was
prompted for the URL, but I got the error message that w3 was missing. w3 also
didn't work, offline, on an HTML file:///g:/netbsd/vi.htm which is a downloaded
man page.
TM> Besides feedmail and Blat, there is GNUS, and I notice some others in message
TM> header lines.
EZ> Gnus needs either built-in networking or clients for several protocols
EZ> (such as NNTP) to run.
So now I won't attempt to run Gnus, at least not in DOS while online.
TM> I tried viewing the Korean spams in Emacs with --unibyte switch, just to see
TM> what would show. Naturally I didn't expect to see actual Korean characters.
TM> I also viewed the HELLO file in Emacs with and without --unibyte, and also in
TM> Tiny Editor (DOS-based and also a 16-bit OS/2 version). Emacs with --unibyte
TM> showed ^[ in some places, where Tiny Editor showed left-arrow, indicating
TM> ASCII 27, suggesting an ANSI escape sequence.
EZ>Try without --unibyte. You will see empty boxes, since Emacs cannot
EZ>display those characters. However, if you type "C-u C-x =" with the
EZ>cursor on one of these boxes, Emacs will tell you that it's Korean
EZ>character, and will show its encoding in hex. (It does indeed include
EZ>escape sequences). Also, if you install the necessary font files (see
EZ>the file emacs.README on SimTel.NET), you will be able to print the
EZ>entire HELLO file with all the scripts, including Korean, and see all the
EZ>characters in all their glory.
EZ>
EZ>Admittedly, this is not very practical support for Korean, but I don't
EZ>see how can Emacs do better without the fonts built into DOS. I did try
EZ>running the DJGPP port in Japan once, and it did display Japanese
EZ>characters correctly on a Japanese version of Windows 95. So I know it
EZ>does work.
I already tried viewing HELLO in Emacs without --unibyte. Some of the hello
strings showed ASCII-127 characters, like an empty triangle or little house.
But I wasn't aware of "C-u C-x =". When you say "print the entire HELLO file
with all the scripts", I assume you mean on screen rather than on a printer.
Printer drivers would be another issue. My printer has no support for Korean,
Japanese or Chinese but could print a graphic file.
TM> Since I might want to view the same file in another environment or
TM> configuration, I don't want Emacs to permanently convert characters in strange
TM> character sets to ASCII 127 and save that way if I edit the file.
EZ> In v20.x, this requires constant attention. Emacs 21 doesn't convert
EZ> unknown characters into ASCII 127, so it's safer.
Is this problem with v20.x, converting strange characters to ASCII 127 and
saving that way, only in the DOS port, or does it apply to all ports: DOS, OS/2,
Linux, BSD and other Unixes, OpenVMS, BeOS, etc? I guess I could do a test in
the Linux version by making a copy of a Korean or Chinese spam, then make a
slight change and change back, and save the modified (?) file, see what happens.
I never seem to get Japanese spams.
I prepared this message using DOS Emacs, hope the formatting will look neater
than it does on the Emacs screen.
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