the documentation strategy of GNU APL is to primarily document deviation from standards.
The behavior of the ∇-editor is describer in the IBM APL2 language reference and a link
to is is provided in README-7-more-info.
Regarding APL new-comers, I believe they are far better off writing APL functions in text files.
The old ∇-editor was only implemented for backward compatibility for people that are used to it.
Best Regards,
Jürgen
On 12/30/20 4:40 AM, Russtopia wrote:
The [GNU APL documentation][1] on the line editor seems to assume one already knows how to use it. I only see brief mention of what commands/syntax '... are not fully supported in GNU APL'.
I looked through the SVN trunk's various README- files and in doc/, but not exhaustively so my apologies if I missed the obvious.
Compare with the documentation of [Dyalog's APL ∇-editor][2], or [MicroAPL][3]. A succinct table of command syntax would be extremely useful to APL newcomers.
I'd be willing to prepare a patch to submit for the documentation if someone can point me to more resources.
(Related question: can GNU APL spawn an external editor specified by the user and use its resultant buffer as input? While nice, I'd still like to add documentation for the built-in editor).
Thank you,-Russ
[1]: https://www.gnu.org/software/apl/apl.html#Section-3_002e13
[2]: https://help.dyalog.com/18.0/index.htm#Language/Defined%20Functions%20and%20Operators/TradFns/APL%20Line%20Editor.htm
[3]: http://www.microapl.com/apl_help/ch_020_020_940.htm
