aXe is a simple to use text editor for X that represents a significant
improvement over xedit. Also built around the Athena Text Widget it
features, amongst other things,

   o multiple windows
   o multiple buffers
   o default menu interface
   o optional button interface, with choice and layout of buttons 
     under user control
   o minibuffer for expert use and access to external filters
   o provision for defining a keyboard macro
   o geometry specification and resizing in terms of characters
   o file selection via a browser
   o knowledge of line numbers
   o parenthesis matching
   o regular expression searching
   o ability to change font
   o easy entry of control codes
   o xterm-like keymap feature
   o easy runtime setting of selected preferences (resources)
   o both brief and comprehensive on-line help
   o server mode with cooperating client programs
   o optional extension language using Tcl
   o optional Xaw3d widget set compatability
   o collection of reusable widgets that embody the functionality of aXe

I have personally built and run core aXe, i.e. without the Tcl and
Xaw3d options, on the following systems:

   Sun SPARC        SunOS 4.1.x     MIT X11R5
   Encore Multimax  UMAX 4.3        MIT X11R5
   DEC 5000/120     ULTRIX 4.2      MIT X11R5
   HP 9000/710      HP-UX 8.07      MIT X11R5
   MAC IIci         AU/X 3.0        MIT X11R5
   
but not all have been subject to the same level of testing. I have
only tested the Tcl and Xaw3d options on the first.

A number of '#ifdef SYSV'-isms that have been fed back to me have been
incorporated into the code and a possible scandir replacement is
provided for those systems that do not have one.

Although aXe will probably build under R4 run-time problems have been
encountered in the past. I have not bothered to try this version under
R4, and have not put any effort into solving previously known
problems.  Therefore, if you are at R4 you very much take pot luck. If
it doesn't work the only alternative is to try the last release,
2.1.1, of version 2 which should still be around. It doesn't have as
many features and uses the Widget Creation Library (Wcl). Not only
that, it requires an old version of Wcl, 1.06 or 1.05. Version 3 of
aXe was nearing completion when version 2 of Wcl came out so aXe 2
never got converted to make use of it.

aXe is available by anonymous ftp from export.lcs.mit.edu (18.24.0.12)
and arjuna.newcastle.ac.uk (128.240.150.1) initially, and probably in
due course from several other ftp sites.  Check your nearest using
xarchie.

If you can't ftp, try sending email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with the
word "help" alone in your message body.  You will receive instructions
on how to ftp via email.

Jim
---
J.K.Wight@newcastle.ac.uk
Department of Computing Science, University of Newcastle,  Tel: +44 91 222 8238
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom.              Fax: +44 91 222 8232
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