ED* implementation plan

[aartaka]

A rough set of features/commands (most of them have synonyms, in case we do several commands or need a replacement):

• [ ] Edit s-expressions structurally:

  • [ ] Act on expressions
  • [x] Move into, step in, descend
  • [x] Move out, pop, ascend
  • [x] Next, forward
  • [x] Previous, back(wards)
  • [ ] Paredit
  • [ ] Insert parens
  • [ ] Wrap
  • [ ] Slurp, widen, conquer, devour
  • [ ] Barf, shorten
    • [ ] Unwrap—the same?
  • [ ] Modify expressions
  • [x] Insert, prepend, prefix
  • [x] Append, suffix, annex, affix, postfix
  • [x] Change, modify, rewrite, replace
  • [x] Delete, cut, remove, clear, kill
  • [ ] Join, merge, append?, concatenate
  • [ ] Meta
  • [ ] Copy, save
  • [ ] Search, find, grep
  • [ ] Substitute, replace
  • [ ] Paste, yank
  • [ ] Undo, cancel, stop
  • [ ] Redo
  • [ ] Evaluating, testing etc.
  • [ ] Evaluate, run, execute
  • [ ] Print, (re)display, self
  • [ ] Save, dump to the file
  • [ ] Read, parse, fetch from the file

• [ ] Edit Lisp files as a set of s-expressions.

• [ ] Editing strings is an UNIX ed-ish way.

  • Not really the best interface, but it's well suited for textual interaction

• [ ] Editing non-Lisp files with this string editing modality.

  • [ ] Or defining custom processors for file types like HTML.

• [ ] Maybe even edit arbitrary Lisp objects?

  • Kinda the same as inspect*, so not sure.

Which means ed* should dispatch at least over:

• cons.
  • Maybe array too, which compounds to sequence.
• string.
• pathname.
• And, with potential Lisp object editing, t.

CC @fstamour

[fstamour]

Where does ed* stops and inspect* begins (if inspect* can also edit)?

[fstamour]

For reference:

• http://www.lispworks.com/documentation/HyperSpec/Body/f_ed.htm
• sample-implementation-results/unix-ed-cheat-sheet.txt

[aartaka]

I'll expand the list of commands in the toplevel comment with the ones taken from UNIX ed and Paredit. On the weekend, likely.

EDIT: command/comment typos :sweat_smile:

[aartaka]

Where does ed* stops and inspect* begins (if inspect* can also edit)?

inspect* can modify certain parts of inspected object (usually, object slots). Not sure where to delineate...

[aartaka]

I've expanded the list of commands. Not definitive, needs review and critical assessment. More synonyms won't hurt either.