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5 How Does this EDT Emulation Differ from Real EDT?

In general, you will find that this emulation of EDT replicates most, but not all, of EDT’s most used Keypad Mode editing functions and behavior. It is not perfect, but most EDT users who have tried the emulation agree that it is quite good enough to make it easy for die-hard EDT users to move over to using Emacs.

Here’s a list of the most important differences between EDT and this GNU Emacs EDT Emulation. The list is short but you must be aware of these differences if you are to use the EDT Emulation effectively.

1. Entering repeat counts works a little differently than in EDT.

   EDT allows users to enter a repeat count before entering a command that accepts repeat counts. For example, when using the real EDT, pressing these three keys in sequence, GOLD 5 KP1, will move the cursor in the current direction 5 words. This does not work in Emacs!

   Emacs provides two ways to enter repeat counts and neither involves using the GOLD key. First, repeat counts can be entered in Emacs by using the ESC key. For example, pressing these keys in sequence, ESC 1 0 KP1, will move the cursor in the current direction 10 words. Second, Emacs provides another command called universal-argument that can be used to do the same thing. Normally, in Emacs has this bound to C-u.

2. EDT’s line mode commands and nokeypad mode commands are not supported (with one important exception; see item 8 in Some Highlights, and Comparisons to the Original Emacs EDT Emulation). Although, at first, this may seem like a big omission, the set of built-in Emacs commands provides a much richer set of capabilities which more than make up for this omission.

   To enter Emacs commands not bound to keys, you can press GOLD KP7 or the DO key. Emacs will display its own command prompt "M-x". This stands for the keypress Meta-x, where Meta is a special shift key. The Alt key is often mapped to behave as a Meta key. So, you can also invoke this prompt by pressing Meta-x. Typing the sequence ESC x will also invoke the prompt.

3. Selected text is highlighted only on systems where Emacs supports the highlighting of text.
4. Just like in TPU/EVE, the ENTER key is not used to terminate input when the editor prompts you for input. The RETURN key is used, instead. (KP4 and KP5 (the direction keys) do terminate input for the ‘FIND’ command, just like in EDT, however.)