MSBang FAQs
===========

1. When I start up, I get a warning saying "Syntax file not found. Syntax disabled."

	You have to copy the file syntax.msbang ( either use the one provided in the source or make your own, as detailed in Docs/Syntax Changing ) to the directory ${HOME}/.msbang/ .

2. I copied it, and it still gives me the warning!

	Possibly a parse error is being encountered. Please check syntax.msbang thoroughly, according to the rules provided in Docs/Syntax Changing .

3. If I execute msbang , it immediately gives me a segmentation fault.

	If you are running it in a virtual terminal, please increase the size (atleast width-wise). Too small a width will crash the editor.

4. End, home and selection (shift+left, shift+right) do not work!

	Try running it on console. On a virtual terminal, the keyboard is different. 

5. When I edit large files, initially the work is fast. As I go lower in the document, it becomes progressively slower.

	A range rule ( specified by R in syntax.msbang ) is on. If you are going to be working on large documents, maybe you can remove the range rule. You can also turn off syntax highlighting by pressing Ctrl+Y .

6. I can't find any practical use for the options Preview Margins, Delete File, Insert Character and Insert Word!

	Those are just provided to satisfy the requirements of the university regarding the V sem project. Note: It is STRONGLY recommended you do not use Delete File. Use the shell if you want to do such dangerous stuff. ;)

7. It autoindents well, but when I press backspace after an autoindent, I am not tabbed back to the initial position.

	This is because a tab is essentially treated as a series of spaces, not as a tab in itself. It's on the to-do list! :)

8. I cannot change thread priorities!

	You have to run the editor as superuser ( root ) to be able to change them. If you have sudo permission for it, run: " sudo ./msbang ". Now, you should be able to change them.

9. When asked to load a macro, what do I enter?

	The same name you entered while saving the macro, including any spaces. Nothing else needed. (It is recommended you do not use anything else except alphanumerics and spaces to name your macro.)

10. I do not want multi-threading enabled while I search.

	Choose Options -> Lines per thread . Set a high enough value for this.

11. I have set lines per thread to 50. If I search on a 500 line document, does it spawn 10 threads?

	No, the maximum number of threads spawned is 5. The lines per thread is automatically adjusted.

12. I selected some text and forgot to copy it. Do I have to select again?

	No. Once you finish selection, the selected text is automatically copied onto the clipboard. The Copy command is not really necessary.

13. I can't change font!

	If you are running msbang on a virtual console, the change font option will do nothing. If you are on console and you still can't change font, check if you have 0.psf.gz and 1.psf.gz in your ${HOME}/.msbang directory.

14. I can change font, but the display becomes garbled.

	Exit to shell ( File -> Shell ) and return. The font should be restored to the default.

15. The using menu option is not exactly helpful.

	That's why the documentation exists! ;)

16. I want to change the source code to suit my needs. Is that OK?

	The editor is released under GNU GPL . Look at the text file COPYING .

17. I ran some command and the program was aborted.

	Though all efforts have been taken to see that this does not happen, it is possible that you may have found a bug. Please send the exact circumstances of the crash to the authors.

18. The program quit with an Out of memory exception.

	As above, this happens only in rare circumstances. As of now, out of memory exceptions are not caught, so just restart the editor. That's what autosave is for!

19. The editor crashed, and I restarted it. However, it didn't offer to recover any files.

	This is because there are other instances of the editor running. Close all of them and restart. The responsibility of recovering data is given to the first invocation of msbang .

20. Every time I start msbang, it asks me whether I want to auto-recover.

	Either choose Yes once, or go to ${HOME}/.msbang and run: "rm .*.msbang " .

21. How do I insert my own syntax rules?

	Edit syntax.msbang , according to the rules described in Docs/Syntax Changing .

22. What is the file lines.msbang doing in the .msbang directory?

	That is a file to keep track of where you were editing files last time. So if you reopen those files, it will go to the line you were editing. You can edit this file if you are careful.

23. What is the file interpeted_syntax in the same directory?

	This is a debugging tool for tinkering with syntax.msbang . Every time syntax.msbang is read successfully, interpreted_syntax is written, which contains the internal representation of your rules. If you find a discrepancy, try editing syntax.msbang again.

24. When I try a regular expression search, I get a can't compile pattern error!

	The syntax used for regex search is the GNU regex syntax. Please refer to the GNU regex manual for a primer.

25. Can I provide command-line arguments?

	Yes. You can specify multiple files to be opened at the command prompt.

26. What do asterisks in front of file listings in the open dialog mean?

	That implies that they are symbolic links.
