If you are moving from MPE to HP-UX, you may find yourself looking for a replacement for the Quad editor on MPE. Qedit is an alternative that runs on both platforms.

Here is a question received by technical support:

I have just one last job that I need to convert from Quad to Qedit, and I'm having a little trouble. I'm going to paste the code for quad and explain what it's doing and hopefully you can send me back some working Qedit code.

:DATA !quad
t dmovltag
d a i :-:(25/25)
c 16/25 t :     -1000: a
c 26/27 t :GL: a
c 36/39 t :PTFE: a
c 40/55 t :OVERLIMIT CHARGE: a
k dmvsaovl
e

We will start with the delete line. The code deletes all lines with '-' in column 25/25. The next set of changes appears to be adding verbage to the columns specified. The verbage is in between ':' and ':'. Let me know if you can help me with this. Thanks.

Most Quad jobs can be converted to Qedit, and this one is no exception. Here is the same task done in Qedit:

qedit
t dmovltag
d "-"(25/25)
c 16/25 :     -1000: @
c 26/27 :GL: @
c 36/39 :PTFE: @
c 40/55 :OVERLIMIT CHARGE: @
k dmvsaovl
e

Notice that the text, keep and exit commands are identical. The delete command just needs to delete any lines with '-' in column 25. The c (change) command is almost the same (remove the "t:" and change the "a" to "@" --all lines).

If I was putting this into production, I would change the commands to be dq, cq, which is delete quiet and change quiet, which would stop the lines from being liste out.

Differences Between Quad and Qedit

The biggest difference between Quad and Qedit is the special Quad way of keeping track of file changes in a separate file. Qedit does not do this. The second difference is that Qedit has an extensive full-screen mode that includes Cut and Paste, function keys to move ahead and back a page, search functions, and much more.

When shifting from Quad to Qedit, you may find our comparison chart helpful (keep in mind that we are not Quad users, so our comparison is generated from the documentation only).

	Quad	Qedit
Version	January 1993	5.5 -  May 2004
Undo any or all changes	Yes	Yes
Full-screen editing	Limited	Yes - extensive
Cancel most recent command	Yes	Yes
Fast keep	Yes
Show and keep changes only	Yes
Recovery from system failures	Yes	Yes
Compile programs	Yes	Yes
Execute MPE command	Yes	Yes
Modify allows multiple changes	Yes	Yes
Online help	Yes	Yes
Strings specification	Yes, mixed characters with octal/hex/decimal codes	Yes, mixed characters with decimal codes (Set Dec On)
Disable system commands	QUADNOMPE	Set Work Sys
Open file for read-only	QUADREADONLY	Text, Browse
Size of workfile	QUADFILESIZE	Set Work
Answer Yes to questions	QUADYES	Individual commands
Open temporary files	Yes	Yes
MPE/XL redo	Yes	Yes
MPE colon prefix optional	Yes	Yes
Prompt	/	/
Stacked commands	Yes	Yes
Shortened commands	Yes	Yes
Range	[Range File] [Line Range] [Version] [Including String]  | [Excluding String]	[Filename] [Rangelist]
Line number	Yes	Yes
First and last line	First, F, Last, L	First, [, Last, ]
Current line	*	*
String as rangelist	Yes	Yes
String delimiters	Special characters except # % $ / @ ! * + - . , ( ) < or >	"|\~{}[]_@?!#>%&:'
Control characters	# followed by character or decimal value	Set Dec On and ' followed by decimal value
Octal values	% followed by octal characters	No except in =
Hexadecimal values	$ followed by hex characters	No except in =
Search columns window	Yes ()	Yes (), Set Window
Pattern search string	Yes (Wild)	Yes (Pattern)
Last search string	""	""
Default search options	Literal, no Wild, no Case	String, no Pattern, case sensitive
Pattern characters	! = any single special character. # =any single numeric digit. ^ = single alphabetic character either lower or upper case. ? = any single character, alpha, numeric or special. @ = zero or more characters.	! = reserved for future use. # = any single numeric digit. ^ = reserved for future use. ? = any alpha or numeric character. @ = zero or more characters. ~ = zero or more spaces & = escape character, use next character as literal
Regular expressions		Yes
Relative line numbers	+/-	+/-
String range	Yes "begin"/"end"	Yes "begin"/"end"
External file	Yes <Range File> or ^rangefile	Yes
Modify external file	Yes	No
Last external file	<>	$
Unnumbered file	Filename:U	Text filename,Unn
File equate	Yes, * prefix	Yes, automatic
Versions	Yes	No
Access previously modified lines	Yes MODS	No
Display modified lines	Show	Default
Display info on printout	Header	No
Sent output to printer	Offline (QUADLIST)	LP, LPA, LPB
Do not display line numbers	Unnumbered	Quiet (Q)
Truncate or wrap printed lines	Truncate	No
Workfile name	Q1234567	QEDITSCR or QED12345
Insert new text lines	Add	Add
Empty specified lines	Blank	No (Change)
Merge lines (blend in spaces)	Blend	MergeJ
Undo previous edit	Cancel	Undo
Cancel undo	Cancel-Cancel	Undo Redo
Search-replace	Change	Change
Undo all changes (revert)	Clear	Undo All
Copy columns	Colcopy	Colcopy, Hold/Replace
Move columns	Colmove	Colmove
Copy lines	Copy	Add =
Remove blank lines	Deblank	Delete "~" (p)
Use MPE Debug	Debug	No
Remove lines	Delete	Delete
Downshift lines	Downshift	Proc Down
Create copy of each line	Duplicate	No
Terminate program	Exit	Exit
Find string	Find	Find
Prevent further changes	Freeze	No
Move lines	Gather	Add <
Online help	Help	Help
Display list of versions	Index	No
Save current changes	Keep	Keep
List lines	List	List
Merge lines (replace)	Merge	Merge
Modify individual lines	Modify	Modify
Execute system commands	Yes : optional	Yes, : optional
Create a new empty file	New	Add, New
Full-screen mode	Page	Visual
Number of lines in full-screen	PageSize	Set Visual Above Below
Run another copy of the program	QUAD	Run
Display a character string	Quote	Q
Modify/execute previous command	Redo	Redo, Before
Renumber lines	Renumber	Renum
Replace entire lines	Replace	Replace
Save workfile	Save	Text, Open, Shut
Display performance statistics	Stats	No
Submit a job	Stream	Stream
Set tab stops	Tabs	Set Tabs
Read new file to edit	Text	Text
Undo changes on lines	Undo	No
Upshift text	Upshift	Proc Up
Display current state	Verify	Verify
Insert blank lines	Whiten	No
Execute editor commands	Xecute	Use