1 04/23/81 - List of known bugs and deficiencies in Multics Emacs.
2 See the end of the file for explanations of categories and markings.
3
4 **This file is intended to be perused via dprint, print, or via an**
5 **editor. It is not intended to be perused with the help command **
6
7
8
9
10 ^L
11 Bugs:
12 # Date Sev Difficulty Description
13 | |
14 05/79:
15 049*79.05.29 7 3 F: ESC-E, ESC-] can hang at end of buffer.
16
17 04/79:
18 048*79.04.03 6 2 F: ESC-Y not after ^Y irretrievably wipes text.
19
20
21 03/79:
22 047*79.03.23 9 8 T: Bad echo negotiation bugs exist.
23 046 79.03.18 3 6 M: No forwarding facility.
24 045 79.03.17 3 3 D: Fortran mode doc still not in vfile.
25 044*79.03.03 3 5 F: Lisp errors not caught/minibuffered.
26
27
28 02/79:
29 043*79.02.08 6 3 R: ^V and ESC-V ought beep at buffer limits.
30 042*79.02.08 7 4 M: Too many d's make RMAIL fault. can't duplicate
31 041*79.02.07 8 7 R: set-screen-size can leave bad lines on screen.
32 040 79.02.06 6 9 R: ESC-< ^V redisp opt. causes obscure results.
33 039*79.02.06 7 7 M: Messages swallowed by emacs if QUIT hit accept-msgs.
34 038*79.02.06 7 4 M: Mail not deallocated if rmail not quit cleanly.
35 037 79.02.06 6 3 F: runoff-fill-region is mark-position-sensitive.
36 036*79.02.06 4 2 F: "Modified" is issued for empty buffers.
37
38
39 01/79:
40 035 79.01.29 4 4 PL1: Subscripted labels sometimes indent badly.
41 034 79.01.22 4 7 D: I/O attachment of info vfile left attached.
42 033*79.01.22 5 5 M: Reply-to is not supported.
43 032*79.01.22 2 7 F: Knight-TV meta numbers don't work.
44 031*79.01.21 9 1 M: text of messages gets pushed on kill-ring.
45 030*79.01.21 9 1 D: documentation pushed on kill-ring before display.
46 029*79.01.17 9 9 F: fundamental-mode ex. comm. doesn't revert bindings well.
47 028 79.01.12 5 3 T: Inverse video fields not cleared on VIP7800.
48
49
50 12/78:
51 027*78.12.27 6 1 M: ^X^S moves cursor.
52 026*78.12.27 9 1 D: ^X2, ^X3, ^XF documentation is obsolete.
53 025*78.12.15 8 7 R: If last line in top window is overlength, it is
54 mis-displayed when two-window mode exited.
55
56
57 11/78:
58 024*78.11.21 2 1 F: ESC-^Y doesn't set the mark.
59 023*78.11.09 4 2 F: "Search fails." message overwrites search string.
60 022 78.11.08 4 6 L: Unbalanced constructs leave cursor in random places.
61
62
63 10/78:
64 021 78.10.27 5 6 CI: "emacs -mc a b" reads file b, etc.
65 020*78.10.20 3 5 F: Negative arguments are not supported.
66 019 78.10.06 4 8 R: Initial redisplay done even if input pending.
67 018*78.10.04 7 9 R: idel-chars not used in overlength lines.
68
69
70 09/78:
71 017*78.09.25 9 9 F: ^Q does not work in macros.
72 016 78.09.22 5 8 F: ^X^O deletes formfeeds.
73 015*78.09.22 3 10 R: ESC-99 ESC-R moves screen if last line too long.
74 014*78.09.15 8 8 R: minibuffer prompts are editable, should not be.
75 013 78.09.13 6 5 F: speedtype abbrevs > 4 chars fail.
76 012*78.09.12 6 5 PL1: private auto-dcl files exist, should be merged.
77 011 78.09.12 6 10 PL1: auto-dcl does not use the search facility.
78 010*78.09.05 9 5 F: comout does not trap Multics errors properly.
79 009 78.09.05 7 4 F: ^G beeps before all redisplays are done.
80 008*78.09.05 8 4 L: Local displays sometimes damage two-window mode.
81 007 78.09.01 5 4 R: Deleting end of buffer leaves screen blank.
82
83
84 08/78:
85 006*78.08.29 3 1 CI: Unread input is saved across emacs invocations.NOT SO.
86 005 78.08.28 9 5 PL1: Tab and semicolon in quoted strings leaves the
87 cursor in a random place.
88 004 78.08.28 1 3 R: Trailing whitespace ac tb gets printed.
89 003 78.08.28 4 3 F: De-underlining consecutive underlined words loses.
90 002*78.08.25 2 4 R: Random whitespace is sometimes printed in mid-line.
91 001*78.08.23 5 1 CI: emacs does not recognize some TTT tty names.
92
93
94 Suggestions:
95
96 030 79.05.29 3 4 F: Deconfuse loadlib/loadfile, use search rules, etc.
97 029*79.03.31 3 2 F: "new-line" should not eat last blank line.
98 028*79.03.03 3 5 F: End all prompts with CR, no more ESC.
99
100
101 02/79:
102 027*79.02.06 8 8 R: ^V/ESC-V with arguments to repeat redisplay-free.
103 026 79.02.06 8 10 F: Fill paragraph by paragraph etc. text.
104 025 79.02.06 4 8 F: Recursive editors in ^XQ/hairy searches, etc.
105
106
107 01/79:
108 024*79.01.26 4 5 F: Query-replace command, builtin not macro.
109 023 79.01.18 5 3 F: Explicit kill-ring-pop, or yank-and-pop command.
110 022 79.01.18 8 4 F: An insert-other-buffer-here command.
111 021*79.01.18 9 1 D: ESC-X help ought do something useful.
112 020 79.01.17 3 1 PL1: electric colon should not electrify in mid-program.
113 should check for next line end/empty
114 019*79.01.05 9 1 D: apropos should diagnose or accept multiple args.
115 018 79.01.03 9 1 R: set-screen-size ought default full for no arg.
116
117
118 12/78:
119 017*78.12.27 6 9 F: ^C of a ^S or ^R etc. should re-search same string.
120 016 78.12.27 7 9 F: Comout should deal with commands that ro/co internally.
121 015*78.12.26 8 10 M: Rmail save/log requests.
122 014*78.12.26 8 9 M: Rmail to read other-than-your-own mailboxes.
123 013*78.12.26 7 9 M: Rmail should reply to recipients.
124
125
126 11/78:
127 012 78.11.28 3 10 M: Handle memos and progress as emacs interrupts.
128 011 78.11.28 2 10 F: Expand active functions in file-name prompts.
129 010 78.11.28 3 9 F: Expand abbrevs in file-name prompts.
130 009*78.11.09 4 2 F: Leave search string visible when search fails.
131
132
133 10/78:
134 008*78.10.06 3 3 F: ^@ should respond visibly.
135
136
137 08/78:
138 007 78.08.30 3 4 F: Substitute globally <n> times, n given.
139 006 78.08.25 2 1 F: Comout that uses different strategies for different
140 amounts of output LEJ has such.
141 005 78.08.23 2 2 R: ^XV should "integrate" output with following redisp.
142 004 78.08.22 1 5 R: Visible "End of Buffer" marker on screen.
143 003 78.08.22 4 5 R: ^XV that prints .-n,.+n before and after cursor.
144 002 78.08.22 1 2 F: Global substitute command showing changed lines.
145 001 78.08.22 2 2 R: ^XV should delimit its printed output with "---".
146
147
148 Major Projects:
149
150 012 79.02.06 5 20 F: COBOL mode. Problem is nobody knows what it
151 should do.
152 011 79.02.05 5 30 F: Have a "tags" multi-language label-cataloguing
153 package. No particular problem, just work.
154 010 79.01.02 6 30 F: Have a completing reader. Problem is large amount
155 of engineering and implementation work, and prerequisite
156 of MP 009.
157 009 79.01.02 8 20 F: Organized cataloguing and argument checking on
158 extended commands. Problem is design.
159 008 78.12.19 7 35 R: Support underlining on "field-type" video TTY's.
160 Same problems as Major Project 007.
161
162 007 78.12.19 8 28 R: Support overstriking on printing, TV, and other
163 ^H-recognizing terminals. Problem is overhaul of
164 redisplay data and control structure, specif. detabbify.
165 006 78.11.28 9 50 F: Keep buffers in non-PDIR place, optionally, for
166 safety". Problem is Lisp representation of buffers.
167 005 78.09.21 9 25 F: Start_up files in some non-Lisp ASCII format. Problem
168 is designing and implementing a robust reader/evaluator
169 that gives credible diagnostics.
170 004 78.09.21 8 20 F: Redesign/reimplement option mechanism. Problems are
171 lack of info on options in autoload files not yet loaded,
172 and concomitant lack of error checking.
173
174 003 78.09.13 6 15 F: Speedtype improvements. Problem is lack of save/edit
175 ability, bugs in hashing algorithm, integration with native
176 Multics Speedtype.
177 002 78.08.30 8 25 R: Synchronize with or abort output. Problem is too much
178 typeout, waiting for unwanted redisplays. Difficulties
179 are needed MCS features, and inconsistent partial screens.
180 001 78.08.23 8 30 R: Substantially improve printing terminal redisplay.
181 Largest problems are middle-of-line edits, asynchrony
182 in deciding what to print, too much typeout.
183
184
185 Other tasks:
186 001*79.02.06 8 9 CI: Install new Lisp; update macros to use unwind-protect.
187 Problems are paperwork, exposure.
188 002 79.02.06 10 30 D: Finish user documentation emacs_tutorial.info.
189 003*79.02.06 4 2 Update Emacs on CISL, incl. vfile.
190 004*79.02.06 2 5 Support ADDS980 terminal in Arizona.
191 005*79.02.06 9 2 Upgrade to MCS echo negotiation. Yet to debug new
192 interrupt synchronization under mcs_echo_neg as well.
193
194
195 Explanations of categories and markings:
196
197 * indicates that the bug has been fixed.
198 Bug categories are: F - fundamental emacs; CI - command interface;
199 R - redisplay; PL1 - PL/1 mode; L - Lisp mode; M - Mail/message subsystems;
200 D - Documentation/auto-doc; T - terminal/network support.
201
202
203 Definitions:
204
205 A "bug" is a user-visible deficiency causing unexpected results, loss of
206 display or data, or useless output or display, or action at variance with the
207 documentation. Severity and estimated difficulty are rated on a scale of 1 to
208 10. 10 is the most urgent and hardest.
209
210 A suggestion is a suggested design augmentation or modification that is open
211 to debate about relative merit; it is not a bug fix. Suggestions do not
212 include missing isolatable sub-subsystems. Suggestions requiring major
213 redesign or new implementation are listed under "Major projects", and do not
214 qualify as suggestions.
215
216 A major project is a design/implementation enhancement involving substantial
217 redesign and reimplementation, or the implementation of an entirely new
218 subsystem within Emacs.
219
220 END