THE - The Hessling Editor
Using THE with Pine

OVERVIEW

The UNIX e-mail programs, PINE and MAIL, have internal editors which you use when composing mail. ED is the internal editor for MAIL; PICO, for PINE. However, each mail program gives you the option of using an alternate editor (e.g., THE) in lieu of the internal one.

Changing PINE to use THE as its primary editor:

Step 1: Tell PINE to use an alternate editor:

• Invoke PINE by typing 'pine' (don't type the quotes) and striking the 'Enter' key
• Select the 'SETUP' option on the Main Menu by striking the key s (don't strike the 'Enter' key)
• Select the 'Config' task by striking the key c in response to the message 'Choose a setup task from the menu below' (again, don't strike the 'Enter' key)
• Go to the second page of configuration options by striking the space bar
• Move the 'highlighter' (the block cursor) to the 'enable-alternate-editor-implicitly' option by striking the arrow down key five times
• Enable an alternate editor by striking the key X (if the alternate editor option is already enabled-there's an X in the brackets-don't strike the X key; you'll disable its use
  

Step 2: Identify 'THE' as the alternate editor:

• Go to the fifth page of configuration options by striking the space bar three times
• Move the 'highlighter' to the 'editor' option (the option is near the bottom) by striking the down arrow key thirteen times
• Start the process of identifying the alternate editor by striking the key A (don't hit the 'Enter' key. If you are already using an alternate editor, strike the key C instead.)
• Identify THE as the alternate editor by typing 'the' or 'x' (don't type the quotes and THE CHARACTERS MUST BE IN LOWER CASE) and striking the 'Enter' key
• Return to the main menu by striking the key E

You're done. PINE will now use THE as its primary editor.

Note: If you like, you may configure PINE to use BOTH PICO, its internal editor, and THE. (The above directions configure PINE to use only THE.) The second configuration retains PICO as the primary editor, but gives you the option of striking a key sequence - control underscore (^_) - to jump to THE. Except for item five in step one, the directions to configure PINE for this other configuration are the same as the directions to make THE the only editor. Instead of turning on the 'enable-alternate-editor-implicitly' option, turn on option number six - the 'enable-alternate-editor-cmd' option. That means striking the space bar six times instead of five.

Changing MAIL to use THE as its editor:

Step 1: Identify 'THE' as the alternate editor:

• Change the environmental variable EDITOR by typing at the UNIX prompt the command 'export EDITOR=x' (or 'export EDITOR=the') and striking the 'Enter' key (don't type the quotes and THE WORD 'EDITOR' MUST BE IN CAPITAL LETTERS)
  
  If you want to set THE as the alternate editor for future sessions, place the above 'export' command in your '.profile' file. By entering the export command only at the UNIX prompt, THE will be the alternate editor for only your current session. If you place the 'export' command in your 'profile,' you will not have to repeat step one.
  
  Go into MAIL by typing 'MAIL EMAIL ADDRESS' (e.g., MAIL jsmith@uic.edu) and striking the 'Enter' key. Enter a brief description of the content of the mail in response to the prompt 'Subject: ' and strike the 'Enter' key.

Step 2: Use THE as an alternate editor:

• Start THE by entering a tilde followed by the letter e (don't enter a capital e) and striking the 'Enter' key (e.g., ~e)
  
  If you would rather use MAIL's internal editor, don't enter the 'tilde e' sequence; just start typing your message. If you then want to use THE to edit the message you entered via the internal editor, enter the 'tilde e' sequence as the first two characters on a newline and strike the 'Enter' key. You are now in the input screen for THE. Compose your message. When you're done, exit THE by entering the command 'FF' (no quotes) on the command line and striking the 'Enter' key. The word 'continue' (in brackets) appears and the cursor will be below it. Strike the period key (.) and hit the 'Enter' key. You will be prompted regarding additional recipients of the mail. Enter the e-mail addresses of those recipients or, if there are none, just strike the 'Enter' key.