DEC Text Processing Utility

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The DEC Text Processing Utility (or DECTPU) [1] [2] is a dedicated programming language developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) to easily create multi-functional text editors.

Contents

TPU is part of OpenVMS. It can be used on a terminal, a console, or on a graphical system like DECwindows.

Functionality

TPU provides text buffer management APIs in concert with window management APIs which are targeted for the VT100 line of terminals.[ citation needed ] This allowed split-screen windows with scrolling and hence multiple views of the same buffer content.[ citation needed ] There are also key mapping APIs provided, allowing a wide range of functionality for editing text. The keyboard mapping could be easily adapted by the admin or the user.[ citation needed ]

Users could write their own specific editor, to e.g. translate text or short (error) messages to multiple natural languages in a synchronised small text window. The text editor is callable, so you could have small text editors built into specific applications, e.g. a simple mail client. You might redirect output from applications into a text window, using inter-process communication. Therefore one could call web services to return their results into a text buffer.

Implementations

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References

  1. Guide to the DEC Text Processing Utility
  2. "DEC Text Processing Utility Reference Manual". Archived from the original on 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  3. User's Guide to EVE AA-Z302A-TE. Digital Equipment Corporation. July 1985. p. ix.
  4. Gregg Wonderly (September 26, 1988). "v04i092: TPUVI for VMS part 1 of 17". Newsgroup:  comp.sources.misc.
  5. Gregg Wonderly (July 22, 1987). "VI.RNO - Installation and help for VI emulation in TPU". OpenVMS Freeware CD V5.0. Retrieved July 1, 2022.