SEARCH_HISTORY (in Makefile)

Version: 0.01

E-mail: filipg@paranoia.com       (best)

        fmgst+@pitt.edu           (so so)

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Intro:

        This patch adds the ability to search for words and phrases in

	the History buffer.

Do I

Need

It:

	If you use the "SCROLL MODE" (History Buffer) and wish to be able

	to search said buffer for words and phrases (case-less search is

	supported, but no regexp's!) then this patch is for you.

About

History

Buffer

Search:

	The History Buffer is a circular buffer[+] of a preset number of

	lines that holds the contents of your previous 'screens'. I want

	to point out that this buffer is not a "carbon copy" of

	_everything_ that you have had on your screens. In fact, some

	programs can 'fool' minicom into not saving even one line of what

	was perhaps a dozen screen-fulls of information! (ie. lynx) Still,

	even with these problems, and the fact that a 5000 line buffer

	(maximum) increases the size of the minicom executable to several

	megabytes (!!), the history buffer is _very_ handy. I always wanted

	an ability to search this buffer (because 5000 lines is a lot of

	info to scan visually!) but could not wait any longer for _someone

	else_ to do it... so here we are :-)

Notice:

	To begin using this patch, you must ensure that your History Buffer

	is enabled in the Options screen. Enter minicom as usual and open

	up the Options screen with "C-A O". This will display a menu:

            +=====[configuration]======+

            | Filenames and paths      |

            | File transfer protocols  |

            | Serial port setup        |

            | Modem and dialing        |

            | Screen and keyboard      |< Select this option

            | Save setup as dfl        |

            | Save setup as..          |

            | Exit                     |

            +==========================+

	And a new menu will pop up:

              +=================[Screen and keyboard]=================+

              |                                                       |

              | A - Command key is         : ^A                       |

              | B - Backspace key sends    : BS                       |

              | C - Status line is         : enabled                  |

              | D - Alarm sound            : No                       |

              | E - Foreground Color (menu): YELLOW                   |

            +=| F - Background Color (menu): BLUE                     |

            | | G - Foreground Color (term): CYAN                     |

            | | H - Background Color (term): BLACK                    |

            | | I - Foreground Color (stat): GREEN                    |

            | | J - Background Color (stat): BLACK                    |

            | | K - History Buffer Size    : 2000   <<  <<   <<       |<<

            | | L - Macros file            : .macros                  |

            | | M - Edit Macros                                       |

            | | N - Macros enabled         : Yes                      |

            +=|                                                       |

              |  Change which setting?  (Esc to exit)                 |

              +=======================================================+

	The line you want to edit is marked with "<<"'s. Even though

	the default in minicom is 250 buffer lines, you may wish to

	increase it to something more reasonable. 2000 works for me.

	Hit ESC, and move to "Save setup as dfl" in the previous menu

	and select to save the current configuration.

Acti-

vation:

	I assume that you have an _existing_ and configured version of

	minicom on your system. If not, please see the minicom man

	page and setup everything _first_!

	Unless the "-D_SEARCH_HISTORY" option in the "OPFLAGS" in the

	Makefile was defined _before_ the current minicom you have was

	built, you will need to re-compile. Apply all the patches you

	want, edit the Makefile to active them (it's very simple), and

	type "make". 

	The minicom binary generated from the above compliation, will

	have all the necessary code to search the history buffer. If

	you do not plan to debug (there are no bugs :-).. you may wish

	to "strip minicom" to remove debugging info and make the file

	a bit smaller. This is optional.

Note:

	You can not search the history buffer until there is something

	in it. This means that you will need to connect to some service

	or BBS to actually test the searching function as nothing short

	that will add any lines to the History Buffer!

Status

Line:

	If enabled (I suggest that you do it for a while), the status

	line is used to inform you of the allowed key-commands and other

	info. The typical status line for minicom looks like this:

CTRL-A Z for help |115200 8N1 | NOR | Minicom 1.75 1996 | VT102 | Online 03:37

	When you enter the History Buffer view mode, using "C-A B", this

	status line will change to:

HISTORY: U=Up1 D=Down1 F=PgDn B=PgUp s=Srch S=CaseLess N=NextHit ESC=Exit

	Where:

      Letter   Note     Function & Notes

      ======   ====     ===================================================

	U		Move up one line

	D		Move down one line

	F		Move down one page (<SPACE> also works)

	B		Move up one page

	s(or /)	[+]	Search (from beginning - oldest end - of buffer)

			for _exactly_ the pattern you can enter.

			Note: if you hear a <BEEP>, nothing was found!

	S(or \)	[+]	Search (from beginning - oldest end - of buffer)

			for the pattern you can enter _ignoring case_.

			Note: if you hear a <BEEP>, nothing was found!

	N		Search for _next_ match (ie. continue search first

			initiated with either the \ or / command keys). 

      <ESC>		Exit from HISTORY mode back to the terminal session.

Note [+]:

	Both search commands will display another status line and enter

	the input mode:

SEARCH FOR (ESC=Exit)(nn): 

	Where you will be able to type in the word(s)/phrase to search

	for. The "(nn)" is the maximum number of characters (this can

	be changed in ../src/minicom.h as MAX_SEARCH (set to 30 by default))

	Note that hitting <ESC> will take you back to the HISTORY mode!

	When you accept the entry, the display will be move to the first

	occurence of the search term. If none is found, you will just hear

	a <BEEP> (tone). Otherwise, the first match will be highlighted

	(and advanced to the top of the page)... other matches (if any)

	will also be high-lighted. You can now press "n" to advance to the

	next hit (if none are found from the current match to the end of

	the end of the document, you wee get a <BEEP> AND pressing 'n'

	again will wrap you around to the first match!). You can also

	use the page up/down and line up/down keys... any matches of

	the pattern that are encountered this way will ALSO be high-

	lighted.

	Hitting <ESC> at any time will dismiss the HISTORY screen and

	restore the terminal session. If, for some reason, the screen is

	not correctly redrawn, hitting ^R (C-R) will refresh it.

Bugs:

	Minicom appears to have some windowing bugs that show themselves

	when the screen is not correctly restored when windows are closed.

	These bugs seem to occure more often when used with "odd" console

	screen sizes (I run 100x37 :-) and now and then I need to refresh

	the screen with ^R (C-R) after window-operations. I will track

	this down when I have some time... It's been in minicom as long as

	I can remember... it just never bothered me enough :-)

	Feel free to e-mail me with suggestions and feedback:

E-mail: filipg@paranoia.com      	 (best)

        fmgst+@pitt.edu          	 (so so)

WWW:	http://www.paranoia.com/~filipg/

	http://www.repairfaq.org/

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// fmg 8/20/97 - Added History Buffer search (very unstable)

		 Lots of bugs found and squashed... floor got

		 really slippery for a while... yuck :-)

----------------

// fmg 8/21/97 - Added case and case-less options and fixed 'N' search

		 Started using this minicom as "production". 3 new bugs

		 found and squashed.

----------------

// fmg 8/22/97 - Rewrote parts of code, cleaned up variables, #ifdef'ed

		 everything, and tested make'ing. Added display of

		 compile options on startup screen. No bugs found.

		 (sorry, does not mean there aren't any :-)

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// fmg 8/31/97 - Finished up and cleaned up this page :-)