From: James Koppel <jamesbkoppel@...>
Date: 2007-11-07T05:39:48+09:00
Subject: Re: [QUIZ] Editing Text (#145)

Eric Mahurin wrote
>>The cursor should be thought to lie between two characters rather
 than on a character. Because of this, inserting before and after is the
 same. The cursor is >>represented by the node containing the line that the
 cursor is on, and the index of the character to the right of the
 cursor.
>
>Actually, they are different.  Both insert the character at the same
>point in the text.  The difference is the final position of the
>cursor/caret.  insert_after is not a normal editor operation though.
>It is equivalent to typing right-to-left instead of left-to-right
>(what insert_before does).  Since insert_after isn't a common
>operation, and it can be done using insert_before followed by left, it
>isn't needed.  The main reason I threw it in was symmetry.


Actually, I wouldn't call it different. I prefer just to call "inserting a character" adding a character at the position of the cursor. If you want the cursor to end up at the right, I'd call that a second operation.

(One could probably have an argument all day over whether the One True Name for this is "insert_before" or "insert followed by cursor_right" with no movement toward consensus.)
  

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com