Epson HX-20 User Manual

(You will see an error message on the screen if you press

now, after typing “NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN

TO COME TO THE AID OF THEIR PARTY.” Here’s why: Pres-
sing 

 tells the HX-20 that you have just completed a logical

line. The HX-20 is in “BASIC,“ so it examines your line to see if it is
a legitimate BASIC command. Since it can’t figure out what you’re
asking it to do, it displays an error message. You’ll learn more about
such error messages in the  BASIC Tutorial and Reference Manual.

But for now, ignore any BASIC error messages you encounter,

because you’re still trying to learn how to use the screen editor.)

When you work with BASIC or with an application program, the

HX-20 only pays attention to logical lines; it doesn’t care about

physical lines. Therefore, the screen editor makes it easy for you to

insert  and  delete  characters within a logical line, but has no such

features for inserting and deleting within a physical line.

To  change  something you’ve typed, just move the cursor to the place

where you want to make a change, and type the text you desire.
When you  type over  existing text in this way, you replace the old

text with the new text.

For example, let’s say you want to change the expression you had

typed, from “NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN TO

COME TO THE AID OF THEIR PARTY” to “NOW IS THE

TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN TO COME TO THE AID OF
THEIR FRIENDS.‘*

To make this change, use the cursor keys to locate the cursor on

the “P” in “PARTY.” Then type “FRIENDS.” With those few

keystrokes, you have changed the logical line.

To delete some characters altogether, place the cursor to the  right  of

the character you wish to delete. Then press this key:

The character to the left of the cursor disappears, and the rest of

the logical line moves one space to the left, to close up the gap.

To delete a group of characters, place the cursor to the right of the

last  character in the group, and press the 

 key repeatedly (or

hold it down, thus making it repeat automatically). This will delete

the characters in the group, one at a time, from right to left. When

you’ve deleted the leftmost character, release the 

What could be easier? The characters you wished to delete will be

gone, and there won’t be any gap in the logical line.