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A term I hear now and then is a "CUA" text editor.

What is a CUA editor?

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4 Answers 4

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According to Wikipedia, CUA is...

Common User Access (CUA) is a standard for user interfaces to operating systems and computer programs. It was developed by IBM and first published in 1987 as part of their Systems Application Architecture. Used originally in the OS/MVS, VM/CMS, OS/400, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems, parts of the CUA standard are now implemented in programs for other operating systems, including variants of Unix. It is also used by Java AWT and Swing.

In other words, a set of a standards/guidelines for interactive applications to follow.

To more specifically answer the question, a CUA editor would then simply be a text-editor which adheres to the standards/guidelines set by the CUA.

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    I would argue with the "GUI" qualification in your answer. OS/MVS, VM/CMS, and OS/400 do not have GUIs, for example. Jul 23, 2009 at 0:23
  • Agreed, GUI isn't exactly the appropriate term. An application with a interface, where an interface is a keyboard and/or mouse? Applications with visual interfaces?
    – Thor
    Jul 23, 2009 at 0:29
  • Interactive application? In other words, a set of a standards/guidelines for interactive applications. Jul 23, 2009 at 0:57
  • I disagree. OS/MVS and the rest do have a GUI, it's just not a windowing graphical system. They aren't command-line. It's the equivalent of a curses program under *nix.
    – CarlF
    Oct 27, 2009 at 19:56
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Regardless of the formal definition of CUA, the term is colloquially used to refer to a text editor that uses keybindings that are common on Windows and Mac platforms. For example:

  • Ctrl+Z for undo
  • Ctrl+C for copy
  • Ctrl+X for cut
  • Ctrl+V for paste
  • Ctrl+S for save
  • F1 for help
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Looks like it's Common User Access, if that's the right CUA.

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This question over on the Unix and Linux SO site is highly relevant to this, and I have given a lengthy answer there which may help.

The Text Editors wiki has a list of examples.

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