Terminal parity
Every feature covers both editors in the same change (design §4.1, principle 7, decision D26). Where the terminal cannot show something, its terminal form and the gap left are recorded here.
| Feature | Graphical editor | Terminal editor | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formulas as images | Drawn | Drawn through kitty, iTerm2 or sixel graphics where the terminal has them, else a Unicode approximation, a LaTeX environment on its first line (in Org and LaTeX documents alike) | Terminals without graphics |
| Tables wider than the window | The row runs past the text column | The row wraps onto the next rows | The columns of the wrapped part do not line up |
| Citation preview | In the status bar for the citation at the cursor, and in a tooltip under the mouse | In the status line for the citation at the cursor | No tooltip under the mouse: terminals report the pointer only while a button is held, unless all-motion tracking is on, which Kalem leaves off |
| Copy as Rich Text | HTML and plain text on the clipboard (macOS) | The plain text, with a message | OSC 52 carries plain text only; Copy as HTML copies the markup in both |
| Multiple cursors | Every cursor drawn as a caret | The primary cursor is the terminal's; the others are cells drawn as selected | Terminals have one cursor; some take Ctrl+Alt+arrows and Alt-click for themselves, and the commands are in the palette |
| Duplicate Lines | Ctrl+Shift+D | From the palette | Terminals send Ctrl+Shift+D as Ctrl+D (Add Next Occurrence) |
| Pictures | Drawn in the line, beside text too, at the width #+ATTR_ORG asks for |
Drawn when alone on their line, through kitty, iTerm2 or sixel graphics, at that width in cells; else [image: …] |
Pictures beside text show as their names; a picture on the clipboard cannot be pasted, since terminals paste text only (a dropped file's path is) |
| File manager preview and thumbnails | v shows the file at the cursor beside the listing (a picture, the first lines of a text, a folder's names), Ctrl+T the listing's pictures as thumbnails |
v and Ctrl+T say the pane is in the graphical editor; Enter opens the file |
A second pane of pictures beside the listing; the terminal draws pictures only in documents |
| LaTeX: the rendered view | Headings, emphasis, lists, formulas, figures, tables, references and citations rendered away from the cursor | The same, with formulas in Unicode or through the terminal's graphics, figures drawn when alone on their line | Formulas without graphics are approximations; pictures beside text show as their names |
| LaTeX: Show in PDF | The PDF opens at the page of the cursor's line | The same, the page drawn through the terminal's graphics, else in half-block characters | Without graphics the page is coarse; without colors (NO_COLOR, ASCII mode) it is not drawn |
| LaTeX: SyncTeX from the page | Ctrl-click (Cmd-click on macOS) on a line of the PDF opens its source line | Not offered | The terminal reports no pointer position on a drawn page |