Please note that the Aurora Text Editor is no longer sold and no longer supported by its author/owner (NText). The shareware version of the editor is still available at several shareware archive sites and at this site (both the last DOS release for 8086 and 80386+ processors and the Win32 console mode beta version). You can still use the program and below you will find a way to register Aurora32 (provided by Aurora's creator), the Win32 command mode version of Aurora, which still runs, even on XP and Vista. What you find here are my own personal experiences and opinions as a registered user of this software. My ability to help assumes I have the time and the necessary knowledge (usually I do). --KN
DosBox 0.72 will run Aurora 3.0 (DOS) quite nicely on *nix systems. See the DosBox web site where you can find versions of DosBox for Windows, Mac OS-X, several Linux distributions, FreeBSD, OS/2, and several other operating systems. Also there are some tools and language add-ons there.
A couple things to note: one is that DosBox limits you to 63Mb of
memory, so this would constrain the size of file you can edit. Another
is that you are emulating DOS, so depending on the speed of your
computer, the performance may not be fantastic. But, it is one way to
enjoy Aurora in a *nix environment. (Aurora 32 will not run on a DOS
system, emulated or otherwise. For running Aurora 32 on *nix consider
running it in Wine.).
KN 05/17/2008
Here's a tip someone sent for registering Aurora, which seems to work for any version of Aurora (old or new).
- Either in the Macro pull-down menu pick "Macro Expression" or if you have not changed the default key map to something else hit Alt-F12 to get the Macro Expression command line (or however you get to a Macro Expression command line, which may be different depending on the keyboard mapping scheme you've chosen).
- Enter:
xE "Your Name"
where Your Name is the name you want to use to register and hit return.
Note that your name must be in quotes. xE is a macro in the default Aurora library and not something you need to create, obtain, or modify. - Exit Aurora and start it back up. Your name should be registered.
This is quite interesting because it does not require any tools to implement other than Aurora itself.
If for some reason it doesn't work, you should try Windows compatibiity mode
and see if that helps.
KN 05/10/2008
Jeff has kindly sent a way to run a registered version of Aurora32.
Here is the pertinent information:
"...the .bat file command I use to register is:
ac -reg "Jeff Wunderlich" "xujcwpkgzngqmqn" 1
Feel free to share it with anyone on the net."
Also, see http://www.transmuter.org/index.html which is about a programming language called Trans that Jeff is developing for x86 Linux and x86 Win32.
Thank you Jeff! --KN 09/07/06
One note from a user who tried the above: if you can't get the registration to work, try running the batch file in Win98 compatibility mode. I used a batch file (.bat) with a name different from ac.bat and the contents above, in the same directory as ac.exe. Running that batch file under Win XP SP2 successfully registered Aurora32 for me, without using compatibility mode. Running the "ac -reg" command from the command line did not work for me. Your mileage may vary. KN, 10/07/07
Should Aurora be Open Source?
NOTE: Jeff has decided he will not release Aurora code as open source, so this effort is essentially unviable now. --KN 02/24/03
A plea to Jeff to release Aurora as open source software.
There remains significant interest in the Aurora user community for continuing the development of the Aurora editor. If you would like to be involved in petitioning the author for open-source status, working on the development of Aurora if it ever does become open-source software, or voice your support for this initiative, please let me know (use a subject line beginning with "[AURORA]"). Send to knassen location umich an edu institution--KN 12/14/01
The Aurora Text Editor
The Aurora Text Editor is a fast, feature-packed, highly-programmable shareware full-screen folding text editor for DOS & Win32 console mode. It offers an extensive macro programming language which can be used to change the character of almost every aspect of the editor, including customized pull-down menus and keyboard emulations of other editors, as well as the ability to automate almost any editing task you can imagine. Many macro examples are included with the editor.Aurora takes advantage of available memory, including disk virtual memory, to load and edit files as large as one gigabyte in the DOS version and 4 gigs in the Win32 console mode version. Aurora can use regular expressions to search and replace, which is a nice feature if you hop back and forth between DOS and Unix. This editor also has column-block operations, unlimited undo/redo, and syntax highlighting. Aurora/DOS runs fine in a Windoze 3.1 or Win95 DOS window.
I have tried quite a few DOS and Windoze editors in the past ten years, and occasionally still do, but I've never found a commercial editor that is as versatile, customizable, and fun to use as Aurora at such a reasonable price. See the NText Systems feature list for further specifics on the DOS version. Check out the rest of this Aurora site, too!
--Kent Nassen
What's (Sorta) New:
Aurora as Open Source: I've heard from one of the members of the Aurora community that Jeff has decided he will not release the Aurora code as open-source. [kn, Feb 24, 2003].
Aurora32 on Unix: Verrrry interesting...Aurora32 can be run using Wine (well, wineconsole) and the File Manager then seems to work okay (no crashing). I have a relatively old version of Wine, even (20020804), but it worked. This was on FreeBSD 4.7-STABLE. [kn, Jan 18, 2003]
Aurora32 More Notes about Win2K: In reviewing the Aurora mail list archives from 1997, someone mentioned the fmgr option for the Window Style 1 setup in the configuration menu causes a crash if selected. So, this File Manager crash apparently has been there from the start and is not related specifically or entirely to Win2K [kn, Jan 13, 2003].
Aurora32 Notes about Win2K: While I have been able to run Aurora32 under Win2K, you can cause a repeatable crash, in my experience, by using the File Manager to load files. Invoking the File Manager from the "File" pull down menu or starting the editor with the File Manager on the opening screen will lead to a crash when a file is selected. Avoid the File Manager and you stand a chance of editing. Aurora32 was programmed to run under previous versions of Win32 and in my opinion needs to be updated to deal with known Aurora32 bugs and whatever compatibility issues have been introduced in Win2K vs prior OS releases. I was able to edit files once they were loaded via the "File|Open" menu using an explicit path and filename. Another way I was able to load and edit files is to use the "Tree" macro to navigate to the file. Tree can be found either in the Macro List or in the File pull-down menu. Although Tree looks a lot like the file manager when running and probably uses many of the same functions, it does load the file(s) for me instead of crashing. I have commented out the "File Manager" item in the File menu (see menu.aml) so that I am not tempted to select it and I have Aurora32 open to a new file instead of a File Manager window. The DOS version of Aurora appears to run well under Win2K, so that is an alternative (but it limits your window size). [kn, Jan 11-17, 2003].
Moved log-type messages about this site to a
separate page [12/22/01].
Local links to the three Aurora v3.0+ distributions (386+ DOS, 8086 DOS, and Win32 console) have been provided [12/22/01].
New Macros Added: afontsX.zip, selcolor.zip, and exasm2.zip [April 11, 2001]
New Macros Added: mydearc.zip, mycomp.zip, mytags.zip, and smartref.aml [February 9, 1999].
SAS Syntax Highlighting file (xsas.aml) added [September 1998].
Updated version of the exasm.zip assembler syntax highlighting object for NASM and other assembler code added [July 1998].
Aurora/32 Beta (screenshot: 60K PNG) is Available! A Win32 (Win95/NT) console mode version of the Aurora Editor is available for public beta testing and can be found at aurc33b1.exe. NOTE: this is a beta test version. Read: it has bugs. [December 22, 1997]. A full Windows version is planned to be released later, according to Aurora's author [Oct 20, 1997].
The 8086 version of the Aurora Editor can be found here: aur8630c.zip. Note: you need the 386+ version, also.
More Aurora Information:
[Screen Shots]
[Download Info]
[Aurora Macros]
[Mail List]
[Mail List Archive]
[Aurora Links]
Obligatory Disclaimer:
I am a satisfied registered user of this software and am in no other way connected with NuText Systems, nText Research, the Aurora Editor, or its author. Unless stated otherwise, the opinions expressed here are mine alone, and just that: opinions.
--Kent Nassen
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