Fancy using your 400 or 800 as a mini word-processor? Even
if you don't have a printer- TINY-TEXT will allow you to do just that. It
is a very clever cassette (or disk) based text editor which will allow you
to compose letters or articles and send the cassette through the post to
be read or printed straight out by the receiver. It was developed by Stan
Ockers for the Eugene ACE Newsletter to enable readers to send in 'ready'
copy and I hope readers will start using it to send in articles to PAGE 6
as well as writing to each other.
USING THE PROGRAM
The OPTION key is used to select one of five options:
LOAD, EDIT, PRINT, SAVE and DISPLAY. The following paragraphs describe the
use of each of these functions.
LOAD OPTION
The LOAD option is used to re-load text which has been
saved on cassette or disk. When the LOAD option is selected you will be
asked to give a file name of the text you wish to load. If the text is on
cassette simply type C (no quotation marks). The computer will 'beep' once
in the normal way to remind you to set up the recorder. Then press RETURN
and the text will load. If you are using disk, type the complete file name
of the text file. For example D:TEXT1.TXT.
EDIT OPTION
The EDIT option lets you enter text or make changes to
text already entered. ENTERING TEXT: When the Edit mode is requested, a
blank area (text window) appears in the centre of the screen. Up to three
lines of text can be typed in this window. Pressing RETURN causes the text
in the window to be added to the text already entered. You can use all the
standard screen editing functions to edit any text in this window. NOTE
however that all trailing blanks in the window will be deleted so each
line should be ended with a complete word and a blank used to start the
next line.
Functions such as tabbing and indentation are controlled
by special formatting symbols. These symbols always cause the current line
to be ended before the requested formatting function is executed. The
following formatting symbols may be used:
CTRL-E
End current line and start a new line with no indentation.
CTRL-I
Indent the next line.
CTRL-S
Space before starting the next line.
CTRL-T
Tab over a set number of spaces before starting the next line.
CTRL-C
Centre the next line.
CTRL-P
Advance the printer forms to the top of the next page before printing the
next line.
EDITING TEXT: When you are in the Edit mode, pressing the
SELECT key will cause the line of text below the window to be moved up
into the window. The normal screen editing functions can then be used to
change the text in the window. Use the joystick to scroll the desired line
to the position below the text window and from side to side if needed.
Pressing SELECT twice without making any changes, simply moves the text
line into the window and back again. To delete a line of text move it to
below the text window and press RETURN. Pressing the joystick trigger will
cause you to jump to the end of the present text.
PRINT OPTION
This option prints the formatted text on your printer.
Before the printing begins you have a chance to alter the default setting
for line length, tab stop etc. Use the screen edit functions to make the
desired changes, then press RETURN. The items which may be changed are:
LINE
- Line length (max. characters per line)
INDENT
- The no. of spaces to be indented (left margin)
TAB
STOP - The number of spaces for the tab
PAPER
SIZE - The total number of lines which can be printed on a fully covered
page.
FORM
FEED - The no. of lines to skip to separate the bottom of one page from
the top of the next. For example, if you require 3 blank lines top and
bottom, then set forms feed to 6.
SAVE OPTION
This option lets you save your text on either cassette or
disk. When the Save option is chosen you will be asked to enter a file
name. If you are using cassette simply type C and then set up the recorder
when you hear two 'beeps'. Press RETURN. If you are using disk enter a
complete legal filename.
DISPLAY OPTION
This option displays text in formatted form on the screen.
It uses the same format change function as the Print option excepting
Paper Size and Forms Feed.
Get used to the above control functions and you will have
a very easy to use and versatile text editor. if you wish to make any
changes to the program you should first change line 14 which automatically
expands the main data storage array T$ to the memory size of your
computer. Try changing "SIZ=FRE(O)-50" to "SIZ=FRE(O)-500".
When you have finished making any changes restore line 14 to its original
form.
Any system errors are trapped and printed out by the
program. You are then prompted to press RETURN. If you make any mistakes
such as selecting LOAD or SAVE when you did not want to, enter an illegal
file name and you can easily recover by pressing return.
There you have It! A brilliant little program that I have
been using to get all the copy ready for this magazine. If you can make
any improvements let me know and I will let ACE know. Above all start
using this to write a few magazine articles - even with 16K and no
printer, you now have the opportunity to widely expand the use of your
Atari.
|
|
|
 |
top
