Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!security!genrad!grkermit!masscomp!clyde!floyd!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!Celoni@SU-SCORE.ARPA From: Celoni@SU-SCORE.ARPA Newsgroups: net.micro.pc Subject: Microsoft Word Message-ID: <14679@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Dec-83 14:53:53 EST Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.14679 Posted: Fri Dec 16 14:53:53 1983 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Dec-83 01:33:36 EST Lines: 80 From: Jim Celoni S.J. Here are some notes on Microsoft Word. To the best of my knowledge they're correct and nothing is proprietary: How is newline included in search or replace text? Search text only: ^n matches newline, ^t tab, ^p/^d paragraph/division mark. How is a standard ASCII (non-Word-format) document (i.e. w/ CRLFs) reformatted? Word doesn't change chars inside the file, so first remove crlfs, tabs, and extra whitespace manually, then attach a style sheet and print. (Word format has all char/graf/div formatting info at end of file.) Can Word hyphenate even if I don't insert discretionary hyphens? When the online dictionary-based spelling checker is added, yes. Can I put anything in a file? (Alt-nn doesn't work for ^@, ^M, and ^_.) No; certain chars (9..13, 31, 196, 255) are reserved for leader dots, discretionary hyphens, non-breaking spaces. How do I provide arguments (e.g., to make a line of 72 "-"s, delete 100 lines, or find the 4th occurrence)? You can't. What can I do with "divisions"? Change params in "format division" menu, and have different running heads. Can I refer to sections/pages as in FinalWord/Scribe (@ref, @pageref)? References aren't supported. Printer support: Can I give Word a translation table? Will Word handle delays? Is it smart about print head motion (using bare CRs, BSs, escape sequences, hardware tabs)? How do I add a new printer? Printer description (PRD) file includes a translation table that maps single chars to either 1 or 2 (overstruck) chars. No delays yet. Word isn't smart about head motion, but printers are (usually w/ whitespace and bidirection). Word doesn't use printer tabs. Word 1.0 can't be customized for a printer incompatible w/ one officially supported. Does the Microsoft mouse card for IBM fit in a small XT slot? Yes. (The generic mouse uses a serial port.) Does the mouse come with enough software and documentation to program for it? Interface is well-documented. Now only a few demos are available, but watch for a menu-oriented mouse-keyboard driver that allows you to define your own tree of menus and translate both motions and clicks to keyboard input. Does Word take advantage of extra RAM it knows about? All overlays fit in 256K, but scratch files are still used during editing and printing. How is Word written/compiled? C is compiled to pseudocode which is interpreted. Some C is compiled to 8086 code. Commands: When choosing commands, first letter, space, and BS work but not <- or ->; when choosing subcommands, only tab and [awkward] shift-backtab (again not arrows) work. Without a mouse, filling in parameters is quite tedious. Transfer Load: Loading over an unsaved file doesn't warn me but isn't undoable. If I hit enter instead of <- in TL's parameter (e.g., *.txt CR but intending to see all the .txt-files), Word takes it and names the file "*.txt". Pathnames seem to cause problems: if I have a file a\b\c.d, TL a\b\c.d CR reads it but TL a\b\*.* <- gives "Empty" or whatever the previous list was. Features: Printed documents don't have widows or orphans. It's great to attach a style sheet and then change looks here and there. There are equivalents to some Bravo looks (e.g., visible, hardcopy, all/same, keep [for paragraphs]. Word's "beep" beats DOS's, but "mute" is nice. (Even when mute, Word beeps when I fill the typeahead buffer.) Closing question: Mouse Systems Corp. says their [optical] mouse behaves absolutely identically to Microsoft's when running Microsoft software--have any readers verified this? [Yes, it works. -Ed.] Incidentally, have you found yourself, like me, typing Word commands into a file? I compensated by using ESC more often than necessary. +j (not affiliated with Microsoft)