awinterb@udenva.UUCP (Art Winterbauer) (10/18/85)
WRITEAID -1- August 20, 1984
_W_r_i_t_e_a_i_d _S_t_u_d_e_n_t _U_s_e_r'_s _M_a_n_u_a_l
[NOTE: If you want a copy of the manual sent to you through
electronic mail (so you can later print the document out on
a printer in one shot), send a request to "awinterb" via
electronic mail.]
After logging on to the computer system, you will see a
menu that looks like this:
MENU
1. Continue my paper
2. Begin a new paper, destroy old one
3. Read the manual
4. Read my mail
5. Exit
These are the options available to you from the MAIN MENU.
The first two give you access to the WRITEAID program, a
computer program with which you can have a "dialogue" in
planning a paper you must write for class. The third option
lets you read this manual on your computer screen. The
fourth option allows you to inspect messages that may be
sent to you through the computer. And the fifth one, of
course, lets you exit the program.
The rest of this manual is divided into 3 sections:
1) The WRITEAID program: How to Use It
2) The Manual: Tips for "On-Line" Reading
3) The Mail System: How to Ask for and Receive
Help
The WRITEAID program: How to Use It
_W_h_a_t _t_h_e _P_r_o_g_r_a_m _I_s
The WRITEAID program is _N_O_T a word-processing program.
Instead, it is a program with which you can "discuss" a
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WRITEAID -2- August 20, 1984
topic for a paper that you are planning. The program is to
help you come up with some ideas for your paper, and to help
you to arrange these ideas in some logical format, before
you have your pre-writing interview with your instructor.
It is _N_O_T supposed to take the place of the pre-writing
interview, but to augment it. You will probably talk with
WRITEAID for an hour or two (perhaps more), although you can
break the interview up over several days. No one wants to
sit in front of a terminal for very long at one stretch.
How are you supposed to use this program? Essentially
you come to WRITEAID with some vague idea of a topic on
which you are to write. You sit down at the terminal, log
on to the computer, select item #2 from the menu (Begin a
new paper), and WRITEAID appears. After the machine has
interviewed you, you can log off your CRT terminal, log back
on to a printing terminal, get a copy of your outline, and
either think more about your paper or go talk to your
instructor. You can log back on to work with your paper as
many times as you want to, and go into as much detail on the
topic you are developing as you can stand.
As WRITEAID interviews you, it constructs an outline of
the topic under discussion. This outline is not fixed in
stone. You can delete portions of it, insert new material
into it, and you can do this "on-line" (on the terminal) or
if you prefer you can do it with pencil on the printout.
None of this has to look pretty. You can be as neat or
as sloppy as you choose. The point is, once you've had a
session or two with WRITEAID, _Y_O_U _W_I_L_L _H_A_V_E _S_O_M_E_T_H_I_N_G _T_O
_T_A_L_K _A_B_O_U_T _W_I_T_H _Y_O_U_R _I_N_S_T_R_U_C_T_O_R. You will have something
from which you launch your paper-planning session. The
paper, in the end, may not resemble your original outline in
the slightest. But, hopefully, you will have gotten over
that first, and probably highest, hump in the pre-writing
stage: _L_O_O_K_I_N_G _A_T _A _B_L_A_N_K _P_I_E_C_E _O_F _P_A_P_E_R, _A_N_D _N_O_T _K_N_O_W_I_N_G
_H_O_W _T_O _B_E_G_I_N. At least, we hope so.
_H_o_w _t_o _C_a_l_l _I_t
_T_h_e _S_E_C_R_E_T _W_o_r_d_s
The program will ask you to supply 4 "secret" words[1]
____________________
[1] In case you're familiar with computers: these words
are actually names of files stored off-line. These files
are necessary for the program to work properly. The files
have been created (or used) by your instructor, so each
class may have to use separate and distinct files.
WRITEAID -2- August 20, 1984
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The first word is to be supplied by you, and should be your
"login" word. The other three words are to be supplied by
your teacher. Always enter your login as the _f_i_r_s_t word,
and enter the other three words in the order given to you by
your instructor. If you enter the words in the wrong order,
the program will not operate properly. [2]
_N_a_r_r_o_w_i_n_g _Y_o_u_r _T_o_p_i_c
When you begin a new paper, the program will ask you
several questions to help you to narrow down the topic.
This is to prevent you from trying to discuss too broad a
topic. The program will ask what the general topic is, and
will then follow with 3 more questions, the strategy of
which is to make you think of some sub-field within the
topic. The last question should help you create a title for
your paper (which you may or may not stick to later when
writing).
_T_h_e "_L_e_a_d_i_n_g" _Q_u_e_s_t_i_o_n_s
After you've come up with a tentative title for the
paper you're thinking about, the program will ask you some
"leading" questions. The purpose of these questions is to
fix some boundaries for the discussion to come later. The
program will attempt to restrict the later interview to
these boundaries.
If a question seems inappropriate or absurd, you can
_s_k_i_p it by pressing the _0 (zero) key and then the carriage
return key. If you answer quite a few questions, and you
want to move on to the interview process, press the .
(period) key, followed by the carriage return (<return>)
key. This will end the "leading" questions, and bring you
to a menu, from which you can choose several options.
_T_h_e _M_e_n_u
The menu gives you the following options:
Choose one:
1. See phrases
____________________
In case you are not in a class, but still want to play
with the program, the "default" secret words are: 1. (your
username) 2. artqst1 3. artrnd1 4. artkey1
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2. Insert a phrase between two other phrases
3. Delete phrase
4. Quit
5. Detailed Interview
If you have just begun your paper, then you won't care
to see the outline yet (there isn't much to it in the ini-
tial stage). If you want to exit the program, you can. You
can come back later and continue from this point. What
you'll probably want to do now is choose the option for the
Detailed Interview.
_T_h_e _D_e_t_a_i_l_e_d _I_n_t_e_r_v_i_e_w
This is the "heart" of the WRITEAID program. The pro-
gram will ask you questions about the paper that you're
planning, and you must answer as best you can. But this is
a _d_i_a_l_o_g_u_e. Talk to the computer as you would to another
person.
WRITEAID does have a strategy behind the questions it
asks you. For a new paper, the program will first ask you
questions about the answers you gave to the earlier "lead-
ing" questions. It will try to wring as much detail from
you as you can give. However, there are ways you can cope
with this strategy in an effective manner.
The program will pick up your first answer to a leading
question, and ask you a question (or make a remark) about
it. You will respond to the machine's question or remark.
The program will then latch onto _t_h_a_t answer and ask some-
thing about it, to which you will make another response, and
so on and so on. In effect, the program is trying to get as
much detail on that _f_i_r_s_t answer as possible, and, like a
dog with a bone, it will continue to pursue that line of
questioning forever. However, if you believe that it is
time to move on to the answer you gave to another "leading"
question, press the . (period) key. The machine will move
on.
After you and the program have discussed all the
answers you originally gave to the "leading" questions, WRI-
TEAID will again present the menu. If you choose to be
interviewed _a_g_a_i_n, WRITEAID will pick up each of the answers
you provided to its questions/remarks, and start on _t_h_e_m,
trying to get even more detailed info out of you. If you do
not believe you've exhausted the topic, by all means, go
through the interview process again. The machine will take
you through any number of levels of interviewing, although
the recommended limit is 3. After all, the program is to be
WRITEAID -4- August 20, 1984
WRITEAID -5- August 20, 1984
used to prepare you for the interview with the teacher, not
to replace that interview.
Also, if you're in an interview session, and you need
to break it off for some reason (go to class, for example),
press the @ key in response to a question. WRITEAID will
show you the menu, and allow you to exit (and save) your
work. When you come back, you will begin in roughly the
same spot ( I won't go into the details here).
You're probably curious about those other items on the
menu. Let's talk about those.
_S_e_e _P_h_r_a_s_e_s
During the course of working on your draft, you will
want to examine from time to time the outline that the
machine is trying to construct. To see the outline, choose
the "See Phrases" item from the menu.
There are several components to the outline. The fol-
lowing example shows its structure:
0 1 2 3 4
*TITLE OF PAPER:*
A Systems Approach to Implementing an Automated Writing Aid
--------------------------------------
[1] 1.*Do you think that the subject is important? Why?*
Because more and more administrators must deal with the pro
blem of achieving a match between personnel requirements an
d technology. This is another instance of the same problem
.
[2] 1.1.*You seem to have constructed a causal relationship
pretty early here. Why?Could you review the caus
e-and-effect relationship to which you have allude
d?*
Administrators and other significant people within
these affected environments are continually baffl
ed by rejection of seemingly good technological so
lutions to problems.
The row of numbers across the top indicate margin inden-
tions. These numbers come in handy when you modify the
WRITEAID -5- August 20, 1984
WRITEAID -6- August 20, 1984
outline (see Deleting and Inserting Entries below). Down
the far left side of the outline is another row of numbers,
numbered sequentially from [1] on. These numbers simply
indicate the number of items in the outline, and, again,
come in handy during outline modification. The body of the
outline itself is composed of 3 parts: 1) the outline
numbering scheme, 2) the computer's question or remark, and
3) your response to that question or remark. The outline
numbering scheme is in the format of:
1.
1.1
1.1.1
1.1.2
1.2
1.3 2.
This format was easier for the computer programmer to imple-
ment than the traditional style with Roman numerals. How-
ever, it seems just as logical and easy to use. The
computer's questions/remarks are included with your
responses to make it easier for you to later identify the
context of your responses. An isolated "yes", by itself,
from you, might be hard to figure out several days after the
session with the computer.
When you select the See Phrases option from the menu,
you will be asked if you want your outline display divided
into screenfuls. The question is for people using a hard-
copy terminal as opposed to the CRT display. If you are
using a CRT display (the terminal that operates like a
television), you will probably want your outline to be
displayed one screenful at a time, instead of having it zing
past you fast. Reply "y" in this case. However, if you are
getting a printout of your outline (see below), you will
want the whole thing printed out in one, continuous stream.
In that case, answer the second question with an "n" (No, I
don't want the outline "segmented").
_D_e_l_e_t_i_n_g _a_n_d _I_n_s_e_r_t_i_n_g _E_n_t_r_i_e_s _i_n _t_h_e _O_u_t_l_i_n_e
The process in deleting and inserting entries in the
outline is somewhat clumsy. This is because, unfortunately,
there wasn't enough time to provide a good "text editor" for
you to use. However, if you still want to dress up your
outline a little, then here's how to do it "on-line."[3]
____________________
[3] There is one other reason for wanting to use the on-
line process of deleting portions of the outline. The pro-
gram bases its questioning procedures on what the outline
contains. If you recognize that a whole portion of the out-
WRITEAID -6- August 20, 1984
WRITEAID -7- August 20, 1984
_D_e_l_e_t_e _a_n _E_n_t_r_y
To delete an entry from the outline, first view the
outline to determine which entry is to be deleted, and make
a note of its entry number (that's the number on the far-
left margin of the page). Then call up the Delete Entry
option on the menu. The program will ask you:
What record # do you wish to delete?
Enter 0 to abort procedure
Type in the entry number and press <return>. That entry
will be deleted. If you realize at the last moment that you
really don't want to delete an entry in the outline (or you
can't remember its number), type in a 0 (zero) and press
<return>. Nothing will be deleted and you're returned to
the menu.
_I_n_s_e_r_t _a_n _E_n_t_r_y
To insert an entry into the outline (such as some com-
ment you deem important to have in the outline), you must
view the outline to determine 2 pieces of important informa-
tion: 1) After what entry number do you want to insert your
phrase (the far-left number), and 2) How many tab spaces
over should it be indented (see the numbers across the top
of the outline display to line up your tab spaces). Then,
choose the Insert Entry option on the menu. The first ques-
tion the program asks is:
After what record # do you wish to insert?
Enter 0 to abort procedure
____________________
line isn't worth following up with detailed interviews, one
way to avoid it is to simply delete each of those entries in
the outline.
If you simply want to play around with the outline,
perhaps annotating it for your own uses later in writing the
paper, then there is a copy of the outline available for you
to "tear up" (it won't affect how the program operates). If
you already know how to use the "ex" editor or the "vi" edi-
tor on the computer, you can play with the file called "out-
line" that resides in your default directory, and which is
continually updated every time you examine the outline with
the See Phrases option in the program.
WRITEAID -7- August 20, 1984
WRITEAID -8- August 20, 1984
In response to this, enter the entry number after which you
want your comment to appear. The computer will then ask:
What is the insertion phrase?
Type in the comment you want to insert (remember, don't hit
return until you're finished with the phrase!). Then, you
will be asked:
Enter tab spaces
Type in the number of tab spaces your phrase should be
indented.
As you can see, the process is pretty clumsy. Hope-
fully, you will seldom need to use this function.
_P_r_i_n_t_i_n_g _t_h_e _O_u_t_l_i_n_e
The easiest way to obtain a "hard-copy" of your outline
is:
1. Log onto a "hard-copy" terminal (a terminal
with a keyboard, but which uses paper instead
of a CRT screen, like the DECwriter brand
terminal in the computer-access room in Pen-
rose
Library).
2. Type:
cat outline
This method gives you a copy of the outline that was
produced into a file the last time you looked at your out-
line on the terminal screen (in other words, it might be out
of date if you haven't looked at your outline lately).
Another way to get a hard-copy of your outline is:
1. Log on to a "hard-copy" terminal.
2. Type:
menu
WRITEAID -8- August 20, 1984
WRITEAID -9- August 20, 1984
3. Run through the menus as you normally
would to get to the point where you
view your outline, and let 'er print
out.
_C_o_n_t_i_n_u_i_n_g _t_h_e _P_a_p_e_r
The "continue" option on the MAIN MENU will allow you
to work with your paper as much as you want to. However,
when you select the "begin" option from the menu, your ori-
ginal outline will be destroyed to make way for the new
planning session.
The Manual: Tips for "On-Line" Reading
There are two ways to read this manual: _O_n-_L_i_n_e and
_O_f_f-_L_i_n_e. On-Line means that you read the manual on your
CRT display. Off-Line is a fancy way of saying on paper. I
would strongly urge you to read this manual from a paper
copy, at least for the first couple of times, and to keep
this paper copy nearby when you use the WRITEAID program.
However, for those times when you read the manual on-line, I
offer the following advice.
When you see the manual on-line, it is being fed
through a "filter" of sorts which tries to format the manual
to fit your terminal screen. If you are using a TVI912 ter-
minal (like the ones provided by the university), some of
the material may not be formatted correctly if you have
logged on under TVI912.[4] If the screen looks funny, tell
Art.
Also, this manual is liberally laced with footnotes.
These can give you fits if you're trying to read this manual
on-line.
The "filter" through which you are seeing this manual
displays one screen of the manual at a time. After a screen
____________________
[4] This depends upon how your "logon" files have been
set up. Some of you may get a little prompt on your screen,
after you log on which says tvi912(dw) or something of the
sort. You don't have to worry about this. If the manual
takes on a strange appearance, tell Art and he'll attempt to
fix the problem for you. If you know how to handle these
sorts of things yourself, always choose "dw" as your termi-
nal type and you shouldn't run into any problems.
WRITEAID -9- August 20, 1984
WRITEAID -10- August 20, 1984
is displayed, you can do one of two things. You can touch
the space bar, and the next screen will be shown. Or, you
can use either the "q" key or the "delete" key to stop the
manual and go back to the menu.
The Mail System: How to Ask for and Receive Help
_H_o_w _t_o _A_s_k _f_o_r _H_e_l_p. Whenever you leave the WRITEAID
program, and just before you are returned to the main menu,
you are given the chance to send a message for the main-
tainer for the WRITEAID program. The prompt gives you the
bulk of the information you need to know to effectively send
a message. You will treat the screen just like a piece of
typewriter paper. Unlike the program, you can hit the car-
riage return at the end of each line and type normally.
When you have finished what you want to say, you give
another carriage return to move the cursor down to an empty
line, and just type a . (period) and a return. The prompt
EOT (End of Transmission) appears, and your message is sent
off. Of course, if you don't want to send a message, just
hit the . (period) key and the carriage return.
_H_o_w _t_o _R_e_c_e_i_v_e _H_e_l_p. This is what the Read My Mail
option on the menu is for. If you send off a message to the
program maintainer, he will send you back a reply. Check on
your mail every once in a while to make sure you don't have
any messages waiting.
When you choose "Read My Mail", a display like the fol-
lowing will appear on your screen:
Mail version 2.18 5/19/83. Type ? for help.
"/usr/spool/mail/marmstro": 2 messages 2 new
>N 1 awinterb Mon Jun 18 10:55 11/280 "test"
N 2 awinterb Mon Jun 18 10:57 11/272 "stuff"
&
This means that there are two messages waiting (1 and 2).
Although the mail facility is fairly complex, the following
steps will allow you to read messages like the above.
The display just indicates that there are two messages
waiting, but they haven't been typed out on your screen for
you. To read the first message, type:
t 1
To read the second message, type:
WRITEAID -10- August 20, 1984
WRITEAID -11- August 20, 1984
t 2
After you've read your messages, just type a "q" (without
the quote marks) to quit the mail editor. You will be
returned to your menu.
WRITEAID -11- August 20, 1984
MAIN MENU ............................................. 1
The WRITEAID Program: How to Use It .................. 1
What the Program Is .............................. 1
How to Call It: The SECRET Words ................. 2
Narrowing Your Topic ............................. 3
The "Leading" Questions .......................... 3
The WRITEAID Menu ................................ 3
The Detailed Interview ...................... 4
See Phrases ................................. 5
Delete an Entry ............................. 7
Insert an Entry ............................. 7
Printing the Outline ............................. 8
Continuing the Paper ............................. 9
The Manual: Tips for "On-Line" Reading ................ 9
The Mail System: How to Ask for and Receive Help ...... 10