werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (10/21/85)
The following has been requested from me so often that I thought I
would post it. Feel free to use it yourself, give it to your Secretary, your
friend, your friend's secretary, etc. Just don't edit my name off of it.
It's not designed to be complete, just functional, but if you think I
made any egregious ommisions, let me know, and I'll rationalize them, and
possibly even correct them.
I have a similar summary for vi, which has been popular through the
years.
WSGUIDE
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Wordstar made ridiculously simple.
c. 1984 by Craig Werner (some rights reserved)
(1935-14E Eastchester Rd. Bronx NY 10461, werner@aecom.UUCP)
One of the most common complaints about Wordstar is that there are too
many commands to learn. I have taught over a dozen people how to use Wordstar
by adhering to the dictum that it does not make sense to learn all the commands
before you start using the program, just the ones you need. They were all
using Wordstar within 10-15 minutes.
So here are the one's you need, or to paraphrase Hillel: "This is the
whole manual. The rest is commentary - with the possible exception of the
Appendix with the command summaries. Go and type your paper."
To start:
Type 'ws' to the DOS prompt (the A> ), ie,
A> ws
In the main (No-file) menu:
D starts a Document. (That's what you want to edit.)
L changes the Logged disk drive, so you can see which files are there.
(LB changes to disk B, LA to disk A, etc - the colon is not needed)
--> make sure to hit [RETURN]
X eXits to DOS, so you can run other programs.
Within Wordstar:
^J^H2 (There is about 7 lines of help screen at the top. You get rid of them
with Control-JH2 - you can just hold down the control key and hit J and
H, then lift off the control key and hit 2.)
(I use 2 because the 2nd level menus are preserved, if you have to
search for something they still are there.)
Prefixes (IF you have to search for a command, it's going to begin with one
of the following prefixes.)
^Q for Quick (cursor movements of a large scale)
^O for stuff seen On-screen (like spacing, justification, centering)
^P for things seen only during Printout
^J Help screens
^K File commands + Block Moves +
[Note: the O (for open) and P (for print) make sense, but why J and K? Answer:
Look at your fingers. They are used by the other two keys of the right hand,
and U and I were taken. These two, and other Wordstar commands are ergonomic
(to minimize hand movement), not mnemonic (to minimize brain movement)]
Useful commands (in 11 groups)
1. All cursor keys work. Use them for motion, although control commands exist,
why bother with them. However, I'll mention a few of these in context.
2. ^Q^R - goto beginning of file (^R = Page Up)
^Q^C - goto end of file (^C = Page Down)
3. ^F - one word forward
^A - one word backwords
4. ^Q^S - beginning of line (^S = left arrow)
^Q^D - end of line (^D = right arrow)
Picture the keyboard R
It makes life simpler that way : /\
A S D F
<= <- -> \/ =>
C
5. Deletion:
^G - deletes the letter you are on. (This makes a lot more sense if you
know that ^G was a bell on old teletypes. It's not so arbitrary.)
^T - delete a word (the key above G)
^Y - delete a whole line (the key next to T)
6. ^B - reformats (rejustifies) a paragraph when its been edited. IMPORTANT.
7. ^P^S - UnderScore (the S for score, U was taken)
^P^B - Boldface (B for bold)
8. Onscreen Stuff
^O^Sn - line spacing. (^OS1 = single space, ^OS2 doublespace, etc)
^O^H - toggles Hyphen-help (Hyphen help can be an annoying feature when
using Control-B to reformat.)
^O^J - toggles justification (between rough-edge and Right-justify)
^O^G - Paragraph indent (left side only)
^O^R/^O^L - sets Right/Left Margin repectively.
(Note: WS automatically puts the left margin in, so Column 1 is really
already an inch from the left. The margins are all relative to this
Page offset.)
9. File Access
^K^D - Save file and leave [Done] IMPORTANT.
^K^R - Read another file into the one you are currently editing.
[See below for Writing]
10. Searching
^Q^F - Find: search for a pattern/word.
^Q^A - Search and replace.
(These have options, like 'G' for Global, that are explained within
the command.)
11. Block moves (Blocks/Passages/Excerpts of text)
#1 Mark it. Go the beginning and type ^K^B (Begin), then go to the
end and hit ^K^K. It should change color or highlight status.
Again: ^K^B begins / ^K^K ends.
#2 Move cursor to where you want the text to go.
^K^C - copies the marked text to where you are now.
^K^V - moves (copy and deletion) text to where you are.
(C and V are next to one another)
Other block commands worth knowing:
^K^W - writes the block to a file for disk (which can be later read
into another file by ^K^R)
^K^Y - deletes the marked text (remember ^Y deletes a line)
^K^H - Unmarks/Hides a piece of marked text.
(^K^H if you goof or when you are done with it)
Dot Commands:
.OP Omit Page numbers (good for one page letters)
.PA Insert a Page Break / Pagination.
.MT # / .MB # Margins top and bottom (# of blank lines inserted per page)
.PO # Page offset (See above note on margins)
(The help screen ^J^D will give you the rest.)
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Disclaimer: I have no connection with Micropro, except that my copy
of Microsoft Word gathers dust while I use Wordstar exclusively.
--
Craig Werner
!philabs!aecom!werner
"The end. 94. 95. The very, very, very end."