bird@cbnewsd.ATT.COM (j.l.walters) (06/28/89)
Since the Appleworks enhancement pump has been dry for the last
couple of days, it seems appropriate to prime it once more. I
would like to implore people out ther with ideas to unleash them
now. I assure you, Beagle is listening. We have it in our power to
specify the BEST integrated word processor, Data Base, Spreadsheet
if we will only share our indsights.
----------------------------------------------
Starting off, I would like to expand on Michael Owen's request. I
would like to see a generalized indexing scheme introduced into
Appleworks. Consider the case where one wants to show a particular
months "totals" irrespective of the present month and the SS
looked as follows:
A B
----------------------------
1 2 3
Z AA AB AC ...
----------------------------
13 Jan Feb Mar Apr ...
14 33 44 55 66 ...
15 12 19 22 17 ...
16 ... ... ... ... ...
The assumption below is that one would want to index into Rows, Cols or
both. The @ (at) symbol has been chosen to signify alpha (column)
modification and ! has been chosen to signify row modification. If
anyone has better symbology, use it. The functionality is what is
wanted.
Q
---------------------
99 Z14+@1 Second col (AA14) is chosen
100 Z14+!1 Third row (Z16) is chosen
101 Z14@3!2 Fourth col, third row (AC16) chosen
It is unclear to me whether allowing "AB14@-1!-2" which would
yield AA12 is needed. Probably nice.
It would probably prove useful to have a loose-leaf manual that would
inform users of what abilities are currently available using Appleworks
3.0 when it is enhanced with what Timeout enhancement. As it is now,
users have to figure out for themselves just what Timeout application
provides what functionality. Since many of your disks offer more than
one application it becomes confusing at best. This cannot be a hard job
for Beagle since you have to keep this kind of stuff straight in order
to plan what you will offer next.
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In the word processor I would like to see the ability to talk in terms
of relative additions/subtractions to the values for three OA-O
options: LM, RM, and IN i.e. OA-O, LM {CR} +.2 {CR} would add two
tenths of an inch indenting to the left margin. One example of the
usefulness of this would be where you want to change the overall
indenting of your document after much of it has been formatted. As it
is now other LM options in your document will not track with such a
change. The nice thing about this change is that it would not require
and additional OA-O menu space, just an addition to the syntax.
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Once relative margins and indenting are in place the next step would be
to provide for marked lists in the sense of the Unix (TM) nroff MM
macros. The utility here is the ability to insert, delete or move list
items and have the marking (letter or number) corrected
automatically. Also, the first line of added paragraphs for the same
list item are automatically indented sans the mark. While one can
manually indent for these cases, it falls apart if the overall document
format is changed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OA-S is a great feature for saving files without having to go through
your life's story in order to get AW to do what you want. However,
there is one change needed: No matter whether a file is read from disk
or created from scratch the user should be queried the first time it is
saved using OA-S and there is already a file of that name on the disk.
Utility: I have disks with copies of letters I've sent to various
companies and individuals. Each has a numeric suffix. Normally what I
do is read in the last letter in order to get its heading information,
etc. It is supposed to be my first step to use OA-N to change to the
next suffix. If I fail to do this and subsequently store using OA-S,
the previous letter will be lost. (Prompting in the case of file
creation from scratch is obvious.)
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Appleworks word processor should provide a method of inserting control
characters into the text. The generally accepted method is to make the
insertion a two step process where the wanted control character is
preceded by a lead in character (it is generally another control
character). Some existing examples are Control-Q (Quote next
character), Control-V (Take next character verbatim), and ESC (escape):
1. Emacs uses a Control-Q Control-X sequence where X is the control
character to be inserted. It is represented by in text by ^X where
^X is treated as a single character by the program.
2. Applewriter uses a Control-V Control-X sequence where X is the control
character to be inserted. It is represented by in text by an inverse X.
In order to preserve WYSIWYG I would expect that control characters
would only be visible when OA-Z is zoomed in. Naturally, if the user
uses control characters to change the number of characters per inch,
then the appropriate left and right margin settings must be input if
WYSIWYG is truly preserved.
Naturally, at the point in time where the file is output as a text file
to either a file or printer the "real" character would be sent to the
appropriate device. Control characters in files would allow Appleworks
to be compatible with newer printers etc., without any changes.
If folks out there remember the tour de force Don Lancaster created
with Applewriter and its associated WPL (Word processing Language)
wherby he could modify your file by inserting the appropriate control
codes he achieved micro-justification such that it printed perfectly
justified text on a Diablo 630 printer, then you could see how an
Appleworks modified to allow insertion of control characters and some
constructive work in writing the appropriate Timeout Ultramacros could
achieve the same result using an Imagewriter. (The preceding has to be
one of my grand-daddy of all grand-daddies in run on sentences!)
It would be nice if other contributors to the net saw other uses in
being able to insert control codes into Appleworks word processing
documents and shared their insights with us.
Joe Walters
att!ihlpf!birdshankar@haarlem.SRC.Honeywell.COM (Son of Knuth) (06/29/89)
I think the most important change that can be made in Appleworks (actually, more like a bug fix instead of an improvement) is to clean up the directory structure. AWorks should keep track of which directory every file on the desktop is in, and it should use this information to save information. (I don't know if this is done in 3.0 or not) --- Subash Shankar Honeywell Systems & Research Center voice: (612) 782 7558 US Snail: 3660 Technology Dr., Minneapolis, MN 55418 shankar@src.honeywell.com srcsip!shankar
STEIN@UCONNVM.BITNET (Alan Stein) (06/30/89)
>I think the most important change that can be made in Appleworks (actually, >more like a bug fix instead of an improvement) is to clean up the directory >structure. AWorks should keep track of which directory every file on the >desktop is in, and it should use this information to save information. > >(I don't know if this is done in 3.0 or not) >--- >Subash Shankar Honeywell Systems & Research Center >voice: (612) 782 7558 US Snail: 3660 Technology Dr., Minneapolis, MN 55418 >shankar@src.honeywell.com srcsip!shankar The writeups on Appleworks 3.0 indicate that it indeed is done. It has been referred to as a "smart" save. It can be defeated, but will be a boon. Alan H. Stein | stein@uconnvm.bitnet Department of Mathematics | stein%uconnvm.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu University of Connecticut | ...psuvax1!UCONNVM.BITNET!STEIN 32 Hillside Avenue | Waterbury, CT 06710 | Compu$erve 71545,1500 (203) 757-1231 | GEnie ah.stein
jeffj@pro-avalon.cts.com (Jeff Jungblut) (07/01/89)
Network Comment: to #9322 by pnet01!crash!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!uc!nic.MR.NET!srcsip!haarlem!shankar >I think the most important change that can be made in Appleworks (actually, >more like a bug fix instead of an improvement) is to clean up the directory >structure. AWorks should keep track of which directory every file on the >desktop is in, and it should use this information to save information. > >(I don't know if this is done in 3.0 or not) >--- >Subash Shankar Honeywell Systems & Research Center AppleWorks 3.0 uses OA-Control-S to save a file to it's original directory or disk. Also, a fourth option is added to the Save File menu, allowing you to save to the current disk, save to it's original directory, change the current disk, or throw out the file. -- jeffj@pro-avalon UUCP: crash!pro-nsfmat!pro-avalon!jeffj ARPA: crash!pro-nsfmat!pro-avalon!jeffj@nosc.mil INET: jeffj@pro-avalon.cts.com
jacky@pro-generic.cts.com (Jacky Lee) (07/04/89)
The following is a (wanted) list of enhancement for AppleWorks that I have accumulated over the years. They are things that I've always wanted to see in AppleWorks for a long time... ============================================================================== The standard Apple disk formatting routine is extremely noisy. When formatting 5-1/4" disks, the drive seems to be "grinding" against something...very unpleasant to the e
jm7e+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU ("Jeremy G. Mereness") (07/07/89)
> *Excerpts from ext.in.info-apple: 28-Jun-89 Appleworks 3.0 Wish List* > *"j.l.walters"@ucbvax.ber (6367)* > Once relative margins and indenting are in place the next step would be > to provide for marked lists in the sense of the Unix (TM) nroff MM > macros. Bravo. I really like this idea. I want to use my GS as a smart terminal to Unix mainframes and workstations. Often, accounts on such machines are monitored and the less construction work you do the more processor time you can alot to running your program. Further, I am getting more and more used to the Unix environment. I would like to be able to configure my GS to mimic it. Supporting an nroff macro utility would be a step in the right direction. jeremy mereness ============= jm7e+@andrew.cmu.edu (Arpanet) r746jm7e@CMCCVB (vax.... Bitnet)
mmunz@pro-sol.cts.com (Mark Munz) (07/07/89)
Network Comment: to #8652 by pnet01!crash!andrew.cmu.edu!jm7e+ > Once relative margins and indenting are in place the next step would be > to provide for marked lists in the sense of the Unix (TM) nroff MM > macros. I'm not sure I understand how relative margins and indenting is better than the current method. I'm not familiar with the unix environment.. what are marked lists in the sense of nroff MM macros? --Mark Munz