alpert@chovax.dec.com (Enemy of the State) (02/28/90)
I recently purchased Timeworks "Word Writer 4" to replace my aging
Easy Script and buggy, unsupported Kwik-Write for my C64.
Overall this seems to be an amazing program considering the
limitations of the hardware, but I am already running into
frustrations with it that are a real pain.
First off, the on-screen formatting is, in my own opinion, unusable
for most text. WW4 scrolls horizontally if your margins are set
wider than 40 columns, and I can't work that way! This supposedly can
be overcome with the ^V ("Virtual Margins") command but this does not
wrap long words that cross the 40-col. boundary. (Kwik-Write always
does word wrap at 40 columns.) I feel trying to do "WYSIWYG" editing
on a 40-column screen is pretty ridiculous, I would rather just use a
preview mode to see how the document will look before printing it.
There doesn't seem to be a way to control line spacing from within a
"text mode" document, the only option looks like setting the entire
document double or single spaced.
I cannot find a way to recover text that has been deleted. (In
Kwik-Write, deleting a block of text puts it in a buffer which can be
recalled.)
I'm already considering taking Timeworks up on their 90-day "Money
Back Guarantee," where they say they will buy whatever word processor
you prefer if you send WW4 back.
I've looked into Pocket Writer 3, but it looks like it also does not
handle text on the screen the way I want. (Actually, if Kwik-Write
had a driver for my printer and had a bug or two fixed I would just
stick with that! It has an easy to use editing style that I like a
lot.)
Can anyone suggest alternatives? My requirements are pretty simple,
but to summarize, what I'm looking for is:
1) 40 column word wrap, regardless of how margins are set
2) Control over line spacing on at least a paragraph
by paragraph basis.
3) Text justification
4) Recovery of accidently deleted text (within reason,
obviously there are memory constraints!)
5) Printer driver for Epson-compatible printer (or
Panasonic 1124) that supports underlining and bold.
Even better would be user-customizable printer driver.
This should be possible, Kwik-Write meets all thes requirements
except for the last and still has a larger than 30K buffer for text!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Alpert { alpert@chovax.dec.com } Government agents
DEC { ...!decwrl!chovax.dec.com!alpert } are swine.
Cherry Hill, NJ { alpert%chovax.dec@decwrl.dec.com }
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------scott@max.u.washington.edu (03/01/90)
In article <8786@shlump.nac.dec.com>, alpert@chovax.dec.com (Enemy of the State) writes: > [looking for a wordprocessor with following features: ] > > 1) 40 column word wrap, regardless of how margins are set > 2) Control over line spacing on at least a paragraph > by paragraph basis. > 3) Text justification > 4) Recovery of accidently deleted text (within reason, > obviously there are memory constraints!) > 5) Printer driver for Epson-compatible printer (or > Panasonic 1124) that supports underlining and bold. > Even better would be user-customizable printer driver. I think the wordprocessor that you are most compatible with is "SpeedScript" by COMPUTE! It does everything of the criterias mentioned above. With regards to printing/printer, if your printer supports underlining, bold, pica, elite, fonts, NLQ etc than those features can be accessed from SpeedScript by incorporating the printer's ESC commands into your text. I have tested SpeedScript with many of the Epson/IBM compatible printers and it works flawlessly. A dictionary/spellchecker is also provided, but this lags somewhat behind the commercial ones. The entire package which includes SpeedScript, Spellchecker, and a dozen of other accompaning programs that adds newfeatures to the original SpeedScript, can be bought for $10 (well, $9.95 to be precise) from COMPUTE!. Look at a recent issue of COMPUTE! GAZETTE for ordering form and address. Sincerely, Scott K. Stephen
geoffw@xenitec.on.ca (Geoffrey Welsh) (03/01/90)
In article <8786@shlump.nac.dec.com> alpert@chovax.dec.com (Enemy of the State) writes: >Can anyone suggest alternatives? My requirements are pretty simple, >but to summarize, what I'm looking for is: > > 1) 40 column word wrap, regardless of how margins are set > 2) Control over line spacing on at least a paragraph > by paragraph basis. > 3) Text justification > 4) Recovery of accidently deleted text (within reason, > obviously there are memory constraints!) > 5) Printer driver for Epson-compatible printer (or > Panasonic 1124) that supports underlining and bold. > Even better would be user-customizable printer driver. > >This should be possible, Kwik-Write meets all thes requirements >except for the last and still has a larger than 30K buffer for text! OK, I'm showing personal bias here, but I suggest PaperClip. It offers all but #4 of the above, and I've found it to be about the best post-formatting word processor I've used. If you have a C64 (as opposed to a C128), then you might consider spending the time to look for an older version, as PaperClip III was ported from the C128 to the C64 and is rather cramped. The original PaperClip 64 had about 30K text space, I think. If the deletion recovery buffer is that big an issue, you might want to look at WordPro 64 from Pro-Line (AKA the Better Working writer from Spinnaker). It has generous deletion recovery features, but tends to work awkwardly in some ways because its functions revolve around that. I don't normally recomment WordPro over PaperClip, since I discarded WP3 for PaperClip 2.82 on the PET 4032 and, despite occasional trips to see what the 'other half' is up to, haven't found reason to switch back. That's not to say that WordPro isn't a good program, only that I have always liked PaperClip better. Geoff UUCP: watmath!xenitec!zswamp!root | 602-66 Mooregate Crescent Internet: root@zswamp.fidonet.org | Kitchener, Ontario FidoNet: SYSOP, 1:221/171 | N2M 5E6 CANADA Data: (519) 742-8939 | (519) 741-9553 My comments do not represent and should not obligate anyone but myself.
consp24@bingsune.cc.binghamton.edu (consp24) (03/02/90)
> OK, I'm showing personal bias here, but I suggest PaperClip. It >offers all but #4 of the above, and I've found it to be about the >best post-formatting word processor I've used. If you have a C64 (as >opposed to a C128), then you might consider spending the time to >look for an older version, as PaperClip III was ported from the C128 >to the C64 and is rather cramped. The original PaperClip 64 had >about 30K text space, I think. Put my vote in for PaperClip as well. Last I heard, PaperClip III for the 64 had about 5 pages worth of text memory, but included such features as spell check, telecommunications, and printer driver editing (I rewrote the print driver for the Seikosha SP1000VC so it would do italics/underline; this took all of five minutes.) I would suggest PaperClip wholeheartedly. Gregg W. Riedel CONSP24 @ BINGVAXA, BINGVAXU, BINGSUNS Student Consultant - State Univ. of New York at Binghamton ---------------------------------------------------------- "There are few personal problems that can't be solved by a suitable application of high explosives."