[net.micro] WYSIWYG editors for the IBM PC.

mob@mit-amt.MIT.EDU (Mario O. Bourgoin) (09/19/86)

<A  few week  back,  I asked  for WYSIWYG   editors for   the  IBM PC;
particularily those that could handle equations.  This is a summary of
replies that I got.>

From: johnth@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (john thurtell)
CHI WRITE: It is a well set  up program and works  well if you  have a
lot of  memory and a  graphics board...  The  fonts include the needed
fonts for sci.     work;  roman,  bold roman,  small  roman   (sub  nc
superscripts) greek, math, Italics, ...  This system does equations in
a way that takes a bit of adjusting to but is very very nice.  My only
critisism of the system  is that the regular  text processor has  some
flaws...<but> the system <file format> is compatable with  one  of the
'standards'. You can get a copy  of it from  the PCBLUE users group or
you can FTP it from the PCBLUE archives on SIMTEL20.

From: Vincent Broman <broman%bugs@nosc.ARPA>
			  C H I   W R I T E
		      Horstmann Software Design
			   P.O. Box 4544
			Ann Arbor, MI 48106

From: mlsmith@NADC
VOLKSWRITER SCIENTIFIC: I  have not used that  version,  but  am  very
happy  with Volkswriter  Deluxe  and Volkswriter  3.    The advertised
features  allow virtual WYSIWYG  capability.  Of  course more than  80
columns causes horizontal scrolling etc.

From: mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!ihnp4!hsi!tankus (Ed Tankus)
EXACT(tm):  by  Technical  Software Support,  Inc.   It  is a   memory
resident program that can  be called up  while  you are  in your  word
processor. It allows you  to  create and format mathematical equations
and then insert  them into your document.  You never have  to exit the
word processor.    The company guarantees that  it  will work with any
word processing package or it will make it work.

From: Tim Hoverd <mcvax!idec!tim@seismo.CSS.GOV>
Vuwriter: One of the versions of this has  the ability  to display and
print scientific symbols.

    Vuman Computer Systems Ltd
    Crawford House
    Precinct Centre
    Oxford Road
    Manchester M13 9QT
    UNITED KINGDOM

    +44 61 273 5315 (telephone)
    265871 MONREF G (telex)

From: wucs!cec2!dws3014@seismo.CSS.GOV (David William Sanderson)
T3 (read 'tee  cubed'):  from Triad software  (I think).  I  have seen
reviews  touting it   as the ultimate   WYSIWYG   word  processor  for
mathematicians.  It is  very  easy to  learn and use.   It allows many
different fonts, and you can  even  define fonts if  you need to.  And
superscripts    can   have    subscripts   with    superscripts   with
superscripts.


<Not directly related but of importance nonetheless were the replies>

From: caip!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!jljl (james e levin)
The  Boston  Computer Society  has  put  together  an extensive report
reviewing the capabilities of a variety  of technical word  processors
for the IBM PC.  I haven't seen it, but they were making  it available
for a small fee.

From: Michal Young <young@ICSC.UCI.EDU>
PC-TEX: ...if  previewing your formulas  on the screen is  sufficient,
and you have EGA  or Hercules,  then consider PC-TeX.   The output  is
top-notch...Or you  can  use AMSTeX,  which  I  believe  is  what  the
American  Mathematical  Society typesets   their   journals with...you
usually have to make multiple runs through the formatter to get things
to look just the way you  want them...it  demands  a lot of horsepower
(cycles, memory, and disk)  from your machine...you  need an AT to get
decent turnaround.


Enjoy! And thank you very much!!!

--Mario O. Bourgoin