subject: DESC.EXE - CREATING A FILE REMINDER REPORT purpose The DESC.EXE program creates a simple report of all the .PCT files on a directory along with their associated "File Reminders". discussion: If a PC-Type II file is saved in document format (i.e., saved with a .PCT file extension), a "File Reminder" is saved along with the text. This reminder is a one line statement about the file. It can be entered when saving a .PCT file (if no reminder for the file has yet been created). It can also be entered separately with the "(R)eminder" option of the Filing Options menu reached by pressing Q from the Main Menu. format: At the DOS prompt, type: DESC {pathspec} {>filespec} DESC with no parameters will type the report of all .PCT files in the current directory on your screen. If "pathspec" is provided, the report will be created for all .PCT files in the "pathspec" directory. "pathspec" can include a drive and path. The output report can be redirected to a disk file by adding the parameter ">filespec". ">" redirects the output to the file defined by "filespec" which can include a drive and path but must include a filename. examples: C>DESC c:\text The report of .PCT files in directory C:\TEXT is typed on the screen. C>DESC >c:\data\report The report of .PCT files on the default directory is saved in the file REPORT in directory DATA on drive C. C>DESC c:\text >c:\data\report The report of .PCT files in directory C:\TEXT is saved in the file REPORT in directory DATA on drive C. C>DESC >PRN The report of .PCT files in the default directory are redirected to the standard printer. 289 sample report: A sample report from DESC is shown below. PCT report: Thu Feb 28 22:18:40 1989 ------------------------------------ List of .PCT files found on default directory Date Time Filename Description -------- -------- -------- ----------- 08-24-88 20:38:34 DOCCMD command line documentation 08-11-88 09:26:48 DOCMM 07-01-88 23:59:10 MARK ... Not a document file ... 02-28-89 22:30:52 MM test mail-merge 01-09-89 15:51:00 PRINT check print markers 290 subject: PCMERGE.EXE - UPDATE THE FAULT FINDER DICTIONARY discussion: Words can be added or deleted from the dictionary file PCTYPE.DIC used by PC-Type II's Fault Finder. This is accomplished with the program PCMERGE. The words to be added or deleted are stored in the file PCTYPE.ADD. When the Fault Finder stops on a word which does not exist in the dictionary, one of your options is to accept the word and add it to the PCTYPE.ADD file. You can edit this file to add or delete other words. PCMERGE.EXE reads the contents of PCTYPE.ADD and modifies the dictionary file PCTYPE.DIC accordingly. You can add and delete as many words as you like but you cannot make more than 500 changes at a time. All lines in excess of 500 will be ignored. Duplicate entries will be caught by PCMERGE and attempting to add words which already exist, or to delete words which do not exist will not cause any problems. running: (1) PCMERGE.EXE, PCTYPE.DIC, and PCTYPE.ADD must all be in the same directory. (2) Make that directory your default directory. (3) Make any last minute changes to PCTYPE.ADD. (4) Type PCMERGE at the DOS prompt. Each time you run PCMERGE, the last version of your PCTYPE.DIC file will first be copied to a new file named PCTDIC.BAK on a disk you specify which has sufficient space to hold the file. Should anything go wrong while running PCMERGE, you can always restore your previous dictionary by copying PCTDIC.BAK back to PCTYPE.DIC. At the end of PCMERGE, you will be asked if you want to erase the PCTYPE.ADD file. We recommend that you keep track of your dictionary modifications in case your dictionary file gets damaged. Add the new list of words in PCTYPE.ADD to a file such as WORDS.NEW and then erase PCTYPE.ADD manually. pctype.add: The format of modifications within PCTYPE.ADD is simple: a newword d oldword The "a" implies add and the "d" implies delete. There are three rules you must follow: (1) Only one modification per line. (2) No hyphenated words. (3) A space must be placed between the "a" or "d" and the word to be added or deleted. 291 subject: XWORD.EXE discussion: XWORD can be used to help you with some of those difficult crossword puzzles. For a given word, you supply the position of the letters which you already know. XWORD provides you with a list of words of the required length which use those letters in those positions. XWORD uses the dictionary file PCTYPE.DIC, and must know where it is located. To find the directory, it: (1) looks in the current directory. (2) looks in the directory where XWORD is located if you use DOS version 3.0 or later. (3) searches the parameters for a path to PCTYPE.DIC. If XWORD cannot find the dictionary, it will say: "Cannot open pctype.dic" and will return to DOS. format: At the DOS prompt, type: XWORD {word1 ... wordn} {pathspec} {>filespec} If word parameters are specified, XWORD operates on each of them in turn, outputs the results, and then returns to DOS. If word parameters are not specified, you are prompted for each partial word. After results are displayed, you can quit or process another. The word parameters contain the letters you know. Letters you don't know should be replaced with question marks. PATHSPEC, the path to the dictionary file, is needed if XWORD cannot find the PCTYPE.DIC file. FILESPEC can be used to save results in a file. The '>' tells DOS to redirect XWORD output to "filespec". examples: C>xword c:\util\pct_dict Enter partial word as: ?br??d : im???se (1) immense (2) immerse (3) impasse (4) impulse Do another? Press Y or N. n C>xword im???se fr???d c:\util\pct_dict >save.dta File SAVE.DTA will contain: Fill in word: --> im???se <-- (1) immense (2) immerse (3) impasse (4) impulse ..... 292 subject: SCRAMBLE.EXE discussion: SCRAMBLE can be used to help you with the "Jumbles" in the newspaper. You supply the scrambled letters, and SCRAMBLE gives you all the words in the dictionary which use exactly those letters. SCRAMBLE uses the dictionary file PCTYPE.DIC, and must know where it is located. To find the directory, it: (1) looks in the current directory. (2) looks in the directory where SCRAMBLE is located if you use DOS version 3.0 or later. (3) searches the parameters for a path to PCTYPE.DIC. If SCRAMBLE cannot find the dictionary, it will say: "Cannot open pctype.dic" and will return to DOS. format: at the DOS prompt, type: SCRAMBLE {word1 ... wordn} {pathspec} {>filespec} If word parameters are specified, SCRAMBLE operates on each of them in turn, outputs the results, and then returns to DOS. If word parameters are not specified, you are prompted for each scrambled word. After results are displayed, you can quit or process another. The word parameters contain the letters to be unscrambled. PATHSPEC, the path to the dictionary file, is needed if SCRAMBLE cannot find the PCTYPE.DIC file. FILESPEC can be used to save results in a file. The '>' tells DOS to redirect XWORD output to "filespec". examples: C>scramble c:\util\pct_dict Enter scrambled word: olaf (1) foal (2) loaf Do another? Press Y or N. n C>scramble olaf eregn c:\util\pct_dict >save.dat File SAVE.DTA will contain: Unscramble: --> olaf <-- (1) foal (2) loaf Unscramble: --> eregn <-- (1) genre (2) green 293 subject: CNB.BAT and CN.EXE discussion: In general, this new version of PC-Type II is compatible with old PC-Type+ files. However, if you previously used PC-Type+ and saved files containing special lines, page breaks, and printer markers, the special lines and print markers will be lost or distorted. You can run the batch file CNB.BAT to convert such files to the new PC-Type II format. CNB.BAT calls the program CN.EXE, so both of these files should be in a directory which exists in your PATH statement. If they are not in such a directory, then they must be on your default directory. This process will copy your old PC-Type+ file to a new file with a .PCT extension and add a preamble to the file. The resulting .PCT file will be a new PC-Type II file in the current document format. The new file is a copy of the old file. The original will be left intact. The new file will be located in the same directory as the old file. NOTE: If you do not have special lines, page breaks and print markers in a PC-Type+ file, then it does not have to be converted to be read correctly by the new PC-Type II. format: At the DOS prompt, type: CNB filename extension FILENAME can include the path as well as the filename of the source file. It cannot include a period at the end nor the file extension. EXTENSION should be the extension of the source file. No period should be present. If the source file has no extension, leave this parameter blank. If the file being converted already has a .PCT extension, you must first rename the file so that it has a different extension. NOTE: If you type CNB with no parameters, the directions on how to use CNB will be typed on your screen. Example: C>cnb d:\savedoc\myfile doc The file MYFILE.DOC in directory SAVEDOC on drive D is copied and converted to the new file MYFILE.PCT in directory SAVEDOC on drive D. The original file MYFILE.DOC remains untouched. 294 margins: In the example on the preceding page, the margins and tabs for the new MYFILE.PCT file will be set at the following defaults: LEFT=5 RIGHT=75 no INDENT TABS at 10,20,30,40,50,60, and 70 If these settings are not appropriate for the files you are converting, you can set them as desired by using the DOS SET command as: SET L=# # is column number for left margin SET R=# # is column number for right margin SET I=# # is column number for indent margin SET E=# (Every #) e.g. E=10 would imply 10,20, etc. These settings are placed in the DOS environment and will remain there until they are deleted, reset, or you reboot your machine. In this manner, you can set them once for a number of files, reset them for another group, etc. example: The following set command: C>set l=10 C>set i=15 C>set r=75 C>set e=5 would set the margins at 10 and 75 with an indent at 15. Tabs would be set at 20, 25, 30, ... and 70. Now the commands: C>cnb d:\savedoc\myfile doc C>cnb d:\savedoc\myfil2 doc will cause the output files D:\SAVEDOC\MYFILE.PCT and D:\SAVEDOC\MYFIL2.PCT to have the desired margins and tabs. If you are converting another group of files and do not want an indent in the next group, then change the indent setting to the left margin value as: C>set i=10 and run CNB on the next group of files. You do not have to reset all four parameters unless you want all four parameters to change. 295 subject: CNVPRN.EXE discussion: Figuring out your printer escape codes can be a frustrating experience. If you set up your own escape codes in PC-Type+, you probably don't look forward to doing it again with this new version of PC-Type II. Since the format in which printer escape codes are saved is different in the two programs, the utility CNVPRN.EXE has been included to make this conversion for you. To use CNVPRN, you must save your PC-Type+ escape codes in a .PRN file. If you have already done this, skip to "format" on the next page. To create a .PRN file if your printer escape codes have been saved within PC-Type+ itself, perform the following steps: (1) Start PC-Type+ as: C>pctype (2) Press F8, the MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS menu. (3) Press F3, the "Save Defaults" option. (4) Press the P key in response to the question: Save Printer defaults or All defaults? (press P or A) (5) Press the F key in response to the question: Save to File or to PC-Type? (press F or P) (6) Blank out the "Path" field using F6 in response to: Enter Save-Defaults Path - then press F10 (Null field=Current Dir) (Esc=exit) and then press F10. This causes the new printer file to be written to your default directory. (7) A list of any files on the directory with the file extension .PRN will now be displayed. In response to the request: Select by tabbing to desired file - then press F10 (or press Esc to Exit) press the Tab key to move to the field displaying "New File" and press F10. (8) The field will now be ready for the filename you wish. In response to the request: Enter new File Name type the filename (with no extension, .e.g., myfile") and then press the Enter key. 296 (9) You should now see the message: Defaults have been moved. Press a letter key to continue so press a key and then exit PC-Type+ by pressing F4. Your printer codes will be in the file "filename.prn". format: at the DOS prompt, type: CNVPRN filename Assuming the file "filename.PRN" is a valid PC-Type+ printer escape code file, CNVPRN will change its name to "filename.BAK" and create a new "filename.PRN" in the new PC-Type II format. "filename" can include a drive and path as well as a filename. The extension .PRN does not have to be given, but it won't hurt to include it. As CNVPRN converts to the new format, it also displays the results on your screen. You may reference a converted .PRN file in your PCTYPE.PRO file (see page 108), or load it from inside PC-Type II as needed (see page 118). 297