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CICA 1993 April
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CICA MS Windows - April 1993.iso
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xword
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xword.txt
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1990-02-04
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X W O R D X W O R D _________
TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS _________________
1. Introduction 1. Introduction
1.1 Welcome to XWORD................................ 2
1.2 Installation.................................... 2
2. Working a Puzzle 2. Working a Puzzle
2.1 The Working Direction........................... 4
2.2 The Question Window............................. 4
2.3 Moving Within a Puzzle.......................... 4
2.4 Entering Answers................................ 5
2.5 Saving Puzzles.................................. 5
2.6 Opening an Existing Puzzle...................... 5
2.7 Clearing Answers................................ 6
2.8 The Puzzle Title................................ 6
2.9 Showing Solutions............................... 6
2.10 Solution Clues................................. 6
3. Building Puzzles 3. Building Puzzles
3.1 Starting a New Puzzle........................... 8
3.2 Changing Black and White Squares................ 8
3.3 Entering Questions.............................. 8
3.4 Entering Solutions.............................. 9
3.5 No Change Mode.................................. 9
3.6 Converting Delltm Crossword Puzzles............. 9
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
4. Printing Puzzles 4. Printing Puzzles
4.1 Printing
4.2 Printer Requirements
4.3 Portrait or Landscape
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
1. INTRODUCTION 1. INTRODUCTION _______________
1.1 Welcome to XWORD 1.1 Welcome to XWORD
Introducing XWORD, which allows the entry, creation, and
working of crossword puzzles within the Windows graphical
interface. Xword does this while maintaining the look and
feel of the familiar crossword puzzle.
The look of a crossword puzzle is maintained by displaying
a puzzle in a way that is familiar to anyone who has worked
a crossword puzzle. Xword displays the puzzle in black and
white and shows the numbers within the squares. When most
people work a crossword they jump around the puzzle
answering questions in several areas of the puzzle. Xword,
with the use of the mouse, maintains this crossword puzzle
feel by allowing the user to jump around the puzzle quickly
and easily.
Xword uses several other Windows features. For example the
ability to work more than one puzzle at a time. Other
features include the ability to enter or work a puzzle that
doesn't fit on the screen or within a window, by use of
scroll bars.
All this leads to the fact that crossword puzzles on a
personal computer have never been easier or more fun.
1.2 Installation 1.2 Installation
The Xword disk contains the following files:
README.XWD - Changes or corrections
XWORD.TXT - Documentation
XWORD.EXE - The XWORD program
PZLCONV.EXE - Program to convert Delltm Crossword Puzzles
*.PZL - Any file with an extension or PZL is a
crossword puzzle
Installation of Xword is accomplished by coping the files
on the xword disk to the disk and directory the user wishes
to execute the program. It is recommended that a separate
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
directory be created for Xword. The following line may be
added to the WIN.INI in the [extensions] section to execute
Xword when a .PZL file is double clicked.
pzl=xword.exe ^.pzl
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
2. WORKING A PUZZLE 2. WORKING A PUZZLE ___________________
2.1 The Working Direction 2.1 The Working Direction
While working a crossword puzzle in XWORD the working
direction is very important. Obviously, the working
direction can be either across or down. The working
direction is the direction in which answers are being
accepted.
Xword shows the current working direction in several ways.
If you are using a mouse the simplest is that the cursor is
either a hand pointing across or down with the corresponding
letter "A" or "D" in the palm. The working direction is also
displayed in the title of the question window, for example
"33 Across" would be displayed. The last method for
displaying the working direction is on the menu bar. The
menu bar has both Across and Down, whichever is greyed is
the current working direction.
The working direction can be changed by using the menu bar
with either the mouse or the keyboard. With the mouse simply
click the non-greyed direction on the menu bar and the
direction will change. From the keyboard use the alt key
with the first letter of the direction.
2.2 The Question Window 2.2 The Question Window
The Question window displays the current question number,
working direction, and the current question for this number.
The window can be moved anywhere on the screen with either
mouse or the question window's system menu.
2.3 Moving Within a Puzzle 2.3 Moving Within a Puzzle
When the puzzle window is active a flashing square will
appear in the puzzle. This flashing square is called a
caret. The caret location is where answers are being
accepted. If moving changes the current question, the
question box is updated with the new question.
Moving the caret within a puzzle can be done either with
the mouse or with the cursor keys. Using the cursor keys the
caret will move to the next available non-black square in
the direction of the cursor key. To move the caret with the
mouse, click a square with the mouse and the caret will move
to that square.
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
There are options on the menu bar that will allow you to
move to the next or previous question. By clicking the Next
or Previous options with the mouse or using the alt "N" or
the "P" from the keyboard, the caret will move to the first
square of the next or previous question.
If the puzzle doesn't fit in the window, scroll bars will
appear that will allow the puzzle to be scrolled within the
window. The scroll bars can be used by the mouse but
scrolling can also be done from the keyboard. Scrolling is
done from the keyboard by using the pageup, pagedown, home,
and end keys.
2.4 Entering Answers 2.4 Entering Answers
Entering answers to a puzzle is done by simply typing the
letters of the answer starting at the current square.
Answers are accepted only in the current working direction.
The backspace key may be used to remove an entry in the
square prior to the current square. The space bar can be
used to remove an entry in the current square.
2.5 Saving Puzzles 2.5 Saving Puzzles
Xword allows the saving of puzzles so that they may be
recalled later. Puzzle are saved within a filename with an
extension of ".PZL". To save a puzzle, the menu item "File"
is selected. Within this selection there are further
selections, two of which are used for saving puzzles. The
"Save" item will save a puzzle that already has a file name.
The "Save As..." selection will display a dialog box that
will accept a new file name or allow the changing the
current file name. The dialog box will also accept a
directory name under which the puzzle will be saved. If no
directory is specified the puzzle will be saved in the
current directory. All answers will be saved along with the
puzzle, so a puzzle may be started and completed at a later
time.
2.6 Opening an Existing Puzzle 2.6 Opening an Existing Puzzle
To recall a previously saved puzzle, select the 'Open..."
option from the "File" menu item. A dialog box will be
displayed that will allow the opening of a puzzle. The
dialog box will display all puzzles that are on the current
directory, along with the other directories and drives
available. Once a file has been chosen or entered the "OK"
button will load the puzzle.
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
2.7 Clearing Answers 2.7 Clearing Answers
To clear the answers entered, select the 'Clear
Answers...' option from the "Puzzle" menu item. Once Xword
has verified that the selection was correct it will clear
the answers.
2.8 The Puzzle Title 2.8 The Puzzle Title
Crossword puzzles may at times have titles. The title is
usually a clue to several questions in the puzzle. Within
Xword if there is a title it appears in the windows title
bar. If there is no title, the filename appears in the title
bar of the window. Within Xword the title can be entered or
changed in two places. The title is entered as part of
creating a new puzzle. The title can be changed by selecting
the 'Title' option from the 'Puzzle' menu item. This
selection will display a dialog box that will allow the
title to be changed.
2.9 Showing Solutions 2.9 Showing Solutions
While working a crossword puzzle there may come a time in
which the remaining questions cannot be answered, and the
user wants to see the solution. (I know this never happens
to most of you.) At this point Xword can display the
solutions to the puzzle. This, of course, is assuming that
there are solutions to the puzzle. To show solutions to the
puzzle, select the 'Show Solutions' option from the 'Puzzle'
menu item.
Xword will show solutions to the puzzle and show which
entered answers are correct. Xword will show letters
answered correctly by displaying them in upper case letters.
Incorrect answers show the current letter in upper case with
a slash through the letter. If there was no answer or no
solution the correct letter or the letter entered is
displayed in lower case. If there is no answer and no
solution the square is left blank.
2.10 Solution Clues 2.10 Solution Clues
While working a crossword puzzle, Xword is capable of
giving clues to the solution of the questions. These clues
are of two types, either letter clues or word clues. To
setup Xword to give clues select the 'Clues' menu item.
Within this menu item there are three possible selections,
'No Clues', 'Letter Clues', or 'Word Clues'. The current
selection has a check mark next to it.
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
Clues are given by notifying the user that an incorrect
letter or word has been entered. This is done by sounding a
beep if the letter or word is incorrect. Letter clues will
notify the user as the letter is being typed. Word clues
will notify the user when a complete word has been entered
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
3. BUILDING A PUZZLE 3. BUILDING A PUZZLE ____________________
3.1 Starting a New Puzzle 3.1 Starting a New Puzzle
Xword will allow the entry of puzzles. These puzzles may
be puzzles that are found in the newspaper or other
publications, or they may be puzzles created from scratch.
To start a new puzzle, select the 'New...' option from the
'File' menu item. Xword will display a dialog box that asks
for the number of squares across, the number of squares
down, and the title of the new puzzle. Once the dialog box
has been completed correctly, Xword will display a blank
puzzle ready for entry.
3.2 Changing Black and White Squares 3.2 Changing Black and White Squares
In the previous section a new puzzle was created. The next
step is to fill in the black squares. The black squares can
be filled in with either the mouse, or from the keyboard.
Xword will only allow puzzles built that follow rules set by
The Crossword Puzzle Federation.
Filling in in the black squares with the mouse is very
simple. By double clicking a square, it changes from white
to black, or visa vera. The puzzle will renumber itself.
Filling in the black squares using the keyboard requires
that the build mode be activated. The build mode is
activated by selecting the 'Build Mode' option from the
'Puzzle' menu item. Once in build mode, the cursor keys can
be used to move the caret to the square you wish to change,
and press the space bar. The square will change from white
to black or visa vera. To exit build mode again, select the
'Build Mode' from the 'Puzzle' menu item. As with using the
mouse the puzzle will renumber itself.
3.3 Entering Questions 3.3 Entering Questions
Once the black and white squares are setup, the questions
can be entered. To enter questions move the caret to one of
the squares within the question to be entered or changed.
Next, activate the question box. This is done by either
clicking the box with the mouse or using the alt F6 keys.
The question box is a standard Windows edit box. The
question box can't be activated if the "No Changes" option
has been selected.
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
The method above is useful for changing questions. But,
for a faster method the following can be used. First
activate the question dialog box. Next, use the alt 'P' or
the alt 'N' keys to get to the question you wish to enter,
and enter the question. From this point the alt 'N' and 'P'
keys can again be used to get to the next or previous
question. At this point you can also change the working
direction by using the alt 'A' or the alt 'D' keys. Using
these alted keys will leave the question box activated
allowing the questions to be entered very quickly.
3.4 Entering Solutions 3.4 Entering Solutions
Once a puzzle has been created and the questions entered
the answers can be entered. The answers can be entered can
be entered by simply coping them in to the puzzle, or by
working the puzzle normally. Once the answers are entered
and assuming that they are all correct, (I'm sure they are)
the answers can be made into the solutions. To make the
answers the solutions select the 'Make Solutions' options
from the 'Puzzle' menu item. Xword will verify that this is
what is to be done and proceeds to make the answers the
solutions.
Once solutions are entered, the next person to work the
puzzle can get clues and solutions to this puzzle.
3.5 No Change Option 3.5 No Change Option
To protect a puzzle and its solutions from accidentally
being changed a puzzle can be set to not allow any changes.
This state is set by selecting the 'No Change' option from
the 'Puzzle' menu item. Once set questions, squares, or
solutions cannot be changed.
3.6 Converting Delltm Crossword Puzzles 3.6 Converting Delltm Crossword Puzzles
Now included on the Xword disk is the program PZLCONV.EXE.
This program will convert crossword puzzles from the format
used by "Delltm Crosswords Puzzles" to the format used by
Xword. The Delltm Crossword Puzzles are published by a
company called SHAREDATA.
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
The puzzles to be converted have an extension of TXT. To
convert these puzzles type the following command at the DOS
prompt.
PZLCONV name (Where name is a puzzle file name)
The conversion program will add the TXT extension and
prompt for the name to be used for the new Xword file. If
you specify no name the program will prompt for the name of
the puzzle to be converted.
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XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles
4. PRINTING PUZZLES 4. PRINTING PUZZLES ___________________
4.1 Printing 4.1 Printing
Xword has the capability to print puzzles that have been
created or entered. Xword prints both the puzzle and the
questions, just the way crossword puzzles appear in
newspapers.
Puzzles are printed by selecting the "Print" option from
the "Files" menu. Xword will display a dialog box that will
give the option to cancel the printing.
A puzzle must fit on the page being printed. Questions
however, will print on additional pages as required.
4.2 Printer Requirements 4.2 Printer Requirements
In order for Xword to print crossword puzzles, the printer
must meet two requirements. First, the printer must be
install under windows. Second and most important, the
printer must be capable of handling bitmaped graphics. This
last requirement is usually met by most dot matrix printers
commonly used.
4.3 Portrait or Landscape 4.3 Portrait or Landscape
Windows, using the "Control Panel" application, can setup
a printer to print in either Portrait or Landscape mode.
This mode determines how a puzzle will appear on the printed
page. If Portrait mode is selected, the puzzle will be
printed with the page length longer than the page width.
Landscape mode is the opposite, the width is longer then the
length.
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