DP Tool Club 12/CD_ASCQ_12_0294.iso/maj/2321/reader.txt

Text File | 1994-01-01 | 20KB | 363 lines

           This is the instruction manual for HyperRead. It is
        also a demonstration HyperRead file. You can flip through
        this document one page at a time using the <PgUp> and
        <PgDn> keys. You can move one line at a time by holding
        down the Ctrl key as you press <PgUp> or <PgDn>. You also
        can move through the document by pressing the up or down
        cursor key. If the screen cursor gets to the top or bottom
        of the screen and you continue pressing the cursor key, the
        text will scroll. You can move to the top of the document
        by pressing the <Home> key on your keyboard, or go to the
        end of the document by pressing the <End> key.
           You also can jump around in the document using the link
        words or phrases. Link phrases look like this. To jump to a
        section of text containing more information on a link
        phrase, use the cursor keys to move the screen cursor to
        the link phrase, then press the <J> key on the keyboard.
        You may do this repeatedly, going from one link word to
        another. You can backtrack along this path by pressing the
        <B> key on the keyboard. There is more information on this
        "jumping" later in this document.
           You also can control HyperRead using a mouse if you
        have one installed. This will be explained later (or you
        can jump to this subject now by jumping from the word
        "mouse" and then backtracking to this page when you are
        done).
           You can get a quick explanation of the commands by
        calling for the HELP screen. Just press the <H> key at any
        time.
           You may now read the manual. Enjoy, and feel free to
        experiment with the link phrases.

           Every few years, a new concept comes along that offers a
        whole new use for personal computers. Typical examples have
        been word processing, telecommunications and BBS's,
        spreadsheets, and desktop publishing. The latest new idea
        is hypertext.
           What is hypertext? It is an indexing system that allows
        people to use their computers to read computer text files
        quickly and easily. It does this by allowing them to jump
        from one part of the file to another, following whatever
        train of thought they want.
           In an ordinary printed document, the reader must read
        the document linearly. That is, the person must read from
        the beginning to the end, one page at a time. Sometimes the
        person can jump around a little by using the index or the
        table of contents, but this is very limited. The index can
        only list a few key words, and the pages listed for those
        words are usually simply where the word is defined or first
        mentioned. The table of contents points only to broad areas
        of the document where a general subject is discussed. In
        any case, flipping through the pages is time-consuming and
        tedious.
           With hypertext, the author of a document can create
        "tunnels" or links within a document that allow the reader
        to jump from one area of the document to another. The
        reader uses a computer to read the text on the screen. When
        he or she finds an important word or phrase in the text
        that needs clarifying, the computer can jump to the part of
        the text that explains the term or gives more information.
        For example, suppose you are reading a story about the
        history of the electric light bulb. The story mentions that
        it was invented by Thomas Edison. If you get curious about
        Edison, you can jump directly from that part of the text to
        the part that tells you more about Edison. That part of the
        text might mention some of Edison's other inventions. If
        you see one that looks interesting, you can jump directly
        to the part of the text that describes this invention. This
        can vastly increase the speed at which you can find
        information.
           HyperRead Generator and HyperRead are programs that
        allow you to create and distribute hypertext documents.
        HyperRead Generator allows you to convert an ordinary ASCII
        text file into a hypertext document, which you may then use
        or distribute. This program is shareware. It can be
        downloaded from various Bulletin Board Systems or ordered
        directly from Leithauser Research or a qualified
        distributor. HyperRead is the program that allows you to
        read the hypertext documents. This program is freeware, and
        you may distribute it freely with any HyperRead files you
        create. Both programs can be used with or without a mouse.

        Using HyperRead

           To read a HyperRead file, you need only run HyperRead and
        load the desired HyperRead document. There are two ways you
        can do this. You can simply type the program name (HR5) at the
        DOS prompt. If there is more than one HyperRead document in the
        current directory, the computer will display a list of HyperRead
        files and ask which file to load (Otherwise it runs the one
        file). Type the name of the file and press ENTER. Note:
        All HyperRead documents actually consist of two files. There
        is a text document file that can have any name and extension
        and a control file that has the extension HRF. It is not
        necessary to type this extension to load the file. For example,
        to load the file READER.HRF, just enter the name READER.
           Another way to run HyperRead and load a file is to type
        the program name (HR5) followed by the name of the file to
        load at the DOS prompt. For example, this file is called
        READER.HRF. You can run the program and load this file at
        the same time by typing HR5 READER at the DOS prompt (it is
        not necessary to include the extension). This feature makes
        it easy to create a batch file that automatically runs the
        HyperRead program and loads a HyperRead file.
           When the program has loaded the file, it will display
        the first page of the file. At the bottom of the screen,
        you will see a list of options. These options are PgUp,
        Home, Help, Load, Quit, Jump, Backtrack, Search, Print,
        End, and PgDn. For the PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End options,
        press these keys on the keyboard. For the other options,
        press the first letter of the option. These options are
        explained below.

        PgDn

           Pressing the <PgDn> key moves the page of text on the
        screen to the next page. That is, it scrolls down 23 lines.
        If you hold down the <Ctrl> key while pressing the <PgDn>
        key, however, the screen will scroll only one line.

        PgUp

           Pressing the <PgUp> key scrolls the text up 23 lines. If
        you hold down the <Ctrl> key while pressing this key,
        however, the text will scroll only one line.

        Home

           Pressing the <Home> key moves you directly to the first
        page of the document. If you are in the middle of a long
        document, this can be a faster way to get to the beginning
        than repeatedly pressing <PgUp>.

        End

           Pressing the <End> key moves you to the last page of the
        document. If you want to get to a page near the end, you
        can press <End> and then <PgUp> a few times. This is
        sometimes faster than pressing <PgDn> repeatedly.

        Cursor Keys

           You can move the screen cursor with the cursor keys and
        also scroll through the document by moving beyond the top
        or bottom of the screen.

        Help

           This option displays a Help screen. This screen gives a
        short summary of the other options and how to use them.
        After viewing this help screen, you can press the space bar
        to return to the HyperRead document.

        Load

           This loads a document file into memory. The computer
        will display a list of HyperRead documents in the current
        directory. Type the name of the file and press ENTER. It is
        not necessary to include the extension. This option allows
        you to read several documents without returning to DOS to
        reload HyperRead and load a new document.

        Quit

           This option ends the programs and returns you to DOS.

        Jump

           This is the function that allows you to move directly to
        another area of the document that is pointed to by a link
        word or phrase. If you have a color screen, the default color
        for link words is blue on a black background. If you have a
        monochrome screen, default color for link words is black on
        a white background. You can change these at program startup.
           To select a link word, use the keyboard cursor keys to
        move the flashing screen cursor until it is somewhere on
        the link word. Then press the <J> key. The computer will
        then display the page of text pointed to by the link word.
        Once you have moved to this page, you can move normally
        through the document using the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys. You
        also can jump to other areas of the document from there
        using other link words. For example, suppose you jumped to
        a page using the link word "Thomas Edison" and that page
        contained the link word "light bulb." You could then jump
        directly to the page pointed to by "light bulb."
           If the link word is the name of a PCX picture file,
        "jumping" to it displays that picture on the screen. For
        example, moving the screen cursor to the word SATURN.PCX
        and pressing the <J> key will display a sketch of Saturn.
        Pressing any keyboard key (except control keys like Shift,
        Ctrl, or Alt) or either mouse button will return you to the
        document text.
           If the link word is an executable file name with an EXE,
        COM, or BAT extension, "jumping" to it will cause
        HyperRead to run that program (if it exists in the
        current directory). For example, jumping from the word
        NOTHING.COM will run the NOTHING.COM program. When the
        program or batch file finishes running, HyperRead will
        come back and display the page it was on before you ran the
        program.

        Backtrack

           This function allows you to reverse the effects of the
        Jump function. When you press the <B> key, the computer
        will take you back to the page containing the most recently
        used link word. For example, if you jumped to a destination
        page using the link word "Thomas Edison," pressing the <B>
        key would take you back to the page containing "Thomas
        Edison."
           You can use the backtrack function repeatedly. For
        example, suppose you jumped to a page pointed to by "Thomas
        Edison" and that page contained the link word "light bulb."
        You then used the "light bulb" link word to jump to another
        page. Pressing the <B> key twice would jump back to the
        page containing "light bulb" and then to the page
        containing "Thomas Edison." You can repeat this process
        until you reach the page containing the first link word you
        used.

        Search

           This option allows you to search the document for a
        specific text string, such as a name. It is handy if you
        want to find information on a subject, and there is no link
        word on the screen that would take you to that subject.
           When you pick this option, the computer will ask you for
        the string of text to search for. Type the string and press
        ENTER. If you have already used this option, the default
        will be the last string you searched for. This allows you
        to easily continue the search if you want more information
        on the string.
           The computer will always begin the search at the line
        the screen cursor is on in the document. It does not find
        any appearances of the string that occur before this in the
        document.
           The search is case-insensitive. That is, it disregards
        capitalization. If you asked the computer to search for
        "home," it would find "home," "Home," and "HOME."
           The program searches each line of text for the search
        string. It will not find the string if it is broken by the
        end of a line. For example, if the string were "George
        Washington," the program would not find it if the text
        contained the word George on one line and Washington on the
        next. For this reason, it is best if you limit your search
        string to one word if possible.
           When the program finds the search string, it displays
        the page of text containing the string. The line containing
        the string will be at the top of the screen. If the
        document does not contain the string after the current
        screen cursor position, the program will display a message
        saying "String not found. Press space bar to continue."
        When you press the space bar, the text will be at the same
        point where you started the search.

        Print

           The Print function will send a copy of the document to
        the printer. If the document contains page feed characters,
        HyperRead will use those to format the document.
        Otherwise, HyperRead will create its own formatting. It
        will print out the document with margins at the top and
        bottom of the page and a page number at the bottom of each
        page.
           To use this feature, set the printer at the top of a
        page of formfeed paper, turn it on, and press the <P> key
        on the keyboard. This is intended primarily for people who
        are distributing HyperRead instructions for their Shareware
        or public domain programs. This makes it unnecessary to
        include a separate ASCII file of the instructions to print.

        Mouse Support

           If you have a mouse driver installed, HyperRead will
        support the mouse. If you have a mouse driver installed,
        you will have two cursors on the screen. One is controlled
        by the mouse and one is controlled by the keyboard cursor
        keys. The mouse cursor is somewhat darker in color. You
        might need to move the mouse around a bit to help you find
        the mouse cursor.
           You can use the mouse to operate the HyperRead
        navigation functions. Moving the mouse cursor to the word
        PgUp at the bottom of the screen and pressing the left
        mouse button (known as "clicking on it") has the same
        effect as pressing the <PgUp> key. Clicking on PgUp with
        the left mouse button has the same effect as <Ctrl-PgUp>.
        Clicking on PgDn at the bottom of the screen with the left
        mouse button has the same effect as pressing <PgDn>.
        Clicking on it with the right mouse button has the same
        effect as <Ctrl-PgDn>. Clicking on Home or End at the
        bottom of the screen with either mouse button has the same
        effect as pressing the <Home> or <End> buttons.
           Clicking on a link word with the left mouse button
        causes HyperRead to jump to the information referenced by
        that link word, just as pressing the <J> key does. Pressing
        the right mouse button causes HyperRead to backtrack
        through the links just like pressing the <B> key does,
        regardless of where the mouse cursor is located.
           Other functions, such as Load, Quit, and Search, cannot
        be controlled using the mouse. In some cases, this is to
        prevent you from accidentally activating the function (like
        Quit) with the mouse. In other cases it is because the
        function requires keyboard input anyway, such as the word
        to search for.

        Uses for HyperRead

           You can use this program to create any type of
        easy-to-read document you like. For example, you can create
        a HyperRead instruction manual. The users can quickly zero
        in on any problems they have by using link words to go to
        more and more specific descriptions of the problem. This
        document is an example of such a file. Instruction manuals
        for shareware programs are a particularly good use for
        HyperRead.
           HyperRead reference "books" can also be easy to use.
        Consider a HyperRead cookbook. The first few pages of the
        HyperRead file could be a list of recipes. The name of each
        recipe could be a link word or phrase. The user could jump
        directly to the recipe by pointing to it with the cursor
        and pressing the <J> key. Within the recipes, some of the
        more unusual ingredients could be link words. These links
        could take the reader to a section at the end of the "book"
        that gives information on the ingredients.
           In a similar fashion, you could make each item in a
        table of contents of any file a link phrase. The reader can
        then jump directly to that page using the link phrase.
           A more entertaining use of the HyperRead function is
        interactive fiction. This is an increasingly popular form
        of literature. In such a book, the reader does not read the
        book from start to finish. Instead, the book offers the
        reader choices on what to read. A typical story might say
        something like, "If you want to explore the cave, turn to
        page 38. If you want to continue on the path, go to the
        next page." With HyperRead, you could have the reader
        select which action to take by selecting the proper link
        phrase. The program would then take the reader to the
        proper page. This is similar to text adventure games.

        Creating your own HyperRead documents

           To create your own HyperRead documents, you need the
        HyperRead Generator. This is a shareware program that you
        can download from many Bulletin Board Systems. If you
        cannot find it anywhere else, you can order the shareware
        program by sending $5.00 for shipping and handling to:

                         Leithauser Research
                         4649 Van Kleeck Drive
                         New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169

        However, before you distribute any documents created by
        HyperRead Generator, you are required to register it by
        sending $25.00 to Leithauser Research. You can save the
        $5.00 shipping and handling fee for the shareware program
        by sending the $25.00 to Leithauser research in the first
        place, thereby registering the program at the same time you
        order it.
           The $25.00 is a one-time fee. Once you have registered
        HyperRead Generator, you may use it on one computer to
        create as many HyperRead documents as you like without
        paying any additional fees.