home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
DP Tool Club 17
/
CD_ASCQ_17_101194.iso
/
vrac
/
edgar.zip
/
EDGARNEW.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-02-19
|
7KB
|
214 lines
EDGARNEW
News for Duxbury Braille Editor (Edgar)
and
Edgar Explorer
Version 2;4
Document No. ds-ak5b2-n2j
First Release: May 11, 1990
This Release: February 19, 1993
Copyright 1990-1993 Duxbury Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved.
CURRENT DISTRIBUTION FILE KEY
The information in this section should help you understand the
purpose of the various distributed files, if for example you wish
to delete those that are not needed in your particular
installation. Files designated "ASCII text" can generally be
displayed by the DOS TYPE or MORE commands, or examined by an
ASCII editor (be careful not to change them unintentionally!),
and usually the first part of the file describes its general
purpose.
Used only for the installation process (not placed on the working
disks):
INSTALL.*
User License ID file (present only on Edgar, not Edgar Explorer;
present only on original license distribution; not present on an
UPDATE distribution -- the original license should be retained):
BJGMW.DXR
Batch procedures (for overall listing, use DUXB command; for the
individual purpose, use inquiry, e.g. "BRAILLE ?"):
*.BAT
Configuration table, required to run Edgar (ASCII text):
EDGAR.EGT
Confusion-resolution tables (ASCII text, used by COPYX for
interline print):
*.CFT
Font Description Files (ASCII text, used by PCLGEN to regenerate
.PCL and .PS files):
*.FDT
Font Files:
BRL.PCL (for LaserJet plain simulated braille)
SIMBRL.PCL (for LaserJet simulated braille with shadow dots)
DJBRL.PCL (for DeskJet plain simulated braille)
DJSIMBRL.PCL (for DeskJet simulated braille with shadow dots)
"Help" text for Edgar's on-line help (ASCII text):
EDGAR.EH1
"Help" text for programs (ASCII text):
*.EHL
Keyboard Mapping table (ASCII text):
LEDCODE.KMT
Message and Prompt text for programs (ASCII text):
*.ERM
Output control table (ASCII text, used mainly by COPYX and also
by TRANSF to control device or file output):
*.OCT
PostScript Program Files (ASCII text, used by printing programs
to control PostScript printers & related processes):
*.PS
Printer Description Tables (ASCII text, used by printing programs
to control ink printer for simulated braille printing):
*.PDT
Program executable files (For overall list, use DUX command; for
more detail, use inquiry, e.g. "TRANST ?" -- except for DUXWP,
which is a menu system [see DUXWP document]):
*.EXE
"Scrub" tables (ASCII text, used in SCRUB conversions):
*.SBT
Test pattern (see DUXPRINT document):
DXTSTPAT.BRF
Documents and Examples - Page image files:
*.PIM
Documents and Examples - coded-text (ASCII text) files:
*.TXT
NEW OR ADVANCED FEATURES
The following information is supplementary to the main
documentation, and describes characteristics that have either been
added since it was printed, or that are designed for highly
specialized use only, or both:
1. MCGA screens (common on some of the PS/2's) are now supported,
as well as those listed.
2. Edgar normally senses the appropriate video mode
automatically, and you can check its decision with the Alt-v
command. In the unlikely event that you need to "force" Edgar to
run in some other mode, there's a separate on-disk document, file
EDGVID.DOC, that describes how to do that.
3. As also described in EDGVID.DOC, it is possible to change
certain screen characteristics, notably the colors used for the
various parts of the Edgar display. This can be particularly
3
useful for adapting to screens that represent colors by various
shades of gray, as no one color scheme can work well for all of
these.
4. As described in the document, the normal method of entering
the braille characters is by "chording" the f, d, s, j, k, and l
keys on the home row Perkins-style, i.e. with the keys
corresponding to dots 1 through 6 respectively. In this mode,
which we call "6-key" mode, it is also possible to enter
occasional characters as their ASCII equivalents, as described in
Appendix A of the document. To do this, press and hold either
Shift key while entering the ASCII equivalent. For example, with
Shift down the j key will register as dots 2-4-5 instead of just
dot 4. The Caps Lock key does NOT equate to holding down the
Shift key in this mode.
5. Besides the 6-key mode described above, there is now also a
"1-key" mode that you can enter (or leave) by entering the Ctrl-k
command. In 1-key mode, ASCII equivalents are the normal entry
method. If you occasionally wish to enter a multi-dot
combination by the 6-key method, you may still do so and it will
be sensed as such.
6. The status line now contains a new indicator, normally blank,
that contains a "1" when in 1-key mode.
7. For technically proficient users only: There is a file, called
EDGAR.EGT, that controls a number of Edgar's "normal" settings.
It is an ASCII text file and comments within the file itself
explain (perhaps crypically) what the settings mean. If you are
well familiar with editing such files, and want to do things
differently, you may wish to experiment with it. It is possible,
for example, to make 1-key the normal (i.e. initial) mode,
eliminating the need to enter a Ctrl-k command every time you
start Edgar. It is even possible to designate a variant key
mapping for 1-key entry purposes. (Note: this is where file
LEDCODE.KMT, which is not actually used with current settings,
may serve as a starting template.) Please give us a call if you
need some guidance in working with the .EGT or .KMT tables, but
please bear in mind that they were not designed for access in
normal usage.
8. In addition to the automatic backup to \EDGARBAK, it's now
also possible to write "checkpoints" on command (Alt-w) --
similarly to a special directory, \EDGARCHK. This relieves the
reasonable concern that a lot of work could be lost if a power or
other failure should occur several hours into an editing
session. Each time you call for a checkpoint, a complete current
copy, that you can later retrieve if necessary, is made. From
the main help menu, the category "File handling concepts" now
discusses this.
4
9. There is now also a similar command for writing to an
arbitrary file, i.e. Ctrl-w. This can be used for many purposes,
notably as a means to save your file to a separate disk if the
one you are working on should become full.
10. Both types of translation, braille-to-print (Alt-q) and
print-to-braille (Alt-t), may now be conveniently "continued" for
another cycle without having to re-enter the command. In both
cases, the method is to use Ctrl-Enter instead of Enter -- to
acknowledge the display in the case of Alt-q, and to terminate
the print input in the case of Alt-t.
11. Edgar now has an ASCII display mode. This facilitates use by
blind transcribers and allows Edgar to show more lines of braille
on most displays. ASCII display mode is toggled on/off using
Ctrl-D. It is also possible to configure Edgar to configure
Edgar to start up with an ASCII display; see EDGVID.DOC for
details.