Writing Tools Manual. Copyright 1993, Timpanogos Software. Revised: November 1993 Welcome! Thelma Thistleblossom's Writing Tools Timpanogos Software (801) 223-9055 758 East 100 North Orem, Utah 84059-4910 USA Thelma's Writing Tools. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thelma's Writing Tools are a family of writing aids: I. SpellPlus; II. ClichePlus; III. GrammarPlus; Thelma's Writing Tools help you create strong, readable, and concise documents. When a Writing Tool finds a potential problem, it highlights the problem in context, defines the problem, suggests how to fix the problem, and permits text editing. I. SpellPlus goes beyond checking your document for spelling; it checks for proper nouns, uncapitalized words, archaic words, informal words, gender-based words, and more! II. ClichePlus goes beyond checking your document for cliches; it checks for long sentences, improper spacing between sentences, forgetting to capitalize the start of a sentence, and more! III. GrammarPlus combines SpellPlus, ClichePlus, and checks for such problems as: passive voice, long sentences, mismatched subject-verbs, pronoun errors, cliches, padding, consecutive prepositional phrases, punctuation errors, spelling errors, and more! You Control Each Writing Tool. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a Writing Tool finds a problem, it gives you choices: (1) Skip Once (2) Skip (3) Skip Permanently (4) Edit (ESC) Quit For example, suppose GrammarPlus has highlighted the word very in a sentence and told you that this problem is from the rule class padding. When you choose: (1) Skip Once, GrammarPlus continues. (2) Skip, GrammarPlus ignores the word very. (3) Skip Permanently, GrammarPlus lets you either ignore the word very or ignore the rule class padding. (4) Edit, GrammarPlus lets you edit. Once you skip permanently, the Writing Tool will ignore it in the document. The next time that you use this writing tool, the Writing Tool will ignore the rule (or word). Try a Writing Tool on several different files. When you feel comfortable with the rules, go ahead and turn off a rule. To turn a rule back on, see the next section on Writing Style Templates. Writing Style Templates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Press the function key F9 to change the rules. You may change the writing style before you choose the file. You may also change the writing style while you're checking the document. Wait until the Writing Tool displays a problem. Then, press the function key F9. In the unregistered version, you may restore all the rules by choosing a new General Rules template. The new General Rules template resets: all the rules, long sentence length to 27, and blanks after a sentence to 2. In the registered version you've the choice of three templates: general rules, formal, and informal. Restoring the rules in one template doesn't affect your choices in the other templates. You may create three different patterns of writing rules. Thelma's Writing Tools always start with the current version of General Rules. Problem Display Screen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thelma's Writing Tools have a simple screen display; when it finds a problem, it: 1. Highlights the problem; 2. Describes the nature of the problem; 3. Suggests how to fix the problem; 4. Puts options on the screen's last line: 1 Skip Once 2 Skip 3 Skip Permanently 4 Edit [ESC] Quit 1. Skip Once. Continue. 2. Skip. Ignore this specific problem. 3. Skip Permanently. Ignore this problem. 4. Edit. Edit. ESC. Quit. Quit the Writing Tool. You may choose "Skip" easily: 1. Press the number 2, or 2. Press the Space bar, or 3. Press the <Enter> key. You may: (I). Accept an automated advice choice, (II). Edit the problem, (III). Control whether the Writing Tool will display similar problems. (I). To accept an automated advice choice, press the corresponding letter. For example, suppose SpellPlus finds the misspelled word agter in a sentence. SpellPlus will suggest the replacements: (a) after (b) alter (c) apter (d) aster. SpellPlus will replace the misspelled word with a single keystroke. (II). To edit a problem, go ahead and press 4. The Writing Tool puts the cursor near the problem. After you finish editing, press the <Enter> key. Thelma's Writing Tools re-check changes. (III). To control the display of similar problems, press 1, 2, or 3. Pressing 1 continues to display all problems. Pressing 2 skips any further cases of this problem. Pressing 3 skips any further cases of this rule class. System Requirements ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thelma's Writing Tools need: DOS 2.0, 256 K RAM, and a hard disk. A color monitor is helpful. Thelma's Writing Tools read all major word processing files. Online Help ~~~~~~~~~~~ Press the function key [F3] to get online, context-sensitive help. You may read the entire manual through the help screens. Use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the manual. If you can't find what you need, then phone us at (801) 223-9055 for technical support. We send a printed copy of this manual to registered users. Long Documents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can stop a Writing Tool in mid-stride. Press an ordinary key while a Writing Tool is computing. When the writing tool finishes the current sentence, it'll ask if you want to quit. In the registered version, the Writing Tool will create an individualized history file with the suffix .HST. This file describes all the sentences that the Writing Tool has checked. When you start to check the file a second time, the writing tool will skip the sentences that it has already checked. This feature is in valuable for long documents and for documents in which you're always making small changes. The writing tool will only check the changed sentences! Save The Changes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you decide to stop checking before the Writing Tool has finished the file, then you can save the changes or throw them all away. If you choose to save the changes, then the Writing Tool: (1) saves the changes to the original file under the original file name; (2) saves the original file with a .BAK suffix. Smiley Faces. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may use Thelma's Writing Tools with files from all major word processors. Each Writing Tool shows a non-ASCII character as a smiley face. The editor won't let you delete these characters. Your word processor can remove non-ASCII formatting characters from your file. All major word processing companies provide an ASCII file option that removes formatting codes. Getting a File ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Example 1. ~~~~~~~~~ You've started the Writing Tool. At the bottom of the screen is something like: DIR C:\word\march\*.* To check a file in \word\march, press the <Enter> key. The files in \word\march will appear in a window. Press the Down Arrow key to highlight the file you wish to check. When you've highlighted it, press the <Enter> key. Example 2. ~~~~~~~~~ You've started the Writing Tool. At the bottom of the screen is something like: DIR C:\word\march\*.* However, you want a file in \word\letter. Replace c:\word\march\*.* with \word\letter\*.* and then press the <Enter> key. The files in \word\letter will appear in a window. Press the Down Arrow key to highlight the file you wish to check. When you've highlighted it, press the <Enter> key. Example 3. ~~~~~~~~~ You're in your word processor. You're typing the file john.rpt in the directory \word\student\paper. You decide to apply one of Thelma's Writing Tools, say SpellPlus. Exit your word processor. If you've added the subdirectory name \spell to the path in your autoexec.bat, then at the DOS prompt type: tts <Enter> The prompt at the bottom of the screen will read \word\student\paper\*.*. Press the <Enter> key. Use the Down Arrow key. Move to the file john.rpt. Press the <Enter> key. Example 4. ~~~~~~~~~~ You've turned on the computer. You want to check susan.rpt in the directory \word\biology for cliches. You didn't add the subdirectory \cliche to the path in your autoexec.bat. You must change to the directory \word\biology before starting ttc. To change to the \word\biology directory, type: CD \word\biology <Enter> Then, type: ttc susan.rpt <Enter> Example 5. ~~~~~~~~~ You've turned on the computer. You want to check the file bush.rpt in the directory \word\taxes\1994 for everything. You've added \thelma to the path in your autoexec.bat. Type: tt \word\taxes\1994\bush.rpt <Enter> Editor Keys ~~~~~~~~~~~ When you enter the editor, the Writing Tool puts the cursor near the problem. After you finish editing, press the <Enter> key. Thelma's Writing Tools have intuitive editor keys. 1. Press the left arrow key to move to the left. 2. Press the right arrow key to move to the right. 3. Press the <CTRL> key and left arrow key to move left one word. 4. Press the <CTRL> key and right arrow key to move right one word. 5. Press the <Delete> key to delete under the cursor. 6. Press the <Backspace> key to delete to the left of the cursor. 7. Press the <Enter> key to leave the editor. The editor is less powerful than your word processor; the editor lacks an up arrow key, no down arrow key, no page up key. When you need serious editing, underlining, bolding, or moving paragraphs, press 4 to start the Writing Tool editor, and write yourself a short note. After you've checked the file, return to your full-featured word processor. Each Writing Tool checks the changes made during editing. Safe Backup ~~~~~~~~~~~ Each Writing Tool leaves your original file untouched. Each Writing Tool saves the changes under the original file name. It makes a backup of the original file before it makes any changes. Thelma's Writing Tools make a backup by adding .bak to the original file name. Always make a backup of a critical file. Suppose you check the file john.rpt. After checking the file, your directory will contain both john.rpt and john.bak. John.rpt is the corrected file. John.bak is your original, unchanged (backup) file. Suppose you correct john.rpt a second time. The Writing Tool will overwrite the old john.bak file; you won't have a copy of your original document. The new john.bak file is a copy of your first set of changes. When a file with .bak at the end of its name is checked, then the changes are made and saved under the name of the original file and no backup is made (otherwise the backup would have the same name as the original). Instance Versus Rule ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of two things happen when you choose to "skip permanently." If you choose skip permanently and you're on a spelling problem, then the Writing Tool automatically adds the word to your supplementary dictionary TT.sup. TT.sup is an ASCII file. You can edit its entries (but it must remain an ASCII file without formatting characters). If you choose "skip permanently" and you're on a problem given by a specific rule, then the Writing Tool automatically turns off the rule. You can restore all the rules by choosing a new Writing Style Guide. If you choose "skip permanently" and you're on a problem that has many specific instances, then the Writing Tool permits you to turn off either the specific instance or turn off the entire rule. For example, suppose the writing Tool has flagged the cliche "every Tom, Dick, or Harry." When you choose "skip permanently," the Writing Tool displays "Turn off (2) the rule (3) the instance." If you choose (3), then the writing tool keeps looking for cliches but doesn't ever again flag "Tom, Dick, and Harry." If you choose (2), then the Writing Tool turns off the entire cliche rule. You can restore all the rules and all the instances by choosing a new Writing Style Guide. Commonly Asked Questions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q -- What is the meaning of the angle bracket < > symbols in this documentation? A -- Sometimes we ask you to press non-alphabetic keys. For example, we may ask you to press the Enter key. In such cases, we enclose the name of the key in angle brackets, such as <Enter> for the enter key. Don't type the brackets. Q -- Do I run the Writing Tools from my word processor? A -- No! Recall how you run your word processor. For example, suppose you use WordPerfect from the directory \word. a. You type CD \word and press the <Enter> key from the DOS prompt to change to the directory that holds the WordPerfect program wp.exe. b. You type wp and press the <Enter> key. c. You call up your document using F5; you change the directory prompt. d. You work on writing your document. You do the same for any Writing Tool. a. You type CD \Thelma and press the <Enter> key from the DOS prompt to change to the directory that holds the writing tool. b. You type tt (or ttc, ttg, ttp, or tts) and press the <Enter> key. c. You call up your document by changing the directory prompt. d. You work on correcting your document. Q -- Why does GrammarPlus flag both informal and formal problems? A -- You may want to make your document either more formal or more informal. GrammarPlus will display both types of usage until you decide. If you want to make your document more formal, then whenever an informal rule appears, press 6 to turn off the informal rule. To make your document more informal, then whenever a formal rule appears, press 6 to turn off the formal rule. Until you're comfortable with the prompts, leave on all rules. In the registered version, you can create three different permanent style guides. Q -- Do The Writing Tools make mistakes? A -- Yes! Context, jargon, elliptical style, misspellings, dialect, technical documents, and unusual style may confuse Thelma's Writing Tools. The Writing Tools don't find all types of errors. Thelma's Writing Tools point out possible errors and weaknesses. The Writing Tools may suggest possible corrections. You alone decide what recommendations to accept.