Texplore was created by Imaja to make reading and writing text files easier. It is intended to help you work with files on the screen instead of printing them out. This can help save the trees that very much need saving now. Only one third of the earth╒s initial forest ecosystems remain and these are rapidly being destroyed by our consumer lifestyle. Use less paper - it is possible, and every bit helps. At Imaja we use all paper on both sides before it goes to the recycling bins. We even tear out the plastic windows from envelopes so the paper can be properly recycled. And we use Texplore constantly to make simple notes that everyone can read since they are standard text files.
Texplore is a shareware program so you can easily evaluate it before buying it. If you use it, please support the developer by paying the small shareware fee of $20 US to Imaja, PO Box 6386, Albany, CA 94706 USA. Include your name, organization, address, city, state, zip code, and phone number.
Text Files
TEXT files can be created with Texplore, any word processor, and with programs like TeachText. To make a TEXT file with a word processor you usually have to choose Save As and choose the TEXT file type manually. Although TeachText comes with the Macintosh, it can only open one file at a time, it can't do Find and Find Again, and it is limited to one font for editing and viewing. Texplore adds these features and more while keeping the program very small and easy to use.
Text Window
Double-click to select a word. Double-click and drag to select groups of words. Triple-click to select the whole line.
Command click to smooth-scroll the window. This function is good for online reading of the text. Try setting the font to Times 18-point for good readability. The automatic scrolling will stop after one minute. The image may jitter slightly on an active matrix LCD display as found on the laptop models.
Outline Window
To open or close a paragraph, click the paragraph triangle. You can also double-click paragraph text to open or close it. To open or close all paragraphs at once, shift-click anywhere. To open paragraphs one at a time in order, press Tab on the keyboard. To open paragraphs one at a time in reverse order, press Shift-Tab.
To do automatic read-speed scrolling, use a command-click or press the up or down arrow on the keyboard. This type of scrolling is good for reading a long passage of text. The automatic scrolling stops after one minute, or if you click the mouse. This type of scrolling works in both the Text and Outline windows.
To do smooth-scroll browsing, click and drag proportionally to how far up or down you drag. Scrolling this way is smooth. The scrolling is not limited to whole lines of text. This type of scrolling moves the text in the opposite direction of the mouse movement. You should move the mouse in the direction that you want to see more of.
To drag scroll the window, use option-drag. This type of scrolling follows the mouse exactly. This lets you move the mouse a specific distance and the text moves just that distance.
HTML Window
HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) is a text formatting language used on the Internet's World Wide Web. The HTML window displays the contents of the Text window formatted as HTML. HTML uses a system of tags to change the formatting of the text. For instance: <B>this text is bold</B>.
The Menu Commands
Undo (Cmd-Z)
This undoes the last Cut, Paste, Clear, or typing you have done. Once you Undo an operation, you can then redo it with Cmd-Z to return to the previous state of your document.
Cut (Cmd-X)
Places a copy of the selected text onto the Clipboard, and removes it from your document. You can then paste this text into a new position in your document.
Copy (Cmd-C)
Places a copy of the selected text onto the Clipboard. You can then paste this text into a new position in your document.
Paste (Cmd-V)
Inserts the contents of the Clipboard into your document at the insertion point (the blinking bar), or replaces the current selection.
Clear
Removes the selected text from your document. You can also do this with the Delete or Backspace key.
Open (Cmd-O)
Texplore lets you open as many files as memory will permit. The open document appear in the Documents submenu in the Edit menu. You can use the Command-1, Command-2, etc. to bring the files to the front. You can drag and drop one or more TEXT files onto Texplore. Only the first 32000 characters are loaded. Do not save the document if all of its characters have not been loaded or you will lose the characters that were not read in.
Close (Cmd-W)
To close a file, choose Close. You will be asked to save the file if has been changed. You may press ╘Y╒ for Yes and ╘n╒ for No.
Open Any (Cmd-Option-O)
To open any non-text file and display the text it contains, choose Open Any. This command can be used to open word processor files when you don╒t have the word processor available. As the the non-text file is loaded, the non-printing characters are thrown away. Only the first 32000 readable characters are loaded.
Document Menu
Use the document window to bring a specific document to the front of all other document window. Texplore lets you open more than one document, and this lets you easily get to a specific document. Keyboard shortcuts are automatically created for documents in this menu and are numbered from 1 to 9.
Text View (Cmd-T)
This command brings the text view of a file to the front. See the Text Window description above for more information.
Outline View (Cmd-L)
This command brings the outline view of a file to the front. See the Outline Window description above for more information.
HTML View (Cmd-H)
This command brings the HTML (HyperText Markup Language) view of a file to the front.
Find and Find Again (Cmd-F and Cmd-G)
Use the Find command to find text. Use the Find Again command to find the next occurance of that text. The search is case-insensitive.
Find Selection (Cmd-E)
To find the next occurance of the currently selected text, choose Find Selection. This command also enters the selected text so it can be used for the Find Again command.
Find and Replace (Cmd-R)
To replace one string of text with another, choose Find and Replace. Enter the old text and the new text, and click Replace First to replace the first occurrence of the old text with the new text. To replace all occurrences of the old text, click Replace All. To avoid making any changes, click Cancel.
Make Paragraph (Cmd-M)
To remove Return characters from the selected text, choose Make Paragraph. This joins lines, making a single paragraph which word wraps at the window width. Often text messages come across email services with the paragraphs broken into 80 character lines. This can be aggravating when you need to import the text into a word processor or other dynamic formatting software. To easily select a group of lines to convert into a paragraph, click at the beginning of the first line, and drag straight down to the beginning of the line following the end of the paragraph.
Send To Browser (Cmd-D)
To send the top document to the Netscape Navigator web browser, choose Send to Browser. The top document will be saved first and the file URL will be sent to Navigator as an OpenURL Apple Event. Navigator must already be open. After the document is sent, Texplore brings Navigator to the front.
Speak (Cmd-K)
To have the text spoken with the Macintalk speech synthesizer, choose the Speak command. The text will be displayed and spoken one sentence at a time. Click the mouse or press Command-Period to stop the speech. The speech will start from the beginning of the selection. If Macintalk is not available, the sentences will be displayed one at a time. Macintalk should be in the same folder as the Texplore application.
Stop (Cmd-Period)
To stop the speech, choose Stop. This will stop the speech after the current sentence is finished.
The Font and Size Menus
The Font menu defaults to a small set of common Macintosh fonts. If you need more fonts, you can use the Use All Fonts command to install the rest of the fonts in your system into the Font menu.
Reading text files on the computer can be an enjoyable experience if the text is set to a large readable font and smoothly scrolled. The Times font set to 18 point size is a very readable font. Command-click in the Text window to start the smooth scrolling - then you can read the document very easily without having to constantly interrupt yourself to scroll it manually.
Use All Fonts
This command loads all of the fonts installed in your System into the Font menu. Texplore defaults to a few common fonts at startup to make the startup as fast as possible. A large collection of fonts slows the building of the Font menu, so using all fonts is left as a second alternative for the user.
Macros Menu
The Macro menu only appears if a TexploreMacros file was found when Texplore was opened. Macros are groups of commands that Texplore can perform on a document. The TexploreMacros file is a text file that contains definitions of macros. For instance, the following Bold Tag command appears in the Macros menu and has the Command-B shortcut. It puts "<B>" and "</B>" tags around the selected text.
// Comment line
macro Bold Tag
shortcut B
cut
type <B>
paste
type </B>
// Colorize Tags
macro Colorize Tags
colorsyntax < >
The macro definition language has several keywords, described here:
// - This defines the line as a comment
macro - This defines the name of the macro.
shortcut - This defines the menu shortcut to be used with the Command key.
type - This types the following text with no return.
typeline - This types the following text followed by a return.
cut - This performs the Cut function as in the Edit menu.
copy - This performs the Paste function as in the Edit menu.
colorsyntax - This colorizes the sections of text between the delimiter characters.
colorkeywords - This colorizes the specified keywords.
striptags - This removes text in between and including the specified delimiter characters.
pickcolor - Pick and color from the Color Picker dialog and insert it into the text as three hexidecimal bytes.
For each command, the remaining text on the line is used as the parameter for the command. The cut and paste functions use the Clipboard and have no other parameters. The macro keywords must be in lowercase and start at the beginning of the line.
The default TexploreMacros file is a set of macros for editing HTML files as used by the World Wide Web on the Internet. You can change the TexploreMacros file and reload it while running Texplore by Command-clicking inside the Macros window.
Macros Window
If a TexploreMacros file is found by Texplore, Texplore creates a Macros menu and a Macros window. Clicking a macro name in the Macros window will perform the macro on the top window.
Texplore Is Shareware
Texplore was painstakingly developed by Imaja using the same procedures used to develop commercial software. This means that Imaja provides updates and technical support. New features are suggested by users and often find their way into new versions. Updates are provided on the on-line services: Internet, AOL, CompuServe.
Try Texplore for a week. If you continue to use Texplore after that, you must pay a small shareware fee of $20. This entitles you to telephone support and updates to the Texplore software. Make payments by cash, check or money order to:
Imaja
PO Box 6386, Albany, CA 94706 USA
Tel: (510) 526-4621
Fax: (510) 559-9571
E-mail: software@imaja.com
Web: http://www.imaja.com
Your suggestions are very valuable to the future developments of Texplore. Please send email, write, or call Imaja with your comments and ideas.
Global Warming
The consequences of massive use of automobiles is causing a global disruption in weather patterns, which are predicted to cause widespread famine, hurricanes, drought, and temperature changes that will damage most of the worlds forests. The forests are a critical buffer in preventing the buildup of greenhouse gases.
Plankton
The ocean's plankton provides another buffer in the cycle of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. Human pollution is destroying the ozone layer and increasing exposure to damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The plankton are easily destroyed by UV radiation. The chain of events after a massive die-off of plankton would be disastrous.
Automobiles
At least a third of global warming gases are caused by the burning of fossil fuel in automobiles. Bicycles are the most efficient means of human transportation, and cars are many times less efficient. The age of luxury driving is over. Cars are the knives. Roads are the scars. Gasoline is the drug. Who is addicted?
For more information about the forests and conservation contact:
Worldwatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036-1904
National Wildlife Federation, 8925 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22184
Environmental Defense Fund, National Headquarters, 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010, 212-505-2100
Check out the Web site for Institute for Global Communications at http://www.igc.org. They host many progressive, intelligent organizations working to make the world a better place.
Other Imaja Products
Listen - Music ear training of melody, intervals, and chords. Effective drill and practice program used by thousands of students and hundreds of universities. Supports MIDI. $99.00
Bliss Saver - Mesmerizing animated color paintings save your screen from burn-in of static images. Interact with the color animations using the keyboard, MIDI input, or sound input. $49.95
Bliss Paint - Create fantastic animated color paintings with interactive real-time color synthesis and a large library of Scribblers, Distributors, and color waveforms. Bliss Paint supports MIDI input, sound input, and QuickTime output. $79.95
Chronos - Multimedia history timeline toolkit. Create your own timelines of history with illustrations, pop-up text, audio and CD audio references. $150.00
ProtoFont - Font library browsing and specimen sheet printing. Many page layouts are included. $50.00
Asphalt Strawberry
Asphalt Strawberry is published on the Internet World Wide Web and includes art, poetry, writing, news and views, and environmental information. Stop by and make a connection:
http://www.imaja.com/change
Texplore is a trademark of Imaja. Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computer.
