home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
High Voltage Shareware
/
high1.zip
/
high1
/
DIR25
/
TYPE1111.ZIP
/
WSP.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-06-30
|
10KB
|
198 lines
***************************************************************************
* *
* WORD SEARCH PUZZLE GENERATOR *
* Version 1.0 * *
* *
* by BILL FAUST *
* 6/30/93 *
* *
***************************************************************************
NOTE: If you wish to print these instructions, return to the
DOS prompt and type:
TYPE WSP.DOC > PRN
(make sure the printer is on first!)
INSTALLATION:
There is none. The 2 files necessary for the Word Search
Puzzle Generator are WSP.EXE (the program) and PRINTWSP.EXE
(a little utility to print out puzzles you save).
INTRODUCTION:
WSP (Word Search Puzzle) is a program that allows you to create
your own word search puzzles. Simply enter your words, select
a puzzle size & printer, and you're done. You can even save
puzzles to disk for printing later. Your final printout will
consist of an answer sheet with the location of the words in
your list and the puzzle sheet itself.
WSP is ideal for use in schools (My wife is a teacher, this was
originally for her class). You can make up puzzles for:
- Spelling words
- Vocabulary words
- Social Studies (WW I, Conquerors, Presidents, etc.)
- Geography (States, Countries, etc.)
- English/Literature (Nouns, Verbs, Poets, Novels, etc.)
- Math (Geometry terms, Trig terms, etc.)
- Sciences (Plants, Electricity, etc.)
- Health (Parts of the Body, Skeleton, etc.)
Or use it at home to reinforce the kids' homework or to just keep
them occupied.
Using WSP:
**** PLEASE NOTE: At any time during the program you may press ****
**** <F10> to quit the program or <F1> for CONTEXT SENSITIVE help. ****
Change to the directory in which WSP is located & type WSP.
Example: cd\school (WSP is in the "school" subdir.)
WSP (start the program!)
You will now be in the screen where you enter your words.
Type each word followed by the enter key until your list
is finished. All words will automatically appear in capital
letters. If you make a mistake, use the backspace key to back
up over your mistake & type in the correct spelling. If,
after you have entered a word, you find it is incorrect, simply
use the arrow keys to move the highlight over that word. Type
in the new word (The old word will erase itself when you begin
to type). The maximum length of a word is 20 characters & the
maximum number of words in a list is 30. Also note that
multiple-word entries ARE allowed as a single entry. You could
enter "EDGAR ALLEN POE" on one line. The word would appear
correctly in the word list (with the spaces), but the spaces
would not appear in the puzzle.
When your list is complete press ESC to continue. A small
menu will appear asking you what size puzzle you would like.
(Sizes are "Characters WIDE by Characters HIGH", ie. 15 x 20)
Use the arrow keys to highlight your choice & press enter.
Note: If any of your words is too long to reasonably fit in
the 15 x 20 size puzzle, that choice will be blanked out.
Obviously, the larger size you choose the more difficult the
puzzle is to solve.
Another small menu appears now. This is the printer menu.
You have essentially two choices.
1) Your printer type (IBM or Epson compatibles)
2) Draft or Deluxe printout (Plain or Fancy)
Your printer should "emulate" one of the two standards for
printers (IBM or EPSON). Check your printer manual if you are
not sure. If you are still not sure, use the PRINTWSP utility
(explained later) to print out the two puzzles that came with
the program (They are EPSON.WSP & IBM.WSP). One should work
just fine...use that setting. The Draft & Deluxe settings tell
the program how fancy to print out the puzzle. Draft prints
your puzzle in the printer's draft mode (plain, but quick).
Deluxe prints out the puzzle with a double lined box around the
puzzle itself, titles in "double-height", & the whole thing in
near letter quality print. Printers are NOTORIOUS for having
many "quirks" when it comes to printing (different character
sets, etc.) so if you have a problem with the deluxe setting,
it's the printer - not the program (Sorry!). Just use the Draft
setting. (I've tried this program on a Panasonic [in both IBM &
EPSON modes] & an Okidata [IBM only] and it worked just fine.)
Now the program will begin to generate your puzzle. You will see
a graph showing you the percentage complete during this process
(on a 286 or faster machine, don't blink - the process will not
take very long). You may notice the graph stops and starts over
again for some puzzles (long word lists combined with smaller
puzzle sizes). This is because the words didn't fit correctly on
the first attempt and the program had to start over again.
Eventually it will come up with a solution.
Now you must tell the computer where you want the puzzle to be
sent. You have 3 choices:
1) PRINTER (Prints out the puzzle)
2) FILE (Saves the puzzle to disk for later use)
3) BOTH (Both of the above)
Use the arrow keys to move the highlight to your selection &
press ENTER. Remember, saving a puzzle to a file will allow you
to print out the puzzle on another computer's printer, print out
multiple copies, print at your leisure, etc.
Once you have made your choice, the program will ask you for a
title for the puzzle. This will be printed out on top of the
puzzle.
...If you selected PRINTER, the computer will ask you to press
the spacebar when the printer is ready. First the answer sheet
will be printed and then the puzzle sheet.
...If you selected FILE, the computer will ask you for a filename
for the puzzle. Try and use something descriptive or maybe even
the puzzle's title. DOS limits you to a name of no more than 8
letters! (Do not type an "extension", it will be added on for
you by the program. It uses the extension of ".WSP") If you want
to save the puzzle to another directory, include the drive &
path name as well. Examples are given on screen.
...If you chose BOTH, the program will do both of the above.
When you are finished, the computer will ask you if you would like
to do another puzzle or quit. Make your selection and press ENTER.
There, all done!
PRINTING OUT SAVED PUZZLES:
To print out a saved puzzle, use the PRINTWSP utility that came
with the program. Simply change to the directory where the files
are and type:
PRINTWSP name
where "name" is the filename you used when you saved the puzzle
(without the extension).
Examples:
PRINTWSP EPSON
PRINTWSP IBM
would print out the EPSON.WSP & IBM.WSP sample
puzzle files that came with the program.
The program will load the puzzle, ask that the printer is ready,
and print out the puzzle exactly as described above.
NOTE: if you would like a list of all your saved puzzle names
just type:
DIR/P *.WSP
REGISTRATION:
Well, there is none! Like I said, I originally wrote this program
for my wife to use in school. I figure other people out there
might get some use out of it too. Please feel free to make copies
of this & give it out to friends, etc. If you feel it is worth
something please feel free to send a "donation" to:
Bill Faust
229 Haines Ave.
Barrington, NJ 08007-1117
You should not have any problems with the program. It has been
running fine for my wife & her school for almost a year now. If
you do have a problem, you can send me a note at the above address
or look me up on Prodigy. Maybe I can fix the bug - but I do not
profess to be a professional programmer, just a guy who likes to
fool around with computers. Oh, by the way, if you are gracious
enough to send something, PLEASE only one donation per school. Large
software companies make you purchase a copy for EACH computer it
is used on. If you have ONE office with 25 computers you cant go
out & get ONE copy of the software, even though ONE company is
buying it. You are supposed to go out & get 25 copies!! No thanks,
I'm not that greedy!
LEGAL STUFF:
This product is shipped "AS IS" and no warranties are
given or implied. The creator shall not be held liable
for any damage from the use of this product.
Thanks,
Bill Faust