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1993-08-31
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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 (HR4) 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 (HR4) 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 HR4 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.