(References herein to ABZ are for an editing program I have been working on. A version is on PC-OHIO BBS and an upgrade is on its way.)
Type TEXTUTIL on the DOS command line and specify the files you will work with:
textutil sourcefile outputfile
and press <enter>.
Note there is a space between each word and that case doesn't matter.
If you don't specify the files you want to work with, you'll be prompted to provide the filenames later.
A menu appears:
Press the appropriate letter to select
"a. Split file into chapters,"
"b. De-format files"
"c. Make a help file index."
"d. Convert all-caps file to proper-name style."
Press enter.
If you typed a letter other than A, B, C or D, the program will end.
SPLITTING A FILE:
Type A or a. Press enter.
If you did not specify a source filename on the command line, you will be asked
to provide one now.
TEXTUTIL does not need an output filename for this process. It will add a numeral from 1 to 999 to the input filename, so that when it is finished,
you will have:
(from a monster called PROCOMM.LOG)
PROCOMM1.LOG
PROCOMM2.LOG
PROCOMM3.LOG
... etc.
You will be prompted for the desired length, in thousands of bytes, of each
chapter. 64 (32 screenfuls) is the maximum for TEXTUTIL. If you plan to work with the documents extensively, you may want something shorter.
The program will report its progress as it works.
The original document is not affected.
DE-FORMATTING A FILE:
Type b or B. Press Enter.
A second menu asks for another choice.
a: Strip Wordstar characters
b: Remove excess spaces
c: Remove line endings and excess spaces.
If you did not specify source and output filenames on the command line, you will be prompted to provide them now. Be sure the output filename is not in use anywhere else in the current directory: TEXTUTIL will not check before rewriting it, and you might lose something you wanted to save.
If you selected:
A: Remove Wordstar characters
TEXTUTIL will process the source file with no further ado.
Print, margin, and other commands in some documents will leave a few
characters of gibberish behind as they are converted to readable ASCII
characters. Though named for Wordstar, the process will convert graphics
characters with code numbers higher than 127 in any file.
B: Strip out excess spaces
You will next be prompted for the width of tab indents if you want to
preserve the paragraphing in the original.
If you don't know the width, you can quit TEXTUTIL by pressing Ctrl-C
this point. The easiest way to check is to view the document with the
DOS command
TYPE filename
Press control-C again after a couple of paragraphs appear on your screen.
Then count the indent spaces and start TEXTUTIL over again.
C: Strip out excess spaces and line endings
After following the steps in B, TEXTUTIL removes line endings except those
it can recognize as paragraphs. The program recognizes both indented
and block paragraphs. Block paragraphs are the style with no indent but
a blank line between them.
Remaking the index:
OK, OK, you don't like the help screens. So rewrite them. You may have up to 36 screens. These instructions will also allow you to reindex a help file you trashed by reading it in ABZ.
Step 1: Rename the original HELPTXT.TXT. It will be your source file. Then make
a copy of it to save, just in case.
Step 2: Call up the new source file in ABZ.
Delete the spaces and odd characters up to the beginning of the text.
That's the index; you don't want to make it part of a help screen.
Step 3: Make your editing changes.
Step 4: Each screen must begin with a caret: ^. Put an additional one at the
end of the last screen.
Step 5: Save your work. Quit ABZ.
Step 6: Run TEXTUTIL, specifying your edited file as the source file and
HELPTXT.TXT as the output file:
textutil myhelp helptxt.txt
Step 7: Select C from the initial menu. The program will do the rest.
-- TEXTUTIL searches the text for ^ characters and records their position in
the file. When it finishes processing, it writes the positions into a space
it makes at the top of HELPTXT.TXT. The help feature of ABZ reads
the index and is then able to skip directly to the appropriate page in the
file when you press F1 and choose a topic.
-- The ^ characters are not saved.
-- Pages are limited to 2,000 characters, approximately a screenful.
Convert all-caps text.
Rather an esoteric function, it's useful in working
with borrowed mailing lists. Use it the same way as the Wordstar function under de-formatting.
WHOM TO CALL
This is freeware. It is offered without charge to interested users,
at the user's own risk.
All other rights are reserved.
I m Peter Zicari; leave messages for me at Compuserve 71760,2575 or on the
