No Fragments Archive 10: Diskmags/nf_archive_10.iso/MAGS/STFORMAT/STF41B.MSA/TUTOR4

Text File | 1990-11-22 | 18.7 KB | 115 lines

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             P R O T E X T   T U T O R I A L   F I L E S
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                            T U T O R   4.

                RULERS, TABS, MARGINS AND FORMATTING.

PROTEXT is supplied with a number of tutorial files for the purpose of
providing a quick and easy method  of  learning the most commonly used
commands. Each file covers a particular aspect of word processing.

       ***** PRESS ESC KEY TO CONTINUE WITH THE TUTORIAL *****

>---!----------------------------------------------------------------R

    Formatting is the process ❎Éwhich ❎Édetermines ❎Éthe layout and final
èappearance of a ❎Édocument ❎Éand ❎Étakes ❎Étwo ❎Édistinct ❎Éforms. Automatic
èformatting occurs naturally during ❎Éthe ❎Écourse ❎Éof ❎Éthe creation of a
èdocument and is determined by the ❎Ésettings of a number of parameters,
èwhilst manual re-formatting is ❎Éthe ❎Éprocess ❎Éof ❎Érearranging the text
èinto another ❎Élayout, ❎Écorrecting ❎Émis-alignment ❎Éof ❎Étext ❎Écaused ❎Éby
èinsertion or deletion of areas ❎Éof ❎Étext, ❎Éor by altering rulers after
ètext has been entered.

    Automatic formatting is ❎Écontrolled ❎Éby ❎Éa ❎Énumber ❎Éof things, the
èfirst of which are  'Rulers'. You have already seen a number of rulers
èin the tutorials. There is one ❎Éimmediately ❎Éafter the 'PRESS ESC KEY'
èmessage above.

    A ruler is a special ❎Éline ❎Éthat ❎Émarks ❎Éout the margins and tabs.
èMargins are the left and right ❎Éhand ❎Élimits ❎Éof the text, whilst tabs
èare markers used to position text in set columns on the screen and are
èparticularly useful for lining up ❎Écolumns ❎Éof ❎Éwords or numbers. Tabs
èwork in a very similar fashion to those of a typewriter, but in a much
èmore flexible fashion.

    You will notice that at the ❎Étop ❎Éof screen, just under the Status
èlines, there is another ruler. This ❎Éis ❎Éthe 'active ruler' and at all
ètimes is the one applicable to the line of text that the cursor is on.
èYou can have any number of ❎Éruler ❎Élines ❎Éin ❎Éthe text and  each ruler
èapplies to the text from the line ❎Ébeneath the ruler to the next ruler
èline (or the end of the text ❎Éif ❎Éthere are no more ruler lines). When
èthe cursor is ❎Émoved ❎Édown ❎Épast ❎Éa ❎Éruler ❎Éline, ❎Éthe ❎Énew ruler will
èimmediately replace the ❎Éprevious ❎Éruler ❎Éat ❎Éthe ❎Étop ❎Éof the screen.
èPROTEXT considers the first ❎Éruler ❎Éthat ❎Éwill ❎Ébe ❎Éused when printing
ètakes place, to be the 'default document ruler'. In the event that the
èdocument does not contain a ❎Éruler ❎ÉPROTEXT ❎Éprovides a default ruler,
èwhich is the one you will see at ❎Éthe top of the screen when you first
èload PROTEXT.
    Try moving the cursor up ❎Éand ❎Édown ❎Épast ❎Éthe following two ruler
èlines, watching the 'active' ruler line.

>---L----!------!------------------------R
        This ❎Éis ❎Éjust ❎É❎Éto ❎Éprovide  ❎Éan
è    example of the ❎Éeffect ❎Éof ❎Émoving the
è    cursor past ruler lines.

>---!---------!------------------------------------------------------R
    When you load PROTEXT initially, ❎Éyou ❎Éwill ❎Ésee the default ruler
èdisplayed at the top of the screen, beneath the status lines. Each '!'
èon the ruler marks a tab ❎Éposition ❎Éand ❎Éthe ❎É'L' and 'R' indicate the
èleft and right margins.

    You can create new ruler lines ❎Éto ❎Ésuit the layout you require by
ètyping the new ruler line as you ❎Éwould ❎Éa line of text. The line must
èhave a 'greater than' symbol (>) in ❎Éthe first column. You do not need
èto type in the hyphens (-) along the line and unless you wish to inset
èthe left margin, which is ❎Édescribed ❎Élater, ❎Éyou should not enter the
è'L'. By default ❎ÉPROTEXT ❎Éassumes ❎Éthe ❎Éfirst ❎Écolumn ❎Éto ❎Ébe the left
èmargin. Simply type in the '!' wherever ❎Éyou ❎Éwant a tab and the point
è'.' wherever you want a ❎Édecimal ❎Étab. ❎ÉTry ❎Écreating a new ruler line
èjust above the last ruler and then ❎Étype ❎Éin ❎Éa few lines of text. You
èwill find that the text will ❎Éwrap round automatically when it reaches
èthe new right margin that you have set.

>---L---!------------------------------------------------------------------R
        There are two further ❎Écommands ❎Éconnected ❎Éwith ❎Érulers. The first,
è    CTRL-D, copies the 'default document ruler' (the first active ruler in a
è    document) to the current cursor position ❎Éand CTRL-R copies the previous
è    ruler but one to ❎Éthe ❎Écurrent ❎Écursor ❎Éposition. CTRL-R is particularly
è    useful when you ❎Éare ❎Éworking ❎Éwith ❎Éareas ❎Éof ❎Éthe ❎Étext ❎Éwhich ❎Éare in
è    different formats. as it allows ❎Éyou ❎Éto ❎Équickly 'restore' the ruler in
è    use  prior to the last ❎Échange ❎Éof ❎Éformat. ❎ÉThe ruler immediately below
è    this paragraph was copied using CTRL-R. ❎ÉIf you wished to create another
è    inset paragraph a few lines further ❎Édown, the CTRL-R command would copy
è    the above ruler down, to repeat the process.

>---!---------!------------------------------------------------------R
    Often, when creating a new ruler, ❎Éit ❎Éis convenient to use one or
èthe other of the commands to copy a ❎Éruler down and then to edit it as
èrequired by adding or removing ❎Étabs, ❎Éetc. ❎ÉRulers may also be copied
èfrom anywhere in the ❎Étext ❎Éby ❎Éusing ❎Éthe ❎Énormal block copy command,
èCTRL-INSERT, after marking the ruler with the block markers.

    PROTEXT has two types of tabs, ❎Éthe ❎Énormal 'tab' and the 'decimal
ètab' and these are inserted into ❎Éa ❎Éruler ❎Éline ❎Éby just typing in an
èexclamation mark (!) where you want ❎Éa ❎Énormal ❎Étab marker, or a point
è(.) where you want a ❎Édecimal ❎Étab ❎Émarker. ❎ÉYou ❎Émay ❎Éhave as many of
èeither tab as you want on each ruler line.

    Every '!' on the ❎Éruler ❎Éline ❎Émarks ❎Éa ❎Énormal tab position. When
èediting text, pressing the TAB key will move the cursor to the next of
èthese positions.

    Make sure you are in insert ❎Émode ❎Éand ❎Éposition the cursor at the
èstart of one of the lines in the ❎Émiddle of a paragraph. Press the TAB
èkey and you will find that ❎Éthe ❎Écursor ❎Éjumps across to the first TAB
èmarker, pushing the text in front ❎Éof ❎Éit. ❎ÉPressing the TAB key again
èwill make the cursor jump to ❎Éthe ❎Énext ❎Étab ❎Émarker. If you now press
èBACKSPACE the cursor and text will be ❎Épulled back to the previous tab
èmarker. If you want to ❎Étab ❎Éacross ❎Éthe ❎Éline without moving the text
èacross, then press SHIFT-TAB and this ❎Étime ❎Éthe cursor will just pass
èover the text to the tab position.

    Now go into overwrite mode using ❎ÉCTRL-TAB and repeat the process.
èThis time you will find that ❎ÉTAB ❎Épasses over the text, whilst SHIFT-
èTAB has the effect of pushing the ❎Étext across. Don't forget to return
èto insert mode afterwards.

    The main use of tabs is ❎Éfor ❎Éaligning text or numbers in columns,
èand PROTEXT allows you to set tabs ❎Éat ❎Éany positions in the line (and
èas many as you like). The normal ❎Étab ❎Éis also used to inset the start
èof a paragraph and when used in ❎Éconjunction with RETURN can provide a
èvery quick means of ❎Ésplitting ❎Éone ❎Éparagraph ❎Éinto ❎Étwo. Try it now,
èpositioning the cursor on ❎Éthe ❎É'T' ❎Éof ❎É'Try' ❎Éat ❎Éthe ❎Éstart of this
èsentence, press RETURN, then TAB ❎Éto ❎Éinset ❎Éthe paragraph and finally
èCTRL-F to reformat the paragraph.

    Note: do not use TAB when ❎Écreating ❎Éor editing a ruler line since
èthis will cause the tabs to be set wrongly.

    PROTEXT also has a ❎Éspecial ❎Éform ❎Éof ❎Étab ❎Écalled a 'decimal tab'
èwhich can be used in a number of ways. It permits you to align numbers
èso that the decimal points line up automatically. Any numbers that you
èenter after pressing ❎ÉTAB ❎Éto ❎Étake ❎Éyou ❎Éto ❎Éa ❎Édecimal ❎Étab ❎Éwill be
èautomatically shunted to the left of ❎Éthe tab position until you enter
èthe decimal point(.), after which ❎Éany ❎Éfurther numbers will be placed
èto the right. If you do ❎Énot ❎Éenter ❎Éa ❎Édecimal ❎Époint (as for a whole
ènumber) and then press TAB again, ❎Éthe ❎Énumber will be right justified
èin such a way that units, tens, hundreds etc. all line up.

    This tab can also be used with ❎Éwords, in which case they will all
èbe lined up so that the end of the ❎Éwords are all in line. This can be
èvery useful ❎Éfor ❎Éentry ❎Éof ❎Éwords ❎Élike ❎É'Total' ❎Éand ❎É'Subtotal' ❎Éin
èconjunction with columns of figures.

    The right margin (denoted by 'R' on the ruler line) also acts as a
èdecimal tab. If TAB is pressed when the ❎Écursor is to the right of all
ètab markers, it will ❎Ébe ❎Émoved ❎Éto ❎Éthe ❎Écolumn ❎Éto ❎Éthe right of the
èright margin. Any text typed now is ❎Épushed ❎Éto the left and is right-
èjustified at the margin. This can be ❎Évery useful for putting the date
èon the right ❎Éhand ❎Éside ❎Éof ❎Éa ❎Életter, ❎Éamongst ❎Émany ❎Éother things.
èPosition the cursor on a blank line and TAB across until the cursor is
èat the right margin, then enter the date and press RETURN.

Note that there must be sufficient ❎Éroom ❎Ébetween the previous tab and
èthe margin for the text that is to be entered.

    Try copying a ruler down now, with CTRL-R and tabbing across until
èthe cursor is at the right hand margin and then entering the date. You
èshould not use a full stop in the ❎Édate, or PROTEXT will think this is
èa decimal point and therefore an instruction to continue entering text
ènormally.

    The ruler line is also used to define margins. These are indicated
èby 'L' for left margin, ❎Éand ❎É'R' ❎Éfor ❎Éright margin. These define the
èpart of the screen within which ❎Étext ❎Éwill ❎Ébe formatted. If the left
èmargin is in the first column the 'L' should be omitted as PROTEXT, by
èdefault, assumes the left margin to be in the first column.

    The main use of left margins is ❎Éto indent a section of text. When
èRETURN (or SHIFT-RETURN or CTRL-RETURN) ❎Éis ❎Épressed ❎Éor ❎Éthe end of a
èline is reached, the cursor moves to ❎Éthe left margin, rather than the
èleft hand ❎Écolumn, ❎Éso ❎Éby ❎Éinsetting ❎Éthe ❎Éleft ❎Émargin ❎Étext ❎Écan be
èautomatically indented.

    A left margin ❎Éshould ❎ÉNOT ❎Ébe ❎Éused ❎Éto ❎Éindent ❎Éthe ❎Éwhole ❎Éof a
èdocument. If you want to leave part ❎Éof ❎Éthe ❎Épaper to the left of the
ètext completely blank, this is accomplished by using the 'side margin'
èstored command (>SM) which is described in the manual.

    When the text is ❎Éformatted ❎Éwith ❎Éthe ❎É'FORMAT' command, any text
èthat is within the left margin, ❎Éi.e. ❎Éto ❎Éthe left of the left margin
èsetting, is unaffected. This means that the left margin can be used to
èinclude marginal comments with ❎Éthe ❎Étext. ❎ÉTo ❎Étype ❎Éa comment in the
èmargin use CTRL- to force the ❎Écursor ❎Éto ❎Écolumn 1. Tabs are allowed
èwithin the margin and the following ruler line may be found useful for
ènumbering indented paragraphs:

>---!---L--------------------------------------------------R

    1.    First paragraph. You will notice that the text wraps
è        round onto the next line, ❎Ébut ❎Éstarting at the left
è        margin, not column 1.

    2.    Second paragraph.

>---!---------!------------------------------------------------------R

    Try entering a 'Third paragraph'. First position the cursor at the
èend of the 'Second ❎Éparagraph.' ❎Éline ❎Éand ❎Épress ❎ÉRETURN as you would
ènormally when you are entering text. The ❎Écursor will move to the left
èmargin of the next line. ❎ÉPress ❎ÉCTRL- ❎Éto ❎Éget into the margin, then
èTAB, before entering the number. ❎ÉFinally ❎Épress TAB again, which will
ètake you back to the left margin to enter the text.

    Ruler lines allow you to re-format the ❎Étext in any way you choose
èby altering the ruler line and using CTRL-F to reformat the paragraph.
èIf you have tabulated text ❎Éby ❎Éinserting tab characters, altering the
èposition of the tab ❎Émarkers ❎Éon ❎Éthe ❎Éruler ❎Éline ❎Éwill result in the
ètabulated ❎Écolumns ❎Ébeing ❎É❎Ére-formatted ❎É❎Éto ❎É❎Étheir ❎É❎Énew ❎Épositions
èimmediately, making it is ❎Éeasy ❎Éto ❎Émove ❎Écolumns about or experiment
èwith different layouts to decide which is best. Try moving the decimal
ètabs around on the following piece of tabulated text.

>---!--------------------.--------------------.-------R
    Item 1    100.00    10.2
    Item 2    25.43    12.5
    Item 3    240.50    .75

>---!---------!------------------------------------------------------R
    One command which is useful is the CTRL-V T command, which has the
èeffect of making all tabs and Carriage ❎ÉReturns visible. CTRL-V T is a
ètoggled command and using it again ❎Éwill ❎Éremove them from sight. Tabs
èappear as a right ❎Épointing ❎Étriangle, ❎Éwhilst ❎Écarriage returns are a
è'cranked arrow' pointing to the left.

    Another feature which has a direct ❎Éeffect ❎Éon the appearance of a
èPROTEXT document is 'Right Justification'. This is the process whereby
èthe right hand edge of the text ❎Éhas ❎Éa straight edge, like a book and
èis achieved by PROTEXT spacing ❎Éout ❎Éthe ❎Éwords ❎Éon a line. By default
èright justification is on, but this can ❎Ébe ❎Échanged by the use of the
èCTRL-J command. This also is a toggled command and right justification
ècan be turned on and off at any time. Press CTRL-J now and enter a bit
èof text in the line beneath this ❎Éparagraph and this time it will have
èa 'ragged' right edge, similar to that produced by a typewriter.

    If you now switch right ❎Éjustification ❎Éon ❎Éagain and reformat the
èparagraph using CTRL-F, the text ❎Éwill ❎Ébe reformatted with a straight
èright edge.

    We have already seen that text ❎Écan ❎Ébe reformatted at any time by
èthe use of CTRL-F, which ❎Éis ❎Évery ❎Éconvenient ❎Éfor the odd paragraph.
èText is reformatted ❎Éfrom ❎Éthe ❎Écursor ❎Éposition ❎Éto ❎Éthe ❎Éend ❎Éof the
èparagraph. As well as CTRL-F, SHIFT-CTRL-F ❎Émay ❎Ébe used to reformat a
ècomplete paragraph, leaving the cursor ❎Éat ❎Éits ❎Éoriginal place in the
ètext.
è
    If a considerable amount of the text has been disrupted by editing
èand moving blocks of text about, ❎Éthis ❎Écould ❎Éprove ❎Éto be a bit long
èwinded, so PROTEXT has a ❎É'global' ❎Éformat ❎Écommand. This is used from
ècommand mode, so it is necessary ❎Éto ❎Épress ❎ÉESC to enter command mode
èthen type 'FORMAT'. When RETURN is pressed the entire document will be
èreformatted according to the ❎Écurrent ❎Ésetting ❎Éof right justification
èand any rulers in the text. There is also a command FORMATB which will
èonly reformat the text within a block marked with the Block Markers.

    Try 'messing up' a few ❎Éparagraphs ❎Éby inserting and deleting text
èand just for ❎Égood ❎Émeasure ❎Éalter ❎Ésome ❎Éof ❎Éthe ❎Érulers to different
èwidths, or insert some ❎Énew ❎Érulers ❎Éwith ❎Éleft ❎Émargins. ❎ÉNow go into
ècommand mode and use the global FORMAT command. When complete, go back
èinto edit mode and see what the effect has been.

    There ❎Éare ❎Éseveral ❎Éother ❎É❎Éitems ❎É❎Éwhich, ❎Éthough ❎Énot ❎Éstrictly
è'formatting' commands, have a very direct ❎Éeffect on the appearance of
èa document. Sometimes when right justification is in operation PROTEXT
èmight insert spaces between words where ❎Éit is important that there is
èonly one space and ❎ÉPROTEXT ❎Éhas ❎Éa ❎Éspecial ❎Écharacter to replace the
èspace. When justification ❎Étakes ❎Éplace, ❎ÉPROTEXT ❎Éthen ❎Éknows ❎Énot to
èinsert any spaces where a 'Non-break space' has been used. To insert a
ènon-break space, press CTRL-N, followed by ❎Éa ❎Éspace and you will find
èthe space represented as a small box,❎Élike this '❎æ'. One example which
èmight illustrate the use of it ❎Éis ❎Éwhere ❎Éyou ❎Éhave a space after the
è'A.' in Mr A.  Smith. This would ❎Élook wrong if separated by more than
èone space, as above, but when a non break space is used, 'Mr❎æA.❎æSmith'
èwill always appear with only the one space between, when printed.

    Another similar character ❎Éis ❎Éthe ❎É'non-break ❎Éhyphen'. Normally,
èwhen PROTEXT finds a hyphen at the ❎Éend ❎Éof ❎Éa line, it will split the
èword at that point, but on occasions ❎Éit may be important not to split
èthe word. An example of this is where ❎Éwe have used a hyphen in  CTRL-
èTAB which has the effect of splitting the command. Pressing CTRL-N and
èthen the hyphen key will insert a ❎Énon break hyphen, ensuring that the
ètwo halves are permanently joined ❎Étogether. ❎ÉTry replacing the normal
èhyphen ❎Éwith ❎Éa ❎Énon-break ❎Éhyphen ❎É❎Éin ❎É❎É'CTRL-TAB' ❎Éabove ❎Éand ❎Éthen
èreformatting the paragraph.

    The opposite of the ❎Énon-break ❎Éhyphen ❎Éis the 'soft-hyphen'. This
èmay be used in the middle of ❎Éa ❎Élong ❎Éword which might look better if
èsplit with a hyphen, rather than causing the text on the previous line
èto be ❎É'stretched' ❎Éunnaturally. ❎ÉIt ❎Éis ❎Éinserted ❎Éinto ❎Éthe ❎Éword by
èpressing CTRL-- (CTRL-hyphen ❎Ékey) ❎Éand ❎Éwill ❎Éappear ❎Éas ❎Éa hyphen in
èinverse video '❎Ä'. The hyphen ❎Éwill ❎Éalways ❎Éappear ❎Éin the text on the
èscreen, but the word will not ❎Ébe ❎Ésplit ❎Éunless the soft hyphen falls
ènaturally towards the end of ❎Éa ❎Éline. ❎ÉWhen ❎Éprinting takes place the
èhyphen will only be printed if it ❎Éis ❎Éat the end of a line, otherwise
èit will just be ignored and the word will appear as one word.

    PROTEXT also has a ❎Écommand ❎Éto ❎Émake ❎Éthese codes 'invisible', so
èthat the text can be viewed as it ❎Éwill appear. To see this in action,
èpress CTRL-V V to view ❎Éthe ❎Étext ❎Éwithout ❎Éany printer control codes,
èhard spaces or soft hyphens. Any ❎Éplace markers and block markers will
èalso be made invisible. Pressing ❎Éit ❎Éagain ❎Éwill ❎Érestore them to the
èscreen.

    Yet another command which ❎Éis ❎Énot ❎Éstrictly a formatting command,
èbut which can prove most useful ❎Éis ❎ÉCTRL-V ❎ÉS, which exposes all hard
èspaces. Hard spaces are those which ❎Éare ❎Étyped in by you, rather than
èthe 'soft' spaces which ❎Éare ❎Éinserted ❎Éby ❎ÉPROTEXT ❎Éin ❎Éthe course of
èformatting. Soft spaces can be ❎Éinserted ❎Éand ❎Éremoved ❎Éat any time by
èPROTEXT, whereas hard spaces are a ❎Épermanent part of the document. To
èsee this in use, press ❎ÉCTRL-V ❎ÉS ❎Éand ❎Éthe ❎Éhard ❎Éspaces are shown as
èshaded spaces, with the soft spaces remaining blank.

    That brings us to the ❎Éend ❎Éof ❎Éthe ❎Ésupplied tutorial files which
èhave given you a ❎Ébrief ❎Édemonstration ❎Éof ❎Émost ❎Éof the commonly used
èediting commands. Please note that ❎Éthere ❎Éare many other commands and
èfunctions available in PROTEXT ❎Éthat ❎Éhave ❎Énot ❎Ébeen demonstrated and
èthese are all fully described in the manual. In particular, no mention
èhas been made of how to insert ❎É'printer control codes' into the text,
ènor of how to use 'stored commands' ❎Éor the many commands available in
èCommand mode and these sections of the manual should be read fully.

                               THE END

ps. If you want to clear this tutorial from memory, in order to create
èyour own document, enter command mode by pressing ESC and type:- CLEAR