Shareware Universe - The Gold Collection

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Text File | 1996-04-19 | 18.1 KB | 458 lines

SPELLING BEEZ MANUAL CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 HARD AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . 1 MAIN WINDOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 USING A MOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 SUBMENUS OR LEVEL WINDOWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 PICK LISTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 VISUAL REWARDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 MUSICAL REWARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 VOICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 RANDOM WORDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 NEW SPELLING HOMEWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 LAST SPELLING HOMEWORK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 OLD SPELLING HOMEWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 DELETE A WORD FILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 EDIT WORD FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ADD WORDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 EDIT WORDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 SEARCH FOR WORD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 HELP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 RECORDING SOUND FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ERRORS/PROBLEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 INTRODUCTION This program was designed not only to help children with their spelling homework but to teach other subjects at the same time. As a reward for spelling words correctly you may receive visual, voice, and/or musical reinforcements depending on how you choose the settings. The visual/graphical rewards are also educational. This program comes with one subject area for visual rewards but others are available. After you have more than one subject installed you can change the subject using the Visual Rewards menu. With this program you can enter your own spelling homework or use one of the already existing word files. After you create the files you can delete, modify, edit, or add new words to them. Each time you add more words using the NEW SPELLING HOMEWORK option you have the option of saving the words in an existing file. If you choose to do this, the words will be stored in two places -- in a file with a SPL (Last Spelling Homework) extension and the name you specified, and they will be added to the end of a similar file with a SPO (Old Spelling Homework) extension. Therefore, the old spelling homework file will contain all the spelling homework you entered under a particular file name. It's size will continue to increase as more new spelling homework words are entered. Each child in your family can have his/her own set of spelling word files. There is a limit of 100 spelling word files. HARD AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS The minimum hardware requirements for running this program are 256K RAM and VGA color graphics. A mouse is optional. The minimum software requirement is DOS version 2.1 or higher. This software will run under Windows; however, if you don't have a sound board, the voice will not work properly. An icon is provided for you to use if you do decide to run this program under Windows. Look for a file with an ICO extension. (end of page 1) MAIN WINDOW This window lists all the main options you may choose from such as RANDOM WORDS, NEW SPELLING HOMEWORK, LAST SPELLING HOMEWORK, OLD SPELLING HOMEWORK, DELETE A WORD FILE, EDIT WORD FILES, VISUAL REWARDS, MUSICAL REWARDS, VOICE, and HELP. There are several ways to select an option from Main Menu. You may use the up or down arrow keys to highlight the desired option then press the ENTER key to accept the option. Or, you may press the key corresponding to the first letter of the desired option until the option is highlighted then press the ENTER key. You may also use the mouse to select an option as described in the next section. Accept QUIT or press the ESC key to stop the program. USING A MOUSE If you have a mouse and have installed it's driver, you may use it to select options. To select an option using the mouse just move the mouse cursor to the option you want then press the left button twice. The first press will highlight the option and the second press will select it. The right mouse button can usually be used in place of the escape key (ESC) to exit menus or options. Also, the left button can usually (not always) be used in place of the ENTER or RETURN key. SUBMENUS OR LEVEL WINDOWS Many options have submenu windows. These windows are used to select levels or to choose a particular suboption. Choose from these menus using the same techniques as in Main Menu. In particular, use the mouse, arrow keys, or the key corresponding to the first letter of the option to highlight the desired option then press the ENTER key or the left mouse button to accept. Use the mouse to accept Go Back, or press the ESC key, or press the right mouse button to return to Main Menu. (end of page 2) PICK LISTS When you need to choose a file, a pick list will be displayed on your screen. Use the standard mouse or keyboard techniques to choose a file from this list. If there are more than 10 files to choose from, you'll see a downward pointing arrow on the bottom right of the pick-list box. To see the additional file names either hold down the down-arrow key on the keyboard or place the mouse cursor on the arrow and press the left mouse button. If there are more file names above the ones shown, an up arrow will be displayed on the upper right of the pick-list box. To see these file names press and hold down the up-arrow key or place the mouse cursor on the up arrow and press the left mouse button. VISUAL REWARDS Use this option to set the visual reward mode you desire. This option will allow you to choose whether you want to see a visual reward for every 20 points, 50 points or not while spelling. Even if you choose to not see the rewards while you're spelling, you can use this option to see them after you've completed by choosing the Get a Reward Now option. You can also use this menu to choose the subject of your visual rewards. This software comes with one subject but others are available for purchase. Just copy the files from the new disk to this program's directory and you have another subject installed. MUSICAL REWARDS You may or may not want the computer to play music as a reward for good work. To turn the music on or off select the MUSIC REWARDS option as described above. A submenu will be shown that allows you to choose ALWAYS, SOMETIMES, or NEVER. Select ALWAYS if you want to receive tune reinforcements for every correct answer, select SOMETIMES if you want tune rewards for every 100 points, and select NEVER if you want the music off. (end of page 3) VOICE Use this option to set the human voice option to ON or OFF, or to turn off the voice that spells the word. When VOICE is on, the words will be spelled for you as they're shown on the screen. Also, verbal encouragements will be given. IF VOICE is off, no voice will be heard. If you have the registered version of this program and you have a SoundBlaster (tm) card, you can record your own voice file for each word you store. Use the RECORD option to do this. If a voice file exists and you have VOICE set to ON, the word will be pronounced before your child is required to spell it. If MUSIC is set to SOMETIMES or NEVER and VOICE is not set to off, you'll also get a voice encouragement after correct answers. IF MUSIC is set to ALWAYS, only tunes will be given as encouragement. If you don't have a Sound Blaster (tm) compatible board installed the voice will come through your PC speaker. If you do have a sound board installed, the voice will come through the board. You'll notice that the quality of sound is much better with a sound board. RANDOM WORDS This option has four levels of difficulty. The first level contains words that are three characters long, the second level contains words that are four characters long, the third level contains words that are five characters long, and the fourth level contains words that are six characters long. Each level is identical except for the length of the words. Large word libraries are included on the disk and words are chosen at random from the libraries. A word will be shown in large blue characters. When you think you know how to spell it press the space bar. The word will disappear and you must spell it. If you need to see the word again, press the down arrow key. Remember, you can not use the arrow keys on the number key pad if the Num Lock light is on. After you press the space bar and begin attempting to spell the word, if you are idle for more than 10 seconds the computer will assume you don't know how to (end of page 4) spell the word. In other words, if you stop trying for more than 10 seconds, it will be counted as a wrong answer. If you spell the word wrong you'll be asked to try again. You have 3 tries. The computer will then show you the correct spelling before continuing. If you spell it right you must press the space bar to continue. This allows you time to examine the correct spelling of the word. After you press the space bar the new word will be shown and you'll have to press the space bar again when you're ready to spell it. When you quit this option any misspelled words will be listed for you to examine. Press any key to continue after you've examined the correct spelling of these words. NEW SPELLING HOMEWORK This option allows you to enter your daily spelling homework. You're allowed to enter up to 50 words of variable length. The only limitation on length is that the words must have less than 17 characters. When you choose this option you're only quizzed on those words you've entered. When you choose the New Spelling HW option you're asked how many words you want to enter. Just type the number then press ENTER. Now, type each word then press ENTER. All editing functions such as delete, back-space, insert, and arrow key movements are allowed while you type the words. If you decide not to enter as many words as you originally planned just press the F10 key. If you change your mind and want to quit just press ESC. After you've entered all your words you'll be quizzed on them. This occurs exactly as in the Random Words option. In fact, all the spelling quiz options operate the same once the words are entered or recalled. Also, when you quit, all the words you misspelled will be listed for you to examine. When you're done with this option you'll be given three options. You may store the words in an existing file, store words in a new file, or you may choose not to store the words you just entered. (end of page 5) If you choose to store the words in an existing file you will be shown a list of files to choose from. Choose one and your words will be stored in two places. For example, suppose you chose to store your words in an existing file called MINE.SPL. Your words will be stored in MINE.SPL and added to the end of another file called MINE.SPO. The extension SPO means old spelling homework and SPL means last spelling homework. The file with the SPO extension will contain all your old homework stored under the name MINE. MINE.SPO can be accessed using the Old Spelling Homework option and MINE.SPL can be accessed using the Last Spelling Homework option. LAST SPELLING HOMEWORK This option can be used to recall the last previously stored spelling homework words. This can save you the time of retyping the words. Note that only the last set of spelling words can be recalled using this option. After you choose this option you must choose a spelling word file from a list that is shown. If the list is longer than 10, an arrow will be shown at the bottom right of the pick list. Either hold the down-arrow key down to see the additional files or use the mouse to click on the arrow shown. After you select a file you must select the order in which the words will be given to you. You can choose random order or sequential order (in the order stored). When you're done, all the words you misspelled will be listed for you to examine. OLD SPELLING HOMEWORK Use this option to recall a file that contains all your old spelling homework. You will be shown a list of all the old spelling homework files to choose from. Each of these files will contain all the old words you entered and stored under these file names. The words will be in the order you stored them because each new set of words is added to the end of the file. These files get larger (end of page 6) each time you store words in them. As in the Last Spelling Homework option, you must now select the order in which the words will be given to you. You must choose random or sequential. When you're done, the words you misspelled will be listed for you to examine. DELETE A WORD FILE If at the end of the school year you want to start a new file of spelling homework you can either delete the old one and start another, or you can just start another using a different name. If you have enough disk space I recommend you start another using a different name. But, just in case you need it, this option allows you to delete a set of word files. When you select this option a list of spell files will be shown for you to choose from. Only the ones with the SPL file extensions will be shown but both files will be deleted once you select one from the list. Suppose you select one called ROBERT.SPL to delete. The one called ROBERT.SPO will also be deleted. EDIT WORD FILES Use this options to change any one of the spelling word files. If you choose the Last Spelling Homework or Old Spelling Homework files you'll be presented with a list of spelling word files to choose from. After you select a spell file you'll be asked to choose whether you want to add words or edit them. ADD WORDS If you select the Add Words option, the computer will quickly run through all the words in that particular file and stop after the last one. You may then enter a new word or press ESC to stop. When you enter a word, unless the word already exists, it will be stored at the end of the file. The new word will be displayed along with its number and you'll be asked to enter another word or press ESC to stop. (end of page 7) EDIT WORDS If you select the Edit option you must next choose to search for a word or start at the beginning. If you choose to start at the beginning, the first word in the file will be displayed. Then you'll be asked to press the F10 function key to go on to the next word, press ESC to stop, press the up or down arrow key to delete the word, or make changes to the word then press ENTER. Keep pressing F10 until you see the word you want changed. When you're done just press ESC. SEARCH FOR WORD If you choose to search for a word you must next enter some text to search for. After you type the text press ENTER and the first word that contains that text will be displayed for editing. Edit it then press ENTER to find the next occurrence of that text or ESC to quit. You may also delete the word by pressing the up or down arrow key. RECORDING SOUND FILES If you have a SoundBlaster (tm) board you may use the RECORD VOICE FILE option to record your own voice files. Do this when you want this program to pronounce words before your child is asked to spell them. After you choose the option you must type a file name for the voice file. Make sure you choose a file name that matches the word you'll be using. If you want this program to pronounce the word "boat" then the file name must also be boat. Do not add an extension to the file name. That will be done automatically. When you're done typing the file name press ENTER. The computer is now ready to record. Get your microphone ready then press ENTER again. When you see the words "GO - Press ESC to stop" you may say the word. Be sure you are sufficiently close to the microphone and that there is little background noise. Press ESC when you're done. HELP Choose this option to read the manual. Instructions for using, reading or printing the manual are located at the bottom of the screen. (end of page 8) ERRORS/PROBLEMS To run this program you need at least 512K or free RAM memory. You also need a VGA graphics card. If you don't have one of these the program will not run correctly. If you have TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) programs loaded this program could lock up your computer. If this happens, remove the TSR installation commands from your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files, turn your computer off then back on and try running the program again. If you get a BGI graphics error your graphics card is not being detected by the visual rewards display routine. If you believe your hardware and memory should support this program but it does not run correctly, you may contact one of the authors at the addresses or numbers located in the order.doc or order2.doc files. WE HAVE WORKED VERY HARD TO GET ALL THE BUGS OUT OF THIS PROGRAM. HOWEVER, WE CAN NOT GUARANTEE THAT NONE EXISTS. WHEN YOU USE THIS SOFTWARE YOU MUST DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE THAT MAY OCCUR AS A RESULT OF ITS USE. Dr. Andrew Motes Owner, Motes Educational Software Associate Professor, John Brown University Orlando Dare President, DareWare Inc. All rights reserved, 1993 (end of page 9)