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1992-03-21
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624 lines
12-Nov-91
* Word Power *
* V1.1
*
* Written by Steven Rennocks
*
* Project started : 22/09/91
*
* Original release date : 24/09/91
*
* Update release date : 12/11/91
*
* Programming language : Amos + compiler.
*
* Memory requirements : 1MB min.
*
* Coding and debuging time : 1.5 days. 9 hrs teaching words and still
* teaching.
*
* Hardware used : Amiga 500, 1MB , 2 Drives.
*
* Software used : Amos , Amos compiler , TxEd
*
* Credits : S.Rennocks (All)
*****************************************************************************
*** This disk is shareware and is freely distributable.
*** Please copy it for friends , pd companies etc.
*****************************************************************************
*** Please support all licenseware schemes and shareware authors.
A lot of hard work goes into producing licenseware and shareware
programs and a lot of these programs are better than many commercial
programs of the same type , failure to do so will mean that many software
authors will quite simply not bother to produce any more software if
they are not being rewarded for all their hard work, time and trouble.
Okay that`s the public announcement over , now for the instructions...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enhancements since V1.0
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately , V1.0 had a few slight bugs. These bugs have hopefully
been fixed in this update.
Enhancements :-
- Teach sentence changed highlight option to NO (fixed)
- Teach sentence buttons didn't work properly (fixed)
- Suggestions for word weren't very close to word you were finding
suggestions for in V1.0.
(The suggestion option now generally brings up less suggestion , but those
it does bring up are much closer to the word you are finding suggestions
for.)
- You are now given the chance to select a dictionary if the default one
cannot be found.
Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before I start the main instructions I would just like to point out that
if you find any spelling errors in this document then that will be quite
ironic as Word Power was written to spell check documents , and eliminate
that problem.
Being a person that is rather hard up for cash (no violins please) I do not
own a word processor and so produce all letters, documents and instruction
files (like this one) using an old text editor program called "Text Ed" ,
this program isn't bad for small files , but lacks one important feature that
I and no doubt quite a few other people need : spell checking.
Despite not being too bad at spelling , spelling errors certainly don't
go down well on things like C.V`s , important business letters etc. , so
for this reason and a few others I wrote Word Power.
I don't suppose that I am alone in the Amiga world , in not owning a
word processor with a decent spell checker , but even if you do own such a
program then Word Power has a few other tricks up it's sleeve that set it
apart from the competition (read on...)
What is Word Power ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word Power is a spell checker that also uses it`s database of words for
a few other things other than just spell checking. Word Power V1.1 will :-
i) - Spell check documents
ii) - solve crosswords
iii) - solve anagrams
Not only that but Word Power is also rather fun to use!!
How does Word Power work ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you spell check a document Word Power goes through the following
steps before giving you a perfectly (if today's date doesn't contain a 1 and
it isn't a leap year !#?!?##?#!*#?!#?) spelt document :-
1) The complete dictionary is loaded.
2) Your document is loaded into memory.
3) Some of you document is displayed on screen.
4) An unknown word is highlighted (if option selected)
5) The dictionary is searched for this word.
6) You decide what to do with this word.
7) Goes back to (3) until page is done.
8) Goes back to (2) at end of page and goes onto next page.
As you can tell from the steps mentioned above , Word Power is rather
unefficient because it searches the complete dictionary for each word.
Fortunately , this is not too much of a problem because the complete
dictionary is in memory for speed and the sheer speed of AMOS + Compiler
means that spell checking is fantastically quick.
MAIN INSTRUCTIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Word-Power is first loaded it will try and load a dictionary , the
dictionary depends upon the default dictionary name in the OPTIONS.
If the default dictionary cannot be found then you will be presented with a
file requester that will ask you to select a dictionary to load. Dictionaries
should have a ".dict" extension on the main filename so that you can tell
them from other files on the disk unless of course that is not part of the
default dictionary name that you have set for your own dictionary.
The top display bar contains the current date & time which are loaded from
the system clock , so if you own a battery backed clock you should have the
correct date/time , for everyone else you will have to change the date/time
before you load Word Power with the DATE command from CLI or Workbench
preferences or by some other means.
The lower display bar tells you the number of words that are in memory and
are known by the default dictionary , the filename of the file you are
spell checking and the length of this file in bytes.
Main menu
~~~~~~~~~~~
Options [1]
Spell check document [2]
Teach sentence [3]
Solve crossword [4]
Solve anagram [5]
Word analysis [6]
Edit dictionary [7]
Save dictionary [8]
Quit [9]
[1] Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) Default dictionary name
2) Highlight words
3) Clear ignored words after spell checking.
1) When you click this option you can edit the name of the dictionary that
will automatically be loaded each time you load Word Power and everytime
you save the dictionary (i.e The default dictionary name).
The default name is "SYS:WP.dict"
("SYS:" being the device that you booted up from , probably DF0: , but it
could be DF1: , DH0: etc.)
2) Hightlight words. This option simply let`s you decide if you want unknown
words highlighted while you are spell checking a document.
The default is "Yes"
3) Clear ignored words after spell checking. When you are spell checking a
document you can ignore a word which will from then on be totally ignored
if it is found again. This option allows you to choose whether you want
the words you have ignored from one document to also be ignored on the
next document.
The default is "No"
[2] Spell check document
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the main feature of Word Power and thus is easily the most
powerful.
Firstly , you must choose a document to spell check. Be careful here because
I was unable to find a suitable way of distinguishing one type of file from
another , so unfortunatly this task is left down to you.
The means you can attempt to spell check IFF pictures , sound samples ,
PowerPacked documents etc. of course you will get a load of garbage on the
screen and in most cases the whole display will go drastically wrong , and
appear to have crashed.
No fear , if you have loaded a file that is not an ASCII type document ,
press "ESCAPE" to cancel spell checking and you will go back to the main menu
with no damage caused.
If you use Word Power to spell check documents that you write from now on
then you shouldn't have too many problems with attempting to spell check
PowerPacked text files. If you do wish to spell check a PowerPacked text file
then you will have to unpack it with PowerPacker , spell check it with
Word Power and then re-pack it if necessary.
Anyway , once you have selected a text file it will be loaded into memory
and will be processed ready for being displayed. You will then see the first
page of your file.
Working from the top each word that is unknown to your dictionary will be
highlighted (if option selected) and mentioned at the bottom of the screen.
The options now available to you for this word are:-
Ignore - totally ignores the word and all repetitions of this word.
Click on IGNORE box or just press LEFT mouse button.
Add word - this adds the current word to your dictionary.
Click on ADD WORD box or just press RIGHT mouse button.
Suggestions - this will give you a list of possible suggestions for the
word you meant to have put , click left button on UP and
DOWN boxes to move up and down the list if there are more
than three suggestions. Click on a suggestion to replace
the current word with the suggestion.
The word is also displayed above the suggestions ,
clicking the left button on this will let you enter the
correct word if it is not one of the suggestions.
If you have changed the current word or you don't wish to
change the current word then you can continue by clicking
on the IGNORE and ADD WORD boxes.
(PLEASE NOTE : if you replace the current word with a
suggestion , selecting ADD WORD will add the word that
you have replaced , the one displayed at the bottom of
the screen.)
Cancel spell - Clicking this box or pressing "ESCAPE" will end spell
check checking. Cancelling spell checking while in the middle
of a document does not unspell check the words you have
already spell checked.
When you have spell checked one page then you will move on to the next and so
on until you have spell checked the complete document or you decide to
cancel the spell check.
When you finish spell checking you have the option to either :-
- Save the spell checked document (There is a delay while the document
is re-processed.)
- Ignore the spell checking (This ignores any changes you have made to
the document , but any words that have been added to the dictionary
are NOT removed , and all ignored words are still remembered unless
you have set this OPTION otherwise.)
[3] Teach sentence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This allows you to teach the dictionary a sentence of words.
Simply type in a line of words with spaces and each word will be spell
checked. There are only two options you can choose for each word , those
being :-
Ignore word & Add word to dictionary.
[4] Solve crossword
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are keen on crosswords then this option is for you.
Enter the word you wish to find , but replace any letters that you do not
know with question marks (?) (i.e ??s?? will find all five letter words
which have the letter "s" as the third letter eg. RESET , LISTS etc.)
If you enter just question marks ie ???????? then upto 100 words will be
found that contain this number of letters.
After each : solve crossword you have the choice to try another or return
to the main menu.
[5] Solve anagram
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This option solves anagrams.(surprise , surprise !)
Enter the word you wish to find all the anagrams of and then wait a few
seconds before all the anagrams of the word you have entered will be found.
(i.e "kids" is an anagram of "disk" , it uses the same letters , and the
same number of each letter.)
After each you can try again or return to main menu.
[6] Word analysis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This sounds rather technical , but it isn`t really. This option is not
very useful , but is just a nice addition and is especially fun to use if
you are creating your own dictionary.
All it does is draw a bar chart showing the number of words containing ??
letters in the loaded dictionary. Any words that are more than twenty letters
in length are put into the 20 letter category , not that I can think of
many words containing more 20 letters.
[7] Edit dictionary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This allows you to delete a word from your dictionary that you have
accepted by mistake. You must enter the word with question marks in the place
of the unknown letters. Or at the very least a number of question marks (?)
that matches the number of letters in the word (although , there is a limit
of 100 words that can be displayed ,so the more letters you know the better)
All the above does is displays the words like the one you have entered so
you can see if bad word exists. If you already know the word or you have
just found it by using the above process , then you can enter the word to
be deleted. If you don`t wish to delete a word then just press [RETURN] when
you are asked for the word to delete.
[8] Save dictionary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Save your dictionary under the default filename which can be changed
from the OPTIONS option (!!??!!) off the main menu. Saving your dictionary
regularly is a good idea , because if you get a SOFTWARE ERROR then all the
words you have just taught your dictionary will be lost.
[9] Quit
~~~~~~~~~~
Before you quit you get the option to save your dictionary , and are
asked if you really wish to quit and then you are returned back to the
place from which you ran Word Power - Cli , Workbench etc.
Disclaimer
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I (Steven Rennocks) accept no responsiblity for any accidents or
otherwise that you have while using this program. Use it at your own risk!
The DICTIONARY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is quite a small dictionary provided with Word Power a few thousand
words to get you started , but if you want to have some real fun then create
your own dictionary from scratch , and watch and gasp in awe and excitment
(well perhaps not) as you watch it grow from being a pathetic excuse for a
dictionary to a massive , powerful dictionary that knows more words than any
human being has in their vocabulary!
If you have created a dictionary for Word-Power that contains quite a
reasonable number of words (ie. 10,000 +) and you would like to help any
other Word-Power owners out as well as receive credit for the dictionary and
gain something out of it , then send your Word-Power dictionary to me and
I will either include it with future versions of Word Power or release it
into public domain.
You will of course if I use your dictionary receive full credit for it as
well as a free utility disk containing over 60 great utilities.
Mind your language !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of course , you don't have to just teach Word Power English what about
Welsh , French , German , Spainish , Italian etc. Word Power will cope with
most languages except for languages such as Russian , Japanese etc.
Okay , so all of the instructions are in English , but if either you or
someone else in you family is bi-lingual then you shouldn't have too many
problems in teaching Word Power a foreign language.
If you have a dictionary created on Word Power in another language then I
would be happy to see it , just send me the disk with the language on
(I will return it the day or day after I receive it). If you give permission
or would like to do it yourself then the disk could be released into
Public Domain , or possibly stocked by Deja Vu software suppliers.
WHY IS WORD-POWER SHAREWARE ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A small dictionary is already on this disk with Word-Power , but , it is
by no means feasible for spell checking documents that use anything other
than the most basic of English. The solution : for a small registration fee
of 2.00 I will send you a 5 000 word plus English dictionary disk.
Once you have this disk you can return this disk to me and I will update it
with an even larger dictionary as the words in my main dictionary grow ,
free of charge.
Also , included for this extremely low shareware fee and considering the
cost of putting the dictionary together , I will contact you as I produce
updates of the main Word Power program.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMPETITION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first ten people starting from the 1st February 1992 to send me
English dictionaries with over 10 000 words will receive a free utility
disk and with your permission the largest of these dictionaries will be
distributed by me as the standard Word-Power dictionary and you will receive
full credit and acknowledgement as well as some extra benefits from it.
Please send all registration fees , competition enteries etc. to
(Please make all cheques/postal orders made payable to S.Rennocks)
Steven Rennocks,
1 Cherrington Drive,
Great Wyrley,
Walsall,
West Midlands,
England.
WS6 6NE.
Details about AMIVISION SOFTWARE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amivision software is not a company , but a group of very talented Amiga
enthusiasts. The group currently consists of :-
S.Rennocks (Main programmer & manager)
L.Poole (Musician & designer)
D.Rennocks (Play tester)
J.Carr (Play tester)
L.Geary (Odd jobs)
Amivision software is always on the lookout for talented Amiga enthusiasts
who enjoy working as part of a team and have a talent in the following
fields :-
Programming (Any language) , Music (Any Soundtracker type module) ,
Graphics (Any IFF compatible art package (i.e Dpaint III / IV etc.),
Sprite/bob design , animations.
If you have a talent in one of these fields and you would like to be the
part of a team producing extremely high quality and notable Amiga software
then contact me (S.Rennocks see address at end)
All work will be fully acknowledged and fame could come your way if your
work is recognised by magazine writers etc.
Steven Rennocks (me)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word Power is just one of hundreds of programs that I have written using
AMOS+compiler and many other languages including AmigaBasic! & C.
I enjoy producing commercial quality productivity software , such as
PowerBase , Power-Planner & Word Power
I mainly write all of my products including Formula One Challenge ,PowerBase,
Power-Planner,Word Power for my own use because no commercial title is
available that suites my needs or if it is, it costs an awful lot more than
I a poor penniless student can afford.
At the time of writing this I am 17 and studying my `A` levels , but I
will continue to produce quality software for the Amiga , but at a slightly
slower rate due to the work load of `A` levels.
I would gratefully consider any offers of work (freelance , part time etc.),
if anyone likes the programs that I have produced.
Other Great Amivision products to watch out for
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Formula One Challenge - An extremely addictive four player formula one
management game.
(Licensed to Deja Vu Professional Software LPD 44)
PowerBase V2.00 - A commercial quality database that will cope with
many thousands of records (10,000 with 1MB).
(Licensed to Deja Vu Professional Software)
- (V2.10 only available directly from me for 5.00.)
- (P.D demo version widely available or available
for just 1.00 from me.)
Power-Planner V1.0 - An appointment manager & telephone directory utility.
(Licensed to Deja Vu Software)
Spectra (December) - A fabulously addictive brain splitting puzzle game.
All-Square (December) - A simple two player puzzle game that requires great
coordination and brain work to complete.
The Spelling Machine - An educational spelling program for children aged
(October) from 4 to 12.
Amivision mega utility disks - currently available 1-9 (Sept 91)
(Public domain) - Compacted disks containing a wide variety of high
quality utilities including virus checkers ,
disk copiers , text editors , games , dos utilities
etc. etc. etc. etc.
Some mega utility disks contain at least 70 programs!
Some projects that are being considered for production at the moment are:-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
League manager - An extremely well presented & addictive football management
simulation.
Railroad Madness - An addictive puzzle game (no more details at this point)
PowerBase Professional - An even more powerful version of PowerBase!
(May be commercially released.)
Audio Power - The fourth in the POWER range of application/utility software
from Amivision Software.
- A sample effects program.
Amivision mega utility disk #10 - (Now in production) - Coming soon.
(Public domain)
Details
~~~~~~~~~
If you have any problems in obtaining any of Amivision licensed software :-
Formula One Challenge , PowerBase V2.00 , Power-Planner V1.0 , Word Power
then contact Sandra Sharkey on (0942) 495261
If you have any problems / suggestions etc. for any of Amivision software`s
programs then contact me and I will reply to all letters.
Send all Amivision Software correspondence to :-
--A------------
Steven Rennocks, | M |
1 Cherrington Drive, | I 1 |
Great Wyrley, | V 1 9 9 1 |
Walsall, | I 9 |
West Midlands, | S 1 |
WS6 6NE. | I |
S O F T W A R E
--N------------
That`s all folks.