House of Games 2 (Hi-Tech Products)

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ House of Games 2 (Hi-Tech Products) / House_of_Games_II_Hi-Tech_Products.iso / games / 142 / cwc.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1992-02-02 | 55KB | 1,545 lines

PC HELP-LINE's Professional +---+ | C | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | C | R | O | S | S | W | O | R | D | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | E | +---+ | A | +---+ Version 5.0 | T | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | C | O | O | K | B | O | O | K | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | R | +---+ PC HELP-LINE 35250 Silver Leaf Circle Yucaipa, CA 92399 United States 714-797-3091 Introduction Welcome to Crossword Creator PC HELP-LINE's Professional Crossword Creator is the easiest to use, most powerful crossword puzzle editor available for PC's and PC-compatible computers. If you are an educator, an instructional materials professional, or a newsletter publisher, you will find that Crossword Creator has been tailored to your unique needs, especially your "need for speed". CWC's "robot" puzzle builder can generate a crossword from a list of words in a matter of seconds. And if you are simply an enthusiast, Crossword Creator provides you with everything you need to design and print puzzles for yourself, family, and friends. This "cookbook" is a collection of short tutorials. Each section is devoted to a common Crossword Creator task, and contains step-by-step instructions to help guide you through. Note that the lessons in this booklet are "technique-oriented" and fairly general in nature. If you want more detailed information, you can always refer to Crossword Creator's on-line help. System Requirements - IBM PC or compatible computer - DOS 2.1 or higher, 320K minimum memory - color or monochrome monitor - one floppy disk drive, hard drive optional - Microsoft-compatible mouse (optional, but recommended) - printer Since CWC prints TEXT, not graphics, the best results are obtained from printers that support the IBM PC character set or a proprietary line-drawing character set. Printers that support only the ASCII character set are suitable for draft output. PostScript printers are supported via a companion application, "Crossword Publisher", available from Longridge Software and PC HELP-LINE. Microsoft Windows applications are supported via "Crossword Clipper for Windows", a clipboard utility available from PC HELP-LINE. See "Printer Compatibility Issues" for a discussion on using printers with Crossword Creator. Product Support PC HELP-LINE 35250 Silver Leaf Circle Yucaipa, CA 92399 United States Sales/Technical Support Hours M-F 6pm - 10pm, Pacific time S-S 10am - 2pm, Pacific time Telephone: 714-797-3091 Compuserve: 72357,3523 PC HELP-LINE is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. Credits Crossword Creator was written using the Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System, version 7.1. Crossword Clipper for Windows was written using Microsoft Visual BASIC, version 1.0. The development work and system testing were conducted on both a 386-clone and an XT-clone, running PC-DOS 3.3., MS-DOS 5.0, Microsoft Windows 3.0, and OS/2 1.3. Additional BASIC functions were provided by Crescent Software's "QuickPak", and Software Interphase's "QuickWindows". ______________________________ A very special thanks to all of our beta-testers, particularly Bob Gregory and Bob Riggs, whose devotion and experience helped us turn a good product into a great one. ______________________________ Crossword Creator and Crossword Clipper, Copyright PC HELP-LINE, 1988-1992 WORDFIND, Copyright Castle Oaks Computer Services, 1988-92 Crossword Publisher, Copyright Longridge Software, 1989-1992 Getting Started Installation Crossword Creator is not copy-protected, and does not require a "formal" installation, but it is a relatively large program with many supporting files. If you are a novice computer user, you may find that using the supplied SETUP program will get you up and running faster than trying to configure the software on your own. To run SETUP, place the Crossword Creator SETUP DISK in your floppy drive. At the DOS prompt, type A:SETUP and press ENTER. If you are using a floppy drive other than A:, prefix the SETUP command with the appropriate drive ID. After prompting you for a number of installation options, SETUP will copy the necessary files from the distribution disks to your own working disks. Startup To start Crossword Creator, type CWC at the DOS prompt and press ENTER. Crossword Creator's configuration file, CONFIG.CWC, must be in the current directory. The program file, CWC.EXE, must also be in the current directory unless you've issued a PATH command that allows DOS to find it. Several optional parameters may be specified on the DOS command line when you start Crossword Creator. The general form is: CWC [puzzle name] [/L=language name] [/BW] If you specify a puzzle name, CWC will load that puzzle for you on startup. Use /BW if you are using a monochrome monitor with a color video adapter; this forces CWC to use its "black and white" color scheme for maximum contrast. If you use /L=, you must supply the primary part of a Crossword Creator language master filename, for example, "ESPA" (do not use the .CWL extension). The program will read those language files on startup. You cannot run CWC without language files. The default is "ENGL", so you do not have to use this option to run in English. examples: CWC movies (loads MOVIES.PUZ) CWC /bw demo1 (loads DEMO1.PUZ, forces black and white colors) CWC /l=espa (reads ESPA.CWL) Basics Screen Layout/Landmarks The section identifies the five major elements of Crossword Creator's main screen. Other sections in this manual make references to these elements, so use the descriptions to orient yourself. Menu Bar - Crossword Creator's "control center". All of the program's major functions are invoked through pull-down menus. Puzzle Window - Where you design your puzzles. You cannot move the cursor outside of the puzzle window boundaries, nor can you type in other areas of the screen. The DOS filename of the current puzzle is displayed in the top boundary. Guide Window - Displays tips on how to design a puzzle. If you are ever unsure about "what to do next", glance at the instructions displayed here. Status Window - Contains various facts about the current puzzle: number of clues, cursor coordinates, available memory, etc. Dialog Box - Displayed when CWC needs to prompt you for additional information, or inform you about something. Try this now 1. Start Crossword Creator and observe the opening screens as the program comes up. You may need to "Press any key..." to dismiss the copyright notice. 2. The main screen is displayed. Note the major elements described above. 3. To end the program, press the ALT key, and release it. Then press F (for "File"), followed by X (for "Exit"). Using the Keyboard Crossword Creator is, essentially, a specialized word-processor and a good deal of your time will be spent typing on the keyboard. Since this tutorial is not intended to be a primer on computers, we'll assume you already know what the keyboard is, how it works, and what all the keys do. However, Crossword Creator uses keystroke combinations and sequences that may be unfamiliar to you, and it's important that you interpret them correctly when they're referred to in the documentation or on the screen. CWC uses a simple notational convention to describe multi-key keystroke combinations. When the keycap names are joined together with a "+" (for example, Ctrl+P), it means that you should first press and hold down all of the keys, then release them together. When you see keycap names joined together with a "-" (for example, Alt-E-C), it means that you should press and release the keys in sequence. The F1 function key is the universal HELP key. You can display help at any time in Crossword Creator by pressing F1. The ESC key is the universal CANCEL key. Pressing ESC dismisses a dialog window, discarding all changes. Try this now 1. From the main screen, press Alt-F-P. The "Print" dialog box is displayed. 2. Press ESC. The dialog box is dismissed. 3. Press Ctrl+P. The "Print" dialog box is displayed. Note that this "shortcut" bypassed the interim menu selections. 4. Press F1. A help window is displayed, presenting more information. Scroll through the text by pressing PgUp/PgDn or the cursor arrow keys. 5. Press ESC. The help window is dismissed. 6. Press ESC. The dialog box is dismissed, and you are returned to the main screen. Using the Menus Crossword Creator, like all computer programs, is simply a collection of related functions that help you accomplish a specific task. In that sense, CWC can be thought of as a "toolbox" for building crossword puzzles, and to use those tools you must select them from the menu bar. In its neutral state, the menu bar appears along the top line of the screen. Each word in the menu bar is associated with a group of related tools. To activate the menu bar, press the ALT key. Once activated, each word in the menu bar displays a highlighted letter. Pressing one of these "hotkeys" displays a menu of the related tools. Each of the menu items also has a highlighted letter, and pressing one of those hotkeys will invoke the corresponding tool. Some tools have a "shortcut" keystroke, displayed to the right of their menu name. You can bypass the menus and invoke these tools directly by pressing the shortcut key. If a tool's menu name ends with an ellipsis ("..."), it means that you will be prompted for more information before the tool is invoked. Try this now 1. From the main screen, press ALT. The menu bar is activated and the hotkeys become highlighted. 2. Press F. The File menu is displayed. 3. Notice that the "Open" menu item ends with an ellipsis, and that the shortcut key for "Open" is Ctrl+O. 4. Press O. The "Open" dialog box is displayed. 5. Press ESC. 6. Now press the shortcut key for "Open", Ctrl+O. The "Open" dialog box is displayed immediately, bypassing the File menu. 7. Press ESC. You are returned to the main screen. Using Dialog Boxes To make use of a software program you must be able to interact with it. In Crossword Creator the exchange of information between you and the computer is handled primarily by dialog boxes. As its name implies, a dialog box establishes a "conversation" between you and the software so that you can input information, as well as receive it. Almost everything you do in Crossword Creator has a dialog box associated with it, so it is very important to understand how they work. Dialog boxes are easy to recognize because they "pop-up" in the center of the screen. You will also notice that each dialog box contains a unique set of controls, similar to the dashboard of a car or the front panel of a microwave. Crossword Creator uses five different controls, each one specialized for a particular kind of input. Text Box - Type freeform text. A text box is like a "mini" word-processor because you can type words, delete and insert characters, move the cursor, etc. List Box - Make a choice. A list box is a "single choice" control because you may select only one item from the list. To make a selection, use the cursor arrow keys to highlight your choice, then press ENTER. If a scroll bar is present on the right-hand border, it means that the list contains additional items that are not visible. However, you can scroll through the entire list using the cursor arrow keys and the PgUp/PgDn keys. Radio Buttons - Make a choice. Similar to a list box, radio buttons allow you to select only one item from the group. To make a selection, press the SPACEBAR on the button of your choice. Check Boxes - Select options. Check boxes are a "multiple choice" control because you can select as many items as are available. Use the SPACEBAR as a "toggle" to select and deselect the items you want. Command - Take some action. Command buttons are used to Buttons signal the end of your "conversation" with the dialog box. To select a command, press the SPACEBAR on the button of your choice. The most common commands are "Ok" ("accept my input and proceed"), and "Cancel" ("ignore my input and do nothing"). All dialog boxes contain at least one command button. The last, and most important, point about using dialog boxes is the concept of "focus". Although a dialog box may contain multiple controls, your computer has only one keyboard and can therefore interact with only one control at a time -- the control that has the focus. The TAB and Shift+TAB keys allow you to move the focus from one control to the next, and the control that currently has the focus is always highlighted to draw your attention. Moving the focus allows you to interact with each control in turn. Try this now 1. From the main screen, press Alt-F-P. The "Print" dialog box is displayed. 2. Notice the group of radio buttons labeled "Format". The first item, "Puzzle and Clues", is highlighted, indicating that this control currently has the focus. Note, also, that "Puzzle and Clues" is the currently selected choice for "Format". This is indicated by the dot inside the parentheses, "(■)", to the left of the item. 3. Press the TAB key four times. Watch as the focus moves to each of the other choices in the "Format" group. 4. The focus is now on "Proof Sheet", although the selected choice is still "Puzzle and Clues". Press the SPACEBAR. 5. The dot now indicates that "Proof Sheet" is the desired format. 6. Press TAB three times. The focus has now moved into "Options", a group of check boxes, and "Fill Puzzle Area" is highlighted. 7. Press the SPACEBAR twice. Notice how the checkmark inside the brackets, "[X]", is toggled on and off. 8. Press TAB three times. The "Printer" list box now has the focus. The name of the currently selected printer is displayed in the small window at the top of the list. 9. If there is more than one printer name in the list, use the cursor down arrow key to highlight a different selection. 10. Press ENTER. The new printer name is displayed in the small window at the top of the list. 11. Press TAB. The focus moves to the text box labeled "Destination". 12. Type "outer space". Notice how the old text is replaced with the new text. 13. Press F2. The focus jumps to the "Ok" command button. If you wanted Crossword Creator to accept all your changes and begin printing, you would select this button. Right now, though, we don't want to do that. Note: F2 is provided as a shortcut key on all dialogs. Regardless of where the focus is, pressing F2 will move it to the first command button. 14. Press TAB, again, to move to the "Cancel" button. Selecting this command will simply discard all the changes you've made and dismiss the dialog box. 15. Press the SPACEBAR to select the "Cancel" button. The dialog disappears and you're returned to CWC's main screen. Using a Mouse Crossword Creator has built-in support for Microsoft-compatible mice. If the appropriate mouse software is installed on your system and a mouse is indeed attached, CWC will recognize it automatically. As with the "Keyboard" topic, this tutorial will not tell you how to install a mouse, nor explain how it works. If the terms button, click, press, release, and drag are unfamiliar to you, spend some time with your mouse's owner's manual and practice these techniques. It will be well worth your effort. CWC's mouse support is extended primarily to the menu bar and the dialog boxes. All but one of the mouse actions are performed with Button 1 (usually the left-most button on the mouse). In addition, there are some simple short-cuts associated with the Puzzle Window and the Status Window. Try this now 1. From the main screen, click on the word File in the menu bar, then click on Print in the pull-down menu. The "Print" dialog box is displayed. 2. Click on one or more of the radio buttons in the "Format" group. Notice that clicking on a control not only moves the focus to that item, but selects it as well. 3. Click on one or more of the check boxes in the "Options" group. Clicking on a check box toggles its on/off state. 4. Click on one of the names in the "Printer" list box -- your selection is displayed in the small window at the top of the list. 5. If the list box has a scroll bar, click on the arrowhead that points down. The list scrolls forward one item. Click on the opposite arrowhead, the list scrolls backward. 6. Click on the "Copies" text box. Clicking on a text box simply moves the focus. Naturally, you'll have to use the keyboard to type in your data. 7. Click on the "Cancel" command button. All of your changes are discarded, and the dialog is dismissed. You're returned to CWC's main screen. 8. Click on the "(+)" symbol in the Status Window. This toggles the current typing direction. 9. Click anywhere inside the Puzzle Window. The puzzle cursor moves to that location. 10. Lastly, use Button 2 (usually the right-most button on your mouse) to click inside the Puzzle Window. This is identical to selecting the "Edit Clues" tool from the "Edit" menu. 11. If the "Edit Clues" dialog box is displayed, click on "Cancel". If a message box is displayed, click on "Ok". You're returned to CWC's main screen. The Grand Tour In this section we'll be touring the landscape of Crossword Creator. Our destination: your first puzzle. Although we'll be exploring several of CWC's tools, this trip will definitely be "in the fast lane", not the "scenic route". The goal is to produce a finished puzzle in as few steps, and in the shortest amount of time, as possible. Of course there will still be much for you to explore on your own, but we want to get that first crossword into your hands right now. So, if you haven't already, startup Crossword Creator and move to the main screen. Here we go. ______________________________ The Words Of course, a crossword puzzle is composed of words and clues, but the words must come first in CWC. The "Edit Bank" tool will accept a list of words, so that's where we'll start. 1. Press Alt-E-B. The "Edit Bank" dialog is displayed; the "Word" text box has the focus. 2. Place 10 words of your own choosing into the word bank. First type a word, then press ENTER to place it in the list. 3. Move the focus to the "Ok" command button and press the SPACEBAR. Your list is saved, and the dialog is dismissed. The Grid Okay, now we have a word list. Next, we need to intersect those words into a grid, so we'll use the "Auto Place" tool. 1. Press Alt-E-A. The "Auto Place" dialog is displayed; the "Word" text box has the focus. Also, notice that your words are displayed in the "Bank" list box. 2. Look at the three controls grouped under "Mode". If they are not already, select the "Freeform" button and check the "Robot" box. 3. Press F2 to move the focus to the "Across" command button. 4. Press the SPACEBAR to begin building the puzzle grid. While you watch, Crossword Creator will do its best to intersect your words; this should only take a few seconds. If CWC does not generate a grid of acceptable size, go back to "Edit Bank", type in some more words, and run "Auto Place" again. 5. When the robot is finished, the "Auto Place" dialog will be redisplayed. Leftover words that were not placed into the grid will still be visible in the "Bank" list box. Press ESC to dismiss the dialog. The Clues Well, you may have thought that building a grid would be the hard part. But, as you can see, Crossword Creator makes it a snap. It's the clues that actually take a little time. And, now that we have a grid, we're ready to go to work on them with the "Edit Clues" tool. 1. Press Alt-E-C. The "Edit Clues" dialog is displayed. If the "Across" text box does not have the focus, press PgUp to move it there. 2. Type in the clue for the "Across" word. Clues can be up to four lines in length. Note, though, that each line is a separate control -- there is no word-wrap. To move from one line to the next you must press TAB or Shift+TAB, just like you would with any other dialog control. 3. When your "Across" clue is complete, press PgUp to select the next "Across" word. Type in the clue as you did before. Continue this process until all of the "Across" words have clues. When the first clue you typed appears again, you know that you've cycled through all of the "Across" words. 4. Press PgDn to move the focus to the "Down" text box, and supply a clue for each "Down" word. Remember to use PgDn (rather than PgUp) to cycle through the "Down" words. 5. When you've supplied a clue for each word in the puzzle, press the "Ok" command button to dismiss the dialog. The Puzzle That's it -- you're done. There are just two minor things left to do: save your work, and print the finished puzzle. 1. Press Alt-F-S. The "Save As" dialog is displayed. Notice that although you selected "Save" from the menu, the "Save As" dialog was displayed instead. Crossword Creator always presents the "Save As" dialog when you save a new puzzle for the first time. 2. Supply a name for your puzzle in the "Name" text box, replacing the "UNTITLED" default. Crossword Creator uses this name to store your puzzle on disk. 3. Supply a title for your puzzle. It's not required, but if you provide a title it will appear centered over the puzzle when you print it. 4. Press "Ok". Your puzzle is now safely stored on disk. The Finished Product 1. Press Alt-F-P to display the "Print" dialog. 2. Under "Format", select "Puzzle And Clues", then press "Ok" to begin printing. Printing is always a time-consuming task on computers, so CWC displays message boxes that keep you informed of its progress. Notice that each message box provides a "Cancel" button that will immediately stop the print process if you press it. ______________________________ Well, the tour's over and you have your first crossword puzzle in hand. Along the way you learned about, menus, dialogs, controls, and dozens of other Crossword Creator details. You are no longer a novice; you're a journeyman cruciverbalist. Becoming an expert just takes practice and experience. Of course, there are many other useful gadgets in Crossword Creator's "toolbox" that we didn't even try. But your own experience and CWC's extensive on-line Help will serve you well as you explore the more advanced features. And remember, if you get lost, the Guide Window is always there to make gentle suggestions about what to do next. Thanks for riding along. Common Tasks Ending the Program To end Crossword Creator, select "Exit" from the "File" menu. 1. Press Alt-F-X. You are returned to DOS. Retrieving Puzzles From Disk Use the "Open" tool when you want to work with a puzzle that has been previously saved to disk. 1. Press Alt-F-O to display the "Open" dialog. 2. Select a puzzle from the list. 3. Press "Ok" to retrieve the puzzle. Reviewing the Puzzle Clues Use the "Review Clues" tool to identify missing or orphaned clues. Even in a small crossword, it's easy to skip a word and forget to supply a clue, or "orphan" a clue by inadvertently deleting or misspelling a puzzle word. You can also "preview" the clue index numbers without actually printing the puzzle. This is useful when you want one puzzle clue to reference another, for example, "Opposite of 12 Across". 1. Press Alt-P-R to display the "Review Clues" dialog. 2. Press "Continue" to view each page of clues. "Across" clues are displayed first, followed by the "Down" clues, followed by any "Orphaned" clues. 3. If any orphaned clues are found, a dialog box asks you if you want to delete them. Orphaned clues belong to words that used to be part of the grid, but aren't now. For example, suppose you assigned the clue "Man's best friend" to the word "DOG" in your puzzle. If you later erase "DOG" from the grid without first deleting "Man's best friend", you've orphaned that clue. An orphaned clue is not necessarily a mistake, especially if you are planning to place "DOG" back into the grid at some later time. As long as you do not delete "Man's best friend", you can place "DOG" back into the puzzle at any location you like; the connection to the orphaned clue will automatically be restored. Searching for Words Use the "WORDFIND" tool to search for words with common (or uncommon!) letter patterns. This is especially useful if you're designing a puzzle by hand (that is, without the help of "Auto Place"), and need a word that contains certain letters in certain positions. 1. Press Alt-P-W to display the "WORDFIND" dialog. 2. Type a letter pattern in the "Pattern" text box. A pattern may contain letters of the alphabet or "wildcards" (any non-alpha character). For example, B??L??S is a valid pattern. 3. Press "Ok" to begin the search. Matching words are displayed in a paged, columnar format. Press "Continue" to view each successive page. 4. You may begin a new search at any time. Simply supply a different pattern and press "Ok". Selecting a Printer Use the "Printer" tool to tell Crossword Creator what kind of printer you'll be using. It is important to get a good match between your printer and one of CWC's printer "drivers". If your printer is not explicitly supported, check the "Printer Support List" in Appendix B for a compatible driver. 1. Press Alt-O-P to display the "Printer" dialog. 2. Select a printer from the list. 3. Press "Ok". Specifying File Locations Use the "File Locations" tool to tell Crossword Creator where to look for its supporting data files. If you used SETUP to install Crossword Creator, these settings should already contain the proper pathnames. 1. Press Alt-O-L to display the "File Locations" dialog. 2. For each of the three text boxes, type a valid DOS pathname. To indicate the "current" DOS directory, leave the entry blank. Crossword Creator - Location of CWC printer drivers and language files (*.CWP, *.CWL, *.CWH, *.CWI). Puzzles - Location of your puzzle files (*.PUZ, *.CLU). WORDFIND - Location of WORDFIND databases. 3. Press "Ok". Selecting a Color Scheme Use the "Colors" tool to change Crossword Creator's color scheme. 1. Press Alt-O-C to display the "Colors" dialog. 2. Select a screen element from the "Colors" button group. The current "Foreground" and "Background" colors for that element are highlighted. 3. Select a new "Foreground" and/or "Background" color. The screen icons are updated so you can see what the new colors will look like. 4. Press "Ok". Using the On-Line Help There are two ways to get on-line help in Crossword Creator: - From a dialog box, press F1 or the "Help" command button. This displays a help window about the current dialog. - From the main screen, press Shift+F1 or Alt-H-T. This displays the "Help Topics" dialog. Select a topic from the list. Help windows are scrollable and respond to the cursor arrow keys, Home/End, and PgUp/PgDn. To dismiss a help window, press ESC or the "Cancel" command button. Advanced Features Importing Words and Clues Crossword Creator allows you to import words and/or clues from an external file. This gives you the ability to pull in words and clues from a variety of sources: databases, word-processors, electronic books, scanned documents, etc. The input file can contain just words or both words and clues. The format of the file must be either plain ASCII text or comma-delimited (mail-merge). CWC always assumes that the first word on the line is the puzzle word; the rest of the line is considered to be the clue. ASCII example: BASEBALL The "grand old game" CHRISTMAS Santa's big day Comma-delimited example: "BASEBALL","The ~grand~ old game" "CHRISTMAS","Santa's big day" Note that in this format a double-quote cannot be imbedded in the data and must be replaced by another character. If you use a tilde, CWC will automatically convert it to a double-quote as the data is imported. To import a file, use the "Import" tool. 1. Press Alt-F-I. The "Import" dialog is displayed. 2. Type the name of your import file in the "Name" text box. Include a drive ID and pathname if necessary. 3. Indicate what you intend to import by selecting one of the "Contents" buttons. 4. Check the "Append" box if you want the import data to be added to any existing words and clues. Uncheck the box if you want the import data to replace the existing words and clues. 5. Press "Ok". CWC displays a record count as the file is imported. The puzzle words are placed into the word bank, and the clues are placed into CWC's internal clue table. You can now use the "Auto Place" tool to build a grid from the imported words. The clues will be attached to the words automatically as they are placed into the grid. Exporting Puzzles Puzzles that you design with Crossword Creator can be exported into other file formats. This lets you take advantage of the special capabilities of other software and hardware: desktop publishing applications, Postscript printers, etc. Crossword Creator currently supports two external formats: ASCII text and XWP. This latter format is especially important because it is required by CWC's companion programs, "Crossword Publisher" by Longridge Software and PC HELP-LINE's own "Crossword Clipper for Windows". To export a file, use the "Export" tool. 1. Press Alt-F-E. The "Export" dialog is displayed. 2. Type the name of your export file in the "Name" text box. Include a drive ID and pathname if necessary. 3. Select one of the "Format" buttons. 4. The check boxes in the "Options" group apply only to the "ASCII text" format. Check the ones you want. 5. Press "Ok". CWC displays a record count as the file is exported. Building Custom WORDFIND Databases WFMAKE is a utility for creating your own custom WORDFIND databases. WFMAKE does not have a user-interface; it operates exclusively from the DOS command line, using parameters that you supply. A WORDFIND database is actually a group of related files with similar names. Each file in the group contains words that have the same number of letters. For example, PC HELP-LINE's "English" database contains the files ENGL2, ENGL3, ENGL4, etc., through ENGL20. ENGL2 contains all the 2-letter words, ENGL3 contains the 3-letter words, and so on. The data in each file is stored in a compressed, "WORDFIND format", but it can be uncompressed into a readable, "ASCII format". WFMAKE enables you to move data back and forth between these two formats. Uncompressing a WORDFIND File (WORDFIND-to-ASCII) To uncompress a WORDFIND file, execute WFMAKE like this: WFMAKE wffilename asciifilename /* example: WFMAKE engl5 words5.txt /* The first parameter is the name of the WORDFIND file you want to uncompress. The second parameter is the name of the ASCII file you want to create. The "/*" indicates that the type of data conversion you want is "WORDFIND-to-ASCII". Creating a New WORDFIND File (ASCII-to-WORDFIND) To compress an ASCII file, execute WFMAKE like this: WFMAKE asciifilename wffilename example: WFMAKE mathwrds.txt math10 In this case, the parameters are reversed. The first parameter is now the name of the ASCII file you want to compress. The second parameter is the name of the WORDFIND file you want to create. The absence of the "/*" indicates that the type of data conversion you want is "ASCII-to-WORDFIND". Note that the ASCII file can contain words of varying lengths. WFMAKE will ignore all words that are not of the same length required by the WORDFIND file you're creating, so you'll have to run WFMAKE multiple times to build a complete database. Naming Conventions When naming your WORDFIND database files, you must follow these conventions: 1. The first four (or fewer) characters must be the same for each file in the group. These characters are the database "name". 2. The remaining character(s) must form a numeric value, indicating the length of the words in that file. 3. You are limited to eight characters in total; DOS filename extensions (.???) are not allowed. example: ENGL7 | | | | contains only 7-letter words | | the database name is "ENGL" Performance Although it is not required, Crossword Creator's WORDFIND tool will perform better if the words in your database files are stored in alphabetical order. Before using WFMAKE to create new WORDFIND files, sort your ASCII files. Most versions of DOS come with a simple SORT utility, and many word-processors and text editors can also sort files. Also, don't mix upper and lower case letters in your ASCII files, since most sort routines are case-sensitive. Using Puzzle Templates If you're used to using the "Auto Place" tool in its default "Freeform" mode, you already know how quickly and efficiently Crossword Creator can generate a grid from a finite domain (your list) of words. You must, however, make one concession in order to get that speed and convenience: you have to give up control of the grid shape. In other words, pre-defined or symmetrical grids are incompatible with Auto Place's "Freeform" mode. Crossword Creator recognizes, though, that speed is not always necessary, and there may be times when you would willingly sacrifice convenience to gain control of the grid. CWC provides this control via puzzle templates. Templates are simply a standard puzzle grids, with one difference. Instead of actual letters, special "template characters" are placed in the positions where you will eventually want to have letters. That is, template characters are used as placeholders for legitimate letters. Template characters are inserted when you press the UNDERSCORE key or Shift+Hyphen. To draw a template, simply move the cursor around in the puzzle window and type in template characters. When your template is ready, use "Auto Place" to try and fill it with words. Remember that you still need to supply a list of words for the robot to work with. The only difference is that you must select "Template" mode before starting the process. Although puzzle templates can be useful in the right situation, please do not get the idea that you can turn CWC into a crossword "generator". The "Auto Place" tool is not nearly sophisticated enough for that, and is limited by two important factors. First, the "robot" only has access to the contents of the word bank. It can't pull words out of thin air, or even out of a WORDFIND database. You may have to throw hundreds, even thousands, of words at a complex template just to fill a small section of it. Be prepared to make manual changes and adjustments. Second, since there's no dictionary involved, "Template" mode invariably creates perpendicular nonsense when two legitimate words are placed side-by-side. Again, you will have to correct this manually, or stick to very "open" template designs. Crossword Clipper for Windows Crossword Clipper is a Microsoft Windows Clipboard utility, and a companion application to Crossword Creator and Crossword Publisher. It is not an "editor" like Crossword Creator; it is a customizeable "viewer" and layout tool. CWCLIP's singular purpose is to place a WYSIWYG image of your puzzle into the Clipboard, so you can "paste" it into another Windows application. Crossword Clipper is not a complex application, and its operation should be immediately familiar to any Windows user. Setup 1. Copy the VBRUN100.DLL library file from the CROSSWORD CLIPPER DISK into your main Windows subdirectory, usually \WIN. This library file must be present before you can run CWCLIP. 2. Copy CWCLIP.EXE from the CROSSWORD CLIPPER DISK to a subdirectory on your hard disk. CWCLIP requires Microsoft Windows 3.0 "standard" mode or "enhanced" mode. Run it as you would any other Windows application. 3. If you are going to add CWCLIP to one of your Program Manager groups, you may want to add Crossword Creator as well. A Windows icon, CWC.ICO, has been provided on the CROSSWORD CLIPPER DISK. Tips and Hints 1. Don't try to run CWCLIP from the distribution floppy disk. If you do, Windows may load VBRUN100.DLL from the floppy, too, and CWCLIP will run very s--l--o--w--l--y. 2. CWCLIP will only read XWP-formatted puzzle files. You can create .XWP files with Crossword Creator's "Export" tool. 3. To change the size of the puzzle boxes, simply resize CWCLIP's window -- the puzzle will be redrawn to fill the new window dimensions. Note, however, that resizing the window does not alter the font size you've selected. It is up to you to select an appropriate font for the new box size. 4. Avoid resizing the puzzle grid once you've pasted it into another application. Since you are now manipulating a bitmap graphic, rather than specific fonts and lines, resizing the image will distort its clarity. Instead, go back to CWCLIP. Resize the grid, clip it again, then re-paste the new image into your target application. 5. Some Windows applications, Pagemaker, for example, allow you to choose the resolution at which graphics are displayed. Since CWCLIP creates relatively high-resolution bitmaps, you may only see a "rough" image on the screen if you've selected a low-resolution graphics display. The resolution of the display, however, should have no effect on printed output. Appendices Printer Compatibility Issues If you can't get Crossword Creator to produce sharp, square boxes and continuous lines on your printer, you may have a compatibility problem. The following facts about PC printers should help you determine the best way to use your printer with CWC. When a printer manufacturer advertises a particular model as "IBM compatible", they usually mean that the printer recognizes the same control code sequences as IBM printers. For most word processing and spreadsheet applications this is quite sufficient because only the standard alphanumeric ASCII characters are required by these kinds of programs. But letters and numbers are only a subset of the symbols that make up a printer's "character set". When IBM introduced the original PC, they endowed it with a special, proprietary character set that included a nice set of line and box drawing characters, and programmers used them to good advantage in their software to spruce up their screens. Crossword Creator uses these characters, for example, to draw the frame boundaries around windows and dialog boxes. All "IBM compatible" computers can reproduce these characters on the screen, but not all printers can reproduce them on paper. That's the rub. Your printer may be IBM "control code" compatible, but not IBM "character set" compatible. Now as far as Crossword Creator is concerned, character set compatibility is much more important than control code compatibility. A printer driver can be built for any printer, no matter how complex its control codes, but if your printer can't reproduce the IBM character set, you just won't be able to produce the best possible output. However, you can get "draft" output from any printer, IBM-compatible or not. Crossword Creator does come with "plain" printer drivers that use just the standard ASCII characters "|", "-", and "+" to draw boxes. Yes, the output is rougher-looking, but it's better than nothing. The point is, CWC can use any characters that your printer knows how to draw, but it can't give IBM character set compatibility to a printer that doesn't already have it built-in. If you're in doubt about your printer's capabilities, try this simple test. Startup Crossword Creator; when you get to the main screen, press Shift+PrtSc on your keyboard. If the window frames print out just like they appear on the screen, your printer is IBM "character set" compatible. If you get italic characters or something other than solid lines, you may be limited to draft-quality output. One last important point. Printers equipped with an "auto line feed" feature can adversely affect CWC's printing. The most obvious symptom is output that looks "double-spaced" and is regularly broken up by horizontal lines of "white space". There is no way that Crossword Creator can compensate for an "auto line feed" problem because it occurs "behind the program's back", at the hardware level. Check your owner's manual. This feature can usually be disabled by positioning a hardware DIP switch somewhere on the printer. Printer Support List If your printer is not explicitly supported, you still have two options. First, check your owner's manual to see if your printer "emulates" any of those listed. If so, you can probably use that driver. Second, PC HELP-LINE will build custom drivers free of charge if you can provide the owner's manual for the printer. Manufacturer Driver Name Model Name / Description --------------------------------------------------------------------- any DABLO630 all DIABLO 630 standard printer --------------------------------------------------------------------- C. Itoh CI8510A 8510A --------------------------------------------------------------------- Epson EPFX86E FX-86e, FX family EPFXPLN older FX, no IBM character set EPLQ850 LQ-850, LQ family EPLQPLN older LQ, no IBM character set EPLX800 LX-800, LX family EPRX80 RX-80 EPMX80 MX-80 --------------------------------------------------------------------- HP HPDJET DeskJet Plus, DeskJet 500 HPLJET LaserJet Series II or higher HPLJETLS (landscape) --------------------------------------------------------------------- IBM IBGRAPH Graphics Printer IBPROPR ProPrinter Manufacturer Driver Name Model Name / Description --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEC NEP2200 P2200, P6/P7 Pinwriters --------------------------------------------------------------------- Okidata OKML190 Microline 190 Plus OKML192 Microline 192/193 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Panasonic PAKX1080 KX-P1080 PAKX1124 KX-P1124 PAKX1180 KX-P1180 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Star STGEM10X Gemini 10-X --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tandy TADMP130 DMP-130 TADWP220 DWP-220 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Toshiba TOP1351 P1351 Error and Warning Messages When Crossword Creator encounters an error (or some other unusual situation), it informs you with a message box. The text of the message will describe the nature of the error, name the device or file involved (if any), and show the error number (if applicable). Common messages are listed alphabetically below, along with the possible causes and remedies. If you receive a message that is not listed, or if you cannot resolve a documented error yourself, contact PC HELP-LINE Technical Support. (file name) already exists You are attempting to overwrite an existing puzzle with the same name as the current puzzle. This will destroy the puzzle that is already on the disk. To overwrite the existing puzzle, respond "Ok" to the message box prompt. If you respond "Cancel", the save operation is not performed. Can't load language file (file name); insufficient memory You don't have enough memory in your system to run CWC. The minimum memory requirement is 320K. You need to make more memory available to CWC. Number: 248 Device (device name) disk is write-protected The disk drive named in the message has been write-protected. Remove the write-protect tab, or use another disk. Number: 70 Device (device name) drive not ready The disk drive named in the message was not on-line and available. Make sure it is powered up, and that the drive doors are fully closed. Number: 71 Device (device name) not ready The device named in the message was not on-line and available. Make sure all your peripherals are powered up and ready. Number: 24, 25, 57, 68 Device (device name) out of paper CWC is trying to use the printer, but it is out of paper. Try printing again after you've put in more paper. Number: 27 Disk (device name) is full The disk drive named in the message does not have enough free space to store the data you are trying to save. Use a new disk, or delete some existing files to free up more space. Number: 61 DOS command processor not available CWC could not create a DOS SHELL because it could not locate the DOS command processor, probably COMMAND.COM. This is usually only a problem with floppy-based systems. Put your original boot disk back in the drive and try again. Number: 252 End of word list WORDFIND has searched to the end of the dictionary file. There are no more words in the dictionary that match the pattern you specified. File (drive\path\filename) access error CWC attempted to alter or delete a "read-only" file, or violated a network access rule. Use a different drive\path\filename. Number: 75 File (drive\path\filename) bad file name The drive, path, or file named in the message is invalid or does not exist. Check that the drive, path, and filenames are spelled correctly. Number: 64 File (drive\path\filename) file not found The drive, path, or file named in the message does not exist. Check that the drive, path, and filenames are spelled correctly. Number: 52, 53 File (drive\path\filename) input past EOF CWC tried to read past the end of a file. Report this error to PCHL. Number: 62 File or device I/O error No explanation. CWC encountered an error it was not expecting. Report this error to PCHL. Number: 1-255 (word) is an incomplete word You are attempting to supply a clue for a word that contains template characters. You must replace all template characters with valid letters before a clue can be accepted. Language file (drive\path\filename) contains an invalid PCHL language code All CWC language files are assigned a unique code by PCHL, once they have been thoroughly tested for compatibility. The language file you are trying to use has either not been tested, or has been corrupted in some way. Report this error to PCHL. Number: 251 Language file (drive\path\filename) incompatible with this version of CWC All CWC language files contain a "version number" that corresponds to the internal version of CWC.EXE. The format of the language files has changed with each new release of Crossword Creator. You are trying to use a language file that is in the wrong format. Contact PCHL to obtain a "matched" set of CWC program and support files. Number: 253 Maximum clues exceeded You have exceeded the upper limit of 300 puzzle clues. This is an absolute limit imposed by Crossword Creator. Number: 250 No clues defined The "Review Clues" tool cannot be used until the text of at least one clue has been input. No HELP available for this topic A "header" record for this topic was found in the Help file, but there was no accompanying text. Number: 243 No printer selected, or destination is blank You have not selected a printer driver, or have not specified a destination for your printer output. Select a printer from the list box in the "Print" dialog, and supply a device name or a filename in the "Destination" text box. Number: 255 Orphaned clues found The "Review Clues" tools has identified some orphaned clues. To delete these clues, respond "Ok" to the message box prompt. If you respond "Cancel", the clues are retained. Out of MEMORY CWC could not allocate enough memory to run properly, or all available memory has been consumed by the text of puzzle clues. The minimum memory requirement is 320K. You need to make more memory available to CWC. Number: 7 Out of STRING SPACE CWC could not allocate enough memory to display the text of a help topic, or the text of puzzle clues has consumed all of the memory available. These are absolute limits. Decrease the length or number of your puzzle clues. Number: 14 Path (drive\path) not found The drive or path named in the message is invalid or does not exist. Check that the drive and pathname are spelled correctly. Number: 76 Pattern requires at least 2 tokens The WORDFIND search pattern you specified is less than 2 characters long. The minimum word length is 2 letters, so you must specify a pattern containing at least that many tokens. Number: 254 Puzzle is too wide for printer Your puzzle requires more print positions than are available, as defined by the printer driver you have selected. You must decrease the size (width) of your puzzle. Recent changes have not been saved You have made changes to the puzzle currently in memory, but have not saved your work. To save your changes, respond "Yes" to the message box prompt. If you respond "No", your changes will be discarded. Setup paper in printer CWC has paused during a print operation to allow you to put a new sheet of paper in your printer. Deselecting the "Continuous Forms" option on the "Print" dialog sets this condition. Too many words in the puzzle Your puzzle is too complex for CWC to format properly. You will have to remove some words from the puzzle in order to continue. Report this error to PCHL. Number: 249