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&CWH01*** Crossword Creator Quick Start *** Welcome to Crossword Creator! This section is a quick overview and a mini-tutorial. Even if you are totally unfamiliar with Crossword Creator, you should be able to follow these basic directions and get right to work. Crossword Creator's user-interface is consistent and intuitive. Once you learn a few simple keyboard (or mouse) operations, you'll be able to apply them everywhere in the program. For the rest of this discussion, we'll assume that you'll be using the keyboard to operate the program. If you have a mouse and use it frequently with other programs, Crossword Creator's operation will already be familiar. You should think of CWC as a specialized word-processor, designed specifically for making crossword puzzles. The major difference is the ability to type VERTICALLY, as well as HORIZONTALLY. The program's major functions are accessed through the MENU SYSTEM. Most of these functions display a DIALOG BOX that will prompt you for additional information. MESSAGE BOXES may also appear when errors occur, or when CWC wants to inform you of something. To design a puzzle, you must complete two major tasks: typing the puzzle words as they would appear in the completed crossword (the "solution"), and providing a clue for each of those words (up to 4 lines per clue). To type in words, simply press the letter keys on the keyboard as you would in a word-processor. The PLUS ("+") key toggles the typing direction. To enter clues, place the CURSOR on any letter of a word and press Ctrl+C. A dialog box will accept your text. The menu system is composed of two parts: the ACTION BAR, and the PULL-DOWN menus. The ACTION BAR is displayed along the top line of the screen. Each word in the action bar is associated with a group of related functions. To select a group, press the ALT key together with the CAPITALIZED LETTER in the action bar word. For example, to select the "File" group, press Alt+F. When an action bar group is selected, a PULL-DOWN menu will appear. Each word in the pull-down menu is associated with a specific function to be performed. To select a function, press the CAPITALIZED LETTER in the pull-down word. To execute it, press ENTER. For example, to perform the "Print" function, press P, then ENTER. If a pull-down word ends with "...", it means that a DIALOG BOX will follow. A dialog box may contain any number of objects, depending on what kind of information is needed by that function. Some of the objects you may see are INPUT BOXES, CHECK BOXES, LIST BOXES, RANGE BARS, RADIO BUTTONS, and PUSH BUTTONS. INPUT BOXES accept text that you type. CHECK BOXES allow you to turn "options" on and off by pressing the SPACEBAR. LIST BOXES and RADIO BUTTONS let you make a single choice from a set of available choices by pressing ENTER or the SPACEBAR. RANGE BARS use the LEFT/RIGHT ARROW keys to specify a value. PUSH BUTTONS cause some action to be taken on the dialog box as a whole when you press ENTER or the SPACEBAR. All dialog boxes and message boxes will contain at least one push button. The word inside the push button indicates the action that will be taken when you "press" it with the ENTER key or the SPACEBAR. For example, "OK" would accept your input (or acknowledgement) and complete the function, where "CANCEL" would simply exit without doing anything at all. Pressing the ESC key on the keyboard is equivalent to pressing the "CANCEL" button on the screen. As you work within a dialog box, use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to highlight individual objects (for MESSAGE BOXES, use the LEFT/RIGHT ARROW keys). A highlighted object is said to "have the INPUT FOCUS", meaning that your keyboard input will affect it. Only one object at a time can have the INPUT FOCUS, so you will have to move it from object to object. When you are finished with all of the objects, press one of the PUSH BUTTONS at the bottom of the dialog box. The F1 function key is the universal HELP key. You can display CONTEXT-SENSITIVE help information for any dialog box by pressing F1. If you want to browse through the entire HELP file, press Shift+F1 to display a LIST BOX of help topics, then select the subject you want to read about. The ESC key is the universal QUIT key. Pressing it will get you out of any dialog or help screen, except MESSAGE BOXES; they can only be dismissed by pressing one of their push buttons. See "Dialog And Message Box Operations" for a complete explanation of how to manipulate dialog objects. &CWH02Features and System Requirements Features -------- - Windowed, "industry-standard" user-interface featuring pull-down menus, dialog boxes, and mouse support. - Comprehensive, context-sensitive HELP available on-line. - Automated puzzle design using an advanced "auto-placement" function that helps you position words in the puzzle. Word placement can be "freeform" or constrained to a pre-defined "template". - WORDFIND interface. Search dictionary files for words with unique letter-patterns. Make custom WORDFIND files with the WFMAKE utility. - Foreign language support. Custom "language" files can be translated into any language that uses the PC's character set and alphabet. - Prints puzzles in the traditional format, complete with numbered boxes and an indexed clue list. Solutions, too. Supports dot-matrix, daisy-wheel, ink-jet, and laser printers. - CWDTP utility creates "plain ASCII" puzzle files, suitable for importing into DTP applications. - Identification of "orphaned" clues whose target words are not being used in the puzzle. - Type horizontally AND vertically. - Edit ACROSS and DOWN clues simultaneously. - Line-oriented UNDO function. - Create puzzles up to 36 letters wide by 23 letters high, with up to 300 words and clues. Clues can be up to four lines in length, 33 characters per line. - Compatible with all popular networks. Individual users can customize their own environment. 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 useable, but will produce output of poor quality. PostScript is not supported. See "Printer Compatibility Issues" for a discussion on using printers with Crossword Creator. &CWH03Installation and Startup 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 SETUP program supplied on the PROGRAM disk will get you up and running faster than trying to configure the software on your own. To run SETUP, place the Crossword Creator PROGRAM 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. SETUP will ask you a number of questions about your system and then copy the necessary files from the distribution disks to your own working disks. Crossword Creator and WORDFIND are distributed on both 5.25", 360K floppy disks, and 3.5", 720K micro-floppy disks. In the latter format, files from multiple "disks" may be present on the same physical medium. The following files should be present on your distribution disk(s): Crossword Creator PROGRAM disk ------------------------------ . SETUP.EXE - Installation utility . REGISTER.CWC - registration/upgrade instructions . CWC.EXE - the Crossword Creator program . ENGL.CWL - English version language file . ENGL.CWH - English version help file . ENGL.CWI - English version help file index Crossword Creator SUPPORT disk ------------------------------ . CWHPRINT.EXE - HELP file print utility . CWDTP.EXE - Desktop publishing utility . WFMAKE.EXE - Custom WORDFIND file utility . *.CWP - printer definition files . *.PUZ - sample puzzle files . *.CLU - sample clue files; paired with *.PUZ WORDFIND disks 1 thru 3 ----------------------- . X2 thru X20 - dictionary files . WFX.EXE - archived "leading letter" dictionary files Startup ------- To start Crossword Creator, type CWC at the DOS prompt and press ENTER. CWC.EXE must be in the CURRENT directory unless you've issued a PATH command that allows DOS to find it. CONFIG.CWC must also be in the current directory. Crossword Creator's language files must be in the current directory unless you use the "CWC=" environment variable to indicate a specific directory. 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] [/A] [/BW] If you specify a puzzle name, CWC will load that puzzle for you on startup. The "/A" tells CWC to assume that your WORDFIND dictionary files are ALPHABETICAL. 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 filename, for example, "ESPA" (do not use the ".CWL" extension). The program will read that language file on startup. You CANNOT run CWC without a language file. 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 /a (reads ESPA.CWL, assume WORDFIND alphabetical) &CWH04Screen Layout/Landmarks +-------------------------------------------------+ | Action Bar | +-----------------------+-------------------------+ | Puzzle Box | Reference Box | | | | | +---------------------------+ | | | | | | | Dialog or Message Box | | | | | | | +---------------------------+ | | | | | | | | +-------------------------+ | | Status Box | +-----------------------+-------------------------+ The graphic above shows the layout of Crossword Creator's main screen, and identifies its five major elements. Other sections in this manual make references to these elements, so use this picture to orient yourself. The ACTION BAR is the "control center" for the MENU SYSTEM. The group names of the puzzle functions are listed in the action bar, and the pull-down menus descend from there. The PUZZLE BOX is where you edit your puzzles. You cannot move the cursor outside of the puzzle box boundaries, nor can you type in other areas of the screen. The DOS filename of the current puzzle is displayed in the top boundary. The REFERENCE BOX displays a summary of the basic keyboard and mouse edit actions. Use it as a "quick reference". The STATUS BOX contains status information about the current puzzle. The values are updated continuously, so you always get up-to-the-minute data. "MEM=" displays two values separated by a vertical bar. On the left is the total number of bytes of unused memory in your system. On the right is the number of unused characters available for the text of new puzzle clues. "CLU=" displays two more values. To the left of the bar is the number defined by the MaxPuzClues= configuration keyword. To the right is a count of the actual number of clues defined in the current puzzle. The current typing direction is displayed in the top-left corner, and the row and column position of the cursor is displayed in the top-right corner. DIALOG BOXES and MESSAGE BOXES are not fixed areas. They can open up anywhere, but generally these boxes appear in the center of your screen. See "CONFIGURATION" for instructions on how to customize the colors of these screen areas. &CWH05Keyboard Operations 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. We will, however, need to highlight some special keystrokes and explain the naming conventions CWC uses when it refers to the keyboard. One of the first things you should notice in CWC is the large, rectangular REFERENCE BOX that takes up most of the right-half of the screen. The keystrokes (and mouse movements) listed in this box summarize the basic keyboard operations available to you when you are editing a puzzle design -- a "cheat sheet". Although these keystrokes are undoubtedly familiar, you are probably only used to thinking of them in a HORIZONTAL orientation, as in a word-processor. But in Crossword Creator, everything applies to the VERTICAL orientation as well. The PLUS KEY ("+") toggles the program back and forth between the ACROSS typing direction and the DOWN typing direction. Each time you press this key, the orientation reverses. The current typing direction is displayed in the STATUS BOX, just beneath the REFERENCE BOX. In addition to the standard QWERTY keystrokes you use every day, the PC keyboard can also generate dozens of other "special" keystroke combinations. For example, the Ctrl+Alt+Del sequence that reboots the computer. Crossword Creator uses several special combinations, many of them as menu "accelerators". What's important is that you interpret these keystrokes correctly when you read about them in the HELP information or see them displayed on the screen. CWC uses a simple notational convention to describe multi-key keystroke combinations -- Alt+F, for example. Notice that the keycap names are joined together with a "+", indicating that you should first press and hold down the ALT key, then press the F key. Likewise, if you see the combination Ctrl+Right, you should press and hold down the CTRL key, then press the RIGHT ARROW key. See "Menu Operations" and "Mouse Operations" for basic instructions on using the other parts of Crossword Creator's "user-interface". &CWH06Menu Operations 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 interact with the MENU SYSTEM. Every "tool" built into CWC is listed in the menu system. To use one of those functions, you simply select it from the menu and ask the program to execute it. When the function is complete, you can select another tool, and so on. The way that you use the functions, and the sequence that you use them in, will be unique to your needs; Crossword Creator imposes no pre-defined structure on your work. As you become more familiar with the program, the location of the various functions in the menu system will become second-nature to you and, as you'll see, the menus are flexible enough to assist the novice without hindering the expert. The menu system is composed of two parts: the ACTION BAR, and the PULL-DOWN menus. The ACTION BAR is displayed along the top line of the screen. Each word in the action bar is associated with a group of related functions. To select a group, press the ALT key together with the CAPITALIZED LETTER in the action bar word. For example, to select the "File" group, press Alt+F. When an action bar group is selected, a PULL-DOWN menu will appear. Each word in the pull-down menu is associated with a specific function to be performed. To select a function, press the CAPITALIZED LETTER in the pull-down word. To execute it, press ENTER. For example, to perform the "Print" function, press P, then ENTER. There are also other ways to manipulate the menus. For example, you can also use the ARROW keys to scroll vertically and horizontally through the functions. When you find the one you want, just press ENTER. Or, if you change your mind and decide not to do anything, press ESC and the pull-downs will disappear. As you will notice, some menu functions have a special keystroke combination listed to the right of the function name. These are called menu "accelerators" because they are a short-cut way of executing a function WITHOUT going through the menu system. You can use the accelerator keystrokes whenever the menus are in a neutral state, that is, when no pull-downs are displayed. When you press the accelerator keystroke, the associated function will be immediately executed. As you begin to memorize these "accelerators", you'll find that your interaction with CWC as a whole will speed up considerably. If you see a function name that ends with "...", it means that you will have to supply further information in a DIALOG BOX before that function will execute. Functions that do not use a dialog box are executed as soon as you initiate them. Lastly, if you want a detailed explanation about any of the menu functions BEFORE you execute them, you can use the HELP key. First, select a function using the techniques described above. Then, instead of pressing ENTER, press F1. The HELP window for that function will be displayed. See "Keyboard Operations" and "Mouse Operations" for basic instructions on using the other parts of Crossword Creator's "user-interface". See "Dialog And Message Box Operations" for a complete explanation of how to manipulate dialog objects. &CWH07Mouse Operations 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 SYSTEM and the DIALOG BOXES. In addition, there are some simple short-cuts you can use while editing your puzzle. To operate the menus, place the mouse cursor on top of one of the words in the ACTION BAR. PRESS BUTTON 1; a PULL-DOWN menu will be displayed. DRAG the mouse cursor over the function names in the menu until the one you want is highlighted. RELEASE the button; the function will be executed. Inside a DIALOG or MESSAGE BOX, the mouse simultaneously moves the INPUT FOCUS and manipulates the OBJECT. With "selection" objects like RADIO and PUSH BUTTONS, and CHECK and LIST BOXES, just CLICK BUTTON 1 on the item you want to select. If a list box displays a SCROLL BAR on one side, you can scroll forward and backward by CLICKing BUTTON 1 inside the SCROLL BAR or on the ARROWHEADS at each end. With RANGE BARS, move the mouse on top of the "range pointer", PRESS BUTTON 1, DRAG the pointer to the desired value, and RELEASE the button. With INPUT BOXES, CLICK BUTTON 1 anywhere inside the edit box, then move the cursor or type your text as needed. Note that all of these mouse operations are accomplished with BUTTON 1. This is a LOGICAL identification and does not always mean the left-most button. Mice have different numbers of buttons, and most allow you to specify which PHYSICAL BUTTON is BUTTON 1. If you have problems using your mouse, check your owner's manual first. There are three more short-cuts you can use with the mouse while you are editing your puzzle. First, CLICKing BUTTON 1 anywhere in the PUZZLE BOX will move the cursor to that position. CLICKing BUTTON 2 on any WORD in the puzzle will automatically execute the EDIT CLUES dialog box. Lastly, CLICKing BUTTON 1 on the PLUS SIGN "(+)" in the STATUS BOX will toggle the typing direction. See "Keyboard" and "Menu Operations" for basic instructions on using the other parts of Crossword Creator's "user-interface". &CWH08Dialog And Message Box Operations Crossword Creator's user-interface is based on the concept of "windows". A window is a rectangular box that "pops-up" on top of your work, asks you for some information, and then disappears. The WINDOW has been adopted as "the" user-interface object by almost all leading software manufacturers. CWC's user-interface was re-engineered at Version 4.0 specifically to follow these "de facto" industry standards. The most common use for a window is to display a DIALOG BOX or a MESSAGE BOX. In general, DIALOG BOXES are a way for you to give information to the PROGRAM -- an INPUT. MESSAGE BOXES, on the other hand, are a way for the program to give information to YOU -- an OUTPUT. When you see a dialog box or a message box, you should notice that it contains (or more correctly, is composed of) one or more dialog OBJECTS. One simple kind of object is a line of text; an error message, perhaps. But there are many other, more powerful objects that have been designed for specialized uses. Some of the objects you'll see in Crossword Creator dialogs are INPUT BOXES, CHECK BOXES, LIST BOXES, RANGE BARS, RADIO BUTTONS, and PUSH BUTTONS. INPUT BOXES allow you to input freeform text; for example, the clues that you provide for the words in your puzzle. You can think of an input box as a "mini" word-processor because you can type words, delete and insert characters, move the cursor, etc. When you've finished typing, press ENTER to signal the end of your input. CHECK BOXES allow you to select a subset of "options" from a larger list. "Give me that, but NOT that", for example. Or, "Do this to all of the items I've checked." A single check box has only two states: ON and OFF. Pressing the SPACEBAR toggles these two states. Like check boxes, RADIO BUTTONS also allow you to select from a set of available choices. The difference is that you may select only ONE item from the group -- they are all mutually exclusive. The term RADIO BUTTON is borrowed from the design of old-style car radios. Remember the station selector buttons ? When you pushed ONE in, all the others popped out -- a single choice. To "push in" a radio button, press the SPACEBAR. A LIST BOX is another "single choice" object, but it is used in place of radio buttons when the number of possible choices is quite large; more than could comfortably be displayed together on the screen. For this reason, list boxes are usually SCROLLABLE. You can identify a scrollable LIST BOX by the SCROLL BAR present on its right-hand border. To make a selection, highlight your choice using the ARROW keys or the PGUP/PGDN keys, then press ENTER. Sometimes you need to specify a single numeric value that falls within a specific range. For example, "Pick a number between 1 and 100." In this situation, a RANGE BAR is commonly used. Simply use the LEFT/RIGHT ARROW keys to slide the "range pointer" over to the desired value. PUSH BUTTONS are a special class of radio button. They are the "control panel" for the entire window because pushing one of them causes some action to be taken on the dialog box as a whole. All dialog boxes and message boxes will contain at least one PUSH BUTTON. The word inside the push button indicates the action that will be taken when you "push it" by pressing ENTER or the SPACEBAR. For example, "OK" would accept your input (or acknowledgement) and complete the dialog, where "CANCEL" would simply exit without doing anything at all. Pressing the ESC key on the keyboard is equivalent to pressing the "CANCEL" button on the screen. As you work within a dialog box, use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to highlight individual objects (for MESSAGE BOXES, use the LEFT/RIGHT ARROW keys). A highlighted object is said to "have the INPUT FOCUS", meaning that your keyboard input will affect it. Only one object at a time can have the INPUT FOCUS, so you will have to move it from object to object. If you press the PGDN key, the INPUT FOCUS will move immediately to the first push button in the dialog. See "Keyboard", "Menu", and "Mouse Operations" for more instruction on Crossword Creator's user-interface. &CWH09Registering With PC HELP-LINE PC HELP-LINE believes that no one should have to pay for software before they have a chance to try it out for themselves. You are free to evaluate the program for a reasonable length of time, but if you want to continue using it you have an obligation to register with PCHL. Registration establishes you as a customer of PC HELP-LINE and entitles you to the CWC Support Disk, discounts on future upgrades, news about upcoming products, technical support, and other privileges. The registration fee is $20 U.S. dollars. Overseas customers should add an additional $7 to cover postage. A registration form is provided in the REGISTER.CWC text file. Simply print out the form, fill in the information, and return it to PC HELP-LINE with your registration fee. Comments and suggestions for enhancements are always welcome at PCHL. If you have an idea for a new feature or a new way to do something, or even if you find a bug (gasp!), PCHL wants to hear about it. Thank you for supporting shareware and PC HELP-LINE products. &CWH10*** New Features/Changes In Version 4.2 *** 1. AUTO PLACE function enhanced - New "word bank" feature remembers words that are NOT placed successfully. The AUTO PLACE dialog now presents a list of these words, and allows you to select them without retyping. The bank can hold up to 30 words, is maintained automatically, and can be pre-loaded by reading a plain, ASCII text file. New REPEAT mode lets you position multiple words without leaving the AUTO PLACE dialog. Build puzzles as fast as you can "point-and-click". 2. PRINT function enhanced - New "Fill Puzzle Area" option allows you to customize your output even more. Print the entire puzzle area rectangle (like earlier versions), or print only the puzzle "outline" (the new default), saving time and ink. New "Destination" feature lets you specify the desired device or filename for your output without changing printer definition files. The PrintDest= printer definition keyword is no longer supported. 3. Network support - Crossword Creator can now be installed easily on all popular network configurations. The CWC.EXE program and its supporting files (printer definition files, language files, help files, etc.) can reside on a central server and be accessed by individual nodes on the network. Each node can have its own CONFIG.CWC file, customized for that user. 4. On-line help interface improved - The dialog box that displays the text of help topics has been redesigned. In previous versions of CWC, this dialog did not provide a CANCEL button, and the only way to remove the window with the mouse was to click on the "diamond" symbol in the upper-left corner. The dialog box now uses a standard CANCEL button. 5. CWHPRINT enhanced - This utility will now accept a DOS command line parameter that allows you to specify the device or filename that will receive the printout. 6. CWDTP enhanced - This utility was modified to support the new "Fill Puzzle Area" option described in item 2, above. 7. New SETUP program helps you install CWC on your system. &CWH11NEW - Start From Scratch The NEW function clears the current puzzle and erases all clues from memory. You're left with a "clean slate". If you have made changes to a puzzle already in memory, but have not saved your work, NEW will warn you. Even if you choose NOT to save your changes, your disk files are safe. NEW erases memory, NOT disk files. &CWH12OPEN - Retrieve Your Puzzles The OPEN function reads a puzzle file and its corresponding clue file into memory so you can edit or print an existing crossword. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the OPEN dialog box: Name - A LIST BOX. Select the name of the puzzle you want to work with, using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys, then press ENTER. The selected name will appear above the list box as a confirmation. Ok - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to dismiss the dialog and open the puzzle you've selected. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT from the dialog without doing anything. CWC will only look for puzzles in the directory named by the PuzDirName= keyword in the CONFIG.CWC configuration file. If no pathname is supplied, CWC will look in the CURRENT directory. See "CONFIGURATION" for more information on the PuzDirName= keyword. &CWH13SAVE - Save Your Work The SAVE function takes the crossword data currently in memory and writes it to disk. If the puzzle was previously loaded from disk using the OPEN function, SAVE overwrites that disk file with the new version. If the puzzle has been built from scratch (an "UNTITLED" puzzle), CWC will execute the "Save As" dialog box so you can enter a puzzle name and title. CWC will write all puzzle files into the directory named by the PuzDirName= keyword in the CONFIG.CWC configuration file. If no pathname is supplied, CWC will write into the CURRENT directory. Two files are always created; a ".PUZ" file and a ".CLU" file. The first contains an image of the puzzle itself. The second contains the text of your word clues. These files are always paired and will have the same primary DOS filename. For example, MOVIES.PUZ and MOVIES.CLU. See "SAVE AS" for instructions on how to change a puzzle's title, or save it under a new name. &CWH14SAVE AS - Change Puzzle Name/Title The SAVE AS function is identical to the SAVE function, except that you are given the opportunity to rename the puzzle and/or change its title. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the SAVE AS dialog box: Name - An INPUT BOX. Type the primary (8-character) part of a DOS filename. Do not type the ".PUZ" extension. This is the external, disk filename of your puzzle and clues. Title - An INPUT BOX. Type up to four lines. Crossword Creator automatically centers this title above the puzzle when you print it. Ok - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to dismiss the dialog and save the puzzle. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT from the dialog without doing anything. Note that if you change the puzzle name, the original disk files will NOT be disturbed. This provides you with a convenient method for copying puzzles, or saving different versions of the same puzzle. In addition, SAVE AS will warn you if you are about to overwrite an existing puzzle having the same name as the one you supplied in the input box. &CWH16PRINT - Print Your Puzzles The PRINT function formats and prints the puzzle currently in memory. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the PRINT dialog box: Format - A set of RADIO BUTTONS. Highlight the print format you want to use, then press the SPACEBAR. The indicator "dot" will jump to your choice as a confirmation. Options - A set of CHECK BOXES. Highlight the option you wish to change, then press the SPACEBAR; this toggles the option on ("X") and off (blank). "Separate Clue Page" causes CWC to skip to the top of a new page before printing the puzzle clues. "Continuous Forms" tells the program that your printer can feed new pages of paper WITHOUT intervention from you. Turning this option off will cause CWC to pause between each page to allow you to insert a new piece of paper. "Fill Puzzle Area" always produces rectangularly-shaped puzzle printouts. Unused squares are filled in, producing the familiar black-and-white "checkerboard" look of traditional crosswords. Turning this option off will cause CWC to print only the OUTLINE of the puzzle. Unused squares are not printed, producing a puzzle with a freeform shape. If your puzzles are not very dense, this can save you a lot of time -- and ink. Printer - A LIST BOX. Select the name of the printer definition file you want to use, using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys, then press ENTER. The selected printer will appear above the list box as a confirmation. Destination - An INPUT BOX. Type the device or filename you want the printout sent to. The default value is "LPT1". Ok - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to dismiss the dialog and print the puzzle. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT from the dialog without doing anything. As the puzzle is formatted, Crossword Creator calculates the number of print columns that will be required to reproduce the crossword on paper. The actual calculation is: If HighestClueIndexNbr < 100, then PuzzleBoxWidth = 3 If HighestClueIndexNbr ≥ 100, then PuzzleBoxWidth = 4 NbrColumnsRequired = (PuzzleBoxWidth * NbrPuzzleLettersWide) + 1 Even though the maximum puzzle width is only 36 letters, many more columns are required to print the outlines of the puzzle boxes and other details that are not shown when editing a puzzle on the screen. The number of AVAILABLE print columns is specified by the MaxPrintCols= keyword in the printer definition file you've selected. If this is less than the calculated number required, CWC presents you with three choices: cancel the print routine, truncate the puzzle to fit and continue printing, or ignore the warning and print the puzzle anyway. Depending on your printer, trying to print a too-wide puzzle will probably result in garbled output. Most printers will perform an automatic carriage-return if a print line is too long, throwing off CWC's line spacing and "wrapping" the extra characters to the next print line. If you get a "Puzzle is too wide" warning and your printer has a condensed-print mode, try using a different printer definition file. Crossword Creator supplies both NORMAL and CONDENSED drivers for all printers that support condensed printing. See "Printer Definition Files" for complete documentation on MaxPrintCols= and the other printer control keywords. See "Printer Support List" for a list of the printers supported by Crossword Creator. &CWH18DOS SHELL - Execute DOS Commands The DOS SHELL function temporarily suspends Crossword Creator in memory, and presents you with the DOS command line. Use this function when you need to execute some DOS commands without exiting the main program. Theoretically, you could run another application, but remember that CWC is still consuming memory and you will have a lot less RAM to work with. To get back to Crossword Creator, type EXIT at the DOS command prompt and press ENTER. &CWH20EXIT - End The Program The EXIT function terminates Crossword Creator and returns you to DOS. If you have made changes to a puzzle in memory but have not saved your work, EXIT will warn you. &CWH21UNDO - Restore A Changed Puzzle Line The UNDO function allows you to reverse the effect of a recent puzzle edit action. UNDO works on a line-by-line basis. As long as you have not moved the cursor off of the edited line, your action can be undone. Once you move to another line, however, your edit action becomes permanent. For example, your current typing direction is ACROSS, and the cursor is on row three, column five, of your puzzle. You accidentally press Ctrl+End which erases all the letters to the right of the cursor. As long as the cursor remains on row three, UNDO can restore the line. A puzzle "line", as far as UNDO is concerned, can be either a row or a column, depending on the current typing direction. So, as long as you do not move the cursor PERPENDICULAR to the typing direction, UNDO will work. Your edits will also become permanent if you execute one of the menu functions. The only exception is the AUTO PLACE function. Even after successfully placing a word in the puzzle, UNDO can still remove it if you do so BEFORE moving the cursor off of that line. See "Keyboard" and "Mouse Operations" for a description of the available puzzle edit actions. &CWH23EDIT CLUES - Enter Your Puzzle Clues The EDIT CLUES function allows you to input the text of your puzzle clues. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the EDIT CLUES dialog box: Across/Down - An INPUT BOX. Type up to four lines. This will be the clue for the word shown above the input box. Delete - A CHECK BOX. Highlight "DELETE", then press the SPACEBAR; this toggles the option on ("X") and off (blank). Ok - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to dismiss the dialog and update your clue(s). Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT from the dialog without doing anything. In Crossword Creator, puzzle clues are DEPENDENT on puzzle words. This means that you cannot input a clue BEFORE its corresponding word has been placed in the puzzle. Likewise, if you wish to delete a clue from the puzzle, you must do so BEFORE removing its corresponding word. To edit a clue you must first select a word, then execute the EDIT CLUES function. Selecting the word you want to work with is easy; just place the cursor on ANY LETTER of the word. Then, press the Ctrl+C "accelerator" combination or use the menu system to execute the function. When the dialog box is displayed, you may see the clues for TWO words. If the cursor was at the intersection of two words, CWC will display both the ACROSS clue and the DOWN clue. If the cursor was NOT at an intersection, you will still see both INPUT BOXES, but only one of them will be useable. See "REVIEW CLUES" for an explanation of how to check for "missing" and "orphaned" clues. See "NEXT ACROSS" and "NEXT DOWN" to learn about a quick way to step through all the words and clues in your puzzle. &CWH25NEXT ACROSS - Edit The Next ACROSS Clue The NEXT ACROSS function moves the cursor to the next ACROSS word in the puzzle and executes the EDIT CLUES dialog box. You will probably find this useful when entering the text of your puzzle clues. Instead of manually jumping from word to word, NEXT ACROSS will step you sequentially through each ACROSS word in the puzzle. The NEXT DOWN function provides the same capability for DOWN words. &CWH26NEXT DOWN - Edit The Next DOWN Clue The NEXT DOWN function moves the cursor to the next DOWN word in the puzzle and executes the EDIT CLUES dialog box. You will probably find this useful when entering the text of your puzzle clues. Instead of manually jumping from word to word, NEXT DOWN will step you sequentially through each DOWN word in the puzzle. The NEXT ACROSS function provides the same capability for ACROSS words. &CWH28AUTO PLACE - Let CWC Do The Work The AUTO PLACE function will build a puzzle automatically as you supply words to the program. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the AUTO PLACE dialog box: Word - An INPUT BOX. Type the word you want CWC to "place" for you. Bank - A LIST BOX. If the word you want to place is already in the word bank, you don't have to retype it. Simply select the word you want to place, using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys, then press ENTER. Your selection will appear in the "Word" INPUT BOX as a confirmation. Mode - Two RADIO BUTTONS. Highlight either "Freeform" or "Template", then press the SPACEBAR. The indicator "dot" will jump to your choice as a confirmation. A CHECK BOX. Highlight "Repeat", then press the SPACEBAR; this toggles the option on ("X") and off (blank). "Freeform" mode causes CWC to search the entire PUZZLE BOX looking for potential intersections. A "potential" intersection is any location where the new word can be placed WITHOUT creating any unwanted "side-effect" words. "Template" mode forces AUTO PLACE to constrain its search to a shape you have drawn in the PUZZLE BOX. You draw the shape by typing CWC's special "template character", the UNDERSCORE. With "Repeat" turned on, the AUTO PLACE dialog will not be dismissed after you've placed your word. Instead, you'll be "looped" back to the beginning so you can place another word. Limits - Two INPUT BOXES. Type the highest row and column number that AUTO PLACE should consider when it searches the puzzle area. By default, AUTO PLACE searches all rows and columns, but you can specify smaller values if you want to constrain the size of your puzzle to specific dimensions. Across... - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to begin the placement search. CWC will initially try to place your word in the "Across" orientation (horizontally), but will switch to "Down" if necessary. Down... - A PUSH BUTTON. Identical to the "Across..." button, except that the initial placement orientation is "Down" (vertical). Load... - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to load the word bank from a disk file. Another dialog box will prompt you for the DOS filename to read in. The input file should contain only plain, ASCII text, with one word per line. The bank can hold up to 30 words. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT from the dialog without doing anything. AUTO PLACE scans the PUZZLE BOX, looking for places where your NEW word can be properly intersected with EXISTING words. When a potential location is found, a second, smaller dialog will ask you if you would like to have your word placed there. If you press "OK", it's done. If you press "CONTINUE", the search proceeds until another location is found, and so on. If your word cannot be placed anywhere in the puzzle (or you pass up all the opportunities), it will be placed in the word bank so you may try it again, later. To be honest, AUTO PLACE will probably be of little interest to the puzzle "craftsman" who always insists on building a tight, symmetrical, lexically correct crossword. AUTO PLACE caters, instead, to someone who cares little for symmetry, is short on time, and probably has a very specific list of words to work from. Always remember that the AUTO PLACE function is not a magic wand. Not every new word will fit the first time, so be flexible. Use the word bank to skip around in your list. Maybe even type some words in manually to create new branches. Once you're adept at creating new intersection possibilities, you'll be able to "grow" new puzzles almost as fast as you can type in the words. &CWH50AUTO PLACE - Confirm The Word Placement When AUTO PLACE finds a potential placement location for your word, you are prompted to take some action. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the AUTO PLACE dialog box: Ok - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to place the word in the puzzle. The proposed location is displayed with blinking letters in the PUZZLE BOX. Continue - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to "pass up" the proposed placement location, and continue searching. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to stop the placement search. &CWH51AUTO PLACE - Load The Word Bank AUTO PLACE needs to know the name of the file you want to load into the word bank. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the AUTO PLACE dialog box: Name - An INPUT BOX. Type the name of the file you want to read. Include the drive ID and/or pathname if necessary. Ok - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to load the word bank and EXIT back to the main dialog. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT back to the main dialog without doing anything. &CWH31REVIEW CLUES - Show Missing/Orphan Clues The REVIEW CLUES function helps you identify and correct errors in your clue definitions by displaying the puzzle words, the text of their corresponding clues, and the index numbers. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the REVIEW CLUES dialog box: Continue - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to view the next page of clues. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT from the dialog. Even in a small crossword, it's easy to skip a word and forget to supply a clue. It's also common to "orphan" a clue by inadvertently deleting or misspelling a puzzle word. REVIEW CLUES will find these errors for you so you can correct them. In addition, you will also be able to "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". Clues are presented a page at a time, beginning with the ACROSS clues, followed by the DOWN clues. If you see *** missing *** flashing on the screen, it means that no clue has been defined for that word. After the last page of DOWN clues, CWC will display any "orphaned" clues it may have found. These are clues that were once legitimately defined, but their corresponding words are no longer part of the puzzle. For example, suppose you type the word "DOG" into your puzzle and define its clue to be "Man's Best Friend". If at some point you erase the word "DOG" from your puzzle without first deleting "Man's Best Friend", you've "orphaned" that clue. But it's easy to get it back. Simply retype the word "DOG" back into your puzzle and the connection to "Man's Best Friend" will be restored. If some orphaned clues are identified AND you never press "CANCEL" while paging through them, CWC will give you a chance to "clean house" at the end. A message box will be displayed asking if you want to delete all the orphaned clues that were found. If you press "OK", the clues will be discarded. If you press "CANCEL", they will be retained, thus giving you the chance to "hook them back up" if need be. REVIEW CLUES is a handy function to perform just before you save the final version of a puzzle. &CWH32WORDFIND - Find Just The Right Word WORDFIND is a file compression and search technique developed by Castle Oaks Computer Services. If you have purchased a set of WORDFIND files from PCHL, or created your own with the WFMAKE utility, you can search through those "dictionaries" looking for words that match a letter-pattern you specify. This can be quite useful for puzzle designers who need to find a word with just the right combination of letters. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the WORDFIND dialog box: Name - An INPUT BOX. Type the group name of the WORDFIND files you want to search. The default name is "X", since that is the convention used by Castle Oaks. Unless you have created custom WORDFIND files with the WFMAKE utility, there is no reason to change this setting. Pattern - An INPUT BOX. Type the letter pattern of the words you want to search for. Ok - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to begin searching the WORDFIND files, using the current pattern. Continue - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to view the next page of words. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to stop searching for the current pattern, or to EXIT from the dialog. To search for words, type a letter pattern in the second INPUT BOX. A pattern may contain letters of the alphabet or WILDCARDS (any non-alpha character). For example, B??L??S is a valid pattern. Once you have supplied a pattern, press "OK". CWC will display the matching words in a paged, columnar format. At the end of each page you may continue searching by pressing "CONTINUE", or you may begin a new search by typing in a different pattern and pressing "OK". In the above example, two of the words displayed would be BALLADS and BOILERS. Notice that where a LETTER was specified in the pattern, the words also contain a matching LETTER in that position. Where the pattern contains a WILDCARD, any letter will do. Before you can use WORDFIND, you must tell Crossword Creator where to look for your dictionary files; this is done with a DOS "environment variable". Before you start CWC, supply a pathname using the "WF=" environment variable. For example: SET WF=C:\WORDFIND Crossword Creator will then look for your WORDFIND files in that directory. If you do not supply a pathname in the DOS environment, CWC will look only in the CURRENT directory for your WORDFIND files. If the words in your WORDFIND dictionaries are sorted alphabetically, start CWC with the "/A" command line switch. With this option turned ON, CWC will automatically stop searching if the specified pattern has a "leading letter" AND the search routine encounters a word that is alphabetically "higher" than the pattern. Since CWC normally searches dictionary files from beginning to end, this option can keep the program from wasting time comparing the pattern to words that have no chance of matching anyway. See "Environment Variables (CWC= and WF=)" for more complete instructions on setting up the DOS "environment". See "WFMAKE - WORDFIND File Utility" for instructions on making your own, custom WORDFIND dictionary files. See "Startup" for a complete description of all the available DOS command line switches. See "ABOUT CWC" for more information about Castle Oaks Computer Services. &CWH34CONFIGURATION - Customize The Program In order for Crossword Creator to run properly, you need to supply the program with a few important pieces of "configuration" information. This data is stored in a special file called CONFIG.CWC and contains, for example, the name of the directory where your puzzle files are located. The CONFIGURATION function allows you to modify your CONFIG.CWC file. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the CONFIGURATION dialog box: PuzDirName - An INPUT BOX. Type the DOS directory name where you want CWC to look for your puzzle files. If you have only floppy drives, you might want to supply just a drive ID. If you leave this entry blank, CWC will look for puzzle files in the CURRENT directory. MaxPuzClues - An INPUT BOX. Type the maximum number of clues that CWC will allow you to define in a single puzzle. The program will allocate EXACTLY this many "slots" in memory to hold the clues you supply, so give yourself enough room. Colors - A set of RANGE BARS. Highlight the setting you wish to change, then use the LEFT/RIGHT ARROW keys to select the desired color. The "screen icons" are updated to show you what the new color scheme will look like. Colors are identified by a number between 0 and 7: 0=black 1=blue 2=green 3=cyan 4=red 5=magenta 6=brown 7=white PrinterDef - A LIST BOX. Select the name of the printer definition file that best supports your printer, using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys, then press ENTER. The selected printer will appear above the list box as a confirmation. Ok - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to dismiss the dialog and update your CONFIG.CWC file. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT from the dialog without doing anything. If you press "OK", all of the new settings will take effect immediately, with the exception of MaxPuzClues. To make this setting effective you must EXIT Crossword Creator and start the program again. See "Configuration File (CONFIG.CWC)" for complete documentation on the configuration file keywords and their valid values. &CWH41HELP TOPICS - An On-Line Reference The HELP TOPICS function is a "Table of Contents" for the HELP file. Use the TAB/BACKTAB keys to move the INPUT FOCUS (highlight) among these objects in the HELP TOPICS dialog box: Help topics - A LIST BOX. Select the topic you want to read, using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys, then press ENTER. The text of the selected topic will be displayed in a scrollable window. Cancel - A PUSH BUTTON. Press this button, using the SPACEBAR, to EXIT from the help window and/or the dialog. Many of the help topics listed are the ones that would be invoked automatically by the F1 function if you were using a dialog box or the menu system. But there are also many other topics that provide valuable documentation on the more technical aspects of Crossword Creator. For example, there are detailed instructions on how to use the keyboard or a mouse with CWC. There's also a list of ERROR MESSAGES with explanations, descriptions of the command line parameters, and more. As you have time, browse through these topics. Even if you don't read every word, you will at least find it beneficial to know what information is available. See "CWHPRINT - Help File Print Utility" for instructions on printing the contents of a HELP file. &CWH42ABOUT CWC - Author/Copyright Information CROSSWORD CREATOR is a product of PC HELP-LINE Copyright 1988-90 Registration Fee: $20.00, U.S. dollars 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 P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. WORDFIND is a product of Castle Oaks Computer Services Copyright 1988-90 Castle Oaks Computer Services P.O. Box 36082 Indianapolis, IN 46236-0082 United States The PC version of Crossword Creator was written using the Microsoft BASIC Compiler, version 6.0. The development work and system testing were conducted on both a Zenith SupersPort 286 laptop and an XT-clone, running MS-DOS 3.2. Additional BASIC functions were provided by these products: String space management: "Mach2", by MicroHelp, Inc. File/directory routines: "QuickPak", by Crescent Software Windows/mouse: "QuickWindows", by Software Interphase &CWH52CWHPRINT - Help File Print Utility CWHPRINT is stand-alone program that will read a Crossword Creator HELP file and print its contents in book form, complete with numbered pages and a Table of Contents. To start CWHPRINT, type CWHPRINT at the DOS prompt and press ENTER. CWHPRINT.EXE must be in the CURRENT directory unless you've issued a PATH command that allows DOS to find it. Crossword Creator's language files must be in the current directory unless you use the "CWC=" environment variable to indicate a specific directory. Some optional parameters may be specified on the DOS command line when you start CWHPRINT. The general form is: CWHPRINT [topicID[+|-[topicID]]] [device|filename] [/L=language name] If you specify a topic ID, CWC will print ONLY the text for that topic. If you append a "+" to the topic ID, printing will BEGIN at that topic and CONTINUE to the end of the file. Appending a "-" and another topic ID will cause that RANGE of topics to be printed. If no topic ID is specified, the ENTIRE contents will be printed. A table of contents and a title page are ALWAYS printed, regardless of the topic ID option. The default device is "LPT1". If you want the output from CWHPRINT to go to a file or to a different device ("LPT2", for example), specify that name on the command line. The "/L=" option is used in exactly the same way as described for Crossword Creator in "Startup". examples: CWHPRINT (print the entire contents) CWHPRINT 16 (prints only help topic 16) CWHPRINT 64+ lpt2 (prints all topics from 64 to the end of the file, output to LPT2 CWHPRINT 22-35 /l=espa (reads ESPA.CWH, prints all topics from 22 to 35, inclusive) The program formats the output for a generic text printer at 58 lines per page, 80 columns per line. Printer definition files are not needed; CWHPRINT will work with any printer that uses continuous forms or a cut-sheet feeder. See "Startup" and "Environment Variables (CWC= and WF=)" for complete explanations of CWC's command line parameters and DOS environment variables. &CWH53CWDTP - Desktop Publishing Aid Crossword Creator's puzzle output cannot be used directly by desktop publishing programs like PageMaker and Ventura Publisher. It is possible to "print to disk" in CWC, but the printer control codes imbedded in the output never import properly and CWC's "overprinting tricks" do not translate well. CWDTP is a stand-alone program that can read a printed-to-disk puzzle file created by a special printer definition file, CWDTP.CWP. From this input, a plain, ASCII text file is generated, containing a modified image of the puzzle or solution. This new file can be displayed using DOS's "TYPE" or "PRINT" commands, and is suitable for importing into a desktop publishing package (you must format the text with a MONO-SPACED font like "Courier", rather than a PROPORTIONALLY-SPACED font). Unlike CWC's printer-specific output, no "over-printing tricks" are used, and no printer control characters are imbedded in the file. To use CWDTP, follow these steps: 1. Crossword Creator will need access to CWDTP.CWP. Copy this printer definition file from your distribution disk into the same directory where your other printer drivers are installed. Start Crossword Creator and OPEN a puzzle, just as you always do. 2. Execute the PRINT function and select either "PUZZLE AND CLUES" or "SOLUTION for the puzzle format. You must also select "CWDTP" from the printer definition file list. When you press "OK", CWC will read the new driver information and "print" the puzzle. You now have a disk file containing all the printer output. 3. Run CWDTP. To start the program, type CWDTP at the DOS prompt and press ENTER. CWDTP.EXE must be in the CURRENT directory unless you've issued a PATH command that allows DOS to find it. Some optional parameters may be specified on the DOS command line when you start CWDTP. The general form is: CWDTP [inputfilename] [outputfilename] [/C] The INPUT to the program is the disk file created in step 2. If you've used all the defaults, the filename should be CWDTP.TXT. If you do not supply a specific input filename, CWDTP will use this default name. The OUTPUT of the program is another disk file, containing the converted puzzle. If you do not supply a specific output filename, CWDTP will use the default name, CWDTP.ASC. The "/C" option instructs CWDTP to draw the puzzle boxes using standard ASCII characters. If you do not specify "/C", CWDTP will use IBM PC characters. Some desktop publishing packages may not recognize the IBM PC block-graphic characters. Also, make sure your fonts support the PC character set if you use it. You may have to experiment. examples: CWDTP (input: cwdtp.txt output: cwdtp.asc) CWDTP newpuz.asc (input: cwdtp.txt output: newpuz.asc) CWDTP c:\cwc\cwdtp.txt c:\wp\newpuz.asc /c (input: c:\cwc\cwdtp.txt output: c:\wp\newpuz.asc use ASCII chars; supply pathnames if necessary) 4. Start your desktop publishing application and follow its directions for importing ASCII text. Import the file you created in step 3. Remember to format the text using a MONO-SPACED font. This is the only way you will be able to get the puzzle columns to line up. 5. Manipulate the puzzle as you would any other block of text in your document layout. You're done. &CWH54WFMAKE - WORDFIND File Utility If you frequently design thematic puzzles that have a lot of jargon or "specialty" words in them, or if you want to build a set of WORDFIND files for another language or add on to the English version, you'll need this utility. WFMAKE is a stand-alone program that allows you to create your own custom WORDFIND files (ASCII to WORDFIND mode), or uncompress existing WORDFIND files (WORDFIND to ASCII mode). To start WFMAKE, type WFMAKE at the DOS prompt and press ENTER. WFMAKE.EXE must be in the CURRENT directory unless you've issued a PATH command that allows DOS to find it. Some required parameters must be specified on the DOS command line when you start WFMAKE. The general form is: WFMAKE inputfilename outputfilename [/[*|{a...z}]] Since WFMAKE can work in two different modes, you may be wondering how the program figures out which one you want. The secret is the third parameter switch. If WFMAKE sees a "/" on the command line, it assumes you want "WORDFIND to ASCII" mode. Otherwise, you get "ASCII to WORDFIND" mode. The nature of the INPUT and OUTPUT files are dependent on the mode. For "ASCII to WORDFIND" mode, the INPUT filename can be any valid DOS filename. The file must contain plain, ASCII text, and each record in the file must contain one, complete word. The lengths of the words may differ. The OUTPUT filename cannot have an extension (.???), and must end with a numeric value. WFMAKE will extract all words from the INPUT file whose lengths are EQUAL to the numeric part of the OUTPUT filename. For "WORDFIND to ASCII" mode, the INPUT file must be a "compressed" file in WORDFIND format. The OUTPUT filename can be any valid DOS filename. The "/" switch must be followed by either an alphabet letter, or an asterisk ("*"). If "*" is used, WFMAKE will extract ALL words from the INPUT file. If a letter is used, only words beginning with THAT letter are extracted. The required naming conventions for all WORDFIND files are as follows: The FIRST character is an optional alphabet letter. If it is present, it indicates to CWC that the file contains ONLY words that begin with that "leading letter". The LAST character(s) must be a numeric value. This value indicates to CWC that the file contains ONLY words that are exactly that many letters in length. The four (or fewer) characters in the MIDDLE define a general NAME for a group of related WORDFIND files.Filename extensions (.???) are not allowed. example: BX7 ||| ||| contains only 7-letter words || || is part of a group of files named "X" | | contains only words that begin with "B" ASCII to WORDFIND examples: WFMAKE newwords.txt new11 (extract all 11-letter words from "newwords.txt", create WORDFIND file "new11"; group name is NEW) WFMAKE a_words.cat acats7 (extract all 7-letter words from "a_words.cat", create WORDFIND file "acats7"; group name is CATS WORDFIND to ASCII examples: WFMAKE x5 allwords.lt5 /* (extract all words from x5, create ASCII file allwords.lt5) WFMAKE cats7 fcatword.lt7 /f (extract all words beginning with "F" from cats7, create fcatword.lt7) Crossword Creator's WORDFIND function performs better with ALPHABETICAL files. Before using WFMAKE to create new WORDFIND files, sort your ASCII input files in alphabetical order. Most versions of DOS come with a SORT utility, and many word-processors and text editors can also sort files. Don't mix upper and lower case letters in your ASCII input files; most sort routines are case-sensitive. See "WORDFIND - Find Just The Right Word" for instructions on how to use custom WORDFIND files in Crossword Creator. &CWH55Environment Variables (CWC= and WF=) DOS maintains an area in memory called the "environment" that can be used as a kind of reference guide by application programs like Crossword Creator. You can see the information stored in the environment by issuing the DOS command "SET". Some things you might notice are the "COMSPEC" variable which contains the pathname to the DOS command processor, and the "PATH" variable which contains the pathname you specified in your last PATH command. Crossword Creator's variable name is "CWC" and it is used to specify the directory pathname where the program should look for help files (*.CWH), help index files (*.CWI), language files (*.CWL), and printer definition files (*.CWP). Without this directory name, Crossword Creator will only look for these support files in the CURRENT directory. If you use only floppy disks this may be of no consequence. But on a hard disk system Crossword Creator's support files may be stored in a different directory than the main program. Over a network, these files may even be on an entirely different computer. To set the variable, issue the DOS command: SET CWC=[pathname] In place of "[pathname]", type the name of the path where Crossword Creator's support files are located. Make sure there are no intervening blanks anywhere except the required one between "SET" and "CWC=". example: SET CWC=C:\PROGRAMS\CWC Crossword Creator uses a second variable, "WF=", to specify the location of your WORDFIND dictionary files. If you already have a copy of WORDFIND installed in another directory, you will find this more convenient than keeping a second copy of the dictionary files in Crossword Creator's directory. example: SET WF=C:\WORDFIND To remove a variable from the environment issue the SET command without any characters after the equal sign: SET CWC= The use of Crossword Creator's environment variables is entirely optional. They are provided merely as an aid in tailoring the program to your needs. You may want to refer to your DOS manual for more information on using environment variables and the SET command. &CWH56Printer 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 them, for example, to draw the frame boundaries around the 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 definition file can be built for any printer, no matter how complex its control codes are (witness the HP LaserJet's definition files), but if your printer can't reproduce the IBM character set, you just won't be able to produce the best possible output. Which is NOT to say that you can't use an "oddball" printer AT ALL. You CAN use the standard ASCII characters "|", "-", and "+" to draw boxes, they'll just produce rougher looking output. In fact, drivers are provided for printers that don't support EITHER level of IBM compatibility, like the DIABLO 630 standard for daisy-wheels and the Epson RX-80 dot-matrix. Some printers even have their OWN box drawing characters that are different from IBM's, but Crossword Creator can still use them effectively to print good looking puzzles. 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. If you're in doubt about your printer's capabilities, try this simple test. Startup Crossword Creator, and when you get to the copyright/intro screen, press Shift+PrtSc on your keyboard. If the Crossword Creator logo prints out just like it appears on the screen, your printer is IBM "character set" compatible. If you get italic characters or something else besides the double-outline boxes, you'll probably have to use the standard ASCII characters to draw your puzzles. One last important point. Crossword Creator uses a printer technique called "overprinting". This means that the program "layers" different characters on top of each other by making multiple "passes" on a single line of print. To accomplish this, CWC sends a "carriage return (CR)" character to the printer WITHOUT an accompanying "line feed (LF)" character. This causes the printer's printhead to return to the left margin, but does NOT advance the paper. Another layer of characters is then printed on top of the existing line. Printers equipped with an "auto line feed" feature can defeat CWC's overprinting because they insert a LF character after every CR character received. Since the paper is advanced before CWC has finished its overprinting, your output will look VERY STRANGE. The most obvious symptom of this problem are puzzles that look "double-spaced" and are regularly broken up by horizontal lines of "white space". There is virtually no way that Crossword Creator can adapt to or correct 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 is usually enabled/disabled by positioning a hardware DIP switch somewhere on the printer. See "Printer Support List" for a list of the printers supported by Crossword Creator. &CWH57Printer 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, PCHL will build custom drivers free of charge for REGISTERED owners of CWC. All printer definition files have an EXTENSION name of ".CWP". The naming conventions used in the PRIMARY part of the filename are as follows: The FIRST two characters are an abbreviation of the manufacturer's name. The LAST character is a numeric digit. Every printer will have at least a type "1" definition file, with a MaxPrintCols= value of 80. If multiple drivers are provided for the same printer, they will be numbered sequentially, beginning with "2", and the MaxPrintCols= value will be larger, as well. The five (or fewer) characters in the MIDDLE are an abbreviation of the printer's model name. example: EPFX86E1 |~|~~~~| | | | type "1", 80 columns | | | | model name, FX-86e | | EP, Epson manufacturer Manufacturer CWP Name Model Name / Description ------------ -------- ------------------------ PCHL CWDTP special driver; use with CWDTP --------------------------------------------------------------------- all DABLO631 any, DIABLO 630 standard printers --------------------------------------------------------------------- C. Itoh CI8510A1 8510A CI8510A2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Epson EPFX86E1 FX-86e, FX family EPFX86E2 EPLQ8501 LQ-850, LQ family EPLQ8502 EPLX8001 LX-800, LX family EPLX8002 EPPLAIN1 early FX, no IBM character set EPPLAIN2 EPRX801 RX-80 EPRX802 HP HPDJET1 DeskJet Plus HPDJET2 HPLJET1 LaserJet Series II HPLJET2 HPLJET3 HPSF99P HP generic PCL printer, soft HPSF99L font ID 99 IBM IBGRAPH1 Graphics Printer, Proprinter IBGRAPH2 --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEC NEP22001 P2200, P6/P7 Pinwriters NEP22002 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Okidata OKML1901 Microline 190 Plus OKML1902 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Panasonic PAKX1081 KX-P1080, KX-P family PAKX1082 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tandy TADWP221 DWP-220 TADMP131 DMP-130 TADMP132 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Toshiba TOP13511 P1351 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Star STGM10X1 Gemini 10-X STGM10X2 &CWH58Error and Warning Messages 1 of 4 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. Can't load language file; 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, typically 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. &CWH59Error and Warning Messages 2 of 4 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) input past EOF ----------------------------------------- CWC tried to read past the end of a file. Report this error to PCHL. Number: 62 File (drive\path\filename) not found ------------------------------------ The drive, path, or file named in the message does not exist. Check that the drive, path, and filenames are spelled correctly. You may also have forgotten to use CWC's environment variables, or used them incorrectly, causing the program to look for its support files in the wrong directory. Number: 52, 53, 64 File or device I/O error ------------------------ No explanation. CWC encountered an error it was not expecting. Report this error to PCHL. Number: 1-255 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 Mach2 (memory type) Error ------------------------- This is a special "out of memory" error. It usually indicates that CWC did not (or could not) allocate enough memory for LANGUAGE, HELP, or CLUE data. Report this error to PCHL. Number: 244, 245, 246, 247 Maximum clues exceeded ---------------------- You have exceeded the upper limit on the number of puzzle clues imposed by the MaxPuzClues= configuration keyword. Save your puzzle, increase the MaxPuzClues= value on the CONFIGURATION dialog, and exit the program. Start CWC again and reopen your puzzle. This should enable you to create more clues. Number: 250 &CWH60Error and Warning Messages 3 of 4 No clues defined ---------------- The REVIEW CLUES function cannot be used until the text of at least one clue has been input. See "EDIT CLUES" for instructions on how to input the text of puzzle clues. 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 definition file, or have not specified a destination for your printer output. Select a printer from the LIST BOX of the "PRINT" dialog, and supply a device name or a filename in the "Destination" INPUT BOX. Number: 255 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 (about 10K), or the text of puzzle clues has consumed all of the memory available (about 36K). These are absolute limits. Decrease the length of your puzzle clues. Number: 14 Path (drive\path) not found --------------------------- The drive or path named in the message does not exist. Check that the drive and pathname are spelled correctly. You may also have forgotten to use CWC's environment variables, or used them incorrectly, causing the program to look for its support files in the wrong directory. 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 definition file you are using. You may need to use a different printer definition, or decrease the size of your puzzle. See "PRINT" for a complete explanation of these limitations. Recent changes have not been saved ---------------------------------- You have made changes to the puzzle currently in memory, but have not saved them. If you "Continue" with the action you've requested (NEW, OPEN, or EXIT), those changes will be lost. &CWH61Error and Warning Messages 4 of 4 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