This program takes a text file and produces a DrawFile crossword. It is meant for DTP purposes but can easily be used for anything that anyone can think of.
The file format is pretty simple (see 'Example' file). The text consists of the characters which make up the answers and the special character '#' which indicates a blank. All lines should be the same length and terminated by a newline, but rectangular grids are permitted.
Just drag the source text file onto the icon-bar and a save window will pop up containing a DrawFile. The program can only cope with filing-system transfer so the files must be dragged to and from a directory viewer - NOT applications such as !Draw, Impression etc.
The application requires the font path to be present in order to ascertain
the size of the characters for centring purposes, so double click on your
!Fonts directory before running !DrawCross. The font used is
Trinity.Medium. This is suitable for most uses, but if necessary it could
be changed within the program itself, or more sensibly by loading the
DrawFile into !Draw, choosing the answers group and altering the font style.
The DrawFile is grouped into grid, numbers and answers to allow this task to
be performed easily.
The icon-bar menu contains an small options screen. This allows you to turn
the numbering on and off. Normally the program automatically places numbers
in the top left hand corner of the appropriate squares, but this may be
unecessary or unwanted. The other option is for turning the answers on and
off. If answers are off then a blank grid is produced suitable for filling
in with the answers by hand.
I hope you find the application useful.
Thanks to Robbie Steele for the skeleton desktop program used in this
application, and to Simon Huntington for the interface module.
In the unlikely event that anyone should want to contact me, I can be reached by email to csubt@warwick.ac.uk until July '92 or by snail mail to
