Collection of Tools & Utilities/Collection of Tools and Utilities.iso/tex/pcwritex.zip/PCWRITEX.DOC

Text File | 1989-01-03 | 25KB | 511 lines

L---+---T1----+-T--2----T----3--T-+----4T---+---T5----+-T--6----T----R--T-+--r
                              PC-WriTeX

               
A conversion routine from PC-Write to TeX


                          v2.3, January 1989

.r:e
INTRODUCTION
PC-Write is a wordprocessing and text editing system from QuickSoft
(Seattle) for the IBM PC and compatible computers. TeX is a
typesetting system originally written by Prof Don Knuth of Stanford
University and available for many kinds of computer including the IBM
PC and compatibles.

This documentation describes a PC-Write--to--TeX conversion routine
written as a print driver file pr.doc·. It was devised to allow a
user's PC-Write wordprocessing files to be printed to disk in a form
which TeX can accept directly as input, retaining as many of the
formatting attributes as possible of the original file. The .doc
filetype was chosen because TeX is used for printing documents, but
you can rename it and the relevant driver files to anything suitable
to your needs. The definition files have been placed in the public
domain. Only the controls described later in this document can be
expected to work: no responsibility can be taken for what may happen
if you use other PC-Write controls which are not documented here. In
particular, you should not use any Dot Guide Lines apart from a ruler
line, .S (line-spacing) and .R (typeface selection).

A hard-disk PC is assumed, as TeX requires it for all normal usage.
This documentation reflects v2.71 of PC-Write, v3.3 of DOS and v2.94
of TeX.

.q:e
▀

INSTALLATION
Before copying any of these files, rename your existing PC-Write
printer driver file pr.def to something meaningful, according to your
ordinary printer type, for example

     rename \pcwrite\pr.def pr.eps  (if you have an Epson printer)
     rename \pcwrite\pr.def pr.tos  (if you have an Toshiba printer)
     rename \pcwrite\pr.def pr.hp2  (if you have a HP series II)

This is to make sure your existing files do not get overwritten.
You can still print all your existing files exactly as before by
making sure they have the relevant file-type, eg ".eps", ".tos",
".hp2", etc. The new pr.def provided with PC-WriTeX contains only
the command "!pr.*" and will thus look for a driver file with the
same file-type as the file being printed.

Copy all the files from floppy disk into the PC-Write subdirectory
on your hard disk by typing the command

     copy a:*.* \pcwrite

(substituting "b:" if you are using that floppy drive instead of
"a:"). If you call your PC-Write subdirectory something other than
"\pcwrite" then substitute that as well.

Copy the TeX definitions file into your texinput subdirectory,
whatever it is called for the version you have; for PC-TeX, for
example, you type

     copy \pcwrite\pcwsty.tex \pctex\texinput

This ensures that both PC-Write and TeX can find the files when they
want them. It is assumed that you can use the file-type ".doc" for
files you are going to convert with this routine. If this is not the
case, you must choose another file-type and then type the command

     rename \pcwrite\*.doc *.xxx

where xxx is the file-type you have chosen.

USAGE
Run the PR program, either from DOS by typing PR·filename.DOC or by
using the F1·F7 keystroke sequence from within the PC-Write edit
program (in which case, confirm the filename suggested by pressing
⌐·[the Return or Enter key]).

When the output selection menu appears, press F9 for "print to a file"
and give the output file name as the name of your text file but with
the file-type of .TeX (and press ⌐).

When the main print menu appears, press F10 for "print continuous".
This will create an output file with the file type of .TeX which will
contain all the TeX commands necessary to typeset your file.

     ■ It is assumed, of course, that you have TeX available to
     process this file. Commercially, it costs somewhere between $75
     and $500 (£50--£300) depending on the implementation you buy.
     There are several versions for the IBM PC and compatibles
     including some in the public domain: addresses are at the end of
     this document. It is also available for most minis and
     mainframes.

FEATURES
As far as possible, the basic mnemonic PC-Write controls have been
followed, but one or two have changed, and several new ones have been
added (notably the "colour code" Alt keys now perform different
typesetting instructions). As many as possible (nearly all) of the IBM 
PC math and accent characters have been kept, and the line and
box-drawing characters can be used for simple tables.░This is a change
from v2.1, where line and box characters were undefined.▒ The printer
driver definition file pr.doc and the style-file pcwsty.TeX contain
the TeX definitions needed to access these facilities.

TeX works by taking a plain ASCII text file with embedded formatting
commands (produced by this routine direct from your PC-Write file).
TeX commands consist of plain alphabetic characters or punctuation,
flagged by a preceding backslash. Thus for example, a change to
italics (Alt·I in PC-Write) is translated to the TeX command "\it".
Raw TeX is of course capable of vastly finer control over typefonts,
spacing and layout than even a sophisticated wordprocessor such as
PC-Write, so this conversion routine should only be taken as a guide
or first stage. TeX creates a .DVI file (DeVice-Independent file)
which contains all the binary stuff needed for a TeX print driver to
typeset the output on your printer.

Because of the fine-quality nature of typesetting, a few points need
attention when you are creating or editing a document for typesetting:

  a. TeX assumes that a blank line in your file means "start a new
     paragraph". This doesn't necessarily mean you get a blank line as
     such when it is typeset; instead, you get whatever
     spacing/indentation combination you specify for a new paragraph
     (PC-WriTeX assumes a flexible amount between ¼ and ½ a
     line-height, with about 1/3|| indentation --- in fact, a "blank
     line" in typesetting output is a misleading concept, as
     typesetting dimensions are almost infinitely variable). What it
     does mean is that existing texts which use only indentation for a
     new paragraph, with no blank line, must be edited so that they
     have blank lines between paragraphs. Indentation can be turned
     off for a paragraph by starting the paragraph with Alt·X (this is
     automatic for the first paragraph after a major break, such as
     a new section, new page or a table).

  b. Disregard all apparent multiple linebreaks and multiple spaces in
     the output file: TeX makes its own decisions about linebreaking,
     and swallows all multiple spaces. In any case, TeX justifies a
     whole paragraph at a time, instead of line by line. The only
     thing to check for is places where PC-Write might have inserted
     an extra blank line of its own in the middle of a paragraph
     because it thinks a pagebreak is due. These will have to be
     removed manually, otherwise TeX will start a new paragraph at
     these points (it doesn't happen very often).

  c. Distinguish carefully between the four following symbols, which
     are often misused:

  ·  HYPHEN ("-"), used between two words, like "PC-Write": type a
     single "-" to get this;

  ·  EN-RULE ("--"), used between two numbers, between a number and a
     word, or where a hyphen may seem visually incorrect, such as
     "37--55", "4--part" or "X--rated": type a double "--" to get one;

  ·  EM-RULE ("---"), used between phrases --- sometimes called a
     dash: type a triple "---" fo