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OVERVIEW.DOC
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1991-12-07
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MacroAde (TM)
Utilities for WordPerfect 5.1 Macros
Version 4.2
A Product of
Performance Sciences International
Summerfield, NC
Copyright (c) 1991 by Jeffrey S. Kane, Ph.D.
AN OVERVIEW OF MacroAde
MacroAde is a small but (in our view) highly useful collection
of utilities and macros for proficient users of WordPerfect 5.1.
The items contained in this package are listed below along with
brief descriptions of each. Some of the macros, particularly ALTM and
and possibly ALTL, will not work with releases of WordPerfect 5.1 dated
earlier than 12/31/90. The release date should not be a problem with
any of the utility programs, however.
PLEASE NOTE: In the documentation (i.e., .doc) files accompanying each of
the programs in this package, reference is occasionally made to a WordPerfect
command sequence. A command sequence is a series of keypresses, such as:
SHIFT-F8 2 1. In order to delimit the end of one keypress and the beginning
of another in such a sequence we have used ASCII character #07, which appears
as follows: . Thus, the previous command sequence would appear in the
documentation as SHIFT-F8 2 1. We used this character because it is not
generated by any command key within WordPerfect, leading us to believe that
users would readily realize that it is not part of the command sequence and
that no attempt to enter it should be made. We have, however, received
questions about what it's supposed to mean, hence this explanation.
Utilities:
The following utilities give users the ability to apply
the full power of their stand-alone text editors (e.g., QEDIT,
MultiEdit, VEDIT, Norton Editor) to the creation and
modification of macros, thereby circumventing the very
primitive macro editing capability within WordPerfect. In addition,
TildeChk will enable you to quickly find and correct the MOST COMMON
macro programming errors: missing tildes.
1. MACROLST.exe: translates WordPerfect 5.1 macro (.wpm)
files into corresponding ASCII text files
with .LST extensions;
2. MCOMPILE.exe: compiles macro source files in ASCII text
form into .wpm files executable as macros
within WordPerfect 5.1;
3. COMMANDS.ref: an ASCII text listing of keystroke and
macro commands used in WordPerfect 5.1.
It also contains all of the information
on the numeric codes for each keystroke
command contained in the recently
released Appendix T. This file can be
displayed as a second window in any
multiwindow editor for reference purposes
during macro editing; and
4. TildeChk.exe: Checks for missing tildes (~) in macro source
files conforming to the format used by the
MacroLst decompiler (above). Produces a listing
of the line numbers and initial macro commands of
the sequences in which tildes are missing; reports
this information for the first 20 tilde omissions
found. Missing tildes are the MOST COMMON macro
programming error. TildeChk will save you hours
of time!
Macros:
Four unrelated categories of macros are provided in this
package. The macros in each of the categories are briefly
described below:
1. Editor Control Macros:
Each of these macros work in conjunction with a
batch file, MacroLst, and MCompile to enable you to
use either any external editor of your choice or
WordPerfect itself to edit macros.
A. EDITM.wpm:
Enables you to use any external editor of your
choice to edit a macro within a DOS shell and then
return back to the place you left from in WordPerfect.
It automatically recompiles the modified macro so it
is available for use upon your return to WordPerfect.
B. EDITWP.wpm:
Converts macros to WordPerfect documents and
brings them up on the full WordPerfect document screen
for editing; pressing EXIT causes the edited macro
to be recompiled, ready for use.
2. Macro Menu Macros:
As you utilize the power of macros to a
progressively greater extent, you inevitably reach the
point where you can't remember the names and functions of
all the macros you've defined. The following macros
solve this problem by providing the capability to display
lists of your macros, with descriptions, and to execute
any one of them by highlighting it and pressing a
specified key.
A. ALTM.wpm:
A relatively simple macro menuing system that
uses the list files feature of WordPerfect. Requires
the 12/31/90 release (or later) of WordPerfect 5.1.
B. ALTL.wpm:
A much more sophisticated macromenuing system
allowing the use of multiple customizable menu
files and the display of macro names and their
descriptions on the same screen. The items in a
macro menu may be modified or deleted right from
within the macro menu itself. Use of this program
with releases of WordPerfect 5.1 dated prior to
12/31/90 may encounter some problems, although
we have not yet been able to confirm them.
C. MOVECSR.wpm:
Not a macro menu but a useful adjunct to those
above. This macro directs you to move the cursor
to the place in your document where you want the
macro you've selected to actually execute. The
command to execute this macro is placed at the very
top of any macro for which you want to be sure the
cursor is positioned correctly.
3. BRINGBAK.wpm:
A really unique macro that works in combination with
either of two .exe files to allow you to communicate
information from an outside program (accessed via SHELL)
back into WordPerfect. This capability creates many
interesting possibilities for shelling out to DOS,
generating data files via another program or using
external programs to locate files, and returning to
WordPerfect with the information that could allow the new
or located files to be imported.
4. "On Beyond Z" with ALTZ.wpm:
Have you run out of letters to use with ALT-invoked macros
yet? I had, so I wrote an embarrassingly simple macro which
allows the use of ALT Z plus any one of up to 54 other characters
that can be entered from the keyboard that are legal in file
names. Undoubtedly, many others have come up with the same
macro (although a version of the same macro appeared for what was
apparently the first time in WordPerfect Magazine's October 1991
issue), but if its availability here helps a few more people,
it's worth the redundancy.