STARTING Here's how to start using Q&A versions 3 and 4 for DOS. (If you're still using version 1, 1.1, or 2, follow my instructions for version 3, which is similar. Better yet, upgrade!) I'll assume you have a hard disk whose CONFIG.SYS file mentions ``files'' and ``buffers'' (as I recommended in the MS-DOS chapter). Copy Q&A to the hard disk Version 3 comes on seven 5¬-inch floppies. Version 4 comes on eight 5¬-inch floppies. (If you want 3«-inch floppies, ask your dealer for the 3«-inch version.) Here's how to copy Q&A to the hard disk. Version 3 Turn on the computer without any floppy in drive A. After the C prompt, type ``md qa'' (so you're making a subdirectory called QA). After the next C prompt, type ``cd qa'' (so you're changing to the QA subdirectory). Put Q&A System Disk 1 into drive A, and type ``copy a:*.*'' (which copies all the floppy's files onto the hard disk). Follow the same procedure for all the other Q&A floppy disks, in numerical order: do Q&A System Disk 2, then Q&A System Disk 3, etc., and finally the Q&A Tutorial. Version 4 Turn on the computer without any floppy in drive A. When you see the C prompt, put the Q&A #1 Install Disk in drive A and type ``a:install''. The computer says, ``Q&A Version 4.0 Installation''. Press ENTER twice. The computer says, ``DESTINATION DRIVE SELECTION''. Press the down-arrow key twice, so the ``C:'' is darkened. Press ENTER. The computer says ``C:\QA4''. Tap the BACKSPACE key (so you change the computer's message to ``C:\QA''). Press ENTER twice. Here's what happens next (when you're using 5¬-inch floppies). The computer says, ``Please insert disk 2''. Put the Q&A #2 Disk in drive A and press ENTER. The computer says, ``Please insert disk 3''. Put the Q&A #3 Disk in drive A and press ENTER. The computer says, ``Please insert disk 4''. Put the Q&A #4 Disk in drive A and press ENTER. The computer says, ``Please insert disk 5''. Put the Q&A #5 Disk in drive A and press ENTER. The computer says, ``Please insert disk 6''. Put the Q&A #6 Disk in drive A. Press ENTER 4 times. Then the computer shows the top of an alphabetical list of printers. Press the down-arrow key several times, until your printer is darkened. Press the SPACE bar (so a check mark appears next to your printer). Press ENTER 4 times. Here's what happens next: The computer shows a list of tutorial files. Press the F5 key. Press ENTER. The computer says, ``Please insert disk 7''. Put the Q&A #7 Disk in drive A. Press ENTER 4 times. The computer shows a list of databases. Press the F5 key. Press ENTER 4 times. Then the computer shows a list of utility files. Put check marks next to ASC-CODE.ASC, LINE-DOC.DOC, and QABACKUP.EXE. (Do not put a check mark next to HIMEM.SYS, since that version of HIMEM.SYS is obsolete.) To create a check mark, press the down-arrow key repeatedly until the item you want to check is darkened, then press the SPACE bar. When you've created all three check marks, end the whole process by pressing ENTER. The computer says, ``Please insert disk 8''. Put the Q&A #8 Disk in drive A. Press ENTER 5 times. Make Q&A act better After you've copied Q&A to the hard disk, make Q&A act better. Here's how. Step 1: get to the utilities menu Type ``qa''. Computer says ``Q&A MAIN MENU''. Press U then ENTER. Computer says ``UTILITIES MENU''. Step 2: select automatic execution Press S then ENTER. Press the down-arrow key several times, until the words ``Automatic Execution'' are highlighted. Press the left-arrow key (so that the word ``Yes'' is highlighted). Press the F10 key. Computer says ``UTILITIES MENU'' again. Step 3: select a printer Press P. The computer will say ``PRINTER SELECTION''. Press ENTER twice. If you're using version 3, here's what happens next: Computer says ``LIST OF PRINTERS''. Press the PAGE DOWN (or PgDn) key repeatedly until you see the name of your printer (or a similar printer). Use the arrow keys to move to your printer's name. Press ENTER twice. Press the F10 key. If you're using version 4, this happens instead: Computer says ``LIST OF PRINTER MANUFACTURERS''. If you don't see name of your printer's manufacturer, press PAGE DOWN (or PgDn) key. Use arrow keys to move to your printer's name. Press ENTER. You see a list of printer models. Use arrow keys and PAGE DOWN key to move to your printer model. Press ENTER twice. Finally, the computer says, ``Your printer has been installed''. Press N. The computer says ``UTILITIES MENU'' again. Step 4: exit Press the ``Esc'' key. Press X. You'll see a C prompt. Turn off the computer, so you can start fresh. Run Q&A To run Q&A, turn on the computer without any floppy in drive A. If you've put the DO.BAT file onto your hard disk (as I recommended in the MS-DOS chapter) and put Q&A into the QA subdirectory (as I recommended above), your life is easy! Just type ``do qa''. If you have not put DO.BAT onto your hard disk, do this instead: type ``cd qa'' and then ``qa''. The computer will print this on the screen: Q&A MAIN MENU F - File R - Report W - Write A - Assistant U - Utilities X - Exit Q&A That main menu is a list of the various activities the program can perform for you. If you're using version 4 and have a mouse, you'll see a small red rectangle in the middle of the screen. Move that rectangle out of the way ___ to the screen's top right corner ___ by rolling the mouse toward your desk's back right corner. Get into typing To use Q&A's word processor, choose ``W - Write'' from the main menu by pressing the W key. (That works if you followed my instructions about ``select automatic execution''. If you did not follow those instructions, you must press ENTER after pressing W ___ and you must press ENTER after choosing any item from any menu!) The screen will show the write menu: WRITE MENU T - Type/edit D - Define page P - Print C - Clear G - Get S - Save U - Utilities M - Mailing labels That menu is a list of what Q&A's word processor can do for you. To begin, choose ``T - Type/edit'' from the write menu (by pressing T). The lower right-hand corner of the screen will say ``Line 1 of Page 1 of 1'', which means you can begin typing your document. Type the document Begin typing whatever document you wish to create. For example, try typing a novel that begins like this: Once upon a time, a man was walking down the street, when lo and behold, his house was gone. As he gaped into the hole, a burning sensation in his shoes warned him that . . . I'll let you complete that paragraph yourself! Be creative! Shift keys To capitalize a letter, type the letter while holding down a Shift key. (One Shift key is next to the Z key; the other Shift key is next to the ? key. Each Shift key has an up-arrow on it.) BACKSPACE key If you make a mistake, erase it by pressing the BACKSPACE key, which erases the character you just typed. (The BACKSPACE key is in the upper-right corner of the keyboard's main section. It's to the right of the + key, and it has a left-arrow on it.) ENTER key As you type that paragraph and get near the right margin, do not press the ENTER key. Just keep on typing! The computer will press the ENTER key for you automatically. If you try to type a long word near the right margin, and the word's too long to fit before the margin, the computer will automatically move the entire word to the line below. The computer's ability to automatically move an entire word to the line below is called word wrap. Since the computer automatically presses the ENTER key for you, never press the ENTER key yourself until you reach the end of a paragraph. Pressing the ENTER key there makes the computer return to the left margin, so that you can begin a new paragraph. Pressing the ENTER key means: begin a new paragraph. If you want to double-space between paragraphs, press the ENTER key twice. TAB key If you want to indent the new paragraph's first word, press the TAB key before typing that word. (The TAB key is next to the Q key and has arrows on it.) Pressing the TAB key indents the word a half inch. To indent the word even farther, press the TAB key extra times before typing the word. Each extra time you press the TAB key, the word indents a full inch farther. Lists To type a list of short lines, such as this recipe for White Death Cookies ___ 3 cups of powdered milk 2 cups of water 1 pound of sugar 1 pound of cocaine mix & shape bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes serves 7 ghosts press the ENTER key at the end of each line. Try typing this English-French dictionary: ENGLISH FRENCH love amour pain peine tenderness tendresse Here's how. Type the first column's heading (ENGLISH), press the TAB key several times (to move far to the right), type the second column's heading (FRENCH), and press ENTER. Type ``love'', press the TAB key repeatedly until you're under FRENCH, type ``amour'', and press ENTER. Use the same technique for the table's other lines. CAPS LOCK If you press the CAPS LOCK key, the letters of the alphabet will be automatically capitalized (and you'll be in caps mode), until you press the CAPS LOCK key again. When you're in caps mode, the screen's bottom center says ``Caps''. If your keyboard is modern, its top right corner has a Caps Lock light. When you're in caps mode, that light glows. NUM LOCK On the keyboard's right side, you'll see a group of keys containing numbers. That group of keys is called the numeric keypad. Try this experiment: on the numeric keypad, press the 5 key. If that made a ``5'' appear on your screen, you're in number mode. If that did not make a ``5'' appear on your screen, you're not in number mode. To switch to or from number mode, press the NUM LOCK key. When you're in number mode, the screen's bottom center says ``Num''. If your keyboard is modern, its top right corner has a Num Lock light. When you're in number mode, that light glows. In this chapter, we'll use the numeric keypad for purposes more advanced than typing numbers. So to follow the instructions in this chapter, do not use those keys to type numbers: do NOT be in number mode. (Do not have the bottom of the screen say ``Num''. Do not let the Num Lock light glow. Do not let the 5 key put a ``5'' on the screen.) Press the NUM LOCK key if necessary, so that you're not in number mode. Move the cursor After you've typed a few paragraphs (and pressed the ENTER key at the end of each paragraph), you can move around the screen and edit your document. Arrow keys On your screen the short, blinking underline is called the cursor. To move the cursor up, press the key that has an up-arrow on it. You can move the cursor in all four directions, by pressing the up-arrow, down-arrow, left-arrow, and right-arrow keys. Each of those keys automatically repeats: so to move the cursor up several lines, just keep your finger on the up-arrow key a while. (If the arrow keys don't work, that's because you're in number mode. Get out of number mode by pressing the NUM LOCK key.) Word hop While holding down the CONTROL key (which says ``Ctrl'' on it), you can tap the right-arrow key. That makes the cursor hop to the right: to the next word. While holding down the CONTROL key, you can tap the left-arrow key. That makes the cursor hop left to the beginning of the current word; if the cursor's already at the word's beginning, it will hop to the beginning of the previous word. Pages A sheet of paper is called a page. The typical page is tall enough to hold 54 lines of your document. The page is taller than your screen, which holds just 21 lines. As you type, the computer automatically divides your document into pages and screenfuls. When you're at the top of a page, the screen shows the top of that sheet of paper, like this: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ When you're at the bottom of a page, the screen shows the bottom of that sheet of paper, like this: ³ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ When you're moving from one page to the next, the screen shows the bottom of one page and then the top of the next page, like this: ³ ³ ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵ ³ ³ Near the top and bottom of each page, the screen shows a blank space, for the top and bottom margins. Far hop To make the cursor hop far, press these keys: Keys you press Where the cursor will move HOME the beginning of the line HOME HOME the top of the screen HOME HOME HOME the top of the page HOME HOME HOME HOMEthe beginning of the document Ctrl with HOME very top (same as four HOMEs) END the end of the line END END the bottom of the screen END END END the bottom of the page END END END END the end of the document Ctrl with END very end (same as four ENDs) PAGE UP (PgUp) the previous screenful PAGE DOWN (PgDn)the next screenful Ctrl with PgUp the previous page Ctrl with PgDn the next page DELETE key To delete the character you just typed, press the BACKSPACE key. To delete a character you typed long ago, move the cursor to that character, then press the DELETE key (which says ``Del'' on it). To delete a passage typed long ago, move the cursor to passage's beginning, then tap the DELETE key several times (or hold down the DELETE key a while), until the passage disappears. Combine paragraphs After typing two paragraphs, here's how to combine them to form a single paragraph that's longer. By pressing the up-arrow key, move the cursor to the first paragraph's bottom line. Move to the end of that line, by pressing the END key. Delete the end-of-paragraph mark, by tapping the DELETE key. Tap the DELETE key a few more times (to delete unwanted TAB spaces and ENTERs). INSERT key Q&A can be in two modes: typeover or insert. When you start using Q&A, it's in typeover mode. In typeover mode, the cursor's an underline. To switch to insert mode, tap the INSERT key (which says ``Ins'' on it). When you're in insert mode, the bottom of the screen says ``Insert'' and the cursor's a square (instead of an underline). To switch back to typeover mode, tap the INSERT key again. How to type over Suppose your document contains incorrect characters. Here's how to replace them. Move the cursor to where the incorrect characters begin. Make sure you're in typeover mode (so that the cursor's an underline). Then type over the characters you want to change. How to insert Here's how to insert extra characters into the middle of your document. Move the cursor to where you want the extra characters to begin. Make sure you're in insert mode (by tapping the INSERT key if necessary), so that the bottom of the screen says ``Insert'' and the cursor's a square. Then type the characters you want to insert. The other characters on the screen will automatically move out of the way to make room for the extra characters. Split a paragraph Here's how to split a paragraph into two shorter paragraphs. What word should begin the second short paragraph? Move the cursor to that word's first letter. Make sure you're in insert mode (by pressing the INSERT key if necessary), so that the bottom of the screen says ``Insert''. Press ENTER. Now you've split the long paragraph into two! If you want to double-space between the two short paragraphs, press ENTER again. If you want to indent the second paragraph, press the TAB key. FUNCTION KEYS On the keyboard, you'll see function keys labeled F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, and F10. If your keyboard is modern, those function keys are on the top of the keyboard, along with two extra keys (F11 and F12). By pressing the function keys, you can give these commands: Command Keys to pressNotes for version 3 users Assign fontsCtrl F9 CalculateAlt F9 CapitalizeF8 then B then AThis command is just in version 4. Center F8 then A then CIn version 3, press F8 then C. ContinueF10 Copy F5 Copy to fileCtrl F5 Define pageCtrl F6 Delete blockF3 Delete lineShift F4 Delete to rightCtrl F4 Delete wordF4 Double spaceF8 then A then DThis command is just in version 4. Draw F8 then L then DIn version 3, press F8 then D. Enhance Shift F6 Export Ctrl F8 Field Alt F7 Footer F8 then L then FIn version 3, press F8 then F. Go to Ctrl F7 Header F8 then L then HIn version 3, press F8 then H. Help F1 HyphenateAlt F6 Insert docF8 then D then IIn version 3, press F8 then I. Left F8 then A then LIn version 3, press F8 then U. LowercaseF8 then B then LThis command is just in version 4. Macro Shift F2 Macro runAlt F2 This command is just in version 4. Move Shift F5 Move to fileAlt F5 New pageF8 then L then NIn version 3, press F8 then N. Print F2 Print blockCtrl F2 Restore Shift F7 Right F8 then A then RThis command is just in version 4. Save Shift F8 Scroll upF9 Scroll downShift F9 Search F7 Set tabsF8 then L then SIn version 3, press F8 then S. Single spaceF8 then A then SThis command is just in version 4. Spell Shift F1 Spell wordCtrl F1 StatisticsCtrl F3 Temp marginF6 ThesaurusAlt F1 This command is just in version 4. Title F8 then B then TThis command is just in version 4. Triple spaceF8 then A then PThis command is just in version 4. Put that chart (or a photocopy of it) next to the computer. When you buy Q&A, you get a plastic template that you put next to the function keys. The template contains an abridged version of the chart. While you're using Q&A, the bottom of Q&A's screen displays a different abridgment of the chart. Here's how to use those function keys. . . . Delete word (F4) To delete a word, put the cursor at the word's first character, then say ``Delete word'' (by pressing the F4 key). Delete line (Shift F4) To delete a whole line of text, put the cursor in that line, then say ``Delete line''. (Here's how to say ``Delete line'': while holding down the Shift key, press the F4 key.) Delete to right (Ctrl F4) To delete the far right part of a line, put the cursor where that part begins, then say ``Delete to right''. (Here's how to say ``Delete to right'': while holding down the Ctrl key, press the F4 key.) Go to (Ctrl F7) To make the cursor hop to page 3, say ``Go to'' (by pressing Ctrl with F7), then type 3 and press F10. Statistics (Ctrl F3) If you say ``Statistics'' (by pressing Ctrl with F3), the computer will tell you how many words, lines, and paragraphs are in your document. It will also tell you how many words, lines, and paragraphs are in your document's first part (the part before the cursor) and how many are in the second part (the part after the cursor). When you finish looking at those statistics, press the ESCAPE key (which says ``Esc'' on it). Align (F8 A) If a line of text is short, you can make the line be aligned in three ways: flush left or centered or flush right. This line is flush left. This line is centered. This line is flush right. The computer assumes you want each line to be flush left, unless you say otherwise. Here's how to change the line's alignment. Version 4 Move the cursor to the line whose alignment you want to affect. (It can be a line you typed already or a line you're going to start typing.) Press F8 then A. (The A stands for ``align''.) Then press L (to make the line be flush left) or C (to make the line be centered) or R (to make the line be flush right). Version 3 Move the cursor to the line whose alignment you want to affect. It can be a line you typed already or a line you're going to start typing. If you want to center the line, press F8 then C. If you want the line to be flush left, put the cursor on the line's first word (or anywhere to the right of that word), then press F8 then U. (The U stands for ``uncenter''). Version 3 doesn't understand how to make the line be flush right. Help (F1) If you forget how to use Q&A, say ``Help'' (by pressing the first function key, F1). You'll see a chart that reminds you what each function key does. Then press the ESCAPE key (which says ``Esc'' on it). BLOCKS You can manipulate a large portion of your document with a single keystroke! The portion you're manipulating is called the block. It can consist of several words, several sentences, several paragraphs, or even several pages. To manipulate a block, put the cursor at the block's beginning. (For example, to manipulate a whole paragraph, put the cursor at the paragraph's beginning.) Then give one of these commands. . . . Delete block (F3) To delete the block, say ``Delete block'' (by pressing F3). Then put the cursor at the block's last character, and press F10. Copy (F5) To copy the block (instead of deleting it), say ``Copy'' (by pressing F5). Then put the cursor at the block's last character, and press F10. Put the cursor where you want the block's copy to appear, and press F10. Move (Shift F5) To move the block (so it vanishes from its current location and reappears elsewhere), say ``Move'' (by pressing Shift with F5). Then put the cursor at the block's last character, and press F10. Move the cursor where you want the block's new position to be, then press F10 again. Enhance (Shift F6) To enhance the block (so it looks different from the rest of the document and stands out), say ``Enhance'' (by pressing Shift with F6). Then say which enhancement to perform: press U to Underline (so the block looks like this) press B to make Bold (so the block looks like this) press I to italicize (so the block looks like this) press X to X out (so the block looks like this)---------- press S to Subscript (so the block is lowered, like this) press P to suPerscript (so the block is raised, like this) press R to make Regular again (so the block looks like this) Put the cursor at the block's last character, and press F10. Don't see the bold? If you pressed B (to make Bold) but the block doesn't look bold, adjust your screen's contrast and brightness knobs. Don't see the underline? If you're using a CGA, EGA, or VGA monitor and pressed U (to underline), the block will change color on the screen but won't be underlined until you print it on paper. Don't see other enhancements? If you pressed I (to italicize), the block will change color on the screen. It will be italicized just on paper, and just if your printer knows how to italicize. You face the same hassle with other enhancements (X out, subscript, and superscript): on your screen the block just changes color. The desired enhancements occur just on paper, and just if your printer knows how to perform them. FINAL STEPS After you've edited your document, you'll want to copy the document onto the hard disk and onto paper, and move on to a different document or task. Here's how. . . . Save (Shift F8) While you're typing and editing a document, that document is in the computer's RAM chips. It's not on a disk. If the computer's electricity goes out (because of a thunderstorm or because your cat pulled the plug), the RAM chips will be erased ___ and so will your document! Another way to accidentally erase your document is to hit a wrong key. For example, if your cat jumps onto your keyboard and then sits on your DELETE key for several minutes, your document will be deleted. Other accidents can be caused by dogs, babies, novices, and you! To protect against accidents, copy your document onto a disk. Copying a document onto a disk is called saving. To save, just say ``Save'' (by pressing Shift with F8). Then the computer will ask you to invent a name for your document. The name must be short: no more than 8 letters. For example, the name can be ``jennifer'' or ``al''. Type the name you wish and press ENTER. The computer will copy the document onto the hard disk (drive C) and put that document into the QA subdirectory. Afterwards, if you improve the document by editing it further, the improved version will be in the RAM chips, but the disk will still contain the old version. To copy the improved version onto the disk, say ``Save'' again (by pressing Shift with F8) and press ENTER. The computer will replace the disk's old version by the new version. If you're typing a long document, say ``Save'' every 10 minutes. Then if an accident happens, you'll lose at most 10 minutes of work! Print (F2) Here's how to copy your writing onto paper. Make sure the printer is turned on. Make sure you've saved your document (to protect yourself in case the printer doesn't work). Then say ``Print'' (by pressing F2). The computer will say ``PRINT OPTIONS''. Press F10. Clear (Esc C) Here's how to erase the screen (so you can start creating a new document). Press the ESCAPE key (which says ``Esc'' on it). You'll see the write menu. Choose ``C - Clear'' (by pressing C). If the computer asks ``Are you SURE you want to continue?'', press Y. Get (Esc G) Here's how to copy a document from your hard disk to your screen. Press the ESCAPE key (which says ``Esc'' on it). You'll see the write menu. Choose ``G - Get'' (by pressing G). Either type ``jennifer'' (and press ENTER) or choose JENNIFER from a menu (by pressing ENTER, moving the cursor to JENNIFER, and pressing F10). If the computer asks, ``Are you SURE you want to continue?'', press Y. Exit (Esc Esc) When you've finished using Q&A's word processor, press the Esc key twice. If the computer asks, ``Are you SURE?'', press Y. You'll see the main menu. Choose ``X - Exit Q&A'' (by pressing X). The screen will show a C prompt, so you can give a DOS command. PAGE LAYOUT Your page's general appearance is called the layout. Here's how to improve it. (In version 4, some of the following commands require you to type the letter L. The L stands for ``Layout''.) Header (F8 L H) Normally, the top 6 lines of each page are blank, to form the top margin. Anything you scribble in that margin is called a header. For example, suppose you're writing a top-secret memo and want to scribble this note in the top margin of every page: Reminder! The info in this memo is TOP SECRET! Here's how to do it. Say ``Header''. (To do that in version 4, press F8 then L then H. To do that in version 3, press F8 then H). Type the header: Reminder! The info in this memo is TOP SECRET! Then press F10. The computer will put that header in the top margin of every page. If you don't like that header, try one of these: Please do not copy! It's copyrighted by starving author! ACHTUNG! To keep your job, reply to this memo by Friday! SALE! To order any of these items, call our 800 number! I love you!!! I love you!!! I love you!!! I love you!!! If you change your mind and want to edit the header, just say ``Header'' again, retype the header, and press F10 again. The header can be several lines long. While typing the header, you can use all of Q&A's editing techniques. For example, while typing the header, you can center it by saying ``Center''. (In version 4, that's F8 then A then C; in version 3, that's F8 then C.) Page numbers The computer can print page numbers on each page. Here's how to make the computer print ``Page 1 of the Great American Novel'' at the top of page 1, print ``Page 2 of the Great American Novel'' at the top of page 2, etc. Say ``Header'' (by pressing F8 then H). Type this ___ Page # of the Great American Novel and press F10. That makes the computer number all the pages. The computer prints ``Page 1 of the Great American Novel'' on the first page, ``Page 2 of the Great American Novel'' on the second page, etc. Footer (F8 L F) To print in the bottom margin (instead of the top margin), say ``Footer'' instead of ``Header''. (In version 4, ``Footer'' is F8 then L then F. In version 3, ``Footer'' is F8 then F.) Define page (Ctrl F6) The computer assumes that when the document is printed on paper, you want each character to be a tenth of an inch wide and a sixth of an inch high. To change that assumption and others, say ``Define page'' (by pressing Ctrl with F6). Then the computer says: Left margin: 10 Right margin : 68 Top margin : 6 Bottom margin: 6 Page width : 78 Page length : 66 Characters per inch.............: 10 12 15 17 Begin header/footer on page #...: 1 Begin page numbering with page #: 1 That means: the left margin's width is 10 characters (1 inch) the right margin begins 68 characters (6.8 inches) from the paper's left edge the top and bottom margins are each tall enough to hold 6 lines (1 inch) the paper's width is 78 characters (7.8 inches) the paper's height is 66 lines (11 inches) the printer will make each character a 10th of an inch wide headers and footers will be printed on all pages (beginning at page 1) pages will be numbered starting at page 1 To edit those numbers, move the cursor (by pressing the arrow keys or ENTER). For example, if you want ``Right margin'' to be 75, move the cursor to ``Right margin'' (by pressing the right-arrow key repeatedly, or pressing TAB or ENTER once) and then type 75. If your paper's width is 8« inches (85 characters), move the cursor to ``Page width'' (by pressing arrow keys repeatedly) and then type 85. Characters per inch To make each character to be small (just a 17th of an inch wide), move the cursor to ``Characters per inch'' and then move the cursor to 17. The first time you use Q&A, I recommend that you stick with 10 characters per inch, for two reasons: 1. Some printers have difficulty printing more than 10 characters per inch. 2. If you change the number of characters per inch, you must also change the margins. For example, suppose you want the left margin to be 1 inch wide. If you change to 17 characters per inch, you must tell the computer to make the left margin be 17 characters wide instead of 10 characters wide. Begin headers/footers Suppose you create a document in which the first three pages are special. (For example, a title page, then an acknowledgment page, then a table-of-contents page.) Suppose you want to omit the header or footer from those first three pages, so that the header or footer appears just on pages 4, 5, 6, etc. To do that, move the cursor to ``Begin header/footer on page #'', then type 4. Begin page numbering If your header or footer says to print a page number, the computer normally makes the first header or footer say ``page 1'' and the headers or footers on later pages say ``page 2'', ``page 3'', etc. If you want the first header or footer not to say ``page 1'', tell the computer what page number to say instead. For example, if you told the computer to omit the header or footer from three special pages, so that the first header or footer is on page 4, you probably want that header or footer to say ``page 4''. To do that, move the cursor to ``Begin page numbering with page #'' and type 4. Finish When you finish editing, and the entire screenful of numbers looks correct, press F10. New page (F8 L N) Here's how to leave the bottom part of page 2 blank, so that you can scribble a diagram in the blank and make the next topic begin on a fresh new page. Type whatever words you want on page 2. At the end of last paragraph you want on page 2, press ENTER. Then say ``New page''. (To do that in version 4, press F8 then L then N. To do that in version 3, press F8 then N.) The computer leaves the bottom of page 2 blank and hops to the top of page 3. What you type next will appear at the top of page 3 instead of the bottom of page 2. Page-break symbol Saying ``New page'' is called inserting a page break. When you say ``New page'' at the bottom of page 2, the computer puts this symbol at the bottom of page 2's screen: ¼ That symbol is called the page-break symbol. It appears just on your screen, not on paper. If you say ``New page'' but then change your mind, put the cursor on the page-break symbol and press the DELETE key. Set tabs (F8 L S) You press the TAB key to indent the top line of a paragraph, or to hop to a new column when typing a table. Whenever you press the TAB key, the cursor moves toward the right, until it reaches the next tab stop. If you want to change the positions of the tab stops, say ``Set tabs''. (To do that in version 4, press F8 then L then S. To do that in version 3, press F8 then S.) You'll see a ruler that has several T's on it. Each T is a tab stop. To erase a tab stop, move the cursor to that T, then press DELETE. To create a new tab stop, move the cursor across to where you want that tab stop, then type T. When you finish editing the tab stops, press F10. Decimal tabs When you type a column of numbers, you want their decimal points to line up, like this: 74.9 5,382,931.726 -.82 Those decimal points are aligned with each other. Here's how to type that column of numbers with aligned decimal points. . . . Say ``Set tabs''. Move the cursor as far right as you want the decimal points to be. Type D, so that you see a D on the ruler. (The D stands for decimal tab stop.) Then press F10. Move the cursor to the line where you want the first number to appear. Put the cursor at the beginning of that line (by pressing HOME if necessary). Press the TAB key several times, until you reach the position where you want the decimal point. Then type the first number (74.9). As you type it, the computer automatically shifts it towards the left, so its decimal point winds up where you requested. Press ENTER. Now you're ready to type the second line. To do so, press TAB repeatedly, until the cursor's where you want the decimal point (underneath the first number's decimal point). Then type the second number (which is 5,382.931.726) and press ENTER. For the third line, press TAB repeatedly until the cursor's where you want the decimal point, then type the third number and press ENTER. Temp margin (F6) Here's how to widen your document's left margin temporarily, so that an entire section of your document will be indented. Indenting the next section To indent the next section that you'll type, put the cursor where you want the section to begin. Move the cursor to the right, as far as you want the section to be indented, so that the cursor's where you want the temporary left margin to be. Say ``Temp margin'' (by pressing F6) and ``Left'' (by pressing L). Then type the words, sentences, and paragraphs that you want to be in the section. The entire section will be indented. At the end of the section's last paragraph, press the ENTER key. Then say ``Temp margin'' (F6) and ``Clear'' (C). That ends the temporary margin, so the rest of your document will have the usual margin and not be indented. Indenting a previous paragraph Here's how to indent a paragraph that you typed previously. Put the cursor at the paragraph's beginning, so the cursor's on the first character of the paragraph's first word. Make sure you're in insert mode (by pressing the INSERT key if necessary). Press the SPACE bar or TAB key several times until the paragraph's first word is indented as far as you wish. Then indent the rest of the paragraph by saying ``Temp margin'' (F6) and ``Left'' (L). Unindenting a previous paragraph Here's how to unindent a paragraph that you typed and indented previously. Put the cursor at the paragraph's beginning, so the cursor's on the first character of the paragraph's first word. Make sure you're in insert mode (by pressing the INSERT key if necessary). Press the BACKSPACE key several times until the paragraph's first word is unindented. Then unindent the rest of the paragraph by saying ``Temp margin'' (F6) and ``Clear'' (C). Draw (F8 L D) Here's how to draw a line. Put the cursor where you want the line to begin. Say ``Draw''. (To do that in version 4, press F8 then L then D. To do that in version 3, press F8 then D). Then draw the line, by pressing the arrow keys. For example, to make the line go to the right a distance of 3 characters, press þ three times. To make the line go to the right and then down, press þ and then . To draw a box of size 5, press þ five times, then  five times, then  five times, then  five times. To draw a diagonal line, press the 1, 3, 7, or 9 key on the numeric keypad. To draw a double line, press the 2, 4, 6, or 8 keys on the numeric keypad while depressing the Shift key or turning on the Num Lock light. When you finish drawing, press F10. VOCABULARY The computer can improve your vocabulary. Spell (Shift F1) Q&A comes with a disk that includes a list of all popular English words. That list is called a dictionary. Although that ``dictionary'' does not include definitions of those words, it does include each word's correct spelling. The dictionary contains 100,000 words. You can tell the computer to check each word in your document against the dictionary, to make sure all the words in your document are spelled correctly. That's called checking your spelling or doing a spelling check or doing a spell check or spell checking. If the computer notices that a word in your document is not in the dictionary, it highlights the word. For example, type a short document that contains just this one sentence: Be huppy! To spell-check the document, move the cursor to the beginning of the document, then say ``Spell'' (by pressing Shift with F1). The computer looks up each word in the dictionary. The computer finds ``Be'' in the dictionary but can't find ``huppy''. The computer highlights the strange word ``huppy'' and prints this spell-check menu: L - List possible spellings I - Ignore word & continue A - Add to dictionary & continue S - Add to dictionary & stop E - Edit word & recheck Choose ``List possible spellings'' (by pressing L). The computer prints this list of suggestions: 1 puppy 2 happy 3 guppy 4 hippy 5 puppies If you meant one of those words, type the word's number. If none of those words is what you meant, press the ESCAPE key (Esc) to return to the spell-check menu. Here's how to use other choices on the spell-check menu. Choosing ``Ignore word and continue'' makes the computer ignore the ``huppy'' problem, so ``huppy'' stays in the document. Choosing ``Add to dictionary & continue'' makes the computer add the slang word ``huppy'' to its dictionary. Choosing ``Edit word & recheck'' makes the computer wait for you to type a word to replace ``huppy''; when you finish typing the replacement, press ENTER. When the computer finishes checking the entire document, the bottom of the screen says ``Spelling check completed''. Be careful about adding If the computer gripes about a word you typed, do not add your word to the computer's dictionary unless you're sure that you've spelled it correctly! Start at the beginning Q&A spell-checks just the part of the document that comes after the cursor. To spell-check the entire document, make sure you put the cursor at document's beginning before you say ``Spell''. Spell word (Ctrl F1) If you say ``Spell word'' (Ctrl F1) instead of ``Spell'', the computer will check the spelling of just one word: the word where the cursor is. Say ``Spell word'' if you're nervous about the spelling of just one word and don't want to wait for the computer to check the spelling of your whole document. Thesaurus (Alt F1) Version 4 includes a thesaurus. (Version 3 does not. If you have version 3, skip ahead to the next topic.) For example, suppose you'r writing a love story and type the word ``caress''. Can you think of a different word instead, that means roughly the same thing as ``caress'' but is better? If you can't, the computer can! Just ask the computer to use its thesaurus to find synonyms for ``caress''. Here's how. In your document, type the word ``caress''. Move the cursor to that word. Say ``Thesaurus'' (by pressing Alt with F1). The computer prints these synonyms for ``caress'': noun: embrace, fondling, hug, kiss, squeeze, touch. verb: clutch, embrace, grasp, hold; feel, fool around, hold, make out, neck, nuzzle; cradle, cuddle, embrace, fondle, hug, love, pet, snuggle, stroke. That means the noun ``a caress'' has 6 synonyms: an embrace, fondling, hug, kiss squeeze, and touch. ) The verb ``to caress'' has 17 synonyms: to clutch, embrace, grasp, hold, feel, fool around, etc. If one of those words interests you, go explore! For example, if the word ``fondle'' interests you, move the cursor to ``fondle'' and say ``Thesaurus'' again (Alt F1). The computer will print these synonyms for ``fondle'': verb: examine, feel, finger, grope, handle, manipulate, maul, palpate, paw, probe, touch; caress, cradle, cuddle, embrace, hug, love, pet, snuggle, stroke. Notice that the computer is like a therapist: it realizes that a lover who wants to ``fondle'' might really want to ``maul''! If you want to replace ``caress'' by a synonym, move the cursor to the synonym you want and press F10. If you don't want to replace ``caress'', press the Esc key instead. Have fun Is your sex life boring ___ or out of control? Ask the computer for a synonym! Some of the computer's suggestions are peculiarly appropriate. If you request a synonym for ``sex'', the computer suggests ``congress''. If you want to ``screw'', the computer recommends having a ``shaft''. If you're looking for a ``rabbi'', the computer suggests a ``padre'' instead. Homosexuals will enjoy looking up the word ``gay'', which the computer considers to be ``scintillating'' and ``ecstatic''. Prostitutes don't fare as well: the computer considers them to be ``mishandled'', ``misemployed'', and ``perverts''. Don't be fooled by a man who acts ``amorous''; just ask the computer for a reaction, and the computer will say ``horny''. Go ahead: write a feminist article entitled, ``Sexual Myths Perpetrated by Computer Thesaurus''. Or write a sociolinguistic article entitled, ``Sexual Practices Arising (Bigger and Bigger!) from the English Language ___ And Vice Versa''. After all, our culture is defined by our language, isn't it? ADVANCED TRICKS Q&A lets you perform these advanced tricks! Alt # Look back at page 125, column 1. It shows a list of special symbols, with their code numbers. For example, it shows that the code number for the symbol ¤ is 164. So to type the symbol ¤, do this: hold down the Alt key; and while you keep holding down the Alt key, type 164 by using the numeric keypad (the number keys on the far right side of the keyboard). When you finish typing 164, lift your finger from the Alt key, and you'll see ¤ on your screen! Bad code numbers Codes 20 and 21 don't work when you're using Q&A (though they work when typing MS-DOS commands). On laser printers (such as the Hewlett-Packard Laserjet 2), code 249 is ù instead of ù, and code 252 is ü instead of ü. Search (F7) Here's how to make the computer search through your document to find whether you've used the word ``love''. Say ``Search'' (by pressing F7). This menu appears: Search for..: Replace with: Method......: Manual Automatic Fast automatic Type ``love'', so the menu looks like this: Search for..: love Replace with: Method......: Manual Automatic Fast automatic Then press F7 again. The computer searches for the word ``love''. If it can't find ``love'' in your document, it says ``NOT FOUND''. If it does find a ``love'' in your document, it says ``FOUND'', puts the cursor there, and waits for you to press F7 (to find the next ``love'') or Esc (to stop searching). Replace fast Here's how to replace each ``love'' in your document by ``idolize''. Say ``Search'' (by pressing F7). Make the menu look like this: Search for..: love Replace with: idolize Method......: Manual Automatic Fast automatic To do that, type ``love'' and press ENTER, then type ``idolize'' and press ENTER, then press END (or þ twice). When the menu looks like that, press F7. The computer replaces every ``love'' by ``idolize''. Then it says ``COMPLETED''. Replace manually Here's how to tell the computer to replace each ``love'' by ``idolize'' ___ but make the computer pause at each ``love'' so you can double-check whether you really want to replace it by ``idolize''. Say ``Search'' (by pressing F7). Make the menu look like this: Search for..: love Replace with: idolize Method......: Manual Automatic Fast automatic To do that, type ``love'' and press ENTER, then type ``idolize'' and press ENTER, and then ___ if ``Manual'' isn't highlighted already ___ press HOME (or  repeatedly). When the menu looks like that, press F7. The computer stops at the first ``love'' in your document. If you want to replace that ``love'' by ``idolize'', press F10 then F7. The computer stops at each ``love'' in your document and goes through the same routine (by waiting for you to press F10 then F7). When the computer reaches the end of the document, it says ``Search and replace completed''. If you want to stop that process before the computer finishes, press Esc (to stop the process entirely) or F7 (to avoid replacing the current ``love'' by ``idolize'' but continue searching for other ``loves'' to replace). Wrong capitals When you tell the computer to replace, the computer doesn't bother to capitalize. For example, consider this document: I love you. Love you! LOVE YOU! If you tell the computer to replace each ``love'' by ``idolize'', the computer produces this: I idolize you. idolize you! idolize YOU! Notice that the computer doesn't bother to capitalize ``idolize''. You must edit the document manually, to produce: I idolize you. Idolize you! IDOLIZE YOU! Phrases When the computer asks you what to search for, you can type a whole phrase. For example, instead of telling the computer to search for any ``love'', tell the computer to search for ``love to sing''. Why search? Suppose you've written a history of America and want to find the part where you started talking about Lincoln. If you forget which page that was, no problem! Just put the cursor at the beginning of the document and tell the computer to search for ``Lincoln''. Advanced menu Try this experiment: say ``Search'' (by pressing F7), so you see the search menu. Then press the PgDn key; that makes the search menu becomes longer, so it looks like this: Search for..: Replace with: Method......: Manual Automatic Fast automatic Type........: Whole words Text Pattern Case........: Insensitive Sensitive Range.......: All To end To beginning If you say to search for ``love'', the computer assumes you want to search for the word ``love'' but not for variants such as ``loves'', ``lover'', and ``lovely''. If you do want to search for such variants also, move the cursor to the word ``Text'' (so the word ``Text'' is highlighted). Then the computer will search for any word that contains ``love''. When it searches, the computer will stop at words such as ``love'', ``loves'', ``lover'', and ``lovely''. It will also stop at words such as ``glove'', ``clove'', ``clover'', ``pullover'', ``slovenly'', and ``auriculoventricular''. If you say to search for ``love'', the computer assumes you also want to search for ``Love'' and ``LOVE''. If you do not want to search for such variants, move the cursor to the word ``Sensitive'' (so the word ``Sensitive'' is highlighted). If you say to search for ``love'', the computer assumes you want to search through the entire document. The computer searches through the part of the document that comes after the cursor, then the part of the document that comes before. If you want to search through just the part of the document that comes after the cursor, highlight ``To end''. If you want to search through just the part of the document that comes before the cursor, highlight ``To beginning''. Macro (Shift F2) The computer can help you write love letters. For example, suppose you want each love letter to end with this message: ``As always, I love you passionately, forever, my darling!!!''. Instead of typing that long message at the end of each love letter, you can make the computer automatically type the message for you! To do that, choose a letter of the alphabet to stand for the message. For example, you can choose A or B or C. Here's how. . . . Say ``Macro'' (by pressing Shift with F2). Then press D (which means ``Define''). The computer says: Type the macro identifier. For example: ALT-A, ALT-B, etc. Choose a letter of the alphabet, such as A or B. Type that letter while holding down the Alt key. (If the computer asks ``That key is already defined; do you want to redefine it?'', you should say ``No'' by pressing ``N'', then start the whole procedure over and choose a different letter of the alphabet.) The screen's lower-right corner shows a flashing square. Type the message you want to record. For example, type: As always, I love you passionately, forever, my darling!!! At the end of the message, say ``Macro'' again (Shift F2). Then if you're using version 4, press F10. The computer says: If you want to save your macros to disk now, press ENTER. Press ENTER. In the future, whenever you want the computer to automatically type the passionate message, just press the chosen letter while holding down the Alt key. Jargon The message that you're recording (``As always, I love you passionately, forever, my darling!!!'') is called the macro. The macro's name is ``Alt A'' or ``Alt B'' or whatever other name you choose. Why use macros? Whatever you type often, you should turn into a macro. The macro can even contain commands that make the computer underline, boldface, center, and do other fancy tasks. The macro can be any sequence of keystrokes you wish! Creating a macro is like turning on a tape recorder: yes, the computer will record any keystrokes you wish! For example, the macro can even be a recording of the sequence of keystrokes that make the computer save your document onto the disk and then print your document on paper. QAMACRO.ASC When you invent macros, the computer puts their definitions onto the hard disk, in a file called ``QAMACRO.ASC''. Unless you erase that file, the computer remembers your macro definitions forever. Assign fonts (Ctrl F9) Here are samples of popular fonts. . . . This is a sample of the Courier font. This is a sample of the Lineprinter font. This is 8-point Times Roman, 10-point Times Roman, 12-point Times Roman. This is 8-point Helvetica, 10-point Helvetica, 12-point Helvetica. In the Courier font, each character is 1/10 of an inch wide; so Courier's a 10-characters-per-inch font. In Lineprinter, each character is 1/17 of an inch wide. In Times Roman and Helvetica, each letter of the alphabet has its own width: for example, the letter ``m'' is wider than the letter ``i''. Since Courier's characters all have the same width as each other, they're called monospaced. Lineprinter's characters are monospaced also. Times Roman and Helvetica are not monospaced; they're proportionally spaced instead. A point is 1/72 of an inch. The first sample of Times Roman is called 8-point because it's 8 points high: the top of the capital T is 8 points higher than the bottom of the small p. The other samples of Times Roman are larger. The computer assumes you want a 10-characters-per-inch font (such as Courier). To print the document in a different font, teach the computer which 9 fonts are your favorites. Here's how. . . . Say ``Assign fonts'' (by pressing Ctrl with F9). Then press F6. The computer will say ``LIST OF FILES''. Move the cursor to the name of your printer (or a similar printer) by pressing the down-arrow key several times. (If you're using version 4 with just one printer, use this short cut: just tap the END key.) Press F10. Choose a regular font (the font you plan to use most often, on a regular basis), as follows. Move the cursor down to the word ``Regular'', and press F6. You'll see a list of fonts. (If the list is too long to fit on the screen, press PgDn to see the rest of it.) Move the cursor to whichever font you want to become the regular font. (Make sure to choose a font that's in your printer or computer already, rather than an extra-cost optional font that you didn't buy yet.) Press F10. Congratulati ons! You've chosen the regular font. Choose fonts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in the same way. So altogether, you're choosing a regular font plus 8 supplementary fonts. When you finish choosing fonts, press F10. Finish typing and editing your document. When you tell the computer to print the document on paper, the computer will print most of it by using the regular font you chose. If you want a block in your document to use a different font instead, move the cursor to the block's beginning and say ``Enhance'' by pressing Shift with F6. (Then if you're using version 3, press F.) Type the desired font's number (1 through 8), move the cursor to the end of the block, and press F10.