Data from other applications can be transferred to EasiWriter:
Documents saved from Impression using 'Text with styles' (DDF format) can be imported complete with formatting and emphasis etc. Otherwise when text is moved between applications it will lose its structure and formatting information. Text can only be copied from applications that are capable of writing text only documents.
Tables can be created automatically from CSV (comma separated value) files and Tab separated files can be dragged into a table. EasiWriter can save the contents of a table as a Tab separated Edit file.
Text files and other text based, non-graphic files (such as Obey and Command files) can be opened directly into EasiWriter.
Where the document being imported is formatted (such as Word or HTML) the formatting will be preserved if possible.
Text can be formatted after it has been copied into an EasiWriter document by selecting it and choosing a structure. For example if three paragraphs were selected and Section was chosen from the Structure menu the first paragraph would become the section heading.
Documents saved with Styles from Impression (DDF format) can be imported complete with formatting and emphasis etc.
If you are importing from Impression with the intention of creating an HTML document it is better to import as Text only and reapply the styles in EasiWriter. This is because a document imported from Impression lacks structure. For example a numbered list coming from Impression will be seen as a series of individual hanging paragraphs with numbers at the front giving the following:
<P> 1 Item one <P> 2 Item two <P> 3 Item three
But if you import the text, remove the numbers, drag over them and apply a Numbered list you will get:
<OL>
<LI>Item one <LI>Item two <LI>Item three
</OL>
which is altogether much better HTML.
The same is true of other structures such as Sections.
Documents, text files, sprites and draw files can be inserted into a document at the caret position.
If you don't specify a pathname EasiWriter will look in the CSD (currently selected directory) for the document.
CSV (comma separated value) files can be used to exchange information between applications. Often they are created by a Spreadsheet.
This is an example of a CSV file:
"","Perrier","Moët","Theakstons"
"Normal","61","11","11"
"Inebriated","18","52","20"
"Paralytic","6","10","55"
"Comatose","0","11","31"
A table will be created automatically:
Perrier | Moët | Theakstons | |
Normal | 61 | 11 | 11 |
Inebriated | 18 | 52 | 20 |
Paralytic | 6 | 10 | 55 |
Comatose | 0 | 11 | 31 |
By default Automatic column widths will be used, but will be automatically changed to Fixed width with word wrap if the table does not fit within the margins.
See the Tables folder in the Examples directory for more information.
To create a table from a Tab separated text file:
The table will be filled in automatically.
Pictures can be incorporated into an EasiWriter document either into a line of text or into a Picture or Figure structure.
Pictures can be either Sprites, Draw files, Extended Draw files (as produced by DiagramIt or TableMate), PNGs or JPEGs and can be cropped and scaled.
You can create Picture styles to automatically control the appearance of pictures.
In-line pictures are pictures that have been inserted into a line of text. They behave like words and will wrap if necessary. They can be moved up or down in the line by dragging on them.
2 Drag the picture icon into the EasiWriter document window
or
2 Drag a picture icon from a Save dialogue box into the EasiWriter document window.
asiWriter Pro+ has an additional picture type called
Floating graphics. This paragraph
also shows how in-line graphics can be 'floated' to the left
or right margins, while the text flows round them. This is similar to the way
graphics are left and right handed in HTML. Paragraphs can contain more than
one picture which can be positioned on either side or stacked on one side.
To create a floating graphic.
A picture structure acts like a paragraph and will move with the surrounding paragraphs when editing takes place.
1 Click towards the beginning of the paragraph that you want the picture to precede, or
1 If you want the picture to follow a structure (e.g. a table) choose End Structure (Ctrl-]) from the Structure menu.
2 Choose Picture (Ctrl-Shift-F8) from the Structure menu.
3 Drag the picture icon into the document, or
3 Drag a picture icon from a Save dialogue box into the document.
A Figure structure is a picture with a caption. It acts like a paragraph and will move with the surrounding paragraphs when editing takes place. If it needs to move to a new page or column both the picture and the caption will stay together.
1 Click towards the beginning of the paragraph that you want the figure to precede, or
1 If you want the figure to follow a structure (e.g. a table) choose End Structure (Ctrl-]) from the Structure menu.
2 Choose Figure (Ctrl-Shift-F7) from the Structure menu.
3 Type the caption, then click in the picture frame to select it.
4 Drag the picture icon into the document, or
4 Drag a picture icon from a Save dialogue box into the document.
Note: If you select a paragraph before choosing Figure the paragraph will be inserted into the figure caption automatically.
EasiWriter can read HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and RTF (Rich Text Format) documents. See HTML page 106.
You can drag a selection and drop its contents in windows belonging to some other applications, or even over some applications on the icon bar.
You can also drag data into a EasiWriter window from other applications supporting Drag and Drop such as DataPower from Iota Software and Acorn's Advance.
Text can be saved from EasiWriter documents either to text only files or directly into other applications using Text from the Save menu. When you use these options any formatting information and pictures will be discarded.
Note: Tables will be saved with a Tab character separating each column and a Return each row.
The text will be inserted at the caret position.
In some cases you can save text by dragging the text icon directly onto an application icon in the icon bar. This will open a new document containing the text.
Note: These methods only work with applications that are designed to work with text and conform to the Acorn guidelines. As an alternative try saving a document or selection as a Text file which may then be imported.
2 Position the caret in the destination document where you want the picture to be inserted.
3 Select the picture and choose Save, check Selection and drag the Save icon into the destination document.
or
1 Select the picture and choose Save, check Selection and drag the Save icon into a directory viewer.
Parts of an EasiWriter document (including text) can be saved as a Draw file which can be manipulated in Draw and brought back as pictures if required.
For example a line, or lines, of text can be inverted like this:
This example demonstrates a number of techniques.
A figure was created and the table was saved into the picture part. This text is a list without a bullet which enables the caption to have multiple paragraphs. The picture was opened in Draw by holding down Ctrl and double clicking. It was rotated and saved.
This example demonstrates a number of techniques.
A figure was created and the table was saved into the picture part. This text is a list without a bullet which enables the caption to have multiple paragraphs. The picture was opened in Draw by holding down Ctrl and double clicking. It was rotated and saved.