Phoenix CD 2.0/Phoenix_CD.cdr/01e/lq_235.zip/DOC.ARC/LETHEAD.DOC

Text File | 1988-06-14 | 10KB | 282 lines

                              LETHEAD
                A letterhead-editor to accompany LQ

                      (c) 1987 by Mark Harris
                       All rights reserved.


     LETHEAD is a graphics editor which works in conjunction with
LQ to produce high-resolution letterheads consisting of 1" x 1"
pictures and up to four lines of accompanying text.  Each picture
(23040 dot positions) is stored in the format of an LQ character
set, although the picture segments don't look like characters.
LETHEAD lets you
  edit a picture
  save a picture
  load a picture
  create a data file to be printed with the picture serving as one
    of LQ's character sets (the letterhead).
The final product can be printed with a one-line batch file.

     For example, suppose that you have edited a picture which has
been saved as MYPIC.SET (LETHEAD adds the suffix) and you have
created a datafile saved as MYDATA.  (The data file consists of
character codes for the picture and for the accompanying text.)
The picture is assumed to take the place of LQ's second character
set, so the command
  LQ F'MYDATA' C2'MYPIC'
will print the letterhead.  Better still, if this line is saved as
a text file under the name LETTER.BAT then you can produce the
letterhead simply by typing LETTER at the DOS prompt.  The
letterhead will look something like this:

XXXXXXXXXXXX    Granny's Old-Fashioned Software
XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX             Rt 4, Box 216
XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX           Boone, NC  28607
XXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX            [phone]
XXXXXXXXXXXX

where the X's on the left show the position of the picture.  The
text on the right can be printed in up to three LQ fonts, one per
line.  (If you're willing to edit the final data file yourself you
can mix fonts within each line.)

     LETHEAD requires a graphics card with IBM Color Graphics
Adapter emulation, although a color monitor is not necessary.
If you don't have this equipment it may be worth a trip to a
friend's computer to edit a letterhead since the resulting
letterhead file can be used on your own non-CGA equipment.


       Using LETHEAD.

     After you enter LETHEAD at the DOS prompt you will see the
following menu:

       1. Edit picture.
       2. Clear picture.
       3. Load picture.
       4. Save picture.
       5. Create letterhead.
       6. Directory = A:\
       7. Exit.

       Your choice? (1 - 7)

Following is a description of each option.

1. Edit picture.
     This is the option you will always take to edit a picture
whether you are loading an old one or starting a new one.  You
will be shown the graphics screen with a summary of editing
options.  For a detailed description see 'Editing pictures' below.
Option 1 is selected by pressing either '1' or <Enter>.

2. Clear picture.
     If you have thoroughly garbled the screen and want to begin
afresh, select this option.  If have not loaded a picture and you
choose option 1, the graphics screen is cleared automatically.

3. Load picture.
     As far as LETHEAD is concerned a picture is any file with the
suffix 'SET'.  If the files PIC1.SET, PIC2.SET and COURIER.SET are
in the current directory then you will be shown the listing
  PIC1     PIC2     COURIER,
then asked for the file you wish to load.  Since COURIER is a
regular LQ character set you will not want to treat it as a
picture (although it wouldn't do any harm as long as you didn't
make and save changes).  When entering the file name you do not
need to include the 'SET' suffix.  It will take LETHEAD a few
seconds to convert the picture from character set format to the
screen representation which you will edit.

4. Save picture.
     As with 'Load picture', you are first shown a listing of all
files which have the suffix 'SET'.  If you enter the name of a
file which already exists, the old file will be overwritten with
no warning.

5. Create letterhead.
     This option is used to create the data file which LQ prints
to make a letterhead.  Included in the file are LQ control
sequences which switch between the picture font and the other
fonts used for your name, address, etc.  You will be prompted to
       enter from one to four lines of text, then you will be given the
option of printing these lines in any mix of fonts 1, 3 and 4.
Suppose you enter the two lines
  Fred Jones
  President of the Universe
and specify font number 4 for the first name and font number 3 for
the second.  If the name UNIVERSE is used for the resulting data
file then you can later enter
  LQ F'UNIVERSE' C2'PIC1'
to create a letterhead with the given text alongside the picture
PIC1; the default fonts 3 and 4 will used for the text.  To load a
different font for (say) 'Fred Jones', the command
  LQ F'UNIVERSE' C2'PIC1' C4'DIFFONT'
could be used, assuming that DIFFONT.SET is an LQ character set.
The same letterhead file can be used with more than one picture;
for example
  LQ F'UNIVERSE' C2'PIC2'
will use a different picture with the same text.

     To create a batch file LETTER.BAT which will automate the
letterhead printing, enter the following text:
COPY CON LETTER.BAT
LQ F'UNIVERSE' C2'PIC1' <CTRL Z> <ENTER>
Then simply type LETTER to print the letterhead.

6. Directory =
     Option 6 lets you change the default directory used for
loading and saving files.  When prompted, enter a path such as
A:\MYDIR, or
C:\DIR1\DIR2
The drive prefix may be omitted if the default drive is to be
used.

7. Exit.
     Press '7' or <Esc> to exit LETHEAD.  As a safeguard you will
be prompted to indicate whether you really mean it.


Text entry.

     Any time you are prompted to enter text (file names or
letterhead lines) you have certain editing functions at your
disposal.  The right- and left-arrow, home, end, backspace,
delete and insert keys work as you would expect them to.  The
<Esc> key aborts the text entry.  The F3 or <Ctrl R> keys restore
the line to its original appearance.  The <Enter> key accepts the
displayed text, regardless of the position of the cursor.


Editing pictures.

     When you select the 'Edit picture' option you are shown a
large square in which your picture will be created, with a
       graphics cursor marking the position of the next entry.  At the
right of the screen the following summary of options is displayed:

Options:

A)rc     C)ircle
D)raw    E)llipse
F)ill    L)ine
R)ect    U)ndo

F2  = Copy
Del = Cut
Ins = Paste

P)en color = white
S)tyle = 3x3

Cursor keys to move

Shifted cursor
moves faster

<Enter> accepts
change or toggles
point

<Esc> = main menu

Following is a more detailed description:

Cursor movement.
     The arrow keys move the cursor one dot in the appropriate
direction.  Pressing either shift key along with an arrow key
moves the cursor 10 dots.  The Home and End keys move to the far
left or right of the screen, and the PgUp and PgDn keys move to
the top and bottom.

Arc.
     Drawing an arc is a three-stage process.  Position the cursor
at one end of the arc and press 'A', then move to the other end
and press <Enter>.  Now as you move the cursor you will control
the arc which connects the two endpoints; when the arc looks right
press <Enter> to accept.

Circle.
     Pressing 'C' fixes the center of a circle and subsequent
cursor moves change the radius.  When the radius is correct press
<Enter>.

Draw.
     Pressing 'D' initiates the drawing mode.  The cursor keys are
then used to draw in the current pen color (black or white) and
pen style (a square of dimensions 1x1, 2x2 or 3x3).  Extended
       cursor moves (shifted arrow, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn) move the
cursor but terminate drawing mode.  <Enter> also ends drawing
mode.

Ellipse.
  The cursor marks the endpoint of an axis of an ellipse.  Press
<Enter> after the other endpoint is positioned correctly to fix
this axis.  The length of the other axis (perpendicular to the
first) is now determined by the distance of the cursor from the
first segment; press <Enter> when this is appropriate.

Fill.
     Pressing 'F' fills a region with the color white.  The region
must be completely bounded by a white border or the coloring will
'spill' into the entire screen.

Line.
     Pressing 'L' marks one endpoint of a line, then after cursor
moves <Enter> is used to mark the other endpoint and draw a line
connecting these points.

Undo.
     Pressing 'U' cancels the effect of the last operation.  For
example, if you F)ill a larger area than you intended you can
U)ndo the damage and try again.

Rectangle.
     Pressing 'R' marks one corner of rectangle, then after cursor
moves <Enter> is used to mark the diagonally opposite corner and
draw the rectangle which is thus determined.

F2.
     Pressing F2 begins a block copy operation.  As with
R)ectangle a block is marked with <Enter>.  The cursor is then
used to move a copy of this block and <Enter> fixes the copy.  As
a side effect a copy of the block remains on the 'clipboard' for
subsequent paste operations.

Del.
     'Del' is used to cut a block from the picture.  The block is
marked as with the copy operation and the marked region is removed
from the screen.  A copy of the region is retained on the
clipboard and can be pasted back to the screen.

Ins.
     'Ins' shows the block from the clipboard at the cursor
position.  The block can be moved with cursor operations and is
fixed on the screen when <Enter> is pressed.

       Pen color.
     There are only two pen colors - white (default) and black.
Pressing 'P' toggles between these values.  Note: the image is
reversed when printed, so the originally black screen corresponds
to a white sheet of paper.

Pen style.
     The Draw operation places a shape at each cursor position.
This shape is a block of dimensions 1x1, 2x2 or 3x3.  Pressing 'S'
(for style) cycles through these three values.

<Enter>.
     Pressing <Enter> generally ends a given operation.  In the
default cursor-movement mode, <Enter> toggles the color of the dot
under the cursor.

<Esc>.
     Pressing <Esc> returns you to the main menu, from which you
can load and save files or exit the program.