Fish 'n' More 2/fishmore-publicdomainlibraryvol.ii1991xetec.iso/fish/prog_demos/turbotext/turbotext.doc

Text File | 1991-01-24 | 16KB | 367 lines

                        TurboText Demo 1.0 (11-Jan-90)
            Copyright © 1991 Martin Taillefer, All Rights Reserved
                        This is freely redistributable




                                   Welcome!
                                   ========

Welcome to TurboText, the most advanced text editor available for the Amiga
line of computers. TurboText has been designed from the ground up to provide
the necessary tools to easily perform a varied range of sophisticated text
editing tasks.

Whether TurboText is used for educational, recreational, or professional
text editing, it offers Amiga users the highest level of performance and
ease of use available.

TurboText can be used out of the box and offers an impressive array of
capabilities. The more advanced users can also customize the editing
environment to a high degree. Through ARexx, additional capabilities can be
added by using the vast collection of commands available through TurboText's
ARexx interface.

TurboText works perfectly well under either AmigaDOS 1.3 or AmigaDOS 2.0. We
have adhered closely to the new user-interface standards promoted by
Commodore, which enhances usability and reduces the time it takes to learn
how to operate the software.

This version of TurboText is a special demonstration version that does not
allow you to save and print documents. It also limits the size of cut and
paste operations to no more than 10K per transaction. Aside from these two
limitations, the program is fully functional. Included with the main program
are several ARexx scripts and special definition files. These are only
samples of what TurboText includes, we have many more of these scripts and
definition files than could be included here.



                               Feature Overview
                               ================

TurboText has a vast array of features, only a few of which are presented
here. By experimenting with this demonstration version, we hope you will get
a sense of its power. Following is a brief list of what TurboText can do for
you:

  · Fully integrated into the Amiga windowing paradigm

  · Uses an AmigaDOS 2.0 user-interface even when running under AmigaDOS 1.3

  · Completely mouse and/or keyboard driven

  · Unlimited number of documents opened at any one time

  · Provides multiple views on the same document

  · Full standard clipboard Cut/Copy/Paste support, including vertical
    selection blocks

  · Sophisticated integrated programmer's calculator

  · Extensive ARexx macro interface featuring over 140 commands

  · Lets you record your actions and play them back automatically, the
    sequence of actions can even be saved to disk to create ARexx macros

  · Contains a powerful hexadecimal editing window

  · Complete outlining abilities using the special Fold interface

  · Many advanced features such as Correct Case and Correct Word

  · Supports sophisticated text templates, including special template sets
    for C, Modula-2, Ada, Assembly, and COBOL programming

  · Unparalleled customizability providing for complete redefinition of the
    program menus, keyboard sequences, mouse sequences and more!

  · Ability to dynamically change all text used by the program to adapt
    easily to different languages

  · Includes emulations of many popular text editors such as CygnusEd, TxEd+,
    MEMACS, BRIEF, WordStar, and others

  · Provides several features suitable for general-purpose text editing such
    as word wrap, auto-indent, free form mode, etc...



                             The Document Window
                             ===================

Since TurboText uses the standard Amiga windowing environment, and adheres
to standard user-interface conventions, it is trivial to learn how to use
it. Experimenting by playing with the menus and requesters will already give
you a good feel for the program.

The document window is where text is edited and viewed in TurboText, such as
the window that contains this text. As you will have noticed, the top border
of this window contains various kinds of status information. Starting from
left to right:

    · Status flags:  B/b  Make Backups (B=On, b=Off)
                     C/c  Case Correct (C=On, c=Off)
                     F/f  Free Form (F=On, f=Off)
                     I/i  Auto-Indent (I=On, i=Off)
                     M/m  Document modified since last save? (M=Yes, m=No)
                     O/o  Overstrike (O=On, o=Off)
                     R/r  Read Only (R=On, r=Off)
                     W/w  Word Wrap (W=On, w=Off)
    · Current cursor position
    · Total number of lines in the current document

The state of the options associated with the status flags can be controlled
via the [Ctrl] key. For example, Word Wrap mode can be toggled on and off
using [Ctrl]-W.

The gadget at the right of the status display is the Zoom gadget. Clicking
on this gadget causes the editor window to become very small, allowing it to
be placed out of the way. To restore the original window, just click on the
Zoom gadget once again.

The scroll gadget on the right side allows you to easily move through the
document. You can also move the document by clicking the left mouse button
within the main editing window, and dragging the mouse towards the top or
bottom of the window. Depending on the horizontal position of the mouse, the
display scrolls at different speeds. Putting the mouse to the extreme left
make it scroll very fast. Finally, the scroll arrows in the bottom right of
the main window can be used to move the cursor.



                             Taking a Test Drive
                             ===================

This section presents TurboText's most interesting features with examples
showing how to try them out. Note that by pressing [Help] on the keyboard, a
window is opened showing all keyboard controls available by default in
TurboText.

 · Real Amiga program;
   TurboText integrates seemlessly into the Amiga environment. Its
   attractive and intuitive screen layouts make it look right at home with
   AmigaDOS 2.0. TurboText uses true Amiga windows, making it capable of
   opening as many simultaneous documents as will fit in memory! For
   example, to open a new document window, choose the "Windows/New" menu
   command.

 · AmigaDOS 2.0-friendly;
   Although TurboText runs perfectly under AmigaDOS 1.3, it takes advantage
   of many of the new features available under AmigaDOS 2.0 such as the
   Workbench's new AppWindow feature, or Intuition's powerful Public Screen
   feature.

 · Multi-Window;
   The editor can edit any number of files at once. Windows can be collapsed
   to just their title bar when they are not needed (try clicking the 'Zoom'
   gadget just left of the standard depth gadget(s) in the title bar of this
   window.

 · Blazingly fast scrolling;
   Using the mouse, you can scroll through a document by simply holding the
   left mouse button and dragging the mouse off the top or bottom edges of
   the window. Positioning the mouse on the extreme left of the window
   scrolls at maximum speed, while moving the mouse towards the right
   gradually slows down the scrolling to allow for "scroll-by reading".

 · Cursor movement;
   TurboText provides many flexible means of cursor movement. The mouse can
   be used to position the cursor anywhere in the document. The cursor keys
   in combination with the [Shift] and [Alt] keys provide rapid movement
   within the document. The scroll gadget can also be used to quickly get to
   any part of the document. The "Search/Go To Line #..." menu command
   allows you to jump to any specific line number within the current
   document.

 · Multi-View;
   TurboText maintains two distinct views on any loaded document. You can
   easily switch from one view to the other. Each view can display totally
   separate portions of the current document. Views can occupy the entire
   window, or both views can share the window and be displayed
   simultaneously. In this mode, changes in one view are reflected instantly
   in the other view. Try to choose the "Windows/Split View" menu command to
   cause both views to be displayed simultaneously. In this mode, you can
   click on the bar separating both views and drag it up or down to resize
   the views. Choose the menu command again to return to a single view
   display.

 · Any font, any screen;
   TurboText can be run using any mono-spaced font and can open its windows
   either on the Workbench screen, or on a custom screen with or without
   overscan. Using AmigaDOS 2.0, you can even open editing windows on other
   applications' public screens, and other applications can open their
   windows on the editor's screen.

 · Block manipulation;
   TurboText provides the normal block Cut/Copy/Paste functions using the
   standard Amiga clipboard. Try selecting and manipulating this paragraph
   as a block. Simply position the mouse pointer at the start of the
   paragraph, and double-click the left mouse button. You can now drag the
   mouse to any part of the document and the selected text will be
   highlighted. To deselect the block, simply press the right mouse button.
   In addition to being able to cut or copy selected text, you can also
   center it, justify it, convert all the characters it contains to upper or
   lower case, and more. A selected block can be moved from left to right,
   which helps structured programming tremendously. For example, when this
   paragraph is selected, hitting [Ctrl]-[CursorRight] causes the entire
   paragraph to be shifted towards the right. In addition to normal blocks,
   TurboText also supports vertical blocks which allow you to select and
   manipulate columns of text. Cut and paste operations all make use of the
   standard Amiga clipboard enabling text transfers between different
   applications.

 · Full outlining ability with Folds;
   TurboText supports a concept known as folds. For example, position the
   cursor on the WHILE word below,

     WHILE x>2 DO
       DEC(x);
       IF x>2 THEN
         DEC(y);
       END;
     END;

   and choose the "Folds/Make Fold" menu command. The entire WHILE loop is
   then collapsed so that all the indented text is hidden. This is extremely
   convenient when developing software, or when writing documentation. A
   fold can also be created by selecting a block of text, in which case
   everything except the first line of the selected block is hidden away.
   You can see what is in a fold by positioning the cursor on the fold
   header, and choosing the "Folds/Show Fold" menu command. There can be any
   number of folds in a document, and there can be folds within folds.

 · ARexx Support:
   The editor supports over 140 ARexx commands. ARexx is a powerful macro
   programming language supported by many Amiga applications. This feature
   allows you to add new capabilities using an easy to use macro programming
   language. See the file ARexxCommands.doc for a list of all the commands
   that are supported.

 · Recorded macros;
   TurboText can record your actions and play them back automatically. This
   is a very valuable time-saving feature. Recorded macros can be saved to
   disk and later be recalled quickly. Recorded macros are saved as normal
   ARexx macros so you can edit and expand them yourself!

 · Bookmarks;
   Bookmarks allow you to mark a location in a document, then from anywhere
   within this document, jump back instantly to the location. TurboText
   supports an infinite number of bookmarks. For example, you can mark the
   current position within this document by entering [Shift]-[F1]. You can
   then move the cursor to anywhere within the document, and as soon as you
   enter [Alt]-[F1], the cursor is moved back to its original location!

 · Calculator;
   TurboText's TTXCalc programmer's calculator which is accessible from
   inside the editor offers many functions to make programming easier, such
   as conversion between different number bases, variable bit sizes, signed
   and unsigned operations, and more. Choose the "Windows/Show
   Calculator..." menu command to see the calculator.

 · Hex Editing;
   TurboText provides a complete hexadecimal editing facility. To see this,
   just choose the "Windows/Show Hex..." menu command.

 · Emulations;
   TurboText comes standard with emulations of many popular text editors
   including MicroEMACS, Ed, TxEd+, CygnusEd, QEdit, and more! Since the
   emulations are done entirely using ARexx macros and keyboard
   redefinitions, you can customize and expand the emulations to suit your
   particular tastes.

 · Templates;
   This is one of TurboText's advanced features. It allows you to build a
   dictionary of commonly used word sequences. As you are typing you can
   then enter only the letters needed to identify the sequence, then
   activate the template completion function (this is done by pressing
   [F2]). The editor automatically completes the sequence for you. Very
   handy for Amiga system names such as 'SwapBitsRastPortClipRect'!. This
   feature can also be used to develop templates for commonly used
   programming languages. For example, position the text cursor over the
   following word:

     PROcE

   and while the cursor is on the above word, press [F2]. You should see the
   word expand into a complete, ready to fill template for a Modula-2
   program! The templates are completely user-definable and expandable!

 · Correct Word;
   This is another one of TurboText's advanced features. Word correction
   allows you to define a dictionary of commonly used words. While you type
   in these words, if you notice a typo, you simply press [F1] and the typo
   is corrected automatically! For example, position the text cursor over
   the following word:

     impelmentation

   and while the cursor is on the above word, press [F1]. The word will
   automatically be corrected to IMPLEMENTATION!

 · Auto Case Correction;
   TurboText has a mode that automatically converts certain words into a
   specific letter case. This is very valuable for many programming
   languages that infer meaning from the letter case of words. Since the
   list of words is entirely user-definable, this feature is useful for any
   programming language. To see auto case correction in action, first turn
   on case correction by entering [Ctrl]-C. Now position the cursor below
   this paragraph and type the word 'module'. As soon as you hit the space
   bar after typing this word in, it automatically becomes 'MODULE' !

 · Keyboard redefinition;
   You can assign any function to any key combination you can type in.
   Redefining keys is very easy and allows you to customize TurboText to a
   high degree.

 · Menu redefinition;
   You can completely redesign TurboText's menu strip to look like anything
   you want! Any function can be put in the menus, allowing the creation of
   custom applications using the editor as a core engine.

 · Language support;
   The special text redefinition feature allows easy adaptation to local
   languages. For example, choose the "Prefs/Open Defs..." menu command.
   From the file requester that is displayed, select the "TTX_Français.dfn"
   file using the left mouse button, and click on the "Open" gadget. After
   doing this, you'll notice that all the program menus and requesters are
   now in French! To come back to the English setting, choose the
   "Préfs/Lire Définitions..." menu command, then select the
   "TTX_English.dfn" file from the file requester that appears.



                            Price and Availability
                            ======================

TurboText will start shipping in the first quarter of 1991 and will be
available at your local dealer. Both English and German versions are
scheduled to be released. Retail price Is tentatively set at $99.95 US,
although this is still subject to change. International pricing will be
similar.



                             Who you gonna call?
                             ===================

For inquiries regarding this product, contact:

     Oxxi, Inc.
     P O Box 90309
     Long Beach, CA 90809-0309
     USA

     Phone: [phone]
     FAX  : [phone]

Questions of a technical nature can be sent electronically to:

     BIX     : vertex
     Internet: [e-mail]
     CIS     : >INTERNET: [e-mail]