Shareware Super Platinum 8/Shareware Super Platinum 8.iso/mac/EDITORS/SIGNWR42.ZIP;1/MANUAL.DOC

Text File | 1993-08-11 | 114.3 KB | 3,191 lines

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             |   S I G N W R I T E R
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             |   A word processor for writing signed languages
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                                     - i -


         Publisher:

         The Deaf Action Committee For Sign Writing (DAC)
         P.O. Box 517  La Jolla, CA  92038-0517  USA
         Voice: [phone]     TDD For Deaf: [phone]
         FAX:   [phone]     Compuserve:   72410,2300


         Sponsor:

         The Center For Sutton Movement Writing, Inc.
         A non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) educational organization
         P.O. Box 517  La Jolla, CA  92038-0517  USA
         Voice: [phone]     TDD For Deaf: [phone]
         FAX:   [phone]     Compuserve:   72410,2300




         SIGNWRITER USER'S MANUAL

         Version 4.2  USA

         Copyright 1993 The Center for Sutton Movement Writing, Inc.



         SignWriter program and manual by Richard Gleaves

         Special thanks to Torrey Pines Software



         Sign Writing was developed by Valerie Sutton




         Trademarks

         SignWriter and Sign Writing are registered trademarks of
         The Center for Sutton Movement Writing, Inc.  All other
         brand names and product names are registered trademarks of
         their respective companies.


         Disclaimer

         The Center For Sutton Movement Writing makes no warranty,
         express or implied, with respect to this software, its
         quality, performance, or fitness for a particular purpose.
         This software is offered "as is", and the entire risk as to
         its quality and performance is assumed by you.



                                    - ii -

         CONTENTS


          1  Welcome To Sign Writing


          2  PART 1: LEARNING SIGNWRITER

          3  Getting Started
          6  Your First Sign

          8  Opening a File
          9  Typing Symbols
         11  Changing Symbols
         14  Getting the Cursor
         15  Typing Signs
         16  Saving Your Work

         17  What To Do Next


         18  PART 2: USING SIGNWRITER

         19  Moving Around in a File
         20  Typing Fingerspelling
         21  Typing English
         22  Moving Symbols in a Sign

         23  Selecting Signs
         24  Copying and Erasing Signs
         25  Copying Signs From Another File
         26  Finding and Replacing Signs
         29  Using the Dictionary
         31  Fixing the Margins

         32  Printing
         33  Working With Files
         34  Exporting Files
         35  Changing Directories
         36  Leaving SignWriter

         37  Things You Should Know About


         49  PART 3: SETTING UP SIGNWRITER

         50  Setting Up Printing
         51  Setting Up Print Options
         53  Setting Up Pathnames
         54  Setting Up the Country
         56  Setting Up the Dictionary

         57  Using the Dictionary Manager
         64  Macintosh Notes



                                     - 1 -


         WELCOME TO SIGN WRITING


         What is Sign Writing?  Sign Writing is an alphabet - a set of
         visually designed symbols which can write the movements of
         any signed language in the world.

         The Sign Writing alphabet can be compared to the alphabet we
         use to write English: the Roman alphabet.  The Roman alphabet
         is used to write many different spoken languages.  While each
         language may use a few special symbols, the same basic
         symbols we use to write English are used to write Danish,
         Italian, and Swedish.  The Roman alphabet is international,
         while the languages it writes are not.

         In the same way, the symbols in the Sign Writing alphabet are
         international: they can be used to write American Sign
         Language, Danish Sign Language, Italian Sign Language,
         Swedish Sign Language - or any other signed language.  And
         with the SignWriter program, you can now type Sign Writing on
         your computer.

         If you would like to learn more about Sign Writing, please
         feel free to call or write.



         About This Manual

         This manual is about SignWriter, a word processing program
         for writing signed languages on the IBM PC and compatibles.

         Part 1, Learning SignWriter, shows you how to type and print
         your first sign.  It explains the basics of typing and
         editing with SignWriter.

         Part 2, Using SignWriter, tells how to perform most of the
         word processing tasks you will do.  Be sure to read the
         section named Things You Should Know About.

         Part 3, Setting Up SignWriter, shows you how to set up
         the SignWriter program.  It also explains how to print
         SignWriter dictionaries.

         This manual assumes you are familiar with MS-DOS.  If terms
         like --file--, --directory--, and --backup disk-- are
         unfamiliar, you should read the MS-DOS User's Guide for an
         introduction to these and other basic concepts.



                                     - 2 -


         PART 1:  LEARNING SIGNWRITER


         This part of the manual leads you step-by-step through typing
         and printing your first sign.  It then explains the
         operations you performed.

         When you finish part 1 of this manual, you will know how to
         do basic things like typing and editing symbols.  For more
         advanced editing tasks, see part 2.



                                     - 3 -


         GETTING STARTED


         To start SignWriter from MS-DOS, type:

           SW

         and then press the Return key.

         NOTE - On some keyboards the Return key is labeled "Enter".


         After a few moments, SignWriter should start up:


                 __________
                | C:\      |
                |----------|
                | keyboard |          S i g n W r i t e r
                | welcome  |
                | grammar  |             4.2  (c) 1993
                |  ...     |
                |          |         The Center For Sutton
                |          |           Movement Writing
                |          |
                |          |
                |          |
                |__________|


           |  Open  New  Print  File  Directory  Setup  Quit


         NOTE - If this does not appear on your screen, turn to part 2
         of this manual and read the section named Things You Should
         Know About.

         The tall box that appears on the left side of the screen is
         called the --file box-- .  The file box displays the name of
         the current file directory, along with a list of all the Sign
         Writing files stored in the directory.

         NOTE - Because it displays the file box, this part of the
         SignWriter program is sometimes called the --file screen--.

         Along with the file box, a line of words appears across the
         bottom of the screen; this is called the --command line--.
         The words are the names of commands available at this point
         in SignWriter.



                                     - 4 -


         First Time Setup

         If you just installed SignWriter on your computer, there are
         a couple of things you need to do at this point:

           >> Set up SignWriter to work with your printer
           >> Print out the SignWriter keyboard card

         This section explains how to do these things.

         NOTE - If someone has already set up SignWriter for you, go
         ahead and skip to the next section.

         NOTE- If you don't have a printer, you can skip ahead to the
         next section; however, remember that you'll eventually need
         to have a printed copy of the keyboard card in order to use
         SignWriter properly.  See if you can borrow someone else's
         computer to print it out.


         1.  Hold down the Alt key and press the 'S' key (for
         'Setup').  The command line is replaced by the following
         message:

           Setup | Printing  Country  Dictionary

         2.  Press the 'P' key (for 'Printing').  The Setup command
         line is replaced by the Printing command line:

           Setup | Printer  Interface  Format  Numbers  Lines

         3.  Press the 'P' key again.  The following command line
         appears:

           Setup | Epson  *Hewlett-Packard  PostScript

         4.  Press the 'E' key if you have an Epson-compatible
         printer.  Press the 'H' key if you have a Hewlett-Packard
         printer.  Press the 'P' key if you have a PostScript printer.

         After you do this, SignWriter's original command line
         reappears.

         NOTE - You just set up SignWriter to work with your printer
         model.  The next thing to do is to set up SignWriter to work
         with your computer's printer interface.



                                     - 5 -


         5.  Hold down the Alt key and press the 'S' key again.  Then
         press the 'P' key.  The Printing command line appears as it
         did before:

           Setup | Printer  Interface  Format  Numbers  Lines

         6.  This time press the 'I' key.  The following command
         appears:

           Setup | 1--COM1  2--COM2  *3--LPT1  4--LPT2

         7.  Press the number key which corresponds to the printer
         interface your printer is connected to (COM's are serial
         interfaces, LPT's parallel interfaces).  Check your printer
         manual if you don't know which interface to choose.

         After you press a number key, SignWriter's original command
         line appears again.

         NOTE - SignWriter is now set up for printing.  The next thing
         to do is print out the keyboard card.

         8.  If your printer isn't already on, turn it on.

         9.  Hold down the Alt key and press the 'P' key.  The command
         line is replaced by the following message:

           Print | Print what file?

         10.  Type the word KEYBOARD and press the Return key.  The
         file box disappears from the screen, and is replaced by Sign
         Writing symbols.  The keyboard card should start printing out
         on your printer.

         NOTE - If you encounter printing problems, turn to part 2 of
         this manual and read the section named Things You Should Know
         About.

         11.  When the file is finished printing, the file box
         reappears on the screen.  You have now printed out the
         SignWriter keyboard card.

         NOTE - If you want to leave the SignWriter program now, hold
         down the Alt key and press 'Q'; then press the 'Y' key.

         12.  Keep the keyboard card next to your computer for easy
         reference.  It shows you where the Sign Writing symbols are
         on your keyboard.

         Now you are ready to type your first sign.



                                     - 6 -


         YOUR FIRST SIGN


         This section leads you step-by-step through typing and
         printing your first sign.  Your job here is to just do the
         commands and watch what happens; you don't need to understand
         everything that's going on.

         1.  Hold down the Alt key and press the 'N' key.  The command
         line is replaced by the following message:

           New | Name of new file?

         2.  Type the word HELLO and press the Return key.

         NOTE - If you make a typing error, use the Backspace key to
         backspace over the error.

         The screen changes to show three large blank lines, with a
         new command line across the bottom.  A small, blinking angle
         symbol appears on the first line; this symbol is called the
         --cursor--.

         3.  Press the '7' key.  A row of boxes appears across the
         bottom of the screen.  The boxes contain Sign Writing
         symbols.

         4.  Press the 'A' key.  The boxes now show eight different
         rotations of the same head symbol.

         5.  Press the 'D' key.  The key boxes disappear and the
         symbol appears on the screen where the cursor was.  The
         cursor is gone, and the symbol is shimmering.

         6.  Press the 'M' key.  The cursor reappears to the right of
         the symbol, and the symbol stops shimmering.

         NOTE - You just typed your first symbol.

         7.  Press the 'G' key.  Next press the 'K' key.  Then press
         the 'S' key.  A hand symbol appears to the right of the head
         symbol.

         8.  Press the 'N' key once; then press the 'M' key three
         times.  The cursor now appears above the hand symbol.

         9.  Press the 'R' key.  Then press the 'A' key two times.  A
         movement symbol appears above the hand symbol.

         10.  Press the space bar and the cursor reappears to the
         right of your first sign.

         NOTE - This is the ASL sign for "hello".



                                     - 7 -


         The next thing to do is save your work.

         11.  Hold down the Alt key and press the 'Q' key.  The
         command line is replaced by the following message:

           Quit | Save  Write  Backup  Exit

         12.  Press the 'S' key.  The word Saving appears on the
         command line.  Then the screen changes back to show the file
         box.  The word HELLO now appears in the file box; this is the
         name of the file you just made.

         The next thing to do is print your sign.

         13.  If you have a printer connected to your computer, turn
         it on.  If you don't have a printer, skip ahead to step 16.

         14.  Hold down the Alt key and press the 'P' key.  The
         command line is replaced by the following message:

           Print | Print what file?

         15.  Type the word HELLO and press the Return key.  The file
         box disappears, and the sign you just typed appears at the
         top of the screen.  The sign should start printing out on the
         paper.

         NOTE - If you encounter printing problems, turn to part 2 of
         this manual and read the section named Things You Should Know
         About.

         16.  When the sign is finished printing, the file box
         reappears on the screen.  You have now typed and printed your
         first sign.

         NOTE - If you want to leave the SignWriter program, hold
         down the Alt key and press 'Q'; then press the 'Y' key.

         The next few sections explain the commands you just used.



                                     - 8 -


         OPENING A FILE


         The Open and New commands are used to open files for typing
         and editing.  New creates new files; you just used it to make
         a file named HELLO.  Open is used to choose an existing file
         for editing.

         1.  To see how the Open command works, press Alt-'O'.

         NOTE - This means to press the 'O' key while holding down the
         Alt key.

         The command line is replaced by the following message:

           Open | Open what file?

         2.  Press the Escape key.  The message disappears, replaced
         by the command line.

         NOTE - You can escape from any SignWriter command message by
         pressing the Escape key.

         3.  Press Alt-'O' again, and type the word SAILBOATS.  Note
         that the last letter does not appear; SignWriter does not
         allow file names longer than eight characters.  Press and
         hold the Backspace key until all the characters are gone.

         4.  Type the word HELLO and press the Return key.  The screen
         now shows the sign you just typed.

         The next thing to try is typing more symbols.



                                     - 9 -


         TYPING SYMBOLS


         Before you type any more symbols, try moving the cursor
         around on the screen.  The cursor is controlled by four keys:

           -- the Left arrow key moves the cursor left
           -- the Right arrow key moves the cursor right
           -- the Up arrow key moves the cursor up
           -- the Down arrow key moves the cursor down

         To make the cursor move continuously, hold down the arrow
         key.

         1.  Use the cursor moving commands to move the cursor to the
         right of the sign for "hello".

         2.  Now choose a symbol key on the SignWriter keyboard card
         and press it.  As before, the row of boxes appears across the
         bottom of the screen; these are called --key boxes--.

         3.  Press the Escape key.  The key boxes disappear, replaced
         by the command line.

         NOTE - Whenever you press the wrong symbol key, use the
         Escape key to make the key boxes disappear.

         4.  Now press the 'E' key.

         The key boxes display a Sign Writing symbol and its
         variations.  The symbol on the left is the --base symbol--;
         note that it appears on the 'E' key of the keyboard card's
         sign keyboard.  The other symbols displayed are
         --variations-- of the base symbol.

         The ten boxes correspond to ten keys on the keyboard:

             A   S   D   F        G   H        J   K   L   ;
            _______________      _______      _______________
           |   |   |   |   |    |   |   |    |   |   |   |   |
           |   |   |   |   |    |   |   |    |   |   |   |   |


         5.  To choose the symbol in the 'A' box, press the 'A' key.

         The key boxes now show the eight --rotations-- of the symbol
         you just chose.  The symbol rotations are chosen the same way
         as the variations.  Choosing a rotation causes the key boxes
         to disappear and the chosen symbol to appear on the screen
         where the cursor was.

         6.  Press the 'J' key.  The symbol rotation you just chose
         appears on the screen.



                                     - 10 -


         7.  Now press the Delete key (this is called the Del key on
         most keyboards).  The symbol disappears, and the cursor
         reappears in its place.

         NOTE - Pressing the Delete key removes the symbol you just
         typed.  To get back a deleted symbol, press the Undo command
         (Alt-'U').

         The symbols you have typed so far display symbol variations,
         then rotations.  Some symbols, however, do not have any
         rotations; pressing the symbol key causes the symbol to
         appear on the screen immediately.

         8.  Pick a few symbols from the keyboard card and try them
         out to see what happens.  Press the Delete key to remove
         them.

         Sometimes, the symbol you choose will not fit on the screen
         at the current cursor position.  When this happens, the
         --alert box-- blinks at the bottom of the screen.  To fix
         this problem, use the arrow keys to move the cursor away from
         the edges, then choose the symbol again.

         9.  Move the cursor to the top of the screen and try typing a
         symbol.  The alert box blinks to show you that the symbol
         won't fit on the screen.  Move the cursor back down and try
         again.

         When you type in a symbol, it appears to shimmer on the
         screen; this means it is --selected--.  Selected symbols can
         be changed a number of ways.  The next section explains how.



                                     - 11 -


         CHANGING SYMBOLS


         To change a symbol on the screen, it must first be selected.

         If you've just typed in a symbol, the symbol is already
         selected.  The symbol shimmers to show that it is selected.

         To select a symbol that you typed in earlier, move the cursor
         until its corner is touching the symbol, then press the
         Select command (Alt-'S').  The symbol starts shimmering to
         show that it is selected.

         Once a symbol is selected, there are many ways you can change
         it:

           Arrow keys       - move the symbol around
           Change key       - changes the symbol's appearance
           Mirror key       - changes the symbol to its mirror image
           Size key         - changes the symbol's size
           Rotate key       - changes the symbol's rotation
           Copy (Alt-'C')   - copies the symbol
           Erase (Alt-'E')  - erases the symbol

         Be sure to learn these commands; they are used all the time
         when you type Sign Writing.  The keyboard card shows you
         where they are on the keyboard.

         NOTE - Sometimes, when you try to change a symbol, the alert
         box blinks at the bottom of the screen.  When this happens,
         use the arrow keys to move the symbol towards the center of
         the sign, then try changing the symbol again.


         Arrow Keys

         You can move the selected symbol around by pressing the arrow
         keys.  To move the selected symbol in bigger jumps, hold down
         the Alt key when you press the arrow keys.

         >> Type a symbol and try the arrow keys to see what happens.
         Press the Delete key when you are done.



                                     - 12 -


         Change Key

         You can change the appearance of a selected symbol by
         pressing the 'N' key; this is called the --Change key--.  On
         hand symbols, you can change the palm facing.  On movement
         symbols, you can change the arrowhead.  On face symbols, you
         can often change the expression.

         NOTE - Pressing Shift-Change displays the symbol changes in
         the opposite order.

         >> Type a hand or movement symbol and press the Change key
         (the 'N' key) several times to see what happens.  Press the
         Delete key when you are done.


         Mirror Key

         You can change the selected symbol to its mirror image by
         pressing the ',' key; this is called the --Mirror key--.  The
         Mirror key is used for doing things like changing right hands
         to left hands.

         NOTE - The Mirror key does not change some symbols, since
         they look the same either way.

         >> Type a symbol and try the Mirror key (the ',' key) to see
         what happens.  Press the Delete key when you are done.


         Size Key

         If the selected symbol is a movement symbol, then it may have
         more than one size.  You can change its size by pressing the
         '.' key; this is called the --Size key--.

         NOTE - Not all movement symbols have different sizes.

         >> Type a movement symbol and try the Size key (the '.' key)
         to see what happens.  Press the Delete key when you are done.



                                     - 13 -


         Rotate Key

         If the selected symbol has more than one rotation, you can
         rotate it by pressing the '/' key; this is called the
         --Rotate key--.

         NOTE - Pressing the Rotate key rotates the symbol
         counter-clockwise; pressing Shift-Rotate rotates the symbol
         clockwise.

         >> Type a symbol and try the Rotate key (the '/' key) to see
         what happens.  Press the Delete key when you are done.

         NOTE - On some symbols, the Change, Size and Rotate keys will
         reveal hidden symbol variations.


         Erase Command

         You can erase the selected symbol by pressing the Erase
         command (Alt-'E').

         NOTE - To erase any symbol, first use the Select command to
         select it, then use the Erase command to erase it.

         >> Type a symbol, then press the Erase command to see what
         happens.


         Copy Command

         You can copy the selected symbol by pressing the Copy command
         (Alt-'C').

         NOTE - Copy is useful because many signs contain two of the
         same kind of symbol.

         >> Type a symbol, then press the Copy command to see what
         happens.


         Now that you have tested each of these commands, you should
         try them with symbols on the keyboard card; it's a good way
         to learn the Sign Writing symbols.



                                     - 14 -


         GETTING THE CURSOR


         After you type a symbol, you may wonder how to get the cursor
         back so you can type the next symbol.  There are two ways to
         do this.

         One way is to press the Select command (Alt-'S').  The cursor
         reappears on top of the symbol, and the symbol stops
         shimmering to show that it is no longer selected.

         A better way to get the cursor is to press the 'M' key; this
         is called the --Cursor key--.  The Cursor key lets you choose
         where to type the next symbol.

         1.  To see how the Cursor key works, type a symbol onto the
         screen and then press the 'M' key.  The cursor reappears to
         the right of the symbol, and the symbol is no longer
         selected.

         2.  Press 'M' again.  The cursor moves to the upper right of
         the symbol.  Press the key a few more times; each time, the
         cursor moves to a new place around the symbol.

         Note that the cursor changes shape as it moves around the
         symbol; this shows you where the next symbol will go when you
         type it.

         3.  Press the Cursor key (the'M' key) until the cursor is to
         the lower right of the symbol.  Now type a new symbol.  The
         new symbol appears on the screen at the lower right of the
         old symbol.

         As you have seen, pressing the Cursor key moves the cursor
         around the symbol; by holding down the Shift key while you
         press the Cursor key, you can make the cursor move in the
         opposite direction.

         4.  Press the Cursor key to make the cursor reappear.  Press
         it a few more times; the cursor moves around the symbol as
         before.  Now press Shift-Cursor (Shift-'M') a few times; the
         cursor starts moving in the opposite direction.

         When a symbol is selected, pressing the Cursor key makes the
         cursor reappear to the right of the symbol.  If you press
         Shift-Cursor instead, the cursor reappears directly below the
         symbol.

         5.  Try this out for yourself.



                                     - 15 -


         TYPING SIGNS


         When you finish typing a sign, press the space bar.  The
         cursor jumps to the right, and a small mark appears at the
         bottom of the line.  This mark shows the left-hand boundary
         of the new sign you are about to type.

         NOTE - Pressing Delete removes a space you just typed.

         You can type a number of spaces in a row to indent lines or
         to make lots of space between two signs.  Each space is
         actually an empty sign you can type symbols into.

         If the idea of an empty sign seems confusing, try thinking of
         each sign on the screen as an imaginary box containing Sign
         Writing symbols.  The line boundaries show the box top and
         bottom.  The small marks along the bottom line (made with the
         space bar) show the boundaries between signs:


            ___________________________________________________
                       .               .          .
                       .               .          .
              Sign 1   .    Sign 2     .  Sign 3  .   Sign 4
                       .               .          .

            ___________|_______________|__________|____________


         To type a new sign, you first create a new box by pressing
         the space bar, then you type symbols into it.

         When you reach the right side of the screen (either by typing
         or changing a symbol), SignWriter moves the sign you are
         working on down to the next line.  This gives you more room
         to type in symbols.

         If you make an existing sign longer (either by typing or
         changing a symbol), SignWriter splits the line you are
         working on, moving any signs on the right down to the next
         line.  This gives you more room to edit the sign.

         NOTE - To fix up any split lines in your file, use the Margin
         command.  For details, see the section named Fixing the
         Margins in part 2.

         To add a blank line (or split an existing line), press the
         Return key.  Because of SignWriter's automatic "sign wrap",
         you don't need to use the Return key at the end of each line.

         >> Try these commands out in the file named WELCOME.



                                     - 16 -


         SAVING YOUR WORK


         When you finish working on a file, press the Quit command
         (Alt-'Q').  The command line is replaced by the following
         message:

           Quit | Save  Write  Backup  Exit

         To save your work, press the 'S' key (for 'Save').  Your file
         is saved on the disk, and the screen changes to show the file
         box.

         NOTE - From the file screen, you can now print the file, or
         open another file, or use the file screen's Quit command to
         leave SignWriter.

         If you decide to not save the work you have just done, press
         the Quit command and then press the 'E' key (for 'Exit').
         The following message appears:

           Quit | Exit without saving changes? (Y/N)

         Pressing the 'Y' key changes the screen to the file box
         without saving your file on the disk.  Pressing 'N' (or the
         Escape key) cancels the Quit command and returns you to
         editing the file.

         Files are normally saved under the same name they started
         with; the new version of the file replaces the old version.
         If you decide to save your work under a different file name,
         press the Quit command and then press the 'W' key (for
         'Write').  The following message appears:

           Quit | Write to what file?

         Type the new file name and press the Return key.  The file is
         written to disk with the name you typed, and the screen
         changes to show the file box.

         If you spend a long time working on a file, you should save
         your work every 15 minutes or so.  To quickly save a file,
         press the Quit command and then press the 'B' key (for
         'Backup').  After the file is saved, the original command
         line reappears, and you can continue working on the file.



                                     - 17 -


         WHAT TO DO NEXT


         You've now finished the tutorial part of this manual.

         There's still a lot to learn.  The rest of SignWriter's
         commands are described in the next part of this manual.
         These are fairly easy to learn; however, to make full use of
         SignWriter, you need to learn some other things too: namely,
         the Sign Writing symbols, their placement on the keyboard,
         and the grammar rules for writing ASL.

         To make all this a little easier, here is a list of things
         to do with SignWriter.  Things at the top of the list are
         easier to do; things at the bottom are harder.

         >>  Use SignWriter to print out the Lessons in Sign Writing
         files: SWINTRO, SWHAND, etc.  (Use print format 3 if you
         can.)  These files will serve as your main reference to Sign
         Writing.  Please note that they will not teach you American
         Sign Language; you should already know ASL, or at least be
         learning it.

         >>  Browse through SignWriter's built-in sign dictionary.
         This gives you the chance to look up signs you already know,
         and to see how they are spelled in Sign Writing.  You might
         want to print out the dictionary; it's useful to have around
         if you're learning ASL vocabulary.

         >>  Type fingerspelling.  This is easy, because all you have
         to do is type as if you were typing English, and finger-
         spelling appears.  Reading and writing fingerspelling is a
         good way to learn the Sign Writing hand symbols.

         >>  Read the Sign Writing file named GRAMMAR.  It contains
         lessons on writing ASL grammar.  Note that the lessons
         themselves are written in ASL, with the English translation
         appearing beneath each paragraph.

         >>  Add signs to the dictionary.  To do this, you need to
         have some idea of how to spell a sign; one of the best ways
         to learn is to study the signs already in the dictionary.
         You also need to know how to type Sign Writing symbols.

         >>  Write your own ASL text.  This is a lot easier to do when
         the signs you need are already stored in the dictionary;
         however, you still need to know the grammar rules in order to
         write correct ASL sentences.



                                     - 18 -


         PART 2:  USING SIGNWRITER


         In part 1, you learned how to do basic things like typing and
         editing symbols.  Part 2 tells you how to perform more
         advanced editing tasks.

         When you finish part 2, you will know how to use all the
         SignWriter commands.  To learn more about setting up
         SignWriter, see part 3.



                                     - 19 -


         MOVING AROUND IN A FILE


         The arrow keys are good for moving around between symbols,
         but they are too slow for moving from sign to sign.  To move
         the cursor more quickly, hold down the Alt key when you press
         the arrow keys.

         To move the cursor in even bigger jumps, use the following
         commands:

           Tab key             - moves cursor from sign to sign
           Home key            - moves cursor to the start of the line
           End key             - moves cursor to the end of the line
           PgUp key            - shows the previous three lines of text
           PgDn key            - shows the next three lines of text
           Next (Alt-'N')      - moves cursor to the line below
           Previous (Alt-'P')  - moves cursor to the line above

         When you are editing a long file, you can only see part of it
         on the screen at any one time.  To see the rest of the file,
         just move the cursor off the top or bottom of the screen;
         Sign Writer changes the screen to show the text that was
         hidden before.

         NOTE - The alert box blinks if you try to move the cursor
         past the beginning or end of a file.

         To move to the front of a file, press the Jump command (Alt-
         'J').  The command line is replaced by the following message:

           Jump | Beginning  End  Marker

         Press the 'B' key.  The screen changes to show the beginning
         of the file.  To move to the end of the file, press the Jump
         command and then press the 'E' key (for 'End').  To move to a
         marker that marks a selected sign, press the Jump command and
         then press the "M' key (for 'Marker').

         NOTE - For more information about markers, see the section
         named Selecting Signs.

         NOTE - Press Alt-'?' to see the Jump, Next, and Previous
         commands on the command line:

           Undo  Get  Jump  Next  Previous  Adjust  Type  Dictionary  ?

         Press Alt-'?' again to see the original command line:

           Select  Copy  Erase  Find  Replace  Margin  Quit  ?



                                     - 20 -


         TYPING FINGERSPELLING


         SignWriter lets you type fingerspelling as well as signs.
         Typing fingerspelling is just like typing English; the only
         difference is that as you type, hand symbols appear on the
         screen instead of alphabetic characters.

         1.  To type fingerspelling, press the Type command (Alt-'T').
         The command line is replaced by the following message:

           Type | Sign  Fingerspell  Alphabet

         2.  Press the 'F' key.  The original command line reappears,
         but an 'F' handshape symbol appears on the lower left corner
         of the screen.  This symbol shows you that SignWriter is
         ready to type fingerspelling.

         3.  Type "This is my first sentence in fingerspelling."  As
         before, press the space bar when you want to start a new
         word.

         Note that you don't have to press the Return key when you get
         to the end of a line; just keep typing, and SignWriter moves
         the word down to the next line for you.

         NOTE - Pressing the Backspace key deletes the last
         fingerspelling symbol you typed.  To get back a deleted
         symbol, press the Undo command (Alt-'U').

         4.  To change back to typing signs, press the Type command
         again and then press the 'S' key (for 'Sign').  Note that the
         'F' handshape symbol disappears from the screen.

         NOTE - The keyboard card shows where the fingerspelling
         symbols are on the keyboard.



                                     - 21 -


         TYPING ENGLISH


         SignWriter also lets you type English.  This is useful for
         typing the English translation underneath signs and
         fingerspelling.

         NOTE - SignWriter is not designed for typing a whole sentence
         of English underneath a sentence of signs; it works best when
         you type a few words under each sign.  For example, see the
         Sign Writing file named WELCOME.

         1.  To type English, press the Type command (Alt-'T').  The
         command line is replaced by the following message:

           Type | Sign  Fingerspell  Alphabet

         2.  Press the 'A' key.  The original command line reappears,
         but the letter A appears on the lower left corner of the
         screen.  This letter shows you that SignWriter is ready to
         type English.

         3.  Type "This is my first sentence in English."  As before,
         press the space bar when you want to start a new word.

         NOTE - Pressing the Backspace key deletes the last letter you
         typed.  To get back a deleted letter, press the Undo command
         (Alt-'U').

         After you type a few English words, you can see that the
         space bar now puts an English-sized space between each word;
         it does not start a new sign.  What if you want to start a
         new sign while typing English?

         Try pressing Alt-space instead of just space; Alt-space
         starts a new sign while you are typing English.

         4.  To change back to typing signs, press the Type command
         again and then press the 'S' key (for 'Sign').  Note that the
         letter A disappears from the screen.

         NOTE - For information on typing paragraphs of English, see
         the section named Things You Should Know About.



                                     - 22 -


         MOVING SYMBOLS IN A SIGN


         When you are typing a sign, sometimes you'll need to move all
         the symbols in the sign by a certain amount: either to make
         room for typing a new symbol, or to center the completed
         sign.

         To move symbols in a sign, use the following commands:

           Ctrl-Home         - centers the sign
           Ctrl-left arrow   - moves all symbols to the left
           Ctrl-right arrow  - moves all symbols to the right
           Ctrl-up arrow     - moves all symbols up
           Ctrl-down arrow   - moves all symbols down
           Adjust (Alt-'A')  - moves some of the symbols

         1.  To use the Adjust command, first move the cursor so it is
         above and to the left of the symbols you wish to move.

         NOTE - If you're going to move symbols up or to the left, be
         sure the cursor is above and to the left of where you want
         the symbols to end up.

         2.  Press the Adjust command (Alt-'A').  The command line is
         replaced by the following message:

           Adjust | Press Return to finish.

         Note that the cursor changes shape; this helps you to see
         which symbols will move.  Imagine two lines extending out
         from the ends of the cursor: one stretches down to the bottom
         of the sign; the other extends to the right.  These two lines
         form the upper left corner of an imaginary box.

         All symbols that are completely inside the imaginary box will
         move as a group.  Symbols outside the box will not move.

         NOTE - If the wrong symbols move, press the Escape key, then
         reposition the cursor and press Adjust again.  You can also
         use the Undo command (Alt-'U') to undo the adjust.

         3.  To move the symbols, press the arrow keys.  Each time you
         press an arrow key, the group of symbols moves in the
         specified direction.

         When any of the moving symbols reaches one of the imaginary
         lines, the alert box blinks to let you know that you cannot
         move the symbols any further in that direction.

         4.  When you are finished moving the symbols, press the
         Return key.  The original command line reappears, and you can
         continue with editing.



                                     - 23 -


         SELECTING SIGNS


         You have already seen how the Select command is used to
         select symbols.  It is also used to select signs for copying
         or erasing.

         1.  To select signs, move the cursor to the front of the
         signs and press Select (Alt-'S').  A large bracket symbol
         appears on the screen.

         2.  Move the cursor to the end of the signs and press Select
         again; a second bracket appears.  The signs between the
         brackets are now selected.

         NOTE - The Tab key is the best way to move the cursor from
         sign to sign.

         When you press Select, the cursor must be positioned in
         between signs; if it is inside a sign, Select either selects
         a symbol or does nothing.  The cursor will always be
         positioned properly if you use the Tab, Home, and End keys.

         There are a few restrictions you need to know about.  You
         cannot put a right bracket at the beginning of a line, a left
         bracket at the end of a line, or a right bracket in front of
         a left bracket.  To get rid of brackets, move the cursor on
         top of them and press Select (Alt-'S').

         NOTE - A quick way to move the cursor to the brackets is to
         press the Jump command and then press 'M' (for 'Marker').
         This is useful when the brackets are many lines apart.



                                     - 24 -


         COPYING AND ERASING SIGNS


         Signs are copied and erased the same way as symbols: first
         you select, then you copy or erase.

         To erase signs, first select them, then press the Erase
         command (Alt-'E').  The screen is updated showing the
         selected signs removed from the file.

         NOTE - You can restore the erased signs by pressing the Undo
         command (Alt-'U').

         To copy signs, first select them, then move the cursor to
         where you want them copied and press the Copy command
         (Alt-'C').  The screen is updated showing the selected signs
         copied into the file.

         NOTE - You can erase the copied signs by pressing the Undo
         command.

         When the Copy command finishes, the original signs remain
         selected, so you can make multiple copies just by pressing
         Copy over and over.  (Remember that Undo undoes only the last
         copy.)

         To move signs from one place to another in a file, copy them
         to the desired location, then press Erase to erase the
         originals.


         Erasing Spaces

         To quickly erase a space, move the cursor on top of the space
         and press the Delete key.


         Erasing Lines

         To quickly erase an entire line, move the cursor onto the
         line and press Alt-Delete.  You can restore an erased line
         or space with the Undo command.



                                     - 25 -


         COPYING SIGNS FROM ANOTHER FILE


         SignWriter lets you copy signs from other files into the one
         you are working on.  You can copy a whole file or just part
         of it.

         1.  To copy signs from another file, first move the cursor to
         where you want the signs copied.

         2.  Press the Get command (Alt-'G').  The command line is
         replaced by the following message:

           Get | Get text from what file?

         3.  Type the name of the file and press Return.  The words
         "Getting text" appear on the command line.  Then the screen
         is updated showing the other file's signs copied into the
         file you are working on.

         NOTE - You can erase the copied signs by pressing the Undo
         command.

         If you want to copy only part of a file, you must first open
         the file, select the signs you wish to copy, and then save
         the file.  The signs remain selected after the file is saved.
         The Get command will then copy only the selected signs into
         the file you are working on.



                                     - 26 -


         FINDING AND REPLACING SIGNS


         SignWriter can search through a file and find all the places
         where a certain sign or symbol appears.  It can also search
         for a sign and replace it with a new sign.

         1.  To search for a sign, press the Find command (Alt-'F').
         A window appears on the screen and the command line is
         replaced by the following message:

           Find | Enter search sign and press Return.

         2.  Type the sign into the window.  A few SignWriter commands
         work differently in the window: Erase erases the contents of
         the window, Copy copies a previously selected sign into the
         window, and Undo undoes both.

         NOTE - To escape from the Find command, press the Escape key.

         3.  When you finish typing the sign, press the Return key.
         The window disappears and the following message appears on
         the command line:

           Find | Next  Part  Stop

         4.  To find the sign, press the 'N' key; the screen changes
         to show the cursor on the next occurrence of the sign in the
         file.

         NOTE - Since SignWriter's search method ignores the relative
         positioning of symbols, it will stop at signs which have the
         same symbols as the search sign, but in a different
         arrangement.  In practice, this happens very rarely.

         5.  To stop searching, press the 'S' key; the original
         command line reappears, and you can continue with editing.



                                     - 27 -


         Finding Symbols

         The Find command normally searches for whole signs, but it
         can also search for specific symbols.  To do this, enter the
         symbols into the window, press Return, then press the 'P' key
         (for 'Part').  The Find command message changes to look like
         this:

           pFind | Next  Part  Stop

         The little "p" next to the word "Find" shows that SignWriter
         will perform a "partial" search the next time you press 'N';
         it will stop at any sign containing the symbols you typed
         into the window.  You can turn off partial searching by
         pressing 'P' again.

         NOTE - Sometimes you may need to use Part to find all the
         occurrences of a sign, since the normal search will miss
         signs containing extra symbols (such as punctuation or
         English).



                                     - 28 -


         Replacing Signs

         1.  To replace signs, press the Replace command (Alt-'R').  A
         double window appears on the screen and the command line is
         replaced by the following message:

           Replace | Enter search sign and press Return.

         2.  Typing into the window works the same way as in Find.
         When you press Return, the cursor moves to the bottom window
         and the following message appears on the command line:

           Replace | Enter replace sign and press Return.

         3.  When you press Return the second time, the double window
         disappears and this message appears:

           Replace | Change  Next  All  Stop

         4.  To find the next occurrence of the sign, press the 'N'
         key.  To change the sign, press the 'C' key.  To stop
         searching, press the 'S' key.

         If you want SignWriter to automatically change all the
         occurrences it can find, press the 'A' key (for 'All').

         The command line is replaced by the following message:

           Replace | Replace all? (Y/N)

         Pressing the 'Y' key replaces all occurrences.  Pressing 'N'
         (or the Escape key) cancels the All command.

         NOTE - The All command should be used with caution; since
         SignWriter's search method ignores the relative positioning
         of symbols, there is a remote chance that you will
         accidentally replace a sign which has the same symbols as the
         search sign, but in a different arrangement.

         NOTE - The Replace command replaces whole signs only; it
         cannot replace specific symbols in a sign.

         NOTE - The Undo command does not work with Replace, so be
         careful when you use the Replace command.



                                     - 29 -


         USING THE DICTIONARY


         SignWriter has a built-in sign dictionary.  To get a sign
         from the dictionary, you type in the sign name, then copy the
         sign into your file.  You can also add new signs to the
         dictionary.

         1.  To get a sign from the dictionary, press the Dictionary
         command (Alt-'D').  A double window appears on the screen,
         and the command line is replaced by the following message:

           Dict | Enter name of sign and press Return.

         2.  Type the name of the sign you want and press Return.  If
         the name you typed matches an entry in the dictionary, the
         sign appears in the top window.  To copy this sign into your
         file, press Return; the sign is then copied into your file at
         the current cursor position.

         NOTE - To leave the dictionary, press the Escape key.

         3.  If the name you typed does not match an entry in the
         dictionary, the top window remains blank.  You can then
         browse through the dictionary.


         Browsing Through The Dictionary

         To browse through the dictionary, use the PgUp and PgDn keys;
         they display the next and previous signs stored in the
         dictionary.  If you find a sign you want, press Return to
         copy it into your file.


         Adding New Signs

         If the sign you want is not stored in the dictionary, you can
         type it directly into the empty window.  A few SignWriter
         commands work differently in the dictionary window.  Erase
         erases the contents of the window, Copy copies a previously
         selected sign into the window, and Undo undoes both.

         When you finish typing the sign, press Return to copy it into
         your file, or press Escape to leave the dictionary.  In
         either case, the sign you typed will be added to the
         dictionary.



                                     - 30 -


         Deleting Old Signs

         To delete a sign from the dictionary, use the Erase command
         to clear the top window.  The sign will be deleted from the
         dictionary.


         Changing Existing Signs

         To change an existing sign in the dictionary, use the normal
         symbol commands to add, change, or delete symbols in the
         sign.

         To change the name of a sign, use the Window command
         (Alt-'W') to move the cursor to the bottom window.  In the
         bottom window, you can type in text and use the following
         edit commands:

           arrow keys      - move the cursor
           Home key        - moves cursor to the start of the line
           End key         - moves cursor to the end of the line
           Backspace key   - deletes letter to the left of the cursor
           Delete key      - deletes letter under the cursor
           Undo (Alt-'U')  - undoes the last Backspace or Delete

         When you are finished editing a sign name, you can use the
         Window command (Alt-'W') to move the cursor back to the top
         window.

         NOTE - The edit commands listed above can also be used when
         you first enter a sign name in the Dictionary command.

         NOTE - For more information on dictionaries, see the sections
         named Things You Should Know About, and Using the Dictionary
         Manager.



                                     - 31 -

         FIXING THE MARGINS


         While you are editing a sign, SignWriter will sometimes split
         the current line to make room for your changes.  When you
         finish editing, your file contains a broken line:  the two
         parts reach only halfway across the screen.

         1.  To fix a broken line so it reaches the right margin,
         first place the cursor anywhere on the line.

         2.  Press the Margin command (Alt-'M').  SignWriter
         rearranges the signs on the screen to fix the broken line.

         The Margin command actually fixes as many broken lines as it
         can find; it starts rearranging signs on the line under the
         cursor, and goes until it hits a blank (or indented) line.

         NOTE - The Margin command only fixes right margins.  To fix a
         left margin, use the Erase command to erase any leading
         spaces.



                                     - 32 -


         PRINTING


         SignWriter prints out files just as they appear on the
         screen.

         1.  To print a file, first save it, then press the Print
         command (Alt-'P').  The command line is replaced by the
         following message:

           Print | Print what file?

         2.  Type the name of the file and press Return.  The word
         "Reading" appears on the command line.  Then the screen
         changes to show the first few lines of the file, and the word
         "Printing" appears on the command line.

         SignWriter displays the file on the screen as it prints.
         When the file is done printing, the screen changes back to
         the file box and original command line.

         NOTE - If you are using a printer that requires you to
         manually line up the paper before you print, be sure to align
         the paper so that printing begins at the very top of the
         page.  (You don't need to worry about this if you're using
         a laser printer, which automatically feeds the paper while
         printing.)

         NOTE - You can cancel the Print command by pressing the
         Escape key.  This is very useful when something goes wrong
         while a file is printing.  When you press the Escape key,
         there's often a short delay before the printing actually
         stops: don't worry if something doesn't happen right away.

         NOTE - For more information on printing, see the sections
         named Things You Should Know About, and Setting Up Print
         Options.



                                     - 33 -


         WORKING WITH FILES


         SignWriter lets you perform basic file management: you can
         copy, rename, and delete files.  (For more advanced file
         management, use the MS-DOS file commands.)


         Copying Files

         1.  To copy a file, use the Open command (Alt-'O') to open
         the file you want to copy.

         2.  Use the Write option in the Quit command (Alt-'Q') to
         copy the contents of the original file to a new file.


         Renaming Files

         1.  To rename a file, press the File command (Alt-'F') on the
         file screen.  The command line is replaced by the following
         message:

           File | Delete  Rename  Export

         2.  Press the 'R' key.  The following message appears:

           File | Rename what file?

         3.  Type the name of the file and press Return.  This message
         appears:

           File | to what name?

         4.  Type the new name and press Return.  The file box is
         updated to show the file with its new name.


         Deleting Files

         1.  To delete a file, press the File command (Alt-'F') and
         then press the 'D' key (for 'Delete').  The following message
         appears on the command line:

           File | Delete what file?

         2.  Type the name of the file and press Return.  This message
         appears:

           File | Delete NAME? (Y/N)

         3.  Pressing the 'Y' key deletes the file.  Pressing 'N' (or
         the Escape key) cancels the Delete command.



                                     - 34 -


         EXPORTING FILES


         SignWriter can translate Sign Writing files into graphics
         files that you can use in other programs.  This translation
         process is called --exporting--.

         For instance, to include a diagram of Sign Writing in a word
         processing document, first type the signs into a Sign Writing
         file and use the Export command to export the file
         (SignWriter exports graphics files in the commonly-used "PCX"
         format.) Then use a paint program (such as Microsoft Paint)
         to resize the graphics file before you use it.  Finally,
         start your word processing program and copy the graphics file
         into your document.

         1.  To export a file, press the File command (Alt-'F') on the
         file screen.  The command line is replaced by the following
         message:

           File | Delete  Rename  Export

         2.  Press the 'E' key.  The following message appears on the
         command line:

           File | Export what file?

         3.  Type the name of the file and press Return.  The word
         "Exporting" appears on the command line.  The screen changes
         to show the lines of the file as they are exported.

         When the file is finished exporting, the screen changes back
         to the file box and original command line.

         The exported file is written to the current directory.  Its
         file name is the same as the Sign Writing file, but it ends
         with ".PCX".

         NOTE - If a Sign Writing file is longer than one printed
         page, it is exported as a series of graphics files.  For
         instance, exporting a file named LONG creates graphics files
         named LONG.PCX, LONG2.PCX, LONG3.PCX, and so on.

         NOTE - For more information on exporting files, see the
         section named Things You Should Know About.



                                     - 35 -


         CHANGING DIRECTORIES


         SignWriter lets you change the current MS-DOS file directory
         without having to leave the SignWriter program itself.  This
         allows you to keep your Sign Writing files in separate
         directories, which is useful when you have a lot of files.

         1.  To change the directory, press the Directory command
         (Alt-'D') on the file screen.  The command line is replaced
         by the following message:

           Dir | Change to what directory?

         2.  Type the path name of the directory you want to change
         to, then press Return.  The file box is updated to show the
         contents of the new directory.

         The path name you type can include a drive prefix; for
         instance, typing just B: as a path name changes the current
         directory to the root directory on the disk in drive B.

         NOTE - Changing the directory may cause the sign dictionary
         to become unavailable.  For more information, see the section
         named Things You Should Know About.



                                     - 36 -


         LEAVING SIGNWRITER


         1.  When you are done using SignWriter, save your file and
         then press the Quit command (Alt-'Q') on the file screen.
         The command line is replaced by the following message:

           Quit | Leave SignWriter? (Y/N)

         2.  Pressing 'N' (or the Escape key) cancels the Quit
         command.  Pressing 'Y' terminates the SignWriter program and
         causes the MS-DOS prompt to reappear on the screen.

         WARNING - Do not turn off the computer while you are editing
         a file.  If you do, your work will be lost, and you may
         damage the sign dictionary.  Always use the Quit command when
         you are done using SignWriter.

         NOTE - For more information on damaged dictionaries, see the
         next section.



                                     - 37 -


         THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT


         This section describes various things you should know about
         SignWriter.  Some are helpful hints, some general
         information; the rest have to do with things going wrong.


         Blank Screen at Startup

         If your computer screen goes blank when you start the
         SignWriter program, this means that your computer cannot
         display CGA graphics.  SignWriter requires the CGA graphics
         display mode to work properly.  Fortunately, you may still be
         able to use SignWriter.

         Virtually all IBM PC's and compatibles support either CGA
         graphics or Hercules graphics.  If your computer supports
         Hercules graphics, you can purchase a special program named
         SIMCGA which will allow you to run SignWriter (or any other
         CGA graphics program) on your computer.

         SIMCGA (short for "Simulate CGA graphics") loads into memory
         when you start your computer; it automatically translates all
         CGA graphics commands into Hercules graphics.  This program
         has been used with success by SignWriter users.



         Error Message at Startup

         SignWriter requires a computer with at least 640K bytes of
         memory.  If there is not enough memory to start SignWriter,
         the following message will appear on the screen:

           Not enough memory to start SignWriter.

         If a SignWriter program file is damaged, one of the following
         messages may appear while SignWriter is starting up:

           Error reading key file
           Error reading symbol file
           Error reading message file
           Error reading dictionary
           Invalid message

         If one of these messages appears, you will need to reinstall
         SignWriter.



                                     - 38 -


         Missing File at Startup

         If the SignWriter program cannot find all of the files it
         needs, one of the following messages may appear:

           Key file not found
           Symbol file not found
           Message file not found

         This problem may be caused by one of two things.  First,
         SignWriter may not be properly installed on your computer.
         If this is the case, you will need to reinstall the
         SignWriter program onto your hard disk.

         Second, you may have changed the current DOS directory to
         somewhere other than where the SignWriter program files are
         stored.  There are two ways to deal with this problem.  The
         first (and easiest) way is change the current directory back
         to the directory containing SignWriter; everything should
         then work OK.

         The second way to deal with this problem is to modify the
         MS-DOS PATH command.  For information on how to do this, see
         the section named Setting Up Pathnames in part 3 of this
         manual.


         Missing Dictionary

         If the SignWriter program cannot find the current dictionary,
         the following message appears on the screen while SignWriter
         is starting up:

           Dictionary not found...

         After a few seconds, SignWriter will start up anyways;
         however, the dictionary will not be available.

         If the "Dictionary not found" message appears while you are
         using the Setup Dictionary command, this means that
         SignWriter could not find both of the required dictionary
         files.  You may need to reinstall SignWriter (or at least
         find out what happened to the dictionary files.)

         If the message "Dictionary not available" appears after you
         use SignWriter's Directory command, this means that
         SignWriter could no longer find the current dictionary files.
         For details on how to fix this problem, see the section named
         Setting Up Pathnames in part 3 of this manual.



                                     - 39 -


         Duplicate Dictionary Entry

         If you change the name of a sign so it matches another entry
         in the dictionary, the following message appears:

           Duplicate entry created.  press Return

         This means that the dictionary now contains two entries with
         the same name.  This is not actually a problem: SignWriter
         will continue to work properly with a dictionary containing
         duplicate entries.  However, it is a good practice to
         maintain unique names for each sign in a dictionary.


         Empty Dictionary Entry

         If you discover a permanent dictionary entry with an empty
         sign, this means the Delete key was used to delete all of the
         sign's symbols.  You can delete an empty dictionary entry by
         using the Erase command to erase the (empty) sign window.


         Damaged Dictionary

         If you discover that one or more signs in a dictionary have
         mysteriously changed, your dictionary file may be damaged.

         Another symptom of a damaged dictionary is the appearance of
         "linked" dictionary entries; that is, two entries which seem
         to share the same sign.  When you change the sign in one of
         the linked entries, the same change appears in the other
         entry.

         Dictionary files can become damaged if you (or someone else!)
         turns off your computer in the middle of editing a Sign
         Writing file.

         Normally, if a computer program's data file becomes damaged,
         you have to delete the file, and then reconstruct any lost
         data from a backup copy of the damaged file.  However,
         SignWriter's Dictionary Manager program includes a special
         command which may be able to repair a damaged dictionary file
         with a minimum of data loss.  See the section named Using the
         Dictionary Manager in part 3.



                                     - 40 -


         Dictionary Alphabetic Order

         SignWriter dictionaries are alphabetized according to rules
         defined for each country.  Since these rules differ slightly
         from country to country, different dictionaries are
         alphabetized in different ways.

         A dictionary's alphabetic order is defined when the
         dictionary file is first created.  SignWriter assigns the
         current country code to a newly created dictionary, and this
         country code determines how the dictionary will be
         alphabetized, regardless of what country SignWriter is
         currently set to.

         NOTE - To see what a dictionary's country code is, use the
         Dictionary Manager's Info command.

         You can change the alphabetic order of an existing dictionary
         by merging it into a dictionary that has the right country
         code.  To do this, first start up SignWriter, switch to the
         country code you want, and use the Setup Dictionary command
         to create a new empty dictionary file.  Then leave the
         SignWriter program and start the Dictionary Manager.  Use the
         Merge command to merge the old dictionary into the new
         dictionary.  The resulting dictionary file will contain all
         of the signs from your old dictionary, but in the new
         alphabetic order.

         NOTE - For this procedure to work properly, in the Merge
         command you must enter the name of the new empty dictionary
         first, and the name of the old dictionary second.  Type 'Y'
         to the "Skip duplicates?" question.


         Gray Box in Printed Dictionary

         If in a printed dictionary you discover a sign that has a
         gray box printed next to it, this means that the sign was too
         long to fit on the page.

         NOTE - Sometimes it is quite obvious when a too-long sign
         sticks into the next column; other times, however, parts of a
         sign may quietly disappear off the edge of the page.

         To fix this problem, either go into the SignWriter dictionary
         and edit the sign to make it shorter, or use a different
         dictionary print format to allow more room for the sign to
         appear in the printed dictionary.



                                     - 41 -


         Exported File Contains Distorted Symbols

         SignWriter exports graphics files that are created with CGA
         graphics.  If you try to work with these files in a paint
         program set up for VGA graphics, the Sign Writing symbols
         will appear distorted.

         There are two ways to deal with this problem.  The first is
         to set up your paint program to work with CGA graphics.  The
         second is to use your VGA paint program to stretch the
         symbols back into shape: in particular, applying a vertical
         scale factor of 200% to the symbols should fix the problem.


         Exported File Missing

         If you export a large Sign Writing file named BIGFILE2,
         SignWriter creates a series of graphics files named
         BIGFILE2.PCX, BIGFILE3.PCX, and so on.  These names are
         created by adding a digit to the end of the file name.

         However, since the original name BIGFILE2 is already eight
         characters long, SignWriter has to delete the last character
         in the name in order to add the digit.  This means that both
         the first and second graphics files are named BIGFILE2.PCX.
         The end result is that the first graphics file gets
         accidentally deleted by the Export command.

         To avoid this problem, do not export large files with long
         names ending in numbers.  Change their file names before you
         export them.


         Current Printer Settings

         The Setup Printer and Setup Interface commands both display
         an asterisk character '*' next to their current settings.
         To preserve the current settings in these commands, press
         the Escape key.



                                     - 42 -


         Nothing Prints Out

         If nothing comes out of your printer when you use the Print
         command, SignWriter may not be set up to work with your
         printer interface.  For more information, see the section
         named Setting Up Printing in part 3.


         Garbage Prints Out

         The current version of SignWriter requires a Postscript,
         Hewlett-Packard, or Epson-compatible printer to print out
         Sign Writing files.  Attempts to print with an incompatible
         printer model will most likely produce garbage.

         What the garbage usually looks like is one or two alphabetic
         characters printed on each page of paper; note also that the
         paper may start coming out of the printer at an alarming
         rate! If this happens, check your printer manual to see
         whether you have to set switches on your printer to make it
         compatible with one of the printers listed above.


         Gaps Print Out

         Another problem that can arise during printing is when Sign
         Writing files seem to print out perfectly, but with gaps of
         white space breaking up the symbols on each line.  If this
         happens, you will have to change the setting on one of your
         printer's switches; specifically, the "Line feed after
         carriage return" ("LFCR") printer switch must be changed to
         its "off" setting.  See your printer manual for details.


         Printer Error

         If the message "20 ERROR" appears in the status window of
         your Hewlett-Packard printer while you are printing out a
         file using page formats 4 or 5, the problem is caused by your
         printer not having enough memory to print a full page of 300
         dots-per-inch graphics.  See your printer manual for details.

         There are four ways to deal with this problem.  The first
         (and easiest) way is to avoid using page formats 4 or 5.  The
         second is to only print files containing 40 lines or less
         (this gives you one or two columns of text, but never a full
         page).  The third is to use the Lines command to set a short
         enough page length that no more than 40 lines will be printed
         on a single sheet of paper (this gives you the full number of
         text columns, but they are shorter than usual).  The fourth
         way is to buy a memory upgrade for your printer.



                                     - 43 -


         Alternate Cursor Commands

         SignWriter contains a few commands which have not yet been
         described; they can speed up your typing a lot.

         For instance, instead of the arrow keys, you can use the
         following commands to move the cursor or selected symbol:

           Ctrl-'I'  - moves up
           Ctrl-'J'  - moves to the left
           Ctrl-'K'  - moves to the right
           Ctrl-'M'  - moves down

         Ctrl-'J' means to press the 'J' key while holding down the
         Ctrl key.

         NOTE - When used with the Shift key, these commands let you
         move the cursor or selected symbol in bigger jumps.


         Alternate Dictionary Commands

         In the Dictionary command, the Next and Previous commands
         (Alt-'N' and Alt-'P') work as alternate versions of the PgUp
         and PgDn keys.  You can use Next and Previous to browse
         through the dictionary.


         Alternate Find & Replace Commands

         In the Find and Replace commands, the Return key works as
         an alternate version of the Stop command.  You can use the
         Return key to stop searching.


         Type Command Shortcuts

         To quickly change between typing signs, fingerspelling, and
         English, use the Alt-'X', -'Y', and -'Z' keys.  These allow
         you to change the typing style without having to go through
         the Type command.


         Typing Paragraphs of English

         When you are typing English, press Alt-Return to start a new
         line of English text in the current sign.  This command is
         useful when you are typing short paragraphs of text into a
         file; for example, see the Sign Writing file named NORWAY.

         NOTE - Alt-Return only works in signs already containing some
         English.  It will not cross a sign boundary; the alert box
         flashes when you reach the bottom of the current sign.



                                     - 44 -


         Keyboard Auto-repeat

         Be sure you know about your keyboard's "auto-repeat" feature
         when you use the cursor-moving commands.  By holding down the
         keys, you can go a lot faster.


         Automatic Deselect

         Most cursor-moving commands (space, tab, Jump, etc.)
         automatically deselect a selected symbol when you press them.
         This means you don't have to get the cursor back to move to
         another sign.


         Undo Command

         The Undo command works after the Backspace and Delete keys,
         and after the Copy, Erase, Get, Dictionary, and Adjust
         commands.  It does not work after the Margin or Replace
         commands.


         Window Command

         The Window command, which moves the cursor between windows in
         the dictionary, does not appear on the command line.  It is
         defined as Alt-'W', regardless of what country SignWriter is
         set to.


         Delete Key

         The Delete key is normally used to delete the last symbol you
         just typed, but with care it can be used as a fast erase
         command.

         The Delete key is defined to erase the last symbol typed into
         the current sign.  Thus, if you move the cursor onto a sign
         that was typed in earlier and press Delete three times, the
         last three symbols typed into that sign will be automatically
         erased without having to be selected first.

         This feature is useful only when you know which symbols in a
         sign were typed in last (for instance, the English
         translation typed in under a sign).  To find out, press the
         Delete key once and see if the "right" symbol gets deleted;
         if the wrong one gets deleted, press the Undo command to put
         it back, and use the Erase command to manually delete the
         symbols.



                                     - 45 -


         SignWriter Files

         The SignWriter disk files include the SignWriter program file
         SW.EXE, the SignWriter symbol file SW.SYM, the SignWriter key
         file SWxxx.KEY, and the SignWriter message file SWxxx.MSG.
         The key and message file names contain a three digit number
         representing the country code.  For example, SW001.KEY is the
         United States key file, and SW045.MSG is the Danish message
         file.

         NOTE - For more information on country codes, see the section
         named Setting Up the Country in part 3.

         SignWriter dictionaries are stored in two separate files:
         SWxxx.DIC and SWxxx.DIN.  The dictionary file names contain
         the (up to six characters long) dictionary name used within
         the SignWriter program.  For example, a dictionary named 001
         in SignWriter appears in MS-DOS as the two files SW001.DIC
         and SW001.DIN.

         SignWriter data file names end with .SGN; for example, a data
         file named HELLO in SignWriter appears in MS-DOS as
         HELLO.SGN.


         File Size

         If a Sign Writing file gets larger than SignWriter can edit,
         one of the following messages will appear on the command
         line:

           No more room for entering symbols
           Not enough room to copy
           Not enough room to get text

         When this happens, you will have to split the file into two
         separate files if you wish to continue entering new signs.
         (To split a file, make a copy of it, then erase the
         appropriate half of the text from each file.)

         SignWriter displays a "fuel gauge" to show how much room is
         left when you are editing a file.  The short vertical line
         that appears on the command line has a small mark on it: the
         mark is at the top of the line when the file is empty, and at
         the bottom when the file is full.



                                     - 46 -


         Disk Errors

         If a disk error occurs while SignWriter is reading or writing
         a file, one of the following messages appears on the command
         line:

           Disk full
           Error opening MYFILE
           Error closing MYFILE
           Error reading MYFILE
           Error writing MYFILE

         If one of these appears while SignWriter is reading a file,
         you will need to check the disk to see what is wrong; see the
         MS-DOS User's Guide for details.

         If one of these appears while SignWriter is saving a file,
         you have a more immediate problem: namely, how to save the
         work you have just done.

         SignWriter has a special feature for handling this problem.
         If you cannot save a file on your current disk drive, you can
         write it to a different disk.

         NOTE - This feature presumes that you have a backup disk
         available (which is a good idea in general).

         1.  To save a file on another disk, press the Quit command
         and then press 'W' (for 'Write').  The following message
         appears:

           Quit | Write to what file?

         2.  Put your backup disk in the disk drive.  Type the MS-DOS
         drive prefix, followed by a short name under which you will
         save the file.  For instance, if the backup disk is in drive
         B, type:

           Quit | Write to what file? B:RESCUE

         3.  When you press the Return key, the file is written to the
         disk in drive B with the file name RESCUE.

         Because the drive prefix takes two characters, the name of
         the file you save to can only be up to six characters long.
         You can change the file name later.



                                     - 47 -


         Blank Lines at the End of a File

         When you are typing or editing a file, SignWriter always
         allows you to move the cursor onto the blank line at the end
         of the file so you can type symbols there.  Note, however,
         that you can't move the cursor past the blank line.  If you
         want to type below this line, press the Return key to insert
         a new blank line.

         If for some reason your file has a bunch of blank lines at
         the end, SignWriter will automatically erase them when you
         save the file.


         Editing Lists

         Sometimes you may want to type in a list of items; for
         instance, a list of signs with one sign per line.  In this
         case, be sure to indent each sign with a blank space.  This
         will prevent SignWriter from accidentally remargining the
         list when you need to edit it.


         File Box

         The file box can display up to 15 file names at once.  If the
         current directory contains more than 15 Sign Writing files,
         you must scroll the file box display to see all the file
         names.  To scroll the file box downwards, press the PgDn key;
         to scroll it upwards, press the PgUp key.


         Alert Box

         When SignWriter cannot perform a command, the alert box
         blinks at the lower left hand corner of the screen.  Some of
         the places where this can happen include the Undo command
         (when there is nothing to undo) and the Adjust command (when
         the cursor is between signs).

         Most of the time, the alert box blinks because you attempted
         to type or change a symbol that wouldn't fit on the line at
         the current position.  To fix this problem, use the arrow
         keys to move the cursor or symbol away from the edges.



                                     - 48 -


         Bookmarks

         SignWriter offers an easy way to save your place in a Sign
         Writing file.

         Before saving a file, use the Select command to put a single
         selection bracket at your current position.  The next time
         you open the file, you can use the Jump Marker command to
         move the cursor right to where you were working before.

         NOTE - Since you type only one selection bracket, you don't
         have to worry about accidentally erasing any selected text.


         Combination Keys

         The SignWriter keyboard includes a number of keys which are
         actually combinations of hand, face, and movement symbols:
         these are called --combination keys--.

         Combination keys make it easier to type certain signs;
         however, they work best when you type them first, before the
         other symbols.  This allows you to use the Control-arrow keys
         to move the combination symbols around as a unit.

         NOTE - The reason you need to do this is because after you
         type a combination key, only one of its symbols is selected.


         Missing Cursor Position

         The Cursor key ('M') will sometimes not allow you to choose
         all eight positions around a symbol.  This happens because
         the symbol is too close to the edges (the Cursor key skips
         cursor positions that are too close to the edges).  If this
         happens to you, use the Ctrl-arrow keys to move the symbol
         away from the edge.


         Face Symbol Cursor Position

         When a symbol is selected and you press the Cursor key, the
         cursor appears to the right of the symbol.  There is one
         exception to this rule: the face symbol that displays a
         contact area at one of eight positions.  (It appears on the
         '7' key of the sign keyboard.)  When you press the Cursor key
         with this symbol, the cursor automatically appears next to
         the contact area.  This saves you a few keystrokes.



                                     - 49 -


         PART 3:  SETTING UP SIGNWRITER


         This part explains how to set up the SignWriter program to
         work with your computer.

         The first section, Setting Up Printing, tells how to set up
         SignWriter to work with your printer.  If you just installed
         SignWriter, be sure to read this section before proceeding.

         The other sections in part 3 explain how to set print options
         and pathnames, and how to manage sign dictionaries.  These
         are advanced features; you won't need to read them until you
         finish parts 1 and 2 of this manual.



                                     - 50 -


         SETTING UP PRINTING


         If you just installed SignWriter on your computer, you need
         to set it up to work with your printer.

         To set up printing, go back to the section named Getting
         Started in part 1 of this manual.  It explains how to do
         this.



                                     - 51 -


         SETTING UP PRINT OPTIONS


         This section explains how to use SignWriter's print options
         to control the appearance of your printed files.


         Page Numbers

         SignWriter lets you print page numbers at the bottom of each
         printed page.  It also lets you choose a starting page number
         other than 1; this is useful when you are creating long
         documents from a number of separate Sign Writing files.

         1.  To print page numbers, press the Setup command (Alt-'S')
         on the file screen.  Then press the 'P' key.  The Printing
         command line appears:

           Setup | Printer  Interface  Format  Numbers  Lines

         2.  Press the 'N' key (for 'Numbers').  The following message
         appears on the command line:

           Setup | Print page numbers? (Y/N)

         3.  Pressing the 'N' key causes page numbers to not be
         printed out.  Pressing the 'Y' key causes page numbers to be
         printed out; it also makes the following message appear on
         the command line:

           Setup | Starting page number is 1.  New number:

         4.  Press Return to keep the current starting page number.
         Otherwise, type the new starting page number and press
         Return.


         Page Formats

         If you have a PostScript or Hewlett-Packard printer,
         SignWriter lets you choose one of seven different page
         formats for printing out your files.  The seven page
         formats are:

           1 -   24 pt type   1 columns    7 lines   tall page
           2 -   16 pt type   1 columns   10 lines   tall page
           3 -   16 pt type   2 columns    8 lines   wide page
           4 -    8 pt type   3 columns   22 lines   tall page
           5 -    8 pt type   4 columns   16 lines   wide page
           6 -   32 pt type   1 columns    4 lines   wide page
           7 -   16 pt type   2 columns   11 lines   tall page



                                     - 52 -


         NOTE - Page format 7 is specifically designed for printing
         converted dictionary files.  It does not work well with
         regular Sign Writing files.

         NOTE - Page formats are not available with Epson printers.

         1.  To choose a page format, press the Setup command
         (Alt-'S') on the file screen.  Then press the 'P' key.  The
         Printing command line appears:

           Setup | Printer  Interface  Format  Numbers  Lines

         2.  Press the 'F' key (for 'Format').  The following message
         appears on the command line:

           Setup | Page format code is 1.  New code:

         3.  Press Return to keep the current page format.  Otherwise,
         type the new page format code and press Return.


         Page Lines

         SignWriter lets you control the number of lines of text
         printed on a page.

         NOTE - This option is provided mainly for people using
         Epson-compatible printers that print graphics either larger
         or smaller than usual.

         1.  To change the number of lines per page, press the Setup
         command (Alt-'S') on the file screen.  Then press the 'P'
         key.  The Printing command line appears:

           Setup | Printer  Interface  Format  Numbers  Lines

         2.  Press the 'L' key (for 'Lines').  The following message
         appears on the command line:

           Setup | Number of lines printed per page is 6.  New number:

         3.  Press Return to keep the current number of page lines.
         Otherwise, type in the new number of page lines and press
         Return.



                                     - 53 -


         SETTING UP PATHNAMES


         To set up a DOS pathname for SignWriter, you need to add a
         special command to the MS-DOS file AUTOEXEC.BAT.  The command
         has the following form:

           PATH C:\SIGN

         This command lets the SignWriter program know where to find
         the other SignWriter files.  The example shown above shows
         that the SignWriter program files are stored in a
         subdirectory named SIGN on the C: drive.

         When the PATH command is installed in AUTOEXEC.BAT, and
         MS-DOS is restarted, you will be able to start up SignWriter
         no matter what the current directory is set to.

         You will also be able to use SignWriter's Directory command
         without having to worry about the sign dictionary becoming
         unavailable.

         For more information on how to use the PATH command, see your
         MS-DOS manual.



                                     - 54 -


         SETTING UP THE COUNTRY


         SignWriter is an international program: it works with the
         languages of several countries.

         To do this, SignWriter stores the information for each
         country in separate disk files.  Thus, SignWriter includes
         key files (SWxxx.KEY), message files (SWxxx.MSG) and
         dictionary files (SWxxx.DIC and SWxxx.DIN).  The names of
         these files include a three-digit number representing the
         country code.  For example, SW001.KEY is the name of the US
         key file, while SW045.MSG is the Danish message file.

         The country codes used by SignWriter generally correspond to
         the codes used in the international telephone system.  Here
         is a list of the countries currently supported:

              001  US            046  Sweden
              032  Belgium       047  Norway
              033  France        052  Mexico
              039  Italy         353  Ireland
              044  UK            505  Nicaragua
              045  Denmark

         If you want to switch back and forth between countries, you
         first have to copy the appropriate key, message, and
         dictionary files onto your hard disk.  Once you've done
         this, you can use the Setup Country command to switch
         countries.

         >>> NOTE - This shareware package supports only the US
         version of SignWriter.  International versions are available
         from the Deaf Action Committee for Sign Writing.

         1.  To switch countries, press the Setup command (Alt-'S') on
         the file screen.  The command line is replaced by the
         following message:

           Setup | Printing  Country  Dictionary

         2.  Press the 'C' key.  The Setup command line is replaced by
         the following message:

           Setup | Country code is 001.  New code:

         3.  Type the three-digit country code for the language you
         want to work with.  For country codes, see the list above.

         4.  After you type the country code, press Return.
         SignWriter changes the keyboard layout, fingerspelling, and
         command messages to the language of the country you chose.



                                     - 55 -


         When you enter a new country code, SignWriter looks on the
         disk for the key file and message file for that country.  If
         the files are not on your disk, one of the following messages
         will appear:

           Key file not found.  press Return.
           Message file not found.  press Return.

         If either of these messages appear, pressing Return cancels
         the Setup command and restores the original country setting.

         NOTE - The Setup Country command searches for a dictionary
         named after the new country code.  If the dictionary is
         found, it becomes the current dictionary; otherwise, the
         dictionary is not changed.



                                     - 56 -


         SETTING UP THE DICTIONARY


         SignWriter is already set up to work with the dictionary for
         your country, so you don't have to perform any special setup
         procedures.

         However, if you want to switch to a different dictionary, or
         create a new empty dictionary of your own, this section
         explains how.


         Switching Dictionaries

         1.  To switch dictionaries, press the Setup command (Alt-'S')
         on the file screen.  The command line is replaced by the
         following message:

           Setup | Printing  Country  Dictionary

         2.  Press the 'D' key (for 'Dictionary').  The following
         message appears on the command line:

           Setup | Current dictionary is 001.  New dictionary:

         3.  Press Return to keep the current dictionary.  Otherwise,
         type the name of the dictionary you want to switch to, then
         press Return.

         The contents of the new dictionary will appear when you next
         use the Dictionary command.


         Creating New Dictionaries

         When you use the Setup Dictionary command to switch to a new
         dictionary, typing the name of a dictionary that does not
         exist causes the following message to appear:

           MYDICT not found.  Create new dictionary with this name? (Y/N)

         Pressing the 'N' key (or Escape) cancels the command, keeping
         the current dictionary.  Pressing 'Y' creates a new empty
         dictionary with the name you typed, and makes it the current
         dictionary.

         NOTE - Dictionary names can be up to six characters long, and
         can consist of either numbers or letters.  The standard
         dictionary name is a three-digit number representing the
         country code.



                                     - 57 -


         USING THE DICTIONARY MANAGER


         This section explains how to use the Dictionary Manager,
         a utility program that lets you print or merge SignWriter
         dictionaries.

         Before you start using it, there are a few things you need to
         know about the Dictionary Manager (which is named "DICT").

         >>  DICT cannot print dictionaries on Epson-compatible
         printers; it only works with Hewlett-Packard and PostScript
         printers.  (To print a dictionary on an Epson printer, you
         need to use the Convert command; for details, see "Converting
         Dictionaries" in this section.)

         >>  DICT uses SignWriter's current printer settings to
         determine which printer to use.  Be sure to set up SignWriter
         properly before you use DICT.

         >>  DICT's commands and messages appear in English, regardless
         of what country SignWriter is set to.


         Printing Dictionaries

         The Dictionary Manager lets you print out the contents of a
         dictionary.  Print options include the choice of 16 or 24
         point symbol size, and one or two column page format.  Lookup
         words are printed at the top of each page.

         1.  To print a dictionary, you need to start the Dictionary
         Manager.  (If you're still in SignWriter, you first need to
         leave the SignWriter program.) Type the following command at
         the MS-DOS prompt:

           DICT

         and then press Return.

         The startup message should appear on the screen after a few
         moments.  Below this appears the following command line:

           Print  Merge  Convert  Repair  Info

         2.  To choose the Print command, press 'P'.  The following
         message appears below the command line:

           Print what dictionary?



                                     - 58 -


         3.  Type the name of the dictionary to be printed (e.g. 001)
         and press Return.  The following message then appears:

           Starting page number?

         Type the starting page number and press Return.

         NOTE - Page numbers will not be printed if you type "0" as
         the starting page number.

         After you press Return, the following message appears:

           Print size 16 or 24 points?

         4.  Type the print size you want and press Return.  Another
         message appears:

           Print 1 or 2 columns?

         5.  Type the number of columns you want and press Return.
         Another message appears:

           Print how many copies?

         6.  Type the number of copies you want printed of the
         dictionary and press Return.  At this point, the Print
         command is ready to begin.  The following message appears for
         a few moments:

           Setting up printing...

         The screen then changes to show the first sign on the screen.
         Each sign is displayed on the screen as it is printed.
         During printing, the following mesage appears at the bottom
         of the screen:

           Press the Escape key to cancel printing.

         Note that if you press Escape, it is normal for DICT to take
         a few moments before the printing actually stops.



                                     - 59 -


         Merging Dictionaries

         The Dictionary Manager lets you merge the contents of two
         separate dictionaries into one big dictionary.

         It also lets you decide what to do if the "same" entry
         appears in both dictionaries: you can either skip over
         duplicate entries, or you can have the Dictionary Manager
         mark duplicate entries in the merged dictionary.

         NOTE - Two dictionary entries are considered duplicates if
         they have the same text in their lower windows.  (Note that
         upper and lower case letters are considered the same; so are
         accented and unaccented letters.) Two entries with the same
         signs but different text are not duplicates; two entries with
         different signs but the same text are duplicates.

         1.  To merge dictionaries, you need to start the Dictionary
         Manager program.  (If you're still in SignWriter, you first
         need to leave the SignWriter program.) Type the following
         command at the MS-DOS prompt:

           DICT

         and then press Return.

         The startup message should appear on the screen after a few
         moments.  Below this appears the following command line:

           Print  Merge  Convert  Repair  Info

         2.  To choose the Merge command, type 'M'.  The following
         message appears below the command line:

           Name of main dictionary?

         3.  Type the name of your main dictionary (e.g. 001) and
         press Return.  The following message then appears:

           Name of other dictionary?

         4.  Type the name of the other dictionary to be merged and
         press Return.  Another message appears:

           Name of new dictionary?



                                     - 60 -


         5.  Type the name of the new dictionary to be created and
         press Return.

         NOTE - You can either type a name different from the first
         two dictionaries (which creates a new, merged dictionary),
         or you can type the same name as one of the first two (which
         causes the merged dictionary to replace one of the original
         dictionaries).

         The following message then appears:

           Skip duplicate entries? (Y/N)

         6.  When you merge two dictionaries together, you have to
         decide what to do if the same entry appears in both
         dictionaries.  In this case, DICT is asking if it should skip
         over any entries in the second dictionary that also appear
         in your main dictionary.

         Pressing 'Y' tells DICT to skip duplicate entries from the
         second dictionary.

         Pressing 'N' tells DICT to include duplicate entries in
         the merged dictionary.

         NOTE - DICT marks duplicate entries in the merged dictionary
         by adding an exclamation point "!" to the end of their text.

         7.  At this point, the Merge command begins merging the
         dictionaries.  When it finishes, the following message
         appears:

           Dictionaries merged.

         8.  If the new dictionary has a different name, use
         SignWriter's Setup command to set it up as the current
         dictionary.



                                     - 61 -


         Converting Dictionaries

         The Dictionary Manager's Convert command lets you convert a
         dictionary into a regular Sign Writing file.

         Converted dictionaries have a number of uses.  You can use
         SignWriter's Find command to search (by Sign Writing symbols)
         through a converted dictionary.  Or you can makes changes to
         a converted dictionary, and then print it out with
         SignWriter's Print command.

         NOTE - If you have an Epson-compatible printer, you need to
         convert a dictionary before you can print it, because the
         Dictionary Manager can't print out dictionaries on Epson
         printers.

         1.  To convert a dictionary, you need to start the Dictionary
         Manager.  Type the following command at the MS-DOS prompt:

           DICT

         and press Return.

         The startup message should appear on the screen after a
         moment.  Below this appears the following command line:

           Print  Merge  Convert  Repair  Info

         2.  To choose the Convert command, press 'C'.  The following
         message appears below the command line:

           Convert what dictionary?

         3.  Type the name of the dictionary to be converted (e.g.
         001) and press Return.  When the Convert command finishes,
         the following message appears:

           Dictionary converted.

         The converted file has the same name as the dictionary, but
         its file name ends with .SGN.  It will appear in the file
         box the next time you start SignWriter.



                                     - 62 -


         NOTE - If a dictionary is too large to convert into a single
         Sign Writing file, it is converted into a series of files.
         For instance, converting a dictionary named LONG creates Sign
         Writing files named LONG.SGN, LONG2.SGN, LONG3.SGN, and so
         on.

         4.  To print a converted dictionary, start the SignWriter
         program.  You will see that the converted dictionary file is
         now listed in the file box.  Use SignWriter's Print command
         to print the dictionary file.

         NOTE - If you have a Postscript or Hewlett-Packard printer,
         you may want to use the special page format for printing out
         converted dictionaries.  For more information, see the
         section named Setting Up Print Options.


         Repairing Dictionaries

         The Dictionary Manager's Repair command lets you check
         a SignWriter dictionary for linked entries, which are a
         common symptom of a damaged dictionary file.

         NOTE - For more information on linked dictionary entries, see
         "Damaged Dictionary" in the section named Things You Should
         Know About.

         1.  To check a dictionary, you need to start the Dictionary
         Manager.  Type the following command at the MS-DOS prompt:

           DICT

         and press Return.

         The startup message should appear on the screen after a
         moment.  Below this appears the following command line:

           Print  Merge  Convert  Repair  Info

         2.  To choose the Repair command, press 'R'.  The following
         message appears below the command line:

           Repair what dictionary?

         3.  Type the name of the dictionary to be checked and press
         Return.



                                     - 63 -


         The next message to appear is "Checking dictionary".  If the
         Repair command finds any linked dictionary entries, it prints
         out their names and indicates which of the entries was
         deleted to unlink the linked pair.  If these messages appear,
         be sure to write down the names of all linked entries, as you
         will be responsible for re-entering their signs into the
         dictionary.

         If the Repair command does not find any linked entries, it
         finishes with the message "Dictionary OK".

         WARNING - If the Repair command displays garbage (i.e.
         random characters) for any of the names of the linked
         entries, this means that the dictionary is too damaged for
         the Repair command to successfully repair.  While you may be
         able to salvage individual signs out of such a dictionary, it
         won't be reliable enough for subsequent normal use; it should
         therefore be deleted.


         Dictionary Information

         If you want to know how big a dictionary is, use the
         Dictionary Manager's Info command.  It works much like the
         other commands, and it displays the number of signs stored in
         a dictionary, along with the dictionary's country code.

         When you use the Info command, you can see that a single
         dictionary file stores up to 10,800 entries.  Note, however,
         that the dictionary itself consists of two 5400 entry
         volumes, with all the entries from A-L going into the first
         volume, and all the signs from M-Z going into the second.
         This means, for instance, that you cannot store more than
         5400 signs starting with 'A' in a single dictionary.



                                     - 64 -


         MACINTOSH NOTES


         Although it is designed to work on IBM PC-compatible
         computers, SignWriter can be used on Macintosh computers.

         To use SignWriter on the Macintosh, you need to have the
         SoftPC program installed on your Mac.  SoftPC comes in
         various versions; SignWriter works with all of them except
         for Entry Level SoftPC, which does not support CGA graphics.
         SoftPC is available at Macintosh software stores.

         Printing is not a problem, because SoftPC can make any Mac
         printer work like an Epson printer.  However, you'll get
         better quality printing if you have a PostScript printer.

         Because of a software problem in some versions of SoftPC, you
         may have to use the keypad cursor keys for cursor movement in
         SignWriter.  The Mac's non-keypad cursor keys don't always
         work properly when used with the Alt and Control keys.

         NOTE - For SignWriter to work well with SoftPC, you should
         have a Macintosh with at least a 68030 processor and a 640 x
         400 dot screen.  While SignWriter will run on slower and/or
         smaller-screen models such as the Mac Classic, the Sign
         Writing symbols will appear somewhat distorted, and the
         performance may be annoyingly slow.






         SIGNWRITER COMMAND SUMMARY


             Press Alt key + <first letter> for named commands
             (e.g. Alt-'O' for Open)

             Press Esc key to cancel commands


         File Screen Commands

         Open       - open an existing file
         New        - create a new file
         Print      - print a file
         File       - delete, rename, or export a file
         Directory  - change the current file directory
         Setup      - change the printer, country, or dictionary
         Quit       - leave SignWriter

         PgDn key   - scroll file box downwards
         PgUp key   - scroll file box upwards


         Edit Commands

         Select      - select symbol or signs
         Copy        - copy symbol or signs
         Erase       - erase symbol or signs
         Find        - search for symbols or signs
         Replace     - replace signs
         Margin      - remargin a paragraph
         Quit        - close the file

         Undo        - undo last edit command
         Get         - get text from another file
         Jump        - move to beginning or end of file
         Next        - move to next line
         Previous    - move to previous line
         Adjust      - move group of symbols within a sign
         Type        - type signs, fingerspelling, or English
         Dictionary  - enter sign dictionary

         Alt-'?'     - show other commands

         Space key   - start new sign or word
         Return key  - add or split line
         Delete key  - delete last symbol typed

         Alt-Delete  - delete line






         Symbol Commands

         'N' key     - change symbol
         'M' key     - cursor around symbol
         ',' key     - mirror symbol
         '.' key     - resize symbol
         '/' key     - rotate symbol


         Cursor Commands

         arrow keys  - move symbol or cursor
         Alt-arrow   - move symbol or cursor quickly
         Ctrl-arrow  - move symbols within a sign
         Ctrl-Home   - center symbols within sign

         Home key    - move to line start
         End key     - move to line end
         Tab key     - move to next sign
         PgDn key    - move to next three lines
         PgUp key    - move to previous three lines


         Dictionary Commands

         Copy        - copy selected sign from text
         Erase       - erase current sign
         Undo        - undo copy or erase

         Alt-'W'     - move cursor to other window

         PgDn key    - show next sign
         PgUp key    - show previous sign
         Return key  - copy dictionary sign into text
         Escape key  - leave dictionary


         Shortcut Commands

         Alt-'X'     - type signs
         Alt-'Y'     - type fingerspelling
         Alt-'Z'     - type English

         Alt-Space   - start new sign (while typing English)
         Alt-Return  - start new line of English (within sign)

         Shift-Tab   - move to previous sign