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PREFACE.DOC
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1992-08-08
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INTRODUCTION
NOTE: Most introductory materials are available on-screen in the TCN
program. Help is available from the F1 funciton key. Use the F2 or F3
keys at the Main Menu. Or operate Main Menu option 14 and use function
keys F2 through F6 to obtain other introductory information about this
package.
This file introduces a package of materials known as The CONSTITUTION
Notebook Program.
It provides information about the program, the user documentation, and the
other materials included on the diskettes with The CONSTITUTION Notebook
Program.
You don't have to be a computer expert to install or operate The
CONSTITUTION Notebook Program. However, knowledge of general DOS file
name and path conventions is helpful. Refer to the documentation that was
included with your personal computer for information on this topic.
GENERAL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The materials included with The CONSTITUTION Notebook Program facilitate
an individual study of The United States Constitution.
The program is helpful in the study of questions that hinge on word
usage.
Two of the Main Menu options allow you to take notes on the United
States Constitution in an interactive manner. Your notes consist of a
heading, a list of related words, a compilation of related phrases, and a
set of comments. Your heading and comments are limited only by your
imagination. However, only words that appear in the Constitution can be
placed in the list of related words. Also, only phrases that appear in
the Constitution can be placed in the compilation of related phrases.
The restriction on words and phrases is deliberate. This restriction
provides a measure of conciseness and objectivity to notes produced using
this program.
When you generate such notes using this program, the program
automatically saves them on diskette for review, and update. You can
print your notes using your printer. You can also save your notes in a
file that can be used by many common word processors. With your notes in
such a file, you can embellish and expand your comments or you can
enhance the typestyles and format of the notes.
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Lexicography statistics compiled by the program can be used to determine
the relative simplicity or complexity of various parts of the US
Constitution.
More information about capabilities of this program are contained in this
file under the heading DETAILED PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.
PROGRAM LIMITATIONS
This parse engine included with this program can accommodate no more than
12 additional (39 total) amendments to the US Constitution. No more than
2,000 additional words can be accommodated. There is a limit of 30
versions or portions.
Mouse pointer interface is not supported.
Some features might not work on non-standard keyboards.
The numeric key pad won't work for entering numbers on many
computers. These keys control scrolling and cursor movement. Use
the top row of typewriter keys to enter numbers.
The CAPS lock key or the NUM LOCK key may disable scroll keys when
enabled. If scroll keys don't work, toggle the setting of the CAPS
lock or NUM LOCK functions.
Extent of Error Recovery
A reasonable effort has been made to prevent your being ejected from the
program when mistakes are made during ordinary operator input. However,
the program is not idiot-proof. If you are reviewing the provided
materials or materials generated by you, getting kicked out of the
program means the inconvenience of a 3 to 8 minute start up. If you are
generating cross references or adding comments, getting kicked out of the
program means the possible loss of considerable effort in addition to the
3 to 8 minute start up. To avoid this, take your time while learning the
system. Type carefully to ensure you strike the intended key and review
input carefully before pressing ENTER. Save often when using Main Menu
options 4, 5, or 11. (The other options either do not require files to
be saved or else they do it automatically. Also, do not confuse the file
save function of Xport, the F5 function key, with the kind of save
described here.) To save, exit from the option to the Main Menu. The
pertinent files are saved before the Main Menu is displayed. Then return
to the option and continue working.
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KEYBOARD
General. The typewriter keys on your keyboard work as per usual.
Depending on the function or task being performed, some inappropriate keys
are ignored. For example, you can't type a comma in a filename.
If your keyboard has cursor movement keys (up arrow, down arrow, left
arrow, and right arrow) separate from the numeric key pad and they
don't work, try using the 8, 2, 4, and 6 keys on the numeric key pad
instead.
The BREAK, CTRL, ALT, PRINT, F9, F11 and F12 keys have no function
for this program. The TCN program ignores them.
ESC, ENTER, TAB, INSERT, DELETE, BACK SPACE, HOME, END, PG UP, PG DN,
and the up, down, left, and right arrow keys do things that they are
often used to do. Function keys F1 through F10 have mnemonics
displayed at the bottom of the screen to remind you what they do.
More information is contained in the file FUNCKEYS.DOC.
The SHIFT TAB combination is not recognized by the program.
The \ (backslash) key doesn't perform as expected on some keyboards.
If you have trouble with it,
1. Press and hold the ALT key.
2. On the numeric keypad (not the typewriter keys), type a 9
and release the 9.
3. On the numeric keypad (not the typewriter keys), type a 2
and release the 2.
4. Release the ALT key.
NOTE: You may have to toggle the NUM LOCK setting to make this
work.
This is the only use for the ALT key and the only time that you
should type numbers on the numeric keypad while using this
program.
PARAMETER SEARCH PROCEDURES
Generally, the concept for parameter search is similar for words and
clauses, Main Menu options 6 and 7, respectively. When the screen first
appears a set of parameter fields is displayed with defaults set to
maximum and minimum values that occur in the selected version or portion.
The idea is to narrow the search parameters to produce a compilation that
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contains a list of words or phrases of interest. The procedures to do
this are contained in files MM6.DOC and MM7.DOC for words and clauses,
respectively.
DETAILED PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The program is stored on diskette 1, the Program Diskette, in the file
TCN.EXE.
The program supports an individual study of the United States Constitution
by providing the following capabilities:
I. Parse text files containing US Constitution which produces:
A. A replication of the input file that can be accessed by the
other features of this program, but which cannot be edited.
Input file is not altered.
B. Exhaustive index of every word.
C. Lexicography data base including:
1. Gross word count.
2. Individual word count.
3. Individual word length (number of letters)
4. Lexicon that accepts manual input of syllable data for
each word.
5. Profiles of word data in 2., 3., and 4..
6. Gross clause count.
7. Word count of each clause.
8. Total characters in each clause (minus blanks).
9. Total syllables in each clause (based on 4., above).
10. Profiles of clause data in 7., 8., and 9..
11. Nine unique selectable vocabulary lists.
II. Access to Lexicography Data Base for Review, Update, Output
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III. A Four-Level Data Hierarchy
Allows for Organization of Results Produced by Notebook Functions
Described in Item IV.. In the outline which follows, the top tier is
represented by the capital letter A. The second tier is represented by
the Arabic numeral 1. The third tier is represented by lower case Roman
numerals i and ii. The fourth tier is represented by the lower case
letters a, b, c, and d.
A. Version or portion
Created using Main Menu option 10, accessed using Main Menu option 2.
1. Seminar
Created and accessed using Main Menu option 3.
i). Subject
Created and accessed using Main Menu option 4.
a). Heading
Up to 60 characters that names anything you can imagine
typed in on the primary subjects screen.
b). List of related words
Generated by pressing ENTER while a word is highlighted in
the vocabulary list on the secondary subjects screen, or when
F2 is pressed while a word in the vocabulary list (again, on
the secondary subjects screen) is highlighted followed by
ENTER being pressed while a desired phrase is highlighted.
c). Compilation of related phrases
Compilation of related phrases is generated by the same
keystrokes that generate the list of related words.
d). Comments
Generated by manually typing in your thoughts while the
cursor is in the third column of the secondary subjects
screen.
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ii). Synonym
Created and accessed using Main Menu option 5.
a). Heading
Can only be a word in the vocabulary list for the selected
version or portion. Generated by highlighting a desired word
in the vocabulary list and then pressing ENTER.
b). Word list
Generated by making a heading active and pressing ENTER while
a word is highlighted in the vocabulary list, or when F2 is
pressed while a word in the vocabulary list is highlighted
followed by ENTER being pressed while a desired phrase is
highlighted.
c). Compilation of related phrases
Compilation of related phrases is generated by the same
keystrokes that generate the list of related words.
d). Comments
Generated by manually typing in your thoughts while the cursor
is in the third column of the synonym screen.
As an example of how this hierarchy can be used to some advantage, have a
supreme court case as a title for a seminar or as a subject. Use the
subordinate levels in the hierarchy to compile your research findings.
Or, use a phrase in the Constitution as the title of a subject or seminar.
If you do this, you can list supreme court cases in the comments column to
correlate the phrase with rulings.
Generally, the less information is related to a heading, the lower you can
place it in the hierarchy. Conversely, the more information related to a
heading, the higher you should place it in the hierarchy. If you have a
great deal of information to go under one heading, you could even devote
an entire version or portion to it.
IV. Notebook Functions
A. Access output described in I.A. for review.
B. Create Topic Heading
C. Access of Topic Headings for Review, Update, Deletion, Output
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D. Compile Index of Phrases Related to Accessed Topic
NOTE: User highlights word or phrase, then presses ENTER or
the F4 function key to achieve following. Program
automatically extracts pertinent indices from
exhaustive output described in I.B..
1. Index (under accessed topic) all phrases containing key
word.
2. Index (under accessed topic) specific occurrence(s) of
phrases containing key word.
3. Delete (from accessed topic) indices of all phrases
containing key word.
4. Delete (from accessed topic) index of specific
occurrence(s) of phrase containing key word.
E. Edit User Comments Related to Accessed Topic
NOTE: User TABs into 'Comments' column and blazes away at the
keyboard to type in up to approximately 1,000 words of
comments related to accessed topic.
TEXT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION IN ASCII FILES
The package includes the text of the United States Constitution in ASCII
files. These files are in a directory named RIGHTS. There are four files
that contain this text. One file contains the entire Constitution with
all twenty-seven amendments. The other three files were produced by
breaking up this file. More information about these files can be found in
the file USATEXT.DOC.
Also included in the RIGHTS directory are files containing the text of 5
other significant historical documents related to individual rights.
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