The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-387-Vol-3of3.iso/t/tw31.zip/TWTUT2.CHP

Text File | 1993-02-23 | 11KB | 376 lines

#OF
%
#EF
#TGETTING  STARTED
#C2,R4
The very first step in writing a tutorial with ~H~bTutorialWriter~N is to create
a ~HCONFIGURATION~N file.  Before I describe how to do that, let's look at why
it is necessary.

A ~HTUTORIAL~N refers to a collection of files which constitute a complete
instructional package.  At the simplest level it is a ~HSINGLE CHAPTER~N
~M~Itutorial~N and consists of the file which you write, called a ~HCHAPTER~N, the
~G~ITWTEACH.EXE~N Display program and a ~HCONFIGURATION~N file. The ~HConfiguration~N file
is essential, because it tells ~G~ITWTEACH~N the name of your ~HChapter~N and what
colors to use to display it.

The next level is a ~HSINGLE CHAPTER~M~I tutorial~N which has a ~HHELP~N System, or
~HHYPERTEXT~N or includes ~HTEXTSCREENS~N. Each of these has its own file, and again
it is the ~HConfiguration~N file which tells ~G~ITWTEACH~N what they are called.

And the most advance level ~M~Itutorial~N has all the previously described files,
but the ~HSINGLE CHAPTER~N becomes a ~HMENU CHAPTER~N, and gives access to up to
nine ~HSUB-CHAPTERS~N. The ~HMenu Chapter~N is specified in the ~HConfiguration~N file.

Here's how it looks graphically.
#W
%
#GT,structure
#T
#C4,R13
|CFG|
#C14,R11
|SCREENS|
#C16,R8
|HELP|
#C15,R5
|HYPER|
#C28,R15
|MENU|
#C49,R6
|CHAPTER|
#C49,R9
|CHAPTER|
#C49,R12
|CHAPTER|
#C49,R15
|CHAPTER|
#C39,R20
|SINGLE CHAPTER|
#C2,R23
~HUse the SPACE BAR or MOUSE to move around.  ENTER or MOUSE Button to Select.~N
#WP
%
#EF
#T
#C2,R5
~H~bTutorialWriter~N uses the extension ~H.HLP~N for a ~G~IHELP~N file, ~H.HYP~N for ~G~IHYPERTEXT~N,
~H.SCR~N for ~G~ITEXTSCREEN~N, ~H.CNF~N for ~G~ICONFIGURATION~N and ~H.CHP~N for the text files you
write.  In view of this, I suggest that you adopt a ~HPROJECT NAME~N convention,
which makes all the files in a ~HTUTORIAL~N easily recognisable. For example,
in this ~C~ITutorial~N the Project Name is ~C~ITWTUT~N.  This means that all files are
called ~C~ITWTUT~N and the text files add a number to the basic name, with
~C~ITWTUT0~N being the ~HMENU Chapter~N and therefore the first file to read :

~H      TWTUT.CNF
      TWTUT.HLP
      TWTUT.SCR
      TWTUT.HYP
      TWTUT0.CHP
      TWTUT1.CHP
      TWTUT2.CHP~N  etc.

This makes it easy to copy ~HALL~N the relevant ~HTUTORIAL~N files to disk for
distribution to your audience. In this case, typing ~HCOPY TWTUT*.* A:~N will
transfer all the files to the disk in drive A.
#WP
#EF
#GT,main menu
#BO,3,4,45,8,7,1,0,3,1,3
One of the options on the Main Menu is
Configure Tutorial.  That's the option
to create the CONFIGURATION FILE.

#BO,3,4,48,10,7,1,0,5,1,3
When you choose Configure Tutorial, you
will be asked for the name of the file.
Just type in the name of your project
e.g. TWTUT.  TWRITER will give it the
extension .CNF

#BO,3,4,48,8,7,1,0,3,1,3
As an example of a CONFIGURATION FILE
let's take a look at the one for this
Tutorial (TWTUT.CNF).

#GT,configure
#D5
#BO,3,4,44,10,7,1,0,5,1,3
Notice that except for the first file
to read, I've called  all the others
the same name. Remember that each one
will be given its own extension by
Tutorialwriter - .HLP, .HYP, .SCR
#D5
#BO,3,14,44,20,7,1,0,5,1,3
And don't worry about seeing these
numbers in place of colors.  Every
function in TutorialWriter has very
full Help Screens. Just press F1.
Here's what you get for color codes.
#EF
#GT,colors
#EL,25
#D5
#BO,37,4,79,8,7,1,0,3,1,3
I chose 14 for normal Text - Yellow
and 15 for highlight - White
Then 0 for background - Black

#GT,configure
#D2
#BO,37,4,79,8,7,1,0,3,1,3
And when you've made the entries
for your tutorial, just press F10
to create the file.
#EL,25
#WP
%
#EF
#TGETTING  STARTED
#C2,R5
OK, that's the first step done. You know that you must create a ~HCONFIGURATION
FILE~N, why it is necessary, and how to do it.


The next step is to start writing your ~HChapter~N (or ~HChapters~N).


So we will start with the five most common ~HCommands~N in ~H~bTutorialWriter~N. These
five are enough to write a complete ~M~Itutorial~N (although it would not be very
impressive).


You've already used three of them, so we are well on our way. They are

~H#EF~N - which clears the full screen.
~H#T~N  - which puts the title in a box at the top of the screen
~H#W~N  - which puts CONTINUE and QUIT buttons at the bottom of the screen
       and waits for a keystroke or Mouse button
#WP
%
#EF
#TGETTING  STARTED
#C2,R5
The two new ~HCommands~N are

~H#X~N - which ends the Chapter
~H#Cx1,Ry1~N - which positions the cursor at Column x1 and Row y1.

Here's how they go together :

~H#EF~W                          - Clear the screen
~H#T~R~IMy First Tutorial~W          - Put on your Title
~H#C2,R5~W                       - Start at Column 2 on Row 5
~R~INow you write your first
screenful of information
It can be from Row 5 to
Row 24.~N
~H#W~W                           - Wait for a keystroke
~H#X~W                           - Exit from the tutorial~N

And that's it! You will have a screenful of information in color with a
Title, waiting for the Reader to press a key or a Mouse button.
#WP
%
#EF
#T
#C2,R5
And you can go on repeating this pattern to your heart's content!!

~H#EF~W                          - Clear the screen
~H#T~R~IMy First Tutorial~W          - Put on your Title
~H#C2,R5~W                       - Start at Column 2 on Row 5
~R~INow you write your first
screenful of information
It can be from Row 5 to
Row 24.~N
~H#W~W                           - Wait for a keystroke
~H#EF~W                          - Clear the screen
~H#T~R~IMy First Tutorial~W          - Put on your Title
~H#C2,R5~W                       - Start at Column 2 on Row 5
~R~INow you write your ~C~I~Fsecond
~R~Iscreenful of information
It can be from Row 5 to
Row 24.~N
~H#W~W                           - Wait for a keystroke
~H#X~W                           - Exit from the tutorial~N
#WP
%
#EF
#T
#C2,R5
There's a couple of points that need to be stressed.

The ~HCommands~N must start with the ~C~I#~N in the first column of a row, or they will
not be recognised as ~HCommands~N:

~H#EF~N is a ~HCommand~N to clear the screen.
~H   #EF~N is not a ~HCommand~N. It will be printed to the screen like any other
word.



And ~C~I#X~H MUST~N be included in a ~HChapter~N. If it is not, ~G~ITWTEACH~N will not know
where to stop reading, and your computer will probably lock up.

Bear in mind that only one ~C~I#X~N is needed in a ~HChapter~N. When ~G~ITWTEACH~N finds
it, it stops reading and returns to DOS (in a ~HSINGLE CHAPTER~M~I tutorial~N) or
to the ~HMenu~N (in a ~HMULTIPLE CHAPTER~M~I tutorial~N). Anything after the first ~C~I#X~N
is ignored.
#WP
%
#EF
#T
#C2,R5
If you like bland, you have now learned all the ~HCommands~N you need to produce
~M~Itutorials~N which are far superior to the standard white on black text file
viewers that are the norm.


But you still need to know a couple of things. The first is how to use the
~HEditor~N to write your ~M~Itutorials~N and the second is how to create a ~HMenu~N for
~HMultiple Chapters~N.


So we will cover that next.


But if you prefer outstanding, colorful, whizz-bang presentations, the next
six ~HChapters~N in this ~M~ITutorial~N will show you at set of wonderful tools which
will have your audience engrossed in your ~M~Itutorial~N.


Now on to the ~HEditor~N and ~HMenu Utility~N.
#WP
%
#EF
#T
#C2,R5
Now it's time to start developing your instructional material.   The

~C~ICreate/Edit Chapter~N option at the ~C~IMain Menu~N brings up ~H~bTutorialWriter~N's ~C~IText

Editor~N. This operates just like a ~HWord Processor~N, except that it doesn't word-

wrap at the end of a line.  And it stores its text in ~HASCII~N format, which

is the only format ~G~ITWTEACH~N can read. The ~C~IEditor~N can handle individual files

of up to ~H60K~N.  If any text file in your ~M~ITutorial~N gets bigger than this, you

will need to use another more powerful ~HWord Processor~N.  If you do, be sure

that you ~Hsave the file in ASCII format~N, and ~Hdon't use features like Bold or

Underline~N.  ~G~ITWTEACH~N cannot read these special features.

Let's look at one of the text screens that make up this ~C~ITutorial~N.

#WP
#GT,text screen
#D5
#BO,10,16,72,22,7,1,0,5,1,3
This is the opening screen of this CHAPTER. My method of
developing material is to write an outline on paper with
the points I want to cover. Then I use the Editor and
develop the screens, one at a time. When the screen looks
the way I want it, I then add the Codes for colors etc.

#GT,text screen 2
#D5
#BO,15,15,67,22,7,1,0,6,1,3
Don't worry about all the funny looking codes
that you see scattered through the text. The
Editor has a complete HELP system which explains
every Command Code in TutorialWriter. Just press
F1 to bring up the HELP system and choose the
Code you want to examine.

#GT,help system
#D4
#GT,help cursor
#EL,25
#WP
%
#EF
#T
#C2,R5
As you are creating your file, you can exit from the ~C~IEditor~N and use the

~C~IView Tutorial~N option to see how it looks. You will be asked to supply

the name of the ~G~ICONFIGURATION~N file, then you will be shown your ~HCHAPTER~N

exactly as your Readers will see it when they use ~G~ITWTEACH~N.  However,

when you use ~G~ITWRITER~N's ~C~IView Tutorial~N, the whole ~G~ITWRITER~N program is still in

memory, using up about ~H200K~N. So some codes, such as running an external

graphics program or screen saves, may not work because there is not enough

memory left for them. If this happens, exit from ~G~ITWRITER~N and use the ~G~ITWTEACH

~HModule~N. It only needs ~H100K~N of memory.  Just type ~G~ITWTEACH~R~I configfilename~N at the

~HDOS~N prompt.
#WP
#EF
#GT,main menu

#BO,3,4,50,9,7,1,0,4,1,3
Since the TWTUT Tutorial will have MULTIPLE
CHAPTERS, we need to create a MENU which
will be presented at the end of TWTUT0.CHP,
the MENU CHAPTER. Choose Utility Programs.

#GT,utilities
#BO,3,4,30,6,7,1,0,1,1,3
Now choose Create Menu.

#GT,make menu
#D10
#BO,3,18,48,24,7,1,0,5,1,3
This may look like a lot of things to fill
in, but remember to use the HELP system.
Just press F1 and you will get HELP for
whatever field your cursor is in. Here's
the HELP for 'Title for Menu Screen'.
#GT,menu help
#EL,25
#WP
%
#EF
#T
#AP,1,6
TO INCLUDE THE MENU IN YOUR TUTORIAL,
THE MENU CHAPTER MUST FINISH WITH THE
COMMAND #Mmenufilename FOLLOWED BY #X
ON THE NEXT LINE. THIS FINISHES THE
CHAPTER AND NOTHING WRITTEN AFTER THESE
COMMANDS WILL BE READ IN THAT CHAPTER.
#WP

#EF
%
#GT,menu file
#BO,41,19,78,22,7,1,0,2,1,3
Here's the Menu Chapter for this
Tutorial. Note the #M Command.

#EL,25
#WP
%
#EF
#T
#C2,R10
A final point for this Chapter is that the ~C~I#M~H Menu Command~N can only be used

once in a ~M~Itutorial~N. After the ~G~IMenu~N has been created in the ~HMenu Chapter~N, any

subsequent attempts to create one will be ignored by ~G~ITWTEACH~N.

#WP
#X