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REVIEWS
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wordperfect.rvw
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1988-03-28
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REVIEW OF WORDPERFECT V4.1
by Jim Bolf
Boy!! this wordprocessor is no toy. It has everything that you could
need to write a Book - from go to whoa. So much is involved that I decided
to enroll in the Wordperfect course at our local T.A.F.E. (about 40 some
hours of study). Even though the course is based on the 4.2 version of the
I.B.M. computer the differences are minute. Anyone using either type
of computer can easily switch to the other.
The standard functions that are included in most wordprocessors are
all there at the touch of a Function key. BOLD, UNDERLINE, ITALICS, CENTER
are all shown on the screen wysiwyg. (not so on the I.B.M. version).
Flush align is done with two key presses. The text then starts at the
right margin and moves to the left. It saves a lot of counting to get it
done properly. Tab align, (aligning columns on a particular ascii
character) can be done with any ascii character including a space, that you
choose. Tabs and extended tabs (up to 250 characters) are set by typing in
the numbers that you want into the tab window. If you want them evenly
spaced, it will be done automatically by typing in the spacing. Margins
are even easier to set. Just type in the two numbers. Lines can be set
any distance apart, just select line spacing and type in the number of
lines that you want them to be apart. You can turn hyphenation on or off
and also set the maximum number of extra spaces that the justification
will add to a line before hyphenating.
Page formatting allows many changes to be made. Different types of
page numbers can be used and they can be placed just about anywhere you
choose. The text can be vertically as well horizontally centered on the
page. The page length as well as the top margin can be set. Headers and
footers are no big drama with the facilities made available to the user of
WORDPERFECT. Widows and orphans (lines being isolated from the rest of the
paragraph at the start or end of a page) can be taken care of easily. If
you invoke the conditional end of page then all the lines up to that
point will always be printed on the same page.
Pitch and font changes are done in the Print format. Eight fonts are
available and 10, 12 and 15 pitches can be chosen. However, if you use
condensed printing then you can also print out in at least 17 and 20 pitch,
if your printer is capable of doing that. Six or eight lines per inch are
selected by typing in the number. Single or double underlining is available
if your printer can do it. Full justification can be toggled on or off.
Different sheet feeder bins may be selected as well as six different
printers. For special purposes you can enter the codes for any features
that your printer is capable of but haven't been included in the printer
driver supplied by WORDPERFECT. (They include over 140 different drivers on
the Print disk.)
Footnotes and endnotes are very well catered for. Ascii text files
can be loaded and saved. (This review was saved in Ascii form so that
it can be loaded into CLI.) Also Locked documents are easy to do (you have
to type in a key word before the text will come on screen. This keeps other
people from seeing something that you don't want them to read.) Just make
sure that you remember the Keyword!!!
Simple maths functions are available which allow spreadsheets to be
organized. Totals, subtotals, and grandtotals can be done automatically.
One feature that adds a tremendous amount to the readability of a
document is COLUMNS. Up to five columns can be chosen. They can be set
at whatever width you want and any spacing between the columns. Even
personal letters are much easier to read if done with two columns. The
parallel feature may be invoked if you want specific information to appear
opposite one another. All the parallel columns will be affected similarly
by changes in any one of them. This insures that the text that you want to
have lined up horizontally will remain in line.
Marking text for the index, table of contents, or any kind of list is
quite conprehensive and reasonably easy to do.
The date can be typed out automatically in many different ways. You
decide on the sequence that you want and it gets done. You can even update
the date on a document everytime you retrieve it.
List files - is a very useful function that lists all the files on
any disk that you choose. When the files have been listed (alphabetically)
you only have to type in the first letter of the file name and it will
scroll automatically to the files that start with that letter. Then typing
in a second letter will cause the automatic scroll to get you to the
files with that sequence of letters. A very handy feature if you have a
lot of files.
By using the Block function in conjunction with the Move feature you
can move words, sentences, paragraphs, columns, rectangles, and pages.
Moving columns with their tabs etc. is more complicated than just moving
some text, so the extra Move features are extremely useful.
Using - Indent - will start each line at the point that you invoke
it until you hit the return key. Using the double indent moves the text
in an equal amount from each margin.
The SWITCH feature allows you to switch back and forth between as
many as 32 documents. ( WHY??? ) It is possible to move blocks of text
from one to any or all of the other documents that you may have on screen
at the time.
You can search in either direction for a string (apparently up to
64 characters long). REPLACE can be used to replace a string with
another string that you have typed into the requestor box that appears
when you hit the REPLACE key.
A CLI screen can be called up at any time on top of the WP screen.
It is a Function key call up and you do not have to exit WORDPERFECT in
order to do it.
The SPELL feature is useful I suppose, but I would rather use a
dictionary. The speller stops at any word that isn't in its files and also
at both halves of a hyphenated word. It is very slow and cumbersome. It
can be a source of amusement when it makes suggestions for a replacement for
the misspelled word. The Thesaurus is very fast and could be very useful.
Especially if you have a second disk drive or enough ram to put the SPELL
disk in memory.
The main feature of the Screen function is BORDER DRAW. This makes
it possible to construct graphs and boxes etc. The graphs and the borders
of the boxes can be drawn in any ascii character.
_______________________________________________________________
| |
| TOOWOOMBA AMIGA USERS CLUB |
|_______________________________________________________________|
| | |
|Name: |Address: |
|_______________________________|_______________________________|
| | | |
|City: |State: |Postcode: |
|____________________|_____________________|____________________|
| Hardware: | Software: | Languages: |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|____________________|_____________________|____________________|
The above form was compiled using the border draw feature. Before
starting the form, I invoked the MACRO function. By saving a drawing as a
MACRO it can be placed anywhere on the page that there is room. all you
have to do is press MACRO START and type in the MACRO name.
MACROS are very useful for things that take a long time to set up or
that are used a lot. (Headers-footers, salutations, changing to a different
font, entire form letters, flow charts, etc.). Typing just a few keys can
print a complete letter and send it to the printer automatically.
Databases with up to nine fields per record are possible. Using the
MERGE facility allows the combination of database fields with form letters
to make multiple copy mailings easy.
True super and subscripts are possible if your printer is capable of
forward and reverse feed. Line feed can be done 1/2 line at a time. The
line number at the bottom of the screen shows the position in 1/2 line
increments. This allows mathematical equations in any number of levels to
be achieved. There is also an Overstrike feature that allows one character
to be typed over an existing character to create a third one. Only the
last character will show on the screen but both will be printed.
The control codes for WP are hidden. This keeps the screen nice and
clean with only the text that you type in, visible. The codes are revealed
by pressing a Function key. Any major changes to the document are usually
easier to do if the codes are revealed.
I don't know what more anyone could ask for. This program seems to
have it all. It would take a considerable time to become acquainted with
all of the features it contains. But, at the same time it is quite easy
to get started writing ordinary letters. It would certainly pay to
persevere and learn it all because WORDPERFECT temps are getting paid close
to 10 bucks an hour in Brisbane!! It's fairly expensive but it will be
adequate for years to come. For even a small business I think it would be
worth the price.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ END OF WORDPERFECT.RVW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~