Archive Magazine CD 1995/Archive Magazine CD 1995.iso/discs/prog_disc/volume_3/issue05/pipeline/edmundson/text/fittn23_11

Text File | 1989-11-23 | 11.7 KB | 693 lines

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%CO:A,5,70%                                             10 Carlisle Avenue
                                             St. Albans


                                             Tel/Fax: [phone]


Mr. Gerald Fitton

Dear Mr. Fitton.
%C%%H2%PipeDream 3

I find PipeDream 3 to be the best piece of software I have for the
Archimedes, making full use as it does, of all the facilities the Arc
has to offer including the desktop.  I am gradually converting all my
document processing and my databases and spreadsheets to PipeDream
and the more I learn about the software, the better I like it.

One devizes tips and short cuts which others less familiar with the
program may find useful, and I am always ready to learn from those
more expert than myself.  I have a model 420 micro connected to a
multi-sync monitor.  All my applications software including PipeDream
is held on the hard disc but all my day-to-day files are stored on
floppies.

My floppy $ directory leads to a number of sub-directories, Text,
Database, Sheets, and one I call Style.  All my correspondence is
held in the Text directory including one labelled LH which gives me
my letter heading.  In fact I label it AAALH which ensures it is
always in the top left corner of the display for ease of use.  I find
I can always see some flicker if I use a white screen, especially
when working in fluorescent lighting, so I prefer a dark background
with white letters and some appropriate colours for the borders etc.
This palette has been stored in the "ini" file on the hard disc.  I
don't think the colour of the carat can be changed.  It appears to
adjust according to the other colours chosen for the working
palette, although this my be an illusion.  I have never found it to
be a problem with any of the palettes I have tried out.  I use the D
macro for the date, and I save all my correspondence with the date
included in coded form in the file name.  eg. Smith8/10.  Thus
however many times I write to Mr. Smith I can distinguish from the
directory window which particular letter I want, and it overcomes the
problem that if one recalls a letter at some future date, one still
knows when it was originally written by glancing at the name in the
title bar of the window.  If one converts the display to "Full Info"
this would be another method of keeping track of original dates, but
I prefer the icon displays.














If a paragraph has been written at the normal margin which is later
required to be indented, this cannot be done retrospectively with the
tab key.  The words are written on page "A" and to get them onto page
"B" cannot be done with tab.  Instead, use the mouse to mark the
paragraph, then delete the block (ctrl f1).  This not only deletes it
but also enters it into the paste buffer.  Therefore tab the carat
to the new indented position required, then use the paste command to
restore the text to its new, indented position.

 The directory called Style gives various initial screens in which
the ruler is set for 12, 15 etc. characters per inch.  Several
printer drivers are loaded onto the hard disc which initialise the
printer to give 12, 15, 17, etc cpi. and the appropriate one is
entered into the print box as required.  In my case since I use a
Citizen printer they are labelled CZ10, CZ12, CZ15 etc.  This kind of
preparation saves hours in everyday use.  The multi-sync monitor is
very useful; I change to mode 20 from the palette on the desktop icon
bar, and print to screen from the print box.  In this way I can
preview a full A4 sheet at once.  I suppose if one wished, one could
work in mode 20 all the time because the PD screen gives very large
clear letters, with the window filling the whole of the screen.  It
may be worth pointing out that when one prints to screen, the
hour-glass is running all the time.  A slight distraction, but it is
a feature of Risc-OS and not a fault of PipeDream

The column nature of PipeDream is ideal for multi-column printing,
especially for such things as time-tables.

The above notes could have been printed right-justified using the
Justification Option in the Files box.  The Format (ctrl f10) key
will provide the justification in both the normal and the indented
paragraphs.  (For the latter the carat has to be tabbed into column
B.)  A section of these notes can be seen justified in the file in
the Text directory called JUSTIFYeg1.

I doubt if your question about justification on p.37 of the November
Archive is valid. To expect two different widths of justification
from the same left margin seems to me a contradiction in command
which no computer can obey!  After getting one blank space as you
describe the only way would be to run down each of the wider
paragraphs adding one space!  (See JUSTIFYeg2).

Changing mode within a document eg. from 80 to 132 characters wide:
















The file is now in a 132 cpi form and will print as such if printer
driver set accordingly.  See example attached - actually 120cpi.

Although I have not tried it, I should have thought the keyboard
could be redefined as a French keyboard using the method described on
p.323 of the PipeDream manual.  I don't do this because I cannot
touch type on a French layout.  I prefer to click in the special
characters as I come to them in the following way.  (Sometimes I find
it easier to touch type at speed in English and then modify the
accented characters afterwards.)   Get the tiny directories icon onto
the icon bar, then load in the PD character set by dragging its icon
onto the tiny directories folder on the bar.  The PD character set
icon is then visible on the icon bar.  Reduce the text window to
half; click on the characters icon to bring the special characters
window onto the screen so as not to obscure the text window.  Now use
the mouse and carat to introduce accented characters into the text as
required.  Here is an example:

L'hôtelier, derrière son judas, balançait de gauche à droite et de
droite à gauche un visage attristé, réprobateur, mais ses yeux
riaient.

Address labels.  I have transferred my address file to a Pipedream
database format.  A dummy example is in "ADDRESS1" in the Database
directory.  From experience I find it is better not to leave any
blank slots within any one address, except after the post code.
These blanks are inevitable because not all addresses have the same
number of fields.  The B column is a flag for those addresses to
which I send a Christmas card.  X means a card, Y means not.  (A
blank will not do).  I sort on surnames and for my Xmas card list, I
make a temporary file containing only the X-tagged addresses.  This
selection automatically comes out in alphabetic order.  The print
file has the necessary macros and empty lines to fit my labels.  If
the label sheet is one label wide, one can print them out immed-
iately.  If the label sheets are two labels wide, then the address
file has to be modified further.  Copy the lower half of the address
file to the side of the first half.  This gives a database with data
in two side-by-side blocks.  An example is "ADDRESS2".  The print
file must now have two lots of macros spaced the required number of
characters apart to match the label spacing.  On the Page Layout box
set the number of lines per page to 8 or whatever is appropriate for
the vertical spacing between labels.  Don't forget to change to Tab
in the print box and to add the name of the tab file (in this case
Addr2).  This will now print out two lables at a time side by side.
The two print files are in the Database directory and called LABEL1
and LABEL2.  An example print is attached.  Incidentally I print this
address file onto blank pages of a filofax and include the phone
number.  I get five or six addresses per page, and it can be updated
easily - much better than using pre-printed address pages which are
filled in by hand. To summarise, on the disc in the Database
directory are the following files:








All this may seem very complicated but as with most things experience
makes it simpler.  I did some experiments using the command "omit
blank columns" but I decided this was not helpful in the above
situations.

Note that columns in the data files can overlap.  This is useful to
allow long fields without making the whole file very wide.  In fact,
it may be helpful to restrict the screen image of the file to one
screen width.  In my example, column C overlaps B.  This is done of
course by varying the wrap width vis a vis the column width.  The
names of companies adds another problem in a mixed file like mine.
eg. Colton Software and Acorn Computers.  If they are to be included
in the alphabetic sort, they must be in the surname column.  This
leaves the title column (Mr. & Mrs. etc.) blank.  Because the print
file adds a space between title and surname, the company name is
printed one space to the right.  To bring the rest of the fields in
line on the label, they are entered into the database displaced by
one space.  If one had many Company type addresses it would probably
pay to have a separate file for them.

It takes a long time to write things down which normally take a few
seconds to execute.  I hope my comments are reasonably clear and may
be of some use to your column.

Kind regards,

Yours sincerely,




Maurice Edmundson.
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One of the commonest requirements in a document such as a
report is the indented paragraph.  I like my indents to be
equally matched on each side.  Thus I have modified the
PipeDream ruler to give me this.  Columns A and H are 5
characters wide, the others are 10 (I prefer to count in
tens rather than the 12 which is PipeDream's default because
my main font is Courier at 10cpi).  All columns except B
wrap at the end of H giving me 70 characters width.  Column
B wraps at the end of column G.  Thus to indent a paragraph
I have only to press Tab and I get a nicely balanced
indented paragraph.  Shift-tab returns me to the normal
margin just as easily.












































1) Prepare blank windows as I have done, viz. Blank 10 and
   Blank 15.
2) The document has been prepared in Blank 10 but it is
   decided to change to 132 columns.  Save this text for
   safety. Reduce the window to half. Open a Blank 15
   window.  Reduce to half.  There should now be half a
   window of each type on the screen, the 15 style
   being blank.
3) Name or re-name the "10" text as necessary.  Use the
   Files box and click on Save.
4) Drag the PD icon into the blank 15 window and release
   button to load it into new window.
5) Open the 15 window to full screen, and format each
   paragraph.  This works for indented paras. too.
6) Change to mode 16 using the palette icon on the icon bar.





















































1) Address1 - part of a standard (dummy) address file.
2) Addr1 - as (1) but in Tab format for printing.
3) Address2 - as (1) but with the second half positioned by
   the side of the first half.
4) Addr2 - as (3) but in Tab format
5) Label1 - the file for printing labels or sheets of (2)
6) Label2 - the file for printing twin lables from (4)














































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