Archive Magazine 1996

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Archive Magazine 1996 / ARCHIVE_96.iso / discs / shareware / share_45 / architype / !ArchiType / Manual < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1995-02-13 | 30KB | 728 lines

____ ____ ____ _ ______ _ _ ___ ___ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /___/ /---/ / /---/ / / /___/ /___/ /-- _/ _/ _/ \_ /___ _/ _/ _/ _/ ___/ _/ /___ Typing Tutor for the Archimedes Version 0.32 Copyright Davivid Holden 1992,93 _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER CONTENTS Licence Conditions ........ 1 How to Register ........ 2 The 'T_Reg' file ........ 2 A.S.P. Message ........ 2 General Description ........ 3 The Architype screen ........ 3 The Status Window ........ 4 The Menu ........ 4 Lessons ........ 5 Show Key ........ 5 Timed Lessons ........ 5 Exercises ........ 6 Locked Exercises ........ 6 Posture ........ 7 Your own Lessons & Exercises ........ 8 The Resources directory ........ 8 Lesson files ........ 9 Exercise files ......... 9 Internal instructions ........ 10 Colours ........ 10 Improvements ........ 11 Page 1 Architype is NOT Public Domain - it is ssss h h aa rrrr eeeee w w a rrrr eeeee s h h a a r r e w w a a r r e ssss hhhhhh a a rrrr eeee w w w a a rrrr eeee s h h aaaaaa r r e w w w aaaaaa r r e ssss h h a a r e eeeee w w a a r e eeeee You may ONLY use and copy it subject to the following conditions: 1. You are Licenced to use Architype for evaluation purposes ONLY for a trial period of FOURTEEN DAYS. At the end of this time if you wish to continue to use Architype you must REGISTER. Continued use of Architype outside this trial period is a breach of this Licence. See the section 'How to Register' for details. 2. Any PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL may GIVE copies of Architype to his/her friends subject only to the restrictions in Condition 5. 3. You must not make any charge for copies of Architype or any additional material which you include. You may make a charge to cover media, distribution costs and overheads. 4. If you make any charge for copying Architype or run a BBS or other service from which Architype is available or distribute Architype in any way other than as a private individual giving copies to friends you MUST ask permission before distributing Architype. I will not unreasonably withhold permission but distribution for any fee or by any commercial organisation without such permission will be treated as Breach of Copyright. 5. You must copy the application entire with the !Boot, !Run, !Sprites Templates, !Help, DataI, DataC and Instrucs (this) files. You must include the Resources directory containing the Lesson and Exercise files as supplied. You must not make any alterations to the program or documentation. You may supply additional material if you wish although no charge may be made for this. 6. You must ensure that you do not distribute any T-Reg file which has been supplied to you upon registration. This is for the use of REGISTERED USERS ONLY and must NOT be passed on to third parties. You are forbidden to distribute ANY version of Architype which does not display the 'Start Up' message. 7. The normal Licence to use Architype is for a single user on a single computer. If you wish to use Architype for any purpose outside this Licence please contact the Author for permission. Use of Architype for EDUCATIONAL or TRAINING purposes or within any EDUCATIONAL or TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT is ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN without the written consent of the Author. This will normally be granted without fee. Page 2 How to Register --------------- Registration for a single user costs just Four Pounds. A Site Licence for State schools or colleges will normally be granted for a single licence fee or in some circumstances without charge. I reserve the right to charge a higher fee for a Site Licence where appropriate. To make registration simpler I have made the last page of this Manual a registration form. Please fill it in and send it to me with your cheque for four pounds. I will send you a copy of the latest version of Architype and your personal T_Reg file. This will disable the annoying start-up message and display the name of the registered user in the 'info' window. Architype still under development. I am anxious to receive comments and suggestions from users. Please write and tell me if you like Architype and what improvements you would like to see. This is important to ensure that Architype develops in the way the YOU want. If you write additional lessons or exercises that you feel might be useful to others please send them to me so that I can pass them on. I will ensure that proper credit is given. The T_Reg file -------------- You own personal T_Reg file will be supplied to you upon registration. This is encoded with the name of the registered user and, when placed in the !Architype application directory it, disables the start-up message and puts your name in the 'info' window. This file is for your PERSONAL use only. If you pass on a copy of Architype MAKE SURE THAT YOU DELETE THIS FILE FIRST. If you obtain later versions of Architype from BBS's or PD Libraries your T_Reg file will still work with the new version so you can get updates from any source. You can also pass the updated versions on to your friends and if they have Registered they will also be able to use the later versions without further cost. One you have paid your Registration fee you can therefore obtain any later versions without charge. ASP Message ----------- This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the Shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427, U.S.A. or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 or FAX 616-788-2765. Page 3 General Desription ------------------ The program is designed to be used in several ways; As a complete touch typing course for the novice. To assist the experienced typist to improve speed and accuracy. To help improve weak areas and get rid of bad habits which you may have acquired. To learn the different techniques needed when changing from a normal typewriter to a computer keyboard. The program uses two methods, LESSONS and EXERCISES. Lessons are the method used to teach the basic techniques of touch typing. The computer asks you to type a letter selected at random from a list and you just have to do so as quickly as possible. This is a very simple method intended to teach the positions of the keys and which fingers to use. The idea is that you should learn to find each key 'automatically' with your fingers without conscious thought and without looking down at the keyboard. The computer keeps score of your speed and accuracy so you can follow your progress. You are not restricted to the lessons that I have provided but can write your own. This means that if you are an experienced typist who just wants to acclimatise to the Archimedes after using a computer or typewriter with a different keyboard layout you can write lessons containing mainly or only the different keys. Exercises are simply short pieces of text which you copy, once again the computer keeps a record of speed and mistakes. The Architype screen -------------------- To start the program 'double-click' on the application icon and it will install itself in the usual way on the icon bar. To get to the Architype screen click 'Select' on this icon. The desktop will dissapear and the Architype screen will be drawn. When you come to this screen for the first time after starting Architype the bottom half of the screen contains a window showing brief instructions for using the program. These are not detailed and are merely intended to allow the new user to try out the program without reading through the whole of this file. Page 4 The Status Window ----------------- At the top left is the Status window. This shows the current Lesson or Exercise and the total number of Lessons and Exercises available. It shows Mistakes as a percentage of the number of letters typed and Speed in words per minute for Exercises or as a percentage for Lessons. It also shows whether the Key Click and Show Keys functions are switched on or off and also indicates the length of the Delay set (see later). Note that the words per minute minute rating is not calculated by simple counting the number of actual words achieved in a set time. This could return inappropriate results with some of the unusual words used in exercises. Instead the characters are counted and a 'standard' word length is taken as a datum. The Menu -------- The Menu is at the top right of the screen. Use the Up and Down arrow keys to move the hightlight to the item required. If you move the highlight to 'Set Delay' and press the Left or Right arrow keys you will see that 'Delay' in the Status window changes. Similarly if you move to 'New Lesson' and press the Left or Right arrows you will see the number of the Current Lesson in the Status window change. If the instructions are not being displayed while this is done the letters in that Lesson are shown on the screen. If you move the highlight to 'New Exercise' and do the same you will see that the top line in the Status window now shows the number of the current Exercise. To change the Key Click and Show Keys functions highlight the one you want and press RETURN. These items 'toggle' each time you do this. If you move to 'New Lesson' or 'New Exercise' and press RETURN the records of Speed and Mistakes will be reset and you will go to the selected Lesson or Exercise. If you press RETURN when 'Continue' is highlighted then you will go to the selected Lesson or Exercise but your Speed and Mistakes will not be reset. You can therefore perform the same or a series of exercises and keep a running record of Speed and Mistakes if you prefer. You can return to the Desktop at any time by selecting 'Desktop' from the Menu or by pressing ESCAPE when the menu is displayed. You can then return to the Architype screen by clicking 'Select' on the Architype icon and your Speed and Mistakes records will be retained. Page 5 Lessons ------- When you select a Lesson the Menu disappears and a window is drawn at the bottom of the screen containing text describing the lesson. Above this are shown the letters in the Lesson. In the centre of the screen is a small box. At this stage this will contain a message prompting you to press SPACE for the lesson to start. When you do this the box will clear and the program will choose a letter from the list and display it in this box. You must press the key corresponding to the letter, with SHIFT if required. If you have set Key Click 'On' there will be a sound each time you press a key. The letter you actually type will be shown to the right of the letter the computer had chosen. If you press the wrong key the computer will 'beep' and a red cross will appear to the left of the letter. After a short delay another letter will be chosen and so on until you press ESCAPE when the Menu will reappear and you Speed and Mistakes will be shown in the Status window. Show Key -------- If you set 'Show Key' to 'On' the drawing of the keyboard at the centre top of the screen is used. The required key will be highlighted in red and if SHIFT is needed then two red SHIFT keys will appear. This feature is designed to help you to locate the key without glancing down at the keyboard. As you become more experienced you will want to switch it off otherwise you may begin to become dependent on it instead of actually learning the positions of the keys. Timed Lessons ------------- This feature was introduced at the request of teachers who found that unsupervised pupils had discovered that by pressing ESCAPE after only one or two letters they could counterfeit a high speed without mistakes! With a timed lesson you cannot exit until the allocated time has elapsed. You can, of course, continue for longer than the minimum time if you wish. Where a lesson is timed the remaining time in seconds is shown at the right hand side of the screen. At present this is only updated after each keystroke. Page 6 Exercises --------- When you select 'New Exercise' the Menu will disappear and two windows will be drawn at the bottom of the screen. The text for the current exercise will be shown in the bottom window and the flashing cursor will appear in the top left hand corner of the top window. You must press SPACE to start the Exercise. You must copy the text in the bottom window using the SHIFT key for capital letters. You do not need to use RETURN at the end of a line as text will be 'wordwrapped' as you type but you may do so if you wish. If you type a wrong letter the computer will 'beep' to warn you. You can then use either the Backspace or Delete keys to delete the wrong letter(s) if you wish. Any letters deleted and then correctly re typed will not be counted as Mistakes but your timing will of course suffer. When you reach the end of the Exercise you can press SPACE to get the Menu back. You can then either repeat the Exercise or start a new one. If you press ESCAPE at any time the Menu will reappear. If you quit while part-way through an exercise you can return to it by selecting 'Continue' from the Menu. You can use this feature as a 'Pause' if you wish since the timing is 'frozen' when you press ESCAPE. Locked Exercises ---------------- Like Timed Lessons this feature was introduces to prevent cheating. If an exercise is locked you can't quit until you reach the end. It is, of course, possible to skip to the end by simply holding down one key but his will result in a very high speed with lots of mistakes. If an exercise is locked the words 'Exercise locked!' will be shown on the right hand side of the screen. Large print exercises --------------------- This is another feature that was introduced after requests from users. It is primarily intended for use in schools or with younger children, although it will be advantageous for anyone with poor eyesight. It functions exactly as normal exercises except that the text is almost double size. This obviously restricts the amount of text which can be displayed and you should bear this in mind when writing your own exercises using this feature. Only one sample large print exercise is provided and this will normally be the last exercise. Page 7 Posture ------- Before you start typing you should take notice of the your posture. Sit at the keyboard with your fingers resting on the 'home' keys, that is with the fingers of your left hand resting on the A, S, D and F keys and the fingers of your right hand on the J, K, K and ; keys. Your fingers should be 'curled' and the last joint should be more or less pointing down at the key it is resting on. Your forearms should be approximately horizontal and your elbows held loosely at your sides with your upper arms roughly vertical. You should be sitting right back in your seat with your back straight. Many people place their chair too far away from the keyboard and then either lean forward or sit towards the front of the chair. This almost almost always ends in backache. A normal chair is too low so if you don't have a proper typists chair get a thick cushion! You should also make sure that the monitor is correctly positioned. It should never be closer than half a meter from your eyes, most people prefer to have it about 60-70cm. away. The top of the monitor should be about level with your eyes. Some people prefer to have it lower but the disadvantage of this is that your head will then be tilted slightly forward. This will then tend to make you curve your back and also place strain on your neck muscles, once again leading to possible back or neck ache. It is almost impossible to sit properly and comfortably with the so-called 'computer desks' sold in domestic furniture shops or with your monitor parked on one of the 'bridges' supplied for the A3000. It's no coincidence that the boxes of most 'business' computers are about 16-18cm. high. If you are sitting properly at a desk this is normally the minimum height that your monitor should be placed above the desk. It therefore makes the ideal 'prop'. Conventional teaching says that the backs of your hands should slant slightly down from your knuckles to your wrists to that your hands are just above the keys. Your wrist should never be resting on the desk or edge of the keyboard. The aim is to make all the movements with your fingers alone so that your arms and wrists hardly move at all. With the growing number of people suffering from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) attributed to operating wordprocessors I have doubts about the wisdom of this. This type of injury was almost unknown in the days of mechanical typewriters where, because of the much greater force required, the forearms and wrists had to be moved much more. I therefore suggest that you don't try too hard to achieve the conventional aim of 'minimum movement'. Page 8 Adding your own Lessons and Exercises ------------------------------------- When Architype is first started it will look in its Resources directory for any files beginning with the letters LS or EX. These files should consist of Lessons and Exercises respectively. If Architype can't locate the Resources directory for any reason it will complain and refuse to start up. It is possible to run Architype using just lesson files or just exercise files if memory is severely limited. In this case you will be informed that whichever type is missing can't be found, but the program will continue without them. You can have as many individual exercise and lesson files as you wish. They will all be loaded, one after the other, in alphabetical order. There is no actual limit to the number or size of these files. Architype will 'grab' as much memory as it needs to load them, assuming of course that your computer has sufficient RAM. If you have written special files that you don't normally wish to use you can use one of two strategies to ensure that they are not loaded. Firstly you could put them in a special Resources directory and change the ArchitypeRes$Dir variable to point to this directory only when these files are required (see later). Secondly you can simply alter the first two letters of the files not needed so that they are not either EX or LS. Architype will then simply ignore them. You will find some example files with the program as supplied. You will see that they are plain text files so you can load them into Edit to examine them. You can then either change them or rename them and create your own Lesson and Exercise files. The Resources directory ----------------------- This is where Architype looks for all its lesson and exercise files. As supplied this will be the sub-directory 'Resources' af the application directory but it can be easily changed. The place that Architype looks for these files is not fixed but is defined by the OS variable 'ArchitypeRes$Dir'. This is set in the default !Run file to <Obey$Dir>.Resources, that is, the sub-directory 'Resources' of the application directory, but it can point to any valid drive or directory. Just change the !Run file so the ArchitypeRes$Dir points to wherever you wish to store the lesson and exercise files. Page 9 Lesson files ------------ The format of a Lesson file is; <Letters in the Lesson> <Instruction text> @ <Letters in the Lesson> <Instruction text> @ and so on. You can therefore see that the '@' character acts as a separator between lessons. There must be less than 78 letters in the Lesson and they should all be on the same line. Since the computer makes a random choice from the characters given if you want to increase the chances of particular letters appearing just include them more than once. The instructions text should not have more than 78 characters on a line and no more than 13 lines long. The '@' character which marks the end of each lesson should be on a line of its own. It should be obvious from this that you can't have the '@' character as the first character on any line, but this should not be a problem in practice. To make a lesson timed you insert a line immediately BEFORE the letters and AFTER the previous '@' end marker. This line should consist of the word TIME in capitals followed by at least one space and then the length of time in seconds that you want the lesson to last. For example; @ TIME 120 <Letters in the Lesson> <Instruction text> @ would produce a lesson that must have a duration of at least two minutes. Exercise files -------------- The files making up exercises follow a similar format to lessons, ie. @ <exercise text> @ <exercise text> @ There should not be more than 77 letters on each line of the exercise and it should not have more than ten lines. No checking is carried out to ensure that you have kept within these limits so it is up to you to ensure that your text does not overflow. Page 10 It is also important to make sure that you do not have any redundant spaces at the ends of lines. These will not show up in the text to be copied and so when the typist presses RETURN at the (supposed) end of the line he/she will not be aware that there is actually a space before the end of the line. This will cause Architype to get 'out of step' with the typist. To make a locked exercise you should insert a line BEFORE the exercise text and AFTER the preceding '@' end marker consisting of the single word 'LOCK' in capitals. For example; @ LOCK <Exercise text> @ Similarly to make a Large Print exercise insert the word LARGE, eg. @ LARGE <Exercise text> @ You can, of course, combine the two. In this case the keywords should be on separate lines, although the order in which they appear is unimportant. If you do use large print the length of each line is restricted to a maximum of 66 characters and there should not be more than 5 lines. Internal instructions --------------------- The instructions which are displayed when the program is running are contained within the Data file 'DataI' in the Resources directory. This file is ALWAYS in the Resources sub-directory of the application directory and not the ArchitypeRes$Dir. It is actually a text file and you can edit it if you wish. There are certain things you must observe if you do change this file. Firstly every line must have a LF/CR or CR/LF as its terminator. Secondly each 'page' is terminated with an ascii 12 (CTRL-L) character. Thirdly the entire file is terminated with an ascii 26 (CTRL-Z) character. No checking is carried out on this file to ensure that the lines will fit within the space allowed so it's up to you to make sure that it all fits. However there is no limit to the size of the file so you can make it as detailed or as brief as you wish. Colours ------- The colours used by Architype are set by the !Palette file in the ProgData directory. If you don't like the default ones you can easily alter it as it is a standard desktop palette file. Page 11 Improvements ------------ There are improvements I hope to make in the future, for example; Make it possible to load extra Lesson and Exercise files once the program has started. Improve the Exercise routine. It is rather crude at present and gets 'out of step' if you miss a letter or type one twice. I may make it possible to disable the 'beep' when you make an error so you have to notice your own mistakes. Extend the 'Show key' facility to Exercises. Allow the windows to scroll to make longer exercises possible. Allow you to keep a 'log file' of each session so you can follow your progress. There are probably many typists who could write a series of Lessons and Exercises much better than mine. If you are one of these please do so and send them to me so that I can use them for future versions. If you have any other ideas please write and tell me. David Holden 39 Knighton Park Road Sydenham London SE26 5RN 081 778 2659 Registration form for Architype. Please complete this and send it with your cheque for Four Pounds to: David Holden, 39 Knighton Park Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5RN ____________________________________________________________________ Your Name and Address ____________________________________________________________________ Where did you obtain Architype _____________________________________________________________________ Have you had any problems? _____________________________________________________________________ Do you have any suggestions for improvement?