Archive Magazine 1997/ARCHIVE_97.iso/text/hints/vol_05/issue_09

Text File | 1995-02-16 | 15KB | 334 lines

Hints and Tips
5.9
Å   Auto-destruct! Ö There are applications, like Impression, that have an
auto-save facility. Auto-save is a very helpful facility and I use it
myself but, with Impression (and perhaps other applications), there is
an option to auto-save without prompt. In other words, every few
minutes, without you being able to stop it, it will save the current
document on top of the original document on disc. If you canæt already
see the danger of this, an anecdote might help...
5.9
Tord Eriksson sent an article (over 400k long including various draw
files) all the way from Sweden on a single floppy disc and there was no
space on the disc for a duplicate copy of the document. I loaded the
article and was playing around with it prior to editing it for the
magazine. I was trying to see if the text was all one story and so had
cut and pasted various bits when suddenly I got the message öThe file
has just been savedò. Fortunately, I hadnæt actually deleted anything
important just prior to the auto-save, but it does go to show that you
should never send a file to someone else having left the preferences set
to auto-destruct, sorry, I mean auto-save. Ed.
5.9
Å   Compression Ö Contrary to the review of Compression in Archive 5.2
(page 57) it is possible to initiate cfs directory displays from script
files. This might prove useful for those who want to use cfs as the
default filing system and who want to automatically display the root
directory on switching on the Archimedes. The problem is that the line,
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Filer_OpenDir CFS#SCSI::Work.$
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will not work unless the CFSmodule is active and it is inadequate to
simply run the !CFS application before this line in the script file. The
trick is to set up a !Boot application (as always) and to use this
applicationæs !boot (or !run) file to load the CFSmodule and activate it
before calling the script file. Assuming the !CFS application is hidden
away on the hard disc in the directory $.Utils. Filehndlng, this can be
achieved using the following commands:
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|Load CFS
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RMEnsure CFSModule 1.10 RMLoad $.Utils.Filehndlng.!Cfs .CFSModule
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RMEnsure CFSModule 1.10 Error CFSModule not loaded
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|Initialise CFS and set the
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|scratch dir for it to use
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|in handling files
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NewCFS SCSI:4
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CFStemp SCSI::Work.$.!System
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|The !cfs !boot file should be
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| run to allow the correct icons
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| to be öseenò by the system:
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$.Utils.Filehndlng.!Cfs.!Boot
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| run desktop, load applications
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| and display root directory
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Desktop -file <HardBoot$Dir> DeskBoot
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The script file, in this case called DeskBoot, used to load the
applications and open the root directory should be something like this:
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Run <r>!System
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Run <r>!Scrap
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Run <r>!FontsPlus
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Run <us>!StickyBD
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Run <um>!Alarm
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Run <uf>!Dustbin
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Filer_OpenDir CFS#SCSI::Work.$
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The commands ö*Newcfsò and ö*CFStempò are not documented in the
Compression manual but are explained in sufficient detail in the *Help
feature of the CFSmodule itself. (Type *help cfsmodule for a list of the
commands, then do a *help for each individual command for more details.)
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There is an example !boot application on the monthly program disc.á Rob
Wears, Birmingham.
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Å   Speeding up SQuirreL Ö If, like me, you often have lengthy queries and
reports for the SQuirreL database to perform, you may have wondered why
it makes no difference at all when you drag the table in question onto a
RAM disc.
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The reason for this is that SQuirreL makes extensive use of the !Scrap
application; if you copy this, too, to the RAM disc and double click on
it, the hard disc will be silent.
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Just donæt forget to double click onto the version of !Scrap on your
hard disc when you remove the RAM disc!á
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Jochen Konietzko, K÷ln, Germany.ááA
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5.9

Ovation Hints & Tips
5.9
The following was submitted by Hilary Ferns, for which we are very
grateful. She adds that the Ovation manual is full of hints and tips
like these (and identical to some we have already published Ö oops!).
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Å   Selecting tools Ö Using <select> to choose from the toolbox will
automatically return you to the text insertion icon after you have
performed one action with that tool. Using <adjust>, however, will allow
you to remain with your chosen tool until you decide to select the next
tool again yourself. This is useful when you want to draw several lines
or frames, or link a number of successive boxes.
5.9
Å   Using picture frames Ö The default Éinsetæ for a picture frame is 0
mm. (For a text frame it is 1 mm.) Ovation will scale your imported
picture with the bottom and left sides aligned to the frame. I have
discovered on many occasions these sides of a picture (Draw or Sprite
format) to have been slightly cropped. This is not always obvious on
screen but is quite noticeable when printed. I now offer various answers
to this problem.
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1. Set inset to 1mm before importing the picture.
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2. If you want to move the picture within the frame, whatever the inset
you are ln danger of losing a fragment on any edge. You can give
yourself more space by either increasing the frame size (often not
suitable) or by decreasing the size of the picture by 1% in each
direction.
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3. Remember too that holding down shift while moving the picture will
restrict movement to horizontal and vertical directions only, thus
enabling you to move the picture more accurately.
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I find the keyboard short-cuts for scaling a picture within a frame
particularly useful <shift-ctrl-G> to scale and <shift-ctrl-H> to fill
the frame.
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Å   Text to Draw path object Ö The character selection application
(!CharSel) supplied with Ovation, apart from offering access to
alternative characters, also allows a single character to be changed to
Drawfile format. To do this, you select the character with <adjust>. The
resulting Drawfile icon can then be dropped into an Ovation picture
frame. Various interesting effects can be obtained by using these
characters in headings (together with a bit of imagination!).
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Å   Default style-sheet Ö In the !Ovation application directory is a
style-sheet called ÉDefaultæ. This is the one used each time you load
Ovation and click on the icon to open up a document. This can be
replaced with a style-sheet of your own choice, e.g. one you use
regularly, but it must be called ÉDefaultæ. This would mean that you
will always have your own particular choice of paragraph styles defined
when Ovation is run. This is a very useful facility not to be missed.
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The next few hints and tips were sent by Aneurin Griffiths from Trefin,
Dyfed. Again we are most grateful and are glad to see a number of
readers redressing the Impression/Ovation balance by sending in some
really useful Ovation tips.
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Å To draw short lines using the öline-toolò Ö Draw a long line, even
passing through text, and press <select>. Now shorten the line by
placing the pointer on the red box at the Élong endæ of the line, and,
using <select>, shorten the line to the required length.
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Å Printing labels using computer sheets with 2 or 3 rows of labels Ö If
the sheets are not A4 size, adjust the page size on the printer menu.
Carefully measure the distance from the top of the sheet to a point half
way between the first label and the second label. Use ÉView 200%æ and
mark a horizontal guide line by placing the pointer on the side ruler
and pressing <select>. (Fine adjustment is possible using <adjust>.)
Measure the distance from the mid point previously taken to one mid-way
between label 2 and 3. Carefully draw a guide line as before. Other
guide lines can now be drawn with the same spacing.
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Vertical guide lines can now be drawn in the same way. Now draw a text-
frame in the first of the rectangular spaces, allowing space for the
margins around the label. At this stage it is a good idea to save the
layout as öBlnk_xyò, where values for the label size could be coded.
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Enter the text in the text frame. Then select Object Ö Duplicate Frame,
and enter the appropriate number (Érequirementæ Ö 1!). Without changing
the instructions further, a stack of labels will be shown. These are now
easily moved to their positions on the grid using <adjust>. Obviously,
the labels on one printed sheet may be all the same or assorted. It is
sensible to make the first printout on an A4 sheet and then the A4 and
the sheet of labels may be matched from the top and left margins. Any
necessary adjustments can be easily made. Using this method the sheet
feed system is used. This works very well with a Canon BJ130e printer.
5.9
Å Using Ovationæs spelling checker Ö It is important to realise that the
checker must be started at the beginning of each Chapter when checking a
document composed of more than one Chapter. After Ch.1, select the first
page of Ch.2 and start the spell check again.
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This from Albert Kitchenside, Addlestone, Surrey:
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Å Importing Text from PipeDream Ö The Ovation manual recommends
importing PipeDream text by holding down <ctrl> while dragging the
PipeDream text file into an Ovation frame. This has the effect of
converting single line terminators into spaces to allow Ovation to
reformat text within a frame. However, Albert finds that lines between
paragraphs and headings are erroneously removed using this method. He
has sent a Basic program which processes files correctly prior to import
into Ovation. They are in the directory PD/OV on the monthly program
disc.
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Impression
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Hintsá&áTips
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Å   More than 76 graphics per chapter Ö If you really want to have more
than 76 graphics per Impression chapter, then use David Pillingæs ArcFS
to store your document. You will then be able to store an unlimited
number of graphic files, but you may find the access times a bit slow!
Also, RISC-OS 2 users should be aware that a bug manifests itself after
the 9358th file and filenames become confused. Ö Martin Sperl, Austria.
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Å   More than 76 fonts available at once Ö Continuing the Étrickæ above,
it is also possible to have an unlimited number of fonts available
simultaneously by copying all files from your !Fonts directory into an
ARCFS archive (plus all the extra fonts that you have always wanted to
use), and then insert the following line (for example, assuming the new
archive is called öFontò) into your !Boot file within the new archived
font directory:
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Set Font$Path ARCFS#Font:$
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You can then cause the new set of fonts to be loaded automatically by
inserting the following line within your system startup sequence (after
ArcFS has been run!):
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OpenArchive SCSIdisc4::ARCFS#Font
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(You need to substitute the name for your own hard disc in place of
SCSIdisc4.) Also, please note that to avoid a speed penalty in system
startup, you do not have to use compression when creating the font
archive and you will still save approximately 2k of disc storage per
font. Ö MS
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Å   Viewing the screen without moving the cursor Ö Hold down <Shift> and
<Ctrl> and then use the arrow keys. It changes your view on the
document, left, right, up and down, without moving the cursor position.
This is useful if you donæt want to have to change the magnification to
something smaller, and thus lose the legibility of the screen font. Ö
David Crofts, Bury St Edmunds
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Å Large capitals in normal text Ö If you like having a large letter to
add emphasis to the start of a paragraph but have found that the
subsequent line is spaced too far beneath, there is a solution:
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Edit the Main Heading style (or create a new style), clicking on the
120% button, and then changing the Line Spacing box to the same as the
Font Size box e.g. 24pt as default. The problem, as you can see above,
is solved! Ö DC
5.9
Å   Substitute for colour in documents Ö Try a little variety in Black and
White. For a poster I did recently, I redefined some of the font colours
in styles to grey palettes. This gives an interesting variety to the
print density if you have a decent printer driver. Ö DC
5.9
Å   Bullet point Ö <shiftÖbackspace> is a short-cut to enter a Å bullet in
the text. Ö DC
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Å   Deleting styles from the menu Ö another of those hints that everyone
else probably knew about all along...
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When you merge pieces from several old documents into one new text, this
often means that your style menu becomes unnecessarily long.
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You can delete those unwanted styles in the öedit styleò window, with
one snag:
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If you click first onto a style in the style list, then on öedit styleò,
any attempt to delete that style will bring up an error message.
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This is because clicking into the style list automatically selects a
style at the cursor position.
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Therefore, after you open the edit window, you must first deselect the
style before it can be deleted!á Ö Jochen Konietzko, K÷ln, Germany
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Å   Installing Impression on the A5000 Ö While helping a relative to setup
his A5000/Impression system, we discovered that the installation program
for the DTP installs the old Font Manager (v2.44) onto the !Fonts
directory and all the old files associated with it. The ability of the
new Font Manager (v2.49) to address multiple font directories is lost
and Impression only Éseesæ either the ROM fonts or the hard disc fonts.
I suggest that anyone installing Impression is urged to remove the
support files in the fonts directory after the installation process
(leaving the actual fonts themselves behind) and reload the files within
the fonts directory on the Apps 1 disc. Hopefully, Computer Concepts
will alter the !Install program to take account of the changes in RISC-
OS 3.áÖ David Woods, Glasgow
5.9
Å More on Impression styles Ö Various readers have written with queries
on styles called Étableæ and Édefaultæ that appear on the style menu
with Impression version 2.16. These are not (in themselves) new program
features or bugs Ö they are just extra styles stored as part of the
!Default document stored in !Impress.Auto. The facilities provided by
the Étableæ style are all as documented in the very first Impression-2
User Guide and are automatically set up for you if you import spread
sheet data using the LoadCSV+ loader which comes with the business
supplement. If the extra styles cause you problems or conflict with any
of your own style names, all you have to do is open a blank document,
edit the offending styles and click on the delete button to remove them
and save the document with the name !Default in one of your own
directories. Now quit Impression, open !Impress.Auto and move the
öoriginalò !Default document elsewhere and replace it with the one you
just created. Now when you start Impression, the offending styles will
not appear. You may like also to set up your most frequently used master
pages and other styles using the same method. Ö Rob Sherratt,
Felixstowe.
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Å   !Impression with !Compression Ö The message from Impression
öIncompatible document versionò means you are trying to load the adfs
icon into the application rather than the compressed icon!!á Ö Ned
Abell, Kidderminster