Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-0139/news.txt/protext.asc

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 9KB | 153 lines

                         Protext 5.5 by Arnor
                         ====================

For many, and I include myself  in  that group, Word Processing is one
of the prime functions of a  computer  and  for  the ST there are many
Word processing options ranging from  Public  Domain  to all singing -
all dancing bells and whistles multi function programs that almost put
words onto the paper for you.  Protext  5.5  is very well sited within
the latter area.

The boundary between Word Processing and Desktop Publishing is getting
very narrow with hybrid  programs  such  as  'Write  On', 'Signum' and
'Calligrapher' sitting squarely on the  fence, Protext however is pure
Word Processor, true  you  do  get  a  degree  of  WYSIWYG  with Bold,
Italics, Underline etc. showing on screen, and multicolumn printing is
as easy as issuing the commands, however Protext is as sophisticated a
Word Processor as you might wish to have with all the refinements that
are 'not yet available' with its competitors.

So why Protext  5.5  ?  Unlike  many  excellent  programs  for the ST,
Protext is British and not  an  Anglicised German or American offering
with the compromises  given  over  in  translation.  Protext was first
released as Version 1 just over 5  years  ago and on a regular basis a
good program has been improved  and  enhanced.  Version  4.2 is a well
respected, user friendly Word Processor using  a command mode to issue
instructions in a similar manner to MS  DOS, version 5 was released in
the early part of '91, and included  a drop down menu system (not GEM)
with extensive keyboard short-cuts and  access to Desktop Accessories,
Multiple File Editing with  up  to  36  files  open, Spelling Checker,
Index Generation and many more features, the question had to be asked,
where can Protext go now ? The answer is Protext 5.5.

The new Protext offers all the  features  of  version 5 with the added
benefits of a superb 'pop up' Thesaurus to give you the inspiration or
should I say 'encouragement', 'influence',  'spur' or 'stimulus' (part
of the response of the Thesaurus) to go on to better things. Automatic
Hyphenation lets you produce  well  spaced,  good looking page layouts
with right justification  without  the  unsightly  gaps  and  'Widow &
Orphan' suppression prevents those single  lines  at the top or bottom
of pages. New document  analysis  with  the  'Count' command gives you
instant information about your  text  including  the  number of occur-
rences of a word in numerical  frequency or alphabetical order as well
as telling  you  a  myriad  of  helpful  information  to  improve your
writing, (at this point in the text  I  have used 426 words, 241 which
are different, and 'the' occurs 24 times ). The new file selector is a
pleasure to use with a multitude  of  options including file Erase and
Rename and thoughtfully if you really  like the GEM file selector, you
can opt for that instead. The  spelling  checker has been improved and
will now highlight missing capital letters from the start of sentences
as well as being quick and very thorough in operation.

Protext 5.5 comes boxed with the  Protext  5 manual, an A5 ring binder
of 352 pages which proves to be an excellent reference book, a 23 page
5.5 Update Guide and a 48 page Tutorial Guide, both in the same format
as the manual and very easy to read and understand and to complete the
documentation there is a book  explaining and documenting the supplied
Printer Drivers to ensure you  get  the  most from Protext. Four Disks
are supplied and you are encouraged  to  copy these and only work from
copies retaining the originals in a  safe place. These disks comprise,
Program Disc, Dictionary Disk  -  UK  version,  Thesaurus Disk and the
Printer Driver Disk -  interestingly,  these  Disks  are  all 'Made in
England' - good to see support for other British companies.

So how easy is Protext in day to  day  use  ? I have to say not at all
the nightmare you  might  imagine  with  such  a  bounty  of features.
Initial installation whether onto Hard  Disk,  Single or Twin Floppies
is a doddle and if you later change  your mind about a setting, it can
be done even mid text and  re-saved  to the new configuration, and you
then just carry on with  your  best  seller. The configuration menu is
set  out  in  sections   from   the   Editing  Options  which  include
Insert/Overwrite, Justification and Auto  Hyphenation, through Layout,
Spelling Checker, File and  Disk,  Memory,  Printer, Keyboard, Display
and Other Options. Another important  setting  from  the start are the
'Macro's' which save a  lot  of  repetitive  typing,  for instance, my
Name, Address, Telephone and Date  are  configured  as a Macro and are
automatically printed in letter style  whenever I hit Shift/ Alternate
"A". I also have 'Yours sincerely',  'faithfully'  etc at the touch of
predetermined keys and all are loaded at boot up.

General text production is  comfortable  with  Protext,  the choice is
yours whether you use Command Mode or Drop Down Menu's, I have found a
mixture of the two provide me with a Word Processor that after a short
period of use is more familiar  than  Microsoft Word which I have been
using regularly at Night School for  12  months  on a Viglen PC, and I
might add that as a direct  comparison,  Protext  takes the prize as a
more complete product. Most options from  the  Drop Down Menu's can be
selected by key input, so familiarity  will enhance the performance of
the program. Conversion of files from other Word Processors is simple,
as well as Wordstar and First Word,  the RTF used by Microsoft Word is
also supported, ASCII can be  loaded  and  saved  by direct command or
menu. A feature I have learned  to  use  with the advent of Protext is
the ability  to  run  several  documents  in  memory  at  once  and to
instantly switch to any one for editing, Protext will handle up to 36,
however for most, two  or  three  will  normally suffice and switching
(for the first ten) is a matter of  using Alternate / F1 - F10. if you
wish you may split  the  screen  and  show  two  documents at once and
scroll both if you wish, the option is again yours.

The dictionary may be used as a  Spell Check while typing although the
manual recommends and for good reason  only  doing so from RAM or HARD
Disk otherwise the program is continually  stopping for Disk access. I
tend to Spell  Check  the  whole  text  at  the  end  of the document,
alternativly you may opt for individual word or paragraph checks.
You may mark words which you may  want to be ignored by the dictionary
and for those words not in the dictionary,  you may add at any time to
a special user file. You may also call up an Anagram search which will
accept the standard '?' and  '*'  wildcards,  useful of course for the
crossword buffs amongst you, however the library of words is so large,
quite a lot of time is  spent  searching.  I tried inputting 'ae?' and
recieved a phenomenal 22 responses.

As an aside, I produce  a  price  list  for  a voluntary hospital shop
which is manned mainly by  retired  people,  I have to produce several
copies and as they are only  30  columns  wide, I print, rewind, reset
the start column for printing, then  print  again ; tedious to say the
least. Protext has a Box mode which allows me to update the price list
then select the block and then copy  this  block to the side giving me
the desired result in no time at all and from Command Mode simply type
'PQ' (the command for Print Quality  -  simple eh!) and the price list
is printed out in two columns.  Another useful command is Print Screen
(PS) which shows how the document will look when printed.

How do I rate Protext ?  After  two  weeks  the program is like an old
friend, easy to  get  on  with  and  very  reliable.  It  has  all the
functions that I can think would be useful in a Word Processor and yet
the screen is clear  and  uncluttered  with  just  the right amount of
information showing on the top  two  lines.  A  feature I have not yet
called upon is the  Help  Window  with  information  about the varying
functions of Protext, I doubt if I  will  ever use this option which I
suppose could be considered a Testament to an excellent program. Yes I
rate the program very highly and  doubt  I  will return to the popular
Word Processor which had served  me  well  for some considerable time.
Yes Protext is more expensive than the aforementioned program, however
a family saloon cost more than a Pedal  Cycle but I know which I would
prefer to do the  family  shopping  in.  The  features in Protext will
probably never  be  used  fully  by  any  one  person,  however  it is
comforting to know that when  you  need  to do that something special,
the likelihood is that Protext  will  be  there to achieve the results
with no fuss, no bother.

Protext requires a minimum of 1 Megabyte  of memory and is supplied on
Double Sided Disks, if you  have  an  old  ST and require Single Sided
Disks, Arnor will exchange the  originals  to get you started. Protext
works in all resolutions of the ST and costs £152.75 from :

Arnor Ltd (STEN)
611, Lincoln Road,
Peterborough,
PE1 3HA
tel [phone]
                                                               Dave C.