This file is a special BLACK MAGIC Hypertext document. To read me
obtain MAGREAD.ARC from a local bulletin board, free of charge, or
send $7 to:
NTERGAID
2490 BLACK ROCK TPK SUITE 337
FAIRFIELD, CT 06840
to receive, a disk copy of MAGREAD.ARC.
You'll also get some of the latest documents written with BLACK MAGIC.
Thank You
NTERGAID, Inc.
FE ? ── O //////////////////// 2 2 //////////////////// N M //////////////////// N O //////////////////// N M ////////////////////# N O ////////////////////$ N M ///////////////////// N O ////////////////////0 N M ////////////////////4 N O ////////////////////5 N M ////////////////////= N O ////////////////////> N M ////////////////////B O O ////////////////////I O
F ////////////////////L O O ////////////////////R N O ////////////////////S N M ////////////////////\ 2 2 ////////////////////] N O ////////////////////^ N M ////////////////////c 2 2 ////////////////////d O O ////////////////////k O
F ////////////////////r 2 2 ////////////////////s O
F ////////////////////y O
F ////////////////////~ O
F ////////////////////é N M ////////////////////â N O ////////////////////ä N M ////////////////////î N O ////////////////////ì N M ////////////////////Æ N O ////////////////////ô N M ////////////////////¢ N O ////////////////////£ N M ////////////////////ó O
F ////////////////////Ñ 2 2 ////////////////////ª N O ////////////////////º N M ////////////////////¬ 2 2 ////////////////////½ 2 2 ////////////////////¡ ////////////////////« ////////////////////» ////////////////////░ ////////////////////▒ N N ////////////////////▓ ////////////////////│ ////////////////////┤ ////////////////////╡ ////////////////////╢ ////////////////////╖ ////////////////////╕ ////////////////////╣ ////////////////////║ ////////////////////╗ ,S ? ! ,S ? ! ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │ , HELP │ │ - NEXT │ │ . PREVIOUS│ │ / CONTENTS│ │ 0 QUIT │ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ Chapter 1. Getting Started ... This chapter is broken down into three sections. It begins with the section
called "Imagine", which is a sneak preview of Black Magic and its
capabilities. The second section deals with the installation of Black Magic
onto your system. The third and final section is about the "environment" of
Black Magic. Hypertext Origins Description Black Magic
Links The First Function Key. Hypertext was first conceived by Vanevar Bush, President Roosevelt's Science
Advisor, in 1945. His term for it was a Memex. And as he envisioned it, it
would aid a researcher in pulling together diverse information from a variety
of source. Not knowing of digital computers, he pictured it as being run by
photocells and microfilm. The actual term 'hypertext' was coined in the mid sixties by a technical
visionary named Ted Nelson. As he saw it, it would consist of seamlessly
binding all of man's knowledge into one linked framework where everything is
linked to everything else. While many people have been skeptical about the possibility of Ted Nelson's
+Xanadu Project succeeding, recent developments indicate that it may actually
happen. And hopefully it will. Hypertext is essentially interactive reading of 3D documents.
Reading a book is a one dimensional linear process, you start at the
beginning, and (generally) you go straight through to the end. It is a one
dimensional process, the path of reading being a straight line through to the
end. Hypertext is not like that. In a hypertext document any block of text or
graphics can be associated (linked) with any other block. Once two blocks are
linked, they provide a instant gateway to each other. This "linking" of blocks allows documents to be built with many levels. For example, a document could
be written with levels that accommodated both beginners and experts. The levels to hypertext form both the interactive nature of hypertext and the
3 dimensional aspect of hypertext. Hypertext is interactive because the choice of activating the link between two
blocks or levels is up to the user. This means that a hypertext document is
not necessarily the same each time it is read. Different readers can (by activating different links) arrive at the same point in a document and have
learned different things. Hypertext is 3 dimensional because it allows you to work in more than one
dimension by linking blocks to other blocks to form different levels to a
document. This brings us to Black Magic. Black Magic is bringing Hypertext
to reality, unfortunately not Nelson's hypertext, but useful hypertext. Black
Magic allows you to build hypertext structures that can incorporate text, and graphics. Black Magic is a computer program that is designed for the distribution of
information. Based on a word processor, Black Magic allows you to use
hypertext to create information structures unlike any you've ever seen
before. 1 More Links In Black Magic , Hypertext is based off of the concept of the link. Links can
be anything that is displayed on screen, either text or graphics. Links give
what ever is designated as hypertext, special abilities. These abilities can include: Type Of Link Ability 2 Note Link Pop Up Windows 3 Replacement Link Replacement Of Text 4 Reference Link Pointing to another place in the document 5 DOS Link Running Other Programs From the above abilities is formed the whole of Black Magic's hypertext
implementation, a whole that you will see is far greater than the sum of its
parts. Hypertext 6 Reading Hypertext 7 Creating Hypertext The above tales are *true. This is the power of hypertext. Hypertext is a
new way to manage information, it blends text and graphics together with an
interactive reading process to create a new learning experience, a hypertext
experience. Imagine You're sitting at your computer one fine sunny day, and you decide to do some
research on the United States. You load a computerized map of the United
States. While looking at it, you decide to research New York State. You move the cursor onto that state, and press <F1>. Instantly the New York
section of the map expands to fill the screen. As you look at it, there are colored symbols on the screen. Pressing the
cursor on any one of them fills the screen with more information about cities
in New York State. Statistics, history, population, and more are all available
by pressing a key. In addition, you have the capability to cut and paste information from the screen for your own use. Not far fetched enough for you, how about this ? Continue Installation Since you have gotten the manual up and running, we can only assume that you have successfully installed Black Magic. If you have any problems or questions about the installation process, please call us at: (203) - 368 - 0632 9 Installation Process : Required Hardware Environment 8 Updated Environment The term "environment" is used here to mean the actual working environment
that the Black Magic user will be involved with. It includes the screen
layout, the command conventions; in short all the things that are important to the user. Environment - Philosophy of The command structure of Black Magic can be accessed in five ways: Menu driven Direct access to submenus Function keys <Ctrl> & <Alt> keys &
<Shift> <ArrowKey> ( )Summary - Command Structure Not Far Fetched Enough For You, How About This ? You're seated entranced in front of your new computer one beautiful rainy day,
and you decide to read the manual. You look at the only piece of instructions
in the box, which says "Insert Disk 1. into Drive A and type start." You do so, and the screen displays a graphic reproduction of a cover to a
computer manual. At the bottom of the cover, are the following words
surrounded by colored symbols: "Move Cursor Here (between the symbols) and Press <F1>" You move the cursor onto them, press it, and the screen clears to reveal a
table of contents for the new computer's manual. You then move onto any of the entries surrounded by symbols, press <F1>, and
you are transported to the chapter that the entry was for. This hypothetical manual could be organized using hypertext into three levels,
the first being that of a general purpose user's manual, the second being an
in-depth examination of the operation of the computer, and the third being a
exhaustive technical document with schematics. The First Function Key Black Magic's environment is simple and is devoted to one philosophy only - more text on screen. Some editors take up to three (or even more) lines on screen to display their own information. We feel that your information is more important to you. There are 24 lines available for text, with the twenty fifth line being what is termed the command or menu line. This is where all menu driven
commands are given, positioning information is displayed,
and status indicators are shown. For a good picture of
this, simply examine Black Magic's screen before you as you
read this. Command Structure is a term that simply referes
to the manner in which commands are given to the
program. Menu Driven Menu driven means just that: pressing the menu key (F10) calls up a horizontal bar-type menu that is displayed in
the command line area. Once the menu key (F10) has been selected, the bottom line will display the following: File Edit Format Link Search Go Macros Util Window Help These commands can be selected in two ways. The first is by using the arrow keys to move a highlighting bar over the command that you wish to activate, and pressing <Enter>. This will activate the command and bring you to the next menu level. The other method is to type the first letter of the command that is desired. This will activate the command and bring you to the next menu level. Submenus The second option is still based on menus across the bottom, but eliminates having to go through the primary menu. The method of operation here is to press the <Alt> key in combination with a letter, this pulls up the correct submenu. Example Key Combination Function <Alt> F Files Sub Menu <Alt> E Edit Sub Menu <Alt> O Format Sub Menu <Alt> I Link Sub Menu <Alt> S Search Sub Menu <Alt> G Go Sub Menu <Alt> M Macros Sub Menu <Alt> U Util Sub Menu <Alt> W Window Sub Menu <Alt> H Help System An example of this would be pressing <Alt> F to
get to the files sub menu. Function Keys The third way that Black Magic can be controlled is by means of the function keys. The function keys are a bank of keys on either the left hand side or the top of your keyboard numbered F1 - F10 or F1 - F12. Function keys are used primarily for things that would be very inconvenient to do off a menu type structure. Black Magic uses function keys <F1> through <F10>. They are for doing things directly, and generally without options. The ten function keys that Black Magic uses can all be combined with <Ctrl>, <Shift>, and <Alt> to access forty functions. Black Magic uses a keyboard template to show which function key does what. To display this template, press: <Shift> <F1> <Shift> <F1> Control & Alt Key Combinations The fourth way Black Magic is controlled is by <Ctrl> and <Alt> key combinations. Pressing the <Ctrl> or <Alt> key in conjunction with a letter will perform a function. These are usually mnemonic in nature, and are limited to simple things. An example of these commands is pressing <Ctrl> C to get a word count. See the List below. Control Key Combination Combination Function Performed By !<Alt> Key Combinations Control & Alt Key Combinations The fourth way Black Magic is controlled is by <Ctrl> and <Alt> key combinations. Pressing the <Ctrl> or <Alt> key in conjunction with a letter will perform a function. These are usually mnemonic in nature, and are limited to simple things. An example of these commands is pressing <Ctrl> C to get a word count. " #Control Key Combinations $ %Alt Key Combinations Control Key Combinations Key Combination Function Performed By It <Ctrl> B Page Break <Ctrl> C Gives Word, line, Page Count <Ctrl><Enter> Line Feed <Ctrl><BackSpace> Delete Right Word <Ctrl><LeftArrow> Left One Word <Ctrl><RightArrow> Right One Word <Ctrl> R Replace <Ctrl> H BackSpace <Ctrl> I Tab <Ctrl> J Line Feed <Ctrl> M Enter <Ctrl> N Name Window <Ctrl> _ Double Underline <Ctrl> A Find/Replace Again <Ctrl> D Delete Line <Ctrl><Home> Top of file <Ctrl><End> Bottom of file <Ctrl> F Find Alt Key Combinations Key Combination Function Performed By <Alt> R Sets Right Margin <Alt> L Sets Left Margin <Alt> T Sets Tab Size <Alt> U Access Utilities Menu <Alt> P Access Print Menu <Alt> S Access Search Menu <Alt> F Access Files Menu <Alt> C Access Config. Menu <Alt> B Access Block Menu <Alt> H Show/Hide Links <Ctrl> Key Combinations Key Combination Function Performed By It <Ctrl> B Page Break <Ctrl> C Gives Word, line, Page Count <Ctrl><Enter> Line Feed <Ctrl><BackSpace> Delete Right Word <Ctrl><LeftArrow> Left One Word <Ctrl><RightArrow> Right One Word <Ctrl> R Replace <Ctrl> H BackSpace <Ctrl> I Tab <Ctrl> J Line Feed <Ctrl> M Enter <Ctrl> N Name Window <Ctrl> _ Double Underline <Ctrl> A Find/Replace Again <Ctrl> D Delete Line <Ctrl><Home> Top of file <Ctrl><End> Bottom of file <Ctrl> F Find <Alt> Key Combinations Key Combination Function <Alt> R Sets Right Margin <Alt> L Sets Left Margin <Alt> T Sets Tab Size <Alt> F Files Sub Menu <Alt> E Edit Sub Menu <Alt> O Format Sub Menu <Alt> I Link Sub Menu <Alt> S Search Sub Menu <Alt> G Go Sub Menu <Alt> M Macros Sub Menu <Alt> U Util Sub Menu <Alt> W Window Sub Menu <Alt> H Help System
Blocks There is a fifth way that Black Magic is controlled, and that is only for marking blocks of text. Pressing the <Shift> key in combination with the arrow keys defines a block of text. Block definitions are shown by highlighting the defined area with 'light blue. Actually this can be any color you desire by
accessing the Configuration screen and changing
the default. Summary - Command Structure The command structure of Black Magic can be summed up as follows. 1. Menus - <F10>. 2. Direct access to sub menus - <Alt> "letter". 3. Function Keys 4. Control key combinations - <Ctrl> "letter". 5. Block marking - <Shift> <ArrowKey>. To see the above tales in action, examine the
files USA.MAG and MANUAL.MAG. The Xanadu project is Ted's goal of computerizing everything and binding it together seamlessly. It is named for 'the magic place of literary memory' in Samuel Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. HELP C2 INTRO CONTENTS c cls C7 C8 ( - C8 ! . C8 / C8 0 C7 ! C8 1 MANSUPP MANSUPP MANSUPP
