NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #18/NN_1992_18.iso/spool/comp/sys/handheld/1872

Internet Message Format | 1992-08-14 | 10.0 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!uknet!gdt!bsmail!smee
From: [e-mail] (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: RTF word format on Psion 3
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 14 Aug 92 16:05:37 GMT
References: <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol
Lines: 226

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>Any Psion 3 users out there sussed out how to save a file from Word in RTF format so that it can be loaded directly into MS Word on a PC?
>
>The only reference I can find in the User Guide is:
>
>  Page 123:
>   "If you use the 3-link, with a small software add-on to the Word Processor, you
>   save Microsoft Word compatible files, and transfer then [sic] to and from
>   desktop computers."
>
>So I looked in the 3-link manual, and it says:
>
>  Page 5:
>  "You can also exchange files in Rich Text Format (RTF), which includes style
>   information.  You can then use the file in Microsoft Word on a PC or Macintosh,
>   or in any other program which understands RTF. A "readme" file on the supplied
>   floppy contains more details of RTF."
>
>Well, my 3-link floppy has 2 readme files:  MCLINK.DOC, and MCPRINT.DOC and
>neither of these mention RTF.  Does anybody have any ideas?

Reread the READMEs?  I'm pretty sure that's where I found the necessary
info.  If it's not there, poke around.  With the 3-link installed, and
hooked up to the PC, *somewhere* (I think maybe stored in the 3-link
itself, which looks like drive C when attached, but maybe on the
floppy) there are several 'print driver' files for the Series 3 Word.
Copy them onto your internal disk (or an SSD which you keep
installed).  Once they've become accessible, 'save in RTF format'
becomes an option in the Word menu.

Here's what it said in some file or nother on our 3-link flopsy (since I
just discovered I have the textfile online:

The Series 3 Word Processor can save and load files in Microsoft Rich Text
Format (RTF) for interchanging documents with other programs which can save
and load RTF files, such as:

  -   Microsoft Word for Windows
  -   Microsoft DOS Word
  -   Microsoft Word on the Macintosh


Installation
------------

Before you can save and open RTF files on your Series 3 you must copy the
WL$RTF.DYL and WS$RTF.DYL files supplied in the same location on the 3 Link
disk as this document. The files must be copied to a \WDR\ directory on the
Series 3. You can use the Internal disk or, if you want to avoid using up
internal memory, an SSD in drive A or B.

(Don't confuse the \WRD and \WDR directories - while \WRD\ is the directory
where Word Processor documents are stored, \WDR is where the Word Processor
keeps special files of various kinds - templates, and add-on software or
printer drivers. WL$RTF.DYL has the software to open RTF files, and
WS$RTF.DYL the software to save them - you don't have to copy both.)

  ->  Press the System button, to return to the System screen, and select the
`Copy file' option on the `File' menu.

  ->  Move the highlight to the `To file: Name' line. Type \WDR\.

  ->  If you want to copy the files to an SSD, move the highlight to the
`To file: Disk' line, and change it to `A' or `B' accordingly.

  ->  Move the highlight to the `From file: Disk' line, and change it to the
drive containing MCLINK. On a PC this will be something like REM::A or
REM::C. On a Macintosh, it will be REM:: plus the name of the disk -
REM::HD40 for example.

  ->  Move the highlight to the `From file: Name' line. The simplest way to
select the files is to press Control-Tab. Then type W*.DYL, but with the
directory/folder name they are in - for example, if you're copying them from
the supplied floppy, use \WDR\W*.DYL (WDR:W*.DYL on a Macintosh). Finally,
press Control-Enter, which selects these as the files to copy.

(Alternatively, you can press Tab to bring up the file selector, and navigate
to the directory concerned. You might then copy the files one by one, or tag
them both with the `+' key and copy them together.)

  ->  Press Enter, and the Series 3 will copy the files.

You can copy RTF files to and from the Series 3 like any other files, as
described earlier in this chapter. When you next use the `Open file' or
`Save as' options in the Word Processor, you will now be able to set the
`File type' line to RTF, and select an RTF file.

Note: when the file is next saved - and this will happen if you switch to a
different file - it will be saved in Word Processor format, complete with
style and emphasis information. The .WRD file extension will be used. If a
file already existed with the same name and the file extension .WRD, it will
be overwritten without warning. If at some point you want to send the file
back to the PC or Macintosh, use the `Save as' option and make a new RTF
version of the file.


Direct access to remote RTF files
---------------------------------

You can use the `Open file' and `Save as' options directly on RTF
files on a PC or Macintosh, as long as the Series 3 is linked by
MCLINK. Select the file on REM::, as described earlier.


Using the HP3 printer driver as a nominal RTF driver
----------------------------------------------------

The HP3 printer driver (with file name HP3.WDR - also supplied on this disk)
is primarily for printing to the Hewlett Packard III laser printer. However,
with RTF, it is worth using HP3.WDR as driver even when there is no prospect
of printing to the intended printer because it contains a good basic font set
- mono-spaced Courier, a scalable serif font and a scalable sans-serif font
which travel well through the "RTF barrier".

If you are a Macintosh Word user printing to a Postscript laser printer, you
may be pleasently surprised at the possibilities when using the HP3 driver on
the Series 3.

To install the HP3 driver, you copy HP3.WDR to a \WDR\ directory on the
Series 3 - as for WL$RTF.DYL and WS$RTF.DYL, described above.

Some limitations
----------------

Headers and footers are not transferred between Series 3 Word files and RTF
files.

Content which is beyond that handled by the Series 3 word processor (such as
boxes, graphics, side-by-side formatting of paragraphs and tables of contents
entries) are not transferred into Series 3 Word documents.


Using Stylesheet in Microsoft DOS Word
--------------------------------------

Microsoft Word for DOS saves a document's style information in a separate
file - a stylesheet. It can also, however, handle files without a stylesheet,
using in-line formatting - storing special codes in the document which
specify the various settings for each paragraph.

If you use a stylesheet with a particular Microsoft Word file, and you want
to transfer the file to and from the Series 3, do not change any of the
styles while on the Series 3. (You can still apply styles to paragraphs, and
you can use emphases as normal.) When you next send the file to the
PC/Macintosh and use it in Microsoft Word, it will ask for the stylesheet to
use. Microsoft Word checks that the document styles still match the
stylesheet. Any paragraphs which have a style that does not match those in
the stylesheet are converted to use in-line formatting.


Control over fonts with DOS Microsoft Word
------------------------------------------

Microsoft Word for DOS does is not as sophisticated in its mapping of
incoming fonts when it reads an RTF file as is Microsoft Word for Windows or
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh. When you load an RTF document using
Microsoft Word for DOS (having created it on your Series 3), you may find
that some fonts have been mapped to those which are not present in the
current printer driver (in this case, they will be printed as Courier).

For greater control over the fonts DOS Microsoft Word
uses, you have two options:

  1)  To simply use in-line formatting to change the fonts.

  2)  Use an approach involving two separate stylesheets.

The first is simpler to understand but the second solution, once in place,
has the advantage of automatically applying to all files that you
subsequently transfer from the Series 3 into DOS Microsoft Word.

The steps involved in this second approach are as follows:

  ->  Choose a representative document, written on the Series 3, that
includes all the styles you use on a regular basis

  ->  Save this as an RTF file

  ->  On loading it into Microsoft Word, leave the stylesheet selection blank
(delete any suggestion offered to you)

  ->  You will probably find it easier in what follows to make the style bar
visible (use Options)

  ->  For each style that you want to record, place the cursor in some text
with that style

  ->  Use Format Stylesheet Record (alternatively, Alt-F10)

  ->  Give as the Key Code the shortcode used on the Series 3 for the style

  ->  Leave Usage as Paragraph and type anything you like into Remark
(leave it blank if you wish)

  ->  For Variant, in most cases you can accept the default offered to you,
but see above for styles that are Headings of various levels - which have
significance for Outline

  ->  Repeat for all the styles you are interested in

  ->  When finished, save the resulting stylesheet (use Gallery Transfer
Save), with a name such as "S3"

  ->  Then in Gallery, look at the fonts specified by each style, and make
any changes required

  ->  Save the stylesheet you have at the end of this second pass WITH A
DIFFERENT NAME, say "S3P" (with the "P" standing for "Printing").

From now on, whenever you load an RTF file prepared by the Series 3 into
DOS Microsoft Word, all you need to do is:

  ->  When prompted for the name of a stylesheet, give "S3" (or whatever you
named the first of the two stylesheets)

  ->  Once the load has completed, use Format Stylesheet Attach to attach the
second stylesheet, "S3P" or whatever, instead.

Use of BOTH stylesheets is essential to the operation of the scheme.

The system takes some effort to set up but you will be amply rewarded with
its power and ease of use in the long run.

--
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 [e-mail] - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel [phone]