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X W O R D X W O R D _________ TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS _________________ 1. Introduction 1. Introduction 1.1 Welcome to XWORD................................ 2 1.2 Installation.................................... 2 2. Working a Puzzle 2. Working a Puzzle 2.1 The Working Direction........................... 4 2.2 The Question Window............................. 4 2.3 Moving Within a Puzzle.......................... 4 2.4 Entering Answers................................ 5 2.5 Saving Puzzles.................................. 5 2.6 Opening an Existing Puzzle...................... 5 2.7 Clearing Answers................................ 6 2.8 The Puzzle Title................................ 6 2.9 Showing Solutions............................... 6 2.10 Solution Clues................................. 6 3. Building Puzzles 3. Building Puzzles 3.1 Starting a New Puzzle........................... 8 3.2 Changing Black and White Squares................ 8 3.3 Entering Questions.............................. 8 3.4 Entering Solutions.............................. 9 3.5 No Change Mode.................................. 9 3.6 Converting Delltm Crossword Puzzles............. 9 - 1 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles 4. Printing Puzzles 4. Printing Puzzles 4.1 Printing 4.2 Printer Requirements 4.3 Portrait or Landscape - 2 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles 1. INTRODUCTION 1. INTRODUCTION _______________ 1.1 Welcome to XWORD 1.1 Welcome to XWORD Introducing XWORD, which allows the entry, creation, and working of crossword puzzles within the Windows graphical interface. Xword does this while maintaining the look and feel of the familiar crossword puzzle. The look of a crossword puzzle is maintained by displaying a puzzle in a way that is familiar to anyone who has worked a crossword puzzle. Xword displays the puzzle in black and white and shows the numbers within the squares. When most people work a crossword they jump around the puzzle answering questions in several areas of the puzzle. Xword, with the use of the mouse, maintains this crossword puzzle feel by allowing the user to jump around the puzzle quickly and easily. Xword uses several other Windows features. For example the ability to work more than one puzzle at a time. Other features include the ability to enter or work a puzzle that doesn't fit on the screen or within a window, by use of scroll bars. All this leads to the fact that crossword puzzles on a personal computer have never been easier or more fun. 1.2 Installation 1.2 Installation The Xword disk contains the following files: README.XWD - Changes or corrections XWORD.TXT - Documentation XWORD.EXE - The XWORD program PZLCONV.EXE - Program to convert Delltm Crossword Puzzles *.PZL - Any file with an extension or PZL is a crossword puzzle Installation of Xword is accomplished by coping the files on the xword disk to the disk and directory the user wishes to execute the program. It is recommended that a separate - 3 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles directory be created for Xword. The following line may be added to the WIN.INI in the [extensions] section to execute Xword when a .PZL file is double clicked. pzl=xword.exe ^.pzl - 4 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles 2. WORKING A PUZZLE 2. WORKING A PUZZLE ___________________ 2.1 The Working Direction 2.1 The Working Direction While working a crossword puzzle in XWORD the working direction is very important. Obviously, the working direction can be either across or down. The working direction is the direction in which answers are being accepted. Xword shows the current working direction in several ways. If you are using a mouse the simplest is that the cursor is either a hand pointing across or down with the corresponding letter "A" or "D" in the palm. The working direction is also displayed in the title of the question window, for example "33 Across" would be displayed. The last method for displaying the working direction is on the menu bar. The menu bar has both Across and Down, whichever is greyed is the current working direction. The working direction can be changed by using the menu bar with either the mouse or the keyboard. With the mouse simply click the non-greyed direction on the menu bar and the direction will change. From the keyboard use the alt key with the first letter of the direction. 2.2 The Question Window 2.2 The Question Window The Question window displays the current question number, working direction, and the current question for this number. The window can be moved anywhere on the screen with either mouse or the question window's system menu. 2.3 Moving Within a Puzzle 2.3 Moving Within a Puzzle When the puzzle window is active a flashing square will appear in the puzzle. This flashing square is called a caret. The caret location is where answers are being accepted. If moving changes the current question, the question box is updated with the new question. Moving the caret within a puzzle can be done either with the mouse or with the cursor keys. Using the cursor keys the caret will move to the next available non-black square in the direction of the cursor key. To move the caret with the mouse, click a square with the mouse and the caret will move to that square. - 5 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles There are options on the menu bar that will allow you to move to the next or previous question. By clicking the Next or Previous options with the mouse or using the alt "N" or the "P" from the keyboard, the caret will move to the first square of the next or previous question. If the puzzle doesn't fit in the window, scroll bars will appear that will allow the puzzle to be scrolled within the window. The scroll bars can be used by the mouse but scrolling can also be done from the keyboard. Scrolling is done from the keyboard by using the pageup, pagedown, home, and end keys. 2.4 Entering Answers 2.4 Entering Answers Entering answers to a puzzle is done by simply typing the letters of the answer starting at the current square. Answers are accepted only in the current working direction. The backspace key may be used to remove an entry in the square prior to the current square. The space bar can be used to remove an entry in the current square. 2.5 Saving Puzzles 2.5 Saving Puzzles Xword allows the saving of puzzles so that they may be recalled later. Puzzle are saved within a filename with an extension of ".PZL". To save a puzzle, the menu item "File" is selected. Within this selection there are further selections, two of which are used for saving puzzles. The "Save" item will save a puzzle that already has a file name. The "Save As..." selection will display a dialog box that will accept a new file name or allow the changing the current file name. The dialog box will also accept a directory name under which the puzzle will be saved. If no directory is specified the puzzle will be saved in the current directory. All answers will be saved along with the puzzle, so a puzzle may be started and completed at a later time. 2.6 Opening an Existing Puzzle 2.6 Opening an Existing Puzzle To recall a previously saved puzzle, select the 'Open..." option from the "File" menu item. A dialog box will be displayed that will allow the opening of a puzzle. The dialog box will display all puzzles that are on the current directory, along with the other directories and drives available. Once a file has been chosen or entered the "OK" button will load the puzzle. - 6 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles 2.7 Clearing Answers 2.7 Clearing Answers To clear the answers entered, select the 'Clear Answers...' option from the "Puzzle" menu item. Once Xword has verified that the selection was correct it will clear the answers. 2.8 The Puzzle Title 2.8 The Puzzle Title Crossword puzzles may at times have titles. The title is usually a clue to several questions in the puzzle. Within Xword if there is a title it appears in the windows title bar. If there is no title, the filename appears in the title bar of the window. Within Xword the title can be entered or changed in two places. The title is entered as part of creating a new puzzle. The title can be changed by selecting the 'Title' option from the 'Puzzle' menu item. This selection will display a dialog box that will allow the title to be changed. 2.9 Showing Solutions 2.9 Showing Solutions While working a crossword puzzle there may come a time in which the remaining questions cannot be answered, and the user wants to see the solution. (I know this never happens to most of you.) At this point Xword can display the solutions to the puzzle. This, of course, is assuming that there are solutions to the puzzle. To show solutions to the puzzle, select the 'Show Solutions' option from the 'Puzzle' menu item. Xword will show solutions to the puzzle and show which entered answers are correct. Xword will show letters answered correctly by displaying them in upper case letters. Incorrect answers show the current letter in upper case with a slash through the letter. If there was no answer or no solution the correct letter or the letter entered is displayed in lower case. If there is no answer and no solution the square is left blank. 2.10 Solution Clues 2.10 Solution Clues While working a crossword puzzle, Xword is capable of giving clues to the solution of the questions. These clues are of two types, either letter clues or word clues. To setup Xword to give clues select the 'Clues' menu item. Within this menu item there are three possible selections, 'No Clues', 'Letter Clues', or 'Word Clues'. The current selection has a check mark next to it. - 7 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles Clues are given by notifying the user that an incorrect letter or word has been entered. This is done by sounding a beep if the letter or word is incorrect. Letter clues will notify the user as the letter is being typed. Word clues will notify the user when a complete word has been entered - 8 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles 3. BUILDING A PUZZLE 3. BUILDING A PUZZLE ____________________ 3.1 Starting a New Puzzle 3.1 Starting a New Puzzle Xword will allow the entry of puzzles. These puzzles may be puzzles that are found in the newspaper or other publications, or they may be puzzles created from scratch. To start a new puzzle, select the 'New...' option from the 'File' menu item. Xword will display a dialog box that asks for the number of squares across, the number of squares down, and the title of the new puzzle. Once the dialog box has been completed correctly, Xword will display a blank puzzle ready for entry. 3.2 Changing Black and White Squares 3.2 Changing Black and White Squares In the previous section a new puzzle was created. The next step is to fill in the black squares. The black squares can be filled in with either the mouse, or from the keyboard. Xword will only allow puzzles built that follow rules set by The Crossword Puzzle Federation. Filling in in the black squares with the mouse is very simple. By double clicking a square, it changes from white to black, or visa vera. The puzzle will renumber itself. Filling in the black squares using the keyboard requires that the build mode be activated. The build mode is activated by selecting the 'Build Mode' option from the 'Puzzle' menu item. Once in build mode, the cursor keys can be used to move the caret to the square you wish to change, and press the space bar. The square will change from white to black or visa vera. To exit build mode again, select the 'Build Mode' from the 'Puzzle' menu item. As with using the mouse the puzzle will renumber itself. 3.3 Entering Questions 3.3 Entering Questions Once the black and white squares are setup, the questions can be entered. To enter questions move the caret to one of the squares within the question to be entered or changed. Next, activate the question box. This is done by either clicking the box with the mouse or using the alt F6 keys. The question box is a standard Windows edit box. The question box can't be activated if the "No Changes" option has been selected. - 9 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles The method above is useful for changing questions. But, for a faster method the following can be used. First activate the question dialog box. Next, use the alt 'P' or the alt 'N' keys to get to the question you wish to enter, and enter the question. From this point the alt 'N' and 'P' keys can again be used to get to the next or previous question. At this point you can also change the working direction by using the alt 'A' or the alt 'D' keys. Using these alted keys will leave the question box activated allowing the questions to be entered very quickly. 3.4 Entering Solutions 3.4 Entering Solutions Once a puzzle has been created and the questions entered the answers can be entered. The answers can be entered can be entered by simply coping them in to the puzzle, or by working the puzzle normally. Once the answers are entered and assuming that they are all correct, (I'm sure they are) the answers can be made into the solutions. To make the answers the solutions select the 'Make Solutions' options from the 'Puzzle' menu item. Xword will verify that this is what is to be done and proceeds to make the answers the solutions. Once solutions are entered, the next person to work the puzzle can get clues and solutions to this puzzle. 3.5 No Change Option 3.5 No Change Option To protect a puzzle and its solutions from accidentally being changed a puzzle can be set to not allow any changes. This state is set by selecting the 'No Change' option from the 'Puzzle' menu item. Once set questions, squares, or solutions cannot be changed. 3.6 Converting Delltm Crossword Puzzles 3.6 Converting Delltm Crossword Puzzles Now included on the Xword disk is the program PZLCONV.EXE. This program will convert crossword puzzles from the format used by "Delltm Crosswords Puzzles" to the format used by Xword. The Delltm Crossword Puzzles are published by a company called SHAREDATA. - 10 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles The puzzles to be converted have an extension of TXT. To convert these puzzles type the following command at the DOS prompt. PZLCONV name (Where name is a puzzle file name) The conversion program will add the TXT extension and prompt for the name to be used for the new Xword file. If you specify no name the program will prompt for the name of the puzzle to be converted. - 11 - XWORD - Crossword Puzzles XWORD - Crossword Puzzles 4. PRINTING PUZZLES 4. PRINTING PUZZLES ___________________ 4.1 Printing 4.1 Printing Xword has the capability to print puzzles that have been created or entered. Xword prints both the puzzle and the questions, just the way crossword puzzles appear in newspapers. Puzzles are printed by selecting the "Print" option from the "Files" menu. Xword will display a dialog box that will give the option to cancel the printing. A puzzle must fit on the page being printed. Questions however, will print on additional pages as required. 4.2 Printer Requirements 4.2 Printer Requirements In order for Xword to print crossword puzzles, the printer must meet two requirements. First, the printer must be install under windows. Second and most important, the printer must be capable of handling bitmaped graphics. This last requirement is usually met by most dot matrix printers commonly used. 4.3 Portrait or Landscape 4.3 Portrait or Landscape Windows, using the "Control Panel" application, can setup a printer to print in either Portrait or Landscape mode. This mode determines how a puzzle will appear on the printed page. If Portrait mode is selected, the puzzle will be printed with the page length longer than the page width. Landscape mode is the opposite, the width is longer then the length. - 12 -