This tutorial will introduce you to many important operational features of Crossword Express by guiding you through the construction and printing of a Classroom Puzzle. At each stage you will receive a brief explanation of what is about to happen. You will control your progress through the tutorial by clicking the "Next" button. At each step this dialog box will disapppear for approximately one second so that you can see what has happened. If you need more time, clicking the "Hide" button will clear it for five seconds. The tutorial can be ended at any time using the "Cancel" button.\nNow click "Next" to move to the Classroom Puzzle construction screen.
Before creating a new puzzle using any of the Crossword Express "Make" methods you should enter a name for the puzzle. The puzzle will automatically be saved using this name, and it will be saved under the Dictionary which was used to create it. This is a very important fact to remember. Later when you want to access a puzzle you have made previously, you must first select the dictionary which was used to make it, and then select the puzzle.\nThe naming of the puzzle is done using the "Puzzle Description" function. Activate the Puzzle Description dialog box now by clicking "Next".
This dialog box does much more than just provide a file name for the puzzle you are about to make. You can also enter a Title to be printed with the puzzle, plus an Author credit, a copyright notice, a puzzle number and some special notes about the puzzle. These are all optional. There are also a number of switches which control the behaviour of the puzzle under certain conditions. Don't worry about these just now...the Help button will tell you all you need to know later.\nNotice that the program suggests a default name of UNTITLED for the puzzle. Normally, you could accept this default if you wished, but for this tutorial we will enter the file name SAMPLE. Click "Next" now, and you will see this happen.
As mentioned before you may wish to enter information into the other fields of the Puzzle Description, or you might set some of the switches. We won't do that in this tutorial.\nTo accept the changes you have made, you would normally click the OK button. In this tutorial however you will instead click "Next" to move to the next stage.
The next operation is to set some specifications regarding the puzzle which the program will use in constructing it. These are quite general in nature, and often you won't bother with this step. It is included in the tutorial simply to broaden your horizons as to what Crossword Express can do.\nWhen ready, please click the "Next" button to simulate the clicking of the "Specify Puzzle" button.
When you "Specify" a Classroom style puzzle you will do one of two things:-\nSet the Horizontal and Vertical dimensions of the puzzle by setting the number of squares Across and Down.\nOR Select a Template. A Template is a specilaised lattice which can be built in any shape you require. Later you will use Lattice Maintenance to do this yourself, and the Help button will give you all the information you need.\nThis time we will simply change dimensions from the current default of 15X15 to 9X10. Click "Next" now to make this happen.
To accept this Puzzle Specification, and to proceed to the next stage, please click the "Next" button when you are ready..
The next step in the operation is to either select a dictionary to be used in making the puzzle, or to create a new one. The name of the default dictionary is displayed and you could proceed with this default, or you could use the "Select Dictionary" button to choose one of the supplied dictionaries, or one that you had made previously.\nFor this tutorial however, we will choose to make a "New Dictionary" as this will show you a much greater range of the functions of Crossword Express.\nPlease simulate the clicking of the "New Dictionary" button by clicking "Next" when you are ready.
The first thing you must do when creating a new dictionary is to give it a name. The type of dictionary used for making a Classroom style puzzle is a Special Interest dictionary, and it can have as few as a dozen or so words, or it can have up to a few hundred words. If the dictionary is quite large, Crossword Express will make a random selection of 255 words from it to make the puzzle. This selection will of course be different each time a new puzzle is made. There is an important convention when naming such a dictionary...Its name must start with the $ character.\nWe will choose the name $MYTEST for the new dictionary. Clicking "Next" now will make this happen.
There is another very important function which can be performed using this dialog box, and that is the selection of a Font which can be permanently associated with the words in the puzzle, and if you like a separate Font for the clues. Thus, you could make a puzzle having say Greek words and Russian clues. Naturally we won't do that now, but do read the on-screen Help for further information.\nFor now we will use the Default Font for both words and clues. Click "Next" when ready to accept the settings shown in the dialog box.
As you can see you are automatically presented with an "Edit Dictionary" dialog box which will enable you to enter words and clues into your new dictionary. The cursor will normally be placed directly into the "Word" field ready for you to enter the first word. You can enter the word in upper or lower case as you wish. By default, Crossword Express will convert to all upper case, unless you check the "Maintain Case sensitivity" check box. Normally, you would type the word into the "Word" entry field and then press Enter to accept the word, and to transfer yourself to the "Clue" entry field.\nWhen you click "Next", the tutorial will automatically do both of these operations for you.
The "Clue" entry field is a multi-line edit box, so you can make the clue as long as you like. In addition, you can add multiple clues if you separate them by means of a single * character. The first time the word is used in a puzzle, the first clue will be taken. There is a "Word Lockout" feature under "Miscellaneous Functions" which you may care to look at later. This function will arrange things so that when the word is used again the second clue will be taken. This continues until all clues have been used, at which point the word is locked out of service altogether. "Dictionary Maintenance" provides an Unlock feature which allows words to be selectively placed back into service.\nClicking "Next" will enter the first clue for you.
Accepting this clue input (and preparing to receive the next word) is normally a simple matter of pressing Enter. The Word and Clue are not actually placed into the dictionary at this stage. Instead they are placed into a "Change List" which will be merged into your dictionary whenever you click either of the "Save and Resume" or "Save and Quit" buttons. As with any editing activity it is recommended that you use the Save option at regular intervals to avoid losing your work.\nClick "Next when ready to accept the first clue.
You are now ready to enter the second word.\nClicking "Next" now will simulate the entry of the second word, as well as the pressing of Enter to prepare for the entry of the next clue.
Clicking "Next" at this point will enter the second clue.
Clicking "Next" now will simulate the pressing of Enter to accept the clue, and to prepare for the next word.
By now you should have a good understanding of how to enter content for a new dictionary. We won't go through this process labouriously for the entire dictionary. The next time you click "Next", the tutorial will enter another 8 words and their clues all in one go.
We have now entered all of the words and clues we need for this tutorial demonstration. This time, instead of using the Enter key to save the word and clue just entered, we would click the "Save and Quit" button to save our complete input, to quit from the Dictionary Edit dialog box and to return to the Classroom Puzzle screen.\nAll of this will happen when you click the "Next" button.
All is now in readiness to actually make the puzzle. Normally you will click the "Start Make" button to trigger this action, but in this tutorial you will click "Next" as usual.\nBe ready to watch for quite a bit of action on the screen as the puzzle is made.\nAre you ready? ...click "Next".
You would have seen a number of completed puzzles appear on the screen in quick succession. CWE is not satisfied with just one puzzle...it makes a continuing sequence of them and keeps only the best one. The best implies the greatest number of words, plus the greatest number of linking letters, plus the puzzle should occupy the smallest amount of space. After a while the activity stops, indicating that the best possible puzzle has been found.\nNote that the "Start Make" button has now changed to "Stop Make". Normally you would click this button to stop the process after activity has ceased or when you are happy with the puzzle displayed. Click the "Next" button to simulate this when you are ready.
Notice that the completed puzzle has been cleared from the screen. But don't worry...it has been safely stored away to the hard disk under the name which we provided previously, and can be accessed at any time for Solving or Printing. In this tutorial we will demonstrate some of the printing capability of Crossword Express. To do this we would normally acces the Print Screen by clicking the "Print" button.\nAs usual, you will do it by clicking "Next".
Here you can see that you have available quite a number of printing possibilities. In this tutorial we will concern ourselves with the "Smart Print" function only. You can explore the other functions at your leisure and when you do, don't forget to make liberal use of the Help button...you may be surprised at how much assistance is available at the click of a button.\nNow click "Next" to simulate the clicking of the "Smart Print" button.
The "Smart Print" dialog box contains many controls which you will want to try out for yourself later. Briefly, the "Print Dimension" controls allow you to set the size of the printout, while the "Print Margins" allow you to position the puzzle on your printed page. The "Measurement Units" control allows you to specify either cms of inches for these measurements. You can even control the total number of columns of clues in the printout, and how many of these columns should be spanned by the actual puzzle. We will simply accept the default for all of these values, and use the "Preview" function to get a screen display of how the print will look.\nClick "Next" now to simulate the clicking of the "Preview" button.
What you see here is a quite accurate representation of how the puzzle will appear when it is actually printed. Note that the puzzle itself appears in a "shadow box" format which is ideal for Classroom style puzzles. If you prefer the conventional style where all of the pattern cells are black (or grey) you can set this by using the "Pattern Density" control available from the "Options" button. As well as Printing and Previewing you can also "Export" the puzzle to the Clipboard from where it can be pasted into Word Processor and Desk Top Publishing applications.\nClicking "Next" will clear the "Preview" screen and the "Smart Print" dialog box and return you to the "Print Screen".
To return to the "Control Center" screen you would normally click the "Return" button.\nIn this tutorial, you will achieve the same effect by clicking "Next".
This brings us back to where the tutorial started. What we have looked at is just one small part of the overall Crossword Express system, but it should have given you a good "feel" for the way in which the program should be operated.\nWhen you click "Next" or "Cancel" this tutorial will terminate and you can begin to explore the multitude of other functions which are available to you. As you do so, please make liberal use of the Help button...it will provide you with lots of information about whatever function it is you are currently engaged in using.\nWe wish you much enjoyment in your exploration of Crossword Express.
