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1988-01-07
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WELCOME TO TEXTPRO
INTRODUCTION
TextPro (tm) is a tool that lets you write hypertext documents.
In a hypertext document any area of text in the document can be threaded
to additional information that explains, expands or defines the concept.
This lets you hide information that may be important for some readers
but unnecessary to others. Using hypertext threads you can also write
text that lets the user decide what to read next depending on interests
and needs. This is what is referred to as "non-linear" text.
For example, in the paragraph above we could have marked the word
"TextPro" as a hypertext item. When selected, the text thread to that
item could give more information about TextPro, such as where you
could get it, who wrote it, and so on. This information, while useful,
would only clutter up the sense of the paragraph. Within the expanded
text, there could be other hypertext items and so on.
Hypertext and Knowledge Processing
When a hypertext item is selected in TextPro or in other DOS based
hypertext systems, the only effect is to display a message. In a knowledge
processor, hypertext is linked to the structure of a full featured
symbolic language so actions can also be performed. The environment
in which TextPro was written is a knowledge processing environment
called KnowledgePro. Some of the source code for the TextPro system
is supplied in the file TEXTPRO.SRC. If you list this file you can see
some of the powerful features available in a full knowledge processor.
THE KNOWLEDGEPRO RUNTIME ENVIRONMENT
Before you can run TextPro you must load the KnowledgePro runtime
environment which is provided with TextPro.
To load KnowledgePro type :
kp <ENTER>
The menu screen which appears shows the programs, called "knowledge
bases", that are available on the directory from which KnowledgePro
was loaded.
If you're new to the KnowledgePro environment start by selecting the USING
knowledge base. This describes how to use KnowledgePro. To select USING
press :
u <ENTER>
After you've looked at the USING knowledge base you should be familiar
with the basics of using a KnowledgePro application. In general, press
SPACE when you've finished reading a message, ESC to leave the editor
and ENTER to select a menu item.
RUNNING TEXTPRO
To start TextPro type :
t <ENTER>
The main TextPro screen will now appear. On this screen you'll see
some text that appears in inverse video. These items are hypertext
items. That means that there is information hidden behind these words
or groups of words. To select a hypertext item you can either press
F3 until the cursor is over the item you want to expand (shift F3 will
reverse the direction) or, point at the item with a mouse.
When the cursor is over the item press F4 or, click either mouse
button to expand the item.
Anytime you finish reading a message, you can press SPACE to continue
or, point to the word SPACE in the lower left of the message window
and click your mouse.
Try expanding some of the hypertext nodes from this opening screen
to get a feel for how hypertext works.
When you're ready to continue with TextPro, press SPACE to continue.
The TextPro main menu
The main menu in TextPro contains the following options :
Read a hypertext document
Create or edit a hypertext document
Quit
First select "Read a hypertext document" to see an example.
You'll be asked the name of the file you want to read. You can type
in the name of any ASCII file. If there are no hypertext marks or
pages in the file it is broken into pages and displayed as straight
text. If you're not sure of what files are on your disk you can get
a menu of files using the "*" in place of a file name. All files are
named using regular DOS conventions. Type :
*.hyp <ENTER>
For a list of all files with the suffix .hyp on the current
directory.
Select the file SAMPLE.HYP from this menu to see a sample hypertext
document. The hypertext items work the same way as they did in the
opening screen.
When you read the last page of the document, you'll be returned to
the opening menu.
CREATING A TEXTPRO DOCUMENT
Select "Create or edit a hypertext document" from the menu.
When you're asked for the file name type :
sample.hyp <ENTER>
This will load the KnowledgePro text editor with the hypertext file
sample.hyp. The editor uses WordStar commands. If you want to see a list of
commands press F1 from within the editor. If you have a mouse you can call a
menu of editor commands by pressing the left mouse button. A command is
selected from the menu by pressing the right button.
When F4 is pressed a description of how to lay out hypertext documents
appears.
To leave the editor, press ESC. When you leave the editor you can press
<ENTER> to save the file with the original file name, you can change the
file name and then press <ENTER> or, you can press ESC a second time to
leave without saving the file.
LAYING OUT A HYPERTEXT DOCUMENT
In TextPro, information is broken up into units called messages.
A message is a section of text that is made up of a label, the text
of the message, and an ending. The label depends on the type of message.
The ending is simply a line containing " /end ". There are two different
types of messages; page and thread.
Page messages
Page messages are labeled with the name " /page" followed by the number
of the page. For example the label for the first page would be "/page1".
These messages are displayed sequentially to provide a context for your
information.
The page messages should be formatted with a margin of 77. The length of
the display window is 19 rows but longer messages will be automatically
formatted so that PgUp and PgDn can be used.
Within a page message you can mark important concepts by enclosing
the words with the symbols #m. These concepts are called hypertext
threads. Each thread will be linked to another message which will
be displayed when the reader selects the thread. Hypertext thread
names can not be split onto two lines.
Thread messages
Thread messages are labeled with the character "/" followed by the
name of the hypertext thread to which it's related. Thread messages
are displayed only when the reader selects the hypertext thread in its
label. Threaded messages should be formatted with a right margin of 65.
To change the margin in the editor type ^OR. The length of the display
window is 11 rows but longer messages will be automatically formatted
so that PgUp and PgDn can be used. Threaded messages can contain other
threaded messages.
Writing effective documents
It takes a little practice to get the knack of writing effectively
using hypertext. Hypertext nodes in messages should be used to provide
information that doesn't always need to be displayed with the message.
Used in this fashion, hypertext helps to clarify text. There is still
a linear flow to the text but the hypertext provides enhancements
to the message.
The "/page" feature lets you give your document a backbone from which
to deviate. When you first start experimenting you'll find that freeform
documents with no plan quickly become confusing and overwhelm instead
of enlighten the hypertext reader.
Another important thing to keep in mind when using the computer as
a communication medium is the limitations of the display. Since we
want to keep the system accessible to the widest possible variety
of hardware configurations, the message area is limited to 77 columns
by 19 rows. Messages longer than 19 rows are automatically formatted
to be displayed a page at a time using PgUp and PgDn. However, long,
dense messages on a computer screen are almost never read.
It's better to keep each message short.
Since hypertext writing is in its infancy, there are no accepted guidelines
we can give you to guarantee that your documents will be effective.
One of the reasons we wrote TextPro is so many more people can experiment
with these techniques and a style can begin to evolve.
EXCHANGING TEXTPRO DOCUMENTS
Since all TextPro documents are ASCII files, they can be easily exchanged
either on diskette or using electronic mail services. We hope you'll share
TextPro with others and use it to experiment with many different types of
documents.
TextPro can be copied freely and given to others. It may not be modified
or used for commercial purposes.
We hope you enjoy TextPro,
The folks at Knowledge Garden
For information on any of the other Knowledge Garden products call
or write : Knowledge Garden
473A Malden Bridge Road
Nassau, NY 12123
Phone (518) 766-3000.
Reach us by EMAIL on BIX (JOIN GARDEN) or CompuServe (GO PCVEN, user op #8)