
                                                         

                     Help for !FormatTXT
                     ===================
  
       This program is used to format text files. The text
  can  be formatted to fit on pages of a certain width and
  length,  with  page breaks, a header line, and a  footer
  line.  Lines  can  be  justified to  the  Left,  Centre,
  Right,  or both ends, or can be arbitrarily split at the
  end of the line.
  
       The  important options available from the menu  are
  as follows:
  
      * Save as:
       Once  you  have   dragged a  file  to  !FormatTXT's
  iconbar  icon  or into one of it's windows, the Save  as
  option  can  be used to format and save that file  using
  the  present format. This basically allows you to format
  a  single  file   several   times   without   having  to
  repeatedly drag that file to !FormatTXT.
  NOTE: The SAVE AS window consists of 3 parts: a 'normal'
  save  as window, and two yellow buttons labeled 'Printer
  Driver'  (Which  saves  output DIRECT to  any  installed
  printer    driver   (e.g.   !PrinterDM)),   and    'Last
  application'  (Which  will  send  output   to  the  last
  application you saved to by dragging the text icon).
  
      * Justify
       This  brings up the justification  options  window,
  which  allows  you to  select  NO/Left/Centre/Right/Full
  justification.  This  window can also be brought  up  by
  clicking Select on the iconbar icon.
  
      * Format
       This  brings up the (somewhat  more comprehensive!)
  format  window.  This  allows   you   to   set  all  the
  formatting  options  (width,length of page,  etc.).  See
  below  for more information on formats. This window  can
  also  be  brought  up by double-clicking Select  on  the
  iconbar icon.
  
      * Save Format
       This  saves  the  present state of the  format  and
  justify windows as the default format window state. This
  will  be  loaded  every  time  you  run  the  !FormatTXT
  application,  so is a good  short-cut if you want to use
  a  specific  format often. If you want to revert to  the
  original  (default) format, DELETE the file 'Default' in
  the !FormatTXT application directory.
  
  
      Formatting options:
      ===================
       The  following are the options available  from  the
  Format window:
  
       * Page width: The width in characters of the  page.
  This  is  the  TOTAL width, i.e. left and  right  margin
  sizes  will  NOT be ADDED to this width, but rather  are
  included within it.
       Note: If page width minus margins (i.e. actual line
  width)  is  set  to less than 15, (especially  when  <5)
  the Formatting code may lock up. Thus, you will be asked
  before  formatting if you are sure you wish to continue.
  If  the code does lock up, press the ESC key (escape) to
  abort the format.
  
       *  Page  length: The length of the page  in  lines.
  This  is the TOTAL length, i.e. headers/footers etc. are
  not  ADDED  to  the length of the page, but  rather  are
  included within it.
  
       *  Line  Spacing: This controls how  many  newlines
  will  be  printed  at the end of each line  of  text.  A
  value  of  1  outputs text normally. A value  of 2  will
  print  a  blank  line inbetween each of the  text  lines
  printed.  A  value of 3 prints 2 blank lines...  and  so
  on.
  
       * Left and Right Margins: These values control  how
  many  spaces  will be included at the start and  end  of
  each line as margins. Usually these are set to 0.
  
       *  Top  gap:  This is the  number  of  blank  lines
  printed  at the top of each page (used to move down past
  the perforation on continuous stationery).
  
       *  End  gap:  This is the  number  of  blank  lines
  printed  at the end of each page (used to move down past
  the perforation on continuous stationery).
  
       *  Header:  This is a single line of text  that  is
  printed  at  the top of each page. If this line is  left
  blank,  the header line will not be printed at all.  The
  header  can  include  the following  special  sequences,
  which are replaced by other text upon printing:
  
       #F - This  is replaced by the filename of the  file
            being printed.
       #D - This is replaced by the current date e.g. "Sun
            18 Mar, 1990"
       #T - This  is  replaced by the  current  time  e.g.
            "16:02:29"
       #N - This  is replaced on each page by the  present
            page number (starting at 1)
       ## - This is replaced by a single '#'
       #C - This moves all following text into the  centre
            of the line
       #R - This  moves all following text across  to  the
            right of the line
  
       *  Head  gap:  This is the number  of  blank  lines
  inserted  between  the header line an the start  of  the
  text  placed on that page. This also won't be printed if
  the header is left blank.
  
       *  Footer:  This is similar to the header,  but  it
  occurs  at  the  bottom   of   each  page.  The  special
  sequences  can be used here also. It won't be printed if
  it is left blank.
  
       *  Foot gap: Similar to the head gap, this  is  the
  number  of blank lines between the bottom of the text on
  that  page and the footer line. This won't be printed if
  the footer is left blank.
  
       * FF char: This is the character (ASCII value) that
  will  be  printed at the bottom of each page to cause  a
  FORM  FEED. The normal Epson-compatible printer code for
  Form  feed is 12 (This corresponds to 'Clear screen'  on
  the  Archimedes).  Set  this  value  to 0  to  stop  the
  character being output.
  
       * CR char: This is the character (ASCII value) that
  will  be  printed  at  the end of  each  line  (CARRIAGE
  RETURN).  The normal code for a CR is 13. Set this value
  to  0  to  stop  the character  being  output.  On  most
  printers,  only  an LF (see below) needs to be sent,  so
  this is set to 0 by default.
  
       * LF char: This is the character (ASCII value) that
  will  be  printed at the end of each line  (LINE  FEED).
  The  normal code for a LF is 10. Set this value to 0  to
  stop the character being output.
                                                
  
       The  following options lie in the two boxes in  the
  top  right and top centre of the format window. They are
  all,  by  default,  turned  off. To turn  one  of  these
  options  on, click on the text of the option, or on  the
  box  to  the left of the text with Select- a  tick  will
  appear to show that the option is on.
  
       *  Expand  tabs to [ xx ] spaces: When  turned  on,
  this  will convert any TAB characters (ASCII 9) that  it
  finds  into  spaces- Each tab character is  replaced  by
  'xx' spaces.
  
       * Remove multiple spaces: When on, this option will
  strip  'runs'  of more than one space down to  only  one
  space.  This  helps to strip off indents  and  paragraph
  indents.
  
       *  Remove multiple newlines: When on,  this  option
  strips  'runs'  of  more than one newline (ASCII  10  or
  ASCII  13),  replacing them with a single newline.  This
  can  be used to strip out unwanted 'blank lines' in  the
  text.
  
       *  Auto paragraph indent: When on, this  inserts  5
  spaces  after  every newline it finds. Thus if you  type
  in  paragraphs  as a single continuous piece of text  in
  !Edit,  then  this option will successfully  indent  the
  first line of each paragraph.
  
       *  Remove characters: When turned on,  this  option
  takes  the list of characters in the white writeable box
  to  the right of this option, and deletes any characters
  in  this  list from the text. e.g. If the list  contains
  the  'space' character, then all spaces will be stripped
  from the text. The list is made up as follows:
       Each  character in the list is specified in one  of
  two  forms:  if you type a number, then the it  will  be
  interpreted  as  an  ASCII value. If you  type a  single
  character  enclosed  in single quotes (e.g.  'A'),  then
  that  character  will  be removed from  the  text.  Each
  character in the list is then seperated by commas.
      e.g. To remove all newlines:     10,13
           To remove all TABs:         9
           To  remove all capital A's: 'A'  } either form
           To remove all capital A's:   65  }  will do
           To remove ALL A's: 'A','a'  or  65,97
  
       *  Upper  threshold: This is an  ASCII  value.  Any
  characters  in  the text with ASCII values  higher  than
  (But  NOT  including) this threshold, will  be  deleted.
  This  is   very   good   for   stripping   'Top-bit-set'
  characters  (threshold=127)   that   printers   tend  to
  interpret as commands, causing them to go haywire.
  
       *  Lower  threshold: Similar  to  upper  threshold.
  Again,  this  is an ASCII value. Any characters  in  the
  text  with  ASCII values lower than (But NOT  including)
  this  threshold   (except   for   10,13:   the   newline
  characters)  will be deleted. Generally this is used  to
  filter  out  ASCII  value  less than  32  (space)  (i.e.
  threshold=32),  as these characters tend to cause mayhem
  with printers.
  
       *  Character conversion: The three options  at  the
  far  right  of the format window control how  characters
  are  converted. The default setting is 'No  conversion',
  which  leaves  characters alone. Setting this to  'Force
  uppercase'  will  cause  all   output   text  to  be  in
  uppercase,  while 'Force lowercase' causes all output to
  be in lowercase text.
  
  
         Possible   (with   a   capital   "Poss")   future
  improvements to this application:
      -RAMload/RAMsave direct from/to other applications
      -Incorporate fully functional DTP, Art package, Text
  editor, Memory editor, Program archiver, and a Raytracer 


  (P.S.  This was written in EDIT, and formatted with  the
  application,  followed  by minor touch-ups by  me.  This
  format  used Full justification, a left margin, and auto
  paragraphing.)

  On-line help is available using the !Help application on
  the Applications disc 1 ('App1') disc.
