In Lesson 5 you were introduced to the Quick Menu and you used some finding and spelling commands. Following is an explanation of more quick commands. Read through this section and practice using the commands in the file TEXT. DOC.
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Lesson 7 More Features
Quick Cursor Moves
The keys for moving the cursor are arranged in a diamond on your keyboard. If you glance at your keyboard, you'll notice how the quick cursor control commands are part of a diamond too.
Command Function
"QE Moves the cursor up to the first text character on the screen (including spaces and carriage returns).
"QX Moves the cursor down to the space after the last text character on the screen (including spaces and carriage returns).
"QS Moves the cursor to the beginning of a line.
"QD Moves the cursor to the end of a line.
C'QE is equivalent to Home and "QX is equivalent to End on the numeric keypad.}
Quick Erase
Command Function
"QDEL Erases everything on the line to the left of the cursor.
"QY Erases everything on the line to the right of the cursor.
"QT Erases everything between the cursor and some other character following the cursor. WordS tar prompts you for the character.
Finding
Command
"QI
"QG
"QH
Function
Finds a page. WordStar prompts you for the page number.
Searches forward for a single character.
WordS tar prompts you for the character.
Searches backward for a single character.
W ordStar prompts you for the character.
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TIP To move the cursor to the end of the sentence the cursor is in, press AQG then. (a period).
Quick Aligning
Command Function
A QU Aligns an entire document. WordStar pauses briefly at the end of every paragraph to give you the chance to stop the aligning by pressing AU.
Quick Scrolling
Command AQR
"QC AQW
"QZ
Function
Moves the cursor to the beginning of a document.
Moves the cursor to the end of a document.
Scrolls the screen up one line at a time but con-tinuously. You can control the speed of the scrolling (zero is fastest, nine is slowest). Pressing any key stops the scrolling.
Scrolls the screen down one line at a time but con-tinuously. (Works like AQW.)
Press AKQ to exit the file TEXT .DOC.
Shorthand (Keyboard Macros)
Shorthand is a timesaving feature that allows you to assign a single character to a longer line of text or commands. Using shorthand can save you many keystrokes on repetitive tasks.
For example, if you type a specific name regularly, you can use short-hand and assign this text a single letter or number, N for instance. Then when you're working in a file, instead of typing the name, you press Esc, then N to have WordStar insert the name automatically. (In computer lingo, this feature is called keyboard macros.)
You need to learn two aspects of shorthand - how to use shorthand characters while you're working in a file and how to create shorthand characters and definitions.
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Lesson 7 More Features
Before you begin using shorthand, you should become familiar with the Shorthand Menu. Look at the Opening Menu and locate the shorthand command. (You can also display the Shorthand Menu while you're editing a file.)
1 Press Esc. The Shorthand Menu is displayed.
f t " ' = = = = = = = = S H 0 R T H A H D MEN U ===========;r
? display and/or change definitions AJ help
= result from last .... QM or .... KM Math $ forMatted number
• last .... QM Math equation @ today's date
! current time
C Center tt MeMo P Previous Paragraph
S Sincerely T Transpose Word
The shorthand screen consists of a menu and a listing of your shorthand characters that have been defined. Notice the shorthand character is displayed in boldface followed by a word or phrase to remind you what the shorthand character does. Five shorthand characters are listed on the menu itself (=, #, $, @, ! ). These have been preset; you can't change them. See the "Reference Guide" for more information on using these characters.
The other shorthand characters (C, M, P, S, T) have already been defined and are ready to use. You can change these later if you want. One shorthand character contains text (M for memorandum), three contain commands (P for cursor to previous paragraph, T for transpose word, and C for center), and one contains text and commands (S for sincerely and three carriage returns.)
Usin~ Shorthand Characters Now, practice using shorthand characters.
1 Create a file called PRACTICE. DOC.
2 Press ~ twice to move the cursor in column 1 to line 3.
First, we'll use a shorthand character and have WordStar insert some text.
3 Press Esc. The Shorthand Menu is displayed.
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4 Press M. (Shorthand characters can be either upper- or lowercase.) WordStar inserts the word "Memorandum," and you've used only two keystrokes.
Next, we'll use a shorthand character for some commands.
5 Press Esc, then C (C was defined for centering).
WordS tar centers the text.
Defining Shorthand Characters
Now that you know how to use shorthand characters to speed up your word processing, we'll look at how you can create and define your own shorthand characters.
You should be back at the Edit Menu in the file PRACTICE.DOC.
1 Press Esc, then ?
Under the heading MENU & KEY DEFINITIONS is a list of all the cur-rently defined shorthand characters, along with a reminder of what each 9.oes. Notice that the five special shorthand characters (=, #, $, @, ! ) don't appear on the menu because you can't change their definitions.
"Bytes available" informs you of how much memory you have for more definitions. (You can set aside more memory in the WSCHANGE program.)
A shorthand character can be any single letter or number, making a total of 36 possible shorthand definitions. The maximum number of characters in a shorthand definition is 80.
Define a shorthand character for some text.
1 At the prompt "Characte~ to be defined? ," type E.
2 At the prompt "Description for ESC menu?," type employees and press ~.
3 At the prompt "Definition," type A special'notice to all employees:
and press ~.
Notice that the shorthand character and definition are now listed with the other shorthand characters in alphabetical order. You can con-tinue creating shorthand definitions or you can exit by pressing AU.
4 Press AU.
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Lesson 7 More Features
5 At the prompt "Store changes onto disk?," type Y. Your shorthand character and definition are saved in a file. (For floppy disk systems, the file is on the Program Disk.)
You should be back at the Edit Menu.
6 To tryout your new shorthand character, put the cursor in column 1, line 6. Press Esc, then E. WordStar inserts the line of text.
Now, define a shorthand character for commands.
1 Press Esc to display the Shorthand Menu. Note that the shorthand character E you just defined is on the menu.
2 Press?
3 At the prompt "Character to be defined, ?" type H.
4 At the prompt "Description for ESC menu?," type heading and press ~.
At the next step you're going to define the shorthand character with both text and commands. You'll type a heading and then the com-mands for centering. If you were centering and typing a heading you'd use these keystrokes:
Gulliver's Travel Service "GC
You need to enter this the same way for your shorthand definition. In other words, you must press the actual control command for center-ing. Most important though, to enter any control command you must press "p first. This is to tell WordStar not to execute the command.
S At the prompt "Definition? ," type Gulliver's Travel Service. Then press"P followed by "OC. Remember, you press the Ctrl key then the letter(s). You don't type the character
Your definition should look like this:
Gulliver's Travel Service "GC Notice that the "p isn't displayed.
6 Press~.
7 Press
"u,
then type Y at the prompt.8
To tryout your new shorthand character, move the cursor to line 1, column 1. Press Esc, then H. WordStar inserts and centers the text.9 Press "KQ to quit and abandon the file.
Lesson 7 More Features
Remember, the shorthand definition contains the keystrokes you would normally type. To enter a control character, you must press "p just before pressing the control command.
Advanced Shorthand
So far, you've been practicing using shorthand with very simple ex-amples. As you become more familiar with shorthand, you'll figure Qut ways to use this feature to best meet your needs. .
Shorthand definitions are limited to one line. FolloWing, though, is a lesson that illustrates how you can create shorthand characters that will insert text of more than one line. It's done by inserting shorthand charac-ters within a shorth~nd definition.
Let's say you want to have the following heading typed, partially boldfaced, and centered:
Gulliver's Travel Service 152 Lilliput Street San Francisco, CA 94118 First, you have to define each line indiVidually.
1 At the Opening Menu,' press Esc.
2 Follow the steps in the previous section and create three new short-hand definitions, one for each line of the heading.
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First line Give the first line the shorthand character 1 and call it
"name." In the definition, enter control commands to boldface and center the text. 'Enter "M (carriage r~turn) atthe end of the definition.
Use the follOWing series of keystrokes for the definition. Remember, you must press "p before you enter a control command.
"P"P"P"BGulliver's Travel Service"P"P"P"B"P"OC"P"M When you're finished entering the keystrokes, the definition should look like this on your screen:
"P"BGulliver's Travel Service"P"B"OC"M
Second line Give the second line the shorthand character 2 and call it "street." In the definition, enter control commands to center the text. Enter "M (carriage return) at the end of the definition.
Use the following series of keystrokes for the definition. Remember, you must press "p before you enter a control command.
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152 Lilliput Street"p"OC"P"M
When you're finished entering the keystrokes, the definition should look like this on your screen:
152 Lilliput Street"OC"M
Third line Give the third line the shorthand character 3 and call it
"city." In the definition, enter control commands to center the text.
Enter "M (carriage return) at the end of the definition.
Use the following series of keystrokes for the definition. Remember, you must press "p before you enter a control command.
San Francisco, CA 9411S"P"OC"P"M
When you're finished entering the keystrokes, the definition should look like this on your screen:
San Francisco, CA 94118"OC"M
Next, you need to define a fourth shorthand character and include the three shorthand characters you just defined.
3 Define a fourth shorthand character. Give this one the character H and call it "heading." (This will change the shorthand character H you defined in the previous exercise.)
Use the following series of keystrokes for the definition. Esc stands for the Escape key. Press "P, press the Esc key, press 1, press "P, and so on.
"PEscl "PEsc2"PEsc3
When you're finished entering the keystrokes, the definition should look like this on your screen:
EsclEsc2Esc3
You've defined a shorthand character with the keystrokes that will tell WordStar to enter the three shorthand characters 1,2, and 3 in succession.
4 Press "U then Y at the prompt to save your definitions and return to the Opening Menu.
S Open a new file. Try the shorthand character H you just created.
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6 With the cursor in column 1, line 1, press Esc, then H. WordStar enters three lines with one shorthand character.
If you don't get the three-line address, go back over the description of each definition to make sure you've typed the keystrokes exactly.
Then try again.
7 Press AKQ to quit and abandon the file.
This whole process is called nesting shorthand keys. You can also try chaining shorthand definitions by putting the Esc-character sequence at the end of the definition. You could also have a shorthand definition ref-erence itself by entering its own Esc-character sequence at the end. This process, called looping, would be useful for doing a repetitive task that can't be performed with a single command. You press AU to stop the loop.
Column Blocks
You may need to use WordStar for typing columns of text or tables.
Editing columns can be tricky because altering one column can sometimes affect how another column lines up. WordStar has a handy feature called column blocks, which can help you edit and work with columns of text.
By SWitching modes from a horizontal arrangement of text to a vertical arrangement of text, you can work with columns of text easily.
In this lesson you'll mark and move a block of text from a table. You'll use a sample file called T ABLE.DOC.
1 Open the file T ABLE.DOC. Notice the table includes graphics as well as columns of figures.
2 Press AK to display the Block & Save Menu. Find the command to turn column mode on.
3 Press N. Notice the word "Column" is displayed in the status line.
This indicates column mode is on.
Now, mark a column block.
4 Move the cursor to the space just to the left of the "M" in the phrase
"Maximum g." Press AKB.
5 Move the cursor down to the last line of the column to the number 3.10. Then move it to the right until it's positioned one space past the vertical column line. Press AKK. The block is highlighted.
Now, delete the block.
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Lesson 7 More Features
6
Press "KY. Notice how the other columns to the right of the one you removed moved over to fill in the space.Another command to turn column replace on or off is used if you don't want to have the other columns shift to fill in. We'll remove the block again, this time turning column replace on.
7 Press "U to bring the block back.
Now, we'll start over and mark the block again.
1 Press "K. Find the command to turn column replace on.
2 Press I. Look at the status line. "CoIRepl" tells you column mode is on and column replace is on.
3 Mark the block again. (Follow steps 4 and 5 above.)
4 Press "KY to delete the block. Notice this time with column replace on, the text didn't move but left a space.
5 Press "KQ to exit and abandon the file T ABLE.DOC.
You've just completed two very simple column operations. There's a lot more you can do with column blocks. See Column blocks in the "Refere-nce Guide."