SKYWRITER Version 1.0 COPYRIGHT 1991 James J. Keene, Ph.D.

 ---- EDIT Text Files

Edit is a simple word-processing utility, called by "E" on the SOS Main Menu.
Edit can be used to correct or write text files.

13. Edit prompts the user to enter the text file path (if applicable), name
and extension (see sections 4 to 6).
    If the Device (disk drive) or the Device & Path are unspecified by
pressing "Enter" only, then the DOS default (working directory) is used.
    If "Enter" only is pressed for either name or extension, you exit Edit
to the SOS Main Menu.  (Warning: if you are in the process of storing edited
text under a new file specification in the End command described below, do
not exit to SOS before you finish storing your work.)

14. NEW file prompt:  If the described text file cannot be found, there are
two possibilities:
    (1) you wish to create a new file & type "Y" & "Enter"; or
    (2) you were looking for an existing file and erred in your description,
in which case type "Enter" only (same as "N" & "Enter") and Edit will
restart at step 13.

15. Edit Screen & Commands:  The Edit screen displays command options:

...<^v>  Move the cursor in the 22 line text work area using the direction
keys.  The "SPACE bar" (right), "Backspace" (left), "Tab" (tab right) and
"Enter" (left margin of the next line) keys also move the cursor.

...Advance  "A" scrolls the text displayed up or down.  With the "Tell Me
HOW MANY LINES" prompt, type in a positive (scroll down) or negative number
(scroll up) and "Enter".

...Page Up  Page Dn  Display the previous or next text.

    NOTE: Although all of the Edit Commands are spelled out in full for easy
reference on the screen, only the first letter in upper or lower case (e.g.,
"A" or "a") invokes a command.
    NOTE: For all Edit Commands that prompt for further information, the
user may invoke them accidentally.  If so (except for End), simply press
"Enter" only, and the cursor returns to the text work area without
implementation of that command.

...Change  "C" followed by one or more characters of "text" terminated by
any non-printing character, such as the direction keys or "Enter" will
insert the "text" characters for those previously on the screen.  "C" is
a useful combination of deleting a number of characters and then inserting,
at the same place, the same number of characters.

...Delete or "D"  Cause one character of text to be deleted.

...End  Terminates the editing session.  To avoid accidental exits, the
"CtrlE" is required (press "E" while the "Ctrl" key is depressed).
    First, you are asked if you want to save the text (Y/N).  Perhaps you
used the program just to read or inspect the text.  If "Y", you are asked,
if there was an existing text file, if you wish to store the edited text
under the same file specification (Y/N).
    If "Y", the text is stored and Edit returns to step 13 above.
    If "N", the new file specifications are requested, before storing the
text and returning to step 13.

...Find  Prompts for one or more characters of "text" to find.  If the
"text" is found, it is positioned at the top of the screen with the cursor
on the first character of the "text".  If not found, Edit writes a NOT FOUND
message on the screen and does not reposition the display.

...Insert or "I" followed by "text" terminated by a non-printing character
inserts the text starting at the initial cursor position.  When in this
mode, the cursor will appear in the shape of a box.

    NOTE: Edit assumes "Inserting."  That is, if any printable character key
is pressed (except those that invoke Edit commands), an Insert command is
commenced.  This feature often saves an "I" keystroke.
    If the cursor is beyond existing text, Insert is always assumed.

...Kill  "K" deletes one or more lines of text starting with the cursor
position.  If the cursor is at the left margin, the user is prompted to type
the number of lines to Kill.  If the cursor is to the right of the left
margin, "K" (will not prompt the user) deletes the rest of the text line and
appends the next line to the current line.

...Line  "L" inserts one or more blank lines starting with the cursor.  If
the cursor is at the left margin, the user is prompted to specify the number
of lines to insert.  At other cursor positions, "L" moves all text starting
with the cursor down one line leaving the remainder of the current line
blank.
    NOTE: The "K" and "L" commands may be viewed as opposite operations.

...Replace  "R" replaces one or more characters with one or more characters
from the cursor position to the end of the file.  The user is prompted to
type the text to be replaced and then the replacement.

...Save  "S" selects one or more lines of text starting with the cursor for
later placement elsewhere by the Unsave command "U".  Text saved in one file
may be unsaved in a subsequent file.

...Unsave  "U" inserts one or more lines which have been previously saved by
"S" and "U" inserts saved text at the current cursor position.  The "U"
command can be used repeatedly with the same saved text.

...Width  "W" prompts the user to specify the right margin used to format
lines if an insert causes a line to exceed the then effective line width.
    Then, if the user desires, Edit will reformat the text to the right
margin specified.  Edit starts with width equal to 78 characters.

...Tab  Moves the cursor a user-specified number of spaces to the right.
When the "Tab" key is first used, the user is asked for the tab width.

                   HOW EDIT INPUTS A FILE

Edit will input and display ASCII text files from SKYWRITER, many other
kinds of text files from various word-processing programs and virtually
anything else.  But NOTE the following:  Inputing the file, Edit deletes
certain special character codes (namely, 7,8,9,11,12,28,29 and 30).  This
will not affect the input file unless you save the file with Edit.  There
is an advantage to this procedure: (1) you can input and look at almost
anything (minus the above characters) and (2) certain "strange" codes in
text files can be "cleaned out" by using Edit to input the file and then
save it.

Copyright 1991 James J. Keene, Ph.D.
