KP Typing Tutor International Generation Version 4.0 Copyright (C) 1996 Zijian Huang All Right Reserved Shareware This document describes more details of KP, especially when you want to get more choices from the flexibility of KP. ******************************* How the batch files work ******************************* Here is the content of "kpuk.bat": kpworldc.exe kp.txt kpcourse.txt uk.key [kp.rec] [color/mono] The first argument indicates the sample text file which the functions "Sentence practice" and "Text practice" will use. The second indicates the sample text which the function "Course" will use. The third indicates a keyboard template file, KP uses this file to display a specified virtual keyboard template on the screen. The forth argument is optional. It records the progress of the learner. If a network manager is going to use KP in a network, the manager has better to indicate the path of this file. It is recommended that the manager treats this file as a user file to make sure that the learners can record their progress in their own files. For example: You install KP in "X:" drive, and the default user path is "F:", So you can write a batch file like: "... kpworldc.exe kp.txt course1.txt uk.key f:\kp.rec ..." Other DOS text files can be used as sample source files. It is recommended that the text files contain no more than 1600 lines, or the lines behind will be neglected; and each line contains no more than 78 characters, or the characters behind will be neglected. The last character of each line has better to be a visible character. DO REMEMBER, the bigger the sample text file is, the larger memory the KP program requires. It is recommended to call KP via a batch file which indicate all the arguments. If no argument is given to "kpworldf.exe", "kpworldf.exe" will search for "kp.txt", "kpcourse.txt", "uk.key" and 2kp.rec", and run under color mode. ******************************** Learning to type quickly ******************************** I think that learning to type is an easy business. I myself learned to type within nine hours in three days, using a manual typewriter, when I was in high school. My fingers are too short to play piano. What is the standard for learning to type? * At least, you can type A-Z using at least nine of your fingers without looking at the keyboard. * Or you can type a sentence at a speed of 60 keystroke per minute. * Or you can type as fast as you write. * Or you can type at speed more than 240 keys per minute or 40 WPM. * ... My opinion is that A-Z is enough for a beginner, other symbols can be neglected in the beginning. Compared with other typing tutors, KP is the only one that supports so many keyboard templates (including Dvorak) and languages, provides much flexibility to users and teachers, it is suitable to learners with various characteristics and experience. ************************** Where to get a copy of KP ************************** You can get KP from ftp and www, here is the list of addresses: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~n4521661/share.htm ftp://ftp.ncl.ac.uk/pub/local/n4521661/share ... If you want to get KP from ftp, please read "read.me" in the ftp directory first. To get access to a ftp site, here is a example: You could access it anonymously: ============================= ftp ftp.ncl.ac.uk user name->anonymous passwd->[your e-mail name] cd /pub/local/n4521661/share ============================= Here is an example in more detail: ftp >open ftp.ncl.ac.uk Connected to aidan.ncl.ac.uk. 220 aidan FTP server (Version wu-2.4(4) Fri Apr 22 15:04:35 BST 1994) ready. Name (ftp.ncl.ac.uk:root): anonymous 331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password. Password: 230- 230- ********************************************************************* 230-* 230-* This is the newcastle ftp archive. It is now running the Wuarchive ftp 230-* daemon, which means that compressed downloads, etc are supported. 230-* If your ftp client is having trouble, try a password starting with '-'. 230-* 230-* You must have an appropriate entry in the DNS. 230-* 230-* Please report any problems to "postmaster@newcastle.ac.uk." 230-* 230- ********************************************************************* 230- 230- 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply. ftp> cd /pub/local/n4521661/share 250 CWD command successful. ftp> ls 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list. ftp> kpmost.zip 226 Transfer complete. ftp>ls ftp>kpmost.zip extract ftp> bin ftp> get kpmost.zip ...... ftp> bye 221 Goodbye. ================================================== REMEMBAER touse 'bin' command first before you get non-ascii files. If your gate way do not allow transtering file with size more than 100KB, the try "cd extract", you will see a list of files, get all of them by "mget *.*". ================================================== !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COPYRIGHT NOTICE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KP Typing Tutor International Generation 4.0 is Copyright 1996 by Zijian Huang for this software, documentation, attendant files and user interface. All rights reserved. Since the KP Typing Tutor International Generation is very flexible, allowing the user to change the content of practice and styles of the virtual keyboard template, it is most likely that files of "*.bat", "*.key" and "*.txt" will be added by other users as the typing tutor is distributed world-wide. It is allowed for users to add some files while using the software and distributing the software. To avoid confusion, these additional files should NOT use the same names as those listed in document "readme.txt". These additional files do not belong to the domain of copyright of this software and will not affect the payment of registration. Any failure or copyright problem caused by these additional files is not the responsibility of the author of KP. The author of these additional files should not modify any of the documents listed in document "readme.txt" accompanied with KP software. The descriptions of these additional files should be written into documents with names like "readme*.add" for the convenience of other users. The first person who makes a file "*.key" indicating a keyboard template of a country that does not appear in the file list of document "readme.txt" should contact the author of KP, (s)he will receive the licence fee for the first 10 units of KP sold with this template, provided at least 10 units are purchased. And his (her) name and E- mail address may appear on the WWW page of KP if he (she) agrees with that. Before deciding to make a "*.key" file, please check the KP WWW page first to see whether some one else produced such a file already. The distributed package of this software should contain all the files listed in document "readme.txt". The user is free to delete some of the files for the convenience of private use. ************************************************* How to modify or produce a keyboard template file ************************************************* This section introduces to you how to modify or produce a keyboard template file. If you wish only to use the keyboard templates supplied, you don not need to read this section. Though the KP Typing Tutor International Generation was determined to support most alphabet languages and keyboards templates, KP needs your help to make it more international, supporting your language, and the keyboards used in your country on behalf of your nation. I just made files "uk.key", "ukf.key", "us.key", "fr.key", "gr.key", "be.key" and "it.key", others were from people on the internet. If you decide to make a new keyboard template file, please read this section, and the copyright notice of KP. Hopefully you understand ASCII code, code page, extend code page. "*.key" is a text file that only contains integer numbers. The format of the file will be described below by some examples. The content of uk.key is: 0 7 9 6 13 96 170 14 49 33 14 50 34 13 51 156 12 52 36 11 53 37 11 54 94 16 55 38 16 56 42 17 57 40 18 48 41 19 45 95 19 61 43 19 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 12 81 113 4 87 119 3 69 101 2 82 114 1 84 116 1 89 121 6 85 117 6 73 105 7 79 111 8 80 112 9 91 123 19 93 125 19 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 2 7 2 12 65 97 4 83 115 3 68 100 2 70 102 1 71 103 1 72 104 6 74 106 6 75 107 7 76 108 8 59 58 19 39 64 19 35 126 19 3 3 3 3 3 3 11 11 7 7 7 7 11 11 3 3 3 3 7 2 7 2 7 2 11 124 92 14 90 122 4 88 120 3 67 99 2 86 118 1 66 98 1 78 110 6 77 109 6 44 60 17 46 62 18 47 63 19 7 2 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 2 7 2 7 2 IT SHOULD BE NOTICED that each line of a "uk.key" file will probably more than 80 characters, if you want to read and write a "*.key" file more easily, you may turn off the wrap line function of the editor. The following are descriptions for this file: 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 0 7 9 6 Four numbers indicate the offsets from the left-most of the keyboard, for each line of keys from top to bottom. You may compare "uk.key" and 2us.key" to see the difference of this line. // 2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222 13 96 170 14 49 33 14 50 34 13 51 156 12 52 36 11 53 37 11 54 94 16 55 38 16 56 42 17 57 40 18 48 41 19 45 95 19 61 43 19 The number 13 indicates there exist 13 keys in the top row of the keyboard; the following 13 groups of numbers indicate the information of the 13 keys on the top row of the keyboard. In each group, the first number indicates the ASCII code of the lower case character; the second indicates the ASCII code of the upper case character; the third indicates the attribute of the key. For example, number 14 contains number 1 and 4, number 4 means the little finger of the left hand, number 1 means this key is divided into lower part and upper part. // 33333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 7 2 These 13 groups of data indicate the colors of characters of each key. In each group, the FIRST number indicate the color of the UPPER case character, the SECOND indicate the color of the LOWER case character. 444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 12 81 113 4 87 119 3 69 101 2 82 114 1 84 116 1 89 121 6 85 117 6 73 105 7 79 111 8 80 112 9 91 123 19 93 125 19 In this line, number 12 indicate there exist 12 keys on the second row. Number 8 contains number 0 and 8. Number 0 means this key is for a alphabet letter. Number 8 means the ring finger of the right hand. 555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 2 7 2 6666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 12 65 97 4 83 115 3 68 100 2 70 102 1 71 103 1 72 104 6 74 106 6 75 107 7 76 108 8 59 58 19 39 64 19 35 126 19 7777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777 3 3 3 3 3 3 11 11 7 7 7 7 11 11 3 3 3 3 7 2 7 2 7 2 8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 11 124 92 14 90 122 4 88 120 3 67 99 2 86 118 1 66 98 1 78 110 6 77 109 6 44 60 17 46 62 18 47 63 19 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 7 2 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 2 7 2 7 2 Symbolic constant numeric value: BLACK 0 BLUE 1 GREEN 2 CYAN 3 RED 4 MAGENTA 5 BROWN 6 LIGHTGRAY 7 DARKGRAY 8 LIGHTBLUE 9 LIGHTGREEN 10 LIGHTCYAN 11 LIGHTRED 12 LIGHTMAGENTA 13 YELLOW 14 WHITE 15 "Note: Some monitors do not recognise the intensity signal used to create the eight "light" colors(8-15). On such monitors, the light colors are displayed as their "dark" equivalents (0-7). Also, systems that do not display in color can treat these numbers as shades of one color, special patterns, or special attributes (such as underlined, bold, italics, and so on). Exactly what you"ll see on such systems depends on your hardware." (From Borland C++ on-line help) The ASCII code for each character in this file follow US code page (437) that is used by PCs in UK. The UK keyboard is quite similar to US keybaord. In file "ukf.key", you can see an additional line with ten number, 6 14 5 3 4 6 15 5 3 4 which define the colors of ten fingers. The order is: l-t, l-i, l-m, l-r, l-l; r-t, r-i, r-m, r-l. Try to run "kpukf.bat". Which layout would you like? Hopefully, this example will give you some ideas how kpworldf.exe can work on various keyboards and different alphabet languages. Any other advice, comments, suggestions please send to me. Here, I also thank Miss Katrien Deroey who helped me to generate French, German, Belgium keyboard templates.