Users Guide for WinProof

Intellect Systems

P.O. Box 58213  Renton, WA  98058

Phone: (206) 226-0429

Internet EMAIL: 72630,3457@compuserve.com

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

An introduction to WinProof

Chapter 2

Using the commands in WinProof

Using the mouse

Activating the menu bar

Using dialog boxes

Quitting WinProof

Chapter 3

Proofreading with WinProof

Interactively proofread (Press F1)

Selecting a file to proofread

Special note for SHARE.EXE

Selecting a report filename

Proofreading sentences

Handling errors that WinProof detects

Using the report file to correct your document

Report only proofreading (Press F2)

Finishing proofreading

Transferring your changes to your document

Chapter 4

Changing your options in WinProof

Turning grammar rules on/off

Program Options (Press F4)

Default directory

Detect Style Errors

Using LCD screens

Using PC-Write or extended ASCII files

Do not create report files

Report only one error per sentence

Saving your options (Press F5)

Retrieving your options (Press F6)

Custom grammar rules

Chapter 5

Special features of WinProof

Proofreading with the Windows clipboard

Spell checking

Chapter 6

Using your word processor

Supported word processors

Unsupported word processors

Chapter 7

Using WinProof on a network

Creating your own configuration files

Chapter 8

How WinProof works

Chapter 9

Troubleshooting

Contacting Intellect Systems

Questions and answers

Copyright notice/License Agreement


Chapter 1

An introduction to WinProof

WinProof is a revolutionary new grammar checker that blazes new territory by using a "molecular" parsing technology that allows WinProof to detect the toughest and most embarrassing grammar errors without flagging every single sentence in your document. In a real sense, WinProof "understands" how English sentences are put together and it uses this knowledge to provide an amazingly accurate level of grammar checking. WinProof doesn't try to change your writing style by flooding you with annoying style objections and readability statistics. Instead, WinProof concentrates on finding serious grammatical errors. Even the best writers can make grammar mistakes because proofreading is a laborious and difficult task. Often, the proofreading process is completely skipped because there isn't enough time to proofread. This can lead to embarrassing errors because it is all too easy to drop words in a sentence or to misspell a word into another word. For example:

I put the car it the garage.

The those cars are good.

I we examine the problem, we can solve it.

A teacher tried teach a difficult class.

These are not subtle errors that only a grammar teacher would point out. These are errors that could be easily corrected if they were pointed out in the document. WinProof's main purpose is to point out sentences which may contain grammar errors. When WinProof detects a suspect sentence, it is presented to the user for proofreading. A short description of the suspect problem and how to fix it is provided. After proofreading the sentence and examining the description of the problem, the user can make any needed corrections.

The program detects grammar errors by looking for unusual word order or usage. Because English is a complex language which can be used in many ways, WinProof cannot detect errors with a 100% accuracy. Any sentence which is even slightly unusual or complex can be flagged as having an error, even though the sentence is perfectly correct. Therefore it is the responsibility of the user to decide if there is actually an error in the sentence. The complexity of English also means that WinProof may not be able to precisely identify the error. This means that the user should use the program's advice as a general guide to finding an error. The suspect sentence should first be carefully proofread. If the sentence looks correct then you should examine the word which is highlighted and the explanation/advice message. Additional advice is available by pressing the F1 Key. If the sentence still looks correct, then it probably is correct and the user should skip the sentence. It is important to remember WinProof flags sentences that might contain an error. Don't spend time on sentences that appear correct. WinProof does flag some perfectly correct sentences due to the complex nature of English.

By pointing out the few sentences which might contain errors, the user has a better chance of detecting and correcting serious mistakes. However, WinProof is not a substitute for manual proofreading. There will always be some errors which cannot be detected by any grammar checking program. WinProof helps the user to proofread by indicating which sentences to carefully proofread. It does not replace proofreading.


Chapter 2

Using the commands in WinProof

Using the mouse

WinProof uses a menu system which is similar to many graphical interfaces. You can use both the keyboard and the mouse to activate the menus. If you have a mouse, make sure you have loaded the newest device driver for your mouse before starting WinProof. (Consult the manual which came with your mouse.) The mouse pointer appears as a rectangular box which moves when you move your mouse if you are using WinProof or as an arrow if you are using WinProof.

Activating the menu bar

The top line is the menu bar. To activate the menus, you can use the mouse to point at menu items by placing the mouse pointer over the menu item and pressing the left mouse button. You can also press the F10 key to activate the top menu bar. Once the menu bar has been activated by pressing F10, you can use the arrow keys to move through the menu selections. You can also activate the menu bar items by pressing the ALT key and the highlighted letter (shown in red in WinProof or underlined in WinProof) of the menu item. For example, to activate the 'Files' menu, press ALT-F. Once a menu bar item has been selected, a pull-down menu appears. To activate a command, use the mouse to click on a command or use the arrow keys to highlight the command you want and then press the Enter key. On the right side of each pull-down menu, you will see function key names. You can press these function keys to activate the command shown on the left side of the pull-down menu. For example, pressing the F1 key will activate the 'Interactively proofread' command under the 'Files' menu.

Using dialog boxes

After you select a command, a dialog box may appear. Dialog boxes ask for more information and can contain many items. To select between items (such as buttons and checkboxes) in the dialog boxes, press the TAB key or point at each item with the mouse and press the left mouse button. Use the arrow keys to move between items in a group of checkboxes or filenames. If you want to cancel any command, press the ESC key.

Quitting WinProof

To quit or exit WinProof, select the "Exit" command in the "File" pulldown menu or press ALT-X. Never quit WinProof by turning off your machine or rebooting.


Chapter 3

Proofreading with WinProof

Before you begin to proofread a document, make sure that you have saved the document to a disk file and that you know where the file is located. If your word processor has a spell checker, use it before proofreading. WinProof is more accurate when all of the words in a document are correctly spelled. Once you have prepared a document, there are two ways you can use WinProof to proofread. The interactive method stops at each suspect sentence and allows you to take an action. The report only method writes all of the suspect sentences to a disk file for you to review later.

Interactively proofread (Press F1)

Select the 'Interactively proofread' command in the 'Files' menu to use the interactive method. You can also activate this command by pressing the F1 key. After you select this command, a dialog box will appear which asks you for the file to proofread.

Selecting a file to proofread

The top of the dialog box shows a wildcard filename and a list of files that you can select. If you know the name and location of the file to proofread, you can type it in the top line of the dialog box. If you want to look at a different directory, you can type the name of the directory in the top line. You can also change the types of files which are displayed by specifying a wildcard filename (see your DOS manual about wildcard filenames). Press the Enter key to select a filename, new directory or wildcard. To select a file shown in the file list, you must press the Tab key to move into the file list area. Once you are in the file list area, you can use the arrow keys to select a specific file. The files are shown in alphabetical order. You can also move the file list pointer by typing the first letters of the filename that you are interested in. For example, if the file you want starts with the letter 'R' then you can press the R key to move the file pointer to the beginning of the files which start with the letter R.

Special note for Microsoft products and SHARE.EXE

If you cannot access the file, check if you have SHARE.EXE in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Some programs such as Word 6.0 require that SHARE be loaded. The share program prevents two programs from accessing the same file. Check if the file is open in another application (like your word processor). You will need to close the file in the other application before you can access the file with WinProof.  You only need to close the file. You do not have to quit the word processing program. After you have opened the file in WinProof, you can re-open the file in your word processor to make modifications.

Selecting a report filename

After you have selected a file to proofread, another dialog box appears which asks you for the name of a file to report the errors to. A default filename based on your original file name is provided. By default, the report file will appear in the same directory as your original file and it will have the same name as the original file except that the extension will be changed to .RPT.  The report file keeps track of the errors that WinProof finds.

Proofreading sentences

After you have selected a report file, the proofreading screen appears. The top part of the screen shows each word as it is proofread. You can pause the proofreading process by pressing any key. Once the program has been paused, you can choose to either quit proofreading or to continue.

Handling errors that WinProof detects

When WinProof finds a suspected error, the program stops and highlights the suspect sentence. The window in the middle of the screen displays a short explanation/advice message and the bottom window contains seven option buttons to handle the sentence. Carefully proofread the sentence. Pay close attention to the highlighted word. If you need a more detailed explanation of the problem, press the F1 key. A one page explanation of the possible problem will appear.

The color of the highlight is determined by how serious the error is. There are three possible highlight errors.

Red - This means that a serious error has been detected with a high probability. These errors include misused words and agreement errors. All sentences highlighted in red should be carefully proofread for errors. However, it is still possible that the sentence is correct. These errors are also signaled by three stars *** in the beginning of the explanation window and in the report file.

Yellow - This means that WinProof has detected a potential problem, but it cannot determine if a problem actually exists by itself. You must carefully read the entire sentence and decide if WinProof was right or wrong.  These errors include some of the most serious errors like extra, dropped and misspelled words. These errors are also signaled by two stars ** in the beginning of the explanation window and in the report file.

Green - This means that WinProof has detected a writing style problem. These are usually minor problems that can be left in your writing. These errors are also signaled by one star * in the beginning of the explanation window and in the report file. Since these minor style problems are unimportant to many people, you can turn off all rules of this type in the program options command.

After you have proofread the sentence, select one of the seven options or switch directly to your word processor if you are using program switching software. Use the mouse to select a button or press the first letter of the button. Your options are:

FIND NEXT PROBLEM

Select this option if the sentence is correct. The sentence will not be written to the report file and WinProof will continue proofreading. Select this option anytime you want to skip past a sentence.

REPORT THIS PROBLEM

If the sentence is wrong and the explanation of the problem makes sense to you, then select this option. The incorrect sentence and an explanation of the error will be written to the problem report file. The following is a sample report file.

[1]

[------ORIGINAL SENTENCE------] on line: 84

Use the program's advice as a general guide to finding a *problems* .

[-----------------------------]

**********EXPLANATION/ADVICE**************

Check if the highlighted noun needs to be changed to a singular form. Verify that any adjectives before the noun agree in number with the highlighted noun.

******************************************

Using the report file to correct your document

The report file shows the original sentence with the error word surrounded by asterisks. A short explanation/advice message is given after the sentence. Each sentence in the report file is numbered to help you keep track of which sentence you are working on. The line in your document which contains the error is also reported so you can easily find the error. However, some word processors such as Word for Windows do not contain line number information in the file so the line number is not reported. Use the 'search' feature of your word processor to find and correct each sentence in the error report. If your word processor can display more than one file at a time, you can load the report file into your word processor along with the original text file. You can also load the problem report into a pop-up editor like SideKick. This will allow you to view the problem report and your original text at the same time.

EDIT

If you want to make a correction to the sentence and then recheck the sentence for errors, use this option. This option allows you to edit the incorrect sentence. A window on the bottom of the screen will appear which will contain the original sentence. The cursor will be placed on the highlighted error word. Typing will replace the highlighted word. If you want to modify the highlighted word, you must first use the arrow keys to move the cursor off the highlighted word. It is possible that some sentences may be too large to edit. You will see an error message if the sentence is too large. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor around. Press the backspace or Delete key to remove characters. Press F10 to finish editing your sentence. The original sentence and the edited sentence are written to the problem report file. The following is an example of a report file entry.

[5]

[-----ORIGINAL SENTENCE------] on line: 36

The report

file can be over *65000* bytes long.

----------------------------------------

*********EXPLANATION/ADVICE*************

*Check if this large number needs commas.

For numbers which contain more than four digits, you should place a

comma after every three digits, e.g., "2,345,454" instead of "2345454."

########YOUR CORRECTED SENTENCE#########

*  LOCATED AT: 1466 1513

*  The report

*  file can be over 65,000 bytes long.

****************************************

If you are checking a WordPerfect, ASCII or PC-Write file, a location marker will appear with the corrected sentence. This location marker allows WinProof to insert the corrected sentence into the original file. After you have proofread the entire document, WinProof will ask if you want to modify your original document. If you select to modify your document, all of the editing changes you made will be transferred to the original document. However, modifying your original file is not recommended. This is because WinProof cannot control the formatting of your document. If you modify your original document, you will need to carefully check the formatting of the changed sentences. Inserting or deleting words may cause the margins and page breaks to change in your document. You will lose any formatting commands contained within the edited sentence. It is a much better idea to save all of your editing for your word processor. Remember that you can only modify the original file if you are using a WordPerfect, PC-Write or ASCII file. Otherwise, your corrections will not be made to the original file. They will only be noted in the report file and you will need to redo your changes with your word processor.

CHANGE

If WinProof suggests a possible correction, you will be able to make the correction automatically by selecting the change option. You can use this option when the explanation window asks you to consider another word and the change button is selectable. Otherwise, the change button is grayed out and you will not be able to use it. Like the EDIT command, WinProof can only directly modify a WordPerfect, PC-Write or ASCII file.

COMMENT ON THIS SENTENCE

If the program finds a mistake, but the explanation is completely irrelevant or wrong, this option allows you to make a note for yourself about what needs to be changed. Your comment needs to contain enough information for you to correct the sentence later on. The following is an example of a comment in the report file.

[1]

[-----ORIGINAL SENTENCE------] on line: 36

If your *select* the interactive option,

WinProof will stop and display each sentence which might contain a grammar error.

[----------------------------]

*******EXPLANATION/ADVICE***************

**This sentence should be carefully checked. Look for unusual word usage or if a comma needs to be added. The word "that" may be needed to introduce a phrase in the sentence. Pay attention to the highlighted word. Please check if "select" followed by "the" is an unusual word usage.

----YOUR COMMENT ABOUT THE SENTENCE-----

change the word "your" to "you"

****************************************

IGNORE THIS KIND OF ERROR

If WinProof reports errors which are not important to you, you can easily turn them off with this option. The program can report over 44 different kinds of errors. Some of these errors such as 'passive voice' may not be important to you. However, you should be careful that you don't turn off the more generic error messages which warn you of missing or misused words. If you turned these rules off, you would miss many grammar errors. The rules that you turn off will remain that way during your entire proofreading session. When you quit WinProof, you will be asked if you want to make your rule changes permanent. If you make your changes permanent, the rules that you changed will always be off. If the error is listed as a custom rule in the explanation/advice window, then the ignore button is grayed and you will not be able to ignore this error. In order to turn off a custom rule, you must modify the custom rule file.

QUIT CHECKING FOR PROBLEMS

If you decide that you do not want to check the rest of your document, select this option to quit. When you quit or when WinProof finishes proofreading a document, an information dialog box appears. This dialog box indicates where the report file was written to, the number of sentences in the document and the percentage of sentences that were written to the report file. If you want to quit or exit the program, press the ESC or ALT-X keys.

Report only proofreading (Press F2)

If you choose the report only proofreading command, WinProof will proofread the entire document without stopping. All of the suspect sentences will be written to the report file. The advantage of this method is that you can do something else while your document is being proofread. If you are using a multitasking operating system like Microsoft Windows, you can continue to work with your word processor while WinProof is checking your document. The disadvantage is that you will need to review both correct and incorrect sentences in the problem report file and you can't use the on-line help provided in the interactive mode.

Finishing proofreading

After your document has been proofread, statistics for your document will be displayed. The top line will indicate the name of the report file. The second line displays the total number of sentences processed and the third line displays  the number of sentences that were flagged. The approximate grade level of the document is displayed in the fourth line. This grade level is based on the Gunning Fog index and it represents the approximate education level which is needed to understand your document. A grade level of 8 is considered appropriate for most people. The last line reports the total number of words in the document.

If you edited sentences in WinProof and you were using a WordPerfect, ASCII or PC-Write file, you will be asked if you want the edits that you made to be transferred back to your original document. Select modify to transfer your edits. If you are using WinProof for DOS, you will be able to change the name of the new file that will contain your changes. If you do not change the name of the file, your original unchanged file is renamed with a .BAK extension. You can return to this backup file if you decide that you don't want to keep your changes. After you have modified the file, you should load it back into your word processor and check for formatting changes. Formatting such as line length, page breaks and margins are not preserved in the edited sentences. If you do not see the modify file dialog after you have edited your sentences, then you must manually transfer your changes to your original document by referring to the report file.


Chapter 4

Changing your options in WinProof

Turning grammar rules on/off

You can change WinProof's options by selecting "Options" in the menubar. You can switch on and off any of the program's error messages under the "Turn grammar rules on/off" command. When you select this command, a screen will appear with a list of grammar rules. Beside each rule is a checkbox. If the checkbox is marked with an X, the rule is active. Use the mouse to change the checkbox or use the arrow keys to move between the list of rules. Pressing the spacebar will change the state of the highlighted checkbox. There are several pages of rules. You can view the other pages by selecting the 'Next' and 'Previous' buttons or you can use the PG UP and PG DN keys. If you turned off rules while proofreading, you can turn them back on again in the options' menu. If you are uncertain about the meaning of a rule, press the F1 key while the rule is highlighted. A help page will be displayed that will give you a better explanation of the rule.

Program Options (Press F4)

There are several other options you can change by using the 'Program Options' command.

Default directory

The first option in the program options page allows you to specify the default directory and wildcard filename that is used when you select a file to proofread. A wildcard filename (the filename must contain either * or ?) must be specified in this option. For example, if you wanted to have all files with the extension .DOC displayed in the C:\WP directory, you would type C:\WP\*.DOC in the default directory and wildcard file type. If you do not see your document files displayed when you start to proofread, you need to change the default directory to where you store your document files.

Detect Style Errors

The second option allows you to change the error sensitivity level.  If you want to detect style problems, select this option. Most of the style problems can be left in your document without detracting from your writing. If you want to skip these types of problems and want to review the fewest number of sentences, this option should be turned off.

Using LCD screens

The third option allows you to optimize the display if you are using a monochrome or LCD screen. Some of the dialog boxes and menus may not show up very well on LCD screens. Use this option if you are using an LCD or monochrome screen.

Using PC-Write or extended ASCII files

If you are using PC-Write files, you need to select this option if you want to be able to transfer your edited sentences to your original file. Otherwise, your edited sentences will only be written to the report file. You can also try this option if WinProof cannot read your word processor's file format or if your document contains non-standard characters. These non-standard characters are known as extended ASCII characters and they typically represent foreign, line drawing, or math characters.

Do not create report files

If you normally proofread interactively, there is no need to create a report file that clutters up your document directory. By selecting this option, you will not be prompted for a report file name and no report file will be created. However, report files will always be created if you do a "Report Only" proofreading session.

Report only one error per sentence

You can select this option to reduce the number of times that the program stops to report errors. The program will only report the first error in the sentence and skip any other errors that might be present in the rest of the sentence. By carefully reading the entire sentence from the first error, you can probably detect and fix any other problems that might be in the sentence. Therefore, you won't need the program to stop at a sentence more than once.

Saving your options (Press F5)

You can permanently save your options by using the 'Save Options' command. When you select this command, a dialog box will appear which contains the filename of the currently selected configuration file and a list of available configuration files. To save your options under the currently selected configuration file, press the Enter key. If you want to save your options under a new configuration file name, type a new name in the dialog box. Please use the extension .CFG for your configuration file name. If you want to save your configuration with one of the files in the list, press the Tab key to move into the filelist area and use the arrow keys to select a file. The configuration files are always saved in the same directory that WinProof was started in.

Retrieving your options (Press F6)

After you save your options, the configuration file you selected will be automatically used the next time you use WinProof. To use another configuration file, select the 'Retrieve Options' command. A dialog box will be displayed which contains all of the available configuration files. Press the tab key to move into the filelist area and use the arrow keys to select a configuration file. Press the Enter key to select the file. WinProof comes with several sample configuration files. For example, the file ALLON.CFG has all of the grammar and style rules turned on. Use this configuration file for maximum error detection. However, WinProof should rarely be used or evaluated with this configuration. Unless you are prepared to review many flagged sentences, the ALLON configuration should not be used. For most users who are evaluating or using WinProof for the first time, the normal configuration really does provide the best level of grammar checking. The default configuration file NORMAL.CFG has some rules like 'passive voice' turned off. If you want WinProof to detect these problems, you must turn them on in the options menu.  Experiment with the .CFG files to find the one that suits you the best. The configuration file which is being used is noted at the top of the option page. The following configuration files are included with WinProof.

ALLON.CFG - Turns on all rules

READONLY.CFG - Turns off all rules

GRAMONLY.CFG - Turns off all style rules

NORMAL.CFG - Turns off selected style rules

PCPROOF.CFG - Default config (Same as NORMAL)

SPELL.CFG - Spell check only (WinProof only)

Custom grammar rules

In addition to the rules found in the options dialog, WinProof has a special class of rules that can be modified to suit your own needs. These rules belong to the custom rule class and you can recognize these rules in the explanation/advice window by the title "Custom rule number: ". These rules are found in a special file called PCPROOF.RUL in the WinProof installation directory. By modifing this file with a standard ASCII text editor like EDIT.COM included with DOS, you can add or delete custom rules.  The custom rule class can detect any error that is signaled by particular sequence of words. Each rule takes one line in the file and can be up to 80 characters in length. The following are two examples of the rules that are included with WinProof:

Corp \ ***This abbreviation requires a period. | Corp.

a lot of \ *"a lot of" is informal. Try to reword the sentence.

The first part of the rule contains up to four words to trigger the rule. This part of the rule is case sensitive, so be sure to use the exact case you want to detect in the rule. A backslash "\" character separates the trigger words from the error message. This is the message that is displayed in the explanation/advice window. The message begins with a sequence of up to three star "*" symbols to indicate the seriousness of the problem. If you want to suggest a replacement for the trigger words, place a bar character "|" (usually found on the same key as the backslash) after the error message followed by the replacement words. Make sure that you separate the "\" and "|" with spaces.

An example of a custom rule might be that you want to detect when you use the word "manger" instead of the word "manager". The line that you would add to the custom rule file would be:

manger \ ***Check if you meant manager | manager

If you want to turn off some of the custom rules, you can either delete the entire line that contains the rule or you can put a semicolon ";" at the beginning of the rule. All lines that begin with a semicolon are treated as comments and they are ignored. To find a rule in the custom rule file, refer to the custom rule number shown in the explanation/advice window. The number refers to the line that contains the rule. Lines that contain comments don't count so the rule number might not correspond to the line number in the rule file, but you can still use it as a general guide to finding a rule.


Chapter 5

Special features of WinProof

Proofreading with the Windows clipboard

With WinProof, you can proofread the contents of the Windows clipboard. This will allow you to proofread a document without needing to save your document or know the filename. It is also useful for proofreading documents created by word processors which are not file compatible with WinProof. Transferring text to the clipboard removes formatting commands which can confuse WinProof. To proofread clipboard text, select some or all of your text in your word processor and use the "Copy" command to copy the text to the clipboard. Then switch to WinProof and select "Proofread Clipboard" under the files menu or press CTRL-P. A dialog box will ask you if you want to proofread interactively or only generate a report. The report will be written to the file CLIPBRD.RPT. If you edited some of your sentences, these changes can be written back to the clipboard. You will be asked to modify the clipboard after WinProof has finished proofreading the clipboard contents. You can paste the modified contents of the clipboard back into your original document. Make sure that you do not unhighlight your text in your word processor. If you unhighlight your text, you will end up with a duplicate copy of your document when you use the "Paste" command to transfer your changes back to your original document. You should also proofread your document before doing any complex formatting. The formatting commands are lost when they are copied to the clipboard.

Spell checking

WinProof can check the spelling of your document as it checks for grammar errors. To turn on spell checking, make sure that the "Turn on spell checking" option is turned on in the Program Options dialog box. Since many people do not want to spell check proper names, you can choose to ignore most of the names by leaving the "Spell check proper names" option unchecked. However, names at the beginning of a sentence are always checked because it is not possible to determine if the word represents a name or a misspelled word at the start of the sentence.

If the word is correctly spelled, select "Find next problem". This word will not be flagged for correction in the rest of the document. If the highlighted word is not the correct replacement, use the arrow keys to find the correct replacement. You can also directly type in a replacement word. Select "Replace word" to make your correction. When you select a replacement for a misspelled word, WinProof will automatically fix any other occurences of the misspelled word in the rest of the document. If the word is correct and you wish to add it to your spelling dictionary so that it is never flagged again, use the "Add to User Dict" option. You may also quit proofreading by selecting the "Quit checking" option.


Chapter 6

Using your word processor

Supported word processors

WinProof has been designed to work with many popular word processing formats. WinProof can read files created by  the following word processors:

WordPerfect 5, 6

Microsoft Word for DOS, 5

Microsoft Word for Windows 2, 6

Microsoft Works 2, 3

Microsoft Write 3

Professional Write 2

Ami Pro 3

PC-Write 3

WordStar 5

ASCII text

If you are using a WordPerfect, PC-Write or ASCII file, you will also have the ability to transfer your edited sentences to the original file. When you modify your original document with WinProof, you must check for formatting changes since WinProof does not preserve the formatting on the edited sentences. Word spacing might also be altered. If you are using PC-Write, you must select the "Use PC-Write" checkbox in the program options dialog box (Press F4).

Unsupported word processors

If your word processor is not included in this list, you should try WinProof with a file from your word processor to check if it works. WinProof will try to ignore formatting information, but it may appear as random characters on the screen during proofreading. These random characters usually will not interfere with proofreading. However, it is possible that the file format may cause WinProof to become stuck or it may not correctly identify the text in the document. If the files from your word processor do not work, you can try using the "Use PC-Write or extended ASCII files" option in the program options dialog box. (Press F4). If this doesn't work, you will need to create an ASCII file from your word processor. Refer to your word processor's manual on how to create ASCII files. You can also check your text through the clipboard. Click here for instructions on using the clipboard.


Chapter 7

Using WinProof on a network

WinProof can be used on a network. If you registered for a single user version of WinProof, only one user should use WinProof at a time. If you need to add more users on your system, you can call Intellect Systems for a network license.

Creating your own configuration files

If several people use the same copy of WinProof, each person may want to use a different setup. In order to do this, each user must start WinProof in a different personal directory. For example, if you wanted to store your WinProof configuration files in the directory c:\usr\mike, then you would switch to the directory with the command:

cd \usr\mike

Then you would start WinProof in this directory. You need to make sure that the installation directory for WinProof is included in your path statement so that you can start WinProof from any directory. See your MS-DOS manual for information on using the PATH command. If you are using WinProof with Microsoft Windows, then you need to provide a different working directory for each user by activating the "File Properties" command (Alt-F-P). Modify the "Program properties" dialog so that the working directory points to a personal directory.

Each user would put a different directory in the "Working Directory" item. When a network user saves a configuration file, it will be saved in their own personal directory. This allows each user to have their own set of configuration files.


Chapter 8

How WinProof works

WinProof uses a unique, "molecular" parsing approach which represents a significant advance in language processing technology. The molecular parsing technique treats every word in the language like an atom. Like atoms, each word has particular binding characteristics that allow it to combine with only certain words in certain orders. The best way to explain this is with a short example. Examine the sentence "The car is blue." The first word is "The". What does the word "the" need in order to be complete? It needs some kind of object or noun phrase. The next word in the sentence is "car". This satisfies the object requirement for the word "the". So the phrase "the car" forms a bond like two atoms might form a bond. However the phrase "the car" does not form a complete sentence because an action or verb is required. The next word "is" satisfies the verb requirement for a sentence. However, the word "is" cannot stand by itself at the end of the sentence. It also requires something. In this case, it requires a description or adjective which is satisfied with the word "blue". The word blue doesn't require anything else and all of the other requirements for the words in the sentence have been satisfied, so this must be a legal English sentence. If you try to drop a word in this sentence, you can see that one of the words won't be satisfied. For example, if you drop the word "blue" so the sentence reads "The is blue", this sentence is ungrammatical because the requirements for the word "the" cannot be filled by the word "is". This is only one simple example, but WinProof knows the requirements for every single word in the English language.


Chapter 9

Troubleshooting

Contacting Intellect Systems

If you encounter a problem with WinProof, the problem can usually be solved by carefully reading this User Guide manual. If the manual does not resolve the problem, consult other computer users. There are many computer user groups that can provide you with assistance. Please try to resolve the problem before contacting Intellect Systems. If you need assistance or would like to provide a comment or suggestion about WinProof, please write to the following address:

Intellect Systems

P.O. Box 58213

Renton, WA  98058

If you cannot wait for a written reply, you can call Intellect Systems at (206) 226-0429 from 10AM-4PM PST on weekdays. East coast users, please do not call before 1:00PM. Please call only if you cannot resolve the problem in any other manner. CompuServe users can send EMAIL to 72630,3457. Internet users can send EMAIL to 72630.3457@compuserve.com.

Questions and answers

If you have a problem or a question, please read this section before contacting Intellect Systems

WinProof says it cannot find or access my file.

Make sure that you have typed in the correct name and location for the file. To do this, you can first type in the directory where you keep your word processing files in the "File Open" dialog box. This will switch you to the directory and show you the files in the directory. Use the mouse or arrow keys to scroll through the list of files until you find the one that you want. If the program still reports that the file does not exist, check if the file is still being used by another program such as your word processor. If a network SHARE program is loaded, you will need to close the file in your word proccessor before you can open it up in WinProof.

WinProof doesn't check any of the sentences in my file.

Check if you are using one of the word processors supported by WinProof. If you have recently upgraded your word processor, WinProof may not work with your new word processor's file format. You can try to select the "Use PC-write or extended ASCII" option in the Program Options dialog. If this doesn't work, you will need to convert your document to a plain ASCII file before you can check it. You can also check your text through the clipboard. Click here for instructions on using the clipboard.

I cannot run WinProof. When I try to start WinProof, it hangs my machine.

Check if you have a good copy of WinProof.  Try to load WinProof on another machine. Go to a computer store if you don't have access to another computer. If you can't get WinProof to run on any machine, then your copy of WinProof is defective. Get another copy of WinProof and try again. If WinProof won't work on just your machine, then you may be using an incompatible utility or driver. Please report any incompatible programs and drivers to Intellect Systems.

When I run WinProof on my laptop, some of the menus and dialog boxes are hard to read. Can the colors be changed?

If you are using an LCD or monochrome screen, you can use a black and white screen color set by selecting 'Use LCD color set' under the 'Options' menu.

My word processor is not supported by WinProof. Can I still use WinProof?

WinProof has been designed to work with almost any word processing format. WinProof attempts to pull out only the ASCII text contained in any type of document. You must test if WinProof will work with your word processor. If it doesn't, then you can still use WinProof by converting your document into an ASCII format.

How come the changes I made in the document don't show up when I look at the file?

First, you can only modify your original file if you using either a WordPerfect, PC-Write or a pure ASCII file. If you are using any other file format, your changes will not be written to the original file. If you are using a WordPerfect or ASCII file, then you should check if there are duplicate file names. It is very easy to lose track of which file you are working on if you have the same filename in different directories.

The foreign characters in my document don't show up. What is happening?

WinProof does not support the use of foreign characters. WinProof will usually convert foreign characters into spaces. This usually does not affect the proofreading process. If you don't want WinProof to convert foreign characters, use the "Use PC-Write or extended ASCII" option in the "Program Options" command.

Can I add words to WinProof since I use many technical terms that wouldn't be in any dictionary?

This isn't necessary since WinProof can guess the definition of a word based on the context. The grammar of a sentence also usually depends on the most common words in the sentence.

Where are my configuration files being written to? How do I use the sample configuration files?

It is important to remember that when you use the "Save Options" command, your new configuration file is normally saved in the same directory that you started WinProof in. For example, if you started WinProof from your C:\USR\MIKE directory, your new configuration file will be stored in this directory. If you use "Retrieve Options", only the configurations files in C:\USR\MIKE will be displayed. If you want to use the sample configuration files, you will need to type in the directory where WinProof is installed. For example, you could type C:\PCPROOF in the Retrieve Options dialog box. The configuration files found in C:\PCPROOF will then be displayed. If all else fails, you can reset your configuration by deleting the file PCPROOF.FIL from your personal directories. You can also install the program from the original disks.

When I run WinProof, I get a message that some files are missing. What happened?

If you get this message, it means that WinProof has not been correctly installed or files have been accidentally erased. Reinstall the program and retry WinProof.

I get a disk access error while using WinProof. What does this mean?

This usually means that you cannot write to the disk that you are using. Check if you have ample disk space. Try other programs. If the problem persists, your hard disk may be defective.

WinProof is randomly crashing. What could be happening?

First check if your other applications still work. If they also don't work then you may be experiencing a hardware failure. Another possibility is that a computer virus has infected your system. Check your hardware and scan for computer viruses. Another possibility is that the copy of WinProof on your disk has faded or been corrupted. Try to re-install the program.


Copyright Notice

Program written by: Franklin T. Hu

Copyright 1996 by Intellect Systems. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, for any purpose other than the purchaser's personal use, without the prior written consent of Intellect Systems.

Use of this software is provided by Intellect Systems subject to the terms and conditions of the software license and warranty included in the software package. Please read the license and warranty agreement before using the software. It is against the law to copy this software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license agreement.

All Intellect Systems products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intellect Systems. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Professional Write is a trademark of Software Publishing Corporation. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corporation. WordStar is a registered trademark of WordStar International Incorporated. Grammatik is a registered trademark of Reference Software. Correct Grammar is a registered trademark of Lifetree Software Inc. RightWriter is a registered trademark of Que Software. SideKick is a registered trademark of Borland International. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Intellect Systems.

License Agreement

Carefully read the following terms and conditions. Use or distribution of WinProof constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions and your agreement to abide by them.

Registered users are granted a license to use WinProof on a single computer. A registered user may use the program on a different computer, so long as the program is only being used on one computer at a time. If several people use the software at the same time, you must pay a license fee for each person using the software. This includes network installations. This license only grants you the right to use WinProof. Intellect Systems retains the title to WinProof. Registered users may not share the registration key, which is supplied to licensed users only. The supplied registration key may only be used by the licensee specified in the original order for the license. By ordering a license, you acknowledge that the registration key represents a trade secret and agree to protect it as such. Misuse of the registration key is subject to the collection of triple the fees that should have been collected and all legal fees and costs.

Limited warranty:

Intellect Systems warrants that all disks and physical documentation provided to registered users are free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 90 days after the date of your purchase. If you discover a defect within the warranty period, the diskette or documentation will be replaced without any additional charge. Intellect Systems warrants that the program will perform in substantial compliance with the documentation supplied with the software product. If a significant defect in the product is found within 90 days of registering, the defect will be corrected or the purchaser will be entitled to a refund minus any shipping and handling charges.  In no event will such a refund exceed the purchase price of the product.

Copyright notice:

WinProof is protected by both United States copyright law and international treaty provisions. Unauthorized copying is strictly forbidden. In addition to copyright protection, you agree to not modify WinProof in any way, including but not limited to disassembling, decompiling, or otherwise reverse engineering the program.

Limitation of liability:

EXCEPT AS PROVIDED ABOVE, THIS SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.  BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.  GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURES DICTATE THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT.  THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM.  INTELLECT SYSTEMS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES DUE TO THE LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR ANY OTHER REASON EVEN IF THE COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.  ALL OF THE AUTHOR'S RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST IN AND TO THE SOFTWARE NOT EXPRESSLY GRANTED, ARE RESERVED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE AUTHOR.  Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties so these exclusions may not apply to you.  You may also have other rights which vary from state to state.