Fun with Special Characters

There are some characters that have special uses in Q&A.  Here are some ways 
to avoid their special characteristics:


Asterisks (*) in Write documents

Q&A might interpret an * followed immediately by an S, P or J or a pair of  
*'s with text between them as special printing commands.  To print an * in 
Write type:

*(star)P 42(star)*


Special characters in Retrieve Specs

Q&A gives a special meaning to some characters if they appear in a Retrieve 
Spec.  For example, a question mark will match any character of text.  To
search for a special character as a literal value, precede the special 
character with a \ (backslash).  As examples, \? will find a question mark, \ 
. \ . will find two periods.


Searching for special characters in Write

You can search for carriage returns, the new page character, centered lines 
and print enhancements using F7-Search.  To do this find the appropriate code 
on the F7-F1 help screen.  For example, @CR finds carriage returns, @F2 finds 
Font 2.


Non-standard characters

To type a character which does not appear on the keyboard follow these steps:

    Hold down the Alt key
    Press F10
    Type the ASCII decimal equivalent of the desired character on the numeric
    keypad.
    Release the Alt key

The desired character will appear at the cursor position.



Application: These functions could be used in almost any application.









Q & A Application Note         Rev. 6/92           #2404   Page 1 of 1