A C Y B E R T E X T T U T O R _________________________________ First, it has to be understood that this brief introduction is not a substitute for the Cybertext operator's manual, which is over 100 typeset pages long. firstEDITION is a typographically sophisticated system, far too sophisticated to be encapsulated in the few pages that can be squeezed into this Introduction. The purpose of this Tutor is to make you comfortable enough with this demonstration portion of pageONE to make you want the whole bite (byte?) and to print the Order Form, do a check, and send the whole thing to Cybertext. pageONE is a small portion of the entire Cybertext complex, but it is enough to allow you to prepare and preview professional pages for output to many different devices. If you need phototype quality, the files you prepare with this system can be set at any typesetting shop that displays the Cybertext sign. (The microLASER in firstEDITION allows you to print your own files on any PostScript device.) This software was originally developed by typesetters to do professional typesetting. Accordingly, to maintain professional levels of speed and typographical control, it depends on code structures. There is no mouse, no icons, no pull down windows, no compromise. There is nothing between your skill and your intelligence except a responsive medium. This system is as good and as fast and as intelligent as you. You run it. It doesn't run you. CODE STRUCTURES Every system, whether code controlled or mouse controlled, has to be told what you want. Let's start with setting the basic line width. With a mouse system, you might set the cursor at one point, click, then move the cursor over visually to the other margin, and click again. With this system you put in a code command. If you want a narrow column, say 13 picas, you put in a code command . LL stands for Line Length and the 13 stands for 13 picas. Complicated? No. Easier than mousing? Perhaps not at first. But with only a little practice your skill level with a code system will outdistance your skill level with a mouse, simply because a mouse is slow and mechanical compared to your nimble fingers. You decide. Faster than mousing? Absolutely. The code structures you use are essentially a description of how you want the page to look: the font you want to use, the type size, the amount of space between lines are only the basics. As you get more and more experienced you will want to exercise typographical subtleties. The more craft you want, the more you will appreciate Cybertext. The page description language used by Cybertext is the traditional language of the typesetting craft. You want to do professional pages. You will often want to discuss problems with other people who are working along similar lines. Sooner or later you will want to work with professional typesetters to get better quality type. If you want to communicate with professionals, your purpose will best be served by learning the language of the craft. It isn't difficult and precise communication is always served better by an exact vocabulary. Page 2 The discussion here is going to be short. Detail is the job of the complete manual that you will get when you register your purchase. We will briefly describe here the steps that you will go through to start a file. Then we will describe with examples just the most basic typesetting commands that will allow you to make a simple page. GETTING STARTED After you have typed SHOWME and read through the text screens, the program will begin to run. You'll see a reference to Metawndo on your computer screen, and then at last you will see the first screen of the editor which says at the top: cyberSYSTEMS microVISION -- Preview Text Editor In reply to the query about the name of the file to edit, start by entering the name DEMO.TXT. As soon as the file is loaded... the first thing to do is to hold down the Control Key and push the letter W (for Window). NO PREVIEW? If you don't see the screen change to an intelligible display of type in various sizes and positions on the screen, the obvious conclusion is that the program doesn't recognize your screen driver hardware. If your preview looks OK, skip ahead to the next page. Otherwise: Reset your computer, get back to the A: prompt or to the directory area on your hard disk where you have loaded the Demonstration Disk. Type MCINSTAL and push return. The program will give you a screen of options. Choose number 2 to configure microVISION. You will have two screen pages to select the screen hardware that describes what you have. Move the pointer to the proper description. (If you aren't sure, just experiment until you find the right one.) Push return. Then select the option to exit and save the configuration file. Type SHOWME again and push return. Get back into the editor with DEMO.TXT again and try Control W once more. When you get an intelligible screen preview, do as the editor requests on the line at the bottom. Type Y or N if you want to see more or not. Page 3 PREVIEW OK? Now experiment. Change the Code Commands and do Control W to see the effect of your changes. (See the Code descriptions in the next section of this tutor.) When you have experimented with the startup text sufficiently to feel comfortable with code commands, you might like to clean everything out and make some pages of your own. Hold down the Control Key and push the Home key. The cursor will jump to the very top of the file. Hold down the Control Key and the letters K and B, in that order. (Cntrl KB) You will see the Block Begin marker. Push the End Key and the cursor will jump to the end of the file. Hold down the Control Key and push the letter K twice. (Cntrl KK) You will see the End Block marker and the text will be block screened. Now hold down the Control Key and push the letters K and Y. (Cntrl KY). Goodbye text. Or, more simply, hold down Control and Cntrl KQ. Reply yes to abandoning the file. Either way, you now have a blank screen. Make some pages of your own. Just be sure to enter the codes with delimiters as shown. THE BASICS Line Length The numbers represent picas, a typesetting unit of measure. There are 12 picas in an inch. The system allows minute adjustments, but for the present, please experiment in whole numbers. sets a 9 pica measure. sets a 16 pica measure, etc. Font Selection Fonts are selected by entering the ID number assigned to them. In the editor, if you hold down the ALT key and push the numeral one, the editor will display the names and the ID numbers of all the fonts that are available in this Introduction. (Many, many more fonts are available in actual practice.) selects Helvetica. selects Times Roman. There are 13 fonts available in the Demonstration. (The Symbol font is a special purpose font. Let it pass for now.) Font Size The font size range is 4 pt to 999 pt in quarter point increments. There are 72 points in an inch. Keep it simple for now and work in round numbers. designates eight point type. designates 36 point type. Leading The space between lines must vary according to the font size. Generally you want a leading command that is larger than the font size being used so that the lines will have sufficient space between them to allow the letters to be separately legible. If PS is 9, LS should be at least 9. Quad Left Tells the system to push all the type on the line over to the left margin. Produces a ragged right effect if used on every line. Quad Right Tells the system to push all the type of the line over to the right margin. Produces a ragged left effect. Quad Center Tells the system to center the text entered on the line. Page 4 Fool around with just these commands. If you are adventurous, hold down the ALT key in the editor and push the numeral 2. The editor will display three screen pages of typesetter commands. There isn't much you might want to do on a page that isn't possible. The Tutor in the complete manual will help you with them, but there is no harm in trying any of them. If you have any typesetting background, many of the commands, or at least the concepts they suggest, will be familiar. microVISION is designed to be self-instructional to the greatest extent possible. There are many Help screens. Control Z shows you all the editor commands. ALT 1 displays the fonts available. ALT 2 displays the code commands to describe your page. ALT 3 tells you what the typesetting command status is at the cursor position. Move the cursor up and down in the file and the information displayed in ALT 3 will change accordingly. ALT 4 is a dictionary utility that applies only in firstEDITION. ALT 5 displays all the tabs that have been set. (Tabs are a tool to position and organize text on the page.) ALT 6 is a software switch that turns the sound off and on. ALT 7 displays the format definitions that have been set. Formats allow complex Style Sheet changes with short hand commands. ALT 8 allows you to change the display mode. Just experiment. ALT 9 allows you to make "Snapshots" of all your typesetting code structures in a default file. ALT 9, like ALT 4, applies only to firstEDITION. More free Cybertext software is available to you from any professional typesetter who participates in the Cybertext microTYPE program. Your files can, when you need the quality, be sent to a wide variety of phototypesetting machines and laser printers. Look for a typesetter displaying the Cybertext sign.