DP Tool Club 3/CDASC03.ISO/maj/1915/dart2a.exe/DART.#01

Text File | 1993-03-01 | 10KB | 300 lines

:READING_TEXT_WITH_DART

:Hypertext

So what is hypertext? In its simplest form, hypertext
lets you jump from one place to another place by
selecting a hotword. Generally, this is called linking*.

:Linking

To define a link, all a hypertext really needs is a
hotword and a place to jump.

To indicate a place to jump, authors can insert a
"label" into their text. When Dart prints a label on the
screen, it appears bolded on a line by itself.

Dart lets you move quickly from one label to another
by selecting its name when it appears in the text. You
can also "scroll" from one label to the next by pressing
the (`+`) and (`-`) keys on your keyboard.

:Asterisks

To point-out hotwords, authors may type an asterisk
(`*`) after a label or filename. You can move between
asterisks using (`Tab`) and (`Shift-Tab`), and select a
hotword by pressing (`Enter`).

After making a hypertext jump, you can press
(`Backspace`) to return.

For example, hypertext*, linking*, and asterisks* are
all hotwords that you can quickly select by pressing
(`Tab`) and  then (`Enter`). To move to a previous
asterisk, press (`Shift-Tab`) instead.

Page numbers can also be hotwords. Whenever you select
a numeral, Dart jumps to that page number, or the last
page if the number is too high.

:Taking_Notes

To open a note file, select `F`iles/`O`pen/`N`ew. (Page
down to the Menu_System* section if you haven't used
drop-down menus before). Dart will prompt you for a
name of a file. Type `NOTES` (or whatever name you'd
like to use), press (`Enter`), and Dart will open a
editing window for you.

The Editor is very simple. Besides typing text, you can
use (`Backspace`) and (`Delete`) to erase text, and
(`Enter`) to insert a new line. The (`Ins`) key toggles
overwrite mode. Choose `F`iles/`S`ave often to save your
work. Press (`Alt`)(`N`) to flip between your notes
window and whatever other files you are viewing (or
editing).

:Completing_Forms

Dart will automatically load "forms" into the Form
Editor. The Form Editor works a lot like the Note
Editor, except that you can only type within the text
fields provided on the forms. To move between text
fields, press (`Tab`) and (`Shift`)(`Tab`).

You can print and save a form, the same as any other
file. On a network, your system administrator may
have configured Dart so your forms are saved to
your personal directory. If so, Dart will
automatically save and recall your own form.

:Plain_text_files

Although Dart supports a special WYSIWYG hypertext
format, almost all of Dart's navigational features
apply to `any` text file (up to 32,000 lines long).

Also, since Dart is a multiwindow, multifile
environment, you can view hypertexts and plaintexts
at the same time.

Some of Dart's keys work differently when a plaintext
is active. Here's a brief chart:

Shortcut   Plaintext action   Hypertext action
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
(tab)      Next paragraph     Next link
(+)        Next page          Next label
(enter)    Goto page or file  Goto page, label, or
                              <file>

:MENU_SYSTEM

To engage the menubar, press (`F10`), use the cursor
keys to hilite the appropriate item, and press (`Enter`)
when ready. Following is an overview of the major items
on Dart's menubar.

:Files

Dart's "Files" menu lets you select files to view, drop
to DOS, or exit the program altogether.

The `Open` item displays a dialog with three lists:
Files, Directories, and Drives.

Each of these is a sorted list. Entries can be selected
by using the (`Arrow`) keys, or by typing the first
letters of the entry. When the appropriate entry is
hilited, press (`Enter`). To move from one list to
another, press (`Tab`).

The Open `Files` list displays files in the current
directory. To view a file, select its name from the
list. If a program -- rather than a text file -- is
selected, the program is launched. Ditto for text
(ANSI) graphics.

To change the current file mask, press (`Tab`) to move
to the `Directories` list and select the ".  <current>"
entry, and edit the file mask.

The Open `Directories` and Open `Drives` lists display
subdirectories and drives. To change to another
directory or drive, select its name or letter.

By hiliting a file and selecting the [`E`dit] button you
can make changes to a selected text file. Note that some
files distributed with Dart may be "readonly", and
cannot be edited this way.

To create a file choose the [`N`ew] button, and Dart
will prompt you for a file name.

The `Dos Shell` item temporarily returns you to the
operating system without exiting Dart.

The `Exit` item closes the Dart program, and returns you
to DOS.

When you exit from Dart, the program will automatically
save the current Desktop to a file named DART.DSK.
Later, when you run the program again, Dart will look
for this file, and if found, reload your Desktop. It
will almost appear as though you had never left.

If configured for network use, the name of the DART.DSK
file may vary from user to user. Contact your system
adminstrator for details.

:Contents

Dart's "Contents" menu will display labels found in a
text in two different ways.

■The `Table` of Contents lists the labels sequentially.

 This menu will also hilite the name of the passage
 currently in view, lending a "you are here" affect.

■The `Index` of Contents lists the labels sorted alpha-
 betically.

 The index does not "autoseek" the current passage, but
 remains at the label selected when it was last used.

To return to a previous screen after using either menu,
press (`Backspace`), or select Na`v`igate/`S`creen/
`H`istory for the screen* History.

:Navigate

The Navigate item leads to three submenus, Goto*, Jump*,
and Screen*.

:Goto

Dart's `Goto` menu is a hyper fastlane; instead of
navigating pick lists, you can input label or file
names, or page or row numbers directly. This is handy
for those who already know a text well.

Goto `File` can also be used to launch external
programs. Just type the name of the program (including
the .EXE or .COM extension) followed by any parameters
as you would enter them at a DOS prompt.

:Jump

Jump `Label` assumes the cursor is on or next to the
name of a label. Pressing (`Enter`) is another way to
make this type of jump. The Jump `File` item assumes the
cursor is on or next to the name of a file: just as if
the words were <braced>.

The `Next_star` and `Prev_star` items move the cursor to
the next or previous asterisk. (Just like the tab keys.)

:Screen

Screen `History` lists the last line the cursor was on
for the last 128 screens viewed. To return to a prior
screen, simply select a line from the `History` list. If
the file is not already loaded, Dart will try to load it
for you.

Screen `Insert` adds the current line to the `History`
list, just as if you had jumped or scrolled from it.
Screen `Insert` is Dart's answer to bookmarks.

The `Back_track` and `Retrack` items allow you to move
quickly along the screen History. After you have back
tracked to review a screen, you can use Retrack to
resume your reading. The screen History list works like
an infinite loop: if you Backtrack or Retrack long
enough, you will always return to where you began.

:Search

Dart's Search menu provides for two types of search. The
first, called `Find text`, is the conventional type of
search used by most any text viewer or editor: input a
text string, press (`Enter`), and Dart jumps to the next
occurrence of that string in the file.

Additionally, Dart also offers a `Global` search. This
feature will quickly find every occurrence of the given
string in a file, compile a `Hit List` of the lines
containing that string, and then display the list.

You can then scan the `Hit List` for the lines you want,
and jump to them on demand. The `Hit List` remains
available until the next `Global` search, so you can
jump back and forth between finds as needed.

When searching for text, Dart uses the same upper/lower
case matching used by WordPerfect(tm). UPPERCASE letters
only match other UPPERCASE letters, while lower-case
letters match UpperCase and lowercase letters.

To search for a whole word, type a space before and
after the word. A single leading or trailing space can
also be used to find a prefix or suffix.

:About

The `Dart` item on the About menu displays an
information box. Included is information about the
registered user (if any), and how to contact UserWare.

The only way to have your own name, address, or other
information displayed here is to register the program
with UserWare.

The `Blank_screen` item blanks the screen until a key is
pressed. You can also press (`Ctrl`)(`PrtSc`) to do
this.

:SHORTCUTS
                        (Shift)+
                        (F2) Compress file
 (F3) Open
 (F4) Goto label        (F4) Goto page
 (F5) Zoom window
 (F6) Next window       (F6) Previous window
 (F7) Find_Text         (F7) Global hit list
 (F8) Table             (F8) Index
 (F9) Jump              (F9) screen History
                        (F10)scroll middle

 (Ctrl)+                (Alt)+
                        (F3) Close window
 (F4) Goto file         (F4) Goto row
 (F5) Size/move window  (F5) Tile window
 (F6) Autosize window
 (F7) Global search     (F7) Search again
 (F9) Jump to file      (F9) Add to history
 (F10)screen top        (F10)screen bottom

        (Enter)  Jump
 (Ctrl)+(Enter)  Jump to file

          (Tab)  Find next link (asterisk)
  (Shift)+(Tab)  Find previous link

 (Ctrl)+(Right)  Find next link (asterisk)
  (Ctrl)+(Left)  Find previous link

         (BkSp)  Scroll back thru History
  (Ctrl)+(BkSp)  Scroll forward thru History

 (Ctrl)+(PrtSc)  Blank Screen

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
DART.#01 is Copyright (c) 1989-93 UserWare.
Version 2a dated Mar'93
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
          `Select ~F~iles/~C~lose to exit window.`