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**************************** * * * Manual for ALICE 1.42 * * * **************************** Contents ========== I. General introduction II. Program installation III. Instructions for use Appendix: Keyboard shortcuts I. General introduction ------------------------ ALICE is a text editor for ATARI ST/STE/TT. It features creating, modifying and printing texts. Ease of use and learnability were the main goals when the program was designed. The editor is fully integrated into the GEM interface. There are no restrictions concerning hardware or TOS versions. Chapter II describes the program installation. Chapter III explains the use of the editor. II. Program installation ------------------------ You install ALICE by simply copying the following files into any folder: - ALICE.PRG (program file) - ALICE.RSC (resource file for the english version) - ALICE.CFG (configuration file) The configuration file ALICE.CFG (it contains a few program parameters such as tabulator size, printer setups, etc.) is not required to run the editor. If it is missing ALICE uses standard parameters and creates a new configuration file if necessary. III. Instructions for use ------------------------- 1. Starting ALICE ----------------- ALICE is started from the desktop by "double-clicking" onto "ALICE.PRG" using the mouse. The screen displays the program's menu bar (Desk, File, Block, Search, Extras, Help). All operations may be carried out by selecting one of the menu items. Selection of the menu items may be done either by using the mouse or keyboard shortcuts (so-called "hotkeys"). The keyboard shortcuts are listed next to the corresponding menu entries. The appendix contains a detailed description of all hotkeys. Selecting a menu entry that is followed by three points "..." does not initiate an immediate action. Rather, depending on the menu item, a dialog box or a file selection box appears that requires further user input. It also allows cancellation of the selected action. 2. Description of the menu items -------------------------------- 2.1 Menu "File" --------------- This menu contains items for opening, saving and printing files and for terminating the program. 2.1.1 Menu item "Open..." ------------------------- How do you create a new file ? After selecting the menu item "Open" a file selection box appears on the screen. Enter the name of the file that is to be created. ALICE asks you whether you really want to create the file. If your answer is "Yes" an empty window appears on the screen with the file name as the window name. The text cursor is sitting in the upper left corner of the window. You may now enter any text, it is always inserted at the current cursor position. You enter text into the editor like you do when using a typewriter. At the end of a line you must enter <Return>, there is no automatic word wrap. The length of a line is restricted to 240 characters. You may move the cursor and position it anywhere in the text using the mouse or the cursor keys. Keyboard layout: ---------------- ("+" means pressing the corresponding keys simultaneously) <Control> + <Cursor right> go to end of line <Control> + <Cursor left> go to beginning of line <Backspace> deletes the character to the left of the cursor (the rest of the line is pulled to the left) <Delete> deletes the character at the current cursor position (the rest of the line is pulled to the left) <Control> + <Delete> deletes the entire line at the current cursor position <Home> go to the beginning of the text, pressing <Home> when the cursor is at the beginning of the text makes the cursor go to the end of the text <Help> information the about keyboard layout (cf. menu entry Help/Keyboard) Function keys: -------------- F1 scroll down one page F2 scroll up one page F3 define beginning of a block F4 define end of a block F10 find again (cf. menu entry Search/Find again) <Shift> + F10 terminate the program (cf. menu entry File/Quit) As described earlier ALICE scrolls the text when the function keys F1 or F2 are pressed or when the scroll bars are used. This action does not alter the cursor position. You must use the mouse to place the cursor at a position within the window. Text processing may now continue at the new cursor position. If the cursor is not positioned in the window ALICE returns to the old cursor position and resumes text editing as soon as any key is pressed. Windows may be moved as usual using the mouse. However, ALICE ensures that the windows always remain completely on the screen. The length of a text file is only limited by the available memory. How do you modify an existing file ? Select the menu item "Open..." in the "File" menu. Enter the name of the file you want to modify into the displayed file selection box. The file is opened and may be modified. Note: If a file is modified the file name (in the window's title bar) is preceeded by a little asterix '*'. This asterix is removed when the file is saved. Several files may be processed simultaneously. The maximum number of open files is reached when the menu entry "Open..." is not selectable any more. 2.1.2 Menu entry "Include..." ----------------------------- A file selection box appears on the screen. You may enter the name of a file which is included into the active file at the current cursor position. 2.1.3 Menu entry "Close" ------------------------ ALICE closes the top window. If the file was modified since it was saved ALICE asks you whether you want to save the file before closing it. 2.1.4 Menu entry "Close all" --------------------------- ALICE closes all open windows. If any file was modified since it was saved ALICE asks you whether you want to save the file before closing it. 2.1.5 Menu entry "Save" ----------------------- The file in the top window is saved. If the save operation was successful the window is closed. 2.1.6 Menu entry "Save as..." ----------------------------- The operation of this entry is almost identical to that of the entry "Save". The only difference is that the file is not saved under the current file name but you may enter a new file name into the displayed file selection box. The file is saved under the new name. 2.1.7 Menu entry "Backup" ------------------------- ALICE saves the file in the top window but the window is not closed. This means that text processing for this file may continue. 2.1.8 Menu entry "Backup as..." ------------------------------- The operation of this entry is almost identical to that of the entry "Backup". The only difference is that the file is not saved under the current file name but you may enter a new file name into the displayed file selection box. The file is saved under the new name. 2.1.9 Menu entry "Print..." --------------------------- The file in the active window is printed. Before the printout is started a dialog box appears on the screen to inquire the following printer parameters from the user: - page length (number of lines per page, depends on your printer) - left margin - number of first and last page to be printed (if you do not want to print the whole text) - first number for the page numbering (if page numbering is not to start at "1") - number of copies - option "Header line" (Yes / No), i.e. a header line is printed on top of each page. The header line consists of the following: * file name * date of printout * time of printout * page number - option "Line numbers" (Yes / no), i.e. every printed line is preceeded by its line number. If the "Start" button is selected the printout is started with the selected parameters. A message in the window's info line indicates that the print process is in progress. If the "OK" button is selected the parameters (except "from page", "to page", "first page number" and "number of copies") are stored but the printout is not started. The stored parameters are used for calculating the cursor position in the document (especially the current page number) and the number of pages in the document. Thus it makes sense to modify these parameters without starting the printout. The print process may be interrupted by pressing one of the <Shift> keys and the right mouse button simultaneously. A little dialog box inquires instructions on how to proceed: you may select to continue the printout or to cancel the operation. 2.1.10 Menu entry "Quit" ------------------------ ALICE is terminated by selecting this menu entry. If there are any open files that should be saved an inquiry is started whether you really want to quit the program. For each open file that was modified after the last save operation an inquiry is made whether you want to save the file before terminating the program. If an error occurs while saving one of these files (e.g. because the disk is full) the program is not terminated. This gives you the opportunity to save these files. ALICE stores the cursor position and the name of the file in the active window. When the program is started the next time a file selection box is displayed instead of an empty screen. By selecting the stored file name you may continue text processing at the saved position. The following program parameters are saved in the configuration file ALICE.CFG if they were modified: - all setups made under "Extras/Options" - the following printer parameters: page length, left margin, options "Header line" and "Line numbers". This file is used to set the parameters to their current values when the program is started the next time. 2.2 Menu "Block" ---------------- This menu contains command for deleting, copying and inserting blocks. What is a block ? A block is a text segment selected by the user. How do you select a block? The beginning of a block is defined by positioning the cursor (using the mouse or the cursor keys) to the beginning of the block and then selecting the menu entry "Start". The end of a block is defined in a similar fashion: position the cursor at the end of the block and select the menu item "End" in the "Block" menu. A block is only defined if its beginning lies before its end. Alternatively a block may be selected using the mouse. Simply keep the left mouse button pressed while dragging the mouse over the selected area (just like selecting several files on the desktop). However, this way of selecting blocks only works for those blocks that lie within a window area and that contain complete lines only. The seleted area is displayed with a grey background. What are the block operations ? You may cut a block from the text, copy it into a buffer or delete it from the text. A buffer (pasteboard) is a temporary storage area for a text segment. 2.2.1 Menu entry "Start" ------------------------ The beginning of the block is defined at the current cursor position. 2.2.2 Menu entry "End" ---------------------- The end of the block is defined at the current cursor position. 2.2.3 Menu entry "Cut" ---------------------- The selected area is copied from the text into a buffer. It is then deleted from the text. This operation overwrites any previous buffer contents and the buffer name. 2.2.4 Menu entry "Copy" ----------------------- The selected area is copied from the text into a buffer. The text itself is not modified. This operation overwrites any previous buffer contents and the buffer name. 2.2.5 Menu entry "Insert" ------------------------- The buffer contents is inserted at the current cursor position. The buffer contents is not modified during this operation and thus may be inserted again at other positions in the text or into other texts. 2.2.6 Menu entry "Delete" ------------------------- The selected area is deleted from the text. However, in contrast to the menu entry "Cut", it is not stored in a buffer and may not be inserted any more. As the text segment is lost you should only apply this item when you are sure to delete the block. The contents of the buffer remains unchanged during this operation. 2.2.7 Menu entry "Read file..." ------------------------------- A file selection box appears on the screen. Enter the name of a file. This file is copied into the active buffer. The file name is taken as the new buffer name, cf. menu entry "Block/Select active...". This operation overwrites any previous buffer contents. 2.2.8 Menu entry "Remove block marks" ------------------------------------- The block marks are removed from the text. This may be necessary when you decide not to carry out any block operation after defining a block. You achieve the same effect by pressing both mouse buttons simultaneously (the best way to do this is by first pressing the right button and then pressing the left one as well) or by pressing the <Shift> and the <Home> key at the same time. 2.2.9 Menu entry "Clear buffer" ------------------------------- The buffer contents is deleted. If the buffer contents has not been used yet (e.g. for insertion) any inquiry ensures you really want to clear it. The buffer is always cleared whenever text is copied into the buffer. This operation overwrites the previous buffer contents and deletes the buffer name. Due to the automatic buffer clearing this menu item only makes sense when you are running out of memory and the buffer contains a block which is not needed any more. 2.2.10 Menu entry "Select active..." ------------------------------------ This menu entry may be used to simultaneously keep several texts or text segments in different buffers. ALICE supports the use of up to 10 buffers. This menu entry defines the so-called "active" buffer. This means: All block operations described above always refer to the active buffer. If the number of the active buffer is changed this new buffer is used for all subsequent block operations. The contents of all other buffers is not altered. After selecting this menu item a dialog box for buffer selection appears on the screen. You define the active buffer by clicking the corresponding dialog entry. Furthermore you may enter a short string into the field "Comment / buffer name". This string may describe the buffer contents, e.g. if the buffer contains a whole file the file name may serve as buffer name. 2.3 Menu "Search" ----------------- This menu contains entries for searching and replacing strings. It also allows jumping to particular lines and pages in the text. 2.3.1 Menu entry "Find text" ---------------------------- A dialog appears after clicking this item. You may enter the string that you want search for. The following search parameters may be entered: - start position for string search (top of text / current cursor position) - search direction (forward / backward) - respect upper / lower case (Yes / No). The program searches the string and puts the cursor to its first occurrence in the text. 2.3.2 Menu entry "Find again" ----------------------------- This item allows you to search for further occurrences of the string entered under the item "Find text". The string search always starts at the current cursor position. As with "Find text" the program jumps to the next occurence in the text. 2.3.3 Menu entry "Replace text" ------------------------------- String replacement may be carried out here. A dialog box inquires both the string to search for and the replacement string. Here, too, the following search parameters may be entered: - start position for string search (top of text / current cursor position) - respect upper / lower case (Yes / No). - Verify option (Yes / No). When replacing without verify ALICE replaces all occurences of the search string by the replacement string. If the verify option was selected the program jumps to the next occurrence of the search string and waits for user input: If you enter "Y" (Yes) the string is replaced, if you enter "N" (No) no replacement is performed here but the operation continues, if you enter "C" (Cancel) the whole replacement operation is cancelled. If you press any other key a little information box appears that explains the possible options (it also allows cancellation of the replacement). At the end of the operation a little statistic appears giving the number of replacements. 2.3.4 Menu entry "Goto line" ---------------------------- After selecting this entry a dialog box appears. Enter the number of the line you want to jump to. The program puts the cursor at the beginning of that line. 2.3.5 Menu entry "Goto page" ---------------------------- After selecting this entry a dialog box appears. Enter the number of the page you want to jump to. The program puts the cursor at the beginning of that page. 2.4 Menu "Extras" ----------------- This menu is a collection of miscellaneous topics. 2.4.1 Menu entry "Document info" -------------------------------- A little information box displays the following information about the current file: - number of pages - number of lines - maximum line length (i.e. length of longest line) - number of characters. 2.4.2 Menu entry "Options" -------------------------- You may enter the following editor parameters into the dialog box that appears on the screen: - Tabulator size - A line length with the following property: if the length of a line exceeds this number a warning tone is issued if the option "Warning at end of line" (see below) is selected. - Option "Warning at end of line" (Yes / No) If this option is selected a warning tone is issued if the length of a line exceeds the length entered as "line length" above. Make sure the computer's speaker is tuned loud enough. - Option "End of line as arrow" (Yes / No) The end of a line is displayed as a little left arrow if this option is selected. This option allows you to find "hidden" blanks at the end of a line. - Option "Show cursor position" (Yes / No) If you select this option the window's info line (under the window's title bar) displays the current cursor position: page number, row number within the page (in parentheses: row number within the entire text) and column number. Note: If this option is selected the program speed is reduced, especially when you scroll the text via the cursor keys. - Option "Save with backup" (Yes / No) This option determines the way a file is saved. When selecting "Yes" a file is copied to <filename>.SAV before it is saved. This creates a backup version of the old file. - Option "Show date and time" (Yes / No) If you select this option ALICE displays date and time in the upper left corner of the screen. You may leave the dialog via the "OK" button (sets all parameters to the specified values) or via the "Cancel" button (cancels all parameter changes). 2.4.3 Menu entry "Delete file" ------------------------------ You may enter the name of a file to be deleted into the file selection box that appears on the screen. The selected file will be deleted. This menu item is usefull if you want to save a file but there is not enough space on your disk. 2.5 Menu "Help" --------------- This menu contains commands to display help on several topics. 2.5.1 Menu entry "Keyboard" --------------------------- A little dialog box appears on the screen. It contains information about the editor's keybord layout. Pressing the <Help> key has the same effect. 2.5.3 Menu entry "Files" ------------------------ A little dialog box appears on the screen. It contains information about file operations. 2.5.4 Menu entry "Block" ------------------------ A little dialog box appears on the screen. It contains information about block operations. 2.5.5 Menu entry "Window" ------------------------- A little dialog box appears on the screen. It contains information about window operations. Appendix: Keyboard shortcuts ---------------------------- The selection of menu entries may either be done via the mouse or via special keyboard shortcuts (so-called hotkeys). You may, for example, use the key combination <Alternate> + O to open a file ( "+" means pressing the keys simulaneously). The file selection box appears and you may enter the desired file name. Thus the key combination <Alternate> + O has the same effect as selecting the menu entry "File/Open...". In additon to the <Alternate> keys you may use the <Control> key for selecting menu items, e.g. define the beginning of a block via <Control> + S. The keyboard shortcuts are listed next to the corresponding menu entries. The ^-symbol represents the <Control> key. The <Alternate> key is represented by a square with a diagonal cross. The following list contains all hotkeys available in ALICE (the corresponding menues/menu entries are given in parentheses): Key Operation -------------------------------------------------------------------- <Alternate> + A Selects active buffer (Block/Select active...) <Alternate> + B Saves the file in the active window. The window is not closed, text processing may continue (File/Backup) <Alternate> + C Closes active window (File/Close) <Alternate> + D Deletes a file (Extras/Delete file...) <Alternate> + E Clears buffer contents (Block/Clear buffer) <Alternate> + G Same as "Save", but you may enter a file name before saving (File/Save as...) <Alternate> + I Displays information about the file in the active window (Extras/Document info) <Alternate> + K Same as "Backup", but you may enter a file name before saving (File/Backup as...) <Alternate> + N Include file (File/Include...) <Alternate> + M Removes block marks from the text (Block/Remove block marks) <Alternate> + O Opens an existing file or creates a new one (File/Open...) <Alternate> + P Prints the file in the active window and allows setup of printer parameters (File/Print...) <Alternate> + R Read file into current buffer (Block/Read file...) <Alternate> + S Saves the file in the active window and closes the window. Terminates text processing for this file (File/Save) <Alternate> + T Setup of editor options (Extras/Options...) <Alternate> + U Closes all windows (File/Close all) <Control> + A Repeats string search (Search/Find again) <Control> + C Copies selected area into buffer (Block/Copy) <Control> + D Deletes selected area from text (Block/Delete) <Control> + E Defines the end of a block (Block/End) <Control> + F String search (Search/Find text...) <Control> + I Information about windows (Help/Window) <Control> + K Information about the keyboard layout (Help/Keyboard) <Control> + L Goes to the beginning of any line in the text (Search/Goto line...) <Control> + M Information about the mouse (Help/Mouse) <Control> + O Information about blocks (Help/Block) <Control> + P Goes to the beginning of any page in the text (Search/Goto page...) <Control> + Q Terminates program (File/Quit) <Control> + R String replacement (Search/Replace text...) <Control> + S Defines the beginning of a block (Block/Start) <Control> + T Information about files (Help/File) <Control> + V Inserts the buffer contents into the text at the current cursor position (Block/Insert) <Control> + X Cuts selected area from text (Block/Cut) End of the manual.