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instructions
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Text File
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1991-07-11
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9KB
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179 lines
^ TOUCH TYPIST INSTRUCTIONS&
Welcome to Touch Typist for the Commodore Amiga computer.
This program is written by David Batty and published by
Sector Software, please respect the authors time and
effort in writing this software by not allowing any
copying of the program to take place. Before starting
with Touch Typist I suggest that you take a look at
the^'DO TUTORIAL'&option from the ^'PROJECT'& menu, this
will tell you about the home keys and which fingers go
where.
When you select from the^'DO LESSONS'&menu the option ^'DO
SINGLE LESSON'& you will be asked to press any key to
start, when you press a key you will be presented with a
lesson to copy, you are now being timed from the moment
you see the lesson so don't hang around before commencing
typing. Remember when you are doing the lessons never
look down at the keyboard but always look at the screen,
this may seem hard at first but the results will be worth
the effort in the long run. If you want to see how I have
progressed with my typing while writing and testing this
program you can load the file^DAVIDSRESULTS&in to the
graph. Press any key to advance to the next page. While a
page is being printed you may press^'ESC'&to quit viewing.\
Type the letter above the cursor and continue to the end
of the line. Correct responses will be printed as you
type. If you press the wrong key there will be a warning
sound and the computer will not print the error character
but will wait until you press the correct key, counting
any wrong keys pressed in the process. When you have
reached the end of the line you will be given a speed in
words per minute and the percentage accuracy obtained.
These scores are then compared with the target scores and
if either is not reached then you will have to repeat the
line until the targets are achieved. When you reach both
targets you will then continue with the next lessson. If
you are unable to reach either of the targets then you can
alter them by calling up the menu. If you are asked to
retype the lines five or more times, then you will be sent
to a lower lesson to resume from there.
Selecting ^'SET SPEED TARGET'&and^'SET ACCURACY TARGET'&
will allow you to alter the targets that must be reached
to progress to the next level. Speed is calculated in
words per minute and accuracy is expressed as a percentage
of correct keys to total keys pressed. \
^'START FROM LESSON'&allows you to select the lesson to
start at (1-201)
^'DO SINGLE LESSONS'&is the default option where you are
given your speed and accuracy after each lesson, if you
achieve the targets you are given your speed and accuracy
before going on to the next lesson.
^'DO RANDOM LESSONS'&is similar to^'DO SINGLE LESSON'&but
after correctly typing a lesson you will be sent to
another randomly chosen lesson. This option is handy when
you get used to knowing which lessons are coming up next.
^'DO SLOWEST LESSONS'& will first move you to any lessons
that you have not attempted, if you have attempted all 201
lessons then it will look for the lowest speed recorded on
the graph and move you to that lesson. This is an
excellent way to build up your average speed as it will
force you to work on those keys that you are slowest at.
If you have completed all your graph then I recommend you
use this option.
^'DO MOST INACCURATE'&is similar to ^'DO SLOWEST LESSONS'&
but will advance you to the lesson you made the most
mistakes on.\
^'KEYBOARD PROMPTS'& switches the screen's simulated
keyboard on or off. When the keyboard is ON and a
sentence is waiting to be typed in, then the key to be
typed lights up in green on the screen keyboard showing
you the keys location. If you press the correct key then
the light is extinguished and the next key is lit up. If
you press the wrong key then the key stays lit but the key
you wrongly pressed gets a red cross placed on it to show
how far away you are from the correct key and you can
therefore try again until you get it. When using the
interactive keyboard you are limited to a speed of 800
words per minute!!!!, hardly a limitation as I believe
your fingers will catch fire at 650 WPM !!.
If the letter is a capital letter then the shift key on
the opposite side will light up indicating that this is
the shift key that should be used with this key. If the
letter to be typed is a capital letter and you hit the
correct key but without pressing the shift key then the
letter will still be highlighted in green but will also
have a red cross on it, pressing the key again but this
time with the shift key will advance you to the next
letter.\
^'GRAPH OF RESULTS'& will show you a graphical
representation of your speed for each of the 201 lessons.
This is shown in the form of a bar chart with 2 pixel wide
bars for each lesson. The last speed obtained is shown as
a white vertical bar with the scale on the left hand side
indicating your speed in Words Per Minute. If the last
speed obtained is not the fastest you have achieved, the
graph will indicate the fastest speed obtained by a
vertical red line behind the white. Your average speed is
indicated by a horizontal green line. In the window above
the graph you will be shown your speed and accuracy in
figures.
You can save your graph out once completed and store it on
disk for a week or two, then do all the lessons again and
compare your average speed and accuracy, I am sure you
will see a marked improvement.
^'DEMO MODE'& is where the computer attempts the lessons
and should obtain 100% accuracy, if it gets less than 100%
then start worrying. The computer is quite good at the
lessons and to prevent it typing every one at 800 WPM I
have put a random delay in for each lesson. The results
obtained by the computer are not entered on the graph, you
will have to obtain the high speeds by practice.\
^'FREE TYPE'&is totally unconnected with the lessons and
the graph, this option opens up a window and allows you to
type anything you want, the content and spelling are not
checked for accuracy but the number of characters typed
and the speed are, once you press a key to start you are
being timed and your keypresses counted, when you have
finished typing, quickly press the^'ESC'&key, this stops
the clock and gives you your speed and number of
characters and words typed. Remember one word in typing
terms is considered to be five characters.^FREE TYPE& was
included for you to copy a passage out of a book or just
make up sentences as you go along, some people find this
easier than doing the lessons.
^'KEYCLICK'&will sound a beep with each keypress, most
people do not like keyclick but some do so I have set this
option to default to off.
^'ERROR SOUND'& is normally switched on and will make a
sound indicating each wrong keypress, if this bothers you
then switch it off.
\
^'SPACING SENTENCE'& is a feature that I have never seen
on any typing tutor, but I am sure that others will copy
this idea. When this option is switched on and you reach
the end of a lesson, the lesson will be reprinted above
itself but the characters will either have gaps between
them or they will be overlapping each other. The distance
from the first letter to the last in the spacing sentence
represents the time taken to complete the lesson, each
correct keypress stores the time you pressed the key, when
the spacing sentence is reprinted, the letters are printed
with a spacing corresponding with the time each correct
key was pressed. A gap before a letter indicates that you
took your time in finding that key while letters that
overlap each other were typed fairly quickly compared with
the rest of the lesson, by looking at the spacing sentence
you will be able to see your strengths and weaknesses.
DO NOT attempt to increase your speed without keeping your
accuracy up, it is no good being able to type at 60 words
per minute if your accuracy is only 80%, I try and keep
95% accuracy or more as you can see if you load my results
in to the graph.\
If you have any ideas for new features for inclusion in
future versions of Touch Typist or any comments on this
version then please send them to
^David Batty
Sector Software
39 Wray Crescent
Ulnes Walton
Leyland
Lancashire
PR5 3NH
Telephone 0772 452414&
We are developing new disks of lessons to provide you with
a variety of tasks. These will include lessons based on
specialist subjects to provide education as well as typing
practice. Phone us for more details.\