Fig. 3-16. The opening GEM Write screen.
From this example, the format file for PRESS.L TR and PRESS.DOC would be identical. Unpredictable results will occur from this double format file conflict. To avoid this potentially damaging event, always supply unique Document Names to each GEM Write document.
Status Line
This information area sitting along the bottom of the GEM write document win-dow continually displays the present location of the cursor. Two values, a page num-ber (in the field Page X), and a line numnum-ber (in the field Line X), relay the exact cursor location. In reading these values, the page number refers to the full, formatted page, while the line number indicates the line on that page containing the cursor. The Status Line is also used for displaying command messages.
Cursor
Unlike other GEM applications, GEM Write makes use of two indicators. The first indicator is the standard mouse-controlled GEM pointer. In GEM Write, the pointer is used for many of the same functions that receives its attention on the GEM Desk-top. For example, displaying menus, choosing commands, clicking, and dragging. An-other function of the pointer, that is a departure from these GEM standards, is cursor placement. Simply place the pointer anywhere within the document and click. The cursor immediately jumps to this new location (also the Status Line indicates this change in location).
The other GEM Write indicator is the cursor. The cursor is a flashing line segment used for referencing the point for text insertion. Once the pointer has positioned the cursor for text entry (or for editing purposes), the pointer disappears whenever text is typed from the keyboard. Any movement of the mouse will make the pointer visible again, however.
Highlighting Text
During the text editing phases of GEM Write, the selected character, word, phrase, or section of text must be highlighted. This highlighting procedure is similar to icon clicking on the GEM Desktop. Following the identification of the text which is ready for editing, the required menu is displayed and the needed command is chosen.
Methods for Text Highlighting:
Dragging. Drag the pointer across the selected text. Place the pointer prior to the beginning of the dubious text (e.g., character, word, line, phrase, etc.). Now drag the pointer (horizontally, vertically, or both) over the erroneous passage. Release the mouse button and execute the desired editing command.
Tip: You can drag in both a horizontal and a vertical line of travel. The vertical drag allows you to highlight several lines, sentences, and paragraphs at the same time.
Column Clicking. Place the pointer in the far left, blank column of the line for highlighting. Click the mouse button for selecting that line. Other lines can be simul-taneously highlighted by dragging the pointer down along this column.
Shift-Clicking. Place the cursor at the beginning of the text that is ready for high-lighting. Now, shift-click. All of the text from the cursor location to the end of the
docu-ment is highlighted.
If you only want to highlight a portion of the remainder of the document's text, perform the above shift-click technique. Then move the cursor to the end of the text that you want to highlight (use either the scroll method or the Go To ... command).
Now, shift-click. This second method highlights a defined portion of text that lies be-tween the two shift-clicks.
Function Keys. Two function keys, F5 and F6, perform the same actions as the previously described double shift-click method. The F5 key is used to indicate the ini-tial shift-click. The F6 key is equivalent to the second constraining shift-click. Similar to the shift-click method, the cursor placement is vital to the proper execution of the function key highlighting.
There will be times when you accidentally highlight the wrong textual passage.
In this case, there are several ways that you can "de-highlight" the selected portion of text. The simplest way to remove a text highlighting is to click the mouse button.
This click can occur anywhere in the document. Pressing the FlO function key will also de-highlight text. Finally, if you change your mind in mid-drag, you can just re-verse your flow and drag the pointer to the line above the beginning of the drag. Now, release the mouse button and GEM Write will not highlight the text.
GEM Write Keystrokes
A unique characteristic of GEM Write, which separates it from GEM Paint, is that the keyboard, instead of the mouse, serves as the primary input device. Obviously, writing is a text-oriented process and the keyboard is the ideal interface for generating this product. There are times, however, when the preferred GEM interface, the mouse, must be used. Examples of this mouse activity include: cursor placement, editing, and command selection. Unfortunately, each time you remove one of your hands from the keyboard to use the mouse you suffer a typing lapse. Some typists even find that this lapse can lead to a disconcerting loss in continuity. GEM Write's solution to this predica-ment is to include a set of keyboard equivalents for certain mouse activities.
Table 3-1 contains all of the mouse activities that have equivalent GEM Write key-board representatives. When using this table, the notation that links two keys together ( + ) is defined as pressing and holding the first key, followed by pressing the second key. Furthermore, the notation that indicates that two keys are pressed in succession (,) means that two individual keystrokes (the first key followed by the second key) are needed for executing the specified action.
Note: The keyboard arrow keys can direct the movement of either the cursor or the pointer. Press the Ctrl key to toggle the function of the arrow keys back and forth between cursor direction control and pointer movement.
Special GEM Write Features
When you are typing with GEM Write, the RETURN key is pressed only at the conclusion of each paragraph (or fixed line, e.g., titles, subheads, and addresses). This is called a hard return. In the case of paragraphs, GEM Write compensates for this continuous string of text with a process known as word wrap. Word wrap conveniently breaks each line of text at a space or hyphen adhering to your formatting commands.
Table 3-1. A Listing of Mouse Activities and Their GEM Write Keyboard Equivalents.
ACTION
In other words, all of the text will be automatically aligned with both the left and right margins and no words will be cut off at the end of a line.
Every time you press the RETURN key at the end of a paragraph or other fixed line, a proofreader's paragraph symbol appears (9f). In addition to indicating the pres-ence of hard returns, the paragraph symbol also prevents the highlighting of text. There-fore, the keyboard command Ctrl + F3 (see above) is used for hiding these symbols
during editing and text highlighting. After these symbols have been hidden, pressing Ctrl + F3, again, causes them to reappear on the screen.
Tip: If you do a lot of text editing, and that is one of GEM Write's strong points, then you should leave the paragraph symbols permanently hidden. Two hard returns at the end of each paragraph will serve as an alternate marking method.
There may be times when you will want a phrase to stay together. For example, the pronouncement "You're fired!" loses much of its impact if the two words are writ-ten on separate lines. In this case, a/orced space should be placed between the contrac-tion "You're" and the word "fired!." A forced space fixes words and phrases together so that they can't be separated by formatting and automatic word wrap. To make a forced space, type Ctrl + Z, instead of pressing the spacebar, between each word of the phrase.
Altering the right margin will also prevent words and phrases from being sepa-rated. Up to 250 characters can be carried on one line of GEM Write by adjusting the left and right margins. Most computer monitors lack the resolution for displaying this wide of a manuscript, however. Therefore, GEM Write can horizontally scroll in ten-character jumps with the arrow keys. Alternatively, the F3 function key (see above) can be used for quickly jumping to the beginning or the end of any given line.
Two final GEM Write features concern file management. Any document that car-ries the .DOC type can be used for quickly loading and starting GEM Write. Just double-click on any icon with a .DOC type and GEM Write will be loaded and the selected document will be opened. The selected .DOC type file can be on any disk drive (hard or floppy, A: or B:) and any floppy disk (GEM Write Application disk or GEM Write Documents disk). This technique can eliminate several steps when leaving the GEM Desktop to enter GEM Write.
GEM Write also has the facilities for importing other files, documents, and graphics.
Other than graphics, a file created by any word processing program can be used by GEM Write. The only provision that GEM Write exercises over these outside word processed files is that they must be written in a standard ASCII format.
In dealing with outside graphics, GEM Write can only use pictures that have a .GEM type. This restriction includes pictures that have been produced by GEM Draw and GEM Paint (GEM Graph pictures must be converted from their .GRF type to a .GEM type before use with GEM Write).
GEM WRITE REFERENCE
Each of GEM Write's menus contains several different commands that can be accessed either with the mouse or by typing a special command keystroke. The following sec-tion describes all of GEM Write's menus and the funcsec-tion of their individual commands.
In applicable cases, the keystrokes necessary· for choosing the command are also provided.
Desk Menu (Fig. 3-17)
GEM Write Info ... displays a dialog containing author and copyright informa-tion. A point of interest with this dialog is that the Licensed to field contains the name that you supplied in the WELCOME TO GEM WRITE! dialog during the initial starting of GEM Write.