Table of Contents
1 - Introduction
1.1 - Making a Backup Copy
1.2 - Disclaimer
1.3 - System Requirements
1.4 - Getting Help
2 - Setting User Preferences
3 - Text Editing
3.1 - Block Operations
3.2 - Clipboard Operations
3.3 - Special Operations
4 - Loading Text
5 - Saving Text
6 - Printing text
7 - Finding Text
7.1 - Replacing Text
8 - Information
8.1 - Version/Contact Information
8.2 - Memory Checking
8.3 - Window Recentering
8.4 - Appreciation
8.5 - About Pen Pal
8.6 - History
9 - Keyboard Quick Reference
1 - Introduction
Most computer users have a large selection of text editors and word
processors at their disposal. The Atari ST in particular has a wealth of
public domain, shareware, and commercial editors.
But most editors have at least one area where they fall short, whether it be
editing speed, text formatting, multitasking or clipboard support. It is
difficult to find one editor which has all the features you want most.
Therefore, we have tried to combine what we feel are the most wanted features
and capabilities into a single easy to use editor.
Pen Pal is Copyright 1994 by Anthony Watson, all rights reserved. Any
unauthorized duplication of the program(s) or documentation is a violation of
federal copyright laws!
1.1 - Making a Backup Copy
Please take a few minutes to make a backup copy of the Pen Pal disk and
place the original in a safe place. Then use the disk backup only. We also
suggest that you flip the write-protect tab on the original disk to guard
against accidental erasure and computer viruses.
1.2 - Disclaimer
Pen Pal has been tested extensively and to the best of our knowledge will
not cause problems of any kind. However, neither Mountain Software nor the
author (Anthony Watson), will be held responsible for any damage occurring to
your system or other software. We also make no guarantees as to compatibility
with other software or hardware configurations.
1.3 - System Requirements
Pen Pal will run on any Atari ST, STe, TT, or Falcon computer. It will
function in ST medium, ST High, or any graphics mode having a resolution of
640 x 200 or greater.
Pen Pal will run successfully with as little as 512K of RAM, and can be
used from floppy disk or hard drive.
1.4 - Getting Help
Pen Pal has been designed for ease of use. Please take the time to read
this manual and consult it when you have problems. Most program operations are
rather straightforward, and those that are not are discussed in greater detail
in this manual.
If you are still having difficulties, or have a comment regarding Pen Pal,
please feel free to contact us at:
Postal Service (Snail Mail)
---------------------------
Mountain Software
6911 NE Livingston Road
Camas, Washington 98607 USA
Electronic Mail
---------------
GEnie - A.WATSON6
Internet - anthony.watson@genie.geis.com
Bear Cavern BBS - (206) 944-2002 (Anthony Watson)
2 - Setting User Preferences
Before you begin using Pen Pal for editing text, you should take a few
minutes and configure Pen Pal to your personal preferences. The Pen Pal
configuration menu is reached by clicking on the "Setup" button at the top of
the screen.
'Lines of Text' sets the maximum number of lines that can be used by Pen
Pal. In multitasking environments you will usually not want Pen Pal using all
available memory. By setting a limit on the maximum lines used, you limit the
amount of memory used by this program and leave more memory for other
applications. If you want Pen Pal to use all available memory simply set this
to the maximum setting of '99999'. Pen Pal will then compute the maximum line
automatically.
*** The Demonstration version is locked at 100 lines and does not allow buffer
size changes.
'Right Margin' sets the width that your document will be formatted to. This
defaults to 80 columns, but may be set from 20 to 80 columns wide.
'Tab Spacing' sets the number of columns that the tabs are set at. The
default is tabs every 5 spaces.
'Cursor Flash Rate' sets the rate at which the cursor flashes. If this is
set to zero cursor flashing will be disabled.
'Mouse Shutoff Delay' sets the time before the mouse pointer is
automatically disabled. If this is set to zero the mouse pointer will remain
on until you start typing. The mouse pointer is disabled immediately when you
type, and is reenabled when the mouse is moved.
'Verify File Overwrites' selects whether to alert you if you are about to
overwrite an existing file. If this option is turned off, existing files will
be written over without your verification.
'Verify Text Clearing' selects whether to alert you if you are about to
clear the text buffer or a selected block. This option only applies to the
'Clear' button on the screen, it does not affect keyboard delete operations.
'End Every Line With CR/LF' selects whether to end every line with a
carriage return and linefeed (Atari/IBM standard). If this option is turned
off, carriage returns will only be placed where you enter them in your text.
'Automatically Select Block' selects whether to have Pen Pal choose
automatically between a defined block and the entire text file. If this option
is turned on, blocked text is automatically selected for saving or printing.
If this option is turned off, you will be asked whether you wish to use the
defined block of text, or the entire document.
'Alert Data Loss to User' selects whether you should be notified if text is
about to be lost. Most often this would involve loading a new text file, or
quitting the program, when the text file has not been saved. If this option is
turned on, you will be given the opportunity to save your file before the
requested operation takes place.
3 - Text Editing
Pen Pal features a number of keyboard operations to simplify your text
editing. See the keyboard quick reference at the end of this manual for more
information on specific keyboard commands.
3.1 - Block Operations
Pen Pal allows you to select blocks of text for printing, saving etc..
A block may be defined by clicking on the location you wish to start a
block, then dragging the mouse down to the location you wish to end the block.
A block may also be defined using the keyboard. First, move the cursor to
where you want the block to begin. Then press the 'F1' function key. Next,
move the cursor down and/or to the right till you reach the end of the text
you want to block. Finally, press 'F1' again to end the block.
Once a block is set you may print it or save it as a separate text file.
A block of text may be deleted by pressing the DELETE key on the keyboard,
or by clicking on the 'Clear' button at the top of the screen.
3.2 - Clipboard Operations
Text in Pen Pal may be exchanged with other applications by using the system
clipboard. In addition, text may be moved by cutting it from your document and
pasting it in the new location.
A defined block of text may be copied to the system clipboard by clicking on
the 'Copy' button, or by pressing CTRL/C from the keyboard.
A defined block of text may be cut from your document by clicking on the
'Cut' button, or by pressing CTRL/X from the keyboard. The text block will be
placed on the system clipboard, and removed from your document.
You may paste text from the system clipboard to your document by clicking on
the 'Paste' button, or by pressing CTRL/V from the keyboard. If the clipboard
contains a text file it will be placed at the current cursor position.
3.3 - Special Operations
Pressing CTRL/Return will remove carriage returns from the document
currently loaded into memory. However, carriage returns between paragraphs are
left untouched to prevent all paragraphs from merging together. Any line
starting with a space is considered to be a new paragraph.
Pressing CTRL/Space will center the text on the current line.
Pressing function key 'F2' will insert the current date at the current
cursor position.
Pressing function key 'F3' will insert the current time at the current
cursor postion.
Pressing function key 'F4' will set all text in a defined block to uppercase
lettering.
Pressing function key 'F5' will set all text in a defined block to lowercase
lettering.
4 - Loading Text
Click on 'Load' to load a text file into Pen Pals text buffer. Pen Pal will
recognize line ends whether they are terminated with CR/LF (IBM/Atari), CR
(Mac), or LF (Unix).
Click on 'Merge' to insert another text file at the current cursor position.
5 - Saving Text
Click on 'Save' to save your document to disk. Note that if you have
selected the 'End every line with CR/LF' option, that a carriage return will
be appended to the end of each text line.
Regardless of how the line end option is set, you may hold the CONTROL key
down while clicking on 'Save' to make a one time selection of the save method.
If you have defined a block, you may choose between saving the block of text
or the entire document. If the 'Automatically Select Block' option is turned
on, the block will automatically be selected for saving.
6 - Printing text
Click on the 'Print' button to send your document to the printer. If you
have defined a block, you may choose between printing the block of text or the
entire document. If the 'Automatically Select Block' option is turned on, the
block will automatically be selected for printing.
7 - Finding Text
You may search for any text string by clicking on the 'Find' button. A
dialog box will appear allowing you to enter your search string.
Pressing CONTROL and 'F' will find the next match of the search string.
7.1 - Replacing Text
Pen Pal can also search your document for any specified text string, and
then replace it with a string of your choice.
To replace text click on the 'Replace' button. A dialog box will appear
allowing you to enter the string you are searching for. A second dialog will
then appear allowing you to enter the string you wish to replace with.
While the search string is not case sensitive, your replacement string
should be entered EXACTLY as you want it to appear in your document. Leaving
the replacement string blank will simply delete any occurances of the search
string.
You may then select whether to replace only the 'Next' occurance, or 'All'
occurances of the search string in your document. If you select 'All' you may
abort the replacement procedure by pressing any key or clicking the mouse.
You may continue replacing by pressing CONTROL and the 'R' key.
8 - Information
This chapter is a general 'catch-all' for those items which do not pertain
to other program operations.
8.1 - Version/Contact Information
To determine the current version number or the registered owner, click on
the 'Pen Pal' menu item under the 'Pen Pal' menu heading. You may also press
the HELP key at any time to bring up the information screen.
The information screen also provides complete contact information for
Mountain Software.
8.2 - Memory Checking
You may determine the available system free memory by pressing the CONTROL
and 'M' keys at the main menu. If you have limited memory, you may want to
disable your desk accessories, and any nonessential AUTO folder programs (such
as a RAM Disk) when you run Pen Pal.
8.3 - Window Recentering
Should the Pen Pal window get moved out of position, you may recenter the
window by pressing CONTROL and the 'W' key.
8.4 - Appreciation
To my beta testers Victor Bruhn and Steve Traxler: Thank you for your
assistance and 'real-world' testing of Pen Pal.
To my wife Peggy: I Love You!
To my Lord Jesus Christ: Thank You, I owe you everything.
8.5 - About Pen Pal
Pen Pal was written by Anthony Watson using GFA Basic 3.5e and includes
several assembly routines written and compiled with GENST.
The Pen Pal manual was written in Pen Pal and was then layed out and printed
using Wordflair II by Goldleaf Publishing.
8.6 - History
Version 1.0 - Original Shareware Release
March 4, 1994
Version 1.1 - Eliminated "garbage" display when launching Pen Pal
October 19, 1994 - Buffer size can now be set down to 1 line if desired
- Fixed bug when launched from shell programs
- Changed to security key system
Version 1.2 - Dropped Files now pass through as default files.
October 23, 1994 - Modified sections to reduce random bombing.
- Crashing when reverse blocking eliminated.
9 - Keyboard Quick Reference
CNTL/Left Arrow - Jump to start of previous word
CNTL/Right Arrow - Jump to start of next word
SHFT/Left Arrow - Jump to beginning of line
SHFT/Right Arrow - Jump to end of line
SHFT/Down Arrow - Jump down one page
SHFT/Up Arrow - Jump up one page
Home - Jump to top of screen
CTRL/Home - Jump to top of document
SHFT/Home - Jump to bottom of document
Delete - Delete next character (or block)
SHFT/Delete - Delete current line
CTRL/C - Copy text to clipboard
CTRL/X - Cut text, place on clipboard
CTRL/V - Paste text into document from clipboard
CTRL/Return - Remove carriage returns from document
CTRL/Space - Center text on a line
CTRL/M - Report free memory
CTRL/W - Recenter Window
CTRL/F - Find next search string
CTRL/R - Replace next occurance of search string
F1 - Start/End Block marking
F2 - Insert Current Date
F3 - Insert Current Time
F4 - Set Block to Uppercase
F5 - Set Block to Lowercase