













                 (C) Copyright NEMCO 1983





                   W O R D F L E X

                     Version 1.31


                    USER'S MANUAL













       Nemco, 9 Walnut Street Rutherford, New Jersey 07070

                       (201) 933-4933














                     TABLE OF CONTENTS.

         I. Introduction..............................1

         II. File Handling............................3

         III. WORDFLEX Menus and Utilities............4

         IV.  Cursor and Screen Control...............5

         V. Entering New Text.........................7

         VI. Replacing and Deleting Characters.......11

         VII. Text Insertion.........................12

         VIII. String Search and Replace.............14

         IX. Lines and Blocks of Text................15

         X. Printed Output...........................17

         XI. Reformatting the Text...................20

         XII. Remaining Commands.....................22

         XIII. Permanent Modification of Defaults....25

         Reference Section...........................26





                    I    INTRODUCTION


     This User's Manual consists of two parts: 13 individual
chapters describing functions and options of the WORDFLEX
program in a logical sequence, followed by a reference section
with a summary of all WORDFLEX commands presented in
alphabetical order.

     The WORDFLEX distribution diskette contains the files
tutor1.txt through tutor5.txt which introduce the user to word
processing with WORDFLEX in 5 sessions.  We recommend beginning
your familiarization with WORDFLEX by following the instructions
of these screen oriented tutorials.

     WORDFLEX does all the text editing and formatting in
memory; there is no need to execute a separate printing program
in order to generate printed output.  Up to 544 Kbytes of memory
can  be utilized; we found that 256 Kbytes are more than
adequate for most applications.  WORDFLEX requires 128 Kbytes to
run.

     Before a detailed description of all individual functions
and features of WORDFLEX is given, a few basic terms used in
this Manual will be defined.

    Text Files:

          Disk files consisting of (extended) ASCII characters
          forming lines of a variable length.  Each line is
          terminated with ASCII character 13 (carriage return)
          and character 10 (linefeed).  These files can be
          displayed and/or printed using the IBM DOS "Type"
          command.  The files can be edited by all word
          processing or text editing programs using this format
          (e.g., IBM DOS Edlin program).

          IBM PC compilers and macro assembler require this
          format of text files for source programs.

          The files are compatible with proofreading programs
          like Aspen Software Proofreader or others.

          Version 1.31 of WORDFLEX will run on IBM PC DOS
          Version 2.0 but it can access files in current
          directories on all installed drives only.  The file
          specification has to have the form "filename.ext"
          where "filename" has 1 to 8 characters and "ext" can
          have 1 to 3 characters. File path specifications are
          not accepted by WORDFLEX Version 1.31.




                              -2-

    Text Buffer:

          Area in memory reserved for a temporary storage of the
          edited text.  The buffer size is dependent upon the
          amount of memory installed.  The overall buffer area
          can accommodate up to five individual and independent
          buffers.  The size of each individual buffer is
          automatically adjusted.

    Loading file:
          Transfer of a file from a diskette to the memory
          buffer.

   Saving file:

          Transfer of text from a memory buffer onto a diskette
          file.  Also referred to as "storing a file".

    Halfscreen of text:

          1 - 12 lines of text displayed on a Monochrome or a
          Color Monitor

    Screen of text:

          1  -  24 lines of text displayed on a Monochrome or a
          Color Monitor.

    Screen control keys:

          Keys of the right hand key cluster of the IBM PC
          keyboard.  Their function as numerical  entry keys is
          disabled.

    Special function keys:

          10 keys of the left hand key cluster  marked  F1
          through F10.

    Alt function keys:

          Keys  depressed together with  the  Alt shift key.

    Ctrl keys:

          Keys  depressed together with  the  Ctrl shift key.




 
                              -3-                               

                   II   FILE HANDLING

     The editing session with WORDFLEX starts by typing "wx
filename".  The filename is a name of an existing file or a file
to be created during the session.

     Five text files can be edited by WORDFLEX in individual
buffers marked 1 through 5.  Files and their buffers are handled
by the following special function keys:

      F1:  consecutive  screens  of  the selected file buffer
           are displayed automatically for a quick inspection

      F2:  one of the existing file buffers is selected for
           editing and/or printing

      F3:  file is loaded onto an available buffer.  If a file
           of a name specified does not yet exist on the disk,
           the buffer is associated with the specified name but
           a file is not created.

      F4:  contents of the file buffer is stored (saved) on a
           disk. The stored file can have the name associated
           with the buffer, or can be given an another name.  If
           the file does not exist, it is created by this
           command.

     WORDFLEX has a provision for editing files larger than the
available buffer size.  When only about 3 Kbytes of memory
remain available to the text buffer, the loading of a file stops
and the user is given an option to store the remaining portion
of the original file as an auxiliary file with the same name and
the suffix  ".wxb".  The first portion of the file is then
renamed by replacing its original suffix with ".wxa".  This
portion of the original file can be then edited using the
remaining available memory.  In order to edit the overflow file,
the auxiliary file (.wxa) should be stored and WORDFLEX
reinitialized by the Alt Z command.  File .wxb can then be
loaded and edited. The two files can be concatenated (under
Versions 1.1 and 2.0 of the IBM PC DOS) using the "copy"
command.  With 256 Kbytes of memory installed, this operation
should almost never occur.

       The session is terminated by pressing F10.  Two warnings
are shown before the program terminates.  There is no way to
recover the contents of a buffer not saved on a file during an
editing session.  Consequently, care should be taken not to
press Ctrl Break during the session unless the session has to be
aborted.  Ctrl C will also terminate the program in some
circumstances.



 
                              -4-                               

             III   WORDFLEX MENUS AND UTILITIES

     The program was designed to use as much of the CRT display
screen for text manipulation as possible.  Only the topmost row
is reserved by WORDFLEX for brief messages and prompts.
This line, referred to in this Manual as the command line, is
displayed in various color combinations on a Color Monitor and
in reversed video (black on green background) on a monochrome
Monitor.

     WORDFLEX utilizes 24 out of 25 lines of each display screen
for manipulation of the edited text which appears almost exactly
as it will be printed.

     To remind the user of the commands and options available,
WORDFLEX uses three Alt commands.  Upon invoking any of the
commands shown below, the current edited text is replaced with
the special displays generated by these commands. The text,
however, is not affected by these displays and is shown again
upon exit from these commands.

      Alt  A:  displays options available to the user who does
               not want to use the default or current values
               of these options

      Alt  H:  displays file help.txt containing a summary of
               all WORDFLEX commands

      Alt  S:  displays current status of editing

     The  Alt A function displays a menu of 13 options with
their current values.  The term TRUE is used if an option is in
effect.  FALSE indicates that the option is disabled.  All
options will be described in the context of commands on which
they have an effect.


 
                              -5-                               

             IV   CURSOR AND SCREEN CONTROL

     All word processing programs move through the text to
perform local editing operations by controlling the position
within the text of the cursor, i.e. the blinking underline that
is always present on the IBM PC  screen.

     WORDFLEX uses the special keys of the right hand cluster to
perform cursor and screen control.  Their function as numerical
entry keys is disabled; the Num Lock key has no effect in
WORDFLEX.  Some older programs rewritten from their 8 bit
versions use Ctrl keys for this purpose; there is no need for
that since the IBM PC keyboard was designed with screen oriented
word processing in mind.

     The cursor is moved within one screen horizontally or
vertically using the four arrow keys of the right hand keypad.
This is denoted as "cursor mode" on the topmost WORDFLEX
command line.  It is the default mode of operation.  The
following cursor control functions are available in the cursor
mode using these keys:

      left, right arrow key  -  moves one character either left
                                or right
      up, down arrow key     -  moves one line either up or down

     The cursor can be also moved more quickly along a line
using the combination of Ctrl and horizontal arrow keys.  In
this mode, the cursor always moves to the beginning of a word.
A word is defined as a sequence of characters delimited by
spaces:

      Ctrl left arrow key    - moves one word left
      Ctrl right arrow key   - moves one word right

Even faster movement of the cursor is accomplished using
the Home and End keys:

      Home key -    moves to column 1 of the current line
      End key  -    moves one space beyond the end of text on
                    the current line or to the end of the line
                    if the line has reached the maximum length

Finally, the cursor can be moved within entire screen:

      Ctrl Home -    moves to column 1 row 1 of the screen
      Ctrl End  -    moves to column 1 of the last row of text

     Cursor mode limits the text handling to one screen, as
defined above.  Clearly, there has to be a way to handle more
than 24 lines of text.


 
                              -6-                               



     WORDFLEX uses two methods of displaying lengthy texts: one
which is similar to unfolding of a scroll - i.e. scrolling
continuously line by line and another, similar to flipping of
pages of book.

     There can be some confusion what the word page means in the
context of word processing.  The IBM PC keyboard has two keys
marked Pg Up and Pg Dn.  WORDFLEX uses these keys to advance or
to the next halfscreen  of the text (Pg Up) or to return to the
previous halfscreen (Pg Dn).  Ctrl Pg Up and Ctrl Pg Dn will
advance to the next full screen (24 lines) or return by 24
lines, respectively.  These "page flipping" functions do not
depend on the setting of the cursor mode or the scroll mode.

     In this Manual, the term page will be used for a printed
page, usually 40 to 60 lines (single spaced).  1 to 24 lines of
a CRT display will be referred to as a "screen".

     Scrolling of the text is defined as a movement, one line at
a time, of the text up or down.  The IBM PC keyboard has a
special key, the Scroll Lock key which WORDFLEX uses to toggle
(i.e., to turn on and off) the "scroll mode".  The command
line indicates whether the cursor or scroll mode is in effect.
In the scroll mode the keys of the right hand keypad have the
following functions:

      vertical arrow keys    - scroll up or down

      Ctrl Home key - displays the first screen of the current
                      file buffer

      Ctrl End key  - displays the last screen of the current
                      file buffer

     There is an additional cursor control command:

      Alt I     - moves cursor to the left margin

     The left and right margins are displayed as red (normal
video on the Monochrome) bars on the command line. The left
margin is set by default to column 1, the right margin to the
column corresponding to the maximum line length (64 characters
for a newly created file buffer).  The margins are reset by the
Alt L (left margin) or Alt W (right margin) commands to the
current cursor position. Right margin (maximum line length) can
be also changed by option "b" of the Alt A command.

 
                              -7-

                V   ENTERING NEW TEXT

     Entering new text into an empty file buffer is the most
frequent word processing application.  Therefore, WORDFLEX makes
the creation of new text as easy as possible.  Simply type in
the new text which will appear in cyan color (on color displays)
or in high intensity (on monochrome).  There is no need to press
the enter key at the end of a line since automatic word wrap is
always in effect.

     Pressing of the enter key terminates a line at its present
length.  If there were no characters entered on a line, an empty
line is created.  Empty lines are used to separate paragraphs of
text.  WORDFLEX refers to a group of lines delimited by empty
lines as a paragraph.  As it will be shown later, some WORDFLEX
commands operate on individual paragraphs of text only.

     When the cursor moves into the next line, possibly with
the beginning of a word that did not fit into the previous line,
the display of the previous line returns to green (normal
intensity on monochrome) to indicate that the line has been
copied into the memory text buffer.

     Three different text display attributes are used consist-
ently in WORDFLEX.  Text stored in a memory buffer is displayed
in green (normal intensity in monochrome).  New, replaced or
inserted text is displayed in cyan (high intensity in
monochrome).  Text that has been moved by insertion or deletion
is displayed in yellow (underlined in monochrome).

     In addition, the command line indicates that a change of
text took place on the screen.  This is useful in situations
when, for instance, a part of the text has been replaced with
spaces, leaving no indication that a screen modification took
place. The message on the command line serves as a reminder that
the contents of the screen display has to be finalized before
many WORDFLEX commands can be executed.

     WORDFLEX takes full advantage of the fact that the screen
display is a part of the IBM PC memory.  The initial storage and
manipulation of text takes place in the display memory only.
As mentioned above, change of the display to green (normal
intensity) indicates that a transfer from the display to the
buffer took place.

     Adding text to an existing file (appending text) is done
the same way as entering new text.  The simplest way to append
text to the end of an existing buffer is to toggle in the scroll
mode and to press Ctrl End.  The cursor moves to the
beginning of the last line of the existing text.  All that has
to be done then is to press the enter key and to continue typing
in additional text.

                              -8-

     There is a significant difference between selecting the
automatic right justify mode, or settling for creation of text
with lines of lengths not exceeding the specified (or default)
value.  The automatic right justification is convenient for
documents that will not be extensively edited or modified in the
future.  For drafts, on the other hand, the automatic right
justification is not very practical.

     Another important WORDFLEX feature that has to be selected
before starting to enter, append and/or insert a new text is the
left margin adjustment.  There is no need to move the left
margin, whose position is indicated by the red (normal video)
bar displayed on the command line, for the bulk of the text.  As
it will be explained later, any additional left margins for
printed output can be selected by one of the Alt A options.

     There is, however, an important application of the left
margin selection when text with indentation is being entered. If
the left margin is not at the beginning of the indented text, a
text overflow will occur to the column marked to by the left red
bar on the command line.  Alt L sets the left margin (and the
bar indicator on the command line) at the current column
position.  This assures that a text overflow will take place
into the correct column.  Alt I moves the cursor to the left
margin column.  The Home key will still move it into column 1 of
the current line.

     The right margin is by default in column 64 for new files.
It can be reset to the current cursor position by pressing Alt
W. Also, option "b" of the Alt A command selects the line length
value (maximum column number).

     Each entered line can be centered between the current
margins by the Alt T command.

     WORDFLEX, unlike many other word processing programs,
allows you to enter almost all 256 extended ASCII characters
available on the IBM PC into the text buffer and to store them
permanently in a file.  This includes almost all Ctrl charact-
ers, with a few exceptions that will be described below.  All
characters entered are displayed as shown in IBM PC documenta-
tion, e.g. in Appendix G of the BASIC Manual.  All ASCII
characters accepted by WORDFLEX can be entered by pressing the
Alt shift key followed by three digits representing values
between 1 to 255 using the numerical keypad.  This is the
only situation when WORDFLEX interprets the right keypad keys
as numerical entries.

                              -9-


     Two ASCII characters, carriage return (ASCII 13) and
linefeed (ASCII 10) have a special role in text handling.  As
mentioned above, WORDFLEX generates  standard format text files
which use both these characters to indicate an end of line.
These characters are not actually present in the text buffer;
they are appended when a disk storage takes place.  WORDFLEX
uses the carriage return in the text entry mode to indicate an
end of line.  The ASCII character 10 (linefeed) is ignored by
WORDFLEX.

     The backspace character (ASCII 8) which is entered by the
large left arrow key just above the return (enter) key of the
IBM PC keyboard, is used by WORDFLEX as a destructive backspace.
Pressing this key while entering the text returns the cursor one
space and the character in that column is erased (replaced with
blank).  This is different from a non-destructive backspace
resulting from pressing the smaller left arrow key of the screen
control key cluster.  The non-destructive backspace moves the
cursor one column left without affecting the character in that
column.  The backspace character cannot be entered into the text
buffer in this version.

     Another character which cannot be stored in a file is the
TAB character entered by the key just below the Esc key on the
IBM PC keyboard.  Since there is no consistency in
interpretation of the TAB (ASCII 9) character by various
printers, WORDFLEX expands this character into a number of
spaces corresponding to the default or selected setting.  The
selection is made by the Alt A command.  The default value of
the TAB setting is 8 spaces, the same as used by the IBM Edlin
program which, incidentally, actually enters the TAB character
into the file it creates.

     WORDFLEX Version 1.31 allows only evenly spaced tab stops.
With the tab length default value of 8, the tab stops are in
column 9, 17, 25 and so on.

     Another character that cannot be entered into the text
buffer and stored in a file is the Ctrl Z (ASCII 26) character.
The IBM DOS interprets this character as an End of File mark.
It is stored automatically in the file after the last line of
the text.
 
                              -10-


     The last character that cannot be entered into the buffer
is the (extended) ASCII character 255 which is displayed by the
IBM PC as a blank.  This character is used internally by
WORDFLEX.

     The Ctrl C (ASCII 3) character can be entered or inserted
into the text.  The program, however, has to be in its basic
default mode; when performing some task like printing, the Ctrl
C will terminate the program.

     The null character (ASCII 0) is entered into the buffer as
Ctrl 2.  It is displayed as a blank.                 



Summary of characters that cannot be entered into the text
buffer:

        ASCII Code (extended)      Character

             8                     backspace (Ctrl H)
             9                     TAB (Ctrl I)
            10                     linefeed (Ctrl J)
            13                     carriage return (Ctrl M)
            26                     Ctrl Z
            255                    Alt 255


Commands and options pertinent to text entry:

      Alt L    -    sets left margin

      Alt T    -    centers current line

      Alt W    -    sets right margin

      Alt A options:

          "b": max line length
          "c": tab length
          "j": automatic right justification of the text


 
                              -11-

         VI   REPLACING AND DELETING CHARACTERS

     The replacement and deletion of individual characters
occurs at the cursor location.  The replace mode is the default
mode of WORDFLEX: new characters can simply be typed over the
old ones on the display.  The command line indicates that the
screen has been modified, and if the character is not a space or
a tab, it is displayed in cyan (high intensity).

     Similarly, the deletion of an individual character at the
cursor (above the cursor, actually) is done by pressing the Del
key from the right hand keypad.  Its function as a decimal point
is disabled in WORDFLEX; as mentioned above, the Num Lock
special key has no effect on the functions of the right hand
keypad.

     When a character is deleted, the rest of the line on the
right is moved left and displayed in yellow (underlined in
monochrome).  The Del key will not delete an entire line.
However, it can delete all displayed characters from the line
making it an empty line.  As it will be explained later, an
entire line is deleted from the buffer by the Alt D command.

     Both the replacement and deletion of individual characters
is fully reversible since it takes place in the display only.
In order to make it permanent, the F6 key has to be pressed. F6
will transfer all changes into the buffer and the display will
turn green (normal intensity) again.

     There are situations, however, when upon inspection of the
changes just made we may decide to return to the previous text.
As long as changes were not made permanent by pressing F6, the
previous screen can be restored by pressing F9.  Again, the
display turns green (normal intensity) and the message that
screen has been modified disappears from the command line.


     Summary of commands pertinent to the replacement and
deletion of characters:

           Key            Function

           Del            deletes the character at the cursor

           F6             makes the replacement or deletion
                          permanent

           F9             restores the previous screen display



 
                              -12-

                  VII   TEXT INSERTION

     Text insertion is a more complex operation than character
replacement or deletion.  WORDFLEX has to be switched into the
insert mode by pressing the Ins key (its function as zero is
disabled).  The Ins key acts as a toggle: another depression
will return WORDFLEX into its default cursor/replace mode.  The
command line will indicate that the insert mode is in effect and
text can be inserted at the cursor location.  Insertion of
characters cannot be separated from line handling since the
addition of characters to a given line may lead to an overflow
of the text into following lines.

     WORDFLEX generates an automatic overflow of text during
insertion.  There are two alternatives available for handling
the following lines.  Depending on the selection of one of the
options, automatic rearrangement of the rest of the paragraph
following the insertion does or does not take place.  The
default mode is to rearrange the paragraph; there are many
situations, however, where this option is not desirable.  It is
entirely useless for preparation of programs using indentation;
the structure of the program depicted by this indentation will
be completely lost by the automatic readjustment of lines to the
maximum length.  The automatic rearrangement is also not
desirable when tables are being prepared.  Since the option can
be turned on or off easily using the Alt A command (option "g"),
it should not present any problem to make the proper choice
suitable to a given application.

     The insert operation involves potentially the entire screen
and it is entirely reversible.  As with replacement or deletion,
F6 will make insertions permanent in the text buffer, and F9
will return the screen to its previous state.  WORDFLEX disables
many commands and functions during text insertion.  Proper
selections of the available options must be made before
insertion mode is entered.

     The enter key has a special function in the insert mode.
When the cursor is placed within a line of text, pressing the
enter key generates a new line into which the rest of the line
starting at the current cursor position is transferred.  If the
cursor is located in column 1, a new line is created preceding
the line with the previous cursor location.  This feature makes
insertion before the topmost line of a screen possible.  If the
cursor is located right of the end of the line text, pressing
the enter key will create a new line following the current line.


 
                              -13-

     The overflow feature makes the effortless insertion of long
text possible.  The text on the line overflows into the next
line, and when the cursor reaches the last column corresponding
to the specified line length, it moves to the next line.  Word
wrap always takes place just as in the case of text entry.


     Summary:

      Ins key  -    toggles on and off the insert mode.  Text is
                    inserted with automatic overflow.  The
                    following text in a paragraph is either
                    automatically rearranged or left unchanged,
                    depending on the setting of the paragraph
                    reformat option.

      Alt L    -    sets left margin at the current cursor
                    position.  Text overflows into the next line
                    at this column.

     Pertinent options of the Alt A command:

 "g": reformat paragraph is TRUE (default setting) for automatic
      rearrangement of the text following insertion.

 "j": automatic right justification is FALSE (default setting).
      Lines are not padded with blanks for achieving same line
      length.
