Over the past number of years the Lexa suite has been expanded very considerably. It has been brought into line with Windows in that the programmes can handle files of any size and be called without any difficulties from any point in Windows.

The programmes still run in the non-graphic mode which users know from DOS. For the processing of large text corpora this should not be seen as a disadvantage, rather it enables the swift and easy manipulation of huge files without the overhead of graphic display. In addition, the programmes of the Lexa suite offer features which are not available in Windows applications, such as 8 text buffers and undo buffers, discontinuous marking of text lines, powerful search and replace facilities and many other options which are not provided for in the standard Windows framework. This applies above all to the text editor Lexa Text which has been used to create and produce several books including the online documentation to the suite which you will find in the current directory.

The interface to Windows is direct and simple at all times: any texts processed with the Lexa suite can be stored as RTF (Rich Text Format) or HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) files and processed straight away with appropriate Windows software such as Microsoft Word, without losing any precious formatting attributes.

The documentation to the Lexa suite comes in five large files. These can be processed with Lexa Text by entering DOC on the command line or double clicking the file DOC.BAT in the directory \LEXA\DOCUMENT. The first three files LEXA_DOC.001 - 3 represent the text of the three volumes as published by the Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities in Bergen. The file UPDATE.001 is in essence a fourth published volume, while the file UPDATE.002contains the latest update information on the programme suite (up to late autumn 1998) and is only available in file form. Note that the documentation can be processed by users. It can also be transferred to a Windows environment by saving it in RTF or HTML format to disk and reloading it with a different word processor. Bear in mind also that all the major programmes have an online help facility which can be activated at any time by pressing F1.

The installation of the Lexa suite is simplicity itself: you start the WindowsExplorer and move to the directory \LEXA on the ICAME CD-ROM. Then you press Ctrl-C to select the directory branch and move to the destination drive where you want the programmes installed (make sure that the \LEXA tree leaf is not open to ensure that the subdirectories are also selected). Then press Ctrl-V to paste the directory \LEXA and all its subdirectories to this new position. To make sure that you have continuous access to all programmes you should execute the programme Alter Path (file name: alt_path) which is to be found in the \LEXA directory. This will make a small change to the file AUTOEXEC.BAT in the root directory of drive C: to ensure that the programmes of the Lexa and LinguaFont suite are accessible to both DOS and Windows (only takes effect after re-starting your computer).

As on previous occasions, it remains for me to thank Knut Hofland who has been encouraging and helpful and without whose gentle prodding this current version of the software and documentation would not have been finished in time.

Raymond Hickey Essen

December 1998