Lexa
Update Documentation
Vol.2
Raymond Hickey
English Linguistics
Essen University
Contents
1 Lexa Text
1.1 Text editing level
1.1.1 Counting string matches
1.1.2 Input for string searches
1.1.3 Direction of search
1.1.4 Multiple string search
1.1.5 Quick search
1.1.6 Securing cursor position
1.1.7 Comparing texts
1.1.8 Quick Switch
1.1.9 Online file viewing
1.1.10 Hypertext function
1.1.11 Spell checker
1.2 Text formatting enhancements
1.2.1 User markup codes
1.2.2 Rich text format (RTF) encoding
1.2.2.1 Removing excess codes
1.3 Embedded codes and associated functions
1.3.2 Word index
1.3.2.1 Sorting lines as index
1.3.3 Numbered notes
1.3.4 Collecting references
1.3.5 Numbered quotes
1.3.6 Collect comments
1.3.6.1 Comments array
1.3.7 Draw text box
1.5 Summary of other altered commands
1.6 Block processing options
1.7 Directory lister level options
1.8 Printing considerations
1.8.1 Printer drivers
1.8.2 Font management
1.8.3 Page layout
1.8.4 Pagination
1.8.5 Embedding printer commands
1.8.6 Information embedding on printing
1.8.7 Printing in landscape mode
1.8.7.1 Printing same page twice on sheet of paper
1.8.7.2 Printing in newspaper style
1.8.8 Preview of printer output
1.8.9 Command line options
1.8.10 Directory locations
2 Lexa 4
3 DbTxt/DbStat
3.1 Database editing level
3.2 Text editing level
3.3 Block processing
3.4 Directory listing
4 Lexa File
5 Lexa Dirs
6 Lexa Find
7 Database Delimited
8 Lexa Pat
9 Lexa Context
10 Lexa Search
11 Directory List
12 Today
13 Page Sort
14 Case Convert
15 Screen Saver
16 Stamp
17 Miscellaneous notes
18 Initialization files
Last minute information on Lexa, Version 7.0
Most of the information pertaining to programme additions is included in the update documentation volume for Version 6.0 published by the Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities, Bergen. However some changes have been made since this went to the printers so please note the following.
General enhancements
File viewing function The viewing function in the text editor (Lexa Text) and file manager (Lexa File) has been expanded to include text files from word processors running under Windows In both these programmes there have been slight changes to the user interface. Note that pressing F10 when no files are marked for copying with activate the file template window.
Loading normal text files Automatic file recognition is done when loading a file with the data processing programmes to ensure that you do not try to retrieve a file which is not an ASCII text.
Using a user-font chart There is now a user-font chart with user-defined contents available in the database manager and text editor. This is activated with Alt-Shift and requires that a user-font file be loaded for proper display of special symbols. Consult the supplied file LTXT_CHR.CHT to see what the option offers.
Second user-font chart If you wish to use a second user font with a chart from which you select symbols then you can do this by specifying the name of the font file (extension is .VGA as with the first font file) as item 85 and a second chart file as item 86 in an initialization file (or choose this in the online parameters menu activated via Alt-Backspace). Note that there are two supplied files EXT_FONT.VGA and EXT_FONT.CHT which you can use to see how this works. You activate the second font chart with the key combination Alt-Tilde.
To switch between standard display and the first user font or the second user font you press Ctrl-Shift-F1 or Ctrl-Shift-F2 respectively. To obtain a windowful of information on font settings press Alt-Esc.
The user font chart options apply to both text and database managers. The necessary file names are entered at appropriate points in an initialisation files, see extracts given below.
Ramdrive for screen fonts and charts In order to speed up screen font switches and to avoid unnecessary disk accesses, for instance on laptops, you can use a ramdrive as a repository for common screen fonts and charts for special symbols. In addition the two auxiliary programmes which are required for loading fonts and charts are expected in the ramdrive, STND_FNT ‘Standard Font’ and SPEC_FNT ‘Special Font’. There is a supplied batch file COPYFNTS.BAT which will copy the necessary files to a ramdrive. The default destination for the ramdrive is H: in this file; you should change it to the letter of your ramdrive if this is different.
The ramdrive option is available with the programmes Lexa Text, Database Text and Lexa File.
Enhancement of text marking function In Lexa Text and Database Text there is now no distinction made (as previously) between marking within a single line and marking several lines. When the block mark function is activated via F4 you can set the marking in any direction and carry out any of a number of commands (pressing F1 offers you a picklist).
To remain aligned with major word processing programmes the Shift key together with an arrow key or Home / End with automatically activate the block marking function. The combinations Shift-Up/Down Arrow can also be used as long as they do not initiate the marking sequence. If you attempt to do this you simply mark the entire line with the Line Mark function - associated with the options in the Alt-F9 menu - and not with the Text Mark function, the more general of the two and with options shown on pressing F1 However if you do not require the line mark function you can turn it off via the approriate option in the Block menu or alternatively you can set the relevant parameter in an initialisation file (no. 77). If you do this Shift and all four arrow keys mark text; the line mark function is then (temporarily) inaccessible.
This alternation has meant that the setting Shift-RightArrow (Put word in clipboard) is activated with Ctrl-Shift-W.
You may blockmark an entire page (rather than individual lines) by pressing Ctrl-Shift-Home By means this option of this option you could for example mark discontinuous pages in a text (for copying, deletion, etc.).
To mark an entire page with the normal block function — not with the line mark function — you press Ctrl-Shift-End The block function remains ‘on’ so that you can now carry out any normal operation on the highlighted block of text (press F1 for help as usual).
Immediate exit With the major programmes as well as with the viewing programmes such as Lexa View, Text Look, Database Look, Lexa Browse, Lexa Find you can now exit immediately by pressing F12.
Use of History function When searching for text strings and entering text in general in virtually all programmes you can recall the contents of previous searches (up to 10 of these, 16 in Lexa Text) by pressing F12 for History when on the User Input Line.
The contents of the history buffer can also be accessed directly by pressing Ctrl-Shift-6; with this keystroke you can copy any element of the history array into the current text.
List of file templates With the major programmes (Lexa Text, Database Text and Lexa File) a series of 8 file templates with descriptions can be made available by editing the supplied files {LT_FIL}.$$$, {DB_FIL}.$$$ and {LF_FIL}.$$$ respectively. These can be accessed by pressing the SpaceBar when the File Template window is active.
Levels in directory tree With the keys Alt-1 through 4 you can determine how many levels of the current directory tree are to be displayed. The advantage here is that you see the wood for the trees so to speak by reducing the number of levels displayed at any one moment on a large drive. All directories can be viewed again by pressing Alt-0, Alt-Tilde or Alt-Esc This option is available in Lexa File, Lexa Dirs and Lexa Text For this to work satisfactorily there must be five structure files in the root directory of the current drive: ADIRS.FIL, ADIRS_01.FIL, ADIRS_02.FIL, ADIRS_03.FIL, ADIRS_04.FIL These can be generated by (re-)reading a drive in Lexa File or Lexa Dirs To do this, press Alt-F8 in either of these programmes.
30-line, 90 column display The three main programmes, the file manager and the text and database editors (along with the directory manager and the retrieval programmes), allow for a further type of display which has 30 lines per screen and a line with a maximum width of 80 or 90 columns. No special fonts are required for this manner of display (only available with VGA video adapters).
To activate this mode you select the third option in the menu which appears on pressing Ctrl-V (or Ctrl-Alt-V in Lexa Text). The programmes in question allow the type of display to be specified in an initialisation file (see below).
Note Laptop computers cannot usually emulate the 90-column VGA display, but many can show 30 lines on the inbuilt LCD screen. For this reason there is an additional option for 80 lines by 30 columns in the main programmes. There is no way of telling in advance whether this will work on a particular laptop: you must try it out for yourself.
The 90x30 can be activated from the DOS command line (or a batch file) by entering /9 after the programme name and any possible parameters which might also be present. To have a 80 x 30 sized screen enter /8 on the command line.
50-line display The major programmes of the group also support the 50-line display which is available on VGA-based video systems. This option, if available, is activated from the menu presented when you press Ctrl-V (or Ctrl-Alt-V in Lexa Text).
This option makes use of two fonts, specially designed for 50-line display. The first is SANS_8X8.VGA which is a sans serif font which users may find better for the small letters of a 50-line screen. The second is USER_8X8.VGA which is identical to the font of special symbols, LTXT_CHR.VGA which is also supplied with the Lexa suite. Note that there is a special programme called STND_FNT.EXE which is used in the background to activate a font for 50-line display.
Alternative colours Many programmes now allow one to switch between a default set of colours (grey lettering on blue background) and an alternative set (black lettering on grey background). This applies for instance to the ancillary database programmes such as Database Look, Database Module and Database Delimited In all cases the colours are toggled using the key combination Ctrl-Q as in Lexa Text.
Cursor shape The default for the cursor is a block in inverse colour. However in Lexa Text, Database Text and Lexa File you can specify what symbol you would like as mouse cursor and whether the display should be in inverse colour or not. This is done by entering the number (in decimal) of the ASCII symbol to be used (see information on initialisation files below). Note that in the video font files SANSERIF.VGA and LTXT_CHR.VGA the escape symbol ASCII 27 is defined as a large left upward pointing arrow which is similar to the cursor used in the graphics mode. The form and display of the mouse cursor can be determined interactively by pressing Ctrl-Shift-1.
Common commands menu Users can gather commonly executed commands into a picklist of up to 16 items which can then be activated by pressing Ctrl-Backspace at any time. When the window for this option is open you can assign a command to a line by pressing F5 and then choosing a command from the normal picklist system. To clear a line press F4 The current settings are saved to disk by striking F10 Any previous settings are loaded automatically when the user command window is loaded for the first time in a work session.
This option is available in the text and database editors, Database Text and Lexa Text, as well as in the file manager Lexa File It stores the user-specified commands to a file with the name of the programme and the extension .CMD, e.g. LTEXT.CMD for Lexa Text.
Batch file list In Lexa Text, Database Text and Lexa File pressing Alt-Tab leads to a window opening in which up to 16 batch files (or programme names) are listed and which can be executed by moving the highlight bar and pressing Return Beside the name of each file is a descriptive text which indicates what the batch does.
The information for the present option is taken from a text file which is specified in the initialisation file of each programme. The default supplied file is called LEXA.BFG (.BFG = BatchFileGroup) and contains the name of each batch file or programme along with a descriptive text and possible comments.
The batch files and/or programmes are expected to be located in the Auxiliary File Directory used by Lexa Text or the home directory of Database Text and Lexa File If a programme is not at this location, then you should use a batch file to change first to the directory in which it is to be found and follow this with a call to the programme.
Message and menu files The texts of most messages and all menus in both the database and the text editors are stored in two files, DBTXT.MNU and LTEXT.MNU respectively. These are located in the home directory of both programmes and should not be tampered with otherwise neither will work properly.
Repository file In order to be able to transfer data from one application to another, the major programmes Lexa Text and Database Text and Lexa File have an option whereby you can store a block-marked stretch of text in a special file which can be accessed from any of the programmes. The name and location of this repository file is specified in the initialisation file for each programme. To ensure that each programme uses the same file, enter an indentical name and location in the initialisation files of all programmes.
Shift-F4 When this key combination is pressed the repository file is loaded into the highest text area (12 in Lexa Text and Database Text). The programme jumps to the bottom of the text and up a text page, i.e. the current line is then the beginning of the last saved block.
Alt-F10 When block marking is active pressing this key combination will lead to the current block being appended to the repository file. At the beginning of the block a page break is always inserted.
In the programmes Lexa File, Lexa Pat, Lexa Context and Lexa Bat there is only the option of saving the entire text to a repository file. With these applications the keystroke Alt-F10 does not apply when block marking text. In the text and database editors both the entire text and a block can be saved to a repository file by pressing Alt-F10 when in the block in the mode or not.
Note that the repository file keeps growing the more you use it. The user must delete sections of the file which are no longer required to keep it to manageable proportions. In Lexa File you can only store data to the repository from the text editing level.
A word on temporary files Both text and database editors use temporary files when the user does not specify a particular file name. For instance in Lexa Text when you start a new file by pressing Escape on the directory listing level the name given is _LTX_???.TMP where ??? stands for the number of the current text area, e.g. _LTX_004.TMP for a new file in area number 4, _LTX_013.TMP for a new file in area number 13 and so on. With Database Text 16 temporary text files are created on starting the programme with the names _DTX_001.TMP to _DTX_016.TMP These names in both text and database editors all contain the extension .TMP and begin with an underscore.
The point to be careful about here is that temporary files are created irrespective of whether they already exist on disk or not. This means that if you use a temporary file and there is such a file in the same directory on the same drive, then be careful not to store it directly (via Ctrl-F12 or Ctrl-F11, i.e. without checking for overwriting) as the file on disk will be overwritten automatically. The easiest way to avoid this situation is not to use the temporary file names when it comes to saving data in such a file to disk, indeed that is the intention of such files, to provide a label for an area of memory in which users can deposit data, but not as a label for data stored on disk.
Keyboard click Users may wish to have a short click produced when a key is struck on the keyboard. This can be helpful with soft-touch keyboards which do not appear to respond very accurately, for instance on many laptops. The click feature can be determined via the last feature in an initialisation file or it can be toggled with the appropriate option in the Miscellaneous menu.
This option is available in the file manager and in the database managers as well.
1 Lexa Text
1.1 Text editing level
Number of texts in text editor You can now edit up to 20 texts at a time. The text picklist window has been expanded to accomodate this. You reach this window by pressing Alt-Return or pressing the number 5 on the numeric keypad.
Previous files When Lexa Text is exited it write the names of the files which were last loaded and the current line position for each file to a log file with the name LTEXT.LOG in the programme directory, i.e. where Lexa Text itself resides. By pressing Ctrl-Alt-O you can open one of these files by choosing from the list of previous files in a window. The text area used is the next empty area. The line pointer repositioned at the point where it was before the file in question was last closed.
Loading and saving a file name set It may often occur that you are editing a set of files and would like to note their names and the line in each file at which you terminated editing. Normally this can be realised with the foregoing option. However, previous files are only noted for the last loading of Lexa Text Once you use the programme more than once after editing a set of files then information about this specific set is lost. The solution to this dilemma is to store the names of files in a file name set This is done by pressing F10 and then Shift-F11 while editing any text. In the bottom right-hand corner of the dialogue box a button appears in parentheses and the extension for the current file is now .SET When you press Return the file is stored with the names and exit lines of each loaded file noted. A window with this information appears confirming this. To load a set of files when you wish to re-start work with just this group you enter the directory where these files are located, move the file bar to the name of the .SET file (you can check on this by pressing SpaceBar for file view) and press Alt-S. The set is then loaded into the empty areas of Lexa Text and the cursor is relocated to the exit line for each file.
Moving between text areas Each text area can be jumped to directly by pressing the Alt key followed by a number. In practice this means pressing Alt and 1 through 9, the next three text areas, ie 10 - 12, can be accessed by pressing the other keys on the top row of the keyboard with the Alt key depressed, that is Alt-0 for text area 10, Alt-Dash for text area 11 and Alt-EqualsSign for text area 12.
To reach the areas 12 through to 16 you must use the picklist as there are no combinations of Alt and a numeric key which would be appropriate here.
Because of this increase in the number of text areas there has been a slight alteration in the use of keys. Note the following re-assignments.
Old key New key Function
Ctrl-0 Alt-[ Cursor shape
Alt-0 Alt-] Force monochrome display
Alt-9 Ctrl-0 Numbered quote
Ctrl-Del Activate File Bar This command will cause a bar to be displayed at the bottom of the screen which shows you current file information and offers a series of options which can be realised via the keyboard or the mouse. Note the following significance of the display.
Text Save texts
New File: areas (1-20): All: One:
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ... | øø | ø |
You can move the File Pointer (two inward pointing arrows) from 1 to 20 with by clicking an area number with the mouse. Needless to say if this is empty you are prompted to load a file into the area or by pressing Escape on the File Manager level to start a new file. If a file has been altered then its number is displayed in red; if the area is empty the number is shown in black; otherwise the display is that for text markers (this can be determined by the user if necessary).
The use of the File Bar can be determined via an initialisation file (see below for an example).
This option is also available in Database Text.
Ctrl-O Open next file This function will cause Lexa Text to find the next unoccupied text area, starting from the current one and start an empty text there. The key combination Ctrl-Shift-O will close the current file and start a new empty text. This command is similar to F5 New File with the difference that here you are not presented with a file listing from which to choose a file to load.
Loading from list of files in text area One means of loading files is to take the name from a list of files which is loaded as a normal text in one of the text areas of the editor. This is done by pressing Ctrl-Shift-F5 File from text list This assumes that the line on which the cursor currently rests contains the name of a valid file. Lexa Text then asks you to specify which text area is to be used for the file which is about to be loaded.
This option becomes a powerful tool when used in conjunction with Lexa Dirs and Lexa Find First of all note that you can call Lexa Find when you are in Lexa Dirs by pressing Ctrl-F11 A typical application of this would be where you move the highlight bar in the directory tree to the top of a branch with sub-directories. Now load Lexa Find The latter will list all files in this section of the current drive starting at the current directory and embracing all the directories below it. Press F10 to save this list of files to disk. You now have a complete list of all files in the entire current branch of the current drive. This file has the default name LFIND.OUT but can be given any name by the user.
If you now load this text file into an area of the text editor then you can load further files by simply moving the cursor to the required file and pressing Ctrl-Shift-F5 Needless to say if you activate this command and the cursor is not on a line with a valid file name then no file can be loaded so check on the name which Lexa Text echoes in a window before attempting to load the text in question.
Text macro functions The text macro functions in the database manager and text editor have been greatly expanded. There are now the following kinds of text macros available in the text editor.
Function Keystroke File extension
1) Word macros Ctrl-G *.WDS
2) Alpha macros Shift-F2, Ctrl-F2 *.ALT
3) Line macro Shift-F3 *.LIN
4) Command macro Ctrl-F5 *.MAC
5) Text database Shift-F9, Ctrl-F9 *.TDB
6) Word clipboard Ctrl-Sh-W, Ctrl-Esc *.WCL
7) Line clipboard Alt-Space, Ctrl-Space *.LCL
Note that a maximum of 512 lines can be stored in the line clipboard and a maximum of 256 items in the word clipboard. Word and line macros have a maximum of 640. Alpha macros are restricted to the 26 letters of the English alphabet.
Alpha Macros for commands It is possible to assign not just a stretch of text to a combination of Alt key and letter but a command as well. This is done by activating the macro editing window with Shift-F2 as usual, moving the bar to the required letter and then pressing F4 for Assign command The command picklist system is activated and you choose a command to associate with your key combination. A macro which is linked to a command is indicated by a preceding exclamation mark in the macro editing window.
Structure of an .ALT file You may save any set of macros to disk by pressing F10 Take note of the following structure which applies to all macros disk files. There is one line of text for each key. After this is a further line which is normally empty but which is filled with a number if the key for this macro is associated with a command and not a piece of text (compare the Common Commands Menu which functions similarly in this respect). The number is the value of the keypress carried out automatically when the macro is activated. The text with such macros is that used in the picklist system and has purely mnemonic value.
Ctrl-F5 Command macro file It may often occur that the macro one wishes to create does not just consist of a single text string or a command - the types available directly via Shift-F2 - but should contain several commands and several text entries in free order. Such a macro is much more powerful as it allows the user to hand over control for a whole sequence of events to Lexa Text.
Such complex macros are realised via a command macro file. This is a text file with the extension .MAC and it consists of lines with commands, text and possibly with comments. On pressing Ctrl-F5 you choose a command macro file from a directory listing and Lexa Text starts processing it, continuing until it has reached the last line of the file.
A command macro file has a very specific structure which must be adhered to for correct execution. Any line which begins with an exclamation mark is a command. This is a number followed by a tab, a semi-colon and then the description of the command from the menu system. Any plain text will be taken to be normal keyboard input and stuffed into the keyboard buffer at the relevant point in the macro. Each line of the macro is processed until the end is reached and the macro stops.
A macro can be passed to Lexa Text from the DOS command line as follows for example:
ltext /m-start.mac
You can in fact first initialise Lexa Text and then carry out the macro by typing:
ltext /i /m-start.mac
Remember in this case to either pass a name for a file to load or to include commands for this in the macro itself.
A macro can have a maximum of 255 lines. Text lines can have a maximum of 255 characters. Do not call a macro within a macro; this causes infinite recursion, i.e. your computer will hang.
Note that if you call another programme or shell down to DOS during a macro then command is passed away from Lexa Text and you must type something, like "exit", to get back into Lexa Text again. If there are commands/text still left in the macro then these will be processed.
To enter a command from the menu system into a macro file, you press Alt-Return (a mouse click won’t do!). Commands from the following menu systems and picklists can be entered into a macro file:
1) Text editing menu system
2) General edit key picklist
3) Word attribute picklist
4) Directory list menu system
5) Database editing menu system
There is a supplied file MAC_COMM.LST which contains some commands which might be necessary but which are not included in any menu or picklist of Lexa Text In addition, note that the following words can be entered after a question mark to achieve a particular effect.
?beep 2
; make a beep twice (default = 1)
?pause 5
; pause for 5 seconds (default = 1)
?wait
; wait for user to press any key
There are a few other special characters which users should be aware of. The first is the sequence ‘\n’ which will force a carriage return to be entered into the text, i.e. a new line is begun. The second is the symbol Chr(238) which can be followed immediately by ‘t’ or ‘d’ to enter the current time or date respectively (do not, of course, type the inverted commas into the macro!). These features can be seen in the following lines of the present macro.
\nPresent time: Chr(238)t \nPresent date: Chr(238)d
To activate a macro you can either choose one from a directory listing (press Ctrl-F5 to call the directory lister) or you can link a macro with a combination of Alt + letter just as you would with a simple text command. This is done by opening the Alt macro window with Shift-F2 and then entering the name of the macro file. Note very carefully that this file name must be preceded by a question mark for Lexa Text to understand that it is a macro file, e.g. ?TEST.MAC Furthermore Lexa Text searches for the file in the current Auxiliary File Directory unless path information (drive and/or directory) has already been entered by the user.
Lastly, a word of warning: command macros are powerful tools, but they can be dangerous things if they do not function correctly (you can delete files with macros or you can ignore warnings about data in system memory, for example). Make sure that your macros do exactly what YOU want by allowing for a trial phase with irrelevant data, for instance a temporary copy of the data you really wish to process. The best way to try out a macro is to write down all the steps necessary on a sheet of paper and try these out manually. When you are sure that the type and sequence of commands is correct you can enter them into a macro file.
Sample macro file The following macro will start Lexa Text from the DOS command line, load a file called SAVE.TMP, enter a few numbers, show the details of the file, save it to disk automatically and then exit to DOS again. To start it type DS.BAT at the DOS prompt.
;
save
;
!7181 ; Enter, Carriage Return
;
!20480 ; DOWN_ARROW 0x5000 (80 * 256)
!20480 ; DOWN_ARROW 0x5000 (80 * 256)
!20480 ; DOWN_ARROW 0x5000 (80 * 256)
!20480 ; DOWN_ARROW 0x5000 (80 * 256)
!20480 ; DOWN_ARROW 0x5000 (80 * 256)
!20224 ; End End of line
123456789
\nPresent time: Chr(238)t
\nPresent date: Chr(238)d
?pause 2
;
!17219 ; C-Sh-F9 Full file info
;
?beep 2
?pause 2
x
;
!-30208 ; Ctrl-F12 Direct save one
;
!16640 ; F7 Return to DOS
?pause 2
n
;
; End of File
Ctrl-Shift-F3 Reindex text database The text databases used by Lexa Text require an index file which contains the names of each record and the offset into the actual database file. This index must be available and must match the database it is associated with. If you experience problems here then it is advisable to generate an index afresh via the current option. The index file has the same name as the text database, but the extension .IND, and is deposited in the auxiliary file directory.
Loading new files and saving to disk In all cases you can use a user-defined text file as the settings for the macro function via F5 and can save any altered macros to disk via F10 Contents from the window of a macro function can be copied to the current text as you wish. You can check on the settings for these files by pressing Ctrl-F6.
All the above files are expected in the Auxiliary File Directory (by default the same as the Lexa Text Home Directory). You can change this (i) by an appropriate specification in an initialization file or (ii) on the Directory level by pressing Alt-F9 (Ctrl-F9 will alter the Text File Directory). The printer driver for the text editor is expected to reside in the Home Directory. This can be changed interactively by pressing F8 for the Print menu and then F4 for Printer driver.
Ctrl-Shift-F10 New initialisation file It is not necessary to exit Lexa Text to fill all specifiable parameters with new values. This can be done by reading a different initialisation file. The current option offers a list of available files in the auxiliary file directory and allows you to select one. On doing this Lexa Text is re-initialised completely. For a list of parameters which take customised settings consult the section on initialisation files below. Note that for re-initialisation to take place all text areas must be emptied. This is only possible if none of the currently altered texts has been altered. However, if this is the case an error message is issued and no re-initialisation occurs.
A number of initialisation files are supplied with the Lexa package. These allow printing with different style fonts (Helvetica or Times Roman) and in different sizes (10,11,12 Point as basic font). Furthermore the initialisation files specify if you wish to print with A4 or A5 size paper and whether in portrait, landscape mode or newspaper style. For these various needs an appropriate page layout is specified. The parameters for this are nearly all specifiable on the printing level activated by pressing F8 when editing a text.
Name of file Purpose of parameter settings
10 .INI 10 Point Times Roman basic font
10_HELV .INI 10 Point Helvetica basic font
11 .INI 11 Point Times Roman basic font
12 .INI 12 Point Times Roman basic font
12_HELV .INI 12 Point Helvetica basic font
A4 .INI Settings for A4 size page
A5 .INI Settings for A5 size page
COLUMNS .INI Settings for newspaper style page layout
LTEXT .INI Standard initialisation file
RTF .INI Settings for Rich Text Format import/export
SIDEWAYS.INI Settings for landscape mode printing
TXED .INI Settings for text editor mode (no page layout)
Note that the fonts for printing in different font styles are contained in the directory \LEXA\LASER and are loaded into your laser printer when you print (assuming that you answer the question put to you at this point affirmatively). For each initialisation file there is usually a special batch file for copying printer files from disk to printer, e.g. 10_HELV.INI uses 10_HELV.BAT for this purpose.
1.1.1 Counting string matches
The string search function has been expanded to allow users to not just locate strings but to count the number of occurrences as well. This is done by pressing Ctrl-F for Find string, entering the search string and then striking the F8 key. A window appears in which you can specify interactively the values for a number of search parameters.
F1 Confirm every find If you wish to confirm each find (the returns might not correspond to what you are looking for) press the F1 key. On completion of the search the editor shows the number of finds with the number of user-rejected returns (if any) and prompts you to either press F10 or any other key. Striking the former will cause the search string, the number of finds and rejects along with, if demanded, the actual instances to be entered at the bottom of the current text. Note that this function is also available when a section of text is block marked (via F4).
F2 Ignore comment lines When carrying out a search Lexa Text can ignore any lines beginning with a user-specified comment character if you so wish. To determine whether lines beginning with such a character should be ignored during any search (and replace) operations, press F2 which toggles the value for this switch.
F3 Gather finds in list Here you specify whether finds are to be gathered in a list during a search and optionally deposited at the end of the current text.
F4 Also gather rejects This command determines whether rejects are also gathered (this assumes that the user demands an interactive search).
F5 Collect line numbers Pressing this key will force the relevant line numbers to be inserted in parentheses after each find. Note that if you force a search through all texts by pressing F6 when entering the search string then the number of the current text area is entered before the line number in parentheses.
F6 Results as column or row This option governs the appearence of the list which is generated: The results can appear as rows of finds or as a column in which each line contains just one find (or reject).
F7 Comment character To specify what symbol is to act as a comment character press F7 The screen changes and you can choose a character from a chart of all ASCII characters. Bear in mind that you should select a symbol which does not occur naturally at the beginning of a line, such as a semi-colon.
Position in word When carrying out a string search you can now state how the string is to relate to a word which is examined by Lexa Text There are four options here pertaining to where the string must occur.
1) Irrelevant
2) Beginning of word
3) End of word
4) Whole word
The first option is the default one. i.e. the position of a string in a word is irrelevant. For option 4) the string must be a word and not a section of one. For options 2) and 3) the string must occur at the beginning or end of the word respectively.
1.1.2 Input for string searches
The words list which is activated by pressing Ctrl-G can now be terminated by pressing Ctrl-F as indicated on the bottom of the window used by this function. If done this way the contents of the line on which the highlight bar was resting, assuming that this is not empty, is used as input for a search which is now begun. Thus one could have a list of search strings stored as a WDS-file and load these into the window by means of an initialization file or interactively by pressing F5 when the words window is open and then choose one for a search by terminating the function with Ctrl-F.
1.1.3 Direction of search
A string can in principle be located from the current cursor position to the end of a text or to the beginning. To search backwards in a text you use Ctrl-B This is equivalent to Ctrl-F except that Lexa Text starts searching lines behind the cursor position as indicated by the direction the arrows on the edges of the input window point. To repeat a backward search without entering a string again, just press Ctrl-Shift-B.
1.1.4 Multiple string search
Ctrl-Shift-F11 activates a window which allows you to specify up to three strings which are searched for throughout the current text. For a search to be successful all strings must be present in consecutive order without overlap in a single line of text. You can force a case sensitive search by pressing F3 Striking F4 will cause Lexa Text to simple mark each line with a find for all strings but will not halt at each find. The advantage of this is that you can afterwards copy, move, delete these lines by availing of the options in the Second Block Menu (activate with Alt-F9).
1.1.5 Quick search
The fastest search possible in Lexa Text is available with the keystroke Ctrl-Shift-3 This uses a single case-sensitive string entered by the user and searches for it on each line of the current text. There are no options concerning the position of a string in a word, the direction is always forwards and no count return is made.
1.1.6 Securing cursor position
You can hold the number of up to 8 lines by pressing Ctrl-Backslash and then retrieving one of these values when you press Ctrl-Home to jump to a line. A quicker way to achieve the same result is available by striking Ctrl-Dot Here the current cursor position is secured and by pressing Ctrl-R at some later point you force Lexa Text to return to this position. Note that the earlier option of deleting the word to the right of the cursor with Ctrl-R is no longer available.
1.1.7 Comparing texts
An extension to the text comparing facility available via F11 has been made which allows one to (i) specify that lines designated as comments are to be ignored and (ii) that the line-by-line comparison which is carried out is to be done by comparing lines with the same numbers in their leftmost columns. These options are determined by choosing the option F8 Text Compare in the Second Block Menu activated by Alt-F9 In this menu you can specify what single character, for example a semi-colon, is to function as the indicator of a comment line. Obviously running a comparison on the basis of matched line numbers presupposes that both texts (in areas 1 and 2 respectively) are numbered. This numbering is achieved by marking lines with Shift-UpArrow or Shift-DownArrow and then choosing the option F3 Comment Lines Then one enters a number symbol # followed by a Tab and perhaps a colon and a space. The marked lines are now numbered ascendingly starting at the value specified by the user and can be used for text comparison on the basis of numbered lines later.
1.1.8 Quick Switch
If you wish to have rapid access to a file while editing another you can use the current option. The way it functions is as follows: by striking Grey Plus the editor switches to text area 20 and you can load a file there. When you press Grey Plus again you return to the area you started from. Any use of Grey Plus will now switch immediately to the high text area. Up to 4 texts can be loaded for a quick switch, namely those in the areas 17-20. Pressing the Grey Plus key in any area below 10 will lead to a switch to the area between 17 and 20 where you were last located.
The Quick Switch function can be toggled by striking Ctrl-Alt-A, or by choosing the relevant option in the Files picklist on the extreme left of the screen. Note that the normal function of Grey Plus, scroll down half a page, is not available in the Quick Switch mode.
You can embed the name of a file to be used in one of the Quick Switch text areas by typing the name of a valid file and preceding it with the symbol ASCII 242 and following it with ASCII 157. Alternatively you can mark a name in the current text automatically with the following keystroke.
Ctrl-Alt-F Mark word as file name for quick switch
A file name can contain directory and drive references, i.e. be entered as a full path. If just the bare name is typed then Lexa Text will only look for the file in the current directory. To switch to this file, move the cursor to within the file name and click the left mouse button or press Ctrl-Return.
1.1.9 Online file viewing
There is a second option for online viewing of files during text editing. The current option works as follows. When on the directory listing level you can mark any file for later viewing by pressing Ctrl-Alt-G Alternatively you can press the same key combination when on the text editing level and you switch to the directory listing level if a file has not been previously selected for viewing. When the file view window opens you can select a new file with F5, resize the window with F8 and move the window around the screen with F9.
Just as with the Quick Switch option the name of a file for viewing can be embedded into the current text, this time by enclosing the name (with or without a path) in angular brackets (ASCII 174 and 175, available in the table activated with Ctrl-A). To switch to this file, move the cursor to within the file name and click the left mouse button or press Ctrl-Return.
1.1.10 Hypertext function
Within a text you can mark words which, when clicked with the mouse cursor, will be looked up in a dictionary, a definition being displayed if the word or phrase passed is found. The programme which shows the contents of a dictionary entry is Dictionary Viewer, DV.EXE which is supplied along with the other supplementary programmes for Lexa Text The dictionary file used by default with the viewer is LINGUA.DIC However you can specify your own file as the last item (no. 91, see below) in an initialisation file.
Note that if you are not using a mouse Ctrl-Return can be struck instead when the cursor is on a word whose definition is to be shown by the dictionary viewer.
The quick switch and the hypertext functions avail of special colours for the display of files or dictionary keywords; these are red on lightgray and blue on lightgray respectively. When preparing a text the following keystrokes can be used as shorthands for marking file names or keywords.
Ctrl-Alt-F Mark word as file name for quick switch
Ctrl-Alt-W Mark word/phrase as keyword for dictionary display
1.1.11 Spell checker
A basic spell checker has been included in Lexa Text which allows users to eliminate common errors in spelling. The principle of its operation is simple. The text editor consults a text file in which misspellings and correct versions of words are included. It then combs through the current text — starting at the present cursor position — and if it finds a registered misspelling then this is replaced by the assigned correct version.
The structure of the spell checker file must be kept to in order for the function to be carried out properly. On each non-comment line of the file the misspelling is entered, followed by one or more tabs and then by the correct version of the intended word; a word in this file can be up to 20 characters in length. The misspelt and correct versions must be of the same length. There is no pre-set limit to the number of items which the spell checker file can contain - this depends ultimately on available working memory. The default file is called LTEXT.SPL and is supplied with Lexa Text. You can maintain as many checker files as you like and load a different one each time you execute the checker function if this is required.
The spell checker is activated by pressing Ctrl-Alt-R or choosing the appropriate option in the Search menu. It can be run automatically or manually. In the former mode there is no confirmation of spelling replacements and so it should be used with caution.
1.2 Text formatting enhancements
Alt-Back Set online parameters This menu allows one to specify values for a variety of variables such as programmes name, font encoding, colours, alarm and date format.
Set a standard font This is the second option of the Set online parameters menu and allows you to specify what font is to be used for normal text display. There are a variety of fonts available with Lexa such as a sansserif and a slender font which you might want to use for standard display.
Should for some reason the standard font be discarded (by another programme for instance) then you can re-load it within Lexa Text by pressing Ctrl-Shift-R for ‘Reload video font’.
You can specify in an initialization file whether a standard font is to be loaded on starting Lexa Text There are two options here: the first for a font for 25-line display and the second for the special 50-line display on VGA screens (see sample file below).
How to encode fonts Text attributes can be encoded in two ways in Lexa Text. Either as a sequence of ASCII 5 followed by a number or by a single character which has a dedicated interpretation as an attribute marker. These means are referred to as double and single codes respectively. You can specify which way the programme is to signal a change in attribute with the present option. This can also be done in an initialization file (see sample file given below).
Alt-GreyPlus Programme execute 1 Two programmes can be specified in an initialization file or interactively at this point, these programmes being executed directly on pressing either this or the following key.
Alt-GreyMinus Programme execute 2 Executes the second of the three programmes which can be carried out directly.
Customize colours This command allows one the greatest flexibility in determining the colours used in Lexa Text going far beyond the two standard sets, the default grey on blue and the alternative black on grey. The settings can be stored to disk via F10 and these can be used by specifying this at the end of an initialization file (see supplied examples). The file saved to disk is always called {LT_VGA}.INI.
If you do not adopt values from this file on starting you can still load them after starting Lexa Text by pressing Ctrl-Shift-V for Video settings This command will attempt to read {LT_VGA}.INI and derive colours from the values it contains.
Set computer alarm Here you can set an alarm much in the manner of an alarm clock. You specify a time at which the alarm is to ring, which must be at least one minute later than the current time, and then enter a line of text which is to be displayed at the time set. This device only works during a single work session. The alarm can be reset if you wish to use it more than once.
Consult online diary In the file manager Lexa File there is an online diary which is activated by pressing Alt-F2 or Ctrl-Z However if the file manager is called from the DOS command line with the switch /d (for ‘diary’) then the diary is activated immediately. Furthermore on concluding work with the diary, Lexa File terminates automatically. This feature is availed of with the current option which loads the file manager in the manner required for editing the diary text for the current day. The notes text which accompanies any diary file can be loaded into the text editor of Lexa File by either starting it with the /n switch (for ‘notes text’) or by choosing the appropriate option in the second picklist of the menu system. The diary functions can be activated directly by pressing Ctrl-Tilde or Ctrl-Shift-Tilde respectively.
Shift-Del Format remainder of text You can word wrap all the text from the current cursor position to the end of the current text with this command. It requires user confirmation as the result may not be what you wish. The safest thing to do here is to save the text just before activating this command and, only after checking on the results, save it again.
Shift-Ins on the numeric keypad, with NumLock OFF, provides an alternative key setting to Ctrl-F7 for formatting a single paragraph.
Ctrl-Shift-Ins Jump to beginning of paragraph. Alternatively you can use Ctrl-Shift-F7.
Ctrl-Shift-Space This command allows you to mark single words for a formatting attribute such as Italics, Bold, etc. assuming that the cursor is placed between the initial and terminating symbol for the attribute in question. This function can be used if you have marked a stretch of text for an attribute and would like to convert the marking to that for single words.
Bear in mind that for Lexa Text a paragraph terminates with a line which is either empty or consists of at least three spaces or a tab character at the beginning. A line which contains more than one tab character will not be wrapped.
Ctrl-Shift-Y Delete hyphens In Lexa Text the tilde symbol (ASCII 126) is used at the ends of lines to indicate a hyphen. With the present command you can remove any instances of this from a text. It may be expedient to do so, if for instance you wish to process the text with a word processor which has its own word-wrapping function.
Ctrl-; Check on line length In the text editor a number of options have been added in the Format menu which refer to pagination. The command ‘Long lines’ will enable you to find lines in a text which are longer than the current value for Line Length in the Print menu (note: this value is used for word wrapping lines also).
Note that the maximum length of a line is 3,600 characters.
Ctrl-’ Goto page # Assuming that the current text has more than 1 page, this command will permit you to move to a page of your choice by entering the appropriate number.
Ctrl-[ Pagination This command from the Format menu allows you to remove the page breaks in a text or enter breaks at the line number derived from the page length parameter on the Print level (F8) but which is user-specifiable for this operation.
Ctrl-Shift-Return Force page break You can force Lexa Text to insert a page break into the current text with this command. This means that on printing the current page is ejected irrespective of whether the page has been completely printed or not. A forced page break is indicated by a double line across the screen and a normal page break, either user-inserted or generated by Lexa Text on pagination, is shown by a single line.
Alt-Return (on Numeric KeyPad) Section boundary This keystroke will cause the character ASCII 127 to be inserted on a line of its own at the current point in the text. This symbol is the signal for a section boundary in Lexa Text (along with Database Text and Lexa File). A reference to this appears across the screen. A section is a stretch of text which is marked off from another and can serve any function the user may require, e.g. to delimit a section of an article or book.
Ctrl-Down/Up Arrow These keys will cause the cursor to move to the next or previous section in the current text respectively. If no sections are marked then the cursor is relocated at the beginning or end of the text, depending on keystroke.
Types of page break There are now two types of page break in Lexa Text The first is the normal type, entered by pressing Ctrl-Return and indicated by a single line across the screen. The second is entered by pressing Ctrl-Shift-Return and is shown by a broken double line on the screen. This has no effect on the text but on printing the second type of page break will always eject a page but the first is ignored unless is coincides exactly with the number of lines per page. In addition one can jump to the next type one page break by pressing Shift-PgDn or Shift-PgUp (forwards or backwards respectively) and move to the second type of page break by pressing either Ctrl-Shift-PgDn or Ctrl-Shift-PgUp.
Note that this also applies to the text editor contained within Database Text.
Mark word for formatting The various formatting attributes can be set for a word at a time by pressing Ctrl-Shift and the usual keys associated with a particular attribute.
Ctrl-Shift-I Italics
Ctrl-Shift-H,B Bold
Ctrl-Shift-S Small Capitals
Ctrl-Shift-D Underline
Ctrl-Shift-U User Font
Using the combination Ctrl-Alt and one of the above letters which cause an entire line to be marked with the attribute in question.
Note that Ctrl-Alt-B will mark text for the base font by embedding the ASCII symbol with the numerical value 157 at the current location in the current text.
Ctrl-M Mark for underline This key (or the equivalent Ctrl-5) will mark any stretch of text for underline. This works on a laser printer and should apply to other types of printer as well. You can specify text to be printed with underlining by block marking it in the usual manner and pressing either Ctrl-M or Alt-M (single word marking). In addition you can embed the codes for this font directly by pressing Ctrl-M at any time when editing a text.
Ctrl-Shift-A Shift to lower ASCII There are often situations in which you want to have a file consisting only of lower ASCII characters (for transfer via email or to another operating system for instance). This can be realised with the present command which works for an entire text or a stretch of marked text (in the latter case it can also be activated by Ctrl-F3). There are three parameters which can be set before starting this operation.
1) Should characters below 32 and above 128 or only those above 128 be
shifted? (Toggle with F5).
2) Should all non-low ASCII characters be replaced by the string you enter in
the input line (by default only those which do are not Latin letters with
diacritics are replaced)? (Toggle with F6).
3) Should the high or far low ASCII characters also be removed? In some
cases you may simply wish to mark them for easy finding at some later date.
(Toggle with F7).
1.2.1 User markup codes
It is now possible to determine how the formatting of text is to be realised in Lexa Text This is done by setting out the codes used for markup in a text which is read by the text editor on starting. The necessary parameter is to be found at the end of the initialisation file, LEXA.INI (see below).
The inherent advantage of the option of specifying your own markup attributes is that you can transport a Lexa Text file with formatting to any other computer environment (Unix, Macintosh, etc.). Furthermore if you only use ASCII characters between 32 and 126 in the markup codes you can send a formatted text via Email or Internet in the simple text mode. The present option should also facilitate the re-conversion of markup codes to specific word-processing attributes on importing a Lexa Text file, into WordPerfect or Word for example, and writing a simple macro to do this.
Structure of markup file This file specifies what markup forms are to be substituted for those codes used as defaults by Lexa Text, DbTxt and Lexa File The first column consists of the name of the Lexa Text style attribute. The names after the number/letter reference are purely mnemonic; do not separate these by tabs but by spaces. This is followed by at least one tab and then by the markup form which is to substitute this, a maximum of 8 characters not containing spaces or tabs. After the markup string comes another tab or two and an indication of the font number used internally by Lexa Text (this is not strictly speaking necessarily and can be deleted).
Lines beginning with a semi-colon are treated as comments and ignored. A maximum of 20 font substitutions are possible. The base font can only be turned on (it is turned off by choosing a different font).
Each markup attribute must begin with the same character, eg ‘|’. Lexa Text checks this when examining text for markup because this accelerates the process of formatting considerably. Bear in mind that when you move the cursor on a line and hit on a markup code the cursor disappears temporarily and reappears once you have left this again.
Remember that to avail of User Markup Codes, Lexa Text must have access to a markup codes file otherwise there is no way of knowing what user codes are like. The file has the default name LTEXT.MRK but a different name can be specified as item 71 in the initialisation file (see below).
You cannot mix code types in files. If you have processed a text using one kind and you wish to switch to another, you must first exchange the old codes for the new ones with the Convert Codes command via Shift-F11 (either for a block or an entire text).
Sample user markup codes file
Font name Markup Code Font number
Base Font |Bas| ; _FONT_0 1
Bold |Bld| ; _FONT_1 2
Italics |Ita| ; _FONT_2 3
Small Caps |SCa| ; _FONT_3 4
User Font |Usr| ; _FONT_4 5
Designate |Des| ; _FONT_5 6
Times Roman 11 Pt |R11| ; _FONT_6 7
Letter Gothic 12 |G12| ; _FONT_7 8
LGothic Bold |GBo| ; _FONT_8 9
LGothic Italic |GIt| ; _FONT_9 10
LGothic Small Caps |GSC| ; _FONT_10 11
LGothic User Font |GUs| ; _FONT_11 12
Superscript |Sup| ; _FONT_12 13
Subscript |Sub| ; _FONT_13 14
Times 14 Pt Bold |R14| ; _FONT_14 15
Times 18 Pt Bold |R18| ; _FONT_15 16
Ctrl-1 |C-1| ; _CTRL_1 17
Ctrl-2 |C-2| ; _CTRL_2 18
Ctrl-3 |C-3| ; _CTRL_3 19
Ctrl-4 |C-4| ; _CTRL_4 20
Ctrl-5 |C-5| ; _CTRL_5 21
Ctrl-Shift-F Replace from File It is possible to carry out a number of find and replace sequences in succession without entering strings manually. The present option examines a specified file (parameter 82 in an initialisation file or entered interactively by the user) and searches for the strings contained in this file substituting them by the replace strings also found in the particular file. Up to 64 sequences are possible with a file. To understand the format of a find and replace file you should examine the supplied file MAKE_RTF.TBL closely. The structure of the file is inkeeping with the general shape of such files as used by Lexa Text overall, for instance it can include user commentaries on lines starting with a semi-colon.
1.2.2 Rich text format (RTF) encoding
It is possible to alter any Lexa Text file such that it conforms to the Microsoft specifications for RTF files. Any files in this format can be imported into a word processor which support this without any formatting being lost. The command to insert RTF markers into the current text is activated with Ctrl-Shift-Q This will place the necessary header, terminating bracket and paragraph marks into the text. To alter the native character attributes of Lexa Text you should use the option Replace from File inititated by Ctrl-Shift-F and specify the supplied table file MAKE_RTF.TBL.
You should not alter a file any further once it has been changed to RTF format. To import it into, say Microsoft Word for Windows, all you do is select it from a file listing and specify the type as Rich Text Format The conversion to Word for Windows format is done by Word automatically on loading.
Reading an RTF file is also possible with Lexa Text The programme automatically recognises the file type (by way of the standard RTF header) and removes extraneous coding provided the user specifies that he/she wishes to load the file as an RTF text. However various character attributes are retained which means that will be processed correctly by Lexa Text The following six RTF attributes which can be handled: Bold, Italics, Underlining, SmallCaps, Superscript and Subscript.
Two steps should be taken after loading an RTF file into Lexa Text: 1) the RTF codes should be replaced by Lexa codes by carry out a find and replace operation using substitutions from the supplied file RTF_LEXA.TBL (press Ctrl-Shift-F to load); 2) the paragraphs of the text should be wrapped as they appear as single lines after importation from an RTF file. You can wrap an entire text via Shift-Delete.
1.2.2.1 Removing excess codes
Most character attributes can be converted into RTF formatting. However there are many codes which are used internally by Lexa Text, for instance for word indexes, table of contents generation, collecting references, etc. which are not interpretable in another text processing environment. For this reason you are advised to remove these codes before importing a Lexa Text file into another programme. The command you require to realise this is Excess Codes in the Format menu. It can be activated directly by pressing Ctrl-Shift-F4 Note that this option will remove embedded commands but not comments or sigma marked lines.
1.3 Embedded codes and associated functions
A number of editing functions have been added or enhanced which involved the use of special markers which result in such output as table of contents, word indexes, numbered quotes, etc. In this connection note that the table of contents function can now generate a tree structure of the headings in a text to give you a visually effective representation of the divisions in your text. Furthermore you can divise a tree structure to begin with, adding and removing branches and then when finished generate a table of contents from the tree.
Note that the commands for these functions are summarized in the Format menu under the heading Format marker list and that the codes can be made visible by pressing Alt-F3.
The most common instances of embedded codes are those which refer to printer control (see window which pops up on pressing Alt-F8). There are a number of other codes, however, which users should be aware of.
1.3.1 Table of Contents
Code Symbol ASCII 23 (underlined double vertical arrow) This symbol is used as a marker for an entry in a table of contents. It is immediately followed by a digit which indicates the level of the marker in question, eg 1,2,3, etc. In the table which is generated each level is indented by a single tab.
Code Symbol Entry Ctrl-6 Table of Contents entry
Function execution Ctrl-F4 Generate Table of Contents Here you are asked what type of representation you would like for the line marked for table of contents generation. The following is a sample table of contents which is present in the three possible forms at the end of the present text.
1 This is a level one heading
2 This is another level one heading
2.1 Now we are on level two
2.2 And are still on level two
3 Back to level one again
3.1 And down to level two once more
4 Up again to the top level
4.1 Back down to two again
4.1.1 Getting deeping into further levels
4.1.2 Still on level three
5 Jump to the very top again
5.1 Down to the second level
5.1.1 And one step down to the third
5.1.1.1 This is the fourth level
5.2 Here we are on the second again
6 Finish off on the highest level
You can generate either (i) a table of contents at the end of the current file or (ii) a tree structure which graphically represents the structure implicit in the level markers which follow on ASCII 23 at the beginning of each heading (a numbered table of contents can be derived afterwards from a tree if you wish). The colour option allows you to use different colours for different levels of either the tree or the table of contents. The colours for the attributes activated by Ctrl-1 through Ctrl-5 are used for the first four levels and the attribute bold (activated by Ctrl-H) is used for the remaining levels. A tree or table can have up to 8 levels.
At the end of the present file there is (i) a tree structure, (ii) a colour tree structure and (iii) a table of contents all derived from the above headings by the command activated via Ctrl-F4 You can retrieve the headings from the trees by block marking the tree and pressing Ctrl-T (Tree to table of contents). The conversion can be carried out in one of three ways.
A table of contents can be placed at the beginning or at the end of a text (press ‘6’ to alter). In addition one can specify what the caption is to be which is printed at the beginning of the table of contents. This is Contents by default but can be changed by pressing ‘4’. Using the option ‘5’ will allow you to specify if the formatting which might be used in the body of the current text should be transferred to the table of contents; by default this is not the case. You may also say if a new line is to be issued before the heading for a certain level. This can help you to introduce some layout to the resulting table of contents.
Once you have generated a table of contents you can jump to the page at which a particular heading is to be found by pressing Ctrl-Shift-G when on the line with the particular heading.
It is equally possible to store a generated table of contents as an array in memory and access this when editing text. The way this works is as follows. You open the appropriate menu via Ctrl-F4 and press either ‘7’ or ‘8’. In either case a table of contents is generated and stored internally by Lexa Text, ie not at the beginning or end of the current text. By pressing Ctrl-Shift-T for View table of contents array you may display this in a window in which you can scroll normally. By moving the light bar you can choose a heading or sub-heading to jump to. On the left of the window the page and line at which the particular heading begins is displayed. After this you see the size of the section of text belonging to the heading as a number of lines. By pressing SpaceBar you can just have the title of the heading display. With F4 you can toggle the display of table of contents levels, from 1 to 4 and then all levels. F5 allows you to use different colours for the display of levels.
A table of contents array can be generated in tree form by pressing ‘9’ for Tree array In this case the same type of representation is offered in the array window as is embedded in the text on selecting option ‘2’ Tree structure By pressing ‘9’ you can toggle whether each level of a table of contents array should be indented or not; the default is for indenting to be ‘on’. With ‘0’ you can force Lexa Text to generate arrays for all loaded texts. The number of elements in a table of contents array has a limit of 512.
Note that if you jump to a section you can return to your point of outset by simply pressing Ctrl-Home; the line number filling the input line is that of your outset position.
Ctrl-Alt-T Table of Contents list It is possible to have a table of contents array for each loaded text so that a total of 12 can be held in memory at any time. You can access any array easily with the present key combination. A large window appears in the centre of the screen with the names of those loaded files for which a table of contents array is available. Click on the array you wish to view and Lexa Text jumps to it immediately, changing the current text area to that of this text file as it does so.
The array of tables of contents is also accessible on the array level by pressing either Ctrl-Alt-T or F12.
1.3.2 Word index
Code Symbol There are three symbols used for marking words for an index in Lexa Text The reason for this is that you can generate three different types of index, for instance a subject index, an author index and a language index in a linguistic text. You choose a symbol from a picklist.
A pair of chosen symbols enclose a string which is to be collected and placed at the end of a text when generating a word index. This may be a single word or a couple of words. However an entry cannot be spread over more than one line.
Code Symbol Entry An index symbol can be accessed from a picklist with the three different types of index characters; this window is displayed on pressing Ctrl-Alt-N when the cursor is positioned on a word and this word is marked as an item for an index. This keystroke also works when the block mark function is active.
Function execution Ctrl-Comma After user confirmation this function is carried out. As can be seen from the fictitious sample below each word is entered on a separate line followed by the numbers of the pages which it occurs in at least once. You can convert this list into a columned text by block marking it and pressing Ctrl-F2.
alphabet 2,6,7
linguistics 10,14
morphology 1
semantics 1,3,9
syntax 2,11
Before generating the index you should choose a symbol which determines which type of index is generated. Note that it is up to the user to decide on what he/she uses one of the three available symbols for, i.e. there is no link between the symbols used and the contents of the words marked with them.
You may choose to remove punctuation from the words marked for indexing, to convert them to lowercase or to exclude page numbers if you so wish.
Index using word list in file You will notice that the first option in the index menu reads Make index from file By this is meant that you can generate an index by presenting to Lexa Text a file with a series of words to be searched for in the current text. Such a text must consist of one word, and only one, per line. The file is examined and a check is made to see if for every word there is an occurrence on each page of the current text. For those pages where this is the case the number is noted and written after the keyword at the end of the text. The procedure continues until all lines of the index list file have been exhausted. Note that you can add comments to such a list file by entering a chosen comment symbol, typically a semi-colon ‘;’, as the first character of a line.
1.3.2.1 Sorting lines as index
The type of index outlined above is mechanical. It works on the basis of codes which are embedded in a text. If you choose to create an index with your own entries, which you devise when creating the index manually, then you may want to sort such an index. This is possible by marking the index text as a block and then choosing the third option on pressing F2 Sort marked lines.
This option works by first sorting all lines of the index text which begin with a letter or digit. The output of the sorting is always deposited in Text Area 16 which must be empty, otherwise an error is issued. Then it examines the output and if it finds lines which begin with either a dash, a space or a tab then it sorts these as a subgroup. For instance the following index text yields the sorted version on the right.
phonology morphology
- consonant clusters 7 - articles 101
- sound symbolism 12 contrast of definite/indefinite 105
- English historical phonology 59 - marking of definiteness 102
- tautosyllabism 59 - phrasal noun 103
- heterosyllabism 60 onomatopoeia 3
phonaesthesia 4, 6 phonaesthesia 4, 6
onomatopoeia 3 phonology
morphology - consonant clusters 7
- articles 101 - sound symbolism 12
- marking of definiteness 102 - English historical phonology 59
- contrast of definite/indefinite 105 - heterosyllabism 60
- phrasal noun 103 - tautosyllabism 5
1.3.3 Numbered notes
Code Symbol ASCII 221,222 This command is similar to the one for numbered quotes and will place a numbered note at the cursor position which is delimited by an unbroken vertical bar. You can recalculate the numbers in the same manner as for numbered quotes, this time with Ctrl-Shift-8.
Code Symbol Entry Ctrl-8 Numbered text note.
Recalculation Ctrl-Shift-8 Recalculate text notes As notes can be entered anywhere in a text they must be put in numerically ascending order before they are copied to the end of a text. The present function will do just this after user confirmation. It should be executed just before generating endnotes from notes in a text.
Function execution Ctrl-] Endnotes This function will examine the current file for numbered text notes and collect them at the end of the text. Two items of relevant information can be specified by the user at this point.
Delete notes in text This removes the text from the point in the text where
the numbered note is located.
Indent each endnote With this option one can specify that the text of the
note should be indented with the number of the note as a hanging indent
on the left margin of the page. This is common procedure for endnotes.
1.3.4 Collecting references
Code Symbol ASCII 247: (double tilde) This character is used to delimit a section of text which is collected as a reference on a separate line at the bottom of the current text. A typical application would be to mark all the bibliographical references in a text in this manner, e.g. (_Bliss, 1984:228_). You can then copy these references to a separate text and use the latter as the input file for Database Bibliography (DBBIB.EXE) to extract the references from a database (see documentation on Database Bibliography). To do this you must of course answer ‘yes’ to the question whether the references should be enclosed in double angular brackets or not (these are the symbols which Database Bibliography requires in order to successfully extract records from a database).
The double tilde can be accessed from either of the ASCII charts (use Ctrl-V or Ctrl-A for this). Note that the text delimited by an initial and a final double tilde symbol can have a maximum length of 64 characters and can be spread across a line boundary; the symbols are only visible when you display formatting codes via Alt-F3.
Code Symbol Entry The character can be accessed from the special characters window (press Ctrl-A).
Function execution Ctrl-Shift-Comma Collect references After user confirmation this function will collect all the information between two instances of the double horizontal arrow in the text and place this on a separate line at the end of the file.
1.3.5 Numbered quotes
Code Symbol ASCII 28 (bottom left right angle) Two of these symbols and a set of parentheses at the current cursor position stand for a numbered quote, ie (). You type the number which the quote is supposed to have but the actual number is irrelevant as the series can be recalculated.
Code Symbol Entry Ctrl-9 Enter numbered quote with parentheses.
Code Symbol ASCII 27 (left-pointing arrow) Two of these symbols, but without any parentheses stand for a second kind of numbered quote. As above you now type the number which the quote is supposed to have; again the actual number is irrelevant as the series can be recalculated.
Code Symbol Entry Ctrl-0 Enter numbered quote without parentheses.
Recalculation Ctrl-Shift-9 Recalculate quotes This command requires that the user choose which of the two types of number recalculation is to be carried out. After selection this command will organize all quotes in numerically ascending order.
1.3.6 Collect comments
Comments for Lexa Text are any lines which begin with two instances of the at-symbol (@@). Lines which have been so marked are ignored by pagination and printing commands. They can also be collected and deposited at the end of the current text with a special command Collect comments activated by pressing Ctrl-Shift-Slash Two items of information for this operation are user-specifiable: 1) whether the comments are also to be deleted from the body of the text and 2) whether page and line information is to be included in the comment lines placed at the end of the text. If you specify ‘yes’ when asked about the latter then the page number on which a comment occurs and the line number within that page is placed on the right-hand margin of the line deposited at the end of the text.
1.3.6.1 Comments array
Any comments included in a text can be transferred into an array which is displayed as a picklist in a window. The idea behind this is to provide an overview of the comments in a text and to provide a comfortable means of jumping to a comment somewhere in the current text. You open a text array by pressing Ctrl-Shift-Dash If no array has yet been generated then this happens now. After this the contents of the array are displayed and you can choose a comment to jump to by moving the light-bar and pressing Return in the usual manner. To regenerate an array, press F4 when the window is open. Note that the line and page information are correct at the time of generating the array. If you change a text by deleting or adding parts then you will probably need to regenerate the comments array afresh.
1.3.7 Draw text box
Code Symbol ASCII 22 Two instances of this symbol enclose those lines which can be framed by a box. If you try to create a box without first entering these symbols or if the cursor is not currently resting on the first instance of ASCII 22 (box beginning) then an error message is issued. ASCII 22 is always visible and displayed in bold lettering.
Code Symbol Entry The character can be accessed from the special characters window (press Ctrl-A).
Function execution Ctrl-F10, 5 Draw box This command opens a window on the top right of the screen and you can choose from four different box frames. You may also delete an existing box in one of two ways: (i) simple deletion and (ii) deletion with removals of box markers.
1.4 Inbuilt database module
The database interface in Lexa Text is intended to permit the transfer of data from any chosen database to any text area according to the specifications of a user-selected report form. To activate the interface you press Alt-F1 on which you are asked to select a database from a directory listing. Assuming you do so the screen changes and you are presented with the contents of the first record. It is possible to load two databases and to copy records from one to the other. Furthermore you can create an empty database from one which is already loaded. Marking and tagging facilities are also provided. To actually delete tagged records in a database use the appropriate option in Database Text.
You may edit single fields of a database if necessary (to correct typing errors which you discover for example). Databases can be searched through in a number of ways and users can determine the manner in which data is displayed. Note that if you are using the 50-line display mode available with VGA video adapters then you can see up to 48 fields of a database on screen.
There follows a brief summary of the commands which are available on this level of Lexa Text.
Ctrl-F1 Move to DOS To shell down to DOS in the same manner as on the text level you can use the current command. Type EXIT in DOS to return to Lexa Text.
F2; Ctrl-Left,RightArrow; Alt-1,2 Switch between databases This command is a toggle which moves from database one to two and back again. If no second database has been loaded you are prompted to choose one.
Shift-F2 Determine screen split The two possible databases can be displayed on the left and right hand half of the screen or on the upper and lower half respectively; the display can be determined by choosing the appropriate type with the current command.
Ctrl-F2 Full-screen display toggle When you first move to the database interface the selected database is displayed in full-screen form, that is the entire screen is utilised for display. To split the screen you press Ctrl-F2; the kind of split used is decided via Shift-F2.
F3 Store/retrieve field Just as on the text editing level you can store or retrieve the contents of the current field to an internal buffer with this command. This is the same one as used for texts which means that you can copy lines or fields from one level to another.
Alt-F3 Export records to current text area Assuming that you have marked at least one record in the current database this command will transfer the contents of any marked records to the current text area (that from which you moved to the database interface) consulting the chosen report form for instructions on how to arrange field data and possible extraneous text during the export operation.
Shift-F3 Only export current field Here only the contents of a single field from each marked record are exported to the current text area. You are prompted to choose a field for this operation from a field window.
Ctrl-F3 Export current record without using report form This is the most basic of all export options as it just transfers the contents of the current record to the current text area ignoring any loaded report form as it does so.
F4 Make shell database Here you are prompted to enter a name for an empty database which is derived from that loaded in the current database area. You can use such an empty database as a repository for records selectively copied from another one in the opposite database area.
Shift-F4 Show database structure The fields of the current database along with their size and type are displayed in a separate window with this command.
Ctrl-F4 Block into records This command puts at your disposal a means of transferring text to the fields of one or more records. The way it works is as follows. You enter the information for fields on single lines of text. Indicate the end of a record by a page break, entered by pressing Ctrl-Return Repeat the procedure for as many records as you wish to have in the target database. Now mark the entire stretch of text and store in the block buffer in the usual way. Shift to the database level and press Ctrl-F4. You may now choose a block to retrieve. Lexa Text appends a record and, starting at the beginning of the block, transfers the text on each line to the a single field of the new record, appending a new record when it hits on a page break in the block or when the maximum number of fields is reached. It continues with the process until the block is exhausted.
This option is in operation identical to the programme Database Page (see description elsewhere).
F5 Load new database To choose a new database the directory lister is activated. Pressing Escape on this level returns you to the database level without any change taking place. Note that you cannot load a database which is already being used in either database area. To check on what is loaded press Alt-F11.
F6 Show report form information The name of the report form and the essential parameters for page layout are shown on striking F6 Note that the number of marked records is also displayed in the window which appears.
Note There is an item of information termed Double Check which can be availed of when generating a bibliography from a database, especially when using an European style sheet. This checks the output of the report form module in Lexa Text for correctness before depositing this finally in the current text editing area.
Shift-F6 Select new report form You can choose a different report form at any point when on the database level. The files with the extension .REP are shown by the directory lister and you select an appropriate file.
F8 Transfer record to opposite database To copy the contents of the current record in the current database to the opposite database (assuming that one is loaded) you choose this command. The record is added to the end of the database. To sort the records of a database you should use Database Text.
Shift-F8 Replace record in opposite database This command is similar to the previous one with the essential difference that the contents of the current record of the opposite database are replaced by those of the current record of the current database. Needless to say no record is added to the opposite database.
Ctrl-F8 Transfer marked records to other database Those records which you have marked (with the Tab key) can be exported to an area on the text level or to the second database on the database level assuming that there are two loaded. After user confirmation the marked records are appended to the opposite database.
Alt-F8 Put record in buffer The contents of each field of the current record are deposited on separate lines of the next free block buffer with the present command. This can be useful if you wish to copy data to a text area without using a report form or if you want to transfer the data of a record to another database which has a different structure from the current one.
Alt-F9 And use report form This command is similar to the previous one but has the additional feature that on export of field data to the current text buffer information from the presently active report form (check on this with F6) is used for the transfer of data.
Alt-F10 Put fields in buffer In this case the information from each record field is placed on a separate line and enclosed in double angular brackets. Each record is terminated by a page break. This block can be retrieved into a text area like any other block. The advantage of this is that you can now enter relevant data on each line immediately after the field information. If you copy these lines to a block you can import the data into a database using the Ctrl-F4 command (Block into Records). These commands thus provides a useful interface from database to text and back again.
When you activate the current command you are asked how many pages you wish to have generated. Your entry should correspond to the number of records which you would like to enter as text on the text level. The next question refers to the amount of information about a field to be enclosed in brackets. If you choose full information then name, type and length of each field is displayed. Should you say ‘no’ then only the name of each field is shown.
Ctrl-F9 Fields to word list This command allows one to transfer the contents of a user-specified field from the current database into the word list array. The advantage of this is that you then have all entries for the chosen field as a picklist and can transfer data back into some part of a database or use the items in the picklist for a quick search. The search option always uses the field in the database from which the word list is derived for any subsequent searches.
Ctrl-G Goto word list Here one has the same command at one’s disposal as on the text editing level of Lexa Text Note that you can transfer items to the currently selected database field (cursor field) by simply pressing Return.
F9 Show database statistics A window with key statistics on the current database appears on pressing F9 The number of records which are tagged for deletion is also shown.
F10 Browse display records The browse display mode is one where a single record occupies a single line on the screen (the opposite is the so-called full screen mode with one record displayed at a time). To view those fields which do not fit on a single screen line you use the arrow keys. This pans the display to the left and right. The keys Home and End will jump to the first or last field respectively. Note the following commands which are available when in the browse mode.
Shift-F10 Retrieve block In this case one is dealing with the same command as on the text editing level. The difference is that the contents of the buffer selected by the user are copied to the current field of the current record. Only a single line of the buffer (or as much as will fit) is actually retrieved into the current field.
Escape, Alt-F7 No relocate If you press Escape then you return to the full-screen mode and no change in record position is effected.
Ctrl-Return Goto record With this command you can force the record pointer in the full-screen mode to be relocated to that of the currently highlighted record in the browse mode.
Tab Mark record Any marked records are indicated by a bright asterisk in the leftmost column if the screen.
Ctrl-T Tag record A tagged record is indicated by its contents being displayed in bright lettering.
The following commands are identical to their equivalents in the full-screen mode.
Ctrl-F1 Move to DOS F2 Switch databases
F6 Report form F9 Environment
Alt-F11 Show loaded databases Displays the names of the currently loaded databases.
Alt-F12 Close databases Closes the current databases and returns you to the text level. The next time you switch to the database level you much choose at least one new database to process.
F12, Alt-Q Return to text level Returns to the text level. If any records have been exported from the database level then their contents are located at the cursor position in the current text.
Alt-C Lines clipboard The clipboard for lines of text which is available on the text level can be activated with the current command. If you choose a line by moving the light bar and pressing Return the selected line, or as much of it that fits, is copied into the current field of the current database.
Shift-DownArrow Put field in lines buffer By pressing this key combination the contents of the current field are deposited in an internal buffer array for later retrieval. There is room for the contents of six fields in this buffer.
Shift-Home Retrieve contents of lines buffer After user confirmation the contents of the buffer array are transferred to the current record of the current database. Each line in the buffer array is copied to a field of the database record starting with the current field.
Shift-End Toggle display of lines buffer The lines buffer, if shown, appears on the top-right hand corner of the screen. If this disturbs database editing you can hide it with the current key combination and show it again by repreating the key stroke.
Shift-PageUp Empty lines buffer If you want to start buffering lines afresh then it is recommended that you empty the entire with the current command.
Tab, Alt-E Mark record for export Selects a record to be exported to text. The reference [Exp.] is to be seen on the second line of the screen. Note that a total of 1,024 records can be marked per database.
Ctrl-E Mark all records for export After confirmation all records are marked.
Ctrl-X Remove record export marking After confirmation all marking is removed for the current database. Bear in mind that marking for export is not stored in the database file so that if you unload a database the marking is automatically lost.
Ctrl-F Find record contents After choosing a field to search through you are prompted to enter a string for the ensuing search. Note that the search is not case-sensitive, i.e. capital and small letters are regarded as the same.
Ctrl-R,N Repeat record search Starts a search from the current record position towards the end of the database without the user specifying the search string.
Alt-F Search all databases This command is similar to that activated by Ctrl-F with the essential difference that here all the databases of the current Text File Directory are combed through for an instance of the search string. Should a find be reported back but not be the one you are looking for then you can repeat the search with Alt-R Repeat for all databases.
Note that you may have to alter the current Text File Directory by pressing Ctrl-F9 on the directory listing level before using the present command.
Ctrl-G Go to record number Prompts the user to enter the number of the record to which the pointer is to be relocated.
Alt-H Hold record number Here the number of the current record is stored internally and you can jump back to this record by pressing Alt-G at a later stage.
Ctrl-L Letter search field Allows you to choose the field which is used for the next command.
Space Do letter search Letter search is a simple but effective means of searching for field contents. The principle is as follows. You type a letter and Lexa Text finds the next record with that letter as the first in the selected field. You type another letter and the search tries to find the next record with both the first and second letters as the initial letters. This operation in continued until the desired record is found or the end of the database is reached in which case a message is issued indicating that there are no (further) finds for the letters typed by the user.
Ctrl-T, Del Toggle deletion Adds a tag for deletion to the current record. The reference [Del.] is to be seen on the second line of the screen. Record tagging is retained in a database file and so you can delete those records which have been tagged by loading the database with Database Text and selecting the appropriate option on the desktop.
Ctrl-W Wipe all tagging Removes all record tagging after user confirmation.
Ctrl-Z Delete all fields After confirmation the contents of all fields are deleted from the current record.
Return Edit line at cursor position Allows you to edit the contents of the current field which is then highlighted. To edit other fields in a record simply use the Up,DownArrow keys. Press Return again to terminate editing. Hitting Escape will cancel the changes to the current field.
Some of the editing macros which are available in Database Text have also been realised here, namely Alt-I Italics, Alt-S Smallcaps, Alt-B Bold, Alt-U User font, Alt-D Underline and Alt-Shift, Alt-F User Font Chart.
Note that you can page in a database and still remain in the editing mode by using the Numeric Minus and Numeric Plus keys to move up and down respectively. If you wish to alter database contents on a larger scale and carry out more sophisticated manipulations, use Database Text.
1.5 Summary of other altered commands
F10 Save file to disk This command has been enhanced by two options which allow one to determine where and how a text is to be stored on disk.
F1 System date as file name Pressing the F1 key will lead to a file name being
offered which consists of the present date and the extension .001 The
format of the date depends on that chosen for directory listings, eg. if this is
German then a typical file name would be 01-12-1996, i.e. with the day
preceding the month.
F2 File from List This command allows you to choose the name for the file to
be chosen/saved from a directory listing. You can also use the command
simply to view the contents of a directory. Pressing Escape will return you
to the input line without any changes being made.
F3 Link up broken lines This option will ensure that any overlong lines,
terminated by the down arrow symbol ‘_’ are joined together again on
writing to disk.
F4 Remove text formatting Prevents the storing of specific Lexa Text
information (attributes; formatting; markers) to disk.
F8 Changing directory Pressing the present key loads the directory manager
Lexa Dirs and you can move to the new directory and/or drive which you
wish to use to store the current text in.
F9 Create, Append When saving a file interactively (ie not using Ctrl-F12) you
can specify whether the text in memory is to be written to a file of its own,
Create option, or to be appended to a file which already exists on disk,
Append option. If a file with the specified name does not already exist then
it is created (with both options).
Remember that Ctrl-F12 directly saves the current text and Ctrl-F11 saves all texts currently open without the user specifying the names to be used for the files on disk.
Range of characters to store Normally Lexa Text stores all characters in a text. However you can specify a range in case you only wish a subset to be written to file. The four options here can be reached by pressing F12 when entering the name of a file after pressing F10.
Entire Range All ASCII characters from 1 to 255
Not above 128 Only 1 - 127
Not below 32 Only 32 - 255
Only 32 - 128 Only the narrow 7 bit ASCII set
Shift-F1 DOS command You can type any text in the input box which appears on pressing this key combination. This is passed on to DOS for execution. The command is now available irrespective of how Lexa Text was loaded (previously it was confined to the batch mode).
Shift-Backspace Address database This option allows you to display a database in a window in the centre of the screen. The database is intended to be for addresses which one can leaf through quickly, search for a string and import the contents of a records directly into the current text. No formatting is done during importing, for this use the database module in Lexa Text, accessible via Alt-F1 This part of the programme is independent of the database module.
The name of the database to be used for this option is specified as item 82 in an initialisation file. There is no default name so that one must be specified by the user.
Ctrl-Shift-Backspace Macros and Programmes This option collects a number of commands concerning macro facilities, file importing and direct programme execution into a single menu and allows you to choose one by moving the highlight bar and pressing Return.
Alt-F1 Load database manager This command loads Database Text directly. By pressing Ctrl-Q (= ‘quit’) in the latter you return immediately to the text editor.
Ctrl-Ins Positioning in text by column This keystroke leads to a column appearing on the right of the screen. You can move the arrow to the approximate line at which you would like to position the cursor. The black block in the column shows your current position.
The file column on the right-hand side of the screen can be displayed permanently if you set the relevant parameter to a positive value. To do this open the window behind the Bell,Click,Clock.. option in the Miscellaneous menu.
Ctrl-BackSlash Hold line for future move The ‘Goto line’ function is usually filled with the default value of ‘1’. However if you hold the current line by pressing the present key setting then the line number is used as the new default when you press Ctrl-Home later on. By these means you can force Lexa Text to remember a previous position in a text and jump to it at some later stage. Up to 8 previous line positions can be recorded. These are accessed when you press Ctrl-Home for Jump to line and then press Space A window opens and the previously held line positions and an indication of their contents are shown in a picklist from which you can select a line in the usual way by moving the light bar and pressing Return Striking Return once more causes the programme to move to this position.
Ctrl-Shift-0 Reassign a key In all 15 keys or key combinations can have the commands associated with them specified by the user. These keystrokes are all dispensable as they do not activate central functions with the exception of the SpaceBar A reassignment in only temporary and can be cancelled at any time, automatically restoring the original value of the key concerned. The window for determining how this is to function is activated by pressing Ctrl-Shift-0 Note that you can clear one or all reassignments via F4 and F5 respectively. To make a fresh one just move the highlight bar and press Return You then choose a command from a menu in the picklist system as if you were activating a command in the normal manner.
The set of reassignments can be save to disk by striking F10 The file created is always LTEXT.RDR (RDR = ‘redirection’) and is stored in the auxiliary file directory. When you open the reassignment window for the first time, Lexa Text attempts to read the relevant file and, if found, will make the necessary key adjustments. This means that it is not necessary to go through the whole procedure of specifying what keystrokes to redirect but you must open the reassignment window at least once to read the text file with the relevant information.
Ctrl-Shift-F3 File flip sequence This commands allows one to specify which two files are to be used for a quick switch option between two loaded texts. When you initiate this command the current text area is assumed as text one and you then choose from the text pick list a second text to be switched to. The key with which you do the switching is Ctrl-Tab This then acts as a toggle. Note that this key combination does not activate the print preview option while file flip is active; for this operation use the alternative keystroke Ctrl-V.
Note The files chosen for this flip action are also those used for file comparison via F11 This fact should be borne in mind as you can only specify source and output files for a comparison by the present means.
Ctrl-Esc This key setting activates the same function as Ctrl-Shift-W Word clipboard with the essential difference that here the clipboard is opened without the current word being deposited in it, for this use the alternative key setting.
Autoindenting text Code Symbol ASCII 7 This character is used in Lexa Text as a kind of tab with the difference that if used at the beginning of a line then the next line with be automatically indented by the amount of the current tab setting. This continues until a following line is reached which does not begin with ASCII 7.
Note that for this function to operate correctly, the autoindent switch must also be set to ‘on’; this is done by pressing F8 for the Print menu and then F6 ASCII 7 can be accessed from the ASCII set chart activated by pressing Ctrl-V or simply by pressing Ctrl-7.
Note that if the first line in a paragraph contains the indent character (ASCII 7) then Lexa Text will indent the paragraph on pressing Ctrl-F7 or Shift-Ins using the position of this character to align all lines of the paragraph after the first one.
Creating a hanging indent The caret symbol (ASCII 94), when it occurs at the beginning of a line, is interpreted as a symbol for a hanging indent. The current paragraph is then indented by the amount of the current setting for tab width. Note that this must be done by the user by pressing Ctrl-F7, Shift-Ins or by formatting the entire text or marked block by striking Shift-Del.
re-lexification Th555e process whereby the vocabulary of a pidgin is replaced
almost entirely by that of another language with which the creole-speaking
community comes into contact. This reputedly happened with early Dutch
pidgins in the south-east Caribbean.
structural transfer A process in a language contact situation in which features
of the grammar of one language are transferred to another language
usually by partially bilingual speakers.
substrate A variety of a language which shows low social status compared to
another variety in the same community such as the standard or a language
of prestige.
superstrate A variety of a language which enjoys a position of power compared
to another. It may be a standard form of a language or a different language
from that found natively in a specific country or region.
Printing hanging words in left margin The way this function works is as follows. You enter the ‘hanging text’ code (ASCII 247) either directly or by choosing it from the Format marker list in the Format menu. Then you type on a word per line basis which the text which is to be printed as a hanging indent to the left of the current paragraph. Note that you must indent the paragraph sufficiently (via Ctrl-7) so that there is enough room on the left so that the hanging text does not overlap with the text of the paragraph. Note that the lines indicating the function and the hanging text itself must be subtracted from the length of the current page when you are setting page breaks. A maximum of 16 lines of text can be placed as a hanging indent on the left. If the paragraph itself is less than this, then the maximum is the total number of lines in the paragraph. A hanging text line can be empty as is the following example.
Structuralism
Sassure’s importance for linguistics
When he lived
His main work The study of linguistics is first and foremost an attempt to
understand the internal structure of language. In the course
of the history of the subject various linguists have made a
number of distinctions which help one to understand better
the manner in which language is organised. The most
eminent linguist in this respect is the Swiss-French linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) who taught in Geneva at
the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He
did not write any books on general linguistics but after his
death his pupils put together notes taken during his lectures
in a book and published it posthumously as Cours de
linguistique générale (1916) from which the following notions
stem.
Marking for Sigma search Code Symbol Sigma This symbol is used to classify a text and is placed on the first line. On the Directory lister level you can then search for files which have a user-specified contents on the initial lines beginning with Sigma (see below for more details).
Code Symbol Entry The character can be accessed from the special characters window (press Ctrl-A).
Ctrl-Shift-J Remove identical lines This function allows you to remove identical lines from the current text. To do this you must work through a few windows with relevant questions concerning how the operation is to be carried out. The first question is whether the line deletion is to affect only those lines which are adjacent to each other or simply lines anywhere in the current text. The former option is of course only useful when a file is loaded which has been sorted, i.e. where all identical lines would be adjacent to each other to start with.
You now must say whether the comparison is to involve two different files or one and the same text. If you opt for different files then you must choose a second file. Any identical lines will be deleted in this second file on the basis of a comparison with lines from the first file.
The following question asks the user whether the search for identical lines should involve only the current line (i.e. that on which the cursor is resting) or whether all lines in the current file are to be examined). Because the latter option is of far greater scope, you must confirm this combination of options. The next question concerns whether you wish to confirm each deletion. The last question before the operation commences refers to the number of characters per line which are examined by Lexa Text for the programme to decide whether any two given lines are identical. This consideration could be important if you just wish to examine a section of all lines in a text.
Store/retrieve line By pressing F12 you can now deposit the line in question into the History array so that it can be accessed later, for instance when searching for strings.
Display online clock There is now a further option in the initialisation file for Lexa Text which allows you to decide if you want a clock displayed online in the top right-hand corner of the screen. This option is also available in Lexa File and Database Text.
Acoustic signal There are situations in which it is better for the computer not to use its speaker to give an acoustic warning. The latter can be turned off by choosing the second option in the Miscellaneous menu on the extreme right of the menus bar.
Hiding text delimiter Pressing Ctrl-Shift-F12 will toggle the display of the character ASCII 124 ‘|’, the broken vertical bar. The reason for including this option is that Lexa Text can be used for viewing delimited text files and these often use this character as a field delimiter. Hiding the character makes such files more readable on screen.
Expand delimited line from database If you load a delimited text file created by a database manager then after locating the cursor on the first column of any line you can expand this line into a one-field-per-line arrangement by pressing Ctrl-Alt-E Lexa Text demands that the first character of such a line be a non-alphanumerical symbol, that is neither a letter nor a digit. The broken vertical bar ‘|’ is a suitable delimiter to use when generating a text file from a database and this will cause Lexa Text to expand any line of such a file on request. If you block mark the output from this command you can transfer it to a database loaded on the database level by storing it first and retrieving it into the databse via Ctrl-F4 afterwards.
If you simply wish to view a delimited line from a database in full screen form but not have this incorporated as part of the current text (which is what happens with the above command) then press Ctrl-Alt-X Expand to Screen which will display the current line in page form on a separate screen; striking any key returns you to the current text without it being modified in any way.
Note To load the report form editor directly from the text editing level, press Ctrl-Alt-Z or choose the appropriate item in the Databases menu.
Ctrl-Shift-X Freeze command Here the last keystroke is held by Lexa Text for use with the option for repeating a command (see following). To freeze a command you execute it and then press Ctrl-Shift-X immediately afterwards.
Ctrl-Shift-P Previous command This option simply repeats a command executed previously. If a command has been frozen (see preceding section) then this is executed, if not then the last keystroke is repeated.
Ctrl-Shift-N Line numbering This command will show the number of each line on the left of the screen. The numbers of those of each page, the absolute line numbers of a text are shown on the bottom line of the screen.
Automatic display of numbering can be specified via parameter 79 in an initialisation file.
Ctrl-Shift-Comma Running count With the present command you can have the total number of lines, pages and characters in the current text displayed instead of the tab ruler at the top of the screen. This display takes precedence over that of the words buffer, should be turn this on. If you have minimised screen information with Ctrl-Shift-Z then no running count is shown.
Note that the character count is computed from the value for the length of each line multiplied by the number of lines. For each line two characters are added, a carriage return and a line feed (which are in the form stored on disk). In addition Lexa Text always adds one empty line to the end of a file, so that the running count may two bytes greater than the disk size.
Ctrl-Shift-F9 Show full file information Here a window with all the relevant information on the file you are currently processing is displayed.
Ctrl-Shift-4 Display directory tree This option shows the tree structure of the current disk in the same manner as on the directory listing level.
Ctrl-Y Switch to graphics mode Assuming that the fonts necessary for graphics display can be loaded, this command will switch display to the graphics mode. Note that display is slowed down somewhat in this mode.
The fonts necessary for graphics display all have either the extension .VGS or .VGM and are supplied with the current software; this font group consists of the following: SANSERIF.VGS, ITALICS.VGS, UNDERLIN.VGS, SML_CAPS.VGS, SUPSCRIP.VGS, SUBSCRIP.VGS, GREEK.VGS RUSSIAN.VGS, SPECIAL1.VGS, SPECIAL2.VGS and another group with the same names but the extention .VGM (for a ‘mini’ as opposed to just a ‘small’ font).
The screen size in the graphics mode is either 40 rows by 90 columns or 40 rows by 106 columns. The default is 90 columns. However, if you choose 106 with the keystroke Ctrl-Alt-V then Ctrl-Y with switch to 106 columns and back.
Ctrl-Alt-V Screen coordinates This command offers a picklist which allows you to choose 1) the screen size for the character mode (25x80, 50x80, 30x80, 30x90 rows by columns) or 2) the size of the screen in the graphics mode. The latter mode always uses a 40-line screen and provides the choice between a 90 and a 106 column-wide screen.
Ctrl-Shift-Dash Background It is possible to obtain a much brighter display by using this command (a toggle). This can be advantageous when working with a laptop in bright surroundings. This switch can be controlled via an initialisation file (see below).
Ctrl-Shift-7 Switch around letters This command simply reverses the order of the character presently under the cursor and the following one, a convenience for remedying a common kind of typing error.
1.6 Block processing options
When Lexa Text is loaded an array of 8 buffers for storing block marked text is initiated and can be accessed by pressing Ctrl-X when the block mark function is not active. This command leads to a screen on which the beginning of each of the 8 buffers is shown, assuming that there is something in each. You select a buffer for retrieval into the current text by moving the box highlighting with an arrow key.
Ctrl-T Tree to Table of Contents This command will convert a tree or section of one to a corresponding structured table of contents. You can try out this command with the tree contained further down in this documentation.
Ctrl-X Lines, words, bytes To ascertain how many textual units there are in a piece of marked text you can use the present command which functions in the same manner as the identical command for an entire text.
Ctrl-N Search for next occurrence This command will take the stretch of text and search for it in the current text from the present cursor position downwards.
Ctrl-A Attach to search string Here all that happens is that the currently marked block is deposited in the search string where is remains available for future use.
Ctrl-Home Jump to line Assuming that the text marked as a block consists (from its first character) as a valid digit Lexa Text will jump to this number.
F3 Upper-/Lowercase When you activate this command you must specify whether the text block is to be converted to uppercase (1) or to lowercase (2).
Removing formatting from a block The easiest way to remove any formatting from a stretch of text is to block mark the text and press Tab.
F9 Remove empty lines This command will delete any empty lines in a block and delete unwanted formatting. There is a variant Shift-F9 which will just remove wrong formatting by which is meant that sequences of inverted commas either preceded or followed by a formatting marker are reduced to just the quotes as such instances are taken to have been incidentally generated by a report form (from a database source) and understood to be unwanted in the output text which resulted from this operation.
Note that pressing Alt-F9 will lead to stretches of text consisting of more that one empty line being reduced to a single empty line.
F12 Deposit in history With this option you can place the section of marked text (as long as this does not exceed a single line) into the history array from where it can later be retrieved, for instance for a search or as input to a text macro.
Backspace Move current block (equivalent to Ctrl-F4). Return Copy current block (equivalent to F4).
Alt-Space Put in line clipboard Here the stretch of text which is block marked is transferred to the line clipboard at the current position of the highlight bar for that array.
Ctrl-(Shift)-W Put in word clipboard This is similar to the previous command but deposits the piece of text in the word clipboard. In both cases only as much text is transferred as will fit in a line of the line or word array. However the block marked text can be distributed over two lines.
Remember that you can also mark lines in a text with Shift and the Up,Down Arrow keys and then carry out various operations with the marked lines, see the menu under Alt-F9.
F11 Copy rectangle It is possible to copy not a number of lines but a rectangle starting at the column where the block begins and finishing at the column where the block ends. This option requires that the column at which block marking is concluded be greater than that where marking began. On each line which is marked the columns before the start and after the end of the block are ignored.
Ctrl-F11 Move rectangle This is essentially the same command as the previous one with the difference that the rectangle is buffered internally by Lexa Text and then deleted from its current position in the text.
Retrieving a rectangle The data which has been extracted as a rectangle is placed in the next free block buffer and can be retrieved like any other block. If you wish to retrieve data as a triangle then you press F11 when choosing a block buffer with Shift-F10 Lexa Text now notes the column at which the cursor is located and copies each line of the buffer to each line of text at the cursor column starting at the current line. If the cursor column of the first line is greater than the length of a later line then this is filled with as many spaces as are necessary to reach this value and then the line from the block buffer is copied.
Note that for the line block options (activated via Alt-F9) there is a separate buffer for each text area. This means that if you mark lines in one text area you can copy them to another by buffering them in the outset area, switching to the target area and then choosing the original area when deciding what set of lines to retrieve.
Ctrl-K Deposit word in words buffer The buffer used here is separate from that used for block processing. It can be shown instead of the tab ruler on the top of the screen and can take up to 80 characters. Words are added by using this key combination until the buffer is full or you empty it with Ctrl-Shift-K To retrieve the contents of the words buffer just press Ctrl-Alt-K You can choose between the display of the words buffer or the tab ruler with the appropriate option in the Block menu. This parameter can also be set via an initialisation file (see below).
Ctrl-Alt-N Mark for index With this keystroke the stretch of the current text block is marked for later generation of a word index (realised with Ctrl-Comma).
1.7 Directory lister level options
Altered appearence of directory listing The size of the portion of the screen used for a directory listing has been increased considerably to show more files (applies to both the text editor and the database managers).
Ctrl-Left,RightArrow On the second line of the directory listing screen you can see the drives which are available on your system along with three options to the left of this list something like the following.
| _ |\ |..| A: C: D: E: F: G: ...
The first option, a tree symbol, indicates that you can activate the disk manager to change directory and/or drive; the second is a backslash which stands for ‘root directory’ and the third consists of two dots which symbolise a shift to the directory next above the current one.
The move the highlighting on the drive line you use Ctrl-Left, RightArrow or click the appropriate option with the mouse. You press Return to choose an option with the keyboard. Note that this option only works if the last keystroke moved the highlighting in the drive bar; otherwise the Return key is used to load a file.
Space,Alt-V Internal viewer Pressing the SpaceBar will show the currently highlighted file using the internal viewer of Lexa Text The name of this file is stored in an internal variable and the file can be viewed by pressing Ctrl-Alt-G when on the text editing level.
Alt-Space,Ctrl-Space Either of these key combinations will force Lexa View to be loaded displaying the currently highlighted file from the directory listing.
F2 External viewer This command can be used to load the currently highlighted file with Lexa View.
Ctrl-D Set date format Here you can choose one of three date types to use for the listing of files (American, British or German).
You can specify the date format for a directory listing in an initialisation file (see below). This can be different from that for date insertion.
Ctrl-O Sorting order Files can be listed in ascending order of file names or date of last saving to disk. With the present option you can specify which kind of display is to be used.
Ctrl-F Date filter A directory listing can be sensitive to a date filter which can be of one of three types: 1) Before a certain date, 2) After a certain date and 3) The present system date in the computer, i.e. today. The format of the date to enter depends on that chosen for the directory listing in general. Be careful to enter this correctly to achieve the desired result.
GreyPlus Direct load By pressing this key you cause the currently highlighted file to be loaded with one of a series of programmes. An ASCII text file will be loaded with TextLook, a database with Database Text, a WordPerfect file with WordPerfect (for DOS), a Word file with Microsoft Word (for DOS) and an unknown binary file with Lexa Byte (the hex editor of the Lexa suite).
Insert File manager This command just loads the file manager Lexa File An automatic return is made on leaving the latter.
Ctrl-F11 Load Lexa Find Calls the directory scan utility with which you can view the contents of an entire disk. An automatic return to Lexa Text is made on terminating the programme.
Alt-F12 Buffer file name(s) The names of any files which have been marked in the current listing can be copied to the next text buffer by pressing Alt-F12. If no file is marked then just the name of the current file is buffered. By pressing Alt-F12 on the Text editing level you can retrieve the file names.
Alt-F8 Sigma Search This is an option which allows you to classify texts according to their contents. The way it works is as follows. At the beginning of the first line of a text you enter the sigma symbol, Chr(228), followed by a tab and then the word or phrase with which you wish to classify the following text. When on the directory list level you can now search for files which match an entry on a first line beginning with Chr(228) by pressing Alt-F8 Note that you now activate the Words List function. The idea is that you enter your text classification scheme as a words list and can retrieve a text classifier from the list on the directory level for this purpose. The remainder of the function is identical to that initiated by Shift-F8.
F4 Directory manager This key calls the programme Lexa Dirs and allows you to change the current directory. The directory manager offers a whole range of further options, including re-reading the directory structure of the disk (see the description under the relevant heading).
F8 Directory tree A simpler means of changing directory via a tree structure is to avail of the current option. It uses an internal tree representation of Lexa Text which is faster but of course does not have the range of commands contained in the separate directory manager Lexa Dirs.
Alt-F4 Reread tree If you change drive, then it is necessary to reread the tree structure file ADIRS.FIL for this drive. The latter file is generated by either the file manager Lexa File or the directory manager Lexa Dirs and is deposited in the root directory of the drive examined. This file is normally read by Lexa Text when the directory tree option is first called and the information contained in it is maintained for further calls. Obviously when you switch drives it is necessary to force Lexa Text to read the relevant structure file for the new drive and this is done by pressing Alt-F4 when on the directory listing level of Lexa Text.
1.8 Printing considerations
1.8.1 Printer drivers
Printer drivers There are two main printer drivers supplied with the Lexa suite for laser printers. The first is called 12_ROMAN.PCF. This works with the Times Roman proportional fonts supplied with the set. The second is labelled 12_GOTH.PCF and is intended for use with the Letter Gothic 12 cpi non-proportional fonts also supplied with Lexa Note that the database editor uses 12_GOTH.PCF as default and that the text editor uses 12_ROMAN.PCF. For these printer drivers to produce proper output on a laser printer you must first of all load the fonts into the printer. Be careful to load the right fonts for the right printer driver otherwise the results are unpredictable. There is also a default printer driver used for dot matrix printers; both the driver and the batch file contain the letters DMP in the file name.
Printer driver Matching batch file to load fonts
12_ROMAN.PCF 12_ROMAN.BAT
12_GOTH.PCF 12_GOTH.BAT
12_DMP.PCF 12_DMP.BAT
Selecting printer Ensure that on the Printing level (the screen you get on pressing F8) you choose ‘Laser Beam’ as printer type and ‘Courier 12 cpi’ as base font before printing. The latter is necessary so that the text and database editors will assume a basic font size of 12 cpi before determining the actual width of each character (for Times Roman fonts) and importantly before calculating the micro-spaces required for right-hand justification. Needless to say for this justification to work the parameter ‘block justify text’ must be set to ‘on’.
Determining printer driver interactively The printer driver can be specified by pressing F4 on the Printing level. The driver file is expected to reside in the Home Directory for Lexa Text (check on this by pressing F9 for Environment) but you can specify a different directory by entering a full path before the name of the driver.
Putting information into an initialization file You can of course include the above specifications in an initialization file (see supplied files) so that you do not need to specify them each time you wish to print.
Note When you attempt to print a text or part of one you are asked if you wish to execute a batch file to load fonts into the printer. This message is issued each time unless you press F5 to suppress it. The name of a file to execute can be included in an initialisation file (see parameter 78 in the excerpt below).
1.8.2 Font management
Fonts for laser printers There is an additional directory, which appears on your hard disk after installing the Lexa set, called LASER and which contains a number of fonts for your laser printer, including three sets of phonetic symbols.
Base font and Line Draw font There are two fonts which the text and database editors make frequent reference to when printing and it is important to specify these carefully in an initialization file. These fonts always have the font numbers 1 and 8 respectively. The first is the base font and is that which is chosen to start with and to which the text editor reverts after de-selecting a special font. The second is the font which the programme is to activate for drawing lines and boxes (Line Draw font). This effectively means the font which is used for nearly all symbols above 174 and below 32. The font used here should be a non-proportional (fixed width) 12 point font as in the following example.
Font 1: Times Roman 12 Pt Upright (Base font)
Font 8: Letter Gothic 12 Pt Upright (Line Draw font)
Drawing lines across the printed page It is often desirable to draw a single line across the printed page, for instance under a chapter heading. This can be done by manually entering the line in the text. However, if you then change the page layout such that you use a narrower line width then the line will stick out beyond the right edge. Conversely, increasing the line width will mean that the line will stop short of the new right edge. The solution to this problem is to enter the character ASCII 232 (Greek phi) at the beginning of the line on which the line is to be drawn. On printing, Lexa Text will draw a single line across the printed page matching the current setting for line length, whatever this may be. In the text you see the reference [LineDraw] in highlighted colour to show that on printing a line will appear on the page.
Proportional spacing with laser fonts In order for Lexa Text to print proportional fonts with the correct spacing for right justification it must have access to a file with the relative widths of all characters for all fonts which are to be used on printing. The default supplied file for this is PRO_TBLS.LST which contains the relevant information for the fonts in the LASER directory. If you want to use other fonts rather than those in this file you may add spacing information. This can be taken from the .TBL files which are supplied for each proportional font in the LASER directory or can be generated using the font software LinguaFont also by the present author and available from the Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities.
When printing with right justified text be sure that the printer font you choose on the printer level is correct, ie that it matches the font in the (laser) printer which you will be using. Basically micro-justification can be used for 10, 12, 16.6 cpi fonts.
Printing in a smaller font It may well be desirable to print in slightly smaller font, for instance for footnotes or a quotation in a text. To this you must activate the Small Font option. This is done by choosing the last option in the Font Choice menu which opens on pressing Alt-F8 After this is chosen any of the first six fonts of the font picklist will be printed in slightly smaller form. The spacing information for these additional six fonts is included in a .LST file. For instance if you are using any of the supplied Printer Command Files then with the Small Font option any text in Italics, Bold, SmallCaps, Phonetic 1 and Phonetic 2 text with be printed in small font form by simply selecting this option. The point size for the Small Font option is specified as the last item in the Printer Command File being used.
The symbol for beginning a stretch of text in Small Font is the Infinity Symbol (ASCII 236) and should be the first character on the first line using this option. That for ending a Small Font section is Omega. This symbol should be placed on the next line after the piece of text to be outputted in small print and should preferably be the only character on this line. During normal editing two highlighted references, [SmallOn] and [SmallOff], indicate where a section begins and ends. The appropriate symbols can be embedded at some point in a text either strightforwardly or by block marking a section to be outputted in Small Font In either case you select the Font Choice option by pressing Alt-F8 and then close this window via Alt-S.
1.8.3 Page layout
Number of lines per page Note to begin with that there is a pre-set maximum number of lines which can be printed on an A4 page. These values are as follows for Letter Gothic 12 cpi and Times Roman 12 point (the base fonts for the supplied printer drivers 12_ROMAN.PCF and 12_GOTH.PCF).
4 lines per inch 43 lines per page
4.5 lines per inch 48 lines per page
5 lines per inch 53 lines per page
5.5 lines per inch 58 lines per page
6 lines per inch 64 lines per page
The above values include the number of lines in a header and footer if present. For instance if you have a header of three lines, then a page consists of 40 lines of text, with a header of three and a footer of two lines the page then has 38 lines and so on.
Top margin The simplest means of printing is to leave this parameter at a zero value. If you set it to some value greater than this then you must remember that the printer will move down from the top edge of the page before it begins printing. The value for top margin is the number of lines to be skipped. This is always calculated on the basis of six lines per inch, thus a value of 9 would mean a top margin of one and a half inches.
Note that a margin of 0 or 1 will probably mean that text will not be printed at the top of the page as the printer cursor with this slight margin will be in the unprintable region. The right margin for your printer and type of paper is reached by trial and error.
Vertical spacing Note that if you control vertical spacing by some other means such as including an unfiltered printer command in a text (see the examples below) then a page break may not always result in a page being ejected from the printer as the internal means of line and page length calculation indicated above will not function correctly. There is a way out of this, however. If you enter two page breaks one after the other, and ensure that there is no empty line between them, then Lexa Text will always issue (one) page eject to the printer at this point in the text. A page can also be ejected manually by pressing F12 on the Print level.
When the printer prints the last possible line on a page it ejects the page so that ASCII 12 is only necessary in those cases where the number of lines on a page is less than the maximum. Lexa Text observes this situation automatically. For instance if you paginate with the appropriate command then a page break is only sent to the printer if necessary (irrespective of its occurrence in the text).
Line spacing can be used to determine the numbers of lines per inch. Note that the values 4.5 and 5.5 are legal. If you specify these in an initialisation file then you must enter 45 or 55 (the decimal point is added by Lexa Text afterwards.
Top margins can be specified on the printing level with the appropriate option. Note that the value is the number of lines which are skipped before printing on the page begins. The actual distance travelled down the page depends on the line spacing (see previous setting). If nothing is specified or a value less than 3 then a standard distance of a half an inch is assumed.
1.8.4 Pagination
Pagination There are two ways of realising pagination in Lexa Text on printing. The first is the simplest: you set the page length to an appropriate value on the printer level and insert NO page breaks into the text when editing it. The disadvantage here is that you do not know when the breaks will occur. They could for instance leave orphans on the top of a page (last line of a paragraph) or cut a chapter title off from the text which follows it.
The second method is to use the Pagination command in the Format menu, activated directly by Ctrl-[ This will insert the page breaks into the text as a single line running across the screen. This method will ensure that orphans do not occur. In this situation you can check on the breaks yourself to ensure that they are placed at the right position. Two things must be observed here: the first is that the Page Length parameter in the Print menu be set to a value which is higher than the number of lines in the text (check on this using Ctrl-X). A safe value is 9999. This ensures that no page breaks are sent to the printer which are not contained in the text. The second point to bear in mind is that if you set page breaks manually or alter automatic breaks then the ensuing pages should not be longer than the possible maximum or else the excess lines are printed on a separate page which will obviously not be what is intended.
1.8.5 Embedding printer commands
If the first two characters of a text line are two number symbols (##) then the next character (a number from 1 to 9) is taken to set a printing parameter value according to the following coding scheme.
##0 1/0 ; Block justification
##1 0/1/2 ; Number of printer type
##2 XXXXX.PCF ; Name of printer command file
##3 0/1/2/3/4 ; Font type
##4 76 ; Line width
##5 10 ; Left margin
##6 56 ; Page length
##7 6 ; Lines per inch
##8 XXXXX ; File for header/footer (extension not necessary!)
##L XXXXX ; Left-hand Header/Footer file (even numbers)
##R XXXXX ; Right-hand Header/Footer file (odd numbers)
##T X ; New value (1 - 9) for tab width on printing
##P 20 ; Initial page number set to 20
##9 1/2 ; Port to be used
##@ ; Restore page layout values and send initial string
to printer again
##> ; Send the string up to the next blank/tab to printer
##!H ; No header on this page
##!F ; No footer on this page
After the digit for the printer command enter a tab or blanks and then a value for the command, eg ##7 6 (sets the line spacing to 6 lines per inch), ##7 4 (sets this back to 4 again); ##0 1 (turns block justification on), ##0 0 (turns justification off). The reference XXXXX in the above examples stands for a file name.
Note You can send the Escape character (ASCII 27) directly to the printer by entering \27 anywhere in a text. This is useful if for some reason you wish to issue a direct, unfiltered command to the printer.
Note If you are printing in the landscape mode then a line with a printer command will be printed as an empty line, i.e. the contents are skipped over but a carriage return is issued (as long as font markers are not being currently displayed). This is necessary as the current line of the second page on the sheet would be printed on the same line as the previous line which is obviously undesirable.
Setting the page number If you have a text which is split up into different files you may wish to start page numbering at some value greater than 1 in any but the first file, for instance with chapters of a book which are maintained in separate files. For this reason the page number at which counting is to start can be set on the printer level or hard-wired into a text by inserting the printer command sequence ##, followed by P, a space or tab and then the initial value which is to be used for page numbering (the default is 1 of course).
Using two headers If you wish to use alternate headers on odd and even pages then you can specify this in the initialisation file as item no 29 (see below). If this is set to ‘yes’ then Lexa Text searches for a header with the extension .HD0 for even pages and one with the extension .HD1 for odd pages (any file with the extension .HDR is of course only necessary when using just one header). This option can also be specified interactively on the printing level (activated from the text level by pressing F8).
Alternatively you can avail of the option of embedding a relevant command directly into the text. To specify a header for even pages use the variant with ‘L’ and for a header on odd pages, use ‘R’. A header specification must be on the first line of a page to be registered by Lexa Text.
Note that the current page number can be printed in a header by entering ASCII 2 followed by ‘8’. To have the header on the right-hand side printed flush with the right margin, enter ASCII 11 (the male symbol) before the text for this header. A typical output for alternative headers would be something like the following:
Left-hand (even) page:
176 John Smart-as-a-Fox
Right-hand (odd) page: The ultimate book on semiotics 177
Default header If you do not specify what header or headers you wish to use via the appropriate option in the left-hand picklist of the printer menu then there remains an alternative, namely to use the default header. You will notice that in the top-right corner of the printer menu there is a reference F11 Default Header Clicking here, or pressing F11, will show you the contents of the default header. The name for this header file is specified as item 105 in an initialisation file and has the standard name LTEXT.HDR, if no initialisation file is used. Assuming that this file is to be found in the Auxiliary File Directory its contents are now shown. If you wish to use this file then you should now press F5 which will enable the default header. This always takes precedence over any other headers. Only one default header is possible and is printed on each page. A typical example for a default header would consist of the name of the author of a file, its title, the date on which it is printed and the current page number (see the supplied file DEFAULT.HDR).
A default header can be created while editing a text by simply pressing F10 for Save File to Disk and then striking F11 Save as Default Header in Memory This will cause the present file to be stored in the memory array for the default header and not written to disk.
A header file can be up to 5 lines long, each up to 128 characters wide.
Direct printer commands and comments Two number signs and a right-pointing arrowhead can be followed by a string which is sent to the printer up to the next blank or tab as shown in the following example.
##>_&l16C ; This sets line spacing to 3 lines per inch
There is no character translation done here so that by this means you can control a laser printer directly.
The following command will reset the values for the parameters 0, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 to the values they had before starting to print and re-send the initial string for the printer if there is one.
##@ ; Restore page layout features
Note that lines with printer commands (##...) and comments (@@...) are not printed and are ignored when doing pagination. They should not include any normal text intended for printing.
1.8.6 Information embedding on printing
In a header or footer file or at any point in a text you can include such information as file name, size, current date and time. The placeholders for these items consist of the character ASCII 1 (a smiley) followed by a digit as described in the documentation. Note that the initial character is now ASCII 1 and not ASCII 4 (as with previous versions of the text editor) as the latter now signals italics for the editor.
Command sequences when printing files
ASCII 1 + 0 : Short name of current text
ASCII 1 + 1 : Full path name of current text
ASCII 1 + 2 : Size of current file
ASCII 1 + 3 : Current date
ASCII 1 + 4 : Current time
ASCII 1 + 5 : Current page number as defined by text
ASCII 1 + 6 : Total number of pages to print
ASCII 1 + 7 : Current page number (calculated online) (Arabic form)
ASCII 1 + 8 : Current page number (Roman lowercase)
ASCII 1 + 9 : Current page number (Roman uppercase)
Note that option 5 is sensitive to a new page number specified on the first line of a file by a preceding tilde (ASCII 126) followed by an initial value for the first page, that is if you use the fifth option then page numbering will start at the user-determined value and continue upwards.
Right flush If you place ASCII 11 (male symbol) immediately before one of these sequences (for instance that for page number in a header) then it will be printed flush with the right margin of the page.
Centre justification The symbol (ASCII 2) will cause a line to be centre
justified on a laser printer. It must be placed at the beginning of the line. You can use any of the fonts of the current printer driver here, eg an 18 point Times Roman font for a chapter heading. Centre justification is done on a line by line basis so that if you wish to have it apply to several consecutive lines you must place an ASCII 2 symbol at the beginning of each line.
Notes The Arabic to Roman number conversion only functions up to 59. This should, however, be ample for printing prefaces or table of contents.
If you want to use fonts in a header or footer file when printing then use double code font encoding (specifiable in the Online Parameters menu, press: Alt-Back).
1.8.7 Printing in landscape mode
With laser printers the term ‘landscape mode’ refers to the printing of text sideways along a page. This has several advantages. For instance you can print two pages in small print side by side or a single page with very long lines. Lexa Text allows for printing in the landscape mode by setting an appropriate switch. This can be done in an initialisation file (see below) and/or on the printing level. In addition to saying that you wish to print in this mode you must specify two further parameters which are relevant. One is whether two pages or just one are to be printed sideways on each sheet of paper and the second is whether a binding offset should be included before the second page on a sheet of paper. This is useful if you wish to cut the sheet in two to get two sheets from one. In this case an extra empty margin — a so-called binding offset — is left to allow for enough space before the left print margin of the second page.
To print two pages on one sheet successfully you must specify a small font. There are three batch files, called SW10.BAT, SW10H.BAT and SW11.BAT, which will initialise Lexa Text to print text sideways. This file works with initialisation files, named SIDE_10.INI, SIDE_10H.INI and SIDE_11.INI respectively, which use a Times Roman 10/11 Point or a Helvetica 10 Point font, a top margin of 0, a left margin of 6, a line spacing of 6 and a page length of 42 with a possible header of 2 lines. The line width is set to 4.6 inches.
The purpose of printing two pages per sheet may well be to photocopy your printed text. Indeed one may often wish to photocopy text, printed on one side, onto sheets with text on both sides. In order to do this each sheet of paper may have the sequence of left- and right-hand pages reversed so that, when turned over, the page on the rear side is matched with the correct page on the front side. This type of printing would look like the following.
Sheet 1: Page 1 | Page 3
Sheet 2: Page 2 | Page 4
Sheet 3: Page 5 | Page 7
Sheet 4: Page 6 | Page 8
To realise this you must turn on the switch Reverse left/right in the Orientation window activated by pressing F2 on the printing level.
Any text file you already have can now be outputted on the printer in the landscape mode by formatting the text with the line width of 4.6" and ensuring that all pages are 42 lines or less in length. The rest is taken care of automatically by Lexa Text.
1.8.7.1 Printing same page twice on sheet of paper
This option is a further means of realising landscape printing. The goal of the option is simply to print the same page twice on each sheet of paper. This obviously means that you get twice as many pages as you would if you printing one page per sheet. You could for instance print two A5 sized pages on a single A4 page with the result as follows:
Sheet 1: Page 1 | Page 1
Sheet 2: Page 2 | Page 2
Sheet 3: Page 3 | Page 3
When the printing job is completed all you need do is cut all the printed sheets half and you have two printouts.
1.8.7.2 Printing in newspaper style
It is also possible to print text in two large columns per page in portrait mode. This is the style used in newspapers and frequently in dictionaries as well. To specify this you press F2 for Orientation on the printing level and then press F2 again for ‘2 columns per page’. This mode is then used when printing any text until disabled or you leave Lexa Text; it can also be specified in an initialisation file under Item 109 (see supplied files). Note that to achieve acceptable output you must use suitable margins. The page length can be that which you normally use for a page in portrait mode, say 48 lines. The width of each line must be half of the maximum size minus 1/5 (0.3) of an inch which is the space left between the two columns. So if you normally use 5.9" as line width, for this mode you specify 2.8", i.e. (5.9 - 0.3) / 2 = 2.8". You may also specify whether a dividing line is to be drawn between the two columns on the printed page.
A printed page corresponds to two pages of text on screen as the two columns are edited as sequences of two pages when processing text on your computer. There are two batch files called COLS_TMS.BAT and COLS_HLV.BAT which utilise the initialisation files COLS_TMS.INI and COLS_HLV.INI respectively and which will set up your computer automatically for printing in newspaper style, with either a Times Roman or Helvetica 10 Point font on A4 paper.
1.8.8 Preview of printer output
Pressing the keystroke Ctrl-V or Ctrl-Tab will cause the display to change and you are shown the current text in roughly the form in which it would appear if printed. In particular different attributes and proportional fonts along with justification are shown clearly. For this option to function properly a series of 9 fonts with the extension .GSF (= graphics screen font) must be accessible (in the Lexa home directory).
Standard fonts Special character fonts
NORM_12 .GSF GREEK .GSF
ITAL_12 .GSF RUSSIAN .GSF
BOLD_12 .GSF SPECIAL1.GSF
SML_CAPS.GSF SPECIAL2.GSF
GOTHIC .GSF
The above fonts match those for laser printers supplied with the Lexa suite. The printer driver to use to ensure a proper match between graphics screen and printer output is LAS_RMN.PCF and the batch file which loads the necessary fonts into the printer is _ROMAN.BAT (the default name assumed by Lexa).
In the preview mode it is possible to do some rudimentary editing of text (such as correcting typos). To do this press Return and the underscore for the current line disappears and a cursor is now visible. You can now navigate on the line with the usual keys: (Ctrl-)LeftArrow, (Ctrl-)RightArrow, Home and End To edit the line use Backspace, Delete or Ctrl-End and of course type letters. With Return you terminate editing and the line underscore appears again.
When previewing text you may page backwards and forwards in the normal manner. Press Ctrl-Return to stay at your new location if you have moved in the current text or Escape to return to the point in the text at which you switched to the preview mode.
In the unlikely event that you have to check the length of a line in dots manually (this is done automatically by Lexa Text when ‘Word Wrap’ is switched on) you can press Ctrl-Alt-Dot which shows the length of the current line in (printer) dots and the maximum length going on the base font (say Times Roman 12 point) and the width of a standard line in tenths of an inch specified on the printing level (check by pressing F8).
1.8.9 Command line options
ltext file_name
Start and load file_name.
ltext /i(-ini_file)
Initialise Lexa Text with standard ltext.ini or with ini-file.
ltext /i(-ini_file) /f-file_name
Initialise (perhaps with ini_file) and load file passed as file_name.
ltext /p
Jump to line of previously loaded file at which you exited.
ltext /b
Start in batch file mode (Lexa Text is unloaded and re-loaded when you
execute a command via Shift-F1).
ltext /r
Execute find and replace immediately using default file DEFAULT.TBL.
ltext /g
Allow overlong lines in file specified on command line (no
warning is issued).
ltext /w
Start and word wrap entire text immediately.
ltext /at-file_name
Start and load file_name at Top of text.
ltext /ae-file_name
Same as above only text is loaded at End of text.
ltext file_name search_string /s,c
Load file_name and look for search_string, possibly paying attention
to case, if /s or /c is specified.
1.8.10 Directory locations
Note that there is a default directory used for certain types of files. Basically system files are to be found in the Home Directory of Lexa Text and user-determined files are deposited and expected in the Auxiliary File Directory. In each of the following cases you can override the default resident directory by specifying a full path rather than a bare file name, either interactively or in an initialisation file.
In the Lexa Text Home Directory:
1) All fonts files
2) Printer Command files
3) Standard Header file
4) User Markup Codes file
5) Text Template file
6) Dictionary Programme file
7) Batch files of all kinds
8) Redirection and Command files
In the Lexa Text Auxiliary File Directory:
1) All macro files
2) Words files
3) Text Database files
4) Find & Replace list file
5) Spelling Dictionary file
6) Dictionary Text file
7) Address Database file
2 Lexa
Practically no changes have been made to the lexical analysis programme Lexa. Two minor alterations involve the History and the Immediate Exit functions alluded to at the outset. These can be activated by pressing F12 when entering something on the User Input Line or when located on the Desktop. Note that because F12 is now used for exit without confirmation there has been a slight change in the assignments to keys in the area of F11/12 as shown below.
Old key New key Function Programme loaded
F11 Ctrl-F11 Pattern matcher Lexa Pat
Sh-F11 Alt-F11 String search Lexa Search
F12 Ctrl-F12 Context finder Lexa Context
Sh-F12 Alt-F12 Word indexes Lexa Words
3 DbTxt/DbStat
The database editors have undergone fairly extensive alterations which constitute enhancements both to the database editing and the text editing levels of the programmes. A maximum of 16 databases and 16 text files (either independent texts or .DBD document files) can be processed simultaneously with the database editors. Below is a brief description of other major changes.
3.1 Database editing level
Ctrl-Shift-G Fields to word list This command allows one to transfer the contents of a user-specified field from the current database into the word list array. The advantage of this is that you then have all entries for the chosen field as a picklist and can transfer data back into some part of a database or use the items in the picklist for a quick search. The search option always uses the field in the database from which the word list is derived for any subsequent searches.
Note that Ctrl-F9 is used to activate this command in the database module of Lexa Text but because this key combination is already set in Database Text the current combination has been chosen instead.
Alt-O Transfer target This command allows you to decide what database is to be used as target when you are transferring the contents of records from a record in one database to another.
Alt-W Export record to Text 16 Here you have a shorthand for exporting the contents of the current record, with or without a report form being used. The goal here is always Text Area 16, so that other areas are unaffected, and a page break is always inserted before a record, assuming that there are data before this point the text area.
Ctrl-Dot Target text area for exporting data By default the data of records is exported to text area 1. There are occasions when this is not suitable and so you are allowed with the present command to be decide which area to deposit record data in. The number of the text area is indicated after the option in the relevant menu.
Ctrl-G Goto word list Here one has the same command at one’s disposal as on the text editing level of Lexa Text Note that you can transfer items to the currently selected database field (cursor field) by simply pressing Return. To search in a field terminate with either Ctrl-F or Ctrl-Return The field searched through is that which was used to generate the word list in the first place. If you want to employ a different field, you must re-generate the list.
Shift-Del Record into Block It is possible to copy the contents of a record into the buffer used by the text editor. This facilitates the transfer of data from text to database and vice versa. This command will transfer the information in each field of the current record and place it on a separate line of the block buffer.
Shift-Ins Block into Record The current option is the reverse of the previous one. It takes the information in the text buffer and transfers it to the fields of the current record on a line by line basis.
Consult the command Expand delimited line in this connection.
Ctrl-Left-Arrow Put field in history array The field the cursor is presently resting on, or at much of this as will fit, is deposited into the the history array when the current keystroke is pressed. Note that when actually editing a record you mark a stretch of text and then press F12 to transfer it to the history array.
Ctrl-F Forwards search When entering the string to be searched for you can press F5 which will force the programme to search through all open databases starting at the current one.
Ctrl-B Backwards search This command is similar to that activated by Ctrl-F that is it initiates a search for a user-specified string but in this case the search is carried out between the current cursor position and the beginning of the database.
Ctrl-Shift-B Next backward find To repeat a backward search without entering the search string again you use this key combination. It is the equivalent to Ctrl-N with a repeated forward search.
Ctrl-Q Close and Quit This command will close any open databases and exit to DOS without returning to the desktop.
Ctrl-R Right Begin Here you can specify where the display of database fields is to begin. The options are (i) in the first column (max. display of field data), (ii) after the names of the fields and (iii) after the name, type and size of a field.
Ctrl-Ins Position Column This option is similar to that in the text editor and allows you to position the cursor at a line which corresponds roughly to a position on the vertical column which appears on the left of the screen on pressing this key combination.
Ctrl-Shift-F5 Stuctural information This command is the same as that which is available on both the desktop and the directory listing levels. It displays all relevant information on the structure of the current database.
Ctrl-Shift-F9 View with document A document file (with the extension .DBD contains textual information linked to records of a database via two fields, one with the name of the document file and another with the number which acts as the pointer to the relevant section in the document file. With the present option you can view the current record and a text section associated with it. Note that you can only view text here, to edit the section of a document file use Ctrl-F11 from the full-screen editing level.
Ctrl-Tab Auto Return Normally when you export a record (or records) to the text editing level you remain there. With the current command the export task is carried out as with F8 (exports just the current record) but the option returns you automatically to the database editing level.
Note that the exported record is always positioned at the end of the current text in area 1.
Alt-Tilde Load File Manager Pressing the current key combination will cause the file manager Lexa File to be loaded. An automatic return to the database manager is made.
Alt-Y,Z Directory List This command will activate the Directory Lister so that you can view the contents of the current directory. From here you can undertake a number of steps (consult the picklist, activated by Shift-Tab for options). Press Escape to return to the Database Editing level.
Database or Text type codes When entering the markers for various types of formatting you can now choose between the codes specific to Database Text or those which are used by Lexa Text The correspondences are as follows.
The advantages of using the Lexa Text codes are obvious if you wish to process data exported from a database within the text editor later. Furthermore if you print directoly from the text editing level of Database Text then the Lexa Text codes can be converted to printer commands automatically if you use one of the supplied printer command files.
Enhancement to database filters It is now possible when building a filter for a database to include a test of whether a specified field in each record is empty or the reverse is not empty. This is done by pressing F5 when entering possible contents for the field in question. You will notice that a line at the bottom of the screen displays the message ‘F5 Field empty:’. Initially there will be a series of dashes after this which indicates that this test is not being applied. By pressing F5 you can toggle the test on (either positive or negative) or off. A request for a positive test will display "Yes" and one for a negative test will show "No".
Recall that you can store a filter condition to disk (with the extension .EXP) and re-load it via Ctrl-F6 later.
Note Find and replace operations are now activated via Ctrl-F2 alone. There are, however, a number of options which can be specified when entering the search and exchange strings.
Ctrl-Shift-0 Reassign a key In all 15 keys or key combinations can have the commands associated with them specified by the user. These keystrokes are all dispensable as they do not activate central functions with the exception of the SpaceBar A reassignment in only temporary and can be cancelled at any time, automatically restoring the original value of the key concerned. The window for determining how this is to function is activated by pressing Ctrl-Shift-0 Note that you can clear one or all reassignments via F4 and F5 respectively. To make a fresh one just move the highlight bar and press Return You then choose a command from a menu in the picklist system as if you were activating a command in the normal manner.
The set of reassignments can be save to disk by striking F10 The file created is always DBTXT.RDR (RDR = ‘redirection’) and is stored in the auxiliary file directory. When you open the reassignment window for the first time, Database Text attempts to read the relevant file and, if found, will make the necessary key adjustments. This means that it is not necessary to go through the whole procedure of specifying what keystrokes to redirect but you must open the reassignment window at least once to read the text file with the relevant information.
Key reassignments can be made on both the database and the text editing levels.
3.2 Text editing level
F11 Expand delimited line Assuming that the current line is a delimited text line (generated by transferring information from a record of a database) it can be expanded to a format where each line contains the information from one field of the source database. The lines are labelled FIELD 1,2,3, etc. as there is no way of knowing at this level what the names of the fields in the source actually were.
Alt-Space Line into Clipboard The database editors have a clipboard function on the text editing level which functions in precisely the same manner as does the corresponding function in Lexa Text With the present key combination the contents of the current line are copied into the next free position in the clipboard.
Ctrl-Space Look at Clipboard This option works exactly like the preceding one except that no copying from the current text is done.
Alt-Shift Font chart In order to facilitate easy access to the symbols of a user font (see the relevant sections of the update documentation) this option has been included on the text editing level of the database managers as well.
Alt-Tilde Extra font chart This keystroke enables you to access the second, extra font in the form of a table identical in layout to that for the first user font (see previous command).
Alt-Esc Font information This command is the same as that which is available in Lexa Text.
The commands for activating either the first or second user font are the same as in Lexa Text, namely Ctrl-Shift-F1 and Ctrl-Shift-F2 respectively.
Ctrl-Shift-G Goto page # Here the user can enter the number of the page he/she wishes to jump to assuming that the current text has more than one page.
Ctrl-\ Hold line # The number of the current line is stored with this option and when the Goto line function (Ctrl-Home) is activated this value will be the default one.
Ctrl-Dot Secure current line This is similar to the previous command and holds the number of the current line. If you press Ctrl-Shift-Dot then the line which is secured is also displayed in the ruler line afterwards.
Ctrl-R Goto to line Here the cursor is repositioned at the line secured with the previous command.
Ctrl-B Backwards search This command is similar to that activated by Ctrl-F that is it initiates a search for a user-specified string but in this case the search is carried out between the current cursor position and the beginning of the text.
Ctrl-Shift-B Next backward find To repeat a backward search without entering the search string again you use this key combination. It is the equivalent to Ctrl-N with a repeated forward search.
Ctrl-Shift-N Show line numbers This command is similar to the equivalent in Lexa Text and displays line numbering on the left of the screen. The numbering is sensitive to page breaks and is thus useful if entering record information as text pages (see block command F12 Pages > Records below).
Ctrl-Ins Position by Column Here the same function is offered which is also available on the database editing level (see above).
F12 Split screen This command simply halves the amount of the screen which is used for text display. Either the entire screen or the lower half shows text. This option is useful when the text editor has been activated from the database editing level (and not from the desktop) as you can see what record is current by halving the screen.
Ctrl-G Goto word list This option is the same as that available on the database editing level. Terminating with either Ctrl-F or Ctrl-Return will open the window for search string specification and automatically deposit the item from the word list.
Ctrl-F12 Get field block Any stretch of text which has been marked in a database field and stored can be retrieved on the text editing level with the present key combination.
Ctrl-F9 Names of databases With this option you can also copy the name of a database into the current text by moving the highlight bar and pressing return.
Ctrl-Shift-F9 Full file info This command is identical with available in Lexa Text.
Ctrl-A Order ASCII chart As in Lexa Text you are offered here a structured chart of symbols from which to choose one.
Customize colours This command allows one the greatest flexibility in determining the colours used in Database Text going far beyond the two standard sets, the default grey on blue and the alternative black on grey. The settings can be stored to disk via F10 and these can be used by specifying this at the end of an initialization file (see supplied examples). The file saved to disk is always called {DB_VGA}.INI.
3.3 Block processing
F3 Case conversion When you activate this command you must specify whether the text block is to be converted to Uppercase (1) or to Lowercase (2). There is a third option Partial Lower which will convert every alphanumeric character in the current block to lowercase, unless it is (i) the first letter in a line or (ii) preceded by a blank, tab, hyphen, period, comma or left bracket (. A shorthand for this command is Ctrl-L which executes the partial conversion to lowercase directly.
F5 Lines > Records The idea behind this option to allow you to transfer data on single lines of text into individual records of a database. The way it works is as follows. Each line of the current text block is examined to see if it is a delimited record (the first character of each line must be something other than an alphanumberic character, eg the broken vertical bar, |, favoured as a delimiter for database fields in delimited text). The programme now scans the entire line and transfers the information between two instances of the delimiter to a field in a new record which it appends to the current database. The result after the execution of the option is an increase in the number of records by the number of marked lines with the delimited textual information copied into the field array of the database records.
F6 Pages > Records The current option is similar to the preceding one but that here a single record occupies a single page with the contents of each field on a separate line. Database Text starts by examining the beginning of the text block. It transfers each blocked line to a field in a new record in the current database until the maximum number of fields or a page break is reached. If the end of the block has not been reached, a new record is added and the process of copying lines into fields is started once again. The operation is repeated as long as there are blocked lines.
In effect this option emulates the behaviour of the database facility Database Page which is contained in the Lexa suite.
To ensure that data you enter on separate lines is transferred correctly it is recommended that you turn on the Line Numbers option by pressing Ctrl-Shift-N.
Should you wish to have a mask for a record as a guide in the text editor then you go the database editing level choose the option Copy Record into Block The contents can be emptied into the text editor by pressing Shift-F10 You will now notice that the names of the fields of the database are enclosed in angular brackets so that you know what lines should be used for what later field contents. When exporting from text pages to records the names of the fields in brackets are ignored.
Alt-F10 Copy to repository Here you can transfer the stretch of text which is currently marked to the end of the repository file which is specified by means of the appropriate parameters in an initialisation file.
F12 Copy to history array The current option will copy the stretch of marked text to the next free element of the history array, or as much of this as will fit.
Ctrl-E Block exchange Here you can enter a string to find and one to substitute this with if found in the currently marked block.
Ctrl-Z Exchange codes This option is already available for the entire text and has now been included to cover only the section of a text which has been marked as a block.
Ctrl-N Get next find This keystroke is identical to that in Lexa Text and will cause the programme to search for the next string which is the same as the stretch of text currently marked.
3.4 Directory listing
Shift-UpArrow, DownArrow Mark files in list This option is available when you are choosing a database. Files can be marked in the same manner as in Lexa Text, by using either Shift-UpArrow or Shift-DownArrow the current file is marked (indicated by an asterisk and high video display). However, if the file is already marked then these keys strokes unmark the file again.
Shift-F12 Load group Assuming that you have marked at least one file when choosing a database, the current command will load all marked files (to a maximum of 16) into consecutive database editing areas. This commnand is thus identical to that in Lexa Text.
Shift-Tab Activate picklist There is now a small picklist on the directory level of DbTxt/Stat which can be opened with the usual key combination of the Lexa suite.
F12 Return to text Simply cancels the present operation and returns to the text in the currently active area (1-4).
Shift-F9, Backspace File type Displays the type of file (text, word processor, database or unknown binary file) in a pop-up window.
F5 Load file manager Loads Lexa File directly. An automatic return is made.
F2 Load database pattern matcher Executes a direct call to Lexa Database Pattern Matcher (LDBPAT.EXE). You are returned automatically to the database manager on terminating the pattern matcher.
F6,Tab Show database statistics This command offers the same information on a database which is available on the desktop with the relevant options.
SpaceBar View file For text files Text Look and for databases Database Look is loaded to display their contents with the current option.
F10 Show template This is the same as the command activated by Shift-F4.
Ctrl-F1 Shell down to DOS This command is now available on the Directory level.
Numeric Plus/Minus Load processing programme with current file
Ctrl-D Set date format Here you can choose one of three date types to use for the listing of files (American, British or German).
Ctrl-O Sorting order Files can be listed in ascending order of file names or date of last saving to disk. With the present option you can specify which kind of display is to be used.
4 Lexa File
Syntax: lf /d, /c /n
Expanded command syntax
/d Using this switch will cause the internal diary to be activated automatically with the screen for the current date displayed. On exiting the diary level, the file manager terminates automatically.
Note that you can specify in an initialisation file (item no. 30) what directory is to be used for depositing diary texts.
The diary function can be activated within Lexa File by pressing either Alt-F2 or Alt-A (for ‘appointments’).
/c This switch allows you to start Lexa File with the alternative set of colours used for display (black on grey).
/n This switch starts Lexa File and automatically loads the diary notes file, e.g. LDIARY.97X for the year 1997. The file can also be accessed from the diary level by pressing Alt-F12 When you begin Lexa File in this manner, the programme terminates automatically when you leave the text editing level.
Ctrl-Q Switch colours To switch between the two basic sets of colours you should use the present key combination. It functions in the same way as the corresponding command in Lexa Text.
Customize colours This command allows one the greatest flexibility in determining the colours used in Lexa File going far beyond the two standard sets, the default grey on blue and the alternative black on grey. The settings can be stored to disk via F10 and these can be used by specifying this at the end of an initialization file (see supplied examples). The file saved to disk is always called {LF_VGA}.INI.
Note that you can demand that the programme use customized colours by specifying the appropriate value for the last parameter in an initialization file for Lexa File.
Enhancements of diary and printing options The online diary within Lexa File has been been enhanced by a number of additional or refined options. To activate the diary press Alt-F2 or Ctrl-Z when on the file management level. The file in which diary information is stored now covers an entire year, e.g. LF_DIARY.97 would be the annual diary file for 1997 (there used be a separate file for each month). An overview for a week can be gained by pressing the SpaceBar and with the calendar option you can choose a new date by moving the highlighting to a fresh position.
The text editor can be activated by pressing Alt-F12 This causes a file with the same name as the diary file but the final letter X to be loaded. The file is for free text and is associated with a specific diary file via its name. If you have already called this file from the diary editing level then pressing Alt-Back will return to the file, otherwise it is loaded afresh from disk and changes in memory are lost. The best advice here is to save the text file every time you exit the text editing level. Note that when editing a text you can enter the current date by pressing Ctrl-F10 and the current time by striking Ctrl-F8.
It is possible to copy text from the editor block buffer to the current diary page by striking Shift-F10 and confirming the transfer. Note that when editing a page you can add italics, bold face type or underlining by pressing Alt-I, Alt-B and Alt-U respectively. These attributes will be realised on a laser printer automatically.
When printing the text of a diary you can specify various additional parameters such as line spacing, different fonts and importantly the orientation mode, i.e. portrait or landscape. In connection with this note that if you choose to print the entire text for a month - rather than just the text for the current day - then two days are printed sideways on each page, resulting in two texts of A5 size printed in landscape mode on an A4 page. You could then cuts the A4 pages in half and you have a print-out of your diary text for your filofax.
Note that the fonts which are available assume that your printed supports these internally. Failing this, you must load suitable fonts to your printer beforehand. The values for printer parameters can be specified in an initialisation file. The eight parameters in question are listed below. Note the possible values which can be used as ignoring these can lead to wrong effects on printing.
1) Which printer should be used? Key
Laser Beam 0
Dot Matrix 1
Standard 2
2) Which font should be used? Key
Courier 10 cpi 0
Courier 12 cpi 1
Courier 16.6 cpi 2
Times Rmn 10 Pt. 3
Times Rmn 12 Pt. 4
Helvetica 10 Pt. 5
Helvetica 12 Pt. 6
3) Size of left margin
Legal values: 1 through 12. Note that a value of 45 means 4.5 and of 55 means 5.5
Selective display of directory tree It is sometimes visually more effective to display only some levels of the directory tree of a disk. To show just the first level, you press Ctrl-1, to display the second you press Ctrl-2, for the third, you strike Ctrl-3 Ctrl-4 will show all levels.
Numbers of text files This is now set to 4. To select a text area, you press Alt-Return or the number 5 on the numeric keypad. You are presented with a window in which you choose an area. If a file is already loaded then this is shown here. To activate a text area directly you press one of the key Alt-1 through Alt-4 When you exit Lexa File and an altered text is in memory, you must decide whether to save it or not.
To set the symbol to be used for the mouse pointer, press Ctrl-0.
5 Lexa Dirs
Syntax: d /c, /o1,2 /d1,2,3
The altered syntax of Lexa Dirs is probably not of relevance to those users who call the programme directly from the DOS command line. But it is important for other programmes which avail of the directory manager from their file managing level. Thus in Lexa Text for instance, the type of display used will be reflected in Lexa Dirs by the programme being called with the necessary switches with appropriate values.
Ctrl-O Order for display This command specifies much as in Lexa Text whether files are displayed in an order which is determined by their file name (alphabetically) or by file date (the most recent files shown at the beginning of the display).
Ctrl-D Date format for sorted file display Here you can say what date format is used for the display of file dates in a directory listing. The options are American (MM/DD/YYYY), British (DD/MM/YYYY) or German (DD.MM.YYYY).
F5 Switch colours To switch between the two basic sets of colours you should use the present key combination. It functions in the same way as the corresponding command in Lexa Text.
Ctrl-F11, Backspace Load Lexa Find This is the same option as is available from the directory manager level of Lexa Text There is an essential difference, however. Here the finder is started with the branch parameter which means that only the files in the current directory and all its subdirectories are listed, something which is useful if you wish to create a file list for a section of the current drive, for instance, for use in Lexa Text.
F12 Pressing this key causes an immediate exit as with most of the other programmes.
Shift-Up/Down Arrow These key combinations will move the highlight bar in the tree graph without refreshing the display in the file window on the right.
6 Lexa Find
Alt-F2 Load Lexa File This command loads the file manager and makes an automatic return to Lexa Find on exiting.
F6 File information or directory tree In the file finder the right-hand portion of the screen normally displays a directory tree and the directory is highlighted in which the current file in the list on the left is to be found. You can now choose to have the complete information for the files of the list displayed rather than the directory tree. You toggle between the two display modes by pressing F6.
Shift-F6 Sort type The files in the list on the left can either be sorted alphabetically as a single list for the entire current drive or according to directory. In the latter case the files of each directory are sorted alphabetically and the resulting lists are chained to a single list displayed on the left of the screen.
F8 View current file This option will use the internal text or database viewer (depending on file type) to display the contents of the file currently highlighted in the list on the left of the screen.
Note The text viewer is essentially the same as Lexa View and the database viewer is essentially the same as Database Look.
Alt-F8 Run Lexa Dirs Here you cause the directory manager to be loaded. The advantage of this move is that it allows you to re-read the directory structure of a drive, something which might be necessary if you suspect that the tree structure offered by Lexa Find does not correspond to the directories on the current drive.
F10 Save list to file There are many situations in which you might want a list of all files on a drive or a section of one. By pressing F10 you enter into a dialogue in which you specify the name which is to be used for the resulting list file to be stored on disk (the default name is LFIND.OUT). You can choose to either create this file or append data to it if it already exists; to toggle the save mode, press F5 when entering the name on the input line of the dialogue box.
Start parameter /b To view only a branch of the current drive you start Lexa Find as follows: lfind /b This will ensure that only the files in the current directory and all its subdirectories are gathered into a list. This option is especially useful if you intend creating a text file which can be used to load a file from within Lexa Text (see the command Ctrl-Shift-F5 File from list above).
You can use the /b parameter in conjunction with a file template from the DOS line, for instance the call LFIND /B *.TXT is quite legal for Lexa Find.
Note that Lexa Find is always started with the branch parameter when loaded from Lexa Dirs via Ctrl-F11 or Backspace.
/v Start in VGA 50-line display mode.
Lexa Find can read any drive with a maximum of up to 600 directories and 10,000 files per drive.
Searching for contents An essential option in Lexa Find concerns searching for contents of files, either texts or databases. To make the maximum use of this option it is important to grasp how it functions. Note the following commands in this connection.
F3 Mark all files Mark all the files in the list on the left. Remember that Lexa Find only searches through those files which have been marked in advance. A marked file show a tick before its name.
Shift-F3 Unmark files Remove marking from all files.
Shift-UpArrow Mark file upwards Mark current file and move highlight up a file.
Shift-DownArrow Mark file downwards Mark current file and move highlight down up a file.
Ctrl-F4 Exclusion list Specifying a file template at this point will cause any files matching the template to be unmarked. The most sensible use of this option would presuppose that you have marked all files. For instance, if you wanted to search through all files on a disk (or branch of a disk) but not through any databases, then you would mark all files with F3 and then specify *.DBF with Ctrl-F4 to ensure that all databases in the current list are unmarked before starting a search.
Alt-Tab Text Search A search for a text string can be initiated via the current key combination. You enter the string in the input line and, if you like, force a case-sensitive search by pressing F3 To retrieve possible previous input, press F12 for History. Alternative keystroke: Ctrl-F.
Ctrl-Tab Database Search This command is essentially the same as the previous one with the difference that here only databases are searched through for user-specified contents. Note in this connection that after entering the string you must further specify when Only field 1 is to be combed through or All fields in each database. Alternative keystroke: Ctrl-D.
Before either type of search begins you are asked if files searched through should be displayed during the search and also if you wish to have the results written to an output file in which case you must specify the name for the output file (or just accept the default name LFIND.OUT).
Once a find has been made the search word is displayed in its context. If you now press Escape, the search is cancelled. Pressing F10 causes the current file to be close and the search continued. Any other key will make Lexa Find search for a possible further instance of the search string in the current file. If you strike F12 the search is also continued but without you being asked whether you wish to continue the search. After the search has been completed you are show the number of file finds and the total number of files combed through.
7 Database Delimited
Syntax: dbdel (file_name) /i-(ini-file) /b
F10 Save record to file This command will allow you to save the current record on screen to a text file. This has the name DB_FIND.001 by default. Furthermore you can either Append or Create the file. Appending has the advantage that if you want to save several records, then these are simply added on to the end of the file in question. You can toggle the file save mode with F4.
Ctrl-F1 Shell down to DOS By pressing this key combination you change to the DOS level temporarily and can return to Database Delimited by typing exit and pressing the Return key.
Ctrl-Q Switch colours Here the programme alternates between two sets of colours. The first is the default group where the background is blue and the foreground lightgray. With the second set the background is gray and the foreground black.
Scope of search When entering a search string you can specify additional parameters which determine the manner in which the search is carried out. These are the following.
Search through all files This option will force Database Delimited to search through all files which match the template specifies either on the directory list level or in an initialisation file.
Search through all subdirectories Here you can state whether you wish Database Delimited to comb through not just the current directory but all those below this as well. To search through an entire disk, change to the root directory.
Just gather statistics Normally Database Delimited stops at each find for a search string to allow the user to view the record in question. This can be suppressed by setting the present parameter to a positive value. The finds for a search string and the records in which it occurs along with some basic statistics of the search are written to an output text file.
Batch mode As with other programmes, Database Delimited can be run entirely from the command line in which case it starts, takes information from an initialisation file, carries out a search, writes the results to a text file and then terminates automatically.
Initialisation file By default Database Delimited searches for an initialisation file DBDEL.INI assuming the switch /i is entered on the DOS command line. If the name of an initialisation file is also entered (with a connecting dash between it and the initialisation switch) then parameter settings are gleaned from this initialisation file. Make sure to keep to the format required. There follows a sample initialisation file for Database Delimited which can be used as a guideline to designing one’s own.
;
; This is the initialization file for the programme DbDel. It is a
; normal ASCII text file which you can edit with any text editor (such
; as Kwik Text). Lines beginning with a semi-colon are comments and
; ignored. Be careful to keep strictly to the format of this file when
; altering its contents.
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 1: File extension for text files (SDF or Delimited). Note that you
; do not specify either an asterisk or a dot. Default: TXT
;
DTX
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 2: Name of database text file to load
;
ADDRESS.DTX
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 3: Search string to be found
;
Ireland
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 4: Search all matching text files in a directory?
;
yes
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 5: Search all directories below current one?
;
yes
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 6: Ignore case during search?
;
yes
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 7: Start search string match from first character of first field in
; database record (otherwise a match will return `true' if the string
; is found anywhere in a record)
;
no
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 8: Name for output file with finds from search
;
MY_FINDS.OUT
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 9: Mode for saving finds to text file; 0 = Append, 1 = Create text file
;
0
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 10: Use alternative colours (black lettering on white background)
;
yes
;
;---------------------------------------------------------------------------;
; 11: Use 50-line display (only available on VGA adapters)
;
no
;
; End of DbDel initialisation file
;
; _
8 Lexa Pat
With the pattern matcher of the Lexa suite you can now specify that the results of a search are to be deposited in the integrated text editor. This is done by choosing the option Specify Output Destination in the Disk Options menu and then selecting Use text editor in the window which appears. The results are deposited at the end of any text which might be in the text editing area. If this is not the case, Lexa Pat opens the default text file NONAME.$$$.
If you decide to send the results of a search to a disk file you may specify whether this file should be overwritten (if found in the current directory) or whether data should be appended to it. The latter option allows you to make several searches without confirming overwriting the output file each time or renaming the results of a previous search run.
9 Lexa Context
Within the current programme you now have a text editor at your disposal. This functions in precisely the same manner as the editing module in Lexa Pat. Furthermore you can demand that Lexa Context send the results of a search to the internal text editor rather than to a disk file. Thus the editor has a double function, as a general text editor and as a facility for examining the output of a retrieval run.
The editor can be activated on the desktop by selecting the last option, Internal Editor in the Services group. If no file has already been loaded into the text editing area then the directory lister is activated and you select a file to process. Assuming that you have done at least one search you can load the editor with the contents of the output by choosing the last option Switch to Text Editor in the first menu, Retrieval.
The text editing options are also available from the level at which you specify the parameters for a search. Note that here you can use either the picklist (activated by Shift-Tab) or dedicated key settings as follows.
Alt-T, Alt-F12 Activate text editor with new file
Alt-F5, Alt-Backspace (i) Examine output of last search in text editor
(ii) Simply return to a previous text in editor
The first option is general and requires no comment. The second, however, requires that the results of a search have been sent to the text editor (and not to a file). To specify this you toggle the output target with Alt-R, Results to editor Observe that if the text edtior is used as target then an arrow (=_) is displayed before this option. Turning this option off hides the arrow.
A word of warning about the text editor is called for here. When you exit the text editing level to either the desktop or the parameters level you are asked if the text should be saved before leaving. Consider this carefully as you may inadvertently lose a text in the editor later by starting a new text. In the latter case any text present in the editor is discarded automatically. If in doubt, the best advice is to save a text when exiting from the editing level.
10 Lexa Search
There have been two major additions to the string searching programme. The first concerns the directories which are searched through. An additional option called ‘Create Directory List’ allows you to specify manually what directories are to be examined during a search. The programme Directory List is loaded and you can mark directories as you wish (see description below). Assuming that you exit with F10 then Lexa Search will now use the list file generated for the ensuing search. This file contains the names of directories one per line without any further text as in the following example.
D:\LEXA\MY_DATA
D:\SRC\CL\PROBASE
D:\SRC\LINGUA
The second additional option in Lexa Search allows one to exclude certain files from a search. For instance it would make little sense to search through programmes, batch or initialization files when searching for a user string such as an author’s name.
To exclude files from a search, select the option ‘File Template’ and press Return On the penultimate there is a prompt to the effect that F5 will force Lexa Search to use an exclusion list file and that Shift-F5 will convey to it not to use such a file.
The exclusion list file should be called EXL_LIST.$$$. This file must have been created by the user beforehand (with the text editor). It is an ASCII file with a file template on each line not beginning with a semi-colon. Each non-comment line begins with an asterisk, followed by a period and the extension of the matching files to be excluded.
During a search Lexa Search will check to see if a file it finds matches any of the exclusion templates in EXL_LIST.$$$. If so it ignores the file and moves on to the next one. To see what an exclusion list file looks like, consider the following printout of the contents of the supplied version of EXL_LIST.$$$. ; Each line in this file consists of a template for those files ; which are not to be examined by Lexa Search. ; An exclusion line must begin with an asterisk followed by a period ; and an extension as in the examples below. ; *.EXE *.COM *.INI *.HLP *.BAT Note The directory list file is always called DIR_LIST.$$$ and the exclusion list file EXL_LIST.$$$. Both are expected to reside in the home directory of Lexa Search, ie NOT in the current data directory. If there are not there then an error message is issued.
11 Directory List
Syntax: dir_list
This programme is included to enable users to mark directories manually in the familiar tree form and store a list of these in a text file which can then be used by Lexa Search The file created is called DIR_LIST.$$$, as required by Lexa Search and is always overwritten automatically, ie you are not warned about this process so make sure that you never create a data file with the above name. In fact users should never create files with the extension .$$$ as this is used by many programmes for temporary files which serve an internal purpose.
The commands available in Directory List are indicated at the bottom of the screen. Note that you can mark directories by pressing Return or by using Shift-UpArrow or Shift-DownArrow (as in other programmes of the Lexa suite). To mark all directories press F5, to unmark all use F6 Pressing Escape aborts to DOS without a directory list file being created, for this exit with F10.
12 Today
Syntax: today
The purpose of the present programme is to create a text file and optionally a database whose name consists of the current date. This has the advantage that you can recognize by the name alone when a file was created.
Today works interactively and begins by asking if you want to create a text file and database or only the former. The next step is to specify the date format. Here there are two possibilities labelled for convenience’s sake European and American. The former will place the day before the month in the file name; the latter uses the reverse order.
Assuming that you wish to have both types of file generated the next step is to enter the name of a model database. This is necessary as the programme must know what type of structure it is to use for the new database to be generated. Note that there is a supplied database TODAY.DBF in the Lexa suite. You can of course specify your own database.
The next question concerns the text file to be created. This will have the default extension .DOC unless you now state that a different extension is to be used. Pressing Return at this point leads to the desired files being generated. A brief message about this is issued with the names of the files indicated. You now press any key to exit the programme.
For correct operation the computer system date must correspond to the actual current date.
13 Page Sort
Syntax: pagesort input_file output_file /c
Users may have noticed that in the programme Database Page you can sort a text file by page (and not by lines or words as with other programmes). However the need may arise to carry out a page sort from the DOS command line, typically in a batch file. The present programme will carry out this task. Note that for correct operation the following three items of information are necessary.
input_file File to be sorted by pages
output_file File resulting from sort operation
/c Carry out a case sensitive sort
14 Case Convert
Syntax: caseconv
This programme converts all words on all lines in an input file to lowercase or uppercase (depending on a parameter in the initialization file, see below) and writes the output to a separate file.
The virtue of the programme is that you can specify a number of words which are not to be affected by the conversion. These words are contained in a so-called stop word file which is also specified on the command line. Each stop words occupies one line of the stop word file so that the latter contains as many lines as there are stop words.
In addition note the following features of the programme: The first letter of a line is never converted. A word which comes after the following items of punctuation is not converted: .:;
Sample initialization file
;
; This is the initialization file for Case Convert. It is a normal ASCII text
; file which you can edit with Lexa Text itself or any other text editor.
; Note that the programme only reads information from those
; lines which do NOT begin with a semi-colon.
;
; You may enter "0" or "no" to reject and option; "1" or "yes" affirms it.
; Do not type the inverted commas.
;
; If you change any parameters then be very careful to keep
; to the pre-determined format as outlined in the comments below.
;
; 1: Name of input file for operation
;
FIELD.TXT
;
; 2: Name for output file after conversion
;
ALTERED.TXT
;
; 3: Name of stop word file (if necessary)
;
STOPWORD.LST
;
; 4: Type of conversion: 0 = to lowercase, 1 = to uppercase
;
0
;
; 5: Alter first character of line if required?
;
no
;
; 6: What punctuation items should Case Convert observe?
;
; Note: if you leave this line empty, then characters after punctuation
; items will be altered if necessary. If you do NOT specify items
; of punctuation then any characters after these (with possible
; intervening blanks) will not be examined for conversion.
; Max. number of characters: 10
;
.:
;
15 Screen Saver
Syntax: _scr_sav
In order to avoid unnecessary display on the monitor when nothing is being inputted from the keyboard a screen saver is often used which uses very low-level display and thus ultimately prolongs the life the monitor. The present programme is a simple screen saver which can be activated with the following programmes of the Lexa suite: Lexa Text, Lexa File, Database Text / Statistics Each of these programmes allows you to specify in the appropriate initialization file how long the time interval should be before the screen saver is triggered; the default value is 10 minutes. You can also use a screen saver of your own by entering the name of this programme at the relevant point in the initialization file.
By pressing any key you restore the screen to the state it was in before the saver was activated.
16 Stamp
Syntax: stamp FileSpec /d-01/01/90 /t-12:00
This programme fulfils a simple task. It sets the stamp of a file afresh. The stamp is the reference to the date and time at which a file was last saved to disk (for data files) or created (for programmes). This can be seen in a directory listing after the name and extension of a file.
What makes this part of a directory entry of interest to the user is that many programmes consult the date and time stamp to decide whether to include a file in a management operation such as moving, copying, deleting or not.
With Stamp you can enter a file template, FileSpec above, to specify what files are to obtain a new date and/or time stamp. Wild cards are allowed here.
A slash, dot or dash is a legal separator with the date but note that the month must precede the day and that the year must be specified with two digits. A dot or colon can separate hours and minutes with the time reference. A leading zero is necessary for any number under 10, e.g. 04. A dash is put between a switch and its value, i.e. /d03/01/90 would be incorrect.
Stamp does not check numeric ranges with either date or time, so care should be taken. You can specify just a date or just a time or both.
17 Miscellaneous notes
Windows Icon
There is a Windows Icon File LEXA.ICO now supplied with the Lexa suite. You can use this if you wish to install the suite as an option in the Program Manager within Windows.
Activating commands via the keyboard
Keyboards vary quite considerably and you may find to your dismay that some of the key settings of a few programmes cannot be activated on your computer. The simple solution to this is to use the supplied keyboard driver Lexa Keyboard by entering ‘lkeyb’ (without inverted commas) from the DOS commmand line. German users should enter ‘lkeyb 2’ for a German keyboard layout.
Manual installation
Should you have difficulties in installing the Lexa suite then you can do this manually. Log in drive C: on your computer, enter MD \LEXA and then CD \LEXA as the next command. After this place each diskette in drive A: and enter XCOPY A: C: /S and wait until the entire contents of each diskette (six in all) have been copied to the hard disk. You can check on whether this was successful by using Lexa File to examine the contents of directories both on hard disks and on diskettes.
18 Initialization files
Warning about using old initialization files Please heed the advice not to use old initialization files for any programme. Doing this will almost inevitably lead to the programme in question hanging or at the very least to an ungraceful exit. Instead adapt the new versions of the supplied initialization files to your own needs. The initialization files for the text editor and the database manager have been altered considerably so particular attention must be paid with these programmes.
Note that you can now add the name of a file to be loaded with the text editor and the database managers as well as specifying the name of an initialization file. This is done by entering /f- followed by the name of a file as indicated below.
ltext /i(-ini_file) /f-file_name
dbtxt /i(-ini_file) /f-file_name
dbstat /i(-ini_file) /f-file_name