Msg: 6098 *Conference*
10-25-95 22:05:26
From: RICHARD HANSON
To : ALL
Subj: WORDSTAR COMMANDS
Did you know that the Model 100 honors some of the WordStar cursor control commands? Do you know what they are, or why it's good to know them? Do you even know what WordStar is, for heaven sake?!!! WordStar was a very popular word processing program back in the late 70's through mid 80's. Back in the 70's, micro-computers lacked an abundance of professional-level programming, especially word processing. MircoPro, one of the many young software companies back then, brought WordStar to the marketplace and gained fame and fortune over night. WordStar's most famous claim to fame was that a typest did not have to lift their hands from the keyboard to accomplish their tasks. To support this claim, MicroPro built a number of features into WordStar requiring the CTRL key in combination with letter keys. Sure, I could give you a list of the CTRL keys used by the TEXT program on a Model "T" but I won't. In stead, I'll leave it to your devices to discover them ... it'll be a lot better this way ... but, I will give you a hint: Start with a .DO file with real, life content, so you'll have something to play with, then hold down on the CTRL key and start tapping letters. As you discover a trick, annotate it, then look for others. Now ... why is it a good idea to know about the WordStar cursor commands? Simple, somewhere along the line, your cursor control keys will give up the ghost. You will not be able to move the cursor in one or several directions. You will be quite frustrated ... unless you remember your WordStar cursor control keys. At which point, you will be very happy. Even today, while using many of the leading application programs, and using vaious online editors, including this one, you will note that the WordStar cursor control key sequences are there as well. Good luck and happy hunting. Be a star, learn WordStar. -Rick-