Hints on choosing word processing program

Press, 6 November 1984, Page 27

Hints on choosing word processing program

By

GARETH POWELL

One way of comparing' word processing programs is to make a long list of options available on as many different programs as possible to allow you to » make direct comparisons. While this system, has much to recommend it, it does not give a true picture of a word processing program’s strengths and' weaknesses. You get confused by all the bells and whistles that are available and miss out on the main point. If ydu already own a computer and a printer then the number of word pro-

cessing programs that will suit you are limited. Ascertaining whether a word processing program is designed for your computer is very easy. It will say so clearly on the package. If it does not, carry on the search elsewhere. Finding out whether the program will link with your printer is another matter altogether. Most printers are operated by a series of control characters sent from the computer. If your word processing program does not specifically state that it caters for your precise model of printer, do not take a salesperson’s word for it. Insist on a demonstration.

Confusion, chaos and havoc often result from trying to make one match the other because writing programs (called drivers) for printers isn’t a job for amateurs. No area of word processing programs is more fraught with difficulty; no other single feature creates so many problems. Once you have ascertained that a program will satisfy both your computer and printer, then the next step is to see whether it satisfies you.

If you cannot understand the documentation at least vaguely on first reading, then that word processing system is not for you. There is one possible exception to this, which is Word Star, probably the most widely used word processing program in the world. For this there is a whole library of independently published explanatory texts, which shows how inadequate the original documentation was.

The next step is to find out whether the commands you will have to use within the program to manipulate the text are logical. With some programs, pressing the control button and “U” at the same time, moves you up a line. Likewise control-D for down, control-L for left and, with splendid logic controi-R for right. These are easy enough to remember.

Watch out for convoluted sequences, like “.TB9OLS” which are not easy to remember and mean that you have to have a crib handy at all times. For these commands I have been using a new phrase — user-hateful. Ideally, a program should constantly save itself to disc as you go along. In the event of a power failure or your computer frying a few chips, you still have most of the document that you typed in. Sadly, only three word processing programs available for personal computers do that. Therefore, the rule is to save your copy to disc very frequently. It is vital then that the saving sequence should be so simple as to be automatic. With Zardax, which I am using at the moment, I press the Escape key and the letter “S” (for save) and the procedure is completed automatically. In fact, I have just done precisely that and setting the wheels in motion took less than one second. When you have finished typing in a slab of text, it will be, if you are as hamhanded as I am, full of mistakes. Good writing comes from rewriting and then rewriting again. I didn’t think of

that, Ernest Hemingway did. And the ability to rewrite copy until it approaches perfection is one of the major joys of word processing. Instead of rewriting the whole of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” three times in pencil, you write it once and edit it again and again. (There is of course no guarantee that your writing will not still be a selfconscious turgid dirge. Word processing programs have not yet advanced to thet stage). If a program will not allow you to edit easily, it loses a lot of its usefulness. For example, if you delete or insert a word, the text should all be shifted around automatically to expand or fill the gap. If this does not happen, then you will have to execute a second procedure to straighten out your text and this is a waste of time. Look for simplicity in all instructions above all else. Few of us think logically.' If we did, we would be computers. But after we have, at first, hammered all our thoughts down in a first quick draft, then it quickly becomes apparent that a different arrangement of paragraphs might be more felicitous. Check that your, program allows you to do this with ease. Finally, make sure that the program will work with an electronic dictionary. Again, don’t take the salesperson’s word for it — insist on a demonstration. And let no buffoon tell you that you will never need an electronic dictionary. You will, you most surely will. It may well be true that Will Shakespeare spelt his own name 23 different ways. But that sort of inaccuracy is no longer acceptable. Try it when signing your cheques if you don’t believe me’.