ZX Software - ZX Spectrum Text Processors and WORD-PRO

ZX Software

1. Text Processors

Text processors make it possible to enter and edit text comfortably. You can save the edited text to tape and load it into the program later. But preparing text this way does not accomplish much by itself: you still need some way to display it. There is little point in writing text only to look at it on a television or monitor. If you have typed a longer text, you have surely done so for a purpose (writing a letter, a report, and so on). So the text should either be displayed on a monitor—for example, to present information—or printed on paper.

If you intend to use a program of this kind seriously, you will also need a printer. It could be an ordinary ZX PRINTER (for the Spectrum), or any other printer with a suitable interface.

A text-processing program is useful mainly when working with a larger amount of text, but it can also be used successfully for business correspondence and letter writing.

In any case, it should be as easy to use as possible, allow the character set to be redefined, provide simple controls, and so on. The ZX Spectrum was not designed for processing large amounts of data. If you are not yet familiar with the main weaknesses of your beloved computer, here they are in brief. Its keyboard is poor quality and therefore unsuitable for typing long texts. The designers did not provide a good external data-storage unit either. Connecting an I-1 and a microdrive improves matters, but it still is not an ideal solution. If you plan to use your computer to process larger amounts of data, it is advisable—if you have not done so already—to buy some expansions as well.

First and foremost, that means a good keyboard. INES TREND or another product can serve quite well. It will cost more if you also buy a FLOPY-DISK and its interface, but it is worth it. Those handy with a soldering iron can build such an interface themselves.

Excellent designs can be found in domestic magazines (M.M., Računari and S.K.), although mostly in older issues. All that remains is to get a suitable FLOPY-DISK. If you decide to buy a DISCIPLE interface with a FLOPIDISKO, it is a sound investment. Memory is also limited, but do not despair: software producers did not share these concerns.

By making the most of the computer's capabilities, several programs of this kind were created. In the early days, back in '82, they were BASIC programs with modest capabilities.

Later, more powerful and better programs appeared (TASWORD I-III, THE WRITER, THE QUILL). Here we will cover two programs from the early period and two from later years.

They are:

1. WORD-PRO (C.P. MARINER '82)
2. WORD PROCESSOR (MICROL '82)
3. TASWORD I-III (TASWORD '83-'85)
4. THE WRITER (SOFTTECHICS '86)

2. WORD-PRO

WORD-PRO (C.P. MARINER '82)

One of the first programs of this kind. It is written in BASIC and is about 3.5 KB long. Compared with today's programs, it has no particular advantages. Since it appeared only a few months after the computer itself, it set the direction in which later programs developed.

The text you enter is handled page by page. Whenever the main menu is on screen, it also shows the length of the text in pages. The screen displays the message:

FILE SIZE xx PAGES (where xx is the number of pages entered)

The main menu has these options:

1. LOAD FILE
   Loads text from tape that was previously saved using option 2. First, enter the name under which the text was saved. It will then be loaded, and the main menu will reappear. Make sure there is no text already in the program: the file is loaded over the text in memory, destroying it, so only the text just loaded from tape will remain.

2. SAVE FILE
   First enter the name under which you want to save the text. When saving is complete, you return to the main menu.

3. CHANGE PAGE
   This lets you browse the text. Since the program handles text page by page, use this option to choose which page to display on screen.

4. PRINT OUT
   After choosing this option, enter the number of the page you want to print. When asked REMOVE SPACES (Y/N), answer Y if you want the printed text to be formatted, or N if you want the blank spaces (SPACE) inserted during editing to be removed from the printout. Printing is done on a ZX PRINTER or on a printer that uses the LPRINT BAFER. It starts at address 23296 and is 255 bytes long.

5. CLEAR A PAGE
   Enter the page number. That page will be erased, and you will return to the main menu.

6. CLEAR ALL
   Enter the number of pages in use (the number you have filled in), and all the text will be erased. You will then return to the main menu.

7. USE RESET OFF KEYBOARD
   This option lets you specify a portion of text or a character that will move with the cursor (the marked position).

8. RETURN TO TEXT
   Lets you continue writing the text you started, or begin entering a new text.

Supplement prepared by:

Brada Jožef
Bajmočka 18
24220 Čantavir

Press A to repeat; press B to continue. Fig. 1, Fig. 2. D1 D2 R2 R1 C2 C1 AK. LOADING ZX REVIJA.