Getting the Most out of Writer

Icon Technology's Mike Glover reveals the hidden secrets of Writer, the word processor bundled with RISC OS 4

A version of this article is also available in Writer format. Use the icons to the right to access it.
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This article is designed to help you get the most out of Writer, the word processor designed for, and provided free with, RISC OS 4.

Writer is a cut down version of EasiWriter, which itself is derived from TechWriter; a program regarded by many of its users as the best word processor on any platform.

Although it won't let do all the things that EasiWriter can, such as hanging headings, multiple columns, automatic tables, numbered lists, read and write Microsoft Word files, etc., it can display even the most complex EasiWriter document.

Users of Writer can upgrade to EasiWriter or TechWriter (to create documents containing formulæ).

Writer can:

Writer tips

This article provides a number of tips about Writer, as well as plenty of other information. To move directly to a tip, click on one of the following links:

Click the following link to find out how to upgrade to EasierWriter at a substantial discount:

Document types

Writer is able to read the following types of document:

EasiWriter

Writer reads EasiWriter documents and saves in EasiWriter format. To open a document, double-click on its icon. If Writer is already loaded, you can also open a document by dragging its icon onto the Writer icon on the icon bar or you can drag an EasiWriter file into an already open document, where it will be inserted at the caret position.

Text files

Text files can be opened by dragging them onto the Writer icon on the icon bar or you can drag a text file into an already open document, where it will be inserted at the caret position.

1st Word Plus

Text can be extracted from 1st Word Plus documents in the same way as text files. Formatting information and graphics will be lost.

HTML

EasiWriter can read and write documents as HTML files (HyperText Markup Language).

Note: HTML is not a page description language; it is one column of continuous text with optional links to graphics. The page proportions and line breaks depend on the size of the monitor or window in which the page is viewed. If an HTML file is loaded into EasiWriter, it is formatted to fit within the page margins, which are likely to be different from how the same document is displayed by an HTML browser.

Note: some HTML tables may be longer than a page. Writer will truncate them. To see the entire table you may need to alter the size of the paper you are using (use Printer control on the Printer icon).

CSV files

Tip: Creating tables
CSV (Comma Separated Value) files are automatically converted into tables when dragged into a Writer document. If dragged onto the Writer icon on the icon bar, a new document is created containing a table.

For example, if you had a CSV file containing:

,"Perrier","Moët","Theakstons"
"Normal","61","11","11"
"Inebriated","18","52","20"
"Paralytic","6","10","55"
"Comatose","0","9","31"

when dragged into Writer it would automatically be converted to a table and would look like this:

Perrier Moët Theakstons
Normal 61 11 11
Inebriated 18 52 20
Paralytic 6 10 55
Comatose 0 9 31

If you were to select (by dragging) from 'Perrier' to '31' and click on the Centre alignment button  then you will get this effect:

Perrier Moët Theakstons
Normal 61 11 11
Inebriated 18 52 20
Paralytic 6 10 55
Comatose 0 9 31

This is not really part of the design of Writer, but is there as a result of the EasiWriter code. There is, however, a 'gotcha': because table creation is not really included in Writer, there is no way tell it you want to end the table and start a new paragraph after it. The trick is to create an empty paragraph or two (by pressing Return) and insert the CSV file above the last paragraph.

Here is the same table, formatted using EasiWriter's Borders command:

Perrier Moët Theakstons
Normal 61 11 11
Inebriated 18 52 20
Paralytic 6 10 55
Comatose 0 9 31

Parts of a Writer Window

The principal parts of a Writer window are shown below (click the picture to see it at full size):

Title bar

The Title bar contains a Back icon, a Close icon, the name of the document and a Toggle size icon. Document windows can be moved by dragging in the title bar.

Back icon
Click on the Back icon to make the window go to the 'back of the pile' of windows on your desktop.

Close icon
Click on the Close icon to close the window. If any changes have been made to the document that have not been saved, a dialogue box will appear asking whether you want to save your work before the window is closed.

Document name
The full pathname of the document is displayed in the title bar. An asterisk (*) to the right of the name indicates that changes have been made to the document since it was last saved. New documents are given the name 'Untitled', which you change when you first save the document.

Toggle size icon
Click on the Toggle size icon to expand the window. If the window is already expanded it will return to its former size and location and position within the window stack.

Tool bar: top row

The top row of the tool bar contains the Undo, Save, Print, Find, Information, Tab well, Ruler, Zoom and Clipboard buttons. The action of each of the button bar buttons is described below.

Tip: Getting more than one command from a button
The action of the buttons may vary depending on which of the three mouse buttons is clicked upon them. In general, Select is the 'safe' option leading to a dialogue. Menu opens the equivalent menu whilst Adjust is a short-cut that avoids dialogues.

Hiding/showing the tool bar
The tool bar can be hidden/shown using the Tool bar command in the View menu.

Undo
Select, Adjust respectively undo and redo the last command. The button is dimmed when there is nothing to undo.

Save
Select opens the Save dialogue. This is the same as choosing Document from the Save menu.

Adjust saves the document using its existing pathname without opening a dialogue. This is the same as choosing Save from the main Writer menu. If the document has never been saved, Adjust opens the Save dialogue.

Menu lets you choose between Save Document and Save Text.

Print
Select and Adjust open the Print dialogue. This is the same as choosing the Print command in the Misc menu.

The button is dimmed if no printer driver is loaded.

Find
Select opens the Find/Replace dialogue.

Adjust find the next occurrence of the current search text.

Menu lets you choose between Find, Find same and Find selection.

Info
Select and Adjust open the About this document dialogue, where you can see the number of words and characters in the document. This is the same as choosing Info... in the Misc menu.

Tabs
Left, Centre, Right and Decimal tabs are contained (in that order) in a Tab well. Tabs can be dragged onto the ruler and repositioned by dragging sideways. They can be removed by dragging them off the ruler.

Tip: Locking tabs to the minor divisions on the ruler
Hold down Shift when dragging tabs to constrain them to the minor divisions on the ruler.

Ruler
Select shows/hides the ruler.

Menu lets you change the scale between Inches, Millimetres and Centimetres.

Zoom out
Select halves the magnification of the document to a minimum of 10% of normal size.

Adjust doubles the magnification of the document to a maximum of 999% of normal size.

Scale button
Menu opens the Magnify menu.

Zoom in
Select doubles the magnification of the document to a maximum of 999% of normal size.

Adjust halves the magnification of the document to a minimum of 10% of normal size.

Cut
Select and Adjust remove the current selection from the document and copy it to the clipboard.

Copy
Select and Adjust copy the current selection to the clipboard.

Paste
Select and Adjust insert the contents of the clipboard at the caret.

Tool bar: bottom row

The bottom row of the tool bar contains the Font, Font size, Bold, Italic, Underline, Plain and Alignment buttons.

Font
Menu is the same as choosing Font from the Text menu.

Font size
Menu is the same as choosing Font size from the Text menu.

Bold
Menu emboldens the selected text by looking for a bold version of the current font. This has no visible effect if there is no bold version of the font. There will be an effect if the font is subsequently changed to one that does have a Bold/ExtraBold/Ultra/Heavy weight, however.

This is the same as choosing Bold from the Text menu.

Italic
Menu italicises the selected text by looking for an italic or oblique version of the current font. This has no visible effect if there is no italic version of the font. There will be an effect if the font is subsequently changed to one that does have Italic/Slant/Oblique face, however.

This is the same as choosing Italic from the Text menu.

Underline
Menu underlines the selected text or, if no text is selected, underline the text that is typed subsequently until either the caret is reset or Return is pressed.

This is the same as choosing Underline from the Text menu.

Plain
Menu removes all effects from the selected text, paragraph or picture. This is equivalent to choosing Plain from the Text menu.

Left align
Select aligns the text or picture with the left margin.

Menu displays the Align menu.

Centre align
Select centres the text or picture between the margins.

Menu displays the Align menu.

Right align
Select aligns the text or picture with the right margin.

Menu displays the Align menu.

Full justify
Select aligns the text or picture with both margins.

Menu displays the Align menu.

Adjust selects forced full justification.

Selecting

Before carrying out most editing tasks, a selection must be made. For example, if you want to change the typeface of some text, or make a copy of it, the text must first be selected.

Writer shows that something is selected by highlighting it.

Text

or

Adjusting a selection

Click or drag Adjust to extend or shorten a selection.

Words

Tip: Intelligent Drag & Drop, Cut & Paste and Delete
  1. If a word is selected by double-clicking it, Cut, Backspace and Delete automatically remove the spaces on either side as necessary, as does Drag and Drop. Similarly, if the word is inserted using Paste or Insert into another part of the document, the spaces are automatically added where required.
  2. Words selected by double-clicking will automatically have surplus spaces removed when you press Delete.

Paragraphs

Note: dragging across all the text in a paragraph does not select the paragraph. It is equivalent to a text selection covering the entire paragraph with the exception of the final Return character.

Page set up

The Page set up... command is used to choose the orientation of the paper (landscape or portrait), set the page margins and allocate space for optional headers and footers.

Landscape

To change the margins

Either:

or:

  1. Move the pointer over the margin you wish to move;
  2. Drag the margin to its new position.

To allocate space for headers and footers

Either:
  1. Click on the Header/footer option icon;
  2. Edit the values shown in the top and/or bottom writable icons;

or:

To change the paper margins

Writer uses the page size and graphics margins that have been set by the printer driver. Some printer drivers allow you to change the size and the margin settings. To change the size and margins:
  1. Click Menu over the printer driver icon on the icon bar and choose Edit paper sizes...
  2. The Paper size dialogue box will appear:

  3. Edit the Page type, Page height and Width and the Graphics margins.

The Text margins are not used by Writer.

Headers and footers

Tip: Headers and footers
These are special parts of a document which are repeated on each page. They can contain:

To insert them,

  1. allocate space for the header or footer (see above);
  2. type text, drag in a picture or choose Page number, Date or Time from the Edit>Insert menu;
  3. use tabs or the justification buttons to position the items.

EasiWriter

As a user of Writer you are entitled to upgrade to EasiWriter Professional or TechWriter Professional at a saving of around £60 off the normal price.

Here are some of EasiWriter's extra features:

Microsoft Word import and export

Invaluable for Acorn users who are obliged to use a PC at work, or for school pupils who may have access to a PC at home. Originally developed for the Network Computer (NC), EasiWriter Professional can read and write documents in Microsoft Word 6, 7, 8 (Office 97/98) and Office 2000 format. This includes fast-saved documents. In nearly all cases, document formats are identical.

This is a screen dump of a Microsoft Word 8 document on an Apple Macintosh This is the same document when opened in EasiWriter Professional on a Risc PC

RTF import and export

EasiWriter Professional can import RTF (Rich Text Format) and EasiWriter Pro+ can also write RTF.

Powerful spell checking

EasiWriter has built-in English spell-checking. With optional dictionaries it can spell-check in most other European languages as well.

Table editor

"Table creation is a dream; it's definitely the star turn."

Table creation has never been simpler. EasiWriter has a unique table editor that automatically adjusts the widths of columns as you type: no need to move tab stops.

Production of hog casings
(thousand metres)
  1985 1986
Jan-Mar Year Jan-Mar
Farm manufactured 67.2 255.0 65.0
Abattoir manufactured 92.0 290.3 84.0
Synthetic 98.5 1,127.1 193.5

You can insert or delete rows and columns, add borders and rules and allow items to span more than one column. If you edit the contents of a cell, EasiWriter adjusts the format automatically as you type. CSV (comma separated value) files created by other applications are automatically turned into tables when inserted into an EasiWriter document.

Automatic Lists

Creating lists in EasiWriter is as easy as choosing List from the Structure menu. EasiWriter does the rest, adjusting the ruler's margin markers and typing the optional (and user-definable) bullet character. Naturally there are list styles, so you can change this:

into this:

  1. Example of a bulleted list.
  2. When word-wrap takes place, EasiWriter aligns the left margin automatically.
  3. Lists can be numbered automatically.

with a single keystroke.

Automatic numbering

Lists, chapters, sections and sub-sections can be numbered automatically. Numbers can be normal, Roman, Dingbats or letters of the alphabet, and can include text, e.g. "Item ix".

'Legal' numbering allows the inheritance of numbers for hierarchical numbering such as:

1 Section

Index and table of contents generation

EasiWriter Professional can generate an index of words and phrases complete with page number. This can be saved as a text file or directly into the document.

The index is sorted and page numbers and alphabetic headings are added automatically.

A contents list can be generated from chapter, section and sub-section headings.

Pamphlet printing

A pamphlet printing option allows two pages to be printed side by side on a single sheet of paper. Folding the sheet of paper in half between the two pages creates a pamphlet, or a booklet if several pages are folded together.

Floating graphics (Pro+ version)

In-line graphics can now be moved to the left or right of a paragraph and the text will automatically flow around them.

This illustration show how three images have been incorporated into a single paragraph, two to the left and one to the right.

Impression import

EasiWriter can read files saved as Text with Styles from Impression. Formatting is preserved.

HTML

EasiWriter can not only read HTML but it can write it too. Documents can be split into smaller HTML pages, and will be linked automatically. A linked table of contents is generated automatically.

Upgrade prices

Writer to EasiWriter Pro: £60.00 inclusive of P&P and VAT
Writer to EasiWriter Pro+ £80.00 inclusive of P&P and VAT

For more details, visit our Web site at http://www.IconTechnology.net/.

Icon Technology Limited
Church House
Church Street
Carlby
Lincs
PE9 4NB

Tel./Fax 01778 590563