Conference 7.286::atarist

Here are some answers:-

        There are a few things I want to find out if 1st Word Plus does;
1. Multiple columns ?  ***NO****
2. Sizing and cropping of pictures ?  ****NO*****
3. Line drawing ability, such as boxes, circles ?  ***NO****
4. Does text flow around shapes other then rectangles, such a flowing 
   around a circle ?  ******NO*****
5. Type of pictures it imports ?  *.IMG
    6. Does it have keyboard equivalence to it's mouse/menu commands ?
    ***YES***
7. How is it as a word processor ? O.K. BUT VERY SLOOOOOOOWWWWW!
        
        I have considered Word Up but is does not appear to:
1. Do more then 2 columns.
2. Draw lines, boxes, circles from withing the program.

Thanks in advance
Bill

    

    It sounds to me that you may be happy with Publishing Partner which
    is now called PageStream Jr. and is available for about $60. It
    does not, however, do text flow around objects.

    HELP!!
    
    Rather than open a new note, I thought I'd use this one.  I don't
    know if this is the right thing to do?
    
    Anyway, I have 2 questions:
    
    1.  I use 1st Word Plus, and for some unaccountable reason it has
    	started form feeding an entire blank form after printing a job.
    	I assume the form feed is at the end of a job and not at the
    	end of each page (I've only been printing out single pages
    	recently).  It didn't do this until the last few days.  How do I 
    	fix it?  I had a look at modifying the printer driver, but there
    	doesn't seem to be a default formfeed parameter to modify.
    
    2.	Where can I get a printer driver that Degelite can use?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Theo

    
    I have helped a friend set up his word-plus.  I might be able to help. 
    What is the name of the printer?
    
    Joe

    Thanks Joe, 
    
    It's an NEC P6.
    
    Theo

    I've just bought 1st Word Plus v3.15, and discovered my HP Deskjet
    is not a standard printer in the printer list (contrary to what
    the shop told me.)
    
    Any of you guys have any hints on how to set it up for the Deskjet?
    
    Thanks in advance.

    Hi, 
    
    The Deskjet may or may not be standard, but it is good! As to a printer
    driver for FirstWord+, try USENET --sources/volume2 1stjet.
    
    You may also want to get USENET -- binaries/volume5 djreset to overcome
    another ST problem (ooopps! feature)..
    
    I believe that the driver will be a .HEX file, and so will need to be
    installed by 1st Words INSTALL.PRG - but it does allow you to muck
    around with it... If you have any probs, I have a deskjet .PRN file.
    
    Good luck! Dave.
    

    Thanks Dave.
    
    How do I access usenet?
    
    Ken

To access USENET check out the CLO::VNEWS notes file.  To access the files
that Dave mentioned (files that were posted to USENET at one time), see
note 9.112.


	Ray

    	I use 1stW+ fairly frequently, but I have never been able to print
    graphics for some reason. I can import and display them OK, but
    printing has never worked. 	I know that the .IMG file has to reside in
    the correct folder, and I have checked the Printer Driver (standard
    Epson compat). No difference.
    
    	I have the feeling that this has something to do with my Mega-2 (UK
    TOS 1.02), since friends have no problems with 1040's, etc.
    I have a mono monitor and 3rd Coast h/disk. 
    
    Mega-2 owners speak up !
    
    Jim Burke

    I guess it has to be a printer-config-problem.
    Have you compared the graphic commands in the .HEX file with the infos
    in your printer handbook ?
    

    I've been trying to set up an address label print using 1st WORD PLUS
    and 1st Mail. I followed the instructions in Appendix A of 1st Mail
    which claims to enable printing labels 9 lines long. The merge works
    fine.
    
    My problem is that I can't get it to print any more than the first
    label (or first 2, using 2 columns) on any one page.
    
    My config is 1040 with HP Deskjet.
    
    Any suggestion how I can get a full page of labels?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Ken

    Only thing that springs immediately to mind is: Have you got a REPEAT
    instruction in your merge file.
    
    After doing a READ and printing the first merge, the REPEAT is needed
    to make it loop back and do it again. Without a REPEAT, you would get
    only one pass through the merge - sounds like your problem.
    
    Good luck,
    Ian.

    Thanks for your comments, Ian.
    
    Yes, I do have a repeat command - I can print the whole list on
    multiple pages, but only using the top labels.
    
    What page length should I use, and should I have a page break in the
    control document?
    
    (Currently I have, as spec'd in the manual, page length of 9, and hard
    page break at line 9 in the control document.)
    
    Regards,
    
    Ken

    Ahhh, I misunderstood the problem.
    
    I take it that it prints the first label OK then does a page-throw
    thinking it has a regular 11" page size, skipping over 5 or 6 labels
    and then prints the next address on the first label on the next
    physical page.
    
    Hmmm! Here are a few more thoughts that may help.
    
    If 1st Mail thinks each page is 9 lines long then once it's printed 9
    (i.e. after printing the first label)  it will send a form-feed to the
    printer. If your printer believes its pages are 11" long (66 lines)
    then it will do exactly as described above.
    
    If you put a form-feed in the control file, that will do exactly the
    same thing as long as your printer believes its pages are 11" apart.
    
    On continuous label stationary, the labels are usually equally spaced,
    even across the physical page perforation. This means that if you set
    up your control file to print the right number of lines on each label
    (including blank lines to fill the gap between labels) you can
    effectively ignore page-throws. Set 1st Mail up to have infinite length
    pages (not sure about this) or set it to have a page length exactly
    equal to the number of lines that will fit on a page of your labels.
    
    e.g.: Line #
	   1	+---------------+	So, each label can be said to be
    	   2	|		|	5 lines long. Set up the control
    	   3	|		|	file to print as follows:
    	   4 	|		|
    	   5	+---------------+
	   6	+---------------+	blank line
    	   7	|		|	name
    	   8	|		|	address
    	   9	|		|	county
    	  10	+---------------+	blank line
    
    Then it will automatically place each name and address onto the label
    without any page-throws. If the page is 60 lines long there will be 12
    labels per page and printing will continue across the page boundaries.
    
    The tricky bit will be if the gap between labels at the page
    perforation is bigger than normal. Then you'd have to work out how to
    get 1st Mail to put in a form-feed at the right point by juggling
    with the page length parameter.
    
    Sorry if this states the obvious but I hope it helps. Let me know if it
    still doesn't work and I have a play with mine at home.
    
    Good luck
    Ian.
    

    another question about printing:

    Has someone set up a .HEX-file to use with the LA75?
    Just thought to ask before sitting down and doing my own. Yes, I know,
    I cannot do graphics, but it should be possible to do most of the text
    attributes (bold, underlined, super/sub-script, draft, NLQ etc)

    Thanks

    ---markus---

    Does anyone know of a converter from 1st Word Plus into any IBM PC
    clone compatible word processor? 
    Any popular ones like MS Word, Wordstar, WordPerfect, ... for MSDOS or
    the Mac will do, or even DEC WPS PLUS or WPS/Plus/VMS. A converter
    running on MS DOS would be best.
    
    Is my understanding correct that the diskettes have to be formatted on
    an IBM PC, or that I can use DCFORMAT or IBMFMT.ARC to format them on
    the ATARI? if so, where could I find a current copy of these? (various
    locations posted in this conference seem to have become obsolete...)
    
    I am not familiar with ATARI myself, but am trying to find out this
    information for my father, who has written a whole book using 1st Word,
    and found out now that the publisher no longer accepts Atari format.
    
    		Thanks in advance,		Beatrice
    

    re .17
    
    I suggest your father picks up Marcel wordprocessor (ftp-able from
    atari.archive.umich.edu in directory /pub/atari/Applications/Wordproc/
    as marcel22.lzh (note the capitals in the dirnames) This wordprocessor
    will happily read 1st-word and rtf format files. It will also export
    them in either firstword or rtf format so it is ideal for transferring
    files between e.g. MS-Word en 1st-word. 
    If you prefer Wordperfect, there is a converter from and to WP 5.1 for
    DOS available from Robert Best (I think his e-mail was [email protected], but
    I am not sure) This converter is very good and will keep almost any
    formatting you have (no pictures though). It will cost about $15
    though.
    
    On the subject of floppy formatting:
    Indeed, DCFormat and IBMFMT or similar will format a DOS compatible
    disk. But if you have a more recent TOS version (starting as of version
    1.4) these kind of things are not necessary, since the Atari will then
    format IBM compatible disks straight from the box.
    
    If your father is looking for a wordprocessor to replace his 1st word
    plus, version 4.0 is now available for about $50, which offers very
    much improved spellchecking, scalable vector fonts and support for more
    file formats (like RTF) and many other improvements. Try to get a demo
    from Compo software.
    
    Good luck,
    
    Erlend.
    

re .17

1st Word Plus is capable of saving its files as ASCII text (ie. turn off WP
mode) - this could then be imported into most other Word Processors.

The disadvantage with this method is that you tend to lose underlines, bold, in
fact the only output you get is pure ASCII text.

It might prove to be the cheapest method available to you.

Tony

    Using ASCII is not a good solution I think. I would have to second the
    recommendation to use Marcel. This word processor used to be a
    commercial package. It is now available as shareware so you can get it
    and use it without paying up front. I have used it to import a 1st Word
    Plus document and then export the document as an RTF (Rich Text Format)
    document. I then brought my disk into work (formatted with DC Format's
    dos format option) and read it on a PC. I used Ami PRO to import the
    RTF document and all of the formatting, bold, underlines, etc. were in
    place very nicely! No information was lost in this process aside from
    perhaps the font names.
    
    If you need a copy of Marcel I may be able to help.
    
    Dan

    This is fantastic! Thanks a lot, I will try to pick up a copy of
    Marcel. You are right, ASCII would be a last resort fall-back, but
    would represent a lot of work.
    I don't believe he has a recent version of TOS, as he bought his machine 
    around 1987, and has not have the need to upgrade, so he'll probably have 
    to use one of the formatting packages. He might be interested in the new 
    V4.0 1st Word, though.
    				Thanks again,		Beatrice