Copyright: Copyright © 1998-2000 Ability Plus Software (UK) Ltd.


What is Write?
Write

Write is the Ability word-processing application. With word-processing, you can type a document, then revise it until it reads and looks just the way you want. Using Write, you can create and edit documents, correspondence, business reports, and other printed materials, including:

•	Inter-office memos

•	Sales promotional material

•	Annual reports

•	Advertising copy

•	Business letters

•	Book manuscripts

Additionally, you can include spreadsheets, charts and drawings in any document you create with Write.

Getting started, see:

Starting Write

Parts of the Write window

Creating a document


Starting Write

To start Write, follow these steps:

1.	Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar

2.	Select Programs

3.	Select Ability Office

4.	Select Ability Write

Write will open with a new document ready for typing.

See also:

Parts of the Write window

Creating a document


Parts of the Write window

The following sections tell you about the different parts of the Write window and how to work with them. These include the toolbars, the horizontal ruler, the vertical ruler, the status bar, and the workspace.

See:

The toolbars

The horizontal ruler

The vertical ruler

The status bar

The workspace


The toolbars

Across the top of the window are the toolbars. The toolbars contain buttons and drop-down lists that enable you to format and manipulate the text quickly and easily, without needing to open the menus.

There are several different toolbars, each grouping buttons and controls of similar function. Here are three of the most common toolbars in Write:

The standard toolbar is common to all applications and contains basic file opening, closing, saving, printing, editing, searching and zoom functions:

The format toolbar contains text styling options for fonts and paragraphs, and also and allows you to define border and background styles for paragraphs:

You can always get help on what each button does by moving the mouse pointer over it - a yellow box, or tooltip, containing a brief description is displayed.

Note: If you cannot see a particular toolbar, open the View menu and click on the Toolbars command - make a selection from the list of toolbars. The screen will be redrawn and the toolbar shown.

See also:

Other parts of the Write window


The horizontal ruler

Across the top of the window is the horizontal ruler.

This ruler shows the margin settings and tab stops which are in use.

You can change the size of the left and right hand margins directly from this ruler:

1.	Place the pointer over the left or right border that separates the grey and white portions of the ruler - a double-headed horizontal arrow is displayed.

2.	Drag this to set a new margin.

The right and left margins are set separately.

You can also set paragraph and tab settings directly from this ruler. See Paragraph indents and Tab stops.

Note: You can choose not to display the horizontal ruler. To do this, use the Ruler Bars option from the View menu.

See also:

The vertical ruler

Other parts of the Write window


The vertical ruler

	Down the left side of the Write screen is the vertical ruler. You can change the size of the top and bottom margins directly from this ruler: 1. Place the pointer over the top or bottom border that separates the grey and white portions of the ruler - a double-headed vertical arrow is displayed. 2. Drag this to set a new margin. The top and bottom margins are set separately. Note: You can choose not to display the vertical ruler. To do this, use the Ruler Bars option from the View menu.
See also:

The horizontal ruler

Other parts of the Write window


The workspace

The area in which you work on a Write document is called the workspace.

You can think of this as a piece of paper that is ready to write or draw on.

See also:

Other parts of the Write window


The status bar

The status bar in Write gives you some very useful information about where you are in the document:

In the above example, the status bar tell us:

•	The cursor is on page 6 of a 9-page document.

•	The cursor is on line 12 and there are 12 lines in total on page 6.

•	The cursor is at the 28th character column on the line and there are 48 characters in total on the line.

•	Write is in Insert mode. Press the Insert key to change to Overwrite mode. When Write is in Insert mode, anything you type will be inserted at the cursor position. In Overwrite mode, anything you type will replace whatever is at the cursor position. Press the Insert key again to change back to Insert mode.

•	“Modified” tells us that the active document has been changed and the changes have not been saved. If the active document has not been changed, or if any changes have been saved, this message changes to “Saved”.

Note: When you highlight a menu command, Write describes the command on the left side of the status bar.

See also:

Other parts of the Write window


Moving around a document

To move around a Write document, you will usually locate where you want the cursor to go by using the mouse and clicking. You can also use the scroll bars at the right and bottom of the screen to see more of the document.

However, you can also move the cursor with the cursor movement keys, and there are times when this can be quicker. The following table shows all the ways you can move the cursor.

Key	Description
Arrow keys	The arrow keys move the cursor one character at a time in the direction of the arrow (up, down, left, or right).
ctrl + · & ctrl +	Hold down the ctrl key and press the left arrow key to move to the left a word at a time. Hold down ctrl and press the right arrow key to move to the right a word at a time.
home & end	The home key moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line; the end key moves it to the end of the current line.
page up	Moves the cursor up one whole screen at a time.
page down	Moves the cursor down one whole screen at a time.
ctrl + page up & ctrl + page down	Hold down the ctrl key and press the page up key to move to the top of the previous page; hold down ctrl and press the page down key to move to the top of the next page.
ctrl + home &  ctrl + end	Hold down the ctrl key and press the home key to move the cursor to the beginning of the document; hold down ctrl and press the end key to move to the end of the document.
As you move around a document, the page, line and column information displayed on the status bar changes.

See:

Status bar


Creating a document

When you start Write, a new document is automatically opened for you to begin working. From within Write, there are two different ways of creating a new document:

•	Click on the New button [image] on the toolbar. This creates a new document, based on the Normal template. See Using templates for more details on document templates.

•	Select the New command from the File menu. Ability will display a list of templates – choose the one you want and click on OK (you would anyway usually choose the Normal template).

See:

Typing text

Selecting text

Editing text

Word count


Typing text

In a new or existing document, a flashing cursor shows the current location. When you start typing, text will appear at the cursor and you will notice that the cursor moves to show the current location.

You do not need to press the Enter key at the end of a line of typing: Write automatically wraps the text round onto the next line when there is no more room on the current line.

You can use the ← (backspace) key to erase typing mistakes.

To start a new paragraph, press Enter.

When the page is full, you will automatically be taken to the top of the next page. You can also choose to start a new page at any point - select the Page Break command from the Insert menu, or press ctrl+enter.

You can use the Tab key to move the cursor to the next tab position as shown on the ruler. After pressing the Tab key, the next piece of text you enter will be aligned to the left, right or center, according to the alignment setting of the tab (see Changing tab settings).

You can modify existing text by placing the cursor at the point where you want to begin typing. The new text will either replace that text character by character or be inserted into it. This depends on whether you are in Insert mode or Overwrite mode (see Status bar for more details).

It is wise to get into the habit of saving your work regularly. As with all Ability programs, you do this by clicking the Save button [image] on the toolbar or selecting the Save command from the File menu.

See also:

Selecting text

Editing text


Selecting text

You need to select portions of text if you want to change font, cut, copy or move the text, or apply.

To select text use one of the following techniques:

•	Select any text - hold down the mouse button and dragging the cursor over the text to highlight it. You can do the same thing with the keyboard by holding down the shift key and moving the cursor with arrow keys to highlight text.

•	Select a line of text - move the mouse pointer to the left of a paragraph (i.e. into the left hand margin) until the pointer changes to a right-facing arrow. Click once to highlight a line.

•	Select a paragraph of text - move the mouse pointer to the left of a paragraph (i.e. into the left hand margin) until the pointer changes to a right-facing arrow. Double click.

•	Select an entire document - use the Select All command from the Edit menu.

Note: You can extend a highlighted area by holding down the shift key, pointing at the new position with the mouse, and then clicking.

See also:

Editing text

Styling text


Editing text

The first step in editing text is to select it (see Selecting text).

You can then:

•	Copy, move or delete (see Moving, copying and deleting text)

•	Apply text formatting (see Formatting text)

If you change your mind after editing or formatting the text, you can click the Undo button [image] or select the Undo command from the Edit menu.

This command enables you to undo as many actions as you like, e.g. you can reverse your last few editing or formatting actions and further.

If you change your mind again, you can reverse the undo by clicking the Redo button [image] or selecting the Redo command from the Edit menu.

If you want to perform several undos or redos at the same time, click on the arrow buttons next to the Undo and Redo buttons. In the "Undo" and "Redo" dialogs click on the action up to which you want to undo or redo: all the actions listed in the dialog that are placed before the action you click on will also be undone or redone.

See also:

Typing text

Formatting text


Word count

You can count the number of words, characters and pages in a Write document. To ascertain the number of words in your document select Word Count from the Tools menu. Among other information the number of pages, words and characters are shown.

The same information, plus additional statistics relating to editing time and number of document revisions, is available by selecting Properties from the File menu (see Document summary information and statistics).


Formatting text

To format text, first select it (as explained in Selecting text) and then use the format toolbar (see Toolbars) across the top of the Write window to set the font, style and size of the selected text:

Click on the arrow to the right of the font name box to display a list of available fonts, and then choose the one you want:	Font name box
Click on the arrow to the right of the font size box to choose a font size:	Font size box
Finally, you can apply a limited range of styling to the text directly from the toolbar.

Click on the Bold button [image] to make the text bold.

Click on the Italic button [image] to italicise the text.

Click on the Underline button [image] to underline the text.

Click on the Strikethrough button [image] to draw a line through the text.

Click on the Font Color button to color text with the currently selected color (to change the selected color click on the arrow and choose a color from the drop-down menu).

The changes you make are applied to the selected text right away.

You can also format text using the options under the Format menu.

See also:

Formatting text using the menus

Character styles

Formatting paragraphs


Formatting text using the menus

As an alternative to formatting text using the toolbars (see Formatting text), you can use the menus instead.

First, select the text (see Selecting text), and then select the Font command from the Format menu or right-click and select the Font option. On the Font page of the “Text Property” dialog:

•	Use the Font box to select the type of font.

•	Use the Font style box to choose from Regular (i.e. no styling), Italic, Bold and Bold Italic.

•	Use the Size box to select the font size.

•	Use the Effects group box to choose from Strikeout, Underline, Superscript and Subscript.

•	Use Apply to field to choose whether to apply the chosen effects to any fields in the selected area.

•	Use the Color box to choose from the list of available colors.

The options chosen are displayed in the Sample box. This enables you to get some idea of the effect before actually applying it to the document, and therefore allows you to experiment without committing yourself.

Once you are satisfied, click on the OK button and the formats will be applied to the selected text.

You can store frequently used combinations of font and font styles by defining a character style (see Creating new styles).


Changing case

You can change the case of text (i.e. choose whether it is to appear as capitals, small letters or as a mixture of the two) without having to re-type it. To do this, select the text and select the Change Case command from the Format menu. The “Change Case” dialog appears.

There are five options:

Sentence case	starts each sentence with an uppercase letter, while all other words start with lowercase letters
lowercase	changes all letters in the selected text to lowercase
UPPERCASE	changes all letters in the selected text to uppercase
Title Case	capitalizes the first letter of each word
tOGGLE cASE	changes uppercase letters to lowercase, and vice versa
Select the option you require and click on the OK button to implement it.


Symbols

Sometimes you will want to use symbols that are not found on the standard keyboard. Windows comes supplied with a wide range of these, such as the copyright symbols and the registered trademark symbol, Greek characters and various mathematical symbols.

To insert a symbol, position the cursor at the point where you want the symbol, and then select the Symbol command from the Insert menu. The “Character Map” dialog is displayed.

Select the symbol font in the Font box - “Symbol” and “Wingdings” are two common ones that provide a good selection of symbols. The character map will change to show the symbols in that font.

Click on a symbol to magnify it and double-click to insert it into the Characters to copy box. Multiple symbols can be inserted in this way or by using the Select button. Click the Copy button to insert the symbols into the document.

Note: You can apply all the usual formatting commands to these inserted symbols. Symbols are inserted in the document as text. If you later change the font of selected text that contains inserted symbols, the symbols will take on the new font just like any other text.


Formatting paragraphs

Paragraphs can be formatted in the same way as any other text: you can select font, size, bold, italic, etc. (see Formatting text for more details).

Paragraphs have additional properties that you can control:

•	Alignment - left, center, right, justified (see Paragraph alignment)

•	Indentation - how far the paragraph is indented from the left and right margin (see Paragraph indents)

•	Tab stops – where the tab stops are placed and the type of tab stop (see Tab stops)

•	Borders and backgrounds (see Borders and backgrounds)

•	Line spacing - single, double, custom, before and after spacing (see Line spacing)

Note: To style more than one paragraph at once, just select all the relevant paragraphs.


Paragraph alignment

The format toolbar (see Toolbars) allows you to align selected paragraphs, as follows:

Click on the Left Align button [image] to align the paragraph to the left.

Click on the Right Align button [image] to align the paragraph to the right.

Click on the Center button [image] to center the paragraph between the margins.

Click on the Justify button [image] to justify the paragraph (which alters the spacing between the words so that straight left and right margins are created).

See also:

Paragraph formatting using the menus

Paragraph indents

Tab stops


Paragraph indents

Use the horizontal ruler (see Horizontal ruler) to set the amount of extra indent from the left and right margins that you require for your paragraphs.

To change the indentation of the paragraph, click on one of the indent markers and drag it to a new position. The top left marker sets the first line indent and the bottom left marker sets the indent for the rest of the lines. The right-hand marker sets the right indent. The paragraph is redrawn when you release the mouse after setting each indent.

Note: You cannot set paragraph indents outside of the overall page margin settings.

See also:

Paragraph alignment

Page set-up

Formatting paragraphs


Tab stops

You can position tabs and set their alignment directly from the horizontal ruler (see Horizontal ruler). There are three ways in which tabs can be positioned:

•	Click on a tab stop and drag it to a new location.

•	Press shift, click on a tab and drag it to a new location (continuing to press shift). All the other tab stops will move relative to the moved tab.

•	Press ctrl and click on a tab. As you drag the tab to a new location, intermediate tab positions are erased.

To set the alignment of a tab, click on it with the right-hand mouse button. Keep clicking to toggle through these values:

 Left align - text at this tab stop will be displayed to the left

 Right align - text at this tab stop will be displayed to the right

 Center align - text at this tab stop will be centered on the tab

 Decimal align - numbers at this tab stop will be centered on the decimal point

See also:

Formatting paragraphs


Line spacing

To adjust line spacing, select the Paragraph command from the Format menu.

In the Spacing group box, you can specify the amount of vertical space allowed for each line of text. From the Step drop down-list, choose between, Single, 1.5, Double, 2.5 and Custom.

By default, Ability uses single line spacing, which works by examining the largest font on the line and setting the line height to approximately 120% of the font’s height. Double spacing uses 240% and so on. You can set your own line spacing by typing a value in the Custom box or clicking on the arrow to scroll through the values.

The Before and After boxes allow you to specify the spacing at the beginning and end of a paragraph respectively. This is useful in conjunction with styles when creating long documents, as you can specify the exact spacing before and after headings and sub-headings.

See also:

Formatting paragraphs

Paragraph formatting using the menus


Paragraph formatting using the menus

You can make minute changes to the paragraph margins and indentation by selecting the Paragraph command from the Format menu or double-clicking on a paragraph indent marker from the ruler. The “Paragraph” dialog is displayed.

In the Margins group box, you can set exact measurements for the Left paragraph margin, the Right paragraph margin, and the first line Indent. These work on top of the page settings. So, if the work area has a left page margin of two inches and you set a paragraph margin of an inch, the text will actually begin three inches from the left of the piece of paper.

In the Alignment box, you can set the alignment of the paragraph, choosing one of Left, Right, Center and Justified.

Click on the Tabs button to modify the tab stops for the paragraph (see Changing tab settings).

Choose the line spacing option (see Line spacing) in the Spacing group box.

When all is set, click on the OK button. The horizontal ruler (if it is displayed) will be redrawn with the new marker locations on it.

See also:

Formatting paragraphs


Changing tab settings

To change tab settings for a paragraph, select Tabs from the Format menu or double-click a tab stop on the ruler to display the “Tabs” dialog.

To enter a new tab location, type a value in the entry box at the top left of the dialog, then choose one of the four styles of tab stop:

Left - text is inserted to the right of the tab position

Right - text is inserted to the left of the tab position

Center - text is inserted equally to the left and right of the tab position

Decimal - text is inserted so that the decimal point lines up with the tab position

Click on Set to set the new tab.

To erase a tab stop, click on it in the list of tabs on the left of the dialog and then click on the Remove button. Click on the Remove All to clear all the tab settings.

To reset all the tabs, enter a value for the tab spacing in the Step box (in the Auto Ordering group box) and click on the Reorder button. All the tabs are replaced with new settings following the Step value you have chosen.

See also:

Tab stops using the ruler

Formatting paragraphs


Borders_and_backgrounds
Borders and backgrounds

Borders and backgrounds are applied at the paragraph level - you can put a border around one or more paragraphs but not individual sentences within paragraphs.

Borders and backgrounds are set with the borders buttons on the right of the Format toolbar (see Toolbars) or in the Borders and Shading box from the Format menu.

Select the text you wish to put a border around and use the border buttons as follows:

	Set the border Line Style for subsequent borders. If you want to change an existing border, set the style and re-apply the border edges by removing and then reinstating them (as outlined below).
	Set the background Shade Style. Choose from a range of options between Clear and Solid. By default, the background is Clear and white - this can be changed in the borders dialog (see Using the borders dialog). In conjunction with the Shade Style you can determine the color of the shading by selecting one of the options in Fore Color, bearing in mind that no color can be set for a clear background.
	Turn on or off the left, right, bottom and top border lines using Change border style. Select one of these by clicking on the arrow and selecting it in the displayed box. The currently selected line style will be applied to the selected border.
	Turn all borders on, using Change border style.
	Turn all borders off (that is, remove borders), again using Change border style.

In addition to the above border styles there are others that can be set only in the Borders and Shading dialog, including the option to change border colors other than the standard black and the ability to specify an offset between the border and text - see Using the borders dialog.

See also:

Formatting paragraphs


Using the borders dialog

Select Borders and Shading from the Format menu to view the borders dialog.

You can use this as an alternative to using the borders toolbar (see Borders and backgrounds) - there are some extra settings that can only be set here as well.

Choose whether to border the selected text on the Left, Right, Top or Bottom, or to apply a full border using the All checkbox. Click on the appropriate checkbox to apply the border; click on any selected checkbox to remove the border. To remove all borders at once, click on None.

You can also choose the Line style and Border Color for the border, and the type of Shading you want within the border. Click on the arrows attached to these boxes to see the range of options and then select the required option. The color and line style will be applied when the border is applied. The shading will be applied as soon as it is selected.

The “Border” dialog has a couple of features that can't be implemented using the border buttons:

The Offset box allows you to increase or decrease the distance between the border and the text.

The Shading group box enables you to choose the colors to be used in a particular shading style. First select a shading style in Style, and then the background and foreground colors in Back Color and Fore Color respectively. If style is set to solid, back color will have no effect and if style is clear, fore color has no effect. Anything in between will display a mixture of the two colors.

See also:

Formatting paragraphs


Moving, copying and deleting text

Moving, copying and deleting text is very easy to do, as is explained in the following sections.

See:

Moving text

Copying text

Deleting text


Moving text

The easiest way to move text is by drag and drop: select the text you want to move (see Selecting text), place the mouse over the selection, left-click and drag the text to a new location.

Alternatively, select the text, right-click and select Cut from the displayed menu (or click on the Cut button [image] on the toolbar). The text will disappear from the document. You cannot see this, but it has been placed in a Windows feature called the clipboard.

To put the text back into the document (or into another document), click where you want the removed text to go (the cursor indicates where the text is to start).

Right-click and select Paste from the displayed menu (or click on the Paste button [image] on the toolbar). The text will be “pasted” into the document.

Note: The cut text stays in the clipboard until you put something else in there, allowing you to paste it into documents as many times as you like until it is replaced.

See also:

Copying text

Deleting text


Copying text

The easiest way to copy text is by drag and drop: select the text you want to copy (see Selecting text), place the mouse over the selection, left-click as you depress the Ctrl key on the keyboard, and drag the text to a new location.

Alternatively, select the text, right-click and then select Copy from the displayed menu (or click on the Copy button [image] on the toolbar). The text stays where it is and a copy is put into the clipboard.

To put a copy of the text into the document (or into another document), click where you want the copy to go (the cursor indicates where the text is to start). Right-click and select Paste (or click the Paste button [image] on the toolbar). The text will be “pasted” into the document.

See also:

Moving text

Deleting text


Deleting text

To remove text, first select it (see Selecting text) and then right-click and select Cut (or click on the Cut button [image] on the toolbar). The text will disappear from the document. The text is now in the clipboard, so is available for pasting if you want to do so, but since you do not have to paste it anywhere it has effectively been deleted.

Alternatively, select the text and then:

•	overtype with something else

•	press the del key or select Delete from the Edit menu

•	press the ← (backspace) key

See also:

Copying text

Moving text


Finding and replacing text

You can use Write to change a word or phrase anywhere in a document. You can change all occurrences of a particular word or phrase in a single “search and replace” operation.

For example, if you have written a report on a company called Jeans Limited, and realize later that it is called Genes Limited, you can quickly search for every occurrence of Jeans and replace it with Genes.

See:

Finding text

Replacing text


Finding text

To find a word or phrase, follow these steps:

1.	Click on the Find button [image] on the toolbar or select the Find command from the Edit menu. The “Find” dialog is displayed, in which you can find all instances of a piece of text, for example, the words “blue sky”.

2.	In the Find What box, type the text you wish to find.

3.	In the Direction box, choose where you would like to look for the text:

•	All searches the whole document

•	Up searches from the cursor to the beginning of the document

•	Down searches from the cursor to the end of the document

4.	In the Matching box:

•	Select the Match Case option to find only those occurrences that have the combination of uppercase and lowercase letters specified in the Find What box.

•	Select the Match Whole Words Only option to find occurrences that are words by themselves, and not part of a larger word e.g. searching for “foot” will not find “football”.

5.	In the Style box, you can choose to search for text in a particular font style. Click on the arrow next to Style, and then choose a style from the list e.g. searching for “eucalyptus” in the Normal style will ignore any examples of this word that are, say, in italics.

6.	When everything is set, click on the Find Next button, and Write will find the next occurrence of the word or phrase. Click on Find Next again until there are no more matches. A message will tell then tell you that the search has been unsuccessful.

7.	Once you have exited the "Find" dialog, you can continue to search for the same text string without having to enter the “Find” dialog. Ability remembers the last text string searched for in Find, so to continue your search just select Find Next from the Edit menu.

See also:

Replacing text


Replacing text

To find and replace text, follow these steps:

1.	Click on the Replace button [image] on the toolbar or select the Replace command from the Edit menu. The “Replace” dialog is displayed. This is very similar to the “Find” dialog (see Finding text) and allows you to determine how text will be matched and the direction of search. However, there are some additional features specific to Replace.

2.	In the Replace With box, type the text or phrase you wish to replace the found text with (or you can paste it in from the clipboard if it has been previously copied). There is also the option to set the style of the replacement text in the Style box.

3.	When all is set, click on the Replace button to find the next occurrence of the find text. Click on Replace again to replace the found text and move on to the next occurrence of the find text, and so on till you reach the end of the document or no longer wish to proceed. Alternatively, click on the Replace All button to replace all occurrences in the document of the find text with the replace text. If no matching text is found for replacing, a message is displayed saying that the search was unsuccessful.

4.	While in the "Replace" dialog you can also choose to search for text without replacing. Click on Find Next to do this and ignore any text that may have been placed in the Replace With box. If you find text using the Replace button and you decide that you don’t want to replace a particular occurrence of the text, then just use Find Text. Switch back to Replace when you are ready to replace some text.

See also:

Finding text


Go to

You can go to a specific place in a document. To do this, follow these steps:

1.	Select the Go To command from the Edit menu. The “Go To” dialog is displayed.

2.	In the Go to group box, you can choose to go to a page, a field, or an object. To go to the next page, field or object from the current location, leave the Number box empty and click on the Next button. To go to the previous page, field or object, again leave the Number box empty and click on Previous.

3.	You can go to a specific page, field or object by entering a number in the Number box (or using the scroll arrow at the side of this box). For example, to go to page 4 of a document, click on Page in the Go to group box and enter 4 in the Page Number box. The Go To button is displayed; click on it to go to page 4.

4.	To move relative to the current location, enter + and - in the Number box. For example, click on Page in the Go to group box and enter +4 in the Page Number box. Click on the Go To button to move forward four pages from the present location.

Note:	Ability goes to a field or object according to its position in the document. For example, if you tell Go To to move to the third field in a document, it will search for the third field from the top of the document, not the third field inserted.


Spell checker and thesaurus

Ability incorporates a spell checker to check the spelling of a document and a thesaurus to suggest synonyms. In addition, you can add words to a user-defined dictionary.

See:

Checking the spelling

Using the thesaurus

User defined dictionary


Checking the spelling

Click the Spell button [image] to begin checking the spelling of the active document (including any text in headers and footers). Alternatively, select the Spelling command from the Tools menu.

Note:	To limit the spell check, select the text you want to check first.

When the spell-checker comes across a word it does not recognize, the “Spelling” dialog box is displayed.

The unrecognized word is shown in the Suggestion for box, and the reason for the query (e.g. word not found, or word doubled) is given next to it.

The closest replacement (if any can be found) is given in the Change To box. To accept this suggestion, click on the Change button.

To see other suggestions, click on the Suggest button (which will be grayed out if there are no other suggestions). To choose one of these other suggestions, click on it and then on the Change button.

To delete the word from the document (for instance, if it is a doubled word), delete the text from the Change To box and click on the Change button.

There are several other buttons you can use:

•	Ignore - ignores the highlighted word

•	Ignore All - ignores all occurrences of the same word

•	Change All - changes all occurrences of the same word

•	Add - adds the highlighted word to your personal dictionary - see User defined dictionary for more details.

If you don’t begin the spelling check at the beginning of the document, Write checks all the way to the end and then asks if you want to check the spelling from the beginning. Click on the OK button to continue checking, or on the Cancel button to end the check.


User-defined dictionary

The spell-checker has a main dictionary with many common words, and can remember new words in a personal dictionary, so that special words such as acronyms, abbreviations and specialist terminology can be stored and used to extend the main dictionary.

During a spell check, when you select the Add button, the current word is entered into your own personalized dictionary. All subsequent occurrences of the word will be treated as if the word were part of the standard dictionary.

By default, all the words are added in a document called user.lex. You can select alternative personal dictionaries to use instead - see Spell-checker and thesaurus options.

You can edit the user dictionary by opening it with Write. Select the Open command from the File menu and pick the dictionary from the file list. You may need to select Other Files (*.*) from the List Files Of Type drop-down list to be able to do this. Remove or edit any words and select the Save command from the File menu to finish editing your dictionary.

See also:

Checking the spelling


Using the thesaurus

For any word in your Write document, you can select, from a list of words, one which has the same meaning but is perhaps more appropriate to the context of the document. These words are called synonyms.

From any list of synonyms, you can select any of the words and enter another area of the thesaurus to explore all the synonyms for that word. You can explore as many areas of the thesaurus as you like, and at any time you can select an appropriate synonym to replace your original word.

To use the thesaurus, highlight the word whose synonym you wish to find, and then select the Thesaurus command from the Tools menu. The “Thesaurus” dialog box is displayed.

In the Looked Up box is the word you originally selected. Its broad meaning is given beneath in the Meanings box; of course, a word might have several meanings, in which case they will be listed here, together with their parts of speech.

Note:	If the word you have looked up is not in the thesaurus, the title of the Looked Up box is changed to Not Found.

Contained in the Replace With box is the synonym that Write has chosen as being closest in meaning to the original word. Any further synonyms are listed beneath in the Synonyms box. Click on one of these synonyms to place it in the Replace With box. Double-click on a synonym to place it in the Looked Up box (and then click on the Look Up button to display its synonyms).

When you have put the synonym you require into the Replace With box, click on the Replace button.

Click on the Previous button to step back through the contents of the Looked Up box.


Columns

You can think of a plain document as a single column of text stretching the width of the page: when a line of text reaches the right border of the page it "wraps" around onto the next line, before eventually moving to the next page.

When working with two or more columns, the text wraps to the next column and only wraps to the next line at the end of the last column. Otherwise, all the text and paragraph formatting remains the same.

You can apply create up to six columns for individual paragraphs or for the entire document - see Creating columns.

Columns are, by default, of equal width. You can set the width of all the columns, and all the inter-column gaps, in one go or else have unequal column widths - see Formatting columns.

To see how to remove and split columns and how columns can be used in conjunction with frames, see Working with columns.


Creating columns

To create columns, follow these steps:

1.	Select the text you want to put into columns. To turn the entire document into columns, use the Select All command from the Edit menu. If no text is selected, only the current paragraph will be turned into columns.

2.	Click the Columns button [image] or select the Columns command from the Format menu.

3.	Set the number of columns (up to a maximum of six) and click OK.

Your document will be redrawn showing the columns. You can now edit the text as normal.

See also:

Formatting columns

Working with columns


Formatting columns

Click the Columns button [image] or select the Columns command from the Format menu to display the “Columns” dialog:

1.	Use the Number of Columns box to increase or decrease the number of columns: the minimum is 1 (equivalent to removing previously set column formatting), the maximum 6.

2.	Make sure the Equal Columns checkbox is switched on if you want the columns to be of equal width (the default setting). If they are equal, any changes to the column widths or column gaps will apply to all columns; if not, you'll need to select each column in turn in the Col # box.

3.	Use the Width box to set the column width(s) according to the Equal Columns setting. i.e. if it is checked the column widths will change together, if not you should scroll through the Col # box and set the width for each column in turn. Note that increasing the width will decrease the column spacing.

4.	Use the Spacing box to change the spacing between the columns according to the Equal Columns setting i.e. for all the columns at once if switched on, otherwise scroll through the Col # box and set the spacing for each column in turn. Note that increasing the spacing will decrease the column width.

5.	Use the Line between box to display a vertical line between the columns. Uncheck it if you want the columns to be displayed without lines.

Note that you can also use the horizontal ruler to set column widths and spacing in the same way you can use it to adjust margins (see The horizontal ruler).

See also:

Creating columns

Working with columns


Working with columns

When you type into columns, Write attempts to keep the number of lines in each column equal. The text in one column shifts across to the adjacent column as more text is added.

This will continue until you select an area not formatted as columns or else issue the Column Break command from the Insert menu.

A Column Break can do two things:

1.	If the command is issued with the cursor in the middle of the column text, a blank line will be inserted and the result will be two separated column areas. You can then enter text in the blank line and this will continue in a single column (i.e. as in a standard page).

This process can be reversed, simply by deleting the blank line. The two column areas will be joined together again.

2.	If the command is issued with the cursor at the end of the column text, Write will drop out of column format and allow you to continue your document in a single column.

To return text back to a single column:

1.	Select the text.

2.	Click the Columns button [image] or select Columns command from the Format menu.

3.	Set the Number of columns box at 1.

You can insert a frame and position it to sit across two columns. The text flows around the frame in both columns - this is a page layout style frequently used in newspapers. See: Frames and Callouts for more details on using frames.

See also:

Creating columns

Formatting columns


Frames and callouts

A frame is like a mini page that sits on top of your standard page. This mini page can be positioned and sized anywhere on the standard page. The text within it can be formatted in the same way as normal text and can also contain pictures or objects. This makes frames ideal for tasks such as creating newsletters.

You can click anywhere in a frame to make it active so that the text within it is editable. Click anywhere on the standard page outside of the frame to return to the body text.

A callout is a frame that points to some other area on your page. This is ideal for creating annotations. A callout has all the properties of a frame, combined with a range of line styles to do the actual pointing.

See also:

Creating a frame

Creating a callout

Modifying a frame

Modifying a callout

Deleting frames and callouts


Creating frames

You can create a new frame for text to be entered, or turn existing text into a frame.

To create a blank frame:

1.	Select the Frame command from the Insert menu. The mouse pointer will change to a +.

2.	Click anywhere over the document to insert a default-sized frame or click-and-drag the pointer to define the size.

To turn existing text or graphics into a frame:

1.	Select the text or graphics you want in the frame.

2.	Select the Frame command from the Insert menu.

You can change the position and size of the frame, and also alter other frame properties.

See:

Modifying frames


Creating callouts

To create a callout:

1.	Select the Callout command from the Insert menu. The mouse pointer will change to a +.

2.	Move the mouse pointer over the position you want the callout to point to, click, and drag the mouse to the position where you want the callout text to appear. Alternatively, click anywhere over the document to insert a default callout.

You are now ready to enter the callout text.

You can change the position, size and appearance of a callout.

See:

Modifying callouts


Modifying frames

When working with frames, there are five aspects you need to control:

•	size of the frame – see Sizing frames

•	position of the frame – see Positioning frames

•	text flow around the frame – see Text flow around frames

•	text offset within the frame – see Setting the text offset to frames

•	Contents of the frame

The last of these is an easy matter – it's the same as editing text on the standard page. Also, note that you can exchange text between the frame and the page (or other frames) by using drag and drop – see Moving text for more details.


Sizing frames

There are two ways you can modify the size of a frame:

Sizing the frame directly, using the mouse

1.	Click in a frame to make it active - so that the frame edges are visible.

2.	Click anywhere on the border of the frame so that the eight resize boxes appear.

3.	Click on any resize box and drag the frame to the new shape.

Sizing a frame using the frame dialog

More control is available in the frames dialog, where you can set the height and width exactly or set them to be automatic.

1.	Click in a frame to make it active.

2.	Right-click and select the Frames command from the shortcut menu (or select the Frames and Callouts command from the Format menu).

3.	Width - since the Width Type is set at Exactly, set the width you want in the Width box.

4.	Height - choose from:

•	Auto. The frame will grow and shrink vertically to match the amount of text within the frame. With this setting the dimension in the Height box is ignored.

•	At Least. The frame will grow vertically to match the amount of text but will not shrink if the text is reduced. You can optionally enter a value in the Height box - note this cannot be set to less than the current value.

•	Exactly. The height is fixed at the dimension you enter in the Height box.

See also:

Positioning frames

Setting the text offset to frames

Text flow around frames


Positioning frames

There are two ways to position a frame:

Moving a frame with the mouse

1.	Click in a frame to make it active, so that the frame edges are visible.

2.	Click on the frame edge so that the eight resize boxes appear on the frame.

3.	Click anywhere on the frame edge, apart from the resize boxes, and drag the frame to a new location.

Note that you can drop the frame outside the margins.

Using the frames dialog

As well as being able to position a frame anywhere on the page, you can use the “Frames” page of the “Properties” dialog to set the position of a frame relative to the page, margin, column or current paragraph.

1.	Click in a frame to make it active.

2.	Right-click and select the Frames command from the shortcut menu (or select the Frames and Callouts command from the Format menu).

3.	Horizontal. Set the distance in the Position box and then specify what you want the position to be relative to in the Relative To box (that is, the distance from the left edge of the frame):

•	Page - the distance is measured from the left edge of the paper.

•	Margin - the distance is measured from the left margin. If the margins are changed, the frame will automatically adjust its position to match.

•	Column - the distance between the current column and the frame. If the column is changed, the frame will automatically adjust its position to match.

4.	Vertical. Set the distance in the Position box and then specify what you want the position to be relative to in the Relative To box (that is, the distance from the top edge of the frame:

•	Page - the distance is measured from the top edge of the paper.

•	Margin - the distance is measured from the top margin. If the margins are changed, the frame will automatically adjust its position to match.

•	Paragraph - the distance is measured from the start of the current paragraph. Use this setting if you want the frame to flow with the text.

See also:

Sizing frames

Setting the text offset to frames

Text flow around frames


Setting the text offset to frames

The distance between each edge of the frame and the text within it is governed by vertical and horizontal offsets. To set this:

1.	Click in a frame to make it active.

2.	Right-click and select the Frames command from the shortcut menu (or select the Frames and Callouts command from the Format menu).

3.	Set the horizontal offset in the horizontal Distance From Text box. A setting of zero will display the frame contents horizontally flush with the body text. The default setting is 3.6mm.

4.	Set the vertical offset in the vertical Distance From Text box. A setting of zero will display the frame contents vertically flush with the body text. The default setting is 1.8mm.

See also:

Sizing frames

Positioning frames

Text flow around frames


Text flow around frames

When you insert a frame into a page, the text on the page moves aside to create space for the frame - in other words it flows around the frame. This is the default behavior for frames. There are two other options, which you can set as follows:

1.	Click in a frame to make it active.

2.	Right-click and select the Frames command from the shortcut menu (or select the Frames and Callouts command from the Format menu).

3.	In the Text Wrapping group box, choose from:

•	None - flow of the body text stops at the top of the frame and continues at the bottom.

•	Around - the default setting. Body text wraps around the frame.

•	Transparent - body text flows under the frame and the frame itself is transparent.

See also:

Sizing frames

Positioning frames

Setting the text offset to frames


Modifying callouts

A callout shares many of its properties with frames (which is not surprising, given that a callout is a frame with a line). See Modifying frames for more details.

To modify the properties that only apply to a callout, follow these steps:

1.	Click in a callout to make it active.

2.	Right-click and select the Frames command from the shortcut menu (or select the Frames and Callouts command from the Format menu).

3.	Select the Callout tab in the dialog and set any of the following:

•	Attachment - the callout line can join the frame at the nearest Corner or at the nearest Middle of a side. Select None to convert the callout into a plain frame.

•	Arrowhead - modify the appearance of the arrowhead. The default is to display no arrowhead, that is, the callout will be a plain line. Select an arrowhead Style to turn the line into an arrow and determine the arrow’s direction. The width and the length of the arrowhead itself can be set using the Width and Length drop-downs respectively.

•	Line - set the thickness and style of the line using the Line Style drop-down and the color of the line, which includes the color of the arrowhead, with the Color drop-down.

4.	The results are displayed in the Preview box. Click on OK when you are ready.


Deleting frames and callouts

Delete a frame or callout as follows:

1.	Click in the frame or callout to make it active.

2.	Right-click and select the Frames command from the shortcut menu (or select Frames and Callouts from the Format menu).

3.	Click on the Delete button at the bottom of the “Frame” page in the “Properties” dialog.

4.	The dialog is closed and the frame or callout is deleted.


Footnotes

Footnotes allow you to annotate your text. They are used in the same way as in a normal printed book, with superscript numbers appearing next to points in the main body of the text that need explanation or require a reference, and the explanation or reference appearing at the bottom of the page next to the appropriate matching number.

Write makes it easy for you to insert a footnote number field wherever you need one. A corresponding footnote field is automatically inserted at the bottom of the page for you to type the relevant footnote text.

To insert a footnote you should follow these steps:

1.	Position the cursor at the place in your text where you want the footnote number field to go.

2.	Select Footnote from the Insert menu. The “Footnote” dialog is displayed.

3.	Select a number (or letter) format in the Number Format box i.e. 1, i, A, a.

4.	In the Numbering box you can choose appropriate sequencing for the footnote fields.

•	The default is Continuous. Footnote numbering is sequential in increasing order, that is each footnote you insert is given a number one along from the previous footnote. Note though that if you insert a new footnote in between the previously inserted footnotes then numbering of the footnotes as a whole is adjusted to maintain the sequential order.

•	Restart on each page works in the same way as Continuous, except that the numbering starts at 1 again for each new page. If there are already some footnotes after this new footnote then they will be adjusted to be in sequence with this new footnote.

•	Start at also works in the same way as Continuous, except that you can choose a new start value by entering it in the Start at box. Again if there are already some footnotes after this new footnote they will be adjusted to be in sequence with the new footnote.

5.	Once you have chosen the relevant numbering, click on OK to insert the footnote number field. This will be inserted both at the cursor position and at the bottom of the page, where you can type the actual footnote. To do this scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the footnote to make it editable (the corresponding part of the left-hand ruler will be highlighted). Type the actual footnote.

6.	Once you have typed the footnote you can return to the main body of the document by clicking. The footnote can be edited as many times as you like.

7.	If you want to remove a footnote just select its number in the main body of the document and press Delete on the keyboard.

Note: You are allowed to choose different number formats in the same document. These will be treated separately and so kept in their respective sequential orders without interference from one another.

See also:

Captions

Frames and Callouts


Captions

A caption is a field label that you can affix to portions of text and other items, such as pictures, fields and tables, that you may have inserted into your document. Each caption consists of a caption name and a number (or letter). Ability allows you to use a variety of caption types and to create your own when you need to. This is useful in that you may want to give different types of item in your document different types of caption. Moreover, the caption command guarantees that you can maintain an incremental order for the various caption types you use.

To insert a caption, follow these steps:

1.	Select Caption from the Insert menu. The “Caption” dialog is opened.

2.	In the Label box click on the arrow to see the available caption types: Caption, Table, Picture, Label. As you would expect, Picture and Table naturally go with inserted pictures and tables.

3.	In the Numbering box leave Continuous selected if you want the caption number to increase by 1 from the previous caption of the same type. If you want a caption to start at a chosen value then select Start at and enter the number in the accompanying box.

4.	Select a number or letter format in the Number Format box.

5.	Click on OK to close the dialog and insert the caption.

There are certain simple rules for how caption numbering works. If, say, you choose the Caption label, with Continuous numbering and number format 1, 2, 3, …, then the first few captions will be Caption 1, Caption 2, Caption 3, … You can then force the next caption to start at 1 (or any other number for that matter) and the following captions will proceed continuously from this new caption number until you choose to start again.

Likewise if you switch from one label to another, for example, Table, the numbering will start again for that label. When you go back to the original label, for example, Caption, the numbering will continue in line with how you left it before switching to Table (unless, of course, you force the numbering to start again).

Along the right side of the “Caption” dialog there are buttons for adding and deleting label types.

To add a label follow these steps:

1.	Click on Add Label to display the “Insert Label” dialog.

2.	Type in the name of the new label and then click on OK.

3.	The new label name will be included in those displayed in the drop-down list in the Labels box.

To delete a label:

1.	Select the label you wish to delete from the Label box.

2.	Click on Delete Label.

3.	In the “Delete Label” dialog you will be asked if you want to go ahead with the deletion. Click on Yes to delete the label.

The Caption command also enables you to set up an Auto Caption (see Auto captions).

See also:

Footnotes

Frames and Callouts


Auto captions

The Caption command allows you to insert various types of caption one-by-one at will (see Captions). In addition you can ensure that a caption is inserted automatically whenever you insert a particular type of object - field, picture, or OLE object. The Auto Caption will accompany the inserted object.

To set up an auto caption follow these steps:

1.	Select Caption from the Insert menu.

2.	Click on the Auto Caption button in the “Caption” dialog. The “Auto Caption” dialog is opened.

3.	In the Object box select the type of object that is to have an associated auto caption. The types of object are Image, OLE and Field.

4.	In the Label box you choose the type of label that is to be associated with the inserted object. By default these are Image, Object and Field for object types Image, OLE and Field respectively. You are free, though, to choose any of the available options from the Label box (note that in the “Caption” dialog it is possible to add your own label types).

5.	In the Position box you choose the position of the label in relation to the inserted object. The options are Left, Right, Top and Bottom. Left is the default position.

6.	In the Number Format box choose the style of numbering you want for the auto caption. Succeeding auto captions of the same type will be numbered incrementally in the chosen number style.

7.	Check the Auto Caption box to activate the auto caption instructions, otherwise no caption will be inserted. Check the Auto Generic box, along with the Auto Caption box, if you just want a generic caption i.e. Caption, without numbering to be inserted. (The usual situation is that you will have the Auto Caption box checked and the Auto Generic box unchecked, which will lead to your chosen object type and chosen associated caption type being implemented.)

8.	Click on OK to save the auto caption details and go back to the “Caption” dialog.

9.	In the “Caption” dialog make sure the Enable Auto Caption box is checked, before clicking on OK to close the dialog.

Whenever you insert an object of the chosen type (for example, a field), a caption of the chosen type (for example, Field) will be inserted too. The caption will have the relevant position and incremental numbering style.

You can cancel the auto caption command by returning to the “Caption” dialog (Insert/Caption) and clicking on Enable Auto Caption to uncheck it.


Using styles

A style is a collection of attributes, for example font, font size and paragraph settings, that you can apply to your text. At any point, you can edit the attributes and so cause your entire document to be updated to reflect the new style. This is a very efficient method of managing the appearance of long documents. Typically you may want to set a paragraph style for the paragraph as a whole and then apply a character style on top of this to certain words or sentences. If you do it the other round, applying a character style first and then a paragraph style, the character style will be obliterated.

A standard style (called simply a style) works at the paragraph level, that is, it affects every word and line within the paragraph. A character style can also be set up. This differs from a paragraph style in that formatting is applied to selected text within a paragraph, rather than to the paragraph as a whole.

Style	Applies to whole paragraphs. Consists of font, font size, font effects, indentation, paragraph alignment, and line spacing.
Character Style	Applies to selected text within a paragraph. Consists of font, font size, and font effects.
Here is an example of how styles can be used:

The general idea is to implement different formats in your text. In line with the above example, there will be many headings throughout the document. These can all be formatted with a “Heading” style. The general text can be formatted as the “Normal” style.

To apply a style, select the text and then select the style name from the style drop down list on the toolbar. Alternatively, use the style shortcut - for example, Alt-Ctrl-Shift-N will apply the Normal style, unless you define it differently.
See also:

Modifying styles

Creating new styles

Renaming and deleting styles


Modifying styles

When you first install Write, several styles are already defined, including "Normal" and some "Headings", as you can see immediately if you click on the arrow in the Styles drop-down box. You can modify these styles, as well as create your own (see Creating new styles), to suit your own requirements.

To modify an existing style:

1.	Select Styles from the Format menu. The "Styles" dialog is displayed.

2.	Select the style you want to modify. Note that a description of the selected style, which includes details of fonts and paragraph settings, appears at the bottom of the dialog.

3.	Click on the Modify button.

4.	Choose the paragraph and font settings you want for the style (or, if it's a character style, just the font settings). See Paragraph formatting using the menus and Formatting text using the menus for more details.

5.	On returning to the Styles dialog, check the Character Style box if you want the current style to be a character style.

6.	Select a combination of Alt, Ctrl, Shift and Keyboard character as the style shortcut.

Click on the Apply button to put the style into effect. If you don't want to apply the style immediately, then close down the dialog and select the style from the Styles drop down menu when you are ready to apply it.


Creating new styles

To create a new style, do the following:

1.	Select Styles from the Format menu. The "Styles" dialog is displayed.

2.	Click in the Style Name box

3.	Type in the new name for the style.

4.	Click on the New button.

The new style will be inserted into the styles’ list. Use the Modify button to define the font and paragraph settings.

See:

Modifying styles

Using styles


Renaming and deleting styles

To rename a style:

1.	Select Styles from the Format menu.

2.	Select the style you wish to rename in the "Styles" dialog.

3.	Click on the Rename button.

4.	Enter a new name for the style and click on OK.

To delete a style, first select the style and then click on the Delete button.

See also:

Using styles

Modifying styles

Creating new styles


Bulleted and numbered paragraphs

You can create bulleted and numbered lists and paragraphs in your documents. A typical bulleted list may look like this:

Numbered paragraphs may look like this:

See:

Creating bulleted paragraphs and lists and Modifying a bulleted paragraph

Creating a numbered list and Modifying a numbered paragraph


Creating bulleted paragraphs and lists

Bullets can be applied to single lines of text or one or more paragraphs of text.

1.	Select the text that is to be bulleted.

2.	Select the Bullet button [image].

The selected text will be redrawn with bullets preceding the first line of each paragraph (or the lines of a list). The position where the bullet appears along the left-hand page margin, is called the first level.

Use the Increase Indent button [image] to increase the level so that the text moves to the right (or use the Increase Indent command from the Format menu).

Use the Decrease Indent button [image] to decrease the level so that the text moves to the left (or use the Decrease Indent command from the Format menu).

See also:

Modifying a bulleted paragraph

Removing bullets


Modifying a bulleted paragraph

When you insert bullets into a document they are given a default font size, color, alignment and "margins". However, all these can be changed.

Go into the "Bullets and Numbering" dialog by selecting the Bullets and Numbering option from the Format menu.

If you want to use a bullet style that is different from those displayed in the Bullet Style group box, click on the Change Symbol button. The "Character Map" dialog is displayed. Click on the required symbol and then on Select. Note that you can choose a different font style for the symbol in the Font box. Click on Close and the symbol will replace the previously selected standard bullet (you can recover this later on by going through the same process).

In the Bullet Color group box choose a color for the bullet.

In the Font Size box use the arrows to increase or decrease the font size for the bullets.

Set the total gap between the margin and the text in the Distance from indent to text box according to the following:

The bullet symbol itself can lie anywhere between the margin and a position that is an offset from the text and governed by the Distance from bullet to text box. Within this area, use the Alignment box to choose whether to have the bullet aligned to the left, right or center.

See also:

Removing bullets


Removing bullets

To remove bullets from your text, select the text and click on the bullets button [image].

Alternatively, select the Bullets and Numbering command from the Format menu. In the "Bullets" dialog, click on the None option in the Bullet Style group box and then click on the OK button.


Creating a numbered list

Numbers can be applied to single lines of text, or one or more paragraphs of text.

1.	Select the text that is to be numbered.

2.	Select the Numbers button

The selected text will be redrawn with numbers, in sequence, preceding the first line of each paragraph (or the lines of a list). The position where the number appears, along the left-hand page margin, is called the first level.

Use the Increase Indent button [image] to increase the level so that the text moves to the right (or select the Increase Indent command from the Format menu). The numbers are re-sequenced so that the next level is shown with an extra digit. For example, two levels will resemble this:

A third level would show three digits and so on.

Use the Decrease Indent button [image] to decrease the level so that the text moves to the left (or select the Decrease Indent command from the Format menu).

See also:

Modifying a numbered paragraph

Removing numbers


Modifying a numbered paragraph

Numbered paragraphs or lines can be modified in various ways, depending on the numbering property you wish to change. The main properties of numbering are as follows:

•	A series of numbered paragraphs or lines can be numbered incrementally in a variety of number styles.

•	Numbered paragraphs or lines can be multi-level and defined separately for each level.

•	Numbered paragraphs or lines can be defined with text before and text after the number symbol.

To modify the numbering of paragraphs or lines, first select the relevant text. Select the Bullets and Numbering command from the Format menu and then click on the Numbers tab.

In the Numbering Style box you can choose a style for the numbers from Number, Roman, CapLetter, NumShort, CapShort, Letter and Custom. Note that the default style is Number. The Preview box shows the chosen style and the number of levels to which it can be taken. For instance, for Number there are nine possible levels. If you use Increase Indent to go beyond the ninth level in this case, then no extra numbers will be added i.e. the numbering for the tenth and higher levels will stay the same as for the ninth level.

You can alter the number style for a particular level by selecting the level in the Level box and then selecting the appropriate style in the Numbering Style box.

In the Numbering group box you can set various options:

•	The Number Format box displays the currently selected numbered paragraph: click on the arrow to see the full range of available styles and click on the one you want to make it the current style.

•	The Text Before and Text After boxes allow you to put text, punctuation and brackets before and after numbers. Usually there is already a "." after any numbered paragraph e.g. 2.1. - you might want to change this to (2.1).

•	In the Alignment box choose whether to align the numbers to the left, right, or center of the space between the left page margin and the left paragraph margin.

•	In the Start box you decide what number you want the numbering to begin at. Set the incremental step size for numbering in the Increment With box. The default is 1 for both of these.

•	The Distance from number to text and the Distance from Indent to text boxes measure the space between the number and the text (left hand page margin) and the distance of the paragraph indent from the text (left hand paragraph margin) respectively. Change these by using the attached arrows.

•	Click on the Append To Higher Level box to check it if you want to create multi-leveled lists where all the numbers show higher levels in the list (for example 1.1.4 rather than just 4. on its own). The box is checked by default.

See also:

Removing numbers


Removing numbers

To convert a numbered list back into plain paragraphs, select the text and click on the Numbering button [image].

Alternatively, select the Bullets and Numbering command from the Format menu. On the "Numbers" page, click on the Remove Numbering button and then click on OK.


Page set-up

Whenever you open a new file in Write, it is given a default page set-up covering such information as paper size and page orientation. The defaults will depend on which template your document was based on (see Using templates for more details).

To change the default settings for the current document, choose the Page Setup command from the File menu. The “Page Setup” dialog is displayed.

•	In the Paper group box, click on the arrow to the right of the Size box to choose from a list of standard paper sizes.

•	In the Paper group box, click on the arrow to the right of the Source box to choose from a list of paper sources, such as lower tray, upper tray and manual feed − provided your printer supports these options.

•	In the Orientation group box, select either Portrait (vertical) or Landscape (horizontal/sideways) orientation.

•	To set the margins for a document, go to the Margins group box. Enter the required margins in the Left, Right, Top and Bottom boxes. These specify the distance from the edges of the paper to the beginning of the work area in the document.

You can also choose which printer to use by clicking on the Printer button (see Print set-up).


Headers and footers

You can add information, such as a chapter title and page number, that will appear at the top and bottom of every page in a document. Text that appears at the top of every page is called a header; text at the bottom is called a footer.

Headers and footers can be treated in the same way as you would treat normal text on the page - you can style them, use borders and other paragraph formatting, and insert objects. You can switch between editing the body text and editing a header or footer (see Editing a header or Editing a footer).

By default, Ability uses the same header and footer on every page. You can choose to use a different header and footer for the first page and/or odd and even pages (see Setting up headers and footers).

In a document with body text and a header and footer, Write uses a "faded" font to distinguish the non-active area. For example, if you were editing the body text, the header text would appear in a gray font.


Editing a header

To make the header active, do one of the following:

•	Double-click anywhere in the header area, that is the region on the page above the first line of the document.

•	Select the Header command from the View menu.

As soon as a header is active, the vertical ruler is reset according to the depth of the header. You can resize the header directly using this ruler in the same way you would resize body text (see The vertical ruler).

Also displayed is the Header and Footer toolbar (see Using the headers and footers toolbar) to assist in inserting dates and times and switching between headers and footers.

Type the text just as you would do on a standard page. You can create a single line header or use several paragraphs; edit the header text to make it bold or italic; increase the font size; and use a different font or fonts. You can also insert objects into headers, such as graphic images, or make use of borders or columns.

Note: If you have chosen to use more than one set of headers and footers (e.g. a different set for the first page, or different sets for odd and even pages), you will need to set up a header or footer for each set. Move to a representative page from each set before editing the header or footer text.

To return to the body of the document, double-click anywhere in the body text or select Close Header and Footer from the displayed toolbar.

See also:

Setting up headers and footers

Editing a footer

Deleting headers and footers


Using the headers and footers toolbar

The headers and footers toolbar is displayed automatically whenever a header or footer is being edited. For example, whenever you double-click in the header (or footer) area or select Header or Footer from the View menu. The toolbar itself contains several useful buttons.

Use these buttons to insert page numbers, dates, times, and document titles:

Insert a page number field

Insert a date field

Insert a time field

Insert a document title field

Use these buttons to move between headers, footers and the body text, and to use the header and footer set-up option:

Move to the header (when in a footer)

Move to the footer (when in a header)

Move to the body text

Set up the header and footer

Note that you can change the arrangement of the buttons in the header and footer toolbar by using your mouse to change the shape of the toolbar by dragging on its borders.

See:

Setting up headers and footers


Editing a footer

To make the footer active, do one of the following:

•	Double-click anywhere in the footer area, that is the region on the page below the last line of the document.

•	Select the Footer command from the View menu.

You can now edit the footer in exactly the same way as you would a header.

See:

Editing a header


Setting up headers and footers

To change header and footer setup, do one of the following:

•	If the header and footer toolbar is currently displayed, click on the Header and Footer Setup button [image].

•	Select the Header and Footer Setup command from the View menu.

Usually, header and footers are simply repeated on each page. However, you can choose to have different headers and footers on odd and even pages, or a different first page header (the first page could have a blank header for example), or a combination of the two. Use the Different first page and Different odd/even checkboxes to select these options.

Note that if you select one of these options, you'll have to define a different header and footer on pages 1 and 2 of your document. If you select both of these options you'll need to define a different header and footer on pages 1, 2 and 3.

By default, the header sits within the top margin and directly over the body text. You can choose to specify exactly where the header starts using the From edge boxes. Decreasing the header setting will cause the header text to print nearer to the top of the page and will move the main body of text upwards. If you set this to be less than 1cm, it is likely that your text will be "clipped" by the printer, as most page printers cannot print at the very edges of the paper. The same applies to the footer within the bottom margin and below the body text.

See also:

Headers and footers


Deleting headers and footers

You can delete a header or footer simply by deleting all the text within it.

1.	Make the header or footer active (see Editing a header or Editing a footer).

2.	Select all the text and/or objects.

3.	Press the Del key or right-click and select Cut.

See also:

Setting up headers and footers


Printing

You can print the whole document you are working on, only certain pages, or a selected range. You can also print to a file rather than to paper (perhaps for taking a postscript file to a professional print bureau).

Before printing you can set up the document in print set-up and review it in print preview.

See:

Printing the document

Print set-up

Print preview


Print preview

Before starting to print, you might like to see how your document will look on paper.

To do this, click on the Preview button [image] on the toolbar (or select the Print Preview command from the File menu). The display switches to print preview mode, in which the document is shown at a reduced size to give you an overall view:

In print preview mode you can do any of the following:

•	Click on the Two Page button to view two pages of your document side-by-side.

•	Click on the One Page button to return to a single page view.

•	Click on the Next Page button – or press the pgdn key – to page forward through your document.

•	Click on the Prev Page button – or press the pgup key – to page backward through your document.

•	Click on the Print button – or press P – to print the document directly from print preview mode.

•	Click on the Close button – or press the esc key – to exit print preview and return to a normal view of the document.

•	Click on the Zoom In button to magnify the preview.

•	Click on the Zoom Out button to reduce the preview from a magnified state.

See also:

Printing the document


Print set-up

To choose which printer, paper size and orientation you want to use and the source from which you want the paper to feed, select the Print Setup command from the File menu. The “Print Setup” dialog is displayed.

•	In the Printer group box, you can choose to use the default printer or another printer accessible from your machine – click on the arrow to the right of the Name box to see a list of available printers.

Note: Only installed printers are listed. To install another printer, you need to use the Windows Control Panel; see your Windows documentation for instructions.

•	In the Orientation group box, you can specify the orientation of the printed document: Portrait is upright; Landscape is sideways.

•	In the Paper group box, you can choose the size and source of your paper: click on the arrows to see the options available.

If you want to modify printer settings, select the Properties button. The different options displayed in subsequent dialogs will depend on the current printer. See your printer documentation, or Windows help, for more details.


Printing the document

To print the document, select the Print command from the File menu. The “Print” dialog is displayed.

If you click on the Print button [image] on the toolbar instead, printing starts immediately without displaying the “Print” dialog. So you should use the Print button only when you want to print one copy of the whole document, rather than change the printing range or number of copies.

The active printer and connection are displayed at the top of the dialog. You can choose to use another printer by selecting it in the Name box (see Print set-up).

In the Print range group box, you can specify how much of the document you want to print:

•	All - prints the entire document.

•	Pages - prints the range of pages you specify in the from and to boxes.

•	Selection - prints the currently selected (highlighted) text.

In the Copies group box, scroll through the Number of copies box to select how many copies of the document, page or selection you want printing. Click on the Collate check box to switch it on, if you want the printed copies to be collated, that is to say, organized in order of page numbers.

Click on the Print to file check box to switch it on, if you want to send the document to a new file on a disk, instead of to the printer. You will be prompted to give the file a name.

If you want to modify printer settings, select the Properties button. The different options displayed in subsequent dialogs will depend on the current printer. See your printer documentation, or Windows help, for more details.

When all is set, click on the OK button and the printing process will commence. There will be a pause while the information is sent to the printer, and then the physical printing will begin.


Including fields in a document

You can insert fields into a document in order to perform calculations or to act as links to spreadsheet cells, fields in a database or other Write documents.

The following sections show you how to insert various types of field, including database, formula, page number, date and time fields.

See:

Inserting a field

Inserting page numbers

Inserting the date

Inserting the time

Inserting the document title


Inserting a field

To insert a field into a document, follow these steps:

1.	Position the cursor where you would like the field to go.

2.	Select the Field command from the Insert menu. The “Insert Field Wizard” is displayed.

3.	In the Field Name box, type a name for the field (or use the default name supplied by Ability).

4.	In the Field Type group box choose whether to insert a Formula field (see Inserting a formula field) or a Database field (see Inserting a database field) field. A formula field can be used to perform calculations - utilizing the full range of Ability functions - or to link to other fields, whether in the same document or other Write, Spreadsheet or Database documents. A database field is used to link to a field in an existing database, hence making all the records that come under the database field accessible in the current document.

5.	On the next page you can set a Control Type for the field (see Control types).

See also:

Inserting a footnote field

Inserting a caption


Inserting page numbers

1.	To insert page numbers into a header or footer first go into the header or footer and then click on the Page Number button in the Header and Footer toolbox (or select the Page Number command from the Insert menu). The "Insert Page Number" dialog is displayed.

2.	In this dialog, you can choose the format for the page numbers. Click on the format you require in the Page Number Formats box.

3.	In the Start Number box, you can set the number at which you would like page numbering to begin. This is useful, for instance, if you have selected a different header or footer for the first page, which does not have a page number, and want page numbering on the second page to begin at ‘2’.

4.	Click on the OK button and the current page number will be inserted into the header or footer. Write will alter the page numbers as the document changes, so you do not need to update them yourself.

See Setting up headers and footers for information on inserting page numbers into every other page.


Inserting the date

1.	To insert the date into a header or footer, put the cursor into the header or footer at the position where you want the date to appear. Next, select the Insert Date button from the Header and Footer toolbox (or select the Date and Time command from the Insert menu). The “Date” dialog appears.

2.	In this dialog, you can choose the format for the date and set some other options.

3.	Select the format you wish to use for the date in the Date Formats box.

4.	Click on the Include Day of Week check box to include the day of the week in long form (e.g. Tuesday); click again to include the day of the week in short form (e.g. Tue). Clicking again will clear the check box and the day of the week won't then be included.

5.	Click on the Update Automatically check box to remove the check if you want the current date to be printed, rather than the date at time of printing (this will be checked already by default). With the box left checked, an automatically updateable field is inserted.

Note: If you want to backdate or postdate a document, you should insert the current date in the format you want, with the Update Automatically box left unchecked. You can then edit the date as required. Alternatively, just type in the date as normal text.

Updating takes place in the background and the field is refreshed on the screen only when it is redrawn. The field will be updated when you print the document.

6.	Once you have chosen the date format and other options, click on OK to insert the date.


Inserting the time

1.	To insert the time into a header or footer, put the cursor into the header or footer at the position where you want the time of printing to appear. Next, select the Time button from the Header and Footer toolbox (or select the Date and Time command from the Insert menu). The “Time” dialog appears.

2.	In this dialog, you can choose the format for the time and choose whether to have the time updated automatically.

3.	Select the format you wish to use for the time in the Time Formats box.

4.	Click on the Update Automatically check box to remove the check if you want the current time to be printed, rather than the time at time of printing (this box will be checked already by default). With the box left checked, an automatically updateable field is inserted.

Note: If you want to insert a time of your own choosing, you should insert the current time in the format you want, with the Update Automatically box left unchecked. You can then edit the time as required. Alternatively, just type in the time as normal text.

Updating takes place in the background and the field is refreshed on the screen only when it is redrawn. The field will be updated when you print the document.

5.	Once you have chosen a format for the time, click on OK to insert the time.


Inserting the title

To insert the title of the document:

1.	Position the cursor where you want the title to appear in the header or footer

2.	Click on the Insert Title button in the Header and Footer toolbox.

The title will be inserted at the chosen point. If you change the name of the document, the title inserted into the header or footer will change too.


Inserting a formula field

You can insert a formula field into a document (see Inserting a field).

1.	Once you have selected Formula, click on Next to go to the next page.

2.	Click on the Functions button to the right of the Formula box to access all the Ability functions (see Using built-in functions). Alternatively type in a formula directly. You can also type in link expressions for one-way or two-way links. Leaving the Formula box blank will still create a field in your document, although it will be empty. You will still be able to enter text, formulas, etc. directly from the document.

3.	Click on the Show Formula check box if you want the formula, rather than its result, to be displayed in the field.

4.	On the next page you can set a Control Type for the formula field (see Control types).


Inserting a database field

You can insert a database field into a document (see Inserting a field).

1.	Once you have selected Database, click on Next to go to the next page.

2.	In the Database Name box, type in the database name and its directory (along with the full path if it comes under a different directory from your current document). Alternatively click on the button to the right of the Database Name box to display the "Open" dialog. Here you can search for and select the required database.

3.	Click on Open in the "Open" dialog to insert the database name and path into the Database Name box.

4.	In the Data Source box, click on the arrow to the right of the box to display the tables contained in the database. Select one of these.

5.	In the Data Field box, click on the arrow at the right to display the fields in the selected database table. Select the field whose contents you want to see in your document.

6.	The Enable Browsing box is checked by default, thereby enabling you to browse through all the records from the field that has been inserted into your document. If you don't want to browse through all the records and just want the first record to be displayed, click on it to remove the check.

7.	On the next page you can set a Control Type for the database field (see Control types).

Example

To create a database field in a Write or Spreadsheet document, using the surname field from an Employees table in a database called Company.adb, do the following:

1.	Select the Field command from the Insert menu

2.	Type "Surname" in the Field Name box

3.	Click on Database in the Field Type box

4.	Click on Next and then click on the button to the right of the Database Name box. The "Open" dialog is displayed. Find and select Company.adb. Click on Open. The database name and path is inserted into the Database Name box.

5.	Click on the arrow in the Data Source box and select Employee.

6.	Click on the arrow in the Data Field box and select Lastname.

7.	Leave the Enable Browsing box checked.

8.	At this point click on Finish (ignore for now the remaining pages of the "Insert Field" Wizard).

9.	The field will appear in your Write or Spreadsheet document, displaying the first record under the Lastname field from the table. Use the arrows at the bottom left of the window to scroll through all the records.


Editing a field

To edit a field you should first select it by double-clicking in the field. The Field menu option is displayed along the top of the window. Clicking on any of the options in the Field menu brings up the "Field Attributes" dialog. In here you can change or add to attributes already set. The following options are available:

•	General contains details of the field type - either formula or database - and field name. You can change these here.

•	Color allows you to select a color for the field.

•	Font enables you to choose a font and special effects for text within the field.

•	Border contains various border types for the field.

•	There are also options for Alignment, Style, Control, Attributes, and Format.


Using templates

If you create similar documents time after time, you can save a lot of work by defining a template. A template can be used as the basic design or prototype for any new documents you open. Typically a template can include settings for margins, font styles, pieces of text, and most other document features. The template can then act as a new default design for the documents you wish to base on it. The Normal template is the standard default template.

The following sections show you how to create, edit and manage templates.

See:

Creating a template based on an existing document

Creating a template based on an existing template

See also:

Creating a document based on a template

Editing templates

The normal template

How Ability manages the template list


Creating a template based on an existing document

You may have designed a document that you would like to use as the basis for other documents. For example, you may have created a Fax sheet in Write and wish to use it again. Follow these steps:

1.	Select the Open command from the File menu and use the “Open” dialog to find and open  your existing Fax sheet.

2.	Select the Save As command from the File menu. The “Save As” dialog is opened.

3.	Click on the arrow to the right of the Save as type box and select Ability Write Template (*.awp).

4.	In the File name box, enter a name for the template.

5.	Select the Template folder. This can be found in the folder into which Ability was installed. By default, this is: C:\Program Files\Ability Office\Template.

Click Save to have the Fax sheet saved as a template. This will now appear in the template list when you open a new document and can be used as the basic design for that document.

See also:

Creating a template based on an existing template

How Ability manages the template list


Creating a template based on an existing template

As an alternative to basing a template on an existing document (see Creating a template based on an existing document), you can design a new template by using the Normal template (or any other template) as a basis. To do this follow these steps:

1.	Select the New command from the File menu. The "New" dialog is displayed.

2.	In the Templates box select the template you want to base the new template on.

3.	In the New box on the right select the Template radio button to indicate that you are designing a new template.

4.	Click on OK to close the dialog and open up the template.

5.	Design your template by adding text, adjusting margins, setting font styles, and so on, till you are satisfied.

6.	When you have finished, select the Save button [image]. The “Save As” dialog will be opened. Give the template a name in the File Name box and then click on Save.

The new template will appear in the template list that is displayed when you select New from the File menu. It can now be used as a template for new documents.

Note: You can also create a new Normal template, based on the original one, by following the above steps. You must remember though to name the new template “Normal” in Step 6. The new “Normal” will replace the old one as the default template.

See:

The normal template


Creating a document based on a template

To base a new document on an existing template:

1.	Select the New command from the File menu (don't use the New button on the toolbar as this will automatically base the document on the Normal template – see Normal template).

2.	Click on the required template name, make sure Document is switched on (it should be by default anyway), and click on the OK button.

A new document based on this template is opened.

A template can store the same information and formats as a standard document: text, graphics, headers and footers, page set-up information and style lists. You can create a variety of templates to cover every type of document your organization may use. By having everyone make use of templates, you can ensure a consistency of style for documents even when they are created by different people.

See also:

Using templates


Editing templates

You can edit a template in a similar way to editing a normal document:

1.	Click the Open button [image] on the toolbar (or select the Open command from the File menu).

2.	Click on the arrow to the right of the Files of Type box and select Ability Write Template (*.awp), so that it looks like this:

3.	A list of templates is displayed. Click on the template you wish to edit and click on Open. You can edit the template as you would any other Write document.

4.	Once you have made the required changes click on the Save button to save the edited template and then select Close from the File menu. The edited template is now ready for you to use.

See also:

Using templates


The normal template

Whenever you create a new document using the New button [image], the document is automatically based on the built-in Normal template. The built-in template has the following properties:

•	Paper size as defined in the default printer settings under Windows

•	One inch left, right, top and bottom margins

•	A set of built-in styles – a normal style, some heading styles, and some indented text styles

•	No text or graphics are included, though the document is formatted to take a particular font style and size when you do begin to enter text

•	No other page or paragraph formatting

Although this is nearly always sufficient, you can override it by creating your own Normal template - follow the steps in Creating a template based on an existing template, making sure you use the name “Normal” for the new template.

Since the Normal template is used by default whenever create a new document by clicking on the New button on the toolbar, the new Normal template will be used instead.

To return to the original Normal template all you have to do is delete Normal from the Template folder. To do this select Open from the File menu, locate the template folder i.e. Program Files\Ability Office\Template, and then delete Normal by right-clicking and selecting Delete (make sure that Files of Type is set to Ability Template, otherwise the templates won’t be displayed in the “Open” Dialog).

Once you have deleted the Normal template, Ability will automatically generate a new default Normal template as before. Normal is always listed as a template when selecting New from the File menu, whether or not you've created a Normal template yourself.

See also:

Using templates


How Ability manages the template list

Templates are very similar to normal Ability documents, except that:

•	They are located in a special folder – by default this is called Templates and is placed in the folder into which Ability was installed.

•	They have a different document extension (awp) to standard documents (aww).

When basing a document on a template by selecting New from the File menu, Ability lists all the templates in the default template folder. Should you need to, you can change the folder location (see General options).

The Normal template is a special case and may not exist as a real template in the template folder.

See:

The normal template

See also:

Using templates


Mail merge

You can send a standard letter to a number of different people whose names and addresses are stored in a mailing list in a database. The process of combining information from a database with a standard letter is often called mail merge.

Before you can mail merge your data, you need to have already created a database containing the relevant information. The database that is to be used in the mail merge may have been created in Ability or in any other database that is compatible with Microsoft Access.

See also:

Creating a mail merge letter

Browsing through the merge data

Viewing and printing merge letters

Controlling mail merge


Creating a mail merge letter

You can turn a document into a mail merge letter simply by adding the appropriate fields. Typically these are address and name fields from a database table. The process is the same whether the document is new or the text has already been entered.

The first field you insert establishes a connection with a table within a database, as follows:

1.	Position the cursor where you want the field to appear - for example, at the top of the document if you're starting the address block.

2.	Select the Mail Merge Field command from the Insert menu.

3.	In the File Name box, enter the name of the database - or use the browse button [image] to find and enter it.

4.	Select the table you want from the Data Source drop-down list.

5.	Select the field you want to insert from the Data Item drop-down list.

6.	 Click on the OK button.

The mail merge field will be inserted into your document and a series of toolbars will be turned on. These allow you to browse, edit, filter and sort your data. See Controlling mail merge for more details.

Now insert an additional field for each of the other address lines and for the salutation and name, as follows:

7.	Position the cursor where you want the next field to go.

8.	Select the field you want in the field list from the query toolbar (see Controlling mail merge).

9.	Click the Insert Field button [image].

10.	Repeat steps 6 through 8 for the rest of the fields.

As an alternative to steps 7 and 8, you can use the Mail Merge Field from the Insert menu.

Note that you are free to include a field more than once. For example, the first line of an address block may contain fields for title, first name and surname and you may want to start your letter with "Dear Mr Jones". Just insert the title and surname fields a second time.

See also:

Browsing through the merge data

Viewing and printing merge letters


Controlling mail merge

Use the Field List drop-down to select a field. Use the Insert Field button to insert the current field into the document.	Use the Sort drop-down list to select a named sort order for the table. Use the Sort button to choose a sort order on-the-fly.	Use the Filter drop-down list to select a named filter for the table. Use the Filter button to create a filter on-the-fly.

For more details on how to sort and filter database information, see Filtering a table and Sorting a table.

See also:

Creating a mail merge letter

Browsing through the merge data

Viewing and printing merge letters


Browsing through the merge data

When you insert a mail merge field, a browse toolbar appears - you can use this to browse through the records from the database.

 - Display the first matching record from your table

 - Display the previous record

 - Display next record

 - Display last matching record

The record number is displayed between the Previous and Next buttons. You can find out how many merge letters will print by clicking the Last button and checking the record number displayed.

See also:

Creating a mail merge letter

Controlling mail merge

Viewing and printing merge letters


Viewing and printing merge letters

When you first insert a mail merge field, "mail merge mode" is turned on. This has the following effects:

•	You can browse through the data using the browse buttons - see Browsing through the merge data.

•	Print (and print preview) will generate a new page for every record in the database. Otherwise, the print process will be as normal - see Printing for more details.

Use the Mail Merge button [image] to tun mail merge mode off (and on again). Alternatively, use the Mail Merge command from the Tools menu. This will freeze the document at the current record - printing at this point will only print the current record.

As an alternative to printing the document, a new document can be created, where a new page is started for every record. Use the Mail Merge to New Document command from the Tools menu to do this.

See also:

Creating a mail merge letter

Controlling mail merge


Changing Write options

There are various choices you can make about the way Write works for you. The available options can be accessed through the Options command in the Tools menu.

The following sections show you how to set options for spelling, colors, zoom, and others.

See:

General options

Spell checker and thesaurus options

Setting colors

Setting the default zoom


General options

Various general options are set on the General page of the “Options” dialog, reachable through the Options command from the Tools menu.

•	Units

Select the units you would like to use for the rulers and measurements in dialog boxes by choosing from Inches, Centimeters, Millimeters and Points (a point is a typographical unit approximately equal to 1/72nd of an inch).

•	Assurance

If you want a backup copy to be made of every document you create, click on the checkbox next to Create Backup. Every time a document is changed, the previous version is stored as a backup with an (abk) document extension.

To open a backup, select the Open button [image], set the Files of Type to Ability Write Backup and then make your selection from the displayed list of backup documents.

•	Editing

Whenever you do something in Write, you can usually undo it by clicking the Undo button (or selecting the Undo command from the Edit menu). In the Undo Steps box, type the number of actions you would like the program to remember.

Select the Smart Cut and Paste option if you'd like Ability to “intelligently” insert and delete spaces when cutting and pasting words in paragraphs.

•	Mail merge

Check the Close Blank Lines box (the default setting) if you'd like Ability to automatically close blank lines in address blocks when mail merging. Note that blank lines are not closed in the document itself – only in Print Preview or while printing.

•	Template

Choose the default location for the template folder. For more details, see How Ability manages the template list.


Spell checker and thesaurus options

Change spell checker and thesaurus options on the Spelling page of the “Options” dialog, reachable through the Options command from the Tools menu.

In the Spell Checker and Thesaurus group box, you can specify which dictionary and thesaurus you wish the program to use.

Click on the arrow to the right of the Language box to choose a dictionary. The languages shown here depend on the country from which Ability was purchased.

Click on the checkbox next to Always Suggest to ensure that the spell checker always suggests alternative spellings for words it does not recognize.

Click on the checkbox next to User Dictionary to tell the program to add new words to the specified user dictionary. Click on the arrow to the right of the box to choose the user dictionary you wish to use.


Setting colors

Set color options on the Colors page of the “Options” dialog, reachable through the Options command from the Tools menu.

You can select the colors that are to be used for the page, the fields, the workspace and the guidelines.

Here’s what each of the buttons does:

Page	Change the color of the page under your text.
Workspace	Change the color of the area surrounding the page.
Column	Change the color of guidelines showing column boundaries.
Page Numbers	Change the color of all “Page Number” fields.
Date and Time	Change the color of all “Date” and "Time" fields.
Bullets and Number	Change the color of all “Bullet and Number” fields.
Formula	Change the color of all “Formula” fields.
Mail Merge	Change the color of all “Mail Merge” fields.
Print fields using on screen color	Check this box to print "Mail Merge" fields in the same color as they appear on screen.
Ability Defaults	Revert the entire color scheme back to that just after installation.
Windows Defaults	Use Windows default color settings. These are set in the Control Panel under the Windows Program Manager.
Click on the button of the feature whose color you wish to change. The “Color” box is displayed. You can select one of the standard colors by clicking on it, or you can define your own custom color (the color mixing process is explained in your Windows documentation). Click on the OK button to save any changes.


Setting the default Zoom

Change the default zoom for all new documents (the current window won’t be affected) on the Zoom page of the “Options” dialog, reachable through the Options command from the Tools menu.

Choose a default zoom from those listed.