Control Center
HELP TOPICS     Continued on Page 2

Dictionary Maintenance

Choosing a Dictionary

Creating a New Dictionary

Editing a Dictionary

Importing and Merging

UnlockingWords

Dictionary Statistics

Exporting a Dictionary

Backing up a Dictionary

Restoring a Dictionary

Deleting a Dictionary

Lattice Maintenance

Selecting a Lattice

Altering a Lattice

Creating a new Lattice

Saving A Lattice

Deleting a Lattice

Solve a Crossword

Selecting a Dictionary

The Solution Process

Selecting a Puzzle to Solve

The Solve Font

Cheating

The Score Board

Print a Crossword

Selecting a Dictionary

Selecting a Puzzle to Print

Smart Print

Custom Print

Clue In Puzzle

Fill-In Print

Word-Find Print

Clipboard Export


Page 2
HELP TOPICS      Continued from Page 1

Making Classroom Puzzles

Puzzle Description

Specify Puzzle

Select Dictionary

New Dictionary

Edit Dictionary

Make

Making Standard Puzzles

Puzzle Description

Selecting a Lattice

Selecting a Dictionary

Setting the MAKE Options

Starting the MAKE Process

Advisory messages

Making Preset Word Puzzles

Puzzle Description

Selecting a Lattice

Selecting a Dictionary

Editing Preset Words

Locating Preset Words

Starting the MAKE Process

Making Special Interest Puzzles

Puzzle Description

Selecting a Lattice

Selecting the Special Interest Dictionaries

Selecting the Backfill Dictionary

Starting the Special Interest MAKE Process

Miscellaneous Functions

Edit Puzzle

Rebuild A Puzzle

Lockout Words

Export as Text

Deleting A Puzzle

Options

IMPORTANT :

Licensing Agreement


DICTIONARY MAINTENANCE

Before you can perform maintenance on a dictionary, you will need to select the dictionary from your library. See Selecting a Dictionary for details on how this is done. After a while you will probably want to start making your own dictionaries, and this is explained in the topic Creating a New Dictionary. Having created a new dictionary, you can start adding words to it (or you can make changes to an existing dictionary) by means of the Dictionary Edit function. A very convenient way of adding additional words to an existing dictionary is to use the Import and Merge feature. If you like to use the Word Lockout feature, then the time will come when you will need to Unlock some or all of the locked words in your dictionary.

As you build your dictionaries, you can keep track of your progress by use of the Dictionary Statistics. Some people like to use their favourite text editor to edit their dictionaries, and you can do this by first Exporting the Dictionary to a text format file.

Backing up a Dictionary and Restoring a Dictionary are functions you should be aware of if you are concerned with the security of the dictionaries you are building. The function Deleting a Dictionary is provided for the unusual situation where you want to eliminate an entire dictionary from your library.


CREATING A NEW DICTIONARY

The dialog box for this function has the following input fields and controls:-

Dictionary Name

Word Font

Clue Font

Import Format

Import File

Import Filter

Maintain Case Sensitivity

OK Button

Cancel Button


Dictionary Name.   This name must be restricted to 8 characters which should be chosen from the 26 letters and the 10 digits. However, if you are creating a Special Interest dictionary, then you should start its name with the special character '$', so that it can be correctly identified. Note that no extension is required.


Word Font.   If you are making a specialized dictionary which uses an alphabet other than the Latin alphabet, then you will need to attach a specific font to the words on a permanent basis. Use this button to activate a Font Selection dialog box which will allow you to select the desired font. If a font is selected, it will override the font selected under Miscellaneous Functions/User Options for all situations where Words are displayed or printed. If no special font is required, then leave the selection at the default value of "Default Font".


Clue Font.   Similar to the Word Font, but selects a font for the clues. It is quite OK to select a font for Words, but go with the default for clues, or vice versa. Also, you could select a Cyrillic font for the words, and a Greek font for the clues, if you were interested in making a Russian-Greek dictionary.


Import File.   As well as making a new empty dictionary, Crossword Express will import words into the newly created dictionary if you provide it with the name of a file which contains the words you want to have imported. A file selection dialog box is provided to assist you in selecting your Import File. Read the topic Import Format for details regarding formats which are permitted for the Import File.


Import Format. If you are going to import words into your new dictionary, they must be imported from a file whose format corresponds to one of the following types:-

Word List

Document

Dictionary

Encoded Word List

A Combo Box allows you to select which of these formats you wish to use. If you require a format other than these, please send details to AUS-PC-SOFT, so that it can be incorporated.


IMPORT FILTER

If you enter an Import Filter you can exercise control over which of the words in the Import File will actually be imported into your new dictionary. The filter consists of a string of standard characters interleaved with wild card characters in a way which will be quite farmiliar to users of DOS. The components of an Import Filter are:-

> Standard Characters.   The characters in a Word must match exactly any corresponding Standard Characters in the Import Filter.

> The ? wild card.   A ? character at any position in the Import Filter will match any character in the corresponding position in the Word.

> The * wild card.   A * character at any position in the Import Filter will match any number of characters in the Word, including zero characters.

> The [ABC...XYZ] wild card.   A set of square brackets surrounding a string of standard characters will match the corresponding character in Word if that character is included in the string of standard characters. The string of standard characters can include the - character to denote a run of consecutive characters. eg. A-G is equivalent to ABCDEFG.

A few examples may help to clarify these rules:-

T?E	will match the words THE, TOE etc.

T*E	will match the words THE, TOE, TIME, TROUBLE etc.

A[CL]E	will match the words ACE and ALE, but not AGE etc.

*[A-RT-Z]	will match any word not ending with S

*ABLE	will match any words which end with ABLE.

*CEI*	will match any word containing the sub-string CEI.

*C?E[LNP]?	will match the words CREPE, ACCENT, ACCEPT, ANCIENT, NICKELS etc.


Maintain Case Sensitivity Checkbox.   Under default conditions, when you are importing a Word List, or a Document, the characters in the imported word will be converted to Upper Case. If you require that the case of your imported words be maintained, you can achieve this by checking the Case Sensitivity checkbox. When importing from a Dictionary or an Encoded Word List, case sensitivity is always maintained regardless of the state of this checkbox.


OK button.   Clicking this button, or pressing Enter, will return you to the Dictionaries menu after the new dictionary has been created, and words have been imported. The new dictionary automatically becomes the chosen dictionary.


Cancel button.   Clicking this button will return you to the Dictionaries menu, and no dictionary creation action will be taken.


WORD LIST

This is a text file with each line of text ended by a CR/LF character pair. Each line must consist of one word which is to be imported to a dictionary, followed optionally by a clue. The word and the clue must be separated by any number of Spaces and Tabs. Note that this allows a situation where some of the words in the dictionary do not have clues. This is described in the topic Clueless Dictionaries.

Crossword Express will sort the word list into ascending alphabetical order before importing it into a dictionary. This can be quite a long process if the word list is very large, and/or has many words out of order, so please be patient. You can minimise this time by breaking very large dictionaries into smaller sub-dictionaries, and by ensuring that new words are added to the list in the correct order.


DOCUMENT

A Document file can be any unstructured text file. Any group of alphabetic characters delimited by white space is assumed to be a word and is imported into the dictionary. Naturally none of these words will have clues. This is described in the topic Clueless Dictionaries.

The number of words which can be imported from a Document file is dependant on the amount of available memory. When the program runs out of memory, the import process ceases automatically. It is probably a good idea to split large documents into several smaller ones, and to use the Import and Merge feature to incorporate them all into the one dictionary.


DICTIONARY

This is the standard XWORD.DIC dictionary file which can be found inside any of the dictionary folders. You may wonder why you would want to import such a file. There are two possible reasons:-

> You may want to duplicate a dictionary as a safety measure before you begin a major editing activity.

> If you use the filter option of the import function, you can arrange to import a very precise subset of the imported dictionary. Teachers could find this very useful in imparting the rules of spelling, and the exceptions to those rules.


ENCODED WORD LIST

If you download and unzip one of the dictionaries available from the AUS-PC-SOFT web site, you will get a file having this format, and a file extension of .EWL. Create a new dictionary, and import the file using this format option to get a dictionary which is ready for action. It should be noted that this function will only work if you have a registered copy of Crossword Express at Version 4.2 or better.


CLUELESS DICTIONARIES

Putting together a large dictionary of words is generally quite a simple process, but getting suitable clues can be a daunting task, especially if one is building a dictionary having many thousands of words. Crossword Express permits dictionaries in which some or all of the words do not have clues. For example, this will happen when you import words from a Document file. When a crossword is built from such a dictionary, the clues, when printed out, or when displayed by the solve option, consist of the Word preceded by a single * character. It is a relatively simple matter then to add clues to the dictionary for just those words which were used in the construction of the puzzle. This can be done using the Edit Dictionary function of Dictionary Maintenance. Then you can use the Rebuild Puzzle function from the Miscellaneous Functions screen to rebuild the puzzle file with your new clues included in it.


Import and Merge
IMPORTING AND MERGING WORDS INTO A DICTIONARY

The dialog box used for this function is very similar to the one used when Creating a New Dictionary, and you should read that topic before attempting to use this function. The big difference is that the imported words do not replace the existing contents of the dictionary, but are merged into it.


UNLOCKING WORDS

This function provides you with the ability to restore the locked-out words of a dictionary so that they can once again be used in puzzle construction. This is a process which can be done selectively, and there are two options available to you so that you can exercise control over which words will be returned to service.

The Filter.    The locked-out words are submitted to a Filter, and only those which are passed by that filter will be considered for unlocking. You can control the operation of the filter by means of the characters you type into the data entry field labelled Filter. If you leave this field blank, then all words will be considered for unlocking. The process of filtering is described in connection with the Dictionary Import function.

Display Word and Clue before unlocking.

If you check this item, then all of the words and clues which pass the filtering process will be presented to you, and you can then click Yes or No to indicate your requirements.


DICTIONARY STATISTICS

This dialog box is for information purposes only, and displays the following data regarding the current dictionary:-

> Total number of words contained in the dictionary. Separate subtotals are also shown for the number of words with and without clues.

> The number of words of each length from a minimum of two through to a maximum of fifteen.

> The number of words for each starting and ending character. Characters are not limited to the letters A to Z, so that for example, a dictionary can be created where each "word" is made up of the digits 0 to 9, and the clue is a simple arithmetic problem. The list boxes for these totals have two columns, and can display up to 44 totals. If the dictionary contains more than 44 starting or ending characters, then the additional totals can be brought into view using the scroll bars at the bottom of the list boxes.

A button on the Dialog Box allows you to view the statistics for Active Words, Locked Words and All Words.


EXPORTING A DICTIONARY

This feature is included for people who would like to add words to their dictionary using a text editor. The words and clues are exported into a file whose format conforms to the WORD LIST description. The Select button provides you with a file selection dialog box which suggests a default name of words.lst to be stored in the directory of the currently selected dictionary. You can change this to any name you like, and you can elect to create the file in any directory on your computer.

After you have finished editing it, you can recreate it as a dictionary using the import feature of the Dictionary Create function.


BACKING UP A DICTIONARY

The dialog box which controls the backup process, provides the following controls:-

> Backup to. This is a pair of checkboxes which allows you to specify which of the drives A or B is to be used to carry out the backup. Simply click the required checkbox with the mouse, or use the Tab key to move the focus to the required checkbox and press the Space Bar.

> Cancel. Clicking this button, or pressing the Escape key will cancel the Backup operation.

> Proceed. Clicking this button, or pressing the Enter key will begin the Backup operation. As the backup proceeds, the status box keeps you informed about the number of disks involved, and the number of bytes remaining to be backed up. If the backup extends over more than one disk, a message box will prompt you when it is time to insert the next disk. Please be sure to number the disks to assist in restoring the dictionary should the need arise.


RESTORING A DICTIONARY

The dialog box which controls the backup process, provides the following controls:-

> Restore from  This is a pair of checkboxes which allows you to specify which of the drives A or B is to be used to carry out the restore. Simply click the required checkbox with the mouse, or use the Tab key to move the focus to the required checkbox and press the Space Bar.

> Cancel  Clicking this button, or pressing the Escape key will cancel the Restore operation.

> Proceed  Clicking this button, or pressing the Enter key will begin the Restore operation. As the restore proceeds the status box keeps you informed about the number of the disk being restored, and the number of bytes which have been restored. If the dictionary extends over more than one disk, a message box will prompt you to insert the next disk as required. If you accidentally insert an out of sequence disk, the restore will not proceed, and you will be advised of the situation.


DELETING A DICTIONARY

The currently selected main dictionary, whose name is displayed directly under the Choose Dictionary button, can be deleted from the system by clicking the Delete Dictionary button. This is a rather extreme action, and as you would expect, Crossword Express gives you an opportunity to reconsider your actions before they are put into effect.


LATTICE MAINTENANCE

Lattice Maintenance is always performed on the currently selected lattice, so you will need to know how Selecting a Lattice from the Lattice pool is done. The topics Altering a Lattice and Defining Null Cells will tell you how to proceed to make changes to the design of the current lattice.

After a while you will probably want to make your own lattice designs, and this is described in the topics Creating a new Lattice and Saving A Lattice.

In rare cases you may also be interested in Deleting a Lattice from the Lattice pool.


SELECTING A LATTICE

When you select the Lattice Maintenance option, the lattice which is displayed is the current lattice. This is the one which will be used by the Make function when you make a new puzzle. To select a new current lattice, click the Select button, or press S. This will display a dialog box containing a list of the available lattices with the current lattice highlighted. Select a lattice as follows:-

> Mouse method  Point to the lattice you want and click the left mouse button. If the lattice you want to select is not visible in the list box, you can use the scroll bar to bring the missing items into view. To make your selection final, click the OK button.

> Keyboard method   Use the arrow keys or the Page up and Page down keys to move the highlight through the list until it covers the one you want to select, then press Enter.

In either case, whenever you highlight a new lattice, an image of that lattice will be displayed in the Preview area to the right of the list box.


ALTERING A LATTICE

Any lattice which is displayed on the screen is able to be edited by the addition or removal of pattern cells as follows:-

> Mouse method  As you move the mouse cursor over the lattice, the cell under the cursor changes to red or blue, depending on whether the cell was previously white or black. In addition to this, the Focus information at the left hand side of the screen changes to reflect your location in the lattice. The state of this Focus cell can be toggled by clicking the left mouse button, or by pressing the space bar. As you do this the word counts on the left side of the screen will change to tell you how many words of each length you have in the lattice. If you have a large number of consecutive cells which you want to change, just hold down the left mouse button, and drag the cursor cell through all of the cells you want to change.

> Keyboard method  Use the four arrow keys to move the Focus cell to the one that you want to change. Pressing the space bar will toggle the state of the Focus cell. Watch the Focus and Word count information displayed at the left of the screen.

When you have made all of the changes you require, you should save the lattice using the saVe or SaveAs functions. If you are wanting to make a Crozzle Template, you should also read the topic Defining Null Cells


DEFINING NULL CELLS

Firstly, what exactly is a Null Cell?

It is a cell within the lattice into which Crossword Express will not insert a letter. It is very similar to the well known pattern, or black cell, but has the additional feature that when the puzzle is printed, this cell will be omitted from the printout. By carefully positioning a number of such cells in the lattice, you can make lattices of any shape you require. You can do this to the lattices you use when you make a standard crossword puzzle, in which case the lattice will contain both pattern cells and null cells. For lattices which will be used in Crozzle construction (Templates), you will generally insert only null cells to define the required shape, although you can add pattern cells for added interest if you wish. Note that Null Cells are colored dark gray when displayed on the screen, and the colored cursor becomes green when it enters a Null Cell. Note also that the name of a lattice which is to be used as a Crozzle Template must commence with a $ character so that it can be correctly identified.by the program.

Setting and clearing Null Cells.

The process is identical to that of setting and clearing pattern cells, with the following exceptions

> Mouse method  Use the Right Mouse button, instead of the Left Mouse button to change the state of the cell which is being pointed to by the mouse cursor.

> Keyboard method  Use the Enter key instead of the Space Bar to change the state of the cell being addressed by the colored cursor cell.


Creating A Lattice
CREATING A NEW LATTICE

The Lattice create function presents you with a dialog box which requests the details of the new lattice. Four items of information are required:-

> Squares across...Enter a number between 3 and 47.

> Squares down.....Enter a number between 3 and 47.

> Symmetry.........Enter a letter between A and G. These letters have the following meanings:-

A  This specifies a Rotational symmetry, in that the design of the resulting lattice appears unchanged when it is rotated through an angle of 90 degrees. It can only be applied to square lattices.

B  Similar to A except that the lattice must be rotated through a full 180 degrees for the design to appear unchanged.

C  The resulting lattice is simultaneously symmetrical about a vertical line and a horizontal line through the center of the lattice.

D  Symmetrical about a vertical line through the center of the lattice.

E  Simultaneously symmetrical about both diagonals. It can only be applied to lattices which are square.

F  Symmetrical about a diagonal from bottom left to top right. Once again it can only be applied to a square lattice.

G  No symmetry. You can place a single black square at any point you choose within the lattice.

> Lattice Name. Enter a distinctive lattice name having a maximum of eight characters, consisting of the 26 letters, the 10 digits, and the minus and underscore characters. If you are planning to construct a new Crozzle Template, then you must start its name with the $ character, otherwise it will not be recognized by the Template selection function.

When you are satisfied with what you have entered, click on the OK button or press Enter, but if you decide not to proceed with the create process, click on the Cancel button, or press Escape. If you choose to proceed, a blank lattice will appear, and you can begin the design process described in the topics Altering a Lattice and Defining Null Cells.


SAVING A LATTICE

In most cases, lattices will be saved using the SaVe function button. This will be the case if you are saving a newly created lattice, or if you are saving minor changes to an existing lattice. The name of the lattice will be that which is shown at the left side of the screen.

If a situation arises where you would like to make a slight change to an existing lattice, and keep both the old lattice and the new lattice, then the SaveAs function is the one to use. A dialog box will be provided to allow you to enter the name of the new lattice.


DELETING A LATTICE

The current lattice can be deleted at any time by clicking on the Delete button, or by pressing D on the keyboard. A message box appears which gives you a chance to change your mind.


Making a Crossword
MAKING STANDARD PUZZLES

The following steps are involved in the construction of a standard crossword puzzle, although the first four are optional if you are happy to use the current default values:-

> Enter the Puzzle Description for the new puzzle.

> Select a Lattice if the current one is not to your liking.

> Select a Dictionary if the current one is not the one you want to use.

> Set the MAKE Options, although this is something you will rarely need to change.

> Start the MAKE Process and sit back and watch the action. During the Make process, a number of Advisory messages will be displayed.

> When your puzzle is made use either the Solve or the Print button to begin making use of your new puzzle.


SELECTING A DICTIONARY

This function is provided so that a dictionary can be selected from within any of the Crossword Express function screens without the need to transfer to the Dictionary Maintenance screen. The dialog box contains a list of available dictionaries in which the current dictionary is highlighted. One of these dictionaries may be chosen to be the new current dictionary by clicking its name or by using the arrow keys to highlight the required dictionary, and then pressing Enter.


Selecting A Lattice
SELECTING A LATTICE / TEMPLATE

The selection of a new Lattice / Template can be done from within any of the four MAKE screens without the need to transfer to the Lattice Maintenance screen. The dialog box contains a list of available Lattices / Templates in which the currently selected one is highlighted. One of these may be chosen to be the new current Lattice / Template by clicking its name or by using the arrow keys to highlight the required one, and then pressing Enter.

Whenever you highlight a new lattice name, an image of that lattice will be displayed in the Preview area to the right of the list box.


PUZZLE DESCRIPTION

This dialog box contains six input fields and three check boxes which enable the user to input useful descriptive material concerning the puzzle, or to configure its mode of operation during the on-screen Solve process. This can be done either before it is constructed, or subsequently during a Puzzle Editing phase. When you enter this dialog box, you may find that some or all of the fields already contain data. This is quite natural if you are editing a puzzle, but if you are making a new puzzle, then the data displayed will be that of the most recently loaded and displayed puzzle. Any or all of these fields may be retained for the new puzzle if you wish.

The input fields are:-

Puzzle File Name

Puzzle Title

Puzzle Author

Copyright Notice

Puzzle Number

Puzzle Notes

The checkboxes are:-

Disable Cheating

Disable Scoreboard

Scramble Puzzle

Save to Floppy during Solve


A file name for the puzzle which is about to be constructed can be entered into this field. Type in the file name, using a maximum of eight characters selected from the 26 letters and the 10 digits. If you type in a name which already exists, you will receive a warning. If you ignore this warning, then the old puzzle will be destroyed when the new one is saved to disk. If you are editing the Puzzle Description of an existing puzzle, then there is no point in changing this field, as any changes you make to it will be ignored.


This is an optional field. Up to 30 characters may be entered to serve as the Title for this puzzle. The title will appear on the output of any Smart Print operation which you may perform.


This is an optional field. If you are producing crossword puzzles for publication, you may like to attach your name, or that of your company to the puzzle. It will be printed in a single line immediately below the Puzzle Title. A maximum of 30 characters can be entered.


This is an optional field, and if present will be printed immediately below, and to the left of the puzzle lattice. Up to 30 characters of copyright information can be entered.


This is an optional field, and if present will be printed immediately below and to the right of the puzzle lattice. You can use it for any purpose which suits your needs, but if you leave it blank, the letters CWE will be inserted by the program. Up to 15 characters can be entered.


This is an optional field, and can contain up to 250 characters of background information concerning the puzzle. If present, it will be printed centrally, just below the puzzle lattice.


Checking this box will result in the inability to cheat when using the Solve function. This would be appropriate when using the program in a classroom situation.


Checking this box will disable the scoreboard feature when using the Solve function. This would be appropriate when using the program in a classroom situation.


Checking this box will result in the puzzle being scrambled before it is saved. Naturally it is saved along with a key which allows it to be unscrambled either by Crossword Express itself, or by the Freeware CWE Player program. Teachers will find this useful to prevent computer-wise students from getting the answers by referring to the .cwe puzzle file.


Checking this box will condition the resulting puzzle so that when it is used by the Freeware Player program, it will not be saved back to its original location, but will be saved instead to the floppy drive. If there is no disk in the floppy drive, it will not be saved at all. This option has no effect on the behaviour of the Compiler program when it is used to solve the puzzle.


SETTING THE MAKE OPTIONS

A number of options are available to you when you are about to construct a crossword puzzle, and you can access these options from the MAKE menu by clicking on the Options button, or by pressing 'O' on the keyboard. The options available are:-

Type of MAKE operation

How many Puzzles

Puzzle Name

Use All Words

Show Letters


Make Operations
TYPES OF MAKE OPERATION

Three types of operation are available:-

> Make a single puzzle. This is the default operation, and will result in the construction of a single puzzle which will be saved to disk with the name specified in Puzzle Name.

> Save multiple puzzles.  A series of puzzles will be made and stored to disk. The number of puzzles actually made is specified under How many Puzzles. The names of the puzzles will be made up of the first four letters of "Puzzle Name", plus an ascending sequence of four digits starting from 0001.

> Print multiple puzzles. This is similar to "Save multiple puzzles" above, but the puzzles are sent to the printer as they are made, rather than to the disk. The solution, the blank lattice, and the clues are printed, and the positioning of these items on the paper is determined by a series of Options available via the Print Crossword menu item of the CONTROL CENTER. For this process to work correctly, you must use the Print Manager for your printing. Just select the "Use Print Manager" radio button in the window which appears when you select Control Panel/Printers. For further information, please refer to your Windows user manual.


HOW MANY PUZZLES

When you are Saving or Printing multiple puzzles, you must specify the number of puzzles you wish to make. Use this Make option to type in the number of puzzles required up to a maximum of 9999.


PUZZLE NAME

This MAKE option allows a puzzle name to be entered, having a maximum of eight characters selected from the 26 letters and the 10 digits.


Use All Words
USING ALL WORDS

By default, Crossword Express will search through all of the words in the dictionary when it is making a new puzzle. If you would like it to ignore words which have been used in recently constructed puzzles, then you should turn this option off. However, if you are making a very large or very complex puzzle it is advisable to leave the option set to on.


SHOW LETTERS

When Crossword Express is MAKEing a new puzzle, it lets you know how far it has progressed, by displaying the actual letters it has inserted into the puzzle. This is the default condition, and can be quite entertaining to watch, but it is not recommended if you are making a puzzle which you plan to solve yourself. Turning off this option will result in the squares of the lattice being shaded to a light gray whenever a letter is inserted, but still giving a very graphic indication of progress. This option also controls the appearance of the Print Puzzle screen.


Starting the MAKE operation
STARTING MAKE

This is done by clicking the Start Make button, or by pressing 'M' on the keyboard when the MAKE menu is displayed. As the operation proceeds, a number of brief Advisory messages will be displayed to keep you informed of progress. A short beep is emitted when the process is complete. The Make process can be stopped at any time by clicking the Stop Make button.


ADVISORY MESSAGES

Ready... This advises you that all is in readiness for Crossword Express to begin making a puzzle.

Planning Strategy Crossword Express is doing some detailed planning about how it will approach the making of this puzzle.

Loading Dictionary The words of the selected dictionary are being loaded into memory for fast access by the Make function.

Making Puzzle Self explanatory.

Updating Dictionary The words used in making this puzzle are marked, so that they are less likely to be used in subsequent puzzles.

Puzzle completed. Self explanatory.

Make Interrupted This is displayed if you stop Make by clicking the Stop/Return button.

Printing... You will only see this message if you choose the Multi-Print option.

Insufficient words of length nn (where nn is a number between 2 and 15) The lattice contains more words of the stated length than are available in the current dictionary. You should change the lattice design or add more words to the dictionary.

Sorry. . . . Unable to construct puzzle This message indicates that Crossword Express has tried all combinations of the words in the current dictionary, but was unable to construct a puzzle. This may happen if you have a very large and complex lattice, or a very small dictionary, or have placed a large number of Preset Words into the lattice. Try to simplify the situation, or add more words to the dictionary.


SOLVING A CROSSWORD

When you enter the SOLVE screen, one of the available puzzles will be displayed, and solving of this puzzle may commence immediately if desired. Otherwise you can select a different puzzle by the two step process of Selecting the Dictionary which was used to create the puzzle you want to solve and then Selecting the Puzzle.

You can then begin the The Solution Process which can be made more interesting by changing The Solve Font, by Cheating (occasionally) and by following your progress on The Score Board.


THE SOLUTION PROCESS

The solution process is assisted by a focus cell which is colored red, and a focus word which is colored pale yellow. Any character which is typed at the keyboard will be placed into the focus cell, and the focus cell will automatically move forward to the next character of the focus word. The location of the focus cell and its corresponding word may be shifted by pointing and clicking with the mouse, or by means of the cursor control keys (Up, Down, Left, Right, PgUp, PgDn, Home, End). Other keys which provide useful functions during the solution process are Back Space, Delete and Enter.


Selecting a Puzzle to Solve
SELECTING A PUZZLE

In most cases you will want to select the puzzle you are going to solve or print, and you can do this by clicking the Select Puzzle button. This will display a dialog box containing a list of the available puzzles from which you can select.

> Mouse method  Point to the puzzle you want and click the left mouse button. If the puzzle you want to select is not visible in the list box, you can use the scroll bar to bring the missing items into view. To make your selection final, click the OK button.

> Keyboard method  Use the arrow keys or the Page up and Page down keys to move the highlight through the list until it covers the one you want to select, then press Enter.

Your puzzle selection is assisted by a preview section to the right of the list box which displays the Puzzle Description of the currently highlighted puzzle.


THE SOLVE FONT

The font used to display the puzzle as you are solving it is the same one which is used by the print function when the solution is being printed. This font will be the one specified as the Word Font when the dictionary was created, or if no such font was specified, it will be the font selected from the Print Options dialog box to be used for printing of the solution. This dialog box is available via the Custom Print button on the Print screen.


CHEATING

If you are in the mood for cheating, just hit the '?' key, and the correct solution letter will be entered into the focus cell. Don't over-use this feature, as the program counts the number of times it is used and displays it in the Score Board. Remember that this function will not be available if the puzzle you are solving was created with the Cheating function disabled.


THE SCORE BOARD

Pressing F4, or clicking the Score Board button will display a dialog box which details your progress toward solving the puzzle. Remember that this function will not be available if the puzzle you are solving was created with the Score Board function disabled.


PRINTING A CROSSWORD

When you enter the PRINT screen, one of the available puzzles will be displayed, and printing of this puzzle may commence immediately if desired. Otherwise you can select a different puzzle by the two step process of Selecting the Dictionary which was used to create the puzzle you want to print and then Selecting the Puzzle. Note that when the puzzle is displayed, the letters of the puzzle may or may not be included, depending on the setting of the Show Letters option available from the MAKE screen.

In most cases you will use Smart Print to print your puzzles, but if you want to dictate the positioning and size of the puzzle, then you can use the Custom Print option. The Clue In Puzzle print operation provides an interesting variation in which the clues are incorporated into the actual puzzle. The Fill-In and Word-Find print options provide another two interesting variations for you to try. If you are making crossword puzzles for use in Desktop Publishing, then you will find the Clipboard Export option more suitable to your needs. The Printer Setup button leads you to the standard printer setup dialog box for your printer. If you have more than one printer, you can choose between them here, or you can change various characteristics such as paper orientation. If you do not use this option, Crossword Express will automatically present you with the dialog the first time you use any of the print functions.The User Options button leads you to a dialog box where you can change a number of options which affect the appearance of your printed output.


CUSTOM PRINT

Mostly when you print a puzzle, you will use the Smart Print button which will produce a printout which is suitable for most situations. If you want to do anything unusual, such as placing different parts of the printout on different pages, or printing a very large puzzle, then the Custom Print function is the one to use. When you take this option, you will be presented with a dialog box which provides you with a comprehensive range of options which you can adjust before you actually start printing.

The following options are available:-

Measurement Units

The Puzzle Group Box

The Solution Group Box

The Clues Group Box

Custom Print Status

Print Button

User Options Button

Please note that most of the controls in this dialog box are adjustable in two ways:-

1. Click into the required control box, and then type in the required value.

2. Click on the '+' and '-' buttons associated with the control. This is handy if you only want to make small adjustments to the value.

When you are satisfied that you have correctly set all of the Print Options, you can commence printing by clicking the Print button. This will result in the values of the Print Options being saved to become the new defaults, and in the puzzle being sent to the Print Manager. A message box will inform you that the puzzle is being printed, and a short beep will be heard when the program has finished its printing activity. At this point you may go ahead and perform other functions even though the printer may still be producing output. If you decide not to proceed with printing, use the Cancel button to abandon the process.


Measurement Units
Most of the print options involve measurements which control the positioning and size of the printed elements. This raises the question of whether the measurements should be in English or Metric units. As it happens, this is a decision you can make yourself by clicking the checkbox associated with either English or Metric.


Puzzle Group Box
THE PUZZLE GROUPBOX

There are four sets of controls in this dialog box:-

Width ... This is the value which controls the size of the printed puzzle. The height of the puzzle will be determined by the relative number of horizontal and vertical cells in the puzzle, and also by your decision to include or not include the puzzle description in the printout.

Margins ... The Left and Top Margins control the location of the puzzle on the resulting printout. The default value for the margins is zero.

Puzzle Description Print Options

Print check box ... The state of this box determines whether or not the puzzle will be printed at all. In any case, no printing occurs until the Print button at the bottom of the dialog box is clicked.


Solution Group Box
THE SOLUTION GROUPBOX

There are five sets of controls in this dialog box:-

Width ... This is the value which controls the size of the printed solution. The height of the solution will be determined by the relative number of horizontal and vertical cells in the puzzle, and also by your decision to include or not include the puzzle title in the printout.

Margins ... The Left and Top Margins control the location of the solution on the resulting printout. The default value for the margins is zero.

Solution Title Print Options

Print check box ... The state of this box determines whether or not the solution will be printed at all. In any case, no printing occurs until the Print button at the bottom of the dialog box is clicked.

Text Format check box ... Checking this box will result in the solution being printed in a text format, rather than the traditional lattice format. The Width and Margins defined above will be effective, and the font characteristics will be those which have been defined for the puzzle solution.


Clues Group Box
THE CLUES GROUPBOX

There are five sets of controls in this dialog box:-

Margins ... The Left and Top Margins control the location of the clues on the resulting printout. The default value for the margins is zero.

Character Size ... The size of the characters used to print the clues is entered here in 'points'. As a result it is independant of your choice of inches or cms for the Units of Measurement.

Column Width and Column Length... These are specified in the units you chose under Units of Measurement.

Number of Columns ... Make sure that the Number of Columns multiplied by the Column Width does not exceed the width of the paper on which you are printing. It may well happen that not all of the clues will fit onto a single sheet. In such cases, printing will automatically flow on to the next sheet, and the top margin will be set to zero for second and subsequent sheets.

Print check box ... The state of this box determines whether or not the clues will be printed at all. In any case, no printing occurs until the Print button at the bottom of the dialog box is clicked.


Custom Print Status
This Status report will give you an indication of what the Custom Print function is currently doing.

The two possibilities are:-

Dialog ... The program is ready to receive your input.

Printing ... The program is getting puzzle data ready for transmitting to the printer.


Print button
The Print button sends the selected puzzle components to the printer, with formatting determined by the current settings for Print Dimensions, Print Margins, Font Sizes and number of Clue Columns.


PUZZLE DESCRIPTION OPTIONS

This dialog box consists of two group boxes in addition to the normal OK, Cancel and Help buttons:-

Puzzle Description Group Box.

Controls in this group box allow you to control whether or not the description details will be printed. If you decide that they should be printed, then you can allow the program to select suitable default values for the font, size and face of the text, or you can determine this independently for each of the five elements of the description by means of the five Font Selection buttons.

Solution Title Group Box.

Here you can control whether or not the Solution Title will be printed, and if it is you can either permit the program to select defaults values for the font, size and face of the text, or you can select these for yourself using the single Font Selection button.

PLEASE NOTE ... As a general rule, Crossword Express will use the font details that you choose. However, if you select a text size which is inappropriately large, the program will automatically reduce this value so that the puzzle description item will fit into the space available.


CLIPBOARD EXPORT

If you are developing crossword puzzles for publication in newsletters and the like, then you will probably want to paste the puzzle directly into your Word Processor or Desk Top Publishing application. Crossword Express allows you to export your puzzle to the Windows Clipboard, from where it can easily be pasted into your publication.

The dialog box provides two sets of controls:-

> Export Mode. The choices are Metafile mode and Bitmap mode. Of these, Metafile generally gives the better results and is recommended.

> Export Type. Here you can choose between Lattice, Solution and Clues. The Clipboard can hold only one of these at a time, so if you are interested in including all three types to your publication, you will have to do three separate Export and Paste operations.

When you have made your selection from these controls, you can do the Export by clicking the Export button, or you can abandon the process by means of the Cancel button.


SMART PRINT

This is the option which you will most often use to produce a printed copy of your crossword puzzles. The Smart Print dialog box contains the following controls and buttons:-

Measurement Units Group Box.

Print Dimensions Group Box.

Print Margins Group Box

Clue Columns Group Box.

Solution Puzzle Group Box.

Status Group Box

User Options Button

Preview Button

Puzzle Description Print Options

Print Button

Export Button

If the puzzle output is not exactly to your liking, or if you want some special feature, then you should use the Custom Print option. This requires a measure of setting up before printing begins, and you should study the Help screens provided before attempting to use it.


FILL-IN PRINT

This option provides an interesting variation to the normal crossword printout...instead of printing the clues, the actual words of the puzzle are listed in length order and in alphabetical order. To solve such a puzzle, the words must be fitted back into the puzzle with each word being used exactly once. The dialog box contains the following items:-

Measurement Units Group Box.

Print Dimensions Group Box.

Print Margins Group Box

Clue Columns Group Box.

Solution Puzzle Group Box.

Status Group Box

User Options Button

Preview Button

Print Button

Export Button


WORD-FIND PRINT

This option provides yet another variation on the normal crossword printout. It is similar to the Fill-In puzzle with the actual words of the puzzle listed in length order and in alphabetical order. In addition to this, the letters of the words are printed into the puzzle lattice, and instead of printing the pattern squares, CWE replaces them with randomly chosen letters. This results in a simple Word-Find puzzle, in which the solver must find the location of each word in the puzzle. The dialog box contains the following items:-

Measurement Units Group Box.

Print Dimensions Group Box.

Print Margins Group Box

Clue Columns Group Box.

Solution Puzzle Group Box.

Status Group Box

User Options Button

Preview Button

Print Button

Export Button


The measurements which you specify for the size of the print area in your Crossword Express printing functions may be given in inches or in cms. Two Radio Buttons are provided in this Group Box to allow you to indicate your preference.


The Horizontal and Vertical dimensions of the printed output can be input either directly by selecting the appropriate input box and typing in the required value, or indirectly by clicking the associated - and + buttons. These buttons change the dimension values by one tenth of a unit for each click.


The Top and Left margin dimensions of the printed output can be input either directly by selecting the appropriate input box and typing in the required value, or indirectly by clicking the associated - and + buttons. These buttons change the dimension values by one tenth of a unit for each click. Correct use of these values allow you to position the entire puzzle at any desired location on the printed output.


This is where the user can control the number of columns of clues which appear in the printed output. The two values to be considered here are the total number of columns from left to right across the entire printout, and the number of columns across the width of the puzzle lattice. These values can only be adjusted by clicking the - and + buttons associated with the two values.


The Select button will provide you with a list box containing a list of all of the puzzles which are available for inclusion as solutions in the printout. You should note that the solution puzzle must have the same dimensions (squares Across and squares Down) as the actual puzzle, but of course it need not be the same puzzle. If you do not select a Solution Puzzle, then only the puzzle and its clues will be printed, and no solution will be included.


This Status report will give you an indication of what the printing function is currently doing.

The three possibilities are:-

> Dialog  The program is ready to receive your input.

> Previewing  The program is getting puzzle data ready for display on the screen.

> Printing  The program is getting puzzle data ready for transmitting to the printer.

> Exporting  The program is placing the puzzle into the clipboard.


The Preview button triggers the display on the screen of a replica of the printed output, based on the current settings for Print Dimensions and Clue Columns. Previewing of adjustments to these settings can be done very quickly and easily.


This will place a replica of the previewed output into the clipboard.This replica will be suitable for pasting into most WP and DTP applications, and although it is resizeable, you should ensure that the values of the Horizontal and Vertical dimensions are appropriate to the area into which the puzzle is to be pasted.


The Print button sends the puzzle to the printer, with formatting determined by the current settings for Print Dimensions, Print Margins and Clue Columns. It is recommended that the Preview function always be used before printing is undertaken.


Clue In Puzzle
CLUE IN PUZZLE PRINT

This method of printing provides an interesting variation to the farmiliar tabular method of presenting the clues of a puzzle. The clues are incorporated into the puzzle itself, and are printed in the puzzle cells which would have otherwise been black pattern cells. The Clue in Puzzle dialog box contains the following controls and buttons:-

Measurement Units Group Box.

Print Dimensions Group Box.

Status Group Box

Print and Cancel Buttons

A few warnings regarding the use of this feature are appropriate, due to the limited space available for the printing of the clues. One way or the other, Crossword Express will fit the clues into the puzzle, but you can make its job easier, and improve the end result by following these suggestions:-

> Set the Print Dimensions to the maximum values permitted by the paper on which you are printing.

> Limit the size of your puzzle. For example, if you are printing onto A4 paper, then a reasonable maximum size for your puzzle would be 12 cells by 18 cells.

> Try to arrange the design of pattern cells in you lattice in such a way that there is no requirement for an Across and a Down clue to be printed into the same cell. Crossword Express will do this if it has to, but it will result in the use of a very small font, and may well be unreadable.

> Ensure that the dictionary which you use to make these puzzles has clues which are as short as possible.


This Status report will give you an indication of what the Clue in Puzzle function is currently doing.

The two possibilities are:-

> Dialog  The program is ready to receive your input.

> Printing  The program is getting puzzle data ready to be transmitted to the printer.


The Print button sends the puzzle to the printer, with formatting determined by the current Print Dimension settings. The Cancel button returns you to the Print menu, and no printing function is performed.


EDIT A DICTIONARY

When you first enter the Edit Dictionary dialog box, the Edit Status indicator will show 'Loading Dictionary'. The time required for this activity will depend on the size of the dictionary you are about to edit. When the dictionary has loaded, the Status will change to 'Editing...', and a portion of the contents of the dictionary will be displayed. To the left of the dialog box will be displayed the current word in an edit box, along with a maximum of five words immediately before and after the current word in the dictionary. To the right of the current word, the current clue will be displayed in a much larger edit box.The following sub topics provide details of how to make use of the controls provided in the Edit Dictionary Dialog Box:-

Navigating the Dictionary

Adding and Deleting words

Saving the changes

Case Sensitivity


Navigating a Didtionary
NAVIGATING A DICTIONARY

Moving around the dictionary is a simple matter of clicking the Scroll Forward and Scroll Back buttons. Buttons are provided to move you 1, 10, 100 or 1000 words at a time. If you want to jump to a very precise location in the dictionary, you can click the 'Enter a New Word' button, and type into the word edit box the word that you want to jump to and then press the Enter key. If the word happens to be already in the dictionary, its clue will be displayed, and you will have the opportunity of editing that clue. If the word is not in the dictionary, the clue edit box will be empty, and you can type in a clue if you wish. Otherwise you can continue scanning through the dictionary by means of the Scroll buttons.


ADDING AND DELETING WORDS

Adding Words.

Clicking the 'Enter a New Word' button or pressing the Enter key will move the cursor to the Word edit box, and allow you to type in the new word. When you have done so, pressing the Enter key again will move the cursor to the Clue edit box where you can type in your clue. If you want to type in more than one clue for the new word, you should separate the clues by means of a single '*' character. When finished you can move to a new location in the dictionary by means of the scroll buttons, or you can add another word as before. In either case, the changes you have made will be saved into a 'Change List', and a counter will be updated to show you how many entries you have in the Change List. As with any editing function, you should save your work at regular intervals.

Deleting Words.

Clicking the 'Delete this Word' button will replace the current clue with the string '##DELETED'. This will be recorded in the Change List and the word will be deleted from the dictionary the next time you do a Save operation.

Editing Clues.

If you make any change at all to the clue of the current word, this will be recorded in the Change List, and the Clue will be updated when you do the next Save operation.


SAVING THE CHANGES

To avoid the frustration of losing your work in a power failure, you should perform a save operation at regular intervals. Mostly you will use the 'Save and Resume' button which allows you to continue editing after the save. The Edit Status will change to 'Saving...' followed by 'Loading Dictionary...'. When the Status reverts to 'Editing' you may resume your dictionary editing.

If you are done with editing, you can use the 'Save and Quit' button which results in the Edit Dictionary dialog box being closed after the save has been completed.

If you want to finish editing without saving your changes, then you should use the Quit button. Note that a warning will be given in this case if changes have been made.


CASE SENSITIVITY

Under default conditions, the characters in the word will be converted to Upper Case. If you require that the case of your input be maintained, you can easily achieve this by checking the Case Sensitivity checkbox. Note that the state of this checkbox reverts to the unchecked state each time the Edit Dictionary dialog box is initiated.


Crozzle Puzzles
MAKING CLASSROOM PUZZLES

A Classroom puzzle or Crozzle differs from the standard crossword in the following ways:-

> It is constructed from a very limited set of words. The Special Interest dictionaries are used for this purpose, and may have as many as 255 words, or as few as 10 words. Such dictionaries usually follow a specific theme such as Football, Surfing, Great Composers, Botany, or any other topic you may care to name.

> It is constructed on a blank lattice, with the program inserting black squares as required, so that the end result does not in general exhibit any symmetry.

> The degree of interlinking of words is quite low, with less than half of the total letters actually interlinking.

The following steps are involved in building a Crozzle:-

> Enter the Puzzle Description for the new puzzle.

> Specify the Puzzle You will either enter the number of rows and columns, or select from a list of Crozzle templates.

> Select a Dictionary if the current selection is not the one you want to use.

> Alternatively, you can create a New Dictionary or Edit the current selection.

> Use the Make button to start the construction process.

> When your puzzle is made use either the Solve or the Print button to begin making use of your new puzzle.


Specify Puzzle
SPECIFY A CROZZLE PUZZLE

The Crozzle Puzzle is specified in one of two different ways:-

1.   Specify the size of the rectangle which will contain the puzzle:-

Squares Across. Insert a value in the range 3 to 30 to specify the number of columns of squares in the finished puzzle.

Squares Down. Insert a value in the range 3 to 30 to specify the number of rows of squares in the finished puzzle.

Note. These values are treated as maximum values only. If Crossword Express can fit all of the words contained in your list into a smaller area, then it will do so.

2.   Select a Crozzle Template from a list of available templates. Note that all Crozzle Templates have names commencing with the $ character. A template enables you to make Crozzles in shapes of your own choosing, such as a circle or a heart. The Lattice Maintenance function provides all of the facilities you will need to design your own templates. In particular, refer to the topic Defining Null Cells.


SELECTING A SPECIAL INTEREST DICTIONARY

This option provides you with a listbox containing the available Special Interest dictionaries, with the currently selected dictionary highlighted. Note that the names of such dictionaries all commence with the special character '$'. Select the Special Interest dictionary by clicking its name in the listbox, or use the arrow keys to highlight the required dictionary, and then press Enter.


NEW DICTIONARY

This function allows you to create a new Special Interest dictionary, and to immediately begin the task of entering words and clues into it. The dialog box has a single input field which accepts the name of the new dictionary, and two buttons which allow you to select fonts for the Words and Clues in this new dictionary. The rules which govern the naming of this dictionary are:-

> The name must commence with the $ character.

> The remainder of the name can have a maximum of 7 characters selected from the 26 letters and the 10 digits.

> The name will not be accepted if it is the same as an existing dictionary.

Clicking the OK button after a legal name has been entered will automatically put you into a Dictionary Edit screen where you can begin to build your new dictionary.


MAKING A CROZZLE

Clicking the Start Make button, or pressing M will begin the construction process, and Crossword Express will create and display the first puzzle within a few seconds. As the crozzle construction progresses, the program maintains two scores which provide a figure of merit for the puzzle concerned. These are:-

> The total number of words used in the puzzle.

> The total number of interlinking letters in the puzzle.

These scores are displayed along with the puzzle itself. Crossword Express then goes into a repetitive puzzle building sequence, in which it looks for a better quality puzzle. A puzzle is considered to be of better quality if it contains a greater number of words, or if it contains the same number of words, but a greater number of interlinking letters. Whenever such a puzzle is found, it is displayed along with its word and interlinking letter scores. This construction phase will normally  be allowed to run until the currently displayed puzzle is considered to be of satisfactory quality, at which time construction is terminated by clicking the Stop Make button, or by pressing Escape. You can then exit from the Crozzle screen by means of the Return button, or you can resume Crozzle construction by means of the Start Make button. Crozzle puzzles can be solved or printed in exactly the same way as normal puzzles.


Preset Words
MAKING PRESET WORD PUZZLES

The Preset Words feature of Crossword Express allows you to specify that particular words must be used at certain locations within the lattice when it is used to create a puzzle. Easy to use functions allow you to specify what these Preset Words will be, what clues will be associated with them , and exactly where in the lattice they will be located.

The following steps are involved in the construction of a Preset puzzle, although the first three are optional if you are happy to use the current default values:-

> Enter the Puzzle Description for the new puzzle.

> Select a Lattice if the current one is not to your liking.

> Select a Dictionary if the current one is not the one you want to use.

> Edit the Preset Words Dictionary. You can either make changes to the list, or start a completely new list.

> Locate the Preset Words into the lattice at the locations you would like them to be

> Start the MAKE Process and sit back and watch the action. During the MAKE process, a number of Advisory messages will be displayed.

> When your puzzle is made use either the Solve or the Print button to begin making use of your new puzzle.

Getting the Preset Words function to achieve the results you want can be a problem if it is not approached in the correct way. If you have any doubts at all, you should read the following Tips:-

Tip 1. Selecting an appropriate Lattice

Tip 2. Creeping up on a solution


LOCATING PRESET WORDS

When you select this function, Crossword Express will load your list of Preset Words into memory, and will fit as many of them as possible into the currently selected lattice. It will then present you with a dialog box which will enable you to exercise complete control over the placement of Preset Words in the lattice. This dialog box contains a list of your Preset Words, up to a maximum of 20 words. Each word has a set of three placement control buttons:-

> The Use/Dont use button. This button is located to the left of the word, and will contain the letter 'x' if the word is currently included in the lattice, or it will be empty if the word is not included in the lattice. Clicking this button will toggle the word into and out of the lattice. When the word goes into the lattice it will occupy the first available slot of the correct size. If Crossword Express is unable to find a slot for the word, a short beep will be heard.

> The '<' button. This button moves its corresponding word to the previous available slot. If no previous slot is available, a short beep will be heard.

> The '>' button. This button moves its corresponding word to the next available slot. If there is no next slot, a short beep will be heard.

When you are happy with the locations of your Preset Words, you can return to the Preset Word screen by means of the OK button, or you can use the Make button to return to the Preset Word screen, and automatically begin the Make function.


SELECTING AN APPROPRIATE LATTICE

Lattices may be classified in various ways, but in the context of Preset Words and Special Interest Puzzles, the important characteristic is the percentage of active cells which contain interlinking letters. In the following two examples, the first has 90% of the active cells occupied by interlinking letters, while the second has just 36%.

Naturally, the higher this percentage, the greater the difficulty involved in creating the puzzle, and this is doubly so when Preset or Special Interest words are involved. Some crossword purists may insist that this percentage should always be 100%, but if you are serious about getting a high proportion of your own words into the puzzle, then a figure of less than 50% is strongly recommended.


CREEPING UP ON A SOLUTION

If you ask Crossword Express to Make a Preset Word puzzle after you have located all twenty words into a lattice, then the almost certain result will be the message 'Sorry. . . Unable to construct puzzle'. It must be remembered that placing even only a small number of Preset Words will so limit the options available to Crossword Express that a solution may be very difficult to find. The answer to this dilemma is to 'creep up' on the solution by starting with perhaps just 3 or 4 Preset Words in the lattice. When you have satisfied yourself that a satisfactory solution can be found, go back into the Locate Presets screen, and place one more word into the puzzle, and execute Make again. Continue this process for as long as Crossword Express is able to complete the Make, and this will yield the puzzle with the greatest possible number of Preset Words.


Special Interest Puzzles
MAKING SPECIAL INTEREST PUZZLES

Many users will want to generate crossword puzzles which follow a particular theme or subject, but find that they cannot create a big enough dictionary on the subject to be able to reliably construct the desired puzzle. The 'Special Interest Puzzle' option overcomes this problem by allowing the user to specify Special Interest dictionaries which Crossword Express will search in an effort to find a suitable word. Only if a suitable word cannot be found in any of the Special Interest dictionaries will the search revert to the standard or 'Back-fill' dictionary. As few as one, or as many as four Special Interest dictionaries may be specified, and these will be searched in strict priority order.  A Special Interest dictionary can be quite small, having a maximum of several hundred words.

Of course, this does not provide any guarantees as to how many, or even if any, Special Interest words will be included in the puzzle. For this reason, Crossword Express will display a count of how many Special Interest words were included, and will then go on and create a whole series of puzzles. Each time it makes a puzzle having a count which is higher than the previous best, it will save that puzzle under the name that you have specified, and will update the Puzzle and Best Count display. This process will continue until such time as you click the Stop/Return button, or press Escape.

An important feature of the puzzle display is the background color coding used to indicate the dictionary from which the Special Interest words were obtained. These colors are:-

Priority 1...Gray

Priority 2...Green

Priority 3...Blue

Priority 4...Brown

The following steps are involved in the construction of a Special Interest puzzle, although the first four are optional if you are happy to use the current default values:-

> Enter the Puzzle Description for the new puzzle.

> Select a Lattice if the current one is not to your liking.

> Select the Special Interest Dictionaries which you intend to use. From one to four dictionaries may be selected.

> Select the Backfill Dictionary to be used. This would normally be the English dictionary.

> Start the Special Interest MAKE Process and sit back and watch the action. During the MAKE process, a number of Advisory messages will be displayed.

> When your puzzle is made use either the Solve or the Print button to begin making use of your new puzzle.

The degree of success you have with Special Interest puzzle creation depends to a large extent on the lattice choice. This aspect is described in the topic Selecting an appropriate Lattice.


SELECTING THE SPECIAL INTEREST DICTIONARIES

The dialog box for selecting the prioritized list of Special Interest dictionaries may appear quite daunting at first sight, due to the large number of buttons, but it is quite simple in its operation. Firstly note that there are four more or less identical sets of buttons, one for each of the maximum of four Special Interest dictionaries. The names of the dictionaries appear at the left hand end of the dialog box as they are selected. If no dictionary has been selected at a given priority level, then its slot will be left blank.

The functions of the buttons are as follows:-

> Select. This activates a dialog box which allows you to select a dictionary for the associated priority slot. If there is already a dictionary in the slot concerned, then it will be replaced by your new selection.

> Create / Edit This is a dual purpose button, whose function is conditioned by whether or not a dictionary has already been selected for its associated slot. If one has been selected, then you will be presented with the contents of that dictionary displayed in the Edit Dictionary dialog box, where you can edit it in any way you wish. (See Edit Dictionary) If no dictionary has been specified for this slot, then you will see a small dialog box which will invite you to enter the name of a new Special Interest dictionary. When you have done this correctly, you will be presented with an Edit Dictionary dialog box into which you can begin to enter the contents of your new dictionary.

> Clear If you want to eliminate a dictionary from one of the priority slots, then clicking the associated Clear button will achieve the desired result. Note that this does not clear the contents of the dictionary. It just removes it from your list.

> Swap It may happen that you have all of the wanted dictionaries selected, but have accidently gotten them into the wrong order. Rather than going through the process of clearing and reselecting, you can quickly rearrange the order of the puzzles by use of the Swap buttons.


STARTING THE SPECIAL INTEREST MAKE PROCESS

Clicking the Make button, or pressing 'M' on the keyboard when the Special Interest menu is displayed will start the MAKE process. Crossword Express will make a series of puzzles, and each time it makes one having a number of Special Interest words which exceeds the previous best, it will save that puzzle, and update the Puzzle and Special Interest word count displays. This operation will continue until you are satisfied with the number of Special Interest words actually inserted in the puzzle, at which time you can stop the process by clicking the Stop/Return button, or by pressing Escape. As MAKE proceeds, a number of brief Advisory messages will be displayed to let you know what is happening, and a  short beep is emitted each time an improved score is achieved. Having stopped the MAKE process, you can exit from the Special Interest Puzzle screen by use of the Stop/Return button, or you can resume the construction cycle by using the Make button.


MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS

The following functions allow you to perform a selection of operations on the puzzles that you have created. They are grouped together here because they do not fit readily into any of the other main groupings. The functions are as follows:-

Edit a Puzzle

Rebuild A Puzzle

Lockout Words

Export as Text

Deleting A Puzzle

Options


EDIT A PUZZLE

The currently selected puzzle is presented with the first word in the puzzle highlighted in green. This word and its clue are also placed in edit boxes in the Edit dialog box, where they can both be altered if required. If you should want to edit other words in the puzzle, you can select these words by means of the four buttons at the top of the Edit dialog box. The > button moves the highlight forward one position through the puzzle, while the >> button moves the highlight forward ten positions through  the puzzle. In a similar way the < and << buttons move the highlight backwards through the puzzle. When you are done with editing, the OK button will save your changes, but you can also abandon all of the changes at any time by use of the Cancel button.

If you intend to use this edit facility, you should be aware of the fact that Crossword Express makes no judgements about the changes you make. It is your responsibility, and yours alone, to ensure that interlinking words continue to be valid words after you make your changes.

Naturally, when you are in the Puzzle Edit dialog box, you also have an opportunity to edit the Puzzle Description


REBUILD A PUZZLE

Crossword Express provides you with several possibilities for creating dictionaries without clues. This is described under the heading of Clueless Dictionaries. When you make a puzzle using such a dictionary, a placeholder consisting of the * character followed by the 'Word' is used in place of the missing clue. It is then a simple matter to add clues to the dictionary for just those words which were used in the construction of the puzzle. This can be done using the Edit Dictionary function of Dictionary Maintenance. The Rebuild Puzzle function can then be used to rebuild the puzzle file with your new clues included in it.


LOCKOUT WORDS

Many users of this program will be interested in ensuring that their puzzles don't use the same words over and over again. This function takes care of that problem by locking out the words used in the currently selected puzzle, so that they cannot be used in subsequent puzzles. Note however that if a word has two or more different clues defined in the dictionary, then it will only be locked out after each of those clues has been used in a puzzle. Naturally, the multiple clues are used in sequence, until all of them have been used, at which point the word is locked out.

Words and their corresponding clues which have been locked out are not lost. They are still contained in the dictionary, and may be brought back into use by means of the Unlock function which is available from the Dictionary Maintenance screen.


EXPORT AS TEXT

The Smart Print and Custom Print functions provided by Crossword Express will satisfy completely the printing requirements of the great majority of users. Inevitably however, there will be occasions where very special layouts are required which can only be achieved by direct intervention by the user. The Export as Text function will assist in these cases by writing either the Clues or the Solution to a text file which you can edit using your preferred Text Editor or Word Processor before pasting it into a DTP application.

The dialog box contains seperate buttons for exporting the Solution and the Clues. In either case, you will be presented with a standard file save dialog box which suggests the file names solution.txt or clues.txt. You can accept these suggested defaults, or you can change them to any name you wish. You can also save them to any location you wish within your file system.


DELETING A PUZZLE

Clicking the Delete button, or pressing 'D' will activate the delete function for the puzzle which is currently displayed. A message box will appear to give you an opportunity to change your mind.


USER OPTIONS

This is a collection of useful options which may be changed at will to make Crossword Express conform to the users particular taste. Some of these options are duplicated in other locations within the program, but are grouped together here for convenience. Just point at the option you are interested in, and click to see a brief description of the option.

Use all words during Make.

Show letters during Make.

Include Solution in Lattice.

Period after Clue Number.

Invert Solution.

Pattern Density.

Choosing a new Language

Font.

Clue Lettering

Clue Labels


By default, CROSSWORD EXPRESS will try not to use the words which were used in recently constructed puzzles when it is making a new puzzle. If you would like all words in the dictionary to have an equal chance of being used, turn this option on. Use of this option is recommended when very large, complex puzzles are being made.


When CROSSWORD EXPRESS is MAKEing a new puzzle, it lets you know how far it has progressed, by displaying the actual letters it has inserted into the puzzle. This is the default condition, and can be quite entertaining to watch, but it is not recommended if you are making a puzzle which you plan to solve yourself. Turning off this option will result in the squares of the lattice being shaded to a light gray whenever a letter is inserted, but still giving a very graphic indication of progress. This option also controls the appearance of the Print Puzzle screen.


If you have partially completed the solution of a puzzle on screen you may wish to print the puzzle, and to have your work included in the lattice. Selecting this checkbox will produce the desired result.


Invert
Checking this box will result in the solution part of any printout being turned up-side-down.


Normally you will print your puzzles with the pattern squares displayed as full black. If you should want to conserve ink or toner on your printer, you can set a Pattern Density by clicking the + and - buttons. Available densities are 0%, 6%, 12%, 25%, 50% and 100%. If you choose 0%, the pattern squares will not be printed at all, and a skeleton style puzzle will result.


CHOOSING A NEW LANGUAGE

This dialog box contains a list of available languages, having the current language highlighted. Select the required language, by clicking with the mouse, or using the cursor keys to move the highlight. When you are satisfied with your choice, click the OK button, or press Enter, and all subsequent screen text will be presented in that language. At this stage, the Help text is restricted to English only.

If you would like to create a new language for CROSSWORD EXPRESS, you can do this by copying the file ENGLISH.TXT into a new file called LANGUAGE.TXT, where LANGUAGE can be any language which can be represented using the Latin alphabet. Then do a word by word translation of this file into the chosen language. This is best done using a simple text editor, as the resulting text file must be a simple ASCII file.


The default mode for Crossword Express when printing the clues is to NOT place a period after the clue number. Selecting this checkbox will result in the clues being printed with a single period after the clue number.


When solving a puzzle, the clues are presented in an intermediate font size which should be satisfactory for most users. You can change this font size to a considerably smaller one or to a much larger one to suit your tastes.


If you make puzzles in languages other than English, you will want to change the default ACROSS and DOWN labels which are attached to the clues when they are printed or exported. Up to 30 characters can be input here for each of the labels.


Font
This is where you can specify the font which is to be used when printing the various components of a puzzle. Note that the fonts which are specified for the printing of the solution and the clues will also be used to display the puzzle when it is being solved on screen. Don't forget that this font selection will be over-ridden in the case of Solutions and/or Clues, if a font has been permanently associated with the dictionary at the time of creation.


Registration Reminder
PLEASE REGISTER

The first thing you will notice after you register your copy of Crossword Express is that you will no longer be troubled by this Registration Reminder screen. That represents a big benefit in itself, but there are a number of other even more important Registration Benefits.

A number of different Registration options are available by clicking the Registration button on the Control Center screen.


Dictionary Restriction
DICTIONARY IMPORT RESTRICTION

You are attempting to import an 'Encoded Word List' file. This a function which can only be performed by a registered copy of Crossword Express at version 4.2 or better. If you choose to register your program, these additional Registration Benefits will also become available to you.

A number of different Registration options are available by clicking the Registration button on the Control Center screen.


Make Restriction
PUZZLE MAKE RESTRICTION

You are attempting to Make a puzzle in which the Horizontal dimension or the Vertical dimension exceeds 10 which is the maximum allowable limit for the Demonstration version of Crossword Express. If you click the Make button again, Crossword Express will make the puzzle for you, but it will not save it to the hard disk. If you choose to register your program, this and other restrictions will be removed, and additional Registration Benefits will also become available to you.

A number of different Registration options are available by clicking the Registration button on the Control Center screen.


THIRTY DAY RESTRICTION

You are attempting to Make a puzzle using a copy of the Demonstration version of Crossword Express which has exceeded the 30 day trial limit. If you click the Make button again, Crossword Express will make the puzzle for you, but it will not save it to the hard disk. If you choose to register your program, this and other restrictions will be removed, and additional Registration Benefits will also become available to you.

A number of different Registration options are available by clicking the Registration button on the Control Center screen.


Registration Help
ARE YOU HAVING PROBLEMS?

Crossword Express has made an assessment of the contents of your Registration Dialog box,  and found that Registration has not been finalised. If you have not yet registered your copy of the program, but would like to do so, you should read the Help topic dealing with Registration.

If you have registered, then unfortunately your attempts to use the registration codes to unlock the program have been unsuccessful. The following information is intended to help you through the problem:-

If you registered your program through PsL then you will have received from them a key which can be used to unlock the program. This key is an eight digit number which they will have referred to as a Registration Code. This code should be typed into the Registration Dialog box in the field labelled CWE key. This key is a temporary key only, and will only unlock the current version of the program. In due course, your personalized registration details will be sent to you by AUS-PC-SOFT with instructions on how to use them to unlock the program in a way which will allow you to use all future releases of the program as well.

If you have just entered your personalized registration information, then you have made a mistake in the process. Note firstly that your Name and Address details must be typed into the appropriate input fields as well as the CWE key. In doing this you must pay attention to spacing between the words, you must use upper or lower case letters as specified, and punctuation cannot be ignored. When entering the CWE key, note that any 0s which may appear are in fact digits and not letters.

If, in spite of the above information, you are still unable to unlock the program, then you should locate the file CWE.INI in your Windows directory and attach a copy of it to an email message to:-

johnstev@adelaide.dialix.com.au

This will allow us to determine exactly what you have done wrong, and you will be advised accordingly by email at the earliest opportunity.


Benefits
REGISTRATION BENEFITS

## The Crossword Express registration is a lifetime registration. This is made possible by the CWE key which you will receive when you register. This key not only unlocks the Demonstration program which you are currently using, but it will also unlock all future upgrades for as long as development on the program continues. Imagine looking forward to two or three new releases every year...just download them, install them and start using them.

## The complete library of Crossword Express dictionaries is available at no extra cost to all Registered users. They are available for download as .zip files from the Home of Crossword Express on the web... http://www.adam.com.au/johnstev

Full instructions on how to install and use these dictionaries is provided at the web site but please note...you will only be able to make use of these dictionaries if you are a registered user of Crossword Express at version 4.2 or better.

## Registered users who operate their own web page will be able to offer "Live" Crossword Puzzles for their visitors to solve on-line using the Freeware CWE Java Applet. Note that the Applet will only process puzzles generated by a registered copy of the CWE Compiler program.

## The Freeware CWE Player programs (in Windows and Macintosh versions) are available for registered users to publish their own puzzles on magnetic media. Once again, these programs will only process puzzles which have been generated using a registered copy of the CWE Compiler program.


INTERNAL SITE LICENSE

LICENSOR: AUS-PC-SOFT

Onkaparinga Valley Road

VERDUN, South Australia

5245

As a registered owner of CROSSWORD EXPRESS, you are reminded that this software is protected by the provisions of International Copyright Law. You are authorised to make copies of this software only for the purposes of backup, and to protect your investment from loss, and it is recommended that you do so. You may install the program on more than one computer if this is convenient, provided that at no time is it used on more than one computer.

Crossword puzzles produced by CROSSWORD EXPRESS may be used, published, given away or sold, without additional license fees. You are not required to indicate that the puzzles were generated by CROSSWORD EXPRESS, although a brief endorsement to this effect would be appreciated.

The LICENSOR warrants that it is the sole owner of the Software, and has full power and authority to grant this license without consent of any other party.

LIMITED WARRANTY

 With respect to the physical diskettes enclosed herein, the LICENSOR warrants the same to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 90 days from the date of purchase. In the event of a diskette proving to be defective, corrective action shall be limited to replacement, and shall not encompass any other damages, including but not limited to loss of profit, and special, incidental, consequential or other similar claims.

The LICENSOR hereby disclaims all other warranties relating to this Software, whether expressed or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The person using the Software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the Software. The LICENSOR will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason even if the LICENSOR or an agent of the LICENSOR has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall the LICENSOR's liability for any damages ever exceed the price paid for the license to use the Software, regardless of the form of the claim.


Registration
The AUS-PC-SOFT Registration System

If the program you are now using is a Demonstration version, it can be converted into a fully functional Professional version of CROSSWORD EXPRESS by registering with AUS-PC-SOFT. This unique registration system provides you with your own personalized Software Key which not only unlocks the current version of the program, but also allows you to download all future releases from the Internet, and to make full use of them without further payment of any kind.

For a full understanding of the AUS-PC-SOFT Registration System, and details of alternatives to the email method of registering, please read the following topics.

Entering your Registration details

Forwarding your Registration details

Unlocking your program

Why you should register


Registration Fees

There are two levels of registration for Crossword Express:-

Individual Registration.

This entitles an individual user to install and use the program on a single computer, although this rule is usually relaxed to permit it to be installed on several machines provided that it is never used on more than one machine at any given time.

The cost of an Individual Registration is $44.00 Australian ($35.00 US).

Site License.

The purchase of a Site License entitles registered users to install the program on all of the computers in their organisation.

The cost of a Site License is $64.00 plus $3.00 (US) per computer or $80.00 plus $4.00 (Australian) per computer.

Please Note that these prices are for email delivery of the CWE key. For air-mail delivery of disks, please add $5.00 US ($6.00 Australian) to cover handling and postage.


Payment Options

Credit Card.

Credit card payments can be accepted for VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Bankcard.

Check.

Please make checks payable to AUS-PC-SOFT Shareware and if possible have them drawn directly in Australian currency. If this is not possible, checks in other currencies will be accepted, but please add the equivalent of $10.00 Australian to cover currency conversion fees.

Cash.

Finally, although it is not recommended, cash payments will be accepted. For security reasons, it would be a good idea to send such payments by whatever form of certified mail is available to you.


Entering Registration details
ENTERING YOUR REGISTRATION DETAILS

The dialog box used for entering your registration details is divided into four Group Boxes:-

> Postal Address. This information not only identifies you to AUS-PC-SOFT, but is also used to generate the CROSSWORD EXPRESS key which will be returned to you, and will allow you to unlock your program. It is most important that this name and address information is not changed after you have forwarded your registration details. Special arrangements need to be made in the event of (1) Installing CWE on another computer and (2) Moving to a new address

> Electronic Address. Enter your Telephone Number and Internet address. Your Internet address (if you have one) is of particular importance, as it will allow the CROSSWORD EXPRESS key to be returned to you in the shortest possible time (usually less than 24 hours).

> Credit Card Details. If you are paying by Credit Card (VISA, Mastercard or Amex), please enter your details in this area. There are two very important points you should be aware of if you elect to pay by Credit Card:-

(1) Since the transaction is processed in Australia, your account will be debited AUD $50.00 (postal delivery) or AUD $44.00 (email delivery).

(2) The Credit Card number is encoded to provide a high level of security if you send your registration details over the Internet. To satisfy yourself that this is indeed the case, use the OK button to save the data you have entered, and to return to the Control Center. Then click the Registration button again, and observe that the Card number now bears no resemblance to what you entered. It will not be decoded until it is received by AUS-PC-SOFT.

> Registration Information. This is where you will type in the CROSSWORD EXPRESS key and the Registration number when it is returned to you from AUS-PC-SOFT.


Forwarding Registration details
FORWARDING YOUR REGISTRATION DETAILS

There are two methods of forwarding your Registration Details to AUS-PC-SOFT:-

> Internet email. If you click the OK button of the Registration dialog box, all of the registration details will be stored in the file CWE.INI in the Windows directory. If you are paying by Credit Card, all you need do is email this file to the address shown near the top of the dialog box. If you would find it more convenient to have a copy of this file created somewhere else on your computer (perhaps you have an upload directory for storing your email messages before sending) then use the Save As button instead of the OK button. Finally, a copy of CWE.INI is also sent to the Windows clipboard, and you can send this copy instead if that is convenient. In any case, the clipboard provides an easy method for you to have a look at the contents of the file, and so satisfy yourself that all of the data is correct, and in particular that the Credit Card number has in fact been encoded for transmission.

> Postal Mail using printed details. A printed copy of your registration details can be generated by using the > Printer button. Send this printout, (along with your payment) to the address shown near the top of the registration dialog box.


Unlocking Program
UNLOCKING YOUR PROGRAM

When you receive the CWE key from AUS-PC-SOFT, you will be able to unlock the power of CROSSWORD EXPRESS. Take the Registration option from the Control Center once more, but this time you will enter information into the CWE key and Registration Number edit boxes only. Note that the CWE key consists of four groups of four characters separated by spaces. Please ensure that you type in these intervening spaces as well. When you are quite sure that this information has been entered correctly, click the OK button. You will find that the Registration button will disappear from the Control Center menu, and that the full functionality of CROSSWORD EXPRESS will be at your fingertips.


Installing CWE on another computer
INSTALLING CWE ON A NEW COMPUTER

If you upgrade you computer equipment, and install CWE using your original disks, you will find that it will begin operation as a DEMO program only. To convert it to the PROfessional version, go through the process of entering your registration details again (no alterations please), but this time also input the CWE key and the Registration Number. The program will immediately unlock and begin functioning as the PRO version.


MOVING TO A NEW ADDRESS

If you relocate to a new address, you will probably want your registration details to reflect this change. You can do this by deleting the file CWE.INI from your Windows directory, and so convert your program back to a DEMO version. This will allow you to enter your new address data, just as though you were registering for the first time, but this time be sure to enter your Registration Number also. Send the details to AUS-PC-SOFT who will recognize that you are a registered user, and will return a new CWE key to you without debiting your Credit Card account. To reinstate your PRO version untill your new key arrives, delete CWE.INI again, and type in all of the original details (including the original key).


Why Register
WHY YOU SHOULD REGISTER

If you are reading these words, it can only mean that you have not yet registered your copy of Crossword Express. There are at least three reasons why this may be so:-

1. You have just acquired your copy of Crossword Express, and would like some time to make yourself farmiliar with it before making a decision to buy. Thats OK. You are entitled to do this for a period of thirty days, but remember that after this time you are legally required to register your copy if you intend to continue using it.

2. Perhaps you have found that Crossword Express does not meet your needs, or is deficient in some important respect. If this is the case, then please contact us and let us know what needs to be done. At AUS-PC-SOFT we are always looking for ways in which Crossword Express can be improved.

3. You just don't want to spend the money. If so, please remember that the continuing availability of good Shareware is totally dependent on users registering their programs and that the Shareware system will ultimately fail without your support.

If you do decide to register, remember that what you are buying is a perpetual registration. This unique system means that you will always have access to the very latest version of Crossword Express without ever having to pay an upgrade fee. As new releases of Crossword Express appear, they will be made available for down-loading from the Internet, and will operate as the full PROfessional version for those people who have registered. For those unfortunate people who have not registered however, it will still only operate as a DEMO version.

Why hesitate?

Make your decision to Register now!


Register in North America
HOW TO REGISTER THROUGH PsL.

AUS-PC-SOFT has made arrangements for Credit Card orders for Crossword Express to be taken by PsL ... (Public (software) Library). PsL will notify us within one business day of your order and depending on your requirements, we will either email the key direct to you, or will send a disk via air-mail.

CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY

You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover in the following ways:

Online: Go to our Web site at http://www.adam.com.au/johnstev and click on "Order Online".

FAX:  To 713-524-6398 ask for product #11360 and please type or block print very plainly.

Email: To PsL at "11360@pslweb.com"

Postal Mail: credit card orders to PsL at P.O.Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705.

Phone: PsL's operators are available from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday-Friday at

800-242-4775 Ext.11360 or at 713-524-6394 Ext.11360

THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY.

THE AUTHOR OF THIS PROGRAM CANNOT BE REACHED AT THESE NUMBERS.

Any questions about the status of the shipment of the order, refunds, registration options, product details, technical support, volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, non-credit card orders, etc, must be directed to :-

Email : johnstev@adelaide.dialix.oz.au

OR

Postal:	AUS-PC-SOFT Shareware

Onkaparinga Valley Road

VERDUN, South Australia

5245 Australia