Dictionaries & Language/Dictionaries and Language (Chestnut CD-ROM) (1993).iso/russian/russ30/russ3.doc

Text File | 1989-01-21 | 8.1 KB | 177 lines

         RUSSIAN WORD PROCESSOR - Version 3.0 - Jan.1989

                       by Bill Tavolga

    This program transforms your PC keyboard into a Cyrillic
alphabet typewriter as used by the Russian language, and
serves as a basic word processor.

    The hardware must include graphics support (CGA, EGA,
VGA, or Hercules, etc.).  So far only one printer type is
supported.  Any Epson or Epson compatible that uses the Epson
escape code sequence to access double density printer graphics
will work.

Component files:
      RUSS3.DOC   - This file of information
      RUSS3.EXE   - Word processor (Acoustic-Visual Keyboard)
      *RUSS3S.EXE -     "         (Soviet Standard Keyboard)
      *RUSS3H.EXE -     "       (Homophonic Standard Keyboard)
      *RUSS2TO3.EXE - Converts version 2 files to version 3
      RUSS3.TYP   - Data file for font construction
      RUSS3.DEM   - A sample Russian text file

N.B. Starred (*) items will be sent after registration.

Getting started:
    Run program RUSS3. The file RUSS3.TYP should be on the
same disk or directory path.  If not, you will be asked to
enter the path, complete with backlashes, etc.  At first the
entire font is shown, and you proceed by pressing any key. The
keyboard equivalences are always shown on the bottom the
screen, and the layout assumes one of the frequently
encountered PC keyboards, with the tilde key on the extreme
left of the top row, and the backslash to the right of the ?
key.

Editing keys:
    The keypad is used for most editing functions:
    Left & right arrow keys move cursor within line limits.
    Up & down arrows move within text limits,
        scrolling line-by-line to next or previous page.
    Home & end keys move to left or right ends of line.
    PgUp & PgDn keys move to top or bottom of text page,
        scrolling to next or previous page.

    Backspace deletes character to left of cursor,
        and pulls in text.
    Del key deletes character at cursor and pulls in text.
    Enter key creates new line below cursor (see F3).
    Ins key toggles from overwrite to insert mode and back,
        and "INS" appears in lower right corner when insert
        is active.

Special key functions:
    Operational special keys are always listed at the bottom
of the screen.
    ESC = Exits program without saving, but asks first.
    F1 = Blanks the text on the selected line.
    F2 = Deletes the selected line and pulls up text.
    F3 = Inserts new line above cursor.
                Note: Enter key creates line below cursor.
    F4 = Deletes all text.
    F6 = Prints full text centered on 8.5 x 11" paper.
        A 6-line page break is printed every 60 lines.
    F7 = Saves the text in form and file name provided.
    F8 = Retrieves text and replaces existing text.
        File must have been saved by this program.
    F9 = Prints Cyrillic (Russian) font in accordance with
        keyboard layout.

CRT Display:
    Somehow it has been decreed by the originators of PC
types of computers that all text fonts must be no wider than
8 pixels - even in the high resolution VGA display.
Unfortunately, the Cyrillic characters lose readability when
squeezed into such a tight box. To make the characters
clearer, I chose to use bit-mapped graphics to create the
letters.  The trade-off was to put up with slower display time
and slower scrolling. The printing is also done with graphics
commands, and this limits the program to Epson compatible
printers only. The display graphics, however, are more
eclectic, and will work with almost any PC graphics system.
    The page window consists of 16 blank lines and 49 columns
(no wrap-around facility). If you have EGA or VGA color
graphics (650x350), then you can request the option that will
give you 32 lines per page. The cursor position (column/line)
is on the bottom line of the instruction display.  Maximum
length of a single document is 300 lines.

Keyboard layout:
    All standard 33 Russian letters (lower and upper case),
digits 0 to 9, and most punctuation marks are available in all
three layouts.
    Acoustic-Visual Layout:   (RUSS3)
    This was devised by combining the features of the sounds
and the appearances of Russian letters that resemble English
letters (with compromises). My intention was to make the
keyboard equivalences as convenient as possible for the
English-speaking typist. The rarely used ("Old Style") dotted
i and "yatz" are available (the bar and backslash key).  Most
standard punctuation marks are on the top row of the keyboard
(shifted numbers).  The / key produces a ?. The shifted , .
/ keys produce three commonly used symbols in Russian texts:
the double < and > used as speech quotation marks, and a long
dash, also used to denote speech but more often it indicates
the non-existent present tense of the verb to be.
    Soviet Standard Layout:   (RUSS3S)
    This is also known as the IBM Selectric Standard.  The
punctuation marks include a numeral prefix and paragraph
marker, and they are on the top row (unshifted).  Digits (and
= and + signs) require shifting. Additional features, not part
of the standard, include the tilde key (wherever it might be
on your keyboard) that provides parentheses.  The backslash
becomes a semicolon, and shifted, it produces the extinct
"yatz."
    Homophonic Standard:    (RUSS3H)
    This layout is based primarily on sound resemblances to
English letters (also with compromises). Additional features
for the tilde and backslash key are also included as above.

Text saving and retrieval:
        The text can be saved in either of two formats. If it
is saved as printer codes, then it can be sent directly to an
Epson compatible printer or used as a printer command string
in a word processor (such as Word Perfect). If you give the
file name "prn" then the codes are immediately sent to the
printer. In this coded format, the file cannot be recovered
for further editing. The other format is coded string of
keystrokes, and is preceded by a key string to identify it as
created by this program.  In this format, the Russian text can
be retrieved for examination, editing, or printout.
    Only text saved by one of these programs can be retrieved
for examination or printing. If you have texts saved by any
earlier version of this program, you will have to use program
RUSS2TO3 to convert. Run RUSS2TO3, enter path and name of
input file, and path and name of output file.  The new file
can be retrieved by RUSS3, RUSS3S, or RUSS3H.

Program versions:
    Version 1 was a bare bones line editor and printer.
Version 2.0 was a major advance in adding scrolling, paging,
text saving/retrieving, and many word processing functions.
Version 2.1 added several characters: upper case "i-kratkoyeh"
and yoh, additional punctuation, and the two "old style"
characters; the 32-line EGA/VGA option was introduced.
    Version 3 provides three variations of keyboard layouts
and has fixed some important bugs in the program.  In the
process, the coding of files had to be completely changed
destroying compatibility.  However, a conversion program is
available.
    As comments from users are received, further
modifications and improvements in the program will continue.
My projects currently are to broaden the scope of printers
that can be used, including lasers, and to improve the
scrolling speed - ideally to achieve smooth, rapid scrolling
and paging.  Unfortunately, the latter may restrict the
program to EGA/VGA displays.

***********************************************************

    This is a Shareware program, and if you find it useful,
a registration fee of $15 would be appreciated.  Upon receipt,
you will be sent a disk with the additional keyboard layout
programs. If you wish the program on a 3.5" (720K) disk,
please so indicate, otherwise a 5.25" (360K) disk will be
sent. You will also be apprised of any changes and updates.
Please send registrations, comments, questions, etc., to:

        William N. Tavolga
         5151 Windward Ave.
         Sarasota, FL  34242
             (Phone: [phone])
                        (CIS : 76360,45)

        The author is not responsible for any damage,
inconvenience, or hair loss associated with the use of this
program. Vasha d'yelo.