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- CLICHE FINDER
-
- A tool for writers
-
- Copyright 1989
- R.K. West Consulting
- P.O. Box 8059
- Mission Hills, CA 91346
-
-
- "Cliche Finder", distributed by R.K. West Consulting, consists of two
- executable program files, CLFINDER.EXE and CLEDIT.EXE, related data files,
- and this instruction manual. All related files and documentation are
- copyright 1989 by R.K. West. The author reserves the exclusive right to
- distribute these materials, in whole or in part, for profit. You may freely
- copy and distribute CLICHE FINDER as long as (a) you have not made
- any modifications in any of the files, (b) you charge no fee, except a
- small copying fee, (c) you do not rename, change or omit any of the
- files or documentation. All distribution copies must contain the author's
- copyright notices, documentation, and all the original modules. This program
- may not be advertised as "free", "public domain" or "cheap". Distributors
- must comply with the guidelines of the Association of Shareware
- Professionals.
- If you use this software, please become a registered user.
- Information on registration is included at the end of this document.
- WHAT CLICHE FINDER DOES
-
- Cliche finder helps you check your writing for old, hackneyed, trite,
- and overused words and phrases. It will produce a report listing the
- "cliches" found in a document. Hundreds of cliches are supplied in the
- program's data base. You may view and change the information in this data
- base, using the separate utility program, CLEDIT.
-
- GETTING STARTED
-
- Please make a backup copy of the original distribution disk before
- you begin. (See the DISKCOPY command in your DOS manual.) Put the
- original in a safe place and use the copy for all your work.
- CLICHE FINDER can be run from either a floppy disk or hard disk. You may
- prefer using your hard disk, because that will increase the amount of
- storage space available for your data base and documents, and will let the
- program run faster. (After printing this manual, you can delete it from
- your working disk -- but not from the original master disk -- in order
- to leave more room for file storage.)
- Starting from the DOS prompt, type the word CLFINDER and press <ENTER>.
- The program will load, and then display the copyright and registration
- information. After carefully reading this, press <ENTER> to continue.
- If you have the registered version, you will be asked, the first time
- you run the program, whether you have a color monitor. Answer by pressing
- "Y" or "N" appropriately.
- CLICHE FINDER now asks you for the name of the file to check. Remember,
- the document you use must be in ASCII (DOS text format). Most word processors
- allow you to save files in this format (WordStar users may find it referred
- to as "non-document" mode). There are also many shareware and public domain
- utilities available that will convert word processing documents into ASCII
- format if your word processor won't.
- Type the name of the file and press <ENTER>. (If you leave the space
- blank, you will exit the program and return to DOS.)
- You will now see a message on screen indicating that the file is being
- checked, and showing how many cliches have been found so far. How long it
- takes to completely check your document will depend upon how large the
- document is, how many records are in the cliche data base, and what type of
- computer you have. The size of the document to be used is limited by the
- amount of memory (RAM) you system has available. Note that when you first
- start CLICHE FINDER, a number appears above the copyright information. This
- tells you how many bytes of RAM you have available.
- When the document has been checked, the program asks you whether or
- not generate a report. If you answer "Y" for yes, you have a choice of seeing
- the report on screen, printing it, or saving it in a file. The report will
- list, in alphabetical order, the trite phrases which were found in your
- document.
- While there are many legitimate reasons for using "cliches" in a piece
- of
- writing, their overuse may indicate that the writer hasn't given much thought
- to the subject matter. To develop a distinctive style and keep your readers
- awake, it is best not to allow yourself to depend on expressions which
- indicate a lack of originality and which are not likely to convey any
- information to the reader.
-
- UTILITIES
-
- The utility program, CLEDIT, is supplied as part of CLICHE FINDER. From the
- DOS prompt, type CLEDIT and press <ENTER>. After reading the copyright
- information, press <ENTER> to continue with the program.
-
- The first menu choice is "View current list of cliches". This simply lets
- you see the words and phrases that are currently in the data base. You may
- choose to view the list on screen, have it printed, or save it in a text
- file.
-
- The second menu choice is "Add/Edit/Delete Cliches". When you make this
- choice, you will see the current list of cliches displayed on screen in
- alphabetical order. The record number is displayed to the left of each
- cliche. If you choose to edit or delete a cliche, you will be asked to enter
- the record number. (You may enter the numbers of records not currently
- displayed on the screen.) You may choose to add new cliches to the data
- base. Each phrase may be up to 70 characters long.
-
- The third menu Choice is "Utilities". This allows you to reindex the data
- base (sometimes necessary when many records have been deleted, or if the
- index file has become corrupted). It also lets you choose screen colors.
- The screen colors you choose here will also be used when you run CLICHE
- FINDER.
-
-
- USER SUPPORTED SOFTWARE:
-
- CLICHE FINDER and all related files and documentation are copyright
- 1989 by R.K. West. The author reserves the exclusive right to distribute
- these materials, in whole or in part, for profit. You may freely copy and
- distribute VERSIFIER as long as (a) you have not made any modifications
- in any of the files, (b) you charge no fee, except a small copying fee,
- (c) you do not rename or change any of the files or documentation. All
- distribution copies must contain the author's copyright notice, instruction
- manual, and all the original modules. This software may not be advertised
- as "public domain", "free", or "cheap". Distributors must comply with the
- standards of the Association of Shareware Professionals.
- If you use this software, become a registered user. The registration
- fee is $10.00. Your financial support is important to the improvement
- of this program and the development of new programs. If you paid a fee to a
- "distributor", you paid for the disk copying service only. This fee is not
- paid to the authors and is not part of the registration. Registered users are
- automatically entitled to receive the most current upgraded version and
- will be eligible for future upgrade service and other special offers. Please
- mention where you got your original copy of the program.
-
-
- DISCLAIMER
-
- CLICHE FINDER is sold for entertainment purposes only. This software,
- instruction manual, and reference materials are sold "as is", without
- warranty as to their performance, merchantability or fitness for any
- particular purpose. The entire risk as to the results and performance
- of this program is assumed by the User. In no event will the Author be
- liable for any damages, including lost profits, lost savings, or other
- incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or
- inability to use these programs, even if the Author has been advised of
- the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party.
-
- WRITE TO US
-
- Please send in your suggestions, comments, and bug reports. Your
- feedback is important. We would like to hear from you even if you haven't
- yet registered. Tell us what you think.
-
- R.K. West Consulting
- P.O. Box 8059
- Mission Hills, CA 91346
-
- If you are reporting a bug or other problem, please describe the
- problem in as much detail as possible and mention the type of hardware
- you are using, DOS version, resident programs, and other relevant
- information. If you believe you have found a serious bug, please send
- us the original distribution diskette so that we can find the source of
- the problem. Send the exact wording of any error messages that you may
- have seen (if possible, a print-screen illustrating the problem as it
- happened would be most helpful).
- We write and distribute other shareware programs, some of which
- are quite unusual. We will be happy to send anyone a catalog upon
- request.
-
- CLICHE FINDER user manual updated April 1, 1989.
-