Software of the Month Club 1996 October

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Software of the Month Club 1996 October / Software of the Month Club 1996 October.iso / pc / dos / biz / practype / practype.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1996-07-06 | 18.1 KB | 526 lines

PRACTYPE Typing Practice Program Version 2.1 Copyright 1991, 1995, and 1996 EMENGIE 13032 Ambaum Blvd. SW Seattle, Washington 98146 70413.571@compuserve.com NOTICE PRACTYPE is Copyrighted 1991, 1995, and 1996 by G. R. Anderson. All rights to the program and documentation are reserved. This product is distributed as SHAREWARE. It is provided on a single diskette. You may copy this diskette for trial use by others under the following conditions: The diskette must be copied in unmodified form except as described herein, and must contain all files. No fee or other compensation may be charged except for disk reproduction and distribution costs. Unregistered holders of PRACTYPE are granted the privilege of use on a trial basis. Should you find the program useful, register your copy by filling out the registration form and submitting it with the appropriate registration fee. The registration form is in file PRACTYPE.REG. Upgrade and technical assistance privileges described in this document are granted to Registered owners of PRACTYPE. SHAREWARE is an exceptional marketing process that depends on the integrity of SHAREWARE users. It allows you to try programs before buying them and to share them with others if you like them, in exchange for an obligation to buy them if you use them. The success of the SHAREWARE concept depends on you. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Quick Windows Advanced User Interface Library is Copyright 1992 by Software Interphase, Inc. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY THIS PROGRAM AND DOCUMENT ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO REPLACEMENT OF A PURCHASED DISK OR REFUND OF THE PURCHASE PRICE. NO OTHER WARRANTY, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IS OFFERED. GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH NONCRITICAL DATA BY THE USER BEFORE RELYING ON IT. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM AND DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGE TO HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS NOTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 GETTING STARTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 DISTRIBUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 TYPING BASICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 PRACTICE BASICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 SPEED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 LOG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 LIST OF FILES PRACTYPE.EXE PRACTYPE.HLP PRACTYPE.DOC PRACTYPE.REG EXAMPLE.LOG README.BAT iii INTRODUCTION Mice are handy. But even with a mouse, computing is easier if you know how to type. Imagine being able to copy text into your computer with nearly 100% accuracy without looking at your keyboard or monitor. Wouldn't that make data entry easier, even if you typed slowly? This is not a capability that you learn. Your fingers learn it, while you suffer the indignities of the learning process. They learn it with practice. PRACTYPE will make that easy for you. There are some things that you can do to make it easy for your fingers to learn typing, as well as to make your typing tasks easy. These are explained in TYPING BASICS section below. The PRACTICE BASICS section describes the use of the PRACTYPE program. For the most part, however, PRACTYPE is self-explanatory. PRACTYPE provides for the use of your mouse. However, you should disconnect your mouse, when using PRACTYPE, because this is a keyboard practice program. No one needs practice with a mouse. We suggest that you run PRACTYPE without the mouse to learn how to find the cursor and page positioning keys without looking. Incidentally, you should learn also how to find the tab, enter, backspace, home, end, insert, and delete keys, without looking. GETTING STARTED PRACTYPE consists of an executable program, several data files, and a document. The program is written for IBM and IBM-compatible computers using the C programming language. PRACTYPE uses the Quick Windows Advanced User Interface Library which is Copyrighted 1992 by Software Interphase, Inc. It runs on IBM PC compatible computers with a DOS 3.0 compatible operating system installed. Before doing anything, make a copy of the PRACTYPE floppy disk on your hard disk as described below or on another floppy disk. Retain the original floppy disk as-is so you can make trial-use copies for your friends or for someone you want to get even with. Do not alter the original disk in any way or use it in day-to-day work, except as noted in the DISTRIBUTION section below. Use your copy as your working disk, and make all of your changes on it. You may install PRACTYPE on your hard disk with the following commands, which are based on your floppy being installed in drive A: and on your hard disk being drive C: C: MD \PRACTYPE CD \PRACTYPE COPY A:\*.* Adjust these commands as required to accommodate different floppy or hard disk drives or to use a different directory. 1 After installing PRACTYPE, you may want to print a copy of the document. To do this from DOS, move to the directory where PRACTYPE is installed, using the CD command above or your equivalent of it. Then enter: TYPE PRACTYPE.DOC > PRN or use a word processor. PRACTYPE usage is readily apparent from the display and you should have little difficulty running the program without the document. However, the document provides typing tips, offers practice suggestions, and explains the program features. To run the program, change to the directory that contains the PRACTYPE program using the CD command above. Then enter: PRACTYPE DISTRIBUTION If you use PRACTYPE please register your copy, unless, of course, it is already registered to you. (The registration file on your floppy disk shows the name of the registered user.) You may register your copy by filling out the form in the registration file and submitting it with the appropriate registration fee. From DOS you may produce a copy of the registration form by changing to your PRACTYPE directory and entering: TYPE PRACTYPE.REG > PRN or by using a word processor. After receiving your notification of registration, place your name and your new registration number in the registration file on your original PRACTYPE disk, using an ASCII text editor. This shows that it is yours. No other changes to your original disk are allowed. Registered owners of PRACTYPE are entitled to discounts on future versions of PRACTYPE. In addition, they are entitled to a free upgrade to a future version under either of the following conditions: Three or more people, who received their copy of PRACTYPE from you, register their copy. We use your suggestion in updating PRACTYPE. We reserve the right to select the winning submitter of each suggestion. (Please remember to include your registration number with your suggestion!) Registered owners are encouraged to request help in using PRACTYPE. Submit your request in writing with as much detail as possible. Be sure to include your registration number. Responses will be provided as time permits. Telephone support will be provided only if a technical support person is here when you call. That does not happen often. 2 You may sell your registered copy, along with all back up copies and your printed document, at any agreeable price. Be sure to transfer the registration using the transfer option in the registration file. From DOS you can produce a copy of this file by changing to your PRACTYPE directory and entering: TYPE PRACTYPE.REG > PRN. Be sure to get signatures of both buyer and seller. Be aware that you sell all of your accumulated and future upgrade privileges when you sell your registered copy. TYPING BASICS There are only a few typing basics. The first is posture. Sit erect, near the front of your chair, with your feet flat on the floor. Your forearms should be nearly horizontal, with your elbows bent 90 degrees, when your fingers are on the keyboard. The second is hand position. Curve your fingers so that you type on their tips. Place your left index finger above the "f" key and your right index finger above the "j" key. This is the "home" typing position. Many keyboards have bumps on these keys so you can find "home" without looking. Type, MOVING YOUR HANDS FROM "HOME" AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE, by reaching with your fingers. (You don't want to have to search for "home" by feeling for the bumps or looking.) From the Home position your left fingers can type "a", "s", "d", and "f" by simply pressing down. Similarly, your right fingers can type "j", "k", "l", and ";". Also, either thumb can type a space by simply pressing down. A space appears as a ░ on the practice screen. On many keyboards the keys reached by each hand are: Your left fingers type: Your right fingers type: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = q w e r t y u i o p [ ] a s d f g h j k l ; ' z x c v b n m , . / Finally, your typing should occur at a very constant rhythm, as if you were typing to music. See the SPEED section below. That's it. 3 PRACTICE BASICS PRACTYPE allows you to practice on any of several portions of the keyboard and over a wide range of speeds. Beginning typists should start with the Home Keys and the Beginning Speed. As your accuracy and rhythm improve, PRACTYPE will suggest increasing speed and trying new keys. More advanced typists may start with whatever keys and speed that they can handle accurately with a constant rhythm. PRACTYPE will suggest changes as warranted. Practice sessions are specified by making key and speed selections from pulldown menus. It is good practice to accomplish this without looking. Highlight the options with the cursor keys, place your hands in the Home position, and then press the Enter key by reaching with your right-hand little finger. Practice begins by selecting Practice from the Menu pulldown menu. Keep your hands in the Home position and, when you are ready, press any key to start the practice session. When you select Practice from the Menu pulldown menu the Practice Screen appears. Initially the screen contains four important areas: a Character Display Line, a Message Window, a results window called "Hits and Misses", and a Scoring window. A Recommendation Window appears at the end of the practice session. The Character Display Line shows which keys to type. It is at the top of the practice screen. The character to be typed moves from right to left along the line. Type this character before it reaches the end of the line. Each character appears to the right of the Character Display line before it enters the line. This is done to shorten your reaction time, and thereby increase your typing speed. Do not watch the space where the next character appears. Doing so causes confusion and creates errors. Watch the Character Display Line instead and observe the next character with peripheral vision. If you can't see the next character with peripheral vision, ignore it. The Hits and Misses Window is immediately below the Character Display Line. It displays your typing accuracy and timing. At the bottom of this window is a line containing the names of keys used in this session. Above each key name is a display of your performance in typing that key. A smiley face appears when you type that key correctly. If you mistyped that key, the character you typed is displayed. The height of the key above the key name line is a measure of the time it took you to type the key after it first appeared. If your typing rhythm is very good, all of the characters appear in one or two horizontal rows. The Message Window is at the bottom of the screen. It provides directions for controlling the practice session and for finding information about PRACTYPE. 4 Your typing accuracy, speed, and rhythm error appear in the Scoring Window at the end of each session. Keys for which there was no response appear at the very top of the Hits and Misses window. Values shown in the Scoring Window are calculated from timing measurements, Character Line Position data, and error counts. The calculations are as follows: Accuracy is the percentage of the characters seen on the Character Display Line that were typed correctly. Speed is the number of characters that appeared on the Character Display Line divided by the total number of minutes that characters were displayed. Rhythm error is a statistical measure of the deviation of the final positions on the Character Display line from an approximate mean final position on the line. The Recommendations window, which appears at the end of the practice session, suggests ways to improve your keyboarding performance. Scoring results are compared with predefined limits to develop the suggestions in this window. These limits vary with the character array shown at the bottom line of the Hits and Misses Window. Accuracy and rhythm are improved by selecting problem keys and by carefully adjusting typing speed. Select problem keys by using the Problem Keys entry in the Keys pulldown menu. The SPEED section, below, describes techniques for adjusting typing speed. Base speed changes and problem key selections on the performance you usually achieve, rather than the results of a single session, because performance values usually vary significantly from session to session. The log capability, if enabled, allows review of your progress for this purpose. See the LOG section below for details. SPEED You may control typing speed in your practice sessions in two ways. The simpler is by selecting the character speed. You do this by choosing the desired entry in the Speed pulldown menu. The more difficult speed control requires practice. Higher speed occurs when you press the keys soon after the character enters the Character Display Line. Slower speed occurs when you allow the character to move further to the left along the line. In each practice session it is important that you try to press the keys when the characters are at the same place on the Character Display Line. This produces a constant typing rhythm that, in turn, allows you to focus on typing problems, rather than speed, and thus gradually improve both accuracy and speed. 5 It is important that you keep your speed low enough that your accuracy is high. Don't work on speed - work on accuracy and rhythm! Speed will develop naturally. LOG This facility allows you to keep a running record of your keyboarding performance so that you can review your progress or look for chronic problems. To record your performance you must open a log file. The first step in developing your log facility is to name a new log file. Name new files by using the New entry in the Log menu. The name must contain one through eight characters, which may be any of the following: a through z A through Z 0 through 9 ~#$&_-{} Do not include a DOS file-name extension (a period followed by one, two, or three of the above characters). The log name capitalization displayed by PRACTYPE will depend on your system. A newly named log file is open and ready for use. To open a previously named log file, choose the Open entry in the Log menu, and select the file by highlighting its name and pressing Enter. The name of the currently open log will appear later in the upper right-hand corner of the Practice Screen. You may examine it by using the View entry in the Log menu. Only one file may be open at any time. To change files or to stop recording performance data, close the currently open file using the Close entry in the Log menu. You may delete any existing closed log file. Choose the Delete entry in the Log menu, and select the file by highlighting its name and pressing Enter. PRACTYPE can find up to 32 log files. If you have more than 32 in your practype directory only the first 32 will be displayed. To use other files delete some displayed files, rename them with a different extension, or move them to another directory. A PRACTYPE log file can hold the results of 64 practice sessions. If your file is full you must start a new file or remove some lines from your existing file using an ASCII text editor. 6