The Complete Windows Set

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

/ The Complete Windows Set / The Complete Windows Set.iso / WINPRO / WINPROOF.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1993-02-10 | 28.1 KB | 504 lines

WinProof (tm) "This is the grammar checker you've been waiting for" (tm) VERSION 1.0 COPYRIGHT 1993 BY INTELLECT SYSTEMS, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please read the following questions and answers section. It describes some of the less obvious features of the program and answers some commonly asked questions. Please read the license and disclaimer at the end of the release notes. You agree to abide by this agreement if you use the program. THIS DOCUMENTATION CONTAINS MANY DELIBERATE GRAMMAR ERRORS To help you learn how WinProof works, try running WinProof on this documentation file. Simply press F1 to start the proofreading process and type in WINPROOF.DOC as the file to proofread. Try to experiment with the program's various options. You will see that WinProof is a very powerful and comprehensive GRAMMAR checking program. When the program has finished proofreading, press ESC so tat you don't accidentally modify this file or your settings. If you are viewing this file during installation, press any key to view the next page. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT WINPROOF WHAT IS WINPROOF? WinProof is the MS-Windows version of the PC-Proof grammar checking program. WinProof can detect many subtle and complex errors such as dropped words, extra words, or words that have been misspelled into another word. These are embarrassing errors that the other grammar checkers miss. It can also detect many other grammar errors including subject/verb agreement, missing articles, commonly confused words, double negatives, and passive voice. WinProof is compatible with WordPerfect, Word, Works, WinWord, ProWrite, PC-Write, WordStar and other word processors. Network support is also provided. If you've been waiting for a program that can actually check your grammar (instead of just your style), WinProof is the grammar checker for you. This ain't no style or readability checker, WinProof knows English! HOW DO YOU USE WINPROOF? After you install the software on your computer, you need to place WinProof in a program group. You can do this by selecting the "New" command in the program manager. In the "Program Item Properties" dialog box, put "WinProof" in the description box. Place the full pathname for WINPROOF.EXE in the command line box. Finally, place the name of a directory where you would like your program configuration to be stored. If you are the only user of the program, you should use the directory where you installed WinProof. For example, if you installed WinProof in C:\WINPROOF then a sample "Program Item Properties" dialog might look like: Description: WinProof Command line: C:\WINPROOF\WINPROOF.EXE Working directory: C:\WINPROOF To run WinProof, click on the triangular WinProof icon. To proofread a document, you should run your word processor in one window, and WinProof in another. To proofread a document, follow these steps. 1. Save your document in your word processor. 2. Run WinProof in another window. 3. Press F1 in WinProof and provide the filename of your document. 4. When WinProof finds an error, switch to your word processor to make the correction. 5. After WinProof has completed proofreading, save your document in your word processor. To quit WinProof, you can use the "Exit" command or you can press ALT-X. Never quit WinProof by turning off your machine or rebooting. If you cannot quit WinProof normally, you must run the RESET.BAT batch file to reset WinProof. Otherwise you may get notices that will tell you to wait for another user to quit WinProof. HOW DO I ACTIVATE THE COMMANDS IN THE PROGRAM? To activate the menus, you can use the mouse to point at menu items or you can press F10 to activate the top menu bar. You can also activate menu items by pressing the ALT key and the first letter of the menu item. For example, pressing ALT-F activates the Files menu. To select between items (such as buttons and checkboxes) in the dialog boxes, press the TAB key or point at each item with the mouse. To cancel any command, press the ESC key. You can also activate menus by pressing the underlined shortcut key in each menu item. WHAT PROOFREADING OPTIONS DO I HAVE? When you run WinProof, you are given the choice of whether you want to interactively proofread your document (press F1). If your select the interactive option, WinProof will stop and display each sentence which might contain a grammar error. You can then proofread the sentence and decide if it is correct. The incorrect sentences are written to a problem report file. HOW DO YOU USE THE PROBLEM REPORT FILE GENERATED BY WINPROOF? The problem report is a plain ASCII file which contains each incorrect sentence with a short explanation of the problem. After you select a file to proofread, you will be asked to provide a filename for the report file. The default name is the name of your original file with the extension of ".RPT". You can print this report on your printer, or if your word processor can display more than one file at a time, you can load it into your word processor along with the original text file. You can also load the problem report into a text editor like NOTEPAD. This will allow you to view the problem report and your original text at the same time. Use the 'search' feature of your word processor to find and correct each sentence in the error report. CAN I SKIP PROOFREADING IF I USE WINPROOF? No, WinProof is not designed eliminate manual proofreading. There will always be some errors which cannot be detected by any grammar checking program. However, WinProof can help you by pointing out sentences that might contain errors. WinProof helps you to proofread. It does not replace proofreading. HOW ACCURATE IS WINPROOF'S ADVICE? English is a very complex language that can be used in many different ways. Because of this, WinProof may not be able to precisely identify the error in a sentence. Therefore you should use the program's advice as a general guide to finding an error. You should first proofread the suspect sentence. If you can't figure out what is wrong, then you should look at the word that is highlighted and the message in the explanation/advice window. You can get additional advice by pressing F1. If is still looks correct, then it probably is correct. Don't spend time on sentences that look correct. WinProof will flag some perfectly correct sentences due to the complex nature of English. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN WINPROOF FINDS A SUSPECTED ERROR? When WinProof finds a suspected error, it will highlight the word near the problem and display a message indicating the nature of the problem. if this message is difficult to understand, you can press F1 to get a more detailed explanation. A dialog box will appear on the bottom of the screen which allows you to take six options. Use the mouse to select a button or press the first letter of the button. Your options are: [1] FIND NEXT PROBLEM Don't do anything because the sentence is correct. Remember, it is up to you to decide if a sentence flagged by the program is actually wrong. Select this option if the sentence is correct. [2] REPORT THIS PROBLEM Write the incorrect sentence an an explanation of the error to a problem report file. If the sentence is wrong and the explanation of the problem makes sense to you, then select this option. [3] EDIT THIS SENTENCE Fix the incorrect sentence and recheck the sentence for errors. This option allows you to edit the incorrect sentence. The original sentence and the edited sentence are written to the problem report file. Your corrections are NOT made to he original file. If you are checking a WordPerfect 5.0, PC-Write or ASCII file, you will be able to modify the original file after you have finished checking the entire document. Otherwise you will need to use your word processor to make the changes again. HOWEVER, MODIFYING YOUR ORIGINAL FILE IS NOT RECOMMENDED! Formatting such as line length, page breaks and margins are not preserved in the edited sentences. It is a better idea to switch to your word processor to make a correction. You should only use this option if you want to recheck your corrected sentence for more errors. [4] COMMENT ON THIS SENTENCE Add your own comment about how to fix the problem. If the program finds a mistake, but the explanation is completely irrelevant or wrong, this option allows you to make a note for yourself about what needs to be changed. Your comment needs to contain enough information for you to correct the sentence later on. [5] IGNORE THIS KIND OF ERROR Ignore this type of problem from now on. The program can report over 40 different kinds of errors. Some of these errors such as 'commas needed for large numbers', which flags numbers like 39847, may not be important to you. Use this option to turn off error messages that are not important to you. [6] QUIT CHECKING FOR PROBLEMS Quit the program. If you decide that you do not want to check the rest of your document, select this option to quit. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CHOOSE TO REPORT ONLY PROOFREAD? If you choose the report only proofreading option (press F2), WinProof will proofread the entire document without stopping. All of the suspect sentences will be written to the problem report file. The advantage of this method is that you can do something else while your document is being proofread. The disadvantage is that you will need to review both correct and incorrect sentences it the problem report and you can't use the on-line help provided in the interactive mode. CAN I PROOFREAD THE CONTENTS OF THE CLIPBOARD? You can proofread the contents of the clipboard by selecting "Proofread Clipboard" under the files menu or by pressing CTRL-P. A dialog box will ask you if you want to proofread interactively or only generate a report. The report will be written to the file CLIPBRD.RPT. If you edited some of your sentences, these changes can be written back to the clipboard. You will be asked to modify the clipboard after WinProof has finished proofreading the clipboard contents. You can paste the modified contents of the clipboard back into your original document. WHAT OPTIONS CAN BE CHANGED? You can change WinProof's options by selecting "Options" in the main menu (press F3). You can switch on and off any of the program's error messages under the "Turn grammar rules on/off" menu command. If the rule description displayed in the option page is confusing, press F1 to get an in-depth explanation of the message. Under the "Program Options" menu item (press F4), you can select a default directory and you can change the color scheme to black and white if you don't like the colors or if you are using an LCD or monochrome monitor. You can also change WinProof's error sensitivity. The last option in the "Program Options" dialog box allows you to select if you are checking a PC-Write document or a document which doesn't contain standard characters. HOW DO I SAVE AND RETRIEVE MY OPTIONS? You can save or retrieve your options under the options menu. The Save Options (press F5) command allows you to save your options. Your configuration file is normally stored in the directory that you started WinProof in. The Retrieve Options (press F6) command allows you to select a configuration file. WinProof includes several sample configuration files which have the file extension of ".CFG". For example, the file REVIEWER.CFG has all of the grammar rules turned on with maximum sensitivity. Use this configuration file for maximum error detection. The default configuration file NORMAL.CFG has some rules like 'passive voice' turned off. If you want WinProof to detect these problem, you must turn them on in the options menu. Experiment with the .CFG files to find the one that suits you the best. The configuration file which is being used is noted at the top of the option page. WHAT IS THE ERROR SENSITIVITY OPTION? WinProof has two sensitivity levels for checking grammar errors. The normal setting is good for checking most documents. However, if you want to detect as many errors as possible, you can use the extra sensitive setting. This setting will find more errors. However, it will also present twice as many sentences for you to proofread. The extra sensitive setting will flag an larger number of correct sentences than the normal setting. However, if you need the highest grammar checking accuracy and are willing to proofread more sentences, you should use the extra sensitive setting. HOW DO YOU MAKE WINPROOF RUN FASTER? There are two things you can do to make WinProof run faster. 1. You can use a disk caching program like SMARTDRIVE. 2. You can load the entire program into a RAM disk. You will need about 1 Meg of RAM disk or disk cache. CAN I USE MY WORD PROCESSOR'S FILES? WinProof can read files created by WordPerfect, Microsoft Word for DOS, Microsoft Word for Windows, Microsoft Works, Professional Write and other file formats which are mostly ASCII text such as PC-Write and WordStar. You should try WinProof with a file from your word processor to check if it works. If you are checking a PC-Write file, you must select the "Use PC-Write or extended ASCII files" checkbox in the "Program Options" dialog (Press F4). You can also try this option if WinProof cannot normally read your word processor's file format. If you cannot get WinProof to read your word processor's format, you will need to create an ASCII file from your word processor. Refer to the your word processor's manual on how to create ASCII files. If you are using a WordPerfect 5.0, PC-Write or ASCII file, you will also have the ability to make corrections in the original document. If you are allowed to modify your original file, a dialog box will appear after WinProof has finished proofreading the entire document. This dialog box will ask you if you want to modify your original file. When you modify your original document with WinProof, you must check for formatting changes since WinProof does not preserve the formatting on the edited sentences. Word spacing, fonts, page breaks and margins might be altered. You should always proofread a document before doing any complicated formatting. WHAT KIND OF WRITING ERRORS ARE DETECTED BY THE PROGRAM? WinProof is primarily designed to detect unusual word usage errors. These errors include: 1. Accidentally leaving out a word - EXAMPLE: A teacher tried teach a difficult class. 2. Putting in an extra word - EXAMPLE: The those cars are good. 3. Misspelling a word into another word - EXAMPLE: I put the car it the garage. These are not subtle errors, but these are errors which can escape careful proofreading. By pointing out sentences which might contain these errors, the user has a better chance of finding and correcting them. WinProof is designed to catch these major mistakes rather than trying to find subtle writing style mistakes. WinProof can also detect many other types of errors. Use the 'Turn grammar rules on/off' menu item under the 'Options' menu to see the problems that WinProof can detect. HOW DOES WINPROOF WORK? WinProof uses a unique, "molecular" parsing approach which represents a significant advance in language processing technology. This approach treats each word in the language like an atom which has particular attributes and binding characteristics. By applying relatively simple rules, it can bee determined if a set of words can combine to form a grammatical sentence. This process is similar to determining if a set of atoms can combine to form a molecule. This "molecular" technology is so unique that it has a patent pending. Intellect Systems has been developing this technology for over five years. CAN I USE WINPROOF ON A NETWORK? WinProof can be used on a network. The evaluation version of WinProof will only allow one user to use WinProof at a time. You may order multiple-user versions of WinProof when you register. Network users should start WinProof from their personal directories and modify the PATH variable to include the directory where WinProof is installed. If a network user saves a configuration file, it will be saved in their own personal directory. This allows each user to have their own set of configuration files. When you install WinProof under Microsoft Windows 3.1, you should specify your personal directory in the "Working Directory" entry in the "Program Item Properties" dialog. I CANNOT GET WINPROOF TO RUN ON MY MACHINE. HOW DO I GET HELP ON WINPROOF? If you have problems using WinProof, read the file HELPME.DOC. This file contains answers to some common problems and questions. If HELPME.DOC does not answer your questions, you can write to Intellect Systems. You can create a self-addressed letter by selecting 'Contact Intellect Systems' under the 'Help' menu item. You can also call Intellect Systems if you cannot wait for a written reply. CompuServe users can write to ID 72630,3457. WHY SHOULD I REGISTER FOR WINPROOF? 1). You get the latest an best version of WinProof. If you like this version of WinProof, you will love the next version. Many improvements are on the way in features, accuracy and speed. The only way to make sure that you get the latest version is to register. 2). You get printed documentation, technical support, and newsletters. Only registered users receive telephone technical support. These can help you use the product and keep you informed of changes. 3). Your registration dollars support future versions of WinProof. If you don't support WinProof, Intellect Systems will not be able to develop improved versions of WinProof. 4). Registration allows you to remove the registration reminders that appear after the 30-day trial period has expired. If you are not registering because of a problem with the program, please tell us what you didn't like. If Intellect Systems chooses to correct the problem, you will be eligible to receive a free registered copy of WinProof. WHY SHOULD I BUY WINPROOF INSTEAD OF ANOTHER GRAMMAR CHECKER? WinProof is better than the competition because it can find complex and subtle grammar errors without overflagging correct sentences. Using their default settings, other grammar checkers will flag almost every single sentence in a document as having a problem even when there aren't any errors. On the other hand, WinProof flags very few correct sentences. For example, Intellect Systems tested the major grammar checkers with this documentation file WINPROOF.DOC which contains approximately 279 sentences. There were 18 errors placed in the documentation. Grammatik 5 reported approximately 173 problems in this document but only detected 12 of the errors. Correct Grammar 4.0 reported 124 problems and detected 10 of the errors. RightWriter for Windows flagged 204 problems and detected only nine of the errors. All of the grammar checkers were configured with their default rule set with the spelling turned off. On the same text, WinProof detected all 18 errors and didn't flag any correct sentences. This is a dramatic difference. This is only one example, but WinProof consistently flags fewer correct sentences and more incorrect sentences. If you only want to catch grammar errors and don't want to be bothered by style issues, the only grammar checker to use is WinProof. HOW DO I REGISTER? If you have a printer, WinProof can print out a registration form for you with the 'Registering WinProof' command under the 'Help' menu. You can also print and fill out the ORDER.FRM file. The cost for registering WinProof is just $45. CompuServe users can register on-line by using the "GO SWREG" command (a slightly higher registration fee may apply.) You can also call (206) 226-0429 to place your order. Please call for network and site licenses. Prices are subject to change. INTELLECT SYSTEMS LICENSE AGREEMENT Carefully read the following terms and conditions. Use or distribution of WinProof constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions and your agreement to abide by them. WinProof is distributed under the "Shareware" concept. Non-registered users are granted a limited license to use WinProof for one month on a private non-commercial basis, for the express purpose of determining whether WinProof is suitable for your needs. At the end of the one month period, you must either register your copy of WinProof or discontinue using WinProof. Using WinProof beyond the one month trial period is in violation of United States copyright law. The cost of registration is currently $45. Prices are subject to change. Registered users are granted a license to use WinProof on a single computer. A registered user may use the program on a different computer, so long as the program is only being used on one computer at a time. If several people use the software at the same time, you must pay a license fee for each person using the software. This includes network installations. This license only grants you the right to use WinProof. Intellect Systems retains the title to WinProof. Registered users may not share the registration key, which is supplied to licensed users only. The supplied registration key may only be used by the licensee specified in the original order for the license. By ordering a license, you acknowledge that the registration key represents a trade secret and agree to protect it as such. Misuse of the registration key is subject to the collection of triple the fees that should have been collected and all legal fees and costs. Intellect Systems warrants that all disks and physical documentation provided to registered users are free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 90 days after the date of your purchase. If you discover a defect within the warranty period, the diskette or documentation will be replaced without any additional charge. You are granted a limited license to copy WinProof for the trial use of others providing you distribute the files in their unmodified form and make it clear to the recipient that this is not free software but payment of a license fee is required for continued use after the trial period. Public BBS and shareware distributors must notify Intellect Systems that they are distributing WinProof. See VENDOR.DOC for further licensing requirements and information for disk distributors. **************** BBS OPERATORS/SHAREWARE DISTRIBUTORS ************* PLEASE NOTIFY INTELLECT SYSTEMS THAT YOU ARE DISTRIBUTING WINPROOF. Please provide Intellect Systems with your address and phone number so that Intellect Systems can keep you informed of program updates. If you wish to provide editorial/press coverage about WinProof, please contact Intellect Systems for the latest version and news. WinProof is protected by both United States copyright law and international treaty provisions. Unauthorized copying is strictly forbidden. In addition to copyright protection, you agree to not modify WinProof in any way, including but not limited to disassembling, decompiling, or otherwise reverse engineering the program. Intellect Systems warrants that the program will perform in substantial compliance with the documentation supplied with the software product. If a significant defect in the product is found within 3 months of registering, the defect will be corrected or the purchaser will be entitled to a refund minus any shipping and handling charges. In no event will such a refund exceed the purchase price of the product. EXCEPT AS PROVIDED ABOVE, THIS SOFTWARE AND MANUAL ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURES DICTATE THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM. INTELLECT SYSTEMS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES DUE TO THE LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR ANY OTHER REASON EVEN IF THE COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. ALL OF THE SHAREWARE AUTHOR'S RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST IN AND TO THE SOFTWARE NOT EXPRESSLY GRANTED, ARE RESERVED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE AUTHOR. Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties so these exclusions may not apply to you. You may also have other rights which vary from state to state. **** ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES BEFORE USING WINPROOF ****. ┌─────────┐(tm) ┌─────┴───┐ │ ──│ │o │────────────────── │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ ├─┘ Shareware └───┤ o │ Professionals ──────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ Intellect Systems is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. To contact Intellect Systems, write to Intellect Systems, P.O. Box 58213, Renton, WA 98058. Send EMAIL to: CompuServe 72630,3457, Internet 72630.3457@compuserve.com If you cannot wait for a written reply, call (206) 226-0429 M-F 10AM-4PM PST Copyright 1993 by Intellect Systems - all rights reserved. All Intellect Systems products are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intellect Systems. WinProof is a trademark of Intellect Systems. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. To review this information again, print or view the file WINPROOF.DOC.