Contents

• Why not use typewriters?
• Word Processors: Hardware
• Text and Word Processing Software
• Basic model: "Text Processor"
• Mid-range models
• High-End Word Processing Software
• Desktop Publishing Software
• The Basic Text-Processing Cycle
• Backing Up Your Work
• Text Storage
• Typing Tips
• Funny Words: the Vocabulary of Word Processing

About this document...

• Capturing Keystrokes
• Important in all computer work
• No more re-typing because of errors
• Retyping is expensive and causes more errors
• New abilities
• Check spelling
• Thesaurus
• "Merge" information from databases
• Mix-and-match paragraphs

• "Dedicated word processors"
• Limited to word processing; few other tasks
• Built-in word processing features (programs, special keys)
• General purpose computers
• Can do many jobs, depending on programs used
• User needs to command the computer to start a word or text processing program
• Most do not have special keys

Basic model: "Text Processor"

• Allows you to simply enter, change, delete, and move text
• Most (but not all) allow you to search for words, print, and extract portions to other files
• Examples: MS DOS Edit, MS Windows Notepad, QuickEdit, and many free or shareware text editors
• Advantages
• Takes little room on your disk or computer memory
• Starts up quickly
• Saves files in an efficient format
• Files can be used by all text and word processors on practically all computers
• Disadvantages
• Has few if any additional features (as listed below)
• Does not allow fonts, special formatting, or graphics to be saved

Mid-range models

• Have most of the features people want in their word processors, such as:
• Selection of fonts
• Formatting features such as centering, justifying, headers and footers, footnotes
• Spelling checker and (in some cases) thesaurus
• Ability to add in graphics
• In some cases, mail-merge and other "integrated" features (letting you use work from other programs)
• Examples: MS Windows Write, MS Works, Claris Works, and many older word processors
• Advantages:
• Get what you want (90%-100% of features wanted by most people)
• Relatively low cost
• Takes up less disk space than fancier word processors
• Disadvantages
• May not have all the features needed by professional or "power" users
• May not be able to handle large files without problems
• Take up more disk and memory space than the simpler text processors

High-End Word Processing Software

• Include professional features for word-professionals and office personnel such as
• Mutli-column layout
• Text wraps around pictures
• Index and Table of Contents
• Mail-merge
• "Macro" recording (record and play back actions)
• Some have programming languages associated
• Examples: Word Perfect, MS Word, Ami Pro
• Advantages:
• Meets 95% of the needs of word professionals
• Widely known and accepted formats
• Disadvantages:
• Require large amounts of hard drive space and memory
• Can be slow to start up
• Files are often saved in bulky format
• Fairly costly

Desktop Publishing Software

• Aimed at publishing professionals, with features such as:
• Multi-page and multi-column layout
• Ability to move blocks of text and graphics freely
• Import formatted text from many word processors
• Examples: Aldus PageMaker, Quark Express
• Advantages:
• Designed to handle large files (printed brochures, magazines, or books)
• Have most of the features of high-end word processors
• Disadvantages:
• Priced for corporate budgets(!)
• Require incredible amounts of hard-drive space and memory
• May lack some features of word processors (mail-merge, thesaurus...)

• What you type goes in memory (RAM) - temporary work-place
• Memory contents disappear when
• you leave the word processor program
• power no longer reaches the computer
• Therefore, save your document periodically in storage

• Everything stored in memory and on disk uses numeric codes.
• On all microcomputers, most minis, and some mainframes the code is:

A = 65, B = 66 ... Z = 90; a = 97, b = 98 ...
(You don't have to remember these the computer does it for you!)
• Even "invisible" characters have codes. Two important ones:
• blank space = 32 <space bar>
• code to start new line Carriage Return = 13 <Enter> or <Return>
• Most word processors allow you to delete these "invisible" characters to line up text neatly, join lines, etc.

• Use the <Enter> or <Return> key sparingly. This signals the word processor that it must start a new line, so use it only at the ends of paragraphs or short lines like addresses. It's much better to let the "word wrap" feature do the job for you. If you put in "hard returns" this way, the word processor will not be able to reformat the paragraph properly when you change fonts, add or delete words, or change margins. You could get paragraphs looking like this after changing the margins:

• Keep punctuation with the nearest word. Periods and commas, question marks and exclamation marks should not be separated from the word they follow. Beginning and ending quotation marks should go right next to the word. If they are separated by a space, punctuation may end up on the next line. You could get something that looks like this:
• How many spaces between sentences? Many typing textbooks and teachers recommend two spaces after a period, question mark, exclamation mark, or other end of sentence mark. However, most word processing textbooks recommend only one space. It is up to you (or your boss!) which standard to follow. You should be aware that when a paragraph is "justified" the spaces are expanded. This can make a two-space gap between sentences appear awkwardly large.

• A spelling checker works by simply looking every word up in an internal dictionary for you.
• Any word it finds in its dictionary, it ignores;
• Any word it doesn't find, it asks you what to do with.
• Most spelling checkers ignore numbers and very short items, two letters or less.
• Some spelling checkers also check capitalization. Many do not - they treat all words as if they were upper case.
• When a spelling checker fails to find a word in its dictionary, it gives you several options on what to do with it:
• Most spelling checkers will try to guess what you meant - with varying degrees of success. You can select one of the options it presents. (Some of the guesses can be really funny, especially when it's looking at a person's name!)
• Or you can tell it to ignore the word, either this time or every time it sees it in the document you're working on.
• Or, if you're sure you have the right spelling for a word that just isn't in the dictionary, you can add it in - usually, in a "user" dictionary rather than the main one. Note: please do not add words to the dictionary on WCC lab computers! Many exercises won't work according to instructions if you do. This causes confusion to lots of  people.
• No matter how good your spelling checker is, it can't tell if you have the right word in the right place. You still have to proof-read the document, and have a good understanding of English spelling! Click this link to see a humorous poem by Jerry Zar, illustrating this! (http://courses.wccnet.org/computer/mod/t01cs1.htm)

ASCII

The code used by almost all computers to handle characters. "American Standard code for Information Interchange"

Bold

Boldface type is heavier than the usual, and gives emphasis. Bold is a feature, or style, applied to fonts.

Default

What you get if you don't tell the computer different. With most computer hardware and software, there are many options. The default value is the option you get if you don't specify a different option.

Flush left, Flush right

Lining one or the other edge of a paragraph up. Flush left is the normal way to line up paragraphs. Flush right pushes the lines over to the right edge of the page, leaving the left edge ragged.

Font

A set of letters and symbols artistically designed to look good together and serve a particular purpose, such as clear headlines, easy-to-read text, or conveying a mood or feeling. Fonts are combined with features such as bold and italic. fonts have names, such as Times Roman, Helvetica, Arial, or Caslon.

Italic

Italic type is slanted to the right, and some letters may have slightly different shapes. Italic is a feature or style applied to fonts.

Justify

To line up text of paragraphs so one or both margins are even. Right-justified and left-justified is the same as right- and left-flush. Justified (by itself) usually means both ends of the lines are kept even. This is done by adding extra space between words on each line.

Points

Since the 1500s printers have measured the size of their letters in points. A point is 1/72 of an inch. Normal type is 10 or 12 points, and headlines may be 18, 24, or larger point sizes. Tiny type may be 8 point, 6 point, or even smaller.

Scroll Up, Scroll Down

When a document is too large to fit on a screen or in a window, you can scroll down to see the part below, and scroll up again to see what's above. The can be done with a scroll bar using the mouse, or with Page Up and Page Down keys. Think of an old-fashioned scroll with a TV camera pointed at it. To see what's below, move the camera down ("scroll down"); to see what's above, move it up ("scroll up").

Word Wrap

When a line gets too long to fit in the margins, word processors automatically wrap the line around. That way, you don't have to think about when to start anew line. In fact, you should not press the enter key except at the end of a paragraph or when typing things like addresses.

WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get: a term coined by Steven Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer, to describe the philosophy behind the Macintosh computer in 1984. That philosophy has since been widely used by software designers, especially for word processors. Though it takes more computing power to show what the printed output will really look like, it makes the job easier and quicker - so it has been very popular. This feature is available on all word processors now except the low-end text processors and some DOS-based mid-range word processors.

Audience:

Objectives

• Understanding of the basic word-processing cycle (Edit, proof, print, revise, proof, print, revise...)
• Knowledge of the importance of backing up work on disk.
• Understanding the "captured keystroke" principle.
• Knowledge of terms used in describing fonts, styles, sizes, and print alignment.
• Understanding of default values, WYSIWYG, and other major word processing principles.
• Knowledge of the difference between dedicated word processors and word processing software used on general purpose computers.
• Understanding the principles of text scrolling on screen and word wrap.
• Understanding the nature of text storage, especially with reference to "invisible" characters such as spaces and carriage return, and the placing of punctuation with respect to nearby words.

About this document...

Module T01c: Intro Text Processing Principles

Author:

Laurence J. Krieg

Institution:

Department of Computer Information Systems, Washtenaw Community College

Dates:

Original: 19 Jan 1988

Revised: 29 Jan 1999
Copyright: © 1999, Laurence J. Krieg.
Instructors: You may point to this file in your Web-based materials.
Students: you may make a copy for your personal use.
All other uses: contact the author, Laurence J. Krieg for permission.