UNIT 3 WORD PROCESSING Structure 3.1 Introduction Objectives 3.2 Word Processing 3.2.1 Desk Top Publishibg 3.2.1 Functions of a Word Processor 3.3 WordS tar Menu and other Components of Display 3.3.1 Opening Menu 3.3.2 Cursor Movement Keys 3.4 Creating a Document File 3.4.1 Saving 3.4.2 Quitting Wordstar 3.4.3 Recalling the File 3.4.4 Marking a Block 3.4.5 Moving the Block 3.4.6 Hiding the Block 3.4.7 Writing a Block into Anorher File 3.4.8 Including a Document into the file being Edited 3.4.9 Reformatting Text 3.4.10 On-Screen Formatting 3.4.1 1 Applying Special Wects 3.4.12 Hud and Replace 3.5 Function Keys 3.6 Spell Check 3.7 Backup 3.8 Printing Using Wordstar 3.9 Dot Commands 3.10 Table of Contents 3.1 1 Indexing a Document 3.12 Mail Merge 3.12.1 Preparing aData File 3.12.2 Preparing the Main File 3.12.3 Eaevelop Pritlting 3.13 Summary 3.14 Answers to SAQs 3.11 INTRODUCTION One of the most popular application of computers today is word processing. Word processing refers to the use of computer hardware and a suitable software for creating text (letters, essays, write-up about products by companies, notes, etc.), storing it on a computer file, recalling it, making corrections, underlining, headings and printing. We will study word prcxessing in this unit in more detail. Objectives Akr studying this unit, you should be able to : dt;Cilt w~rdprocessing, the necessity of word processing, disadvantages of typing and enumerate the advantages of word processing, explain some functions performed by a word processor, explain what a DTP package is and list some DTP packages, load WordS tar and explain its menus, Computer Applications - 1 enter text and make corrections while entering, give special ciiects such as bold face, under lining, itaiics, subscript and superscript, change line spacing and reformat text, mark, delete, move and copy a block. write the block to a file and read from I another file, find and replace text, use options such as global, selective replacement, whole word. ignore case. backward search, identify and narrate the functions of function keys, explain spell check operation, and enumerate the advantages of having a backup. 3.2 WORD PROCESSING In the beginning of this unit we saw what is meant by word processing. Let us see what is the necessity of word processing. Suppose you are working in a company or in a Government office. You have to prepare reports about the activities periodically, prepare write-ups about products, inform the partners about the meetings that the company has to conduct and send list of matters to be discussed in that meeting along with this letter. You also have to send circulars to employcer about matters connected with day-to-ddy running of office. People used to typc such matters earlier. But type-writing is tedious. Corrections are difficult to make. Once you correct ii letter, you may have to retype it. It may be difficult to use already typcd but frequently needed matter again without retyping. With word processing it is possible to create, correct, give special effects and pnnt easily. You can store the often used portions in a file and include it by the strokc oi :1 key in any other document you are typing. An example is shown below. Vasmth Farm Products, Green Avenue, Madras - 36. (known for supply of vegetables, seeds and trees for the past IS years). Grow More Trees You can store the above as a file say "FARM and include it wherever you w'mt just by giving a cormmand. You need not laboriously enter the matter again and again. If you want to print the matter you have entered, electronic type setting (preparing matter for prinung) is available. This is much easler and faster than the old inethd ot manual type setting. ( In manual type setting, lhe person who is preparing the plate wilh characters manually picks up letters. fixes them on a frame and realigns them.) With communications technology also developing fast, we are able to network computers. Once you enter the matter to the computer, you can make it available to any number of readers across the country and cven outside the country through a network. In fiict, one of the leading newspapers "Hindu" and mother computer magazine "Express computers" arc already available to readers on the computer network. These are the adv;ultages of word 1 processing. Today anmber of word processing packages (word processors) are ava~lableTable 3.1 lists them wlth the names of developers. Table 3.1 PACKAGE DEVELOPEWENDOR MultiMate MultiMate MSWORD Microsoft WordStar Micro Pro Display wriie IBM Scriptsit Tandy 42 3.2.1 Desk Top Publishing Word Processing ,- , We studied the advantages of word processing and listed some packages. Sometimes we I have to combine the output of different packages and prepare books or reports. An example of such an operation is as follows : There is a package called spread sheet. You can enter data in the form of rows and columns. From this you can generate a graph. You may have to incorporate this graph into a report which you prepare using a word processor. Some word processors can directly pick up such graphs. Some cannot. To do such operations easily, packages called desktop publishing packages are available. Ventura is one of them. Using a desk top publishing package you can merge outputs of different packages and prepare a file for printing. 3.2.2 Functions of a Word Processor Any word processor performs the following functions. 1) Creating Text Using a word processor, you can enter text into an area of memory (called buffer). 2) Saving Text As you already studied, anything we store in computer memory will be erased when you switch off the computer. If you want to reuse the text, you should save the text you enter into computer memory on hard disk or floppy. A word processor helps youto do that. 3) Editing Text Generally, we are not satisfied with what we enter into a file for the first time. The text entered for the first time often is called a draft. We would like to make corrections in this draft. Correcting and making changes is called editing. A word processor helps you to edit text. While editing, word processor helps you insert text, delete text, move a block of text, (a block may be a number of characters, words, lines or paragraphs) from one place to another in the text.Edfting is the most important function that a word processor performs and its popularity, to a largt: extent, is due to its capabilities of editing, 4) Printing Text Having entered, edited and saved text, you may like to print it. After all, your ultimate aim in entering text may be to print it and send it to somebody. For example, you may enter a letter using a word processor and you may like to send it to somebody. The word processors offer facilities for printing text. If you want, you may instruct the word processor to print multiple copies of your document at one stretch. Ws studied the facilities that are generally available in many word processors. Now, we will proceed to study word processing by using WordStar a word processor developed by IvlicroPro International. You learn things better by actually doing it. So it would be better if you practice the commands on a computer as you read thc text. The versio~ldescribed in this text is WordStar 4.0. At present WordStar 7.0 is coming into use. It has additional facilities and the menus are different since it includes these additional facilities. You may easily learn WordStar 7 if you are familiar with WordStar 4. In fact you may use almost all the commands of WordStar 4 in WordStar 7. 3.3 WORDSTAR MENU AND OTHER COMPONENTS OF DISPLAY We will assume that the WordStar program is available on the system in the directory WS4 in C disk. Boot the system and log into the directory WS4 by typing in C:\>cd WS4 The system responds with C: \WS4> *pplimtiolls - I Following file prompt enter C: \W54>WS WordStar gets loaded. meopening display is shown in Figure 3.1. The first or top portion of the display is called menu. We will study the menu. -7 YWordStarProfeesional Release 4 I -1I OPENING MENU _I_=1 I D align open a document L align change logged driveldirectory N align open a nondocument C align protect a file P - align print a file E align rename a file I M align merge print a file 0 align copy a file /I I align index a document Y align delete a file T align table of contents F align turn directory off X align exit WordStar Esc align shorthand R align run a DOS command ADD^ 4.9k AGREE .Ik ASCII.WS 44k BLOCK2 I CHAP1 53k COPY .9k DRSPACCT 3.8k IGNOUSYL 1 LET16 .6k MAIN l.lk NOTREPAI .3k RDDADDR I RDDHBA .9k RDDHBA.BAK Ok SCR 4.5k SURECRM SUREPV 4.4k SURETY .Ik TEST 6.0k UNIT12 UNIT2.1DX 65k UNIT7 35k UNIT8 105k UNIT9 i WSANSM I Wgyre 3.1 :Opening Menu 3.3.1 opening Menu The menu is called opening menu. The first item is D open a document It tells you that if you press the letter "D" on your keyboard, WordStar would open a document (a document is a letter, report or book).