WSGUIDE
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Wordstar made ridiculously simple.
c. 1984 by Craig Werner (some rights reserved)
	(1935-14E Eastchester Rd. Bronx NY 10461, werner@aecom.UUCP)

	One of the most common complaints about Wordstar is that
there are too many commands to learn.  I have taught over a dozen
people how to use Wordstar by adhering to the dictum that it does not
make sense to learn all the commands before you start using the
program, just the ones you need.  They were all using Wordstar within
10-15 minutes.
	So here are the one's you need, or to paraphrase Hillel:
"This is the whole manual. The rest is commentary - with the possible
exception of the Appendix with the command summaries.  Go and type
your paper."

To start:
Type 'ws' to the DOS prompt (the A> ), ie, 
A> ws

In the main (No-file) menu:
D	starts a Document. (That's what you want to edit.)
L 	changes the Logged disk drive, so you can see which files are there.
	(LB changes to disk B, LA to disk A, etc - the colon is not needed)
	--> make sure to hit [RETURN]
X	eXits to DOS, so you can run other programs.

Within Wordstar:

^J^H2	(There is about 7 lines of help screen at the top. You get rid of them
	with Control-JH2 - you can just hold down the control key and hit J and
	H, then lift off the control key and hit 2.)
	(I use 2 because the 2nd level menus are preserved, if you have to 
	 search for something they still are there.)

Prefixes (IF you have to search for a command, it's going to begin with one
of the following prefixes.)

^Q	for Quick (cursor movements of a large scale)
^O	for stuff seen On-screen (like spacing, justification, centering)
^P	for things seen only during Printout
^J	Help screens
^K	File commands + Block Moves +

[Note: the O (for open) and P (for print) make sense, but why J and K? Answer:
 Look at your fingers. They are used by the other two keys of the right hand,
 and U and I were taken.  These two, and other Wordstar commands are ergonomic
 (to minimize hand movement), not mnemonic (to minimize brain movement)]
 
Useful commands (in 11 groups)

1. All cursor keys work. Use them for motion, although control commands exist,
	why bother with them. However, I'll mention a few of these in context.

2. ^Q^R	 - goto beginning of file  	(^R = Page Up)
   ^Q^C	 - goto end of file		(^C = Page Down)

3. ^F    - one word forward
   ^A	 - one word backwords

4. ^Q^S  - beginning of line            (^S = left arrow)
   ^Q^D  - end of line                  (^D = right arrow)


		Picture the keyboard				R
	It makes life simpler that way :			/\
                                                     A    S   D    F
  						    <=   <-  -> \/ => 
							 	C

5. Deletion:
   ^G	- deletes the letter you are on. (This makes a lot more sense if you
	know that ^G was a bell on old teletypes. It's not so arbitrary.)
   ^T  - delete a word  (the key above G)
   ^Y  - delete a whole line (the key next to T)

6. ^B  - reformats (rejustifies) a paragraph when its been edited. IMPORTANT.

7. ^P^S - UnderScore (the S for score, U was taken)
   ^P^B - Boldface (B for bold)

8. Onscreen Stuff
   ^O^Sn - line spacing. (^OS1 = single space, ^OS2 doublespace, etc)
   ^O^H  - toggles Hyphen-help  (Hyphen help can be an annoying feature when
		using Control-B to reformat.)
   ^O^J  - toggles justification (between rough-edge and Right-justify)
   ^O^G  - Paragraph indent (left side only)
   ^O^R/^O^L  - sets Right/Left Margin repectively.
	(Note: WS automatically puts the left margin in, so Column 1 is really
	 already an inch from the left. The margins are all relative to this
	 Page offset.)

9. File Access
   ^K^D  - Save file and leave [Done]  IMPORTANT.
   ^K^R	 - Read another file into the one you are currently editing.
   [See below for Writing]

10. Searching
   ^Q^F  - Find: search for a pattern/word.
   ^Q^A	 - Search and replace.
	(These have options, like 'G' for Global, that are explained within
	 the command.)

11. Block moves (Blocks/Passages/Excerpts of text)
	#1 Mark it.  Go the beginning and type ^K^B (Begin), then go to the
		end and hit ^K^K. It should change color or highlight status.
		Again: ^K^B begins / ^K^K ends.
	#2 Move cursor to where you want the text to go.
		^K^C - copies the marked text to where you are now.
		^K^V - moves (copy and deletion) text to where you are. 
			(C and V are next to one another)
    Other block commands worth knowing:
	^K^W	- writes the block to a file for disk (which can be later read
		 into another file by ^K^R)
	^K^Y	- deletes the marked text (remember ^Y deletes a line)
	^K^H    - Unmarks/Hides a piece of marked text.
			(^K^H if you goof or when you are done with it)


Dot Commands:
.OP	Omit Page numbers (good for one page letters)
.PA	Insert a Page Break / Pagination.
.MT # / .MB #  	Margins top and bottom (# of blank lines inserted per page)
.PO #	Page offset  (See above note on margins)
	(The help screen ^J^D will give you the rest.)

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My copy of Microsoft Word gathers dust while I use Wordstar exclusively.


				Craig Werner
				!philabs!aecom!werner
                     "The end. 94. 95. The very, very, very end."
