      10/15/87 -- WORDSTAR 4.0 -- after working with it for a few weeks!

    My first impressions were mixed -- the editor had more nice features; but,
the  printer drivers didn't!  WS4 refused to default to ".LQ OFF" and  printer
redirection appeared to be a 128 byte patch area with scanty documentation.
    I got a call from MicroPro a couple of days ago to inform me that WSCHANGE
had  a "bug" in it and that the ".LQ" and ".BP" flags had switched places.   A
little further checking showed me that WSCHANGE program and the PATCH.LST file
both  agreed but WS4 was looking in the wrong place!  (Or maybe WS4 knew  what
it was looking for, but nobody else did)  Anyhow; in the WS.COM file the ".LQ"
toggle	really	lives at 0812H and ".BP" at 0813H (switch those  addresses  in
your  PATCH.LST  file).  And, when using WSCHANGE, ".BP" is really  ".LQ"  and
vice  versa.   I still haven't figured out why the auto page  numbers  at  the
bottom of the page sometimes are it the opposite .LQ mode than the body of the
text!
    My	second	problem  was  that I have  an  Olivetti  PRAXIS  serial  input
typewriter that I use as my daisy wheel printer.  I am using an MSC-ICO  C/PM+
computer board, and with WS 3.3 I would exit WS and use DEVICE to redirect the
LST:  output  to  a  serial port and then go back  into  WS  and  print.   WS4
suggested that printer output redirection could be done from within WS4.   For
my C/PM+, at least, that means here's a 128 byte patch area -- go for it!   So
I  did.  I spent an hour or so using SID to find the SCB byte in  high	memory
that  redirected  the  LST: output and the values for the  devices  my	system
supports.
    Following is my assembly language solution:

;--------------------------------------------------------------------------
;ULPORT.MAC

	.Z80

;"ULPORT" SUBROUTINE COMPARES WS4 PRINTER DRIVER TO "PRAXIS,0" DRIVER NAME,
;IF A MATCH IS FOUND THEN LOAD "RS2" (08H) USING "OUTRS2" TO SCB AND RETURN,
;ELSE THEN LOAD "CEN" (40H) USING "OUTCEN" TO SCB AND RETURN,
;IF "PRAXIS" IS USED TO PRINT THEN USE "RETCEN" TO LOAD "CEN" TO
;REINITIALIZE SYSTEM "LST:" OUTPUT
;
;THIS OUTPUT REDIRECTION IS FOR USE ON AN MSC-ICO Z-80 COMPUTER BOARD
;FOR WHICH THE SECOND SERIAL PORT (RS2) HAS BEEN INITIALIZED TO 300 BAUD,
;8 BIT WORD, 2 BIT STOP AND NO PARITY FOR MY OLIVETTI PRAXIX P-41 TYPEWRITER
;BY REWRITING "CPM3.SYS" (CPM3.SYS HAS ALSO BEEN CHANGED TO DEFAULT TO
;1200 BAUD FOR THE FIRST SERIAL PORT -- SO THERE IS NO NEED TO RUN "DEVICE"
;IN "PROFILE.SUB" TO SET UP THE SYSTEM)


SCBLST	EQU 0F5C7H	;SYSTEM CONTROL BLOCK LST: REDIRECTION VECTOR ADDRESS
			;THIS JRDII'S CP/M+ --- SO DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH!!
CEN	EQU 40H 	;LST: VALUE FOR SCB CENTRONICS REDIRECTION
RS2	EQU 08H 	;LST: VALUE FOR SCB 2ND SERIAL PORT REDIRECTION

	ASEG		;ABSOLUTE TO GET THE ADDRESSES
ULPORT: ORG	063BH	;WS4 "PRNPAT" BEGINNING ULPORT:: CALLS THIS
	PUSH	AF
	PUSH	BC
	PUSH	DE
START:	LD	DE,DRIVER
NEXT:	LD	A,(DE)
	CP	(HL)
	JR	NZ,OUTCEN
	CP	0
	JR	Z,OUTRS2
	INC	DE
	INC	HL
	JR	NEXT

OUTRS2: LD	A,RS2
	LD	(SCBLST),A
	POP	DE
	POP	BC
	POP	AF
	RET

RETCEN: PUSH	AF   ;ULUNPT:: CALLS THIS
	PUSH	BC
	PUSH	DE
OUTCEN: LD	A,CEN
	LD	(SCBLST),A
	POP	DE
	POP	BC
	POP	AF
	RET

DRIVER: DEFM  'PRAXIS',00

	END
;--------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The  ULPORT::  patch address should "CALL 06B3H" (PRNPAT::)  and  ULUNPT::
should "CALL" the address that RETCEN: assembles to on your system.
    I  have  learned to routinely use many of the "new" features,  although  I
have not had a chance to use them all, and have usually been sucessful.  Print
time  formatting (.PF) looks like it could be a super tool.  My wife writes  a
lot  of  documets that will be printed single spaced, but she likes  to  proof
then  on a double spaced draft print.  Simple, just put ".PF" and ".LS	2"  at
the  top of the document before it is printed (comment out the ".LS  2"  while
editing).   This idea sort of works, the document prints double  spaced;  BUT,
WS4 will not recognize the ".LM x" commands she has put in the text to	indent
paragraphs and phrases.  WS4 blithly prints using the page setup defaults  and
everything comes out printed flush left -- I don't know whether the problem is
mine or WORDSTAR's!
    The  new  dictionary supplied with THE WORD PLUS is larger;  however,  its
vocabulary for "real writers" has diminished while its knowledge of words used
by  "computer review writers" has been enhanced.  No thanks, I'll stick to  my
old KAYPRO version!
    Except  for the few problems that I have run into, I've been pretty  happy
with  WS4.   Some  of the features that are on the  IBM-PC  version  (such  as
selective  page printing) would be nice, but probably make it even more  of  a
memory	hog and slower yet.  There are still some serious "bugs" to be	worked
out yet, and I hope the solutions will be coming from MicroPro.

