Text Editor

Premvet 5's text editor is a utility program primarily designed to set up definition files. It can also be used for simple word processing functions such as short letters or reminders. It is only designed to handle one page documents that are 70 lines long.

This option is included for 'backwards compatibility' and is getting fairly dated, we would recommend you use one of the other editors on the system.

For more powerful facilities, you should obtain an off the shelf specialised word processing program like Wordstar or Fenix. Or if you have Networked PC's use one of the Microsoft desktop applications e.g. Word.

Chapter contents

Text editor prompt line

'P'rint 'F'iles 'S'tart 'C'opy 'D'elete 'L'ength 'J'oin 'Q'uit

Document length

If you set the length and then choose to open a document that already exists, text editor may ask you to modify your settings. If the document is longer than the length you supplied, text editor will alter your setting to match the number of lines in the document you've opened. If the document is shorter than the length you specified text editor will pad the document out with extra blank lines at the bottom of the page.

Creating and editing a document

To create or edit a document, select <S>tart. When you start the text editor it prompts you for for a file name, which can contain 1-8 characters (or if you are using the Unix operating system, 1-14 characters). Do not use punctuation marks in filenames, as these often have a special significance. (For further information on this, please refer to the documentation for the operating system you are using.) Unless otherwise specified, text editor will add the suffix '.doc' to your file name.

If the file name you entered matches a document that already exists, text editor will load that document and display it. Otherwise a new file will be created. In either case, the cursor appears at the beginning of the document ready for you to enter or edit text.

Help on editing text

The convention normally used to signify this is the up-arrow symbol, (^) followed by the key in question, for example, ^K means: hold down <CTRL> and press K. (This is the command for saving your document).

The help window looks like this:

^X Down Line
^E Up Line
^S Left Char
^D Right Char
^V Insert off/on
^K Finish - Save
^G Delete Char
^Y Delete Line
^W Scroll Up
^Z Scroll Down
Press any key

Moving the cursor

To move the cursor to the line above on the screen, press ^E. This only permits you to move within the portion of the document displayed on the screen.

To move the cursor to the line above on the document, press ^W. If you are already at the top of the screen, the screen is scrolled upwards relative to the document.

The corresponding commands to move down and scroll down are ^X and ^Z respectively. ^X restricts you to the displayed screen, while ^Z lets you scroll the screen down the document if you are already at the bottom of the screen.

The number of lines left in the document above and below the screen are displayed at the top and bottom of the screen.

To move one character to the left, press ^S. If the cursor is already in the leftmost column, if will be moved to the rightmost column in the previous line.

The corresponding command for moving right is to press ^D.

Entering text

If the area on which you are typing already contains text, any text you enter will overwrite the existing characters. To 'insert' text and move the previous text along, you need to turn insert on. The command to do this is ^V. A message will appear at the top of the screen signifying that insert is turned on. To turn insert off, press ^V again. The 'insert on' message will disappear. Insertion of text only works on the current line. Any characters which are pushed off the right hand edge of the screen are lost. To insert more than one line of text, insert several carriage returns which will create new blank lines on which you can type over.

Deleting text

^Y deletes the current line and moves the rest of the document up by one line. A blank line is added at the end of the document.

The <BACKSPACE> key erases the character to the left of the cursor. If the cursor is already in the leftmost column it will be moved to the rightmost column in the previous line on the screen.

Saving your work

<S>ave & <D>one <U>ndo <Q>uit  [D]

Press <D> for 'done' if you wish to save your work and return to the main prompt line to perform any tasks such as printing, loading another document, returning to the Vet system and so on.

Press <U> for 'undo' to throw away all changes made to the document during the current session and reload the previous version of the document (if any).

Press <Q> for 'quit' to throw away all changes made during the current session and return to the main text editor prompt line.

Printing your document

When asked 'Enter filename to print' enter the filename of the document to be printed. You will then be asked 'Number of copies to print'. Enter the number of copies and press <RETURN>. The prompt 'Make sure printer is ready and press RETURN' appears. Now check that the printer is on-line and is loaded with sufficient paper, and press <RETURN>. You will then be returned to the main text editor prompt.

File maintenance

<F> for 'files' provides a list of the files available on the system. You are only permitted to edit files that meet the following criteria. (The '*' indicates a wild-card).

*.d*, stage*, bill.*, recall.*, *.def, *.for

<D> for 'delete' allows you to delete a file on the system. Use this option with care as you may delete something important, i.e. something which is not a text editor file. You will then be asked to confirm deletion of the file concerned.

<J> for 'join' is used to join two text editor files together in a third file. You will be asked for the file names of the first and second files. You will then need to supply a file name for the third file, which will contain the joined text of the original two documents. Text editor will ask you to confirm an overwrite if the file you named already exists.

<V>ert - This is to convert documents and is explained in the data sheet section below.

The final option on the main text editor prompt line is <Q> for 'quit' which takes you back to main veterinary system menu.