BEX works with many input and output devices. In fact, BEX takes complete control of what are called the input/output routines for the Apple. (User Level Section 2 provides details.) In order for the Apple to interpret incoming information and to structure outgoing information, you must introduce yourself, the devices you're working with, and your preferences. The Boot side of BEX contains programs for working with many different braillers, various large print printers, and speech synthesizers, but all the programs can't fit in the Apple's memory at once. When you define a configuration, you're telling BEX which parts of the program you want to use, so BEX can load the appropriate ones in memory.
Two Starting Menu options can help you prepare for
setting up your first configuration. Boot BEX and specify one of the six
supplied configuration names when BEX prompts Enter
configuration:
and beeps. (Section 2, Part 3 gives details on
this.) Then try out these two options.
This option allows you to find out about the insides of your Apple without opening the cover. Press W and BEX tells you the name of the configuration you're currently using, the model of your computer, and what's in each of the slots. Most of this information is also available to you as you establish your own configuration: when BEX prompts for a slot number, you can press <CR> alone to find out what interface cards are in which slots.
This option displays the equipment preferences defined
by a particular configuration. You can look at all configurations on the
disk; use option W - What is in this computer to find out the name of the
current configuration. After you press V, BEX scans the Boot
side for configuration files, and supplies a numbered Enter the number or name that corresponds to the
configuration name you entered when you booted BEX, and then press
<CR>. These configurations include a generic inkprint
printer in slot 1, and a Review class printer in slot 3.
Please note that these configurations do not include a braille embosser.
You must set up your own configuration when you want to braille material.
Since we established the six supplied configurations
on the Apple IIe computers at RDC, what's displayed reflects our
equipment. This means that even if you have an Apple IIc or IIgs, the
supplied configurations state that you have an Apple IIe.
Every time you boot BEX, When you have properly installed an integral voice
device in your Apple, BEX recognizes that it's there. When BEX
notices an Echo or Cricket, it loads the TEXTALKER software that makes
these voice devices speak. When BEX notices a SlotBuster, BEX loads the
SCAT software that makes it speak. You know whether BEX has recognized
your voice device when BEX talks the first After you enter At the Learner Level, the configuration questions
address four issues:
After you supply answers to all these questions,
BEX prompts: Use your initials or a short phrase that describes the
devices you've specified. The next time you boot BEX, you type this name
followed by <CR> at the You cannot edit the information in a
configuration. But you can have several configurations on one
disk; the only limit is the space on the disk. Generally, you establish
one or two configurations which are your favorites. You don't have to
describe every device you own in one configuration. You only go through
the configuration process to establish a new configuration. Once it's
established, you just type the configuration name at the Each configuration question has at least two possible
answers, so describing exactly what BEX says for all the possible
combinations would require a separate manual. Help is available with every
configuration question: when you don't understand what BEX wants to know,
press <CR> alone to obtain a summary of your choices. To establish a
new configuration at the Learner Level, enter BEX only asks these questions when it recognizes an
Echo, Cricket, or SlotBuster, installed in your Apple. When you don't have
a voice device, you jump ahead to the screen display questions.
When you answer The Echo output during the configuration process uses
fast speech. If you're having difficulty understanding the Echo, you can
change this to slow speech by issuing an Echo command. After BEX has asked
a question and is waiting for you to respond, press control-E E. All
subsequent questions use slow speech. For the SlotBuster, press control-E
1 S to set speech at the slowest rate.
When you have an Echo or SlotBuster installed in your
Apple, but BEX doesn't ask this question, check to make sure you've
installed the circuit card correctly. Turn off the Apple, and remove the
circuit card. Gently but firmly reinstall the card. Make sure that the
volume knob on the card is not turned down all the way, and that the
connection for the external speaker is secure. Then reboot BEX. If you
still don't get speech, see the device's manual for further
troubleshooting hints.
Ninety percent of the time, when a Cricket doesn't
speak the first configuration question, it's very simple to fix. Turn
off the power to the Apple. The Cricket cable must be plugged into port 2,
and the power to the Cricket must be on before BEX boots.
(You will encounter troubles if you plug the Cricket and the Apple into
the same powerstrip, and power on the two devices simultaneously.)
When you answer For the Echo and Cricket, BEX asks individual question
about the speed, pitch, punctuation, and volume. The first question is
BEX can display letters in five sizes, measured in
columns or how many characters fit on one screen line. The
smallest screen display is 80 columns; the largest is five columns.
The large print sizes are 20, 10, and 5 column: when
you wish to have large print screen display, answer As introduced in Section 2, Part 4, when you press the
solid-Apple (or Option) key alone, large print scrolling slows to a crawl.
When you press the open-Apple (or Command) key alone, large print
scrolling freezes. You can also change the scrolling rate, or how fast the
letters appear on the screen. BEX starts out at the fastest speed.
Solid-Apple-number (or Option-number) controls the speed of scrolling; 1
is slowest and 9 is fastest. You can only change the rate
during scrolling; you cannot change the rate
when BEX is waiting for input. To initiate scrolling, press <CR> at
any menu prompt. Now, as the characters scroll by, depress the solid-Apple
(or Option) key. Press and release a digit between 1 and 9, then release
the solid-Apple (or Option) key.
When you depend solely on voice output, press This is the lengthiest part of the configuration
process. You define up to four printers which can be either
inkprint, braille, or serial voice devices. You can specify four different
devices, or up to four different sets of parameters for the same device.
When you want to specify less than four, then enter zero for the next slot
number. For example, to describe only one printer, enter a zero for the
second printer's slot number.
BEX labels each printer description with a number from
1 to 4. The first printer you configure is always 1, the second is always
2, and so forth. When you are ready to print something, you use this
printer number to reference the information you've provided in your
configuration. The printer number does not refer to the slot where the
printer interface is plugged in. When it comes time to print, BEX asks you
for the printer number. When BEX prompts Remember, if you are uncertain how to answer a
question, enter <CR> alone and you receive instructions on what BEX
needs to know. In addition to the on-line help, more information about
printers is provided in the BEX Interface Guide and in the manual that
came with your printer.
For each printer, you are asked a series of questions.
There are some questions that are asked for all types of printer, and some
which are specific to particular printer classes. BEX tailors
the output differently depending on the printer's class.
You must tell BEX the number of the slot that your
printer interface card is plugged into, otherwise BEX won't know where to
send information to be printed. When you want to specify less than four
printers, enter While there are seven printer classes, at the Learner
Level we focus on four basic classes. Information about class V - Voice
device and class P - Paperless brailler is provided in the User Level.
Information on the class S - Specific printers appears at the Master
Level. Details about the class A - Apple LaserWriter PostScript driver can
be obtained by contacting RDC.
As the name implies, a generic printer is a "one size
fits almost everybody" inkprint printer. It can be dot-matrix or daisy
wheel.
None of the supplied configurations include a braille
embosser. When you want to create braille output with BEX, you must define
a braille embosser in your configuration. All braille embossers are class
B printers. You won't get well-formatted braille if you define a
brailler as anything but a class B printer.
BEX can make large print output on some dot-matrix
printers when you have the appropriate interface card. In addition to the
on-line explanations in the configuration process, there are details about
interfacing in the BEX Interface Guide. You must have both a supported
printer and a supported interface card for a class L printer to work.
A Review class printer is a special way of printing to
the 80-column screen that lets you proofread your text exactly as it would
be printed to a real printer. The supplied configurations all include a
class R printer--check out Section 2, Part 11 for an You are asked this question for large print printers
and braille embossers. Press <CR> alone for the list of codes. After
you enter the code that corresponds to your device, BEX confirms the
choice; you have another chance to enter the code if you picked the wrong
one.
RDC tries to support as many braille embossers as
possible. These include manufactured braillers, like the Cranmer,
VersaPoint, MBOSS-1, and Thiel; and homebrew brailling
methods, like Dipner Dots. Much more detail on these is
available in the BEX Interface Guide.
Brailler codes 1 and 2 are
braille previewers. These are braille equivalents of the
Review class printer (so they must be configured in slot 3). The braille
previewers allow you to proofread braille material on the screen that
looks exactly like what's sent to a braille embosser.
This question is asked for generic, large print,
Review class printers as well as braille embossers. The carriage
width defines the maximum number of characters BEX prints on each
line. Press <CR> alone at this prompt for commonly-used values,
which vary greatly depending on the printer class. Learner Level Section 5
provides extensive advice for making nice-looking print output.
This question is asked for generic, large print, and
Review class printers as well as braille embossers. Form
length defines the maximum number of lines BEX prints on each page.
Again, you can press <CR> for suggested values.
This question is asked for large print and generic
inkprint This question is asked for generic inkprint printers.
Your answer controls BEX's behavior at the end of each line of printed
output. Always start out answering At the Learner Level, BEX only works with one or two
5.25-inch disk drives, so there are only two possible answers to this
question. When you enter At the Master Level, you can configure up to eight
disk drives, choosing among 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch disk drives, RAM
drives, and the Sider hard disk.
Once you have answered all the questions, you get to
name your configuration. Configuration names follow two simple rules: The
first character must be a letter, and the name cannot exceed ten
characters in length. Choose a name you can easily remember. When the name
you choose already exists on the Boot side of BEX, then the new
information overwrites the old.
The only limit to the number of configurations is the
space available on disk. You can define several configurations to describe
various combinations of equipment and screen display. When both a sighted
and blind person are using the same Apple, each can define a configuration
that meets their needs.
To provide you with a feel for all the possibilities,
here's one way you could answer the printer questions. This text is
just a sample--you must answer the questions as appropriate for your
equipment.
This sample assumes you have a 128K Apple IIe with an
extended 80-column card. You have a VersaPoint embosser connected to an
interface card in slot 4 and an ImageWriter printer connected to an
interface card in slot 1. You configure the VersaPoint as printer number
1. You configure the ImageWriter twice: as printer number 2,
the ImageWriter is a large print printer; as printer number 3, it's a
generic inkprint printer. Printer number 4 is a Review class printer.
Since you use printer 4 to proofread material before it's sent to
printer number 3, printers 3 and 4 have the same carriage width and form
length. Note that the printer numbers refer to the order they are defined
in, not to the slot where the device is hooked up.
This sample demonstrates some of the error-checking
BEX does as you establish a new configuration. When configuring printer 1,
you entered 9 instead of 10. Since BEX confirms
your choice, you have an opportunity to cancel the 9 and
re-enter 10.
When configuring printer 2, you were unsure about the
meaning of line spacing. You press <CR> and you get
some advice about what to enter. You happened to have seen a sample of
14-point BEX large print, and you prefer less space between the lines than
the default. BEX uses the answer you give to this question to calculate
the suggested value for form length.
For printer 4, you specified slot 1, then a Review
class printer. That combination doesn't work, because the Review class
printer uses the 80-column card in slot 3. BEX gave you another chance.
If you answer the configuration questions with strange
values, you may get strange output. For example, if you give an inkprint
printer a carriage width of 5, you'll get very short lines. The following
problems could interfere with getting to the Starting Menu at all.
BEX tries to diagnose errors that interfere with
saving a configuration on the disk. Here are error messages and how to
cope with them:
A word processing program allows you to prepare
written material efficiently. You can review your text before you print
it, so that you know that your final output is the way you want. You can
save the text you write to disk and reprint it again whenever you want.
You can make minor modifications to an existing text without having to
retype the whole thing.
The part of BEX where you do all these things is
called the Editor. Use the Editor to write, review, add,
delete and correct text, and enter format information.
In this Section, we introduce some basic word
processing concepts. You'll learn how to move around in the Editor, and
how to delete and insert text.
In Section 2, we explored the Editor by examining an
existing chapter. The Editor is at the Main menu; press E to use the
Editor. BEX confirms your choice, then asks for the drive number or
chapter name you wish to use:
There are two ways to edit an existing chapter: When
you know its name, type the name, followed by <CR>. Or you can enter
a drive number followed by <CR>. BEX then presents a numbered list
of chapters, and asks you to choose one chapter from the list by number.
The first step in creating a new chapter is to tell
BEX the name of the chapter you wish to create. You type a name, and
finish with <CR>. You can add a drive number to the beginning of the
name when you want the chapter saved on a drive other than the default
data drive. After you type the name and press <CR>, BEX scans the
disk drive to see if that name is on it. If it A BEX chapter name cannot exceed 25 characters. If you
try to enter a name that's too long, BEX tells you so and complains
with a low boop. The first character of a chapter name must be a letter,
but you can use numerals, spaces and some punctuation in the rest of the
name if you want to. There are 4 punctuation characters you must never use
in a chapter name: period, comma, semicolon, or colon. If you use one of
these four, BEX won't be able to recognize the disk file as a chapter.
When you are entering the chapter name, every letter is interpreted as
uppercase, whether or not you use the shift or Caps Lock key.
A BEX chapter is made up of pages. A
page is an arbitrary division in the Editor: it can contain
from zero to 4096 characters. Each page is stored as one file on your data
disk. When you start a new chapter, you always start on page 1.
A BEX chapter can contain up to 30 pages. These
pages do not refer to the number of physical print or braille
pages when a document is printed or embossed. An average sheet of braille
contains around 1000 characters, and an average sheet of double-spaced
inkprint text contains around 2000 characters. From this you can see that
a single BEX page can contain enough text to fill several output pages.
As you use BEX, you'll work with data organized in
five ways: as a BEX chapter, within a chapter as
pages; within a page as paragraphs; within a
paragraph as words, and within a word as
characters. Before we get any further, we'd better define
our A character can be any lowercase and
uppercase letter; the digits 0 through 9; punctuation like comma, period,
percent sign, parenthesis, and the space character. These characters are
what your printer or brailler prints. A character can also be a
control character. Instead of being printed, a control
character controls the behavior of a printer or a computer. A few
of the keys on the Apple keyboard are control characters. The first one
you learned is the carriage return, also known as control-M
or simply return. That's the key we refer to as:
<CR>.
To move around in the Editor, you issue commands that
consist of control characters and other characters in combination. For
example, to move your cursor ahead by 2000 characters, you enter control-A
2000 <space>.
You can also include a control character as an item in
your text. A control character controls the behavior of your printer when
it's sent out of the Apple. For example, you can type <CR> in
your text. Every time a printer or embosser encounters a <CR> in the
text it's receiving, it moves the printhead to the beginning of the
next line.
You can insert a <CR> when you want to force a
new line. When you do type a <CR> in your text, it's actually
there. The screen shows it (with the letters C and
R or a checkerboard pattern) and the Echo says "return."
The basic unit is a character. The next size up is a
word. BEX has a pretty crude definition for a word: any
series of characters that's bounded on each side by a space or a
<CR>. That means that a word also includes letters with
touching punctuation, such as a period, colon, or comma. For example,
suppose you How many characters fit on a screen line can vary from
five characters (in G or F screen mode) to 80 characters (in W mode). You
tell BEX how many characters you want on a line when you print, and you
can print the same information with many different formats. At the User
Level, we explain the line preview feature, where you can examine how
material will look when it's printed without leaving the Editor.
The next division is the paragraph. BEX
uses a special indicator to mark the beginning of a paragraph: space,
dollar sign, lowercase p space. To emphasize that the
paragraph indicator is always four keystrokes long, we show it as
( $p ) throughout this manual. (By the way, this is the same
symbol that the VersaBraille uses to mark a paragraph.) To start a new
paragraph in your text, you type in those four characters. When your text
is printed, BEX executes the paragraph indicator as appropriate for print
or braille format, so the ( $p ) doesn't appear in your output.
A paragraph can contain one word or thousands of words: you define a
paragraph by where you place the ( $p ) indicator.
We've already described chapters and
pages, so now you're ready to dive in to the Editor.
When you type a name at the Editor prompt, BEX checks
to see if it already exists on the disk. When you add the digit 1 before
the chapter name, BEX checks drive 1; otherwise, BEX assumes you want the
default drive 2. When the name isn't on the disk, BEX asks Since you've just started a new chapter, there is no
text, so start typing. As you type each letter, it appears at the cursor
and the cursor moves over one to the right. BEX stores all the characters
you type in a special place in memory called the keyboard
buffer. Both the text you type and the commands you enter are
stored in the keyboard buffer.
If you are a fast typist, or if you have a large print
screen display, you hear little clicks from the Apple speaker as you type.
This is the sound of characters being fed from the keyboard buffer to the
screen, and to the Echo if you are in control-S A mode, which announces
every keystroke. Take care when you type: when you hold down a key for
more than a half-second, the character automatically repeats. Don't hold
down the left and right arrow keys to move your cursor forward several
words. When you release the key, the keyboard buffer has stored more
move-one-character commands than you expect, and your cursor overshoots.
Use control-G and control-R instead.
The Editor recognizes the difference between uppercase
and lowercase letters, unlike at the menu prompts. When you have the Caps
Lock key depressed, release it when you enter the Editor. Use the shift
key to get uppercase letters.
How many characters fit on each line of the screen
depends on the screen mode you've chosen in your configuration. BEX fills
each line on the screen with characters, so part of one word may appear at
the end of one line and the rest of it at the beginning of the next line.
Don't let this disconcert you--when you send the text out of the Apple to
a printer, embosser, or voice device, your text is properly formatted. At
the User Level, you'll learn how to change the screen display inside the
Editor.
When you want to start a new paragraph, type the
paragraph indicator: ( $p ). Those four characters appear on the
screen, and when you print your chapter, there will be a new paragraph
wherever you entered the paragraph ( $p ) indicator. BEX has
many commands that are oriented around the ( $p ) indicator, so
it's a good idea to use it often.
When you want to force a new line, you have a choice:
you can either enter <CR> or use the new-line
indicator: space, dollar sign, lowercase l, space ( $l ).
The <CR> and the ( $l ) have the same effect: BEX forces
the printer or embosser to start a new line.
We discuss many other format commands in Section 6:
how to center, underline, and use tabs, and to instruct BEX how to execute
the paragraph ( $p ) indicator.
All Editor commands start with control characters.
Hold down the control key, then press the specified letter, then release
the control key. After BEX executes any Editor command, the Apple speaker
makes a low boop. If you enter a command BEX doesn't recognize, the
speaker makes a high beep.
Some Editor commands consist of several control
characters in a row; in this situation, you hold down the control key,
press the specified letters, then release the control key. We show a
single-letter control command as: control-G. (This advances your cursor
one word and speaks it.) Although we show the letter g in
uppercase, you don't need to depress the shift key to enter the control-G
command. An example of a two-letter control command is control-A
control-P. (For easier reading, we show a space between the two
characters, but do not press the spacebar between control-A and
control-P.) This advances your cursor to the next ( $p ).
BEX is quite picky when it comes to entering commands
properly. All characters in a command must be entered as Other Editor commands start with a control character
and are followed by one or more plain letters. An example is control-S A,
which toggles off and on the speaking of all keystrokes. Again, you don't
press the spacebar between the control-S and the A, and you don't need to
use the shift key.
There are many ways to move around in BEX's Editor:
some commands simply move the cursor, and other commands move the cursor
and also speak. There is very little duplication between movement-only and
movement-with-output commands; we recommend that even BEX users who only
use the screen investigate all the commands.
The up arrow moves the cursor up one line on the
screen. If you press the up arrow when you are on the top line of the
screen, then the screen display changes to show previous text. When you
press the up arrow when you are on the very first screen line of the page,
your cursor moves to character position 0. Like the <CR> key, the up
arrow key is a single-key control character: entering control-K is the
same as pressing the up arrow.
The down arrow does exactly the same thing as the up
arrow, but in the opposite direction. Control-J is the equivalent to
pressing the down arrow key.
Control-A starts many editor commands which advance
the cursor forward through your text: how far you advance depends on the
subsequent characters you type.
There is an equal and opposite set of commands that
zoom back the cursor. They all begin with control-Z in place of control-A.
You can begin to see the patterns in these cursor
movement commands. The first control character determines the direction
you move: control-A advances forward, and control-Z zooms backward. Then,
you can type some numbers to determine how far you move. Finally,
there's a unit character: control-P stands for the paragraph unit,
while <space> stands for the character unit. At the User Level, we
discuss a number of other units you can use as you move your cursor.
Use control-L to locate text from your current cursor
in two directions. Start out with control-L, then type the exact
characters you wish to locate. You can type in a string that's up to
35 characters long. Your search string can contain any character that is
in your chapter.
Control-L is very picky: you must type in the search
string When you are finished typing the search string, use
the movement commands to search in a specific direction. Press control-A
to locate the string ahead of the current cursor position. Press control-Z
to search text previous to the current cursor position.
When BEX executes the locate command, it moves your
cursor to the first character of your search string, and makes the Apple
speaker boop. When you want to find another occurrence of the same string,
simply enter control-L control-A or control-L control-Z again. You do not
need to type the search string again. The locate command remembers the
characters until you enter a different search string.
When BEX can't find an occurrence of your string, you
get one high error beep and your cursor stays where it is.
Even if you don't use speech with BEX, these commands
still move your cursor as described. What we describe here for the Echo is
generally true for the SlotBuster. Check your SlotBuster manual for
further information.
The left arrow key, control-H, and the right arrow
key, control-U move you one character at a time to the left or right; we
refer to this movement as arrowing. When you arrow to a
character, the Echo pronounces the character your cursor lands on,
regardless of punctuation mode. BEX gives the Echo a special vocabulary
that's only used for arrowing, which is slightly different from
TEXTALKER'S vocabulary. The special vocabulary lets the Echo
pronounce all control characters, and makes it say escape
instead of control-left brace; right bracket
instead of ready; ampersand instead of
and, etc. When you try to arrow past the last character on
the page, you get the high error beep. When your cursor is at character
position 0 and you press You can make the Echo speak one word at a time by
using control-G and control-R. Control-G goes forward a word and speaks
it. Control-R reverses a word and speaks it.
In Part 4, we defined a word as any
series of characters that doesn't contain a space or a <CR>. When
your cursor is in the middle of a word and you enter control-G, the Echo
only speaks the characters from your cursor to the next space or
<CR>. When your cursor is in the middle of a word and you enter
control-R, the Echo speaks the entire word (forwards, not backwards!)
These two commands are handy for reviewing portions of
text with the Echo. After the Echo starts speaking, you can shut it up and
stop the cursor by pressing <space>.
Control-T talks the next sentence. Press <space>
to turn off control-T, and your cursor stops after the word you heard when
you pressed the spacebar. To start speech and cursor movement, enter
control-T again.
Control-O is the "output a bunch" command: it outputs
to the end of the current page and moves the cursor there. As you listen
to text with control-O, you can use <space> to stop output and
cursor movement at any point. Pressing <space> turns off control-O;
to hear more text, enter control-O again.
Using control-O and <space> is very handy for
proofreading. BEX pauses slightly between each word to check to see if
you've pressed <space>. At the User Level, you learn how to modify
the Editor environment to eliminate these pauses if you wish. (If you
don't have an Echo, control-O just moves the cursor forward to the end of
the current page.)
Each BEX page can hold 4096 characters,
but you don't need to fill up each one. The page is an arbitrary division,
and need not refer to a particular output page.
You can move to a new page whenever you want. Enter
control-P # <space> to move to a specific page number. For example,
to move from page 1 to page 2, enter control-P 2 <space>. The disk
drive whirs as the characters in page 1 are saved, and you're at character
position 0 on page 2. To move back to page 1, enter control-P 1
<space>. The characters you've typed in page 2 are saved to disk,
and then the characters on disk in page 1 are copied into the page buffer.
Control-P 0 saves your current page to disk, and puts
you at character position 0 of the same page. When you are working for a
long time on one page, use this command as a quick method of saving your
data.
Control-P <space> cancels your page move. When
you have accidentally entered control-P or when you have changed your
mind, press <space> and your cursor stays in the same position as
when you entered control-P.
Control-C control-P cuts the page at the current
cursor, leaving you at character position 0 of the second page you've just
created. A paragraph is usually a logical place to divide a page. If you
want to, though, you could enter control-C control-P right in the middle
of a word. When your chapter is printed, that word will output fine. The
page is an arbitrary division; you decide what relationship
each page has to your final output.
You can use any of these commands except control-P 0
to create more pages. BEX automatically renumbers your pages. Suppose you
have a six-page chapter, and you're on page 4. There are 3600 characters
in the page, and your cursor is at position 2000. You enter control-C
control-P. Page 4 now has 2000 characters. The text between your cursor
and the old end BEX creates pages sequentially. It will not let you
create pages out of order. For example, when you have a three page chapter
and you enter control-P 20 <space> you move to the beginning of page
4.
As a rule of thumb, move to a new page when you have
3300 characters in your current page. For all screen sizes except
5-column, the number of characters in the current page are displayed on
the status line on the bottom of the screen. Enter control-W C for speech
output of your current cursor position and the number of characters in
your current page. (See Part 11, Status Information for details.)
When you type along for quite a while, you may
suddenly find yourself getting a beep every time you press a key. This
means that you filled up your page; you have 4096 characters in it.
Don't panic, it's easy to fix. Enter control-Z
2000 <space>. This zooms your cursor back approximately halfway
through your page. Now enter control-A control-P. This advances your
cursor to the next paragraph. Enter control-C control-P and you cut your
page in two.
BEX offers two different ways to insert new text into
existing text. You can type in text directly from the keyboard, or insert
text from the clipboard. At the Learner Level, you can only insert text
from the keyboard. The clipboard is really a lot of fun; you'll learn how
to use it at the User Level.
Whenever you position your cursor in the middle of
some text and then start typing, the new characters overwrite the existing
characters, deleting them. You can insert and delete text by issuing
Editor commands.
When you insert text, the new characters appear at the
cursor position. Before you start inserting, place your cursor exactly
where you want the new text to appear. The insert places the new text
between your cursor and the character or space immediately before it.
Signal the start of the keyboard insert by entering
control-I. There's a Tab key on your keyboard which is actually a
control-I key, so you can just press Tab to start the keyboard insert.
After you press Tab all the characters from the character under your
cursor to the end of the screen turn into the underbar character. Don't
worry, the text that just disappeared is still in your chapter; the
underbars make it easier for sighted BEX users to know when they are
inserting. When you type beyond the end of the screen, your text scrolls
up, placing the line your cursor is on in the middle of the screen. The
rest of the screen contains underbar characters. Type along merrily: every
character you type is inserted in the text immediately
before the character your cursor was on when you entered
Tab.
When you're ready to complete the insert, enter
control-N. The Null command control-N refreshes the screen, and the
inserted text takes its rightful place, with your cursor at the same
character it was when you entered control-I.
For example, you have the word fanciful
in your text, and you want to insert quotation marks around it. Use the
locate command to move to the word: press control-L then enter
Another example adds words to a phrase. Suppose you
have: Actually, you don't have to use control-N
to complete the insert. Every control character completes the insert, with
the exception of three: control-M or <CR>, control-H or left arrow,
and control-C. These exceptions allow you to insert carriage returns and
control characters into your text, and let you use the left arrow to back
up and make minor corrections in the text you're inserting.
You can use the right arrow key to leave or complete
the insert. The right arrow key is actually control-U, so it qualifies as
a control character. After you press control-I, any Editor command you
enter accomplishes two functions: because Editor commands are all control
characters, you complete the insert and then execute the Editor command.
For example, when you are in insert and type control-Z control-G you exit
insert and the Echo speaks the next word.
You use control-D to begin all delete commands.
Similar to the cursor move commands control-A and control-Z, you can
combine control-D with a unit character to delete text by
characters, words, and paragraphs.
Control-D <space> deletes one character.
Control-D 17 <space> deletes 17 characters. When the number that
follows control-D has more than 4 digits, BEX boops and deletes only one
character. If you enter control-D by mistake, you can enter zero
<space> to cancel the command.
Control-D # control-W deletes # number of words.
Entering control-D control-W with no number deletes one word. BEX defines
a word to be the characters in between two spaces or <CR>s. When
your cursor is on the space or <CR> that defines the start of a
word, control-D control-W deletes that character and all the characters up
to but not including the next space or <CR>. When your cursor is on
any character in a word, then control-D control-W deletes the entire word,
from the previous space or <CR>. Control-D 5 control-W deletes five
words, starting with the space or <CR> that defines the first word
and up to the last character of the fifth word. When you enter a large
number, for example, control-D 2000 control-W you can delete the rest of
the page.
Control-D control-P deletes all the characters from
the cursor position up to the initial space of the next paragraph
( $p ) indicator. Control-D control-P deletes one paragraph.
There comes a time in your life when you regret a
deletion. Because of how BEX is designed, there are a number of approaches
that allow you to recover information you deleted by mistake.
When you are editing an existing chapter and you
delete something by mistake, it's easy to return to your original
text. When you edit an existing chapter, you copy the information from the
page file on disk to the page buffer. The changes you make in the page
buffer (including deleting characters) are not saved on disk until you
move to another page or quit with When you regret deleting text that has not yet been
saved to disk, you may be able to use the The deletion commands work well when you know how many
units you wish to delete. The editor also has a special, invisible pointer
called the block marker that you can use to make deleting
text easier. At the User Level, you'll discover other uses for the
block marker as you find out about the clipboard.
There are two ways to find out where your marker
is set:
It's easy to block delete large portions of text.
Position your cursor at the end of the text you want to keep, then enter
control-B S to set the block marker. Advance your cursor with any of the
Editor movement commands. For Echo users, control-O is useful if you want
to delete more than a sentence. When you hear the word that ends the text
you wish to delete, press <space>. Now, enter control-B D and all
the text between the block marker and your cursor disappears. The
character your cursor covers is not deleted. Set the block marker
again with control-B S, and enter control-O again to start speech and
cursor movement.
When you decide that you don't want to delete some of
the text in the block, and you've already entered control-B, press
<space> to cancel the block command. You may then reset the block
marker where you want it.
As you use control-B commands, you can receive two
kinds of error beeps. A single high error beep signals that you've entered
a command sequence BEX doesn't recognize. For example, if you entered
control-B F, you would hear one high beep.
Three high beeps can indicate two kinds of marker
error. If you place your cursor before the marker and then
enter control-B D, BEX complains with three beeps. Your cursor must be
after the block marker is set in your text. When you enter a command that
requires a set marker, but no marker is set, you also get three beeps.
Either you neglected to set the marker, or you executed an insert or
delete command and your marker was erased. This can happen with control-B
D or control-B L.
The bottom line on the screen displays the current
cursor position, the size of the page (or total characters in
current page), and the current page number. The line above this shows the
letters that correspond to the control character of the Editor commands as
you execute them. In 5-column screen, the display only shows the current
cursor and total page size.
For more details and Echo output about your status,
use the "Where am I?" command, control-W. When you enter control-W, the
Echo announces the character under your cursor and then the text
temporarily disappears. You're presented with a question mark prompt on an
otherwise blank screen. You can now enter one of these four characters: B,
C, P, or A:
You can press any of the letters B, C, P or A as
many times as you need to get information. After you digest the control-W
information, press any key except B, C, P or A to return to
data entry.
Enter control-Q to quit the Editor and save your
current page to disk. Enter control-Reset to quit the Editor and abandon
any changes you have made to the current page. If you enter control-Reset
and then think, "Gee, I wish I had saved that There are many ways to customize the editor's
environment--we introduce three basic commands at the Learner Level. At
the User Level you'll learn how to change the screen mode while in the
Editor, and how to use the braille keyboard.
Most of these commands start out with control-S for
set environment. Most of these commands are
toggled: the first time you enter the command, you turn the
mode or feature on, and the next time you enter the command, you turn the
feature off. When you change the environment, that change lasts until you
toggle it off by entering the command again, or until you turn off the
computer.
Control-S A makes the Echo announce every key you
press. You hear all your Editor commands announced, and every key you
press as you type in text. When the Echo is announcing every keystroke,
you have to type very slowly. This is a toggled mode: enter control-S A
again to return to normal. In announcing keystrokes, BEX uses the special
vocabulary described under Talking Cursor Movement in Part 7: to minimize
confusion, arrow keys (and their corresponding control characters) are
announced as up, down, left, and
right.
Control-S L disables all Editor commands that alter
your text, and makes every keystroke a control character. While you are in
this mode, you may use any of the Editor motion commands, but you cannot
alter your text in any way. You cannot add, delete, or edit text while in
this mode. For example, after you enter control-S L, pressing just the
letter O executes control-O to move your cursor forward and speak.
Entering Almost all of the Echo commands are available within
the Editor. (A full explanation of Echo commands is in Section 10.) You
can't use control-L to enter line review, but there are many other ways to
review your text with BEX's editor commands. You can use the spacebar to
silence the Echo after entering control-T or control-O.
To send any other command to the Echo, use the same
syntax as at a BEX menu: control-E followed by the appropriate plain
letters. For example, enter control-E 12 V to set the volume medium loud.
Control-E also sends commands to the SlotBuster. Refer
to your SlotBuster manual for details about SlotBuster commands.
Even if BEX seems to be behaving abnormally, you can
almost always save your data.
There are literally hundreds of printers on the
market. Since every printer is slightly different, we can't tell you
exactly how to set up yours. However, in Part 3 we provide you with a
generic procedure to assist you in setting up the proper margin commands
for your printer.
BEX internally structures output one line at a time
before sending the line of text to the printer. We call the part of the
program that builds up the lines of text the formatter
The formatter uses the format indicators
and format commands you type in your text to organize the
information going to the printer. (Section 6 explores these in detail).
BEX's formatter tailors its output differently for print and braille
devices. The formatter knows, for example, that paragraphs are formatted
and pages are numbered differently for print and braille documents.
The formatter builds a line of text according to the
commands you have given it. When you establish a left margin of five
characters, the formatter watches for each new line. At the start of a new
line, it sends out five spaces to create your left margin. It counts each
line as it goes along, comparing the current line number to the form
length. If your form length is 25 lines, for example, it sends out a form
feed command after printing line 25, and your printer moves to the top of
a new page.
You can print the same text to different carriage
widths without making any changes. The formatter automatically places soft
<CR>s where needed, creating lines of the right lengths without
further instructions from you. You provide the formatter with two basic
dimensions when you configure: form length and carriage width. BEX's
formatter uses the carriage width to break lines when printing, and the
form length to divide the text into output pages. At the User Level, you
will learn how to change margins and page lengths within a
Because of the formatter's vigilance, usually it
doesn't matter what kind of device you print to. BEX communicates with
printers in a generic way, using codes that all printers can understand.
It tailors output to the capabilities of the printer. When printing to a
brailler, the formatter filters out commands that braillers
can't execute, like underlining. The formatter makes sure that paragraph
indent, line space and page numbering are executed appropriately for print
and braille devices.
When it comes to printing nice-looking documents, you
and BEX operate as a team. BEX does its best to make nice output, but you
have the responsibility of making sure that your printer is ready to
print. In order to get the best possible output, you must keep in mind
some general principles about printers and printing.
Each printer keeps track of where it is printing on
the page. In order for it to do this correctly, you must make sure the top
of the page is in the correct position before you print. When you tell BEX
to start printing, BEX assumes that the printer printhead is in the
correct position to print the first line. BEX does not add any top margin
unless you tell it to do so. (Setting top margins is discussed in Section
6, Part 3.)
Some printers have a top of form button you push to
tell the printer: "OK, remember your current position as ‘the top of
the sheet.'" Less expensive printers use the position of the
printhead when you turn the machine on.
To set the top of form, first establish a landmark to
use as a reference. This landmark is to point out where the top edge of
your paper should be when you are ready to print. A common position is to
place the top edge of the page even with the bottom of the tear bar. If
you are visually impaired, have a You may have to print an experimental page or two to
get the paper exactly where you want it. Once you have your top of form
landmark set, you should check the top edge against the landmark
immediately before telling BEX to print.
When you have set your paper correctly, then BEX takes
over. Using the form length you defined in your configuration, BEX keeps
track of every <CR> it sends to your printer. If you have a form
length of 58, for example, BEX knows that after sending 57 <CR>s,
it's time to send a form feed character to the printer. This form
feed character makes the printer advance to the next top of form, where
BEX starts counting <CR>s again.
To roll your paper out of the printer when it is
finished, always use the form feed button. Form Feed advances
the sheet to the next top of form, and lets the printer and BEX know that
it is ready to print a whole new page.
Here's what may happen: Suppose you have a
printout that's two and one-half sheets long. When BEX is done
printing, the third sheet is halfway through the printer. As far as the
printer knows, there are still around 30 lines left on that sheet. If you
manually roll out the paper, the printer has no way of accounting for the
30 lines. Even if you manually roll the paper so it looks like it's
set for the right top of form, the next time you print, your output would
only fill half the sheet. The printer itself would generate a bogus form
feed after it counts 30 lines, and your page breaks would not be in the
correct place.
The best way to proceed is to always use the
printer's form feed button that advances the sheet to the next top of
form. That way both the printer and BEX are operating from the same
assumptions.
The form length is the maximum number of printed lines
on each page. Generally, single spaced printer output is 6 lines per
vertical inch. The standard eight-and-one-half by 11 inch paper is 66
lines tall. However, if you use 66 as your form length, your text would
look cramped. You want to allow for top and bottom margins. (Note that
when you double or triple space, the blank lines between text are still
counted.)
For example, for a top margin of one-half inch,
subtract one-half times six (the number of lines per vertical inch), or
three lines from your maximum form length. For a bottom margin of one
inch, subtract one times six, or six lines from your maximum form length.
Combining top and bottom margins, your form length is 66 minus nine, or 57
lines.
Confused? Here's the general rule: Subtract your
top and bottom margins in inches, from the paper length. Multiply the
result by six (the number of lines per vertical inch) to get the form
length. Good luck!
The carriage width is the maximum number of characters
on each line. Inkprint printers generally can print 10 or 12 characters
per horizontal inch. You may be able to specify exactly which on your
printer.
On an eight and one-half by 11 inch paper, you
could fit 85 or 102 characters on a line. But again, you
want to allow room for left and right margins. When your printer prints 12
characters per inch, then your text can occupy a maximum of 72 (the
carriage width) divided by 12, or six inches. Eight and one-half inches
minus six equals a total of one and one-half inches for left and right
margins.
Here's the general rule for figuring out how much
room you have for left and right margins: Divide your carriage width by
the number of characters per inch (10 or 12). Subtract the result from the
width of your paper. The number you get is the total When you define a carriage width of 72 for a printer
in your configuration, you are actually telling BEX: "Print as many
complete words as will fit in without exceeding 72 characters in this
line, then send the printer a <CR>." Exactly where the first
character on the line shows up depends on your printer. When the place
that the printhead returns to is too far to the left for your taste, then
you can tell BEX to use a left margin.
Again, printers differ. Some printers have their own
commands for setting margins. With these commands, you can move the spot
where the printhead returns to when it prints. You use an automatic set-up
sequence for this (discussed in User Level, Section 3, Part 3). Then when
you set top of form, you are also setting a left margin. If this is the
case for you, then BEX (and you) don't need to worry about a margin.
(Setting margins is discussed in Section 6, Part 3)
In the ever-changing world of printing, some
artificial absolutes must be set. When we talk about the placement of the
characters on a printed line, we will be referring to them with the term
position. A position is equivalent to the width of one printed character.
Position zero is the leftmost point that the printhead on
your printer can go to. Therefore, if your carriage width is 72, your
printer will print characters on positions zero through 71. Position zero
can move around on your paper, once you learn how to set a printer's
internal margins through the use of automatic set-up sequences. However,
in terms of how BEX's formatter view your text, position zero is always
the leftmost position on the printed page.
There are literally hundreds of printers on the
market, each with its own bonuses and drawbacks. Different printers have
different internal left margins, different numbers of characters per inch,
and a different amount of lines per inch. You may want left and right
margins on your printer that are different from BEX's default margins.
However, properly configuring your printer is a confusing process, and one
that can take much time. In this section, we provide you with a generic
procedure to assist you in identifying how BEX interacts with your
printer.
As explained in Part 2, BEX format commands control
the appearance of the printed or embossed page within the basic image of
carriage width (number of characters per line) and form
length (number of lines per page). You can also set a left margin
and a top margin, for a balanced page. Four chapters on your BEXtras disk,
the All four of these chapters print reference grids using
BEX's horizontal and vertical numbering system. Enlisting the assistance
of a sighted person if necesary, you can ascertain the appropriate
horizontal and vertical numbers that provide a well-balanced print page.
Before you can test a printer, you must establish a
configuration that includes this printer. The reference grids are
appropriate for regular and large print printers; don't use them with
braillers. For further information on configuring printers, consult Part 4
of the Interface Guide.
Defining a printer involves answering many questions.
In terms of testing, only four questions are important: the questions on
slot number, printer class, auto linefeed, and pause on form feed. After
you analyze the test results, you will know exactly what values to enter
for carriage width and form length.
Reboot and set up a configuration for your printer.
Don't worry about any carriage width and form length values you have set;
the reference grid chapters override the carriage width and form length in
your configuration. If you are configuring for the first time, enter the
suggested values. (Press <CR> at any configuration question to get
suggestions for how to answer.) You'll enter better values after you print
the test chapters.
When you first configure, always start by answering N
to the Only answer Y to pause on form feed when your printer
uses single sheets of paper. When you answer Y, BEX pauses printing at the
bottom of each page. You then remove the printed sheet, insert a blank
sheet, and press <space> to continue printing.
The chapter named V GRID provides you with a guide to
set form length, top-of-form, and top margins. Establish a
Where line 1 appears in this printout is where BEX
prints the first line of every page. When your test sheet shows line 1 too
high on the paper, then you have several ways to establish more
aesthetically pleasing top and bottom margins.
One way to position line 1 in a good place to always
include a top margin command in your BEX chapter. Suppose the grid line
numbered 4 seems like the ideal first line on the page. You type $$mt3 in
your BEX chapter, and at the start of each page BEX prints three
<CR>s before it starts printing the text for line 1. (Section 6
explains the $$ format commands in detail.)
Another approach requires that your printer have a
button labelled linefeed. When the printer is off-line,
pressing the linefeed button once advances the paper exactly one line. You
can align the paper using your landmark, then press the linefeed button
exactly three times. Now, set top-of-form by pressing the top-of-form
button or switching the printer off and on again. BEX now prints the first
line of every page on line four, per your instructions. This procedure
establishes top-of-form; it does not change as long as you maintain the
top-of-form.
As we've stressed, to maintain an accurate top-of-form
you must never advance the paper by rolling the platen. When you are done
printing a document, turn the printer off-line, and press the formfeed
button. The paper advances into position for the next document you print.
(The design of some printers make it difficult to tear off the sheet after
just one formfeed. In that case, press the formfeed button twice,
sacrificing one sheet of paper to the cause of beauty.)
At the User Level, we discuss automatic set-up
sequences, which can include a top margin command to your printer.
In addition to establishing the appropriate top
margin, the V GRID chapter can provide you with the appropriate value for
your form length. Once you've decided on the value for your top margin,
print the V GRID chapter again, using the value for your top margin. Fold
the paper in half the long way (so that the top and bottom edges meet) and
note which grid line number towards the bottom of the sheet meets line
number 1. Use this number as your form length. When you specify that
number as your form length, you have equal top and bottom margins.
The chapters named RP GRID, LP GRID, and LONG GRID
provide rulers for you to determine left margin and carriage width for
your printer. Use the grid chapter that is appropriate for you: The RP
GRID chapter prints six rulers; this chapter is designed for regular print
printers. The LP GRID chapter prints three rulers; it is designed for
large print printers. The first ruler in the chapters prints 39
characters, the second prints 49 characters, and so on up to 59 characters
for LP GRID and 89 characters for RP GRID. The LONG GRID chapter is
intended for condensed inkprint printers. It contains one long ruler, 159
characters long.
You should print the RP GRID, LP GRID, or LONG GRID
chapters once for each different character size or pitch you plan to use.
For example, the ImageWriter II has built-in 10, 12, and 17 characters per
inch. It also has a headline mode which doubles the width of
a character without change its vertical size. The ImageWriter II can also
do BEX large print. When you plan to use all these various
features, then you need to print the RP GRID, the LP GRID, or the LONG
GRID chapters once for every possible size.
Once you have your sample RP GRID, LP GRID, or LONG
GRID printouts, it's time to analyze them to determine left margin
and carriage width.
Each of the rulers consists of four lines. The first
line labels how many characters are in that ruler. The second and third
lines print a numerical label every five characters, which are read
vertically. The fourth line prints the ruler: a line of lowercase
o characters and vertical bars which make it easy to count
the number of characters for your left margin and carriage width. A
vertical bar appears every five characters, directly below each numerical
label, beginning with zero on the left margin; four lowercase
o characters are printed in between.
When the number of characters in a ruler line is less
than your printer's maximum carriage width, then these four lines
stack up vertically. The first vertical position on the line for each
ruler contains zero zero vertical bar.
In print, it looks like this:
by by ,
by en"
for----for----for The full cell stands for the
vertical bar, while dots 3-6 stands for the lowercase o.
When a ruler is longer than your carriage width, three
different things can happen:
The first ruler that's too long, and the
ruler immediately above it are the two rulers we are concerned with.
The left edge of the ruler is BEX's position
zero. On some printers, this position zero appears at the left edge
of the paper, which means that BEX's position zero would make a very ugly
printed page. When you are unhappy with the left margin on the test
printout, get a real ruler. Measure a nice margin of one inch
or seven-eighths of an inch and make a pencil mark at this point. Compare
the pencil mark with the grid ruler.
Suppose the pencil mark occurs at position number 8;
you now know that BEX's left margin of eight positions the printhead at a
good place. You can use this value of 8 to set a left margin, using $$ml8
when you print. Include the $$ml8 command at the start of every chapter
you print. Or, place them in a chapter which you print before your text
chapters.
At the User Level, you learn how to configure an
automatic set-up sequence. By consulting your printer manual,
you can find the sequence which sends a left margin command to the
printer. Then, you won't need to set the left margin in every chapter you
print.
When you've set the left margin, you need to set a
carriage width to work with that left margin. Take your newly printed copy
of RP GRID, LP GRID, or LONG GRID and examine it. On the printed copy RP
GRID or LP GRID, find the first ruler that is too long. This is the ruler
you use to measure your carriage width. On the printed copy of LONG GRID,
there's only one ruler to choose from. Now take a real
ruler and measure a distance from the right edge of the paper that is
equal to the distance of your left margin, and mark this position.
Determine the value for your carriage width by counting over from the
number above the nearest vertical bar. This value is the number you use
for your carriage width.
For example, suppose you have a left margin of
one-half an inch. You measure one-half inch over from the right edge of
the paper, making a mark along the first ruler that's too long. This
mark falls at the third lowercase o after the vertical bar
Now you reconfigure, using the values you obtained
from the tests for carriage width and form length.
BEX sends information to many different devices, and
not all of them are actually printers. You can use option P
to send formatted information to an inkprint printer, a braille embosser,
a Review class printer, a serial voice device, the Echo, or an electronic
braille device. The procedure for "printing" to all these devices is
basically the same.
Here's how the dialogue goes:
After you press P at the Main Menu, BEX needs to know
what chapters to print. Entering BEX then asks you to specify chapters by number. Enter
the numbers of the chapters you wish to print, following each number with
<CR>. BEX responds with the name of the chapter you've chosen. When
you wish to cancel your selection, enter a minus sign (dash) to the next
When you have specified all the chapters you wish to
print, enter <CR> alone to the The numbers in parentheses list carriage width by form
length; you can use this information to help identify the printer. (In
this example we use the configuration set up in Section 3). Printer 1 is a
TSI VersaPoint embosser. Printer 2 is an ImageWriter configured as a large
print printer. Printer 3 is the same ImageWriter as printer 2, but used as
a 12 characters per inch printer. Printer 4 is a Review class printer,
configured with the same carriage width and form length as printer 3.
You can add Echo speech to any printer by enter
You can also print to the Echo alone by entering
Review the printer options and enter the number and/or
letter(s), followed by <CR>. The disks whir and the requested output
device starts printing. When you configured the printer A Review class printer allows you to know exactly what
the formatter is sending to a print or braille device, saving you paper,
time, and bother. For this option, you must have an 80-column card. A
Review class printer is its own class of printer; simply enter A Review class printer combines the Apple 80-column
display with the 80-column line review software in TEXTALKER Version
3.1.2. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Echo's line
review functions, suggestions on which commands to use appear at the end
of this section.
The Apple 80-column screen is 80 characters across by
24 lines down. The page display starts at the left edge of the screen. The
exact number of characters in the display depends on your carriage width.
There are always four characters more than your
carriage width on each line. The first two characters are the line number,
expressed in two digits: 01 through 24 at the start of each page. The
third character on each line is the vertical bar; it separates the line
number from the start of the text. This vertical bar marks the space
immediately before position zero. A character that separates information
this way is called a delimiter. Anything directly on position
zero will appear immediately When your carriage width is 76 or greater, there are
two lines of text on the screen for each line of text in your final print
output. Half the number of lines as with smaller carriage widths will be
on your screen at one time.
The voice stops at the end of a screen line, even if
it is in the middle of a word. Words broken between lines will not be
pronounced as a whole word, but are said as if they were two separate
words. That means that you may hear strange sounding text at the beginning
of some lines. These words are broken on the screen as the result of a
carriage width wider than the screen line. The words will print normally
when outputted to an inkprint printer.
The easiest way to tell if the strange words are
broken words or misspellings, is to go to the numbered line above the
questionable word, and after the voice is finished speaking that line, use
the down-arrow key to have the voice speak the next line. If the words in
question seem to go together, they probably are one broken word.
One way to proofread text formatted with extra large
carriage widths is to print to the screen with voice output. A second way,
printing to a textfile, is documented in User Level, Section 10.
In all carriage widths, the delete character appears
immediately after the last non-space character on the line. On the screen,
the <DEL> looks like a square checkerboard. The Echo says "delete."
This means that when you encounter a delete, the rest of the line contains
nothing but more trailing spaces not in your text. Conversely, when you
encounter a space character, you know that there are more real (non-space)
characters on the line. When the first character in the line is a delete
character, When you wish to preview your material, print your
chapters to the printer number you specified as a Review class printer in
your configuration. When you type It's important to keep in mind that after you
enter line review, all of your keystrokes are interpreted as line review
commands. While you are in line review, you cannot use the down arrow to
see any lines on your current page past 24; the spacebar, to get the
display of your next output page; and <ESC> to stop printing. All
these commands have different functions once you are in line review. Once
you exit line review, you can use these command functions again.
As each line of text is printed to the screen, the
Apple speaker makes a click. A short series of clicks alerts you to a
short page. When the clicks stop, you can enter line review.
The following are basic Echo commands. They are not
comprehensive, but are just suggestions; there are as many ways to use
Echo line review as there are Echo users. Feel free to experiment! See
Section 10 for further help with Echo commands.
Start printing your chapter. When the clicks stop, the
first 24 When you press <CR> on any line, the entire line
is read. Or, you can use the left and right arrows to move left and right
on the line, word by word. To move character by character, press T to
toggle off moving by word. Press T again to move word by word again. Use
the up and down arrows to move up and down lines.
Any keystroke except <space> shuts up the Echo.
When the keystroke is a valid Echo command, that command is executed.
To exit line review, press <ESC>; the Echo says
"exit." Now you may press the down-arrow key to review the rest of the
print page, or the spacebar to move to the next print page. You can enter
line review with control-L and exit it with <ESC> as many times as
you want. Sometimes it's a lot faster to exit and re-enter than to
move your audio cursor many lines.
Here is a list of common problems encountered while
printing. For further help, for large print printer problems, and for
guidance on establishing communication between BEX and your printer, see
the Interface Guide, Section 4 on printers.
Part 2: Overview of Establishing a New
Configuration
Enter
configuration:
is the first prompt you encounter. In Section 2, you
responded with the name of a supplied configuration. To establish up a new
configuration, you enter one of three punctuation marks that signal which
level you wish to configure at. For the Learner Level, the punctuation is
period, so enter . <CR>
at the first prompt.
Enter
configuration:
prompt.
. <CR>
BEX asks you
a series of questions. The Caps Lock key must be depressed or the Apple
ignores your answers. You just type Y or N to respond to a
yes or no question. You must finish every
response by pressing <CR>. When you press <CR> alone to any of
the questions, BEX Enter configuration name:
Enter configuration:
prompt.
Enter
configuration:
prompt and you proceed directly to the Starting
Menu.
. <CR>
at
the Enter configuration:
prompt.
Do you want the voice off now?
Y <CR>
then the
voice won't speak during the configuration process. If you're
a sighted person establishing a configuration for a blind person, you can
answer N <CR>
to the first question and still configure
BEX with speech. However, you won't be able to hear some of the on-line
help voice samples.
Do you want Echo (or Cricket or
SlotBuster) speech?
N <CR>
you jump to
the screen display questions. When you answer Y <CR>
BEX asks further questions. For the SlotBuster, BEX asks just one
question: Establish an automatic set-up sequence for your voice
device?
Consult the SlotBuster manual for the commands you want to
send to the SlotBuster. After BEX asks this question, it temporarily
changes the SlotBuster's command character to control-Q. This allows
you to type in a set-up sequence with control-E. As soon as you press
<DEL> to end the set-up sequence, BEX changes the command character
back to control-E.
Do you want fast speech?
Press <CR> to get a sample of
fast and slow speech. The next prompt is Set the Echo
parameters?
One of the reasons the Echo is useful is that it has
many parameters that you can change to personalize the voice. Your answers
to the next three questions establish the default values for the
Echo's pitch, punctuation mode, and volume. You can change these
values at all BEX menus and in the Editor if you want to. When you finish
setting the Echo parameters, you move to the next section.
Part 4: Screen Display Questions
40 column screen is the default. Do you need a
different screen display?
Y
<CR>
to this question. Then enter the number of columns you
wish to see. Unlike scrolling with the Apple's regular print--40 or
80 column--screen, you can control how fast letters appear with
() Warning! The Large Print screen display,
especially 10- and 5-column, can generate a strobe-like effect when used
in conjunction with certain video display monitors, which may cause
seizures in person who are prone to them. Since the visually handicapped
population has a demonstrably higher incidence of neurological conditions
which may conceivably be adversely affected or aggravated by this strobe
effect, you may wish to carefully examine the manner in which the software
functions in conjunction with your particular monitor. Raised Dot
Computing, Inc. makes no representation and assumes no liability with the
above-mentioned condition. You may wish to consult a physician with regard
to your own particular situation.
N
<CR>
to accept the default response to the screen display
question. When you do, the next question is Do you want HI-RES
screen in the Editor?
HI-RES screen displays 40 characters on a
line, and separates each line of text with open space to make it easier
for a person with no vision impairment to read the screen. HI-RES screen
display refreshes slightly more slowly, so if you are depending solely on
voice, answer this question with N <CR>
By the way, you
don't have to use Part 5: Printer Questions
Which printer:
you
can enter ? <CR>
to get a summary of the information
you provide here in your configuration.
Enter printer slot:
0 <CR>
at this question.
3 <CR>
to this
question. (These printers use the 80-column card in your Apple; although
it is not actually plugged in to slot 3, the Apple thinks of the 80-column
card as being plugged in there. When you don't have an 80-column card, BEX
won't let you configure this way.)
Enter printer class:
Class G - Generic inkprint printer
Class B - Braille embossers
Class L - Large print printer
Class R - Review class printers
3 <CR>
to the previous Enter printer slot:
questions for a Review class printer. If you don't, BEX gives you another
chance to do it right.
Enter printer (or brailler) code:
Enter carriage width:
Enter form length:
Do you want pause after form feed?
N <CR>
If your printer uses single sheets of
paper instead of tractor feed paper, you do want pause on form feed, so
you answer Y <CR>
to this question. When you tell BEX
to print to this printer number, BEX pauses after each page and waits for
you to insert a fresh piece of paper and press <space>.
Do you want auto line feed?
N <CR>
because most
printers and printer interface cards take care of linefeed themselves.
When your printer prints all the text for a page on just one line, and the
only time you hear the paper advancing is at a new page, reconfigure. When
you answer Y <CR>
BEX generates both a carriage return
and a linefeed command for each new line.
Part 6: Finishing Up the Configuration Questions
Enter number of disk drives
1 <CR>
BEX prompts you to
switch between program disk and data disk. Please consult Appendix 3 for
information on using a one-drive system.
Enter a name for this configuration:
Enter configuration:
prompt when you first
boot BEX. If you can't remember the name, you can type ?
<CR>
at BEX's first prompt, and BEX lists all the existing
configurations.
Part 7: Sample Questions and Answers for Printer
Section
PRINTER SECTION
Printer ONE Description
Enter printer slot: 4 <CR>
Enter printer class: B <CR>
That means Personal Brailler.
Is that what you want? N <CR>
Enter Brailler code: 10 <CR>
That means T S I VersaPoint.
Is that what you want? Y <CR>
Enter carriage width: 41 <CR>
Enter form length: 225 <CR>
A typical value here is 25
Enter form length: 25 <CR>
Printer TWO Description
Enter printer slot: 1 <CR>
Enter printer class: L <CR>
Enter Large Print printer code: 1 <CR>
Enter font size: 14 <CR>
Enter line spacing: <CR>
Line spacing is measured from
baseline to baseline.
A typical value here is 21.
Enter line spacing: 18 <CR>
Enter extra spacing between characters: 0 <CR>
Enter carriage width: 53 <CR>
Enter form length: 37 <CR>
Do you want pause after form feed? N <CR>
Printer THREE Description
Enter printer slot: 1 <CR>
Enter printer class: G <CR>
Enter carriage width: 72 <CR>
Enter form length: 58 <CR>
Do you want pause after form feed? N <CR>
Do you want auto linefeed? N <CR>
Printer FOUR Description
Enter printer slot: 1 <CR>
Enter printer class: R <CR>
CANCELED
REQUIRES 80 COLUMN CARD, SPECIFY SLOT 3
Enter printer slot: 3 <CR>
Enter carriage width: 72 <CR>
Enter form length: 58 <CR>
Part 8: Configuration Error Messages
REMOVE WRITE PROTECT TAB
- Do not cover
the notch on the left side of the floppy disk. BEX must write the
configuration on your program disk.
DISK FULL
- You won't be able to save the
configuration until you delete some files. Boot with an existing
configuration and then use option K - Kill configurations on the Starting
Menu to make room to write a new configuration.
NAME MUST START WITH A CAPITAL LETTER
- Make sure the Caps Lock key is down. A proper configuration name must
start with an uppercase letter.
CONFIGURATION FILE IS LOCKED
- Sometime in the
past you locked the configuration file. You are now trying to save a new
configuration under the same name. Try using a different configuration
name. Don't lock configuration files.
BAD DISK, UNABLE TO WRITE
- The drive door is
not closed, or the disk is not seated correctly in the drive, or something
is seriously wrong with your disk.
BOOT DISK IS MISSING OR DAMAGED
- The
configuration file has succesfully been saved, but now the Starting Menu
program cannot be loaded. You may have inserted the wrong disk, or you may
have a bad copy of the BEX disk.
Part 1: Editing a New Chapter
Main Menu
Enter Option: E <CR>
Editor
Drive number or chapter name:
Part 2: Rules for Chapter Names
Part 3: Chapters and Pages
Part 4: How Data is Organized
The Basic Unit: the Character
() Hint! You don't have to type a <CR> at the
end of every line in BEX. BEX automatically inserts <CR>s when
needed as it's printing.
Larger Units: Words, Lines, and Paragraphs
"I<space>love<space>margarine!"
BEX considers this sentence to have three words.
Part 5: Starting a New Chapter
Want to
start a new chapter?
and then supplies a default Y
answer. Press <CR> to accept the default, and BEX pauses for a
moment to save the name to disk, then announces the first page. This means
you're in the Editor. In Section 2, Part 11 we described the cursor, which
marks your The keyboard buffer
Uppercase and lowercase letters
How characters appear on the screen
Part 6: Entering Editor Commands
Part 7: Moving Around in the Editor
Silent Cursor Movement
Advancing the cursor
Zooming back the cursor
Moving to Specific Characters: Locating Text
Talking Cursor Movement
Talking words
Talking sentences
When to Move to a New Page
Every Key Beeps for a Full Page
Part 9: Inserting Text
Insert Text from the Keyboard
fan
then locate forward with control-A. When you hear the low
boop and the cursor position number, your cursor is on the letter
from. Press Tab, press the quote, then enter control-N. Now
enter control-G; your cursor moves to the space after the letter
It's a beautiful day
and you want to add the words
bright and between a and
beautiful. Position your cursor at the <space>
boundary between a and beautiful, then press Tab
to begin inserting. Type <space>bright<space>and
then press control-N to exit the insert mode.
Exiting insert
Part 10: Deleting Text
Deleting words
Deleting paragraphs
Un-Deleting
RUN 999
procedure
to recover your data. Details on RUN 999
are in Section 13.
Deleting Blocks of Text
Block marker commands
Using the block delete
() Hint! You don't have to cancel a block marker
before you establish a new marker. Every time you press control-B S the
old marker is erased and the new marker is set.
Block related error beeps
marker
followed by its current position.
Part 12: Quitting The Editor
RUN 999 <CR>
and follow the prompts. See Section 13 for
details.
Part 13: Changing the Environment in the Editor
Announce All Keystrokes
The Lock Out Changes Command
Z <space>
zooms your cursor back to the start
of the page. Pressing a plain Send Echo Commands within the Editor
Part 14: Troubleshooting -- Editor Problems
Cannot write to disk.
Insert another data disk in drive 1 and press any key.
Cannot write to disk
error. Most are easy
to avoid. Check to see if you have a write-protect tab on your disk; if
so, remove it. Problems occur if the drive door is open, or if the disk is
seated incorrectly in its sleeve or in the drive. Even if the disk is in
the drive correctly, you can't write on it if it's full or if
it's not initialized. A disk can only contain 30 BEX chapters, so you
can get this message even if the disk has free sectors remaining.
SAVE
on drive 1. Merge this SAVE
chapter with your other text as soon as you clear room on your disk.
RUN 999 <CR>
at the BASIC prompt. More
details in Section 13.
Quit the Editor
message.
RUN 999
routine described above. This may not work. The
absolute worst thing that can happen is that you lose the current page.
Part 1: The Formatter
Part 2: Set Your Printer Correctly
Vertical Alignment: Use Top of Form
() Warning! Do not use the platen knobs to roll out
your paper. If you do, your next printed page may end up being only half a
sheet long.
Carriage Width
Position zero: the definition
() Caution! Experienced transcribers who are
familiar with the numbering of braille cells will recognize that BEX's
position zero is equal to braille cell number one.
The horizontal and vertical test grids
V GRID
chapter, the RP GRID
chapter, the
LP GRID
chapter, and the LONG GRID
chapter can
assist you to establish the appropriate margins, carriage width and form
length for your particular printer. V GRID is a vertical grid chapter that
can be printed on any inkprint printer. With this chapter, you determine
the appropriate top margin, top-of-form, and form length for your printer.
RP GRID is a horizontal grid chapter, designed for regular print printers.
LP GRID is also a horizontal grid chapter, designed for large print
printers. LONG GRID is a horizontal grid chapter designed for condensed
printing on printers that can print more than 100 characters on a line.
Using these three chapters, you determine your left margin and carriage
width for your printer.
Do you want auto linefeed?
question. When you print
the test grids, it will be obvious if your printer needs a Y response. You
need to answer Y to the auto linefeed question when you don't hear the
paper advance after each line is printed, and you end up with one black
line at the top of each page.
Printing the Vertical Test Grid
Establishing a top margin
Printing the Horizontal Grid Chapters
Determining margins for multiple print sizes
Setting the carriage width
() Hint! When you configure a large print printer,
BEX does some calculations for you. BEX uses a combination of point size
(the size of the letters) and extra spacing to calculate carriage width;
the answer for linespacing affects the calculation of form length. to get
these values while configuring, press <CR> at the prompt. See
Section 3, Part 7 for examples of this process.
Part 4: Using Option P - Print Chapters
Main Menu
Enter Option: P
Print Chapters
Drive number or chapter name: 2 <CR>
There are 2 chapters:
1 BLACK
2 WHITE
Use entire list? N <CR>
Select chapters by number
Chapter number: 1 <CR>
BLACK
Chapter number: <CR>
Which printer: ? <CR>
1 - Brailler in slot 4 (41 by 25)
2 - Printer in slot 1 (53 by 37)
3 - Printer in slot 1 (72 by 58)
S - Screen output
Add +V for Echo output
Which printer:
1 <CR>
or 2
<CR>
gives you a numbered list of chapters:
Drive number or chapter name: 2 <CR>
There are 2 chapters:
1 BLACK
2 WHITE
Use entire list? N
When you don't want to print all the chapters listed,
or when you wish to use a different order, accept the default N answer at
Use entire list? N
prompt by pressing <CR>.
Chapter number:
prompt, and BEX announces the cancellation:
Select chapters by number
Chapter number: 1 <CR>
BLACK
Chapter number: - <CR>
BLACK Canceled
Chapter number:
Chapter number
prompt.
BEX then asks Which printer:
Typing a question mark at the
Which printer:
prompt gives you a list of printers in your
configuration:
Which printer: ? <CR>
1 - Brailler in slot 4 (41 by 25)
2 - Printer in slot 1 (53 by 37)
3 - Printer in slot 1 (72 by 58)
S - Screen output
Add +V for Echo output
Which printer:
At this point you enter the number or letter of the
printer you wish to use.
() Hint! Do not type the slot number when prompted
for the number of the printer. You only respond with the slot number when
you are configuring. "Printer number" does not refer to the number of the
slot the printer is plugged into. Printer number refers to the order in
which you configured your printers; this is the number you respond with.
In the example above, you would respond with 3 for regular inkprint
printer. If you want the Review class printer in slot 3, you would type
the number 4.
+V
to the number or letter of the printer. The Echo speaks as
the text is sent to the printer, and the Echo speaks fairly slowly.
Printing to the screen plus your voice device by entering S+V
<CR>
at the Which printer:
prompt is one way to
proofread your text before you commit it to paper.
+V <CR>
at the Which printer:
prompt.
Part 5: Review Class Printers
R
<CR>
at the Enter printer class
prompt in your
configuration to configure a Review class printer. This printer class is
designed to work in conjunction with the Echo's line review feature.
Screen Layout for Review Class Printers
Printing to a Review Class Printer
? <CR>
at the
Which printer:
prompt, this printer appears as Printer
in slot 3
You don't add +V
for simultaneous Echo
output. If you did, you would hear every line as it is displayed. What you
want to do is send a screenful of data and then examine it with line
review.
Basic Echo Line Review Commands
() SlotBuster SlotBuster's SCAT software also
has line review. It uses the same strategy, but has different commands.
See Appendix 2 for further help.
A,G
after entering line review. When the Echo
finishes reading the lines, the audio cursor is placed on the line
following the last line read.
Part 6: Troubleshooting -- Print Problems
Do you want pause on form
feed?
question.
Which printer:
prompt, I
specified a printer by number, pressed <CR> and nothing happened.
RUN
<CR>
Try printing again: when BEX prompts Which
printer:
enter ? <CR>
You'll get a list of the
printers you specified in your configuration. Remember that it is the
printer number you enter, and not the slot number, when you specify
printers.
Which printer:
prompt, BEX briefly reads the disk in drive 1
and then hangs.