This Section provides crucial background information to ensure that your first encounter with BEX is a pleasant one. Because computers are so literal-minded, it's important that you're precise when you communicate with them. Part 1 explains the conventions we use in our manuals to help you communicate clearly with the computer.
Part 2 discusses the minimum equipment you need to run BEX. Part 3 discusses some of the equipment you can use with BEX. Depending on your preferences and your vision, you can access the computer in various ways: through letters on the computer monitor in various sizes, through various speech devices, and through braille screen access devices. Part 3 also covers regular printers, large print printers, and braille embossers. If you've never used an Apple before, be sure to read Part 4, where we provide fundamental information about the Apple.
The BEX Interface Guide explains how to connect the special devices that BEX supports to your Apple. For the nitty-gritty details about anything mentioned in this Section, please refer to the extensive descriptions in the BEX Interface Guide.
The BEX Manual is divided into three Levels, Learner, User, and Master. Each Level is divided into numbered Sections, and each Section is further divided into numbered Parts. When we refer to a Part without mentioning a Section, we are talking about a Part within the current Section. All references to another Section refer to the Section within that Level, except when explicitly stated otherwise.
The Index provides page references for all three Levels. Many topics are covered at all three Levels; while the Learner Level reference may simply provide a step-by-step sample, the Master Level reference may provide an in-depth understanding of what's happening.
We use the following symbols to make sure that you know exactly what to type.
This font shows you exactly what keys to
press
when you're typing at the Apple keyboard. Any spaces shown in
this font are significant. Unless we state otherwise, you type any space
shown in this font. In the braille edition, this font is transcribed with
the Code for Computer Braille Notation. In the audio edition, we
frequently spell out this material letter-by-letter, as well as using a
distinctive tone of voice.
This font shows exactly what the computer
says
so you can compare what's on the screen with what's
in the manual. In the braille edition, this is also transcribed with the
Code for Computer Braille Notation. When the print shows a dialogue
between you and BEX, your responses are in bolder type than what the
computer prompts. In this case only, we use emphasis markers in the
Computer Braille Transcription. What BEX prompts is emphasized; your
response is not.
In the audio edition, it's shown by a slightly lower tone of voice.
Some keys have long names, which we abbreviate throughout the manual. For example, the key labelled Return is abbreviated <CR>. When you need to press the spacebar once, we show it as <space>. Later on you will encounter other character names inside angle brackets.
The two in the Apple II family name has
been represented many ways over the years. Originally, the
two was created from a right bracket next to a left bracket.
(And TEXTALKER has a special entry to pronounce this right.) Later on,
Apple used two slashes to represent the two; on current
Apples, the two is shown with two uppercase letter
I's. Of course, devices that plug in to the Apple have
used even more ways to show the two. In the BEX Manual, we
use the Roman numeral II when talking about Apples. However,
whenever the BEX program A detailed technical description of the Apple
computers appears in Section 1 of the Interface Guide. Here's a
summary.
BEX is designed to work on a 128K member of the Apple
II family. When you have more than 128K of memory, BEX can use this extra
memory for RAM drives. The Apple IIc and IIgs always have at
least 128K of memory. If your Apple does not have 128K of memory, you will
encounter a number of limitations as you use BEX; in particular, 128K of
memory is required for the Master Level. Appendix 4 discusses BEX in a 64K
environment.
The information in Appendix 4 is also relevant if your
Apple is the oldest member of the Apple II family, the Apple II Plus.
While BEX minimally functions on a Apple II Plus, there are many BEX
features that you can't take advantage of with the older machine.
To use the full power of BEX, install an
extended 80-column card, which offers both
80-column text display and 64K of memory. Once you've installed the
extended 80-column card, you have a 128K Apple. You cannot operate the
Master Level without an extended 80-column card.
An enhanced Apple IIe is different from a
128K Apple IIe with an extended 80-column card. Enhanced
means that the main computer chip on the Apple IIe's motherboard has
been changed to the same chip that the Apple IIc uses, the 653#02.
While the portable Apple IIc does not have slots for
memory expansion cards or interface cards, the Apple IIc right out of the
box has 128K memory and an 80-column card. The Apple IIc The Apple IIgs comes with 256K memory standard. BEX
operates well on the newest member of the Apple II family, with one
exception. On other Apples, you can enter text through a six-key, Perkins
Brailler-style keyboard at the BEX User Level. However, due to differences
in hardware, the six-key braille keyboard mode does not work with the
Apple IIgs.
The Apple IIgs has both slots, like the
IIe, and ports, like the IIc. How the Apple IIgs communicates
through these slots or ports is determined by the Control
Panel utility built in to the Apple IIgs. More details on this
topic appear in Section 1 of the Interface Guide.
We don't recommend using the Apple II Plus as the
principal computer with BEX. BEX can minimally function
(details in Appendix 4) but there's a lot of frustration ahead. No
circuit cards exist to provide an Apple II Plus with the functional
equivalent of the memory in a 128K Apple IIe or IIc. This means that the
Master Level of BEX is not available on the Apple II Plus. BEX requires
64K of memory in the Apple II Plus to operate at ANY level--you need a
language card or 16K RAM card. The Apple II Plus keyboard lacks true upper
and lowercase, and some punctuation is missing. BEX allows true upper and
lowercase, with or without the shift key mod.
The II Plus keyboard does not have the Open-Apple and
Solid-Apple keys that control large print on the screen. The buttons on a
joystick or game paddles do function like the Open-Apple and Solid-Apple
keys, so if you want large print screen on an Apple II Plus, you need a
joystick or game paddles. If you have an Apple II Plus and a 128K Apple,
you can use the II Plus to drive your printer while you edit and review
text with the more powerful Apple.
In the past, Apple II'S always used 5.25 floppy
disk drives. Beginning in 1986, Apple has also sold 3.5-inch disk drives,
sometimes called microfloppy disk drives. To use BEX, your Apple
must have at least one 5.25 inch disk drive, because the BEX
program disk only boots from 5.25 inch floppy disks.
BEX works best when your Apple has two
disk drives. You can tell BEX that you only have one disk drive, and BEX
then prompts you to switch between the program disk and a data disk as
required. However, you will be switching disks a lot if you
have only one disk drive--more information appears in Appendix 3.
At the Learner and User Levels, BEX is limited to two
5.25 inch floppy disk drives. When you have an Apple IIgs with one 5.25
inch disk drive and one 3.5 inch disk drive, the Learner and User Levels
of BEX are a little inconvenient.
At the Master Level, however, you have more disk drive
options. BEX can store data on both 5.25 inch and 3.5 inch disks. When you
have more than 128K memory in your Apple, BEX can use the additional
memory for RAM drives. Finally at the Master Level, BEX
supports one brand of hard disk system, the Sider
manufactured by First Class Peripherals. Master Level Section 3 discusses
all the possibilities in detail.
None of the equipment described here is
required when you are using BEX, but it certainly can make
your computer system more productive.
There are a great variety of inkprint printers: dot
matrix, letter quality dot matrix, letter quality daisy wheel, laser
printers, ink jet printers, and thermal printers. There are also two ways
for the Apple to communicate with a printer: serial and parallel.
BEX attempts to support every braille embosser
manufactured. To generate Grade II, or literary braille, you need to have
a translation program that creates the appropriate computer signals for
braille embossers to generate braille. BEX translates from print to Grade
II and vice versa. BEX has special drivers for braille embossers that need
them. In addition, BEX supports Dipner Dots, a technique for
generating draft-quality braille on a daisy-wheel inkprint printer.
Information on Dipner Dots and interfacing braille embossers to your Apple
is supplied in the BEX Interface Guide.
BEX creates large print output when you have the right
combination of interface card and dot matrix printer. The list of
supported printers and interface cards is found in Section 4 of the
Interface Guide. BEX has two large print fonts: 14 and 18 point.
It's possible to send formatted output to any
voice device. The higher quality speech synthesizers can be recorded as
they are printing.
There are two basic types of speech devices:
integral and serial. BEX works with both types
of devices; the integral type offers more features to blind users.
Street Electronics manufactures and supports four
integral speech synthesizers: the original Echo II; the Echo Plus; the
Echo IIb; and the Cricket. (The Echo II is no longer manufactured.) As far
as you are concerned, BEX handles all four devices identically; all
references to the Echo in this manual apply equally to all
four devices. Please note that the Echo GP is not on this
list; it's a serial voice device.
The Echo uses various programs. The
TEXTALKER not only allows the Echo to speak any word
it encounters, it also provides screen review ability. Screen review lets
you randomly examine the contents of the computer screen, so you are not
limited to hearing something once and trying to remember it. Because of
TEXTALKER'S power, and because the Echo is very reasonably priced,
BEX has particularly good support of the Echo's features.
Manufactured by RC Systems, the SlotBuster combines
speech synthesis with a variety of other functions. You decide what
functions you want when you buy the device; they include parallel and
serial printer interfaces, a modem port, and a BSR X-10 controller.
Because the SlotBuster supports many different functions, it requires more
computer sophistication to operate successfully. The BEX program disk
contains the At the User Level and Master Level, BEX supports
serial voice devices like the Echo GP, DECtalk, Votrax, and others.
You can connect either a computer monitor or a TV set
to your Apple. If you can't see the screen at all, you only need to
connect a voice device; you don't need to connect a monitor to the Apple.
Whenever a program interacts with the "screen," it's actually
interacting with a part of the Apple that controls the screen. The Apple
doesn't know or care if you have a computer monitor or TV set plugged in.
Monitors come in a dizzying array of different sizes
and colors; monochrome screens can have white, green, or amber characters.
The size of letters on the screen are expressed as some number of
columns, or how many characters fit on one line. The actual
size of the letters depends on the size of the screen. Forty-column
letters are much larger on a 24-inch monitor than on a nine-inch monitor,
because the line is longer.
BEX can display text with 80, 40, 20, 10 and 5 column
sizes. The 20 column screen shows 160 characters at once; the 10 column
screen shows 40 characters at once, while the 5 column screen display only
shows 10 characters at a time. Section 3, Part 4 explains how you control
the speed of large print screen display with the open-Apple (or command)
and solid-Apple (or option) keys.
Instead of or in addition to using BEX's large print,
you can use a large print screen access device. One example is VTEK'S
DP-10, consisting of a circuit card and a large monitor. The circuit card
grabs all information on the Apple screen and enlarges it.
At all levels, BEX supports many braille devices as
printers. As In this Part, we briefly discuss some basic features
of the Apple computer. If you are familiar with the Apple's keyboard,
know what booting and DOS mean, and understand
how to communicate with the Apple through menus, then you can skip the
rest of the Section and move to Learner Level Section 2.
Appendix 5 contains names and addresses for publishers
of accessible computer materials. In addition to the resources listed
there, check out local Apple user groups in your area. You can find where
and when they meet by asking at an Apple computer dealer; their members
include both newcomers and experienced Apple users eager to help newcomers
out.
This is a special symbol that marks your place. In
BEX, the cursor is a square blob of light. When you type characters on the
keyboard, they appear at the cursor. You can move the cursor to cover
existing text; it changes from a square blob to a reversed picture of the
character it's covering. When you use screen review
software with the Echo, you can have two cursors. In addition
to the screen cursor, you can control an audio cursor that
marks where the next text is spoken. The audio cursor is not shown by a
blob of light; you can command the Echo to speak the position of the audio
cursor.
Locate these keys on your Apple keyboard so that you
can issue commands to the Apple and BEX. Every Apple has a slightly
different keyboard layout. Complete keyboard maps for every Apple model
are provided in Part 5.
Some programs are built in to the Apple--when you turn
the machine on, they are waiting to be used. One is the programming
language called Applesoft BASIC. You may wish to explore programming in
BASIC yourself, but you don't have to More importantly, there's one little routine
inside the Apple that lets you get started. When you first turn the Apple
on, it knows just enough to look for a disk drive controller card. If it
finds one, it says to the card: "OK, start spinning the disk in drive 1
and see if you can find a program to tell me what to do next." When it
finds this information it's automatically loaded into the
Apple's memory for use until you turn the machine off again.
The Apple is smart enough to pull itself up by its own
bootstraps. That's why this process is called booting
the Apple, or sometimes, booting a disk.
There are two ways to boot the Apple. A cold
boot means you start with the power off. You insert a disk in drive
1, close the drive door, and turn on the power.
A warm boot means that the power is
already on. You insert a program disk in drive 1 and close the door. You
press three keys for a warm boot in a particular sequence. Press
Open-Apple, then Control, then Reset; and then release these in reverse
order: release Reset, then release Control, then release Open-Apple. The
disk in drive 1 starts spinning.
If you turn off the power and then immediately turn it
back on again, the Apple may not boot correctly. There's a lot of
electrical energy that's stored in the Apple, and it takes at least
30 seconds for the energy to dissipate. For a successful cold boot, turn
off the power and then wait 30 seconds before turning the power back on
again.
All computers use a Disk Operating
System, abbreviated DOS. (It rhymes with
toss.) DOS controls how the computer handles information.
DOS provides instructions for the computer to use in reading and writing
data and programs from disk; interpreting input from the keyboard and
other places; and displaying characters on the screen, to printers, to
voice devices, to braille devices, etc.
Not every disk has the DOS software on it; if you try
to boot a disk that doesn't have DOS, the disk just spins endlessly.
Placing DOS on a disk uses some space. BEX lets you prepare disks to store
data by initializing them. BEX does not place DOS on these disks, so you
have more room for your text.
BEX issues DOS commands that tell the Apple to load
information from the disk into the Apple's memory. You can also
temporarily quit BEX and issue DOS commands. The Apple lets you know that
it's ready for DOS or Applesoft BASIC commands with a single
Even if you don't plan on doing any Applesoft BASIC
programming, the BASIC prompt is important to recognize. Many times when
something unexpected happens in BEX, you recover by crashing the program.
Crash is a dramatic word, but don't be frightened: all you do is
temporarily stop BEX dead in its tracks. You then receive the BASIC
prompt. You depress your Caps Lock key, type Throughout this Manual and the following keyboard
maps, we use the official, dictionary names for all punctuation
characters. Many voice devices use different terms when describing
punctuation. The following list shows the seven terms where the
Echo's vocabulary deviates from the standard names.
The Apple IIgs has five rows of keys in the main
keyboard, plus a numeric keypad on the righthand side. Main keyboard:
The Reset key is a long rectangle parallel and
above the 5 and 6 keys; it's labelled with an incised triangle
pointing left.
The numeric keypad has five rows: Top row is Clear;
equals Eight keys on the Apple IIgs are single-character
control keys. Escape is the same as control-left bracket. Tab is the same
as control-I. Both Enter and Return are the same as control-M. Left arrow
is the same as control-H. Right arrow is the same as control-U. Up arrow
is the same as control-K. Down arrow is the same as control-J. Clear is
the same as control-X.
The keyboard layout of the Apple IIe changed in 1987.
The newest models have numeric keypads; if yours doesn't, see the next
map. Apple IIe has five rows of keys in the main keyboard, plus a numeric
keypad on the righthand side. Main keyboard:
The numeric keypad has five rows: Top row is Escape;
equals sign; slash; asterisk. Second row is digits 7; 8; 9; plus sign.
Third row is digits 4; 5 (has raised dot); 6; hyphen. Fourth row is digits
1; 2; 3; and top half of Enter key. Bottom row is double-width zero,
period, bottom half of Enter key.
Seven keys on the Apple IIe are single-character
control keys. Escape is the same as control-left bracket. Tab is the same
as control-I. Both Enter and Return are the same as control-M. Left arrow
is the same as control-H. Right arrow is the same as control-U. Up arrow
is the same as control-K. Down arrow is the same as control-J.
The keyboard layout of the Apple IIe changed in 1987.
The newest models have numeric keypads; if yours does, see the previous
map. Apple IIe and IIc keyboards are identical except for the position of
the Reset key. There are five rows of keys:
This Section takes you on a guided tour of the most
important BEX functions. The BEX program disk is a flippy
disk; it contains programs on both sides. One side is labelled
Boot; it contains the information the Apple needs to get
started running BEX, plus the Starting Menu. As we explore the Starting
Menu, we show you how to make backup copies of your BEX disks, and other
useful tasks.
The other side of the BEX disk is labelled
Main and contains the bulk of the program: the Main, Second,
and Page Menus. In this trip we demonstrate BEX's Editor and Print
formatter, found on the Main Menu. We explore some options on the Second
and Page Menus as well. Along the way, we provide definitions for words
that have special meanings in BEX.
To take this exploratory trip, you need to set up your
Apple system and have the right materials. Gather together your two-sided
BEX program disk and the BEXtras disk. One of the first things we'll do is
make backup copies of your BEX disks, so you'll need at least four
high-quality blank disks.
There are several sources of help for setting up your
Apple system. First off, check the Owners Guide that came with your
Apple--it does an excellent job of explaining the basics of your computer.
(See Appendix 5 for organizations that supply Apple manuals in large
print, audio tape, and braille.) The BEX Interface Guide provides details
on installing special devices, like voice synthesizers and braillers.
Finally, Apple computers are very popular in schools. Chances are
excellent that you can find a technically-adept high school student who
can set up your system if you are having trouble.
When you have an Echo II, Echo Plus, or Echo IIb, you
should install it following the instructions in the Interface Guide.
Always turn off the Apple's power when you install or remove a
circuit card, or you'll fry your Apple! Make sure that When you have a Cricket, you must plug it into port 2
on the Apple IIc (on the right-hand side). The Cricket must be turned on
before you start using BEX. Check to make sure that the Cricket volume
knob is not turned all the way down.
When you have an inkprint printer, plug it in to slot
or port 1. This exploratory trip assumes that your printer is plugged in
to slot or port 1. Section 3 discusses how you tell BEX where to find your
printers and braillers.
Turn off the power to the Apple. Insert the BEX
program disk into disk drive 1, with the side labelled BEX
boot facing up. Turn the Apple on. When everything goes well, the
disk drive whirs for around 20 seconds, and then BEX prompts: If you don't get this prompt in 20 seconds, try it
again. Turn off the Apple's power and wait for 30 seconds, then go
through the same routine. If your Echo or Cricket didn't speak, check to
make sure all the connections are secure and the volume knobs are turned
up.
If you turn on the power and then start hearing
annoying loud blaaats like a submarine diving, it means that you inserted
the Main side of BEX instead of the Boot side. You must always start with
the Boot side. Turn the Apple off to stop the noise, then flip the disk
over, and try again.
A configuration is a file on the Boot side of your BEX
disk that lists your equipment preferences. BEX can work with many
different devices, and the Boot side of BEX contains programs for working
with large print printers, large print screen display, In Section 3 we describe how you set up a new
configuration. We have supplied six configurations that allow most people
to get access to the Apple and explore. The supplied configurations are
very limited. None of the supplied configurations include a braille
embosser. As soon as you've taken the exploratory trip, you should
establish a configuration that describes your equipment. If
none of the supplied configurations matches your situation, read Section 3
to see how to set up your own configuration.
The names of the supplied configurations are each two
characters long. To tell BEX to use one of the six existing
configurations, you press three keys: a letter, the number of disk drives
you have, then the carriage return key.
When you can see the regular screen, and have
When you want Echo or Cricket output, and have
When you want 20-column large print screen
display, and have
After you press <CR>, BEX reads the
information in the configuration file on disk. Then, BEX displays its
owner's name, zip code, and a six to ten digit serial number. Make
note of this information: we'll ask you for it if you call for Technical
Support.
After BEX displays the serialization information, the
disk whirs for a moment and BEX announces:
At all four BEX menus, pressing <CR> gives a
list of the available options. Do this now and you see the Starting
Menu's options. At all BEX menus, you choose an option by pressing
one letter. No <CR> is required or expected after the one letter
choice at a menu prompt.
Some BEX options are available at all
menus, while some are only available at particular menus. We will explore
some of the more important options on each of BEX's four menus in this
trip.
When you are using the L2 or L1 configuration, BEX
makes 20-column letters on the screen. You can control how fast these
letters appear with the open-Apple (or Command) and solid-Apple (or
Option) keys. Whenever you depress just the open-Apple key (or Command)
key, large print scrolling freezes. Release the key to allow scrolling to
continue. Whenever you depress just the solid-Apple (or Option) key, large
print scrolling slows to a crawl. When you release the key, scrolling
resumes. We explore these issues in detail in Section 3, Part 4.
You can issue Echo commands at all BEX menus,
including the Starting Menu. We discuss Echo commands in detail in Section
10. The configurations we supplied establish a particular set of Echo
parameters: how fast the Echo speaks, what punctuation it pronounces and
what punctuation is silent, and how loud it is. It takes some time to get
used to the Echo speech.
One Echo command adds a pause between every word; this
can make it easier to decipher what the Echo's saying. The
delay command is three keystrokes: control-E, a number
between zero and eight, then D. The Echo starts out at zero, meaning no
delay between words. To add a medium-length delay between words, enter
control-E 4 D at the menu prompt.
Option D - Disk catalog is available at all four BEX
menus. When you press D, BEX prompts Insert your BEXtras disk in drive 2. Press D, then
acknowledge the default drive number by pressing <CR>.
After you press <CR>, BEX reads the disk and
presents you with a list of chapters. A chapter is BEX's
basic unit for text. You edit text in a chapter, one chapter at a time.
For most other BEX options, you can work with many chapters at once. BEX
uses the chapter's name to organize information on floppy disk.
A chapter is subdivided into pages, and each page is
stored as one file on the disk. How text is divided between BEX
pages on disk is completely independent of how many output
pages the After BEX presents the list of chapters on the BEXtras
disk, BEX prompts: The many filenames you see when you press
<space> after a BEX catalog is exactly what you get when you type
the DOS command Before you can save your text on a disk, you must
initialize the disk. Initializing totally erases any existing
data, and establishes magnetic pigeonholes for information storage.
Placing an uninitialized disk in the drive is like not inserting any disk
at all: BEX can't save data on it.
Prepare a data disk to use as you explore BEX. At the
Starting Whenever BEX asks yes or no
questions, it just uses the first letter--when you supply BEX with a
yes or no response, you only need to type Y or N
followed by <CR>.
Your cursor is on top of the Y. When you
press <CR>, you accept the default response. If you don't want to
proceed, type In this case, you do want to proceed, so
press <CR>. Now BEX tells you to insert the disk in the drive.
Insert a blank disk in drive 2 (drive 1 when you only have one disk
drive). BEX asks you to press <space>. If you press any other key
besides <space>, you return to the Starting Menu prompt. Again, you
do want to initialize the disk, so press <space>. BEX
then starts to initialize the disk. Whenever you initialize a disk, you
hear a dramatic sound we call gronking. Don't worry--this is
normal. After a few gronks, you hear a regular pattern of writing to disk.
If there's something wrong with the disk, then
BEX won't be able to initialize it, and tells you so. Please don't try to
economize by buying inexpensive disks. In our experience, it's
worthwhile to pay a few extra dimes for a disk you can count on.
One of the next stops on our exploratory trip is
making a working, or backup, copy of your BEX program disk.
The BEX program is copy-protected; we only allow you to make
three backup copies of your BEX disk. If BEX encountered a problem with a
disk while it was copying the BEX master, you would lose one of your
backup copies. To ensure that the disks for your backup copies will work,
initialize them first. The BEX program disk has two sides, so
you need to initialize two disks to prepare for making the backup copies.
Use option I - The Master BEX disk is a flippy disk;
both sides of the disk have been designed and tested for data storage. If
you have flippy disks, you can make your backup copies on one flippy. Some
people make a flippy disk from a floppy disk by just cutting another notch
in the disk. We think this is a bad idea. If you use a paper
punch or other tool to cut another notch in a floppy disk, the "new" side
may be of very poor quality. If you want flippies and you can't find them
at your local computer store, RDC sells flippy disks at a reasonable
price.
Many disks are labelled double density or
double sided. These words are often abbreviated to DD or
DS. Don't confuse these terms with a flippy
disk. Double sided means that both sides are certified for storing data.
IBM disk drives can read and write from both sides of a disk at once.
Apple disk drives can only read from the top side of a disk. Only use
flippy disks manufactured with two write-enable notches.
A floppy disk is a very handy item, but is quite
vulnerable to damage when handled carelessly. Never touch the exposed
surface of a disk. Insert the disk carefully into the drive, without
bending or twisting. When a disk isn't in the disk drive, it should be in
its paper jacket. Never write on the label of a disk with a ballpoint pen
or pencil, as it can damage the surface. Keep your disks in the proper
environment: between 50 and 125 degrees Farenheit.
We can tell you horror stories about the hours
required to retype all the data lost when coffee dribbles onto a floppy
disk. Unfortunately, this is one lesson most people learn the hard way.
The most important rule for handling disks is never have your hands
on the only copy! We tell you how to copy disks with BEX in just a
few paragraphs. But more important than the technical details is that you
should always make copies of any disk you care about. Making copies of
your disk is so important One Starting Menu option is C - Copy disks. When you
press C, BEX confirms your choice with We practice copying disks with the BEXtras disk. At
the start of the trip, you gathered four blank disks. In the previous
part, you initialized three of these disks. The fourth disk has not yet
been initialized; insert it in drive 2. Place your BEXtras disk in drive
1, and then proceed as follows:
You don't have to initialize every disk
We hope we've convinced you that a floppy disk is a
vulnerable item. We want you to enjoy using BEX for many years to come. If
you always used your BEX Master disk, then an accident would mean you
couldn't use BEX. To ensure that you always have a working copy, use
option C - Copy disks on the Starting Menu to make backups of both sides
of your BEX Master disk. Once you do, store the Master disk in a different
and safe place, and always use the backup. Don't keep your BEX Master disk
and your working backup in the same place. If you kept both Master and
bakup in the same box, then you would be in deep trouble when the roof
leaks on your disk holder. If your backup disk is damaged, you can then
make another working copy from the Master.
Because BEX disks receive heavy wear, your Master disk
is programmed to allow you to make three backup copies of each side. Any
attempt to make further backup copies will be unsuccessful. If you don't
make a backup copy and always use your Master BEX disk, you are risking
inconvenience if your pet rabbit chews your BEX master disk to pieces. If
you do encounter problems with your BEX Master disk, contact the technical
support staff at 608-257-8833.
We know that most BEX users are honorable people, and
would not consider making a copy of BEX and giving it to someone who
hasn't bought the program. Unfortunately, we have encountered a
dishonorable minority who are willing to do just that. This is why BEX is
copy-protected.
The BEX program and all its documentation is
copyrighted, as well as copy-protected. Our copyright on BEX means that
you cannot make copies of BEX to give or sell to another person. You can
only use BEX on one computer at a time. Treat BEX like you would treat a
book. If you want to read a book at home and When you need to use BEX on more than one computer at
a time, you should contact RDC about legally obtaining multiple copies of
the program. RDC offers special prices for bulk purchases. If you have
four computers, do not make three backup copies and use them
plus your Master disk. If you did, you would be violating our copyright
and breaking the law. In addition to the moral problem, there's a
practical risk as well--you should never use your Master BEX disk. RDC
offers special prices for bulk purchases--contact us for more information.
Since your BEX backup copies will see heavy use,
it's important that the disks you copy onto are
high-quality disks. An easy way to make sure that your disk
will work is to initialize it first, using option I - Initialize disks. If
there is something wrong with your disk, BEX refuses to initialize it.
Now that the lecture is over, it's time to make
your working backup. Check to make sure your BEX Boot disk is in drive 1;
place one of the pre-initialized blank disks in drive 2. Now press C and
follow the instructions on the screen. When you press <CR>, BEX
makes a loud gronking sound as it identifies your Master disk, and then
reminds you to use a high quality disk for your backup. You must enter
When the Boot side copy is complete, you're back at
the Starting Menu. Press C again. Remove your master BEX boot side from
drive 1, flip it over to the BEX main side, and reinsert it in drive 1.
Insert another high-quality, pre-initialized blank disk in drive 2, and go
through this procedure again. If you have flippy disks, you can create a
double-sided backup instead of two separate disks.
We have finished exploring the Starting Menu. The
other Starting Menu options are discussed in Section 3, Part 1. If you
want to take a break, this is a good opportunity. Our next step is moving
to the Main side of BEX and seeing what's there.
If you paused at the previous Part, you should get BEX
up and running again. Insert the backup Boot disk in drive 1
and turn on the power. At the The BEX Boot disk contains the configuration programs
and the Starting Menu. The rest of BEX is on the Main disk. Remove the
Boot disk, find the backup of the BEX Main disk, insert it in
drive 1, and press <space>. BEX announces:
When you want to move from the Main Menu back to the
Starting Menu, you use the same procedure. At the Main Menu, insert the
Boot side in drive 1 and press <space>.
When you press <CR> for the list of BEX options,
there are ten items on the list. S and Z let you move to other menus. D
and # let you examine disk information. Four options form the heart of the
Main Menu. Option E - Editor is where you type and correct text; we
explore it soon in Part 11. When you want to send your text to a printer
or brailler, you use option P - Print chapters; we show you how this works
in Part 12. Option G - Grade 2 translator changes inkprint text into
contracted grade 2 braille. A step-by-step sample of using this feature
appears in Section 7. Finally, option R - Replace characters lets you
alter Each of the three menus on the Main disk is accessible
from every other. Press S and you move to the Second Menu. Press Z and you
"zip" to the Page Menu. At both the Second and Page Menus, press J to
"jump" back to the Main Menu. When you are already at the Main Menu and
press J, BEX just repeats the menu prompt.
Some options are available at all menus. You can
always get the list of options by pressing <CR>. You can always find
out how much room is left on a disk by pressing the number sign. Pressing
D always performs a Disk catalog, the list of BEX chapters. Finally, you
can use control-E to send Echo commands.
When you communicate with BEX at a menu, every
letter you type is interpreted as uppercase. It doesn't
matter whether you use the shift key or depress the Caps Lock key. Of
course, when you want to type a shifted character like the question mark
in your chapter name, then you'd better use the shift key!
When you type your responses in the computer dialogue,
you can't type very fast. The E1 and E2 configurations are set to Most
punctuation, so the Echo speaks every key your press at menus except
<CR>. When you are reading the screen, make sure that every letter
you type appears there.
You are about to edit and modify an chapter named
Make sure your BEX Main side is in drive 1, then press
S. At all You want to write the copy on the disk in drive 1. BEX
always looks at the disk in drive 2 unless you tell it otherwise. To
signal BEX to write the MY QUANDARY chapter on drive 1, you
precede the chapter name with the digit 1, like so:
Copy chapters on the Second Menu allows you to copy
between two disks. The dialogue goes like this:
Once you have made a working copy of the QUANDARY
chapter, it's time to experiment with the Editor. The Editor is on
the Main Menu. Insert your BEX Main disk in drive 1, then press J.
When you type on a typewriter, you use the spacebar,
the return key, and the tab key to manually control where every character
appears. You have to press the return key at the end of each line to move
to the next line and return the carriage to the left margin. Unless you
have a fancy electronic typewriter, Typing text in the Editor is quite different from
typing on a typewriter. First and foremost, when you make a mistake,
it's easy to correct it. If you spell one word wrong, you can just
fix that one word without having to retype an entire line or an entire
page. That's because you don't manually format every line. Instead of
using the return and tab keys to control where your text appears on the
sheet, you use format indicators and format commands. These are characters
you type in your text. The format indicator and format command characters
control what happens when you send the text out of the Apple to a printer,
brailler, or voice device. As you explore an existing chapter, you'll
notice several strange combinations of dollar signs, numbers, and letters.
These are the format indicators and commands, described in detail in
Section 6.
You are now at the Main Menu. To start using the
Editor, press E, and BEX confirms your choice. Insert the disk with the MY
QUANDARY chapter in drive 2. Instead of specifying this chapter by name,
let's use the scanning feature. Here's how it goes:
Once you supply the chapter number, BEX pauses a
moment, reads the disk, and discovers how many pages the MY QUANDARY
chapter contains. In this case, MY QUANDARY has four pages; BEX supplies
you with a default value for where you want to start editing by prompting:
You can start editing on any of the four pages. The
beginning seems as good a place as any, so accept the default by pressing
<CR>.
BEX now reads the disk file that contains the text of
page 1. BEX copies this information to a particular place in the
Apple's memory called the page buffer. When you use the
Editor, you are always working in the page buffer. To store a lasting
edition of your text, you copy it from the page buffer to your data disk.
This happens automatically when you move between pages or quit the Editor.
Once BEX has copied the text of page 1 to the page
buffer, BEX announces The cursor marks your place in the text. BEX has many
commands that let you move the cursor: some move silently, and some talk
as they move. As you type each letter, it appears at the cursor and the
cursor moves over one to the right.
There are many Editor commands, but we'll just
introduce a few here. Detailed explanations of several more Editor
commands are in Section 4 of the Learner Level, as well as a summary that
appears in the Quick Reference Card. All Editor commands start with a
control character, so it's important to know how to enter them
correctly. You enter a control character by depressing the control key,
then pressing a character, then releasing both control key and letter key.
We show the combination of the control key and the other character by
joining them with a hyphen. There are some control characters which are
also separate keys on the Apple.
You can move one word at a time using control-G and
control-R. Control-G goes ahead one word and talks. Control-R reverses one
word and talks. When you don't have a voice device, then control-G and
control-R move your cursor silently.
A word in BEX is a group of characters
without a space or <CR> in it. Control-G and control-R move
word-by-word, so your cursor always moves from the space or <CR>
that defines the start of the word to the space or <CR> that defines
the end of the word. When your cursor is in the middle of a word and you
type control-G, your voice device only pronounces that portion of the word
in front of your cursor. Control-R acts differently; when your cursor is
in the middle of a word and you type control-R, the entire word is spoken.
Try using control-G now: you hear "dollar sign, dollar
sign, d" then a low boop. (When you don't have a voice device, your cursor
moves and you hear the boop.) Whenever BEX finishes executing an Editor
command, you hear the low boop. The first four words in the MY QUANDARY
chapter are some of those format commands we mentioned earlier. Don't
worry about what they mean right now.
Keep entering control-G. The first few real words are
spoken in a high-pitched voice--that's because they are all uppercase
words. Use the left and right arrow keys to move character by
Continue using control-G: the next words are spoken
with a slightly lower pitch which indicates that they have an initial
uppercase letter. Words that are all lowercase are spoken at the
Echo's normal pitch. You can use the up and down arrow keys to move
up and down lines on the screen. The up and down arrow keys are silent,
except for the boop to indicate the execution of the command.
When you are a fast typist, or when you use a large
print screen display, you may hear little clicks from the Apple speaker as
you type. BEX stores all the characters you type in a special place in
memory called the keyboard buffer. BEX feeds each character
from the keyboard buffer to the screen or to the Echo at a pace it can
handle. Every time BEX hands over another character to the screen or Echo,
you hear a click. Both the text you type and the commands you enter are
stored in the keyboard buffer.
The keys on Apple II keyboards have an
auto-repeat feature. When you hold down a key for more than
a half-second, the character automatically repeats. For sighted users,
don't hold down the left and right arrow keys to move your cursor forward
several words. If you do this, the keyboard buffer stores more
move-one-character commands than you expect, and your cursor overshoots.
Use control-G and control-R instead.
The auto-repeat feature also affects voice output
users. Try holding down control-G for a few seconds. For the first few
words, the Echo barely speaks the start of one word before it starts
saying the start of the next word. After the first few strange-sounding
words, the Echo returns to normal. Whenever the Echo receives a command,
it acts on it immediately. If the Echo happens to be talking
when it gets a BEX uses a special combination of characters to
indicate the beginning of a paragraph. It's always four keystrokes
long: space, dollar sign, lowercase people, space. Because
you must type the initial and final spaces for the paragraph indicator to
work, we always show the paragraph indicator as ( $p ). Don't
type the parentheses; they are just there to emphasize the initial and
final space.
The Editor has a number of commands oriented around
the paragraph indicator. You can move your cursor forward silently to the
next paragraph ( $p ) indicator by issuing the Editor command
control-A control-P. To help you remember the command, think of
advancing a paragraph. After you press
control-A control-P, press control-G. The voice says dollar sign
people. Control-A control-P places your cursor on the initial space
that defines the paragraph ( $p ) indicator.
Page 1 of the MY QUANDARY chapter has many paragraphs:
enter control-A control-P five times and your cursor is at the beginning
of the fifth paragraph. Try using control-R to Reverse your cursor back
word-by-word. To return to the first character in the page, enter
control-Z <space>. To help you remember this command, think of
zooming back to the beginning. To advance to the last
character of the page, enter control-A <space>.
If you are unfamiliar with the Apple keyboard, you can
ask BEX to talk every key you press. Depress the control key, then press
the letter So, then release the control key. Now press the
letter A. You have just issued the Editor command control-S A
which tells BEX to announce all keystrokes. Because the Echo stops talking
every time it gets a new keystroke, you have to type fairly slowly to hear
every key you type.
When you don't want to hear every keystroke announced,
you turn off this feature by pressing Control-S A again. When the same
command turns something on and off, it's called a
toggle. In the Editor, there are a variety of toggled
commands like Control-S A. These commands change how you interact with the
computer: we refer to these as environmental commands.
MovingBetween Pages
Each BEX chapter is made up of smaller units called
BEX pages. As mentioned earlier, a BEX page is just a
collection of characters stored as one file on disk. A BEX page is
independent of an output page. Now that you've explored page
1, let's move to another BEX page and practice typing text.
Whenever you move between BEX pages, the text in the
page buffer is copied back to disk. Any changes you have made in the text
are now saved to disk. Enter control-P 4 <space>. BEX pauses to
write the page buffer to the disk file for page 1, then reads the disk
file for page 4 and copies that to the page buffer. When this process is
complete, BEX announces Move your cursor to the end of the page by pressing
control-A <space>. Whenever you start to type in the Editor,
it's a good idea to check that the Caps Lock key (in the lower
righthand corner of the Apple keyboard) is not clicked down. When this key
is clicked down, every letter you type is uppercase. Most of the time, you
want to type lowercase letters, and use the shift key to get uppercase
letters.
Once you're sure the Caps Lock is up, type a paragraph
indicator by pressing <space>, dollar sign (shift of digit 4),
people, <space>. Now type your name, followed by the
phrase edited Your cursor is on the first <space> of the
paragraph ( $p ) indicator. Press control-O and the Echo speaks
what you just typed. The control-O command speaks all the text starting at
your cursor forward to the end of the page. When your cursor lands on the
end of the page, BEX boops once.
When you are ready to quit the Editor, press
control-Q. This one command copies your current page buffer to disk and
returns you to the Main Menu. Using control-Q is vital: if you don't enter
control-Q, any changes you've made in the most recent page aren't saved to
disk. Practice leaving and returning to the MY QUANDARY chapter. If you
want to take a break, now is a good time to do it. Remove your BEX disk
and data disk from the disk drives and turn off the power.
If you paused at the previous Part, you should get BEX
up and running again. Insert the backup Boot disk in drive 1
and turn on the power. At the If you have moved to another menu, press J to "jump"
back to the Main Menu. You can use option P - Print to send formatted text
to inkprint printers, braille embossers, large print printers, and voice
devices. You tell BEX which chapters to print and which printer to send it
to, and BEX does the rest.
Here's a sample dialogue when you print the
QUANDARY chapter. Insert your BEXtras disk in drive 2.
We defined printer number 1 as an inkprint printer
plugged in to slot 1. We defined printer number 2 as a Review
class printer. A Review class printer is a good way for both
sighted and blind people to proofread their text before its committed to
paper. It works will in combination with the Echo's screen
review feature. We take a quick look at this feature in a minute.
Section 5 discusses the Review class printer in detail. None of the
supplied configurations include a braille embosser. When you want to
braille materials, you must establish a configuration that includes an
embosser--details in Section 3.
The number attached to a printer depends on how you
define it in your configuration. Printer number 1 is 1
because we defined it first in our configuration, not because it's
plugged in to slot 1.
In addition to the numbered printers, you have two
other choices, S and ingV. When you enter When you want the Echo to speak every line as
it's printed, add the two characters plus sign, letter
Very, to whatever printer you have chosen. For example, to
print to the screen with Echo voice, enter No matter which choice you make, BEX formats your text
when printing it. Every paragraph ( $p ) indicator is executed
with two <CR>s and a paragraph indent of five spaces. BEX
automatically breaks each line as required: the number of characters that
fit on a line change depending on which printer you specify. Printer 1 is
defined with 72 characters on each line; printer 2 also allows 72
characters on the line. The 40-column screen can fit 40 characters, and
the 20-column screen can fit 20 characters on the line. When you want to
make BEX stop printing before the end of the text, press <ESC>.
Because BEX takes care of breaking text into lines,
you don't have to worry about ending every line with <CR>, like you
would on a typewriter. In Sections 5 and 6, we explain how BEX adjusts the
format of your text so it's correct in both print and braille.
When you tell BEX to print to the screen, each
screen's worth of data is one output page. The QUANDARY
chapter contains a format command that numbers pages. When you print to
the screen, BEX centers the word Page plus a number on the
last line of each screen. When the screen is full of characters, the
display stops and you hear a boop. Press <space> to get the next
page of text.
How many characters fit on one line of the screen
depends on your configuration. When you are using L1 or L2, then the limit
is 20 characters wide and ten lines down. With any of the other supplied
configurations, it's 40 characters wide by 24 lines down.
The Review class printer is a special way of printing
to the screen, that lets you define a bigger page size than the screen
allows. It's useful for people who can see the 80-column screen or
who can hear the Echo. Printer number 2 is defined as a Review class
printer 72 characters wide by 58 lines down.
Print the QUANDARY chapter to printer number 2. BEX
displays the first 24 lines of the page, making a low click as it shows
each line, then stops.
When you have an Echo, try this: when the clicks stop,
press control-L. The Echo says Review, because control-L
turns on the Echo's screen review mode. Now press B and
the Echo starts speaking all the text on the second line of the screen.
You can press the up and down arrows to read line by line. With a Review
class printer, BEX puts a line-number on the left edge of the screen so
you can tell where text appears on the page when printed. To exit from
screen review mode, press <ESC> once.
To see more of the page, press down arrow. Each
58-line page is displayed in three parts. To see the next page, press
<space>.
There are two ways to get Echo output when printing:
you can add the Echo to other printers, or you can print to the Echo
alone. To add Echo to another printer, add the two characters plus
sign, letter V to your choice. When you enter
Printer 1 is defined with a maximum of 72 characters
per line. We defined printer 1 as an inkprint printer with continuous feed
paper; BEX assumes that you don't have to pause at each page and insert a
fresh sheet of paper. If your printer requires this pause on form
feed, don't print QUANDARY to printer 1!
Press S at the Main Menu or Page Menu, and you move to
the Second Menu. Some Second Menu options are familiar, because they are
available at all four BEX menus: option D - Disk catalog; option # - Free
sectors on disk; and control-E for Echo commands. The unique Second Menu
options are described in detail in Section 11; here are some highlights.
We have already demonstrated using option C - Copy
chapters. Option N - Name change for chapters lets you change a
chapter's name without making a copy. Option M - Merge chapters
allows you to make one larger chapter from several smaller ones. Option K
- Kill chapters permanently erases one or more chapters from disk. Option
R - Read textfile to chapter copies information that's stored as a
textfile on disk to a BEX chapter.
Press Z at the Main Menu or Second Menu, and you "zip"
to the Page Menu. The Page Menu allows you Insert your BEXtras disk in your data drive and press
W. Option W - Whole disk catalog provides you with more information about
a disk than you see with option D - Disk catalog. For each chapter on
disk, Whole disk catalog shows the name, number of pages, and number of
characters in each chapter.
Option F - File list gives you similarly detailed
information about an individual chapter. Press F and BEX confirms your
choice then prompts for the chapter you want to examine. Just like copying
and editing, BEX announces We hope you've enjoyed your exploratory trip through
BEX. You've learned a lot of important BEX concepts that you will use
daily. You have booted BEX, supplied a
configuration name, and reached the Starting Menu. You have
made a backup copy of your BEX disk, so you know that your BEX Master disk
is safe. You've switched disks and reached the Main side of BEX, and moved
around between the Main, Second, and Page Menus. You know how to copy
chapters as well as copy disks, and you've been introduced to the
target chapter concept. You've Part 2: Equipment Requirements
BEX Performs Best with 128K Apple II
The Apple IIe
The Apple IIc
The Apple IIgs
The Apple II Plus
Part 3: Other Equipment You Can Use with BEX
Printing and Brailling
Braille embossers
Large print printers
Voice device as a printer
Speech synthesizers
TEXTALKER
program makes the Apple accessible to blind users.
The disk supplied in the box with the Echo Plus or Cricket does not
contain TEXTALKER; the disk in the Echo IIb does contain
TEXTALKER. The BEX program disk (and most other Apple software for blind
users) includes TEXTALKER.
SlotBuster II
SCAT
software, which provides the SlotBuster
with screen review capabilities slightly superior to TEXTALKER'S.
Appendix 2 discusses the SlotBuster II commands.
Serial Voice Devices
() Warning! As the screen display changes, the 5
column characters make large areas of light and dark. This strobe effect
may cause seizures in persons who are prone to them. If you use the
5-column display, we strongly urge you to reduce the contrast and
brightness of the screen output and test the 5 column display gingerly.
Braille Screen Access Devices
Part 4: Foreground Information
The Cursor
Booting the Apple
What DOS does
The BASIC Prompt
]
character on the screen; we refer to this character as
the BASIC prompt. The TEXTALKER software makes the Echo
pronounce the right square bracket as ready, since the BASIC
prompt means the Apple is ready for your commands.
RUN <CR>
and you're up and running again. Details in Section 13.
Part 5: Keyboard Maps
^
caret up arrow
&
ampersand and
*
asterisk star
_
underbar underline
|
vertical bar vertical line
-
hyphen dash
]
right bracket ready
Apple IIgs
Apple IIe with numeric keypad
Apple IIc and pre-1987 Apple IIe
Part 1: Are You Ready to Go?
Part 2: Get Started by Booting Up BEX
Enter
configuration:
and beeps. When you have an Echo or Cricket
connected properly, then it should also speak the Enter
configuration:
prompt.
Part 3: Get Started with a Supplied
Configuration
S1 <CR>
S2 <CR>
E1 <CR>
E2 <CR>
L1 <CR>
L2 <CR>
Starting Menu
Enter Option:
You have arrived at the Starting Menu
prompt. Whenever a computer asks you for information,
it's called a prompt. Some prompts are like English
questions, for example Do you want to continue? Other prompts
are much shorter. When BEX asks a yes or no
question, it prompts with just the first letter Y or N.
Part 4: Explore the Starting Menu
Controlling large print letters
BEX Disk Catalogs and BEX Pages
Which Drive?
followed by
a number. This number is either 1 or 2. It shows
the disk drive where your data is usually read and written. This number is
an example of a default response. Many times BEX supplies you
with a possible choice. You can accept this value by pressing <CR>,
or you can change this default by typing a different number
and pressing <CR>.
() One Disk Drive When you press D, BEX prompts you
to swap disks with the
Insert data disk
prompt. Remove the
BEX program from your drive and replace it with the BEXtras disk.
Press space for DOS catalog
and pauses.
When you press any key except <space>, you return to
the menu prompt. When you press <space>, you see a list of every
file on the BEXtras disk. DOS displays 24 files at a time and pauses to
give you a chance to review the names. When there are more than 24 files,
you press <space> to see another group of 24 files. Once all the
files on disk are listed, BEX automatically brings you back to the
Starting Menu prompt.
() Caution! You should not press <space> at
the last screen of filenames. When you press <space> at the Starting
Menu, you move to the Main Menu. If you pressed <space> at the last
screen of filenames, then the Apple would hold on to that character and
pass it to BEX at the Starting Menu prompt. Because the Boot side of BEX
is still in drive 1, BEX would beep and complain that it can't find a
program it needs on disk.
CATALOG <CR>
at the BASIC prompt, and
that's why it's called a DOS catalog. An
introduction to the DOS commands is presented in User Level Section 13.
Part 5: Initializing a Data Disk
Warning Warning Warning!
We want you to be
sure you want to erase all the information from the disk!
BEX then prompts Do you want to proceed?
and supplies a
default yes response, the letter Y.
N <CR>
and you return to the menu prompt.
Flippies and floppies
Take care of your disks!
Part 6: Copying Disks
Copy disks
and then
tells you how the copy function works. BEX assumes that your original disk
is in drive 1, and the duplicate disk you create is in drive 2. Once you
place the appropriate disks in these drives, you press <CR> to start
the copying process.
Starting Menu
Enter Option: C
Copy disks.
Copy entire contents of disk in drive 1
on to disk in drive 2.
Press RETURN to begin copy. <CR>
BEX starts out by initializing the disk in drive 2,
so you hear the same gronks as when you initialize. Then BEX reads some
data from drive 1 and writes it to drive 2. It takes around two minutes to
finish the copy; when it's complete BEX returns to the menu prompt.
() One Disk Drive BEX prompts you to alternate
between your original disk and the duplicate
disk you are creating. You must follow these prompts faithfully, or you
end up with a mess. Here's a hint: when you remove the original from
the drive, place it on the left side of your computer. When you remove the
duplicate, place it on the right side. It's easier to keep track of
which disk is which when you always reach left for the original and reach
right for the duplicate.
Part 7: How and Why to Copy Your BEX Disks
Backups are for your use only
Backing up BEX step-by-step
Y <CR>
to start the copying process. Again, it requires
around two minutes to finish copying. For a one-drive system, BEX prompts
you to swap disks as needed.
Part 8: Explore the Main Disk
Enter configuration:
prompt,
type one of the six supplied configurations names, and you arrive at the
Starting Menu.
Main Menu
Enter Option:
and you've arrived at the Main Menu program.
What's on the Main Menu
Moving Around on the Main Disk
Typing Your Part of the Dialogue so BEX
Understands
Part 9: Copying chapters
QUANDARY
on your BEXtras disk. We use this same chapter as a
sample throughout the Learner Level. To ensure that you have an original
version of this chapter, you make a copy of it first with option C - Copy
chapters on the Second Menu.
MY
QUANDARY
on the disk in drive 1. Here's how this dialogue
goes:
Enter Option: C
Copy chapters
Drive number or chapter name:
BEX allows you to specify chapters in two ways. You
can type in the complete chapter name, when you know it. Or, you can
scan a disk for chapters--we demonstrate this in the next
Part. You know the chapter name, so you proceed as follows:
Drive number or chapter name: QUANDARY <CR>
Target chapter name:
The target chapter is what BEX calls the
copy you are creating. Many BEX options allows you to create modified
copies of chapters, so you will become very familiar with the Target
chapter name:
prompt.
Target chapter name: 1MY QUANDARY <CR>
After you provide BEX with the target chapter name,
it copies the text in the chapter from drive 2 to drive 1. When it's
finished, it announces Chapter QUANDARY done
and returns to
the menu prompt. (Note that BEX uses the original, or source
chapter name to tell you when it's finished.)
Copying chapters on a One-Drive System
Second Menu
Enter Option: C
Copy chapters
Insert data disk
Drive number or chapter name: QUANDARY <CR>
Target chapter name: MY QUANDARY <CR>
You don't have to precede the chapter name MY
QUANDARY with the digit 1, because BEX knows that you only have one disk
drive. All data is always read from and written to drive 1. The dialog
continues:
Copy to another disk? Y <CR>
Insert source disk
You then insert the BEXtras disk in your drive. When
ready, press any key. BEX continues:
Insert destination disk
Insert the initialized disk in the drive; when ready,
press any key.
Insert source disk
and so forth. It requires five disk swaps to copy the
QUANDARY chapter. BEX can't tell the difference between the source and
target disks. When BEX prompts to insert the source and destination disks,
you must faithfully insert the correct disk.
Part 10: Exploring the Editor
Word Processor vs. Typewriter: Some Important
Differences
Editing the MY QUANDARY Chapter
Main Menu
Enter Option: E
Editor
Drive number or chapter name: 2 <CR>
There are 1 chapters
1 MY QUANDARY
Chapter number:
When you enter a disk drive number followed by
<CR>, BEX reads the disk in that drive and presents a numbered list
of every chapter on the disk. In this case, there is only one chapter,
Chapter number:
prompt, you return to the
Main Menu prompt. More details about scanning disks and selecting chapters
from numbered lists appear in Section 11. To start editing the MY QUANDARY
chapter, proceed like this:
Chapter number: 1 <CR>
There are 4 pages
Edit on page 1 <CR>
Edit on page 1
page 1
and you have arrived in the
Editor. At the upper left hand corner of the screen, there's the
little rectangular cursor. The character the cursor covers appears as a
dark shape within a light square.
The keyboard buffer
The Paragraph Indicator
Announcing All Keystrokes
Page 4
and your cursor is at the
start of that text.
Typing in text
Leaving the Editor Safely
Part 11: Exploring Option P - Print chapters
Enter configuration:
prompt,
type one of the six supplied configurations names, and you arrive at the
Starting Menu. Remove the Boot side and insert the backup
Main side in drive 1, then press <space>.
Enter Option: P
Print
Drive number or chapter name: QUANDARY <CR>
Which printer:
For each configuration, BEX lets you define up to
four printers, assigning each one a number. Section 3 explains how you
define a printer when you establish a configuration. When BEX prompts
Which printer:
you can always type ? <CR>
to see your choices. The supplied configurations all contain
two printers. Here's what you get:
Which printer: ? <CR>
1 - Printer in slot 1 (72 by 58)
2 - Printer in slot 3 (72 by 58)
S = Screen output
Add +V for voice output
Which printer:
S <CR>
at the
Which printer:
prompt, BEX prints the chapter
silently to the screen. What size letters appear on the
screen depends on your configuration. For the supplied configurations S1,
S2, E1, and S+V <CR>
at
the Which printer:
prompt.
BEX formats as it prints
Printing to the screen
() Caution! If you press <ESC> twice, you
would stop the printing and return to the Main Menu. One <ESC> tells
the Echo to exit screen review; the next <ESC> tells BEX to cancel
printing.
Printing to the Echo
1+V <CR>
the Echo speaks each line as it's sent to
the inkprint printer. You hear a slight pause at the end of each line.
There's a longer pause for the blank line and five-space indent at
each paragraph. When you enter S+V <CR>
the Echo speaks
each line as it's sent to the screen. Since the number of characters
that fit on the line is different for printer 1 and the screen, the pause
that signals the line's end appears at different places depending on
whether you add the Echo to the screen or printer 1.
+V
the text
is printed to the Echo alone. The Echo pauses slightly around every 120
characters to catch its breath. The Echo's pronunciation of
underlined text depends on the Echo's punctuation mode. The supplied
E1 and E2 configurations use Most punctuation, so you hear letter,
underline, letter, underline, letter, etc. You can change to Some
punctuation with the Echo command control-E S. Then underlined words are
spelled out letter for letter.
Printing to an inkprint printer
Part 12: Highlights of the Second Menu
Part 13: Highlights of the Page Menu
Drive number or chapter name:
and
waits for you to type a name or scan the drive. Enter 2
<CR>
and BEX presents a numbered list of all the chapters on
the BEXtras disk. Choose the QUANDARY chapter by entering its number and
pressing <CR>. BEX presents a list of the contents of each page
file. In Sections 11 and 12, we demonstrate other options on the Page
Menu.
() One Disk Drive Unlike the Second and Main Menus,
BEX can fit all the Page Menu programs into memory at once. As soon as you
arrive at the Page Menu, BEX prompts you to insert a data disk. Place your
BEXtras disk in the drive and press W for a Whole disk catalog. To obtain
a file list of the QUANDARY chapter, press F. When BEX prompts
Drive
number or chapter name:
enter 1 <CR>
to scan the
disk for chapter names.
Bon voyage!