THE WRITE STUFFer

 by Dick Trissel (E-mail: rtrissel@slonet.org)

This is a special Write Stuffer just for C-128 owners who use the C-128 version of The Write Stuff. If
you don't own a C-128, BUY ONE. It's worth the $100 or so for a C-128 and an RGB monitor just
to be able to use TWS-128.

WORD, BYTE, & BLOCK COUNT

Sure, we all know if you press [CTRL] = you get the text word count, the bytes used (T-used), the
bytes free (text area minus bytes used), and the equivalent disk blocks (254 bytes/block). But, I bet
you didn't know that the word count will only be correct if each paragraph is indented. Otherwise the
count is short by one word per unindented paragraph--big whoop-dee-do!

The T in T-used bytes is the text segment total number of bytes. The largest (one segment) is 62975
bytes. If the text is segmented into ten segments, the size is like this:

Segment Bytes 
1 7423 
2-9 6143 
0 6399

Yeah, they don't total up to 62975 because it takes one byte of overhead for each segment
(sometimes??). These segments can be set using the [CTRL] [SHIFT] + and the number keys.


END-OF-TEXT WARNING

When you get to within 254 bytes of the end of a text area, a warning is sounded and "Start New File"
is displayed. You can keep typing, but it's not advisable. This same limit holds if you are trying to paste
some text, except the warning is "No Room" and it won't do it.


SPLIT SCREEN

Don't confuse this with split text. Split screen means there's an upper screen text area and a lower
screen area, both of equal screen size. This is accomplished by pressing [CTRL] [SHIFT] =,
quickly--just a tap, because it is a toggle--a fast toggle. Now here's the tricky part, you have to put the
cursor in whichever area you want to work. This is done by pressing the NO SCROLL key. Then just
use each area the same as a single area--load, edit, save, cut and paste (even from one area to the
other).

The advantages of two screens using one as a reference, or for comparison purposes, or maybe you
just like to work on two projects at the same time.


VIEW A DISK FILE

Again, everybody knows you can read a file directly from a disk without disturbing the text in memory
by going to the Load Menu --[UPARROW] l, pointing to the file, and pressing the v key. But did you
know that you can display the disk directory with [CTRL] 4, use the [SHIFT] [UP CURSOR] and
[LEFT CURSOR] to point to a file, then press the v key. Now it gets tricky, again.

When you release the shift key, it starts the display. But, if before you release the shift key, you press
the t, p, or s key first, you can convert a file: t for a True ASCII file, p for a Pet ASCII file, s for a
Screen code (TWS) file.

Pressing the shift key will pause the display, and after the display is done, pressing any character key
will return you to the edit screen.


STRIP EXTRA RETURN MARKS?

Ever seen that question after converting a loaded file? Well, I finally figured out what it means (I read
the manual). Actually, you can do it at anytime by pressing CTRL-0 (zero). The manual says it removes
return marks (left arrows) where they are bounded by text. Well, in this case, a space is not considered
a character.

In other words, if your text looks like this:

This is text.(left arrow) 
More text.(left arrow)

After invoking the strip command [CTRL] 0 and responding Yes, it will look like this:

This is text. More text.

Notice, it inserted a space for the two returns. If there was a space in front of the More, or a return
between the lines, nothing would have been changed.


1581 SUBDIRECTORY

You can list a 1581 disk drive sub-directory with the command [CTRL] / and pressing the first
character of the sub-directory name.


LOAD AND SAVE BUFFER

According to the manual you can load and save files in the buffer (the eat and regurgitate area) by
typing in the file name b:-filename (after deleting the automatic hyphen (-). Of course, it has to be a
TWS screen code file. Well, I got it to work sometimes. I don't know why it didn't always work
(probably operator error).


GOOD PRACTICE

It is a good practice (no matter what TWS you are using) to save your text every time the clock in the
upper right hand corner reaches 15 minutes.

(From CCCUG Newsletter, Central Coast Commodore Users Group, January 1996, Via the Commodore Information Center, http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html)