Date : Sat, 15 Aug 1987 22:08:00 MDT
From : Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: WordStar 4.0 for CP/M more information
The following is presented for informational value only. I do not
have any connection with MicroPro or it's dealers.
--Keith Petersen
Arpa: W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA
Uucp: {bellcore,decwrl,harvard,lll-crg,ucbvax,uw-beaver}!simtel20.arpa!w8sdz
GEnie: W8SDZ
RCP/M Royal Oak: 313-759-6569 - 300, 1200, 2400 (V.22bis) or 9600 (USR HST)
--cut-here--WS4CPM.NEW--cut-here--
WORDSTAR, CP/M EDITION, RELEASE 4, HERE AT LAST!!!
SPECIAL NOTICE -- JIM WELCH, THE NORTHEASTERN REPRESENTATIVE OF
MICROPRO CORPORATION WILL INTRODUCE WORDSTAR, CP/M EDITION,
RELEASE 4, AT THE SEPTEMBER MEETING OF THE BCS CP/M GROUP, FORSYTH
DENTAL CENTER, 140 THE FENWAY, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 7:30 PM.
All are welcome. Please come. Beginners' Clinic at 7:00 PM.
On July 23, MicroPro Corporation announced release 4.0 of
WordStar for CP/M. Shipment of upgrades to registered users is
scheduled to begin on or about August 20. Upgrades can be ordered
by calling MicroPro Customer Service at (800)227-5609 9:00 AM-9:00
PM EST. The cost of the upgrade is $89 plus state tax and
shipping. A $10 discount on orders placed before the end of
August is available to BCS members by asking for extension 6667.
In addition to upgrades, new copies of Wordstar 4 can also be
ordered from Customer Service.
Note -- MicroPro has a unique upgrade policy. Any legitimate
copy of WordStar (CP/M or MS/PCDOS, normal release or OEM release
such as Kaypro or Osborne, etc.) can be upgraded to the current
CP/M or MS/PCDOS version.
We were not able to obtain a copy in time to write a review
for this issue of the newsletter; however, a review will be
forthcoming. The following details of the new release have been
selected from the MicroPro brochure on the CP/M Edition.
RAM REQUIREMENTS: 54K TPA with math, 51K TPA without.
DISK REQUIREMENTS: At least two 5 1/4" double density drives.
DISTRIBUTION FORMATS: CP/M Generic (8" ss/sd), Kaypro, Osborne.
Apple due in October. Note: We can convert any of these formats
to virtually any format that you require (with the exception of
Vector Graphic hard sector).
TERMINAL SUPPORT: 27 terminals supported by default, extensive
patching options to allow other terminal installations.
PRINTER SUPPORT: Much better support of laser printers and dot
matrix printers. Support of two installed printers. Note: this
version of WS will not support background printing (use a hardware
printer buffer instead!).
HIGHLIGHTS:
UNDO
KEYSTROKE MACROS
FOUR-FUNCTION MATH CALCULATOR
USER NUMBER and ZCPR NAMED DIRECTORY SUPPORT
ONSCREEN BOLDFACING and UNDERLINING (if your terminal supports this)
THE WORD PLUS SPELLING CHECKER
MULTIPLE RULER LINES (which can be saved with your document)
GO-TO-PAGE
PRINT MULTIPLE COPIES and to ASCII
MULTI-LINE HEADERS and FOOTERS
FULL LIST OF ENHANCEMENTS:
1 Undo
2 Keystroke macros
3 Built-in four-function math calculator *
4 User number support
5 Onscreen bold and underline *
6 The WORD Plus spelling checker and expanded dictionary
7 Stored ruler lines active while editing
8 Go to page
9 Print multiple copies
10 Multi-line headers
11 Multi-line footers
12 Laser printing capability
13 Automatic paragraph indentation
14 Automatic hanging indent
15 Continuous/noncontinuous underline
16 Improved install program
17 New program modification processes (this means that all patch
points are documented and a tool is provided to do the patches)
18 Proportional spacing (depending on printer capability,
requires additional RAM) *
19 Improved documentation
20 Easier-to-use indexing
21 Index every word
22 Word count
23 Ctrl key with keypad moves cursor intuitively (hardware
dependent)
24 User-programmable function keys
25 Function keys provide alternative interface *
26 Improved speed
27 Improved use of memory
28 Specify printer at print time
29 Access two printers from one computer
30 Print to ASCII
31 Print to shared printer
32 Print to disk including all escape sequences
33 Cleaner menus
34 Block math *
35 Improved, easier-to-use conditionals
36 Merge-print math capability
37 Column replace mode
38 Convert to uppercase from lowercase
39 Convert to lowercase from uppercase
40 Help for each command
41 Improved help contents
42 Removable help messages in separate (optional) file
43 Find and replace across page breaks and soft spaces
44 Find and replace from cursor to end/beginning of file
45 Improved find and replace of control characters
46 Improved use of wildcards in find and replace
47 Move to end of sentence
48 Move to end of paragraph
49 Move to any character
50 Move to previous sentence
51 Move to previous paragraph
52 Move to any previous character
53 Delete rest of sentence
54 Delete rest of paragraph
55 Delete up to any character
56 Restore default page numbering
57 Improved merge printing (.DF) allows user defined character to
separate variables
58 File insert (.FI) now works while printing as well as merging
59 Print-time formatting (.PF) now works while printing and
merging
60 Page number (.PN) now works while printing and merging
61 Line height (.LH) now active while editing and printing
62 Embed a copy of the ruler line into text (.RR)
63 Store left margin in document to be active during editing
(.LM)
64 Store right margin in document to be active during editing
(.RM)
65 Microspace justification on dot matrix printers (.UJ)
66 Variable character width on dot matrix printers (.CW)
67 Variable line height on dot matrix printers (.LH)
68 Alignment/word wrap may be changed while editing (.AW)
69 Line space changes may be stored within document (.LS)
70 Justification changes may be stored within document (.OJ)
71 Multi-user support
72 Installable tab stops
73 Can remove status line
74 Can read and write column blocks (Ctrl KR and CTRL KW)
75 Improved status line contents
76 Improved flag column contents
77 Toggle near-letter quality print mode within a document
78 Define print controls while editing
79 Define form feed character while editing
80 Print at fixed position when using different fonts
81 Italics (on some printers)
82 Auto indentation in nondocument mode
83 Set tab expansion in nondocument mode
84 User defined tabs based on file type in nondocument mode
85 Strip high order bits from file in nondocument mode
86 Convert hard carriage returns to soft carriage returns
automatically
87 Predefined macro for result from last math (Esc =)
88 Predefined macro for last mathematical equation (Esc #)
89 Predefined macro for formatting numbers (Esc $)
90 Cursor placed where it was left after last "save-and-resume"
editing
91 Maximum right margin increased to 255
92 Support for full page terminals
93 Backspace is destructive
94 Delete key deletes character
95 Visible soft spaces for increased spacing control
96 Create file to modify more than one copy of WordStar
97 Change what WordStar considers a word for word delete
operations (Ctrl T)
98 Improved custom printer install
99 Delete files using wildcards
100 Limit directory displays using wildcards
101 Suppress file types from directory
102 Protect a file
103 Spell checker is user installable
104 Find and correct spelling errors
105 Automatic spelling correction
106 Find rhyming words
107 Help solve word puzzles
108 Locate anagrams
109 Automatic soft hyphenation in spelling checker
110 Look up correct spelling of a word
111 Check frequency (redundancy) of word use
112 Alphabetize and text file or word list
113 Homonym help
114 ZCPR named directory support
115 "Large file"indicator on status line
116 Print from command line
117 Print then exit from command line
118 Open document from command line
119 Open nondocument from command line
120 Print nondocuments and maintain onscreen formatting
121 Can format merge-print string variables
122 Can format merge-print numeric variables
123 Memory usage control
This is not an advertisement; however, based on my experience
with the DOS version of WordStar 4.0 (most, but not all new
features are common to both CP/M and MS/PCDOS versions), you will
want to consider upgrading. One of the most significant features
is the extensive patching info provided. With earlier versions of
WordStar, the user community compiled and maintained complete
listings of user modifiable patch locations. MicroPro learned
from this and with release 4.0, has provided this information as
well as a program to facilitate user patching of WordStar. The
configurable options and patch locations far exceed those found in
earlier WordStar releases.
08/10/87 Jim Byram
BCS CP/M Group