path: root/support/pcwritex/PCWRITEX.DOC

L---+---T1----+-T--2----T----3--T-+----4T---+---T5----+-T--6----T----R--T-+--r
                              PC-WriTeX

               
A conversion routine from PC-Write to TeX


                          v2.3, January 1989

.r:e

INTRODUCTION

PC-Write is a wordprocessing and text editing system from QuickSoft 
(Seattle) for the IBM PC and compatible computers. TeX is a 
typesetting system originally written by Prof Don Knuth of Stanford 
University and available for many kinds of computer including the IBM 
PC and compatibles. 

This documentation describes a PC-Write--to--TeX conversion routine 
written as a print driver file pr.doc�. It was devised to allow a 
user's PC-Write wordprocessing files to be printed to disk in a form 
which TeX can accept directly as input, retaining as many of the 
formatting attributes as possible of the original file. The .doc 
filetype was chosen because TeX is used for printing documents, but 
you can rename it and the relevant driver files to anything suitable 
to your needs. The definition files have been placed in the public 
domain. Only the controls described later in this document can be 
expected to work: no responsibility can be taken for what may happen 
if you use other PC-Write controls which are not documented here. In 
particular, you should not use any Dot Guide Lines apart from a ruler 
line, .S (line-spacing) and .R (typeface selection). 

A hard-disk PC is assumed, as TeX requires it for all normal usage.
This documentation reflects v2.71 of PC-Write, v3.3 of DOS and v2.94 
of TeX. 

.q:e
�

INSTALLATION

Before copying any of these files, rename your existing PC-Write 
printer driver file pr.def to something meaningful, according to your 
ordinary printer type, for example

     rename \pcwrite\pr.def pr.eps  (if you have an Epson printer)
     rename \pcwrite\pr.def pr.tos  (if you have an Toshiba printer)
     rename \pcwrite\pr.def pr.hp2  (if you have a HP series II)


This is to make sure your existing files do not get overwritten. 
You can still print all your existing files exactly as before by 
making sure they have the relevant file-type, eg ".eps", ".tos", 
".hp2", etc. The new pr.def provided with PC-WriTeX contains only 
the command "!pr.*" and will thus look for a driver file with the 
same file-type as the file being printed.

Copy all the files from floppy disk into the PC-Write subdirectory 
on your hard disk by typing the command 

     copy a:*.* \pcwrite


(substituting "b:" if you are using that floppy drive instead of 
"a:"). If you call your PC-Write subdirectory something other than 
"\pcwrite" then substitute that as well. 

Copy the TeX definitions file into your texinput subdirectory, 
whatever it is called for the version you have; for PC-TeX, for 
example, you type 

     copy \pcwrite\pcwsty.tex \pctex\texinput


This ensures that both PC-Write and TeX can find the files when they 
want them. It is assumed that you can use the file-type ".doc" for 
files you are going to convert with this routine. If this is not the 
case, you must choose another file-type and then type the command

     rename \pcwrite\*.doc *.xxx


where xxx is the file-type you have chosen.

USAGE

Run the PR program, either from DOS by typing PR�filename.DOC or by 
using the F1�F7 keystroke sequence from within the PC-Write edit 
program (in which case, confirm the filename suggested by pressing 
��[the Return or Enter key]). 

When the output selection menu appears, press F9 for "print to a file" 
and give the output file name as the name of your text file but with 
the file-type of .TeX (and press �). 

When the main print menu appears, press F10 for "print continuous". 
This will create an output file with the file type of .TeX which will 
contain all the TeX commands necessary to typeset your file. 

     � It is assumed, of course, that you have TeX available to 
     process this file. Commercially, it costs somewhere between $75 
     and $500 (�50--�300) depending on the implementation you buy. 
     There are several versions for the IBM PC and compatibles 
     including some in the public domain: addresses are at the end of 
     this document. It is also available for most minis and 
     mainframes. 

FEATURES

As far as possible, the basic mnemonic PC-Write controls have been 
followed, but one or two have changed, and several new ones have been 
added (notably the "colour code" Alt keys now perform different 
typesetting instructions). As many as possible (nearly all) of the IBM 
PC math and accent characters have been kept, and the line and 
box-drawing characters can be used for simple tables.�This is a change 
from v2.1, where line and box characters were undefined.� The printer 
driver definition file pr.doc and the style-file pcwsty.TeX contain 
the TeX definitions needed to access these facilities. 

TeX works by taking a plain ASCII text file with embedded formatting 
commands (produced by this routine direct from your PC-Write file). 
TeX commands consist of plain alphabetic characters or punctuation, 
flagged by a preceding backslash. Thus for example, a change to 
italics (Alt�I in PC-Write) is translated to the TeX command "\it". 
Raw TeX is of course capable of vastly finer control over typefonts, 
spacing and layout than even a sophisticated wordprocessor such as 
PC-Write, so this conversion routine should only be taken as a guide 
or first stage. TeX creates a .DVI file (DeVice-Independent file) 
which contains all the binary stuff needed for a TeX print driver to 
typeset the output on your printer. 

Because of the fine-quality nature of typesetting, a few points need 
attention when you are creating or editing a document for typesetting: 

  a. TeX assumes that a blank line in your file means "start a new 
     paragraph". This doesn't necessarily mean you get a blank line as 
     such when it is typeset; instead, you get whatever 
     spacing/indentation combination you specify for a new paragraph 
     (PC-WriTeX assumes a flexible amount between � and � a 
     line-height, with about 1/3|| indentation --- in fact, a "blank 
     line" in typesetting output is a misleading concept, as 
     typesetting dimensions are almost infinitely variable). What it 
     does mean is that existing texts which use only indentation for a 
     new paragraph, with no blank line, must be edited so that they 
     have blank lines between paragraphs. Indentation can be turned 
     off for a paragraph by starting the paragraph with Alt�X (this is 
     automatic for the first paragraph after a major break, such as 
     a new section, new page or a table). 

  b. Disregard all apparent multiple linebreaks and multiple spaces in 
     the output file: TeX makes its own decisions about linebreaking, 
     and swallows all multiple spaces. In any case, TeX justifies a 
     whole paragraph at a time, instead of line by line. The only 
     thing to check for is places where PC-Write might have inserted 
     an extra blank line of its own in the middle of a paragraph 
     because it thinks a pagebreak is due. These will have to be 
     removed manually, otherwise TeX will start a new paragraph at 
     these points (it doesn't happen very often). 

  c. Distinguish carefully between the four following symbols, which 
     are often misused:
      
  �  HYPHEN ("-"), used between two words, like "PC-Write": type a 
     single "-" to get this; 
       
  �  EN-RULE ("--"), used between two numbers, between a number and a 
     word, or where a hyphen may seem visually incorrect, such as 
     "37--55", "4--part" or "X--rated": type a double "--" to get one; 
     
  �  EM-RULE ("---"), used between phrases --- sometimes called a 
     dash: type a triple "---" for this; 
     
  �  MINUS-SIGN ("-"), used in math mode: type a single "-" within 
     Alt�Rs. 
     
  �  They are all different, so take care! Most importantly, never let 
     a line end with a hyphen character or dash in your source (.DOC) 
     file. TeX treats a line-�end as a space, so you would get a space 
     following your hyphen or dash when it is typeset (like "line-end" 
     above). 

  d. Use the grave accent character (`) for an opening single-quote, 
     and the apostrophe (') for a closing single-quote, so that they 
     look `like this'. Opening and closing double quotes are handled 
     "automatically", like that, provided you have paired them correctly. 


A few extra TeX commands have been added which can be invoked within 
Alt�Zs: 

  e. wider makes the paragraph indentation 1 inch wide

  f. normal sets it back to 20pt again

  g. tighter halves the inter-paragraph space. Repeated usage halves 
     it again. looser doubles the space (again and again)

  h. front makes the first page number zero, and omits the page number 
     from the bottom of the front page

  i. some of the translations of the Alt-characters have been 
     tokenised into macros to make the TeX sourec more readable. This 
     should not affect processing in any way.
�

wider 


The following Alt keys have been implemented. The ones marked with an 
asterisk (*) are slightly different from plain PC-Write. Those marked 
with a dagger (dag) have changed since v1.2 of PC-WRITeX. 

 Alt A  "align" --- not used. Simple tabulation can now be done using 
        the IBM PC box-drawing character set. See below for 
        detailsdag
        
 Alt B  "bold" --- prints bold type. Note that this is different from the 
        
bold extended type
 invoked by Alt�S

 Alt C  "compressed" --- changes to 10pt type (8pt design size: normal 
        type is 12pt of 10pt design size) 

*Alt D  "double" --- changes to 20pt type (of 17pt design size)

 Alt E  "�lite" --- prints in sans-serif type (this has a slightly 
        narrower "set" than normal roman, hence its use for the 
        �lite style) 

*Alt F  "fast" --- has no effect and cannot be redefined because it 
        automatically gets inserted into the top of the output file by 
        PC-Write, where there would be no way of turning it off 

*Alt G  "dot-line" --- only works for .R:x typeface changes and 
        line-spacing specifications such as .S:4 at the moment. It might 
        be possible to get it re-interpreted in a later version 

 Alt H  "higher" --- prints real superscriptslike�this, but you need to 
        use Ctl�Space between words within the superscript, if your 
        superscript itself has several words 

 Alt I  "italic" --- prints in italic type. Note that this is different
        from the slanted type invoked by Alt�U

*Alt J  "jump" --- causes a 1em vertical space (about 1 line space).
        This should usually go on a line by itselfdag
        
 Alt K  "keep" --- forces end of line without a paragraph spacedag

 Alt L  "lower" --- prints real subscriptslike�this, but you need to use 
        Ctl�Space between words within the subscript, if your subscript 
        itself has several words
 
 Alt M  "em" --- skips 1em space horizontally (about 2 characters worth 
        if this was fixed-width setting). Use Ctl�Space if you want
        to insert a single character's worth of fixed spacedag

 Alt N  "number" --- itemises paragraphs. The number or symbol must 
        follow the Alt�N with no space, but must have a space after
        it, eg triangleleft3.char'040�The symbol char'040 represents
        a single space character� will itemise paragraph 3.
        If you have set the indentation amount wide enough (eg with
        Alt�Z, starparindent=.5instar), you can also itemise
        paragraphs with things in another font, like this paragraph
        (triangleleft heartsuitAlt�Nheartsuitchar'040).
        To get an indented paragraph with no mark, use triangleleft 
        (Alt�N�Ctl�Space). The PC-Write usage of double and triple 
        Alt�Ns is not implementeddag 

*Alt O  "narrower" --- narrows the margins for the duration of the 
        paragraph it startsdag

 Alt P  "pica" --- prints in small capitals, conventionally used for 
        acronyms like IBM, DEC etc 

*Alt Q  "quitpage" --- forces a new page (replaces the Alt�T of plain 
        PC-Write)dag

*Alt R  "realmath" --- encloses mathematics typesetting, such as
        E=mc� or 4�r^3/3 You can now use TeX's curly braces within
        linear math mode if you need to: the forward slash also 
        works as TeX's \over command (eg triangle4�^3/3triangle), 
        so large linear fractions will need manual tweaking to stop 
        them being interpreted as \overs.dag

 Alt S  "shadow" --- 
prints in bold extended type as distinct from the 

        
slightly narrower
 plain bold 
of
 
Alt�B


 Alt T  "top" --- PC-Write's hard page-break character cannot be 
        redefined, should not be used, and may have unpredictable 
        effects, like breaking your paragraphs where you don't want to.

 Alt U  "underline" --- prints in slanted type rather than underlining, 
        because underlining is almost non-existant in typography 

*Alt V  "variable" --- prints in typewriter type. This is the opposite 
        of variable-width type, but Alt�F cannot be used, and even 
        QuickSoft themselves do this for some printer implementations.
        If you need variable-width typewriter type (eg IBM Executive
        typewriter style) modify PCWSTY.TeX to use font cmvtt10 instead
        of cmtt10

*Alt W  "underscore" --- underscores the text if you really need to:
        this can be handy in terminal session example documentation 
        for indicating what the user types, as opposed to what is
        displayed or printed by the machine

*Alt X  "xindent" --- turns off indentation at the start of a paragraph 
        (this is conventional at the start of a document and after 
        itemised or narrowed paragraphsdag

*Alt Y  "centerline" --- centers a line (put it at start and end of 
        line: you can still use Shf�F8 to center the line on the 
        screen because TeX doesn't care about extra spacesdag

*Alt Z  "literal" --- surrounds a literal TeX command to be passed 
        unchanged to the output file, eg, starTeXstar. Do not put 
        backslashes themselves in the command string. This is the 
        technique used to do the examples in the sections on Alt�N and 
        Alt�R abovedag 


The following characters (decimal numbers) have special meanings: 

124     "vertical bar" --- works as a prime mark for feet (|) and 
        inches (||); use character 221 [6<accent>`] for a real 
        vertical bar (�)

126     "tilde" --- prints as a math "sim" sign (~) except in typewriter 
        type where you get an ordinary tilde (~)

169     [[<accent>`] --- prints the "carriage-return" symbol (�)

176     [Shf Ctl F1] --- starts a footnote�Auto-numbered, as you may 
        have noticed.�dag

177     [Shf Ctl F2] --- ends the footnote text. Also terminates 
        right-flush lines (see character 222 below)dag
 
178     [Shf Alt F1] --- starts verbatim mode (literal small-typewriter 
        type): useful for quoting screen displays, programs or terminal 
        sessions (end with character 219 below), egdag
�
        if n < r then n := n + 1
                 else begin print_totals; n := 0;
                      end
        while p > 0 do
              begin q := link(p); free_node(p); p := q;
              end;
�

219     [Shf Alt F2] --- terminates verbatim mode. Both this and 
        character 178 should go on a line by themselvesdag

221     [6<accent>`] --- prints a real vertical bar (�, was 179)dag

222     [Shf F5] --- flags a line to be printed flush right: terminate 
        the line with character 177 [Shf�F6]. This is useful for 
        doing home addresses on letters:dag
                                                         �PO Box 1000�
                                                 �Haga Alto, Ca 94321�
                                                
223     [8<accent>`] --- prints a horizontal rule across the page 
        (was 196)dag

244     [(<accent>`] --- prints the whole ��sign

245     [)<accent>`] --- prints the copyright sign (�)

248     [%<accent>`] --- prints a circle (�). Use superscripting to 
        get the degrees sign.

249     [.<accent>`]  --- prints a centered dot (�)dag

254     [#<accent>`] --- prints a normal round bullet (�)

255     [@<accent>`] --- print a math "times" sign (�). Be careful when 
        justifying text in PC-Write because this is treated as a 
        discretionary space.

normal


Simple tabulation is now possible using the box-drawing character set.
The single-line set (PC-Write's Shf�Alt set) can be used to produce an 
unruled table like this:

        �������������������������������Ŀ
        �  TABULATION  �  Now possible  �
        �������������������������������Ĵ
        �  in TeX via  �  PC-Write      �
        ���������������������������������

and the double-line set (PC-Write's Shf�Ctl set) can be used to produce 
ruled tables:

        �������������������������������ͻ
        �  TABULATION  �  Now possible  �
        �������������������������������͹
        �  in TeX via  �  PC-Write      �
        �������������������������������ͼ

The only restriction is that only completely ruled or completely 
unruled tables will work. Partially-ruled tables will not function.

It has been necessary to make some small changes to three other 
facilities which were in v2.1:

     � The character code 206 (double-line crossover (Shf�Ctl�S), which 
       gave the TeX logotype, has been removed. To get "TeX" you now 
       need to use the Alt�Z literal (starTeXstar). 

     � The character code 179 (Shf�Alt�V), which gave a vertical rule, 
       is now needed for tables. A plain vertical rule is now got with 
       character 221 (6<accent>`).

     � The character code 196 (Shf�Alt�G), which gave a horizontal 
       rule, is also needed for tables: use character 223 (8<accent>`) 
       for horizontal rules.

The complete character set available by direct translation of PC-Write 
files using this routine is thus: 

            �����������������������������������������ͻ
            �     �  @  �  `  �  �  �  �  �  �  � ff  �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  !  �  A  �  a  �  �  �  �  �  �  � fi  �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  "  �  B  �  b  �  �  �  �  �  �  � ffi �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  #  �  C  �  c  �  �  �  �  �  �  � fl  �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  $  �  D  �  d  �  �  �  �  �  �  � ffl �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  %  �  E  �  e  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  &  �  F  �  f  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  '  �  G  �  g  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  (  �  H  �  h  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  )  �  I  �  i  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  *  �  J  �  j  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  +  �  K  �  k  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  ,  �  L  �  l  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  -  �  M  �  m  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  .  �  N  �  n  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  /  �  O  �  o  �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  0  �  P  �  p  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  1  �  Q  �  q  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  2  �  R  �  r  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  3  �  S  �  s  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  4  �  T  �  t  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  5  �  U  �  u  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  6  �  V  �  v  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  7  �  W  �  w  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  8  �  X  �  x  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  9  �  Y  �  y  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  :  �  Z  �  z  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  ;  �  [  �   } �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  <  �   \ �  |  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  =  �  ]  �   } �  �  �  �  �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  >  �  ^  �  ~  �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������͹
            �  ?  �  _  �     �  �  �     �  �  �     �
            �����������������������������������������ͼ


Note that the translation of ligatures ff, fi, ffi, fl and ffl is automatic.

Peter Flynn University College, Cork, Ireland
<cbts8001@vax1.ucc.ie> [INTERNET]
<cbts8001@iruccvax> [BITNET]
<pflynn@bytecosy> [BIX]

    A. PC-TeX is supplied by Personal TeX Inc, 12 Madrona Avenue, Mill 
       Valley, CA 94941, USA (+1 415 388 8853) and by UniTeX Systems, 
       12 Dale View Road, Beauchief, Sheffield S8 0EJ, UK (+44 742 
       351489) 

    B. Micro-TeX, originally supplied by Addison-Wesley, is now 
       defunct. 
       
    C. �TeX is a new product from ArborText Inc, 535 West William 
       Street, Suite 300, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, USA (+1 313 996 3566). 

    D. DOS-TeX is a shareable implementation available for US$75 ($85 
       outside the US) from Gary Beihl, Electronetics Inc, 119 
       Jackrabbit Run, Round Rock, TX 78664, USA. Gary can be 
       contacted by electronic mail as <beihl@wahb.cad.mcc.com> on the 
       DARPA Internet. 

    E. SB-TeX is a public domain implementation by Wayne Sullivan 
       and Peter Breitenlohner, available from SIMTEL--20, Aston, 
       Washington, Heidelberg and other network file servers. 

    F. Turbo-TeX costs from $99 (PC) to $2000 (VAX) from the Kinch 
       Computer Company, Turbo-TeX Marketing, 501 South Meadow Street, 
       Ithaca, NY 14850, USA. They will also supply C source for the 
       PC for $650. 

    G. PC-Write is a ShareWare product of QuickSoft Inc, 219 First 
       Avenue North #224, Seattle, WA 98109, USA, cost $89.