Wordwriter
Wordwriter is Word Processor distributed created by Databiotics for the TI-99/4A home computer system. It was released during the second quarter of 1987 as part # TRI-BJBW. It originally retailed for $39.95 (USD) and was programmed by Todd Kaplan.
| Wordwriter | |
|---|---|
 Wordwriter Manual (Front Cover) [1] | |
| Publisher(s) | Databiotics |
| Original Retail Price | $39.95 (USD) |
| Programmer(s) | Todd Kaplan |
| Part# | TRI-BJBW |
| Format(s) | Solid State SoftwareTM Command Module |
| Release | 1987 (2nd Quarter) |
| Genre(s) | Word Processor |
Contents
Advertising Blurb - Triton Catalog Spring 1987
Wordwriter is a revolutionary new cartridge that makes your Tl-99/4A a powerful word processor.
Simply plug your Wordwriter cartridge into the module slot and instantly you can: create mounds of text, up to 12,286 characters (36,782 with memory expansion); insert and delete characters, lines or whole paragraphs easily; turn word wrap on and just type; turn line number display on or off at will; reformat text to neat margins after changes are made to your document; search and easily find key words or phrases within your document; and set left and right margins and horizontal tabs where you want them from the keyboard.
Wordwriter allows you to load and save from disk or cassette, as well as print a hard copy. Team Wordwriter up with one of the great printers on the previous page and start saving precious time and money wasted by duplication of typing effort. From DataBiotics. (Requires RS232 Interface and printer cable or Parallax-TI Interface and Printer.)
Manual
Introduction
WORDWRITER is a cartridge which fits into Texas Instruments home computer, model TI 99/4A, converting it into a "word processor", equalling (or at least rivalling) systems costing much more. When using this word processor you can:
- insert, delete, or rearrange the order of single characters, words, phrases, sentences, and whole paragraphs
- insert blank lines, copy existing lines, change the margin width.
- perform Full Screen Text Editing.
- edit Text of over 12286 Characters (16K Console).
- edit Text of over 36286 Characters (16K Console +32K Extended Memory).
- save to or load from cassette, floppy disk, or hard disk.
- arrange the text through the use of the Moving Text and Copying Text functions.
- print via RS-232 or Parallel Output to Printer.
- the + version of WORDWRITER will print through its own Module Interface Output (MID) so that you do not have to buy a parallel interface (PIO).
- display and print disk directory (of course, this requires a disk drive)
- search text for a symbol, word, or phrase.
- replace a symbol, word, or phrase with something else
- scroll screen up/down/left/right
- window screen up/down/left/right/ to first screen/to last screen
- set margins, tabs, and indentation.
- reformat lines or paragraphs to where the cursor is or to the left margin.
Minimum Hardware Required
- TI 99/4A Home Computer
- television set (or "composite" monitor)
- computer-to-TV cable
- computer-to-wall plLlg cable
| IF YOU WISH TO PRINT . . . | IF YOU WISH TO USE A DISK . . . |
| - printer
- parallel interface - computer -to-printer cable |
- disk drive
- controller - manager (a diskette) |
| IF YOU WISH TO BOOST MEMORY . . . | IF YOU WISH TO USE A CASSETTE . . . |
| - 32K RAM add-on (512K available) | - Cassette tape recorder
- computer-to-cassette cable |
This cartridge is your entry into word processing. You can add equipment as your budget allows.
Beyond the console and this cartridge your biggest expense will be a printer. Almost any kind will do: thermal, daisy wheel, dot matrix, ink jet, pen plotter, or laser. You will need a connecting cord with a plug on one end that fits into the back of your printer. The other end must have a plug which fits an accessory called an interface; the interface plugs into the right side of the console. Printers are either Parallel or Serial. Many printers (even the least expensive) have both kinds of inputs. If you have a choice I suggest using Parallel; this frees your computer to also use a modem, which is serial. Buy the correct cord when you buy your printer. Computer repair shops can make you a cord; they need to know the wiring diagram, which you can get from TI.
The Plus version of WORDWRITER lets you connect a printer directly to the WORDWRITER cartridge. The cord goes from the cartridge (not from the right side of the computer) to the printer.
If you do not buy the Plus version you will need to buy a Parallel interface that plugs into the right side of your console; the printer cord connects interface and printer.
If you buy the regular (non-Plus) version of WORDWRITER Data9ioTics will let you trade it in for the Plus version for a fee. You will need the Plus version cable, too.
Quite often a parallel interface is combined in one unit with 32K memory, disk controller, power supply, serial interface, and disk controller. It is in the long run cheaper and more convenient to buy everything at once; however, you can also add bit by bit.
More than likely you already own some sort of tape recorder. It need not be any special sort; even a stereo Walkman type will do so long as it is a model that records as well as plays. It does not have to be a cassette; open reel, 8-track, or even the audio only part of a VCR will work as well.
The special cord between computer and tape recorder costs only about $5. One end fits in the back of your computer, next to the power input. Do not try to plug it into the joy stick port on the left side of the console. The other end of the tape recorder cord has three plugs:
- record [microphone]
- playback [headphone]
- microphone on/off
Some tape recorder cords branch to provide two sets of the above three plugs. This lets you hook up two cassette tape recorders.
The microphone on/off plug is smaller than the other two. Many tape recorders do not have a remote microphone with an on/off switch. If yours does not you will have to manually turn the tape recorder off and on; you can let that plug dangle. The other two plugs are usually color coded to let you know which is Record and which is Play. If not, you have a 50/50 chance of hooking them up right the first time. You can mark them yourself when discovering which is which.
Tape recorder file storage is much, much less expensive than disk. Disk drives are much, much faster than tape. Most people who start out with tape eventually switch to disk. However, the initial investment for beginning with tape (the $5 cord) is so very small you need not worry about money lost in switch over costs.
With many tape recorders you will need to adjust tone and volume before obtaining a setting the computer (not WORDWRITER) will accept. There are a few tape recorders which are nearly impossible. Tape recorders without tone controls and those with automatic recording levels work as well.
Any color or black & white TV will work as a monitor. You can also buy a Composite color monitor, consisting of an ordinary TV without the channel changer, tuner, and receiver parts. It is no clearer than regular TV, though; they are often more expensive despite being less than a full TV. If you use a TV you need to interconnect with a special cord that comes with the computer. It has a cigarette pack size box with an on/off switch connecting to the TV's VHF antenna screws. It also has a channel 3 or 4 selector switch. If you use a Composite monitor you need a different cord, one without the box. DO NOT buy an RGB (red, green, blue) monitor; they are clearer, but will not work with the TI 99/4A.
If you buy a disk drive, too, you will have so many cables and plugs it is necessary to buy a Power Strip for your wall plug:
| (1) TV | (4) disk | (7) modem |
| (2) computer | (5) controller | (8) interface |
| (3) printer | (6) cassette | (9) memory |
Despite the clutter, the Powerstrip lets you turn everything on with one foot toggle. Powerstrips are available for $5 on sale. The computer, cassette, and modem need transformers, but cassette and modem can be run by batteries instead of wall plugs.
Your choices for upgrading to disk drive are TI, Myarc, or Corcomp. TI built about 300,000 Peripheral Expansion boxes and about 3 million consoles. The PE boxes are available second hand, usually advertised in the Sunday paper classified section. A complete used system goes somewhere between $300-500. Myarc and CorComp continue to produce (and innovate) new peripheral systems. Depending on what you buy, expect to pay more for the newer (and warrantied!) systems.
Setting Up the System
- Connect console and wall plug with transformer power cord. Make sure wall plug is "live", i.e., not disabled by a light switch.
- Connect console and TV with FM modulator cord. The wires go to VHF, not UHF. Turn TV to same channel as switch on modulator box. Turn "TV/antenna" switch on box to "TV". Make sure TV is plugged in, on, and working.
- If you turn on the console when WORDWRITER module is inserted the main menu screen will list WORDWRITER as an option. If "WORDWRITER" does not appear on the main menu you cannot begin. Either the module is inserted wrong or it is broken. Before assuming your module is broken try using any other module. Obviously, if none of the other modules work, the fault lies with the console.
- When you select WORDWRITER from the main menu by keying in the number beside it a title page screen appears; it tells you to enter any key to continue. When you do so, the title screen disappears and the phrase "End of Document Version 1.00" will appear at the top of the screen. You can now begin using WORDWRITER.
Using Wordwriter
You are now in a new, empty file. It is as though WORDWRITER opened a metal filing cabinet and handed you a manilla folder (the file) filled with several sheets of blank paper. The sheets within the file are blank and the file is unnamed. Once you begin typing you begin filling the sheets within the file. When you are done typing and wish to "put away" the file filled with your work, it is as though you are handing the file back to WORDWRITER to put in the file cabinet.
The hollow (non-wordwrap) cursor appears on the blank line over the End of Document phrase. You can begin typing. As you type, the cursor travels along, preceeding the last letter by a space.
Function and Control Keys
Each side of the space bar has keys which probably intimidate you a little bit. The right FCTN key has a gray dot and the left CTRL key has a red dot. ENTER has a yellow dot. For all practical purposes they all do the same thing: react to your commands when you key them correctly.
I recommend holding down CTRL with your left thumb and FCTN with your right thumb. CTRL and FCTN are never keyed in alone. You use them the same way you use the upper case shift key on a typewriter: in conjunction with some other key. Cursor movement is a good illustration of how to use the FCTN key:
Cursor Movement
You can move your cursor right with FCTN d and left with FCTN s along the length of the line it is on. You must hold down the FCTN key with your right thumb; while holding it down you can move the cursor by keying s (left arrow) or d (right arrow). Cursor movement is "auto repeat": the cursor will move as long as you hold down the s or d. Once the cursor begins to move you can release the FCTN key; the cursor continues to move. You can use either minor case or capital letters for cursor movement. If you neglect to hold down the FCTN key the letters s or d will appear. These, too, will auto repeat. If you accidently do this you can key in OOPS! ( CTRL 1). This "undoes" the accident for one line only.
Enter Key as Carriage Return Lever
The cursor is hollow when you first turn on WORDWRITER. When the cursor is hollow it stops when it gets to the end of the line. When the hollow cursor reaches the right edge of the screen it will stop in the same a typewriter stops when it comes to the end of a line. If you key in ENTER the hollow cursor drops a line and moves to left margin; in this case the ENTER key acts like a typewriter carriage return.
The up and down arrows are e and x, respectively. The four arrow keys are marked with arrows on the front sides of the keys, but you will grow so used to the logical diamond pattern that you will come to use them not just by touch but also unconsciously and automatically.
An arrow cannot go higher than the first line of a file. WORDWRITER creates extra lines at the bottom of a file as needed when you cursor down; the End of Document line is pushed down below the cursor.
Downloads
Wordwriter Manual Cover
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Wordwriter Manual Complete (pdf format)
