WPFLOP User's Guide
                           WPFLOP User's Guide
                           WPFLOP User's Guide


    This document describes the operation of the word processing to OS/8
conversion program, WPFLOP.

USAGE
USAGE
USAGE

    WPFLOP is used to transfer documents  from  word  processing  floppy
disks to OS/8 media or from OS/8 media to word processing diskettes. The
WPS floppy is accessed using the COS compatible floppy handlers included
in this package. There are various modes of  conversion  which  will  be
explained later.

OPERATION
OPERATION
OPERATION

WPS to OS/8
___________

    Before using WPFLOP to access a WPS floppy, one must know the number
of the document which is to be read from the WPS floppy. For example, in
the sample index below, the column  labeled  "Document  number"  is  the
number that WPFLOP uses to reference a document.

-- DOCUMENT INDEX --

Drive: 3, Name: DOC3 , # of Docs: 3, Blocks left: 621 (of 627)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document                                                         Elapsed Time
Number  Name                 Created  Modified       Size Version  Last   Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3     COS Handler documentation
                             12/7/79  NO/DA/TE        3     1      0:00   0:00

  2     WPFLOP User's Guide
                             12/7/79  12/7/79 13:09   2     1      0:07   0:07

  1     Floppy Index
                             12/3/79  12/7/79 13:10   1     4      0:00   0:00




    The document "WPFLOP User's Guide" is document number 2.

    Before running WPFLOP, the COS mode floppy handlers must be install-
ed in your OS/8 system.  See  the  BUILD  chapter  in  the  OS/8  System
                                                            ____  ______
Reference Manual for details on using BUILD. See the document  COSHAN.DC
_________ ______                                               _________
for further information on the handlers. This document assumes that  the
handlers have been installed with names of "RXB0:" for drive  zero,  and
"RXB1:" for drive one.

    To copy the document "WPFLOP User's Guide" to a  file  on  the  OS/8
system device called WPFLOP.DC, use the following commands:

    .R WPFLOP           (User input underlined)
     ________
    *WPFLOP.DC<RXB0:2$  (Assumes WPS floppy in drive 0. $=ESC,
     _________________
                        ALT or SEL, depending on the terminal.)

    If no OS/8 output file is specified, the program  assumes  that  the
user wants the output on the  console  terminal  (TTY:).  Therefore,  to
print the same document on the console:

    .R WPFLOP
     ________
    *RXB0:2$            The "2" here is the number of the WPS
     _______
                        document which is to be transferred.








    The general WPS to OS/8 command syntax is as follows:

    *[dev:file.ex]<wdev:docn[/S][/S...][$]
       ^     ^      ^    ^   ^          ^
       |     |      |    |   |          |
       !     !      !    !   !          !
       |     |      |    |   |          !__ALT or ESC to exit when done.
       !     !      !    !   !          |
       !     !      !    !   !
       |     |      |    |   |
       !     !      !    !   !__Optional switches
       |     |      |    |   |
       !     !      !    !
       |     |      |    |
       !     !      !    !__WPS Document number
       |     |      |    |
       |     !      !
       !     |      |
       !     !      !__Name for the OS/8 handler for the WPS floppy
       |     |      |
       !     !
       |     |
       !     !__OS/8 Output file specification
       |     |
       !
       |
       !__OS/8 output device
       |



    The asterisk (*) is printed by the OS/8 command decoder.  The  items
enclosed in braces [] are optional. For example, if no OS/8 output  file
is specified, TTY: is assumed. If the command line ends with an altmode,
the program returns to OS/8 when it is finished. If  it  does  not,  the
program responds with another "*" and inputs another command string.

    There are two options accepted when transferring from WPS  to  OS/8.
These are the version switch (/V) and the compatibility switch (/C).  If
the version switch is in the command line,  WPFLOP  prints  its  version
number before executing the command. If the compatibility mode switch is
present, WPFLOP transfers the WPS document in  a  form  compatible  with
OS/8 system programs. In this mode, underlines, dead keys,  and  bolding
are ignored, and tabs are converted to tabs (ASCII 11). Also,  the  file
is not justified (that is, the J ruler setting is  treated  like  the  R
ruler setting). In normal mode, the output file contains overprinting as
necessary to duplicate dead keys, bolding,  or  underlines  in  the  WPS
file. In compatibility mode, only the first key of dead key sequences is
output.

    Most of the  word  processing  ruler  settings  are  understood  and
properly handled by WPFLOP, if compatibility mode is not set. Half  line
spacing is treated as the next higher single line space (that is, the  F
setting, half line spacing, is treated as single space. The  N  setting,
for one and one half line spacing, is treated as double space). All  tab
markers (i.e. P, T, >, W, ., and C) align  properly.  This  is  actually
easily done, if the WPS editor has been used to align the  text  to  the
ruler.

    All print controls (that is, headers,  footers  and  so  forth)  are
ignored during conversion to OS/8 form.

    New Page or Page Markers are converted to  form  feeds  (ASCII  14),
followed by the number of top lines set in the file's  TOP  MARGIN  (TM)
print setting. These blank lines do not appear if Compatibility mode  is
set. It is a good idea to do a GOLD Page  through  the  document  before
converting it to break the output into pages.

    Compatibility mode is used to transfer a WPS file to OS/8 in a  form
that can be used by, for example, OS/8 BASIC. This allows WPS to be used
to enter and edit a source program in any language (for  example,  BASIC
or PAL8). To do this, create the file under WPS and transfer it to  OS/8
using compatibility mode. If there are any errors, transfer it  back  to
WPS, edit it there, and then back to OS/8, etc.







OS/8 to WPS
___________

    To transfer an OS/8 File to WPS, use the following syntax:

    *wdev:<dev:file.ex/O[/S][$]

    Note that this is similar to the above example. The  most  important
differences are the output switch (/O) and the fact that no WPS document
number is given in the command line. WPFLOP will use the next  available
document for the  new  file.  (Document  one,  the  index  document,  is
skipped). The number that WPFLOP uses will be reported as a  message  of
the form:

    "Creating document number:n"

Where "n" is the number of the document created.

    The /O switch is required to specify to WPFLOP that the output  file
is on the WPS floppy. Without this switch the program will  assume  that
the input file is the WPS file.

    The output floppy must be an  initialized  WPS  document  or  system
floppy. If this is not so, WPFLOP will report a  HOME  or  HEADER  block
format error.

    The other switch allowed is  the  /W  (word-wrap)  switch.  If  this
switch is specified, the returns in the OS/8 file will be converted to
word-wrap returns. Normally, all  the  returns  in  the  OS/8  file  are
converted to hard returns.

    Any line feeds  in  the  OS/8  document  are  ignored.  This  causes
overprinted lines (bolded or undelined) to create multiple lines of text
in the WPS document.

    Form feeds in the OS/8 document are converted to New Page marks.

    The document created on the WPS device is not  aligned  to  the  WPS
tabs as it is initially created. Tabs in the OS/8 file are converted  to
only one space in the WPS file. To correct this, the WPS editor must  be
allowed to scroll thru the document to fix the tabs. In  order  for  the
editor to correct the tabulation, the initial ruler MUST be changed.  To
facilitate this, the ruler that WPFLOP creates has tabs at  locations  8
and 9. The first tab, at location 8, is incorrect. It is included to  be
deleted in order  for  the  WPS  editor  to  re-tabluate  the  document.
Therefore, the correction sequence is:

    1.   Create the WPS document from OS/8
    2.   Call the WPS editor to correct the document
    3.   At the top of the document, type GOLD Ruler.
    4.   Space to column 8 with ADVANCE WORD.
    5.   Type the space bar. The first of  the  two  adjacent  T's  will
         disappear.
    6.   Type RETURN to embed the new ruler.
    7.   Type GOLD ADVANCE to scroll thru the document and correct it.
    8.   Type GOLD File to re-file the corrected document.

RESTRICTIONS
RESTRICTIONS
RESTRICTIONS


    The ruler created for the WPS document has a  ragged  ruler  with  a
width of 80 columns and tabs every eight columns. This is the only ruler
that can be created. However, you can change  the  ruler  with  the  WPS
editor after the conversion.

    The WPS to OS/8 code does not support bolded dead keys. The dead key
sequence prints properly, but the sequence is not bolded.







    The document created on the WPS device does not have an index entry.
It will show up in the index as just the document number.  To  give  the
file a name, edit the index document,(document 1) to  include  an  entry
for the document. For example, if you created document 4, and want it to
be called "Foobar", include the following line in the index:

<n>Foobar <#>4<>

    The form used is:

<n>Name space <#>doc#<>

    The n in the <> must be lower case, and the name  must  end  with  a
space.


    My thanks to John Labrie and Dr. M. R. Miller of the Sharpe Tecnical
Centre for their  suggestions  for  improvements  to  this  program  and
documentation.